Tuesday, October 2, 2068
LOTS OF RUNAWAY RACES IN THE IPA THIS SEASON... ONLY 3 FAVORITES PREVAILED
The IPA didn't play favorites this year... there were not a lot of pennant races or down-to-the-last day battles in season 2068, but there were quite few runaways... reigning Pro Cup champion and preseason pick Rolling Hills made a farce again of the Tycobbian West, winning by a massive 18 games... favorite Wynnamac topped the Ruthlandian East easily by 12 games... Oxford beat everything in sight in the Tycobbian North by 10 games... and Red Bluff toyed with the Tycobbian East teams, bashing them by 9 games... however, there were decent races in the other 4 divisions... favorite Claxton finally overtook the Waleska Westerners by 7 games in the Ruthlandian South... the LaGrange Gators upended favored and last year's champ Far Mountain by 6 in the Ruthlandian North... Southport was victorious in one of the only tight divisional races, a 5-team fracus... they whipped Turon and Colchester by 5 games and preseason pick Summerland and last year's champion San Alejo by 6 in the Tycobbian South... the closest pennant race in the IPA this season was in the Ruthlandian West, where Forest City bested the Rocky Rapids Snappers by 4 games and last year's champion Sligo by 6 games.
Ruthlandian Union Season Recap
For most of the season it was just a two-team battle in the RU North... LaGrange (94-60) bolted to the top in May and fended off last year's winner Far Mountain (88-66) the rest of the season... LaGrange won by 6 games over the Redhawks... the Gators had it won by July, ahead by 8 and a half games... third place Taranto (81-73) and fourth place Valmara (80-74) had good seasons, but they only contended in the first two months of the year... both the Tars and the Vipers were below .500 in the second part of the season.
The favored Claxton Diamonds (92-62) lost the division lead in July and tumbled to fourth place, but they then took charge and played like a champ the rest of the season and captured their 6th straight RU South flag... the Diamonds repelled scrappy Waleska by 7 games by season's end... Grand City (79-75) and Valka (78-76) wound up with winning records... the Cybercats ended up in the third spot in the standings, trailing by 13 games, while the Blackhawks finished 14 games behind in fourth place... Grand City struggled the first half of the year, but closed it out well, playing 45-33 ball in the second half... Valka was sub .500 after midseason.
Start-to-finish this was an excellent year for the Wynnamac Sundowners (94-60) in the RU East... the Macs won it for the third time in the last five seasons... they were far-and-away the top team... no one came close to them... runner-up Cold Creek (82-72) was 12 games back... third place Eastshore (80-64) wound up 14 games out in the race... and fourth place Beechwood (79-75) came in 15 games behind... last year's division winner Marston (73-81) slipped down to the fifth spot and had a losing season.
The Ruthlandian West certainly did not perform like the baseball pundits forecast... Volusia was a slight favorite over Colfax and Forest City in the preseason polls, but it didn't turn out that way... the Vigilantes and the Black Sox never contended at all... Volusia (75-79) tied for 5th with the Stoner Silver Sox (75-79) and Colfax (63-91) flopped badly and came in dead last, 25 games out of first place... the Forest City Firebirds were hot from the beginning and stayed at the top of the heap all season long... for most of the year their biggest competition came from defending champ Sligo and Fort Benton, but the Rovers and Generals faded in the stretch and were suppassed by the red-hot Rocky Rapids Snappers (84-70), who closed out the year with a 33-21 mark and ended up in second place... the Snappers struggled until August and then took off... Sligo (82-72) came in third, 6 games behind the Firebirds... Fort Benton (80-74) wound up fourth and 8 games back in the race.
Tycobbian Union Season Recap
The baseball pollsters had it all wrong in the Tycobbian North race this season... last year's champ White River was their choice to win the division crown again in a tight race with the North Hills Hawks... Oxford was a distant pick for third place... but that did not happen... the Rascals (77-77) came in fourth in the standings and the Hawks (70-84) a pathetic last... there was absolutely no race whatsover in the Tycobbian North this year, the Oxford Red Caps (90-64) leaped to the top of the standings right out of the gate and kept right on going... the pennant was decided by June when the Red Caps led by 11 and a half games and never looked back... second place went to unheralded also-ran Luxora (80-74)... the Zorros were in the TU North cellar last year and were forecast to finish there again... another unsung club, the Fairfax Frogs (78-76) grabbed third place, winding up 12 games out... the preseason prognosticators predicted the Frogs would wind up in seventh place again this year... it's been seven years since Fairfax posted a winning season.
Nobody ever put any pressure on the Southport Sun Sox this season in the TU South... for the third time in the past four years the Sun Sox are class of the division... last year Southport would have had a shot at a third consecutive Pro Cup trophy if they had not come in second to the San Alejo Montaneros, losing out by 3 games... the Sun Sox cruised to the title this season... they kept all 4 challengers at a safe distance throughout the year... it only got close in September when the Sun Sox had their only losing month of the year (10-17)... Southport whipped the runners-up Turon Typhoons (81-73) and Colchester Elites (81-73) by 5 games... it was a remarkable turnaround year for Colchester... this was their first winning record since 2036... coming in tied for the fourth spot were preseason favorite Summerland (80-74) and last season's champ San Alejo (80-74)... they trailed by 6 games at season's end... the Sunsets slumbered half the season at 35-41 before they began to play like they were touted to be... Summerland closed out 45-33 in the second half.
The Ozarka Naturals were rated the best team in the Tycobbian East heading into the season... the Oxford Red Caps were forecast to be their only competition... that race never really materialized... the Red Caps controlled the top spot almost all of the season... it was a close race until Red Bluff (92-62) took charge in July and August, pushing High Mesa (83-71), last year's division champion Hillsboro (82-72) and Ozarka (78-76) downward in the standings and back into the pack.
For the fourth year in a row the Rolling Hills Racers have rolled up 100 or more victories... they have done this 5 times in 6 seasons... and for 9 straight years the Racers have been triumphant in the Tycobbian West... for 8 of those 9 years they have also batted over .300 as team and the Racers have captured three Pro Cups... and yes, the baseball soothsayers picked them to take division crown once again by a lot... and Rolling Hills did... by a whole, whole lot... the Racers (101-53) won the TU West by 18 games... the Denton City Redbirds (83-71) came in a very distant second...the La Claire Lynx (82-72) a very distant third... and the Bayview Vikings (80-74) a very distant fourth place... the Redbirds and Lynx clung somewhat close, within 6 games until August, then Rolling Hills kicked it up into overdrive and ran away with the pennant... the Racers went 39-15 the final two months of the season.
2068 IPA Final League Standings