[Westheim]

Raccoons (26-23) @ Knights (27-21) – May 31-June 2, 2021

The Knights were second in the South, one game off the pace, which was something the Raccoons would like to get back to for the moment. The thing holding Atlanta back at the moment was probably their rotation, which was worse than average by ERA, sitting in eighth place in the league. Their pen was in the top 3, and offensively they were scoring the fifth-most runs despite a meager .241 team batting average that they masked professionally by drawing tons of walks. Despite being fourth from the bottom in average, they were fourth from the top in on-base percentage. Power was not a major factor in their game; they were merely average in terms of home runs, and nobody on their team had more than six. The Knights had taken two of three games from the Raccoons when the teams first met in April.

Projected matchups:
Hector Santos (4-3, 4.98 ERA) vs. R.J. Lloyd (3-2, 3.49 ERA)
Tadasu Abe (1-2, 5.17 ERA) vs. Jonathan Ryan (1-4, 4.98 ERA)
Michael Foreman (5-2, 1.87 ERA) vs. Luis Flores (7-2, 2.92 ERA)

We will draw the Knights’ only left-hander in Flores; they still had 1B Jeremy DeFabio on the DL with a knee injury suffered last season; he had batted .277 with only three home runs in 97 games in ’20. The Coons’ first baseman, Matt Hamilton was also on an iffy knee as the week began and would not be in the lineup for the Monday opener.

Hugo Mendoza started the week with an active 14-game hitting streak.

Game 1
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – 3B Nunley – 1B Mendoza – RF Jackson – SS McKnight – C Margolis – CF Metts – P Santos
ATL: LF M. Reyes – RF Mims – C Luna – 1B Herlihy – SS T. Jimenez – 3B Jam. Wilson – 2B Hibbard – CF Walrath – P Lloyd

The Coons drew two walks in the top of the first without using them for anything before all their plans went to **** in the bottom of the inning. Marty Reyes bopped Santos for a leadoff jack to left, and Santos logged only two outs before leaving the game with a leg cramp or some other crap. (rings a tiny bell of doom) Bullpen day…!! The game was basically over by the time Devin Hibbard tagged Seung-mo Chun for a 3-spot in the bottom of the second inning, that one flying out of right center and with nobody out after already hard line drive hits by Tony Jimenez and Jamie Wilson. Lloyd walked four in the first four innings, but didn’t allow a hit until Margolis beat the range of Jeffrey Walrath for a leadoff double to the deeper centerfield regions in the fifth inning. Metts and Stevenson brought him around with productive outs to score, but Jason Kaiser gave the run back an inning later, walking Jimenez and Wilson to start the bottom 6th and only getting out with two grounders to the right side that scored Jimenez and a pop by Lloyd over the infield.

For all the misery, the Raccoons were pretty darn close to a comeback in the seventh inning for no good reason at all. Margolis led off that inning with a bomb, which wasn’t enough to chase Lloyd, who then walked Metts and allowed a single to right to Stevenson. Metts went to third on the base knock, Kyle Mims’ throw to third was not remotely close to Jamie Wilson, and Metts came home to score on the error. Stevenson went to second, and with one out the tying run was at the plate in Cookie (who earlier in the game had managed to get caught stealing once again). The Knights went to that top 3 pen, bringing in right-hander Luis Calderon with his flat-7 ERA, which seemed like an odd choice at the time. But wouldn’t you know it… Cookie flew out to center, and Yoshi Nomura still had to leave the infield in his fourth attempt of the day and grounded out to Hibbard. And with the way the Coons kept teasing everybody, you’d think they’d be up for something. Manobu Sugano loaded the bases in the bottom 7th on two singles and a hit Devin Hibbard, but somehow escaped that jam unharmed before Nunley doubled to start the eighth, bringing up Mendoza – who already had a sixth-inning single to his credit – as the tying run. NOW the Knights got a lefty, sending Danny Martin (0.95 ERA) into the matchup. He got the K … and then was removed ahead of Petracek (who was batting fifth now as a result of several double switches during the game) and McKnight. Another odd choice for sure. Righty Eduardo Valdez’ first pitch was rammed into the leftfield corner by Petracek for an RBI triple, and as the Knights’ pen rapidly emptied Ronnie McKnight tied the game with a double off Joey Hopkins. McKnight was left on, however, leaving the score even at five, and the Coons were in no condition to play an extra-inning affair.

