Saturday, October 29, 2072
SUPER HITTERS NAMED IN RUTHLANDIAN AND TYCOBBIAN UNIONS... WALDREP, APPLE RECEIVE GOLDEN BATS
Each season in the Islandian Pro Alliance the top batsmen are selected and are presented the Golden Bat Award, emblematic of being the best hitter in each of the leagues... this season the 2072 Ruthlandian Union Golden Bat Award was given to Lanny Waldrep, star right fielder for the Colfax Black Sox and the 2072 Tycobbian Union Golden Bat Award recipient was Corky Apple, standout left fielder for the Turon Typhoons... this is the 4th time Waldrep has been chosen... the 34-year-old superstar also won the RU Golden Bat in 1959, 1966 and 1970... Waldrep, a 16-year veteran, almost won it on 5 other occasions, finishing second or third in the balloting... Apple is 25 and has played 5 seasons in the IPA... this is the first time Apple claimed the TU Golden Bat trophy.
2072 was another terrific year for Waldrep... he is showing no signs of slowing down... this was one of his best seasons with a .335 BA in 149 games with 37 doubles, 4 triples, 38 homers, 121 RBIs and 105 runs and he also walked 115 times with a .453 OBP... and Waldrep even stole 4 bases... despite his best efforts Colfax finished 6th in the RU West race with a 73-81 record, 22 games behind champion Stoner... in his remarkable career Waldrep is a .314 hitter with 505 home runs and 1607 runs batted in... he has led the Ruthlandian Union in homers the last three seasons... Waldrep is an 8-time All-Star and 5-time Golden Glove... yep, Waldrep is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, for sure.
Valmara's superlative first baseman Stefan Starzynski was runner-up to Waldrep in the Ruthlandian Golden Bat poll... at age 23, he sparked the Vipers to the RU North Division title with a .314 BA in 153 games, 29 doubles, 4 triples, 33 roundtrippers, 112 ribbies, 122 runs scored and 18 stolen bases... Valmara had the best record in the IPA with a 97-57 mark.
Coming in 3rd in the Ruthlandian Golden Bat poll was Belle Plaine's second baseman Andre Lemoine... in 154 games he batted .342 with 32 homers, 112 RBIs, 117 runs, 115 walks and 15 stolen bases... Lemoine had a .456 OBP... despite his gaudy numbers, the poor Musketeers still came in dead last in the RU East with a very poor 59-95 record... the 30-year-old Lemoine has starred for Belle Plaine for 10 seasons.
Not only is the 2072 Tycobbian Golden Bat a rock-solid hitter, Corky Apple is also a Golden Glover in left field... Apple played in 152 games and led the Turon Typhoons (91-63) to the Tycobbian South Division crown... they whipped perennial powerhouse Southport by 6 games... Apple hit .324 with 201 hits, 33 doubles, 2 triples, 20 home runs, 106 RBIs, 112 runs and 35 stolen bases... lifetime Apple sports a .309 BA with 56 homers, 331 RBIs and 356 runs scored in his 5 years with Turon.
Second place in the TU Golden Bat poll went to Hartsdale's slugging right fielder Tom Colson... he pace the Hellcats to a standout season... Hartsdale (94-60) won the TU North fairly easily by 9 games over the White River Rascals (85-69)... Colson was one of the primary reasons they won the pennant... he batted .286 in 150 games with 135 RBIs, 39 homers, led the league with 123 runs scored and stole 32 bases... Colson is 25 and has played 5 seasons with the Hellcats.
A Hartsdale teammate, first baseman Bobby Gunn, wound up third in the TU Golden Bat voting... the 32-year-old Gunn led the IPA with 152 RBIs... he swatted 43 homers and scored 92 runs, while batting .288 for average... Gunn is a 8-year veteran, 6 with South Fork, the last two with Hartsdale... he had a career year this year.
Ruthlandian Union