MONTIES FAVORED AGAIN IN TU SOUTH
The 2065 season for the Tycobbian South Division pretty much looks like a rerun from last year... according to the baseball scribes, sportscasters and prophets it will be the San Alejo Montaneros winning back-to-back titles... followed at a distance by the Southport Sun Sox and Summerland Sunsets... getting a nod to finish fourth in the standings are the longsuffering Colchester Elites.
2065 Tycobbian South Preseason Poll
1st Place: San Alejo Montaneros
The Monties began rebuilding the club in '54 and it took quite a spell, 8 years... '62 was a turnaround season for the club... and 2 years later it paid off with the TU South crown last season... San Alejo captured its one and only Pro Cup trophy in 2032... down through the years, the team has made the postseason 9 times in its IPA history... the Tycobbian South is noted for being a pitcher's league... it's a well-balanced league with the teams pretty evenly matched... last place Colchester was 70-84 last year, 16 games behind champ San Alejo (86-68)... the Elites were the best of the 8 cellar-dwellers in the IPA last season... the Montaneros depend more on their bats for success than their mound staff... San Alejo has a solid core of batters, led by 1B Nicky Yorke (.294 BA, 22 HR, 94 RBI, 82 R, 2 SB), 3B Roman Redondo (.244 BA, 23 HR, 93 RBI, 68 R), LF Hector Cavazos (.268 BA, 20 HR, 61 RBI, 95 R, 12 SB), 2B Ted Keating (.289 BA, 9 HR, 50 RBI, 48 R, 2SB) and CF Al Lester (.273 BA, 13 HR, 56 RBI, 86 R, 14 SB)... the offense might get some help from rookies C Sergio Vidal and CF Hoot Hancock... they both hit well in the spring... and the pitching rotation is pretty good with starters Adrian Acosta (9-3, 2.72 ERA), Jimmy Doak (11-7, 2.96 ERA), Paulo Passos (12-8, 3.25 ERA, 19 saves, 68 games) and Alvaro Muniz (11-11, 4.03 ERA)... Joca Qartez (5-8, 4.17 ERA) and Gino DeChiara (12-11, 3.54 ERA) will also be vying for a spot in the rotation... the bullpen does an adequate job with Elmer Cane (6-4, 2.75 ERA, 6 saves, 34 games) taking over the closer role for Passos.. San Alejo is a little better this season than last year... could repeat in the TU South this season.
2nd Place: Southport Sun Sox (7 GB)
It looks like the Sun Sox are going to play second fiddle to San Alejo again this year... since winning 100 games in '62, Southport has slipped each season, falling to second in '63 (5 GB) and to third place (7 GB) in '64... but the Sun Sox could have won the pennant in each of the past two years... and they could win this year... Southport has appeared in the playoffs 13 times in its history with 3 Pro Cup trophies (2027, 2044, 2047)... pitching is the name of the game for the Sun Sox with the likes of Roman Littrell (19-4, 2.12 ERA), Bebe Kinney (12-8, 2.29 ERA), Jeff Moncriffe (12-10, 3.31 ERA) and Greg Brisbourne (8-2, 2.56 ERA)... the bullpen is fairly decent, headed up by Billy Ray Echols (8-15, 3.51 ERA, 25 saves, 90 games), but it's not rock solid... three rookies made the roster as position players and one new hurler... but none of them stood out in the spring... still rookie Riley Kincade will get his shot to shine in the starting rotation to start the season... Southport's offense is just not good enough to overcome the San Alejo Montaneros... the Sun Sox will wind up second or third this year.
3rd Place: Summerland Sunsets (8 GB)
For the past 6 seasons the Sunsets have been in the pennant chase each season... they won the TU South in '63 and wound up tied for second last season, trailing by 7 games... sadly, Summerland has only won 5 pennants in its history and has never won the IPA Pro Cup... in fact, the Sunsets have never come close to winning one... they have just never been much of a hitting club because they play in such a huge ballpark with distant fences all-around... when they hit fairly well for average, they win the pennant... it's an age-old problem and it's still there... superstar CF Johnny Pendergrass (.308 BA, 21 HR, 80 RBI, 93 R, 31 SB) and LF Zee Van Holbeek (.294 BA, 18 HR, 66 RBI, 60 R, 1 SB) are the only two threats in the batting order... 1B Doc Pollins (.256 BA, 19 HR, 50 RBI, 51 R, 3 SB) may help some... he came in a trade with Valmara late last year... could add some firepower... Summerland will be pretty much the same team as last year... only three rookies added to the roster... none of them performed well in spring training... the returning starters are solid, Marty Westhuizen (13-12, 2.57 ERA), Bernardo Marcos (12-8, 2.74 ERA) and Otis Stockdale (10-3, 2.68 ERA) will anchor the rotation... the key to the season will be rookie Edward Lasky, rookie Terry Holmquist and journeyman Tex Dalford... all three are in the starting rotation... the Sunsets really need a closer... Jacob Vandenboom (7-12, 4.53 ERA, 18 saves, 66 games) was sorely lacking last year... if the rookie hurlers come through and Summerland can get another productive bat or two, they could win the TU South... second or third looks like the best the Sunsets can do this year.
