[Westheim]

Anybody know whether a suspension incurred at the end of the regular season also counts for the postseason? Asking for a friend…

+++

Raccoons (100-55) vs. Canadiens (85-70) – September 23-29, 2047

The Raccoons would try to play out the string in decent fashion, and if all things went well, not lose any more players to stupid injuries before getting whooped in the CLCS. The damn Elks had won five in a row, tried to put on a brave face to a .548 season in which they were out of contention in May, and would also try to make the Raccoons suffer a little bit longer than necessary. They had the CL’s #2 offense and some rather average pitching at their disposal. The season series stood 9-5 in the Coons’ favor, and we were two games under .500 all time against the damn Elks.

Projected matchups:
Jeremy Baker (4-4, 3.68 ERA) vs. Mario Godinez (8-3, 4.18 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (12-8, 2.78 ERA) vs. Juan Ramos (13-4, 3.78 ERA)
Victor Merino (14-9, 3.25 ERA) vs. David Farris (6-4, 3.65 ERA)
Jake Jackson (12-4, 2.90 ERA) vs. Mario de Anda (10-10, 4.34 ERA)

Three right-handers and then the southpaw de Anda for this series – maybe. Juan Ramos was nursing a sore ankle and things could change.

Game 1
VAN: CF I. Jaramillo – LF E. Moreno – C Julio Diaz – 1B Delagrange – 2B O. Aguirre – RF T. Romero – SS R. Price – P Godinez – 3B C. Rose
POR: RF Mercado – CF Herrera – 1B Maldonado – SS Waters – LF Baskins – 2B Martell – 3B Coen – C Morales – P Baker

As much as I hated the damn Elks, batting the pitcher eighth made me hate them even more. They hit leadoff single in each of the first two innings, but Baker struck out four the first time through the order to keep them off the board then, but gave up a 2-out solo homer to Eddie Moreno – his 36th between two leagues after starting the year with the Scorpions – in the top of the third. The Raccoons rallied though; Ben Coen opened the bottom 3rd with a single, an Baker’s bunt was mishandled by Godinez to put two aboard. With two outs, both Armando Herrera and Jesus Maldonado planted RBI singles to flip the score. The middle innings were entirely un-offensive, but the Elks got a leadoff walk drawn by Oscar Aguirre in the seventh. Tony Romero, briefly a Raccoon in 2042, hit into a double play to make that tying run go away from the basepaths. Annoyingly, pinch-hitter Dustin Fruman’s leadoff double in the top 8th pretty quickly led to a tied game, Nelson Moreno being charged with the run after a groundout and a wild pitch… But in the bottom 9th, with both teams on two runs and five hits, Derek Baskins also hit one of those, beating Mike Allen in centerfield for a leadoff double against righty Sam Gibson. A strikeout and two groundouts stranded the runner, however, and the Raccoons had to go to extras against the stinking Elks. Great, more chances to get injured! At least only one more inning was played; Josh Rella and Mike Lynn held the Elks off the bases, and with two outs in the bottom 10th, a Herrera double and a Maldo single ended the game. 3-2 Coons. Herrera 2-5, 2B, RBI; Maldonado 3-5, 2 RBI; Baker 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K;

Tuesday would be the final regular season start for Wheats, who would OF COURSE not pitch in the season closer with the CLCS coming up. His ERA was 2.78 right now, four points behind Bill Nichol of the Arrowheads, who would also make another start. Don’t count out SFB Kevin Nolte (2.83) either.

Also, by Tuesday, Gene Pellicano was written off for the season with wrist tendinitis. It was only a 2-3 week injury, but there were not enough weeks remaining before the playoffs… The Raccoons brought in Brian Shedd for the last few games, just for the extra warm body. The corner outfielder had appeared in 18 games for the ’45 Coons, hitting .143, and had not exactly advertised for himself in the time in between…

Game 2
VAN: RF F. Rojas – C Julio Diaz – 1B Delagrange – LF E. Moreno – SS R. Price – 2B O. Aguirre – CF M. Allen – P Farris – 3B J. Morales
POR: RF Mercado – SS Adame – 1B Maldonado – C Gonzalez – LF Baskins – 2B Martell – CF Mills – 3B Coen – P Wheatley

Farris was moved up to Tuesday by the Elks, and put Gonzalez and Baskins on the corners to begin the bottom 2nd, but then got three poor outs from the next three Critters to not allow a run. Wheats and Mercado opened the bottom 3rd with singles, but again three poor outs followed. We finally scored with two leadoff hits in the fourth – third time’s the charm! (manically keeps patting Honeypaws) – in that case a Baskins double to center and a Martell single to right-center. And then came the aforementioned three straight poor outs.

