Portland Raccoons (ABL)

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by DD Martin

So what made Portland take Speed over OSA /BNN #3 overall Pokorski?

Good pass on Pile who you’d be kicking yourselves over taking at #7 when you got him at #27. It’s rare I take a 1B in round 1 unless the prospect is just too good. I like starting pitchers and up the middle positions in rd 1.

Hopefully Speed works out but it will be interesting or maybe painfully to keep tabs on Pokorski.

Now I remember that I wanted to compile the misery of all the first-round first-sackers we took, but I didn't want to interrupt the draft for it.

Maybe later!

Speed / Pokorski was almost a coin toss (which is why they went behind each other in #7/#8 in the end). Speed has 16/15/13 from OSA and Pokorski has straight 14s, but is a leader; Speed has low leadership, but isn't one of those pricks that burn the whole team to the ground. Critters went with the more promising talent.

[DD Martin]

Originally Posted by Westheim

Now I remember that I wanted to compile the misery of all the first-round first-sackers we took, but I didn't want to interrupt the draft for it.

Maybe later!

Speed / Pokorski was almost a coin toss (which is why they went behind each other in #7/#8 in the end). Speed has 16/15/13 from OSA and Pokorski has straight 14s, but is a leader; Speed has low leadership, but isn't one of those pricks that burn the whole team to the ground. Critters went with the more promising talent.

Makes sense as the OSA numbers weren’t quite showing the upside as much.

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by DD Martin

Makes sense as the OSA numbers weren’t quite showing the upside as much.

Nah, the ones I always give in the posts are from the Raccoons' scouts, and Semchez is one of those misanthropes that likes nothing and nobody under 23. In the end I always go back and forth between both sets before making top picks.

Also, this week of games below took too long, but I want to put that first base draft history together at some point this week.

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Raccoons (37-25) @ Capitals (25-37) – June 15-17, 2071

The Caps had the most ineffective offense in the Federal League, scoring just 3.8 runs per game, while having average pitching. They had a -47 run differential, no speed, creaky defense, but a fairly sturdy bullpen, so you had to get them early. Third baseman Rick Healey was on the DL. These teams had last met in 2067, when the Caps won two of three from the Critters, who had not won a series between these two teams since ’63.

Projected matchups:
Gabriel Rios (3-7, 3.86 ERA) vs. Ken Nielsen (4-3, 4.46 ERA)
Vinny Morales (3-1, 3.47 ERA) vs. Nick Robinson (5-2, 1.44 ERA)
Jimmy Wharton (7-1, 2.75 ERA) vs. Bobby MacDonald (5-5, 4.54 ERA)

42-year-old Nick Robinson had only made 26 relief appearances and no starts so far this season, but the Caps had nobody else lined up after waiving and DFA’ing Tom Kies (2-6, 4.48 ERA) and Kevin Butte (2-7, 5.80 ERA) on Friday. Kies had been claimed by the Miners, and Butte had been sent to AAA Modesto. Robinson was the only left-hander in sight.

Game 1
POR: LF Humphries – 2B Yocum – 1B Olivares – CF T. Wharton – RF Wilson – 3B Hernandez – C Rivas – SS McFarland – P Rios
WAS: CF Chenette – 2B Goss – 1B A. Curiel – LF Streng – C Willhite – RF McKenna – 3B Frasher – SS Gilliam – P Nielsen

Sharp singles by Tyler Chenette, the former Elks scourge upon the land, and Armando Curiel, and a meaty sac fly to right by Ian Streng, gave the Caps a 1-0 lead in the first inning. They continued to hit Rios well after that, but hit it into the teeth of the defense a lot, and in the fourth inning Rios issued two walks and struck out two others, and was bailed out of the inning by Tyler Wharton going back with pace to catch a drive by Tyler Gilliam to end the inning. The Coons were not really appearing on the map in those first four innings, putting out two hits, one of which auto-removed himself from the bases when Alejandro Olivares overran second base on a double and was tagged out. Jaden Wilson’s single, Hernandez getting brushed, Rivas’ groundout, and a free pass to Brian McFarland then put three runners on base for Portland in the fifth inning… but with Rios batting and one out. Rios ran a full count before whiffing against Nielsen, but Humph slapped a ball up the middle and through for a score-flipping, 2-out, 2-run single. Yocum grounded out, and the bottom 5th began with a K to Nielsen before Chenette drove a ball to the wall in right that Wilson caught, but also tumbled to the ground afterwards, and eventually received the attention and assistance in leaving the field of Luis Silva. Jamie Colter replaced him and crashed into a double play after leadoff singles by Olivares and Wharton in the top 6th. Pete McKenna picked Hernandez’ fly to right to end the inning.

Curiel and Streng singles and a walk to McKenna loaded the bases in the bottom 6th, and switch-hitter Eric Frasher tied the game with another sac fly to center. Holzmeister and Morentin entered in a double switch for Rios and Hernandez, with McFarland moving to third base, and a pop off the bat of Gilliam ended the inning and kept the game tied at least. The Coons again started the seventh with runners as Rivas singled and Nielsen plunked McFarland. Morentin singled to center, and the bases were full with nobody out – whee. But Humph was again on the call and slapped a 2-run single through the left side now, giving the Coons a 4-2 lead. Streng’s throw home allowed the trail runners into scoring position even, but Yocum’s infield roller that he legged out for a single prevented any bid at the plate by Morentin, and we were back to three on, nobody out. Olivares’ RBI single to left knocked out Nielsen, but right-hander James Bilodeau also allowed an RBI single to Wharton, even though that ball didn’t even reach the infield dirt on the right side. Colter brought in a run with a groundout, 7-2, Holzmeister was sent to the plate and whiffed, but Rivas drove in two more runs with a single to left-center. McFarland hit *another* infield single, but Morentin grounded out to end a 7-run assault…!

Holzmeister got around two singles in the seventh, and in the eighth Noah Newhard made his ABL debut. He gave up a leadoff double to Chris Willhite, walked PH Jay Lawyer, threw a wild pitch, but then struck out Frasher. Gilliam hit a 3-run homer and Alex Romero singled and Newhard left his first career game with the head hanging pretty low. McMahan was used to get out of the inning, and chronically unemployed Pedro Valentin got the ninth inning in a 4-run game, then made it a sweater by allowing hits to Willhite and Jonathan Gutierrez, and Morentin’s error put Frasher on, loading the bags with one out. Gilliam struck out, and Mike Meyer with two outs slapped a single through the right side. Willhite scored, and Gutierrez went for home – but was thrown out at the plate by Jamie Colter…! 9-6 Raccoons! Humphries 3-5, 4 RBI; Yocum 2-5; Olivares 3-4, BB, 2B, RBI; T. Wharton 2-5, RBI; Woodley (PH) 1-1, 2B; Rivas 2-4, BB, 2 RBI;

A Crusaders loss left the Coons with sole possession of first place again.

Unnoticed initially in the immediate postgame ruckus that included the Coons infielders holding paws and dancing around home plate while the Caps ferociously beleaguered the home plate umpire to protest the call at the plate was that Pedro Valentin did not join celebrations but instead sought out Luis Silva’s company.

While Valentin turned out to be suffering from a mild abdominal strain that would leave him in day-to-day limbo for at least the rest of the series, but on the roster, Jaden Wilson hit the DL on Tuesday with an oblique strain and was out of the question until August…

The first thought was to fill up the pen with the open roster spot, but our bench was already way too thin and we needed a stick, and a glove that could fill some positions, including center. Batting .368 since his return to AAA, Benito Otal was recalled despite having hit .140 in his fill-in earlier this season.

Game 2
POR: LF Humphries – 2B Yocum – 1B Olivares – CF T. Wharton – 3B Hernandez – RF van Otterdijk – C Rivas – SS McFarland – P Morales
WAS: CF Chenette – 2B Goss – 1B A. Curiel – LF Streng – 3B McKenna – RF Lawyer – C J. Gutierrez – SS Gilliam – P N. Robinson

A sac fly by Tyler Wharton, unearned because of a 2-base throwing error by McKenna, gave the Coons a 1-0 lead in the first, bringing home Yocum and his 1-out single from third base, but Olivares would be left on base; and then Vinny Morales had a 43-pitch, 5-run meltdown in the bottom 1st when the Raccoons were down an arm in the pen… Chenette made the first and third outs in the inning, but in between Morales retired almost nobody, allowing four hits and three walks. He walked in two runs against McKenna and Lawyer, plated one with a wild pitch, and Gilliam actually singled home two runs. Tim Goss started the bottom 2nd with an infield single, but was doubled up by Armando Curiel to buy the Coons at least a few more outs from Morales, who got through three innings at least, before the Raccoons loaded the bags on Olivares and Wharton hits, *another* error by McKenna, and nobody out in the fourth inning, so van Otterdijk was the tying run with nobody out. He singed a diving Gilliam’s glove with a sharp RBI single up the middle, 5-2, but Sam Brown’s soggy roller in front of the mound was an easy out at home even for a 42-year-old pitcher. McFarland snapped an RBI single, and the Coons had Woodley bat for Morales, getting a sac fly to left, 5-4. Humph grounded out, leaving two on base.

Dan Graham pitched an inning, allowing sharp singles to Robinson (…) and Goss, but no runs in the bottom 4th. Yocum opening the fifth with a double to center put the tying run in scoring position against Robinson, who walked Olivares, but struck out Wharton and got a double play grounder from Hernandez, who was then double-switched out for the second time in two days to get Rismiller into a situation where he could pitch multiple innings, with Jamie Colter at third base. Rismiller got six outs on 19 pitches, but the Coons couldn’t get through against Robinson, and then Chenette led off the seventh with a double off the wall in left and Goss reached on an error by Colter. Hot corner, huh? Brad Fails came in, struck out Curiel, walked Streng, struck out the pinch-hitter Meyer, and got a pop from Lawyer to bugger out of the inning.

The Coons got Wharton on base with a 1-out single as the Caps churned relievers in the eighth inning. Morentin grounded out, batting for the pitcher and advancing the runner, and van Otterdijk’s 2-out double off Jason Rhodes to right tied the game up after seven innings of clawing. Brown flew out to center, ending the inning. Newhard was right back in, facing the bottom of the order, but blew up again, walking two batters that Goss drove in with a 2-out double, walked Curiel as well, and then somehow had Streng fly out. Jon Dominguez saw off the Coons in order in the ninth and so Newhard punched the L. 7-5 Capitals. Yocum 2-4, 2B; T. Wharton 2-3, RBI; van Otterdijk 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Rismiller 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

Newhard (0-1, 27.00 ERA) also punched a return ticket to AAA, partly because of four walks and five runs in 1.2 innings pitched, and partly because of the roster crunch, despite a day off on Thursday.

Harrison Hunt (8-1, 2.22 ERA in AAA) was recalled, but for the time being was added to the pen as a long option.

Game 3
POR: LF Humphries – 2B Yocum – 1B Olivares – CF T. Wharton – 3B Hernandez – RF Colter – C Rivas – SS Morentin – P J. Wharton
WAS: CF Chenette – 2B Goss – 1B A. Curiel – C Willhite – RF McKenna – 3B Frasher – LF M. Meyer – SS Gilliam – P MacDonald

The first time through the lineup was rather calm for both teams in this rubber game, but Humph and Yocum hit 2-out singles in the top 3rd and Olivares chucked an RBI double to right-center for the first run of the game. Wharton drew a walk and as usual drove in no runs, nor did Hernandez grounding out and leaving three men stranded. Jamie Colter’s leadoff double in the fourth was immediately wasted, and the Raccoons then looked a bit dead from the waist up until Jimmyboy ran into a wall in the bottom 6th and allowed a leadoff double to Curiel, a game-tying triple to Willhite, and singles to McKenna and Frasher, and then somehow still worked his way out of the inning.

Humphries hit a single that led nowhere in the seventh, and Colter was again stranded in scoring position in the eighth, hitting a single and advancing on a wild pitch by David Carlson before Rivas grounded out. Graham and Holzmeister kept the Caps to their 2-1 lead, but Jon Dominguez also retired Morentin and van Otterdijk without issue to begin the ninth inning before Humph valiantly tried poking and singled to center. And Yocum grounded out. 2-1 Capitals. Humphries 2-4, BB; Olivares 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI; Colter 2-4, 2B;

The Coons remained a game up because the Crusaders got themselves swept in Sacramento, and the Miners took the series from the Titans (more on that below), so Boston remained 2 1/2 behind. New York and Boston would now go head-to-head for four games while the Coons had a day off and then were headed to Milwaukee, which was hardly a comfortable series. The Crusaders would take that opener, 10-3 with an early pummeling of Ryan Musgrave.

Raccoons (38-27) @ Loggers (28-37) – June 19-21, 2071

The Raccoons needed a good series against the Loggers, which had been a struggle spot for them for a long time now. The vaunted Loggers offense was a bit off right now, though, and they were only fourth in runs scored while giving up the second-most runs and carrying a -34 run differential this season. Their rotation was mediocre, and their pen was dynamite, getting hammered for a 5.69 ERA, by far the worst in the league. One of the big sticks, Cesar Ramirez, was on the DL for the weekend. This series was even at two entering Friday.

Projected matchups:
Nick Walla (6-3, 2.27 ERA) vs. Julio Robles (2-3, 4.88 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (3-6, 2.90 ERA) vs. Kevin Bennett (7-4, 5.02 ERA)
Gabriel Rios (3-7, 3.81 ERA) vs. Ramon Carreno (1-4, 4.91 ERA)

Bennett was the only left-hander in that rotation.

