[Westheim]

Raccoons (67-69) vs. Loggers (73-65) – September 5-7, 2039

The Loggers would fall short on account of offense, of which they had none. They were third from the bottom in the CL in runs scored, while being sixth in runs allowed. They were at -12 in run differential, but eight games over .500, while the Coons were two under, with a +20 run differential. The thing that stuck in my side was that the Loggers had fewer than four runs scored per game, but had scored five runs per game on the Critters. They were up 8-4 in the season series.

Projected matchups:
Bernie Chavez (7-12, 3.72 ERA) vs. Sergio Piedra (10-5, 3.08 ERA)
Steve Fidler (4-6, 4.78 ERA) vs. William Stockwell (6-8, 4.41 ERA)
Ryan Bedrosian (13-3, 3.46 ERA) vs. Carlos Padilla (10-9, 3.16 ERA)

Stockwell was the only southpaw on offer here. The Loggers had a lot of players on the DL, especially Alfredo Vargas, Danny Valenzuela, and Jared Paul.

Game 1
MIL: 1B Ronan – 3B B. Cruz – SS Del Vecchio – LF J. Nelson – C F. Gomez – RF Leyva – 2B V. Acosta – CF S. Watson – P Piedra
POR: 3B Ramos – 2B Trevino – LF M. Fernandez – RF Greenway – CF Maldonado – C Morales – 1B Monge – SS Nickas – P B. Chavez

One first baseman reached on an error of the other first baseman, and then the first first baseman stole second base while Bernie struck out Bob Cruz, and eventually Joseph Ronan scored on an infield single by Justin Nelson to Alberto Ramos’ feet – CRISTIANO!! Bring back your defensive wizardry charts so I can shove them UP YOUR ***!! Berto was then also on base to begin the bottom 1st, and was doubled up when Cosmo lined out to Joseph Ronan. After that deflation, the Raccoons wouldn’t reach scoring position until Maldonado doubled with one out in the fourth. Manny was ahead of him after a leadoff single. He scored when Tony Morales grounded out to Victor Acosta. Maldo also scored on Danny Monge’s single, giving Portland a 2-1 lead that didn’t last, going bust on another error. Ronan was on first when Ted Del Vecchio singled to center with two outs. Ronan hustled for third base, Maldonado’s throw was outrageous and sent Berto scurrying into foul ground, while Ronan chugged home to score and tie the game. Nelson grounded out after that, but it was 2-2, and everything was sad.

Bottom 6th, Tony Morales lobbed a ball over the fence to give the Critters a new lead, 3-2, although at this point I felt no joy anymore. I was only dreading Nick Valdes’ next appearance or message with the budget being cut in ******* half. The Loggers had right-hander Cesar Perez on the mound for the bottom 7th. Hooge singled in Bernie’s place leading off. Cosmo and Manny also reached, and with the bags full Greenway dropped a single near the rightfield line to score two runs. Troy was forced out on Maldo’s grounder, but Manny made it to third base, then scored on a Morales single to left.

Top 8th, the Loggers loaded the bases to bring up the tying run with two outs against Jose de Leon, who walked Bob Cruz before being sabotaged on a Nickas error and then – putting on Rico Leyva – ******* catcher’s interference. Chris Miller and Jeff Kilmer entered in a double switch. Victor Acosta struck out, stranding all the runners. The Raccoons also had the bases loaded in the same inning; Hoogey and Hernandez hit singles, and lefty Mike Leeth nicked Cosmo, bringing up Manny with one out. Sac fly to center, then two singles by Kilmer and Maldonado, each bringing in another run. That brought up Miller in the #6 spot. The Raccoons let him bat, flying out to center, then saw him retire three in a row. 9-2 Raccoons. Hernandez (PH) 1-1; Trevino 2-4; M. Fernandez 2-2, BB, 2B, RBI; Greenway 2-4, 2 RBI; Kilmer (PH) 1-1, RBI; Maldonado 2-5, RBI; Morales 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Hooge (PH) 2-2; Chavez 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W (8-12);

Game 2
MIL: 1B Ronan – 2B V. Acosta – SS Del Vecchio – LF J. Nelson – C F. Gomez – RF Leyva – 3B Yoshioka – CF Prestwood – P Stockwell
POR: 1B Monge – 2B Trevino – LF M. Fernandez – C Kilmer – RF Greenway – CF Maldonado – 3B Caskey – SS Williams – P Fidler

Portland had one hit the first time through, a Cosmo triple that allowed Manny to hit a sac fly. That was the only run in the early innings, Fidler spilling two singles and a walk, but the Loggers seemed to have left the venomous bite at home. The next time at the plate, Cosmo ripped another triple in left-center, leading off the fourth inning. Manny doubled this time, cashing his second RBI in a 2-0 game. He would come in on a Greenway single, 3-0.

