[Westheim]

Raccoons (69-61) @ Thunder (51-78) – August 30-September 1, 2021

The Coons came in cold, but the Thunder were routinely cold this year, and had lost four games in a row. Their .395 misery consisted of scoring the fewest runs in the Continental League. Their offense was putrid enough to not even score 3.8 runs per game, and their pitching was now reason for joy either, allowing the third-most runs in the league. Despite all this, this routinely terrible team had still won four of the previous six games against the Critters this year… Unless we can sweep this ragged collection, it will be the second year in a row we lose the season series to a team racing for 100 losses.

Projected matchups:
Jonathan Toner (14-7, 3.61 ERA) vs. Jose Vigil (1-7, 4.58 ERA)
Travis Garrett (8-5, 3.95 ERA) vs. Randy Jenkins (6-10, 4.80 ERA)
Hector Santos (11-5, 4.08 ERA) vs. Bryan Hanson (9-11, 4.17 ERA)

Right-right-left; also, the Thunder had a pile of players either injured and lingering or outright on the disabled list, including SP Nick Lombardo (4-4, 3.96 ERA) and four outfielders, including three former Raccoons (DeWeese, Seeley, Bareford) and Willie Madrid, who was possibly the least atrocious of them all.

Also mind the roster expansion on Wednesday, although we may not actually call up players until the weekend. We have Thursday off, we play for nothing, and the Alley Cats are trying to make the playoffs.

Game 1
POR: LF Spencer – 2B Nomura – 1B Mendoza – 3B Nunley – RF Graves – C Olivares – SS Bullock – CF Metts – P Toner
OCT: SS L. Rivera – 3B Marshall – RF Branch – C Pizzo – 2B Becker – 1B Starmand – CF Hollingsworth – LF L. Davis – P Vigil

Jonny’s first saw three singles and three strikeouts, which was good or bad depending on whether you were focusing on the end result (no runs) or whether how we arrived at that particular zero on the board, and the outlook was not promising after the Thunder got runners into scoring position again in the second inning after 2-out base hits by Jose Vigil (a single) and Lorenzo Rivera (a double to right center). Bobby Marshall struck out to strand those, too, but I felt more comfortable in a Toner start before. Yet the best chance to score for either team early on came in the fourth inning when Luke Davis, whom injuries had propelled from the actual depths of the depth chart into a starting role on the big league team, hit a real drive to left with the speedy Steve Hollingsworth on first base after a walk. Spencer made a flying catch in leftfield, and you wouldn’t think that you saw a middle infielder moonlighting out there.

Top 5th, the Raccoons, who so far had scattered three singles without posing much of a threat to anybody’s dinner, got a wholly undeserved scoring opportunity when Vigil offered a leadoff walk to Toner before Hollingsworth dropped Spencer’s fly to center for an error. Two on, nobody out, Yoshi flew out to left, Mendoza flew out to center (moving Toner to third), and it wasn’t until Matt Nunley came up, who had entered the game with a 10-game hitting streak yet awaiting extension, that the first run of the game came onto the board with a single that dropped in front of Ezra Branch. The struggling Graves dropped a single into center to score Spencer, and Olivares singled to load the bases, but Bullock flew out to left, keeping the score at 2-0. Once he had the lead, which would grow to 3-0 in the eighth with an Olivares double and Dwayne Metts’ RBI single, Toner was much firmer in control of the game. The Thunder did not reach base at all after the Raccoons’ initial runs until Lorenzo Rivera dropped down a bunt and dashed up the line to be called safe leading off the bottom of the eighth. Toner walked Bobby Marshall, which brought up the tying run and the sole sources of power the Thunder had available in Branch (13 HR) and Mike Pizzo (15 HR). They were also left-handers, prompting Jonny’s removal in favor of Manobu Sugano, who ran two full counts, walked Branch, but struck out Pizzo. Jeff Becker singled off him, scoring one run, while Cory Starmand struck out. Noah Bricker came in to face the right-handed Hollingsworth with the bases loaded, and killed him on strikes to end the inning, still up 3-1. It wasn’t pretty for sure, but at least the Coons held on to the lead, and extended it again in the ninth, pulling the run back with Nunley’s 2-out RBI double off Ryan Corkum. Lillis saved the game despite hitting Chris Gosnell with one out. 4-1 Coons. Mendoza 2-5; Nunley 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Olivares 3-4, 2B; Metts 2-3, BB, RBI; Toner 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 K, W (15-7) and 0-3, BB;

