Thursday, October 28, 2060
MACS' MEEKS, RED CAPS' HARTWIG, TOP IPA SKIPPERS
All it takes to be named Manager of the Year in the Islandian Pro Alliance is biblical and in-depth knowledge of baseball, superb psychological and motivational skills, supreme patience and understanding... all that, plus a roster chocked full of lots and lots of talented pitchers, hitters and defenders... no major injuries... and a little bit of luck thrown in for good measure.
It is really difficult to just pick one in each league... you have to beat out 31 others for the coveted honor... there were many deserving skippers in the IPA this season that met some of those stringent and exacting criteria... Wynnamac's Jerry Meeks guided his team to 104 victories... Ranford's Bert Shippmann posted 99 wins in just his second season... St. John's Nicky Farrugia accomplished a 90-degree turnaround in just one season... that's just in the Ruthlandian Union.
It might even be tougher in the Tycobbian Union... there are a whole hosts of impressive managers in the TU, too... how do you choose between Dennis Hartwig of Oxford with a league-leading 97 triumphs?... Jay Murphy's remarkable makeover in South Fork?... the Stallions went from 70-84 to a terrific 95-59 in just one year... Billy Christianson's fine year in Rolling Hills?... Sogo Takagi's miracle work in Ginza?... and you can't leave out Rocco Bertara of the Mahaska Haymakers, who went from the outhouse and last place to second place this year... from a pathetic 58-96 to 87-67.
All we can say is life is not always fair... maybe we should just give all 64 managers a participation trophy so as not to hurt their tender self-esteem... maybe we should just name all of them co-winners and everybody goes home happy... including their overly-involved and pushy parents... no, life doesn't work that way... or does it?.
We like to pick a number one... and so, away we go!
The 2060 Ruthlandian Union Manager of the Year is first-time winner, Jerry Meeks of the Wynnamac Sundowners... he's been there for 11 years and has won six division titles and one Pro Cup (2055)... this was Meeks' greatest year... he won the RU East by a ridiculous 25 games... that's how much they dominated... and yet, Meeks did not win in a landslide... he had some serious competition from two other challengers... Meeks just barely beat Ranford's Bert Shippman and St. John's Nicky Farrugia in a very close vote... Meeks received 67 votes, Shippman 65 and Farrugia 60... Shippmann, fresh out of the college circles, turned a downtrodden Ranford club into a pennant winner in his second year... the Crusaders did an about face this year, improving from 74-80 to 94-60.
The voting in the Tycobbian Union was split five ways... the top votegetter was Dennis Hartwig of the Oxford Red Caps... he is the 2060 TU Manager of the Year... Hartwig is also a first-time honoree... his Red Caps have won 5 pennants in the last 9 years... Oxford has topped the TU two years in a row with 97 victories... Hartwig chalked up 47 votes in the poll, Jay Murphy of South Fork was second with 44... third in the balloting was Rocco Bertara of Mahaska with 41... and tied for fourth place were Sogo Takagi of Ginza and Billy Christianson of Rolling Hills, both with 30 votes.