Portland Raccoons (ABL)

[Westheim]

Raccoons (30-32) @ Cyclones (27-33) – June 10-12, 2024

Here was another team slowly drifting out of focus. The Cyclones new their issues pretty well, namely a pitching staff that ranked last in the major leagues and was on pace to surrender a grim 910 runs on the year. Their rotation was the content of snuff movies. Their bullpen was reason for mercy killings. But, eh, well, those Coons kept finding low bars to crawl beneath flawlessly… The Coons had lost the most recent meeting with the Cyclones in 2021, two games to one, and had not beaten them in a series since 2016.

Projected matchups:
Travis Garrett (4-2, 3.55 ERA) vs. Kirk Riordan (5-6, 6.04 ERA)
Dan Delgadillo (3-2, 3.69 ERA) vs. Jack Sander (2-5, 5.48 ERA)
Mark Roberts (4-4, 2.53 ERA) vs. Koto Hayashi (7-4, 4.07 ERA)

Left-hander in the third game, and yes, that was the ace of that staff, which included a bullpen in which former Coons Jeff Boynton and Pat Slayton were feverishly hanging on to dear life. Slayton was 39 by now and very much looked the part.

Nando Maiello had gone down for Cincy just a week ago, which already took a chunk out of their lineup credentials, but this was a team that was actually scoring roughly five runs per game, something Coon City could only dream of. Well, we were still sending up "Tragic" Travis.

Game 1
POR: SS Stalker – 2B Walter – CF Mora – 1B Jon Gonzalez – C Tovias – RF Briscoe – 3B Nunley – LF Carmona – P Garrett
CIN: SS R. Rangel – LF Grubbs – 3B E. Moreno – RF Kopp – CF I. Flores – C Walston – 1B G. Gonzalez – 2B B. Torres – P Riordan

This was the 100th career start for "Tragic" Travis, and that fact alone filled me with foreboding. The Coons scored a run in the first on doubles by Abel Mora and Jon Gonzalez, who notched his 34th RBI but was still chasing after his own shortstop, to which Garrett responded by effortlessly filling the bases in the bottom of the inning, then having Abel Mora making a Play of the Week in the gap in right-center to keep the Cyclones off home plate for at least that inning, and only that inning. While Matt Nunley popped a solo home run off a rather obvious Riordan in the top of the second, Garrett got rolled in the bottom of the same inning, in which he walked FOUR batters, giving him five in the game. Ricardo Rangel doubled in Gerardo Gonzalez and Bobby Torres to tie the score, and Terry Kopp hit a sac fly that with the bases loaded and two outs screamed "OUTTA HERE" right off the bat, but Cory Briscoe managed to catch up on the warning track. Garrett walked Torres again and surrendered that run as well on another Rangel double in the bottom 3rd, upping the Cyclones to 4-2 after Nunley had been robbed of extra bases with three on and two out by the grim thief Ivan Flores in centerfield in the top 3rd. Garrett would not log any other out, instead loading the bases in the bottom 4th with sharp singles by Eddie Moreno and Terry Kopp, then his seventh walk of the game to Flores. Brett Lillis would allow two runs to score upon replacing the despicable scum Garrett, who ended up with 3+ innings, seven hits, seven walks, and six runs on his ledger – his last ledger as a Raccoon, dare I say.

Staggeringly, the loss would not be Garrett's, for Kirk Riordan got slashed with a 4-spot in the fifth inning to tie the score. Mora, Tovias, and Briscoe ambled aboard, and Nunley cracked his second shot of the game, a 3-run score-leveler, also his fourth home run of the season. Repeated Nunley heroics were required to stay in this game, since the pen kept surrendering runs, with Bobby Torres first giving his team a new 7-6 lead with a 2-out RBI single in the bottom 6th off Adam Cowen, then cut off Nunley's bouncer with two outs in the seventh to strand two Coons on base. Nunley was the center of attention again in the bottom 8th, in which Kopp reached with an infield single and Flores drew four balls and nothing else from David Kipple, who then at least got a grounder from PH Jason Seeley (another guy I was surprised to still see in any kind of uniform and not in a toll booth) to third base. Nunley, though, threw it away, another run scored, and runners were in scoring position. As is written in the 2024 Portland Raccoons Media Guide: the Matt giveth and the Matt taketh away. SOMEHOW, upon replacing Kipple, Jimmy Lee did not only not explode as soon as he was exposed to lights, but also struck out two and got a harmless fly for the third out to strand the runners, still giving the Raccoons a chance to bounce back in the ninth, down by two. The beginning was certainly promising, Jarod Spencer whacking a double into the left-center gap as pinch-hitter for Shane Walter against southpaw Nestor Munoz. Alas, the glory ended there and then, and the 3-4-5 batters produced nothing but grounders to the right side. Sure, that run scored, but that run didn't mean nothing, and as the Coons fell to 30-33, nothing meant much of anything anymore. 8-7 Cyclones. Spencer (PH) 1-1, 2B; Gonzalez 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Briscoe 3-4, RBI; Nunley 2-4, 2 HR, 4 RBI;

That was the last farting noise that Garrett would make in a Raccoons uniform. He was waived and designated for assignment on Tuesday morning, and the Raccoons promoted Josh Whitaker from AAA.

Whitaker, 26, would bring a fresh face to sucking. The left-hander would make his major league debut after being handed around different AAA teams in the most recent years. He had been signed to a minor league deal this spring, and had pitched to a 3.00 ERA and 4-4 record in 11 starts with the Alley Cats. He had walked four and whiffed five per nine innings.

But at this stage, any fresh face will do.

Game 2
POR: SS Stalker – 2B Walter – CF Mora – 1B Jon Gonzalez – C Tovias – 3B Nunley – RF Graves – LF Gerace – P Delgadillo
CIN: SS R. Rangel – LF Grubbs – 3B E. Moreno – RF Kopp – CF I. Flores – C Walston – 1B H. Mendoza – 2B B. Torres – P Sander

Yup, that was Hugo Mendoza in the #7 hole, batting .308 with only two homers as his power stroke had completely eluded him. Alas, that was what the Raccoons had come to town for, I guess. OF ****ING COURSE he homered off Delgadillo in the first attempt, AND in the first inning. The Cyclones started their half of the first with Rangel singling to center and stealing second base, and Grubbs reaching on an infield single. Eddie Moreno hit an RBI double, and Terry Kopp plated a run with a groundout. Ivan Flores struck out, but Pat Walston's grounder eluded Jon Gonzalez, sadly, for another RBI single, and that set up the ****ing ****stain Mendoza and his titanic 440-foot blast to center, good enough for a 5-0 score. That was a first inning that made you wish baseball had never been invented, and the Raccoons showed no signs of getting back into the game against the Cyclones' version of negligible pitching. They scored one run in the third on a Stalker double and Mora single, but otherwise remained dry through five, which was also an amount of innings that Delgadillo soldiered through after the initial prostate exam.

Come the sixth, the tying run was at the plate for the Coons thanks to leadoff singles by Tovias and Nunley and Zach Graves taking another one for the team. Unfortunately that brought up a hitless rookie in Justin Gerace and the pitcher, the latter of which would definitely be hit for. Gerace wasn't, smacking hard at Bobby Torres instead, but a subpar transfer by Ricardo Rangel at second base broke up the double play as Tovias scored, 5-2. As Cory Briscoe stepped in, Nunley scored on a wild pitch, but Sander regained control just in time to get Briscoe to foul out and Stalker to strike out flailing. Two uneventful innings later, the Coons arrived in another ninth inning trailing by two and sending Spencer as pinch-hitter against left-hander Jeff Kearney. He got a hit *again*, this time a single to left. Stalker bounced sharply to Torres, and again Rangel was too slow to turn two, but boy was this going great. Tony Delgado hit for a foundering Shane Walter, drew a 4-pitch walk, and then Abel Mora legged out an infield single on a confused defense, bringing up Jon Gonzalez and his 13 homers. He grounded up the middle, Rangel cut it off, stepped on second and fired to first to end this one in more agony. 5-3 Cyclones. Stalker 2-5, 2 2B; Mora 2-5, RBI; Nunley 2-3, BB, 2B; Spencer (PH) 1-1;

In signs of the apocalypse, we have dropped behind the ****ing Elks now. We are also 3-8 in June and 5-13 ever since leaving Atlanta on May 23, which is one of those telltale signs that your sweet dreams of playing relevant ball at least until August will not come to fruition.

The entire season now hung in the balance. The Coons needed to stop the hemorrhage right here and right now. Mark Roberts had to deliver another gem.

Game 3
POR: SS Stalker – 2B Spencer – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – 3B Nunley – C Delgado – RF Carmona – LF Gerace – P Roberts
CIN: SS R. Rangel – LF Grubbs – 3B E. Moreno – RF Kopp – 1B A. Rodriguez – C Jolley – CF I. Flores – 2B B. Torres – P Hayashi

Nary 21 hours later, Jon Gonzalez was batting with the bases loaded again, this time in the first inning. No double play this time, but he didn't do better than a sac fly. Nunley then hit into the mandatory double play. The lead wasn't made to last, with Eddie Moreno lifting a ball over the cheap end of the rightfield fence in the bottom of the inning, tying it right away off Roberts, who definitely was not the ace we needed at this very moment; Alberto Rodriguez hit a solo shot in the second inning to put Cincy 2-1 in front. Those two dingers were the Cyclones' only hits through four innings, while the Coons appeared more or less dead, before being reinvigorated in the fifth inning. Cookie hit a leadoff double to right, bettering his batting average to .222, or two thirds of what it had been two years ago, and then Gerace ended his 0-for-11 futility with a clean single to left, his first major league base knock. Roberts bunted over the runners and Tim Stalker hit a deep drive to right, only to get robbed by Kopp's amazing grab on the track. Cookie still scored with the tying run on the sac fly, but Gerace would be left on base when Spencer flew out to shallow center.

Roberts lasted the Coons 7.1 innings without getting into another lead, and whiffed only two batters in a really odd start that came up less clutch than needed right now. He threw 106 pitches, retiring Jason Seeley on a grounder to begin the eighth before packing up. Kevin Surginer replaced him against the top of the order, allowed two singles, was replaced with Kipple, and the left-hander served up the go-ahead single to Terry Kopp with two outs. It was Kopp's 60th RBI on the season. That was what a cleanup hitter on a good offensive team would look like in June. The ninth inning rolled along, with the Coons trailing by one run this time, and Nestor Munoz offering a leadoff walk to Tony Delgado. Cookie singled. Walter singled. Bases loaded, no outs, with Tovias batting for Kipple in the #9 hole. He hit a ball to left, where a flickering specter looking A LOT like R.J. DeWeese caught the ball on the track. Delgado tagged and scored, tying the game and sparing Surginer the loss. Stalker grounded into a fielder's choice, but Spencer found the gap for a 2-out, 2-run double that put Portland into the lead, 5-3. Abel Mora extended this to 6-3 with a first-pitch single off new reliever Jesus Pamatz, and while the eventual save would be credited to Vince Devereaux it was really earned by Matt Nunley, who turned a spiked 3-2 bouncer by Ivan Flores into a splendid double play following Vince D's clueless leadoff walk to Jayden Jolley in the bottom 9th. 6-3 Coons. Spencer 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Mora 3-4, BB, RBI; Carmona 2-4, 2B; Walter (PH) 1-1; Roberts 7.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K;

Raccoons (31-34) @ Canadiens (30-33) – June 13-16, 2024

Nothing quite like a 4-game weekend set in Elk City that I had to watch from the couch in the discomfort of my home. Both teams were now virtually tied for third place in the North, 4 1/2 games behind the Crusaders, who still didn't have a convincing record. Vancouver ranked sixth in runs scored, eighth in runs allowed, and had a bottom three rotation, but a top three bullpen. They also held a 2-1 edge in the season series that was chewing me up from the inside.

Projected matchups:
Rico Gutierrez (5-3, 3.44 ERA) vs. Bobby Thompson (2-1, 3.08 ERA)
Jesus Chavez (3-8, 4.46 ERA) vs. Mo Robinson (5-6, 3.76 ERA)
Josh Whitaker (0-0) vs. Greg Becker (6-4, 4.32 ERA)
Dan Delgadillo (3-3, 4.02 ERA) vs. Bryce Sudar (7-3, 4.56 ERA)

Left, right, left, right. Meanwhile, two threats from their lineup were on the DL with Dave O'Rourke (.271, 3 HR, 19 RBI) and Ryan Holliman (.324, 11 HR, 49 RBI) not going to hurt the Coons in this set.

I felt the need to sprinkle a few more off days over the regulars, which right now really meant Stalker, Gonzalez, Mora, and Nunley. Those were two right-handed and two left-handed batters, so we should be able to arrange for that in orderly fashion in the first two games of the series.

Game 1
POR: CF Briscoe – 2B Spencer – SS Stalker – 1B Gonzalez – C Tovias – RF Graves – LF Carmona – 3B Bullock – P Gutierrez
VAN: 3B Jon. Morales – 1B Gura – LF A. Torres – CF Coca – SS Calfee – RF Luckett – 2B Wise – C Vallejo – P Thompson

The first three batters in the game all reached base, and none on a base hit. Briscoe and Spencer drew walks while Tim Stalker grounded to the mound, but Thompson lobbed a terrible throw to second base that bounced in front of John Calfee and off his glove for an error that made you shiver even as it happened to the damn Elks. The Coons would bat through the order, plating two runs without hits still, as Jon Gonzalez walked in a full count to push in a run, and Tovias hitting a sac fly to right. Graves flew out, but Cookie and Daniel Bullock both knocked RBI singles to center, giving Gutierrez an early 4-spot, that he would soon put to use. John Calfee crushed a homer in the second inning, and the Elks got two more on Jonathan Morales' 2-out, 2-run double in the bottom 5th to cut the lead to one run, because of course the Raccoons were not adding to their lead, because why would they? Whoever got hung out on the bases missed the cake they had in the dugout…

Bullock was 3-for-3 by the sixth inning, which was making at least one member of the Carmona family insanely happy, and his single in the sixth also knocked out Thompson, who was replaced by Nick Van Fossen. The left-hander got Gutierrez to ground to second baseman Ehren Wise, who fumbled it for an error rather than ending the inning as he should have, and Cory Briscoe procured a much-needed insurance run with a double to left. And things would get worse for the Elks, with Van Fossen walking Spencer on four pitches. Stalker then hit a slow chopper near the third base line, and nobody had a play on that one, all hands being safe on the infield single, 6-3, which became 7-3 on a wild pitch to Jon Gonzalez, who singled to left two pitches later, running the score to 9-3.

But even with a 6-run lead, the Raccoons managed to be horrible. Rico Gutierrez got into the seventh, where Marco Vallejo (one of the players in the Briscoe trade) would draw a walk with one out. Gutierrez hung around for one more batter, PH Curtis Hargraves, a left-handed .184 batter. While Gutierrez was busy with him, Vallejo stole second base, his third bag of the season. Gutierrez threw a wild pitch, moving Vallejo to third, and at 3-1, Vallejo went for home and scored on the befuddled battery. Then, Hargraves singled. While Jimmy Lee would get through the inning after replacing Gutierrez, but the Elks continued to creep back into the game. Calfee hit a 2-run homer in the bottom 8th, which cut the lead to 9-6. Brotman threw the anchor in the inning, retiring the next two batters. Randy Jenkins retired Stalker to begin the ninth, then hit Jon Gonzalez. Tovias singled, moving him to third, and Graves singled, moving him across home plate, giving the Coons double digits. Nunley batted for Brotman in the #7 hole, grounded to first, with Ted Gura taking the out on Graves at second base. Two outs, Daniel Bullock dropped a ball into shallow center, his fourth single of the game and chasing home another run. Abel Mora pinch-hit, doubled, chasing in another run for a full dozen. The Elks sent a new hurler, Fernando Ortega, who allowed a 2-run single to Briscoe, another single to Spencer, then plunked Stalker. And that third out was not coming 'round! Jon Gonzalez cracked a single to right, plating two more, and Tovias sent a liner to center that dropped in front of Tony Coca for an RBI single. Zach Graves grounded out eventually, ending an 8-run inning. Adam Cowen finished the game without drama. 17-6 Furballs!! Briscoe 3-5, BB, 2B, 3 RBI; Gonzalez 2-3, BB, 5 RBI; Tovias 2-5, 2 RBI; Carmona 2-4, RBI; Bullock 4-5, 2 RBI; Mora (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI;

Offeeeeeeense!!

Game 2
POR: 2B Spencer – 1B Walter – CF Mora – C Tovias – 3B Nunley – RF Carmona – SS Bullock – LF Gerace – P Chavez
VAN: 3B Jon. Morales – RF Luckett – LF A. Torres – CF Coca – SS Calfee – 2B Wise – 1B Gura – C Tanzillo – P Mo Robinson

While Jesus Chavez probably knew that the Coons would not score a run for two or three games and his efforts would be largely forsaken, he retired seven in a row before Chris Tanzillo peppered a solo shot for the first tally in the bottom of the third inning. Sad, Chavez started to surrender more home runs more quicker as Alex Torres with his tenth and Tony Coca with his first of the season went back-to-back with solo shots in the fourth inning. That gave them three home runs to the Raccoons' three singles, and a pretty clear 3-0 score through four.

The Raccoons, perpetually frustrating, opened the fifth inning by getting Cookie and Bullock aboard with walks issued by Mo Robinson. They executed a double steal and Justin Gerace singled to center. The very moment that ball went past Ehren Wise's glove, their effort was already doomed. While Cookie scored, Tony Coca threw out Bullock at home plate, and then Gerace was caught stealing. The bases would be loaded the following inning with two outs, following Walter and Mora singles and a walk to Nunley. That brought up Cookie and the Coons were seriously contemplating sending a pinch-hitter for their very expensive .229 toy, but the only left-hander on the bench was going to be Cory Briscoe, and he was a former Elk, so that one was too greedy to work. Cookie batted, flew out to center, and stranded all three runners. For the Coons, Chavez would crap out as usual before long, getting flayed for two more runs in the same inning as he allowed a string of 2-out base runners, which included issuing a 2-out, 4-pitch walk to Mo Robinson.

Robinson allowed a solo jack to Abel Mora in the eighth, and then put Tovias and Nunley on the corners. Cookie's spot came up again and this time Jon Gonzalez batted instead and hitting into a double play. No matter, whatever you do, it is always wrong with this team. The Elks scored two more runs on Kevin Surginer – completely off the rolls like everybody else – in the eighth inning. This included the second run coming home on a 2-out, 0-2 wild pitch to Tanzillo, and the Coons were soundly defeated and had Thursday's euphoria beaten right out of them again. 7-2 Canadiens. Walter 2-4; Mora 2-4, HR, RBI; Tovias 2-4;

This was the last game for .111 batter Justin Gerace, who was sent back to the Alley Cats afterwards and exchanged for OF Devin Mansfield, who had batted a much richer .118 in his cup of coffee with the Coons last season.

Game 3
POR: LF Spencer – SS Stalker – CF Mora – 1B Jon Gonzalez – 2B Walter – C Delgado – RF Graves – 3B Nunley – P Whitaker
VAN: 2B Wise – 1B Gura – CF Coca – SS Calfee – RF Luckett – 3B Anton – LF W. Newman – C Vallejo – P Becker

The debutee would only get to see one left-handed batter, Elijah Luckett, and got no support in the top of the first inning, which saw Abel Mora fly to deep center, but into an out. Ehren Wise grounded out to second base on Whitaker's first major league pitch, and he had a perfect inning with a K to Tony Coca. He walked Calfee in the second, but got through that inning, too, in which the last two of the three pieces in the Briscoe trade, Matt Anton and Will Newman, made consecutive fly outs to Zach Graves in right. The Coons took a 1-0 lead in the top 3rd, with Zach Graves drawing a leadoff walk and eventually scoring after Nunley's single, Whitaker's bunt and a groundout by Spencer. The Elks weren't holding back any longer: the behooved demons ran three full counts in the bottom 3rd, with Ted Gura hitting a 2-out RBI double to level the score.

The real trouble didn't start until the fifth inning, which saw Whitaker offer a leadoff walk to Will Newman, and with one out it was Delgado to throw away Greg Becker's bunt. Runners in scoring position, one out, Whitaker was in trouble. Ehren Wise cracked the first pitch he got so hard to left even Nunley was overmatched, and Wise's RBI single put the Elks on top, 2-1. The Elks sent their pitcher, Jarod Spencer lasered him down at home, with Wise scooting to second base, scoring on Ted Gura's single to right, near the foul line. Coca also singled before Calfee grounded out to short. Down 3-1 after five, the Critters only had their third base hit when Tim Stalker doubled to left with one out in the sixth. That was also their only productive at-bat in the inning, and Stalker was left on second base. Whitaker got through six on a double play, 8-4 on Marco Vallejo's fly to shallow center on which Mora doubled off Matt Anton from second base, who had not paid attention much at all. None of this helped the losing debutee much – the Coons were still held to four hits as the ninth inning began, and were down by two runs. Mora grounded out against J.R. Hreha before Jon Gonzalez hit #14, a solo shot to left. Unfortunately, the Coons were still a run behind, and – worse – would not get another man on base. 3-2 Canadiens. Graves 1-2, BB; Whitaker 6.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 3 K, L (0-1);

Game 4
POR: CF Mora – 2B Walter – C Tovias – 1B Gonzalez – 3B Nunley – SS Stalker – RF Carmona – LF Mansfield – P Delgadillo
VAN: 3B Jon. Morales – RF Luckett – LF A. Torres – CF Coca – 1B Hargraves – 2B Gura – SS Ra. Mendez – C Vallejo – P Sudar

Inclement weather had everybody in attendance acutely aware of their own mortality, black clouds overhead and all. Better get a lead quick! Elias Tovias delivered, hitting a solo homer in the first inning, and while Gonzalez and Nunley both hit singles, a struggling Tim Stalker couldn't connect and stranded them. Tovias would come handy again in the third inning, drawing a walk in a full count against Sudar and then strolling home casually when Jon Gonzalez sunk his 15th dinger of the year in the leftfield seats, extending Delgadillo's lead to 3-0. Yusneldan allowed three hits in the early going, but nobody reached third base for the Elks. Portland added a pair in the fourth inning, which saw Devin Mansfield walking and being caught stealing before Sudar also walked Delgadillo with two outs. Mora's triple and Walter's single both scored a run, 5-0, but then the skies opened up and doused Elktown in floods.

There was a 1-hour delay while the storm raged and lightning zigzagged across the pitch black sky, but it stopped as sudden as it had begun and play resumed before the game had to be suspended. Delgadillo had thrown only 39 pitches in the first three innings and we were willing to let him continue at least for a little bit, maybe he could get through five. The Elks put Coca and Hargraves aboard in the bottom 4th, but couldn't get them across, though Delgadillo was pitching on borrowed time. Sudar also came back to face the Coons in the fifth inning, but threw only three pitches, the last of which Matt Nunley clocked for a leadoff jack, running the score to 6-0, and Delgadillo would get his first career RBI in the same inning, snipping a single to right to score Tim Stalker, a run that showed up unearned on Nick Van Fossen's ledger thanks to an earlier error by Ted Gura.

Delgadillo made it through the fifth and was hauled in after that, five shutout innings of 4-hit ball, affected by torrential rainfall. Jimmy Lee inherited the 7-0 lead in the sixth, immediately allowed a double to Torres and drilled Coca, and I was groaning in agony on the couch at home. Some D by Cookie and Nunley would hold the luckless right-hander together and keep the Elks shut out, and while Marco Vallejo hit a leadoff double off Adam Cowen in the seventh, he was also stranded on third base. By the top 8th, Elias Tovias doubled off Luis Vasquez, which left him a triple shy of the cycle, while Cookie was a base shy of a single. The latter came to bat in the inning after Cowen(!) had just hit a bases-loaded, 1-out RBI single, lined out to Gura, and Tovias hadn't paid attention and had made for home on contact, crossing home plate fist-pumping while Gura casually fed the ball to Jonathan Morales to tap third base for a 4-5 double play, with cameras catching Jon Gonzalez facepalming at second base. Shame aside, the Elks were buried and remained that way, with Cowen finishing the game for an old-school save. 8-0 Coons! Walter 2-6, RBI; Tovias 3-4, BB, HR, 2B, RBI; Gonzalez 2-3, 2 BB, HR, 2 RBI; Nunley 2-5, HR, RBI; Stalker 2-4, 2B; Mansfield 2-4, BB; Bullock (PH) 1-2; Delgadillo 5.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, W (4-3) and 1-1, BB, RBI; Cowen 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, SV (1) and 1-1, RBI;

Not quite 17 runs, but they did score 17 hits – the same as in the 17-run game on Thursday.

In other news

June 10 – The Indians cut off DEN C Matt Harry (.349, 8 HR, 34 RBI) and his 24-game hitting streak, holding him try in their 4-3 loss to the Gold Sox.
June 10 – MIL SP Morgan Shepherd (2-7, 4.32 ERA) will miss a month with a strained hamstring.
June 12 – As the Gold Sox cream the Indians, 16-2, DEN INF Omar Camacho (.330, 5 HR, 19 RBI) strokes four hits, including three doubles, and drives in five runs.
June 13 – TIJ 3B/RF/LF Mike Matias (.258, 6 HR, 21 RBI) hits a home run in the first inning for the sole tally in the Condors' 1-0 win over the Blue Sox.
June 14 – The Blue Sox send C Armando Leal (.234, 3 HR, 16 RBI) to the Rebels in exchange for MR Jose Trejo (0-1, 0.84 ERA, 1 SV) and a prospect.
June 14 – The Boston Titans ship off OF/2B Willie Ramos (.261, 0 HR, 13 RBI) to the Condors for a prospect.
June 15 – The Indians deal left-hander MR Mike Homa (1-3, 5.46 ERA) to the Loggers for a second-rate prospect, and SP Jordan Caldwell (2-9, 5.38 ERA) to the Scorpions for two prospects.
June 15 – Season over for CHA SP Joel Trotter (0-6, 6.51 ERA), who has been diagnosed with a torn rotator cuff.
June 15 – Washington's second baseman Dave Menth (.292, 13 HR, 38 RBI) contributes four hits, a home run, a double, and 5 RBI in the Capitals' 14-0 rout of the Buffaloes.

Complaints and stuff

Dropping 17 on the Elks is always amusing. Unsurprisingly that Thursday contest was our scoring-happiest game of the season so far, but sadly it actually beat the previous best effort by seven runs. We had previously beaten the Indians, 10-8, on May 31.

Travis Garrett is officially history. The Falcons claimed him off waivers, and he is their problem now. Good riddance, I say! ……. So he's the 2026 Pitcher of the Year, right? It's gonna be like that, right?

For now, given that their rotation is the worst in the league, I think he might actually help them…

Fun Fact: Zach Graves has been by a pitch six times in under 100 PA this season, which is far from a franchise record, but is certainly a record-worthy pace. In fact, if he would play every day, he would probably shatter the franchise record for a player being hit by pitches, which was put up only last season by Tim Stalker, who got hit 20 times.

I don't know whether Stalker is especially unlikeable for other teams, but he is the only player from this millennium on the franchise top 10 for a single season that was not a complete ***hole to his own and other teams. Talking about R.J. DeWeese of course, who was drilled 13 times in 2017, tanking 10th on the list. Every other entry in the top 10 dates from '96 or earlier, in fact all but one are from '92 or earlier. The old franchise record was 18 hit-by-pitches, put up by catcher Stephano Bocci in 1981. Of course, back then just leaning into one was the only way for the team to get much on base at all.

Shortstop Steve Walker has two seasons on the list, Bocci has another one, and there are also single entries by Daniel Hall, Vern Kinnear, David Vinson, and Ralph Nixon. Dan The Man is the most-hit player for the franchise as a whole, taking it on the bum or elsewhere 103 times, followed by Vinson (84), Walker (66), Yoshi Nomura (59), and Kinnear (57). Given that DeWeese was only here for five years, his sixth place on the list is quite impressive with 52 plunkings.

Daniel Hall of course makes lists like these via longevity. There was nothing unlikeable about Dan The Man. EVERYBODY LIKED DAN THE MAN.

[Westheim]

2024 AMATEUR DRAFT

The beauty of being banned from ever touching Canadian soil again was that I wasn't missing anything while attending the annual Amateur Draft that took place on Saturday.

The Raccoons held the #7 pick in every round of the draft, and were focusing on potential two-way terror Omar Lastrade, a pretty highly rated high school prospect that could both pitch AND hit very well compared to his peers. I already mentioned the Double Omar Boogie I had in mind with him and Alfaro (he's gonna break out, he sure will, he's got to, he's all the hope I have…)

There were plenty of "consolation" prizes around should Omar Lastrade not fall to #7, just like Tim Stackhouse hadn't fallen to #4 last season. But this was the terrible part of having a high pick, but not a high-enough pick… your team sucked all year long, and then you still didn't get the shiniest toy. And I probably need some comforting here… (in a room full of other GMs and scouts slowly pulls Honeypaws from a briefcase and hugs him tightly)

The famous hotlist again (players with * are high school players):

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

+++

The first-overall pick and sullied by the raging shame of having to dress up and pose in an Elks uni and cap was poor Brian Wojnarowski, who had been higher on my list of targets if I had a chance to spell his name at all. He would have needed a funky nickname right away, you know, like "Oatmeal" had been a nickname for Jimmy Eichelkraut, except that Woyra- Wonja- … that Brian could actually hit a baseball from time to time. "Slam" came to mind as a nickname, or "Fudge". You know, the noise bat and ball would make on a grand slam swing in a comic book. Alas, it wasn't meant to be.

The Blue Sox took Jim Allen at #2, while the Miners tore out my heart at #3, selecting Omar Lastrade to suck the last bit of life out of the withering husk that was my body.

The next two picks were starting pitchers, Pyles to the Warriors and Bressner to the Indians, and then Nate Nelson went to the up-Garretted and thus forsaken Falcons, giving the Raccoons the next selection. The remaining hitters from the hotlist all looked like solid bets (partly by their college stats like Madsen, who was not scouted very well by either Carrasco or OSA, but was tearing up DI baseball anyway), but the three most promising players remaining were all pitchers: James, Bessey, and Wright. There was concern about Bessey making his third pitch, the changeup, work well at all in a professional setting, and while Wright had the basic profile of a Ron Thrasher, he wasn't throwing 99, probably limiting his usefulness given his limited control. George James had no control issues, and in fact figured to be more of a control pitcher, probably a groundballer, too. He sat around 91 (though was only 20 years old and still could gain a bit) and had four pitches all working reasonably well. He was a *decent* hitter but not a dual threat like Lastrade would have been. George James was really a no-brainer at this point…

Bessey would go at #8 to the Cyclones, followed by the first player not on the hotlist, SP Travis Green to the Thunder. The Stars took SP Ryan Fossum to round out the #10, while the hotlist would be picked from further down the order by the Bayhawks (Jonathan Huber at #12), Wolves (Tyler Johnson at #13), Gold Sox (Abel Madsen at #18), Scorpions (Bronson Wright at #40), and eventually the damn Elks (Steve Schwellenbach at #42). This emptied the hotlist at the start of the second round, thus denying the Raccoons another selection from there and having to console themselves with also-rans from the shortlist.