We also had the opener of the series rained out and a double header instituted on Saturday. On the plus side, Valentin felt better by then, so maybe we had the full pen available for that. In the meantime, the Titans clawed one back on Friday, so it was nice to see the blue and purple teams take wins off each other.

The Loggers changed pitching assignments and put Bennett, the southpaw, into the opener of the Saturday twin bill. On two days’ off, the Coons would not be so shy to send out the regulars for both games, and only tried to leverage some platoon advantage.

Game 1
POR: LF Humphries – 2B Yocum – 1B Olivares – CF T. Wharton – 3B Hernandez – RF van Otterdijk – C Rivas – SS McFarland – P Walla
MIL: 2B Van Leeuwen – 3B Vic. Morales – RF C. Dominguez – C M. Rodriguez – SS F. Carrera – CF Parrish – LF Alaniz – 1B Starwalt – P Bennett

Walla struggled in the early going, giving up a few long fly balls and put a pair on base in each of the first two innings, although the Loggers didn’t plate any runs. Instead, Steve Humphries homered to left with McFarland on base for a 2-0 lead in the third inning. This provided little help for Walla, who had a 1-2-3 third, but was right back on the struggle bus in the fourth. Mario Alaniz hit a homer, and Danny Starwalt and Kevin Bennett hit 2-out singles after that, but Sean Van Leeuwen’s pop to third base ended another inning with two Loggers left aboard. Walla’s pitch count was exploding rapidly and he needed *93* pitches through five innings…

He still got through the sixth despite walking John Parrish, but was totally done after that, and the score was still 2-1, both teams sitting on five hits. A bullpen explosion on the Portland side followed as McMahan came in for the bottom 7th and immediately gave up a double to the ******* opposing pitcher. Ex-Coon Vic Morales tied the game with a single, Carlos Dominguez doubled, and Brad Fails replaced McMahan, but got churned for a 2-run single by Manuel Rodriguez, walked Fidel Carrera, allowed another single to Parrish, and another run on Roberto Soto’s pinch-hit groundout. Starwalt ended the 4-spot with grounding out.

Top 8th, Morentin batted for the forsaken #9 spot and singled. Bennett also put Humphries on base, and Yocum hit an RBI single, 5-3, and the tying runs were on the bases with nobody out. Olivares squeezed out a walk in a full count, loading the bags and evicting Bennett off the hill, and left-hander Joe Cash came in to see Tyler Wharton, a … spirited choice even given the absolute state that Wharton was in. The well-paid bum popped out, Hernandez’ sac fly didn’t cut it, and van Otterdijk’s fly out to left kept the Coons a run shy. Another ex-Coon, Angel Alba, and his 6.04 ERA got the ninth; and Gabe Rivas got a leadoff single. Otal ran for him, got second on a wild pitch, third on McFarland’s groundout, and scored on Sam Brown’s pinch-hit barrel of a double to right, tying the game. Humph was walked intentionally and Yocum and Olivares made poor outs to stall the rally out there, and now the Coons were running out of pitchers and used “long man” Harrison Hunt, who inserted in the #1 slot while Otal stayed in the game. He had Rodriguez at 0-2 before nearly giving up a walkoff homer to right. Van Otterdijk slammed off the wall making the catch and like Wilson on Monday remained on the ground afterwards. This time there was blood involved, and a lengthy break ensued as both teams’ trainers evaluated him and eventually got him carted off the field. Colter replaced him. Hunt walked PH Mark Fullmer and saw Yocum make an error on Soto’s grounder with two outs, but ex-Coon Rich Monck grounded out batting in the #8 hole to end the inning and send the game to extras. Oh joy! – But extras did not take long. The Coons drew blanks in the tenth inning, and hits by Wally Leggett and Dominguez walked off the Loggers, as usual. 6-5 Loggers. Yocum 2-5, RBI; Rivas 2-4; Morentin (PH) 1-1; Brown (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI;

The Otter was placed on the DL later that evening when he was found out to have a broken cheekbone. He was also out until August to get his face mask repaired. No replacement was available for the second game of the double-header, either for him or for the not-so-long long man Hunt, because none had been ordered from St. Pete to begin with.*

Game 2
POR: LF Humphries – 2B Yocum – 3B Hernandez – CF T. Wharton – 1B Woodley – C Brown – RF Colter – SS Morentin – P Gaytan
MIL: 2B Van Leeuwen – 3B Vic. Morales – RF C. Dominguez – SS F. Carrera – CF Parrish – LF Alaniz – C Fullmer – 1B Starwalt – P Carreno

So Gaytan went out and **** the cherry on top and gave up five runs in the first inning in the second game of the day. Van Leeuwen doubled and Carrera homered, and with two outs, Parrish walked, Alaniz singled, Fullmer drew another walk, and Starwalt pushed home a run drawing ANOTHER ******* WALK, before Carreno slapped home two singles with a bouncer past Morentin. Van Leeuwen eventually flew out. And the Coons had no pitchers.

Carreno was gonna have to figure out his ******* body or eat it, and responded by bunting into a double play in the third inning before a leadoff triple by Yocum in the fourth eventually led to a run… after Hernandez grounded out to third base to keep him pinned, when Wharton hit a sac fly to left. Bottom 4th, Gaytan got Starwalt out, then allowed another stupid single to Carreno. The stupid continued, as Morales singled, Dominguez got hit with two outs and as many strikes, and Carrera then emptied the bags with a grand slam to right-center, 9-1. Gaytan ***** his way into the bottom 5th, putting Alaniz and Starwalt on base, Carreno struck out bunting in vain, and with two outs the Coons pulled the plug and put in Dan Graham, hoping for long relief. For a start, he at least got Van Leeuwen to ground out to Woodley to end the bloody inning.

Signs of collapse included Graham being left in to allow three runs in the bottom 7th – all unearned as they came with two outs and after the Loggers had been invited to score more by an error that Woodley made to begin the shenanigans. Valentin then got the assignment for a true garbage inning in the bottom 8th and proceeded to issue not one by TWO leadoff walks to Carrera and Parrish before a grounder, a pop, and a K on Starwalt ended the inning. Carreno however went the distance on a complete-game 7-hitter, allowing one more run in the ninth on pinch-hit appearances by McFarland (base on balls) and Rivas (single), and an RBI single by Woodley. Not that it mattered. Not that anything mattered. 12-2 Loggers. Yocum 2-4, 3B; Rivas (PH) 1-1; Woodley 2-4, RBI;

Absolute ***********.

The Titans won another game, so they were now within a game of the Coons, with the Crusaders halfway.

The Raccoons needed *a body* and called up Jack Hamel, not that he deserved a brown hat, while we were waiting out Katz to finish his rehab assignment in St. Pete. Hamel might only be up for a day. He wore #51 after having worn #5 in his first stint with Portland, two years ago.

Game 3
POR: LF Humphries – 2B Yocum – 1B Olivares – CF T. Wharton – C Brown – RF Morentin – SS McFarland – 3B Colter – P Rios
MIL: SS Van Leeuwen – 3B Vic. Morales – RF C. Dominguez – C M. Rodriguez – 2B F. Carrera – LF Alaniz – CF Parrish – 1B Starwalt – P Ju. Robles

Rios was just as useless as Walla and Gaytan had been. He allowed a walk and an infield single in the first, and the same in the second – before Van Leeuwen singled home a pair with two gone, and Vic Morales landed another single before Dominguez lined out to Yocum. Top 3rd, Colter hit a leadoff single past Starwalt, got bunted to second, and Humph walked. A passed ball moved the tying runs into scoring position, and Yocum cranked a ball down the rightfield line for extra bases, a triple actually once it bounced away from Dominguez. Olivares firmly singled to right to give the Coons a 3-2 lead, and Wharton actually found the wall – not to hit one over, but for a double off it, which almost counted as progress. Sam Brown raked another double off Robles, driving in two runs, 5-2, but the inning ended when Morentin whiffed and McFarland flew out easily. And Rios had nothing better to do than issue a four-pitch walk to Manuel Rodriguez once he was back on the mound, but the defense kept the runner on base for the time being.

Robles did not return, and Nick Walters allowed a leadoff single to Colter again in the fourth, but that runner was also left on base. Rios put the 1-2 hitters on base in the fourth, but Dominguez flew out; he was then yanked in the fifth getting only one out for a Rodriguez single, a walk to Carrera, and a 1-out RBI double by Parrish. Brad Fails came in, gave up a long sac fly to Starwalt, walked the bags full with Josh Bursley and Van Leeuwen, and then somehow got the third out when Morales grounded out to McFarland with the ******* bases loaded.

Raul Salas managed to allow a counter-run in the sixth when McFarland got on and he conceded the run on a pinch-hit 2-out double by the .133 hitter Otal, which extended the lead again to 6-4. Humph popped out, though. McMahan and Rismiller then pitched scoreless innings while Tyler Wharton got on base and was picked off first in the top 7th…

Top 8th, Brown hit a leadoff single against Joe Cash, while Morentin drew a walk. McFarland struck out before Hernandez batted for Colter against the southpaw and slapped an RBI single to center. Parrish going home and not getting Brown allowed the trail runners into scoring position, while Hamel pinch-hit for Rismiller and grounded out to third. But this time Humph came through – raking a 3-run homer to left with two outs…! That put the game to bed, minus Harrison Hunt getting abused for another two innings to finish out the game and looking at a bus ticket back to St. Petersburg after that. 10-4 Coons. Olivares 2-5, RBI; Brown 2-3, 2 BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Colter 2-3; Hernandez (PH) 1-1, RBI; Otal (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI; Hunt 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 0 K;

In other news

June 16 – PIT SP Brian Jones (10-4, 2.84 ERA) throws a no-hitter with 11 strikeouts in a 15-0 blowout of the Titans! The Boston batters draw a couple of walks, but Jones himself goes 3-for-5 and drives in two runs, while former Titan LF/RF/1B Justin Dowsey (.263, 7 HR, 45 RBI) hits two doubles, a single, and drives in five runs.
June 17 – The Thunder beat the Gold Sox, 3-2 in 15 innings. Both teams previously scored a run in the 12th inning.
June 19 – The Rebels mincemeat the Cyclones’ pitching staff in a 19-6 riot, scoring 5+ runs in three separate innings. Five different Rebs drive in 3+ plus, with Richmond outfielder Rick Atkins (.276, 5 HR, 42 RBI) tying for the game-highs in hits and RBI’s with four each, hitting a homer and three singles.
June 19 – San Francisco beats the Thunder, 7-6 in 16 innings. Before SFB INF Mario Flores (.210, 0 HR, 10 RBI) chips a walkoff single, neither team had scored for ten innings.

Player of the Week (FL): CIN 1B Mike White (.363, 13 HR, 48 RBI), clipping .565 (13-23) with 2 HR, 7 RBI
Player of the Week (CL): LVA C/1B Chris Haynes (.319, 15 HR, 51 RBI), churning .522 (12-23) with 3 HR, 11 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The Crusaders and Titans splitting the series on the weekend barely kept the Coons in first place by themselves. Overall, this was a horrible week, posting a 2-4 record against two heavily losing teams while also shedding a couple of outfielders and having the pitching staff spiral completely out of control. Hernandez was also in a slump now, in addition to all the other problems that were burying the team. Not a fun time in Portland.

On the plus side, Katz might be back on Monday. There’s no shortage of roster spots for him to take.

The 24-41 Blue Sox fired their manager and GM on Thursday. They had the worst record in the league at that point.

The Thunder are also a RARE sight in last place. They were a rancid 4-14 in June. They had won the South for EIGHT straight years from 2062 through 2069, for only one title in ’67 (so they were the most recent team not from Cincy to claim rings), and the last time they had finished bottoms in the South had been all the way back in 2037. In total they had won the division almost half the time since then, 16 out of 33 years (for only two rings).

We’re home for only three games against the damn Elks starting on Monday and then have a hard-to-explain single-series trip to Charlotte on the weekend. The off day on Thursday is the last one before the All Star Game, 17 consecutive games to be played from then on, including both of the closest chasers in the division.

Fun Fact: The Brian Jones no-hitter on Tuesday was the eighth in Miners history.

Only two teams have more: the Coons (11!) and the Crusaders (9), while the Baybirds are tying them for third place with another eight. A Raccoon is on the Miners’ list, as Sean Sweeton pitched their most-recent no-no before Jones’ feat, turning away the Blue Sox for no hits in 2059. That was Sweeton’s first no-hitter, but his second was with the Knights, and not the Coons.

Kodai Koga also split his two no-hitters between the Miners and Knights, but in reversed order. His Miners no-hitter came a year before Sweeton’s.

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*House rules.

[Westheim]

Portland Raccoons and their wicked history of taking first basemen in the first round

For the purposes of this exercise, we will consider the supplemental round in addition to the first round, partially because the draft history tab shows it as first round, keeps no order between picks of what it considers the same round, and I’ll be too tired too soon of writing up 50 words on some toss-off only to then realize that, oooh, he was a number twenty-SEVEN pick…!

Also, we will include players that played other positions alongside first base, especially the corner outfield. Three- or four-base infielders (so players capable of playing up the middle) will not be considered, nor will primary-position catchers that made only token appearances (if any) at first base.

+++

1982 – Pick #2: OF/1B Alejandro Lopez (my draft post from back then does not list first base as position, but I was not very thorough in many aspects at the time)
Was named a #18 prospect before being traded to the Blue Sox in a trade for chiefly outfielder Raúl Herrera in the winter of 1983-84. Peaked as #7 prospect. Did decently good for some years with the Sox with a pair of rings in 1986-87 before being brought back to Portland as *minor league* free agent in 1993, where he landed himself a third ring before his career trundled out with the Elks in 1995 at just 31 years of age.
1,215 games of hitting .258/.305/.408 with 1,069 hits, 106 homers, 564 RBI, and 71 SB.
3x World Series
Yes it will absolutely get worse.