Top 9th, still even, Stevenson on first after a leadoff single off Harry Merwin. The Coons called hit-and-run as Cookie grounded out to short, moving Stevenson to second. Yoshi was no more in the #2 hole (double switches galore…!) with Sugano having to be hit for. Olivares was the only healthy option on the bench, but Hamilton came out to bat instead. The Knights, though, wouldn’t let him. He was sent straight to first base as they tried to pick two outs from Matt Nunley hitting one to a middle infielder – which he did on Merwin’s first pitch. Hibbard, to Jimenez, to Wilson – inning over. A quick outing by Brett Lillis in the bottom 9th sent the game into overtime – the raw joy that washed over me was hard to put into words. Merwin was back for the 10th, allowing Mendoza to double up the leftfield line to begin proceedings. Petracek walked, but then McKnight flew out easily to center and Margolis grounded out to Edwin Patino on third base. Metts was the last hope here … and came through! Metts hit an 0-1 into shallow center, uncatchable, and both runs scored on the single! Lillis retired the side in order for a second inning to pick this game from the depths of hell and into the win column. 7-5 Furballs!? Mendoza 2-4, BB, 2B; Petracek 1-1, BB, 3B, RBI; Margolis 2-5, 2B, RBI; Stevenson 2-3, RBI; Lillis 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, W (1-4);

First extra-inning win of the season. Yaay. Also, franchise regular season win #3,700 for Brett Lillis.

Now, damage control. Hector Santos has a tweaked hamstring according to the Druid. Given that we gain not only a day but also a pushback option thanks to an off day on Thursday, he should not miss a start, neither should he be required to hit the DL. If **** hits the fan – which it always does over here – he can always be pushed back from his next regular turn on Sunday to the beginning of next week.

That doesn’t help the bullpen, which lies on the ground once more, and we bring up a somehow completely rancid former semi-ace in the middle game. It’s pretty much do-whatever for Abe, who will probably toss 100 pitches any which way he wants because I can’t remove him in the third inning even if I wanted to…

Cookie is 0-for-8 in terms of stealing bases now. After starting 6-for-8 for the season, he’s now 6-for-16. Lock the showers.

Game 2
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – 3B Nunley – C Margolis – SS McKnight – CF Stevenson – P Abe
ATL: LF M. Reyes – 2B Hibbard – C Luna – 1B Herlihy – SS T. Jimenez – 3B Jam. Wilson – RF Knowling – CF Walrath – P Ryan

Mendoza extended his hitting streak early on Tuesday, following up a Yoshi single to right with a booming 2-run homer outta rightfield, his 11th of the season. Waiting for Abe to mess up didn’t take long, either. Trent Herlihy socked a leadoff homer in the bottom 2nd to cut the lead in half, and in the bottom of the third the Knights got their leadoff man Walrath on with a walk. Ryan bunted the tying run to second base, and Abe balked him to third base, which was agonizing, but didn’t matter, since he would walk the bases full right afterwards anyway, Reyes on five, and Hibbard on four pitches. After having some sense yelled into him by the manager and pitching coach during a mound conference, during which Yoshi Nomura, who’d seen some **** in his career already, having been around for all of 2005 for example, hid his entire face behind his glove, being unable to watch at all, a sentiment I shared with him. Ruben Luna hacked himself out after that, and Herlihy’s fly to right center was contained by Mendoza, the Knights stranding a full set of runners after being separated from a substantial lead only by a thin sheet of paper.

