[Westheim]

Raccoons (81-61) @ Canadiens (73-69) – September 14-17, 2037

The Raccoons made for Vancouver at the worst of all times, hanging in the ropes already and waiting for the count to reach ten. The damn Elks were fifth in runs scored and seventh in runs allowed with a decent, but insufficient +35 run differential (Coons: +94), but the Raccoons led the season series, 8-6; whatever that meant – all my hopes had died, or had strained an oblique the previous week.

Projected matchups:
Bryce Sparkes (12-7, 2.88 ERA) vs. Corey Booth (12-9, 3.30 ERA)
Bernie Chavez (11-9, 3.28 ERA) vs. David Arias (9-4, 3.92 ERA)
Raffaello Sabre (9-6, 4.31 ERA) vs. Matt Sealock (11-9, 2.94 ERA)
Gene Tennis (2-2, 4.40 ERA) vs. Eric Weitz (15-10, 3.20 ERA)

We’d get all their right-handers, missing southpaw Bryce Neal (10-11, 4.21 ERA), not that I was crying about that. We’d also not see regulars Jerry Outram (labrum) and D.J. Robinson (hip), who were out for the year; Eric Morrow had won Player of the Week the last seven days, but was also nursing a tight hamstring.

Not that the Raccoons had it easy; Dr. Chung had yet to find out what had befallen Dave Myers, and Cosmo Trevino was out for the season regardless. And then there was all the high-level sucking that overcome them…

Game 1
POR: SS Ramos – LF M. Fernandez – RF Greenway – CF Fowler – 1B Stedham – 2B Vickers – 3B Maldonado – C Kilmer – P Sparkes
VAN: 2B Morrow – LF LeJeune – C Clemente – RF R. Phillips – SS Cabral – CF Carpenter – 1B Mezzanotte – 3B Schneider – P Booth

The first Raccoon to reach was Jesse Stedham, dinking a single behind Brian Schneider in the second inning. Rich Vickers ran a 3-0 count before poking into a double play for which he should be shot and I would drive to Raccoons Ballpark on Tuesday morning and clean the blunderbuss for that purpose, but right now I was busy huddling up on the couch with tissues, Honeypaws, and a whole pot of instant mac and cheese that looked like enough for a family of five. The tissues soon came in handy when Ryan Phillips yoinked one off Sparkes for a 1-0 Elks lead in the bottom 2nd. Sparkes then bunted into a double play after Jeff Kilmer reached on an error, and Booth faced the minimum through three innings. Good times.

Portland tied the game with two outs in the fourth inning. Greenway slapped a double down the line, but only reached third base on a soft Fowler single. Stedham sent a single up the middle, though, bringing in (only) his 56th run of the season. Vickers flew out to Nick Carpenter, stranding two, and Jesus Maldonado was robbed in the gap by Phillips the following inning, taking away extra bases at the start of the fifth. Meanwhile, entirely unnoticed by most, Bryce Sparkes pitched a rather dandy game – the Phillips homer aside, the Elks did not get another base hit until with two outs in the sixth, when Eric Morrow hit a single to left. Sparkes struck out only three, but generated a lot of poor contact that was easily collected by the infielders. Morrow stole second, scored on the inevitable Jesse LeJeune’s inevitable single to center, and the Raccoons were trailing again. Timóteo Clemente grounded to short, but what hope was there, really?

Leadoff walks to Stedham and Vickers – the latter at 3-0, and with the first base coach holding up a cardboard sign reaching “NO!!!” – put traffic on the bases for Booth in the seventh. Maldonado singled to right, loading the bases with nobody out, a.k.a. time to bat for Kilmer. Ed Hooge came out, hit a sac fly on 0-2, tying the game, and then Tony Morales batted for Sparkes on a necessary off day (necessary enough to sit him after two 3-run homers in two games), also found himself 0-2 behind, and hit another 3-run homer! This one to dead center, and putting the Critters up 5-2! Things then got dicey – because the pen had seen some … “wear” in New York. The damn Elks had three left-handers up in the eighth, and three right-handers in the ninth, and their bench wasn’t endless. The Raccoons thus sent Yeom Soung into the eighth, and lined up Citriniti for the ninth (Prieto being unavailable). Soung did his part, retiring the 4-5-6 in order with 2 K in the bottom 8th, but Citriniti walked Dusty Mezzanotte – who was batting .180 and in line for a One Hit Wonder in memoriam baseball card – to begin the ninth. Schneider popped out, after which .429 hitter (in limited exposure) and left-hander Luis Amezquita appeared in the #9 hole and legged out an infield single. Morrow struck out. When the damn Elks sent left-hander Fernando Alba to pinch-hit, the Raccoons pulled one of their last rested relievers – Mauricio Garavito. Strikeout – ballgame. 5-2 Raccoons. Greenway 2-3, BB, 2B; Stedham 2-3, BB, RBI; Morales (PH) 1-1, HR, 3 RBI; Sparkes 6.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, W (13-7);