1985 – Pick #10: 1B/3B Joe Jackson
Corner infielder that peaked as #35 prospect and appeared in only 29 games for the 1988 Raccoons before being traded to the Falcons, where he spent the rest of his career. Won two Gold Gloves at first base, but never hit for much of anything, and consequently was a backup infielder for much of his career, hanging on until 2001.
1,234 games of hitting .244/.315/.355 with 1,033 hits, 51 homers, 485 RBI, and 78 SB.
2x Gold Glove

1985 – Pick #33: 1B Gabriel Ramirez
First one already to never make the majors despite going as high as #11 in the prospect rankings. Was traded to the Cyclones for Glenn Johnston, who lost us the 1989 World Series in ’86, and then spent the rest of his days in AAA Glendale.

1996 – Pick #61: INF/LF Carlos Gómes
Suffered a career-ending tear to his labrum just 15 months after being drafted and so I’ll ascribe that one to rotten fate.

1999 – Pick #11: LF/RF/1B Darwin Tyler
Never played first base in the majors and roamed the corner outfield instead, but was definitely considered also a first baseman at the draft. He also never played a lot at all in the majors, making it into 45 games with the rotten 2004 Raccoons, hitting nothing, and then surfaced for a brief stint with the Buffos a few years later, but his last big-league game came at age 27.
105 games of hitting .197/.259/.277 with 42 hits, 4 homers, 19 RBI, and 1 SB

1999 – Pick #33: 1B Matt Love
Local boy that briefly surfaced with the 2003-04 Raccoons, hit nothing, and then was quickly forgotten and never signed with another organization.
32 games of hitting .235/.286/.255 with 12 hits and 2 RBI

2000 – Pick #5: 1B/3B Daniel Sharp
Famously made his ABL debut just a month after being drafted and thus never featured on a prospect list. He soon enough became the cornerstone at third base for the decade, and played first base only occasionally; other teams would use him up the middle later in his career. Left as free agent after 2007, signed with the Miners, was claimed back off waivers by the Coons, traded to the Indians at the deadline in 2008, along with another top 5 pick, Jimmy Eichelkraut, to get hold of Ron Alston, signed with the Buffos the following winter, got claimed off waivers by the Coons AGAIN, but then was let go for the third straight season. He then remained a frequent flyer for the rest of his career, playing another seven stints with six teams before retiring in 2015. Never a power threat or a defensive asset, but he hit reliably for a long time before tailing off in his mid-30s. Only about 20% of his career at-bats came at first base, though.
1,875 games of hitting .276/.355/.376 with 1,801 hits, 76 homers, 635 RBI, and 2 SB
1x World Series

2001 – Pick #2: LF/RF/1B Chris Beairsto
Played most of his time in leftfield, but was advertised as first-sacker to begin with. Peaked as #62 prospect and made his debut in 2002 for a team that had few things going for it and lots of opportunities for cheap youngsters. Didn’t hit outside of a very good half-season in 2003 (well, .241 with 17 homers, which gave the Decade of Darkness Coons an unreasonable amount of hopium), and soon washed out and was traded to the Bayhawks, and later got claimed off waivers by the Buffos, who also didn’t get anything outta him. Retired in 2012 after five years in the minors.
406 games of hitting .237/.303/.398 with 308 hits, 49 homers, 171 RBI, and 18 SB

2007 – Pick #32: 1B C.J. Vanderwall
Never ranked, and only played 12 games at the AAA level before washing out altogether, retiring from baseball at the ripe old age of 26.

2009 – Pick #43: 1B Jonathan Marsh
Never ranked, and got released by the Raccoons after three years in the low minors, but got picked up by the Warriors, who then traded him to the Scorpions in 2013. He had a bit of a career as a quad-A first baseman with them until 2020, and then spent another EIGHT years in the minors before retiring. Somehow owns a World Series ring from his final year with Sacramento, despite batting .205 as pinch-hitter and never starting a game that year.
283 games of hitting .263/.296/.448 with 186 hits, 24 homers, 112 RBI, and 15 SB
1x World Series

2011 – Pick #45: RF/LF/1B Daniel Price
Never a ranked prospect and never appeared in the majors, bouncing around the minors for 11 years. The Raccoons traded him for outfielder Luis Reya in 2015, which at least netted us one season of somebody hitting or league average…

2011 – Pick #48: LF/RF/1B Matt Fox
Another one that never ranked as prospect and never appeared in the majors. Obtained minor league free agency in 2017, then bounced through three more organizations before retiring.

2015 – Pick #22: 1B/LF/RF Brian Perakis
Never a ranked prospect, but actually *did* appear in the majors after SEVEN years in he minors, appearing for a cup of coffee with the directionless 2022 Raccoons. Got released in ’24 and never signed another contract of any kind.
19 games of hitting .171/.205/.293 with 7 hits, 1 homer, 6 RBI

2015 – Pick #31: 1B Michael Wilkerson
Quelle surprise, another one that never ranked. He was included in a trade for SP Bobby Guerrero and had a brief and uninspiring career as backup / quad-A reserve with the Falcons, but last appeared in a major league game at 26 and retired before hitting 30.
192 games of hitting .245/.291/.384 with 56 hits, 4 homers, 36 RBI, and 4 SB

2017 – Pick #15: 1B Ruben Santiago
Listen, we don’t draft first base prospects here that end up ranking, okay? Santiago had a good career, though, although for somebody else. He was part of a 6-player trade that sent him with Tadasu Abe and others to the Blue Sox in 2021, bringing in Billy Brotman and especially Tim Stalker, who would have a long Coons career in turn. Santiago made his ABL debut with Nashville the following year and then was their starting first baseman for five-and-a-half seasons before becoming a backup at age 30. Also had stints with the Buffos and Indians at the end and in the end had a 13-year career in the majors, but never won anything or led the league in anything.
1,282 games of hitting .278/.337/.419 with 1,023 hits, 111 homers, 500 RBI, and 3 SB

2027 – Pick #22: 1B Eric Clarke
Never ranked as prospect or appeared in the majors, obtaining minor league free agency at the first opportunity and bouncing through another three organizations on his way to an accounting job.

2029 – Pick #37: 1B Ryan St. Pierre
Never ranked, never suited up in the majors. The Raccoons traded him to Tijuana for outfielder Juan Camps in ’33, and he obtained minor league free agency and retired after 2035. Camps played only 40 games with the Raccoons, but then was then spun off in a package for SP Gilberto Rendon, who had a couple nice seasons as the Raccoons reached their unringed, but notable mid-30s peak.

2031 – Pick #15: 1B/LF/RF Will Luna
Actually ranked as #58 prospect the year after being drafted, and then quickly turned bust from there. He did amount to a cup of coffee for the 2036 Coons, playing mostly first base, and a few years later was released and then retired without joining another outfit.
12 games of hitting .182/.229/.273 with 6 hits and 3 RBI

2046 – Pick #21: OF/1B Adam Samples
Never ranked as prospect and would spend 16 years as a professional ballplayer, and yet last appeared in the majors at age 24 in 2052. Couple of cups of coffee with Portland, and ever wore a major league uniform thereafter.
68 games of hitting .199/.260/.253 with 33 hits, 1 homer, 17 RBI

2054 – Pick #22: 1B Forbes Tomlin
Appeared at #41 in the prospect rankings in the year after he was drafted, but lingered in the minors for a long time before seven games with Portland in 2059, and some longer stints in 2061-62. He actually hit modestly well in 2061, but didn’t repeat that feat, and eventually was traded to Sacramento for Tom Delaney. Only hung around the Stingers for a year and a half, and then had a wild single-game showing with the Warriors in 2067. Disappeared for good then and retired last year.
242 games of hitting .267/.300/.406 with 119 hits, 10 homers, 65 RBI

2056 – Pick #24: 1B Joe Agee
Never ranked as prospect and had two cups of coffee with the Raccoons before being traded in a bigger deal that brought in Jim White from the Gold Sox in ’62. Made only 22 pinch-hitter appearances for Denver and then disappeared. Retired in ’65.
37 games of hitting .167/.222/.333 with 11 hits, 2 homers, 8 RBI

2059 – Pick #13: 1B Jon Herbert
Herbert was actually highly ranked at first, appearing at #26 in the first prospect rankings after he was selected, but stalled between AA and AAA and was taken by the Thunder in the Rule 5 draft in 2064, but returned when the season began, then obtained minor league free agency. Spent time in the Condors system before landing a gig with L.A. for some cups of coffee from 2067-69. Still active and with the Pacifics’ AAA team in Loganville.
70 games of hitting .282/.312/.324 with 20 hits and 14 RBI

2060 – Pick #19: LF/RF/1B John Bentley
Never ranked and had all sorts of injuries, including breaking his kneecap at the end of a fairly impressive half-season he played as a 25-year-old rookie with the Coons in ’65. Scarcely appeared the year after, then was traded to Indy with Malcolm Spicer to bring in Gabriel Rios (still here) and Justin Dowsey. The Indians used him semi-regularly in ’67, but he didn’t hit (at all), and some more the year after (still nope). He has since obtained minor league free agency several times and is currently in the Scorpions organization.
195 games of hitting .263/.308/.412 with 104 hits, 11 homers, 55 RBI

2068 – Pick #21: 1B Oscar Gaitan
Ranked as the #20 prospect in his first spring and has gradually slipped back. Has yet to appear above AA, but that’s not our problem anymore since he was wrapped up in a bundle to the Wolves to obtain John Katzman. Jury is still out here, but it doesn’t look like he’ll turn the corner.

2069 – Pick #36: 1B Justin DiMartino
Not ranked, and has hit for power in the minors, but at the expense of a batting average. Currently with the Panthers in AA, batting .191 with six homers.

No reason to slide Kyle Piel a week after he’s been drafted. Boy’s got feelings, too.

This is a total of 25 players, although if you exclude the recent picks that have not had a chance to wash out completely yet, it’s 23 players. Depending on what your definition for a solid first-round or supplemental-roudn pick is, the Raccoons have probably failed 80% to 90% of the time here. Besides Alejandro Lopez (1982), Joe Jackson (1985), Daniel Sharp (2000), and Ruben Santiago (2017), we have not selected players that appeared for at least 1,000 games in the majors, and the fifth-most-appearing player in the group is actually Chris Beairsto (2001), and those that lived to see the Decade of Darkness were not impressed by his act. Sharp and Lopez are probably the only ones you can give a B+ to the team for picking them where we did. And only if you’re charitable.

It gets only WORSE when you only look at “true” first basemen with no other positions. Of those, we drafted 13 (15 including Gaitan and DiMartino, but let’s not for now), and Santiago’s 1,282 career games account for the vast majority of their output. Six of the others never played in the majors, and the other six combined for 868 games in the majors. Santiago hit 111 homers, the other six combined for a snorty forty.

Of the 10 players that also played other positions, all reached the majors except for Carlos Gómes, who suffered the career-ending injury in the low minors.

What a crass display of a century of failure.

Additional tidbit: found out our longest-ago first-rounder still active is INF Dave Blackshire, who is hanging on in the Indians minor league system at age *43*. Blackshire was drafted in 2048, four months and four days before AAA 1B Danny Huckaby, who played in 19 games with the Critters last year and will in all likelihood play for them again in the future, was even born. Huckaby was a second-rounder, by the way.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (39-29) vs. Canadiens (28-41) – June 22-24, 2071

First-place Elks were dangerous, but nothing was more dangerous than last-place Elks, especially when the Raccoons were trying to be something other than mediocre. This was true especially when the Coons were so far up 6-0 in the season series. Elk City ranked ninth in both runs scored and runs allowed, with a -41 run differential. The rotation was a particular weak spot, and they were not in the top three in any major category in the CL. No injuries, though; however – the Raccoons got John Katzman back for this series! Benito Otal (.152, 0 HR, 2 RBI) was removed from the roster to AAA.

Projected matchups:
Vinny Morales (3-1, 3.95 ERA) vs. Juan Rosado (3-8, 6.58 ERA)
Jimmy Wharton (7-2, 2.76 ERA) vs. TBD
Nick Walla (6-3, 2.22 ERA) vs. Dallas Samson (3-6, 4.07 ERA)

Rookie Esteban Ferrer (1-5, 5.66 ERA) had been in the open spot in that rotation, but the Elks were assumed to replace the 21-year-old, although it wasn’t clear yet who would take a spot start or be called up. All starters on the roster were right-handed.

Game 1
VAN: SS Barraza – 1B Spicer – CF D. Moore – RF Bustillos – LF Lozada – 2B Ratliff – 3B Eggert – C Ma. Lopez – P J. Rosado
POR: LF Humphries – 2B Yocum – SS Katzman – CF T. Wharton – 1B Olivares – RF Colter – 3B Hernandez – C Rivas – P Morales

Vinny Morales came out and got beaten up, issuing a leadoff walk to Roberto Barraza before giving up hits to Malcolm Spicer, John Bustillos, and Andy Ratliff. The latter two each drove in a run, and Morales plated Barraza himself with a wild pitch for the game’s first run. After getting that quick 3-0 lead, Rosado allowed a leadoff single to Humphries, nicked Yocum, and walked Katz to fill the bases for the overpaid bum. Wharton whiffed, Olivares flew out to shallow left, and Hernandez popped out … only Jamie Colter drew another bases-loaded walk to drive in a singular run. Yocum and Katz would be on base again to begin the fourth inning, hitting a pair of singles before Wharton gracefully grounded to third base. Dan Eggert picked the ball on the run, but flubbed it briefly when he tried to take it out of the glove, then rushed a terrible throw to first that skipped right past Spicer for a 2-base error, allowing Yocum to score and the tying and go-ahead runs into scoring position with nobody out. Olivares’ grounder up the middle tied it, and Colter’s RBI single made it 4-3 Coons. Hernandez also singled, but Gabe Rivas’ double play grounder to second ended the inning.

