[Westheim]

Raccoons (76-67) vs. Canadiens (65-78) – September 13-15, 2033

Final blows with the stinking Elks this season, who – if we stopped sucking and the Titans won at least two games by Thursday, which was not really in our interest, either – we could eliminate from postseason contention on our field. Given that they had no realistic chance anyway and the Titans had to stop winning, I would begrudgingly accept forfeiture of that token gesture. On the year we were 10-5 against an average offense unable to keep up with bottom three pitching.

Projected matchups:
Rico Gutierrez (6-11, 4.04 ERA) vs. Joe Martin (11-11, 3.30 ERA)
Bernie Chavez (13-7, 3.66 ERA) vs. Logan Bessey (10-14, 4.82 ERA)
Mario Rosas (15-9, 2.27 ERA) vs. Steve Corcoran (12-14, 3.68 ERA)

Right-hander, then two lefties; we had Monday off, allowing for a skip of Gutierrez, but his slot wasn’t really the most bothersome right now…

Game 1
VAN: 2B Morrow – 1B Hinojosa – LF LeJeune – C Ross – 3B McWhirter – RF A. Torres – SS M. Cole – CF Pohl – P J. Martin
POR: SS Ramos – 3B Zeltser – LF Wallace – 1B Zitzner – RF M. Fernandez – CF Reichardt – 2B Stalker – C Thompson – P Gutierrez

Three on, no outs in the top 1st after Eric Morrow singled, Tony Hinojosa walked, and Jesse LeJeune was drilled with a pitch. While I understood the idea behind it – heck, I wanted to hit the goon with a pitch, too! – that created an unpleasant tangle on the bases that was surely going to hurt with Toby Ross up, who had not homered since we had last played and was overdue for #29. He didn’t get it, at least not now, and instead flew out to Reichardt in shallow center. Morrow went from third and was thrown out at home plate, and then Bill McWhirter grounded to the mound… and Gutierrez ate the ball for a run-scoring infield single. Alex Torres, who could only hit the Raccoons this season, shoved an RBI single to right, and it wasn’t until Mike Cole’s grounder to short that the damned inning ended. By contrast, it was three up, three down in the bottom 1st. Not that nobody reached base… Zeltser hit to right for extra bases, thought of a triple, but Alex Torres convinced him that he only had a double… and was also out at third. The Raccoons continued haphazardly, with Thompson singling home Fernandez in the bottom 2nd before Gutierrez struck out to strand two, but himself allowed Joe Martin to go 2-for-2, and coughed up another run in the third inning.

Bottom 4th, Martin walked the tying runs on base against Zitz and Reichardt. Tim Stalker snapped a single to the feet of venerable Alex Torres, filling them up with one out for Elliott Thompson, who popped out on the first pitch. Oh for … - and Gutierrez dropped to 0-2 before poking helplessly and skidding a ball to the right side… and miraculously past Hinojosa into rightfield! Two runs scored, the game was tied, well, at least until Berto untied it with a 2-run double into the corner behind Torres. Zeltser flew out, and Mike Cole re-tied the game in the fifth with a 2-run homer to left off Gutierrez, who had walked Torres, and was yanked at that point.

Bottom 6th, still a 5-5 tie, right-hander Casey Glenn walked Stalker, then allowed an infield single to Thompson, which required extra non-effort to make it work. This was with no outs; the Coons retained reliever-of-the-moment David Fernandez to bunt the runners over and to try and work that Berto Magic again. He walked… and so did Zeltser, in a full count, pushing home the go-ahead run. Jimmy Wallace added a run via sac fly, Zitzner hit an RBI single, and Manny Fernandez flew out to LeJeune, ending the frame at 8-5, but they added two more on right-hander Denny Marsh in the bottom 7th. Reichardt and Stalker went to the corners and scored via wild pitch and a Jennings sac fly, respectively. The Coons tried their luck with Kyle Green once up by five, which directly led to a 4-out save chance for Chris Wise after a Morrow triple, Hinojosa double, and LeJeune single, all with two outs in the eighth. Ross popped out to end the inning, and Wise struck out the damn side in the ninth. 10-7 Furballs. Reichardt 2-3, BB; Stalker 2-3, BB; Thompson 3-4, RBI; Wise 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, SV (32);

Game 2
VAN: 2B Morrow – 1B Hinojosa – LF LeJeune – C Ross – 3B McWhirter – SS L. Hernandez – CF Pohl – RF D.J. Robinson – P Bessey
POR: SS Ramos – 2B Stalker – LF Wallace – 1B Zitzner – 3B Zeltser – CF Reichardt – RF Camps – C Garcia – P Chavez

