RANFORD BULLS
Owner: Barnes Petroleum Enterprises
President, GM and Manager: Bert Skippman
The Ranford Valley has long been known for its rough and tumble lifestyle. During its early years the town of Ranford was a hamlet set up to offer merchant services to the soldiers at Fort Branagh which was built to protect the Valdar Bay gateway.
The army decided to consolidate all the island’s armed forces in Valmara in 1912. Ft. Branagh was abandoned and Ranford became a refuge for outlaws, gamblers and bootleggers. It was sometimes referred to as the "forgotten city" as much of Ruthlandia cut any existing ties to the area which was kept afloat by the economic backbone of barkeepers and gambling halls.
After the great revival of ’29, churches slowly started to outnumber the saloons and commerce and merchants from the mainland began to return and expand into Ranford. For the next 35 years Ranford’s reputation moved from a town of debauchery to being known as the hardest-working town in Ruthlandia. It was a well-earned distinction as those who toiled with the rough and rocky terrain were well-suited for the country’s lumber and manufacturing faction.
In the mid 1960’s oil was discovered inland and within five years extensive exploration had begun. In what seemed overnight, much of Ranford’s blue collar work force had joined the aristocracy.
Ranford has a diverse population with just about all ethnic groups in the Islands represented. They come from near and far to participate in the oil prosperity in the area. Ranford has become one of the most affluent cities in Ruthlandia, but has kept to its blue collar roots.
The early years of baseball in Ranford consisted of amateur teams made up of soldiers, sailors and ruffians from the area. Despite the amateur status of the teams, the games were taken very seriously and brawls often took place between players and fans alike. During the industrial years the team was known as the Outlaws, but in efforts to makeover the town’s reputation it was later changed to Bulls and stayed that way when the Islandian Pro Alliance was formed in 2001.
The original owner of the Bulls was Cliff Barnes of the Barnes Oil Company. He inherited the company from his father, Digger Barnes. The Barnes family have always had a running feud with the Ewing family that still continues to this day because Jock Ewing had supposedly swindled Digger out of his share of an oilfield partnership, when both were just getting started in the oil industry. The Ewing family own three teams in the IPA: Waleska, South Fork and Ozarka. In the 1980s the family feuds simmered down quite a bit when Bobby Ewing won the heart of vivacious Pamela Barnes.
Yep, love conquers all in Islandia, even family feuds.
Barnes hired O'Neal Buckman as chief operating officer. Buckman had played for and managed Barnes Oil company teams in the amateur leagues for 30 years and had been quite successful. Buckman surprisingly hired a teammate of many years, Page Satcher, to be his manager. Satcher was a heck of a player, but had no experience as a manager. Satcher alway gave the appearance of not taking the game of baseball too seriously. Many baseball people questioned Buckman's choice for those reasons.
When grilled about this, Buckman just grinned and said, "Old Satch is gonna make you guys regret those words. He's gonna be a darn good manager. You just wait and see."
Satcher, who was a local star for the fabled and infamous Ranford Outlaws back in the industrial league years and one of the best pitchers ever to throw a baseball. Satcher played into his 50s and never revealed his age, saying, "How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?" Not only was he good on the baseball mound, but he was good with a quote, too. "I ain't ever had a job, I just always played baseball."
Another of his poetic jewels was his work ethic. "I don't generally like running. I believe in training by rising gently up and down from the bench."
Satcher had the reputation for doctoring up the ball. "I never threw an illegal pitch. The trouble is, once in a while I would toss one that ain’t never been seen by this generation."
Asked what the secret of his success was, he would reply, "Just take the ball and throw it where you want to. Throw strikes. Home plate don’t move."
Years ago the Ranford management decided to go to the college ranks and hired a very successful college coach, Bert Skippman. He did well right off the bat and won the RU North pennant in 2060, but since then Shippman has only had fair success in the pro ranks.
The Ranford Bulls play at Ranford County Stadium, a nondescript, but adequate ballpark. The ballpark fare is just middle class and blue collar with hot dogs, cokes, burgers, peanuts and crackerjacks. A special fan feature at Bulls' game is when they go to the bullpen. The reliever strolls in like a matador at a bullfight to the music of Herb Alpert's "Lonely Bull", a hit song from the 1960s. It is the intent of the Bulls' pitcher to silence the opposition and to kill the threat.
Hear the "Lonely Bull" at this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uqPBZncL5Q
Ranford County Stadium (1953)
Capacity: 7,850
Dimensions:
Left Field Line - 315
Left Field - 362
Left Center - 382
Center Field - 402
Right Center - 382
Right Field - 362
Right Field Line - 315