Mario Lopez’ 2-run homer in the fourth, with Eggert on base, flipped the score right back to the Elks, as Vinny Morales remained *useless*. A walk to Spicer to begin the fifth and then drilling Dan Moore vacated the mound for Dan Graham, and potentially a spot in the rotation for Harrison Hunt in the long run, but in the immediate aftermath the Elks got an extra run and a 6-4 lead on Bustillos’ and Roberto Lozada’s groundouts before Andy Ratliff whiffed.

To anybody’s surprise, Katz’ leadoff double to left in the bottom 5th was then briskly followed by Tyler Wharton’s SECOND home run of the season, a no-doubter to left, leading to both pitchers being yanked after 4+ innings of 6-run ball (but only Morales’ had all been earned). The Coons then got two innings from Holzmeister and then abused brittle Brad Fails, who didn’t fail, pitching on the third straight day in the eighth inning, all while the game remained tied at six, on nine hits a side. And we were running out of pitching *rapidly* … the only other pitcher in the pen that had not pitched on both of the last two days was Pedro Valentin, and after that it would be Jimmyboy and chaos. Valentin got around a Barraza single and stolen base with two outs in the ninth inning, while the Coons had the 2-3-4 batters up against Guillermo Arzola, southpaw, in the bottom 9th, but made straight outs. Valentin had a 1-2-3 tenth when the game went to extras before Arzola walked Olivares to begin the bottom 10th. Colter then singled to right, and Olivares chugged it all the way to third base as the winning run. After two double switches, Jesus Morentin was batting seventh, and the option on the bench was Jack Hamel, so Morentin batted, but grounded out most poorly, holding the winning run at third base, and Rivas whiffing and McFarland grounding out wasted the opportunity.

The Coons pressed a third and final inning out of their closer in the 11th, and his spot led off the bottom of the inning, batting first after, well, double switch shenanigans galore. Arzola also went a third scoreless inning, allowing a 2-out double to Katz, but Wharton flew out to center. And then we burned Jimmy Wharton… He had a quick 12th, and Arzola was still pitching for the Elks in his fourth inning. He was about to get the Coons 1-2-3 before the second 2-base throwing error by an Elks third-sacker in the game, this time Juan Terrazas putting Morentin on with two gone. Rivas grounded out. Jimmy Wharton held the store closed in the 13th and hit a single, but nothing came of that, either, and in the 14th Olivares hid a good drive to deep right off Danny Nava, but Bustillos made the catch at the fence. Colter gave a ball a fly to ride, but that one was also caught on the warning track by Lozada.

Dan Moore broke the bloody tie with a 2-out homer in the 15th inning instead, taking Jimmyboy to deep left after 3.2 innings of scoreless ******** relief. Bustillos and Lozada both singled after that, but Ratliff grounded out to Yocum. Bottom 15th, and Esteban Ferrer appeared for a save chance, so wasn’t gonna start on Tuesday (kinda like Jimmy Wharton…). It only got worse (than losing!) for the Coons, as Rivas hit a 1-out double, but McFarland in the #9 hole remained useless, and now Jimmyboy in the #1 hole was the final out of the game – and Jack Hamel was still on the bench. We could not make the final out with the pitcher while having a batter on the bench. Hamel was sent to pinch-hit, SMASHED a double to left, and we were tied again! Yocum’s infield roller became a single, putting bodies on the corners for Katz, and Katz slapped a 2-1 pitch up the middle and into centerfield for a walkoff single…!!! 8-7 Furballs!! Hamel (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI; Yocum 2-6, BB; Katzman 4-7, BB, 2 2B, RBI; Olivares 2-6, BB, RBI; Colter 2-6, BB, 2 RBI; Holzmeister 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K; Valentin 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K; J. Wharton 4.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (8-2) and 1-1;

Kaaaaaaaatz!!

Oh god, our pitching is so ****** now…! (whines!)

The Raccoons had to get a starter onto the roster somehow for a spot start on Tuesday, for which Jesus Morentin (.180, 0 HR, 5 RBI) got optioned. However – Val Centeno was not ready. Victor Chavez was not ready. In terms of prospects, Crispino D’Urso had pitched on Monday AND had tweaked his ankle and was day-to-day. So the Raccoons ended up bringing 2068 supplemental-rounder and #40 pick Jaquan Riggs. The right-hander had made ONE start in AAA, getting stuffed for five runs in as many innings. He had made 59 starts in Ham Lake before that. Control was off. But he was the only warm body we had.

Benito Otal ended up on waivers to make room on the 40-man roster.

And it wasn’t like we had a lot of bullpen available behind Riggs, either.

Game 2
VAN: SS Barraza – 1B Spicer – CF D. Moore – RF Bustillos – LF Lozada – 2B Ratliff – C Ma. Lopez – 3B Terrazas – P C. Torres
POR: LF Humphries – 2B Yocum – SS Katzman – CF T. Wharton – 1B Olivares – C Brown – 3B Hernandez – RF Hamel – P Riggs

Both starters made their first appearance in the 2071 season, although Carlos Torres was 38 years old and just hanging on. He had pitched with the damn Elks before and also with the Crusaders. Riggs got two outs to begin the game before a Moore double, Bustillos’ RBI single, another single by Lozada, a walk to Ratliff to load the bases… and then finally Mario Lopez would ground out to Hernandez. Olivares tied the game with a solo homer in the second inning, but Moore smacked another double to begin the third and scored on productive outs by Bustillos and Lozada, who hit a sac fly to give the Elks a 2-1 lead. Riggs and Humphries drew 1-out walks in the bottom 3rd and Torres threw a wild pitch, then walked Yocum to fill the bags. Katz grounded out for an out at home, though, and Wharton whiffed dramatically, leaving the bases loaded.

Double plays kept Riggs alive in the following innings as the Elks almost constantly had a presence on base. Humph got on base to begin the bottom 5th, but was caught stealing. Yocum and Katz then splashed singles to go to the corners for Wharton, who drew a walk, which once more didn’t get a runner home from third base. Olivares then crashed into a 5-4-3 double play.

Riggs kept going, allowing singles to Ratliff and Terrazas in the sixth, but he also struck out Mario Lopez and Torres in the inning, the latter to end it. The Coons pressed Riggs for seven innings on 113 pitches, and he allowed another run in the seventh as Malcolm Spicer doubled, stole third base, and then came home on Moore’s sac fly to deep right. The Coons failed to score when Humphries drew a leadoff walk against Travis Davis in the bottom 7th, getting forced out by Yocum, and Katz hit into a double play altogether. Davis continued and walked Olivares with one out in the bottom 8th. Sam Brown smashed an RBI double to left, shortening the score to 3-2. Elijah LaBat replaced Davis, lefty for lefty, but allowed a single up the middle to Jordan Hernandez. Moore had played too deep on the play, and Brown managed to come home to score. Moore’s desperate wild throw gave Hernandez second base as he carried the go-ahead run. Hamel slapped a single that dropped in front of Lozada and Hernandez had to be held at third base. Josh Woodley then pinch-hit for McMahan, who had put out a scoreless eighth, and CRANKED a 3-run homer just inside the foul pole to take the lead…!

There were not a lot of options for the 3-run save in the ninth inning. Valentin was obviously not an option after the long outing on Monday, and we ended up going with Rismiller. He walked the leadoff batter Dan Eggert in the #9 hole. Barraza flew out, but Spicer singled sharply. Moore flew out to Humph. We almost went to Graham with Bustillos drawing up as the tying run, but then stuck with Rismiller – and he got it done, getting a first-pitch bouncer to Yocum for the last out. 6-3 Raccoons! Hernandez 3-4, 2 2B, RBI; Woodley (PH) 1-1, HR, 3 RBI;

No victory for Riggs on debut (that one went to McMahan), but he at least held his ground for a 3.86 ERA. He gave up nine hits, three walks, and struck out four, and was off the roster before midnight. LF/CF Jesus Guerrero replaced him. He had hit .197 in 30 games with Portland last year, and right now was at .246 with 8 homers in AAA.

Game 3
VAN: SS Barraza – 1B Spicer – CF D. Moore – RF Bustillos – LF Lozada – C Ma. Lopez – 2B Eggert – 3B Terrazas – P Samson
POR: LF Humphries – 2B Yocum – SS Katzman – CF T. Wharton – 1B Woodley – C Rivas – 3B Colter – RF Hamel – P Walla

The Elks again scored first on Wednesday, socking doubles with their 3-4 hitters against Walla, and then Lozada chipped an RBI single to make it 2-0. Walla lost Lopez on balls before getting Eggert on strikes. He spent 34 pitches on the first inning; Samson threw 11. Another 12 pitches by the Elks right-hander loaded the bags though on three singles by the Coons’ 4-5-6 batters in the bottom 2nd. The Coons didn’t score (…) as Colter fanned, Hamel popped out, and Walla floated out to Lozada.

Everything that could find a hole against Walla, though, found that hole. The Elks chipped nine hits off him in four innings, and scored another run on two singles and a sac fly in the third inning to take a 3-0 lead. The Coons had three on and nobody out AGAIN in the bottom 4th, then after Woodley and Rivas singles and a walk drawn by Colter. Hamel klutzed into a double play (which scored a run) and Walla fanned to end the inning… Bustillos’ leadoff double and two productive outs then pulled the run right back in the fifth inning. Barraza would knock him out in the sixth with a 2-out double, the *twelveth* hit off Walla in the game. Dan Graham struck out Spicer to end the inning.

Four outs by Graham and three supplied by Holzmeister got the game to the bottom 8th, Portland still down 4-1, but stumbling into the next scoring opportunity with nobody out, this time with the top of the order. Yocum slapped a leadoff double off Samson, who then lost Katz on four pitches. Wharton was the tying run, but grounded out on a 3-1 pitch, which made me audibly facepaw. The Coons only got one run on Woodley’s groundout, and Rivas floated out to Lozada. Samson went on to pitch a complete game 6-hitter, and the Elks put out 15 hits and scored two more runs on a very tired Raccoons bullpen in the ninth inning. 6-2 Canadiens. Woodley 2-3, RBI; Rivas 2-4;

Indy took two of three games from the Crusaders, so the Coons’ lead grew to 1 1/2 games. Both teams were then off on Thursday. In fact, the entire North was idle on that day.

Raccoons (41-30) @ Falcons (33-39) – June 26-28, 2071

The Falcons had the second-fewest runs on the board and were giving up the fifth-most for a -35 run differential. The Coons had a 2-1 lead this yest against a team that was at the bottom of the league in home runs, and almost at the bottom for stolen bases. The only thing they were kinda good at were defense. Yay, more double plays to hit into. For injuries, starter Jack Moses and first baseman Kevin Huffman were out.

Projected matchups:
Tony Gaytan (3-7, 3.67 ERA) vs. Howard Peek (2-1, 2.61 ERA)
Gabriel Rios (3-7, 4.04 ERA) vs. Edgar Mauricio (5-6, 3.64 ERA)
Harrison Hunt (0-1, 2.45 ERA) vs. Randy Rautenstrauch (2-3, 4.53 ERA)

Peek was a 30-year-old southpaw pitching in the majors for the first time in five years. The others were right-handed, and if the Coons didn’t put at least five runs on Rated-R Rautenstrauch, I was gonna ******* murder them all.

Hunt got the starting assignment over Vinny Morales, who had the fewest innings pitched and some of the worst (but not all of the worst) stats of the five starters on the roster since Opening Day.

Game 1
POR: LF Humphries – 2B Yocum – SS Katzman – CF T. Wharton – 1B Olivares – 3B Hernandez – C S. Brown – RF Hamel – P Gaytan
CHA: 2B J. Brown – 3B A. Rodriguez – C O. Matos – CF L. Collins – SS Tr. Taylor – 1B Terrell – LF Bakker – RF Bazua – P Peek

Humph walked, reached third on Yocum’s single to center, and watched in disbelief as Katz popped out on a 3-0 pitch. Wharton hit a sac fly at least, for his well-earned 20th RBI of the season. Yocum stole second, but was left on base as Olivares flew out to right. The Falcons tied it up right away with a leadoff walk drawn by Josh Brown, whom Sam Brown failed to throw out upon stealing second, and ultimately Landon Collins’ RBI double with two outs.

Top 3rd, another lead as Humph drew a 1-out walk and Yocum got brushed. Katz’ RBI single made it 2-1 Critters, and Wharton hit another sac fly to left, but this one was real robbery by Matt Bakker, dashing into the corner to take away what looked like a sure RBI double, but a run still came home as Yocum scored from third base. Peek hit Olivares, but Hernandez grounded out, and Gaytan blew the 3-1 lead immediately, giving up a homer to Oscar Matos, and then two more hits and a walk in the same inning to get the game tied…

The Coons wasted doubles by Hamel in the fourth and Wharton in the fifth while Gaytan kept giving up fly balls to try and wear down the outfielders. Bakker finally came through for a 1-out double to left in the bottom 6th, and then went home when Raul Bazua singled to center – but Wharton threw him out at the plate. Gaytan struck out Peek to complete six messy, messy innings and then was swiftly hit for to begin the next inning. Guerrero did nothing in the spot, Yocum and Katz hit 2-out singles, and then were left on when Wharton grounded out…

Brad Fails failed in the bottom 7th, allowing a leadoff single to Josh Brown, who stole second, advanced on Alex Rodriguez’ groundout, and then scored… on a wild pitch. That gave the Falcons the lead, and it gave me throbbing veins in the temples. Top 8th, and the Coons loaded the bases, Olivares singling and Peek walking the bags full with the 7-8 batters before getting yanked and replaced with right-hander Dan Speake. Woodley batted for Fails and failed straight into a double play, and nobody ******* scored. McMahan held the game close before Orazio Cecere came out to see the top of the Coons’ order for the ninth inning. Humph struck out in a full count, but he walked Yocum to put the tying run on base. Katz fell to 0-2 before spanking a fly into the right-center gap that dropped, but was cut off by Adam Campbell from rightfield, and the Coons threw the anchor on Yocum, who had to hold at third base. With the infielders in, Wharton obviously grounded out to the ******* shortstop who shooed Yocum back to third, and Olivares flew out to center. 4-3 Falcons. Yocum 2-3, BB; Katzman 3-5, 2B, RBI;

Dimwits.