And Wheats? He sure eyed that ERA crown. He bested Nichol by the fourth inning, allowing only one hit to the Elks in four innings, but then gave up the tying run in the most stupid fashion in the fifth, allowing a 2-out walk to Allen, threw a wild pitch to the opposing pitcher, and then gave up a 2-out clonker for an RBI single… Ruben Gonzalez hit a 2-run homer in the bottom 5th for a new lead, but Wheats blew that too on a homer served up to Chris Delagrange, a Moreno single, and an RBI double by Rick Price… That was probably it with the ERA title. He did get a new lead though in the bottom 6th; with Ken Mills on first, Ben Coen was going to pop out to Julio Diaz behind home plate, but Diaz dropped the ball and Coen continued his at-bat, eventually lobbing an RBI triple to right-center. Wheats added a sac fly, 5-3, then turned in another scoreless inning, but his ERA would for eternity be 2.82 for this season, now eight points behind Nichol. At least he got the W – left-handers Bonnie and Lynn killed off the last six Elks in order to end the game. 5-3 Raccoons. Mercado 3-4, BB; Gonzalez 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Baskins 2-4, 2B; Martell 2-4, RBI;

Well, still ahead of Nolte at least, although Nolte pitched on Monday, so probably would also go again this week…

Game 3
VAN: CF I. Jaramillo – LF E. Moreno – 1B Delagrange – 2B O. Aguirre – RF T. Romero – C T. Phillips – SS Mullen – P Ju. Ramos – 3B C. Rose
POR: 2B Carreno – SS Adame – LF Baskins – C Morales – CF Herrera – 3B Martell – RF Mills – 1B Van Hoy – P Merino

With us even at .500 all time again, this game was an auto loss. I accepted that, Honeypaws accepted that – if only Maud could accept that I showed up to the office in only my underwear, unable to get dressed properly with an auto loss against the DAMN ELKS on the horizon. Merino faced an all-righty lineup, too, which was really not going well for him most of the time. The damn Elks promptly went up 2-0 on straight singles from their 2-3-4 hitters plus a Tony Romero RBI groundout in the first inning. – See, Maud? – See??

Delagrange added a 2-run homer for a 4-0 hole by the third, and the Raccoons did not get a base hit until Carreno legged out a single in the bottom 4th. He stole second, then scored on a Baskins single, so that was something, but the inning fizzled out after that. Merino ached through six, after which Preston Porter was taken deep by Eddie Moreno to make it 5-1 in the seventh. Some mild stirring occurred at the bottom of the order in the bottom 7th. Martell and Mills reached the corners with two outs and in unearned fashion, Mills reaching on an error. Evan Van Hoy singled home a run, but when Maldo batted as the tying run in the #9 hole, he struck out. The Raccoons pieced the last two innings together with Cancel, Alcala, and Ibold, not allowing any runs, but they also could not mount another challenge. 5-2 Canadiens. Baskins 2-4, RBI;

See, Maud? What would I have put on pants for?

Meanwhile, Bill Nichol pitched in a rout of the Loggers, matching Wheats’ performance from Tuesday with three runs allowed in seven innings, so that was the ERA title gone.

Game 4
VAN: RF F. Rojas – C Julio Diaz – 1B Delagrange – LF E. Moreno – SS R. Price – 2B O. Aguirre – CF I. Jaramillo – P de Anda – 3B J. Morales
POR: 3B Adame – CF Herrera – 1B Maldonado – SS Waters – C Gonzalez – 2B Carreno – RF Mills – LF Medina – P Jackson

