[Westheim]

Raccoons (59-79) @ Crusaders (63-73) – September 6-8, 1999

Two pitching-inept teams that were also scoring almost identical (sub average) runs. They had a -60 run differential, ours was -69. Almost a wash. Just like both teams had been washed away in this CL North.

Projected matchups:
Scott Wade (4-7, 2.99 ERA) vs. Ramiro Gonzalez (11-13, 4.86 ERA)
Kisho Saito (5-13, 4.06 ERA) vs. Hector Lara (8-15, 5.14 ERA)
Randy Farley (10-12, 3.01 ERA) vs. Cipriano Miranda (3-4, 4.11 ERA)

Game 1
POR: SS Guerin – 2B Ingall – CF Reece – 1B C. Gonzalez – LF Buell – RF Brady – 3B Crowe – C Fifield – P Wade
NYC: SS Rigg – 2B Nielsen – LF A. Johnson – CF Latham – 3B Rush – RF A. Ramirez – 1B J. Ramirez – C Clemente – P R. Gonzalez

Scotty really didn’t have a good day. While six innings, three runs came out to a so called quality start, it wasn’t quality. The Crusaders just failed to sink him, leaving two on in the second, and the bags packed in the third. Mike Crowe’s 3-run bomb in the fourth kept Wade in the running longer than he deserved in this game. Ramiro Gonzalez in contrast struck out a full dozen Coons, but didn’t get past the seventh either in a 3-3 game. Reliever Jose Hernandez walked the bags full in the top 8th, but the Coons didn’t score. When Theodore Mullins grounded past Guerin in the bottom 9th to plate pinch-runner Jorge Gonzales with two out, it not only handed Dan Nordahl his first career loss, it also ended an 0-4 Neil Reece’s 14-game hitting streak. 4-3 Crusaders. Guerin 2-4, BB;

Game 2
POR: SS Guerin – 2B Ingall – CF Reece – 3B C. Gonzalez – 1B Martin – C Mata – LF Buell – RF Brady – P Saito
NYC: SS Rigg – C Clemente – RF J. Gonzales – LF A. Johnson – 3B Rush – 1B T. Mullins – 2B J. Ramirez – CF Diéguez – P Miranda

Theodore Mullins was a .368 batter with four homers against Saito, and he hit a fifth one in this game, ramping the score to 2-0 Crusaders in the bottom 2nd. Saito was nowhere near his mojo, Ingall and Reece failed to plate anybody with the bags full in the third, as this ship was not only sailing, but also sinking. Antonio Clemente knocked out Saito with a 3-run homer in the fourth, which boosted the score to 6-0, and there was no hope for this collection of losers. Through seven, they trailed 7-1, when all of a sudden Cesar Gonzalez launched a 3-run home run off Miranda in the top 8th. The Coons put more runners on, squeezed two over the plate, but finally Ingall grounded out to leave a pair on, and Dane Sanders salvaged the game for the Crusaders in the ninth. 7-6 Crusaders. Guerin 2-4, BB, 2 RBI; Ingall 2-5, 2B; Mata 2-4, 2 2B; Buell 2-4; Brady 3-4, 2B, RBI;

Arff.

Game 3
POR: SS Guerin – LF Buell – CF Reece – 1B C. Gonzalez – C Mata – RF Brady – 3B Crowe – 2B Caddock – P Farley
NYC: RF J. Gonzales – 2B Nielsen – LF A. Johnson – 1B Berry – 3B Rush – CF A. Ramirez – SS J. Ramirez – C Clemente – P H. Lara

… and again the Crusaders struck first, and early, making the most out of a passed ball on Mata to plate an unearned run in the first inning against Randyboy. However this time, Clyde Brady re-tied the score with a solo shot, and the Coons broke through and overwhelmed Hector Lara in the fourth inning. Crowe drove in the go-ahead run, we loaded the bags, and then it was Farley with a bloop single to extend the lead. Guerin drove in two, and we took a 6-1 lead in the top fourth. Farley silenced the Crusaders for a long time, although they would crowd him in the eighth when they loaded the bases. Farley however got Jeffrey Nielsen to ground out to end the inning and the 5-run lead remained in place. Neil Reece ended an 0-11 spell in this series with a bloop RBI single with the bags full and two out in the top 9th, leading to Gonzalez emptying the bases with a double, and we got another run to complete a rout. Never mind our own bullpen meltdown with two runs on Carlton in the bottom 9th. 11-3 Raccoons. Guerin 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Gonzalez 2-5, 2 2B, 3 RBI; Brady 3-5, HR, RBI; Farley 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (11-12) and 1-3, RBI;

After this series, we added reliever Manuel Martinez off his rehab assignment in St. Pete. Meanwhile, Esteban Flores cleared waivers and was reassigned to AAA.

