[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Tuesday, September 22, 2037

TUCKS WIN AGAIN IN TU EAST
One of the most-storied franchises in IPA history is really on a roll... the Tuckanarra Blue Jays just copped their fourth successive Tycobbian East Division title and 10th in 15 years... the East Point Panthers kept within three games of them through July, but the Tucks sunk them by going 34-13 the last two months of the season... the Blue Jays handily beat the Panthers by 14 games and were second in the IPA in victories with 99... Cold Creek of the Ruthlandian East was the leader with 101 wins... third place Ozarka never really contended and finished 16 games off the pace... the High Mesa Cowboys wound up a distance fourth and trailed by 29 games.

Tuckanarra will be the odds-on favorite to win this year's Pro Cup... manager Carlton "Lefty" Stevens has a wonderful ball club that has everything you need to win... the Blue Jays hit .278 (4th), scored 837 runs (1st), hit 185 dingers (6th), registered a 3.36 ERA (4th) and handled the gloves well with a strong .976 FA... Stevens has an impressive array of hitters with star RF Lorne Evans (.309/40/99/122) leading the way... Evans paced the Tycobbian Union with 122 runs and was tied for fourth in HRs with 40... at age 32 Evans passed the 500-homer milestone this year... other offensive standouts were C John Paul (.278/30/81/80), LF Spade Weldon (.290/19/68/90), CF Pancho Villa (.317/21/81/77), 1B Andy Preston (.292/7/59/69) and 2B Josh George (.256/19/80/83)... Tuckanarra has a trio of fine starters in Bobby Reid (21-7/2.92), Junior Bristow (21-13/2.66) and Jeff Buttrum (17-11/3.58)... plus a solid closer in Jack Rogers, who finished with a 12-7 record in 54 appearances with 22 saves and a 2.53 ERA... the Tucks last won the Pro Cup in 2035... they would like nothing better than add a fourth one to the Blue Jay trophy case this year... only Turon with four Pro Cups has won more... however, it won't be an easy task... defending IPA champ North Hills and San Alejo will have a lot to say about it in the Tycobbian Union playoffs and Ruthlandia's Cold Creek, Waleska and Fort Benton should offer strong competiton, too.

The East Point Panthers have a solid club, but not in the class of Tuckanarra... manager Karol Zodoka had a starting foursome that compiled a 3.34 ERA (3rd)... the Panthers pounded the ball with 216 HRs (4th), but didn't hit consistently with a .251 BA (27th)... his bullpen was suspect, too, with a terrible 5.64 ERA (32nd)... the Panthers' top pitchers were Dixie Brooks (20-14/3.16), Johnny Moore (19-14/3.48), Frank Blair (16-8/3.00) and Burton Cook (16-14/3.38)... Brooks reached the 200-win milestone this season, while Blair fell one victory short... they are both in their early 30s and have played in East Point for 11 seasons... Zodoka had three batters with 30 or more homers... the Panthers' most productive batters were 1B Karl Jankauskas (.252/37/105/89), SS Dean O'Donnell (.275/37/99/92) and 2B Tetsu Tanaka (.273/30/79/82).

The Ozarka Naturals were the preseason favorite in the Tycobbian East, but it never came to pass... a poor April out of the gate put them in a hole and they never recovered from it... still the Nats were 12 games over .500 and they finished in the first division for the fourth straight season... skipper Frank Kiffin had a good mound corps with a 3.37 ERA (3rd), headed up by Glen Jenkins (19-12/2.47), Teddy O'Shea (18-14/3.66) and Charley Chan (11-10/3.36)... Kiffin could use more power... Ozarka hits well with a .268 BA, but are short of homers, hitting only 119 for the season (29th)... they ranked only 18th in scoring with 712... 3B Duffy Morrison (.289/20/100/69) was the most reliable batter... the others were SS Nick Nova (.296/7/47/77), C Jaak Pajukivi (.267/15/70/62) and 2B Sid Elmore (.279/14/80/70).

