[Westheim]

Raccoons (37-38) vs. Condors (51-25) – June 24-26, 2030

Odds were that the Raccoons were in for a long and sad homestand, and I wasn’t only saying that because Nick Valdes was just walking in with a new coffee machine he insisted on installing on the small table next to the brown couch that’s seen a lot of drinking and even more crying over the years and years. The Coons were up against both the Condors and Elks this week, and they didn’t look like they’d turn their season around now either. Meanwhile, the Condors had a 10-game winning streak, were third in runs scored, and first in runs allowed, and seemed a lot like a heck of a real deal. They were also 2-1 on the Coons this season.

Projected matchups:
Rico Gutierrez (2-5, 4.66 ERA) vs. George Griffin (3-3, 2.61 ERA)
Tom Shumway (3-6, 3.01 ERA) vs. Adam Potter (8-3, 3.94 ERA)
Dave Martinez (8-4, 3.49 ERA) vs. Jeff Little (5-2, 2.78 ERA)

Right, right, left. Griffin was the ONE guy they weren’t scoring for at all. (points in the vague direction of the visitors’ clubhouse) GET HIM, BOYS!

Game 1
TIJ: CF C. Murphy – SS C. Miller – 3B Sanks – 1B McGrath – C Zarate – RF Braun – LF Palbes – 2B D. Williams – P Griffin
POR: SS Ramos – CF Allan – 3B Nunley – 1B Harenberg – LF Hereford – 2B Stalker – RF Gomez – C Tovias – P Gutierrez

After a scary first in which Rico Gutierrez was bailed out by Ryan Allan, who shagged two deep flies to keep the Condors off the board early, the Raccoons had a productive bottom of the first. Ramos reached on a Chris Miller error, stole second, then trotted home on a Nunley single to center after Allan’s groundout had moved him to third base. Harenberg flew out, but Rich Hereford walked, and both runners scored on a deep double in right-center by Tim Stalker, running the score to 3-0 before Rafael Gomez whiffed, which meant Rico Gutierrez had to pitch again, and he came merely “very” close to blowing the lead right away, not “maddeningly” close. Adam Braun drew a walk, Juan Palbes hit a single, but both were stranded. Never mind the rockets shagged by outfielders off the bats of Danny Zarate to lead off, and GRIFFIN to end the inning. In essence, Rico again sucked, badly, and we were just waiting for the scaffolding to collapse in a thundering rumble to reveal the tee-shaped scarecrow with a weird knobly stump for what had once been a beautiful left arm.

Yet despite the brash contact off Rico being so loud that we got complaints from the neighbors by the middle innings, somehow the Condors were still on that lone Palbes single through six. Everything the Condors hit (and they struck out only twice), they hit dang hard, but they kept finding the defenders. Old Man Hereford in particular made running catches in the gap, leaping catches on the warning track, sliding catches near the line. Top 7th, Kevin McGrath rammed the first pitch of the inning, the 78th for Gutierrez, right into Tim Stalker’s mitten for the first out. The next pitch was drilled to deep right, but Gomez got paws on it. Then Braun ran a full count, but popped out to short. It was the weirdest of games, and not just because Nick Valdes had actually gotten the coffee machine to run AND had gotten Slappy to drink COFFEE.

The fairytale ended in the eighth when Palbes chipped a leadoff single. The Coons could not allow any leeway to Rico, because the very next pitch could be smashed 500 feet, and they had been grossly negligent in not tacking on any runs, or doing much at all ever since the first inning. At the same time, Josh Boles was unavailable, so the Coons had to reserve Ricky Ohl for the ninth and get by with the supporting case in the eighth inning. Jonathan Fleischer came on, threw two pitches to Dan Williams, enough for a 6-4-3 double play, and Dave Bross popped out to Nunley. No insurance came about in the bottom 8th either, and so it was Ohl to face the top of the order (although Chris Miller was gone after a double switch). Chris Murphy struck out. Matt Dehne struck out. Shane Sanks, the disgusting skunk weasel, homered to left. Oh boy, had I waited for that one! Ohl then disintegrated, walked McGrath and allowed a single to Zarate that put the tying runs on the corners. Adam Braun would be his last batter while Garavito warmed up to face Palbes if need me. It need not be. Braun hacked out, and the Coons eloped with an unlikely victory. 3-1 Coons. Nunley 2-4, 2B, RBI; Gutierrez 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, W (3-5) and 1-3;

Looks like a line like from his good old days, doesn’t it? Yet it’s so fake.