New York was idle awaiting Boston, while Indy lost to the Loggers, thus giving the Raccoons at least a 3-game lead in the division.

And just when I started to unclench after the game, Dr. Chung called me from Elk City that he was sending Dave Myers home with back spasms that were not treatable by him sleeping on a hard surface for three days. He was lost for the season, plunging the Raccoons into the spiritual abyss for good. They were assured to play their last 19 games without a genuine #2 hitter.

Game 2
POR: SS Ramos – C Morales – LF M. Fernandez – CF Fowler – RF Greenway – 1B Stedham – 3B Maldonado – 2B Brito – P Chavez
VAN: CF A. Perez – LF LeJeune – RF Phillips – 1B J. Lopez – 2B Morrow – C James – SS Serrano – 3B Ashley – P D. Arias

…which was the point where every reasonably warm paw would get a chance, that being Tony Morales on Tuesday, where Bernie Chavez loaded the bases with two first-pitch singles, a full-count walk, and one out in the bottom 1st and then struck out Morrow and grounded out Derek James to escape the mess. That was already the most offense any team put up early. While they played five innings and I dug my way through eight packs of white bread with three pounds of liverwurst, nobody scored; the Raccoons totalled three hits, while the damn Elks tallied three hits after the James groundout, and all fairly well spaced. Offense then came in the way of a 3-run homer again, and once more for the good guys, when Troy Greenway collected Morales (single) and Fernandez (walk) with two outs in the top of the sixth.

While Bernie kept pitching a non-flashy, but successful game through six, the Raccoons got Maldonado and Brito on in the seventh. Their double steal gave Brito his first career steal (not that he’d ever reach 500 for it), and when Bernie flew out to left, Maldonado scored on the sac fly, and LeJeune’s bad throw allowed Brito to third base, aiding him in coming home on Morales’ 2-out single to right. Berto had struck out in between and Manny grounded out to end the inning, with the score at the stretch being 5-0. Bernie was on 83 pitches, so a shutout was not likely, but he kept the board clean through seven and had a run tacked on with a Stedham homer in the top of the eighth, coming off Alex Aguilar. A Brito error would then complicate the eighth inning to the point where Bernie Chavez reached 108 pitches, and the Raccoons were not willing to risk a fatigue injury at this point. They needed all the stripes they still had on the field. Nate Ward finished off the damn Elks in the ninth. 6-0 Raccoons! Morales 2-4, RBI; Brito 2-4; Chavez 8.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K, W (12-9);

Indy won, staying 3 1/2 behind, while the Crusaders lost their opener and dropped to four games out.

POR: SS Ramos – C Morales – LF M. Fernandez – RF Greenway – CF Hooge – 3B Maldonado – 1B Maruyama – 2B Nickas – P Sabre
VAN: CF A. Perez – 2B Morrow – C Clemente – RF R. Phillips – 1B J. Lopez – SS Cabral – LF Korecky – 3B Ashley – P Sealock

If the Raccoons wanted to get anywhere (now or in October) they had to get Raffaello Sabre turned north again. He came off two straight 5-run ravagings and had only pitched a good game and a half in his last seven. Predictably, giving the environs, he melted down in the second inning, which began with Johnny Lopez and Ramon Cabral hits that put them in scoring position, a 2-run single by Will Korecky, a grim throwing error by Maldonado that scored the third run, and a 2-out Morrow single to make it 4-0, at which point I was no longer in the mood for the large fruit basket with an extra helping of vanilla sauce I had bought earlier. Even Honeypaws looked kinda pale around the snout… Two runs were unearned, but that would not be a bullet point for playoff considerations relative to the Indians and Crusaders… It was more about the eternal question of shooting for merely flogging.

