Portland Raccoons (ABL)

[UltimateAverageGuy]

Originally Posted by Westheim

Those are the only ones that concern you?

That Nick Brown guy....I guess......

[plaugher]

I think an HoF vote toward Dickerson would also be worth it for yuks (yucks?) on the back of that impressively (oppressively?) high number in the millions-of-dollars-spent-per-win column.

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by plaugher

I think an HoF vote toward Dickerson would also be worth it for yuks (yucks?) on the back of that impressively (oppressively?) high number in the millions-of-dollars-spent-per-win column.

I giggled, but I couldn't make myself do that. You know, if we had invested that ginormous pile of money into an actually contributing player, maybe we could have made the Crusaders trip back then... but $3.3M on the DL is never pleasant, and thanks to inflation that was a way bigger blow than Jonny Toner's magical $3M disappearing trick this year...

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December 4 – The Miners add ex-DEN LF/RF Mario Rocha (.265, 102 HR, 560 RBI) on a 5-yr, $14.8M contract.
December 4 – The Knights trade for Vancouver’s OF Jeremy Houghtaling (.227, 18 HR, 71 RBI), sending them two prospects, including #71 CL Dusty Kulp.
December 5 – The Raccoons ink 21-year-old Cuban right-hander SP Dan Delgadillo to a 4-yr, $6.5M contract.
December 6 – The Blue Sox send RF/LF Saverio Piepoli (.254, 116 HR, 560 RBI) to the Gold Sox for three prospects.
December 7 – 1B Josh Perkins (.297, 32 HR, 158 RBI) is sent from the Crusaders, who rarely used the 29-year-old, to the Blue Sox, along with a prospect, for his peer OF Nick Shaffer (.241, 9 HR, 34 RBI).
December 8 – The Pacifics sign ex-TIJ OF Matt Jamieson (.258, 39 HR, 248 RBI) to a 3-yr, $3.06M contract.
December 9 – More offseason action for the Crusaders, who snatch up 36-year-old ex-SAC SP Ozzie Pereira (154-105, 3.72 ERA) for two years and $7.68M.
December 10 – The Canadiens pick up former Star SP Mo Robinson (100-96, 4.27 ERA) for one year and $530k.
December 12 – Former Stars outfielder Justin Dally (.281, 284 HR, 1,097 RBI) signs a 2-yr, $6.48M deal with the Aces. The 35-year-old is an 8-time All Star.
December 13 – The Knights add pitching with the addition of ex-DEN CL Jarrod Morrison (93-76, 2.83 ERA, 333 SV), who signs a 2-yr, $1.96M contract.
December 14 – 35-year-old former Miner LF/RF Bill Adams (.300, 229 HR, 930 RBI), who led the Federal League in home runs each of the last two seasons, signs a 3-yr, $11.24M contract with the Capitals.

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While the Portland press didn’t exactly partake in my personal ecstasy after signing Delgadillo – who as no way 21 – that was far from my biggest problem at that point. There was also the mild issue of a crammed 40-man roster, and for once I found it very hard to trim some superficial body fat.

Well, of course it was entirely possible to get rid of one of our rule 5 picks, less than a week after taking them in the rule 5 draft, maybe there was still a better way. Maybe we could do something about the full dozen of relief pitchers on the 40-man roster? Not even kidding, we had 12 of them on the 40-man: Barzaga, Brotman, Cowen, Devereaux, Dew, Kipple, Lillis, Moore, Morales, Rehbock, Surginer, and West; should time and luck have finally run out for Will West, 30 years old and a career sponge, used only to clean up the worst kinds of messes? Same for Adam Cowen.

There were also four left-handers (sans Lillis) in the list, and there was probably a way to turn one of them into something else. Even during the winter meetings I found it impossible to trade one of our relievers for anything non-trivial. Or, really, much at all. Lightning eventually struck Will West, who knew the deal well enough and packed his very few personal belongings silently and without sobbing more than needed.

Meanwhile the Delgadillo deal is very similar to the one Chavez signed three years ago, just a whole lot damn more expensive. Delgadillo will make $1.25M this season, and $1.75M in the three years after that. It was not my first offer, and I am glad we got this done before I had to offer $2M per year to a guy who had never thrown a pitch in the major leagues. How far up would I have gone? I don’t want to even imagine that.

But there’s some beauty about the Raccoons’ financials; while a bunch of the young guys would become arbitration eligible for the first time as early as ’25 (including Spencer, Graves, and potentially Daniel Bullock, too), overall our commitments were so far sparse. I also had my coin on Vince D to become the heir to Brett Lillis, and in my head I would then sign him to a team-friendly 4-year or 5-year deal during the season. Also, since this team would so totally start winning, we could expect a bigger budget starting next year, too.

It all made perfect sense … in my head.

Former Raccoons landing new jobs? Only Josh Stevenson, who signed for $600k with the Indians;

We cleaned out our international complex, by which I mean we mostly broke a few young hearts during December. Nobody you really heard of, with one exception: remember Alberto Ramos, the shortstop we picked up in the 2022 IFA period that made us blow our budget all to hell? Our new scout thinks that he’s ready to be thrown into professional ball. Ramos turns 18 the week before Christmas, so he’ll by no means too young for single-A ball. Miguel Carrasco gives him a current contact rating of 11, which is casually more than he concedes to two of the Critters’ current starting infielders (and I will not rat out on the guys he considers worse than this 17-year-old no-name kid from the Dominican; so don’t worry, Matt and Tim, nobody will ever know the truth).

[Westheim]

Safe for a trade of Juan Barzaga for a Pitcher of the Year or two, the Raccoons appeared mostly done for the offseason as the year preceded to wither and die. True, you can always make an upgrade to that one bench player. I imagine there are plenty of upgrades to be made to Daniel Bullock, but if I speak out loud about that, Christiano Carmona will swiftly produce another presentation about how he’s the best ever, and how he wields a solid bat with great potential.

In fact, an upgrade over Hector Barcenas as fifth outfielder was probably not that hard to find, you’d guess, but I had been looking for most of the offseason even before taking him in the rule 5 draft, and nothing had really turned up.

By the way, does anybody remember Chris LeMoine anymore? He had a few impressive seasons with the Loggers, leading the CL in slugging once even as centerfielder thanks to 33 homers and 29 other extra-base hits in 138 games in ’19. That was his age 26 season, and the fourth straight year he was worth 4+ WAR, which is a useless stat. LeMoine batted .279/.328/.472 the next year while missing 47 games, and then steeply dropped into a chasm of mediocrity. He slugged .331 for the Falcons in ’22, three years removed from his slugging crown antics, and still on the ‘good’ side of 30. He recovered somewhat last season, but – boy! – has it been a nightmare for him!

This Rookie of the Year and 4-time Gold Glover, and 2-time All Star, was up for grabs with the hot part of the offseason already over, and he didn’t even seem to command lots of coin. Too bad he was batting left-handed, and we had our share of brittle left-handed centerfielders already.

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December 20 – Former Crusader RF/1B/2B Ivan Flores (.271, 116 HR, 651 RBI) returns to the Federal League on a 3-yr, $4.26M contract with the Cyclones, who also re-sign 39-year-old veteran C Pat Walston (.285, 192 HR, 988 RBI) to a 2-yr, $6.16M deal on the same day.
December 21 – The Loggers get some relief in ex-IND MR Brian Gilbert (59-45, 3.71 ERA, 129 SV), who signs on for 2-yr, $4.16M.
December 22 – The Aces snatch 35-yr-old ex-SAC SP Samuel McMullen (176-112, 3.33 ERA) for 2-yr, $6.24M.
December 22 – Meanwhile the Scorpions console themselves with the addition of former Condors CL Joel Davis (35-38, 2.71 ERA, 72 SV), who inks with them for three years and $6.6M.
December 22 – After splitting the 2023 season between the Miners and Scorpions, CL Troy Charters (45-49, 3.87 ERA, 173 SV) signs a 1-yr, $1.94M deal with the Pacifics.
December 28 – The Scorpions add more pitching with the addition of ex-WAS CL Ben Marx (47-51, 2.73 ERA, 296 SV) on a 3-yr, $6.36M contract.

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Oh the luxury of signing both Ben Marx and Joel Davis to quite high seven figures in the same offseason! By contrast, the Critters hope to grow one of their 75 relievers into a workable closer that isn’t gonna kill ‘em in 2025. Sadly, Quantity < Quality.

The Scorpions started the offseason with three type A free agents. They wound up with no first round picks, and four in the second round, including three of the last five. Bad luck? Be it as it is, nothing will change about that anymore given that all type A players were off the market by December 22.

Unsigned so far is Jonny Toner, although there are constant rumors about this team and that team eager to sign him early to big bucks, even if it means burning a million for him to dwell on the DL to start the 2024 season.

The Capitals signed 40-yr-old Jayden Reed for 2-yr, $1.94M; the Stars picked up the tab on Danny Margolis for $274k;

[Westheim]

SPORTS ILLUMINATED

ARRIVED AT LAST
by Hank Hooter

There is a story that has made the rounds repeatedly the last few years about a pair of boys, both 13 or 14 years old and best friends, that both broke their arms in separate biking accidents only weeks apart in a warm Hawaiian spring in the early 90s. The right-handed kid broke his right arm and was grumpy about not being able to surf with the cast on until well into the summer. The left-handed kid broke his left arm a little later and was consequently sullen about missing his last year of Little League eligibility and not ever going to make it to Williamsport. Neither did his team.

By all accounts an intelligent but disaffected student, baseball was regularly all that was on the mind of Nicholas Armistead Brown, better known to fans of the game today as Nick Brown, ret., of the Portland Raccoons. He declared for the 1995 draft long before his senior year of high school was over, but received only lukewarm attention from ABL teams, some of which at that time didn’t even have a regular scout on the islands of Hawaii, where Brown was born in 1977, the year of the ABL’s inception. The young lefty went forward with his plans to get drafted and make a living with baseball anyway, over the objections of his mother, who wanted him to become a dentist.

Young Nick would get his will, eventually, although he was not selected in the first round as he had all but expected. In fact he didn’t even learn that he was drafted at all until four days after the draft. Internet connectivity being notoriously dodgy in Hawaii in the mid-90s, and only the top draft picks being listed in the papers, the Portland Raccoons, who selected Brown with their 11th-round pick, and the 293rd selection overall, would take their sweet time summoning that ‘lefty with a slider’ they had picked semi-randomly to the minor leagues. They did not call him until four days after the draft when a heart-broken Brown was already trying to get into community college to pass the next year.

When the 17-year-old boarded a plane to Los Angeles – no direct connection was available between Honolulu and Portland at the time – it was also the first time he left his native islands. He signed his contract in Portland two days later and was pitching 60 miles further south for the Raccoons’ single-A affiliate, the Aumsville Beagles, the very next day, allowing a hit, a walk, and a run in two thirds of an inning for an inauspicious beginning to his career.

By the end of his first professional season, he had made it into 14 games for the Beagles, including four starts, with an 0-4 record and 5.15 ERA, more or less all you would expect of a draftee taken in a round so low it hadn’t even existed just six years earlier. But only one year later, in his age 18 season, he went 14-8 in 30 starts, racked up 212 strikeouts in 193 innings and posted a 2.56 ERA. When exactly the Raccoons knew that they had something on their hands here has been lost to the passage of time, but Nick Brown claims he always knew he had all that it would take to excel in the sport.

While the AA level would take longer to conquer for that lefty with the slider, Brown found himself tackling AAA batters with some success by 2000, his age 22 season. While he stumbled out of the gates and had a 1-5 record and 3.96 ERA after seven games in that AAA campaign with the St. Petersburg Alley Cats, you tended to hold it against his team, given that he had also struck out 61 batters in 38.2 innings. At a time when Brown’s organization was floundering and treating water at the bottom of their division, it seemed like him being called up to the majors was imminent now. Instead, a different call arrived on May 15 of 2000. Scans for a flare of pain in his pitching elbow had come back positive – Nick Brown, on the brink to promotion to the Big Leagues, had ruptured his UCL and would require Tommy John surgery to ever pitch or hold a fork again.

Shunted to a siding for a year, Brown found himself back in Hawaii in the spring of ’90 or ’91, cursing the cast stretching the length of his left arm, and wondering if he would ever take the mound in Raccoons Ballpark. The baseball world was not holding its breath. Brown, who had ranked #12 and #17 in the two prospect rankings prior to the injury, entirely dropped off the list for the 2001 edition. Baseball seemed done with him, but Brown wasn’t yet done with baseball.

Shaking off the rust in AA and AAA ball in the summer of 2001, Nick Brown soon found his pitches to work better than ever, and pitchers struggling to hit anything he offered. In 16 AAA starts he would whiff 156 batters in 105 innings, posting a 9-5 record and 2.40 ERA before another call for him came – the Raccoons summoned him to Portland for his first career start, taking the 6-0 loss against the Milwaukee Loggers on August 7, 2001. His first career strikeout wound up being Jerry Fletcher, who was also on the 2024 Hall of Fame ballot. Brown made seven starts that season, but picked up his first career win in relief the Sunday following his debut, pitching two innings in a 15-inning effort against the Salem Wolves before emerging victorious. He ended up 2-3 with a 4.54 ERA for his abbreviated rookie season, but already hinted at exceptional talent by striking out 10.8 batters per nine innings, and while he never struck out 10 per nine innings in a qualifying season, he was a lock to get 9+ for more than a decade from then on.

It did not take long for the kid from Hawaii to become immensely popular in his new hometown of Portland, and he soon was one of the best players on his team, and one of the premier pitchers in the league. After pitching to losing records for losing teams in 2002 and 2003, Brown broke out with a 20-win season in 2004, going 20-7 with a 2.84 ERA and 240 strikeouts. The 200+ strikeouts would be a regular thing for him. In his first 11 full seasons in the major leagues, Brown would put up 212 or more strikeouts ten times, the only exception being an injury-shortened 2006 campaign. Sticking cardboard K’s to the facing of the upper deck at Raccoons Ballpark became a real ceremony during his starts at home.

His arsenal came a long way from being a mere ‘lefty with a slider’. At his peak, Brown could tick 100mph with the fastball, which moved well, and added that slider and sinker for variety as well as an outright heinous screwball with movement down and in to right-handers to knot them up good. They stood almost as little a chance against him as left-handed batters, with Brown posting almost negligible career splits. Left-handers batted .200 against him, right-handers .227;

People have held against him that he never led the Continental League in any triple crown category, that is he never had the best ERA, never had the most wins, and never had the most strikeouts. Those designations were usually picked up by Martin Garcia, Curtis Tobitt, Kelvin Yates, Pancho Trevino, and later Jonathan Toner especially. But Nick Brown also finished either second or third in a pitching triple crown category a stunning 20 times, including making the top 3 in all three categories in the same year twice.

While the ultimate triumph to win a championship would always be denied to the lifelong Raccoon, who only managed to get to the World Series with his team once in his career, in 2010, where he won both of his starts against the Cyclones as the Raccoons lost the series in six games, Brown racked up his share of accolades. He was an All Star eight times in a 13-year span (that included two seasons mostly wiped out by injuries), and won the Pitcher of the Year award in 2009. That season, Nick Brown went 17-6 with a 2.39 ERA and 243 strikeouts for Portland, leading the league in WHIP for the second and final time, but saw his team eliminated from contention on the final day of the season in an extra-inning thriller with the New York Crusaders, where the Raccoons came within inches of forcing a tie-breaker game in the 14th inning, only to have Keith Ayers thrown out at home plate and to lose two innings later. They made the playoffs the following year; their only postseason appearance while Nick Brown was effective, and he remains the only Raccoons pitcher to have won a World Series game in the 30 years after Miguel Lopez’ W in Game 7 of the 1993 World Series.

While he played until his age 40 season in 2018, Brown appeared in only 27 games between the last two seasons, and no longer had strikeout stuff; in 153.2 innings, he struck out only 39 batters in those final two years, and was on and off the DL all the time, and posted his first 4+ ERA’s since that rookie year in 2001. He did however not go out without a bang; 38 years old, on September 9, 2016, Brown threw 129 pitches as he no-hit the Vancouver Canadiens in a 1-0 squeezer. He walked four and struck out nine, and retired dreaded Ray Gilbert on a fly to shallow rightfield and Ron Richards for the final out. Four years earlier, Ray Gilbert had extinguished the Raccoons from playoff contention on the final weekend of the season.

Still unforgotten are also Nick Brown’s frequent quarrels with his own third basemen, especially if they were rookies, and his commitment towards the Willamette Institute for the Limbless and the Blind, which he would regularly visit during the offseason to play catch with any kid that could. Always more approachable than his reclusive predecessor as left-handed ace in Portland, fellow Hall of Famer Kisho Saito, during 24 years in professional baseball this kid from Hawaii that couldn’t help his Little League team get to Williamsport for a pesky broken arm created a lasting legacy on and off the field, and will remain in the minds and possibly hearts of baseball enthusiasts forever.

Last August, Nick Brown eventually did make it to Williamsport after all, throwing out the ceremonial first pitch in Game 29 of the International Bracket, which saw Israel defeat Uruguay by the mercy rule.

And this week, he also made it into the Hall of Fame, the chairman of the board of the ABL Hall of Fame in Unadilla, New York, announced on Tuesday. Elected along with fellow former starting pitcher Curtis Tobitt and infielder Dennis Berman, Brown received 89.3% of the vote, the highest tally in the 2024 balloting.

[Westheim]

There were still interesting free agents on the market in January. For example, Dan Brown. Yes, he is really not somebody to hit for average, but he can drive the ball to the next county over, and hit 26 for the Aces in 2022. He also hit only 13 last year in the same amount of at-bats, and then there was the mild issue of where we’d even play him. Both our outfield corners were claimed already.

Do we want another starting pitcher? Right now we’re still counting on “Tragic” Travis to do something useful for us. Graham Wasserman was still available; the 33-year-old St. Louisian had four nice pitches and had not missed time in five years. Unfortunately his K/9 were rapidly decreasing and the same thing was also happening for ex-Coon Frank Kelly, who would have been available on the cheap after losing almost all of 2023 to injury.

Almost having lost almost all of 2023 to injury, Jonny Toner was still asking for plenty a coin, but I was keeping an eye on that one…

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January 21 – The Raccoons trade for the Wolves’ OF/1B Abel Mora (.266, 45 HR, 256 RBI), who is signed through 2027. Salem receives three pitchers in 25-year-old MR Joe Moore (2-1, 3.65 ERA), 26-year-old MR Cory Dew (13-12, 3.25 ERA, 5 SV), and 28-year-old rule 5 pick SP Kaleb Babcock, who has yet to make his major league debut.
January 25 – The Wolves sign ex-ATL SP Alex Maldonado (87-97, 4.15 ERA) to a 2-yr, $1.42M contract.
January 27 – The Crusaders make a gamble on former Raccoons SP Jonathan Toner (157-69, 2.61 ERA), who is expected to miss the first two months of the 2024 season at least. Toner signs a 1-yr, $2.28M contract.
January 30 – Ex-CHA OF/1B Chris LeMoine (.260, 178 HR, 642 RBI) settles for $570k and one year with the Miners.
February 4 – The Knights ink ex-LAP SP Frank Kelly (79-58, 3.69 ERA) to a 1-year deal. The 30-year-old right-hander will make $990k as part of the contract.

+++

Well, that surplus pitching has sure been dealt with! This trade is also bad news for Cory Briscoe, who had a starting job until right now, but now will take a step back to Abel Mora. In terms of pitching, Joe Moore was maybe our third-best right-handed reliever (behind Vince D and Surginer), and while his stuff was real, he still never performed very well. And Cory Dew seemed like the real deal until tearing his rotator cuff at the end of the 2022 season, and well, these rotator cuffs have been known to ruin careers before they really began. Dew was maybe the replacement in the event that Moore or another right-hander actually did get traded, so that’s off the board. And the Wolves liked Babcock, so who am I to deny him to them? With Delgadillo inked, Babcock was not going to make the Opening Day roster unless at least one of our current starting pitchers shot his own eye out somehow.

When it comes to right-handed relievers, we now have Barzaga and Cowen (and West?) left beyond Vince D and Kevin Surginer. There are no really promising prospects beyond that. We will probably move Trevor Taylor to the pen in St. Pete, with the 27-year-old rightfully considered a “failed starter” by now. He was up for four starts and a readily memorable 10.00 ERA with the ’22 Coons, and pitched to a 9-12 record and 4.69 ERA in St. Pete last year. Trying his paw at relieving is his last chance before he has to go to community college.

Of course, maybe we want to look into adding a right-handed reliever now… Adam Cowen in long relief is one thing, but I don’t think I want to *rely* on Barzaga in games that matter.

Yes, I still claim the Coons will play such games in the upcoming season.

As an aside, Cory Dew completes the Northwest Trail with this trade; we acquired him from the Elks in ’21.

Meanwhile I am very surprised that a team shelled out millions on Jonny Toner, who is highly unlikely to appear before June, and then on a 1-year deal. But well, if somebody’s gotta have the money, it’s the Crusaders, you’d guess. This saddens me greatly, but there was no way I could give him that contract, knowing that he’d sit his bum on the DL for at least $800k worth of money, and then there was still the spectre of him being dastardly horrendous before he disappeared on the DL for good in ’23.

Jose Gutierrez got a $310k deal from the Condors. If you wonder who the **** Jose Gutierrez is, he *is* a former Raccoon, although his Raccoons stint preceded those of Ron Alston, “Dingus” Morales, Jong-hoo Umberger, and Jon Merritt, to name a few. Gutierrez is 39 and is still trying hard to squeeze 2,000 hits from his bat. He is 54 short.

Also finding a warm spot for the … uh… summer: Ruben Pelles signed with the Rebels for $248k; Chris Munroe was inked by the Thunder for $600k; the Bayhawks picked up Bobby Guerrero for $288k;

[Westheim]

As the winter progressed, I found myself in a bidding war with the Crusaders for that last player I tried to add, a reliever to bolster the corps after the trade of both Moore and Dew earlier. You have to know what you’re getting into if you get into a bidding war with the Crusaders, though; it’s the proverbial land war in Asia.

The other thing that was still smoldering on a very low flame was a potential trade of Zach Graves for really anything useful, which would allow us to keep Hector Barcenas around rather than to send this rule 5 draft trophy back to where it came from. Not that I am sold on Barcenas; it was just that the bench was tipping to the left side and I was no declared fan of that. Turns out, none of the other 23 teams were declared fans of Zach Graves.

The bidding war stretched into March, while the Crusaders also made a trade proposal, although it was more a thinly-veiled insult at both Matt Nunley and my intelligence when they offered 3B Andy Schmit for Russ Greenwald (30 and dwelling in AAA professionally) and Alberto Ramos, that currently sterling prospect that was to start the season in Aumsville.

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February 7 – The Crusaders sign ex-CIN/POR 2B/SS Raul Claros (..277, 49 HR, 407 RBI) to a 2-yr, $1.52M contract.
February 12 – The Falcons ship 27-year-old LF/RF/1B Terry Kopp (.278, 86 HR, 415 RBI) back to the Federal League, and the Cyclones in particular. Charlotte receives OF/1B Chris Erskine (.281, 11 HR, 95 RBI) and a prospect.
February 23 – The Pacifics wrap up a 5-yr, $15.24M package for 29-year-old ex-LVA LF/RF Dan Brown (.252, 82 HR, 385 RBI).
March 6 – The Condors sign up ex-BOS/CHA INF Tony Casillas (.253, 34 HR, 277 RBI) on a 1-yr, $1.32M contract. Casillas, 28, would be on his fourth Contintental League team.
March 6 – The Titans trade for 30-yr-old LF/RF/1B Jose Avila (.291, 40 HR, 291 RBI), sending 33-yr old LF/RF Chris Almanza (.257, 128 HR, 455 RBI) and a prospect to the Falcons.
March 10 – The Raccoons snatch up 31-yr old right-hander MR Jimmy Lee (48-48, 3.45 ERA, 19 SV) with a 2-yr, $1.93M contract offer. Lee spent his entire major league career with the Blue Sox so far.

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Suck it, New York! The acquisition of Lee is the sweater given that he is actually from Queens and grew up within spitting distance of the Crusaders’ ballpark.

Lee’s contract is flat; we easily have enough budget space this season. Next year is a big “???” so far given that the Coons might well turn a winning record (gosh, I hope!) and would get some additional coin then (ya gotta believe!).

The Lee acquisition also ended Juan Barzaga’s bid for the Opening Day roster. Cowen maintained the long man job, and Barzaga was sent to AAA along with Mike Rehbock and Hector Morales, who had already been reassigned on March 1.

Ron Thrasher got 2-yr, $944k from the Loggers; the Crusaders threw $298k at Quinn MacCarthy; the same amount would allow Jason Seeley to not starve for another year as member of the Cyclones; Danny Rice would have to be content with $290k from the Wolves; Logan Sloan ended up with the Capitals for $308k;

[Westheim]

2024 PORTLAND RACCOONS – Opening Day Roster (first set in parenthesis shows 2023 numbers, second set career numbers; players with an * are off season acquisitions):

SP Mark Roberts *, 29, B:L, T:L (16-9, 2.66 ERA | 46-42, 3.12 ERA) – acquired from the Bayhawks along with Jon Gonzalez in a trade that we still try to really believe actually happened, Roberts has been designated the new ace of the staff in a back-to-the-roots move. He might not continue Nick Brown’s legacy as left-handed litter leader, but if he were to put up Kisho Saito numbers, I would not be mad, either.
SP Jesus Chavez, 26, B:R, T:R (11-13, 3.53 ERA | 16-22, 3.92 ERA) – last guaranteed year for Chavez, who signed for hard cash and a 4-year deal out of Cuba prior to ’21, who had his first decent season in ’23 after not amounting to league average in partial seasons in ’21 and ’22. His walk numbers were quite encouraging (only 2.4 per nine), but he has also struggled to strike people out (5.8/9 in ’23).
SP Rico Gutierrez, 24, B:L, T:L (10-12, 4.09 ERA | 18-22, 3.70 ERA) – failed to build on the pleasant surprise of his rookie campaign; like Chavez he struggles with the strikeouts and batters keep lingering and will drive up the pitch count. Has decent control while keeping batters alert with a move-happy 96mph heater.
SP Travis Garrett, 28, B:R, T:R (6-8, 3.64 ERA | 28-32, 4.64 ERA) – this no-good right-hander keeps bouncing up and down between the majors and minors; 2023 saw his biggest body of work in the majors at 136 innings, and for the first time he was barely tolerable most of the time. Any kind of prospect could easily bump him into oblivion.
SP Dan Delgadillo, 21, B:R, T:R (rookie) – like Chavez, he is a Cuban right-hander signed for hard cash, and unlike Chavez he will make his major league debut right away; unlike Chavez we don’t believe his age claim and guess he’s a few years older; on paper his pitch mix with a 94mph heater and three different breaking pitches look like way too much of an arsenal for a 21-year-old that has never pitched outside of some village league.

MU Adam Cowen, 29, B:R, T:R (1-5, 3.95 ERA | 4-12, 3.69 ERA) – hopeless quad-A reliever with a limited repertoire that has been making sporadic appearances all the way since 2018 and never stuck around until last year; showed flashes of competence, but got lit up frequently late in the season. No more than long man material.
MR Billy Brotman, 25, B:L, T:L (1-2, 3.19 ERA, 1 SV | 1-3, 3.66 ERA, 1 SV) – maddening control issues (6 BB/9 in ’23) cost Brotman his status has leading left-hander behind Lillis quite quickly in 2023, and whether we will ever get to reign him in has yet to be determined...
MR David Kipple, 25, B:L, T:L (3-3, 4.40 ERA | 3-4, 5.12 ERA) – did not make the Opening Day roster last year, but after Francisquo Bocanegra was released and Brotman kept failing, Kipple quickly became the top dog from the left side. He struck out 11.3 per nine innings, and walked at least marginally fewer than Brotman, so he will remain the go-to guy against tough left-handers.
MR Jimmy Lee *, 31, B:R, T:R (5-7, 3.08 ERA | 48-48, 3.45 ERA, 19 SV) – a former starter with only two working pitches, Lee was signed in March after late trades created a spot in the pen for his type; has never had huge strikeout numbers, but he generates mostly soft contact, and with groundballs you should to well enough given the Coons’ infield prowess.
MR Kevin Surginer, 24, B:R, T:R (5-3, 3.13 ERA, 1 SV | 5-3, 3.13 ERA, 1 SV) – taken in the rule 5 draft for the second consecutive season, Surginer actually stuck around in 2023 and made himself immensely useful immediately; he mostly held his own against even tough pitching and had almost three strikeouts for every walk, and if we want to cut down on something, it’s that unnecessary traffic on the bases...
SU Vince Devereaux, 25, B:R, T:R (3-2, 2.44 ERA, 3 SV | 12-11, 3.61 ERA, 5 SV) – nasty curveball in combination to 97mph heat and makes hitters fear for their lives… because sometimes pitches could end up in the general region of their head. Maybe 4.1 BB/9 are a bit much for a setup man, but he was mostly fine last year, his first season in the brown shirt.
CL Brett Lillis, 35, B:L, T:L (3-2, 2.35 ERA, 40 SV | 39-56, 3.03 ERA, 288 SV) – Lillis picked up his player option and will be in a contract year; his cutter/curve combo kills, most of the time at least. Lillis had some odd meltdowns from time to time, but the Raccoons have been used to those from their every closer ever since Angel Casas departed…

C Elias Tovias, 24, B:S, T:R (.240, 19 HR, 68 RBI | .239, 21 HR, 72 RBI) – while we have yet to see any of that advertised defensive aptitude of Tovias, at least his promised power showed up in the second half of the season and he ended up with the second-highest home run total for a Raccoons rookie ever with a late sprint, and also casually led the team in dingers. Next thing we want to see is that average creeping up a bit, and well, maybe throw out a base stealer from time to time, too?
C/1B Tony Delgado, 36, B:R, T:R (.234, 6 HR, 25 RBI | .260, 85 HR, 491 RBI) – will provide veteran support to anybody who needs it after re-signing for cheap.

1B Jon Gonzalez *, 26, B:R, T:R (.284, 24 HR, 95 RBI | .281, 42 HR, 174 RBI) – acquired in the same mind-boggling trade with the Bayhawks as Mark Roberts, Gonzalez is the seventeenth attempt (approximately) to find a raw slugging first baseman to replace Al Martin. He not only hit 24 homers last year for the Baybirds, but also doubled a league-leading 41 times and was not a ready strikeout otherwise, with a whiff rate of just under 14%. It is totally guaranteed that we finally have that cleanup man with teeth I have dreamed about for so long!
3B/2B/1B/SS Shane Walter, 34, B:L, T:R (.292, 7 HR, 64 RBI | .307, 48 HR, 581 RBI) – high-contact bat with steady production for many years, and a key piece of the most recent Coons playoff efforts from 2017 through 2019. While he was on the road for a few years, there is a chance that Walter might also be a part of the next Raccoons playoffs team given that he is still signed through ’26 and I keep being delusional about our chances.
SS/2B Tim Stalker, 25, B:R, T:R (.266, 9 HR, 57 RBI | .256, 15 HR, 100 RBI) – very good defensive shortstop, more than just token speed, and he even managed to be an above-average hitter in his second seaso in the majors; knocking out 45 extra-base hits and taking 13 bags were nice additions to the not exuberantly flashy .266 clip, but we feel there’s still a bit of wiggle room for him to improve in all aspects of his hitting.
3B Matt Nunley, 33, B:L, T:R (.267, 12 HR, 76 RBI | .282, 109 HR, 658 RBI) – excellent defensive third baseman that has somehow yet to win a Gold Glove, and also an institution on the roster at this point. 2024 marks Nunley’s eleventh appearance on the Opening Day roster, and it’s hard to imagine the hot corner without him at this point. Nunley failed in ’23 as a cleanup hitter, a job he was pressed into for a lack of suitable candidates, but he should be a bit more out of the line of fire this year.
2B/LF/3B/SS Jarod Spencer, 26, B:R, T:R (.301, 0 HR, 35 RBI | .294, 0 HR, 89 RBI) – considering ball four as an insult, Spencer has not only not hit a home run in 1,234 AB in the majors, but is also the extremely rare breed that can bat .300 and still not amount to league-average production; rightfully lost his starting job with the Gonzalez trade.
3B/SS/SS Daniel Bullock, 26, B:S, T:R (.228, 2 HR, 19 RBI | .238, 2 HR, 54 RBI) – strong defensive infielder, especially on the left side of the infield, with a negligible bat, to be honest, but could also be reasonably used as a pinch-runner for – for example – Matt Nunley in close situations.

LF/CF/RF Ricardo Carmona, 32, B:L, T:R (.247, 0 HR, 32 RBI | .316, 19 HR, 530 RBI) – signed to an early extension before the 2023 season even began, Cookie soon enough found himself in hell, not seeing the ball well the entire year and dropping 70 points from his 2022 batting average; he also missed 58 games with repeating injuries, and overall had the outright worst season of his career. The only thing that didn’t entirely get away from him was speed, and he stole 22+ bases for the 11h straight year (388 SB in his career); will start the season is leadoff man, but needs to get back to his pre-2023 levels of hitting if he doesn’t want to drop in the order.
LF/CF/RF/1B Abel Mora *, 27, B:L, T:R (.296, 7 HR, 44 RBI | .266, 45 HR, 256 RBI) – somehow acquired from the Wolves in another hard-to-comprehend deal, Mora has a bit of an allround bat in that he doesn’t overwhelm with either average or power, but holds his ground in all aspects at the plate, and also on the base paths, with 93 career steals under his belt.
RF/LF Omar Alfaro, 23, B:S, T:L (.251, 14 HR, 48 RBI | .225, 15 HR, 57 RBI) – the Age of Omar arrived in ’22 with a bang – of an exploding tire. He continued to play a mediocre shtick until about the All Star Game when he suddenly caught fire and did most of his damage late in the season, actually bringing his performance up to league average and slightly above by the end of the year. We will firmly pretend the first 400-or-so at-bats of his career never happened and we now have a prime slugger that will nip it at .290 and smosh 36 every year.
RF/LF Zach Graves, 26, B:L, T:L (.282, 3 HR, 22 RBI | .272, 10 HR, 92 RBI) – uncomfortably settling into a quad-A mold, Graves after four years of busing in and out of Portland still hasn’t found his power stroke and probably never will; there is probably an upgrade possible over him, especially with a right-handed Eddie Jackson type that eluded us this offseason.
LF/RF/CF/1B Cory Briscoe *, 24, B:L, T:L (.287, 1 HR, 17 RBI | .286, 1 HR, 19 RBI) – acquired from Vancouver, Briscoe figured to be the starting centerfielder with a steady contact bat, at least until we got Abel Mora from the Wolves…

On disabled list:
SP Chris McKendrick, 25, B:R, T:R (9-7, 3.29 ERA | 9-7, 3.29 ERA) – made his debut in the first half of 2023 to stuff some gaping holes in the rotation and held his post reasonably well given that he had maybe two-and-a-half pitches to work with, but fell apart and headed for elbow ligament reconstruction surgery in September; is expected to miss most, if not all of the 2023 season;

Otherwise unavailable: Nobody.

Other roster movement: None.

Opening day lineup:
(Vs. RHP: LF Carmona – CF Mora – 2B Walter – 1B Gonzalez – RF Alfaro – 3B Nunley – C Tovias – SS Stalker – P Roberts)
Vs. LHP: LF Carmona – SS Stalker – 2B Walter – 1B Gonzalez – RF Alfaro – 3B Nunley – C Tovias – CF Mora – P Roberts

There is just no platoons with this team; the only position that we can reasonably alternate with differently-handed batters at would be second base, and if Jarod Spencer asks me very nicely he will get some starts, but not on Opening Day, where we will face Tom Shumway in Indianapolis. At least there’s two switch-hitters in Alfaro and Tovias, another one (Bullock) on the bench, and if we really want to, we can tilt either lineup quite definitely against any handedness of pitcher.

