[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Tuesday, September 19, 2056

WOLVES DEVOUR TU EAST AGAIN
Just like they have done in recent years, the mighty Midway Wolves (101-53) devoured the Tycobbian East teams again for the fourth season in a row, topping their closest competitor, the East Point Panthers (86-68), by 15 games... the Ozarka Naturals (83-71) came in third, trailing by 18 games... and the Tuckanarra Blue Jays (78-76) wound up fourth in the standings and 23 games off the pace... the Nats (4 GB)and the Red Bluff Red Sox (5 GB) hung kind of close until midsummer, then the Middies just took off and left everybody in their wake.

Midway (101-53) topped the entire IPA with 101 victories... batting .269 (7th), scoring 772 runs (5th) and slamming 172 HR (9th)... they were even better on the mound with a sizzling 2.84 ERA (2nd)... and they were good defensively with a .975 FA... it is hard to find a weakness in the Midway Wolves this year... they will be a very potent team in the postseason... Midway has only been successful in the playoffs in the last few seasons, winning two Pro Cups (2053, 2054)... and they were favored to three-peat last year, but were upset by White River... prior to that they had appeared only 3 times in the playoffs without success... this will be their seventh postseason... they will be seeking a third Pro Cup trophy... it will not be easy as two very good clubs are waiting in the wings: highly-respected Turon (96-58) and highly-regarded Arlon (97-58), along with dangerous White River (82-72), which has a fine pitching staff... the Rascals made the Pro Cup Finals last year and lost to Wynnamac... the Wolves have an outstanding staff, both starters and bullpen... Midway has three 20-game winners, All-Star Arnie McGill (22-8/2.62), Rob Land (21-9/2.74) and Dookie Higgins (21-9/3.24)... #4 starter Will DeBerry (14-14/3.05) is a quality arm, too... the bullpenners may be superior to the starters, led by closer Rocket Rhodes (9-5/2.75/21 saves/49 G) and Jeffrey Leonard (2-1/1.31/8 saves/37 G)... all of the relievers have ERAs under 3.00... the Middies can put runs on the scoreboard, too, with four fine threats: All-Star RF Daryl Vale (.343/41/133/109/23 SB), All-Star LF Norishige Ito (.314/38/116/107/9 SB), 1B Ted Merritt (.287/26/101/96/13 SB) and All-Star SS Kax Clark (.300/6/59/90/5 SB).

The East Point Panthers (86-68) again ran second to Midway... five times in the last seven seasons the Panthers have been the runner-up in the Tycobbian East race... the other two years they were the division winners (2050, 2052)... East Point has a standout offense with a .269 BA (6th), 814 runs (2nd) and 181 roundtrippers (7th)... but they are just average on the hill with a 3.76 ERA... which could be a little misleading... the Panthers play in a small ballpark... the staff may be better than their stats... East Point has made the playoffs only 7 times and have never won a Pro Cup trophy... facing the current Panthers can be daunting... the lineup is stocked with solid hitters, top to bottom... CF Skip Donley (.296/41/118/106/23 SB) had a breakout year... in the IPA Donley finished third in homers (41), fourth in RBIs (118) and eighth in runs scored (106)... and he had a lot of help from 1B Alvaro Cavacos (.273/25/90/84/19 SB), C Kenny Bailey (.274/27/96/69), 2B Teddy Flack (.285/19/59/112/35 SB), SS Justin McRae (.297/13/75/104/21 SB), RF Jakie Spears (.308/0/58/67/14 SB), LF Pokie Ash (.312/9/71/61/16 SB) and 3B Manny Powers (.276/12/58/67)... ace starter Benny Allen (17-10/3.03) had one of his better years and is getting better with age... Al Coatsworth (18-12/3.60) was solid performer... as was rookie Eddy Winbourne (14-6/3.75)... however, long-time star Ralph Wallace (9-10/4.25) had an off-year... the bullpen gave up too many homers... the top relievers were just adequate: Marty Yaden (8-1/3.03/1 save/47 G) and Kerry Woodburn (5-12/2.93/25 saves/51 G).

