[Westheim]

Raccoons (31-30) @ Blue Sox (31-29) – June 14-16, 2049

Despite their meager record, the Sox were only one game out in the FL East as we rolled in. The entire division played Coonish. They ranked seventh in runs scored, third in runs allowed in the Federal League. Despite the second-lowest batting average and not a whole lot of homers either, they were still scoring pretty solidly thanks to a team-wide knack to draw walks by the bushel. They had taken two of three games from us last season.

Projected matchups:
Dave Hils (5-3, 5.17 ERA) vs. Luke Moses (4-7, 5.31 ERA)
Bubba Wolinsky (5-4, 4.72 ERA) vs. Will Cormack (5-3, 3.04 ERA)
Victor Salcido (1-1, 2.16 ERA) vs. Chris Cornelius (5-6, 3.08 ERA)

Another series where we’d see only righty pitchers to start the games.

Andrew Clarke was demoted after the spot start on Sunday, and the Raccoons opted for an additional reliever for at least a day or two, bringing up Steve Richardson, who had made a scoreless appearance already this season.

Game 1
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – LF Toohey – RF Nigro – C Gonzalez – P Hils
NAS: CF Pfeifer – 1B Ale. Ramos – C Cantu – RF Magnussen – 3B Reid – LF McLain – 2B Kaufman – SS J. Cortes – P Moses

Portland jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first, which Moses began by parting Adame’s bum with a wayward fastball, nicking the game’s first runner on base. Adame stole second, got singled home by Maldo, and Gurney whacked a 2-run homer with two outs. Gurney would be up in another thick spot with two outs in the third, Maldo and Waters having just reached base, but then popped out to Brian Kaufman. Two more were on to start the fourth, Toohey on merit and Nigro on a Kaufman error, but Ruben Gonzalez hit into a double play and Hils struck out. Hils, by the way, retired the first ten Blue Sox in order before Alejandro Ramos hit a single to left, only to get immediately tied up in Jorge Cantu’s 6-4-3 double play. Justin McLain drew a walk in the bottom 5th, then was caught stealing, and the top 6th saw a 2-out crunch with a Toohey single, Nigro walking, and Gonzalez getting brutalized by a 3-1 changeup. That brought up Hils, who grounded out to David Reid, but was excellent on the mound for another… two outs, and then everything flew full speed into the nearest wood chipper. Jose Garza singled in place of Moses, Mike Pfeifer homered to right, Ramos reached on a throwing error by Adame, then scored on Cantu’s single to left. The only good thing was that Cantu thought he had two and was thrown out by Bryce Toohey to end the inning, all even at three.

Hils pitched a 1-2-3 seventh, the was hit for in the eighth with Nigro and Gonzalez on the corners against lefty Carlos Castillo. Avila lined out to Jorge Cortes to waste the opportunity. The Coons went on to Steve Richardson against plenty a lefty in the bottom 8th, which worked out to the tune of all hitters’ counts, a leadoff walk to PH Jay Rogers, and Toohey spoiling Pfeifer’s 2-out RBI double with an inspiring rush into the gap to make the snatch and keep the game knotted. The Coons still wouldn’t score in the top 9th, and Richardson remained in the game to see leadoff man Ramos reach base on another Adame error in the bottom 9th. He then walked Cantu, while Adam Magnussen grounded into a fielder’s choice at second base. Ramos and the winning run were at third base, with Preston Porter replacing Richardson opposite Reid. David Reid was decidedly unimpressed and shoved a 3-1 pitch up the middle and into center to end the game. 4-3 Blue Sox. Maldonado 3-5, RBI; Gurney 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Hils 7.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K;

Richardson (0-1, 0.00 ERA for ****’s sake) was sent back to AAA after this game, with switch-hitting corner outfielder Roberto Medina brought up from AAA, where he was hitting .270 with two homers in 52 games. Medina was a .228/.264/.333 hitter in the majors, where he had seen things 46 times with the 2047-48 Coons.

