[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Sunday, March 31, 2058

WOLVES WILL FEAST IN TU EAST
After a year's absence, the mighty Midway Wolves are set to feast in the Tycobbian East... last year they were upset by the surprising Red Bluff Red Sox, who not only topped the Wolves, they went all the way and came away with the IPA Pro Cup... but this year the pollsters are favoring Midway to again run away with the division flag by a good margin over the runner-up High Mesa Mustangs and the current division titleholder, Red Bluff... completing the first-division teams will be the Ozarka Naturals in the fourth spot.

1st: MIDWAY WOLVES
Last Year: 2nd Place (86-69) (1 GB)
Two Years Ago: 1st Place (101-53)
Outlook: Midway fell on hard times last year because of its poor bullpen and subpar years by key hurlers... manager Bobby Dorignac hopes he has rectified the situation... the Wolves still possess an explosive arsenal of hitters sparked by the 2057 Tycobbian MVP and Golden Bat trophy winner, Norishige Ito (.341/50 HR/150 RBI/118 R), and the 2056 MVP and Golden Bat, Daryl Vale (.287/29 HR/108 RBI/85 R/10 SB)... other solid contributors are 1B Ted Merritt (.255/26 HR/98 RBI/78 R/6 SB) and LF Robb Withers (.267/22 HR/52 RBI/84 R/7 SB)... SS Kax Clark (.279/6 HR/49 RBI/96 R/4 SB) is also a solid performer all around... new rookies on the Midway roster are pitchers Connie Kees, who is slated to be the #4 starter, and Mel Merlo, who will be in the bullpen... and SS Shihei Yamamoto should get some playing time in backup roles... even if the pitching doesn't get better, the Wolves are good enough to challenge for the Tycobbian East Division crown... in a bad season by Midway standards, they only lost the pennant by one game last year.

2nd: High Mesa Mustangs
Last Year: 3rd Place (85-69) (1.5 GB)
Two Years Ago: 5th Place (75-79) (26 GB)
Outlook: manager Jack Elliott is a 20-year vet with the Mustangs and he has a budding powerhouse... High Mesa ran a fine race last year, finishing a very close third with fine firepower and fairly good pitching... Elliott thinks his Mustangs may be better this year and ready to take over the TU East... his big bats are still intact... to boost the mound staff Elliott has added 2 rookies... southpaw Bucky Dodge will start the season as the #4 guy in the rotation... and Dale Richards will work in the bullpen... both did well in spring training... High Mesa's batting order is chocked full of quality hitters, led by 3B Kagetoki Miyazaki (.290/39 HR/103 RBI/100 R), 1B Ward Catlin (.321/32 HR/76 RBI/63 R), CF Tracy McGriff (.283/31 HR/86 RBI/90 R/4 SB), 2B Tommy Yost (.300/21 HR/74 RBI/82 R/1 SB), LF Curly Yeats (.275/17 HR/42 RBI/82 R/9 SB) and C Ricky Chandler (.311/14 HR/61 RBI/68 R/8 SB)... on this hill Elliott has a good stable of starters in Weldon Herrington (23-9/2.77), Tuffy Hammel (17-14/3.49) and David Newell (15-12/3.56)... 2058 could be the Year of the Mustang... they might have been the best team in the division the second half of the season, but they will still have their hands full with the Midway Wolves and the Red Bluff Red Sox... the TU East looks like a 3-team race.

3rd: Red Bluff Red Sox
Last Year: 1st Place (87-68)
Two Years Ago: 6th Place (30 GB)
Outlook: skipper Ike Sweetwater still has his high-powered offense and is looking to improve his mound corps... the Red Sox would like nothing better than to repeat as the Pro Cup champion... Sweetwater is pleased with his starting rotation of Duane Sturgeon (22-12/2.90), Wilson Sharpe (20-16/2.99), Fred Taylor (16-13/4.01) and Ricky Lambert (13-10/4.03)... in hopes of shoring up his bullpen Sweetwater has add 3 journeymen... Todd Christie, Sean Slocum and Clayton Green all performed well in training camp and won spots on the staff... however, there are no new position players on the Red Sox... not one rookie made the squad... Sweetwater stayed pat with what he already has... back leading the batting attack are RF Toni Kolkov (.279/36 HR/93 RBI/92 R/2 SB), 2B Dazzy Bevis (.274/32 HR/73 RBI/102 R/12 SB), CF Paul Gaddison (.299/27 HR/94 RBI/99 R/16 SB), 1B/3B Monty Lyons (.294/19 HR/94 RBI/70 R/6 SB) and C Denny Acres (.254/19 HR/56 RBI/54 R)... Red Bluff is pretty much the same team as last year, which was good enough to win the whole shebang in the Islandian Pro Alliance... they won't catch anybody by surprise this year... Sweetwater is hoping lightning will strike again and his Red Sox will capture back-to-back Pro Cup trophies.

