[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Sunday, April 1, 2057

WOLVES WILL FEAST IN TU EAST
For the fifth consecutive year the mighty Midway Wolves are the choice of the Tycobbian East Division... the Wolves have devoured the division each season since 2053, capturing the division flag by an average of 14 games... no one has come close to knocking the Middies off their pedestal... but could the landscape be changing?

This year the baseball braintrust think there might be a pennant race for the first time in recent memory... The Islandian Times' preseason poll shows it just might be a three-team tussle this season... Midway is still a solid pick, but the second-ranked East Point Panthers and the third-rated High Mesa Mustangs could make them sweat a little bit according to the experts... even the fourth pick Hillsboro Blazers and the fifth selection Red Bluff Red Sox have an outside chance of contending... Midway is striving for its third Pro Cup in the last five years... the Wolves' hearts were broken when they missed out on a third straight IPA title in '55, when White River upset them in the Tycobbian Union Finals... Midway has averaged almost 102 victories a year the past four seasons.

1. Midway Wolves (101-53) (1st Place)
Manager Bobby Dorignac has one of the greatest teams in IPA history... basically the Middies are fairly young, but the mound staff might be showing signs of age... that's why the baseball world has downgraded the club going into this season... the Wolves are still the class of the TU East and a highly-regarded Pro Cup contender... Midway is anchored by four All-Star performers: Daryl Vale, Norishige Ito, Kax Clark and Arnie McGill.

Top Batters:
TU MVP and Golden Bat RF Daryl Vale (.343/41 HR/1133 RBI), CF Norishige Ito (.314/36 HR/116 RB), SS Kax Clark (.300/6 HR/59 RBI) and 1B Ted Merritt (.287/26 HR/101 RBI)... three rookies made the team, but will be used in backup roles: MR Linc Christopher, SS Bryan Busby and RF Fred Coleman.

Top Pitchers:
Arnie McGill (22-6/2.62), Rob Land (21-9/2.74), Dookie Higgins (21-9/3.24) and Will Deberry (14-14/3.05)... bullpen is excellent with Jeffrey Leonard (2-1/1.31 ERA/8 saves), Rocket Rhodes (9-5/2.75 ERA/21 saves) and Charlie Chase (6-2/2.92 ERA/0 saves)

Outlook:
Midway should be a formidable power for a few years to come... Rob Land is 36 and coming back from arm injury... he is the question mark on the club, along with 37-year-old Charlie Chase... still the Wolves have enough firepower to win the Tycobbian East for a fifth year in a row.

2. East Point Panthers (86-68) (15 GB) (2nd Place)
East Point skipper and Hall-of-Fame hurler Frankie Blair, the all-time IPA leader with 391 wins, has a good club... they just happen to be in the wrong division... the Panthers have a string of seven solid winning seasons since 2050... they have even won two pennants ('50, '52) and came in second to Midway fives times... East Point could probably win most of the other IPA divisions with its high-powered bats and good pitching... should mythic Midway come out of the skyhigh heavens and back down to earth, the Panthers have the personnel to give them a battle... Blair stayed with the status quo... no rookies made the squad this year.

Top Batters:
CF Skip Donley (.296/41 HR/118 RBI), C Kenny Bailey (.274/27 HR/96 RBI), 1B Alvara Cavacos (.273/25 HR/90 RBI), 2B Teddy Flack (.285/19 HR/59 RBI), SS Justin McRae (.297/13 HR/75 RBI), LF Pokie Ash (.312/9 HR/71 RBI), RF Jakie Spears (.308/0 HR/58 RBI), 3B Manny Powers (.276 /12 HR/58 RBI).

Top Pitchers:
starters Benny Allen (17-10/3.03), Al Coatsworth (18-12/3.60), Eddy Winborne (14-6/3.75)... closer Kerry Woodburn (5-12/2.93 ERA/25 saves) is good some days and bad some days... inconsistent... bullpen needs help to overtake Midway.

Outlook:
East Point has standout core of hitters... pretty good starters... but not so good in bullpen... the Panthers look like a second place team again.

