[Westheim]

Raccoons (85-71) vs. Titans (88-68) – September 29-October 1, 2064

Here it was, the series that could still open a hole into the postseason for the Coons, or end their weird and erratic season altogether. The Titans brought the #1 offense *and* #1 pitching to Raccoons Ballpark, a +176 run differential (Critters: +71), and their only real weaknesses being speed on the base paths and not being able to score at all for Jason Brenize. We held a slight 8-7 edge in the season series, but we needed to get the sweep in here, because losing even one game would require us to make up two games against the Crusaders while the Titans played the damn Elks, and those odds were not appealing – and that was only to get into a tie-breaker scenario. Two losses would mathematically end our season for good.

Projected matchups:
Angel Alba (14-11, 4.06 ERA) vs. Will Glaude (10-12, 3.96 ERA)
Chance Fox (12-10, 4.42 ERA) vs. Jayden Craddock (6-3, 2.70 ERA)
Tyler Riddle (15-10, 3.08 ERA) vs. Joe Chalmers (11-15, 4.33 ERA)

Riddle would be pulled ahead of Jarod Morris into this series because I had more faith in him than in Morris, in whom I had zero. We would face another triplet of righties, and no Brenize (14-6, 1.71 ERA), who had pitched and not been scored for in the Titans’ Sunday loss.

Game 1
BOS: LF S. Humphries – RF Ellwood – CF Marcotte – C Arviso – 1B Joyner – 3B D. Mendoza – SS J. Watson – 2B Onelas – P Glaude
POR: RF Corral – 3B Morales – LF Kozak – 2B Monck – 1B Starr – C Arellano – CF Maldonado – SS Aoki – P Alba

The Coons made the first paw print on the board in the bottom of the first inning, where Glaude yielded singles to Morales and Kozak before Starr doubled to right-center with two outs. Morales scored, and Kozak tried to do so from first base, but was thrown out at the plate by Eddie Marcotte to end the inning. The last out of the bottom 2nd was also made on the base paths as Yukio Aoki was caught stealing, before the Titans ripped Alba to shreds in the top 3rd. Jonathan Watson and Marcos Onelas opened with doubles past Morales, and Steve Humphries hit another double with one out, this one into the left-center gap. Humphries stole third base to score on a sac fly by Bobby Ellwood, giving Boston a 3-1 lead.

While Diego Mendoza hit another double in the fourth – all Titans hits up to that point were doubles – the Raccoons scrabbled a run together from three singles in the bottom 4th to get back to 3-2. Aoki drove in Arellano for that run, but the inning ended with a K to Alba with two left on base. The Titans answered right away; Humphries hit a leadoff single in the fifth, and Jorge Arviso socked a homer to right. 5-2. I was starting to get despair and shivered trying to open a bottle of Capt’n Coma, but the Titans bobbled the Coons back into the game in the bottom of the same inning when Humphries – a Gold Glover – dropped a Kozak fly to left with two outs before Glaude put Rich Monck’s 30th homer of the year on a big old stick, and now we were back to 5-4.

Alba was yoinked after Mendoza singled on his first pitch in the sixth inning, but the pen didn’t exactly offer any support. Onelas doubled off Carrillo, who then inexplicably walked Glaude to fill the bases. Dover replaced him, allowed a run on a sac fly by Humphries, and then had Corral rush down Ellwood’s drive in the right-center gap to keep the game even at 6-4, as the inning ended. Glaude was gone after six innings, and Roberto Navarro was immediately under pressure in the bottom 7th. Spicer grounded out batting for McDaniel in the #9 slot, but Corral then singled. Morales flew out, but Kozak got another single through the right side. Ellwood and Marcotte misplayed the ball between them, allowing the tying runs into scoring position. The Titans pitched to Monck to anybody’s surprise. Navarro plated a 2-out run with a wild pitch, but then struck out Monck swinging on a 3-2 pitch and the Coons remained down by a run – and then immediately made it two again with more ****** bullpen ********, as Nesbitt and Hall allowed three hits and a run driven in by Humphries between them in the eighth. The Raccoons got nowhere nice in that inning, then led off the bottom 9th with PH Marco Campos against the lefty Tyler Gleason. Campos whiffed, but Corral dished a double to right, bringing up the tying run once more. Morales cracked a single to the left side where Jonathan Watson knocked it down, but had no play – the Coons had the tying runs on the corners for Jack Kozak, who grounded to Chris Brown at second base. The 27-year-old ham-and-egger tried to start a double play, but the Titans only got Morales at second base; Corral scored, and Kozak reached first base to give Rich Monck another shot at glory. He grounded out to short. 7-6 Titans. Morales 3-5, 2B; Arellano 2-4; Aoki 2-3, RBI;

(sits and stares)

The Thunder secured the South on Monday, and nobody was rooting harder for the Titans to slap this division shut as well than the Thunder – except maybe the Titans players’ moms.