+++

2024 PORTLAND RACCOONS DRAFT CLASS

Round 1 (#7) – SP George James, 20, from Ft. Walton Beach, FL – control pitcher (and decent hitter) with four well-developed pitches. The right-hander throws 91 with room for improvement and according to our staff looks to be built like a sturdy horse with a solid delivery that should make him more durable, too. Probably no serious 200 K threat, but a frontline starter if he can develop all of his stuff.
Round 2 (#48) – SP Trevor Draper, 18, from Calumet Township, MI – left-hander throwing 88mph with a good range of breaking stuff and knowledge how to use it and fool the hitters. Also generates lots of groundballs with the cut fastball.
Round 3 (#72) – 2B/SS Nate Martin, 17, from Indian Hill, OH – curious creature; not exactly an excellent fielder and probably not suited for the left side of the infield at all, and instead hitting for power while still possessing impressive speed.
Round 4 (#96) – SP Rich Gomes, 18, from Grand Prairie, TX – right-hander with a flyball tendency when he hangs his slider over the plate. Throws 89 without much variation in direction.
Round 5 (#120) – SS Steven Standing, 18, from Thornton, CO – his range and cannon at work at short makes you blink; amazing defensive talent, and the good news is that his bat is not entirely hopeless.
Round 6 (#144) – 1B Sean Gustafson, 18, from Bloomington, IL – some power potential, if he ever manages to make contact with the ball, which does not happen often enough even at the high school level…
Round 7 (#168) – OF Ben Wasikowski, 19, from Portage, PA – some contact potential and a keen eye, good defense, good speed, but no power whatsoever; he has to consider himself lucky to even find a gap with a batted ball, but could make for a centerfielder with this makeup.
Round 8 (#192) – CL Luke Scoggins, 21, from Collingswood, NJ – wipeout curveball that is nigh unhittable; the issue is more the complete lack of control on both that and his 89mph heater…
Round 9 (#216) – 2B Sam Cass, 18, from Cutler, FL – taken at the insistence of our head scout, this player at first look offers nothing much, just another bland powerless, above-average defensively second baseman…
Round 10 (#240) – LF/1B/RF William Menchaca, 18, from Schenectady, NY – some power potential, but not much in reliable contact or even defense.
Round 11 (#264) – MR Justin Sherman, 21, from Pensacola, FL – this year's Nick Brown Memorial Pick is a scruffy left-hander with a decent changeup in addition to his 91mph fastball, who unfortunately can't hit a barn from the inside.
Round 12 (#288) – SP Bill O'Toole, 18, from Plymouth, MN – he lobs it at 86, confusing batters as to how he can't throw it any harder, and that is already his main weapon!
Round 13 (#312) – SP Justin Sheehan, 18, from Summerlin South, NV – there is the slightest chance that he will make it with his 86mph fastball and erratic slider… into the press box, after six years spend in futility in the low minors.

+++

The Raccoons had lofty goals for George James and assigned him to AA to start his professional career. All other players were assigned to single-A Aumsville.

Of course, there was also going to be a round of culling going on after every draft. The most prominent victim was surely Ryan Nielson, clinging on to a dream in AAA at age 31, but pitching to a 6+ ERA for the second straight year. No more of that, Ryan, over there is the door. He had made 68 appearances (46 starts) for the Coons over the years since being drafted in the second round in 2014, pitching to a 14-18 record and 4.45 ERA. He was not the only player on the wrong side of 30 in AAA to go; INF Guillermo Aponte was released as well, batting .141/.218/.197 for the Alley Cats. He was a career .232 batter in the majors in 285 at-bats collected between the Loggers and Raccoons.

Also released, among others, were 2021 Nick Brown Memorial Pick Tommy Burris, who walked the world in the low minors at age 23, an identical diagnosis to right-hander Nelson Verduzco, also 23, who had cost the Coons $122k in the 2018 IFA period but was a complete control wreck and pitching to a 6.43 ERA in Aumsville this year.

Further gone: AA OF Danny Torres, 24, a 2016 IFA signing, Aumsville corner guard Ron Pietsch, 23, a 2019 seventh-rounder, A RF/LF Corey Caraway, 21, a 2021 ninth-rounder, and a few others that were mostly plucked from the jungle and were likely never mentioned here before.

An odd word or two on some other prospects, sterling and otherwise: platinum grade shortstop Alberto Ramos, 18, was promoted to Ham Lake after posting a .750 OPS in Aumsville. This was also in part do remove him from the huge roster in Aumsville and give him regular exercise with the AA team. We'll see whether it's too early entirely.

Our 2022 first-rounder, 3B/SS Butch Gerster, has been promoted to AAA again. Butch is 23, and made a brief appearance in St. Pete last September, batting only .125 when he filled out the roster there. This season he batted .235/.403/.380 in Ham Lake, which is a very odd line for sure and hints at some rotten luck in getting balls to fall in. The sky is probably the limit here. He does have excellent defense and speed, all he needs is hitting…!

There is a scouting discovery from a while back that was promoted to AA. 22-year-old Dominican lefty Felipe Delgado, inked in 2018, had posted a 1.74 ERA in Ham Lake in his ten starts this year, whiffing 9.1 per nine innings. Given that he hadn't been on the radar much for five years after being signed, this is a significant development. While lacking Tonerian vigor on the fastball, this kid has a rich arsenal with a 95mph heater and four different breaking balls.

And anyone remember that curious ninth-round selection we made in 2022, drafting the Colombian switch-hitting centerfielder out of the Jewish New York high school? He's batting .275/.394/.377 in Aumsville now! At 20 years old, it is not too late for Juan Magallanes to become one of those stupid draft miracles.

You know. Like Brownie.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (33-36) @ Loggers (29-40) – June 17-19, 2024

Two teams far from where they saw them in '24, and by now both in the bottom half in both runs scored and runs allowed. The Raccoons were seventh in both categories, somehow still had a +1 run differential, but the Loggers were really in the ruckus, with a -42 RD and they even sat in the bottom three in runs scored. The season series was tied at three as we entered this midweek series.

Projected matchups:
Mark Roberts (4-4, 2.52 ERA) vs. Alex Hichez (1-2, 4.23 ERA)
Rico Gutierrez (6-3, 3.62 ERA) vs. Ian Prevost (5-6, 4.32 ERA)
Jesus Chavez (3-9, 4.63 ERA) vs. Jorge Villalobos (4-4, 3.57 ERA)

All right-handers in that rotation, even after Morgan Shepherd had gone to the DL, which also held Ron Thrasher, the latter for the balance of the season. In his absence, left-handed relief was delegated to Tim Dunkin (6.49 ERA) and recent acquisition Mike Homa (5.18 ERA), like that was not a bad name for a pitcher already…

Game 1
POR: CF Mora – 2B Spencer – C Tovias – 1B Gonzalez – 3B Nunley – SS Stalker – LF Carmona – RF Graves – P Roberts
MIL: SS Tadlock – 2B Stewart – CF Coleman – RF Gore – 1B Gershkovich – C Wool – LF Berntson – 3B A. Velez – P Hichez

Portland scratched out two in the opening inning despite Mora and Spencer, who subbed for a sore Shane Walter, making initial outs. Tovias drew a walk in a full count, advanced on a wild pitch, and scored on Gonzalez' double, also in a full count. Nunley singled to right center to cash in Gonzalez for the second run, but Mark Roberts was instantly overturned. Tyler Stewart doubled in the bottom 1st, Roberts walked two, then served up a grand slam to Josh Wool. Way to go, ace! Said ace struggled to get anybody out, really, and made a convincing bid to return to a losing record in the third inning, which opened with Ian Coleman's infield single, and then Roberts plunked Brad Gore with the first pitch. Mike Gershkovich's single to center plated one and ran the score to 5-2, after which the Loggers retired to their cabin with Wool's double play to short, and Jon Berntson whiffing. Meanwhile the Coons' offense usually ended with Nunley, who had gotten an RBI in the first inning, but struck out to end innings and stranding a pair in his next two plate appearances, in the third and fifth innings. The fifth was also the last for Roberts, who didn't complete it, getting yanked after Brad Gore's solo shot ran the tally to 6-2 with two down. It was the Loggers' last run in the game, as Surginer, Kipple, Devereaux, and Brotman would hold them to 3.1 innings of nothing from then on, but the Raccoons managed even less after the second Nunley strikeout, and put only one more batter on base. Hichez, Shepherd's replacement, went the distance, sprinkling just six hits. 6-2 Loggers. Gonzalez 3-4, 2 2B, RBI;

The total on the latest spill is now 8-15 since May 24. That is not what I had in mind before the season, not at all…

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

…and another left-handed Raccoons starter got dropped by left-handed batter Josh Wool, who cracked a 2-piece in the second inning for the first runs in the Tuesday game. Wool was frightening the southpaws on staff enough by now that when he came to the plate again with two outs in the fourth and Ian Coleman on second base, Gutierrez twitched and was called out for a balk, but Cookie caught up with Wool's drive on the next pitch to end the inning. At that point, the Coons had two base hits, no runs, and posed no threat whatsoever. Berntson homered leading off the fifth, a no-doubter to left, while Prevost was mostly flawless, maintaining a 2-hit shutout through six innings, whiffing seven, while Gutierrez opened his half of the sixth by allowing sharp singles to left-handed batters, Coleman and Gore. Gershkovich flailed himself out, only the second K for an easily readable pitcher on the mound, but Wool hit a ball sharply enough on the ground for an inning-ending double play at least… Gutierrez pitched into the eighth, miserably, while Ian Prevost retired *18* batters in a row between a Gutierrez(!) double in the third inning and a Mora double in the ninth, only the third hit allowed by him. Walter flew out to center, and with the Coons down to their final out, Elias Tovias lobbed a 3-1 pitch over Ron Tadlock for a single into shallow left center, with Mora scoring to break up the shutout, which also ended Prevost's day. Brian Gilbert saved the game on two pitches, getting Jon Gonzalez to fly out to Berntson, high but short, near the leftfield line. 3-1 Loggers. Tovias 2-3, RBI; Gutierrez 7.2 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, L (6-4) and 1-1, 2B;

Game 3
POR: CF Mora – 2B Walter – C Tovias – 1B Gonzalez – 3B Nunley – SS Stalker – RF Graves – LF Carmona – P Chavez
MIL: SS Tadlock – C Wool – CF Coleman – RF Gore – LF de Santiago – 1B Gilmor – 3B Berntson – 2B March – P Villalobos

There were six left-handed bats in the Loggers' lineup, including all the #2 through #6 batters, so nothing was expected from Jesus Chavez, really, except that he would somehow fork over the team. In this he did not disappoint, throwing only 14 pitches before leaving the game with a tight forearm, leading the Coons to declare a bullpen day, one day removed from their first day off in the month. Kipple was the first guy washed forth from the pen and did pretty badly, allowing three hits and two walks in just 1.1 innings, but somehow was only charged with one run on a Coleman RBI double in the bottom 3rd. Carlos de Santiago grounded out to leave the bases loaded in that inning. While we continued to scramble to somehow make the bullpen last through the game, the lineup was no help at all in picking Kipple up. Villalobos effortlessly made it through the first five innings, K'ing five and allowing only two base hits. Abel Mora would find some place to drop a ball into for a single in the sixth inning, stole second, and came home on Tovias' 2-out triple to center. This one tied the game, and now we had Jon Gonzalez up to - … pop one foul to end the inning. While we were doubtlessly going to score a run again at some point, some day, it was the Loggers to roar through Billy Brotman in the seventh inning, his second inning of work. Dan March singled to right, and consecutive doubles by Tadlock and Wool broke the tie and gave the Loggers a 3-1 lead. It only got worse when Brett Lillis replaced him, walking Coleman and allowing consecutive singles to Gore and de Santiago. That pushed a run home, 4-1, and loaded the bases for Tyler Stewart, who flew to Graves in right. Coleman tagged and went, but was thrown out at the plate by Graves, which was really the only way for the derelict Lillis to get out of any inning these days… Surginer had a scoreless eighth, while the Loggers got eight innings of 5-hit ball from Villalobos, and nothing at all happened against Gilbert in the ninth again… 4-1 Loggers. Mora 2-4; Devereaux 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K;

This season can safely be declared over now.

Chavez' forearm strain might prevent him from making his next start, so we have to figure something out there. I was probably going to skip Whitaker on the off day, but with Chavez down (probably?), it might be better to stay in line here. If Chavez *can* make his next start, fine, and if not, his spot can be skipped thanks to the off day on Thursday.

Raccoons (33-39) vs. Bayhawks (33-39) – June 21-23, 2024

The Bayhawks ranked last in the Continental League in runs scored with just 3.6 runs per game, courtesy of a terrible .236 team batting clip. They were quite adept at throwing the ball however, with their rotation ranking third, their bullpen fourth by ERA, and with the second-fewest runs conceded overall. In other words – ballgame. The Raccoons will probably get shut out for the entire weekend. The season series was still in the Coons' favor, 3-0, but we can surely do something about that.

Projected matchups:
Josh Whitaker (0-1, 1.50 ERA) vs. Matt Huf (3-6, 3.08 ERA)
Dan Delgadillo (4-3, 3.78 ERA) vs. Clark Johnson (1-6, 3.86 ERA)
Mark Roberts (4-5, 2.94 ERA) vs. Rodolfo Cervantes (3-5, 3.51 ERA)

Their only left-hander was Brian Simmons (8-5, 3.40 ERA), who would only move into the series if the Bayhawks would use their off day (on Monday) to skip either Johnson or Cervantes.

As the series began, the Coons had another ailment on their pitching staff, with Kevin Surginer being listed day-to-day after stepping into a hole on his lawn and spraining his ankle. Why can't people just stay inside on their couch? Nobody ever got injured by sitting on the couch!

Game 1
SFB: RF R. Gomez – 3B Booker – CF D. Garcia – 1B Metzger – C J. Gilbert – LF R. Allen – SS Sanks – 2B Pick – P Huf
POR: CF Mora – 2B Walter – C Tovias – 1B Gonzalez – 3B Nunley – RF Graves – LF Carmona – SS Bullock – P Whitaker

Whitaker was probably going to be torn apart by wild animals here, as the Bayhawks fielded an entirely right-handed lineup against him. The bases were loaded as early as the second inning after a single by Austin Metzger, Jon Gilbert getting drilled, and a walk to Roger Allen. San Fran was limited to a sac fly in the inning, the first run in the game. Matt Huf would strike out to strand two in that inning, and would again strike out to strand three in the next inning, with Whitaker being all over the place. The Bayhawks still tried to hit his crap offerings, resulting in three walks and six strikeouts through four innings, while his pitch count was also skyrocketing. Whitaker reached 90 pitches against Rafael Gomez to begin the fifth, and fell apart soon thereafter, allowing a double to surprisingly-not-injured Dave Garcia, and then a towering home run to Metzger that restored the Bayhawks to a 3-1 lead, overcoming the tiniest of inconveniences that Elias Tovias' solo homer in the bottom 4th had posed for. It was then Mora on second and Walter on first for Tovias in his next trip to the plate, with one out in the fifth inning. A soft line zipped past Shane Sanks into shallow center for an RBI single, inching the Coons closer before Gonzalez and Nunley both struck out. Besides Mora and Tovias the lineup was mostly completely dead at this point… Shane Walter rolled a single past Pat Pick in the bottom 7th, but now Tovias couldn't get through, flying out to center to end the inning.

With Huf approaching 100 pitches in the eighth, Matt Nunley laced a double down the rightfield line in the eighth inning to become the tying run in scoring position, here with one out. Graves grounded out, advancing the runners, but Cookie Carmona's crusty remains crumbled inefficiently at the plate as he struck out to further lower his mindboggling .216 average, and also left the tying run at third. David Kipple struck out the side in the top of the ninth to leave the Coons with a nominal comeback chance in the bottom 9th, with Danny Munos surrendering scalding line drives to both Cory Briscoe and Tim Stalker to begin the inning. Only Stalker's fell in, however, with leftfielder Andres Alvarez handling the Briscoe drive. Stalker had a single, while Mora struck out, bringing Tony Delgado, hitting for Kipple in the #2 hole, as the last line of defense for the beleaguered Raccoons. His soft fly to shallow center made Garcia dash in hard … and in time – Tovias didn't get another chance to do damage. 3-2 Bayhawks. Mora 2-5; Walter 2-4; Tovias 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Nunley 2-4, 2 2B; Lee 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

That was our 20th game in June, and the 14th loss, making for a crisp .300 winning percentage.

Somehow we are still in third place, though.

There were two roster moves as Omar Alfaro returned from the DL, sending Devin Mansfield (2-for-6) back to AAA, and as Kevin Surginer's ankle didn't get better and the Druid estimated him to be hampered for another week or longer, he was shipped to the DL instead. The Raccoons added another left-hander with Hector Morales (2.84 ERA in AAA).

Game 2
SFB: RF R. Gomez – 3B Booker – CF D. Garcia – 1B Metzger – SS Sanks – LF R. Allen – C O'Dell – 2B J. Gilbert – P C. Johnson
POR: CF Mora – 2B Walter – C Tovias – 1B Gonzalez – RF Alfaro – 3B Nunley – SS Stalker – LF Carmona – P Delgadillo

The hope now was for young(?) Yusneldan to do nasty **** to the still entirely right-handed lineup, and that at least saw him go through the order once with five stirkeouts and two singles allowed, but Clark Johnson retired the horrendous Coons in order through three… Dave Garcia's leadoff jack, his 12th of the season, put the Bayhawks atop 1-0 in the fourth inning, and that was probably it for another 24 hours for the Portland Chokers.

Clark Johnson walked Mora to begin the fourth inning, then faced only one more batter before leaving with an injury, putting Bobby Guerrero into the game against his old team. Guerrero was doing so-so with a 4.73 ERA, but was probably still an upgrade over Jesus Chavez right now… Against him, the Coons would take the lead in the inning, thanks to Tovias' double to center, a run-scoring groundout by Gonzalez, and then Omar Alfaro's clutch 2-out RBI single to right that put Portland 2-1 in front. The following inning, Cookie's dead body fell bat-first into a Guerrero fastball to knock a single to left, allowing Stalker to score from second base after his leadoff single and stolen base. Guerrero, down 3-1, went on to misfield Delgadillo's bunt into an error, and now the Coons could really blow the doors off this game. Abel Mora at the plate, 2-2 fastball right down broadway, a loud noise, and it was OUTTA HERE. The same was true for Guerrero, shackled for a 4-spot in the inning and five runs in total. His replacement, Fernando Cruz, walked Walter, then allowed a 2-run blast to Jon Gonzalez, as the Coons really cranked it up.

Also still dealing, Delgadillo, who went to the eighth rather unmolested after the Garcia homer, retired two, but Jaden Booker legged out a slow grounder on Delgadillo's 99th pitch to reach base. Garcia came up, hit a fly to center, rather deep, but not deep enough to beat Mora, ending the eighth. Delgadillo didn't come back for the ninth, giving deference to Vince D, who in turn gave deference to Victor Baeza and his pinch-hit homer. Apart from that, the Bayhawks went down silently. 8-2 Raccoons. Stalker 2-3; Delgadillo 8.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W (5-3) and 1-2;

The Bayhawks would skip Cervantes on Sunday, but didn't go to Simmons, sending Denzel Durr (4-3, 3.33 ERA) instead.

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

Mark Roberts faced off against his former team and still a completely right-handed lineup, which was certainly going to go so well. Jaden Booker and Roger Allen hit balls hard off him in the first two innings, but were sat down like the other Bayhawks that ventured to the plate, while their team had a bit of a rough bottom of the second inning. Nunley hit a 1-out single, followed by Delgado doubling down the leftfield line. With runners in scoring position, Bullock grounded to second base. Pick cut off the grounder, but couldn't turn it into an out against Bullock's speed, while Nunley scored with the first run of the game. Roberts would hit a sac fly to left, 2-0, while Bullock advanced to second and third, first on an errant pickoff attempt, then Spencer's infield single. Shane Walter's soft grounder still eluded Austin Metzger for an RBI single, giving the Coons their third and last run in the inning.

Roberts retired the first 13 batters in the game before a Jon Gilbert single ended a budding bid in the fifth inning. Shane Sanks would walk, but Pick flew out to Spencer to keep them aboard. The Birds went down in order in the sixth, but Garcia almost hit another leadoff jack in the seventh inning, but got a bit too much under it and in the end flew out to Spencer on the edge of the warning track. That ball though took forever to come back down from the orbit it briefly achieved… Gilbert drew a 2-out walk in the inning, but Nunley cut off Allen's quick bouncer for the third out, keeping the Baybirds shut out through seven. His pitch count was getting up there, though, 89 through seven, and Sanks hit a leadoff single in the eighth. Pick grounded out to Nunley, but replacement third baseman Tom Hawkins bounced a ball through between Gonzalez and Walter, and that ended the shutout bid anyway as Sanks came home with the Bayhawks' first run. Roberts struck out Rafael Gomez after that, and then the Birds sent left-hander Andres Alvarez to pinch-hit. Roberts' day ended with a walk issued, with Vince D taking over and getting out of the inning on Garcia's grounder to Shane Walter, then wrapped them up in the ninth on three strikeouts. 3-1 Coons. Walter 2-4, RBI; Nunley 3-4; Bullock 2-4, RBI; Roberts 7.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 K, W (5-5) and 0-1, RBI; Devereaux 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, SV (3);

In other news

June 21 – SFW SP John Rucker (5-4, 3.69 ERA) 1-hits the Rebels in a 2-0 shutout. The Rebels' only hit is a third-inning single by their own starting pitcher Alex Quintero (3-2, 3.29 ERA).

Complaints and stuff

Travis Garrett has been placed in the pen by the Falcons, whom we will see for a 3-game set starting on Monday. Also next week: the Crusaders. Well, this time it doesn't matter anymore.

Speaking about the Crusaders, Jonny Toner has started a rehab assignment with their AAA team in Lexington. It has been … rough? In two starts he has amounted to 11.1 IP, yielding 17 hits, three walks, 11 runs (all earned), and struck out only nine.

While I was attributing Toner's demise straight to injuries, there was no scientific explanation for Cookie's stark lack of production in any form. His BABIP is under .230!! For comparison, he has been a career .327 BABIP hitter (.313 actual).

Well, just one more way for the universe to tear out my heart and play ball with it.

And yes, this is the first year of Cookie's 4-yr, $7.5M extension.

In other weird encounters with the Carmona family I stumbled upon Cristiano Carmona and Daniel Bullock in a storage room this weekend, with Bullock sitting in the younger Carmona's lap with his arms around Cristiano's shoulders. I was naturally worried about the situation since I assumed Cristiano was wheeling him off to see the Druid – we can't have a backup infielder with a foot or leg injury – but both claimed that Bullock was fine and he quickly leapt off the wheelchair as soon as they noticed me. I am sure glad there is nothing cooking on that front …!

I also feel like summer is approaching as the weather is shifting from bleak and gray to slightly less gray and bleak outside. Seems like we'll be at home for this year's three days of summer …!

Fun Fact: Washington Capitals franchise lore includes two 3-homer games by their players; Bob Butler hit three bombs in 2010 against the Cyclones, while Matt Hamilton went yard three times against the Rebels in 2022.

Both did their deed on June 22 in those respective years.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (35-40) vs. Falcons (31-42) – June 24-26, 2024

The Coons really had to look good against any team, and soon, at least making an impression of being capable of playing ball at a level reasonably comparable to their compatriots. Why not clobber the Falcons, against whom we were 2-1 this season? They were third in runs scored in the CL, but had also allowed the second-most runs. They had the worst rotation, the second-worst pen, and they had just added bleepin' Travis Garrett on waivers – was there a single reason not to eviscerate *this* team, here and now?

Projected matchups:
Rico Gutierrez (6-4, 3.61 ERA) vs. Justin Fleming (4-2, 3.05 ERA)
Josh Whitaker (0-2, 3.27 ERA) vs. J.J. Rodd (1-2, 6.50 ERA)
Jesus Chavez (3-9, 4.55 ERA) vs. Kyle Anderson (4-11, 5.63 ERA)

The southpaw Rodd would be the only one to face in this midweek series before breaking off to New York. He had arrived in the Falcons rotation after likely-season-ending injuries to Joel Trotter and Greg Gannon. The latter had pitched to a 7-4 record and 3.50 ERA and was surely going to be sorely missed.

The Raccoons pushed Chavez a day back after the forearm strain, but he was reasonably good to go. This was his last chance (barring any more 18th inning heroics or the opposite of that) to cash in his tenth loss of the season in June, and he better not dare pushing it. Maybe facing another master of disaster was going to help him.

Game 1
CHA: SS Bowman – 3B Czachor – CF Good – 1B Fowlkes – RF Benson – C J. White – LF McClenon – 2B Read – P Fleming
POR: CF Mora – 2B Walter – C Tovias – 1B Gonzalez – RF Alfaro – 3B Nunley – SS Stalker – LF Carmona – P Gutierrez

Rico, who had recently shown flashes of competence on the mound, faced the minimum the first time through the Falcons order, allowing a single to Travis Benson (better than giving him a 14th homer for sure) and getting a double play from lead-footed Jamal White, and the Coons even got Cookie Carmona to make an audible squeal in the bottom 2nd, connecting for a 2-out RBI triple into the rightfield corner, the 103rd of his career, 19th on the all-time list. This scored Nunley and it was the only run scored in the early going in this game. Runners remained scarce for the Falcons; the second time through, Ryan Czachor drew a walk in the fourth, and Howard Read landed a leadoff single in the sixth, but none of those even reached third base. Some more cushion would be nice, but nothing really came along for the Coons. Jon Gonzalez twice made the last out with a runner in scoring position, and Gutierrez popped out himself in the bottom 6th, stranding Stalker and Cookie on the corners. By the seventh, the Coons had ten hits and still a flimsy 1-0 lead, but at least Shane Walter's single to right-center and Elias Tovias' infield single (sic!) gave Jon Gonzalez another chance… to ground to Czachor for a 5-4-3 base-cleaner. Rico maintained his 2-hitter through eight innings, with the haunting question slowly arising as to was supposed to save this little (unexpected) gem.

There was however still the chance for some tack-on offense. Omar Alfaro continued to not build a legacy and grounded back to Fleming to begin the bottom 8th, but that was the last out the Falcons' starter got. Nunley singled to right, and Stalker doubled up the leftfield line. That would have been a run with anybody but Nunley on first base, or more than one out. Alas, here came Cookie, already 2-for-3, which sounded like he was doubling his June output right here and now. The Falcons sent a reliever, and that was … "Tragic" Travis Garrett! NOW we're talking baseball! When Cookie grounded out to Pat Fowlkes at first, the runners held, and that forced the hand on Gutierrez. No shutout! Daddy needs those runners to cross home plate, for ****'s sake. Zach Graves strode from the bench, stood next to home plate for two minutes and no reason, then slumped back to where he had come from, with Nunley and Stalker in tow, having struck out. Lacking a better idea, the Coons threw Brett Lillis and his 5.08 ERA into the save situation, especially with left-hander Paul Mattaliano leading off in the #9 hole. He popped out, but Lillis walked the next two. Chris Almanza pinch-hit for Matt Good, which was exchanging a left-handed Coonskinner for a right-handed one, and removed a left-handed launchpad for a right-handed one. Since Kevin Surginer had hit the DL and Vince Devereaux was not rested, the save opportunity fell to Jimmy Lee, whom I had tried to trade as early as APRIL. He fell into a hitter's count quickly, and Almanza, who was hitting .278 with five homers in limited action, sure enough cracked away at the 2-1. Hard, but: on the ground, right at Tim Stalker, to Walter, to Gonzalez, ****ing ballgame. 1-0 Blighters! Mora 2-4; Walter 2-4; Tovias 2-3, BB; Nunley 2-4; Stalker 2-3, BB, 2B; Carmona 2-4, 3B, RBI; Gutierrez 8.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 K, W (7-4);

Yes, indeed, we out-hit them 12-2. We barely got anything to show for it.

But, eh, 3-game winning streak. Sometimes the result counts, not how you arrive at that spot, and in this case, Gutierrez' gem and Lee's lucky break at least broke the virtual tie with the disgusting Elks.

Meanwhile the Falcons found Doug Moffatt (5-6, 4.74 ERA) somewhere on their staff to replace Rodd for the Tuesday game. That is a right-hander, though.

Game 2
CHA: SS Bowman – 3B Czachor – CF Good – 1B Fowlkes – RF Benson – C J. White – LF McClenon – 2B Read – P Moffatt
POR: CF Mora – 2B Walter – C Tovias – 1B Gonzalez – RF Alfaro – 3B Nunley – SS Stalker – LF Carmona – P Whitaker

After two good innings, Whitaker lost the zone in the third inning of his third career start and soon enough was driving straight towards his third loss. He walked Sean Bowman with two outs in the inning, and Bowman swiftly sniped his 21st base of the season, which was not really a factor, given that Whitaker also lost Czachor to walk. Matt Good then remembered that he was a professional pain in our side and had not lived up to that in the series opener. Well, how about a 3-run homer that squeezed through the angle between the fence and the right foul pole? Sounds about right.

While it was excusable to walk a keen-eyed player like Czachor from time to time, and fall to the scourge on the land that was Matt Good, it was not okay to walk the opposing pitcher. Whitaker committed that sin in the fifth, and somehow wasn't instantly punished for it, neither by management, nor by the baseball gods, nor by the Falcons, although Matt Good didn't get to the plate in the inning. Meanwhile Moffatt held the Coons to a hit and two walks through five innings, which didn't really compare that great to Monday's output at least in the H column. The R column was comparable – no runs – as it usually was. The Raccoons did not reach third base until the bottom of the sixth, with Abel Mora working a 1-out walk and then reaching third base on Walter's single. Elias Tovias had a hot bat right now – going back to May 28 he had landed at least one hit in every game he started sans one, and he was 17-for-37 since the Elk City series – but all he could do was a sac fly to left, not exactly keeping the inning going. Jon Gonzalez was lost on balls, but Alfaro ended the inning with a grounder to short.

Whitaker lasted six and two thirds before being relieved by last night's make**** closer, Jimmy Lee. The Coons had another chance to remove Whitaker from the hook for the first time ever, bringing Tim Stalker onto base in the bottom 7th. Cookie drove a ball to deep right, Benson wasn't getting it and the clanker off the wall scored Stalker, 3-2, with Cookie reaching third for his second triple in as many games! But it was still not enough, because it was never enough. Zach Graves, having entered in a double switch, lined out to Fowlkes, and Abel Mora flew out to Joseph McClenon in left. Cookie, the tying run, remained at third base.

The Falcons beat a run out of David Kipple in the eighth, Good doubling, Fowlkes singling, and it could yet get worse. Adam Cowen entered the fray in the ninth, facing and retiring Jamal White, then retired with an injury. Billy Brotman finished the inning before Ryan Corkum, the Falcons' right-handed closer, faced the Coons in the bottom 9th. His 1.80 ERA said 'no you won't', while Tim Stalker's 1-out double tried to shout over him 'maybe we'll still!'. Cookie's single to right brought up the winning run in Graves, who at some point had been rumored to have power, but had no dingers this year and only ten in some 850 career at-bats. He chubbed a 1-2 pitch to the mound, Corkum grabbed, whirled around, Cookie was out, but a slight clumsiness event on Sean Bowman's end prevented an instant game over. Abel Mora, a genuine power hitter misplaced in the #1 hole for reasons mostly tragic and having to do with crumbs, lined out to Howard Read to leave Josh Whitaker a constant loser. 4-2 Falcons. Tovias 2-2, BB, RBI; Carmona 2-4, 3B, RBI;

Game 3
CHA: SS Bowman – 3B Czachor – 2B Good – 1B Fowlkes – RF Benson – CF McClenon – LF Erskine – C Mattaliano – P Rodd
POR: 2B Spencer – SS Stalker – RF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – 3B Nunley – CF Briscoe – C Delgado – LF Carmona – P Chavez

There was Rodd, and he allowed a run on Jon Gonzalez' 2-out single in the bottom 1st, with Tim Stalker scoring from second base. Gonzalez also held the chronic loser Chavez in one piece in the second inning, with Benson and McClenon aboard and Mattaliano hitting a sharp grounder to right. Gonzalez intercepted it masterfully and converted it into the third out as well, but when Fowlkes found the gap in the third inning, nothing could save Chavez from 2-out humiliation. Bowman and Czachor scored on the double, flipping the score into Charlotte's favor. It would be re-flipped in the very same inning my the Coons' middle infielders. Spencer hit a double to center, and Stalker hit a whammy to left, which got over the wall halfway between the 353' and 386' signs. It was Tim's first homer since April 21.

