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

Eugene Church · 05-03-2018, 05:45 PM

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Sunday, April 1, 2057

DC REDBIRDS PRIMED AND LOADED IN TU WEST
The Denton City Redbirds have suffered two heartrendering defeats in recent years in the Tycobbian West Division, both to the Arlon Champions... the Champs edged them by one game in '54 and last season... the Redbirds copped the TU West in '53 and '55 and The Islandian Times' preseason experts predict they are primed, poised and ready to steamroll everybody in the division in 2057... Denton City is favored by a wide margin to whip its primary pennant challengers, the Bayview Vikings, Kenwood Wildcats and Bay St. Clair Buccaneers... hard to believe, but according to the pollsters last year's winner Arlon is slated for a seventh-place finish this season.

1. Denton City Redbirds (96-59) (1 GB) (2nd Place)
Longtime DC skipper Pete Gibbs has an abundance of impressive talent on the hill and his offense is just barely good enough to get the job done... beware TU West... the Redbirds may even be better with the addition of several fine prospects... infielder Sherm Dobkins tore up the pitchers in spring training and will be hard to keep out of the lineup... rookie southpaw Rob Currie is also a good addition in the bullpen... it may be hard to keep him out of the starting rotation.

Top Batters:
SS Vincent McCloud (.295/28 HR/86 RBI), 1B Val Anniston (.281/22 HR/94 RBI), 2B Joey Lake (.296/8 HR/48 RBI)

Top Pitchers:
Flash Stringfellow (22-12/2.71), Rance Hasbrough (16-8/2.94), Carl Coons (14-0/2.93), Jayson Mannon (17-16/2.94)... closer Burnell Kelley (7-2/0.59 ERA/22 saves) is one of the IPA's best... starters may be the best foursome in the IPA.

Outlook:
Denton City is loaded... not likely to lose the TU West this season... but Arlon is still in the TU West... is still a very good ballclub... and still quite capable of running a good race.

2. Bayview Vikings (72-82) (24.5 GB) (8th Place)
The Vikings are banking on longtime hitting star Jack Culpepper (.304/878 HR) to get them competitive in the Tycobbian West... Culpepper had much success on the diamond as a player... he is the all-time home-run king, but he has had to go through three torturous seasons running the ballclub... Bayview wound up last in his first two seasons and seventh in the third year, but the Viks have improved a little each year... going back to 2044 the Vikings have not had a winning season in 12 years... so Culpepper inherited a terrible team when he took charge... but they is some good news... the 2057 rookie class is something special acccording to Culpepper... Ivar Rasmussen is a bonafide starter and three outfielders will get opportunities to start, greatly improving the Viks' offense... keep an eye on Morten Skov, Reidar Henriksen and Jorgen Ostergaard... the baseball media has also been impressed and voted Bayview the second spot in the TU West standings... which is quite a jump from the basement... remember the Vikings already have a high-octane lineup... and the pitching staff is expected to be upgraded a bit from pathetic to borderline run-of-the-mill.

Top Batters:
3B Byorn Karlsen (.303/40 HR/97 RBI), 1B Eddie Beeman (.246/33 HR/99 RBI), RF Vern Woodcock (.233/30 HR/73 RBI), 2B Lou Kauchak (.327/11 HR/44 RBI)

Top Pitchers:
starters Herm Monday (13-17/3.81), Jules Perot (15-15/3.67)... with a pretty good closer in Skeets Dyson (3-6/2.90 ERA/28 saves)

Outlook:
Bayview is a much better team than when Culpepper took over three years ago... and along with that, this year's rookie class looks special... Culpepper would do well if he can get the Vikings anywhere near the first division... fourth or fifth place would be a fine year for him.

