[Westheim]

Raccoons (65-78) vs. Crusaders (65-79) – September 10-12, 2030

This was for last place honors! They had the fewest runs scored in the Continental League, but had also given up the third-fewest. However, they were on a 5-game losing streak, but at the same time were 11-4 against the Raccoons this year.

Projected matchups:
Dave Martinez (13-10, 4.03 ERA) vs. Eddie Cannon (13-10, 3.93 ERA)
Jason Gurney (1-1, 3.00 ERA) vs. Mike Rutkowski (11-14, 3.81 ERA)
Tom Shumway (6-14, 4.29 ERA) vs. Robby Gonzalez (5-10, 4.43 ERA)

We didn’t see a southpaw drawing up here, but the order might get jumbled a bit due to the common off day on Monday.

Game 1
NYC: SS Obando – LF Serrano – RF Reardon – CF Coca – C Dear – 2B M. Hurtado – 1B Olszewski – 3B T. Fuentes – P E. Cannon
POR: SS Ramos – CF Catella – LF Jamieson – 1B Harenberg – 3B Nunley – 2B Stalker – C Pizzo – RF Rodriguez – P Martinez

Alberto Ramos opened proceedings for the home team with his third homer of the season, a no-doubter to right. Ramos would hit a double his next time up, but got stuck behind Martinez, who had reached on an error, and both were stranded in scoring position by Sean Catella and Matt Jamieson. Odilon’s Mighty Hand guided Martinez through the early innings; only Drew Olszewski reached base the first time through, hitting a leadoff double in the third, but was stranded on third base with a K to Guillermo Obando. The Crusaders gradually got additional base runners, though, and after Wilson Rodriguez’ stray solo homer in the bottom 5th cut the Coons’ lead in half in the top 6th when Danny Serrano, Tony Coca, and Matt Dear all hit singles in the inning.

Martinez finally ran out of guile and guidance in the seventh inning; Olszewski drew a leadoff walk, Tony Fuentes singled, and after a bunt by Cannon, Martinez lost Obando on four pitches. Bases loaded, one out in 2-1 game, the Coons went to Garavito against the switch-hitting Serrano to turn him to his weaker side. Serrano shrugged, hit a gapper for a 2-run double, and another run came in on Chris Reardon’s grounder to short, putting Portland in a 4-2 hole. From that hole they never emerged; in fact, the team amounted to only one more base runner, Mike Pizzo reaching in the ninth inning against Travis Giordano, because… Chris Reardon dropped his pop fly to shallow right. Rafael Gomez pinch-hit, admittedly hit a ball well, but it fell into Serrano’s glove on the warning track, and Elias Tovias struck out to finish the game and dump the Coons into sixth place again. 4-2 Crusaders. Ramos 2-3, BB, HR, 2B, RBI; Stalker 2-4;

Game 2
NYC: 1B Olszewski – LF Serrano – SS Obando – CF Coca – RF Reardon – C Dear – 2B M. Hurtado – 3B Czachor – P Rutkowski
POR: SS Ramos – CF Catella – LF Jamieson – 1B Harenberg – 3B Nunley – 2B Baldwin – C Tovias – RF Magallanes – P Gurney

Ramos reached in the first, but was caught stealing, while the Crusaders got a good start only in the third inning again. Ryan Czachor drew a leadoff walk, was bunted over, reached third on a wild pitch, and then Gurney nailed Olszewski with a 3-2 offering. Serrano hit an RBI single – probably getting the winning run driven in for the second straight day – and Olszewski went to third on the play, then scored on a fielder’s choice when Obando grounded to short. The rest of Gurney’s day consisted of failing to bunt really badly, hitting into a double play instead at 0-2, and stranding pairs of runners in the fourth and fifth, barely, before a pitch count over 100 put him out of the action by the sixth inning. The Raccoons meanwhile did what they did best … and hid from the spotlight. It took them until the seventh inning to get on the scoreboard against Rutkowski, then with a leadoff single by Catella, who advanced on outs twice before Nunley dropped a single into shallow right to announce that he was still here and wasn’t going away either. That one cut the score to 2-1, and Chris Baldwin struck out IMMEDIATELY.

