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THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Friday, October 6, 2056
PRO CUP FINALS VERY EVEN MATCH
The 56th edition of the Pro Cup Finals should be a good one... both participants are two of this year's elite powers and both have proved themselves worthy in rounds one and two of the playoffs... #2 ranked Turon will be challenged by #4 Middlefield in the best-of-seven IPA championship series... it looms to be one of the better matchups in recent years.
Both clubs are loaded with an arsenal of offense... it could be quite a shootout... runs have come easy and in abundance for the Middlefield Roosters, who paced the IPA with 895 runs in the regular season... Turon can also boast a high-powered attack with 806 runs... whoever gets the best pitching should win the Pro Cup trophy... the defense is about equal.
Middlefield has breezed into the Pro Cup Finals, taking care of a pretty good ballclub, Eastshore, in five games in the first round, then sweeping a talented Taranto team in the Ruthlandian title series... Turon had a tough and hard road to travel, fending off the White River Rascals in a tense seven-game series in round one and whipping the Pro Cup favorite Midway in the Tycobbian championship series in six games, five of them hotly-contested.
Pro Cup history is meaningless in assessing the Pro Cup clubs unless it is of a very recent nature... the Turon Typhoons will be seeking the fifth Pro Cup in the team's history and their first since 2018, while the Middlefield Roosters are in quest of Pro Cup number three... however, they won it in 2052 and still have a lot of those players still on the roster... the ones missing are three talented starters, Carroll Collier, Hollis Dale and Larry Wheelhouse... after successful careers all of them have since retired... James Long is the only returnee, along with the strong bullpen of Norm Coventry, Ken Willis and Yazzy Yastrzemski... the current crop of starters for the Roosters come way short of the Pro Cup champs.
This should be a very close series, going six or seven games... the offenses are fairly equal... give Turon a slight edge in the starting rotation with Bobby Reimer (20-14/2.48), Yancey Hedges (20-14/3.44) and rookie Judson Bacall (11-6/3.48)... Middlefield doesn't quite match up with that trio... ace James Long (20-9/2.21) certainly can... Scott Cole (19-13/3.53) is a good number two... but it really falls off with Cal West (9-9/5.01)... counter that with the Roosters getting the best of it in the bullpen with the Pro Cup returnees... Norm Coventry (1-2/1.21 ERA/24 saves/42 G), Yazzy Yastrzemski (7-2/2.33 ERA/7 saves/35 G) and Ken Willis (2-1/2.95 ERA/0 saves/28 G) have stood out this year... Turon's pen comes up short with Dickie Parmenter (7-9/3.46 ERA/12 saves/40 G), Nate Scottsdale (4-6/3.53 ERA/10 saves/35 G), Glenn Avery (5-0/2.39 ERA/2 saves/41 G) and Spunky Kinchlow (64/4.47 ERA/0 saves/37 G)... maybe call it a draw on the mound, too... the difference maker just might be home-run power... during the regular season the Roosters went deep 173 times (4th), while the Typhoons hit 139 out of the park (15th)... in the playoffs Middlefield has the edge 15 to 10... but I must add it is easier to home runs in smallish Middlefield Park... so we're back to square one.
Who's gonna win the 2056 IPA Pro Cup trophy?
My mind tells me Turon will win in seven games... they beat two fine teams to get to the Pro Cup Finals... then my gut feeling says Middlefield got by two talented teams, too... what the heck!... it's the Year of the Roosters, I think... so I'm going to pick the Roosters in seven games.
What do you guys and gals think? (EC likes to be PC... politically correct)
You're welcome to chime in and pick the winner here on the OOTPB Dynasty Forum.
To help you out I will give you all of the stats I can.
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