The Coons finally ate up a marginal pitcher. Mora singled to right, Gonzalez singled to center. Nunley hit a sac fly to deep, deep right, 4-2, and after Briscoe made the second out with a grounder to Fowlkes, Tony Delgado's single drove in Gonzalez. Delgado was sent all the way on Cookie's double to center and came in ahead of McClenon's throw, extending the lead to 6-2 with a 5-spot before the inning ended with Chavez, who had born all of two wins as a starter this season, and would better carry this one to term. The fourth was a chew, but he made it through, while the lead only grew in the bottom 4th, with Jon Gonzalez drumming reliever Elijah Taylor (6+ ERA) with a 2-out 2-piece to left, his 17th of the season. The Coons have a slugger actually slugging!

Chavez needed 92 pitches through five messy innings, then cocked up a leadoff jack to Fowlkes in the sixth. He walked Benson in an 8-pitch effort, and that was all for him, as the pen was called in to do something about an eroding 6-run lead. Kipple came out first, with Chris Erskine closing Chavez' book with a fielder's choice. Erskine took second by force, then scored on Mattaliano's single to right, but that was on Kipple. Howard Read's pinch-hit single ended Kipple's gig in what was now an 8-4 game and the tying run in the on-deck circle, but Bowman had nothing on Vince D and struck out to end the inning. Drama wasn't over, despite a Mora sac fly in the bottom 6th extending the lead to 9-4 again, with the Falcons having two aboard in both the seventh and eighth, with the Coons juggling their relievers fervently to achieve any decent result at all. Brett Lillis ended up getting the last six outs, with the pen depleted but for Billy Brotman. 9-4 Raccoons. Spencer 2-5, 2B; Stalker 3-4, BB, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Gonzalez 3-4, HR, 3 RBI; Carmona 2-4, 2B, RBI; Lillis 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

Lillis' got his ERA under five! Rejoice!

Raccoons (37-41) @ Crusaders (44-33) – June 27-30, 2024

To make it short – if the Coons swept the division-leading Crusaders, they had a chance. If not, not. New York was merely on a 8-game winning streak, and they had the best pitching in the league, but their offense was still creaky and not exactly a sure thing. They ranked only ninth in runs scored, which made their offense even more uneventful than the Coons', which tied for seventh in runs scored at this point. The season series was nothing to joke about, with the Coons 2-5 behind already, and well on pace to put up another 6-12 season against the Crusaders, just like they had ended up the last two years…

Projected matchups:
Dan Delgadillo (5-3, 3.56 ERA) vs. Mike Rutkowski (6-6, 3.50 ERA)
Mark Roberts (5-5, 2.82 ERA) vs. Ed Hague (6-4, 3.75 ERA)
Rico Gutierrez (7-4, 3.30 ERA) vs. Ben Jacobson (5-2, 4.07 ERA)
Josh Whitaker (0-3, 3.57 ERA) vs. Alejandro Mendez (6-5, 3.53 ERA)

Hague and their only left-hander Jacobson had both started in a double-header on Monday, so at least they would send Rutkowski and whoever between those two would go on Friday into battle on short rest. Gotta hang your hope on the little things sometimes.

The Crusaders had made a trade this week, sending D.J. Fullerton (.347, 3 HR, 20 RBI as pinch-hitter royale) to the Pacifics for the bleached body of 33-yr old C Alfonso Gonzales (no stats in the majors this year) and a AAA outfielder.

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

Delgadillo surrendered solo shots to both Xavier Garcia and Andy Schmit in the first inning, and that was that for a series sweep. Left-handed batters would have his way with Delgadillo in the game, consistently whacking him, including four straight base hits by Lance Douglas, Nate Ellis, Schmit, and Sergio Valdez in the fifth inning. That ran the score to 4-0, with Alfonso Gonzales also mixing in a 2-out RBI single from the right side of the plate, leaving Delgadillo down 5-0 after five. Rutkowski in turn had allowed four base runners so far, none of them coming on a base hit. He walked two the first time through (including, oddly, Delgadillo), and the second time through Tovias reached on an error and Gonzalez was nicked.

While Delgadillo retired from the game after a single pitch in the sixth, popping up Rutkowski, the Crusaders' hurler would not allow another man aboard until the seventh inning, issuing a full-count walk to Tim Stalker with two outs. Stalker was then caught stealing, only furthering the agony. Rutkowski was now six outs away from something last achieved by "Midnight" Martin seven years ago until Cookie robbed him in the most cruel fashion. The first pitch in the eighth was chomped into the ground and bounced up the third base line slowly, and neither Eric McPherson nor Andy Schmit were able to reach it before Cookie had flown up the line to first base, breaking up the no-hitter with an infield single. Rutkowski would not finish the inning, with Jon Ozier keeping Cookie aboard. Matt Nunley's 2-out single against Kevin Woodworth in the ninth would not matter too much. 5-0 Crusaders.

By Friday we learned that Adam Cowen had a torn rotator cuff, which was going to end his season. He was put on the 60-day DL. The Raccoons called up 23-year-old right-hander Nick Derks from St. Petersburg, where he had pitched to a 1-2 record, 3.32 ERA, and for one save in 23 outings this season, mostly as a long man. He had about four walks and eight strikeouts per nine innings. Derks had been our sixth-round selection in the 2021 draft.

Game 2
POR: CF Mora – 2B Walter – C Tovias – 1B Gonzalez – 3B Nunley – LF Carmona – RF Graves – SS Bullock – P Roberts
NYC: 1B X. Garcia – 2B Oosterom – 3B Schmit – RF Ellis – C A. Gonzales – SS S. Valdez – LF Loya – CF Shaffer – P Hague

Ed Hague was a bit of a mess to begin this game, allowing a single to Mora, a wild pitch, an RBI double to Walter, and eventually another wild pitch to score Walter, giving the Coons a 2-0 lead early on. The Raccoons and their slim chance at maintaining vaguely plausible playoff hopes going into July now hung on Mark Roberts alone, and whether he could finally get his **** together. Judging by the length of recently unearthed Alfonso Gonzales' homer in the second inning, the answer was a clear NOPE, but at least that was a solo job.

The Coons and their habit to bring the pitcher to the plate in crucial situations were at it again in the fourth inning. Nunley walked, Cookie singled, Graves failed as usual, and Bullock got nicked before he could fail. That loaded the bases for Mark Roberts with one out. He improved his chances with a single to center; Nunley scored, Cookie tried to follow him, but was thrown out by Nick Shaffer. Mora's grounder was intercepted by Garcia, holding Roberts' lead to 3-1. Valdez hit a double in the bottom 4th, just barely fair inside the right foul line, too, but that was with two out and Roberts victimized Ricky Loya with a strikeout, his third in the game, and his 100th this season. But just when you thought that things would finally work out for anybody on this team (like Elias Tovias, who had reached the .300 mark on Tuesday and since then had been miserable), somewhere a .192 batter trudged along and nailed another shot. That was Nick Shaffer in the bottom 5th, slugging a leadoff jack to center to cut the gap to a single run, and to also reach the .200 mark successfully. The lead evaporated the following inning on doubles by Gonzales and Loya.

Roberts lasted seven, just long enough to witness a controversial play, not quite of the magnitude of Keith Ayers being out at home, but in the bottom 7th Blake Doering hit a pinch-hit single to center to begin the frame. He turned first, raced to second, Abel Mora's throw came in, appeared late – and Doering was called out anyway on the tag. The Crusaders were furious, claiming that Daniel Bullock had in fact never tagged him, and anyway, the throw had been late, but the umpires conversed for five minutes, finally agreed that all of them had been daydreaming, except for the chubby ump at third base, who had been busy with a sandwich that Matt Nunley had slipped him, just in case. Doering remained out, Roberts got through the inning, but wouldn't get a decision for his pains. Bullock hit a 2-out single in the eighth, Alfaro batted for Roberts, but grounded out to Piet Oosterom, ending the inning.

The game went extras eventually, Lillis and Devereaux holding the fort for Portland. New York closer Travis Giordano was in his second inning of work in the 10th when the Coons amounted to anything other than rightful ridicule when Nunley and Cookie hit 1-out singles to the right side off the right-hander. That brought up Zach Graves, who had last gotten a base hit on the 19th, and had gone 4-for-29 in the last 18 days. Cory Briscoe batted for him, grounded out to Schmit, and Daniel Bullock was tied into a knot by Giordano to escape the jam. Vince D held the Crusaders short for a second inning as well, then was hit for by Jarod Spencer in the 11th. Off Steve Casey, Jarod singled to center, the thing he was actually good at, then was at the races when Abel Mora's grounder eluded Lance Douglas at first base and went up the line. Nate Ellis cut off his former Wolves mate's ball to hold him to a single, and fired away to third base to deal with Spencer… wildly. Andy Schmit had to chase after the ball, and Spencer scored to break the 3-3 tie. Mora went to second base on the errant throw, which ended up being the difference for the Coons' second run of the inning, too, as he was on third base and scored on Jon Gonzalez' 2-out infield single that died between Schmit, Casey, and Gonzales.

Billy Brotman got his paw on the ball for the bottom of the inning, trying to protect a 2-run lead against Gonzales, Jake Williams, and Loya. Gonzales dinked his first pitch into shallow left, and he walked Williams, after which the pitching coach went out and explained in no uncertain words that there was nobody coming to help him here. The Coons were down to Nick Derks, realistically, who would not make his major league debut in this mess. Fine by the Crusaders, right? Loya flew out to left, while Shaffer drilled a ball to center. Briscoe after it, going, going, nah, he had it. Gonzales moved to third, with ex-Coon Raul Claros hitting in the #9 hole, hey, at least a left-hander. Billy walked him anyway. At this point, there were two outs, three aboard, and Lance Douglas at the plate, not an easy hitter to face, even if left-handed. Brotman had just walked two of those. But there was something else a-cookin'. With the bases loaded, the Raccoons called for the intentional walk! The New York crowd was bemused at first, then shuddered. They had scored a run – but their bench was empty, and the pitcher was up next!! Billy Brotman disemboweled him on some vicious ****, unhittable for poor Steve Casey, who would up with the loss, and three let on base. 5-4 Furballs! Mora 2-6; Gonzalez 2-5, BB, RBI; Carmona 2-5; Spencer (PH) 1-1; Devereaux 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, W (4-0);

Well, if that trick goes wrong, the Agitator has a field day. In the event, Brotman pulled through, and the Agitator did not mention the intentional walk AT ALL on Saturday morning.

Cheap bleepin' "journalist" scum …!

Interlude: waiver claim

The Raccoons were awarded the contract of Jack Sander on Saturday, claiming the 28-year-old right-hander off waivers by the Cyclones. Hector Morales was returned to AAA to make room on the roster after two scoreless appearances (1.0 IP total).

Sander (4-5, 4.55 ERA), the fifth overall pick in the 2017 draft, was probably the epitome of a failed starter. Drafted by the Blue Sox, he had arrived in Cincy in '19, along with Matt Rosenthal, in a trade for Jason Seeley, which alone should disqualify him from serious discussion. If two of you are traded for JASON SEELEY, none of you can be worth a lot. (Coons first-rounder (2008) Jason Seeley has been traded four times in his career, and there weren't many merited players exchanged for him)

Sander's stuff was run-of-the-mill, and he also at times would show serious control issues. This year he was walking almost as many as he struck out, and this ratio had indeed been worse at times in the past. He had already been used as swingman by the Cyclones in previous years, overall making 97 appearances (29 starts) to a 10-18 record and 5.63 ERA. All his 14 appearances this year had been starts, but he would take over for Cowen in long relief now, and if that worked out, maybe there was a sparklier job available down the road…?

Raccoons (37-41) @ Crusaders (44-33) – June 27-30, 2024

Game 3
POR: LF Spencer – SS Stalker – 2B Walter – 1B Gonzalez – C Delgado – CF Briscoe – RF Alfaro – 3B Bullock – P Gutierrez
NYC: 1B X. Garcia – 2B Oosterom – RF Ellis – C A. Gonzales – SS S. Valdez – 3B Doering – LF Douglas – CF Shaffer – P Jacobson

The Critters put up two quick ones in the first inning, knocking three straight singles to begin the game, with one run coming home on Walter's single, and another on a Delgado sac fly. However, where Rico Gutierrez had been bullish on Monday, he was grabbed and taken by the bear early in this one. He also failed to retire any of the first three batters (although Garcia was caught stealing in between), and allowed a first-inning run. The Crusaders made some sound contact for no gains in the third inning, with Gonzales reaching base on a bloop single to begin the bottom 4th. Sergio Valdez flew out to left with Gonzales grossly misjudging the play and being caught near second base with Jarod Spencer coming in taking the soft fly. Gonzales scrambled back, too late, and was erased on a 7-3 double play.

The Coons had been invisible for a while, but at least put a man in scoring position in the sixth inning, although Bullock struck out to end the inning with Delgado and Alfaro aboard. The seventh saw a 1-out single by Spencer following Gutierrez becoming the eighth K on the front of the second deck in rightfield. Stalker grounded to third, where Doering fumbled it, and the Coons had a pair on again thanks to the error. A 4-pitch walk to Walter ended Jacobson's day and brought right-hander Jon Ozier to see after Jon Gonzalez, who was a sad 0-for-3 including a lineout to the pitcher in his previous time in shot. Now, Ozier had the makeup of a Ron Thrasher, blinding stuff, but no control over it at times. Ron Thrasher had never been sent into a bases-loaded situation except in the most dire situations. This was one, and the Crusaders picked wrong, with Ozier not finding the zone, and Gonzalez drawing a 5-pitch walk to push home a run. Tony Delgado hit into a double play after that, though.

Gutierrez lasted seven, being pinch-hit for in the top 8th with Alfaro on third after a triple and two out, lacing a liner to right off Casey, last night's loser. Hard luck caught Nunley once more, as the liner went right at Nate Ellis for the third out. Jon Gonzalez would be judged an error in the bottom of the inning, having a foul pop glance off his glove during Xavier Garcia's at-bat against Kipple to begin the frame. Never mind that Gonzalez was chugging full speed towards the dugout steps and didn't know where to look… The error turned out to be inconsequential, Garcia K'ing two pitches later. The Crusaders got the tying runs on soon enough, Ellis and Gonzales reaching with two outs. Loya pinch-hit for Valdez at this point, prompting a move to a right-hander in Jimmy Lee, who struck out Loya to keep the Crusaders away, and remained in the game for the bottom 9th, at least to begin things. A 4-pitch walk to Doering was NOT in the plans for the inning, and we moved on to Brett Lillis, with the Crusaders sending another right-handed pinch-hitter, McPherson. Lillis managed to hit him with a 3-2 curveball, which was reason enough for a mild crisis for this GM, and Shaffer bunted over the tying runs. Raul Claros pinch-hit, but grounded to first for the second out and the runners held. Garcia batted left-handed, so was not walked intentionally to create forces everywhere, especially with a right-handed slap hitter behind, at least until Lillis walked him unintentionally. Oosterom grounded out to short, ending the second consecutive game with the bases teeming with Crusaders that never came home. 3-1 Critters. Spencer 2-5; Walter 2-4, BB, RBI; Delgado 2-3, RBI; Alfaro 2-4, 3B; Gutierrez 7.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, W (8-4);

Okay, squeezing out one more would be swell! Too bad it's gotta be Winless Whitaker…

Game 4
POR: CF Mora – 2B Walter – C Tovias – 1B Gonzalez – 3B Nunley – SS Stalker – RF Alfaro – LF Carmona – P Whitaker
NYC: 1B X. Garcia – 2B Oosterom – 3B Schmit – RF Ellis – SS S. Valdez – LF Loya – C McPherson – CF Shaffer – P A. Mendez

"Hard Luck" Nunley kept getting denied, with Garcia swiping his quick bouncer in the first inning after Tovias had reached on an error and Gonzalez had been plunked. Whitaker would kill the second inning after Alfaro and Cookie had walked (which made for the second time in four games that the first four base runners for the Raccoons reached without the aid of a base hit), bunting into a double play, then served up a leadoff jack to Ricky Loya to resume / proceed trailing. And you got that feeling early on, that this was not going to be a series win for Portland, not by a country mile. Whitaker had Shaffer struck out in the inning, but Tovias couldn't come up with the ball, then threw wildly to first base, allowing Shaffer to reach on the uncaught third strike, proceeding to score on Garcia's 2-out double that beat Cookie's reach by inches. The following inning, Ricky Loya dropped a 2-out bloop into shallow right to score Valdez, 3-0.

The Coons wouldn't get a hit until the fifth, when Cookie Carmona dropped a 1-out single into left, stole second, and was stranded anyway. There was a Gonzalez single in the sixth, but overall there wasn't a whole lot much against "Ant" Mendez. Stalker drew a leadoff walk in the seventh, and Alfaro barely legged out the return throw after his grounder to Oosterom. Cookie singled to right-center, the Coons' third hit in the game, and this one brought up the tying run with Zach Graves hitting for Whitaker and flying out to shallow left. Abel Mora didn't make it that easy on Mendez, driving a ball to deep right, and OUTTA HERE!! 2-out homer, tying the game, and denying Whitaker the loss! Shane Walter's pop to short also denied him the win.

Brotman got the pitcher to pop out to begin the bottom 7th, then immediately departed when Blake Doering pinch-hit for Garcia. Jack Sander came in to make his Raccoons debut after 97 games and 235 innings in other garments. The Crusaders put two on before bringing a slugging former Wolf to the plate, but by sharp contrast to Mora in the top of the inning, Ellis grounded out to Gonzalez, ending the inning. Matt Nunley hit a triple(!) in the eighth inning, albeit with nobody on and two outs, and Tim Stalker grounded out to let it go to waste. The bottom 8th was dazzling; Sander lost Valdez to a leadoff walk, with Loya bunting him over. With McPherson at the plate, Valdez took off for third base – and was cut down by Tovias (18-for-58 now, and much better than last year!)! Then Mora dropped McPherson's fly in centerfield for two bases… Jake Williams pinch-hit, the Coons stuck to Sander, and Williams grounded out to end the inning.

In the ninth, Travis Giordano and Vince Devereaux were back at denying the other team, and like the last time that had happened in the series, the game entered extra innings tied at three. When Tovias doubled to the fence with one out in the 10th, the Crusaders elected to walk Gonzalez intentionally to get to "Hard Luck" Nunley, although Nunley countered the right-hander Giordano. The gamble worked (much like the Coons' on Friday), with both Nunley and Stalker flying out to Ellis in right. Vince D kept pace, getting the Coons to the 11th, with Jon Ozier offering a leadoff walk to Omar Alfaro. Cookie gave himself up, bunting the go-ahead run into scoring position, but Delgado (K) and Mora (4-3) would not get the run in. Running out of pitchers still breathing on their own, the bottom of the 11th inning saw the major league debut of Nick Derks after all. Maybe this was still not the right spot for him… Loya flew out to right, but Claros singled cleanly to center. Nunley caught a Williams liner, but Derks then drilled Gonzales to advance the winning run and bring up Lance Douglas in the #1 spot. Wait – let me check that bench. Bench empty, Ozier in the #2 hole. Intentional walk to Douglas! This time it wasn't even an RBI for him. The pitcher struck out, and Crusaders fans sat around grinding their teeth. It was the last out the Coons logged, though. Schmit opened the bottom 12th with a hard single to left, and Ellis hit a single to right. Schmit dashed for third base, Omar Alfaro tried to kill the winning run, but the throw sailed at least ten feet over Matt Nunley's head bounced in foul ground once and made it into the stands. Schmit scored on the error, and this was ballgame. 4-3 Crusaders. Carmona 2-3, BB; Briscoe (PH) 1-1; Whitaker 6.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K; Sander 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K; Devereaux 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

Oh well, at least we know one thing after this game, in which Whitaker struck out five, including Nick Shaffer thrice: Whitaker might be a pretty useless pitcher, but Shaffer is a really useless hitter.

In other news

June 24 – IND SP Manny Ortega (3-5, 4.33 ERA) and IND CL Nick Salinas (3-3, 5.08 ERA, 14 SV) combine for a 1-hit shutout of the Aces in a 3-0 game. The sole Aces hit is a double by Corey Curro (.305, 3 HR, 19 RBI).
June 26 – The Blue Sox give up, trading SP Mike Lake (4-8, 4.56 ERA) to the Cyclones for four prospects, including #195 C Matt Morrissey.
June 26 – Both Blue Sox and Wolves amount to only three base hits in the Wolves' 1-0 victory, the difference being made by a second-inning home run off the bat of utility player Travis Givens (.342, 2 HR, 7 RBI).
June 27 – SAL SP Alex Telles (7-4, 2.07 ERA) 3-hits the Warriors in a 5-0 shutout. Telles also issues five walks.
June 27 – CIN SP Kirk Riordan (6-8, 6.28 ERA) is expected to miss more than a year after tearing his rotator cuff. The 25-year-old has a particularly bad and long tear and could miss all of the 2025 season even.
June 28 – The last-place Indians deal RF/LF Cesar Martinez (.231, 10 HR, 37 RBI) to the Aces for three prospects, including #104 INF Mario Pizano.
June 30 – In his second career start, LAP SP Dave Christiansen (1-1, 2.20 ERA) fires a 5-hit shutout against the Gold Sox, claiming the 3-0 win. Christiansen, a tender 21 years old, was the #4 pick in the 2022 draft, was named the #5 prospect two years in a row, and threw seven shutouts in the minor leagues since being drafted.
June 30 – Milwaukee's Ian Coleman (.407, 2 HR, 25 RBI) has extended a hitting streak to 20 games with one hit in the Loggers' 2-1 win over the Titans. Coleman is not reasonably close to become the ABL's second .400 batter, as he has already missed some 40 games on the DL and is about 90 plate appearances shy of qualifying for a batting title.

Complaints and stuff

The Critters started June 6-14, but went 6-3 in their last nine games for a more palatable 12-17 clip this month. Nah, it still sucks.

398 career steals for Cookie Carmona! Inching closer. Slooowly.

I tried to trade away somebody this week in the first step of breaking down the current formula and starting at square one. The trade fell through, because the veteran in question was encumbered with future salaries not warranted by his current production.

Make of that whatever you want.

Saturday saw the 300th career save – however muddled it was – for Brett Lillis, who had turned 36 earlier this month. The 2-time All Star has saved 127 for the Coons, with the Cyclones holding a majority share in his success – just barely. Lillis, a 41-60 pitcher with a 3.09 ERA and 798 strikeouts, saved 151 games for them between 2012 and his 2019 trade to the Coons, his first stint with our little club up here. He split 2020 between the Crusaders and Falcons, and you can say that if we had ponied up the coin to keep him around during the offseason, Nick Lester never faces a Logger in game #163 and maybe the Coons pull a run from their arse and win it in extra innings.

Jon Gonzalez leads the All Star vote at first base. Stalker and Mora are getting some attention, but we have no pitcher being remotely near the top of the fan tally. I have been quipping at Roberts a bit this month, but he is actually hovering around the top 3 in both ERA and strikeouts in the CL right now, usually third in both categories. I know certain left-handers that made the Hall of Fame while constantly finishing third in these categories, so he might want to keep this level of success going.

Winless Watanabe had more ring than Winless Whitaker. Kenichi went 8-16 in '06, so even he could pick up a win from time to time (although he started 5+ games without winning any of them twice in his career).

The Raccoons released 2013 second-rounder 1B Russ Greenwald this week. He was a 30-year-old quad-A player that would never get a shot behind Jon Gonzalez before old age would claim himself, too. Shots in the majors he got some, although he only amounted to 244 at-bats between '18 and '23, batting .242/.320/.307 with two homers. There was mild interest in him from some teams, but none was ready to trade anything on the right side of 30 for him, not even a struggling reliever.

The international free agent period begins on Monday. The Coons have no limits on how much money they can throw at young innocent Dominican boys this year.

Fun Fact: 27 years ago today, on June 30, 1997, Pedro Perez slugged three home runs in the Bayhawks' 9-1 win over the Titans, the last 3-homer effort of the 20th century.

Perez is all but forgotten today, but for a while in the 1990s he looked like the real deal. A second-rounder in 1988, he made his debut in '91, hitting 13 home runs in just 68 games, and that in the pitcher's park by the Bay. He was routinely mean to opposing pitches, and tallied .800+ OPS seasons straight through 1997, winning a Rookie of the Year title and two home run titles along the way, driving out 20 or more in five of the next six seasons, including 20 in '97. After that, he lost his swing completely. He hit only nine dingers with a .236 average in '98 and was let go in free agency. The Miners signed him to a 2-year deal, got .228, 12 HR, 55 RBI from him in '99, then managed to hang him on the Scorpions via waivers. He hit a bit better in Sacramento, but was not picked up again after that season, ending his major league career at 33. Overall he batted .276/.399/.451 with 158 HR and 703 RBI.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (39-43) @ Titans (43-40) – July 1-4, 2024

It would be four-and-four with the Titans this year. They were second in the North, four games behind the Crusaders, so playing eight of the next eleven games against the Critters was probably a good recipe for them. They were third in runs scored, fifth in runs allowed, but they were also somehow 1-3 against Portland this year…

Projected matchups:
Jesus Chavez (4-9, 4.59 ERA) vs. Dustin Wingo (6-8, 4.66 ERA)
Dan Delgadillo (5-4, 3.82 ERA) vs. Jeremy Waite (3-2, 3.83 ERA)
Mark Roberts (5-5, 2.88 ERA) vs. Chris Klein (8-4, 3.57 ERA)
Rico Gutierrez (8-4, 3.17 ERA) vs. Alberto Molina (5-2, 3.12 ERA)

We'd see their left-handed starter to begin the series, followed by three right-handers. The Titans had no injuries to complain about at all at this point. They also continued to have a bullpen stuffed with southpaws, having four of those left-handers available.

Game 1
POR: 2B Spencer – SS Stalker – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – C Tovias – 3B Nunley – RF Alfaro – LF Carmona – P Chavez
BOS: CF Reichardt – C Leonard – 1B Amador – RF Braun – SS Jam. Wilson – 2B Kane – LF St. Germaine – 3B Corder – P Wingo

The Coons had three hits in the opening inning, but couldn't push a run across, Nunley eventually grounding out to Adam Corder, while the Titans moved 1-0 ahead on a walk by Keith Leonard, Roberto Amador's single, and then a throwing error by Chavez, the master of disaster, himself. Singles by Adam Braun and Jamie Wilson began the fourth inning, but the Titans contained themselves with a sac fly by Mike Kane, before hitting into two groundouts. The Raccoons had been heavily dormant in between, and when Cookie Carmona hit a leadoff single in the fifth inning, but Chavez struck out trying to bunt and the top of the order would not be of much help, either, ending the inning with groundouts to the right side. Wingo continued to shut out the Raccoons through seven innings but as hit for in the bottom 7th with one out and Kane and Corder on second and first, respectively after singles off Chavez. That made for only five hits off Chavez, still enough to put the Raccoons in a hole, but PH Matt Owen's long looper near the rightfield line also made for trouble for Omar Alfaro, who raced over at breakneck speed, made a sliding catch across the line, AND avoided shattering his legs against the sidewall, too! Adam Reichardt grounded out, keeping the score at a manageable 2-0. The go-ahead run came to the plate in the eighth, and it was Jon Gonzalez, too, as the Titans cycled through their bullpen at great pace. Tim Stalker had singled off Julio San Pedro, and Mike Stank had walked Abel Mora, the only batter he faced. Gonzalez' appearance in the box prompted a move to starter-turned-reliever-only-recently Alan Farrell, who threw one pitch only, and that was grounded to short by Gonzalez to end the inning, and by extension the game as a whole. The Titans had the bags full in the bottom 8th with two walks issued by Devereaux and an infield single by Rhett West hit against David Kipple, but Stalker snagged Adam St. Germaine's soft line to end the inning. Javy Salomon retired the Coons in order in the ninth. 2-0 Titans. Stalker 2-4; Tovias 2-4; Chavez 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, L (4-10);

Game 2
POR: CF Mora – 2B Walter – C Tovias – 1B Gonzalez – 3B Nunley – SS Stalker – RF Alfaro – LF Carmona – P Delgadillo
BOS: CF Reichardt – C Leonard – 1B Amador – SS Jam. Wilson – SS Kane – LF St. Germaine – RF M. Owen – 3B Corder – P Waite

Delgadillo tossed three hitless innings against the Titans, another team throwing plenty of left-handed bats at him. Roberto Amador's double in the fourth got them into the H column, but that run would not score; Jamie Wilson grounded out to short to keep him pinned, and Kane grounded out to second. The Raccoons had three base hits through four, but had not been reasonably close to a run so far. A pitchers' duel had broken out, with the Raccoons being absolutely nowhere in the middle innings, and there still being zip-zip in the seventh. Delgadillo, who had struck out four and walked one so far, was cruising in a controlled manner (though without much flash), when the Raccoons found it in their heart to sink their rookie with consecutive errors. Nunley bumbled a Kane grounder, his fourth error of the season, while Tovias failed to pick up a pathetic roller by St. Germaine to put two on with two outs. Abel Mora had to make a running catch on Matt Owen's line drive to center to keep the game in one piece. The Raccoons remained completely hopeless, with Waite tossing eight shutout innings, whiffing seven, before being for by Gil Cornejo in the bottom 8th. Cornejo hit a 1-out double, and Delgadillo came out after getting a fly to center from Reichardt, the last right-handed batter he could hope for, after 106 pitches. He could not win it, but he could still lose it, though Billy Brotman got Leonard to fly out to Cookie, keeping the scoreboard empty still. Shane Walter's leadoff single to right in the ninth inning was the Coons first runner in almost 90 minutes, but Tovias popped out, and after Gonzalez drew a walk off Salomon, Matt Nunley drove a ball to deep left that nevertheless ended up with the amazing fielder St. Germaine. Briscoe batted for Stalker, lined out to Rhett West, and the Raccoons just could not score a run no more… Could the Titans? Jimmy Lee had already spun two innings when he surrendered a leadoff double to center to Reichardt in the bottom of the 11th. Brett Lillis replaced him, got a fly to center that moved Reichardt to third, and then Adam Braun grounded to Walter, who fired home, and Reichardt was cut down! And then Jamie Wilson lined a 2-2 pitch over Walter, into right center, down the gap, and the Titans walked off with a triple. 1-0 Titans. Walter 2-4, BB; Delgadillo 7.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K; Lee 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

With the 11 innings today, and the last five innings in the 12-frame loss in New York on Sunday, the Raccoons now have not scored in 25 consecutive innings. We have conceded only four runs in the same 25 innings, but those were still worth three losses.

All of which is one valid way to suffocate, I guess.

