Portland Raccoons (ABL)

[Westheim]

Raccoons (13-11) @ Canadiens (9-15) – May 3-5, 2021

With a paltry .214 team batting average and only 75 runs scored the Canadiens solidly ranked last in offense in the Continental League, and it wasn’t entirely like their pitching was going to help them to get anywhere; with the second-worst rotation by ERA and the second-most runs allowed they should actually be much worse than just .375 … Somehow the Raccoons had managed to lose the season series against the last-place Canadiens in 2020, going 8-10. This was something that cried out for revenge.

Projected matchups:
Jonathan Toner (3-1, 3.19 ERA) vs. Bryant Roberts (0-2, 5.21 ERA)
Ricky Martinez (0-0) vs. Kyle Lamb (2-2, 3.86 ERA)
Hector Santos (3-0, 2.79 ERA) vs. Josh Riley (0-2, 4.09 ERA)

Handedness would match for all games in the series, so we faced another left-hander on Tuesday, Lamb matching our debutee Ricky Martinez.

Matt Hamilton was finally 100% again and was moved back into the cleanup role. He had missed enough time with that naggy rib cage injury that right now he wouldn’t even be eligible in the batting title race (not that he featured near the front).

Game 1
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – 3B Nunley – SS McKnight – C Margolis – CF Metts – P Toner
VAN: RF Kim – SS Roundtree – 1B Rocha – C Holliman – LF Bellows – 2B Downing – 3B Grooms – CF Houghtaling – P B. Roberts

On paper, the Elks looked like a prime recovery opponent for Jonny Toner, but paper can be torn, just like hamstrings. It looked like a hamstring injury at least for centerfielder Jeremy Houghtaling when he pulled up lame at third base after his 2-out, 2-run triple in the bottom of the second inning that gave the Elks a 2-1 lead. Margolis had driven in Nunley in the top of the inning, and the Coons had hit into double plays in both the first and the second to kill their offensive attempts against Bryant Roberts, who had issued twice as many walks as strikeouts in April. The Elks upped their lead by one in the third, Man-su Kim leading off with a double to left and coming home on Ryan Holliman’s scorched single to center with two outs. The Coons had another double play in the fourth; Hamilton had led off with a single, but got doubled off when Mario Rocha caught Nunley’s liner right at him, with Hamilton for reasons unknown about 30 feet off the base.

The Coons made up a run in the fifth inning, getting back to 3-2 with Dwayne Metts stealing a base (ending a base-stealing drought that had gone to 0-for-7 with McKnight getting caught stealing earlier in the game) and coming home on Cookie’s 2-out single shallow right center. It was Cookie’s second single on the day and moved him to a .400 clip. Jonny Toner managed to look like arse despite striking out eight in five innings, which was an achievement in its own right. Top 6th, leadoff walk by Mendoza, only the second base on balls drawn off Roberts, who had previously walked more than TEN batters per nine innings. Hamilton hit into a fielder’s choice, Nunley walked, and the Elks decided that was enough Roberts for one day. Right-hander Colin Peay replaced him, McKnight grounded the first pitch to short, and Josh Downing and Matt Nunley collided, with Nunley getting the worst of it, taking a nasty hit to the shoulder. He had to leave the game and was replaced by Brian Petracek, the former Elk. Nothing good at all came out of the inning, Margolis striking out to end it, and Cookie hit into an inning-ending double play in the seventh. The eighth saw Yoshi hit a leadoff single to center, representing the tying run once more against right-hander Cory Dew, who had allowed only one run in 16.1 innings. Mendoza grounded to third base, Chris Grooms started a double play, the fifth in the game, and it was time to go to bed and cry furiously at that point. I flicked off the TV back home in Portland. Enough misery for one day. That also meant I missed both a defensive cluster**** in the bottom 8th that saw an insurance run scoring for the Elks on Yoshi Nomura’s error as well as the Coons’ comeback in the ninth inning. McKnight singled to lead off against Mike Tharp. Margolis struck out, but Stevenson walked, hitting for Metts against the left-hander. Jackson batted for Seung-mo Chun, hit a high pop near the left foul line, Justin Bellows missed it, and Jackson had an RBI double for cheap. Cookie’s RBI single to left tied it up, but that was as much as the Raccoons managed to poke Tharp for, who struck out Yoshi and Mendoza to end the inning with runners on the corners. And never mind anyway, because Jeff Boynton found ways to lose his fourth game of the season with a leadoff single by Grooms in the bottom 9th and then a pinch-hit walkoff triple with two outs by left-handed Moises Berrones. 5-4 Canadiens. Carmona 3-5, 2 RBI; Nomura 2-5; Hamilton 2-4; Nunley 1-2, BB; McKnight 2-4; Jackson (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI;

Nothing good has happened in Vancouver – EVER. The Raccoons had 13 hits to the Elks’ nine, they also walked four times and issued only one free pass. But they hit into five double plays (Elks: one) and left TEN on base (Elks: one).

I say we’ve been framed.

The Druid messaged me that he was sending Nunley home. There was no structural damage to the shoulder, but he had to wear the arm in a sling (a brown one, because we have STYLE) for a week and would need to spend two to three weeks on the DL. Yay, more at-bats to Petracek. We called up Guillermo Aponte for backup infield duties.

No my eyes are fine. The red is - … I cried through the night.

Game 2
POR: LF Carmona – CF Stevenson – 1B Hamilton – RF Jackson – C Margolis – 2B Nomura – SS McKnight – 3B Zuhlke – P Martinez
VAN: LF A. Torres – RF Kim – C Holliman – 1B Rocha – 2B Downing – SS Roundtree – 3B Grooms – CF J. Harris – P Lamb

Ricky Martinez’ major league career started with the bases loaded and no outs after singles by Alex Torres and Man-su Kim plus a full-count walk to Ryan Holliman. He would somehow escape without conceding a run when Rocha and Downing both hit pops over the infield and Roundtree grounded out to short. The same base scenario repeated itself in the third inning with the same protagonists. While the Elks’ bounty was still small, this time they at least scored one run on Rocha’s double play grounder to short. Downing popped out again. There was no point in joy, though: the Coons had already hit into a double play earlier. In the top of the second, Jackson had walked, Margolis had singled, and Yoshi had found the shortstop with utmost precision.

The Critters would get a bases-loaded situation of their own in the fourth inning, courtesy of a single and two walks. McKnight was to bat with two outs, but first fell to 0-2 and then surrendered on a silly grounder to short. Steve Roundtree upped the score to 2-0 in the fourth with a leadoff home run off Martinez, who surrendered his third leadoff single to Alex Torres in the fifth inning. This time Torres would stand alone, got forced on Kim’s grounder, and Kim was stranded on second base. If the Raccoons now could get the ****ing offense going… and they actually did in the sixth, Jackson singling past Rocha just in time for Danny Margolis to wing a 2-piece outta left center, tying the score at two. McKnight came close to hitting another one to the other side, but was denied, as was Roundtree in the bottom of the inning.

Martinez ended up making it through six and two thirds before walking Torres on four pitches. The Coons made a move and brought Noah Bricker, with the Elks swiftly sending Monday’s hero Moises Berrones to hit for Kim and counter “Bloody” Bricker. Torres stole second, but Berrones struck out, ending the seventh. The Coons clambered into the lead in the eighth inning on Matt Hamilton taking John Watson deep. Margolis and Nomura hit 2-out singles, but somehow hitting Mendoza for McKnight sounded utterly wrong. McKnight hit a fly to left, but Torres was all over that one, and two Coons were left on base once more. Bricker continued in the bottom 8th, conceding a leadoff single that Holliman hit sharply to center, then lost Rocha to a walk. Two on, no outs, but the trigger-happy Downing struck out voluntarily before Roundtree hit another ball hard, yet this time on the ground and right at Yoshi, who started a relieving double play. Mendoza ended up batting for Bricker in the ninth with one out and nobody on base and singled past Grooms. Cookie found a hole in right center for another single, sending runners to the corners. The Elks still thought Watson had this. Ezequiel Olivares batter for an 0-for-4 Stevenson, struck out, but Hamilton flew deep to left, deep to left – and into Torres’ glove. Brett Lillis had no cushion, and didn’t know it yet but would face three switch-hitters in the bottom of the ninth, starting with Grooms. He would also get to two strikes on all of them, but strike out none. Grooms hit a soft fly to right that Jackson had to hustle to contain, but made it in time. John Harris grounded out to Yoshi. Chris Tanzillo hit for the pitcher and ran a full count before singling to center. What’s that? He goes for second! Dwayne Metts with the throw to McKnight, tag – OUT!!! 3-2 Raccoons. Carmona 2-5; Hamilton 2-5, HR, RBI; Jackson 1-2, 2 BB; Margolis 3-4, HR, 2 RBI; Mendoza (PH) 1-1; Martinez 6.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K; Bricker 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, W (2-0);

Cookie batting .402 right now, which isn’t even good enough for first in the CL, which is held by MIL Ian Coleman at .407. Matt Nunley is still third with a .349 clip (mind the gap), but will drop off for eligibility reasons before he can come off the DL.

Ricky Martinez was sent back to AAA after the game, his services no longer being required. The Coons would have two off days after this and the next series and could stretch their other assets until Tadasu Abe came off the DL. Frequent traveler Will West (this year in AAA: 7.2 IP, 0 ER) was added as additional reliever. His career ERA in the majors was 5.22 in 89 games and 89.2 innings.

Game 3
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – SS McKnight – C Margolis – CF Stevenson – 3B Petracek – P Santos
VAN: LF A. Torres – RF Kim – C Holliman – 1B Rocha – SS Roundtree – 3B Grooms – 2B Otis – CF J. Harris – P Riley

The amounts of hate I had for the nuclear-waste-contaminated, asbestos-riddled, gypsy-cursed and also butt-ugly park the Elks had built on an Indian cemetery were hard to put into words, but the Raccoons kept coming and kept dying in it, figuratively and literally. Santos was charged with two in the second inning after a leadoff walk to Rocha, a single by Roundtree that sent the runner to third, and Roundtree soon enough to second with a stolen base, and both scoring on productive outs. The environment then claimed Josh Stevenson’s body on a diving catch in the third inning. Metts replaced the fallen comrade, who had pain in the shoulder. Offensively the Raccoons were almost bad enough to laugh about it, while Santos didn’t really find his stuff for the entire outing and coughed up another pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth. Matt Otis opened with a bloop single, John Harris hit an RBI triple, and while Riley struck out, Torres brought home the runner with a sac fly to right.

Faint hope then appeared on the horizon in the sixth inning. Starting with Cookie, the Raccoons hit three soft singles to load the bases with no outs for Hamilton, who was the tying run. The alleged slugger hit into a pretty damn fat double play to Matt Otis, one run scored, but **** that run. Also **** Hamilton, and **** hope the most. Santos struck out eight over six innings and still trundled towards a hapless loss, his first since 2018. The Raccoons were entirely silent until the ninth, which Hamilton led off with a single to left. McKnight was a firm believer of the double play grounder to advance his team, sending one Otis’ way, and while the Coons managed to get a pinch-hit single from Guillermo Aponte off Cory Dew after that, Metts struck out to put this series away as a loss. 4-1 Canadiens. Carmona 2-4; Aponte (PH) 1-1;

Not wanting to brag, but this series went EXACTLY like I imagined it would.

Raccoons (14-13) @ Wolves (11-17) – May 7-9, 2021

The Wolves sat in their usual lair in the FL West, which was last place. Eighth in runs scored and tenth in runs allowed in the Federal League, the package was as usual not enough, but any package that starts with a league-worst rotation (5.36 ERA) is usually a bad package. We had not played the Wolves in three years, but had taken two out of three the last time these teams opposed another for a good old Oregon Brawl. Overall the Coons had a .560 winning percentage over their Northwest rivals, not including playoff games…

Projected matchups:
Michael Foreman (2-2, 1.78 ERA) vs. Mike Lemmons (1-5, 5.90 ERA)
Travis Garrett (2-1, 4.35 ERA) vs. Brian Tombs (1-4, 6.55 ERA)
Jonathan Toner (3-1, 3.32 ERA) vs. Carlos Barron (1-3, 3.60 ERA)

We will get to see three right-handers in this series. And if you lot don’t take this ****ing series, I can promise you there will be blood.

Before we can throw ourselves into the opener, there is another roster move to dissect. Josh Stevenson was placed on the DL, the Druid having put his left arm into a sling as opposed to Nunley’s right. The one-armed bunch tried to knot their shoes together in the clubhouse before the Friday game, but actually managed to knot them *together*. No serious injuries resulted from the inevitable fall, but they were ordered to wear flip-flops after that. Stevenson should miss about two weeks, and we called up Kevin DeWald, who batted a hearty .170 in St. Petersburg.

Game 1
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – SS McKnight – C Margolis – CF Metts – 3B Aponte – P Foreman
SAL: CF Mora – LF Vigil – RF Ellis – 1B Harenberg – 2B Jankowski – C Galan – SS Getchell – 3B Lindsey – P Lemmons

A throwing error by Matt Lindsey allowed the Critters to score an unearned run in the first inning. Yoshi reached second on the terrible throw, advanced on Mendoza’s single and scored on Hamilton’s groundout. The Wolves got a leadoff double by Abel Mora – which sent Mendoza crashing into the fence in rightfield – but would strand the runner when Ignacio Vigil, Nate Ellis, and Kevin Harenberg struck out in succession against Foreman. There wasn’t another offensive threat until the fourth, if you can call a leadoff single by McKnight that much. In any case, Margolis cleaned the bases with another double play just before Dwayne Metts doubled to right. The Wolves walked Aponte intentionally for whatever reason, but Lemmons then brushed Foreman ever so slightly with a 3-2 pitch, sending Foreman to first and bringing up an 0-2 Cookie with the bases loaded. Lemmons was now a bid out of sync with himself and forced in a run with a hapless walk to Carmona, 2-0. Nomura struck out, though. Foreman also seemed to have been scared a bit by the hit-by-pitch, walking the bases loaded in the bottom of the inning. Yoshi redeemed himself, cutting off a vicious grounder by Mike Getchell to turn it into the third out before the Wolves could get on the board.

While Lemmons remained an annoyingly tough chew for the Raccoons, who usually loved to chew ANYTHING, Foreman’s middle innings were not something to be watched by those faint of heart. He hit Vigil to start the sixth, just before Ellis hit a ball damn hard to right. Mendoza made the catch on the track. Harenberg singled, and Foreman was about to come out when Todd Jankowski hit into a double play, protecting the fragile 2-0 advantage. Top 7th, Yoshi led off with a double to the rightfield corner, but Mendoza immediately began to take out steam, grounding out to short and keeping Yoshi at second base. Here the Wolves tried to be clever and provoke a double play by walking Hamilton intentionally to get to McKnight, who grounded to first, but Harenberg completely butchered the play and had the ball run up his arm and drop behind him. All hands were safe on the error, bringing Margolis to the plate with the bags full and one out. First pitch, hard grounder to second, double play. OH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!

If it was any consolation – AND IT WAS HARDLY ANY – the Wolves were just as inept. (The question was whether you ever wanted to be ‘just as inept as the Wolves’…) The Wolves had two on in the bottom 7th after singles by Armando Galan (off Foreman, who quickly vanished) and Lindsey (off Boynton). Jeff Kaiser ran a 3-1 count on Tom Grahl, hitting for Lemmons, who then grounded to Yoshi for a double play. With left-hander Beau Barnaby in the game in the eighth inning and Zuhlke working a leadoff walk in Metts’ spot the Coons tried to be clever and told Aponte to bunt. Bunting he did, right into a force at second. Eddie Jackson hit for Kaiser and sent a fly to left that became a double between Vigil and Mora, but Aponte had to hold at third base. THAT COULDA BEEN A RUN!! Cookie was up, 0-for-3 and struggling to extend a 10-game hitting streak, and popping out on a 2-1 pitch. GAAAAHHH!!! Which was where ineptness became a factor. 1-2 on Yoshi with two down, Barnaby balked Aponte across home plate when he suddenly had to sneeze with his foot on the rubber. Yoshi flew out to center eventually. I was about to run out of heart medication when the Raccoons at least quickly closed out the game. Sugano got four outs, Bricker got two, the Wolves remained shut out. 3-0 Raccoons. Mendoza 2-4, BB; Jackson (PH) 1-1, 2B; Foreman 6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 6 K, W (3-2);

Woe the sorry Wolves fans, who have to watch THAT team every night…

Game 2
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – SS McKnight – 3B Zuhlke – CF DeWald – C Olivares – P Garrett
SAL: CF Mora – LF Vigil – RF Ellis – 1B Harenberg – 2B Jankowski – C Galan – SS Getchell – 3B Lindsey – P Tombs

Cookie singled and was caught stealing in the first inning, which eventually cost Ronnie McKnight a grand slam. Tombs walked two before McKnight clobbered a hanging slider into the upper regions of the rightfield stands, giving Garrett an instant 3-0 lead. Could have been 4-0, though. Hamilton would make it 4-0 in the third, plating Cookie Carmona from second base with a single. Cookie had singled again himself and had been moved to second by a Mendoza walk. While Garrett had a solid foundation here and only allowed two base runners and no runs in the first three innings, the Oregon weather soon began to impede proceedings. It had rained earlier in the morning, and rain returned by the third inning. The middle of the fourth inning ended up lasting over 30 minutes, as the tarp came on just as the Coons were to take the field. Play resumed after the delay, Garrett back out on the mound. It was immediately obvious that he had lost it all during the delay. Nate Ellis hit the hardest ball yet off him, a leadoff single to right, and Kevin Harenberg ran a 3-1 count before legging out an infield single against Olivares. Zuhlke started a double play on a sharp grounder by Jankowski to help Garrett out of the inning, but this 4-0 lead was far from secure…

The Wolves failed to take advantage of two walks in the fifth inning, and that was the last chance they got against Garrett. Eddie Jackson hit for him (and grounded out) with two outs and runners on the corners in the sixth inning. While the Raccoons’ offensive attempts in the late innings were properly described as the clumsy stirring of three-year olds for the W in their letter soup, at least the bullpen managed to get through the Wolves with minimal turbulences. Sugano put a man on and got one out. Chun got four outs for one runner, and Kaiser got four more outs and allowed nobody to get on base. Will West pitched quick and painless ninth. 4-0 Furballs. Carmona 4-5; McKnight 2-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Kaiser 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

In the Portland Edition of Believe it or Not, despite barely managing to put their pants on the right way the Raccoons had staggered back into the lead in the CL North thanks to the Loggers losing consecutive games to the Capitals…

Game 3
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – SS McKnight – C Margolis – CF Metts – 3B Petracek – P Toner
SAL: CF Mora – LF Vigil – RF Ellis – 1B Harenberg – 2B Jankowski – C Galan – SS Getchell – 3B Lindsey – P Barron

The Critters still had not been involved in any series sweep this year, and if there was a game crying out for it, it was going to be this one. Toner had shown an upwards trend in his Monday start, and the Wolves had yet to score in the series, so what could even go wrong?

For starters, the game got off a bit like the opener, with a wild throw by Lindsey costing the Wolves an unearned run in the first inning. Mendoza got to second base on a ball deposited into the stands and scored from there on Hamilton’s single up the middle. Toner retired the Wolves in order in the first inning, whiffing two, but drilled Harenberg to give them a runner right away in the second. With one out, Galan and Getchell both singled to left to load the bases, but Lindsey struck out and after that Barron, a career .129 batter, was readily victimized at Toner’s leisure. The Wolves remained shut out in the third game of the set, but they wouldn’t remain forever. In fact, they turned Toner inside out in the third. Mora led off with a single, Toner drilled Vigil, and Harenberg tied the game with an RBI double. Jankowski’s run-scoring groundout and Galan’s RBI single gave the Wolves a 3-1 lead over the routinely hapless Raccoons.

Breaking out of routines in the fourth, the Raccoons roared right back past the Wolves with a crooked number of their own. Hamilton led off with a double to center in an 0-2 count and was singled in by Margolis. Metts walked, bringing up Petracek, with Barron’s first pitch hanging in the fat zone of the plate and getting tattooed to deep center and past the otherwise pesky Mora. The long double scored both runners and flipped the score back in the Coons’ favor, 4-3. Toner grounded out, and Cookie was beaten by Jankowski’s throw on a bang-bang play to end the inning. Three singles in the fifth scored an add-on run driven in by Margolis. Toner soldiered through the middle innings on a rocky path, but managed to keep Getchell on base after the latter’s leadoff double in the bottom 6th.

Mendoza hit a leadoff double of his own in the seventh, with Barron then being told to put on Hamilton intentionally. McKnight fouled out, Margolis hit into a double play, and Toner departed after he hit his third batter, and Vigil for the second time, to start the bottom 7th. The pen couldn’t cope, and the run scored on two singles, getting the Wolves back to 5-4. There was another double play in the top 8th, but I can’t go into the details anymore… Top 9th, the Raccoons faced right-hander Jorge Beltran as they brought up the top of the order. Cookie walked, Yoshi flew out to left. Mendoza found the gap for a double, but it was a close call and Cookie had to hold at second for a while for the ball to fall in and couldn’t score. Hamilton got four wide ones *again*, pulling up McKnight, who grounded an 0-2 to second base, where Quinn Jewell picked the ball and fired home to kill off Cookie. Margolis had been removed in a double switch, and Jackson batted for Bricker, but struck out, leaving three BLOODY runners on base. This 5-4 was all Lillis’ to run and have fun with now, facing the Wolves’ own backup catcher in the #9 hole to begin the bottom 9th. Bobby Farnell struck out, but Abel Mora reached when Yoshi bungled his grounder for an error. One pitch was enough to pop up Vigil for the second out to be made in foul ground, and Lillis really wasn’t into any more games here, and struck out Ellis on three pitches with the mean stuff. 5-4 Blighters. Mendoza 2-5, 2 2B; Hamilton 2-3, 2 BB, 2B, RBI; Margolis 2-4, 2 RBI; Metts 2-4;

In other news

May 4 – New York’s Hwa-pyung Choe (1-2, 2.95 ERA) throws a 2-hit shutout against their division rivals, the Titans. Choe strikes out four in the 6-0 Crusaders win.
May 4 – All of the Loggers’ starting position players have multiple hits as they strangle the Indians in a 14-0 shredding, but only 1B Ron Tadlock (.234, 0 HR, 8 RBI) has more than two, hitting safely three times with a double and 2 RBI.
May 5 – Down 11-6 going into the bottom of the ninth, the Rebels rally back past the Capitals with a double, an error, an intentional walk, and five singles to claim a 12-11 walkoff win on the 2-out single by LF/CF Danny Flores (.265, 2 HR, 14 RBI).
May 6 – Between their six games on Wednesday, the Federal League sees two rainouts and two 1-0 road wins by the Gold Sox over the Wolves and by the Warriors over the Pacifics. SFW C Jerrod Luckert (.224, 5 HR, 17 RBI) hits a 420-footer for the only offense in the latter game.
May 8 – Condors and Scorpions play a wild one in Sacramento that the defending champions from the Inland Empire win 15-8. The best individual performance of the day is however delivered by a Condor, with 2B/SS Howard Read (.358, 3 HR, 16 RBI) connecting for five base hits, including a double, and drives in two runs.
May 8 – The Falcons put the hurt on the Cyclones in a 14-2 rout. They score in all but two innings, with 4-hit contributions by 3B Tom Thomas (.257, 0 HR, 10 RBI) and LF/RF Ryan Feldmann (.307, 5 HR, 19 RBI) while RF/LF Travis Benson (.314, 7 HR, 27 RBI) drives in five with three hits, including a homer and a double.

Complaints and stuff

A rash of injuries – 20% of the Opening Day roster ain’t nothing – but we are still somewhat lucky that all the ailments are somewhat temporary. We should have everyone back by about the 20th to 25th. The injuries do not excuse the substandard play, though. They played substandardly even before the injuries…

Just look at that weak CL North. We should be better than this. Also, for giggles, there are FOUR teams in the CL South with a better record than the Coons.

Well, how bad is Jonny Toner, objectively? If you had told me before the season that by May him and Garrett would have roughly the same ERA I would have been excited for Tragic Travis. But as it is, Toner is just … well, he has struck out 59 in 44 innings, which is something all other pitchers would die for. His ERA is 3.68 which isn’t remotely close to his career numbers. But it is not the defense that is killing him; the BABIP is .292, which is higher than in previous years, but still favorable for a pitcher. The WHIP is 1.07, which again is higher than ever, but also something that most pitchers would die for. Walks are up *slightly*. He has allowed two home runs, so it’s not that, either.

Can we agree on one of those gypsy curses? Can we burn something in effigy to help it?

ABL CAREER STRIKEOUT LEADERS
75th – Manny Ramos – 1,846
76th – Neil Stewart – 1,842 – HOF
77th – Xavier Mayes – 1,833
78th – Anibal Sandoval – 1,832
79th – Eduardo Jimenez – 1,830
80th – Jonathan Toner – 1,829 – active
81st – Dan Moriarty – 1,828
82nd – Alfredo Collazo – 1,827
83rd – Dave Crawford – 1,816
[…]
90th – Lou Corbett – 1,733
91st – Daniel Dickerson – 1,730
92nd – Henry Becker – 1,729
93rd – Billy Robinson – 1,728 – HOF
94th – Larry Cutts – 1,714
95th – Hector Santos – 1,702 – active
96th – Carlos Guillén – 1,699
97th – Paul Kirkland – 1,698
98th – Samuel McMullen – 1,695 – active

Of the players newly appearing on Toner’s radar we have two not very memorable journeymen in Ramos, who spent some time with the Elks in the 90s, and Mayes, who split a 13-year career between four teams in the CL South, most prominently with the Knights. He finished 134-123 with a 4.06 ERA, but the only thing he ever led the league in was in home runs allowed, achieving that twice in ’82 and ’90.

Neil Stewart is one of the Loggers’ numerous Hall of Famers, although it was hard to assign a team for him, since he never really stayed anywhere for all that long. He eventually settled on the Loggers as to wear their insignia on his plaque, having made his debut with them in 1984, despite his biggest success coming with the Indians in the mid-90s when he led the Continental League in wins three years in a row from 1993 through 1995. He won the Pitcher of the Year award in the last of those seasons, going 24-4 with a 2.89 ERA. Overall he won 237 games and lost 183 with a 3.45 ERA. He was not much of a strikeout pitcher, never even reaching 150. He reached his season-high in his POTY season with 145 over a whopping 264.1 innings.

Two more losing teams are on the plate for the Coons next week as they will face the Cyclones and the Indians at the start of their 2-week homestand. Said homestand commences on Tuesday and opens a string of 16 games without an off day.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (17-13) vs. Cyclones (14-16) – May 11-13, 2021

The Raccoons hadn’t lost a series to the Cyclones in ten years, but actually only had played them twice in that space of time, and not once in the last four years. They were scoring quite well, ranking fourth in the Federal League in runs tallied, with an impressive .281 batting average, but their pitching was … a problem. They were ranked last in runs allowed with 165 – which was an impressive 5.5 runs per game – with the main issue being a completely eroded bullpen that had piled up a 6.28 ERA ruining everything their mediocre starting pitching tried to keep together in terms of wins.

Projected matchups:
Hector Santos (3-1, 3.34 ERA) vs. Chris Munroe (2-1, 4.19 ERA)
Tadasu Abe (1-1, 4.03 ERA) vs. Jay Schimek (2-2, 5.23 ERA)
Michael Foreman (3-2, 1.52 ERA) vs. Fred Dugo (3-0, 2.88 ERA)

Three right-handers coming up; there were a number of familiar names to the Cyclones, like Tuesday’s starter Chris Munroe, a former Coon. Another ex-Coon (though briefly) was on the DL in SP A.J. Bartels, and they also had former Loggers terror Victor Hodgers on the DL. He had batted .326 in the first 13 games of the season.

The Raccoons had activated Tadasu Abe from the DL on Monday, waiving and DFA’ing Will West. Abe had ended up missing two starts, and the Raccoons had only been forced to cover for one of those with Ricky Martinez thanks to the off days in between. We are still without Stevenson and Nunley for the entire week as we start a 13-game homestand and 16-day stretch without an off day.

Game 1
CIN: CF Maiello – C A. Gonzales – 1B Moreira – SS Showalter – 3B E. Moreno – LF Kuramoto – RF Webb – 2B St. George – P Munroe
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – SS McKnight – C Margolis – CF Metts – 3B Zuhlke – P Santos

Any week that started with a leadoff jack by Nando Maiello (.430 OBP) off Hector Santos was bound to be a long and sad one. The good news was that while Santos was allowing a lot of fat contact, the Raccoons were quick to punch holes into Chris Munroe. Cookie singled, Yoshi walked, and Hamilton singled to plate Cookie to tie the game in the first, and the second inning started with Dwayne Metts working a leadoff walk and an RBI double by Adam Zuhlke and then devolved into an endless procession of singles that piled a total of four runs on Munroe and gave the Coons a 5-1 lead. While the Cyclones were hitting the ball well, they actually didn’t get another hit off Santos until the fourth, an Alfonso Gonzales single to center. The Raccoons turned them away there, and Matt Hamilton was up for the third time in the bottom 4th and had an RBI for the third time, plating Mendoza with a 2-out RBI double that extended the lead to 6-1. While Munroe wasn’t seen after the inning, the Raccoons put a run on reliever Dave Hogan (who already came in with an ERA over eight) in the fifth, which was opened oddly enough by a Margolis triple. Metts grounded out to score him. Maiello meanwhile continued to be a pest and hit a leadoff single in the sixth. He tried to get his 18th (!!) stolen base of the season, but was thrown out by Margolis. The Cyclones only got back to Santos when they finally hit one outta here, Eddie Moreno nailing his sixth home run of the season with a 2-out solo shot off Santos in the top of the seventh inning. Santos was gone after a leadoff walk to PH Jose Flores in the eighth inning, and when Jeff Boynton came in, things rapidly got worse. Maiello singled, and Luis Moreira hit a 3-piece that axed the Coons’ lead to 7-5.

Noah Bricker game in and struck out Andrew Showalter before we went to Lillis. Moreno was retired on a long fly to Kevin DeWald in center, who had entered along with Lillis in a double switch. Bottom 8th, new pitcher Justin Stewart put two on with an error on Zuhlke’s grounder and by hitting DeWald. Cookie hit into a fielder’s choice, then was caught stealing for the sixth time in a row. Yoshi walked, and Mendoza put things right with a 3-run homer to right center. With a new 5-run lead, Lillis was taken out of the game for the ninth. Adam Cowen replaced him in a bold move that was surely going to backfire instantly. Yasuhiro Kuramoto hit a leadoff single to left, Jim Webb singled to right, but the Cyclones made the cardinal error of making the first out at third base. Kuramoto tried to get the extra base, Mendoza was not a fan of that and threw him out. Stephen St. George hit into a game-ending grounder to short. 10-5 Raccoons. Mendoza 3-5, HR, 3 RBI; Hamilton 3-5, 2B, 3 RBI;

Now, what’s wrong with Jeff Boynton? He has a 6.52 ERA by now. That million bucks looks like a really bad investment by now, although it is hard to judge someone with a .379 BABIP against them.

Mendoza is first to 20 RBI on the team. That took a while…

Game 2
CIN: CF Maiello – RF W. Jones – 1B Moreira – SS Showalter – 3B E. Moreno – LF Kuramoto – C J. Flores – 2B St. George – P Schimek
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – SS McKnight – C Margolis – CF Metts – 3B Zuhlke – P Abe

The Coons were up for a disappointment after Cookie singled and Yoshi doubled to start the bottom of the first inning. Neither Mendoza nor Hamilton got the ball past the pitcher for easy, pin-down-the-runners outs, and McKnight’s fly to left was easy pickings for Kuramoto, who would reach on Zuhlke’s 2-out error in the top of the second and score on a double into the left-center gap by Jose Flores, and that was only the beginning. The Cyclones turned Abe inside out in the third inning with a pair of 2-out, 2-run home runs, first by Showalter (#10 on the year) and after Moreno singled, Kuramoto hit another one. That put the Cyclones 5-0 ahead, sent Abe’s ERA over five, and left me a bit concerned with the Coons trying to cobble a 5-game winning streak together.

Bottom 3rd, Cookie and Yoshi again opened with a pair of base hits. Mendoza hit into a double play, and at that point you could pretty much lean back and accept the defeat that was coming your way. Abe allowed a leadoff single to St. George in the fourth, which put him one sad expression away from getting removed, but St. George was left on base partly due to Jay Schimek striking out trying to bunt, and Abe got out of the inning. The Coons sprung onto the board in the bottom 4th with a 3-run homer hit by Adam Zuhlke, who had found Margolis and Metts on the corners. Abe made it through the middle innings, but the Coons couldn’t get anything from the top of their order on this Wednesday. Margolis though hit another double, the second in as many at-bats coming leading off the bottom of the sixth. Metts and Zuhlke failed to get him in, prompting Eddie Jackson to bat for Abe. Jackson came through with an RBI double to left, but Cookie flew out to center, leaving the tying run on base. But just when there was actual hope for a real comeback, the Coons’ pen dashed it. Chun couldn’t get anybody out in the seventh, starting with a double by the somehow-still-alive Schimek up the rightfield line, Kaiser was no relief, and with the bases loaded Bricker allowed a 2-run single to Showalter to extend the Cyclones’ lead to 7-4 again.

Bottom 7th, Yoshi led off with a triple into the gap in left center, which was noteworthy for any old man. Mendoza hit a sac fly, 7-5, and then Hamilton hit one outta here, 7-6. Why was Schimek still in the game? Did the Cyclones have more faith in a mediocre starter than their rancid pen? Maybe they had too much faith. After a soft McKnight out, Margolis hit yet another double, pulling up Metts with the tying run in scoring position. Still no relief in sight for Schimek, who threw an 0-1 fastball right down the middle and Dwayne Metts got ALL of it, hitting it 360 feet into the tenth row of the rightfield stands near the foul pole. That actually and really flipped the score in the Coons’ favor for the first time in the game, 8-7.

Maybe the reason the Cyclones wouldn’t go to the pen until now was really the pen itself. Jack Sander, a 25-year old right-hander with a 10.00 ERA appeared, allowed pinch-hit singles to Petracek and Olivares, then walked Cookie to load them up for Yoshi, who sadly bounced out to St. George. Unfortunately the Raccoons had already picked their pen thin in the seventh and Bricker had been hit for. Boynton was back out, allowed a triple to Jim Webb and Maiello’s RBI single promptly blew the lead. Margolis caught Maiello stealing again, but Boynton allowed a third hit, a single to Winston Jones. Sugano came out to face the lefty, but would encounter a right-handed pinch-hitter in Gonzales, who grounded out to short to end the inning. After the Coons left two in the bottom 8th, Sugano had to pitch the ninth. He faced only one left-hander, who ironically was the only one to reach base as Eddie Moreno singled past Petracek at third base. The Cyclones sent southpaw Nestor Munoz into the bottom of the ninth, their closer, despite them not holding a lead. Munoz held the Coons at bay in the ninth, sending the game to extra innings, where Brett Lillis despaired me by walking a pair and surrendering the go-ahead run on a bloop single by Luis Reya, a 41-year old backup that had just announced his retirement. The Coons scratched on Munoz’ legs for sure in the bottom 10th. Mendoza led off with an infield single and after Hamilton struck out, McKnight hit a hard single to right. Mendoza reached third, putting runners on the corners for a 5-for-5 Danny Margolis. ALL OR NOTHING!! SHOW US, DANNY!! Nothing it was, with Margolis lifting a ball out to Winston Jones. Mendoza tagged and went for home, and found the ball arriving a good bit sooner than himself, being tagged out by Flores. 9-8 Cyclones. Carmona 2-5, BB; Nomura 3-6, 2B; McKnight 2-6; Margolis 5-6, 3 2B; Metts 2-5, 2 RBI; Petracek (PH) 1-2; Jackson (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI; Olivares (PH) 1-1; Aponte (PH) 1-1;

There were three base hits in the #9 hole in this game, and only two in the 3-4 slots. Those two suckers lost the game, not Margolis.

This was Reya’s first hit of the season…

Game 3
CIN: CF Maiello – C A. Gonzales – 1B Moreira – SS Showalter – 3B E. Moreno – LF Kuramoto – RF W. Jones – 2B St. George – P Dugo
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – SS McKnight – C Margolis – 3B Petracek – CF DeWald – P Foreman

In a noticeable change of developments, neither team got a base hit the first time through the order, as each team sent their best starter by ERA into the rubber game. Both walked a batter in the first three innings, neither team got theirs around to score. Gonzales would hit a leadoff single in the fourth, Foreman walked Luis Moreira, and I expected nothing but pain from there, but somehow the Cyclones couldn’t get another ball to fall in. Kuramoto hit a hard fly to center with two outs, but DeWald made a running catch in the far outfield regions, keeping runners on the corners. For the first time in the series the Critters would score first, lifting a pair of solo home runs out of right center in the bottom of the fourth. Mendoza hit the first one, and McKnight followed that up with a 2-out shot.

Foreman didn’t actually strike anybody out until he got Maiello swinging to end the fifth with St. George in scoring positon. In the bottom of the inning, Foreman came to bat with Petracek on second base after singling and stealing second base and hit a bouncer up the middle for an RBI single to center. Cookie swiftly hit into a double play as this started become a black week for him. Foreman was finally tagged in the sixth when the Cyclones put three consecutive batters on base with two outs, Foreman issuing a single, a walk, and then an RBI single to Kuramoto. McKnight found his way into a double play in the bottom of the sixth after the Cyclones had walked Hamilton intentionally after Mendoza’s groundout had moved Yoshi Nomura to second base. Foreman was knocked out in the seventh, St. George and Gonzales hitting singles to appear on the corners with two outs. Sugano came out for Moreira, but only got to see Flores as right-handed pinch-hitter. Flores was batting a paltry .170, fell to 0-2, but Sugano couldn’t remove him. Flores eventually hit a sharp grounder to the left side, but Petracek got paws on it and went the short way to force out Gonzales at second, ending the inning. Bricker was unavailable, so the Raccoons had to make do with Seung-mo Chun (5.23 ERA…) in the eighth inning. That one went wrong quicker than anticipated, with Showalter and Kuramoto hitting doubles that brought the score to 3-2 with the tying run at second base with one out. Still, there was no Bricker to send in. Adam Cowen was available. Okay, we’ll lose. For starters, Jones grounded out, but St. George flared a single to right that tied the score with Kuramoto coming around to score. Dugo struck out, but in exchange retired the top of the Raccoons’ order in the bottom 8th. Cowen was back in the ninth, walked Maiello to start that inning, and Maiello got back at Margolis by stealing two bases to score on Luis Reya’s sac fly to left. Bottom 9th, Munoz retired Hamilton, but both McKnight and Margolis hit singles. The winning run was on, but Eddie Jackson had already been used. Zuhlke hit for Petracek, struck out, Olivares hit for DeWald, and grounded out to second. 4-3 Cyclones. McKnight 2-4, HR, RBI; Foreman 6.2 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K and 1-3, RBI;

(lies motionless and face-down on the couch)

(silence)

Raccoons (18-15) vs. Indians (14-21) – May 14-16, 2021

The Indians were 2-1 against the Raccoons this season, which immediately filled be with foreboding. They were thoroughly average to mediocre, ranking seventh in runs scored and eighth in runs allowed, but that only meant that they had a few overdue wins in them. We were surely doomed to be swept.

Projected matchups:
Travis Garrett (3-1, 3.75 ERA) vs. Tom Shumway (0-5, 3.71 ERA)
Jonathan Toner (4-1, 3.68 ERA) vs. Jared D’Attilo (2-2, 3.68 ERA)
Hector Santos (4-1, 3.43 ERA) vs. Dan Lambert (4-2, 3.13 ERA)

When I mean ‘overdue wins’ I mean Shumway. He is also a left-hander which means god-knows-what. I don’t feel like anything I’m doing has any predictable outcome anymore…

The other two starters are right-handed (and Toner and D’Attilo matching ERA’s is disconcerting to say the least), with the Indians’ other southpaw Tristan Broun (1-3, 3.65 ERA) not appearing in this series.

Game 1
IND: CF D. Morales – 2B B. Reyes – 1B M. Rucker – RF C. Martinez – LF Genge – SS Matias – 3B Ruggeri – C T. Delgado – P Shumway
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Jackson – 1B Hamilton – C Margolis – SS McKnight – 3B Zuhlke – CF Metts – P Garrett

Danny Morales hit a leadoff jack – like Maiello had done three days earlier – and that was that. The Indians would soon enough bury “Tragic” Garrett under a pile of runs, scoring three more in the third inning in which Garrett walked Bob Reyes, hit Cesar Martinez, and then succumbed to a 2-out, 2-run triple by Lowell Genge and the subsequent RBI single to center by Raul Matias. Shumway retired the first 11 batters before Jackson dipped a single into center. Hamilton flew out gingerly, and the Indians tacked on a run in the fifth after Garrett issued a leadoff walk. Genge hit an RBI single eventually. Down 5-0, the Coons loaded the bases in the bottom 5th with walks drawn by McKnight and Zuhlke and then a single snuck into leftfield by Dwayne Metts. Mendoza batted for Garrett right there, because what else could we be waiting for, but couldn’t do more than hit an RBI single to left. Cookie flew out to center, runners held, and the last run of the inning was pushed in when Yoshi walked. Jackson grounded out to D.J. Ruggeri, keeping the Coons 5-2 behind. Two scoreless innings allowed troubled Jeff Boynton to drop his ERA from 6.97 to a much more pleasant (…) 5.84 mark. Cowen and Kaiser would also find scoreless innings at the bottom of their lunch boxes, but the Raccoons never could get the offense going in the entire game. There was one spot with Hamilton on base and Margolis hitting a fly deep to right, but that one also dropped into Cesar Martinez’ glove and there just wasn’t a comeback from the “Tragic” early deficit. 5-2 Indians. Mendoza (PH) 1-1, RBI; Aponte (PH) 1-2; Boynton 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K;

Tragic indeed. Wake me up when they win. – No, Maud, Jonny has been horrible, I don’t care whether it’s game time. I go to bed now. – No, you can’t make me!

Game 2
IND: CF D. Morales – 2B B. Reyes – 1B M. Rucker – RF C. Martinez – LF Genge – SS Matias – C T. Delgado – 3B Ruggeri – P D’Attilo
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – SS McKnight – C Margolis – CF Metts – 3B Aponte – P Toner

Cookie finally stole a base again, although this was mostly due to Tony Delgado’s throwing error on his attempt in the first inning. The Critters loaded the bases with no outs and without a hit, drawing two walks before D’Attilo hit Mendoza in the arm, but without dire consequences. And D’Attilo would not make an out for a long, long time. Hamilton rammed a hard single past a diving Mike Rucker to score Carmona, and McKnight singled to center to bring home Yoshi. The first pitch to Margolis was right in the middle of the zone and was tattooed with a bang to centerfield by Margolis, high, deep, higher, deeper, and out of the deepest part of the park – GRAAAAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAAMMM!!!

The first out would actually be Aponte, who flew out to left after Metts had singled. Toner bunted, but Cookie’s liner to right was caught by Martinez to end the 6-run first. Margolis came to the plate with the bases loaded and one out in the second inning, Mendoza and Hamilton having walked against the hapless D’Attilo before McKnight singled to left, and he hit another ball pretty dang hard, but this one stayed in the park and was caught by Lowell Genge in leftfield, holding Margolis to a sac fly. Jonny Toner meanwhile retired the first seven with two strikeouts before D.J. Ruggeri hit a double to right. Nothing came of that, as reliever Rafael Urbano surrendered himself and Morales struck out. While Hamilton batted with three on and two out in the bottom 3rd against Urbano, but grounded out, the Indians had only two more runners against Toner inside the first five innings. Bob Reyes hit a leadoff single in the fourth, but was stranded, and Delgado walked with one out in the fifth, but was doubled off when Cookie made a near-impossible catch on Ruggeri’s dying blooper in shallow left. Delgado was caught near second base and retired on your household 7-3 double play. McKnight’s RBI single stretched the lead to 8-0 in the bottom 5th, and after six the Coons hauled in a few regulars, with Cookie, McKnight, and Mendoza getting the rest of the day off.

Declaring a game over after six innings was always tempting fate. But Toner looked rock-solid in this game. While the pitch count (80 through six innings) was a bit too high for my taste, he had allowed only three runners and the Indians were still dry. In the seventh, Rucker led off and missed a jack to center not my all that much. Metts had played deep and that was the only reason he got all the way back to make a catch on the track. Toner retired the side in order after all, and the Coons reached double digits in the bottom of the inning against Manny Ortega, who waved Yoshi and Petracek onto the bases before allowing Hamilton to double into the left-center gap for two runs, 10-0. Hamilton never got off second base, and Toner didn’t make it through eight, allowing a 1-out single to Delgado. He struck out Ruggeri, but the Indians sent left-hander Leo Otero to pinch-hit, and his pitch count was at 109 and that was a good time to call it a day. Kaiser ended the inning despite a walk to Otero; Morales grounded out. There was still time in the game for Yoshi Nomura’s first homer of the season, a 2-out, 2-run shot off Miguel Morales that collected Eddie Jackson. Chun retired the side in order in the ninth, and the Furballs romped the Arrowheads by a dozen. 12-0 Raccoons! Jackson 1-1; Nomura 2-4, 2 BB, HR, 2 RBI; Mendoza 0-1, 3 BB; Hamilton 2-3, 2 BB, 2B, 3 RBI; McKnight 3-4, 2 RBI; Margolis 1-2, 2 BB, HR, 5 RBI; Aponte 2-5; Toner 7.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 10 K, W (5-1);

That’s the Jonny Toner we all know and love!

The Raccoons would probably only see another left-hander on Thursday, so it wouldn’t hurt to give out an off day or two to everyday left-handed batters before that. Cookie had been more or less invisible the last few days and got Sunday off. Yoshi might sit out Monday, but we’ll have to see to that.

Game 3
IND: CF D. Morales – 2B B. Reyes – 1B M. Rucker – RF C. Martinez – LF Genge – SS Matias – C T. Delgado – 3B Ruggeri – P Lambert
POR: 2B Nomura – SS McKnight – LF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – RF Jackson – CF Metts – C Olivares – 3B Zuhlke – P Santos

Morales opened the game with a full-count walk, only to be caught stealing by Olivares. Santos retired the next six, including striking out the side in the second inning, before Ruggeri tagged him with a solo homer. Morales would hit a 2-out double in that third inning and scored when Bob Reyes singled up the middle to give the Arrowheads a 2-0 lead. Santos struck out nine in the first five innings, but still couldn’t prevent a few more high fly balls, which all were caught for now. The Raccoons however had been flummoxed by Lambert in the early innings, amounting only to a single and two walks in the first five frames.

Reyes and Rucker opened the sixth with singles and went to the corners, prompting the pitching coach to jog out to Santos and check on whether he had seen any good movies lately. One run would score on a flare single by Lowell Genge into shallow left, but Santos got out of the inning, his last, striking out ten overall. He was on a 3-0 hook, however, and the Raccoons so far hadn’t seemed inclined to change that. But Yoshi opened the bottom 6th with a double to center, and then Mendoza was there and knocked a 2-run homer to left center, cutting the gap to 3-2, and they would clamber into an opportunity to turn the game around in the seventh. Olivares, fighting for his job with several interesting options developing in St. Pete, opened the frame with a single to left. Cookie hit for Zuhlke, but hit into a fielder’s choice. Margolis hit for Boynton, hit a poor grounder, but Delgado’s throw to second base sailed and Cookie was safe on the error as Matias had to retrieve the ball in shallow center. But here came Yoshi, hit a ball sharply to short, and Matias had no problems turning that one for a double play… McKnight hit a leadoff single in the eighth, but Lambert’s last act in the game was collecting a 1-6-3 double play from Mendoza. When the Coons got the tying run on base again in the bottom 9th it was mainly because Olivares hung his fat, furry bum over home plate where Tony Lino hit it. Since Margolis had been used up already, there was no running for Olivares, and Guillermo Aponte pin-pointed the location of the shortstop precisely for a game-ending double play. 3-2 Indians. Nomura 2-4, 2B;

Welp.

In other news

May 13 – Buffaloes and Titans play for 19 innings and 5 1/2 hours before the Buffaloes scratch out a run in the top of the 19th inning to win 2-1. TOP 2B Chris Owen (.246, 3 HR, 13 RBI) drives in both of his team’s runs, 18 innings apart.
May 13 – The Loggers acquire SP Victor Arevalo (3-2, 3.04 ERA) from the Falcons for two prospects.
May 14 – SFW LF Zach Price (.265, 1 HR, 16 RBI) connects for all four legs of the cycle in a 4-hit, 4-RBI effort in the Warriors’ 9-3 win over the Gold Sox. The 67th ABL cycle is the fifth in Warriors history and the second Warriors cycle in under two years. Mike Rucker had done the honors to the Scorpions in 2019. The other Warriors cycler have been Corey Bird in 1978, Rafael Lopez in 1986, and Gil Gross in 2012.
May 14 – More pitching to the CL North as the Titans trade for the Condors’ SP John Schneider (4-0, 4.12 ERA), sending #78 prospect SS Jason Benedetto to Tijuana.
May 14 – NAS SP Brian Leser (2-1, 2.68 ERA) 3-hits the Buffaloes in a 5-0 shutout.
May 15 – The Knights scrape past getting no-hit by a Devin Hibbard (.193, 3 HR, 12 RBI) single while losing a 1-0 game to the Condors, with the winning run driven in by LF/RF/2B/3B Alfonso Rojas (.160, 0 HR, 1 RBI), who entered the game as injury replacement for LF Jimmy Eichelkraut (.269, 4 HR, 20 RBI).

Complaints and stuff

Many things went wrong this week. For starters, the Raccoons outscored the opposition, 37-26, but managed to lose four of six games, including three by a single run. That’s plenty of ‘wrong’ right there…

We are also third in runs scored, fourth in runs allowed, our run differential is +39, but we’re barely making the cut for a top-half record in the Continental League, currently virtually tied with the Thunder, who war 20-18 and FIFTH in the South. I have no explanations, you have to make up your own ****.

Price’s cycle this week was the ninth consecutive cycle hit by the road team. No player has cycled at home since TOP Jimmy Roberts in 2015. Also, eight of the last ten cycles and all of the last five have been hit for by a Federal League player. The Coons don’t quite know how a cycle looks like, not having been in one since 2009 when Adrian Quebell connected all the dots. We have always been more of a no-hitter team and have been in three of those since the Quebell cycle (2-1).

Tim Dunn threw another shutout this week, so maybe there’s your CL Pitcher of the Year with Toner regularly malfunctioning (although this WAS a nice comeback this week!) …

Margolis’ three doubles in the terrible loss on Wednesday does not tie a Raccoons record, which requires one to hit four doubles. This was achieved three times in team history, and not by players you normally put into a sentence with the word ‘greatness’. Glenn Johnston hit four doubles in a game in September of 1989, the month before he dropped Ed Parrell’s fly ball and lost a World Series that way. Daniel Richardson also did it in September, 11 years later, in his lone, rotten Raccoons season, and Chris Roberson was never a gain for anybody involved, but also once hit four doubles in a game in 2002. The most recent Raccoon to hit three doubles in a game had been Shane Walter in 2018.

ABL CAREER STRIKEOUT LEADERS
72nd – Greg Cain – 1,875
73rd – Mark Warburton – 1,861
74th – Jesus Bautista – 1,860
75th – Manny Ramos – 1,846
76th – Neil Stewart – 1,842 – HOF
77th – Jonathan Toner – 1,839 – active
78th – Xavier Mayes – 1,833
79th – Anibal Sandoval – 1,832
80th – Eduardo Jimenez – 1,830
[…]
89th – Pedro Alvarado – 1,738 – active, free agent
90th – Lou Corbett – 1,733
91st – Daniel Dickerson – 1,730
92nd – Henry Becker – 1,729
93rd – Billy Robinson – 1,728 – HOF
94th – Hector Santos – 1,717 – active
95th – Larry Cutts – 1,714
96th – Samuel McMullen – 1,702 – active
97th – Carlos Guillén – 1,699

The three new players appearing on Jonny’s to-pass list include one piece of the Titans’ dynasty around 2000 in Bautista, who was the 1997 CL Pitcher of the Year, but managed to lead the league in losses three times in a career that flamed out in his early 30s after a change to the Federal League. Despite being one of the best pitchers of the late 90s, he ended up with a losing record, 189-193, and a 3.90 ERA. The other two pitchers had long dropped out of my memory. Both pitched in the 80s and 90s; Cain exclusively with the Pacifics and Scorpions for a 153-160 record and 3.93 ERA without leading the league in anything but losses and balls (once each), and Warburton started his career with the Loggers, but was mostly a reliever before he got traded to Sacramento after the ’86 season. He also spent the rest of his career in FL West obscurity, and ended up with a 115-153 record and 4.63 ERA, leading the FL in walks twice in the late 80s, only to top the Federal League’s K/9 leaderboard in an otherwise traumatic age 34 season in 1996, going 12-8 with a 5.37 ERA with the Stars, who were indeed a prime offensive team then.

We always talk about strikeouts. Do we have any players on the career hits board?

ABL CAREER HITS LEADERS
t-30th – Bob Grant – 2,597
t-30th – Juan Ortíz – 2,597
32nd – Bob Hall – 2,589
33rd – Claudio Rojas – 2,584 – HOF
34th – Edgardo Garza – 2,575
35th – Ieyoshi Nomura – 2,550 – active
36th – Hector Garcia – 2,544 – active
37th – Juan Valentin – 2,543
38th – David Brewer – 2,529 – HOF

That is it. The entry qualification for the career top 100 currently is 2,060 base hits, and neither Mendoza nor Cookie are even within a year’s worth of hits from that. Mendoza has 1,682 for his career, Cookie has 1,602. Next-best on the Coons is Matt Nunley with exactly 500 less than Cookie.

And of course David Brewer is David Brewer, and we remember him well, but what is Claudio Rojas remembered for? He claims ownership to the two longest hitting streaks in ABL history, a 40-game streak with the Cyclones in 1980, and a 47-game streak with the Bayhawks in 1983.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (19-17) vs. Loggers (21-16) – May 17-20, 2021

Somehow, anyhow, these were the top two teams in a mediocre CL North, meeting for the first time in 2021. The Loggers had so far put the most runs on the board in the Continental League, and just enough to survive a mediocre rotation. Actually, that rotation also had help from the league-best relief corps, so overall a lot of things were going right for the Loggers right now, including everybody else playing ineptly. The Raccoons had taken the (regular) season series in each of the last two years with identical 12-6 records.

Projected matchups:
Tadasu Abe (1-1, 4.45 ERA) vs. Ron Bartlatt (0-0, 1.29 ERA)
Michael Foreman (3-2, 1.60 ERA) vs. Victor Arevalo (3-2, 3.04 ERA)
Travis Garrett (3-2, 4.39 ERA) vs. Ian Prevost (2-1, 3.60 ERA)
Jonathan Toner (5-1, 3.14 ERA) vs. Chris Sinkhorn (4-2, 2.18 ERA)

Do you avoid Prevost, who is after all probably their best starter, or Sinkhorn, the left-hander, or Julio San Pedro (5-2, 3.17 ERA), the opponent in the bedeviled tie-breaker game last October? Well, in this case San Pedro will not pitch in the series, but I’d much rather not see Prevost or Sinkhorn.

Game 1
MIL: 1B Tadlock – SS Burns – CF Coleman – RF Gore – 3B Velez – LF Cooper – 2B T. Stewart – C Wool – P Bartlatt
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – C Margolis – SS Zuhlke – CF Metts – 3B Petracek – P Abe

Ian Coleman led the league in batting average and hit a double his first time up to bump his clip to .417, but that one came with two outs and Brad Gore struck out to end the top of the first. Neither team showed much offense early on. Abe allowed two hits through four innings and Margolis’ leadoff double in the bottom of the fourth was only the Coons’ third base hit in the game, the other two having been Mendoza singles. Ron Bartlatt was a bit lucky after that, because he allowed two more hard drives to Adam Zuhlke and Dwayne Metts, but Coleman and Andrew Cooper took care of those. They were however deep enough to move Margolis around to score for the first run of the game. The lead had brevity to it: Cooper socked a 2-0 pitch well enough for a leadoff jack in the fifth, re-knotting the score right away. After contact against Abe got fatter by the inning, there wasn’t any contact at all in the seventh. Abe walked Gore, walked Alberto Velez, then walked to the showers. Jason Kaiser got into the game, got through Cooper and Stewart, but on 1-2 to Josh Wool surrendered the runs on a single to left. The Raccoons engorged themselves in little cakes in the dugout, and double plays on the field, Margolis hitting into one to end the sixth with Mendoza on, and Petracek eight-balling Zuhlke into oblivion in the seventh. Bartlatt continued in the eighth, throwing 1-out walks to Cookie and Yoshi, bringing up an unretired Hugo Mendoza with the tying runs aboard. Naturally, the world-renowned Ron Bartlatt would shrug off the puny challenge by the Raccoons’ middle of the order. Mendoza struck out. Hamilton struck out. Margolis worked a leadoff walk against Ian Ward in the ninth. McKnight hit for Zuhlke and popped out, and Jackson hit for Adam Cowen and hit into a double play. 3-1 Loggers. Mendoza 3-4;

That’s some raw misery right here…

We activated Matt Nunley off the DL for the Tuesday game, meaning that Guillermo Aponte’s days were counted for. He had collected six hits in 13 attempts while on the roster, meaning we could get rid of him just before the inevitable 1-for-27 stretch.

Game 2
MIL: 1B Tadlock – SS Burns – CF Coleman – RF Gore – 3B Velez – LF Cooper – 2B T. Stewart – C Wool – P Arevalo
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – SS McKnight – 1B Mendoza – 3B Nunley – C Margolis – RF Jackson – CF DeWald – P Foreman

Another day, another Coleman double in the first that didn’t cause harm ultimately, but be careful and don’t let empty plastic bags lie around in the dugout, otherwise we’ll have little Critters suffocating in them in secon- Nunley!! (frantically rips plastic bag off Nunley’s blue-hued head) …

Arevalo made his first Loggers start since arriving from Charlotte via trade. Before he retired someone as Logger, he loaded the bases, issuing two walks to start the game and then McKnight singled through on the right side. Mendoza scored a run with a groundout, while Nunley and Margolis both struck out, but Arevalo felt pity with the sorry creatures and plated them another run with a wild pitch while he already had Margolis down to his final strike. Two more scored in the second, one again only thanks to another wild pitch. Originally Foreman batted with nobody out and Jackson (walk) and DeWald (single) on the corners. He grounded up the middle, where Tyler Stewart’s only play was to first; Jackson scored. A wild pitch moved DeWald to third, from where he scored on Cookie’s groundout. 4-0 looked like a sure thing with Foreman, who would need approximately 25 innings to blow that lead given his ERA, but ultimately this was baseball, and there were no sure things in baseball. Andrew Cooper bombed Foreman in the fourth, getting the Loggers onto a 4-1 board. This was Cooper’s second home run of the series, and also of the season.

The Loggers had stranded a pair in the third and left Ron Tadlock on second base in the fifth when Coleman grounded out to short, so Foreman was far from untouchable. Maybe an add-on run wouldn’t be that bad of an idea. The Coons would have an opportunity – a pretty fat one actually – in the bottom of the fifth inning when they loaded the bases on an infield single that fooled the entire infield personnel and put Mendoza on with one out, followed by Nunley walking and Margolis singling to the left side. Jackson came up with a full plate, and Coons you’d expect to love full plates. So of course Eddie struck out. That sent up DeWald with two outs, a displaced AAA player who was already 2-for-2 in the game and wasn’t due another big league hit until 2022. He chipped a 2-2 pitch to right, past Stewart, in for a single, and it scored two indeed. Oh, why do I even think about stuff anymore? That single, pushing the score to 6-1, was the end for Arevalo in his Loggers debut, which could have gone better, especially given that Foreman(!) and Cookie both knocked 2-out base hits to score the runners he left on for Jimmy Van Meter, 8-1.

