TU EAST TOO CLOSE TO CALL
Whew!
Five teams fighting for the Tycobbian East title... that's what Island baseball forecasters are predicting... last year's winner Tuckanarra... the winner in '60 and '63, South Fork... the champ in '59 and '62, High Mesa... and the '61 titlist, Midway... plus recent contender, up-and-coming Ozarka... all finishing within five games of one another this season according the almighty baseball gurus and all-knowing fortune tellers.
2065 Tycobbian East Preseason Poll
1st Place (tie): Tuckanarra Tiger Cats
Defending champion Tuckanarra has challenged for the last five seasons and finally won the TU East crown in '64... improved pitching pushed them to the next level, coupled with a rock solid batting order... the Tucks have a good track record in the IPA annals, one of the top franchises... 19 postseason appearances... 3 Pro Cups (2023, 2024, 2035)... an overall .545 winning percentage... and they could make it two pennants in a row... the quality bats are still there with budding star 3B Atticus Finch (.293 BA, 26 HR, 102 RBI, 85 R, 1 SB), star 1B Boomer Carlton (.265 BA, 25 HR, 94 RBI, 90 R), 3-time All-Star C Odell Overstreet (.282 BA, 13 HR, 60 RBI, 60 R, 9 SB), RF Bubby Creekmur (.263 BA, 17 HR, 76 RBI, 74 R, 3 SB), CD Barry Waters (.266 BA, 7 HR, 57 RBI, 80 R, 8 SB) and LF Duncan McLemore (.268 BA, 15 HR, 50 RBI, 80 R, 12 SB)... heading up the mound corps is superstar ace Ian Timms (18-7, 2.38 ERA), two-time Golden Arm winner (2057, 2058)... along with Alan Dayton (12-4, 2.25 ERA)... add in veteran Terry Cahoon (11-15, 4.25 ERA) and youngster Christopher Crabb and you have a good starting rotation... Crabb may be ready for the big time... Crabb did very well in the spring... the bullpen is not of championship caliber with Mick Dooley (8-10, 3.65 ERA, 16 saves, 70 games) and Danny Turnbow (7-9, 3.96 ERA, 9 saves, 54 games)... look for the Tucks to make another run for the pennant.
1st Place (tie): South Fork Stallions
After winning the TU East flag in '63, the Stallions took a tumble to the fourth spot last year (11 GB)... caused by a dip in its pitching... historically the Ponies have only been so-so with just 8 playoff appearances, but they do possess 2 Pro Cup trophies, won in 2025 and 2042... South Fork has an overall .502 winning percentage... the club has two top-notch starters in Herm McClanahan (13-4, 2.51 ERA) and Rex Waller (11-9, 2.60 ERA)... several starters had down years last year and the bullpen wasn't very good... the Stallions are hoping for a revival... the other three in the rotation will be Sam Black (8-10, 3.82 ERA), Caine Hanlon (8-6, 3.44 ERA) and rookie Jimmy Masters, who did well this spring... the bullpen is still a question mark with vets Christopher Hollie (7-12, 3.69 ERA, 8 saves, 46 games) and Bret Danziger (11-12, 4.05 ERA, 18 saves, 84 games)... three guys carry the offense... superstar 6-time All-Star RF Bob Purkey (.282 BA, 30 HR, 100 RBI, 73 R, 4 SB), LF Artie Greer (.291 BA, 16 HR, 65 RBI, 86 R, 23 SB) and CF Rudy Gatlin (.289 BA, 6 HR, 57 RBI, 75 R, 19 SB) needs some help in the offense... they can't match the Tuckanarra bats.
