[Westheim]

Raccoons (36-46) vs. Crusaders (38-44) – July 1-4, 2069

Here were two teams that did not like each other much and that were both having a highly disappointing and frustrating season. The Crusaders had lost five games in a row, and they were the team to score the fewest runs in the Continental League … outside the Raccoons of course. Their pitching ranked them fifth in runs allowed, but that -27 run differential didn’t look great. The season series was even at two.

Projected matchups:
Tony Gaytan (6-8, 5.06 ERA) vs. Colt Long (3-5, 4.27 ERA)
Nick Walla (5-9, 3.22 ERA) vs. Erik Lee (5-7, 3.52 ERA)
Harrison Hunt (0-1, 9.64 ERA) vs. Russell Anderson (2-4, 6.12 ERA)
Vinny Morales (7-6, 3.30 ERA) vs. Jarod Nesbit (8-7, 3.98 ERA)

Oh boy, a team that had two left-handed starters and we would get to see BOTH of them. Long and Anderson were the southpaws in question. Nobody was gonna see Jose Ambriz and Eric Frasher; the two regular position players were both on the DL.

Game 1
NYC: 3B Roza – SS Maudlin – CF Box – 1B Starwalt – 2B Philpot – LF Duhon – C McCarver – RF Ledesma – P C. Long
POR: LF van Otterdijk – RF Fumero – CF T. Wharton – 1B Starr – C Marquez – 3B Gallo – 2B Novelo – SS Duhe – P Gaytan

Everybody expected Tony Gaytan to deliver a stinker after a fine time out in his most recent start, but he struck out five and retired the Crusaders in order the first time through the batting order on just *29* pitches. Of course, Josh Roza and Jeff Maudlin then immediately struck singles to begin the fourth inning, van Otterdijk took his big black googly eyes off Danny Starwalt’s 1-out fly to left and dropped it for an error that loaded the bases, and while Ryan Philpot then popped out, Chris Duhon belted a 2-run single to left, the first runs in the game (duh!) and it as left to Braden McCarver to make the last out on a fly to van Otterdijk that he was kind enough to actually ******* catch. Gaytan then struck out the side in the fifth in considerable frustration.

The Raccoons had had runners on the corners right in the first inning, but Starr and Marquez had proven unable to get any of them home, ending the inning with poor groundouts instead. It then took until the fifth for Novelo to reach on Ryan Philpot’s error and Duhe to hit a single to left. Gaytan made the first out bunting the tying runs into scoring position, but van Otterdijk popped out on the first pitch he saw, and Fumero grounded out to second on the first pitch he saw…

Danny Starwalt and McCarver then banged homers off Gaytan in the sixth and Bryant Box tripled in Maudlin’s run in the seventh inning, while the Raccoons went absolutely ******* nowhere and Colt Long was pitching a 4-hit shutout until he didn’t when Pablo Novelo took him deep with a solo homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. 5-1 Crusaders. Fumero 2-4, 2B; T. Wharton 1-2, 2 BB;

Shucks.

Game 2
NYC: 3B Roza – SS Maudlin – CF Box – 1B Starwalt – C A. Morris – 2B Philpot – LF Duhon – RF Bursley – P E. Lee
POR: LF Otal – 2B Fumero – CF T. Wharton – 1B Starr – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – C Flowe – SS Duhe – P Walla

Walla entered the game on two full months’ worth of getting 2.5 runs of support for every time he put on pants, so giving up a 2-out, 2-strike, 2-run triple to Josh Bursley in the second inning pretty much put him on the losing side again or the day. That inning had seen him nick Andy Morris on base, and Morris was also on base when Chris Duhon spanked a 2-run homer to left in the fourth inning, in other words, ballgame.

The Coons were limited – foremost by their own misshapen legs and general ineptitude – and in this case by Lee especially to a Flowe single the first time through the order, and in that case Walla didn’t help himself by bunting into a force at second base, either. When the Raccoons did score a run in the bottom 4th you might as well have given it to the Crusaders, as Tyler Wharton hit a soft single, then advanced on an errant pickoff throw by Lee, a wild pitch, and then finally a groundout by Joel Starr. Whee, rally!!

