[Westheim]

(wonders at the mysterious markings next to the doorframe) Maud? – Maud! … – Why are there red paw prints on the wall in my office? – What do you mean, “they got into the jello”?

And why is it so dark in here? Why are the blinds down? The blinds are never down, because I want to see the diamond below! – (starts to twiddle up the blinds against somehow stiff resistance) – Yes, Maud, I also see the four paws and the striped tail sticking out of the drawn-up blinds. (tries to reverse the movement while the Critter caught in the blinds struggles and wiggles before the entire construction crashes to the ground) – Hoogey! – (suddenly freed, Ed Hooge gallops out of the room, leaving more red paw prints on the floor)

Slappy, would you …? (points at mess on the floor)

(Slappy wipes across one paw print with a finger before tasting)

FINE. It’s *strawberry*!

Raccoons (16-8) vs. Indians (12-13) – May 3-6, 2038

The Indians had won 10 of 18 games from the Raccoons last year; this was the first meeting between the teams in the not-so-new-anymore season. They were eighth in runs scored with a pathetic .238 batting average. They were seventh in runs allowed, with both rotation and bullpen putting up ERA’s just over four, and they already had a bunch of regulars on the DL with Elliott Thompson, Jose Santillan, and Dave Serrato all out with minor ailments.

Projected matchups:
Raffaello Sabre (2-1, 4.18 ERA) vs. Joe Dishon (1-3, 4.93 ERA)
Bernie Chavez (1-3, 4.97 ERA) vs. Donovan Mason (3-0, 1.93 ERA)
Bryce Sparkes (2-1, 2.45 ERA) vs. Mike Hurley (0-3, 8.87 ERA)
Jared Ottinger (2-0, 4.20 ERA) vs. Joe Robinson (2-2, 2.84 ERA)

Robinson was the only southpaw to expect here. We’d miss the other one, Arnie Terwilliger (2-2, 3.58 ERA).

Game 1
IND: LF Cassell – 3B Hutson – RF Leftwich – CF Baron – 1B Rempfer – C Mordino – 2B Bainer – SS DiGiacomo – P Dishon
POR: 3B Ramos – 2B Trevino – LF M. Fernandez – RF Greenway – 1B Maldonado – CF Hooge – SS Myers – C Kilmer – P Sabre

Dan Hutson’s single and Jeremy Leftwich’s double were enough for an Indians run in the top 1st, with Sabre clearly continuing to struggle, and while he got around a throwing error by Berto (oh boy) that put Jeremy Bainer on base in the second, he couldn’t keep Hutson and Leftwich off base; both reached in the top 3rd again, and Brent Rempfer singled home a run with two outs. The Raccoons had yet to find a base runner, with Dave Myers’ leadoff walk in the bottom of the inning serving perfectly fine. Kilmer singled up the middle, and Sabre bunted the tying runs into scoring position, but a sac fly from Ramos was all the Critters got; Cosmo popped out to short to end the inning. Troy Greenway had a single in the fourth that led nowhere, and the Raccoons didn’t reach base at all in the fifth. The most forceful impression was made by Ed Hooge on the centerfield fence, snatching a John Baron drive to the deepest part of the park at full speed, impacting the wall – padded, but, still – and somehow surviving in the top of the fifth inning.

Bainer doubled home Sal Mordino in the sixth, giving Indy a 3-1 lead, and Sabre reached 109 pitches by the conclusion of that frame and wouldn’t be back until Saturday. Maldonado and Garavito committed errors to give the Indians an unearned run an inning later, after which Maldonado hit a soft leadoff single in the bottom 7th. Ed Hooge cracked a homer to right, and somehow that was the first time a baseball made a loud noise against a Furball’s bat. That still left the team 4-3 behind, and they didn’t reach again facing Dishon, who was only lifted after eight innings to bring in southpaw Michael Donovan and his 1.74 ERA in the ninth inning. Greenway grounded out. Maldonado flew to deep right… but into an out. Rich Vickers batted for Hooge and kept the game going with a single past Joe DiGiacomo… but Myers flew out to Ryan Cassell and that was it. 4-3 Indians. Vickers (PH) 1-1;

That game was pathetic front to end.

