Due to an unforeseen time perturbation, the last three days of August had to be replayed. Instead of sweeping Houston, we lost 2 of 3, and finished the month 90-41. At least no one got hurt. Not yet.
September roster expansion: I don't want to call up too many, since KC is fighting for their division, and will make the International League playoffs. I will replace some of my call-ups with AA players, since Lewiston did not make the post-season. For us, I call up the following: RP Sonny Balderston, RP Vicente Ixcoy, C Jim Yancy, 1B Nate Hullinger, OF Allen Hernandez. RP Evan Larkins goes back to AAA, taking his bad pitching with him, I hope. Finally, I sign free agent IF Cesar Alvarez to finish out his career this September. Alvarez is now 38, and had a long, happy stint for me in Richmond. He was a free agent undrafted pitcher languishing in some beer league in 2019 when I noticed he had pretty nice batting potential and signed him. By 2021 he was my regular SS, switching to 3B in 2027 when his range diminished (he's 6'6", so it's saying something that he had range at short to begin with). He struck out a lot, but in his good years he was very, very good, hitting .300 five times, and averaging 4.8 WAR over an eight-year period. Minnesota released him last year just two hits short of 2000 for his career. Basically, I signed him to get 2000 hits. It's nice to have such a luxury.
Our minor league teams ended their seasons early in September. Here's the rundown:
AAA -- Kansas City 84-60, 2nd, 1 GB ... playoffs vs. Charlotte Knights
AA -- Lewiston 62-80, 5th, 24 GB ... major improvement over last year's 34 wins
A -- Eureka 69-71, 3rd, 24 GB
SA -- Poughkeepsie 42-28, 1st, -- ... playoffs vs. Staten Island Yankees
R -- Athens 35-33, 4th, 4 GB
R -- Boone Mountain 18-50, 8th, 21 GB ... there always has to be one truly awful team in the system
Now to finish the regular season.
...9/1...Josh Drayton is named August POM, after going .340/.402/.640, with 8 HR, 21 RBI, 24 R, and 7 SB
...9/2...two-game sweep by the Angels, outscored 18-8. Ryan Hebert tears a thumb ligament and is out for two weeks.
...9/7...we lose three of four to Oakland, giving up 28 runs in the three losses. Jim Mullen suffers a dtd injury, but will stay in the lineup.
...9/11...finally playing a little better, taking 2 of 3 from Miami. However, Adam Groff suffers a dtd injury, and then a 'real' one, which lands him on the DL for three weeks on the 11th. Vicente Ixcoy marks his triumphant return to the majors by giving up 3 runs in 1.1 innings, then getting into a fight and receiving a six-game suspension. Two days later, he comes down with the flu. He's definitely not making a case for a new contract.
...9/14...we again go 2-out-of-3, this time against Baltimore. Jim Mullen suffers his second dtd injury; both are leg injuries. Maybe it's time to sit him for a while.
...9/15...mid-month Pennant Chase! Both Central divisions have the closest races for top spot. Minnesota is consistently maintaining a lead of one to three games over the Royals. Both teams will make the playoffs. In the NL, Pittsburgh slumped early in September, allowing Montreal to take the division lead. They've since bounced back, and today have a 1/2 game lead. They split four games at the start of the month, and end the season with three games in PNC Park. One to watch. Elsewhere, it's Toronto by 13, Hawaii by 15.5, Richmond by 6, and the Dodgers by 4.5. KC has a 6.5 game lead for the first AL wild card, with Oakland in second by three games over Cleveland. Montreal is 10 up on Philadelphia for the top NL wild card. Washington is half a game behind the Phils, with Cincinnati 3 games back. Colorado, New Orleans, and the Yankees have been eliminated, in that order.
...9/18...a pattern: win one of three again, at Tampa Bay this time. Ken Clark wins his 17th, keeping us from an ugly sweep. Our magic number to win the division is now at 3. Minnesota has a 1/2 game lead over the Royals; ditto Pittsburgh over Montreal. Philly and Washington are tied for the second NL wild card, Cincy one game back.
...9/19...we're the first team to clinch a post-season berth! Wow. From 91 losses to (right now) 96 wins. On the bad news front, Adam Groff has a setback in his recovery, and now will miss the rest of the season instead of coming back in a week. Minor leagues: KC sweeps Charlotte in three, but Poughkeepsie bows out in five to Staten Island. Today we begin our final homestand of the season, hosting Seattle then Oakland.
