Tuesday, September 29, 2082
SMOOTH-SAILING SKIPPERS WELL-BALANCED; PRO CUP FAVORITE OVER HIGH-OCTANE HELLCATS
As a rule, teams don't usually win the Islandian Pro Alliance Pro Cup Trophy with great pitching alone or great hitting alone. Pro Cup champions most of the time are more successful with a well-balanced team. Good starting pitching, good hitting with good home-run power and good defense goes a long way. This year's #1 pick is Crystal Lake. The Skippers only shortcoming is its bullpen. The Crystal Lake Skippers have the markings of a Pro Cup winner this year.
The Skippers have some solid bats, propelled by Culver Jensen (.287 BA/19 HR/60 RBI), Gino Lorenzetti (.306 BA/16 HR/76 RBI), Jake Osborne (.352 BA/16 HR/86 RBI), Cookie Garland (.302 BA/26 HR/102 RBI) and Don Grady (.274 BA/18 HR/77 RBI). Osborne paced the Ruthlandian Union and won the batting crown. Crystal Lake stands out on the mound with two strong starters Lloyd Mason (16-7/2.83 ERA) and left-hander Earl Noland (15-6/3.00 ERA), but the closer Angelo Marinello (10-10/4.72 ERA/13 saves/56 games) did not really have a good season. The weak bullpen could hurt them in their Pro Cup quest.
#2 Pro Cup choice Hartsdale can really blister the ball and go deep. The Hellcats' top guns are Calvin Mannon (.326 BA/43 HR/114 RBI), Max Carline (.305 BA/28 HR/106 RBI), Tom Colson (.248 BA/33 HR/97 RBI) and Eli Kulacz (.278 BA/24 HR/72 RBI). The Hellcats hammered 189 out of the ballpark this season, second best to LaGrange's 194. Hartsdale has pretty fair starters sparked by ace Wayne Wolfe (14-4/2.64 ERA). Others in the starting rotation Barry Boyett (15-14/4.17 ERA), Harmon Ford (7-1/3.32 ERA) and Albert Springer (12-13/3.75 ERA) are just fair-to-middling. The relief corps is very good, headed up by left-handed closer Delwyn Bell (12-6/3.05 ERA/19 saves/75 games), who had a strong season. Defense is somewhat suspicious in Hartsdale. That can be a factor in close postseason games when all elements are important.
3rd-ranked Forest City is another good club, but it doesn't have the pitching Crystal Lake does, nor the power that Hartsdale possesses. Still the Firebirds could be a potent playoff force. They depend on Royce Baker (.290 BA/32 HR/99 RBI), Fuzz Smiley (.310 BA/26 HR/87 RBI), Willie Collingham (.311 BA/20 HR/74 RBI) and Jesse Dobson (.282 BA/13 HR/63 RBI) to put runs on the scoreboard. They hit 153 roundtrippers this year. Forest City has a trio of capable starters in Glen Boston (18-8/3.31 ERA), portsider Ricky Bevinetto (13-6/3.71 ERA) and Brandy Satterlee (11-3/3.28 ERA). Reliable Rufus Arnold (8-8/2.40 ERA/14 saves/47 games) is the main reliever in the bullpen. The gloves are very good and play very good defense.
The #4 Ozarka Naturals have the best pitching in the IPA this year, led by the starting threesome of southpaw Mordecai Partridge (19-6/2.39 ERA), Asmund Bjornstad ( 20-6/2.39 ERA) and Ned McIntyre (16-6/2.67 ERA). The bullpen is very good as well with closer Vernon Echols (8-10/3.28 ERA/22 saves/69 games). Scoring is a problem for the Nats. They are weak at the plate. The best Ozarka batsmen are just modest at best. Tim Robbins (.278 BA/19 HR/68 RBI) and Pete Adriani (.301 BA/17 HR/67 RBI) have to do it all. Teams with great pitching, fine defense and little offense don't often haul in the Pro Cup Trophy.