Nickas’ leadoff walk and him scoring on Ramos’ single got the Raccoons on the board in the third inning, but more offense was needed, and against a firmly resisting Sealock was hard to come by. Berto hit a double in the sixth, representing the next time a Raccoon reached scoring position, but was left there by Morales and Manny. Sabre managed to pitch into the seventh after the early clubbing, and was removed after a 2-out Morrow single. Barker allowed the only batter he faced on base, but Phillips popped out against David Fernandez. The Raccoons sent Colt Willes into the eighth inning, saw him give up murderous bombs to Lopez and Cabral, and worried. 6-1 Canadiens. Ramos 2-4, 2B, RBI; Maldonado 2-3, 2B; Nickas 0-1, 2 BB;

The good news was that nobody broke their little neck and that the competition lost as well. At this point the Titans were beginning to creep back into the picture…!

The Raccoons would not see a left-hander on the weekend (barring surprises) and thus could be liberal with the starting catching assignments. Morales, who had not hit a 3-run homer in two games, got one more game in the #2 hole, and we’d likely try Maldonado behind Berto on Friday.

Game 4
POR: SS Ramos – C Morales – LF M. Fernandez – RF Greenway – CF Fowler – 3B Maldonado – 1B Stedham – 2B Brito – P Tennis
VAN: SS Cabral – LF Amezquita – 1B J. Lopez – C Clemente – RF R. Phillips – CF LeJeune – 2B L. Castillo – 3B Ashley – P Weitz

I ordered stew for twelve at the nearby Asian place and it arrived just in time for the first pitch; Gene Tennis then promptly put a pair on base, and was saved only by Fernandez throwing out Amezquita at the plate to end the bottom 1st. Justin Fowler however opened the top 2nd with a homer to right, his 33rd of the year and also FINALLY getting him to 100 RBI for the season. That was about the extent of early offense, though. The Raccoons twice got Berto on base, he stole a bag, and wasn’t scored once, let alone twice, and that was about their box score entries through five innings. Tennis lumbered on clumsily, keeping the Elks away through four inning, but they opened the fifth with straight hits by LeJeune, Luis Castillo, and Ray Ashley. The latter was to left, LeJeune was sent – and thrown out by Fernandez, who logged his second assist of the game. The trailing runners reached scoring position, but with the pitcher at the plate. Weitz fanned against Tennis, the left-handed Cabral came up, and bounced out to Brito. PHEW!! And – mmm, stew!

More offense would have been lovely, but wasn’t on the menu, and Tennis fell apart for good in the sixth. Amezquita singled, Lopez walked, Clemente hit a double, and the game was tied. All three runs scored; one more on a grounder off Tennis, and the third on Ward serving a single to Castillo, putting the Raccoons in a 3-1 hole. Eric Weitz unhelpfully retired Portland in order twice more, and they faced Tim Zimmerman in the ninth inning. Troy Greenway led off by falling to 1-2 before hitting a drive to right for a – fair? foul? … Home run! One more to tie, boys, I yelled, shaking my stewy spoon. Fowler singled, putting the tying run on base, but Zimmerman struck out the next two before Ed Hooge batted for Brito… and grounded out to short. 3-2 Canadiens. Fowler 2-3, HR, RBI;

(sigh!) When it came to teasing, they were sure a playoff team.

The Indians won, so the division narrowed to 2 1/2 games, and with another Titans win, they moved to six games out. I hated to say it, but they were making a last-ditch run for it AND we’d play them to end the year.

Raccoons (83-63) vs. Condors (73-73) – September 18-20, 2037

The Condors were considered done at eight games out, but the Titans had been pronounced dead just as well and were zooming back into the race. Tijuana had the most runs scored in the CL, but also the second-most runs allowed. Their once-formidable pitching staff had completely come apart at the seams and nothing had helped fix the problem. The season series was tied at three.