It took only one more inning for Abe to get torn in half. Jimenez led off the fourth with a single, and Abe walked Wilson right away. Zach Knowling grounded to Yoshi, but the Coons only got one, and Jeffrey Walrath flipped the score to 4-2 Knights with a mighty 3-run shot that went out of right center, breaking a few speed limits on its way out of the county. Stevenson’s RBI double in the top of the fifth, plating Margolis and the Coons’ first hit since the Mendoza bomb, did little to patch over the Critters’ many sores, the biggest of which allowed a leadoff double to Hibbard in the bottom 5th, presenting the Knights with a runner that would ultimately score on a wild pitch.

Abe threw 98 pitches in six innings and was headed for a well-deserved loss when his spot approached with two outs in the top 7th and the tying runs aboard; Margolis had singled and Ryan lost Stevenson to a 4-pitch walk to present the Coons with the opportunity. Eddie Jackson was sent to bat, flipped a single to right to load the bases, only for Cookie to pop out to dig an increasingly deeper hole for himself. But maybe Jeff Boynton was worse. He came on in relief in the bottom 7th and conceded a leadoff single to Jonathan Ryan (…), which was bad, but not as bad as his TWO attempts to kill off that lead runner on the subsequent poor grounders by Reyes and pinch-hitter Mike Rivera. The Coons could have had two outs with a man on third, but instead Boynton failed to retire anybody and the bases were loaded with no outs. This was a mess that was Sugano’s to inherit while Boynton would be subject to a fatal beating in the tunnel to the clubhouse. Two runs would score on Luna’s RBI single and a sac fly by PH Edwin Patino.

Somehow, the Coons would get the tying run to the plate in the ninth inning, which they entered trailing by four. It was not their merit. Margolis singled off Danny Martin, who lost Ezequiel Olivares to a 2-out walk, which put the game in save range for Harry Merwin, who got a perfectly good grounder to second from an already 0-for-4 Cookie Carmona. Jimenez threw the ball away though, and a run scored on the 2-base error. Two in scoring position, two outs for Yoshi, who was said tying run and tried to bring Mendoza to the plate once more. Merwin, though, had none of that, and Yoshi struck out when he missed a breaking ball at 1-2. 7-4 Knights. Margolis 2-3, BB; Jackson (PH) 1-1;

Abe’s ERA keeps going skywards, up .31 runs today to 5.48. At some point, I fear, shooting him won’t be enough anymore…

Game 3
POR: 2B Nomura – RF Jackson – LF Mendoza – C Margolis – 1B Hamilton – SS McKnight – CF Stevenson – 3B Zuhlke – P Foreman
ATL: LF M. Reyes – RF Mims – C Luna – 1B Herlihy – SS T. Jimenez – 3B Jam. Wilson – 2B Hibbard – CF Walrath – P L. Flores

The Knights struck first in the rubber game, taking a 1-0 lead in the second inning on doubles by Jimenez to left and Hibbard, with two outs, to center. The Coons felt threatened enough to walk Walrath intentionally so Foreman could get Flores out – which he did with a K. We arrived in a similar situation in the bottom 4th, where Hibbard’s 2-out single to center was the very next base hit in the game after his double the previous go-around. This came with Jimenez on base after being hit by a pitch, and a wild pitch by Foreman moved the runners into scoring position afterwards. Alright, walk Walrath already! This time, Flores ran a full count before lining a rocket into leftfield that almost cost Mendoza an arm and a leg as he made a flying catch – but the out was made, three Knights were stranded, and Mendoza lived. The Coons meanwhile could not get to Flores at all; when Stevenson hit a 1-out single in the fifth it was only their second base hit in the game, and was right away followed by Zuhlke’s grounder to short to end the inning on a two-for-one. They had two men on in the top of the sixth after a 2-out double by Jackson and Mendoza being half-heartedly walked, but Margolis struck out. The Knights in turn tore up Foreman in the bottom 6th with three consecutive extra-base hits. Jamie Wilson hit a 2-out home run before Hibbard and Walrath both hit doubles. The Coons had one more hope-igniting single by Matt Nunley in the eighth, one more soul-murdering double play hit into, by Yoshi, also in the eighth, and then Jeff Boynton made another mind-boggling appearance, conceding a single in the bottom 8th before walking three straight batters with two outs. Brett Lillis had to come into a 4-0 loss in progress to get a grounder from Kyle Mims to end the inning. 4-0 Knights. Nunley (PH) 1-1;