Ah, only five and a half years left on that contract…

Game 2
TIJ: CF C. Murphy – RF Camps – 3B Sanks – 1B McGrath – LF Palbes – SS C. Miller – C Dehne – 2B D. Williams – P Potter
POR: SS Ramos – CF Allan – 3B Nunley – 1B Harenberg – RF Hereford – 2B Stalker – LF Jamieson – C Pizzo – P Shumway

Juan Camps would make an easy catch on Pizzo to end the second inning with Harenberg and Jamieson in scoring position and no actual score. Camps would go on to hit into a double play to end the top 3rd after a sharp leadoff single by Potter against Shumway, who struck out only one batter the first time through and continued to be weirdly unimpressive. His lack of vigor came up costing in the fourth. Dang Sanks singled, McGrath doubled with two strikes, and while Palbes popped out, Chris Miller singled in the runners to give Tijuana a 2-0 lead. The Coons remained despicably harmless, with Harenberg’s leadoff single in the bottom 4th immediately erased on a double play that Rich Hereford hit into, and on the other side of the box score Shumway kept rotting away. Potter hit another leadoff single in the fifth (…!), Chris Murphy also singled, and then ****ing Shane Sanks dropped a single into rightfield to chase home the pitcher to make it 3-0. McGrath grounded out and Palbes whiffed in a full count, but that was already plenty of damage for a team that didn’t score against a team that didn’t allow teams to score. Shumway would last seven completely uninspiring innings, and the same was true for the offense until Stalker and Jamieson opened the bottom 7th with back-to-back doubles past either flank of Juan Palbes. That actually brought up the tying run with nobody out, Pizzo flew out, Mora struck out, and Ramos grounded out, and everything was horrible. Bottom 8th, Allan singled, Nunley walked, and the tying runs were on for… Harenberg. He flew out harmlessly, because that was what he did in key spots, and only after that did the Condors go to a fresh arm, bringing George Barnett in relief for Potter. Hereford flew out harmlessly to center, and Gomez batted for Stalker, but was rung up and stranded the final runners of the game. 3-1 Condors. Ramos 2-4, 2B; Harenberg 2-4; Stalker 2-3; Jamieson 2-4, 2 2B, RBI;

Still no news on Josh Boles, and why is the Druid hiding from me?

Game 3
TIJ: CF C. Murphy – C Zarate – 3B Sanks – 1B McGrath – SS C. Miller – RF Camps – LF Braun – 2B Bross – P Little
POR: CF Magallanes – SS Stalker – 3B Hereford – 1B Harenberg – RF Gomez – LF Jamieson – C Tovias – 2B Baldwin – P Martinez

All the Raccoons hitters remained deflated, but the scuffed refuse guys at the far end of the bench teamed up to erase Juan Camps’ solo homer from the second inning once the bottom 3rd rolled around. Baldwin singled, was bunted over, then scored on a Magallanes single to left to tie the ballgame. Magallanes had also drawn a leadoff walk in the first, which had led nowhere thanks to Tim Stalker spanking a ball into a 5-4-3. Stalker was brushed by Little here, but then Hereford hit into a double play to end the third…

Everything – EVERYTHING – came apart in the fourth. ****ing Shane Sanks hit a leadoff jack to give the Condors a 2-1 lead, and then they loaded the bases on a McGrath double, Miller single, and Camps drawing a walk. Martinez offered no resistance, but at least Adam Braun grounded to short no a 3-1 pitch... and Stalker booted the play. Instead of a run and two outs, the Condors got a run and kept the bags full thanks to the error. Dave Bross hit a sac fly, while Little bunted successfully and Chris Murphy popped out, but there was the 3-run deficit again, and the Coons seemed ill inclined to tackle that mountain. But remember how I said that EVERYTHING came apart? Not only did Nick Valdes’ coffee machine start to leak water all over the floor of my dear office, but so did Jeff Little with brownshirted baserunners. Harenberg led off with a single, scored on a Gomez triple, 4-2, and the Coons went on with Jamieson walking. Tovias grounded out, moving the runners to scoring position, and Baldwin was put on intentionally to pull up the pitcher with three on and one out. Nobody expected it, but Dave Martinez ripped a single into right-center for a 2-run single that tied the game again, and upon reaching first pointed skywards and formed an O with his claws. Little got out of the fourth against the top of the order, but Hereford and Harenberg hit singles to go to the corners right away in the bottom of the fifth. Gomez chucked an RBI single over Chris Miller to put Portland ahead, 5-4, but Jamieson struck out. Little went on to hit Tovias in the knee, which loaded the bases, but with Pizzo on first base owing to Tovias limping off the field with a knee contusion. The next casualty was the inning; Baldwin flew out to right, Harenberg was sent for home plate, and thrown out by Camps to end the inning.

