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

Eugene Church · 07-09-2013, 10:00 PM

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Wednesday, September 23, 2037

TUCKS FAVORED FOR IPA CROWN
Baseball reigns supreme in the Islands. The sport dominates Islandian life year round. You could say the people are obsessed with baseball and not be far wrong. Where else in the world does a nation shut down and come to a halt in the middle of the day for a game?. Yeah, it's just a game, but the peoples of Ruthlandian and Tycobbian eat, sleep, weep and die for it. For Islandians September is the most glorious time of the year - IPA Pro Cup time. Beginning this Thursday afternoon the eight division champions from around the nation will be pitted against one another on the baseball diamond. When it is all over in about three weeks, one team will emerge as the IPA Pro Cup champion. Four former champions will be taking another crack at adding to their towns' prestige by garnering another coveted Pro Cup trophy. Tuckanarra has won it three times, North Hills twice and San Alejo and Waleska have captured it one time each.

1. The highly-touted Tuckanarra Blue Jays (99-55) of the Tycobbian East are the favorite in THE ISLANDIAN TIMES Pro Cup poll. 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 Tucks won IPA Pro Cups in 2023, 2024 and 2035... and they lost on two other occasions... in the 2013 Finals to Far Mountain and in 2028 to Waleska.

2. Cold Creek (101-53) of the Ruthlandian South is given the best chance of knocking off Tuckanarra and is ranked second in the Pro Cup poll... Cold Creek's marvelous mound corps inspiried a terrific 54-22 run in the second half of the season to defeat Sugar Valley and Elnora... for the year the Catamounts led the entire IPA with a superb 2.77 team ERA... they also ran up the most victories with 101... Sugar Valley and Elnora tied for third place with 97 wins... Tuckanarra of the Tycobbian Union was second with 99... the Cold Creek starters were almost unbeatable... all four of them has ERAs under 3.00, led by J. J. Gillespie (25-9/2.22), Joey Baker (20-11/2.50), Jules Capet (19-7/2.68) and George Bailey (11-4/2.66)... Gillespie topped the IPA with a 2.22 ERA and tied for the lead in wins with Randell Perkins of Colfax and Dan Pitts of Elnora... the Catamounts had just enough offense with 3B Pat Ellis (.319/20/70/79), SS Jeremy Hall (.304/3/61/82) and 2B Simon Pembroke (.284/7/72/60)... in spite of the lack of offense manager Scoop Lemieux's hurlers should be enough to be a big factor in deciding this year's Pro Cup championship... Cold Creek is also blessed with great defense (.978 FA)... the Catamounts are looking for their first IPA Pro Cup... 2037 just might be the year of the Cat.

3. The number-three pick was the San Alejo Montaneros (94-60) of the Tycobbian South Division... manager Alberto Herrera has a rock-solid club... the Monties ranked first in team ERA with a strong 3.21 ERA... offensively they did well with a .260 BA (16th), 753 runs (9th) and 163 HRs (15th)... the Montaneros could be better on defense with a sub-par .970 FA... Herrera has four fine starters in Tommy Smith (20-12/2.86), Lupe Olmedo (18-9/2.70), Johnny Brown (17-15/3.24) and rookie Benny Buckmaster (9-1/2.39), who joined the club in August and played a decisive role in the stretch drive... at the plate C Filipe Zamora (.310/31/113/77) and RF Charlie Wilberforce (.314/16/67/90) provided most of the offense with some help in the long ball department from SS Sancho Cruz (.225/23/91/75), CF Dusty Rogen (.278/17/57/54) and 1B Ted Hatch (.258/20/53/59)... San Alejo is one of the elites in the IPA Pro Cup playoffs and will be one of the favorites to win it all... the Montaneros won their only Pro Cup in 2032 by beating Colfax in seven games.

4. The North Hills Hawks (90-64) are the defending IPA champions, but were picked as the fourth-best team in the Pro Cup balloting... this is nothing new to manager Todd Simons... his Hawks won last year and in 2034, but were low-rated each time by the prognosticators... North Hills has a solid ball club, anchored with fine pitching and good defense (.976 FA)... the Hawks compiled a 3.28 team ERA (2nd), sparked by Jeff Owens (19-12/2.95), David Michael (15-13/2.79), Nelson Hooper and Frankie Lambert (17-10/3.77)... and combine it with a better-than-average offense with a .267 BA (12th) and good scoring (732 runs-13th)... the Hawks' top bats are RF Gerry Rice (.327/19/67/79) and LF Adam Thurgood (.271/33/88/89)... plus a group of steady run producers like C Mikhail Romanovsky (.247/24/82/75), 1B Ric Hamilton (.273/17/71/69), 3B Tommy Vavas (.259/9/48/80), CF Kris Anastas (.278/13/62/62) and 2B Kiril Ivonoski (.316/10/44/49)... North Hills has proven it has what it takes to win the Pro Cup and they will be in the thick of things again this year... the Hawks soared past St. John last year and flew past Crystal Lake in 2034.