Game 2
BOS: LF S. Humphries – RF Ellwood – CF Marcotte – 3B D. Mendoza – C Arviso – 1B Joyner – 2B Onleas – SS J. Watson – P Craddock
POR: RF Corral – LF Spicer – 3B Morales – 2B Monck – CF Kozak – 1B Starr – C Arellano – SS Aoki – P Fox

How despaired was it to put Malcolm Spicer second when he was batting .379 on a mere 29 at-bats? – Yes.

Before Spicer could be the odd hero, the Raccoons were almost already down by a run as Chance Fox nailed Bobby Ellwood, who was forced out by Eddie Marcotte, who then tried to score on a Mendoza double deep in the left-center gap, but was thrown out trying to make it. The Coons in the bottom 1st also had the #2 batter on base as the 20-year-old spicey Spicer singled, then was forced out by Morales, and Monck grounded out to end the inning. Kozak then actually whacked a triple to begin the bottom 2nd; Starr struck out, but Arellano put the first run on the board with a single to center. The bottom of the lineup ended the inning, but Corral singled to start the bottom 3rd, then advanced on a wild pitch. Spicer walked on four pitches – his first ABL walk – and then … Morales flew out to right, and Monck only reached because Onelas bungled his grounder for an error, loading them up for Kozak. However, Craddock found a strikeout in his pocket, and then got Starr to ground out to Mendoza…

While Fox hung on for dear life with some decent help from the defense, the Raccoons just couldn’t build on their sketchy 1-0 lead on the Titans. The bottom third of the lineup got nowhere in the fourth, and in the fifth Morales and Monck clipped 2-out singles before Kozak grounded out to strand them on base. Foxie Brown made it to the pen fighting tooth and nail to keep the Titans from scoring any runs at all, and ended up scattering five hits in a spirited outing.

The Coons began the bottom 7th with a Corral groundout but Spicer slapped a single to center, then stole second base. More Cookie Carmona vibes, except for the glove! Vic Morales didn’t wait around and bashed a double to right, extending the lead to 2-0. Monck was put on intentionally before Kozak and Starr starrved the runners again.

Top 8th, and the Coons went to Dover, and Dover sucked beyond words, packed the bags full by walking Sandy Moreno and singles given up to Humphries and Ellwood and then was dispatched for … Nesbitt? Carrillo was unavailable, and you don’t want a lefty to face Marcotte and Mendoza. In other words, we were ******. Except that Marcotte slumped, hacked himself out, and then John Rosenstiel came out to bat for Mendoza. We took the bait – McGinley came in for a 5-out save when he had trouble saving them over three, entering in a double switch that put Kozak at first, Maldonado in center, and his wobbly closer’s tush in the #6 spot. The fireworks that went off then were spectacular. Rosenstiel tied the game with a streak of a 2-run single to right-center, Arviso and Yoslan Valdez each singled in another run, and that was a 4-spot for Boston. Ryan Harmer would later **** another run onto the board in the ninth inning. The Coons’ season ended after a 1-out single off Gleason that Morales hit in the bottom 9th when Monck followed that up with a 4-6-3 grounder to Onelas. -2 Titans. Spicer 2-4, BB; Morales 3-5, 2B, RBI; Fox 7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K;

(quietly sobs in the dark long after everybody else has gone home and killed the lights)

Game 3
BOS: LF S. Humphries – RF Ellwood – CF Marcotte – 3B D. Mendoza – C Arviso – 1B Joyner – 2B Onelas – SS J. Watson – P Chalmers
POR: RF Corral – LF Spicer – 3B Morales – 2B Monck – C Burkart – CF Maldonado – 1B Tallent – SS Gardner – P Riddle

In a game that nobody cared for anymore and in which Bruce Burkart came off the DL at least a day late, Riddle pitched nicely but inefficiently, much like Fox the day before, and held the game in a 1-1 tie through six innings of work. Both teams scored their run in the third inning, the Titans clipping Riddle for three singles, while the Raccoons answered with a Gardner single in the bottom 3rd, getting bunted onwards by Riddle, and plated by Corral’s 2-out single.

