National Baseball League

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Colfax: 1st RU pennant - 1897. 0 Pro Cups
Oxford: 2nd TU pennant - 1874 1897. 1 Pro Cup

Mike and the Mad Dog – 1897 IPA Pennant Race Special

Mike: Alright, here we go. The 1897 regular season is over, and we've got a fascinating Pro Cup matchup. The Oxford Red Caps against the Colfax Black Sox. One franchise trying to win its second championship, the other trying to win its first.

Mad Dog: Mike, before we even get to the Pro Cup, can we talk about these records? We had some ridiculous seasons this year. Absolutely ridiculous!

The Story of the Year: Colfax Arrives
Mike: Let's start with Colfax. One hundred and eighteen wins. One hundred and eighteen!
Mad Dog: Mike, that's insanity. You know how hard it is to win 118 games? They finished 8 games ahead of a 110-win team!

Mike: That's the crazy part. Usually 110 wins gets you a parade.

Mad Dog: Not this year! Valka wins 110 and they're lookin' up at Colfax all season long.

Mike: First Ruthlandian Union pennant in franchise history.

Mad Dog: And they didn't sneak up on anybody. They buried everybody.

Mike: The Black Sox finished:

18 games ahead of Ranford
39 ahead of defending champion Marston
75 ahead of Glasco
That's domination.
Mad Dog: The scary thing is this isn't some veteran dynasty. This is a franchise that has never even won a pennant before. Now suddenly they're winning 118 games.

Mike: Sometimes a franchise hits that magic year where everything comes together.

Mad Dog: If they don't win the Pro Cup, it'll be one of the biggest heartbreaks in league history.

Oxford Quietly Has an All-Time Season Too
Mike: And here's what's funny. Oxford almost feels overlooked.
Mad Dog: Which is nuts because they won 109 games!

Mike: Second pennant in franchise history. First since 1874.

Mad Dog: Twenty-three years between pennants!

Mike: They've been waiting almost a quarter century for this.

Mad Dog: And they weren't exactly playing in a weak division either.

Blue Lake won 98.

Chicopee won 97.

Red Bluff won 95.

Denton City won 92.

Mike: Four other clubs won at least 92 games.

Mad Dog: Oxford earned every bit of that pennant.

The Best Division Race Wasn't Actually a Race
Mike: Let's talk about Valka.
Mad Dog: Poor Valka.

Mike: One hundred and ten wins.

Mad Dog: One hundred and ten! In most seasons they're running away with the league.

Mike: Instead they're eight games behind.

Mad Dog: It's like studying for six months, getting a 99 on the test, and finding out somebody else got a 107.

Mike: The Blackhawks continue to be one of the elite organizations in baseball.

Mad Dog: But here's the issue. We know their history.

Mike: Everybody knows it.

Mad Dog: Great regular seasons. Terrible luck in championships.

Mike: Four Pro Cup appearances. Four losses.

Mad Dog: And now they don't even get there.

What Happened to Marston?
Mike: Now let's discuss the defending champions.
Mad Dog: Oh boy.

Mike: Marston wins the Pro Cup in 1896.

One year later?

79-75.

Mad Dog: That's a collapse.

Mike: Thirty-nine games behind Colfax.

Mad Dog: They went from the top of the mountain to barely above .500.

Mike: Not terrible.

Mad Dog: No, but compared to a championship season? Massive disappointment.

Mike: Shows how difficult repeating really is.

Ranford Reminds Everyone They're Still Around
Mike: I don't want Ranford getting lost here.
Mad Dog: Hundred wins.

Mike: Exactly.

Mad Dog: Any season where you win 100 games is a great year.

Mike: The problem is Colfax and Valka were so absurdly good that Ranford feels forgotten.

Mad Dog: Ranford's sitting there saying, "We won a hundred games, what more do you want?"

The Most Competitive Union
Mike: I actually think the Tycobbian Union deserves a lot of attention.
Mad Dog: Absolutely.

Mike: Look at these records:

Oxford 109
Blue Lake 98
Chicopee 97
Red Bluff 95
Denton City 92
That's five teams over 90 wins.
Mad Dog: That's brutal. Every week you're playing somebody good.

Mike: Denton City wins 92 games and finishes 17 back.

Mad Dog: Seventeen back with ninety-two wins! That's crazy.

Denton City's Response
Mike: After getting swept by Marston in the Pro Cup last year, Denton City comes back and wins 92.
Mad Dog: Respectable rebound.

Mike: Not enough to catch Oxford.

Mad Dog: But it tells you that organization isn't going anywhere.

The Disaster Zones
Kenwood
Mike: Now let's get to the ugly stuff.
Mad Dog: Twenty-four and one hundred thirty.

Mike: Good grief.

Mad Dog: Mike, that's one of the worst seasons we've ever seen.

Mike: This is the franchise that was once the gold standard.

Mad Dog: The first dynasty! Four championships!

Mike: And now they're 85 games behind Oxford.

Mad Dog: If you told somebody in the mid-1880s that Kenwood would lose 130 games, they'd laugh in your face.

Bayview
Mike: Bayview wasn't much better.
Mad Dog: Thirty-seven wins.

Mike: Two years removed from a championship.

Mad Dog: Baseball can be cruel, Mike.

Pro Cup Preview: Oxford vs. Colfax
Mike: Alright, who's got the edge?
Mad Dog: I'm taking Colfax.

Mike: Because of the 118 wins?

Mad Dog: Because of everything. Best record in baseball. Best run of consistency all season. They were never caught.

Mike: I understand it.

Mad Dog: But Oxford is dangerous. They played a much tougher pennant race.

Mike: That's my argument. Oxford has been playing playoff baseball for months.

Mad Dog: Fair point.

Mike: Also, Oxford has been here before. They won the Pro Cup back in 1874.

Mad Dog: Colfax is entering completely uncharted territory.

Mike: First pennant. First Pro Cup appearance. Sometimes that pressure matters.

Final Verdict
Mike: So the 1897 season gave us two giants.
Mad Dog: Colfax at 118-36. Oxford at 109-45.

Mike: One franchise seeking its first championship.

Mad Dog: One franchise seeking its second after a 23-year wait.

Mike: Meanwhile Valka wins 110 and stays home, Marston falls back to earth, and Kenwood bottoms out in historic fashion.

Mad Dog: And now we find out whether Colfax's dream season ends with a trophy... or whether Oxford finishes one of the greatest comeback stories this league has ever seen.

Mike: The stage is set.

