[Westheim]

Raccoons (0-0) vs. Loggers (0-0) – April 5-7, 2039

Opening Day! Well, actually the Tuesday after, but we weren’t gonna be picky here. Fans packed a cold and moist ballpark, not being able to wait to get their first in-person disappointment of the year. In were the Loggers, who had lost the season series to the Raccoons last year, 10-8. The Loggers had some revamped pitching, but would be able to rely on the same odd batters that had already tortured the Raccoons last year, or in Danny Valenzuela’s case, eight years.

Projected matchups:
Bryce Sparkes (0-0) vs. Alfredo Vargas (0-0)
Ryan Bedrosian (0-0) vs. Sergio Piedra (0-0)
Bernie Chavez (0-0) vs. Joe Feltman (0-0)

Only right-handers up in this series.

Game 1
MIL: RF Valenzuela – 3B Paul – SS Del Vecchio – LF J. Nelson – C F. Gomez – 1B Ronan – CF Leyva – 2B V. Acosta – P A. Vargas
POR: 3B Ramos – 2B Trevino – LF M. Fernandez – RF Greenway – CF Maldonado – C Morales – 1B Monge – SS Williams – P Sparkes

The first inning of the season saw Sparkes get two grounders before walking the dastardly Ted Del Vecchio. Justin Nelson grounded to third base, where Alberto Ramos immediately unspooled his own lowlight reel from ’38 and fired the ball well past Danny Monge for a 2-base error. Luckily, Elijah Williams handled Felipe Gomez’ roller to strand two in scoring position…! Sparkes walked Victor Acosta with two outs in the second, gave up a single to the opposing pitcher, but struck out Valenzuela to strand two more. Vargas was soon out of the game with a hamstring problem, Carlos Padilla replacing him in the second inning before a Raccoon had even reached base.

Top 3rd, Jared Paul opened the inning with a double over the head of Maldonado, who also overran Justin Nelson’s single for an extra base. That allowed Paul to score on that play, and Nelson reached second base to easily score on Gomez’ double right after, giving the Loggers a 2-0 lead. While the Raccoons didn’t get a base hit until Manny Fernandez singled in the fourth, the Loggers splattered Sparkes for another two runs in the fifth, again hitting a double over Maldonado to get it started. This time Del Vecchio was the guy that beat Maldonado. Sparkes couldn’t get anybody out, really, and was yanked after five innings. The Coons remained pathetic, while Del Vecchio was ejected in the sixth after striking out against Dennis Citriniti and voraciously disagreeing with the umpire. Kenta Yoshioka replaced him; but for the Raccoons it only got worse. They were still being 1-hit through six, while the Loggers loaded the bases against Travis Sims in the seventh with a Gomez infield single (…), a walk to Rico Leyva, and Acosta reaching on another Ramos error. At that point the Raccoons had four errors, one hit, and no runs. Dan Torri’s pinch-hit sac fly made it a 5-0 game, and Valenzuela singled off Jose Alaniz, 6-0, with Acosta thrown out at third base by Troy Greenway on that play.

Greenway walked to begin the seventh against Rob Clack, Maldonado singled, and Tony Morales grounded out to advance them. Danny Monge got the first RBI with a sac fly, with Valenzuela bouncing off the fence in rightfield on the catch. He then left the game in obvious discomfort, with Chris Sealock replacing him. Nevertheless, the Raccoons looked beaten. They arrived trailing by five still in the bottom 9th, with righty Raul de la Rosa pitching for Milwaukee. Greenway grounded out, but Maldonado socked a homer, 6-2. Morales walked, Monge doubled, and suddenly the tying run was in the on-deck circle. Brad Ledford batted for Williams and slapped a gapper into left-center that scored two and chased de la Rosa for left-hander Logan Bessey. Alex Majano batted for Ed Hooge in the #9 hole (the pitcher was at #3 for the Critters after a double switch earlier) and walked, making Berto the winning run in the box. He lobbed a 2-2 pitch over Yoshioka’s glove for a single, and the bags were full for Cosmo, who grounded out to short. That scored a run, but the Raccoons were still one run behind, and Joel Hernandez was the last guy off the bench, hitting for David Fernandez. 2-1 pitch and a fly to center… and… Leyva caught it……. 6-5 Loggers. Ramos 2-4, BB; Maldonado 2-4, HR, RBI; Ledford (PH) 1-1, 2B, 2 RBI;

SIGH.