And then came the pen, and the game immediately fell apart again. Harmer allowed two singles in the seventh, Hall walked Arviso to fill the bases, and then gave up a 2-out RBI single to Bill Joyner, which gave Boston a 2-1 lead. Cruzado replaced him, was countered with Valdez batting for Onelas, whom he nicked – and with an 0-2 pitch – and then he walked in another run against Watson. Three relievers, one inning, three hits, two walks, one hit batter, three runs. ******* imbeciles. Elmer Maldonado hit a homer in the bottom 7th for one run, but that was all the Coons had left. Chalmers and Roberto Navarro combined to hold them to four hits in the game. 4-2 Titans. Riddle 6.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K;

Raccoons (85-74) @ Crusaders (78-80) – October 3-5, 2064

Nobody was up for this series, but it needed to be played as much as the Crusaders’ even more meaningless make-up game with the Knights on Monday. At least *our* pain would end on Sunday. If ever. New York was tenth in runs scored and fourth in runs allowed. They had a -3 run differential. The Coons had an 8-7 lead in the season series, but they had had the same against the Titans before ******** the bed.

Projected matchups:
Jarod Morris (9-7, 3.87 ERA) vs. Ryan Musgrave (9-15, 4.60 ERA)
Josh Elling (15-8, 3.66 ERA) vs. Ben Seiter (15-13, 3.21 ERA)
Angel Alba (14-12, 4.24 ERA) vs. Erik Lee (9-12, 3.75 ERA)

No more southpaws this year.

Nor playoffs.

Game 1
POR: RF Corral – LF Spicer – 3B V. Morales – 2B Monck – 1B Starr – CF Kozak – C Burkart – SS Novelo – P Morris
NYC: CF Box – 2B Jes. Alvarez – SS O. Sanchez – 1B Fresco – LF Jose Alvarez – RF Bucher – C J. Morales – 3B Heiden – P Musgrave

The only Critter that could still win something was Rich Monck in the home run and RBI categories, which he entered Friday in a tie with Fidel Carrera, and one ahead of Casey Ramsey, respectively. He made it a +2 on Ramsey in the first inning on Friday, hitting the third of three singles after Corral and Spicer to get the former across home plate. The Crusaders got a leadoff double from Bryant Box in the bottom 1st, then a 1-out single by Omar Sanchez, who sent Box to third base. Sanchez was then caught stealing, and Belchior Fresco grounded out to keep the tying run stranded. The Coons had a leadoff double from Burkart and then singles by Novelo, Corral, and Vic Morales in the inning, the latter two getting RBI’s, but Rich Monck lined out to Jose Alvarez to end the inning. All of this was for the tush when Morris did not retire anybody after a K on that Alvarez to begin the bottom 2nd. While a Monck error put Mike Bucher on base, he then walked the bags full like an idiot, before allowing two runs on a Musgrave single, and another four runs on spanking hits by the 1-2-3 batters for a 6-3 deficit (five earned) and getting shafted for Victor Herrera, who oversaw Omar Sanchez getting caught stealing for the second time in two innings.

Musgrave didn’t last much longer than that, getting beaten out of the game by the Coons in the top 3rd. The Raccoons got a leadoff double from Starr, then three straight singles before Elmer Maldonado’s pinch-hit RBI groundout. Corral bashed a score-flipping 2-run double, 7-6, just in case you couldn’t keep up with counting, and Musgrave was yanked for Jamie Maddox, who was having a 26-year-old cup of coffee and ended the inning. Starr walked in the fourth and was picked off, while the Coons defaulted to J.J. Sensabaugh in garbage relief, which somehow worked for two innings before he ****** the bags full on walks and emptied them with a groundout and two wild pitches in the bottom 5th.

