RACERS ROLL ON, FAVORED TO WIN 7TH STRAIGHT TU WEST FLAG
The Island baseball know-it-alls have looked into their crystal balls and picked the Rolling Hills Racers to keep on rolling in the Tycobbian West with their seventh successive division flag... in addition, the pollsters are giving the Racers a good chance to win their 3rd Pro Cup in 6 seasons... and it looks like they will not have much of a challenge in the weak TU West except for the Kenwood Wildcats... ranked a distant third in the preseason preview poll are the Denton City Redbirds... nobody else among the other 5 teams in the TU West are given any chance at all... Bay St. Clair and La Claire are the best of the rest and are forecast to wind up over 20 games behind in the fourth and fifth spots in the standings.
2065 Tycobbian West Preseason Poll
1st Place: Rolling Hills Racers
The Racers have ruled the TU West for the last decade with 6 pennants... they missed out on a golden opportunity to win a record-setting 6th Pro Cup last year, falling to underdog Claxton in the Pro Cup Finals in 6 games... time may be running out on Rolling Hills... they may not be quite as good this year as in previous years... the offense is not quite what it was and the pitching has slipped a bit in the last year or so... overall the Racers are one of the top franchises in IPA history with 5 Pro Cups, a .533 winning percentage and 16 postseason appearances... Rolling Hills' lineup is packed with blockbuster bats, led by superstar 3B Teddy Stonich (.328 BA, 29 HR, 121 RBI, 103 R, 1 SB), star CF Hugo Sutton (.293 BA, 22 HR, 103 RBI, 105 R, 24 SB), star 1B Luca Palazzi (.300 BA, 17 HR, 88 RBI, 111 R, 28 SB), star RF Jimmy Brandini (.333 BA, 10 HR, 67 RBI, 106 R, 17 SB), star LF Jean-Luc Roubique (.273 BA, 23 HR, 93 RBI, 86 R, 9 SB), star SS Jameson Mulbert (.323 BA, 2 HR, 61 RBI, 65 R, 8 SB) and 2B Clayton Claiborne (.303 BA, 6 HR, 75 RBI, 59 R, 7 SB)... the only question mark is the Racers' mound corps... they don't have a dominant starter, just a fairly good rotation with an average bullpen... Clay Callaghan (10-9, 3.20 ERA) and Vance Dillaway (14-4, 3.25 ERA) are the top starters with some help from Brownie Ashmore (14-9, 3.86 ERA), Jordy Wales (14-5, 3.69 ERA) and Charley Clutterbuck (10-6, 4.26 ERA)... closer Rob Gates (9-10, 3.19 ERA, 27 saves, 80 games) anchors the so-so bullpen... old age is settling in on the Racers' rotation... Rolling Hills can still put lots of runs on the scoreboard, but it needs better pitching against Pro Cup caliber teams.
2nd Place: Kenwood Wildcats (2 GB)
As far as history goes Kenwood has appeared in the playoffs on 10 occasions with one Pro Cup trophy (2014) and an overall won-lost .514 percentage... the Wildcats have not won the TU West since '52... this could be the year... they came in third last year with much improved pitching and some solid offense, only 8 games behind Rolling Hills... the staff is the key to success... if Marcelo Cervantes (16-7, 3.66 ERA), Johnny Merriman (15-12, 3.94 ERA), Dennis Tarrant (9-11, 3.31 ERA), Robert Currie (11-4, 3.50 ERA) and Mickey Maughan (8-6, 3.67) can step it up just a bit and closer Pee Wee Windham (9-12, 4.27 ERA, 24 saves, 79 game) can do a better job in the bullpen, then Kenwood would be right up there with Rolling Hills... that's a lot of ifs... the Wildcat bats are not in the league of the Racers, but they can score with the likes of CF Rick Lundgren (.320 BA, 5 HR, 63 RBI, 112 R, 29 SB), 2B Lorne Latimer (.315 BA, 4 HR, 76 RBI, 85 R, 18 SB), 1B Joe Kellogg (.267 BA, 11 HR, 80 RBI, 74 R, 14 SB), RF Kenny Battles (.275 BA, 12 HR, 61 RBI, 80 R, 19 SB) and 3B Reg Haynesworth (.244 BA, 13 HR, 66 RBI, 76 R, 13 SB)... all in all, it still looks like Rolling Hills is the top team in the TU West.
