Sunday, October 30, 2072
IPA MVP AWARDS COPPED BY VALMARA'S SKARZYNSKI AND TURON'S APPLE
One of the most distinguished and celebrated events of the Islandian Pro Alliance season is the awarding of the Ruthlandian and Tycobbian Most Valuable Player trophies... it is a difficult task to narrow it down to just one player... so many are deserving of the revered honor, but only one player in each league can win it... this year the 2072 Ruthlandian Union Most Valuable Player Award has been conferred on Valmara's splendid first baseman Stefan Skarzynski and the 2072 Tycobbian Union Most Valuable Player Award has been given to Turon's talented left fielder Corky Apple.
The 23-year-old Skarzynski had to outpolled plenty of highly-touted and gifted players... he led the Vipers to the RU North pennant by batting .314 in 153 games, collecting 187 hits with 33 homers, 112 RBIs and 122 runs... Skarzynski finished second to the great Lanny Waldrep in the Golden Bat competition, but he won the MVP prize... lifetime in 3 seasons with Valmara, Skarzynski is a .303 batter with 89 roundtrippers, 303 RBIs and 316 runs scored.
This year it wasn't the batters he had to overcome, it was two fine pitchers... number 2 in the Ruthlandian MVP poll was Wynnamac's workhorse Mick Flanders, this year's Golden Arm winner... the big 6-foot-9 right-hander sparked the Macs to the RU East pennant with a terrific 19-5 mark and a 2.92 ERA in 31 starts... Flanders led the IPA in strikeouts with 214 in 221 innings and paced the RU with 5 shutouts.
Al Ragsdale, Belair Beach's fine right-hander, was 3rd in the MVP voting... the 31-year-old racked up 18 victories and only lost 4 times, while posting up an impressive 2.87 ERA in 25 starts... Ragsdale played his first 4 season with Southport in the Tycobbian Union... he has been with the Sunbirds for 2 years... Belair Beach (92-62) came in a close second to the Valka Blackhawks (96-58), finishing 4 games behind them in the RU South.
In the Tycobbian Union it was the hard-hitting kings of swing that Corky Apple had to beat out for the TU Most Valuable Player trophy... Apple is a triple awards winner... he is also the 2072 TU Golden Bat this season... Apple reigned supreme again over his Golden Bat challengers and garnered the MVP prize, too... Apple paced Turon to the Tycobbian South pennant with a .314 BA in 152 games with 201 hits, 33 doubles, 2 triples, 20 home runs, 106 RBIs, 112 runs and 35 stolen bases... he also won his second straight Golden Glove in left field... it was a great season for Apple... his Typhoons also won the IPA Pro Cup, defeating Stoner 3 games to 1 in the best-of-five series.
Timmy Penfield, Bayview's brilliant right-hander, and Bobby Gunn, Hartsdale's slugging outfielder, ran 2 and 3 in the TU Most Valuable Player poll... in his 4th season the 23-year-old Penfield, put up a standout 18-8 record in 25 starts with an IPA-leading 2.20 ERA... Penfield propelled the Vikings to a very close second place in the TU West... La Claire nipped them by just one scant game... Gunn led the Hellcats to the TU North pennant... Gunn had a super season and led the IPA with 152 RBIs... he went deep 43 times this season, scored 94 times and hit for a .288 batting average in 148 games... Gunn finished 3rd in the Tycobbian Golden Bat poll.
2072 Ruthlandian Union Most Valuable Players