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Eugene Church · 06-02-2018, 06:44 PM

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Wednesday, September 1, 2057

CLOSE RACE IN RU SOUTH, WON BY CRUSADERS
The preseason prediction missed by a bunch in the Ruthlandian South Division this year... the Crystal Lake Skippers were supposed to cruise to the title with the St. John Crusaders and the Valka Blackhawks far back in the race... but it didn't transpire that way... it was a four-club cluster most of the season with the St. John (87-67) pretty much on top start to finish... with Crystal Lake, the Waleska Westerners and Claxton Diamonds staying on the Crusaders' coattails most of the year... the Skippers (86-68) made a run at St. John down-the-stretch, but fell one game short... the Westerners (80-74) and Diamonds (75-79) faded in the late summer... the poor Valka Blackhawks (62-92) were never a factor and came in last in the RU South.

1ST PLACE: ST. JOHN CRUSADERS (87-67)
Last Year: 81-73 (5 GB) (2nd Place)
2 Years Ago: 71-83 (14 GB) (7th Place)
Last Postseason: 2050 (No Pro Cups) (9 Pennants)

Team Stats: .273 BA (8th), 740 runs (7th), 123 HR (22nd), 3.49 ERA (3rd), .977 FA (Good)

Top Pitchers: Teddy de Grom (18-12/4.06), rookie Tom Smithson (16-13/3.37), Teddy Howell (14-12/3.35), rookie Deke Eubanks (12-14/3.83)... lost ace Whitlow Cornwell (12-5/3.69) in June for the season... good bullpen with Mark Faber (2-2/2.62 ERA/23 saves/45 G)... 2.80 ERA (4th).

Top Batters: manager Nicky Farrugia has three reliable batters in All-Star 3B Ozwaldo Romero (.288/19 HR/80 RBI/63 R), CF Freddie Woodruff (.293/9 HR/59 RBI/79 R/8 SB), C Tuffy Palmieri (.283/13 HR/61 RBI/76 R)... plus some capable platoon players like OF Lou Endicott (.348/11 HR/50 RBI/50 R/7 SB), OF Cris Hershey (.332/6 HR/30 RBI/42 R/1 SB), OF Ellis Aycock (.304/6 HR/37 RBI/51 R/9 SB), OF Ron Silas (.287/9 HR/40 RBI/41 R/3 SB), 3B Mark Warner (.293/1 HR/39 RBI/41 R)... All-Star 2B Jimmy Upchurch (.296/10 HR/63 RBI/65 R/8 SB) was lost to injury in August... Upchurch could return during the playoffs.

2nd Place: Crystal Lake Skippers (86-78) (1 GB)
Last Year: (78-76) (8 GB) (5th Place)
2 Years Ago: (80-74) (5 GB) (4th Place)
Last Postseason: 2044 (2 Pro Cups: 2020, 2022) (10 Pennants)

Team Stats: .274 BA (7th), 770 runs (4th), 159 HR (7th), 3.86 ERA (16th), .978 FA (Good)

Top Pitchers: Merle Pitts (19-13/2.90), Robin Norborne (19-15/3.74), Tony Calamari (9-5/2.90)... Calamari joined the club in July and stood out... he flopped in '53 and '54... in the bullpen Yuri Kirchoff (3-3/2.64 ERA/21 saves/42 G) did very well in his rookie year.

Top Batters: HOF hurler Duncan Welch (350-255/2.78 ERA) is the skipper for Crystal Lake and this year he came very close to winning the RU South division flag, falling just one game short... Welch won three Golden Arms ('19, '20,'23) and two MVPs ('20, '23) and led the Skippers to 2 Pro Cup titles (2020, 2022)... he has a potent attack with LF Zippy Coburn (.314/23 HR/100 RBI/98 R/5 SB), SS Gib Conlan (.275/24 HR/101 RBI/90 R/1 SB), rookie CF Mel Brouwer (.308/23 HR/92 RBI/94 R/5 SB), 3B Jasper Shackleford (.292/22 HR/75 RBI/81 R) and 1B Randy Dunn (.272/14 HR/74 RBI/64 R/1 SB).