Projected matchups:
Jared Ottinger (10-10, 3.62 ERA) vs. George Griffin (7-11, 5.59 ERA)
Bryce Sparkes (13-7, 2.88 ERA) vs. Greg Fischer (9-8, 5.79 ERA)
Bernie Chavez (12-9, 3.15 ERA) vs. Omar Uribe (7-17, 4.73 ERA)

We got the worst bits of their stuff, but beware those 17-loss tossers! All of the bunch were right-handed.

Game 1
TIJ: CF C. Boles – SS Bunyon – RF Willie Ojeda – LF J. Williams – 1B Zuazo – 3B Sanks – 2B Ragsdale – C Kumle – P Griffin
POR: SS Ramos – 3B Maldonado – LF M. Fernandez – CF Fowler – RF Greenway – C Garcia – 1B Stedham – 2B Vickers – P Ottinger

I was piqued to see what somebody named Dylan Ragsdale could do to Ottie – exactly the type of ho-hum youngster that could tear the Raccoons apart at a critical junction! He struck out the first time up, but by that time the Condors led 1-0 on a solo home run by Alvin Zuazo. The Raccoons responded (!!) with Fowler singling and Greenway homering to right in the bottom of the same inning (!!), taking a 2-1 lead, before Ottinger blew it in the next half-inning, with Chris Boles, Willie Ojeda, and Alvin Zuazo ripping him for a single and two RBI doubles. The Raccoons went on to do nothing with leadoff base runners Jesus Maldonado in the third and Fernando Garcia in the fourth, then saw Ottinger dismembered in the top 5th, with Donovan Bunyon and Justin Williams having a single and RBI double, respectively, and then Zuazo hit his second home run of the game.

Down 6-2, the Raccoons sent Pena to stall and prepared Willes for another rehab outing under live fire. Willes entered for the sixth inning and remained woefully ****. He walked leadoff man George Kumle, allowed a pinch-hit RBI triple to Giacomino Vitalini, walked Bunyon, and gave up the Vitalini run on an Ojeda grounder, 8-2, and another RBI triple to Bunyon in the eighth, being lifted after three catastrophic innings, which at least hadn’t undone a splendid 4-run Raccoons rally, because they hadn’t even been on base in any notable capacity during Willes’ time getting blasted. The Raccoons eeked out a sac fly in the bottom of the ninth, and otherwise lost silently for their part. 9-3 Condors. Garcia 0-1, 3 BB;

The good news… Indy and New York lost AGAIN. Boston was now within five games, though.

Can anybody hear play this game?

Game 2
TIJ: CF C. Boles – SS Bunyon – RF Willie Ojeda – LF J. Williams – 1B Zuazo – 3B Sanks – 2B Shay – C N. Howell – P Fischer
POR: SS Ramos – C Morales – LF Hooge – RF Greenway – 1B Stedham – CF Maldonado – 2B Vickers – 3B Pinkerton – P Sparkes

Berto singled and stole a base in the first inning, but found nobody aiding him with the roundtrip. The Raccoons remained stale and dry the first time through, and while Sparkes managed to see the minimum with one double play turned and one base runner (Ojeda) thrown out by Morales, he still gave up a single to Boles and a double to Bunyon to begin the fourth. Willie Ojeda hit a sac fly, 1-0, but Bunyon was left on base after poor outs by Williams and Zuazo. Ed Hooge’s leadoff jack tied the game in the bottom 4th, and while Maldonado hit a 2-out triple there was a) nobody on base, and b) Vickers struck out.

The Raccoons got a gift chance in the bottom 5th with Preston Pinkerton’s leadoff single allowing Sparkes to bunt. Greg Fischer threw that bunt away, and now the Raccoons had them on second and third with nobody out and the top of the order coming up. Berto lined out to Chris Boles in center, but at least got Hooge in with the sac fly. Morales’ single put runners on the corners. Hooge’s grounder to short looked good for two, but Bunyon’s toss to Adam Shay was a bit off and took away the double play – Sparkes scored, and Hooge reached first base safely, then was caught stealing to end the inning.