OFF SEASON CHANGES:

You hardly noticed, but for the first time in five years the Raccoons improved their record in 2023, going from 71-91 to 73-89. According to BNN that trend will intensify in 2024, with the Coons being declared the second-best team over the course of the offseason, adding WAR in every deal they did, and sometimes plenty. Overall, Portland gained 11 WAR (still a useless stat), behind only the damn Crusaders. The best deal was hands down the one with the Bayhawks in which he exchanged Matt Huf, Reese Kenny, and Jonathan Shook for Jon Gonzalez and Mark Roberts.

Top 5: Crusaders (+15.9), Raccoons (+11.0), Cyclones (+9.7), Pacifics (+7.8), Miners (+5.2)
Bottom 5: Indians (-5.0), Condors (-6.7), Falcons (-7.2), Scorpions (-9.9), Wolves (-13.4)

PREDICTION TIME:

The eternal optimist, I expected nothing but shambles from last year’s team, and for them to end up 67-95 and beaten, physically as well as spiritually. For the first half of the season they were well on track, with the most miserable offense you could possibly imagine, but in July we got some sparks in the lineup and things started to turn around with winning months in August and September, so we ended up six games better than the guesstimate.

This year I keep being delusional because I have to, and will project that the positive trends that we saw in many of the youngsters (minus Spencer, the slack) will doubtlessly continue in 2024, Cookie will find himself again, and we will get great impacts from Gonzalez and Mora on top of all that. The rotation might be a bit rough around the edges, but with the rejuvenated offense, even a merely decent rotation would already be enough to lunge back over the .500 mark and maybe, maybe make a challenge.

Maybe we are still a year away from that, especially compared to the Crusaders, but I predict that the Coons will be fun again, in the right way, and finish with 89 wins this season!

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT:

Just last year, the Coons’ farm system ranked dead last in the league once more, but this year we leapt up to a lofty seventh place, the highest the organization has ranked in human or raccoons’ memory. The meteoric rise is mostly due to a single prospect, beause the actual number of ranked prospects only increased from four to five, but 2022 international free agent signing Alberto Ramos was catapulted up all the way to #2! Nobody can recall anymore when that (if ever) had last happened, either…!

Between the Coons’ four ranked prospects in 2023, one was removed in trade, #161 Jonathan Shook.

2nd (+51) – A SS Alberto Ramos, 18 – 2022 international free agent signed by Raccoons
41st (+130) – A SP Gilberto Rendon, 19 – 2021 scouting discovery by Raccoons
71st (new) – ML SP Dan Delgadillo, 21 – 2023 international free agent signed by Raccoons (fall period)
109th (new) – A C Elijah Bean, 20 – 2023 first-round pick by Raccoons
111th (-22) – AA SP Felipe Delgado, 22 – 2019 scouting discovery by Raccoons

The franchise top 10 were completed by unranked A SP Steve Costlow, 22 (2023 5th Rd.), AAA C Ricky Ortiz, 23 (2017 scouting discovery, trade from TIJ), AAA SS/3B Hugo Ochoa, 22 (2018 IFA), A SP Jonathan Fleischer, 21 (2021 1st Rd., trash heap signing), and AA SS/3B Butch Gerster, 22 (2022 1st Rd.);

The top 5 overall prospects this year are:

#1 VAN A SP Geoff Swayze (newly drafted in 2023)
#2 POR A SS Alberto Ramos (was #53)
#3 SFB A INF Tim Stackhouse (newly drafted in 2023)
#4 VAN AAA SP Antonio Muniz (was #7)
#5 LAP AAA SP Dave Christiansen (was #5)

Among the remaining four of the previous top 5, #3 Ivan Vega was now ranked at #6, #4 Juan Ojeda dropped to #10, and #1 Nick Danieley and #2 Alex Serrato both lost eligibility due to major league service time.

Danieley, the #1 overall pick by the Buffaloes in the 2022 draft, went 13-11 with a 3.08 ERA in 28 starts in the majors, so he’s probably going to be fine for a while. Serrato starts the season back at the Thunder’s AAA team in Anaheim.

Next: first pitch.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (0-0) @ Indians (0-0) – April 1-3, 2024

New Year, New You! – At least that was the hope for the Raccoons, who would open the season in Indy with a 3-game set against the Arrowheads, in what figured to become an orgy of left-handed pitching. Both teams would send up two southpaw starters in the series. The Coons beat the Indians 10-8 over the course of the 2023 season, and neither team had managed to win more than ten from the other for four straight years. The 10-8 season series win had also provided the Critters with their margin for claiming fourth place in the North over the Indians, whom they distanced by only one game in the end.

Projected matchups:
Mark Roberts (0-0) vs. Tom Shumway (0-0)
Jesus Chavez (0-0) vs. Tristan Broun (0-0)
Rico Gutierrez (0-0) vs. Jordan Caldwell (0-0)

Of course Chavez and Caldwell are the odd ones out here when it comes to lefty pitching.

Game 1
POR: LF Carmona – SS Stalker – 2B Walter – 1B Gonzalez – RF Alfaro – 3B Nunley – C Tovias – CF Mora – P Roberts
IND: SS Burns – 3B V. Ramirez – LF D. Morales – RF C. Martinez – 2B R. Mendez – C T. Perez – CF Stevenson – 1B Linnell – P Shumway

Coons score first! Tim Stalker buried a triple in right-center in the top of the first inning, then scored on Shane Walter’s sac fly to Danny Morales in leftfield. Those two aside, it was an early orgy for Tom Shumway who struck out every other Raccoons batter, five total, before Abel Mora singled to center to begin the third inning, and in between Roberts also struck out four in the first two innings. Mora wouldn’t be moved around farther than on Roberts’ bunt, while the Indians got the leadoff man on in the bottom 3rd on a Kyle Burns single, but the first steal attempt against Elias Tovias on the year immediately yielded a positive result for us, with Burns being thrown out. Mora was aboard again in the fifth inning after forcing out Tovias with a poor grounder. Roberts bunted him over again, and this time Cookie came through, singling up the middle to score his new neighbor in the outfield and to extend the score to 2-0 in the fifth.

The Stalker triple early on aside, the big knocks eluded either team for a long time in this game, with Roberts managing the 2-0 lead well, even though he had only one strikeout after the early K rush all the way into the seventh. Cesar Martinez and Rich Mendez were easily retired, but then Tony Perez found a ball to his liking and peppered it for a home run, the first Indians tally of the season, and also a means to cut the Coons’ lead in half. Cookie would hit a leadoff single in the eighth inning, but got wrapped up in Stalker’s double play grounder to Vinny Ramirez, who started a 5-4-3 plate cleaner. Richard Linnell was retired to begin the bottom 8th on a plenty deep drive on a 3-1 pitch, and if even the lone lefty in the lineup was seeing Roberts that well by now, maybe it was time for a move. Vince D replaced him to face PH Justin Jackson, whiffed him, and tip-toed around Kyle Burns’ single to exit the inning. Bottom 9th, Lillis walked the tying run aboard with leadoff man Morales, then threw a wild pitch. This was very much not good, and Martinez’ sharp bouncer at third base was also trouble … except for Matt Nunley, who swiped and threw him out masterfully and kept the tying run at second base. That was as far as fate would get Brett Lillis, though, with Rich Mendez singling through Jon Gonzalez to tie the game, and Tony Perez buried the Coons on a triple to left-center. 3-2 Indians. Carmona 2-4, RBI; Mora 2-3; Roberts 7.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K;

Offense was slow, and Omar Alfaro went 0-for-4 with 3 K, flying out on an 0-2 in his fourth at-bat.

Well, things could still improve, right?

Game 2
POR: LF Carmona – SS Stalker – 2B Walter – 1B Gonzalez – RF Alfaro – 3B Nunley – C Tovias – CF Mora – P Chavez
IND: CF Linnell – C T. Perez – RF C. Martinez – 1B M. Rucker – LF D. Morales – 2B R. Mendez – 3B J. Jackson – SS Burns – P Broun

Power came online for the Coons by the 12th inning of the season; following Cookie’s 2-out single in a scoreless effort, Tim Stalker whacked a fastball over the rightfield fence to spot Chavez a 2-0 lead with Portland’s first home run of the season. Chavez, who had walked a pair in the bottom 1st and had only escaped on a timely double play, would blow that lead instantly, allowing a 1-out single to Tristan Broun, an RBI triple to Linnell, and a sac fly to Perez in the bottom of the same inning to get the teams even at two, and Mike Rucker wrapped a leadoff jack around the left foul pole in the bottom 4th to put the Indians on top by the score they won by on Monday. Chavez would be done after five innings that were completely and wholly a mess, but not before he waved in another run in the bottom 5th. Linnell drew his second leadoff walk in the game, and this time Perez was not around to hit into a double play. Consecutive groundouts advanced Linnell to third base, from where Chavez scored him with a wild one way past Tovias’ glove.

That hook was his to hang from, with Tim Stalker’s leadoff walk in the sixth inning swiftly followed by Stalker being gunned down by Perez trying to take second base. Walter singled, but Jon Gonzalez found a double play. Jimmy Lee made his Coons debut in the bottom 6th, with his very first pitch as a Critter being belched over the leftfield fence by Danny Morales. And Indy was on a real roll now; Brotman walked Linnell, whom we had only known for a day and who was already pissing us the heck off, and Adam Cowen served up a homer to Martinez in the bottom 7th, extending the gap to an unsightly 7-2. Only a huge hit could save the Raccoons from their own misery now, and they couldn’t have been farther from it all the way since the Stalker homer. Broun pitched into the ninth inning, where Stalker and Gonzalez reached. Alfaro popped out for the second retirement, after which Tony Delgado hit for reliever Adam Cowen in the spot Nunley had vacated earlier in a double switch. Delgado knocked a ball past Justin Jackson for a 2-run double, but even then the tying run only appeared in the on-deck circle. Broun was removed for Nick Salinas, who hit PH Zach Graves to bring Mora to the plate as the tying run, but then struck him out. 7-4 Indians. Stalker 1-2, 2 BB, HR, 2 RBI; Walter 3-3, 2B; Delgado (PH) 1-1, 2B, 2 RBI;

Game 3
POR: LF Carmona – CF Mora – 2B Walter – 1B Gonzalez – RF Alfaro – 3B Nunley – C Tovias – SS Stalker – P Gutierrez
IND: SS Burns – 3B V. Ramirez – LF D. Morales – RF C. Martinez – 2B R. Mendez – C T. Perez – CF Stevenson – 1B Linnell – P Caldwell

Cookie Carmona opened the Wednesday contest with a ball into the nook in the rightfield corner for his 100th career triple, a mark reached only by 23 other players in league history. The Coons barely managed to bring him in; Abel Mora grounded out to first, but Walter singled to right before Gonzalez and Alfaro both struck out. That one run held up no time at all, with Rico Gutierrez joining Jesus Chavez in pitchers instantly being lit on fire after being spotted a lead. He walked Kyle Burns, allowed a single to Vinny Ramirez that saw Burns to third and draw a throw that allowed Ramirez to move up, and after Morales struck out, Cesar Martinez knocked a ball to left center to score two. Another ill-advised throw home allowed another runner to gain an extra base, then led to another run on Tony Perez’ 2-out single, and the Coons were down 3-1 after the first.

Well, adversity here and there, the Coons tried to scramble. Nunley walked and was kindly maneuvered around to score in the second inning, cutting the gap to 3-2, but it sure didn’t help that Rico Gutierrez allowed each and every batter on base that he faced. The Indians had two in scoring position with two outs and Linnell at the plate in the bottom 3rd. That was the only left-handed batter the Indians had in the lineup and the ONE guy I expected Gutierrez to retire, so no intentional walk here. Linnell singled, the Indians scored two and zoomed ahead 5-2. Gutierrez got yanked after hitting Vinny Ramirez with one out in the fourth inning, with Jimmy Lee getting out of that inning in his place. After that it was scrambling to make it through the last four innings without sending a position player to pitch. The Coons had the occasional hit in the tops of innings, and also double plays. They never as much as resembled a threat. 5-2 Indians. Gonzalez 2-4; Stalker 2-4, 2B; Briscoe (PH) 1-2; Kipple 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

Welp?

Let’s see, we have Matt Nunley at 1-for-10; Tovias the same; and the worst would be Omar Alfaro, batting zip in 11 attempts with 5 K.

Raccoons (0-3) @ Bayhawks (2-1) – April 5-7, 2024

The Baybirds had gotten off to a … well… Matt Huf had already pitched a 3-hit shutout over the Thunder on Wednesday, so I had reason to kill myself, but they had also already issues with chronic band-aid Dave Garcia again, who was already laboring on a wonky ankle four days into the season. None of this was likely to help the Raccoons, who were doubtlessly doomed, despite beating the Birds 5-4 last season.

Projected matchups:
Travis Garrett (0-0) vs. Denzel Durr (0-0)
Dan Delgadillo (0-0) vs. Clark Johnson (0-0)
Mark Roberts (0-0, 1.23 ERA) vs. Brian Simmons (1-0, 2.25 ERA)

Lefty duel on Sunday, with four right-handers making their season debut in the first two games of the set.

Game 1
POR: LF Carmona – SS Stalker – 2B Walter – 1B Gonzalez – RF Alfaro – 3B Nunley – CF Mora – C Delgado – P Garrett
SFB: RF R. Gomez – C O’Dell – CF D. Garcia – 1B Metzger – SS Sanks – 3B Booker – LF A. Alvarez – 2B Pick – P Durr

This was the first game in which the Raccoons would not score first, with Pat Pick’s 2-run triple getting the Bayhawks on top in the second inning. Travis Garrett was occasionally all over the place, occasionally right down the middle, and Brett O’Dell appreciated that, knocking a solo homer in the third inning to extend the score to 3-0. The Raccoons would amount to two base hits in five innings. One of those was Cookie’s in the third inning, and he was promptly caught stealing. Durr easily held them at bay throughout the middle innings, and was completely cruising against a team that seemed like it had gone home already, at least until Jon Gonzalez had a token drive in the seventh inning that fell between the ailing Garcia and Rafael Gomez for a 1-out double. That was by definition some sort of scoring opportunity, I guess, even though it brought up merely Alfaro and Nunley, who were a combined 1-for-25 at this point. Alfaro finally cut through the knot with a full-count single to right, but Gonzalez couldn’t score against Gomez’ arm. With Garrett not having bled any more runs in the middle innings, Nunley came up with the tying run. He struck out, the seventh victim of career punching bag Durr, and all the Coons would get in the inning was one run on Stalker’s 2-out single to right center before Tony Delgado flew out to left. Durr singled against Garrett in the bottom 7th, but Gomez hit into a double play to end Garrett’s day at least with seven innings in the books, even though he was on the hook. He was hit for by Jarod Spencer in the eighth, with the Coons going down in order against Durr. Top 9th, still down 3-1 against left-hander Danny Munos. Gonzalez hit a 1-out double up the rightfield line, so the tying run was up in … Graves, who batted for the unspeakably bad Alfaro. In his third trip to the plate this season, Graves got smacked for the second time, putting the tying run on. Nunley lined out to Shane Sanks, and Tim Stalker’s grounder to third was good enough to end the game… except that Jaden Booker spiked the throw to first and it bounced off Austin Metzger’s glove. The error loaded the bases for Delgado, who negotiated a nerve-wrecking full count until he drew ball four from Munos, pushing in a run, 3-2. Elias Tovias batted for Vince Devereaux, cracked a ball to deep left, and Andres Alvarez could not get to it! It’s in! Tying run across, go-ahead run across, 2-run double for Tovias! And they are all unearned, but who gives a **** right now!? Cookie flew out to left, bringing in Lillis, and we quickly descended into another nightmare. Up by a single run, Lillis allowed a 1-out single to Jon Gilbert, walked Pick, and then drilled Victor Baeza. Bases loaded, one out for the top of the order – Gomez struck out to run to 0-for-5 on the day before Lillis dropped to 3-1 on Brett O’Dell. A walk kills the win, but O’Dell put the 3-1 in play. Quick bouncer to short, Stalker all over it and tapping the second base bag to end this one, finally. 4-3 Blighters. Gonzalez 2-4, 2 2B; Stalker 2-4, 3B, RBI; Tovias (PH) 1-1, 2B, 2 RBI;

Three unearned runs in the ninth to stave off 0-4…!

BUT IT COUNTS.

Game 2
POR: LF Carmona – CF Mora – 2B Walter – 1B Gonzalez – C Tovias – RF Graves – SS Stalker – 3B Bullock – P Delgadillo
SFB: RF R. Gomez – C O’Dell – CF D. Garcia – 1B Metzger – SS Sanks – LF R. Allen – 3B Booker – 2B Pick – P C. Johnson

Everybody was giddy for this debut, with “21-year-old” Yusneldan Delgadillo going up against an entirely right-handed lineup, which should be to his liking. The Baybirds were on him right in the first inning. O’Dell hit a hard single, Garcia hit a hard double, and that was good enough to bring the catcher home from first base for the first run of the game. His first strikeout would be fellow rookie Pat Pick, who also looked like 25 and was also described as such in the media guide. That one ended the bottom 2nd; the bottom 3rd began with Clark Johnson whacking a double to right. Luckily he got stranded with a K to the struggling Gomez and consecutive groundouts to short. The Bayhawks threatened again in the fourth, with Roger Allen getting drilled with two outs and Jaden Booker doubling to left. Allen held at third, and was stranded right there with Pat Pick striking out to end the frame.

Through four, the Coons had two hits, both doubles. Tovias had hit for two bases in the second, and Stalker had done so in the fourth. Neither had advanced to third base. The fifth inning began with the top of the order, but the best Cookie, Mora, and Walter would scratch out was a 2-out walk by Shane, who was left on when Jon Gonzalez flew out to right against his old team. Bottom 5th, Delgadillo was again bothered by the 2-3 batters, who reversed their fortunes from the first inning. O’Dell hit a 2-out double to right, scored on Garcia’s single, and the Austin Metzger hit an RBI double for good measure, extending the Baybirds’ lead to 3-0. Delgadillo lived through six, then was batted for with one out in the seventh; Nunley singled to right, and the Coons would pile on three more base hits against a suddenly foundering Clark Johnson. Cookie singled, got forced on Mora’s grounder, but Walter and Gonzalez both hit 2-out RBI singles to get the score from 3-0 to 3-2.

Kevin Surginer whiffed three around O’Dell’s infield single in the bottom 7th to keep the Bayhawks within reach, but the Coons wouldn’t progress past second base in the top of the eighth. Stalker stole his way there, the first successful thievery by the Raccoons in 2024, but he would remain 180 feet away. The Baybirds hit three singles against Jimmy Lee in the bottom 8th, but Erik Janes grounded out to keep all their runners stranded. Top 9th, Danny Munos got Cookie to fly out to center to begin things, after which Spencer batted for a luckless Mora against the lefty closer. Gonna need a guy on base, any which way, and Spencer at least countered Munos. Spencer hit the 1-1 to deep left, high and long – and OUTTA HERE!!! JAROD SPENCER WITH A HOME RUN HAS TIED THE GAME … I DON’T BELIEVE IT!!!!

It was the only run the Coons produced in the inning, with Walter reaching on an error by Jon Gilbert, but that was that. The Bayhawks put O’Dell on base against Lee in the bottom 9th, but left him, and this game was the Coons’ first to go to extra innings in ’24. They put Stalker and Bullock on base with two outs in the 10th, but Delgado flew out to end the inning, and that had also been the last bat off the bench. Adam Cowen avoided getting killed in the bottom 10th, and Cookie drew a leadoff walk from Scott Hanson in the top 11th, but Spencer bunted badly and got him forced out. Cory Briscoe grounded into another fielder’s choice, keeping the go-ahead run on first base with two outs for Jon Gonzalez, who could not possibly care less. In a full count, Gonzalez murdered a Hanson pitch and hit it 380 feet and well outta here for a 2-run homer, and Gonzalez’ first of the season! Lillis retired the Bayhawks in order in the bottom 11th. 5-3 Coons! Spencer (PH) 1-2, HR, RBI; Gonzalez 2-6, HR, 3 RBI; Stalker 1-2, 3 BB, 2B; Nunley (PH) 1-1;

Well, it’s been a scramble, but we’re outta last place at least, ahead of the 1-3 Loggers.

Never mind that we are well on pace to have an offense even worse than last year.

Game 3
POR: SS Stalker – 2B Spencer – 1B Gonzalez – C Tovias – 3B Nunley – CF Mora – RF Alfaro – LF Briscoe – P Roberts
SFB: RF R. Gomez – 3B Booker – CF D. Garcia – 1B Metzger – C J. Gilbert – LF R. Allen – SS Sanks – 2B Pick – P Simmons

The Critters scored first, which would probably mean they would lose, in the Sunday affair. After Stalker and Spencer were sat down, Gonzalez hit a double to left and advanced on a wild pitch. Tovias walked, and then Nunley dropped a bloop into shallow left to score Gonzalez. Mora made the last out, after which Mark Roberts hit batters to begin both the first and second innings; neither Gomez nor Gilbert would go on to score. The leadoff man was on again in the bottom 3rd, this time Gomez again with an infield single that Tim Stalker couldn’t do anything with. Booker made an out, after which Garcia popped up a 2-1 pitch behind home plate. Tovias erred around the general vicinity of the ball, which dropped two feet in front of him, and was charged an error. Dave Garcia singled to right on the next pitch, moving Gomez to third base. Mark Roberts escaped the jam with strikeouts to both Metzger and Gilbert.

Nunley seemed to be crawling from his hole, doubling in the fourth. Mora’s groundout moved him over, after which Omar Alfaro walked, which also had to constitute progress. Cory Briscoe flew a ball up the rightfield line that dropped in for a double next to Gomez; Nunley scored, 2-0, and runners were in scoring position with one out for Roberts, who couldn’t put it in play and struck out, which brought up Tim Stalker, who had two triples on the week and hit ANOTHER ONE, this one past the still sore-hooved Dave Garca into deep center, where it happily died on the track and allowed two more runs to come in and Stalker to take the team RBI lead all by himself with five furballs drive in. Spencer walked, but Gonzalez grounded out to Booker, ending the fourth with a 4-0 score.

Things wouldn’t remain this comfy, with Simmons’ leadoff double in the bottom 5th being not only annoying, but also the first step towards bases loaded and one out. Booker singled, Garcia walked, bringing up Metzger, who struck out again, and Gilbert, who didn’t, but Alfaro caught up with his fly to right and ended the inning anyway. Roberts would not be in danger anymore in the game, but also lasted only seven innings before bumping over 100 pitches, and it was early and he was not the pitcher with the most stamina anyway, and it was his turn to bat in the eighth, so he was removed after seven. Briscoe drew a leadoff walk from Bobby Guerrero in the top 8th, but Cookie, Stalker, and Walter would not get that runner over or even in; the score remained 4-0. Surginer got through the eighth inning without any huge problems. Guerrero walked Nunley and Mora in the ninth, with Graves batting for Alfaro with two outs in the hopes for a knockout blow, but that didn’t happen, as Zach grounded out to first. On to the bottom 9th, Surginer retired Shane Sanks, but then allowed a double to Pat Pick. Left-hander Erik Janes appeared as pinch-hitter, causing the Coons to send for Billy Brotman. He threw two pitches; a ball, and then one into Janes’ hip. Vince D immediately replaced him in what was now a save situation, but walked Gomez on four pitches. Jaden Booker grounded to third, but the best Matt Nunley could do was to collect one out at second base; Pick scored, and runners remained on the corners with two down for Dave Garcia, whom Vince D collected looking. 4-1 Critters! Nunley 3-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Mora 2-4, BB; Briscoe 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI; Roberts 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K, W (1-0);

Whee, a good kinda sweep!!

In other news

April 4 – ATL INF Tony Jimenez (.300, 0 HR, 3 RBI) will miss the rest of the month with a strained hamstring.
April 5 – The Stars get murdered by the Capitals in an 18-7 blowout. The Capitals land 24 base hits, with Matt Barber (.438, 0 HR, 2 RBI) and Matt Wittner (.600, 0 HR, 6 RBI) both landing four base hits. Barber drives in one, Wittner plates three.
April 7 – Salem’s SP Jose Vazquez (1-1, 2.25 ERA) spins a 1-hit shutout against the Buffaloes. Salem wins 4-0. Topeka’s Wade White (.474, 0 HR, 6 RBI) only breaks up the no-hit bid with two outs in the eighth inning.

Complaints and stuff

There has been some good and some bad this week, and you can mostly divide it evenly by location where it happened. Omar Alfaro is a huge red light and blaring siren, but it’s still early, and this is a mantra that I will have to repeat until the All Star Game, when it will be officially no longer early.

A few leftover pitchers signed only this week, f.e. Graham Wasserman joining the Capitals on a $940k deal.

Maud was frustrated because she wanted to give out special Nick Brown Hall of Fame Bobbleheads at a weekend home game on the 10th of any month this season, but no such date exists. July 10 falls into the All Star break, and the Coons play road games on the 10th in May, June, August, and September. The only home game on a 10th will be this coming week, but that will take place on a Wednesday and on a getaway date. You don’t give up precious Hall of Fame Bobbleheads on a getaway day.

Since all other clever ideas don’t work either, like giving out the bobbleheads on the days that would signify Brownie’s draft position (#293, or #13 in the 11th round don’t make for days on which ball is played), we instead picked (hopefully) a good weather day against a division rival. So please mark your calendars for June 1, a Saturday home game against the Indians that so rapturously swept us to begin this year.

Meanwhile I need to set aside one of the Raccoons lanyards we’re giving out on April 20 against the Condors. Depending on which direction this team will topple in on the upcoming 2-week homestand, I might need one to strangle myself with.

Coming in during these two weeks: Thunder, Crusaders, Loggers, and finally the Condors.

Fun Fact: On August 13, 1991, Kisho Saito hit a home run against the Buffaloes in what was eventually an 11-inning, 4-3 loss.

Up until Jarod Spencer got one into the jet stream on Saturday, Master Kisho had been the Raccoon with the most career at-bats and only one home run. Saito ranks 63rd overall in franchise at-bats with 1,121; Spencer is now 56th with 1,242 at-bats, and the player with most franchise at-bats and one home run. The title of franchise player with more at-bats and NO home runs devolves to Nick Brown, who had 1,122 at-bats (one more than Saito), 62nd on the batting register there.

For giggles – the other players in between Spencer and Saito in franchise at-bats? How about Esteban Baldivía (1,234), Darryl Maloney (1,195), Josh Stevenson (1,187), Stephen Buell (1,166), and Ralph Nixon (1,129)? See yourself how many of those you can actually place somewhere in Raccoons lore.

Also, that 1991 homer was not the only one in Saito’s career. He had previously gone deep for the Elks in 1982.

[Westheim]

DOUBLE WHAMMY!!

Please note that I have resolved the quirk of two starting pitchers both named Jose Menendez in the CL South by renaming the Thunder’s specimen to J.J. Menendez.

+++

Raccoons (3-3) vs. Thunder (4-2) – April 8-10, 2024

The Thunder had started 0-2 and had since won four straight, which sounded quite a bit like what the Raccoons had done, only from 0-3. Oklahoma had the highest batting average in the CL after one week of play. They also had allowed the fewest runs. This sounded a bit like a challenge for a team that was already in the groove to score around 3.5 runs per game again.

Projected matchups:
Jesus Chavez (0-1, 7.20 ERA) vs. Chris Munroe (0-1, 4.50 ERA)
Rico Gutierrez (0-1, 13.50 ERA) vs. J.J. Menendez (0-0, 1.29 ERA)
Travis Garrett (0-0, 3.86 ERA) vs. Zach Weaver (0-0, 1.59 ERA)

No left-handed pitchers in this series, at least not as far as the opposition is concerned.

Game 1
OCT: SS L. Rivera – RF Branch – 3B B. Marshall – C Pizzo – 1B J. Elliott – CF Millan – LF Cesta – 2B Ts’ai – P Munroe
POR: LF Carmona – CF Mora – 2B Walter – 1B Gonzalez – C Tovias – 3B Nunley – RF Alfaro – SS Stalker – P Chavez

There was not a whole lot of offense early on, with teams totaling only three base hits in the first three innings, and none of them major. The Thunder would be the first to encroach on the opposing pitcher, putting Ezra Branch and Mike Pizzo on with singles in the fourth inning, but John Elliott smacked a ball at Tim Stalker who started an inning-ending double play. The Coons also placed a pair on base in their half of the fourth, and even did so with nobody out, with Elias Tovias singling up the middle and Matt Nunley drawing a walk. Alfaro grounded out to continue his early ruckus, but at least advanced the runners, which allowed Tim Stalker to drive in the first run of the game with a clean single to center. Nunley turned third and made for home, but was thrown out by Omar Millan. Stalker advanced to second, and scored from there when Jesus Chavez whacked a single to left with two down. Cookie grounded out, and the two runs on the board were for nought again, with Chavez blowing the lead immediately in the fifth. Lorenzo Rivera’s 2-run single to left tied the score, collecting Millan and Zhang-ze Ts’ai. The bottom 6th saw a leadoff double off the fence in right as an encouraging sign of life from Omar Alfaro, but there was nobody behind him with a good stick to drive him in. Chavez meanwhile recollected himself after finishing his day job of blowing the lead, and went through eight innings on 97 pitches without getting hung onto a sharp metal spike. Unfortunately, the Coons had no weapon against Munroe, a former Raccoon, either, and he went through eight, too. David Kipple was in for the ninth, but allowed singles to PH Andy Bareford and then right-hander John Elliott. Millan grounded out, after which righty Adam Baker batted for Mike Cesta. Vince D came on and got the Thunder to retreat to the dugout with a grounder back to his glove and then a pop in shallow right. There were only three more pitches in the game before Tim Stalker procured the first walkoff of the season in the team's home opener, homering off right-hander Manny Gomez leading off the bottom of the ninth. 3-2 Coons. Stalker 3-4, HR, 2 RBI; Chavez 8.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K;

Tim Stalker is more or less ALL our offense right now…

Game 2
OCT: SS L. Rivera – CF Bareford – 1B J. Elliott – RF Dobbs – 2B Ts'ai – C A. Baker – LF Millan – 3B B. Marshall – P J.J. Menendez
POR: LF Carmona – SS Stalker – 2B Walter – 1B Gonzalez – 3B Nunley – CF Mora – RF Alfaro – C Tovias – P Gutierrez

Again there was next to no offense in the early innings. The Coons had a pair on base in the second inning, but that was already partly due to an Elliott error that got Alfaro on with two outs. Tovias sent a drive to right, but that ended up with Brett Dobbs. Gutierrez allowed only one base hit in the first three innings, but he drew a walk himself in the bottom 3rd, then stood on first base uselessly while the top of the order didn't do much in particular. Going back out to pitch the fourth, Gutierrez was suddenly trashed. He allowed a walk to Elliott, and then was taken apart with four singles, all more or less hard, as the Thunder piled three runs on him in quick procession. This time, the Coons made a swift comeback; Jon Gonzalez was drilled to begin the bottom 4th, and after Nunley lined out to short, Abel Mora's drive to center eluded Andy Bareford for an RBI triple. Alfaro dropped a single to right, plating Mora to get to 3-2, and Tovias drew a walk. Gutierrez forked the inning with a terrible bunt, with Alfaro forced out at third base by Bobby Marshall, and when Cookie singled to right, that put Tovias against Dobbs' arm, which was a no-no even as we were desperate for the tying run. Tovias was held after moving only 90 feet from second base, and the bases were loaded for Stalker, batting .444 in the early action, but flying out to Dobbs on the first pitch…

The point was mostly moot by the fifth inning that saw Gutierrez torn to shreds for good by a Bareford single, with Andy stealing second base, a Dobbs RBI single, Ts'ai RBI triple, and then Adam Baker's homer, but wouldn't you know it, the Coons had another trick up their sleeves. A double switch brought Cory Briscoe into the #9 hole eventually, and he hit a leadoff triple in the bottom 7th. Menendez balked him in, then allowed a single to Cookie, who stole second base, his first bag of the year. Stalker grounded out, Walter made another out, but then Jon Gonzalez singled to center, plating Cookie and running a hitting streak dating back to his San Fran days and 2023 to 12 games. Nunley hit an RBI double, 7-5, then scored when PH Jarod Spencer singled in Adam Cowen's place. Scott McLaughlin replaced the fallen Menendez at that point and got Omar Alfaro to fly out to center, keeping the Thunder afloat by a single run. Unfortunately our pen couldn't keep them there; between Lee and Kipple, the Thunder hit three singles, all more or less soft, in the eighth inning to get an insurance run across, and they added another (unearned) one in the ninth when the Coons were down to using Brett Lillis in a maturing loss. Jon Gonzalez made an error to begin the inning, putting Bareford on base. Despite all the crap going on, the Coons brought up the tying run in the bottom 9th against Manny Gomez. Gonzalez doubled with one out, and while Nunley was denied on a drive to right, Zach Graves' pinch-hit appearance resulted in an RBI double to left, bringing up Alfaro with the team one swing away. Alfaro singled to center, Graves was held as his run didn't matter, and things were left to Tovias, who popped out over the infield. 9-7 Thunder. Carmona 2-5; Gonzalez 2-4, 2B, RBI; Mora 2-3, 3B, RBI; Spencer (PH) 1-1, RBI; Graves (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI; Alfaro 2-5, RBI; Briscoe 1-1, 3B;

The Indians started 7-0, but lost today, an 8-6 defeat at the beaks of the Baybirds.

Game 3
OCT: SS L. Rivera – RF Branch – 3B B. Marshall – C Pizzo – LF W. Madrid – 1B J. Elliott – CF Millan – 2B Ts'ai – P Weaver
POR: LF Carmona – SS Stalker – 2B Walter – 1B Gonzalez – 3B Nunley – RF Graves – CF Briscoe – C Delgado – P Garrett

The 3-4-5 batters loaded the bases for Portland in the first inning, but Zach Graves grounded out to second to keep them aboard. Something like that happened to the Thunder, too, with Garrett walking two (Willie Madrid and Ts'ai), with a third batter, Millan, popping out foul on a 3-1 pitch that looked seriously low. Also in between, Elliott had singled. Weaver struck out for the second out, and Rivera's fly to center was no challenge for Briscoe. Coons broke through in the bottom 2nd then, with Briscoe singling to left leading off, stealing his first bag as a Critter, and scoring on Delgado's double into the leftfield corner. The bases were soon loaded; Garrett reached on an error by Rivera, and Cookie walked in a full count, no outs. They reaped a meager harvest; Stalker ripped a ball to deep left, but Madrid caught it, holding Stalker to a sac fly, and Walter hit into a double play. Garrett promptly got whacked around some more on two base hits and drilling Marshall in the third inning, allowing a run on Madrid's double. With runners in scoring position in a 2-1 game, Elliott fouled out, and Millan grounded out to keep the Coons ahead.

Gonzalez ripped a blast to lead off the bottom 3rd, restoring a 2-run lead and extending his 2-team hitting streak to 13 games. Garrett responded by walking the bases full in the fourth inning, including two 4-pitch walks, INCLUDING one to lead off the inning to Ts'ai. Mike Pizzo batted with the bags full and two out, that count ran full as well, and somehow Pizzo hacked himself out and Garrett continued to live as I put the blunderbuss away. Garrett was persistent in his attempts to get shot, though, bunting into a force to erase Delgado in the bottom 4th, and allowing base hits to Elliott and Millan in the fifth. His 103rd pitch in the game (including six resulting in hits and five completing walks) was his last, as Ts'ai hit to Nunley for an inning-ending double play.

