[Westheim]

Raccoons (63-92) @ Crusaders (75-80)

The Crusaders certainly have fallen a fair amount from winning the CL North three years straight from 1977 to 1979. They could also lose the season series against the Raccoons for the first time, and how cripplingly shameful would that be? The Crusaders smothered the Raccoons 54-18 from 1977 to 1980, but this year the Raccoons are up 8-6. A split 4-game series is all we need!

While New York’s Tom Moulds pitched a complete game win in game 1 of the series, Carlos Moran was pummeled from the beginning with a 4-spot in the bottom 1st. He was yanked in the fourth, but the Raccoons never competed and lost 7-2. Nixon hit his 14th homer of the season.

Gary Simmons also did his best to throw away game #20. After a scoreless first he had two Crusaders down and one on in the bottom 2nd, when he hit pitcher Kyle Owens on a 1-2 pitch. From there, three runs scored in a quick escalation of events. The bullpen continued in that fashion in the middle innings and the Raccoons lost 9-3. Now the season series was already tied at eight and the Raccoons did not really make a serious push to win it. Ben Simon was 3-4 in the game, that was it for good outings. Ívan Díaz had made bad outings in both Crusaders games and was removed from the roster. In 12 games he had only covered 5.2 innings with an ERA over 12.

The Raccoons then had 10 hits in game 3 – scoring one fricking run. I then made a mistake and overused Christopher Powell into the eighth inning, where the Crusaders got to him and blew open a 1-1 tie. Raccoons lost 4-1. Daniel Hall was the only starter not to land a hit, but he walked three times.

Ralph Nixon was injured in game 3, being a hit by a pitch, and was out of the lineup (because I have no other issues to deal with). Simon moved over to second and Gonzalez played short, the latter possibly a sign of things to come next year with Ben Simon refusing to sign for a reasonable amount of money. (I then made another mistake and accidentally placed Gonzalez #4 in the lineup, which obviously doesn’t fit him, but what the heck)

Game 4 was all about Logan Evans. The Raccoons gave him a run early (more or less by accident), and a 3-run tattoo to left by Mark Dawson made the lead more comfortable. Evans no-hit the Crusaders through seven innings, before Freddie Riley singled through between short and third. Gone. Then it quickly went away completely. Wally Gaston had to enter to salvage the eighth inning with only one run across (but two on). Gaston finished the game and kept the 5-1 win intact. This split the season series with the Crusaders. We could’ve had so much more.

Still, this was Logan Evans’ 14th win, tying a Raccoons single season record held by Jorge Romero, who would have been up next, but his season was over with elbow soreness, so we skipped right to Moran. Ralph Nixon had a very sore foot and most likely would not be able to play (at least effectively) in the final series, but was good to pinch hit.

Last place, by the way, in the division was confirmed with our game 3 loss. Four years bottom in a row.

Raccoons (64-95) vs. Titans (76-83)

Moran was already pinch hit for in the fourth inning, down 2-1. He had been awful and his defense had made some incredible plays on the way. Nixon flew out to end that bottom 4th. We tied it in the sixth and won the game in the tenth, when with two down Edgardo Gonzalez singled to right to score Matt Workman from third, 3-2 Raccoons. Grant West picked up the W with a 2-inning relief outing in the tied ballgame. Gonzalez was 3-5 with 2 RBI, and Bocci was 2-3 with the double that brought Workman to third in the bottom 10th.

Gary Simmons surrendered five runs in three innings to make sure he got 21 losses together. The Raccoons laid down and played dead and lost 7-0. Shameful bunch.

Francisco Dominguez hit a leadoff homer against Christopher Powell in the season finale. Dominguez started every game of the series with at least a double and scored in every first inning. I HATE HIM!! I also passionately hate Bruce Wright, who started the finale for the Titans, and who no-hit the Raccoons through six, before Wyatt Johnston hit a single. By then, Powell was down 3-0, and Dominguez had featured in all the runs. Powell did manage to retire him to lead off the eighth, then was relieved. Sometimes, you have to take the smallest amounts of achievement and cherish them feverishly. I know a lot about that concept. Robinson Borquez eventually struck out Daniel Hall to end the game, 3-0 Titans, and the season. Finally, the pain is over. For the winter.

September 30 – A sore hamstring ends the season of Gold Sox starter Wilson Martinez (16-9, 3.12 ERA) a few days early.
October 1 – The Buffaloes beat the Cyclones, 2-0, to eliminate them from contention. With one series to play, three divisions are still contested. The Buffaloes lead the Rebels by 2 and both teams will match up against each other in Topeka. The Bayhawks lead the Thunder by 2 and will also host them to end the regular season. The Pacifics hold a 1-game lead over the defending champions, the Scorpions. The latter host the Warriors, while the Pacifics will travel to Salem to end the regular season. This is the only division that can still get tied.
October 2 – The Buffaloes clinch the FL East on consecutive 2-0 shutouts, now over the Rebels. The other divisions remain open as the Thunder beat the Bayhawks 6-3, and both Pacifics and Scorpions log W’s.
October 3 – The Thunder are behind after six, but rally and win in the 12th inning to tie the CL South and set up a deciding game #162 in Sacramento. The Scorpions are squished, 10-0, by the Warriors, which enables the Pacifics to clinch the FL West for the first time, winning 5-1 over the Wolves.
October 4 – Thunder and Bayhawks battle into the 13th inning, where it is Yohann Bodin, who hits a solo homer in his 11th major league at bat, to decide the game in favor of the Thunder.
October 5 – The Federal League has a triple crown winner again! David Burke paced his Pacifics with a 25-7 season, with a 2.61 ERA and 183 K’s. Jeremiah Carrell (CIN, .351) and Irwin Webster (CHA, .347) win the batting titles.

Logan Evans finished 4th in ERA in the Continental League, 5th overall. He led the majors in HR/9 (0.13). Christopher Powell was 4th overall in BB/9 (2.19), and Gary Simmons was 5th overall in K/9 (6.30), but of course he also won the Rusty Fork for losing 21 games – most in baseball. Among relievers Wally Gaston was 3rd in both OAVG and H/9.

What honors did my batters rack up? Ken Clark led the CL with 32 SB. And Mark Dawson was t-1st in extra base hits (66), 3rd in doubles (50), and 8th in total bases (266). He played 93 of 160 games with the Buffaloes, but his averages were nearly identical between teams. Daniel Hall and Ralph Nixon might have gotten on some boards, had they stayed healthy.

Of course, next season, everything will get better. As always.

Next: playoffs. Even with Raccoons participation! Jack Pennington made the playoffs with the Buffaloes, going 7-3 with a 2.68 ERA with them. Of course I will not root for that greedy - ...