[Westheim]

Raccoons (37-32) @ Loggers (26-42) – June 23-25, 2059

The Loggers were loggering around at the bottom of the division, where they hadn’t finished since 2051. This year, however, they were back to being truly woeful. Second-fewest runs scored, most runs allowed – there was not a lot that could be said about the roster if you wanted to stay nice. Their -68 run differential hinted at more trouble to come. The Coons were up 4-2 in the season series and were well advised to keep going. Their pitching staff had seen a hand grenade explode in the middle of them, with numerous pitchers including Tyler Riddle, Curt Rosato, and Brett Lillis jr. on the DL, along with ex-Coon Jason Monson, who challenged for the CL home run lead early in the season, but now was down with an oblique strain.

Projected matchups:
Chance Fox (7-2, 3.68 ERA) vs. Sam Webb (4-6, 4.52 ERA)
Justin DeRose (3-4, 3.14 ERA) vs. Cory Ellis (5-3, 3.83 ERA)
Cameron Argenziano (2-3, 4.55 ERA) vs. Ernesto Culver (4-6, 4.71 ERA)

The week would start with a left-handed opponent, and would continue with two right-handers and an off day.

No Joel Starr on Monday yet, but we were initially mum about whether this was still due to the creaky back or because of Webb and whether he was available to do damage off the bench.

Game 1
POR: SS Bribiesca – 3B Ojeda – 1B Brassfield – CF Caswell – RF Martinez – C Monaghan – LF Konecny – 2B Hudalla – P Fox
MIL: RF Pigman – 2B Garmon – 1B D. Robles – C Maresh – CF Valenzano – 3B Pirandello – LF Wada – SS D. Miller – P S. Webb

The week started bizarro-style; Arturo Bribiesca hit a triple to right on an 0-2 pitch, then went for home on Ojeda’s fly to Perry Pigman in right-center, slid hindpaws first into – … well, the knees of Chris Maresh. Bribiesca’s left cleat was caught awkwardly and in addition to insult (he was out and never touched the plate at all), he also suffered injury and had to be helped off the field by Luis Silva and Ojeda with a sprained ankle. Jon Bean replaced him.

Also soon replaced, it seemed out of the gate, was Chance Fox, who barely retired Pigman on a 3-1 pop to begin the bottom 1st, but then walked Corey Garmon on four pitches and was instantly bombed by Dave Robles to give the Loggers a 2-0 lead that they held all the way to the stretch while the Coons scattered another three base hits in addition to the ill-fated Bribiesca’s triple to begin the game. Fox got his crap together deeper into the start and ended up putting together seven innings of 3-hit ball until his spot led off the top of the eighth inning, at which point he was still trailing 2-0. Joey Christopher drew a leadoff walk, but the 1-2-3 disappeared in a real hurry and Christopher never even got off first base. After Bravo held up in the bottom 8th, Noah Caswell at least began the ninth with a single off Danny Zepeda to get the tying run back to the dish. Martinez whiffed, though. Labonte walked in place of Monaghan, but Konecny batted for himself with the right-hander on the hill, and with one swipe took Foxie Brown off the hook, slicing a triple into the rightfield corner to tie the score at two…! Lathers then pushed an RBI single up the middle in place of Hudalla, and Joel Starr batted for Bravo, but struck out against new pitcher Josh Costello, who ended the inning before the Coons could tack on.

The Coons didn’t win it, though. Matt Walters had a stinker of a ninth inning, allowing a 1-out single to Steve Valenzano, who then stole second base, reached third on Lathers’ ****** throw, and Walters nailed the next Steve in line, Pirandello, walked Jushiro Wada, and walked Danny Miller to tie the game, still with one out. Marcos Chavez grounded hard to Jon Bean, who perhaps controversially went home rather than try to turn two, but at least got the winning run thrown out. Walters then barely struck out David Milian to send the game to extra innings.

