[Westheim]

J.J. Sensabaugh arrived in AAA without getting claimed off waivers – oh joy – and then it got even worse with the damn Elks and their putrid stench invading the city.

Raccoons (4-9) vs. Canadiens (8-4) – April 19-21, 2061

Five straight season series wins, including 11-7, against the damn Elks were at least allowing me to sleep at night, occasionally, and I would recommend to the boys that they keep it that way. The Elks somehow were at the top of the division after finishing very much last in the North the year before. They ranked third in runs scored and second in runs allowed, which was actively bothering me. Losing this series was not acceptable.

Projected matchups:
Justin DeRose (1-1, 2.63 ERA) vs. Martyn Polaco (0-0, 6.52 ERA)
Chance Fox (0-0, 3.00 ERA) vs. Ken Nielsen (1-0, 2.13 ERA)
Bobby Herrera (1-0, 3.93 ERA) vs. Jeremy Garvey (1-1, 6.17 ERA)

Polaco and Garvey were rookie southpaws that were 23 and a less enthusing 28 years old, respectively. Neither had shown his antlers in the ABL before the 2061 season. Nielsen was a *right-handed* rookie, had made only a few relief appearances last year, when he had been 21 years old, and was the #6 prospect in the league.

Game 1
VAN: LF D. Garcia – SS Corpus – 1B J. Campos – RF C. Cardenas – CF Scarpa – 3B C. Sullivan – C A. Maldonado – 2B Roldan – P Polaco
POR: RF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – C Perez – 2B Nye – LF Kozak – CF Morris – 3B N. Fox – P DeRose

Starr and Perez reached base with two outs in both the first and third innings, the second time even with Lonzo singling ahead of them, and both times Nick Nye ended the inning with a groundout as his terrible start to the season continued. Nobody scored in the early innings although both teams were generous with scattered base runners. The Elks would break through against DeRose in the fourth inning, getting a double to left from Chris Sullivan, who swiftly scored on Alex Maldonado’s single to center. Rafael Roldan’s infield single and a four-pitch walk to Polaco (…!) loaded the bases, and Danny Garcia’s sac fly brought in a second run for the damn Elks before Alex Corpus flew out to Kozak near the leftfield line. The Raccoons answered with singles by Morris and Fox to go to the corners with one out in the bottom 4th, then strikeouts by DeRose and Brassfield as they resiliently refused to score until Lonzo led off the fifth inning with a single. Polaco had a strong snap move to first base though, and stealing was not in the cards right now. Lonzo scored when he gained a base on Perez’ groundout, then came around on Nye’s 2-out RBI single to left. And then Kozak whiffed, because we really liked to whiff against that rookie, who was nevertheless lifted after five busy innings. DeRose lasted six, whiffing ten Elks, but was still on the hook.

After a scoreless seventh, Ruben Mendez put Elks on the corners with a pair of singles in the eighth inning. Elijah LaBat came in against the PH Matt Wartella, but walked him to fill the bases with one out, then gave up a sac fly to Maldonado for an insurance run. How lovely. The Coons answered with a run of their own in the bottom 8th… unearned as it as after Nye reached on a throwing error by Corpus. Nick Fox brought in the run with a 2-out single, but Tim Fuller grounded out to end the inning, and the damn Elks got another insurance against Brad Loveless in the ninth inning when the left-hander allowed the first two batters on base with singles. Thomas Whittington would score on Corpus’ sac fly, but Danny Garcia got doubled up 4-6-3 by Campos. Closer Erik Swain retired Brass and Lonzo without much trouble to begin the bottom 9th before Starr and Perez dropped hits to put the tying runs on the corners. The Raccoons brought Joey Christopher to bat for Nye, but got a foul pop to the catcher for their bothers… 4-2 Canadiens. Lavorano 2-5; Starr 4-5; Perez 2-4, BB; N. Fox 2-4, RBI;

