[Westheim]

Raccoons (51-48) @ Falcons (39-59) – July 23-25, 2029

The Falcons were more or less terrible, sitting sixth in runs scored, but second from the bottom in runs allowed, with a particularly pathetic rotation (hear, hear…). They were also second from the bottom in on-base percentage, but could at least hit for power and steal some bases to alleviate that. Nevertheless, they were firmly entrenched in last place in the South, a week’s worth of games removed from even the fifth-place Bayhawks. Nevertheless, they were 2-1 this year against Portland.

Projected matchups:
Dan Delgadillo (9-8, 4.59 ERA) vs. Mike Fernandez (5-8, 5.57 ERA)
Jamie O’Leary (0-3, 6.10 ERA) vs. Chris Rountree (5-10, 4.71 ERA)
Rin Nomura (5-6, 3.87 ERA) vs. Jesus Chavez (6-10, 4.72 ERA)

Southpaw in the middle game on Tuesday; Rountree was their only one.

I continued to poke around for reinforcements in the meantime, but unfortunately we had blown millions on DL warmers and had no prospects to deal, so the Raccoons, though two games out, continued to look frankly doomed.

Game 1
POR: SS Ramos – 2B Stalker – LF Jamieson – 1B Harenberg – 3B Nunley – CF Mora – RF Gomez – C Tovias – P Delgadillo
CHA: CF N. Nelson – 3B G. Ortíz – RF Kok – LF Salto – 1B Fowlkes – SS Hobbs – C Sigala – 2B Fitzsimmons – P M. Fernandez

Offense was slow in the early going despite a leadoff single by Alberto Ramos, who was immediately doubled up by Tim Stalker’s grounder to short. The third however began with an Elias Tovias double in the gap, and then Delgadillo reached on an infield single; that ball rolled past the pitcher Fernandez, who could not reverse his natural course after delivering the ball, over the mound, and died in between Michael Hobbs and Tom Fitzsimmons. Ramos hit a fly to center that allowed Tovias to score before Stalker hit a soft single to left and Jamieson reached on an infield single to fill the bases with one out. Harenberg got a run in with a single to right, but Nunley hit into a double play, keeping it a 2-0 game, at least until the Falcons got back to work. Two on and two out, Delgadillo had Pat Fowlkes at 0-2 before nailing him. With the bags full, Hobbs split Nunley and Ramos with a grounder for a 2-run single, chasing home Greg Ortíz and Barend Kok to tie the game before Jairo Sigala grounded out.

Top 4th, Abel Mora opened with a soft single to left and stole second, then scored on two groundouts, which was really as much as I was asking for anymore. The Falcons countered with two outs, Nelson lining a single and Ortíz hitting a double to left, but they were stranded in scoring position when Barend Kok – the only lefty bat to face Delgadillo – struck out. The following inning, Jamieson drove in Ramos (leadoff double) with a single up the middle, and when Harenberg and Nunley added two more singles, the latter for an RBI and a 5-2 score, the Falcons yanked Fernandez, who’s final line read 4.1 innings and six runs thanks to a Mora single off Brandon Smith, a righty reliever that would surrender two more runs in a sixth inning that miraculously began with a Tovias triple before Smith walked the sacks full and conceded two runs on a Harenberg single. Delgadillo barely made it through six innings, allowing a third run in his final frame in the aftermath of a Nate Nelson triple, and while the Critters were up 8-3 in the game, their pen came close to burning brightly in the seventh inning. Sean Rigg put the first two Falcons on base before Jamieson made a marvelous catch after running down a Sigala drive in the gap. The Falcons would score a run anyway before Mauricio Garavito came into the game with Hobbs on second and two outs, facing lefty PH and former Critter Russ Greenwald, then ran a 3-0 count before Greenwald poked and grounded out, keeping it 8-4. So, the pen tried to burn brightly AGAIN in the eighth. Garavito retired nobody, yielding three singles to the 1-2-3 batter as well as a run before Ricky Ohl was launched out of the Critters’ pen via catapult. Jamieson held the game together with an amazing catch against Graciano Salto, and Ohl got out with a K on Fowlkes and a grounder to third off Hobbs’ bat. And Josh Boles? He did his usual mind**** of getting the first two batters, then putting two on. Greg Ortíz finally poked a 1-2 pitch to left where Jamieson this time had to race in to make the catch in this no-pitching game. 8-5 Coons. Ramos 3-3, BB, 2B, RBI; Jamieson 3-5, RBI; Harenberg 3-5, 2B, 3 RBI; Mora 2-4, RBI; Tovias 2-4, 3B, 2B, RBI;