Game 2
POR: LF Humphries – 2B Yocum – 3B Katzman – CF T. Wharton – 1B Olivares – C Rivas – SS McFarland – RF Colter – P Rios
CHA: LF J. Brown – 3B A. Rodriguez – C O. Matos – CF L. Collins – SS Tr. Taylor – 1B Terrell – RF E. Mullen – 2B Bazua – P Mauricio

On Saturday, the dimwit was on the hill again as Rios got a 3-0 lead spotted in the second on homers by Olivares and Colter (with Rivas aboard) and then blew it utter dunce cap fashion in the third inning, allowing leadoff singles to Eddie Mullen and Bazua, who got bunted into scoring position. From there, it got ugly as Brown hit an RBI single and Rios then walked FOUR BATTERS IN A ROW, three in full counts, and as many with the ******* bases loaded, to fall 4-3 behind. Brady Terrell then hit into a double play on a 3-1 pitch, because every time had twats like that.

After Humph flipped the score to 5-4 Coons with a 2-out, 2-run double up the leftfield line, driving in McFarland and Colter in the fourth, Rios almost got yanked after walking Bazua in the bottom 4th, but then got outs from the next two batters; Mauricio was already hit for here. Instead, he gave up a game-tying homer to Rodriguez in the next inning, and through five the teams were even at … five.

The sixth was uneventful, and in the seventh Brad Fails ruined another ballgame, giving up a leadoff double to Brown, and then homers to Matos and Taylor to bury the Raccoons, three runs deep. Almost immediately the Raccoons hit two 1-out singles with their 5-6 hitters in the top 8th, bringing the tying run to the plate. And immediately after that McFarland smashed into a ******* double play. Sam Brown hit a double in the ninth against Cecere, but he was quite alone in doing anything that close to dinner time. 8-5 Falcons. Olivares 2-4, HR, RBI; Rivas 2-4; Colter 2-4, HR, 2 RBI;

I feel like I’m gonna scream very soon.

Game 3
POR: LF Humphries – 2B Yocum – SS Katzman – 1B Olivares – C S. Brown – 3B Hernandez – RF Colter – CF Guerrero – P Hunt
CHA: LF J. Brown – 3B A. Rodriguez – C O. Matos – CF L. Collins – SS Tr. Taylor – 1B Terrell – RF E. Mullen – 2B Bazua – P Rautenstrauch

The Coons left the bases loaded with Humphries, Yocum, and Brown right in the first inning on Sunday, getting two walks and a single from Rated-R, but no R-Runs. Hunt put a pair on base in the first inning as well, but the Falcons didn’t score there either. But, boy, did they score in the third inning. Leadoff walk, on four pitches, to ******* RANDY RAUTENSTRAUCH, and then the Falcons went off: double, double, walk, double, sac fly … four runs scored in a hurry, and the inept Raccoons were basically already swept.

That didn’t mean the Falcons would let off Hunt, who was admittedly beyond **** and allowed a leadoff single to Bazua in the bottom 4th. He walked the bags full with the 1-2 hitters, a run scored on a fielder’s choice, and Collins doubled in two more. That was the end for Hunt, but that didn’t mean that braindead pitching was over. Mullen tripled in a run against Holzmeister in the fifth, and Rismiller was completely outta whack in the sixth and allowed two runs (one earned) on a hit, two walks, and an Olivares error. The Raccoons had basically nothing. Sam Brown batted in a pathetic run at some point or other, not that anybody cared. 10-1 Falcons.

In other news

June 23 – The Capitals send 3B/RF Eric Frasher (.256, 1 HR, 16 RBI) to the Buffaloes for INF Tony Gaines (.292, 3 HR, 32 RBI) and a prospect.
June 23 – In a separate deal, the Capitals also acquire LF/CF/2B Darby Laybolt (.238, 1 HR, 9 RBI) from the Rebels for RF/LF Alex Romero (.412, 0 HR, 2 RBI) and #42 prospect CL Alex Tabares.
June 23 – The Falcons beat the Thunder, 5-4 in 14 innings.
June 24 – Indians SP Mike DeWitt (7-2, 2.03 ERA) puts together a 2-hit shutout against the Crusaders to claim a 4-0 win.
June 26 – Boston would be without OF Eddie Marcotte (.226, 12 HR, 32 RBI) for a month as he had a pinched nerve in his back.
June 26 – Denver acquires SP Jesus Alcantar (4-9, 5.78 ERA) from Nashville in exchange for #102 prospect OF/2B/3B Jose Lucero.
June 27 – The Canadiens lose INF/LF/RF Juan Terrazas (.249, 0 HR, 13 RBI) for a month due to a bruised wrist.
June 27 – The Condors win a 5-4, 15-inning game from the Loggers.
June 28 – PIT SP Brian Jones (12-4, 2.43 ERA) throws eight no-hit innings and strikes out 14 Stars, but runs out of glue before he can complete the deed. PIT CL John Faughnan (3-1, 2.08 ERA, 26 SV) blows the no-hitter by allowing a single to DAL C Steve Varner (.299, 11 HR, 33 RBI), but at least nails down the 1-0 win.
June 28 – As the Knights crunch the Titans, 16-4, ATL SP Scott Triebwasser (3-4, 7.41 ERA) pitches a complete-game 8-hitter and drives in five runs on a bases-clearing double, an RBI single, and an RBI groundout in the game.

Player of the Week (FL): WAS OF Tyler Chenette (.261, 10 HR, 36 RBI), batting .448 (13-29) with 3 HR, 10 RBI
Player of the Week (CL): IND OF Jose Hilario (.354, 9 HR, 33 RBI), hitting .600 (15-25) with 1 HR, 4 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Pathetic. Terrible. Embarassing. Can’t hit. Can’t pitch. Can’t field. Don’t exactly smell of roses.

Since the Crusaders also got swept by the Thunder on the weekend, the Raccoons remained in first place in a division that was beginning to cuddle, now with four teams within a series’ worth of games of first place.

Benito Otal went unclaimed and was assigned back to AAA. Oh miracle of miracles. Who’d want anybody too useless to play on THIS rancid team??

Keep in mind that there’s no money to fix it, so nobody’s gonna trade for the scum of the earth here, so all we can do is play .400 to the finish from here and maybe a fire a few people, or drown them in the Willamette.

The ******** would continue with a 7-game homestand against the Baybirds and Titans. In fact, after the San Francisco series we’d play 15 straight games against the other teams in the top four in the division, plus three against the Elks on the far end. If that wasn’t enough to enter a tailspin, nothing was.

Fun Fact: Jaquan Riggs posted the best starter’s ERA on the team this week.

Lock them in a box and throw the key away.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (41-33) vs. Bayhawks (36-38) – June 29-July 1, 2071

The foundering Raccoons and their 4-game losing streak returned to home to play a set with the Baybirds, who had the fourth-most runs in the CL, and were apart from that rather average. Both teams had a bottom 3 bullpen by ERA, though. We had swept them in the first series played this year.

Projected matchups:
Jimmy Wharton (8-2, 2.74 ERA) vs. Gabe Molina (2-3, 5.82 ERA)
Nick Walla (6-4, 2.45 ERA) vs. Jarod Morris (4-5, 4.66 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (3-7, 3.72 ERA) vs. Billy Thompson (5-3, 3.01 ERA)

Molina was the only left-hander in the Bayhawks’ rotation.

Game 1
SFB: 2B Ma. Flores – 1B Catano – RF J. Ward – CF Redding – C H. Valdez – SS Bruce – LF Solares – 3B K. Ball – P G. Molina
POR: LF Humphries – 2B Yocum – SS Katzman – CF T. Wharton – 1B Olivares – 3B Hernandez – C Rivas – RF Hamel – P J. Wharton

The Coons scored first by getting Katz on with a 2-out walk in the bottom 1st, and around on a pair of singles by Tyler Wharton and Olivares, before Hernandez flew out to right. Jordan Hernandez would leave another pair on base with a similar fly ball in his second attempt in the third inning. But the lead lasted zero outs before Ryan Redding tripled off Jimmy Wharton and scored on a single to right by Hugo Valdez in the top 2nd. The Bayhawks continued to get the leadoff batter on base in every inning, which eventually was bound to give them the lead, and they took it in the fifth on Keith Ball’s leadoff single, Molina bunting, and then another single by Mario Flores.

Humph now tied the game immediately with a leadoff jack to left in the bottom 5th, and also tied Katz for the team lead in homers with a puny ten just before the midpoint of the season. Jimmyboy could NOT get a ******* leadoff batter out, and Redding doubled to left to begin the sixth, got a base on a wild pitch, and scored again on Valdez’ single, now to left. Jimmy then retired the next three as usual, but was down 3-2 again.

Bottom 6th, and the Coons loaded the bags with Olivares, Hernandez, and Gabe Rivas, which already required a clumsy error on Flores’ part on Rivas’ grounder. And oh, nobody out. Jack Hamel promptly fell to 0-2, but narrowly avoided being the first top 5 pick to be released by the Raccoons before being brought back and back and again and again for five years, by slapping an RBI single through the left side and tying the game. Jimmy popped out, Humph’s sac fly made it 4-3 Coons, and Yocum was nicked, but Katz’ clutch had remained on the DL and he flew out to Tony Solares without drama. At least Jimmy pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the seventh.

Reliever Juan Betancourt struck out Big Cheque Wharton in the bottom 7th before allowing singles to Olivares and Hernandez, and nicking Rivas to load the bases again. Colter batted for Hamel against the right-hander, but popped foul behind the dish, and Woodley batted for Little Cheque Wharton and flew out to center, scoring nothing and nobody. Holzmeister got paws on the ball and immediately allowed a double to Jake Ward in the eighth, but Ward held on a grounder from Redding to Katz for the first out, and that prevented him from scoring on Valdez’ long fly out to Colter in right. Ryan Bruce’s groundout ended the inning. Humphries put his leadoff tush on base in the bottom 8th, but was forced out by Yocum, and Yocum was left on first base. The 4-3 lead passed to Pedro Valentin, who got two outs from Brett Haus and Keith Ball before giving up a pair of singles to PH Josh Kovach and Mario Flores. At 2-2, Jose Catano hit a foul pop on the third base side, near the stands. Hernandez climbed onto the tarp and fell into the laps of a pair of gigging busty ladies in the first row – BUT HE MADE THE CATCH!! … 4-3 Critters. Olivares 3-3, BB, RBI; Hernandez 2-4;

The Crusaders began the week with a day off, while the Titans won their opener, playing the Aces, so the Titans took over sole possession of second place, a game and a half back (and on the way to Portland).

Game 2
SFB: SS Kovach – 2B Bruce – RF J. Ward – CF Redding – LF Haus – C H. Valdez – 1B Catano – 3B K. Ball – P Jar. Morris
POR: LF Humphries – 2B Yocum – SS Katzman – CF T. Wharton – 1B Olivares – C Brown – 3B Hernandez – RF Colter – P Walla

Walla’s doldrums continued with a shoddy second inning in which he allowed a single to Redding, a wild pitch, a walk to Valdez, an RBI single to Catano, and then nicked Jarod Morris with two outs before Kovach flew out to Colter to strand a full set of runners. Kovach and Bruce had already flown out deep to right to Colter in the first inning. Singles by Wharton, Brown, and Hernandez, who got the RBI, tied the game back up immediately in the bottom 2nd, but just as quickly Ward took Walla deep to left in the third inning for a 2-1 San Fran lead. Walla then immediately allowed two singles and threw another wild pitch, and somehow didn’t allow a run in the inning as the Bayhawks made poor outs after that. Morris singled in the fourth and was out on a baserunning blunder on Bruce’s 2-out single, conveniently ending the inning, but there was no arguing around the fact that Walla looked DREADFUL. He allowed a run on another hit batter (…!) and Valdez’ RBI single in the fifth inning, and then was replaced with Vinny Morales. Hey-ho…

Morales gave up a 2-run homer to Bruce before long in the sixth inning, and the Raccoons hadn’t been seen in a good while, but then appeared on the bases in the bottom 6th against reliever Kerry Sheats, who followed Morris. Katz singled and Sheats walked the bags full for nobody out in the inning, bringing up Sam Brown as the tying run. He struck out, Hernandez hit a sac fly, and Colter bounced out, but the Bayhawks crapped another two runs onto the board against Morales in the seventh.

