[Westheim]

Raccoons (67-88) @ Crusaders (85-70) – September 27-30, 2066

Seven more games to the end of the season, and I’ve been asking for four months whether we’re there yet. The Crusaders had fallen well short of the division title this year (though not as short as the Portlanders!), despite ranking second in both runs scored and runs allowed and having a +150 run differential. Maybe the Coons would finally get to that -200 run differential in THIS series. The Crusaders were up 9-5 on the Raccoons for the year.

Projected matchups:
Tony Gaytan (5-7, 4.29 ERA) vs. Erik Lee (14-10, 3.95 ERA)
Juan Sanchez (9-9, 3.55 ERA) vs. Jeff Kozloski (10-8, 4.42 ERA)
Nick Walla (12-10, 3.71 ERA) vs. Jerry Washington (17-7, 3.05 ERA)
Shoma Nakayama (11-12, 3.55 ERA) vs. Ben Seiter (11-8, 3.16 ERA)

Another one of those „Oops! All righties!” series.

Game 1
POR: CF Wilson – RF Corral – LF Colter – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – 2B Arantes – C Flowe – SS Novelo – P Gaytan
NYC: SS Vera – 2B O. Sanchez – CF Box – RF Takeuchi – LF Menchaca – 1B Duhon – 3B Blackshire – C Norwood – P E. Lee

Portland had the bags full with nobody out to begin the game as Jaden Wilson doubled over Bryant Box’ big head, Jose Corral walked, and Jamie Colter got a single past Omar Sanchez. Rich Monck put the Raccoons in front in the worst way, with a run-scoring 6-4-3 double play, and Joel Starr doubled in a second run before the inning ended with Leon Arantes, who was back from the sidelines. The lead was soon under threat, first when Crusaders rookie Omar Vera doubled to begin the bottom 1st but was left stranded, and then in the second inning with a leadoff walk to Eddie Menchaca and Chris Duhon’s double. The replacement level Crusaders lineup – only the 2-3-4 batters were really regulars throughout this season – got one run home with a fly ball by ex-Coon Dave Blackshire, but again stranded the double on base.

Gaytan was not particularly sharp and soon enough had to pitch in the rain and through a 30-minute rain delay in the fourth inning. Joel Starr had added a run with a solo homer in the top 4th, 3-1, but Gaytan kept putting runners on base, allowing hits to Duhon and Zachary Norwood, conceding a run, but Norwood was then thrown out at the plate by Wilson on Erik Lee’s 2-out single up the middle, denying the Crusaders the tying run. Gaytan went only five innings on a drawn-out 84 pitches, also factoring in the rain delay there of course. His W bid would disappear in the seventh inning with Jorge Quinones, who allowed a single to Omar Sanchez and then a score-flipping homer to Kazuhide Takeuchi, both lefty hitters.

The Coons went in order in the eighth, while Paul Barton then ran 3-ball counts to everybody, allowing a single and seeing Novelo bungle a double play grounder before Rich Monck started an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play to drag him through the inning. The Coons came up against Dave Hyman, righty, in the top of the ninth, who would face at least four lefty hitters beginning with Corral, who grounded out on the first pitch. Colter walked, but Monck lined out to Menchaca in left. Joel Starr was unretired in this game and remained so with a double to right, but Colter had to throw the anchor at third base with the ball already coming in when he got there. Ramon Lopez then batted for Arantes with two outs and punched a game-tying RBI single to left. Hyman further allowed a 2-run double to Jake Flowe, then was replaced with Matt Shapira, who gave up singles to Novelo and Spicer and another run. Southpaw Ben Caldwell then got Wilson out with a grounder to Blackshire to stop the 4-run rally. Cullum got the ball in the bottom 9th and moved the tying run to the plate immediately by giving up a double to ex-Coon Yukio Aoki and walking Oscar Rivera in the 2-3 spots before Takeuchi lined out, Menchaca whiffed, and Duhon grounded out to second-sacker Manny Arredondo. 7-4 Coons. Starr 4-4, HR, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Lopez (PH) 1-1, RBI;