3. High Mesa Mustangs (75-79) (26 GB) (3rd Place)
All-time great slugger Jack Elliott still has the reins of the High Mesa Mustangs... Elliott hit .332, 848 homers and drove in over 2000 runs in his legendary career... he has his club hitting very well and his pitchers are coming along and making some progress... rookie right-hander Weldon Herrington has earned a spot in the rotation after a very good spring training... he, reliever Sandy Stevenson and first sacker Rex Beecroft are the only newcomers on the team... Stevenson has some good credentials, but labored in the spring... Beecroft is set to play against lefties... he hits for average and with some power... looks like a good addition to the roster... High Mesa had some good years '47 to '52 with a pennant and all first-division finishes... slipped into mediocrity three of the last four seasons... on the rise again according to the sports media... coupled with its robust arsenal, improved pitching will move the Mustangs up in the TU East standings... may be as high as third.

Top Batters:
IPA HR co-leader 3B Kagetoki Miyazaki (.273/43 HR/109 RBI) is the top gun in the lineup... helped out in abundance by CF Tracy McGriff (.283/40 HR/104 RBI), 1B Ward Catlin (.292/28 HR/72 RBI), 2B Tommy Yost (.335/21 HR/82 RBI), RF Virgil Lawton (.291/13 HR/48 RBI), LF Curly Yeats (.286/10 HR/53 RBI) and SS Sherm Abernathy (.283/8 HR/67 RBI)

Top Pitchers:
Tuffy Hammel (16-13/3.15)... closer Lloyd Armstrong (5-9/2.83 ERA/25 saves) is just alright... bullpen could stand some inprovement... Norman Gurley (11-18/4.18) and David Newell (12-14/4.53) give the Mustangs some quality starts, but not enough of them.

Outlook:
Manager Jack Elliott has his High Mesa Mustangs riding high... they show good promise this season and should wind up in the TU East first divsion behind powerhouse Midway and potent East Point... better pitching would greatly inprove the ball club, but still wouldn't get them up with the division's best teams... but the Mustangs have a good shot at the third spot in the standings.

4. Hillsboro Blazers (64-90) (37 GB) (7th Place)
It was another bad year for the Blazers... they wound up seventh in the TU East... Hillsboro is one of the worst franchises in the IPA... Hillsboro has only made one single, solitary appearance in the playoffs... that was in 2051... all manager Andy Jefferson's club can do is go deep... with a career .248 team BA they are one of the all-time worst hitting team in IPA history... Jefferson had two good seasons with the pennant-winning 98-56 record in '51, followed by 86-68 in '52, good for the fourth spot... but for the last four years just a poor to lackluster record... last season the club had lousy hitting, ho-hum pitching, but good power with 191 homers... the press is picking the Blazers to rise above the .500 mark and end up in the first division this year... they possess a couple of bonafide batters in youngsters CF Ichiro Ichikawa and 1B Dan Bushnell... plus rookie 3B Rube Nealy showed some talent this spring and won a spot in the batting order... hits for high average and with some power and is a solid defender.

Top Batters:
CF Ichiro Ichikawa (.299/34 HR/77 RBI), 1B Dan Bushnell (.283/31 HR/71 RBI), LF Ziggy Crosby (.215/28 HR/84 RBI)

Top Pitchers:
starters Elliot Frampton (15-19/3.65), Ian Barrie (13-17/2.76), Steve Cooper (13-20/4.17)... relievers Hank Greenberry (3-8/2.80 ERA/16 saves) and Ron Pryor (2-0/3.14 ERA/2 saves) just do a fair job in the bullpen.

Outlook:
Hillsboro may be a little better at the plate... 4th place is the most likely finish... Jefferson's Blazers are just a so-so ball club.

5. Red Bluff Red Sox (71-83) (30 GB) (6th Place)
Manager Ike Sweetwater had 12 straight winning years from 2043 to 2054... plus he won four pennants '44 to '47... but has slowly slipped since then... both hitting and pitching has declined in recent years... keep an eye out for rookie right-hander Duane Sturgeon, who throws 100 mph and will start the season in the starting rotation... rookie CF Paul Gaddison won a spot in the lineup with a fine spring... he reportedly can do it all... a 5-tool player.