Walla was held to six quite mediocre innings and left the game down 4-2 thanks to a Fumero homer in the bottom 6th. It was part of a rally at glacial pace. Schmieder and Childress pitched scoreless innings from the shallow end of the gene pool in the seventh and eighth, and then Benito Otal got on base against Lee in the bottom 8th, stole second, and scampered home on a Wharton single with two outs to reduce the gap to 4-3. Wharton stole second, but Starr flew out to Box and the inning ended. Danny Nava then gave up a leadoff double to Philpot in the ninth inning, and the Crusaders threatened to bring in the tack-on run when PH Tristan Michaux’s groundout moved Philpot to third base. But Bursley popped out poorly, and PH Ben Wilken whiffed, and Philpot remained at third base. Right-hander John Faughnan then faced the 5-6-7 batters in the bottom 9th, and Gallo popped out and Corral grounded out, but Jake Flowe worked a walk. Gary Gates ran for him, but there was nowhere to run to on Duhe’s grounder to second base, where Maudlin picked the ball and stepped on the bag to end the game. 4-3 Crusaders. T. Wharton 2-4, RBI; Flowe 2-3, BB;

The Crusaders swapped reliever Jon Dominguez (0-4, 3.69 ERA, 1 SV), who had not yet appeared in this series, and a prospect to the Capitals by Wednesday. They got outfielder Luis Morales (.231, 0 HR, 10 RBI) for their troubles.

Game 3
NYC: 3B Roza – SS Maudlin – C A. Morris – 1B Starwalt – 2B Philpot – CF Box – LF L. Morales – RF Ledesma – P R. Anderson
POR: LF Otal – 1B Fumero – CF T. Wharton – 3B Gallo – RF van Otterdijk – C Marquez – 2B Novelo – SS Duhe – P Hunt

Harrison Hunt was harassed and hunted from the get-go on Wednesday, walking Andy Morris and giving up a 2-piece to Starwalt right in the first inning. In the third inning, Maudlin singled and Hunt walked the bags full with Morris and Philpot (while whiffing Starwalt), and then surrendered a 2-out slam to Bryant Box. The Raccoons had yet to get close to scoring position. Hunt staggered into the fourth inning, where Gallo fudged the grounder of leadoff man Raul Ledesma to put a cozy runner on base, and then Hunt with two outs walked Maudlin and gave up an unearned RBI single to Morris, then was quietly covered in blankets and ushered away. Childress came in, walked the bags full, and then somehow got Otal to chase down a Philpot drive to left to end the ******* inning. Childress then gave up a run in the fifth, driven in by pitcher Russell Anderson with two outs on a sharp single to left-center. The runner that scored was Bursley, who replaced Luis Morales, the Crusaders’ newest toy, who had doubled and hurt himself.

Bottom 5th, and the Raccoons out of nowhere loaded the bases with Anderson’s leadoff walk to Duhe and a pair of singles to Gates and Otal. No outs, though. But guess what – the Raccoons got into the slam department when Fumero BOMBED a fastball over the wall in left. GRAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAMMMM!!!

Somehow we were still four runs down. Anderson managed to get eight runs of support and not get the W, though, allowing a single to Wharton, a double to van Otterdijk, and then a sac fly to Marquez. At 8-5, he was gone. Novelo then flew out to left against Mike Rocheford, but Gates and Otal came up with a pair of 1-out singles in the bottom 6th to get the tying run to the dish. Rocheford lost Fumero in a full count, but then struck out Wharton. Gallo held out for a bases-loaded walk with two outs, 8-6, and Joel Starr was sent to bat for van Otterdijk, and finally a move here worked out. Starr sharply singled to left, two runs scored, and the Raccoons had rallied out of an 8-0 hole!!