Foreman didn’t last much longer than Arevalo, though. Brad Gore was caught stealing after drawing a leadoff walk, but he just walked Velez and surrendered a single to Cooper, placing them on the corners. He had obviously lost the art of pitching while running the bases, and Jeff Boynton would come in and try his utmost, in this case actually succeeding with K’s to Stewart and Wool to end the inning. The Loggers’ stellar pen would continue to crumble, with Van Meter allowing two more runs in the sixth, and one run scoring in the seventh. The Raccoons’ pen would not be left alone, either, with Sugano in the eighth and Chun in the ninth both being tagged by a run. The biggest concern was with Cookie Carmona however, who injured himself running the bases in the seventh inning and had to be evaluated in thin slices by the medial staff. 11-3 Raccoons. Nomura 3-4, BB; Mendoa 2-4, RBI; Margolis 2-5, RBI; DeWald 3-4, 2 RBI; Zuhlke (PH) 1-1; Boynton 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

All of the starting nine had at least one base hit, and the team had 16 in total – all singles.

Also, Cookie had tweaked an oblique and that would not only hold him back for a few days, but probably keep him out of the next two or three games altogether. We’ll just be glad it’s nothing worse…

Game 3
MIL: 1B Tadlock – SS Burns – CF Coleman – RF Gore – 3B Velez – LF Cooper – 2B T. Stewart – C Wool – P Prevost
POR: 2B Nomura – 3B Nunley – LF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – SS McKnight – RF Jackson – CF Metts – C Olivares – P Garrett

Coleman didn’t get his double until the fourth inning, but then it was to lead off the frame in a scoreless contest, with both teams only managing to scratch a single hit off the opposing starter in the first three innings. Garrett struck out Gore to regain a degree of control before walking Alberto Velez, which was not an ace’s Plan A. But he got a bouncer back from Cooper, which he took for an out at second base, then got Stewart to ground out to Yoshi Nomura anyway, exiting the inning with runners on the corners. It started to rain soon after that, the typical good Portland spring weather in the first half of the year, right up to June 30, after which it would turn abruptly into fall. The rain forced a delay between the fourth and fifth innings that lasted about 30 minutes. Both pitchers returned afterwards, with Garrett delivering a scoreless top 5th before bunting Metts (single) and Olivares (single) into scoring position in the bottom 5th. Yoshi came up with one out, hit a pathetic grounder that scored nobody, and Nunley grounded out easily to Tadlock. Garrett found another zero somewhere for the top of the sixth, but that was probably all we could get for him after the rain delay. Support for his cause was not forthcoming, with Hamilton reacting to Mendoza’s leadoff walk in the bottom 6th with a perfect grounder for two to Tyler Stewart. Prevost put the Coons’ catchers on base with two outs, Margolis following up on Olivares’ walk with a pinch-hit single in the bottom of the seventh. Yoshi was just not getting it done today, however, and struck out.

Noah Bricker retired one batter, ex-Coon Jason Seeley, in the eighth inning before walking to the dugout right away. He had enough experience with injuries so he knew whenever his body had shed another vital part – and it had just so happened. Chun fooled another ex-Coon in “Dingus” Morales onto the bases with a single to right, and the 38-year old had the guts and speed to steal second base. Lillis came out to replace Chun with .411 Coleman appearing in the box and threw him hooks until Coleman submitted to his rule. Morales was stranded, and the game was still scoreless. The Raccoons got runners into scoring position against Robby Delikat in the bottom of the eighth before Brad Gore got the third out on a headlong dive to catch Eddie Jackson’s grounder, showing complete disregard for his own body integrity. Lillis fell apart in the ninth, conceding the go-ahead run on a huge Velez homer to left, then walked Cooper and drilled a pair in Stewart and 2-for-29 Brad Tesch. Somehow, Tony Ramos struck himself out, because there had been three runs ripe for driving in on the bases. Not that it mattered – the Raccoons were too ****ing inept to score anyway. 1-0 Loggers. Mendoza 1-2, 2 BB, 2B; McKnight 2-4, 2B; Margolis (PH) 1-1; Garrett 6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 K;

The Druid proclaimed that Noah Bricker had a mild calf strain after the game, and after measuring the circumference of his skull at nose height also announced that he only needed two to three days of rest to regain full strength.

At this point, the Raccoons were third in runs scored, third in runs allowed, and eighth in wins in the Continental League. Bricker will pitch when he feels ready. What’s another day here or there when all you can do to contain the urge to just end yourself by walking into the Willamette is to keep drinking, drinking, drinking?

Speaking of injuries, Josh Stevenson came off the DL in time for the Thursday game, sending Kevin DeWald (4-for-12) back to AAA.

Game 4
MIL: 1B Tadlock – SS Burns – CF Coleman – RF Gore – 3B Velez – 2B Stewart – LF Tesch – C Wool – P Sinkhorn
POR: 3B Nunley – RF Jackson – LF Mendoza – C Margolis – 1B Hamilton – CF Stevenson – SS McKnight – 2B Zuhlke – P Toner

Jonny Toner attainted the sought-after achievement of striking out four batters in an inning, doing so in the top of the second of the Thursday game. Brad Gore was the initial strikeout, but Margolis lost the ball between his legs and his lunch box and Gore legged it out to first base, which didn’t help him given that Toner would strike out Velez, Stewart, and Tesch in order, and all four strikeouts would be of the swinging variety. Those were also the only K’s for Toner the first time through, a tour that ended with a 1-out walk to Chris Sinkhorn in the third inning. Tadlock and Burns however were no match even after Sinkhorn stole second base, and both struck out. The Raccoons would score first thanks to Adam Zuhlke’s leadoff jack in the bottom 3rd, but Toner coughed up Coleman’s daily double to lead off the fourth inning, then drilled Gore. Velez was a big help here, hitting to Zuhlke for a double play, and Stevenson caught Stewart’s fly to center, stranding Coleman on third base.

Bottom of the fourth, Mendoza opened with a long fly to center, but not good enough to beat Coleman. Margolis walked and moved to second on Hamilton’s groundout. Stevenson singled to right and soft enough for Gore to take time to get there, allowing Margolis to score, 2-0. McKnight singled past a diving Stewart, and then Zuhlke hit a ball to deep center. Coleman didn’t get that, and it fell in for an RBI double. Toner had two in scoring position, but also two strikes on him with two down against Sinkhorn before he chopped a ball into play. Tadlock came in to play it and threw it behind the hustling Sinkhorn’s back for a 2-run error that sent the home crowd into a near-frenzy. Nunley grounded out, but Jonny Toner now held a 5-0 lead. Mendoza even added a run with a solo home run in the fifth inning, but the Loggers finally got a knock on Jonny in the sixth. Leadoff walk to Kyle Burns, then a single by Coleman on which Burns went to third, drew Jackson’s throw, and Coleman moved up to second in its shadow. Toner couldn’t recover from that, both runs scoring on the next two plays. Things only went south from here, with a leadoff single by Wool in the seventh. Tony Ramos came up with a pinch-hit RBI double, and Margolis put a man on with an error. When Burns grounded to Zuhlke, the Coons couldn’t turn two, and Toner left embattled in a 6-4 game with a man on first and Coleman (.414) in the box. Kaiser inherited the 1-out situation, and between a strikeout and two walks filled the bags for Tyler Stewart, who would face Boynton – and flew out to Mendoza. After another rain delay (splendid Portland weather!) Sugano struck out the bottom of the order in the eighth, with the Coons facing right-hander Ivan Morales in the bottom 8th. An insurance run would be nice! Margolis led off with a single before Hamilton popped out to make it to 0-for-12 in the series. Yoshi batted for Stevenson and singled up the middle, and McKnight walked to fill them up with one out. And here comes Cookie! Cookie with a bat! Batting for Zuhlke, he clipped a ball to shallow right, an RBI single! Petracek immediately ran for him while Metts batted for Sugano, hitting hard into a double play. Lillis ended the Loggers in 13 pitches. 7-4 Coons. Nomura (PH) 1-1; McKnight 2-3, BB; Zuhlke 3-3, HR, 2B, 2 RBI;

Raccoons (21-19) vs. Condors (24-17) – May 21-23, 2021

Sure, why not play both division leaders in the same week? That sounds like joy. The Condors came off consecutive 70-92 campaigns so it was a bit of a surprise to see them contend and have the best record in the Continental League in the middle of May. The Condors not only had the best rotation by ERA in the Continental League, they had also taken over the position of best pen in the league after the Loggers’ pen had been shackled – very selectively – by the Raccoons in the middle of the week. This also meant they had allowed the fewest runs in the CL. Offensively, they were more on the soft side, scoring only the ninth-most runs, and their run differential was a meager +13. For comparison, the Raccoons’ was +47, they just couldn’t harness that into anything remotely useful. This was the first meeting between the two teams in 2021, with the Raccoons having won the season series for four straight years, taking six out of nine games in 2020.

Projected matchups:
Hector Santos (4-2, 3.56 ERA) vs. Kyle Eilrich (2-2, 3.45 ERA)
Tadasu Abe (1-2, 4.46 ERA) vs. Rafael Cuenca (0-2, 5.40 ERA)
Michael Foreman (4-2, 1.52 ERA) vs. Jose Menendez (4-4, 3.37 ERA)

Eilrich would put us up against back-to-back left-handed starters. Their other four are all right-handers.

Cookie would be back in the lineup for the opener, with Hamilton getting the day off against Eilrich after a wholly rotten Loggers series that saw him drop his average to .279.

Game 1
TIJ: SS B. Rojas – 2B Read – 1B Saenz – CF Jamieson – RF Boggs – C Sanford – LF Larios – 3B Feery – P Eilrich
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Jackson – 1B Mendoza – C Margolis – SS McKnight – CF Stevenson – 3B Petracek – P Santos

Santos got whacked right in the first inning as the Condors scorched him for four hits, including three for extra bases, and three runs. Howard Read doubled, Omar Saenz homered, Robby Boggs doubled again, then scored on Pat Sanford’s single to left. And don’t make the mistake and think that the outs were soft, either. Sometimes you just know that the starter isn’t going to see the sixth inning, and this was one of those days. Sanford hit a monumental 3-piece in the third inning, and Santos wasn’t seen again by the fourth, his post taken over by Adam Cowen.

Finding the most staggering thing in the game was actually hard. While Santos had been hacked for six runs in three innings, Cowen’s first three innings in long relief were scoreless. Then there was the fact that the Condors made two errors before the Raccoons landed two base hits, and when Eddie Jackson batted with two unearned runs in scoring position and two outs in the bottom 5th, he of course grounded harmlessly to short. The Coons had actually scored a negligible run in the second inning following a Mendoza double, but they wouldn’t get back to the board until the sixth, when Mendoza led off with a single and Margolis crushed an Eilrich pitch to center for a 2-run homer. That still left them short by three, mind, and the following batters went down easily and would probably have done more harm to Eilrich had they tried to comb his hair.

Cowen threw 55 pitches which amounted to 3.2 innings of scoreless relief, leaving a man on base in Saenz, who was stranded when Chun got Robby Boggs to ground out to McKnight in the seventh. The bottom 7th was led off by Cookie, who singled to right for his second base knock of the week (…), then was caught stealing (…). Bottom 8th, Margolis led off with a single. McKnight grounded up the middle, Howard Read’s throw to first was exceedingly poor, and Saenz couldn’t come up with it for the Condors’ third error in the game, this one pulling up the tying run with nobody out. The Condors sent a reliever in right-hander Angelo Savinon, who walked Stevenson to load them up. Nunley was of course going to bat now for Petracek, and the Condors sent a new pitcher … another right-hander (!?) in George Griffin. Who’s that kid? Looks like 17 – and making his major league debut! Kill him, Matt. Matt struck out. Metts had earlier entered in a double switch and batted in the #9 hole. He hit a fly to left near the foul line that Omar Larios couldn’t get to. It dipped in for a 1-out, 2-run double, and Cookie knotted the score with an RBI single to right. Yoshi showed no mercy either, giving the debutee Griffin – a tender 21 years old – all kinds of nightmares with a go-ahead 2-run double into the leftfield corner! The raucous home crowd wanted more, they wanted ALL of Griffin’s blood be smeared over the outfield walls!

That put the Coons in a dilemma. The earlier double switch had removed Jackson and Manobu Sugano had been put in the #3 hole to collect the last five outs (mostly right-handed bats) of the game in a sure 6-3 loss that was not a sure 6-3 loss anymore, or any loss at all. Lillis had pitched the last two days and had thrown 42 total pitches, so if possible I would like to stay away from him here. The thing was that Kaiser had also thrown two days in a row (and 19 of the last 15), Bricker was getting read his future by the Druid and was not available, which left us with all of Jeff Boynton’s 0-4 record and 4.70 ERA. Yes, Manobu? You have no bat? Yeah, the ****, Nobu, borrow a ****ing stick from one of the suckers! This game is all yours! Sugano bunted, and the inning ended as Mendoza grounded out. The 8-6 lead was now Sugano’s against the top of the order. Struck out Bob Rojas! Struck out Howard Read! Struck out Omar Saenz! Ballgame! 8-6 Critters! Carmona 2-4, BB, RBI; Nomura 3-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Mendoza 2-5, 2B; Margolis 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Metts 1-1, 2B, 2 RBI; Cowen 3.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K; Sugano 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, W (1-0);

NOBU THE MAN.

Not exactly a pitcher that will draw Hall of Fame consideration but he does have 10.6 K/9 for his career. Never mind the nearly five walks per nine…

While we could now use a long outing from Abe, every time I say that something goes HORRIBLY wrong so I won’t even bother mouthing the usual nonsense…

Game 2
TIJ: C Sanford – 2B Read – LF K. Evans – 1B Saenz – CF Jamieson – SS A. Rojas – RF Larios – 3B Feery – P Cuenca
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – SS McKnight – C Margolis – 3B Nunley – CF Stevenson – P Abe

Of course Abe crapped out right in the first inning. Walking Sanford and Kurt Evans was bad enough already, but he also found ways to allow singles to Matt Jamieson and Adrian Rojas, then walked in a run on four pitches against Larios. Aaron Feery grounded out to Yoshi, stranding three in what was already a 2-0 game. In a case of “It could be a whole lot worse”, Cuenca was shackled even harder in the bottom of the first inning. Yoshi doubled, Mendoza singled, Hamilton walked. With the bases loaded, McKnight brought in the first run on a grounder to the right side before Margolis plated the remaining runners with a 2-out, 2-run single to the left side. Nunley blooped a single into left center before Stevenson flew out to Kurt Evans, leaving the Coons 3-2 ahead.

Cuenca’s leadoff single in the top of the second led the pitching coach to call the bullpen, the suckers were to start drawing straws as to who would pitch three-plus today. To nobody’s amazement at all, Abe was completely in the ****. While the Condors didn’t hit him in the second, they sure did in the third. Leadoff single by Saenz, who scored on a long 2-out double by Larios. The Coons intentionally walked Feery, who was a useless roster spot occupant for normally abled pitchers, to bring up Cuenca, because how often could he line up the leftfield line? Turns out, at least twice. His double plated two, the Condors were 5-3 ahead, Abe balked, then walked Sanford, before somehow Read struck out. The bases however would be loaded in the bottom of the inning. Cuenca allowed hard singles to Mendoza and Hamilton, then walked Margolis after McKnight flew out to right. Nunley batted with three on and one out, hit an RBI single to center, and then Stevenson had to **** up and hit into a double play.

The Coons were in their pen by the fifth inning, since Abe had been led behind the shed after the fourth, and still down 5-4 with Boynton taking over for at least two innings. But when are things ever easy? Boynton had a quick fifth; but Cuenca was just as bad as Abe, the Coons were just too hapless to tear him like the phone book of Rexburg, Idaho. The bases were loaded once more in the bottom 5th, and again for Stevenson, and again with one out. Before Stevenson could do something ****ing stupid, Cuenca did something ****ing stupid and threw a wild 0-1 to tie the game. That however opened first base, but the Condors didn’t walk Stevenson. They waited for him to get himself out, and indeed the miserable ****er grounded out to the mound, keeping the runners pinned. We NEEDED Boynton to keep on pitching. He batted. He struck out. He then walked Sanford to start the sixth, balked him over, and conceded the run on productive outs. I wasn’t sure in what order to take a final drink and then to shoot myself, so enraged did Boynton get me!!

Neither pitcher got the loss they deserved. Both ended up laden with six runs. Cookie knocked out Cuenca with a leadoff double in the bottom 6th and scored on Hamilton’s double after Nomura and Mendoza had failed to get a meaningful at-bat in against right-hander Omar Gonzalez. After this, neither side found an opening against the opposing bullpen in the seventh and eighth, with Boynton and Kaiser holding off the Condors, while Brett Lillis pitched a scoreless ninth, which in theory allowed the Raccoons to walk off with a single run against Mike Peterson in the bottom 9th. Peterson was a southpaw and would be in his second inning. McKnight led off and struck out. Margolis singled. Nunley hit into a double play. Extras! There, singles by Omar Larios, Eric Stephenson, and Pat Sanford scored the go-ahead run in the top 10th, all hit off Lillis, who had left his April form in April. Bottom 10th, right-hander Jayden Reed (0.34 ERA) pitching, a member of the 2017 Coons, who had started his career with the Condors in ’07 and had been nearly everywhere since. Metts flew out to right batting for Stevenson, but Jackson found a hole on the left side for a single. That was all there was to the rally, however. Cookie popped out, and Yoshi flew out to center. 7-6 Condors. Mendoza 2-5; Hamilton 3-3, BB, RBI; Margolis 3-3, 2 BB, 2 RBI; Nunley 2-4, BB, RBI;

…!

Game 3
TIJ: SS B. Rojas – C Sanford – 1B Saenz – CF Jamieson – RF Boggs – 2B M. Rivera – LF Larios – 3B Feery – P Menendez
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – SS McKnight – C Margolis – 3B Nunley – CF Stevenson – P Foreman

For once, the Critters didn’t incur a deficit in the first inning. Leadoff man Bob Rojas singled, but was stranded, and in the bottom of the inning the Coons scored a run, even though it was unearned. A throwing error by Feery had put Mendoza on base and Hamilton had driven him in. The game was not one of offense in the early inning, sometimes because the batters couldn’t generate it (that was the Condors’ case) or because the teams fudged themselves out of runs. Cookie was sent stealing – and obviously caught – in the bottom 3rd after a leadoff single. Mendoza later uselessly tripled, just before Hamilton struck out to end the inning.

It took the Condors until the fifth for a real threat, but when Mike Rivera hit that leadoff triple, the Coons’ lead was sure gone. Larios struck out, but Feery’s grounder up the middle was good enough to bring in the run and tie score. It was the 25-year old Texan Feery’s first career RBI. God bless him. (casually shatters glass while holding it) … Foreman had been strong through four, but was anything but after that. Sanford hit a 1-out double in the sixth, after which Foreman promptly walked the bases loaded. Robby Boggs hacked himself out, but it took a strong play by Hamilton on Rivera’s quick bouncer to keep the Condors off the board in the inning and the score in shape at 1-1. The Raccoons put Hamilton and McKnight on board in the bottom 6th, an inning in which both Mendoza and Margolis uselessly popped out over the infield. The top 7th saw the end for Foreman, who along with Sugano walked the bases loaded. Bricker came in to face the right-hander Sanford, who hit a 2-run single to center to give the Condors a 3-1 lead. With singles by Stevenson and Carmona the tying runs were on with one out in the bottom 7th against the left-hander Peterson, who struck out Nomura. Mendoza hit an RBI single to left, but Hamilton went down looking at whatever.

The bottom of the eighth would see the Condors recycle relievers at rapid pace. By the fourth man up in the inning – Stevenson – they were on their fourth reliever of the inning, and that was poor George Griffin, who inherited McKnight on second as tying run, and Nunley on first as go-ahead run. Metts batted for Stevenson with Griffin’s appearance, walked, and the bags were full for … Olivares. The Coons had already employed two double switches, and Olivares, 0-for-1, had come in on the first. He had to bat. Griffin, being fed to the wolves, walked him to knot the score. All we needed now was a sound base hit by Cookie and maybe the week would then not be a complete disaster. Cookie hit a single over Rivera to score the go-ahead run, the park was on its feet at once, and the befuddled Griffin, who had a dark spot form on the front of his pants, between his legs, threw a wild pitch to Yoshi Nomura to bring home Metts. And then another one to score Olivares. COME ON GEORGIE, CAN YOU DO THE DIAZ!? He could in fact not. Yoshi walked, but the inning fizzled out. The Raccoons had a 6-3 lead to protect and a pen that resembled Chicago after the Fire. Lillis was sent into the ninth, and the Condors had the tying run in the box at once. Read reached on a bloop single, and Eric Stephenson lined into shallow center. Two on, nobody out. Adrian Rojas popped out, but a grounder by Pat Sanford escaped between McKnight and Nunley. The bases were loaded for Saenz, a left-handed .291 batter that struck out in a full count. Lillis, 22 pitches in, now faced Jamieson, a .220 righty, with sweat running down his face like the Mississippi. It was a ****ing 41 degrees outside. Chun got ready and would face Boggs, with Kaiser right behind. No other reliever came into the game, though – Jamieson struck out. 6-3 Blighters. Carmona 3-5, RBI; Mendoza 2-5, 3B, RBI; Hamilton 2-4, RBI; McKnight 1-2, 2 BB; Stevenson 2-3; Olivares 0-1, BB, RBI;

Adam Cowen pitched one third of an inning for the W, only the second of his career against six losses in 62 games.

In other news

May 17 – TIJ LF Jimmy Eichelkraut (.269, 4 HR, 20 RBI) has to retire from baseball after tearing his labrum in a game. The 32-year old Eichelkraut, a former #3 draft pick, played his entire 10-year major league career with the Condors, hitting .266 with 158 HR and 510 RBI.
May 17 – The Dunn train keeps on chooing in Boston, with left-hander SP Tim Dunn (7-1, 2.15 ERA) fashioning a 2-hit shutout of the Indians in a tightly-knit 1-0 game. Dunn, who won Pitcher of the Month honors in April, strikes out eight for his second consecutive shutout.
May 17 – A sore shoulder lands CIN CF Nando “Doodle” Maiello (.345, 2 HR, 16 RBI) on the DL. The 24-year old should be back by early June.
May 22 – The Knights crumple the Canadiens, 18-6, scoring seven runs in the second and another eight runs in the eighth. LF Marty Reyes (.309, 2 HR, 16 RBI) leads them with four RBI.
May 23 – The Buffaloes lose LF/RF Bill Adams (.292, 5 HR, 20 RBI) for the season. The 32-year old has ruptured his achilles tendon.

Complaints and stuff

CL Player of the Week? New York’s Alex Duarte. That Alex Duarte. I - … (waves arms)

WHAT IS THIS MADHOUSE??

I will accept explanations as to what happened to our 1-2-3 punch in the rotation, because I don’t have any. That Foreman pickup looks REALLY good now.

Overall, the team is running out of talent on many fronts. I don’t know. How many .300 batters do you NEED to field a team that is meaningfully outrunning the .500 mark?

I don’t know whether it is worth musing about details. Why does the sun rise in the East after all? Because then Portland is the last piece of the U.S. mainland she’s gotta rise for. THAT’S WHY.

ABL CAREER STRIKEOUT LEADERS
70th – Andres Ramirez – 1,895 – HOF
71st – Jorge Chapa – 1,886
72nd – Greg Cain – 1,875
73rd – Mark Warburton – 1,861
74th – Jesus Bautista – 1,860
75th – Jonathan Toner – 1,847 – active
76th – Manny Ramos – 1,846
77th – Neil Stewart – 1,842 – HOF
78th – Xavier Mayes – 1,833
[…]
89th – Pedro Alvarado – 1,738 – active, free agent
90th – Lou Corbett – 1,733
91st – Daniel Dickerson – 1,730
92nd – Henry Becker – 1,729
93rd – Billy Robinson – 1,728 – HOF
94th – Hector Santos – 1,718 – active
95th – Larry Cutts – 1,714
96th – Samuel McMullen – 1,707 – active
97th – Carlos Guillén – 1,699

Jorge Chapa is still well-known I guess, because of the unique name and because he spent his entire career in the Continental League between only two teams, the Bayhawks and Titans. He was an All Star nine times, finished a shiny 199-118 with a 3.20 ERA, but didn’t exactly challenge for the Hall of Fame. He was the 2004 CL Pitcher of the Year, a 23-7 record with a 2.14 ERA, both the only times he led the league in those marks, with the Titans.

The true gem is “Beagle” Ramirez, a career closer, and maybe still remembered as the other guy I had on top of my draft list prior to the 1977 Amateur Draft. ‘The guy’ of course turned out to be Daniel Hall. Ramirez wound up pitching for 25 years major league seasons, including debuting soon after the draft at age *17* with the Warriors, with whom he spent 11 years eventually and whose insignia he wears in the Hall of Fame. He led the league in saves three times only, but kept amassing them constantly, eventually ending up with a heap of 770 of the little buggers – still the all-time record. Overall he made 1,612 appearances, all in relief. We never saw much of Ramirez, because he spent only four years of those 25 in the Continental League, 1992 with the Indians, and then two stints for three total years with the Condors.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (23-20) @ Bayhawks (24-19) – May 24-26, 2021

The Raccoons’ burnt-out bullpen would face a third-place team in terms of runs scored in their first series on the road after a 2-week homestand. The Bayhawks weren’t as strong otherwise, sitting eighth in runs conceded. Their rotation was okay, sixth by ERA, and their pen was eighth. The Coons had taken the season series in 2020, 5-4, but this was the first encounter between the two teams in 2021.

Projected matchups:
Travis Garrett (3-2, 3.83 ERA) vs. Brad Smith (1-5, 4.95 ERA)
Jonathan Toner (6-1, 3.41 ERA) vs. Kevin Woodworth (1-3, 6.70 ERA)
Hector Santos (4-2, 4.41 ERA) vs. Graham Wasserman (3-2, 2.67 ERA)

The Baybirds had only three right-handers in the rotation, but the Raccoons would probably draw all of them. This included the 36-year old Smith in his first season in the Continental League where he had been slaughtered to the rawest reviews (doubling his 2019 ERA currently), career swingman Woodworth, and then Wasserman, who was briefly in our farm system years and years ago. Through him and 18 months apart, we had converted Colin Baldwin, Craig Bowen, Michael Palmer, and a minor leaguer for Ronnie McKnight.

The Birds had a few injuries, foremost outfielder Victor Sarabia, who had batted .362 over the first 40 games of the season, but had gone down to a torn hamstring and would be lucky to return by the All Star Game. They also had a few more players that were listed day-to-day, including Roger Allen and Robby Vasquez, although we might find them in the lineup.

Game 1
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – SS McKnight – 3B Nunley – CF Metts – C Olivares – P Garrett
SFB: LF R. Allen – SS Claros – CF D. Garcia – 1B R. Gomez – C Spears – RF Gooch – 2B G. Gonzalez – 3B Pellot – P B. Smith

Cookie led off with a single and Mendoza homered, but not until after Nomura grounded into a double play. There was an error then by Gerardo Gonzalez that put Hamilton at second base, and McKnight doubled him in, giving Garrett a quick 2-0 lead. The Birds would also manage to cock it up in the second inning. Olivares led off with a single, and Garrett obviously bunted. Brad Smith eagerly tried to get the snail-paced Olivares at second base, but ended up throwing late and getting nobody. That extra out he would soon wish back … Cookie hit into a fielder’s choice, and Yoshi Nomura hit a sac fly, 3-0, before Smith threw a 3-1 pitch right into Mendoza, and then Hamilton hit a liner over Rafael Gomez and into the rightfield corner for a screaming 2-out, 2-run triple. With McKnight’s groundout, the Raccoons were up 5-0 at this point, four runs being earned. Smith caught himself a bit after that, and wouldn’t allow a run in the third or fourth inning, but Nunley got him with a sac fly after Hamilton and McKnight singled and went to the corners in the fifth inning. Meanwhile, in more stunning developments, Travis Garrett had yet to allow a base runner; the Birds actually didn’t reach base until the bottom of the fifth, when Errol Spears singled into shallow right with one out after Garrett had retired the first 13 batters. Garrett would fill the bases with walks to Tyler Gooch and Alfonso Pellot, at which point the Birds wisely sent Jake Williams to pinch-hit for Smith – but Garrett struck him out to end the fifth.

That calm wouldn’t last. Raul Claros and Dave Garcia hit 1-out singles in the bottom 6th, and then Gomez found the gap in right center for a 2-run triple, staining Garrett’s line with two runs, but with the runner at third and one out, and the pen just not being able to lift him right now, AND the lead still four runs, Garrett remained in there, struck out Spears, and also struck out Gooch to escape and at least strand the third runner. Although Garrett was at 104 pitches after seven innings, he bunted in the eighth, moving Olivares, who had just hit an RBI single scoring Metts, 7-2, to second base. Maybe we could wring another out or two from Garrett, it was well worth the effort while we tried to get the bullpen back up – seriously, some of the guys had lost patches of fur by sheer exhaustion. But, oh well, Roger Allen led off the bottom 8th with a double and Raul Claros homered, knocking out Garrett and sending the pen in there after all for six outs, but now with a 3-run lead. Bricker did the eighth, but Lillis was a no-go, having thrown on four of the last five days, and 109 pitches in total. With left-handers up at the bottom of the order, we sent Sugano into the fray. He hit Gonzalez with the first pitch, then struck out Pellot and Dylan Alexander. Boynton replaced him to see after Allen, who singled, and with the tying run at the plate, Yoshi made a nifty grab on Claros’ bouncer for a game-ending 4-3 play. 7-4 Raccoons. Hamilton 2-4, BB, 3B, 2 RBI; McKnight 2-5, 2B, RBI; Metts 2-4, 2 2B; Olivares 2-4, RBI;

Game 2
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – SS McKnight – C Margolis – 3B Nunley – CF Stevenson – P Toner
SFB: LF R. Allen – SS Claros – CF D. Garcia – 1B R. Gomez – C Spears – RF Gooch – 2B G. Gonzalez – 3B R. Vasquez – P Woodworth

Nobody scored in the first three innings, with a Nunley single the only entry to the H column. Jonny Toner struck out six in the first three innings, hitting Gerardo Gonzalez for the Bayhawks’ only runner. It would take the Birds again until the fifth inning to get a base hit, and *again* it was Spears breaking up the bid just as it was beginning to form. But other than Garrett the day before, Toner received no offensive support. The Coons were scoreless through five just as the Bayhawks were once they had stranded Spears on second base, with Toner even having one of their three singles. Mendoza led off with a single to center in the sixth, but McKnight would end the inning prematurely with a double play grounder to Raul Claros. Woodworth had come in not only with that 6.70 ERA, but also with almost two balls for every strikeout, but he sure knew how to make the most out of that mix…

Top 7th, Margolis led off with a single to left. When Nunley hit a blooper to shallow right center that was also in for a single, but Margolis turned second only to find the third base coach having both arms raised, and hastily retreated to the bag. This one would have to work station by station… Stevenson came through for the Coons, however, lining over Gomez into right for a double, and this time Margolis took two bases and scored. The Raccoons continued to crap out in the big spot, however. Toner popped out with runners in scoring position, and Cookie grounded to third base. It was Woodworth to score the second run of the inning, throwing a wild 1-2 pitch to Yoshi Nomura with two outs. Yoshi grounded out two pitches later. Toner took to the mound again, having struck out 10 in six innings, with a 2-0 lead. Gooch would reach in the bottom 7th on a 2-out error by McKnight. Toner then threw a wild pitch to Gonzalez, followed by a meatball that was murdered. Gonzalez homered to right, just inside the foul pole, and the game was tied again.

While that was deflating, Toner rallied to give the Coons eight innings with 11 strikeouts on 117 pitches, so it was after all an effort worth commending. The Raccoons couldn’t touch Kevin Woodworth even when he was tied to a chair, bound and gagged, so they had to go to left-hander Matt Collins and tickle him in the ninth. Uncharacteristically, the Coons were all set to get one run in the ninth once Margolis drew a leadoff walk. Nunley bunted him over, and when Margolis reached second base safely, Petracek ran for him. The move turned out to be a waste of personnel; even Margolis would have scored on Stevenson’s long RBI double to the fence in rightfield that put the score at 3-2 and give Toner a lead just as Eddie Jackson batted for him. He got walked intentionally, and Cookie rolled into a double play to end the inning. The Coons sent Brett Lillis into the ninth, which soon backfired grossly. He walked Dave Garcia to start the inning, and never regained control. Spears singled, Gooch walked. Bases loaded with one out, as we marveled in disbelieving paralysis. D-Alex batted for Gonzalez, singled to left to tie it, and the Birds walked off on Vasquez’ sac fly to center. 4-3 Bayhawks. Nunley 2-3; Stevenson 3-3, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Toner 8.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 11 K and 1-3;

That bullpen is a bottomless well for disappointment, I must say…

Oh well, just like the lineup, who basically failed to tear a sheet of paper in this game.

Game 3
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – SS McKnight – C Margolis – 3B Nunley – CF Stevenson – P Santos
SFB: LF R. Allen – SS Claros – CF D. Garcia – 1B R. Gomez – C Spears – RF Gooch – 2B G. Gonzalez – 3B Pellot – P Wasserman

Again, Errol Spears had the first hit for the Bayhawks, but this time it came as leadoff double in the second inning, and was also the first hit in the game. A single by Gooch and Gonzalez getting smacked loaded the bases with no outs. Santos seemed on the way to recovery when he struck out Alfonso Pellot, at least until the threw a complete egg to Wasserman, and the former Coons farmhand belched it over the rightfield fence for a grand slam.

The stun was real. I was more or less blind and deaf until about the sixth inning, when color slowly returned to my field of vision. It was the bottom of the sixth according to the scoreboard. Apparently the Raccoons had put up a 4-spot of their own in the fourth inning, but I had no memory of that, but they still trailed 6-4, and on the first at-bat my mind could grasp, Roger Allen hit 2-out RBI double off Jeff Boynton to extend the Bayhawks’ hold to 7-4. Neither starter was still in the game, but the board also showed 2 RBI for Santos… one of that category of games that accelerates your general mental degradation it was then… the Coons stranded two in the seventh, Margolis popped out on a 3-0 pitch to start the eighth inning, everything was sad. The Bayhawks turned around a Pellot triple into a run off Adam Cowen in the bottom of the eighth, another 2-out hit by Allen scoring the run. The Raccoons got Cookie to hit a leadoff single in the top of the ninth. He never was moved off first base. 8-4 Bayhawks. Nunley 2-4;

The loss dropped the Raccoons to third place in the North, and also just two games over .500 again.

Not high time to start selling, but maybe random executions can get the team going…

Raccoons (24-22) @ Falcons (25-22) – May 28-30, 2021

The Falcons ranked fourth in runs scored and sixth in runs allowed. They had the second-best bullpen in the league, so you had to go after their starters, which were mostly average. While they were not exactly hitting for a high average, they led the Continental League in home runs with 38, with most of their lineup participating in the barrage. And hey, where did the Raccoons go after all with their league-leading batting average? These teams met for the second time this year, with the Raccoons having taken two of three in the series opener.

Projected matchups:
Michael Foreman (4-2, 1.66 ERA) vs. Elijah Taylor (1-1, 2.08 ERA)
Travis Garrett (4-2, 4.00 ERA) vs. J.J. Rodd (1-1, 3.56 ERA)
Jonathan Toner (6-1, 3.00 ERA) vs. Doug Moffatt (5-3, 3.65 ERA)

To give the sports radio babbleheads something to rage about, Tadasu Abe was skipped on the off day. He had a 5.17 ERA. He needed some time for soul-searching. Not that Santos is far behind. Hey, guys, rejoice, Garrett is now officially only the third-worst starter on the staff!

Rodd was a southpaw for the middle game, and both Rodd and Taylor were swingmen and had more relief outings than starts this season. One opening had been created by the Victor Arevalo trade (which was so not working out for the Loggers), and one by shifting an ineffective Brian Benjamin into the dark end of the bullpen.

If the Coons could sweep the series, they would nail down their 3,700th regular season win on Sunday.

Game 1
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – SS McKnight – C Margolis – 3B Nunley – CF Metts – P Foreman
CHA: SS Good – LF Benson – 1B Fowlkes – RF Feldmann – CF LeMoine – C T. Robinson – 3B J. Estrada – 2B Tanaka – P E. Taylor

The Coons fell behind in the first inning when Ryan Feldmann and Chris LeMoine hit 2-out singles to score Travis Benson, who had walked earlier in the inning. The bottom of the order quickly romped the score to 3-0 in the bottom of the second. Juan Estrada led off with a single, then scored on Ryozo Tanaka’s liner into the rightfield corner. Tanaka scored on a sac fly hit by Taylor, who held the Coons to one hit (a Mendoza single) the first time through. A leadoff walk to Yoshi was not a good start for the fourth inning, and Mendoza upped the ante with a double to left center that brought the tying run to the plate. And Taylor would have trouble extracting himself from that bad position: Matt Hamilton and Ronnie McKnight both hit hard RBI singles to right, bringing the Coons back to 3-2 with the go-ahead run already aboard. Margolis knocked the first pitch he saw, hard to third, but Estrada corralled it and threw to second, or at least vaguely in that direction. Neither Matt Good nor Tanaka could come up with that ball, and the error loaded the bases with no outs, a situation immediately ruined when Matt Nunley hit into a double play to Tanaka. The tying run scored, but the Falcons murdered Foreman after an intentional walk and the inning ended.

Both pitchers looked like they were a gentle breeze away from getting blown off the mound at this point, but in fact neither team generated a threat for the remainder of the middle innings. The next genuine threat didn’t appear until the seventh inning, and it was the slightest of threats you could mount. Nunley legged out a grounder for an infield single, and Metts drew ball four on a dubious, bottom-of-the-zone-grazing 3-2 pitch. That was with nobody out, and Foreman was called to bunt, successfully moving the runners into scoring position. This brought up Cookie, who was in a ****ty 10-for-52 hole since May 13. The Falcons stuck to Taylor. Had they sent a left-hander, we might have twitched. Cookie had been THAT bad recently. And neither did he come through here. He hit a fly to left, easy to catch for Benson, and there was no running for Nunley against Benson’s arm. But Yoshi came through; singling to center with two down, he scored both runners, and gave the Coons a 5-3 lead. Feldmann caught Mendoza’s fly near the line in right to end the inning, and Foreman got back to the mound in the bottom of the seventh, retiring another five until Feldmann hit a 2-out single in the bottom 8th and maybe Chris LeMoine was better checked out by a southpaw. Kaiser got him to ground out on a 2-2 pitch. Top 9th, two soft singles off Blake Parr by Jackson and Cookie might give the Coons a chance for a bit of insurance. Dusty Balzer replaced Parr, but that was just another right-hander to face Yoshi, who didn’t disappoint and hit an RBI single to right, followed by another RBI single by Mendoza, this one to center. With the lead up to four runs, once Hamilton struck out the ball went to Chun, who put Estrada on base with one out in the bottom 9th on his own error, but got a double play grounder from Tanaka to clean up the Falcons and end this game. 7-3 Furballs. Nomura 3-4, BB, 3 RBI; Mendoza 3-5, 2B, RBI; Foreman 7.2 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, W (5-2);

Hugo Mendoza now has a 12-game hitting streak, and he is also the first on the team to reach 30 RBI, which is not an overwhelming number of 47 games. It would work out to 103 RBI over the full season.

Game 2
POR: 2B Nomura – RF Jackson – LF Mendoza – C Margolis – 1B Hamilton – SS Zuhlke – CF Stevenson – 3B Petracek – P Garrett
CHA: SS Good – LF Benson – 1B Fowlkes – RF Feldmann – CF LeMoine – 3B T. Thomas – C W. Garza – 2B Tanaka – P Rodd

Mendoza extended his hitting streak early with a 2-out single in the first inning, but while Margolis also got on, Hamilton flew out softly and left them stranded. The Falcons would be luckier, or maybe Garrett was just still the same old piece of turd that he had been for all of his 2020 starts. After singles by Matt Good and Pat Fowlkes, Feldmann hit an RBI double, Garrett scored a run with a wild pitch, and Tom Thomas hit a 2-out RBI single, giving Charlotte an early 3-0 edge again. Tanaka hit a leadoff double in the second, but Garrett played Rodd’s bunt well and got Tanaka tagged out by Petracek at third base, which saved him a run in that inning. The Coons didn’t really show anything after the first inning until a surprise home run by Zuhlke in the fourth, a solo shot that cut the deficit to two runs at that point. The Falcons were quick to respond, whacking Garrett for three hits to begin the bottom 4th. In order, Tom Thomas singled, Willie Garza doubled, and Ryozo Tanaka hit an RBI single to shallow center. Rodd failed to bunt again, popping a ball hard to third base. Garza scampered back while Petracek got a force out at second base, the first out in the inning. That was the last out that Garrett collected, allowing an RBI single to Good and then walking Benson to fill the bags. Boynton replaced him and allowed another run on Fowlkes’ groundout, putting the Coons down 6-1 before Feldmann struck out.

They were back in it surprisingly quickly. Yoshi and Eddie Jackson opened the fifth with base hits, and Mendoza’s 2-run triple and Hamilton’s 2-run homer cut the Falcons’ lead to one run only. The sixth was uneventful, with the Coons getting their outs in the fifth and sixth from Boynton, Chun, and Sugano. The top of the seventh saw last night’s victim Blake Parr in the game again. He began the seventh with consecutive walks to Jackson and Mendoza. Margolis lined out to Tanaka, and Hamilton barely legged out his grounder to first to break up a double play; Fowlkes had thrown to second base first. Runners were on the corners with two out, with McKnight hitting for Zuhlke… and grounding out. The Raccoons also failed to get to penned starter Brian Benjamin in the eighth, despite a 2-out triple by Cookie Carmona. Yoshi grounded out to Tanaka, leaving the tying run at third base. The Falcons were about to topple the Coons for insurance runs in the bottom 8th; Cowen placed runners on the corners with singles hit by LeMoine and Garza, but tweaked his ankle on his last pitch to Tanaka, which resulted in a pop for the second out, and had to leave the game. Bricker replaced him, ran a 3-0 count on pinch-hitter Rick Farmer, and then Farmer poked and flew out to Cookie in left. The Raccoons sent the 2-3-4 batters against Dusty Balzer in the ninth inning, who made short work of them, retiring the side in seven pitches. 6-5 Falcons. Mendoza 3-4, BB, 3B, 2 RBI; Carmona 1-1, 3B; Boynton 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Cowen’s ankle was bad enough that he left the park on crutches that night, but an evaluation in the hospital after a night of icing found no serious damage. Still, he would be hampered for about a week, and the Raccoons needed a long man dearly. He was placed on the DL, with the Coons recalling Will West.

Game 3
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – 3B Nunley – SS McKnight – CF Metts – C Olivares – P Toner
CHA: SS Good – LF Benson – 1B Fowlkes – RF Feldmann – CF LeMoine – 3B T. Thomas – C W. Garza – 2B Tanaka – P Moffatt

The Raccoons again had two base runners in the first inning, Yoshi and Mendoza hitting singles, but couldn’t get over the hump. So the Coons instead suffered another deficit after the first inning. Matt Good hit a leadoff single off Toner, stole second base, and came home on a 2-out single by Feldmann after two strikeouts in between. Toner struck out five batters total the first time through the Falcons’ order, so maybe he could hold them there and the Coons could pick through their fur to find a run or two or three. Singles by Hamilton and Nunley to begin the fourth inning were certainly a good way to start, but the Coons had struggled for most of the week to get that BIG hit. They found something here, though, despite a demoralizing strikeout by McKnight, who went down with a sorry flailing motion. Moffatt lost Metts to a bases-loading walk, and Ezequiel Olivares, who had stood at the abyss of demotion when the month began, lined a pitch to left center for a 2-run single, giving Toner the lead. Toner and Carmona both grounded out, leaving two on, and Toner stalked around a leadoff walk to Pat Fowlkes in the bottom 4th, with his pitch count beginning to rise quickly.

And every time it looked like they had Doug Moffatt *now*, somebody did something dumb. Yoshi and Mendoza led off the fifth with doubles, extending the gap to 3-1. Mendoza never scored despite a Hamilton single that moved him to third with nobody out, because Nunley went down glaring and McKnight hit into a FAT double play. Bottom 5th, Willie Garza’s leadoff single was erased on Tanaka’s double play, but Toner was still over 70 pitches after five innings. Neither pitcher extremely firm in the middle innings, who’d topple first? Well, *first* was Moffatt. Metts hit a leadoff double in the sixth, and Moffatt lost Toner to a walk. Cookie singled to center, scoring Dwayne Metts, 4-1, and a walk to Nomura loaded them up for the streaking Mendoza, and Moffatt was in over his head now. Said head was cranked around to leftfield pretty fast when Mendoza creamed a 2-0 pitch. There was no doubt – this one was going not outta the park, but outta state. GRAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMM!!!

Moffatt gone, the Coons continued to poke the pen. Greg Gannon allowed three more hits and a run in the inning, with the Coons’ 6-spot extending their lead to 9-1. Okay Jonny; give us two more good innings and we’ll call this one a success. The Falcons put their first two men in the bottom 6th on base, Good singling and Benson walking. Good tried to swipe third base, but was thrown out by Olivares; Benson moved to second, but Toner was not to be scored upon in this inning, getting Fowlkes on a soft fly to center (almost too soft actually, Metts had to run pretty well) and K’ing Feldmann. Toner still didn’t finish seven. Tom Thomas hit a single to left in the bottom 7th, and Garza knocked his first homer of the year, a 2-shot that reduced the lead to 9-3. Toner faced Tanaka, a righty, and got him to pop out, but left with two outs with left-hander Michael Wilkerson pinch-hitting. Kaiser replaced him and K’ed the kid. The Raccoons still needed another black eye in the game: when Hamilton doubled off George Barnett in the eighth he required replacement with Petracek as pinch-runner, tweaking his knee around first base. It didn’t look bad, but bad enough to get him out of the game. And Kaiser also took a beating, or at least conceded a run. Good hit a leadoff double in the eighth off him; the run scored against Boynton, but it was the last for the Falcons in the game. 9-4 Coons. Nomura 3-4, BB, 2B; Mendoza 3-5, HR, 2B, 5 RBI; Hamilton 3-5, 2B; Nunley 2-5, 2B; Metts 3-4, BB, 2B; Toner 6.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 9 K, W (7-1) and 1-3;

In other news

May 26 – TIJ SP Jose Menendez (4-4, 3.23 ERA) is done for the year; the 27-year old right-hander has been diagnosed with shoulder inflammation.
May 26 – The Warriors shrug off a 9-2 deficit to the Blue Sox with an 11-run seventh inning that spiritually breaks the Blue Sox. The Warriors win, 14-10.
May 27 – The Scorpions will be without C Jaiden Jackson (.285, 3 HR, 18 RBI) for the next six weeks due to the 22-year old being afflicted by a sports hernia.
May 28 – At 40 years old, BOS 3B/1B Antonio Esquivel (.346, 2 HR, 21 RBI) joins the 3,000 hits club with a 2-hit performance in the Titans’ 2-1 loss to Atlanta. The hallmark is reached with a first-inning single off Luis Flores. A veteran of 18 seasons, 15 of which he has spent with the Blue Sox, the 2-time Player of the Year and 7-time Gold Glove recipient Esquivel has accumulated a .305 average with 227 HR and 1,353 RBI over the course of his career.
May 28 – On Tamio Kimura’s (.319, 9 HR, 27 RBI) single, Richmond’s Jamal White (.256, 7 HR, 32 RBI) really only wants to go to second base in the bottom of the ninth of the Rebels’ game with the Scorpions, which is tied at four in the bottom of the ninth. However, Sacramento’s Pablo Sanchez commits a throwing error that atrocious that it lands White not only one, but two extra bases, walking the Rebels off, 5-4, as he scores.
May 29 – Regularly hurting Bayhawks phenom OF Dave Garcia (.313, 3 HR, 6 RBI) is on the shelf once again, placed on the DL for the next two to three weeks with an abdominal strain. It’s his second DL trip this year.
May 29 – DAL SS Manny Ferrer (.267, 3 HR, 14 RBI) has pieced a 20-game hitting streak together with a double in the fifth inning of the Stars’ 7-5 loss to the Capitals. As an aside, this marks the 12th consecutive loss for the Stars and the 16th in 17 games.
May 29 – The Aces trade INF/RF Izzy Alvarez (.260, 5 HR, 21 RBI) with a prospect to the Gold Sox for C Victor Ayala (.241, 3 HR, 22 RBI).

Complaints and stuff

The good news first, and it’s really not much. Hamilton has some knee tendinitis, and a day or two of rest should be enough to get him back into the lineup. Then, Hugo Mendoza won Player of the Week accolades, batting .462 (12-for-26) with 2 HR and 9 RBI. That was the good. Now straight to the ugly.

Split the week halfway down the middle, and it’s not something you can be happy with. The last three weeks saw the Raccoons in chronological order outscore the opposing teams 37-26, 39-27, and 35-29. Yet they lost ten of the 19 games played. In fact, the Raccoons are four wins under their Pythagorean record, which is outrageous given that it is still May. No depth too deep for me to manage them into it?

If the season would go on at that pace, we’d arrive at (rounded) a pyth. record of -13. There was only one season in Coons history with a worse total Pythagorean record.

1997 (-14).

So what to do in the Tuesday game that sent Lillis to 0-4? It was obviously too early to send him back in. The middle of the order was mostly right-handed, and Bricker had thrown two long outings the two days before. That leaves you with Boynton, who was already 0-4 to begin with, and then Chun and Cowen. I want neither of those to face Dave Garcia as the tying run! Of course none of that would have been an issue if the lineup hadn’t been royally screwed by a pitcher with an ERA 1.5 runs higher than Tadasu Abe’s.

Oh well. Next guy to find a W in his letter soup gets the 3,700th for the franchise in the regular season.

Maybe we should lose a word about our 4-yr, $3.6M investment from Cuba. Jesus Chavez isn’t exactly dominating in AAA, or rather not dominating at all. He is 3-3 with a 3.62 ERA. But he doesn’t fool anybody: he does not even strike out six per nine innings. That won’t get better in the majors! So he is right now no candidate for early promotion. Sadly.

Yes, Damani Knight is alive and well. I wonder why I keep being asked that.

ABL CAREER STRIKEOUT LEADERS
68th – Fernando Cruz – 1,916 – active
69th – Jim Harrington – 1,907
70th – Andres Ramirez – 1,895 – HOF
71st – Jorge Chapa – 1,886
72nd – Greg Cain – 1,875
73rd – Jonathan Toner – 1,867 – active
74th – Mark Warburton – 1,861
75th – Jesus Bautista – 1,860
76th – Manny Ramos – 1,846
[…]
89th – Pedro Alvarado – 1,738 – active, free agent
90th – Lou Corbett – 1,733
91st – Daniel Dickerson – 1,730
92nd – Henry Becker – 1,729
93rd – Billy Robinson – 1,728 – HOF
94th – Hector Santos – 1,723 – active
95th – Samuel McMullen – 1,721 – active
96th – Larry Cutts – 1,714
97th – Carlos Guillén – 1,699

Cruz, 37, left-hander, was a frequent opponent earlier in his career, spending six years with the Loggers and three with the Crusaders, winning the 2015 World Series with them. He was an All Star twice, but has never challenged for any major titles. Harrington was a right-hander in the olden days, pitching primarily with the Condors from 1978 to 1985 and then with the Knights in the 1990s. He was a finesse pitcher that could nibble on the corners an entire day and would generate groundballs endlessly. In 21 major league seasons, he allowed double-digit home runs … ONCE.

For comparison, Nick Brown allowed 10+ dingers basically every year. Maybe that is not a good comparison. Scott Wade was a corner nibbler that never tallied many strikeouts at all (1,417 total in a 17-year career), and even he allowed double-digit homers almost every year. Harrington allowed double digits ONCE. And then, he allowed exactly TEN.

[Westheim]

2021 DRAFT POOL ANALYSIS

In what appeared to be superficially a thin draft pool – the Raccoons earmarked only 28 pitchers and 37 position players for their shortlist – there were still any number of interesting players. The most interesting of all was a 20-year old from Georgia that attended college at Arkansas and was a 2-way player with good chances to make the majors either way.

Tony Coca was ticking all the boxes for hitters’ tools, hitting for power (11 HR in 217 AB), average (.300), had great range in the outfield, and was swinging the hooves as well as anybody (39 SB!). There was very little to complain about him, and the best thing was that he was also a pitcher with a 94mph heater, plus a forkball and a curve that could use a bit more swoop, but he was still 5-2 with a 2.42 ERA in the current college season. Every team was licking its fingers after a prospect like that.

Of course the Raccoons would never get him, picking all the way down in #20 in the 2021 draft. There wasn’t going to be a chance that Coca fell to #20, or maybe even #2 … if I have the #1 pick, I pick Coca. We’ll see what the Wolves’ll do.

Outside of Coca, and in terms of pitching, there wasn’t much excitable high school pitching available. Most of the pitchers on our board were college pitchers, and we knew the limitations for all of them, and this time even for the first round, closers were the most interesting picks.

On the position player side, there were a couple of catchers available that were at least interesting, but we had a lot of catchers in the system still, and none of the potential draftees were screaming out first round at least. Probably not even third round. On the infield, power is available for the corners, and in fact the most interesting infielders are all corner infielders. In the outfield, there are good hitting types and good defense types, with little overlap. Well, except for Coca… Your chances broadened a lot if you didn’t look for high power at the corner positions there…

Despite the shortcomings, we of course managed to come up with a hotlist of a dozen-or-so players that were our favorites, and the amount of relievers on the hotlist *is* telling. All hotlisted players are college players!

SP Ramiro Benavides (12/13/10) – BNN #8
SP Joel O’Brien (12/12/7) – BNN #10
SP Jeff Dykstra (12/13/9) – BNN #1

CL Justin Crosby (15/15/12)
CL Marcus Owens (16/13/10)
CL Joe Moore (16/14/12)

3B David Flournoy (11/10/14)
3B Pat Green (12/11/14) – BNN #5
1B Kevin McGrath (10/13/12)

OF/SP Tony Coca (12/13/8)
LF Eddie Pence (10/7/13)
OF Joe Vanatti (12/7/12) – BNN #2
RF/LF Rick Morris (9/11/10)

Note that Coca is not top 10’ed by BNN, probably for political correctness reasons. People make up all this crap these days.

Pat Green is also a good candidate for our first pick if he can stay around (which I doubt). Compared to Matt Nunley he has less range, but should hit for more power. A murderer’s arm for sure, though. Flournoy would be more of a defensive solution with greater range, only a slightly weaker arm, but not as much power. I’d go with Green, maybe. Probably none of them will be around.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (26-23) @ Knights (27-21) – May 31-June 2, 2021

The Knights were second in the South, one game off the pace, which was something the Raccoons would like to get back to for the moment. The thing holding Atlanta back at the moment was probably their rotation, which was worse than average by ERA, sitting in eighth place in the league. Their pen was in the top 3, and offensively they were scoring the fifth-most runs despite a meager .241 team batting average that they masked professionally by drawing tons of walks. Despite being fourth from the bottom in average, they were fourth from the top in on-base percentage. Power was not a major factor in their game; they were merely average in terms of home runs, and nobody on their team had more than six. The Knights had taken two of three games from the Raccoons when the teams first met in April.

Projected matchups:
Hector Santos (4-3, 4.98 ERA) vs. R.J. Lloyd (3-2, 3.49 ERA)
Tadasu Abe (1-2, 5.17 ERA) vs. Jonathan Ryan (1-4, 4.98 ERA)
Michael Foreman (5-2, 1.87 ERA) vs. Luis Flores (7-2, 2.92 ERA)

We will draw the Knights’ only left-hander in Flores; they still had 1B Jeremy DeFabio on the DL with a knee injury suffered last season; he had batted .277 with only three home runs in 97 games in ’20. The Coons’ first baseman, Matt Hamilton was also on an iffy knee as the week began and would not be in the lineup for the Monday opener.

Hugo Mendoza started the week with an active 14-game hitting streak.

Game 1
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – 3B Nunley – 1B Mendoza – RF Jackson – SS McKnight – C Margolis – CF Metts – P Santos
ATL: LF M. Reyes – RF Mims – C Luna – 1B Herlihy – SS T. Jimenez – 3B Jam. Wilson – 2B Hibbard – CF Walrath – P Lloyd

The Coons drew two walks in the top of the first without using them for anything before all their plans went to **** in the bottom of the inning. Marty Reyes bopped Santos for a leadoff jack to left, and Santos logged only two outs before leaving the game with a leg cramp or some other crap. (rings a tiny bell of doom) Bullpen day…!! The game was basically over by the time Devin Hibbard tagged Seung-mo Chun for a 3-spot in the bottom of the second inning, that one flying out of right center and with nobody out after already hard line drive hits by Tony Jimenez and Jamie Wilson. Lloyd walked four in the first four innings, but didn’t allow a hit until Margolis beat the range of Jeffrey Walrath for a leadoff double to the deeper centerfield regions in the fifth inning. Metts and Stevenson brought him around with productive outs to score, but Jason Kaiser gave the run back an inning later, walking Jimenez and Wilson to start the bottom 6th and only getting out with two grounders to the right side that scored Jimenez and a pop by Lloyd over the infield.

For all the misery, the Raccoons were pretty darn close to a comeback in the seventh inning for no good reason at all. Margolis led off that inning with a bomb, which wasn’t enough to chase Lloyd, who then walked Metts and allowed a single to right to Stevenson. Metts went to third on the base knock, Kyle Mims’ throw to third was not remotely close to Jamie Wilson, and Metts came home to score on the error. Stevenson went to second, and with one out the tying run was at the plate in Cookie (who earlier in the game had managed to get caught stealing once again). The Knights went to that top 3 pen, bringing in right-hander Luis Calderon with his flat-7 ERA, which seemed like an odd choice at the time. But wouldn’t you know it… Cookie flew out to center, and Yoshi Nomura still had to leave the infield in his fourth attempt of the day and grounded out to Hibbard. And with the way the Coons kept teasing everybody, you’d think they’d be up for something. Manobu Sugano loaded the bases in the bottom 7th on two singles and a hit Devin Hibbard, but somehow escaped that jam unharmed before Nunley doubled to start the eighth, bringing up Mendoza – who already had a sixth-inning single to his credit – as the tying run. NOW the Knights got a lefty, sending Danny Martin (0.95 ERA) into the matchup. He got the K … and then was removed ahead of Petracek (who was batting fifth now as a result of several double switches during the game) and McKnight. Another odd choice for sure. Righty Eduardo Valdez’ first pitch was rammed into the leftfield corner by Petracek for an RBI triple, and as the Knights’ pen rapidly emptied Ronnie McKnight tied the game with a double off Joey Hopkins. McKnight was left on, however, leaving the score even at five, and the Coons were in no condition to play an extra-inning affair.

Top 9th, still even, Stevenson on first after a leadoff single off Harry Merwin. The Coons called hit-and-run as Cookie grounded out to short, moving Stevenson to second. Yoshi was no more in the #2 hole (double switches galore…!) with Sugano having to be hit for. Olivares was the only healthy option on the bench, but Hamilton came out to bat instead. The Knights, though, wouldn’t let him. He was sent straight to first base as they tried to pick two outs from Matt Nunley hitting one to a middle infielder – which he did on Merwin’s first pitch. Hibbard, to Jimenez, to Wilson – inning over. A quick outing by Brett Lillis in the bottom 9th sent the game into overtime – the raw joy that washed over me was hard to put into words. Merwin was back for the 10th, allowing Mendoza to double up the leftfield line to begin proceedings. Petracek walked, but then McKnight flew out easily to center and Margolis grounded out to Edwin Patino on third base. Metts was the last hope here … and came through! Metts hit an 0-1 into shallow center, uncatchable, and both runs scored on the single! Lillis retired the side in order for a second inning to pick this game from the depths of hell and into the win column. 7-5 Furballs!? Mendoza 2-4, BB, 2B; Petracek 1-1, BB, 3B, RBI; Margolis 2-5, 2B, RBI; Stevenson 2-3, RBI; Lillis 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, W (1-4);

First extra-inning win of the season. Yaay. Also, franchise regular season win #3,700 for Brett Lillis.

