OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post - ISLANDIAN PRO ALLIANCE (RUTHLANDIA and TYCOBBIA BASEBALL UNIONS)

Eugene Church · 10-24-2012, 05:23 PM

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Monday, May 1, 2034

2034 Preseason Poll
Rank/Team (Last Year)

1. Claxton Diamonds (6th)
2. Grand City Cybercats (2nd)
3. San Dimas Rancheros (3rd)
4. Waleska Westerners (5th)
5. Belair Beach Sunbirds (7th tied)
6. St. John Crusaders (1st)
7. Crystal Lake Crushers (4th)
8. Valka Blackhawks (7th tied)

Blackhawks Surprise Leader In RU South
The booming bats of the Valka Blackhawks have new manager Eddie Lasky beaming from ear-to-ear in his first month of the season... To the surprise of almost everybody, Valka has run up a super 16-10 record and is tied for first with Crystal Lake, another Cinderella club... both the Blackhawks and the Crushers were picked near the bottom of the Ruthlandian South this year in The Islandian Times Preseason Poll... last year's division winner St. John (14-12) is right up there with them and trails by just 2 games... this year's favorite Claxton is in a fourth-place deadlock with San Dimas and Belair Beach, all 4 games back of the leaders with 12-14 marks... Waleska (11-15) and Grand City (11-15) are tied for last place, but are just 5 games out of first place. The RU South is still wide open with all 8 clubs still in contention.

Lasky took over from Ron Landauer in Valka and he has the Blackhawks running and gunning with a .285 team batting average and they are the top-scoring club in the IPA... pitching, however, is another story with a substandard 4.26 ERA... Lasky was a solid hurler for the Blackhawks for the first 10 years of his 17-year career... overall he was 248-213 with 3.54 ERA... he was a Golden Arm winner in 2023 with the Bay St. Clair Buccaneers, winding up with a super 25-8 record and a 2.79 ERA... and Lasky captured 3 Golden Gloves... nine Blackhawks sport .300 averages with 3B Ed Metzinger leading at .370, followed by C Benny Douglas (.333), RF Doug Whitehouse (.333), rookie 1B Bobby Scott (.324), RF Kenny Mitzusaka (.323), rookie C Marti Kallasmaa (.310), 1B Mikk Kukk (.306), LF Luukas Palli (.301) and CF Ted Sabonis (.300)... two others are near .300: SS Olari Ojastu (.298) and LF Peetrus Raag (.293)... the top Valka pitchers are Rick Beasley (1-1/3.32) and Nicky Palermo (3-1/3.32).

Crystal Lake, under the tutelage of Herman "Baby" George, is ripping the ball, too, with a .281 batting mark, but is not quite up to snuff on the hill with a lackluster 3.97 ERA... the bullpen is especially bad with a sky-high 5.54 ERA... starters Denny Mills (4-2/2.78), Arnie Cason (2-2/3.72) and T. D. Burnham (3-2/3.99) are quality arms... Eddie Lane (2-1/1.23) is again handling bullpen chores well, but there is no one after him... 19-year-old phenom RF Paul Dillon has blistered IPA pitchers for a .376 average in his rookie year... Denton City free agent 1B Big Sam Takota has been a great addition with a .333 average, 8 homers and 25 RBIs... 2B Mackie Cummings is batting .355 and driven in 19 runs.

Third-place St. John has great pitching with a 2.90 team ERA, but has trouble scoring runs (27th) and has almost no power with just 8 home runs (32nd)... veteran starters Jeremy Kirk (4-1/1.38) and Larry Urban (4-3/2.83) top the Crusader staff... 1B Johnny Zahn (.370) and rookie RF Gerry Sives (.353) are the most potent bats... manager Clayton Luck also have several other dependable hitters in CF Tony Kreskas (.319), LF Bobby Joe Daniel (.290) and 3B Norm Murdoch (.264)... St. John lost its best pitcher to free agency when Zack Dowdle signed with San Dimas... he was 19-13 last season.