Mad Dog: Pro Cup time, Mike! That's what it's all about!**

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You know, every so often in baseball, a player puts together a season that forces everyone to stop arguing and simply stare.
This is one of those seasons.
Wankegh Hecini just won the pitching Triple Crown.
Not led the league in one category. Not two.
All three.
80 wins.
354 strikeouts.
2.10 ERA.
And somehow, the most absurd number might be the first one.
Eighty wins.
Think about that for a second.
Most great pitchers spend an entire career hoping to reach 80 victories. Hecini just collected 80 in a single season while carrying the Colfax Black Sox to their first Ruthlandian Union pennant.
The Black Sox finished 118-36. Hecini personally accounted for 80 of those victories. That's not merely being the ace of a staff. That's being the foundation of an empire.
What's remarkable is that this isn't a one-dimensional pitcher. The strikeouts tell you he can overpower hitters. The ERA tells you he can dominate games without mistakes. The win total tells you he takes the ball every time and gives his club a chance to win.
And he's only 23 years old.
Twenty-three.
Most pitchers at that age are still trying to figure out who they are. Hecini is busy putting together one of the greatest seasons the Islandian Pro Alliance has ever seen.
I also love the quote from the opposing hitter who said:
"When you've got God on the mound throwing against you, it makes it a little tough."
Now, that's obviously hyperbole.
But it tells you something important.
When players start speaking about an opponent in mythical terms, you've moved beyond statistics. You've entered the territory of fear.
The moment Hecini walks from the dugout to the mound, the other team isn't thinking about winning the game.
They're thinking about surviving it.
And that's why Colfax enters the Pro Cup as the favorite.
Oxford won 109 games. They're a tremendous club. They deserve enormous respect. But Oxford is facing a team that not only won 118 games, but possesses the single most dominant weapon in baseball.
In a seven-game series, if Hecini pitches four times—and given the workload of this era, that's entirely possible—he could practically win the championship by himself.
That's a frightening reality for Oxford.
Because while the Black Sox have never won a Pro Cup, they now have something every champion wants:
A superstar having the season of his life at exactly the right moment.
If Wankegh Hecini pitches in October the way he pitched from April through September, Colfax may be on the verge of its first championship.
And if that happens, historians will remember 1897 not as the year Colfax finally broke through.
They'll remember it as the year Wankegh Hecini took over the Ruthlandian Union.

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1897 PRO CUP GAME 1

"Okay, so I've been saying it for weeks: everybody in the Ruthlandian Union was talking about Colfax, and everybody was talking about one man — Wankegh Hecini. Eighty wins. Triple Crown. Historic season. And you know what Oxford learned in Game 1? The regular season wasn't a mirage."
Colfax 5, Oxford 2.
"Now let's be fair here. Oxford didn't get embarrassed. They got 10 hits. They actually outhit Colfax early. They tied the game at 2-2 in the second inning. For a moment, it looked like they might walk into Comiskey Park and steal home-field advantage."
"But here's the difference between a good team and a championship favorite."
"When Oxford made mistakes, Colfax punished them."
Oxford committed just one error officially, but it came at a brutal time. In the fifth inning, with the game tied, Bay Long singled, Hecini reached on the throwing error by third baseman Gopakumar Puri, and suddenly the Black Sox had life. A sacrifice and a clutch RBI single by Thiago Incio later, Colfax had the lead for good.
"Championship baseball isn't usually about who makes the spectacular play. It's about who avoids the dumb mistake. Oxford blinked. Colfax scored."
And then there was Hecini.
"Here's the crazy part. If you just read the box score, you'd think, 'Wait a second, he gave up ten hits.'"
"Yeah, he did."
"He also threw a complete game, walked nobody, struck out almost nobody, and still completely controlled the game."
That's what makes great pitchers terrifying.
Oxford kept putting runners on base, but Hecini never let the game speed up on him. He induced two huge double plays, erased baserunners, and got outs exactly when he needed them.
"He isn't overpowering you every inning. He's doing something worse. He's convincing you that you've got a chance."
"And then you look up in the ninth inning and somehow he's still standing there, the score is 5-2, and your season is one game closer to ending."
The offensive star for Colfax was Thiago Incio.
Three hits.
Two runs scored.
Two RBIs.
And he was involved almost every time the Black Sox generated pressure.
"That's what contenders do. Everybody talks about the ace. Then October starts and suddenly a right fielder nobody outside Colfax is talking about becomes the most important player on the field."
Meanwhile, Oxford has a problem.
Not a huge problem.
But a problem.
"Kusuma Suharto wasn't awful. He gave them eight innings. He kept them in the game. But Oxford doesn't have a Wankegh Hecini."
"And that's the reality of this series."
Every game Colfax starts Hecini, it feels like Oxford has to play nearly perfect baseball.
Game 1 proved it.
Oxford got 10 hits.
Oxford made Hecini work 154 pitches.
Oxford had chances all afternoon.
And they still lost by three runs.
"That's why Colfax won 118 games."
"That's why they're favored."
"And if Oxford is going to pull off this upset, somebody besides Hecini is going to have to beat them. Because after Game 1, it still looks like the road to the Pro Cup goes through the best pitcher Islandia has seen in a generation."
Series: Colfax leads 1-0.
"And for the Oxford Red Caps, the bad news is obvious."
"The worse news?"
"They get to wake up tomorrow and do it all over again."

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Stephen A. Smith Recaps Pro Cup Game 2 (1897)
STEPHEN A. SMITH:

Ladies and gentlemen, I am here to tell you something that may sound outrageous, but after two games it is simply a fact:
The Oxford Red Caps are not losing to the Colfax Black Sox. They are losing to one man.
Wankegh. Hecini.
Are. You. Kidding. Me?
This brother just won the pitching Triple Crown with 80 victories, 354 strikeouts, and a 2.10 ERA. Then he walks into the Pro Cup and says, "You know what? Let me just throw eighteen innings and give up two runs."
Game 1? Complete game, two runs allowed.
Game 2? Complete-game shutout.
Eighteen innings. Two runs. Zero earned runs.
That is not a pitcher.
That is a natural disaster.
That is a baseball plague.
That is a problem Oxford has absolutely no answer for.
And here's what should terrify the Red Caps.
In Game 1, at least they scored.
Tonight?
Nothing.
Zero.
Goose egg.
Five hits. No walks. No strikeouts.
Hecini wasn't even overpowering anybody!
He struck out ZERO BATTERS!
ZERO!
He basically stood on the mound and said:
"Hit it. I dare you."
And every Oxford hitter responded by pounding ground ball after ground ball directly into Colfax gloves.
That's psychological warfare.
Now let's talk about the fifth inning.
Because that's where Oxford completely unraveled.
The game is scoreless.
Kusuma Suharto is pitching brilliantly.
Then suddenly:
Error by shortstop.
Error by shortstop again.
Agdada Suji RBI single.
Hai-dong Liu two-run double.
Chaos everywhere.
Five runs cross the plate.
And just like that?
Ballgame.
You cannot give extra outs to a team that's already got Hecini on the mound.
You just can't.
That's baseball suicide.
Oxford finished with FOUR ERRORS.
FOUR!
Against an ordinary club, maybe you survive that.
Against Colfax?
Forget it.
Let's give some love to the supporting cast.
Jorge Contreras was everywhere.
Thiago Incio keeps delivering huge hits.
Koi-sho Xing had a triple and scored.
Hai-dong Liu drove in two more runs.
Everybody contributed.
But make no mistake.
This story begins and ends with Number One.
Wankegh Hecini.
And now I have a question.
A serious question.
Who is beating Colfax four times?
Not once.
Not twice.
FOUR TIMES.
Because Oxford now trails 2-0.
They've scored a grand total of two runs in two games.
And here's the scary part:
The Black Sox haven't even looked stressed.
They've looked comfortable.
They've looked confident.
They've looked like a team that believes destiny has arrived.
So where are we now?
Oxford heads home needing a miracle.
Colfax heads to Oxford holding a 2-0 lead and carrying the most dominant pitcher the Ruthlandian Union has seen in generations.
And if Hecini gets the ball again in Game 4?
Lord have mercy.
Because right now, the Pro Cup isn't looking like a seven-game series.
It's looking like a coronation.
Colfax 6. Oxford 0.
Black Sox lead the Pro Cup, two games to none.