The darkhorse in the Pro Cup race is the Cape Coral Hurricanes, who do most things well across the board. They are rated the 5th-best team and are the kind of club that does well in the postseason. Adam Christy (.308 BA/37 HR/116 RBI) is a big threat, but he could use more help. He gets some support from Sarge Agarn (.294 BA/22 HR/83 RBI) and Sonny Zambello (.255 BA/16 HR/73 RBI). The 'Canes have three quality starters with Chipper Simpson (17-9/2.64 ERA), Coy Kennedy (15-8/3.01 ERA) and Jayson Wesley (11-7/3.39 ERA). They also have a dependable bullpen, headed up by Javier Santos (11-7/3.12 ERA/11 saves/58 games). Cape Coral is an excellent defensive team.
If any team can hit its way to the Pro Cup title, it's the 6th-best team, the LaGrange Gators, who feasted this year with 194 clouts, the best in the IPA. Ruthlandian HR champion Tory Swinnerton (.296 BA/44 HR/114 RBI) topped the longball batters for the 8th time in his 10-year career. 6 other Gators hit 10 or more home runs: Jules Robichaux (.278 BA/29 HR/85 RBI), Robin Moncriffe (.210 BA/21 HR/47 RBI), Michel Colbert (.277 BA/20 HR/58 RBI), Bertrand Amedee (.274 BA/18 HR/55 RBI) and Mike Mangum (.269 BA/11 HR/59 RBI). Now, if LaGrange just had a few good men on the mound, they surely could do some postseason damage. Juro Kinura (18-9/3.82 ERA) is the only decent starter, but the Gators has a strong pen with the likes of Joe Buras (3-3/2.34 ERA/2.60 ERA/15 saves/54 games) and Wayne McClintock (12-8/2.80 ERA/21 saves/69 games). On occasion IPA teams do win the Pro Cup at the plate, but they need their pitching to step up and win it for them. The Rolling Hills Racers have managed to this quite few times in postseason history. The Racers top the IPA with 10 Pro Cups to their credit.
#7 in the Pro Cup Poll, the Kenwood Wildcats don't seem to have the hitting to take the title this year. Their best offensive performers are few in number and numbers. The best of the lot is Kenny Sergeant (.294 BA/29 HR/112 RBI), Johnny Davidson (.314 BA/5 HR/73 RBI) and Ardell Armstrong (.286 BA/10 RBI/59 RBI). Sorry, 'taint enough to take the IPA title. However, the hurlers are another story. They are four pretty fair starters, sparked by Jim Singer (19-5/3.47 ERA), Gordy Francis (16-9/3.34 ERA), Casey Shipp (10-9/3.15 ERA) and Billy Batton (15-14/3.49 ERA). The bullpen is not great overall, but the closer is a good one. Andre LaFrance (13-4/2.52 ERA/18 saves/62 games) had an excellent year.
Coming in at #8 and dead last in the Pro Cup Poll is the Elnora Clippers. They have the pitching to win the Pro Cup Trophy, but the Clippers lack the offense. Elnora was dead last in the entire IPA with only 67 homers. Still the Clippers won the pennant led by the mound work of starters Hamilton Burger (17-14/3.34 ERA), Davis Hickerson (15-11/3.05 ERA) and Hawk Templeton (18-10/3.83 ERA). The Elnora closer Babe Hatch (8-6/2.30 ERA/22 saves/61 games) also stood out. The #5 starter Tsutomu Takahaski (11-7/2.95 ERA) will certainly be called on in the postseason playoffs, too.
2082 IPA Pro Cup Outlook:
Crystal Lake won the Pro Cup in 2074. This team looks to be superior to that club. The press say this is the Skippers best team in recent years. The pitching is better. The Hartsdale Hellcats are a very tough team to reckon with. They could win the whole shebang if they can get some solid pitching. That is probably not going to happen. Look for Crystal Lake to nab the Pro Cup title in a torrid 7-game affair.