Game 2
POR: LF Spencer – 2B Nomura – 1B Mendoza – 3B Nunley – C Olivares – CF Stevenson – SS Bullock – RF Ochoa – P Garrett
OCT: SS L. Rivera – 3B B. Marshall – RF Branch – C Pizzo – CF Becker – 1B Starmand – LF Hollingsworth – 2B Paull – P Jenkins

Spencer and Mendoza hit singles in the first before Nunley’s grounder to second was thrown over Lorenzo Rivera’s glove by Eric Paull. That was an error, and it loaded the bases for an oddly hot Ezequiel Olivares, who nevertheless fouled out behind home plate. The Coons’ moved ahead 1-0 on a passed ball charged to Pizzo, taking away a future RBI from Josh Stevenson, who with two outs lined into the cavernous gap in right center for a now 2-run triple. The Critters ended up batting around in a 4-run first inning (with all runs unearned), the last run scoring on Bullock’s single to right. Danny Ochoa also singled, but Garrett struck out. The whole ordeal for Randy Jenkins lasted only 25 pitches, indicating that he was not exactly fooling the batters. Garrett was as usual not easy to watch, running into trouble as early as the third inning. After Paull’s leadoff single, Bobby Marshall hit a ball into the rightfield corner for a 2-out RBI double. Garrett walked Branch on four pitches, pulling up the dangerous Pizzo as the tying run, but the Thunder catcher popped out to Nunley to end the inning. Two were on again in the bottom 4th, but Garrett arrived at the opposing pitcher with two outs and Jenkins had no chance and was obliterated on strikes. It only got worse from there, however, with Marshall’s walk and consecutive singles by Branch and Pizzo loading the bases in the bottom 5th. Those were the tying runs – the Raccoons had not had a single base runner against Jenkins since landing five hits in the first inning. There was some intense discussion on the mound and Garrett was told to get his **** together by the pitching coach, his catcher, and even the ball boy from the third base line. Jeff Becker flew to right, no trouble for Ochoa, and Cory Starmand popped out over third base.

It was still not pretty, but still a lead at 4-2. The sixth finally saw traffic in the top of the inning as Nunley singled and Stevenson walked, but the bottom of the order couldn’t get them in. Ochoa gave a ball a ride to left with two outs, but Hollingsworth could catch up with it near the line to end the inning, then drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the inning. Garrett’s leash was shortening, but the Thunder only advanced the runner on a bunt, and Rivera’s fly to Stevenson in shallow center stranded him at second base. That was the last batter for Garrett, whose spot was up to begin the seventh inning. Zach Graves batted for him and doubled up the leftfield line, then scored on Yoshi’s 1-out single to left center, 5-2. During stretch time, Graves occupied rightfield, Ochoa moved in to first, and Jason Kaiser was put into Mendoza’s spot to get five outs from the #2 through #6 batters, which contained four left-handers and a switch-hitter. He got two as the Thunder rapped off a few hits and had runners on the corners in a 5-3 game before Seung-mo Chun replaced Kaiser to face Hollingsworth, who was swiftly hit for by the left-hander Luke Davis, but Davis flew out to Spencer to strand the runners. The Thunder had already stranded multiple runners a thousand times in the series, but they yet got another chance in the eighth. Eric Paull reached on Yoshi Nomura’s error, and Rivera’s 1-out single off Chun put the tying run on base. The Coons had the balls to request a 5-out save from Brett Lillis, who came in and threw no strikes whatsoever to Bobby Marshall, filling the bases with a 4-pitch walk. THEN he came back and struck out Branch and Pizzo, as the Thunder stranded another three runners. GODDAMNIT!! I am a human with an age-related heart condition, and you lot are NOT MAKING IT BETTER!! At least the ninth passed in 1-2-3 fashion… 5-3 Raccoons. Spencer 2-5; Graves (PH) 1-2, 2B; Lillis 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, SV (33);

To be honest, I think my heart condition stems from taking near-mortal doses of alcohol with a variety of non-prescribed pills for whatever ailment for decades, which I blame on previous iterations on this team just like that. And the stinging usually stops after the second bottle of booze.

We did in fact add three players to the roster as we ripped August from our calendars, none of them hopeful prospects. Edwin Prieto returned as third catcher, and we also added Will West for like the fourth time this year, and activated Joel Davis from his rehab assignment. Davis had tossed 14.2 innings in 26 days for a 2.45 ERA, but with pretty low strikeouts for an elite reliever in AAA.