Also, while Cesar Gonzalez has clobbered a stray homer in this series, the Continental League has finally dodged him in the power race. While 16 and then 17 homers were long enough for a share of the lead, by now Indy’s David Lopez has moved away with 23 dingers. Gonzalez has still a share for second place with 18 HR.

Raccoons (60-81) vs. Canadiens (63-76) – September 10-12, 1999

Our last meeting with the Elks this season, and their team still held an 8-7 advantage over us in the season head-to-head. Their run differential was merely -26, suggesting that they were quite a bit unlucky throughout the year, contrasting with the Raccoons, who were quite a bit **** all season long.

Projected matchups:
Paco Martinez (5-2, 3.62 ERA) vs. Jose Marquez (13-14, 3.76 ERA)
Ralph Ford (1-1, 5.25 ERA) vs. George Norris (0-0)
Scott Wade (4-7, 3.09 ERA) vs. Jose Dominguez (8-14, 5.37 ERA)

Game 1
VAN: 3B Shaw – RF Hudson – 1B Valenzuela – 2B B. Butler – CF Ledesma – LF P. Taylor – C Lozano – SS Pyatt – P J. Marquez
POR: SS Guerin – 2B Ingall – CF Reece – 1B Gonzalez – LF Buell – C Mata – 3B Crowe – RF Brady – P P. Martinez

Both teams sparkled with ineptness in a game that zipped by rather quickly because nobody was getting on base. Well, until Lance Hudson possibly broke his leg chugging after an Ingall pop in shallow right in the fourth inning at least. The Coons actually managed to get into scoring position when Guerin stole his 22nd bag in the bottom 6th, and while Ingall struck out, Reece lined into left to plate Guerin. 1-0 Coons, top 8th, leadoff double by Pedro Lozano. Pyatt’s groundout held him there, before Marquez tried to bunt him over. Martinez however pounced on the bunt and tossed it to third to nab Lozano, and the park was excited all of a sudden. For the ninth, Martinez was about to face three right-handers in Henry Givens, Valenzuela, and Butler. Do you leave him in there on a 4-hitter or do you turn to Daniel Miller? No. No, we called for Miller, and he struck out a pair in a 1-2-3 ninth. 1-0 Coons. Reece 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI; P. Martinez 8.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, W (6-2);

Daniel Miller and Scott Wade now tie for the team lead in saves with 13. I won’t go into detail how that ranks in the league as a whole, though.

Suspiciously, David Brewer was placed on waivers by the Condors. He’s in the penultimate year of the $9M contract he signed with the Coons before the 1995 season, and he only has a .716 OPS this year.

Game 2
VAN: RF J. Durán – C J. Lopez – 1B Valenzuela – 2B B. Butler – CF Ledesma – LF P. Taylor – 3B Shaw – SS Sutton – P Norris
POR: SS Guerin – RF Brady – CF Reece – 3B Gonzalez – 2B Ingall – 1B Martin – C Mata – LF Buell – P Ford

The starters of the middle game had a grand total of 12 innings of big league experience, all brought in by Ralph Ford. The young Coon was dominant in the first four innings and took a 1-0 lead, before Albert Martin’s defense became a concern in the fifth. Martin made an error on a slow grounder, and then couldn’t stop a Jorge Durán grounder from becoming a 2-out, 2-run single, although it rolled right past him. The runs were unearned. The backswing came promptly, however. Ford led off the bottom 5th with his first career single, before Guerin walked. Brady doubled Ford home to tie the game, and Reece walked as well. Bags full, no outs in a tied game. The Coons flunked out here, and only scored one more run on a Gonzalez sac fly. The Coons edged out two more runs while Ford went seven innings and struck out nine! Chubby Martinez and Daniel Miller finished out the game without the Elks getting another runner on. 5-2 Coons. Brady 3-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Ford 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K, W (2-1) and 1-3, RBI;