Game 2
POR: LF Watt – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – RF Nigro – SS Luna – C Raczka – P Wolinsky
NAS: LF Napoles – 1B Ale. Ramos – 3B Reid – SS Kaufman – C C. Baker – RF Magnussen – CF J. Garza – 2B Clary – P Cormack

Wolinsky pitched on Draft Day, with me absent in New York. Eddy Luna gave him a 1-0 lead in the second with a sac fly with Gurney and Nigro on the corners before Raczka raczed into another double play, but the Blue Sox put a flurry of batter on base to begin the bottom 2nd. Brian Kaufman singled, while Chris Baker – in his first game of the season – walked. Magnussen singled to center, where Herrera picked, thundered to home plate, and threw out Kaufman. Baker had stopped at second base, was almost called out for interference when Luna tried to catch Garza’s pop right next to second base, and then scored anyway on a full-count single to right-center by Eric Clary. Cormack whiffed, keeping it 1-1.

Jeff Raczka the sabotaged the Raccoons by *doubling* … TWICE. In the fifth inning, Luna was on base to begin the inning, but was caught stealing, that move having been ordered to stay out of the inevitable double play. Somehow Raczka scored from second on a 2-out single by Watt to grab a new 2-1 lead anyway, and that lead was still good in the seventh, when Raczka doubled again… AFTER Luna had been thrown out at third base on his own double to right, trying to get an extra base to maybe score on a grounder to short. Raczka hit a gapper instead, then looked happy and sad at the same time while parked up at second base, wondering why nobody loved him. Toohey batted for Wolinsky, who had thrown 91 pitches, but struck out looking against righty Pedro Flores, ending the inning. Lynn and Porter then offered scoreless frames for the Furballs, with the ninth seeing hits by Gurney and Luna off Ryan Person, going to the corners, while Magnussen hurt himself trying to throw out Gurney going to third base, and was replaced with Pfeifer. There was Raczka again, batting with two on and two outs. Or would the Coons…? No, no pinch-hitter. Apparently the hope was for a third double from Raczka. He struck out, of ******* course. On Moreno’s watch in the bottom 9th then, David Reid began with a strikeout, but Moreno and Raczka got into each other’s fur trying to field a Jorge Cortes roller, and the tying run reached first base on an infield single. After a bit of hissing, Chris Baker hit a comebacker to Moreno though. No Raczka to bother him anywhere near, Moreno started a 1-6-3 series leveler! 2-1 Coons. Watt 2-4, RBI; Gurney 2-4, 2B; Luna 2-2, BB, 2B, RBI; Raczka 2-4, 2 2B; Wolinsky 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, W (6-4);

You should pull more than two runs out of your bums on five doubles, but I have sorta resigned myself to a “**** happens” state as they continued to play barely .500-ish.

Game 3
POR: CF Watt – SS Adame – 1B Gurney – 2B Waters – LF Toohey – RF Nigro – 3B Luna – C Gonzalez – P Salcido
NAS: CF Pfeifer – 1B Ale. Ramos – C Cantu – RF Magnussen – LF Jager – 3B Reid – 2B Kaufman – SS Napoles – P Cornelius

When Bryce Toohey whacked a solo homer to put the team up 1-0 in the fourth, Salcido was still pitching a no-hitter while the Raccoons had seen both Waters and Gonzalez fly out all the way to the fence, and Eddy Luna get picked off first base to end the second inning with him and Nigro on the corners and the pitcher batting.

When the Blue Sox did get a hit off Salcido, an Alejandro Ramos single with one out in the bottom 4th, they piled another three on top of the youngster immediately, scoring a 3-spot eventually. Magnussen and Reid drove in runs, but Salcido also flubbed the go-ahead run across on a wild pitch with Jose Cantu at third base. Salcido did not get out of the quagmire for the rest of his outing. The Sox did not score in the fifth, but David Reid singled home another run with two outs in the bottom 6th, and that was the end for Salcido. Zero hits to the first ten batters, then nine hits to the next fifteen… Nate Norris replaced Salcido, got out of the sixth, but put Justin McLain on base in the seventh, and that run scored on a Cantu double given up by Ponce.