Mendoza’s hitting streak ended, and so did the time of innocence for the Raccoons, who dropped to 4 1/2 games out with this loss and had to start making moves, and sometimes making moves starts with chopping off some heads…

Raccoons (27-25) @ Titans (30-24) – June 4-6, 2021

The Titans weren’t scoring many runs, sitting at ninth with 207 runs (which was less than four per game), with a bottom three batting average. Oh well, that hadn’t stopped the Knights from stomping on Coons pitching, either. Their starters ranked in the top 3 with a 3.46 ERA, and their bullpen was also decent. They had somehow still allowed 213 runs, which actually gave them a -6 run differential. The Coons’ was still +66, so maybe that’s somehow all lies, and nothing matters, and whatever. The Raccoons led the season series, 4-2.

Projected matchups:
Travis Garrett (4-3, 4.71 ERA) vs. Jose Fuentes (2-5, 4.15 ERA)
Jonathan Toner (7-1, 3.10 ERA) vs. John Key (5-2, 5.23 ERA)
Hector Santos (4-3, 5.08 ERA) vs. Chris Klein (4-4, 2.80 ERA)

Three right-handers from the Titans, who have a few guy on the disabled list in Chris Almanza (done for 2021) and Josh Baker. Also, their shortstop Mike Kane was playing through hamstring woes. Santos’ hamstring looked like it would be good enough for another please-kill-me start on Sunday.

Game 1
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – 3B Nunley – C Margolis – SS McKnight – CF Stevenson – P Garrett
BOS: RF W. Ramos – C McPherson – 3B A. Esquivel – CF Reichardt – 1B S. Murphy – 2B M. Green – LF Cesta – SS Janes – P J. Fuentes

Cookie led off with a single, which was swiftly followed by Yoshi hitting into a double play. The Titans came much closer to scoring in the bottom 1st, with Garrett walking Willie Ramos, whom the Titans had picked up during the week in a minor deal with the Bayhawks. Ramos swiped second and was sent around on Antonio Esquivel’s single to right, only to be thrown out at home plate by Mendoza. The first run would actually be the Coons’ after McKnight singled to lead off the top of the third. He moved up on Stevenson’s groundout, then scored when Travis Garrett singled up the middle. Cookie then hit to Mike Green for a double play, and nothing was true anymore with this team…

Okay, some things remained true. Like Travis Garrett, who was still a terrible pitcher generally not worth your time, and who kept putting leadoff men on base in this game, doing so in the third, fourth, and fifth innings. Yoshi turned him a wonderful double play in the fourth to remove Eric McPherson’s leadoff single, and the only thing that came from Garrett after that was a dead hanger to Adrian Reichardt that was rammed off the fence for a 2-out double, then a 4-pitch walk to Stan Murphy, before somehow a Coon got paws on another rocket to end the inning against Mike Green. Mike Cesta hit a leadoff single in the bottom 5th. After Erik Janes popped out behind home plate, Cesta stole second, Fuentes swung away and doubled to the track in left, easily driving in the tying run. Garrett threw four pitches vaguely near, but not in the zone to Ramos, and a single to center by McPherson loaded the bases. Garrett walked Esquivel, giving the Titans a casual 2-1 lead, allowed an RBI single to Reichardt, then a sac fly to pretty deep right to Murphy. Smacking Pat Green with a 3-2 pitch ended his day. Sugano inherited the bases loaded and struck out Cesta to keep the Titans to their 4-1 lead. Cesta would get his revenge soon, retiring Matt Nunley in the left-center gap in the top of the sixth to collect the third out from the third baseman, who had three runners on base after Carmona, Mendoza, and Hamilton had all singled in the inning. Unbeknownst to the Coons then, Hamilton had been their penultimate baserunner, and they wouldn’t get on base again until Eddie Jackson’s 2-out pinch-hit single off Ron Thrasher in the ninth. Of course, Thrasher could feast on a mostly left-handed lineup, so letting them give the ball to him was instant game-over anyway. 4-1 Titans. Carmona 2-4; Jackson (PH) 1-1; Sugano 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K; West 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Funnily(?) enough, Garrett’s now-4.94 ERA is still in the top 3 amongst Coon starters this year.