Neither Jackson nor Moreno lasted long – the former gave up a 2-piece to Delagrange in the first, then nailed Moreno in the shoulder, and Moreno visibly disapproved, charging the mound with passion. A fistfight ensued, and Jackson got a thick lip in the process, but walked away with a sleeve of Moreno’s uniform when all was said and done. Both players were ejected on the spot, which was not how we had envisioned Jackson’s tune-up after coming off the DL. The Raccoons went to Adam Bates for long relief, while Tim Novak replaced the gone Moreno. Novak would single in two runs in the fifth inning, which was the one in which Bates hit the ball and melted down after initially allowing a homer to Felix Rojas in the third inning. Bates got stuck with two on and two outs, and Preston Porter conceded hits to Delagrange and Novak for three total runs to score. That made it 6-2, the Raccoons having gotten two runs on a Maldonado single in the bottom 3rd, and he added another RBI to his tally in the sixth with a jack to left, his 23rd of the year. The Raccoons crept closer again in the seventh, scoring a run with hits from Brian Shedd (!) and Baskins, narrowing the gap to 6-4.

Rella, Curl, and Moreno pieced the final two innings together, but the eighth saw Gonzalez hit into a double play after Matt Waters reached base to begin the inning, but Ken Mills drew a leadoff walk to begin the bottom 9th, bringing the tying run back to the plate. Mercado batted for Medina and flew out to Novak, but Novak could only watch when Al Martell uncorked a pinch-hit, game-tying 2-run homer with one out! Now, would that give us anything better than extra innings? Adame grounded out against Gibson, after which Tony Morales batted for Moreno in the #2 spot and singled to center. That brought back Maldo, already with a productive day. He one-upped himself with a second walkoff in the series, and this one being a screamer over the fence in left-center for his second homer in the game!! 8-6 Furballs!! Baskins (PH) 1-1, RBI; Morales (PH) 1-1; Maldonado 3-5, 2 HR, 5 RBI; Shedd (PH) 1-1, BB; Martell (PH) 1-1, HR, 2 RBI;

Raccoons (103-56) vs. Indians (91-68) – September 27-29, 2047

First vs. second, although the games didn’t matter anymore. The Indians were eighth in runs scored and second in runs allowed, but only with a +60 run differential. We still could not play them in any way that was even semi-successful, being behind in the season series, 9-6, after getting swept in the last meeting less than a month ago.

Projected matchups:
Sadaharu Okuda (14-8, 2.92 ERA) vs. Mark Elzinga (8-14, 5.07 ERA)
Jeremy Baker (4-4, 3.48 ERA) vs. Casey Pinter (9-11, 4.78 ERA)
Carlton Harman (2-4, 6.87 ERA) vs. Enrique Ortiz (4-1, 2.87 ERA)

Two more southpaws, then a right-hander to close out the regular season against Harman, a.k.a. a throwaway game.

Game 1
IND: RF A. Mendez – 2B de Castro – CF B. Quinteros – LF D. Rivera – SS Russ – 1B Massey – 3B B. Anderson – C J. Rose – P Elzinga
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 1B Maldonado – 2B Waters – 3B Coen – LF Medina – RF Shedd – C Dalton – P Okuda

Andrew Russ, the regrettable stain, entered the series with 37 steals, level with Alex Adame – although both were one behind Bill Reeves of the Loggers as of Friday morning. Russ hit the only single off Okuda the first time through, but could not get a steal off, yet Adame took #38 in the bottom 3rd, then went on to score the game’s first run on a Maldo sac fly to Bill Quinteros. Come the fourth, Quinteros followed on an Alex de Castro single with a score-flipping homer…

The Raccoons tied the score in the fifth, getting back-to-back doubles from Okuda (what a ballplayer!) and Adame with one out to get even at two, but Adame was stranded as Herrera grounded out and Maldonado whiffed. Okuda then held on to the tie to the seventh-inning stretch, getting hit for in the bottom of the seventh. Jimmy Dalton dropped in a single ahead of Mercado, but was forced out on a grounder, and Adame flew out to leave Okuda with a no-decision. Nelson Moreno struck out the side in order in the top 8th, while Waters and Coen knocked 2-out singles in the bottom 8th, but then Medina grounded out to John Davis at second base. Another 1-2-3 was turned in by Mike Lynn in the ninth, whiffing a pair, while Elzinga was gone after eight innings of two runs on nine hits. Tommy Gardner was up in the bottom 9th, striking out three pinch-hitters: Baskins, Morales, and Van Hoy – and that sent us to extras again.