3rd Place: Denton City Redbirds (11 GB)
Since winning the TU West 4 times in 7 seasons from 2053 to 2059, the Redbirds have deteriorated the last two years, falling to 6th in '63 with a 69-84 mark, 37 games behind... and coming in 5th in '64 at 71-83, 24 games out... failure to hit and score runs were the reasons for the drop in the standings... overall Denton City has made the playoffs 13 times, but they have never won the Pro Cup, but made the Pro Cup Finals in '05 and '08... the Redbirds are on the winning side of the won-lost ledger with a .513 percentage... on the hill Rance Hasbrough (11-12, 3.45 ERA) is the only effective starter and Burnell Kelley (13-9, 2.95 ERA, 25 saves, 70 games) is the only effective arm in the bullpen... leading the offensive attack are 36-year-old long-time star shortstop Vincent McCloud (.296 BA, 19 HR, 89 RBI, 93 R, 4 SB), who is still the most productive bat in the lineup, helped out by CF Danley Donovan (.291 BA, 23 HR, 79 RBI, 93 R, 22 SB), C Ozzy Crenshaw (.319 BA, 12 HR, 62 RBI, 52 R), 3B Josh Karnes (.270 BA, 13 HR, 58 RBI, 76 R, 21 SB) and part-timer RF T. D. Barnett (.308 BA, 15 HR, 57 RBI,71 R, 3 SB), who will get a full-time spot in the lineup this season... it may be the Denton City offense that gets it as high as third this season in the TU West.
4th Place: Bay St. Clair Buccaneers (21 GB)
It has been quite a few years since the Bucs had any success in the TU West... the last pennants came in '49 and '50... never won a Pro Cup trophy, but did make the Pro Cup Finals in 2015... no recent success... the last winning season was in 2057... all-time winning percentage is lackluster at .495... last year the Buccaneers wound up in the sixth spot in the standings, 26 GB... just a mediocre ballclub as far as hitting and pitching... only a couple of good hurlers... last year's closer Shea Curlin (15-6, 2.83 ERA, 15 saves, 80 games) will head up the starting rotation this season... Darcey Kennedy (10-15, 3.57 ERA) is also a reliable pitcher... not much in the bullpen, the cupboard is bare... not much at the plate, either... 1B Kenny Malcolm (.291 BA, 25 HR, 67 RBI, 70 R, 1 SB) is the most productive bat and he gets a little help from RF Manny Cedeno (.226 BA, 19 HR, 79 RBI, 74 R, 1 SB) and 3B Steven O'Connor (.267 BA, 13 HR, 67 RBI, 54 R)... there are a lot of bad teams in the TU West.
5th Place: La Claire Lynx (24 GB)
Last year the Lynx gave Rolling Hills a real run for its money... they came within 4 games of the TU West title, finishing with a 91-63 record... they did it with a fine group of hitters, sparked by LF Taro Lansing (.300 BA, 17 HR, 97 RBI, 83 R, 16 SB), RF Jonny Bacon (.304 BA, 23 HR, 96 RBI, 95 R, 4 SB), 3B Horace Rutherford (.312 BA, 16 HR, 79 RBI, 58 R, 5 SB), 1B Dandy Zack (.285 BA, 21 HR, 67 RBI, 83 R, 2 SB), CF Sean McEuen (.284 BA, 18 HR, 64 RBI, 95 R, 41 SB)... La Claire has three pretty sound starters in Chance Coursey (15-5, 3.13 ERA), Kellen Debussy (12-8, 3.39 ERA) and Tommy Trantham (13-8, 3.15 ERA)... add in Tim Halliburton (11-6, 3.42), Mike Quillen (13-8, 3.51 ERA) and Maurice Aronson (7-10, 4.04 ERA, 21 saves, 75 games)... Aronson was a mediocre closer last season and will be a starter this year... really can't see the Lynx falling off this much this season... they look like a second or third-place club at worst... down through its IPA history La Claire has only made the postseason 4 times... only a .474 winning percentage... never won a Pro Cup... never made it to the Pro Cup Finals... '37 and '38 were the last pennant-winning seasons... the Lynx are really due... if they play close to last year, they just might pull a big upset in the TU West.
