Wednesday, April 1, 2076
IPA SEASON 76 IS HERE... BASEBALL IS BACK IN THE ISLANDS
For the baseball fan, winter is the longest time of the year... it seems like it was it was eons ago that the Rolling Hills Racers raced past the fiesty Sligo Rovers in the 2075 IPA Pro Cup Series... the days and nights just drag by... as time goes ever-so-slowly by, the beaufiful baseball diamonds seemed to lose their green lushness and fade to a dismal brown, but now the green fields are bursting forth all across Islandia... and yep, the boys of spring are back again, too... all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed with visions of pennants dancing in their heads... or just maybe the simple hope of making the roster... even on a last place team with no chance of winning the pennant whatsoever... it's season 76 for the Islandian Pro Alliance... very soon baseball in all of it radiant glory will be blossoming all across the Islands.
Opening day in the Islandian Pro Alliance is just two days away... this Wednesday afternoon the IPA will be back in business swinging and slinging the old horsehide once again for the 76th season.
To get you primed and ready to roll,
The Islandian Times has done its due diligence and surveyed all of the baseball prognosticators, prophets, forecasters, fortunetellers and even some bards and poets to find out who is going to be this season's Pro Cup champion... nope, you can't have too much imput on predicting what will transpire in the wonderful world of baseball.
If the preseason pollsters are right, only three of last year's postseason teams will repeat as division champions... Sligo, Rolling Hills and Turon are forecast to repeat as division winners... that means five divisions will have a new champion... it could be defending Pro Cup champion Rolling Hills and Sligo face-to-face again in the '76 Pro Cup Finals... the baseball analysts are leaning toward the Racers winning back-to-back IPA titles, if they can get past the Turon Typhoons in the Tycobbian Union .
There will be 10 new skippers in the Islandian Pro Alliance... the Ruthlandian Union newcomers are Primo Sirak of Valmara, Lonny Rinehart of Volusia, Mickey Walsh of Sligo, Nicky Farrugia of St. John, Benny Van of Far Mountain, Vince Kinston of Grand City, Eliot Marcum of Belle Plaine, Lou Carlson of Marston and Lenny Toscano of Cold Creek... the lone rookie manager in the Tycobbian Union is Rusty Bradford of Kenwood.
Legendary managers Les Patterson of Sligo and Russ Woodward of Marston retired at the end of the 2075 season... Patterson went out on an all-time high and almost won the IPA Pro Cup... the Rovers lost to Pro Cup winner Rolling Hills in 5 games... he led them to 7 pennants in his 24 seasons... Patterson rarely had a losing season as skipper... Woodward captured 6 pennants in his 30 years at the helm... he went out on a high as well, sparking the Nine to the RU East pennant.
Ruthlandian Union Preseason Review
The baseball experts chose the Far Mountain Redhawks in the Ruthlandian North Division... they think the Redhawks will skim by the Kilkenny Cats in a tense down-to-the-wire race... the Cats snapped a decade long losing streak in '74... they are an up-and-coming club... Kilkenny has made the IPA playoffs only one time... way back in 2042... Far Mountain has the better offense and almost as good as pitching... the rest of the league will be battling at a distance for third place... last year's champ Radford is picked 7th this year... the Bulls had a super season last year with a 97-57 mark and will not go quietly... Far Mountain had a good team in the late '60s and last made the playoffs in 2067... the Redhawks had a terrible year in 2070 (69-85), but they have slowly rebuilt and now are once again a contender in the RU North.
In the Ruthlandian South race the Waleska Westerners and Crystal Lake Skippers will be banging heads for the pennant with the Westerners winning a very close battle... the Westeners have a new manager, now led by former pitcher and pitching coach Lou Carlson (178-155/3.45 ERA)... Carlson played from 2048 to 2062... he replaces Roy Hobbs, who led them to 2 Pro Cups in 2037 and 2039.... the Westerners won 7 pennants in his tenure... Waleska hasn't challenged for the RU South flag since 2056... the Westerners have a high-powered offense that will probably make the difference... Waleska was third last year and 12 games out of first (80-74)... they are on the rise... not too far behind will be last year's RU South winner, the Valka Blackhawks, and the Belair Beach Sunbirds... don't count out the Blackhawks... they are still a very solid ballclub with three pennants in the last four seasons... and remember just two years ago the Skippers were the IPA Pro Cup champion and last year they fell to Valka by just 3 games.