Now, damage control. Hector Santos has a tweaked hamstring according to the Druid. Given that we gain not only a day but also a pushback option thanks to an off day on Thursday, he should not miss a start, neither should he be required to hit the DL. If **** hits the fan – which it always does over here – he can always be pushed back from his next regular turn on Sunday to the beginning of next week.

That doesn’t help the bullpen, which lies on the ground once more, and we bring up a somehow completely rancid former semi-ace in the middle game. It’s pretty much do-whatever for Abe, who will probably toss 100 pitches any which way he wants because I can’t remove him in the third inning even if I wanted to…

Cookie is 0-for-8 in terms of stealing bases now. After starting 6-for-8 for the season, he’s now 6-for-16. Lock the showers.

Game 2
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – 3B Nunley – C Margolis – SS McKnight – CF Stevenson – P Abe
ATL: LF M. Reyes – 2B Hibbard – C Luna – 1B Herlihy – SS T. Jimenez – 3B Jam. Wilson – RF Knowling – CF Walrath – P Ryan

Mendoza extended his hitting streak early on Tuesday, following up a Yoshi single to right with a booming 2-run homer outta rightfield, his 11th of the season. Waiting for Abe to mess up didn’t take long, either. Trent Herlihy socked a leadoff homer in the bottom 2nd to cut the lead in half, and in the bottom of the third the Knights got their leadoff man Walrath on with a walk. Ryan bunted the tying run to second base, and Abe balked him to third base, which was agonizing, but didn’t matter, since he would walk the bases full right afterwards anyway, Reyes on five, and Hibbard on four pitches. After having some sense yelled into him by the manager and pitching coach during a mound conference, during which Yoshi Nomura, who’d seen some **** in his career already, having been around for all of 2005 for example, hid his entire face behind his glove, being unable to watch at all, a sentiment I shared with him. Ruben Luna hacked himself out after that, and Herlihy’s fly to right center was contained by Mendoza, the Knights stranding a full set of runners after being separated from a substantial lead only by a thin sheet of paper.

It took only one more inning for Abe to get torn in half. Jimenez led off the fourth with a single, and Abe walked Wilson right away. Zach Knowling grounded to Yoshi, but the Coons only got one, and Jeffrey Walrath flipped the score to 4-2 Knights with a mighty 3-run shot that went out of right center, breaking a few speed limits on its way out of the county. Stevenson’s RBI double in the top of the fifth, plating Margolis and the Coons’ first hit since the Mendoza bomb, did little to patch over the Critters’ many sores, the biggest of which allowed a leadoff double to Hibbard in the bottom 5th, presenting the Knights with a runner that would ultimately score on a wild pitch.

Abe threw 98 pitches in six innings and was headed for a well-deserved loss when his spot approached with two outs in the top 7th and the tying runs aboard; Margolis had singled and Ryan lost Stevenson to a 4-pitch walk to present the Coons with the opportunity. Eddie Jackson was sent to bat, flipped a single to right to load the bases, only for Cookie to pop out to dig an increasingly deeper hole for himself. But maybe Jeff Boynton was worse. He came on in relief in the bottom 7th and conceded a leadoff single to Jonathan Ryan (…), which was bad, but not as bad as his TWO attempts to kill off that lead runner on the subsequent poor grounders by Reyes and pinch-hitter Mike Rivera. The Coons could have had two outs with a man on third, but instead Boynton failed to retire anybody and the bases were loaded with no outs. This was a mess that was Sugano’s to inherit while Boynton would be subject to a fatal beating in the tunnel to the clubhouse. Two runs would score on Luna’s RBI single and a sac fly by PH Edwin Patino.

Somehow, the Coons would get the tying run to the plate in the ninth inning, which they entered trailing by four. It was not their merit. Margolis singled off Danny Martin, who lost Ezequiel Olivares to a 2-out walk, which put the game in save range for Harry Merwin, who got a perfectly good grounder to second from an already 0-for-4 Cookie Carmona. Jimenez threw the ball away though, and a run scored on the 2-base error. Two in scoring position, two outs for Yoshi, who was said tying run and tried to bring Mendoza to the plate once more. Merwin, though, had none of that, and Yoshi struck out when he missed a breaking ball at 1-2. 7-4 Knights. Margolis 2-3, BB; Jackson (PH) 1-1;

Abe’s ERA keeps going skywards, up .31 runs today to 5.48. At some point, I fear, shooting him won’t be enough anymore…

Game 3
POR: 2B Nomura – RF Jackson – LF Mendoza – C Margolis – 1B Hamilton – SS McKnight – CF Stevenson – 3B Zuhlke – P Foreman
ATL: LF M. Reyes – RF Mims – C Luna – 1B Herlihy – SS T. Jimenez – 3B Jam. Wilson – 2B Hibbard – CF Walrath – P L. Flores

The Knights struck first in the rubber game, taking a 1-0 lead in the second inning on doubles by Jimenez to left and Hibbard, with two outs, to center. The Coons felt threatened enough to walk Walrath intentionally so Foreman could get Flores out – which he did with a K. We arrived in a similar situation in the bottom 4th, where Hibbard’s 2-out single to center was the very next base hit in the game after his double the previous go-around. This came with Jimenez on base after being hit by a pitch, and a wild pitch by Foreman moved the runners into scoring position afterwards. Alright, walk Walrath already! This time, Flores ran a full count before lining a rocket into leftfield that almost cost Mendoza an arm and a leg as he made a flying catch – but the out was made, three Knights were stranded, and Mendoza lived. The Coons meanwhile could not get to Flores at all; when Stevenson hit a 1-out single in the fifth it was only their second base hit in the game, and was right away followed by Zuhlke’s grounder to short to end the inning on a two-for-one. They had two men on in the top of the sixth after a 2-out double by Jackson and Mendoza being half-heartedly walked, but Margolis struck out. The Knights in turn tore up Foreman in the bottom 6th with three consecutive extra-base hits. Jamie Wilson hit a 2-out home run before Hibbard and Walrath both hit doubles. The Coons had one more hope-igniting single by Matt Nunley in the eighth, one more soul-murdering double play hit into, by Yoshi, also in the eighth, and then Jeff Boynton made another mind-boggling appearance, conceding a single in the bottom 8th before walking three straight batters with two outs. Brett Lillis had to come into a 4-0 loss in progress to get a grounder from Kyle Mims to end the inning. 4-0 Knights. Nunley (PH) 1-1;

Mendoza’s hitting streak ended, and so did the time of innocence for the Raccoons, who dropped to 4 1/2 games out with this loss and had to start making moves, and sometimes making moves starts with chopping off some heads…

Raccoons (27-25) @ Titans (30-24) – June 4-6, 2021

The Titans weren’t scoring many runs, sitting at ninth with 207 runs (which was less than four per game), with a bottom three batting average. Oh well, that hadn’t stopped the Knights from stomping on Coons pitching, either. Their starters ranked in the top 3 with a 3.46 ERA, and their bullpen was also decent. They had somehow still allowed 213 runs, which actually gave them a -6 run differential. The Coons’ was still +66, so maybe that’s somehow all lies, and nothing matters, and whatever. The Raccoons led the season series, 4-2.

Projected matchups:
Travis Garrett (4-3, 4.71 ERA) vs. Jose Fuentes (2-5, 4.15 ERA)
Jonathan Toner (7-1, 3.10 ERA) vs. John Key (5-2, 5.23 ERA)
Hector Santos (4-3, 5.08 ERA) vs. Chris Klein (4-4, 2.80 ERA)

Three right-handers from the Titans, who have a few guy on the disabled list in Chris Almanza (done for 2021) and Josh Baker. Also, their shortstop Mike Kane was playing through hamstring woes. Santos’ hamstring looked like it would be good enough for another please-kill-me start on Sunday.

Game 1
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – 3B Nunley – C Margolis – SS McKnight – CF Stevenson – P Garrett
BOS: RF W. Ramos – C McPherson – 3B A. Esquivel – CF Reichardt – 1B S. Murphy – 2B M. Green – LF Cesta – SS Janes – P J. Fuentes

Cookie led off with a single, which was swiftly followed by Yoshi hitting into a double play. The Titans came much closer to scoring in the bottom 1st, with Garrett walking Willie Ramos, whom the Titans had picked up during the week in a minor deal with the Bayhawks. Ramos swiped second and was sent around on Antonio Esquivel’s single to right, only to be thrown out at home plate by Mendoza. The first run would actually be the Coons’ after McKnight singled to lead off the top of the third. He moved up on Stevenson’s groundout, then scored when Travis Garrett singled up the middle. Cookie then hit to Mike Green for a double play, and nothing was true anymore with this team…

Okay, some things remained true. Like Travis Garrett, who was still a terrible pitcher generally not worth your time, and who kept putting leadoff men on base in this game, doing so in the third, fourth, and fifth innings. Yoshi turned him a wonderful double play in the fourth to remove Eric McPherson’s leadoff single, and the only thing that came from Garrett after that was a dead hanger to Adrian Reichardt that was rammed off the fence for a 2-out double, then a 4-pitch walk to Stan Murphy, before somehow a Coon got paws on another rocket to end the inning against Mike Green. Mike Cesta hit a leadoff single in the bottom 5th. After Erik Janes popped out behind home plate, Cesta stole second, Fuentes swung away and doubled to the track in left, easily driving in the tying run. Garrett threw four pitches vaguely near, but not in the zone to Ramos, and a single to center by McPherson loaded the bases. Garrett walked Esquivel, giving the Titans a casual 2-1 lead, allowed an RBI single to Reichardt, then a sac fly to pretty deep right to Murphy. Smacking Pat Green with a 3-2 pitch ended his day. Sugano inherited the bases loaded and struck out Cesta to keep the Titans to their 4-1 lead. Cesta would get his revenge soon, retiring Matt Nunley in the left-center gap in the top of the sixth to collect the third out from the third baseman, who had three runners on base after Carmona, Mendoza, and Hamilton had all singled in the inning. Unbeknownst to the Coons then, Hamilton had been their penultimate baserunner, and they wouldn’t get on base again until Eddie Jackson’s 2-out pinch-hit single off Ron Thrasher in the ninth. Of course, Thrasher could feast on a mostly left-handed lineup, so letting them give the ball to him was instant game-over anyway. 4-1 Titans. Carmona 2-4; Jackson (PH) 1-1; Sugano 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K; West 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Funnily(?) enough, Garrett’s now-4.94 ERA is still in the top 3 amongst Coon starters this year.

Maybe Jonny can save the team for at least one night, and if not, maybe we can start trading away guys afterwards. The Loggers won again, the Coons are now 5 1/2 out.

Game 2
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – 3B Nunley – C Margolis – SS McKnight – CF Metts – P Toner
BOS: RF W. Ramos – C McPherson – 3B A. Esquivel – CF Reichardt – 1B S. Murphy – 2B M. Green – LF Cesta – SS Kane – P Key

The Critters sent Jonny Toner to the mound with a 1-0 lead that had scored on Nunley hitting a fly to center with the bases loaded in the top of the first inning. Adrian Reichardt made the catch comfortably but couldn’t prevent Yoshi from scoring on the sacrifice. Toner had a perfect first, and struck out the side in the second if you were willing to ignore the two singles hit in between by Murphy and Cesta. The K to Mike Green was his 100th of the season. Mendoza hit a single and stole second base in the third inning, his first bag of the season, and the team’s first in about a month; a bold claim which I would not back up with facts because the truth could be too horrifying to cope with. Mendoza was left on base anyway, and Toner hit John Key with an 0-2 pitch to lead off the bottom of the inning. The top of the order failed to exploit that opening – Toner struck them out in order, but was bombed by Reichardt leading off the bottom of the fourth.

That one tied the game at one, with the hapless visiting team still looking for the instruction manuals that had come with their bats because they really didn’t know what to make of those wood sticks that didn’t seem to be made for eating, either as food or utensils. Toner had struck out seven in the first four innings, but struck out nobody over the next two in which the Titans hit five singles to score solo runs in each of them. Especially hurtful was the fifth inning that was led off with a single by Key. Maybe McKnight’s leadoff double in the seventh could spark a – why don’t I just shut up? Toner allowed a leadoff single to Ramos in the bottom 7th, the 10th hit off him, K’ed McPherson, but walked Esquivel, leading to his exit from stage center. Bricker allowed a run to score on Reichardt’s RBI single, closing Toner’s line at four runs, which was well enough for a loss in this game. The Titans found another run off Jason Kaiser in the bottom 8th, Cesta legging out an infield single to begin the inning and scoring on a 2-out single over McKnight’s head by Ramos. A mild and unearned Raccoons rally found a sudden end with two outs in the ninth when Ron Thrasher appeared to face Olivares with two on and two down. He only needed three pitches to carve up the hapless backup catcher. 5-1 Titans. Mendoza 3-4; Jackson (PH) 1-1;

Hey, if we play our cards right, we can be in fifth place tomorrow night!

What better card is there than any between the Two of Spades (Santos), the Four of Diamonds (Abe), and the King of Clubs (Garrett)?

Game 3
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – SS Zuhlke – 3B Nunley – CF Stevenson – C Olivares – P Santos
BOS: RF W. Ramos – LF Cesta – 3B A. Esquivel – CF Reichardt – 1B S. Murphy – 2B M. Green – C Padilla – SS Kane – P Klein

Nunley batted with the bases loaded in the first inning again, but this time with two outs. Runners were courtesy of a Yoshi single and two walks handed out by Klein, and a run would score again with Nunley around, though this time it was unearned and on Klein as well, who dropped Murphy’s feed from behind first base and allowed all runners to be safe. Stevenson flew out to Ramos to quickly end the inning before they could accidentally score more runs – they hadn’t scored as much as TWO in a game since Tuesday. The lead was obviously never meant to be in the first place, and Stan Murphy quickly corrected that unbecoming state with a home run in the second inning, his tenth of the season.

The cards were reshuffled though for the third inning, which only commenced after a 45-minute rain delay. Yoshi singled, Mendoza walked, and Hamilton hit an RBI double off Klein, who plated the next run with a wild pitch while Nunley’s groundout scored Hamilton for a 4-1 edge. Getting any kind of length from Santos now was highly dubious, but to our amazement the rain actually made him better as he retired the first six batters after the delay, and after Murphy hit a leadoff single in the fifth later started a double play to erase even that runner. What was that now? Did we actually forget to water him properly!?

Nah, Santos was still crap. The Titans just took a while to get to him. Bottom 6th, two down, they ripped him apart. Ramos doubled off the fence in left, and Cesta and Esquivel both hit no-doubt singles that chased Willie Ramos across home plate and put the tying runs on base for Reichardt. Our best idea here was to send Seung-mo Chun and his 5.89 ERA after Reichardt, because maybe we could get him out when he keeled over having laughed himself to death somewhere between second and third base. Reichardt promptly uncorked a mighty drive to leftfield, but at the other end, somehow, he found Cookie, who took the liner to end the inning. It was the only out that Chun logged, given his spot came up in the top of the seventh inning. Willie Alonzo had loaded the bases with a Zuhlke single, a Nunley walk, and by smacking Olivares in the doo-dahs. With Ezequiel standing, more or less, on first base and trying real hard not to cry, McKnight grounded up to Murphy for an easy-as-**** third out, leaving me trying real hard not to cry. For now though, the Raccoons found pretty good success matching Bricker to right-handed bats in the seventh and Kaiser to left-handed bats in the eighth, and maintained their lead to set up Lillis for an actual ****ing save opportunity, and that was where the actual ****ing trouble started. Lillis lost Cesta to a leadoff walk in the ninth, and that was all the left-handed batters he was gonna see. Esquivel struck out, but Reichardt continued to be a pest and hit a double off the leftfield wall. That one put – thanks to no fruit-bearing efforts by the Raccoons across the most recent six innings – the tying runs in scoring position for Stan Murphy. Time to check whether my will is up to date! When Murphy hit a sharp grounder to the left side Nunley made a MAGNIFICIENT play, cutting it off and firing to first base to get Murphy removed for the second out. Of course, Cesta was always gonna score on the play. That left Reichardt on second. Here, Green (8 HR) was walked intentionally to get the increasingly-lighter-hitting Padilla to the plate. Lillis roughed him up in five pitches to save this one, barely. 4-3 Critters. Nomura 2-5; Zuhlke 2-4, BB;

Fun fact: Murphy hit all of *14* home runs in his only full season with the Coons.

In other news

June 2 – CIN 3B/1B Eddie Moreno (.308, 7 HR, 40 RBI) smacks five hits in the Cyclones’ 13-4 rout of the Warriors, which include a home run and three doubles as well as 6 RBI.
June 4 – DAL SS Manny Ferrer (.274, 3 HR, 16 RBI) keeps hitting at a steady pace, connecting for a single in the Stars’ 4-2 loss to the Gold Sox to extend his hitting streak to 25 games.
June 4 – The Blue Sox trade 2B/SS Bobby Torres (.271, 2 HR, 15 RBI) to the Gold Sox for two prospects that include #38 SP Travis Giordano.
June 4 – The Warriors cream the Scorpions in a 20-2 dismantling that starts with a 5-run first and gets ugly with an 11-run sixth inning. SFW C Jerrod Luckert (.268, 9 HR, 43 RBI) drives in seven with a 3-hit performance that includes a grand slam with nobody out in the first inning.
June 6 – DAL LF/1B/RF Jose Avila (.366, 8 HR, 30 RBI) shines with a 4-hit day in the Stars’ 8-6 win over the Gold Sox, but Avila doesn’t just hit any four old hits, but hits for a reverse-natural cycle in the game. Homering off Fernando Estrada in the first inning, tripling in the second, doubling in the fourth, and singling in the sixth inning has him connect all the dots in decreasing order. This is only the second reverse-natural cycle in ABL history after ATL Jason Clark’s in 2006. It is also the 68th cycle in league history, the second this year (both against Denver), and the first for the home team since 2015, as well as the league-leading seventh cycle for the Stars. Previous Dallas players to cycle were Samuel Serra (1977), Gustavo Infante (2000), Vitantontio Cavalleri (2003), Artie Barnes (2004), Jorge Vera (2007), and Stephen St. George (2017).

Complaints and stuff

Hello there, and take a seat. No, the flames are not props – the office and in fact the entire building is actually on fire. (Matt Nunley runs into the office, wailing, striped tail smoking, then runs out again)

In achievements already eroded by the sands of time, Hugo Mendoza was the CL Batter of the Month for May. He went .415 with 6 HR and 23 RBI, giving him pretty much ordinary stats after a desolate April.

Mendoza aside, words have a hard time expressing my general bewilderment. Maybe it’s a bit early to trade the stars, but I sure would have liked to add a relief pitcher who you can trust with the car keys. And to be honest, Tadasu Abe is *this* close to getting sent to St. Petersburg. Unless he would refuse that assignment, of course.

And no, adding expensive staff is not an option. It’s not in the budget. The only way the Raccoons can trade is down.

This week we released infrequent relief guest Matt Schroeder. The 29-year old had enjoyed his AAA season for a 9.95 ERA. We also filed away SP Roger Kincheloe, 24, as ‘former prospect’. Kincheloe had been our 2014 first-rounder, and had already missed 12 months twice with torn flexor tendons. This time he tore his UCL and would miss another 12 months with Tommy John surgery. Major league career numbers (I am fairly certain nothing will be added to that): 6 G, 5 GS, 1-1, 8.18 ERA, 17 BB, 8 K in 22 IP. Oh Roger. You should have gone to college to study ancient Semitic languages, like your dear grandmother wanted you to do.

Sadness.

ABL CAREER STRIKEOUT LEADERS
67th – Fernando Chavez – 1,946
68th – Fernando Cruz – 1,918 – active
69th – Jim Harrington – 1,907
70th – Andres Ramirez – 1,895 – HOF
71st – Jorge Chapa – 1,886
t-72nd – Greg Cain – 1,875
t-72nd – Jonathan Toner – 1,875 – active
74th – Mark Warburton – 1,861
75th – Jesus Bautista – 1,860
76th – Manny Ramos – 1,846
[…]
88th – Ramón Jimenez – 1,743
89th – Pedro Alvarado – 1,738 – active, free agent
90th – Lou Corbett – 1,733
91st – Daniel Dickerson – 1,730
92nd – Henry Becker – 1,729
t-93rd – Billy Robinson – 1,728 – HOF
t-93th – Hector Santos – 1,728 – active
95th – Samuel McMullen – 1,727 – active
96th – Larry Cutts – 1,714
97th – Carlos Guillén – 1,699

The right-hander Chavez spent most of his 17-year career in the Federal League, nine with the Buffaloes and 4 1/2 with the Pacifics. He managed to hold out that long despite leading the league in home runs allowed five times and in losses once. Overall he wound up with a 155-175 record and a 4.02 ERA.

[Westheim]

We returned to Portland to find someone had painted the sky black. Which, you know, was appropriate. It was how I felt on the inside, too.

Raccoons (28-27) vs. Crusaders (27-27) – June 7-10, 2021

The Crusaders didn’t yet know whether they wanted to be up or down, in or out, and thus hovered at .500 like a certain other team that had to do business for four days in Portland to begin this week. They were in theory not even comparable to the Raccoons, having scored only 213 runs, which ranked in the bottom three in the Continental League. On the other side of the ledger, they had conceded 227 runs, just four more than the Critters, which ranked them sixth, and their pitching staff was mostly mediocre. It spoke a volume or two that the Coons’ run differential trumped them by 74 runs, but the teams were only half a game apart anyway. The season series stood 2-1 in the Coons’ favor.

Projected matchups:
Tadasu Abe (1-3, 5.48 ERA) vs. Joe Jones (1-3, 3.76 ERA)
Michael Foreman (5-3, 2.09 ERA) vs. Cody Zimmerman (4-5, 3.26 ERA)
Travis Garrett (4-4, 4.94 ERA) vs. Dave Butler (5-3, 4.02 ERA)
Jonathan Toner (7-2, 3.30 ERA) vs. Hwa-pyung Choe (1-4, 3.38 ERA)

With up-and-coming Mike Rutkowski having torn his rotator cuff, the Crusaders were left with three left-handers and a messed-up right-hander the Raccoons just couldn’t hit against in addition to “Ant” Mendez (4-2, 4.05 ERA) in their rotation … and we would get all of them in sequence for this series. I think we might have trouble to pile up even ten runs in this series… My best attempt at coping was to rotate all the left-handed batters through the bench at least once during the first three games (so Jackson would sub for Mendoza, Cookie, and Hamilton once each f.e.) and pretend that we can come back from 28-31 afterwards.

Jones is a 23-year old rookie southpaw taken in the supplemental round in 2018 by New York. He is nothing special, ordinary 91mph heater, decent slider, neat splitter, not very enduring. He is almost as dull as a wall painted beige.

Watch him throw a no-no on Monday!

Game 1
NYC: LF Loya – CF Duarte – 2B S. Valdez – 1B Perkins – RF Erickson – 3B P. Cruz – C Parks – SS D. Jones – P J. Jones
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Jackson – 1B Hamilton – C Margolis – SS McKnight – CF Stevenson – 3B Zuhlke – P Abe

Twice in the first two innings Joe Jones had the Raccoons down to their final strike with two men on base, and twice he surrendered a 2-run double that really, really hurt. Margolis found the gap in left center on a 1-2 pitch to drive in Cookie and Eddie Jackson in the first, and in the second inning it was Yoshi to double into the right-center gap in a full count to bring in Zuhlke and Cookie. Looking at Abe, however, four runs would probably not be enough for him. Ricky Loya had opened the game with a double to left, but had been stranded with consistent grounders to short after that. The Crusaders had two on in the top of the second, but hit into a double play. They didn’t score until the third, Alex Duarte enjoying a solo homer to center against the team that had dumped him years earlier. But Abe held on, and Jones didn’t – the rookie was gone before he finished five innings, removed after a long 3-run homer to right by Matt Hamilton in the bottom of the fifth. One run was unearned, Sergio Valdez’ grievous dropped pop allowing Yoshi Nomura to reach base to begin the inning. Jackson had then walked ahead of Hamilton. Yoshi reached on an error *again* - this time on Dan Jones’ – the following inning. Jeremy Waite walked Jackson to set up Hamilton again, this time with two out, but his grounder was cut off and played for the final out by Valdez.

With the score up to 7-1 this was now Abe’s to lose. The struggling co-ace had labored hard in the early innings, but the Crusaders had eased off him in the middle innings, and he started the seventh on four hits allowed and only 74 pitches. Something had to go wrong soon, else this was surely a dream. Zuhlke’s throwing error that put Pedro Cruz on second base with one out in the bottom 7th certainly fit in here. Jalen Parks drove in the (unearned) run with a double right away. Abe was hanging on a very thin string now; Jones grounded out, but Brian Skinner fired a drive to right center. Somehow the ball seemed to hang forever, seemingly trapped in a spacial anomaly. The temporary suspension of the laws of physics was all that allowed Eddie Jackson to get to the ball in the first place. He took it, the inning ended with Parks stranded at third. Abe would retire Loya and Duarte to start the eighth before we called on Sugano to face the left-handed middle of the order for the Crusaders. Between him and Jeff Boynton the Crusaders went down without much noise; the Coons scored a late run off Brian Doumas, a left-hander, to win by six. 8-2 Raccoons. Carmona 2-4; Jackson 1-2, 3 BB; Hamilton 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; Margolis 2-3, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Stevenson 2-4, 2B; Zuhlke 2-4, 2B, RBI; Abe 7.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (2-3);

Hugo Mendoza did not appear in this game, leaving Yoshi Nomura and Ronnie McKnight as the last Coons to have featured in every contest this season. Neither of those two was in Tuesday’s lineup.

Game 2
NYC: LF Loya – CF Duarte – 2B S. Valdez – C J. Vargas – RF Erickson – 3B P. Cruz – 1B A. Young – SS D. Jones – P Zimmerman
POR: LF Carmona – CF Stevenson – RF Jackson – 1B Mendoza – C Margolis – 3B Nunley – SS Zuhlke – 2B Petracek – P Foreman

Foreman had traffic in each of the first three innings without the Crusaders ever reaching third base. Valdez singled in the first, but was caught stealing right away by Margolis; in the second, Jose Vargas was hit by a 2-2 pitch and Max Erickson singled, but a K to Cruz and a double play hit into by the perpetually hapless Adam Young ended that inning, and after Zimmerman singled in the third, Ricky Loya hit into a double play. The Coons had no base hits the first time through, with only Stevenson reaching on a walk. Cookie legged out a 2-out single in the bottom 3rd, although replays later showed that he was in fact out on the bang-bang play. Stevenson grounded out to end that inning. The Critters first reached scoring position in the fourth inning after singles by Jackson and Margolis, but now Nunley was right there to hit into a double play…

Foreman knocked the leadoff man for the second time in the game in the fifth inning, throwing a fastball into Erickson’s ribs. The Crusaders used Cruz to bunt before Young singled. Dan Jones doubled with runners on the corners, scoring the first run of the game, but hurt his knee sliding into second base and had to be replaced by Josh Perkins. Zimmerman managed to hit a sac fly to give himself a 2-0 lead. We were still waiting for any Coons offense in the game. Maybe Cookie’s leadoff single in the sixth would help. Stevenson however missed on a hit-and-run call and Cookie was thrown out at second base (which together with a CS on Monday put him at 0-for-10 in his last ten attempts…). Stevenson made the second out, after which Jackson doubled. Could have had a run right here! Instead, Mendoza hit a 2-out RBI single, but was then left on when Margolis grounded out to Cruz. Bottom 7th, Nunley led off with a single to center. Zuhlke bunted him to second, but Petracek grounded out to short, keeping him at second base. Yoshi batted for Foreman, who had completed seven innings on just over 100 pitches. His single to center scored Nunley, taking Foreman off the hook in what was now a 2-2 tie. Zimmerman, who had looked untouchable through five, now loaded the bases with another single hit by Cookie, and then Stevenson walked. This brought up Jackson, but the Crusaders would not send a right-handed pitcher. And why would they? Jackson grounded out to Perkins at short, and the inning was over.

Against the Coons’ pen the Crusaders left Loya on third base in the eighth inning (Chun had walked him with one out), but got a leadoff double from Vargas off Jason Kaiser in the ninth inning. Boynton came in to face the pinch-hitter Brian Skinner, struck him out, but surrendered the run on Cruz’ single. Sugano relieved him and got a double play from Young, but the Raccoons faced the loss now and the Crusaders’ Closer of the Week, Sean Casey, a right-hander with a 4.37 ERA in the bottom of the ninth. McKnight, Metts, and Cookie would ground out pathetically in quick succession. 3-2 Crusaders. Carmona 3-5; Jackson 2-4, 2B; Nunley 2-4; Nomura (PH) 1-1, RBI; Foreman 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K;

Wednesday brought rain and the seasons’ first postponement. There was no way to play baseball in Portland on the 10th of June, but a couple of hardy guys were fishing for bass near the third base dugout at game time. Bless them.

A double header was scheduled for Thursday, which toppled at least the Raccoons’ rotation, since my long-standing philosophy has been to send the better guy into the early game in the hope of using less bullpen there and having more available later. Deciding between “Triple Crown” Toner and “Tragic” Travis was not that hard at all. The Crusaders stuck to their rotation, so Toner would now face Dave Butler instead of Choe.

Game 3
NYC: LF Loya – CF Duarte – 2B S. Valdez – C J. Vargas – 1B Perkins – RF Erickson – 3B P. Cruz – SS Parks* – P D. Butler
POR: 2B Nomura – RF Jackson – LF Mendoza – C Margolis – 1B Hamilton – 3B Nunley – CF Stevenson – SS McKnight – P Toner

While Toner walked Loya to start the game, struck out two, then still surrendered the run on two singles by Vargas and Perkins, the Coons were retired in order the first time through by Butler, who walked Yoshi to start the fourth inning. A throwing error by Parks on Jackson’s grounder to short put two Coons aboard for the middle of the order, but Mendoza hit into a double play. Margolis salvaged at least the tying run with a single to left, and the Critters got another single by Hamilton and a walk by Nunley to load the bags, but Stevenson’s fly to shallow center was caught by a hustling Duarte to leave three men on. Another odd 2-out rally in the bottom 5th resulted in no tangible yields when Butler hit Yoshi and walked Jackson, but Mendoza again couldn’t find a hurtful swing in his bat.

Toner had a few drawn out innings in the fourth and fifth, not getting a strikeout for ten consecutive batters, which was certainly newsworthy for a guy actively chasing 3,000 for his career. The Crusaders also couldn’t score off him, though, and maybe the Coons could get something started in the sixth, reaching base with as few as one out. Both Matts singled up the middle and occupied the corners for Josh Stevenson, who lined a 1-0 pitch to the left side, Cruz lunged but missed it, and the ball was into left for an RBI single, Coons ahead, 2-1! McKnight flew out to left and Toner grounded out to short to leave another two runners stranded. Toner allowed a 2-run double to Parks in the top of the seventh, but the Crusaders stuck to Butler, hoping for a comeback by the top of the order instead. Butler, left to fight and die for himself, figuratively did die at the plate, struck out on three pitches by Toner.

In a tightly fought game, Yoshi’s leadoff walk in the bottom 7th was important enough to send Petracek to run for him, but the fool got himself caught stealing, and the Coons didn’t score in the inning. Toner fell apart in a sudden motion in the eighth, hitting Loya and walking Duarte. Valdez grounded to short, but McKnight only got the out at second base, and then Vargas’ double into right center scored two and flipped the score. He didn’t remain on the hook; Sugano got out of the inning, and Danny Margolis tied the score at three with a leadoff jack off Butler in the bottom of the eighth. The loss instead would be on Chun. With two outs in the ninth, Jalen Parks parked a ball in the leftfield stands. Sean Casey had another 1-2-3 inning in the bottom 9th. 4-3 Crusaders. Nomura 0-1, 2 BB; Margolis 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Hamilton 3-4;

What a mood killer. And the best bit: the “Tragic” part hasn’t begun yet.

Game 4
NYC: LF Loya – CF Duarte – 2B S. Valdez – C J. Vargas – 1B Perkins – RF Erickson – 3B P. Cruz – SS Parks* – P Choe
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – 3B Nunley – SS McKnight – CF Metts – C Olivares – P Garrett

The Raccoons somehow dingled out a run in the bottom of the first inning, Mendoza singling home Cookie, BEFORE hitting into the inevitable double play (Hamilton), but what use was it even with Garrett pitching? After a wobbly first, the Crusaders spanked him in the second inning. Josh Perkins’ leadoff jack tied the game, and Erickson and Cruz singled to go to the corners. Choe got himself a lead with a sac fly, and another run scored on Loya’s RBI double past Dwayne Metts. Duarte grounded out, leaving New York 3-1 ahead. With a leadoff walk to Valdez and the following long, long, way too long 2-run shot by Jose Vargas the game was quite definitely out of hand by the third inning, despite Choe finding a way to load the bases with walks after Ezequiel Olivares’ leadoff single in the bottom of the third. Mendoza, batting as the tying run, ****ing popped out to short. Choe walked Hamilton with the bases loaded, but that was all, with Loya retiring Nunley on the run in left center to end the inning. After a super-rare Olivares homer (of course a solo shot) in the bottom 4th and Garrett, who got way too much screen time thanks to the double header situation, surrendering that run right away again in the fifth, in which the lead-footed Vargas TRIPLED, the Coons STILL got to bat with the bases loaded and two outs again in the bottom of the fifth inning. The tying runs were aboard for Ronnie McKnight, who was receiving oxygen, mired in a 5-for-45 slump. On the first pitch, he flew out to center.

Garrett was allowed to do whatever until he filled his pitch count of 100, more or less, which took him six innings and as many runs. Choe was still fingering around in the 6-3 game in the bottom 6th with the tying run in the box again after an Olivares single and Jackson being put on with a Parks error, batting in Garrett’s spot. Cookie was next and flew to right for a sac fly, which was not an actual advancement of the Coons’ cause. Yoshi walked, bringing up Mendoza as the go-ahead run. Aaand the ****er grounded out.

Steve from Accounting had that very weird look on his face when I burst into his office in the seventh inning, crying profusely and obviously inebriated, because I needed a hug and for the love of my life couldn’t find Honeypaws. These invoices can be accounted for later, Steve. The GM needs his stuffed toy raccoon RIGHT. NOW. The game was certainly going to go on fine without either of us. Until Honeypaws was found hiding behind a plant in Maud’s room, the Crusaders had scorched Will West for three more runs, and I came back to my desk with Honeypaws and another bottle of booze just in time to see Dumbo Mendoza bat with two outs and two runners on base in the bottom 8th … and foul out behind home plate. There was not even enough mop-up potential left in the pen to actually mop up. Brett Lillis had to be bothered to pitch the ninth inning in a 9-4 defeat-in-progress, allowed a leadoff single to Valdez and then walked the bags full before actually retiring anybody. Erickson’s sac fly put the Crusaders into double digits. Cruz struck out, Parks flew out to Metts. Did anyone actually bother at this point? 10-4 Crusaders. Carmona 2-2, 2 BB, RBI; Olivares 3-4, HR, RBI;

UNDER .500, BABY!!

That was it for Garrett. The sucker found himself on the Interstate the very next day, along with his 5.29 ERA and his sorry expression that perpetually read ‘Yeah, sorry, but I did my utmost!’. Really sorry to tell you this, Travis, but your utmost is still UTTER DOG ****!!

(claps hands twice) Who wants a look at Jesus Chavez…!? Boy’s comin’ up! Chavez is the 23-year old Cuban we signed this winter to a 4-yr, $3.6M deal. He pitched on Wednesday, which aligns him perfectly for a Monday start in what was Garrett’s turn before the rainout.

But before the Coons could get to Monday and Chavez, they had to play the best team in baseball.

Raccoons (29-30) vs. Scorpions (36-23) – June 11-13, 2021

The defending champions held a comfy 4 1/2 game lead in the FL West. They were second in the FL in scoring, and their pitching was doing just enough to not soil everything for them like it had happened to the team that still led the CL in runs scored (although that edge was nearly eroded now). Their rotation was an actual weak spot with a 4.57 ERA that was well in the bottom half in the Federal League, but at least they had a strong, top 3 bullpen. They had allowed 267 runs compared to their 324 scored. Thus their run differential was actually smaller than the Coons.

These teams would play another in interleague fashion for the third year in a row. The Coons had picked but one victory from those six games, and hadn’t won a series against the Scorpions since 2016.

Projected matchups:
Hector Santos (5-3, 4.91 ERA) vs. Brian Simmons (5-3, 7.45 ERA)
Tadasu Abe (2-3, 4.85 ERA) vs. Ian Rutter (4-4, 3.26 ERA)
Michael Foreman (5-3, 2.13 ERA) vs. Jaylen Symonds (6-1, 3.32 ERA)

Simmons will be the fourth southpaw to fail against this week. After that, Rutter is the guy that was still chasing Jonny Toner in the career strikeout table as the season began, but who has fallen off a bit at this point. Symonds, 29, only made it to the rotation two years ago. Last year he went 16-9, but with a 5.12 ERA. Maybe he’s due for a beating… Yes, I am reaching for straws here.

Oh damn it. WE’RE OUT OF ****ING STRAWS.

Game 1
SAC: SS Rock – LF Stross – CF Meade – RF P. Sanchez – 1B Rockwell – 3B LaCombe – 2B Ri. Luna – C C. Ramirez – P Simmons
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Jackson – 1B Hamilton – C Margolis – 3B Nunley – CF Stevenson – SS Zuhlke – P Santos

Neither team reached second base for a long, long time. The Scorpions had two hits off Santos the first time through, both singles. Pablo Sanchez was caught stealing by Margolis, while Simmons snipped a single with two down in the third and was left on base when Trey Rock grounded out. The Coons only got Stevenson on the first time through with a leadoff single, but Zuhlke wrapped him up in a double play. Second base wasn’t touched until the fifth inning, in which the former Atlanta slugger Gil Rockwell singled to left and then was bunted over to second by Jason LaCombe, a very good batter in his own right. Ricky Luna struck out, Santos’ 5th K in the game, which left a .164 batting dilemma in the box. Why walk Chris Ramirez to begin with here? The Scorpions’ primary catcher, Jaiden Jackson, was on the DL and Ramirez was a terrible replacement. No intentional walk shall be wasted to him. He singled sharply to center, Rockwell scored, and the Raccoons were in agony once more. Actually, Simmons found another single off Santos as well, so things wouldn’t have mattered to begin with, but … Trey Rock grounded out to Hamilton to end the inning.

Hamilton bombed Simmons on a 410-footer to lead off the bottom of the fifth, levelling the score at one. It was due time to do something against a pitcher with an ERA over SEVEN. While Santos somehow held out against the raw power potential in the Scorpions’ order, the Coons had an unearned opportunity going in the bottom of the sixth. Cookie reached when Rockwell dropped Ricky Luna’s feed for a 1-out error, then went to third on Yoshi’s single to rightfield. Then Jackson hit a 3-2 pitch mighty hard, but right at LaCombe, who turned the double play to end the inning. LaCombe upped the pressure with a leadoff walk in the seventh, but was forced out at second base by Margolis, who played Luna’s terrible grounder in front of the plate perfectly before firing a laser to McKnight. Ramirez struck out, Simmons – still in the game – popped out to leave Luna on first. After Hamilton’s leadoff single in the bottom 7th Margolis even had a chance to get the Coons the lead, but his drive to deep right was caught by a racing Pablo Sanchez, and Nunley smacked a ball right at Rock for a double play.

Santos retired with a no-decision, with Kaiser and Bricker getting through the eighth. Bricker struck out Ray Meade, a bit of a Neil Reece type of player, handing him a golden sombrero after three strikeouts against Santos. Simmons was still going in the bottom 8th and FINALLY made another mistake. This one a *69*mph hanger that allowed Josh Stevenson to zoom in on it for several minutes before blasting it over the fence in right center. Leadoff jack, 2-1 lead for the home team! Zuhlke singled, still no pitching replacement in sight. Mendoza walked while hitting for Bricker, and Jackson hit a 2-out single to load the bases. Hamilton in the box, still no reliever anywhere near. Aaaand he popped out on the infield… (deep sigh) That brought in Lillis for the ninth. His last save on Sunday had not been for consumption by kids, pregnant women, or the mentally weak, and this was a tough lineup to pitch to in any circumstance. Rockwell led off, grounding to Nunley, whose throw was dropped by Hamilton. Leadoff man on base on the error. Good grief…! LaCombe bunted the runner to second, but Lillis whiffed Luna. Ramirez didn’t get another chance to prove himself – this was for the gold! Left-handed batter Justin McAllester was nothing special, but at least batted more than his own weight at .262, and got to hit in the #8 hole. And struck out. 2-1 Blighters. Hamilton 2-4, HR, RBI; Stevenson 3-3, HR, RBI; Santos 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K;

Stop the presses, the Coons won a 1-run game.

Game 2
SAC: SS Rock – LF Stross – CF Meade – RF P. Sanchez – 1B Rockwell – 3B LaCombe – 2B Ri. Luna – C C. Ramirez – P Rutter
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF H. Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – C Margolis – 3B Nunley – SS McKnight – CF Metts – P Abe

The Coons got a run in the first inning after Ian Rutter loaded the bases with a walk to Yoshi and consecutive singles after that. Margolis grounded to LaCombe, whose only choice was at first base, with Yoshi coming across to score. Pablo Sanchez spoiled a Nunley fly to right near the foul line to end the inning. While Abe staved off leadoff runners in the first and second, the Coons had runners on the corners in the bottom 2nd and two outs when Yoshi grounded to Rock. The throw to first was well wild and Rockwell couldn’t come up with it. Metts scored from third, and Cookie and Yoshi were awaiting good deeds by Mendoza in scoring position, but the only other run scoring in the inning would come home on a wild pitch by Rutter. And while Rutter, the 2020 FL Pitcher of the Year, certainly didn’t have a good day, that much was true for more players on the team. Dwayne Metts was on second base with nobody out in the fourth inning; he had drawn a leadoff walk and had stolen second base. Abe was to bunt here, did so, and Chris Ramirez pounced and threw another egg past Rockwell, this one sailing into the stands. Metts scored, 4-0, and Abe was moved to second base, where he got doubled off when Cookie Carmona lined out to Ricky Luna.

The game descended into a total mess in the middle innings. Margolis joined the long list of players to throw away balls with a gruesome throwing error on Ricky Luna’s stolen base attempt in the fifth inning. Luna had led off with a single, took third base on the ill throw, and came home on Ramirez single under a diving Yoshi’s glove into centerfield. Rutter’s bunt was bad enough for Nunley to throw out Ramirez at second base, but Trey Rock split the gap in right center for an RBI triple to get the Scorpions to 4-2. Doug Stross grounded out to score him, 4-3, which pulled up Ray Meade, who was 0-for-6 with 6 K in the series, and … struck out. Oh dear. Abe retired nobody in the sixth inning, putting Sanchez on with a leadoff single before advancing him on a wild pitch. He then walked Rockwell anyway. Kaiser inherited a 4-3 lead, two on, and nobody out, LaCombe bunted again, and Kaiser’s throw to first was nowhere near Yoshi Nomura, instead sailing into the Coons’ dugout where it caromed around and scattered the resident Critters, except for Adam Zuhlke, who was on a piece of creamy pie, at least until the havocing ball finally came his way and knocked the plate from beneath and smashed the pie into his face.

Pie in the face the team had as a whole, now in a 4-4 tie with two men in scoring position for the Stingers. Ricky Luna took care of that, sending a pitch into the leftfield corner for a 2-out double. Ramirez struck out, Rutter popped out, and then Trey Rock grounded to Nunley, who booted the ball. The fifth error in the game, and the third for Coon City put men on the corners for Stross, who struck out eventually. A rain shower – probably the damn baseball gods shedding tears of joy – chased Rutter before he got an out in the bottom of the sixth, with McKnight hitting a single against him. After the delay, Eddie Jackson doubled off right-hander Rich Hewitt in the pitcher’s spot, and Cookie walked to fill the bases for Nomura, but Yoshi grounded to short for the easy double play to end the inning… With that, madness ended. The Raccoons had only one base runner against the Scorpions pen, and the Raccoons’ Boynton, Chun, and West somehow managed not to get blown up in the last three despite trying. Nobody scored another run. 6-4 Scorpions. Hamilton 2-5; McKnight 2-4; Jackson (PH) 1-1, 2B;

Ray Meade hit for a golden sombrero for the second straight day. After three strikeouts against Abe, he also got whiffed by Boynton, but finally ended his string of futility by hitting a drive to left off Will West in the ninth. Cookie robbed him of extra bases, though, so he’s now 0-for-9 with 8 K in the series.

This was also the last outing for West; he was sent back to AAA with Adam Cowen coming off the DL. I wasn’t against keeping West around a while longer, but he had already cleared waivers once this season, and Cowen didn’t have options, either, so it was West’s turn to go back to St. Pete.

Metts’ steal was his second of the season. He is only the second Coon to steal as many as TWO.

Yes it’s June. I have a calendar!

Game 3
SAC: SS Rock – LF Stross – CF Meade – RF P. Sanchez – 1B Rockwell – 3B LaCombe – 2B Ri. Luna – C C. Ramirez – P Symonds
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF H. Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – 3B Nunley – SS McKnight – CF Metts – C Olivares – P Foreman

After Yoshi walked, Mendoza hit a double to centerfield to give the Coons runners in scoring position with one out in the bottom 1st. Hamilton’s groundout scored one, Nunley walked, but McKnight couldn’t break out of his funk and struck out. While Foreman held the Scorpions to more or less one runner an inning to prevent harm, the Raccoons upped it against Symonds in the third. With Yoshi on base after a leadoff single, Mendoza popped another mighty shot to center, this time trending a bit to the right and outta here, 3-0. Bottom 5th, Yoshi on base again with a 1-out single, and for the third time Mendoza hit Symonds a ton, this time on a hanger in the middle of the zone at 3-2. This one went to right-ish center as well and was measured 415 feet as it clanked off the edge of the batter’s eye, extending the Critters’ lead to 5-0. After five, the Coons had five hits, all by the #2 and #3 batters.

Symonds was gone by the sixth, his spot in the order coming up leading off in the top of the inning against Foreman, who had spent just 48 pitches on a 3-hit shutout so far. McAllester hit for Symonds, but grounded out. When Rock singled and Stross walked, the Scorpions had two men aboard for the first time in the game, but with Meade up, who by now was 0-for-11 with 9 K and a double play. We could use another one of those! Nope, Foreman lost him on four pitches, and the bases were loaded. The Scorpions were held to a sac fly by Sanchez (who was scratching on the .400 mark at this point and could have done real damage without the offense-killing Meade in this series) before Foreman struck out Rockwell, but the inning had cost him 26 pitches. Foreman went to the eighth before running out of steam for good. John Staebell’s pinch-hit leadoff single was erased when Rock grounded sharply to Yoshi, but Stross’ full-count, 2-out walk ended Foreman’s day. As he departed with a gentle pat on the bum, Chun was sent after Meade, who grounded out to Yoshi to leave Stross on. The Coons began the bottom 8th against Rich Hewitt with two men on after McKnight’s leadoff single and a walk drawn by Dwayne Metts, but Olivares hit into a double play and Zuhlke also grounded out. With two lefties up, the ninth was Sugano’s, but runners were on the corners three batters in. Rockwell (the right-handed bat in the set of three) had walked, and LaCombe had singled up the rightfield line. Lillis came into the game after all, but wouldn’t close out the game until AFTER a very cruel 3-run homer by Ricky Luna… 5-4 Coons. Nomura 2-2, 2 BB; Mendoza 3-4, 2 HR, 2B, 4 RBI; Metts 0-1, 3 BB; Foreman 7.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, W (6-3);

In other news

June 7 – Dallas’ SP Mo Robinson (6-4, 3.23 ERA) 2-hits the Pacifics in a 5-0 shutout. He strikes out and walks four each.
June 9 – DAL SS Manny Ferrer (.284, 4 HR, 17 RBI) keeps hitting! Two hits in a 5-4 win over the Pacifics put the 25-year old at 30 consecutive games with at least one base hit in each.
June 9 – The Loggers trade for LVA MR Edwin Balandran (3-2, 2.81 ERA). The price for the 28-year old southpaw are two prospects, including #60 SS/3B Zach Brandon.
June 9 – PIT RF Justin Quinn (.277, 4 HR, 12 RBI) misses the cycle by the triple in a 5-hit performance over the Capitals. The Miners lose, 6-5, despite Quinn hitting for nine bases.
June 10 – The hitting streak of DAL SS Manny Ferrer (.279, 4 HR, 17 RBI) ends at 30 games after he goes 0-for-4 in Thursday’s game in Dallas. In the same game, LAP OF Jon Berntson (.256, 2 HR, 28 RBI) hits three doubles and two singles and drives in two in the Pacifics’ 12-4 mashing of the Stars.
June 10 – The Cyclones send 1B Luis Moreira (.288, 5 HR, 30 RBI) to the Rebels in exchange for SP Josh Knupp (6-2, 2.24 ERA). It is an odd trade from Cincy’s point of view, trading the reigning FL Rookie of the Year for a 34-year old right-hander who clearly has a career season.
June 11 – The Bayhawks trade 36-year old C Errol Spears (.333, 5 HR, 33 RBI) to the Aces for 26-year old AAA INF Sean Light and unranked pitching prospect Alex Cordova.
June 11 – Seven runs in the top of the 12th inning decidedly tip the Pacifics’ and Titans’ game into the former’s favor. L.A. wins, 12-5. Nobody on their team drives in more than two runs.
June 12 – TOP CL Mike Baker (2-3, 4.85 ERA, 9 SV) has to seek treatment for a bone spur in his elbow and will miss a month.
June 13 – The Thunder pull a wild one out of the dustbin against the Cyclones, scoring back-to-back 6-spots in the seventh and eighth to come from behind and win 16-11. OCT INF Eric Paull (.246, 4 HR, 21 RBI) drives in two while landing four base hits.

Complaints and stuff

(pulls up a huge cardboard box, open at the top, that has “SOLUTIONS!” scrawled with black permanent marker onto one of the sides out from behind the desk and puts it on top of it)

This box … (points at box) … is currently empty. I threw in a note that read “KILL THEM ALL!!” but Maud told me I couldn’t do it and tore the paper in half. I literally got nothing else. Who would have thought that the answer to picking a loser this year would be the Critters?

Bright sides. Good draft pick incoming. Also, an actual draft next week. Just at the right time for a bit of distraction and falls hopes to get me through the summer. I must say that this year is more and more turning into 1997. I get flashbacks. Next thing will probably be Cookie Carmona telling me that I suck and that he wants to be traded northwards.

1997 was also the last year in Portland of fan favorite Vern Kinnear who wore a black #9 on the brown shirt AND NEVER ANYTHING ELSE. (deletes Vern’s Trickypedia picture for the 16th time) Currently unsigned for 2022: Abe, Santos, Margolis, Jackson, Bricker, and Sugano. I wonder whether we will have to make major efforts. The next six weeks might see some of them gone already.

You know we have no prospects, right? If I start selling, this team will play Juan Diazes and Yoshi Yamadas every day. They might even lose a hundred. Coons haven’t lost a hundred in over 40 years.

ABL CAREER STRIKEOUT LEADERS
67th – Fernando Chavez – 1,946
68th – Fernando Cruz – 1,918 – active
69th – Jim Harrington – 1,907
70th – Andres Ramirez – 1,895 – HOF
71st – Jorge Chapa – 1,886
72nd – Jonathan Toner – 1,882 – active
73rd – Greg Cain – 1,875
74th – Mark Warburton – 1,861
75th – Jesus Bautista – 1,860
[…]
85th – Manuel Ortíz – 1,796 – active
86th – Raimundo Beato – 1,791
87th – John Collins – 1,758
88th – Ramón Jimenez – 1,743
89th – Pedro Alvarado – 1,738 – active, free agent
90th – Hector Santos – 1,736 – active
91st – Lou Corbett – 1,733
t-92nd – Daniel Dickerson – 1,730
t-92nd – Samuel McMullen – 1,730 – active

*Yes this is the catcher at short. No, they can’t find a backup shortstop. The Jones injury broke them in half. I refuse to discuss this further.

[Westheim]

2021 AMATEUR DRAFT

The draft takes place in the middle of the week of June 14-20, 2021. The update with the preceding games will follow after this post with the week as a whole.

The Raccoons had earmarked 65 players in the draft pool for selection considerations, including 13 players on our hotlist, all of which were college players:

SP Ramiro Benavides (12/13/10) – BNN #8
SP Joel O’Brien (12/12/7) – BNN #10
SP Jeff Dykstra (12/13/9) – BNN #1

CL Justin Crosby (15/15/12)
CL Marcus Owens (16/13/10)
CL Joe Moore (16/14/12)

3B David Flournoy (11/10/14)
3B Pat Green (12/11/14) – BNN #5
1B Kevin McGrath (10/13/12)

OF/SP Tony Coca (12/13/8)
LF Eddie Pence (10/7/13)
OF Joe Vanatti (12/7/12) – BNN #2
RF/LF Rick Morris (9/11/10)

We have already talked a bit about this guy and that and why I like Tony Coca, and we could talk some more about the 19 reasons why we won’t get him, but let’s get to the Draft already. The Raccoons had the #20 pick in every round, plus a supplemental round pick, and had to make some hay with a draft class, finally.

Customarily, the Wolves had the #1 pick in the draft and selected SS Chris McGee with the premium selection.

Who?

After that uninspired beginning, the damn Elks picked Tony Coca with the #2 pick. They shall be damned! Several GMs in the draft room hushed me when I slapped my shoe on my desk while cussing and while the Condors selected SP Steve Gowan at #3. The top 5 would be completed by SP Ramiro Benavides to the Miners and OF Joe Vanatti to L.A.;

Many of the players taken in the top 10 were not on our shortlist, let alone the hotlist, and for a bit I wondered whether I had held the Riddler’s scouting reports the wrong way round, although I was quite sure that the rhyming end had to be on the right. When Joel O’Brien, Pat Green, David Flournoy, and Jeff Dykstra were taken in succession from #10 through #13, confidence was restored. Even my preferred closer prospect was soon off the board, with the Capitals taking Justin Crosby at #17. By the time the Coons first got to pick, Joe Moore looked like the best solution. While Marcus Owens had higher potential in some areas, the Riddler considered Moore’s pitches – in his words – a completed tower of light. Whatever that meant. We took Moore; Owens went to the Capitals as well at #22. Rick Morris ended up the last player on the hotlist that remained when our second pick – in the supplemental round – came around, so with that chapter one was closed.

The second chapter was all about picking well from the shortlist before the lottery picks would arrive. I had set aside an outfielder named Nick West as first lottery pick for us – the boy combined the names of two Raccoons Hall of Famers (okay, one HoFer and one hopefully in there soon) and could only become a star! – but the Knights already selected him in the second round. My plans foiled again, I settled on a high school middle infielder in the second round, then a 20-year old college third baseman in the third round. That his name was Matt shouldn’t indicate that he will be Matt Nunley’s successor. But hey, Nunley was taken a round lower and was probably not looking like much back then, either.

By the sixth round, the shortlist was mostly exhausted, and the Coons had only taken two pitchers so far. I tasked the Riddler to give me the guy with the fieriest flameballs, and he came back from his notes with a college relief pitcher that couldn’t hit a barn from the inside. When I asked him whether he was as drunk as me, he just replied that nobody thought that Charles Lindbergh could cycle across America, either, until he did it. In a weird way, this was plausible, even to me. I didn’t even know why. That’s how we signed the sixth-rounder.

+++

2021 PORTLAND RACCOONS DRAFT CLASS

Round 1 (#20) – CL Joe Moore, 23, from Denver, CO – right-hander that throws 97mph head with good precision, and mixes it with a devastating curveball with late break. Not quite major-league ready, but almost!
Supp. Round (#35) – RF/LF Rick Morris, 20, from Carlsbad, CA – left-handed hitter with strong power potential but not much in terms of agility and defense
Round 2 (#64) – 2B/SS Chris Golka, 19, from Sharon, PA – slap hitter with no power whatsoever, but considerable infield range and speed; his hands need to get a bit more steady before he can be considered a major league-worthy fielder
Round 3 (#88) – 3B Matt Anton, 20, from Thousand Oaks, CA – strong defensive third baseman with some power potential, and also a skilled eye; his throwing arm does not look like it’s first-rate, so maybe a move to second base is in the cards for him; he does have considerable speed though.
Round 4 (#112) – SP Hank Gibson, 23, from New Orleans, LA – squirrely left-hander and corner nibbler with a 93mph fastball and complementary splitter and changeup; could use a bit more precision on that throwing arm…
Round 5 (#136) – 1B/OF Jared Knight, 21, from Hamilton, NJ – powerless left-hander that tries to occupy a power position (his range is not really something you want to see in centerfield); strikeouts and walks are also present in an undesirable ratio
Round 6 (#160) – CL Nick Derks, 20, from Ocala, FL – right-hander with a 91mph fastball and a nasty slider that occasionally slides right into the batter, over the umpire, or right to shortstop
Round 7 (#184) – C Brandon Tally, 21, from Leonia, NJ – extremely bright catcher that works wonderfully with pitchers and his environment, except that he can’t throw and can’t hit
Round 8 (#208) – SS/2B Joe McGary, 18, from Little Falls, NY – no power, some potential to get him on base with something close to regularity, good speed; unfortunately clumsy; never hand him the trophy, because he’ll sure break it
Round 9 (#232) – LF/RF Corey Caraway, 18, from Omaha, NE – he can hit a ball all across Nebraska, if said ball sits on an immobile stick and he can zero in on it for a few hours
Round 10 (#256) – CL Kyle Oglesby, 20, from Planada, CA – right-hander with fastball at 92, splitter; really nothing special, and don’t stand so close to him, that ball can really go anywh- (ducks)
Round 11 (#280) – SP Tommy Burris, 20, from Chicago, IL – this year’s Nick Brown Memorial Pick tries to be a finesse pitcher with a curve and changeup that are vaguely recognizable as such, while the fastball dies before it gets much faster than 85…
Round 12 (#304) – 2B/SS Brian Higgins, 19, from Babylon, NY – Brian still sticks to what he declared to be his dream job in first grade: major league shortstop; never mind that he can not field or hit for his life…
Round 13 (#328) – SP Gary Gunter, 19, from Terrebonne, Canada – throws whatever comes to his mind, and there is not much shape or order to it…

+++

Every draft also made some cleansing in the minors necessary, and we thinned our three minor league affiliates (which all sat roughly at .500, just like the parent team) of a number of players, while assigning our new bounty. First off, all draftees were sent to Aumsville, except for Joe Moore, who would report to AAA St. Petersburg right away.

Among the players released was sadly a former Nick Brown Memorial Pick, 2018’s Joe Nelson, who had obviously topped out at Ham Lake and couldn’t get anybody struck out or removed otherwise. We also waived and designated for assignment 25-year old C Owen Walker, who had picked up some 30 at-bats with the Raccoons in 2019 before fading to Ham Lake and there into a second-fiddle role. Walker was still on a minimum contract this year and maybe someone could be enticed to spare us the extra $100k in expenses.

Also released (not counting the odd international discovery that the cat dragged in and that never was mentioned in the first place, or late-winter trash heap signings):

From Ham Lake: 2B/3B Nick Moist (2015, 9th Round), 3B Brian Voyles (2017, 10th Round), MR Marty Woodard (2018, 6th Round)
From Aumsville: MR Jim Garrison (2019, 12th Round), INF/RF Brad Gillaspy (2020, 8th Round), 3B Ben Hodder (2020, 10th Round), INF/LF Adam Jakubowski (2020, 4th Round)

Including DL dwellers, we have 93 players in the minors now.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (31-31) @ Rebels (30-31) – June 14-16, 2021

The Coons hadn’t met their nightmare opponents the last two seasons. All time, they were .404 against the Rebels, and it hadn’t exactly become any better in recent years, with the Raccoons losing two of three games in each of the last three meetings with Richmond. You had to go all the way back to 2014 to find a Raccoons series win over the Rebels.

