[Westheim]

Raccoons (93-56) @ Condors (65-84) – September 20-22, 2055

The Raccoons would try to get rid of their magic number of three altogether in Tijuana, facing the Condors who they had beaten 5-1 this year and 14-1 since the start of last year. The Condors were bottoms in runs scored and third-worst in pitching with a -96 run differential. Their pen was the worst in the league with an ERA pushing five. It wasn’t pretty.

Projected matchups:
Seisaku Taki (9-9, 3.81 ERA) vs. Miguel Batista (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Phil Baker (0-2, 3.86 ERA) vs. Chris Cornelius (9-9, 4.25 ERA)
Cameron Argenziano (7-1, 2.59 ERA) vs. Victor Scott (8-13, 3.60 ERA)

We’d get a right-handed rookie who had just pitched one inning in relief in his career and would make his debut as a starter at age 23, then a righty veteran and a lefty ex-Coon. Numerous injuries to their pitching staff, with Juan Juarez, Jay Everett, Jaylin King, and Jayden Durant on the DL. Sam Witherspoon was day-to-day with a balky hamstring.

Game 1
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – RF Munn – 1B Ramsay – 3B Venegas – 2B Waters – C Philipps – P Taki
TIJ: C Mittleider – 3B Chapa – LF T. Duncan – RF J. Harmon – 1B Witherspoon – CF Hildebrand – SS N. Fowler – 2B D. Mercado – P M. Batista

A throwing error by Nick Fowler allowed the Raccoons to plate an unearned run in the first inning, as it allowed Lonzo to second base, from where Pucks singled him home just two pitches later. Taki answered with one of his first innings, conceding a single to Jon Mittleider and a walk to Luis Chapa, and eventually a run on Jamie Harmon’s single to center, tying the game at one before Witherspoon whiffed and Danny Hildebrand grounded out to Waters. Taki answered by hitting a sac fly to plate Waters for a new 2-1 lead in the second inning, then struck out the next four batters he faced before walking Chapa again. This time, Tim Duncan hit into a double play to end the bottom 3rd.

The first two pitches the debutee (as a starter at least) threw in the fifth inning were taken for a single by Brassfield and a double to left by Lonzo. From there, Batista did the smart thing and walked Pucks, dooming the Coons to have the bases loaded with nobody out. Danny Munn immediately struck out, but Ramsay, raging hot, singled to right to drive in a run. Venegas and Waters offered pathetic outs, stranding the bags full. Munn then made an error to put Domingo Mercado on base to begin the bottom 5th, and Chapa and Duncan hit singles to regain a run on the Coons, 3-2. Harmon popped out to leave the 2-3 pair on the corners. Taki went on to knock out Batista with a 1-out single in the top 6th. Jesus Cardenas took over, walked the bags full with Brass and Pucks, and then ran another full count against Munn. The veteran showed patience and laid off a pitch well outside to draw a third walk and push home a run. Ramsay singled past Mercado for another run, while Carlos Solorzano batted for Venegas, but flew out to Duncan, stranding three.

Taki then showed off his playoff form, drilling the already ailing Witherspoon in the bottom 6th before giving up four singles until Mittleider’s 1-out knock tied the game at five. Lillis had to dig him out of the jam, and would probably be the smart choice to start rather than Taki in the upcoming CLCS….. Neither team then scored in the last three innings of regulation even though there was a runner on base in five of the six half-innings. The teams went to overtime exactly even with five runs, nine hits, and an error on each side. The tie was then broken in the most unlikely fashion – Daniel Espinoza was batting in Pucks’ spot, after Solorzano had stayed in centerfield after pinch-hitting earlier when the team had still held a sizable lead. His spot came up in the 10th inning against Leonardo Ramos, who had already gotten five outs, including two from Brass and Lonzo in the inning, but he didn’t get Espinoza; Espinoza got *him* with his first career home run to leftfield…! A stunned Ramos gave up another pair of doubles to Munn and Ramsay, and thus a second run, but Kevin Hitchcock would get by without that when he was handed the ball for the bottom 10th, retiring the Condors in order. 7-5 Raccoons. Brassfield 2-4, BB; Puckeridge 1-2, 2 BB, RBI; Espinoza 1-2, HR, RBI; Ramsay 3-6, 2B, 3 RBI; Tenazes (PH) 1-1;

Ryan Harmer got the W with a scoreless bottom 9th.