Game 3
POR: LF Spencer – CF Stevenson – 1B Mendoza – RF Jackson – 2B Nomura – C Parks – 3B Nunley – SS Bullock – P Santos
OCT: SS L. Rivera – 3B B. Marshall – RF Branch – C Pizzo – CF Becker – 1B Starmand – LF Hollingsworth – 2B Riley – P Hanson

Spencer, Mendoza, and Jackson all singled in the first inning, but none of them scored, with Yoshi striking out and Parks rolling one over to shortstop. The Thunder had the bases loaded even faster against Santos, who hit the first batter he faced, then allowed a single and a walk. More singles by Becker and Starmand scored a total of three runs on Santos, who was obviously on track to leave Portland on a low note at the end of the season. For the next few innings, the Raccoons would have a runner on base in almost every inning, but usually didn’t amount to more than a 1-out single, a pop, a strikeout, and lots of sad little faces. The Thunder didn’t reach base against Santos from the second through the fifth AT ALL, but at least they had already dealt their damage, and it looked like it would be well enough.

When Jalen Parks followed up Yoshi’s 1-out single in the sixth inning with a walk, it was the most substantial threat for the team since the first inning. Nunley grounded into a fielder’s choice, dropping to 0-for-3, and left runners on the corners for Bullock, which changed into a runner on second after Hanson threw a wild pitch at 1-2, scoring Yoshi for the Coons’ first run. The next pitch was no less wild, but struck Bullock, putting the tying run on base. At this point Olivares came out to bat for Santos and singled to left on a 1-2 pitch, with Nunley scoring from second base. Spencer legged out an infield single to load them up for Stevenson, and before he could do anything, Hanson threw a pitch at least six inches over the leaping Pizzo. This thoroughly wild pitch scored Bullock and tied the game before Stevenson lined out to Rivera at short.

Top 7th, Mendoza was hit by Hanson to start the inning, then was caught stealing when he actually was so thoroughly safe ahead of the throw that he overslid the back and was tagged out on the leftfield side of the bag. After that, sadly, the next three batters reached, so the Coons could have led already, but after Jackson’s single, Yoshi’s walk, and then Parks’ single off reliever Jeff Kearney the Raccoons ‘only’ had the bases loaded with one out for Nunley, who popped out. Bullock flew out to left on the first pitch. The Raccoons would waste more chances in the eighth and ninth, each time stranding the go-ahead run in scoring position. The Thunder didn’t do much at all; when the game went to extra innings tied at three, the Coons had out-hit their hosts 13-4. Bullock led off extras with a single to center, then was double-played back into the dugout by Zach Graves, who had set up his tent in leftfield by then, with Spencer moving in to second base. Will West would be in his second inning in the bottom 10th, occupying Yoshi’s spot in the order. To be fair, the Thunder also threw away a leadoff single (Luke Davis’) when Nate Brown pinch-hit for a double play, and the game continued to the 11th, and then the 12th. That inning started with Parks singling off left-hander Chris Rountree, who went on to walk Nunley (who still had not landed a hit and was about to end his 12-game hitting streak). Bullock bunted badly and failed to advance the runners when Pizzo caught his pop out of the air, and Graves and Spencer grounded out. The Coons were now with Evan Carrell pitching for as long as he could, which after the 13th inning had already been three scoreless and a groundout in the top 13th that stranded Mendoza on first. A vague threat existed in the bottom of the 15th after Davis’ 1-out double to center. Chris Evans grounded out, Rivera flew out to left, and Carrell had five scoreless on 53 pitches, then batted to lead off the top 16th against unknown right-hander Franklin Alvarado. He struck out, but with two outs Nunley singled to extend his hitting streak, yaay! Bullock singled up the middle, putting two on for Graves, who moved ahead 3-1 on Alvarado before hitting a ball to right, high, deep, long, and the ****er was outta here. I was too exhausted to celebrate. Lillis was sent into the bottom 16th for his third appearance in three days, but I was sure it would be fine. After retiring Marshall and Branch to start the bottom, Lillis drilled Pizzo with an 0-2 pitch – one strike from the finish line. Becker singled, pulling up the tying run in pinch-hitter John Elliott, whoever the **** that was. In his first appearance of the year, Elliott ripped a pitch to left and off the fence. Pizzo scored, Becker was sent, Graves fired a blast to home plate, and Parks swiped it right into Becker’s helmet – OUT THE CALL, HE IS OUT, IT’S OVER!! 6-4 Blighters!! Spencer 3-9; Parks 4-7, BB, 2B; Bullock 3-6, BB; Olivares (PH) 1-1, RBI; Metts (PH) 1-1; Graves 1-4, HR, 3 RBI; West 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K; Carrell 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, W (5-2);

Our flight out of Oklahoma and back home that night was entirely silent. No talking. Everybody slept.