Game 3
POR: CF Briscoe – 2B Walter – 3B Nunley – 1B Gonzalez – C Delgado – LF Carmona – RF Graves – SS Bullock – P Roberts
BOS: 1B St. Germaine – CF Amador – LF M. Owen – 2B R. West – C A. Arias – 3B Corder – RF Cornejo – SS Jam. Wilson – P Klein

The Coons could still score, apparently, with Cory Briscoe's single to center ending the shutout streak at 27 innings. He plated Daniel Bullock from second base, with Bullock having drawn a leadoff walk in the third inning before being bunted over by Roberts, who himself allowed two hits in the first inning, but was still holding on to a zero on the board. At least through two… but not through three. St. Germaine singled, Amador singled, and West singled past a diving Nunley to get the Titans even right away in the bottom 3rd, with Roberts bleeding for five singles, and striking out nobody in the early innings. His fortunes didn't improve noticeably from there, with a leadoff walk to Corder in the fourth, who stole second base and scored on St. Germaine's 2-run double with two outs that went over the leaping Nunley and up the leftfield line. The other runner that scored was Klein, who had himself hit a 2-out single off Roberts.

Top 5th, maybe offense? Cookie led off with a double, and Zach Graves at least managed to leg out a grounder for a single, putting the tying runs on the corners for Bullock and Roberts, which would be reason for depression, except that Bullock hit an RBI double to left to keep the line moving, although that line soon stuttered. Roberts' poor grounder kept the runners in scoring position pinned, and Briscoe struck out. Shane Walter grounded up the middle, Wilson lunged, missed it, and the ball went into center for a 2-out, 2-run single! This flipped the score, and the Coons tacked on in the sixth with Jon Gonzalez' leadoff jack, his 18th of the year, moving the score to 5-3 and knocking out Klein. Delgado singled off reliever Mike Stank, who retired the next two before the Coons still loaded the bags with an intentional walk to Bullock and then a soft single by Roberts into center. Cory Briscoe also found centerfield with a single, plating two more runs, 7-3, before Walter lined out softly to St. Germaine at first base.

Yet, like Klein, Roberts was not fooling anybody in the sixth inning. Corder led off with a sharp single, Roberts threw a wild pitch and then was almost taken deep by Cornejo. Graves picked the ball off the fence, with the runners scurrying to third base. A 4-pitch walk to Jamie Wilson ended Roberts' dismal outing, with Nunley's defense holding his line somewhat in one piece, as he snagged a laced liner by PH Trent Herlihy off Kipple. St. Germaine then popped out to keep them on the corners in the 7-3 game. The Titans continued to wiggle, and put the leadoff man aboard in the seventh (against Kipple still) and eighth, with Jack Sander getting double play grounders to solve both occurrences. The Coons would have sent him for a 3-inning save at this point, but he came up in the #6 spot with two outs in the ninth after a Delgado single, so Tovias hit for him, grounding out, but Nick Derks did away with the Titans in the ninth inning instead, spilling only a single. 7-3 Raccoons! Briscoe 2-5, 3 RBI; Gonzalez 2-5, Hr, RBI; Delgado 2-4, BB; Graves 2-4, 2B; Bullock 1-2, 2 BB, 2B, RBI; Sander 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K;

Gonzalez' 18th homer breaks a tie for second place with Mike Rucker and Dave Menth, but he's still trailing Ron Raynor and his 20 home runs. The Ace Raynor had previously not really been on the radar. He was a 25-year-old sophomore that had hit only six home runs last year.

Game 4
POR: 2B Spencer – 3B Walter – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – C Tovias – SS Stalker – RF Alfaro – LF Carmona – P Gutierrez
BOS: CF Reichardt – RF Braun – LF M. Owen – 3B R. West – C A. Arias – 3B Corder – 1B Cornejo – SS Kane – P A. Molina

Spencer walked, stole, and scored on Gonzalez' double to right-center in the first inning, giving the recently blemishless Gutierrez an early 1-0 lead against a lineup that held every right-handed batter the Titans could pull out of the cavities between couch cushions. Which would sometimes work, too. They had two hits in the first, then loaded the bases in the second inning with nobody out, starting with Spencer's error on Alex Arias' groundball. Corder and Cornejo singled, and Gutierrez was in a boatload of trouble. Mike Kane hit a sac fly, Molina popped out, but Reichardt continued to be a royal pain and singled hard to center, the fifth base hit off Gutierrez, and this one gave the Titans the lead. Braun fouled out, and both runs in the inning remained unearned. There was a hit batter in the third, but Gutierrez was pitching so terribly, when Molina came up to bat in the fourth with one out and Kane on second, the Titans ordered him to swing away and he promptly cracked an RBI double to left. Two pitches later, Reichardt blasted an unmeasurable homer to extend the score to 5-1, with the Coons not having landed a base hit since the Gonzalez double in the first.

While the Critters didn't find another base hit until the sixth inning against Molina, when they did, they DID. Mora doubled to left, and Gonzalez wasn't content with mere doubles, and cracked a 2-piece for #19 in his pursuit of Ron Raynor. That was three hits, three runs, though still a 5-3 deficit. The Coons put on the tying runs in the seventh, with Molina nailing Alfaro, who was forced out by Cookie, but the Titans were too tardy for the double play. Two outs, Nunley batted for Gutierrez and singled to center, bringing up recent hot hand Jarod Spencer, who drilled a liner into the leftfield corner for a 2-out, 2-run triple, tying the game in the process. The triple also got rid of Molina, with Julio San Pedro taking over with the go-ahead run on third base and two outs, and Shane Walter cashed in with a clean single up the middle that escaped between the converging infielders. Suddenly, Gutierrez was in line for the win! For about five minutes. Devereaux continued to be a mess, allowed two walks in the bottom 7th and the tying run on a Jamie Wilson double in between.

Alfaro was hit again in the eighth inning, adding a second runner to Tim Stalker on second base with two down. San Pedro had initially allowed a leadoff single to Gonzalez, who was now a triple shy of the cycle, but Tovias had hit into a 3-6-3 special. Cookie to the rescue, please! The longest-tenured Raccoon delivered, shooting a ball up the leftfield line for a 2-out, 2-run double, giving the Raccoons the lead anew. Against new pitcher Edwin Balandran, a southpaw, Tony Delgado batted for Vince D, walked, and then Spencer continued to crank up the 2-out hurt with a single to left just soft enough to score Cookie from second, 9-6, and one more run came in to score on Walter's single, zooming the Coons out by four, which didn't mean crap with David Kipple approaching the mound. He allowed a walk and two hard hits to the bottom of the order, bringing up the tying run in a 10-7 game with nobody out. Jack Sander replaced him and resolved the situation in two pitches, getting Reichardt, the scourge of this team, to pop out and PH Trent Herlihy to hopple one into a double play. By comparison, Lillis' ninth was almost dull. Wilson struck out, but West singled to right. Arias, though, hit the first pitch into a double play, ending this set in a split. 10-7 Raccoons. Spencer 2-4, BB, 3 RBI; Walter 2-5, 2 RBI; Gonzalez 3-5, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Graves (PH) 1-1, 2B; Nunley (PH) 1-1;

Raccoons (41-45) vs. Indians (36-49) – July 5-7, 2024

Last in the North, the Indians had lost three in a row after a 5-game winning streak in the last week of June. They were eleventh in runs scored, last even in runs allowed, with a really troubling -105 run differential. Despite their general rottenness, they were 6-3 against Portland this year…

Projected matchups:
Josh Whitaker (0-3, 3.42 ERA) vs. Tom Shumway (6-5, 3.23 ERA)
Jesus Chavez (4-10, 4.37 ERA) vs. Sam Kramer (6-1, 2.39 ERA)
Dan Delgadillo (5-4, 3.54 ERA) vs. Alvin Smith (3-4, 5.19 ERA)

Another series started by a left-hander, although the Indians' probably still more famous lefty, Tristan Broun (2-1, 3.15 ERA) was still on the DL with a partially torn labrum and was unlikely to come off before September. They were also down outfield regular Danny Morales and backstop Justin Calhoun.

Game 1
IND: RF Faulk – 3B Burns – 1B C. Martin – CF Stevenson – 2B Ingraham – LF Linnell – C Valle – SS Malinowski – P Shumway
POR: 2B Spencer – SS Stalker – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – C Delgado – 3B Nunley – RF Alfaro – LF Carmona – P Whitaker

The first 14 pitches by Whitaker yielded three line drive singles and the bases loaded with nobody out in the first inning. The 15th pitch was wild, giving Indy the lead, and Josh Stevenson worked out a walk from that 1-0 count. Zach Ingraham struck out, but Richard Linnell flew out to left, quite deep, and Kyle Burns went for home, but was thrown out by Cookie to end the inning with "only" one run for the Arrowheads. The Critters would load the bases in the bottom 2nd, on some dubious fielding that put Alfaro on with a "single", Cookie walking, and then Shumway – probably the one guy on their 25-man roster that I would like to have on our 25-man roster – tried to get the lead runner on Whitaker's bunt, but Alfaro was called safe at third, and the Indians got nobody, presenting Spencer with a full buffet and one out. Spencer put a 3-1 into shallow center, but Cookie was held at third base, holding Jarod to one RBI that tied the game. Cookie came home on Stalker's grounder to Burns, 2-1, and then Abel Mora beat his predecessor as Raccoons centerfielder, Josh Stevenson with a long fly for a 2-out, 2-run triple to extend the lead to 4-1 before Gonzalez struck out swinging for #20.

Whitaker was decimated by the top of the order again in the third, walking A.J. Faulk and then got bombed by Kyle Burns to immediately axe into the lead, which was reduced to 4-3, and the Indians put two more on base before Richard Linnell and Jonathan Valle both struck out with runners on the corners to end the threat. Bottom 3rd, the Indians had trouble of their own, with Delgado and Nunley singled restocking the bases. Cookie was walked intentionally with one out, after which Whitaker popped out to short. Jarod Spencer poked a 1-2 pitch to the left side, Josh Malinowski cut it off, but he had been carried far enough to the edge of the dirt that he had no play – Spencer had a run-scoring infield single, and the Coons had a 5-3 lead.

That was still not enough for Whitaker to get his maiden win. Burns walked in the fifth, and Whitaker broke through 100 pitches by the time Corey Martin flew out to center. Jimmy Lee came on, got a double play from Stevenson, but Winless Whitaker had walked five and whiffed six in another odd and unsuccessful start. That was the only batter Lee faced, with Graves hitting a double and scoring Alfaro in his place in the bottom 5th, extending the lead to 6-3. The Indians then got to see Nick Derks in the sixth, but the Coons didn't have enough pen to spare themselves from sparing the shallow end right now. Ingraham drew the leadoff walk, and Linnell singled, bringing up the .148 batter Valle with the tying run. He lined a 1-0 fastball to right, but Gonzalez got it and Linnell had been unattentive and was caught off the base, tagged for a double play, 3-unassisted. Alfaro got hold of Malinowski's soft fly to right to end the top of the sixth, and Abel Mora got hold of a hanging breaking ball by Kyle Lamb and parked it 420 feet away from home plate, 7-3. Lamb had lost 18 games with the Elks in 2021 and had pitched out of the bullpen for three different teams ever since.

Portland dared to send Derks back to the mound in the seventh, resulting in the bases loaded and one out. Vince D came into this particular mess and got Stevenson to pop out over the infield before Ingraham was dumb enough to poke at a 3-1 pitch and ground out. This game was still far from over… Brotman walked Linnell and Malinowski in the eighth and with them aboard got real defensive heroics first by Mora on PH Brent Woods, then by Cookie to retire Faulk in the gap. Two walks also primed the Coons in the bottom 8th, Cookie hit an infield single against Eric Davidson that scored Delgado with one out, and Tovias' pinch-hit single loaded the bases with Nunley on third. The Indians' pen collapsed here, with Spencer hitting an RBI single off Davidson, and Mora hitting a 2-run single against Rafael Urbano, but that also defeated Mora's quest for the cycle, for which he would have needed a double at this point, which was a puny thing to whine about right now as the Coons won by two slams after a dicey games. 11-3 Raccoons! Spencer 3-6, 3 RBI; Mora 4-5, BB, HR, 3B, 5 RBI; Delgado 2-4, BB; Alfaro 2-4; Graves (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI; Tovias (PH) 1-1;

Jimmy Lee got his first decision as a Raccoon in 39 games, and his 49th major league win overall. Of course, the 32-year-old was a starting pitcher to begin his career, although he had won as many as seven in a season without making a single start, with the 2021 Blue Sox.

After three games and 3.1 scoreless innings, Derks returned to the minor leagues with Kevin Surginer coming off the DL on Saturday.

Game 2
IND: CF Linnell – 2B Stevenson – RF Farmer – 1B M. Rucker – C T. Perez – SS Burns – LF Faulk – 3B Ingraham – P Kramer
POR: CF Mora – 2B Walter – C Tovias – 1B Gonzalez – 3B Nunley – SS Stalker – LF Carmona – RF Alfaro – P Chavez

Chavez struck out bunting in the bottom 3rd again, which made him that much more likable, but he was perfect with five strikeouts at this point, so I refrained from shooting him outright. The runner on base at that point, Alfaro, had walked, the first batter to reach base under his own power in the game. Nunley had reached base on an error by Stevenson in the second, and Josh's continued appearances at second base disturbed me just as much as they disturbed the forces of the universe. The first base hit was Mora's, a double to left-center, and the Coons took a 1-0 lead on Shane Walter's groundout to second before Tovias ended the inning with a fly to center. Chavez ceased being perfect 11 batters into the game, allowing consecutive singles to center to Rick Farmer and Mike Rucker, but Alfaro caught Tony Perez' fly to right to strand them. Three straight 2-out runners concluding with Alfaro's RBI single added a second run for Portland in the bottom of the same inning.

Given how Chavez was pitching (3 H, 8 K through five shutout innings), Matt Nunley's 2-out, 3-run blast in the bottom 5th was likely to be a deciding event in the contest. Mora had led off with a single and had stolen second, and Jon Gonzalez had been walked intentionally to get to Nunley, who admittedly had been in a slump for about ten days now, but he sure got all of Kramer's 1-2 fastball here, jumping the score to 5-0. Another run fell out of Lamb in the bottom 6th, Alfaro scoring on Walter's groundout, but the main attraction was Chavez at this point. He entered the seventh on 79 pitches, expending quite a bit of energy for the eight strikeouts. He had not gone the distance this season, and he had finished even eight innings only twice, and not since May 11, and here the seventh was a long one, 18 pitches including one that Perez hit for a double. While the Indians remained off the board, at 97 pitches, a shutout became highly unlikely. He made it through eight, striking out two, and hit for himself in the bottom 8th of the 6-0 game, striking out. The ninth began on 110 pitches and against Stevenson, who struck out after running a full count. Farmer flew out to Mora on the 1-2, putting Chavez on 120 pitches with Rucker appearing in the box. Rucker would definitely be Chavez' last batter. Get him, or don't get him, but after that it was a reliever's problem. Turned out it would be Surginer's problem after Rucker walked in a full count, and he ended the game without much drama. 6-0 Coons. Mora 2-4, 2B; Nunley 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Alfaro 3-3, BB, 2B, RBI; Chavez 8.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 12 K, W (5-10);

That was still a very, very fine effort for Chavez, who had not enjoyed many of those yet this season.

The Indians did a deal overnight, trading Kyle Burns (.294, 8 HR, 25 RBI) to the Warriors for outfielder John Staebell (.367, 0 HR, 10 RBI) and cash. Staebell had been the centerfielder for the recent Scorpions dynasty.

The Coons gave Jon Gonzalez and Abel Mora the day off, at least initially, for the Sunday game. Both had been selected for the Continental League All Star squad, and could maybe use the extra day off. They were available for PH duties, of course.

Game 3
IND: LF Faulk – 2B Stevenson – 1B M. Rucker – C T. Perez – CF Linnell – 3B J. Jackson – RF Staebell – SS Malinowski – P M. Ortega
POR: 2B Spencer – CF Briscoe – 1B Walter – C Tovias – 3B Nunley – SS Stalker – LF Carmona – RF Alfaro – P Delgadillo

Jarod Spencer continued to be the Tim Stalker of Summer here, coming up with the bags containing Stalker (single), Cookie (single), and Alfaro (intentional walk) and two outs, and dropped a soft blooper into shallow center to bring in a pair in the bottom 2nd. Meanwhile, our rookie starter was not in sync with the strike zone in the early going, walked two in the second inning, then started to throw it right down Broadway in about the fourth. Justin Jackson noticed, hit a solo homer in the fourth, but Omar Alfaro matched that effort in the bottom of the inning, kindly reminding you that, oh, yeah, we kinda had him as slugger in our book, and he was only batting eighth for a genuine lack of slugging. In what was otherwise a fast-moving game, Delgadillo threw 101 pitches for seventh innings of 4-hit ball, the Indians' terrible offense unable to connect near-often enough. Spencer had hit a leadoff double in the fifth, had been left on base, and Bullock hit a leadoff double when he batted for Delgadillo in the seventh, but was left on base all the same.

Jimmy Lee took over in the eighth, allowing a leadoff jack to pinch-hitter Brent Woods right away, cutting the lead to 3-2. Faulk grounded out to Nunley, and then Stevenson flew to right. Alfaro one-handed and dropped it, cruelly reminding you that he was also kind of a stupid kid that didn't listen when you told him a hundred times to ****ing use TWO HANDS, otherwise you'd remove one of his hands with an axe. Kipple came along, walked Rucker and allowed a single to Perez, and now the bags were full with one out. The Raccoons scrambled for Surginer with right-hander Jonathan Valle pinch-.hitting for Linnell. Surginer whiffed him, then had to thank Cookie for catching up with a drive by PH Rick Farmer, stranding a full set of runners. The Coons got Nunley aboard in the bottom 8th, until Stalker double-played him away at least, and would try their luck with the bottom of the order and Billy Brotman in the ninth inning, trying to sweep the Arrowheads and win five straight. John Staebell singled to right immediately before Malinowski failed to connect and went down on strikes. Zach Ingraham was batting in the #9 hole and grounded sharply to the left side, but there was one regular still in the lineup that manned that corner like no other – Matt Nunley cut off, zinged to second, and around the horn they went to double up Ingraham and sweep the Indians to level the season series at six! 3-2 Furballs! Spencer 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Alfaro 1-2, BB, HR, RBI; Bullock (PH) 1-1, 2B; Delgadillo 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, W (6-4);

In other news

July 1 – NYC INF Sergio Valdez (.294, 2 HR, 27 RBI) is going to miss six weeks after breaking a finger in a game against the Canadiens.
July 2 – 26-year-old TOP SP Tim Wells (7-6, 3.81 ERA) shuts out the Miners on three base hits in a 3-0 Buffaloes victory.
July 2 – Recent Aces addition RF/LF Cesar Martinez (.235, 12 HR, 41 RBI) will miss three weeks with a hamstring strain.
July 2 – The Thunder shoot down the Knights' bullpen with a 9-run eighth inning, claiming an 11-3 victory.
July 3 – Milwaukee's Ian Coleman (.399, 3 HR, 29 RBI) has his 22-game hitting streak snapped by the Indians, who hold him dry in three attempts in the Loggers' 7-6 win over Indy.
July 4 – The Condors lose SP George Griffin (4-6, 4.00 ERA) for the season after the 24-year-old right-hander has been diagnosed with shoulder inflammation.
July 6 – Locked into a fight for the lead in the CL North, Crusaders and Titans play 17 innings, with the Crusaders moving 5-4 ahead in the top 17th, only for the Titans to score two on three base hits in the bottom of the inning and claiming a 6-5 walkoff win. BOS INF Mike Kane (.239, 4 HR, 42 RBI) goes 4-for-8 with a home run and 2 RBI.
July 7 – SAC CF Justin McAllester (.302, 11 HR, 66 RB) misses the cycle in style, going 5-for-6 in the Scorpions' 14-9 win over the Warriors. McAllester has two home runs, a triple, and two singles, and drives in six runs.
July 7 – The Cyclones zoom out to an 8-0 lead on the Miners by the fifth inning and still fumble a wild one, with the Miners scoring two 4-spots among other runs to send the game to extras, where both teams score in the 12th and the Miners plate three in the 14th to claim victory, 15-12. Four different Miners players land four base hits each, including Jorge Lopez (.261, 0 HR, 25 RBI), J.J. Henley (.257, 6 HR, 34 RBI), Josh Keen (.309, 9 HR, 56 RBI), and Raul Aldava (.324, 4 HR, 14 RBI).

Complaints and stuff

As already said, to no great surprise, Jon Gonzalez made the All Star team, but it IS a surprise to me that this will be his first time getting tapped. Well, it's only his third full season… Also a first-time selection: Abel Mora;

The team reared back with a 5-game winning streak just before the shinier parts could be auctioned off again. Well, there is another crucial Titans series coming up. If they could hold their own against them (although three of four would be better), then you might want to think about one-upping before the deadline. We could really use some pitching…

The IFA pool lacks something really amazing in my modest opinion. We're probably not going out of our way to blow through the soft cap this year, but there should still be room to add a few youngsters. So far we have added a 16-year-old Dominican right-hander, Carlos de la Cruz, for $66k, and a 16-year-old Dominican left-hander, Carlos Contreras, for $16k, which is the going rate for Daniel Bullock-type of players at best, the guys that hang off the tail end of the roster at the best of times and usually are a letdown if they make the majors at all.

Yes, Maud? – Cristiano wants a word with me?

Fun Fact: Outfielder Frank Santos batted .223 with 1 HR and 7 RBI for the Raccoons between 2022 and 2023 before leaving as a free agent and joining the Stars on a 2-year, $444k contract this offseason.

And this week, Santos landed five singles in a 13-6 thrashing by the Stars over the Gold Sox. Which isn't something I would have deemed likely earlier, but then again players of all sorts are known to blossom once they get out of Raccoons Ballpark. Although even with the 5-hit performance, Santos' still a .262 batter with 3 HR and 16 RBI this year while playing almost every day.

[UltimateAverageGuy]

If this is something you can't do I understand, but can you show us the lifetime stats of your players with retired numbers?

[Westheim]

One of my easier exercises.

Batters:

[Westheim]

And the pitchers:

[Westheim]

Trade!

The Raccoons one-upped officially on Tuesday, the day of the All Star Game, trading for the Gold Sox' young closer Jonathan Snyder (2-1, 1.86 ERA, 11 SV), conveniently ignoring the 24-year-old's earlier injury episode, a shoulder strain that had held him to 19 outings this season. Snyder, a right-hander that was taken in the second round of the 2018 draft and had since been traded twice, had a venomous slider in addition to a 94mph heater, and was occasionally missing him a changeup (although we'd like him to not do that, thx).

The Raccoons sent three players to the Gold Sox, including OF Cory Briscoe (.252, 0 HR, 15 RBI) and a pair of AA players, 1B Brad Woods – the second-round selection in 2023 – and C Matt Byrum (sixth round in 2020).

All Star Game

The 2024 All Star Game is a real nailbiter until it isn't anymore. The CL All Stars score three in the fourth, but dawdle away that advantage by the seventh, and the game goes to extras. Both teams score two in the 12th, and then the Federal League dumps the Continental League for nine runs in the 13th for a 14-5 blasting. Richmond's Ian Van Meter picks up the win in relief, while New York's Travis Giordano takes the (nasty) loss. Gold Sock Andrew Showalter collects four hits, while the Warriors' Jeff Wadley comes in as replacement and lands three hits and three RBI.

The Coons see Jon Gonzalez go 1-for-2 before being replaced by Mike Rucker, while Abel Mora has a pinch-hit single.

Trade!

The Raccoons acquired another closer on Wednesday, acquiring CHA CL Ryan Corkum (2-1, 1.56 ERA, 19 SV) for the price of four prospects. The list included all AAA players, SP Jason Butler, 1B Manuel Cardona, SS Hugo Ochoa, and LF/RF Rick Morris.

Cardona was hitting 12 home runs at the time of the trade, and Ochoa figured to be a quite good major league shortstop soon enough, while the other two were either not getting people to swing at the bad stuff, or were themselves swinging very much at the bad stuff.

With the arrival of two stud relievers, the Coons also engaged in some advanced roster shuffle. Left-hander Josh Whitaker (0-3, 3.86 ERA) was sent down to St. Petersburg. Jack Sander moved into the rotation. Kevin Surginer (3-2, 4.82 ERA, 1 SV) was optioned to AAA because he had options and David Kipple (2-3, 5.58 ERA, 2 SV) did not (but had a .430 BABIP explaining a share of his troubles). Finally, outfielder Dwayne Metts was recalled. 28 years old, .400 OBP in St. Petersburg. Yes, he is the new weak spot.

Raccoons (44-45) vs. Titans (48-42) – July 11-14, 2024

Here were the Titans again, a week removed from splitting the 4-game set in Boston, which gave us a 5-3 lead in the season series. They had swept the Crusaders, crucially, on the weekend before the All Star Game, keeping the division bunched up, and now ranked third in runs scored and fourth in runs allowed. The Coons had a 5-game winning streak and pretty much their entire season on the line here.

Projected matchups:
Mark Roberts (6-5, 2.98 ERA) vs. Chris Klein (8-5, 3.78 ERA)
Rico Gutierrez (8-4, 3.24 ERA) vs. Alberto Molina (5-2, 3.58 ERA)
Jack Sander (4-5, 4.32 ERA) vs. Dustin Wingo (8-8, 4.07 ERA)
Dan Delgadillo (6-4, 3.40 ERA) vs. Jeremy Waite (4-2, 3.52 ERA)

Wingo is still the only southpaw in the rotation for them.

Game 1
BOS: CF Reichardt – RF Braun – LF M. Owen – 2B R. West – C A. Arias – 3B Corder – 1B St. Germaine – SS Kane – P Klein
POR: CF Mora – 2B Walter – C Tovias – 1B Gonzalez – 3B Nunley – SS Stalker – LF Carmona – RF Alfaro – P Roberts

The Coons would score first, and in the first inning. When Tovias' double play grounder erased Shane Walter and moved Abel Mora to third base, Jon Gonzalez grounded up the middle. Mike Kane cut the ball off before it could escape the infield, but had no play; the run scored on the infield single, but Ace Roberts would have no trouble in waffling that 1-0 advantage away. Unspeakably, he drilled consecutive batters to begin the third inning, and loaded the bases with a 1-out walk to Adrian Reichardt. Adam Braun singled to center on a 3-0 pitch, briefly stopping his manager's heartbeat, to tie the game, and Matt Owen singled to plate two and give Boston a 3-1 lead. Rhett West smacked into a double play, but Mark Roberts looked a heck of a lot like Travis Garrett all of a sudden, except for throwing left-handed. Or lobbing it, left-handed. He was no pleasure to watch.

The next clear NO from the baseball gods came right away in the fourth inning, with Alex Arias striking out to begin the inning, except that he didn't because Elias Tovias had stuck his glove into his windmilling motion and was called out for catcher's interference, sending Arias to first base. Adam St. Germaine singled to center, before Mike Kane flew out to left. Roberts couldn't even feast on the opposing pitcher, who grounded out sharply to Nunley on a 1-2 pitch to end the inning. Imagine playing Ricardo Martinez there …! (shivers)

Regardless of defense, Roberts – the stupid ass, as I want to point out – managed to implode completely in the sixth inning, which saw West and Arias hit singles to center, sharply, and Roberts walked Adam Corder, too. Three on, no outs, there was also a St. Germaine singled, and a wild pitch, but it was mostly a blur. The Titans scored a 4-spot in the inning, the fourth run scoring against Jimmy Lee, who cocked up a 2-out RBI single to Reichardt to run the score to 7-1. All the while, the Raccoons were doing absolutely NOTHING. They went to the plate, they dragged their fat bums back to the dugout in an endless procession. At some point, somebody reached on St. Germaine's error. It was but a brief respite. Then, Zach Graves hit a pinch-hit single in the bottom 8th, the Coons' first earned runner in … a while. Mora singled. Walter doubled, a run scored. Tovias singled, another run scored. Gonzalez doubled, another run scored. The tying run came up. This was the part about baseball I hated most. The merciless luring into false hopes only to get kicked to the curb again. Nunley grounded out to first, Stalker flew out to left. 7-4 Titans. Walter 2-4, 2B, RBI; Gonzalez 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Graves (PH) 1-1;

One game, one loss, and I feel all the air having been sucked out of me with force.

For additional grief, David Kipple – spared waivers because there just might be something, anything of value in that pretty useless body – faced two left-handed batters in the eighth and retired none. Ryan Corkum dug him out in his Raccoons debut, just what I wanted from my new toys, sparing the old toys more damage in a rout.

Game 2
BOS: CF Reichardt – RF Braun – LF M. Owen – 2B R. West – C A. Arias – 3B Corder – 1B St. Germaine – SS Kane – P A. Molina
POR: CF Mora – 2B Walter – C Tovias – 1B Gonzalez – 3B Nunley – SS Stalker – LF Carmona – RF Alfaro – P Gutierrez

This time Boston scored at the first opportunity with Rico Gutierrez decidedly lacking the stuff necessary to keep someone of Adrian Reichardt's speed on base after a leadoff double on his fourth pitch of the game. 2-1, right down Broadway. Good job, Rico. I want our money back. Adam Corder even hit a leadoff triple in the second inning, and the only reason he remained on base and the score remained 1-0 was the fact that St. Germaine and Kane both grounded out to the right side. Was one run going to be enough? If you looked at the Raccoons in the early innings, you'd be tempted to nod that off, then nod off. They amounted to one hit in the first run through the order, and when Shane Walter drew a leadoff walk in the fourth, Elias Tovias was immediately at hand to roll haplessly into a double play. Things were urgent enough to send Tim Stalker around third base in the bottom 5th with Cookie singling to left. Stalker was thrown out at home, Cookie advanced, the Titans walked Alfaro without hesitation, and while Gutierrez hit a hard 2-out grounder to the right side, Rhett West got on it, and flipped it to first well in time to end the inning.

Gutierrez soldiered through seven before a 30-minute rain delay knocked him from the game. He was still pitching a 1-run game, but that was still not good enough to give this team a fighting chance. Unless the baseball gods hated the Titans even more than the Raccoons (doubtful), but when Molina continued to pitch after the delay, the bottom 7th began with a bloop single by Jon Gonzalez into shallow right center, and then Reichardt dropped Nunley's fly for an error. Tim Stalker hit another soft single over Rhett West, and the bases were loaded for Cookie with nobody out. He popped out to shallow left, Owen teasing Gonzalez to go, but he wouldn't. Omar Alfaro came through, but not too much, with an RBI single to left, at least taking Gutierrez off the hook, whose spot came up next. Spencer batted for him – a soft single was all we wanted. And a ****ing soft single we got!! Single to left, Nunley in, Stalker in – COONS TAKE THE ****ING LEAD!! This wasn't all. Mora singled to right, loading the bags again, and then Shane Walter beat Reichardt in deep center. Alfaro in, Spencer in, Mora in, Walter to third – BASES-CLEARING TRIPLE!! That was the end for Molina, who picked up his bowels from the ground and slouched off into the dugout saddled with a 5-run deficit, which would grow to six on Gonzalez' single off Brent Beene. It was not all sugar, though. Vince D got rocked for three hits and two runs in the eighth as well, the runs coming in on Matt Owen's blast to left center. Brett Lillis also allowed a pinch-hit 2-out double to Trent Herlihy in the ninth, then another drive to deep left to Reichardt – but Cookie got there in time. 7-3 Coons. Mora 2-4; Gonzalez 3-4, RBI; Stalker 2-4, 2B; Spencer (PH) 1-1, 2 RBI; Gutierrez 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, W (9-4);

The good news is that the stinkin' Elks are making themselves useful and have already won two from New York, so the Crusaders had now lost five in a row, and our gap was now less than a handful.

Unfortunately, the handful was back on the wall by Saturday night. The rain that had blighted the Friday game hung around and the third game of the set was postponed into a Sunday double-header while the Crusaders scratched out a W against the Elks.

Both teams went with the Saturday starters in the first game of the double-header.