5. The Fort Benton Defenders (91-63) of the Ruthlandian West Division came in fifth in THE ISLANDIAN TIMES Pro Cup tabulation... this season manager Robbie Brooks ended 36 years of frustration... Fort Benton finally made the Pro Cup playoffs with their best record ever 91-63... the Defenders' previous best was 90-64 in 2017 when they finished in second place... Brooks has good pitching (3.46 ERA-4th), credible offense (.274 BA-4th) and average defense (.972 FA)... Augie Marquis (21-13/2.93), Jordy Raeburn (20-13/3.20), Tommy Baylor (18-12/3.30) and Brady Bell (18-12/4.00) gives him a solid set of starters... Fort Benton's best bats belong to 3B Mitch Hamilton (.327/5/51/103), SS D. D. Badeaux (.309/19/58/101) and 1B Oscar Pendleton (.302/17/88/52)... the Defenders are in the postseason, but won't get a lot of support to bring home the club's first Pro Cup... it's doubtful their season will have a fairy tale ending - winning their first Pro Cup in their first postseason appearance.

6. The number-six choice in the Pro Cup poll was the Waleska Westerners (93-61) of the Ruthlandian South Division... the Westerners' strong point is the mound corps... they notched a 3.71 ERA (7th)... however they do have a pretty good offense with a .268 BA and 743 runs (15th)... but lack the long ball, hitting only 121 HRs (28th)... defensively they are pretty good with the gloves with a .974 FA... Heading up manager Roy Hobbs' rotation are Terry Richards (22-11/2.77), Craig Nash (20-10/3.58) and Tony Haskell (19-12/3.77)... leading the Westerners' attack are CF Jon Lassiter (.311/13/56/106), 2B Joey Harris (.283/14/85/92), 3B Monty McMurtry (.285/10/76/82), RF Niles Gregory (.237/26/94/79) and 1B Shayn Lambert (.280/14/83/72)... Waleska won its only Pro Cup in 2028 topping Tuckanarra in a tough seven-game set.

7. This is only the third trip to the Pro Cup playoffs for the La Claire Lynx (89-65), ranked seventh in the Pro Cup predictions... they have never won the IPA Pro Cup... manager Zeppy Deshotel has a productive attack with a .273 BA (6th), 793 runs (3rd) and 171 HRs (12th-tied)... and the pitching is above average with a 3.74 ERA (12th)... star SS Jarrod O'Neal (.263/26/99/92) topped the club in HRs and RBIs with 29 and 99... also helping out with good years were RF Billy Holland (.292/19/86/96), 1B Kris Wilson (.302/20/95/60), CF Jason Baker (.296/9/62/75) and C Weldon Waller (.306/11/61/52)... vet Pat Kovacs (16-13/3.28), Tony Rossi (19-10/3.62) were the top hurlers... Konrad Keller (14-10/4.83) and Bruce Kinson (13-9/4.02) were also in the starting rotation... closer Terry Baird (11-11/2.17) did well with 25 saves, second best in the IPA to Sligo's Scotty Price, who had 28... Baird made 59 relief appearances during the season... La Claire is not expected to go very far in the postseason... first round opponent Tuckanarra appears to be to tough to beat... possible second round opponents, defending Pro Cup champion North Hills and San Alejo, look to be too strong for the Lynx, too.

8. The Islands' baseball scribes gave the LaGrange Sports (86-68) the least chance to take home the Pro Cup, rating them eighth and last in the Pro Cup pickings... this year it was solid pitching by Mike York (21-11/3.66), Walt Thurber (18-12/3.08) and Earl Perkins (12-7/3.07) and decent bats that got the job done for manager Quincy Peterson... his best hitters were SS Fred Bird (.316/2/40/98), LF Vasco Aguilar (.303/15/78/70), 1B Chris Charbonnier (.245/24/92/68), RF Charles Basque (.291/16/69/75) and CF Russell Watkins (.276/25/73/62)... the Sports won their fourth straight Ruthlandian North title despite poor defense (.969 FA)... don't expect much from the Sports in the postseason... they have gotten to the second round only twice in six playoff appearances... the Sports are still seeking their first Pro Cup trophy.