...9/21...we take two of three from Seattle, ending their scant playoff dreams. Alvarez collects his 2000th hit. I'm so proud. Our magic number is now down to one, because Oakland keeps winning (five in a row, 14-5 this month), making a strong push for a wild card spot. In AAA, Columbus wins their series and will face KC for the league crown.
...9/24...took two out of three over the A's, and clinched the division! Toronto also clinched the AL East, and Pittsburgh clinched a playoff spot. They're 2 up on the Expos, and Minnesota is still 1.5 up on the Royals. Austin Collins took a pitch to the ankle and is dtd for 5 days. Ten games to go now, all on the road.
...9/27...split four with Houston. No injuries to report, how about that. Dunklee up to 42 HR, Drayton 40. Drayton has also taken the lead in the all-important WAR category, by which OOTP pretty much selects its MVP.
...9/28...the KC T-Bones beat Columbus in 5 games to win the International League crown. Pretty good, considering I tried not to raid half their lineup...and ended up raiding half their lineup. Game 5 was a 1-0 pitcher's duel, with Angelo Partida outdoing Dutchman Ray Aarts.
...9/29...AL pennant watch: Minnesota is 1.5 up on KC, and has a game in hand (155 to 156). The Royals have won three in a row. Oakland is maintaining a three-game lead over Cleveland for the second wild card. NL: Pittsburgh has lost 2 in a row and is now just one up on Montreal. LA is half a game up on Arizona, with San Diego and San Fran each 2.5 back of the Dodgers.
...9/30...PIT wins, MTL loses; 2 game lead for Pirates. LAD, ARI, and SD lose, SF wins. 2.5 games separate those four. MIN 2.5 up on KC now.
...10/1...took 2 out of 3 from Texas, up to 104 wins. MIN and KC won, no change there. PIT and MTL lost. LA lost third in a row, now a half game in back of ARI. SF and SD fading. PHI 2 up on WSH, 3 on CIN for wild card. OAK 3 up on CLE.
...10/2...PIT and MTL lost again, PIT still 2 up. BUT...the Pirates lost their starting 1B and 2B for the season and playoffs. Ouch. ARI won, LAD were off, so the D'backs now have a 1 game lead. And MIN and KC both lost, so it's still a 2.5 game lead for the Twins. How fitting that these three close races will be matched by the teams in them playing each other in the final series of the regular season. What a coincidence.
...10/3...KC wins the first game, now just 1.5 back of the Twins. ARI shuts out LA, now 2 up. PIT beats MTL to clinch the division. Now they need to not lose anyone else these last two games. CLE one back of OAK for second AL wild card; PHI one up on WSH, two on CIN.
...10/4...KC beats MIN again, now just .5 games back. (MIN has a make-up game vs TEX after this series.) LA comes back on ARI, and is now one game back. PHI and WSH are tied for the last NL wild card, while CIN was eliminated.
...10/5...swept by the Angels. Ugh. We stopped hitting and pitching, and went 4-6 over our last ten games. I'm not sure who my third playoff starting pitcher is going to be (more on that later), and I may just replace the entire bullpen in the off-season.
...10/5...KC swept MIN and is now on top of the Central by half a game. LAD beat ARI and are headed to a one-game playoff for the division. PHI won, WSH lost, so the Phils are your second NL wild card team. And CLE won while OAK lost their sixth in a row, meaning they're now tied. More baseball is better.
...10/6...TEX beat MIN, making KC the division winner. Minny lost their last five games.
...10/7...OAK snaps out of its funk and beats CLE to make the playoffs. The Indians go home with 88 wins. ARI tops the Dodgers to win the NL West. Final record: 82-81.
......
We finished the season on a down note, going 14-17 over Sept/Oct. Marginal hitting from half the lineup, most notably the once-hot Austin Collins, now ice cold and below the Mendoza line for the month. Josh Drayton was our hitter of the month. September call-up Nate Hullinger showed some real pop, with 5 HR in 32 AB. He's too good for the farm, but do I really need three 1B/DH?
Ken Clark had another fantastic month; he really lived up to his billing as our #1 starter this year. Rich Rivera pitched well but walked too many. Brock was okay, Little less so, and Wunderlich just B.A.D. Jay Yates continued his on-again/off-again year, with another bad month. Shewmake was lights out. A lot of uncertainty here going into the playoffs.
Next up: Playoffs? Playoffs!