[Westheim]

Raccoons (24-17) @ Condors (22-21) – May 26-28, 2037

Alberto Ramos was back at 100% after overcoming explosive diarrhea as the Raccoons ventured into Mexico for a 3-game set with the Condors starting on Tuesday, and, for the second week in a row, on two days’ rest. The Condors were stunningly mediocre, sixth in runs scored, eighth in runs allowed, with a -1 run differential (Coons: +16 despite being completely unable to score runs). Tijuana had an average rotation and defense, and one of the most porous bullpens around. The Raccoons had won five of nine games against the Condors in 2036.

Projected matchups:
Bryce Sparkes (6-1, 1.37 ERA) vs. Juan Garcia (5-0, 2.47 ERA)
Raffaello Sabre (3-0, 2.12 ERA) vs. Mike Webb (1-0, 1.08 ERA)
Josh Weeks (3-3, 3.13 ERA) vs. Omar Uribe (0-7, 6.85 ERA)

Southpaw to begin the week, and then they only had right-handers left after that. Tijuana also had a number of regulars on the DL, including Chris Murphy (torn thumb ligaments) and Shane Sanks, the ****ing skunk weasel, who had been out with back stiffness, but claimed to be ready to go – he had to stay on the DL through Wednesday however, and could only be activated for Thursday, the series finale. Former Raccoons closer Ed Blair was also still out for his Tommy John surgery and might miss the entire season.

The Indians lost to the Aces on Monday, reducing the gap atop the CL North to half a game, so the Raccoons could in theory take first place on Tuesday. Mind the damn Elks and Crusaders, though – all four teams were under a 2-game blanket.

Game 1
POR: 2B Trevino – 3B Myers – LF M. Fernandez – CF Fowler – 1B Maldonado – SS Ramos – RF Pinkerton – C Kilmer – P Sparkes
TIJ: 3B Quintanilla – CF C. Boles – RF Willie Ojeda – LF J. Williams – 2B Bensinger – C J. Flores – 1B Zuazo – SS Bunyon – P J. Garcia

Berto was on call in the bottom 2nd and singled home Jesus Maldonado, who had drawn a leadoff walk from Garcia and had taken second base by force, his second stolen base of the year. Pinkerton then hit into a double play before Berto could also make an attempt at getting an extra base. The 1-0 lead didn’t hold, with Bryce Sparkes being exploded in the bottom 3rd. Starting with Juan Garcia’s single, the Condors whacked off four straight base hits, the string ending with Willie Ojeda’s 3-run homer that put Tijuana 4-1 ahead. Justin Fowler’s leadoff jack narrowed the gap to 4-2 to begin the top of the fourth. Nothing happened in the fifth, and the sixth saw Fowler draw a walk and Maldonado double to center to put the tying runs in scoring position with one down. Berto popped out, Pinkerton walked, and with the bases loaded Jeff Kilmer fell to 0-2 before hitting a fly to left that stretched away from Justin Williams and made it all the way to the fence for a bases-clearing double, giving Portland the lead back, 5-4!

The lead didn’t last, with Williams ramming a homer off Sparkes to even the score at five to begin the bottom of the sixth. Jose Flores was nailed with a baseball and went to first, and Sparkes was lifted with two outs in the inning. Garavito retired Donovan Bunyon on a grounder, ending the inning and leaving Sparkes with a no-decision. Garcia was still around in the seventh and gave up a leadoff double to Cosmo Trevino, which was followed by an intentional walk to Dave Myers, a bold strategy for sure. Manny chopped a blooper into shallow left that loaded the bags with nobody out, with Fowler grounding to first base. Alvin Zuazo fired the ball home to JUST beat Trevino, but the bases remained loaded until Maldonado grounded to short. The Condors only got Fowler, with Myers scoring to break the tie, 6-5. Berto struck out to end the inning with runners on the corners.