4th Place: Colchester Elites (10 GB)
Taking a look back at Colchester history... it is one of the worst in the IPA... only 4 playoff appearances with no Pro Cups or even close to a Pro Cup... no pennants since 2036... last season the Elites were in 8th place... dead last in the standings...so what is this?... Colchester picked for fourth place in the TU South? can't happen... as high as 4th place has not happened in 13 years... 2051 to be exact... why such optimism amongst the IPA prognosticators?... 6 rookies, 3 position players and 3 hurlers, could make some of the difference, along with two rock solid starters like Jud Chesbro (15-11, 3.24 ERA) and Johnny Walker (11-11, 2.88 ERA)... veteran starter Branch McCracken (13-9, 4.34 ERA) could also lend a good hand... newcomers on the hill, Lou Barden, Dalton McKay and Herman Mueller did well this spring and could be impact players... the bats will be led by blossoming star CF Merle Creekmur (.288 BA, 40 HR, 94 RBI, 90 R, 19 SB) with slugging help from LF Paddy Terry (.242 BA, 32 HR, 78 RBI, 77 R, 21 SB), RF Mel Albertson (281 BA/21 HR, 65 RBI, 82 R, 5 SB) and 3B Teddy Lundquist (.279 BA, 14 HR, 49 RBI, 52 R, 8 SB)... the Elites can go deep... Colchester just might do it... fourth place is possible.
5th Place: Arroyo Grande Suns (16 GB)
The Suns just might be the worst team in the Islandian Pro Alliance... no Pro Cups... and only 4 TU South flags in its 63 seasons... only one time in its history has it done well... Arroyo Grande won 4 pennants in 5 years from 2020 to 2024... the Suns hit well for average in those years averaging about .270... scored very well and even pitched well (3.70 ERA) during that stretch... nothing like that since... in recent years, after missing out on the pennant by one, single, solitary game in '61, the Suns have slipped badly... 8th place (39 GB) in '62... 7th place (31 GB) in '63 and 7th place (12 GB) again last year... the Arroyo Grande bats just don't hit for average, but they can go deep with 202 homers last year... they only hit .219 last year, .221 in '63 and .228 in '62... the longballers were SS Dan Fargo (.233 BA, 39 HR, 77 RBI, 90 R, 12 SB), CF Rueben Jones (.216 BA, 34 HR, 81 RBI, 69 R, 6 SB), RF Gaston Robin (.224 BA, 29 HR, 75 RBI, 79 R, 7 SB), LF Chris Hardcastle (.205 BA, 26 HR, 53 RBI, 49 R, 8 SB) and C Sammy Workman (.210 BA, 24 HR, 47 RBI, 46 R)... but the Suns have some sunshine on the mound in starters Lyle Welborn (10-8, 2.45 ERA), Roland Daye (13-13, 2.97 ERA) and Al McCarron (11-11, 3.62 ERA)... rookie Shelly Winger had a good spring and looks like a good one... the bullpen is not very good... closer Kurt Wolf (10-8, 3.53 ERA, 29 saves, 88 games) is shaky and inconsistent... just average... the bullpen needs some help for the Suns to thrive... they need to hit for a much higher batting average, too, to be a contender in the TU South... not likely this year.