3. Kenwood Wildcats (88-66) (8.5 GB) (3rd Place)
For the past three seasons manager Babe Hankins and his Wildcats have been stuck in the third spot in the TU West standings... and it seems to be more of the same this year... Hankins is in hopes of getting back to winning the pennant like Kenwood did in '52... he is optimistic about his freshman class... it's big and good with lots of potential... five position players will trying to win spots in the lineup... they should kick up the offense and boost the Wildcats' run-scoring ability... Hankins' hurlers are pretty fair... four fair starters and a solid bullpen.

Top Batters:
1B Bralen Connally (.275/29 HR/113 RBI), LF Chris McNeal (.251/29 HR/77 RBI) and C John Michael Lansdell (.297/15 HR/66 RBI).

Top Pitchers:
Mickey Maughan (17-9/3.58), Ward Elliott (15-17/4.12) and James Farnham (13-12/4.19) are reliable starters... Al Bryan (7-4/3.43) is back after an injury cost him the second half of the season last year... the bullpen is handled by Pee Wee Windham (9-11/3.06 ERA/30 saves) and Neal Wilbert (11-1/2.03 ERA/1 save).

Outlook:
Like several other clubs, Kenwood's success depends on the rookies... the Wildcats are a genuine contender for the first division... second place is within the realm of possibility, especially if Al Bryan can pitch like he did before the injury... and should all the rookies produce well, they will challenge talented Denton City for the division crown... Hankins has a good club.

4. Bay St. Clair Buccaneers (77-77) (19.5 GB) (5th Place)
The Bucs enjoyed wonderful success in '49 and '50 under skipper Cotton Cornwall... they captured the Tycobbian West title both seasons... but they have declined in recent years, winding up fifth in '55 and '56... BSC has a good staff, but lacks bats... five rookie hopefuls have made the squad with SS Johnny Sammons winning a spot as a regular... he features a good glove with a good bat... can go deep occasionally... newcomer Benny Daye will be in the starting rotation.

Top Batters:
1B Clive Caveness (.259/20 HR/72 RBI), LF Jed Killick (.233/23 HR/74 RBI), C Hersh Cranmore (.270/13 HR/63 RBI), RF Erik Kruger (.289/14 HR/53 RBI)

Top Pitchers:
starters Scott Hedwall (19-15/2.99), Jerry MacIntyre (14-16/3.45), Kyle Eastman (11-17/4.03)... bullpen is strong with longtime star Cadillac Bogart (3-6/1.37 ERA/26 saves).

Outlook:
Bay St. Clair should contest for the first division along with all the other clubs falling in behind powerful Denton City... only poor La Clair is out of the running... quality pitchers can take you a long way... what would really help the Buccaneers is several more threats at the plate... that's their biggest shortcoming.

5. Rolling Hills Reds (79-75) (17.5 GB) (4th Place)
Rolling Hills won the 2048 Pro Cup, but has slowly degraded since, but remained a first-division team until Billy Christianson took over the Reds in 2052 from his dad, Matty Christianson... Billy Christianson has struggled as the Rolling Hills manager... he was under .500 his first three seasons... but has come in fourth in '55 and '56 with 79-74 marks... Christianson has fairly good pitching and good offense with fair HR power... the bats could be better this year with rookies 1B Teddy Stonich and C Lee Fountain in the lineup... the pollsters say 2057 will be much like last year... they ranked the Reds fifth this year in the preseason poll.

Top Batters:
2B Dustin Thibodeau (.315/24 HR/110 RBI), Jean-Luc Roubique (.291/17 HR/100 RBI), SS Jameson Mulbert (.299/7 HR/65 RBI), RF Rory Teed (.327/11 HR/61 RBI)

Top Pitchers:
Vance Dillaway (18-11/3.39), P. J. Dunham (16-10/3.88), Tommy Otis (12-14/4.19)... excellent closer Matty Mosby (6-6/2.01)

Outlook:
Good offense could get better with new rookies Stonich and Fountain... pitching may not be as good as last year... Rolling Hills will be one of the six contenders in the battle royal for second place behind favorite Denton City.