The two teams combined for 31 base hits in this game, or 16 for the Critters and 15 for the Falcons.

Game 2
POR: SS Ramos – CF Magallanes – 2B Stalker – LF Jamieson – 1B Harenberg – C Tovias – RF Rodriguez – 3B Gerster – P O’Leary
CHA: CF N. Nelson – C Cooper – 1B Fowlkes – LF Salto – 3B G. Ortíz – RF Kok – SS Hobbs – 2B Fitzsimmons – P Rountree

The Coons opened the game with four singles and two runs before whiffing three times in a row, then did nothing in the next few innings, while O’Leary retired the side in order on 34 pitches before a fourth-inning rain delay threatened to throw things outta whack for everybody, but the Falcons continued to go down in the bottom of the fourth. Before any Furball could get his tail lit on fire again, the Coons opened the top 5th with a Ramos double and Magallanes’ RBI single that made it 3-0. Stalker was hit, Jamieson singled, and the bases were loaded for Kevin Harenberg with nobody out, which made an unassisted triple play a real possibility. Rather, Kevin flew out weakly to left, and the Coons might have stalled here, but Salto fudged the catch and dropped the ball, causing four Critters to scuffle to another base, including Magallanes crossing home, 4-0. They got one more run on Tovias’ 6-4-3 double play, but at the same time that one also murdered the inning, with Rodriguez grounding out meekly.

The pile of Falcons retired without reaching base eventually reached 15 for O’Leary before Hobbs hit a leadoff double to center in the sixth. That run came across on a 2-out single by Nate Nelson, and O’Leary was removed after putting two on in the seventh inning, clearly running out of juice when he walked Barend Kok with two outs. Stonecipher entered with Rafael Gomez in a double switch (removing Harenberg) and got Hobbs to pop out to quell the threat. Stonecipher issued a leadoff walk to Fitzsimmons in the bottom 8th, then ran two full counts both ending in whiffs before Matt Cooper flew out to Wilson Rodriguez. It was not at all wholly pretty, but the Coons seemed to emerge winners again, and indeed Fleischer retired the heart of the Falcons lineup in order to end the game, which also sealed the first career win for Jamie O’Leary. 5-1 Coons. Ramos 3-5, 2B; Magallanes 3-5, RBI; Mora (PH) 1-1; O’Leary 6.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, W (1-3);

Game 3
POR: SS Ramos – 2B Stalker – LF Jamieson – 1B Harenberg – 3B Nunley – CF Mora – RF Gomez – C Ivey – P Nomura
CHA: CF N. Nelson – C Cooper – 1B Fowlkes – LF Salto – 3B G. Ortíz – RF Kok – SS Hobbs – 2B Fitzsimmons – P J. Chavez

The Coons scratched out a run on basically Ramos’ hindpaws in the opening inning, but that was soon erased when Rin Nomura, the pathetic loser, grabbed the ball. He walked the first two batters he faced, then gave up the runs on a Fowlkes double and a Salto single. After Ortíz popped out, the Falcons would keep singling away merrily, eventually plating another three runs on base hits by Kok, Fitzsimmons, and Chavez. Nomura, the pathetic loser, would not even finish two innings, being clubbed out on another walk and two hits leading to a 2-out RBI credited to Barend Kok. Surginer replaced Nomura, the pathetic loser, and rung up Hobbs to at least keep the score at 6-1.