While I regretted even stopping over in Nashville on the way from New York to Portland, where I’d have to spend the Coons’ next series in Elk City, the top 8th began with straight singles by Avila, Watt (knocking out Cornelius), and Adame (off Ryan Person), loading the bases with nobody out. When Person lost Gurney to ball four in a full count, that pushed home Avila to make it 5-2, and the tying runs were now on base. Waters struck out in a full count, but Toohey held out for another bases-loaded walk. Maldonado then batted for Ponce in the #6 hole after an earlier double switch, hit a 1-2 up the middle, but it was snatched by Alfredo Napoles. Toohey clobbered into Brian Kaufman at second base to break up the double play, allowing another run to score, 5-4, but a K to Luna ended the inning. Herrera, Avila, and Watt went down in order against Zack Stahl in the ninth to end the game. 5-4 Blue Sox. Adame 2-4; Toohey 1-2, 2 BB, HR, 2 RBI;

Waiver claim

The Raccoons grabbed themselves another roll of the dice on a catcher, picking up 29-year-old Aruban Wade Gardner (.221, 1 HR, 14 RBI) off waivers by the Scorpions. He had posted some nice hitting seasons with the Warriors and Titans in the past, while his D was charitably described as average.

Jeff Raczka (.176, 1 HR, 2 RBI) was returned to AAA to make room on the roster.

Raccoons (32-32) @ Canadiens (40-22) – June 17-20, 2049

The damn Elks were up 2-1 on the Coons this year, and from about 400 miles away I had a hunch it would soon get worse. They ranked fourth in runs scored and runs allowed, with a +52 run differential (Coons: +20) that was enough to lead the North by five and a half games at this point. The Coons were nine games out, but I had given up – I would spend the weekend in the office, trying to wheel and deal to maybe start snatching prospects from people.

Projected matchups:
Victor Merino (5-4, 4.18 ERA) vs. Terry Herman (4-3, 4.69 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (3-6, 4.15 ERA) vs. Bill McMichael (3-5, 1.84 ERA)
Dave Hils (5-3, 4.93 ERA) vs. Mario Godinez (7-3, 3.31 ERA)
Bubba Wolinsky (6-4, 4.46 ERA) vs. Mario de Anda (10-1, 2.69 ERA)

Not sure what McMichael had done to offend the baseball gods, but Wheats hadn’t won a game since APRIL, going 0-5 with four no-decisions, so this was his chance. McMichael and de Anda were two left-handers.

Game 1
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – RF Nigro – C Gardner – LF Medina – P Merino
VAN: CF Escobido – SS R. Price – 1B S. Henderson – RF Outram – 3B Burgos – C Julio Diaz – LF Tomasello – 2B DeMarco – P Herman

Angel Escobido singled to left, Rick Price singled to right, Sterling Henderson opened up a 3-run homer, and the Coons lost the game right in the first inning without Merino getting anybody out. Merino didn’t get out of the first inning, either. Jesus Burgos singled and was caught stealing, but then he walked Julio Diaz, and allowed yet more hits to Tyler Tomasello, Nick DeMarco, and Terry Herman, then was yanked down 5-0, with two on and two out. Escobido flew out to Herrera against Kevin Hitchcock to end the ******* barrage. I patted Slappy on the thigh, Honeypaws on the head, and went back to the phone to have another phone call with the Wolves, those calls maybe or maybe not being the reason why there was no Bryce Toohey in the lineup.

