Around the Town in the IPA
TUCKANARRA Tiger Cats
(aka Bluejays 2002-2059)
Owner: Tuckanarra Baseball Enterprises
GM/Manager: Quinn Starr
Tuckanarra is a rural town in southern Tycobbia with a population of 49,000. It is about 100 miles east of Bay St.Clair, 100 miles west of South Fork and 100 north of Denton City. Tuckanarra came into existence in the 1860s, when a group of Australians were shipwrecked on the coast near Bay St. Clair. Not having the means to continue their journey from Tuckanarra, Australia to England, they decided to move inland to set up homesteads. Included in their numbers were a few aboriginal families. These were farmers, cattle ranchers and sheep herders. Wheat, wool, beef and lamb were their main products. They named the town after their old hometown, Tuckanarra. The main industries in modern day Tuckanarra are woolen textiles factories and meat processing plants.
In the early 1900s, the game of baseball arrived in the form of exhibition games by the Chicopee town teams, who began to barnstorm the Islands. Initially just traveling to nearby towns like Denton City, Colchester and Tuckanarra, then expanding to Tycobbia, Ruthlandia and even to distant Valdar Island. The Aussies took a liking to the American game and began to form teams, which led to leagues. It took them almost 20 years to compete on the level of the other adjacent towns. By 1920 company leagues were flourishing in Tuckanarra. It stayed amateur and semipro for the next 80 years, when in 2001, the first pro baseball league in the Islands was established, the Islandian Pro Alliance. It was an attempt to get rid of all the corruption in the Amateur Baseball Alliance. Too many teams were just violating the rules by paying the players to just play baseball, but not requiring them to do any bonafide work for the company sponsors.
Since it is one of the smallest towns in the Islands, it seemed like Tuckanarra was going to miss out on the IPA. But local baseball aficionado, playboy and philanthropist, Jayden Thorpe, stepped up to the plate and put up the money for the franchise, the Tuckanarra Bluejays. He chose the name Bluejays simply because it is a tough and feisty bird, just like him. He thought it would make a good mascot, too. Thorpe made his fortune riding high tech stocks in the 1980s and 90s. He hired as GM and manager, Carlton "Lefty" Stevens, a great left-handed pitcher in the industrial leagues. Stevens led the Golden Age of Bluejays baseball. From 2002 to 2038 he guided Tuckanarra to 17 playoff appearances, 3 Pro Cups in 2023, 2024 and 2035 and was named Manager of the Year 3 times in 2013, 2017 and 2028. Stevens was blessed with the 6-foot-6 Starr triplets from 2022 to 2036. Quinn and Glynn were pitchers and Lynn a first baseman. They were the core of his teams. In his career Quinn Starr was 219-164 with a 2.97 ERA, Glynn Starr was 172-130 with a 3.24 ERA and Lynn Starr batted .296 lifetime with 317 homers and 1184 RBIs. Upon Stevens' retirement, the Tucks went into a two decade-long postseason drought. In 2059 Thorpe thought rebranding the club as the Tiger Cats might rejuvenize the stagnant franchise. The Starr family purchased the club from Thorpe family in 2062 and made them competitive again. The Tiger Cats have flourished under Starrs, winning 5 pennants so far. Tuckanarra is still seeking its 4th Pro Cup Trophy.The talented trio also performed even better in the IPA playoffs. The Starr Triplets are now the proud owners of the Tiger Cats. Quinn is the skipper, Glynn, the pitching coach and Lynn is the batting coach. Tuckanarra is truly a family affair. Central Park Stadium comes alive in the 8th inning when all the Starrs lead the fans in singing the great Sister Sledge song "We are Family".
Here is a link to the classic song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcrvVuaQtgw
The Tiger Cats play at Central Park Stadium, which is located right in the middle of a beautiful park on the edge of the downtown area, which houses the Central Park Zoo. The zoo specializes in animals native to Australia and features a ferris wheel, carousel and a carnival midway. It is a favorite place for Tuckanarran families to while away weekend hours perusing koala bears, kangaroos, wallabies, dingoes, platypuses, tasmanian devils and kookaburras. Central Park Stadium was constructed in 1948 and is still a great place to watch a ballgame. Even the aboriginal Australians have taken to the sport of baseball and have acquited themselves very ably over the years.
Food-wise, you won't just gorge out on Aussie delicacy vegemite sandwiches, a salty food paste, and swig Australian beers like VB (Victoria Bitter) and Foster's at the ballpark, you can also get Aussie gourmet treats like barbecue, Tim Tam (chocolate biscuits) and a chocolate Pavlova (a fruit meringue dessert named for the Russian ballerina) with sorbet. Hot dogs, hamburgers and cokes are available, too.
Central Park Stadium (1948)
Capacity: 7,750
Dimensions:
Left Field Line - 340
Left Field - 370
Left Center - 400
Center Field - 385
Right Center - 400
Right Field - 370
Right Field Line - 340