Dale Hyman got Marquez out to end the inning, and McMahan pitched a scoreless seventh to get us to the stretch in an 8-all ballgame. Roberto Navarro was in for the bottom 7th, walked Corral batting for McMahan in the #7 hole, and then Duhe and Gates singled the bags full with nobody out. While Otal then whiffed over-eagerly, a passed ball charged to Morris allowed Corral to score with the go-ahead run when Fumero was already down to two strikes. Both Fumero and Wharton popped out, leaving a pair in scoring position, and then Josh Roza doubled off Rios to begin the eighth inning and scored on productive outs, something the Raccoons were ******* incapable of, by Maudlin and Morris, and now it was a 9-9 game. Gallo then singled to center to get the bottom 8th underway and advanced on a wild pitch. Navarro drilled Starr onto the open base, Marquez flew out to left, and Flowe pinch-hit into a double play.

The game went to extras with a 1-2-3 ninth from Valentin and Otal plodding into a double play after Gary Gates singled from the #9 hole with one out. Gates was 4-for-4 at this point. Valentin continued in the tenth inning, but gave up a homer to Josh Roza with two outs, then nicked Maudlin, and allowed a single to Morris. Starwalt struck out. Right-hander Brian Doster was up for the bottom 10th against the 2-3-4 batters. Fumero singled to center, Wharton walked in a full count, and they too off for a double steal, and got it done!! Tying and winning runs in scoring position, nobody out, and Gallo… grounded out to Maudlin and the runners shied back. Oh for crying out loud!! But Joel Starr had seen enough and wanted to get to his hot cocoa and dry crackers, the only joys afforded to an old man, and hit a walkoff single to left to end the charade. 11-10 Furballs!! Otal 2-6; Fumero 2-5, BB, HR, 4 RBI; van Otterdijk 2-2, BB, 2B; Starr (PH) 2-2, 4 RBI; Gates (PH) 4-4;

What a wicked game that was…!

Also wicked, the pitching on this team. The Raccoons had seen enough from Harrison Hunt (0-1, 11.88 ERA), who would not get another start before the All Star Game, nor one soon thereafter, and Cody Childress (2-10, 3.94 ERA), and both were made the Alley Cats’ problems again (with Childress hitting waivers).

The Raccoons were 17 days away from needing a fifth starter again (which would be Stebbins anyway), and so the open roster spots went to ill-commanding 26-year-old 2064 fourth-rounder and right-hander Mike Davis and towards another Juan Vega cameo.

Game 4
NYC: LF Duhon – SS Maudlin – CF Box – 1B Starwalt – C A. Morris – 2B Philpot – 3B B. Wilken – RF Bursley – P Nesbit
POR: SS Duhe – LF Otal – CF T. Wharton – 1B Starr – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – 2B Fumero – C Flowe – P Morales

Morales struck out three in the first inning, getting around a Maudlin single, and then got a 1-0 lead when Gallo singled home Duhe and his leadoff double in the bottom 1st. Starr had drawn a walk to get the team’s home run leader to the plate to hit a little plonker to right. Corral then flew out easily to Box. While Morales did his best, the Raccoons stranded another pair in the bottom 3rd, then left the bases loaded after Nesbit nailed Fumero, Morales singled, and Duhe walked, only for Otal to ground out to Philpot.

The Crusaders then hit three singles and made two outs on the base paths to not score in the fifth inning. Ben Wilken singled and was thrown out by Corral trying to reach third base on a Bursley single. Nesbit bunted the remaining runner onwards to second base, from where he tried to score on Chris Duhon’s 2-out single to center, except that now Wharton threw out the runner at the plate to end the inning. To make up for defensive excellence, Corral then blundered into an inning-ending double play after Starr doubled and Gallo walked in the bottom 5th…