Game 3
BOS: CF Reichardt – C Leonard – 1B Amador – RF Braun – SS Jam. Wilson – 2B Kane – LF St. Germaine – 3B Corder – P Wingo
POR: LF Spencer – 2B Stalker – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – C Delgado – 3B Nunley – RF Alfaro – SS Bullock – P Sander

Adam Braun's homer put the Titans ahead in the second, with Jack Sander showing off some control issues, missing in all directions until he threw one right down the middle to Braun. Maybe the Raccoons would have an instant comeback this time, with Gonzalez' leadoff single and Delgado's swift double in the bottom of the inning putting runners in scoring position with one out for Nunley, who just like Alfaro behind him grounded out to a middle infielder, and both runs scored, flipping the score in the Coons' favor.

Which was not where it remained. The Coons left Spencer aboard in the third, who had reached on an error by Roberto Amador, while the fourth saw Sander melt down spectacularly. Jamie Wilson hit a single to left, but with two outs St. Germaine grounded back to the pitcher, and all Sander had to do was not to stick it up his ass, but that was exactly what he did. St. Germaine reached on the error, Adam Corder reached on a walk, and then Dustin Wingo cracked the first pitch he got to center for a 2-out, 2-run single. Mora threw it for home plate, Delgado and St. Germaine collided, but the runner was safe, though injured and to be replaced with Gil Cornejo. Nunley fudged Reichardt's bouncer for another error, which was a chain of events only the most hideous teams would pull off successfully, but at least Spencer caught up with Keith Leonard's soft fly to left, ending the hellish inning, with Boston now up 3-2.

Sander was knocked out in the fifth, allowing six hits and four balls in 4.2 innings. Wilson (walk) and Kane (single) were on base, and remained there with Brotman getting Cornejo to ground out. Sander would be picked up by the sixth, in which Delgado hit his third double in the game and scored on Nunley's single to left, evening the score at three, for like five minutes, until Jimmy Lee and Brett Lillis fumbled another run onto the board for the Titans. Leonard singled off Lee, Wilson singled off Lillis, and it was 4-3. The Coons didn't get Wingo out of the game until Abel Mora singled to lead off the bottom 8th, but of course they had to **** up each and every chance; Jon Gonzalez hit a Julio San Pedro grounder to second base, and Rhett West easily turned two. Bottom 9th, Dwayne Metts, the career .221 batter (.095 for the last two seasons) led off the inning by drawing a walk off Javy Salomon, pinch-hitting for Lillis in Nunley's vacated spot. Alfaro walked in a full count, which put the winning run aboard. Bullock bunted the runners over, giving Shane Walter a chance to end it, but he grounded out to first base and nobody scored. Jarod Spencer grounded out to short. And nobody scored. 4-3 Titans. Spencer 2-5; Delgado 3-4, 3 2B; Carmona (PH) 1-1;

Well, that went well.

And we only have three pitchers left (Corkum, Snyder, and Kipple) to back up Delgadillo, although Monday will be off, so if things go really bad (and why would they not go really bad?), we can still throw Jesus Chavez into a rout.

Game 4
BOS: CF Reichardt – LF M. Owen – 1B Amador – RF Braun – SS Jam. Wilson – 2B Kane – C A. Arias – 3B Corder – P Waite
POR: 2B Walter – SS Stalker – C Tovias – 1B Gonzalez – 3B Nunley – RF Alfaro – LF Carmona – CF Metts – P Delgadillo

The Raccoons had their first two batters on base in the second leg of the double-header before the middle of the order choked. The Titans didn't, scoring single runs in the second and third innings, landing a triple in each of them. Adam Braun hit a leadoff triple in the second and scored on a sac fly, while Matt Owen tripled in the second run in the third inning, Corder scoring from first after a leadoff single. Jamie Wilson homered in the fourth, adding another run to the board that the Titans wouldn't need in the end, would they?

Well, the book remained open on the game for now, with Matt Nunley whooping a 3-2 pitch over the fence in the bottom 4th, and with Gonzalez on base after a leadoff single, the score was narrowing to 3-2 again. Delgadillo held on for the moment, avoiding further brain farts and stupid, terrible luck to get through six innings, whiffing nine, but still trailed. Maybe the sixth would get better? Nunley was on base after a single, but Alfaro popped out to first, the second out in the inning. Cookie put a 3-2 in play, up the middle and into center, and with Nunley on the move, he reached third base. Dwayne Metts had outlived his useful life in this game and was hit for by Abel Mora. If there was a spot for a big hit, this was it, and Metts was not the type for big hits. Neither was Mora, flying out to Owen to strand the runners on the corners. Delgadillo navigated the seventh inning on five pitches, then was hit for to begin the bottom 7th. Spencer grounded out to Corder, and nobody reached in that inning.

David Kipple and his .438 BABIP came into the eighth inning, allowed a leadoff single to the first left-handed batter he faced (Amador), a walk to the second left-handed batter he faced (Wilson), then got two right-handers (West, Arias) to swing beneath high ball fours, flunking the opportunity to eat up Kipple. Unfortunately, Nunley was the only one showing any fight, in the game and at the buffet in the dugout. He hit a single in the bottom 8th against Mike Stank, but that was all that the lineup amounted to. Jonathan Snyder made his Raccoons debut in the ninth, retired the side in order, and then it was on Salomon and the bottom of the order. Cookie grounded out to right. Mora flew to deep left, but into an out. Delgado batted for Snyder, grounded to left, and Corder missed it. Daniel Bullock ran for him, reaching third base on Shane Walter's single to right. That brought up Tim Stalker. 3 RBI in the last month. Stalker. Mr. Clutch from April and May. April and May had long died. So had Stalker's clutch. He flew out to Braun. 4-3 Titans. Walter 3-4, BB; Nunley 3-4, HR, 2 RBI; Delgado (PH) 1-1; Delgadillo 7.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 9 K, L (6-5);

In other news

July 11 – San Francisco's SP Matt Huf (6-8, 3.40 ERA) and CL Danny Munos (0-3, 4.42 ERA, 20 SV) combine for a 1-hitter in a 4-1 victory over the Aces. Jose Vargas lands Las Vegas' only base hit, a single in the seventh, in which the Aces also score their only run.
July 11 – The Canadiens pick up SP Blaine Barnard (5-8, 4.37 ERA) from the Warriors, who receive an AAA infielder aged 27 and a prospect.
July 13 – SFB OF Dave Garcia (.278, 14 HR, 38 RBI) lands on the DL for a change, felled by a finger blister. The Bayhawks, confused, expect him to come back by the end of the month.
July 13 – LAP SP Vincent Alfaro (8-7, 2.93 ERA) 3-hits the Warriors in a 5-0 shutout.
July 14 – Pittsburgh's Raul Aldava (.344, 4 HR, 20 RBI) ravages the Buffalos for five hits and five RBI in a 14-1 rout for the Miners.

Complaints and stuff

Grandma Westfield always implored me to reconsider my life choices. Games were no purposeful bread gain for grown men. Did I listen to her? No. Do I regret it? Yes. I could have made a big career in mail delivery if I had listened to her. Instead I sit here, bleeding consistently in my stomach, and eat assorted pills with a dose of Capt'n Coma.

I also tried to trade for the Indians' Rafael Urbano, but they were entirely unreasonable. Like, of course we would take a starting pitcher from your 25-man roster AND Alberto Ramos for a reliever that has had his issues until very recently. Wipeout curve given it lands anywhere near the zone, but it's not meant to be. Ryan Corkum was only the next on the list; I really wanted Urbano.

Shoring up the pen was very much necessary if we want to make it anywhere this season. Did we overpay, especially on Corkum? I don't think so. There is an absolute and a relative value to players. With Cardona, Ochoa, and Butler, there was an absolute value that was non-trivial, f.e. Cardona might finally have found the power, and maybe Butler can learn how to fool a hitter (he's only 23). But their relative value was much lower for all three of them. The Raccoons had more promising starting pitchers even in AAA, like 22-year old lefty Felipe Delgado, who would also have been on the Falcons' wish list. Cardona will be blocked behind Jon Gonzalez for years until he's the next … what was the name of the guy that we just dumped in the river? See, that would have happened to Cardona. And Ochoa was a decent shortstop prospect, but there was a much, much, much shinier toy vying for his position in Alberto Ramos, who was in the top 5 of prospects in the league, and until he's ripened, Tim Stalker doesn't look like he's all bad for now.

I would like to juice the lineup somehow, but since Cookie isn't going anywhere with that contract, it might be hard. Him and Alfaro are really the weak points of the lineup right now (although Walter and Nunley haven't exactly been hot recently), but I can't dump either of them, for different reasons.

Besides, Cookie has 10/5 rights.

That does not mean that there was not an offer for him on the table, but I never informed him. Besides, this would have meant exchanging 32-year-old outfielders, paying a markup (though for fewer years) AND adding last year's Tim Stackhouse placebo, Elijah Bean, to the deal. And I never really liked Lowell Genge.

And no, Cookie Carmona was not the princely-paid veteran alluded to a few weeks ago. That one is still on the books.

I don't think we need more trades now. In the end, it's all for naught.

Fun Fact: Chris McKendrick pitched 6.2 innings of 1-run ball and drove in all of the Coons' runs in a 2-1 win over the Thunder on June 27, 2023 for his first career victory, beating another former Raccoons rookie, Dave Dyer, in the process. Good times!

Unfortunately, the good times lasted nary three months and are now over forever. McKendrick tore his damaged elbow ligament during rehab, and the Druid has no more witch ingredients up his sleeve to fix the damage. McKendrick, 25, and a 9-7 pitcher with a 3.29 ERA in the major leagues, will have to retire from professional baseball.

Sometimes, this is what it's all about…: Critters!

Adorable. And not yet ready to break your heart attempting to baseball.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (45-48) vs. Loggers (44-49) – July 16-18, 2024

Quo vadis? Probably nowhere pleasant for either of these two teams, although the Loggers, who were 6-3 against the Raccoons in 2024, were certainly a bit more on the upswing than the Raccoons, who were a middling 6-5 in July, all losses incurred facing the Titans. In turn that meant the Coons had yet to lose a game to a team other than the Titans this month, which meant they were likely to sweep this series, right? Sometimes you gotta talk it nice for yourself. The Loggers had the best rotation in the CL, but the rest of the team had its issues, like a crummy pen and the third-worst offense, all conspiring to hold them under .500.

Projected matchups:
Jesus Chavez (5-10, 4.03 ERA) vs. Ian Prevost (9-6, 3.53 ERA)
Mark Roberts (6-6, 3.35 ERA) vs. Jorge Villalobos (7-5, 3.19 ERA)
Rico Gutierrez (9-4, 3.12 ERA) vs. Michael Foreman (2-7, 3.71 ERA)

Three right-handed pitchers for the Coons to stink up to here. The Loggers were missing a regular from their lineup, with Ron Tadlock (.296, 3 HR, 32 RBI) dwelling on the DL with a quad strain.

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

Just when Chavez had squeezed his ERA under four in this start, Alberto Velez launched a huge solo homer in the second inning to put him back above. Velez' eighth bomb of the season also killed the Coons' 1-0 lead from the first inning, attained on Nunley's RBI double to left that scored Shane Walter (single), who had graciously moved up to second base when Jon Gonzalez had been hit by a pitch. A 2-out RBI double had given Portland the lead, and it would give Milwaukee the lead in the third, Ian Coleman driving in Josh Wool. The Raccoons would have a leadoff double by Tim Stalker in the fourth, where the gross lack of any kind of offense from the corner outfield positions became apparent once again. Alfaro and Cookie both failed completely in cashing in a very cashable runner, and it was Jesus Chavez with a single past the diving ex-Coon Tim Prince (oh, the shivers!) to score Stalker with two outs. The Coons would load the bases on two more singles by Abel Mora and Shane Walter before Elias Tovias flew out to Brad Gore, stranding a full set of runners in a 2-2 game.

When Chavez got close to that sub-4 ERA again, the Loggers predictably found something in the fifth inning, alarmingly started by Ian Prevost with a single to center. Dan March struck out, but Wool singled, and while Coleman (batting .400) surprisingly didn't kill Chavez outright with a flyout, Brad Gore sure did, doubling to right to give the Loggers the lead back, 3-2, before Velez hacked himself out. Jon Gonzalez leveled the score again right away with a leadoff jack in the bottom 5th – that was #20 for him! – and the team appeared to remain in the inning with a vengeance, Nunley and Stalker knocking singles. Alas, there was it again, the completely desolated corner outfield crew. Alfaro struck out, Cookie grounded to short for a fielder's choice on Stalker, leaving Chavez to contend with runners on the corners and two out, which went as splendidly as it sounded. Chavez would depart after six-plus and a leadoff walk to Prevost's pinch-hitter Jon Berntson in the seventh, leaving Billy Brotman to cope with the Loggers' lineup. Two pops and a groundout spared Chavez his 11th defeat of the year, with Brotman instead lining up for the loss in the eighth, allowing a leadoff single to Brad Gore, whom he then advanced on a wild pitch. Velez' deep fly out moved the runner to third base with one out, with recent addition Ryan Corkum coming along to save this mess, which he very much didn't with an RBI single conceded to PH Tyler Stewart with one out, and with two outs Tim Prince – whom even the lowly Chavez had managed to contain with two strikeouts and a double play – hit a long RBI double to add to the Loggers' lead.

The Coons placed the tying runs in scoring position in the bottom 8th in which the Loggers rapidly cycled through their bullpen. Cookie singled against Mike Kress to lead off, a dying quail not worth much excitement, but was swiftly bowled off the bases in the fielder's choice that Zach Graves hit into facing Alex Hichez. Mike Homa, the left-hander, immediately replaced Hichez, but still allowed a double to Abel Mora, giving Shane Walter a splendid chance to actually turn his 3-for-4 day into something countable. Both him and Elias Tovias popped out over the infield, creating more unspeakable agony in the GM's office. At least Brian Gilbert had the decency to retire the Coons in order in the ninth, preventing further false and dumb hope from budding. 5-3 Loggers. Mora 2-5, 2B; Walter 3-5; Nunley 3-5, 2B, RBI; Stalker 2-5, 2B;

Coons amounted to 14 base hits, and even mixed in four for extra bases, and still cucked out completely in RISP situations – as usual, you know.

Game 2
MIL: 2B Stewart – LF Berntson – CF Coleman – RF Gore – 1B Gershkovich – C Wool – 2B Prince – 3B A. Velez – P Villalobos
POR: LF Spencer – 2B Walter – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – 3B Nunley – C Delgado – RF Graves – SS Bullock – P Roberts

The false ace Roberts allowed, to start the game, a single, a double, a probable triple that was stolen when Nunley leapt and robbed Coleman cruelly, and then a 3-piece by Brad Gore, well, well, well out of right-center. The game really looked out of hand that easily because Roberts was fooling nobody in the early going, and Villalobos retired the first ten Critters he faced before Shane Walter singled to right and Abel Mora bombed him to axe the Loggers' lead down to 3-2 with a mighty blast to right. Roberts' natural response would be to give up a couple more in the fifth inning, which he started with his own throwing error and let it degenerate into a return 2-spot that buried the Coons by three again and ended his day after five horrendous innings not worthy of an ace of any color; he looked more like the four of Clubs at this point.

Also horrendous: the rest of the team. They didn't get their third base hit until Jarod Spencer hit a leadoff single to left in the bottom 6th, then had it immediately taken away again with Walter smacking one right into Prince's maws of double play doom. In the seventh, an error got the Coons going. Jon Gonzalez reached on a bad throw by Prince to begin the inning, with Delgado and Graves hitting 1-out singles, which brought up Daniel Bullock's .240/.309/.290 career slash line, and – no, Daniel, you might have the Samba, but I'd rather have Daniel Hall bat right here and now, and he was 70 years old at this point. Elias Tovias and Tim Stalker pinch-hit in the #8 and #9 slots, and both kept the line moving with RBI singles off Villalobos who was moored so suddenly the Loggers were still scrambling their pen from their justified naps to get stirring. The Coons tied the game on Spencer's sac fly to center, with Berntson snagging Walter's fly to left to end the inning, the score knotted at five.

There it could not possibly remain, and it didn't. The Loggers failed to hurt Vince Devereaux in the eighth, but took advantage of another fielding gaffe in the ninth inning. Carlos de Santiago hit a pinch-hit double off Jonathan Snyder to get the go-ahead run into scoring position with one out in the ninth inning, and when Tyler Stewart singled to center, Dwayne Metts – the horrendous sucker – overran the ball to allow de Santiago free pickings at going home. Snyder worked his way out of the inning, then had to hope against hope for something good to happen in the bottom of the inning. Tony Delgado indeed hit a leadoff single and Brian Gilbert fell to 3-1 on Graves, before the colossal ass poked and grounded to Stewart for a double play. That brought up Metts in the #8 hole, or in other words: ballgame. 6-5 Loggers. Delgado 2-4; Tovias (PH) 1-1, RBI; Stalker (PH) 1-1, RBI;

.219/.318/.308 … Metts' career slash line. Why do we even bother with 28-year-old career triple-A scum? Why didn't I call up Greg Borg, who still counts towards our prospects total, somehow?

Oh right, Borg can't even hit .219 …

Michael Foreman was scratched from the Thursday game and traded just before the first pitch. The Loggers sent him to the Scorpions for 2B/1B Gabriel Sauceda (.382, 2 HR, 12 RBI in 55 AB), age 36, and #57 prospect SP Danny Soto.

Foreman's start was taken over by Morgan Shepherd (3-8, 4.09 ERA).

Game 3
MIL: SS Prince – LF Berntson – CF Coleman – RF Gore – 1B Gershkovich – C Wool – 2B Sauceda – 3B A. Velez – P Shepherd
POR: CF Mora – 2B Walter – 3B Nunley – 1B Gonzalez – C Tovias – SS Stalker – RF Alfaro – LF Carmona – P Gutierrez

Rico continued to send signals hinting at him being a decent pitcher after all, shutting out the Loggers through five despite the odd inconvenience on the way, like a very disturbing Tim Prince triple in the third inning, or a merely annoying Morgan Shepherd single with two outs in the fifth. While he held the Loggers to three base hits and struck out four, unfortunately the Raccoons were right at the same level, three base hits, and no runs through five innings. Gutierrez worked around Berntson's leadoff single in the sixth inning, while the Raccoons actually managed to squeeze not only an extra-base hit from Shepherd, a Mora double with one out in the bottom 6th, but – lo and behold! – even scored that runner without divine intervention being required in the usual form of lightning striking a fielder out of the blue. Shane Walter singled cleanly to center, Mora scored, and that was the first counter in the game. Nunley and Tovias also hit singles in the inning, the latter plating Walter, before Tim Stalker was viciously robbed deep in the gap by Brad Gore, ending the inning.

Gutierrez kept pitching with a 2-0 lead in the eighth, allowing a severely discouraging leadoff single to Shepherd, but while the bullpen coach still tried to get one or two of the guys away from the buffet and to warm up (and dressed first…), the Loggers already hit into a double play and Gutierrez made it through the inning on 97 pitches. No insurance run came worth in the bottom 8th despite Mora singling to begin the inning and stealing second base off Shepherd. And now what? Snyder had tossed a long, futile inning for the loss the previous game, and I resented switching left-for-left, even with three left-handers in the bullpen. The first two batters of the inning were left-handers, Gutierrez looked all of ready, willing, and eager, and why the heck not? Ian Coleman grounded back to the mound on the first pitch for the first out. Gore went down on strikes. Mike Gershkovich, the annoying plague, singled to center, which brought up one more left-handed batter (not that Gershkovich had been one…) in Josh Wool, who would be Gutierrez' last batter, no matter what. Wool turned out to be the last batter in the game as well, grounding out to Walter. 2-0 Coons. Mora 2-4, 2B; Nunley 2-4; Tovias 2-3, RBI; Gutierrez 9.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K, W (10-4);

This was the maiden shutout for the 25-year-old Rico Gutierrez, and his second complete game. He had previously gone the distance once in 2022, his rookie season.

Raccoons (46-50) vs. Aces (51-46) – July 19-21, 2024

The Aces were third in the South, four games off the playoffs, which was mostly their pitching's fault. They ranked tenth in runs allowed, tenth in starters' ERA, and sixth in bullpen ERA. Even scoring the most runs in the Continental League (an impressive 5.3 runs per game) wasn't helping their pitching enough to make it to the top. The season series stood 2-1 in their favor.

Projected matchups:
Jack Sander (4-5, 4.20 ERA) vs. Brian Leser (4-10, 6.21 ERA)
Dan Delgadillo (6-5, 3.43 ERA) vs. Abramo Archibugi (4-5, 4.22 ERA)
Jesus Chavez (5-10, 4.05 ERA) vs. Samuel McMullen (8-5, 3.81 ERA)

Right-left-left, although the Aces had been off on Thursday and could skip any of these to bring up right-hander Chris Wickham (8-6, 3.49 ERA). I'd do it.

Two of the Aces' starting outfielders were on the DL right now with Cesar Martinez (.235, 12 HR, 41 RBI) and Danny Serrano (.374, 5 HR, 39 RBI) out for a while. The former, recently acquired from the Indians, was laboring on a hamstring, and Serrano had torn a thigh muscle altogether in June.

Game 1
LVA: SS A. Medina – 2B Maldonado – LF Dally – CF Raynor – 3B I. Alvarez – C J. Vargas – 1B Retzer – RF Curro – P Leser
POR: CF Mora – 2B Walter – 3B Nunley – 1B Gonzalez – C Tovias – SS Stalker – RF Alfaro – LF Carmona – P Sander

Four straight 2-out base runners gave the Raccoons a 2-0 lead in the first inning, with a double by Nunley, as well as Tovias and Stalker singles sandwiching a full-count walk drawn by Jon Gonzalez. Tovias and Stalker both drove in a run in the inning. While that was all for the Coons early on, the vaunted Aces offense didn't show up on time exactly. While Jack Sander threw a lot of errant junk, the Aces were eager to something someplace, but racked up five strikeouts instead in the first three innings, and remained shut out even beyond that. Had the oracle announced that the next run in the game would have to be batted in by Omar Alfaro, we probably would have celebrated early given that unlikelihood of the event to occur at all, alas, in the bottom of the sixth inning Alfaro found Elias Tovias on third base and singled to center to cash him in, extending the lead to 3-0, but that also meant that Sander was far from safe for his first W as a Raccoon. A shutout wasn't in the cards for him anyway thanks to an elevated pitch count, but he soldiered through seven innings, staving off Allen Retzer's 1-out single in the seventh to hold on to his lead, which grew to 4-0 after he got pats on the back in the dugout during the seventh-inning stretch. Abel Mora singled, stole, and scored in the bottom 7th, coming home on Jon Gonzalez' 2-out single, which put Gonzalez at 62 RBI for the year, 15 behind Ron Raynor, whom he trailed by only one in the home run chase. Omar Alfaro, who had had an entire age named after him by 21 and probably was still being weighed down by that, was not a part of the home run chase, but he still was the first player to get one outta here in the series, cranking a 2-piece off a tiring Leser in the bottom 8th, collecting Stalker along the way. For Portland, Vince D, Brotman, and Lee completed the shutout started by Sander. 6-0 Raccoons! Mora 2-5, 2B; Nunley 2-4, 2B; Tovias 2-4, 2B, RBI; Stalker 2-4, RBI; Alfaro 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Sander 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K, W (5-5);

This was Omar Alfaro's first 3-RBI game since May.

Game 2
LVA: SS A. Medina – 2B Maldonado – LF Dally – CF Raynor – 3B I. Alvarez – C J. Vargas – 1B Retzer – RF Curro – P Archibugi
POR: 2B Spencer – SS Stalker – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – C Delgado – 3B Nunley – RF Alfaro – LF Carmona – P Delgadillo

While the Coons lineup remained off base the first through against 22-year-old Venezuelan rookie Archibugi – with the notable exception of Delgadillo, who was "21" and walked, the Aces had already flashed some offense by the time Delgadillo strayed on base and back to the dugout following Jarod Spencer's fly to center to end the bottom 3rd. Corey Curro had drawn a leadoff walk in the third inning, had been bunted over, and Andres Medina's single put them on the corners. Medina took off for second, Delgado's throw was wild, and the Aces scored their first run while Abel Mora corralled the ball in centerfield. Delgadillo dropped another hit, walk, and run in the inning, falling behind 2-0 with no strikeouts to his name until Retzer swung through a 1-2 fastball in the fourth.

The Coons tied the score in the bottom 4th, suddenly finding their bats that had been hidden behind the ice cream wagon someone had brought into the dugout. Stalker led off the fourth with a double to left-center, and Mora singled. Gonzalez flew out to Corey Curro, but Tony Delgado and Omar Alfaro both hit RBI singles, in between of which Matt Nunley unluckily lined out to the leaping shortstop Medina. Cookie popped out to end the inning, and the Aces soon drew in front again, this time with Archibugi reaching to begin the fifth thanks to Delgadillo having Jon Gonzalez' sound throw to first base clank off his wrist for a lamentable error. Two groundouts advanced the runner before ex-Logger and –Star Justin Dally singled cleanly to center to plate the runner with two outs.

The Coons pulled the run back right away with Spencer, Mora, and Gonzalez singles in the bottom 5th, but Delgadillo continued to find trouble. Archibugi's spot came up with two outs and Izzy Alvarez and Allen Retzer in scoring position in the sixth. The Aces didn't bat for him; the Coons still had a hunch. After a lengthy mound conference that had to be broken up by the home plate umpire Archibugi still knocked the first pitch he saw up the middle – thankfully not out of Tim Stalker's range though. Stalker scrambled, secured, and served to first in time to beat the opposing pitcher, keeping the score tied at three at this point.

Defense dragged Delgadillo's bum through seven, and Jon Gonzalez' RBI single in the bottom 7th, plating Spencer with two down, would even line him up for a W after a job done so-so. Ryan Corkum retired the 4-5-6 batters in order in the eighth, whiffing Alvarez and Jose Vargas, and set up Jonathan Snyder for a save against the bottom of the order. Allen Retzer grounded out to Nunley, but Corey Curro worked the walk, putting pressure on Snyder, who would face Casimiro Schoeppen as pinch-hitter. Schoeppen, who if he were crawling any slower on the base paths would qualify for disability benefits, grounded a 3-2 pitch to short, and the Coons had no trouble turning that one for a double play – ballgame! 4-3 Furballs! Spencer 2-4, 2B; Mora 2-4; Gonzalez 2-4, 2 RBI; Delgadillo 7.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, W (7-5);

Game 3
LVA: SS A. Medina – 2B Maldonado – LF Dally – CF Raynor – 3B I. Alvarez – 1B Retzer – C Schoeppen – RF Curro – P S. McMullen
POR: LF Spencer – SS Stalker – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – C Tovias – 2B Walter – RF Alfaro – 3B Bullock – P Chavez

Chavez bled for a flurry of singles, four in total, a balk, and two runs in the first inning, and merrily for him the balk did not score one of the runs but came with Alvarez and Retzer on second and first, and a 1-2 count to Schoeppen, who struck out on the next actual pitch. Chavez would in fact strike out the entire bottom of the order, but the struggles would resume when we snapped back to the top of the Aces' lineup. He somehow tumbled through his second turn against them, but was on his third tour by the fourth inning, so well were things going. Jarod Spencer sold out to retire Raul Maldonado in the fourth inning, stranding runners on the corners, and keeping the score a manageable 2-0, despite the Coons so far being not only hitless, but Sam McMullen maintaining a perfecto.

Perfection ended in the fourth and so did the shutout. Stalker singled with one out, stole second base, and came home on Gonzalez' umpteenth 2-out single of the week. On to the top of the fifth, where Chavez was beleaguered again with Dally and Retzer already on base when Tim Stalker inexplicably dropped a 2-out pop by Schoeppen to load the bases. Corey Curro plated an unearned run with a single to center, 3-1, but McMullen struck out to strand three. Chavez, however, was done after five innings of 8-hit, 3-walk ball, perhaps lucky to have only allowed two earned runs. The Aces broke the score wide open in the sixth, batting through the order from #1 through #9. Andres Medina cracked his 18th homer off Vince D, who allowed another three base hits before Jimmy Lee replaced him, but Lee allowed an infield single and walked in a run facing Curro with two outs. McMullen fouled out with the bases loaded, but the Aces had added three runs and were now up 6-1, and rocked the Coons' pen for another 3-spot in the seventh, Maldonado tripling off Lee with one out, after which David Kipple came in, only to get shattered with a Dally single, Ron Raynor's 22nd bomb, and an Alvarez single before Retzer accidentally hit into a double play. So THERE was that Aces offense that led the league! Ryan Corkum pitched in the eighth and allowed straight singles to Schoeppen, Curro, and … McMullen. Three on and nobody out, this one was definitely going to blossom further. Maldonado plated two with a soft fly near the rightfield line that Zach Graves couldn't get to, giving the Aces a lead by double digits, at least until the dormant Raccoons happened into a run in the bottom 8th on a Walter double and Graves single off an otherwise triumphant Sam McMullen. 11-2 Aces. Metts (PH) 1-1; Walter 2-3, 2B; Graves 1-2, RBI;

Snyder didn't pitch in this game; all other relievers were in service as the Aces casually piled up 22 hits and 11 runs on the Coons here. Only Lillis and Brotman were not scored on, and only Lillis allowed no base runners.

In other news

July 16 – A major leaguer for but 12 days, CHA LF/RF Barend Kok (.364, 1 HR, 6 RBI) already enters the history books with a scalding 6-for-6 effort against the Bayhawks, who are routed 15-1 by the Falcons. Kok, a 22-year-old Dutch Antillean, hits a triple and five singles and drives in two runs in the effort, the 60th such 6-hit output in ABL history and the first ever for the Falcons.
July 16 – The Stars trade for the Aces' swingman Colin Peay (3-3, 4.66 ERA) and a dubious prospect in exchange for INF Raul Maldonado (.377, 0 HR, 22 RBI). The 31-year-old Maldonado had only seen limited action with the Stars this season.
July 17 – DEN INF/LF/RF Rich Hereford (.325, 11 HR, 45 RBI) will miss a month with a fractured thumb.
July 18 – The Condors acquire SP Zach Weaver (5-4, 3.24 ERA) from the Thunder for unranked outfield prospect Luis Pantoja.
July 18 – The season of CHA SP Brian Benjamin (6-5, 3.81 ERA) ends for surgery to remove bone spurs from the 35-year-old right-hander's elbow.
July 18 – Also season over for Vancouver swingman Bobby Thompson (3-3, 3.41 ERA). The 32-year-old lefty has to rehab a partially torn UCL.
July 20 – The Indians are 2-hit in a 7-0 defeat by ATL SP Chris Rountree (9-7, 4.22 ERA).

Complaints and stuff

This week, Brett Lillis asked for a trade, and I asked to be shot. One of these things was a new development, the other has been going on for a while (something like 40 years). The obvious junkie in a derelict back alley in West Portland that I asked for this kind favor was too stoned to handle a gun though.

So it goes on, I guess.

Rico Gutierrez flashed up in the top 3 in ERA in the Continental League this week, trailing TIJ Luis Flores (2.45) and MIL Pedro Hernandez (2.84) with his own 2.90 mark, which I guess is also a sign that he might be a serviceable pitcher after all, and with serviceable I mean a valid #2 behind whatever ace we plan on baking for ourselves down the road. Yes, I am pretty soured on Mark Roberts right now. And his rookie season was already very good, but last year he just got bopped… he allowed 23 homers in 2023, and so far has resisted the urge to make it 24 in '24. As of now, Gutierrez has been taken deep nine times this season.