Toby Ross’ triple off the fence in right led off the second inning, which quickly descended into more depression. McWhirter singled to put the damn Elks up 1-0, and when Lazaro Hernandez also singled to right ran to third base. Juan Camps unleashed a wild throw past third base, McWhirter turned around third base and scored, and Hernandez scurried to second base. Chavez threw a wild pitch to move Hernandez to third, then conceded the run on Pat Pohl’s RBI single, 3-0. While I saw spots, Zitz reached with a leadoff single in the bottom 2nd and Reichardt ripped a homer to left to shorten the gap to a single run. Juan Camps ran a full count – then clocked a fastball over the fence in center to tie us up at three. That helped a bit, but I could do without the constant meltdowns.

Eric Morrow would put the damn Elks back on top with a 2-out RBI single in the top of the fourth. D.J. Robinson scored from second base. That made for seven hits and no strikeouts against Chavez, who just wasn’t up to snuff again. LeJeune in the fifth and Robinson in the sixth were stranded in scoring position by the Elks, and Chavez struck out only two batters through six innings. Bottom 6th, Zitzner hit another leadoff single to provide the tying run to those coming after him. Zeltser popped out, though, and then Reichardt was hit in the ankle by Bessey. Reichardt hobbled off injured once again, with Pinkerton running for him and replacing him in centerfield. The bases filled up with Camps’ single to left, bringing up Garcia with one out. He narrowly got a grounder past Lazaro Hernandez for a game-tying single, and with the bags still full, Chavez was obviously hit for, but Hawkins lined out to Morrow, and Ramos flew out to Pohl…

I gnawed on my desk again while Ed Blair struck out the side in the seventh to keep the game locked at four. A Tim Stalker double in the bottom 7th led nowhere, but in the eighth Camps snuck a 1-out single to knock out Bessey. Garcia flew out, but Billy Jennings hit a pinch-hit RBI single off right-hander Jimmy Shearer. Ramos singled to left to load the bases. Stalker would also face the melting Shearer, who fell to 2-0 before allowing a liner to left that LeJeune closed in on – but couldn’t reach it; it fell in for a go-ahead RBI single! Wallace struck out, bringing back Wise with a skinny 1-run lead. He struck out Vince Cuomo to begin the ninth, but then allowed a real rocket to Morrow that fell for a double. Hinojosa flew out to center, and that was also the vague direction in which Jesse LeJeune hit a 96mph fastball at 1-2. High and deep, it chased Preston Pinkerton back; but it was too high, and not deep enough. Pinkerton made the catch at the edge of the track, and the Coons squeezed out another win…! 5-4 Coons! Ramos 3-5; Stalker 2-5, 2B, RBI; Zitzner 3-4; Reichardt 1-2, HR, 2 RBI; Camps 2-2, 2 BB, HR, RBI; Jennings (PH) 1-1;

That was our second win of the week – the Titans only got their first on Wednesday. They had lost the first two games to the Indians, starting on Monday. The gap was now two games, with Indy five and New York six games back, respectively.

Adrian Reichardt was not seriously hurt, but the ankle was slightly sore on Thursday and he was left out of the starting lineup.

Game 3
VAN: 2B Morrow – 1B Hinojosa – LF LeJeune – C Ross – RF A. Torres – SS L. Hernandez – 3B M. Cole – CF Pohl – P Corcoran
POR: SS Ramos – 2B Stalker – LF Wallace – 1B Zitzner – 3B Hawkins – RF Camps – CF Catella – C Garcia – P Rosas

As was good custom, the damn Elks scored first on Morrow’s single to begin the game, two productive groundouts, and Ross’ RBI single, which gave him 93 RBI on the year, including 258 against the Coons. Rosas, who was 3-5 since coming over from Atlanta, continued to blow out of a hole. The damn Elks hit him for five base knocks in the first three innings, then another four in the fourth, in which he also mixed in a walk. Pohl, Hinojosa, and LeJeune drove in a total of three runs to extend the lead to 4-0 while Corcoran was still facing the minimum, having allowed only a Zitzner single… and seeing Hawkins hit into a double play. Ramos hit a leadoff single in the bottom 4th… and Stalker hit into a double play. One of those games, Maud! – I don’t know, where’s the blunderbuss again?