Vic Morales shortened the score to 9-8 with a sixth-inning jack off Justin Coban, who was replaced after Monck reached on an error by Fresco. Eric Matthews conceded the tying run on a 2-out Kozak double. Burkart’s single to left-center brought in Kozak, making it 10-9 Coons, and in the seventh Matthews put Corral on base before giving up the first career homer of Malcolm Spicer, 12-9! But speaking of young outfielders, Bryant Box whacked a 2-run homer off Mike Hall in the bottom 8th to get the Crusaders back to within one run…

Top 9th, Curt Rosato allowed a pinch-hit leadoff single to Yukio Aoki, who stole second. Corral was walked intentionally, but an infield single by Spicer loaded the bases with nobody out. A passed ball scored a run, and a grounder by Morales to Sanchez was to score another even before Sanchez threw the ball away to actually concede a pair to the Coons and put Morales in scoring position for Monck, who struck out. Starr made another out, but Kozak got on base against righty Steve Stephens, which indicated we were really into the weeds of an extended roster now. Fourth-string catcher Miguel Guinea pinch-hit for Bruce Burkart – and hit an RBI single! Tallent batted for Novelo and walked, bringing Aoki to the dish for the second time in the inning. He fanned, concluding a wicked 4-spot. The Crusaders, down by five in this pitching-exempt madhouse of a game, then got Jose Alvarez on base against Nesbitt on account of a Spicer error in left, after which Mike Bucher singled. Jerry Morales sharply lined to Tallent at second base, who caught the ball and then tapped the bag to double off Alvarez. Steven Heiden grounded out to end the 27-run spectacle. 16-11 Critters. Corral 4-5, BB, 2B, 3 RBI; Spicer 3-6, HR, 2 RBI; Morales 3-6, HR, 2 RBI; Monck 2-6, RBI; Kozak 2-6, 2B, RBI; Burkart 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Guinea (PH) 1-1, RBI; Novelo 2-5; Aoki (PH) 1-2;

The win went to Sensabaugh, somehow.

Game 2
POR: RF Corral – LF Spicer – 3B V. Morales – 2B Monck – 1B Starr – CF Kozak – C Arellano – SS Aoki – P Elling
NYC: CF Box – RF A. Romero – SS O. Sanchez – 1B Fresco – C M. Nieto – 2B Jes. Alvarez – LF Thore – 3B Heiden – P Seiter

Portland went up in the second inning on a 2-out, 2-run double into left-center by Josh Elling, driving home Kozak and Arellano. As a side hustle, he faced the minimum on 19 pitches the first time through; Marco Nieto reached base on a Morales error, but was doubled up by Jesus Alvarez. Sanchez singled with two outs in the fourth for the first New York hit, but Fresco whiffed to leave him stranded.

Outside of Elling’s heroics, the Raccoons didn’t have much left in the sticks after the 16-run outburst on Friday and then even Elling bunted into a double play after Aoki reached base to begin the seventh against Seiter, who had been whiffing seven batters to that point, including an inefficient Monck twice. Corral doubled to right with two outs and Spicer cashed him with a well-placed single to extend the lead to 3-0. Morales grounded out to bring on the stretch. Elling was on 59 pitches that far, but needed 17 more in the seventh, including a full-count walk to Sanchez. He hit Alvarez in another 17-pitch inning in the eighth, but the Crusaders didn’t get the free runner into scoring position. Elling retained the ball on a 1-hitter to begin the bottom 9th because what else were we gonna do with a 3-0 lead, send in McGinley to blow it? Elling struck out Eddie Menchaca, struck out Box, and then got Alex Romero to ground out to Morales, and Morales could even resent the urge to make another throwing error. 3-0 Furballs. Morales 2-4, 2B; Elling 9.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, W (16-8) and 1-4, 2B, 2 RBI;

Monck did nothing, but neither did the bunch of guys he was fighting. It was still a tie with Fidel Carrera in homers and a +2 on Casey Ramsey for RBI’s.

Game 3
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Burkart – CF Maldonado – 3B Novelo – SS Gardner – P Alba
NYC: CF Box – RF A. Romero – SS O. Sanchez – 1B Fresco – C M. Nieto – LF Jose Alvarez – 2B Spehar – 3B Heiden – P E. Lee

Pablo Novelo socked a 2-run homer to break the ice in the season finale, but Ryan Spehar got Alba back for a 2-run homer in the home half of the same inning after Fresco reached base to begin that inning. The next few innings were calm before Novelo singled and Gardner walked to start off the top 5th. Alba bunted them into scoring position before Corral drew a walk in a full count to load them up for Kozak, who singled to center to get Novelo home for a 3-2 lead. Starr struck out, but Monck grinded out a 2-out walk in another full count to force in another run, and Lee lost another batter in the same way against Burkart, forcing in another run and getting yanked immediately after. Pedro Mendoza replaced him, Rafael Valencia batted for Maldonado to oppose the left-hander, but struck out anyway.