At least Gonzalez was doing what he was paid for, smashing a line drive homer for a solo shot in the fifth inning, giving him long ones in back-to-back at-bats against Weaver. Nunley and Graves also reached with one out, but Briscoe and Delgado made outs. Top 6th, pitching remained awful. Jimmy Lee faced two batters, allowing a single to Weaver(!) and then walked Rivera. Billy Brotman now had to contend with the tying run at the plate and nobody out in a 4-1 game, and a K to Ezra Branch and Marshall's double play took care of the Thunder. Bottom of the inning, Cookie walked, stole, then scored on Walter's double, 5-1. The pitching nightmare continued anyway. Adam Cowen appeared in the seventh, retired nobody, and surrendered three line drive base hits and a run. Surginer replaced him, walked Millan to load the bases with nobody out, and then surrendered two runs on a Ts'ai sac fly and Rivera's 2-out single to center on which Brett Dobbs was caught in a rundown to end the inning. The Coons lead was now down to 5-4, and they surely didn't look like they would get that one across – and then they did. Surginer retired the side in order in the eighth, and Brett Lillis sat Madrid, Elliott, and Bareford down as well in the ninth to grab the rubber game after all. 5-4 Coons. Walter 2-4, 2 2B, RBI; Gonzalez 2-3, BB, 2 HR, 2 RBI; Nunley 2-3, BB; Delgado 2-4, 2B, RBI;

Raccoons (5-4) vs. Crusaders (6-3) – April 12-14, 2024

Old rivals faced another again in this first weekend home set. The Crusaders were sixth in runs scored early on (Coons: 7th) and fifth in runs allowed (4th), which in the end had them with a zero run differential (-1). Their rotation was fourth in ERA (11th), but their pen had been really creaky (same). The Coons had wound up with back-to-back 6-12 defeats in the season series against New York.

Projected matchups:
Dan Delgadillo (0-0, 4.50 ERA) vs. Ozzie Pereira (0-0, 1.26 ERA)
Mark Roberts (1-0, 0.63 ERA) vs. Mike Rutkowski (1-0, 1.93 ERA)
Jesus Chavez (0-1, 4.15 ERA) vs. Ben Jacobson (2-1, 11.57 ERA)

Jacobson was the only left-hander we expected and also a swingman, with all his decisions and in fact all his four appearances so far this season having come in relief. A spot had opened up for him due to Josh Knupp (0-0, 3.12 ERA) experiencing biceps tendinitis.

Game 1
NYC: 1B X. Garcia – CF Douglas – LF J. Williams – 3B Schmit – 2B S. Valdez – C McPherson – RF Fullerton – SS Doering – P Pereira
POR: LF Carmona – SS Stalker – 2B Walter – 1B Gonzalez – 3B Nunley – RF Alfaro – CF Mora – C Tovias – P Delgadillo

The Crusaders had the bases loaded in the first; Delgadillo initially got two outs, then allowed a single to Jake Williams and lost both Andy Schmit and Sergio Valdez to walks. Eric McPherson struck out to keep New York honest early on. The Coons scored, with Cookie hitting a leadoff double in the bottom 1st and coming home on Gonzalez' single up the middle. Delgadillo wouldn't hold on to that lead; he generally missed graciously, and lacked stuff to secure strikeouts. When Xavier Garcia reached base leading off the third, he stole a base quickly and came in to score on a groundout. Young(?) Yusneldan's shortcomings became even more apparent when Ozzie Pereira ripped him for a mighty double with two outs in the fourth. Garcia promptly singled to left, teasing the pitcher to race for home, but there he found himself thrown out by Cookie to end the inning.

Cookie drove in a run with a 2-out double in the bottom 4th, but that was after base hits by Alfaro and Tovias, who both reached the vaunted .200 mark with their knocks, and Tovias scored Alfaro before himself coming home on the Carmona double. Stalker grounded out, leaving the Coons up 3-1 with a struggling rookie on the hill. Said rookie drilled Lance Douglas to begin the fifth, then got a mighty catch from Cookie who made a long sliding catch to haul in Jake Williams' blooper. A Schmit double and McPherson RBI single got the Crusaders closer, and D.J. Fullerton tilted the score with a 3-run homer to center, putting New York 5-3 ahead. Delgadillo was removed soon after, with the damage thoroughly done.

The Coons got a good start to the sixth with an Alfaro double, but after Tovias got on, PH Zach Graves hit into a double play. The seventh began with Cookie and Stalker both singling to become the tying runs aboard. Walter flew out to left, but Gonzalez walked, loading the sacks and bringing in Steve Casey, a reliever with elite stuff who had already closed on occasion and this year had already 11 K in 8.2 innings. He faced Nunley with three on and one out, whiffing him, while Alfaro put an 0-2 pitch in play, but flying out to Williams in left. Instead, the Crusaders tacked one on against Kipple in the ninth, but it was his own fault, issuing a walk to Williams and nicking Schmit to start the inning. Bottom 9th, the tying run came up with one out; Travis Giordano yielded a double to Stalker, threw a wild one, then walked Walter to bring up Gonzalez, who struck out. Nunley fought off a few pitches until he knocked a 2-2 to left for an RBI single, which got the park to all its paws with the appearance of Alfaro in the batter's box, alas, Omar grounded out to second to end the game. 6-4 Crusaders. Carmona 3-5, 2 2B, RBI; Stalker 3-5, 2B; Alfaro 3-5, 2 2B; Tovias 2-4, RBI; Cowen 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Game 2
NYC: 1B X. Garcia – CF Shaffer – 3B Schmit – RF Ellis – SS S. Valdez – LF Douglas – 2B Doering – C Rangel – P Rutkowski
POR: LF Carmona – SS Stalker – 2B Walter – 1B Gonzalez – 3B Nunley – RF Alfaro – CF Mora – C Tovias – P Roberts

Mark Roberts struck out three in the first two innings and drove in Alfaro with the first run of the game, singling to center off Rutkowski with two outs in the bottom 2nd. While the Crusaders didn't get a hit until the fifth inning, the Coons were not exactly lucky either. In the third inning, Gonzalez and Nunley hit consecutive drives to the outfield that sure looked like extra bases, but they were retired on strong plays by Douglas and Nick Shaffer, respectively. In what was still a 1-0 game, Blake Doering got the Crusaders into the H column with one out in the fifth, doubling off the base of the leftfield wall. The game immediately got out of hand with Harvey Rangel's murder blast to center that flipped the score. The Coons managed a vague tail flap in the bottom of the inning, Roberts reaching on an infield single leading off, and Stalker drawing a walk following Cookie whiffing. Walter knocked into a double play to keep them down.

Roberts pitched seven innings of 2-hit ball, those two hits amounting to two instant runs, and whiffed nine, but was still on the hook when he was hit for in the bottom 7th. Briscoe hit into a fielder's choice in his place, and Cookie also grounded out to remain 2-1 behind. Luckily, it was bound to get much worse quickly. The Crusaders loaded the bags in the top 8th against Surginer with nobody out, although things started with a Gonzalez error before Fullerton and Garcia both singled. Kipple replaced Surginer. David struck out three… but not before Williams hit an RBI single and he walked in a run against Piet Oosterom…

Walter singled and Gonzalez extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a double to center in the bottom 8th. The double was already off Casey, who now had Nunley back at the plate as the tying run, and Alfaro (.200…) luring behind. Nunley got a man in with a grounder to second, but that cost a precious out, and Omar struck out glaring to keep Gonzalez on third. Giordano would retire the side in order in the bottom 9th, dropping the Critters back under .500 for the year. 4-2 Crusaders. Roberts 7.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 9 K, L (1-1) and 2-2, RBI;

There was a change for game 3 of the series, as left-hander Tim Dunn (0-1, 5.14 ERA) would make the start for New York. We would take the opportunity to rotate our omnipresent left-handed batters out of the lineup.

Game 3
NYC: 1B X. Garcia – CF Douglas – RF Ellis – LF J. Williams – 3B Schmit – 2B S. Valdez – C McPherson – SS Claros – P Dunn
POR: SS Stalker – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – RF Alfaro – 2B Spencer – LF Briscoe – C Tovias – 3B Bullock – P Chavez

The game started with a 4-pitch walk to Xavier Garcia, but Chavez got around that just as well as around 2-out singles by McPherson and ex-Coon Raul Claros in the second inning, when he struck out Dunn to escape. Garcia hit a leadoff single in the third, and like in the first inning stole second base, but was left on base regardless. The Coons had found their way to the ballpark before the game, which was merry, but didn't show up in the box score prior to the fourth inning, in which Abel Mora landed their first base hit – a homer to right center for the first run of the game. The Critters continued to scramble when Spencer got hit with two outs by pig-snouted Tim Dunn, and then Briscoe and Tovias chained together singles to drive him in. Bullock struck out, leaving the score at 2-0 and runners on the corners.

So what would Chavez do with a lead? Early precedence hinted at a big inning for New York, but he struck out Dunn to begin the fifth, but then Garcia singled. Lance Douglas struck out as well, and when Garcia tried to scoop his third base of the game and the seventh of the season, he got a clear "no-no, senor" from Tovias, who threw him out for once. The Coons were back asnooze for the fifth and sixth, but the Crusaders lowered the visor and charged in the seventh. Sergio Valdez rammed a leadoff triple to center, and Chavez lost McPherson on balls to create a mess. D.J. Fullerton came out to pinch-hit for Claros and hit a ball to right, but Alfaro was on top of that. Valdez still scored on the sac fly, cutting the gap to 2-1. Dunn bunted, and Briscoe made a good run and catch on Garcia's fly to left, exiting the inning. The 2-run gap was restored however in the bottom 7th with Tovias' first mash of the season, a leadoff jack to left center. Bullock walked after that, with Nunley batting for Chavez, but flying out. Stalker also made an out, bringing up Abel Mora, who stunned the Crusaders by cracking his second shot of the game, a 2-piece to right center that moved the Coons out to slam range, 5-1. Portland turned the ball over to Brotman after Gonzalez flew out to center, probably killing his hitting streak. Briscoe would blatantly rob Douglas of extra bases in deep left to begin the eighth, and this was probably a ball a 32-year-old Cookie wouldn't make. Brotman would put the next two on base after all, with Schmit grounding out after that, moving the runners to scoring position. Valdez then drove a ball to right, but Alfaro recovered after initially appearing to lose it in the sun (sun in Oregon in April! Witchcraft!) and caught the ball to end the frame. Vince D had the same struggles in the ninth; despite striking out McPherson and Doering to begin the inning, he created a save opportunity by allowing a single to Piet Oosterom and walking Garcia. With nothing but left-handers coming up for miles and miles, Brett Lillis was sent into the fray. He K'ed Douglas to end the game and salvage at least one from the Crusaders. 5-1 Critters. Mora 2-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI; Tovias 2-3, HR, 2 RBI; Chavez 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W (1-1);

In other news

April 8 – The Crusaders walk off on the Falcons, 1-0 in 12 innings. Their catcher Eric McPherson (.444, 0 HR, 2 RBI) hits a walkoff double to score Jake Williams.
April 8 – The Titans will be without OF Adam Braun (.231, 1 HR, 5 RBI) for at least six weeks. The 25-year-old right-hander has suffered a triceps strain.
April 9 – WAS LF/RF/1B Matt Hamilton (.538, 2 HR, 15 RBI), who was the FL's Player of the Week during the first week of the season, will miss three weeks with a bruised wrist.
April 10 – The Aces scored all their runs in a 13-2 rout of the Loggers in the final three innings, including seven in the eighth. LVA 1B Allen Retzer (.375, 0 HR, 2 RBI) has four base hits, a walk, and 2 RBI in the game.
April 11 – The Canadiens are powered to a 15-2 smashing of the Indians with an 8-run fourth inning. VAN C Ryan Holliman (.265, 2 HR, 9 RBI) drives in six with three hits, including his first two long balls of the season.
April 12 – The Gold Sox expect RF/LF Mike Bednarski (.314, 0 HR, 8 RBI) to miss most of the remaining season with torn ankle ligaments.
April 14 – 22-year-old sophomore 3B/RF/LF Mike Matias (.257, 0 HR, 1 RBI) will miss the rest of the month with a sprained ankle.

Complaints and stuff

Here is not that much to say right now; the offense is not exactly firing on all cylinders with a bunch of players we are counting on hitting around .200 or quite a bit below. We also have the second-worst rotation at this point, although the pen has been unnerving as well.

I think right now 6-6 is generous, and 89-73 is quite a way off.

Fun Fact: Six years ago this Saturday, on April 13, 2018, Michael Foreman of the Loggers no-hit the Crusaders. It was the first of four no-hitters that year, the most ever in an ABL season.

More obscure than this fact is the following one: Foreman is one of only two former or current Raccoons pitchers that spun a no-hitter for a team other than the Raccoons. The other? Angel Romero, who no-hit the Warriors as a Pacific in 1994.

[alexsimon99]

Originally Posted by Westheim

DOUBLE WHAMMY!!

Please note that I have resolved the quirk of two starting pitchers both named Jose Menendez in the CL South by renaming the Thunder’s specimen to J.J. Menendez.

Should we take the second J to also be Jose, so his name is Jose Jose Menendez?

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by alexsimon99

Should we take the second J to also be Jose, so his name is Jose Jose Menendez?

Well, I am not around that team, but from what I have heard he ate his passport than told the Thunder that they had hit the Jose Jackpot.

This might well be crazy talk.

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Raccoons (6-6) vs. Loggers (5-7) – April 16-18, 2024

The Loggers came into town in last place and had just buried former Critter Ron Thrasher (0-0, 0.00 ERA) who was headed for Tommy John surgery at age 36, as broke on Monday, which was an off day for both teams. The Loggers had started off ranking in the bottom three in both runs scored and runs allowed, and their pen had been ripped apart for a fantastic 5.76 ERA, which was not supposed to get better with Thrasher shunted off to the DL for the rest of the season. The Raccoons had not lost the season series to the Loggers in ten years, beating them 11-7 in 2023.

Projected matchups:
Travis Garrett (1-0, 3.00 ERA) vs. Jorge Villalobos (2-0, 1.10 ERA)
Dan Delgadillo (0-1, 6.35 ERA) vs. Morgan Shepherd (0-2, 5.52 ERA)
Mark Roberts (1-1, 1.27 ERA) vs. Michael Foreman (0-0, 0.77 ERA)

The Loggers had only right-handed starters; meanwhile Rico Gutierrez was conspicuously absent from the Raccoons' schedule for the series, which related to the off day as well as his 12.96 ERA. If there had ever been a guy that had looked like he could use an extra three days or 25 years between starts, it was Gutierrez.

Game 1
MIL: CF Tesch – C Wool – SS Tadlock – RF Gore – LF de Santiago – 3B A. Velez – 1B Gilmor – 2B March – P Villalobos
POR: LF Carmona – SS Stalker – 2B Walter – 1B Gonzalez – 3B Nunley – RF Alfaro – CF Mora – C Delgado – P Garrett

Abel Mora's error in the first inning helped the Loggers to two unearned runs, although "Tragic" Travis had a sure paw in this mess, too, allowing singles to Josh Wool and Ron Tadlock before Carlos de Santiago's fly glanced off the heel of Mora's glove to allow a man to score. The other runner came home on Garrett's wild pitch in the process of walking Alberto Velez, but Nick Gilmore flew out to end the early nightmare. Base hits by Tadlock and Velez added a run to the Loggers' total in the third inning, while the Raccoons amounted to only one base knock in the early innings, but loaded the bases in the bottom 4th with two outs. Walter singled over Dan March, and Nunley and Alfaro drew 2-out walks, but Abel Mora grounded out to the second baseman March and nobody scored.

Things got a bit worse for both teams in the bottom of the fifth, with Tony Delgado's drive to right being spoiled by Brad Gore, who also hurt himself and left the game with a pinched nerve in his neck and was headed to the DL by the game's eventual conclusion. Jon Berntson replaced him and had a good view of the double play that ended the game, your household 8-3 double play on which Brad Tesch caught Cookie's fly to center, then doubled off a confused Garrett, who had singled after the Delgado out and had run on contact. Garrett continued to grow my stomach ulcers in the sixth, allowing a double to March with two outs, and then a sharp RBI single to left center to the opposing pitcher. On to the seventh, where the Coons had runners in scoring position and no outs after a Nunley single and Alfaro double, both to the right side. The bottom of the order amounted to absolutely nothing, including pinch-hitter Cory Briscoe. The team would actually get on the board eventually, Cookie hitting a leadoff single in the bottom 8th and then scoring on Stalker's double to the leftfield wall. When Shane Walter walked, suddenly the tying run was up at the plate, and it was Jon Gonzalez, who … grounder to short. The Loggers only got Walter, Tim Dunkin replaced Villalobos and retired the side while allowing only one more run on Nunley's groundout. Brotman and Surginer prevented the Loggers from adding insurance in the ninth, and the Coons had the tying run at the plate immediately in the bottom 9th with Abel Mora singling to right off Brian Gilbert, a right-hander. Zach Graves batted for Tony Delgado, lined to center, Tesch missed it, and Graves had a double; the tying runs were in scoring position with nobody out and now Spencer batted for the pitcher; we wanted a contact bat here rather than Tovias' all-or-nothing. With no outs, keep the line moving! Spencer unhelpfully grounded out to third base, Cookie's soft fly to right was caught by Berntson, sliding, but Mora scored, and then Stalker lined past March, chasing Graves home from second to tie the game with the team down to the last out! Stalker was caught stealing, sending the game to extras.

Brett Lillis pitched two scoreless innings in relief now, but wouldn't get picked up for a win with the offense choking against the Loggers' pen. The bottom 11th ended with Lillis being hit for by Bullock, who grounded out, officially emptying our bench. Cowen replaced Lillis on the mound and held the Loggers away in the 12th, with Cookie leading off the bottom of the inning with a single off Mike Kress. Stalker bunted Cookie to second, where he was starved when Walter popped out and Gonzalez struck out. Cowen pitched three scoreless before he hit a 1-out single in the bottom 14th. Cookie followed that up with a double play to short. There was no scoring until the 16th, when Kipple walked Tesch and Wool with two outs, two left-handers to make it worse, then allowed an RBI single to Ron Tadlock, knocked sharply into left. Danny Munn struck out to end the inning, but what could the Coons do against Kress in his SIXTH inning? Nunley grounded out, but Alfaro singled to right. Mora struck out. Tovias struck out. 5-4 Loggers. Carmona 2-6, RBI; Stalker 2-6, 2B, 2 RBI; Nunley 2-6, BB, RBI; Alfaro 2-6, BB, 2B; Graves (PH) 1-1, 2B; Brotman 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K; Cowen 4.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K and 1-1;

Listen, kids. If you wanna lose, lose in nine, goddamnit.

Gutierrez would bolster the pen in the Wednesday game. If Delgadillo would be knocked out early, we'd throw in Saturday's starter and figure out where to go from there later.

Game 2
MIL: CF Tesch – 1B Gershkovich – SS Tadlock – C Wool – 3B A. Velez – LF de Santiago – RF Harris – 2B March – P Shepherd
POR: LF Carmona – SS Stalker – 2B Walter – 1B Gonzalez – 3B Nunley – CF Briscoe – C Tovias – RF Graves – P Delgadillo

The Loggers again scored in the first with a Mike Gershkovich single, Tadlock doubling into the gap, and then a groundout by Josh Wool, but the Coons came right back when Cookie singled, stole, and scored on Stalker's base hit to left. That wasn't all; Walter reached base on Wool's throwing error, and Nunley's RBI single gave them the 2-1 lead with one down. Briscoe flew to left, de Santiago dropped that one, and Walter scored. Tovias struck out, but Graves' single plated Nunley for a fourth run (and the third unearned run) before Shepherd saved himself by undressing Delgadillo. Milwaukee got a run back from the Coons' struggling starter of the day right away in the second as Delgadillo knocked Terry Harris, who then scored on a March double. In the fourth, the Loggers got doubles from de Santiago and Harris, but wouldn't score thanks to de Santiago being thrown out by Briscoe at third base on his non-triple. Instead, the Coons added two in the bottom 4th, putting Cookie and Stalker on the corners with no outs and then getting an RBI single from Walter and a sac fly from Gonzalez to get to 6-2.

This also nipped the Loggers' starter, forcing them into their pen that had also tossed eight innings on Tuesday (compared to ten for the Coons). Ivan Morales bled a run in the bottom 5th, Briscoe scoring on a Graves groundout, but Delgadillo found his groove in the middle innings and generated lots of poor contact, clicking through the Loggers quickly with a 5-run lead. Young Dan would walk Harris to begin the seventh, with March following that with a fly to Briscoe. Danny Munn pinch-hit, grounded to second, and Walter started two to end the inning. Singles by Tesch and Tadlock would knock out Delgadillo for good in the eighth, especially with left-handers coming up. Wool flew out to center on Billy Brotman's first pitch, and Velez struck out to end that inning, and Brotman also retired them in order in the ninth. Stalker 2-4, RBI; Nunley 3-4, RBI; Delgadillo 7.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W (1-1); Brotman 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

First major league win for Dan Delgadillo!!

The Loggers moved to a different right-hander, Pedro Hernandez (0-2, 3.12 ERA) for the rubber game, while the Coons stuck with their ace.

Game 3
MIL: 2B Stewart – 1B Gershkovich – SS Tadlock – C Wool – RF Berntson – 3B A. Velez – LF de Santiago – CF Tesch – P P. Hernandez
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Spencer – 1B Walter – RF Alfaro – 3B Nunley – CF Mora – C Tovias – SS Bullock – P Roberts

There were no base hits from either team in the first two innings, after which rain dropped down and the game went to delay for an hour. Roberts came back a mess, walking de Santiago, nailing Tyler Stewart, and allowing two runs on the first hit of the game, a Gershkovich double into the rightfield corner. The Coons amounted to absolutely nothing, and Alberto Velez added a 2-run homer for the Loggers in the fourth against a washed-away Mark Roberts, who seemingly didn't like the rain, which was bad news for all game dates in Portland outside of the middle of July. The Critters only picked it up in the sixth, and rather scrappy fashion. Bullock singled with one out, with Graves popping out in a PH appearance. Cookie reached on Stewart's error, Spencer reached on an infield single, and then Walter drew a walk from Hernandez to push in a run with two down. Alfaro singled to center, plating two, but Nunley struck out, keeping the team a run short to take the since-removed Roberts off the hook. The bullpen gave everything; Kipple, Lee, and Vince D tossed scoreless innings each, with Lee even striking out the 9-1-2 batters, but the Coons did nothing in the bottom of the seventh, and while Briscoe hit a leadoff single in the eighth, he was also caught stealing. Bottom 9th, Gilbert on the mound, Walter and Alfaro both singled to right to begin the inning, putting the winning run aboard already! In a shrewd move, Gonzalez batted for Nunley, taking away the platoon advantage and sending in a batter that was 0-for-8 in the series, but now we desired the big stroke, and wasn't Gonzalez the king of doubles? Jon hit away at the first pitch, smashing it deep to right, and Terry Harris didn't bother – that one was GONE!!! 6-4 Furballs!! Alfaro 2-4, 2 RBI; Gonzalez (PH) 1-1, HR, 3 RBI; Briscoe (PH) 1-1;

With that big ripper, Jon Gonzalez ties for the lead in homers in the CL, and Vince D for the lead in wins in the CL. Neither CL mark is the ABL mark, but who gives a **** about the Federal League?

Raccoons (8-7) vs. Condors (9-7) – April 19-21, 2024

Half a game back of the lead in the CL South and on a 4-game streak, the Condors were winning despite being in the bottom three in runs scored. Their pitching was quite good, with the fourth-fewest runs conceded, but even then their run differential was -5. The Condors had beaten the Coons for three straight years, with us coming up short 3-6 in '23.

Projected matchups:
Jesus Chavez (1-1, 3.15 ERA) vs. Luis Flores (1-2, 1.99 ERA)
Rico Gutierrez (0-2, 12.96 ERA) vs. George Griffin (1-1, 2.65 ERA)
Travis Garrett (1-1, 3.00 ERA) vs. Andrew Gudeman (1-0, 2.21 ERA)

That's some pitching they have … in April. Flores will be the only southpaw for us this week, lest they skipped somebody and would move Jeff Little (2-0, 0.66 ERA) into the series.

Game 1
TIJ: SS B. Rojas – 3B J. Gutierrez – LF O. Larios – C Sanford – CF Hatley – RF Hollar – 1B McNeal – 2B Casillas – P L. Flores
POR: LF Carmona – SS Stalker – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – 3B Nunley – RF Alfaro – C Tovias – 2B Spencer – P Chavez

The Coons had yet to put on a runner under their own power – Mora had reached on an error by Tony Casillas – when the Condors took the lead in the third inning, and then it was on a leadoff jack by that same Casillas that had soiled Flores' perfect game bid. The Condors upped their game to 3-0 in the fourth against Chavez, who once more fooled nobody, with a single by Omar Larios, a Pat Sanford RBI triple, Chavez losing Nick Hatley to a walk, and then a run-scoring double play grounder by Chris Hollar. Flores struck out six in the first four innings and also hit a single off the negligible Chavez in the fifth, although the rest of the team didn't pile on at that point. A Cookie single in the fourth and a pitch into Nunley's ribs in the fifth aside, Flores was very dominant and maintained a 1-hitter with 7 K through 6.2 innings until Omar Alfaro found the gap with a fly to left center and slid into third base with a 2-out triple. Tovias grounded out to Jose Gutierrez, and we were probably not going to get back into this one… Through seven, this was really a one-man show, and that despite the fact that Chavez also held on and lasted two outs in the eighth before Kipple had to take care of a man on third base. The Coons had a leadoff single by Spencer in the bottom 8th before twice hitting into a fielder's choice. Stalker, however singled, moving Cookie to third, and the tying run appeared in Abel Mora. Actually, no. The Coons sent their only right-handed bat on the bench, Tony Delgado, who grounded out. The Condors saw the need to add some runs, effortlessly put three (two earned) on Kipple and Lee in the ninth, and the Coons retreated to the clubhouse with their striped tails firmly tucked in between their hind legs. Rafael Cuenca faced four and retired nobody in the bottom 9th, with Tovias landing an RBI single to stave off the shutout, but with the bases loaded and no outs, replacement Mike Peterson retired Spencer, Graves, and Cookie in order to close this one out. 6-1 Condors. Chavez 7.2 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, L (1-2);

Game 2
TIJ: SS B. Rojas – 3B J. Gutierrez – LF O. Larios – C Sanford – CF Hatley – 1B McNeal – RF Hollar – 2B Casillas – P Griffin
POR: LF Carmona – SS Stalker – 2B Walter – 1B Gonzalez – 3B Nunley – RF Alfaro – CF Mora – C Delgado – P R. Gutierrez

This was really a lineup to recover your stats for Rico, who would face only three right-handed batters in the #2, #4, and #8 slots. Indeed, only Larios reached base the first time through, hitting a clean single to centerfield, but Gutierrez struck out three in pushing his ERA out of the double digits and towards a more crisp and defensible … 9. Sanford singled in the fourth, but the Condors didn't amount to much early on, with Rico on five whiffs after four innings. Unfortunately, the Raccoons were just as ineffective against George Griffin; after a Shane Walter single in the first inning, they didn't get back on base until Jon Gonzalez singled in the fourth. Nunley also hit a single to left, and then Griffin lost Alfaro on straight balls, pulling up Mora with the sacks full and two down, and indeed Abel became the fourth straight Coon to reach base, whacking a 2-run single to left center. Delgado grounded out to end the inning. Too bad that Gutierrez imploded all the same with leadoff singles by Andy McNeal and Chris Hollar in the fifth inning, and hard ones at that. Casillas hit into a double play, and then the remaining runner scored on Delgado's passed ball with the pitcher at the plate. Wasn't this a marvelous job?

Portland had Nunley and Alfaro aboard again with two outs in the bottom 6th, but this time Mora grounded out, leaving Gutierrez to his own devices, which meant a leadoff single by Sanford in the seventh, and then Gutierrez threw away Hatley's grounder for an error. PH Adrian Rojas struck out, and Chris Hollar's one-bounce rocket went right to Stalker who started a masterful double play; for many players, not getting killed by that ball would have been success enough, but Stalker shortstopped the Condors' rally excellently here! Gutierrez was retained in the bottom 7th to bunt over Delgado after the latter's leadoff single, but the Coons would not amount to a run in the inning. Vince D retired the side in order in the eighth before Lillis took over and issued a leadoff walk to Jose Gutierrez in the ninth inning – just what we wanted to see, the tying run aboard with nobody out. Speed demon Danny Zarate pinch-ran for Gutierrez, but Lillis had the keenest eye on him and would throw over six times in total in the inning to keep him honest over there while he struck out Larios, got Sanford to pop out, and finally Hatley to roll out to Stalker to end the game. 2-1 Coons! Nunley 2-3, BB; Gutierrez 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K, W (1-2);

With this W, the Coons vaulted into second place, the only winning team in the division other than the Crusaders at 11-6.

There would be a change of pitcher for this opponent as well in the last game of the set, with the Condors replacing Gudeman with Jose Menendez (2-2, 3.86 ERA).

Game 3
TIJ: SS B. Rojas – 3B J. Gutierrez – LF O. Larios – C Sanford – CF Hatley – RF Hollar – 1B McNeal – 2B Casillas – P Jo. Menendez
POR: LF Carmona – SS Stalker – 2B Walter – 1B Gonzalez – 3B Nunley – RF Alfaro – CF Mora – C Tovias – P Garrett

"Tragic" Travis Garrett ran 3-ball counts to the first three batters of the game, all three reached on a single (Gutierrez) or walks, and while there was no fixing whatever Garrett lacked in ability, composure, or even just looks, hustling out to yell at him on "national" "television" in the Sunday night Twatbook-exclusive livestream after only 15 pitches sure eased the heartaches our pitching coach felt whenever Garrett honed his trade in the spotlight. You couldn't watch this guy throw a bullpen, and you sure as heck couldn't stand to see him flick beans when it counted. Cookie held Sanford to a sac fly on a drive to left, and consecutive groundouts to Walter ended the inning, but – boy! – did I hate Garrett's sorry face. Cookie's .250 batting corpse singled and went to third on Stalker's single on a hit-and-run call, and Walter's walk in a full count loaded the bags for the Coons with nobody down in the bottom 1st then. Jon Gonzalez had creamed a first pitch for a 3-piece in walkoff fashion earlier this week, but this time was denied by Omar Larios at the fence, the return sac fly tying the game as Cookie scampered home for Gonzalez' team-leading 12th RBI. Menendez ran a few full counts, whiffing Nunley, but walking Alfaro, and Abel Mora gave Portland the lead with a single to right, scoring one run before Tovias grounded out to end a first inning that lasted almost half an hour.

The 2-1 lead was shattered instantly in the second, Casillas tripling and coming home on a 2-out single by Bob Rojas, but the Coons would come back in the bottom of the same inning with Cookie's 1-out single and Walter's 2-out RBI double. Top 3rd, leadoff walk to Gutierrez, Larios singled, and the Coons couldn't turn a potential inning-ending double play on Hatley's grounder, while Twatbook users (or Twats for short) merrily commented away and called the asinine junk boil Garrett worse names than I ever could, while "lol"ling mightily. While Maud was busy explaining to me what Twatbook was and how it worked and what it was good for (absolutely nothing?), Chris Hollar, a rookie, hacked himself out, stranding a pair. Garrett somehow lived through four to lead off the bottom of that fourth inning with a single to right and Cookie hit one almost to the same spot right afterwards. Here came Stalker, OPS'ing .959 and trying to pretend that that would hold up for the year, stunning the Condors with a mighty blow to centerfield, a 430-footer that was not held by the fence and exploded the score to 6-2 in the home team's favor!

That got rid of Menendez, who compared to Garrett was a perfectly decent pitcher, just a little bit unlucky here. Omar Alfaro, homerless on the year, narrowly missed a leadoff jack off Markus Bates in the bottom 5th, but hit the first of inning-opening doubles, scoring on Mora's to extend the lead to 7-2 through five, which was also almost as far as Garrett would go. Sanford opened the sixth with a double, there was a walk to McNeal, and then Surginer replaced him with two outs in the top 6th, but allowed a first-pitch RBI single to Casillas that allowed Sanford to score, 7-3. Only PH Juan Estrada yielded the third out of the inning, but before the Condors could get closer than slam range, the Coons tacked on a run, with Zach Graves plating Alfaro in the bottom 7th via a pinch-hit triple off Sam Lowery, who also got bombed by Jon Gonzalez for a solo shot, Jon's fifth, an inning later. Brotman and Cowen finished the game for the Coons without allowing any more runs. 9-3 Furballs. Carmona 3-4, BB; Stalker 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; Walter 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Alfaro 2-3, 2 BB, 2B; Mora 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Graves (PH) 1-1, 3B, RBI;

In other news

April 16 – A single in the sixth by Justin Simmons (.291, 1 HR, 6 RBI) is all that separates the Scorpions and SP Ian Rutter (2-1, 3.86 ERA) from a potential no-hitter. Rutter in the event does not finish the game, being relieved by Ben Marx in the eighth inning.
April 17 – In a royal shellacking, the Capitals pile up *15* runs in the fourth inning of their 16-4 rout of the Cyclones. CIN MR Mark Thibodeau (0-0, 14.54 ERA) is charged with six runs in relief and retires nobody, while Washington's Guillermo Obando (.246, 0 HR, 7 RBI) has four base hits and drives in as many; Jason Stone (.152, 1 HR, 10 RBI) leads the team with 5 RBI, including a 3-run homer off Thibodeau.
April 17 – DAL SS Manny Ferrer (.342, 0 HR, 7 RBI) will miss four months with a broken elbow.
April 18 – NYC SP Ozzie Pereira (2-0, 1.52 ERA) hurls a 3-hit shutout against the Indians in a 4-0 win.
April 19 – The Indians acquire utility player Brody Folk (.176, 1 HR, 3 RBI) from the Knights for AAA players with major league experience, Jaylen Rolland and Drew Greene.
April 20 – SAC SP Hwa-pyung Choe (1-0, 3.26 ERA) is headed for Tommy John surgery with a torn UCL and is out until next year.

Complaints and stuff

Condolences to the Blue Sox, who are last in many categories, and near last in most of the others. Shane Baker has their lone win, and I prefer Garrett to him.

Other Twatbook comments from Sunday I did not approve of:

• Who wants to see such a garbage team like the Raccoons?
• Forcibly rename the Raccoons and ban them from television – their logo will scare children!
• My dad took me coon hunting last year and we killed six of those rats!
• Good thing Raccoons play in Portland because you can only watch them stoned…
• I wish they showed a cool team like the Loggers.

That last one really hurt. And I don't know what's so bad about a baseball-hugging raccoon, and … I hate people. And foremost Travis Garrett, the result of a particularly grim baseball gods cruel joke of giving a kid with a right arm (period!) a dream and then actually letting him pursue it.