Game 2
MIL: RF Valenzuela – 3B Paul – SS Del Vecchio – LF J. Nelson – C F. Gomez – 1B Ronan – CF Sealock – 2B V. Acosta – P A. Piedra
POR: 3B Ramos – 2B Trevino – LF M. Fernandez – RF Greenway – CF Maldonado – C Kilmer – 1B Monge – SS Williams – P Bedrosian

The Loggers scored first again, Joseph Ronan hitting a gap triple leading off the second and scoring easily on Sealock’s groundout, 1-0. Acosta walked, Piedra singled, and Valenzuela walked to fill the bases, but Paul struck out and Del Vecchio flew out to center to strand three. Piedra struck out five the first time through, allowing singles to Greenway in the second and Berto in the third, that both led nowhere. The game then crawled along until the fifth inning, which saw Danny Monge lead off the bottom half with a single. He advanced on Williams’ grounder, but not Bedrosian’s. Berto singled to left with two outs, and Monge was sent around to score, tying the game at one. Justin Nelson called for the trainer after making the throw to home plate and also left the game with back problems, giving the Loggers three players with day-to-day injuries after a game and a half. To add insult to injury, Cosmo singled up the middle, scoring Berto who had reached second base on Nelson’s ill-fated throw, and that gave Portland their first lead of the year, 2-1. Cosmo stole second, but Manny Fernandez grounded out, leaving him on.

Bedrosian finished six, striking out nine, but due to the pile of early traffic was also already just over 100 pitches and would not come back for the seventh. Mauricio Garavito came on to begin the seventh specifically for Valenzuela, but gave up a triple to right-center. Prieto conceded the tying run on a sac fly, and that was that… Bottom 7th, Hooge and Berto reached the corners with 1-out singles off righty Cesar Perez. Trevino hit a fly to center, with Yoshioka getting nothing on the throw to home plate, allowing Ed Hooge to score for another lead, 3-2. The Critters filled the bags with soft singles by Manny and Greenway, but Maldonado flew out, leaving three on, and they left another two when Berto popped out to end the eighth. Jermaine Campbell took over from Prieto for the ninth (making him the last non-SP player on the roster to make his maiden appearance in ’39). He got three in a row, although Jared Paul hit a sizzling liner in particular, but one that went right at Manny Fernandez. 3-2 Coons! Ramos 3-5, RBI; Greenway 2-4; Hooge 1-1, BB;

No longer winless! Squee! Now I can eat again! (climbs into a box of donuts)

Game 3
MIL: RF Valenzuela – 3B Paul – SS Del Vecchio – LF J. Nelson – C F. Gomez – 1B Ronan – CF Leyva – 2B V. Acosta – P Feltman
POR: 3B Ramos – 2B Trevino – CF Maldonado – RF Greenway – LF Ledford – C Morales – 1B Monge – SS Williams – P B. Chavez

Nelson was back in there with the balky back and hit a 2-out RBI double plating Valenzuela to again have the Loggers on the board first, this time in the opening frame. Nelson hit another double with two outs and Del Vecchio on first in the top 3rd; Bernie Chavez walked Gomez to fill them up, but got Joseph Ronan to ground out to Ramos, who was kind enough to not throw another ball away… While the Raccoons scattered three hits and walk walks in the first four innings as inefficiently as possible, the Loggers made it 2-0 on a solo homer by Jared Paul in the fifth. Bernie looked more like a problem than a solution, and the Loggers were knocking eight hits off him in five innings, while he struck out only three batters. He did bunt Elijah Williams to second after the shortstop’s leadoff single in the bottom 5th, and Berto hit a soft blooper to Valenzuela’s feet to put the tying runs on the corners. Cosmo popped out, Maldonado got knocked with a 2-2 pitch, and Greenway came up with the bases loaded, and grounded out to Paul. UGH.