Ivan Ornelas was then in for long relief, plus batting for himself, since the bench had been entirely vacated in the top of the ninth inning, although he also didn’t get to bat until leading off the 12th inning of an increasingly annoying game. He then drew a leadoff walk from right-hander Jesus Aquino, who had 15 walks to 8 strikeouts in 14 innings to begin his own long relief in this game. Bean forced out the pitcher, but Ojeda singled him to third base. Brass failed by popping out, but Caswell chopped a single up the middle to bring in the go-ahead run. Martinez flew out to Valenzano, though. There were no real rested relievers available at this point, either, so the Coons just stuck with Ornelas for a third inning, who started his half of the 12th just as well as Aquino, by ******* walking the pitcher leading the **** off. Milian forced out Aquino, giving me certain flashbacks, with a grounder to short. Danny Compean struck out before Milian stole second on the first pitch to Robles. Robles was then simply walked intentionally since we preferred to have Ornelas face Maresh, batting .191, if being so offered. Maresh hit a comebacker to Ornelas, whose sure throw to first base ended the game. 4-3 Blighters. Bribiesca 1-1, 3B; Ojeda 2-6; Caswell 2-6, RBI; Lathers (PH) 1-2, RBI; Fox 7.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K; Ornelas 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K, W (3-2);

Bribiesca was off to the DL with the bum ankle, but fear not; the Raccoons didn’t have to dig even deeper than Jon Bean in their AAA treasure trove for lumpy infielders, because we could still activate Tony Benitez from a phony-to-begin-with rehab assignment.

Game 2
POR: LF Christopher – 2B Labonte – CF Caswell – RF Martinez – 1B Starr – 3B Ojeda – C Lathers – SS Bean – P DeRose
MIL: CF Valenzano – 2B Garmon – LF Pigman – 1B D. Robles – C Maresh – 3B Lindauer – RF Kohlman – SS D. Miller – P C. Ellis

Portland got out to the early start on Tuesday. Christopher drew a leadoff walk – man, if the boy could start to hit a little on top of that OBP stuffings…! – and then scored on a 2-out double by Jesus Martinez. Starr’s and Ojeda’s singles brought in Martinez with the second run, but Lathers then struck out. Christopher drew another walk with two outs in the second inning, though, and then scored on another pair of 2-out singles by Labonte and Cas before Martinez ended the inning with a fly to right. While DeRose put up zeroes with his usual act of looking like everybody’s least-agile grandma, but it somehow aligned into regular outs, Christopher scored his third run on his third time up in the fourth inning, although that time he reached on an error by Jeremy Lindauer before stealing second base and scoring on a Labonte base knock, 4-0. Starr’s 2-out RBI single would increase that score to 5-0 before the inning was over.

The bottom 4th, where it then all went completely pear-shaped: Garmon and Pigman began with singles, but the Loggers had started the second inning just like that before Lindauer had hit into a double play. No such luck this time. While Robles flew out, Maresh doubled in two runs with a screamer to right. Lindauer singled to put runners on the corners, at least until DeRose balked on the 0-2 to Kohlman, plating one run, then gave up a single two proper pitches later, which plated another, 5-4. The 2-2 was put into left by Kohlman with Lindauer turning third base to attempt for home plate. Christopher picked the ball, hurled it in awkwardly, no play could be made on that chonker, and then sunk to his knees and held his abdomen, while I sunk deeper into my seat and held my numb forehead. Christopher came out of the game for Brassfield, who walked in the top 5th against Aquino (!) after Lathers and Bean had been bunted into scoring position by DeRose after already reaching base to begin the inning. Sharp hits for singles by Labonte and Caswell plated two and one run(s), respectively, as the Raccoons re-established slam range, before Martinez chucked one into a double play to end the inning.