The Indians beat the Knights, 4-3, so the magic number was now two.

Game 2
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – RF Munn – 1B Ramsay – 3B Venegas – 2B Knight – C Raczka – P Baker
TIJ: SS Sheilds – 3B Chapa – LF T. Duncan – RF J. Harmon – 1B Witherspoon – CF Hildebrand – C J. Morales – 2B D. Mercado – P Cornelius

Lonzo scored again in the first inning for a 1-0 lead, this time with his own single, his 66th stolen base of the season, an infield single for Pucks, and then Munn’s sac fly to center. Ramsay also singled, but Venegas’ twig remained soft and he grounded out to end the inning. The Coons added a 3-spot in the second inning. Knight got on base and was driven in by Phil Baker with an RBI single, his first hit and RBI of the year. Lonzo reached, stole another base, and then Pucks drove home both remaining runners with a screaming double to right, 4-0. Munn flew out to center again to end the inning. By about that time, however, the Indians finished a 3-2 win against the Knights – so the Raccoons could reduce the magic number to one, but they could not win the division on this day.

Baker, recalled up as desperate wing and a prayer, pitched four shutout innings to begin the game, which sounded much better than it was. The Condors crowded him for five runners in the first two frames, they just couldn’t get anybody across. When they finally did score a run, it was Tyrese Sheilds’ solo homer that got the job done in the bottom 5th. Danny Hildebrand hit a double off him in the sixth inning, but was left on, and Domingo Mercado landed a single behind Lonzo to begin the bottom 7th. Victor Cruz’ pinch-hit grounder erased the lead runner, and after that the Coons went to the pen. Eloy Sencion retired Sheilds and Chapa to get out of the inning. Bottom 8th, Reynaldo Bravo and Matt Walters walked the first two batters, Duncan and Harmon, Witherspoon popped out on a 3-1 pitch, and then Hildebrand was coaxed into a double play by Walters, while I wasn’t sure how much more clearly we could phone in our willingness to blow the game. Hitchcock had another panic-free ninth, however. 4-1 Raccoons. Lavorano 2-4; Puckeridge 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Knight 2-4; Baker 6.1 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, W (1-2) and 1-3, RBI;

One.

Game 3
POR: RF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – 1B Ramsay – LF Venegas – 2B Waters – CF Tenazes – 3B Espinoza – C Philipps – P Argenziano
TIJ: C Mittleider – 2B D. Mercado – LF T. Duncan – 1B V. Cruz – RF Rock – CF Briggs – SS V. Velez – 3B Villalba – P V. Scott

This time, the Condors went up 1-0 in the first inning, thanks to Argenziano handing a gift to Domingo Mercado, and the second-sacker bashing it 390 feet. The Raccoons didn’t immediately reply, but would get their battery into scoring position with nobody out in the top 3rd. Scott walked Philipps, and then Argenziano’s bunt was peppered away for two bases by Raul Villalba. The Raccoons didn’t score; Brassfield struck out, and Lonzo flew out to Chris Briggs, who then threw out Philipps at the plate to end the inning. The Condors responded with stacking the bags and nobody out with their 2-3-4 batters in the bottom 3rd. Argenziano was all over the place, then had a Brassfield error added to his pains when the rightfielder dropped Tom Rock’s 3-1 foul pop to give the batter another chance. Argenziano pounced on the chance and drilled Rock with an errant breaking ball, pushing home a run. Briggs struck out, but Victor Velez dished a double and drove home two runners. Argenziano walked Villalba, conceded another run on Scott’s groundout, and was then yanked from the 5-0 game. Mittleider struck out against Rukizuki to end the inning.