Game 3
VAN: SS Simon – LF J. Durán – CF Ledesma – 1B I. Gutierrez – 2B B. Butler – C J. Lopez – RF J. Maldonado – 3B Sutton – P Dominguez
POR: SS Guerin – RF Brady – CF Reece – 3B Gonzalez – 2B Ingall – 1B Martin – LF Newton – C Fifield – P Wade

Whenever Scott Wade strikes out the first two batter he sees, trouble is right ahead. Jorge Ledesma took him deep to give the Elks a 1-0 lead in the top 1st. The park was eager for a sweep of the Elks, and the first step was made in the bottom 2nd when Albert Martin launched his first career homer to tie the game at one. The Coons had a chance in the third, but Gonzalez hit straight into an inning-ending double play, and Wade was run over by a bus in the fourth, putting four Canadiens on before retiring anybody. The Elks scored thrice, and Dominguez refused to allow them to look back – initially. Once Fifield took him deep in the bottom 7th, Dominguez was removed, and in the bottom 8th the Elks relief corps loaded the bags with walks to Brady, Reece, and Gonzalez – the latter representing the go-ahead run – and no outs! Ingall blooped a single into shallow center to score the first run in the eighth, but then again the parade began to get lost. Juan Bello struck out Martin, and Newton merely popped to right, but at least sufficiently deep to score Reece and tie the game. The go-ahead run however was left on. Chubby Martinez was almost defeated, but struck out Arthur Simon to end the top 9th with the go-ahead run on third base. Bottom 9th, chance for a walkoff, Granados hit for Martinez, but grounded out. Guerin singled, and Brady was plunked, moving Guerin to second for Reece. With the quick Guerin on second and Reece to bat with one out, we had a pretty decent scoring chance. Reece swung at the 1-0, a thundering sound sent everybody to their feet, and while Reece himself moved almost in slo-mo, the ball certainly did not. WALKOFF HOME RUN!!!!!! 8-5 Raccoons!!! Brady 2-2, 2 BB; Reece 1-3, 2 BB, HR, 3 RBI;

REEEEEEECE!!! I love him. He must never go away. I would not survive that. I toppled through losing Daniel Hall, and Vern Kinnear, and Royce Green – but I will never survive it when Neil Reece refuses to resign after next season.

On a different note, our AAA team leads their division by five with six to play. It would be the first time in a while one of our minor league outfits would be in the playoffs.

Raccoons (63-81) @ Titans (88-55) – September 14-16, 1999

Oh no, those Titans again. They are leading the division by 8 1/2 with less than 20 to play, so they look like a lock for the playoffs right now. I don’t consider the Coons much of a stepping stone to their ambitions right now…

Projected matchups:
Kisho Saito (5-14, 4.27 ERA) vs. Jesus Bautista (17-9, 3.17 ERA)
Randy Farley (11-12, 2.88 ERA) vs. Sergio Gonzalez (7-8, 3.99 ERA)
Paco Martinez (6-2, 3.19 ERA) vs. Bryce Hildred (3-3, 4.11 ERA)

We are facing three right-handers, so more playing time for Albert Martin, while I am not very fond of playing Stephen Buell at all anymore…

Game 1
POR: SS Guerin – RF Brady – CF Reece – 3B C. Gonzalez – 2B Ingall – 1B Martin – C Mata – LF Parker – P Saito
BOS: 1B G. Douglas – 3B Nakayama – 2B D. Silva – LF G. Munoz – CF Baker – RF Elizondo – C F. Diéguez – SS H. Henry – P Bautista