Martinez was dragged through six, and Garavito held on to the lead in the seventh, but the eighth saw the Condors hit three singles for one run off Kevin Surginer. All of the three singles hit by Zarate, McGrath, and Miller went through a different seam on the infield. Almost beautiful. Still made me vomit. The game was thus tied again, now at five, but Billy Brotman held the Condors tight in the ninth, so at least there was a chance to walk off against Barnett in the bottom of the ninth. He would face the meat of the order starting with Hereford. Rich ran a full count, coaxed the walk, then made it to third when Harenberg singled on a 0-0 hit-and-run call. Dan Williams at second base missed that grounder by mere inches. Now there was a spot for Mora to maybe hit for Gomez to counter the righty Barnett (Ramos had already been used and Nunley was already in the #9 hole), but Gomez had three knocks in the game. Mora would rather bat for Jamieson if Gomez wouldn’t get it done. Gomez didn’t get it done, grounding out to Sanks. This moved Harenberg to second; his run was meaningless, but at least the double play was off for Mora. The Condors weren’t having it, walked him with intent, and that brought up Pizzo, a real double play threat that we could not bat for. He struck out, and now Ryan Allan pinch-hit for Brotman against new reliever Ethan Jordan… a southpaw. Allan flew out to Braun, and the game went to extras. Ricky Ohl held up in the 10th, Nunley drew a leadoff walk and was stranded in the bottom 10th, and Ohl collapsed for three hits, a walk, and somehow only one run in the 11th. Palbes singled in the go-ahead ribbie. Bottom 11th, Gomez led off with a single against Jose Fuentes, with Ohl in the #6 hole retained to bunt as we were out of bench pieces. He bunted sharply towards ****ing Shane Sanks, who spun to get Gomez at second, so now we were not only losing, but also had a reliever on the base paths. GOOD JOB. Pizzo, the miserable sucker, struck out, and Allan rolled out to Dan Williams to end the game. 6-5 Condors. Magallanes 2-5, RBI; Harenberg 3-6; Gomez 4-6, 3B, 2 RBI;

No, Nick, I don’t want no coffee. I want to be smothered with a pillow, thank you.

Injury news added to that – Josh Boles had to get stitches … inside his body … for a partially torn labrum. He was out for the season.

Raccoons (38-40) vs. Canadiens (40-36) – June 27-30, 2030

Here was the Raccoons’ chance to take over first place – just had to sweep the damn Elks in this 4-game set! The damn Elks were second in runs scored, eighth in runs allowed in the CL, and what did it even matter, we weren’t gonna win a game from them anyway… the season series was at 4-3 in favor of the damn Elks.

Projected matchups:
Mark Roberts (7-4, 4.20 ERA) vs. Chris Sinkhorn (4-5, 4.44 ERA)
Jose Menendez (7-4, 3.01 ERA) vs. Jeremy Truett (5-6, 4.18 ERA)
Rico Gutierrez (3-5, 4.15 ERA) vs. Fernando Nora (6-3, 4.83 ERA)
Tom Shumway (3-7, 3.07 ERA) vs. Victor Govea (5-8, 5.07 ERA)

This series would start with another southpaw, then three right-handers.

The Elks had their injuries, too, with Alex Torres the biggest MIA case at this point, although for two years he had been far off his torrid production, f.e. a .281 clip with 23 dingers in ’28. Norman Day, Rodolfo Cervantes, and Jesus Chinchilla were also out of action.

…which brought us seamlessly back to the Coons, who DL’ed Josh Boles as this series began. Ricky Ohl would slide into the closer’s role (as if we needed a closer). The Coons were in a pinch, because they also had to bring out a catcher, as Elias Tovias was unavailable for the weekend. The only backstop on the 40-man down in St. Pete was Shane Ivey, so he was added. In addition, we also needed a reliever; Chris Baldwin was demoted to St. Pete to make room on the roster (he still had all his options), and we added Chris Wise again. Nevertheless, it was a VERY short bench for the opener at least with Abel Mora still not quite back at 100%. Magallanes would make another start in center, and we only had three healthy reserves for the Thursday game.