Top Batters:
RF Toni Kolkov (.279/37 HR/89 RBI), 1B Monty Lyons (.298/12 HR/50 RBI), SS Wesley Robinson (.277/6 HR/70 RBI)

Top Pitchers:
starters Fred Taylor (12-7/3.59), Wilson Sharpe (17-18/3.53)... and closer Dontrelle Gilbreath (5-5/1.89 ERA/23 saves) is a stickout in the pen.

Outlook:
The Red Sox appear to be just a second-division club, but could sneak past Hillsboro for fourth place if rookies Sturgeon and Gaddison perform well.

6. Tuckanarra Blue Jays (78-76) (23 GB) (4th Place)
The Blue Jays last qualified for the postseason with a division crown in '49... just drifted into a fair-to-middling performance ever since... but manager Junior Bristow's team turned it around a little bit last year with some much-improved pitching... the Tucks have high hopes on hard-hitting rookie catcher Odell Overstreet, who hammered 8 homers in spring training... good-fielding rookie SS Curtis Wynn also made the starting lineup this spring.

Top Batters:
3B Newt Crutchfield (.319/13 HR/76 RBI), RF Harv Bannerman (.249/16 HR/56 RBI), LF Jali Toba (.307/12 HR/55 RBI), 1B Rodger Parsons (.305/11 HR/49 RBI), CF Orin Ryder (.301/3 HR/45 RBI)

Top Pitchers:
starters Ozzie Leslie (16-11/2.90), rookie Justin Shank (16-13/3.16), Ian Timms (13-16/3.19), Ralph Ayers (12-14/3.64)... fairly good bullpen, led by Paul Landale (7-7/3.20 ERA/29 saves)

Outlook:
Pitching can take a team a long way... Tuckanarra has a fine staff top to bottom... skipper Junior Bristow just need to crank out more runs from his lineup... rookie slugger Overstreet could make quite a difference... first-year SS Wynn should be a good solid player, too... the Bluebirds could contend for the fourth spot in the Tycobbian East race.

7. Ozarka Naturals (83-71) (18 GB) (3rd Place)
Until last season, the Nats had a losing record in 13 of the previous 14 seasons... better pitching made it possible... almost 20 years has past since the last TU East pennant... young manager Duffy Morrison has the future looking up in Ozarka... they rose from 8th in '54 to 6th in '55 and to 3rd in '56... that's what better pitching can do... and Morrison thinks the Naturals will get even better in '57 with the addition of two fine rookies, SS Chuck Dodkin and CF Chris Kile... they both stood out in spring training and claimed a starting spot in the batting order... slick-fielding Dodkin hit .412 this spring... Kile is a go-getter in the outfield and could hit for a high average as well.

Top Batters:
RF Scotty Hannon (.293/19 HR/78 RBI), 3B Foxy Alderson (.258/8 HR/83 RBI)

Top Pitchers:
starters John Dickinson (20-12/2.91), Willis Reece (17-17/3.26), Jordy Alberstadt (15-10/3.89), Delmer Jeffries (11-8/3.29)... the bullpen is not very good, which really hurts Ozarka's chances to climb higher.

Outlook:
For some reason the preseason prognosticators don't have much faith in Ozarka... they were chosen 7th in The Islandian Times' preseason poll... Morrison and his Nats think they will do much better.

8. South Fork Stallions (63-91) (38 GB) (8th Place)
The Hosses won their last TU East in '43... they also had a splendid year in '44 finishing second (93-61) to a very good Red Bluff club (95-59)... since then it's been a dismal decade of decline until two third-place finishes in '53 and '54 with 83-71 and 85-69 marks... however in the last two years, not so good again... and really bad last year... manager Eldon Jacoby has little offense and little pitching... he needs a lot of infusion of talent... Jacoby hopes flamethrower reliever Herm McClanahan and all-around good 1B Otto Rommel can begin the rebuilding process.

Top Batters:
RF Bob Purkey (.321/22 HR/72 RBI), C Rudy Maroney (.245/18 HR/83 RBI)

Top Pitchers:
starters Bud Bowens (16-16/3.50), Emmett Coogan (16-15/4.34), Sam Black (8-8/3.12)

Outlook:
Rebuilding will take some time... looks like a long year for the Stallions... another year in the TU East cellar.