The Coons stunned the home crowd by plating three runs in the first inning on an Ingall single and a 2-run single by Mata. Martin struck out in between, and struck out again with the bags full and two down in the second inning. The Coons plated a fourth run regardless, but Saito was again not up to the task and was whacked pretty well. The Titans plated two in the bottom 3rd, cutting the gap in half, and the Raccoons were awfully silent at the plate. The defense held Saito in the game through six. In the top 7th of the 4-2 game, the Coons again loaded the bags, with one out, for Ingall. He grounded out, but a run scored, 5-2. Martin, 0-3 with 3 K, was hit for by Granados, while the Titans replaced Bautista with right-hander Nobuyoshi Matsui. Granados’ double plated two runs, and the lead was ramped to 7-2. Saito was removed after walking Mike Powys in the bottom 7th, and Tamburrino made it worse. Donis then walked David Brewer, whom the Titans had claimed off waivers from the Condors, to load the bags and Daniel Silva, the coonskinner of Boston, was next, but Donis came through and struck him out. The bottom came out of the Titans bullpen in the ninth, and the Coons completed a rout in support of a struggling Kisho Saito: 11-2 Coons!! Brady 3-5, BB, 2 RBI; Reece 3-4, 2 BB, 2 RBI; Granados (PH) 1-1, 2B, 2 RBI; Crowe 2-2, 2B; Donis 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

Five wins in a row for the Critters!! Also Saito has now matched his record from last year (6-14), and is a dozen short of 250. He has about three more starts this year. If he can win two more, that would make it ten next year, which sounds doable, if we can actually assemble a decent team.

Well, yeah. A lot of “if” clauses in there.

Game 2
POR: SS Guerin – RF Brady – CF Reece – 1B C. Gonzalez – 2B Ingall – LF Parker – C Mata – 3B Caddock – P Farley
BOS: SS D. Silva – 2B Brewer – LF Thomas – RF G. Munoz – C L. Lopez – CF Elizondo – 1B Nakayama – 3B H. Henry – P S. Gonzalez

Farley pitched a control game. While getting two early runs from his team, Farley held the Titans largely off the bags and allowed only one hit through six innings. The Coons added another run in the sixth, and one more in the seventh, before Farley ran into a wall in the bottom 7th, where Haruki Nakayama’s 2-run triple brought him onto the verge of losing. He barely made it through with a 4-3 lead still in place, but the glamour from the start was gone. He was hit for in the eighth, where PH Albert Martin’s leadoff single was followed by two more runners and Reece drove home a pair with the bags full. But that was enough. Chubby and Collins did the eighth, and Miller saved another one to run our streak to six. 6-3 Raccoons. Guerin 2-5; Brady 2-4, BB; Reece 4-5, 2 RBI; Ingall 2-5, 2B, RBI; Mata 2-5, 2B; Martin (PH) 1-1; Farley 7.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, W (12-12) and 1-3;

How a dominant game can almost blow up in no time… but Farley now has a dozen wins. Didn’t think, honestly, we’d get anybody there this season.

In the meantime we also killed off Glenn Douglas’ hot streak at 21 games.

Game 3
POR: SS Guerin – RF Brady – CF Reece – 1B C. Gonzalez – 2B Ingall – LF Parker – C Mata – 3B Crowe – P P. Martinez
BOS: CF Alonso – 3B Nakayama – 2B D. Silva – RF Greenman – C L. Lopez – 1B G. Douglas – LF Elizondo – SS Powys – P Hildred

The game was tight through five with neither pitcher giving up a lot. To be precise, each gave up a solo home run, as Neil Reece and Luis Lopez took care of a 1-1 score. In the top 6th then, Hildred kinda lost his game. He had struck out five Furballs early on, but then loaded the bags with a walk to Parker with two down. Mata lined to left, and the ball went JUST past a launching Vicente Elizondo and went to the wall for a 2-run double. After an intentional walk to Crowe, Paco Martinez sent a bloop to shallow left in a full count that nobody got to and another two runs scored as Elizondo was slow to get the ball back to the infield. When reliever Haden Helton was taken deep by Cesar Gonzalez for two in the seventh, it all but completed the creaming of the playoff-aspiring Titans on their own field. The Titans never again raised a bat against a flashy Paco Martinez, who was overpowering them both on the mound and even at the plate. 7-1 Coons! Gonzalez 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; P. Martinez 9.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, W (7-2) and 4-4, 2B, 2 RBI;

I have to admit, that this sweep came totally unexpected and the news of it are still trying to signal my brains to be excited about it. Brains refuse to believe…! Neither can the Titans believe what hit them… The Loggers suddenly are only five behind with 2 1/2 weeks to play.