Then it was 3-2 on Acosta’s 2-out, 2-run double in the fifth, over Maldonado’s head, with Kenta Yoshioka and Joseph Ronan on the corners. I don’t know, Slappy, maybe we should just exchange Steve Fidler for Steve from Accounting…

Fidler was out before the sixth was over after a single by John Maier, a 24-year-old sophomore in his second game of the year, in for an injured Rico Leyva. Garavito replaced him, got Yoshioka, and the inning ended. Prieto followed after that, while Pena would be in for the eighth. Felipe Gomez singled off him, and then PH Matt Cooper singled off David Fernandez. The Loggers were on the corners in the 3-2 game with one out, and Yoshioka hit a fly to right that Greenway caught. I sighed, Gomez went for home – and was thrown out by Greenway, ending the inning! The Critters countered with Kilmer singling home Cosmo in the bottom of the inning against lefty Rob Clack, going up 4-2. Top 9th, Chris Miller yet again. Tyler Prestwood opened with a single to center. Roy Pincus hit another single to center. I sighed. Travis Park struck out with the tying runs on, and then the thing imploded with Acosta, who hit a bouncer to Elijah Williams. Six, to four, to three – ballgame! 4-2 Raccoons! Trevino 3-4, 2 3B; Greenway 2-4, RBI;

Yay, back to .500!

(Nick Valdes appears in the door, looking extremely angry)

Look, Nick, we’re back at .500! – Fine, be like this!

Game 3
MIL: 1B Ronan – 3B B. Cruz – SS Del Vecchio – LF J. Nelson – C F. Gomez – RF Pincus – 2B V. Acosta – CF Prestwood – P C. Padilla
POR: 3B Ramos – 2B Trevino – CF M. Fernandez – RF Greenway – 1B Maldonado – C Morales – LF Cronk – SS Williams – P Bedrosian

The Loggers hit three straight singles with one out in the first inning, loading them up before Bedrosian wiggled out of it just as Nick Valdes was beginning to grumble himself into a rant. Bedrosian struck out four the first time through, not allowing any of the runners to score; Felipe Gomez popped out, and Pincus was rung up. The Loggers struck in the fourth though, when Bedrosian walked a pair with two outs, and Tyler Prestwood doubled home a run with a ball dropping near the leftfield line. Padilla grounded out to strand two in scoring position. That was the only run out of Bedrosian, who struck out eight, but was also whittled down over just six innings. – I know, Nick, I know, we didn’t score any run. – Yes, it’s outrageous. – Yes, we should cut payroll in half. Totally. – Wait, is there my salary included in that? Because the rent’s become really expensive over here…

Clark and Campbell would hold up in the seventh, but Francisco Pena in the eighth didn’t. Felipe Gomez hit a leadoff double, and he walked Pincus right after that. The Loggers made two outs, but then Padilla (…) and Ronan hit back-to-back 2-out RBI singles. David Fernandez then got a pop from Bob Cruz to end the damn inning. – No, Nick, we didn’t score a run while you were in the restroom. – No, that’s the Loggers. – Yes, they’re up 3-0 now. – I know, Nick, I am also extremely angry. Extremely angry!

Cosmo was on in the bottom 8th, which led nowhere, and the Loggers had two on against Travis Sims in the ninth, which also led nowhere, somehow. Raul de la Rosa was up for the bottom of the ninth. Morales struck out. Ed Hooge hit for completely listless Cory Cronk and hit a single, moving the tying run to where we could actually see it, in the on-deck circle. De la Rosa walked Williams, bringing the tying run to the plate. Kilmer hit for Sims, but struck out. Berto lined to left-center for an RBI single, and now Cosmo was batting as the winning run. His grounder to right ended the game, Acosta to Ronan. 3-1 Loggers. M. Fernandez 2-3; Hooge (PH) 1-1;

I know, Nick, shambles. – Yes, appalling. – Totally, they should be fed to the thylacines in your private zoo.