Game 2
POR: CF Wilson – RF Corral – C Lopez – 1B Starr – LF Colter – 2B Arantes – 3B Arredondo – SS Novelo – P J. Sanchez
NYC: CF Box – 2B O. Sanchez – 3B B. Wilken – RF Takeuchi – 1B Duhon – LF Menchaca – C Villafan – SS Vera – P Kozloski

Starr’s hot paw continued into Tuesday, where Jaden Wilson opened the game with a triple to center but was still on base for Starr’s 2-out at-bat after both Corral and Lopez popped out on the infield. Starr singled for a 1-0 lead, then was left on by Colter on Rich Monck’s day off. New York tied the game in the bottom 1st without the benefit of a base hit as Juan Sanchez walked the bags full with Omar Sanchez, Ben Wilken, and Takeuchi, after which Duhon’s grounder to Arantes got the teams even. Menchaca then also grounded out to Arantes to leave two in scoring position. The Purple Poopers took a 2-1 lead in the second as Box singled home Willie Villafan. Meanwhile, Sanchez couldn’t stay out of full counts, running FIVE of them in just two innings. The Crusaders had another runner in each of the next two innings, and both times hit into a double play to help out Sanchez more than he could help himself.

Sanchez then batted in the top 5th with the bases loaded and nobody out, whiffing after hits by Arantes and Arredondo and a walk to Novelo. The Raccoons ended up plating all the runners though and took a 4-2 lead on Wilson’s game-tying groundout and Corral’s 2-out, 2-run double to right before Lopez struck out. Sanchez needed 84 pitches for five innings, like Gaytan on Monday, then allowed leadoff singles to Takeuchi and Duhon in the sixth. Menchaca grounded into another double play and Villafan popped out to Starr to get Sanchez through six innings, which would be curtains for him.

Marquise Early hit a single batting for Sanchez in the seventh, then was immediately picked off first base. Yamauchi then retired the side in order in the bottom 7th before Lopez got on base and Starr hit a 2-run homer to right, doubling the Raccoons’ lead to 6-2. Pedro Mendoza walked Omar Sanchez and Wilken in the bottom 8th, then got another double play grounder from Takeuchi before Cruz Madrid got the last out of the inning from Duhon. Malcolm Spicer pinch-hit and singled in the top of the ninth, then stole two bases before getting stranded. The 6-2 lead then went to Josh C in the bottom 9th, and when he got stuck after just three batters, Jesse Dover, who inherited Villafan at second, Vera at first, and one down. He walked the bags full with Cesar Santiago, then struck out Box, two down. But control remained elusive, and he walked in not one, but TWO runs against Sanchez and Wilken before Takeuchi struck out on a 1-2 pitch… 6-4 Coons. Wilson 2-4, BB, 2 3B, RBI; Starr 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Arantes 2-3; Early (PH) 1-1; Spicer (PH) 1-1;

Spicer’s ninth-inning heroics put him at 46 stolen bases, seven up on the Box and Vic Lorenzo competition with just a pawful of games to play.

Game 3
POR: CF Wilson – RF Corral – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – 2B Arantes – LF Spicer – SS Arredondo – P Walla
NYC: SS Vera – 2B O. Sanchez – CF Box – RF Takeuchi – LF Menchaca – 1B Duhon – 3B Aoki – C Norwood – P Jer. Washington

Box wasn’t gonna catch Spicer by homering for sure, and both him (with Sanchez on base) and Takeuchi hit a baseball over the Walla off the Portland starter in the first inning for a blitz 3-0 Crusaders lead. Both of the home run hitters would strike out against Walla the next time around, while the Raccoons didn’t have much cooking against Jerry Washington in general. The rest of the Crusaders’ lineup didn’t do a whole lot against Walla either, but Takeuchi took him deep again for another solo home run in the sixth, which was also the last inning of Walla’s last start in ’66. The Coons were down 4-0 on two hits against Washington, who had however already thrown 92 pitches for some reason and left after a leadoff walk to Starr in the seventh. “DD” Damasceno replaced him, struck out Arantes and Spicer, and then allowed a shy single to Arredondo. The Coons sent Bentley to bat for Walla, and Bentley CLOCKED a 3-run homer estimated at 441 feet, because there was no way measuring it once it landed in the river behind the centerfield wall.