It didn’t get any better from here. Acosta and Feltman (…!) hit singles off Chavez to begin the top 6th, and Valenzuela got a sac fly to extend their lead to 3-0. Chavez was yanked after a walk to Paul, with Travis Sims inheriting a sticky situation, but got a double play grounder from Del Vecchio to bail out. Feltman was still at it in the bottom 7th, but the tying run came to the plate after Williams reached on an error and Berto hit a 1-out double. Cosmo shot a ball through between Acosta and Ronan for a 2-run single, then rushed for third base on Maldonado’s single up the middle. That brought up an RBI-less Troy Greenway (3-for-10) with the tying and go-ahead runs on the corners… and he struck out. Stunned disbelief in the crowd, but Brad Ledford came to the rescue, socked a hard double off the wall in left that Nelson misplayed, and both runners scored to flip the score, 4-3! When the Loggers sent lefty Chris Cooper against a hitless Morales, Majano batted for him with two outs, but grounded out to first.

Prieto had pitched two innings in the second game and was not available – the Raccoons had to go to Citriniti against the bottom of the order. Leyva and Acosta made outs, but he walked Dan Torri in the #9 hole, leading to David Fernandez coming out against Valenzuela. The Loggers aggressively went to right-hander Matt Cooper to pinch-hit, but he grounded out to Berto, ending the inning. Williams and Manny Fernandez reached for the Raccoons in the bottom 8th, but couldn’t get them in with their 1-2 pokers, bringing back Campbell. Paul grounded out to Joel Hernandez at third base, Del Vecchio popped out, and Nelson ran a full count before whiffing. 4-3 Critters! Ramos 3-5, 2B; Trevino 2-5, 2 RBI; Williams 2-4; Sims 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, W (1-0);

Well, you can’t say we’re playing boring baseball… (drops towel dripping with sweat into a bucket full o’ them)

Raccoons (2-1) vs. Thunder (4-0) – April 8-10, 2039

The Raccoons were first in stolen bases and last in defense a few days in, but those were all so-so stats. What was the Thunder’s 4-0 worth? They had swept the Falcons to begin the year, allowing all of FOUR runs in the 4-game series. How much was that info worth? The Thunder had lost 99 games on average for the last three years, yet the Falcons made them look invincible. Maybe that was a Falcons problem. The Raccoons had won the season series five years in a row, taking six of nine in ’38.

Projected matchups:
Raffaello Sabre (0-0) vs. Aaron Bryant (0-0)
Steve Fidler (0-0) vs. Brian Frain (0-0, 1.42 ERA)
Bryce Sparkes (0-1, 7.20 ERA) vs. Chris Inderrieden (1-0, 0.00 ERA)

Bryant would be our first southpaw opponent of the year, and also the only one in the first week. The Thunder had already lost Nate Shamhart (.286, 0 HR, 0 RBI) to a hip injury; the 24-year-old would miss the first half of the season.

Game 1
OCT: LF E. Moore – 2B Martell – RF Marz – 1B D. Cruz – C Adames – CF Ringel – SS Kuhn – 3B Nieblas – P Bryant
POR: CF Maldonado – 2B Trevino – C Kilmer – RF Greenway – 1B Monge – LF M. Fernandez – 3B Hernandez – SS Williams – P Sabre

Singles by Ethan Moore, Danny Cruz, and Jesus Adames made it 1-0 on Sabre in the first inning, so the Raccoons were yet waiting to score the first run in a game this season… At least they answered with two, getting Cosmo on with a single, and then scoring runs with a Kilmer double and a Greenway single, getting both of those guys their first RBI’s of the season, and the team a 2-1 lead. The lead didn’t last, because the Raccoons did not tack on, and because Sabre hit Orlando Nieblas with a 2-2 pitch, one out, and runners already on the corners in the fourth, then couldn’t get the pitcher out. Bryant’s grounder allowed Adames to score and tie the game. At least Moore grounded out to strand two in a 2-2 game.