It looked like the Raccoons would silently trundle towards another incompetent loss, but the bottom 9th began with Aaron McClair and Brian McFarland hitting a leadoff single off the lefty, pinch-hitting for Colter. Rivas and Humphries reached with walks, and suddenly the bases were loaded again with nobody out (doom!) in a 5-run game. Brad Yoxall replaced McClair, offering a right-hander to the Raccoons’ limp-sticked middle of the order. Yocum kept the line moving with an RBI single on 2-2 up the middle, and Katz was now the tying run – and smashed into a 3-6-3 double play. A run scored, but **** that run. And Wharton flew out to center anyway. 7-4 Bayhawks. Yocum 2-5, RBI; Brown 2-4; McFarland (PH) 1-1;

The pitching was rancid, the offense was rancid, and the Titans were already within half a game, and virtually guaranteed to lead the division on Sunday night.

Katz and Humph got a day off on Wednesday to have them at full strength for the Titans series coming up. Not that we weren’t doomed either way.

Game 3
SFB: SS Kovach – 2B Bruce – CF Redding – RF J. Ward – LF Haus – C H. Valdez – 1B Catano – 3B Ma. Flores – P B. Thompson
POR: RF Colter – 2B Yocum – 1B Olivares – CF T. Wharton – 3B Hernandez – C Brown – SS McFarland – LF Guerrero – P Gaytan

Lo and behold, Tyler Wharton hit a homer for the first run of the game, leading off the home half of the second inning…! The Coons even got a second run in the inning when McFarland walked with two outs, got a base on a wild pitch, and then was driven in by Guerrero with a single. Guerrero stole second, but Gaytan struck out, but kept the Bayhawks away, and the Coons then began with three on and nobody out in the bottom 3rd again. Wharton drove in Colter and his leadoff walk with a sharp single to left. Hernandez’ sac fly made it 4-0, and Sam Brown drew a walk, but K’s to the 7-8 batters ended the inning.

The innings then passed quickly. Gaytan made it to the stretch allowing only two base hits and getting a double play grounder and five strikeouts on a very manageable pitch count, and the Coons though they were good on a 4-run lead or whatever was going on at any given time in those peanut-sized brains. But the shutout was taken off in the eighth on a Valdez double and Flores’ RBI single, and Gaytan then walked PH Daniel Aguilar before extricating himself on a pop to Brown in foul ground off the bat of Kovach. The Coons didn’t score in their half of the eighth and the Coons figured that Gaytan could at least put a guy on before we’d bother the pen ahead of a 4-game set with the Titans. No bothering was ever done as the Bayhawks went down on two groundouts and a K to Ward. 4-1 Raccoons. T. Wharton 2-3, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Gaytan 9.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W (4-7);

Boston lost to finish that Aces series of theirs (despite out-hitting Vegas 12-4, they went down 4-2), so the gap remained a game and a half (the Crusaders lost their first two games and were sagging).

Raccoons (43-34) vs. Titans (42-36) – July 2-5, 2071

Portland was narrowly ahead in the season series, 4-3, and would have to continue to do so in order to keep the lead by the end of the week (although 1-2 with a rainout in the series would technically work, we’d like to not operate under premises that sketchy). Boston was sixth in runs scored, ninth in runs allowed, had a -24 run differential (Portland: +47), and … what was going on here? They also had a pile of injuries, including Ryan Musgrave, Tyler Gleaason, Vic Lorenzo, and Eddie Marcotte, and were bottoms in steals AND defense even in the best of times. Had the most homers in the CL, though.

Projected matchups:
Gabriel Rios (3-7, 4.32 ERA) vs. Mike Bell (4-2, 3.41 ERA)
Harrison Hunt (0-2, 9.82 ERA) vs. Tyler Riddle (5-7, 7.30 ERA)
Jimmy Wharton (9-2, 2.82 ERA) vs. Adam McDonald (7-6, 4.60 ERA)
Nick Walla (6-5, 2.58 ERA) vs. Jesse Cruise (4-4, 4.09 ERA)

More southpaws awaited on Friday, which looked like bloodsports would break out by those ERA’s, and Sunday, hooray…! The Coons also had three southpaw starters lined up in a row at this point, but had no wiggle room for switcheroos until after the All Star Game, and the Titans were bringing a heavily right-handed lineup. Oh goodness!

Game 1
BOS: SS E. Gonzales – LF M. Garcia – 3B D. Miller – C Goodwin – 1B H. Moreno – RF M. Ford – CF R. Moreno – 2B Jer. White – P M. Bell
POR: LF Humphries – 2B Yocum – SS Katzman – CF T. Wharton – 1B Olivares – C Rivas – 3B Hernandez – RF Colter – P Rios

Rios struck out five batters in the first three innings… and also gave up five runs as the series IMMEDIATELY tilted in Boston’s favor. Hector Moreno hit homers in the second – a solo job – and the third – a 2-piece with two gone – and in between Curt Goodwin had already doubled home a pair in a third inning that started with a single hit by the pitcher Bell. If there were any bright sides to be had after that beginning it was that Rios pitched another three innings without accidents, somehow struck out nine, and then was still down by five because Bell was shutting down the Raccoons hard – at least for six innings.

Tyler Wharton led off the bottom 7th with a single to center. Olivares singled to right, and Rivas singled to center again, plating Wharton for the brown team’s first run of the game. It looked a little late, and after Hernandez crashed into a 6-4-3 double play, it looked a little too late, and too little. Bell mishandled Colter’s comebacker for an error, though conceding an unearned run. Woodley pinch-hit and doubled, but the pair in scoring position was left over on a running catch by Raul Moreno on Humph’s fly to right-center. Bell went eight innings, was hit for against Dan Graham in the ninth for no gains, and Jerry Washington got the ball in the ninth against the 5-6-7 hitters. Olivares struck out in a full count, but Rivas singled to left. Brown pinch-hit and grounded out. Colter slapped a scratch single that brought up … well, a pinch-hitter as the tying run, and Woodley had already been used, so we were left with the weeds, in this case Jack Hamel. He flew out lazily to left to end the game. 5-2 Titans. Yocum 2-3, BB; Olivares 2-4; Rivas 2-4, RBI; Colter 2-4; Woodley (PH) 1-1, 2B;

The Woodley double was the only extra base hit for the Coons, while the Titans were banging out doubles and homers.

Game 2
BOS: SS E. Gonzales – LF M. Garcia – 3B D. Miller – C Goodwin – 1B H. Moreno – RF M. Ford – CF R. Moreno – 2B Jer. White – P Riddle
POR: LF Humphries – 2B Yocum – SS Katzman – CF T. Wharton – 1B Olivares – 3B Hernandez – C Brown – RF Hamel – P Hunt

The Coons scored first on an unearned run in the first inning as Humph got on base with a walk and Katz on Danny Miller’s error. Wharton’s groundout plated Humph, but the inning went nowhere from there. While the 39-year-old ex-Coon Riddle was all over the place and fighting his own body half the time, and nicked Sam Brown in the bottom 2nd, not that we went anywhere nice from there, Hunt retired the Titans in order the first time through … but not without some long flies that were shagged by Wharton and Hamel. It looked like the Coons could get a bigger lead here, and Yocum and Katz hit 1-out singles in the bottom 3rd. Yocum went to third on the Katz hit, and when he drew an ill-advised throw from Matt Ford, Katz zoomied into second base behind him. Wharton very helpfully and majestically popped out to Miller, and Riddle plunked Olivares to fill the bags for Hernandez, who was down in a 2-2 count before barreling a ball to deep center, over the glove of Raul Moreno, and cashed a bases-clearing double for a 4-0 lead! Brown fanned to end the inning, and Hunt nicked Miller after retiring 11 in a row, but got Goodwin on a grounder to stay clean on the scoreboard.

A Ford double and Raul Moreno’s RBI single got Boston on the board and took the no-hitter away in the fifth inning, not that I had expectations with Hunt. Tyler Wharton humped a homer in return in the bottom 5th, re-establishing slam distance immediately. Edgar Gonzales in the sixth, and Curt Goodwin in the seventh, then hit leadoff singles against Hunt, but both ended up being doubled off. Humph drew a leadoff walk against Dave Parra in the bottom 7th and was doubled to third base by Katz after a pop by Yocum. Wharton tacked on another run with a sac fly, but Katz was stranded by Olivares. Harrison Hunt went eight innings, allowing six hits in the end, and the Coons sat down Humphries and Yocum before the ninth inning, because what could go wrong with a 5-run lead?

Well, Jason Holzmeister happened, and three singles to load the bags with Goodwin, Ford, and Raul Moreno, before three outs were made. Valentin came in with two outs, struck out Jeremy White, and the Coons barely got away with that one. 6-1 Critters. Katzman 2-4, 2B; Hunt 8.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, W (1-2);

Game 3
BOS: CF R. Moreno – LF M. Garcia – 3B D. Miller – C Goodwin – 1B H. Moreno – RF M. Ford – SS Jordan – 2B Jer. White – P McDonald
POR: RF Humphries – 2B Yocum – SS Katzman – CF T. Wharton – 1B Olivares – C Brown – 3B Colter – LF Guerrero – P J. Wharton

Raul Moreno opened the game with a single, but was stranded on third base after three mediocre outs, and nothing much else happened until Jesus Guerrero broke out a solo homer to left for the Coons’ first base hit and the first run in the contest in the bottom 3rd. This remained the Coons’ only hit for a good old while; at the same time Wharton had another one of those games where the leadoff man seemed to be on base all the ******* time, and in the fifth the Titans finally came through and tied the game with hits from Steve Jordan and Raul Moreno.

The damn Coons weren’t hitting, and the damn Titans were continuing to get on base, as in the seventh with a leadoff double by Jordan. They didn’t waste anybody’s time then, and Jeremy White doubled home the go-ahead run, then scored on another Raul Moreno RBI single to give Boston a 3-1 lead. McDonald made it 6.1 innings before giving up a second hit, as Olivares singled sharply to left. Brown found the hole on the right side for another single. Colter and Guerrero both flew out to Raul Moreno to kill the inning…

Jimmy put Miller as the leadoff man (…) on base in the eighth and departed. Brad Fails gave up a homer to Hector Moreno to put the game to bed. Or so we wished. McDonald entered the bottom 8th, but after McFarland pinch-hit and grounded out, gave up 1-out singles to Humphries and Yocum. Katz struck a double to left, driving in a run, and McDonald from the game – but also came up limp and also left the game with Luis Silva. (facepaws deeply) Hamel ran for him, while Tyler Wharton was batting as the tying run against righty Juan Dominguez. He hit a grounder to short that got a run home, but that wasn’t really helping at this point. Olivares’ RBI single did put the tying run on base at least, but the Titans sent lefty ex-Coon Juan Sanchez against Brown. Hernandez pinch-hit, fell behind 1-2, and then sent a grounder to Jordan at short to end … no, he threw it away, and the ball went into the dugout for two bases! The tying and go-ahead runs were in scoring position … but the Coons had no more right-handed sticks to hit for Colter with. He flew out to Manuel Garcia, and the Coons got a scoreless inning on nothing but full counts from McMahan to keep the game tight. Jerry Washington got Rivas and McFarland out to begin the bottom 9th, but then walked Humph. Yocum singled in a full count to left-center and Humph hustled the tying run to third base…… buuuut with Jack Hamel batting in Katz’ spot. He flew out to right…… 5-4 Titans. Humphries 1-2, 3 BB; Yocum 3-5; Olivares 2-4, RBI;

Katz hit the DL with an oblique strain on Sunday, and was likely to miss the entire ******* month. I confided to Honeypaws that I had no hope for the Raccoons to somehow win the division from here.

Needing a middle infielder quite badly, the Raccoons fell back on 26-year-old 2B/1B Wout Sleutjes. The Aruban had signed for $32k during the *2061* July IFA window. Ten years of lingering in the minors, he was now up as Plan G or something. I think the pronunciation guide says “wowed s-loo-chess”, which was a thing in itself. Dan Gomez ended up being placed on waivers and DFA’ed to make room on the 40-man roster this time.

Game 4
BOS: SS E. Gonzales – LF M. Garcia – C N. Dingman – 1B H. Moreno – RF M. Ford – 3B D. Miller – 2B Jer. White – CF J. Hawkins – P Cruise
POR: LF Humphries – 2B Yocum – 1B Olivares – CF T. Wharton – 3B Hernandez – C Rivas – RF Hamel – SS McFarland – P Walla

Hamel klotzed Hector Moreno’s fly to right for a 2-base error instead of the third out, and the Titans got a pair of runners (Nick Ding(er)man included) in scoring position ahead of Matt Ford rushing a gap double for an early unearned 2-0 lead in the Boston bid to take first place on the way outta town. But Walla wasn’t helping either and kept giving up doubles, conceding another run on extra-base hits by Garcia and Miller in the third inning. That one counted on the old ERA… Jeff Hawkins hit another double to lead off the fourth inning and was brought around to score on two productive outs by Cruise and Gonzales… and then Garcia hit a homer to left. That made it 5-0 against the witless Raccoons, who had collected one lonely single the first time through the feckless lineup. That one had come from Olivares, and him and Yocum hit a pair of singles to begin the bottom 4th, but then Wharton whiffed again. Hernandez slapped an RBI single to right, 5-1, and Rivas flew out to right. Olivares scored on a sac fly on which Ford appeared to tear up his arm; he left the game and was replaced with Justin Beck. Hamel grounded out.

Walla needed over 80 pitches through five rancid innings, then hit an infield single with one out in the bottom 5th. Cruise walked Humph, bringing up Yocum as the tying run. He grounded into a force at second, but the Titans didn’t get two, and Cruise lost Olivares on four pitches, loading the bags for Wharton, who, well… struck the **** out.