Maudlin doubled to left at the start of the sixth, putting Morales under pressure again, although the right-hander struck out Box and got Starwalt to fly out harmlessly. The runner scored anyway, but not with anything the Crusaders did. A passed ball and Duhe’s throwing error on Morris’ grounder got him home to blow the 1-0 lead. A frustrated Vinny Morales held out for six-and-two-thirds, but had to settle for a no-decision. Rios got two outs, but allowed a single to Box in the eighth, and Jesse Dover replaced him and also pitched two outs, but only after he was taken WELL deep by Danny Starwalt. J.P. Gallo hit a home run off Doster in the bottom 8th, 3-2, and Fumero hit a single off Roberto Navarro after that, but was stranded when Flowe struck out. Gary Gates pinch-hit for reliever Juan Vega to begin the bottom 9th against Faughnan, but popped out. Duhe singled to left-center, promoting the winning run into the box. A wild pitch moved the tying run to second base, but Otal struck out, and the Crusaders were bold enough to pitch to Wharton with first base open, and were rewarded by getting a fly to Box to win the series. 3-2 Crusaders. Duhe 2-4, 2B, RBI; Starr 2-3, BB, 2B; Gallo 2-3, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Fumero 2-3; Morales 6.2 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K and 1-3;

Sigh.

Raccoons (37-49) vs. Loggers (46-38) – July 5-7, 2069

Beatings were then scheduled for the final weekend before the All Star Game. The Loggers were back to first place in runs scored in the CL, putting out just over 5.2 runs per game. They were also giving up the fourth-most runs, but that still left them with a comfy +64 run differential. They were up 5-3 in the season series and had no injuries. Woe is us.

Projected matchups:
Jimmy Wharton (1-1, 8.74 ERA) vs. Nick Robinson (8-3, 2.98 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (6-9, 4.97 ERA) vs. Danny Ortiz (9-6, 3.77 ERA)
Nick Walla (5-10, 3.36 ERA) vs. Matt Crist (7-3, 4.17 ERA)

Poor Jimmy Wharton. May the baseball gods have mercy upon his soul. Also, he was facing the only southpaw the Loggers were carrying in their rotation, 40-year-old former Raccoon Nick Robinson, in the opener.

Game 1
MIL: RF D. Wright – 2B Van Leeuwen – 1B C. Ramirez – LF C. Dominguez – SS Reber – CF Shapiro – C Guitreau – 3B Murcia – P N. Robinson
POR: SS Duhe – RF Fumero – CF T. Wharton – 1B Starr – RF van Otterdijk – 3B Gallo – C Marquez – 2B Novelo – P J. Wharton

Wharton got three outs alright in the first inning, but allowed a single to Carlos Dominguez and then THREE walks to Kyle Reber, Vince Shapiro, and Rafael Murcia in the second to force in the game’s first run. He struck out Robinson in a full count, and then had van Otterdijk run down Dave Wright’s fly to left-center to end the inning. The bags right away refilled in the third with ****** soft singles from Sean Van Leeuwen and Cesar Ramirez, and then another free pass to Dominguez. After some yelling-at from an annoyed coach, he then struck out Reber, Shapiro, and Tommy Guitreau in order, somehow. All that he got done in a snappy 75 pitches in three innings.

Novelo and Jimmy Wharton then both singled in the bottom 3rd, and Duhe’s groundout and Fumero’s RBI double turned the score around to 2-1 Coons before Tyler Wharton popped out pathetically and Starr whiffed. A Murcia error put the Otter on base in the fourth, and then Gallo doubled to left-center, parking a pair in scoring position. Those runners also scored; one on Marquez’ single to right, and one on the double play Novelo crashed into, 4-1. Wharton struck out, then issued a fifth walk for the start to Ramirez in the top 5th, but got a double play grounder from Dominguez to end the inning. Duhe and Fumero went to the corners in the bottom 5th and Starr hit a sac fly that knocked out Robinson, while Wharton pitched through the sixth inning. The second set of three frames took him only *32* pitches AND he held the 5-1 lead.