Dixie Baker's Claxton Diamonds were the number-one choice to win the RU South this season, but they have stumble a little bit out of the gate and are 2 games under .500 in the first month, tied with San Dimas and Belair Beach for the fourth spot in the standings, but just 4 games off the pace... Claxton is just playing average ball with a .271 team BA (10th) and a 3.68 ERA (13th)... Tommy Brothers has been brilliant with a 5-0 mark and a superb 1.00 ERA in 5 starts... Sam Nathan has been tough with a strong 2.52 ERA, but is just 1-5 in his 6 starts... Baker's best run producers have been RF Ivan Krause (.301) with 7 HRs and 18 RBIs, C Jaan Hoogendoorn (.359), 2B Jonas Weiss (.323), 3B Gen Langenhoven (.289) and CF Ken Brennan (.280).

According to the baseball pronosticators, skipper Wesley Pate has a contender with his San Dimas Rancheros... but they haven't played like one thus far... his pitching has skyrocketed from 3.56 to a poor 4.37 this year... the relief corps has been quite bad with a 5.95 ERA... the only thing the Rancheros do well is hit with power... they have gone deep 30 times (5th)... San Dimas has some fine hitters, but just not enough of them... SS Glendon Pratt (.379), star 1B Mick Langston (.328), CF Klaus Stordahl (.326) and C Arved Tarand (.306)... 8-year veteran Langston was signed as a free agent... previously he starred for Grand City... the Rancheros also acquired pitcher Zack Dowdle... he has held his own with a 2-3 record and a 3.29 ERA in 6 starts... Dowdle is 89-58 lifetime in 13 seasons with a very impressive 2.74 ERA... another free agent Gregg Hughes has been Pate's top pitcher with a 5-1 mark and 3.07 ERA in 7 starts... Hughes (127-109) was a solid pitcher for the Hillsboro Blazers of the Tycobbian East for 11 years.

The Belair Beach Sunbirds have a new manager... Slim Mosley has replaced Little Jake Bungarooba, who had little success in his tenure... Mosley had a fine 18-year career from 2001 to 2018 with the Sunbirds, compiling a 254-192 record with a solid 3.34 ERA... they made the playoffs 7 times when he played and won 5 pennants... Belair Beach is an average club, but they can hit the long ball... the Sunbirds have chalked up 31 this season and are ranked 3rd in the RU, led by CF Bobby Meusel with 8 home runs, 21 RBIs and a .310 batting average... 3B Johnny Wofford is hitting .329 with 18 RBIs... 1B Vander Heggen (.348) and RF Pat Webb (.304) are quality bats, too... Stefan Zeeman (3-2/2.10) and rookie Kerstan Mak (2-0/3.09) are Mosley's top twirlers.

The great Roy Hobbs is now the skipper of the Waleska Westerners... the IPA icon and superstar will replace McGraw Johnson, who decided to retire after 33 years... however, Johnson will remain as general manager... Johnson won the IPA Pro Cup in 2028 and made the playoffs only four times with three division flags... Hobbs had a spectacular career with a .345 BA, 587 homers and 3793 hits... he is second all-time to Phil Gravelli's 4260 hits, second to Jet Kazmarek's .350 BA and fifth to Jack Elliott's 848 homers... Hobbs was a 15-time All-Star, 7-time Golden Bat winner, twice a Golden Glover and won the RU Most Valuable Player Award in 2026 and 2030... Waleska hits and scores pretty well, but lacks good pitching... the Westerners are currently tied with Grand City for seventh and last place in the RU South... the baseball gurus chose them fourth in the pennant race... vets LF Loco Dillinger (.318), 1B Glenn Childress (.287) and 3B Monty McMurtry (.292) are the team's best bats with help from rookie SS Roger Hobbs (.305), the 19-year-old son of the skipper... Waleska's best mound performers are vet Terry Richards (2-3/2.30) and rookie Tucker Wilton (3-3/2.43)... the Westerners are rebuilding with 9 rookies this season... fourth place may too tough for Hobbs to reach this year.

Grand City was expected to challenge Claxton for the division title this season, but so far the Cybercats have floundered, yet are just 5 games back in the pennant race... last season they came in third... manager Wade Joslin has average hitting (.257 BA) with decent power (27 HRs) and average pitching (3.86 ERA), but he has a terrible bullpen with a 7.05 ERA (32nd)... starters Herb Stewart (2-3/2.31), Norm Dawson (2-1/1.96) and Mason Dodd (1-1/2.81) have been very effective, but have suffered from a lack of run support... CF Thomas Hall (.284) and SS Teddy Grantham (.293) tops the Cybercats with 6 homers and 14 RBIs apiece... 2B Dave Sulligent has the best BA on the squad at .324.