07-09-2013, 10:00 PM	#3593
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 35,944	THE ISLANDIAN TIMES Wednesday, September 23, 2037 TUCKS FAVORED FOR IPA CROWN Baseball reigns supreme in the Islands. The sport dominates Islandian life year round. You could say the people are obsessed with baseball and not be far wrong. Where else in the world does a nation shut down and come to a halt in the middle of the day for a game?. Yeah, it's just a game, but the peoples of Ruthlandian and Tycobbian eat, sleep, weep and die for it. For Islandians September is the most glorious time of the year - IPA Pro Cup time. Beginning this Thursday afternoon the eight division champions from around the nation will be pitted against one another on the baseball diamond. When it is all over in about three weeks, one team will emerge as the IPA Pro Cup champion. Four former champions will be taking another crack at adding to their towns' prestige by garnering another coveted Pro Cup trophy. Tuckanarra has won it three times, North Hills twice and San Alejo and Waleska have captured it one time each. 1. The highly-touted Tuckanarra Blue Jays (99-55) of the Tycobbian East are the favorite in THE ISLANDIAN TIMES Pro Cup poll. 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 Tucks won IPA Pro Cups in 2023, 2024 and 2035... and they lost on two other occasions... in the 2013 Finals to Far Mountain and in 2028 to Waleska. 2. Cold Creek (101-53) of the Ruthlandian South is given the best chance of knocking off Tuckanarra and is ranked second in the Pro Cup poll... Cold Creek's marvelous mound corps inspiried a terrific 54-22 run in the second half of the season to defeat Sugar Valley and Elnora... for the year the Catamounts led the entire IPA with a superb 2.77 team ERA... they also ran up the most victories with 101... Sugar Valley and Elnora tied for third place with 97 wins... Tuckanarra of the Tycobbian Union was second with 99... the Cold Creek starters were almost unbeatable... all four of them has ERAs under 3.00, led by J. J. Gillespie (25-9/2.22), Joey Baker (20-11/2.50), Jules Capet (19-7/2.68) and George Bailey (11-4/2.66)... Gillespie topped the IPA with a 2.22 ERA and tied for the lead in wins with Randell Perkins of Colfax and Dan Pitts of Elnora... the Catamounts had just enough offense with 3B Pat Ellis (.319/20/70/79), SS Jeremy Hall (.304/3/61/82) and 2B Simon Pembroke (.284/7/72/60)... in spite of the lack of offense manager Scoop Lemieux's hurlers should be enough to be a big factor in deciding this year's Pro Cup championship... Cold Creek is also blessed with great defense (.978 FA)... the Catamounts are looking for their first IPA Pro Cup... 2037 just might be the year of the Cat. 3. The number-three pick was the San Alejo Montaneros (94-60) of the Tycobbian South Division... manager Alberto Herrera has a rock-solid club... the Monties ranked first in team ERA with a strong 3.21 ERA... offensively they did well with a .260 BA (16th), 753 runs (9th) and 163 HRs (15th)... the Montaneros could be better on defense with a sub-par .970 FA... Herrera has four fine starters in Tommy Smith (20-12/2.86), Lupe Olmedo (18-9/2.70), Johnny Brown (17-15/3.24) and rookie Benny Buckmaster (9-1/2.39), who joined the club in August and played a decisive role in the stretch drive... at the plate C Filipe Zamora (.310/31/113/77) and RF Charlie Wilberforce (.314/16/67/90) provided most of the offense with some help in the long ball department from SS Sancho Cruz (.225/23/91/75), CF Dusty Rogen (.278/17/57/54) and 1B Ted Hatch (.258/20/53/59)... San Alejo is one of the elites in the IPA Pro Cup playoffs and will be one of the favorites to win it all... the Montaneros won their only Pro Cup in 2032 by beating Colfax in seven games. 4. The North Hills Hawks (90-64) are the defending IPA champions, but were picked as the fourth-best team in the Pro Cup balloting... this is nothing new to manager Todd Simons... his Hawks won last year and in 2034, but were low-rated each time by the prognosticators... North Hills has a solid ball club, anchored with fine pitching and good defense (.976 FA)... the Hawks compiled a 3.28 team ERA (2nd), sparked by Jeff Owens (19-12/2.95), David Michael (15-13/2.79), Nelson Hooper and Frankie Lambert (17-10/3.77)... and combine it with a better-than-average offense with a .267 BA (12th) and good scoring (732 runs-13th)... the Hawks' top bats are RF Gerry Rice (.327/19/67/79) and LF Adam Thurgood (.271/33/88/89)... plus a group of steady run producers like C Mikhail Romanovsky (.247/24/82/75), 1B Ric Hamilton (.273/17/71/69), 3B Tommy Vavas (.259/9/48/80), CF Kris Anastas (.278/13/62/62) and 2B Kiril Ivonoski (.316/10/44/49)... North Hills has proven it has what it takes to win the Pro Cup and they will be in the thick of things again this year... the Hawks soared past St. John last year and flew past Crystal Lake in 2034. 