Through five, the Raccoons had pretty much nothing. The sixth began with Pucks pinch-hitting for Geoff Sather in the #9 hole and hitting a bomb off Scott, 5-1. Brassfield and Ramsay then went to the corners, and Anton Venegas’ sac fly got us closer yet, 5-2. The inning ended with Rams picked off first base, though… That was the more fur-raising for when Matt Waters got back to the plate in the sixth inning, he took Scott deep for a homer and it was now 5-3. But the closer the Coons got, the less they produced. Philipps drew a 2-out walk in the same inning, but Pucks’ fly to center was caught. Ramsay hit a 2-out single off Scott in the eighth, and Danny Munn pinch-hit, but popped out.

Top 9th, Leonardo Ramos pitching. Waters singled to center. Tenazes doubled to right. The tying runs were in scoring position! Crispin batted for Espinoza, drew a walk, and now I felt like we were doomed. Three on, nobody out, and Philipps struck out. Pucks struck out as well. Brassfield ran a full count and sent a drive to left. Nope. Duncan was in no particular hurry, waited, and made the catch. 5-3 Condors. Ramsay 2-4; Waters 3-4, HR, 2B, RBI; Puckeridge (PH) 1-3, HR, RBI;

Rukizuki, Sather, Bowen, Lillis, and Ostler pitched 5.1 innings of scoreless relief – all for naught.

…and it didn’t matter! The Knights Vic Harman (9-7, 3.44 ERA), first full year in the majors at age 24, shut out the Indians on four hits to end their season – the Raccoons had won the division!

Raccoons (95-57) @ Loggers (70-83) – September 24-26, 2055

Now into “don’t get hurt!” territory, the Raccoons had their last road series of the regular season in Milwaukee. The Loggers had been through another meh season, but somehow still held an 8-7 lead in 15 games against the Critters. While I wasn’t fond on losing the season series against any division rival, I wasn’t fond even more of losing more crucial players, so, boys, can you please stop breaking your little necks? The Loggers had the worst rotation, gave up the second-most runs, but also scored the second-most runs in the CL. Their run differential was only modestly bad at -26.

Projected matchups:
Kyle Brobeck (7-8, 4.61 ERA) vs. Jamie Kempf (8-13, 4.79 ERA)
He Shui (20-5, 2.68 ERA) vs. Luke Moses (4-7, 5.31 ERA)
Craig Kniep (1-0, 5.40 ERA) vs. Jeff Fox (10-7, 4.94 ERA)

Southpaw Sunday after two right-handers. Chris Gowin returned to the lineup after missing all of the Tijuana series. The Raccoons would now begin to weave in more reserves into the lineup.

Game 1
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – RF Munn – 1B Ramsay – P Brobeck – C Gowin – 2B Waters – 3B Crispin
MIL: SS Gaxiola – RF Callaia – LF Pigman – C C. Thomas – 2B de Kok – 1B D. Robles – CF Starnes – 3B T. Edwards – P Kempf

Brobeck remained atrocious, drilling a batter amid three singles in the bottom 1st, surrendering two runs on Dave Robles’ 2-out hit. The Raccoons roared back, though. Munn started the top 2nd with a walk in a full count, advanced on a wild pitch, and then was joined by Ramsay on another walk. Brobeck hit into a fielder’s choice at second base, and Gowin popped out, but Matt Waters then came through with an RBI double to right-center. Even better, the #9 batter Ed Crispin crashed a huge 428-footer for a 3-run homer and a 4-2 lead. The four runs did not help Brobeck a lick. Kempf (!) doubled, Robby Gaxiola singled, and Gaudencio Callaia drew a walk, all with one out in the bottom 2nd. The Coons couldn’t turn two on Perry Pigman’s grounder to short, so a run scored, but Chris Thomas flew out easily to Brassfield to let the Coons keep a 4-3 lead.