The score was thus shortened to 4-3, and the Raccoons got another two runners before Lopez popped out against Shapira. Three different relievers then retired the 4-5-6 batters in order in the eighth while the Raccoons got through eight getting one out from Soriano and five (!) from Quinones. Hyman then had another run at a save in the ninth inning, but put Coons on the corners with one out after both Colter and Bentley hit singles. Wilson lined out, which prevented the runners from advancing, and Hyman lost Corral on four pitches to load the bases. Ramon Lopez then popped out again to end the ballgame. 4-3 Crusaders. Colter (PH) 1-1; Arredondo 2-4; Bentley (PH) 2-2, HR, 3 RBI;

The top seven batters in the Coons lineup batted a sturdy 1-for-25 with four walks in this game.

The Loggers completed a sweep of the Titans on Wednesday as Boston was off the rolls right now. This left the Coons with half a game’s advantage over the Loggers, who were off on Thursday. They would play the Crusaders here in New York once the Raccoons would be outta town and on the way to Indy.

Game 4
POR: RF Corral – LF Spicer – 1B Starr – 3B Monck – 2B Arantes – C Flowe – CF Early – SS Novelo – P Nakayama
NYC: SS Vera – 2B O. Sanchez – CF Box – RF Takeuchi – LF Menchaca – 3B B. Wilken – 1B J. Allen – C Norwood – P Seiter

Corral batted leadoff as Wilson got a day off and waved in the game’s first run when he dropped Norwood’s 2-out fly to right for an error in the bottom 2nd, allowing Takeuchi to score with an unearned run before Nakayama had to get the last out of the inning from Seiter instead. Seiter had pitched rather mundanely in 2066, and the Crusaders probably feared that at age 36 he was hitting the decline phase of his career. He scattered five hits against just two strikeouts to the Coons in the first four innings, but didn’t concede a run, while Nakayama gave up another 2-spot in the bottom 4th with a leadoff walk to Menchaca, Jared Allen’s RBI double, and then his own throwing error on Norwood’s comebacker that waved Allen in to score, 3-0. Seiter whiffed and Vera grounded out to end the inning.

The fifth inning saw both teams waste another runner before the Raccoons got Starr and Monck on base with soft singles against Seiter in the sixth. The veteran got Leon Arantes to 1-2, then gave up the 27-year-old rookie’s first career home run, a huge 3-piece to tie the game! Neither pitcher got a decision after that, as Nakayama was hit for with Wilson to begin the seventh. Corral got on base after Seiter had retired four in a row, three on strikes, but was forced out by Spicer, who instead stole another base and then was stranded by Starr. Seiter gutted it out for eight innings and 114 pitches, but the Coons had Mendoza and Madrid hold the fort in the seventh and eighth and the game was still tied at three into the ninth, with Hyman making another appearance. Randy Tallent hit a pinch-hit double in his first game action in over a week, Corral walked behind him, but Spicer forced out Corral again and Starr flew out to Takeuchi, and nobody scored. Ricky McMahan then got the ball for the bottom 9th and retired two batters before being taken deep by 40-year-old hangers-on Oscar Rivera to split the series for good. 4-3 Crusaders. Corral 2-4, BB; Starr 2-5; Monck 3-4; Flowe 2-4; Tallent (PH) 1-1, 2B;

Raccoons (69-90) @ Indians (80-79) – October 1-3, 2066

The Raccoons had gone 5-4 this year against half of the CL South, but had been beaten convincingly by everybody in the North – except for the Indians. The season series had long been won by the Critters, who entered this final series up 11-4 on Indy. Ninth in offense and fifth in pitching, the Indians had a +10 run differential. The Raccoons were still pretending like they wouldn’t crash under -200 on the final weekend of the season, entering at -192.

Projected matchups:
Vinny Morales (0-4, 4.83 ERA) vs. Victor Perez (9-9, 4.28 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (5-7, 4.25 ERA) vs. Mike DeWitt (12-9, 2.68 ERA)
Juan Sanchez (10-9, 3.54 ERA) vs. Vince Ellison (13-11, 4.48 ERA)

DeWitt was the final southpaw starter the Raccoons would see this year.