Nobody exactly expected the Critters to rally; they scored one runner (Harenberg) in the third that had been nailed by Chavez, and in the second made two outs (this did include Surginer, who was needed for a wee bit more length here) before Ramos hit a single. Before long, that became a string of 2-out singles; Stalker hit one, so did Jamieson, plating Ramos, and Harenberg, chasing around Stalker, and now the tying runs were on for Nunley, who grounded out sharply to Fowlkes.

Kevin Surginer faced ten and retired ten in an unnecessary extra shift, then was hit for to begin the top 5th. Juan Magallanes walked in his spot, bringing the tying run back to the plate against a wobbling Chavez, but the top of the order failed to get the ball past the defense. And while for once, the Coons’ pen did not collapse and was in fact unscored upon with any run at all through the eighth inning after Nomura had rolled over and had given birth to six, the offense could not maintain the momentum. Nobody reached in the seventh or eighth for the Critters, and the Falcons’ Mike Tandy also retired Ramos and Stalker to begin the ninth before Jamieson dropped a fart for a single into leftfield. An 0-2 pitch nailed Harenberg, once more bringing up Nunley with the tying runs aboard, and he popped out. 6-4 Falcons. Ramos 2-5; Stalker 2-5; Jamieson 2-5, RBI; Mora 2-4, RBI; Surginer 3.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K;

We had nine hits, all singles, and failed to bundle them up like the Falcons did, who got seven hits off the useless Nomura, then only two more off the relievers.

It is custom on this team that after a series ends, especially on the road, I will walk (sometimes with assistance) down to the clubhouse to talk to the players or give them a pat as they filter out and towards the bus (on the road). When Nomura passed me and reached out with his useless left arm, I yelled at him what the **** he was looking at.

Erosion …!

Raccoons (53-49) @ Condors (61-41) – July 27-29, 2029

The Condors led the South by quite the margin, and the Raccoons had probably little hope of dealing with the best offense and the second-best pitching in the Continental League at this point. We have fought them to a 3-3 standstill in the season so far, but I think we have run out of luck at this point…

Projected matchups:
Mark Roberts (10-7, 3.40 ERA) vs. Joe Perry (9-4, 3.33 ERA)
Dan Delgadillo (10-8, 4.58 ERA) vs. Jorge Villalobos (6-3, 2.91 ERA)
Jamie O’Leary (1-3, 4.94 ERA) vs. George Griffin (9-7, 4.42 ERA)

Perry would be the only southpaw on offer in this series.

Game 1
POR: SS Ramos – CF Magallanes – 2B Stalker – LF Jamieson – 1B Harenberg – C Tovias – RF Gomez – 3B Baldwin – P Roberts
TIJ: RF M. Matias – SS C. Miller – 1B McGrath – 3B Sanks – C Zarate – CF Camps – LF Braun – 2B Bross – P Perry

Of Roberts’ first seven pitches, two were hit as to send outfielders steaming back to make catches, and one was grounded at Chris Baldwin, who threw Kevin McGrath’s simple roller away for a 2-base error. GOOD teams pounced on that, and the Condors did: Shane Sanks dropped a ball into shallow center for a single, McGrath raced all the way and scored, and the Coons were looking up a mountain again. And Roberts would not be able to keep the ball on the ****ing ground afterwards, either; Adam Braun hit a long double in the second, then came around on a Dave Bross single, making it 2-0, and Tijuana added another unearned run in the bottom 3rd, this time on Roberts’ own error. Meanwhile, Joe Perry retired the first 13 Critters before Harenberg singled to center. Tovias doubled him up on the very next pitch, and this game was quite definitely in the bin… Roberts was done after five pathetic innings, yielding nine hits and three runs and having run up 98 pitches. The Raccoons’ pen then fell apart with great noise; Danny Zarate doubled in two runners Stonecipher had walked in the sixth, and Garavito and Rigg basically retired nobody in the seventh until the Condors ran themselves out of the inning and lost Adam Braun to injury on the base paths, to be replaced by Matt Good. Perry lasted seven innings and faced two over the minimum, and it wasn’t like long man Bobby Thompson was much of an easement for the Critters, either… 6-0 Condors. Ramos 2-4;

Come Saturday, Chris Baldwin was out with gout, which was more or less the least terrible development of the last few days.