Everybody but ONE sneaky Critter. I will have to find out who it was, but he painted a moustache on my face with permanent marker. That bugger!

Raccoons (72-61) vs. Loggers (83-50) – September 3-5, 2021

Despite the bold claims by the Agitator that the Raccoons, who were 11 games back of the Loggers to start this weekend set after a much-needed off day, were still in the thick of the playoff hunt and that only terrible management could rob them of seven wins in the last seven games with the Loggers, we were actually nowhere near the playoffs, and were by no means assured even three wins against the Loggers in the next two weeks. The season series stood at 7-4 for Portland, yes, but the Loggers had shook off the funk and were now regularly drumming the opposition. They were now first in offense in the CL, a spot once occupied by the Critters, and were in the top 3 in fewest runs allowed. Their run differential of +119 was also recognizably better than the Coons’ of +99.

Projected matchups:
Dave Dyer (1-4, 4.76 ERA) vs. Chris Sinkhorn (19-7, 2.38 ERA)
Ricky Martinez (2-1, 2.37 ERA) vs. Michael Foreman (12-8, 3.11 ERA)
Jonathan Toner (15-7, 3.52 ERA) vs. Ian Prevost (11-4, 3.57 ERA)

And never mind that we’re up against their best starters, too… I have a hunch that the lefty Sinkhorn will reach 20 wins right away here. He leads the Triple Crown races in wins (by three), and ERA (by .34 runs), but trails only Jonny Toner in strikeouts, but there by a bunch: he is 46 K short of first place as we begin this series.

Despite the long game on Wednesday, thanks to the off day the bullpen was in decent shape. We might want to stay away from Lillis, if possible, and also from Carrell, who pitched five innings. Most others are quite available.

Game 1
MIL: 2B Tadlock – SS Burns – RF Gore – 3B A. Velez – LF Cooper – 1B Gershkovich – C Wool – CF Trevino - Sinkhorn
POR: LF Spencer – CF Stevenson – 1B Mendoza – RF Jackson – 2B Nomura – C Olivares – 3B Nunley – SS Bullock – P Dyer

After a calm first two innings, the Loggers had two on and nobody out in the third following Dyer’s misplay of Sinkhorn’s bunt with Willie Trevino on first base after his leadoff single. Dyer threw to second, way too late, but the Loggers couldn’t get another ball to fall in as Ron Tadlock lined out to Spencer in left, Kyle Burns grounded out, and Brad Gore flew out to right. But Dyer was not the only pitcher to misplay a bunt in the third inning; the bottom 3rd started with Matt Nunley extending his hitting streak to 14 games with a single to right center. Bullock popped out, and Dyer bunted, but Sinkhorn threw the ball wildly past Mike Gershkovich and the Coons reached scoring position by the time Gore retrieved the ball in foul ground, but couldn’t do better than Spencer’s run-scoring groundout to Burns.

Dyer threw eight balls to begin the fourth, putting on Alberto Velez and Andrew Cooper before Gershkovich hit into a double play and Josh Wool struck out. Why were they even swinging!? By the way, did you know that Chris Sinkhorn was a very good hitter, too? He was batting .246 with four homers and 14 RBI on the season and drilled a ball to deep center in the fifth inning. If it had been to either corner, it would have been out to tie the game, but in the depths of centerfield, Sinkhorn had his drive caught by Stevenson. Burns’ leadoff single in the sixth inning was only the Loggers’ second hit off Dyer, but they would bring him around with a 2-out single by Cooper, tying the score at one. Cooper stole second, Dyer walked Gershkovich, and then was removed from the game. Dew came in, but served up a 3-piece to Josh Wool, and now Sinkhorn had a 4-1 lead and the Coons had only had two hits themselves so far; though with two outs in the bottom 6th, singles by Mendoza and Jackson and then a walk drawn by Yoshi loaded the bags for Olivares, batting .312 with five homers. Show some magic, Ezequiel, even though your name is mostly unpronounceable and can hardly be yelled in encouragement. He popped out to Ron Tadlock in shallow right. The Coons were mostly doomed now, but at least the crowd could clappingly acknowledge Joel Davis’ return from the dead, winding up in the seventh inning after almost a year on the Tommy John shelf. He retired the 9-1-2 batters in order, with a closing K to Burns, which drew more polite claps.