PORTLAND RACCOONS WORST PITCHERS BY ERA (min. 50 GS)
1st – Damani Knight – 5.20
2nd – Travis Garrett – 4.58
3rd – Felipe Garcia – 4.55
4th – Jerry Ackerman – 4.38
5th – Steven Berry – 4.34
6th – Juan Berrios – 4.23
7th – Edgar Amador – 4.21
8th – Ned Ray – 4.13
9th – Gary Simmons – 4.08
10th – Carlos Gonzalez – 4.01

We put this table up about two years ago and nothing has changed, especially not for Garrett. Okay, he moved a wee bit away from Damani Knight, who is 31 and unemployed as of now. Note that Ryan Nielson, who is still with the organization would be on the list if he had made four more starts before biting the dust last year.

Fun Fact: The worst ERA for any Raccoons pitcher is 54.00 put up by Mauro Castro, who pitched one third of an inning and allowed two runs, never returning to the mound for the Raccoons after that.

The date was July 29, 2013; three days earlier the Raccoons had claimed Castro off waivers by the Titans, where he had been somewhat serviceable at the tail end of the rotation, but had also been a factor in why Boston hadn't gone anywhere at that time. Anyway, Castro was claimed on July 26, with Pat Slayton, 2010s Will West, being sent back to AAA to make room on the roster. The Coons at that point where eight games out and claimed they had a shot.

Castro's time came on the following Monday, the 29th, taking Colin Baldwin's start as Baldwin was a late scratch (and soon traded to the Stars with Craig Bowen, Michael Palmer, and Andy Hackney for #19 prospect Graham Wasserman). Castro’s first pitch as a Raccoon was right into the Aces' Jaime Garcia. He then had Sean McDermott retired on an amazing catch by Mike Bednarski before putting on Rusty Zackery with a single, then left the game with an injury, or maybe just had his snoot full. George Youngblood replaced him, allowed four straight singles, and lined up Castro for a 12-7 loss.

Castro was out with radial nerve compression and became a free agent after the season. The Capitals took on the 34-year-old reclamation project, but he tore his labrum in service of their AAA team in May and never came back from that. That third of an inning and those two runs were the last of his career, 131 games (115 starts) of 45-50, 4.58 ERA, 1 SV. He won a Gold Glove in 2011, one of two years he qualified for an award.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (10-8) @ Aces (11-8) – April 23-25, 2024

Second-place teams met in this midweek series, the Coons' first encounter after a 7-5 homestand. The Aces ranked first in runs scored in the CL and had the second-best bullpen, but they were held back by a crusty rotation that struggled to perform at league average – just like the Raccoons', you could say. The Raccoons had won the season series for the last two years, including taking five of nine games in 2023, and overall had their best all-time win ratio against the Aces, at least among CL teams.

Projected matchups:
Dan Delgadillo (1-1, 4.82 ERA) vs. Colin Peay (0-3, 6.75 ERA)
Mark Roberts (1-1, 2.30 ERA) vs. Miguel Morales (3-1, 2.76 ERA)
Jesus Chavez (1-2, 3.25 ERA) vs. Samuel McMullen (0-2, 3.82 ERA)

McMullen would be another left-handed pitcher to contend with here… Not contending at least to start the series would be RF/LF Justin Dally (.423, 2 HR, 15 RBI), who had left Sunday's game with an injury and was still not ready or diagnosed by Tuesday's series opener.

Game 1
POR: LF Carmona – SS Stalker – 2B Walter – 1B Gonzalez – 3B Nunley – CF Briscoe – RF Alfaro – C Tovias – P Delgadillo
LVA: 3B J. Navarro – 1B Retzer – LF Serrano – RF Curro – CF Raynor – C Schoeppen – SS A. Martinez – 2B Burrier – P Peay

Delgadillo struck out three in the first inning, which you could count as success if you were willing to ignore the two runners stranded in scoring position after a Danny Serrano double and, before even that, a 4-pitch walk to Jose Navarro to begin the game. The Coons would also get runners into scoring position on a Briscoe single and Alfaro double with two outs in the top 2nd. The Aces considered Elias Tovias a joke of a batter, but the last laugh was on us as Tovias singled to center to plate the pair. Cookie's triple and Stalker's double in the third inning added a third run, but there was no such thing as too many or even enough runs with a "21-year-old" pitcher on the mound. Delgadillo struggled quite a bit, allowing a leadoff single to Peay in the bottom 3rd, and then two more singles to Allen Retzer and Serrano, the latter plating his pitcher, 3-1. Corey Curro walked on four pitches to load the bags with one out, which led me to sigh, but Delgadillo was more than just your common pushover – he ran full counts against both Ron Raynor and Casimiro Schoeppen, but then struck them both out to end the inning. Don't you ask about his pitch count, though.

Every leadoff man for the Aces reached, including Armando Martinez with a leadoff jack in the fourth, reducing Delgadillo's lead to a single run. Only in the bottom 5th, after Cookie doubled and scored on Walter's single in the top 5th, extending us to 4-2, did Delgadillo break the spell and retired the Aces in order, and three times to Stalker at short. He then promptly got stuck in the bottom 6th with Schoeppen legging out an infield single against all the odds you could imagine, and then Martinez walked. With the left-handed Cy Burrier up and 98 pitches thrown, Delgadillo was replaced with Kipple, who got out of the inning with a fly to Alfaro and a grounder to short by Colin Peay. The Coons weren't doing anything offensively anymore, and the Aces were biding their time and waiting for their chance. It came in the eighth, with Vince Devereaux not retiring anybody much at all. The first three batters reached base and with the sacks full Cy Burrier hit a sac fly. Brotman came on, struck out Ken Leone, but walked Navarro. Jimmy Lee replaced Brotman to face the right-handed Retzer, walked him anyway, and thus pushed in the tying run before Serrano grounded out to short. The Aces sent Harry Merwin into the ninth inning, but he allowed a leadoff double to Tovias, who was run for by Daniel Bullock, while Abel Mora batted for the so helpful Lee. Mora got walked intentionally, Cookie smacked into a double play, and Stalker grounded out to short to short-circuit that inning properly.

The Aces had Adam Cowen in danger in the ninth, but hit into a double play, and the tenth, but hit into another double play, but the Coons also stranded two (unearned) runners in the top 10th. Nunley walked, Briscoe reached on an error, all with two outs, but Alfaro's drive to left was caught by Serrano. The Aces would have them in scoring position in the 11th, and with one out, after a Retzer single and Serrano double, but Curro grounded out to Cowen on the mound, and Raynor flew out to center, and they left runners on the corners in the 12th, AFTER Martinez was caught stealing third base by Tony Delgado. The 13th saw Lillis throwing in the pen – Cowen was toast and he was the last reliever left out there – and the Coons putting them on the corners with no outs against Franklin Alvarado after singles by Nunley and Briscoe. Alfaro flew out to shallow left, and there was no sending Nunley against Serrano here. Bullock was batting eighth after remaining in the game earlier after pinch-running nowhere in particular, and he knocked a ball to second base, past Burrier, and this time Nunley scored on the single! Noah Bricker came on now for the Aces, and the former Coon walked PH Jarod Spencer to load the bags, then threw a wild one past both Cookie and Randy Garner behind the dish. Cookie ended up walked intentionally and the Coons failed to get an actual run across themselves, staking Lillis to a 2-run lead, which he blew professionally; Retzer and Serrano led off with singles, moved up on a groundout, and scored on Randy Garner's 2-out single to left center. Martinez – on base virtually always – walked, but Burrier lined out to Bullock and the game merrily continued.

Top 14th, and yes, it would get worse. Jon Gonzalez nursed an oh-fer, but singled off Bricker to lead off, after which Nunley doubled to left. How is that worse? Well, Nunley knocked his shoulder into second base on the slide and had to leave the game with considerable discomfort. Now, the Coons had gone through all their bench players, all their relievers, and only had starting pitchers left as replacements …! Bullock and Spencer shifted to left and here was our new pinch-runner and second baseman, Jesus Chavez. THE HORROR. The Coons only scored once on a sac fly by Alfaro, with Lillis striking out Bricker to begin the bottom 14th. Jose Navarro then hit a pop to the right side of the infield. Chavez was right under it, erred around in confused manner, then opened his glove screaming like a girl, and caught the ball with his eyes closed and bracing for impact. Retzer grounded out to Bullock at third, ending this game, finally. 7-6 Critters. Carmona 2-6, BB, 3B, 2B; Nunley 2-6, BB, 2B; Briscoe 2-5, 2 BB; Alfaro 2-6, 2 2B, RBI; Tovias 2-3, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Cowen 4.0 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Yup, we used 22 players in this game, far removed from September. We had 14 hits in the contest, while the Aces had *21*. And they still failed to win.

Now for the good news… Matt Nunley was not seriously injured. The Druid thought that he should not play the game for the next few games, for throwing reasons, but he would be fine to pinch-hit and then quickly clear the premises. Also, while we used all our relievers to begin a 16-day stretch without an off day, quite a few threw only one third of an inning, and we had our ace up, so maybe it will be fine after all.

Just kidding, we're never fine…

Game 2
POR: LF Carmona – SS Stalker – 2B Walter – 1B Gonzalez – RF Alfaro – CF Mora – C Tovias – 3B Bullock – P Roberts
LVA: RF Serrano – 2B Moroyoqui – CF A. Martinez – 1B Retzer – LF Raynor – C Schoeppen – 3B J. Navarro – SS Burrier – P M. Morales

The Coons had no hits after three innings, while the Aces had four, including a single by Morales leading off the third inning. That's how I was imagining an ace of staff to work…! Martinez doubled in the pitcher for the first run of the game eventually. Cy Burrier doubled home a pair in the fourth inning to extend the Aces' lead to 3-0. Meanwhile, neither pitcher had notched a strikeout through four innings, but Burrier, a left-handed batter, had punished Roberts on an 0-2 pitch. One of those games, huh? Definitely. The Coons would get on the board in the fifth, singles by Mora and Bullock putting them on the corners before Roberts hit a sac fly. Roberts would strike out two in the bottom 5th, while Walter struck out in the sixth, but overall this was another unimpressive outing for Roberts, who threw 106 pitches and only got through six innings, and on the hook on top of that. It was not a Toneresque 106 pitches, six innings… The offense never got going against Morales, who lasted eighth innings, and was ultimately held to just four base hits, none of them more than a single. They lost by only two runs, but it sure felt like more… 3-1 Aces. Mora 1-2, 2 BB;

After a hot start, Jon Gonzalez is in a 5-for-37 hole. Why the heck am I not the least bit surprised?

Game 3
POR: LF Carmona – SS Stalker – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – RF Alfaro – C Delgado – 2B Spencer – 3B Bullock – P Chavez
LVA: CF A. Martinez – 2B Burrier – RF Serrano – 1B Retzer – SS A. Medina – LF Raynor – C Schoeppen – 3B J. Navarro – P S. McMullen

The Aces bopped Chavez, who pitched just like he fielded, unwatchably, for three runs on three extra-base knocks right in the first inning. Burrier and Serrano doubled, while Andres Medina hit a homer to right center. That might already be enough for Sam McMullen, not only because he was Sam McMullen and had aged quite gracefully so far, but also because the Raccoons had their second consecutive game where they couldn't scare a cat in a box tumbling down the stairs if they tried… They amounted to two base hits through five innings, both singles, and one of those runners, Abel Mora, was caught stealing on top of the misery. It was Mora who would get the team on the board later on, hitting a leadoff jack off Sam McMullen in the seventh, but by then Chavez had already coughed up another 2-out, 2-run double to Allen Retzer in the bottom of the fifth, and the Coons were all but defeated. The Coons found another run in their lunchboxes – there it was, at the very bottom, a pinch-hit RBI single by Matt Nunley, scoring Daniel Bullock in the eighth inning. Too bad that Vince D, lined up for mop-up duty in the bottom 8th, was truly mopped up by the Aces and burned for four hits and four runs, principally via Corey Curro's pinch-hit, 3-run homer. Another run fell out of the Aces' shallow end of the pen in the ninth, but nobody cared all that much about that anymore… 9-3 Aces. Mora 3-4, HR, 2B, RBI; Walter (PH) 1-1, RBI; Nunley (PH) 1-1, RBI;

Raccoons (11-10) @ Indians (10-11) – April 26-28, 2024

From the best offensive team in the CL to the worst, the Indians were being held to under 3.2 runs per game at this point, which sounded raccoonish, but maybe we can join that race to the bottom too before the year is out. Or the month. They had swept us to begin the season, so we were warned. Their pitching was pedestrian, but hey, we're all equals here…

Projected matchups:
Rico Gutierrez (1-2, 7.04 ERA) vs. Jordan Caldwell (2-1, 2.49 ERA)
Travis Garrett (2-0, 3.42 ERA) vs. Alvin Smith (2-1, 1.61 ERA)
Dan Delgadillo (1-1, 4.50 ERA) vs. Tom Shumway (0-3, 3.38 ERA)

Our best guess was that the Indians, who had enjoyed Thursday off, would skip Manny Ortega (1-2, 8.76 ERA) to draw Shumway into the series, who would then be the sole left-handed to appear to us. Their other southpaw, Tristan Broun (2-1, 3.15 ERA), had thrown only 28 pitches on Wednesday before leaving with an injury. No report on him yet.

Game 1
POR: LF Carmona – SS Stalker – 1B Walter – CF Mora – 3B Nunley – RF Alfaro – 2B Spencer – C Tovias – P Gutierrez
IND: 1B Burns – 3B V. Ramirez – RF C. Martinez – C T. Perez – 2B R. Mendez – LF D. Morales – SS Folk – CF Stevenson – P Caldwell

Abel Mora's 2-out single plated Tim Stalker in the top of the first, but Rico Gutierrez would not see a left-handed batter in this lineup, so it was probably better to keep the champagne corked for the moment. To anybody's surprise, Rico allowed no hits and just one walk the first time through the order, then was spotted a second run in the top 3rd with Cookie hitting a leadoff triple and being scored by Stalker, who himself hit a 2-out double in the fifth inning then and was driven in by Shane Walter with a single, 3-0. At that point the Indians were still hitless and at least appeared clueless, too. Brody Folk would cut through the mighty knot in their batting rope, singling to center with two outs in the bottom 5th, but not-so-long-ago-Critter Josh Stevenson grounded out to Jarod Spencer to end the inning.

Spencer was batting only .167 on the year; when Nunley hit a leadoff double in the sixth over the head of Danny Morales, the Indians fancied their chances against that bottom of the order, beyond Alfaro, who was intentionally put aboard. Spencer rolled a 2-1 pitch slowly near the third base line, with neither Vinny Ramirez nor any other defender able to make a play. The infield single loaded the bases for Tovias, poking only .203 himself. He grounded into a force at home, Gutierrez struck out, and Cookie grounded out to Rich Mendez, ending the inning with nobody scoring. When the Indians countered with a leadoff single past Spencer chucked by Caldwell and then Kyle Burns drew a 4-pitch walk, I was already seeing us losing by ten, but Gutierrez recovered and retired the next three on casual flies and pops. Two grounders to Nunley and a K to Folk did away with the Arrowheads in the seventh. His pitch count was still in shape and he had a bit more room, but I would like an additional run of cushion to not be motivated to send in Lillis by the ninth unless necessary. Elias Tovias took care of that, singling up the middle with one out in the eighth to drive in Alfaro from second base. It was the third straight runner for the Coons against Caldwell, who had walked Omar before giving up consecutive singles. Gutierrez remained in the game to bunt, moving over the runners, but Cookie couldn't get the ball past Mendez and ended the inning with a groundout. Gutierrez wouldn't make it to the ninth anyway, leaving the game with two outs in the bottom 8th after a Kyle Burns single and issuing a walk to Ramirez. Kevin Surginer replaced him in what was now technically a save situation. Surginer had saved one contest in 2023, and would sure like to save another one from time to time, but lost Cesar Martinez in a full count to load the bags. He ran another full count to Tony Perez, who struck out, which was a huge relief for sure… Surginer stuck around for the ninth and retired the side in order in the ninth, getting the Coons their first W over Indy this year. 4-0 Furballs. Stalker 3-4, 2 2B, RBI; Walter 2-5, RBI; Alfaro 1-2, 2 BB; Spencer 2-4; Gutierrez 7.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 K, W (2-2); Surginer 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, SV (1);

In mild surprises, the Indians not only didn't skip Manny Ortega and his 8.76 ERA, no, they even sent him to pitch on Saturday ahead of Alvin Smith.

Game 2
POR: LF Carmona – CF Briscoe – SS Stalker – 1B Gonzalez – 2B Walter – RF Alfaro – 3B Nunley – C Tovias – P Garrett
IND: CF Stevenson – LF D. Morales – RF C. Martinez – 1B M. Rucker – C T. Perez – 2B R. Mendez – 3B J. Jackson – SS Folk – P M. Ortega

Ortega had walked 11 and whiffed only four in his first 12.1 innings of the year, which was always a good recipe to run up an ERA for two okay-ish pitchers' added together. To nobody's surprise, Ortega walked nobody the first time through the order, but whiffed one, while Travis Garrett walked FIVE. "Tragic" Travis still, somehow, held the lead after two innings, 2-1, thanks to a Nunley single plating Walter (single) and Alfaro (double) in the top 2nd, while the Indians stranded three and only scored one on Morales' 2-out single in the bottom 2nd after Garrett despicably had shuffled them full with free passes.

Garrett, the silly ***, would crash the party a bit after that, issuing another walk only in the fourth inning, and Brody Folk was left on base by his team. The Coons still couldn't crack Ortega's numb skull, although they added one run in the fifth when Cookie dropped a 2-out blooper near the foul line inconveniently enough for Morales to not have a play on Tovias, who started from second base and scored. The add-on run proved spiffy, with Garrett insisting on cocking up another run before being banished into next week. Justin Jackson got on in the bottom 6th, and Brody Folk doubled him in off the wall in leftfield. Garrett would retire after the inning, having walked and whiffed six alike. Meanwhile, Ortega still had not walked ANYBODY, but would drill consecutive batters with two outs in the seventh; Graves and Cookie both took one for the team, only for Briscoe to ground out to Mendez. All the wasted chances eventually backfired; between Lee and Devereaux, the Coons' pen blew the lead in the eighth (not that Garrett deserved a W…), with singles by Tony Perez, Rich Mendez, and the disgusting ex-Elk Folk doing them in and knotting the score at three.

Elias Tovias unknotted the score in the ninth, however, hitting a solo home run off Nick Salinas, a right-hander with nominally good stuff but an unsightly ERA in the early going, hovering near five. In the bottom 9th, for a bit it appeared that Josh Stevenson lineout to Spencer (now at second) to begin the inning would be their best bet off Brett Lillis, who also retired Morales before drilling Cesar Martinez. That brought up Mike Rucker, who was batting a stunning .113 and was historically bad at hitting left-handers. This one was as good as over, and indeed it was once Mike Rucker's blast landed in the next borough over. 5-4 Indians. Walter 2-4; Tovias 3-4, HR, RBI;

Yeah, they're not a playoff team. Not by a country mile…

Game 3
POR: SS Stalker – CF Mora – 2B Walter – 1B Gonzalez – RF Alfaro – 3B Nunley – LF Graves – C Delgado – P Delgadillo
IND: CF Stevenson – 3B V. Ramirez – RF C. Martinez – 1B M. Rucker – C T. Perez – 2B R. Mendez – LF Farmer – SS Folk – P A. Smith

Not one, but two balls broke the plane over the outfield fence in the top of the first inning. Abel Mora hit his fourth, Jon Gonzalez his sixth homer of the year, and both were solo jobs in support of Delgadillo. The Indians made up one run right away, maneuvering Josh Stevenson around after his leadoff double in the bottom 1st. Nunley hit a leadoff double in the top 2nd, followed by Zach Graves getting nailed for the fourth time in 26 plate appearances this season… Delgado avenged Graves, beaten black and blue, with a double into the gap in right-center, plating one run, 3-1. The Coons had runners in scoring position, but stranded them, with Smith whiffing a pair and getting Walter to ground out despite intermittently walking Tim Stalker to fill the bags altogether…

Oh well, maybe the Cuban import could do some good? Walking Alvin Smith on four pitches to begin the bottom 3rd was not exactly what I meant with that, but at least Stevenson was on tap to bounce to Walter for a double play… The double play was a precious thing; Delgadillo could have used one in the bottom 4th before he gave up a 2-piece to Tony Perez, but didn't get it. The Coons remained ahead thanks to Tim Stalker's RBI single from the top of the inning, scoring Graves, who had reached base painlessly via the walk this time.

While the Coons fell asleep at 4-3 and wouldn't threaten through seven, Delgadillo also lasted as far, while throwing only 83 pitches despite the constant trouble, or maybe because of the constant trouble. The Indians usually weren't waiting around very long to pick a pitch, they often found something to their liking quite quickly. He didn't reappear for the eighth, with the Coons going to Vince D, who had a rough week to express it kindly, with his ERA firing from zip to seven in just a few days. Here, Vince retired the top of the order in the order in which they strolled to the plate, keeping the Coons afloat, although the offense remained hard asnooze. Brett Lillis was at it again. No cushion and Rucker up first, Stalker's sure grab on a soft line gave the Coons the first out of the inning. After that, Perez singled, bringing up the winning run in Rich Mendez, who had no homers in 83 tries this season. Time to change that by peppering Lillis' first offering for 400+ feet to left center. 5-4 Indians. Graves 1-2, BB;

In other news

April 24 – LAP CL Troy Charters (1-2, 2.19 ERA, 4 SV) issues four walks in the bottom of the 11th inning to allow the Rebels to score the winning run with a walkoff walk, the final score being 4-3 in Richmond's favor.
April 27 – Loggers and Canadiens play 17 innings before the latter manage to walk off, 5-4, on a sac fly by MR Nick Van Fossen, scoring Bobby Rickard.

Complaints and stuff

Coming soon: the Jesus Chavez Holds Down Second Base Bobblehead. Maud, please, no. Don't do it to me.

There aren't many closers that blew three saves in a week and lived to tell about it. Don't expect to hear back from Brett Lillis, who single-handedly gave the Raccoons their first losing week of the year, ever again.

Oh well, at least we know by now that this is definitely not a playoff team. Or a winning team. Or anything much of a team at all…

Fun Fact: On April 23, 2019, the Raccoons' Jonathan Toner no-hit the Thunder in a 12-0 rout. Toner struck out ten in the game, which was the second 12-0 no-hitter in ABL history, and both had been pitched by Raccoons (Juan Berrios, 1977).

Brian Furst once pitched a no-hitter in a 13-0 romp, but here's another one nearer to us; in the Thunder's lineup on April 23, 2019 was Josh Stevenson, who has in between been with the Coons and is now back to killing them silently.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (12-12) @ Titans (12-13) – April 29-May 2, 2024

I don't think the Titans quite saw themselves in fifth place at the end of April, but then there was the good news for them; if they continued their recent dominance over the Raccoons, whom they beat 27 times in 36 tries between the last two seasons, then they could well be in second place by the weekend. They were second in runs scored (Coons: t-5th) and t-6th in runs allowed (4th). Their nominally impressive rotation had struggled quite a bit early on, but their pen had taken a beating … not that the Coons' pen had actually sparkled recently…

Projected matchups:
Mark Roberts (1-2, 2.70 ERA) vs. Alan Farrell (1-2, 7.40 ERA)
Jesus Chavez (1-3, 3.89 ERA) vs. Alberto Molina (1-2, 5.29 ERA)
Rico Gutierrez (2-2, 4.70 ERA) vs. Dustin Wingo (2-3, 3.74 ERA)
Travis Garrett (2-0, 3.34 ERA) vs. Julio San Pedro (2-2, 4.05 ERA)

Wingo will be their sole left-hander, while we're gonna miss staff ace Chris Klein (3-1, 3.25 ERA). Yeah, like that's gonna help our souls… Also not in this series: young outfielder Adam Braun, who was on the DL with a triceps strain.

Game 1
POR: LF Carmona – SS Stalker – 2B Walter – 1B Gonzalez – RF Alfaro – CF Mora – 3B Nunley – C Tovias – P Roberts
BOS: C Arias – LF M. Owen – CF Reichardt – 3B R. West – SS Jam. Wilson – 2B Kane – RF W. Ramos – 1B J. Avila – P Farrell

The Coons started the game with singles by Cookie and Stalker, then a double play grounder to Rhett West off Walter's bat, and Gonzalez' groundout to short in order to not score. Matt Nunley hit into another double play in the second inning. Neither team scored through three innings, despite the odd baserunner, with the Titans out-hitting the Critters 4-3. More worrying was the way that stuff was eluding Roberts for his second consecutive start, him striking out only two in a lineup with a healthy share of left-handed batters, and that included the pitcher, through the first three innings.

Top 4th, base hits got Jon Gonzalez and Omar Alfaro to the corners to begin the frame. Abel Mora hit a drive to deep right that ended up with Willie Ramos, but Gonzalez tagged and scored, just in time before Nunley hit into his second double play of the night. By the sixth, the Coons would sit on four double plays, Alfaro smashing into one after Farrell had issued back-to-back walks to Walter and Gonzalez. For a nice change they would also turn a double play in the bottom of the inning, Rhett West hitting into a traditional 6-4-3 service after Adrian Reichardt had coaxed the first walk off Roberts in this start. By the eighth, both pitchers were still in this 1-0 squeezer. Cookie hit a leadoff single off Farrell in the inning, but then was caught stealing, just before Tim Stalker grounded to second base. Mike Kane's throw to Jose Avila was wild and bounced into the stands for a 2-base error, but since Cookie had recused himself from further participation, we only had a man on second and one out, rather than a pair in scoring position and no outs. Shane Walter combated defeatism with an RBI single past West into leftfield, the only counter in the inning. Roberts swiftly got bopped in the bottom 8th after a walk to Alex Arias and Matt Owen's double to right center. Surginer replaced him to face Reichardt, who was hit for by left-hander Keith Leonard. A run scored on Leonard's groundout, which was the second out in the inning, but a walk to Rhett West brought up lefties for the Titans and a lefty for the Coons as well in David Kipple, who whiffed Jamie Wilson with some nasty junk to end the inning and keep Roberts and the crew afloat. Portland loaded the bases in the ninth against Edwin Balandran, a left-hander, who allowed singles to Mora and Spencer, while Tovias drew a walk in a full count. Nunley had been used to initially bunt the leadoff runner, Abel Mora, over to second base. Cookie's sac fly would be all the Coons got in the inning, with Kipple sticking around for the bottom 9th; remember that Lillis had been blown up two days in a row and deserved some rest. Kipple came through, despite a leadoff walk to Mike Kane. No other Titan reached base, and Kane never moved off first base, as Ramos popped out, Avila whiffed, and Gil Cornejo flew out to Cookie in left. 3-1 Coons. Carmona 2-4, RBI; Mora 1-2, BB, RBI; Spencer 1-1; Roberts 7.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, W (2-2); Kipple 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, SV (1);

The Coons would finish the month with a winning record once the Tuesday game fell victim to rains. We'd make an honest try to play two on Wednesday, but the weather was still iffy.

Both teams left the original starters in the first leg of the double header.

Game 2
POR: LF Carmona – SS Stalker – 2B Walter – 1B Gonzalez – RF Alfaro – CF Mora – 3B Nunley – C Tovias – P Chavez
BOS: CF Reichardt – C Leonard – RF R. Amador – SS Jam. Wilson – 1B Herlihy – 2B Kane – LF W. Ramos – 3B R. West – P A. Molina

The Coons in the first three amounted to little more than Cookie reaching on an error and being caught stealing again, while Chavez proved utterly useless once again, in general as well as in the circumstance, throwing over 60 pitches in the first three innings, allowing four hits and two walks, with Roberto Amador's 2-out, 2-run triple in the bottom 3rd doing some solid damage. Chavez would not register an out in the fifth inning, walking Leonard and Amador to begin the frame before conceding the runs on a long double to center hit by Jamie Wilson. That put the Titans up 4-0 and Chavez at 100 pitches, following which the pitching coach beat him off the mound with a broomstick. Billy Brotman would get the inning over with without conceding the Wilson run, but the Coons were doomed regardless, unable to put any kind of stick to Molina, who completely baffled them. They had three hits through six innings, no runs, and never were close. They would get close in the seventh, with Alfaro walking and a 2-out throwing error by Kane putting Tovias aboard, but Jarod Spencer grounded out to West. The best was yet to come, with Coons pitching walking FIVE consecutive batters in the bottom of the seventh inning. Four of the walks were on Cowen, who didn't allow a run because the first walker, Amador, was caught stealing by Tovias, who was thus 2/2 in the game and 6/17 on the season. Jimmy Lee replaced Cowen after the fourth free pass, but walked Willie Ramos, pushing in a run after all before West lined out to center on a 2-0 pitch to end the frame. Another run would fall out of Lee in the eighth on consecutive doubles by Reichardt and Arias. Molina finished with a 4-hit shutout. 6-0 Titans. Stalker 2-4;

We walked 11 and struck out two. They should have scored about 11, and we're still going to play two…

Since hopes for a W were justifiably low in the second leg of the double header, the Coons would switch in all their bench pieces.

Game 3
POR: SS Stalker – CF Briscoe – 1B Gonzalez – RF Alfaro – LF Graves – C Delgado – 2B Spencer – 3B Bullock – P Gutierrez
BOS: 2B Kane – LF M. Owen – CF Reichardt – 3B R. West – SS Jam. Wilson – RF Cornejo – C Leonard – 1B Herlihy – P Wingo

Gutierrez was no less **** than Chavez had been. Alfaro's RBI groundout in the first inning spotted him a lead, but he immediately blew it. The Titans got even before they made an out on a single by Kane and then Matt Owen's long double to the base of the leftfield wall, and he issued another hit and two walks to fall behind 2-1 in the inning. Gutierrez was all over the place, but would strike out Kane with one out in the bottom 2nd. It could have been so neat if Delgado would have come up with the ball, but Kane reached on the uncaught third strike instead. Gutierrez then walked Owen, and the pitching coach basically had to set up camp right next to the mound to yell instructions to Rico all the ****ing time, like, THROW IT THE **** FOR A STRIKE!! He mostly didn't, but the Titans got themselves out of the inning with Reichardt's soft fly to center and a foul pop by Rhett West, keeping the score at 2-1.

While Rico's mound performance was rated R and was not suitable for small children and/or woodland creatures, he was excellent at the plate. Coming up with Spencer and Bullock on the corners and two outs in the fourth, Gutierrez zinged a liner to left center that escaped to the track between Owen and Reichardt and allowed both runners to score, flipping the score in the Coons' favor. Stalker drove home Gutierrez with a single, running the tally to 4-2. Gutierrez' mound performance remained abysmal. He drilled leadoff man Reichardt in the bottom 5th, then walked three. That didn't cost him a run (yet?) thanks to a double play that Jamie Wilson hit into, but the bases were loaded with two outs and another left-hander up in Trent Herlihy, but Gutierrez had just walked two of those, and seven in the game. Herlihy was batting .159, so he was probably due, but we were so thin on pitchers… Gutierrez faced him, Herlihy struck out, and that was also 101 pitches for Rico… He still came back out for the bottom 6th and managed to retire the pitcher and Kane on one pitch each. If he could ever generate a sizable amount of that kind of at-bats…….

Surginer got out of the sixth, put Reichardt on in the seventh, but Kipple retired Wilson and Cornejo on pops. Facing Mike Stank in the top 8th then, the Coons loaded the sacks with three straight clean singles to begin the inning, by Graves, Delgado, and Spencer. Since Stank was a left-hander, Bullock batted, especially since a double switch had already brought Cookie into the #9 hole (with Alfaro gone), and I didn't want two left-handed bats come up and fail back-to-back by sending Nunley to pinch-hit here. So instead, Bullock turned around to bat from the right side to fail, hitting sharply to West for a force at home. Cookie struck out, and Stalker rolled it over to short. Nobody, nobody, nobody scored. Except for the Titans, who took advantage of a leadoff walk that Leonard drew off Kipple in the bottom 8th and brought him around to score, cutting the gap to one run. Top 9th, Briscoe singled and Gonzalez got hit by Balandran before Javy Salomon allowed a 2-out, 2-run single to Tony Delgado. Spencer singled, and now Nunley batted for Bullock against the right-hander, drawing a walk to fill the bags. Cookie would slash another wound to the Titans, knocking a sharp single past Kane to plate two, and guess what, Brett Lillis was our last reliever and didn't blow a 5-run lead. He put two on, though… 8-3 Coons! Graves 2-5; Delgado 2-5, 2 RBI; Spencer 4-5; Carmona 1-2, 2 RBI;

Game 4
POR: LF Carmona – SS Stalker – 2B Walter – 1B Gonzalez – RF Alfaro – CF Mora – 3B Nunley – C Tovias – P Garrett
BOS: CF Reichardt – C Leonard – RF R. Amador – LF M. Owen – SS Jam. Wilson – 1B Herlihy – 2B Kane – 3B R. West – P San Pedro

Garrett allowed no hits the first time through, walking and whiffing two each, but Adrian Reichardt extended a hitting streak to 16 games with one out in the third. Leonard's foul pop and Amador's fly to center kept him on the bases and nobody scored through three innings, both teams landing only one base hit. Walter hit a leadoff single in the fourth, but was then left to his own devices and stranded on the bases. Maybe Wilson's throwing error that put Tovias on second base to begin the fifth would help them get a run? Nah, "Tragic" Travis would bunt so badly that Tovias was tagged out at third base.

The middle of the fifth inning took almost an hour; the rain that had wiped out Tuesday's game was still in the area and had broken in the fourth, sending the game to delay after Garrett had been stranded by Stalker. San Pedro would not be back after the delay, but Garrett actually retired the Titans in order in the bottom 5th on three grounders. Mike Stank allowed base hits to Walter and Gonzalez to begin the top 6th, but Alfaro hit into a fielder's choice at second base, and Mora struck out. Nunley didn't, drilling a 3-1 pitch past Owen in leftfield for a 2-run double, the first tallies in the game. The Titans teased the Coons, walked Tovias intentionally, but Garrett was not hit for, striking out against Jose Fuentes, the new reliever in the game. Garrett got two more outs before Owen singled in the bottom 6th. With three left-handers coming up, and the rain delay, and him on 80 pitches, you had to figure that disaster was preparing to befall the Raccoons, so we moved on to Brotman, with Wilson popping out on 0-2 to end the inning. The Titans didn't get another runner until the eighth (and the Coons didn't get any through eight) when left-hander Gil Cornejo hit a pinch-hit leadoff single against Brotman. We moved to Surginer, who collected two outs before conceding the run on singles by Amador and Owen. They were on the corners for Jamie Wilson, prompting another pitching change to David Kipple. The Titans countered, wisely, with Alex Arias, but he flew out to center, keeping this a 2-1 game. The Coons remained dead from their little jaws down, and with potential controversy it transpired that Kipple remained in the game in the bottom 9th, where the Titans would send up another two lefties to begin things, Herlihy and Kane. Both popped out on the first pitches they saw, giving Kipple Rhett West and his .250/.380/.370 line. West sure enough didn't pop out, but rather drove a long liner to deep left that only bounced on the track and hit oddly off the fence, denying Alfaro a good bounce and allowing the tying run to reach third base with a triple. Having to hit for their pitcher, the Titans only had a left-handed bat left on the bench, Willie Ramos, who ran a full count before grounding up the middle. Stalker lunging over to intercept it, throw to first – IN TIME. 2-1 Furballs! Walter 2-4; Garrett 5.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K, W (3-0); Kipple 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, SV (2);

Three of four in Boston! When did that most recently happen!? Maybe in Kisho's times…?

Raccoons (15-13) @ Blue Sox (5-21) – May 3-5, 2024

Off to see the worst team in baseball now. The Sox were last in runs scored, second from the bottom in runs allowed, and overall horrendous over in the Federal League. The only main stats where they were not 11th or 12th in the FL were bullpen ERA (8th) and defense (6th), none of which helped them greatly. These teams had last met in 2021, with the Coons taking two out of three then. In eight meetings since then, no series had been swept since the Coons went 3-0 over Nashville in 2008.