6th Place: Bayview Vikings (28 GB)
The Viks came in sixth last year, tied with Bay St. Clair... 26 games behind TU West champion Rolling Hills... Bayview has made the postseason playoffs only 6 times... 5 times in the first 7 seasons of the Islandian Pro Alliance... the last TU West flag came in 2016... never won a Pro Cup... not a very successful franchise with an overall losing mark for its 64 seasons, playing only .487 baseball... the Vikings can hit the ball and score well, but they lack pitching... top guns at the plate are 1B Gunnar Lindberg (.323 BA, 13 HR, 61 RBI, 103 R, 24 SB), 2B Goldy O'Toole (.272 BA, 19 HR, 91 RBI, 77 R, 6 SB), RF Neil Connors (.306 BA, 9 HR, 59 RBI, 88 R, 12 SB) and C Lou Fairhead (.278 BA, 20 HR, 78 RBI, 66 R, 1 SB)... Bayview has one solid starter in Ivar Rasmussen (12-11, 2.83 ERA)... and two more decent ones in Jules Perot (11-8, 3.62 ERA) and Julien Ferrell (9-10, 3.87 ERA)... the bullpen is just plain bad with Vidar Verstergaard (10-18, 5.01 ERA, 14 saves, 97 games) and Olav Einarson (6-13, 4.18 ERA, 8 saves, 53 games)... there's a good chance the Bayview Vikings will be near the bottom of the TU West again in 2065.
7th Place: Chicopee Braves (30 GB)
The Braves were terrible in '64 and will likely be just about as bad in '65... they were dead last with a 56-98 record, 39 GB... Chicopee had a poor offense and the worst pitching in the IPA... looking back over the history of the Braves it shows only 3 playoffs appearances, all in a row, '34, '35 and '36... no Pro Cups... never reached the Pro Cup Finals... overall winning percentage is a dismal .472... the Braves do not possess any serious threats in their lineup... most of the them are just modest hitters, paced by 2B Herm McCanless (.289 BA, 11 HR, 74 RBI, 75 R, 9 SB), RF Stacey Whitmire (.314 BA, 13 HR, 58 RBI, 74 R, 18 SB), LF Lou Stankowski (.282 BA, 10 HR, 50 RBI, 44 R, 4 SB) and CF Mooki Ahanu (.290 BA, 6 HR, 47 RBI, 76 R, 18 SB)... only one Chicopee hurler has an ERA under 4.17... closer Cy Abernathy (9-15, 3.40 ERA, 24 saves, 83 games) has the lowest ERA on the squad, while the highest one belongs to Chata Kota (0-0, 6.88 ERA, 0 saves, 30 games)... Mark Meriwether (10-14, 4.40 ERA) is the most effective starter... it's going to be another long, long-suffering season for the Chicopee Braves.
8th Place: Arlon Champions (32 GB)
For the first time in 5 years the Champs chalked up a winning record (78-76) last year... they did it with good bats and adequate pitching, winding up in fourth place, 17 games back of first place Rolling Hills... 1B Rhett Harper (.314 BA, 12 HR, 65 RBI, 82 R, 23 SB) sparked the club with help from 2B Victor Ard (.296 BA, 15 HR, 74 RBI, 78 R, 2 SB), 3B Carl Mendelsohn (.289 BA, 4 HR, 52 RBI, 74 R, 6 SB) and LF Jamey Stansfield (.270 BA, 14 HR, 41 RBI, 48 R, 4 SB)... Arlon has a reliable rotation with starters Rex August (14-10, 4.13 ERA, 18 saves, 80 games), Clyde Burney (13-12, 3.23 ERA), Zak Dizon (11-10, 3.62 ERA) and Mylon Hebb (13-10, 3.70 ERA)... August was the closer last season and will get a shot at the starting rotation this year... this year's closer will be William Shireland (3-5, 3.66 ERA, 12 saves, 48 games)... the Arlon Champions just might be 4th-place club in the Tycobbian West this season.
2064 Tycobbian West Final Standings