At least the Elks lost as well and we remained in a tie for first place, one game ahead of the … Loggers??

Game 2
IND: LF Cassell – 3B Hutson – RF Leftwich – CF Baron – 1B Rempfer – C Mordino – 2B Bainer – SS DiGiacomo – P D. Mason
POR: 3B Myers – 2B Trevino – LF M. Fernandez – RF Greenway – CF Hooge – C Morales – 1B Stedham – SS Williams – P Chavez

Cosmo reached, then was forced out by Manny’s grounder before the Raccoons found a pair of 2-out singles from their 4-5 batters to take a 1-0 lead in the bottom 1st. Jeremy Bainer misjudged his leap on the following Morales liner, which dinked in for another RBI single, and then Jesse Stedham, who had been left unused on Monday, continued his slow rot with a groundout. But Bernie had whiffed two and had allowed nobody on base in the first inning – surely it would all be alright for him today! Brent Rempfer’s homer to center put his ERA over five again in the second inning, but left the Coons 2-1 ahead. In the third inning he nailed Ryan Cassell, then was punished by Hutson’s second homer of the year; that one flipped the score, 3-2.

After nobody else than Stedham brought home Greenway with the tying run in the bottom 3rd, Bernie managed to stop the fireworks long enough for the Critters to give him a new lead in the fourth. Myers singled, stole second, then scored on Cosmo’s single, but Trevino never got a stealing move off and was stranded along with Hooge and his 2-out single. Hoogey defused a Cassell drive with two outs and DiGiacomo on second base in the fifth as it began to rain, and a rain-shortened W beckoned as the best of all outcomes right now. Technically, it would count, since five innings for the visiting team were completed and we had the lead. No substantial downpour occurred, however, and Bernie had to go back out for the sixth against the fat part of the order. Hutson grounded out, getting Bernie’s ERA back under five, and Baron’s 2-out single was all that happened in the inning. Portland scratched out a run on Manny’s single, stolen base, and eventually a sac fly by Hooge, which made it 5-3 after six, while somehow we were out-hitting the Arrowheads 13-4, we just didn’t hit them *out* …

Bernie struck out three right-handers at the bottom of the order (with an in-between single by DiGiacomo) to complete seven innings, which was all anybody dared ask of him. The Raccoons got two outs from David Fernandez before Leftwich singled in the eighth. With John Baron, the righty all-or-nothing guy (.209, 4 HR) up, the Raccoons went to Jermaine Campbell for four outs and no accidents, please. Baron ripped his hardest, eyes closed, at 0-2, hit nothing, and was dismissed to end the inning. Ed Hooge drove in an insurance run, plating Manny Fernandez, in the bottom 8th, remaining unretired in the game and making an audible case for more regular playing time (again!). Not today, though – Campbell axed down the Indians in the ninth, whiffing three of the four batters he faced in this game. 6-3 Raccoons! Myers 3-5; M. Fernandez 2-5; Greenway 2-4; Hooge 4-4, 3 RBI;

Besides Ed Hooge trying to win MVP off the bench, the Elks lost to the Loggers (!), so they were now in a tie for second place and the Raccoons had first place back to themselves.

We continued to weave in some off days; Berto and Maldonado had been sitting out on Tuesday, and Myers, Manny, and Cosmo were on the bench on Wednesday, while the Indians – on a smaller budget – ran out the same lineup for the third day. They didn’t seem to have any other players.