Raccoons (66-81) @ Bayhawks (90-56) – September 17-19, 1999

Having secured a .500 record for the week, we weren’t even too scared about playing San Fran on the weekend. They were trying to play down the string, leading their division by eight, so they probably wouldn’t tear out legs to beat us at all cost (although homefield advantage was still hotly contested by all divisions except the FL East). This will still not have us score runs automatically. The Bayhawks are allowing roughly 3.25 R/G, so here’s work for the offensive department.

Projected matchups:
Ralph Ford (2-1, 3.32 ERA) vs. Tony Hamlyn (19-8, 2.11 ERA)
Scott Wade (4-7, 3.42 ERA) vs. Jorge Chapa (10-9, 2.29 ERA)
Kisho Saito (6-14, 4.21 ERA) vs. Ricardo Sanchez (14-8, 2.30 ERA)

Hey look, for once Kisho gets the easy guy! (nervous, pitiful laughter) Sanchez is also the only righty in the group.

Game 1
POR: 2B Ingall – RF Brady – CF Reece – 1B Gonzalez – 3B Crowe – C Mata – LF Taramillo – SS Caddock – P Ford
SFB: LF Walls – 3B M. Munoz jr. – RF Black – CF A. Marquez – C G. Ortíz – SS J. Martinez – 1B H. Ramirez – 2B Navarro – P Hamlyn

The Furballs scored their offensive allotment in the first inning on a 2-run homer by Neil Reece, his 15th of the season. That was also Reece’s only action in the game, since he left after the first inning with a bruised wrist. By the time Neil Reece left the trainer’s room, where he had gotten his wrist braced, he met Ralph Ford coming from an early shower. While Reece had been taken care of, the Bayhawks had conducted a massacre on the field, and had scored seven runs on Ford, Collins, and Chubby Martinez, and Tony Hamlyn reached double digit strikeouts in the sixth inning. He would strike out a dozen in total, while pitching 7.2 innings. The Raccoons were never even close to getting back into the game. 7-3 Bayhawks. Ingall 2-5; Fifield (PH) 1-1; Reece 1-1, HR, 2 RBI; Fairchild 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Yeah. Yeah, that was some pretty cold water we got doused with here. On the 137th anniversary of the Battle at Antietam, the Coons dugout looked like the sunken lane once the dust settled.

Neil Reece looks like he’s going to be out of action for another week now – just as he was getting on a hot streak. On the plus side, that should take away enough at-bats so he can’t plunge below .300 by season’s end anymore, as the home run raised his average to .311, and with the way Guerin is struggling by now, there’s a good chance that Reece will even claim the team batting title. Guerin is only three points ahead and is now losing a point every day…

Game 2
POR: SS Guerin – RF Brady – 2B Ingall – 3B Gonzalez – CF Newton – C Mata – 1B Martin – LF Buell – P Wade
SFB: 3B M. Munoz jr. – 2B H. Ramirez – 1B D. Carroll – RF W. Jackson – CF A. Marquez – C G. Ortíz – LF D. Woods – SS J. Martinez – P Chapa

The middle game was all about pitching – and the pitchers really meant it. Both starters went eight innings, and between them surrendered a total of seven hits and struck out 15 and walk only one apiece. In this light, scoring would be low, and a single run would potentially be enough. Thus, when in a scoreless contest Stephen Buell was mocked by a Jorge Chapa liner to left and let it escape for a leadoff triple, it was pretty obvious that Wade was likely doomed. While he struck out Manny Munoz jr., Hector Ramirez drove Chapa home, and that was already the game. Ryosei Kato relieved Chapa in the ninth, but the Raccoons just failed. 1-0 Bayhawks. Ingall 2-4; Wade 8.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, L (4-8);

Meh. Mellow. We are already lacking Neil Reece left and right.

And center.