Walla retired the bottom of the order in the sixth and looked done for the day, while Hernandez and Rivas put out singles against Cruise to begin the home half of the inning, and that also brought the tying run back to the plate once more. Hamel grounded underneath a reaching Cruise, over the mound, and behind the second base bag, where the Gold Glover Gonzales intercepted the ball on the dive – but had no play, as Hamel rushed up the line for an RBI infield single. When McFarland popped out it was time to bat for Walla. Unfortunately the bench was just pathetic at this point. Sam Brown was perhaps the best option, but we didn’t want to use the second catcher so early, and ended up going with Guerrero instead. And Guerrero gunned it into a double play.

The game effectively ended when Rismiller got into the seventh, put the first two batters on base and then gave up a booming 3-run homer to Hector Moreno. The Coons got a run on a groundout by Hernandez in the same inning, but that was it for heroics and rallies, and being in first place. 8-4 Titans. Yocum 2-5; Olivares 3-4, BB; Hernandez 3-4, 2 RBI;

In other news

June 30 – The Crusaders pick up SP Colt Long (6-3, 3.88 ERA) from the Loggers for a prospect.
June 30 – Torn ligaments in his thumb would keep Vegas INF Koji Hatakeyama (.303, 1 HR, 33 RBI) off the field for at least two months.
July 1 – CIN OF Fernando Cruz (.351, 8 HR, 22 RBI) celebrates his FL Hitter of the Month award by hitting a home run for a 1-0 win against the Wolves. Cincy only has two hits in the game.
July 1 – ATL SP Adam Lunn (8-5, 2.62 ERA) is going to miss at least a month with a PCL strain.
July 1 – Rebs closer George Kehoe (1-4, 3.34 ERA, 19 SV) is out for the season, suffering from radial nerve compression.
July 2 – MIL 1B/RF/LF Cesar Ramirez (.305, 5 HR, 19 RBI) was going to miss a month with a strained hammy.
July 2 – The Loggers acquire MR Javier Arocho (1-3, 4.17 ERA) from the Capitals for two prospects.
July 3 – WAS 1B Armando Curiel (.322, 12 HR, 36 RBI) is taken out for the rest of the month with a strained hip muscle.
July 4 – CIN SP Blake Anderson (7-0, 2.85 ERA) will miss the rest of the season after tearing a back muscle.
July 4 – Cincy picks up Thunder CL Steve Keller (2-2, 1.54 ERA, 14 SV) for four prospects, including #19 SP Josh Olsen.
July 4 – The Crusaders beat the Canadiens, 5-4 in 14 innings.

Player of the Week (FL): PIT 2B Matthew Selep (.323, 4 HR, 47 RBI), squirreling .517 (15-29) with 5 RBI
Player of the Week (CL): BOS 1B Hector Moreno (.304, 14 HR, 38 RBI), bashing .407 (11-27) with 5 HR, 13 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: CIN OF Fernando Cruz (.354, 7 HR, 21 RBI), batting .374 with 4 HR, 16 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: LVA C/1B Chris Haynes (.327, 19 HR, 62 RBI), thundering .402 with 8 HR, 29 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: SFW SP Harry Poteat (11-2, 2.15 ERA), going 5-0 with a 1.65 ERA, 43 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: IND SP Mike DeWitt (7-2, 1.93 ERA), dominating at 5-0 with an 0.21 ERA, 35 K
FL Rookie of the Month: SAL INF/LF/CF Ray Olin (.270, 3 HR, 28 RBI), poking .243 with 8 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: SFB 1B Jose Catano (.324, 2 HR, 25 RBI), batting .337 with 1 HR, 16 RBI

Complaints and stuff

I could cry some more now about our horrible pitching and our horrible hitting, but Honeypaws is all wet already, and it’s not gonna get any better. Katz going back on the DL after merely 13 days on the roster drives the dagger in. The rest of the team just can’t do anything. There was also no depth to begin with, and we’re now digging through upper-20s Aruban infielders just to fill the bench.

Cursed, doomed, dead.

Thanks to blowing millions on SP Jose Espino, who had debuted to a 1.69 ERA in two starts in Aumsville at this point, the Raccoons had maximum restrictions on signing international free agents this summer, not being allowed to sign any Latin-American (mostly) teenager for more than $75k. We’re thus not likely to land many gems, but we’re bidding on a couple. So far we managed to sign Australian outfielder Marco Renshaw for a cute $32k.

Our journey to .500 and beyond will continue with 14 more games in division, including a 7-game road trip to New York and Indy ahead of the All Star Game, and of course four more with New York right afterwards.

Fun Fact: It’s been ten years since the Raccoons went to the postseason.

And it’s gonna be ten more with this roster.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (44-37) @ Crusaders (42-38) – July 6-9, 2071

The Raccoons so far were up 2-1 in the season series against the Crusaders, but things were much a-crumbling around the brown-hatted team now. New York had the second-fewest runs scored, but also allowed the fewest runs in the CL, so the Raccoons were as dead as disco. Both teams had four players on the DL, with New York mainly missing outfielder Willie Ospina and pitcher Dennis Marck.

Projected matchups:
Tony Gaytan (4-7, 3.48 ERA) vs. Paul Egley (6-6, 2.34 ERA)
Gabriel Rios (3-8, 4.52 ERA) vs. Danny Ortiz (6-1, 2.94 ERA)
Harrison Hunt (1-2, 5.28 ERA) vs. Russell Anderson (5-4, 3.01 ERA)
Jimmy Wharton (9-3, 2.97 ERA) vs. Nate Freeman (3-6, 4.17 ERA)

Anderson was the only one of the New York starters to throw left-handed, and they had no left-hander in the pen… not that it was gonna hurt them much against the Coons, who struggled to put up a left-handed batter besides the backstop.

Or Jamie Colter, batting fifth by now for some stupid reason. There was probably another off day coming for most regulars this week, and it wasn’t gonna be the Anderson start.

Game 1
POR: LF Humphries – 2B Yocum – 1B Olivares – CF T. Wharton – RF Colter – 3B Hernandez – C Rivas – SS McFarland – P Gaytan
NYC: RF Ledesma – SS Joe King – CF Griffin – 2B McNulty – 3B Reber – 1B R. Ortiz – LF Merrill – C T. Medina – P Egley

The week began with two singles, a walk to Olivares, and the bases loaded with nobody out. Tyler Wharton immediately pounced and hit into a 6-4-3 double play. Colter’s RBI single made it 2-0, and Hernandez grounded out. Wharton hit an RBI double to drive in Yocum his next time up, then re-establishing a 2-run lead after Gaytan had been taken deep for a solo job by Chris McNulty in the bottom 2nd. Olivares had also extended that inning with an error, so Gaytan’s pitch count went up early with this and some long counts. He allowed only three hits through five innings, though, so at least he was keeping the Crusaders reasonably short.

Olivares opened the sixth with a single. Wharton flew out, Colter walked, and Olivares rushed home from second base on Hernandez’ single to left. Jonathan Merrill threw home, but late, and the Coons’ trailing runners reached scoring position for it. Gabe Rivas’ fat single up the middle scored both of them, and Tony Griffin hurt himself on his own late throw to the plate, and was replaced with Chris Duhon. McFarland knocked out Egley with a triple to right, then scored after Gaytan popped out when Humph singled to left against right-hander Matt Topp. Topp walked the bags full, but then got Wharton to fly out to center and end a 5-run inning, Portland now up 8-1. Gaytan celebrated by giving up a 2-run homer to McNulty in the bottom 6th… and then gave up another run on two hits in the seventh, getting the Crusaders back within slam range. The Coons pulled that one back on singles by Guerrero, batting for Gaytan, and Yocum in the eighth. Brad Fails had a clean inning in the eighth, but McMahan gave up a run by walking not one, but two batters to begin the bottom 9th before finally getting the door shut. 9-5 Raccoons. Humphries 3-4, RBI; Yocum 3-4, BB, RBI; Guerrero (PH) 1-1;

Boston lost to Indy on Monday, so the Critters jumped back into first place, but this was surely gonna be temporary.

Olivares and Yocum then got Tuesday off. After two days on the bench, Wout Sleutjes would make his ABL debut as a starter at second base.

Game 2
POR: LF Humphries – RF Colter – 3B Hernandez – CF T. Wharton – C Rivas – SS McFarland – 1B Woodley – 2B Sleutjes – P Rios
NYC: CF Lacatelli – SS Joe King – LF Griffin – 1B R. Ortiz – RF Ledesma – 2B McNulty – 3B Reber – C Marty – P D. Ortiz

The Crusaders carted up an all-right-handed lineup against Rios, who immediately crashed and burned, issuing two walks and two hits in the first inning, including a 2-run double to Robert Ortiz. Ryan Marty’s leadoff double and an RBI single by Miguel Lacatelli tacked on a run in the second, and in the end, rain finished off Rios before the Crusaders could, bringing on a delay of over an hour after four innings, in which Rios had already thrown 66 pitches. He departed a 3-1 game, the Raccoons having scored on a solo homer by Tyler Wharton in the fourth inning. Sleutjes had also chipped his first career single by that point.

Rismiller pitched a scoreless fifth before the Coons came up against Nick Ellis in the sixth – Danny Ortiz also having been washed away – and loaded the bases with straight singles chipped by the 1-2-3 hitters and nobody out. Wharton doubled home the tying runs … before the Coons choked again, Rivas popped out, and McFarland and Woodley both fanned, leaving a pair in scoring position. Rismiller pitched a second inning before being hit for with Yocum, who flew out easily after Sleutjes had led off with another single. Humphries based a drive to deep left that went just over the fence, gave the Critters a 5-3 lead, and also marked the first Coons batter to get beyond ten homers for the season in their 83rd game.

Tony Griffin hit a sac fly in the bottom 6th, 5-4, after Dan Graham walked Josh Roza and allowed a single to Lacatelli. Holzmeister replaced the southpaw and struck out Robert Ortiz, ending the inning, then got three straight outs in the eighth. The Coons did nothing offensively in the last couple of innings, then gave the ball to Pedro Valentin, who IMMEDIATELY blew the game by giving up a pinch-hit homer to the leadoff man Bryan Johnston. Roza singled again, stole not one but TWO bases, and then scored on Joe King’s single through the right side. 6-5 Crusaders. Humphries 3-4, HR, 2 RBI; T. Wharton 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Sleutjes 2-4; Rismiller 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Useless.

Game 3
POR: LF Humphries – 2B Yocum – 1B Olivares – CF T. Wharton – 3B Hernandez – C Brown – RF Hamel – SS McFarland – P Hunt
NYC: CF Lacatelli – 3B Reber – LF Griffin – 1B R. Ortiz – RF Ledesma – 2B McNulty – SS Roza – C Marty – P R. Anderson

Yocum singled, stole second, and came home on a 2-out infield single by Wharton for a quick 1-0 lead in the first inning. A similar recipe brought another run in the second inning as Jack Hamel singled, stole second, and then scored on groundouts by the 8-9 batters. On the hill, Hunt had a lot more issues, being constantly behind in the count and had to rely on the defense very heavily. Anderson however walked the 2-3 batters to begin the third inning, and then gave up a solid RBI double to left off Wharton’s stick that showed signs of blossoming after half a season of pretty much nothing. And then of course the Coons left runners on second and third as Hernandez lined out to Ortiz, and Brown and Hamel had pathetic groundouts.

Bottom 3rd, and the Crusaders got leadoff singles from Lacatelli and Reber, but also lost Lacatelli to injury and had to replace him with Joe King. Anderson walked Ortiz after Griffin lined out to Olivares, and Raul Ledesma’s grounder was only good for one out as the pinch-runner King scored, 3-1. Roza flew out to right to leave runners on the corners.

Top 6th, still 3-1, and the Coons were still lusting to strand more runners. Hernandez and Brown opened with singles, Hamel forced out Brown, and then McFarland legged out his infield roller, but not without Hernandez getting chased back to third base by Anderson, who was then lifted for Ellis. At least Hunt, batting for himself, produced another RBI groundout, going up 4-1. Humph lined out to Reber to strand another pair. Hunt then issued leadoff walks to Ortiz and Ledesma in the bottom 6th, worked his way out allowing “only” one run, but was then sent to the showers after six innings of FIVE walks and NO strikeouts.

Ellis walked Yocum and Olivares singled, putting runners on the corners with nobody out in the seventh inning. Wharton didn’t get a run home by grounding out to Reber, but Olivares moved to second, and then Jordan Hernandez lined a single to right-center, driving in two to get to 6-2. He was then caught stealing. The bases were then loaded in the eighth as McFarland doubled, Woodley singled, and Humph drew a walk, all with one out against Fernando Chacon. Yocum then smashed into a double play…….

Borderline foolishness then continued with Vinny Morales being sent into a 4-run game, but he had a 1-2-3 eighth, and then the Coons stacked four more runs on top as the Crusaders’ pen fell apart for good in the ninth. Hamel (bases-loaded walk), McFarland (RBI single), and Humph (2-run single) cashed in the runs before Morales, who struck out in the inning, was sent back out. He gave up a single to Ryan Marty, but apart from that slammed the door. 10-2 Critters. Olivares 2-4, BB; T. Wharton 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Hernandez 2-3, BB, 2 RBI; McFarland 3-5, 2B, RBI; Woodley (PH) 1-1; Morales 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K;

Humph and Big Wharton got the finale off.

Game 4
POR: 2B Yocum – LF Colter – 3B Hernandez – 1B Olivares – C Brown – RF Hamel – SS McFarland – CF Guerrero – P J. Wharton
NYC: 3B Reber – SS Joe King – LF Griffin – 1B R. Ortiz – RF Ledesma – 2B McNulty – CF Houser – C Marty – P N. Freeman

After the third game had dragged on and on, the series finale breezed through four innings until Raul Ledesma’s homer in the bottom 4th gave New York a 1-0 lead. The Coons then got Hamel and Guerrero singles in the fifth, but Yocum struck out to leave the pair in scoring position, which was definitely what this ******* team did best. No, Jimmy Wharton had to tie the game himself, singling home McFarland from second base after two outs had been made in the seventh inning. Yocum’s bloop single and a walk to Colter loaded the bases, but Hernandez popped out to King, and then inning ended rather deflatingly again.