Davis singled off Ibold in the 10th, but Bobby Anderson was robbed in the gap by Roberto Medina to keep the Indians off the board, while the Coons’ 1-2-3 all flew out against Gardner in the bottom 10th. A Coen single in the 11th helped nothing, and Adame singled with two outs in the 12th, but was then caught stealing. Top 13th, Danny Cancel allowed singles to Bobby Anderson and Aaron Brewer, but the former was caught stealing before the latter got on base, and the Indians were stalled, too. Maldo singled with one out in the bottom 13th, but Bobby Nelson got a grounder to short from Waters – yet the Indians couldn’t turn two on the play. Waters was safe at first, then stole second. Coen popped out to Ron Kurtz, however, and the futility continued. Maybe the rookie would help out, in more ways than once. Cancel tacked on a 1-2-3 14th, and then the Indians’ rookie, Anderson, threw away Medina’s grounder to begin the bottom of that inning, putting the winning run at second base. Baskins grounded out, moving the runner to third base. There were a few bats left on the bench, and against the lefty Nelson, Ruben Gonzalez batted for Morales. The Indians had none of that, walking him intentionally. Arturo Carreno then batted for Cancel, but struck out, and Adame popped out, frittering the W away way past anybody’s bedtime. Hitchcock took over pitching, getting three groundouts in the top 15th, and struck out two and got another groundout in the 16th.

By the bottom 16th the Indians arrived at a starting pitcher, sending in Jason Palladino, who had over 200 innings on the clock for the year. He held the Coons short in the bottom 16th, after which Hitchcock came apart to begin the next inning. Kurtz doubled, Quinteros tripled, and Daniel Hertenstein singled to put two runs on the board, and the first ones in a good long while. There wasn’t much to manage in the bottom 17th. Gonzalez, Carreno, and the pitcher’s spot were up, which meant Mills, the only player left on the bench. A grounder and two flyouts ended the game. 4-2 Indians. Adame 3-7, 2B, RBI; Maldonado 2-6, RBI; Coen 2-6, BB; Dalton 1-2, BB; Okuda 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K and 1-2, 2B; Ibold 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K; Cancel 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

(looks salty)

Game 2
IND: RF A. Mendez – 2B de Castro – CF B. Quinteros – LF D. Rivera – SS Russ – 1B Massey – 3B Lapinski – C J. Rose – P Pinter
POR: RF Mercado – 2B Carreno – CF Herrera – SS Waters – C Gonzalez – 3B Coen – LF Medina – 1B Van Hoy – P Baker

Thick clouds threatened another bullpen-heavy game on Saturday, and the rain delay came in the fourth and lasted an hour and ended Baker’s day early – he had needed over 70 pitches to get through four innings. The Raccoons were up 1-0 at the intermission, courtesy of a Waters single, stolen base, wild pitch, and Gonzalez sac fly in the bottom 2nd. Pinter’s pitch count was only in the 30s at the rain delay, so he continued at the other end, while the Coons went to Bates, who imploded at first sight, getting raked with a walk, de Castro’s game-tying double, and a 2-run homer by Quinteros in the top 5th. The Indians made it back-to-back 3-spots in the sixth on Bob Ibold, and especially Arturo Carreno, who had a 2-base throwing error to *really* get them going. The Coons went through another three relievers, who did not allow any more runs, but it did not really matter, because Casey Pinter apparently effortlessly pitched a complete game despite sitting down for an hour in the middle of it… 6-1 Indians. Medina 2-3; Baker 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K and 1-1;

Great. Swept again.

Game 3
IND: RF A. Mendez – 2B de Castro – CF B. Quinteros – LF D. Rivera – 1B Massey – 3B B. Anderson – SS Lapinski – C Turbeville – P E. Ortiz
POR: 3B Adame – CF Herrera – 1B Maldonado – SS Waters – LF Baskins – RF Mills – 2B Martell – C Morales – P Harman

Still even with Reeves with 38 bags taken (and Russ not having gotten one in the series (yet)), Adame was on with a leadoff single in the bottom 1st and obviously itching to go. He never got a jump and eventually made it to second on a scratch single by Herrera. Ortiz then hit Maldo in the bum, which gave me more anxiety and also loaded the bases with no outs. Waters singled home two with a grounder through the right side, but then followed three quick and unhelpful outs. Harman had two scoreless innings to begin the game, then bunted Tony Morales on after the catcher drew a leadoff walk in the bottom 2nd. Ortiz then nicked Adame, too, which A) put a handbrake in form of Morales ahead of him, and B) made me wonder whether Jake Jackson could go out and break his neck before he hurt one of our guys – he was suspended anyway! A walk in a full count to Herrera loaded the bases with one gone for Maldo, who found the same hole Waters had found in the first inning for a 2-run single. Herrera was thrown out at third base, though, and the inning ended with Maldo being caught stealing.