6. Chicopee Braves (75-79) (21.5 GB) (6th Place)
Chicopee is not a successful IPA franchise... eons ago they won three straight division flags 2034-2036... but for the last two decades have only had four winning seasons with 80-74 their best in '53... like many clubs in the TU West, they are just fair-to-middling... the Braves have a new skipper Paul Foster (129-169/3.98)... he is replacing Augie Meaux this year... a journeyman pitcher Foster falls heir to a good quality pitching staff and a lackluster offense with not much firepower... to help the offense Chicopee signed six rookie position players... none of them stood out in the spring games.

Top Batters:
LF Travis Ledger (.317/12 HR/75 RBI), 2B Derrell Stelly (.296/10 HR/62 RBI), CF Vance Tunstall (.279/10 HR/41 RBI)

Top Pitchers:
Chuta Shaman (18-15/3.66), Russ Clooney (14-12/3.86), Sharlon Barbour (13-23/3.49), Gavin Kinville (13-22/4.22)... really fine bullpen with Rocky Dowling (4-1/1.76 ERA/25 saves/39 G), Don Beeton (3-1/2.03 ERA/0 saves/44 G), Cy Abernathy (3-1/1.84 ERA/4 saves/38 G), Chipper Gilton (2-0/1.57 ERA/0 saves/25 G)

7. Arlon Champions (97-58) (1st Place)
In the recent past the Champs have been one of the elite clubs in the Tycobbian West Division with one Pro Cup title (2051) and three division pennants ('51, '54, '56)... manager Mark Cameron has a very good team with a solid pitching rotation and a more than substantial offense... a well-balanced team... Arlon only added one rookie to the roster, but RF Mychal Baron stuggled in spring training.

Top Batters:
LF Jamey Stansfield (.290/40 HR/103 RBI), 1B Rebel Bryce (.281/27 HR/84 RBI), 3B Art Catlin (.285/24 HR/83 RBI), C Riley Earnshaw (.310/9 HR/79 RBI), SS Leon Normand (.315/12 Hr/65 RBI)

Top Pitchers:
Erik Branham (21-10/3.75), J. C. Hilburn (18-12/3.27), Dicky Towers (19-8/3.71), Ty Coffee (17-12/3.94)... fair bullpen headed up by Mack Blair (3-5/3.04 ERA/36 saves)

Outlook:
The Arlon mound corps may be aging a bit with starters Hilburn (35) and Coffee (34), but the Champions are still a fairly young squad... it's strange why they were chosen to wind up in the seventh spot this season... they still look pretty potent on paper... wouldn't be surprised if they end up in second place... Denton City appears to be too strong to beat this year.

8. La Claire Lynx (74-80) (22.5 GB) (7th Place)
After many years at the helm HOF-er Flash Devlin retired as Lynx skipper and was replaced by Pat Kovacs, who starred for them on the hill for almost two decades, finishing up with an impressive 308-228 record and a career 2.84 ERA... he retired in '42 and made the IPA Hall of Fame in '44... La Claire needs help on the mound... they are on the poor side... the offense is fairly good... only three times in the last 20 seasons have the Lynx posted a winning mark... they have not made the playoffs since '37 and '38... only one in-coming rookie... after a good spring young right-hander Tim Halliburton will get his shot in the rotation this year.

Top Batters:
1B Charlie Rodgers (.339/31 HR/109 RBI), SS Horace Rutherford (.296/13 HR/76 RBI), 2B Derek Winchester (.298/9 HR/65 RBI), 3B Frisco Thorpe (.257/20 HR/70 RBI)

Top Pitchers:
Chance Coursey (18-12/3.82), Krisjan Valk (17-15/3.96), Kelly Hudgins (12-10/4.29)... La Claire has a really bad bullpen... best of the lot is Kraig Cutler (1-3/3.38 ERA/11 saves)

Outlook:
La Claire looks like the worst team in the TU West by a long shot... that where the baseball experts placed them... looks like the cellar for new manager Pat Kovacs in his initial season.