The drumming didn’t get any less with Hitchcock around. Burgos crushed a 2-run homer in the second, and Henderson singled in another run in the third, as the Elks were already on their third time through the order against completely overwhelmed Critters. It was 8-1 after three, with the Coons’ lone marker having been glitched across home plate by Herman on a wild pitch. The runner was Gurney, who would have the only Coons hit in the first seven innings to get on base. He was not joined in the H column until the eighth, when new arrival Wade Gardner hit a 1-out single up the middle, still down 8-1 after the pen stopped the atrocious bleed. Herman went on to nick Roberto Medina, then walked Watt, who had been in the #9 hole for a while, Armando Herrera having been double-switched out. Adame rushed a 2-run double to left, Toohey hit a sac fly in place of Mike Lynn, and Maldo struck out, keeping the team a slam short. Preston Porter’s pointlessly pristine eighth kept it that way, but Pedro de Leon was not far behind in the ninth, allowing nothing but a 2-out double to Nigro. 8-4 Canadiens. Lynn 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

Interlude: Trade

The sac fly Bryce Toohey (.266, 5 HR, 15 RBI) hit in the eighth inning on Thursday was his 640th career RBI, and the 447th as a Coon. It was also the last in the latter category. After five-and-a-half years in the brown shirt, and three rings, Toohey was traded to the Rebels for the #13 pick from 2047, 23-year-old potential super utility Mitch Sivertson, who was batting .274 with two homers in his first 41 games in AAA.

Sivertson had good range and a solid arm, hitting mostly for singles, but had the speed to turn singles into doubles by other means. He might be a potential September call-up this year.

INF Tim Rogers was called up as a filler for now. With Preble on the DL, the Coons would play Gurney in the outfield and move Maldo to first, allowing for a platoon of Rogers and Luna at third base for the next two weeks.

Raccoons (32-32) @ Canadiens (40-22) – June 17-20, 2049

Game 2
POR: LF Watt – CF Herrera – 1B Maldonado – 2B Waters – RF Avila – SS Adame – C Gonzalez – 3B Rogers – P Wheatley
VAN: LF Escobido – 3B Burgos – RF Outram – SS R. Price – 1B S. Henderson – C Julio Diaz – 2B Mancini – CF Tomasello – P McMichael

The Coons went up 1-0 in the second on absolutely nothing. Rick Price committed a 2-base throwing error to put Adame on base, McMichael threw a wild pitch, and Gonzalez’ groundout brought in the run, barely. Neither team put much together through five innings. The Coons had two hits, the Elks had three, and Wheats also issued three walks, but got some help from double plays, and struck out four, including Escobido with Tomasello on second base to complete the bottom 5th.

Top 6th, Watt and Herrera slapped a pair of singles to left to put runners on the corners with nobody out. Maldo got ahead 3-0, then drove a ball to right that was caught by Jerry Outram, but at least amounted to a sac fly, 2-0. Waters, in a deepening slump, walked after striking out twice earlier in the game. However, Avila whiffed, and Adame grounded out, and two were stranded. Burgos opened the bottom 6th with a leadoff single, but Jerry Outram, of all people, hit into a double play. Price singled again, but Henderson grounded out. Wheats then raised his average from .032 to a lofty .063 with a 1-out single in the seventh, moving Ruben Gonzalez from second to third with one out; Gonzalez had singled himself off McMichael and had been bunted to second by Tim Rogers, who now had the same batting average as Wheats. Watt grounded out, allowing Gonzalez to score, 3-0. Wheats was left on, then returned for the bottom 7th, gave up two soft hits to begin the inning to Julio Diaz and Bob Mancini, then got Tomasello on a fielder’s choice and PH Adrian Higareda for a 6-4-3 double play, concluding seven shutout innings and his day after 107 pitches.