Portland kept poking; Manny Fernandez and Joel Hernandez hit back-to-back doubles in the bottom 4th to take a 3-2 lead, but Sabre also kept leaking, with Adames ripping a game-tying RBI double right after in the top 5th. Like Chavez, Sabre got whacked around for eight hits in five innings. He was left with a no-decision, going six before being hit for with Ledford when the Critters had Manny and Williams on the corners and two outs in the bottom 6th. Ledford flew out, and that was that.

After Garavito and Sims both logged three outs – with Sims cleaning up Danny Cruz’ leadoff single in the eighth off Garavito by getting a double play grounder from Adames – the Raccoons put the go-ahead run on second base with nobody down in the bottom 8th when Greenway doubled to center. That was their seventh double in the game, against a lone single (also hit by Greenway)! And yet, the game was still tied. Danny Monge was walked intentionally before the Thunder brought a fresh lefty in sophomore Jake Bonnie. Manny lined out to Al Martell, and Joel Hernandez grounded out. The Coons stuck with soft-hitting Elijah Williams because he still countered Bonnie – and were rewarded with a 2-run single past Jimmy Kuhn, taking a 5-3 lead! Majano popped out to end the inning before the Raccoons sent Prieto against the bottom of the order; we weren’t going to use Campbell three days in a row on a cold start. Prieto nailed Kuhn, but Nieblas hit into a 6-4-3 to clean up. A groundout by Raul Sanchez ended the inning. 5-3 Critters. Kilmer 2-3, BB, 2 2B, RBI; Greenway 2-4, 2B, RBI; M. Fernandez 2-4, 2 2B;

First game not decided by a single run this year. What a rout!

Hey, Hoogey! (points at outfielder with three donuts crammed onto his pokey black nose) – Don’t play with your food!

For the Saturday game, the Raccoons would give lineup assignments to Ed Hooge and Alex Majano, the only ones still missing from being penciled into the starting lineup. They would give a day of rest to Maldonado and Williams. Troy Greenway was likely to get rested on Monday, where the Raccoons expected to face lefty Danny Orozco. That lined up Cosmo for a day off on Sunday – the usual play when the Raccoons start with a longer string of games into the season (nine this year) - *everybody* gets a day off! (Does not include pinch-hitting appearances. Batting helmets sold separately. Void where prohibited and in Mississippi.)

Game 2
OCT: LF E. Moore – 2B Martell – 1B D. Cruz – C Adames – SS Kuhn – RF C. Anderson – CF Heskett – 3B Nieblas – P Frain
POR: 3B Ramos – 2B Trevino – LF M. Fernandez – RF Greenway – CF Hooge – 1B Monge – C Morales – SS Majano – P Fidler

Neither team had more than one hit or a run through three innings. But once more the Raccoons would have to play it from behind once the Thunder put Ethan Moore and Danny Cruz on the corners in the fourth inning and Fidler served up a 3-run homer to Adames. The Coons then found room and time to fit in three errors before getting another three outs from the Thunder; Majano fumbled to put Jimmy Kuhn on base, who stole second and reached third on a Morales throwing error. Berto fumbled yet another grounder for an error in the fifth. None of these plays resulted in another run, which was the only reason I was not at the big window screaming obscenities while emptying the blunderbuss into some brown-clad player’s bottoms.