Projected matchups:
Dan Delgadillo (1-1, 4.35 ERA) vs. Mike Lake (0-3, 5.83 ERA)
Mark Roberts (2-2, 2.43 ERA) vs. Matt Gossen (0-3, 6.12 ERA)
Jesus Chavez (1-4, 4.42 ERA) vs. Shane Baker (2-3, 4.26 ERA)

Three right-handers; also three important batters on the DL for the Blue Sox, including Steve Hollingsworth, Tom Schorsch, and Yoshi Nomura (.423, 1 HR, 6 RBI) who's 40-year-old intercostal was bothering him greatly.

Game 1
POR: LF Carmona – SS Stalker – 2B Walter – 1B Gonzalez – CF Mora – 3B Nunley – C Tovias – RF Graves – P Delgadillo
NAS: CF Espinosa – 1B Perkins – SS Muller – RF Orozco – 3B T. Fuentes – LF M. Ramirez – C Luckert – 2B Otis – P Lake

If Cookie had homered to lead off the game (rather than grounding out to short), the Coons would have hit for a reverse cycle in order between their first four batters. As it was, Stalker tripled, Walter doubled, and Gonzalez singled, resulting in one run in the top of the first. After the early run, the Coons' offense immediately sought cover, leaving the rookie ou thtere to fend for himself. There was a Gonzalez double leading off the fourth, and absolutely NOTHING coming from the next three batters, with Gonzalez advancing a total of zero feet. Delgadillo held up well, allowing only one hit to the worst offense in the FL through five innings, whiffing three and generating loads of poor contact.

Of course collapse was always close; Mike Lake ripped a leadoff double up the leftfield line to begin the bottom 6th, and the Coons would certainly soon be punished for their tardiness (or lardiness?). Delgadillo lost Juan Espinosa to a walk. Former Crusader Josh Perkins helped him out greatly, hitting into a double play, third-and-first, and even though Delgadillo lost John Muller in a full count, Orozco popped out foul. On to the seventh, an error by Espinosa put Abel Mora on second base, and Tovias ripped a double through Perkins to drive him in for the second (and much-needed) run in the game. Graves singled to put Critters on the corners, and Delgadillo batted for himself, striking out for the second red dot on the board. Cookie was on tap, though, lining up the leftfield line, uncatchable, for an RBI double, and then the consistently-dangerous Tim Stalker drilled a ball up the middle, no chance for Muller here, either, to plate two more with a single!

While that was a 4-spot, the Sox also went after Dan Delgadillo, finally. A walk and two hits plated a run in the bottom of the inning and he was replaced by Kipple with runners in scoring position and two outs, facing Espinosa atop the order. Espinosa put the 1-2 in play, but flew out to Mora in center, keeping the Critters up by a slam. For the Coons, Gonzalez hit a leadoff single in the eighth, was stranded, then came up with three on and two outs in the ninth and thought f-you, grounding out to short. Bottom 9th, Vince D was in, and his struggles continued. With one out he walked Manny Ramirez, and then Jerrod Luckert doubled. This was a save situation now, but there was another right-hander coming up in ex-Elk Matt Otis, who flew out to Alfaro in shallow right. When the Blue Sox announced left-handed batter Ruben Cervantes into the game, the Lillis trap sprung … hopefully. There was only one out to collect, but Cervantes promptly singled, two runs scored, and the tying run was up. Espinosa popped out foul, putting this one in the books, but Lillis' performance continued to rankle. 5-3 Coons. Stalker 2-5, 3B, 2 RBI; Gonzalez 3-5, 2B; Delgadillo 6.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 3 K, W (2-1);

With this their fourth win of the week, the Raccoons closed in on first place, now trailing the Crusaders by half a game. Not that I will get cocky here…

Game 2
POR: LF Carmona – SS Stalker – 2B Walter – 1B Gonzalez – 3B Nunley – CF Briscoe – RF Alfaro – C Delgado – P Roberts
NAS: CF Espinosa – 3B T. Fuentes – SS Muller – 1B Rainey – RF Orozco – C Leal – LF Cervantes – 2B Otis – P Gossen

The Blue Sox struck first, John Muller's fifth homer of the season putting them up 1-0 in the bottom 1st. Truth be told, Roberts' pitch didn't do much across the plate, at least until it met that bat. Then it was outta here in a hurry. The Coons had an answer prepared, although after Briscoe's 1-out single it took an Otis error to also get Alfaro aboard, and then Tony Delgado tied the game with a single to left. With one out and Cookie wonky, Roberts swung away, or held still, drawing a walk in a full count from Gossen, who had come in with 20 walks in 32.1 innings, but this was the first drawn by a Coon. Cookie lined out to shallow right, but Stalker came through with an RBI single, putting Roberts 2-1 ahead before Walter whiffed. Orozco opened the bottom 2nd with a triple into the depths of the outfield, and after that Armando Leal ripped a liner to left. Cookie had that, then aimed at Orozco making for home … he wouldn't make it, thrown out perfectly by Ricardo Carmona!

The bases would be loaded with Coons again in the fourth inning. Delgado singled with one out, Gossen misfired Roberts' bunt for an error, and then Cookie singled up the middle. With Espinosa's arm and Delgado's club feet there was no way for him to score, but there was a full platter for Tim Stalker, who led the team with 21 RBI and was unretired in the game. He got another RBI, but was also retired, grounding into a run-scoring fielder's choice. Walter grounded out to Will Rainey to end the inning with a 3-1 score.

Muller remained a thorn in Roberts' side, hitting one of two singles in the bottom 4th (the other was Rainey's) that put runners on the corners. Orozco made the second out with a fly to shallow center, and then Leal drove one to deep center, but also into an out, Briscoe being on the watch out there. He would then contribute an RBI triple, chasing home Gonzalez in the following half-inning, but was left aboard when Alfaro walked, only to be collected in Delgado's double play. Cervantes hit a leadoff double off Roberts in the bottom 5th. Roberts was allowing plenty of hard contact in this game, but was also getting K's again, whiffing six through completion of the inning, including Gossen and Espinosa to end it. The Blue Sox were not defeated yet, though. Orozco cracked a solo shot in the seventh inning, getting them back to 4-2.

Top 8th, Delgado on base with another single, bumping his average to .314 in the process, but was stranded between a bunt by Roberts and Cookie's grounder to first. Roberts retired two more, the left-handed 1-2 batters in the bottom 8th, then was replaced with Vince D, who allowed a double to Muller before Rainey rolled out to short. Both put the ball in play on 1-2 pitches, so Devereaux continued to be mighty wonky. With two lefties and a switch hitter in the bottom 9th between the 5-6-7 batters, it was Lillis time, and we were shivering. Two walks, a wild pitch, and single to center, put a run across and the winning runs on the corners for Nashville, and Lillis was yanked. Kevin Surginer inherited a near-impossible job with the tying run at third base and nobody out, but sure bore a child named hope when he got Josh Perkins to pop out. Too soon, and in vain. PH Jose Rojas tied the game with a sac fly before Espinosa struck out, and the game went to extras.

After an uneventful 10th, Tyler Nodelman drilled Spencer with one out in the 11th. Spencer was in the #9 hole, and this brought up Cookie, but before Cookie could do damage, Spencer stole second base, his first of the year. Nodelman ended up walking #31, and then they pulled off a double steal! The Coons wanted the win, and they wanted it NOW. Fortunately, their surprise terror was up, and Tim Stalker rammed a bouncer past John Muller for a 2-run single! Shane Walter hit one right back into the pitcher's mitten, after which Tovias batted for Surginer in the cleanup spot. Turning on a 3-1 pitch, Elias doubled to left center to add another run. Joe Medina replaced Nodelman, walked Nunley, but then got Briscoe to ground out. So, that's a 3-run lead. Who wants a save? Since Chavez would go on short rest tomorrow and we had Cowen penciled in as piggyback to him, we had to pick between Brotman and Lee, who would face a mixed bag of batters. The fourth and fifth batters of the inning figured to be additional righties, so Jimmy Lee was sent into the game. Orozco flew out to right, after which Lee allowed a single to Leal, a double to Manny Ramirez, threw a wild pitch to score a run, and walked Joe Chappelle. At this point, and with the winning run in the box, I didn't even trust him with the right-handed batting reliever Medina… Here comes Brotman! He struck out Medina (in a full count) while Chappelle stole second base. The tying runs on second and third with two outs, left-handed bats were coming up with Espinosa, who had a golden sombrero already. HAVE HIM, BILLY! That sombrero became platinum after the count ran full. 7-5 Blighters. Stalker 3-6, 2B, 4 RBI; Tovias (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI; Briscoe 2-6, 3B, RBI; Delgado 3-5, RBI; Roberts 7.2 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 9 K; Surginer 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, W (1-0);

Can't get no relief, or much pitching at all…

New York lost their second straight upstate in Salem, which meant that the Coons hit FIRST PLACE at the conclusion of this circus game!

For the Sunday affair it was Chavez, Cowen, and then who knows how many pitches we have to scrape from the bottom of the barrel, because nobody else is particularly well rested. Everybody had pitched on three of the last four days, without exception.

Game 3
POR: LF Carmona – SS Stalker – 2B Walter – 1B Gonzalez – CF Mora – 3B Nunley – C Tovias – RF Alfaro – P Chavez
NAS: CF Espinosa – 1B Perkins – SS Muller – RF Orozco – LF Rainey – 3B T. Fuentes – C Leal – 2B Otis – P S. Baker

Stalker reached on an error, stole second, and then scored on Gonzalez' double to left center, which was the first of three 2-out base hits in a row for Portland. Mora also hit an RBI double, but to right center, and Nunley cracked an RBI single into shallow right. Tovias walked, but Alfaro grounded out, keeping the score at 3-0. This was in fact the first of two consecutive 2-out RBI singles for Nunley, and both would plate Abel Mora from second base. The next one came in the fourth, with Mora then reaching on a Tony Fuentes error and stealing his way to second. And how was Chavez? Pretty fine so far. The Coons' short-rested starter was not seriously hurt through the first three, holding on to the 4-0 lead. Rainey doubled in the second, but was stranded. Chavez made an error to put Espinosa on in the third, but the runner was quickly caught stealing. Chavez also led off the fourth with a single, Cookie also singled, but Stalker hit into a double play (!!) and Walter flew out. A leadoff walk to Perkins in the bottom 4th did not precede instant elimination, but the Blue Sox hit two deep flies off Chavez in the inning, and maybe Cowen should find his cleats and pants and start stretching, and why the **** is his throwing paw stuck in a honey jar?

Top 5th, Gonzalez hit a leadoff single, the ninth off Baker, then stole his first bag of the year by accident as Mora missed the hitting part of the hit-and-run, nor did Gonzalez wait for contact. He was safe, and two pitches later he was on third base when Mora singled to right. Nunley hit into a double play, which at least brought the run in… you can almost forgive it with a 4-0 lead, now 5-0. Almost. You could also almost – almost – forgive Espinosa, who had cost his team enough already on the weekend, for driving in two off a worsening Chavez in the bottom 5th, smashing a 2-run double that Mora couldn't catch up with. Spencer batted for Chavez in the sixth, and we'd throw in Cowen now to get length, any which way. Cowen was behind against all batters he faced in the bottom 6th, walking Muller leading off, but the runner never moved off first base in the inning as poor contact stymied the Sox. Muller would also be the batter to blow up the Coons' lead in the seventh. Cowen sucked, still, put on Otis with a single and then walked two more. Perkins' sac fly got the score to 5-3, and Muller's homer flipped it in the home team's favor. Orozco singled off Cowen, knocking him from the game for good. Jimmy Lee replaced him, threw one pitch, and Alfaro caught up with Rainey's screaming drive to get the third out after all.

Nunley led off the eighth with a single to left, with Bullock running for him. It was a wasteful move, with Tovias hitting into a double play almost immediately, and Alfaro flew out to left. Brotman held on to the game in the bottom 8th before the Sox sent Nodelman into the ninth inning. Wait – that's your closer? You poor things! Oh how I wanted the team to rip him another hole …! It would be Graves leading off in the #9 hole, drawing a walk. After that, however, Cookie flew to right, and Stalker grounded into a force at second base. Walter popped up a 1-1 pitch, foul, but Armando Leal made a sliding catch, gear still mostly on, in foul ground to end the game and deny the Coons the sweep. 6-5 Blue Sox. Gonzalez 3-4, 2B, RBI; Mora 2-4, 2B, RBI; Nunley 3-4, 2 RBI;

I would not say, however, that this was Chavez' fault. For once. This one was square on Cowen.

In other news

April 29 – A ruptured finger tendon in his throwing hand will cost PIT SP Joao Joo (2-3, 4.26 ERA) up to four months on the DL.
April 30 – Ruptured finger tendons galore, with CIN SP Jason Clements (1-2, 5.54 ERA) the next victim. He will also miss four months at least.
May 1 – Sacramento loses RF/LF Pablo Sanchez (.314, 2 HR, 10 RBI) to a sprained ankle. He might miss most of May.
May 1 – OCT SS Lorenzo Rivera (.323, 0 HR, 14 RBI) hits the DL with a broken finger that should cost him six weeks.
May 2 – The Continental League's Hitter of the Month of April, DEN INF/LF/RF Rich Hereford (.356, 6 HR, 18 RBI) would miss most of May with a strained rib cage muscle.
May 3 – The Scorpions trade for the Rebels' 1B Luis Moreira (.208, 2 HR, 11 RBI), sending RF Dan Dalton (.333, 1 HR, 8 RBI) to Richmond.
May 4 – LAP INF Nick Herman (.315, 1 HR, 28 RBI) goes down with a herniated disc that will keep him off the field for at least a month.
May 5 – IND 1B Mike Rucker (.204, 7 HR, 16 RBI) drives in seven on three hits, a double and two home runs, in a 16-2 rout of the Miners.

Complaints and stuff

First place!! Well, by a whisker, but it counts! I have already sent a complementary fruit basket on the way to Salem for sweeping the Crusaders. Ah, dang, I should have delivered it in person … it's been 35 years since they beat us in the World Series, 4-2, and I think that's the first time they have been useful since.

The Elks' Bryce Sudar was Pitcher of the Month in the CL; there is something on the rise in that pot hole they play in, and I don't like it! Well, the standings reveal as much.

I don't like Omar Alfaro's line…

I also received a nice letter from Mrs. Sheila Brotman, née Rosenzweig, who lamented that her son William Baruch Brotman would not acquiesce to her wishes and not do work on the holy Sabbath. She appealed to me to talk sense into her boy and pointed out how a man of my standing had to possess profound wisdom and would see the importance of conforming to the orders of the holiest of days.

First off, if I had any wisdom at all, I would have packed up and gone fishing about 25 years ago. Second… what is it, Maud? – What do you mean, she's right? – How can pitching be forbidden on the Sabbath, there was no baseball thousands of years ago…!

Apparently, spinning (fibres) and erasing (batters?) are forbidden, but then again I saw Billy walk out of the clubhouse devouring a sandwich with plenty of bacon on it last Friday night, so maybe spinning or making steps while pitching are our least concern with this forsaken soul.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons have a combined total of five players in the top 5 of all the extra-base hit categories at this point, with Jon Gonzalez being second in both doubles and home runs, Tim Stalker being second in both doubles and triples, and Cookie Carmona being fourth in triples.

That is something we haven't had for a while. Maybe the extra-base prowess will mask our inability to walk at any rate?

Nah, probably not.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (17-14) vs. Stars (13-18) – May 7-9, 2024

After squeezing into first place on Saturday, the Raccoons would face a pair of losing teams this week, although neither of them were necessarily pushovers. The Stars had been through a rough patch that had begun approximately in 2010, with their fate rapidly worsening after the Hugo Mendoza trade a bunch of years back (not that the Critters got anywhere with him), but there was some young promise on the roster, at least from a hitting standpoint. Their pitching was abominable; considering their shoe box of a park, even an awesome staff would probably never put up top three numbers for them, but they were struggling to find a staff that could pitch to even a sub-5 ERA right now. This included both the rotation and the pen, separately as well as combined, with both ranking in the bottom three in ERA in the Federal League, and overall they were allowing the most runs, close to 5.8 per game. This series, however, would take place in Portland, so Omar Alfaro would have to jumpstart himself rather than wait for the friendly inspiration of the outfield fence being within arm's reach from home plate. This was the third straight year the teams would face another, with both teams taking one set in the last two years. The Coons had won two of three from Dallas in '23.

Projected matchups:
Rico Gutierrez (3-2, 4.40 ERA) vs. Jeff Dykstra (2-2, 4.28 ERA)
Travis Garrett (3-0, 2.80 ERA) vs. Ernesto Lozano (1-3, 6.37 ERA)
Dan Delgadillo (2-1, 3.82 ERA) vs. Alex Contreras (1-3, 6.82 ERA)

Now, both teams had Monday off, so the Stars could in theory skip a guy there, but they would merely get to a 5+ ERA pitcher rather than a 6+ ERA pitcher. I'd claim the difference between 5+ and 6+ is less than between 2+ and 3+ and it basically doesn't matter… anyway, all their starters are right-handed.

Game 1
DAL: SS Bowman – RF Collins – C J. Vargas – 3B C. Padilla – 1B Getchell – LF F. Santos – 2B O. Casillas – CF Contino – P Dykstra
POR: LF Carmona – SS Stalker – 2B Walter – 1B Jon Gonzalez – CF Mora – 3B Nunley – C Tovias – RF Alfaro – P Gutierrez

Flaying Rico Gutierrez right in the first inning for four hits and four runs, the Stars announced their existence and validity. Sean Bowman, Ryan Collins, and Jose Vargas all hit firm singles to begin the game, with Mike Getchell's 1-out, 2-run blast to left also hinting at Gutierrez probably not being valid as a pitcher after all. The Coons also put their first two batters aboard, but then Shane Walter found another double play to hit into, so he did, and that was already most of their half of the first inning. Drilling John Contino to begin the second didn't let the skies come down immediately, but the Stars would leave another mark in the third. Collins hit another single leading off, advanced on Vargas' grounder to second, then on a passed ball. Carlos Padilla singled him in, 5-0, and then Getchell reached on an error by Cookie Carmona in leftfield. Former Raccoon Frank Santos hit a ball to short for a fielder's choice only, but Walter made a nice play on Oscar Casillas' grounder to end the inning after all…

Dykstra, a sad team's version of an ace, held the Coons to one hit the first time through the order, and when he walked Stalker to begin the fourth, Shane Walter was on call again to hit into another double play. Way to kill rallies before they even are a rally! Abel Mora hit a single to right to begin the Coons' half of the fifth, and then Nunley hit into a double play. Great successes, everywhere: bottom 6th, leadoff single by the pinch-hitter Cory Briscoe, then a walk drawn by Cookie. Oh, here's the groove! And there's Stalker, hitting a bouncer to short for two. Having no double play to hit into for himself anymore, Walter reluctantly singled to center, plating Briscoe for the first Coons run in what was now a 5-1 game. If there was one thing that could give the faintest glimmer of hope in this ruckus game, it would be Omar Alfaro actually dipping his bat in the power sauce, finally, cracking a leadoff jack in the bottom 8th after 105 homerless at-bats to begin the season. And, you know, creep ever closer to that tall .200 mark again. Dykstra went a depressing eight, and John Waker, the Coons' 2016 first-rounder from some New York ghetto that went to Dallas in the aforementioned Mendoza trade in 2017, ended the Coons in the ninth. 5-2 Stars. Carmona 0-1, 2 BB; Briscoe (PH) 1-2;

Somehow, anyhow, the Coons were STILL in first place after that stinker, albeit tied with the ELKS.

I HATE THE ELKS.

Game 2
DAL: SS Bowman – RF Collins – 2B Maldonado – C J. Vargas – 3B C. Padilla – LF F. Santos – 1B Melgar – CF Contino – P Lozano
POR: LF Carmona – SS Stalker – CF Mora – 1B Jon Gonzalez – RF Alfaro – 3B Nunley – 2B Spencer – C Delgado – P Garrett

If I trusted one Raccoons pitcher fully and whole-heartedly to do even worse than Gutierrez in the opener, it sure was "Tragic" Travis. Yes, his ERA is under three. He is still tragic despite that.

Tragedy struck in the fourth, Garrett issuing leadoff walks to Raul Maldonado and Jose Vargas, also throwing a wild pitch in between. Carlos Padilla's RBI double was the first tally in the game (although that had not been Garrett's first leadoff walk), and after that the Coons were lucky as hell that Frank Santos flew out to shallow center and Willie Melgar bounced back to the mound. Both plays kept the runners that were lurking in scoring position pinned to their spots, and after an intentional walk to Contino, Garrett managed to strike out Lozano, who was a terrible batter even for a pitcher, keeping three aboard. The Coons through three had two hits and one double play, so the game could still go either way, although in all likelihood they were already doomed given how Gonzalez, Alfaro, and Nunley all hit balls hard to right in the bottom 4th, and all of them ended up either with Melgar or Ryan Collins.

While Tony Delgado would tie the game with his first clonker of the season in the bottom 5th, Garrett was habitually running 3-ball counts in truly tragic fashion at this point. Garrett's best idea to compete was to serve up a doozy to Melgar to begin the sixth, which was never seen again and gave the Stars a new 2-1 lead. Santos and Contino got on base in the inning, and Garrett was yanked with them in scoring position and two outs. Vince D whiffed Sean Bowman to end the inning and keep the Coons a bloop and a blast away from tying the series. They just got the ordering mixed up quite a bit in the bottom of the sixth inning, with Abel Mora leading off with a triple into left-center. He scored on Gonzalez' game-tying single, and never hit that home run at all. Devereaux gave the Coons a scoreless seventh in his first decent outing in a while, and David Kipple retired three right-handed batters in Paul March, Trent Pierce, and John Contino in the eighth.

Bottom 8th, Tim Stalker hit a single to left to begin in the inning on what was only Lozano's 82nd pitch of the game. This team had absolutely zero patience at the plate, and it clearly showed in every single box score… When March, Melgar's replacement at first, couldn't quite stop a Mora grounder from making it into rightfield, the Critters were in business; Stalker went to third, and there was nobody out. Jon Gonzalez' hard single to right gave Portland their first lead in the series, 3-2, and while the Stars never removed Lozano, the Coons got additional runs on RBI singles by Alfaro (also to right) and then with two outs by Delgado (up the middle). Graves grounded out to end the inning, bringing in the bag of wonders that was Brett Lillis at this point. Mike Getchell lined out to Alfaro, Bowman struck out, and Gonzalez handled Collins' grounder to end the game and level the series. 5-2 Coons. Mora 2-3, BB, 3B; Gonzalez 2-4, 2 RBI; Delgado 2-4, HR, 2 RBI;

Garrett walked six, tragically. His ERA is still under three, and I still find him worsening my various aches. Slappy, will you please hand me the ethyl alcohol?

The Elks lost at least against Sacramento, so there was that. We were now half a game ahead of New York again.

Game 3
DAL: 1B Melgar – RF Collins – 2B Maldonado – C J. Vargas – 3B C. Padilla – LF F. Santos – SS O. Casillas – CF Contino – P A. Contreras
POR: SS Stalker – LF Briscoe – 2B Walter – 1B Jon Gonzalez – CF Mora – 3B Nunley – C Tovias – RF Alfaro – P Delgadillo

The Stars could have had their own first inning from hell in this one, but the Coons would only get one unearned run. Stalker initially reached on a gross throwing error by Oscar Casillas, then scored on Walter's 1-out single. Gonzalez whiffed, but Mora singled and Nunley got drilled to load the bases, but Tovias' shyly grounder to short was not good enough to get any more runs in. Delgadillo however struggled with location and stuff and was entirely relying on the defense to keep him together. The first five Stars hit into outs, but Santos singled up the middle with two outs in the second, stole a base, and then came home on Casillas' double, getting at least the Stars and their own shortstop kinda even. Delgadillo at least whiffed Contreras after an intentional walk to Contino… The Coons reclaimed the lead with a 2-out single by Stalker and Briscoe's subsequent RBI triple in the bottom 2nd, but the Coons' young gem(?) continued to struggle. Melgar and Maldonado hit hard singles in the third, he walked the veteran Jose Vargas, who had seen his share of struggling pitchers in his career, but then Carlos Padilla hit into an inning-ending double play.

The bottom 3rd gave the Coons three base hits, a run, a balk, and then a capital gaffe to short-circuit their efforts. Alfaro was batting with one out and Nunley and Tovias in scoring position when he hit a 1-2 pitch to shallow right. Ryan Collins made the catch, Nunley retreated, but Tovias had forgotten how many outs there were and was found way astray of second base and easily doubled off by Collins for a 9-6 double play. Up 3-1, Delgadillo got three groundouts to left in the fourth, but Melgar would hit a huge double to center with one out in the fifth, then swipe third base from Tovias. Delgadillo crucially whiffed Collins, and then still was lucky that Nunley was alert at third base and made a quick swipe on Raul Maldonado's liner to end the inning.

The Coons added a pair on an Abel Mora homer in the bottom 5th, but the Stars would shake those back out of Delgadillo in the sixth, getting the score to 5-3 on 2-out RBI base hits by Casillas and Contino before Getchell grounded out to end the inning, which was also the last batter that Delgadillo – still not awesome – faced. Contreras had only lasted five, allowing the Coons early access to that weak-sauce bullpen, which yielded results in the bottom 7th. Robby Gonzalez, a right-hander with an ERA north of six, allowed singles to Walter and Gonzalez. Mora struck out trying too hard, but Nunley got a present and blasted it some 420 feet for a 3-piece, and his first dinger of the season. This jumped the score to 8-3, also bopping Gonzalez from the game, which had also seen its last runs. Jimmy Lee and Adam Cowen would retire the Stars in order from here, throwing just 20 pitches between them for six outs. 8-3 Raccoons! Stalker 2-4; Walter 2-4, RBI; Gonzalez 2-4; Mora 3-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Nunley 2-3, HR, 3 RBI;

That makes three players on this team that hit their first home run of the year off the Stars' staff, in early May. Make of that what you want, but in any case I regret that they are not in our division.

The Loggers, though, are.

Raccoons (19-15) @ Loggers (11-23) – May 10-12, 2024

After going 2-1 against the Stars, the Coons would travel to see those Loggers in Milwaukee, so far also being at 2-1 against them this year. They were worst in the league in terms of runs scored, plating just 3.3 runs per game (lemme tell ya briefly that that ain't much and I know how that feels very well…), while also sitting second from the bottom in runs allowed. They were currently on pace for well wose than a -200 run differential, sitting at -49 already (Coons: +12).

Projected matchups:
Mark Roberts (2-2, 2.42 ERA) vs. Pedro Hernandez (1-3, 2.70 ERA)
Jesus Chavez (1-4, 4.33 ERA) vs. Michael Foreman (1-1, 1.91 ERA)
Rico Gutierrez (3-3, 4.93 ERA) vs. Ian Prevost (2-4, 5.17 ERA)

While the Raccoons would go this week without seeing a left-handed pitcher, the Loggers also had a few injuries; Ron Thrasher was out for the season, and they were also without Brad Gore, who always liked seeing Raccoons pitching. Gore was on the DL with a pinched nerve, but was eligible to come back any day, and was expected to rejoin the team during the weekend.

Game 1
POR: LF Carmona – SS Stalker – 2B Walter – 1B Gonzalez – CF Mora – RF Graves – C Tovias – 3B Bullock – P Roberts
MIL: 2B Stewart – 1B Gershkovich – CF Coleman – SS Tadlock – C Wool – 3B A. Velez – RF de Santiago – LF Tesch – P P. Hernandez

Here was another series that began with the Coons' starter being wackoed. Like the Stars on Tuesday against Gutierrez, the Loggers on Friday began to rip four base hits off assumed ace Mark Roberts, plating two on Mike Gershkovich's homer, but also stranding two as after Ian Coleman and Ron Tadlock's singles, Josh Wool flew out to center and Alberto Velez hit into a double play. Roberts also struggled to throw strikes, and was in even more trouble in the second inning. Carlos de Santiago led off with a single through Jon Gonzalez. Pedro Hernandez was ordered to swing, which was already a huge warning signal, and grounded to third where Bullock bungled the ball for an error. Stewart walked to load the bases, and Gershkovich hit a sac fly to Zach Graves in right, 3-0. Ian Coleman's grounder was not played by anybody, especially not Shane Walter, loading the bases for Tadlock, who hit a blast over the leftfield wall. The slam ran the score to 7-0, the five runs being unearned for the inning, which wasn't even over. Mark Roberts was out of control now, threw the very next pitch awkwardly enough that it seemed to rise into Wool's head. Wool dove, knocking himself out with his own bat after being hit in the shoulder, which put backup catcher William Jones at first, as Wool complained about blurred vision, with Velez grounding to short to end the bedeviled inning.

In a properly lost effort, the Coons put only one man aboard in the first three innings, with Hernandez whiffing five in a laugher for the battered home team. Roberts dragged his sorry ass into the fourth before being yanked after a walk to Gershkovich. That runner and plenty more scored on Adam Cowen, who allowed a single to Coleman, then a 2-run triple to Tadlock, and an RBI single to the .050 batter Jones. The Tadlock triple into the rightfield corner was significant, as it put the Loggers shortstop a double away from the cycle be the fourth inning. He didn't get the double his next time up in the fifth inning, flying out to Cookie in then an 11-0 game. Adam Cowen threw 39 pitches over 1.2 innings, allowing six hits and a walk in addition to three runs charged to him in this derelict effort. Tadlock's last chance – and yes this was all that we still played for in this rout – came in the bottom of the eighth inning when he grounded out to third base against Jimmy Lee, who surrendered a homer to William Jones after that, the final blip in a ghastly box score. 12-0 Loggers. Mora 1-2, BB; Spencer (PH) 1-1, BB;

Hernandez lasted seven innings, nursing a 2-hitter with 10 K. Mike Kress did the rest, allowing only one more base hit (Spencer's), while Tadlock drove in six in what was so far well the shortest outing of Roberts' stint as a Raccoon, and it also cost the team the lead in the North, dropping behind the Crusaders, who beat the Indians, 4-2, behind Ozzie Pereira.

We also made the first(!) roster change of the season, banishing Adam Cowen, who was now unable to even pitch mop-up. He ended up on waivers the same night. The Raccoons called up right-hander Juan Barzaga, who had 15 walks and 15 strikeouts in 15 innings in AAA, but we could not be picky right now.

Game 2
POR: LF Carmona – SS Stalker – 2B Walter – 1B Gonzalez – CF Mora – 3B Nunley – C Tovias – RF Alfaro – P Chavez
MIL: SS Tadlock – 3B A. Velez – CF Coleman – RF Gore – C Wool – LF Munn – 1B Gilmor – 2B March – P Foreman

Seeing a lineup with only two right-handed batters (Tadlock and former Raccoon Michael Foreman) approach Jesus Chavez instantly depressed me, yet somehow he retired them in order the first time through. However, that had to be qualified, because 'somehow' indeed meant 'somehow'. He struck out nobody, and it was all D behind him, including three scorched liners hit right at infielders. The fourth saw three more outs, two grounders to short by Tadlock and Velez, and then Ian Coleman flying out to Cookie. Through four, the Raccoons did have three base hits, but they had not exactly established a scoreboard presence. They had stranded Stalker on third base in the opening inning when Jon Gonzalez' drive was spoiled by the returning Brad Gore, and had been mostly cute and clumsy since then. The misery only grew; Tovias was eliminated in a rundown between second and third base after hitting a leadoff double to center to begin the fifth, and that was all the action through six innings, with Chavez still unbothered by base runners, nor the pressure of defending a potential W…

Matt Nunley's incidental 2-out single in the seventh did not lead to anything major, with Tovias readily striking out against Foreman, probably to avoid another baserunning embarrassment. Bottom 7th, Nunley handled Tadlock's grounder, Velez flew out to Cookie, and Coleman whiffed. Cookie would double with two outs in the eighth, getting a ball past Gore, who had robbed Alfaro of extra bases to begin the inning. Too bad that Tim Stalker's come-through magic had expired and he shattered a bat while grounding out to Velez, stranding the runner on second base. Chavez' perfect bid fell apart to begin the bottom 8th as he walked Brad Gore, the second of six consecutive left-handers in the lineup. This was still a dicey path to toe along, although given that the Raccoons hadn't scored in a while, and probably never would again, it was also save to leave Chavez in for the time being. What's the worst he can do? Lose? Josh Wool broke up the no-hitter on the very next pitch, singling hard to right, then was banged up again on the next play, Danny Munn grounding to the mound. Chavez zinged to second, where Walter and Wool collided, with the worse end for the Loggers' catcher, who was once more replaced by William Jones. Nick Gilmor hit into an inning-ending double play on the very next pitch, while Chavez continued into the bottom of the ninth inning. Dan March grounded out, but Carlos de Santiago didn't. His walkoff blast could not be measured, but was estimated at 490 feet, which probably included at least a couple o' dozen na-nana-nanah-na feet to really rub it in. 1-0 Loggers. Nunley 2-3; Chavez 8.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, L (1-5);

Just when I thought, we had some kinda weird spark… no.

For Sunday, an era in Portland ended. Cookie Carmona batted SIXTH after dropping his slash line to .241/.309/.323. Nobody remembered the last time Cookie had not batted FIRST in the order…

Game 3
POR: SS Stalker – CF Mora – 2B Walter – 1B Gonzalez – 3B Nunley – LF Carmona – C Tovias – RF Alfaro – P Gutierrez
MIL: SS Tadlock – 2B Stewart – CF Coleman – RF Gore – 3B A. Velez – 1B Gershkovich – LF de Santiago – C T. Williams – P Prevost

Cookie in sixth hit a single in the second, giving the Coons two singles and no outs in the inning on the heels of being shut out for 20 consecutive frames. That run ended with Elias Tovias' double into the leftfield corner, which scored both runners, with Tim Stalker singling home Tovias with two outs, giving Rico Gutierrez a 3-0 lead he was surely gonna blow in the most stupid fashion. The Loggers were sure seeing him well; Gershkovich and de Santiago both hit real rockets in the bottom 2nd, with Cookie and Alfaro making catches of replay value, respectively. Tovias offered more offense, homering in the fourth, and the Coons also got Alfaro on base with a single. Gutierrez bunted him over, and Stalker hit his second 2-out RBI single to plate another runner, extending the lead to 5-0. That was the score through five, with Gutierrez maintaining a shutout while giving all outfielders a real workout as they held the Loggers to two base hits and no runs.