McNulty’s leadoff single in the bottom 7th was followed by outs being made by Blake Houser and Ryan Marty, and then Freeman returned the favor to Wharton and hit a 2-out RBI single to grab the lead back. Kyle Reber homered, 4-1, and the Coons were pretty much beaten now. We only got Sam Brown on base on an error in the eighth inning and left him at first. Humph batted for Guerrero to begin the ninth, but struck out against Christopher Tinari, who was replacing Freeman after eight strong innings. Sleutjes drew a walk in the pitcher’s spot, and Tinari hit Yocum, and suddenly the tying run was at the plate. Tyler Wharton pinch-hit and singled to center, loading the bases, and Hernandez singled up the middle to move everybody on for 90 feet, 4-2. And then Olivares smashed into a double play. 4-2 Crusaders. T. Wharton (PH) 1-1; Hamel 2-4;

The Titans, who had matched our result for the last two days, retook first place by splitting their own series against Indy, but finishing with a W.

Raccoons (46-39) @ Indians (43-44) – July 10-12, 2071

Once again the Coons were drowning against the Indians, 2-7 so far in 2071. Indy ranked tenth in runs scored and third in runs allowed, with a +5 run differential. They had the best rotation, which was probably our main issue. Their list of injuries was long, however and included Jorge Flores, Tim Tennant, Justin Esch, Alex Gomez, Matt Rogers, and Fernando Valadez.

Projected matchups:
Nick Walla (6-6, 2.68 ERA) vs. Miguel Lopez (5-4, 4.45 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (5-7, 3.59 ERA) vs. Victor Perez (9-6, 2.24 ERA)
Gabriel Rios (3-8, 4.61 ERA) vs. Pablo Apodaca (7-9, 3.84 ERA)

Southpaw Sunday!

Jordan Hernandez meanwhile got a day off on Friday.

Game 1
POR: LF Humphries – 2B Yocum – 1B Olivares – CF T. Wharton – C Brown – RF Hamel – 3B Colter – 2B Sleutjes – P Walla
IND: 1B Schimke – 3B M. Martin – CF Hilario – RF T. Torres – LF W. Griffith – 2B Richmond – SS Masterson – C Mrazek – P Mi. Lopez

The pitching remained a problem for Walla, who couldn’t get a strikeout the first time through the order, but smacked a leadoff double to right-center to begin the third inning in a scoreless game. Humph and Yocum singles brought him around to score the first run, and Lopez then plunked Olivares to fill them up with nobody out. Wharton added an RBI single to center, Brown hit a sac fly, 3-0, and then Hamel and Colter made outs to leave a pair on base.

Walla had to pitch around a Colter error in the third inning, and then walked Torres to begin the fourth. The floodgates soon opened as he just couldn’t ******* get anybody out. Wade Griffith grounded out to second, but Walter Richmond and Scott Masterson hit singles to get Griffith home, Ray Mrazek hit a sac fly to left, and then he breathtakingly lost Lopez to a 2-out walk. Ryan Schimke’s infield single in a full count loaded the bases for Matt Martin, the LAST guy we wanted up with the bags full in this lineup. He ran another full count, then grounded out to Yocum. Walla’s pitch count was at 75 after this ********, and the lead down to 3-2. He would be gone after just five innings, allowing a double to Torres in the bottom 5th, but somehow not the tying run to score.

Dan Graham’s scoreless inning was followed by Yocum getting on base and stealing second in the top 7th. Olivares barreled a 2-run homer to left-center to create some breathing room, 5-2, and knocked out Lopez in one go. Holzmeister then got around a walk to Jose Hilario in the seventh, and the Coons faced lefty Felix Morales to start the next inning. Hamel and Colter went to the corners with leadoff singles, but Sleutjes whiffed and Hernandez grounded to short for a 6-4-3 double play… And true to form, the Raccoons then blew the lead altogether in the same inning, as Rismiller allowed three singles and a run, and Valentin gave up the game-tying double to Hilario as soon as he materialized form the pen. Torres struck out to end the bottom 8th, as if that was still gonna be of use to ******* anybody.

The Coons loaded the bases with ease in the top 9th against Ryan Croft, who nicked Olivares in between conceding 1-out singles to Yocum and Wharton, but Sam Brown’s sharp grounder to second was fired home by Richmond to kill YOCUM at the plate…….. It was simply impossible what this ******* team was doing with the bases loaded! Jack Hamel then DID come through somehow for a 2-out, 2-run single over Masterson’s glove, which confused me greatly. Colter flew out to Torres, and Valentin failed to blow another lead before three outs were made… 7-5 Coons. Humphries 2-5, 2B; Yocum 3-5, RBI; Olivares 2-3, HR, 2 RBI; T. Wharton 2-5, RBI; Hamel 2-5, 2 RBI; Colter 2-5;

Game 2
POR: LF Humphries – 2B Yocum – 1B Olivares – CF T. Wharton – 3B Hernandez – C Rivas – RF Hamel – SS McFarland – P Gaytan
IND: 1B Schimke – 3B M. Martin – CF Hilario – RF T. Torres – LF W. Griffith – 2B Richmond – SS Masterson – C Mrazek – P V. Perez

Portland took a very quick 1-0 lead as Humph doubled and scored on a Yocum single, but Yocum was then left on base. Ryan Schimke answered with a leadoff double in the bottom 1st, but Gaytan would give up not only that run, but FOUR on a pair of 2-run homers mashed by Tony Torres and Walter Richmond, all with two outs…

The funny part about it was that Perez would be the first starting pitcher to be yanked, despite still leading in the fifth inning. He gave up a solo homer – and first career bomb – to Jack Hamel in the fourth inning, 4-2, then put Yocum on base in the fifth with one out. Yocum stole second and scored on Olivares’ single, and that was the end for Perez, still up 4-3. Rodolfo Zea allowed an infield single to Wharton, Hernandez flew out, and Rivas drew a walk to fill the bases for, well, Hamel. He bounced out to Masterson…

Gaytan finished five innings, but gave up another homer to Hilario and departed in a 5-3 hole. The Coons clawed one back in the sixth, which McFarland opened with a double to right. Woodley an Humphries got him home with productive outs, but the rally fizzled out after that, now 5-4 behind. Olivares, Rivas, and Hamel loaded the bases in the seventh, but were all stranded on McFarland’s groundout to third base.

We longed for length from Vinny Morales at this point, and he got around a Hilario single in the bottom 7th, after entering the game in a double switch with Colter, who then led off the eighth with a single to center. Humph doubled to left, and there were once more runners in scoring position with nobody out, now against ex-Coon Josh “C” Carrington. Before the Raccoons could choke, Walt Richmond did, getting a grounder from Yocum and firing it away quite badly for a 2-base error that flipped the score…!! Olivares hit a deep fly out to right, and Wharton was walked intentionally. Hernandez popped out and Rivas grounded out to kill the inning without piling on… After Morales pitched another inning, the Coons then batted for him for no gains in the ninth and sent Valentin into the bottom of the final inning. Schimke hit an infield single, Martin hit a proper single, and the tying and winning runs were on the ******* bases. (buries face in paws). Hilario grounded to Yocum, but the Raccoons only got an out at second base from that play. Torres tried to end the game with a knock, but ended up whiffing for the second out. The game ended with Griffith, grounding to short, and McFarland handled the ball well and threw to first easily and in time. 6-5 Critters. Humphries 2-5, 2 2B, RBI; Olivares 2-5, RBI; Hamel 2-4, HR, RBI; McFarland 2-4; Colter 1-2; Morales 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, W (4-1);

The Titans were rained out against the damn Elks on this day, temporarily giving the Raccoons a lead of a full game.

Game 3
POR: LF Humphries – 2B Yocum – 1B Olivares – CF T. Wharton – 3B Hernandez – C Rivas – RF Hamel – SS McFarland – P Rios
IND: 1B Schimke – C A. Morris – CF Hilario – LF W. Griffith – RF T. Torres – 3B M. Martin – 2B Richmond – SS Masterson – P Apodaca

For novelty, the Raccoons turned a TRIPLE PLAY in the first inning after Rios fooled Schimke on base with a full-count walk and Andy Morris singled. Hilario cleaned up the plate really good with a sharp 5-4-3 three-for-one! That aside the Coons had nothing going for them early on, getting just one hit on a Hamel single the first time through, and Rios still managed to mess up in the third inning when he gave up a leadoff single to Masterson and then threw away Apodaca’s bunt for two bases. The Indians got an unearned run home in the inning on a Morris single, but Schimke made a poor out in the air, and Hilario smashed into a double play with runners on the corners. When an error by Richmond put Olivares on base in the fourth inning, it was Wharton to find the double play to erase the runner again. Masterson and Schimke put singles together for another (earned) run in the fifth inning, but the Coons were down 2-0 through six and looked a bit dead.

Olivares and Wharton hit soft singles to begin the seventh to suddenly put the tying runs on base, and casually tripling the team’s hits output on the day. When a wild pitch advanced the runners, the sneaky southpaw Apodaca just threw another one in the dirt to walk Hernandez and trap the Coons, three on and nobody out. We tried to get cute and sent Guerrero to bat for Rivas, but he hit into a (run-scoring) double play anyway, and Hamel fanned…….

Rios held up for seven and Rismiller pitched a scoreless inning after that, presenting Croft with a 1-run save and the 2-3-4 batters in the ninth inning. Yocum grounded to short, but Schimke dropped Masterson’s throw for an error. Olivares flew out, Wharton hit into a fielder’s choice, and the game was running away from the Coons. Hernandez singled, but there was no hitting for Brown in the #6 hole, who was our last catcher, but weak against the left-handed Croft. He grounded out. 2-1 Indians. Hernandez 1-2, 2 BB; Rios 7.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, L (3-9);

In other news

July 6 – Sacramento and Denver take a scoreless game to extras, but the Scorpions then soon win the game, 1-0 in ten innings.
July 7 – The Buffaloes would be missing outfielder Jose Banuelos (.321, 10 HR, 39 RBI) for the rest of the month, as the 25-year-old had suffered a sprained wrist.
July 8 – TIJ SP Bryan Farris (2-8, 4.66 ERA) puts a shutout together, 3-hitting the last-place Thunder for a 6-0 win.
July 8 – Boston 1B Hector Moreno (.299, 15 HR, 41 RBI) hits a ninth-inning home run to beat the Indians, 1-0.
July 9 – Thunder SP Chris Monahan (3-5, 5.40 ERA) returns the favor to the Condors in style, firing a no-hitter to beat them 2-0. The right-hander strikes out eight batters and walks and plunks one each.
July 9 – LVA 3B/2B/RF Matt Rodewald (.251, 4 HR, 38 RBI) has three hits, including a grand slam, and drives in five runs total, but ends up on the short end of a 13-12 ruckus game won by the Bayhawks.
July 9 – The Titans acquire OF Jake Evans (.230, 1 HR, 20 RBI) from the Stars for a prospect.
July 9 – L.A. picks up OF Matt DeForge (.318, 3 HR, 24 RBI) from the Wolves for a prospect.
July 10 – Los Angeles also acquires MR Shamar King (2-3, 3.42 ERA, 2 SV) from the Canadiens for two prospects, including #112 SS/3B/RF Ramon Herrera.
July 11 – MIL SP Kevin Bennett (9-4, 4.60 ERA) 1-hits the Crusaders and strikes out nine batters for a 5-0 shutout. The only New York hit is a single by LF/RF/1B Bryan Johnston (.217, 2 HR, 12 RBI).
July 11 – The Condors acquire outfielder Eddie Campos (.222, 1 HR, 7 RBI) from Vancouver for MR Harry Facteau (5-1, 4.54 ERA, 1 SV) and a prospect: #48 C Marty Weaver.
July 11 – The Gold Sox beat the Wolves, 5-4 in 14 innings.

Player of the Week (FL): NAS RF Austin Gordon (.318, 14 HR, 44 RBI), smashing .500 (14-28) with 4 HR, 7 RBI
Player of the Week (CL): ATL 1B Kris DiPrimio (.316, 7 HR, 55 RBI), hitting .519 (14-27) with 1 HR, 8 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The Raccoons had a pair of All Stars, none of whom had a winning record, as Nick Walla got the nod for being 6-6 with a 2.72 ERA, and Alejandro Olivares was challenging in the batting title race for some reason. This was Nick Walla’s *and* Alejandro Olivares’ FIRST All Star Game, somehow.

Also odd: the Raccoons sent out identical lineups against a right-hander and a left-hander in the final games before the All Star break. We have *that* many options left.

Nick Luebbert started a rehab assignment in AAA on the weekend and should be back after the break, because we need more .220 hitters.

The Titans split their Sunday double header, meaning the Raccoons ended up on top by half a game at the All Star Game, but by no means or meaning looked like the real deal. And it wasn’t like we had found $3M to make acquisitions at the deadline. We had prospects to offer for sure, but we’d need a Katz-like impact player on a manageable salary.

Three days off, then a 4-game set at home against the Crusaders. Right after that will come a road trip to Elk and Oklahoma Cities.

Fun Fact: The Coons have only one 3-game winning streak in the last seven weeks.

Counting from the end of a 7-game rush that stretched into the seventh week (the last week of May), so it’s 47 days to be precise. Hard to maintain momentum this way (and the baseball gods know we haven’t). Since May 27, the Raccoons are 19-24.

And somehow first.