Originally Posted by Eugene Church
THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Monday, September 16, 2058
VIPERS ROLL TO 2ND STRAIGHT RU NORTH TITLE
The Valmara Vipers (99-55) took charge of the Ruthlandian North Division in July and won going away, rolling past the Far Mountain Redhawks (90-64) by 9 games... the Ancona Red Elephants (83-71) finished a very distant third, 16 GB and the Taranto Tars (82-72) flopped badly in the second half of the season and wound up tied for fourth with the Glasco Athletics (82-72)... they were both 17 games off the pace of the champion Vipers... Taranto led the RU North until the All-Star break, then fizzled and fell far back in the pennant race... this is Valmara's 22nd pennant in its illustrious IPA history... the Vipers will be seeking their 5th Pro Cup trophy in the playoffs.
1st Place: VALMARA VIPERS (99-55)
Preseason Rating: 1st Place
Last Year: 1st Place (96-58)
Two Years Ago: 4th Place (72-82) (19 GB)
Valmara under the leadership of second-year skipper, Don Ritchie, was even better than last year, running up 99 wins, second best in the IPA... only Volusia in the RU West won more games with 105 victories... the Vipers can do it all, pitch, hit with power, score runs and play defense... the only weakness is in the bullpen... they will be a potent force in the Pro Cup playoffs... top performers on the mound for Valmara were Darus Grajek (22-9/3.39), Lukasz Chojnicki (18-10/3.38), Mirko Musial (15-6/2.87), Jozef Duczynski (12-4/2.72) and Tony Joe Carnes (10-5/3.14)... the top batsmen were 1B Timmy Benford (.321/40 HR/140 RBI/101 R), SS Alek Stolarski (.312/13 HR/91 RBI/119 R/21 SB), rookie CF Jud Gilbride (.295/33 HR/96 RBI/127 R/32 SB), LF Doc Pollins (.278/27 HR/64 RBI/62 R), RF Harv Shepard (.298/14 HR/60 RBI/70 R/11 SB) and 2B Vladimir Szymanski (.273/23 HR/84 RBI/77 R/3 SB).
2nd Place: Far Mountain Redhawks (90-64) (9 GB)
Preseason Rating: 2nd Place
Last Year: 3rd Place (81-73) (15 GB)
Two Years Ago. 2nd Place (88-66) (3 GB)
It was another good season for runner-up Far Mountain and rookie manager Benjy Donahue... fine pitching and good run scoring, but not enough offense to beat out Valmara... heading up a solid mound staff were starters Benny Van (22-9/2.92), Jeffrey Chandler (19-14/2.81), Bob Speed (18-13/4.09) and Howie Haywood (11-12/3.43)... closer Sid Michaels (1-1/2.08 ERA/27 saves/39 G) did very well in the bullpen... leading the offense were 3B Jarrick Beauchamp (.303/13 HR/70 RBI/108 R/3 SB), 2B Luke Hazlett (.277/23 HR/108 RBI/80 R/3 SB), rookie 1B Curt Miley (.326/20 HR/73 RBI/93 R/9 SB) and CF Ox Gless (.267/17 HR/95 RBI/77 R/8 SB).
Third Place: Angona Red Elephants (83-71) (16 GB)
Preseason Rating: 4th Place
Last Year: 6th Place (74-80) (22 GB)
Two Years Ago: 7th Place (68-86) (23 GB)
Manager Tommy Richardson is in his second year and has improved the Red Elephants each season... it's been 37 years since Ancona last made the playoffs... the club has had only two winning seasons in the last 25 years... so, it's a definite "yes" that the fans are happy this year... very good pitching and pretty good power is the reason... Richardson has a solid threesome in his rotation: Yanni Bubas (14-6/2.25), Burnell Simms (19-10/2.90) and Bill Bumgardener (15-15/3.23)... rookie Benny Arledge (13-14/3.86) showed good promise, too... and his bullpen is in good hands with Kontos Christakis (3-4/2.53 ERA/29 saves/50 G)... Ancona is just average at the plate with 1B Skeets Barker (.301/26 HR/73 RBI/93 R), LF Franco Briganti (.336/23 HR/78 RBI/79 R/2 SB), C Robin Hargroder (.315/23 HR/87 RBI/70 R) and CF Horace Nickens (.266/13 HR/58 RBI/91 R/18 SB).
4th Place (tied): Taranto Tars (82-72) (17 GB)
Preseason Rating: 5th Place
Last Year: 4th Place (78-76) (18 GB)
Two Years Ago: 1st Place
Augie Marshall has seen his Tars slip in the last couple of years... they won the pennant in '56... since then, his pitching has declined... Taranto started off well this season and topped the division at midseason, but fritzed out badly in the last half of the year... the pitching is a little above average... the Tars have good power and good scoring... they just couldn't stay with Valmara and Far Mountain for the long haul... Phil Castle (19-15/2.92) and Valerio Rossi (18-17/3.07) were tough starters this year... and they got some help from Alvio Sartori (13-8/3.55) and Freddy DeAngelis (12-4/3.86)... but Marshall had nothing in the bullpen... the Taranto attack is sparked by superstar slugger Lenny Buisson (.292/47 HR/127 RBI/91 R/6 SB), who led the RU with 47 homers and came in second with 127 RBIs... only IPA leader Buddy Blackford of the Oxford Red Caps outhomered him with 56... in his sophomore season 1B Buddy Lark (.345/27 HR/71 RBI/85 R) did very well and was second in batting to Wynnamac's Enos Benham, who led the IPA with a skyhigh .379 BA... and 3B Mark Trupiano (.259/21 HR/86 RBI/74 R/9 SB) also contributed to the offense... the Tars need to hit better for average and the mound corps needs to improve to get back among the serious contenders again.