Game 2
POR: SS Ramos – 2B Stalker – LF Jamieson – 1B Harenberg – 3B Nunley – CF Mora – C Tovias – RF Rodriguez – P Delgadillo
TIJ: LF Denzler – SS C. Miller – 3B Sanks – RF M. Matias – C Zarate – CF McNaughton – 1B Good – 2B Bross – P Villalobos

The Coons got three on via the walk of getting nailed (Jamieson), but failed to score in the opening inning, with Abel Mora ultimately lifting a fly out to Joel Denzler, while Delgadillo exploded as soon as he got a chance; leadoff walk to Zarate in the bottom 2nd, then RBI doubles by David McNaughton and … the opposing pitcher with two outs. While the Raccoons spent their time picking through the options for October holidays, the Condors crowded Delgadillo in the third, but stranded two, and then got McNaughton on with a leadoff walk in the fourth. Good popped out, but Bross doubled to left. That was it for Dan Delgadillo – he removed himself with an injury. And never mind his pathetic 4.61 ERA; he was the second-best pitcher left in the rotation, and now the Raccoons’ season was absolutely, definitely over. There was nothing left beyond this point but another 58 1/2 games of absolutely gut-wrenching, abysmal, highly toxic suckage. Surginer stranded the runners, whiffing up Villalobos and getting a pop from Denzler, but it mattered nothing anymore. All was lost. All was lost.

The Coons had Nunley and Mora on the corners with two outs in the sixth inning. Wilson Rodriguez hit an RBI single off Mike Simcoe, who went on to nail Rafael Gomez and concede a bases-loaded, score-flipping, 2-run single to Alberto Ramos. It still didn’t matter. Nothing mattered anymore. All was lost. All was lost. Tovias tacked on a run with a sac fly in the seventh, but the bottom of the inning saw Brotman put on Kevin McGrath with a leadoff single, and when Denzler was retired was replaced by Ricky Ohl, who walked Chris Miller, nailed Shane Sanks, walked in a run against PH Jeff Rinehart, and conceded the lead on Zarate’s sac fly before McNaughton struck out. Y’know – like good teams do it!

Top 9th, Mike Baker put on Jamieson and Harenberg with a walk and a single to begin the inning. Nunley bunted the runners into scoring position for Mora, who was walked intentionally to bring up Tovias, who popped out on the first pitch. Here, Shane Ivey had to bat as the last man off the bench in place of Garavito, and hit a grounder to left that actually left the infield for two runs, before Butch Gerster, playing rightfield because things were falling apart fast, struck out. Boles retired the Condors in order in the bottom of the ninth. 6-4 Coons. Jamieson 2-4; Nunley 2-3, BB, 2 2B; Mora 1-2, 3 BB; Ivey (PH) 1-1, 2 RBI;

No news on the injury front. We were going to have to play this day-to-day, and entirely by ear. O’Leary on Sunday, Nomura on Monday, probably a bucket with dirty mop water on Tuesday, and maybe we could close up shop and move to Montana after that…

Game 3
POR: SS Ramos – 2B Stalker – LF Jamieson – 1B Harenberg – 3B Nunley – CF Mora – RF Gomez – C Ivey – P O’Leary
TIJ: RF M. Matias – SS C. Miller – 1B McGrath – 3B Sanks – CF Camps – C O’Dell – LF McNaughton – 2B Bross – P Griffin