3rd Place: Waleska Westerners (80-74) (7 GB)
Last Year: (86-68) (1st Place)
Two Years Ago: (82-72) (3 GB) (2nd Place)
Last Postseason: 2056 (3 Pro Cups: 2028, 2037, 2039) (11 Pennants)

Team Stats: .260 BA (17th), 668 run (20th), 122 HR (23rd-tied), 3.57 ERA (6th), .977 FA (Good)

Top Pitchers: Johnny Merriman (22-9/3.48), Bret Shockley (19-15/3.16), Lou Carlson (8-9/3.36 ERA/11 saves/37 G), Rory Beecroft (14-11/3.75 ERA/12 saves/43 G), Cal Tilton (5-16/3.21)... Carlson and Beecroft were both closers and starters at different times in the season... HOF player and manager Roy Hobbs has a good staff... if he can stabilize the bullpen, his club will be even better.

Top Batters: Hobbs also needs to improve his offense... he could use a couple of hitters like he was... .345 BA, 587 HR, 2087 RBI... he was a 15-time All-Star... won 7 Golden Bats... and led the Westerners to the 2028 Pro Cup championship... one of the IPA all-time greats... his lineup only has modest hitters... nothing special... the best of the lot are CF Boomer Barnes (.281/21 HR/84 RBI/92 R/2 SB), 1B Johnny Dillinger (.273/15 HR/74 RBI/76 R), 1B Bitsy Boccbella (.264/22 HR/65 RBI/70 R/2 SB).

4th Place: Claxton Diamonds (75-79) (12 GB)
Last Year: (68-86) (18 GB) (8th Place)
Two Years Ago: (69-85) (16 GB) (8th Place)
Last Postseason: 2049 (No Pro Cups) 14 Pennants

Team Stats: .254 BA (27th), 733 runs (8th), 174 HR (4th), 4.23 ERA (28th), .983 FA (Excellent)

Top Pitchers: new manager Abe Shiffman got the Diamonds out of the cellar this year... they had been there for the past two seasons... he has a couple of good starters in Leon Reynolds (20-9/3.70) and Matt Goodrum (20-13/3.82) and an excellent closer in rookie Mark Meisner (2-3/1.34 ERA/25 saves/46 G)... not a lot else to brag about.

Top Batters: at age 42 former skipper Jojo DeLucca (.296/26 HR/107 RBI/73 R/2 SB) is a marvel at second base... still makes the All-Star team (15th time) and knocks the heck out of the ball and is still a Gold Glover... and he may come back next year for his 24th season... career .304 hitter with 629 HRs and 2394 RBIs... DeLucca needs only 15 runs to set a new IPA record... the great Phil Gravelli is tops with 2092... DeLucca is just 99 RBIs shy of the all-time record of 2493 also held by Gravelli... DeLucca has a lot of help in the lineup from LF Bobby Bright (.277/33 HR/87 RBI/97 R/1 SB), 3B Fred Hahn (.300/23 HR/90 RBI/94 R) and RF Jimmy John Ramsey (.285/22 HR/70 RBI/51 R/1 SB).

5th Place: Grand City Cybercats (74-80)
Last Year: 81-73 (5 GB) (3rd Place)
Two Years Ago: 85-69 (1st Place)
Last Postseason: 2055 (No Pro Cups) (4 Pennants)

Team Stats: .262 BA (13th), 699 runs (16th), 133 HR (19th), 3.79 ERA (13th), .977 FA (Good)

Top Pitchers: Steve Shirley (16-11/2.78) is the best by far... others are fairly reliable: Jozef Chojnaki (14-17/3.75), Fred Barrow (17-18/4.09)... not much of a bullpen... manager Thomas Hall needs help on the mound and at the plate... two relievers George Martz (5-9/3.54 ERA/12 saves/42 G) and Arnie McConnell (10-4/3.80 ERA/10 saves/31 G) both did fairly well as starters in the second half of the season... they both show promise for next year.