Fumero singled in Marquez for a 2-out run in the bottom 6th, 6-1, and then Mike Davis boldly made his ABL debut against the 8-9-1 batters, retiring them in order, although Tyler Wharton had to chase down a drive from Mario Alaniz, batting for the reliever B.J. Butrico. Starr doubled and was driven in by Marquez with another 2-out single for another run against southpaw Dave Parra in the seventh, which marked the fifth straight inning that the Raccoons scored a run in. McMahan gave up a run in the eighth, walking Van Leeuwen and Ramirez right out of the gate. Dominguez and Reber both flew out, the latter scoring a sac fly, and then Schmieder managed to create a save situation in the ninth inning, cluelessly walking Guitreau, drilling Murcia, and giving up a 3-run blast to Dave Wright… Valentin sorted out the rest of the game… 7-5 Raccoons. Fumero 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Marquez 2-3, BB, 2 RBI; Corral (PH) 1-1;

In total, Raccoons pitchers walked eight batters and drilled one. Can we please stop INVITING them??

Game 2
MIL: 2B Van Leeuwen – CF Merrill – 1B C. Ramirez – C M. Rodriguez – LF C. Dominguez – RF D. Wright – SS Shapiro – 3B Murcia – P D. Ortiz
POR: SS Duhe – LF Otal – CF T. Wharton – 1B Starr – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – 2B Fumero – C Flowe – P Gaytan

The Loggers loaded up on lefty bats against Gaytan, but the first inning was scoreless and then Sean Van Leeuwen hurt himself on a defensive play right in the first inning and had to leave the game in favor of Kyle Reber (a righty hitter). The Coons also went up 1-0 in the inning with an unearned run, the error being on Shapiro with two outs, bobbling a Gallo grounder with Duhe (walk) and Otal (single) on the corners. Corral grounded to leave two on.

Come the third inning, Tony Gaytan ran SIX full counts in a row, beginning with strikeouts of Ortiz and Reber before he lost Jonathan Merrill and Ramirez on balls. Manuel Rodriguez singled the bags full, and then Carlos Dominguez flew out to Ota- no, he dropped it. The ******* just dropped it, two runs scored, Gaytan lost Wright in another full count, and then struck out Shapiro in his EIGHTH straight full count. He threw *50* pitches in the inning, and did not return for the fourth. Otal did, but only because Maud would not allow me to approach him with the blunderbuss. Mike Davis pitched the fourth, ran a ninth consecutive full count on Murcia and walked him (…!!), but got through the inning without conceding a run. Bottom 4th, the Coons loaded the bases on Corral’s leadoff double, a soft single by Fumero, and an infield single by Flowe – and there was nobody out. Van Otterdijk pinch-hit and tied the game with a sac fly to Merrill, but Duhe tumbled into the obligatory double play to **** it all to hell again…

Duhe then also made an error behind Schmieder, which somehow didn’t send the walls down a-crumbling, and a leadoff double by Corral to begin the bottom 6th and an intentional walk to Fumero threatened to begin another round of teasing, except that Flowe socked a drive to deep left that hit off the tippy-top of the wall for a 2-run double and a 4-2 lead. Schmieder batted for himself and hit an RBI double to left in a 1-2 count. It was then the top of the order that proved useless with a guy in scoring position and nobody out.

Up 5-2, Schmieder pitched until the bags were full with the tying runs and two outs in the seventh, and when the Loggers sent lefty pinch-hitter Roberto Soto after him, the Coons answered with Rios, who expertly walked in a run against the .208 batter, then allowed a Reber single to left that Otal played with his chicken chest for an error, and the tying runs came home to roost on the team’s third ******* error of the ballgame. Rios then still found time and muse to walk PH Mario Alaniz, and then got Starr to throw his old tired body into the way of a sharp Ramirez bouncer to finally end the bloody inning, all even at five.