Ivey threw out Chris Miller trying to nap third base after hitting a double in the first inning, and a Dave Bross walk aside there were no other nasty accidents for O’Leary the first time through the Condors order, but Griffin was just as stingy and faced only one over the minimum with an infield single yielded to Gomez. O’Leary kept clawing, walked Sanks in the fourth, yet retired Juan Camps, then allowed a leadoff double down the line to ex-Critter Brett O’Dell. Two groundouts plated the run, the first in the game, while the Coons had yet to land a base hit outside the infield. That didn’t change in the sixth, in which Ramos walked, but was stranded on first base, after which the wheels came off. O’Leary allowed a clean leadoff single to Mike Matias before Miller bunted. Good bunt, too – Nunley raced in and flung the ball past first base for a 2-base error. O’Leary lost McGrath on four pitches to fill the sacks with no outs. Sanks hit a sac fly, 2-0, before Camps flew out to center to no great effect. Two outs, O’Dell hit an RBI single to right, bringing up rookie McNaughton, who CRUSHED a ball for 450 feet, blowing the doors clean off the barn. O’Leary was retired after 5.2 innings and six runs, all but one unearned.

Come the eighth, Mora led off with a walk and stole second base. Gomez popped out, but Shane Ivey singled through McGrath, putting runners on the corners. Magallanes hit for Sean Rigg, who had gotten four outs, and singled up the middle for the Critters’ first run in this particular trauma of a game. It also knocked out Griffin, replaced by Bobby Thompson, who allowed a single to Ramos to load the bags, then Josh Sharp, who walked Stalker to push home a run. With that, Jamieson was the tying run at the plate with one out, and if only once the damn Coons could get a slam in such a spot …! They did not. Jamieson hit a sac fly to Matias, and then left-hander Mike Simcoe came on and rung up Harenberg to strand two. Stonecipher walked two and conceded a run in the bottom 8th, while Markus Bates retired Nunley, Mora, and Tovias in order in the ninth. 7-3 Condors. Magallanes (PH) 1-1, RBI;

In other news

July 24 – In a 13-1 rout of the Gold Sox, TOP SS/2B Alex Majano (.309, 1 HR, 47 RBI) collects three hits, including two triples, and drives in a whopping seven runs.
July 26 – SFW SP Pat Okrasinski (13-4, 2.75 ERA) 1-hits the Capitals in a 4-0 shutout, whiffing six. Despairingly, the lone Capitals hit is a 2-out single in the ninth inning off the bat of Enrique Trevino (.357, 1 HR, 54 RBI).
July 26 – The Loggers trade SP Alex Contreras (6-7, 4.30 ERA) to the Scorpions for utility Wayne Morris (.251, 3 HR, 30 RBI) and a prospect.
July 27 – ATL 2B John Johnson (.311, 5 HR, 38 RBI) will miss a month with a sprained ankle.
July 28 – The Warriors deal INF Ricky Tello (.270, 3 HR, 27 RBI) to the Cyclones for OF/1B Kevin Parks (.222, 0 HR, 0 RBI).
July 28 – Boston expects SS Keith Spataro (.294, 2 HR, 29 RBI) to miss three to four weeks with an oblique strain.
July 29 – VAN LF Alex Torres (.202, 9 HR, 35 RBI) is done for the season with a badly broken hand.
July 29 – The Crusaders pick up SP Mel Lira (6-11, 3.88 ERA) from the Miners in exchange for two prospects.

Complaints and stuff

Forsaken.

The Delgadillo injury (whatever it might turn out to be) ends it once and for all. I had no idea who to bring up for the start on Tuesday anymore, because the minors are a fuming waste dump and we have not had a pitching prospect since… Rico Gutierrez?

And Rico is 30 years old.

And on the DL.

They are all on the DL.

Forsaken.

Fun Fact: Damani Knight appeared in 56 games (53 starts) in his major league career, comprising exactly 300 innings, and pitched to a 12-25 record and 5.22 ERA.

Well, there *is* a job opening now… or two… or three…