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PARDON THE INTERRUPTION – 1897 PRO CUP GAME 3

TONY KORNHEISER: Welcome to Pardon the Interruption! I'm Tony Kornheiser, he's Michael Wilbon, and Wilbon, the Oxford Red Caps just saved their season!

MICHAEL WILBON: Saved it? Tony, they absolutely saved it! Down 2-0 in the series, staring at the possibility of getting buried by the mighty Colfax Black Sox and their ace Wankegh Hecini, and instead they punch back with a 7-6 win.

TONY: Let's start with the headline. Honório Lariz. Two hits. A gigantic two-run homer. Player of the Game. Fifth inning. Boom.

WILBON: Tony, that's the swing of the series so far. Colfax is up 3-1, they've got Hecini on the mound, they've won two straight games, and then Lariz launches one 392 feet into the afternoon. Suddenly it's Oxford 6, Colfax 3 and the entire ballpark comes alive.

TONY: And let's be clear—Oxford wasn't exactly dominating before that. They had one run through four innings and were getting pushed around.

WILBON: That's because Colfax looked like Colfax. Third inning? Hecini starts it with a hit. Thiago Incio singles. Koi-sho Xing blasts a two-run triple. Agdada Suji brings him home. Three runs just like that. It felt like another Black Sox victory was loading.

TONY: Except baseball games can turn on one inning. Bottom of the fifth. Five runs. Five hits.

WILBON: Hsu Gou ties the game with a two-run single. Jérôme Fuchs follows with an RBI triple. Then Lariz hits the bomb. That's your entire game right there.

TONY: But here's what fascinates me, Wilbon. Wankegh Hecini finally looked human.

WILBON: Human? Tony, he gave up seven runs!

TONY: Five earned.

WILBON: Seven crossed the plate!

TONY: Five earned!

WILBON: The scoreboard doesn't care! This is the guy who entered the day with a 0.00 ERA in the Pro Cup. He had thrown a shutout in Game 2. He looked invincible. Oxford got ten hits off him and beat him for the first time this postseason series.

TONY: Meanwhile Kusuma Suharto gets the win despite allowing six runs.

WILBON: And that's why wins can be funny, Tony. Suharto wasn't dominant, but he competed. He gave Oxford nine innings, scattered nine hits, and when Colfax made its late charge, he didn't break.

TONY: Speaking of late charges—the ninth inning got interesting.

WILBON: Very interesting! Hai-dong Liu singles. Seto Nasution comes off the bench and triples him home. Then Siu-chung Zhuan hits a sacrifice fly. Suddenly it's 7-6 and Oxford fans are getting nervous.

TONY: But Suharto strikes out Juan Diaz looking, gets Brad Hunt to pop out, game over.

WILBON: That's the difference between 3-0 and 2-1. If Colfax wins that game, we're basically measuring Oxford for a coffin. Instead, the Red Caps are right back in this series.

Five Good Minutes
TONY: Biggest surprise?
WILBON: Colfax's defense. Five errors. Five! This team built its reputation on clean baseball and elite pitching. They practically handed Oxford opportunities.

TONY: Biggest performer?

WILBON: Lariz. Easy. The homer changed everything.

TONY: Biggest concern for Colfax?

WILBON: That Oxford has finally proven Hecini can be beaten. Nobody thought that after the first two games.

TONY: Biggest concern for Oxford?

WILBON: Travis Trolley is hitting .100 and Qing-nian Der still doesn't have a hit in the series. They won despite some major holes in the lineup.

The Big Finish
TONY: Oxford wins?
WILBON: Yes.

TONY: Lariz homer?

WILBON: Huge.

TONY: Hecini loses?

WILBON: Finally.

TONY: Series alive?

WILBON: Absolutely alive.

TONY: That's all the time we have. For Michael Wilbon, I'm Tony Kornheiser. Tune in tomorrow, because Game 4 suddenly feels a whole lot bigger than it did 24 hours ago. Colfax still leads the Pro Cup two games to one—but Oxford just reminded everybody that champions don't go away quietly.

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FOX PRO CUP POSTGAME SHOW – Game 4 Recap (1897)
Joe Buck: "Welcome back to Forbes Field, where the Colfax Black Sox are now one win away from a championship. Final score in Game 4: Colfax 3, Oxford 2. It wasn't pretty, it wasn't dominant, but it was exactly the kind of game championship-caliber teams find a way to win."

Tim McCarver: "Joe, this game was decided in the first inning, and that's remarkable because there were eight innings after that where Oxford out-hit Colfax 10-to-7. But Colfax struck immediately and then relied on the biggest arm in the sport."

The Decisive First Inning
Oxford rookie Kusuma Suharto was magnificent after the opening frame, but the damage came quickly.
Thiago Incio reached, Koi-sho Xing walked, and then Agdada Suji ripped a screaming triple into the gap.

Buck: "One swing. Two runs. And suddenly Forbes Field got awfully quiet."

Suji scored moments later on Hai-dong Liu's groundout, giving Colfax a 3-0 lead despite recording only a single hit in the inning.

McCarver: "That's the cruel part. Suharto gave up only eight hits all afternoon and just one walk. He threw a complete game and deserved better. Oxford's defense and that first inning put him in a hole he never escaped."

Wankegh Hecini's Toughest Win
The story entering the game was Colfax ace Wankegh Hecini, fresh off his Triple Crown season.
For perhaps the second time all postseason, he looked vulnerable.

Oxford collected 11 hits and 6 walks, forcing Hecini to throw an exhausting 172 pitches.

Buck: "That is an enormous workload. Oxford had runners everywhere."

McCarver: "But they stranded fourteen men. Fourteen! That's the ballgame right there."

Oxford left:

Bases loaded in the 3rd.
Men at second and third in the 6th.
The tying run in scoring position multiple times late.
Hecini bent constantly but never broke.
His final line:

8⅔ innings, 10 hits, 2 runs, 6 walks, 2 strikeouts.

Not dominant.

Not elegant.

Just effective enough.

Oxford's Missed Opportunities
If there was one player carrying the Red Caps offense, it was third baseman Gopakumar Puri.
He became the first player in TU playoff history to record two triples in a Pro Cup game, finishing 3-for-4.