Game 1
VAN: LF Tessmann – 2B Morrow – CF Wojnarowski – 1B D. Fisher – SS Bennett – 3B Anton – RF Good – C F. Garcia – P Sinkhorn
POR: SS Ramos – CF Magallanes – 2B Stalker – 3B Hereford – 1B Gomez – RF Allan – LF Jamieson – C Pizzo – P Roberts

Roberts put Danny Tessmann (single) and Eric Morrow (double) in scoring position right away, but struck out two and got T.J. Bennett to ground out to keep the damn Elks off the board in the first. The first four Raccoons in the bottom 1st all reached against Sinkhorn; Ramos singled, Magallanes was hit, Stalker singled, and Hereford walked. Yet, no run scored – Ramos had been picked off first before even one pitch to Magallanes. So the bags were loaded with one down for Gomez, who plated two on a single near the rightfield line, but those were also the only runs of the inning. The damn Elks made up the deficit by the third, in which Roberts walked Morrow and surrendered the lead on 2-out rocket RBI base hits by David Fisher and T.J. Bennett. While Pizzo would make it 3-2 with a single that scored Gomez in the bottom of the same inning, Roberts’ grasp on the game was tenuous at best. The damn Elks kept making hard contact, including the final out that Roberts would log; with the tying run at second base, a deep fly out to center to end the sixth inning, and the guy that hit the 400-footer to the edge of the warning track was by the way the opposing pitcher…

Garavito would retire the Elks in the seventh, the bottom of which saw Ramos hit a leadoff single, get forced by Magallanes before he could even decide whether to steal, but then Sinkhorn walked the bags full, bringing up Gomez with one out and all aboard. Sinkhorn, out of whack, never threw a strike, and walked in an insurance run. The damn Elks’ pen had gotten to stirring late, so Sinkhorn allowed another RBI single to Allan, but then Jamison hit into a double play to end the inning. The Coons got one more out from Garavito, then stole two with Nick Bates, then sent Fleischer into the ninth against the 9-1-2 batters starting with switch-hitter Jose Navarro. Surginer had thrown two days in a row, Ohl had pitched two futile innings for the loss on Wednesday, and only Fleischer was ready. He got three grounders to the right side for three outs. 5-2 Coons. Ramos 3-5; Gomez 2-3, BB, 3 RBI;

Game 2
VAN: LF Tessmann – 2B Morrow – CF Wojnarowski – 1B D. Fisher – 3B Anton – RF Good – SS Bennett – C F. Garcia – P Truett
POR: SS Ramos – CF Mora – 3B Nunley – 1B Harenberg – RF Gomez – 2B Stalker – LF Jamieson – C Pizzo – P Menendez

Menendez walked Tessmann and Fisher, allowed a 2-run double to Matt Anton, still managed to walk Matt Good, threw a wild pitch, and then was crushed for 390 feet to left for a 2-out, 3-run blast by T.J. Bennett, who was normally not a good bet to hit them like that. Alright, guys, was fun seeing you today, check back in tomorrow when we’ll take another futile stab. (waves kindly while reaching for a good piece of rope)