The Raccoons reacted by doing what they did best – nothing – and let Rios issue a leadoff walk in the eighth. He got one out, Nava entered in a double switch with Wally Leggett and got five, and the score was still even into the bottom 9th, with Otal leading off against right-hander Jose Lugo. He singled to right, but Wharton whiffed and Starr rumbled into a double play for extra innings. There, Pedro Valentin pitched a 1-2-3 tenth, while Gallo drew a leadoff walk and then stole second in the bottom 10th. Corral grounded out miserably, Gates pinch-hit for Valentin and was walked with malicious intent, and then Flowe fell to 1-2 but slapped a soft single to shallow center. Gallo stopped at third base, and the loaded bases were turned over to Leggett, who hit a fly to the leftfield corner. Dominguez got there to make the catch – but didn’t get the ball home to beat Gallo tagging up from third base. 6-5 Coons. Otal 2-5; Corral 2-5, 2 2B; Fumero 2-3, BB; Flowe 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI;

Ain’t no easy game with this bunch…….

Game 3
MIL: RF D. Wright – CF Merrill – 1B C. Ramirez – C M. Rodriguez – LF C. Dominguez – 2B R. Fisher – SS Shapiro – 3B Murcia – P Crist
POR: SS Duhe – LF Otal – CF T. Wharton – 1B Starr – 3B Gallo – 2B Fumero – RF van Otterdijk – C Flowe – P Walla

Walla was taken apart right in the first inning, giving up a leadoff walk and then a 2-run homer to Ramirez before allowing three more singles to Rodriguez, Dominguez, and Shapiro. Rafael Murcia finally struck out to end the bloody inning. Tyler Wharton – NOT an All Star, as we knew at that point – then hit a soon enough meaningless solo homer in the bottom 1st. The 6-7-8 batters loaded the bases with singles in the bottom 2nd, bringing up Walla with one out, and both him and Duhe whiffed. Walla then started the top 3rd by nailing Rodriguez. Two groundouts followed, then a four-pitch walk to Shapiro. Murcia, Crist (…), and Wright then all smacked RBI knocks, and Walla was yanked after 2.2 ****** innings, and of course Gabriel Rios, the *******, couldn’t keep his pants on against left-handed batters, either, allowing a 2-run double to Merrill and a homer to Ramirez to explode the score to 10-1. To celebrate, Tyler Wharton then hit another ******* meaningless solo home run.

No more scoring took place in a dead-*** game until the seventh when Wright hit a solo home run off Juan Vega in the right-hander’s second inning of garbage relief. McMahan went on to load the bases with nothing but left-handed batters in the eighth inning and allowed a run on an RBI single by Jesse Sowards. Van Otterdijk doubled home Gallo and Fumero against Jimmy Dingman in the bottom 8th, all meaningless runs, and Dingman ended up finishing the game anyway. 12-4 Loggers. Corral (PH) 1-2; T. Wharton 2-4, 2 HR, 2 RBI; Fumero 2-4; van Otterdijk 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI;

In other news

July 1 – SFB SP Billy Thompson (10-1, 2.67 ERA) throws a 2-hit shutout against the Knights and strikes out seven batters for a 6-0 victory.
July 1 – Warriors OF Jordan Lopez (.267, 8 HR, 45 RBI) is going to miss a month after suffering an elbow sprain.
July 1 – Rebs OF Willie Ospina (.238, 9 HR, 41 RBI) sprained his knee in an on-base collision and was going to miss three weeks at least.
July 1 – LAP OF Chris McLean (.188, 1 HR, 3 RBI) hits a 2-out walkoff single in the bottom 10th to beat the Wolves, 1-0. Settling for a no-decision is L.A. starter Sergio Davila (2-3, 3.78 ERA), who carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning before giving up a pinch-hit double to SAL C Joey Opsahl (.261, 2 HR, 7 RBI) that remains the Wolves’ only base hit in the game.
July 2 – ATL Brett Bebout (4-12, 4.80 ERA) and two relievers pitch a combined 1-hitter in a 1-0 win against the Bayhawks, who get a single from C/1B Mario Lopez (.208, 0 HR, 9 RBI) and nothing else.
July 2 – The Thunder trade RF/LF Matt Ewig (.265, 3 HR, 23 RBI) to the Warriors, along with a prospect, for OF Danny Perez (.311, 4 HR, 28 RBI).