Bottom 7th, and the bases got loaded again in some weird way. Bullock outraced an infield grounder for a 1-out single. Parks batted for Davis and got nicked by Sinkhorn, and then Spencer singled to left. Stevenson hit an RBI single up the middle before Dumbo Mendoza ******edly had to poke at a 3-0 pitch and flew out to center. It was a run across alright as Parks scampered home on the sac fly, but it also killed the Coons more or less, with Jackson grounding out to end the inning and them still 4-3 short. The Loggers stranded two in the eighth that were equally on Sugano and West, then got Olivares on base with a 1-out walk in the bottom of the inning. Nunley popped out, bringing up Bullock. I would have liked to bat Graves here, but Sinkhorn would not get out of the game. Bullock worked a full count before flying to left, and past the replacement out there, Juan Medina. 37 years old, Medina couldn’t catch up with that fly, which fell for a double and Olivares even scored with an early start! Tied game! Graves then did bat for West, but struck out. Bricker had a clean ninth, but Robby Delikat was sitting down Spencer and Stevenson to begin the bottom of the inning. Mendoza singled to right, bringing up Jackson. That would have been a good spot to bat Graves in. Oh well, maybe Eddie can to something good here. Down 1-2, Jackson knocked a pitch to left center, and that was in fact the end of the game. High, deep, gone – IT’S A WALKOFF!! 6-4 Coons. Mendoza 2-3, BB, RBI; Jackson 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Bullock 2-4, 2B, RBI;

Four wins in four games this week, and not one of them easy on the nerves!

There was a change in the Loggers’ rotation for Saturday. Michael Foreman would not pitch the game, with Ian Prevost instead moving up a day. Prevost would pitch on regular rest here – the Loggers had been off on Thursday just like us.

Game 2
MIL: 2B Tadlock – SS Burns – RF Gore – 3B A. Velez – LF Cooper – C Stickley – 1B Gasso – CF Trevino – P Prevost
POR: LF Spencer – 2B Nomura – 1B Mendoza – 3B Nunley – C Parks – RF Graves – SS Bullock – CF Metts – P Martinez

Both Tadlock and Spencer opened their team’s half of the first inning with a double to left, but only the Loggers got their man in. Between Yoshi, Mendoza, and Nunley, the Coons produced three sad groundouts that left Jarod stranded right at second base. Gus Gasso, a 25-year old Venezuelan that had signed with the Rebels many years ago and was on his first cup of major league coffee, hit a double in the second; Trevino singled, and Prevost hit a sac fly to grow the Loggers’ lead to 2-0, and Velez hit a sac fly in the third to get them to 3-0, plating Kyle Burns who had reached on an infield single and had stolen second base against no throw at all by Parks. While Martinez would end up being stuffed with five runs in five innings, the Coons had not much cooking at all against Prevost, who retired nine straight after the Spencer double, and when Yoshi doubled to start the bottom 4th, the 3-4-5 array left him on base again. Nothing came of Zach Graves’ leadoff walk in the fifth. The Loggers extended their lead to 6-0 in the seventh against Carrell, who loaded the bases and allowed an RBI single to Burns, and Ron Tadlock hit an RBI single in the eighth, also charged to Carrell. Not that it mattered a whole lot. Ian Prevost had the Critters in deadlock, and they amounted to next to nothing. In fact, when Yoshi Nomura hit another double with one out in the bottom 9th, it was only the Raccoons’ fourth total base runner, all of which have been thoroughly listed in this paragraph. Mendoza flew out to center, because of course he would, but Matt Nunley still had business to conduct, drove a ball into the gap in right center, and with a 2-out RBI double blew up Prevost’s shutout bid while at the same time extending his own hitting streak to 15 games, and at the last second for the second time in three games. Petracek prolonged the game with a pinch-hit single, but Graves flew out to left. 7-1 Loggers. Nomura 2-4, 2 2B; Petracek (PH) 1-1;

The magic number is now six. No, not on the Coons and the playoffs, although we don’t have to keep stats on that, anyway. Nope, Jonny needs 6 K to reach the 2,000 club. He would face former rotation mate Michael Foreman.