Game 3
POR: SS Guerin – RF Brady – 2B Ingall – 3B Gonzalez – 1B Martin – C Mata – LF Parker – CF Taramillo – P Saito
SFB: LF Walls – 3B M. Munoz jr. – 1B D. Carroll – RF Black – CF A. Marquez – C G. Ortíz – SS J. Martinez – 2B J. Gomez – P R. Sanchez

Saito wasn’t going to get far, that was evident from the start. Clyde Brady had to stretch quite a bit in right to keep the Bayhawks off the board in the first two innings, but Saito was just bowled over in the third, in which the Bayhawks plated five runs (three earned) to complete a series sweep by force. They led 5-1, countered by Jesus Taramillo’s first career dinger, and they wouldn’t be denied, would they? While they didn’t add to their lead, Sanchez didn’t allow anybody on base until the sixth, when Guerin singled but got himself thrown out stealing then. In the seventh however, the Raccoons loaded them up, bringing Mata up to the plate as the tying run. The Bayhawks pulled Sanchez for Jose Matos, who walked Mata, 5-2. We didn’t get past a Parker sac fly, though. But the eighth inning came, and Granados led off with a pinch-hit double. Johnny Smith replaced Matos, walked Guerin, and the tying runs were on with nobody out. Smith recovered with strikeouts to Brady, Ingall, a walk to Gonzalez, and another K to Martin. The Bayhawks saw the threat and made sure to crush Carlton and Nordahl in the bottom 8th. 8-4 Bayhawks. Newton (PH) 1-1, 2B; Granados (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI; Lagarde 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

In other news

September 7 – Season over for 28-year old MIL OF/1B Jerry Fletcher (.336, 4 HR, 54 RBI), who has suffered a strain abdominal muscle in a game against the Indians.
September 8 – OCT Aaron Anderson (15-10, 2.90 ERA) 2-hits the Falcons in a 5-0 shutout.
September 10 – CIN 1B Larry Maldrum (.279, 7 HR, 64 RBI) has hit in 20 straight games with a triple in the Cyclones’ 8-2 win over the Blue Sox.
September 12 – While BOS 1B Glenn Douglas (.322, 19 HR, 91 RBI) brings his own hitting streak to 20 games with a hit in the Titans’ 3-2 loss to the Indians, Larry Maldrum’s is over as he goes hitless in a 6-5 loss of the Cyclones to the Blue Sox. Maldrum had been on 21 games.
September 14 – And another hitting streak, as MIL RF/LF Cristo Ramirez (.339, 3 HR, 82 RBI) falls a double short of a cycle in a 13-inning marathon, 7-4 win over the Canadiens, in which he also hits the game-winning 3-run dinger, and now has hit in 20 straight games.
September 19 – The Falcons take care of Cristo Ramirez and the Loggers, holding Ramirez dry in four AB’s and taking the game, 6-5. Ramirez had hit in 23 straight games.

Complaints and stuff

This one came out of left- … ah, right field: Clyde Brady was the CL Player of the Week, batting .524 (11-21) with 1 HR and 4 RBI in the week we faced the Crusaders and Canadiens.

Ah right, Canadiens. We came from behind to take the season series against them, 10-8, with the sweep. This caps off our encounters for the decade. Overall the Raccoons won the season series eight times, every year except 1993 (strange enough) and 1998; we went 103-77 against them in the 90s, which contrasts nicely with our 80s against them, but I don’t even want to talk about the almost exact opposite result…

In a twist of irony, Neil Reece was named the Player of the Week for the second week in this update, despite limping off the field quite early. He was certainly hot: .588 (10-17), 3 HR, 10 RBI.

And we are not in last place anymore. Well, still two weeks to play. They can still lose 96. To be fair, for a long time they looked like they would lose 110…

An early word about the off season that will soon engulf us. It should be rather quiet for the Raccoons. I don’t expect us to be able to spend any money. We have three free agents: Granados, Juan Martinez, and Lagarde. Don’t expect any of those three back. With Cesar Gonzalez, Concie Guerin, and Jose Rivera expected to get big raises in arbitration, our budget is already full for next season, unless we get a raise. And … well … we ain’t gonna get one. We can’t take on any salary, although we need an impact bat. Both corner outfield positions are rather weakly manned. Buell is a disappointment. Newton has never been any good. Brady and Parker aren’t breaking out. Maybe something can be arranged in a trade, but I don’t see us getting any better in the offseason. Here’s to more losing! (toasts)

(sobs)