5. The Fort Benton Defenders (91-63) of the Ruthlandian West Division came in fifth in THE ISLANDIAN TIMES Pro Cup tabulation... this season manager Robbie Brooks ended 36 years of frustration... Fort Benton finally made the Pro Cup playoffs with their best record ever 91-63... the Defenders' previous best was 90-64 in 2017 when they finished in second place... Brooks has good pitching (3.46 ERA-4th), credible offense (.274 BA-4th) and average defense (.972 FA)... Augie Marquis (21-13/2.93), Jordy Raeburn (20-13/3.20), Tommy Baylor (18-12/3.30) and Brady Bell (18-12/4.00) gives him a solid set of starters... Fort Benton's best bats belong to 3B Mitch Hamilton (.327/5/51/103), SS D. D. Badeaux (.309/19/58/101) and 1B Oscar Pendleton (.302/17/88/52)... the Defenders are in the postseason, but won't get a lot of support to bring home the club's first Pro Cup... it's doubtful their season will have a fairy tale ending - winning their first Pro Cup in their first postseason appearance. 6. The number-six choice in the Pro Cup poll was the Waleska Westerners (93-61) of the Ruthlandian South Division... the Westerners' strong point is the mound corps... they notched a 3.71 ERA (7th)... however they do have a pretty good offense with a .268 BA and 743 runs (15th)... but lack the long ball, hitting only 121 HRs (28th)... defensively they are pretty good with the gloves with a .974 FA... Heading up manager Roy Hobbs' rotation are Terry Richards (22-11/2.77), Craig Nash (20-10/3.58) and Tony Haskell (19-12/3.77)... leading the Westerners' attack are CF Jon Lassiter (.311/13/56/106), 2B Joey Harris (.283/14/85/92), 3B Monty McMurtry (.285/10/76/82), RF Niles Gregory (.237/26/94/79) and 1B Shayn Lambert (.280/14/83/72)... Waleska won its only Pro Cup in 2028 topping Tuckanarra in a tough seven-game set. 7. This is only the third trip to the Pro Cup playoffs for the La Claire Lynx (89-65), ranked seventh in the Pro Cup predictions... they have never won the IPA Pro Cup... manager Zeppy Deshotel has a productive attack with a .273 BA (6th), 793 runs (3rd) and 171 HRs (12th-tied)... and the pitching is above average with a 3.74 ERA (12th)... star SS Jarrod O'Neal (.263/26/99/92) topped the club in HRs and RBIs with 29 and 99... also helping out with good years were RF Billy Holland (.292/19/86/96), 1B Kris Wilson (.302/20/95/60), CF Jason Baker (.296/9/62/75) and C Weldon Waller (.306/11/61/52)... vet Pat Kovacs (16-13/3.28), Tony Rossi (19-10/3.62) were the top hurlers... Konrad Keller (14-10/4.83) and Bruce Kinson (13-9/4.02) were also in the starting rotation... closer Terry Baird (11-11/2.17) did well with 25 saves, second best in the IPA to Sligo's Scotty Price, who had 28... Baird made 59 relief appearances during the season... La Claire is not expected to go very far in the postseason... first round opponent Tuckanarra appears to be to tough to beat... possible second round opponents, defending Pro Cup champion North Hills and San Alejo, look to be too strong for the Lynx, too. 8. The Islands' baseball scribes gave the LaGrange Sports (86-68) the least chance to take home the Pro Cup, rating them eighth and last in the Pro Cup pickings... this year it was solid pitching by Mike York (21-11/3.66), Walt Thurber (18-12/3.08) and Earl Perkins (12-7/3.07) and decent bats that got the job done for manager Quincy Peterson... his best hitters were SS Fred Bird (.316/2/40/98), LF Vasco Aguilar (.303/15/78/70), 1B Chris Charbonnier (.245/24/92/68), RF Charles Basque (.291/16/69/75) and CF Russell Watkins (.276/25/73/62)... the Sports won their fourth straight Ruthlandian North title despite poor defense (.969 FA)... don't expect much from the Sports in the postseason... they have gotten to the second round only twice in six playoff appearances... the Sports are still seeking their first Pro Cup trophy. Last edited by Eugene Church; 07-19-2013 at 08:35 PM.