Game 3
IND: LF Cassell – 3B Hutson – RF Leftwich – CF Baron – 1B Rempfer – C Mordino – 2B Bainer – SS DiGiacomo – P Hurley
POR: 3B Ramos – 2B Vickers – CF Hooge – RF Greenway – 1B Maldonado – LF Ledford – C Morales – SS Williams – P Sparkes

Their right-hander had his feelings hurleyed early on though, with a 2-out rush by the Critters in the bottom 1st. Hooge doubled because you couldn’t get him out, Greenway singled, and Portland went up 1-0 on a wild pitch. Maldonado singled, and Brad Ledford bashed a 3-piece to right-center, 4-0. Similar picture the inning after, where Hurley got two quick outs before walking Berto, who stole second base, and then Vickers’ single made it 5-0, and Hooge also singled, because you couldn’t get him out. Troy Greenway sure took aim for the fence and hit it in right-center for a 2-run double. Maldonado singled to put runners on the corners, and that was all for Hurley, yanked after 1.2 innings, and seven each in hits and runs once Ledford flew out against southpaw Cesar Castillo.

Then, immediately, Bryce Sparkes seemed to have a stroke, allowing a hit to Cassell and a homer to Hutson in the third. Leftwich reached, scored on a hard-to-watch error by Greenway, completely botching a Rempfer fly ball (those jello claws!!), and Rempfer would also come home on Jeremy Bainer’s single for a 4-run rally just when my guts thought they could stop revolting. A misplay by Castillo in the bottom 3rd helped the Coons load the bases; Morales and Berto reached on their own merit, but Sparkes got on when Castillo misfielded his bunt, thinking he’d get two, and got none. Three on, one out for Rich Vickers, batting .409 in admittedly almost no playing time, but he pushed a grounder through Gold Glover Dan Hutson for an RBI single, 8-4, after which Hoogey was rendered out on a double play grounder that killed the inning.

Ledford flew out on a 3-0 pitch with nobody on in the fourth, which I didn’t like, and Sparkes then had Morales and Williams in scoring position and grounded back to the mound on a 3-0 pitch in the fifth, which I also didn’t like. I didn’t like making outs at 3-0 much at all, but maybe they also had jello in their fuzzy ears…! Berto knocked out the resilient Castillo with a 2-run double, 10-4, but the Indians brought another lefty in Justin Kaiser, who Vickers singled against, now batting .458; Hooge got Berto home with a groundout, and Greenway got Vickers around with a single to right. Maldonado singled, but Ledford flew out to center. It was 12-4, felt like enough for a day, but somehow we still needed 12 outs and Sparkes was on 95 pitches…

Bainer singled up the middle to begin the sixth. Sparkes got a K from the shortstop, then left with left-handed D.J. Mendez pinch-hitting. A double switch brought on Garavito and Stedham (at Ledford’s expense). The former got five outs from five batters, while the latter almost got extra bases in the bottom 6th with a drive that Leftwich robbed him on. Tony Morales had however homered two batters earlier, and the Raccoons were up by nine, so all was dandy, even though the homer came off Mark Roberts, and I was worried the Critters might ruin his Hall of Fame chances by squaring off against him. But he kept himself together and finished the Indians’ pitching allotment while maintaining some dignity. The same couldn’t be said for Dennis Citriniti, who was rushed for three screaming liners, two for extra bases, and two runs in the ninth, and had to be dug out by Yeom Soung. 13-6 Raccoons! Ramos 2-5, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Vickers 4-5, 2 RBI; Hooge 2-5, 2B, RBI; Greenway 3-5, 2B, 3 RBI; Trevino (PH) 1-1; Morales 3-4, HR, RBI; Garavito 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

While that was a fun amount of offense, the pitching remained crummy. Citriniti’s ERA was now up to 6.59 and he was not going to get many more crappy outings like this one.

Game 4
IND: LF Cassell – 3B Hutson – RF Leftwich – CF Baron – 1B Rempfer – 2B Bainer – C Ebner – SS DiGiacomo – P J. Robinson
POR: 3B Myers – 2B Trevino – RF M. Fernandez – CF Maldonado – LF Hooge – C Kilmer – 1B Stedham – SS Williams – P Ottinger

Ottie had to battle hard and long to get around Ryan Cassell’s leadoff walk and stolen base, but then had a lead in the bottom 1st, which Dave Myers opened with a single before Cosmo hit a ball well over John Baron for an RBI triple. Manny got the run home with a sac fly, 2-0. The Indians would get leadoff hits by DiGiacomo in the third and Leftwich in the fourth and didn’t score those guys, either, but they sure managed to get up Ottinger’s pitch count, which reached 61 after four innings thanks to many long counts. Sean Ebner, not having been seen for three days, hit a leadoff double over Hooge in the fifth… and was stranded as well! But, still, that pitch count…