6th Place: Cape Coral Hurricanes (17 GB)
The 'Canes have not been a very good franchise... just 8 postseason playoff appearances in 64 years with no Pro Cups... never came close to a Pro Cup trophy... never reached the Pro Cup Finals... the last pennant was way back in 2041... with no winning season since '59... last year Cape Coral came in fourth in the standings (77-77), just 9 games off the pace... the Hurricanes did it with good contact bats and mediocre mound work... they led the TU South in hitting and scoring runs... no real sticks at the plate, just a lot of good ones like LF Marvin Cordice (.302 BA, 9 HR, 65 RBI, 94 R, 20 SB), 3B Barney Fiske (.295 BA, 17 HR, 68 RBI, 71 R, 1 SB), 2B Renzo O'Brian (.279 BA, 11 HR, 80 RBI, 65 R, 4 SB), 1B Kalian Coston (.270 BA, 22 HR, 70 RBI, 63 R, 3 SB), CF Lenny Larker (.313 BA, 9 HR, 54 R, 74 R, 6 SB) and SS Lynwood Barley (.290 BA, 0 HR, 49 RBi, 75 R, 10 SB)... and look for budding star 1B Jurrien Rynsburger (.348 BA, 4 HR, 43 RBI, 31 R) to have a breakout season and add a top gun to the lineup... it's the pitching corps holding the 'Canes back... Cape Coral has two good starters in Cedric Ashford (12-13, 3.04) and Davis Tyrrell (12-5, 2.31), but they need help... rookie Finn Roogeveen may supply some help... he did well in the spring and earned a spot in the rotation, along with rookie Joop Heemskerk, but he struggled... despite the poor showing Heemskerk will still be in the starting rotation at the start of the season... one thing the Hurricanes have is a standout closer, Manny Rosetti (10-5, 2.26 ERA, 29 saves, 74 games... he is as good as it gets in the IPA... should the pitching kick it up notch, Cape Coral could climb as high as the fourth spot in the TU South in 2065.
7th Place (tie): Ginza Ninjas (18 GB)
What has happened to the Karate Kids?... they were the darlings of the IPA when they won the Pro Cup in '59 and almost won it again in '60, but lost in the Pro Cup Finals... age has taken its toll on the Ninjas since the glory years... the great reliever Abram Worth retired last year at age 39 with 311 saves and a brilliant 2.52 lifetime ERA... star Gold Glove shortstop Kuzuki Tamura retired in '62 at age 36... a 4-time All-Star Tamura hit .296 in his career with 199 homers and almost 1200 RBIs... Ginza has now fallen back into the middle of the pack... they wound up sixth last season, 11 games behind San Alejo... the baseball pollsters are not impressed with them... the Ninjas have trouble scoring runs and they lack home-run power, but they have some fine pitching... at age 29 Kurt Brophy (15-11, 3.30 ERA), one of the Pro Cup stars, is still a solid starter... Shintaro Matsushina (16-3, 2.98 ERA) really blossomed last season... filling out the rest of the rotation will be Stephen Pyburn (9-12, 3.94 ERA), Kodai Norimoto (0-2, 2.38 ERA) and Junichi Kimura (3-6, 4.44 ERA)... the Ginza bullpen is solid with Jeremy Muldoon (9-9, 2.99 ERA, 11 saves, 57 games) and Shinjo Sunada (5-5, 2.94 ERA, 35 games)... the Ninjas have little punch at the plate... just a bunch of reliable hitters like 3B Vic Carnaggio (.301 BA, 10 HR, 72 RBI, 66 R, 16 SB), 2B Masato Okamura (.293 BA, 11 HR, 64 RBI, 86 R, 17 SB), CF Tamotsu Saikawa (.281 BA, 5 HR, 75 RBI, 68 R, 17 SB) and 2B Otto Bracklin (.264 BA, 7 HR, 69 RBI, 60 R, 12 SB)... Ginza is still good enough to contend for fourth or fifth place, but no higher... increase firepower would give the Ninjas a boost in the TU South standings.
7th Place (tie): Turon Typhoons (18 GB)
Turon has the best won-lost record in Islandian Pro Alliance history with a .552 winning percentage... last year for the first time in 18 seasons the Typhoons suffered a losing record with a 76-78 mark... this is only the 12th time in club history this has happened... along with Valmara, Rolling Hills and Tuckanarra, Turon is arguably one of the best franchises in IPA history... the coming 2065 season does not bode well for the Typhoons according to the preseason polls... the crux of the problem is scoring... Turon has an absolutely awful offense... Gold Glove star CF Maxie Mullinax (.277 BA, 4 HR, 57 RBI, 86 R, 18 SB) is still a fairly good batter at age 33, but he's just about all they have in the batting order... 2B Juan De La Roca (.307 BA, 6 HR, 73 RBI, 59 R, 9 SB) and SS Kel Buckner (.268 BA, 8 HR, 70 RBI, 50 R, 11 SB) are also decent at the plate... currently the entire Typhoon roster only hit 42 home runs last year... Turon was last in the Tycobbian Union last year with 73 roundtrippers... it looks like the worst is yet to come... but the starting pitching is considered darn good with Larry Lynch (10-9, 2.05 ERA), Kelly Jarman (5-0, 2.20 ERA), Ollie Dickinson (8-8, 2.83 ERA), Monty Wheeler (7-16, 3.44 ERA) and rookie Mike Peavy, who stood out in the spring... however, the bullpen is suspect with closer Johnny Hatchett (12-9, 3.71 ERA, 8 saves, 51 games)... the future looks bleak for the Typhoons.
2064Tycobbian South Final Standings