Tim Stalker cracked his third RBI hit in the game in the sixth inning. Facing Alex Hichez with two outs, he singled hard to left center, allowing Alfaro to score. Omar had reached on Tyler Stewart's error, the Loggers' second in the game. Mora would hit another single, but Walter grounded out to keep it at 6-0. Despite the sizable lead, a complete-game shutout was not in the cards for Gutierrez, who allowed almost no base runners, but still managed to run up 108 pitches in seven innings. But at least the Loggers were still off the board! Maybe they could get on in the eighth? Stewart doubled off Surginer with one out, and Billy Brotman was not a huge obstacle for Ian Coleman, who ripped an RBI single to left. Brotman went on to strike out the next two, and Juan Barzaga struck out three in the ninth around a de Santiago single. 6-1 Furballs. Stalker 3-5, 3 RBI; Walter 2-5; Carmona 2-4, BB; Tovias 3-5, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Gutierrez 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K, W (4-3);

In other news

May 8 – SAC C Errol Spears (.227, 0 HR, 8 RBI) reaches the 2,000 hits plateau in a 3-2 win over the Canadiens. The 38-year-old Spears collects to hits, including the milestone, a second-inning single off VAN SP Greg Becker (2-3, 4.43 ERA). Spears is a former Rookie of the Year (2009), three-time World Series champion (all of the Pacifics' titles in the 2010s), 6-time All Star, and has batted .285 with 193 HR and 1,117 RBI over his 18-year career.
May 10 – The Cyclones batter the Capitals relentlessly in an 18-3 slaughter, scoring in all but one of their eight batting innings, with OF/1B Terry Kopp (.225, 4 HR, 31 RBI) landing four base hits, including three doubles, and driving in five runs.
May 10 – The Stars send 33-yr old C Jose Vargas (.284, 4 HR, 13 RBI) to the Aces in exchange for interesting, but unranked prospect 3B/LF Eric Thun.
May 11 – IND 1B Mike Rucker (.236, 9 HR, 22 RBI) knocks his 300th home run in a 4-2 win over the Crusaders, the game-winning 3-run shot off NYC SP Mike Rutkowski (3-4, 3.25 ERA). On his fourth team, the 37-year-old Rucker has batted .254/.348/.461 for his career and has driven in 1,020 runs. He was the 2013 CL Rookie of the Year, led the CL in home runs (2021) and slugging (2017) once each.
May 11 – The Stars beat the Warriors, 3-2 in 11 innings, as Carlos Padilla crossed home plate on a walkoff balk by SFW MR Pat Okrasinski (1-3, 2.00 ERA).
May 11 – CHA 1B Pat Fowlkes (.316, 5 HR, 21 RBI) hits the DL with a hip strain and is expected to miss six weeks.

Complaints and stuff

Another walkoff balk! They make me merry!

I am so glad I signed Cookie to that 4-year deal *before* last season, after which he instantly turned into a turd at 31. Portland is beaten once more and will never rise again, at least as long as I'm alive…!

Next week the pain could be for real, when we'll face the Elks at home. Also the Falcons.

The Raccoons released Brian Perakis this week; the 2015 first-rounder had appeared in 19 games for Portland in 2022, batting .171 with a homer and 6 RBI. By now he had sunk to Ham Lake, where he was batting .071 as a 26-year-old in AA, which was one red flag too many.

Side note, in the middle of May the Panthers are our only winning minor-league team.

Fun Fact: The June 25, 2017 trade that sent John Waker to the Dallas Stars for Hugo Mendoza also included Chris Schmitt and Ricky Cruz, who between themselves have amounted to three lineup entries in major league ballgames.

Those are all Schmitt's by the way. Cruz never made the majors and is currently unemployed at 28.

Waker is the Stars' closer right now after a few trying years. He went 8-7 with 17 saves and a 4.16 ERA last year, pitching 84 innings between the pen and rotation. He lacks a great third pitch and enough control to be a good starting pitcher, although you could probably make him work in a pitcher's park like San Francisco. He should be better in relief than he is; this year he's 1-1 with a 3.52 ERA and 8 SV, walking almost five per nine innings. He is 26 now; he will probably not get much better.

(In the background Maud can be seen holding up Antonio Donis' photo)

So, the Coons probably won the 2017 Mendoza trade, although I was grumpy for years with him. The hype was so huge that a .296/.377/.507 slash with 144 HR and 551 RBI in four full and two partial years just wasn't enough. He started his second season with Cincy now; last year he batted .310/.356/.460 in 154 games, but went deep only 18 times and racked up 100+ K for the first time in his career. He's only 33, but it seems we might have made the right move by kicking him in '22.

Evaluating the yield of the 2022 Mendoza trade is a wee bit difficult right now. We got Chris McKendrick (on the DL for most of the year) and Jonathan Shook, who has since been shipped off to San Fran, where he's pitching out of the pen to a 4.91 ERA. And yes that was the Mark Roberts / Jon Gonzalez for pitching scraps deal. Matt Huf is 2-4 with a 2.76 ERA in their rotation, so yay me, but at least they didn't strike gold with Reese Kenny, too, who is getting lit up in AAA for them as well. And yes, that's our second first-round pick that got entangled in the Mendoza trades around one or two corners.

It's actually three first-rounders including Huf (by the Blue Sox); also, Shook was a supplemental-round pick (by the Cyclones), as was Chris Schmitt.

You know who wasn't a first-round pick amongst all these players? Mark Roberts. The Falcons picked him in the *12th* round in the 2012 draft with the #294 pick. That is one pick lower than Nick Brown was drafted in 1995.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (20-17) vs. Canadiens (18-18) – May 14-16, 2024

During these two teams' common off day on Monday the Crusaders lost, which moved the Coons into a tie for first place, sparking all the more worries in me that this was going to become a tremendously horrendous series. The hooved menaces from the North have never existed for anything else than to torture me, and how do that better than to sweep the Coons right now, right here? The Elks were tied for fifth in runs scored, better than the Raccoons, and tied for fourth in runs allowed, better than the Raccoons, and they also had the best bullpen in the Continental League. You wanted to hit them early, because you probably wouldn't get to hit them late. This was the first matchup between these two teams in 2024. The Raccoons had won the season series for three straight years, including an 11-7 performance last season.

Projected matchups:
Travis Garrett (3-0, 2.85 ERA) vs. Greg Becker (2-3, 4.43 ERA)
Dan Delgadillo (3-1, 3.92 ERA) vs. Emmanuel Castaneda (2-3, 3.77 ERA)
Mark Roberts (2-3, 2.79 ERA) vs. Mo Robinson (4-4, 4.47 ERA)

Becker was a left-hander, and the only one they had. Also, we were guessing that they would use the day off to skip Mario Aragon (0-2, 7.77 ERA), because I sure knew I would. We would not get to see phenom Bryce Sudar (6-0, 2.53 ERA), who last pitched on Sunday.

As far as frequent pests were concerned, Tony Coca was on the DL with torn thumb ligaments, and John Calfee was nursing a sore elbow, which was always good news for a shortstop.

Game 1
VAN: 1B Jon. Morales – CF Gura – LF A. Torres – C Holliman – RF O'Rourke – SS Calfee – 3B Rickard – 2B Wise – P Becker
POR: SS Stalker – 3B Nunley – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – RF Alfaro – LF Carmona – 2B Spencer – C Delgado – P Garrett

In the spirit of the occasion, Garrett had the Raccoons' only base hit the first time through the order, hitting a 1-out single in the bottom 3rd, by which time he had already been ravaged for six hits and three runs by an entirely right-handed lineup. The Elks had hit a pair of 2-out singles in the second, Ehren Wise stranded them, then got another pair of 2-out singles in the third inning before Ryan Holliman beat Abel Mora with a 2-run double to center, then came home himself on Dave O'Rourke's triple into the leftfield corner. Garrett's hit in the bottom 3rd at least woke up the rest of the crew, which loaded the bases on two more singles by Stalker and Nunley, then pulled the score even on Abel Mora's 2-run double to right (which looked like a slam off the bat, but we should be disappointed) and Jon Gonzalez' sac fly, also to the right side.

Top 4th, Garrett allowed a hard leadoff single to Bobby Rickard, then misfielded Wise's grounder for an error. The Elks, always cocky, had Greg Becker swing, smacking a bouncer to Nunley for a 5-4-3 double play, but ****ing Travis Garrett managed to **** up anyway, getting blasted in a full count by Jonathan Morales, setting the Elks ahead 5-3. The Raccoons left Garrett out there through six innings, because his flappy arm wasn't worth protecting at the bullpen's expense anyway, but the Elks failed to tack on. Neither did the Coons scramble back in immediately this time, but Becker walked Omar Alfaro with one out in the sixth and then Cookie managed to get a ball to drop for once (probably exhausting his hit allowance for the week in the process) and got a double past O'Rourke. Those were the tying runs in scoring position with one out, and Jarod Spencer got one run in with a sac fly to right. Cookie moved to third in the 5-4 contest, with Tony Delgado being walked intentionally, although even the Elks – dumber than bricks, sure – should have guessed a pinch-hitter was gonna come up. That pinch-hitter was former Elk Cory Briscoe, and he lashed a liner into the left-center gap for a double. Cookie scored anyway, and Delgado was chased all the way around by the coaches while Alex Torres and Ted Gura took their sweet time to find the ball in the overgrowth out there, allowing Delgado to score with the go-ahead run, 6-5. Stalker grounded out.

The eighth inning would see two casualties. First was the 6-5 lead that Vince Devereaux had administered to responsibly in the seventh, but O'Rourke, who had seen his share of Coons runs being scored with balls to his quarters in this game, cracked a homer off Kevin Surginer to tie the score at six. On the next play, Tim Stalker tweaked his back and had to be replaced by Daniel Bullock, beating a couple of teeth out of the lineup right there. The Coons reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the inning thanks to another sac fly, this time Spencer flying out to center to bring home Alfaro, who had hit a leadoff triple to leftfield. That was all the lead they could collect for Brett Lillis, who would face the 8-9-1 batters. And OF COURSE it all fell apart – which team are YOU following to ask so stupidly!? After PH Curtis Hargraves struck out, PH Elijah Luckett reached on an infield single, Morales reached on a proper single, and Ted Gura disemboweled the franchise with a raging homer to right center, shooting Lillis' ERA all the way over eight on his fifth blown save and fourth loss of the season. 9-7 Canadiens. Nunley 3-5; Mora 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Briscoe (PH) 1-1, 2B, 2 RBI;

Tim Stalker was listed as day-to-day with back pain, and the Druid ordered him to stand in a barrel of pickle brine overnight, for three straight nights. I guess it would be irresponsible to send him to the plate as pinch-hitter with that royal stench about him.

Worse than those Elks…!

But oh well… (puts down the silver pen, folds the paper and puts it in an envelope)

Maud, please mail this to my lawyer. No, bring it over to him personally. – Because I need you outta here when I want to get a chance to blow my brains out.

Wednesday brought rain, which also gave us a double-header for Thursday. The Coons moved Mark Roberts into the first game of the double-header, with Castaneda going for Stinktown.

Game 2
VAN: 3B Jon. Morales – CF Gura – LF A. Torres – C Holliman – RF O'Rourke – SS Calfee – 2B Ra. Mendez – 1B Hargraves – P Castaneda
POR: LF Briscoe – 2B Walter – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – 3B Nunley – RF Alfaro – C Tovias – SS Bullock – P Delgadillo

The damn Elks scored first again, Gura singling, stealing, and scoring on Torres' single, who also stole second off Tovias, but was left aboard, with the Raccoons answering and matching immediately as in the opener. Shane Walter hit a solo home run in the bottom 1st to get the team even. Roberts held on to things for the moment, then found himself at the plate with three on and two outs in the bottom 4th. Jon Gonzalez had opened that inning with a double, Alfaro had walked, and with two outs Castaneda had balked the runners into scoring position. The Elks went on to intentionally walk the .200 scrum Bullock, and this pulled up the pitcher. Roberts snipped a soft line into no man's land for an RBI single, giving himself a 2-1 lead! Briscoe also found the outfield for an RBI single, 3-1, before Walter grounded out to Raul Mendez.

The Elks immediately got a run back off Roberts, who was suddenly **** in the fifth, ran three full counts and four 3-ball counts. Gura tripled, Torres doubled, getting a run home, 3-2, but that paled in comparison to Omar Alfaro's 2-out, 2-run homer in the bottom of the inning, wrapping around the right foul pole and collecting Matt Nunley, 5-2. With that lead, the Coons squeezed Roberts for 108 pitches, which unfortunately only amounted to 6 1/3 innings and Morales parking on first base with the single that knocked out the Coons' starter. Vince D replaced him and waved around the runner on a huge homer by Alex Torres, reducing the lead to 5-4.

Nunley and Alfaro were on base again in the seventh, this time hitting leadoff singles against reliever Brandon Smith, a right-hander, not that it mattered in the lineup part with all the switch-hitters. O'Rourke rushed in vain when Tovias hit a blooper to shallow right; that one fell in, too, loading the bases for … Bullock. Oh bugger. Truth be told, Bullock was unretired in the game, drawing three walks, two of them unintentional, but … no, the Druid says Stalker has to remain in the pickle brine. Oh well, flail away, Daniel …! Bullock poked the first pitch in play, right back to the pitcher, with Smith getting the out at home on Nunley. Cookie batted for Devereaux, flew to left for a sac fly, but that was all, with Torres also catching Briscoe's fly to left to end the inning. On to the eighth, where Jimmy Lee, the miserable ****, retired nobody, issuing a single to O'Rourke and two walks. Kipple replaced him, with ex-Coon Will Newman hitting into a run-scoring double play. A strikeout to Ehren Wise kept the tying run on third base. No further insurance came along, and in a motion of distrust, Kipple remained in the game for the ninth, facing the right-handed, death-bringing top of the order, because Lillis was gonna blow it anyway. In an outrageous move, Morales and Gura BOTH … BUNTED FOR HITS. Well, of course we were always gonna lose that one, too… Torres grounded out, advancing the runners, after which Ryan Holliman got ALL of Kipple's 0-1, sending it screaming in the general direction of Newfoundland for a 3-run homer. Hits by O'Rourke and Mike Chaplin plated an additional run for good measure. The Coons scored a run in the bottom 9th off J.R. Hreha. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered. 9-7 Canadiens. Briscoe 2-6, RBI; Nunley 2-5; Alfaro 3-4, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Tovias 3-5; Bullock 0-1, 3 BB; Spencer (PH) 1-1, RBI; Roberts 6.1 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 8 K;

I would shoot myself now if I had the time, but we're gonna play another one tonight, and … why the wait, really?

Game 3
VAN: 3B Jon. Morales – CF Gura – LF A. Torres – RF Chaplin – SS Calfee – 1B Hargraves – C Tanzillo – 2B Wise – P Aragon
POR: CF Briscoe – 2B Spencer – RF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – 3B Nunley – LF Carmona – C Delgado – SS Bullock – P Delgadillo

The regrettable Elks hit two doubles and drew a walk off Delgadillo in the second inning, but didn't score thanks to Mike Chaplin being caught stealing third base before Hargraves could find the corner. The Coons would score in the second, one run on two singles by Delgado and Bullock. And a passed ball. And a balk. The latter two occurred with two outs and the pitcher at the plate. It was a nice present, and I would be happy if I didn't know that the suckers would blow it at some point in the next two hours.

First though it started to rain in the third inning, with a very brief delay in the bottom half of the third. In a game starved for offense compared to the two predecessors, at least early on, Delgadillo shut out the Elks on five hits through five innings, with the biggest scare still having come in the second inning. The Coons also weren't exactly eating the clueless Aragon alive, being held to only four hits through five innings. We were just waiting for some mook to lift one outta here, but that didn't happen through six, nor through seven, an inning in which Delgadillo walked Chris Tanzillo and still managed to avoid being romped, even with Aragon batting with two outs. Dan K'ed him, keeping the 1-0 lead alive through the seventh. The eighth brought a K to Jonathan Morales, then two grounders by Gura and Torres. The pitcher's spot led off the bottom 8th for the Coons, and Delgadillo was sent to bat for himself. What were we gonna do? Send in Lillis to lose it? He was the first of three quick outs in the inning before resuming his day job on the mound. He entered the ninth on 93 pitches and 8 K in as many frames, and would face the 4-5-6 batters, which were mostly quite unknown to us. Chaplin ripped a single to right on the first pitch, but John Calfee went down on strikes after a 5-pitch battle. But of course it wasn't meant to be. Nothing was ever meant to be with this team. Hargraves walked in a full count, and Ryan Holliman pinch-hit for a single in a full count. The bases were loaded, Elijah Luckett came in to bat for Ehren Wise, and the Coons sent for Billy Brotman (!!) to face the left-handed piece of wood. Luckett grounded to short, throw to second, throw to first … late. The tying run scored, the rancid Raccoons had blown it AGAIN. Newman struck out to leave them on the corners. Also on the corners: the Coons in the bottom 9th, facing their former draft pick Dan Moon. Gonzalez and Nunley hit 1-out singles to bring up Cookie, who went on to walk off the team on the most terrible blooper this ballpark had ever seen, but it still fell in front of Alex Torres to end the game. 2-1 Blighters. Bullock 1-2, BB; Delgadillo 8.1 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 9 K;

Let's see, that makes two dastardly demonic pitching performances and one dastardly demonic hitting performance. Did I say 89 wins? I meant 98 losses.

And … Maud? – Where did you hide the gun from the top drawer. – The TOP drawer. – Maud, I know you replaced it with a photo book with kittens that look like former presidents, and I don't appreciate thi-

Although I must say, there are some funny kittens in here. Here, see the one that looks like Eisenhower.

Raccoons (21-19) vs. Falcons (15-25) – May 17-19, 2024

It was four teams under a blanket (1 1/2 games apart) in the North, and it was even five teams under a blanket (1 game apart!) in the South, but the Falcons were not part of that. They sat seven games out of the tied Knights, Aces, and Bayhawks, with the most runs allowed in the Continental League, and only seventh in runs scored. They were outright worst in most pitching categories, even beating the Coons in bullpen ERA (but it was sure close). The Coons had taken the season series last year, 5-4.

Projected matchups:
Jesus Chavez (1-5, 3.81 ERA) vs. Doug Moffatt (1-4, 7.23 ERA)
Rico Gutierrez (4-3, 4.10 ERA) vs. Justin Fleming (2-1, 3.10 ERA)
Travis Garrett (3-0, 3.06 ERA) vs. Kyle Anderson (1-7, 6.40 ERA)

They only had right-handers in that rotation. They were also without one of their most productive bats, with 1B Pat Fowlkes on the DL.

Tim Stalker's back was still acting up and he was not in the lineup once more on Friday. He also had not appeared in the double-header at all.

Game 1
CHA: LF Bowman – SS Tanaka – 1B Good – 3B Czachor – RF Benson – CF McClenon – 2B Read – C Mattaliano – P Moffatt
POR: CF Mora – 2B Walter – 3B Nunley – 1B Gonzalez – C Tovias – LF Carmona – RF Alfaro – SS Bullock – P Chavez

How about tearing up some scrub? That's what the Falcons thought when they saw Chavez, who walked Sean Bowman, whom the Falcons had picked up from the Dallas Stars earlier in the week in a trade for a prospect, to begin the game and unraveled from there, another walk and two extra-base hits plated three in the opening inning, and that was far from all that Chavez did to bury his team. In the fourth the Falcons wound up with runners in scoring position and one out. Paul Mattaliano popped out to Abel Mora in shallow center, keeping the runners pinned, after which Chavez only had to get rid of the opposing pitcher, who obviously cracked a liner to left for a 2-run single. That buried Chavez down three deep again, considering Matt Nunley's unearned 2-out, 2-run homer in the bottom of the third inning. A throwing error by Ryan Czachor had put the initial runner on base for Nunley, who then rushed one over the leftfield fence. Chavez, the detestable fool, would leave the game in the fifth inning with the bases loaded and nobody out, following singles by Ryozo Tanaka and Matt Good as well as a walk to Czachor. Brotman inherited the mess and yielded only one run on Travis Benson's sac fly before whiffing Joseph McClenon and getting Howard Read to ground out. The Coons were down by a slam in the middle of the fifth regardless, and they made no motion to recover from that, ever. They would only once place more than one runner aboard for the rest of the game, and that was with two outs in the ninth inning. Tony Delgado struck out in that spot, ending that sad game. 7-2 Falcons. Gonzalez 2-3, 2B;

Game 2
CHA: SS Bowman – CF Erskine – 3B Czachor – C T. Robinson – 1B Good – RF Benson – LF McClenon – 2B Tanaka – P Fleming
POR: CF Mora – 2B Walter – 3B Nunley – 1B Gonzalez – C Tovias – LF Carmona – RF Alfaro – SS Bullock – P Gutierrez

…and another game where the Raccoons were buried before they came to bat. Well, the Falcons scored two, and how were the Raccoons ever to make that up, against Rico Gutierrez in the first inning. Chris Erskine and Ryan Czachor hit singles, Tim Robinson walked, and the runs came in on Matt Good's run-scoring groundout and … a wild pitch. Robinson hit a sac fly in the third, getting the score to 3-0, while the Raccoons weren't hitting much at all until Jon Gonzalez hit a solo shot in the fourth inning, his first of the month, although that run would fly back onto the board rather quick. Justin Fleming, the opposing pitcher, hit a leadoff single in the fifth, Chris Erskine also singled, and Fleming scored on Czachor's sac fly.

Useless on the mound, Gutierrez hit an RBI double in the bottom 5th, plating Omar Alfaro from second base with one out. Walter singled, putting the tying runs aboard briefly for Nunley, who popped out to Tanaka on the first pitch he saw, keeping Portland behind 4-2. That became 4-3 the following inning on Gonzalez' leadoff jack, and the Coons had the leadoff man on base again in the bottom 7th, with Bullock singling to right center. He was the tying run thanks to Gutierrez stopping to bleed profusely in going six and a third, and Surginer holding the fort. Behind Bullock was Zach Graves, entering in a double switch with Surginer, but he grounded to short for a fielder's choice that killed off Bullock. Mora singled, and the Coons were really threatening when Fleming misfielded a Shane Walter grounder to load the bases for Nunley. Before things could get raucous, Fleming threw a wild pitch to tie the game, and then Nunley creamed a 2-1 pitch into right center for a 2-run double. He also rolled his ankle sliding into second base and had to come out of the game, which the Coons now led 6-4. Spencer replaced him, playing second, with Walter moving to third base.

Surginer and Kipple wiggled through the eighth inning without blowing the lead (although there were two aboard until Kipple whiffed PH Chris Almanza…), but sooner or later we had to arrive at the charred bones of Brett Lillis, who would face the 8-9-1 batters, which had gone wrong before. Ryozo Tanaka and Andy Walker struck out, Sean Bowman rolled out to short, and that was that. 6-4 Coons. Mora 2-4; Gonzalez 2-3, BB, 2 HR, 2 RBI;

Matt Nunley's ankle was not good for walking by Sunday morning and he hoppled around on crutches, which was also bad news for who'd be on third. Indeed, the rubber game would be the first contest without Nunley since 2022, as he was placed on the 15-day DL in the morning. The Raccoons were lucky that the AAA Alley Cats were on the West Coast right now, because it allowed them to fly in Mike Grigsby to make his major league debut.

Grigsby had been our second-rounder in 2020, and was batting .250 with four homers in St. Petersburg. He was still only 22 years old and very raw. We weren't expecting much from this first look, and he would never have Matt Nunley's defense, not now and not later.

Game 3
CHA: LF Bowman – SS Tanaka – 1B Good – RF Benson – CF McClenon – 2B Read – 3B A. Walker – C Mattaliano – P K. Anderson
POR: SS Stalker – 2B Walter – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – RF Briscoe – LF Carmona – C Tovias – 3B Grigsby – P Garrett

"Tragic" Travis walked FOUR in the first inning, also allowed a hit, but the Falcons scored only one run. In between Matt Good hit into a double play, but Read walked with the bases loaded to push one across. Andy Walker flew out to center on a 3-1 pitch, which certainly earned him a talk with his manager. At least the Critters had Tim Stalker back in the lineup, and he came to bat with two outs and Cookie (walk), Grigsby (also walk), and Garrett (2-out single…!) on the bases. Stalker flicked a dying goose over Walker at third base, and it died a hero in shallow left, scoring two and flipping the score in Portland's favor. Walter grounded out to first base to end the inning.

What was any lead ever worth with Garrett around? "Tragic" Travis was on 53 pitches after two innings and had already walked five, and would face the left-handed middle of the order in the third inning. Benson would draw the sixth walk off Garrett, getting the free pass with one out. McClenon singled to center, but a fielder's choice and a foul pop got Garrett out of the inning. Charlotte stranded another pair on another walk and another single in the fourth, McClenon singled to center again in the fifth, but Howard Read hit into an inning-ending double play. Garrett sure deserved every bit of a beating, but he still wasn't getting it, but would at least tie an unenviable franchise record with eight walks in a start, putting Paul Mattaliano aboard with one out in the sixth. He faced Anderson, who struck out bunting foul, then was yanked in favor of the porous pen with a 2-1 lead. Barzaga got the third out from Bowman, and Brotman did the seventh, but allowed a single to McClenon to begin the eighth. The Falcons sent a right-handed bat, Tim Robinson, to hit in Read's place, prompting a move to Surginer with the tying run aboard. McClenon advanced on a grounder, then a 2-out infield single by Mattaliano, before PH Chris Almanza hacked himself out to strand them on the corners. Can we PLEASE get an insurance run!?

The Coons had Cookie board with a walk in the bottom 8th. One out, he swiped second base, which led the Falcons to walk Tovias intentionally for the second time in the game (the first came after a Cookie double the last time through) to get to the debutee in the #8 hole. We were facing right-hander Jim Bryant here, but I didn't want to hit for Grigsby with Graves here, since Surginer had to be hit for as well … unless someone hit into a double play. Grigsby didn't singling to right to load the bases, his first knock in the big leagues! Graves batted for Surginer, grounding to Chris Erskine at second base … and Erskine butchered the play completely, all hands being safe on the play! Cookie scored, 3-1, Stalker drew a bases-loaded walk to get his team-leading 30th RBI. Walter grounded to the mound, rendering Grigsby out at home, but Mora still came up with two down and got drilled with a 1-2 pitch (probably not intentional…) to push in another run. Jon Gonzalez struck out, bringing up Lillis with a 4-run lead. Two right-handers in Bowman and Tanaka struck out, left-hander Matt Good singled, but another left-hander, Benson, grounded out to end the game. 5-1 Raccoons. Walter 2-5, 2B; Carmona 1-2, 2 BB, 2B;

In other news

May 13 – The Miners walk off on the Blue Sox in 11 innings, 4-3, on NAS MR Ruben Ortega (1-1, 1.52 ERA) throwing a very wild pitch.
May 16 – MIL CF/RF Ian Coleman (.373, 1 HR, 16 RBI) will miss three to four weeks with an intercostal strain.
May 19 – The Scorpions' CF Justin McAllester (.310, 5 HR, 37 RBI) has forged a 20-game hitting streak with a fifth-inning single in the Scorpions' 4-3 win over the Miners.
May 19 – LVA SP Abramo Archibugi (2-2, 4.89 ERA, 1 SV) allows five runs in seven innings against the Indians, but ties for the team lead with 4 RBI in a strange game that sees the Aces drop the Indians by double digits, 17-6.

Complaints and stuff

Things are… very much mixed. That was a very depressing Elks series, even by Elks series standards. I still can't find my gun and the blunderbuss is too big to end my misery with it.

Please don't ask about replacements for Garrett or Chavez or anybody else from AAA. The only starter for the Alley Cats that does not walk more than he whiffs? Ryan Nielson. By the way, despite the truly horrendous starting pitching this week (although the pen was not much better), we still have the second-best rotation by ERA…? There's gotta be an error in that calculation. I will have Steve from Accounting look over it.

We have Monday off again, so the double header on Thursday does not scramble pitching assignments. We'll be in Atlanta and Oklahoma next week.

Adam Cowen was assigned to AAA on Monday, having gone unclaimed during his time on waivers.

Fun Fact: Travis Garrett became the sixth Raccoons starter to walk eight batters in a single start, but he became the first one to be rewarded with a W for his troubles.

The other offenders / Raccoons starters that walked eight in a game were Juan Berrios (1980), Roman Ocasio, Logan Evans (both in 1981), Nick Brown (2002), and Chris Brown (2015). All took the loss in the respective starts, with the exception of Nick Brown in his first April as a major leaguer, who was bailed out by the offense after his departure.

Of course that 1980 game is the truly dreadful Cyclones game where four Raccoons walked *19* batters in a nine-inning game that directly led to a 2-month hiatus for me.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (23-20) @ Knights (24-19) – May 21-23, 2024

Competing in the packed CL South, the Knights were one game off the division lead, just as the Raccoons were as the series opened on Tuesday in Atlanta. The Knights ranked fourth in runs scored and tied for fifth in runs allowed, and overall ranked right in the middle of the pack in many important categories. The 2023 series had been a bit of a disaster for the Raccoons, who had won but a single game from Atlanta and had dropped the other eight.

Projected matchups:
Dan Delgadillo (3-1, 3.46 ERA) vs. Frank Kelly (2-4, 2.98 ERA)
Mark Roberts (2-3, 2.79 ERA) vs. Chris Chatfield (4-3, 3.53 ERA)
Jesus Chavez (1-6, 4.50 ERA) vs. Brian Cope (4-2, 3.55 ERA)

That would be three right-handers, but if the Knights would elect to skip somebody, they would move left-handed Chris Rountree (4-4, 4.52 ERA) into this series.

Game 1
POR: SS Stalker – 2B Walter – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – C Tovias – LF Carmona – RF Alfaro – 3B Grigsby – P Delgadillo
ATL: LF Stuckey – SS T. Jimenez – C Luna – 1B Avalos – CF Houghtaling – 2B Hibbard – RF Sauceda – 3B Rolland – P Kelly

Coming up after an intentional walk to Jaylen Rolland following Alex Sauceda's 2-out double, Frank Kelly burned his old team with a 2-run double into the left-center gap, his first base hit of the season. That was almost his final action of the game, leaving the game with an injury in the top of the third inning after retiring seven of the eight batters he faced. Not that anything got much better for the Raccoons against the bullpen – they amounted to a grand total of three base hits through five innings, although one of those was a solo shot by Jon Gonzalez off Efrain Isidoro in the fourth inning. Too little, though, because the Knights also knew how to slug one. Tony Avalos went deep to left center with one out and Tony Jimenez aboard in the bottom 5th, stretching the Knights' advantage to 4-1. Jimenez had reached on a leadoff walk, the fourth free pass administered by Delgadillo in this game. In his six pitching innings, he struck out only three batters, so it was not an outrageous thing to say that he did not exactly repeat his strong previous outing. The Raccoons remained statistically active, yet in all the wrong columns, until the seventh inning, where they faced travelling old Frank Yeager, who issued a leadoff walk to Elias Tovias, and then allowed a Cookie single into centerfield. That brought up Omar Alfaro, all .210 worth of our hope for better times, but who according to his scouting report could from time to time maybe whack one, and was the tying run. He swung away at the 3-1 and cracked it over Avalos up the rightfield line. Sauceda couldn't cut it off, and Alfaro reached third base with a 2-run triple, and there was still nobody out in the inning. Grigsby brought in the tying run with a sac fly to center, his maiden career RBI, and also the last run in the inning, despite Spencer's pinch-hit double. Stalker was walked intentionally, Walter flew out to center, and then Abel Mora drove a ball really hard to right, but Alex Sauceda made one of those yearbook catches in the gap that made you take a bite out of your cap in anguish. That feeling of everything being for naught only worsened with David Kipple getting ripped up in the bottom of the inning. A single, a double, a walk to Tamio Kimura's dead body, and finally Alex Sauceda's 2-out, 2-run single up the middle did him in, and the rest of the crew right along with him. 6-4 Knights. Grigsby 2-3, RBI; Spencer (PH) 1-2;

Ack… although the game was not all bad… more on that in the Complaints section.

Game 2
POR: SS Stalker – 2B Spencer – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – C Tovias – LF Carmona – RF Alfaro – 3B Grigsby – P Roberts
ATL: LF Stuckey – 3B Rolland – C Luna – CF Houghtaling – SS T. Jimenez – 2B Hibbard – 1B McIntyre – RF Sauceda – P Chatfield

With weather on the approach, the Knights put two aboard in the first inning, but were stymied by Houghtaling's pop and Tony Jimenez flying out easily to Alfaro. The Coons would score first, Grigsby hitting a leadoff single in the third inning, being bunted over by Roberts and finally scored by Jarod Spencer's 2-out single. Roberts struck out four in the first three innings, then was in trouble in the fourth, and it was only partially self-made. Houghtaling hit a leadoff single, after which Jimenez grounded to short. Stalker threw wildly past second base, putting two on instead of two out. A double play was only turned on Devin Hibbard, but Will McIntyre kissed the sweet spot on a 97mph fastball to flip the score in the Knights' favor, 2-1. The runs were unearned, which was little consolation to anybody but Mark Roberts.

Not that Roberts was flunk-resistant. With Alfaro and Grigsby aboard in the fifth, his bunt to first base was so bad that McIntyre had ample time to throw out Omar at third base. Luckily, Chatfield lost Stalker to a walk, ultimately negating the bad bunt – the bases would have been loaded with one out one way or another, although there was now a terrible runner at second base. Spencer hit into a double play to clean the bases of annoying Raccoons and keep the Knights ahead. Roberts soldiered along in an intermittent drizzle, and his spot was up to bat with two outs in the seventh and Alfaro at third base. There were still a few pitches to shake from that arm, and Chatfield didn't look like he was going to topple any time soon, so the Coons sent their hurler to bat. He rolled a ball to the mound, Chatfield couldn't play it, and the Critters tied the game on the infield single with Alfaro dashing for home. That wasn't all, because NOW Chatfield was mixed up. He walked Stalker, and allowed a gapper to Spencer for a 2-run triple. Mora singled, Gonzalez doubled, and five runs scored in total in the inning on five straight 2-out runners. Roberts finished eight innings, retiring the last nine batters he faced while reaching double-digit whiffs. Jimmy Lee pitched the ninth inning, his first non-horrendous outing in a while. 6-2 Coons! Spencer 3-5, 3B, 3 RBI; Mora 2-3, 2 BB, RBI; Grigsby 2-4; Roberts 8.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 10 K, W (3-3) and 1-2, RBI;

Thursday morning, Baseball was stunned by the news that Frank Kelly had retorn his surgically repaired UCL on Tuesday, and would be heading for another Tommy John surgery by the weekend.

Wow, the poor sod…

Game 3
POR: SS Stalker – 2B Walter – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – C Tovias – LF Carmona – RF Alfaro – 3B Grigsby – P Chavez
ATL: LF Stuckey – SS T. Jimenez – C Luna – 1B Avalos – CF Houghtaling – 2B Hibbard – RF McIntyre – 3B Rolland – P Cope

Hibbard in the second and Avalos in the fourth had 2-out singles for the Knights, but that was all early on against Jesus Chavez, who seemed to avoid the usual bitch slap for once. Unfortunately the Raccoons amounted to the same pile of non-offense through four, taking the lead only on Elias Tovias' leadoff jack in the fifth inning, his fourth home run of the season. The Knights didn't lock him in the wringer until the sixth inning of a surprisingly fast-moving game, when Tony Jimenez hit a 1-out single, advanced on Ruben Luna's groundout, and Avalos legged out an infield single to put them on the corners for Houghtaling, who was batting .224, but was an ex-Elk, so that was automatically doubled against the Coons. Beware the mighty .448 batter! Of course he ticked the first pitch into no man's land in shallow left center to tie the game. Hibbard also singled, but McIntyre flew out to Alfaro in a full count, keeping the score tied at one.

Chavez crossed 100 pitches in that sixth inning and was not to be seen again, although the Coons spotted him with a chance for the W in the seventh inning on straight 2-out singles by Tovias, Cookie, and Omar. Vince D allowed a leadoff single to Jaylen Rolland, a ****ty blooper, but Cope bunted into a double play to thwart the blossoming threat in the bottom 7th. The Coons left the bases loaded when Avalos threw himself in front of Tovias' fast bouncer to scramble for the third out in the eighth inning, but Billy Brotman threw up a zero in the bottom of the inning.