Maybe Jonny can save the team for at least one night, and if not, maybe we can start trading away guys afterwards. The Loggers won again, the Coons are now 5 1/2 out.

Game 2
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – 3B Nunley – C Margolis – SS McKnight – CF Metts – P Toner
BOS: RF W. Ramos – C McPherson – 3B A. Esquivel – CF Reichardt – 1B S. Murphy – 2B M. Green – LF Cesta – SS Kane – P Key

The Critters sent Jonny Toner to the mound with a 1-0 lead that had scored on Nunley hitting a fly to center with the bases loaded in the top of the first inning. Adrian Reichardt made the catch comfortably but couldn’t prevent Yoshi from scoring on the sacrifice. Toner had a perfect first, and struck out the side in the second if you were willing to ignore the two singles hit in between by Murphy and Cesta. The K to Mike Green was his 100th of the season. Mendoza hit a single and stole second base in the third inning, his first bag of the season, and the team’s first in about a month; a bold claim which I would not back up with facts because the truth could be too horrifying to cope with. Mendoza was left on base anyway, and Toner hit John Key with an 0-2 pitch to lead off the bottom of the inning. The top of the order failed to exploit that opening – Toner struck them out in order, but was bombed by Reichardt leading off the bottom of the fourth.

That one tied the game at one, with the hapless visiting team still looking for the instruction manuals that had come with their bats because they really didn’t know what to make of those wood sticks that didn’t seem to be made for eating, either as food or utensils. Toner had struck out seven in the first four innings, but struck out nobody over the next two in which the Titans hit five singles to score solo runs in each of them. Especially hurtful was the fifth inning that was led off with a single by Key. Maybe McKnight’s leadoff double in the seventh could spark a – why don’t I just shut up? Toner allowed a leadoff single to Ramos in the bottom 7th, the 10th hit off him, K’ed McPherson, but walked Esquivel, leading to his exit from stage center. Bricker allowed a run to score on Reichardt’s RBI single, closing Toner’s line at four runs, which was well enough for a loss in this game. The Titans found another run off Jason Kaiser in the bottom 8th, Cesta legging out an infield single to begin the inning and scoring on a 2-out single over McKnight’s head by Ramos. A mild and unearned Raccoons rally found a sudden end with two outs in the ninth when Ron Thrasher appeared to face Olivares with two on and two down. He only needed three pitches to carve up the hapless backup catcher. 5-1 Titans. Mendoza 3-4; Jackson (PH) 1-1;

Hey, if we play our cards right, we can be in fifth place tomorrow night!

What better card is there than any between the Two of Spades (Santos), the Four of Diamonds (Abe), and the King of Clubs (Garrett)?