Game 1
POR: CF Wilson – 1B Starr – C Lopez – 3B Monck – RF Colter – 2B Arantes – LF Bentley – SS M. Arredondo – P Morales
IND: CF M. Martin – SS O. Aredondo – RF Dowsey – LF T. Torres – 3B P. Weber – C H. Valdez – 1B M. Rogers – 2B Jim White – P V. Perez

Joel Starr continued a hot week with a 2-run triple to plate Manny Arredondo and Vinny Morales, who had gotten on base with a pair of base hits, in the third inning. Those were the first runs of the game, and Starr then was immediately stranded by Lopez AND Monck, but Morales also wasted no time to give up a homer to Matt Martin in the bottom 3rd to narrow the lead to 2-1.

Blows were exchanged in the fourth inning as John Bentley hit another solo homer that was then answered by Hugo Valdez; the 23-year-old third-string catcher got the first home run of his career off Morales. The Indians then tied the game in the fifth as Martin singled to lead off, two outs were made, Tony Torres walked in a full count, and Paul Weber finally tied the game with a single to center. Morales gave up another RBI single to Valdez, falling behind 4-3, before Matt Rogers grounded out. Morales continued in the bottom 6th, where absurdly enough the Ar(r)edondos teams up for a 2-run inning for the Arrowheads. Manny Arredondo made an error to put Jim White on base, and Oscar Aredondo then clobbered another jack off Morales to extend the lead to 6-3. Morales was also done after that rocket.

Top 7th, and the Raccoons had the tying runs on with nobody out as Joe Napier walked Bentley, Arredondo doubled, and Spicer drew another walk batting for Carrington in the #9 spot. Wilson hit a sac fly to left, and Starr singled softly to right to fill the bases again. However, Lopez struck out on three pitches before Monck poked at a 3-0 and flew out to Justin Dowsey… Barton got the ball for the bottom 7th, struck out Weber, and then nailed Valdez with an 0-2 pitch. Rogers then singled to right, where Colter suffered the weirdest injury stretching for the rolling ball as it took an odd hop and tried to get by him. He was replaced with Tallent with what soon be diagnosed as 70% mild oblique strain and 30% phantom pain by Luis Silva. Quinones replaced Barton, struck out PH Mike White (batting for Jim White) as Rogers was taking off to steal second, and then Lopez’ throw to second got away from Arantes for an error, allowing Valdez to score from third base and Rogers to get to third base. PH Eddy Ramirez tripled in Rogers with a screamer to right before Martin made the third out of a confusing 2-run inning, Indy now up 8-4. Victor Ramirez pitched the last two innings for Indy without allowing a manor or minor rally to the Critters. 8-4 Indians. Starr 2-4, 3B, 2 RBI; Tallent (PH) 1-1; Arredondo 2-3, BB, 2 2B;

The Loggers beat the Crusaders, dropping the Coons into sole possession of last place in the North, and the worst record in the Continental League. We were tied with the Rebs on record, but there were still three teams in the FL West that all had worse records. The Coons could still end up anywhere from the #3 to the #6 pick next year.

Game 2
POR: CF Wilson – SS Novelo – C Lopez – 1B Starr – 3B Monck – RF Tallent – LF Early – 2B Bonner – P Gaytan
IND: CF M. Martin – SS O. Aredondo – RF Dowsey – 1B Starwalt – LF T. Torres – 3B P. Weber – C H. Valdez – 2B Falcon – P DeWitt

Indy scored first on Saturday as Gaytan generously gave up runners in the bottom 2nd, in which Danny Starwalt hit a leadoff double and Torres drew a walk before two outs were made and the lead runner then scored on Miguel Falcon’s infield single. DeWitt then flew out to leave runners on the corners. DeWitt had struck out five of the first seven Critters before allowing singles to Bonner and Gaytan in the top 3rd, but recovered with more strikeouts against Wilson and Novelo to keep them stranded. Gaytan was nowhere near as good, or useful, filling the bases and giving up a 2-run single to Paul Weber with two outs, 3-0. Valdez then struck out.