12 hits, all of them singles…

Game 2
VAN: LF D. Garcia – SS Corpus – 1B J. Campos – RF C. Cardenas – CF Scarpa – 3B Whittington– C A. Maldonado – 2B Roldan – P Nielsen
POR: RF Christopher – SS Lavorano – CF Morris – 1B Starr – LF Brassfield – 2B Nye – C Perez – 3B Fowler – P C. Fox

Thomas Whittington hit a solo homer off Chance Fox in the second inning, which hurt a lot less than the solo homer that Ken ******* Nielsen hit off Chance Fox in the fifth inning; also, the score was 2-0 through five, and do I really have to divulge the grisly details? The Raccoons had their chances, like when Brass socked a leadoff double in the second, or when Ben Morris drew a leadoff walk in the fourth and then Starr popped out while Morris was running, and while the ball was well and truly for Whittington to grab, the third baseman looked away briefly at what funny business that base runner was doing, then couldn’t find the ball anymore and it dropped just inside the third base line for an error. Despite two on and nobody out, the Raccoons didn’t score there either, thanks to Brass’ 6-4-3 grounder mainly. Fox allowed another run to score in the sixth on a Whittington triple and Maldonado’s RBI single, and left without getting out of the seventh, with Danny Garcia in scoring position thanks to a single and a stolen base, his ninth of the year. Bravo struck out Campos to get outta there. Ben Morris snapped a solo home run off Alex Lodes in the eighth inning, but apart from that the Raccoons were just hopeless. 3-1 Canadiens. Brassfield 2-4, 2B;

Game 3
VAN: LF D. Garcia – C A. Maldonado – 1B Campos – CF Scarpa – 3B C. Sullivan – SS Wartella – RF D. Moreno – 2B Roldan – P Garvey
POR: RF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Kozak – 2B Nye – C Fuller – CF Morris – 3B N. Fox – P B. Herrera

Bobby Herrera retired the Elks in order the first time through, whiffing three, while the Raccoons managed two walks off Garvey, and having Joel Starr hit into a double play. Herrera ended up retiring 14 in a row before losing Matt Wartella on a tight ball four in a full count, then struck out Damian Moreno to finish the fifth, so the Elks didn’t have any base hits through five innings, but don’t you worry, the Coons didn’t have any base hits either.

The first hit of the game was a single for … Garvey in the sixth, because why not, the baseball gods were obviously having a go at us. Garcia also singled, but Maldonado found the inning-ending double play. Nick Fox began the bottom 6th by legging out an infield roller for a single. Herrera bunted him to second, and Brass was walked intentionally. Lonzo’s grounder to second saw Brass forced out at second base, and the inning ended with Lonzo being thrown out at home plate on Starr’s RBI double to right, which at least got *a* run on the board. The Elks equaled the tally immediately in the top 7th. Campos legged out an infield single, which for him was a genuine achievement, and Tipsy Bobby walked Steve Scarpa, then couldn’t stem the tide and allowed the tying run to come across on Moreno’s 2-out RBI single. Whittington struck out, leaving on a pair. Bobby H. was then churned up on four straight 1-out singles in the eighth inning that gave the Elks a 2-1 lead and the bases loaded. Ricky H. replaced Bobby H. against the lefty barrage in the second half of the order, but the Elks answered Chad Cardenas batting for Sullivan and Corpus for Wartella, but the former struck out and the latter grounded out to second base, stranding three runners. Nevertheless, after five no-hit innings, Bobby Herrera then gave up EIGHT hits in another 2.1 innings…

The bottom 9th dawned with Aaron Hain getting the ball against the top of the order. Brass singled to center, and Lonzo also singled to center, which put the tying and winning runs aboard with nobody out. Joel Starr wasted no time, flicked the first pitch he got to left-center, and it fell in easily for a single, allowing Brass to score and Lonzo to go to second base. Next was Nick Fowler, batting lefty for the largely useless Jack Kozak. Hain labored him to a 2-2 count before making a very hittable mistake, and Fowler very much hit it, 374 feet to right to be precise. It was a walkoff! 5-2 Blighters. Starr 2-4, 2B, RBI; Fowler (PH) 1-1, HR, 3 RBI; N. Fox 1-2, BB; B. Herrera 7.1 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 9 K;