Sparkes labored around a leadoff single by Boles, with the runner replaced twice on fielder’s choices, walked Williams, and rung up Zuazo in an endless sixth inning that almost consumed his pitch count. Greenway opened the bottom 6th with a jack to right, extending the lead to 4-1, and Sparkes would retire the next four Condors in order before arriving at the top of the order again where mostly left-handed batters lived, all of them making the Coons’ little lives a living hell. David Fernandez got the assignment, gave up two soft singles, then a run on Ojeda’s sac fly. Far from ideal, but at least he got out of the inning eventually… Against the righty part of the lineup, the Raccoons sent Prieto in the ninth. The ****ing skunk weasel, Shane Sanks, hit a 1-out triple to leftfield to get the tying run to the plate, scored on Shay’s grounder, but at least we were only one out away. When Josh Turley, a 29-year-old AAA denizen, pinch-hit for Nick Howell, the Raccoons sent Soung after all against the left-handed batter. He promptly gave up a single… but struck out Vitalini after that. 4-3 Raccoons. Stedham 2-4, 2B; Maldonado 1-2, BB, 3B; Pinkerton 1-2, BB; Sparkes 7.1 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K, W (14-7);

(EXHALE)

In a major breakthrough, the Indians lost their game in Vegas, dropping to 3 1/2 games out. Crusaders and Titans held the stations at four and five, respectively, so this assured the Raccoons to improve their position at the end of the week compared to Monday morning, if nothing else.

We’d still like to not soil the carpet facing a 17-game loser, though…

Game 3
TIJ: 1B Zuazo – SS Bunyon – RF Willie Ojeda – LF J. Williams – 2B Bensinger – CF Stubblefield – 3B Quintanilla – C N. Howell – P Uribe
POR: SS Ramos – C Morales – LF M. Fernandez – CF Fowler – RF Greenway – 3B Maldonado – 1B Stedham – 2B Brito – P

Bernie threw four pitches, left with back pain, and the Raccoons were in trouble. Me personally, I couldn’t find the cyanide capsule I had stashed away somewhere. Personal issues notwithstanding – the Raccoons had a bullpen day on their paws, and it didn’t look like it was going to be pretty. Derek Barker was brought in first and got the lead after navigating his way out of the inning when Berto walked, stole his 30th base of the year, and scored on Manny’s single to right. Fernandez scored on 2-out singles by Greenway and Maldonado, Stedham walked, but with the bases loaded Brito ground out to Zuazo and the Raccoons missed the chance to deal a big blow right away, getting only two runs. Barker conceded a run against the bottom of the order in the top half of the second, but then the Condors made consecutive errors to put Berto and Morales on base with one down in the bottom 2nd! Manny grounded into a fielder’s choice, but Fowler shoved an RBI double through Victor Quintanilla, who had scored the Condors’ run earlier. The Coons got a fourth run on a wild pitch. Tijuana again reclaimed a run in the following half-inning, this time in unearned fashion as Brito’s defense also melted down for a 2-base throwing error that threatened to unhorse Barker before he retired Jason Bensinger and Marquis Stubblefield to end the inning.

The 4-2 lead barely survived a Pena appearance in the fourth, with Quintanilla and Howell reaching base on a walk and a single with nobody out. A grounder, a pop, and Garavito getting a fly to center that Fowler could reach off Bunyon’s bat starved the tying runs in scoring position, but Ojeda hit a homer off Garavito in the fifth, and the score narrowed to 4-3. With the Raccoons’ offense haven walked off work after the four early runs, the reliever parade kept the Condors in check. The parade continued with Ward, David Fernandez, and then Citriniti to cover eight innings. Brito and Berto singles in the bottom 8th led nowhere nice, and the 4-3 lead went to Soung once Turley was introduced as pinch-hitter leading off the ninth inning. He lined out to Berto, who also handled the pinch-hitting skunk weasel’s grounder for an out. Zuazo got screwed on a screwball, and the Raccoons eeked out another win. 4-3 Critters! Maldonado 2-4, RBI; D. Fernandez 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

In other news

September 15 – LVA C Ken Wiersma (.262, 5 HR, 22 RBI) goes yard for the only tally in the Aces’ 1-0 win over the Condors.
September 16 – The first major league home run of ATL OF Nelson Velez (.182, 1 HR, 5 RBI) is a walkoff grand slam off SFB CL Jose Moreno (4-5, 3.93 ERA, 11 SV), giving the Knights a 7-3 win.
September 18 – The 24-game hitting streak of Dallas’ Hugo Acosta (.369, 0 HR, 83 RBI) ends in a 6-0 loss to the Capitals.
September 18 – SFW 3B/2B Nick Rozenboom (.334, 10 HR, 43 RBI) sees his hitting streak end on the same day, at 23 games, in a 3-2 win over the Buffaloes.

