Saturday, November 2, 2069
IT'S IPA ACCOLADES AND AWARDS TIME... RU GOLD BAT AND TU GOLD BAT GIVEN OUT TO LEMOINE AND ROBERTS
This is the Islandian Pro Alliance Award Season... time to honor all of the standout performances during the 2069 season... in the leadoff spot are the Golden Bat winners... this year's Ruthlandian Union Golden Bat Award goes to Belle Plaine's hard-hitting second baseman Andre Lemoine, while the Tycobbian Union Golden Bat Trophy was presented to super-slugging first baseman Roy Roberts of the High Mesa Mustangs... it was the first time Lemoine has won the trophy... it was the second time for Roberts... he also nabbed the award three years ago in 2066.
Andre Lemoine bested superstud Colfax outfielder Lenny Waldrep, who wound up second in the RU Golden Bat voting... a 13-year veteran Waldrep had won it on two previous occasions, 2059 and 2066... ending up in third place in the balloting was Isaac Roy, a young up-and-coming right fielder for the Beechwood Jackrabbits.
Lemoine sparked the Belle Plaine Musketeers to their first-winning season in over 15 years... they were 78-76 and came in fourth in the RU East, 9 and a half games back of division winner Marston... the 27-year-old Lemoine topped the Islandian Pro Alliance and Ruthlandian Union in two categories with a .353 batting average and 211 hits in 151 games... this year's RU Golden Bat had 20 doubles, 4 triples, 28 homers, 100 RBIs, 112 runs, 84 walks and stole 6 bases... in his 7 seasons Lemoine has batted .310 with 97 home runs.
Waldrep had another standout season... playing in 153 games he batted .317 with 171 hits, 27 doubles, 7 triples, 31 roundtrippers, 117 RBIs, scored 110 runs and led the RU with 116 walks... in spite of his fine year Colfax (75-79) came in 6th in the RU West standings, but just 6 and a half games behind pennant winner Sligo.
Isaac Roy sparkled for Beechwood this year... in 153 games he delivered 186 hits with a .311 BA, 23 doubles, 10 triples, 39 home runs, drove in 108 runs, scored 113 times and stole 5 bases... Roy paced the Ruthlandian Union in scoring runs... in 2067 he was named the RU Rookie of the Year.
The 2069 TU Golden Bat winner is a home-run machine... High Mesa's Roy Roberts set the IPA record with 73 clouts in 2066... this year he hit the second-most home runs in history... for the 5th time in his illustrious career Roberts topped the Tycobbian Union in homers.. in a colossal year playing all 154 games he hit .302 with 69 home runs, 164 RBIs and 134 runs... despite his great offensive accomplishments the Mustangs (78-76) only finished 3rd in the TU East, trailing division champion Red Bluff by 6 games... lifetime Roberts is carrying a .290 BA with 514 home runs in his 10 seasons... he is a 6-time All-Star and won the Tycobbian MVP Award in 2066 when he set the HR mark.
Oxford star left fielder Showboat Lynn had a sensational season in 2059, his second year in the IPA... Lynn captured the TU Golden Bat that season... this year he came in second to Roberts in the Golden Bat balloting with 54 homers, 135 RBIs and 110 runs... Lynn batted .292 in 151 games and led the Red Caps (82-72) to the third spot in the Tycobbian East race, just 4 games off the pace of division champ Blue Lake.
The third-place votegetter in the Tycobbian MVP poll was Rolling Hills talented center fielder Hugo Sutton... with his great bat Sutton helped his Racers win their 10th consecutive TU West division title... he has starred for 8 seasons with the club and garnered the TU Golden Bat in 2063 and 2065... this year Sutton was first in the Tycobbian Union with 210 hits, 40 doubles and 21 triples in 154 games... he came in fourth with a .330 BA, drove in 104 runs, scored 124 times and stole 12 bases in a spectacular season.