Buck: "Every time Oxford threatened, Puri seemed to be involved."

The Red Caps finally broke through in the fourth when Puri tripled and scored on Cihangir Yucel's RBI single.

They added another run in the sixth after consecutive hits from Suharto, Reda, and Gou.

But that's all they could manage.

The defining image of the afternoon may have been Oxford's box score:

11 hits. 6 walks. 2 runs.

The Ninth Inning Drama
Oxford wasn't finished.
With two outs in the ninth, Honório Lariz drew a walk.

Manager Guan-cai Ning finally pulled Hecini and summoned Abdul Hamid Chaudhry.

The crowd came alive when Byron Guyette lined a single, bringing the tying run into scoring position.

Buck: "And suddenly everybody in this ballpark was standing."

One more hit would tie the game.

One more extra-base hit might win it.

Instead, Kadonomaro Saiki lifted a fly ball to left.

Caught.

Game over.

Series nearly over.

FOX Player of the Game
Agdada Suji (Colfax)
1-for-4
Bases-clearing impact triple
2 RBI
Scored the eventual winning run
McCarver: "The box score won't overwhelm you, but that first-inning triple changed the entire game. Without it, we're probably talking about Oxford evening this series."
Looking Ahead to Game 5
Buck: "The pressure now shifts entirely to Oxford. The Red Caps have played well enough to win two straight games. They've gotten excellent pitching from Suharto. They've out-hit Colfax today. Yet they're down three games to one."
McCarver: "That's what great teams do. Colfax doesn't need ten opportunities. Give them one opening and they'll make it hurt. Now Oxford has to beat them three straight times, and that is a very tall order when the Black Sox have the greatest pitcher in the league waiting in reserve if necessary."

Buck: "One win away. The Colfax Black Sox lead the 1897 Pro Cup Series three games to one after a tense 3-2 victory at Forbes Field."

[jg2977]

Colfax Black Sox: 1897 Pro Cup Champions (1st title)

TBS Pro Cup Postgame Show — Game 5 Recap (1897)

Ernie Johnson:
"Good evening everybody and welcome to our TBS Pro Cup Postgame coverage. The celebration is underway at Forbes Field because for the first time in franchise history, the Colfax Black Sox are champions of the Islandian Pro Alliance! They defeat Oxford 5-1 tonight, win the series four games to one, and cap off one of the greatest seasons the league has ever seen."
The Final Step
The Black Sox entered 1897 as favorites after a staggering 118-36 regular season, but everyone knows baseball doesn't hand out championships for regular-season records.
You still have to finish.

And behind the right arm of Wankegh Hecini, Colfax finished.

After capturing the pitching Triple Crown and dominating all season, Hecini delivered one final masterpiece:

Complete Game
9 innings
6 hits
1 run
1 walk
3 strikeouts
When Oxford threatened in the eighth inning, Hecini calmly worked through traffic and never allowed the Red Caps to build momentum.
John Smoltz:
"This is what aces do. He wasn't overpowering tonight. He just controlled the game. Ground balls, weak contact, quick innings. Every time Oxford looked like they might get back into it, he shut the door."

Death By A Thousand Cuts
Oxford starter Kusuma Suharto deserved better.
Again.

The rookie threw all nine innings and allowed just three earned runs.

But Colfax constantly pressured Oxford's defense.

The decisive fifth inning perfectly summarized the series.

A shortstop error put Hecini aboard.

Then another defensive mistake in center field allowed a run to score.

Moments later, Thiago Incio and Koi-sho Xing delivered RBI hits.

Suddenly a 2-0 game became 4-0.

Ron Darling:
"That's the story right there. Oxford didn't get blown out because they lacked talent. They got beaten because Colfax never gave away outs and Oxford occasionally did."

The MVP
When the celebration began, there was little suspense regarding the series MVP.
Wankegh Hecini.

The 23-year-old ace was magnificent all postseason and finished the Pro Cup with a 4-1 record and a microscopic ERA.

He won:

The Ruthlandian Union Triple Crown
Multiple postseason starts
And now the Pro Cup Series MVP
Not a bad year.
Buck Martinez:
"We may be watching the beginning of a legendary career. You don't see many 23-year-olds dominate an entire league the way Hecini just did."

A Historic Championship
And here's the bigger story.
This is the first Pro Cup championship in Colfax history.

The Black Sox become the 13th different franchise to win a title in the IPA's first 27 seasons.

Think about that for a moment.

There are only sixteen franchises in the league.

Thirteen have already climbed the mountain.

Only three remain without a championship.

That's extraordinary competitive balance.

Ernie Johnson:
"In many leagues, dynasties dominate entire generations. Here, nearly everybody has had their turn. Thirteen champions in twenty-seven years. That's remarkable parity."

John Smoltz:
"It means hope. Every fan base can realistically believe their day is coming."

Credit To Oxford
The final score says 5-1.
The series says 4-1.

But Oxford was much tougher than those numbers suggest.

The Red Caps received excellent pitching from Suharto throughout the series and repeatedly put pressure on Colfax.

They simply ran into a historic opponent.

Oxford finishes as Pro Cup runner-up, and despite the disappointment, they leave 1897 as one of the strongest clubs in baseball.

Final Thoughts
The 1897 Colfax Black Sox will be remembered for:
118 regular-season wins
League-best pitching
A Triple Crown ace
Ruthless consistency
Their first championship
Twenty-seven seasons into IPA history, another franchise joins the list of champions.
The drought is over.

The banner is forever.

Final Score: Colfax 5, Oxford 1
Series: Colfax wins 4-1

Ernie Johnson:
"For John Smoltz and Ron Darling, I'm Ernie Johnson. Congratulations to the 1897 Pro Cup Champion Colfax Black Sox. Good night from Forbes Field, where baseball history has been made."

[jg2977]

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[jg2977]

Valmara: 2nd RU pennant - 1872 1898. 0 Pro Cups

Blue Lake: 6th TU pennant - 1881 1885 1891 1893 1894 1898. 1 Pro Cup in 1894

Bob Costas: 1898 IPA Regular Season Review

Good evening, everyone.

If you take a step back and look at the 1898 Islandian Pro Alliance season, what immediately jumps out is the extraordinary contrast between the top and the bottom of the league. The IPA has always been known for competitive balance, but this year felt almost split into two different worlds: the elite clubs chasing history, and several former powers enduring stunning collapses.

Let's start at the top.

Valmara Finally Returns
The story of the season is the Valmara Vipers, who finished an astonishing 119-35, winning their second Ruthlandian Union pennant and first since 1872.
Think about that for a moment.

Twenty-six years between pennants.

Entire generations of Valmara supporters had never seen the Vipers reach the Pro Cup. Yet not only did they get there—they did so with one of the greatest regular seasons the IPA has ever witnessed.

A .773 winning percentage is remarkable in any era. They weren't merely good. They overwhelmed opponents for six months.