Bottom 5th, Camps was hit by a pitch with one out, Catella singled, and the Coons maybe finally had something going. Garcia struck out though, making it two outs. Marsingill hit for the abysmal Rosas, singled to left in a full count and Camps scored for an RBI single. Ramos was the tying run with runners on the corners, but lined out to Morrow. Instead, the dismal Kyle Green loaded the bases on a single and two walks in the sixth and David Fernandez couldn’t clean that mess up anymore. The damn Elks plated two runs on a LeJeune sac fly and Ross single with two outs, extending their lead to 6-1, and at that point I emotionally resigned from this particular game and engaged with the Capt’n, especially after the Critters had Wallace and Zitzner on base in the bottom 6th and Hawkins hit into an inning-ending double play. It was Sean Catella (…!) to put the Raccoons on the board again with a solo homer (!!) in the bottom 7th, but at that point the ship had more or less sailed, and in the eighth the damn Elks scored three runs off the shallow end of the pen in de la Cruz and LeDuc. Camps drove in a run in the bottom 8th against Shearer, but we were down 9-3 entering the ninth against ex-Coon Matt Stonecipher, who walked Jennings, walked Zeltser, then allowed a single to Ramos. Three on, no outs! But no – Stalker and Wallace made poor outs, and Zitzner’s bases-loaded walk produced the only run of the inning. Pinkerton made the final out, flying out to Pat Pohl. 9-4 Canadiens. Ramos 2-5; Zitzner 2-3, 2 BB, RBI; Catella 2-4, HR, RBI; Marsingill (PH) 1-1, RBI;

The Titans also lost their last one against Indy, Jesus Dominguez landing a walkoff hit to score Dan Schneller, meaning the top three were now only four games apart with 16 to play for all of them.

Raccoons (78-68) vs. Aces (56-89) – September 16-18, 2033

We were only 3-3 against the dismal Aces, who brought up the rear in the CL South and were the only ABL team under .400 at this late stage of the season. They had the most miniscule offense, plating only about 3.7 runs per game, and were also allowing the most runs, with a yucky -175 run differential.

Projected matchups:
Jason Gurney (1-2, 5.06 ERA) vs. Jamie Klages (2-8, 5.76 ERA)
Raffaello Sabre (10-11, 3.43 ERA) vs. Jeremy Wallis (1-0, 2.92 ERA)
Rico Gutierrez (6-11, 4.21 ERA) vs. Jeff Horton (2-4, 8.28 ERA)

Having three meaningful pitchers on the DL didn’t help, but pressing an overwhelmed Jeff Horton, a long-time reliever for the Gold Sox with plenty of AAA experience into the rotation was a clear sign they were aiming for 100 losses. Wallis, 23 and right-handed like the other two, was due to make his third ABL start. He had been taken in the supplemental round in ’31, and looked more middling than anything else. He was not a ranked prospect either.

Game 1
LVA: CF J. Nelson – C Scheffer – 3B Armfield – 2B Briones – RF Crow – SS Schlegelmilch – LF Sibley – 1B Stedham – P Klages
POR: SS Ramos – 3B Zeltser – LF Wallace – 1B Zitzner – RF Jennings – CF Reichardt – 2B Stalker – C Thompson – P Gurney

For a wicked change, the Coons scored *first*, with Ramos doubling and scoring on a Zitzner single in the bottom 1st. No lead was going to live long with Gurney around, though, and he allowed hits to Ted Schlegelmilch, Ross Sibley, and – with two outs to boot! – Jamie Klages in the top 2nd to get the game tied. Speaking of boots, I wanted my boot squarely in Gurney’s bum at the top of a flight of stairs. Justin Nelson hit an RBI single to put Vegas up 2-1, Gurney threw a wild pitch, and Philip Scheffer somehow missed three meatballs to strike out and strand a pair in scoring positions. Maud – the blunderbuss! – We need it!