The class of the Ruthlandian East Division is forecast to be the perennial power Wynnamac Sundowners... the Macs have been no worse than 3rd place in the last 25 seasons... only three times during that time have the Sundowners failed to finish in first or second place... those three years were not bad, either... the Macs came in third... their biggest challenger will be the Sugar Valley Rattlers... however, Wynnamac should prevail with its better offense and pitching... this year's defending division champ Marston is slated to slump to a distant 5th in the standings, just behind the Elnora Clippers and the Eastshore Cotton Kings... longtime Marston skipper Russ Woodward turned over the reins to his bench coach Damien D'Arboise this season... he was a star infielder for the Nine from 2048 to 2066, batting .295 with 158 homers and won the Golden Glove 3 times and made 4 All-Stars teams... it's been 25 years since Sugar Valley made the postseason playoffs, but they have been a winning ballclub the last 5 seasons... the Rattlers are on the rise and ready to strike... Sugar Valley has been to the postseason 18 times with one Pro Cup trophy, captured long ago in 2045.
Last year's Pro Cup runner-up Sligo Rovers have a new manager, but they are still the favorites to repeat in the Ruthlandian West race... in Sligo's history they have won only one Pro Cup... that was in 2021... 16 times the Rovers have made the postseason... the team is expected to pick up where they left off last year with rookie skipper Mickey Walsh... he is a HOF pitcher with a terrific 311-207 mark and a standout 2.64 ERA... Walsh starred for the Rovers from '47 to '64 and made the HOF in 2068... he is takeing the place of longtime skipper Les Patterson... but this year the race is going to be a whole lot tougher... the Stoner Silver Sox have won the division crown in two of the last four seasons... they are predicted to seriously contend again for the pennant... the Silver Sox have not had much success in their history with only 5 playoff appearances and no Pro Cups... the Fort Benton Defenders might make a run at the Rovers, too... they have been on the rise the last two seasons... the Defenders ran a strong race in 2074, losing out by just 4 games... Fort Benton hasn't been to the postseason since 2057... the RU West looks to be just a three-team tussle... none of the other five clubs are expected to be contenders.
Tycobbian Union Preseason Preview
The Tycobbian North Division will be one of the better races in the IPA... six teams have a shot at the crown this year according to the venable pundits and pickers... the Mahaska Haymakers are ranked #1 with last year's pennant-winning Hartsdale Hellcats a close second, along with the Oxford Red Caps, Luxora Zorros, North Hills Hawks and White River Rascals... the Haymakers have the power and good pitching... so do the Red Caps... a step behind the other two are the other four clubs... the Hellcats, Z's, Hawks and Rascals don't have the power, but they do possess good pitching... Hartsdale has won the TU North flag in two of the last four seasons... White River four in the nine seasons... Oxford two in the last eight years... North Hills hasn't has a good team for a decade and hasn't made the playoffs since 2045... and Mahaska has a 25-year drought in progress... 2052 was the last year they seriously had a shot at the pennant... the last time they made the postseason was in 2028.
Year-after-year in the Tycobbian South the Turon Typhoons are near the top of the standings... 26 times they have made the postseason playoffs... Valmara is the all-time leader with 30 postseason appearances... 5 times the Typhoons have snared the revered Pro Cup... the most recent one was in 2072... 5 times in the last 6 seasons Turon has won the division title... the club has the winningest record in the IPA with a .554 winning percentage since 2002... the outlook is more of the same this year... the baseball wise men and sages are making the Typhoons an overwhelming favorite to win the pennant again this year... and even go all the way to the ultimate - the team's 6th Pro Cup Trophy... Summerland, San Alejo and Southport will be left far behind in their wake... Turon is forecast to win by double digits and win more than 100 games... last season the Typhoons were 100-54 and topped the TU South by 15 games over runner-up Southport... Turon has the best BA and the best pitching staff, hits with power and runs the bases like the dickens... 'nuff said... Turon will triumph in the TU South again this year... yep, the Typhoons will win it again.