And yet, what makes their achievement even more impressive is that they had to outdistance perhaps the strongest runner-up in league history.

Colfax Was Incredible... and Finished Five Games Back
The defending champion Colfax Black Sox won 114 games.
Normally, 114 victories means a comfortable pennant.

Normally, 114 victories means historians spend decades talking about your season.

Instead, Colfax finished five games behind Valmara.

It's almost unfair.

The Black Sox followed their championship season with another masterpiece, but they happened to share a league with a team that was somehow even better. In many years, we'd be discussing Colfax as the dominant story of the season. Here they're almost an afterthought because Valmara reached another level.

Valka Remains Excellent
The Valka Blackhawks quietly won 103 games.
That would be headline news almost anywhere else.

Instead, they finished sixteen games out because the two clubs ahead of them were historic juggernauts.

Valka continues to be one of the league's most consistently successful organizations. The lingering frustration, of course, is that they remain without a Pro Cup despite years of contention.

The Rest of the Ruthlandian Union
Then the standings fall off a cliff.
The fourth-place Ranford Bulls were 67-87.

That's a staggering 52 games behind first place.

The gap between the elite and everyone else was enormous.

Fort Benton, Cold Creek, Glasco, and Marston never seriously threatened.

And perhaps the saddest story belongs to the Marston Nine.

Just two years ago, Marston stood atop the baseball world as Pro Cup champions.

Now?

44-110.

That's one of the most dramatic championship-to-cellar descents the league has seen.

Blue Lake Rules the Tycobbian Union Again
Over in the Tycobbian Union, the familiar power returned.
The Blue Lake Blue Caps captured their sixth pennant with a 110-44 record.

This organization has become one of the defining franchises of the late nineteenth century.

Pennants in:

1881
1885
1891
1893
1894
1898
That is sustained excellence over nearly two decades.
Unlike Valmara, Blue Lake has at least tasted championship glory before, winning the Pro Cup in 1894. Now they have an opportunity to add a second title and further cement their place among the league's aristocracy.

The Strong Middle Class
Behind Blue Lake were two quality clubs.
Chicopee won 93 games.

Midway won 92.

In most seasons either club might have mounted a serious pennant challenge. Unfortunately for them, Blue Lake raced out of sight and never looked back.

Kenwood's Quiet Transition
The Kenwood Wildcats, one of the great dynasties in league history, finished 78-76.
Not terrible.

Not great.

Just ordinary.

And perhaps that's the biggest surprise. When you become accustomed to seeing Kenwood in championship races, a barely-above-.500 season feels strange.

Stunning Collapses
The most shocking developments came at the bottom.
Last year's Tycobbian champion Oxford Red Caps collapsed from pennant winner to 58-96.

That's the sort of fall that leaves an entire fan base wondering what happened.

Even more startling was Denton City.

For years the Redbirds were one of the model franchises in the IPA. They won championships. They contended constantly. They represented excellence.

This year?

47-107.

The mighty simply fell apart.

When you combine Denton City's collapse with Marston's 44-110 record and Oxford's nosedive, three recent pennant winners spent 1898 buried near the bottom of the standings.

Baseball can change very quickly.

Looking Ahead: The Pro Cup
And so we arrive at a fascinating championship matchup.
Valmara Vipers (119-35)
vs.
Blue Lake Blue Caps (110-44)
Combined record:
229-79

That is extraordinary.

Valmara is seeking its first-ever Pro Cup championship after waiting twenty-six years to win another pennant.

Blue Lake is seeking its second Pro Cup title and another chapter in what has already become one of the league's great success stories.

One club carries the burden of history.

The other carries the confidence of experience.

What we know for certain is this:

The two best teams in the Islandian Pro Alliance survived six months of baseball and earned the right to play for the championship. When a 119-win team meets a 110-win team, there are no excuses, no lucky breaks, and no questions about legitimacy.

The 1898 Pro Cup should be magnificent.

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Phil Rizzuto Recaps 1898 Pro Cup Game 1

"Holy cow! What a ballgame we had up there in Valmara, and if you just looked at the final score—Blue Lake 6, Valmara 1—you'd think the Blue Caps had control all afternoon. But lemme tell ya, for six innings this thing was tighter than the lid on a pickle jar."

The crowd at War Memorial Stadium came expecting a clash between two giants. After all, these clubs won 229 games combined, and for most of the afternoon that's exactly what we got.

You had Ruslan Meleshenko for Valmara and Xavier Castillo for Blue Lake matching each other pitch for pitch. Through six innings the scoreboard looked like somebody forgot to plug it in.

Nothing-nothing.

Castillo was cool as ice. Meleshenko was every bit as good.

Then came the seventh inning.

And hoo boy, what a disaster for the Vipers.

Valmara entered the inning having allowed only three Blue Lake hits. Then the gloves started betraying them.

First an error by Bay Long.

Then an error by Meleshenko.

Then another error by Long.

Three errors in the inning!

Three!

Against a club as disciplined as Blue Lake, that's like handing over the keys to the bank vault.

The Blue Caps immediately pounced.

Asjita Mhari lined a single that brought home the first run of the series. Then another run scored on the same play when the Vipers couldn't cut down the runner at the plate. Kazuhiro Nozaki followed with another run-scoring hit, and before anybody in Valmara knew what happened, the Vipers were staring at a 5-0 deficit.

"You can't do that against a 110-win ballclub, folks. You just can't."

The heartbreaking part for Valmara is that Meleshenko actually pitched wonderfully.

Eight innings.

Six runs.

Only one earned run.

That's right—five of Blue Lake's six runs came courtesy of the Vipers' defensive collapse.

Meanwhile Castillo kept rolling.

Every time Valmara threatened, he found a way out.

First inning? Two men aboard.

Fourth inning? Ochoa doubles.

Fifth inning? An error puts a runner on.

Eighth inning? Two more hits after a rain delay.

Nothing.

Nothing.

Nothing.

The veteran just kept shutting doors.

"That's why managers trust old pitchers, folks. They don't get rattled."

Castillo needed only 95 pitches to throw a complete game masterpiece. Nine innings, seven hits, no walks, just one run.

And that lone run didn't even come until there were already two outs in the ninth.

Yi-lin Tseng finally gave the home crowd something to cheer about with the first home run of the Pro Cup, a solo shot into right field.

But by then it was far too late.

The Vipers' bats never really got started. They collected seven hits, same as Blue Lake, but left opportunity after opportunity sitting out on the bases. Castillo got weak fly balls when he needed them, ground balls when he wanted them, and looked every bit the veteran ace.

Phil's Game Balls
Xavier Castillo (Blue Lake)
9 innings, 7 hits, 1 run, complete game victory.
"That's an old-fashioned ace performance. The kind of game that'll be remembered if Blue Lake wins this thing."

Asjita Mhari (Blue Lake)
The key hit of the game, driving in the first run and helping ignite the seventh-inning avalanche.

Ruslan Meleshenko (Valmara)
Don't let the loss fool ya. He pitched far better than the box score suggests.