05-03-2018, 05:45 PM	#5735
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 35,896	THE ISLANDIAN TIMES Sunday, April 1, 2057 DC REDBIRDS PRIMED AND LOADED IN TU WEST The Denton City Redbirds have suffered two heartrendering defeats in recent years in the Tycobbian West Division, both to the Arlon Champions... the Champs edged them by one game in '54 and last season... the Redbirds copped the TU West in '53 and '55 and The Islandian Times' preseason experts predict they are primed, poised and ready to steamroll everybody in the division in 2057... Denton City is favored by a wide margin to whip its primary pennant challengers, the Bayview Vikings, Kenwood Wildcats and Bay St. Clair Buccaneers... hard to believe, but according to the pollsters last year's winner Arlon is slated for a seventh-place finish this season. 1. Denton City Redbirds (96-59) (1 GB) (2nd Place) Longtime DC skipper Pete Gibbs has an abundance of impressive talent on the hill and his offense is just barely good enough to get the job done... beware TU West... the Redbirds may even be better with the addition of several fine prospects... infielder Sherm Dobkins tore up the pitchers in spring training and will be hard to keep out of the lineup... rookie southpaw Rob Currie is also a good addition in the bullpen... it may be hard to keep him out of the starting rotation. Top Batters: SS Vincent McCloud (.295/28 HR/86 RBI), 1B Val Anniston (.281/22 HR/94 RBI), 2B Joey Lake (.296/8 HR/48 RBI) Top Pitchers: Flash Stringfellow (22-12/2.71), Rance Hasbrough (16-8/2.94), Carl Coons (14-0/2.93), Jayson Mannon (17-16/2.94)... closer Burnell Kelley (7-2/0.59 ERA/22 saves) is one of the IPA's best... starters may be the best foursome in the IPA. Outlook: Denton City is loaded... not likely to lose the TU West this season... but Arlon is still in the TU West... is still a very good ballclub... and still quite capable of running a good race. 2. Bayview Vikings (72-82) (24.5 GB) (8th Place) The Vikings are banking on longtime hitting star Jack Culpepper (.304/878 HR) to get them competitive in the Tycobbian West... Culpepper had much success on the diamond as a player... he is the all-time home-run king, but he has had to go through three torturous seasons running the ballclub... Bayview wound up last in his first two seasons and seventh in the third year, but the Viks have improved a little each year... going back to 2044 the Vikings have not had a winning season in 12 years... so Culpepper inherited a terrible team when he took charge... but they is some good news... the 2057 rookie class is something special acccording to Culpepper... Ivar Rasmussen is a bonafide starter and three outfielders will get opportunities to start, greatly improving the Viks' offense... keep an eye on Morten Skov, Reidar Henriksen and Jorgen Ostergaard... the baseball media has also been impressed and voted Bayview the second spot in the TU West standings... which is quite a jump from the basement... remember the Vikings already have a high-octane lineup... and the pitching staff is expected to be upgraded a bit from pathetic to borderline run-of-the-mill. Top Batters: 3B Byorn Karlsen (.303/40 HR/97 RBI), 1B Eddie Beeman (.246/33 HR/99 RBI), RF Vern Woodcock (.233/30 HR/73 RBI), 2B Lou Kauchak (.327/11 HR/44 RBI) Top Pitchers: starters Herm Monday (13-17/3.81), Jules Perot (15-15/3.67)... with a pretty good closer in Skeets Dyson (3-6/2.90 ERA/28 saves) Outlook: Bayview is a much better team than when Culpepper took over three years ago... and along with that, this year's rookie class looks special... Culpepper would do well if he can get the Vikings anywhere near the first division... fourth or fifth place would be a fine year for him. 3. Kenwood Wildcats (88-66) (8.5 