Summerland, San Alejo and Southport are all fairly equal in strength and should battle it out for second through fourth place... the Sunsets won the TU South pennant in 2074, went all the way to the Pro Cup Finals where they were beaten out by Crystal Lake in a sensational 7-game series... the Summerland Sunsets have never won a Pro Cup and only made the playoffs 6 times in its IPA history... last season they came in 4th place, 22 games behind Turon... the San Alejo Montaneros have appeared 10 times in the postseason with one Pro Cup trophy in 2032... their last TU South pennant came in 2067... the Monties tied for third last season, trailing by 16 games... the Southport Sun Sox have a solid IPA history with 4 Pro Cups... the last two coming in back-to-back seasons in 2065 and 2066... 17 times they have made the playoffs... the Sun Sox have not had a losing season in 34 years (2041)... it's been 6 seasons since they won the TU South... Southport has been in contention most of those years... last season the Sun Sox were runner-up, trailing Turon by 15 games in the race.
The Tycobbian East Division is shaping up as a tight 4-team race between the favored Ozarka Naturals, last year's champion, the Tuckanarra Tiger Cats, plus the South Fork Stallions and Midway Wolves... the Nats got the nod from the experts because they hit the ball better and score more runs... all of the challengers have pretty good pitching... Ozarka was a winning machine in the early days of the IPA, making the playoffs 13 times in the first 21 seasons, but not lately... only 2 more appearances since... in 2030 and 2040... the Naturals have never won a Pro Cup, but they made the Finals 5 times... last year Ozarka tied for 4th place, 16 games back of the Tucks... Tuckanarra has been a successful franchise with 3 Pro Cups and 23 postseason appearances... the last Pro Cup came in 2035... the Tiger Cats captured the TU East crown 3 of the last 5 years, winning the last two titles... the South Fork Stallions have had modest success in their history with 10 playoff appearances, but they have won 3 Pro Cups, the last one in 2073... year-in and year-out in recent seasons the Stallions have done well... they wound up second last year, 6 games behind champion Tuckanarra... the Midway Wolves came in third last year, 9 games off the pace... historically they have made the playoffs 9 times with 2 Pro Cups to their credit in back-to-back years (2053 and 2054)... Midway has not done well the last decade with only two winning seasons... last season the Wolves wound up in the third spot in the TU East, 9 games behind the Tucks.
The current IPA Pro Cup champion Rolling Hills is still the top team in the Tycobbian West, but not by a lot, according to the peerless prognosticators... the Racers won the pennant comfortably by 9 games last year, ending up 100-54... look for Rolling Hills' top rivals, the Kenwood Wildcats and La Claire Lynx, to make a serious bid to knock them off this season... all three contenders can really hit for average and score runs, but their pitching is just so-so... any one of the three can end up being crowned the best in the TU West... Rolling Hills has a glorious IPA history with 8 Pro Cup titles, the most by any team... the closest team to them is Turon with 5, followed by Southport, Valmara, Crystal Lake and North Hills with 4 IPA crowns apiece... the Racers have played in the postseason on 24 occasions and rank third behind Valmara's 30 appearances and Turon's 24... Kenwood flopped badly last season with a terrible 69-85 mark... last season the Wildcats' pitching was a horrendous 4.54 ERA... they made wholesale changes in the mound corps... much to their dismay it was a dismal failure... 11 times Kenwood has gone to the postseason, but they only have one Pro Cup trophy... that came long ago in 2014... the Wildcats won the TU West Division flag in 2073, then lost it in a close race in 2074 to the Chicopee Braves... and they were pathetic in 2075... in the last decade the La Claire Lynx competed well with just one losing season in 2066... they won the pennant in 2072 and came in third last year, but 10 GB champion Rolling Hills... La Claire has a lackluster history in the IPA, appearing only 5 times in the playoffs... the Lynx have never won a Pro Cup... they did reach the TU Title Series in 2038, but were defeated by the North Hills Hawks in a stirring 7-game series... North Hills won the Pro Cup that year handily by sweeping the Far Mountain Redhawks 4-0... the Chicopee Braves (91-63) and the Denham City Redbirds (85-69), who had good seasons last year despite winding up 10 or more games behind powerhouse Rolling Hills, are predicted to fall in the standings this season to 5th and 6th place... the Braves had been on a roll the last 5 years and won the pennant in 2074... Chicopee has a poor IPA history with just 4 postseason playoff appearances and no Pro Cups, while the Redbirds have made it 13 times and have never won a Pro Cup... however, Denton City got to the 2009 Pro Cup Finals and was defeated by the Turon Typhoons in a 7-game series.