Porter retired the 1-2 batters to begin the bottom 8th, but Outram rammed one out against Julian Ponce to get the damn Elks on the board. Price then made the third out, setting up Nelson Moreno for the ninth. It also set up some rain. Sterling Henderson hit a leadoff single, after which a 35-minute rain delay broke out and I carved a tenth dent into my desk to formally extend Wheats’ winless streak. When baseball resumed, Julio Diaz popped out on the first after-rain pitch thrown by Moreno, while Mancini lined out to Gurney on the next pitch. And Henderson had made a run for it, was far off the base, and Gurney hustled to the plate to double him off, 3-unassisted to end the game…!! 3-1 Critters! Watt 2-4, RBI; Wheatley 7.0 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 K, W (4-6) and 1-3;

Winless Wheats no more!

Waters, however? Now 3-for-29 in his last seven games and due for a day off or three.

Game 3
POR: LF Watt – CF Herrera – 1B Maldonado – 2B Gurney – RF Nigro – 3B Luna – SS Adame – C Gonzalez – P Hils
VAN: LF Escobido – 3B Burgos – RF Outram – SS R. Price – 1B S. Henderson – 2B DeMarco – C T. Phillips – CF Tomasello – P Godinez

In an inning with three singles, Dave Hils singled home his own 1-0 lead in the second inning on Saturday, coming up with two outs and Nigro and Adame on the corners, and poking one through the left side for an RBI before Watt flew out. Deep fly outs by both Henderson and DeMarco to begin the bottom 2nd made me clutch Honeypaws a little tighter, seeing little hope for back-to-back wins in hostile tundra territory. With a Herrera leadoff single, Maldo’s RBI double and him advancing to third base on Escobido’s throw to home plate, plus a Gurney sac fly, the Coons even went up 3-0 again in the third, and it was 4-0 when Watt singled home Adame the next inning, but I’d seen things from Hils before, and every thing was worth six figures…

…and yet, the Elks remained shut out on two hits through five innings, despite at least four fly outs readily classifiable as scary. Instead, a soft single and two walks put the 6-7-8 batters on base in the top 6th, bringing up Hils with nobody out. He grounded out, getting the score to 5-0 as Luna scored, and then Watt walked to refill the bags, now with righty Grant Bergman pitching. Herrera and Maldo both shot singles up the middle, driving in one and two runs, respectively, before, paradoxically, Bergman struck out both Gurney and Nigro to end the inning at 8-0. Hils was still untouched through seven, when the Coons began the eighth with a Watt single and Price throwing away Herrera’s double play grounder to make it two on, no outs rather than two outs, none on. From there, the Coons hit three lineouts to not score.

Hils threw 107 pitches, same as Wheats the day before, but got two outs further, but then left with Mancini and Burgos on the corners after the pair had hit singles off him. Lynn checked in on Outram, gave up an RBI single, and then walked Price, leaving without retiring anybody. Hitchcock got the bases loaded, and managed to unload them by ways of a Sterling Henderson grand slam to left, and suddenly it was a real ballgame at 8-5. DeMarco hit another single, but Tim Phillips grounded out to short to kill the rally. When Ruben Gonzalez homered off Tim Abraham in the ninth, 9-5, the bottom 9th went to Altreche rather than Moreno, who only got involved after a 1-out walk to Diaz and a Escobido single. Moreno stuck out Burgos, then ran a full count to Outram before blowing the constant terror away with 99mph at the top of the zone. 9-5 Raccoons. Watt 2-4, BB, RBI; Herrera 2-5, RBI; Maldonado 3-5, 2B, 3 RBI; Adame 2-4, BB; Hils 7.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, W (6-3) and 1-4, 2 RBI;

Game 4
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 1B Maldonado – 2B Waters – RF Avila – C Gardner – LF Medina – 3B Rogers – P Wolinsky
VAN: CF Escobido – SS R. Price – 1B S. Henderson – RF Outram – LF Mancini – 3B Higareda – C T. Phillips – 2B DeMarco – P de Anda

Gardner and Medina opened the second with singles, and Outram overran Medina’s ball for an error to put them into scoring position. Avila had already popped out to strand a pair in the top of the first, and now came Rogers and the pitcher, so I was filled with foreboding. Rogers, though, got his third big league hit and first RBI with a single to left, while Bubba popped out. Adame doubled to center to make it 2-0 and put a pair in scoring position again, both of which were cashed by Armando Herrera, and in style, with a 3-run homer to left, 5-0!