Raccoons (5-11) vs. Aces (9-7) – April 22-24, 2061

After that barely facial stripes-saving walkoff homer on Thursday, right away we had the next team in that was working itself out of a hole. Like the Elks, the Aces had faced last in their division the year before (actually, four years in a row) and were now off to a winning record, while the Raccoons… existed. The Aces ranked eighth in runs scored, but were allowing the fewest runs, just 3.38 per game, and had a +14 run differential. We had managed to lose the season series to them even last year, 4-5, but at least they came in with a few injuries as well as Ray Benner and Scott Laws were on the DL, and they had a pair of guys on the roster that were day-to-day in starting pitcher Dan Graham and first-sacker Jonathan Echols.

Projected matchups:
Nick Robinson (0-2, 4.32 ERA) vs. Steve Hunter (1-1, 1.66 ERA)
Angel Alba (1-1, 8.38 ERA) vs. Jesus Aquino (1-0, 3.86 ERA)
Justin DeRose (1-2, 2.75 ERA) vs. Kris Robbins (0-2, 5.31 ERA)

Hunter was another left-hander, the sixth in seven games, and so far we hadn’t done so brilliantly against them at 2-6. However, there wasn’t a pitching split known to man nor beast in which the Raccoons would emerge with a winning record at this junction, so why fuzz about it…

Game 1
LVA: 2B Chairez – SS Veguilla – LF K. Hummel – RF J. Evans – 3B A. Alfaro – CF Jad. Wilson – C Mathews – 1B Echols – P S. Hunter
POR: RF Christopher – SS Lavorano – LF Brassfield – 1B Starr – C Perez – 2B Nye – CF Ayala – 3B N. Fox – P Robinson

The Aces lost Andy Chairez to an injury suffered on a defensive play early on, but by then they were already up 2-0 thanks to a Jake Evans homer in the first inning after Robinson had given up a single to Miguel Veguilla to get him to the dish. Marco Cuevas, Chairez’ replacement, and Veguilla both hit singles in the third inning, but Veguilla was thrown out trying to steal and Ken Hummel struck out to end the inning. When he wasn’t getting singled to death Nick Robinson struck out eight Aces inside four innings.

And when the Raccoons weren’t busy sucking the air out of the ballpark, they actually took a lead against Hunter in the bottom 4th. Perez and Nye hit clean singles and Felix Ayala crashed the first home run of his career with a 3-piece to right; in fact, these were the first RBI’s of his career!

Now, the lead didn’t last, because the home team was filled with dunces. Top 5th, and Jonathan Echols singled with one out against Robinson. He stole second base, but even then, you got the pitcher up – do something! Well, doing something he did, and with that I mean Hunter singling home Echols with the tying run to get even at three… The go-ahead run then scored from Kyle Mathews getting on base with a leadoff walk in the seventh inning. Echols and Hunter couldn’t get it done, but the runner was then singled home by pinch-hitter and threateningly named Jim Fusselman. Not the first career RBI for him – but the second.

