Los Angeles Lakers (78-46, .629, 1st NL West) @ Carolina Panthers (65-60, .520, 2nd AL East)
While they position themselves as one team for all of the Carolinas, the fact is that the Carolina Panthers are a Charlotte club - they are, not unlike the Golden State Warriors, trying to run a little bit of game on the general population and stake a claim over a region instead of merely repping the city they inhabit. Maybe this is all just a ploy to sell more shirts - based on some hackneyed big data analytics and sports fan specific psychographics... it’s a nebulous naming convention - murky, even. What isn’t muddled about the Carolina Panthers, though, is the fact that their offense is scary good on multiple levels. First, they are young relative to most clubs, and, second, they’ve arrived way ahead of schedule with players like Madera (.331/20/95) turning the corner this season and heading straight towards superstardom. But, alas, like many other clubs in Strangeverse - Carolina just can’t get both sides of the ball on the same page as they pair their little house of horrors offense with a middling pitching staff (ranked 10th… so bad, not necessarily middling) that feels as overdue as their offense feels ahead of schedule. This is, in my estimation, the downfall of doing things the “Panther Way”, where the trust in their in-house scouting and development is so complete that working the phones or being active during the free agency period is less desirable than pushing all your chips into the center of the table and hoping you catch something on the river. On the one hand, as a GM who is defined as much by impatience as luck, it’s difficult to rationalize the “Panther Way”, but on the other hand, it’s hard not to privately appreciate their steadfast belief in self - even if that confidence is oftentimes misplaced. In the end, however, I think what we will find here is that while self-confidence, even of the misplaced variety, can, and often will, take you far - it’s those last few steps toward immortality that usually require a little extra finesse. And luck, too... you gotta have some of that to get to where you want to go in this league.
126 of 162: Lee Myers (12-5, 3.81) @ Stephen Estevez (12-6, 3.75)
Win, 14-3. It was Carolina’s turn to get crushed as we ran through Estevez in 1.2 innings while Myers recovered nicely from some early troubles – he went 6, struck out 5, and gave up three early runs (1 in each of the first 3 frames). The story for us here wasn’t the pitching though, as we got all the way around the bases early and often in this one – Dom went 3 for 5 with a double, a homer, and 3 RBIs, Austing drove in 3, and Otto scored twice and brought three around. Lonzo Gonzo scored three times, hit a double, and stole another bag (as did Otto and Ethan), Hana put his 4th out of the park, and Kwaku got a nice 2-out RBI that should make tonights highlight reel – this was a good one for us, all the starters brought some pain with them tonight.
127 of 162: Dejuan Burns (13-7, 3.52) @ Jake Douglas (7-10, 4.33)
Win, 5-1. A tight, defensive, and all-around sleep-inducing game up until the top of the 10th when we exploded for 4 runs – 3-run homer for Ethan was a timely piece of clutch hitting for a guy who recently came off the IL. He’s really worked himself into quite a groove in short order – which is nice to see. He could very well be the guy next year (along with some young guns I expect to make the 2077 roster) if we fail to resign Otto (his contract expires at the end of the season and he’s been all Kwahi Leonard about it… playing possum). Barbaccia gets the W, Newman closed it out in the bottom of the 10th, Otto hit his 29th long ball, and Lonzo Gonzo’s fails to steal a bag – like, when is the last time that happened, dunno… may have to look into it (okay, I looked into it – turns out it was only two days ago).
Elsewhere: CF Josh Rogers, the fart joke aficionado with the Sunrise Supremos, was at it again as he went 2 for 5 with 2 jacks and 4 riblets in a 12-5 win over the Quincy Quackers. He’s making mincemeat of Bush League pitching lately – hide yo kids, hide yo wives… Not to be outdone, in other Bush League action, 2B Randolph Gulikyan of the Columbia Blowfish went 4 for 4 with 3 doubles and 2 RBI in Columbia’s 8-4 loss against the Coney Island Footlongs – the former San Francisco Don played in the Majors for 13 years - with a previous two year jaunt through the Bush League before getting bought out by Jacksonville – before becoming a full-time BL guy for the second time in his career. He made the MLB All-Star team in 2066 and has made my All-Mustache team in 10 of his 13 MLB seasons. Dude’s a stud – gets over on the babes better than he does a curveball, but a stud, nonetheless.
128 of 162: Matt Olson (0-2, 3.31) @ Larry Ramirez (8-12, 4.95)
Loss, 6-5. Well, I would’ve loved to start off this 10-game road trip with a sweep, but it was not to be as the Carolina Panthers managed to salvage some pride and walked us off in the bottom of the 9th. We gave Caldwell the ball in the bottom of the 9th and he did not rise to the challenge – he’d give up the game-winning single to LF Andy Shepard, who, coincidentally, was the only batter he faced… it only took him 2 pitches to squash all my hopes and dreams. Rollins & Cooke hit bombs, Lonzo Gonzo didn’t steal anything (and got hit by a pitch for crowding the plate), and Isaac got a sweet OF assist. We just couldn’t hold on to the victory… and to be fair to Rudolf, Ash put the man on base that plated on the single he gave up, so, it takes a team to break my heart.
Elsewhere in the CITY OF COMPTON: SP Newton Weiser put in another 8 innings of tip-top work where he K’s 12, allows on 2 hits, and only 1 run in a 4-3 LOSS against the Austin Grackles… Oh Hong, that purveyor of low-key cockiness, went 2 for 3 with an RBI. He is ready, I think, and I have some chips to move in the offseason to clear some space at his position with first basemen Austin Rollins and Ian Hanan on the roster – I’m already seeing a scenario where I move one of the two for a solid 3B to shore up some depth behind Pepper (assuming I don’t move him too given that Oh Hong has started to occupy the same place in my heart previously reserved for all things PEPPER).
A quick note… we’ll head off to Phoenix for 4-games in the sweltering heat, the least favorite of my least favorite destinations (I won’t rehash my charges of mistreatment at the hands of the Phoenix brass here – it’s been well documented already). We currently enjoy an 8-game lead over them in the NL West and they are coming off 2 straight losses – a good opportunity to grind them into dust. A tall order as their top guy, SS Ray Gerhold, has retaken the league lead in WAR again (Heathcote Kinton has dropped to #2) and leads the league in runs scored at 100. It should also be noted that he leads the league in being caught with his hand in the honey pot at 15. So, his current form coupled with the fact that we always seem to struggle H2H against the burnt orange & eggplant purple gives me some pause… I always find myself holding my breath when we play these guys. If we can get out of there with 3 wins (I’ll take two… shoot, I’m not greedy), then we’ll have the opportunity to close out a stellar road trip with a stop in Minneapolis… A series win in the desert would be a great way to close out what has been a great month for the La La’s.