4th: Ozarka Naturals
Last Year: 7th Place (70-84) (16.5 GB)
Two Years Ago: 3rd Place (83-71) (18 GB)
Outlook: last year was supposed to be the breakout season for the Ozarka Nats... the club turned it around in '56 and made the first division for the first time in 11 seasons... but it didn't happen the way manager Duffy Morrison expected... his pitchers fizzled and the team tumbled from 3rd to 7th... so maybe, it's back to the drawing board... Ozarka has a pathetic offense, decent starters and a bad bullpen... it's hard to see them making fourth place... heading up a pretty good starting foursome is Ezra Hancock (10-3/2.91) and Willis Reece (17-18/2.91) in the top two spots, along with Delmer Jeffries (10-10/3.71) and Ronny Betzer (16-13/3.89)... Wyatt Young (8-22/4.11) and Toby Rivera (18-15/4.68) are getting another chance to stick with the club... both played in 2052 and 2053, but didn't stick... Morrison is hoping they will shore up the bullpen and make it respectable... he has no real good sticks in the batting order... the best of the lot is RF Scotty Hannon (.266/13 HR/78 RBI/71 R), 1B Sookie Lagerberg (.277/20 HR/68 RBI/67 R), CF Chris Kile (.306/4 HR/40 RBI/82 R/9 SB) and 3B Foxy Alderson (.259/11 HR/67 RBI/74 R/7 SB)... one rookie made the roster this year: C Davy Hook, a fair defender with a weak arm, but a pretty good bat... and 1B Claude Norbury is back for his fourth try... neither stood out in the spring, but did make the team... Norbury is .248 lifetime with 26 homers and 125 RBIs in three seasons of play (2054-2056).

5th: Hillsboro Blazers
Last Year: 8th Place (66-88) (20.5 GB)
Two Years Ago: 7th Place (64-90) (37 GB)
Outlook: Steve Cooper is the new man in charge in Hillsboro... he retired this year after 20 tough seasons on the hill for a bad ballclub... Cooper was 254-276 with a good 3.36 ERA... he has a very tough job with the Blazers... run-scoring is almost non-existent except for home runs... the team hits zilch for average... and the mound corps is mediocre... 4 rookie hurlers were added this year... only one performed well in the spring... Horace Almond will get his chance in the bullpen... heading up the starting rotation is Elliot Frampton (18-11/4.32), Ian Barrie (13-21/3.89) and Clay Spencer (11-18/4.31)... all are just fair-to-middling journeyman pitchers... two other rookies made the team... 1B Bob Foster did well in the spring and will be a starter... Foster looks like a solid hitter with some pop... C Michael Doakes will be a solid backup... Hillsboro doesn't look like a 5th-place team... it's far more likely the Blazers will be near the bottom of the TU East this season.