The Coons saw DeRose threw the fifth when Garmon was caught stealing, then didn’t bat for him in the sixth with two on and two out, ending the inning on a K. We got exactly what we deserved in the bottom 6th: Robles and Maresh in scoring position on two loud knocks and nobody out, and now still needed 12 outs from the pen. Tanizaki replaced DeRose, but instead of restoring order gave up a booming double off the wall in left to Lindauer, and the runs scored. Lindauer was stranded at third base partially because Danny Miller drew a walk and then was also caught stealing. The defense was also helping. Tanizaki ******* wasn’t.

The Raccoons’ seventh inning began with Brass walking against lefty Sansao Tyson, who also gave up a double to right to Labonte, putting a pair in scoring position with nobody out, but the ******* knuckleheads would then pop out, be walked intentionally, and womble into a double play without scoring. Tanizaki got two outs in the bottom 7th before Ricky Herrera came on for Pigman specifically, walked him on four pitches, then gave up a single to Robles and continued to face right-handed batters because we were too much slapped stupid to make another move right now. Maresh grounded to short, but Bean flung the ******* ball away for an error and a run scored, 8-7. Lindauer then somehow popped out on a 3-1 pitch to end the damn inning. But you just knew it – they HAD to lose.

And trying to lose they did. Bottom 8th: Herrera sat down Kohlman before Alex Rios sat down him. It was a problem to begin with that a triple-A pitcher had to get crucial outs in a 1-run game in the eighth inning. Rios got one from Miller, but not the second, although Labonte had a paw in it, flicking away Milian’s pinch-hit grounder to put the tying run on base. Valenzano immediately drove in the run with a left-center gap double, then scored on a Garmon single to flip the score in the Loggers’ favor. But hold on – Konecny made a soggy out to begin the ninth against Zepeda, but then Trent Brassfield CRUSHED the living **** out of a breaking ball and the game was back to tied at nine. Labonte then socked a double to center, but Cas flew out. Zepeda walked the bases full against Benitez (the #4 spot had been repurposed for the pitcher mid-collective blow-up) and Starr. Ojeda grounded out to Lindauer on the first pitch to strand the bases loaded, though. Bravo got around a leadoff walk to Robles in the bottom 9th to see this game, too, go extra innings. Yayyy.

Neither side had much left in terms of extra players as the tenth inning dawned, so it was nice to see Bean and Konecny take to the corners with one out in the 10th. Less awesome was Brass whiffing and Labonte being retired by a sliding Perry Pigman in shallow left. Nobody scored. On to the bottom 11th, where Eloy Sencion was our last hope from the pen, but walked Pigman and allowed a single to Robles right away. Maresh hit into a 6-4-3 double play. Lindauer ran a full count, then whacked a high fly to left… but it fell into Brass’ mitten on the warning track and we had 12 innings (or maybe more!) for the second day in a row. The Coons left Lathers and Brass on the corners when they drew walks from John Norris in the 12th inning, and instead the game ended with Jushiro Wada’s pinch-hit jack off Sencion in the bottom of the 12th. 10-9 Loggers. Christopher 0-1, 2 BB; Brassfield 1-2, 3 BB, HR, RBI; Labonte 5-8, 3 2B, 3 RBI; Starr 5-6, BB, RBI; Lathers 2-6, BB; Bravo 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K;

The #1, #2, and #5 spots went a combined 11-17 with six walks, a homer, three doubles, and we still couldn’t get in front of the ******* Loggers??

THE LOGGERS??

More good news? Christopher (.412 OBP) was off to the DL with an abdominal strain (oh yeah, he suffered an injury about 15 innings and 58 hours ago!), and since the Raccoons now had a completely bombed out bullpen, they added a garbage reliever for the rubber game on Wednesday, which on top of everything else was also to be started by Cameron “Whoopsie” Argenziano.

None of the AAA relievers on the 40-man were rested, but have you heard of Colby Bowen?

COLBY BLOODY BOWEN.