3rd Place: High Mesa Mustangs (1 GB)
Right up with the Tucks and South Fork are the Mustangs... they won the pennant in '62, suffered pitching woes in '63 and dipped to 6th place, but just 9 games behind... but they ran a solid race last year, finishing third, only 7 games behind, in spite of the mediocre pitching... not a lot of success in High Mesa's history... only 5 postseason playoffs, but they have won a Pro Cup... that was many years ago in 2002, their first season in the IPA... over 63 seasons High Mesa has played .502 baseball... the current club can really bang the ball, especially the longball... sparked by two superstars... 1B Roy Roberts (.311 BA, 59 HR, 115 RBI, 118 R, 1 SB) and 5-time All-Star and Gold Glove 3B Kagetoki Miyazaki (.270 BA, 46 HR, 138 RBI, 94 R, 2 SB)... plus RF Billy Putnam (.243 BA, 31 HR, 77 RBI, 83 R, 16 SB) and LF Zippy Coburn (.261 BA, 22 HR, 74 RBI, 69 R, 2 SB) can go deep, too... High Mesa will be a presence in the TU East pennant chase, but it is tough to win with such lackluster pitching... noticeable improvement will be needed from starters Robby Numbers (11-13, 3.73 ERA), Weldon Herrington (10-7, 3.94 ERA) and Alex Crabtree (9-8, 3.73 ERA)... Dylan Bowers (8-1, 3.50 ERA) did well in his rookie season and shows promise... and his twin brother, Galan Bowers, won a spot in the starting rotation this spring... closer Eliot Regan (19-12, 3.80 ERA, 12 saves, 86 games) needs improvement... he suffers from too many gopher balls.
4th Place: Midway Wolves (5 GB)
For the first time since 2053 the Middies will be without two dynamite stars... 9-time All-Star and Gold Glove LF Norishige Ito (.313 BA, 654 HR, 1853 RBI, 1769 R, 134 SB) and 7-time All-Star and Golden Glove CF Daryl Vale (.292 BA, 368 HR, 1235 RBI, 1122 R, 215 SB)... the dynamic duo led the Wolves to 2 Pro Cups ('53, '54) and 6 TU East titles... both Ito and Vale retired last year... both saw their numbers declining and decided to call it quits... Ito hit .300 last season with 26 HR, 70 RBI and 83 R, while Vale had his third poor year in a row, batting only .241, but with 28 homers, 79 RBI and 71 runs... Ito was 36... Vale just 31... they will be sorely missed... Midway was in the hunt last year, winding up second to Tuckanarra, 6 games off the pace... despite the loss of the two superstars, the baseball critics are giving the Wolves a chance at the TU East crown with good pitching and decent bats... the starting rotation is solid with Linc Christopher (14-6, 2.91 ERA), Tino Monarrez (11-11, 2.82 ERA), Ezra Wilcox (11-7, 3.01 ERA), Eli Pausina (6-4, 2.93 ERA) and Ayasha Kanjorsky (6-6, 3.84 ERA)... but Midway needs bullpen help... closer Phil Bellamy (12-9, 3.38 ERA, 22 saves, 80 saves) needs to be much better for the Wolves to win the division crown... the Middies have only two good bats... RF Kody Kenyon (.310 BA, 30 HR, 82 RBI, 106 R, 7 SB) and 2B T. D. Crowder (.307 BA, 22 HR, 62 RBI, 55 R, 2 SB)... but they are nowhere close to Ito and Vale... Midway does not look like the class of Tuckanarra, South Fork and High Mesa.
5th Place: Ozarka Naturals (5 GB)
Like Midway, the Nats depend on their pitching staff... the bats are just not there at the level of the other contenders... but the club has done well the last two seasons, ending up second in '63, 4 GB and fourth in '64, 9 GB... it's really been a long, long time since Ozarka won the TU East... the last division title came in 2040... but the Naturals have appeared 15 times in the playoffs, much of it in the early years of the IPA, but never have won a Pro Cup, but Ozarka did make it as far as the Pro Cup Finals on 5 occasions (2011, 2012, 2016, 2019, 2020)... overall in the team's history the Nats have a .514 winning percentage... they won 10 flags in 12 years from 2010 to 2021... if Ozarka takes the TU East title this season, starters Billy Lake (14-12, 3.20 ERA), former closer Sammy Strickland (15-10, 3.37 ERA, 24 saves, 88 games), Jimmy Douglas (11-12, 3.68 ERA), Jordy Alberstadt (11-11, 3.92 ERA) and Jim Pippin (5-3, 3.27 ERA) will have to step it up to a higher level... and rookie closer Ezra Hancock has to come through, too... they all did quite well in spring training... so there is hope for the future in Ozarka, especially if the offense can inprove... right now CF Chris Kile (.291 BA, 3 HR, 43 RBI, 71 R, 11 SB) and 1B Ari Alpert (.247 BA, 20 HR, 84 RBI, 73 R) are the best of the lot... the Nats are in dire need of some offensive help.