July 3 – A torn abdominal muscle puts Aces OF Victor Lorenzo (.372, 3 HR, 41 RBI) on the DL until mid-August.
July 3 – The Stars put SP Alex Quevedo (8-3, 2.31 ERA) on the DL with forearm tendinitis, but he was expected to return after 15 days.
July 4 – Dallas picks up 1B/3B/OF Dallas Stockton (.260, 6 HR, 35 RBI) from the Gold Sox, as it should be. Denver receives a prospect in the deal, #146 3B Kyle Fischer.
July 4 – PIT OF Alex Romero (.290, 4 HR, 23 RBI) is the only offense in a 1-0 win against the Cyclones, hitting a home run in the third inning to decide a game with only seven total base hits.

July 5 – The Crusaders pick up INF Tony Gaines (.257, 4 HR, 39 RBI) from the Blue Sox, who receive a prospect, the #160 SS/3B Jeff Stevens.
July 5 – DAL OF/1B Victor David Morales (.281, 8 HR, 45 RBI) drives in five runs on two homers, including a grand slam, in a 14-2 beating of the Gold Sox.
July 7 – The Blue Sox beat the Capitals, 3-1, despite getting out-hit 10-4. All the Blue Sox’ four singles come in the seventh inning.

FL Player of the Week: PIT OF Alex Romero (.294, 4 HR, 25 RBI), hitting .400 (10-25) with 1 HR, 5 RBI
CL Player of the Week: OCT 1B Ian Stone (.268, 12 HR, 38 RBI), batting .400 (12-30) with 3 HR, 12 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The Raccoons had two All Stars this year, both relievers. Pedro Valentin was not a great surprise, even though the lackluster performance of the team kept him down in saves. This was his third All Star Game, and his second in a row with the Coons. The other participant was Danny Nava, who made his first All Star Game.

Joel Starr wants a new deal. And I want somebody to shoot me right between the big black googly eyes.

We can’t always get what we want.

Newest please-kill-me stats involve Tyler Wharton. He is batting .320/.379/.500 with the bases empty! …and .268/.311/.375 as soon as there’s an even vaguely warm body (even a catcher or pitcher) in scoring position. And with bodies on second and third? A whopping .167/.286/.167. Gee, I wonder how he didn’t make the ******* All Star Game for THE FIRST TIME IN *NINE* ******** YEARS. (buries face in paws and sobs)

A.C. Stebbins will be sent to St. Pete to make a rehab start over the All Star break. We have zero clue how to go forward with the rotation, which is always comforting.

The Raccoons signed 16-year-old Venezuelan right-hander Alex Betancourt for $36k this week, as well as Dominican infielder Juan Valenzuela for half that amount, and that will be all for us in this year’s July IFA bonanza. Semchez was keen on Valenzuela, while OSA had a rosy report on the Venezuelan, but somehow he got no interest from other teams and signed after just two days of being on the market.

Unless our application to fold and drop down to single-A ball is accepted by the league, we’ll be on the road for ten games after the All Star Game, visiting New York, Indy, and Atlanta in order.

Fun Fact: Nick Walla manages to be well into the top 10 in the league in a puzzling array of stats.

He is third in WHIP, and fourth in BB/9, and at least manages to hang on to seventh in strikeouts (Gaytan is fourth, but miles off Jason Brenize). Even after Sunday’s absolute disasterclass against the Loggers, he’s still eighth in WAR among pitchers.

And yet, he loses every game he touches. His 11 losses rank third in the CL, behind only SFB Liberio Ivo (13) and ATL Brett Bebout (12). He has lost five games in a row, allowing as little as one run.

It’s his second 5-game losing streak of the season.

(helplessly moves paws around)