Thursday, October 31, 2074
SUMMERLAND CENTER FIELDER COXE BREAKS TRADITION... LOSING TEAM PLAYER NAMED PRO CUP MVP
Traditionally in the Islandian Pro Alliance Pro Cup Series, the Most Valuable Player Award goes to a player on the winning team... but not always... for just the second time in IPA history, the winning team will get the Pro Cup, but no player on the team will get the top player honor... Carroll Coxe, Summerland's talented center fielder failed to get the main prize, the IPA Pro Cup, but he will get the 2074 IPA Pro Cup Most Valuable Player trophy.
For the second time in Pro Cup postseason history, a player on the winning club did not get the MVP trophy... it happened for the first time in 2030... Valmara lost to the Blue Lake Blue Sox in a 7-game series, however pitcher Teddy Lem was acclaimed the standout performer and was given the Pro Cup MVP honor... Lem went 6-1 in 7 starts... won 2 games in the Pro Cup Series... and wound up with a 2.37 ERA in the playoffs... this anomaly usually occurs when the winning team doesn't have a player with super stats in the postseason.
Carroll Coxe had a tremendous postseason... he tied the record for the most home runs and the most RBIs in Islandian Pro Alliance playoff history... Coxe tied Middlefield's Bailey Norcross and Southport's Craig Glennon with 8 home runs... and he also tied Barney Lewis of Southport with 23 RBIs... Norcross set the record in 2005 originally... Glennon did it again in 2047... Lewis set his record in 2044.
This postseason Coxe played in 18 games, went 31 for 74 at the plate with a hefty .419 batting average, swatted 8 out of the park, drove in 23 runs, scored 20 and stole 10 bases... he was chosen IPA Pro Cup Most Valuable Player over quite a few Crystal Lake performers... no one came close to his numbers... the Skippers had some good bats with good numbers, but none of their pitchers posted standout stats.
Second in the postseason MVP balloting was rookie pitcher Noel Arboneaux... he was 5-1 in his 6 postseason starts with a 4.07 ERA... Arboneaux won 2 games in the Pro Cup Finals for Crystal Lake, but he was lackluster in his other playoff starts.
Crystal Lake second sacker Sookie Murphy stood out with 22 runs scored, the most runs ever scored in the IPA playoffs... he batted .300 in 17 games, socked 3 homers, stole 9 bases and drove in 6 runs... Murphy wound up 3rd in the playoff MVP poll.
4th place in the voting was center fielder Sammy Silfen, who topped the Skippers with a .356 BA in 16 games... he drove in 9 runs, scored 8 times, stole 7 bases with 6 doubles, 2 triples and one home run.
Number 5 in the playoff MVP poll was Crystal Lake first baseman Jeff Setser... he batted .281 in 17 games with 2 roundtrippers, 13 RBIs and scored 9 runs... 11 of his RBIs came in the Pro Cup Finals.
Gino Lorenzetti, the Skippers' second baseman, only hit .242 with 13 ribbies and 11 runs scored... in the Pro Cup Finals he hit 3 crucial home runs... LorenzettI finished a distant 6th in the postseason poll.
The 7th-best votegetter was Crystal Lake's third baseman Cookie Garland... he batted in 11 runs, scored 6 times with a .254 BA in his 17 games.
The Skippers got solid contributions from an array of players, but none really stuck out compared to Carroll Cox.