Alba only allowed one hit other than the Spehar homer through five, but also bunted badly to force out Joe Gardner in the sixth. Corral and Kozak then reached base to load them up against right-hander Bronson Vanderven (those names!) in the top 6th. Starr knocked out the Aussie rookie with a 2-out, 2-run single to center, but Monck grounded out against Rafael Mendoza to leave two on.

Alba maintained a 2-hitter with a 7-2 lead through seven innings before hitting 100 pitches. Campos singled in his place to begin the eighth, stole second, and came in to score on a Corral single. Kozak bashed an RBI double over the head of Bryant Box, and after Starr lined out to short, Monck swatted an RBI double into the left-center gap for another run. Alex Flores came in as new reliever and walked Burkart, got Spicer out, but with two outs walked Novelo and walked Aoki to push another run across. Campos grounded out to end the inning. Rich Read had a 1-2-3 eighth (!), and Corral reached with a leadoff walk against Maddox in the ninth, trying to get Monck back to the dish for another swipe. Scott Lawson pinch-hit for Read, but hit into a double play. Maddox liked the thought of challenging Monck, though, and walked Starr to get Monck back up, then got bombed for 400 feet for his 31th homer of the year!! RICH MONCK!! Vic Herrera would do the final pitching of the year, completing a big sweep of the Crusaders. 13-2 Critters! Corral 2-4, 2 BB, RBI; Kozak 2-3, 2 BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Monck 2-5, BB, HR, 2B, 4 RBI; Novelo 2-4, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Campos (PH) 1-2; Alba 7.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (15-12);

In other news

September 29 – The season of DAL CF Tyler Wharton (.365, 28 HR, 117 RBI) ends a week early due to a bruised foot.
September 30 – The Knights take 13 innings to beat the Condors, 1-0.
October 4 – TOP CL Justin Round (5-4, 2.38 ERA, 41 SV) has his 300th career save in nailing down a 5-2 win against the Blue Sox. Round was a Reliever of the Year twice for the Scorpions (2057) and Capitals (2063).
October 5 – The Stars win the FL West while being rained out when the Warriors lose their season finale to the Wolves, 11-6.

FL Hitter of the Month: CIN C Josh Heath (.279, 14 HR, 69 RBI), hitting .360 with 9 HR, 27 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: VAN OF Rick Atkins (.317, 16 HR, 96 RBI), bashing .400 with 3 HR, 27 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: WAS SP Adam Lunn (17-7, 3.77 ERA), going 5-0 with a 1.91 ERA, 40 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: MIL SP Bobby Herrera (14-15, 3.23 ERA), posting a 4-1 mark with 2.20 ERA, 36 K
FL Rookie of the Month: RIC LF/RF/1B Brady Terrell (.307, 20 HR, 82 RBI), striking .304 with 11 HR, 22 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: VAN OF Rick Atkins (.317, 16 HR, 96 RBI), bashing .400 with 3 HR, 27 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Rich Monck ended up nowhere in the batting race, really, but a late rally won him his first home run belt and RBI title! And while his batting average slipped to .308 in the end, that’s still his third .300 season in five full years in the ABL, 1-for-2 with the Coons after 2-for-3 with Cincy.

And which team ended up leading the Continental League in runs scored? THIS ******* TEAM!! Oh by the lightning thrown by Igor, the shortest and ugliest of the baseball gods – if only the ******* bullpen wouldn’t have been this ******* awful!! The Coons pen finished with a worse ERA (4.07) than the rotation (3.92)! The entire bunch needed beating with a ballpen hammer!

In the end we beat the Titans by four runs for the crown. And they beat us by three games for the division… by allowing 98 fewer runs. They led the CL in both starters’ and bullpen ERA.

Jose Corral ended the season with a 12-game hitting streak alive.

Jack Kozak appeared in all games this year, starting 152. Not bad for a guy that for years we couldn’t figure out what to do with.

Fun Fact: The last time the Raccoons led the CL in runs scored, the team’s batting WAR leader was ROYCE ******* GREEN.

1996, in case you’re struggling to go back that far. Royce Green hit .326 with 26 homers, narrowly beating David Brewer with .322 and 3 homers. Those were the Neil Reece, Vern Kinner, David Vinson, Ben O’Morrissey Raccoons. The ones that won 108 games but failed in October and then plunged into Darkness.

NINETEEN-*******-NINETY-SIX.

1996 was the ONLY time prior to this odd season that the Raccoons led the CL in scoring.