Top Batters: 1B Vince Kinston (.329/22 HR/74 RBI/75 R), 2B Zane Faulkner (.298/4 HR/64 RBI/81 R), LF Dave Durocher (.260/20 HR/80 RBI/72 R/6 SB)

6th Place: San Dimas Rancheros (71-83) (16 GB)
Last Year: 73-81 (13 GB) (7th Place)
Two Years Ago: 73-81 (12 GB) (6th Place)
Last Postseason: 2041 (No Pro Cups) (4 Pennants)

Team Stats: .261 BA (15th), 648 runs (25th), 150 HR (10th-tied), 4.02 ERA (22nd), .981 FA (Very Good)
Manager Leonard Purkey took over this year and inherited a mediocre ballclub... Purkey needs improvement in a lot of areas... remained a second-division club.

Top Pitchers: the Rancheros have two solid starters in Hernando Almora (19-17/3.40) and Emile Wade (19-11/3.51)... both were good contributors... Tomas Olmeda (11-13/4.03) also give Purkey some quality starts... except for veteran closer Kenny Robinson (5-9/3.02 ERA/22 saves/46 G), the bullpen is terrible.

Top Batters: All-Star RF Gilberto Gallardo (.324/27 HR/100 RBI/80 R) had a standout year, but can't carry the whole load... rookie Julian Ortiz (.290/17 HR/72 RBI/68 R/1 SB) helped out, but much more is needed.

7th Place: Belair Beach Sunbirds (67-87) (20 GB)
Last Year: 76-78 (10 GB) (6th Place)
Two Years Ago: 74-80 (11 GB) (5th Place)
Last Postseason: 2047 (No Pro Cups) (8 Pennants)

Team Stats: .265 BA(12th), 624 runs (29th), 95 HR (30th), 3.98 ERA (19th), .978 FA (Good)
The Sunbirds didn't show much improvement under new skipper Jason Butler... still has sub-par pitching and no offense or power... destined for more of the same unless he can gets some new blood... the rookie class this year didn't produce much.

Top Pitchers: Chris Malbrough (18-14/3.00), Jeffrey Verblen (13-15/3.50) and Glen Long (10-17/3.54) are a pretty good trio, but the rest of the staff are not very good at all.

Top Batters: All-Star CF Curtis Cochran (.348/9 HR/69 RBI/86 R/26 SB) is a fine talent, but he is the only threat in the batting order... as for the rest, C Johnny Samarin (.269/11 HR/44 RBI/71 R/1 SB) is a solid catcher and rookie SS Kyle Kipling (.250/9 HR/59 RBI/70 R/20 SB) was a reliable infielder and fair bat... little else beyond them.

8th Place: Valka Blackhawks (62-92) (25 GB)
Last Year: 80-74 (6 GB) (4th Place)
Two Years Ago: 81-73 (4 GB) (3rd Place)
Last Postseason: 2054 (No Pro Cups) (5 Pennants)

Team Stats: .256 BA (23rd), 621 (30th-tied), 109 HR (29th), 3.88 ERA (17th), .972 FA (Poor)
The forecast was good for Valka and manager Arno Vainmaa this year... the Blackhawks were expected to fly high in the RU South... they were picked the second-best club after preseason favorite Crystal Lake, but they flopped badly and ended up last in the division.

Top Pitchers: Norbert Borden (15-12/3.94) was the biggest winner, but Clark Harrington (9-23/3.47) was the most effective starter... Eerik Jogi (9-16/3.77) was a fairly reliable starter, too... last year's rookie standout and 20-game winner, Aavo Keskkula (8-16/4.31), must have caught the sophomore slump this year.

Top Batters: rookie 1B Taavi Soosaar (.296/26 HR/81 RBI/68 R) had a fine debut season... C Freddie Civik (.286/15 HR/67 RBI/67 R) and RF Mel Shadwell (.269/12 HR/56 RBI/74 R/2 SB) were the best of the rest, along with 2B Olev Tarvas (.315/4 HR/40 RBI/66 R/6 SB).