DeWitt didn’t get the win because his control derailed in the fourth inning. He walked three batters from there, including Gaytan in the fifth, and was yanked after a final K on Wilson and a looong fly out to right by Novelo, one out shy of qualifying for a W. Lopez grounded out against Justin Esch to end the fifth. Gaytan kept going, allowing revenge to Weber, who hit a homer in the sixth, and then put Falcon and Mike White (not Jim White) on base. White hurt himself and was replaced with Wil Martinez, who along with Falcon was stranded when Martin grounded out to short. Gaytan was done after six and Soriano held the score at slam range in the seventh. The Raccoons got Starr and Monck on the corners in the eighth, but Tallent popped out to second and the inning ended when Corral batted for Marquise Early, but the Indians answered with lefty reliever Roberto Ponce de Leon, who got the strikeout on Corral. Evan Alvey pitched a scoreless inning for the Raccoons, while the Indians had six pitchers pool together for a 6-hit shutout. 4-0 Indians. Bentley (PH) 1-1;

A Stingers loss removed the #3 pick from consideration. Both the Rebs and Loggers were still in “luck of the draw” territory on Sunday, one win ahead of the Critters. Getting swept would give us the #4 pick for sure next year.

Mike White (not Jim White) was out for the season (well, one day) with a PCL strain.

Game 3
POR: CF Wilson – LF Spicer – 1B Starr – 3B Monck – RF Corral – SS Novelo – C Flowe – 2B Bonner – P Sanchez
IND: CF E. Ramirez – 2B Falcon – 3B P. Weber – 1B Starwalt – LF M. Martin – RF T. Torres – SS DeRosia – C F. Gomez – P Ellison

Indy was up 2-0 in the second inning on really nothing. Sanchez walked Starwalt and nailed Martin before the Indians poked for two meek outs. Freddy Gomez then hit a grounder in front of the plate that Flowe peppered away for a 2-base, 2-run error, and Sanchez had to get the last out from the pitcher instead. The Indians didn’t have a hit at that point, but then unfurled three straight singles to begin the bottom 3rd, with Weber driving home Ramirez to make it 3-0 against hapless Raccoons. Sanchez walked Starwalt, struck out Martin, and then got a 4-6-3 double play from Tony Torres to bail out.

Portland had a lonely hit (a Corral single) the first time through against Ellison, who allowed a single to Spicer on his first pitch of the fourth inning. He stole his 48th base of the season, gained third base on Monck’s soft 1-out single, and then came home on Corral’s groundout, 3-1. Monck was stranded by Novelo, and the Indians got the run right back with a leadoff single by Philip DeRosia, a walk to Gomez, and even with Ellison bunting into a 1-6-3 double play, as DeRosia scored on Eddy Ramirez’ infield single. Falcon grounded out, leaving it at 4-1.

Portland pieced together another run with a single, stolen base, and two groundouts in the sixth inning, but this time it was Wilson doing the running and scoring. 4-2 was all the Coons could do for Sanchez though, who went six-and-a-third before being replaced with Yamauchi, who allowed a pair of 2-out singles in the bottom 7th before McMahan got the third out on a pop from the pinch-hitting Rogers. Wilson hit a 2-out single in the eighth, but got nowhere else, and Dover held the Indians to the lead they already had in the bottom of the inning. Cody Kleidon, who had already finished the Saturday game, was then out for the save opportunity in the ninth, facing the 3-4-5 batters. Starr flew out to left, Monck flew out to center, and then Early batted for Corral and grounded out to DeRosia at short. 4-2 Indians. Wilson 2-4; Corral 2-3, RBI;

In other news

September 27 – Nashville clinches the FL East in idle fashion, as the Capitals eliminate the last remaining competition, the Cyclones, in a 12-6 game.
September 27 – The Canadiens beat the Indians, 9-2 in 16 innings. They also out-hit the opposition, 22-7.
September 27 – The Condors beat the Falcons, 3-0 in ten innings. The Falcons somehow can not push a run across despite a dozen base hits.
September 28 – In another lopsided extra-inning score, the Aces beat the Bayhawks, 11-5 in 11 innings.
October 1 – TIJ 3B/2B Ralph Lange (.242, 5 HR, 39 RBI) reaches a 20-game hitting streak with a first-inning, 2-run double and two hits total in a 7-4 win against the Knights.
October 2 – The hitting streak of Lange does not last to the end of the season as he goes hitless in a 4-3 defeat to the Bayhawks just one day later.