And the Coons? Starr hit a leadoff double in the sixth and was stranded, and Christopher drew a walk in the seventh and was caught stealing. They were just atrocious – AGAIN. After Lane and Loveless lingered long to load the bags with Aces in the eighth inning, but Echols struck out to keep three on without scoring any, the Raccoons saw Hunter nick Brassfield to begin the bottom 8th. Starr singled over Fusselman at short, and Perez grounder to short at least was slow enough to allow only for an out at first base, and the tying and go-ahead runs reached scoring position for Nick Nye, who was out on a comebacker with the runners freezing. Ayala fell to 1-2, then slapped a single next to Veguilla to at least tie the bloody ballgame! With Hunter still going, Kozak batted for Nick Fox, and dished a go-ahead single through the right side. Fuller batted for Loveless, but flew out to left to end the inning, and guess what, we still had Matt Walters with us, even though we never found a reason to use him…! He briefly threatened to show Matt Walters form, striking out Casey Burgio and getting Fusselman to ground out, then nicked Veguilla. Hummel doubled to left. And then Jake Evans struck out and everything was fine in the en- WHERE DID THE BALL GO?? Perez scampering after the loose ball, and there came Veguilla, and the game was tied… Alfaro flew out to left to end the inning, but that was another blown save for Walters, who six months after setting a franchise record for saves in a season was still hungover. In better news, Lonzo singled against Bill Lawrence, stole a base, and scored the winning run on a Perez single to walk the **** off. 6-5 Critters. Starr 2-5, 2B; Perez 2-5, RBI; Ayala 2-4, HR, 4 RBI; Kozak (PH) 1-1, RBI;

Whatever works…

And not a lot works ‘round here.

Game 2
LVA: 2B M. Roberts – SS Veguilla – 3B A. Alfaro – RF J. Evans – LF K. Hummel – CF Jad. Wilson – C Burgio – 1B Fusselman – P Aquino
POR: RF Christopher – SS Lavorano – CF Morris – 1B Starr – LF Brassfield – 2B Nye – C Perez – 3B Fowler – P Alba

While the Raccoons brought up the minimum against Aquino the first time through, the Aces took a quick lead on Miguel Veguilla’s first-inning home run, 1-0, then added two more in the third inning with a leadoff single by Mike Roberts, a balk, a walk to Alex Alfaro, an RBI single by Evans and an accompanying error by Brassfield in leftfield, and finally Ken Hummel made it 3-0 with a sac fly on the completely helpless appearing pitcher that somehow also managed to commit a throwing error in the second inning that DIDN’T lead to a run. Roberts hit another sac fly in the fourth after Alba walked Fusselman with one out and threw a wild pitch, then allowed a single to the opposing pitcher… It was gross, and the spectacle ended in the fifth inning with singles by Alfaro, Evans, and Jaden Wilson for only one out, but another run on the board. Reynaldo Bravo replaced the hapless starter, gave up another run on Burgio’s single, while Perez threw the ball to centerfield on the following double steal attempt, allowing Wilson to score, and Fusselman then hit yet another sac fly to get home the fourth run of the inning, and the eighth of the game. All on the other side of the box score in case you wondered.

The Raccoons scored a run on a Fowler sac fly eventually, but the game was of course long in the bin. Ruben Mendez got a few outs, then put on Hummel with a 1-out single in the seventh. The Coons shrugged and put in Loveless in a double switch, who wasted no time to concede the run on two more singles. Bottom 7th, and the Coons loaded the bases with Nye and Perez singles as well as a walk drawn by Fowler. One out, and Ayala and Christopher both popped out to short to end the inning… 9-1 Aces. Nye 2-4; Perez 2-3;

(pets Honeypaws a little more aggravatedly)

Game 3
LVA: 2B M. Roberts – SS Veguilla – 3B A. Alfaro – RF J. Evans – LF K. Hummel – CF Jad. Wilson – C Burgio – 1B Echols – P Robbins
POR: RF Christopher – CF Morris – LF Brassfield – 1B Starr – SS Nye – 3B Fowler – C Fuller – 2B Bean – P DeRose

It was cold with a drizzle threatening to turn into sleet on the weekly Sunday night game on national television, and my mood was accordingly even before an hourlong delay was called after just two innings in the miserable (yet still scoreless) proceedings by a group of four old men in black coats that didn’t consider laying down their lives to allow an Aces-Coons game to continue in these appalling conditions. National TV and all the ad money be damned.