Not so fast. Ramos struck out to begin the bottom 1st, but then Mora walked, and the next three batters hit straight singles to get to 5-2 with two on. Stalker hit into a force, but got in another run, Jamieson got on, Pizzo hit an RBI single, and Menendez hit a 2-run double to left-center! Portland was now 6-5 ahead… IN THE FIRST. Also, Ramos made another out in the inning, flying out to Good, so that slump was still doing quite well for itself. Truett would hit a leadoff single off Menendez in the top 2nd, but got doubled up, and then did not make it out of the bottom of the 2nd. With two outs, Harenberg and Gomez ripped back-to-back doubles, Stalker walked, and Jamieson hit a 2-run double to extend the lead to 9-5. Ramos would then get involved against righty Chris Vazquez. Following a leadoff single by Menendez in the bottom 3rd, Alberto ripped a homer to right, 11-5, but maybe I was just dreaming or seeing double… who knew these things…? In any case, the Coons flogged Vazquez for another four hits and two runs, the latter two driven in by Jamieson with two outs. Menendez scuffled again in the fourth, allowed a run on three hits, but at this time the Coons were so far ahead, 13-6, that it was more about having him run out his 100 pitches (wouldn’t be much longer…) rather than blow useless innings to the pen. Menendez managed to wiggle through six, and was even retained to bunt after Jamieson and Pizzo reached against Estevan Delgado to begin the bottom 6th. Ramos hit an RBI single, 14-6, and Mora hit an RBI groundout, 15-6. For Menendez, the line would close at 6.1 innings and seven runs. He allowed a single to Lazaro Hernandez, a double to Morrow, and Brotman gave up a sac fly to Brian Wojnarowski in the seventh. Nick Bates struck out three in the top 8th and allowed as many runs thanks to two leadoff walks to Anton and Good, then sharp base hits by Fernando Garcia, a 2-run double, and Tessmann, an RBI single. The plan would have been to have Bates throw the last two, but then we rather didn’t. Chris Wise finished the ninth with no further damage. 15-10 Furballs. Ramos 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; Harenberg 2-5, 2B, RBI; Gomez 3-5, 2B, RBI; Jamieson 3-4, BB, 2B, 5 RBI;

That was wild.

Before the Saturday game, the Coons demoted Nick Bates (18.90 ERA) and brought up Sean Rigg once more.

Game 3
VAN: LF Tessmann – 2B Morrow – CF Wojnarowski – 1B D. Fisher – SS Bennett – 3B Anton – RF Good – C F. Garcia – P Nora
POR: SS Ramos – CF Mora – 3B Nunley – 1B Harenberg – RF Gomez – 2B Hereford – LF Jamieson – C Ivey – P Gutierrez

While Rico retired the Elks in order the first time through and even got his ERA under four for the moment, the Coons got leadoff doubles from Ramos in the first and Gomez in the second, and scored neither one of them. And the Coons kept doing that, stranding somebody in scoring position every inning. Mora reached scoring position on a 2-out throwing error by Garcia, and was stranded. Harenberg singled and Hereford walked in the fourth… and were stranded. Rico in turn retired the first 14 batters before Matt Anton reached with a 2-out infield single. Good singled cleanly to right, and Garcia hit one over the wall to give the ****ing Elks a 3-0 lead. Turns out, I hate both of these teams…

Nunley led off the bottom 6th with a double to right, then had to wait until there were two outs for Hereford to double to left to plate him, 3-1. Matt Jamieson hit a ball to deep left, to the fence, and … and Tessmann jumped up and picked it off the top of the fence. BLATANT ROBBERY!! … The Critters saw Rico through eight with NO base runners but those that had scored in the fifth inning, while the Coons kept failing. Nora lasted seven innings before yielding for Estevan Delgado, who nevertheless put on the tying runs in Mora and Harenberg before yielding for right-hander Rich Guerrero against the suddenly hot Gomez. He flew out to Wojnarowski in deep center, and Hereford popped out. Gutierrez went into the ninth, THEN was shackled for another three hits and a run driven in by David Fisher. Bottom 9th, the tying run came to the plate against Raul de la Rosa. Allan hit a 1-out single in Ivey’s spot, was forced by Magallanes, but Ramos legged out an infield single, bringing up Mora in a 4-1 hole. Full count – and a strikeout. 4-1 Canadiens. Ramos 3-5, 2B; Mora 2-5; Harenberg 2-4; Allan (PH) 1-1;

We out-hit them 11-6.

NO, I STILL DON’T WANT ANY COFFEE!! – (plants left foot and violently tries to kick Nick Valdes’ coffee machine off the table)

That… that coffee thing is a whole lot heavier than it looks. I think… (gingerly plants foot) … I think I need to see the Druid… (hobbles out of the room)

(Valdes and Slappy keep sipping coffee)

Game 4
VAN: LF Tessmann – 2B Morrow – CF Wojnarowski – 1B D. Fisher – SS Bennett – 3B Anton – RF Good – C F. Garcia – P Govea
POR: SS Ramos – CF Mora – 3B Nunley – 1B Harenberg – RF Gomez – LF Hereford – 2B Stalker – C Pizzo – P Shumway