******************** May 1st Standings ********************************** July 1st Standings**********************

06-02-2018, 06:44 PM	#5823
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 35,898	THE ISLANDIAN TIMES Wednesday, September 1, 2057 CLOSE RACE IN RU SOUTH, WON BY CRUSADERS The preseason prediction missed by a bunch in the Ruthlandian South Division this year... the Crystal Lake Skippers were supposed to cruise to the title with the St. John Crusaders and the Valka Blackhawks far back in the race... but it didn't transpire that way... it was a four-club cluster most of the season with the St. John (87-67) pretty much on top start to finish... with Crystal Lake, the Waleska Westerners and Claxton Diamonds staying on the Crusaders' coattails most of the year... the Skippers (86-68) made a run at St. John down-the-stretch, but fell one game short... the Westerners (80-74) and Diamonds (75-79) faded in the late summer... the poor Valka Blackhawks (62-92) were never a factor and came in last in the RU South. 1ST PLACE: ST. JOHN CRUSADERS (87-67) Last Year: 81-73 (5 GB) (2nd Place) 2 Years Ago: 71-83 (14 GB) (7th Place) Last Postseason: 2050 (No Pro Cups) (9 Pennants) Team Stats: .273 BA (8th), 740 runs (7th), 123 HR (22nd), 3.49 ERA (3rd), .977 FA (Good) Top Pitchers: Teddy de Grom (18-12/4.06), rookie Tom Smithson (16-13/3.37), Teddy Howell (14-12/3.35), rookie Deke Eubanks (12-14/3.83)... lost ace Whitlow Cornwell (12-5/3.69) in June for the season... good bullpen with Mark Faber (2-2/2.62 ERA/23 saves/45 G)... 2.80 ERA (4th). Top Batters: manager Nicky Farrugia has three reliable batters in All-Star 3B Ozwaldo Romero (.288/19 HR/80 RBI/63 R), CF Freddie Woodruff (.293/9 HR/59 RBI/79 R/8 SB), C Tuffy Palmieri (.283/13 HR/61 RBI/76 R)... plus some capable platoon players like OF Lou Endicott (.348/11 HR/50 RBI/50 R/7 SB), OF Cris Hershey (.332/6 HR/30 RBI/42 R/1 SB), OF Ellis Aycock (.304/6 HR/37 RBI/51 R/9 SB), OF Ron Silas (.287/9 HR/40 RBI/41 R/3 SB), 3B Mark Warner (.293/1 HR/39 RBI/41 R)... All-Star 2B Jimmy Upchurch (.296/10 HR/63 RBI/65 R/8 SB) was lost to injury in August... Upchurch could return during the playoffs. 2nd Place: Crystal Lake Skippers (86-78) (1 GB) Last Year: (78-76) (8 GB) (5th Place) 2 Years Ago: (80-74) (5 GB) (4th Place) Last Postseason: 2044 (2 Pro Cups: 2020, 2022) (10 Pennants) Team Stats: .274 BA (7th), 770 runs (4th), 159 HR (7th), 3.86 ERA (16th), .978 FA (Good) Top Pitchers: Merle Pitts (19-13/2.90), Robin Norborne (19-15/3.74), Tony Calamari (9-5/2.90)... Calamari joined the club in July and stood out... he flopped in '53 and '54... in the bullpen Yuri Kirchoff (3-3/2.64 ERA/21 saves/42 G) did very well in his rookie year. Top Batters: HOF hurler Duncan Welch (350-255/2.78 ERA) is the skipper for Crystal Lake and this year he came very close to winning the RU South division flag, falling just one game short... Welch won three Golden Arms ('19, '20,'23) and two MVPs ('20, '23) and led the Skippers to 2 Pro Cup titles (2020, 2022)... he has a potent attack with LF Zippy Coburn (.314/23 HR/100 RBI/98 R/5 SB), SS Gib Conlan (.275/24 HR/101 RBI/90 R/1 SB), rookie CF Mel Brouwer (.308/23 HR/92 RBI/94 R/5 SB), 3B Jasper Shackleford (.292/22 HR/75 RBI/81 R) and 1B Randy Dunn (.272/14 HR/74 RBI/64 R/1 SB). 