Wednesday, October 30, 2086
AWARDS GALORE GIVEN OUT BY IPA
The Islandian Pro Alliance gave out its prestigious awards, accolades and honors for the 2086 season today. Players and managers were presented trophies for being the best in 6 categories including the top batters, pitchers, rookies, most valuable, defenders and skippers.
RUTHLANDIAN UNION AWARDS FOR 2086
In the Ruthlandian Union the 2086 Golden Bat went to right fielder Dutch Van Donk of the Belair Beach Sunbird. Second in the balloting was his teammate shortstop Dirk MacIntyre and third place went to right fielder Tony Nobles of the Rocky Rapids Snappers.
The RU Golden Arm Award was presented to right-hander Barney Brayton of the Waleska Westerners. Belair Beach southpaw Gardiner Palmquist wound up in second place and third place was righty Monty Maples of the Claxton Diamonds.
The top rookie in the Ruthlandian Union was center fielder Ben Acheson of the Stoner Stars. Coming in a distant second was Elnora's third baseman Barry Brigman. In the third spot for best rookie poll was right-hander Shannon Slate of the Forest City Firebirds.
The 2086 Ruthlandian Union Most Valuable Player Award went to this year's Golden Bat honoree, right fielder Dutch Van Donk of Belair Beach. Second in the voting was Rocky Rapids right fielder Tony Nobles. In the third position was another right fielder, Hank Allardice of the Ancona Jumbos.
The 2086 Ruthlandian Union Manager of the Year was given to a first-time honoree Rocky Rapids skipper Rian Noland. He edged out Damien D'Amboise of the Marston Nine and Brock Josephson of the Belair Beach Sunbirds. The Snappers went from 6th place (13 GB) in the RU West and captured the division flag this season. D'Amboise improved his Marston club from 5th place (11 GB) to the top spot in the RU East and Josephson copped his 5th straight pennant in the RU South. The baseball scribes indicated that the top two nominees did the better jobs than Josephson, who was blessed with a better team. And they may be right. However, it is not an easy job to win the pennant year after year after year.
TYCOBBIAN UNION AWARDS FOR 2086
The 2086 Tycobbian Union Golden Bat Award recipient was Turon's talented right fielder Smoke Busby. He outpolled Ginza left fielder Kazz Yamazaki, who wound up in the second spot and third-place finisher, Mahaska first baseman Byron Bennigan came in third in the best batter balloting.
The top hurler in the Tycobbian Union was three-year veteran Arjen Rijkaard of the South Fork Stallions. He was selected the TU Golden Arm for this season. The second-highest votegetter in the poll was rookie Cees De Groot of the Summerland Sunsets. Third place went to another freshmen Willie Ditchburn of the Hartsdale Hellcats.
The 2086 Tycobbian Union Rookie of the Year Trophy was presented to Summerland's standout Cees De Groot. Hartsdale's Willie Ditchburn was his biggest competition, followed by Ozarka's Banger Barnhill in third place.
South Fork's superb Smoke Busby took home two of the top IPA prizes this year. Not only did he win the Golden Bat, but he was also awarded the 2086 Tycobbian Union Most Valuable Player honor. His main rivals were two teammates on the Ginza Ninjas, Kazz Yamazaki and Muzuki Hoshino.
Vic Carnaggio led the Ginza Ninjas to a magnificent season and was acclaimed the 2086 Tycobbian Union Manager of the Year. He edged out three other capable rivals, Rolling Hills' Hugo Sutton, Mahaska's Pip Cordice and South Fork's Jay Murphy. Carnaggio won the first pennant for the Ninjas since 2060. His club upped its season record from 83-71 and third place to 92-62 in the highly-competitive TU South. This was the first time Carnaggio snagged the best skipper prize. Sutton's Racers jumped from 81-73 to 92-62 in the TU West. Cordice's Haymakers beat out the Hartsdale Hellcats that had won the TU North the four previous seasons. Mahaska went from 86-68 to 94-61 to take the division flag. Winding up a close fourth in the best manager poll was Jay Murphy, who saw his South Fork Stallion surge from 82-72 to 92-62 in the TU East.
2086 Ruthlandian Union Most Valuable Player