Game 3
POR: 2B Labonte – 3B Ojeda – CF Caswell – LF Brassfield – 1B Starr – RF Martinez – C Lathers – SS Benitez – P Argenziano
MIL: RF Pigman – 2B Garmon – 1B Robles – C Maresh – LF Lindauer – CF Valenzano – 3B Pirandello – SS D. Miller – P E. Culver

Wednesday in Wisconsin brought more insult, and more injury over the Raccoons. First the insult: Argenziano walked six batters inside four innings, getting his head smashed in with a 2-run homer by Maresh in the first, then an assortment of loud knocks after two free passes for three more runs in the second inning, so it wasn’t so much about contending anymore as it was about surviving. Brass hit a sac fly in the third, as if that would do anything.

Then the Coons shed another infielder when in the bottom 4th Ojeda hustled in and made a bare-pawed play on a Danny Miller grounder. He made the play, then fell down and crawled for a few more feet before resting and waiting for Luis Silva to collect him. The back. And the agony. Vernon Hudalla replaced him. After a K to Culver and a breaking ball that almost took Perry Pigman’s leg off and added a second runner to Steve Pirandello on second base with two outs, Argenziano was also yanked. Tanizaki popped out Garmon to keep the score at 5-1, whee!

Colby Bowen pitched two messy innings for an additional Loggers run in the sixth, not that it mattered anymore, because the Raccoons lineup didn’t look like it had another run in them, let alone five, although Brass and Starr would hit a pair of doubles off Costello in the seventh inning for another more or less token run. That was it. 6-2 Loggers. Ojeda 1-2, 2B; Starr 3-4, 2B, RBI; Benitez 2-3, BB;

We somehow out-hit the Loggers, 8-7. I guess Argenziano’s six walks kinda did our head in.

Juan Ojeda’s back would take at least a week to be re-arranged, and maybe two, so he was also off to the DL, and it was slowly becoming a bit dire for players with all four paws attached.

Thursday was off (ahead of 17 straight games), and the Raccoons coped as much as possible on their way to the Bay where nothing good ever happened.

Raccoons (38-34) @ Bayhawks (37-35) – June 27-29, 2059

The Raccoons had been swept already this year by the Bayhawks and I had a hunch that this might happen again, even though the Bayhawks were also in a slump. They ranked fourth in runs scored and eighth in runs allowed, and had a +4 run differential. Their rotation was in the bottom three by ERA, but they now led the CL in homers after the Raccoons had slouched off; same for Armando Montoya and the league lad in homers and RBI. He had 15 and 56, respectively.

Projected matchups:
Bobby Herrera (7-4, 2.86 ERA) vs. Mark Jacobs (6-6, 3.36 ERA)
Duarte Damasceno (1-2, 2.38 ERA) vs. Eric Braley (4-7, 4.83 ERA)
Chance Fox (7-2, 3.60 ERA) vs. Jesse Connors (4-5, 3.32 ERA)

Left, right, left, and probably three on the snout.

Besides dropping Juan Ojeda to the DL, the Raccoons made further roster moves ahead of the series. Cameron Argenziano (2-4, 5.02 ERA) and Colby Bowen (0-0, 4.50 ERA) were both placed on waivers and designated for assignment. We brought up left-hander MR Adam Harris, right-handed 1B Forbes Tomlin, and right-handed 2B Bernie Ortega from AAA. Only Harris had been in the majors before, with 27 appearances out of the pen over the last three years, getting most smoked for a 5.82 ERA. Last year, though, he had only two scoreless outings before his shoulder gave out.

Tomlin, 23, and Ortega, 22, were doing *alright* for themselves in AAA, but were by no means going to help the team stop sucking. Tomlin had been a #22 pick five years ago, and Ortega had signed for just inside six figures almost six years ago to the day out of the Dominican Republic. They were fair defenders. They were here to face lefty pitching for a few days until I could either shake a trade for something, or until we were under .500 anyway and I could start to *really* shake a trade for prospects.