Wait, what?

Raccoons (69-70) @ Titans (83-56) – September 9-11, 2039

The Titans were 2 1/2 games out in the division and needed those wins, and this was Boston, so the Raccoons would have terrible things happen to them. Three errors in a row, then a triple by the pitcher – that kind of stuff. The Titans were merely up 13-2 in the season series. I expected nothing but the worst out of this team against the #6 offense and #1 pitching.

Projected matchups:
Raffaello Sabre (11-6, 2.75 ERA) vs. Mario Gonzalez (17-6, 3.18 ERA)
Drew Johnson (10-9, 3.34 ERA) vs. Javy Santana (7-9, 3.38 ERA)
Bernie Chavez (8-12, 3.62 ERA) vs. Rich Willett (12-9, 2.79 ERA)

A left-hander, two right-handers, all due W’s.

Game 1
POR: 3B Ramos – 2B Trevino – C Kilmer – RF Greenway – CF Maldonado – SS Caskey – LF Kilgallen – 1B Monge – P Sabre
BOS: SS Bunyon – 3B Gil – CF Vermillion – LF W. Vega – 1B J. Garcia – C Dear – RF J. Davis – 2B Toney – P M. Gonzalez

Berto singled, Cosmo reached because Donovan Bunyon dropped his pop, and then Jeff Kilmer hit into a double play and it all went downhill from there. Greenway flew out to center, and Bunyon grounded out to first, but Sabre walked Antonio Gil, then gave up four straight base hits, including a bases-clearing double by Jose Garcia. Matt Dear drove him in, and it was 4-0 in just like (clicks fingers) nothing. BOSTON, BABY.

But things went wrong for Boston, too. Gil singled in the bottom 2nd and was picked off by Sabre to end the inning. Mark Vermillion left with a hamstring strain after three innings and would not be back in the regular season, which was certainly a terrible blow for them.

Top 4th, Kilmer walked to start the inning, and Maldonado doubled with one out, putting two in scoring position for whatever the **** Jon Caskey was. He struck out, but Matt Kilgallen hit a single to center to plate both Kilmer and Maldo, cutting the gap in half before the inning ended. The Boston then roughed up Sabre again in the fifth and knocked him out on three hits and a run. Garavito replaced him, allowed a single to Garcia to load the bags, then conceded another run on Dear’s double play. He walked John Davis, but Mike Toney popped out, stranding two in a 6-2 game. A Greenway homer made up a run in the sixth, but the Titans shook that out of Garavito in the bottom of the inning again. Portland then had the bags full in the seventh with nobody out – the best of scenarios to croak. Kilgallen and Ledford hit singles off Gonzalez, then Aaron Howell, while Cory Cronk reached on Bunyon’s error. Howell balked in a run, 7-4, but Berto struck out. Cosmo hit a sac fly to center. Morales grounded out in Kilmer’s spot, so that ended the inning. Jermaine Campbell got the bottom 7th, and gave up a bomb to Matt Dear, so there was another thing you’d never think you’d see in this ******* series… Brent Clark was up for the eighth, allowed two hits and a walk, and only got out of it mostly because Moises Avila was caught stealing in between runners… and somehow the Raccoons even got the tying run to the plate in the ninth inning. Joel Hernandez hit a single off Mike Hugh, was forced out by Cory Cronk, and Berto hit a 2-out single. Cosmo was up with two outs and flew out to Willie Vega on the first pitch. 8-5 Titans. Ramos 2-4; Ledford (PH) 1-1; Hernandez 1-1;

Ah, all those Boston vibes…!

Game 2
POR: 3B Ramos – 2B Trevino – LF M. Fernandez – RF Greenway – C Kilmer – CF Hooge – 1B Kilgallen – SS Williams – P Johnson
BOS: RF M. Avila – 3B Gil – 1B J. Garcia – LF W. Vega – C Dear – SS Bunyon – CF Huntly – 2B Toney – P J. Santana

The Titans scored four runs in the first inning on Saturday, too. Drew Johnson allowed only one base hit, but walked not one batter, not two, not three, not four or five, he walked SIX TITANS in the first inning. I smelled blood in my mouth. He also balked early on with only Avila on base. So that was that, but the Raccoons would load the bags with nobody out in the fourth inning. Manny, Greenway, Kilmer were all stacked up for Ed Hooge, who struck out, but Kilgallen singled to center, plating a run, 4-1. Williams’ sac fly made it 4-2, and Johnson was yanked for Brad Ledford, slapping a double up the rightfield line for a run, 4-3. Berto was next, knocked a ball just past Toney’s glove for a 2-out, 2-run single, flipping the score to 5-4…! The string ended with Cosmo flying out to Avila.