6th Place (tie): Hillsboro Blazers (13 GB)
The rest of the TU East is not quite up to snuff talent-wise... the Hillsboro Blazers cannot hit a lick and the mound staff is just mediocre... they have come in seventh the last three years... are on a six-year losing streak... and the future doesn't look good... and the past is even worse... only one time in the Hillsboro history has the club won a pennant... that was in 2051... they won 98 games that season and lost in the first round of the playoffs to the team that won the Pro Cup that year, the Arlon Champions... it took Arlon seven games to eliminate the Blazers... it was the toughest series of their championship season... overall the Blazers have a very poor .473 winning percentage, one of the worst in the IPA... Hillsboro has a few good starters in Jerrod Kipling (12-7, 2.97 ERA) and Scotty McKay (11-14, 3.32 ERA)... Jay Jay Conlee (8-14, 3.83 ERA) is fairly decent... they have added two rookies, Sneaky Atwater and Chet Sloan to the starting rotation, but neither did well in the spring... the Blazer bullpen is in good hands with closer Jeffrey Bevan (6-14, 2.35 ERA, 20 saves, 77 games)... offensively, Hillsboro is really "offensive"... in the sense of really bad... the best batting average on the team is 3B Harold Essex (.255 BA, 25 HR, 60 RBI, 55 R/2 SB), but the Blazers can hit the ball out of the park... CF Boogie Boyd (.198 BA, 39 HR, 83 RBI, 78 R, 9 SB), 1B Jackie Hansford (.241 BA, 30 HR, 77 RBI, 70 R), LF Jeff McDaid (.241 BA, 23 HR, 64 RBI, 80 R, 12 SB) and RF Eli Nickelson (.234 BA, 21 HR, 61 RBI, 66 R, 6 SB) just don't make contact very often... team batting average last year was a terrible .221, but they slammed 202 homers.
6th Place (tie): Red Bluff Red Sox (13 GB)
For a 3-year period from '57 to '59 the Red Sox were one of the elite teams in the TU East Division... in '57 Red Bluff captured the Pro Cup... they ran a close second the next two seasons to pennant winners Midway and High Mesa... then the decline set in... the Red Sox competed for the pennant in only one of those five years... third place (8 GB) in '63... and 15 games out last year in sixth place... Red Bluff is forecast to wind up near the bottom this year... they have really good starters in the rotation with Dontrelle Gilbreath (17-8, 2.45 ERA), Wilson Sharpe (12-13, 2.70 ERA), Joe Cummings (14-7, 3.81 ERA), Ben Laughlin (9-3, 2.03) and Ian Goldsmith (5-4, 2.71 ERA)... the bullpen is fairly solid, too, with closer Duane Sturgeon (10-12, 3.31 ERA, 21 saves, 71 games)... however, the offense is just not there... it's pretty pathetic... the top hitters are SS Cal O'Leary (.257 BA, 17 HR, 82 RBI, 65 R, 1 SB) and RF Odis Keener (.256 BA, 16 HR, 60 RBI, 60 R, 10 SB)... that's as good as it gets in the batting order... and judging by spring training, none of the three rookies will win a regular spot in the lineup.
8th Place: East Point Panthers (26 GB)
The last seven seasons have been bad for the Panthers... 4 times they finished in the TU East basement, twice they were seventh and one time in the fifth spot... the most recent good period for East Point was '50 to '57... the Panthers won pennants in '50 and '52, five times wound up in the runner-up spot and fourth one year... overall East Point has made the postseason playoffs only 7 times, have never won a Pro Cup, but the Panthers came very close in 2033, losing to the Elnora All-Stars in a tense 7-game series... overall East Point has the worst-winning percentage in the Islandian Pro Alliance by far - just .459... this season the team doesn't have much of anything... no pitching... and not a lot of scoring... Bob Yoder (11-8, 3.31 ERA) is a good starter... not much after him except for closer Joel Clifford (11-10, 3.93 ERA, 11 saves, 58 games)... the Panthers have 6 newcomers on the roster this year, 5 of them hurlers... only one of them did well in the spring... East Point hits homers, but doesn't hit for average... top longballers are 1B Mark Carmickle (.227 BA, 33 HR, 81 RBI, 74 R, 1 SB), 3B George Leach (.251 BA, 29 HR, 80 RBI, 66 R, 1 SB), LF Jake Bohannon (.238 BA, 24 HR, 50 RBI, 66 R, 12 SB) and CF Robert Flowers (.262 BA, 19 HR, 60 RBI, 51 R, 3 SB)... 2065 does not bode well for the East Point Panthers.
2064 Tycobbian East Final Standings