Kevin Surginer struck out three against one walk in the eighth, keeping the score close, and when Rutkowski lapsed just a little bit in the bottom 8th, an actual chance materialized. In this case, Tovias slapped a leadoff single, and then Rutkowski nailed Magallanes, which was ONE way to utilize an otherwise useless body stuck on the roster. Surginer was retained to put down a bunt, did so more meh than anything else, Rutkowski pounced, threw to third, but spiked it, and Czachor couldn’t keep it in his glove. All paws were safe and this was generously scored as a fielder’s choice, no outs. Butch Gerster ran for Surginer while Ramos stepped in with three on and nobody out (…?), couldn’t do better than a sac fly, and then Catella spanked a grounder right at Obando for a double play. Sometimes… With the score now tied at two, Ricky Ohl pitched the top 9th and kept the Crusaders off the board despite a pinch-hit leadoff single by Jamie Richardson. Bottom 9th, the Coons faced righty Casey Moore. Jamieson flew out to right, but Harenberg singled. Nunley flew out to center, but Rafael Gomez hit a single in Baldwin’s spot, sending the winning run to third base! Tovias walked, filling them up for … nah, maybe Magallanes can get nailed again? Nope, he fouled out on a 1-2 pitch, and the game went to extras. Ohl pitched a futile 10th, Wise put men on the corners in the 11th, but Garavito struck out Olszewski to end the frame. The Coons still couldn’t score for the sake of their whiskers. Top 12th, Serrano reached 5-for-6 state with a single up the middle to begin the inning, Nick Bates replaced Garavito, and issued a walk to Obando and an RBI single to Reardon to break the tie. Dear and Hurtado both struck out, but the Coons had to move now, and with the bottom of the order, against Giordano. Tovias led off with an infield single (!), moved up on Magallanes’ groundout, Pizzo struck out, and Ramos flew out to Reardon. 3-2 Crusaders. Ramos 2-4, BB, RBI; Gomez (PH) 1-2; Tovias 3-4, BB; Ohl 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

Jimmy Wallace remains out of the lineup, and the Druid informed us that he was out for at least the rest of the week with continuing back soreness.

Game 3
NYC: 1B Olszewski – LF Serrano – SS Obando – CF Coca – RF Reardon – C Dear – 2B M. Hurtado – 3B Czachor – P R. Gonzalez
POR: SS Ramos – CF Catella – LF Jamieson – 1B Harenberg – 3B Nunley – 2B Stalker – RF Rodriguez – C Pizzo – P Shumway

The Coons scored TWO in the first inning, beginning with a Ramos Special; Alberto walked, stole his 64th bag of the year, then came home on Catella’s single. Catella himself would score on singles by Nunley and Stalker with two out. Wilson Rodriguez hit a superficially good liner to right, but also right at Reardon, ending the bottom 1st. The second inning saw Ramos and Matt Dear get entangled at second base in a broken-up double play, but to anybody’s surprise it was Dear who had to be helped off the field with some sort of injury. Josh Wool replaced the starting backstop. The Crusaders had a few runners in the early innings – there was a Nunley error and two walks issued by Shumway – but didn’t get a hit until the fourth, when Tony Coca singled to right, but was also stranded right there at first base. Shumway also had to run the bases twice early on; in the second inning he forced out Pizzo with a ****ty bunt, while in the fourth he hit a single, only his second base knock of the year, raising his average all the way to .037, but was stranded both times. Despite the extra wasted energy, however, Shumway seemed to have things more or less under control. Coca hit a 2-out single in the sixth and was stranded on a weak Reardon grounder, and besides Coca nobody had landed a base hit yet.

Bottom 6th, Pizzo led off with a soft single past Mario Hurtado. Shumway for once got a good bunt down, but the Crusaders responded with an intentional walk to Ramos, then yanked their starter. Keith Roofener took over, rung up Catella, but allowed a bases-filling single to Jamieson, the tenth hit in the game for the Raccoons, who still only had a 2-0 lead. Kevin Harenberg came up, the Crusaders stuck to the right-handed Roofener, who got Harenberg to 1-2, and then made a mistake in the sweet spot that Harenberg buried in the depths of centerfield for a 2-out, 3-run double! And that was really the game. The Crusaders couldn’t get the sticks up. Shumway pitched seven scoreless on 105 pitches, and Rabbitt and Bates kept the shutout going to the end. Ramos added an RBI single in the bottom 7th, and Nunley chipped in a sac fly in the eighth for the final tally. 7-0 Furballs. Harenberg 4-5, 2 2B, 3 RBI; Nunley 3-4, RBI; Pizzo 1-2, BB; Shumway 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 2 K, W (7-14) and 1-2;

Raccoons (66-80) vs. Bayhawks (74-72) – September 13-15, 2030

Funnily, the Raccoons were the team with more playoff chances in this weekend pairing; the Bayhawks were already eliminated in the South, while we had a mathematical chance despite dwelling in last place. San Fran was fifth in runs scored, seventh in runs allowed, and the season series was tied at three.