Looking Ahead
Now the pressure shifts squarely onto Valmara.
The Vipers won 119 games, waited 26 years to return to the Pro Cup, earned home-field advantage, and now they're already trailing the series 1-0.

The really scary part for Valmara?

Blue Lake stole this game without overwhelming them offensively. The Blue Caps got only seven hits themselves. This was a game won with patience, defense, and one disastrous inning by the opposition.

"So Game 2 becomes enormous. Not must-win, maybe, but awful close. You don't want to head to Blue Lake down two games to none, holy cow."

Blue Lake leads the 1898 Pro Cup, 1 game to 0.

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Bob Costas Recaps Game 2 of the 1898 Pro Cup

Good evening.

For the second straight day at War Memorial Stadium, we witnessed a magnificent pitching duel between two veteran right-handers. But unlike Game 1, when Xavier Castillo authored the masterpiece, Game 2 belonged to Ruslan Meleshenko and the Valmara Vipers.

And with a tense, dramatic 3-2 victory, the Vipers have tied the 1898 Pro Cup at one game apiece.

A Series Defined by Pitching
Through two games, these clubs have combined for just 12 total runs.
Remember, this matchup featured teams that won 119 and 110 games during the regular season. One might have expected offensive fireworks.

Instead, we're getting a nineteenth-century chess match.

Meleshenko and Castillo have now each thrown complete games.

Both have been brilliant.

Both have lost once.

And both have shown why their clubs trusted them with the first two games of the championship.

Blue Lake Manufactures Two Runs
The Blue Caps actually grabbed the early advantage.
In the second inning, Vasya Nazvanov reached base and advanced through a combination of a sacrifice bunt, a wild pitch, and a passed ball.

No hit was needed.

Blue Lake led 1-0 almost entirely through pressure and execution.

Valmara answered in the third when an error by Biftu Ashur opened the door, and Jose Ochoa's two-out single tied the game.

Then Blue Lake reclaimed the lead in the fourth.

Nazvanov walked.

Asjita Mhari singled.

Kazuhiro Nozaki produced a run-scoring groundout.

Just like that, the Blue Caps were back in front, 2-1.

At that moment, it looked as though Castillo might be on his way to a second consecutive complete-game victory.

The Missed Opportunity
The inning that may haunt Blue Lake came in the fifth.
Valmara committed two errors.

Blue Lake had runners in scoring position.

Meleshenko appeared vulnerable.

And yet the Blue Caps failed to score.

That missed run loomed larger with every passing inning.

When you're facing an elite pitcher, opportunities arrive rarely. Blue Lake let one slip away.

The Turning Point
Then came the bottom of the seventh.
One out.

Meleshenko at the plate.

A routine ground ball.

And suddenly—

Error.

The second costly Blue Lake miscue of the afternoon.

Instead of two outs and nobody on, Valmara had life.

Jeremy Stryker followed with a ringing double that scored Meleshenko all the way from first to tie the game.

The stadium erupted.

The Vipers finally had momentum.

Then managerial strategy entered the spotlight.

Valmara sent António Estevains up as a pinch hitter.

One swing could change the game.

One ground ball could end the threat.

Instead, Estevains punched an infield single through the left side.

Stryker raced home.

Valmara led 3-2.

The decisive run of the afternoon had crossed the plate.

Redemption for Meleshenko
What makes this victory particularly satisfying for Valmara is the identity of the winning pitcher.
In Game 1, Meleshenko pitched eight innings and allowed only one earned run, yet lost because his defense betrayed him.

Today, he received the reward he deserved.

Nine innings.

Eight hits.

Two runs.

One walk.

No strikeouts needed.

Just relentless efficiency.

A complete-game victory on 143 pitches.

After the frustration of Wednesday, Meleshenko answered with one of the finest performances of his career.

Castillo's Tough-Luck Defeat
And what can you say about Xavier Castillo?
He was excellent again.

Eight innings.

Three runs.

Only one earned run.

In two games, Castillo has thrown 17 innings, allowed four total runs, and has little to show for it except a split.

That's baseball.

Sometimes excellence is not enough.

The Bigger Picture
The most fascinating development of this series is that both clubs have now won the exact same way.
In Game 1, Valmara's defensive mistakes opened the door for a decisive Blue Lake rally.

In Game 2, Blue Lake's defensive mistakes opened the door for Valmara's decisive rally.

Neither team has truly overpowered the other.

Neither team has looked clearly superior.

Every inning feels important.

Every error feels fatal.

Every baserunner feels precious.

That is the hallmark of a great championship series.

Looking Ahead to Game 3
The scene now shifts to Blue Lake with the series tied one game apiece.
Valmara accomplished its mission by salvaging a split at home.

Blue Lake accomplished its mission by stealing home-field advantage in Game 1.

In other words, after two games, we're essentially starting over.

The 119-win Vipers and the 110-win Blue Caps have played eighteen innings of baseball, and they've proven exactly what we suspected all along:

There is almost nothing separating them.

1898 Pro Cup Series

Game 1: Blue Lake 6, Valmara 1
Game 2: Valmara 3, Blue Lake 2
Series tied, 1-1.

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Michael Kay Recaps Game 3 of the 1898 Pro Cup Series
"Welcome to the postgame show! Michael Kay with you after Game 3 of the Pro Cup Series, and the story is becoming impossible to ignore. The Valmara Vipers have come into Blue Lake, won again, and now hold a 2-games-to-1 lead in the championship series after a 4-2 victory over the Blue Caps."
You know, sometimes a box score doesn't tell the whole story.

Valmara had nine hits. Blue Lake had four.

Valmara committed three errors. Blue Lake committed six.

And somehow, despite all that chaos, the game felt under control for exactly one reason:

Ruslan Meleshenko.

For the second straight game, the Vipers' ace was magnificent.

Game 2? A complete-game 3-2 victory.

Game 3? Another complete game, allowing just four hits and two runs—only one earned—over nine innings.

No strikeouts.

No overpowering stuff.

Just relentless efficiency.

Every time Blue Lake looked ready to break through, Meleshenko slammed the door.

Valmara Strikes First
The Vipers wasted no time.
Jeremy Stryker opened the game with a single, stole second, and eventually scored on Ashutosh Reba's RBI single.

Just like that, Valmara led 1-0.

Blue Lake answered in the second when Kazuhiro Nozaki launched a solo homer into the left-field seats.

"Tie game, 1-1. The crowd comes alive. Momentum shifts."

But that momentum never lasted.

The Difference: Blue Lake's Defense
The Blue Caps did not lose because Xavier Castillo pitched poorly.
Far from it.

Castillo threw another complete game.

Nine innings.

Nine hits.

Four runs.

Only one earned run.

His ERA in the series sits at an absurd 1.04, and somehow he's staring at a 1-2 record.

That's because the Blue Lake defense simply could not get out of its own way.