Game 3
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – SS Zuhlke – 3B Nunley – CF Stevenson – C Olivares – P Santos
BOS: RF W. Ramos – LF Cesta – 3B A. Esquivel – CF Reichardt – 1B S. Murphy – 2B M. Green – C Padilla – SS Kane – P Klein

Nunley batted with the bases loaded in the first inning again, but this time with two outs. Runners were courtesy of a Yoshi single and two walks handed out by Klein, and a run would score again with Nunley around, though this time it was unearned and on Klein as well, who dropped Murphy’s feed from behind first base and allowed all runners to be safe. Stevenson flew out to Ramos to quickly end the inning before they could accidentally score more runs – they hadn’t scored as much as TWO in a game since Tuesday. The lead was obviously never meant to be in the first place, and Stan Murphy quickly corrected that unbecoming state with a home run in the second inning, his tenth of the season.

The cards were reshuffled though for the third inning, which only commenced after a 45-minute rain delay. Yoshi singled, Mendoza walked, and Hamilton hit an RBI double off Klein, who plated the next run with a wild pitch while Nunley’s groundout scored Hamilton for a 4-1 edge. Getting any kind of length from Santos now was highly dubious, but to our amazement the rain actually made him better as he retired the first six batters after the delay, and after Murphy hit a leadoff single in the fifth later started a double play to erase even that runner. What was that now? Did we actually forget to water him properly!?

Nah, Santos was still crap. The Titans just took a while to get to him. Bottom 6th, two down, they ripped him apart. Ramos doubled off the fence in left, and Cesta and Esquivel both hit no-doubt singles that chased Willie Ramos across home plate and put the tying runs on base for Reichardt. Our best idea here was to send Seung-mo Chun and his 5.89 ERA after Reichardt, because maybe we could get him out when he keeled over having laughed himself to death somewhere between second and third base. Reichardt promptly uncorked a mighty drive to leftfield, but at the other end, somehow, he found Cookie, who took the liner to end the inning. It was the only out that Chun logged, given his spot came up in the top of the seventh inning. Willie Alonzo had loaded the bases with a Zuhlke single, a Nunley walk, and by smacking Olivares in the doo-dahs. With Ezequiel standing, more or less, on first base and trying real hard not to cry, McKnight grounded up to Murphy for an easy-as-**** third out, leaving me trying real hard not to cry. For now though, the Raccoons found pretty good success matching Bricker to right-handed bats in the seventh and Kaiser to left-handed bats in the eighth, and maintained their lead to set up Lillis for an actual ****ing save opportunity, and that was where the actual ****ing trouble started. Lillis lost Cesta to a leadoff walk in the ninth, and that was all the left-handed batters he was gonna see. Esquivel struck out, but Reichardt continued to be a pest and hit a double off the leftfield wall. That one put – thanks to no fruit-bearing efforts by the Raccoons across the most recent six innings – the tying runs in scoring position for Stan Murphy. Time to check whether my will is up to date! When Murphy hit a sharp grounder to the left side Nunley made a MAGNIFICIENT play, cutting it off and firing to first base to get Murphy removed for the second out. Of course, Cesta was always gonna score on the play. That left Reichardt on second. Here, Green (8 HR) was walked intentionally to get the increasingly-lighter-hitting Padilla to the plate. Lillis roughed him up in five pitches to save this one, barely. 4-3 Critters. Nomura 2-5; Zuhlke 2-4, BB;

Fun fact: Murphy hit all of *14* home runs in his only full season with the Coons.