In the here and now, neither team seemed to be going anywhere. The Coons were lazily trundling from week to week, and the Rebels had dropped under .500 already after a 4-game losing streak. Other than the Coons however, their overall stats actually supported the image of the aimless, goalless middle-of-nowhere team, with the Rebels ranking sixth in runs scored, sixth in runs allowed, and overall middle-ish in a whole lot more categories in the Federal League.

The Amateur Draft would rudely interrupt the series on Tuesday.

Projected matchups:
Jesus Chavez (0-0) vs. Rich Guerrero (8-2, 3.32 ERA)
Jonathan Toner (7-2, 3.32 ERA) vs. Adam Nelson (0-1, 7.15 ERA)
Hector Santos (5-3, 4.54 ERA) vs. Ismael Gutierrez (1-1, 5.40 ERA)

Right-left-right is what we expect in this series. Nelson is a 31-year old Damani Knight type with the grand total of 10 career appearances (2 starts), and he’s close to having the most innings pitched among all three of their starters, with the marked difference that the other two are actually *young* rookies. Well, at least Gutierrez was young. Guerrero had already turned 26.

Game 1
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – 3B Nunley – C Margolis – SS McKnight – CF Stevenson – P Chavez
RIC: SS Bozan – 2B Farias – LF Correa – 1B Moreira – C J. White – RF Kimura – CF D. Flores – 3B J. Soto – P R. Guerrero

As a casual aside, the Raccoons were going to feed a rookie to the wolves themselves in the opener, which marked the big league debut of 23-year old Cuban right-handed Jesus Chavez, who struck out his first ever batter, shortstop Manny Bozan, in retiring the side in order in the first. While an RBI double by McKnight gave Chavez a 1-0 lead in the second inning, the advantage was not to last, thanks to a pair of 2-out hits in the bottom of the second inning, a single to center by Tamio Kimura, and then a double into the rightfield corner, and in a full count, by Danny Flores. His first career walk was intentional and to Jesus Soto to get the pitcher out, with an unintentional walk following to begin the bottom 3rd, with Bozan walking in a full count. That runner was stranded, however, and it would be the Critters to take the next lead, shackling Guerrero for five singles and three runs in the top of the fifth inning. Stevenson led off with a single, was bunted over and scored on Cookie’s single. Yoshi, Mendoza, and Nunley also hit singles, giving Chavez overall a 4-1 lead, although the Rebels would not go down quietly and raked one run right back in the bottom of the inning, and again did their damage with two outs. Bozan singled up the middle, the ball only narrowly eluding Ronnie McKnight, and then Farias drove a shot through Matt Hamilton for an RBI double. Jon Correa struck out, keeping things at 4-2 after five.

The Raccoons had their own 2-out pressure building in the sixth, ironically starting with Chavez’ first base hit, a single to rightfield. Cookie also singled, giving him an exceedingly rare multi-hit game, and Yoshi walked to bring up Mendoza with the bases loaded, but as usual the big spot shooed away the big hit, and Mendoza grounded out to Soto. Chavez’ day was about to end after a leadoff single by Luis Moreira in the bottom of the sixth; like the Coons’, the Rebels’ lineup was leaning heavily to the left side. Jamal White batted right-handed, after that were three left-handers ahead of the pitcher, and with the tying run in the box (or worse!) it was not the spot for Kimura (14 HR) to see Chavez a third time. Except that the lead-footed White hit into a double play, which removed the tying-run-or-worse equation, Chavez remained in to pitch to Kimura, and one Japanese player grounded out to another on the first pitch as Kimura was retired on an ordinary 4-3 play. The Coons pushed for an insurance run in the seventh inning. Nunley had hit a 1-out double and remained on second base for McKnight with two down. Ronnie singled to center, Nunley was waved around, and thrown out at home plate by Flores.

Chavez retired the bottom of the lineup in order in the seventh, then was hit for in the eighth inning. Jackson singled to center, which moved Josh Stevenson to second; Stevenson had drawn a leadoff walk from southpaw Pat Kling. Cookie singled to right on a 2-2 pitch to load the bases with no retirements in the inning, and the Rebels were still counting on Kling to get out of the jam, although that wouldn’t happen until after Yoshi drew a bases-loaded walk to push home Stevenson, when Kling got to pitch to Dumbo Mendoza, who either by cruel design or by rank stupidity insisted on grounding to a middle infielder. Entered in a double switch, second baseman Ross Irvin fired home to kill Jackson, and Mendoza was out at first on White’s return throw. Hamilton fouled out. Yikes. More ‘Yikes’ sounds came from the Coons’ pen that took over in the bottom of the eighth. Sugano faced but one batter, Bozan, who singled, before Noah Bricker allowed a 1-out single to Correa amidst multiple sharp grounders before getting out of the inning. At least Lillis retired Richmond in order. 5-2 Raccoons. Carmona 3-5, RBI; Nunley 3-5, 2B, RBI; McKnight 2-5, 2B, RBI; Jackson (PH) 1-1; Chavez 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, W (1-0) and 1-2;

We got a non-tragic start from the #5 spot. Now, if we can polish up those #2 and #3 spots a bit…

Game 2
POR: LF Carmona – 3B Nunley – RF Jackson – 1B Mendoza – C Margolis – SS McKnight – CF Stevenson – 2B Petracek – P Toner
RIC: SS Bozan – CF D. Flores – LF Correa – 1B Moreira – RF Kimura – 2B Irvin – C Schoeppen – 3B J. Soto – P Nelson

The first pitch of the game was into Cookie, but the Coons never made anything of the free runner, and the free runner never got off first base, either. The Raccoons did take the lead in the second inning again, this time on Brian Petracek’s fifth RBI of the year, a 2-out double that chased home McKnight, who had reached on an infield single. Toner, luckless in any regard this year, actually hit a fly into the right-center gap, but was so obviously robbed by Kimura that I could barely gather the energy to shrug. It soon got worse than that for Toner, who like the debutee on Monday couldn’t hold on to the 1-0 lead. After the Stars had gone down 1-2-3 in the first inning, they singled 1-2-3 in the second inning, and had the go-ahead runs in scoring position in a 1-1 tie after Casimiro Schoeppen’s groundout, but at least Toner struck out Soto and Nelson to escape the mess for now. But the mess of the 2021 Raccoons was permanent, and so was Toner’s. Following Jon Correa’s hard 2-out single to center in the bottom 3rd, Toner surrendered a tie-breaking home run to Moreira that was in a real hurry to get outta here. The Raccoons only got any offense from the bottom of the order against Nelson, who put McKnight (single) and Stevenson (walk) on base with two outs in the fourth. Petracek lined to short, yet high and too high for Bozan; McKnight scored on the single to shallow left center. Toner batted with two on and two out and in a deficit. A career .244 batter that had only three meager hits this year, Jonny hit the first pitch to right, but Kimura was again on the other end of it.

A dreary 0-for-11 for the top 5 in the order was broken up in the fifth inning when Eddie Jackson drove a ball out of leftfield with two outs, tying the score at three before Mendoza made another lumpy out. And maybe they had the career-nothing Nelson figured out now. Margolis hit a soft single to start the sixth, and McKnight hit a not-so-soft 2-piece over the fence in right, 5-3 for the furry team. That didn’t mean the suffering was over, though. Toner conceded singles to Moreira and Kimura to begin in the bottom of the inning, but then pounced on a bunt that was decidedly too hart off Irvin’s bat, and retired Moreira at third base. Schoeppen hit into a double play to end the inning, but two were on again in the bottom of the seventh. Soto drew a leadoff walk, got forced by Bozan, but Flores singled, putting runners on the corners with two outs. Correa, a right-hander, was Toner’s last batter one way or another. Flores stole second base during an 8-pitch battle for the Little Round Top, and the 39th Oregon prevailed, striking out Correa on the last pitch of the sequence, stranding the tying runs in scoring position.

Toner’s W was in mortal danger the second the pen took to the hill. Kaiser put Kimura on with a 1-out single, after which Boynton took over and surrendered a deep drive to left to Ross Irvin, who was not a noted power hitter. Cookie would make the catch on the track, and Schoeppen grounded out, sharply, to strand the runner. Top 9th, left-hander Mike Greene pitched and allowed a 1-out double to left to Adam Zuhlke, pinch-hitter by trade. With first open and despite him being hitless (though not unhit) in the game, Cookie was intentionally walked, after which we exchanged Matt for Matt with Hamilton being entirely expected to take a southpaw deep here, something he had done three times in a Portland uniform already. No homer came to be born, but Greene’s wild pitch advanced the runners at 1-1, and two pitches later Hamilton singled to left, scoring both and upping the score to 7-3. The game was put away more or less when Eddie homered again, 9-3. The extra hits were dandy, with Lillis having pitched four out of the last five days. With a 6-run lead, the Coons went to Adam Cowen, who retired three left-handed batters in order in the last inning, including two on strikeouts. Hamilton (PH) 1-1, 2 RBI; Jackson 2-5, 2 HR, 3 RBI; Nomura (PH) 1-1; McKnight 4-5, HR, 2 RBI; Petracek 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Zuhlke (PH) 1-1, 2B; Toner 7.0 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, W (8-2);

Can we make this a sweep, for once, please?

It’s on Santos.

Game 3
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – 3B Nunley – C Margolis – SS McKnight – CF Metts – P Santos
RIC: SS Bozan – 2B Farias – 1B Moreira – C J. White – RF Kimura – CF D. Flores – LF Keller – 3B J. Soto – P I. Gutierrez

The Raccoons crowded Gutierrez right from the start. Yoshi doubled, Mendoza walked, Nunley singled, and with the bases loaded and a full count with two outs, Margolis singled to left center to plate a pair. McKnight also ran a full count, but struck out. And here came Santos – and right into the toilet he marched. The Rebels opened the game with three straight singles, all to rightfield, all somewhat sharply hit. In the quickest mound conference convened in recent memory, Santos was shaken by an annoyed pitching coach, then managed to strike out Jamal White. Kimura and Flores hit hard drives to the outfield, but managed to find Metts and Mendoza, respectively, on the other end, and the Rebels were held to one run in the inning.

Up 2-1, the Raccoons had a chance to add on in the fourth inning that started with Nunley walking and Danny Margolis singling through Soto at third base. Two on, no outs, McKnight continued to struggle badly and hit into a double play to get to one on, two outs. Metts walked, but Santos had never been much of a batter and grounded out to Farias. Top of the fifth, Cookie hit a leadoff single to right and then swiped second base successfully – his first stolen base in a month. Gutierrez threw a wild pitch to move Cookie to third, and Yoshi scored him with a double, 3-1. Gutierrez couldn’t get anybody out; Nomura scored after two singles to center by Mendoza and Hamilton, 4-1. Well, at least at first Gutierrez couldn’t get anybody out, until the Coons beat themselves again. Nunley popped out, and Margolis hit into a double play. The Rebels were far from dead, especially with Santos still on the mound. Tommy Keller ripped a drive to right to open the bottom 5th. Mendoza made a heroic grab on that one, but couldn’t help but watch the even longer drive that Soto hit afterwards; that one was outta here and cut the lead back to 4-2. The Raccoons would scratch out a run on a bloop single with two outs in the seventh that Nunley hit and that got Yoshi home, but they also wouldn’t get Santos through seven. Danny Flores singled, Keller walked on four pitches, and off Santos went. While far from perfect, the bullpen would collect the remaining eight outs without cocking up the lead and the sweep. Kaiser walked the bases full in the inning with a 2-out free pass to Schoeppen, but Boynton got a pop from PH Ross Irvin to escape. Chun got two outs in the eighth before White singled, bringing in Lillis, who struck out Kimura, but then put two on with the Rebels down to their final out. Irvin flew out to Petracek in right to end the game, finally. 5-2 Raccoons. Nomura 4-5, 2 2B, RBI; Hamilton 2-4, RBI; Nunley 2-3, BB, RBI; Margolis 2-4, 2 RBI; Santos 6.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (6-3);

Raccoons (34-31) @ Loggers (40-26) – June 18-20, 2021

The Loggers had recently taken off. They had an active 5-game winning streak and were 14-5 for their last 19 games, losing only one series during this time, dropping three out of four to the Titans the previous week. They were second in a lot of offensive categories (with the Coons first in a substantial amount of those), but their pitching was also holding up. They were third in starters’ ERA, fourth in bullpen ERA, and second in terms of the fewest runs allowed, a measure in which the Raccoons were not really all that close right now… The season series was level at two for each team, but it came without much discussion that the Raccoons, 5 1/2 games behind Milwaukee, could ill afford to lose this series.

Projected matchups:
Tadasu Abe (2-4, 5.21 ERA) vs. Ian Prevost (5-2, 2.80 ERA)
Michael Foreman (6-3, 2.05 ERA) vs. Chris Sinkhorn (8-4, 2.67 ERA)
Jesus Chavez (1-0, 2.57 ERA) vs. Julio San Pedro (9-2, 3.42 ERA)

To make things that little bit extra spicey, the Loggers would send their front three into the series, while the Raccoons wouldn’t quite, fielding their worst reconstruction case and the kid who had one start’s worth of experience in addition to the ex-Logger who was probably due an implosion or two.

The Loggers had picked up the Aces’ 2B Dan March, batting .168, in a minor deal with Las Vegas this week, bt their only real injury concerns right now were with outfielders Andrew Cooper and Brad Tesch. Both were on the DL, with gave Jason Seeley some playing time. Now 34 years old, Seeley was a career .264 batter, .279 this year (in 104 AB), and hadn’t gotten a qualifying amount of at-bats since 2017 with Cincinnati, when he had batted .274 with 17 homers. He had five so far in ’21.

Game 1
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – 3B Nunley – C Margolis – SS McKnight – CF Metts – P Abe
MIL: 1B Tadlock – SS Burns – CF Coleman – RF Gore – 3B Velez – C Wool – LF Seeley – 2B March – P Prevost

Seeley was batting with Alberto Velez on third base and two outs in the bottom of the second, but popped out, leaving the game scoreless at that point and the Loggers longing for Cooper or for not having traded Chris LeMoine to begin with. Mendoza’s error of having a ball hit off the edge of his glove put leadoff man Dan March on base in the bottom of the third, but the Loggers were hampered by a great play by Nunley, who retired Ron Tadlock on a sharp bouncer to then keep March at second base. Mendoza caught Kyle Burns’ fly to shallow right to end the inning. Through four innings, there was a stark difference in the pitchers’ lines. Prevost struck out six Coons; Abe struck out nobody. Abe struck for a 2-out single in the fifth inning however, a roller that escaped between Burns and Velez. Cookie walked, and then Yoshi dumped a single into shallow left center, unreachable for anybody. Abe scored, 1-0, before Mendoza struck out. Fun fact: Mendoza was batting 120 points more than Velez entering the series, but had only 3 RBI more than the Logger…

The Coons then fell a bit into mismanagement. Abe came to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs in the sixth inning. Maybe it was a bit too much hope and too little reason to expect Abe to have a shot at a second single in this game – he was a career .138 batter after all and hadn’t topped the .100 mark since 2017. He grounded out, and in the bottom of the inning quickly encountered traffic. Ron Tadlock reached base on a drag bunt, and Abe walked Burns, both with two outs. Cookie retired Ian Coleman, who led the batting race by about 50 points right there and then, on his fly to left, but there was no catching of Brad Gore’s soft blooper into shallow left that fell for a 2-out RBI single and tied the score at one.

Prevost was still the first pitcher out of the game. He struck out nine, but put two men on in the top of the seventh inning as Cookie singled (and got forced by Mendoza) and Hamilton walked. Righty Ian Ward allowed a bases-loading single to Nunley (oh, to have had Cookie on second base here …!), but Margolis popped out to March to end the inning. Because that wasn’t cocking it up hard enough, a clumsy error by Yoshi Nomura put Seeley on base with one out in the bottom 7th, and Abe threw a wild pitch to the pinch-hitting Jose “Dingus” Morales with two outs. Morales was not walked intentionally after that (mismanagement?) and singled to right, Seeley scoring barely ahead of Mendoza’s throw. That gave the Loggers the lead, 2-1, but they wouldn’t hold it. Tadlock grounded out, which was Abe’s last noise in the game, his spot due up in the eighth. Stevenson batted for Metts with the left-hander Quinn MacCarthy pitching, but with Stevenson’s appearance they sent Mike Kress, a right-hander, instead, but Kress lost Stevenson on balls. Jackson batted for Abe, hit a thunderous double over Seeley’s head, and Stevenson came all the way around to score the tying run. Seeley made an error on Yoshi’s 2-out fly to left that cost the Loggers the go-ahead run, and when Mendoza finally got his **** together and singled to center, Yoshi was sent for home, but thrown out by Coleman… The Loggers would however make another potentially costly error as March threw away Hamilton’s leadoff grounder in the ninth, leaving southpaw Edwin Balandran to deal with a runner on second and no outs. The run would score … on a wild pitch that Balandran threw to Stevenson with two down.

At this point, the Raccoons tried to give the aching Brett Lillis an extra day off. Sugano had struck out Coleman and Gore in the eighth inning and was tasked with finishing a 4-2 deal. Velez led off with a single, bt there were still plenty of left-handed bats coming. Sugano secured two outs before Dan March lined a ball into the corner in rightfield and slid into third base with an RBI triple. Tony Ramos batted in the #9 hole, another left-hander, but Lillis was fired out of the cannon in the bullpen that had been installed just for this purpose. It didn’t matter anyway, because the universe was cruel, and nothing mattered, ever. Ramos singled, the tying run scored, and the game went to extras, where the Coons had the advantage of not having to play their backup catcher at shortstop. The Loggers had pinch-hit and double-switched wildly enough after an earlier injury to Kyle Burns that Mike Denny (!) now manned that spot. Also, their reliever Evan Carrell was batting in the 11th thanks to an empty bench. Carrell and Adam Cowen opposed another for four uneventful innings through the 13th (if you were willing to overlook the two times the Coons had the leadoff man on and then straight away hit into a double play). Margolis broke the deadlock, finally, with a 2-out jack in the 14th inning. The Raccoons found Noah Bricker still in the pen and would try to use him to nail the save down in the second attempt. The Loggers had to lead off with Carrell, who grounded out. Strikeouts to Danny Ray and Mike Denny ended the game. 5-4 Critters. Carmona 2-6, BB; Nomura 2-6, RBI; Margolis 2-5, 2 BB, HR, 2B, RBI; Jackson (PH) 1-3, 2B, RBI; Abe 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K; Cowen 4.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, W (2-3);

That was a bit too much excitement for me… I need sleep.

There would be an adjustment to the Loggers’ rotation on Saturday. Victor Arevalo (4-4, 3.57 ERA) took over from the southpaw Sinkhorn, who was probably due on Sunday then.

Game 2
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – 3B Nunley – CF Stevenson – SS McKnight – C Olivares – P Foreman
MIL: 1B Tadlock – SS Burns – CF Coleman – RF Gore – 3B Velez – C Wool – LF Seeley – 2B March – P Arevalo

While both teams got their leadoff man on – Cookie with a single before being left stranded indifferently, while Tadlock walked and was caught stealing – nobody got on base after that until all the way to the fourth inning, when Ian Coleman singled to right, the first Loggers hit in the game. It came with one out, but hardly mattered in the box score because Coleman got himself picked off by Foreman, and the Loggers eventually found another base hit somewhere anyway. Actually, a pair of them with two outs in the fifth, with Seeley and March occupying the corners for Arevalo, who did have 6 RBI on the season, but struck out to leave the runners stranded.

When Olivares singled leading off the sixth, he was the Coons’ first runner ever since Cookie at the start of the game. Foreman bunted into a force play, which didn’t exactly matter in terms of on-base speed. Cookie singled, but Yoshi hit a soft fly for the second out. Mendoza batted with two on and two out, in other words a perfect time to get another bite to eat, except that he finally met a ball and hit it past Coleman for a 2-out, 2-run double, the first runs in the game. The Loggers got runners to the corners again in the bottom of the inning, with Burns singling sharply to center and Gore walking in a full count with two outs. In that latter at-bat, a passed ball charged to Olivares moved Burns to third. Velez put the 2-2 pitch in play, a sorry chomper right back to the pitcher, and Foreman had no problem with getting the final out at first base. Foreman still was the first starter out of the game, issuing a leadoff walk to Wool in the bottom 7th after the Coons had scored an insurance run in the top half of the inning on three singles off Arevalo. Foreman’s lined closed on Jason Seeley hitting to Yoshi for a double play against Jason Kaiser, who got another grounder to second from Dan March. While Arevalo went the distance of nine, Kaiser got four outs and Boynton two before Brett Lillis made his daily appearance, facing 3-4-5 in a 3-0 game. The Coons would settle for anything less than the usual wild ride and got a calm inning finally, with Lillis striking out Coleman and Gore before Velez flew out to left. 3-0 Raccoons! Carmona 2-4; Mendoza 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Nunley 2-4; Foreman 6.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 5 K, W (7-3);

This game cost the Loggers the lead in the CL North, which was taken over by the Titans, with the Raccoons now tied for third, four games out, with the Crusaders. And yes, kids, this is a 6-game winning streak, also known as our longest of the season! Now bring in the rookie to break it.

Game 3
POR: LF Carmona – 3B Nunley – RF Jackson – 1B Mendoza – C Margolis – SS Zuhlke – CF Stevenson – 2B Petracek – P Chavez
MIL: 1B Tadlock – SS Burns – CF Coleman – RF Gore – 3B Velez – C Wool – LF Seeley – 2B March – P Sinkhorn

The Critters scored before they made an out thanks to Cookie tripling past a lunging Jason Seeley to start the game, and Tadlock not getting to Nunley’s grounder that escaped into right for an RBI single. After that, Jackson popped out and Mendoza hit into a double play, so outs Sinkhorn got eventually. The Loggers hit two singles in the bottom 1st, but Velez got tied into a knot by Chavez with a curveball clocked at *70* miles per hour for strike three, ending the inning. But Chavez wasn’t the first Coons pitcher to find the irritating Dan March to damage from the #8 hole. March homered off Chavez with two outs in the bottom 2nd, tying the game, and hit a sharp grounder with two outs in the fourth and Velez and Wool on base. A strong play by Petracek kept the ball on the infield and got March retired at first base while preserving the 1-1 tie.

Sinkhorn had three homers on the season and gave a ball a heck of a ride leading off the bottom of the fifth. Cookie made a leaping grab at the fence in left. Tadlock singled after that, but was caught stealing. The Coons’ lineup didn’t amount to an awful lot in the middle innings. There was a 2-out double by Mendoza in the sixth. That was it. Chavez made an error in the bottom of that inning that put Gore on base with one out. Velez flew out, but Wool rammed a ball well outta rightfield for an unearned 2-run homer that put Milwaukee in front, 3-1. And Portland? The Critters had to hang all their hopes on the leadoff walk that Adam Zuhlke drew in the seventh inning. After Stevenson struck out, things got a wee bit desperate, and Hamilton batted for Petracek, but also struck out. Yoshi batted for Chavez, who was near 100 pitches, and grounded out. Zuhlke never moved off first. Top 8th, another bit with a leadoff single to right by Cookie. But that inning deflated even quicker than the last one, with Nunley lining out and Jackson hitting into a fat double play. Sinkhorn was done after eight, but the Coons still saw a left-hander in the ninth in Edwin Balandran, who struck out Mendoza. When Coleman made a fabulous catch on Margolis’ drive into the gap for the second out it was time to bid adieu to the winning streak, for it was dead. Ah wait, Zuhlke doubled to center. Stevenson singled, Zuhlke around and in to score, 3-2. McKnight batted for Sugano now aaaand hopes dashed – he grounded out to short. 3-2 Loggers. Carmona 2-4, 3B; Zuhlke 2-3, BB, 2B; Stevenson 2-4, RBI;

Gee, that one was bitter. The winning runs on the Wool homer were unearned, too. Geeee…

In other news

June 14 – DAL INF Raul Maldonado (.368, 0 HR, 30 RBI) has connected for base hits in 20 straight games, and reaches the mark in style, hitting four singles in the Stars’ 4-1 win over the Indians.
June 16 – Another star in the sky temporarily goes dim as the Bayhawks place SP Mark Roberts (5-2, 1.49 ERA) on the DL with radial nerve compression. The 26-year old left-hander is expected to miss the rest of the season.
June 17 – In the Miners’ 12-1 rout over the Titans, Pittsburgh scores ten runs in the seventh inning, which takes long enough for pinch-hitter 2B Rich Walsh (.237, 3 HR, 25 RBI) to come to the plate twice and collect two hits and five RBI, including a grand slam off Boston’s Mitch Onley.
June 17 – NAS INF John Muller (.274, 10 HR, 35 RBI) could be out until September with torn ankle ligaments.
June 20 – The hitting streak of DAL INF Raul Maldonado (.374, 0 HR, 33 RBI) does not make it out of the weekend, with the Warriors holding Maldonado hitless in the Sunday game, which the Stars lose, 7-6. Maldonado, who had connected for 24 straight games, enters the 18-inning marathon as defensive replacement after the end of regulation.
June 20 – TIJ 3B/2B Tony Fuentes (.256, 4 HR, 24 RBI) is going to miss four weeks with an oblique strain.
June 20 – In the rout of routs, the Gold Sox stomp the Pacifics in a 19-0 shutout. RF/CF Julio Candela (.321, 8 HR, 47 RBI) and 2B/SS Bobby Torres (.291, 2 HR, 31 RBI) both had four hits and four RBI in the game.

Complaints and stuff

Owen Walker was released on the weekend after nobody picked him off waivers. We still can not trade for meaningful help, but at least this week was not the usual horrors. If Chavez doesn't drop a ball on Sunday, the Coons sweep the entire week. While not everything was smooth sailing, sometimes ya gotta take a 5-1 week for what it is: very, very good.

ABL CAREER STRIKEOUT LEADERS
66th – Ricardo Sanchez – 1,948
67th – Fernando Chavez – 1,946
68th – Fernando Cruz – 1,933 – active
69th – Jim Harrington – 1,907
70th – Andres Ramirez – 1,895 – HOF
71st – Jonathan Toner – 1,889 – active
72nd – Jorge Chapa – 1,886
73rd – Greg Cain – 1,875
74th – Mark Warburton – 1,861
[…]
85th – Manuel Ortíz – 1,801 – active
86th – Raimundo Beato – 1,791
87th – John Collins – 1,758
88th – Ramón Jimenez – 1,743
89th – Hector Santos – 1,741 – active
90th – Samuel McMullen – 1,740 – active
91st – Pedro Alvarado – 1,738 – active, free agent
92nd – Lou Corbett – 1,733

Sure glad Daniel Dickerson is off the list… he was R.J. DeWeese before we knew about R.J. DeWeese. Meanwhile, Ricardo Sanchez had a 16-year career almost completely spent with the Bayhawks. He was an All Star eight times, which isn’t bad for somebody who achieved a 2.xx ERA only twice in his career. Sanchez, then 21, led the league in wins in his rookie season in ’92, the first of two times he won 19 games in a season, and he amounted 205 wins for his career, along with 127 losses and a 3.53 ERA. He was also not somebody to spill runners unnecessarily, keeping walks to a minimum. He led the league once each in BB/9 and WHIP. He retired in 2006. Good pitcher, good pitcher, but somehow completely forgotten today.

Next week, the Coons come home for a brief 3-game set with the Indians before they’ll drop right back onto the Interstate to play a quick set in Vegas on the weekend. The games with the Aces will mark the start of a 17-day stretch of consecutive games before the All Star break. Condors, Crusaders, Elks, and Titans also on the menu before the showcase.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (36-32) vs. Indians (31-38) – June 21-23, 2021

The Indians were not going anywhere in particular, sitting fifth in the division and already double-digit games out of the top spot. They were sixth in runs scored, but their pitching was a bottomless bucket, allowing almost precisely five runs per game, the worst mark in the Continental League. By ERA, both their starters and relievers ranked second from the bottom. Yet, Portland failed to perform against them – the Indians held a 4-2 edge in the season series.

Projected matchups:
Jonathan Toner (8-2, 3.36 ERA) vs. Tom Shumway (4-5, 3.67 ERA)
Hector Santos (6-3, 4.40 ERA) vs. Jared D’Attilo (4-5, 5.63 ERA)
Tadasu Abe (2-4, 4.78 ERA) vs. Dan Lambert (8-2, 3.75 ERA)

The series starts with a southpaw in Shumway, and we will get the Indians‘ two starters with sub-4 ERA’s, too. They have no injuries, but it’s not like they need injuries to struggle. This was not a lineup to pitch light-heartedly to, though. While they were struggling in most regards, they were hitting the most home runs in the CL, and Mike Rucker led the category with 16 dingers, ahead of Mendoza’s 13.

The Raccoons would sit Matt Hamilton for the second consecutive day after he wasn’t in the lineup against Chris Sinkhorn on Sunday. He was in a .125 stretch, and perhaps D’Attilo would be a better rejuvenation opportunity.

Game 1
IND: CF D. Morales – C T. Delgado – 1B M. Rucker – RF C. Martinez – LF Genge – SS Matias – 2B Rolland – 3B Ventura – P Shumway
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Jackson – 1B Mendoza – C Margolis – SS McKnight – CF Stevenson – 3B Petracek – P Toner

In the most recent edition of ‘Toner’s inning from hell’, Jonny allowed a leadoff homer to Cesar Martinez (his 11th) in the second inning, then walked Lowell Genge and Raul Matias. While Jaylen Rolland and Jeremie Ventura both struck out, there would be no happy end. Toner threw a wild pitch through a leaping Shumway’s legs, and Shumway singled in the runners that had advanced to give the Indians a 3-0 lead. While they didn’t get the lead even through the bottom of the second inning with Shumway suffering an explosion himself as starting with Mendoza the Raccoons logged four straight singles in the inning, there was still reason to wonder as to why Toner was so terrible this year. The Critters would tally a total of six base hits in the bottom 2nd, all singles. With one run in, and three men on, Petracek flew out to Martinez in shallow right, while Toner grounded into a fielder’s choice at home. With two outs, Cookie tied the game with a single through Ventura, a wild pitch advanced Toner and Cookie into scoring position, and Yoshi brought them in with a go-ahead, 2-run single to centerfield. Up 5-3, Toner struck out the side in the next two innings – an error by McKnight in the fourth on the only ball in play aside – then hit a triple in the bottom 4th, but was left stranded. The triple also wasn’t good for his pitching; Danny Morales and Tony Delgado opened the fifth with singles and went to the corners. Rucker’s groundout to first scored a run, but a pop and a grounder to Yoshi ended the inning with the Critters still up 5-4 and Toner already at 101 pitches… He did find a way to retire the side including two strikeouts in the sixth, and on ten pitches, but after that was clearly done.

How about an insurance run? The Coons hadn’t done anything with Toner’s triple in the fourth, they hadn’t done anything with Margolis’ 1-out double in the fifth, but started the sixth against right-hander Rafael Urbano (ERA north of 7) with a Petracek single and Hamilton walking in Toner’s spot before Cookie grounded into a fielder’s choice, Yoshi struck out, and Jackson popped out to Martinez in shallow right. Boynton, Kaiser, and Bricker maintained the lead for two innings. The bottom 8th was led off with Nunley hitting for Stevenson, singling to left off right-hander Jerry Counts, and then being run for by Dwayne Metts, who stole second base. Petracek flew out, and Hamilton was walked intentionally. Cookie singled to left, loading the bases for Yoshi Nomura, who would have rolled into a double play if Cookie hadn’t taken out Matias at second base just as he had caught Rucker’s throw. A run scored, and that was all; Olivares hit for Bricker and grounded out. The perpetual Brett Lillis retired the side in order to put the game away regardless, thankfully. 6-4 Coons. Carmona 2-5, 2 RBI; Nomura 2-4, BB, 3 RBI; Margolis 2-4, 2B; Nunley (PH) 1-1;

Only 2017 Jonny Toner can strike out ten and look like **** while doing so, BUT take the win. It’s his ninth of the season. Only four of those wins came in qualifying starts of 6+ innings and three runs or less.

Game 2
IND: CF D. Morales – 2B B. Reyes – 1B M. Rucker – RF C. Martinez – LF Genge – SS Matias – C T. Delgado – 3B Ruggeri – P D’Attilo
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – 3B Nunley – SS McKnight – C Olivares – CF Metts – P Santos

Elsewhere these were the longest days of the year in terms of sunshine, but in Portland it was just another pseudo day under grey clouds that could open at any moment for some unpleasant rain. But for starters, the Coons delivered another unpleasant second inning to an Indians hurler. After being retired in order in the first inning, Hamilton’s single and Nunley’s double to start the second immediately put pressure on D’Attilo, who didn’t respond too well. Despite K’ing Ronnie McKnight, he brought in the first run on a wild pitch, while Nunley came home on Olivares’ single. Metts also got on, Santos bunted them over, and Cookie plated both runners with a single to left center, putting Santos up 4-0. Santos meanwhile allowed only one hit the first time through the order, an infield single to D’Attilo, but that one sure as heck bred issues in a hurry. Santos lost Morales on four pitches, but got Bob Reyes to pop up over the infield. Rucker batted with two down and singled hard to right, chasing home D’Attilo with the Indians’ first run. While the contact off him hadn’t been that hard early on, a Lowell Genge drive to the fence in rightfield that was caught by Mendoza in the fourth surely indicated that safety was a foreign concept for Santos these days. But before things could derail for him, D’Attilo’s defense threw a wrench or two into his gears. The Indians made two errors in the bottom of the fourth to bring up Cookie with men on and two outs again, and he came through again, plating one run this time with a single to right.

The Indians had enough of their pitcher after that anyway. Rolland batted for him leading off the fifth and promptly tripled to center. Mendoza retired Morales on a very long sac fly that was also in the vicinity of the fence, 5-2, and with two outs Santos couldn’t field Rucker’s grounder, leaving the Indians slugger with an infield single, then walked Martinez. Genge didn’t get all of a fastball as he flew out to Cookie Carmona in left, and somehow the Coons had gotten Santos through five innings with a lead, too, but like Toner on Monday all Santos had in himself turned out to be six innings, spottily pitched. The bottom of the inning saw Olivares reach on a throwing error by Reyes in an inning that soon degraded into a crooked number for reliever Brandon Smith. Metts drove in Olivares, 6-2, Cookie got on, and Yoshi doubled both runners in, 8-2. The clouds finally opened after that and we got into a rain delay that took almost an hour and at the other end of which would be a Mendoza fly to center and a grievous error by Danny Morales that let another run across. That was even before a 430-footer by Hamilton off Miguel Morales over the fence in dead center.

The 6-run inning, 11-2 total, brought Adam Cowen into the game, while a few regulars got the rest of the day off, because after his strong extra-inning outing last week we didn’t guess that the Indians would shoot him with arrows into both eyes before he could even make one good pitch. Top 7th, Morales singled, Reyes singled, Rucker hit a 2-run double and was thrown out at third base by Metts, and then Martinez homered. As sudden as that the lead was down to six. Cowen allowed a leadoff single to Tony Delgado in the eighth and was yanked for Chun, who conceded two more singles and the run without getting out of the inning. Manobu Sugano struck out an unretired Rucker to end the inning and keep the Indians at a distance. Sugano’s spot, the #6 hole, came up in the bottom 8th after Killian Savoie had loaded the bases on a hit and two walks. Margolis came out to bat and smashed a hapless fastball over the wall in left center – GRAAAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAAMMMMM!!!

Let’s just not talk about Jeff Boynton walking the bases loaded in the ninth inning and Dwayne Metts making a flying grab in the gap on C.J. Tanner’s 2-out drive to end the game. 15-6 Furballs! Carmona 2-4, BB, 3 RBI; Nomura 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Hamilton 2-4, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Nunley 2-3, BB, 2B; Margolis (PH) 1-1, HR, 4 RBI;

Game 3
IND: CF D. Morales – 2B B. Reyes – 1B M. Rucker – RF C. Martinez – LF Genge – SS Matias – C T. Delgado – 3B Ruggeri – P Lambert
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – 3B Nunley – C Margolis – SS McKnight – CF Metts – P Abe

After Martinez’ leadoff walk in the second inning, Genge’s single to center sent him to third base. The run scored on Matias’ grounding into a 3-6-3 double play, and Lambert also became the first starter for the Arrowheads to not get hurt seriously in the bottom of the second inning. But maybe the leadoff double that Abe hit in the bottom of the third was something of a bad sign? Cookie’s groundout was followed by a walk drawn by Nomura, and then Mendoza singled to left on the first pitch, plating Abe with the tying run. Hamilton’s flare to left fell for a single, loading the bases, and the Raccoons took a 2-1 lead on Nunley’s sac fly before Margolis’ strikeout ended the inning and stranded a pair.

But Abe was still Abe from this year and not from 2019. Martinez murdered a pitch for a solo homer to tie the game in the fourth – giving him dingers in all games in the series – and Abe walked two in the fifth before wobbling out of a jam on Lambert’s bad bunt and a flailing strikeout on Morales. Abe got himself yanked in the sixth, loading the bases with a walk, a single, and then by throwing an 0-2 pitch into Genge’s fat butt. All runs scored despite Noah Bricker being thrown into the game in a desperate rescue attempt. Raul Matias plated two with a 1-out single, and D.J. Ruggeri plated one with a 2-out single… The Critters failed to exploit Margolis’ leadoff double in the bottom 6th and didn’t push Lambert again until the eighth. Nunley hit a leadoff single and two hapless outs later Eddie Jackson batted for Metts, doubling into the gap in left center to score Nunley from first base. Stevenson grounded out afterwards, though. But not only did the Indians pull the run right back in the top of the ninth inning against Cowen, no, the Raccoons’ top of the order would only amount to three harmless groundouts against Tony Lino in the last of the ninth. 6-3 Indians. Mendoza 3-5, RBI; Hamilton 2-4; Jackson (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI; Chun 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Mendoza has a 12-game hitting streak now.

Interlude: Trade

By now it was pretty apparent, that the Raccoons, first in runs scored in the CL, needed pitching help. And on a budget!

The Raccoons made a bid for acquiring such help on Thursday night, the news being announced on Friday morning: the Raccoons acquired 24-year old sophomore right-hander Cory Dew (2-2, 2.13 ERA, 2 SV) from the Elks in exchange for AA OF Guillermo Morales.

Dew throws 92 with the heater and has a nasty curve. He also has an appealing 2.8 BB/9 while striking out seven per full game. He had so far piled up 38 innings on the year being used in a long relief role with the Elks. Him and Chun would probably split long relief duties now, while Adam Cowen was waived and designated for assignment.

Morales had been signed during the 2017 IFA period, having cost the Raccoons $9,800. He had just been promoted to Ham Lake after the Amateur Draft last week.

Raccoons (38-33) @ Aces (27-46) – June 25-27, 2021

Whatever had happened to the Aces, it was hopefully not contagious, but also reminded me of the 1997 Coons every time I noticed them at the very bottom of the CL South. They ranked in the bottom three in both runs scored and runs given up. They had a more or less solid pen, but not so much confidence in the porous rotation. The one thing to watch out for was their aggressive baserunning. Despite being 11th in batting average and on-base percentage, they led the CL with 66 stolen bases, and it wasn’t close. Armando Martinez held the individual lead with 20 bags taken. The Raccoons were up 2-1 in the season series.

Projected matchups:
Michael Foreman (7-3, 1.91 ERA) vs. Juan Valdevez (5-7, 4.27 ERA)
Jesus Chavez (1-1, 2.08 ERA) vs. Bobby Guerrero (1-7, 3.10 ERA)
Jonathan Toner (9-2, 3.52 ERA) vs. Enrique Guzman (2-3, 4.06 ERA)

They had recently placed “Nem” Jones of 2018 CLCS infamy on the disabled list with a herniated disc, creating more holes in an entirely right-handed rotation. And to Bobby Guerrero: I am very sorry.

Game 1
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – 3B Nunley – C Margolis – SS McKnight – CF Stevenson – P Foreman
LVA: CF A. Martinez – 2B Hebberd – LF D. Brown – 1B S. Butler – C Ayala – RF Curro – 3B Navarro – SS Medina – P Valdevez

Cookie singled, was caught stealing, and that was the Coons’ new first-inning mojo. Both teams brought their pitchers to the plate with two on and two outs in the second inning. Foreman flew out ineffectively, then allowed an RBI single to Valdevez on that guy’s turn. He went on to smack Martinez, and allowed 2-run singles to Bill Hebberd and an RBI single to Dan Brown before McKnight got paws on a Steve Butler grounder. Top 3rd, it took three singles by Cookie, Yoshi, and Nunley to get even one run in, and then Margolis was retired on a sliding catch by Brown. Outhitting the Aces 7-4 early, but trailing 4-1, the Raccoons were heading for another disappointment. The teams would soon enough be level on hits, and the bottom 4th saw Valdevez hit a leadoff single that was immediately followed by the Aces’ seventh base hit off Foreman, a Martinez double into the rightfield corner. Hebberd’s sac fly made it 5-1 Aces, McKnight made a nifty play to retire Brown, and Cookie took Butler’s fly, but Foreman looked like Abe … helpless and hopeless … in this start.

Foreman was totally done after six innings, and the Raccoons still had to make any move towards a comeback that would look at least semi-believable. Metts singled in Foreman’s spot to lead off the seventh, so hey, there was that speed on the base paths! How many runs can he score for us? We need five to win. Before Metts could go anywhere, Cookie hit a sharp rocket at Hebberd, who had a 50/50 chance of turning two or getting punched a hole into the guts. He rolled the former, emptying the bags for Yoshi to hit a 2-out double. Mendoza grounded out anyway. The Raccoons would only get one more base runner when Olivares singled with the team down to its last out in the ninth. Cookie flew out to right. 5-1 Aces. Carmona 2-5; Nomura 3-5, 2B; Margolis 2-4, 2B; Metts (PH) 1-1; Olivares (PH) 1-1;

We had 12 hits to their eight. How can you come up with this ****ty result? THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!! (yells at Chad in full costume)

Cory Dew made his Raccoons debut right away, pitching a scoreless eighth with a strikeout while keeping Jose Navarro, whom Jason Kaiser had put on second base to begin the inning, exactly there.

Game 2
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – 3B Nunley – C Margolis – SS McKnight – CF Stevenson – P Chavez
LVA: CF A. Martinez – 2B Hebberd – LF D. Brown – 1B S. Butler – C Ayala – RF Curro – 3B Navarro – SS Medina – P B. Guerrero

Dan Brown’s fielding gaffe on Cookie’s leadoff single put Carmona at second base, from where he scored on Yoshi’s single to center, so maybe that was our new system to get him to scoring position; wait for the other team to do something stupid. Mendoza, of having hit in 13 straight contests, restored order by grounding into a double play, and Hamilton also couldn’t get out of the infield to make up for Brown’s silly mistake. In terms of overcompensation, Armando Martinez walked to start the Aces’ first, and stole his 21st bag against the rookie Chavez. Dan Brown singled to center to plate the runner, score even at one, and soon enough Steve Butler also singled and the runners advanced into scoring position on Victor Ayala’s groundout. Skill or luck? Nunley’s swipe on a crazed liner by Corey Curro found the ball and ended the inning before it could get truly ugly.

Back-to-back doubles by Nunley and Margolis to lead off the second gave the Coons a new lead, with the trailing runner eventually scoring on a passed ball charged to Ayala. The lead was 5-1 by the third, with Matt Hamilton hitting a 2-run shot off Guerrero that went over the fence in right. Remember: those two were traded for another the previous winter. The Coons had two more men on base in the fourth against Guerrero and almost had them out of the game until they choked; Guerrero came back in the bottom of the same inning, after Chavez had allowed a bomb to Butler and walked a pair. Batting with two outs, Guerrero drove a liner up the leftfield line for a 2-run double, the Aces were back in a 5-4 game and I kept scoring the waiver wire for free pitching.

On the other side of the misery display on the field was Bill Hebberd’s throwing error on Nunley’s grounder in the fifth that could have been a double play to end the inning, but was wild and past Andres Medina. The Aces got neither Nunley nor the runner Hamilton, and Margolis’ single loaded the bases for McKnight, who was in a hole deeper than numbers could explain, fell to an 0-2 hole in this specific at-bat, and then flew out to Brown in shallow left, keeping Hamilton pinned. Two out, Stevenson up, and he poked at a 3-1 pitch, which led me to shreak sharply in my suite. His floater dropped into shallow center, though, plating two, but the Coons also managed to make the third out at third base with Margolis. Which pitcher would explode into flames first? Chavez had a good shot in the bottom of the fifth, allowing a leadoff single to Hebberd and then three more sharply hit balls that somehow miraculously all ended up with the defense, nursing the 7-4 lead through five.

Guerrero wouldn’t be back for the sixth, replaced by left-hander Chris Wickham, but the Coons were always keen to leech another out or two from their clearly overwhelmed starters, and so Chavez was back in the bottom of the sixth, where Corey Curro reached on an infield single to begin things. PH Danny Serrano would also hit an infield single with two outs, because the Raccoons clearly were doomed, and Martinez’ RBI single to center knocked out Chavez. Kaiser replaced him, walked the bases loaded against Hebberd, and somehow Nunley spoiled Brown’s sharp grounder for the third out, still up 7-5. After Kaiser got two outs in the bottom 7th, Boynton was called on for Corey Curro, second in a line of four switch-hitters in the lineup, but the only one that was a natural right-hander. Curro duly singled, as did Jose Navarro, and Boynton allowed an RBI single to Medina before getting beaten into the dugout by the pitching coach. Noah Bricker’s appearance sparked no actual relief, for he walked Errol Spears to load the bases, after which the damned Armando Martinez legged out an infield single that brought in the tying run. Hebberd’s strikeout marked the end of five straight base runners for Las Vegas.

The Coons refused to score a gift runner in the top 8th that reached on a Martinez error and was wild pitched to third base by Justin Guerin. One out collected by Bricker and five by Sugano (with a near-walkoff homer by Curro in the bottom 9th) sent the game to extra innings. Corey Dew was close to soaking the loss in the 10th after a throwing error by McKnight put Martinez on second base to start the frame, but the Aces couldn’t get the ball past the infielders just once more. Bottom 11th, leadoff walk to Ayala, then a 1-out double by Navarro. The runner had to hold at third as Cookie threw the ball back in, and batting with one out Matt Iannuzzi fouled out behind home plate. Rich Arrieta hit in the #9 hole now, a left-hander, but the Raccoons weren’t going to use Lillis now, who had not exactly been fool proof the last few weeks. Arrieta was put on intentionally to get Dew to face a right-handed batter, even if it was Martinez, who grounded to short on the first pitch. This time McKnight managed to make any ****ing play and the game continued to the 12th, where Nomura’s single and Jackson’s pinch-hit double weren’t enough to overcome righty Mike Espinoza. Margolis on 3-1 flew out to center to leave them in scoring position. Hebberd and Brown started the bottom 12th with singles off Lillis before Butler hit into a 4-6-3. Ayala was down to two strikes before driving a 1-2 pitch to deep left. Cookie made the catch in full flight backwards and glancing over his shoulder, greatly prolonging everybody’s suffering.

Top 13th… McKnight led off with a single. When Stevenson bunted, Espinoza tried to get the lead runner, but threw the ball wildly to centerfield. Two on, no outs, Petracek batting, having replaced Nunley in a double switch a few hours ago. Now HE bunted, moving the runners to scoring position for Cookie, who was only 1-for-6 in the game and due a ****ing hit. Carmona hit one sharply to right, Butler dove but missed it, and the go-ahead run scored indeed! After Yoshi’s sac fly, 9-7, Cookie stole second base and scored on Mendoza’s single to center, 10-7. That single put Mendoza at 1-for-7 in the game and extended his hitting streak undeservedly to 14 games. Hamilton grounded out, and Lillis retired the Aces on three grounders in the bottom 10th. 10-7 Blighters. Nomura 3-6, 2 RBI; Nunley 2-4, 2B; Jackson (PH) 1-1, 2B; Margolis 2-6, 2B, RBI; McKnight 2-6; Sugano 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K; Dew 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K; Lillis 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, W (2-4);

No starter has logged an out in the seventh all week for the Critters. Toner’s better gonna, because we have no pen left. And it would open us to all kinds of issues, but Margolis would get the day off after catching all 13 innings in this endless affair. Olivares would catch Toner in the rubber game.

Game 3
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – 3B Nunley – SS Zuhlke – CF Metts – C Olivares – P Toner
LVA: CF A. Martinez – 3B Navarro – LF D. Brown – 1B S. Butler – C Ayala – 2B Iannuzzi – RF Serrano – SS Medina – P E. Guzman

Cookie drove in a go-ahead run for the second day in a row, batting with one out and the bases loaded (due to a walk, a single, and an error) in the second inning. His single to right scored Zuhlke, with the slow Olivares being held at third base and then forced out at home on Yoshi’s grounder to the mound. Mendoza worked a full count for a 2-out walk to force home Jonny Toner with the second run of the game before Hamilton grounded out to Iannuzzi. In terms of further oddities, Toner allowed a single and a walk the first time through the order, but actually struck out only one batter, Medina, while getting four grounders to Yoshi for a change. Iannuzzi’s leadoff double in the bottom 5th signaled that tough times might be ahead, but somehow Toner even without his killer stuff wiggled out of the inning, getting a grounder to Yoshi from Serrano and then took two grounders himself with the runner already at third base, retiring Medina and Jimmy Hubbard, who hit for Guzman.

Bottom 6th, leadoff single by Martinez to center. The Coons hadn’t done anything in the middle innings, so the score was still 2-0. Navarro grounded out before Toner lost the zone and walked Brown and Butler to fill the bases, which was when the Aces got another one of their ****ing infield singles that had screwed over the Coons the entire weekend. Ayala legged one out against Toner, pushing in a run, 2-1, and then Iannuzzi’s grounder got past Nomura for a proper RBI single and a tied ballgame. Serrano struck out, Medina grounded out, everything sucked, and the Aces got Curro on with a leadoff walk in the seventh. Toner labored on and retired Martinez and Navarro before Brown beat him with the 2-out, go-ahead single to center. Mendoza hit a leadoff single in the eighth. Hamilton grounded out, Nunley hit into a double play. Instead, the Aces got an insurance run during another depressing appearance by Chun in the bottom of the inning. Leadoff walk, came around to score, as usual. The Raccoons, down 4-2, got the tying run to the plate right away in the ninth inning when Zuhlke singled to center off Alex Silva, a right-hander. The terrible Metts was hit for, though, McKnight appearing in his spot. Silva balked the runner to second before McKnight’s groundout moved him to third, which was not helpful right now. We needed more runners! Like Olivares, who hit the ****tiest bloop for a single to center, 4-3, and Eddie Jackson pinch-hit as the go-ahead run now. At 0-2 he hit another sorry blooper to shallow center, and this also fell for a single. And then Cookie and Yoshi both grounded out… 4-3 Aces. Zuhlke 3-4, 2B; Jackson (PH) 1-1;

In other news

June 21 – The Wolves clobber the floundering Stars, 16-4, on 21 hits. Four of those are landed by SAL RF/LF Nate Ellis (.322, 11 HR, 47 RBI), who drives in five runs on a homer, a double, and two singles.
June 22 – Shoulder inflammation fells CIN CL Nestor Munoz (2-2, 3.04 ERA, 15 SV) who is not expected to be back in 2017.
June 24 – DAL INF Raul Maldonado (.374, 0 HR, 33 RBI) had his hitting streak broken on Sunday, then broke his foot on Wednesday, and was placed on the DL on Thursday. The Stars consider him able to come back before the end of July.
June 24 – WAS SP Jose “Butch” Diaz (5-4, 4.03 ERA) holds the Cyclones scoreless and to only two hits while going the distance in the Capitals’ 4-0 win.
June 25 – The Cyclones lose 13-6 to the Scorpions, but the performer of the day is still Cincy’s 3B/1B Eddie Moreno (.342, 13 HR, 63 RBI), who goes 5-for-5 with a home run and one RBI.
June 27 – NYC INF Sergio Valdez (.276, 6 HR, 49 RBI) will miss two weeks with a knee contusion.
June 27 – The Pacifics and Blue Sox play 15 innings, but actually score single runs each in both the 11th and 12th innings. L.A. eventually prevails, 4-3.

Complaints and stuff

Everything is pointless. Except for cyanide. Cyanide has applications.

Interesting side piece to the Dew trade: he was drafted in the second round in 2016 by the Condors, who flipped him only a year later to the Canadiens in a deal for … Adrian Quebell!

Not that any of this matters with a team rotten to the core.

ABL CAREER STRIKEOUT LEADERS
65th – Vernon Robertson – 1,961
66th – Ricardo Sanchez – 1,948
67th – Fernando Chavez – 1,946
68th – Fernando Cruz – 1,934 – active
69th – Jim Harrington – 1,907
70th – Jonathan Toner – 1,903 – active
71st – Andres Ramirez – 1,895 – HOF
72nd – Jorge Chapa – 1,886
73rd – Greg Cain – 1,875
[…]
84th – Dave Crawford – 1,816
85th – Manuel Ortíz – 1,801 – active
86th – Raimundo Beato – 1,791
87th – John Collins – 1,758
88th – Hector Santos – 1,747 – active
89th – Samuel McMullen – 1,745 – active
90th – Ramón Jimenez – 1,743
91st – Pedro Alvarado – 1,738 – active, free agent

Although Toner continues to only further my depressions, he made another name appear ahead of himself on the strikeout board this week. If Vernon Robertson doesn’t cry out “ELKS!!” few things do. He was the 1990 Pitcher of the Year while in the disgusting red uniform, and overall spent ten seasons with them in the 80s and 90s. An All Star six times, he led the CL in wins in his POTY year and in ERA in ’94 when he was with the Indians. He finished his career a strong 227-167 with a 3.72 ERA, also pitching with the Capitals and Loggers towards the end.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (39-35) vs. Condors (48-27) – June 28-30, 2021

Ever since shedding Jimmy Oatmeal, the Condors had really taken off. They were playing 18-6 in June and didn’t look like they would stop winning any time soon – they were sitting on an active 10-game winning streak. Heading into Portland at the end of the month, they led the second-place Knights in the South by 6 1/2 games and also held the best overall record in the ABL. They did this entirely on pitching, with their hurlers allowing the fewest runs in the CL (3.2 runs per game!). Their offense was average at best, ranking eighth in runs scored with just 4.1 markers per contest. They had lost two of three to the Coons the first time around this year, but I didn’t fancy us being so lucky this time.

Projected matchups:
Hector Santos (7-3, 4.30 ERA) vs. Kyle Eilrich (5-2, 2.86 ERA)
Tadasu Abe (2-5, 5.06 ERA) vs. Rafael Cuenca (2-2, 4.58 ERA)
Michael Foreman (7-4, 2.25 ERA) vs. Andrew Gudeman (7-2, 1.92 ERA)

Cuenca was a bit of the black sheep in that rotation. Actually, the southpaw Eilrich was their second-worst starter by ERA. Cuenca had only moved into the rotation after Jose Menendez had vanished to the DL for the season, so it’s not like they planned to keep up with that sucker.

Yeah, pitching, huh?

Game 1
TIJ: SS B. Rojas – 2B Read – 1B Avalos – C Sanford – CF Jamieson – RF Boggs – LF Larios – 3B Feery – P Eilrich
POR: LF Carmona – 3B Nunley – RF Jackson – 1B Hamilton – C Margolis – 2B Zuhlke – SS McKnight – CF Stevenson – P Santos

Howard Read gave the Condors the early claw up with a first-inning home run off Santos, who would go on to retire the next dozen batters in order before being taken deep again by Robby Boggs in the fifth inning. While Omar Larios doubled after that, neither Aaron Feery nor Kyle Eilrich could get him in. Meanwhile Eilrich had held the Condors to two early singles, one of them by McKnight in the bottom of the second inning, and the Raccoons didn’t make noticeable contact until it was Ronnie’s turn again in the bottom 5th. His drive to left was caught by Larios, however, and the Coons were trailing a very silent 2-0 after five innings. Cookie was the Coons’ next runner, legging out a grounder that Read stopped at the far edge of the warning track but couldn’t play to first base in time in the bottom of the sixth. Nunley immediately hit into an inning-ending double play. The saddest kind of pitching duel saw Santos knocked out by Eilrich with a 1-out double in the eighth inning, especially with the three left-handers waiting at the top of their lineup. Manobu Sugano replaced him, struck out Bob Rojas and got Read to ground out, but the Coons were still 2-0 behind and hadn’t amounted to as much as even two base runners in the same inning, let alone two runs. Eilrich completed eight, the Coons’ McKnight, Stevenson, and Nomura amounting to exactly nothing in the bottom of his last inning. Still up 2-0 after Boynton’s scoreless ninth, Jayden Reed would have to contend with the top of the order in the bottom half of the inning. It wasn’t until this inning that the Coons had two men on base at the same time, and this despite Cookie grounding out on a 3-1 pitch to begin things. Nunley doubled into the gap in left center, and after Jackson’s groundout, Matt Hamilton fought Reed for a 2-out walk. This brought up the winning run, and while Danny Margolis was good in many things, this was a place for Hugo Mendoza, especially since he countered the righty Reed. One pitch was enough for Mendoza to ground out to Rojas at short. 2-0 Condors. Nunley 2-4, 2B; Santos 7.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, L (7-4);

That one ended Mendoza’s 15-game hitting streak. Nunley’s got an 11-game hitting streak, and I always liked him better than Dumbo anyway.

Game 2
TIJ: SS B. Rojas – 2B Read – LF K. Evans – 1B Avalos – C Sanford – RF Boggs – CF Larios – 3B Feery – P Cuenca
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – 3B Nunley – C Margolis – SS McKnight – CF Metts – P Abe

I was fairly sure that Pat Sanford’s leadoff jack in the second inning would be enough for the Condors to win this one, too, but just to be sure they got a leadoff double from Cuenca and two more singles to score him in the third inning before the as-always-inefficient Abe got an out in the inning. Somehow that was all they got off him in the third, abstaining from boring their beaks into his bowels for the moment. They led 2-0 after all, what more did they need?

The Coons had the leadoff man on in the second and fourth, only to hit into double plays immediately in both innings, Margolis and Hamilton being the guilty parties respectively. Sanford ended the game with his second homer of the contest in the fifth inning, this one being part of a 2-out onslaught that began with a Kurt Evans bloop single to center. Tony Avalos upped the tally to 3-0 with a double past Hamilton and into the wayward corner, and then Sanford kited a ball over the fence in rightfield to get to 5-0. Abe couldn’t hang past six, allowing nine hits for five runs in another horrendous outing, while the embattled Cuenca held the Coons to three base knocks over the same distance, and no runs. The Raccoons at least claimed a moral victory when Bob Rojas was ejected for a snide remark about the strike zone after being K’ed by Jason Kaiser in the seventh inning. Meanwhile Cuenca didn’t complete seven innings, running into 2-out trouble in the bottom of the seventh. Metts singled to right, and Cuenca then issued his fifth free pass to pinch-hitting Eddie Jackson. He was replaced by southpaw Lorenzo Cedillo, who allowed an RBI single to Cookie up the middle – hey, a run! – but then got Yoshi to ground out to Aaron Feery to end the inning. The Condors had to use four relievers in the eighth inning to stave off a Raccoons challenge that began with Mendoza’s leadoff double, but never led to anything substantial, and I was hesitant to even use the word ‘challenge’. Though in a wicked way, the Coons DID bring the tying run to the plate in the ninth inning. Because nothing mattered, Petracek pinch-hit in the #9 hole with one out against Angelo Savinon and homered, which brought Aaron Walsh into the game, who had turned from pricey free agent acquisition to lousy starter to AAA dweller to maybe a closer(?) for the Condors in the space of less than 18 months. Two down he walked both Yoshi and Mendoza, pulling up Hamilton in the 5-2 game. Hamilton struck out. 5-2 Condors. Mendoza 2-3, 2 BB, 2B; Petracek (PH) 1-1, HR, RBI;

Tijuana has a 12-game winning streak, Matt Nunley has a 12-game hitting streak, and the Coons as a whole might soon shed a few parts…

Game 3
TIJ: SS B. Rojas – 2B Read – 1B Avalos – C Sanford – CF Jamieson – RF Boggs – LF Larios – 3B Feery – P Gudeman
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – 3B Nunley – C Margolis – SS McKnight – CF Metts – P Foreman

Maybe it was the last time a dying man lifted himself up from the pale sheets that shared a color with his face before finally sinking down and expiring, but the Raccoons would NOT let the Condors just come in here and walk all over them with their claws without at least some token resistance. Said token resistance was a 5-run bottom of the third inning that started with Dwayne Metts’ leadoff single to right. Foreman bunted him over and Cookie drove him in with a single. Yoshi walked, Mendoza tripled in two, then scored on Margolis’ 2-out single. Nunley had walked ahead of Margolis, then scored on another single by McKnight as the Critters sent ten men to the plate in the inning. Foreman had so far not been touched, but was very inefficient with his pitch count which was rising sharply. The Condors tagged him with two in the fifth inning after a Bob Rojas single with one out, the subsequent triple by Read, and then a sac fly by Sanford after Tony Avalos drew a walk. Matt Jamieson’s fly out to center ended the inning, but left Foreman at 91 pitches and probably unable to complete six.