In the third inning:

A dropped foul ball by first baseman Vasya Nazvanov.
An error by second baseman Asvajit Sukarman.
Valmara scores.
In the fifth:
Warren Mossop drops a fly ball.
Valmara cashes in another run.
In the ninth:
Yet another Blue Lake error extends the inning.
Shi-kai Wu delivers the insurance RBI single.
Six errors in one game.
Six.

In a Pro Cup game.

Against a club as disciplined as Valmara, that's playing with fire.

Jeremy Stryker Sets the Tone
If Meleshenko was the star, Jeremy Stryker was the catalyst.
The Vipers' right fielder:

2-for-4
2 runs scored
Stolen base
Every time he reached base, something happened.
In the first inning he manufactured a run.

In the third he sparked another.

His seventh-inning quiet flyout was one of the few times all afternoon Blue Lake got him under control.

Blue Lake's Missed Chances
And here's what will haunt manager Ctirad Rezac tonight.
The opportunities were there.

Third inning:

Runners at second and third.
One out.
No runs.
Fourth inning:
Runners at the corners.
One out.
No runs.
Eighth inning:
Nazvanov walks.
Ashur reaches.
The tying run comes to the plate.
Then Jimmy Tortorello grounds into a crushing double play.
"That's the game right there."

You don't get many opportunities against Meleshenko.

When you get one, you have to take it.

Blue Lake didn't.

The Unsung Hero
A lot of attention will go to Meleshenko, and deservedly so.
But don't overlook Song Huang.

Inserted after the early pinch-hitting move, Huang delivered a huge RBI single in the fifth inning that pushed the lead to 3-1.

Then in the ninth, with Blue Lake still hanging around, he came through again with another RBI hit.

Two of the Vipers' four runs crossed because of Huang.

Those were championship-level insurance runs.

Looking Ahead to Game 4
So where are we now?
Valmara leads the series 2-1.

The Vipers have stolen home-field advantage.

They've won back-to-back games.

Their ace has thrown 18 innings in two starts, allowing just 4 runs total.

And perhaps most importantly, Blue Lake's defense suddenly looks shaky under pressure.

But here's the thing:

The Blue Caps are not out of this series.

Not even close.

They've gotten outstanding pitching from Xavier Castillo.

Nozaki's bat is beginning to wake up.

And they're back home.

The problem is simple:

The margin for error is gone.

Against Ruslan Meleshenko, they could survive one mistake.

Against the Vipers, they survived none.

"Game 4 now becomes enormous. If Blue Lake wins, we're tied. If Valmara wins, the Vipers will need just one more victory to capture the 1898 Pro Cup. That's the drama awaiting us tomorrow. For now, the story belongs to Ruslan Meleshenko and the Valmara Vipers, who take Game 3 by a score of 4-2 and grab control of this championship series."

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Mike and the Mad Dog – WFAN Postgame Recap, Game 4 of the 1898 Pro Cup Series

Mike Francesa: Alright, Mad Dog, we got ourselves a brand-new series. Blue Lake wins Game 4, 3-0, and after Valmara looked like they were taking control yesterday, we're all tied up at two games apiece.

Chris Russo: Mike, this is exactly why ya can't overreact after Game 3! Everybody was ready to hand Valmara the Cup because Meleshenko threw that complete game and the Vipers took a 2-1 lead. Well, what happens today? Castillo says, "Hold my glove!"

Mike: That's exactly right. Xavier Castillo was sensational. Complete game shutout. Nine innings. Nine hits allowed, but every time Valmara threatened, he shut the door.

Dog: And here's the crazy thing, Mike! This game had the feel of one swing deciding it. Neither team could score for seven innings. Zero-zero. Nothin'. It looked like we were headed for extras.

Mike: Two outstanding pitchers. Castillo against Ruslan Meleshenko. Frankly, Meleshenko was almost as good. Eight innings, three runs, only one inning got away from him.

Dog: And that inning was a disaster! Bottom of the eighth, everything unravels at once!

Mike: Let's go through it. Fook Shih doubles. Warren Mossop singles. Then Mossop steals second.

Dog: Aggressive baseball! That's Blue Lake baseball!

Mike: Then Biftu Ashur hits a sharp ground ball for a single. Shih scores. Mossop comes around, and then Song Huang throws the ball away in left field. That's the backbreaker.

Dog: Ballgame! Right there! Mossop scores on the error, Ashur moves up, and suddenly the place explodes.

Mike: Attendance only a little over four thousand, but from the game log it sounded like forty thousand. Marlins Park was rocking.

Dog: And don't forget Mhari's RBI single right after that! Three-nothing. That's the insurance. That's the knockout punch.

Castillo Outduels Meleshenko
Mike: What's remarkable is that these two aces have now completely dominated this series.
Game 3: Meleshenko goes the distance.

Game 4: Castillo goes the distance.

And Castillo's postseason numbers are ridiculous. ERA down to 0.77.

Dog: Mike, how about this? Valmara gets nine hits and scores zero runs!

Mike: That's because they ran themselves out of opportunities.

Dog: Exactly! Jeremy Stryker caught stealing. Ashutosh Reba caught stealing. Yi-lin Tseng caught stealing. They had runners everywhere and never got the big hit.

Mike: They stranded six runners and grounded into a double play to end the game. Bases loaded in the ninth with one out? No problem for Castillo.

Dog: That's the moment! Mainaky singles. Huang singles. Ochoa singles. The go-ahead run's at the plate and the crowd's getting nervous.

Mike: Then Tseng hits the ground ball.

Dog: Five-two-three double play! Goodnight! See ya tomorrow!

The Forgotten Story: Blue Lake's Defense
Mike: Blue Lake's defense deserves a lot of credit. They threw out three runners attempting to steal.
Dog: Tremendous! Mhari behind the plate was outstanding. Stryker, one of the most dangerous runners in the league, gets nailed. Tseng gets nailed. Reba gets nailed. That's huge in a scoreless game.

Mike: Those are hidden runs.

Dog: Absolutely. You don't notice 'em until the final score says 3-0.

Looking Ahead to Game 5
Mike: Now the series becomes a best-of-three.
Dog: And all the pressure shifts!

Mike: I agree.

Dog: Valmara had a chance to grab a commanding 3-1 lead. Instead they're flying home tied. That's a missed opportunity.

Mike: On the other hand, Blue Lake was staring at a 3-1 deficit. Now they've got momentum, they've got Castillo's masterpiece in their pocket, and they've completely reset the series.

Dog: Mike, we're down to three games. Nobody's got an advantage anymore. It's basically October survival.

Mike: And after watching Games 3 and 4, one thing is clear: runs are going to be precious.

Dog: Tremendous pitching, tremendous tension, tremendous series! Two games apiece. Exactly what you want from a Pro Cup.

Mike: We'll see you tomorrow night for Game 5. The 1898 Pro Cup Series is now a three-game sprint to the finish.

