Tuesday, October 2, 2063
SUMMERLAND, HARTSDALE SURPRISE IN TU, ROLLING HILLS, SOUTH FORK WIN, TOO
No surprise that defending Pro Cup champion Rolling Hills romped to their fourth straight Tycobbian West title... no big deal that preseason pick South Fork won the division flag in the Tycobbian East... but how in the world did the Hartsdale Hellcats and the Summerland Sunsets overcome favored Oxford and Southport?... the Hellcats came up with a small miracle in the last month of the season to overcome the Red Caps in the Tycobbian North and the Sunsets put away the Sun Sox with a September spurt in the Tycobbian South.
TU FINAL RECAPS
In the Tycobbian North Division never-say-die Hartsdale trailed Oxford by six and a half games going into the final month of the season and had little chance of catching the Red Caps, but in a remarkable run they caught them on the last day of the season and then whipped them in the sudden-death playoff for the pennant... Hartsdale skied to 16-9 in September, while Oxford slumped to a miserable 9-17... the Hellcats just might be troublesome to the postseason powers-that-be, teams like current IPA champ Rolling Hills, the Elnora Clippers and the Colfax Black Sox... Hartsdale won their only Pro Cup in 2046... this could be the Year of the Cat.
In a highly-unlikely finish Hartsdale (88-67) stunned the second place Oxford Red Caps (87-68) to snatch the 2063 Tycobbian North flag and a spot in the IPA postseason playoffs... the Hellcats upset a team that has dominated the division the last decade, winning five of the last seven seasons... Oxford was seemingly headed for its fifth straight pennant, but they were suddenly derailed in September by Hartsdale... all went right for the Hellcats, while the season fell off the tracks for the Red Caps... both clubs used the same success formula... a high-powered offense with good home-run power and fairly good pitching... Hartsdale trailed Oxford for almost the entire season... the Red Caps had a 4 to 6-game edge most of the year over the various contenders... third place went to the Blue Lake Schooners (81-73)... the Schooners had a sluggish first half, but perked up in the second half of the season and finished well... the Blue Lakers had solid pitching, but were just average with the bats with a minimum of longball power... the next three clubs in the TU North standings were just fair-to-middling... fourth place went to the Luxora Zorros (78-76)... the Z's had good pitching, but lacked offense... in fifth place was Mahaska (77-77)... the Haymakers could put runs on the scoreboard, but didn't go deep often... and they had decent pitching... the sixth-place North Hills Hawks (75-79) had fine pitching, but a lackluster offense with no power... Fairfax (69-85) began the season with a flair... they were 14-10 at the end of April and running second to first-place Oxford... however, the Frogs faded quickly and ended up near the bottom in seventh place... Fairfax could score pretty good, but did not have much power at the plate... the mound staff was mediocre at best... winding up way behind in the basement were the White River Rascals (62-92)... they possessed a poor offense and just average pitching... the Rascals have been stuck in the bottom of the TU North for the last three seasons... '56 was the last good season when they nabbed the pennant for the third straight season... but those good ole days are past history.
The Tycobbian South champion Summerland Sunsets was not picked very high in the preseason poll, forecast to come in a distant sixth in the standings... however, the Sunsets shined just about the entire season, while preseason favorite Southport slumbered and trailed by 8 games until July when they made finally their move...the Sun Sox went 35-18 for two months... going into September the Sun Sox had moved to the top of the division by a small margin... during that period Summerland hit a lull and posted a 27-26 mark... then the Sunsets made their move with a splendid 19-7 month and blitzed past the Sun Sox by 5 games at season's end... Southport didn't completely fold, they had a decent 13-12 record for the month.