Before we could find out about that, the Coons got an extra run in the bottom of the fifth inning. Nunley doubled with one out, then scored on McKnight’s 2-out single to right. He drew a throw by Robby Boggs to home plate, allowing McKnight to get to second base. In turn the Condors walked Metts intentionally, pulling up Foreman, who batted and grounded out before at least starting the top of the sixth, but with the pen in full stir. Boggs flew out on the first pitch before Larios and Feery both ran full counts. The former walked, the latter struck out, but Foreman had nothing left and departed with 104 pitches thrown as soon as left-handed pinch-hitter Justin Jessie parked himself in the box. Sugano got the assignment for the next four batters, balked and walked Jessie, then somehow got Cookie to be available for Rojas’ fly to left to mercifully end the inning.

While the Condors’ save recipient of a night prior, Walsh, pitched some trash innings in long relief in this game, the Raccoons tried to stretch their pen for ten outs after Foreman’s early departure, but ran into Jeff Boynton failing once more and putting two men on in the eighth inning on a pair of Omar singles: Larios with one out to right (although he was replaced on base by Feery on a fielder’s choice) and PH Saenz with two outs to left. Lillis appeared for an early save opportunity, which was a good fit since we were into that left-handed top of the lineup again, and struck out Rojas with a cutter at the knees in a full count for a much needed end of the inning. The Coons got close to putting the game away in the bottom 8th as Mendoza batted with two out and two on and sent a ball all the way to the fence in leftfield, but unfortunately Larios also arrived there and made a catch just before bending the boards in a sideways collision. Larios was fine, the ballpark would probably not collapse, either, so it was on Lillis to nail down the Condors with a 4-run lead in the ninth. Promptly, Howard Read hit a leadoff double, then scored on Avalos’ single. Red alert. Lillis was yanked, and Noah Bricker would pitch to the right-handed 4-5-6 batters. After Sanford flew out to right, two strikeouts saved the day. 6-3 Critters. Carmona 2-5, RBI; McKnight 2-4, 2 RBI;

Raccoons (40-37) vs. Crusaders (41-36) – July 1-4, 2021

Here were two teams that were about to trundle out of the CL North race, being seven and six runs out of the lead, respectively. The Crusaders were even pretender-contenders despite their negative run differential, having conceded 11 more runs than they had scored, and they sat ninth in offense and seventh in preventing said offense overall in the Continental League. Against the Coons, they held a 4-3 edge in ’21.

Projected matchups:
Jesus Chavez (1-1, 3.86 ERA) vs. Alejandro Mendez (6-3, 3.77 ERA)
Jonathan Toner (9-3, 3.54 ERA) vs. Hwa-pyung Choe (4-4, 3.62 ERA)
Hector Santos (7-4, 4.15 ERA) vs. Cody Zimmerman (8-5, 2.94 ERA)
Tadasu Abe (2-6, 5.26 ERA) vs. Joe Jones (2-7, 4.97 ERA)

Two right, two left, and they had three left-handed starters in total, because let’s not forget about Dave Butler (6-7, 4.26 ERA) just yet. The Crusaders also had a number of injuries, having not only lost Mike Rutkowski (1-3, 3.71 ERA) for the season in April, but had also put their usual second baseman Sergio Valdez (.276, 6 HR, 49 RBI) on the DL last week.

Game 1
NYC: 2B Casillas – CF Duarte – 1B Perkins – RF Erickson – LF Loya – 3B P. Cruz – C Parks – SS Fitzgerald – P A. Mendez
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – 3B Nunley – CF Stevenson – SS McKnight – C Olivares – P Chavez

In terms of bad signs, any game that started with an uncaught third strike against your team was probably one that was best spent watching drunk like twenty sailors. I was to the liquor cabinet right away, even as Nunley started a double play on Alex Duarte to erase Tony Casillas as well. Chavez ended up retiring the next six Crusaders before he threw a meatball to “Ant” Mendez, who tattooed it for a 1-0 Crusaders lead. It was Mendez’ first major league home run in 646 plate appearances. While the Coons would eventually scratch out a run to tie the game again – and it would take until the second of back-to-back innings they started with leadoff walks, because they couldn’t get Olivares around to score in the third, having to resort to a Nunley RBI single to plate Mendoza in the fourth instead – the universe kept telling Chavez simply “NO”. After the pitcher’s home run, and after a 30-minute rain delay between the fourth and fifth innings, the baseball gods also gifted a triple to Jalen Parks in the top of the fifth inning that soon enough led to a 2-1 Crusaders lead on Mike Fitzgerald’s groundout. How many triples did Jalen Parks have in 3,300 career at-bats? Nine.

Casillas’ leadoff double in the sixth spelled more trouble, especially since Chavez walked Duarte right afterwards. His day was coming to close until the runners went into motion with a full count on June Rookie of the Month Josh Perkins, who struck out, and Olivares killed off Casillas at third base. Runner on second and two outs, things suddenly looked much better – at least until Max Erickson emptied a fastball into the rightfield stands to extend the Crusaders’ lead to 4-1. Chavez’ day would end an inning later on a home run by Jalen Parks, 5-1. Everything came crashing down, one piece after the other. Casillas hit a leadoff single against Chun in the eighth, and this time not only stole the base he was after, but also advanced to third on Olivares’ throwing error. Duarte’s groundout plated that run, while the Coons only had their fourth base hit off Mendez when Metts hit a pinch-hit leadoff single in the bottom 8th. Yoshi found his way into a double play here, and when Mendez drilled Mendoza leading off the ninth, Hamilton with sure aim found a middle infielder for another double play. 6-1 Crusaders. Nunley 2-4, RBI; Metts (PH) 1-1;

Home runs by opposing teams this week: 7
Home runs by Raccoons this week: 1

And in their own ballpark… and it’s not like the season numbers look any better, but I can’t quite read them right now… (hggs!)

Game 2
NYC: 2B Casillas – CF Duarte – C J. Vargas – LF Loya – 3B P. Cruz – 1B A. Young – RF Skinner – SS Fitzgerald – P Choe
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – 3B Nunley – C Margolis – SS McKnight – CF Metts – P Toner

In one of the more sad 4-run first inning outbursts the Raccoons had seen in their long and storied history, none of their four runs in the inning off Choe were actually deserved. They were earned, but not deserved. Yoshi had hit a 1-out single, Mendoza grounded to short, 6-4-3, except that the first base umpire blew the call and called Mendoza safe. After that, Hamilton singled and Nunley doubled into the gap for an RBI double. Margolis plated two with a single, but Nunley pulled his hamstring turning third base and arrived at home on all four limbs, dragging the left hind paw. Petracek replaced him, and the inning ended on McKnight thrown out at home on Metts’ RBI single two batters later. There was also no smooth sailing for Toner, who had already put on a pair in the first, did so again in the second, and this time conceded the runs on Casillas’ 2-out, 2-run single.

Both starters’ pitch counts were well over 50 after only three innings. While the Coons weren’t eager to get Choe out of the game, Toner ran full count after full count, and constantly into trouble, too. When Casillas led off the fifth with a single, the Crusaders had the leadoff man on for the fourth time in the game. Casillas swiped second, then scored on Duarte’s single to center, getting the Crusaders to within a run. Toner lost Jose Vargas on four pitches, and the lead after Ricky Loya’s groundout and Pedro Cruz’ sac fly to right. The Critters moved ahead 5-4 in the bottom of the inning when the Crusaders were again a tad late on a double play. Yoshi had led off with a double to right, but all Dumbo Mendoza could cobble together was a groundout to Casillas. With Petracek having replaced the fallen Nunley, Hamilton was walked intentionally, and Petracek grounded to Casillas indeed, but the middle infielders were a fraction late and Yoshi scored as Petracek was safe by a step. Margolis then grounded out to short, keeping it at 5-4, and when Toner reappeared for the sixth, he hit Brian Skinner with a pitch. Fifth leadoff man on base! Fitzgerald hit into a double play, but none of that could dispel the ominous writing on the wall: some dark-hearted fan had hung a selfmade banner from the leftfield balcony that simply read “DOOM”.

Toner was squeezed out for seven innings, retiring the side in order in that final frame and ending with a K to Vargas, which at that point was a moral victory at best, and maybe it would become his sixth non-quality W of the season, too, but what the **** had happened over the winter? Seemed like the entire rotation had nipped poisoned punch over the holidays. When Mendoza hit a 2-out double off Adonis Foster in the bottom 7th, the Crusaders didn’t bother with another intentional walk anymore. Hamilton couldn’t get a lazy fly past Alex Duarte, anyway, and nobody had anticipated him getting it to fall in anyway.

Top 8th, the Coons paraded four relievers through a giant mess of Crusaders runners. Each of the first three hurlers allowed their first batter to reach: Bricker and Sugano with walks, and Dew with a double. The 5-4 lead was still alive, though, since after Bricker had walked Loya, Jalen Parks had pinch-hit into a double play, but now Jason Kaiser had to deal with runners in scoring position and Josh Perkins being the pinch-hitter. Good news: Kaiser did NOT let his first man reach base – Perkins grounded out to Yoshi. Bad news: Perkins only grounded out AFTER Kaiser tied the game with a wild pitch. By then, the entire park could hear the crazed lunatic in the blood-spattered office high atop the field wail in agony. Somehow, still, the Raccoons had a chance to walk off in the ninth inning. Chun pitched a clean ninth, and the bottom of the inning saw singles by Stevenson and Cookie Carmona to occupy the corners with nobody out. When Yoshi grounded to short, Loya scared back Stevenson, then still found time to retire Yoshi at first base, while Cookie moved up. With an intentional walk to Mendoza the Crusaders were right where they wanted to be – in a double play scenario. Hamilton left them no chance to turn one, though, dropping a ball ten feet from home plate. The Crusaders had to take the convenient out at home, but all that did was to bring up Petracek. Zuhlke hit for him… and grounded out to short. Runner on third with nobody out – didn’t get him in. Bottom 10th, a free runner in scoring position after Dan Jones’ throwing error also wouldn’t lead to an end of the game. An inning later, Cookie opened with a single to left. He took off on the first pitch by Steve Casey to Yoshi Nomura, and Vargas whiffed on the throw, resulting in a no-contest at second base. NOBODY OUT. After Yoshi flew out to Steve Witt in left, Mendoza again snaked out of the responsibility and took a non-helpful, non-intentional walk. Casey struck out Hamilton and Zuhlke to end the inning. None of the teams had any bench players left by the 12th, so Lillis had to bat after two scoreless on the mound, and hit a ****ing 2-out single. Stevenson floated out to Duarte, though. Lillis, stranded, had another inning in him and kept holding off the Crusaders. The Coons? Facing negligible Joe Medina in the 13th, Cookie popped up. Yoshi popped up. Mendoza was at 3-0 when he poked and singled. Hamilton put the first pitch in play, bouncing a ball past a diving Dan Jones at third base. As Steve Witt tried to coral the ball in foul ground up the line, Hamilton had a double for sure, and Mendoza was aggressively waved around third base. I don’t ****ing care, Dumbo, whether you break your neck sliding into home plate. You’re gonna ****ing do it, anyway. No throw from Witt ever arrived anywhere – the Coons walked off. 6-5 Blighters. Mendoza 2-5, 2 BB, 2B; Hamilton 2-6, BB, 2B, RBI; Nunley 1-1, 2B, RBI; Margolis 3-6, 2 RBI; Chun 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K; Lillis 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, W (3-4) and 1-1;

Some of the stuff with this team, you can’t even make up. If it were in a movie or a story, you wouldn’t ****ing believe it.

(hggs!)

In the meantime, Matt Nunley was put on the DL along with his 15-game hitting streak. The Druid had wrapped Nunley’s leg vine leaves with a thin maple syrup coating and had prescribed 77 hours of the strictest bed rest while nature’s forces would do the healing for a timely return after the All Star Game.

The Coons brought up a debutee and former international free agent signing, 23-year old INF Daniel Bullock, that switch-hitting Brazilian shortstop in whose story little made sense. A very good infielder that was also reaching base at a .357 pace in St. Petersburg, power was definitely not Bullock’s department. In 244 AB for the Alley Cats, he had hit safely 65 times (.266), but had connected for only nine extra-base hits and no home runs.

Despite the 13-inning game and the general agony surrounding this place, the pen was still in good shape for the Saturday game, minus Chun and Lillis, but it was a Santos start, Lillis would have the day off anyway. The Coons had thrown six relievers into the Friday game, but three of those had faced only one batter, and Boynton hadn’t pitched at all.

A forsaken team’s battlecry; “Yay, at least we’ve got Jeff Boynton…!”

Have mercy. Kill me.

Game 3
NYC: 2B Casillas – CF Duarte – 1B Perkins – C J. Vargas – RF Erickson – LF Loya – 3B P. Cruz – SS Fitzgerald – P Zimmerman
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Jackson – 1B Mendoza – C Margolis – 3B Zuhlke – SS Bullock – CF Stevenson – P Santos

Bullock arrived in the major leagues right on the first play of the game, handling a Casillas grounder for the first out. Tony Casillas’ next plate appearance did not result in a chance for Bullock; with the bases loaded after singles by Erickson, Cruz, and Fitzgerald, Casillas drew a 2-out walk from Santos to push in the first run of the game in the top of the second. Despite Duarte’s inning-ending F8, the game soon entered the nightmare column anyway. Santos allowed a homer to Josh Perkins in the third, 2-0, then faced only one more batter before signaling for the trainer. Turned out his back was acting up and he could not continue. Cory Dew had to take over in what turned out to be a bullpen day, and it also turned out that none of the pharmacies in Portland could offer 200 sleeping pills that would mix well with a glass of lighter fluid. I know, because I called ALL of them while Dew allowed another run in 2.2 innings.

Zimmerman held the Critters to one hit in four innings, but Margolis hit a leadoff jack in the bottom 5th, getting the team to 3-1. They’d do one better in the inning, with Stevenson reaching on a walk, then advancing on a wild pitch and scoring on Hamilton’s pinch-hit, 2-out single. Cookie floated out to center, his newest thing to do with unnerving regularity. Two scoreless from Boynton, whiffing four, held the Crusaders at a manageable distance, or at least close enough that they could perhaps beat themselves. The tying run appeared in scoring position for the Coons in the bottom 7th when Daniel Bullock rammed a ball through Pedro Cruz for his first major league base knock, a double! The speedy youngster scored with ease on Stevenson’s single to center, knotting the score at three. All the hard work went out the window in the eighth when the scruffy Mike Fitzgerald bombed the bloody Bricker considerably with a solo home run to centerfield, renewing the Crusaders’ hold on the game at 4-3. Bottom 8th: Jackson singled to left with one out after which Mendoza hit a pop to shallow center that fell between Duarte and Casillas. Two on, one out for Margolis, with the Crusaders not able to find a right-handed reliever for the spot. Gee, must be all your ****ing World Series trophies that are piled up the pen because you’ve run out of storage for it. Margolis tied the game with a double off the fence in right, which also put a pair in scoring position for Zuhlke, who was put on intentionally to bring up the debutee. Now, McKnight had already been used as pinch-hitter, and we were basically going to have to use our last two bench pieces in the inning (with Bricker batting ninth) in what was another potential extra inning game. Remember – no closer was available. It was soup of the day in terms of ninth inning relief here, and it might well be Sugano facing right-handers. No, the Coons needed somebody to score a run BEFORE Bricker came to bat, and they could ill hit for Bullock at the same time. Little Daniel, who looked like a sheepish 16-year old, ran a full count with the entire park stopping to munch the contents of their fodder buckets for an entire at-bat, something that hadn’t been heard in a Coons game since Nick Brown had faced Ray Gilbert on September 9, 2016. Bullock poked the 3-2 in play, soft line to shallow right center, Erickson hustling in and lunging – AND HE MISSED IT!! HE MISSED IT!! THE ****ING BALL WAS IN THE GAP!! Duarte hustling back to cut it off! Jackson scored! Margolis scored! Zuhlke to third! A 2-run, go-ahead double for the debutee! HOLY BANANAS, WE’RE GOING CRAZY!!

After Stevenson walked, the Crusaders finally dumped Zimmerman for right-hander Joe Medina. Now Petracek batted for Bricker, striking out. Cookie batted with two down and the bags still full and drove in two with a single up the middle, greatly livening up a drab 0-for-4 to that point. Yoshi grounded out, leaving Sugano with an 8-4 lead that was soon critically endangered after a leadoff triple by Duarte in the ninth. Perkins walked on four pitches before Vargas lined out to Bullock at short. Sugano struck out Erickson and Witt after that to end the game without Duarte ever scoring. 8-4 Coons. Margolis 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Bullock 2-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Hamilton 1-1, RBI; Boynton 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K;

NWSN dragged Bullock from the dugout after the game for a post-game interview, with the token blonde dunce that all networks employed these days insisting to dig into his emotions after the game-winning double. There stood that short, thin, dark-skinned debutee that looked more like 14 than 16 to be honest, forking into a piece of celebratory pie on a plate*, and explained in perfect English and smiling ear to ear that this was the very best day of his life, but there’d be better days ahead. Simple as that.

Game 4
NYC: 2B Casillas – CF Duarte – 1B Perkins – C J. Vargas – RF Erickson – LF Loya – 3B P. Cruz – SS D. Jones – P J. Jones
POR: LF Carmona – CF Stevenson – RF Jackson – 1B Mendoza – C Margolis – 2B Zuhlke – SS McKnight – 3B Bullock – P Abe

On the day the first boy was spotted in the park wearing a #44 Bullock jersey – and it was not the one on the field – the newest breakout sensation helped the Coons to a run in the bottom of the second inning, drawing a 2-out walk from Joe Jones that loaded the bases. Granted, Jones was guilty of a wild 0-2 pitch to Abe to get that run actually across home plate, but Margolis hadn’t been on third base before that. Abe eventually struck out a pitch later. In iffy weather and an on-and-off drizzle – Happy Fourth of July, Portland! – Abe didn’t let the Crusaders trail for too long; in the fourth, Vargas bombed him to right center, tying the score at one. There was a 30-minute rain delay in the bottom of the fourth, in which Bullock eventually hit a 2-out single, but was left on by Abe, who was restored to the lead the following inning when Margolis hit a double off the fence in right to drive in Jackson (who had forced Stevenson after the latter’s 1-out single) and Mendoza (walk) for a 3-1 lead. Zuhlke singled, but McKnight flew out to deep center, where Duarte got his uniform dirty on a flying grab.

The thing with Abe and a lead was to find the right point where to remove him to protect the lead with the bullpen (that had its flaws…). When Ricky Loya reached base to start the seventh on an infield single – mmm, pretty close! Cruz grounded into a double play, but when Dan Jones doubled down the leftfield line it was high time to get somebody else in there. Adam Young pinch-hit as the tying run, drawing attention from Jason Kaiser. The lifelong turd with runners in scoring position that he was, Young popped out to end the inning. Singles by Mendoza (who stole second) and Margolis put runners on the corners against Adonis Foster in the bottom 7th. Hamilton batted for Zuhlke in that situation, and fired a grounder right into Tony Casillas’ waiting glove for a double play. With neither Bricker nor Boynton available, the 3-1 lead went into Chun’s irresponsible paws in the eighth; he faced the top of the order. Casillas struck out, Duarte struck out, and Perkins grounded out to Bullock at the hot corner, setting up Lillis for the ninth without additional run support as the Coons left Critters on the corners in the bottom 8th. Vargas, Erickson, and Loya were retired in order as the Coons squeaked past the Crusaders into third place in the North. 3-1 Raccoons. Carmona 3-5; Margolis 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Abe 6.2 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (3-6);

In other news

June 28 – The Stars wheel for two deals on Monday, sending MR Brent Beene (3-2, 5.87 ERA, 1 SV) to the Titans for two prospects, and SP Justin Fleming (3-10, 5.10 ERA) to the Falcons for another youngster.
June 29 – The Aces trade 29-year old OF Jimmy Hubbard (.246, 1 HR, 15 RBI) and cash to the Knights for a second-rate prospect.
July 1 – In an oddball move, the Condors trade SP Kyle Eilrich (6-2, 2.64 ERA) to the Wolves for #75 prospect SP Lorenzo Romero.
July 3 – RIC INF Emilio Farias (.352, 1 HR, 34 RBI) has a 20-game hitting streak after connecting for a single against the Blue Sox. It’s not a day for celebration for him though: the Rebels get whipped 11-0 in the game.

Complaints and stuff

No idea what they’re doing down in Salem, but I think their booze contains too much methanol. Same for the Condors. I heard their GM is a Chihuahua. Or is from Chihuahua. Oh well, it’s not like everything is totally fine up here, either…

Nothing is fine, to be precise. The entire organization is one, huge M.C. Escher painting with all the stairs leading down perpetually.

With both Abe and Santos free agents after the season, and the #5 slot being the subject of cruel jokes since time immemorial, the Raccoons basically have two starting pitchers lined up for next season, unless they trade those before the deadline. But as I said before, Jonny Toner is that once-in-a-generation pitcher, and the haul for him has to be accordingly. AT LEAST as good as what we got for “Dingus” Morales a decade ago, and he wasn’t quite a once-in-a-generation batter. I will rather go down with Jonny than trade him for three Clyde Brady types – here goes this week’s obvious and obligatory reference to 1997.

We could have an issue with our rotation next week. Doesn’t look like Santos can start on his turn on Thursday. Given that we will have the All Star Game after that and he wouldn’t start right away afterwards anyway, we may be better off DL’ing him and getting someone from AAA. How about Damani Knight? That would be a white flag hard to overlook. Nah, we’d have to go with someone already on the 40-man roster due to issues with the same’s fullness. So it’s either Garrett or Ricky Martinez, or maybe Dave Dyer, who is 8-2 with a 4.27 ERA in St. Pete.

Adam Cowen arrived in St. Petersburg on Monday without being claimed.

I hear that Bullock’s AAA teammates called him Doninho, which apparently is Portuguese for a weasel and alluding to his defensive aptitude and quickness on the bases. I’m not sure whether I can come up with something else.

ABL CAREER STRIKEOUT LEADERS
64th – Francisco Garza – 1,967
65th – Vernon Robertson – 1,961
66th – Ricardo Sanchez – 1,948
67th – Fernando Chavez – 1,946
68th – Fernando Cruz – 1,937 – active
69th – Jonathan Toner – 1,910 – active
70th – Jim Harrington – 1,907
71st – Andres Ramirez – 1,895 – HOF
72nd – Jorge Chapa – 1,886
[…]
84th – Dave Crawford – 1,816
85th – Manuel Ortíz – 1,806 – active
86th – Raimundo Beato – 1,791
87th – John Collins – 1,758
88th – Hector Santos – 1,755 – active
89th – Samuel McMullen – 1,750 – active
90th – Ramón Jimenez – 1,743
91st – Pedro Alvarado – 1,738 – active, free agent

Garza was a Venezuelan southpaw that pitched for the Crusaders from ’95 through 2001 before venturing mostly through Federal League towns. A workhorse he often pitched a lot of innings, but for most of his career couldn’t outrun about 6.5 K/9. He won a championship with the 2004 Titans, but ended up with a losing record (157-171) and a 4.12 ERA for his career.

*Pie-to-face in a throwing motion is not a custom that is appreciated in Coon City, despite there always being the possibility of picking the remains from the grass in foul ground.

[Westheim]

Feels like I caught something when some peasant sneezed on me and I have spent the entire day lying face down in odd places. Nothing major, I am sure. I just have a huge head and no energy. While this state lasts, no updates are going to be forthcoming for another day or two or so. Also gonna miss Game 4 later. Just can't keep attention to - ... huh?

Really, nothing major.

(coughs)

(jaw falls off)

[Westheim]

Raccoons (43-38) @ Canadiens (28-52) – July 5-8, 2021

There was probably no hope for the Elks (and there would not be empathy from this corner of the world), who were last in runs scored and second from the bottom in runs allowed in the Continental League. They were getting stomped for a -120 run differential, meaning they were getting beaten by 1.5 runs per game, a substantial margin and a winning way when you wanted to get to the bottom of the league and into a #1 draft pick. They had the worst rotation, and the bullpen was not much of a help for them. Despite their brutalist shortcomings, they held a 2-1 edge over the Raccoons in 2021. It was sure time to right this wrong and the Coons would get a chance to play them eight times in the next 14 days.

Projected matchups:
Michael Foreman (8-4, 2.30 ERA) vs. Matt Rosenthal (3-10, 5.11 ERA)
Jesus Chavez (1-2, 4.68 ERA) vs. Colin Peay (2-1, 3.14 ERA)
Travis Garrett (4-5, 5.29 ERA) vs. Ryan Dunn (6-6, 3.35 ERA)
Jonathan Toner (9-3, 3.64 ERA) vs. Kyle Lamb (3-9, 4.96 ERA)

Lamb will be the only left-hander opposing us in this series. In terms of disablements (more on that for us in a second) the Elks were without Josh Downing, who was out with a strained hamstring. But, looking at their lineup, neither was he helping them any, nor was there any helping them otherwise. Apart from John Calfee, who was batting .306 – though in only 19 games – their entire lineup was composed of .231 batters with four homers and 20 RBI.

The Raccoons had put Hector Santos on the DL to start the week. He wouldn’t have been able to take his turn on Thursday, and with the All Star Game after that there was no point to not waste a game to Travis Garrett, who was slotted in ahead of Jonny Toner to give Jonny a breather. Garrett had last pitched on Thursday, so he would be on six days’ rest.

Game 1
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – SS McKnight – CF Stevenson – 3B Bullock – C Olivares – P Foreman
VAN: LF A. Torres – RF Kim – 1B Rocha – SS Calfee – 3B Roundtree – 2B Otis – C Tanzillo – CF J. Harris – P Rosenthal

Both sides had only one hit the first time through the order, with Matt Otis’ 2-out triple in the bottom 2nd being left to waste when Chris Tanzillo calmly grounded out. For the Coons, their newest rage Daniel Bullock hit a single in the second, but never got off first. Rosenthal had walked a pair in the first inning, but their offense usually died with Mendoza, who grounded to short twice in his first two attempts, generating a total of three outs. Ronnie McKnight drawing a 1-out walk in the fourth inning was the fourth walk for Rosenthal. Josh Stevenson grounded out, moving McKnight to third, and with two down Bullock grounded up the third base line, Steve Roundtree couldn’t contain the ball and it got into shallow left for a single, and McKnight scored with the first run of the game.

Offense remained at a premium. Cookie got on base with a single in the fifth, but was caught stealing (gee, that’s new…), and the Elks got a runner in the bottom 5th when Foreman walked John Harris with one out, but the Elks would leave him on base with the obligatory pitcher’s bunt and Alex Torres’ fly out to Mendoza in shallow right. Stevenson and Olivares would make it to the corners in the seventh inning on a pair of singles. Foreman was not hit for with one out, because, hey, maybe black devil magic can for once work the Critters’ way, but grounded out to Roundtree, keeping Stevenson pinned down, and Cookie’s fly to center was nothing that could possibly fool Harris, so the Raccoons stranded another pair. Not batting for Foreman soon turned sour, thanks to the game-tying homer Matt Otis hit off him just one out into the bottom of the seventh inning, and he walked Tanzillo on four pitches after that. Jason Kaiser replaced him and got through the inning, but there we were, tied at one, and unhappy. John Watson allowed two base runners in relief in the top of the eighth, but Stevenson flew out easily to keep them on. Mike Tharp was in for the Elks in the ninth, which was led off by Bullock, who smacked a single to shallow right. Olivares struck out against the left-hander Tharp, but Eddie Jackson hit a ball just barely past Moises Berrones in leftfield for a 1-out double. While speedy, Bullock had to hold near second base temporarily as Berrones really only missed the ball by inches, and thus couldn’t score, having to hold at third base. Now Cookie choked, K’ing, and things were left to a slumping Yoshi Nomura, who was in a full count before snipping a soft liner over the lunging Calfee and into shallow center. Both runs scored, and Mendoza’s fly to center ended the inning, dropping him to 0-for-5 with a K on the first ball he actually hit out of the infield, fair or foul, that day. Bottom 9th, Brett Lillis in action. Roundtree’s 1-out single brought up the tying run in Otis, who had two hits and seven total bases in the game, but grounded sharply to second base. Petracek had replaced Yoshi for defense and started the double play to end the game. 3-1 Coons. Bullock 3-4, RBI; Jackson (PH) 1-1, 2B; Foreman 6.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K;

Noah Bricker got the W with a scoreless bottom 8th, moving up to 5-0 on the season. And he’s still not dropped dead!

Game 2
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – 1B Hamilton – C Margolis – SS McKnight – RF Jackson – 3B Bullock – CF Metts – P Chavez
VAN: LF A. Torres – RF Kim – C Holliman – 1B Rocha – SS Calfee – 3B Roundtree – 2B Otis – CF Houghtaling – P Peay

Peay had as many walks as strikeouts, roughly five each per inning, so his rather good record hinted at a potential slapping or two that he had missed in the meantime and that he was due some. But the Raccoons’ first run through the order was again rather calm. Jackson and Bullock hit a pair of 2-out singles in the second inning, but Metts struck out haplessly. The Elks got their first two batters on in their half of the second inning, with Chavez walking Calfee and allowing a single to Roundtree. Otis sent a drive to deep right on which Jackson made his second stunning catch of the game – he had already crashed into the fence on Alex Torres’ drive that had started the bottom 1st. Chavez was on very wonky footing, but struck out Jeremy Houghtaling and Colin Peay to escape the jam. Chavez struck out the top of the order in the third inning, giving him 5 K in a row against the Elks, a string that was broken up by Mario Rocha grounding out in the fourth. Calfee singled, but Roundtree hit into a double play, no score through four.

More trouble arose in the fifth inning, when another leadoff walk to Otis and Houghtaling’s single put two on with no outs again, although this time the pitcher followed and Peay dropped down a perfect bunt to move the runners to scoring position. The Elks would be held to one run on Torres’ sac fly in the inning, but that was still one run more than the Critters’ total of zip at this point. Peay had allowed only two hits, no walks, and had whiffed five in that many innings, and didn’t look like that scheduled beating was going to get to him. The Elks jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the sixth on Steve Roundtree’s 2-out home run. The inning had started with a walk to Ryan Holliman, the third free pass to get an inning underway for Chavez in this game. To shake things up he would allow a leadoff jack to Houghtaling in the seventh, and was gone soon thereafter. Jeff Boynton finished the game from a Portland pitching standpoint, while Colin Peay finished Portland wholly himself. The 25-year old sprinkled five hits, walked nobody, and struck out seven for his first career shutout. 4-0 Canadiens. Zuhlke 1-1; Boynton 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

The best thing you can say about this game is that nobody got killed… Although…

Oh, and Bullock got removed in a double switch, but he has a 4-game hitting streak in as many career games. Yes, I have to reach far to entertain myself today.

Game 3
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – C Margolis – SS McKnight – 3B Bullock – CF Stevenson – P Garrett
VAN: 2B Otis – LF Houghtaling – C Holliman – 1B Rocha – 3B Roundtree – RF Bellows – SS Grooms – CF J. Harris – P R. Dunn

Maybe he was teasing me, maybe he was gonna break out of it – but Hugo Mendoza interrupted his weeklong funk with a 2-run homer in the first inning, plating Cookie Carmona after the latter’s leadoff walk. Whatever it was with Mendoza, the next time he was at the plate, Cookie and Yoshi were in scoring position with one out, and Mendoza hit a ball for negative 15 feet, fouling out to Holliman behind home plate. Thankfully, Matt Hamilton was on pat – battling his own monthlong funk – and plated at least one run with a sharp single to center before Margolis grounded out to Chris Grooms. More runs was always better for “Tragic” Garrett, who had come close to allowing a homer to Matt Otis on just his second pitch of the game. Otis hit a double only, and had been stranded due to groundouts to third base. There was constant traffic on the bases for the Elks, who had five runners in the first three innings, and left all of them waiting for a bus that never came. In the bottom 3rd, Holliman and Rocha hit singles and were on the corners, but Roundtree struck out on a pitch in the dirt to end the frame and leave the Coons up 3-0.

Credit where it was due, Garrett made a few plays defensively himself that were anything but tragic and helped him through the fourth and fifth, starting a double play to end the latter, but the Elks were still relentless in their base occupancy. Rocha and Roundtree hit sharp singles to start the sixth inning, and Garrett was one bad bloop away from going straight from the mound to the nearest train station – passenger or cargo – for a train back to St. Pete. Justin Bellows hit a real rocket to centerfield, but Stevenson caught it in flight, and Chris Grooms’ sharp grounder was right at Yoshi and good for two. Still 3-0 through six. Garrett struck out Harris and Berrones in the bottom 7th before Otis flew out easily to center. It was the last out that Garrett logged, because after all the hard-hit balls that didn’t fall in, Houghtaling’s poorly-hit infield single in the bottom 8th leading off that inning did him in fact in for good. Cory Dew made an appearance against his former team, but was promptly brutalized with a pair of RBI doubles hit by Holliman and Roundtree, the latter being the tying run in scoring position with one out. Bricker to the rescue, maybe? Bellows struck out, Grooms flew to right, but Mendoza was on it – inning over. Enter Lillis. The bottom 9th saw Tanzillo pinch-hitting and lining out to Adam Zuhlke at short (he had hit for McKnight against Tharp in the top 9th), and Man-su Kim reached on an infield single behind second base. In a huge full count battle, Lillis struck out Matt Otis, while Jeremy Houghtaling put up much less resistance before whiffing. 3-2 Raccoons. Nomura 2-4, 2B; Mendoza 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Garrett 7.0 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W (5-5);

There is still no hope – Daniel Bullock went 0-for-4. I therefore declare all to be lost!

Garrett (5-5, 4.92 ERA) was shipped back out right after the game as had been planned ahead of time. The spot was Santos’ anyway, and Chavez still wasn’t stinking like fish that had been dead for long enough to make that kinda switch. To bridge the gap until Santos could come off the DL, the Coons would add another reliever. It had to be someone already on the 40-man roster, and since potential future major-league reliever David Kipple, 22, was not ready yet, the only other option was Will West, who thus packed his bags once more.

Game 4
POR: CF Stevenson – RF Jackson – LF Mendoza – C Margolis – 1B Hamilton – 2B Zuhlke – SS Bullock – 3B Petracek – P Toner
VAN: LF A. Torres – 2B Otis – C Holliman – 1B Rocha – SS Calfee – RF Bellows – 3B Grooms – CF Houghtaling – P Lamb

Thursday saw the Coons put two men on in every inning, more or less, and struggling. Mendoza singled and Margolis walked in the first, but Hamilton couldn’t find something better than a cautious roller to Calfee at short. Zuhlke walked and Toner hit a 2-out single in the second, but Stevenson’s drive to deep right was intercepted by Bellows. Another inning, another attempt: Mendoza singled to center, Margolis doubled to left, two in scoring position with one out. Hamilton rolled a 2-2 pitch up the middle, not very convincing itself, but at least in the right position. It got past the lunging Otis, and one run scored on the single. Margolis scored when Zuhlke singled hard to center, and Grooms was backed up by a hideous bouncer by Daniel Bullock and threw late to first – too late. Infield single, bases loaded for … Petracek. Another ex-Elk to spoil the soup, I assume. One strike, two strikes, th- that is a hard drive to center, hard, long, deep, deeper, GONE – GRAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAAAMMM!!!!

With little Lamb slaughtered for six early, in every other season we’d have filed the game away as W for Jonny and would have gone for another round of lunch. This year was different, and although Toner had been unscored upon in the first two innings, allowing a double to Otis (but who hadn’t allowed an extra-base hit to Otis in this series?) and whiffing two, you had this feeling of “what if … bad things will happen?”… Toner walked Harris – who hit for Lamb – in the bottom 3rd, but Harris would be caught stealing to end the inning after a K to Torres. Even then, the Elks had to attempt long relief with Ron Funderburk, whose ERA was north of eight and who got only two outs before leaving possibly injured, and then Bryant Roberts, who was walking 9.2 batters per nine innings. Still, the Elks were far from dead. Otis and Holliman singled to start the bottom 4th, and while Rocha hit into a double play, John Calfee’s double to left brought in their first run, 6-1. But Toner got through the next two innings quickly, so things might shake out alright after all? Meanwhile, Bryant Roberts had retired the first seven Coons he had seen, but walked Eddie Jackson to lead off the seventh. This was a crime soon prosecuted by Hugo Mendoza, who belched a 1-2 pitch over the leftfield fence for a 2-run homer, by all accounts ending the game for good at 8-1, and the Raccoons would add another two runs to that against Roberts, who retired Margolis on a grounder, but walked Hamilton and got doubled off by Zuhlke. Bullock’s groundout brought in one run, and Roberts’ replacement Dan Moon would throw a wild pitch to bring in Zuhlke, too, 10-1. The extremely long inning, however, left Toner out of shape in the bottom 7th and he promptly got tagged for a walk and three singles. Two runs were already in when Sugano took over against the pinch-hitting Moises Berrones, whom he walked. Exit Sugano, enter Bricker, who shouldn’t pitch at all when his team scored ten runs. His first pitch was popped up to Bullock for the second out of the inning, and Otis went down on fireballs, stranding three. This, finally, put the game on ice. The Coons scored another two runs which were unearned in the eighth inning, while Will West in the eighth and Seung-mo Chun in the ninth innings managed to pitch around base hits to start their respective outings to keep the Elks where they were. 12-3 Furballs! Mendoza 3-4, HR, 3 RBI; Margolis 2-4, BB, 2 2B; Zuhlke 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI; Nomura (PH) 1-1; Petracek 1-5, HR, 4 RBI; Carmona (PH) 1-1;

This was our 400th victory over the Elks all time. We began the game 399-399 since ’77 against them, so it was gonna be one way or the other. Toner of course got the W with his 6.1 innings, made it to 10-3, but the ERA just keeps rising…

Raccoons (46-39) @ Titans (54-33) – July 9-11, 2021

From the worst team in the sport to the best team at least in our division, the challenge was real when it came to the Titans, who had subtly passed the Loggers on the strength of a 20-8 June and didn’t look like stopping, having gone 6-2 so far in July – a mark matched by the Raccoons, who trailed them by seven games. The Titans knew how to pitch, ranking second in runs conceded and starters’ ERA, although their bullpen really had only three reliable pitchers, and that was counting Brett Dill in the reliable column. They had a very good defense, however, and together it was well enough to support their average run production that relied on speed and – again – subtleness to overwhelm the opposing teams, since they were neither good in getting on base (8th) nor in the power department (9th in XBH, 10th in HR). The Raccoons had so far stood their ground and led the season series, 5-4, but could sure use another series win here in Boston.

Projected matchups:
Tadasu Abe (3-6, 4.94 ERA) vs. John Schneider (11-1, 3.39 ERA)
Michael Foreman (8-4, 2.25 ERA) vs. Alan Farrell (3-1, 4.40 ERA)
Jesus Chavez (1-3, 4.88 ERA) vs. Jose Fuentes (6-5, 2.97 ERA)

We will get three right-handers from them, and I can’t put into words how glad I am that we’re going to miss red-faced southpaw Tim Dunn (11-5, 2.14 ERA), who was a probable candidate to start the All Star Game for the Continental League. He was third in the CL in strikeouts (behind Jonny Toner and ATL Luis Flores), tied for second in wins behind Flores, and led the ERA race (with Foreman second) once you threw out SFB Mark Roberts and his 1.49 mark. Roberts would not pitch again in 2021 due to elbow woes, and would drop off the leaderboard due to insufficient innings on the weekend after the All Star Game.

Game 1
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – SS McKnight – 3B Zuhlke – C Olivares – CF Metts – P Abe
BOS: RF W. Ramos – CF J. Baker – LF Cesta – 1B S. Murphy – 2B M. Green – SS Kane – 3B Stephens – C McPherson – P Schneider

Schneider’s record hinted at invulnerability, but every Siegfried had his spot near the shoulder – the Raccoons plated a run in the first on singles by Yoshi and Hamilton, and now just had to wait for Tadasu Abe to finish his shutout. (mad laughter) To be fair, Abe retired the first five Titans, which was more than anybody would bet on, but when Mike Kane singled to right, things went bleak at record base. Abe walked Jonathan Stephens to put another runner on base, then allowed a drive into the gap on 3-1 to Eric McPherson. Dwayne Metts had stretched the Coons’ lead to 2-0 in the top 2nd with a sac fly, now held it together with a blistering dash into the gap where he took the ball in full flight, ending the inning, and didn’t stop running until he was well past the spot where Cookie had started the play in leftfield.

But there was just no helping Abe. After striking out Schneider to begin the bottom 3rd, he haplessly walked Willie Ramos, and Josh Baker hit a definite single. Mike Cesta hit a little more, loading up the springs before emptying a dead-straight 92mph fastball into the rightfield stands for a score-flipping 3-run homer. His fate was the first bullet point of an emergency session of the United Nations when the Coons had the bases loaded in the fourth inning after a Zuhlke walk, Olivares double, and an intentional walk to Metts, all with one out. And despite the extra reliever in the pen (West), we let him hit. He struck out. Cookie popped out over the infield. The Coons had the two first men on again in the fifth inning as Yoshi singled and Mendoza walked, but a groundout by Hamilton and strikeouts to McKnight and Zuhlke ended the inning prematurely and without scoring success. Abe went five and two thirds before walking Mike Green and being replaced by Sugano. The Coons stranded another pair in the seventh in an attempt to really crash their season for good even before the All Star break. Slim chances for a comeback got slimmer when Sugano was bombed by Stephens in the bottom 7th to extend the lead to 4-2. Despite this, the tying run was at the plate with nobody gone in the ninth inning thanks to a leadoff walk worked by pinch-hitter Eddie Jackson. However, the full scenario read Ron Thrasher pitching to whatever left-handed batters we counted on at the top of the order. Cookie was down 0-2 and had an 0-for-4 going when he chipped a grounder into play that went past a largely immobile Stan Murphy at first base. Jackson went aggro to third on the single, drew a late throw from Ramos and Cookie moved up in the slipstream to put the tying runs in scoring position with nobody out. Power to the front – we loved Yoshi deadly, but maybe Danny Margolis could put things right with a single swipe. Nope, another clonker put into play, this time to third, but it still gets past Stephens! Oh dear! Jackson in to score, Cookie in to score, and we’re tied on basically NOTHING!! A very angry Ron Thrasher sliced up Mendoza and Hamilton on his way out of the inning, but the Coons still had to pitch out of their pen, which was guaranteed not be boring. Indeed the Titans had the winning run at third base in the bottom 9th, but Dave Padilla ended up stranded against Boynton, who would have gone to 0-5 if the game had ended there. Will West was in the game by the 10th inning, which ended with a strikeout on Stan Murphy, giving the ex-Critter, who wasn’t missed a lot in Portland, a golden sombrero. Offensively, the team couldn’t get past Desi Bowles in extra innings, though, and West soaked the loss when Mike Green hit a real moonshot off him to lead off the bottom 11th. 5-4 Titans. Nomura 2-4; Margolis (PH) 1-1, 2 RBI; Hamilton 2-6, RBI; Olivares 2-5, 2 2B;

The next morning we awoke to find Boston upside down. News had broken that overnight the Titans had traded Tim Dunn (11-5, 2.14 ERA) to the Crusaders, the Titans’ most bitter enemies (it was a bit of a Coons-Elks thing in East Coast hues) for INF Tony Casillas (.271, 3 HR, 17 RBI) and a catching prospect.

Bostonians congregated outside the park in the early afternoon hours, crying murder, with the Raccoons and Titans alike trapped inside… Let’s play a game here – losers have to leave the house first.

Game 2
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – C Margolis – SS McKnight – 3B Bullock – CF Stevenson – P Foreman
BOS: RF W. Ramos – CF J. Baker – LF Cesta – 1B S. Murphy – 2B M. Green – C McPherson – 3B Stephens – SS Casillas – P Farrell

Cookie singled, stole second, and scored in the first – and I wasn’t getting to say that nearly often enough these days. He came home on Yoshi’s double past Mike Cesta, A Mendoza single and Margolis’ sac fly got Yoshi home as well for an early 2-0 edge for Michael Foreman. Yoshi was on base again with a leadoff walk in the third, but Mendoza hit into a double play to clean the plate before Hamilton would have done with his 10th homer of the season. The Raccoons actually had the leadoff man on base in all innings to start the game; Bullock had hit a single in the second, but had been ignored, and in the fourth it was him to hit into a double play to erase McKnight from the bases. In the fifth, *Foreman* got the frame going with a walk, then was erased on Cookie’s grounder to short. Cookie beat the return throw, then was caught stealing, which was the point at which – despite being up 3-0 with Foreman pitching a calm 2-hitter through four – I considered giving myself up to be torn into bits by the angry mob outside. Just get it over with, y’know? Fairness demands to point out that the Titans also had the leadoff man on base in the fourth (Josh Baker singled) and fifth (Eric McPherson walked) and never made it very far with that best of assets.

Farrell retired the middle of the Coons order 1-2-3 in the sixth inning for a change of pace that continued relentlessly into the bottom of the inning, where Willie Ramos reached on Foreman’s error, then made it to second on a wild 2-2 pitch to Baker. Baker grounded out, moving Ramos to third, but Cesta’s pop in too-shallow center and another K on a hopelessly out-of-sync Murphy stranded Ramos right there, 90 feet from home.

Top 7th, McKnight led off with a single, which was a bad sign indeed. Bullock struck out, but Stevenson doubled, putting two in scoring position with one out and the pitcher up, which was another dilemma since Foreman overall was still going very well. Oh well, maybe he can have a run-scoring groundout to help himself a bit more. Foreman was sent to bat, hit a fly to right for an easy out, but it was deep enough for McKnight to tag and score, moving the tally to 4-0 before Cookie grounded out. Foreman’s day came to an extremely abrupt end in the bottom 7th. McPherson homering to center with one out was one thing, but after that he hit consecutive batters to bring up the tying run in the box. With left-hander Gil Cornejo hitting for Farrell it was Jason Kaiser who got the call from the pen. He struck out Cornejo, then walked Ramos and Baker to force home a run. Noah Bricker replaced him to face right-handed pinch-hitter Javy Cisneros, walked him, pushing in ANOTHER run in what was now a 4-3 game and rapidly becoming a major reason to encourage the masses enraged over the trade of an ace pitcher to just set the building on fire, but there was the saving anchor – Stan Murphy batted in a 4-3 game with the bases loaded, and struck out, his 7th K in the series and it was only Saturday.

Southpaw Brent Beene pitched in the eighth inning and started by retiring Nomura and Mendoza before Hamilton singled to center. Margolis drew a walk, sending up McKnight – although sending Zuhlke instead was tempting. Ronnie would show the doubters, hitting an RBI double up the leftfield line, 5-3. Jackson batted for Bullock with runners in scoring position since teams obviously had a scouting report on this Brazilian oddity by now. They should have one on Jackson, too, but Eddie still ripped a 2-run double past Cisneros in left, running the score to 7-3. The Coons had one more in them: Brett Dill allowed an RBI single to Josh Stevenson before somehow finding an exit to the 4-run inning. The reliable Dill walked three and allowed another run in the ninth inning, but the Coons tried to complete the game with Seung-mo Chun, whom Dave Padilla tagged with a leadoff jack in the bottom 9th, but Chun retired the next three batters for a total of six outs after the malicious seventh. 9-4 Raccoons. Nomura 2-4, BB, 2 2B, RBI; Hamilton 2-4, BB, HR, RBI; McKnight 2-3, 2 BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Jackson (PH) 1-2, 2B, 2 RBI; Stevenson 2-5, 2B, RBI; Petracek (PH) 1-1;

To my amazement, everybody lived through the day and night. The Titans knew a thing or two about their kind of angry crowds and let two trucks of an Irish beer brand drive up in the ninth inning. They lured away most of the mob, and the rest had dispersed before the teams left the ballpark after the game.

There would be a pitching change for game 3 for Boston, though, with John Key (6-3, 5.24 ERA) moving into the series. Still a right-hander.

Game 3
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – C Margolis – SS McKnight – CF Stevenson – 3B Zuhlke – P Chavez
BOS: C McPherson – CF J. Baker – 3B A. Esquivel – LF Cesta – 1B S. Murphy – 2B M. Green – RF Cornejo – SS Casillas – P Key

Stan Murphy’s black weekend continued; he missed McKnight’s grounder in the top of the first, which scored two runs for the Coons after Key had loaded the bases with the 3-4-5 batters on two singles and a walk. The Titans would have the bases loaded themselves against Chavez in the bottom 1st, however, and Murphy drew the 2-out walk to fill them, the second Chavez had given up already. Mike Green batted with the bags full and grounded out to McKnight to strand three. Chavez wouldn’t have a clean inning early on, with a Nomura error creating traffic in the second, and Mike Cesta hitting a 2-out single in the third, although he wiped himself out pretty quickly in an ill-fated attempt to steal second base. The top 4th saw the Critters in motion again thanks to a leadoff double by Margolis to right center. He scored on Stevenson’s single up the middle, and with two outs Chavez landed his first big-league RBI with a single to left center that chased home Stevenson from second base and made this a 4-0 game. Cookie singled, too, but Yoshi’s sharp grounder was intercepted by Mike Green for the third out of the inning.

Green hit a 1-out single in the fourth, and Gil Cornejo appeared to have hit one out right after that, but the ball got knocked down by a sharp wind coming in from rightfield and dropped into Mendoza’s mitten on the warning track. Green then stole second base, which only resulted in Tony Casillas getting walked intentionally and John Key being retired on a pop to second to end the inning. The Coons were pretty close to breaking the game wide open in the sixth inning after Chavez had bunted Stevenson and Zuhlke into scoring position after their singles off Key to begin the inning. Casillas miraculously caught a scorched liner off Cookie’s bat, then tagged a retreating Zuhlke for a 6-unassisted double play to end the inning.

Chavez made it through six shutout innings without a single strikeout to his credit, and the constant traffic had also exploded his pitch count. He entered the seventh still up 4-0, but also just shy of 100 pitches, and was on the shortest hook. McPherson’s 1-out single knocked him out – but until after he got that elusive strikeout with a K to pinch-hitter Jonathan Stephens. Jason Kaiser replaced Chavez and retired absolutely nobody. Starting with a pitch into Josh Baker’s ribs, he allowed two more men on base, with Antonio Esquivel and Mike Cesta both hitting RBI singles to get the Titans to 4-2 and having the tying runs on first and second. Boynton replaced Kaiser, allowed a bases-loading single to Murphy(!), then a game-tying 2-run single to Green. The string of six consecutive batters reaching base ended when Cornejo lined out to a lunging Hamilton. Casillas struck out, but tied at four, the Raccoons were looking like arse once more. They had Cookie on base with a leadoff single against Thrasher in the ninth, but Yoshi first failed to bunt, then hit into a double play. Mendoza of course singled after that disaster, and Hamilton popped out to keep things simple.

Top 10th, Mitch Onley pitching and walking Margolis to get things going. McKnight did get the bunt down, and with Margolis at second base he was lifted for a pinch-runner, Daniel Bullock. The Titans countered with their own shrewd move, walked Stevenson intentionally and then got Zuhlke to hit into a double play. With Sugano into the game in the bottom 10th, the Titans sent Javy Cisneros to pinch-hit for Cornejo. That move, too, should work, as Cisneros doubled. Chun replaced Sugano, but could only watch helplessly as Casillas bunted the winning run to third base. Left-hander Willie Ramos had been in the #9 hole for a while. He was walked intentionally to set up a double play and get a right-hander into the box in McPherson. Ramos stole second base to foil ALL our plans, leading to another intentional walk, but now Chun had to face a left-handed batter in Baker. In other words, we were dead. Baker didn’t beat the Coons – Chun struck him out – but the 40-year old third baseman still batting .320 did. Esquivel singled up the middle, the 2-out base hit walking off the Titans and giving the Coons their second extra-inning loss in the series that ended their season for good. 5-4 Titans. Carmona 2-5; Mendoza 3-5; Hamilton 2-5; Margolis 1-2, 3 BB, 2B; Dew 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

In other news

July 6 – The hitting streak of Richmond’s Emilio Farias (.348, 1 HR, 34 RBI) ends at 22 games with a hitless appearance in the Rebels’ 4-3 loss to the Capitals.
July 7 – Thunder southpaw SP Nick Lombardo (4-4, 3.96 ERA) will be out for a year with a torn flexor tendon in his elbow.
July 9 – SAC LF/CF Ray Meade (.259, 17 HR, 66 RBI) could miss most of the remaining regular season after breaking a finger on a defensive play.
July 9 – The Condors rumble over the Aces in an 11-6 slugfest, with TIJ OF Matt Jamieson (.249, 6 HR, 39 RBI) collecting five hits and four RBI while missing the cycle by the triple.
July 10 – A ninth-inning home run off starter Dave Butler (6-9, 4.11 ERA) by IND SS Raul Matias (.250, 5 HR, 40 RBI) is the only tally in the Indians’ 1-0 road win over the Crusaders.
July 11 – MIL CF/RF Ian Coleman (.370, 9 HR, 75 RBI) will miss two weeks with a sprained ankle.
July 11 – The Falcons trade OF/2B Juan Gonzales (.346, 6 HR, 35 RBI) to Washington for pitching prospect Alfredo Morua, who was ranked as high as #85 on prospect rankings in previous years.
July 11 – The Wolves and Pacifics combine for no less than three inning of 6+ runs in their Sunday game, which the Wolves win 18-9 thanks to a 7-run first, then a 6-run fifth to counter the Pacifics’ own 6-spot in the bottom of the third inning. SAL 1B Keith Harenberg (.281, 7 HR, 42 RBI) has three hits and drives in four.

Complaints and stuff

The one time we get out of Vancouver in relatively good shape, we still manage to shoot our season the same week by coughing up two extra-inning losses to the Titans that we could ill afford. Truth be told, pitching was appalling all week, but it’s not like the offense was flawless. It’s not because of the Peay shutout. Maybe he’ll be a star, maybe he’ll be nobody five years from now. Who knows what the Condors thought after being shut out and one-hit on August 24, 2002 by some left-handed bimbo the damn 60-68 Raccoons had found in the 11th round?*

Nah this is about a bullpen that can’t pitch with any kind of lead, one run or five or eleven, without creating “excitement”. Heck, even Toner (and more on him coming up) made a dog’s dinner out of a 9-run lead this week. The entire pitching staff is just outright unreliable. When your most pleasant surprise is that Noah Bricker lived to see the All Star Game, something’s off.

In an unexpected development that I didn’t see coming at all, Jonathan Toner DID in fact make the All Star team! I didn’t think a 3.67 ERA would qualify you for any honors, Jonny, but there ya go. Jonny has thus made eight All Star teams, which isn’t bad for somebody who was on eight Opening Day rosters. Good pitcher. He might still go places.

The Coons had three more representatives that should not be omitted: also sending Hugo Mendoza, Yoshi Nomura, and *Danny Margolis*. It’s the seventh nomination for Mendoza, as well as the fourth consecutive and fourth with the Coons. Yoshi makes his sixth showcase, second consecutive, and third with the Raccoons, with his three CL nominations being ten years and an extended FL stint apart. Margolis, unsurprisingly, makes his first All Star team.

Who saw that coming in 2014, when he was a bit of a throw-in as the Coons traded principally for Joe Cowan with the Buffaloes? In fact the general sentiment then was – literally – that we got at least something out of the Buffaloes for Brett Gentry and Pat White, who were disappointments in their own right – as was Cowan, who was bumped off the roster before the end of May that season.

Dwayne Metts’ days had almost been counted to conclusion this week, except that the minimum player I tried to claim off waivers by the Wolves (and if the Wolves don’t want him…) was also claimed by the Buffaloes, who had the right of way. Not that I desperately wanted a piece of 27-year old Mason Harp, who had spent the entire season on the Wolves’ roster and had been used as defense replacement so rigorously that he had amounted to only 19 at-bats with four singles. It was just an attempt to shake things up.

The Raccoons signed a single international free agent in the 2021 signing period, writing a $56k check to 16-year old Venezuelan second baseman Angel Salazar. Good hitting profile, not so good on defense. Who knows what will happen to him in the next few years. Bullock anyone?

But first more on that astonishing game from August 24, 2002: the Condors’ lone hit came off the bat of Tom Watkins, a reliever who would knock six hits total in an 11-year career. It was merely the first time that Brownie was denied a no-hitter by some scruffy nobody, but he’d eventually earn it the hard way against Ray Gilbert 14 years later.

Also, the Condors got romped 13-0 in the game, so they might have had other problems than just their lackluster offense. A further fun fact: the opposing pitcher in Brownie’s maiden shutout? Kel Yates! Brownie’s co-ace a few years further down the road – if briefly – was charged with nine runs in 4.1 innings. Three Coons had three or more RBI’s in the game: Jesus Palacios hit a grand slam off Watkins, Brownie drove in three on two singles, including technically the game-winning RBI with a second-inning single that scored Chris Parker, and three were also driven in by Brownie’s catcher that day, one of the many random Raccoons catchers of the era that nobody will remember today, Gary Fifield.

The full(y obscure) lineup for Portland that day? 3B Sharp – CF Torrez – 2B Palacios – 1B Martin – RF Beairsto – SS Guerin – LF Parker – C Fifield – P Brown; only one other memorable player in the Condors’ lineup, and only for the name, the unforgettable Urbano Cicalina, who had – of course – NO HITS in that game…

[Westheim]

All Star Game

A seventh-inning grand slam off the Scorpions’ Pablo Sanchez hit by San Fran’s Dave Garcia breaks a 1-1 tie in the game and eventually lifts the Continental League to a 5-1 win in Nashville. Denver’s Frank Kelly had begun to load the bases to begin with and takes the loss in the showcase. Garcia’s Bayhawks teammate Graham Wasserman gets the relief. Jonathan Toner and Ian Van Meter were the starters for their respective leagues, and both turned in a scoreless inning.

Toner’s scoreless inning aside, the other three Raccoons all had some kind of success in the game. Hugo Mendoza and Yoshi Nomura were starters, and both went 1-for-3. Yoshi’s single loaded the bases ahead of Garcia’s slam. Danny Margolis pinch-hit for the starting catcher, Knights backstop Ruben Luna, and went 1-for-2 in finishing the game behind the plate.

The slam was Garcia’s only hit in the game. SAC Jason LaCombe led all players with three hits, and three players had two: DAL Matt Harry, CHA Matt Good, and OCT Ezra Branch;

Raccoons (47-41) vs. Canadiens (30-57) – July 15-18, 2021

Last in runs scored, last in runs allowed, still pathetic – few things would change in a week and only three games. The Coons had taken three of four from the Elks the previous week in Vancouver, swinging the season series to 4-3 in their favor. I was not willing to let off now…! The Elks had placed John Calfee (.302, 4 HR, 18 RBI) on the DL with an oblique strain during the five minutes we hadn’t watched over them closely.