Portland got a run off Josh Heckman in the eighth, though. The lefty retired Pinkerton and Kilmer, but gave up a double to Rich Vickers, who hit for Garavito. Trevino singled into center, scoring Vickers for a 2-run lead, before Myers ground out to Bunyon. Gene Tennis held off the Condors in the bottom 8th, Portland got nothing out of two walks in the top 9th that Steve Bailey issued, and thus it was Yeom Soung in the bottom 9th against the 7-8-9 batters. Zuazo struck out, but Bunyon, Nick Howell, and Victor Quintanilla all singled. Bases loaded, one out, Giacomino Vitalini pinch-hit for Chris Boles, and hit ANOTHER single to left. Only one run scored on the play, but what the heck was wrong with The Warden now? He blew the lead with a sac fly hit by Ojeda, before Justin Williams ended the game with a single to right. 8-7 Condors. Trevino 4-5, 2 2B, RBI; Vickers (PH) 1-1, 2B;

Well, that sucked. Scoring seven and losing is especially bitter when you never score seven.

Game 2
POR: 2B Trevino – 3B Myers – RF M. Fernandez – CF Fowler – 1B Stedham – SS Ramos – C Morales – LF Hooge – P Sabre
TIJ: 3B Quintanilla – CF C. Boles – RF Willie Ojeda – LF J. Williams – 2B Bensinger – C J. Flores – 1B Zuazo – SS Strohm – P Uribe

The early innings saw a Zuazo single and about nothing else, although Berto had Stedham on base in the second, forced him out, and then stole a base before being left on second. Myers hit a leadoff single in the fourth, the first hit for the Critters. It took a while, but the team plated him. Fowler walked to push him to second, and then Berto landed a single in left-center with two outs, enough to get Myers around to score the first run of the game. Tony Morales two-upped him with a high home run to right that counted for three RBI – only now, with May almost over, Morales hit his first homer of the year and reached 10 RBI.

One run was taken right back by Tijuana, with Ojeda reaching base, stealing another one, and coming in on Jason Bensinger’s 2-out single. Top 5th, the Coons countered with the bases loaded and one out when Uribe issued walks to Myers and Manny, and Fowler hit a soft single into the maws of Ojeda, who had a murder arm, forcing Myers to hold. Jesse Stedham also had two strikes on him before doing heroics, hitting a double to center that brought in two more runs. Berto walked to fill the bases again, the sixth free pass issued by Uribe, who had well more walks (52) than strikeouts (35) on the season. Morales put him out of his misery with an RBI single up the middle that made it a 7-1 game. Gabe McGill replaced him, conceded one more run on Ed Hooge’s groundout, but at least he got Sabre to stop the bleeding at 8-1. Again Sabre gave up a run after a 4-spot, with Quintanilla singling in Chris Strohm in the bottom 5th, both runners also stealing a base. Cosmo stole his 12th in the top 6th, then was singled home by Fernandez, 9-2. Manny stole a base by accident when Jesse Stedham missed on a hit-and-run call, but Flores’ throw bounced. Stedham met the next pitch, grounding out to end the top 6th. The Condors were still struggling, Bensinger doubling home Ojeda in the bottom 7th, but couldn’t not chain hits together like on Tuesday. Well, at least so far. Sabre got stuck in the bottom 7th after two singles, was lifted for David Fernandez, but the lefty gave up an RBI single to Boles and a 2-run double to Williams, suddenly dangerously narrowing the score to 9-6. Bensinger then popped out to end the inning. Prieto handled Tijuana in the eighth, and Chris Wise got the ninth although only leadoff man Quintanilla would bat right-handed against him, but the Coons needed a win, and Soung had worked himself up the day before. And Wise also made a mess AFTER getting two outs. Ojeda walked, Williams singled, and Bunyon walked in Bensinger’s spot .That put up Flores as the winning run with three on and two outs. Wise walked in a run against him, with Zuazo next. Dusty Kulp was in the bullpen… but the Raccoons still wanted to WIN… so why send Kulp? The Raccoons didn’t win – Zuazo killed them with a bases-clearing double in the right-center gap. 10-9 Condors. Myers 2-4, BB; Ramos 2-3, BB, RBI; Morales 2-4, HR, 4 RBI;

What the **** is wrong now??

The moment we get some runs, the pitching staff self-immolates??