Dan Hutson’s leadoff single in the sixth marked the fourth inning in a row and fifth time in the game that the Arrowheads got their leadoff man aboard; that was also their grand total of base runners so far. Here, Leftwich lined out to Hooge, Baron hit into a fielder’s choice, then advanced on a wild pitch before Rempfer completed the walk, becoming the first non-leadoff guy to reach for Indy in this game. Ottie was on 87 pitches, but Bainer was batting .172, so even with the tying runs aboard, what could possibly happen? Pop to Elijah Williams at 1-0, inning over! Ottie batted for himself and singled in the bottom 6th, which was actually the first Raccoons base hit since the first inning, then was doubled up on Myers’ 6-4-3. The game remained 2-0 and was by no means in the bag. Ottie retired the 7-8-9 in order (!) in the seventh, an after 102 pitches got the pat on the bum and was invited to watch the rest of the proceedings from the dugout. Things promptly went south with a Leftwich homer off David Fernandez, cutting the gap in half with two outs in the eighth. Ben Feist got Baron to fly out after that. Joe Robinson, not that much talked about, was still working on a 3-hitter, even if so far on the losing end. He nicked Elijah Williams and allowed a pinch-hit single to Greenway in the bottom 8th, but rung up Myers to end the inning. At least Campbell ended the game without calamity. 2-1 Critters. Greenway (PH) 1-1; Ottinger 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K, W (3-0) and 1-2;

Only four base hits – but a win is a win is a win.

Raccoons (19-9) @ Capitals (20-9) – May 7-9, 2038

Clash of the two teams with the best record so far, and both teams were of similar makeup with a top-notch offense that scored five-ish runs per game doing just enough to overpower so-so pitching. They were second in the FL in runs scored, and tied for fifth in runs allowed. Their rotation was worse than their pen, and they had no speed or defense, but ample power. A pitchers’ massacre was entirely possible, and maybe even likely. These teams hadn’t faced off in the last three seasons, but we had swept the last meeting in 2034.

Projected matchups:
Josh Weeks (2-1, 6.48 ERA) vs. Alfredo Vargas (3-0, 1.89 ERA)
Raffaello Sabre (2-2, 4.25 ERA) vs. Jeff Horstmeier (1-4, 5.60 ERA)
Bernie Chavez (2-3, 4.73 ERA) vs. Michael Frank (1-1, 3.75 ERA)

Southpaw on Sunday; otherwise it was right-handers. There were two other players to watch here. Adam Avakian, that no-good dismal malcontent with no spine or redeeming qualities, batting .297 with 5 HR and 26 RBI. And Justin Fowler, who the Raccoons had turned into Brad Ledford and a pitcher since swamped in St. Petersburg for his deteriorated defense, and who was batting .195 with 3 HR and 9 RBI. Oh boy.

Game 1
POR: 3B Ramos – 2B Trevino – LF M. Fernandez – RF Greenway – CF Maldonado – SS Myers – C Morales – 1B Stedham – P Weeks
WAS: RF S. Martin – 2B Falzone – C N. Evans – CF J. Fowler – 1B Avakian – SS A. Castillo – LF Gibbs – 3B Trawick – P A. Vargas

While the Raccoons got two aboard and stranded them in the first inning, the Caps didn’t make an out until way too late, when Weeks was already being dragged to Baltimore under a passing bus. Scott Martin and Rich Falzone led off with singles, then scored on Nate Evans’ triple to right. Fowler and Avakian both walked, and Alex Castillo hit a sac fly before the inning fizzled out on two grounders to short. In other words, not too unusual a first inning for Josh Weeks…

Tony Morales’ solo homer counted for something, but the Raccoons had the tying runs in Myers and Morales on the corners in the fourth (after Maldonado had been caught stealing for the sixth time in 11 tries this year) and one out, when Stedham lined out to short. Weeks was clearly not going to win this game with either arm or stick, but we also didn’t want to burn the bullpen when it would be needed for the next two contests. Everything was terrible, Weeks batted – but not for long, with Tony Morales inexplicably being picked off first base to end the inning. One of THOSE games and I accepted the L at that point.