Projected matchups:
Michael Foreman (9-4, 2.36 ERA) vs. Kyle Lamb (3-10, 5.33 ERA)
Jesus Chavez (1-3, 4.30 ERA) vs. Matt Rosenthal (3-10, 4.91 ERA)
Jonathan Toner (10-3, 3.67 ERA) vs. Ryan Dunn (6-7, 3.39 ERA)
Tadasu Abe (3-6, 4.93 ERA) vs. Greg Becker (1-1, 6.48 ERA)

Southpaws would bookend this series for the disgusting Elks.

Jonny would have pitched on Thursday if not for that ninja nomination to the All Star Game that I still don’t get. With that, we move him back to Saturday, giving him three days’ rest. With that, Michael Foreman will thus begin the series on regular rest, followed by Chavez on the same. By my count, Hector Santos is eligible to come off the DL on Sunday (Matt Nunley might be activated by Saturday), but between him and Tadasu Abe it’s six in one and half a dozen in the other right now. Abe goes Sunday, Santos goes Monday, end of discussion.

Game 1
VAN: LF A. Torres – RF Kim – 1B Rocha – C Holliman – 3B Downing – SS Folk – 2B Otis – CF Houghtaling – P Lamb
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Jackson – 1B Mendoza – C Margolis – CF Stevenson – SS Bullock – 3B Zuhlke – P Foreman

Lamb ran 3-ball counts to the first three batters he pitched to, and walked two of them, the exception being Yoshi Nomura, who put a 3-2 into play and then outran Ryan Holliman’s throw for an infield single. Thus the bags were loaded for Mendoza in the bottom 1st. He had neither patience nor power, flying out to left, which at least scored a run, contrary to Margolis’ double play grounder to Brody Folk. Holliman’s leadoff jack in the top of the second re-tied the game, and one inning further down the road the Elks would use a pair of 1-out singles by Alex Torres and Man-su Kim as well as their double steal to manufacture another run to take a 2-1 lead. The Raccoons hit into double plays in each of their first three innings, causing me great agony, but broke the streak most cleverly in the bottom of the fourth by starting the inning with two outs by Jackson and Mendoza. After that it was time for some 2-out terror on the unsuspecting Lamb, who allowed a single and a walk, then faced Bullock, had the rookie at 2-2, and still allowed a single to left that was near the line just enough to allow Danny Margolis to score from second base with the tying run. Zuhlke’s walk loaded them up for Foreman, who had started the third inning with a single up the middle before being caught up in Yoshi’s double play. Imagine – he hit another one, right up the middle and into center. His second single in the game plated two and reinstated the Raccoons to the lead, 4-2. That, though, didn’t mean that Foreman would get the W. Cookie grounded out to strand a pair, and after that the Elks went to work on Foreman. Torres doubled, Kim hit an RBI single. Holliman and Josh Downing also hit singles, the latter tying the game yet again. Runner on first and second, Brody Folk grounded to the mound. Foreman got the force on Downing, leaving runners on the corners, but with two out and Matt Otis batting (the same Otis that had gave his all to prevent the Coons from taking anything but black eyes with them from Canada) Folk took off to swipe second base. Margolis’ throw was both blistering and misguided and went into centerfield. Folk to third, Holliman scored the go-ahead run, and Otis on top of it all singled to chase home Folk as well in what was a 6-4 game. Lamb was not one bit better than Foreman, though. He started the bottom 5th with two walks to Yoshi and Jackson – giving him six free passes against no strikeouts – and then allowed a single to Mendoza. Bags stacked and nobody retired for Margolis, and just when I thought that this was the right spot and time for one of his magical huge homers he clonkered a lazy 1-2 fastball over the leftfield fence. GRAAAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAMMMMMM!!!!!

While that technically put Foreman in line for a win, having completed five innings but not having been seen after that, there was another constant to the Raccoons other than huge Margolis homers, and that was the bullpen massively cocking up whatever they could get their clumsy paws on. Jeremy Houghtaling’s eighth-inning infield single off Jeff Boynton got the slide going, and Noah Bricker had nothing to stop it, conceding that run on Alex Torres’ single, and then the lead on Moises Berrones’ pinch-hit double, both with two outs. Bullock swiped a line drive by Mario Rocha to at least keep the wicked 8-8 tie in place. Failure continued unabated, with Lillis in the ninth issuing not one, but TWO leadoff walks. A nice play by Yoshi and an inning-killing pop over the infield by Brody Folk were the only things that kept the Elks from reclaiming the lead. Bottom 9th, Yoshi hit a leadoff single off Mike Tharp, prompting Petracek to run for him, the winning run. Jackson grounded out, Mendoza was walked intentionally – and interesting choice with “Bam-Bam” Margolis next and actually countering the left-handed Tharp – but, oh, I forgot, the Coons were just a bunch of turds that managed to grab the worst outcome from every situation, ever. Margolis grounded to short, the fifth double play the team hit into in the game, and it sent the game to extras, and Will West, reluctantly, to the mound. The Elks murdered him for five hits, and scored two runs despite their first guy aboard, Alex Torres, getting caught stealing. 10-8 Canadiens. Nomura 2-3, 2 BB; Margolis 3-5, HR, 4 RBI; Bullock 2-4, RBI;

This blasted pitching staff. They handed 17 hits and four walks to the absolute worst offense in the league.

Well, at least they snowballed themselves into a 9-game deficit in relation to the Titans, and I can really stir the trade market now.

Yeah, like anybody would like these losers…

Game 2
VAN: LF A. Torres – RF Kim – 1B Rocha – C Holliman – 3B Downing – SS Folk – 2B Otis – CF J. Harris – P Rosenthal
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – C Margolis – SS McKnight – 3B Bullock – CF Stevenson – P Chavez

And there came another pretender to a job on a major league roster. Chavez allowed two hits, two walks, and hit a guy in a 3-run first, which led me to applying red marker to his name on our depth chart. After that inning, somehow, ended, Margolis sure tried to hit a 3-piece to get the playing field level after Rosenthal had walked Mendoza and Hamilton in the bottom 1st, but his drive to center was short and caught by John Harris. Rosenthal led off the second inning with a double on a 1-2 pitch off Chavez, who allowed another four singles in the inning before being yanked and kicked all the way to the bus terminal. Will West took over with two outs in the inning, and allowed another three runs on Brody Folks’ single, a walk to Matt Otis, and a double hit by John Harris. Rosenthal kindly flew out to Cookie, closing the inning at five, and putting the ****ing Elks ahead by eight. This became nine in the next inning, although that run was for a change unearned thanks to a blighted throwing error by Ronnie McKnight. Vancouver had ten base hits through three innings to Portland’s one, and the ‘rally’ that some people expected when they put on their caps both sideways and upside down LIKE THAT WAS GONNA HELP was mostly limited to a Matt Hamilton homer in the bottom 4th – a solo job. At some point, Rosenthal loaded the bases, then kept walking people until he was mercifully put into cryptosleep by his manager, but even a 3-spot couldn’t get the Raccoons back into this wretched game – or the wretched season. In a case of spitting irony, the post-West relievers would allow five hits and three walks in five innings, but allowed no further runs. 9-4 Canadiens. Metts (PH) 1-1; Petracek 2-3;

Will West joined Chavez – who picked up the 3,500th regular season loss for the franchise – at the bus terminal, waived and designated for assignment. The Raccoons activated Matt Nunley from the DL and recalled Ricky Martinez from St. Pete to restock the roster. Martinez, who had pitched to a no-decision in a spot start earlier this season, would take over the cursed #5 slot.

And if Toner gives us another start like the last two we’ve seen, we might see a few corpses in the clubhouse.

Game 3
VAN: LF A. Torres – RF Kim – 1B Rocha – C Holliman – SS Folk – 2B Otis – 3B Grooms – CF Houghtaling – P R. Dunn
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – C Margolis – 3B Nunley – SS McKnight – CF Metts – P Toner

The Raccoons were up 1-0 after the first, with Cookie opening their half of the inning with a double, but he wasn’t scored until Hamilton hit a 2-out single past Mario Rocha. Toner struck out four in the first two innings, but also hit Matt Otis, so not all was perfect for him, a statement that will also cover Ryan Dunn’s leadoff single in the third inning, and on a 3-0 pitch, which was then followed by an actual walk drawn by Alex Torres. Toner couldn’t hold the lead in one piece, with Dunn scoring on two groundouts before Holliman struck out to end the inning. In what was barely described even remotely sufficiently as a frustrating experience, Toner hit a leadoff single in the bottom 3rd, never moved another inch, let alone 270 feet, then allowed a single to Otis with one out in the fourth. Yoshi blatantly missed Chris Grooms’ grounder for another single that put runners on the corners, and Toner had to throw extra pitches to strike out Houghtaling and Dunn to at least stay in the tie.

When Toner did finally reach second base – because who else should – it was on a throwing error by Brody Folk, two down in the bottom 5th. Jonny dashed for home with reckless abandon when Cookie singled to left, and somehow Torres hadn’t read the scouting report and never even considered that he could make for home as the Coons took a 2-1 lead without as much as a challenge. A Yoshi single went to waste as much as Cookie’s presence on the bases when Mendoza grounded to the pitcher on A ****ING 3-0 PITCH.

Matt Nunley extended a still-extant hitting streak to 16 games with a 1-out double in the bottom 6th that also chased Margolis to third base for Ronnie McKnight, who had sat in a hole for more or less the entire season and popped out on the first pitch. The stinking Elks walked Dwayne Metts intentionally to get to Toner with three on and two out. Matt Otis just barely got glove on Toner’s liner that ended the inning. His entire effort went up in smoke in the seventh inning, with Torres’ 1-out single being followed by a despicable ball four called in favor of Moises Berrones. The two runners pulled off a double steal, Mario Rocha grounded to Yoshi, and Yoshi couldn’t do anything with it. The tying run scored, and two more runners were on the corners. Holliman and Folk made two outs to Mendoza in shallow right – the go-ahead run would not come across. Maybe we could still get Toner a ****ing W? Dan Moon pitched for Vancouver in the bottom 7th, a former Coons farmhand. He allowed a blooper to shallow center that put Cookie on first with nobody out, and Cookie swiped second base on a poor throw by Holliman. Yoshi walked, Mendoza walked, feeling the red dot from my laser-aimed sniper rifle on his temple as soon as he had ball three. Moon did not have the vaguest concept of the strike zone – Matt Hamilton drew the third straight walk, pushing in the go-ahead run. Margolis’ 2-run double and an intentional walk were the last we saw of Moon, who retired nobody. Zach Hughes replaced him, and McKnight hit an RBI single to left off him immediately. Another run scored on Metts’ groundout, giving the Critters a 7-2 lead and six outs to pick out of the crumbs stuck to their bums. Kaiser got only one out before putting the 7-8 hitters on base, so even NOW we had to go to Noah Bricker, who was not unbreakable. Bricker got three, Sugano got two outs from there, and the Raccoons had a W, FINALLY. 7-2 Critters. Carmona 3-5, 2B, RBI; Hamilton 2-4, BB, 2 RBI; Margolis 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Toner 7.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 11 K, W (11-3) and 1-3;

After batting .343 in 11 games of basically subbing for Matt Nunley, but playing at three positions overall, Daniel Bullock was sent back to St. Petersburg. Other than with Chavez and Garrett, and the other scumbags, we would occasionally check in on his well-being down there. Hector Santos took his roster spot as he came off the DL, but would not actually pitch until Monday.

Game 4
VAN: LF A. Torres – RF Kim – 1B Rocha – C Holliman – 3B Downing – SS Folk – 2B Otis – CF J. Harris – P G. Becker
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – C Margolis – 1B Hamilton – RF Jackson – CF Stevenson – SS McKnight – 2B Zuhlke – P Abe

Singles by Cookie, Nunley, and Jackson plated two runs for the Raccoons in the first inning, but the bad news were that Abe still couldn’t pitch in an even at least semi-helpful way, nor could he bunt, forcing out Zuhlke at second base in short-circuiting the following inning. Early on, the outfielders were a greater help to Abe than you could possibly imagine, with Stevenson especially getting a workout in centerfield. Bottom 3rd, the Coons had the bases loaded with nobody out as Becker continued to struggle, walking Nunley and allowing two singles to Margolis and Hamilton to arrive in that most unhappy of places. Becker wouldn’t retire anybody until Zuhlke’s sac fly, at which point a 4-pitch walk to Jackson, a 2-run single by Stevenson, and an RBI single by McKnight had already put the Coons ahead 6-0. The sac fly made it 7-0 and was the end for Becker. There was Dan Moon again! He got out of the inning, and the Elks soon hinted at this game being far from over. Rocha opened the fourth inning with a double off the wall in right, then Holliman took Abe deep outright to left, 7-2.

Hamilton’s counter-homer in the bottom 4th counted for one, but Abe was still about to drown in the top 5th when runners on the corners dissolved when Margolis threw out Man-su Kim trying to steal second. The thing here was – Monday was not an off day. And the pen had been RAVAGED the last three days. With a 6-run lead the Raccoons had to run Abe until he arrived at 100 pitches, or until the tying run appeared somewhere visible, depending on which event would occur first. Thankfully he had a 1-2-3 sixth, and Josh Stevenson’s 2-piece off the constantly pitching Moon ran the tally to 10-2. Even post-2020 ASG Abe would have a hard time blowing this. In fact, his latter innings were a whole lot better than the early innings. The Elks got only one more batter on base against him, which was also his final batter: Mario Rocha hit a 2-out single in the eighth. Dew retired Holliman, and Chun did away with the Elks in the ninth on only six pitches to end the game. 10-2 Coons. Carmona 2-4; Nunley 2-4, BB; Hamilton 4-5, HR, RBI; Jackson 2-3, BB, 3 RBI; Stevenson 2-4, HR, 4 RBI; McKnight 2-4, RBI; Abe 7.2 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (4-6) and 0-2, BB;

In other news

July 12 – The Loggers have to look for another closer after putting Edwin Balandran (4-3, 3.20 ERA, 9 SV) on the DL for the rest of the season. The 28-year old is suffering from radial nerve compression.
July 16 – The Scorpions smack five home runs in a wild 15-12 win over the Stars, who score their runs without the help of the long ball. RF/LF Pablo Sanchez (.393, 7 HR, 73 RBI) goes deep twice and drives in six to become the primary damage dealer.
July 17 – SAC 3B Jason LaCombe (.299, 2 HR, 38 RBI) could be out until late August with an intercostal strain.
July 17 – The Thunder trade SS/3B Devon Stephenson (.301, 2 HR, 20 RBI) to the Crusaders for a second-rate prospect.
July 18 – Another cycle for the history books: SAC RF/LF Pablo Sanchez (.401, 8 HR, 76 RBI) connects all the dots in a 4-for-5 outing in the Scorpions’ 14-7 win over the Stars. Sanchez’ is the 69th cycle in ABL history and the third this season, with the Stars’ Jose Avila having most recently cycled six weeks earlier. It is the first ever cycle for the Scorpions, who had been one of the last two teams to have neither a cycle nor a no-hitter to their credit. Only the Capitals remain in that sad category.

Complaints and stuff

I have to make this short, because I am on hold with the State Department – basically I am evaluating my options to both have Chavez deported back to Cuba *and* get my $340,740 already forked over back. In short, though…

I HATE THE CANADIENS. I HATE THE CANADIENS. I ****ING HATE THE ****ING ****ING ****ING ELKS.

Also, most of the Critters. But we’re ready for subtraction here. I just need to find the right trade partners.

[Westheim]

Here is this week’s report. Oh, and you will also… (hurries out of the room, only to immediately return with a sizable portable oxygen cylinder with a squeaking wheel) … need this.

Raccoons (49-43) @ Indians (40-53) – July 19-21, 2021

As the sadly third-place Raccoons trudged over to Indy, any day now could bring the news of a major dismantling of the roster that had utterly and completely failed to conquer a division that had been believed to be wide open before the season. They were 4-5, too, against the measly Indians, who were allowing the most runs in the Continental League (5.1 per game, more precisely, and even 5.9 against the Critters), and would never be able to find enough offense to offset the black hole that was their pitching staff. WELL, TELL ME MORE ABOUT THAT.

Projected matchups:
Hector Santos (7-4, 4.24 ERA) vs. Jared D’Attilo (4-7, 5.51 ERA)
Michael Foreman (9-4, 2.70 ERA) vs. Dan Lambert (11-2, 3.83 ERA)
Ricky Martinez (0-0, 2.70 ERA) vs. Tristan Broun (6-6, 4.55 ERA)

Right-right-left from the Indians, and Santos-TBD-TBD if we’re really honest from the Raccoons.

Game 1
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Mendoza – 1B Hamilton – C Margolis – 3B Nunley – SS McKnight – CF Stevenson – P Santos
IND: CF D. Morales – 2B B. Reyes – 1B M. Rucker – RF C. Martinez – LF Genge – SS Matias – C T. Delgado – 3B Ventura – P D’Attilo

Ronnie McKnight went deep in the second inning, collecting Margolis and his leadoff single along the way, to give Santos a 2-0 lead early. The drama of uselessness for Santos, however, continued unabated. The Indians had hit a few balls hard right in the first inning, and would get one run right back in the second inning on Tony Delgado’s RBI double that scored constant Coons terror Raul Matias, but they didn’t tie the game until the third, rapping off three singles off a hapless Santos. Both pitchers would single off another in their next time at the plate. D’Attilo’s single game with two outs in the bottom 4th and didn’t end up having a big effect, but Santos hit his to lead off the fifth, a quick bouncer past Bob Reyes into rightfield. After Cookie singled to right center and Yoshi Nomura walked on four pitches, the Coons had the bags full for Mendoza, who was so far 0-for-2 with two grounders to short. To short he went again, this time in pop form, for the first out of the inning. The Coons would be held to one run in the inning as their middle of the order comprehensively failed; he run came in on a Hamilton sac fly.

Making a 3-2 lead disappear was one of Santos’ lesser magic tricks, and while the Indians failed to score Reyes after he got plunked by Santos leading off the bottom 5th, the following inning saw them get going with a Matias double to right center. Delgado singled, and runners were on the corners. Jeremie Ventura popped out, but Nunley then misfielded D’Attilo’s bunt, allowing the tying run to score, with two more on base, and the top of the order coming up. The Raccoons hoped to get relief for their numerous sores, the biggest of which was clearly Santos, by bringing in Jeff Boynton, whose 0-2 to Danny Morales was knocked into play. Nunley redeemed himself at least partially by cutting off the quick bouncer and turning a double play with it, escaping the inning in at least a tie. The Raccoons failed to exploit a 1-out double by Nomura in the seventh and Nunley’s leadoff single in the eighth – the latter extending a hitting streak to 18 games – and in the ninth it was Yoshi Nomura again to reach base, now hitting a single to center. Mendoza was 0-for-4 and I was prepared to smuggle one of the impressively sharp steak knives from the lounge to remove his increasingly DeWeeseian salary commitment from the budget of the next few years when he suddenly did give a ball a headache and creamed a changeup Tony Lino threw over the middle of the plate for a tie-breaking 2-run homer, which also turned out to be the game-winner. The last base runner in the game was Dwayne Metts, singling in Margolis’ spot. Brett Lillis had an 8-pitch bottom of the ninth. 5-3 Raccoons. Nomura 3-3, 2 BB, 2B; Metts (PH) 1-1; McKnight 2-4, HR, 2 RBI;

It was the last game of the 2021 Raccoons as everybody knew them.

Interlude: trades

Overnight, the Raccoons engaged in a pair of trades with FL East teams that removed five players from the organization, including three from the major league team.

The first trade was struck with the Capitals, who traded for 1B Matt Hamilton (.282, 12 HR, 54 RBI) for 20-yr old A RF/LF Omar Alfaro and 22-yr old AA INF Dave Hendrickson. The latter was a throw-in, but the Riddler was glowing in his admiration for the hitting and especially the power potential of the Dominican switch-hitter Alfaro.

The second trade was a 6-player jumbling with the Blue Sox. The Raccoons sent four players to Nashville: SP Tadasu Abe (4-6, 4.72 ERA), C Danny Margolis (.317, 11 HR, 58 RBI), INF Adam Zuhlke (.264, 5 HR, 14 RBI), and AA 1B Ruben Santiago; they were turned into two prospects with very high ceiling: 23-year old AA SS/2B Tim Stalker and 22-year old AA CL Billy Brotman. Stalker, the #68 prospect according to BNN, was an extremely adept defender who knew how to hit for average and a bit of power, while Brotman was a probable future closer with a 92mph cutter and an almost unhittable curveball. He was also a left-handed pitcher.

All trade acquisitions were sent to the same level they had played at with their old teams, except for Tim Stalker, who was promoted to AAA right away.

Culling four major leaguers also required a flurry of other roster moves, and the Raccoons promoted four players from St. Petersburg: SP Dave Dyer, C Edwin Prieto, INF Guillermo Aponte, and RF/LF Zach Graves joined the team.

Raccoons (49-43) @ Indians (40-53) – July 19-21, 2021

Game 2
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – 3B Nunley – 1B Mendoza – RF Graves – CF Stevenson – SS McKnight – C Olivares – P Foreman
IND: C T. Delgado – 2B B. Reyes – 1B M. Rucker – RF C. Martinez – LF Genge – SS Matias – CF Otero – 3B Ruggeri – P Lambert

Zach Graves got an RBI in his first plate appearance of the season, hitting a sac fly with the bases loaded in the first inning. Lambert had stacked them with a Cookie single, hitting Nomura, and an infield single by Mendoza, and this was the only run the Raccoons got in the inning. The 1-0 lead initially held up despite a Stevenson error in the second inning and Lambert by far getting the most of a Foreman offering the first time through the order, hitting a 1-out double in the bottom of the third inning. Delgado’s groundout and Reyes’ foul pop stranded him at third base, but the Indians would get the tying run across in the fourth inning. Mike Rucker and Cesar Martinez hit singles to start the fourth, and Foreman would add Matias to the bases with a 4-pitch walk. Leo Otero stayed out of a double play with a grounder to Nunley at third, allowing Rucker to score, but D.J. Ruggeri grounded out to Yoshi to at least keep the other two runners stranded in scoring position.

While the Raccoons did no hitting to speak of, they sure made more errors. Olivares bobbled a grounder in the fifth inning for their second E on the day, and in the sixth Nunley dropped a foul pop by Rucker that directly led to the Indians taking the lead. Rucker ended up turning around his 1-2 count and near-elimination into a leadoff walk, and came around to score in the inning, putting the Indians 2-1 ahead. Their lead didn’t last long and disappeared surely in spectacular fashion. In the top of the seventh, Ezequiel Olivares hit a soft line to right center, probably a single. Leo Otero wouldn’t even give him that and made a headlong dive for the ball – but completely missed it. The ball gently rolled all the way to the fence while Cesar Martinez could not gain meaningful ground to it and Otero was picking himself from the grass, bit by bit. Olivares turned second, turned third, and scored – inside-the-park-homer for the recently primaried catcher that couldn’t outrun a dead dog if he tried! Lambert was soon in it for the loss, allowing a double to Foreman that led to his removal, and left-hander Killian Savoie conceded a 2-out RBI single to Nomura to put the Coons back in the driver’s seat.

That lead would not live through the end of the game, either. Cesar Martinez bombed Noah Bricker in the bottom 8th, tying the score at three again. The Coons got hits from Aponte and Carmona in the ninth inning, but couldn’t get anybody across against Tony Lino this time. Aponte made an error in the bottom 9th, the Coons’ fourth in the game, but the Indians never managed to get their free runner Jeremie Ventura past first base, sending the game to extra innings. Martinez would also turn out to hit the game-winner, but it took another three innings of terrible hitting from the Raccoons to get him back to the plate in the bottom 12th, Jeff Boynton’s second inning already. Bob Reyes singled, Mike Rucker doubled, and we were surely going to go down here. Nunley lunged, but couldn’t intercept Martinez’ 1-out grounder to the left side, which escaped into the outfield and allowed Reyes to score in a walkoff. 4-3 Indians. Nomura 2-5, RBI; Graves 2-4, RBI; McKnight 2-3, 2B; Foreman 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K and 1-3, 2B;

Nunley went 0-for-6 (with the error…) to end his hitting streak. Which is fitting – everything else ended a long time ago…

Game 3
POR: LF Carmona – 3B Nunley – RF Jackson – 1B Mendoza – CF Stevenson – SS McKnight – 2B Petracek – C Prieto – P R. Martinez
IND: CF D. Morales – 2B B. Reyes – 1B M. Rucker – RF C. Martinez – SS Matias – LF Otero – C Mancuso – 3B Ruggeri – P Broun

Both teams had their leadoff man on third base with two outs in the first inning. While Dumbo Mendoza did his thing and hit a ****ty fly to shallow left, the Indians tore apart Ricky Martinez, who had pitched to a no-decision against the Elks in a spot start in May, without much further ado. Cesar Martinez hit an RBI single, and the previous runner scored both on Matias’ RBI double and Leo Otero’s RBI single for an early 3-0 Indians lead. Admittedly, the 3-run homer with which Mendoza would erase the deficit in the third inning was impressive, but I was still sick of him. It also should have been a slam, but Cookie hadn’t picked up the third base coach’s stop sign on the preceding single to left by Eddie Jackson and had gotten himself erased at home by Leo Otero.

Partly it was a rain delay after three innings that was to blame for Ricky Martinez lasting only five innings in this game, but the Indians didn’t get much off him in the four innings after the early onslaught. While they did put Morales and Reyes on the corners with one out in the bottom 5th, Martinez ended his start with strikeouts to both Rucker and his namesake to clean up his own mess. He was employed in the top 6th to bunt Edwin Prieto to second base after the newly-arrived catcher’s leadoff single. From there, the Indians loaded the bases with an intentional walk to Cookie and then a Rucker error on Nunley’s grounder, but Eddie Jackson hit into his second double play of the day to clean up the mess and leave Martinez without a decision. This also cost Mendoza a slam for the second time in the game. Following Jackson in the order, Mendoza hit a leadoff jack in the seventh inning. Chun and Bricker held the fort and handed the tender 4-3 lead to Lillis in the ninth. His first pitch was hit for a single by Lowell Genge, but Otero’s following poor bunt was used by Mendoza to erase Genge at second base. Nolan Mancuso hit a ball sharply to third base, where Brian Petracek had ended up and started a double play no less impressively than Nunley could have done to end the game. 4-3 Coons. Carmona 2-4, BB; Nunley 2-5; Mendoza 2-4, BB, 2 HR, 4 RBI; Nomura (PH) 1-1; Chun 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, W (1-1);

Interlude: trade

The Raccoons had Thursday off on the field, but not on the open market. Another piece from the Opening Day lineup was deleted in a trade designed specifically to clear space in the lineup for Daniel Bullock, as the Coons traded 30-yr old SS/2B Ronnie McKnight (.267, 6 HR, 40 RBI) to the Crusaders for 32-yr old C Jalen Parks (.311, 5 HR, 16 RBI).

While a net loss for the Coons no matter which way you combed this one, the trade had the benefit of deleting $2.3M in future salary commitments with Parks being a free agent after this season.

In the accompanying roster moves, Edwin Prieto after only one game was waived and DFA’ed, while Daniel Bullock was promoted to the Bigs as the new starting shortstop.

Raccoons (51-44) @ Thunder (40-54) – July 23-25, 2021

The Coons’ first series after throwing in the towel led them to Oklahoma to play the Thunder, against whom they were 1-2 so far in 2021. The Thunder ranked near the bottom in runs scored in the Continental League, and their pitching was best described as mediocre, a so-so rotation completely unwound by a tremendously terrible bullpen that had run up a 4.80 ERA – by far the worst performance in the CL.

Projected matchups:
Jonathan Toner (11-3, 3.61 ERA) vs. Evan Greenfield (11-4, 3.19 ERA)
Dave Dyer (0-0) vs. Randy Jenkins (6-6, 4.01 ERA)
Hector Santos (7-4, 4.28 ERA) vs. Steve Kreider (5-6, 4.37 ERA)

This will be three right-handers to pick pitches against. All Raccoons starters are of course to be taken with a grain of salt at this point – we penciled in the fourth different catcher in four consecutive games after all, and Hector Santos might be pitching in Guatemala on Sunday for all we know.

And Jonny? He would dress as the Raccoons’ starter for the 241st time in his career, but was this his final start as a Raccoon, too?

Game 1
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – 3B Nunley – 1B Mendoza – RF Graves – SS Bullock – CF Stevenson – C Parks – P Toner
OCT: SS L. Rivera – LF Hollingsworth – RF Branch – C Pizzo – 1B Madrid – CF Bareford – 3B V. Ramirez – 2B Paull – P Greenfield

The Thunder would take a 1-0 lead on Toner in the fourth inning, owed to a leadoff walk drawn by Ezra Branch. When Branch tried to steal second base, Jalen Parks threw the ball away, allowing him to get to third base and to eventually score on Willie Madrid’s groundout. The Raccoons up to that point had basically done nothing, and the Thunder offense had also been limited to three walks issued by Jonny Toner, but no hits. It only got worse for the Coons from here. Daniel Bullock hit a leadoff single in the fifth, then was caught stealing, and Toner got Vinny Ramirez on a groundout to start the bottom 5th, but then had his back act up and had to leave the game with a no-hitter still in progress. Lorenzo Rivera’s leadoff single off Cory Dew in the sixth inning took care of that footnote to a sad-sack game. Rivera moved up on Steve Hollingsworth’s groundout, stole third base, but was stranded eventually. Ezra Branch struck out, Mike Pizzo walked, and Willie Madrid grounded out to Bullock. The Coons were outright awful against Greenfield, who scattered seven hits, but no runs, in eight innings. The Thunder never added to the Rivera single or their run total, leaving Ryan Corkum’s right arm and 4.40 ERA to cope with the Coons’ left-handed middle of the order in the ninth inning. Matt Nunley drew a leadoff walk – and that was it. Starting with another ****ty groundout by Dumbo Mendoza, the Raccoons went down in order after that. 1-0 Thunder. Carmona 2-4, 2B; Bullock 3-4; Toner 4.1 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, L (11-4); Dew 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K;

This just gets better, day by day.

We are unsure at this point whether Jonny Toner can take his next turn, which would come Wednesday against the Bayhawks. We have an off day after that, though, and enough movable quad-A pitching to shift things around a wee bit to push him into the weekend series against the Knights.

But one step after the other – first let’s get to the major league debut of the #51 pick from 2016, 23-year old right-hander Dave Dyer from Ellicott City, MD. He throws 96, and complements the heat with a good slider and changeup. He was 10-2 with a 3.88 ERA in AAA this year, striking out 83 in 99.2 innings against 35 walks.

Game 2
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – 3B Nunley – 1B Mendoza – RF Graves – SS Bullock – C Parks – CF Metts – P Dyer
OCT: SS L. Rivera – 2B Becker – RF Branch – C Pizzo – 1B Madrid – CF Bareford – 3B Paull – LF Hollingsworth – P Jenkins

The Critters drew two walks from Jenkins in he first, but in general couldn’t get the ball out of the infield and left the runners stranded. Dyer retired the Thunder in order in his first big league inning, requiring only eight pitches for the job, and retired the first five batters he faced overall before Andy Bareford reached on a Nunley error – the third error this week for the third baseman. The Coons had hit into an inning-ending double play in the second, and would do so again in the third inning, which started with Dyer singling in his first plate appearance. Cookie forced him with a grounder, but went to third as Yoshi singled, only for Nunley to continue in his systematic deconstruction of another game with a grounder to Jeff Becker that the Thunder turned for two. The first base hit off Dyer would turn out to be a 1-out double by none other than the opposing pitcher in the bottom 3rd, and it was only one of three extra base hits the Thunder had in the inning. Rivera plated the run with a double, was caught stealing after that, but Jeff Becker tripled and scored on Branch’s single for a 2-0 Oklahoma advantage that grew to 3-0 the following inning on Eric Paull’s home run.

The Coons, contrary to popular belief, were still taking turns at-bat, and actually scored a run in the fifth inning. Parks hit a leadoff single and was scored by Cookie with a 2-out single, but that was as much glory as the Critters would allow themselves in this inning. They wouldn’t tie the game until the following, sixth, inning, despite that one beginning with hasty groundouts by Nunley and Mendoza. After that the youngsters hit two singles and were driven in by veteran Jalen Parks with a double into the corner in rightfield. Dyer didn’t make it through six, reaching 105 pitches in 5 2/3 innings. Sugano replaced him when left-hander Cory Starmand batted for Jenkins with two outs and Eric Paull on first base. Starmand singled, but the inning would end anyway: Zach Graves threw out Paull at third base, which was a move too aggressive for a poor runner on this easy pickings single.

Eddie Jackson batted for Graves in the seventh inning, in which the Thunder’s left-hander Jeff Kearney had trailed against every batter he had faced and had walked two. Jackson ran a full count with two outs, but eventually grounded out to strand the runners. Jeff Boynton in turn had already soaked a loss this week and was soon on the hook for another. He allowed a pinch-hit single to Bobby Marshall in the bottom 7th, and his replacement, Kaiser, allowed a 2-out bomb to Pizzo that put the Thunder ahead, 5-3. Bullock would get on base in the eighth with a leadoff single, which only led to another inning-ending double play down the road, this one hit into by pinch-hitter Ezequiel Olivares in Metts’ spot. The Coons were down to their final out in the ninth against Corkum before their noses twitched once more. Yoshi singled with two outs, and Nunley worked a full count into a walk, bringing Mendoza up with the tying runs aboard, which was PERFECT, since I wondered what he was getting paid for anyway. Sensing doubters in the crowd, Mendoza sure showed me, spanking a harmless 2-0 offering into a 3-run homer to right, robbing the Thunder of their victory and sparing Boynton going down to 0-6 on the season. Only one of those developments turned out to be permanent, however… with Brett Lillis allowing singles to Marshall and Becker right to start the bottom 9th, with Marshall to third, the hole was tremendous already. Ezra Branch struck out, but Chris Evans’s groundout scored Marshall with the tying run, and the Thunder walked off on Willie Madrid’s sharp single to left. 7-6 Thunder. Nomura 2-3, 2 BB; Bullock 2-3, BB; Parks 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI;

At this point, every day the fans back home in Portland woke up and expected the next horror news – another terrible loss aside – but the weekend remained calm. No further trades were announced by the Coons on Sunday, either.

Game 3
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – 3B Nunley – 1B Mendoza – C Parks – SS Bullock – RF Jackson – CF Metts – P Santos
OCT: SS L. Rivera – 3B B. Marshall – RF Branch – C Pizzo – 1B Madrid – CF Bareford – 2B Becker – LF Hollingsworth – P Kreider

Danny Bullock took one for the team in the first inning, accepting a Kreider offering into his lower side to push the first run of the game across. Previously, Cookie and Yoshi had both singled and reached scoring position thanks to Hollingsworth’s fielding error, but between strikeouts collected by Nunley and Parks and Mendoza being halfheartedly walked had remained parked on base. Jackson grounded out to Marshall to end the inning. The Thunder were on Santos right from the start, with Rivera and Marshall hitting sharp singles before the middle of the order made loud outs in order, one ball hit to each outfielder. Branch’s drive that sent Cookie back with nobody out was the most scary one, but the Coons would better add runs for the chronically overmatched mustached launchpad wearing #33 on the mound…

There was no hope for Santos, clearly. After two outs to center (and not shallow) in the bottom 2nd, Hollingsworth belched one over the fence to tie the score at one. The Thunder kept hitting fly balls galore off Santos in the next innings without getting a ball out of here again. The top 5th saw leadoff singles from Cookie and Yoshi again. This time they reached scoring position on Nunley’s groundout, after which Mendoza was actually intentionally walked this time around, bringing up Parks with the bases loaded again, and he struck out again, too. Bullock hit a 3-2 pitch to left, but Hollingsworth made it over to the line in time to deny the Coons the runs they didn’t deserve anyway. Hollingsworth’s leadoff single in the bottom 5th sent the defense scrambling again to prevent a defenseless Santos from getting rolled – which worked for the third inning in a row! – and then it was Hollingsworth again front and center in the top of the sixth, which Jackson led off with a fly to left that Hollingsworth took a route so disastrous to that he played a casual F7 into a 2-base error. There was no way giving Jackson a double on that one – it was the most grievous error seen in a while.

Santos was lifted in the seventh after a pinch-hit single by Cory Starmand and a pinch-walk drawn by R.J. DeWeese (.212, 4 HR, 17 RBI) with one out. With left-hander Chris Gosnell pinch-hitting for Kreider, Manobu Sugano broke free from bullpen confinement, K’ed Gosnell, and got Rivera to fly out to Cookie. Sugano then had a chance for the W in the game, with the Coons starting their eighth inning with Parks singling and then a Bullock double over the head of DeWeese, who had replaced Hollingsworth, WHICH WAS SO CONSOLING. When Zach Graves hit for Jackson, the Thunder walked him intentionally to give the Coons three on with nobody out. And what shall I say? It worked well! Manny Gomez struck out both of our centerfielders that were actually employed as such before Branch couldn’t get to the floater hit by the centerfielder moonlighting in a power position for years now. Cookie had a single, two runs scored, Yoshi walked, and then Nunley grounded out to continue a rotten week for him.

At this point, the Raccoons flicked their usual end-of-bullpen assignments. Left-handers figured to be up in the eighth, and right-handers in the ninth. So Lillis got the eighth, and Bricker would get the ninth. In continuation of things just not going to plan, ever, Lillis walked Branch, however, then got a pop from Madrid to end the eighth, but that already turned the ninth into a potpourri of whatever for Bricker. Despite the Coons scratching out an add-on run in the ninth after Parks hit an infield single and Petracek ran for him quick enough to score eventually, Bricker was in trouble right away after a leadoff double by Eric Paull. Jeff Becker struck out, and R.J. DeWeese did not suddenly start hitting, either, grounding out to Yoshi. Chris Evans’ fly to center ended the game. 4-1 Raccoons. Carmona 3-5, 2 RBI; Nomura 2-4, BB; Graves (PH) 1-1, BB, RBI;

In other news

July 21 – The Titans engage in two trades, sending LF/CF Mike Cesta (.325, 1 HR, 29 RBI) to the Buffaloes for MR Pat Slayton (2-1, 2.32 ERA) and a prospect, and LF/CF Josh Baker (.262, 0 HR, 21 RBI) and a prospect to the Aces for 1B/LF/RF Adam Flack (.286, 0 HR, 8 RBI), the 2020 CL batting champ who has fallen on hard times in 2021.
July 21 – The Wolves have only three hits, but one of them is a home run by LF/RF Alfredo Quintana (.341, 12 HR, 38 RBI), which is enough to beat the Stars, 1-0.
July 23 – The Stars may not get back RF/LF Justin Dally (.293, 17 HR, 73 RBI) until early September at best after the 33-year old suffered an abdominal strain.
July 24 – The Falcons put eight on the Canadiens in the top of the first inning, which turns out nowhere near enough on its own to beat them in a wicked game in which Vancouver scores in each of the first six innings, and the Falcons just barely manage to come out on top, winning 14-11 eventually. CHA RF/LF Travis Benson (.288, 18 HR, 66 RBI) has four hits, including a home run, and drives in two runs in the game.
July 25 – The Buffaloes trade SP Mario Alva (6-10, 5.21 ERA) to the Stars for C Alex Ferrales (.225, 2 HR, 16 RBI).
July 25 – CIN SS Andrew Showalter (.333, 16 HR, 65 RBI) will miss the rest of this month and all of August with torn ankle ligaments.
July 25 – RIC SP Jorge Gine (1-3, 4.85 ERA) who had already been on the DL for two months with a partial tear in his labrum this year returns swiftly to said DL with recurring back spasms. He should return only in September.

Complaints and stuff

Many sleepless nights in Coon City this week, I guess, despite the team not even being physically present there, and not many that left Portland for the road trip will make it back there.

The $2.3M saved in future salaries to Ronnie McKnight are joined by whatever Matt Hamilton would have made in arbitration this fall, and his salary had already been $1.52M this year, so you can probably expect the total savings to be more than $4M. The other traded players had been due for free agency after the season anyway.

You may now well ask why we have so far only traded the secondary staff and Jonny Toner, Hugo Mendoza, Cookie Carmona, Brett Lillis, and Yoshi Nomura are still here, also Noah Bricker and Matt Nunley. Shouldn’t they also yield prospects galore? Technically yes – but I have not been able to get an appealing offer for any of them. For Toner and Mendoza especially, a #68 prospect isn’t gonna cut it. That #68 (Tim Stalker) was the highest-ranked prospect we trade for this week, but nevertheless three of the four additions to the farm are already among our top 10 in the organization, which probably said more about the organization than the prospects. Said organization is also already going to ‘lose’ its top prospect for next year – that had been #30 Jesus Chavez.

We have a number of further players up for free agency after the season in Santos, Parks, Jackson, Chun, Bricker, and Sugano – ordered by their 2021 salary, in total just over $5M, of which we are paying roughly $4.3M. We still have our four most expensive players: Mendoza, Toner, Cookie, and Yoshi – in that order (although Toner will be the top earner in ’22). You can also call them Core Four right now (by extension I would add Foreman and Nunley right now and call them Sweet Six). If you start trading one of them, you can just as well trade them all and start at square one. With that in mind and also the fact that the Raccoons will have a lot of money available in the offseason (unless the Prick interferes, and we all know that interfering is his favorite pastime), I may not conduct a hasty trade right now that leaves us with half of nothing, and a pile of ashes. The offseason may be a better spot to rearrange these pieces if it turns out that the money will be insufficient to basically build a completely new pitching staff between Toner and Lillis (which WILL be necessary!)

Another dynasty that was not meant to be.

Sadness.

Sadness and no end to it.

ABL CAREER STRIKEOUT LEADERS
64th – Francisco Garza – 1,967
65th – Vernon Robertson – 1,961
66th – Fernando Cruz – 1,949 – active
67th – Ricardo Sanchez – 1,948
68th – Fernando Chavez – 1,946
69th – Jonathan Toner – 1,934 – active
70th – Jim Harrington – 1,907
71st – Andres Ramirez – 1,895 – HOF
72nd – Jorge Chapa – 1,886
[…]
83rd – Alfredo Collazo – 1,827
84th – Dave Crawford – 1,816
85th – Manuel Ortíz – 1,815 – active
86th – Raimundo Beato – 1,791
87th – Samuel McMullen – 1,766 – active
88th – Hector Santos – 1,760 – active
89th – John Collins – 1,758
90th – Ramón Jimenez – 1,743
91st – Pedro Alvarado – 1,738 – active, free agent

[Westheim]

Hey, the Raccoons are back in town – and you may even still recognize some of them. It was not going to be an easy week to the deadline for the city though. All over Coon City, kids refused to let go of their Cookie Carmona and Jonny Toner and Matt Nunley and Hugo Mendoza bobblehead collection, going as far as taking them to bed with them, because you couldn’t possibly know whether any or all of these would still be there tomorrow, or whether they would be GONE FOREVER.

Raccoons (52-46) vs. Bayhawks (48-51) – July 26-28, 2021

Abysmal pitching, especially starting pitching, was not something that was unique to the Raccoons, no, the Bayhawks were also plagued with it, especially after losing Mark Roberts (5-2, 1.49 ERA) to radial nerve compression in June. They were ninth in runs allowed, and only sixth in runs scored, and a -30 run differential would rarely work out to a winning record, but hey, they got a nice midweek opponent here that was already down on the ground and the count had officially reached nine. The Baybirds held a 2-1 edge in the season series.

Projected matchups:
Michael Foreman (9-4, 2.62 ERA) vs. Brad Smith (5-10, 4.51 ERA)
Ricky Martinez (0-0, 3.86 ERA) vs. Joao Joo (6-6, 3.61 ERA)
TBD vs. Kevin Woodworth (3-9, 6.53 ERA)

The Raccoons’ man on Wednesday depends on whether Jonny Toner (11-4, 3.49 ERA) can have his back realigned by the Druid in time and whether he can shake off the depression after losing that previous start of his, 1-0, on an unearned run. I sure know I had trouble with the latter.

We would get one left-hander from the Bayhawks in Joo on Tuesday.

Game 1
SFB: LF R. Allen – 2B Claros – CF D. Garcia – 1B R. Gomez – RF Sarabia – SS Sanks – C D. Alexander – 3B Light – P B. Smith
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – 3B Nunley – 1B Mendoza – RF Graves – C Parks – SS Bullock – CF Stevenson – P Foreman

After a leadoff walk to Roger Allen, Foreman whiffed Raul Claros for his 100th strikeout of the season, a number Jonny Toner surely considered cute in late July. Despite an infield single hit by Rafael Gomez with two down, the inning didn’t blossom into something ugly. The Bayhawks would score in the third inning, though, again getting Allen on base leading off, but this time he hit an 0-2 pitch for a double to right. Claros also hit a hard drive that Josh Stevenson contained in centerfield, but that advanced the runner still, and Allen scored on Dave Garcia’s groundout to Daniel Bullock at short. Allen turned out to be the one guy that Foreman just couldn’t retire; he reached again in the fifth inning on a 2-out bloop single, but Claros grounded out without exploiting that lucky runner. At that point, the Raccoons had two hits and two double plays they had hit into, with Nunley in the first and Graves in the fourth the guilty parties. In the bottom 5th, Jalen Parks rocked a leadoff single to left, only to be caught up in Bullock’s grounder to Claros for yet the next double play.

A sad game turned into a tragedy by the sixth inning, in which D-Alex, the Coons’ catcher many moons ago, blasted a 2-out, 3-run homer in a full count that more or less wrapped the game against a completely inept Portland lineup. Foreman had allowed singles to Garcia and Gomez to begin the frame, had received two pops from Victor Sarabia and Shane Sanks, but D-Alex bombed him, ran the score to 4-0, and it was time to look for booze. D-Alex would make his presence felt again later in the eighth inning, facing Jeff Boynton then and taking him deep as well, this time for a 2-run homer. Counting runs was irrelevant by then, with the Raccoons managing only six total hits against Brad Smith which were sufficiently countered by the four total double plays they would hit into, with Yoshi throwing one onto the pile in some later inning – but at that point it was all a blur. Smith finished what he started, cashing in his first shutout of the season. 6-0 Bayhawks. Bullock 2-3;

Smith, 36, who had been an outright star with the Pacifics for all those years and had led the Federal League in strikeouts four times and in K/9 five times, struck out only four Raccoons in this game. Despite him being a 6-time Pitcher of the Year (there’s a lofty goal for Jonny to aspire to!), Smith only pitched his *fifth* career shutout. That’s right – he has MORE Pitcher of the Year trophies than shutouts!

Meanwhile the Raccoons were shut out for the second time in four games, but I am sure it will all be fine, and consider this: for all this suffering we endure as Raccoons fans in our earthly existence, we shall be bountifully rewarded in the afterlife.

At least that is what my hopes are clinging on right now.

Game 2
SFB: LF R. Allen – 3B Light – CF D. Garcia – 1B R. Gomez – 2B Claros – SS Sanks – RF Booker – C Frasier – P Joo
POR: LF Carmona – SS Bullock – RF Jackson – 1B Mendoza – CF Stevenson – C Olivares – 2B Aponte – 3B Petracek – P R. Martinez

Is that the lineup of a team that even honestly tries to win?

A walk, a single, and a confused defense allowed the Bayhawks to put their first two men not only on base, but also into scoring position in the game, after which Ricky Martinez struck out both Garcia and Gomez, and then still fell to Raul Claros’ clean 2-out, 2-run single to left. The bottom of the inning saw Cookie Carmona single (to extend a 10-game hitting streak), steal second base (his 15th of the season), and then be universally ignored by those that followed behind him. It was left to Ezequiel Olivares to level the score in the following inning. Josh Stevenson drew a walk ahead of him, and Olivares got all of a Joo fastball and powered it over the fence in left center, tying the game at two. Ricky Martinez displayed a bit of volatility in the top of the third, where the Bayhawks had the bases loaded after a leadoff bloop single by Joo and then a pair of 1-out walks. Martinez came roaring back with strikeouts against Gomez and Claros to strand a full set of runners, and stranded Jaden Booker and Craig Frasier in scoring position in the fourth inning with another key strikeout to Roger Allen.

The persistent traffic jam on the bases however eroded Martinez’ pitch count pretty fast. He was only good for five innings, striking out eight nonetheless, but also had to throw 104 pitches to get even that far. He was pinch-hit for with Yoshi leading off the bottom 5th, but the Coons made three quick outs and Martinez remained decisionless in his major league career. Cory Dew was pitching for the Coons in the sixth and was hurrying towards a decision for sure, allowing a leadoff single to Raul Claros, who stole second base and was still lingering there with two outs. Although the 29-year old Frasier was technically still a rookie and not a proficient batter at all, the Coons elected to walk him intentionally to get to Joao Joo, not the worst career batter, but nothing to use in marketing, and batting only .136 on the season. Of course, Dew dorked, Joo doubled, and the Bayhawks took a 2-out, 3-2 lead. Allen somehow got himself out, while Dew was removed after Sean Light’s leadoff double in the seventh inning. Bricker and Kaiser rotated in and out of pitching duties, but couldn’t keep the add-on run from scoring. The eighth saw Seung-mo Chun pitching for the fourth time in five days, which went as well as you’d expect, with Craig Frasier, that 29-year old rookie, hitting him for a 2-bomb, and after that Joao Joo hit a ****ing triple off Chun. Allen walked, Jeff Boynton had to fill into long relief, but three more runs scored on a fielder’s choice on Sean Light’s grounder, and then a monstrous shot that Dave Garcia parked in the upper rows of the leftfield stands. Joao Joo narrowly was denied a complete game win, running up on 120 pitches by the ninth inning and was removed after holding the Coons mostly silent for 8 1/3 innings. Mike Stank finished out a game that had turned into a rout late. 9-2 Bayhawks. Carmona 2-4; Olivares 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Parks (PH) 1-1;

Interlude: waiver claim

In striving to reach new lows, the Raccoons on Wednesday claimed RF/CF Alex Duarte (.215, 7 HR, 34 RBI) off waivers by the Crusaders. You may recognize this 28-year-old Puerto Rican from the 2016-19 Raccoons that sent him up to bat a total of 929 times, usually with mixed-to-rotten results. Duarte, making $316k this season, was a career .247 batter with 27 HR and 163 RBI.

Despite being right-handed, Duarte replaced the luckless Dwayne Metts on the roster, who was assigned back to AAA.

Raccoons (52-46) vs. Bayhawks (48-51) – July 26-28, 2021

In potentially, hopefully good news, Jonny Toner was not traded overnight – although I am sure a number of kids in Portland spontaneously broke into tears at the mere mentioning of a Raccoons roster move on the morning radio – and would indeed make his start on Wednesday.

Game 3
SFB: LF R. Allen – 2B Claros – CF D. Garcia – 1B R. Gomez – RF Sarabia – SS Sanks – C D. Alexander – 3B Light – P Woodworth
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – 3B Nunley – 1B Mendoza – RF Graves – C Parks – SS Bullock – CF Stevenson – P Toner

Jonny started with two strikeouts before conceding a first-inning run on a Garcia single, Gomez walk, and again a Sarabia single. The Raccoons couldn’t get a ball even out of the infield in the first two innings, a clear indication that this series was already a sweep, and confirmation to that came in the top of the third, in which Toner basically retired nobody for a good long while. After Roger Allen drew a leadoff walk, Claros homered right away, 3-0, and Garcia and Gomez would occupy the corners after a pair of singles. Another run scored on Sarabia’s groundout before Shane Sanks struck out and D-Alex popped up to second base, Yoshi ending the inning. Down 4-0, the Coons couldn’t get a base hit against a pitcher with an ERA over six until the fourth inning. Yoshi’s leadoff single was followed by Nunley walking, and then Dumbo Mendoza hitting into a double play. Graves grounded out as well.

Toner lasted only five, just like the surprise rookie Martinez the previous day, but ended up conceding five runs. The last one was unearned in the top of the 5th and owed to a throwing error by Jalen Parks, which didn’t make his dismal outing any better. Bottom 6th, the Raccoons had maybe one last chance to get to Woodworth and the Bayhawks in general, with Cookie opening with a leadoff single and Yoshi working a walk from a pitcher that would normally issue them in bushels. Nunley hit into the obligatory double play, and continuing to count on the ****head Mendoza to do anything was akin to throwing ever more money down a wishing well – he flew out to Garcia in center. Mendoza drove in a run by accident in the bottom 8th, his 2-out RBI single off Mike Stank breaking up the shutout and soiling Woodworth’s line just slightly after all. With two on and two out, Eddie Jackson batted for Zach Graves and even doubled off the right-hander Edgar Bermudez sent in to counter him. One run scored and the tying run was now Parks, batting against the fourth pitcher of the inning, lefty Francisquo Bocanegra, who had been a Raccoon even before Alex Duarte, and with even less success. Parks’ single plated a pair, brought in ANOTHER pitcher in Mike Homa, who finally ended the inning with a K to Daniel Bullock. The Raccoons were basically out of pitching and had to resort to Brett Lillis in the top 9th while trailing 5-4. Lillis – in some odd meltdown – hit two batters in the inning without allowing a run, but Yoshi Nomura was injured handling a groundball and had to be replaced by Petracek. Edwin Silva in turn retired the Coons in order in the bottom of the ninth. 5-4 Bayhawks. Nomura 1-2, 2 BB; Jackson (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI; Parks 2-4, 2 RBI; Duarte (PH) 1-2; Dew 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

And in the newest, bestest development … Thursday was off.

Oh, was there something else I wanted to talk about…?

Interlude: trade

As the Raccoons continued to fall apart, they struck a deal with the Loggers on Thursday. Milwaukee would reunite with 30-yr old SP Michael Foreman (9-5, 2.76 ERA) and also receive AA INF Ismael Pastor, 22 and the #100 prospect in the league, while the Raccoons would receive 33-yr old SP/MR Evan Carrell (2-1, 3.14 ERA), #79 prospect AAA INF/LF Jarod Spencer, and AA OF/1B Greg Borg.

Pastor may be ranked, but he has never hit anything in the minors in four years. Never – anything. In an uncharacteristically short two-liner, the most recent scouting report from the Riddler just read:

It is best to sell;
That is all I can tell.

Spencer is a Yoshi-like strong defensive second baseman with high contact ability, although he should not walk as much. Borg does not have much power for a corner outfielder, but he is very agile and has huge range, so he should also be able to slot into centerfield. Spencer is 23, Borg is 22. Brock Hudman, 31, was released from AAA to make room there for Spencer. Borg was assigned to AA again.

There were no other roster moves. Carrell slid into the rotation for the Raccoons, who had obviously given up completely at this point.

Raccoons (52-49) vs. Knights (57-44) – July 30-August 1, 2021

Next to stomp the Coons were the Knights, who were already 4-2 against them this season, and there was no realistic way that the Raccoons could recover from that to win the season series. Despite being second from the bottom in terms of team batting average, the Knights were putting out the fifth-most runs, combining that with the fourth-best rotation and third-best pen for second place in the South, 4.5 games behind the Condors. The Condors? The Condors.

Projected matchups:
Dave Dyer (0-0, 4.76 ERA) vs. Jonathan Ryan (6-6, 4.71 ERA)
Hector Santos (7-4, 4.11 ERA) vs. R.J. Lloyd (7-3, 3.33 ERA)
Evan Carrell (2-1, 3.14 ERA) vs. Luis Flores (13-6, 2.88 ERA)

Flores, their only southpaw, pitched on the same day as Lloyd in a double header on Monday, so they could still flick those two.

The Coons started a string of 20 straight games without an off day against the Knights, and they did so with Yoshi Nomura’s dead body on the roster, with the Druid having ordered a worrying amount of embalming liquid and a hacksaw. No actual news on him yet; he had played in all 101 games so far this year.

Game 1
ATL: LF M. Reyes – 3B Jam. Wilson – C Luna – 1B Herlihy – SS T. Jimenez – 2B Hibbard – CF Walrath – RF Lyle – P Ryan
POR: LF Carmona – SS Bullock – 3B Nunley – 1B Mendoza – RF Graves – C Parks – CF Stevenson – 2B Aponte – P Dyer

Cookie singled, stole, and scored in the bottom of the first, which was mainly thanks to Mendoza getting drilled before he could do something stupid with two outs. Zach Graves singled to right afterwards, chasing home Cookie, before Jalen Parks grounded out to Devin Hibbard. However, not only was the lead short-lived, no, I was also huddling up on the brown coach with a comforting blanket by the second inning. In that frame, Tony Jimenez tied the game with a homer, but that was far from all. Dyer allowed a single to Hibbard, then walked FIVE consecutive batters, including the pitcher. The Knights had a 4-spot and potentially more before Ruben Luna popped out and Trent Herlihy went down flailing. Top 3rd, leadoff walk to Jimenez, and then Hibbard singled to center. Jimenez scored when Josh Stevenson unleashed a throw at no single teammate in particular that Matt Nunley ended up having to dig out of from under the rolled up tarp in foul ground.

Dyer became the third straight Coons starter to not get past five innings, lasting only four and two thirds before running up on 100 pitches. With Herlihy on second base – thanks to throwing error by Guillermo Aponte, whose presence on the roster was difficult to explain to an outsider – the ball went to Sugano, who got Jeffrey Walrath to ground to short to keep the score at 5-2. Hugo Mendoza had hit a meaningless solo home run in the third inning. The situation was so hopeless, that Sugano was sent to bat with two outs and nobody on in the bottom 6th, since we were confident to get more value from him pitching to two more left-handed batters in the top of the seventh after sitting down twice than from sending any sucker from the bench to ground out instead. In a bizarre development, Sugano turned around a 1-2 pitch by Ryan for a single to left. This was the 36-year old Sugano’s first major league hit! At least this achievement drew a round of applause. It had taken him ten attempts for his first hit, with seven strikeouts to his career batting slash line of .100/.100/.100. No major magic developed from the Critters, with Cookie grounding out to Hibbard solemnly. The Knights would tack on a run in the eighth inning, in which Jonathan Lyle hit a leadoff double off Boynton and came around to score when Parks misfiled the baseball to leftfield on Lyle’s attempt to swipe third base with Marty Reyes batting and one out. The Raccoons were never a factor after Dyer’s blowup. 6-2 Knights. Graves 2-3, RBI; Aponte 2-3; Sugano 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K and 1-1; Kaiser 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

There was a roster move before the Saturday game, but it had nothing to do with another crippling trade. No, the Druid came up with a diagnosis for Yoshi Nomura. The 37-year old had a herniated disc in his back, which at his age was probably a permanent condition. The best estimate was a 3-week stint on the DL, where he swiftly was placed, and the Raccoons had to pick through the detritus in St. Petersburg to find a replacement, which turned out to be recently acquired Jarod “Pop” Spencer, who had played in only one AAA game since arriving with the Alley Cats.

Luis Flores indeed moved up to Saturday to oppose Santos, a.k.a. a sure win for Luis!

In terms of the little things that make life easier, Matt Nunley ever since ending his 18-game hitting streak has been batting .125 (4-for-32), shedding 24 points of batting average in ten days.

Game 2
ATL: LF M. Reyes – 3B Jam. Wilson – C Luna – 1B Herlihy – SS T. Jimenez – 2B Hibbard – CF Hubbard – RF Lyle – P L. Flores
POR: LF Carmona – SS Bullock – RF Jackson – 1B Mendoza – CF Stevenson – 3B Nunley – 2B Spencer – C Olivares – P Santos

For both teams, their first hit would be an infield single in this game. Nunley hit into an inning-ending double play after Stevenson’s infield single in the bottom 2nd, while Jimmy Hubbard legged out one in the top of the third. The Knights weren’t giving up runners all that easily, and Santos was in trouble at least after a 2-out walk to Marty Reyes, with three left-handers coming up in the order. On his first offering to Jamie Wilson, the Knight hit a 3-piece to center, and the Raccoons were going to extend their losing streak here. Despite there already being two outs in the inning, the Knights put another FOUR men on base with three singles and a walk somewhere in between. Devin Hibbard’s single made it 4-0 before Cookie hurled himself into a Hubbard liner to keep the Knights at least in slam range, which was an ironic proposition to begin with, assuming that team could get three men on base in the same inning to begin with.