This was the Volkssturm approach to roster management.

Game 1
POR: 3B Benitez – LF Brassfield – CF Caswell – RF Martinez – C Monaghan – 1B Tomlin – 2B Ortega – SS Hudalla – P B. Herrera
SFB: SS X. Reyes – 3B Peltier – LF Anker – 2B A. Montoya – 1B P. Fowler – CF Tomko – RF Escalera – C Redfern – P Jacobs

Before Bobby Herrera could wonder for long what the heck he had signed up for here, Armando Montoya singled in his 57th run of the year plating Xavier Reyes in the first inning, and Herrera leaked another run on a walk to Keith Redfern and 2-out singles by Jacobs (…) and Reyes to fall 2-0 behind in the bottom 2nd, so now it was all his own fault anyway. Two singles per inning remained the norm, although the Bayhawks didn’t score in the bottom 3rd, with Montoya getting the hit, but also getting caught stealing. Two hits per inning were the total for both teams, mind; Pat Fowler had another single, and the Raccoons through three innings had diddly squat. Cas hit a single in the fourth after all. Wasn’t it nice that he was still trying?

Actually, the Raccoons manufactured some offense in the fifth. Forbes Tomlin hit a single for his first career hit, and with two outs Herrera and Benitez hit two more singles to get him around to score, 2-1, but then Brass popped out to short. Before you could get your hopes up, Herrera then filled the bases with the 1-2-3 batters to begin the bottom 5th and got bombed for three runs by a Pat Fowler double and Chris Tomko’s sac fly. The Coons were done hitting from there through the eighth, but when Jacobs reappeared in the ninth inning to complete the game, he was rather roughly met by a Caswell triple to left, and an RBI double by Martinez in roughly the same direction. This made it a 5-2 save situation and Joe Gowin got the baseball. Labonte batted for Monaghan and Starr batted for Tomlin, and both walked to have all the tying runs aboard with nobody out. More pinch-hitters! Lathers got a run in with a groundout to first base, and Konecny batted for “Peppers” Harris in the #8 spot and hit an RBI single through the right side… but now the bench was empty and we were stuck with Jon Bean batting and the tying run on third base. There, he remained. Bean grounded out to third, and Benitez grounded out to short. 5-4 Bayhawks. Caswell 2-4, 3B; Konecny (PH) 1-1, RBI;

Tomlin went 1-for-3, while Ortega drew nothing but blanks.

Game 2
POR: 2B Labonte – 3B Benitez – CF Caswell – LF Brassfield – 1B Starr – RF Martinez – C Lathers – SS Bean – P Damasceno
SFB: SS X. Reyes – 3B Peltier – LF Anker – 2B A. Montoya – 1B P. Fowler – CF Tomko – RF Escalera – C W. Gardner – P Braley

In the fourth inning, Tony Benitez hit a leadoff double to put his furry tush into scoring position as the tying run with nobody out. Braley threw a wild pitch to even get him to third base, and the vaunted middle of the order then … struck out, struck out, and flew out lazily to Grant Anker. The score remained 1-0, courtesy of Pat Fowler’s homer to right in the second inning. And if those three guys could not get a runner home from third base with nobody out, then what were we even ******* doing here…?

Top 5th, and Lathers drew a 1-out walk, followed by Jon Bean (who?) doubling to right. This parked a pair in scoring position with one out, and then two outs, because Damasceno popped out on the infield. Labonte sent Jose Escalera to the fence with a drive to right, but that ball was also caught, while the Bayhawks then got two in scoring position with nobody out thanks to a single by Braley and a soul-stabbing throwing error by Lathers on a Xavier Reyes grounder. Runs scored on Peltier’s groundout and a Montoya double, 3-0, and while that sounded like a mild total for the three innings that Damasceno pitched, it filtered out a lot of the hard-hit balls that were outs, another hit for Braley, and just a whole lot of superficial scorebook scratchery for additional headaches that didn’t make it into the actual box score. Damasceno was hit for in the seventh inning with Vernon Hudalla, that .118 menace, who rumbled straight into a 4-6-3 double play to erase Morgan Lathers from first base. Alex Rios’ partial seventh inning wasn’t that much more atrocious except that he did it all in the open, giving up four hits, a wild pitch, and two runs, and then had Eloy Sencion wipe up all the mess he made on the carpet afterwards.