Could the Shumster stop all the losing (3-7!!) and give us a series win against the DAMN Elks? At least Morrow hit into a double play to erase a first-pitch single by Tessmann, and Matt Nunley hit a jack in the bottom 1st to give the Shumster a 1-0 lead. Could have been 2-0, but Ramos had been caught stealing after a leadoff single. Could have been even more than that, but after 2-out walks to Harenberg and Gomez, Rich Hereford struck out. The wheels came off almost immediately. Fisher tied the game with a leadoff jack, Bennett singled, Anton hit into a force, but Good singled, Garcia singled, to give the ****ing Elks the lead, Govea reached on an error when Shumway threw away his bunt, and then Tessmann legged out an infield roller with the bases loaded to get to 3-1. Morrow hit a bases-clearing double over Gomez’ head, Wojnarowski singled, Fisher singled to plate another run, and then Shumway was yanked, the ****ing ***hole. 1.1 innings, nine hits, seven runs. Fleischer struck out Bennett and Anton to strand the two remaining runners in what was another lost game in a lost season for a lost franchise that should have been contracted many decades ago. And this game was over. The Raccoons had NOTHING. Fleischer pitched a few wasted innings, and then the Coons turned to Sean Rigg, who pitched three innings on 57 pitches, and allowed as many – three – runs. The Raccoons never threatened again and mostly laid down and took it. The Elks cruised to a series split and could have had a lot more with less sloppy play. 10-1 Canadiens. Nunley 2-4, HR, RBI; Allan (PH) 1-1; Pizzo 1-2, BB; Fleischer 2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K;

In other news

June 24 – A damaged elbow ligament will put RIC SP Joaquin Serrano (4-7, 4.37 ERA) on the sidelines for the next 12 months.
June 26 – CIN 1B Pat Fowlkes (.205, 1 HR, 6 RBI) will miss four to five weeks with a strained oblique.
June 29 – Capitals SP Colt Willes (5-2, 2.70 ERA) 3-hits the Rebels in a 5-0 shutout, his second shutout of the month after a 6-hitter against the Blue Sox two outings ago.
June 29 – WAS RF/LF Tsuneyoshi Tachibana (.338, 9 HR, 52 RBI) will miss all of July with a broken foot.
June 30 – Twice-defending CL Player of the Year TIJ 3B/SS Shane Sanks (.305, 11 HR, 56 RBI) will miss a month or more with a broken finger.

Complaints and stuff

(angrily glares at Cristiano Carmona as they are parked up next to another in matching wheelchairs in the office) – So, the Druid says I broke my foot when I kicked Valdes’ coffee machine and I need to have this pink cast for a month. He insisted there were no other colors in stock. – Cristiano, if you don’t stop smirking, I will personally unscrew every single wheel on your chair! – What do you mean, they aren’t screwed? EVERYTHING AROUND HERE IS SCREWED!! – You just consider yourself lucky, young man. When I was your age, there were no wheelchairs, and if your family didn’t throw you onto some rocks in the forest to feed the bears, they could only carry you ‘round in a litter!

Ah…

By the way, Slappy, I can see that you pour booze into your coffee whenever Valdes isn’t looking!

The team is a mess. The only real question is whether we can get any sort of prospect in July for one piece or the other. It would be nice to have prospects.

But I did talk about Elliott Thompson a while back, and there were now two teams that tried to dump a “proven veteran” (snorts) on the Coons to get Thompson. So there’s something going on there…

The number on Matt Nunley is 2,297 or in other words two to go to match Cookie Carmona for the franchise hits lead, and three to zoom ahead. And as we’re on it – the number is also 974; that’s RBI, and he is now only six behind Daniel Hall for THAT franchise record.

This has nothing to do with my personal… impasse here… but I have this theory that our players are only getting hurt when they are doing well. Just a thought that is probably wrong, but … but I’ll keep it.

Oh well, only another 30 years to the next ring, I guess.

Fun Fact: On June 29, 1997 – 33 years ago this Saturday – the Gold Sox’ Pat Parker hit for the cycle in a 13-3 win over the Capitals.

Parker was one of several Raccoons that were sent to Denver in the 90s, in his case a July 1995 trade for reliever Mike Dye, who pitched to a 5.74 ERA in 18 games with Portland and was soon discarded. Parker had gotten cups of coffee as a 22- and 23-year-old with the ’93 and ’94 Coons, but had batted precious little. He had a few hot years in Denver, probably aided by the thin air, including a .321 season with 13 dingers in ’97. Nevertheless, he suddenly stopped hitting, and was out of baseball by the age of 32, and he never appeared in a major league game in his 30s.