Then Portland tied it; Cosmo doubled with two outs in the fifth and Manny Fernandez homered, only his second bomb this season, but good enough for 21 RBI, second by Greenway’s 23 on the team. Maldonado reached to begin the sixth, stole second as I squealed, then scored on a grounder and Morales’ sac fly, putting Portland up 4-3. Alex Castillo and Ken Gibbs promptly reached the corners with leadoff singles in the bottom of the inning, because all the baseball gods hated me and liked to see my soul burn. Prieto replaced him, K’ed Jake Trawick, then got a bunt by Vargas, who wasn’t batted for in this fat spot. Scott Martin was the Batter of the Month and hitting .303, but he was still a right-hander and we wouldn’t walk him just to get a .224 lefty up when we had Prieto on the mound, who had enjoyed reasonable suc---- … oh thank goodness, Stedham made it back to catch that terrible blooper right over the line…!!

Berto hit a triple over Fowler’s head in the seventh, but was stranded by Cosmo (comebacker) and Manny (K). Portland went through three relievers in the bottom 7th; Garavito put Nate Evans on base. Feist put PH Allen Retzer on base. Soung came in for PH Kelvin Winborn in the #6 spot with two on and two gone, ran a full count, then rung him up with the high heat! Soung dealt with the eighth, too, while the Raccoons were searching for an insurance run. Morales reached on a Yukitsura Hirai error to begin the ninth; Brad Ledford was the fastest guy on the bench and pinch-ran for Tony. Jesse Allison struck out Stedham, but allowed an RBI single to PH Rich Vickers (batting .481!), who was forced out on Berto’s grounder. Runners were on the corners with two outs for Trevino, but his fly to left was caught by Gibbs near the line. Worse yet, Jermaine Campbell walked Falzone to begin the bottom 9th …! But he also rung up Evans and Fowler (0-for-4, 3 K ) before Retzer grounded out to Trevino. 4-3 Raccoons. Maldonado 2-4; Morales 2-3, HR, 2 RBI; Vickers (PH) 1-1;

At this point the Raccoons a) had the best record in baseball, and b) were assured of the CL North lead through the weekend, with both Loggers and Elks having fallen 2 1/2 games out. Everybody else was at least twice as far behind.

Fun fact: Jeff Horstmeier had been a potential return rather than Steve Fidler during the Fowler trade. Now I was rather glad with what we had and hadn’t gotten.

Game 2
POR: 3B Ramos – 2B Trevino – LF M. Fernandez – RF Greenway – CF Maldonado – SS Myers – C Morales – 1B Stedham – P Sabre
WAS: CF S. Martin – 2B Falzone – C N. Evans – 1B Avakian – 3B Trawick – LF Gibbs – SS A. Castillo – RF Winborn – P Horstmeier

Of course, Horstmeier was perfect the first time through (still not enough to get the ERA under five) and while Sabre also didn’t allow a run the first time through the order, there was a walk here, a single there, and with two outs in the bottom 3rd, a solo homer by Scott Martin, but technically that was the second time through the order… Cosmo was the Raccoons’ first runner, reaching on a Falzone error in the fourth and being stranded, after which Horstmeier was untouched again until it was *Sabre* to break up the no-hitter with a 1-out single in the sixth. That also made him the second time the tying run had come on base. Cosmo singled after a fly to center by Berto, but Manny kept hitting balls right at people and flew out to Winborn, stranding two. Three singles scratched out a run for the Caps in the bottom 6th, and then Winborn found the gap for a 2-out, 2-run double, which basically put the game away for good.