3rd Place: Waleska Westerners (80-74) (7 GB) Last Year: (86-68) (1st Place) Two Years Ago: (82-72) (3 GB) (2nd Place) Last Postseason: 2056 (3 Pro Cups: 2028, 2037, 2039) (11 Pennants) Team Stats: .260 BA (17th), 668 run (20th), 122 HR (23rd-tied), 3.57 ERA (6th), .977 FA (Good) Top Pitchers: Johnny Merriman (22-9/3.48), Bret Shockley (19-15/3.16), Lou Carlson (8-9/3.36 ERA/11 saves/37 G), Rory Beecroft (14-11/3.75 ERA/12 saves/43 G), Cal Tilton (5-16/3.21)... Carlson and Beecroft were both closers and starters at different times in the season... HOF player and manager Roy Hobbs has a good staff... if he can stabilize the bullpen, his club will be even better. Top Batters: Hobbs also needs to improve his offense... he could use a couple of hitters like he was... .345 BA, 587 HR, 2087 RBI... he was a 15-time All-Star... won 7 Golden Bats... and led the Westerners to the 2028 Pro Cup championship... one of the IPA all-time greats... his lineup only has modest hitters... nothing special... the best of the lot are CF Boomer Barnes (.281/21 HR/84 RBI/92 R/2 SB), 1B Johnny Dillinger (.273/15 HR/74 RBI/76 R), 1B Bitsy Boccbella (.264/22 HR/65 RBI/70 R/2 SB). 4th Place: Claxton Diamonds (75-79) (12 GB) Last Year: (68-86) (18 GB) (8th Place) Two Years Ago: (69-85) (16 GB) (8th Place) Last Postseason: 2049 (No Pro Cups) 14 Pennants Team Stats: .254 BA (27th), 733 runs (8th), 174 HR (4th), 4.23 ERA (28th), .983 FA (Excellent) Top Pitchers: new manager Abe Shiffman got the Diamonds out of the cellar this year... they had been there for the past two seasons... he has a couple of good starters in Leon Reynolds (20-9/3.70) and Matt Goodrum (20-13/3.82) and an excellent closer in rookie Mark Meisner (2-3/1.34 ERA/25 saves/46 G)... not a lot else to brag about. Top Batters: at age 42 former skipper Jojo DeLucca (.296/26 HR/107 RBI/73 R/2 SB) is a marvel at second base... still makes the All-Star team (15th time) and knocks the heck out of the ball and is still a Gold Glover... and he may come back next year for his 24th season... career .304 hitter with 629 HRs and 2394 RBIs... DeLucca needs only 15 runs to set a new IPA record... the great Phil Gravelli is tops with 2092... DeLucca is just 99 RBIs shy of the all-time record of 2493 also held by Gravelli... DeLucca has a lot of help in the lineup from LF Bobby Bright (.277/33 HR/87 RBI/97 R/1 SB), 3B Fred Hahn (.300/23 HR/90 RBI/94 R) and RF Jimmy John Ramsey (.285/22 HR/70 RBI/51 R/1 SB). 5th Place: Grand City Cybercats (74-80) Last Year: 81-73 (5 GB) (3rd Place) Two Years Ago: 85-69 (1st Place) Last Postseason: 2055 (No Pro Cups) (4 Pennants) Team Stats: .262 BA (13th), 699 runs (16th), 133 HR (19th), 3.79 ERA (13th), .977 FA (Good) Top Pitchers: Steve Shirley (16-11/2.78) is the best by far... others are fairly reliable: Jozef Chojnaki (14-17/3.75), Fred Barrow (17-18/4.09)... not much of a bullpen... manager Thomas Hall needs help on the mound and at the plate... two relievers George Martz (5-9/3.54 ERA/12 saves/42 G) and Arnie McConnell (10-4/3.80 ERA/10 saves/31 G) both did fairly well as starters in the second half of the season... they both show promise for next year. Top Batters: 1B Vince Kinston (.329/22 HR/74 RBI/75 R), 2B Zane Faulkner (.298/4 HR/64 RBI/81 R), LF Dave Durocher (.260/20 HR/80 RBI/72 R/6 SB) 6th Place: San Dimas Rancheros (71-83) (16 GB) Last Year: 73-81 (13 GB) (7th Place) Two Years Ago: 73-81 (12 GB) (6th Place) Last Postseason: 2041 (No Pro Cups) (4 Pennants) Team Stats: .261 BA (15th), 648 runs (25th), 150 HR (10th-tied), 4.02 ERA (22nd), .981 FA (Very Good) Manager Leonard Purkey took over this year and inherited a mediocre ballclub... Purkey needs improvement in a lot of areas... remained a second-division club. Top Pitchers: the Rancheros have two solid starters in Hernando Almora (19-17/3.40) and Emile Wade (19-11/3.51)... both were good contributors... Tomas Olmeda (11-13/4.03) also give Purkey some quality starts... except for veteran closer Kenny Robinson (5-9/3.02 ERA/22 saves/46 G), the bullpen is terrible. Top Batters: All-Star RF Gilberto Gallardo (.324/27 HR/100 RBI/80 R) had a standout year, but can't carry the whole load... rookie Julian Ortiz (.290/17 HR/72 RBI/68 R/1 SB) helped out, but much more is needed. 7th Place: Belair Beach Sunbirds (67-87) (20 GB) Last Year: 76-78 (10 GB) (6th Place) Two Years Ago: 74-80 (11 GB) (5th Place) Last Postseason: 2047 (No Pro Cups) (8 Pennants) Team Stats: .265 BA(12th), 624 runs (29th), 95 HR (30th), 3.98 ERA (19th), .978 FA (Good) The Sunbirds didn't show much improvement under new skipper Jason Butler... still has sub-par pitching and no offense or power... destined for more of the same unless he can gets some new blood... the rookie class this year didn't produce much. Top Pitchers: Chris Malbrough (18-14/3.00), Jeffrey Verblen (13-15/3.50) and Glen Long (10-17/3.54) are a pretty good trio, but the rest of the staff are not very good at all. Top Batters: All-Star CF Curtis Cochran (.348/9 HR/69 RBI/86 R/26 SB) is a fine talent, but he is the only threat in the batting order... as for the rest, C Johnny Samarin (.269/11 HR/44 RBI/71 R/1 SB) is a solid catcher and rookie SS Kyle Kipling (.250/9 HR/59 RBI/70 R/20 SB) was a reliable infielder and fair bat... little else beyond them. 8th Place: Valka Blackhawks (62-92) (25 GB) Last Year: 80-74 (6 GB) (4th Place) Two Years Ago: 81-73 (4 GB) (3rd Place) Last Postseason: 2054 (No Pro Cups) (5 Pennants) Team Stats: .256 BA (23rd), 621 (30th-tied), 109 HR (29th), 3.88 ERA (17th), .972 FA (Poor) The forecast was good for Valka and manager Arno Vainmaa this year... the Blackhawks were expected to fly high in the RU South... they were picked the second-best club after preseason favorite Crystal Lake, but they flopped badly and ended up last in the division. Top Pitchers: Norbert Borden (15-12/3.94) was the biggest winner, but Clark Harrington (9-23/3.47) was the most effective starter... Eerik Jogi (9-16/3.77) was a fairly reliable starter, too... last year's rookie standout and 20-game winner, Aavo Keskkula (8-16/4.31), must have caught the sophomore slump this year. Top Batters: rookie 1B Taavi Soosaar (.296/26 HR/81 RBI/68 R) had a fine debut season... C Freddie Civik (.286/15 HR/67 RBI/67 R) and RF Mel Shadwell (.269/12 HR/56 RBI/74 R/2 SB) were the best of the rest, along with 2B Olev Tarvas (.315/4 HR/40 RBI/66 R/6 SB). ****************** May 1st Standings ****************************** July 1st Standings******************** Attached Images Last edited by Eugene Church; 06-03-2018 at 09:10 PM.