Game 3
MIL: C Wool – SS Burns – RF Gore – 3B A. Velez – LF Cooper – 1B Gershkovich – 2B March – CF Trevino – P Foreman
POR: LF Spencer – 2B Nomura – 1B Mendoza – 3B Nunley – C Parks – RF Graves – CF Stevenson – SS Bullock – P Toner

Six was indeed the name of the game, although more in that the Loggers scored almost six runs in the first inning. After Wool made an easy first out, the next five batters all reached base via hit or walk, until down 2-0 and with the bags full Toner struck out Dan March. Following that, he issued another three walks with the bases loaded to Trevino, Foreman(!) and Wool, before Burns hacked out. The home crowd was devastated, and I was debating with Honeypaws whether time had come to just bite on that ****ing cyanide pill we had stored in the rear corner of Honeypaws’ sleeping box.

The second inning had Cooper walk and Gershkovich single (on a 3-1 count) with two outs. Toner was hanging in merely against March, when at 1-1 Cooper took off for third base and was thrown out by Parks, thus ending the inning. When March walked in his newest attempt in the third inning, the bullpen got up and stirring in earnest. A sad day for Portland indeed. Trevino, Foreman, and Wool struck out in succession, giving Toner five on the day, but even though he was back out for the fourth inning after bunting into a force play in the bottom 3rd to erase Stevenson, the Coons’ only proper base runner the first time through, nobody was into celebrations anymore should he wrap up another batter. In fact, he didn’t. Burns’ leadoff single and Velez’ 1-out double yanked him from the game. Sugano replaced him and surrendered a run on a sac fly before Gershkovich got walked intentionally so that Sugano could strike out March, which he did. Joel Davis had another clean inning in the fifth as we eased him back into things here, but the Raccoons didn’t make it onto the scoreboard until the seventh inning. It was Nunley again to break up a shutout bid, this time with a leadoff jack. Will West pitched decent long relief after Davis’ appearance, completing three innings while allowing one run on four hits, and that we got decent long relief and Joel Davis’ arm didn’t fall off right away again were the only good things to tell about this game. By contrast, Chun got shredded for three runs in the ninth inning. 10-1 Loggers. Nomura 2-4; Nunley 2-4, HR, RBI;

In other news

September 1 – The Canadiens’ swingman Micah Kirchberg (1-3, 6.00 ERA) is out for the season with a torn labrum. Whether the 39-year right-hander will recover from this at all will have to be seen.
September 3 – TIJ 2B/SS Howard Read (.307, 9 HR, 57 RBI) could miss the entire month with a quad strain.
September 4 – New York’s SP Dave Butler (12-13, 3.71 ERA) 3-hits the Canadiens in a 2-0 shutout.
September 5 – TIJ RF/LF Omar Larios (.257, 6 HR, 39 RBI) goes deep against Oklahoma’s Randy Jenkins for the only tally in the Condors’ 1-0 win.

Complaints and stuff

Let’s make this brief, because I feel bombed out inside after that Sunday debacle…

Jarod Spencer won Rookie of the Month honors in August, batting .331 with no homers and 11 RBI. He scored 17 times, but while I didn’t expect a pile of home runs I find it quite alarming that he only walked ONCE in the entire month of August. He also had only nine strikeouts, but that one walk does not make for a pretty OBP.

Eddie Jackson’s walkoff blast on Friday made me really happy. Poor guy signed away the last few good years of his body to play the fourth outfield fiddle on a team that never went anywhere. Now he’s a free agent, his fielding has let up, and he hasn’t shown much power either this year. No, I will not move to resign him. I *did* make an offer to Manobu Sugano however for another year.

I said above that the AAA Alley Cats were in a playoff race; they are still leading their division with 11 to play, but there’s also four teams within four games in that race, and they will play two of the three in those last not-quite-two weeks, including their closest competitors, the Denver-aligned Chula Vista New Order, in their last series of the year. In AA, the Ham Lake Panthers also have a substantial winning record, but are nine games off the pace. A-level Aumsville is the usual mess at 56-77. No hitting talent on that team whatsoever. As an example, left-hander Marco Ramirez, a former international free agent signing, is 8-15 with a decent 3.81 ERA.

Since I’m not into celebrations right now, and there technically is nothing to celebrate, no strikeout stats today.