There is also a legit contender for a pitching triple crown around. Luis Flores leads by a margin in ERA, also leads the CL with 13 wins (two ahead of SFB Brian Simmons), and is in third place in strikeouts, although there his gap behind Hernandez and San Fran's Matt Huf (!!) is in the double digits. In the Federal League, Denver's Chris Sinkhorn leads in wins and has a hand in the strikeouts chase, but his ERA is near four, leaving him far away from seriously contending.

The Raccoons added a slugging "shortstop" from the international free agents for $212k, and like all the other additions he's a 16-year-old Dominican. I say "shortstop" because he shows only middling range and is not sure-handed. He does have a strong arm though, so maybe he could be a third baseman? I really see him on the corners rather than up the middle…

Overall we have spent $312k this year, easily under the soft cap, and there is nobody left that I want to get paws on, so there's that.

Steve from Accounting presented numbers that show that we still have a million bucks left over from the budget, so there is nothing in the way of adding help to the lineup in the last days of July. We are still only a handful of games (roughly…) out and an actually productive corner outfielder could get the team a long way…

Fun Fact: On Saturday, the starting pitchers in the Raccoons' 4-3 win over the Aces, Dan Delgadillo and Abramo Archibugi, were a combined 43 years and 330 days old, making them almost a full year younger than the oldest active professional player, former Raccoon 1B Stanley Murphy, who was 44 years and 283 days old that day.

Murphy is dwelling along ineffectively in the Wolves' minor league system, hardly hitting a ball hard anymore. Murphy was the 2012 FL Player of the Year, won World Series rings with the Pacifics in 2011 and 2012, and was an All Star seven times, and also won other accolades. While his time in Portland was but brief and inefficient in 2014 and 2015, he is still a serious Hall of Fame contender, batting .288/.374/.452 with 371 homers and 1,533 RBI in his career. He has 2,867 career hits and led the FL in home runs twice, and in runs and RBI once each. He was even a Gold Glover with the 2016 Warriors.

The oldest player on a major league roster these days is another ex-Coon, Capitals reliever Jayden Reed, 40 years and 244 days old as of Sunday. This means that the Raccoons first-ever pennant in 1983 is now older than the entire major league population.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (48-51) @ Knights (57-41) – July 22-24, 2024

Could the Raccoons finally win a series from a strong team? It was kind of a requirement for deserving the postseason to begin with… The CL South-leading Knights were certainly a good test at this critical junction of the season. They had a 6-game winning streak going and were scoring the second-most runs in the league, but had far more pedestrian pitching. Their rotation was decent, fifth by ERA, but their bullpen ranked in the bottom three and they urgently needed help. The Raccoons had a 2-1 edge in the season series.

Projected matchups:
Mark Roberts (6-6, 3.49 ERA) vs. Leon Hernandez (8-4, 3.75 ERA)
Rico Gutierrez (10-4, 2.90 ERA) vs. Chris Chatfield (7-7, 4.22 ERA)
Jack Sander (5-5, 3.92 ERA) vs. Brian Cope (10-5, 3.10 ERA)

The Knights had two left-handed starters and we'd miss them both; these were their three right-handed starting pitchers.

Game 1
POR: CF Mora – 2B Walter – 3B Nunley – 1B Gonzalez – C Tovias – SS Stalker – RF Alfaro – LF Carmona – P Roberts
ATL: LF Stuckey – 3B Rolland – CF Houghtaling – SS T. Jimenez – 2B Hibbard – 1B McIntyre – C Wright – RF A. Sauceda – P L. Hernandez

Nothing. The Raccoons had … nothing. Matt Nunley had their first two base hits, splashing singles in the second and sixth innings, and reaching second base once, and third base never. Roberts, after cocking up a 410-foot leadoff jack to Johnny Stuckey in the very first inning, hung on to his 1-0 loss with great resilience, which was the kind of sentence that made a good epitaph for any deceased season. Tim Stalker actually hit a single in the seventh inning, with one out, showing some remote life and giving the team a technical chance, although the bottom of this lineup was where chances routinely went to die, and this seventh inning was no exception. Alfaro struck out, Cookie flew out to centerfield, easily. Roberts allowed only four base hits in seven innings, whiffing six, which was a totally decent effort, but "totally decent" was not something that could outpace this lineup's morbid tendency to lie down in a corner and die. Shane Walter hit a 2-out single in the eighth; he was left on first base just like the last couple of runners. Jarrod Morrison saved his 30th game of the season without allowing another base runner in the ninth. 1-0 Knights. Nunley 2-3, BB; Roberts 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, L (6-7);

Game 2
POR: CF Mora – LF Spencer – 3B Nunley – 1B Gonzalez – 2B Walter – C T. Delgado – SS Stalker – RF Alfaro – P Gutierrez
ATL: LF Stuckey – 3B Rolland – C Ru. Luna – CF Houghtaling – SS T. Jimenez – 2B Hibbard – 1B McIntyre – RF A. Sauceda – P Chatfield

To begin this game, Abel Mora tripled between Jeremy Houghtaling, the old Elk, and Alex Sauceda, Jarod Spencer singled him in, and then the middle of the order struck out, struck out, and … struck out. Unfortunately, one run wasn't going to be enough for Rico Gutierrez, who got taken deep for 435 feet in the bottom of the inning by Ruben Luna, who nailed his 21st dinger of the season, which got him past Jon Gonzalez on the leaderboard. That was not the last home run in the game, with both teams getting their next run on a solo shot; Tony Jimenez banged one off Gutierrez leading off the second, with Nunley tying the game in the fourth with a ball that barely got over the fence in right.

The score was tied at two through five innings, with the Coons hitting into a double play in every inning in which they didn't score, and also in the sixth, although they also scored in that. Mora and Spencer had begun the inning with singles, but Nunley now had rolled into a 6-4-3. Jon Gonzalez' soft fly dropped in front of Sauceda in shallow right and got away from him for a double, but Abel Mora would have scored anyway from third base, bringing in the go-ahead run, 3-2. The inning ended with Will McIntyre diving to catch Shane Walter's low liner, with the bottom 6th seeing another deep bid by Stuckey, which was however contained at the fence by Omar Alfaro, who then clubbed a double into the gap with one out in the seventh, sending Tim Stalker to third base. With one out, the Coons HAD to roll for runs, and Rico Gutierrez' .100 clip was not promising. Zach Graves lined to right, barely fair, but well out of Sauceda's reach this time, landing a clutch 2-run double as he batted for Rico, and the Raccoons would get Graves across on Nunley's 2-out single. They actually loaded the bases in the inning, with left-hander Estevan Delgado replacing Chatfield in a 6-2 game with three on and two outs. Elias Tovias was sent to bat for the left-handed Shane Walter, but struck out.

All of this led up to a very predictable bullpen collapse for Portland, who uncleverly sent Jimmy Lee into a 4-run game, despite probably knowing better. Lee faced four batters, allowed four horrendous deep flies, and conceded three extra base hits – Jimenez was robbed by Graves in leftfield (which Spencer had vacated to fill in at the keystone), but a Houghtaling triple and doubles by Devin Hibbard and Will McIntyre did damage enough. Brett Lillis replaced Lee, threw a wild pitch to move McIntyre to third base, then was lucky that Sauceda popped out foul, and sophomore Phil Neubecker's deep 3-1 drive to right was caught up with by Alfaro. Luna hit a 2-out double off Lillis in the eighth, with Snyder coming in early to stop the erosion, which he did for the time being, whiffing Houghtaling to end the eighth. Tony Jimenez worked a walk in a full count to begin the ninth inning, after which the Knights threw every left-handed bat they could find at Snyder, but to no avail. None of them got the ball out of the infield as he retired Tony Avalos, Matt Wright, and Alex Sauceda in order. 6-4 Raccoons. Mora 2-3, 2 BB, 3B; Spencer 2-5, RBI; Nunley 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Graves (PH) 1-2, 2B, 2 RBI; Gutierrez 6.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (11-4); Snyder 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, SV (13);

Game 3
POR: CF Mora – 2B Spencer – 3B Nunley – 1B Gonzalez – C Tovias – SS Stalker – RF Graves – LF Carmona – P Sander
ATL: LF Stuckey – SS T. Jimenez – C Ru. Luna – CF Houghtaling – 1B Avalos – 2B Hibbard – RF McIntyre – 3B Rolland – P Cope

Coons scored first, getting their first few batters aboard in the second inning. Jon Gonzalez drew a walk, moved to third on Elias Tovias' double to right, and scored on Tim Stalker's sharp single to right, with McIntyre's strong arm keeping Tovias from even thinking about scoring. He came in on Zach Graves' grounder to second base, which erased Stalker, but Graves beat out the return throw. Cookie hit another single, but the inning fizzled out after that, with Sander holding a 2-0 lead, at least until Ruben Luna socked another one. The 375-footer that marked #22, tying Ron Raynor for the lead in the CL, for Luna occurred to begin the bottom of the fourth, and was only the beginning for Sander. Houghtaling, always a pest, doubled to right, and would come around to score on a sac fly by Hibbard eventually. Sander issued two walks before stumbling out of the inning against Cope, now in a tied game.

It didn't stay tied for long. Cookie sneaked a single through the right side to begin the fifth inning. Sander bunted him over, and then Mora hit a drive into the rightfield corner for an RBI double. It was also the last batter that Cope faced, leaving the game with a calf strain. He'd live, but he hung on for the loss now, and his odds became longer thanks to Jimenez not having a play after intercepting Spencer's grounder up the middle off Alfredo Morua. The replacement right-hander would give another hit, a gapper to Nunley that made it to the fence between Stuckey and Houghtaling for a 2-run double, and extended the Coons' lead to 5-2. Morua continued to melt away in the sixth inning, which admittedly started with a Jimenez error, putting Stalker aboard, but after that Graves and Cookie hit sharp singles, the latter extending the lead to 6-2. Frank Yeager replaced Morua, and although he took Sander's bunt for a forceout at third base surrendered another three runs, two of those on Spencer's screaming double up the leftfield line.

None of this managed to mask a muddy start by Sander, who walked five in total, including one in the bottom 6th, from which he was forcefully evicted by Jaylen Rolland's 1-out, 3-run homer, getting the Knights back into slam range, 9-5. Yup, the Raccoons managed to turn this into a meltdown – David Kipple retired Alex Sauceda on a fly to center before consecutive errors by Gonzalez and Stalker created a sense of inescapable doom with Ruben Luna at the plate. He was not the tying run, but how could he not strangle Kipple with his own intestines here? The 0-2 was grounded to first base, and this time Gonzalez managed to keep his shoes on his hindpaws and the gloves on the ball, racing to first, easily beating out Luna to end the inning.

This was a wicked game, there wasn't even a discussion about that. Yet, this rubber game had one more up its sleeve. Tim Stalker walked, Zach Graves singled off Efrain Isidoro in the seventh inning, bringing up an unretired Cookie Carmona, who would also stay unretired and put three more on the board, crashing a 3-2 hanger over the middle of the plate for more than 400 feet and over the fence in right-center! COOKIE HAS GONE DEEP!! COOKIE HAS GONE DEEP!!! We were somewhat ecstatic here, because he hadn't hit a dinger in four years… and this one put the Coons even further ahead, 12-5. The rout was in progress, but not complete yet. Estevan Delgado also got his share of the clubbing, surrendering a 2-piece to Matt Nunley in the eighth, and Nunley also turned double plays in the seventh (5-4-3) and eighth (5-3). Let's just ignore the 3-spot the Knights put on Ryan Corkum in the bottom of the ninth… 14-8 Raccoons! Spencer 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Nunley 2-5, HR, 2B, 5 RBI; Graves 2-4, RBI; Carmona 4-5, HR, 4 RBI; Metts (PH) 1-1, 2B; Lee 1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Offense?

Trade!

Offense!

The Raccoons were off on Thursday, but not idle, trading for CIN OF/1B Terry Kopp (.273, 12 HR, 81 RBI) as the deadline drew nearer. Kopp, 27, was in his sixth ABL season and would be on his fourth ABL team in 12 months, was under contract through 2026 and offered tremendous extra base hit prowess. While he was not a prime hitter of home runs, never landing more than 21, he had led the Federal League in doubles in 2022 (with 48) and could challenge for 70+ XBH year in, year out.

The Cyclones received OF Dwayne Metts and 19-year-old A SP Gilberto Rendon in the deal. Nobody cried much over Metts; Rendon was a Costa Rican scouting discovery with a promising, but not exactly sterling scouting report. He was throwing 92 from the right side, had a strong slider and a meager changeup. Maybe a reliever in the future.

The future was not what the Raccoons, five games back on Thursday morning, had in mind. The Raccoons wanted it NOW!!

Raccoons (50-52) @ Condors (54-48) – July 26-28, 2024

The Condors had been swept by the Loggers midweek and were now 4 1/2 games out in the South, which just liked the North lacked a team convincingly pushing .600 to move away from loads of mediocre teams. The Condors were probably not made for the playoffs, ranking ninth in offense and seventh in anti-offense. The season series was even at three.

Projected matchups:
Dan Delgadillo (7-5, 3.38 ERA) vs. Luis Flores (13-5, 2.45 ERA)
Jesus Chavez (5-11, 4.04 ERA) vs. Zach Weaver (5-4, 3.34 ERA)
Mark Roberts (6-7, 3.38 ERA) vs. Jose Menendez (8-10, 3.50 ERA)

Left, right, right, and hopefully Terry Kopp can instantly murder a few of them.

Game 1
POR: 2B Spencer – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – LF Kopp – C Tovias – 3B Nunley – SS Stalker – RF Alfaro – P Delgadillo
TIJ: SS B. Rojas – 1B Hollar – 3B M. Matias – RF O. Larios – C Sanford – CF Hatley – LF Boggs – 2B T. Casillas – P L. Flores

Kopp struck out to strand Jarod Spencer and his leadoff double at third base in the first inning, but eh, what's one failed plate appearance? I'm calm as ****. (accidentally snaps head off a Jon Gonzalez bobblehead) … The Raccoons took an unearned 1-0 lead in the second inning, with Nunley reaching second base on an error by Nick Hatley in center, then scoring on Stalker's double. Tim Stalker was thrown out at home by Robby Boggs on a single snipped by Omar Alfaro, but I was still calm as ****. (accidentally shatters glass of bourbon with the bare hand) … While Delgadillo held on to things for the moment, Luis Flores allowed back-to-back walks to begin the third inning, with Tony Casillas eating some dirt scrambling after Jon Gonzalez' grounder in vain as it escaped to centerfield. This one loaded the bases for Terry Kopp, with nobody out. Kopp struck out. Tovias struck out. Nunley flew to center… and into an out. (faints into the shattering minibar)

The Condors tied the game in the bottom of the same inning (…) with Delgadillo offering a leadoff walk to Boogs and conceding singles to Casillas and Bob Rojas. Pat Sanford gave them a lead with a solo home run in the next inning. Flores struck out seven through four innings, and Delgadillo had six scalps on his belt, and was still behind. And this one was tilting more and more to the wrong side. The Condors hit two more sharp singles off Delgadillo in the fifth, and then Mike Matias hit a ball over the fence, putting the Coons in a 5-1 hole. After that, still, the Condors were more likely to pile on – loading the bases in the seventh against Devereaux and Brotman for example before being retired by Matias' and Omar Larios' shallow pops – than the Raccoons climbing back into the game against Flores, who whiffed ten in seven innings before yielding to the bullpen, Sam Lowery in particular, and it was not exactly like things improved for the Coons against Lowery… 5-1 Condors. Walter (PH) 1-1;

Well, I was unconscious for most of the game and the Druid is still busy picking shards of glass from my hand, but the box score says that Terry Kopp hit for a golden sombrero in the first game as a Critter.

It's okay, Mena, it's okay. Just… just tell Honeypaws I always loved only him. (closes eyes)

Game 2
POR: CF Mora – 2B Walter – 3B Nunley – 1B Gonzalez – RF Kopp – C Tovias – LF Carmona – SS Bullock – P Chavez
TIJ: SS B. Rojas – 1B Hollar – 3B M. Matias – RF O. Larios – C Sanford – CF Hatley – LF W. Ramos – 2B T. Casillas – P Weaver

Nunleyesque defense held Jesus Chavez together in the first inning after Mike Matias and Omar Larios had reached the corners with a single and a double, respectively. Pat Sanford, who had hit the game-winning home run on Friday, cracked a liner to left, with Nunley, half human, half cat, lunging and swiping the ball in flight before landing on the foul line. That inning was over, as was Terry Kopp's unnerving strikeout streak; he hit a leadoff double in the second and scored on consecutive productive outs by Tovias and Cookie, who hit a sac fly. The Raccoons had only one more base hit in the first five innings, a Gonzalez double with one out in the fourth, but neither Kopp nor Tovias could get the ball out of the infield, or in Tovias' case even into fair ground. The Condors had three hits through five against Chavez, who allowed lots and lots of fly balls. Omar Larios was the only one to hit one out, a solo shot in the fourth, but Chavez didn't exactly impress here, whiffing only two and letting mostly Abel Mora do all the hard work.

Zach Weaver walked Mora to begin the sixth, and then issued four balls to Nunley, too, which brought up the big boys and should nominally create trouble for the Condors righty. Gonzalez grounded out to Chris Hollar, advancing the runners, after which Kopp drew his first blood as a Critter, lining up the leftfield line for a double. Willie Ramos had no chance, and two runs scored. Kopp was left on, and the Condors brought up the tying runs with nobody out in the bottom 6th. Bob Rojas singled to right center, Chris Hollar singled to left center. With things dicey, the Raccoons looked at their battered pen and sighed. Maybe Chavez could wiggle through this one, or maybe they could come out of a 4-run hole afterwards… Matias grounded to short, but beat out the return throw to break up the double play, only Hollar being out at second. Larios struck out. Sanford walked in a full count to load the bases, and a left-hander in Hatley drew up. He had tried hard to sink the Condors in the first game with two errors, maybe he'd sink them again. Mound conference. First pitch, fly to left. Cookie – inning over!! Chavez retired the bottom of the order without problems in the bottom of the seventh inning, holding on to the 3-1 lead.

While that was probably it for Chavez, the Coons could use an insurance run anyway. Nunley cracked a 1-out double to right against Mark Morrison, a righty, in the eighth inning, presenting the power department with another runner in scoring position, but Morrison hung a K on Gonzalez, and Kopp's grounder to right was intercepted by Hollar, leaving Nunley stranded. Billy Brotman got the assignment with two left-handed bats coming up first in the bottom 8th. K to Rojas, K to Hollar, so there was no harm in him facing Matias, too, and he handled Matias' 2-2 grounder himself for the third out of the inning. With no insurance coming forth from the Coons' bottom of the lineup in the ninth inning, Jonathan Snyder received the 3-1 lead in the bottom 9th. This one went the other way 'round. Grounder to first, grounder to third, and then Hatley stared at a 2-2 pitch perfectly located on the outside corner to end this game. 3-1 Furballs! Nunley 1-2, 2 BB, 2B; Kopp 2-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Chavez 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (6-11);

COONS COONS COONS!!!

COME ON, SUCKERS! GET DADDY TO THE ****ING PLAYOFFS!!

Maybe start with the rubber game here.

The Condors were not idle, though, acquiring infielder Shane Sanks (.187, 4 HR, 33 RBI) from the Bayhawks before the Sunday game, along with a prospect, for a prospect of their own, interesting but unranked C Eric Martins.

Game 3
POR: CF Mora – 2B Walter – 3B Nunley – 1B Gonzalez – LF Kopp – C Tovias – RF Alfaro – SS Stalker – P Roberts
TIJ: 2B B. Rojas – SS Sanks – 3B M. Matias – LF O. Larios – 1B Hollar – C Zarate – RF W. Ramos – CF Hatley – P Jo. Menendez

We helplessly watched as Mark Roberts kept faltering, allowing a first pitch single, actually some shot to shallow center off the bat of Bob Rojas, and while Shane Sanks hit into a force at second, that still left a runner aboard for Mike Matias to cash when he crashed another pitch for a homer to left. Down 2-0, the Coons got Gonzalez and Kopp aboard with singles to start the top 2nd, only for the bottom of the order to flunk out completely, and as if that was not enough, catcher Danny Zarate smoked a leadoff triple in the bottom 2nd. Oh, Roberts, why hath thou forsakenth us? Oh, just a second – Zarate never scored, with Ramos and Hatley going down on strikes and Menendez falling bat-first into a pitch that turned into a bouncer for Nunley to handle for the third out.

Speaking of triples, Abel Mora hit one in the third inning, although he almost had to carry Mark Roberts part of the way there, after Roberts had legged out an infield single to begin the inning. Willie Ramos kindly was not charged an error for chasing down Mora's ball for almost forever in the corner, although that was a key ingredient in Roberts making it home from first base on the play. That was the Coons' first run, the tying run was on third base and nobody out. C'mon, boys! Well, the tying run came home on Walter's groundout, but that was it… Mora would reappear in scoring position in the fifth inning, though, courtesy of a wild throw by Matias that Hollar couldn't come up with. With one out, the Condors chose to walk Walter intentionally, which probably meant they were entirely gambling on Matt Nunley hitting into a double play. He did not, instead poking the first pitch from Menendez softly to center, where it died a hero and loaded the bases for Jon Gonzalez. Jon had not homered since July 16 against the Loggers. This would be a splendid time! Nope, he didn't get it out of here, but he got it *in*, into leftfield precisely, for an RBI single that gave the Raccoons the lead, 3-2, and brought up Terry Kopp, who grounded to Bob Rojas, with Gonzalez forced out at second, but that second out was all the Condors got as Walter scored. Tovias flew out to center, keeping the score at 4-2.

The tying runs were on base in no time. Abel Mora had Ramos' fly to center hit off the edge of his glove for an error to begin the bottom 5th, and then Roberts struck Hatley in the wrist. Hatley required replacement by Robby Boggs, while the Raccons casually ordered their pen to get their bums moving, although it sure helped greatly that Jose Menendez' bunt attempts were clumsy, futile, and ended with a strikeout. Rojas struck out. Sanks struck out! THERE'S THE ACE WE WERE LOOKING FOR!! Flashbacks to Nick Brown as Roberts went on to whiff Matias and Larios in the sixth, mixed in a walk to Hollar, then sliced Zarate in half with three more strikes! 10 K for him in the game! The seventh saw Robby Boggs single, then get caught stealing, as Roberts held on to the 4-2 edge, which became a 6-2 edge in the eighth, which started with Jon Gonzalez getting hit, and then an RBI triple by Alfaro to right-center, then Stalker's RBI single. Graves batted for Roberts, who had been close to 100 pitches anyway, but grounded out. The Coons turned to Kipple with a 4-run lead, and he managed not to get killed outright by the Condors' top of the order in the eighth, and remained around for the ninth, still up by four, with two more left-handed batters scheduled in Hollar and Ramos. He got those, but walked Zarate in between. Vince D would take care of Boggs to end the game and notch the season series. 6-2 Raccoons! Nunley 2-5; Alfaro 2-4, 3B, RBI; Roberts 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 10 K, W (7-7) and 1-3; Kipple 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

In other news

July 22 – Two games, twenty-one innings, two runs in the Continental League. While the Raccoons fall, 1-0, to the Knights in regulation, the Bayhawks need 12 innings to score the golden run on the Crusaders, claiming their 1-0 win on Jaden Booker's (.284, 2 HR, 15 RBI) home run.
July 23 – SFB SP Brian Simmons (12-6, 3.26 ERA) 2-hits the Crusaders in a 6-0 shutout, whiffing seven.
July 23 – NAS MR Ruben Ortega (2-4, 3.38 ERA, 1 SV) drills SFW 1B/OF Pedro Cisneros (.295, 7 HR, 34 RBI) with the bases loaded to walk off the Warriors, 3-2, in the tenth inning.
July 24 – WAS RF/LF/1B Matt Hamilton (.340, 14 HR, 51 RBI) is out with a fractured wrist and will likely miss at least six weeks.
July 25 – The Titans' SP Dustin Wingo (11-8, 3.78 ERA) and CL Javy Salomon (2-2, 2.65 ERA, 15 SV) combine for a 2-0, 1-hit shutout of the Thunder. OCT C Adam Baker (.317, 6 HR, 28 RBI) denies Wingo a potential no-hitter with a seventh-inning single.
July 25 – The Wolves flip INF Mike Green (.252, 13 HR, 54 RBI) to the Gold Sox for SP Warren Polito (6-6, 3.99 ERA). The Gold Sox also receive a prospect, while Green plays in their 16-5 rout of the Rebels the same night and drives in six for his new team.
July 27 – ATL INF Tony Jimenez (.278, 6 HR, 29 RBI) is lost for the season with a broken ankle.
July 28 – The Knights trade for DEN SS Andrew Showalter (.287, 15 HR, 55 RBI), parting with SP/MR Danny Martin (5-2, 5.23 ERA) and #11 prospect C Fernando Garcia.
July 28 – The Miners break up a close game with the Stars with eight runs in the eighth, clobbering them 12-3 in the end. PIT C J.J. Henley (.272, 14 HR, 56 RBI) lands three hits, including a 3-run homer, and drives in four overall.

Complaints and stuff

CONQUEST NORTH!! Oh good heavens, I hope…

Zach Graves is moping because he had to give #20 to Terry Kopp. Zach, you better be glad that the Cyclones took Dwayne Metts in the trade, otherwise…….

After one start, which he lost, Michael Foreman – 33 years old and eager to never work outside of a diamond – signed a 4-yr, $11M extension with the Scorpions this week. Good for him! Routinely solid pitcher that gave us (together with Ismael Pastor, who has yet to surface in the Bigs) Jarod Spencer, Greg Borg, and Evan Carrell from the Loggers in '21. Oh, and casually threw a shutout against the Coons that same September…

We are still under .500 and the playoffs are so tantalizingly close …! The odd win here or there… It's like the 1994, twice-defending champions Raccoons, that cucked out to a 81-81 record when a pedestrian 86 wins would have won the North…

Believe it or not, but this 13-10 July is our best month of the year…

Next week we'll be at the Bay – where things have gone mighty south before – and then it's time for a 4-game set with the Elks to begin the month of August. I don't have to mention just how ****ing south things have gone against the Elks before, especially in 4-game sets at home.

Fun Fact: On May 7, 2020, the Raccoons beat the Canadiens, 7-1, behind Tadasu Abe, who claimed his third win of the season. Prior to this week, it was also the most-recent time that Cookie Carmona got one over the fence, hitting a solo home run off Matt Rosenthal.

Homering off the Knights' Efrain Isidoro gives Cookie 20 career home runs, which isn't a whole lot for a guy with 2,040 base hits and a severe case of early-onset midlife crisis. But going back to his home runs, there are actually not only one, but *two* pitchers against whom Cookie has hit more than one home run in his career. One of those was Gabriel Caro, most prominently of the Loggers, who surrendered nine hits, including two home runs, to Cookie while holding him to a sub-career average .290 clip. So he was unlucky, well, that happens.

You can't claim bad luck for the other guy on Cookie's multi-homer list; Colin Sabatino not only conceded base hits to Cookie on a .474 rate in 38 at-bats, he also allowed him to go yard *three* times!

How surprised would you be to learn that both Caro and Sabatino retired with losing records in their mid-30s?

[Westheim]

Raccoons (52-53) @ Bayhawks (47-58) – July 29-31, 2024

The Raccoons travelled to the Bay to meet up with the team with the worst offense in the league. The Bayhawks were struggling to score even 3.6 runs per game, and had a pathetic team batting average of .233 – not exactly playoff material. Their pitching was decent, but decent wasn't gonna win them any rings. The Coons had already claimed the season series, having taken five of the first six games from them this year.

Projected matchups:
Rico Gutierrez (11-4, 2.90 ERA) vs. Brian Simmons (12-6, 3.26 ERA)
Jack Sander (6-5, 4.14 ERA) vs. Rodolfo Cervantes (5-7, 3.55 ERA)
Dan Delgadillo (7-6, 3.59 ERA) vs. Denzel Durr (4-8, 4.54 ERA)

Southpaw to start the week, then two right-handers – starters' handedness would match for all three games in the series. There was nobody on the DL for the Bayhawks. No, not even Dave Garcia, who had only missed 17 games so far this season. His five-year average was to miss 62 games per year. Pray for his soul – he was batting .278 with 14 homers and had a shot for a decent season.

Game 1
POR: 2B Spencer – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – LF Kopp – C Delgado – 3B Nunley – SS Stalker – RF Alfaro – P Gutierrez
SFB: RF R. Gomez – 3B Booker – CF D. Garcia – 1B Metzger – 2B Gilbert – LF R. Allen – C O'Dell – SS Pick – P Simmons

Despite runners in scoring position and nobody out, the Coons scored only once in the first inning. Following Jarod Spencer's leadoff triple and Abel Mora walking and stealing second base, Jon Gonzalez struck out, Terry Kopp hit a sac fly, and Tony Delgado was retired on a foul pop. Spencer drove in two in the following inning, doubling into the gap in left-center to collect Stalker and Alfaro for a quick 3-0 lead, but Gutierrez sure looked like he needed the extra comfort. The Bayhawks didn't score off him early, which was quite a bit the park's fault and also Abel Mora covering several acres in centerfield to rob them of several extra-base hits. San Francisco had two singles between the first three innings, and two more in the fourth inning. With Jon Gilbert and Roger Allen were aboard with two outs (although Dave Garcia had singled to begin the inning, being forced out in the progress of the inning), Brett O'Dell sent another deep drive to the far remotes of centerfield, and Abel Mora would have that one, too. Garcia had two aboard with two outs in the fifth, but Rafael Gomez and Jaden Booker would also be denied crossing home plate, being sent back to their dugout by Nunley's quick paws and a laser throw to first base to beat Garcia by a step.

And here were all those Bayhawks, who had Gutierrez on the brink of collapsing, and they just couldn't get the ball to fall in or – better – get the **** outta here, and then came Jarod Spencer with one out in the seventh inning, ripped away at some junk by Simmons, and hurled it over the fence in leftfield. The opposing team was just as stunned as Spencer's team was, while wee Jarod was circling the bases, now a single shy of the cycle. Befuddled, Simmons coughed up another walk, two singles, and two runs to the middle of the order before fellow left-hander Fernando Cruz restored order, now in a 5-0 game. The bottom 7th saw the Bayhawks actually with an extra-base hit off Rico Gutierrez – 27-year-old Jon Nieto hit a double to right … in his first career at-bat. So, that was a thing… Following Rafael Gomez' RBI single, Gutierrez was hauled in, with Ryan Corkum taking over and getting out of the inning before the Bayhawks got any closer. The Raccoons failed to score in the eighth, with Spencer's grounder up the middle viciously intercepted and taken for an out by Pat Pick, denying Spencer his probably only shot at a cycle. O'Dell and Jon Gonzalez traded solo shots in the bottom 8th and top 9th, bringing the Coons into the bottom 9th with a 4-run lead, and thus not to Jonathan Snyder. Instead, Brett Lillis appeared, walking the left-hander Victor Sarabia to begin the inning, and then fell 3-0 to Gomez before the rightfielder imprudently poked and grounded to Tim Stalker. The Coons only got the force on Sarabia on the play, but they got the double play on the next, Jaden Booker's grounder to the mound. 6-2 Raccoons. Spencer 3-5, HR, 3B, 2B, 3 RBI; Gonzalez 2-5, HR, RBI; Nunley 2-3, BB; Alfaro 2-3, BB; Bullock 1-1; Gutierrez 6.1 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, W (12-4);

With this W, the Coons were back at .500 and had won three in a row, but were still roughly a handful away from the division leaders.

