Friday, October 30, 2071
SCRIBES AND SPORTSCASTERS PICK JOSEPHSON AND TAKAGI AS TOP IPA MANAGERS FOR '71
In a super tight poll the Islands baseball sportswriters and sportscasters selected the managers of the year in the Islandian Pro Alliance... the 2071 Ruthlandian Union Manager of the Year Award went to Brock Josephson of the Belair Beach Sunbirds and the 2071 Tycobbian Union Manager of the Year Award honoree is Sogo Takagi of the Ginza Ninjas... it was Josephson's first time to receive the award... it was the 2nd time for Takagi, who won it initially in 2059.
Josephson beat out some other worthy RU skippers like Nioka Inkamara of Wynnamac, Don Ritchie of Valmara and Garry August of Colfax... Takagi outpolled several top-notch TU managers such as Turon's Nate Scottsdale, White River's Marty Blake, Tuckanarra's Quinn Starr and South Fork's Jay Murphy.
Currently in his 6th season as skipper, Brock Josephson first won the RU South last year with a 91-63 mark... his Sunbirds improved to 100-54 this year... coming in second in the best manager balloting was Nioka Inkamara... his Macs have won back-to-back pennants in the RU East... he upped his team's record from 99-55 in '70 to 103-51 this season... in the third spot was Don Ritchie of Valmara, who has twice gained the honor, in '57 and '61... Valmara won the RU North for the second year in a row... Ritchie's Vipers jumped from 97-57 to 101-53 this season... 4th in the RU top skipper award poll was Garry August of Colfax, who guided his club up from 8th place to 3rd place in the RU West race.. the Black Sox bettered their record from 55-99 and 39 games behind to 81-73 and just 5 games off the pace, a dramatic improvement.
It was a marvelous 14th season at the helm of the Ginza Ninjas for Sogo Takagi... his Karate Kids came in second place, 9 games back of Turon in the TU South this year with a 95-59 mark, much improved from 5th place and 71-83, 28 games off the pace the previous season... Nate Scottsdale had a great year with Southport... he captured his second straight pennant in the TU South with a splendid 104-50 record... that topped the '70 mark of 99-55... Tuckanarra manager Quinn Starr led his team up from 2nd place in '70 with a 91-63 record, 2 GB, to 97-57 and first place in the tough TU East... and South Fork manager Jay Murphy raised his record from 79-75 in 2070 to 94-60 this season, moving up from 3rd place and 14 games out to 2nd place in the TU East and just 3 games out of first place... 5th in the top manager competition was Marty Blake of White River... the Rascals have won the TU North the last two seasons, increasing their record from 96- 58 upwards to 97-57.