10-24-2012, 05:23 PM	#3318
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 36,253	*THE ISLANDIAN TIMES* Monday, May 1, 2034 2034 Preseason Poll Rank/Team (Last Year) 1. Claxton Diamonds (6th) 2. Grand City Cybercats (2nd) 3. San Dimas Rancheros (3rd) 4. Waleska Westerners (5th) 5. Belair Beach Sunbirds (7th tied) 6. St. John Crusaders (1st) 7. Crystal Lake Crushers (4th) 8. Valka Blackhawks (7th tied) Blackhawks Surprise Leader In RU South The booming bats of the Valka Blackhawks have new manager Eddie Lasky beaming from ear-to-ear in his first month of the season... To the surprise of almost everybody, Valka has run up a super 16-10 record and is tied for first with Crystal Lake, another Cinderella club... both the Blackhawks and the Crushers were picked near the bottom of the Ruthlandian South this year in The Islandian Times Preseason Poll... last year's division winner St. John (14-12) is right up there with them and trails by just 2 games... this year's favorite Claxton is in a fourth-place deadlock with San Dimas and Belair Beach, all 4 games back of the leaders with 12-14 marks... Waleska (11-15) and Grand City (11-15) are tied for last place, but are just 5 games out of first place. The RU South is still wide open with all 8 clubs still in contention. Lasky took over from Ron Landauer in Valka and he has the Blackhawks running and gunning with a .285 team batting average and they are the top-scoring club in the IPA... pitching, however, is another story with a substandard 4.26 ERA... Lasky was a solid hurler for the Blackhawks for the first 10 years of his 17-year career... overall he was 248-213 with 3.54 ERA... he was a Golden Arm winner in 2023 with the Bay St. Clair Buccaneers, winding up with a super 25-8 record and a 2.79 ERA... and Lasky captured 3 Golden Gloves... nine Blackhawks sport .300 averages with 3B Ed Metzinger leading at .370, followed by C Benny Douglas (.333), RF Doug Whitehouse (.333), rookie 1B Bobby Scott (.324), RF Kenny Mitzusaka (.323), rookie C Marti Kallasmaa (.310), 1B Mikk Kukk (.306), LF Luukas Palli (.301) and CF Ted Sabonis (.300)... two others are near .300: SS Olari Ojastu (.298) and LF Peetrus Raag (.293)... the top Valka pitchers are Rick Beasley (1-1/3.32) and Nicky Palermo (3-1/3.32). Crystal Lake, under the tutelage of Herman "Baby" George, is ripping the ball, too, with a .281 batting mark, but is not quite up to snuff on the hill with a lackluster 3.97 ERA... the bullpen is especially bad with a sky-high 5.54 ERA... starters Denny Mills (4-2/2.78), Arnie Cason (2-2/3.72) and T. D. Burnham (3-2/3.99) are quality arms... Eddie Lane (2-1/1.23) is again handling bullpen chores well, but there is no one after him... 19-year-old phenom RF Paul Dillon has blistered IPA pitchers for a .376 average in his rookie year... Denton City free agent 1B Big Sam Takota has been a great addition with a .333 average, 8 homers and 25 RBIs... 2B Mackie Cummings is batting .355 and driven in 19 runs. Third-place St. John has great pitching with a 2.90 team ERA, but has trouble scoring runs (27th) and has almost no power with just 8 home runs (32nd)... veteran starters Jeremy Kirk (4-1/1.38) and Larry Urban (4-3/2.83) top the Crusader staff... 1B Johnny Zahn (.370) and rookie RF Gerry Sives (.353) are the most potent bats... manager Clayton Luck also have several other dependable hitters in CF Tony Kreskas (.319), LF Bobby Joe Daniel (.290) and 3B Norm Murdoch (.264)... St. John lost its best pitcher to free agency when Zack Dowdle signed with San Dimas... he was 19-13 last season. Dixie Baker's Claxton Diamonds were the number-one choice to win the RU South this season, but they have stumble a little bit out of the gate and are 2 games under .500 in the first month, tied with San Dimas and Belair Beach for the fourth spot in the standings, but just 4 games off the pace... Claxton is just playing average ball with a .271 team BA (10th) and a 3.68 ERA (13th)... Tommy Brothers has been brilliant with a 5-0 mark and a superb 1.00 ERA in 5 starts... Sam