No idea what was wrong with Ed Crispin, either – he came back to the plate in the fourth after Waters drew a walk with two down, and bashed another homer, this a 2-piece for a 6-3 lead, five runs driven in by him! Kempf was gone after the inning, with replacement righty Alan Marshall allowing a fifth-inning single to Pucks, who stole his 17th base, and then an RBI single to right to Danny Fun. Rams singled, Brobeck raked a double into the corner to drive in Munn, but the inning fizzled out after that. The bags were even full for Crispin, but he hit a chopper back to the hill for an out at the plate. Munn further hit a jack off Dan Bell to extend the lead to 9-3, and the Coons exploded on their former star right-hander Nelson Moreno in the eighth inning, all with two outs. Rams, Tenazes, and Gowin hit straight singles for one run. Moreno walked Waters, and then gave up a bases-clearing double to Rakin’ Ed Crispin! …who then limped around second base and was soon collected by Luis Silva. TYPICAL. Jason Monson ran for Crispin, then scored on a Brassfield single, which Ben Lehman gave up, along with Lonzo’s 200th hit of the year, a single to center. Pucks added one more run with another single to rush the score to 15-3 by the middle of the eighth. Lonzo, Munn, and Pucks were removed after this inning, and Colby Bowen was inserted to pitch the final six outs. He got one, offering three hits, a walk, and a run instead. Sencion inherited his bases-loaded mess, but conceded a second and third run on a single by PH Ryan Bishton before getting out of the inning. Harmer would pitch the ninth inning. 15-6 Critters. Brassfield 2-5, BB, RBI; Puckeridge 2-6, RBI; Munn 2-5, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Ramsay 3-5, BB; Tenazes (PH) 1-2; Gowin 3-6, RBI; Waters 2-3, 3 BB, 2B, RBI; Crispin 3-5, 2 HR, 2B, 8 RBI;

Ed Crispin was day-to-day for the rest of the weekend and perhaps beyond that after he suffered a tweaked ankle. Bum should have hit a third homer instead of sliding into second base wrongly!

Game 2
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – 1B Ramsay – RF Munn – C Gowin – 3B Venegas – 2B Knight – CF Monson – P Shui
MIL: SS Gaxiola – RF Callaia – LF Pigman – 1B Worthington – C C. Thomas – CF Okano – 2B R. Lopez – 3B T. Edwards – P L. Moses

Lonzo stole his 69th base of the year in the first inning, dropping in a single before taking second by force. He took third base, too, for #70, where he would have arrived anyway with walks to Rams and Gowin behind him. And for what? For Venegas to fly out to center to strand absolutely everybody anyway… Robby Gaxiola on the other paw stole his 60th base after reaching base to begin the bottom 1st, but on the same paw was stranded on third base just the same. Milwaukee went up 1-0 in the second, with a walk to Yukinari Okano, a Ricky Lopez double, and then a sac fly for Travis Edwards. Thomas and Edwards would put a second run together in the bottom 4th, while Lonzo and Ramsay had been on base again in the third inning, and had been stranded for the second time.

Shui kept bleeding singles, f.e. another one to Gaxiola in the fifth, but this time the Loggers’ top stealer was thrown into the slammer by Chris Gowin and remained stuck at 60 thefts. Shui struck out only one batter (Okano) in seven innings of work as he was clearly not anywhere near peak performance. Moses allowed only three hits to Shui’s nine, but was lifted for Josh Costello in the eighth inning and Brassfield opened with a single immediately, which already brought up the tying run. Lonzo grounded to Edwards for a force play at second, after which the Loggers went to lefty Sam Webb. Rams found a double play, killing the inning. In turn, Perry Pigman powered a home run off Hyun-soo Bak in the bottom 8th to extend the Loggers’ lead to 3-0. Danny Munn answered with a leadoff jack off Dave Lister in the ninth, his 27th homer of the year. Gowin singled, then was run for by Solorzano. The move was intended to make it harder for the Loggers to turn two, but they never had a chance, as Venegas popped out, Pucks popped out, and Waters popped out. 3-1 Loggers. Lavorano 2-4;

Snatch.