4th Place (tied): Glasco Athletics (82-72) (17 GB)
Preseason Rating: 3rd Place
Last Year: 2nd Place (89-75) (7 GB)
Two Years Ago: 6th Place (68-86) (23 GB)
Longtime skipper Charles Darby had a good season record-wise, but never was in the hunt for the division flag... but the A's made progress in the second half of the year and worked their way back to fourth place and finished 10 games above the .500 mark... the Athletics were picked to give Valmara and Far Mountain a run for their money... but a lackluster first half killed the season... Darby has good starters in Monte France (19-14/2.85), Jonathan Burnett (16-15/3.39) and rookie Tom Bloodworth (10-4/3.34)... #4 Jayden Furman (14-14/4.08) also gave him some quality starts... the Glasco bullpen is top-notched, too, with closer Rip Scobie (5-4/0.89 ERA/32 saves/47 G)... but the bats need improvement... the best of the lot is LF Callum Slattery (.292/17 HR/81 RBI/86 R/10 SB), rookie 1B Colin Carr (.301/16 HR/80 RBI/58 R) and SS Rick Farns (.254/16 HR/82 RBI/67 R)... the offense is going to have to really step it up to compete with the Vipers and Redhawks.
6th Place: Kilkenny Cats (76-78) (23 GB)
Preseason Rating: 6th Place
Last Year: 5th Place (78-76) (18 GB)
Two Years Ago: 8th Place (65-89) (26 GB)
Kilkenny manager Dave Whitaker took over the team in 2057 and they have improved a bit, especially on the hill... it's the lack of runs that hampers the longsuffering Cats, who have only made the Pro Cup playoffs one time... that was long ago in 2042... Billy Joe Wooster (17-11/2.96) and Jamie Ayers (16-11/2.60) give Kilkenny two standout starters... Bretton MacKay (14-18/3.43) and Carroll Hudsmith (10-8/3.92) are pretty fair in the number 3 and 4 spots in the rotation... but the Cats' relievers are not very good... Whitaker doesn't have a real solid threat at the plate... all of his hitters just put up modest numbers... he's not gonna win the RU North with the likes of LF Tory Bettis (.295/11 HR/70 RBI/74 R/14 SB), SS Rex Parkhill (.285/8 HR/57 RBI/71 R/16 SB) and CF Vance Snead (.283/4 HR/51 RBI/76 R/11 SB)... the only one with any kind of power is 2B Tommy Upton (.227/19 HR/85 RBI/68 R/5 SB), but he bats a poor .227 for average.
7th Place: Ranford Bulls (62-92) (37 GB)
Preseason Rating: 8th Place
Last Year: 7th Place (71-83) (25 GB)
Two Years Ago: 5th Place (71-83) (20 GB)
At the end of the regular season, the Bulls fired manager Kyle Hunt... he had been the GM and manager since 2042... he finished in the first division 10 times during his 16-year tenure, but things have been on the downgrade for four straight years... Ranford has decided to reach into the collegiate circles to replace Hunt... they hired the very successful Bert Skippmann... he has been at St. John University for the last decade and has won the collegiate title in 8 of those years... Skippmann is unique... he never played anything but high school baseball... in college he majored in sports management and worked his way up to athletic director at St. John... he served as AD for 10 years and then took over the baseball team which had struggled for decades and they became instant winners... now Skippmann is ready for the challenge of IPA baseball... he has conquered the college baseball world and now will attempt to do the same in professional baseball.
And what kind of talent awaits Skippmann in Ranford?... the current Bulls were lousy on the hill and lousy at the plate... most of the talent is mediocre at best with a few exceptions... rookie Troy Chisholm (12-19/4.57) and Mac Roberts (11-16/4.38) are the best of a bad batch of starters... but the Bulls have a fine closer in Martin Futch (5-4/2.52 ERA/23 saves/40 G)... a couple of young position players have some pop: LF Jedd Blodgett (.276/31 HR/94 RBI/88 R/18 SB) and C Glen Chambliss (.265/31 HR/97 RBI/73 R)... and RF Stephen Littrell (.285/10 HR/59 RBI/93 R/18 SB) is a fairly good bat... Skippmann told the Ranford fans and the sports scribes to expect wholesale changes in the 2059 edition of the Bulls... they were not going to lose with the same old bunch year after year after year... Ranford is headed for a very interesting year next year.
8th Place: LaGrange Sports (56-98) (43 GB)
Preseason Rating: 8th Place
Last Year: 8th Place (69-85) (27 GB)
Two Years Ago: 3rd Place (73-81) (18 GB)
Rookie skipper John Rodgers was welcomed into IPA managerial circles in very rude fashion... his Sports had the worst record in both leagues... it's been two decades since LaGrange made the postseason playoffs... they have won only 6 pennants in their IPA history and have never won the Pro Cup... and you would have to say it may be a few years before prospects get better... Rodgers has absolutely no offense, but has a decent starting rotation with Amos Wadsworth (15-20/3.76), Rodger Gagnier (14-14/3.73) and rookie Spike Swearingen (12-18/3.77)... the LaGrange bullpen is just average with no standout closer... Rudy Bonnett (2-9/3.13 ERA/26 saves/44 G) is hit-and-miss, but does save a game or two every now and then... not much talent at the plate... just mediocre at best... LF Sonny Picard (.272/20 HR/75 RBI/71 R/9 SB) and 3B Rick Wade (.298/10 HR/51 RBI/45 R) are just fair batters... there is zilch after them.
2058 Ruthlandian North Division Final Standings
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