In other news

June 2 – CIN 3B/1B Eddie Moreno (.308, 7 HR, 40 RBI) smacks five hits in the Cyclones’ 13-4 rout of the Warriors, which include a home run and three doubles as well as 6 RBI.
June 4 – DAL SS Manny Ferrer (.274, 3 HR, 16 RBI) keeps hitting at a steady pace, connecting for a single in the Stars’ 4-2 loss to the Gold Sox to extend his hitting streak to 25 games.
June 4 – The Blue Sox trade 2B/SS Bobby Torres (.271, 2 HR, 15 RBI) to the Gold Sox for two prospects that include #38 SP Travis Giordano.
June 4 – The Warriors cream the Scorpions in a 20-2 dismantling that starts with a 5-run first and gets ugly with an 11-run sixth inning. SFW C Jerrod Luckert (.268, 9 HR, 43 RBI) drives in seven with a 3-hit performance that includes a grand slam with nobody out in the first inning.
June 6 – DAL LF/1B/RF Jose Avila (.366, 8 HR, 30 RBI) shines with a 4-hit day in the Stars’ 8-6 win over the Gold Sox, but Avila doesn’t just hit any four old hits, but hits for a reverse-natural cycle in the game. Homering off Fernando Estrada in the first inning, tripling in the second, doubling in the fourth, and singling in the sixth inning has him connect all the dots in decreasing order. This is only the second reverse-natural cycle in ABL history after ATL Jason Clark’s in 2006. It is also the 68th cycle in league history, the second this year (both against Denver), and the first for the home team since 2015, as well as the league-leading seventh cycle for the Stars. Previous Dallas players to cycle were Samuel Serra (1977), Gustavo Infante (2000), Vitantontio Cavalleri (2003), Artie Barnes (2004), Jorge Vera (2007), and Stephen St. George (2017).

Complaints and stuff

Hello there, and take a seat. No, the flames are not props – the office and in fact the entire building is actually on fire. (Matt Nunley runs into the office, wailing, striped tail smoking, then runs out again)

In achievements already eroded by the sands of time, Hugo Mendoza was the CL Batter of the Month for May. He went .415 with 6 HR and 23 RBI, giving him pretty much ordinary stats after a desolate April.

Mendoza aside, words have a hard time expressing my general bewilderment. Maybe it’s a bit early to trade the stars, but I sure would have liked to add a relief pitcher who you can trust with the car keys. And to be honest, Tadasu Abe is *this* close to getting sent to St. Petersburg. Unless he would refuse that assignment, of course.

And no, adding expensive staff is not an option. It’s not in the budget. The only way the Raccoons can trade is down.

This week we released infrequent relief guest Matt Schroeder. The 29-year old had enjoyed his AAA season for a 9.95 ERA. We also filed away SP Roger Kincheloe, 24, as ‘former prospect’. Kincheloe had been our 2014 first-rounder, and had already missed 12 months twice with torn flexor tendons. This time he tore his UCL and would miss another 12 months with Tommy John surgery. Major league career numbers (I am fairly certain nothing will be added to that): 6 G, 5 GS, 1-1, 8.18 ERA, 17 BB, 8 K in 22 IP. Oh Roger. You should have gone to college to study ancient Semitic languages, like your dear grandmother wanted you to do.

Sadness.

ABL CAREER STRIKEOUT LEADERS
67th – Fernando Chavez – 1,946
68th – Fernando Cruz – 1,918 – active
69th – Jim Harrington – 1,907
70th – Andres Ramirez – 1,895 – HOF
71st – Jorge Chapa – 1,886
t-72nd – Greg Cain – 1,875
t-72nd – Jonathan Toner – 1,875 – active
74th – Mark Warburton – 1,861
75th – Jesus Bautista – 1,860
76th – Manny Ramos – 1,846
[…]
88th – Ramón Jimenez – 1,743
89th – Pedro Alvarado – 1,738 – active, free agent
90th – Lou Corbett – 1,733
91st – Daniel Dickerson – 1,730
92nd – Henry Becker – 1,729
t-93rd – Billy Robinson – 1,728 – HOF
t-93th – Hector Santos – 1,728 – active
95th – Samuel McMullen – 1,727 – active
96th – Larry Cutts – 1,714
97th – Carlos Guillén – 1,699

The right-hander Chavez spent most of his 17-year career in the Federal League, nine with the Buffaloes and 4 1/2 with the Pacifics. He managed to hold out that long despite leading the league in home runs allowed five times and in losses once. Overall he wound up with a 155-175 record and a 4.02 ERA.