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Mike Francesa: Alright, Game 5 goes to Blue Lake, 5-3, and now the Blue Caps head back to Valmara with a three-games-to-two lead. Christopher, they're one win away from their second Pro Cup title.
Mad Dog Russo: And Mike, that's a huge distinction! This isn't some franchise trying to break through. They already climbed the mountain in '94. What they're trying to do now is prove that wasn't a one-off.
Mike: Exactly. The Blue Caps won the championship four years ago, but since then they've spent years hearing about the league's other powers. Now they've got a chance to put a second trophy in the case.
Dog: And let's be honest, if they pull this off, people are gonna remember two names: Nate Ward and Ctirad Rezac.
Mike: That's a good point.
Dog: Ward built this thing! Six seasons, ninety-one wins, one hundred ten wins, ninety-three, one hundred six, eighty-six, one hundred thirteen. He finally gets Blue Lake to the Pro Cup last year and loses, and what happens? They fire him!
Mike: It was one of the most controversial decisions in league history.
Dog: Exactly! The fans wanted him gone. Management pulled the trigger. Now Rezac comes in and suddenly they're one win away from a championship. Fair or unfair, that's going to be part of the story.
Mike: On the field, though, the story is Xavier Castillo.
Dog: Oh, no question. Since Blue Lake fell behind two games to one, Castillo has completely changed this series. Game 4, complete-game shutout. Game 5, complete game again. The man has thrown eighteen innings in two days and allowed only one earned run.
Mike: And today wasn't easy. Blue Lake jumped ahead 3-0 in the first inning, Valmara came all the way back and tied it at three, and from there Castillo shut them down.
Dog: That's what aces do. The game is slipping away, momentum's gone, the crowd gets nervous—and he just keeps making pitches.
Mike: The winning run comes in the seventh after another Valmara mistake. Nozaki steals second, Tseng's throw gets away, Nozaki reaches third, and Asjita Mhari drives him home.
Dog: That's been the difference in the series. Blue Lake pressures you every inning. They run, they bunt, they force throws, and eventually somebody cracks.
Mike: Meanwhile, Ruslan Meleshenko has pitched much better than his record suggests.
Dog: He really has. He's fought his tail off. But every little mistake is getting magnified. Three errors today, two throwing errors by Tseng, and suddenly you're walking off the field down three games to two.
Mike: So now the scene shifts to War Memorial Stadium.
Dog: And the pressure is squarely on Valmara. They're at home, but they have to win. Lose one game and the Blue Caps celebrate their second championship.
Mike: A second title in five years would put Blue Lake in rare company.
Dog: That's right. You're no longer talking about a nice run in 1894. You're talking about one of the defining franchises of the decade.
Mike: Game 6 awaits. Blue Lake leads the Pro Cup Series three games to two and sits one victory away from championship number two.

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Blue Lake Blue Caps: 1898 Pro Cup Champions (2nd title)
1894 1898

Mike Francesa: Alright, welcome back. The Blue Lake Blue Caps are champions again. They go into Valmara, win Game 6 by a score of 3-2, take the Pro Cup Series four games to two, and capture their second championship after winning their first back in 1894. And Dog, this was the perfect ending for a team that won 110 games and spent the whole season looking like the best club in the league.

Chris Russo: Mike, they were tremendous! Absolutely tremendous! And lemme tell ya somethin'—this series was tougher than the final result looks. Valmara won Games 2 and 3, took a 2-1 series lead, and for a little while you're sayin', "Wait a second, are the Vipers gonna pull this off?" Then Blue Lake slammed the door. Three straight wins. Game 4, Game 5, Game 6. That's what champions do!

Mike: And the story starts and ends with Xavier Castillo.

Russo: Oh, he's a monster! A monster!

Mike: In the biggest games of the season, Castillo was untouchable. Tonight: nine innings, three hits, two runs, neither earned, six strikeouts. He walks one. His ERA for the series finishes at 0.68.

Russo: Mike, he won Games 1, 5 and 6! Three wins in the Pro Cup! Three! The guy basically carried the trophy onto the parade float himself. Every time Blue Lake absolutely needed a performance, Castillo gave 'em one.

Mike: And remember, Game 5 was the turning point. The series was tied at two. Castillo throws a complete game, wins 5-3, gives Blue Lake control of the series. Then he comes back on short rest and finishes the job.

Russo: That's old-school stuff! That's the kinda thing kids are gonna be hearin' about twenty years from now. "Remember Castillo in '98?" That's how legends get made.

Mike: The decisive inning was the third. Valmara's defense cracked.

A throwing error by Jose Ochoa at first gave Blue Lake life. Warren Mossop worked a walk. Then Vasya Nazvanov ripped a two-out double into the gap, scoring both runners.

Just like that, 2-0 Blue Lake.

Russo: And poor Ruslan Meleshenko! Mike, this guy pitched great again!

Mike: He did.

Russo: Nine innings. Three runs, only one earned. ERA under two for the series. He threw 128 pitches! And he loses! The Vipers made three errors behind him. They just could not support him offensively or defensively.

Mike: That's exactly right. Meleshenko was outstanding throughout the series. But baseball isn't always fair.

Russo: No, it isn't! The guy deserved better than a 2-4 record in the series.

Mike: Blue Lake added an insurance run in the seventh. Fook Shih tripled and Mossop drove him home when center fielder Kusuma Mainaky misplayed the ball. That made it 3-0.

At that point, Castillo looked completely in command.

Russo: He was cruisin'! Absolute cruise control!

Mike: Until the ninth.

Russo: Ahhh, here we go!

Mike: Valmara finally mounted a threat. Ade walked. Jeremy Stryker doubled. An outfield error by Mossop scored one run. Then Mainaky's sacrifice fly made it 3-2.

Suddenly the tying run was on base.

Russo: And every Blue Lake fan is thinkin', "Not now. Not after all this."

Mike: But Castillo got Ashutosh Reba to fly out and Jose Ochoa on a fielder's choice. Ballgame over. Championship over.

Russo: That's it! Dogpile time!

Mike: And let's put this season into perspective.

Blue Lake won the Pro Cup in 1894. They got back here in 1898 and finished the job.

That's two championships in five years.

Russo: That's the beginning of a dynasty conversation, Mike. I'm not sayin' they're there yet, but they're knocking on the door. Two titles, multiple pennants, 110 wins this year. They've become the standard of the Tycobbian Union.

Mike: Meanwhile, for Valmara, heartbreak again.

They played excellent baseball all season. They pushed Blue Lake harder than anybody expected. But they simply couldn't score. Three hits tonight. Four hits in Game 5. Castillo and the Blue Lake pitching staff suffocated them.

Russo: And that's the story of the series! Blue Lake pitching. Every big moment, every pressure inning, every elimination game—they had the answer.

Mike: Final tally: Blue Lake wins the 1898 Pro Cup Series four games to two. A 110-win regular season ends with a championship. Xavier Castillo becomes a Blue Lake legend. And for the second time in franchise history—1894 and now 1898—the Blue Caps sit atop the Islandian Pro Alliance.

Russo: Parade starts tomorrow, Mike. And I got news for ya—the folks in Blue Lake may not sleep for a week!

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