Play resumed when at least the rain subsided, although by then it was even colder. Both starters were still good to go for the third inning, having each thrown under 30 pitches for two scoreless frames. The Aces’ Kris Robbins frolicked at the chance to continue – he was retiring the Coons in order the first time through the lineup, whiffing SIX of them. The other three presumably froze to ******* death without ever making it to the batter’s box. Predictably the Aces scored first when Jake Evans homered to left in the fourth inning, 1-0, before the Aces beat DeRose’s numb skull in with four hits and two runs in the fifth inning. Joel Starr at least got a ******* hit with a single in the bottom 5th, stole a base, and was stranded at second.

Bottom 6th, and Jon Bean started it with a groundout, but Jack Kozak then doubled in place of LaBat. Christopher popped out before walks to Morris and Brassfield filled the bases with the tying runs, bringing back Starr, although his fly to left, while deep, was caught on the warning track by Ken Hummel, and I thought this was an appropriate time to shed a few tears about another carefully composed roster that couldn’t hit its ******* way out of a grocery bag. – (rustling noises under the table) – Lonzo, get out of the bag and get dressed, you hit for the next pitcher that comes to the plate. – No hissing, you can continue to nom cookies once we’re done losing!!

Jonathan Echols’ leadoff double off Lane allowed Vegas to tack on a run in the seventh, and two more hits off Lane and three off Ricky H. gave the Aces two more runs in the eighth. Walters then pitched a scoreless and equally pointless ninth inning. The Raccoons never even reached scoring position again. 6-0 Aces. Kozak (PH) 1-2, 2B;

In other news

April 18 – Rebels catcher Ramon Lopez (.333, 1 HR, 6 RBI) is expected to miss a month after suffering an intercostal strain.
April 19 – TIJ SP Aaron Sloan (2-1, 2.37 ERA) throws a 2-hit shutout in a 5-0 win against the Aces.
April 20 – The Knights walk off on the Falcons in the ninth inning, 5-4, by virtue of an error, a single, an intentional walk, and with the bases loaded, ATL 2B/SS Ken Sowell (.238, 2 HR, 9 RBI) getting hit with a pitch by the Falcons’ MR Yoshinari Kuroiwa (1-1, 7.36 ERA).
April 21 – Titans SP Will Glaude (3-0, 1.80 ERA) throws a 2-hit shutout to beat the Loggers, 7-0.
April 21 – Gold Sox and Wolves are tied at one run apiece from the third to the 13th inning before the Gold Sox break through with a 6-run inning to win 7-1.
April 22 – The Knights beat the Titans, 13-6, mostly on an 11-run seventh inning.

FL Player of the Week: WAS Joo-Chan Lee (.369, 0 HR, 5 RBI), batting .522 (12-23) with 4 RBI
CL Player of the Week: SFB RF/LF/1B Jose Escalera (.413, 2 HR, 13 RBI), hitting .462 (12-26) with 1 HR, 7 RBI

Complaints and stuff

(deep sigh)

The amount of enjoyment you will draw from this season probably is directly proportional to your enjoyment of blazing trainwrecks.

But at least a good draft pick beckons!

Maybe the pitching needs shaking up. 3-0 with an 0.42 ERA in AAA is … Bobby Sneeze. Gesundheit. Okay, I’ll try again. How about 0-1 with a 3.07 ERA, but 20 K in 14.2 innings across two starts? That would be left-hander Freddy Castillo, almost 25 years old and signed as July IFA almost EIGHT years ago, and charitably described as a prospect by … nobody, really.

Oof.

Next up for free wins will by the Thunder and Loggers.

Fun Fact: We’re second in the CL in homers!

Yes. 16 in total, of which Lonzo has four and Morris has another four, which none of you had on your bingo cards, just admit it. Caswell had two before hitting the DL again, and then there’s single issues for Kozak, Starr, Fowler, Brass, Ayala, and Christopher. ZERO for Nick Nye and Angel Perez.

But Lonzo has four???