Game 3
POR: 2B Trevino – 3B Myers – RF M. Fernandez – CF Fowler – 1B Stedham – SS Ramos – C Morales – LF Hooge – P Weeks
TIJ: 1B Zuazo – 2B Bensinger – RF Willie Ojeda – LF J. Williams – 3B Sanks – C J. Flores – CF C. Boles – SS Strohm – P Webb

Four straight base hit, once again, gave the Condors a 2-0 lead in the bottom 2nd. The misery started with the disgusting skunk weasel and saw another three base knocks before they run out of steam with their pitcher. The Raccoons scratched out a run in the top 3rd, Manny bringing in Trevino, but Weeks kept getting waffled, too. With Ojeda on in the bottom 3rd, both Sanks and Flores ripped RBI doubles to go up 4-1. Zuazo would hit a single in the bottom 4th, Bensinger went deep to left-center, and that was the end for Weeks after a ****ing dismal and ****ty performance, nine hits, two walks, and six runs, and knocked out in the fourth inning.

That the Raccoons were not entirely dead was down to the opposing pitcher, who was no better than Weeks. Webb gave up a single to Myers to begin the bottom 4th, then was taken deep by Fowler, cutting the gap to 6-3. Stedham and Ramos drew walks, giving the Coons SEVEN walks in the fifth inning. Morales hit an RBI single to right, Hooge hit into a fielder’s choice, but Rich Vickers hit for Gene Tennis with two outs and runners on the corners, drove a ball into the gap, and the Raccoons had just erased a 5-run deficit. Now, if they still had any semblance of pitching …! Webb was yanked in a 6-6 game, but David Gerow got Trevino to ground out to end the inning.

The sixth was uneventful, but the Coons got runners to the corners in the top 7th, with Maldonado batting for Dusty Kulp. He hit a slow roller to Bensinger, thankfully so slow that it wasn’t good enough for two, and Berto scored from third base to take the lead. Trevino flew out to end that particular inning. With Garavito and Prieto holding the Condors down in the bottom 7th, the Coons had a chance to tack on in the eighth, Myers and Fernandez going to the corners right away against Gerow. Fowler struck out, which was all too unfortunate, and Jesse Stedham didn’t put it in play, either – nope, Stedham put the ball WAY out of play with a long 3-run homer to right!! …and that was the decider. Finally having moved a game out of save range, the Coons didn’t blow the save, either. Prieto did the eighth competently, and David Fernandez put a guy on in the ninth when Vitalini singled, but otherwise retired three before it could get ugly yet again. 10-6 Coons. Myers 4-5; M. Fernandez 2-3, 2 BB; Ramos 1-2, 3 BB; Vickers (PH) 1-1, 2B, 2 RBI; Kulp 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, W (2-2);

Okay, that wasn’t bad for damage control. Normally I’d strip my pants off and run around the ballpark screaming like a maniac after scoring 26 runs in a series, but unfortunately they also cocked up 24 and lost twice… The Arrowheads were now two games ahead again, and we were merely tied for second place with the Crusaders.

Raccoons (25-19) @ Thunder (19-29) – May 29-31, 2037

The Thunder weren’t the worst calamity in the CL South, but that was down to the Falcons’ absolutely rotten start in April. They did score runs in Oklahoma, third-most in the league even, but they were also bleeding terribly whenever the opposition got the bat. They ranked bottoms in runs allowed with 5.3 markers conceded per game, and the rotation and bullpen were equally execrable. Portland was up 3-0 in the season series.

Projected matchups:
Jared Ottinger (4-1, 2.13 ERA) vs. Bobby Valencia (3-2, 8.42 ERA)
Bernie Chavez (4-4, 3.72 ERA) vs. Joe Robinson (4-5, 5.20 ERA)
Bryce Sparkes (6-1, 2.01 ERA) vs. Chris Inderrieden (2-4, 4.16 ERA)

Right, left, right, with Robinson being suspended after a brawl last week. Saturday was the first game he was eligible to appear in again.