As long as you don’t get hurt, boys!! Just to be safe, Lonzo had a day off in addition to every lefty batter we could spare on Sunday. Lonzo was on 70 stolen bases now, which was one short of his own season-high, and six short of the all-time single-season record by Hugo Acosta.

Game 3
POR: 1B Brassfield – 3B Brobeck – LF Venegas – 2B Waters – RF Tenazes – C Philipps – SS Espinoza – CF Monson – P Kniep
MIL: 3B T. Edwards – CF M. Martinez – LF Pigman – 1B Worthington – RF Callaia – 2B de Kok – SS R. Lopez – C Cadena – P J. Fox

Kniep continued to be most mediocre, and the Loggers took a 2-0 lead off him in the second inning. David Worthington walked to begin the inning, after which Callaia’s single and Teo de Kok’s double gave them the lead. Ricky Lopez drew ANOTHER walk, and Jose Cadena’s double play got a second run home. The Coons had seen Brass and Brobeck on with singles in the first, but hadn’t scored them. In the third inning, we got Venegas, Waters, and Tenazes on with two more singles and the outfielder getting drilled, and then Tyler Philipps laid off the garbage to draw a 2-out bases-loaded walk from Fox for the team’s first run, but Daniel Espinoza grounded out. Brobeck killed the fourth, hitting into a double play with Monson and Brassfield on base. Venegas and Waters then led off the fifth inning with a pair of singles, taking up position on the corners. After Tenazes’ groundout plated the tying run and moved Waters to second base, the Loggers pulled a stunner and walked Philipps intentionally to get to Daniel Espinoza, who fell to 1-2 before romping a ball over the head of Miguel Martinez for a go-ahead RBI double. Monson was also walked intentionally, because with that .199 average he could to REAL damage, and Kniep got his first career RBI with a sharp single past de Kok, extending his own lead to 4-2. And then Brassfield hit into a 6-4-3 double play, because somebody apparently ******* had to.

Bottom 5th, Ricky Lopez singled to right, Jose Cadena homered to left, and all of a sudden we were tied again. Brassfield then fudged Ryan Bishton’s grounder, and Kniep threw one right down Broadway after that, and Travis Edwards crushed that one to La-La Land, turning a 2-run lead into a 2-run deficit without as much as a ******* out on the board. He would not get the loss, though, although maybe that would initiate some sort of learning effect… Kyle Conner was pitching to the Coons in the seventh inning when Espinoza hit a single and with two outs, Pucks batted for the pitcher, Ostler. Conner hung a breaking ball, and Pucks made it disappear in Manitoba to tie the game at six!

Matt Walters allowed a single to Martinez and nailed Worthington in the bottom 7th, but would get through the inning himself. Next half-inning, lefty George Youngblood filled the bases with Venegas, Tenazes, and Philipps for only one out. Lonzo batted for Espinoza, but popped out, while Chris Gowin batted for Monson and crammed a shot through the diving Gaxiola and into the leftfield corner for a 2-out, bases-clearing double…! The 9-6 lead went to Norinori in the eighth inning, and while de Kok drew a leadoff walk, Cadena hit into an inning-ending double play. Chris Thomas socked a leadoff double off Hitchcock in the bottom 9th, though, and while Hitchcock got three groundouts after that, that was enough to get that last run home. 9-7 Raccoons. Brassfield 2-4, BB; Brobeck 2-6; Venegas 3-5, BB; Waters 2-6; Espinoza 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI; Gowin (PH) 1-1, 2B, 3 RBI; Puckeridge (PH) 1-2, HR, 2 RBI;