Gurney loaded the bases with a single and two walks in the third, and while Jesse Stedham flew out to strand them all, we had to come up with a plan for long relief here. The fourth began with a Klages single, which should at this point warrant the death penalty indeed, and the Aces would maneuver that run around as well on Chad Armfield’s 2-out RBI single, making it 3-1. Boys? Boys? Are we - … are we still playing? The offense surely wasn’t, and Gurney wasn’t either. He was yanked after four, and Prieto replaced him, but got only one out before walking Schlegelmilch on four pitches. Hennessy bailed him out, but was hit for in the bottom 5th to no great effect at all. Kyle Green came in for the sixth and immediately tried to drive the dagger into the season, allowing a walk, two hits, and a run on an Armfield groundout, 4-1. Did more runs really matter? Probably not, because the offense was negated completely by Klages after the first inning. Whenever they got somebody on base, they either hit into a double play (Zeltser erasing Ramos in the eighth f.e.) or just struck out until it was all over. After that Zeltser stab in the bottom 8th, Wallace and Zitzner hit soft singles, bringing up the tying run with two outs after all. Jennings had been removed in a double switch and David Fernandez was pinch-hit for by Justin Marsingill, who grounded out tamely on the first pitch he saw… Instead Garavito was ticked for two runs by Jesse Stedham with two outs in the top 9th, and that was that… 6-1 Aces. Ramos 2-2, 2 BB, 2B; Zitzner 2-4, RBI; D. Fernandez 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

Boston won, so we were now three games back. Boyyyyys …!!! (begs)

Game 2
LVA: 1B LeClerc – 3B Armfield – CF Stedham – RF E. Martin – SS Sibley – 2B Hernandes – LF J. Nelson – C Motley – P Wallis
POR: SS Ramos – 3B Zeltser – LF Wallace – 1B Zitzner – RF Jennings – CF M. Fernandez – 2B Stalker – C Thompson – P Sabre

Justins made the first two outs in the game; that was Justin LeClerc getting run out on the base paths after a leadoff single, and Justin Nelson striking out. Overall the top 1st went single, single, homer, Zitzner error, single, Sabre error, the Nelson K, and a groundout by Motley. Three runs scored, two were earned, but I was stark raving mad for six. Portland made up one stupid run in the bottom 1st when Wallace plated Zeltser who had doubled and advanced on a passed ball. Two terrible teams, huh!?

The Coons sure were. Marco Hernandes tropped in a 2-run single to score Stedham and Evan Martin in the third inning, and Sabre was just the next guy in the line that had absolutely NOTHING. The Aces spanked him for seven hits and five runs in the first three innings. Stedham’s leadoff jack in the fifth knocked Sabre out of the game, the umpteenth consecutive Raccoons starter retired early at this point… The rookie Wallis looked like he might go quite deep into this game, especially with a 6-1 lead, but ultimately hung a baseball to Manny Fernandez that ended up a 2-out, 2-run homer over the fence in the bottom 6th. Cutting the gap to three runs created some false hope again. The Aces put Armfield and Stedham on base against Carlos Contreras in the top 7th. This was Contreras’ second inning of work. Evan Martin, who was batting .310 with 20 homers, struck out, and Ross Sibley cracked a hard liner … right at Zitzner, who tagged out Stedham for an inning-ending double play, 3-U.

More false hope arose in the bottom 8th with Travis Zitzner’s homer off Jim Shannon. It was a solo job and his 20th bomb of the season (that took a while…), and it also gut the gap to 6-4 with five outs left. Jennings flew out, Fernandez walked, but new pitcher J.J. Ringland got a pop from Stalker to end the eighth. Prieto held the Aces in check to at least keep the distance at two runs for the appearance of Steve Bailey (4.19 ERA) in the bottom 9th. He walked Thompson with a confusing array of misses right away, bringing up the tying run in PH Tom Hawkins, who singled to left to bring up Berto. He flew out to center. Zeltser whiffed. Wallace grounded out to second base. I fell victim to despair. 6-4 Aces. M. Fernandez 1-2, 2 BB, HR, 2 RBI; Thompson 1-2, 2 BB; Hawkins (PH) 1-1; Contreras 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K;

Boston won again, and the Coons were now four games out. Indy and New York were also losing, so everything turned up Boston Blue again …

Game 3
LVA: CF J. Nelson – SS Schneider – 2B Briones – RF Crow – 3B Carman – LF E. Martin – C Motley – 1B R. Gomez – P Horton
POR: SS Ramos – 3B Zeltser – LF Wallace – 1B Zitzner – RF Jennings – CF M. Fernandez – 2B Stalker – C Thompson – P Gutierrez

There was no doubt in my mind that the Coons wouldn’t touch Jeff Horton and his 8+ ERA, at all. While they *did* go up 1-0 in the bottom 2nd (hey, two scoreless from Gutierrez!), Jennings had gotten a free base on an errant pickoff throw by Horton after hitting a single himself, and so casually scored on Stalker’s 2-out double. It would have been a stretch otherwise. Thompson was walked intentionally and Gutierrez struck out. Berto led off the third with a double and scored on two groundouts, which was better than nothing at all, and extended the lead to 2-0. Both teams then stranded two runners without scoring in the fourth, which was the first real threat the Aces put up. Brian Schneider walked to begin the inning, Vince Carman hit a 2-out single, but Martin grounded out to short to end things.