6th: East Point Panthers
Last Year: 4th Place (80-74) (6.5 GB)
Two Years Ago: 2nd Place (86-68) (15 GB)
Outlook: for 7 consecutive seasons Frank Blair had his club right in the thick of things in the Tycobbian East Division... the Panthers won 2 pennants (2050, 2052)... and came in second the other 5 years... they slipped a little bit last season to the fourth spot, but still made the first division, just 6.5 games behind in the pennant race... the drop might have been more to the rise of Red Bluff and High Mesa than a decline in the Panthers... however, Blair made some wholesale roster changes, adding 8 rookies to the club... but none of the 4 position players stood out in the spring... 2 of the 4 hurlers did well... Joey Hilton will be the #5 starter and Don Blake will get a lot of work in the bullpen... East Point still has two fine starters in Eddy Winbourne (21-13/2.40) and Benny Allen (21-15/3.30)... #3 Al Coatsworth (9-19/3.67) and Chip Dowler (14-10/4.03) give Blair quality starts on occasion... the Panther offense has declined in recent years... nobody hits for much of an average, but several can still go deep... East Point's best run producers are CF Skip Donley (.233/32 HR/94 RBI/79 R/13 SB), C Kenny Bailey (.246/25 HR/77 RBI/64 R), LF Pokie Ash (.252/13 HR/71 RBI/63 R/8 SB) and SS Justin McRae (.293/12 HR/59 RBI/81 R/9 SB)... despite all the new players, East Point still looks like the fourth-best club in the Tycobbian East Division... Ozarka and Hillsboro are just not very impressive.

7th: South Fork Stallions
Last Year: 6th Place (70-84) (16.5 GB)
Two Years Ago: 8th Place (63-91) (38 GB)
Outlook: this year Jay Murphy has taken over as skipper in South Fork... he starred for the club for 16 years from 2038 to 2053, chalking up 250 victories and only 185 defeats and posting a fine 3.24 ERA... not a lot of roster changes... most of them are retreads from previous seasons... only one real rookie made the team... that was C Dicky Fergus, a fine defender, but not much at the plate... Fergus will just be a backup... a bonafide threat is RF Bob Purkey (.323/32 HR/84 RBI/95 R/6 SB) on a second-rate offense... the rest are just fair at best: C Rudy Maroney (.277/17 HR/76 RBI/58 R/3 SB), LF Rudi Eberhardt (.272/24 HR/76 RBI/53 R), 1B Rudy Gatlin (.279/12 HR/48 RBI/73 R/12 SB) and 3B Terrence Staton (.240/20 HR/65 RBI/64 R/3 SB)... Murphy's best starters are his young ace Emmett Coogan (11-15/2.71) and #2 Sam Black (17-19/3.50)... the rest are just run-of-the-mill: #3 Bud Bowens (13-8/4.17) and #4 Kylee Radbourne (8-12/3.57)... Herm McClanahan (4-2/2.34 ERA/20 saves/39 G) is a fine closer... and he might get some help in the bullpen this season from newcomers Darren McCracken and Darren Stoner, who both had decent springs... South Fork will be stuck near the bottom of the TU East for a few years... the Stallions are just not a good team.

8th: Tuckanarra Blue Jays
Last Year: 5th Place (77-77) (9.5 GB)
Two Years Ago: 4th Place (78-76) (23 GB)
Outlook: the Tucks have a new manager... former infielder Eddie Darby... a 3-time All-Star and 4-time Gold Glover... hit .288 in his 17 years in the IPA with 143 homers, 1005 RBIs and scored 1293 runs... played for Glasco from '22 to '26... and for the Blue Jays '27 to '38... Darby may have trouble having a winning year... his Bluebirds are not very impressive overall... mediocre mound staff and lackluster hitting... but one thing Tuckanarra has is one star pitcher... Ian Tibbs (26-5/2.24) was simply marvelous last year and won the Tycobbian Union Golden Arm Award... Ralph Ayers (9-13/3.55) and Justin Shank (17-19/3.74) are quality starters, too... but that's all the Tucks have... the rest are not very good... Darby added quite a few new players to the roster... 4 rookie hurlers and 3 position players... he has high hopes for slugging 1B Boomer Carlton and LF Don Quimby... Carlton really stood out in the spring and took over first base full-time, while Quimby will start against right-handers... they should add some much-needed punch to the lineup... the best of the returnees in the batting order is RF Foxy Frye (.248/28 HR/96 RBI/74 R/17 SB), C Odell Overstreet (.292/22 HR/74 RBI/79 R/14 SB), 3B Newt Crutchfield (.277/13 HR/78 RBI/57 R), SS Curtis Wynn (.267/5 HR/55 RBI/70 R/25 SB) and 2B Ganan Inala (.270/1 HR/51 RBI/55 R/11 SB)... Tuckanarra may be better than the pollsters think... the Blue Jays could remain close to the first division in the TU East... maybe fourth or fifth place, if some of the rookies step in and produce.