Recapping the Tycobbian South season, pennant-winning Summerland (90-64) prevailed with a good, all-around performance on the hill and at the plate... the Sunsets staff had a marvelous 2.94 ERA (1st), scored well with 693 runs (7th) and had good power with 142 homers (12th)... if they can hit continue to hit well in the postseason, Summerland could go deep in the playoffs... second place Southport's success was keyed on its very fine pitching... they posted a strong 3.01 ERA (2nd)... offensively, the Sun Sox were just average with a .261 BA (15th) and 636 runs (17th)... power-wise, not so good... only 101 homers (28th)... this year was not so good for third place Turon (81-73)... 6 times in the past 12 seasons the Typhoons have won the TU South title... but they have not been in the race the last two years, winding up far behind the contenders... this year they opened well and stayed close to the leaders until midyear (42-35) and then fell out of contention... Turon is just a shade above average at the plate with 665 runs (12th) with little longball power... just 98 roundtrippers (29th)... and just a little above average on the hill with a 3.69 ERA (13th)... the Typhoons have declined since they claimed the TU South in '61... the Ginza Ninjas (77-77) were expected to be a serious contender... they stayed in the chase until midseason and then went into a tailspin and wound up way back in fourth place, 18 games behind... Ginza has average pitching with a 3.75 ERA (15th), but has no power and no offense... they batted .254 (20th), scored only 587 runs (27th) and hit only 88 balls out of the ballpark (30th)... like Ginza, the San Alejo Montaneros (76-78) were expected to be in the hunt... on paper, the Monties looked good, but they never were in the pennant race and ended up under .500 and in fifth place, 19 games out... strangely, San Alejo looked good losing... they pitched well with a 3.47 ERA (6th), possessed a decent offense with 645 runs (15th) and fairly good firepower with 138 home runs (14th)... sixth place Cape Coral (75-79) could match runs with the top teams... the 'Canes sported a very good .284 mark (2nd) and 748 runs (3rd), but the Hurricanes mound staff was dismal with a poor 4.44 ERA (30th)... 'nuff said... as far as seventh place Arroyo Grande (64-90) is concerned, it has been 4 decades since the Suns won a pennant... 2024 was the last time... the Suns are just a bad ballclub... they set an all-time IPA low this season with a horrendous .221 BA (32nd)... they are ranked near the bottom on the mound with a 4.31 ERA (30th)... but the Suns hit homers... they banged 201 this season (2nd)... since Arroyo Grande is really bad... what about the Colchester Elites (58-96)?... they are even worse... the Elites just might be the worst franchise in IPA history... only one time in the last 28 seasons have they had a winning record... that was in 2051... the last TU South title came in 2036... this season Colchester finished 37 games out... hit just .240 (29th)... scored only 545 times (31st)... but they had pretty good power with 140 dingers (13th)... and on the hill the Elites were not so elite with a mediocre 4.17 ERA (27th).
The Tycobbian East race was forecast to be 6-team free-for-all and that's exactly what transpired... the baseball gurus' preseason picks were pretty much right on the mark... the favored South Fork Stallions (88-66) led start-to-finish, but they had close company all the way with four teams hanging on their heels... the Stallions slowly built the lead to 6 games going into September and won it by 4 games over the runner-up Ozarka Naturals (84-70)... South Fork had fine pitching with an impressive 3.21 ERA (4th)... and sufficient offense with a .251 BA (24th)... they scored 622 runs (21st)... and had adequate homers with 137 (15th)... the Stallions don't look like a postseason threat... they just don't have the offense to compete with the top guns like Rolling Hills, Colfax and Elnora... South Fork will find out very quickly how good they are... the Stallions' first-round opponent will be the Pro Cup champion Rolling Hills Racers, the favorite to win the whole shebang again... second place Ozarka (84-70) had back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in two decades... the Naturals played steady and consistently the entire season... good mound work is their forte... they posted a very good 3.23 ERA (5th), but were slack when it came to scoring runs... the Nats batted .256 (19th), hit 129 homers (18th), but only put 594 runs on the scoreboards (26th)... it's been 24 years since Ozarka graced the postseason playoffs in 2040... the third place Red Bluff Red Sox (80-74) might have won the pennant, except for two bad months... 11-16 in June and a horrible 9-17 in September... they wound up 8 games behind pennant winner South Fork... the Red Sox pitching corps was superb this season with a 3.09 ERA (3rd)... but the offense just wasn't there... they batted a lousy .232 (31st), scored only 575 runs (29th), but did go deep 155 times (8th)... Red Bluff has Pro Cup pitching, but needs a boost in offense... they won the Pro Cup in '57 with that combination... but have seriously fallen short with the bats since then... the fourth-place Midway Wolves (80-74) started slowly in April and May and ranked near the bottom of the TU East as late as August, but the Middies finished well, chalking up a 32-21 mark the final two months of the season... but it was too late to catch South Fork, Ozarka and Red Bluff... the fifth place clubs never really made any waves in the pennant race, but they had winning seasons... Tuckanarra (79-75) was right up with the top teams for just the first month of the season (16-8), but never really challenged South Fork... ditto for the High Mesa Mustangs (79-75)... both were middle-of-the-pack teams most of the season and wound up tied for the fifth spot in the standings, 9 games off the pace... the Tucks were a good, all-around team... they batted .265 (10th), scored well with 666 runs (10th-tied), had good power with 146 HRs (11th)... and the pitching was solid with a 3.63 ERA (10th)... last year's TU East winner, High Mesa, had an explosive lineup, but didn't have the pitching this year like they did in '59 and '62, when the won the TU East division flag... High Mesa led the IPA with 254 homers (1st), scored 685 runs (8th-tied), but batted a woeful .243 for average (28th)... the Mustangs mound staff also performed fairly well with a 3.85 ERA (20th)... but not good enough to win the pennant... the perennial IPA losers, the seventh place Hillsboro Blazers (75-79), had their best season in years, but still didn't have a winning season... the Blazers have one of the worst, perhaps the worst overall won-lost record in the Islandian Pro Alliance... only one time have they made the playoffs... Hillsboro's only TU East title came in 2051... but the Blazer fans enjoyed the season... the club hit 180 homers (3rd), scored 660 runs, but batted only .248 (27th)... and the pitching was halfway fair with a 3.92 ERA (23rd)... maybe Hillsboro is on the rise... the Blazers went 31-23 the last two months of the season... could a winning season be on the horizon?... boy, this was another bad year for the last place East Point Panthers (51-101)... for the second straight season they lost 100-plus games... it was the sixth year in a row with a losing record... not a lot went right for the Panthers... they hit a pathetic .235 (30th), scored only 542 runs (32nd) and had second-rate pitching with a 4.11 ERA (26th)... but East Point walloped 174 homers (4th), which livened up the friendly confines occasionally and made the hometown fans happy.