Projected matchups:
Mark Roberts (11-9, 4.03 ERA) vs. Gilberto Rendon (12-6, 2.76 ERA)
Rico Gutierrez (6-11, 5.31 ERA) vs. Jesus Blanco (9-10, 4.37 ERA)
Dave Martinez (13-11, 4.09 ERA) vs. Ben Lipsky (14-11, 3.94 ERA)

Three more right-handers. The Bayhawks were without two key bats in Cesar Martinez and Tomas Caraballo, who had combined for 34 homers and 137 RBI this season.

Nick Valdes is also here for the weekend, and he has brought cookies! – You baked those yourself? – No, I’m just asking… that one looks like there’s shards of glass stuck in it.

Game 1
SFB: 2B J. Cruz – 3B Myers – CF Hawthorne – C J. Wood – SS Pulido – LF Raynor – 1B Jon. Morales – RF Rankin – P G. Rendon
POR: SS Ramos – 2B Stalker – LF Jamieson – 1B Harenberg – 3B Nunley – RF Gomez – C Pizzo – CF Magallanes – P Roberts

Roberts had a long opening inning around a Dave Myers double and a walk issued in a full count to George Hawthorne, but stranded the runners in scoring position on 27 pitches. Nobody scored in the first three innings, but then got Jimmy Wood on in the fourth inning. Roberts threw a wild pitch that came up not mattering once Jose Pulido lodged a ball in the rightfield corner for an RBI triple. Ron Raynor and Jonathan Morales both struck out to keep Pulido on base. Jose Pulido came up in the sixth with Hawthorne and Wood on the corners after a pair of singles, hit a grounder at Nunley, but the Coons wouldn’t turn two and Hawthorne scored. That made it 2-0 for the Baybirds, while the Raccoons had yet to reach third base and had landed only two base knocks against Rendon. Nothing greatly changed about that. Roberts was gone after seven innings of decent 2-run ball, but couldn’t get any help for his life. Nunley dropped a single at some point, nothing came of it, and the Baybirds were confident enough to keep Rendon in the game in the ninth, on 85 pitches, and in a 2-0 game. Catella led off, pinch-hitting in the #9 hole, and struck out, the fifth K for Rendon. But with the top of the order coming up, the Baybirds did finally twitch and sent Marcus Owens. Ramos flew out to left, Stalker down on strikes, and that was another loss on the books. 2-0 Bayhawks. Roberts 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, L (11-10);

Nick Valdes inquired why the team was playing so badly. I replied I had to structure my thoughts first and would come back to him in November.

Game 2
SFB: LF Balado – 3B Myers – CF Hawthorne – 1B Dupuis – C J. Wood – 2B J. Cruz – SS Sears – RF Pacheco – P Blanco
POR: SS Ramos – 2B Stalker – LF Jamieson – 1B Harenberg – 3B Nunley – RF Gomez – CF Catella – C Pizzo – P Gutierrez

Getting Rico through seven on two runs sounded like a noble goal, but he didn’t get strike three on any of the three Bayhawks he got strike two on in the opening frame, so the jury was out on that one. The Coons scored the first run in the first inning and on a Ramos Special; single to center, stolen base, single by Stalker to get him around. Rico retired the side in order the first time through, but the second time through was a bit less… ideal… Jose Balado led off with a single to left. Myers hit an infield single that tied halfway up the third base line. Hawthorne walked, and there were three on and nobody out. It didn’t get that much better from there. Jon Dupuis hit a single to center to flip the score as Balado and Myers both made it across home plate. Wood struck out, but Cruz walked, and more runs scored on a passed ball and Micah Sears’ groundout before Vincent Pacheco rolled out to Harenberg. 4-1 Baybirds, and who didn’t have seen it coming?

Harenberg scored a run in the fourth, hitting a double, moving up on a wild pitch, and coming across when Rafael Gomez grounded out. The following inning the Coons got Rico on when Balado dropped his fly, Ramos walked, and then Stalker had a 3-1 pitch coming his way, poked it to the third baseman, and the 5-4-3 double play ended the inning. Rico Gutierrez crawled into the seventh inning, where he threw a single pitch on which Pacheco grounded out, then left the game with back discomfort. Derks took over and finished the inning, and the Coons were down 4-2 and technically in striking distance, but when Valdes asked me whether I thought they’d win it I told him bluntly what I thought. He blushed.