In other news

September 20 – Falcons SP Joe Thomlison (6-2, 4.16 ERA) will miss the rest of the year with a fracture in his elbow.
September 21 – LVA SP Noah Hollis (7-13, 4.62 ERA) pitches a 2-hit shutout against the Canadiens, whiffing five in a 2-0 win.
September 21 – Shoulder inflammation ends the season of Loggers SP Tyler Riddle (12-11, 3.20 ERA).
September 21 – Also done for the year with shoulder inflammation: OCT SP Bubba Wolinsky (12-7, 3.35 ERA);
September 22 – The Capitals win the FL East despite getting shut out 5-0 by the Wolves. The last opposition, the Buffaloes, lose 3-2 to the Warriors to fall out of mathematical contention.
September 22 – More pains: PIT SP Victor Salcido (11-11, 4.05 ERA) was questionable for Opening Day in 2056 after a diagnosis of a tear in his labrum.
September 22 – The Falcons beat the Titans, 1-0, on a home run by CHA C Luis Miranda (.283, 12 HR, 69 RBI).
September 24 – The Knights win a crucial 11-inning, 1-0 game from the Thunder, with the only run of the game scoring on… a wild pitch by OCT CL Kevin Daley (4-7, 4.24 ERA, 41 SV).
September 26 – Pacifics RF Matt Diskin (.318, 28 HR, 114 RBI) is also done for the year, having broken a finger.

FL Player of the Week: NAS INF Nick Nye (.303, 16 HR, 122 RBI), clipping .462 (12-26) with 2 HR, 11 RBI
CL Player of the Week: TIJ INF Tyrese Sheilds (.279, 6 HR, 45 RBI), hitting .571 (8-14) with 1 HR, 3 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Playoffs!

We already have more wins this year as we had in any year going back to 2047, the last ring in that string of five straight pennants. That was only our second-ever 100-win season, and the opportunity certainly presented itself right now.

Matt Diskin might still win the home run crown in the Federal League, where he has 28 bombs compared to 25 for the closest challenger, Rebel Mario Delgadillo. The same gap is called up in the CL, with Danny Fun trailing ATL Eddie Moreno by three. In fact, Moreno’s 30th homer had clinched the division for them on Sunday, a 12th-inning walkoff crusher off Oklahoma’s Isaiah Mowatt. With the CLCS now set, Moreno and Munn would have a chance to discuss this home run crown issue in person ten days from now.

Since Enrique Ortiz (19-6, 2.87 ERA) would only make one more start, He Shui (20-6, 2.68 ERA) was assured of a share of the wins title in the CL. Kennedy Adkins (sob!) had won the ERA title anyway. Lonzo was well away with 70 steals, ten up on the persistently pestering Gaxiola of the Loggers.

Ed Crispin, who’s bound to be a free agent after this season, has had a silently great season, batting for a 112 OPS+ and driving in 54 runs in just 287 at-bats. Will the Coons resign him? Probably not. Third base is a bit crowded as we’re trying to weave in Kyle Brobeck on days non-adjacent to his starts. And maybe Kyle Brobeck should make any starts on the hill… Crispin is a career backup, but got more than 300 at-bats three time in his career, and might get there again this year if he heals up in due time. He’s .260/.323/.382 with 36 HR, 255 RBI for his career.

Crusaders, Titans at home in the final week. One more win will definitely clinch home field advantage for the CLCS.

Just don’t get hurt, boys.

Fun Fact: 39 years ago today, Hugo Mendoza blasted three home runs in a 6-1 Stars win against the Pacifics.

That was the year before he was traded to the Coons, where I was then perpetually unhappy with him. He won the home run crown for Dallas with 37 shots in 2016, and then won is with 38 for the 2020 Coons, and I still wasn’t happy. His career would falter early; he was traded to Cincy mid-2022, which brought back nothing good, really, and only played two more full seasons before his body gave out at age 34.

He made it into the Hall of Fame anyway, having batted .312/.382/.524 with 2,260 hits, 336 homers, and 1,327 RBI for his career, which included one Player of the Year award (2016), a Gold Glove, seven All Star Games, but never a ring.