Game 1
POR: 2B Trevino – 3B Myers – LF M. Fernandez – CF Fowler – 1B Stedham – SS Ramos – C Morales – RF Maldonado – P Ottinger
OCT: CF Moore – 2B Martell – 1B D. Cruz – C J. Wood – LF Nuno – 3B T. Johnson – RF Heskett – SS A. Rojas – P Valencia

Both Cosmo and Ethan Moore opened their respective halves of the first inning with doubles, but only one of the scored. Al Martell singled, and Danny Cruz hit a sac fly to put Ottie behind early. In the bottom 2nd, Todd Johnson and Brian Heskett reached the corners with a walk and a single, respectively, and Alfredo Rojas’ double play grounder at least made it 2-0.

The Coons had the leadoff man on for the third time in three attempts in the top 3rd, this time with an Ottie single to left, giving the pitcher a .333 clip this year after hitting .349 last year. He sure seemed like the new Jonny Toner at the plate, and if he could turn into Jonny Toner on the mound….. oh boy, that would be lovely. Myers joined him with a 1-out single, and Manny found the gap in left-center for a score-knotting double, and that also put him at 30 RBI, breaking a tie for the (pathetic) team lead with Fowler, who struck out rather than tying the “race” again with a homer. Stedham lined out, while Ethan Moore singled and Danny Cruz took Ottinger WELL deep in the bottom of the inning, restoring a 2-run lead for the home team. Oh, where had all the pitching gone….

Trevino and Fernandez were on base with singles in the fifth, presenting Fowler with the tying runs and one out. Both Fowler and Stedham hit deep fly balls, and both were caught, and nobody scored… Ottinger would complete seven innings without sparking another rally, but at least didn’t allow more runs than he already had and kept the Coons in range against the suddenly not completely terrible Valencia, who had already shaved a full run off his ERA from the start of the game. He walked Fowler to begin the eighth, but was removed after Stedham’s groundout. Ramos grounded out, Morales flew out to Federico Nuno, and the inning ended. Gene Tennis walked a pair in the bottom 8th before being rescued with Chris Wise’s strikeout against Jimmy Wood, but the Coons had the bottom of the order up to begin the ninth against Raul de la Rosa’s 1.80 ERA. Hooge batted for Maldonado and whiffed. Kilmer had entered with Wise in a double switch and grounded out to Cruz. And Trevino grounded out to Martell. 4-2 Thunder. Trevino 3-5, 2B; M. Fernandez 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI;

Not our week!

And there is currently not a lot of ideas in my head either…

Game 2
POR: 2B Trevino – 3B Myers – LF M. Fernandez – CF Fowler – 1B Maldonado – SS Ramos – RF Pinkerton – C Kilmer – P Chavez
OCT: CF Moore – 2B Martell – RF Celaya – 1B D. Cruz – C J. Wood – LF Nuno – 3B T. Johnson – SS A. Rojas – P J. Robinson

Cosmo opened the game with a walk in a full count, stole his 13th base, and then saw Myers walk on four pitches, rendering that effort moot. Manny grounded out, but advanced the runners. One run scored on Fowler’s groundout, Maldonado was nailed, and Berto flicked a 2-out RBI single over Martell for a second run. Lorenzo Celaya overran the baseball, giving the runners an extra base, and Preston Pinkerton slapped a 2-2 pitch through the hole on the left side to score both of them, 4-0. Those were Pinkerton’s first RBIs of the season…! Kilmer grounded out to end the inning, and then it was guessing whether Bernie would have a good day – he sure had been on the rollercoaster a lot this year already.

Early signs were definitely not good. Celaya hit a wallbanger double in the first, but was stranded. Jimmy Wood’s leadoff jack narrowed the gap to 4-1 in the second, and Rojas hit another double with two outs. Robinson legged out an infield single and I was ready to pull all my fur out again, but Ethan Moore flew out to Fernandez to end the inning. Bottom 3rd, Cruz walked, Wood reached on a dismal throwing error by Myers, and on the very next pitch Nuno cashed them with a screaming single to right-center – all with two outs. Johnson struck out, which was the first K on Chavez’ ledger, and the Raccoons had to score more runs because a 4-3 lead wouldn’t be enough… They did nothing in the fourth, while Moore hit a 2-out single for Oklahoma before being caught stealing by Kilmer. Myers hit a leadoff single in the fifth and never got off first base, while Martell whacked another long double to begin the bottom 5th, moved up on Celaya’s grounder, but then crucially Cruz struck out trying to flip the score. Wood grounded out easily to Berto, and the Thunder were turned away.