Game 2
POR: CF Mora – 2B Walter – 3B Nunley – 1B Gonzalez – RF Kopp – C Tovias – SS Stalker – LF Carmona – P Sander
SFB: 3B Booker – C O'Dell – CF D. Garcia – RF R. Gomez – 1B Metzger – LF R. Allen – 2B Gilbert – SS Pick – P Cervantes

Offense was slow to begin with, as the Coons had only one base hit in the first three innings, while the Bayhawks had three, including singles by Cervantes (…) and O'Dell in the bottom 3rd. Jack Sander, the genius, balked them into scoring position as he faced Dave Garcia with two outs, who thankfully grounded out to a competent defender – Stalker in this case – to end the inning. The game's first run wasn't scored until the fourth, Terry Kopp hitting a double past Garcia, then scoring on Elias Tovias' single to center. Tovias' 2-out clutch hit was just what the guy needed in a prolonged slump!

Cookie Carmona's prolonged slump was now roughly 16 months old, but he occasionally would do something good still, like lining lowly to center in lead off the fifth. Dave Garcia tried he had that one cover, but didn't quite, and instead of playing it safe he managed to play it into Cookie's 105th career triple, 18th on the all-time list. Jack Sander blooped a single into shallow left to plate him, 2-0, making him responsible for half the team's RBI, but through five the opposing pitcher would also be responsible for half his team's hits, landing another single off Sander, upping the Bayhawks' total to four. Getting more offense out of the Raccoons was hard here, as they hit into double plays in the fifth and sixth innings, and Tim Stalker got on, but was caught stealing in the seventh, which was also the inning that saw Austin Metzger cut the lead in half with a solo jack to right. That was still more or less the only hard ball ever hit off Sander in the game. He lasted eight innings in the 2-1 contest, until Omar Alfaro hit for him in the ninth inning. This saw the maybe-still-future of the franchise up against left-hander Danny Munos with two outs, with Elias Tovias and PH Jarod Spencer having singled. Alfaro hit away at a 3-1 pitch, hit it a ton, deep to right, but … ah, deep right in Portland would have long run out when Rafael Gomez caught up with the ball. Alfaro was retired, and the inning was over. Snyder had no cushion in the bottom of the inning, but retired the middle of the order on two grounders and K to the evil Metzger to give the Coons a winning record again. 2-1 Furballs! Kopp 2-4, 2B; Tovias 2-4, RBI; Spencer (PH) 1-1; Sander 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, W (7-5) and 1-3, RBI;

Game 3
POR: 2B Walter – SS Stalker – 3B Nunley – 1B Gonzalez – CF Kopp – C Tovias – RF Alfaro – LF Carmona – P Delgadillo
SFB: 3B Booker – C O'Dell – CF D. Garcia – RF R. Gomez – 1B Metzger – 2B Gilbert – LF A. Alvarez – SS Pick – P Durr

San Francisco struck first in this one, plating a run on hits by Booker and Garcia in the first. The Raccoons were still hitless when they had the bases loaded with nobody out in the third inning. After retiring six straight to begin the ballgame, Denzel Durr had walked both Alfaro and Cookie, firing only one strike between them, and then Jaden Booker tried to be cocky and take Delgadillo's bunt to third base for a forceout, but got beaten to the bag by Alfaro. This loaded the bags for Shane Walter, who rammed an innocent 2-1 pitch to right and through between Gilbert and Metzger to turn the score into the same, 2-1, with Alfaro and Cookie both scoring on the play. Stalker grounded into a force at second, but the bases were refilled when Nunley walked, just in time for the middle of the order to work some magic. Boy, that would have been nice. Both Gonzalez and Tovias hit deep drives to right. Both were denied by Gomez controlling all of the territory out there that – I heard – had been designated another 800 square mile national park while the Coons had been in town. Gonzalez' was worth a sac fly, but Tovias' was nothing, coming after Terry Kopp's 2-out walk had refilled the bases.

The Bayhawks were more efficient with their runners, and then again, they weren't. They would out-hit the Coons 5-1 through three innings, but trail 3-2. They had two hits in the bottom 3rd, with Garcia chipping in an RBI double, seemingly determined to not let the Coons get away with a series sweep. The Coons also didn't overdo it on the base hits, keeping limited to their one Walter single for a while longer, while Durr hit a leadoff single in the bottom 5th, but eventually O'Dell hit into a double play to help Delgadillo push through that inconvenient development. He didn't get through Metzger in the sixth, though. With two outs, Metzger butchered* a fastball and tied the game on a home run to right, the score now even at three.

The bases would be loaded again in the eighth inning, and again the Raccoons offered the minimum amount of base hits, a 1-out Gonzalez double into right-center, followed by an intentional walk to Kopp, and then Manny Sosa's not-so-intentional walk to Tovias. That put Alfaro into the spotlight – and it was more exploiting the weak infield defense by the Bayhawks then anything else, but he got an RBI single into rightfield as everybody shuffled on 90 feet with the go-ahead run scoring. Cookie blooped another RBI single, 5-3, and here was a terrific spot to send Abel Mora to interrupt his lazy off day to do some harm in Delgadillo's spot. Harm he did more to his own team by striking out, and Walter popped out, keeping the gap at two runs, which was not a problem for Corkum, who kept the Baybirds to seven pitches and no runners in the bottom 8th. They would amount to nine pitches from Snyder in the ninth, but were retired nevertheless in order. 5-3 Raccoons. Alfaro 1-2, 2 BB, RBI; Delgadillo 7.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, W (8-6);

That was it for July, which the Raccoons ended at 16-10, and in pursuit of the Crusaders and Titans. There were no further moves to report for this team. Adding Corkum, Snyder, Kopp, and technically Sander had to suffice.

We won the season series from the Bayhawks, 8-1, which is the first time we dropped only one against them since 2018, and the first time of going 8-1 against any CL South team since 2019, when we held the Knights to a token triumph.

I think you will notice that both those seasons saw the Coons win the division. Just sayin'.

Raccoons (55-53) vs. Canadiens (45-61) – August 1-4, 2024

Sixth in runs scored, second from the bottom in runs allowed, and definitely at the very bottom in charme and appeal, the Elks still held a 4-3 edge against Portland this season, which was something that urgently had to be rectified. You had to get them early though – while their rotation was running an ERA of 4.82, worst in the CL, their pen was actually rather solid with a 3.42 ERA, fourth in the CL.

Projected matchups:
Jesus Chavez (6-11, 3.89 ERA) vs. Mario Aragon (3-8, 5.23 ERA)
Mark Roberts (7-7, 3.34 ERA) vs. TBD
Rico Gutierrez (12-4, 2.83 ERA) vs. Mo Robinson (8-10, 4.43 ERA)
Jack Sander (7-5, 3.93 ERA) vs. Greg Becker (8-11, 5.39 ERA)

Injuries to Emmanuel Castaneda and Blaine Barnard had left the Elks' rotation a mess, and they would at least start the series with a guy going on short rest. After that, it was anybody's guess. Becker will be a southpaw, and so far I was not seeing another one approaching. Saturday and Sunday would be the regular turn for both Robinson and Becker. They would probably move reliever Andy Purdy (1-0, 3.21 ERA) to the rotation, but he had thrown 32 pitches as recently as Tuesday.

Game 1
VAN: 3B Jon. Morales – 2B Gura – LF A. Torres – CF Coca – RF Chaplin – SS Calfee – C Tanzillo – 1B Hargraves – P Aragon
POR: CF Mora – 2B Spencer – 3B Nunley – 1B Gonzalez – LF Kopp – C Tovias – RF Alfaro – SS Bullock – P Chavez

Conquering the centerfield fence in the second, Terry Kopp became a member of the homered-at-least-once-as-a-Coon club and also put his team ahead 1-0 in the process. There was a run per inning for a bit there, with Gonzalez contributing a sac fly for his 70th RBI in the third, and Aragon plating Tovias with a wild pitch in the fourth inning. There was also some idiocy; Kopp in the third, and Spencer in the fourth both made the final out popping up a 3-0 pitch.

At least Chavez was dealing, until he didn't. He allowed one Elk to reach base in the first four innings, Ted Gura – twice. Gura singled in the first, was hit in the third, never scored, but it was Chavez, so bad things were going to happen eventually. Curtis Hargraves' 1-out single in the fifth was in itself not a huge problem, but the screaming line drive homer that Jonathan Morales blasted into the leftfield stands that actually sent fans scattering and that cut the lead to 3-2, surely was. The Coons would once more get a single run in the fifth, Jon Gonzalez doing the honors with his 22nd roundtripper, while Chavez was on fire after the Morales homer, struck out almost everybody into the seventh, but then walked Chris Tanzillo with one out. Hargraves hit into a force, but with left-hander Elijah Luckett pinch-hitting, the Coons went to the pen. A 4-pitch walk doled out by Kipple put the tying run aboard, and Morales singled off Vince D to load the bases before Gura struck out to strand a full set. The Elks were also in their pen by the seventh, where they sent debutee southpaw Antonio Muniz against the top of the order. Abel Mora hit a leadoff double and Jarod Spencer was walked intentionally to get Nunley to hit into a double play. Matt refused the invitation, singled to right, and now the Coons had three on and nobody out. Gonzalez struck out, Kopp hit into a double play, and there was just no reasoning with these batters, ever… At least the pen held up; Devereaux and Lillis got seven outs between them from eight batters, and that extended the winning streak to six. 4-2 Raccoons. Spencer 2-3, BB; Tovias 2-4; Alfaro 2-4; Chavez 6.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 11 K, W (7-11) and 1-3; Lillis 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K, SV (14);

Game 2
VAN: 3B Jon. Morales – 1B Gura – LF A. Torres – CF Coca – SS Calfee – C Holliman – RF Chaplin – 2B Wise – P Mo Robinson
POR: CF Mora – 2B Spencer – 3B Nunley – 1B Gonzalez – RF Kopp – C Tovias – SS Stalker – LF Carmona – P Roberts

Jonathan Morales dropped a bunt and legged it out to open the game with an infield single, which was such a girlish way to play… He would steal second, but Roberts struck out Gura, Alex Torres, and Tony Coca in order to sit down the stinking Elks in the first. Roberts allowed three hits and struck out four in a laborious first run through the lineup, while the top three in the order ripped three hard balls off Roberts in the third. Morales and Gura were denied, but Torres parked one in the leftfield stands, which was the first run of the game. Jon Gonzalez hit another solo dinger to lead off the bottom 4th to tie the score, but the stuff had now eluded Roberts and the Elks were hitting balls hard. Alex Torres drew a leadoff walk in the sixth, Tony Coca hit a ball hard to center that was caught, and John Calfee hit a ball hard to left that could not be caught by Cookie, because it was eight rows deep and gave the Elks a new 3-1 lead. Torres jacked another home run in the eighth, hitting one off Jimmy Lee in Lee's first and still ill-advised outing of the week that also saw Ryan Holliman blast one outta here with two outs in the inning, moving the Elks four ahead. It took the Coons to the bottom 8th to mount any kind of charge, with Abel Mora drawing a walk from Robinson, who then allowed a single to Spencer. The tying run was still not at the plate, there was one out, and Nunley was up, so this one could be over quickly. Matt knocked one sharply at Morales, who MISSED it, and Nunley had an RBI double off the tarp in foul ground, with Spencer turning third at first before scrambling back because the Elks were well in position to make a play on him at the plate. Jon Gonzalez flew to deep right, but was denied by Mike Chaplin, and the sac fly was no noticeable improvement right now. Kopp also flew out to right, ending the inning.

The Elks loaded the bases against Corkum in the ninth, with Vince D replacing him and Nunley saving Corkum's ERA by barehanding Tony Coca's 1-2 roller in his general direction for a bang-bang third out at first base, but the Coons still needed two runs to tie from the bottom of the order - … well, one after Elias Tovias' leadoff jack against J.R. Hreha, who had a walk issue. While nobody walked in the near future, and Stalker lined out to Morales, the winning run got on base with one out, Hreha hitting Cookie (evoking fierce booing from the stands), and allowing a single to Shane Walter, who had stuck in the #9 hole after pinch-hitting for Roberts earlier. An Abel Mora swipe would be very welcome now, but he bounced back to the mound, with Hreha getting Walter forced out. Omar Alfaro pinch-hit now in the new pitcher's spot, with the tying and winning runs on the corners. The count ran full, Alfaro put one in play to right, Wise lunging, MISSING, and Cookie came in with the tying run!! Loss avoided! Mora went to third on the single, bringing up Nunley, who unfortunately popped out. Bottom 10th, Gonzalez singled to get going, and Tovias walked after Kopp popped out. Daniel Bullock came out to run for Gonzalez now, because he would quite reliably score on a single. This didn't become a thing, though, with both Stalker and Cookie grounding out to first, stranding the runners in scoring position. Bullock was starved at third base again in the 12th, and in between a poor bunt by Brett Lillis, who pitched three scoreless, killed the 11th. For a change, the Elks also left their guy on third base in the 13th, David Kipple allowing a leadoff double to Ehren Wise, who never got around to score as Norman Day grounded out, Morales whiffed, and Ted Gura flew out to Cookie. Kipple gained entry to the Book of Infamy in the 14th inning, allowing a leadoff jack to Alex Torres, which everybody capable of counting to three would recognize as Torres' third homer in the game, and 18th this year. Coons went down in order. 6-5 Canadiens. Alfaro (PH) 1-1, RBI; Gonzalez 3-4, HR, 2 RBI; Tovias 2-5, BB, RBI; Walter 2-4; Lillis 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K;

(pours liquid from a small bottle with a label displaying a skull into a cup)

**** the Elks.

I ain't got more to say.

Saturday brought rain / my tears, and no game could be played in Portland. A double header was scheduled for Sunday.

Game 3
VAN: 3B Jon. Morales – 1B Gura – LF A. Torres – CF Coca – SS Calfee – C Holliman – RF Chaplin – 2B Ra. Mendez – P Purdy
POR: CF Mora – LF Spencer – 2B Walter – 1B Gonzalez – RF Kopp – 3B Nunley – C Tovias – SS Bullock – P Gutierrez

Rico was on a 4-game winning streak and had not been defeated in his last seven outings, and the only time he had faced Vancouver this year had seen the Coons score 17, so there was some hope attached to this start. Trouble thus was guaranteed – in this case Rico Gutierrez lasting two thirds of an inning before leaving the game with a shoulder injury. Shock all around, then Jimmy Lee entered as reliever, cocked up a 2-run homer to his first batter, Coca, which led to more shock all around. The Raccoons were all but doomed.

The bottom of the first saw the bases loaded on a Spencer double, Walter walking, and Gonzalez hitting a single to left, and then they died again. Kopp's grounder to first scored a run; Nunley's fly to right didn't. While the Coons managed to make Lee last through four innings at least, that also gave him ample time to surrender another homer to Raul Mendez. In the fourth (Gonzalez, Kopp) and sixth (Kopp, Nunley) the Coons put two runners aboard, but the never got any of them across, as usual. Nope, it was all going to hell at an accelerated pace. The Elks scored two runs off Devereaux, including a Holliman homer, in Vince's three innings of work, and this was all a terrible waste of perfectly good pitching, as was having them on the Raccoons at all, a team destined to fail and fail and fail and fail and fail even more miserably than ever before. They got two more runs off Kipple in the ninth, one of those unearned because Tovias threw away the ball when John Calfee was trying to steal third base, allowing him easy access to home plate, and the other one a homer by Tony Coca. The Coons had nothing, absolutely nothing, and never again would have anything at all. Andy Purdy, the makeshift spot starter, pitched into the ninth and was only evicted by rain, with the braindead umpires deciding to sit out an hourlong rain delay with one team up by six and the other team obviously slumped over the ropes. 7-1 Canadiens. Spencer 2-4, 2B; Nunley 2-4;

Five pitches. Rico threw five pitches.

Everything is over.

Game 4
VAN: 3B Jon. Morales – 2B Gura – LF A. Torres – CF Coca – RF Chaplin – SS Calfee – C Tanzillo – 1B Hargraves – P Becker
POR: 2B Spencer – SS Stalker – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – C Delgado – 3B Nunley – RF Alfaro – LF Carmona – P Sander

The park as a whole and my eyes in particular were soaking wet, but the night sky was clear and the umpires were insisting on conducting game four, where the Raccoons needed Jack Sander to go at least six innings, else total collapse in the bullpen would doubtlessly occur. Jonathan Morales singled on the very first pitch, Ted Gura homered on a 2-2, and I kinda didn't want to live anymore. The Raccoons had their leadoff men on base in the first and second innings, and grounded into double plays both times, and had another leadoff batter on base in the third in Cookie, and this time Sander popped up a bunt and they kept grounding to short even after that. Speaking of Sander, the miserable cuck, he allowed a leadoff walk to damn Alex Torres in the fourth, got smoked for an RBI triple by Coca, 3-0, and then got two outs from Chaplin and Calfee without Coca getting across, and then BALKED him in, the miserable cuck. Through four innings, the Elks had four base runners, and all four scored.

That wasn't ugly enough of course. Sander dragged his spineless body into the seventh inning, allowing base hits to Chris Tanzillo, Jonathan Morales, and Ted Gura, which extended the lead to 5-0 with runners on the corners and two outs when Sander's 96th pitch rode up and in and drilled Alex Torres in the upper arm. Torres had a hunch where that one was coming from, hurled away bat and helmet and charged the mound with his most fervent "GERONIMOOO" that he could muster. Some good ol' Elk clobbering was just what this team had waited for and the dugouts immediately emptied and all the players ended up in a huge pile in the middle of the diamond in the mother of all brawls. Sander got clocked in the chin at least once, and Matt Nunley sniffed a half-eaten candy bar in Jonathan Morales' back pocket and in trying to claw it out of there, ripped Morales' pants clean off, exposing him in his My Little Pony boxershorts.

When the dust settled, Sander and Torres were both forcefully ejected, Morales was supplied with replacement pants, and the bases were drunk – and so was I – with two outs. Ryan Corkum got Tony Coca to foul out, but that still left the Coons down by five runs, which was two-and-a-half times as many base hits as the Coons had. Gonzalez added a 1-out single to the paltry total in the bottom 7th, and Tony Delgado added another double play. More runners in the bottom 8th, their apparitions looking fleeting and in vain when Terry Kopp batted with two on and one out and popping out to shallow left. Spencer walked to fill the bases for Tim Stalker, who hadn't had a sound hit in a few moons, but here ran into a brain fart of Greg Becker that hung in the middle of the plate and was easily exploited. Deep left, forget it – GRAAAAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMM!!!!

That … still left the team a run short, though. Jonathan Snyder allowed two hits in the ninth, got around those with strikeouts against Day and Coca, but the pen was now mostly deserted except for Lillis, who had thrown three innings in vain on Friday. The Coons had gotten Mora and Delgado aboard in the eighth before Delgado had flown out to left, so it was the 6-7-8 batters up against Hreha now in the ninth. One to tie (please no), two to win (please yes). Nunley hit a leadoff single to left, and Omar Alfaro got clear signs from the dugout that the only valid hit was one over the fence. He flew out to Day in left. Cookie flew out to right. Kopp struck out. 5-4 Canadiens. Gonzalez 2-4;

Now that I am bleeding from the mouth, I wonder if there is any point to consult the Druid or whether it is better to hope that it doesn't stop if unattended.

In other news

August 2 – Thrice is nice: besides Alex Torres in Portland, Boston's Adam Braun (.329, 9 HR, 34 RBI) also knocks three home runs on Friday, sinking the Indians with 6 RBI in a 9-1 rout.
August 2 – SFW C Mike Thompson (.207, 6 HR, 40 RBI) ends the Warriors' home game against the Gold Sox with an 11th-inning walkoff grand slam off Tony Harrell (3-3, 4.30 ERA, 6 SV), giving Sioux Falls an 8-4 win.

Complaints and stuff

I herewith begrudgingly acknowledge that Alex Torres is the third Elk to hit three home runs in one game after Luis Arroyo (1994) and ****ing Ray Gilbert (2016), and none of the other two did it against the Raccoons and NOW I NEVER WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT AGAIN.

The Raccoons are reduced to three starting pitchers with Gutierrez injured and Sander suspended for nine games. Next week we'll have an off day on Thursday, so until then we have Delgadillo, Chavez, and Roberts lined up, but nobody's got much of a clue about who's gonna pitch on the weekend so far, and well, maybe it would be best to dissolve the entire franchise in acid before the weekend even rolls around, or the Titans come to town on Monday.

I still think it was worth it telling Sander to bean Torres. (Did I just admit to that?) The ****ing skunks drilled 11 homers in this ****ing series, and somebody had to take a ****ing stand!

Or we could just try to pitch like actual baseball players.

(sigh)

Now, where is the bottle with that poison again…

Fun Fact: While there have been only 45 instances of a batter hitting three home runs in one game in ABL history, Friday was not the first time that the deed was done twice on the same day. On May 8, 2014, Jamie Wilson of the Warriors and Gil Rockwell of the Knights both went yard thrice.

Wilson's Warriors won, while Rockwell's Knights didn't. The Coons were not involved, but still have been on the receiving end seven times, including three times this decade (MIL Chris LeMoine, 2020 and TIJ Pat Sanford, 2024).

The Rockwell one is especially infuriating even now. Did he ever even hit three in a month in Portland!?

+++

*Metzger means butcher in German, so this was a pun for like two people, including me.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (56-56) vs. Titans (62-51) – August 5-7, 2024

With the season on the line, the Raccoons would face the division-leading Titans for an utmost crucial 3-game set at home, knowing full well that they absolutely had to win the series if they wanted another shot at the playoffs, and all this against a team that Portland was an utterly dismal 15-33 against since the start of the 2022 season. Boston ranked in the top three in the CL in both runs scored and runs allowed, with a +72 run differential (Coons: +25), so there was bound to be an uphill battle.

Projected matchups:
Dan Delgadillo (8-6, 3.60 ERA) vs. Jeremy Waite (7-3, 3.24 ERA)
Jesus Chavez (7-11, 3.83 ERA) vs. Jose Fuentes (3-4, 4.58 ERA)
Mark Roberts (7-7, 3.37 ERA) vs. Chris Klein (11-5, 3.59 ERA)

Keep in mind that these are our only starting pitchers right now with Sander suspended for nine games and Gutierrez unavailable this week with what the Druid called a shoulder subluxation, which was probably something he made up as an excuse so he could get more funds for medical herbs.

We will face three right-handers in the series.

Game 1
BOS: CF Reichardt – C Leonard – RF Braun – SS Jam. Wilson – 2B Kane – LF St. Germaine – 1B Cornejo – 3B Corder – P Waite
POR: CF Mora – 2B Walter – C Tovias – 1B Gonzalez – RF Kopp – 3B Nunley – LF Carmona – SS Stalker – P Delgadillo

Dan Delgadillo frankly got ripped a new bum hole right in the first inning as the Titans ended the Raccoons for once and for all with six base hits, including four doubles, off the hopelessly overmatched Cuban however-old-he-actually-was. Keith Leonard and Adam Braun got the visitors going with a pair of doubles, and they just kept slapping away after that. This came the day after the Raccoons had completely blown out their bullpen in a double header that had required the relievers to spin 10.2 innings, and still Delgadillo managed to make everything worse. Gil Cornejo hit a 2-out double in the third inning, which prompted an intentional walk to Adam Corder. Delgadillo failed to play a Waite grounder into anything, loading the bases with the infield single, then walked in a run by missing generously to Adam Reichardt. Kicked off the mound in a 6-0 game, he was replaced by David Kipple in the mild hope that Kipple could find one out here to at least stop the bleeding, but no, he walked Keith Leonard to push in another run. Braun grounded out, keeping the score at 7-0 when so much more would have been possible for Boston.

There might even have been more possible for the Raccoons, given how Jeremy Waite walked five in seven innings and change, but they never shackled him. They loaded the bases in the third and fifth innings, also with the help of some shoddy Titans defense, and managed to score a gross total of one run between those instances. The Raccoons amounted to a total of four base hits, not quite enough to overcome a first-inning 5-spot. 7-1 Titans. Stalker 0-1, 2 BB; Spencer (PH) 1-1; Corkum 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Well, like for all the things you always delay because they don't fit the schedule, there's always next year for the Coons, I guess.

Game 2
BOS: CF Reichardt – C Leonard – 1B R. Amador – RF Braun – SS R. West – 2B Kane – LF St. Germaine – 3B Corder – P J. Fuentes
POR: CF Mora – 2B Walter – C Tovias – 1B Gonzalez – RF Kopp – 3B Nunley – LF Carmona – SS Stalker – P Chavez

With Chavez there was never any comfort, and this game was no exception. The second inning saw the Titans load the bases with pair of singles by Rhett West and Mike Kane, the former making for third base on the latter's, drawing Terry Kopp's throw, which was late, and also allowed Kane to advance, and a 1-out walk to Corder. Fuentes struck out, but that brought up the personified death himself in Adrian Reichardt, who had been born for no other purpose than to consistently make the Raccoons miserable. He flew out to left, ending the inning and stranding three, but that did not contradict what I just said. The Coons went on to scratch out a clumsy run in the bottom of the inning: Matt Nunley drew a leadoff walk, advanced on a wild pitch, Cookie's groundout, and then scored on Stalker's sac fly to center. The following inning the Raccoons would have two men aboard with one out for Gonzalez and Kopp, which resulted in two pops over the infield and increased agony in my stomach where several ulcers ruptured once Kopp lifted a ball up in an 89 degree angle.

Chavez lumbered on, sprinkling singles along the way until he didn't, getting taken well deep to right by Mike Kane – not a power hitter – in the sixth inning. This was a 2-out solo job, but it still tied the game, with the Raccoons having amounted to no more than two base hits and the Nunley run in five innings against the scuffed Fuentes, who had pitched out of the pen for some of last, and most of this season. Chavez was removed in the seventh after Adam Corder's leadoff single, having reached 107 pitches without achieving anything, and his replacement Jimmy Lee managed to make everything worse, allowing a hard single to PH Matt Owen that sent the go-ahead run to third base with nobody out. Owen was caught stealing during Reichardt's time at bat, but remember what I said earlier about - … exactly, that happened. At 1-2, he lined sharply into the gap, and I don't know whether a 22-year-old Cookie could have caught up with that, but a 32-year-old Cookie totally didn't. RBI double, and the Titans had a 2-1 lead. Rhett West hit a leadoff double off Lillis in the eighth and got around to score, and when Javy Salomon allowed a leadoff single to Abel Mora in the bottom of the eighth, it was only the Raccoons' third base hit in the contest. Way to challenge for the playoffs! The Titans ended up using four relievers in the inning, which also saw Elias Tovias single against Mike Stank, but once more offense died with the 4-5 guys, with Jon Gonzalez flying out to right and Terry Kopp going down on strikes. Those two runners left on base where their last in the game; Edwin Balandran retired Nunley, Cookie, and Stalker in order in the ninth. 3-1 Titans. Tovias 2-3, BB;

It might only be a 3-1 final score, but they out-hit us 13-4, so there wasn't really debate over which team didn't deserve the playoffs anyway.

Game 3
BOS: CF Reichardt – LF M. Owen – RF Braun – 2B R. West – 3B Corder – C Arias – 1B Cornejo – SS Kane – P Klein
POR: CF Mora – C Delgado – 2B Walter – 1B Gonzalez – LF Kopp – 3B Nunley – RF Alfaro – SS Bullock – P Roberts

The Raccoons scored first again, Nunley singling home Terry Kopp after the deadline addition had doubled with absolutely nobody on base in the bottom of the second inning. Roberts struck a batter long before striking a batter out, but for the moment the Raccoons remained in the driver's seat with good D and a few well-placed hits in the fourth inning, which Jon Gonzalez opened with a single to right. Kopp and Nunley made outs before Alfaro doubled up the line, chasing home Gonzalez for a 2-0 lead. Bullock was walked intentionally, but Roberts lobbed a single over the head of Mike Kane to load the bases, after which Mora smacked a ball to left center for a 2-run single, 4-0, and that became 5-0 when Roberts dashed home on Chris Klein's errant pickoff throw to first base that failed to get Mora, but surely got Gil Cornejo. Tony Delgado singled to right, Braun overran the ball, and that was both another error and another run.

While that was a healthy 6-0 lead for Roberts we remained entirely befuddled by his absolute inability to strike out anybody at all in the game. The innings went past, the Titans put their odd runner aboard, actually more or less one per inning, and to no great effect, but Roberts never got anybody punched out through seven, an inning that ended with Reichardt grounding out to second base, Shane Walter to Jon Gonzalez, and then Shane Walter to the trainer's room after rolling his ankle on the play. Jarod Spencer replaced him and hit a leadoff single in the bottom 7th against Brent Beene, but Gonzalez flew out to center and Kopp rolled into a double play to negate any effect of that. Top 8th, West singled with two outs, and after that Corder swung through an actual 0-2 pitch, giving Roberts a K after all, 87 pitches into his effort. He batted for himself, grounding out in the bottom of the inning, then returned to work in the ninth. Alex Arias lined out to Nunley, but Cornejo doubled to right. Kane flew out to left, bringing up PH Trent Herlihy, the third left-handed batter in a row that Roberts wouldn't strike out, but on the other hand he popped the first pitch to Bullock to end the game. 6-0 Raccoons. Spencer 1-1; Alfaro 2-3, 2B, RBI; Bullock 1-2, 2 BB; Roberts 9.0 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K, W (8-7) and 1-3;

Shane Walter was ruled day-to-day by the Druid, but would take two weeks to heal up, which made DL'ing him a no-brainer. No use in a limp middle infielder, especially when we needed a starting pitcher for Friday and I sure tried, but baking myself one didn't work.

With Walter to the DL, the Coons called up Josh Whitaker to make a spot start on Friday down in Sacramento.

Raccoons (57-58) @ Scorpions (75-38) – August 9-11, 2024

No, our chances weren't great against the team that scored the most runs in the majors and was allowing the second-fewest in the Federal League (which was more offense-happy than the CL – always – and thus they had still allowed a few more runs than the Critters at this point), although some of our guys were just taking things too seriously. Before his start on Friday, Josh Whitaker wrote his name on a scrap of paper and stapled it to the inside of his cap, so his body could later be identified and sent to his relatives for ceremonial burial. We had won two out of three from Sacramento, the FL West's serial winners, the last time we had encountered them in 2021.

Projected matchups:
Josh Whitaker (0-3, 3.86 ERA) vs. Michael Foreman (2-10, 3.93 ERA)
Dan Delgadillo (8-7, 3.97 ERA) vs. Ian Rutter (12-2, 3.42 ERA)
Jesus Chavez (7-12, 3.79 ERA) vs. Mario Alva (9-5, 3.58 ERA)

Three more right-handers. And no, Foreman's two wins did not come against the Coons, although he pitched eight shutout innings against them in an eventual 1-0 Loggers win back in May. He actually beat the Indians and Elks before being traded to Sacramento, for whom he had lost in three of four attempts.

Sacramento had won the West five years running and had a damn fine case for making it six in a row this season.

Game 1
POR: CF Mora – 2B Spencer – C Tovias –1B Gonzalez – LF Kopp – 3B Nunley – RF Alfaro – SS Stalker – P Whitaker
SAC: RF P. Sanchez – SS Rock – LF Stross – CF McAllester – 2B J. Castro – 1B Moreira – 3B LaCombe – C Ja. Jackson – P Foreman

Matt Nunley drove in the first run of the game again, and again in the second inning, but this time had to do things all by himself with a solo home run to right, which also got him back into the double-digit dinger club. It didn't help the Raccoons much, since the Scorpions were consistently making hard contact against Whitaker, who allowed a leadoff triple to Justin McAllester to begin the bottom 2nd, and lacked the stuff to keep him aboard. Luis Moreira singled to center to tie the game, and things got worse for the Coons in the third inning. Doug Stross hit a 2-out single against Whitaker, then went for third base when McAllester singled to center. Mora's throw to third base was good and Stross was out to end the inning, but that didn't stop him from throwing all of himself into poor Matt Nunley as he went to tag him. Stross was STILL out, but so was Nunley, who was knocked clear into foul ground but held on to the ball still while being stretchered off. Bullock replaced him, leaving the Raccoons without a spare infielder.