GB) (3rd Place) For the past three seasons manager Babe Hankins and his Wildcats have been stuck in the third spot in the TU West standings... and it seems to be more of the same this year... Hankins is in hopes of getting back to winning the pennant like Kenwood did in '52... he is optimistic about his freshman class... it's big and good with lots of potential... five position players will trying to win spots in the lineup... they should kick up the offense and boost the Wildcats' run-scoring ability... Hankins' hurlers are pretty fair... four fair starters and a solid bullpen. Top Batters: 1B Bralen Connally (.275/29 HR/113 RBI), LF Chris McNeal (.251/29 HR/77 RBI) and C John Michael Lansdell (.297/15 HR/66 RBI). Top Pitchers: Mickey Maughan (17-9/3.58), Ward Elliott (15-17/4.12) and James Farnham (13-12/4.19) are reliable starters... Al Bryan (7-4/3.43) is back after an injury cost him the second half of the season last year... the bullpen is handled by Pee Wee Windham (9-11/3.06 ERA/30 saves) and Neal Wilbert (11-1/2.03 ERA/1 save). Outlook: Like several other clubs, Kenwood's success depends on the rookies... the Wildcats are a genuine contender for the first division... second place is within the realm of possibility, especially if Al Bryan can pitch like he did before the injury... and should all the rookies produce well, they will challenge talented Denton City for the division crown... Hankins has a good club. 4. Bay St. Clair Buccaneers (77-77) (19.5 GB) (5th Place) The Bucs enjoyed wonderful success in '49 and '50 under skipper Cotton Cornwall... they captured the Tycobbian West title both seasons... but they have declined in recent years, winding up fifth in '55 and '56... BSC has a good staff, but lacks bats... five rookie hopefuls have made the squad with SS Johnny Sammons winning a spot as a regular... he features a good glove with a good bat... can go deep occasionally... newcomer Benny Daye will be in the starting rotation. Top Batters: 1B Clive Caveness (.259/20 HR/72 RBI), LF Jed Killick (.233/23 HR/74 RBI), C Hersh Cranmore (.270/13 HR/63 RBI), RF Erik Kruger (.289/14 HR/53 RBI) Top Pitchers: starters Scott Hedwall (19-15/2.99), Jerry MacIntyre (14-16/3.45), Kyle Eastman (11-17/4.03)... bullpen is strong with longtime star Cadillac Bogart (3-6/1.37 ERA/26 saves). Outlook: Bay St. Clair should contest for the first division along with all the other clubs falling in behind powerful Denton City... only poor La Clair is out of the running... quality pitchers can take you a long way... what would really help the Buccaneers is several more threats at the plate... that's their biggest shortcoming. 5. Rolling Hills Reds (79-75) (17.5 GB) (4th Place) Rolling Hills won the 2048 Pro Cup, but has slowly degraded since, but remained a first-division team until Billy Christianson took over the Reds in 2052 from his dad, Matty Christianson... Billy Christianson has struggled as the Rolling Hills manager... he was under .500 his first three seasons... but has come in fourth in '55 and '56 with 79-74 marks... Christianson has fairly good pitching and good offense with fair HR power... the bats could be better this year with rookies 1B Teddy Stonich and C Lee Fountain in the lineup... the pollsters say 2057 will be much like last year... they ranked the Reds fifth this year in the preseason poll. Top Batters: 2B Dustin Thibodeau (.315/24 HR/110 RBI), Jean-Luc Roubique (.291/17 HR/100 RBI), SS Jameson Mulbert (.299/7 HR/65 RBI), RF Rory Teed (.327/11 HR/61 RBI) Top Pitchers: Vance Dillaway (18-11/3.39), P. J. Dunham (16-10/3.88), Tommy Otis (12-14/4.19)... excellent closer Matty Mosby (6-6/2.01) Outlook: Good offense could get better with new rookies Stonich and Fountain... pitching may not be