Nuno ripped another leadoff double in the bottom 6th, but two outs later was still at third base. When left-handed batting Brian Heskett pinch-hit for Robinson, Bernie’s day was over, too, after 94 mostly obvious pitches. Garavito came on, got the pop to Maldonado, and again the Raccoons narrowly skirted around blowing the lead. Mauricio Garavito went on to have the first 1-2-3 inning of the game in the bottom 7th, knocking off the top of the Thunder lineup, but the Furballs had yet to kick the whole damn thing into gear again. Maldonado hit a leadoff single off right-hander Jesus Blanco in the eighth, then stole second base. Berto was walked intentionally by the Thunder, but the Coons batted Stedham for Pinkerton as a counter. The count ran full before Stedham had to swipe at a pitch at the bottom of the zone, but kept it fair and floated a horrendous blooper over the head of Todd Johnson. The ball fell for a single, Maldonado zoomed around to score, 5-3, and Stedham’s hand motion when talking to the first base coach indicated that he knew that he had just been really, REALLY lucky. In “**** it" mode, the Coons sent their runners for a double steal, with Wood’s throw to third base rather late, but the runners were pinned when Kilmer hit a quick bouncer to Johnson for the second out. Tony Morales batted for Garavito, whacked a ball into right-center for a base hit, and two runs scored, 7-3! Gary Martin secured the third out from Trevino after replacing the fallen Blanco.

Then Dusty Kulp shat the nest again, loading the bases with Wood, Johnson, and Rojas in the bottom 8th. When the Thunder sent .059 batter Greg Regan to pinch-hit in the #9 hole, the Raccoons countered with a left-hander … Soung. Regan flew out to left on the first pitch, wasting the runners, the Coons tacked on an extra run when Maldonado hit a 2-out RBI double in the ninth, and then the bottom 9th brought … yet more trouble. Moore struck out, but then the 21-year-old Martell singled, Celaya singled, and Cruz reached on Fowler’s clumsy error in center, bringing the tying run to the on-deck circle with one out. A mound conference established that The Warden considered himself merely unlucky, something with the stars not being aligned and ancient Korean tales. He struck out Wood after that, so maybe we’d be fine; Nuno was his final batter in any case, with right-handed bats luring behind the left-handed outfielder. The count ran full, Soung missed, walked in a run (unearned as it was), and the Raccoons pulled the plug. Wise came in, rung up Johnson, and all was well at least in the box score… 8-4 Raccoons. Maldonado 3-4, 2B, RBI; Stedham (PH) 1-1, RBI; Morales (PH) 1-1, 2 RBI;

To say that anything is clicking on all seven cylinders would be a bit hysterical, but at least we didn’t blow another substantial lead…..

Come on, boys. Win on Sunday, .500 week, and we bag the season series with the Thunder already. That would make me happy.

Game 3
POR: 2B Trevino – 3B Myers – LF M. Fernandez – CF Fowler – 1B Stedham – SS Ramos – C Morales – RF Maldonado – P Sparkes
OCT: LF Nuno – 2B Martell – 1B D. Cruz – C J. Wood – RF Celaya – 3B T. Johnson – CF Heskett – SS A. Rojas – P Inderrieden

At least no rainout again on Sunday, AND Manny hit a jack in the first for a quick 1-0 lead, but the spanking of Sparkes that had started on Tuesday continued in a wholly different place. He walked Cruz with two outs in the bottom 1st, Jimmy Wood flipped the score with a home run, and then Celaya walked. Johnson hit a single on which Celaya was slain in a rundown between second and third, mercifully ending the inning.