The Raccoons had Fernandez and Greenway on in the fourth and did nothing with them, then began the fifth with Tony Morales getting nicked. Majano singled. Fidler bunted, with Frain trying to go to third base, but spiking the throw, the ball bouncing off Kuhn’s forearm and almost getting away to a degree that would have tempted Tony Morales to go for home plate. The bases were loaded, there were no outs, and the Raccoons needed the runs dearly. They got on the board with a wild pitch… with two outs, after Berto and Cosmo had both hit poor fly outs to shallow left, with no hope of sending Morales against Ethan Moore’s arm. Manny worked a walk, re-stocking the bags for Greenway, who had yet to go deep, but flew out to Moore shy of the warning track, stranding three. Instead, Adames homered off Fidler in the sixth to make it 4-1. Moore’s RBI triple off David Fernandez added a run in the seventh, and Adames and Kuhn ripped back-to-back doubles off Citriniti for yet another run in the eighth. Portland scored in the bottom 8th, again without getting an RBI when Greenway singled with Manny on first base. Fernandez went for third base, Craig Anderson’s gross throwing error sent Nieblas up the leftfield line, and Manny scored, 6-2, with Greenway to second. Joel Hernandez hit for Hooge and walked, chasing Brian McAlllister for Alan Fleming, who allowed a single to Monge on the only pitch he threw, loading the bases. Jake Bonnie was the third pitcher of the inning, with Maldonado batting for Citriniti in the #7 hole deserted by Tony Morales in a double switch earlier. He hit into a 4-6-3 double play, which allowed Greenway to score, but it was now 6-3 and still no RBI for a Raccoon. Majano grounded out to end the inning. Oklahoma added an unearned run in the ninth, Alaniz giving up two singles to Martell and Cruz after a capital throwing error by Trevino had put Raul Sanchez on base. The Raccoons kept twitching in the bottom 9th against former #1 prospect Sebastien Parham. Kilmer drew the leadoff walk, and Manny Fernandez hit a 2-out homer to right-center. The Thunder went to right-hander Gary Martin with two outs on the board, and he got a groundout from Greenway to end the game. 7-5 Thunder. M. Fernandez 2-3, 2 BB, HR, 2 RBI; Greenway 2-5;

The Raccoons made four errors in this game and now had nine for the season and that in five games. No other team had more than six in six games.

Game 3
OCT: LF E. Moore – 2B Martell – RF Marz – 1B D. Cruz – C Adames – CF Ringel – SS Kalinowski – 3B Nieblas – P Inderrieden
POR: 3B Ramos – CF Maldonado – LF M. Fernandez – RF Greenway – 1B Monge – C Morales – 2B Majano – SS Williams – P Sparkes

For the first time on the year, the Raccoons scored first, and it took a Bryce Sparkes triple with two outs in the bottom 2nd to do it, which was one of those footnotes that made you seriously doubt that the team could even break .500 at the end of the year, let alone poke the damn Elks for first place. Majano scored on the play, and Berto grounded out to strand Sparkes at third base. Another first was Troy Greenway going yard with two outs in the bottom 3rd, a solo shot to extend the lead to 2-0. Danny Cruz countered with a solo homer of his own in the fourth, narrowing the tally to 2-1 again. That was one of only two hits Sparkes allowed through six innings, but he walked three against six strikeouts. My whiskers twitched – I could already smell the Curse of Opening Day manifesting!