Debutee Jarod Spencer singled to center in his first career at-bat, leading off the bottom 3rd. Flores would find pressure here; he walked Olivares in a full count, and Santos bunted the runners over. Cookie and Bullock both scored single runs with sharply hit singles to the outfield, presenting Eddie Jackson with the tying runs aboard. He ran a 3-1 count and I already projected the horrors that would happen with Mendoza batting with three on and one out if he walked, but Jackson didn’t walk. He hammered the 3-1 to right center and past Jonathan Lyle for an RBI double, instead presenting Mendoza with the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position and one out. Dumbo was predictably retired on a foul pop, and Stevenson grounded out to Jamie Wilson to end the inning with a 4-3 deficit. Ruben Luna’s RBI double in the fifth sent the score to 5-3, but when Santos struck out Hubbard to begin the top of the sixth he at least became the first starting pitcher still on the team since himself last Sunday to get an out in the sixth inning. That is progress, ladies and gentlemen! Santos got one more out from Reyes, a poisonous liner to left that should be credited solely to Cookie Carmona, who had lost all fear apparently, before we went to the pen with Santos on 103 pitches and left-handers up once again. Kaiser, Chun, and Bricker would get the Raccoons through the game, but the Knights’ 5-3 lead was not challenged in the last few innings. The closest the Raccoons came to a comeback was when Harry Merwin plunked Spencer with two outs in the ninth. Olivares grounded out to end the game anyway. 5-3 Knights. Spencer 2-3;

One game in the Bigs and already the best man on the team, Jarod Spencer.

The Coons would not get a glimpse of R.J. Lloyd after all; the Knights moved Leon Hernandez (12-5, 3.94 ERA) into the Sunday game, where he would oppose a makeshift swingman that had been a throw-in to a deconstruction trade three days earlier. Carrell had 25 starts to his 223 career appearances, all of them coming in 2019 and 2020 for the Miners and Warriors. In fact, three of the players in the lineup hadn’t been in the organization at the start of the week, and that number rose to four if you went back to the McKnight-Parks trade last week. Only Cookie, Mendoza, and Nunley had been on the roster two weeks ago.

Game 3
ATL: LF M. Reyes – 3B Jam. Wilson – C Luna – SS T. Jimenez – 2B Hibbard – CF Walrath – 1B M. Rivera – RF Lyle – P L. Hernandez
POR: LF Carmona – SS Bullock – C Parks – 1B Mendoza – RF Graves – 3B Nunley – 2B Spencer – CF Duarte – P Carrell

Let’s assume the Knights’ scouting report was hastily compiled and spotty at best after the midweek trade and they probably didn’t have much video on a long reliever / spot starter on the Loggers, who were not in their division. It was the only explanation I had of a few zeroes that Carrell lined up to begin this outing, and he also chipped in a double in the bottom 2nd, a frame in which the Coons hit four times for extra bases after amounting to roughly that many extra-base hits in their last three games combined. Mendoza and Graves led off with doubles, and Nunley made a bid to break out of the funk with a 2-run homer to right. Carrell’s double came with two down and was inconsequential, but the Raccoons would have the bases loaded with nobody out in the bottom 3rd for a chance to increase their lead. Bullock and Parks had led off with singles and Mendoza had been walked haphazardly, pulling up Graves, one of the bushel of rookies in the lineup. He flew out to Lyle in shallow right, too shallow for Bullock to score, but that particular youngster would come home on a wild pitch to Nunley, who ended up walking to restock first base. Spencer grounded to short, but beat the throw to first by Hibbard to break up the double play and thus allowed Parks to come home. Duarte flew out to right, stranding two on the corners in a 5-0 game.

Of course things had to go to **** at some point, and that point was right in the fourth inning. Carrell got two loud outs to begin the inning before loading the bases on a Jimenez double, a walk to Hibbard, and outright striking Walrath with a pitch. Mike Rivera’s bases-clearing double put the Knights right back in business, now down only 5-3, before Lyle popped out. The same part of the lineup gave Carrell trouble again in the sixth: Jimenez and Hibbard had base hits to go to the corners with one out. Walrath drove a ball to center that Duarte contained in mortal danger, keeping the runners on, and then Cookie had to sell out in the gap on Rivera’s drive to deny him of another double and multiple runs scoring. Maybe an insurance run would be insuring? Parks had killed the fourth inning with a double play after 1-out singles by Cookie and Bullock, but the Coons got their add-on run from an unexpected source in the sixth inning, in which Alex Duarte hit a leadoff jack, his eighth of the season. The Critters also put Cookie and Bullock on base again in the inning, but Parks and Mendoza couldn’t get through right-handed reliever Joey Hopkins and his 4.50 ERA. Carrell’s day ended with a 1-out walk to Jimmy Hubbard in the #9 hole in the seventh. Jeff Boynton replaced him, faced only Reyes, whom he walked, but Sugano then came in and put **** right with strikeouts to Wilson and Luna. From there, Dew got two outs and Brett Lillis got four, plus an increasingly rare save, and he only got that one because he came in to face pinch-hitter Trent Herlihy in the eighth already, because the Critters would tack on a fourth run to their lead in the bottom 8th, in which Josh Stevenson, entering in a double switch with Lillis, hit a leadoff single and eventually scored on Jalen Parks’ groundout. 7-3 Raccoons. Carmona 2-3, 2 BB, 2B; Bullock 2-4, BB; Graves 2-4, 2B, RBI; Stevenson (PH) 1-1;

In other news

July 26 – Ten runs scored in the ninth inning of the Crusaders’ 9-6 win over the Knights. The Crusaders enter with a 3-2 lead and add six in the top of the ninth, while narrowly staving off the Knights’ 4-run counterattack in the bottom of the inning. NYC INF Sergio Valdez (.282, 7 HR, 54 RBI) provides the margin of victory with a 3-run home run in the ninth.
July 27 – The Loggers trade LF/RF Jason Seeley (.302, 5 HR, 19 RBI) to the Thunder for 1B Mike Gershkovich (.238, 1 HR, 21 RBI) and a dubious prospect.
July 27 – The Rebels lose 2B/3B Justin Cramer (.234, 2 HR, 21 RBI) for the rest of the season and maybe even for early 2022 with a badly broken elbow.
July 28 – In one of three trades involving the CL North, CL Mike Tharp (7-5, 2.30 ERA, 13 SV) is traded from one losing team in the division to another, joining the Indians in a trade from the Canadiens, who receive three prospects in return for the 34-year-old left-hander. Both teams make another trade on this date, with the Canadiens trading 3B/SS Chris Grooms (.263, 3 HR, 16 RBI) to the Buffaloes for 39-year-old MR Micah Kirchberg (0-3, 4.42 ERA), and the Indians acquired C Jamal White (.240, 10 HR, 51 RBI) from the Rebels – along with a prospect – for their SP Jared D’Attilo (4-7, 5.12 ERA).
July 28 – 16 innings are played in Vancouver, where the resident Canadiens blow a 6-5 lead in the ninth inning. Both Aces and Canadiens score one run in the 14th, and the Aces score another run in the 16th, but still fall to a home run by RF/LF Moises Berrones (.247, 5 HR, 18 RBI), a walk to Jonathan Morales, and a leadoff double by OF Jeremy Houghtaling (.245, 5 HR, 20 RBI).
July 28 – Miners and Wolves do not score through nine innings, with the Miners eventually plating two in the top of the 10th, the only runs in this 2-0 game.
July 30 – Vancouver’s utility player Brody Folk (.244, 0 HR, 9 RBI) is done for the season after being laid up in a cast with a broken kneecap.
July 30 – Topeka’s Chris Owen (.285, 10 HR, 46 RBI) hits a leadoff single in the second inning of the Buffaloes’ game against the Scorpions that does not amount to anything. It is the Buffaloes’ only hit in the game, and they will soon be swiftly pummeled by Sacramento, who rout them 12-0 before the day is over.
August 1 – The Rebels undo an early Wolves lead with a 10-run sixth inning, beating them soundly, 11-6, eventually. RIC 3B Jesus Soto (.247, 4 HR, 19 RBI) has four singles and drives in two runs.

Complaints and stuff

The moment I got confirmation that this was a re-issue of a ****ty tune from 1997 came on Wednesday, when Guillermo Aponte batted for Jonny Toner in the bottom of the fifth with a catcher that hadn’t been on the roster even two weeks ago at third base … and stranded him with a grounder to second. Aponte? Parks? And why is Toner done in the fifth?

There is a cover-all explanation for this: they all suck. Claiming Alex Duarte off waivers in a vague bid for improvement was also another white flag, of which we raised plenty this week.

I had offers for Jonny Toner this week, but they were grossly insufficient. The problem is that he has been terrible for over a month, and people are now trying to buy low. I am willing to wait out the season and see what develops in wintertime.

I also had an offer from the Gold Sox, bidding 38-year old Joey Mathews for Travis Garrett, which was tempting to say the least.

Oh here is one more to boggle your mind: when the Coons ended their 5-game spill on Sunday with Evan Carrell’s six-and-a-third of decent, but uninspired pitching being just enough for a win, that was the first W for a Raccoons starting pitcher in two full weeks. The pitcher back then, in a 10-2 rush of the Elks on July 18, had been Tadasu Abe, who was not on the team anymore, and had been followed by Carrell, who had fallen asleep on Wednesday as a ****ing Loggers reliever. And THAT IS how deep we’re in the ****s.

[Westheim]

The Raccoons fled town on Monday morning after a 1-5 homestand that had been devastating in every way imaginable, but would only be out of town for three days on a quick hop down to Vegas. They would be back in Portland by Thursday, facing the Loggers for four. So, the question here is: how long can we nurse the winning record? I don’t think I want to bet that it lasts through the week. We would have to win three to emerge from the weekend as a winning team. I don’t see that happening. Not even against Vegas.

Raccoons (53-51) @ Aces (43-63) – August 2-4, 2021

The Aces were pretty rotten, a deep, thumping fall from their two championships they had seemingly won yesterday. They were ninth in runs scored, tenth in runs allowed, they were racing towards a triple-digit deficit in their run differential, but still the Raccoons had only amounted to a 3-3 record so far this season against this ragdoll team. Well, by now it’s two ragdoll teams.

Projected matchups:
Ricky Martinez (0-0, 3.78 ERA) vs. Chris Wickham (0-1, 5.93 ERA)
Jonathan Toner (11-5, 3.63 ERA) vs. Bobby Guerrero (5-9, 3.17 ERA)
Dave Dyer (0-1, 6.10 ERA) vs. Clark Johnson (2-9, 4.89 ERA)

The Monday opener would be the fifth career start for the 23-year old left-hander Wickham, who had found an opening in the rotation thanks to injuries to two regular starters (including Nem Jones), and in addition to that, the Aces were also worried about the thumb of Juan Valdevez (8-9, 4.49 ERA), which as I understood it was about to fall off. Nothing major there in your typical .400 nightmare.

We kinda need two wins from this series. We have not lost a season series to the Aces since a 2-7 debacle in 2015. Postseason results not included.

Game 1
POR: LF Carmona – SS Bullock – RF Jackson – 1B Mendoza – CF Stevenson – C Olivares – 2B Spencer – 3B Petracek – P R. Martinez
LVA: 3B J. Navarro – 2B Hebberd – RF D. Brown – 1B S. Butler – C Spears – LF Curro – CF J. Baker – SS Duling – P Wickham

The Coons would pile up eight strikeouts in the first five innings while netting only two singles, both of those by third-day player Jarod Spencer. The first one led to the game’s initial run, flicked to lead off the top of the third. He scored on a Martinez groundout, but only after Wickham had thrown a wild pitch, and Martinez gave back not only that run, but also a second one, in the bottom of the same inning, with the Aces chaining together a single to right by Jose Navarro, a triple to center hit by Bill Hebberd, and then a Dan Brown sac fly. The Aces’ top of the order produced another run in the bottom 5th, and again Navarro started things, this time with a double, which marked his third time on base in as many attempts after drawing a walk in the first inning. Bill Hebberd singled him in, but was stranded at second base eventually. The Coons amounted to nothing in the middle innings, with Wickham striking out five in a row at one point, and when the Coons finally threatened again, it was the bottom of the order around Spencer again, who in the top 7th followed up an Olivares single with his own third single of the day, at that point owning 60% of the Raccoons’ total bases in the game. When the Aces went to right-hander Mike Espinoza with the tying runs aboard and nobody out, the Raccoons sent Zach Graves to bat for Brian Petracek, and when Graves got hit, Matt Nunley grabbed a bat to hit for Martinez. Rotten as things were, Nunley hit straight into a run-scoring double play, but when Cookie grounded out to Steve Butler, the team still trailed 3-2 while leaving Spencer at third base. The Aces pulled the run right back in the bottom of the inning against Seung-mo Chun, who walked the omnipresent Jose Navarro, who in turn stole second and scored on Dan Brown’s 2-out single. While the Raccoons managed to amount to another double play in the eighth, the Aces in the same inning tore up Jeff Boynton some more with a 2-out, 3-run homer by pinch-hitting shortstop Andres Medina. 7-2 Aces. Spencer 3-4;

Finally a decision for Ricky Martinez!

Let’s leave it at that.

Game 2
POR: LF Carmona – SS Bullock – C Parks – 1B Mendoza – RF Graves – 3B Nunley – 2B Spencer – CF Stevenson – P Toner
LVA: CF A. Martinez – 2B Hebberd – RF D. Brown – 1B S. Butler – C Ayala – 3B J. Navarro – LF J. Baker – SS A. Medina – P B. Guerrero

Nunley’s second-inning jack gave Jonny Toner a 1-0 lead, but from the first inning on the Aces had more hits than strikeouts against him, and given his recent and not-so-recent history, you were just waiting for the big bang to happen. They finally seemed to have him in the fourth inning, in which Victor Ayala and Josh Baker hit singles, which at that point gave them six singles in 3.1 innings. Toner lost Medina to a bases-loading walk, brutalized his former rotation mate Guerrero, but that still drew up Armando Martinez with the bags full and there was no way in hell he wasn’t hitting a bases-clearing double at least. Nope, Martinez popped out to Jarod Spencer, and the inning concluded with no runs scoring for the home team. They didn’t have to wait much longer, though. After Dan Brown’s bloop single to left in the bottom 5th, Steve Butler rammed an innocent baseball off the fence in right center for an RBI double, tying this game, because – correct – the Raccoons hadn’t done a lick of hitting since the Nunley dinger. Two of their three most recent base runners at that point had been Jonny Toner, walking twice against Guerrero.

Jalen Parks’ leadoff double in the sixth inning was really begging for a run to be scored and to reclaim the lead. Mendoza walked and Graves hit a single to load the bases with nobody out for the struggling Nunley, who got one step closer to being eviscerated when he hit a 3-1 pitch into a double play, home-and-first, before Spencer flew out to left. Nobody scored. Nobody ever scored on this decrepit team. Toner ended up hung with the loss when Hebberd homered off him to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning, and the Aces tacked on an unearned insurance run in the eighth with Jason Kaiser pitching and Matt Nunley throwing away Navarro’s grounder to start the inning. Like that run mattered – it didn’t, nobody reached in the ninth against Alex Silva to begin with. 3-1 Aces.

Ten hits off Toner, who has lost his last three starts – the question is whether we will ever be able to sell high on him again.

Game 3
POR: LF Carmona – SS Bullock – C Parks – 1B Mendoza – RF Graves – 3B Nunley – 2B Spencer – CF Duarte – P Dyer
LVA: LF J. Baker – 2B Hebberd – RF D. Brown – 1B S. Butler – C Ayala – 3B J. Navarro – CF Holt – SS A. Medina – P C. Johnson

I had little to no doubts that Bill Hebberd’s first-inning home run off rookie Dave Dyer would be his second game-winner in as many games. The Raccoons were just not able to score or keep the opposition from scoring anymore. But if there was one thing in the Coons that was stronger than the suckage it was their desire to prove me wrong: Mendoza’s leadoff double in the second was not normally a good chance for them to score, but the team actually produced TWO productive outs IN A ROW to get the run home and tie the game at one. Mendoza would hit a 2-out single in the fourth, but was immediately picked off by Clark Johnson. The annoying Hebberd hit a leadoff single in the bottom 4th, but was stranded, while Zach Graves opened the fifth with the team’s second leadoff double in the game, this one beating Nick Holt in right center. Graves was stranded, however, despite another single by Jarod Spencer, thanks to Nunley popping out in between, Duarte going down on strikes, and Dyer flying out easily to Josh Baker in left.

Dyer fell apart in the bottom of the fifth, which started with consecutive singles by Jose Navarro and Nick Holt, and progressed to a devastating, bases-loading walk to Clark Johnson. Baker ran a full count with one out and split Graves and Duarte with a drive into the gap. Two runs scored, 3-1, with Johnson having the pace of a dog that had three legs amputated being all that kept Baker from emptying the bags completely. Hebberd’s sac fly to plenty deep center ran the score to 4-1. Dyer didn’t get through six, leaving two on and two out for Jason Kaiser, who allowed a liner to rightfield to Medina and thankfully found Zach Graves on the other end. Not that any additional runs would have an impact on the outcome of the game… The Aces added two in the seventh on a Hebberd single off Jason Kaiser and then Dan Brown’s 2-run homer off Cory Dew. Daniel Bullock getting hit by a pitch after a Cookie single in the eight surprisingly enough opened a door for the Coons to make the scoreboard light up ever so faintly, as both Mendoza and Olivares – hitting for Graves to counter the left-hander Alex Morin – came up with 2-out RBI singles, inching the Coons to within three runs, but even then they were still defeated by their own stupidity before they could get close to actually tying the game in the ninth. Aponte was on second base after a 2-out double, and Alex Silva was 3-0 behind against Cookie … and then Cookie poked and grounded out. 6-3 Aces. Mendoza 4-4, 2B, RBI; Olivares (PH) 1-1, RBI;

Well, that sweep hurt, physically AND emotionally. Now let’s trudge home in shame.

Raccoons (53-54) vs. Loggers (67-41) – August 5-8, 2021

The Loggers had reclaimed the lead in the CL North from the Titans whom they now led by 1 1/2 games. Academic obligation dictates I inform you that the Raccoons were in third place and 13 1/2 games out, but there’s a point at which you should just stop looking at certain numbers. I will thus not go deeper into the fact that the Loggers were 15-3 over their last 18 games, while the Raccoons had lost 10 of their last 12. Portland still held a 4-3 lead in the season series, but the Loggers were in town specifically to change that…

Projected matchups:
Hector Santos (7-5, 4.28 ERA) vs. Michael Foreman (9-6, 2.78 ERA)
Evan Carrell (3-1, 3.48 ERA) vs. Chris Sinkhorn (15-6, 2.32 ERA)
Ricky Martinez (0-1, 3.97 ERA) vs. Victor Arevalo (6-8, 4.20 ERA)
Jonathan Toner (11-6, 3.60 ERA) vs. Ian Prevost (9-3, 3.10 ERA)

Their only left-handed starter, Chris Sinkhorn, made an excellent case for the triple crown … well, in two categories at least. He *was* fourth in strikeouts in the Continental League, but he had to find a way to pass Luis Flores of the Knights and Andrew Gudeman of the Condors and THEN kill Jonny Toner outright because Jonny was 45 K ahead of him and 36 K ahead of second-place Gudeman.

Game 1
MIL: LF Cooper – SS Burns – CF Coleman – RF Gore – 3B A. Velez – 1B Gershkovich – C Wool – 2B Tadlock – P Foreman
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Spencer – C Parks – 1B Mendoza – RF Graves – 3B Nunley – SS Aponte – CF Duarte – P Santos

Santos struck out four of his first seven batters and looked remotely non-hopeless until Ron Tadlock’s infield single extended the third inning to bring up Andrew Cooper, who hit a fastball for some 400 feet to give the Loggers a 2-0 lead. Kyle Burns’ single, stolen base, and dash home on a double by Ian Coleman even got the Loggers to 3-0 in support of Foreman, who had lost his first start with his new / old team and was desperate to do better this time, but got into big trouble in the bottom of the same inning. Santos hit a single with one out, and was soon joined on base by Cookie and Spencer. Jalen Parks singled to right, plating the Coons’ first run, but Mendoza grounded to Alberto Velez, who tried to turn a double play, 5-4-3, but the Loggers didn’t get two, because of a violent collision between Kyle Burns and Jalen Parks at the first station. Parks was out on the bases, and out of the game with a bum shoulder and/or arm. One run scored on the play, but the Coons remained 3-2 behind even after Zach Graves got hit to refill the bags; Matt Nunley harmlessly popped out. Santos bled another run in the fourth, driven in by Tadlock with two outs, before he was part of the Coons’ next bases-loaded situation in the bottom 4th. After Duarte had singled, Santos’ bunt had been taken to second base by Josh Wool, but too late, and both runners were safe. Cookie singled, loading them up with one out for Spencer, who was 9-for-20 early on in his career, and who placed another single well, a soft bloop in shallow left that scored a run for the Critters. Olivares then hit into the mandatory double play.

Bottom 5th, Foreman was in the wringer. Mendoza’s leadoff jack leveled the score at four, and after that Nunley, Aponte, and Duarte reeled off straight 1-out hits to take a 5-4 lead and have runners on the corners with one out. Eddie Jackson hit an RBI single in Santos’ place, which ended up evicting Foreman from the game, too, replaced by right-hander Mike Kress, who escaped the jam with groundouts by both Carmona and Spencer. Up 6-4, Boynton got the Coons through the sixth, but was removed and replaced by Sugano after Tadlock’s leadoff double in the seventh. Sugano struck out “Dingus” Morales and Andrew Cooper, Burns was walked intentionally, and then Coleman flew out to left. Three runs off Ian Ward in the bottom 7th broke the game wide open, with Duarte and Petracek reaching base ahead of Cookie Carmona’s 2-run triple into right center. Cookie scored on Spencer’s sac fly. The Loggers didn’t come back against Bricker and Lillis in the late innings – neither of whom had been used in the Aces series… 9-4 Raccoons. Carmona 3-5, 3B, 2 RBI; Spencer 3-4, 2 RBI; Parks 1-2, RBI; Mendoza 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Duarte 2-4, BB, RBI; Jackson (PH) 1-1, RBI; Petracek 1-1; Sugano 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K;

Jalen Parks’ shoulder was pretty bummed up. The official diagnosis was shoulder soreness as the Druid couldn’t find structural damage, but he couldn’t recommend letting him make any throws for the next week, which was pretty high up on the job description for a catcher. Thus, Parks went to the DL, and we recalled Edwin Prieto from St. Pete.

Also, since we were in a 20-game stretch without an off day, regular off days had to be administered. We had already parked Bullock in the series opener, and would sit down as many left-handed batters as possible against Sinkhorn, where resistance was mostly futile anyway. Friday’s lineup thus had a certain feeling of inbuilt surrender.

Game 2
MIL: LF Cooper – SS Burns – CF Coleman – RF Gore – 3B A. Velez – 1B Gershkovich – C Wool – 2B Tadlock – P Sinkhorn
POR: 2B Spencer – SS Bullock – LF Stevenson – RF Jackson – C Olivares – 3B Aponte – CF Duarte – 1B Petracek – P Carrell

Sinkhorn walked Olivares and Aponte in the bottom 2nd, which looked like a chance from the outside, but neither Duarte nor Petracek could bring wood to bat properly and the Coons left their runners stranded. Carrell was first strafed in the following inning, with the top of the Loggers’ lineup rattling off three straight 1-out hits, singles by Cooper and Burns, and then an RBI double by Coleman. Brad Gore’s sac fly made it 2-0 before Alberto Velez flew out to center. The Loggers had two doubles in the fourth inning, but scored no runs; Mike Gershkovich hit a double to center to start the inning, but was doubled off second base when Josh Wool lined out to Jarod Spencer. Tadlock’s 2-out double ended up unused when Carrell got Sinkhorn to pop out. It took the Loggers until the sixth inning to tack on another run on a double by Josh Wool, and after the sixth both starters were wiped out by a rain delay of more than an hour.

In all fairness, they could have just called the game. The Coons, down 3-0, had looked dire against Sinkhorn, and there wasn’t much confidence for an improvement against the bullpen. The Coons had no base runners in the seventh or eighth, and Seung-mo Chun had his tail stepped on in the ninth when Kyle Burns lifted a 2-out homer to give the Loggers an extra run. Ivan Morales retired the Coons in order nonetheless in the bottom of the ninth. 4-0 Loggers.

We had three hits in the game. It somehow felt like less than that.

Game 3
MIL: 3B A. Velez – SS Burns – CF Coleman – RF Gore – C Denny – 1B Gershkovich – 2B Stewart – LF Tesch – P Arevalo
POR: LF Carmona – SS Bullock – 1B Mendoza – RF Graves – 3B Nunley – C Olivares – 2B Aponte – CF Stevenson – P Martinez

Mendoza’s solo shot in the bottom 1st gave Ricky Martinez a 1-0 lead that he tried to blow as quickly as possible. The leadoff walk that Brad Gore drew in the top 2nd dissipated in a strike-em-out-throw-em-out with ex-Coon Mike Denny flailing through a 3-2 pitch, but when Tyler Stewart drew a leadoff walk the next inning, things became interesting rather quickly. Brad Tesch singled, sending Stewart to third with nobody out. Arevalo’s bunt moved both runners to scoring position, but then Velez struck out. It just looked like Martinez would be fine, until Kyle Burns hit a fly to center that completely undressed Josh Stevenson, who first tried to catch it, then backed up, then scared himself, and eventually had it drop for a single, with the ball bouncing through his O-shaped legs for an error. Both runners scored, gigglingly. Bottom 3rd, comeback time, maybe. Martinez led off with a single, Cookie doubled, and the tying and go-ahead runs were in scoring position with nobody down. Well, you just wait. Daniel Bullock flew out to left, where Brad Tesch made the catch fairly deep, and nominally deep enough even for a pitcher to score. Martinez was sent, but interrupted his trip to home plate three times for a steak dinner, a nap, and then finally to disappear into some bushes to get rid of the steak. Tesch comfortably threw him out, then made a headlong diving catch on Mendoza’s liner to end the inning and strand Cookie at third.

It wasn’t like the Loggers were running Martinez over – they only got three hits against him through six and didn’t threaten in the middle innings much – but the Coons’ offense was outright pathetic; they couldn’t have emptied a glass of water over Arevalo’s head if the Loggers themselves had tied him to a chair. The team had nothing going at all in the middle innings, and all hope had to be thrown behind Ezequiel Olivares’ blooper that fell for a single to begin the bottom 7th, especially when Stevenson singled to center with one out. Martinez was used to bunt them over, putting absolutely no pressure on Cookie, who came through anyway: a liner to right center fell for a single and plated both runs, flipping the score in Martinez’ favor! After Bullock flew out easily, Martinez got two more outs in the eighth inning before yielding for Noah Bricker against the right-handed Burns, who singled, prompting a swift move to Brett Lillis to pitch a 4-out save with two troublesome left-handers coming up. Alas, few things smelled of roses, and none of lilies for the August 2021 Raccoons. Coleman singled, Gore singled, bases loaded for Mike Denny – who at 2-2 missed a blatantly low ball three to hack himself out and ruin the inning for the Loggers, who then suffered a pitching collapse that saw Mendoza hit another home run in the bottom 8th, followed by three singles for another add-on run. Lillis retired the side in order to end the game. 5-2 Critters. Carmona 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Mendoza 2-3, BB, 2 HR, 2 RBI; Nunley 2-4, 2B; Olivares 2-3, BB; Martinez 7.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, W (1-1) and 1-2;

This was of course the first major-league win for Ricky Martinez, and the late comeback put the Raccoons in a position to have a winning record at the end of the week after all, although that would require Jonny Toner to break out of his funk. Maybe the umpteenth time is the charme!

Game 4
MIL: 2B Tadlock – SS Burns – RF Gore – 3B A. Velez – 1B Gershkovich – C Wool – CF Tesch – LF Cooper – P Prevost
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Spencer – 1B Mendoza – RF Graves – SS Bullock – 3B Nunley – CF Duarte – C Prieto – P Toner

The Furballs eeked out a run again in the first inning. Spencer hit a double over the head of Cooper, then scored on Graves’ 2-out single to right. Nunley homered in the second to get the score to 2-0. In between, Toner had labored hard in a 32-pitch second inning that left Loggers stranded on the corners, and that included being denied a double play call in a bang-bang play at first base on Brad Tesch’s grounder to Spencer, which added another full-count at-bat to the inning in Cooper’s. Next to nothing worked out for Toner, with bloopers putting runners on in the third and fourth innings. The latter fell in for Velez to start the inning, and Josh Wool hit a 1-out double to put runners in scoring position. Tesch’s groundout scored the first run for the Loggers, and we had to intentionally walk Cooper to get out of the inning against Prevost, who struck out. The mess continued in the fifth inning, with Burns drawing a 1-out walk. He was caught stealing, but Toner drilled Gore on the next pitch. Velez ran a full count before flying out to Cookie Carmona in leftfield, which ended the inning with Toner on 86 pitches already in a 2-1 game.

The doctor ordered an insurance run, urgently. Toner got through six without imploding, and the bottom of the inning saw Cookie lead off with a double into the rightfield corner. Spencer’s groundout moved him to third base, upon which the Loggers bypassed Mendoza to get to Graves, which was a mistake, since Graves singled to right. No, Loggers, no! Nunley is the one that hits into every double play that presents itself! And Mendoza, well. When Bullock flew out to left, that robbed Nunley of the double play opportunity, since he now batted with two outs. Moody, he walked instead. Alex Duarte turned a 1-2 pitch around on Prevost and singled to center, which scored two in what was now a 5-1 contest.

Prieto flew out, stranding two, but Toner had a very quick seventh (especially compared to some of the mess before that) and retired for the day on a superficially strong seven innings of 1-run ball, whiffing six. Before the pen could even take over and ruin things (and Jeff Boynton would certainly try, issuing enough walks to get beaten off the mound by the pitching coach in a 7-run game), the Raccoons piled three runs on has-been Zach Boyer, who allowed hits to the top four in the lineup and also Nunley in the bottom 7th to get scorched. Sugano cleaned up Boynton’s mess, and Chun finished the game. 8-1 Coons. Carmona 2-5, 2 2B; Spencer 2-5, 2 2B, RBI; Graves 3-4, 3 RBI; Nunley 2-3, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Duarte 2-3, 2 RBI; Toner 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, W (12-6) and 1-2;

In other news

August 3 – LAP SP Casey Hally (3-7, 3.80 ERA) is headed for Tommy John surgery with a torn UCL and will miss about 12 months.
August 3 – Six home runs and 32 hits are totaled by the Indians and Condors in Tijuana’s 10-8 home win. TIJ INF/RF Aaron Feery (.218, 1 HR, 18 RBI) leads all players with four base hits and drives in two runs.
August 4 – WAS C/1B Matt Wittner (.284, 13 HR, 76 RBI) will miss at least two weeks with a strained oblique.
August 6 – A ruptured finger tendon ends the season of OCT 1B/LF Willie Madrid (.299, 0 HR, 28 RBI).
August 6 – Sacramento’s 2B Ricky Luna (.282, 15 HR, 60 RBI) will have to sit out at least a month with an elbow sprain.
August 7 – The Capitals score in all innings but the seventh in their 16-5 creaming of the Buffaloes. SS Tom McWhorter (.255, 14 HR, 42 RBI) has two hits and drives in five.

Complaints and stuff

Here is a fun trivia fact! When was the last time a Continental League team won the World Series other than the Aces and Crusaders? You may want to ponder that for a while. The answer is at the very end of this rambling section.

I said early in the year, when Jonny Toner’s struggles began that the BABIP was up a bit, but it wouldn’t explain all of the misery. Well, maybe by now it does. He always had a BABIP around .270 in the last four years, which is really, really good, and must also attest to him getting poor contact with his EXCELLENT stuff. This year, the BABIP is now up to .329 and he is getting close to the amount of hits he allowed in 2020 while still being about 70 innings short of his workload last year. His WHIP is outlandish compared to his career numbers, too.

Of course I don’t know what to do about any of this. Maybe some good fairy can intervene? Because I got nothing.

In terms of people that we almost forgot about, Joel Davis started a rehab assignment in the minors this week. We may want him to take his time rehabbing. There is nothing to rush for anymore.

ABL CAREER STRIKEOUT LEADERS
62nd – Manuel Hernandez – 1,997
63rd – Elwood Spurrell – 1,991
64th – Fernando Cruz – 1,971 – active
65th – Francisco Garza – 1,967
66th – Vernon Robertson – 1,961
67th – Jonathan Toner – 1,958 – active
68th – Ricardo Sanchez – 1,948
69th – Fernando Chavez – 1,946
70th – Jim Harrington – 1,907
[…]
83rd – Alfredo Collazo – 1,827
84th – Manuel Ortíz – 1,819 – active
85th – Dave Crawford – 1,816
86th – Raimundo Beato – 1,791
87th – Samuel McMullen – 1,773 – active
88th – Hector Santos – 1,772 – active
89th – John Collins – 1,758
90th – Ramón Jimenez – 1,743
91st – Pedro Alvarado – 1,738 – active, free agent

Hernandez is a largely forgotten journeyman that never spent five years in a single place before moving on (or being moved on). He never led his league in anything, and amassed a 183-198 record with a 4.39 ERA. He won a World Series with the Stars in 2006.

The Stars were also were Elwood Spurrell – who is not forgotten mainly thanks to the outrageously unique name – had most, if not all of his success. Spurrell was a workhorse that led the league in innings pitched three times and started 34+ games eight times in a 14-year career, but his arm gave out early and he retired at 35. He was on two All Star teams and also won two championships, having a matching ring to Hernandez’, and taking another one with the Crusaders in 2009 when things went already downhill for him. He made only nine appearances after the 2009 World Series before retiring.

The last team not from New York or Las Vegas to lift the World Series trophy as the winners of the CL pennant? The ****ing Falcons! Wait, when did the Falcons win anything? That, my dear friends, was all the way back in 2005! Since then, the Crusaders won six, the Aces won two, and every other team (six in total) was turned away by the FL opposition.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (56-55) vs. Canadiens (43-67) – August 9-12, 2021

The Coons held a tender 6-5 edge in the season series over the Canadiens, who had a firm grip on last place in the division, but it wasn’t like the Coons hadn’t been swept by a last-place team already this very month. Second-worst in offense and with a truly putrid pitching staff that ranked dead-last in starters’ ERA (over 5!) and not exactly near the front in relievers’ ERA (8th), the damn Elks had little to be proud of, but oh well, we all know that they are always good for a little sweeping action when they come to Portland…

Projected matchups:
Dave Dyer (0-2, 6.19 ERA) vs. Kyle Lamb (3-11, 5.22 ERA)
Hector Santos (8-5, 4.41 ERA) vs. Micah Kirchberg (0-4, 4.86 ERA)
Evan Carrell (3-2, 3.71 ERA) vs. Matt Rosenthal (7-10, 4.36 ERA)
Ricky Martinez (1-1, 3.26 ERA) vs. Ryan Dunn (7-9, 3.93 ERA)

The series will start for us with a left-handed opponent. We will miss their second lefty, rookie Greg Becker (2-5, 7.97 ERA), and that may be regrettable.

The Elks were without John Calfee (.302, 4 HR, 18 RBI), who had been a mild terror in the games we played in July, and also without backup infielder Brody Folk and veteran right-hander Ron Funderburk, although how much exactly they missed his 8.07 ERA was up for debate.

Game 1
VAN: LF A. Torres – 1B Jon. Morales – CF Rocha – C Holliman – 3B Downing – 2B J. Harris – RF Berrones – SS Otis – P Lamb
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Spencer – 1B Mendoza – RF Jackson – 3B Nunley – SS Bullock – C Olivares – CF Duarte – P Dyer

Matt Nunley seemed to have found his power again, hitting another second-inning home run to give the Coons a 1-0 lead. That support went to the winless rookie Dyer, who was constantly on the verge of collapsing. Through five innings, the Elks had six singles and a walk, including three leadoff singles, but never got to push a run across. Jarod Spencer turned two double plays for his fellow rookie to help him out, but his single was the Raccoons only other hit in the first five innings, and when he did hit that leadoff single in the bottom 4th he immediately was caught stealing by Ryan Holliman. The Elks’ catcher would also be their spark to drive to victory with a 1-out single in the sixth inning. Dyer was doomed when Josh Downing hit a ball past Eddie Jackson for a double, with both runners driven in by John Harris with a single to left. Moises Berrones’ homer to dead center was both impressive and the final nail in Dyer’s coffin, who was yanked and disappeared into the tunnel to the clubhouse with an impression of the pitching coach’s boot on his fat bum. The Coons would pull two back after Seung-mo Chun got them out of the inning (though not without walking both Matt Otis and Alex Torres), doing so with singles by Josh Stevenson (who had come in along with Chun in a double switch), Cookie Carmona, and finally after a Mendoza groundout that moved runners into scoring position, Eddie Jackson, who plated both runs in the bottom 6th, moving the Critters back to 4-3, and the pendulum swung back in their favor an inning later. Olivares had singled, and Zach Graves hit for Chun, cracking his first home run of the season to flip the score to 5-4 Coons. Two more runs scored in the inning thanks to a John Harris error putting Cookie on base with two outs. Against the new pitcher Adam Harper, both Spencer and Mendoza hit RBI doubles to extend the lead to 7-4. Jason Kaiser and Cory Dew in the eighth and Brett Lillis with a quick ninth against the Elks’ 1-2-3 batters would close the deal on the series opener. 7-4 Raccoons. Spencer 2-4, 2B, RBI; Olivares 1-2, 2 BB; Graves (PH) 2-2, HR, 2 RBI; Chun 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K, W (2-1);

I will admit: when the Elks scored four runs in four batters against Dyer, I was 100% sure they had already lost. They had only two hits against Lamb at that point and there was no way for them to reasonably come back. My lack of faith is troubling.

On the other hand, Daniel Bullock has his first official career slump, and it’s pretty deep; over his last eight games, he has hit 2-for-25…

Game 2
VAN: LF A. Torres – 2B J. Gutierrez – CF Rocha – 3B Downing – RF Kim – 1B Jon. Morales – C Tanzillo – SS Otis – P Kirchberg
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Spencer – 1B Mendoza – RF Graves – 3B Nunley – CF Stevenson – SS Bullock - C Olivares – P Santos

Three batters in, the Raccoons had scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning, thanks to Mendoza homering after Cookie and Spencer hit a pair of singles. They would also score an unearned run on an Otis error later; Stevenson reached on Otis’ 2-base throwing error, then scored when Bullock singled to right center. The Elks started to chip away at Santos right away, with Man-su Kim hitting a double in the top 2nd, stealing third base and coming home on a sac fly by Jonathan Morales, but the Raccoons paid them back in kind in the bottom of the same inning, Cookie singling, stealing, and then scoring on a Mendoza single up the middle to get the score to 5-1. Both pitchers kept bleeding; Santos conceded another run on a sac fly after Otis’ leadoff double in the third inning, while Kirchberg shuffled the bags full with Critters in the bottom 3rd, walking Nunley, Stevenson, and Bullock in order with nobody out. Only one run scored, and that was on a Santos groundout, with Olivares unluckily lining out to Otis, and Cookie grounding out to Jose Gutierrez, 6-2.

The Elks would have more extra-base hits in the next two innings, but those came with two outs and didn’t lead to a run, letting both Kim’s double in the fourth and John Harris’ pinch-hit triple in Kirchberg’s spot in the fifth go to waste. Rocha hit a 1-out single in the sixth, but a very good play by Bullock on Downing’s grounder and then Kim’s bouncer back to Santos kept the Elks in check. Santos had only two strikeouts at that point and despite the near-constant traffic needed only 11 pitches per inning, somewhat of an indicator of how he was fooling absolutely nobody. But with a 4-run lead, which didn’t grow thanks to strong long relief by Zach Hughes, who pitched three perfect innings against the Coons, we had at least SOME leeway with Santos remaining in there to fill out his pitch count. Leeway got strained with a leadoff single by PH Moises Berrones in the eighth, but the Elks never got their runner off first base, and Santos wobbled on into the ninth inning, entering on 88 pitches, and needed only nine more pitches to end the game, taking Downing’s grounder himself before letting Man-su Kim and Jonathan Morales hit grounders to Nunley. 6-2 Coons! Carmona 2-5; Spencer 2-4; Mendoza 3-4, HR, 4 RBI; Aponte (PH) 1-1; Santos 9.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (9-5) and 1-4, RBI;

This was only Santos’ eighth complete game of his career in 316 attempts, and the first since 2019. The defense sure had a hand in the Elks coming up short despite hitting four extra-base hits off him and plenty more hard balls all over the place.

Game 3
VAN: LF A. Torres – 2B J. Gutierrez – CF Rocha – C Holliman – 3B Downing – RF Kim – 1B Jon. Morales – SS Otis – P Rosenthal
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Spencer – 1B Mendoza – RF Graves – 3B Nunley – CF Duarte – SS Aponte – C Prieto – P Carrell

An error by Guillermo Aponte allowed the Elks to score a run in the top of the first, with Gutierrez being moved around by Rocha and Holliman both hitting 1-out singles. Downing and Kim then flew out to Cookie and Graves, respectively. Graves tied the game in the bottom 2nd with a 2-out single that scored Mendoza, but actually could have given the Coons the lead if Spencer hadn’t been caught stealing after his 1-out single before Mendoza hit his, then, 2-out single. The Elks broke out against Carrell in the second. Jonathan Morales legged out an infield single to begin the inning before the Elks made two outs. Carrell then walked both Torres and Gutierrez with two outs, then threw a wild pitch to give them the lead, and surrendered the other two runners on Mario Rocha’s single to left, falling into a 4-1 hole. The bases were loaded with nobody out in the top 3rd after Downing singled, Kim walked, and Morales singled. A strikeout to Otis bought Carrell some more time with the pen already stirring. Rosenthal’s sac fly opened up a 5-1 lead, but Alex Torres grounded out to at least keep the Elks in slam range. Talking about slam range… Carrell led off the third inning for the Coons and singled, but Cookie hit into a double play, which led me to release the sort of grunt normally deserved for mating deer. After that, Rosenthal got ruffled with four straight 2-out singles by the next four batters, with Graves and Nunley both driving in a run to get back to 5-3. Duarte was lost to a walk that filled the bags for Aponte, who turned on a hanging breaking ball at 2-2 and blasted it over the leftfield fence…! GRAAAAAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMM!!!!

Unsurprisingly, neither starting pitcher would net the win in a game that was soon enough tied at seven thanks to Holliman taking Carrell deep for two in the top of the fourth. Cory Dew took over for the Raccoons – a former Elk – while former Raccoon Ray Kelley went out in the bottom 4th for Vancouver. The next strike in a merrily offensive game was the Coons’, and more precisely Matt Nunley’s, as our third baseman hit yet another solo home run, engulfed in his power surge, and gave the Critters an 8-7 lead in the bottom 5th. The lead lasted exactly one pitch in the sixth; Jeff Boynton had replaced Dew for the inning, and surrendered a leadoff jack to the leadoff man, Alex Torres mashing a ball around 430 feet to center. Boynton’s misfortunes didn’t end there, as he allowed a single to Josh Downing leading off the seventh, an inning that progressed through a stolen base and Jonathan Morales’ go-ahead RBI single to a walk issued to Otis and after Boynton’s removal in disgrace finally Alex Torres’ 3-run homer off Noah Bricker. That wasn’t the last dinger off Bricker, who was tagged by Josh Downing in the eighth, which casually ran the score to 13-8 before Sugano replaced Bricker and managed to get burned on three consecutive 2-out base hits, with Matt Otis’ double plating two, 15-8. Truth be told, he wasn’t exactly facing left-handed batters, but we were sure out of right-handed pitchers. While the Raccoons had gone to sleep a long time ago, Sugano retired nobody in the ninth while a single and a walk as well as a grave Graves error filled the bases. Brett Lillis (!) had to come into the game in vague hope for a quick cleanup. He would walk in a run to make the shame complete. 16-8 Canadiens. Spencer 4-5; Mendoza 2-5; Graves 3-5, 2 RBI; Nunley 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Duarte 0-1, 2 BB; Aponte 2-4, HR, 4 RBI; Dew 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Yeah, their offense is terrible.

Things sure got ugly later that night as I had a shouting match with Jeff Boynton, who had dropped to 0-6 with a 5.12 ERA with this particularly atrocious outing. He refused a demotion to St. Petersburg, which ended up with him being placed on waivers and DFA’ed. The Coons are still on the hook for his 2022 salary of another $500k.

Out of clues in general, the Raccoons shifted Evan Carrell to the pen and promoted… (sigh) … Travis Garrett.

Game 4
VAN: LF A. Torres – 2B J. Gutierrez – CF Rocha – C Holliman – 3B Downing – RF Kim – 1B Jon. Morales – SS Otis – P R. Dunn
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Spencer – 1B Mendoza – RF Graves – CF Stevenson – SS Bullock – C Olivares – 3B Petracek – P Martinez

Cookie singled, stole second, then jogged home on Mendoza’s shot that wrapped around the inside of the foul pole in right to give the Critters an early 2-0 lead in the final game of the set. Offense remained on the rise with two completely depleted pitching staffs going at each other. Although, actually the Elks didn’t get much off Martinez in the early innings. He was in trouble in the top 1st after walking Gutierrez and Mendoza’s error putting Rocha on base, but that dissolved in a double play started by Petracek, another former Elk. Vancouver didn’t exactly get a hit until Gutierrez’ leadoff single in the fourth, and then Rocha hit into a double play to Bullock. Downing and Morales both made hard outs to Stevenson in deep center in the fifth, while the Raccoons had a few intermittent base runners, but they either were haplessly stranded or were caught stealing like Spencer, who was gunned down for the third time in the series.

The outs off Martinez got louder and louder. Otis was retired by Stevenson on another deep drive to start the sixth, with the Elks getting the tying runs on with Torres’ 2-out bloop single (apparently, soft is better), who stole second, and then a walk drawn by Gutierrez. Rocha ran a full count before blasting a drive to deep right where Graves made the catch an inch away from smashing through the fence into the bullpen. Bottom 6th, Mendoza with a leadoff walk. He moved up on Graves’ groundout, with the Elks walking Stevenson intentionally to get to Bullock, an odd choice already because Stevenson’s status as an automatic out. Bullock made two, though, grounding to Gutierrez for a double play. Martinez jumbled Downing’s grounder for a 1-out error in the following inning, but found Cookie and Stevenson, respectively, on the receiving end of line drives by Kim and Morales, which kept him wobbling through the innings in Santos fashion, seven scoreless on 78 pitches. The Elks went down in order in the eighth on only ten pitches, and while Brett Lillis and Noah Bricker were both up and throwing in the pen, this was probably Martinez’ ninth at least to begin things. The Elks STILL only had two hits. Maybe dumb luck would hold up. There was still no score in the game outside of the Mendoza homer, and the Elks’ 2-3-4 batters would be up in the ninth inning. Martinez threw four balls to Jose Gutierrez to start the inning and everybody was damn sure that that was it for the 26-year old rookie. To the attendance’s numb surprise, the bullpen door remained closed and no relief was washed forth. Mario Rocha struck out, but you weren’t going to mess with Ryan Holliman for sure here, right? No movement in the pen, in fact, Lillis had stopped throwing and had returned to his pile of sandwiches. Bricker was still standing, but not throwing, watching intently as Ryan Holliman grounded to short, Bullock to second, to first – ballgame! 2-0 Critters! Mendoza 1-3, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Martinez 9.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 3 K, W (2-1) and 1-3;

Huh, what? Did I miss something? I think I fell asleep for a moment. Who pitched what?

Raccoons (59-56) @ Gold Sox (60-53) – August 13-15, 2021

This was a series between two third-place teams that were totally and completely out of it. The Raccoons were ten games back in the CL North, while the Sox were even 14 games out in their FL West. There was no hope for either team, and they were now going to play three meaningless games on a weekend in August. Astonishingly, this was the TENTH consecutive year that these teams would play each other, with the question being what had happened to the random schedule assignments that the ABL had claimed to make in the interleague series. Despite playing the Sox, who were sixth in offense and second in preventing offense in the Federal League, every year these days, the Raccoons hadn’t actually won a game against them since 2018, having been swept in both ’19 and ’20.

Projected matchups:
Jonathan Toner (12-6, 3.49 ERA) vs. Tom Weise (10-8, 4.17 ERA)
Travis Garrett (5-5, 4.92 ERA) vs. Fernando Estrada (4-10, 5.74 ERA)
Hector Santos (9-5, 4.23 ERA) vs. Ernesto Lozano (6-5, 4.13 ERA)

Garrett’s advent pushes Dyer back two days into the slot vacated by Carrell. Dyer will probably feel better with two extra days off, while Garrett would have pitched on eight days’ rest if going into the post-Santos slot. They are now both going on six days’ rest, although how much worse can “Tragic” Garrett actually become on longer or shorter rest?

We would get to see three right-handed pitchers here, including old Indians war horse and regular foe Tom Weise, who was seemingly in every series the Raccoons played with Indy during his 9-year stint there. He was now 37, making over $3M, and probably still wouldn’t make the Hall of Fame, although he was one of the select group of pitchers to claim double-digit victories in every season of his career, which was not something that was on Jonny Toner’s resume.

I’ll still take the four Pitcher of the Year belts, thanks.

The Gold Sox had lost RF/LF Julio Candela (.307, 13 HR, 70 RBI) for the rest of the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, placing him on the graveyard DL this week, and they also had two injured catchers. One of them, William Jones, was on the DL with a sprained ankle, while Pat Walston (.278, 4 HR, 23 RBI) was reportedly playing through a tight groin. That must be some joy…

We were still giving out some sprinkled off days as we went into the last six days of our 20-game stretch with no off days. Bullock and Nunley had already sat down during the Elks series, which among the regulars left only Cookie, Mendoza, and Spencer to give a day off to. Since we would not get a left-hander in either this or the following series – neither the Gold Sox nor the Blue Sox had one in the rotation – we would probably give all three a day off in this series.

Game 1
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Spencer – RF Graves – 3B Nunley – 1B Jackson – SS Bullock – CF Stevenson – C Olivares – P Toner
DEN: SS Oosterom – 1B Godown – 3B I. Alvarez – C Walston – RF Reese – CF Luna – LF Jav. Gonzalez – 2B B. Torres – P Weise

Matt Nunley, pronounced more or less dead just two weeks ago, continued to be ON FIRE and gave Jonny Toner an early lift with a 2-run homer right in the first inning. Zach Graves had reached base with a single ahead of him, and the Coons would pack two more runs on old foe Tom Weise in the following inning. Stevenson hit a 1-out single, Toner hit a 2-out single, and then Cookie split the gap between Tom Reese and Ramon Luna for a 2-run triple to get the score to 4-0. Toner retired the first seven Sox, but struck out only one of them, before Bobby Torres hit a 1-out single to right in the bottom of the third inning (and probably Eddie Jackson’s limited exposure at first base was a contributing factor). Toner would lose Piet Oosterom to a walk, but Nunley made a fine play on a quick bouncer by Justin Godown to get the third out at second base.

Toner’s lack of stuff joined his rotten luck with balls in play for the by-now usual horrendous inning in the fourth. Izzy Alvarez, Pat Walston, and Tom Reese all hit singles off him to start the inning, all dropping in front of an outfielder. One run was already in, but Reese stole second base, too, and then Ramon Luna fired a ball through Jackson on one bounce and all the way to the corner for a 2-run double. Suddenly the tying run was in scoring position, and still nobody out. Scoring position became third base after Javier Gonzalez’ single to center, putting runners on the corners. FIVE straight base hits – it was time to get the pen up. Just when faith had dissipated into the finest mist, Toner struck out Torres and Weise. Oosterom walked, still, but Godown popped out, stranding three when one would have been required to tie the score. Bottom 5th, Alvarez hit another leadoff single before Toner drilled poor Pat Walston, who was seen iceing his crotch between innings in the dugout. His misery existence would continue at first base, while I wondered quietly whether I could even get a wet sponge in a trade for Toner this winter. Tom Reese worked a walk to fill the bases with nobody out. Luna swung eagerly until he had struck out, and Gonzalez hit a fly to left. Cookie came in, quick, quicker, lunging and catching – Walston off second base! Anticipating a single and a chance to get back to the dugout to kill the fire between his legs, Walston had taken off mostly on contact and was easily doubled off as soon as Cookie had regained sure footing, still finding the opposing catcher 45 feet from second base. Walston got to ice his crotch after all, and the Coons, somehow, still led, 4-3.

Somehow Toner made it through the sixth and around a Bobby Torres leadoff single without getting beaten to death by any other team member or representative, but his spot was due up to lead off the seventh and we’d gladly take the opportunity to banish him to the showers after this rotten performance. Aponte hit an infield single in his spot, but was stranded just like any other odd runner the Coons had enjoyed since the early runs against Weise, who was still in the game by the way. Weise in fact completed eight innings despite his early pains, while the Raccoons were on the verge of collapsing with Chun and Sugano in the seventh, with the Gold Sox stranding two more runners, then turned to Noah Bricker in the eighth, who was last seen aiding the Elks’ blowout win on Wednesday. A 2-out fastball into Oosterom’s ribs put the tying run on base once more, with Lillis replacing him right away, as the following batter and three of the next four were left-handed anyway. Justin Godown hit a long drive to right, and Zach Graves just barely raced into position to make the catch near the fence. Graves proceeded to driving in an insurance run in the top of the ninth, doubling down the leftfield line with two outs to bring home Cookie from second base. Lillis wouldn’t need it, sitting down the 3-4-5 batters in order and without much panic. 5-3 Coons. Carmona 2-5, 3B, 2 RBI; Graves 3-5, 2B, RBI; Stevenson 2-4; Aponte (PH) 1-1;

Oy-oy, Toner. That one was not family friendly, and although I am not subject to a PG-13 exclusion, I still had chest pains during this one.

Game 2
POR: LF Graves – SS Bullock – 1B Mendoza – 3B Nunley – RF Jackson – 2B Aponte – CF Stevenson – C Prieto – P Garrett
DEN: SS Oosterom – 1B Godown – 3B I. Alvarez – C Walston – RF Reese – LF Bean – CF Luna – 2B B. Torres – P F. Estrada

The Coons again struck first, again on a home run, and it sure didn’t come from a usual suspect. Aponte walked, Stevenson singled, one out in the second inning, and Edwin Prieto came up, batting 1-for-12 this year, and 2-for-32 in his career. He had no RBI’s to his name, but now grabbed three at once, bashing an Estrada pitch over the fence in leftfield. That was fun, he thought to himself, so in the next inning, after Nunley had walked and Jackson had singled, he became one of three consecutive Raccoons at the bottom of the order to hit a 2-out RBI single off poor Estrada. It almost got worse for the Sox’ pitcher, but … no, it got worse. Graves fired a shot through Godown into right, but Garrett was held at second base. With a runner not a pitcher, Graves could have had a double, but had to settle for the fourth RBI single in a row. Bullock made that five off reliever Mike Tandy, Mendoza six, and Nunley seven. Jackson struck out, leaving the Coons with a string of SEVEN consecutive 2-out singles, and a 10-0 lead.

Now watch Garrett blow it! The kid actually held the Gold Sox’ offense to a manageable amount of runners here. They didn’t get two men on in the same inning until the bottom of the fifth, and then Joey Mathews pinch-hit right into a double play. The Gold Sox scored a run in the sixth after a leadoff walk to Oosterom, who stole second and advanced to third base on Prieto’s bad throw that Stevenson had to corral in center. While that run didn’t matter greatly, Garrett crossed 100 pitches as he started the eighth and immediately allowed two singles to Gonzalez and Oosterom. Jason Kaiser replaced him with nobody out, and then took Godown’s bouncer hit on a 3-1 pitch and threw it to Bullock, starting a double play, then followed that up with a K to Alvarez. The Gold Sox got a leadoff walk with Walston working Kaiser for four balls, but they didn’t get him across, either. 10-1 Raccoons. Stevenson 2-3, 2 BB, RBI; Prieto 2-5, HR, 4 RBI; Garrett 7.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (6-5) and 2-4, RBI; Kaiser 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K;

Game 3
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Spencer – 1B Mendoza – 3B Nunley – RF Graves – SS Bullock – C Olivares – CF Duarte – P Santos
DEN: SS Oosterom – 1B Godown – 3B I. Alvarez – C Walston – RF Reese – LF Bean – CF Luna – 2B B. Torres – P Lozano

Ezequiel Olivares came close to bopping one to give the Coons a lead this time, but his fly was not deep enough to clear the 394’ sign in right center. Still, that drive with two outs in the top 2nd fell in and scored Matt Nunley from second base for the first scoring in the Sunday game. The Sox’ first runner was Walston to start the bottom 2nd, the miserable bastard getting drilled with a 1-2 pitch just to deepen his suffering. He never got off first base, where he stood with wet eyes while Santos retired Reese, Tim Bean, and Luna. The Raccoons failed to bring in Cookie in the third, who hit a leadoff single and stole second base, his 20th bag of the season, and in the fourth inning it was Bullock to get on base with a walk and then stealing second base, his third bag-shaped trophy. Olivares flew out easily this time, and Duarte was walked with two outs to bring up the reliably pathetic hitter Santos, who had already stranded Olivares and Duarte – after another intentional walk – in the second inning. Not this time, though, as Santos hit a looper over Izzy Alvarez that hit ON the leftfield line and then dribbled all the way past Tim Bean and to the wall. Bullock scored, Duarte scored, Santos had a 2-out, 2-run double in what was now a 3-0 game.

That lead would be tested in the bottom of the fifth. After allowing only two base runners in the first four innings, Santos had three on his hands right away in that inning thanks to a Tom Reese single, Tim Bean walking, and Ramon Luna squeezing another single between Nunley and Bullock. Bobby Torres hit the first pitch he got over Bullock for an RBI single, and Lozano’s grounder to third allowed Nunley to get a force there, but no other outs as one run scored. Oosterom’s double to left tied the game, and it was Godown who managed to make the Gold Sox go down again with a pop out in foul ground, Nunley making the catch. Even then, it took Mendoza getting singe marks on his glove when he caught Alvarez’ rock-hard line drive to end the inning, and we had a tied game through five. Maybe we can regain control, though. Cookie hit a leadoff single in the seventh inning, then danced off and back on first base long enough to make Lozano twitch and being called out for a balk that sent the go-ahead run to second base. Spencer’s groundout sent Cookie to third, and Lozano was ordered to walk Mendoza intentionally before being replaced by Chris Domingue. Nunley hit a chipper to the relief pitcher, Domingue looked back Cookie, but then couldn’t get anybody else and the bases were loaded for Graves, who gave a ball a ride to left, but not past Bean. Still, the fly was deep enough to allow Cookie to score on the sacrifice, and the Critters were up 4-3. Bullock grounded out.