Fowler tied the game in the third, in which Trevino and Myers reached base with one out. Manny hit into a fielder’s choice, but Fowler found space in shallow center for an RBI single, getting the Coons even at two. Stedham grounded out to end the inning, and the Thunder came right back with a Nuno homer for a 3-2 lead in the bottom 3rd. The Thunder continued to have almost constant pressure on Sparkes, who had a really rotten week, but was about to be dug out of his hole, maybe, in the sixth inning. Stedham and Berto were on the corners with one out, but Tony Morales hit into a double play, 4-6-3, and everything remained dismal. At least Sparkes didn’t allow any more runs until Ed Hooge batted for him in the seventh, shooting a ball up the rightfield line for a 1-out triple, sadly with nobody on base. Trevino of course had to hit a ****ty fly to center that Heskett caught with ease. With just as much ease he threw out Hooge at home plate.

It was Manny Fernandez who tied the game after all, hitting a 1-out solo home run off Inderrieden in the eighth inning. (M! V! P!) While that took Sparkes off the hook, the Raccoons failed to take the lead. David Fernandez held the 1-2-3 batters away in the bottom 8th, after which Ramos would lead off the ninth against de la Rosa. He flew out to center, but Morales hit a double to right that we could have used earlier with runners aboard. Normally, Maldonado would be hit for with Hooge against a right-hander in this situation, but Hooge had already been used, so the Raccoons just let him bat. He fell to 1-2, then shot a ball into right-center that Celaya couldn’t reach and Heskett couldn’t cut off until it was almost at the warning track. The second consecutive double broke the tie and gave Portland a 4-3 lead! Vickers batted for the pitcher, with de la Rosa moving Maldonado to third with a wild pitch. Vickers fell to two strikes before hitting a ball to right, stretching away from Celaya, and IN for extra bases, another RBI double! Trevino was walked with intent, Myers flew out to center, moving Rich Vickers to third base, and Manny’s sharp grounder was right at Danny Cruz for the third out. So, who to close the game with!? Soung came on by default ultimately, because Wise had now pitched in back-to-back games, and the Raccoons would rather have him for one guy if things got tight than for three to make things tight. Wood whiffed. Celaya grounded out to short. Johnson ran a full count… and walked. Here we go again! Right-handed rookie Brian Pack pinch-hit for Heskett, getting his fifth career at-bat. Tough to gauge that one, but Soung remained in the game. The rookie crumbled, struck out, and the Coons had a .500 week at long last… 5-3 Raccoons. M. Fernandez 2-5, 2 HR, 2 RBI; Hooge (PH) 1-1, 3B; Vickers (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI;


In other news

May 25 – CHA INF/RF/LF Jose Farfan (.301, 2 HR, 12 RBI) hits a home run in the eighth inning for the only score in the Falcons’ 1-0 win over the Loggers.
May 27 – DAL CL Josh Boles (0-1, 5.19 ERA, 9 SV) will be shout down for a month with a case of shoulder inflammation.
May 27 – LVA SS/2B Chris O’Keefe (.327, 4 HR, 21 RBI) will have to sit out until the All Star Game with a groin strain.
May 29 – Cincinnati drowns the Stars in a barrel, celebrating a 19-4 mauling. CIN LF/RF/1B Dick Oshiita (.374, 9 HR, 25 RBI) and C Rey Cedillo (.308, 5 HR, 30 RBI) both have four base hits. Oshiita drives in five runs with a homer and a double, while Cedillo hits two doubles and plates six runners.
May 30 – A broken foot will keep VAN OF Jerry Outram (.307, 7 HR, 37 RBI) off the field for about a month.
May 31 – At a credible 43 years old, San Francisco RF/LF Pablo Sanchez (.333, 4 HR, 26 RBI) has a 20-game hitting streak following a 2-for-4 day in a 9-2 win over the Loggers.
May 31 – A third-inning single in the Gold Sox’ gives OF/1B Rich de Luna (.330, 1 HR, 14 RBI) a 20-game hitting streak.