It got sad by the fifth. September call-up (!!) Rafael Gomez, the former Raccoons Ringbearer, drew a walk, Horton (…) singled, and after Nelson popped out for the second retirement of the inning, Schneider hit an RBI single to right. Mario Briones hit an infield single at 0-2 (screams in agony), and Andy Crow put a 1-2 pitch in play… but flew out to Fernandez, stranding three and preserving the Coons’ brittle 2-1 lead. Maybe the Coons could make something out of two base hits in the bottom of the sixth inn-- nah, Stalker hit into a 6-4-3 to kill that one, too. Gutierrez was removed after six wonky, but not terrible innings when Rafael Gomez was due to lead off the seventh. He singled off Blair instead. Carlos Flores pinch-ran, stole second, and was bunted to third base by Horton, who was somehow still in this game, with Jesse Stedham pinch-hitting for Nelson. Portland countered with Hennessy, and the Aces called a suicide squeeze with the tying run – and Stedham missed the pitch entirely, rendering Flores a dead duck and tagged out far from home plate. Stedham ended up whiffing, ending the inning. Horton lasted seven and two thirds, to my utter dismay, before a Zitzner single saw him removed. Jorge Farinas then rung up Jennings to move the game to Chris Wise, who was likely to face a barrage of pinch-hitters. The first of those, Andy Montes, singled on the first pitch of the inning. Martin grounded out, moving the tying run to second base. Ross Sibley flew out to Jennings. Danny Beckel hit for Flores in the #8 hole, and he wasn’t even a left-handed batter. He struck out. 2-1 Blighters. Zitzner 2-4; Stalker 1-2, 2B, RBI; Thompson 0-1, 2 BB; Gutierrez 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, W (7-11);

In other news

September 12 – 39-year-old star of stars, TOP RF/LF Pablo Sanchez (.311, 3 HR, 43 RBI) drops in three base hits in the Buffos’ 3-0 win over the Rebels. His third-inning single off RIC SP David Medina (0-1, 3.00 ERA) marks his 4,000th base knock in his ABL career that began all the way back with the 2013 Scorpions. A three-time Player of the Year and four-time batting champion with piles of other accolades, the .342 hitter Sanchez has amassed 142 homers, 1,510 RBI, and 683 stolen bases in his career. He is only the second player to break though the 4,000 hits mark after Victorino Sanchez, who landed 4,083 hits, and he is under contract for next season.
September 17 – The Titans win over the Falcons, 7-6 in 10 innings, when Charlotte’s Danny Burgess (1-4, 2.68 ERA, 2 SV) balks home Boston’s Edgar Gonzalez (.288, 12 HR, 68 RBI) with the bases loaded in the bottom of the tenth.

Complaints and stuff

It was a 3-3 week in which Preston Pinkerton pitched, so calling it a “mixed bag” was probably giving them too much credit. They drunk away what little chance they had with three straight losses to the abominable Elks and the lowlife Aces. That was unnecessary, and the final dagger. I don’t see them rallying to a point where they could beat Boston fair and square on the final weekend of the season.

Team (Record) – Remaining Games – Strength of Schedule – Playoff Chance
BOS (83-66) – NYC (4), MIL (3), OCT (3), POR (3) – .510 – 94.4% (+8.6%)
POR (79-70) – IND (4), ATL (3), BOS (3), NYC (3) – .512 – 4.0% (-7.9%)
IND (78-71) – POR (4), MIL (3), TIJ (3), VAN (3) – .499 – 1.5% (+0.3%)
NYC (75-74) – BOS (4), LVA (3), POR (3), VAN (3) – .488 – 0.1% (-1.0%)

Gurney won’t take another start, that much is sure, although by that standard we also shouldn’t send out Rosas or Chavez anymore. Or Sabre. Or anybody.

All our minor league teams finished the year with horrendous losing records, some 20 games under .500, which makes me slightly uneasy about the actual quality of our farm.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons ended the season series against the Canadiens 12-6, their best result against the vile stinking Elks since 2011!

That is … that is sad. We won 10 or 11 quite a few times, but the truth is that we haven’t been able to get away from .500 by a meaningful measure against them in … forever. All-time we’re now 515-511 against them, a .502 clip.