[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Tuesday, September 21, 2049

TUCKS TAKE TIGHT RACE IN TU EAST
The fans of the Tycobbian East enjoyed a pretty fair pennant race throughout most of the season... the Tuckanarra Blue Jays were challenged by as many as five other clubs... the Bluebirds prevailed in a tight tussle, beating out Red Bluff by 3 games, preseason favorite Hillsboro by 4 and defending division champ High Mesa by 5... for the 27th year in a row the Tucks finished in the first division.

1. TUCKANARRA: the last postseason appearance for the Blue Jays came in 2038... they have captured three Pro Cups in the team's history with the most recent coming in 2035... last season the Tucks were 80-74 in fourth place (19 GB)... they stepped it up on the mound and at the plate this year and won the flag... the Bluebirds have a solid rotation with Dickie Pittman (19-9/2.42), All-Star Ozzie Leslie (20-15/2.84), Alfie Rutledge (20-12/3.42) and Neil Orr (13-9/3.59/2 saves)... closer Trevor Rutherford (12-10/2.84/17 saves) was pretty good in the bullpen... Tuckanarra hits well for average with a .272 BA (3rd), scores well with 725 runs (8th), but doesn't have a lot of power... they hit only 129 HRs (21st)... the club offensive leaders are All-Star 1B Rodger Parsons (.343/25/94/76), LF Cedric Dennison (.320/15/76/65) and C Glenn Tinker (.302/9/56/56)... CF Harv Bannerman (.231/20/60/86) and 3B Bud Bostic (.278/5/56/84) have been productive, too... the Blue Jays will probably be a middle-of-the-pack pick in the Pro Cup predictions.

2. RED BLUFF: the hard-hitting Red Sox tried hard to catch the Blue Jays this year, but ran out of games... they were closing the gap when the season ended... the Red Sox finished in the Tycobbian East first division for the 27th straight time, too, just like Tuckanarra... but they haven't been to the playoffs in 12 years... Red Bluff does have three Pro Cups in its possession with the last one coming in 2035... though they are getting on in years, the Red Sox still led the IPA with 229 homers and ranked third in runs scored with 764... rookie All-Star 3B Dazzy Bevis (.287/32/98/100) had a great inaugural season and was a big boost to the offense... he also had plenty of help from superstar RF David Kelso (.288/35/105/81)... in 16 seasons the 34-year-old Kelso had over 600 homers... 39-year-old CF Ike Sweetwater (.291/20/54/72) is still playing well... at age 35 SS Leemon O'Donovan (.233/29/84/92) is still a solid player... at 37 2B Fran Blanchard (.271/22/61/66) still has some pop and plays well in the field... 1B Josh Stevens (.229/27/60/52) didn't hit well, but went deep fairly often... the mound corps was only fair this year with Mickey Rosen (14-13/2.78) and George Reynolds (16-15/3.38) the most effective... Carson Jamara (19-9/4.09) and Sonny Wheat (15-18/4.39) were inconsistent, but had some quality starts... the bullpen wasn't very good... Red Bluff needs some infusion of youth... the aging vets can't go on forever.

3. HILLSBORO: the Blazers were primed for success this season... the baseball world picked them to prevail in the TU East and go to the Pro Cup playoffs for the first time in the club's history... but it didn't happen... the Blazers have quality starters, but little in the way of offense... they only hit .227 (32nd) and scored only 601 runs (30th), but did show a little bit of power with 144 HRs (14th)... you don't win a bunch of games in the IPA when your top batter 35-year-old LF Jurrien Bellini hits .229 with 25 homers and 81 RBIs... and the most dependable hitters only had modest stats... CF Rick Willis had 20 homers, 70 RBIs, scored 80 runs, while batting only .263... and SS Shane Welsh had a team high .279 BA with 11 HRs and 61 RBIs... pitching was the name of the game in Hillsboro... the pitching corps put up a fine 3.07 team ERA (4th) and were led by Steve Cooper (20-13/2.60) and Clay Spencer (18-10/3.13... Jamie Lee Bradley (12-15/2.58) and Bailey Bilbow (14-15/3.49) were capable pitchers, too... Ron Pryor (6-3/2.48) was the most effective reliever and got some help from Scott Cole (5-7/3.92/14 saves).

