Thursday, June 2, 2061
RED CAPS OFF TO POOR START IN TU NORTH
Who'da thunk it?... the heavily-favored Oxford Red Caps (26-28) under the .500 mark... yep, so far, they are stuggling at the plate and it's showing in their subpar season... Oxford is in the third spot in the Tycobbian North Division, but they are just four games back of first place Mahaska (30-24) and 3 games behind second place North Hills... so they are not out of the race by any means... just give the bats a little more time to get going and then we'll see what the Red Caps are made of... Blue Lake (25-29) and White River (25-29) are tied for fourth and hanging close, five games off the pace... Fairfax (24-30) has also slumbered at the start like Oxford, but the Frogs could leap back in the chase fairly soon... like Oxford, their bats have been iced cold thus far... Fairfax was picked to be one of the better challengers to the Red Caps in the preseason poll... Luxora (23-31) and Hartsdale (18-36) are facing a tough year.
North Hills and Blue Lake had the best marks in May with 16-13... Oxford improved a bit from its poor April (11-14)... this month the Red Caps were 15-14... Mahaska may be a flash in the pan... they were 13-16 this month... same thing for Fairfax and Luxora, 13-16... Hartsdale was a terrible 10-19 last month.
SUNS SHINING BRIGHTLY IN TU SOUTH
The lightly-regarded Arroyo Grande Suns (33-21) have suddenly found some pitchers to go with their home-run power and they are doing quite well in the Tycobbian South... they have a three-game margin over another team on the rise with its fine mound staff, the runner-up Summerland Sunsets (30-24)... the Suns added some additional ground in the pennant race in May with a super 19-10, while the Sunsets were 16-13... in the third spot in the standings are the unlikely San Alejo Montaneros (29-25), just four games behind after a so-so 14-15 month... preseason pick Southport (28-26) is just slightly over the .500 mark after going only 13-16 in the month... be patient, the Sun Sox are a good club... they will be in the hunt for the TU South title... Turon (27-27), expected to be the Sun Sox's only challenger, did poorly in May, just 11-18... you can also expect the Typhoons to do better... Ginza (24-30), the division winner the last two years and the Pro Cup champ in 2059, apparently is on the decline... the Ninjas had a bad month at 11-18... and certainly is not the team of the last two seasons... the Cape Coral Hurricanes (22-32) are seventh in the standings after an awful 10-19 month, 11 GB... the 'Canes are more like a tropical storm this year... not a full-flown hurricane... and as bad as they are, the last place Colchester Elites (19-35) were 15-14 in May.
MIDDIES BEST IN TU EAST AGAIN
After a lackluster fifth-place finish (73-81) a year ago, the Midway Wolves are right back in the thick of things... actually they are right back on top of the Tycobbian East Division standings with a three-game edge on their old rival, the Red Bluff Red Sox (33-21)... and a five-game lead over talented South Fork (31-23)... the TU East may be the best overall division in the Islandian Pro Alliance... there really isn't a bad team in it... here are the division records for May... take a gander: Midway 21-8, Red Bluff 18-11, South Fork 18-11, fourth place Tuckanarra was 14-15, fifth place High Mesa 15-14, sixth place Hillsboro 16-13, seventh place Ozarka 16-13... even last place East Point was decent at 13-16... like it has been for the last decade in the TU East, it should be a heck of a race between the top four contenders.
REMARKABLE RACERS ROMPING IN TU WEST
Sorry, the race is over in the Tycobbian West Division... the defending Pro Cup champion Rolling Hills Racers (40-18) are making shambles of the entire IPA... they are having an unbelievably good year... batting .318 as a team... that's not typo... .318 BA... the Racers are far ahead of everybody in team batting average... Volusia is having a great year, too, but they aren't even close to the Racers... they are batting .301 as a team... only Valmara of the RU North can match the Racers on the scoreboard... the IPA all-time best is .298 by the Elnora All-Stars of the Ruthlandian East Division in 2052.. the Tycobbian Union mark is held by the 2034 Kenwood Wildcats of the TU West Division with a .297 BA.
That's why Rolling Hills is already 10 games in front of second place Denton City (30-24) and 11 games up on Bayview (29-25) and Kenwood (29-25), the only other competition they have... for the month of May, the Racers were 20-9, the Redbirds 17-11, the Vikings 14-15 and the Wildcats 16-13... there is absolutely no need to cover the other four clubs in the Tycobbian West... they don't even have a chance for the first division (top four teams)... much less a chance at the pennant.