Troy Greenway hit a jack to begin the seventh, his seventh, but, eh. The game was in the bin. Then Horstmeier nicked Myers. Stedham hit a 2-out single. Ledford batted for Sabre and hit an RBI single. Suddenly the tying runs were on base! Berto walked, knocking out Horstmeier for righty Ruben Vela, who had an ERA even higher and seemed like a strange choice. Also a bad one; Cosmo shot a ball into the corner on a 2-0 pitch that came down the middle very obviously, and the tying runs scored on the double. Berto stumbled around second base, costing the Raccoons the lead, and Manny, well, kept hitting balls right at people, in this case Falzone for the third out.

After Greenway held both David Fernandez and Dennis Citriniti together and stranded Scott Martin on third base with a splendid running grab on PH Allen Retzer (hitting for Avakian, which was a strange choice even against Fernandez), he hit a leadoff single off Vela in the eighth. Maldonado flew out, but Dave Myers doubled in right-center, putting the go-ahead run on third base. Morales struck out, Stedham grounded out, and the go-ahead run retreated to the dugout. The game then found its way into extra innings, where Myers hit a 2-out double off lefty Francisco Colmenarez. Tony Morales was hitless in the game and Jeff Kilmer batted for him, slushing a single up the middle to bring home Myers and to break the 4-4 tie …! Stedham popped out, and Campbell was not available after three outings in four days. Instead we brought in Prieto, with three right-handed bats scheduled for the bottom 10th. Nate Evans crashed a ball to deep left that Manny picked off the fence, Retzer cracked a sharp single to center, and Trawick fired a hard bouncer at third base. Now, crucially, Rich Vickers had stayed in the game after having pinch-hit earlier. Cosmo had shifted to third base and Ramos was gone – and Cosmo handled the ball perfectly and started a 5-4-3 to end the game! 5-4 Raccoons!! Trevino 2-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Greenway 2-5, HR, RBI; Myers 2-4, 2 2B; Kilmer (PH) 1-1, RBI; Ledford (PH) 1-1;

By the skin of their teeth, yet again!

Game 3
POR: 3B Myers – 2B Trevino – RF Greenway – CF Maldonado – LF Hooge – C Kilmer – 1B Stedham – SS Williams – P Chavez
WAS: CF S. Martin – 2B Falzone – C N. Evans – 1B Avakian – 3B Trawick – LF Gibbs – SS A. Castillo – RF Winborn – P M. Frank

For the second straight game the Raccoons started by making a string of outs, but at least got going sooner. Stedham hit a leadoff single in the third, only to be forced out by Williams, who was then bunted to second base by Bernie. Myers drove in the run with two outs, then scored on Trevino’s double. The bags filled up with a single and a hit Maldonado, but Hooge grounded out to Falzone to leave them stacked. Myers and Trevino would also land base hits in the fifth without being scored by anybody, and there was also a 38-minute rain delay in the inning, sent by the kind baseball gods to make sure they’d mess up Bernie, who so far had a 2-hitter with 2 K on 46 pitches, but retired Winborn, Frank, and Martin on six pitches in the fifth, so maybe once we’d get out alive…!

No. Well. At least Bernie got some scuff marks. Come the sixth, Avakian, Trawick, and Gibbs ripped straight singles off Bernie, scoring a run and threatening to do more damage. David Fernandez replaced him and got the K on Alex Castillo, preserving a 2-1 lead for the moment. The seventh was uneventful, but the eighth saw Hooge reach base against Jesse Allison. He stole second, Kilmer walked, but Stedham fanned. Berto batted for Williams with two outs to counter Allison as we were hungry for an insurance run, since four straight 1-run wins seemed unlikely and the pen was thin. Berto came through with a gapper in left-center; Ken Gibbs, a Gold Glover, cut off the ball before it could have scored Kilmer, but Hooge was across on the double to extend the lead to 3-1! Manny then hit for David Fernandez, but his rotten luck continued with a fly to Winborn.