With Sean Calais hitting for Santana to begin the bottom 4th, both teams were now in their pen. The Raccoons sent de Leon, which went as ******* ugly as the last 17 times. Calais tripled, and the Titans slapped another two hard knocks to take a 6-5 lead. The Titans had two more hits in the bottom of the fifth, but didn’t get across, and Moises Avila hit a leadoff single in the sixth before the Raccoons went on to David Fernandez against the pile of lefty bats coming up. He retired three in a row while keeping Avila on base and the score at 6-5.

Danny Monge hit a leadoff double in the #9 hole in the seventh inning against right-hander Seth Green. Berto’s grounder moved him to third base, and Cosmo’s sac fly tied the game at six and that was the last run in regulation while Prieto and Pena held the fort for the Raccoons. The game went to extra innings, with Mike Hugh pitching for Boston against the 2-3-4 batters. Hugh got rid of them with two grounders and a strikeout. The Raccoons countered with Travis Sims, who walked Jose Santillan leading off the inning. Paul Kuehn doubled to left, moving the winning run to third base, so there was that. Avila popped out, and Sims walked Antonio Gil. We accepted our fate. Jose Garcia fell to 1-2, then popped out against Sims. Willie Vega was at 2-2, then grounded out to Cosmo, and the game continued after all. Even Campbell in the 11th held up despite a leadoff single by Dear! Top 12th, Jon Caskey hit a leadoff single against righty Shane Jacobs in Williams’ spot. He went on movement while Jacobs pitched to Danny Monge, gave up a gapper in left-center, and Caskey scored easily to break the tie. Berto singled home Monge, who drew a throw from Bill Huntly that had no greater effect than allowing Berto to second base. It took two outs to score him, with Greenway singling him home. Kilmer flew out, and then we sent Chris Miller. Bobby Mendoza (who?) led off with a single to right, but Avila popped out, and Gil hit into a double play. 9-6 Coons! Ramos 2-6, 3 RBI; Greenway 2-6, RBI; Caskey (PH) 1-1; Ledford (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI; Monge 2-3, 2 2B, RBI; Pena 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K;

Just when I thought that we’d go 3-15 against Boston …!

Game 3
POR: 3B Ramos – 2B Trevino – LF M. Fernandez – RF Greenway – C Morales – 1B Maldonado – CF Hooge – SS Williams – P Chavez
BOS: RF M. Avila – CF J. Davis – 1B J. Garcia – LF W. Vega – SS Bunyon – 3B Gil – C Kuehn – 2B Toney – P Willett

Moises Avila hit a double to begin the Titans’ day, but was thrown out at home by Manny on John Davis’ single, while the Critters dinged Willett for three singles and Williams drove in a run on the last one of them in the top 2nd, scoring Greenway. Bernie Chavez struck out six in the first three innings but was derailed by an hour-long rain delay, and saw the lead dissipate when Toney doubled home Antonio Gil in the fourth inning. But Bernie tried to make it work, somehow, and held out into the sixth inning. He walked Gil, who stole second and reached third base on Morales’ throwing error. Bernie got Kuehn to pop out, and since there were now two outs, we walked Toney to get up Willett, who fell to 1-2, then grounded to short… and Elijah Williams ****** it. Error, the second of the inning, and Gil scored, giving Boston a 2-1 lead. Avila flew out after that, ending the inning, but the taste of blood was just everywhere.

