Sunday, October 1, 2090
TYCOBBIAN UNION RECAP
UPSTART RASCALS UPSET HELLCATS IN TU NORTH
The baseball pundits were right on in the Tycobbian North preseason predictions. It was supposed to be a close two-team race between White River and Hartsdale and that's exactly what it was. The Rascals pulled away in August and had a 10-game edge over the Hellcats. White River won out despite a second-half swoon. They defeated Hartsdale by 5 games. Last year's division-winning Oxford was never a factor in the race, winding up in third place and a distant 13 games behind. The Rascals won with rock-solid pitching and a fairly-decent offense. Hartsdale and Oxford could put runs on the scoreboard, but did not possess the same level of pitching as White River. For the last decade the Rascals have been a bad ball club. Their last division crown came in 2081. White River did win their first-ever Pro Cup in 2080. But they did rise from sixth place to third place two years ago and went all the way this year. The general consensus is the Rascals lack offense and will not be able to win the Pro Cup with pitching alone. The Tycobbian Union first round will feature two strong staffs pitted against one another, while the other first-round series will be between high-scoring South Fork and La Claire. White River will open on the road in Summerland and South Fork will travel to play the Lynx in La Claire.
SUMMERLAND SIZZLED IN TU SOUTH AND SWEPT 3RD STRAIGHT TITLE
After winning two photo-finishes in 2088 and 2089, the Summerland Sunsets sizzled and left everyone in their wake this year in the Tycobbian South and swept to their third division flag in a row. An influx of impact newcomers enabled the Sunsets to win 101 games, something they had never done before. It may well be the season the Sunsets will rise up and win a Pro Cup. They made the Pro Cup Finals two years ago and reached the TU Title Round last year. 2090 was a great year for Summerland. They built up a solid 9-game edge by midseason and improved on it in the second half, winning the TU South by 12 games over the Southport Sun Sox. In the preseason poll the baseball experts had picked the Sun Sox to top the Sunsets in a tight race. No other clubs were given any chance at the pennant. Summerland is in the same boat as White River. They both depend on their mound staffs. They both will run into teams that can hit and score runs in the second-round TU Title Series. It will be at that point where they will have to prove their mettle.
SF STALLIONS SURGE IN SEPTEMBER TO SNARE TU EAST FROM TUCKERED-OUT BLUE JAYS
According to the preseason prognostications only two clubs had a shot at the Tycobbian East title. Ozarka was a slight favorite over South Fork. Tuckanarra was a distant rival forecast to finish way back in the third spot in the standings, 10 GB. The Stallions were the reigning division champ and had won three of the last five pennants. However, the Naturals had a good resume, too. The Nats won the TU East in 2082, 2084 and 2088. Now according to the pundits they were going to prevail in a tight race over the Stallions. Ozarka was never in the chase, wallowing in fourth place, 16 GB at the half-season mark. It was the Tuckanarra Blue Jays who provided the competition for South Fork, but not until the second half of the season. The Stallions possessed a comfortable 6-game edge at midway point over the Tucks. The Blue Jays surged in August to take the division lead with a 20-8 record, while the Stallions slumped to 12-13. Going into September, the final month, it was a just a two-team battle between Tuckanarra and South Fork, just one game separating them. The Stallions rose to the occasion with a 15-11 mark. The Tucks fell out of the race with a poor 10-17 in September. The Blue Jays fought hard, but lost out due to the home-run power of the Stallions' attack. South Fork homered 200 times, while Tuckanarra went deep with 147 dingers. Only Red Bluff (210) and Valmara (202) had more roundtrippers than South Fork. The Blue Jays have been an also-ran for more than a decade. They did win the TU East in 2087, but that was an outlier. The Tucks hadn't been to the playoffs since the mid 70s when they won 3 straight TU East titles. Look for South Fork to be a force in the Pro Cup playoffs. They lost to Pro Cup champion Valmara last year in 7 games in the Pro Cup Finals. The Stallions are a potent ballclub with fine hitting, HR-power and good pitching. South Fork will be seeking its 5th Pro Cup Trophy. The last ones came in 2073 and 2077. The Stallions are a hungry team.
LA CLAIRE HOLDS OFF ROLLING HILLS IN 2-TEAM TU WEST TUSSLE
In the Tycobbian West preseason preview the outlook was for just a two-team race between perennial power La Claire and an unlikely rival, Denton City. No one else was given any chance whatsoever. The poll was partly correct. It was just a two-team affair, but between La Claire and Rolling Hills. No one is sure what the baseball analysts saw in Denton City. The Redbirds hadn't been to the postseason for three longsuffering decades. The only positive in the last 10 years was a third-place finish last year. The baseball media thought Denton City was on the rise --- Nope! Didn't Happen! --- The best the Redbirds could do was to stay out of the TU West cellar and end up in seventh place, 31 games behind. However, there was a good pennant race between the late-starting Lynx and the Racers. April and May was not good for either of them. Both of them turned their seasons around in June. From then on it was just the Lynx and the Racers. All of the six other clubs began to fade into oblivion, never to be seen near the top of the standings again. After two months La Claire was just 24-23. The top teams in the early going were Chicopee 27-22, Bay St. Clair 27-23, Kenwood 27-23 and Rolling Hills 27-23. The rest of the season belonged to the La Claire Lynx. They went 74-33 the last four months and staved off Rolling Hills by 4 games. The Racers stayed in the hunt with a 67-37 mark from June to November. It was good --- just not good enough to catch La Claire. It was the Lynx's mound corps that made the difference. La Claire has been at the top of their game the last six seasons with four straight TU West flags, one runner-up spot (3 GB) and one third-place finish (1 GB). The Lynx won the Pro Cup in 2087. It is about time they did it again. La Claire will be prominent in the Pro Cup playoffs this season. It is destined to be a dogfight with reigning Pro Cup king Valmara, Forest City, South Fork, La Claire and Summerland in the spotlight and Belair Beach, Belle Plaine and White River lurking close by in the shadows. Anyone can win the IPA Pro Cup Trophy this year. It is a really good 8-team field.
2090 Tycobbian Union Final Standings
