Friday, October 19, 2085
COLFAX FAVORED OVER HIGH MESA IN IPA PRO CUP SERIES
It's not an easy call. Both Pro Cup finalists, High Mesa and Colfax, have a lot going for them. The #4-ranked Buckaroos got past #1 pick Hartsdale in 5 games; the #5 choice Colfax Black Sox dispatched the defending Pro Cup champion and #3-rated Belair Beach Sunbirds in a spirited 7-game affair; High Mesa has the best overall pitching staff in the IPA (2.91 team ERA); Colfax has four quality starters; the Buckos have the edge in regular-season roundtrippers 155 to 118; the Black Sox lead in home-run power in the playoffs 14 to 11; Other important factors to consider: the Buckaroos have the better bullpen (2.54 ERA to 3.63 ERA), while the Black Sox play much better defense (.981 FA to .976 FA). Keep in mind Colfax has scored 77 runs, over 5 per game in the postseason.
Key Pro Cup Series performers for each team:
Colfax really needs for its bullpen to step it up and protects the late-inning leads for it fine starters Dick Latham, Jimbo Munsey and Wallace McCue. Thus far in the playoffs the bullpen has not done its job. The Black Sox attack has been very productive, averaging over 5 runs a game in the postseason. Tim Bozeman, Tommy Wilkins, Audie James, Gavin Foxton, Denver Kaylan and Blinky Zelinski have been doing a great job. Top to bottom in the batting order, it has been productive. Closer Gordy Stockton has to be better. Middle relievers Julian Cervantez and Dicky Brenneman will be critical should Stockton not do the job. Starter Joe Buras might be used, too.
High Mesa needs good offensive performances from Vinny Hathaway, Ace Serling, Barton Eagleton, Bennett Beaulieu and Dwayne Huffty. So far, the bottom third of the lineup has been helpless in the playoffs. Starters Roy Murrell and Luke Zachary will have to help out ace Allie Tuthill, who topped the IPA with 21 wins this year and a standout 1.84 ERA. The bullpen will have to be much better against Colfax for High Mesa to win the Pro Cup. Closer Elizar Belazario has been dismal in the playoffs. He must regain his regular-season form for the Buckaroos to be IPA champion.
2085 Pro Cup Outlook:
Initially EC favored High Mesa mainly because as a kid growing up, I wanted to be a cowboy like Hoppy, Gene and Roy. Strange as it might seem, EC never considered being a coalminer or even a coalminer's daughter. However, upon reflection and thinking like Brian Kenny on the MLB Network, EC is going with the Colfax Black Sox. They have solid pitching and defense, but most of all they can score runs. High Mesa struggles at the plate. Plus their bullpen has been bad in the playoffs. EC is taking Colfax in 6 games.
Map of Islandia
COLFAX BLACK SOX (AKA BLASTERS 2002-2062)
Owner: Enim Dlog Precious Metals Corporation
GM and Manager: Garry August
Colfax is found in west central Ruthlandia, population 89,000. It is a "City of Gold" situated on the scenic Silver River, which flows out of the Silver Mountains northwest of Volusia, past Colfax and then eastward to the nation's capital, Forest City. It then merges with the Green River, which winds its way through the southern half of the country and ends at Belair Beach.
The town was settled during the Gold Rush of the 1850's and is still quite profitable. It is also an important coal mining center.
It is also the home of the Colfax Black Sox of the Islandian Pro Alliance, who play in the Ruthlandian Baseball Union in the West Division. The team is nicknamed for the miners, so important in mining the gold, silver, copper and coal. For the first six decades the club was known as the Blasters, which has a double meaning. A "blaster" would set off the dynamite in the mines, while a "blaster" at the ballpark would blast the ball out of the park. Colfax rebranded as the Black Sox in 2063.
Due to its great financial wealth and success, Colfaxians have a town of stunning beauty and charm. Built by the coal barons and the gold mine owners, it is filled with grand buildings and mansions, intermingled with the smokestacks that loom over the landscape. To lessen the environmental impact, quiet canals and man-made waterways flow through the town. Visitors can glide by boat along the tranquil Silver River or walk the fabled cobblestoned streets and discover a town that time has almost forgotten. You can hear its famous landmark, "The Belfry", a carillon or bells that toll every hour and has continuously for over 150 years. Colfax also boasts an opera house, concert hall, theater and a ballet company.
Colfax's Mountain View Stadium is known for its gorgeous view of the town, the Silver Mountain backdrop beyond the outfield fence and for its "Pot of Gold". It is an actual pot, five feet in diameter, located in the center field section of the ballpark, 410 feet away. Whenever a Blaster or Black Sox player hits a ball that ends up in the "Pot of Gold", that player and a fan each receive $5,000 in gold coins. The fan is chosen in a "lucky scorecard number" drawing.
At the ballpark you have hardworking and hard-living miners and the white collar and managerial set...the beer set and the champagne set. Both are attended to at Mountain View Stadium. You can get anything from hot dogs to caviar at the concession stands.
The Colfax original owner was Enim Dlog, whose ancestors are from somewhere in the Baltics. It was one of his ancestors, who first discovered gold in the 1850's. In fact, the new ballpark was built on the same site as the first gold mine.
Famed fireballer of the early days of amateur and company baseball leagues, Clem Rogers was the original Colfax skipper. Along with star pitchers Johnny Walters, Alex Groveland, Page Satcher, Gibson Bobkins, Ryan Noland, Hub Carlson, Marty Pedroza, Carlton Stevens, Guy Rondre, Walter Johanssen, Ford Whiteman, Matty Christianson and John Randison, Rogers was an all-time great. All of the fabled hurlers also managed in the early days of IPA baseball.
Clem Rogers was very successful as the manager of the Black Sox, he guided them to 8 playoff appearances and one Pro Cup title. Colfax set a new record for victories in the IPA with 107 in 2010. That was the Pro Cup season, too.
One of the greatest players in Colfax history is Hall-of-Fame hurler Ilya Szabo, who pitched 19 seasons for the Blasters from 2003 to 2021. Lifetime Szabo was 327-210 with a great 2.57 ERA. He sparked them to 8 pennants and a Pro Cup in his tenure as a player. Colfax beat Turon in the 2010 Pro Cup. Szabo was inducted into the first HOF class in 2027. He was a 9-time All-Star, captured 4 RU Golden Arm Awards and was twice the Ruthlandian Most Valuable Player. He retired as a player in 2021 at age 42 and replaced Rogers as skipper in 2028. Szabo went 18-17 his final season with a 3.76 ERA... Szabo also served as General Manager and Manager for 17 years and won 5 pennants at the helm of the Blasters.
Szabo was followed by former star catcher Mitch Fullerton in 2045. He played with Colfax for 19 seasons and finished with a lifetime .294 BA, 300 homers and 1244 RBIs. Fullerton's mediocre managerial career spanned from 2045 to 2061. His protege and successor Garry August never played in the Islandian Pro Alliance. In fact, he never played baseball at any level, never played any sports at all in organized leagues. August got his experience in as a high school coach, was very successful in all sports, went to work for Fullerton as a bench coach when Fullerton was the manager and was hired as manager in 2062. So far, Colfax has been lackluster during his tenure. August has guided the Black Sox to three Ruthlandian West pennants in '63, '65 and '85.
Mountain View Stadium (1971)
Capacity: 10,850
Dimensions:
LF Line 315
LF 345
LCF 375
CF 405
RCF 375
RF 360
RF Line 345
Attachment 1026348