Top 9th, Cookie drew a walk off closer Jarrod Morrison to begin that inning. He was itching to go (with 400 career stolen bases around the corner more or less), but Alfaro fouled out on the hit-and-run call. Grigsby singled to right in a full count, with Cookie pressing hard for third base. McIntyre gave his all on the throw, which ended up wild and up the leftfield line, allowing Carmona to score with an insurance run. Cory Briscoe's infield single and Daniel Bullock's pinch-hit groundout produced another run. More was better this year with Brett Lillis, who's ERA was still over seven and who was one more cockup away from losing his job at the end of the pen. He walked Houghtaling on four pitches to begin the bottom 9th, which was bad on multiple levels. Hibbard whiffed, and Abel Mora sold out to retire McIntyre on a drive to center. Jaylen Rolland went down on strikes before it could get really ugly. 4-1 Raccoons. Tovias 2-4, HR, RBI; Grigsby 2-4; Graves (PH) 1-1, 2B; Briscoe (PH) 1-1; Chavez 6.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, W (2-6);

Chavez won a game? Oh my, to witness that before I'd die …!

Raccoons (25-21) @ Thunder (25-21) – May 24-26, 2024

Fourth in the South, but still only one game out, the Thunder were tied for fourth in runs scored and third in runs allowed in the CL. They had the fourth-best rotation, but a mediocre bullpen, but they also had plenty of injuries, including missing starters Bryan Hanson and Max Nelson (outfielder Ezra Branch was also on the DL). There was virtually no power in their lineup; they ranked last in homers in the Continental League. This was the second meeting between these teams in 2024, with the Coons holding a 2-1 edge in the season series.

Projected matchups:
Rico Gutierrez (4-3, 4.31 ERA) vs. J.J. Menendez (4-2, 4.89 ERA)
Travis Garrett (4-0, 2.91 ERA) vs. Jose Vigil (2-0, 3.09 ERA)
Dan Delgadillo (3-1, 3.72 ERA) vs. Alex Telles (5-2, 1.66 ERA)

No living left-hander in their rotation; they also have only one southpaw in the pen.

Game 1
POR: LF Briscoe – 2B Walter – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – RF Alfaro – 3B Grigsby – C Delgado – SS Bullock – P Gutierrez
OCT: CF Bareford – RF Dobbs – SS Serrato – 1B J. Elliott – 2B Ts'ai – C A. Baker – LF Sagredo – 3B Flournoy – P J.J. Menendez

Menendez shuffled the bags full in the first inning, but the Coons would be limited to an Alfaro sac fly before Grigsby struck out. Menendez would also be the first Thunder to reach base off Gutierrez (not that the outfielders hadn't robbed the Thunder of a couple o' doubles…) with a dropping 2-out single in the third inning, but ex-Critter Andy Bareford grounded out instead of building on his .311 batting average. Omar Alfaro added a second RBI when he came to bat for the second time, smacking a leadoff jack in the fourth inning to announce his slugger's bid. It was his third homer of the season, all in May. Oklahoma's rightfielder, Brett Dobbs, would match his feat in every aspect in the bottom of the fourth inning, moving the score to 2-1, and the Thunder took the lead after a single by Zhang-ze Ts'ai and Adam Baker's subsequent home run to left. The Coons would hit two singles in the fifth, but couldn't get any of three flies past the outfielders and were thus denied of a run, and two more singles by Delgado and Gutierrez himself – a lousy hitter – were landed in the sixth, but Cory Briscoe K'ed to leave them on the corners, too.

Maybe Shane Walter's double to begin the seventh would help us out of this predicament here. The ball hit the chalk of the rightfield line, so that had to be some kind of stupid-lucky charm, right? Right? Guys? Indeed – the Thunder sent their only southpaw, Scott McLaughlin, to face the not-left-handed part of the order (beyond Mora at least) and he – got – ripped. Gonzalez doubled to tie the game, Grigsby walked, Delgado singled to left to take the lead, and Bullock hit a double to deep left to score another run. Now, Gutierrez ain't no Roberts. He had a few more pitches in his arm, but the quality of those would be dubious at best, and there were TWO runners in scoring position and Tim Stalker was on the bench (as well as Cookie, but we were facing a lefty here). When Stalker got hit by a 1-2 pitch, Spencer batted for Briscoe. Still no right-handed relief in sight, but Spencer flew out to Dobbs, keeping the score at 5-3. Both teams scratched out a run in the eighth, with Alfaro driving in the Coons', while a leadoff double by Alex Serrato and John Elliott's single coupled with a Zach Graves error allowed the Thunder to score a run with nobody out against Vince D. Ts'ai was retired on a grounder to short (now manned by Stalker, with Bullock off to third base), before left-handed pinch-hitter Bobby Marshall appeared and we deemed it time for Brett Lillis to pitch a 5-out save with the tying run at the plate. Actually, the Thunder lined up four left-handed bats here now, but Kevin Surginer hadn't pitched all week and could in theory face the right-handed 1-2-3-4-5 batters if need be. Actually, Surginer entered THIS inning, but not until after Lillis had already blown the save with three singles hit by the first three batters he faced. Marshall singled in Elliott on the first pitch, and Luis Sagredo and David Flournoy also singled. Mike Pizzo grounded out, with the go-ahead runs in scoring position and two outs, and Surginer up against left-handed pinch-hitter Chris Kuzman, who grounded out to second base, keeping the score even at six. The Thunder would complete a teeth-grinding upset of the Coons in regulation, with Surginer coughing up a John Elliott singled, walking Ts'ai with two down and losing the game on a pinch-hit single by former Titan Mike Cesta. 7-6 Thunder. Walter 4-5, 2B; Gonzalez 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Alfaro 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Bullock 3-5, 2 2B, RBI;

And now? Billy Brotman to close??

Well, no need to make a decision on this before Sunday, since the Saturday start was "Tragic" Travis' to blow.

Yes I know he still hasn't lost a game this season, but HAVE YOU SEEN HIM PITCH??

Game 2
POR: SS Stalker – 2B Walter – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – C Tovias – LF Carmona – RF Alfaro – 3B Grigsby – P Garrett
OCT: CF Millan – RF Sagredo – C Pizzo – 1B J. Elliott – 2B Ts'ai – 3B B. Marshall – LF Dobbs – SS Serrato – P Vigil

Gonzalez' groundout plated Shane Walter in the first inning, Walter having doubled earlier and having moved to third on Abel Mora's single, which was not a lot of early support for competitional walker Travis Garrett, who nevertheless completed the first inning on just four pitches and three weak groundouts. Which was ****ing Garrett's way of luring you into a sense of false security and that it would all be fine. It wouldn't.

Trouble started with Ts'ai's double in the bottom 2nd, and swiftly Garrett issued a walk, a wild pitch, a sac fly to Dobbs and a real bomb to the light-poking Serrato that would probably be shot down in Russian airspace about eight hours from now. Even Vigil required effort from Cookie to retire on a deep drive to left, ending the bottom 2nd with a 3-1 deficit. The Coons hit four singles in the third inning to get back one run, but after those four mildly-struck singles, when Cookie actually made contact and drove a ball to left center, Brett Dobbs made it there to catch the drive and end the inning with three Furballs stranded.

Throughout the middle innings, the Coons would frequently put the tying run on base, and then find way to not score him, which usually required extremely untimely strikeouts, or some defensive heroics. Heck, in the seventh inning Garrett hit a leadoff single(!) and was stranded at third base. This included 90 feet gained on a wild pitch by Vigil, who still held on to that 3-2 lead with his teeth. There was some unusual life to Garrett's game in the later innings now that he was behind in the game and saw his zero in danger. Bobby Marshall hit a 1-out double in the bottom 7th, which looked like it could make for a great insurance run, and suddenly Garrett reached back and struck out both Dobbs and left-handed PH Chris Kuzman. Little useful life could be registered from the lineup, though Jon Gonzalez became the umpteenth incarnation of the tying run with a leadoff single in the eighth. Tovias flew out to shallow center, Cookie grounded out. Vigil was removed there, with right-hander Jesus Lopez walking. Zach Graves batted for Grigsby, prompting the appearance of Mr. Southpaw, Scott McLaughlin, who struck him out. Garrett made it through eight, then was hit for by Briscoe to begin the ninth against right-hander Manny Gomez, who was not really a strikeout pitcher, but walked hardly anybody. Briscoe flew out to left, with Stalker putting a 3-1 pitch in play, grounding to the left side. David Flournoy's throwing error put him on second base, and NOW it was a really interesting game, with two more left-handed bats coming up against Gomez, and then our slugger. That slugger never appeared, with Walter flying out to center and Mora lining out to second base. 3-2 Thunder. Mora 2-5, RBI; Gonzalez 2-4, RBI; Alfaro 2-3, BB; Garrett 8.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, L (4-1) and 1-3;

Coons had nine hits, Thunder had five. They stranded two, we stranded ELEVEN.

The game lasted only 2:25, but felt like six hours. For heck's sake, Garrett pitched all of it, no wonder I was constantly monitoring my heartbeat.

Ugh, this team… by the way, we are behind the Elks now.

Game 3
POR: SS Stalker – 3B Walter – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – C Tovias – LF Carmona – 2B Spencer – RF Graves – P Delgadillo
OCT: CF Millan – RF Sagredo – 3B Flournoy – C Pizzo – LF Kuzman – 1B J. Elliott – 2B Ts'ai – SS Serrato – P Telles

Abel Mora's 400-footer in the first inning counted for two, collecting Tim Stalker, and if nothing good would happen to the Coons for the next three hours, at least we had taken a dump on Alex Telles' 1.66 ERA. There were five left-handed bats atop the Thunder lineup, so I feared the worst with Delgadillo, who promptly walked the first two batters before having some sense shaken into him by the pitching coach. Cookie robbed Flournoy of extra bases in left, with Pizzo whiffing and Kuzman flying out to shallow right to keep the Thunder from scoring in the first inning. Well, they'd be back before long…

By then, the Coons' lead was 4-0, Jon Gonzalez having gone deep for the tenth time in the third inning, and having taken Mora with him on a journey round the bags. That didn't help Delgadillo one bit, though. Not only did four of the five left-handers reach against him in the bottom 3rd, but with two runs already in, John Elliott singled to load the bases with one out. The Coons couldn't turn a double play on Ts'ai's grounder to short, costing another run, and only Serrato's groundout ended this inning from hell. There was a scoreless fourth, but there was a Kuzman homer in the fifth that would tie the score…

Delgadillo was yanked in the sixth after a Serrato single, with the Coons diving into their notoriously wobbly bullpen. Kipple struck out Omar Millan in a full count to end the inning, but we still had to restart the offense entirely, which had gone to sweet dreams after zooming out to 4-0. Alex Telles however retired them in order in the seventh, retired them in order in the eighth, and Tim Sloan pitched a perfect ninth. Adam Baker hit a leadoff single in the bottom 9th against Surginer, who then misfired Omar Millan's bunt to second base, advancing the winning run for Oklahoma. Brett Dobbs grounded sharply to third, Shane Walter starting a double play, 5-4-3. That brought up Flournoy with the winning run at third base. Surginer's first pitch was lazy and made him the hero, Flournoy cracking a hard single to left to complete a weekend sweep of the Raccoons. 5-4 Thunder. Walter 2-4; Mora 2-4, HR, 2 RBI;

In other news

May 20 – INF Izzy Alvarez (.261, 4 HR, 20 RBI) is traded from the Gold Sox back to the Aces, along with a prospect, for LF/CF Armando Martinez (.323, 3 HR, 26 RBI).
May 20 – The Bayhawks beat the Crusaders, 1-0, on SFB OF Dave Garcia's (.309, 8 HR, 19 RBI) solo home run.
May 22 – The hitting streak of SAC CF Justin McAllester (.304, 6 HR, 38 RBI) ends after 21 games as he goes empty-handedly in a 5-3 win over the Capitals.
May 22 – Loggers and Condors play 14 scoreless innings before both score a single run in the 15th inning. The Condors eventually run out of pitching in the 19th inning, with the Loggers plating five runs for a 6-1 road win. TIJ INF Bob Rojas (.262, 0 HR, 17 RBI) goes 4-for-9 in the game.
May 22 – The Rebels drop 37-year-old C Jamal White (.100, 0 HR, 4 RBI in 20 AB) on the Falcons in exchange for a third-rate prospect.
May 23 – The Blue Sox hit four home runs and rout the Warriors, 15-1, with three Sox driving in four runs apiece. Jerrod Luckert (.333, 4 HR, 9 RBI) and Matt Otis (.225, 1 HR, 16 RBI) do so while having two base hits, while Tom Schorsch (.191, 4 HR, 10 RBI) plates his four runners with four base hits.
May 24 – LAP SP Vincent Alfaro (4-5, 3.17 ERA) holds the Miners to two base hits in a 2-0 shutout.
May 25 – Atlanta's Leon Hernandez (1-3, 4.26 ERA) has to be flawless for his first win of the season, turning over only two hits in a 7-0 shutout of the Titans.
May 25 – SAL SP Carlos Barron (3-4, 3.63 ERA) spins a 3-hit shutout over the Cyclones in the Wolves' 7-0 victory.
May 26 – DEN SP Tommy Weintraub (6-2, 3.28 ERA) will miss at least one start with a shoulder strain.

Complaints and stuff

After this week, the good news is that I asked for sanctuary at St Edward the Martyr's deep in the Oregon woods and I have been accepted. This is a good old Carthusian monastery, which means no talking, no outside world, no nothing. – What is it, Maud? – No meat and no booze?? – Okay, I'll come up with another plan by next week.

Meanwhile, this team is … in a rut? Well, we have no offense, and we kinda have no pitching, and the pen cocked up again this week, and Brett Lillis should have walked his way and that would have been better for all. You're always smarter after the fact. This season shall pass, too, I guess, but for now nobody's hot, nobody's funky, and everybody's kinda miserable around here…

Fun Fact: On July 21, 2011 the Raccoons traded Jose "Dingus" Morales and Luis Beltran to the Capitals for Mike Cook, Jason Bergquist, Joe O'Brian, Gary Dupes… and Ricardo – soon to be "Cookie" – Carmona.

Nary 13 years later, Cookie Carmona reached 2,000 base hits in his major league career. Unfortunately he had to do so in the Coons' soulless 6-4 loss to the Knights on Tuesday, singling off Frank Yeager in the seventh inning.

He is also the only player to ever reach the 2k mark for the Raccoons. Neil Reece stopped at 1,983 for the Coons, and then six more for the Pacifics after we could no longer responsibly have him stand out there in the bright sun, erring in the general direction of objects hit right at his head…

[Westheim]

This week took almost six hours to play. I suggest that you appreciate it accordingly, and it doesn't hurt any of you to pat my back from time to time and leave a consoling 'There, there.' comment.

This is the exhaustion speaking.

+++

Raccoons (25-24) vs. Condors (23-26) – May 27-29, 2024

The Coons had been swept on the weekend, the Condors had even lost four straight and had gone 1-9 in their last ten, and neither team was hitting very well. The Condors were eighth in runs scored, one spot behind the Critters, and tenth in runs allowed in the CL, even six spots behind the Critters. We had a 2-1 lead in the season series and really could use a few more W's against … anybody.

Projected matchups:
Mark Roberts (3-3, 2.45 ERA) vs. Jose Menendez (5-4, 3.49 ERA)
Jesus Chavez (2-6, 4.21 ERA) vs. George Griffin (1-5, 4.31 ERA)
Rico Gutierrez (4-3, 4.33 ERA) vs. Jeff Little (3-3, 4.57 ERA)

Where have other teams hidden all the left-handed pitchers? In the Condors rotation! We'd meet at least one here in Jeff Little after regularly going without recently, and this would only be the ninth left-handed opposition for us this year.

Game 1
TIJ: SS B. Rojas – CF Boggs – LF O. Larios – 3B M. Matias – C Sanford – RF Hollar – 1B McNeal – 2B T. Casillas – P Jo. Menendez
POR: SS Stalker – 2B Walter – CF Mora – 1B Gutierrez – C Tovias – LF Carmona – RF Alfaro – 3B Grigsby – P Roberts

Mark Roberts would fail badly against the 1-2 batters in the order. Bob Rojas and Robby Boggs both got on base in the first inning, which got derailed by Omar Larios' double play grounder, and they would get on again in the third inning. Rojas hit a 2-out single to left, stole second base, his 12th of the year, then came home on Boggs' single to center. Larios struck out, but that was the first run in the game, with the Critters so far hitless against Jose Menendez, who did not reappear for the bottom of the third, ostensibly having suffered an injury. The Coons got their first base hits off Sam Lowery in the bottom 3rd, back-to-back 2-out RBI doubles by Shane Walter and Abel Mora. Mike Grigsby had initially reached with a walk.

Through five, Roberts struck out only two batters, but also allowed only one base runner that was not named Rojas or Boggs, with Andy McNeal hitting a leadoff single in the fifth inning, but he got immediately washed up in Tony Casillas' double play grounder to short. He went on to strike out three in the sixth, though the inning also saw Boggs on base again, and a 4-pitch walk to Omar Larios. The Raccoons remained dead from the waste up at the plate, allowing Tony Casillas to tie the game on a 2-out brain fart by Roberts that hung in the middle of the plate in the seventh inning. It was Casillas' fifth homer of the season. Roberts lasted eight eventually, being all but forgotten by his team. The ninth saw McNeal single off Lillis with two outs, then being pinch-run for by Danny Zarate. There was just no catching Zarate stealing, and Tovias wouldn't come close when Zarate took second base. Lillis drilled Casillas before fanning PH Juan Estrada, giving the Coons, who had not gotten a hit in hours, a nominal chance to walk off. Right-hander Jeremy Waite's second pitch in the bottom 9th was taken to center for a double by Jon Gonzalez. Tovias didn't matter but in a double play context, so was walked intentionally. When Cookie grounded out, Alfaro was walked intentionally as well. Briscoe pinch-hit for Grigsby, whiffed, and Jarod Spencer grounded out to third base, stranding all runners and sending the game to extra innings…

The Raccoons got scoreless innings from Brotman and Surginer, while wasting Cookie singling and stealing in the bottom 11th, before Juan Barzaga smacked Casillas (again…) in the 12th and allowed the run to score on a single by Adrian Rojas, who had replaced Bob Rojas pinch-hitting earlier. Spencer reached on a throwing error to begin the 12th inning, representing the tying run on second base and bringing up the unproductive top of the order. While Tim Stalker carefully maintained his oh-fer, flying out to right, Shane Walter singled to center, allowing the quick Spencer to score and tie the score again. Mora then got a ball past Rich Walsh at first base for a double, but there was no way running Walter against Chris Hollar's murder arm. Gonzalez batted with the winning run on third base and one out, which was all you could wish for, AND against a left-handed pitcher in Mike Peterson. Except, no, another intentional walk, and here comes Tovias, who flew out on a 3-1 pitch to shallow left, and Cookie fouled out next to third base. And the band played on into the 14th, where Barzaga issued a leadoff walk to Hollar, who was on third base with two outs and the Condors' bench was depleted, so Peterson batted. Barzaga had him at 0-2 before balking in the go-ahead run STUPIDLY, and that would be the difference in the game. 4-3 Condors. Roberts 8.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 8 K and 1-2;

I am really starting to hate this team.

Game 2
TIJ: SS B. Rojas – RF Hollar – 3B M. Matias – LF O. Larios – C Sanford – 1B McNeal – CF Boggs – 2B T. Casillas – P Griffin
POR: SS Stalker – 2B Walter – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – C Tovias – RF Alfaro – LF Graves – 3B Bullock – P Chavez

Jon Gonzalez homered in the first inning, cashing in Shane Walter and his single for a quick 2-0 lead for Chavez, who could use any run he could get usually, and never got enough, and this game was not going to be an exception with Pat Sanford hitting a leadoff jack in the second inning right away. Tim Stalker, who had laid dying for about a week at this point, awoke for a 2-out, 2-run single in the bottom 2nd, driving in Graves (double) and Bullock (walk), whom Chavez had bunted over.

Bob Rojas being caught stealing by Tovias spared Chavez any damage in the third inning, and Tovias would come up big again in the bottom of the inning, putting a ball in play and scoring on the play, but it was not an inside-the-park job; let me elaborate. He came to the plate with one out and Abel Mora at first base, then smacked hard to right and up the line. Mora was waved around third on the double, with Hollar beaming in a throw from deep right. Mora was slapped down by Sanford in front of the plate – out there – with Tovias bidding for third base, and the Condors' catcher saw a 9-2-6 double play developing, but threw the ball wildly past Mike Matias into leftfield, allowing Tovias to pick himself up and scamper home to score, 5-1.*

Sanford hit another homer in the fourth, cutting the gap to 5-2, and Chavez would get rid of it entirely in the sixth inning, putting Rojas aboard and getting taken yard – massively – by Chris Hollar. Matias doubled, Chavez balked him to third base, and conceded the run on Sanford's groundout to short, knotting the tallies at five. That was also his last inning. Vince D and Kipple held the fort in the seventh, but the Coons wasted a leadoff single by Cookie (having entered in a double switch with Kipple) in the bottom 7th, and Kipple allowed singles to Hollar and Matias in the eighth inning. Surginer replaced him, fell behind 3-1 to Sanford, and then served up a bomb, Sanford's third in the game. That put the Condors up by three after being down by four not so long ago, but the Coons were not dead yet. The tying run was at the plate in the bottom 8th, when Cookie was up with two outs and lined out to Kyle Mims in right, but the chance was even better in the ninth, with Walter and Mora getting on against Lorenzo Romero, which brought up Gonzalez with one out. A wild pitch advanced the runners, but Gonzalez popped out to Casillas at second base. That brought up Tovias, an odd hero earlier in the game, and he continued to build the foundations of a legacy, drumming a 400-footer to right center that tied this malicious mirage of a ballgame at eight when Romero had been one out away from saving it! ELIAS TOVIAS!! There would be two on again in the 11th with Gonzalez up and one out, now against right-hander Markus Bates. He struck out, but there was still a Tovias coming around here! And that Tovias… grounded out, and the game went to the 12th. In things refreshingly unusual continuing to occur, Brett Lillis pitched two shutout innings in relief between the 11th and 12th, then was to bunt over Omar Alfaro after a leadoff walk in the bottom 12th. He failed, badly, getting Alfaro forced out. That brought up Bullock, but I was not going to waste a bench piece NOW in a game that could well go 20 innings… Bullock murdered Bates' initial pitch, a long liner into deep right and past Mims by a good amount. Lillis ran like he never had run before on the double, was waved around third base in desperation, and Mims' throw was off into foul ground, leaving Sanford no chance for a play, as Bullock walked off the Coons! 9-8 Blighters. Stalker 2-6, 2 RBI; Walter 2-5, RBI; Mora 2-4, 2 BB; Tovias 2-6, HR, 2B, 4 RBI*, Graves 1-2, BB, 2B; Delgado (PH) 1-1; Lee 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K; Lillis 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, W (2-4);

Hip, hip, Tovias! … there is no rhythm to that, and I will come up with something else.

And please, can we get the Wednesday game over in regulation? Although there WILL be an off day on Thursday, so there's at least that…

Game 3
TIJ: SS B. Rojas – CF Boggs – LF O. Larios – 3B M. Matias – C Sanford – RF Hollar – 1B McNeal – 2B T. Casillas – P Little
POR: SS Stalker – 2B Spencer – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – RF Alfaro – LF Carmona – C Delgado – 3B Grigsby – P Gutierrez

Sanford hit quite the drive his first time up, but it went to the depths of center and ended up with Abel Mora, not doing damage against struggling Rico Gutierrez. Mora also caught a real rocket by Matias, hit with two outs in the third inning and runners on the corners. Both those runners, Little(!) and Larios, had reached on balls… nope, Gutierrez was not well, but at least he also wasn't scored upon in the early innings. Runners were on the corners again with two out in the fourth inning, which included a leadoff double by Sanford, who should come with a bright yellow warning label attached, and then an intentional walk to Casillas to bring up Little, a left-handed batter. I know, I know – the most dangerous game. Rico hung a K on him, though, his first in the game. With the Raccoons offense not doing anything noteworthy in particular, Gutierrez struck out three in the fifth inning, with a courtesy single by Boggs in between those.

The game remained a scoreless duel through seven innings, with five mostly weak hits for the Condors, and four entirely weak hits for the Coons. Gutierrez entered the eighth on 92 pitches, but remained in with Omar Larios leading off, who was a lefty, and Coons philosophy does not encourage exchanging lefties for lefties on the hill. Larios came DAMN close to homering to right, Alfaro making a hasty catch on the track, so that was Gutierrez' last man, especially with Sanford going to appear within the inning. Vince D came on, but saw a left-handed pinch-hitter in Rich Walsh, whom he walked, and who then was swiftly run for by Danny Zarate again. Zarate took second off Delgado, but Sanford and Hollar both struck out, keeping the Condors off the scoreboard. Little was still going in the bottom 8th, retiring Grigsby and Briscoe before yielding singles to Stalker and Spencer, and that was hands down the best Coons effort in the entire game… Abel Mora ran a full count, then grounded out to short… Nobody reached base in the ninth, and this game went to extras AGAIN. The contest didn't remain scoreless for much longer, with Robby Boggs homering off Billy Brotman in the tenth inning, and Juan Estrada reached on a Stalker throwing error. Sanford was walked intentionally to get to Hollar, who walked unintentionally, all of this with two outs. Andy McNeal grounded sharply to third base, but Grigsby remained in control, ending the inning with three men stranded. Bottom 10th, the tying run was on right away with Mike Peterson nicking Tony Delgado. Grigsby whiffed. Walter whiffed. Stalker grounded out to short. 1-0 Condors. Spencer 3-4; Gutierrez 7.1 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 5 K;

Raccoons (26-26) vs. Indians (22-31) – May 31-June 2, 2024

The Indians were at the bottom of the Continental League in terms of runs scored, and they were also near the bottom in runs allowed, sitting 11th. Their run differential was an unsightly -65, which didn't lend itself to playing watchable baseball, but here was a team with a +3 run differential that was also a tax on your nerves. Also, the Indians were playing .415 overall, but they were 5-1 against Portland this season…

Projected matchups:
Travis Garrett (4-1, 2.97 ERA) vs. Tom Shumway (3-4, 2.99 ERA)
Dan Delgadillo (3-1, 3.96 ERA) vs. Sam Kramer (3-1, 2.73 ERA)
Mark Roberts (3-3, 2.43 ERA) vs. Jordan Caldwell (2-8, 5.26 ERA)

The left-hander Shumway would lead off this series, and we'd miss the fillers in the back of their rotation that had arrived there thanks to injuries to Tristan Broun and Alvin Smith. Brody Folk was also on the DL, among bits and pieces.

Of course, Saturday will see the Nick Brown Hall of Fame Bobbleheads being given out, so I expect Yusneldan to get routed and the rest of the outcasts to be no-hit through seven at least. I haven't had a parade that didn't get rained on for as long as I can remember.

Game 1
IND: CF Linnell – 3B J. Jackson – RF C. Martinez – 1B M. Rucker – LF D. Morales – C Calhoun – 2B Stevenson – SS Burns – P Shumway
POR: SS Stalker – LF Spencer – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – RF Alfaro – 2B Walter – C Delgado – 3B Grigsby – P Garrett

Yes, that was former Raccoon Josh Stevenson misplaced at the keystone, but we will laugh about that – maybe – after turning that 1-5 tide. Given that we had "Tragic" Travis pitching, success was all but a given, and the Indians reached three times the first run through their order, all of the runners getting on via the walk… Justin Jackson's 1-out double in the third was the first base hit for either team, Garrett went on to walk Cesar Martinez, then got blasted by Mike Rucker's 12th homer of the season, a no-doubter on a lazy ball in the middle of the plate on 3-2. Garrett would issue another free pass to Justin Calhoun in the inning, giving him five in three innings, and no strikeouts. He would not complete another inning, walking Richard Linnell and Martinez in the fourth before being yanked. Kipple replaced him, walked Rucker, also walked Danny Morales to force in a run, allowed another run on Justin Calhoun's single (who hurt himself in the process and was replaced by Tony Perez), and then threw a wild pitch to score another run against Stevenson, who also eventually walked. The Raccoons, who had one base hit to their names, gave up on the game right there, throwing Barzaga into the fray. At least he could entice an Arrowhead to make contact, and Kyle Burns flew out to left, stranding a full set in a 6-0 game that was completely out of hand.

Next, the paying crowd had to endure an hourlong rain delay (hey, still not summer in Portland, or even spring), but after the delay Shumway was out of whack, too, bleeding three runs in the bottom 4th on a Mora hit, an Alfaro homer, a Walter double, and then Grigsby's 2-out RBI single. Gonzalez drove in Mora the following inning, but the Coons were still two short and already elbow-deep in their bullpen again, which eventually collapsed. Billy Brotman allowed back-to-back homers in the eighth to Martinez and Rucker, although that was still not the end. Shane Walter's single, another single by pinch-hitting Elias Tovias, and then Rafael Urbano losing Cookie Carmona on four pitches loaded the bases in the bottom 8th, and Tim Stalker came up with one out. Urbano's first pitch found Stalker's hip, pushing in a run and bringing up Jarod Spencer with the go-ahead run. Jarod flew out to left, and shallow enough that Danny Morales' arm was a real threat to Elias Tovias at third base. Southpaw Mike Homa replaced Urbano against Abel Mora, who cracked a 2-run single to left in a full count. Exit Homa, enter Luis Calderon, a righty, to go after Jon Gonzalez, and when we wanted to win this after all, we had to win it right NOW. Jon hit a ball into left for a single, the tying run scored, but now the Coons had to bat for Kevin Surginer, who had been penciled in for the ninth inning. Cory Briscoe ran another full count against the Indians before ticking a ball into right for another single. Abel Mora was flying around third to score largely unimpeded, and somehow ****ing Travis Garrett had gotten off the hook in a 5-run inning now. We were not quite done yet; Calderon served up an RBI double to Walter, 10-8, before Jackson made a strong play on Delgado's grounder to left. THAT one ended the inning. Now, that 10-8 lead went to Brett Lillis in the top of the ninth, which didn't mean he was reinstated as a closer, but was more an indicator as to the depletion of the bullpen at this point. He had the Indians a strike away from going down in order before drilling Kyle Burns with a 1-2, but at least Rich Mendez had the decency to ground out to Stalker before another extra-inning circus could break out. 10-8 Furballs!? Mora 3-4, BB, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Briscoe (PH) 1-1, RBI; Walter 3-5, 3 2B, RBI; Tovias (PH) 1-1; Carmona 0-0, BB; Barzaga 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

I feel dizzy.

Coming up – bobbleheads! Also, Juan Ortega (0-1, 7.71 ERA) instead of Sam Kramer; Ortega, 38, was one of their replacements. Here was a … I don't want to say 'distinguished'… he was an All Star, once, and he did lead the Federal League in strikeouts twice, many moons ago. His career ERA is 4.71, and if he sticks around a wee bit longer he's got a good shot at 200 career losses. This was only the third season in which he had appeared in the Continental League after being part of the '18 Elks and '20 Falcons.

Game 2
IND: CF Linnell – 2B R. Mendez – RF C. Martinez – 1B M. Rucker – LF D. Morales – C T. Perez – 3B J. Jackson – SS Burns – P J. Ortega
POR: SS Stalker – 2B Walter – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – C Tovias – LF Carmona – RF Alfaro – 3B Grigsby – P Delgadillo

There was somebody aboard against Delgadillo in every inning, although he always got a break either through a double play like in the second and fourth innings, or with Tovias throwing out a runner, like in the third inning. The Raccoons really had given their all on this frigid June Saturday afternoon, with a huge pregame bonanza in Nick Brown's honor, who also threw out the ceremonial first pitch of the game. Offensively, the team was not inclined to embarrass Ortega and the Indians, unfortunately, with only two soft hits falling in during the first three innings.

We were in the sixth, with an erratic Delgadillo already at 100 pitches, when the Indians had two men on in Linnell (single) and Martinez (walk). When Mike Rucker hit a deep drive to left I was emotionally ready to kiss this cruel day goodbye, but Cookie Carmona made a flying catch on the warning track to keep the scoreboard empty. Morales grounded out on the next pitch, keeping Delgadillo unscored upon in a 6-inning outing that was otherwise not spectacular. Abel Mora's leadoff double in the bottom 6th presented the vague chance to give him a W, somehow, anyhow, but the Arrowheads passed on Gonzalez uncontested to bring up Tovias. They were really begging for a blast by Elias, whom the league still didn't accept as a legit (.253/.321/.414) hitter. His groundout to Rich Mendez did nothing to cement his standing amongst his peers and their leaders, but at least advanced the runners, and Cookie's fly to Morales was good enough for Mora to scamper home with the game's first run. Alfaro got four wide ones, with Graves batting for Grigsby, but flying out to right. Vince D retired the Indians in order in the seventh inning, the bottom of which saw Walter double and Mora single, teaming up for a 2-out run. Three Coons relievers stumbled through the eighth inning while barely avoiding a 3-run blast by Mike Rucker off Surginer, which Cookie took care of, while the Indians got eighth innings from Ortega, somehow. Kevin Surginer stuck around for the ninth, facing three right-handers starting with Morales, who singled sharply to left. Perez flew out softly to Cookie, but Jackson singled. Kyle Burns went down looking, with Josh Stevenson batting as the last out of the Indians here. He wouldn't dare hurting us and ruining our good day, would he? The first pitch Surginer offered was mauled to centerfield, deep, far beyond Mora, and caromed around for a triple. That of course blew the lead, and if Maud hadn't hidden my gun so well, I'd now blow a hole into my numb head. Linnell hit a drive to right that Alfaro managed to catch up with, but here we were again, looking like utter fools. Even Nick Brown in the stands looked dismayed.

Fellow southpaw Billy Brotman struck out the side with vigor in the tenth inning, bringing up the meat of the order with a chance to beat Nick Salinas, a right-hander with middling success. The winning run reached base with nobody out in truly Portlandian fashion, Shane Walter hitting a ****ty hobbler that Salinas threw away for two bases. Mora lined out to short, Gonzalez was still not pitched to, and Tovias hit into a double play. Juan Barzaga would manage to not get murdered in the top 11th, after which Cookie hit a leadoff double to right. COOKIIEEE!! Now, you little ****s, get that ****ING RUN HOME!! But first, an intentional walk to Omar Alfaro. Tony Delgado smacked into a double play, Daniel Bullock walked, and Stalker struck out to strand the winning run at third base. Barzaga cocked up a run in the 12th, but Jon Gonzalez ended a day with only strikeouts and intentional walks with a 2-out homer off Urbano in the bottom of the inning, keeping the music going here, with Portland almost out of pitching and close to signing Nick Brown to a 1-day deal.

The winning run appeared on third base once more in the bottom 13th, with Eric Davidson allowing 1-out singles to Alfaro and Delgado. That brought up Sluggin' Bullock again, but the bench was officially spent and there was nobody to send for him. He struck out. Stalker grounded out, stretching a futile day to 0-for-6. It was worse in the 14th, when Walter and Gonzalez singled, and now Jimmy Lee was up with one out and the winning run at second base. Lillis was the only reliever left, and there was no hitting for Lee anyway. We asked for a bunt, which would have the Arrowheads forced to pick between Cookie, who was in a deep slump, or Alfaro, who's middle name was probably Slump. They chose Cookie. Cookie flew out to shallow left. Lee had nothing left in the 15th and was replaced by Lillis mid-inning, with the Indians not moving the go-ahead run past first base after Rich Mendez' leadoff single. Bottom 15th, leadoff single by Alfaro up the middle. In a perfect world, Bullock would be batting eighth to bunt, and bring up Delgado in hope of a single, but that was not the way they were arranged in the batting order now. Delgado singled instead, Bullock couldn't even get a ****ing bunt down, but it didn't matter, with Mike Homa whiffing both Stalker and Walter… The Indians broke through in the 16th inning, scoring a run after two singles and a passed ball off the Lillis/Delgado battery. Jonathan Valle grounded out to short to get the run in. The Coons, past and present, seemed to have enough now. Jon Gonzalez hit a 1-out single after a weak groundout by Mora. Lillis bunted, not knowing any better. Cookie came up, grounded over to Zach Ingraham, whose throw to first was … wild. And into the dugout. Gonzalez was awarded home plate. Alfaro struck out to continue the game. Next inning… Delgado singled to center to lead off, and Bullock bunted him to second base against Mike Homa. Tim Stalker was 0-for-7 but there was no wisdom in sending Rico Gutierrez to bat instead… The Arrowheads WALKED HIM INTENTIONALLY. The Coons called a run-and-hit on Walter, who missed, and Delgado was dead at third base. HOWEVER … there was now speed on second base, and a single would probably - … oh hold on, Homa just threw a wild one. Stalker to third, where he remained on Walter's groundout to Ingraham.