The Coons wasted away a leadoff double by Catella in the bottom 7th, and in turn had Chris Wise fumble a run onto the board in the eighth on two base hits, both of them knocked hard. The tying runs were on base however in the bottom 8th, courtesy of a Jamieson single that knocked out Blanco, and then two 2-out walks issued to Nunley and Gomez by former Raccoon Dan McLin, who was on six losses for the season and bidding for a seventh. Sean Catella batted for himself in this crucial spot, because the bench was … entirely terrible. He grounded out to Dupuis. Jose Balado responded by giving the score some more length, hitting a 2-out, 2-run homer off Bryan Rabbitt in the ninth inning; half the damage was on Brotman for walking Pacheco earlier in the inning. The Raccoons scored a meaningless run on three singles off Brent Beene in the bottom 9th, but that was no satisfying answer to Valdes’ answer, either. 7-3 Bayhawks. Ramos 1-2, 2 BB; Rodriguez (PH) 1-1; Nunley 1-2, 2 BB; Gerster (PH) 1-1;

Rico Gutierrez would have to be evaluated; for the moment we activated Ryan Allan for the Sunday game. Yeah, let’s see more of this 28-year-old hope for the future …!

Game 3
SFB: LF Balado – CF Hawthorne – 1B I. Pena – C J. Wood – 3B Myers – RF Chaplin – SS Pulido – 2B J. Cruz – P Lipsky
POR: SS Ramos – LF Allan – 2B Stalker – 1B Harenberg – 3B Nunley – CF Catella – C Tovias – RF Alvarez – P Martinez

Martinez nailed Balado with his first pitch well enough to get him into an ambulance. Pacheco took over, Hawthorne walked, but the Bayhawks then hit a string of pops to strand the runners. Top 2nd, Martinez nailed Mike Chaplin, then walked Pulido. I think I’ve seen that one before… Jose Cruz popped out, Lipsky couldn’t get the bunt down, and Pacheco went down on strikes. The Coons got them on the corners in the bottom 2nd; Harenberg led off with a pop out, but Nunley continued with a double to the base of the fence in right-center, and Pulido fudged Catella’s grounder for an error. Whatever works! Tovias’ sac fly was all the Critters got, with Edwin Alvarez grounding out poorly. Martinez put three Baybirds on and stranded all of them, somehow, in the top 3rd, but I felt like there was an easier way to go through a start…

Portland added a run in the bottom 3rd, which Martinez opened with a double to left, then scored on two groundouts by the 1-2 batters. The Baybirds countered with a Jose Cruz leadoff double in the fourth, and now Cruz pulled up lame and had to be replaced by a pinch-runner, Tristan Levinson! Lipsky bunted, Pacheco got nailed – the third drilled Bayhawk in the game, and the first that had not been in the starting lineup. And AGAIN the Baybirds failed to get Martinez to meet his maker, or Odilon, depending on philosophy. Hawthorne lined a 1-2 pitch at Ramos, Levinson had run from third in a display of terrible situational awareness, and was doubled off with a casual toss to Nunley, a 6-5 double play! On to the bottom 4th, where the Coons singled Lipsky to death. Harenberg and Nunley singled, Tovias hit a 1-out RBI single, Lipsky plated a guy with a wild pitch, walked Alvarez (which was REALLY hard to do!), and Martinez hot a single to center to load the bases in a 4-0 game, which became 5-0 on Ramos’ sac fly to Chaplin. Allan grounded out, stranding two, but the Coons shook a sixth run out of Lipsky in the bottom 5th with a Harenberg double, a wild pitch, and a Nunley sac fly.