FL Player of the Week: NAS 2B/SS Billy Bouldin (.375, 0 HR, 25 RBI) hit .577 (15-26) with 4 RBI
CL Player of the Week: NYC 2B/SS Kenny Elder (.367, 1 HR, 19 RBI) hit .455 (10-22) with 1 HR, 5 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: SAL C Morgan Kuhlmann (.346, 14 HR, 46 RBI), batting .358, 7 HR, 26 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: IND 2B Dan Schneller (.320, 8 HR, 23 RBI), batting .345, 8 HR, 18 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: NAS SP Doug Clifford (7-3, 3.91 ERA), posting marks of 5-1, 2.81 ERA
CL Pitcher of the Month: TIJ SP Juan Garcia (6-0, 2.71 ERA), getting to 4-0, 2.03 ERA
FL Rookie of the Month: PIT OF Adrian Wade (.319, 7 HR, 23 RBI), hitting .316, 5 HR, 19 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: OCT OF Ethan Moore (.263, 2 HR, 15 RBI), hitting .282 with 7 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Well, there were ups and there were downs this week. Offense was up (yay!), pitching not so much, unless you looked at ERA’s. We scored 41 runs in six games, but also cocked up 35. The rotation fared particularly badly, going 1-1 with a 6.42 ERA. Bernie was the only starter to win his game, while Ottie ironically lost his despite being the only guy to last seven innings, when the offense took Friday off.

Oh well. It was a mixed bag. Everybody had won, as indicated by the continued narrowness of the CL North. The damn Elks, the Arrowheads, the Purple Poopers, and us – all still just 2 1/2 apart.

Just waiting until those Titans ignite their jetpacks…

Dave Myers finishes May with the highest WAR for a position player in the CL with 2.4; pales compared to Morgan Kuhlmann’s 3.7 mark for the Wolves down I-5, especially if you remember that Kuhlmann is a catcher and not playing every day.

Cosmo leads the CL in stolen bases with 13, which is also rather soft compared to the 25 by Dallas’ Hugo Acosta.

Bottom line, it could be worse. It might *get* worse next week, with the Falcons visiting Portland, so there was another opportunity to leave stains on the carpet, and then the Titans came in on the weekend. Preceding the Titans series would be our last off day until three weeks later, having to play 21 games in 20 days and then another double header the week afterwards on the 29th.

Fun Fact: Pablo Sanchez has a .959 OPS, the highest since 2023 for him.

Back then he was 29, with the Scorpions, and won the last of his three Player of the Year titles. Nobody quite knows what his secret is to being a probable All Star at 43, but he can surely check into the Hall of Fame already. His numbers are astounding, starting with a .340 career batting average, a mind-boggling 1,628 RBI, and 4,297 base hits. He has long claimed the all-time lead in the latter category, but there are still two guys ahead of him on the RBI table: Hall of Famers (duh!) Will Bailey (1,714) and Martin Ortíz (1,670). The entire rest of the career top 10 is also in the Hall of Fame and long retired. Ortíz was actually the most recent competitor amongst them, playing until ’21.

ABL CAREER RBI

1st – Will Bailey – 1,714 (HOF)
2nd – Martin Ortíz – 1,670 (HOF)
3rd – Pablo Sanchez – 1,628 (active)
4th – Ron Alston – 1,598 (HOF)
5th – Bakile Hiwalani – 1,592 (HOF)
6th – Dan Morris – 1,578 (HOF)
7th – Dale Wales – 1,557 (HOF)
8th – Dennis Berman – 1,551 (HOF)
9th – Jeffery Brown – 1,545 (HOF)
10th – Stanley Murphy – 1,533 (HOF)

Of these we remember Alston and Murphy as Raccoons, but neither played even three full seasons with the Critters, which is obvious given that nobody gets RBI’s around here, ever.

Dale Wales is a nice comparison with Sanchez, though. Both came up at 19, and both played through their age 42 season (so far), with Sanchez having turned 43 just recently. Wales batted .315/.383/.457 for his career, never a home run threat (he never hit more than 11 in a season), but had a knack for extra bases and led his league in triples five times. He had a slugging title, but overall Sanchez was the much more impressive hitter. He had three slugging titles, and in fact three times won the batting title, led the league in OBP *and* in slugging.

Sanchez also never won a triple crown for a lack of power; his single-season high for homers is 10, and he never led the league in RBI either.

…and then you’re glad that he spent most of his career in the Federal League (this is only his third year of being paid by a CL team), so there is only admiration for a sure-as-heck Hall of Famer rather than agony and rage as with the skunk weasel…..