Friday, October 4, 2075
TYPHOONS ARE THE BEST TEAM IN THE IPA PLAYOFFS
The Turon Typhoons don't hit as well as Rolling Hills Racers... they don't pitch as well as the Marston Nine... they don't hit homers out of the park like Hartsdale Hellcats... and they don't play defense as well as Rolling Hills Racers... but the Typhoons do most of those things well enough to win the Islandian Pro Alliance Pro Cup Trophy this year... that's the opinion of all the scribes and broadcasters that covered the IPA this year... here is how they ranked the 8 IPA division champions in The Islandian Times postseason preview poll.
1. TURON TYPHOONS are a well-balanced team with solid hitting and solid pitching.
2. Sligo Rovers show up very well in all of the statiscal categories... can do it all.
3. Ranford Bulls arethe most surprising team in the IPA this season... came from 7th to 1st place this season... an ugly duckling kind of team... not much on paper, but the Bulls won 97 games this season... they are banking on homers and good defense coupled with fairly good pitching.
4. Rolling Hills Racers depend on offense and defense to win games... not a lot of pitching... however, the Racers won 4 Pro Cups in the 2060s this way... and they lost 2 more in the Pro Cup Finals... the monsters of the 60s may be back.
5. Marston Nine has a strong mound staff... three good starters... two fine relievers... but they lack offense... this is a killer in the playoffs... well-balanced teams with good pitching and good offense usually do better... you can hit your way to the Pro Cup title, but it is hard to pitch your way to it.
6. Valka Blackhawks has the offense to compete for the Pro Cup, but comes up a little short in the pitching department.
7. Hartsdale Hellcats can go deep, but they are just fair on the hill, in the batter's box and defensively.
8. Tuckanarra Tiger Cats can compete on the mound, but that is not enough in the postseason against teams that can pitch and score runs.
IPA PRO CUP PLAYOFFS TALE OF THE TAPE
BEST BATTING AVERAGE
1. Rolling Hills .302
2. Turon .283
3. Valka .282
4. Sligo .280
BEST OBP
1. Rolling Hills .368
2. Turon .341
3. Valka .338
4. Marston .337
MOST RUNS SCORED
1. Rolling Hills 852
2. Turon 794
3. Valka 776
4. Sligo 751
MOST HOME RUNS
1. Hartsdale 131
2. Ranford 122
3. Turon 119
4. Sligo 98
4. Tuckanarra 98
MOST STOLEN BASES
1. Turon 265
2. Hartsdale 227
3. Rolling Hills 221
4. Ranford 221
BEST ERA
1. Marston 3.00
2. Tuckanarra 3.25
3. Sligo 3.31
4. Turon 3.33
BEST HOME RUNS ALLOWED
1. Marston 78
2. Sligo 90
3. Tuckanarra 93
4. Turon 98
BEST RUNS ALLOWED
1. Marston 549
2. Turon 577
3. Sligo 583
4. Tuckanarra 597
BEST FIELDING AVERAGE
1. Rolling Hills .981
2. Ranford .979
3. Hartsdale .979
4. Valka .976
4. Sligo .976