However, three hits, four walks, and three hit batters had exploded Martinez’ pitch count, and he entered the sixth inning on 96 pitches. The bottom of the order was up, so we hoped to get at least that inning from him. He did retire the 7-8-9 spots in order, including another K to Levinson, completing six shutout innings, and well, all the welts were the Bayhawks’ problems… Billy Ramm did the seventh, and Ramos put on a show in the bottom of the inning. He singled, stole second on the first pitch to Allan, stole third on the second pitch to Allan, and Alex Cordova was unnerved enough to walk Allan after that. Cordova also became the third Bayhawk to leave the game with an injury after getting a fielder’s choice (Ramos scored) from Stalker and a deep fly to left from Harenberg for the second out. That was the last casualty in the game, and no more runs were scored, either. The pair of Nicks finished the game for Portland without inviting San Fran back into the game. 7-0 Furballs. Nunley 2-2, 2B, RBI; Martinez 6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 6 K, W (14-11) and 2-2, 2B;

In other news

September 9 – LAP OF Justin Fowler (.291, 27 HR, 93 RBI) will miss at least one week with an oblique strain.
September 11 – Oklahoma City star Dave Garcia (.310, 28 HR, 97 RBI) slugs four hits, including three home runs, and drives in six in a 12-2 rout of the Falcons. It is the 57th 3-homer game in ABL history, the second this year (DEN Jeremiah Brooks), and the third for the Thunder (Jose Jimenez, 2018; Alex Serrato, 2026).
September 11 – OCT SP Leon Hernandez (18-7, 2.97 ERA) has his stellar season derailed; the 35-year-old faces a 9-month revocery process for a torn flexor tendon in his elbow.
September 12 – The Canadiens lose a most crucial 13-inning thriller against the Indians, 10-9, despite knocking out 24 base hits, and while both teams use 24 different players each. VAN INF Jose Paredes (.214, 0 HR, 3 RBI) comes off the bench for three hits and three RBI, all in vain.
September 14 – RIC 1B Miles Monroe (.260, 7 HR, 45 RBI) hits a fourth-inning single for the Rebels’ only base knock in a 3-0 loss to the Warriors. SFW SP Mike Ibarra (2-1, 2.75 ERA) pitches seven innings for the win.
September 15 – Falcons swingman Brian Bowsman (6-3, 3.03 ERA, 8 SV) sparkles with a 1-hit shutout against the Crusaders, walking three and ringing up seven in a 5-0 shutout. NYC CF/RF Tony Coca (.217, 18 HR, 70 RBI) has the only hit for the Crusaders, a second-inning single.
September 15 – The season of SAC LF/RF Doug Stross (.311, 4 HR, 53 RBI) ends early with the diagnosis of a partially torn labrum.
September 15 – LAP RF/LF Oscar Mendoza (.288, 11 HR, 68 RBI) is out for the year with shoulder tendinitis.

Complaints and stuff

…and the 2030s start with a losing record! Wonderful. Good job, boys. Good job.

Rico Gutierrez’ season ends at 6-12 with a 5.32 ERA. The back problems are a bit more serious and he will not be able to make another start in the final two weeks. That means further dipping into the quagmire. Maybe some more Sean Rigg? Or are there any volunteers in the audience?

ABL SINGLE SEASON STOLEN BASE LEADERS
1st – Enrique Trevino – 2027 – 74
2nd – Alberto Ramos – 2030 – 68
3rd – Guillermo Obando – 2027 – 67
4th – Nando Maiello – 2020 – 66
5th – Alex Torres – 2022 – 62
t-6th – Danny Flores – 2015 – 61
t-6th – Guillermo Obando – 2025 – 61
8th – Javier Rodriguez – 2006 – 60
9th – Danny Flores – 2016 – 59
10th – Moromao Hino – 1998 – 58
t-10th – Oscar Mendoza – 2030 – 58

Gettin’ there! Of course, Mendoza managed to scratch the top 10, but also went on the DL, so he’s done for the year.

The minor league seasons ended. Best team around was the Ham Lake Panthers, going 74-66 and finishing third in their league. The Aumsville Beagles ended fifth, 67-73, in A ball, while the St. Petersburg Alley Cats lost 88 games and were hammered into last place with great force.

Fun Fact: Alberto Ramos has 263 career stolen bases, ninth-most among active players, and tying Armando Sanchez for 32nd place all time.

I mentioned this last winter – Ramos is banking on staying healthy for once, then will try to get a HUGE deal afterwards. Well, he surely did well on his part!

Sanchez was a Raccoon from 1985 through 1988, when he was already in his 30s, but he did swipe 33 bags to lead the CL in ’87 at age 32. He batted .277 with 16 homers that year and really wasn’t the reason the mid-80s Coons always came short. In ’87 we missed the playoffs by one game against Indy.

Sanchez, who got his start with the Wolves in ’77 and finished his career with three years in Pittsburgh, hit .282/.366/.405 for his career, with 158 HR and 928 RBI. He was an All Star four times, including three of the four years he was with the Critters.