Bubba faced the minimum the first time through, allowing a single to Outram, who was doubled up right away by Mancini, and on a 3-2 pitch. Waters’ slump wasn’t getting any better. He was no help offensively in any way, including popping out to strand Herrera and Maldo in the fourth. The Elks wasted an Escobido double to begin the fourth, but then really crowded Wolinsky in the fifth, loading the bases on three singles with one out. Bob Montana batted for de Anda, but flew out to Roberto Medina for a sac fly, 5-1. Escobido reached on a Gardner fumble, but Rick Price flew out easily to Herrera to end the inning as the tying run. That was the last inning completed by Wolinsky, who gave up a homer to Outram in the sixth, and then parked Mancini and Phillips in scoring position with two outs before departing. Preston Porter got DeMarco to ground out, keeping the 5-2 lead in one piece, but then was charged a run in the seventh, allowing a single to Escobido, although the run scored against Ponce later on. No tack-on offense was forthcoming, and the rest of the lead was blown by Hitchcock in the bottom 8th, allowing a single to Higareda and a 2-piece to DeMarco…

Matt Watt pinch-hit and drew a leadoff walk in the ninth, but was doubled off by Adame, but the Elks didn’t get on base, either, and the series finale went to extras. Overtime opened with Maldo singling up the middle against Sam Gibson, who then walked Waters. Gurney batted for Avila, struck out, and Wade Gardner hit into a double play, and nobody scored… Altreche kept the Coons in the game after that, while Tim Rogers hit a 1-out double off Tim Abraham in the 11th, which I had already pre-marked a 1-2-3 on my scorecard. But both Nigro and Adame grounded out, and Rogers was left on third base. DeMarco then hit a leadoff single against Altreche, and Julio Diaz ended the bitter charade with a no-doubter to right-center. 7-5 Canadiens. Adame 2-6, 2B, RBI; Medina 2-5; Rogers 2-5, 2B, RBI;

In other news

June 15 – TOP RF/CF J.P. Angeletti (.276, 6 HR, 25 RBI) whacks three home runs and drives in six runs in a 9-4 win over the Titans. It’s the second 3-homer game for a Buffalo in three seasons, after Vittorio Riario achieved the feat in April 2047 against the Rebels.
June 16 – Atlanta’s Anton Venegas (.347, 2 HR, 22 RBI) keeps churning out hits with a stellar 3-hit day to extend his hitting streak to 34 games in a 7-4 win over the Scorpions.
June 16 – There is a challenger around, though, with OCT 2B/SS Jonathan Ban (.322, 4 HR, 29 RBI) stringing together a 20-game hitting streak of his own with a sixth-inning single in a 4-3 loss to the Wolves.
June 16 – The Rebels acquire LF Joe Besaw (.351, 8 HR, 28 RBI) from the Crusaders for nothing more than an unranked catching prospect, David Skelly.
June 18 – Shoulder inflammation ends the season of BOS SP David Barel (6-6, 2.22 ERA), and probably also the Titans’ season as a whole.
June 18 – BOS SP Dave Serio (3-5, 2.84 ERA) 2-hits the Crusaders in a 3-0 shutout.
June 18 – The first career homer of RIC 3B Danny Espinosa (.348, 1 HR, 3 RBI) is the only run scored in a 1-0 win over the Capitals.
June 18 – The Indians acquire C Ray DeFrank (.293, 0 HR, 7 RBI) from the Aces for two prospects including #79 SP Nelson Salinas.
June 19 – As the Miners crush the Cyclones to size in a 25-6 rout, 22-year-old PIT INF Victor Corrales (.361, 1 HR, 14 RBI) has five hits in the first five innings, but then makes only outs from there to miss a thick chance at a six-hit game. He drives in two runs in the game, in which the Miners score a crooked number in each of the first seven innings, but nothing thereafter.
June 19 – ATL 3B/SS/LF/CF Anton Venegas (.347, 2 HR, 22 RBI) doubles in the first and singles in the second, but the Knights lose 6-3 to the Falcons, while Venegas’ hitting streak reaches 3-6.