Could the Coons outscore Colton Harman? He retired the first seven in order, then walked Bill Turbeville, but Ortiz hit into a double play after that. Waters doubled and Martell singled, extending the lead to 5-0 in the bottom of the inning, while Angel Mendez’ leadoff triple in the fourth got Indy on the board eventually. De Castro popped out, Quinteros walked, but Rivera hit an RBI single. Nate Massey then found Maldo with a quick bouncer for a 3-6-3 double play. Steve Lapinski and Turbeville reached in the fifth, but then PH Ron Kurtz found a double play to hit into.

While Harman failed his way through the innings while staying afloat in the 5-1 game, the Raccoons chickened once Maldonado hit a single to open the bottom 7th and sent Van Hoy to pinch-run. Waters flew out, Baskins singled, and then Ken Mills put the game away with a 3-run homer that ran the score to 8-1. Harman continued to complete eight innings on 100 pitches, never faltering entirely. Oscar Alcala got the ball for the 3-4-5 lefties in the ninth inning, getting them all out in order to complete regular season business. 8-1 Critters. Maldonado 2-3, 2 RBI; Waters 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Baskins 2-4; Mills 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Harman 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 6 K, W (3-4);

In other news

September 23 – Pacifics SP Kevin Clendenen (14-12, 3.48 ERA) throws a 2-hit shutout over the Warriors for an 8-0 win.
September 23 – Longtime Pacific, now Thunder OF Juan Benavides (.314, 30 HR, 105 RBI) hits a home run for the only score in the Thunder’s 1-0 win over the Bayhawks.
September 25 – LVA SP Jose Villalba (7-13, 3.79 ERA) 3-hits the Knights in a 5-0 shutout.
September 25 – The Indians flatten the Loggers to the tune of a 21-3 score. Outfielder Bill Quinteros (.258, 9 HR, 48 RBI) leads the team with four hits, and drives in two runs.
September 26 – The Stars clinch the FL West with a 5-3 win over the Gold Sox.
September 27 – The Condors’ SP Marc Hubbard (12-17, 3.23 ERA) has a 3-hit shutout against the Aces. He whiffs four to claim the 6-0 win.
September 29 – The Miners clinch the FL East on Closing Day, whooping the Cyclones, 10-5.
September 29 – DAL OF/1B Omar Gonzalez (.300, 6 HR, 66 RBI) finishes the season with a 20-game hitting streak, reaching that mark with a double in the regular season-ending 6-5 loss to the Scorpions.

Complaints and stuff

No more injuries suffered in the final week! Well, except that there is Jake Jackson’s suspension. There are five more games on that, and we are working on appealing to the League HQ that he should be allowed to pitch in the CLCS regardless.

I don’t like our chances with that appeal…

I am mildly annoyed that Matt Waters did not hit another home run. 20 steals, homers, and doubles each would have been something!

Alex Adame did not steal another base on Sunday, but neither did Bill Reeves, so the two will share the CL stolen base crown with 38 bags. And Russ will get nothing! – In the FL, 38 steals barely get you a sympathetic grin. Alex Vasquez of the Miners stole *69*. Wheats came only second in ERA to Nichol, but Mike Lynn led the majors in saves with 44.

At least we have Wheats for the playoffs! No Toohey, no Bubba, no Manny, no Pellicano, and no Gurney, and probably no Jackson. Oklahoma won 108. Go get ‘em, boys!

Fun Fact: Carlton Harman claimed the 6,000th regular season win for the Raccoons to finish this season.

It’s the first time we posted two milestones of 100 wins in a season, which is a function of virtually never winning 100 games to begin with. It’s also the closest 100 win milestones have occurred after each other, which… see the previous sentence.

We are still none too fond of Harman.