And just who won the Tycobbian West, you ask?... would you believe it was the current Pro Cup champion Rolling Hills Racers (106-48), who galloped away with the division crown by 25 games over the beleaguered second place Bayview Vikings (81-73) and the other six dazed ballclubs... what a magnificent season it was for the Racers... they came within one game of tying the all-time IPA win mark held by the 2010 Colfax Blasters and the 2054 Midway Wolves with 107 victories... strange as it might seem, Kenwood (31-19) led the TU West as late as early June... runner-up Bay St. Clair (29-20) was also ahead of the powerhouse Racers (29-21)... at that point Rolling Hills ramped it up into high gear and went on a two-month 42-10 rampage and left everybody in a cloud of dust, destruction and demolition... by July they were 12 games in front and 18 ahead in August... this was Rolling Hills' fourth consecutive TU West title... in the postseason playoffs they will be seeking an unprecedented 6th Pro Cup trophy and their third IPA title in the last four years... and here's how the Racers did it... they batted .302 (1st) and set a new IPA record for the best team BA... they topped the IPA with 901 runs (1st)... they belted 153 homers... and they had pretty darn good pitching with a 3.64 ERA (11th)... key to this year's marvelous success was four offseason trades that shored up the shaky mound staff.
The Bayview Vikings (81-73) came in a very distant second in the Tycobbian West... the Viks had a pretty fair attack with a .261 BA (14th), 721 runs (5th) and 158 roundtrippers (7th)... pitching-wise they were just average with a 3.88 ERA (21st)... the La Claire Lynx (79-75) came in third for the second season in a row, ending up 27 games back of the Racers... they had a solid staff with a 3.68 ERA (12th) with just an average offense... the Lynx batted .268 (8th) and scored 634 runs (19th), but were short on longballs... they only hit 111 homers (23rd-tied)... in April and May the Kenwood Wildcats (76-78) were front-runners... they did well until a June swoon came along and knocked them down to the fourth spot in the TU West standings, 30 games off the pace... the Wildcats can smack the ball and put runs on the scoreboard... they hit .280 (2nd)... piled up 744 runs (2nd)... but didn't hit a lot of home runs... Kenwood was way down the stats list with just 111 homers (23rd-tied) this season... Kenwood clobbered the ball, but their terrible twirlers doomed them... the starters forged a very poor 4.96 ERA (32nd) and the bullpen wasn't a whole lot better with a 4.03 ERA (27th)... the remainder of the TU West were on par with each other... fifth place Chicopee (71-83) hit well with a .276 BA (4th), scored well with 641 runs (16th), but was woefully weak on power... the Braves only hits 81 homers (32nd)... plus they possessed mediocre pitching with a 4.21 ERA (28th)... Chicopee is near the bottom of IPA franchises with only three postseason appearances... the Braves only success occurred in '34, '35 and '36 with three straight pennants... the Denton City Redbirds (69-85) finished sixth... just a second-class ballclub with a 3.80 ERA (18th), 616 runs (23rd), only 116 homers (20th) and a .261 BA (16th)... for most of the past decade Denton City did well with four pennants since 2053... they peaked in '59 and have slowly declined... this is the worst year since 2052 when the Redbirds were 67-87... the Bay St. Clair Buccaneers (29-20) stood out in the first two months of the season, running second to then-leader Kenwood (32-19)... but the Buccaneers' bubble burst and they sank to rock bottom in the summer months... Bay St. Clair ended up in seventh place, 39 games behind Rolling Hills, tied with Arlon (67-87)... from '51 to '58 the Arlon Champions copped four TU West flags and the 2051 Pro Cup... but it's pretty much been all downhill since then... the last four years the Champs have been near the bottom of the division... statistically Arlon had a fairly good attack... they batted .270 (7th), scored well with 666 runs (10th-tied) and had good firepower with 131 home-run clouts (16th)... but they suffered on the hill with a 4.29 ERA (29th)... a few good hurlers and Arlon could bring back the good times of the 50s.
2063 Tycobbian Union Final Standings
Tuesday, October 2, 2063