FL Hitter of the Month: NAS RF Austin Gordon (.309, 26 HR, 98 RBI), hitting .359 with 8 HR, 27 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: MIL 1B/RF/LF Cesar Ramirez (.357, 20 HR, 105 RBI), socking .446 with 4 HR, 17 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: WAS CL Elijah LaBat (4-5, 1.82 ERA, 47 SV), recording 11 saves while going 2-0 with a 2.35 ERA, 15 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: ATL SP Kodai Koga (15-10, 3.21 ERA), calmly going 5-0 with a 2.30 ERA, 25 K
FL Rookie of the Month: SFW INF Jimmy Madden (.306, 10 HR, 77 RBI), slapping .381 with 4 HR, 21 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: SFB OF Jake Ward (.296, 11 HR, 48 RBI), going .313 with 6 HR, 18 RBI

Complaints and stuff

(huge sigh of relief)

The team achieved a -202 run differential eventually. Always remember, kids: even when your goals are so far away and they remain just out of reach for the longest time, you will eventually get there if you just suck hard enough!

Going along with that wretched run differential was the worst record in the CL, one game behind the Loggers, and the #4 pick in next year’s draft, one game behind the Scorpions for #3.

Mathematically the team should have lost 102 games, BY FAR the worst in the league. Next-worst would have been the Wolves. While the Coons came nine games above their expected record, the Warriors ended up eleven games *under* theirs.

The Raccoons scored fewer than 600 runs for the first time since 2022, when the offense mainly consisted of Matt Nunley and Cookie Carmona, and half a season of “Tiger” Mendoza before he was traded to Cincy for what eventually turned out to be a bucket full of turds. Gil Rockwell led that team – in his final season – with 19 homers, two shy of Rich Monck’s team lead while posting a 94 OPS+ this year. Rockwell’s was 106.

Wickedly we also had three winning months (two by one game) while tumbling to a 93-loss season.

Malcolm Spicer won his second stolen base titles with 48 bags taken after 53 last year; including his cup of coffee in ’64 he now had 106 stolen bases for his career and he wouldn’t turn 23 until next May. He was also a .284 batter allergic to walks and his own glove, and worth -2.0 WAR for his career, but what the hell do I know? Spicer might be better off as the first baseman with some more exercise at that position, but the Raccoons had three years and $9.9M worth of Joel Starr in the way, who wasn’t likely to find a new team after two barely-above-average seasons.

Nod to Kodai Koga, winning his second Pitcher of the Month award. He won his first such award at the youthful age of 34 in August of 2058.

Jason Brenize wins his second triple crown in the CL in a tie for wins with his team mates Mike Bell and Matt Taylor, while in the FL Alex Quevedo wins HIS second triple crown, beating the entire rest of the league by over a full run of ERA! Quevedo (9.3) and Brenize (8.5) also post the highest WAR’s of all ABL players this year.

Fun Fact: Oscar Rivera, who hit the walkoff homer on Thursday at 40 years and 352 days of age, made all his ABL appearances in his 20s with the Raccoons.

Acquired with fellow prospects Willie Cruz and Eloy Sencion from the Gold Sox for mostly Dave Hils after the 2049 season, he made it into just 95 games from 2051 through 2053, his age 25-27 seasons. He batted .225 with 9 homers and 35 RBI in total, then was sent back to the Alley Cats for good and obtained minor league free agency after the ’54 season.

He then signed five minor league contracts (twice with New York) without getting a call back to the majors before making a return in 2058 at age 32 with the Capitals, for whom he would then fill that role of “can’t believe he’s still around” quad-A shuttle outfielder that would sometimes get many, but mostly few at-bats every year from ’58 through ’65 before being let go after that season. The Crusaders then signed him to a third minor league contract in May and he appeared mostly in AAA again before his late call-up here.

Rivera, who throughout his pro career had rented apartments in 18 different cities, still was short of 1,000 major league plate appearances. Overall he was a .220/.329/.360 batter with 173 hits, 25 homers, and 109 RBI. He had stolen six bases, four of those with the Coons.