Wednesday, November 5, 2069
IPA TOP MANAGERS ACCLAIMED... AWARDS GO TO MARSTON'S WOODWARD AND BLUE LAKE'S DENHAM
There was an abundance of worthy skippers in the Islandian Pro Alliance this season... just look at how many were nominated in the 2069 Manager of the Year polls... there were four challengers in each league... none of this year's top managers ran away with the awards... they were all hotly-contested.
Here are the contenders for the 2069 Ruthlandian Union Manager of the Year: Taranto's Lenny Buisson, Belair Beach's Brock Josephson, Valka's Matvey Kazak and Marston's Russ Woodward.
Nominated for the 2069 Tycobbian Union Manager of the Year: Blue Lake's Dookie Denham, Southport's Lorne Evans, South Fork's Jay Murphy and Turon's Nate Scottsdale.
And the winners were Russ Woodward of the Marston Nine, the RU Manager of the Year and the TU Manager of the Year, Dookie Denham of the Blue Lake Blue Caps
Woodward improved his Marston club from 5th place, 73-81 and 21 GB in 2068 to first place in the RU East with an 88-67 mark...Woodward has been at the helm of the Nine since 2047.
Lenny Buisson came in second in the balloting... he led the Taranto Tars to the RU North division title... his club was third in 2068 with an 81-73 record and 13 games off the pace... his Tars jumped to 89-65 this season and won the pennant... this was Buisson's third year as skipper.
In the third spot for the RU Manager of the Year honor was Brock Josephson of the Belair Beach Sunbirds... in his second season he guided the Sunbirds from 8th place and 65-89, 27 games behind in the '68 pennant race to a vastly-improved 82-72 and third place in the RU South this year... Belair Beach wound up 8 games back of pennant-winning Claxton.
Fourth place in the top skipper voting went to Matvey Kazak of the Valka Blackhawks... also in his second year as manager he upped the Blackhawks from 4th place and 14 games behind in the race with a 78-78 record in the RU South to a very close second place... Valka ran a great race and were edged out by the Claxton Diamonds by just one game... the Blackhawks improved to 89-65 this season and almost upset perennial power Claxton.
The competition was just as heated and just as close in the Tycobbian Union... the 2069 TU Manager of the Year trophy was presented to Dookie Denham, second-year skipper of the resurgent Blue Lake Blue Caps, who leaped from 7th place, 71-83 and 19 games out to the Tycobbian North division crown... the Blue Caps finished 86-68 this season... they edged the Hartsdale Hellcats by one game to win the pennant.
South Fork's Jay Murphy was the runner-up to Denham... his Stallions moved up from 6th in the TU East standings and 16 games out of first place with a 76-78 mark in '68 to the division title with an 84-70 record... Murphy has been the field manager for the Stallions since 2058... South Fork won a squeaker over the Red Bluff Red Sox, nipping them by just one game.
Longtime Southport skipper Lorne Evans ranked third in the best manager poll this year... his Sun Sox won the pennant in '68 with an 86-68 mark... this year they shined with a 95-59 record and again copped the Tycobbian South flag... this was Evans' 22nd year as the Southport manager.
Nate Scottsdale inherited a pretty good ballclub in Turon in his first year in 2068... he sparked the Typhoons to a second-place finish and 5 GB with a good 81-73 record... they got much better this season but still wound up second with a 92-62 mark and 3 games back of Southport.