FL Player of the Week: NAS 3B/2B Jim Allen (.297, 15 HR, 87 RBI), batting .478 (11-23) with 3 HR, 9 RBI
CL Player of the Week: ATL 1B Justin LeClerc (.273, 8 HR, 49 RBI), who hit .750 (6-8) with 2 HR, 3 RBI

Complaints and stuff

There is an unwelcome re-entry into the division race that I don’t even want to talk about….

POR (85-64) – IND (4), BOS (3), MIL (3), OCT (3) – .478 – 85.7% (+20.4%)
IND (81-67) – NYC (4), POR (4), ATL (3), BOS (3) – .541 – 7.3% (-11.5%)
NYC (81-68) – IND (4), IND (3), MIL (3), TIJ (3) – .498 – 3.8% (-11.6%)
BOS (80-69) – VAN (4), IND (3), LVA (3), POR (3) – .532 – 3.3% (+2.8%)

All our games are at home – except for a weekend trip to Milwaukee next week. The Indians and Titans will make up the final week. The Indians’ and Crusaders’ 4-game set on a 3-day weekend will be in parallel to our Titans clash. That could be an … “interesting” finale. Don’t make plans. Stock up on tissues. And pills.

We used eight pitchers on Sunday in that highly critical game (and W! … which went to Barker). Now – Bernie Chavez will live. He only has mild back spasms, I am told, and he will be fine in a couple of days, Dr. Chung said. I just wonder whether me pointing the blunderbuss at his guts and demanding good news had anything to do with this. I mean, he’s from Pyongyang, he knows how to handle mental strongmen.

We might be lacking for pen options to begin the Thunder series on Monday, though. Prieto and Sims were the only relievers not used in the team effort. Although – Colt Willes would be ready for another tryout!

We could also add another arm. I’d also be interested in another option at third base. The options for the latter are rather lackluster (Matt Triolo, anyone? Vince Lutch?); the only AAA bat that would be interesting is Cory Cronk, a 23-year-old third-rounder who spent the entire year there for the second straight season. He batted .218 with 7 homers in ’36, but .278 with 16 homers this year. He also drew *110* walks and stole 26 bases. The problem is that he’s a left-handed corner outfielder, and where would we fit a guy like that in? Now, he has played second base before, but don’t expect him to make the pivot on a double play. His arm *is* great – but he has no experience at third base, and now seems like a bad time to have a Ricardo Martinez Revival.

Cronk was of course already on the major league roster earlier this year. He appeared in six games, went hitless in 17 plate appearances, but walked four times. We have guys on the roster that wouldn’t walk four times in a month…

What to do with Maldonado? He batted .363/.442/.573 during his 43-game exile to AAA. There is *clearly* talent there. It just doesn’t click! He played all week and has in fact played regularly since Myers and Cosmo disappeared into the rapture. He batted 7-for-24 this week, walked twice, struck out 8 times, and had one RBI. It’s just … he just doesn’t put it together here…..

And it’s too bad because the Raccoons have a guy under contract for ’38 with 33 homers that can’t play his position anymore, but 33 homers will surely find a suitor even at that price. If only we could find somebody to step forward to stake a claim! Everybody on the team seems to have stepped back … except for maybe Greenway, who had his attention on his bowl with snacks and didn’t notice everybody else galloped backwards.

Greenway as a Coon? Slugging .625!

Fun Fact: Justin Fowler hit his 300th ABL home run in the second inning on Thursday, a game that turned sour later on, much like Fowler’s defense has.

86 of his bombs have come for Portland, the rest with the Pacifics. And while there’s any number of players that manage to hit three times as many homers as their draft position indicates, for the 2023 #100 pick it was an actual achievement. .279/.350/.476 for his career, with 1,081 RBI, and in his younger years he also stole 134 bases in total.

Rookie of the Year, 9-time All Star, plenty of accolades, and three World Series rings – there’s empty claws left on these paws.