Morales hit a leadoff single in the seventh against Willett before Maldonado hit into a double play. Ed Hooge legged out an infield single, Williams reached on a Gil error, and now the Raccoons pounced with Brad Ledford’s pinch-hit single to right, which brought Hoogey around to tie the score. Berto singled to right, Williams was sent around and scored as well, and now Portland was up again. Cosmo grounded out after that as Willett bailed out. Brent Clark got through the seventh against the Bostonians, and the Coons came back with the bases loaded and nobody out against the Titans. Manny doubled to open the top 8th, Greenway was walked with intent, and Tony singled to fill the sacks. Maldonado slapped a double for two runs, Hooge walked, but Williams hit into a 5-2-3 double play as the train derailed with great noise. Cronk batted for Clark, and went to 2-for-29 with a fly to left, ending the inning. And because nothing was ever easy, Mauricio Garavito retired the first two in the bottom 8th, then allowed a single to Kuehn, a single to Toney, a 2-run double to ancient Tomas Caraballo, 5-4, and the inning only ended when Moises Avila whiffed against Prieto. Danny Monge doubled home Fernandez off Ben Darr in the ninth, hitting in Troy Greenway’s deserted #4 hole after two double switches right around the Garavito collapse. The Raccoons stuck to Prieto in the bottom 9th, because they had run out of left-handers, and everything was a mess already. He walked Davis on four pitches to get going. Ricardo Vadillo grounded to Cosmo for a force at second base. Willie Vega didn’t care – he homered to right. Tied ballgame. I wailed. It still didn’t matter. Tied ballgame.

Top 10th, Maldo and Williams hit singles off Howell to get to the corners. That brought up Cronk, which was a problem, but we were also out of outfielders, which was also a problem, which shouldn’t have mattered, because we had been up by THREE, but somehow our ******* bullpen was our biggest problem. It was a real landslide, burying entire villages just as well as the 2039 season. Cronk go to bat, reluctantly, predictably struck out, and Berto walked to fill the bags, but Cosmo hadn’t been great in the clutch for two weeks now. At least this was with two outs and a double play wasn’t on the table anymore. He grounded out on the first pitch. The Raccoons were back at Travis Sims in the bottom 10th, which led the Titans to high-five in the dugout before he ever threw a pitch. He nailed Kuehn right away, but PH Chris Joseph hit into a double play. Bill Huntly flew out to left, sending the game to the 11th, where Sims walked Avila, who was forced out by Vadillo, but Vadillo still had two legs to score on a Willie Vega ball into the corner. 7-6 Titans. M. Fernandez 2-6, 2B; Monge 1-1, BB, 2B, RBI; Morales 3-6; Maldonado 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Williams 3-5, RBI; Ledford (PH) 1-1, RBI;

In other news

September 5 – The Titans rout the Crusaders, 12-2, scoring a solid 11-spot in the third inning.
September 6 – CHA SS Tony Aparicio (.285, 10 HR, 65 RBI) was out for the season with a strained hammy.
September 7 – The Aces beat the Condors, 1-0, on nothing but a solo homer by 1B/OF Ricardo Zarazua (.263, 2 HR, 18 RBI).
September 10 – CHA 1B Matt Taylor (.303, 1 HR, 4 RBI) goes yard in the 10th inning for the only score in the Falcons’ 1-0 win over the Knights.

FL Player of the Week: WAS 3B/2B Rich Falzone (.278, 6 HR, 48 RBI), hitting .529 (9-17) with 3 RBI
CL Player of the Week: SFB 2B Dan Schneller (.313, 17 HR, 57 RBI), hitting .478 (11-23) with 3 RBI

Complaints and stuff

This week was no joy. Well, the entire season wasn’t. But I hear there’ll be new one next year.

Down I-5, the Wolves are inches from clinching a division that is 54 games under .500 …?

Everything is dumb.

Fortunately, the string is getting shorter. Three weeks remaining. Next week we’ll circle home via New York and Tijuana. Then it’s a homestand with the Knights and Arrowheads. The team will venture north for meaningless games (for us at least) in the frozen tundra after that, then host the Loggers to end the charade.

Next time this week, we’re probably already eliminated mathematically, too. Currently we’d even have a protected draft pick (#11) for next year. Would having a protected draft pick change the offseason approach a great deal?

2037 sixth-rounder Ben Southall tore all the important ligaments in his knee this week. He will be out until next summer. He had batted .307/.390/.420 in Aumsville early on this year, but then had languished at .225/.295/.295 in AA.

Fun Fact: The Warriors have not finished last in the FL West since 2023.

Back then they still won 71 games, which might not happen this year. That was also their most recent 90-loss season. There’s four division titles and two rings in between there, which isn’t too shabby for a small-market team in the middle of North Dakota.

What is it, Cristiano? – What is in South Dakota? – Ah, nobody cares.