And then the Baybirds had another sudden meltdown. Top 8th, and Braley allowed leadoff singles to Labonte, who stole second, and Benitez, then a Cas sac fly, before being removed for Zane Fenlon in a 5-1 game. Fenlon walked Brass, then was replaced with Travis Davis, who threw one pitch for a 2-run single by Starr, then was yanked for Zach Johnson, who allowed another RBI single to Lathers with two outs, but Bean then grounded out to keep the Coons a run short. Konecny hit a leadoff single in place of Sencion to begin the ninth against Joe Gowin, but the 1-2-3 then croaked, and the Coons lost by a run again. 5-4 Bayhawks. Benitez 3-5, 2B; Starr 3-4, RBI; Lathers 1-2, 2 BB, 2 RBI; Konecny (PH) 1-1;

Game 3
POR: 3B Benitez – LF Brassfield – CF Caswell – RF Martinez – C Monaghan – 1B Tomlin – 2B Ortega – SS Hudalla – P C. Fox
SFB: SS X. Reyes – 3B Peltier – 2B A. Montoya – RF Escalera – LF Anker – 1B C. Jimenez – C Redfern – CF Tomko – P Connors

The Raccoons took a lead (!!) with a leadoff double by Benitez, Cas getting nicked, and Martinez hitting a sac fly in the first inning. While Fox couldn’t blow the lead with a leadoff walk to Reyes in the bottom 1st – the runner was caught stealing – he sure did so by allowing a leadoff double to Jose Escalera, nicking Grant Anker, and giving away an RBI single to Keith Redfern in the bottom 2nd. Tomko popped out and Connors whiffed to leave runners on the corners for San Francisco.

The Coons loaded the bases with Benitez, Brass (singles), and Martinez (2-out walk) in the third inning, but with that were also out of the part of the lineup that was vaguely competent. Eric Monaghan found something, though, taking a 1-0 pitch over the head of Montoya and into right-center for a 2-run single, 3-1, raising his batting average to a dizzying .168 before Tomlin grounded out. The Bayhawks responded with murder of Chance Fox, who didn’t retire any of the first five batters in the bottom 3rd, starting with another one of his ******* LEADOFF WALKS to Reyes. Peltier singled, double steal, Montoya doubled home two, Escalera walked, and Anker was nailed. Two sac flies followed, making it a 4-run inning and a 5-3 lead for the home team. The Coons picked up that tab with the first career single by Bernie Ortega, a walk drawn by Hudalla, a non-terrible bunt from Fox, and Tony Benitez’ 2-run single to tie the game at five, knock out Connors, and avoiding another 5-4 loss all in one go.

Not that we could have anything nice, still. Bottom 5th, and Fox tried to offer a 4-pitch leadoff walk to Montoya, but the batter grounded out on the 3-0. Escalera then singled his way on, Anker popped out, and Chris Jimenez popped one out of the confines of the ballpark for a 2-run homer. Somehow Fox avoided the mandatory L for giving up seven earned runs after getting yanked on the spot, since Jesus Martinez mashed a homer of his own with Brass aboard off Jorge Solis in the top 6th, tying the score again, now at seven. Adam Peltier, the miserable *********, answered with a 2-run double off hapless Reynaldo Bravo in the bottom of the same inning after Tomko and Fowler reached base to begin the inning. After a calm seventh inning, right-hander Travis Julien allowed a leadoff single to PH Paul Labonte and a walk to Benitez to start the eighth inning. Brass’ single made it three on, nobody out, and brought Zane Fenlon as new pitcher. Cas lobbed a single over Reyes to bring in a run, 9-8, and a new pitcher in veteran righty Sam Gibson, who got an infield roller from Martinez that saw Brass forced out at the plate, but then gave up an RBI single on a 3-1 pitch to Monaghan to tie the score. Joel Starr batted for Tomlin… and hit into an inning-ending double play.