Santos retired after seven innings (and the audience would only later find out that a sore wrist had caused him to be removed from the game between innings), leaving a 4-3 lead to Bricker in the bottom 8th. He retired Oosterom on strikes, but Javier Gonzalez pinch-hit and singled past Mendoza’s reach. Alvarez flew out to Petracek in right, but with Pat Walston up we turned to Sugano, who lost the catcher to a full-count walk. Walston’s joy on the bases was again limited, and Tom Reese, another left-handed batter, soon hit into a grounder to first that Mendoza could contain to end the inning. Top 9th, straight singles by the 1-2-3 batters off Pat Selby, a right-hander, loaded the bases with nobody out. Nunley drove a ball to center, but couldn’t beat Luna’s range and had to settle for sac fly. Jackson batted for Sugano, walked, and the bases were loaded again for the badly struggling Bullock. The rookie needs confidence! Come on, Daniel, you can do it! Well, he did hit a hard liner, but it went right at Alvarez. Spencer had to throw himself back onto the bag to not get doubled off, but the Coons still broke through with Olivares’ 2-out single to center that plated two runs. With the 3-run inning and a 4-run lead, Lillis remained in the shed for now, and Evan Carrell would make his first appearance in relief for Portland. Bean and Luna hit balls hard, but into outs, and Carrell took Torres’ grounder himself for the final out in the game, sealing a sweep in Denver! 7-3 Raccoons. Carmona 3-5; Nunley 3-4, RBI; Olivares 3-5, 2B, 3 RBI; Santos 7.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, W (10-5) and 1-3, 2B, 2 RBI;

In other news

August 9 – In Denver, SAL RF/LF Nate Ellis (.345, 25 HR, 80 RBI) has a 4-hit day becomes the 39th ABL player to knock three home runs in one game (the 40th total such instance), thumping shots off Fernando Estrada, Ricardo Rocha, and Colin Sabatino in a 10-3 Wolves win over the Gold Sox. This is the first time a Wolf has gone deep three times in a game, while the Gold Sox hadn’t been involved in such a game in any form in a generation, going back to 1995 when their 1B Liam Wedemeyer hit three dingers in a 12-9 loss to the Scorpions – one of only three times in league history that a team with a player hitting three home runs or more lost the game.
August 10 – Bayhawks and Aces land only five hits between them in a 2:14 blitzer, with LVA SS/2B Andres Medina’s (.230, 10 HR, 42 RBI) home run standing out in the Aces’ 1-0 win.
August 13 – Bad news for Milwaukee: the Loggers lose CF/RF Ian Coleman (.376, 12 HR, 88 RBI) to a torn meniscus and will not get him back before the middle of September. Coleman leads the Continental League batting race by 57 points over Portland’s Hugo Mendoza.
August 15 – TOP SP Alberto Molina (11-13, 3.47 ERA) 3-hits the Bayhawks in a 6-0 shutout.

Complaints and stuff

10-5 in the month of August! Sure glad I sold at the deadline… Could use Foreman right now. Although the yield for Foreman was – principally – Spencer, so things might shake out alright down the road?

Santos might miss a start with the sore wrist, although we can manipulate things a bit in the coming week thanks to – finally – an off day.

Jeff Boynton cleared waivers and still refuses to be demoted. I have a $500k pickle on my hands right now, although in all honesty, we cleared a lot of salary in July and can take the hit. It’s just very unfortunate to have him turn into a completely ineffective soft lobber, then into a bitch.

Batting title in the cards, you say? Probably not. Coleman already has 464 plate appearances and should have no problems reaching 502 anyway after returning for the last two to three weeks of the season. Mendoza (and Nunley, who is scratching at the top 3 too along with Cookie) can probably only be helped by an instant 50-game hitting streak.

ABL CAREER STRIKEOUT LEADERS
61st – Alfredo Rios – 2,015
62nd – Manuel Hernandez – 1,997
63rd – Elwood Spurrell – 1,991
64th – Fernando Cruz – 1,978 – active
65th – Francisco Garza – 1,967
66th – Jonathan Toner – 1,963 – active
67th – Vernon Robertson – 1,961
68th – Ricardo Sanchez – 1,948
69th – Fernando Chavez – 1,946
[…]
83rd – Alfredo Collazo – 1,827
84th – Manuel Ortíz – 1,825 – active
85th – Dave Crawford – 1,816
86th – Raimundo Beato – 1,791
87th – Samuel McMullen – 1,779 – active
88th – Hector Santos – 1,777 – active
89th – John Collins – 1,758
90th – Ramón Jimenez – 1,743
91st – Pedro Alvarado – 1,738 – active, free agent

Rios, the runt of the litter in the so far 61-strong class of pitchers with 2,000 strikeouts, was mostly a journeyman and also not necessarily one of the best pitchers. Offering his services to nine teams with 11 distinct stints in a career between 1998 and 2014, Rios never led the league in anything nice, and didn’t even put up huge strikeout numbers in any given season. His season-high was 165 K in ’02 with the Aces, and he never reached even 7 K/9. He also pitched to a winning record only *three* times in his career, and finished up losing over 200 games with a final tally of 154-206 and a 4.70 ERA.

Way out of leftfield: you may have realized that this league is still in OOTP 16. But not only are some people still playing 16, people are also seemingly still *buying* 16! How do I know? For a long while my rarest achievement on Steam has been the one for four home runs in a single game (hugs a resisting Craig Bowen way too hard). Steam will also give you the % of all players who have gotten a certain achievement and the score of that one went down from .44% to .43% a few days ago :-P

Yes, I’m weird. No, there is no known remedy.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (62-56) vs. Blue Sox (55-63) – August 16-18, 2021

Fifth in the FL East, the Blue Sox were in fact fewer games removed from their division leader than the Raccoons, even though the difference was only half a game. They ranked tenth in runs scored, but were in the top 3 in fewest runs allowed in the Federal League. Their rotation was ranked second overall even, but when a meager bottom-three on-base percentage is not lightened up by either speed or power in the lineup, you will often struggle to score more runs than you allow. The Blue Sox very much didn’t do that, with a -15 run differential. To make things even worse, more than a quarter of their home runs were on the DL with John Muller and Saverio Piepoli missing from the lineup. Both teams had played each other in 2019 and 2020, with the Blue Sox winning two of three in the former year, and the Raccoons taking two of three last year.

Projected matchups:
Dave Dyer (0-2, 6.33 ERA) vs. Diego Mendoza jr. (7-10, 3.10 ERA)
Ricky Martinez (2-1, 2.52 ERA) vs. Brian Leser (7-11, 3.98 ERA)
Jonathan Toner (13-6, 3.53 ERA) vs. Tadasu Abe (4-9, 4.86 ERA)

All their starters were right-handed; Tadasu Abe had not won a game since joining the Blue Sox, going 0-3 with a 5.29 ERA in five attempts. They were also not getting any value out of Danny Margolis, whom they played as backup to Armando Leal and his .646 OPS, and Danny had promptly returned to his pumpkin slash line as a backup, hitting only .211 without power.

Game 1
NAS: 2B R. Mendez – RF Cervantes – CF Schorsch – 1B A. Rodriguez – C Leal – 3B Fuentes – LF Beckwith – SS Zuhlke – P D. Mendoza jr.
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Spencer – 1B H. Mendoza – 3B Nunley – RF Graves – C Olivares – SS Bullock – CF Stevenson – P Dyer

There was pitching, and there was whatever Dave Dyer indulged in while in the spotlight. To say that he fooled no one would have been an understatement akin to calling the either World War a quabble during which someone was smacked with a rolled-up newspaper. The Blue Sox ripped four singles in the first inning, with Tom Schorsch driving in the first run early, but with the bases loaded and one out a foul pop by Tony Fuentes was secured by Hugo Mendoza, and Nunley made a fancy play on Myles Beckwith’s grounder. After an oddly clean second inning, the third brought three more singles for Nashville, although they ran themselves out of the inning this time. Ruben Cervantes made an attempt to go from first to third base on Schorsch’s single to right, but was thrown out at third by Zach Graves, and the Blue Sox somehow stranded a pair. The Blue Sox scored one run from their seven singles, but at least Diego Mendoza jr. struck out six in the first three innings, making the Raccoons look like absolute beginners. Jarod Spencer found a hole in the fourth inning though for a leadoff triple, and while Dumbo Mendoza futilely grounded out to Alberto Rodriguez, Matt Nunley at least placed his groundout somewhere more useful to get the ****ing run in to tie the game.

Cervantes’ homer in the fifth inning untied the game real quick, putting the Blue Sox back on top at 2-1, and they added a run in the sixth inning against Seung-mo Chun. Beckwith and Adam Zuhlke hit 2-out singles, and a wild pitch in between those two singles allowed the former Raccoon Zuhlke to land his 26th RBI of the season, scoring Beckwith from second base. The bases would be loaded in the bottom 6th against Mendoza. First, the Coons’ Mendoza had singled, but had been forced by a Nunley grounder. After Zach Graves singled, Ezequiel Olivares walked, moving up the struggling Daniel Bullock. Do I still have faith, or hope, or anything? Nah, it would be misplaced. Bullock grounded to second base, and Rich Mendez started the double play to get Nashville out of the inning. The Sox failed to score against the Critters’ bullpen in the last three innings, but the Raccoons were not any more productive as they face the Blue Sox’ relievers, either. Mendoza was on base to start the bottom 8th, but Nunley found a way to hit into a double play. Olivares’ leadoff single to rightfield off closer Jeff Mudge (1.92 ERA) brought up the tying run once more, albeit in Bullock, who struck out, then Stevenson, who popped out to short. Eddie Jackson batted for Jason Kaiser and finally restarted the engine, singling to left center to flip the lineup over once more to Cookie. This would be an awesome spot for his annual home run! But for now, we’d have to do with another pop to Zuhlke… 3-1 Blue Sox. Mendoza 3-4; Olivares 2-3; Jackson (PH) 1-1;

Who could replace Dave Dyer? Hmm… maybe Damani Knight can fit it into his schedule…

Game 2
NAS: 2B R. Mendez – SS Zuhlke – 1B A. Rodriguez – CF Schorsch – LF Cervantes – RF Munn – C Margolis – 3B Fuentes – P Leser
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Spencer – 1B H. Mendoza – 3B Nunley – RF Graves – C Olivares – SS Bullock – CF Stevenson – P Martinez

Martinez faced the minimum despite striking out nobody the first time through the Blue Sox’ order. Tom Schorsch drew a walk to start the second inning, but got entangled in Danny Munn’s inning-ending double play anyway. Martinez also lost Zuhlke to a walk in the fourth inning, then got help from Cookie Carmona making a headlong dive in left center for Rodriguez’ drive. Schorsch struck out to end the inning. There wasn’t much offense to marvel at early in this game; in fact, teams combined for a total of one base hit in the first five innings, and that one had been a second-inning single by Ezequiel Olivares…

There would not be a rookie no-hitter however, because Tony Fuentes turned on an 0-2 pitch and hit the poor ball into the left-center gap for a leadoff double in the sixth inning. Leser popped up his bunt, preventing the runner from advancing, and even then it wouldn’t have helped the Blue Sox, with Rich Mendez striking out and Spencer not being challenged by Zuhlke’s soft line right at him. The Raccoons would also start the sixth inning with a runner on second base, albeit this was Josh Stevenson reaching second base on a bad throwing error by Danny Margolis. After Martinez flew out to right, the Sox interestingly chose to walk Cookie voluntarily onto first base, pulling up Spencer – who had an 11-game hitting streak going – and Mendoza, who was paid by the amount of pain he inflicted on opposing teams and lived rather luxuriously. But first, Spencer, and remember that this is Coon City, and things always – ALWAYS – go as badly as possible. Spencer chipped the first pitch back to the mound, Leser pounced on it and fired to second base, but high. Zuhlke leapt, caught the errant throw, came down on the bag to force Cookie, but also fell forward and into the sliding Cookie, who jammed his ankle and remained on the ground, weeping, waiting for removal by professionals. While ‘Cookie hurt’ along with ‘Pitchers suck’, ‘Nobody likes me’, and a free square put me a ‘Traded Toner’ shy of a full line in Depression Bingo, the Raccoons technically still had a chance to score and win here, with Petracek replacing Cookie in left as the fallen comrade’s carcass was carried off. Alas, you were counting on Mendoza now. Well, ****ed you shall be then, because Dumbo surely had no intentions to put the Raccoons ahead, grounding out feebly to Mendez to end the inning from hell.

Martinez was soon discarded as well, conceding singles to Rodriguez, Schorsch, and PH Manny Ramirez with nobody out in the seventh inning. Bags full, pain great, Noah Bricker came into the game against the next right-handed pinch-hitter, former Condors backup Roland Lafon, who lined into Spencer’s glove (that kept happening!) before Margolis hit another one to Spencer, this one for a double play. Still no score. Bottom 7th, singles by Nunley, Graves, and Bullock filled the bases and brought up Stevenson with one out. No, desperation was rampant – bring Aponte. He can at least bat left-handed! However, he also had a .375 batting average to correct, and ended the inning on one pitch, grounding sufficiently sharp right at Rich Mendez, who turned two. Neither team scored in regulation, and the Raccoons’ futility was visible in the fact that Brian Leser continued to pitch in the TENTH inning, entering that on merely 91 pitches. The Raccoons also failed to dent him in that 10th inning, despite a 1-out walk to Bullock. Starting with the 11th, Evan Carrell and Jeff Mudge started to exchange blows, with the Raccoons getting Graves on base leading off the bottom 12th with a leadoff walk. Olivares was told to bunt, bunted terribly and got Graves forced out at second base. Following Bullock’s infield single, the pitcher’s spot drew up in the #8 hole. Only Edwin Prieto was left on the bench and Duarte was batting ninth by now with all might of his .215 average. There was probably no hope here. The Critters had the pitcher bunt, because maybe they could force a walkoff-error on Margolis. WE HAD THIS LITTLE HOPE!! The bunt worked this damn time, but Duarte struck out. The scoring drought ended in the 13th inning thanks to singles by Beckwith on the first pitch of the inning and after Margolis’ bunt another single by Tony Fuentes to score Beckwith from second base. Saving the best for last, Jarod Spencer would extend his hitting streak to 12 games in the goddamn 13th inning with a 1-out single to left against right-hander Jimmy Lee. Mendoza drew up and I toyed with the thought of hitting Prieto for him. That didn’t happen, and the game ended right then and there, of course … with Mendoza belching a 430-footer to dead center that rang off the batter’s eye for a ya-gotta-be-kiddin’ me walkoff dinger. 2-1 Blighters. Mendoza 2-6, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Bullock 2-4, BB; Martinez 6.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K; Lillis 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K; Carrell 3.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, W (4-2);

Cookie Carmona was placed on the DL the same night with an oddly misshapen ankle. The Druid was not yet positive on whether he would try to hone his amputation skills or whether he would try his newest import toy from Transylvania called an ankle mangle.

I am told that in the very best scenario Cookie may return in the penultimate week of the season, but maybe he will not return at all – thanks to bleeding to death during whatever procedure the Druid will subject him to.

I am heartbroken.

Despite the gravity of the situation I still managed to arrange for a replacement to be sent from St. Petersburg before drinking myself into a alcoholically-induced coma. The replacement turned out to be very much a non-prospect: 32-year old Danny Ochoa, who hadn’t played in the majors in three years, but could hardly return to Cuba now after posting some very misguided things about the establishment on Instadumb. Ochoa (.262, 6 HR, 51 RBI in 355 major league at-bats, all before turning 30) was batting .275 with 13 homers in St. Pete, so – no, there is no replacement for Cookie in any which way, ever.

EVER!!

Game 3
NAS: 2B R. Mendez – RF Cervantes – CF Schorsch – LF Munn – C Leal – 3B Fuentes – 1B C. Ayala – SS Zuhlke – P Abe
POR: 2B Spencer – SS Aponte – 1B H. Mendoza – 3B Nunley – RF Graves – LF Jackson – C Olivares – CF Stevenson – P Toner

Toner had three hits against him and three strikeouts in the first inning, but unfortunately one of the hits was a 2-run homer by Tom Schorsch, his 17th of the season, far and away the Blue Sox’ team lead. By the third inning there would be six hits and six strikeouts on his ledger, but unfortunately that was not a game-winning ratio, as Armando Leal’s 2-run double in the third inning proved. That ran the score to 4-1 for Nashville, with the Coons’ lonely run driven in by – yes, actually – Jonny Toner with a 2-out single in the bottom 2nd. Turned out, without Cookie the Raccoons’ lineup was even less crisp.

But hey, it was Abe pitching – surely there would be chances for a thousand more runs. Graves indeed drove home Mendoza with a 2-out single in the bottom 3rd, getting the Critters back to 4-2, while a strikeout to start the top 4th on Abe got Toner to 200 whiffs for the season. Bottom 4th, Cesar Ayala dropped a foul pop by Olivares for an error. Leading off, Olivares ended up singling to center in a full count after Ayala failed to extinguish him, and Stevenson doubled to left, putting the tying runs in scoring position with no outs for Toner and the random misfits at the top of the order. As our minds continued to boggle, Toner singled to center, indeed driving home one run, 4-3, then stole second base, allowing Spencer to flip the score with a 2-run single to left, hit on an 0-2 pitch. Spencer stole second, then scored on Nunley’s single, which was the end for Abe, with the Blue Sox wisely deciding that six in 3.2 innings were enough. Matt Gossen, a right-hander, got Graves to ground out to Zuhlke at short. Toner was now up 6-4, yet on 67 pitches through four, and the pen had already lost a few feathers in the 13-inning drudge on Tuesday. We could really use a few quick innings, low on panic. Quick was one thing, low on panic was entirely another. While the Sox went down 1-2-3 in the fifth inning, the sixth saw a leadoff double by Fuentes. Toner struck out Ayala, somehow his 10th K in the game, before Zuhlke knocked a pitch hard to third, where Nunley showed off his shiny glove again and made a perfect play to retire the batter at first base. Fuentes was still at second, but made for home when PH Alberto Rodriguez turned on an 0-2 pitch and hit it to center. Stevenson picked up the single, fired home, right at Olivares, who blindly swiped for the ball and hit Rodriguez, sliding head-first, into the face with his glove. The runner was out, also humiliated, and no less because Olivares had added to the Coons lead in the bottom 5th with a solo shot, 7-4. Toner gutted out seven innings on 107 pitches after the horrendous start, but mind that the Coons’ pen would end at Bricker in this game after Lillis tossed two innings the previous night, and he also had to enter the game in the eighth when Manobu Sugano couldn’t retire the Blue Sox before encountering the right-handed Zuhlke. Runners were on the corners for this 2-out matchup, and Zuhlke plated one with a single to center before Bricker and Myles Beckwith went at another for a full count, with Beckwith being called out on a high, but not too high, fastball to end the inning, leaving the tying runs aboard. The tying runs went right back to the corners in the ninth with a leadoff walk drawn by Mendez and Cervantes singling. Now Bricker was into the left-handers, and Kaiser was unavailable as well. This ship was going down. Schorsch struck out. Munn flew out to center, runners holding. Armando Leal … single to center, 7-6, OH GOD WE’RE DOOMED!! And then Fuentes struck out. 7-6 Raccoons. Spencer 2-5, 2 RBI; Mendoza 2-4; Olivares 3-3, HR, RBI; Toner 7.0 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 12 K, W (14-6) and 2-3, 2 RBI;

Yes, there is more composure in a burning chicken coop.

And I normally will not commend pitchers on surrendering four runs, but whiffing a dozen and driving in two (while keeping the rally going in the fourth inning) got Toner some bonus points here.

The Raccoons made two roster changes before travelling to New York after the off day, activating Yoshi Nomura and Jalen Parks from the DL while sending Guillermo Aponte (.333 after an 0-for-5 on Wednesday) and Edwin Prieto (.176 with a slam) back to St. Petersburg, although Prieto would only arrive there after clearing waivers, possibly.

Now, where to stash Jarod Spencer with Yoshi Nomura back and receiving pay demanding he play every day? You might remember that Spencer also plays some leftfield… well, and the Raccoons have a vacancy there. (shakingly reaches for a bottle)

Raccoons (64-57) @ Crusaders (58-62) – August 20-22, 2021

Both teams had hoped for more, but by now they knew that the rest of the season would quite definitely consist of licking out ashtrays until it was finally over. New York ranked third from the bottom in runs scored, and seventh overall in runs allowed, a -45 run differential quite definitely stating that their package was not a winning one. Interestingly, the Coons’ +86 run differential said exactly the same about them. At 6-5, we were slightly ahead in the season series, and this was the first stage on a 4-city road trip stretching into September.

Projected matchups:
Travis Garrett (6-5, 4.50 ERA) vs. Cody Zimmerman (9-10, 3.74 ERA)
Hector Santos (10-5, 4.21 ERA) vs. Adonis Foster (4-4, 3.38 ERA)
Dave Dyer (0-3, 5.67 ERA) vs. Alejandro Mendez (12-4, 2.93 ERA)

The Crusaders had placed Tim Dunn (13-8, 2.72 ERA) on the DL with a rotator cuff strain, opening a hole in the rotation for Hwa-pyung Choe (4-6, 4.01 ERA) as well if they so desired. However, Zimmerman should be the only left-hander we face in the series, with Dave Butler having pitched on Wednesday, throwing a complete-game shutout. Meanwhile, the Raccoons’ Hector Santos was declared just fine by the Druid. Wait – has anyone seen Cookie the last two days?

MENA!!

For completeness’ sake, the Crusaders made a minor deal with the Stars just as we came in, acquiring LF/RF Chris Peters (.253, 1 HR, 4 RBI in 83 AB), a 27-year old no-good, for interesting prospect OF/1B Aarnoud Klarenbeek.

Game 1
POR: LF Spencer – 2B Nomura – RF Jackson – 1B Mendoza – C Parks – SS Bullock – CF Stevenson – 3B Petracek – P Garrett
NYC: CF R. Miranda – 3B D. Stephenson – 2B S. Valdez – 1B A. Young – C J. Vargas – RF Erickson – LF Skinner – SS McKnight – P Zimmerman

Jalen Parks almost caused a mess in the bottom of the first, misplacing strike three to Adam Young somewhere beneath his furry tush, allowing Young to reach first base, and Sergio Valdez, who had walked, to reach second. Jose Vargas followed the mishap with a drive to right, but Eddie Jackson moved his old body back to the track to make a running catch over his shoulder. Parks soon made up for the mishap, though, hitting singles in his first two at-bats, and both led to runs. His first single was one to start the second inning and he later scored on a Petracek double past Brian Skinner in left. In the third inning, he found the Coons up 2-0 after Mendoza had chased home Yoshi with a grounder to short, two outs, and Jackson at second base, hit another single, and this one scored Eddie, 3-0. The Critters scored another pair in the fourth inning, which Stevenson started with a triple. Petracek singled him in, was moved over to second base on Garrett’s bunt, and scored on Yoshi Nomura’s 2-out single, 5-0, and Josh Stevenson’s 2-out, 2-run homer in the fifth collected Bullock to make it 7-0 Critters.

At that point, the Crusaders had no hits against Garrett, although they had reached in each of the first three innings, drawing a walk in each of those, although they had sometimes cost themselves any chance, like Valdez getting caught stealing by Parks in the third inning. Garrett had also struck out six in the first four innings, but got no strikeouts in the fifth, instead retiring the bottom of the order, including reliever Tom Nelson in place of the dismissed Zimmerman, on three pitches. Whatever budding no-hit bid there was, however, went out of the window on Devon Stephenson’s 1-out single to left in the sixth inning. Stephenson stole a base, was at third with two outs, but Adam Young batting, when Garrett made the cardinal mistake of NOT throwing right down broadway against Mr. Unclutch. Instead he whacked Young with a 1-2 pitch (…!!!!) then had to thank Spencer for spoiling a liner to left off Vargas’ bat. Garrett put the Crusaders on the board when Max Erickson hit his 14th home run of the year on a lazy fastball in the middle of the plate to lead off the bottom of the seventh. Garrett couldn’t extricate himself from the inning, allowing a single to Brent Woods and walking Rico Miranda while simultaneously blasting through 100 pitches. Cory Dew replaced him and struck out Stephenson to end the inning. The bullpen continued to crumble however, with Kaiser conceding a run in the eighth inning, and Carrell conceding two in the ninth on a pinch-hit home run hit by Josh Perkins. Panic didn’t break out – barely – despite the Raccoons having wasted chances in the eighth and ninth innings when they hit into double plays to Ronnie McKnight, who was batting a wee bit over .300 in the ugly purple hat. Mendoza had gone deep for a solo shot in the ninth inning, however, providing a margin of victory of four runs. 8-4 Raccoons. Nomura 3-5, RBI; Parks 2-5, RBI; Stevenson 3-4, HR, 3B, 2B, 2 RBI; Petracek 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Garrett 6.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 6 K, W (7-5);

Yes, Josh Stevenson missed the cycle by the SINGLE.

Also, an 0-for-5 ended the 14-game hitting streak of Jarod Spencer. Mendoza’s is up to 12 games thanks only to the ninth-inning home run.

Game 2
POR: LF Spencer – 2B Nomura – 1B Mendoza – 3B Nunley – RF Graves – C Parks – SS Bullock – CF Stevenson – P Santos
NYC: 3B P. Cruz – SS D. Stephenson – 2B S. Valdez – C J. Vargas – RF Erickson – CF Witt – 1B Perkins – LF Peters – P Foster

There was Matt Nunley again, claiming another second-inning lead with a solo home run! Someone else needing to be stopped was Josh Stevenson, who hit a leadoff double in the third, then was bought in to score by Santos’ single up the middle that narrowly eluded Devon Stephenson. Santos retired the Crusaders in order the first time through the order, and remained perfect through four, although a headlong diving play by Zach Graves in the right-center gap during which he caught Stephenson’s fly in no man in particular’s land held whatever bid this was intact.

The fifth inning saw Stevenson hit a leadoff triple, but getting stranded; Santos struck out and Spencer popped up, after which Adonis Foster was removed with an apparent injury. Tom Nelson reappeared and struck out Yoshi to end the inning and keep the score at 2-0. Steve Witt would test Stevenson’s range in center in the following inning, but it was in fact 18 up and 18 down for Santos in the first six innings, and that with only two strikeouts to his credit. Tom Nelson struck out five in 2.1 innings, keeping the Raccoons in range for the Crusaders’ lineup as they got to see Santos a third time. Pedro Cruz struck out. Devon Stephenson hit a ball to center, but couldn’t challenge Josh Stevenson with that. Sergio Valdez got ahead 2-0 in the count, then hit a drive to right – and that one went out. Gone the perfecto, gone the no-hitter, gone the shutout, and if Santos wasn’t careful immediately, also gone Santos. The Coons’ quest for an insurance run was a sad one. Jarod Spencer hit a leadoff single in the eighth and stole second base, but was stranded by the supposed middle of the order. Santos disappeared in a puff of smoke after a 4-pitch walk to Erickson to start the bottom 8th. Adam Young was announced as pinch-hitter for Witt – so they were batting left-for-left! – even before we could throw Sugano in there. Young’s sorry 0-2 grounder inexplicably eluded Mendoza for a single that sent Erickson to third base from whence he scored on Perkins’ fly out to Stevenson in center – tied ballgame.

Petracek ran for Parks after the latter drew a walk with nobody out off Steve Casey in the ninth inning. Petracek took off on a hit-and-run with Bullock, who missed grossly, but Vargas’ throw was to centerfield and sent Petracek to third base, still with nobody out. Bullock turned the count to 3-1 in his favor before grounding out unhelpfully, but Stevenson-on-fire hit a single to left, breaking the tie again. Danny Ochoa worked a walk in place of Sugano, but neither Spencer nor Nomura could get wood to leather, and the Coons stranded two, which soon became magnified in the bottom 9th, in which Lillis with one out allowed a single to Stephenson, a double to Valdez, and then lost Vargas to walk. Bases loaded, one out for Erickson, who nursed a 2-2 count before popping it up to Yoshi. Rico Miranda was hitting sixth and .182 in general and hit another pop to Bullock, and that one ended the game. 3-2 Blighters. Nunley 2-4, HR, RBI; Stevenson 3-4, 3B, 2B, RBI; Santos 7.0 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K and 1-3, RBI;

For the second day in a row, Josh Stevenson hit for three legs of the cycle, this time missing the homer. Now watch him miss the bus to the ballpark tomorrow…

Game 3
POR: CF Stevenson – 2B Nomura – 1B Mendoza – 3B Nunley – RF Jackson – C Parks – LF Ochoa – SS Bullock – P Dyer
NYC: CF R. Miranda – SS D. Stephenson – 2B S. Valdez – 1B A. Young – RF Erickson – 3B P. Cruz – C Travis – CF Peters – P A. Mendez

An 0-2 single by Miranda and drilling Stephenson outright put Dave “Dire” Dyer in dire straits right away. The Crusaders contained themselves with scoring one run on successive groundouts to the right side, giving even Adam Young an elusive RBI – he had 30 for the season in over 250 at-bats. Peters tripled in the bottom 2nd, yet with two outs, and “Ant” Mendez couldn’t get him in. Top 3rd, Ochoa drew a leadoff walk, after which Bullock hit a perfect double play ball at Valdez, who sidearmed a poor throw to Stephenson, and the shortstop couldn’t come up with it. The error put two on, and after Dyer’s bunt those two were in scoring position with one out. Stevenson had not yet tripled in the game, grounded poorly to the mound, but raced up the line to beat Mendez’ throw. Ochoa, however, had not moved – the bases were now loaded and the Coons still trailed 1-0. Both changed when Yoshi flew out to left, with Ochoa scampering home on the sacrifice, but that was it. Mendoza walked like a coward and Nunley grounded out to Valdez, leaving three on.

Top 5th, still a 1-1 game, although Dyer did his all to get swamped in runs. Only a double play bailed him out of trouble in the third, and in this top 5th he was at the plate with Bullock on first and nobody out. Then he failed to bunt long enough for a resigned manager to order him to swing away, for crying out loud. He promptly singled. Stevenson’s single past Stephenson loaded the bases, still no outs, for Yoshi. He struck out. Mendoza struck out OF COURSE. Nunley bounced a ball up the first base line, THROUGH YOUNG, UP THE LINE – NUNLEY THE MAN!! Two runs scored on a double, and Eddie Jackson singled determinedly to left to plate another two and put the Raccoons 5-1 ahead. Dyer allowed a single to “Ant” Mendez in the bottom of the inning, then was bailed out when Yoshi turned Miranda’s sharp grounder for two…

By the sixth, every ball hit off Dyer was a hard liner that was sure to break any window it encountered. Stephenson led off with a double, Valdez singled, one run was in. Young flew out easily, which was so surprising, but the tying run was up after Erickson’s RBI double. Cruz’s sac fly was also hard to left, and that was it for Dyer, removed after five and two thirds of general unwatchable botchery. Kaiser got out of the inning and through the seventh despite an infield single by Miranda, and he even remained in the game for the eighth against a mostly left-handed lineup. Valdez and Erickson went down, but Young walked. Noah Bricker replaced him, and got a bloody grounder to short to get out of the inning against Pedro Cruz, a right-hander, one of two in the lineup. The Critters were denied an insurance run in the ninth inning despite Spencer – having come on with Bricker in a double switch – hitting a single and stealing second base. The bottom 9th and the 5-3 lead were Lillis’ against the bottom of the order. Peters would hit a 1-out single to right, and Lillis threw a horrendous wild pitch *behind* Brent Woods, the pinch-hitter for Miranda with two outs. It was the penultimate pitch of the game, as Woods flew out to Danny Ochoa on the very next offering. 5-3 Raccoons. Stevenson 2-4, BB; Spencer (PH) 1-1; Kaiser 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

On a scale between one and ten bottles of booze, how much do I regret selling?

In other news

August 18 – One run is all that NYC SP Dave Butler (10-12, 3.84 ERA) gets in his start against the Rebels, and it is all that he needs. Two hits for Richmond are not enough to beat Butler, who strikes out eight in this 1-0 shutout, and the Rebels are held to two hits for the second consecutive day, also being held to that much by Alejandro Mendez (12-4, 2.93 ERA) and Sean Casey the day before in a 4-0 shutout.
August 18 – Another 2-hit shutout is delivered by SFW SP Fernando Cruz (12-7, 3.18 ERA) in a 5-0 win over the Bayhawks. He also delivers eight strikeouts.
August 18 – VAN LF/RF Alex Torres (.226, 7 HR, 39 RBI) might miss a month with chronic back soreness, which is not good news in a 23-year old player.
August 20 – Between many good offensive performances in the Aces’ 13-9 win over the Knights, LVA 1B Steve Butler (.274, 15 HR, 62 RBI) shines in particular. In a first in ABL history, Butler’s 3-for-5 day with a home run and 4 RBI sees him enter both the 300 HR club *and* the 2,500 hits club. The 36-year old Butler takes care of the first milestone with a 2-run home run off Jonathan Ryan, of the latter with an RBI double off Chris Mathis. A four-time All Star and 3-time Platinum Stick winner, Butler is a career .303 batter with 1,287 RBI. He led the Federal League in home runs twice.
August 22 – The Scorpions 4-1 lead over the Gold Sox goes out of the window in the seventh inning, in which the Scorpions unravel to concede a full dozen runs to the Gold Sox, who win 13-6.

Complaints and stuff

Sssiss- iss… in..expl-…..plictcable…!! (throws bottle against the wall where it shatters) … iss…. (shakes up and starts to cry) … I wannn my Dann..yelll Haaaalll….!! (topples off the chair)

Zzzzzzzz

(some notes have been left on the desk, now free to look at)

[Release Jeff Boynton, pay out $629k]

[Ask Slappy to pick up Damani Knight at airport]

[St. Pete called – Prieto reported back]

[Toner to 65th in career K]

[express deepest regrets to Maud for making (illegible due to tears) umbrella stand]

[Westheim]

Raccoons (67-57) @ Indians (55-69) – August 24-26, 2021

The Indians miserable pitching had them playing to a somber .444 record in 2021, with the team allowing the second-most runs in the Continental League between the second-worst rotation and the outright worst bullpen. Being fourth in offense was nothing that could possibly rescue them. Despite their struggles, the Raccoons had only gone 6-6 against them so far, tying right in with their very much mixed results against Indy in recent years.

Projected matchups:
Ricky Martinez (2-1, 2.18 ERA) vs. Tristan Broun (8-9, 4.60 ERA)
Jonathan Toner (14-6, 3.60 ERA) vs. Killian Savoie (5-5, 4.31 ERA)
Travis Garrett (7-5, 4.26 ERA) vs. Shane Baker (5-13, 5.02 ERA)

The Arrowheads would lob two left-handers at us to begin this series. Savoie had been in their bullpen for the last year and a half, but had recently been moved to the rotation; this would be his fifth career start after 75 relief appearances. The 24-year old Quebecois had a rather soft fastball barely over 90mph, but a good changeup and forkball and there were clearly worse choices for a starting pitcher.

Like f.e. Travis Garrett.

Game 1
POR: LF Spencer – 2B Nomura – RF Jackson – 1B Mendoza – 3B Nunley – C Olivares – SS Bullock – CF Stevenson – P R. Martinez
IND: CF D. Morales – 2B B. Reyes – C J. White – RF C. Martinez – 1B M. Rucker – LF Genge – SS Matias – 3B Correia – P Broun

A leadoff walk to Nunley and then a single hit by Olivares were bad enough, but when Tristan Broun balked those runners into scoring position with no outs it sure looked like the Raccoons would deal major damage to him with nobody out in the second inning. Looks are deceiving, though, and after Bullock’s hapless strikeout the Coons got two absolutely pathetic rollers in front of the plate by Stevenson and Martinez for the last two outs, plating nobody. The Indians were less picky in the bottom 2nd. Martinez walked his namesake Cesar as well as Mike Rucker to begin the inning, and it was swiftly downhill from there. Lowell Genge doubled into the corner for the first run, Raul Matias hit an RBI single, and Josh Correia hit a sac fly to center for three runs, and it could have been more, if after Danny Morales’ 2-out single Matt Nunley hadn’t spoiled a hairy bouncer by Bob Reyes and had thrown that to first in time to end the miserable 3-run inning. While Martinez’ control was gone, never to return, the Coons had their opportunities. The top of the fourth began with a way too cautious walk to Mendoza, after which Nunley singled to right. The tying run was at the plate in Olivares, who struck out. The badly struggling Bullock finally met a ball, hitting it into the left-center gap, but not quite past Lowell Genge, for an RBI double. An intentional walk to Josh Stevenson pulled up Ricky Martinez, who hit a 3-1 pitch into a double play to end the inning. You didn’t just – … !!

While Martinez raced up his pitch count engaging mostly in 3-ball counts, the Raccoons got next to nothing from their top of the order. It usually started with Nunley, and it did so again in the sixth inning, in which both Nunley and Olivares hit singles to start the frame. Bullock tried to do good things, but got whacked with a fastball, filling the bags for Stevenson, who grounded a ball back to the mound. Broun had no trouble throwing out Nunley at home, and when Zach Graves hit for Martinez, he struck out. That brought up Jarod Spencer, who hit a ball to left near the line, Genge couldn’t get over in time, and also couldn’t cut it off – the ball went to the corner, and Spencer had a bases-clearing double, which also flipped the score to 4-3 in the Critters’ favor. Yoshi’s groundout ended the inning, and the Raccoons’ lead was soon eliminated by A.J. Faulk’s seventh-inning home run off Cory Dew. Faulk was batting ninth after Broun’s removal, and Jalen Parks was batting ninth for the Raccoons after a double switch following the home run. His turn was up with Bullock (single) and Stevenson (walk) on base and nobody out in the top of the eighth against mediocre right-hander Jerry Counts. Parks flew out to center, Spencer grounded to short, but the Indians only got Stevenson at second, and again Yoshi came up with two outs, and soon hung in an 0-2 at-bat. Counts gave him something to hit though, Yoshi singled to left, and the Raccoons were back ahead, 5-4, as Daniel Bullock scampered home from third base. Jackson’s single to center plated Spencer, 6-4, before Mendoza continued a completely unhelpful day with a flyout to left. Dumbo was the next guy double-switched out of the game, being removed in the bottom 8th when the Indians sent right-hander Tony Delgado to pinch-hit against Manobu Sugano and his ridiculous splits. Noah Bricker entered the game with the clear task to give us a 4-out save; he was rested, Lillis wasn’t really, and there were now eight right-handers in the Indians’ lineup. There was trouble with that undertaking right from the start. Delgado singled, with only Matias’ strikeout ending the inning. The bottom 9th started badly, with Correia and PH Leo Otero singling. Danny Morales grounded slowly to the left side, with a perfect play by Nunley being everything that prevented the winning run from reaching, but the tying runs were in scoring position with only one out. “Bloody” Bricker was going to bloody blow it, but the only right-hander we still had available was Evan Carrell, and he wasn’t going to get out of this jam. Neither was Bricker, who allowed two hard singles to left to Bob Reyes and Jamal White, which tied the score. NOW Carrell came in – and hit Cesar Martinez. Bases loaded for Rucker, who grounded to Yoshi, who had to go home so as to not lose the game, collision between Parks and Reyes – and Reyes was called out! PH Jaylen Rolland grounded out, and the game went into extra innings.

Against Tony Lino in the 10th, the Raccoons loaded the bases with two outs on Spencer and Nomura singles, plus a Jackson walk. That brought up the pitcher’s spot, with Danny Ochoa batting for Carrell – never mind us not having any other right-handed pitcher in the bullpen. Otero caught Ochoa’s poor fly to left, and the Raccoons continued to be in the doldrums. The Coons picked two innings from Jason Kaiser’s dead and bluely shimmering arm, but were unable to arrive at a conclusion to this game yet, which sent “Tragic” Garrett to the bullpen to warm up. We weren’t going to waste Jonny Toner in his game, but we could take a shortcut to losing nevertheless. Stevenson drew a leadoff walk in the top 12th, then was caught stealing, which was the second consecutive inning that Jamal White threw out a base runner after nipping Brian Petracek in the 11th. Bitterness grew when Parks and Spencer singled, which may easily have scored Stevenson, but now we had them on second and first with one out, and Parks was barely able to score on a double, but never on Yoshi’s single to center, which merely loaded the bases for Eddie Jackson, who shot a 2-2 pitch up the middle and into centerfield. Parks scored, Spencer scored, Yoshi was thrown out at third base, with Jackson to second. That changed a lot of things. Garrett sat down instantly, and Brett Lillis got warm – our last reliever, and the one who probably should have been in the game three innings earlier. Also, Alex Duarte batted for Kaiser – the last man off the bench. He lined out to Correia, ending the inning, then replaced Jackson in right for defense. In the newest edition of “It’s All For Nothing”, the fantastic game show in which nobody ever wins, Lillis got raked for a Jeremie Ventura single, Raul Matias’ RBI double, and then Leo Otero’s 2-out RBI single to re-tie the score. Get Garrett going again, and I also need more bullets. Petracek doubled in the 13th, was stranded, and Lillis started the bottom of the inning with a leadoff walk to Manny Ortega – a ****ing relief pitcher!! While I was moaning in agony after collapsing from my stool at the bar, another walk to Jamal White created more traffic. Lillis balked the runners into scoring position, and then lost the game on Mike Rucker’s sac fly. 9-8 Indians. Spencer 4-7, 2B, 3 RBI; Nomura 4-7, RBI; Jackson 2-6, BB, 3 RBI; Nunley 2-5, 2 BB; Olivares 2-4; Petracek 2-3, 2B; Bullock 2-6, 2B, RBI; Kaiser 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 0 K;

That one … was special.

That one … goes on the mantelpiece.

That one … will be on rerun in my brains for the next few years.

Game 2
POR: LF Spencer – 2B Nomura – RF Jackson – 3B Nunley – C Parks – SS Bullock – 1B Petracek – CF Duarte – P Toner
IND: CF D. Morales – 2B B. Reyes – RF C. Martinez – 1B M. Rucker – C J. White – LF Genge – SS Matias – 3B Correia – P Savoie

Nunley gave the Coons a 1-0 lead with something other than a home run, singling in Eddie Jackson after the latter had hit a 2-out double over Morales’ head in the first inning. Like all Raccoons leads, this one was made for breaking, though. Jonny Toner faced five batters in the first inning – and all whacked the ball ferociously. Duarte made two catches in center that were worth mentioning, but couldn’t catch up with Cesar Martinez’ 1-out RBI triple in between that scored Bob Reyes after Reyes’ double to left. Rucker ramming a ball into Petracek’s glove and then Duarte’s second catch kept Martinez at third for the duration of the inning. After that certified horror show, Toner struck out the next four before smacking Morales with an 0-2 pitch in the third. Reyes grounded into a force, but Martinez walked on four pitches. A wild pitch advanced the runners to scoring position before Rucker aimed for the fence but merely slapped the air on Toner’s 2-2, stranding a pair. This preserved the Coons’ 2-1 lead, which they had grabbed with a run in the top of the inning in which Toner had led off with a single, one of three for the Critters in that inning. The score was still the same when Rucker was in the box again in the fifth, again with two outs, but this time with the bases loaded after a leadoff single by Correia and a pair of 2-out walks to Reyes and Martinez. This time Rucker didn’t surrender and knocked an RBI single to left, tying the game for Indy before Jamal White went down in flames, Toner’s eighth strikeout against way too many base runners and over 90 pitches in a five-inning, 2-2 tie.

There was nothing good happening to Portland in this game, at least not for long. Eddie Jackson drew a leadoff walk in the sixth and was immediately picked off, even before Nunley could walk as well. Nunley would end up stranded, and the offense remained barely visible. Toner had a quick bottom 6th, then pitched into the seventh, only to get hurt again by singles falling in front of outfielders. Morales and Reyes hit two of those in the seventh, and Morales scored because Toner had thrown a wild pitch in between. Martinez struck out, but Sugano replaced Toner afterwards against Rucker, who grounded a 1-2 pitch to second, and Yoshi blew it, as simple as that. Error on the second baseman, runners on the corners. Sugano walked White semi-intentionally to get to the left-hander Genge, but the Indians sent Tony Delgado with the bases loaded. Chun replaced Sugano, threw a meatball to Delgado, who lined a real cannonball to left, where Spencer made a flying catch with total disregard for life or death, ending the inning. On to the ninth, where Tony Lino allowed line drives to both Nunley and Parks that were caught by pesky infielders. Only a 2-out walk to Bullock put the tying run on base, with Dumbo Mendoza batting for Petracek in that obvious go-ahead slot. And then he bounced a grounder to Reyes not dissimilar to a tiny kitten bouncing around a ball of yarn. Somewhat cute, but utterly futile. Reyes had no problems to end the game. 3-2 Indians. Jackson 2-3, BB, 2B;

Bringing back Alex Duarte was a bad idea to begin with. He was batting .182 and he brought no other tangible advantages as a Raccoon. He was waived and designated for assignment after this game, and Dwayne Metts was brought back from St. Petersburg. It’s not like Metts had shown any signs of improvement. But at least Dwayne still lets me pretend that we have something of a youth movement going on.

Never mind that Metts is Duarte’s junior by less than three years. If times are rough, sometimes it’s required to confidently lie to yourself in the mirror in the morning, and claim that it all will be fine after exchanging a .213 batter for a .204 batter.

Game 3
POR: LF Spencer – 2B Nomura – 1B Mendoza – 3B Nunley – RF Graves – C Parks – SS Bullock – CF Metts – P Garrett
IND: CF D. Morales – 2B B. Reyes – RF C. Martinez – 1B M. Rucker – C J. White – LF Genge – SS Matias – 3B Rolland – P S. Baker

Neither team reached third base before Rucker’s 1-out double and White’s subsequent single in the fourth inning. The Indians had gotten a single an inning before, but never to lead off, and as far as the visiting team’s lineup was concerned, they could just as well be in street clothes at the bus stop or in some dark forest, obnoxiously whistling after passing females. With runners on the corners, one out, and doom just around the corner, Garrett struck out Genge in a full count, and then hung another K on Matias, his fifth in the game. What’s new? Garrett’s not an auto-loss anymore, apparently. When he did allow a run in the fifth inning, it was unearned thanks to an error by Jarod Spencer that allowed Jaylen Rolland to reach second base on his leadoff single. The Raccoons were blending in that well with the ballpark surroundings, when Matt Nunley hit a leadoff single in the seventh inning it was only their third base hit in the game. Baker leaked another single to Parks, and then a gaffe by Rucker on Bullock’s grounder loaded the bases, and that was very generously scored as a single for the Coons’ rookie shortstop. Despite Metts countering Baker, he was also countering any hope for offense with his .201 batting average. Eddie Jackson batted for him – just leave it to Eddie! Behind on two strikes, Jackson rushed a bouncer up the middle and into centerfield, two scored, and the score was flipped. Garrett now batted, grounded out poorly, and so did Spencer, so the score remained 2-1. Garrett turned the game over to Bricker after seven scoreless, and Bricker got the lead undamaged to Lillis, who put the tying run in scoring position RIGHT AWAY with a double by Cesar Martinez in the bottom 9th. Rucker struck out, but Jamal White’s single to center, moved the tying run to third base. Delgado pinch-hit and popped out, but Matias, a certified coonskinner, ripped a liner to left – that somehow Matt Nunley managed to fall into for a valid catch, which meant game over for the Arrowheads. 2-1 Critters. Nunley 2-4; Jackson (PH) 1-1, 2 RBI; Garrett 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, W (8-5);

EDDIIIEE!!

So sad that he’ll be no longer with us after this season. Too old, too expensive, too many holes opening in the outfield.

Raccoons (68-59) @ Condors (76-52) – August 27-29, 2021

Here was a team that hoped reaching for the stars this fall. The Condors had allowed the fewest runs thanks to the CL’s premier rotation, and their bullpen was at least ranked in the top 3. Their offense could use a hug, though, plating only the eighth-most runs in the league, and that lack of offensive prowess was mostly all that kept them from zooming away from the Knights, who were currently three games out in the South. Three was also the name of the game in the season series, as it being the number of wins so far gobbled up by either team. The Raccoons had a 4-year string of holding the Condors short on the line here.

Projected matchups:
Hector Santos (10-5, 4.13 ERA) vs. Jim Bryant (10-10, 3.23 ERA)
Dave Dyer (1-3, 5.51 ERA) vs. Lorenzo Cedillo (0-0, 3.10 ERA)
Ricky Martinez (2-1, 2.50 ERA) vs. Sam Lowery (2-3, 7.36 ERA)

There was a cinch however with the Condors rotation. Andrew Gudeman (7-7, 2.61 ERA) was on the DL, and they had also lost Jose Menendez (4-4, 3.23 ERA) a long time ago. Lowery was a right-hander that would be half of a shootout between 26-year old rookies on Sunday, and Cedillo, a left-handed swingman from Panama, would make his third career start at age 30. That ‘best rotation in the CL’ moniker was not something hewn in stone yet for the Condors!

Game 1
POR: LF Spencer – 2B Nomura – 1B Mendoza – 3B Nunley – RF Graves – CF Stevenson – SS Bullock – C Olivares – P Santos
TIJ: SS B. Rojas – 2B Read – 1B Saenz – RF Boggs – CF Jamieson – LF K. Evans – C E. Stephenson – 3B Umpierre – P Bryant

Bryant was in a world of trouble in the first inning as the first four Raccoons all reached on a sequence of double, single, hit in the butt, and walk. That gave them one run on Yoshi’s single, and the bases loaded for Graves, whose lack of power was a concern right now (1 HR in 93 AB) and wouldn’t change right now. Both him and Josh Stevenson brought in another run with a well-placed groundout, but that was it. Bullock walked, but Olivares popped out to Omar Saenz, keeping the score at 3-0. The early rush was not followed up by anything worth mentioning, while Santos allowed an alarming number of hard balls in 2-strike counts. The Condors however regularly found defenders at the end of their drives, except in the second inning, when they scored a run on Kurt Evans’ double and Eric Stephenson’s RBI single. It was no smooth sailing for Santos, though, who hit batters, walked batters, and allowed leadoff singles to the opposing pitcher…

When Yoshi hit a leadoff single in the fifth it was a vague sign that the Raccoons were still present in the game. Dumbo Mendoza immediately grounded into a double play because THERE MUST BE NO HOPE. Nunley hit another single, and then Graves drove a ball to the warning track, but neither did it go further than that, nor did it get past Robby Boggs. The catch was made, the inning was over. In the bottom of the same inning, Bob Rojas hit a leadoff single, then stole two bases (giving him 26 for the year) before scoring on Saenz’ sac fly, with diminished the Coons’ lead to a single run. Top 6th, Bullock got on, stole second, Olivares was smacked, but Santos couldn’t get a bunt down with one out and ultimately grounded to Howard Read for a double play, the Coons’ third in the game.

Santos was done after six nerve-wrecking innings and 100 pitches, handing the ball to Kaiser in the seventh, who held the ground despite a 1-out walk to Rojas. Bricker did a quick bottom 8th after Stevenson had singled and been picked off first by reliever Mike Peterson in the top of the inning. Peterson was still going in the ninth, but this time was tagged. Jackson hit a 1-out double in Bricker’s place, a ball that narrowly escaped between Boggs and Matt Jamieson in right center. Spencer in turn lined up the leftfield line for another double, chasing home Eddie with an insurance run. Yoshi reached first on a wrong safe call that gave him an infield single, putting men on the corners for Mendoza, who was hitless in five consecutive games and 0-for-17 overall, but finally managed to break into the H column for the week, also the RBI column, and, well, the HR column with a 3-piece romped to right. Carrell ended the game rather than Lillis. 7-2 Raccoons. Spencer 2-4, BB, 2 2B, RBI; Nomura 4-5, RBI; Jackson (PH) 1-1, 2B;

Game 2
POR: LF Spencer – CF Stevenson – 1B Mendoza – RF Jackson – 3B Nunley – C Parks – SS Bullock – 2B Petracek – P Dyer
TIJ: SS B. Rojas – 2B Read – LF Larios – C Sanford – RF Boggs – CF Jamieson – 1B Avalos – 3B Umpierre – P Cedillo

These two starters combined for one major league win so far (Dyer’s in New York last Sunday). There was hardly a ball hit softly against Dyer, who allowed sharp base knocks to Rojas and Read to begin the game, with Omar Larios’ sac fly bringing in the first run of the contest rather quickly. The Condors stranded Read, though, and Dyer managed to dance into and out of danger for a little bit, while the Raccoons variably threatened with leadoff singles, and then hit into a double play anyway like Stevenson in the third and Nunley in the fourth. Bullock hit a 1-out single in the fifth, stole second base, Petracek walked, and Dyer bunted into a force at third base. Larios caught Spencer’s easy fly to left, completing five innings of nothingness for the Raccoons.

When the bases were loaded in the top of the sixth, it came as a bit of a surprise, and to be fair, the Coons just as easily could have not put on anybody in the inning. Mendoza’s single to center with one out fell just in front of the incoming Jamieson. Jackson walked on a generous call, and Nunley legged out an infield single after a clumsy misplay by Pat Sanford. Parks batted with the bags full, and so far had been an utter disappointment as a Raccoon (more on that in the complaints section). Anything but a double play would have been a surprise, but his lineout to Rojas allowed Bullock to strike out to strand the runners, so things shook out as expected anyway. Dyer lived through six, but couldn’t get a bunt down after Petracek’s leadoff single in the seventh inning. Down 0-2, he put the next pitch in play, grounder to short, bang-bang, 6-4-3. On the mound he would complete seven innings on 101 pitches, never allowing more than the initial first-inning run while also never getting the least little bit of support, although his line at the end looked much better than his actual performance was, live and in color. The Condors collected an insurance run against Sugano and Dew in the eighth inning, but nobody should have worried; the Raccoons failed to mount a comeback in the ninth despite a leadoff walk drawn by Parks. Only then did Cedillo get removed for closer Jayden Reed, who retired the next three Critters in order. 2-0 Condors. Jackson 1-2, 2 BB; Dyer 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, L (1-4) and 1-3;

Game 3
POR: SS Spencer – 2B Nomura – 1B Mendoza – 3B Nunley – RF Graves – CF Stevenson – C Parks – LF Ochoa – P Martinez
TIJ: SS B. Rojas – 2B Read – CF Jamieson – C Sanford – LF Larios – RF Boggs – 1B Saenz – 3B Umpierre – P Lowery

The Coons were hitless the first time through the order, and Martinez allowed only one single in the first two innings until Rey Umpierre hit a jack over the leftfield fence to begin the bottom of the third. The inning came close to a real nightmare, with Howard Read hitting an infield single with two outs, followed by Mendoza putting Jamieson on with an error. Sanford grounded out to Spencer, who was giving Daniel Bullock a day off at short. Mendoza would have the first hit for the Raccoons, popping a ball over the 437’ marker in centerfield like it was nothing. That tied the score, but we remained in a tightly-pitched game through five, with teams totaling just a handful of base hits, including the two dingers. Jarod Spencer lashed a leadoff double to right center leading off the sixth, but between Yoshi’s lineout to short, an intentional walk to Mendoza, and eventually a sliding catch by Robby Boggs in right center on Graves’ 2-out fly, the Raccoons got nobody across home plate.

Seventh inning, next change, again with a leadoff double, this one being hit to left center by Josh Stevenson. COME ON, YOU LITTLE ****S!! Daddy wants to get out of ****ing Mexico! While the Raccoons did grab the lead, they did so on a 2-out wild pitch by Lowery; on their own and between Ochoa’s poor pop, Martinez’ bunt, and Spencer’s grounder to third, they would not have scored. Martinez almost had a quick bottom 7th, at least until Spencer bungled Omar Saenz’ grounder for a 2-out error. This removed the ground from beneath Martinez’ feet, emotionally, and probably his feet, too, because from there on he failed to throw another strike, walking both Umpierre and LOWERY to fill the bases. Adrian Rojas, a switch-hitter, hit for Bob Rojas, a left-hander. Well, Martinez was outta here, anyway, and Noah Bricker replaced him, trying to get to Adrian Rojas from his weaker side, which worked decently well with an inning-ending strikeout.

But relief was something that was sometimes all too brief. Bricker was back in the bottom 8th, walked Read, then allowed a bloody, score-flipping homer to Matt Jamieson’s, the centerfielder’s 11th this year. Another two runs scored on Evan Carrell as the team rabidly collapsed. Jayden Reed had a 5-2 lead in the ninth, allowed a single to Parks, but after Metts’ pinch-hit pop out got a grounder from Eddie Jackson – and through it so poorly that it bounced off Tony Avalos’ foot at first base. That brought the tying run to the plate in Spencer, whose batting average was in freefall, and who lined out to Read to end the game. 5-2 Condors. Martinez 6.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K;

This was the first defeat for Noah Bricker as a Raccoon.

In other news

August 24 – Three base hits, a home run, and four RBI make CIN RF Winston Jones (.336, 8 HR, 50 RBI) the player of the game in the Cyclones’ 12-2 rout of the Capitals.
August 25 – BOS CL Ron Thrasher (4-3, 1.11 ERA, 36 SV) blows a 10-9 lead and soaks the 11-10 loss of the Titans against the Canadiens by allowing a single and then walking four batters in the ninth inning. This ruins a concerted bullpen effort for the Titans, who at one point led the game by eight runs before imploding when their bullpen just can’t cover 8.2 innings following starter John Key’s (7-6, 4.88 ERA) departure after throwing only five pitches due to a sore wrist.
August 26 – SAL 3B Matt Lindsey (.226, 12 HR, 62 RBI) drives in five in the Wolves’ 13-4 win over the Stars despite landing only one base hit. He draws a bases-loaded walk and hits a grand slam, both against DAL SP Mario Alva (2-4, 10.46 ERA)
August 27 – The Buffaloes will have to move on without sophomore 2B Marco Hernandes (.302, 1 HR, 21 RBI), who strained a hamstring and will miss at least two weeks.
August 29 – LAP RF Marc Thompson (.258, 9 HR, 48 RBI) beats the Buffaloes, 7-3, with a walkoff grand slam off Bobby Dean (3-4, 3.04 ERA).
August 29 – CIN SP Josh Knupp (9-7, 3.67 ERA) is done for the next eight months with radial nerve compression.

Complaints and stuff

Jalen Parks wanted a contract extension this week, citing the enjoyable city of Portland and the positively rabid fan base. The bottom line for me was that there was no Jalen Parks in any of my 2022 plans and not even because he had axed 400 points off his OPS from New York to Portland, so I had to break this to him as diplomatically as I could. – HEY, PARKS! … GET OFF MY LAWN!!

Reluctantly I reassigned Alex Duarte to AAA after he cleared waivers. We should really just release him. He’s of the Luke Newton grain of outfielders: not appealing to any of the senses and actively working your team to the bottom of the division.

ABL CAREER STRIKEOUT LEADERS
60th – Parker Montgomery – 2,044 – HOF
61st – Alfredo Rios – 2,015
62nd – Manuel Hernandez – 1,997
63rd – Fernando Cruz – 1,993 – active
64th – Elwood Spurrell – 1,991
65th – Jonathan Toner – 1,985 – active
66th – Francisco Garza – 1,967
67th – Vernon Robertson – 1,961
68th – Ricardo Sanchez – 1,948
[…]
83rd – Dan Moriarty – 1,828
84th – Alfredo Collazo – 1,827
85th – Dave Crawford – 1,816
86th – Samuel McMullen – 1,803 – active
87th – Raimundo Beato – 1,791
88th – Hector Santos – 1,783 – active
89th – John Collins – 1,758
90th – Ramón Jimenez – 1,743
91st – Pedro Alvarado – 1,738 – active, free agent

Parker Montgomery was a right-handed pitcher that spent his entire career in the Federal League, hurling from the league’s inception in 1977 clean through 1994, and then with only two teams, the Scorpions until 1987 and the Capitals after that. He was arguably a better pitcher in his 30s than in his 20s, gaining better control after his move to Washington and getting the WHIP numbers down that had been consistently over 1.40 with Sacramento. While he never struck out more than 140 batters in a game, he compiled numbers consistently – in an 18-year career he was on the DL but once, for a sprained ankle. Leading the league in wins in ’90 with a 22-6 season in which he compiled a 3.27 ERA, Montgomery was also at his peak as the Capitals made four consecutive World Series from that year through ’93, winning two titles in addition to the ring he won with the 1980 Scorpions. He was an All Star four times and was inducted to the Hall of Fame by the Secret Ninja Committee in 1999.

Also, Jonny is gonna start twice next week, so the sky is the limit for him to become the 62nd or possibly 63rd pitcher – depending on what Cruz does – to the 2K K club. We will be on the last leg of our extended roadtrip in Oklahoma to begin the week, then return home to play the Loggers for three. Rosters expand on Wednesday, although there isn’t much Youth in America to promote anymore for us.

Maybe Damani Knight can pay a visit.