4. HIGH MESA: the Cowboys were coming off a great season in 2048 when they made the playoffs for the first time in over 45 years... they won the TU East pennant with an impressive 99-55 record and were expecting big things this year... but the offense stumbled badly and didn't give the excellent mound staff any run support... the Cowpokes ranked near the bottom with a .239 BA (31st) and 637 runs (26th)... despite the pitiful offense, they still managed to come in fourth and just 5 games out of first place... the starting four were fantastic... Lloyd Armstrong (19-17/2.92), rookie Tuff Hammel (13-8/2.31/6 saves), Lucius Quarles (11-14/2/54) and Dickie Sternfeld (13-10/3.04) really did their part... the bullpen did well, too, with a 2.63 ERA (5th)... overall the team ERA was 2.93 (3rd)... the only reliable threats in the lineup were two 36-year-old veterans: star slugger 3B Johnny Tallis (.269/34/102/58) and star SS Andreas Stokke (.285/39/101/88), who was obtained from Bayview in a trade of IF Clifford Coleman, age 32... Coleman had a bad year, batting only .218 with 11 homers and 31 RBIs in 60 games.

5. MIDWAY: the Wolves were in the race the first half of the season, but dropped out early in the Summer... they slipped from 81-73 and third place (18 GB) to 76-78 and a fifth-place finish (10 GB)... Midway has never won the Pro Cup... the last time they made the playoffs was 2027... the Wolves have average bats and lackluster pitching... Charlie Chase (18-15/3.39) is the ace and the only effective starter... there are two strong relievers in the bullpen, headed up by Rocket Rhodes (11-5/1.99/5 saves) and Jeffrey Leonard (3-2/1.31/5 saves)... the main offensive performers are All-Star LF Justin Morrison (.314/20/86/92), RF Alfie Kincade (.284/29/100/78), 2B Kax Clark (.310/9/53/97) and SS Joey Keswick (.270/15/59/106).

6. EAST POINT: record-wise the Panthers had their best season in a decade, coming in with a 75-79 mark, good for sixth place (11 GB)... they were terrible the year before with a last place finish and a 57-97 record (42 GB)... the last pennant was in '39... East Point has never won the IPA Pro Cup... the Panthers had some decent pitching, but weren't much on the scoreboard... however they had good power with 168 HRs (8th-tied)... Ralph Wallace (18-16/2.45) had a fine season and had some help from Barney Benton (18-13/3.71)... Kenneth Lawson (1-4/1.43/13 saves), Carl Jordan (2-0/2.09/2 saves) and Buford St. John (5-2/3.73/15 saves) headed up a pretty good bullpen... providing most of the club's offense were All-Star 1B Kelly Walsh (.292/27/77/88), CF Tennis Magee (.273/24/63/51), All-Star C Kenny Bailey (.275/23/70/71), LF Augie Elizondo (.253/22/61/45) and SS Justus Coles (.254/15/69/59).

7. SOUTH FORK: the Stallions have been stuck in a rut for five seasons... they were 78-76 in '48 in fifth place (21 GB), but slumped to 73-81 and seventh place with a 73-81 mark (13 GB)... '43 was the last division title... South Fork has taken Pro Cup trophies twice ('42, '25)... they have two solid starters in Kip Cleaver (23-14/2.87) and star Jay Murphy (20-12/3.35), but not much otherwise... CF Jack Boswell is the big bat and tops the team with 31 homers, 90 RBIs and 100 runs, while hitting .262... other contributors were C Rudy Maroney (.285/17/82/66), SS Pete Arnold (.271/21/62/92), RF Georgy Walter (.307/7/38/66) and LF Kyle Gottwald (.307/10/40/48) and 1B Paul Sexton (.280/17/57/37).

8. Ozarka: the Nats don't do much of anything well... the last four seasons they have been seventh, eighth, seven and eighth... 69-85 last year (30 GB) and even worse this year at 62-92 (24 GB)... the Naturals won the division flag in '40... never have they taken the Pro Cup crown... Carl Hemus (17-15/3.07) and Jerald Kidman (13-21/4.16) paced the starters... and rookie All-Star 2B Kyler Hartman (.309/10/73/75) paced the hitters with a .309 BA... 1B Artie Clayton led with 31 homers and 87 RBIs, but batted a very poor .217... RF Julien Belazaire chipped in with a .283 BA, 9 HRs, 64 RBIs and 77 runs.

2049 Tycobbian East Division Final Standings and Team Statistics