Nathan has been tough with a strong 2.52 ERA, but is just 1-5 in his 6 starts... Baker's best run producers have been RF Ivan Krause (.301) with 7 HRs and 18 RBIs, C Jaan Hoogendoorn (.359), 2B Jonas Weiss (.323), 3B Gen Langenhoven (.289) and CF Ken Brennan (.280). According to the baseball pronosticators, skipper Wesley Pate has a contender with his San Dimas Rancheros... but they haven't played like one thus far... his pitching has skyrocketed from 3.56 to a poor 4.37 this year... the relief corps has been quite bad with a 5.95 ERA... the only thing the Rancheros do well is hit with power... they have gone deep 30 times (5th)... San Dimas has some fine hitters, but just not enough of them... SS Glendon Pratt (.379), star 1B Mick Langston (.328), CF Klaus Stordahl (.326) and C Arved Tarand (.306)... 8-year veteran Langston was signed as a free agent... previously he starred for Grand City... the Rancheros also acquired pitcher Zack Dowdle... he has held his own with a 2-3 record and a 3.29 ERA in 6 starts... Dowdle is 89-58 lifetime in 13 seasons with a very impressive 2.74 ERA... another free agent Gregg Hughes has been Pate's top pitcher with a 5-1 mark and 3.07 ERA in 7 starts... Hughes (127-109) was a solid pitcher for the Hillsboro Blazers of the Tycobbian East for 11 years. The Belair Beach Sunbirds have a new manager... Slim Mosley has replaced Little Jake Bungarooba, who had little success in his tenure... Mosley had a fine 18-year career from 2001 to 2018 with the Sunbirds, compiling a 254-192 record with a solid 3.34 ERA... they made the playoffs 7 times when he played and won 5 pennants... Belair Beach is an average club, but they can hit the long ball... the Sunbirds have chalked up 31 this season and are ranked 3rd in the RU, led by CF Bobby Meusel with 8 home runs, 21 RBIs and a .310 batting average... 3B Johnny Wofford is hitting .329 with 18 RBIs... 1B Vander Heggen (.348) and RF Pat Webb (.304) are quality bats, too... Stefan Zeeman (3-2/2.10) and rookie Kerstan Mak (2-0/3.09) are Mosley's top twirlers. The great Roy Hobbs is now the skipper of the Waleska Westerners... the IPA icon and superstar will replace McGraw Johnson, who decided to retire after 33 years... however, Johnson will remain as general manager... Johnson won the IPA Pro Cup in 2028 and made the playoffs only four times with three division flags... Hobbs had a spectacular career with a .345 BA, 587 homers and 3793 hits... he is second all-time to Phil Gravelli's 4260 hits, second to Jet Kazmarek's .350 BA and fifth to Jack Elliott's 848 homers... Hobbs was a 15-time All-Star, 7-time Golden Bat winner, twice a Golden Glover and won the RU Most Valuable Player Award in 2026 and 2030... Waleska hits and scores pretty well, but lacks good pitching... the Westerners are currently tied with Grand City for seventh and last place in the RU South... the baseball gurus chose them fourth in the pennant race... vets LF Loco Dillinger (.318), 1B Glenn Childress (.287) and 3B Monty McMurtry (.292) are the team's best bats with help from rookie SS Roger Hobbs (.305), the 19-year-old son of the skipper... Waleska's best mound performers are vet Terry Richards (2-3/2.30) and rookie Tucker Wilton (3-3/2.43)... the Westerners are rebuilding with 9 rookies this season... fourth place may too tough for Hobbs to reach this year. Grand City was expected to challenge Claxton for the division title this season, but so far the Cybercats have floundered, yet are just 5 games back in the pennant race... last season they came in third... manager Wade Joslin has average hitting (.257 BA) with decent power (27 HRs) and average pitching (3.86 ERA), but he has a terrible bullpen with a 7.05 ERA (32nd)... starters Herb Stewart (2-3/2.31), Norm Dawson (2-1/1.96) and Mason Dodd (1-1/2.81) have been very effective, but have suffered from a lack of run support... CF Thomas Hall (.284) and SS Teddy Grantham (.293) tops the Cybercats with 6 homers and 14 RBIs apiece... 2B Dave Sulligent has the best BA on the squad at .324.