The third place Ozarka Naturals (83-71) returned to the first division this year for the first time in years... the Nats were a very successful club in the first two decades of the Islandian Pro Alliance with 13 postseason appearances, but it's been all downhill since with only two more pennants (2030, 2040)... however, Ozarka has made progress in the last five years... the Naturals were last for three years, '52 (70-84), '53 (61-93) and '54 (61-93)... they inproved to sixth place in '55 (71-83) and came in third this season (83-71)... better pitching and excellent defense were the reasons for the turnaround... Ozarka posted a 3.38 ERA (9th) this season with an impressive .977 FA... but the offense came up short with a .247 BA (25th), only 651 runs (23rd) and just 100 longballs (29th)... the Nats have a good starting rotation with John Dickinson (20-12/2.91), Willis Reece (17-17/3.26), Delmer Jeffries (11-8/3.29) and Jordy Alberstadt (15-10/3.89)... the bullpen is just so-so with Larry Lambert (6-2/2.23/3 saves/31 G) and Franco Perrina (2-4/3.01/41 G)... Ozarka only has one reliable hitter in the batting order: RF Scotty Hannon (.293/19/78/83/8 SB)... 2B Foxy Alderson (.258/10/83/57/12 SB) is just a fair hitter... not much after him... the Nats have a long way to go to compete with the likes of Midway... not likely soon.

This year the Tuckanarra Blue Jays (78-76) also returned to the first division in the TU East with a fourth-place finish (23 GB)... they were seventh (75-79) in '54 and a pathetic eighth (64-90) in '55... much better pitching did wonders for the Bluebirds... the Tucks posted a 3.31 ERA (5th), along with excellent fielding (.978 FA)... but scoring runs posed a problem (26th)... they compiled a .261 BA (14th), hit only 103 homers (27th-tied) and could turn them into only 638 runs (26th)... Tuckanarra has a good set of starters, led by Ozzie Leslie (16-11/2.90), rookie Justin Shank (16-13/3.16), Ian Timms (13-16/3.19) and Ralph Ayers (12-14/3.64)... the bullpen has a good closer in Paul Landale (7-7/3.20/29 saves/54 G), plus two other solid relievers in Terence Gargan (3-1/2.61/no saves/40 G) and Smokey Joe Ellison (4-1/2.85/1 save/37 G)... the Blue Jays have several fine contact hitters in 3B Newt Crutchfield (.319/13/78/76), LF Jali Toba (.307/12/55/62/18 SB) and 1B Rodger Parsons (.305/11/49/54), but none of them hit with much power... Tuckanarra has done well over the years, but not lately... they finished in the Tycobbian East first division 28 straight seasons (2023-2050)... the Tucks made the playoffs 17 times in the first four decades... and captured 3 Pro Cups (2023, 2024, 2035), but have won just one pennant since 2039... that was in '49... could be quite a while before they win another one.

The High Mesa Mustangs (75-79) hit with robust power, but it couldn't get them into the first division of the Tycobbian East... good pitching is an important ingredient to success in the baseball world... the Ponies came in fifth and 26 GB despite leading the IPA with 211 roundtrippers... they batted a solid .268 (8th) and scored 769 runs (6th), but the pitching staff gave up 191 homers (30th)... the Mustangs logged a ho-hum 4.19 ERA (25th) and also played poorly in the field with a .968 FA... but High Mesa really shined at the plate, led by beaucoup batters like CF Tracy McGriff (.283/40/104/111/10 SB), 3B Kagetoki Miyazaki (.273/43/109/89/1 SB), SS Tommy Yost (.335/21/82/80), 1B Ward Catlin (.292/28/72/74) and LF Virgil Lawton (.291/13/48/78/29 SB)... on the hill Tuffy Hammel (18-13/3.15) was the only effective starter... in the bullpen the only dependable reliever was Lloyd Armstrong (5-9/2.83/25 saves/50 G)... a poor start in April (7-19) doomed High Mesa's season... the Mustangs played fairly well the rest of the year, but had too much ground to make up and they just missed out on the first division... High Mesa (83-71) came in third in '55... overall in their IPA history the Mustangs have made the playoffs only 3 times... they made it their first two years in the IPA in 2002 and 2003... High Mesa won its only Pro Cup in 2002... after winning the Tycobbian East in '03, it took another 45 years to repeat it... 2048 was the last pennant-winning season... with such a fine arsenal, the future looks good for High Mesa... all they need is a few good men that can pitch and the Mustangs will be moving up in the TU East standings.