The pen turned out to be too thin. Ben Feist put two runners on base in the bottom 8th, and Mauricio Garavito fanned the flames with all he had, giving up a game-tying triple to Gibbs and two more runs on another three base knocks by Castillo, former Coons farmhand Hirai, and Martin. The Raccoons had no answer against Ruben Vela in the ninth and lost. 6-3 Capitals. Myers 2-5, RBI; Trevino 2-5, 2B, RBI; Greenway 2-5; Ramos (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI;

In other news

May 4 – Crusaders outfielder Tony Coca (.227, 0 HR, 2 RBI) lands two base hits and gets an RBI in an 11-9 loss to the Titans. His eighth-inning single off BOS MR Tony Rivas (0-1, 3.86 ERA) is the 37-year-old’s 2,000th career hit. Coca has amassed four Platinum Sticks, a Gold Glove, and was an All Star seven times while batting .252 with 280 homers and 1,191 RBI since 2022. He also has 232 career stolen bases.
May 5 – SAL 1B/LF/RF Jose Rivera (.333, 5 HR, 16 RBI) drives in five runs in the Wolves’ 16-6 beating of the Gold Sox.
May 6 – The Crusaders trade LF/RF Andy Montes (.419, 2 HR, 12 RBI) to the Buffaloes for INF/RF/LF Omar Freeman (.182, 0 HR, 1 RBI) and #66 prospect CL John Steuer, who has now been traded four times since being drafted #17 overall not even three years ago, including both to and from New York in ’37!
May 6 – The Bayhawks acquire INF Joel Hernandez (.316, 0 HR, 11 RBI) for INF Mike Moran (.250, 0 HR, 1 RBI), who is shipped to the Gold Sox. Neither player was a regular so far this year.
May 8 – LVA 2B/1B Mario Briones (.313, 3 HR, 18 RBI) was going to miss six weeks with a broken wrist.

FL Player of the Week: PIT 1B Danny Santillano (.342, 4 HR, 20 RBI), who hit .440 (11-25) with 3 HR and 10 RBI
CL Player of the Week: OCT OF Nate Shamhart (.322, 3 HR, 11 RBI), batting .435 (10-23) with 3 HR and 5 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Thursday’s save was the 300th of Jermaine Campbell’s career. Only six of them came with the Critters, but he’s under contract for a while and we’re patient.

The Loggers have won 12 of their last 13 games. I mean, … what?? They were doing it on offense; just this Sunday, their 3-0 win over the Wolves ended a string of 14 straight games in which they plated at least four runs each. We’d see them in the middle of the month.

Still first in runs scored, pitching still sucks. The defense is near the bottom of the league, but I called Gianni at the docks, and the guy he set me up with refused to dispose of Alberto Ramos (-5.7 ZR in 23 games) in an innocent accident involving a chainsaw hidden in a bowling ball because his kid was an ardent Berto fan.

Oh well, back to the drawing board!

Weeks and Citriniti are close to getting disposed of, too. Neither of them have options. Weeks has 10/5 rights. Removing Weeks from the rotation would kill his vesting option for ’39, so there’s some motivation to get me creative.

Did I just mention Gianni by name? Uh - … Uh - … I mean… I mean Karl. Karl at the … at the … the pharmacy!

Off day on Monday, then a week-long homestand with the Stars and Crusaders. We won’t have another off day until the 27th after that, so I hope the pitching gets sorted out by itself, or I’ll have to get involved…

Fun Fact: 34 years ago today, on May 9, 2004, the Pacifics’ Juan Martinez landed six hits in an 11-9 win over the Bayhawks.

Martinez, a seventh-rounder from 1995 that was mostly a third baseman in his career, was a rule 5 pick that year at age 27, and a part-time player at that. He hit all of .223 with a lone homer and 18 RBI the entire season for a .548 OPS and a 49 OPS+. Despite solid defense, he cost his team half a WAR by playing in not even a third of their games. He then disappeared promptly in AAA again. He was an occasional backup with the Warriors in the late 2000s, and had one final job with the Bayhawks in 2010, hitting .215 with no homers in almost 200 at-bats. That was his final engagement in the majors.

His final career slash line was .245/.288/.326 with 5 HR and 114 RBI in 1,058 AB. In an 18-year professional career, Martinez was never traded or claimed off waivers. He was just let go a lot.