The High Mesa Cowboys started off like gangbusters under IPA legend and new manager Jack Elliott as they tied Tuckanarra for the division lead in April, but quickly reverted to form and played like a perennial also-ran, ending up in fourth place in the standings, but 29 games back... they were 14 games under the .500 mark... Elliott is the all-time everything in the IPA with 848 home runs, .332 lifetime BA and the single-season homer mark of 65 set in 2021... he also hit 61 in 2013... the Cowpokes hit poorly with a .242 BA (32nd), have horrible pitching with a 4.32 ERA (28th)... they do hit homers (207/5th), but give up even more (246 HRs/32nd) in their tiny ball park... CF Corbett Brooks (.252/39/92/87), LF Clay Johnston (.276/31/80/82) and 1B Michael Page (.265/28/77/56) put up good numbers, but don't hit much for average... 35-year-old Brooks is with his fourth IPA team and has hit 480 homers in his 16 seasons... Page is also 35 and has slammed 428 roundtrippers in his 16 seasons... Max Jung (19-15/3.83) and Dean Harris (13-14/3.25) were the only two effective hurlers on the staff.

The rest of the teams in the TU East battled all year long to stay out of last place... the South Fork Stallions and Red Bluff deadlocked for the fifth spot, 31 games out of first place... rookie manager Blackie Terranova's squad hit a bit, but couldn't pitch a lick... they hit 175 HRs (11th) and chalked up a horrendous 4.84 ERA... 3B Elton Jacoby sparkled with a .303 BA, 29 HRs, 114 RBIs and 100 runs... so did SS Jess Wilkerson with a .312 BA, 20 HRs, 81 RBIs and 91 runs... 1B Paul Sexton chipped in with 21 homers, 82 RBIs and a .260 BA... the best moundsmen were Mike Lambertini (11-6/2.95) and Chris Sorensen (18-17/3.94).

The Red Bluff Red Sox could really go deep and put a few runs on the scoreboard, but they didn't hit much for average or have much pitching... the Red Sox ranked first in the IPA with 234 HRs... four of them hit 30 or more homers and two others hit 28 each... the top sluggers were RF David Kelso (.274/34/100/68), 2B Gene Bates (.265/34/88/58), 1B Garris Aiken (.271/34/77/86), CF Ike Sweetwater (.292/31/83/98), LF Jesse Shaw (.295/28/71/105) and 3B Fran Blanchard (.246/28/81/61)... the most dependable starters were Banzuki Hasegawa (15-17/3.20) and Jimmy McMillan (13-12/4.17).

The Midway Wolves guided by skipper Cochise Chandler came in seventh, 33 games behind first place Tuckanarra... they batted only .255 (23rd) and posted a 4.16 ERA (21st)... LF Yancey Tanner (.314/2/44/105), RF Bennett Cardwell (.273/17/92/74) and 1B Lou Flowers (.252/22/86/74) were the club's bat leaders... rookie Yuma Chandler, the manager's youngest of eight baseball-laying sons, did well with a team high .322 BA, which included 9 HRs, 44 RBIs and 54 runs... Cary Snead (12-15/3.58) and John Anderson (15-18/3.90) were pitching leaders... future IPA Hall-of-Famer 37-year-old Bobby Dorignac had the worst season of his career with a 12-20 mark and a 4.58 ERA... overall in his 17 seasons Dorignac is 312-221 with a terrific 2.92 ERA.

The Hillsboro Blazers failed to make the playoffs for the 36th year in a row and wound up last in the Tycobbian East, 35 games back in the race... second-year skipper Andy Jefferson's Blazers didn't hit well with a .245 BA (31st), didn't score much with only 617 runs (32nd) and had average pitching with a 3.90 team ERA (16th)... Lee Dixon stood out on the hill with a 17-16 record and a fine 2.91 ERA... in the bullpen Lucky Luciano racked up a 10-1 record in 52 appearances with a 3.61 ERA... LF Jurrien Bellini led the club with 34 HRs, 97 RBIs and 88 runs, but batted a poor .249... 3B Scotty McNeill paced the club with 95 runs, while batting .274... 1B Philip Stafford hit 20 HRs, had 66 RBIs and batted a .265.