as good as last year... Rolling Hills will be one of the six contenders in the battle royal for second place behind favorite Denton City. 6. Chicopee Braves (75-79) (21.5 GB) (6th Place) Chicopee is not a successful IPA franchise... eons ago they won three straight division flags 2034-2036... but for the last two decades have only had four winning seasons with 80-74 their best in '53... like many clubs in the TU West, they are just fair-to-middling... the Braves have a new skipper Paul Foster (129-169/3.98)... he is replacing Augie Meaux this year... a journeyman pitcher Foster falls heir to a good quality pitching staff and a lackluster offense with not much firepower... to help the offense Chicopee signed six rookie position players... none of them stood out in the spring games. Top Batters: LF Travis Ledger (.317/12 HR/75 RBI), 2B Derrell Stelly (.296/10 HR/62 RBI), CF Vance Tunstall (.279/10 HR/41 RBI) Top Pitchers: Chuta Shaman (18-15/3.66), Russ Clooney (14-12/3.86), Sharlon Barbour (13-23/3.49), Gavin Kinville (13-22/4.22)... really fine bullpen with Rocky Dowling (4-1/1.76 ERA/25 saves/39 G), Don Beeton (3-1/2.03 ERA/0 saves/44 G), Cy Abernathy (3-1/1.84 ERA/4 saves/38 G), Chipper Gilton (2-0/1.57 ERA/0 saves/25 G) 7. Arlon Champions (97-58) (1st Place) In the recent past the Champs have been one of the elite clubs in the Tycobbian West Division with one Pro Cup title (2051) and three division pennants ('51, '54, '56)... manager Mark Cameron has a very good team with a solid pitching rotation and a more than substantial offense... a well-balanced team... Arlon only added one rookie to the roster, but RF Mychal Baron stuggled in spring training. Top Batters: LF Jamey Stansfield (.290/40 HR/103 RBI), 1B Rebel Bryce (.281/27 HR/84 RBI), 3B Art Catlin (.285/24 HR/83 RBI), C Riley Earnshaw (.310/9 HR/79 RBI), SS Leon Normand (.315/12 Hr/65 RBI) Top Pitchers: Erik Branham (21-10/3.75), J. C. Hilburn (18-12/3.27), Dicky Towers (19-8/3.71), Ty Coffee (17-12/3.94)... fair bullpen headed up by Mack Blair (3-5/3.04 ERA/36 saves) Outlook: The Arlon mound corps may be aging a bit with starters Hilburn (35) and Coffee (34), but the Champions are still a fairly young squad... it's strange why they were chosen to wind up in the seventh spot this season... they still look pretty potent on paper... wouldn't be surprised if they end up in second place... Denton City appears to be too strong to beat this year. 8. La Claire Lynx (74-80) (22.5 GB) (7th Place) After many years at the helm HOF-er Flash Devlin retired as Lynx skipper and was replaced by Pat Kovacs, who starred for them on the hill for almost two decades, finishing up with an impressive 308-228 record and a career 2.84 ERA... he retired in '42 and made the IPA Hall of Fame in '44... La Claire needs help on the mound... they are on the poor side... the offense is fairly good... only three times in the last 20 seasons have the Lynx posted a winning mark... they have not made the playoffs since '37 and '38... only one in-coming rookie... after a good spring young right-hander Tim Halliburton will get his shot in the rotation this year. Top Batters: 1B Charlie Rodgers (.339/31 HR/109 RBI), SS Horace Rutherford (.296/13 HR/76 RBI), 2B Derek Winchester (.298/9 HR/65 RBI), 3B Frisco Thorpe (.257/20 HR/70 RBI) Top Pitchers: Chance Coursey (18-12/3.82), Krisjan Valk (17-15/3.96), Kelly Hudgins (12-10/4.29)... La Claire has a really bad bullpen... best of the lot is Kraig Cutler (1-3/3.38 ERA/11 saves) Outlook: La Claire looks like the worst team in the TU West by a long shot... that where the baseball experts placed them... looks like the cellar for new manager Pat Kovacs in his initial season. Attached Images Last edited by Eugene Church; 05-03-2018 at 05:47 PM.