The Red Bluff Red Sox (71-83) began the season in grand fashion (17-9) and led the TU East into May, but then fell back to .500 baseball until August, then they collapsed and wound up in sixth place (30 GB)... the Red Sox only had humdrum pitching with a 4.13 (24th)... offense was second-rate, too, with a very poor .239 BA (28th), just 642 runs (25th) and 139 roundtrippers (15th-tied)... but defense was a little better-than-average (.974 FA)... down through the years Red Bluff hasn't done well... only 8 TU East flags and one Pro Cup (2004)... they improved from seventh last year (67-87) to sixth place this season... Fred Taylor (12-7/3.59) and Wilson Sharpe (17-18/3.53) were the most dependable starters and pretty decent... All-Star closer Dontrelle Gilbreath (5-5/1.89/23 saves/49 G) had a very good year, but didn't get a lot of help from the rest of the relievers... All-Star RF Toni Kolkov (.279/37/89/84/3 SB) is the star of the team... he is a reliable threat at the plate... other capable contributors are 1B Monty Lyons (.298/12/50/83/27 SB) and SS Wesley Robertson (.277/6/70/72/17 SB)... overall the Red Sox are just a run-of-the-mill second-division club.

The Hillsboro Blazers (64-90) broke even in April, but had losing records each month for the rest of the season... they came in seventh, trailing by 37 games... the Blazers are one of the worst franchises in the IPA with only one pennant in 55 years of play... Hillsboro has never won the Pro Cup... their only division title came in 2051 (98-56)... they were good in '52 (86-68), but slipped into mediocrity since... the Blazers can hit homers, but little else... they slugged 191 out of the park (3rd), but scored only 653 runs (21st-tied) and batted a pitiful .237 (31st)... on the mound Hillsboro was adequate with a 4.07 ERA (22nd)... Elliot Frampton (15-19/3.65) and Ian Barrie ((13-17/3.76) were the top two in the rotation, followed by longtime ace 37-year-old Steve Cooper (13-20/4.17) and Ruben Betros (12-18/4.45)... the best in the bullpen was closer Hank Greenberry (3-8/2.80/16 saves/41 G) and Ron Pryor (2-0/3.14/2 saves/48 G)... last year's TU Rookie of the Year RF Ichiro Ichikawa (.299/34/77/96/27 SB) had another strong season and was aided by 1B Dan Bushnell (.283/31/71/63) and CF Ziggy Crosby (.215/26/84/54/7 SB).

The last place South Fork Stallions (63-91) don't have much talent... the Hosses hit a lackluster .254 (21st), scored 668 runs (19th), but had only 103 home runs (27th-tied)... not too bad on the mound with a 4.10 ERA (23rd)... however, they did handle the gloves pretty well with a .975 FA... Bud Bowens (16-16/3.50) was the most dependable starter with some help from Emmett Coogan (16-15/4.34)... a couple of rookies showed potential: starter Sam Black (8-8/3.12) and reliever Kenny Keffer (4-10/3.27/18 saves/48 G)... sophomore RF Bob Purkey (.321/22/72/91/21 SB) was a standout and looked like a budding star... fine veteran C Rudy Maroney (.24/18/83/59/5 SB) had a decent year, but didn't hit much for average... and 35-year-old 1B Pete Arnold (.282/5/64/58/8 SB) continued his solid play in the field and at the plate... South Fork has only had two good season in the last decade... two third-place finishes in '53 (83-71) and '54 (85-69)... the last TU East division crowns came in '41, '42 and '43... the Stallions won their second Pro Cup in 2042... they got their first one in 2025... overall they have made the postseason just 6 times.