The 18th inaugurated Jesus Chavez in relief with Lillis completely gassed, which had the positive side effects of wiping out another ****ty start for him while keeping tomorrow's starter unmolested. One wobbly inning with two deep drives that thankfully did no damage was enough for Chavez; Mike Homa's 38th pitch and the first of the bottom 18th was his last. Abel Mora branded it and sent it into the upper rows in rightfield to end this curiosity that would keep statisticians busy for a long time. 5-4 Blighters. Walter 3-9, 2B; Mora 3-9, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Gonzalez 3-6, 2 BB, HR, RBI; Alfaro 3-5, 3 BB; Delgado 3-4;

Five hours, 37 minutes, or in other words, two hours longer than Nick Brown, busy with endorsements, could hang around.

Roster moves for Sunday included Matt Nunley coming off the DL and replacing Mike Grigsby, who had started his career 5-for-10 and continued it 3-for-22. We also sent Juan Barzaga to St. Pete through no fault of his own, but we needed a rested long man in the worst way and that was going to be Adam Cowen.

The Sunday affair would also see as many players as possible to get a day of rest in case they played all 18 innings on Saturday, although Shane Walter and Jon Gonzalez remained the odd guys out that had no replacement and were back in the lineup.

Game 3
IND: SS Burns – 2B R. Mendez – LF D. Morales – RF C. Martinez – C T. Perez – 3B J. Jackson – CF Faulk – 1B Linnell – P Kramer
POR: CF Briscoe – LF Spencer – 2B Walter – 1B Gonzalez – C Tovias – 3B Nunley – RF Graves – SS Bullock – P Roberts

Mark Roberts was fully aware of him not getting rescued before he had thrown 110 pitches in this game, and if he surrendered 13 runs while doing so it would be his problem, not ours. Of course he was in a pickle from the start. The Indians hit three rockets in the first inning, all for outs, then stretched the second out forever with two infield singles and Sam Kramer running a full count before striking out to strand them. Kyle Burns hit a leadoff jack in the third, an inning that saw Mark Roberts over 60 pitches once it concluded. Portland pulled even in the bottom half of the same inning, with Daniel Bullock singling, stealing, scoring on Spencer's bloop single to left with two outs. While the Coons showed no sign of making a move for more runs, Roberts got torn up in the sixth inning. Danny Morales hit a leadoff jack, and after Tony Perez got on the Indians added two more runs with two down on A.J. Faulk's double and Richard Linnell's single. At 108 pitches, Roberts was done at this point, and we'd have Adam Cowen throw some garbage innings afterwards. In a perfect world, Roberts would have pitched a shutout, and Cowen could have taken a spot start to give Chavez a breather, but maybe we could switch Gutierrez into the Monday start instead.

All these plans were for after the thorough beating to be taken right here, of course. Burns hit his second leadoff jack of the game off Cowen in the seventh inning, stretching the Indians' lead to 5-1. While the Coons had a token attempt at making a comeback in the eighth, putting runners on the corners only for Jon Gonzalez to strike out, Cowen retired the next eight batters after the Burns homer, whiffing five. He also made sure Burns would not hit another home run, hitting Burns instead with two outs in the ninth, and Burns was then caught stealing by Tovias. This still made for a pretty ****ty loss developing. Cookie Carmona's pinch-hit RBI single in the bottom 9th, plating Nunley, who had doubled, was window dressing. 5-2 Indians. Walter 2-4, 2B; Graves 2-4, 2B; Carmona (PH) 1-1, RBI;

Cookie's late appearance has kept him from missing his first game of the season, although he has already come off the bench 10 times now. Jon Gonzalez is the only other Coon to feature in all contests this year.

In other news

May 27 – The Loggers beat the Falcons, 4-3, in 17 innings on a walkoff double by 1B Mike Gershkovich (.215, 3 HR, 15 RBI).
May 30 – The Thunder trade SP Alex Telles (5-2, 1.97 ERA) to the Wolves in exchange for unranked prospect 1B Alex Aleman.

Complaints and stuff

Some week, huh?

I do not remember a 3-game series in which all games went to extra innings. I just don't remember it. Glad that is off our bucket list. And Saturday, well… Saturday was some game, too. By the way, we have no off day until the 20th. Monday will see Rico Gutierrez moving up a day (but he will pitch on regular rest due to Thursday having been off), with Chavez getting two days to recover from his win in relief to start on Tuesday, all of this in New York. If Garrett blows again on Wednesday, I'll flog him personally.

Do you remember however Kaleb Babcock? We took him in the rule 5 draft from the Titans, then included him in the Abel Mora deal to the Wolves. Well, now this 28-year-old whatever-ya-wanna-call-him is 6-2 with a 2.56 ERA and wrapped up the Rookie AND Pitcher of the Month award in the Continental League with a 5-0, 0.71 ERA performance.

I guess I will congratulate myself on starting another great career and leave it at that. You know, how I started Dennis Fried's career.

MAUD, WHERE IS THE GUN!!??

And while we all know that Travis Garrett is ****, I still don't know who could replace him from AAA. It looks like I have to seek my fortunes in a trade…

Fun Fact: Pat Sanford's 3-homer game on Tuesday was the 43rd in ABL history, and the fourth in a losing effort, joining unlucky IND Victor Cornett (1991), DEN Liam Wedemeyer (1995), and ATL Gil Rockwell (2014).

It was also the sixth-ever 3-homer game against the Raccoons, and the fourth for the Condors. Sanford joined Raúl Vázquez (2002), Juan Diaz (2009, and not the infamous left-handed reliever), and Jimmy "Oatmeal" Eichelkraut (2017) in going yard thrice.

Other players to have done so against Portland? NYC Gabriel Ortíz (2010), LAP Stan Murphy (2012), NYC Jesus Ramirez (2014), ATL Jimmy Raupp (2017), and MIL Chris LeMoine (2020)…

*Elias Tovias incorrectly (in my opinion) received an RBI on this play.

And as if the week didn't drag on enough, the stupid game cost me another 30 minutes by not giving #42 back to Matt Nunley when he came off the DL. It claimed that the number was in use. It was not. Not on the major league roster, nor on ANY minor league team, nor on the DL, or even the minor league DL, or on waivers, or anywhere.

Except that the stupid game had retired it automatically for Angel Casas in 2022.

(bites into clenched fist real hard)

[Westheim]

2024 DRAFT POOL ANALYSIS

Holding the #7 pick in the 2024 draft, the Raccoons were naturally curious about the selections on offer. New head scout Miguel Carrasco had dutifully compiled a 93-strong shortlist of players up for grabs in the draft, and it showed a bit more hitting potential than we had seen in the last few years, but pitchers would not be entirely left out, either. Whether the Coons would be able to pick a real impact player to freshen up that minor league system rating that contained only four ranked prospects would still be seen, but I knew who I had my money on.

I was hoping for a Puerto Rican two-way player that would probably go early in the draft and likely before #7 just like Tim Stackhouse had gone at #2 last year. This kid, Omar Lastrade, was batting .554 in high school in Ohio, hitting eight homers in their short season, but he was also pitching and utterly demolishing hitters, allowing only four earned runs in 83 innings and sending more than just one freshman crying on his way back to the dugout. Since fielding was not Lastrade's strong suit anyway, a team would likely be enticed to try to develop him into a well-hitting major league pitcher rather than a poorly-fielding major league hitter.

There was also the well-known hotlist with our preferred picks from the 93 players on the shortlist (*indicates high school player):

SP Omar Lastrade (P: 13/14/9; H: 13/15/10) * - BNN #4
SP Andy Bressner (13/14/12) * - BNN #3
SP Chris Pyles (15/13/12)
SP George James (11/13/15)
SP Logan Bessey (12/13/14) – BNN #10

CL Bronson Wright (19/11/9)
CL Steve Schwellenbach (12/13/12)

C Tyler Johnson (10/10/12) – BNN #9

3B Jim Allen (13/10/10) * - BNN #1
2B Jonathan Huber (10/8/16)

OF Brian Wojnarowski (12/13/14)
OF Abel Madsen (8/9/11)
OF Nate Nelson (11/11/9) – BNN #7

Could you possibly imagine the joy this team could bring to people with a pair of star Omars? (…he said of his career .227/.304/.361 rightfielder…)

[Westheim]

Raccoons (28-27) @ Crusaders (29-25) – June 3-6, 2024

Though their record was not indicative of the fact, the Crusaders were indeed leading the CL North with a meager .537 winning percentage, with the Coons and the Titans virtually tied for second place, one and a half contests back. This 4-game set thus presented a good opportunity for the Raccoons to catch up and zoom by, with winning three out of four being all it would take. In arguing this I am willfully ignoring the fact that the Coons had been playing .333 since the start of 2022 against these Crusaders, including 1-2 this year, as well as their league-best pitching and fewest runs allowed, a tough mole's hill to tackle for a team that had no real zing to its lineup. Neither had the Crusaders'. What had once been a slugging team was now anything but, and they ranked second from the bottom in the Continental League in runs scored, with a dubious +6 run differential.

Projected matchups:
Rico Gutierrez (4-3, 3.82 ERA) vs. Ed Hague (5-1, 2.54 ERA)
Jesus Chavez (3-6, 4.43 ERA) vs. Alejandro Mendez (3-5, 3.78 ERA)
Travis Garrett (4-1, 3.50 ERA) vs. Ben Jacobson (3-2, 4.88 ERA)
Dan Delgadillo (3-1, 3.62 ERA) vs. Ozzie Pereira (4-5, 3.64 ERA)

Jacobson was their lone left-handed starter. They were missing one regular from the lineup in 1B Xavier Garcia (.258, 2 HR, 15 RBI) who was laboring on a knee sprain and a key contributor to the second-worst offense in the sport. Also still disabled: Jonny Toner, who had signed that $2.28M contract for healing out his elbow and maybe return to competition somewhere down the road. There was talk of him returning to pitching competitively in the second half of the month.

Game 1
POR: SS Stalker – 2B Walter – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – C Tovias – 3B Nunley – LF Carmona – RF Alfaro – P Gutierrez
NYC: 1B Fullerton – CF Douglas – 3B Schmit – RF Ellis – 2B Oosterom – SS S. Valdez – LF Shaffer – C Rangel – P Hague

No score through three, with the Coons' best effort being Abel Mora's first-inning double over the head of his former Wolves teammate Nate Ellis. The Crusaders started the bottom 3rd with a clean single into right by the pitcher Ed Hague, got an infield single by Lance Douglas, but good defensive efforts by Matt Nunley on Andy Schmit's grounder and by Cookie Carmona on Ellis' drive to left center stymied them. All-out defense continued to keep Rico alive, with the speedy Piet Oosterom being seemingly safe on a grounder that pulled Tim Stalker towards leftfield, but Stalker whipped a wonderful throw to first to beat him by a whisker at the start of the fourth inning. What remained indefensible was Gutierrez' stunning lack of any kind of stuff and his inability to remove pitchers. Hague singled again in the fifth, this time with one out, and this time it would cost Gutierrez. Lance Douglas' RBI double to right center provided the first run of the game, and Gutierrez walked Schmit before Alfaro got hold of an Ellis drive to right. As far as Portland was concerned, they had gotten a Nunley single in the top 5th after Hague had retired nine in a row, but Cookie Carmona immediately hit into a double play, something that had never happened back in the days. The sixth saw leadoff singles by Stalker and Walter, then a Jon Gonzalez double play, and in the seventh Tovias singled and Cookie reached on an error by D.J. Fullerton, who was not paid for playing first base, so close to the action, and was not doing a very spiffy job of it, either. Zach Graves batted for Gutierrez, who had expended 98 pitches in six innings, exploited the huge hole on the right side for a 2-2 single and an RBI when Tovias scored from second base. Tim Stalker knocked a single to left to plate Cookie, and the Coons zoomed into the lead, which remained at 2-1 after Walter got hit and Mora flew out to Nick Shaffer to end the inning. While David Kipple and Vince Devereaux did their best to keep **** in place with bullpen choices still limited after Saturday's 18-inning bonanza, Hague ventured into the ninth inning, but allowed singles to Alfaro and Spencer to get going. They were on the corners, Spencer was caught stealing by Harvey Rangel, but Stalker came through with a clean single to center, scoring Alfaro with an insurance run. Shaffer's leadoff single in the bottom 9th spelled trouble, and while Vince D got through PH Jake Williams, the Crusaders then sent another left-handed pinch-hitter in ex-Coon Raul Claros. Combined with lots of left-handed action at the top of the order, things were dicey and desperate enough to send for recently-disgraced Brett Lillis, who got a first-pitch grounder to first from Claros, which Gonzalez fed to second (to start a double play, ostensibly), though wildly, and all hands were safe. Lillis' second pitch was chucked into right by D.J. Fullerton, with the Crusaders sending the runners on Alfaro, which was not the brightest idea. Shaffer was thrown out at home plate, though the tying runs reached scoring position with two outs and .212 batter Lance Douglas up, who had the only New York RBI in the game, but grounded out to Shane Walter to end this nailbiter. 3-1 Coons. Stalker 3-5, 2 RBI; Tovias 2-4; Nunley 2-4, 3B; Alfaro 2-4; Graves (PH) 1-1, RBI; Spencer 1-1; Gutierrez 6.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W (5-3); Kipple 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

By the way, those are the three relievers we were counting on, and they all have ERA's over five right now…

Game 2
POR: SS Stalker – 2B Walter – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – C Tovias – 3B Nunley – LF Carmona – RF Alfaro – P Chavez
NYC: 1B Rangel – SS Doering – RF Ellis – 3B Schmit – 2B S. Valdez – LF Loya – CF J. Williams – C McPherson – P A. Mendez

Chavez, the scum of the earth, allowed three hits, a walk, threw two wild pitches, and was charged with two runs in the first inning alone, or as you could call it, a pretty normal day at the office for him. While he was one of about three or four reasons in the rotation alone why this team was not going to foray into first place any time soon despite the opportunity presenting itself invitingly here, the offense remained at fault as well. They had wasted a Nunley triple (a rare occasion for sure) in the eighth inning on Monday night, and they wasted a Nunley double in the second inning on Tuesday. In the third inning, Chavez' completely childish bunt was taken by Eric McPherson for a double play, erasing Omar Alfaro from first base after Harvey Rangel's error to begin the inning. The Raccoons also refused to convert an Ellis error into a run in the fourth, but Chavez was not above giving the Crusaders another run with a 2-out wild pitch past a confused Elias Tovias before actually striking out McPherson to end the fourth inning, now down 3-0.

The tablesetting Stalker/Walter duo set another table in the sixth for the recently reluctant middle of the order, with Stalker coaxing the first walk out of "Ant" Mendez before Walter singled cleanly to rightfield, all that with nobody out. Abel Mora grounded hard to the short side of second base, and a better shortstop than Blake Doering would have turned one or even two, but Doering didn't get to the ball at all, which escaped to center for an RBI single, getting Portland on the board. After Gonzalez popped out, errors galore by the Crusaders kept aiding the Coons. Tovias singled to center on 0-2, and Jake Williams overran the ball for an extra base, allowing Walter to score and putting men in scoring position with one out for Matt Nunley, who tied it with a sac fly, and then Cookie's single put the Coons on top, 4-3, with Tovias scoring. An intentional walk to Alfaro pulled up Chavez, who should really be shot right here, but we were still short in the pen. He grounded out. Walter dragged him through the sixth by turning a double play, but clean 1-out singles by Williams and McPherson knocked him out in the seventh inning. With Billy Brotman on the mound, the Crusaders pulled off a double steal, with PH D.J. Fullerton coyly singling both of them in right away, flipping the score back the Crusaders' way at 5-4. The Coons would get the tying run on base only in the ninth inning when Travis Giordano walked Cory Briscoe in the #9 hole. At least that brought up ol' reliable Tim Stalker, who reliably hit into a double play to even the series. 5-4 Crusaders. Walter 2-4;

The worst thing is… another active saboteur to the cause is coming up to pitch…

Game 3
POR: SS Stalker – LF Spencer – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – 2B Walter – C Delgado – RF Alfaro – 3B Bullock – P Garrett
NYC: 1B Rangel – CF Douglas – RF Ellis – 3B Schmit – 2B S. Valdez – LF Loya – SS Doering – C McPherson – P Jacobson

Garrett retired the lineup in order the first time through, presumably delaying tragedy for the middle innings, while the Coons scratched out a 1-0 lead in the first inning, Gonzalez singling in Tim Stalker. Tony Delgado hit a solo shot in the fourth inning, his second of the season, for a 2-0 lead in a game that sure began slowly, but picked up speed in the bottom 4th. Rangel doubled off Garrett, who had not struck out anybody in the first three innings, and Andy Schmit drove in the Crusaders' first run with a 2-out single sharply knocked into center. Sergio Valdez also singled, putting runners on the corners, before Garrett got strike three past Ricky Loya, a .227 batter, in a full count to escape the inning still in possession of a 2-1 lead that looked more and more flimsy with each and every batter. Spencer caught a McPherson drive on the track for the second out in the fifth inning, before the tragedy trap sprung and Garrett served up a 2-out triple to the ****ing pitcher. Rangel struck out, a surprising motion of leniency by the baseball gods that ended the fifth inning. Garrett limbered into the seventh before Loya singled and McPherson drew a 2-out walk. Since the Coons had refused to tack on, PH Jake Williams was more than just the go-ahead run. Kipple came out to see after him, but served up a 3-run home run to right, well outta here, and then put another four batters on base. Rangel singled, Douglas walked, Ellis hit an RBI single, and then he drilled Schmit. Adam Cowen came out to register a pop from Oosterom to get out of the abysmal inning from hell, but cocked up another two runs on three hits, driven in by Rangel with two outs in the bottom 8th. 7-2 Crusaders. Gonzalez 2-4, RBI;

As the Coons dropped to .500 on their way to the cellar, having scored just 16 runs in the first five games of the month while allowing 22, Cookie Carmona did not appear in this sad loss, leaving Jon Gonzalez as the last Raccoon to have appeared in all games this season.

Also, David Kipple in getting blown up once more reached a 6.14 ERA, which did absolutely not match his 3.81 FIP. The BABIP on Kipple was an outlandish *.414* … it's hard to blame a kid for the baseball gods absolutely despising his guts, but at some point we have to cut our losses…

Game 4
POR: SS Stalker – 2B Walter – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – C Tovias – 3B Nunley – LF Carmona – RF Alfaro – P Delgadillo
NYC: 1B Rangel – CF Douglas – RF Ellis – 3B Schmit – 2B S. Valdez – LF Loya – SS Doering – C McPherson – P Pereira

The Coons had five base hits in the first three innings, scoring zero runs from them. Twice did they have two men on with two outs, only for the next batter, Tovias in the first, Gonzalez in the third, to strike out. The third inning also saw a leadoff single from Delgadillo, his first career hit after starting the season 0-for-24. In turn, the Crusaders had scored a run in the bottom 2nd on three singles off Delgadillo, and that despite leadoff runner Sergio Valdez being caught stealing by Tovias. Ozzie Pereira returned the favor on Delgadillo in the bottom 3rd, hitting a leadoff single, just with the added benefit of somebody actually contributing behind him. Rangel continued his emergence from nobody's radar to coonskinner with a double into the rightfield corner, and the Crusaders would tack on a run on a sac fly by Nate Ellis eventually after Douglas grounded out to first, extending the lead to 2-0.

Tovias' leadoff single in the fourth was erased on Nunley's double play grounder, and it took two doubles by Alfaro and Stalker in the fifth to get the Raccoons onto the scoreboard at all, down 2-1 despite having piled up eight base hits, another desperate showing. None of this helped Delgadillo, whose throwing error to begin the bottom 5th put Eric McPherson on second base, and after a bunt by Pereira on third base. Rangel flew out to shallow right, keeping the runner on, and Douglas walked on four pitches. Jon Gonzalez lunged to intercept a quick Nate Ellis bouncer and fed it to first to end the inning just in time before it could get really ugly. And with that I mean uglier than Andy Schmit's inning-opening moon shot in the bottom 6th that restored a 2-run advantage for New York…

Top 7th, Cory Briscoe walked in Delgadillo's spot with one out, after which Stalker grounded to third base. Schmit mishandled the ball, putting the tying runs aboard on the error, and errors were a vital ingredient in any scruffy Raccoons run, let alone rally. In the event, neither transpired. Walter grounded out to third, advancing the runners so they would flank Doering and marvel in awe when he leapt to the skies to snare Abel Mora's liner to switch off the Raccoons' ventilation. Their last twitch before suffocating for good was Tovias' single in the eighth, their tenth on the day, before Nunley smacked into another double play. That was before the Coons' pen was blasted apart in a 5-run eighth, Brotman walking the opening batter Valdez on four pitches, while the rest of the massacre was on Kevin Surginer in his first appearance in the series, and he ran one 3-ball count after another. Loya singled, Doering drove in a pair, McPherson walked, and then the scourge that was Harvey Rangel opened the Coons' bellies for complete disembowelment with a raging 3-run homer to left. 8-1 Crusaders. Tovias 3-4;

Beaten and battered, the Raccoons would drag themselves back home.

If we had any assets, now would be a good time to seek for trade partners.

Raccoons (29-30) vs. Wolves (28-31) – June 7-9, 2024

While the Raccoons were spiritually eliminated after three choking defeats in a row in New York, the Wolves were also mathematically outside the usual range from where you could reasonably claim to be able to make a comeback. They were 10 1/2 behind the lead in the FL West, although their individual parts were not that horrendous. They ranked sixth in both runs scored and runs allowed with a +7 run differential (Coons: -8). Oddly, their rotation was the best in the FL by ERA, while their bullpen ranked last in all of baseball. The Coons held a .577 win percentage all time in the regular season over Salem, and had swept the Wolves in the most recent encounter in 2021.

Projected matchups:
Mark Roberts (3-4, 2.70 ERA) vs. Jose Vazquez (5-4, 3.48 ERA)
Rico Gutierrez (5-3, 3.61 ERA) vs. Kaleb Babcock (6-2, 2.56 ERA)
Jesus Chavez (3-7, 4.54 ERA) vs. Carlos Barron (3-5, 3.53 ERA)

All their starters were right-handed, and yes, that is the Coons' rule 5 pick there in the Saturday game. We could really use a qualified pitcher right now.

Game 1
SAL: SS Odescalchi – RF L. Gross – 1B Harenberg – LF Kuramoto – CF B. Adams – 3B M. Green – C D. Rice – 2B Jewell – P Vazquez
POR: 1B Walter – 2B Spencer – CF Mora – C Tovias – RF Alfaro – 3B Nunley – LF Graves – SS Bullock – P Roberts

Amazingly, the Coons made their very first out in the game at third base, Shane Walter hitting a ball into the rightfield corner, thinking triple, but being beaten to third base by Luke Gross' throw by about 15 feet. Another runner was thrown out at home by Gross in the third inning. Walter at second, Mora at first, Elias Tovias doubled to right with two outs. Walter scored, Mora was sent around third base, too, but had no better luck than Walter earlier in the game. The inning ended with a 1-0 score. Straight 1-out singles by Nunley, Graves, and Bullock would load the bags in the fourth inning, but of course that brought Mark Roberts to the plate as the Coons once again piled up the singles and never brought anybody around. Roberts was one of the better-hitting pitchers in the league with a career .221 average and 28 RBI. He scratched out his 29th (and fifth this year) with a grounder to first base. Kevin Harenberg threw to second to get the out on Bullock, but Raimondo Odescalchi's return was not in time. Nunley scored, 2-0, and Walter popped out as rain began to fall. There was a 25-minute delay right in the fifth inning, which Roberts nevertheless completed, so far 1-hitting the Wolves with 4 K and on 59 pitches.

With five complete, the Coons were up 3-0, Spencer having singled, stolen, scooted over, and scampered home during Mora's and Tovias' productive outs. The Wolves weren't far from getting on the board, though. Quinn Jewell hit a leadoff single in the sixth, the second hit off Roberts, was bunted over, and then came home on a passed ball scored on Tovias, and finally a balk with a bemusedly observing Odescalchi at the plate. The same inning saw Omar Alfaro hurting himself on a sliding catch in shallow right. He left the game with a sprained wrist, Cookie entering into left and Graves shifting wings in the aftermath.

The tying runs were aboard in the eighth inning. Former Raccoon Danny Rice had landed a 1-out single in the outfield, and Jewell legged out a grounder for an infield single. Roberts whiffed pinch-hitter Danny Lane, pulling up the light-hitting Odescalchi, who was hitting only .251 with two homers. Roberts – despite the earlier delay – was adjudged to have plenty in the tank, and retired Odescalchi on a fly to shallow center, in fact almost too shallow – the former Wolf Abel Mora had to hustle pretty good to get to it. Ex-Coon Cory Dew with an ERA over six retired the Raccoons in the bottom 8th, which prompted a dilemma for the ninth. Let Roberts – on 89 pitches – continue, or do you hand it off to a notoriously ****ty bullpen? Ah, **** it. Go Mark! Gross grounded out to Nunley. Harenberg flew out to Cookie in left on the 100th pitch for Roberts. Yasuhiro Kuramoto singled on #101, but Roberts would get one more chance against Ben Adams, who was oh-fer in the game. He also ended the game, flying out to Graves on the 1-0 pitch. 3-1 Raccoons. Walter 2-4, 2B; Spencer 3-4; Roberts 9.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K, W (4-4);

This was Mark Roberts' sixth career complete game, and the first since '22. He had four in his first full season in 2020, including his only career shutout.

The Coons had to place Omar Alfaro on the DL with the sprained wrist, which opened a spot for Justin Gerace to make his major league debut. Gerace was batting .309/.381/.546 in AAA as a 25-year-old. He was no defensive revelation and would be slotted into leftfield, with Cookie moving to right. Or to the bench. Or the buffet. What the heck do I know what's most prudent…

Gerace was a switch-hitter who had been taken in the supplemental round in 2020, #38 overall. He played in all three minor league levels the same year, but he didn't become productive in AAA until 2022. Last year he was a potential promotion candidate, but busted his elbow at the start of May and missed the rest of the season.

Also, Gonzalez did not appear in the series opener, so no Coon would pull a '23 Nunley and make it into all the games this year. All 162. And not one more.

Game 2
SAL: SS Odescalchi – C Galan – 1B Harenberg – LF Kuramoto – CF B. Adams – 3B M. Green – RF L. Gross – 2B Jewell – P Babcock
POR: SS Stalker – 2B Walter – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – C Tovias – LF Gerace – 3B Nunley – RF Carmona – P Gutierrez

Harenberg homered off Gutierrez in the first, while the Raccoons wasted a leadoff double by Tim Stalker and didn't score in return. Cookie Carmona suffered the same fate as Stalker had in the third inning, smashing a leadoff double down the rightfield line and then getting left to lose all his blossoms at second base. Abel Mora drew a leadoff walk in the fourth, stole second … and was also cemented in place right there, and if there weren't oh so many horrendous Raccoons offenses over the decades to pick from, this one was surely in the race to make it into an informed discussion as to which would be the worst ever.

While Gutierrez so far limited the damage to the Harenberg blast and allowed six hits in the first five innings, the Coons continued to mock the beauty of the game itself. Cookie got on base with a walk to begin the bottom 5th, but Gutierrez bunted into a double play. At least Rico didn't walk anybody who would hold still for long enough… until the sixth at least, when Kuramoto and Adams walked back-to-back with one out, but Gerace handled Mike Green's fly to left, and Gross struck out in a full count, Gutierrez' sixth K in the game. Babcock issued his third leadoff walk in a row to Walter in the bottom 6th, and this time he was ripe for a run as Abel Mora drilled a ball into the right-center gap for a game-tying RBI triple. Here, the Wolves were scared for the 12 homers Gonzalez had already and walked him intentionally, and that was a sound plan, except that Babcock then also walked Tovias, unintentionally. That loaded the bases for Gerace, who was 0-for-1 with a walk in his major league career, but popped up the first pitch he saw for an out. Nunley hit one to Jewell, who only got one out at first base, allowing the go-ahead run to score. Another intentional walk to Cookie restocked the bases for Gutierrez with a new pitcher in the game in lefty Andy Wright. The Coons wanted runs! Jarod Spencer batted for Gutierrez, but flew out to Adams in center.

Brotman handled the Wolves for three groundouts in the seventh, maintaining the 2-1 lead. When Walter hit a 1-out single off Wright in the bottom of the inning, Tony Delgado batted for Abel Mora to counter the pitcher, but popped out, and Gonzalez was no help either, grounding out to Jewell. Armando Galan ripped a leadoff double off Brotman in the eighth, putting the tying run in scoring position. Vince D entered the fray with his 5.59 ERA, leaving me no room for confidence that the 2-1 lead would make it. He walked pinch-hitter Danny Lane, then allowed an infield single to Kuramoto. That brought up Ben Adams with three on and no outs, and his 430-foot slam to center sucked all the life out of me for good. It barely registered when Brett Lillis allowed another run in a garbage inning in the ninth. I did notice however when Joe Moore, another ex-Coon from the Mora package, loaded the bases with one out in the bottom 9th. A Bullock single, Walter getting knocked, and a 4-pitch walk to Briscoe loaded the bases for Jon Gonzalez, who was the tying run and masterfully hit into a double play. 6-2 Wolves. Mora 1-2, BB, RBI; Carmona 1-2, 2 BB, 2B; Gutierrez 6.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K;

(makes noises of a dying animal)

Game 3
SAL: SS Odescalchi – C Galan – 1B Harenberg – LF Kuramoto – CF B. Adams – 3B M. Green – RF L. Gross – 2B Jewell – P Barron
POR: SS Stalker – 2B Walter – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – 3B Nunley – LF Gerace – C Delgado – RF Carmona – P Chavez

Chavez managed to manufacture a run in the first inning by drilling Odescalchi, walking Galan on four pitches, and when the evil Shane Walter tried to foil his plans by turning a double play on Harenberg's grounder, Chavez cleverly balked in the runner from third base to give the Wolves the lead. Jon Gonzalez turned out to be in bed with Walter as far as trying to stave off a 2-5 week was concerned, hitting a leadoff jack in the second inning to tie the score at one, while the Wolves actually didn't get a base hit until the fourth inning when Harenberg singled to center. Kuramoto hit to Walter for another double play, that one ending the inning, and Walter hit a leadoff single in the bottom of the inning, too. Mora struck out, but Gonzalez doubled. With runners in scoring position, Nunley choked and was called out looking, and the rookie remained hitless as well, flying out to center and Ben Adams, who then cracked a leadoff homer to right in the fifth inning, his tenth shot of the season, and the damn Wolves would get another run off the damn Chavez in the sixth inning, where Chavez' first pitch of the frame was ticked to center by the opposing pitcher, and the Wolves carefully maneuvered Carlos Barron around to score, 3-1. Through six, Jon Gonzlaez was a triple shy of the cycle, his hit total matching the entire Wolves lineup's, and still the Raccoons were held to only one run on six base hits. Barron went eight without encountering more trouble, and Joe Moore had the ninth. Gonzalez failed to hit that triple he needed, and as a whole the Coons failed to get on base at all. 3-1 Wolves. Gonzalez 3-4, HR, 2B, RBI;

In other news

June 3 – CIN OF/1B Terry Kopp (.270, 7 HR, 54 RBI) drives in six runs, entirely in vain, in the Cyclones' 15-11 circus loss to the Buffaloes in which the teams combine for 32 base hits and five home runs.
June 4 – DEN C Matt Harry (.354, 6 HR, 30 RBI) is on fire and has chained together a 20-game hitting streak with a 2-hit effort in the Gold Sox' 7-3 loss to the Pacifics.
June 4 – The Stars acquire OF Bobby Ortega (.223, 1 HR, 19 RBI) from the Gold Sox for MR Jeff Mudge (1-1, 2.25 ERA, 1 SV) and so-so prospect 3B Eric Thun, who was in his second trade in four weeks.
June 5 – The Thunder get routed by the Falcons, 12-1, who score three in the first and six in the third. Charlotte's Travis Benson (.311, 9 HR, 41 RBI) has three hits, including a 3-run home run, and 4 RBI.
June 6 – An uncertain timetable reads at least two weeks on the DL for WAS SS Tom McWhorter (.234, 4 HR, 27 RBI) after the 35-year-old was beaned and left the Capitals' game against the Miners with a concussion.
June 6 – The Wolves brush the Warriors, 15-2, with 1B Kevin Harenberg (.369, 5 HR, 37 RBI) contributing four base hits, two doubles and a home run included, and three RBI.
June 8 – The Crusaders come from behind to beat the Scorpions, 9-7, on a walkoff grand slam by 3B Andy Schmit (.234, 3 HR, 22 RBI), who drives in five runs in total in the game.
June 9 – CIN CF Nando Maiello (.281, 2 HR, 29 RBI) will miss time until the All Star Game with a broken rib.
June 9 – The Buffaloes lose 2B Marco Hernandes (.295, 2 HR, 26 RBI) to a bruised kneecap that could cost him up to three months.

Complaints and stuff

In an attempt to escape from all the horrors, and inspired by my clear-cut credentials, I have applied with the Chinese government for a job as manager on their new Longdong-1 space station. Unfortunately it seems that I have mixed up a few Mandarin characters in my application. Not that I have received an official reply; but when I returned home with the Coons on Thursday night I found a huge white van with "DELIVERRY" (sic!) signage parked across from my house, and my apartment had clearly been broken into. The front door missing safe for a few toothpicks near the hinges was a clear indicator for that. Nothing seems to have been taken, but somebody painted some characters in what the Druid analyzed (by sniffing it) to be pig's blood on the living room wall. I still don't know what they actually read, and have spent considerable effort with the translator tool on Goggle (just like Google, but better! – and I am not being paid to say that, either! *cough*) over the weekend – in vain so far.

So, yeah, the year isn't quite going to plan.

The series loss to the Wolves is the first in eight years, so there is that, and overall the team is just no fun to be around. In my time, players knew a good joke once in a while. Now it's all those meme things on Twatbook and I rely entirely on Maud to print out those cat pictures for me, most of which I can't find amusing. And the horrendous orthography …! Society is falling to pieces.

Fun Fact: Mark Roberts' first and so far only career shutout occurred on July 30, 2020 as he claimed victory in a 5-hit shutout against a lineup reading LF Carmona – CF Bareford – 1B Mendoza – RF Jackson – 2B Nomura – SS Prince – C Olivares – 3B Petracek – P Knight;

Because of course it was against the Coons. What do you think?

And yes, that's Damani Knight. He's the main reason that that game ended in a 16-0 rout. Still, I seriously consider bringing him back as an improvement over Chavez and Garrett. And Gutierrez.