Sparkes was back for the seventh, facing Adrian Ringel on 85 pitches. He retired the 6-7-8 in order, but two of them hit liners right at an outfielder; Ringel went out to Greenway, and Manny shagged Nieblas’ drive. Josh Kalinowski struck out in between. A tack-on run would have been nice, but the Raccoons didn’t get anything cobbled together. Sparkes stayed in to face righty PH Rick Urfer to begin the eighth, got to 0-2, then gave up a roller on the infield that nobody could make a play on (or couldn’t be bothered, like Alex Majano standing around with half-eaten hot dogs in both paws), and the Thunder had the leadoff man aboard. Garavito replaced Sparkes, only for Anderson to hit for the left-handed Moore. HARD grounder at Ramos, I screamed like a girl, but Berto turned a 5-4-3 to clean up the bases…! Garavito got Martell to ground out, too, and the inning was over. Bottom 8th, 27-year-old righty and rule 5 pick Bobby Klopotek would oppose the 5-6-7 batters. Monge, Morales, and PH Brad Ledford went down in order. Campbell was up against the 3-4-5 in the ninth, with Cosmo coming into the game at second base and batting ninth (which would be second if the Raccoons had to bat again). John Marz got ahead 3-0 before poking and grounding out, sending a stunned “Hhh!!” through the ballpark, and there was some thud heard from the Thunder dugout, probably his manager fainting and crashing into the bat rack. Cruz flew out to center, but Adames, batting .583, eeked out a single. Campbell carved up Ringel on strikes to end the game anyway. 2-1 Raccoons. M. Fernandez 3-4; Sparkes 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 7 K, W (1-1) and 1-3, 3B, RBI;

In other news

April 5 – Arriving in the bottom 9th on two hits and trailing 3-0, the Cyclones load the bases against TOP CL Jon Bleich (0-1, 45.00 ERA, 1 SV) before getting a bases-clearing, game-tying triple from PH Ken Gibbs (.333, 0 HR, 3 RBI). The Buffaloes go to Michael Zabek (0-0, 0.00 ERA), who throws a single pitch – a wild one to allow Gibbs to score and give the Cyclones a 4-3 walkoff win.
April 6 – PIT SP/MR Juan Vela (1-0, 0.00 ERA), not exactly a regular starter in prior seasons, holds the Capitals to three hits in a 4-0 shutout.
April 7 – The Scorpions will be without OF Alfonso Cedillo (4-for-6, 1 HR, 3 RBI), their 22-year-old sophomore outfielder who has suffered an abdominal strain.
April 8 – The Bayhawks erased a 3-run deficit in the ninth inning to force extras on the Crusaders, then engage in six scoreless innings before a hit batter and two singles give them the winning run, courtesy of 2B Dan Schneller (.375, 0 HR, 1 RBI) for a 16-inning, 6-5 victory.
April 8 – Pittsburgh beats L.A., 1-0 in 10 innings. The only run scores on a wild pitch by LAP CL Doug Clifford (0-2, 7.71 ERA).
April 8 – After scoring only four runs in a 4-game sweep at the hands of the Thunder, the Falcons tear into the Indians for a 17-1 win. 40-year-old 1B Brett Blades (.267, 0 HR, 3 RBI) has the best day in a solid team effort, landing three hits and driving in three, both tying the team-high marks.
April 10 – Miners 1B Danny Santillano (.308, 3 HR, 7 RBI) has four hits, including two homers, and drives in five runs in a 17-3 shellacking of the Pacifics.

FL Player of the Week: NAS OF Sean Ashley (.450, 3 HR, 6 RBI)
CL Player of the Week: OCT C Jesus Adames (.583, 3 HR, 7 RBI)

Complaints and stuff

The offense – decent. Not great, not even good, but decent. The pitching – bruised and shaken. The defense – looked a lot like Hamburg, 1943.

Leading the team in wins is Travis Sims, who also took the W on Friday, pitching a scoreless inning for the 5,200th regular season win in franchise history.

To my surprise, Matt Kilgallen was *not* claimed on waivers and was assigned back to St. Petersburg. Chiyosaku Maruyama also went unclaimed – no surprise there.

Fun Fact: The only team with a worse defensive efficiency than the Raccoons after one week of the season are the Gold Sox.

The Gold Sox are 0-6, having been bombed for six runs a game. Only three of the runs were unearned for them, making for some highly unsightly ERA’s. Notably, all but four of their pitchers have FIP values of 3.40 or better.

For Portland, the difference between some ERA and FIP values is even starker. Only two Critters have a FIP over three, all starters: Sparkes (3.32), Fidler (4.65), and Bernie (5.65).