(primal scream)

Tanizaki struck out the side in the bottom 8th of the 9-9 game, which had to be a setup for *something*, while the Raccoons sent pinch-hitters Konecny and Bean up for the 8-9 spots in the top 9th, and they went to the corners with a pair of singles off Joe Gowin, who appeared to be overworked, but I wasn’t gonna call the authorities just yet. Benitez’ sac fly to deep left broke the tie and brought in Matt Walters. Remember Tanizaki’s setup-setup? Ya. Peltier, the ******* **** womble looped a leadoff single on a 1-2 pitch over Ortega, and Montoya waited out a walk. Jose Escalera then found the 428’ sign in center with a high liner over Cas’ head, and the runners were a-go-go, Peltier scoring to tie and Montoya scoring to end the game on the ******* triple. 11-10 Bayhawks. Benitez (3-4, BB, 2B, 3 RBI; Brassfield 3-6; Monaghan 2-4, BB, 3 RBI; Konecny (PH) 1-1; Labonte (PH) 1-1; Bean (PH) 1-1;

In other news

June 25 – The Titans beat the Crusaders in 15 innings, 10-8. Both teams score multiple runs to end up tied in the ninth, then score a run in the 12th before the Titans break through in the top of the 15th.
June 27 – Nashville INF Nick Nye (.313, 15 HR, 42 RBI) ends a 16-inning game with the Scorpions as a 3-2 win with a walkoff single against Martino Barbiusa (1-3, 4.67 ERA).
June 28 – The Indians get C/1B Alex Gomez (.187, 3 HR, 17 RBI) from the Falcons in a weird swap for outfielder Cory Oldfield (.262, 6 HR, 28 RBI) *and* a prospect, #77 SS Zach DeWitt.
June 29 – Thunder OF Danny Guzman (.240, 6 HR, 22 RBI) figures to be out for the season with a broken elbow.
June 29 – The Wolves are held to a single by OF Adam Bumpus (.250, 0 HR, 0 RBI) in an 8-0 loss to the Buffaloes. It was the 31-year-old Bumpus’ first ABL game of the year after spending three months in the minors.

FL Player of the Week: DAL OF Tyler Wharton (.281, 9 HR, 35 RBI), hitting .387 (12-31) with 2 HR, 7 RBI
CL Player of the Week: OCT 3B/RF Ed Soberanes (.293, 7 HR, 36 RBI), poking .500 (10-20) with 1 HR, 6 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Nothing good ever happens at the Bay.

We left a dozen on base in that Sunday game in addition to scoring ten runs. And if you dare to remember, losing. The Bayhawks plated 11 runs, and left TWO base runners. TWO!!!!

THAT’S FURTHER THAN ANY BLOODY PLAYER ON THIS STUPID TEAM CAN COUNT!!!

I spent several days this week trying to turn a certain unloved right-handed reliever into a shortstop that would somehow get us through the year, but the Scorpions and Gold Sox weren’t having it for Travis Edwards and Stephen Medlock, respectively. In fact, that certain unloved right-handed relievers got no offers whatsoever when shopped to all teams.

Next. Aces. Titans. No starter for Tuesday. Pain.

(assumes sobbing position)

Fun Fact: This season, too, will end.

87 more games. That’s a lot of games.

R.J. DeWeese hit more home runs as a Raccoon than that. 111! And his tenure on the roster lasted FOREVER.