FL Player of the Week: SFW LF Mario Villa (.381, 7 HR, 46 RBI), hitting .478 (11-23) with 1 HR, 7 RBI
CL Player of the Week: OCT 2B/SS Jonathan Ban (.340, 5 HR, 33 RBI), batting .609 (14-23) with 1 HR, 6 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Four, three, two; five, four; two, five – that’s the start of the Miners’ line score from Saturday. ZIP codes in there? New Albany, OH; Eglin AFB, FL; and my personal favorite as a Civil War nut, 25425, Harpers Ferry, WV! – What do you mean, Cristiano, did I fight for the North or South?? – I AM NOT *THAT* OLD!!!

In a way I am not unhappy that the Coons blew a 5-0 lead and lost on Sunday, because that spares me the Agitator headlines about a stupid and premature trade of Bryce Toohey, and now the Coons go 3-0 after that. This is one of the rare cases where I can confidently say that a split in Elk City is *enough*…

And from here? The Coons have basically four lots of players now:
- Good players with good contracts that can easily be moved (Wheats, Waters, Moreno…)
- Good players with bad contracts on the way down that can’t be moved (Maldo, Herrera, Hils…)
- Young guys making the minimum that won’t be moved (Wolinsky, Salcido)
- Filler material (Rogers, Altreche, Medina, Gardner and others)

I am probably not spilling secrets when I say that Pat Gurney is also on the way out. He’ll be a free agent at the end of the year, unlikely to be a type A compensation case, and thus best traded earlier. It would also free up first base for Maldonado as an upstate farm to retire to, permanently.

Mike Lynn is an interesting case. He makes way too much dosh to be easily shiftable, and I’m not gonna sweeten a deal with helping of Lorenzo Lavorano or similar prospects. Trade Moreno and use up Lynn as closer while the team sucks, sounds fine.

Inauspicious pro debuts? Not even a draft pick this time, but the relative lack of early-round pitching we drafted (behind #34 Josh Mayo) got a few guys promoted from the international complex perhaps ahead of schedule. 18-year-old Dominican Reynaldo Bravo, an $80k signing in the 2047 July IFA period, then made his first appearance in Aumsville this week and immediately came up with back soreness.

Back to New York now, and then we’ll have a homestand with the Bayhawks and Condors to begin the pre-All Star Game spell without an off day, 17 games this year. There is also no off day between the Baybirds and Rufflebirds for an easy resolution of that make-up double header next Monday…

Oh well, at least things stay interesting around here…

Fun Fact: Only five hitting streaks longer than ATL Anton Venegas’ current streak are in the history books.

Venegas reached 37 games in a 3-1 loss to the Falcons on Sunday, and he could roll up all but one of the record-holders next week, technically including all *players* that have a longer hitting streak in history:

SFB Claudio Rojas (1983) – 47
CIN Claudio Rojas (1979-80) – 40
VAN Roland Moore (1993) – 39
LVA Danny Serrano (2026) – 39
MIL Bartolo Hernandez (2003) – 38

The longest hitting streaks by Critters are a pair of 32-game efforts by Neil Reece (1991) and Cookie Carmona (2020). The top 5 fill up with Reece again, a 27-game streak in ’94, then Reece AGAIN, 25 games in ’92, and then there were 24-game streaks by two players: David Brewer (1996) and Cosmo Trevino (2042);