On the pitching side, Whitaker had held up so-so until the fourth, which he started with three 3-ball counts, allowing a single to Jorge Castro and walking Moreira and Jason LaCombe outright to fill the bags with nobody out. All three runners would score thanks to some genuinely stuffless pitching and Jaiden Jackson's run-scoring grounder to Gonzalez as well as RBI singles by Foreman (…) and Trey Rock, who ran a hitting streak to 16 games. Whitaker lasted six innings eventually without spilling another run, although your household 8-5-4-6 play to end the inning as Michael Foreman was caught between bases on Pablo Sanchez' (he of the .406 season) single to center sure helped him out there. He was on a 4-2 hook, the Coons having scored one run on singles by Spencer, Gonzalez, and Bullock in the top 6th, but overall offense remained tough to come by against the heretofore luckless former Critter Foreman. The Coons were going to lose this game, and some more – Abel Mora made a flying catch in deep center in the eighth inning to keep Brett Lillis in shape, but hurt himself in the process as well. He was the third Raccoon carted off the field in ten innings, and they lost their third game in four attempts this week. Joel Davis struck out Zach Graves with the tying runs in scoring position – another ex-Coon to do grim things to them. 4-2 Scorpions. Spencer 2-4; Nunley 1-1, HR, RBI; Stalker 2-4, 2B; Carmona (PH) 1-1, 2B;

…which gives the Coons four dead bodies (Gutierrez, Sander, Nunley, Mora) on the 25-man roster at this point. Mena. MENA!!! I NEED DIAGNOSTICS!!!

Or some herbal tea. – (the Druid bows slightly as he puts down the cup) – Does this have the "little extra" in it? For chilling? – Awesome.

The Raccoons returned chronic loser Josh Whitaker to the minors after the game and instead added a universally useful infielder in Sam Armetta. The 28-year-old had been batting .215 in regular use in St. Petersburg (which was worse than his major league career totals and those were not brilliant, either), but it wasn't like we could make picky-picky, choosy-choosy right now.

Game 2
POR: 2B Spencer – RF Alfaro – C Tovias – 1B Gonzalez – CF Kopp – SS Stalker – LF Carmona – 3B Bullock – P Delgadillo
SAC: RF P. Sanchez – SS Rock – LF Stross – CF McAllester – 1B Moreira – 3B LaCombe – 2B J. Castro – C Ja. Jackson – P Rutter

Neither team scored through three innings, which also added up to Yusneldan Delgadillo allowing no runs in the amount of time he had allowed seven runs in on Monday. This was not supposed to be taken as applause for a strong outing. The Scorpions put many runners on base and stranded plenty. Through four, Delgadillo had a shutout on five base hits, two walks, and three strikeouts, two of the latter to Ian Rutter, each time with two out and two aboard.

The bereft Raccoons struggled throughout, putting up two hits in the first four innings, and then a leadoff single by Terry Kopp in the fifth, but managed to dissolve on a strike-em-out-throw-em-out with Tim Stalker standing by in the batter's box as Rutter aimed for win #13, but hit a bump in the sixth when the Coons got Daniel Bullock aboard with a leadoff single. Abusing his crazy speed they got him to score on a stolen base, Delgadillo's bunt, and then Spencer's rather shallow fly to leftfielder Doug Stross. Bullock was sent anyway and scored only on a poor throw that bounced early, but eh, whatever works. Delgadillo clearly didn't work, giving up the 1-0 lead right away with a leadoff jack by Luis Moreira in the bottom 6th, the 19th for the former Cyclone. LaCombe singled, Delgadillo fumbled Castro's bunt, but Jaiden Jackson hit into a double play and Rutter struck out with the go-ahead run in scoring position and two outs for the third time in the game. While that was the curtain for Delgadillo – we felt that luck had definitely run out now; also 107 pitches – it was hard to blame Rutter for not getting any run across. Rutter, who was 36 and had spent some years with the Titans in the '10s, was a pretty poor batter even for a pitcher, with a .155 career clip, which was significantly less than his 235 career wins. The 236th would not materialize; Rutter went eight, but the team couldn't get another run across. Joel Davis replaced him in the ninth after his 4-hit, 1-run effort, allowed a single to leadoff man Jarod Spencer, who was then caught stealing by Jaiden Jackson.

Vince D and David Kipple somehow wobbled through three singles in the bottom 9th to still get the game to extra innings, Nunley-killer Doug Stross popping out in foul ground to strand runners on the corners. Ben Marx pitched around a Stalker single in the 10th, then allowed another single to Bullock to begin the 11th. Kipple bunted him to second base as we were quite visibly playing for one run. The Scorpions called for Jarod Spencer to be intentionally walked, bringing up Alfaro, who walked unintentionally to present Elias Tovias with the sacks laden. Elias grounded poorly near the third base line, Jake Barlow hustling in, but having no play whatsoever as Bullock scored the tie-breaking run. Gonzalez struck out, but Kopp hit an RBI single, followed by Stalker hitting one up the leftfield line for a 2-run double. Rich Hewitt replaced the luckless Marx, who had a few years ago single-handedly robbed his Capitals of a World Series title, and Cookie grounded to second base, Castro to Moreira … eh, over Moreira's head. The ball went into the dugout, and two runs scored on the error. Bullock, who had started the inning, ended the 6-run outburst with a groundout, and after that Ryan Corkum threw only seven pitches to retire the Scorpions. 7-1 Furballs. Kopp 2-5, RBI; Stalker 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Bullock 2-5; Kipple 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, W (3-4);

Still no injury news by Sunday, but I would find out that the Druid had also nipped from the chill tea and had snoozed all through Saturday.

Great stuff.

That tea, I mean.

Game 3
POR: 2B Spencer – RF Alfaro – C Tovias – 1B Gonzalez – CF Kopp – LF Graves – SS Bullock – 3B Armetta – P Chavez
SAC: RF P. Sanchez – SS Rock – LF Stross – CF McAllester – 1B Moreira – 3B LaCombe – 2B J. Castro – C Ja. Jackson – P Alva

Spencer singled, stole, and scored in the course of the Raccoons' 3-run first inning, with Alfaro (single), Gonzalez (double), and Graves (single) also chipping in base hits. Tovias plated Spencer with a sac fly, and the other RBIs were on Jon and Zack. While a 3-0 lead was daft, this was Chavez pitching, and there were no words to adequately describe him. You'd get what you expected, most of the time, and I always expected the worst.

The worst arrived in the third inning already as the Scorpions rallied to erase the entire 3-run lead with four base hits by Jackson (single), Rock (single), Stross (double), and McAllester (triple). There was also a balk hidden in between, but it didn't figure in the final, dismal result, a 3-3 score after as many innings. Moreira struck out swinging to keep the go-ahead run on base. Chavez didn't live for much longer, clogging the bases in the fifth with a Sanchez single, Rock double, and one into Stross' ribs. Brotman came on with three aboard, one out, and McAllester hungry like the wolf, WHIFFED him, and then walked in the go-ahead run against Moreira anyway. LaCombe popped out, but the Coons were now down 4-3… briefly. Tovias jocked a leadoff homer off Alva in the sixth, levelling the playing field again, at least until a full and complete bullpen collapse in the bottom of the inning. Jimmy Lee faced five Scorpions, retired one, with Trey Rock delivering a go-ahead 2-run double. Kipple replaced Lee, walked Stross, walked McAllester with the bases loaded, and then was sunk by Luis Moreira's grand slam. With that 7-spot, the Scorpions turned the game into a bit of a rout.

But don't go away yet, because it could STILL GET WORSE. Armetta popped out to start the seventh, after which Cookie appeared in the #9 hole after entering in the previous half-inning's double switch exchanging one cannon fodder pitcher for another. Cookie lined into the rightfield corner for a triple, then limped straight into the dugout with a hammy issue. The Coons – out of outfielders – moved Spencer to left, with Stalker running for Cookie, scoring on Spencer's sac fly. The Scorpions answered with three runs in the bottom 7th, two of those on Kipple thanks to two leadoff walks, and Vince D allowed a double to Trey Rock and a single to McAllester. Two runs fell out of Ben Marx in the top of the eighth, and one out of Jonathan Snyder in the bottom of the eighth. Technically, Snyder was our closer, but actually this team had no use for one. 15-7 Scorpions. Spencer 2-4, RBI; Tovias 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Gonzalez 2-4, 2 2B, RBI; Carmona (PH) 1-1, 3B;

In other news

August 6 – The Condors' recent addition Shane Sanks (.194, 4 HR, 39 RBI) will miss at least one month with a broken foot.
August 7 – 39-year-old TOP SP Ernest Green (11-8, 5.38 ERA) sometimes still has it; the left-hander shuts out the Miners on two hits in a 3-0 Buffaloes win.
August 7 – NAS MR Jay Schimek (1-2, 2.76 ERA) comes into the 13th inning with three Cyclones on base and one out and throws only one pitch to finish the game – a wild one that scores R.J. DeWeese (.333, 0 HR, 2 RBI) from third base to give the Cyclones a 4-3 walkoff win.
August 9 – DEN OF Ramon Luna (.216, 2 HR, 8 RBI) hits a leadoff double in the first inning against the Titans. It will remain the Gold Sox' only base hit in a 6-0 loss to BOS SP Dustin Wingo (13-9, 3.36 ERA) and MR Julio San Pedro (3-9, 4.52 ERA).
August 9 – VAN MR Brandon Smith (3-3, 3.32 ERA) drills SAL C Danny Rice (.261, 1 HR, 11 RBI) with the bases loaded to walk off the Wolves, 5-4, in the tenth inning of a Pacific Northwest interleague encounter.
August 10 – SAL SP Jorge Beltran (12-5, 2.22 ERA) 2-hits the Canadiens in a 6-0 shutout.
August 10 – CIN 1B/3B Eddie Moreno (.322, 18 HR, 93 RBI) will be out for the month with plantar fasciitis.
August 11 – The eventful Canadiens-Wolves series concludes with Vancouver rallying for six in the eighth inning to secure a 12-11 win that also features a brawl and several ejections.

Complaints and stuff

In a rash of injuries, the Coons can still find bright spots. At least ****ing up the Titans series didn't cost them the season – even if they had swept Boston, three guys from the starting lineup going down within ten innings surely would have did them in.

So it's the damn baseball gods' fault again and not mine at all! Can't plan ahead for acts of gods – my paws are clean! (holds up paws) … except for the chocolate specks but someone left donuts out there and STOP JUDGING ME!!

Also, injuries, yeah. At the end of the week, there's still no news on Nunley or Mora, which is so not awesome. However, we have Monday off, which means we can get by without another starting pitcher until the weekend, so Sam Armetta can stay on the roster. Gutierrez could go as early as Monday, I have heard, but we will not skip Roberts on Tuesday, either, so it's Roberts and Rico to start the Rebels series, and then probably Yusneldan on Thursday, which should also be the last day of Jack Sander's suspension, so he can slide in behind Delgadillo.

Fun Fact: No ABL team has ever won their division six years in a row.

The list with 5-times-straight winners includes, besides the 2019-23 Scorpions, the 2001-05 Titans, the 2006-10 Cyclones, and the 1990-94 Capitals.

[Westheim]

The Raccoons – shredded by injuries – had Monday off and used it to make extensive roster realignments. Between Cookie, Mora, and Nunley, we had two DL assignments, and astonishingly it wasn't Cookie who went on the DL. Our rapidly deteriorating Panamanian coulda-been-Hall-of-Famer had a mild hamstring strain that would probably keep him to an assignment as onlooker against the Rebels that were coming to town, but he was available to pinch-hit. He might take the field again as early as the weekend.

No such luck for Nunley (hamstring) and Mora (high ankle sprain), both of whom went to the disabled list. Mora would be out for the rest of the month, but Nunley might even be back as quickly as at the end of the 15-day DL stint, which meant within 12 days as of Monday.

The Raccoons called up Justin Gerace and Mike Grigsby to replace their fallen starters, both of whom had already been up here briefly this year, had made anything but an impact, and also both had indifferent AAA seasons.

Raccoons (58-60) vs. Rebels (59-58) – August 13-15, 2024

Thoroughly middling, the Rebels were seventh in runs scored and fifth in runs allowed in the Federal League with a nondescript +3 run differential. They didn't stand out in any one important measure, except in stolen bases, where they ranked near the bottom of the league. The Raccoons had won the last two series against the Rebels in 2021 and 2022, but they still had their worst overall winning percentage of all clubs against these Rebels, at .444.

Projected matchups:
Mark Roberts (8-7, 3.18 ERA) vs. Todd Wood (5-12, 4.03 ERA)
Rico Gutierrez (12-5, 2.88 ERA) vs. Diego Mendoza jr. (8-8, 4.30 ERA)
Dan Delgadillo (8-7, 3.87 ERA) vs. Alex Quintero (6-7, 3.81 ERA)

Quintero is their only left-handed batter, but there was also the possibility for them to utilize their off day and get right-hander Rich Guerrero (11-9, 4.20 ERA) into the series.

Like the Coons, the Rebels had a flurry of injuries, and exclusively to position players, including more than a standard roster's worth of middle infielders, including Ricky Luna (undiagnosed), Jorge Zamora (wrist), Manny Bozan (back), Emilio Farias (intercostal), and Josh Downing (knee).

Game 1
RIC: RF Dalton – 3B A. Alvarez – LF Correa – 1B Meade – CF Duarte – C Leal – 2B M. Reyes – SS Pelles – P Wood
POR: 2B Spencer – SS Stalker – C Tovias – 1B Gonzalez – CF Kopp – LF Graves – RF Alfaro – 3B Grigsby – P Roberts

Yup, that lineup contained quite a few former Raccoons we did not like to remember unless absolutely necessary with Alex Duarte and Ruben Pelles, as well as genuine outfielder Marty Reyes (of the Knights most notably) being pressed into service in the infield. Duarte was up to bat with two outs in the first, and two outs in the second, which already hinted at things going ABSOLUTELY AMAZING for Mark Roberts, the legendary disappointment of a pseudo-ace. Duarte flew out in the first, but drove in two in the second, running the score to 5-0, all runs having been plated with two outs in the second inning on a chain of 2-out singles that had infuriatingly started with Todd Wood and one man aboard. Dan Dalton hit an RBI single. Adrian Alvarez hit an RBI single. Jon Correa hit an RBI single. Ray Meade – for a change – walked. And then Duarte knocked in two, alas, 5-0. Tim Stalker got hold of Armando Leal's grounder to finally end the dismal inning of doom. How on earth did Rabid Roberts intend to ever make up for this kind of shenanigan!? Bottom 2nd, the oft-battered Wood allowed Graves, Alfaro, and Grigsby all aboard with nobody out, pulling up the Coons' starting pitcher, and hitting for him sure was tempting, but our bench was mostly composed of Laurel & Hardy types by now… as was the actual lineup. One of those was Roberts, batting .234 to challenge certain established position players. Wood hung a 2-1 breaking ball to him and Roberts got it, driving it to deep right center and THE **** OUTTA HERE!! – GRAAAAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMM!!!

Okay, can we get serious now? In all seriousness, Roberts hit a ****ing slam, but also was ****ing toast by the fourth inning. Ray Meade hit a 2-run homer off him, extending a previously rapidly reduced Rebels lead to 7-4, and after that he went on to allow a single to Duarte and drilled Leal. Ryan Corkum worked his way out of that mess. Wood also wouldn't live forever (and who wanted that even…?), putting Spencer and Stalker aboard in the sixth inning, with both of them driven in by Elias Tovias' double to left, which closed the gap to 7-6, and the tying run in scoring position with one out for a struggling butcher boy corps in Gonzalez, whom reliever Alex Silva got to ground out to Marty Reyes, and Kopp, who also found Reyes for the third out.

Silva got out of the sixth-inning jam, but not out of the seventh-inning jam. Alfaro walked, scored on Grigsby's double to tie, and then Spencer hit a 2-out RBI single to zoom ahead, 8-7. After Stalker grounded out, the Coons had just enough juice left in the pen to line up Lillis and Snyder to nurse that late lead into a W – unless Lillis and Snyder would manage to screw up. It sure wasn't Lillis for once, who retired Pelles, Andres Castro, and Dalton in order, but Snyder, who got nothing else to work with, surrendered a leadoff jack to Alvarez in the ninth, which excruciatingly was also Alvarez' first home run of the season in some 200 attempts. Bottom 9th, an aged Ian Van Meter tried to extend the game to extras, but allowed a leadoff double to Zach Graves. Van Meter had been removed from the rotation at the beginning of the month after being a mainstay in the Rebels' five-up-five-down for 11 1/2 years. The Coons loaded the bases with an intentional walk to Alfaro and – after Grigsby whiffed – Gerace reaching on an error by Ray Meade. Spencer up with one out, and casually batting .360 by now, popped out… but just before I could ram a knife into my neck Van Meter issued ball four to Tim Stalker to end the game anyway. 9-8 Coons. Spencer 2-5, BB, RBI; Stalker 2-5, BB, RBI; Tovias 4-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Graves 3-5, 2B; Grigsby 2-5, 2B, RBI; Carmona (PH) 1-1, 2B; Lee 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

The beleaguered Jimmy Lee would have gotten the W for his very relieving outing if Snyder hadn't fudged up the earlier 8-7 lead.

Game 2
RIC: RF Dalton – 3B A. Alvarez – LF Correa – 1B Meade – CF Duarte – C Leal – 2B M. Reyes – SS Pelles – P D. Mendoza jr.
POR: 2B Spencer – SS Stalker – C Tovias – 1B Gonzalez – RF Kopp – CF Alfaro – 3B Grigsby – LF Gerace – P Gutierrez

In terms of quirkiness, both teams in this contest had an error on their ledgers before anybody landed a base hit. Gutierrez mishandled an Alvarez grounder for an error after already hitting Dan Dalton, but wiggled out of the first inning with the help of a double play, while Alvarez then dropped a foul pop by Tim Stalker, who ended up grounding out regardless. Elias Tovias then hit a 2-out double, but was stranded when Gonzalez walked and Kopp whiffed. It took three more innings for anybody to break into the R column on the board, and then it was Kopp crossing the plate. Forcing out Gonzalez – who had walked – in the bottom 4th he then made it to third on a botched 1-out hit-and-run with Alfaro at the plate, on which Leal's throw zipped past Pelles' glove, and Alfaro flew out to center on the following pitch and deep enough for Kopp to score on the sac fly.

The night after a 17-run game, scoring was in short supply in this middle game, with the Coons lame in the paws and Gutierrez not exactly dominating, but reliably trudging through the innings without letting anything spiral out of control. Through six, he had only two strikeouts, but was still tossing a 3-hit shutout. The Raccoons also only had three base hits through six, with Tovias' double in the bottom 6th not being turned into a permanent addition to the 1-0 lead by either Gonzalez or Kopp, which was too frequent an observation right now to make one comfortable. Gutierrez got irretrievably stuck in the eighth inning, allowing a 1-out single to Dalton, and then walking Alvarez. Vince D was thrown into the game to rescue what was still eligible for rescue, whiffed Jon Correa, then got Ray Meade – a genuine danger – to ground out to short, keeping the 1-0 in shape. The 1-0 was off to Snyder after that, and this time he wouldn't encounter feared sluggers like puny Adrian Alvarez and retired the Rebels in order. 1-0 Coons! Tovias 3-4, 2 2B; Alfaro 0-1, BB, RBI; Gutierrez 7.1 IP, 4 H, 0 2 BB, 2 K, W (13-5);

This was quite the squeezer, but gee, we'll sure take anything as long as theoretical hopes still exist, seven games behind the Titans as of Wednesday night.

The Rebels got more bad news on Thursday, with Ricky Luna (.265, 2 HR, 16 RBI) being revealed to have ruptured a medial collateral ligament (whatever the heck that was) and being out well into next season.

Game 3
RIC: RF Dalton – 3B A. Alvarez – LF Correa – 1B Meade – CF Duarte – C Leal – 2B Pelles – SS Cameron – P Quintero
POR: 2B Spencer – SS Stalker – C Delgado – 1B Gonzalez – CF Kopp – 3B Grigsby – RF Alfaro – LF Gerace – P Delgadillo

Further aiding me in questioning my every move and decision was Ruben Pelles' 2-run homer in the second inning that put the Rebels ahead against Delgadillo, who was not exactly tricking anybody in this game, and was considerably less fortunate than Gutierrez had been the day before. The Coons made up a run in the bottom of the same inning on Alfaro's 2-out RBI single. Top 4th, Meade hit a leadoff double and was brought around on two groundouts to score, extending the lead to 3-1, but the Coons had the bases full and nobody out in the bottom of that inning against Quintero, who walked Kopp and Grigsby before allowing a soft single to Alfaro. This brought up Gerace, batting 2-for-23 in his career and zip since being recalled. He didn't get much chance to harm his own team; Quintero's first pitch to him was very much wild, plated Kopp, and after that the Rebels chose to walk Gerace intentionally to bring up the pitcher. Unfortunately for them, Delgadillo bounced a ball past the debutee Joe Cameron, the 24-year-old replacement for the umpteenth middle infielder succumbed to injury for the Rebels. Annoyingly, the Portland top of the order more or less instantly killed a potentially huge inning. While the Raccoons took the 4-3 lead on Jarod Spencer's run-scoring double play grounder, Stalker's grounder already ended the inning.

Delgadillo got three quick outs in the fifth, but the sixth was a tougher chew for him. Correa singled, Meade walked, putting the go-ahead run aboard with nobody out. Alex Duarte was primed for trouble and drove a ball to left center, but Gerace was useful in D at least and caught up with the rocket, preventing Correa from going further than third base on the tag. Leal also flew to left, Gerace made another catch, and Correa tagged again to go for home, but was thrown out thanks to Gerace's lightning strike, ending the sixth. On to the bottom 7th, Stalker and Kopp were on the corners against Dan Lambert, the former Indians starter. With an insurance run probably a strong idea, the Coons sent Zach Graves to bat for Grigsby against the right-hander, and that move paid off with a hard single to right that allowed Stalker to score that vaunted insurance run. Alfaro then fouled out. Delgadillo struck out Dalton and Alvarez in the eighth, but then walked Correa, bringing up Meade as the tying run, which also meant that the call went to the pen. Vince D lost Meade on balls, then K'ed Duarte, bailing another starter out of the eighth inning in this series. The Coons wouldn't score in the bottom 8th despite Gerace's first base hit since returning, and Corkum came into the ninth inning with the 5-3 lead in deference to Snyder's long and ultimately unsuccessful outing on Tuesday before his crisper performance on Wednesday. And – heck – Corkum was a closer, too! And he also retired the side in order! 5-3 Furballs! Kopp 3-3, BB; Graves (PH) 1-1, RBI; Alfaro 2-4, RBI; Delgadillo 7.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, W (9-7) and 1-1, 2 BB, RBI;

A sweep! Just when we were on the brink of elimination.

Well, with the next team up, we are surely still on it.

Raccoons (61-60) vs. Crusaders (65-56) – August 16-18, 2024

This series was beyond crucial. It was so beyond crucial, there were no words for it, and this was without the Crusaders even leading the division. They were 2 1/2 behind the Titans, but the Coons couldn't afford to fall further behind either of those teams. They HAD TO WIN this series, ****ing up a 6-game winning streak for New York in the process. The Crusaders were seventh in runs scored, first in runs allowed, with a top 3 rotation and the best bullpen in the land. The Coons were 4-7 against them in '24.

Projected matchups:
Jack Sander (7-6, 4.09 ERA) vs. Alejandro Mendez (8-8, 3.97 ERA)
Jesus Chavez (7-12, 3.93 ERA) vs. Ben Jacobson (6-4, 3.69 ERA)
Mark Roberts (8-7, 3.49 ERA) vs. Ozzie Pereira (10-9, 3.58 ERA)

No injuries for New York, and Jacobson is their only left-handed starter.

Game 1
NYC: 1B X. Garcia – CF Douglas – RF Ellis – 3B Schmit – C A. Gonzales – 2B Oosterom – LF Loya – SS Doering – P A. Mendez
POR: 2B Spencer – C Tovias – RF Kopp – 1B Gonzalez – CF Alfaro – 3B Grigsby – SS Bullock – LF Gerace – P Sander

On his first day of eligibility since being ejected and suspended for going after Alex Torres, Jack Sander had two aboard in the first, got around that, and then had two more aboard in the second, and straight collapsed. Xavier Garcia hit a 2-out RBI double, and Lance Douglas hit a 2-run single to give New York an early 3-0 edge that was only bound to get bigger. Sander continued to wheeze from the blowhole, allowing hard base hits to Andy Schmit, Alfonso Gonzales, and Piet Oosterom to begin the third. The Dutch Antillean shortstop, displaced to the keystone, already drove in New York's fourth run, and more scored on Blake Doering's groundout and "Ant" Mendez' 2-run single to right. That made for a 6-0 game, which was a bit of a death penalty for any lofty ambition a .500 team in the middle of August might have.

Sander being **** was one thing, but there was also the issue with Kopp and Gonzalez being entirely anemic at this point. Spencer doubled, Tovias singled, putting runners on the corners with nobody out in the bottom 3rd. Between Kopp and Gonzalez, the Raccoons amounted to two pops over the infield and no runs scored, and hanging any kind of hope on Alfaro by now was just another undue case of animal cruelty, because of course he was striking out. Sander got bopped from the game in the fourth, allowing a double to Lance Douglas and an RBI single to Schmit, falling behind 7-0 in the process. There was just no way for the Raccoons to make up this kind of deficit against "Ant" Mendez, always a tough customer, given their haphazard ensemblage of has-beens, never-have-beens, underdone demi-prospects, and plain ol' replacement level garbage. Mendez went into the ninth before running out of steam there, spilling nine mostly mild base hits and one wee run along the way. 7-1 Crusaders. Spencer 2-5, 2B; Tovias 2-4; Gerace 1-2; Stalker (PH) 1-1; Lillis 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

Game 2
NYC: 1B X. Garcia – CF Douglas – RF Ellis – 3B Schmit – C A. Gonzales – 2B Oosterom – LF Loya – SS Doering – P Jacobson
POR: 2B Spencer – SS Stalker – C Tovias – 1B Gonzalez – CF Kopp – 3B Grigsby – RF Alfaro – LF Gerace – P Chavez

Chavez managed to cock up a run right away, fumbling Xavier Garcia's grounder for an error. Garcia stole his 36th base and scored on Douglas' sharp single to center. Nate Ellis also singled, there was a passed ball, and that led to a second run on Alfonso Gonzales' groundout. Ellis homered his next time around, a leadoff jack in the third after the Crusaders somehow hadn't exploited getting two leadoff walks from a completely unwatchable Chavez in the second inning. Chavez, after the Ellis homer, walked Gonzales, allowed a single to Oosterom, and after an intentional walk to Blake Doering got to face the pitcher with two outs and the bases loaded. Jacobson grounded the first pitch back to the mound, Chavez fell over that one, too, and the Crusaders added a run on the "infield single", because even the Raccoons' official scorer was too embarrassed to give Chavez the second error that he clearly deserved just as much as being eviscerated and hung from the highest gallows atop the ballpark. Xavier Garcia struck out in a full count with the runners in motion, making a bit of a mental error and flailing while also being already in motion to first base, which didn't add up to great – or any – contact at all.

The Raccoons rallied in the bottom 3rd, though, completely erasing the 4-0 deficit. Jarod Spencer led off with a triple and scored when Tim Stalker snuck a single past Doering up the middle. Tovias went deep right away, reducing Jacobson's edge to 4-3, and then Kopp singled with one out, advanced on Grigsby's groundout, and was doubled in by Alfaro with a long lampoon to center that evaded Lance Douglas by a few feet as he dashed backwards. Gerace didn't get a chance, with Chavez flying out to right to end the inning, now in a 4-4 contest; it was a tie he'd better protect! Ah, who am I even kidding… of course he didn't. Ellis belched a homer right in the fourth, which was his 23rd for the year, tying up with Jon Gonzalez, who hadn't hit a dinger since the invention of movable type. Alfonso Gonzales also went yard in the same inning, with Elias Tovias banging a drive outta leftfield in the bottom 4th. All three shots in the inning were of the solo variety, putting New York 6-5 ahead.

Ricky Loya's leadoff triple in the fifth obviously led to another run, 7-5 as Doering got him across with a sac fly, and Chavez was removed soon after to be prepared for a public drawing and quartering during the seventh-inning stretch. The score remained the same by then, but Jacobson, somehow still allowed to fudge along, allowed singles to Tovias, Gonzalez, and Kopp to begin the bottom 7th. With the game utterly on the line, the Coons hit for the 1-for-17 right-hander Grigsby and sent Cookie, giving up their advantage in handedness over Jacobson, who lost Cookie on a walk to push across a run. That was the last guy that Jacobson faced; Jon Ozier replaced him to see after Alfaro, who lined out softly to first base, after which Graves batted for Gerace and singled to right to tie the game! Ellis' arm kept Kopp decent at third base, with Daniel Bullock hitting for Jimmy Lee now, a sign of a depleted team running out of players. Bullock grabbed the lead in the inning by flying out to left, quite deep, and Loya got nothing on the throw as Kopp scored, followed by Spencer's RBI single. Stalker flew out to Ellis. That gave Portland a 9-7 lead as well as incoming heartbreak. Spencer threw away a Garcia grounder in the eighth, with Billy Brotman going on to walk Ellis and allow an RBI single up the middle to Schmit with two outs. That brought up the right-handed part of the lineup and an early move to Snyder for a 4-out save, please. Gonzales grounded the 1-2 to Bullock, who had remained in the game at third base, and zinged to first on not one, but two bounces, and nobody quite knew how Jon Gonzalez kept that one from getting away, but he did it, and the inning ended. Ozier remained in for the bottom 8th after getting clobbered in the seventh, allowed a leadoff single to Tovias, a wild pitch, half-hearted walk to Gonzalez, and then a 3-run blast to dead center to Terry Kopp!! OUTTA HERE; OUTTA HERE!! Snyder retired New York in order in the ninth to preserve the W…!! 12-8 Raccoons!! Spencer 2-5, 3B, RBI; Stalker 2-5, RBI; Tovias 4-5, 2 HR, 3 RBI; Gonzalez 2-4, BB; Kopp 3-4, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Carmona (PH) 0-1, BB, RBI; Gerace 0-1, 2 BB; Graves (PH) 1-1, RBI; Snyder 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, SV (18);

Game 3
NYC: 1B X. Garcia – 2B Oosterom – 3B Schmit – RF Ellis – C A. Gonzales – SS Doering – LF Douglas – CF Shaffer – P Pereira
POR: 2B Spencer – C Tovias – CF Kopp – 1B Gonzalez – RF Alfaro – LF Carmona – SS Stalker – 3B Armetta – P Roberts

Another game, another unmitigated first-inning disaster, as the Crusaders also wrecked Roberts for two instant runs. Garcia walked, scored on Piet Oosterom's double to left, and a bloop single by Ellis and a fielding gaffe by Alfaro (once again) moved another run across home plate. The Crusaders swiftly followed that up with a third run in the second inning on doubles by Nick Shaffer (…) and friggin' OZZIE PEREIRA. Roberts continued to be a kid with matches in a dynamite factory, drilling Schmit and walking Ellis in the third, with the defense somehow bailing him out. Cookie made two strong catches in left, but that couldn't mask that he was half of the two Raccoons runners having been caught stealing already in this game (the other being Spencer), or in other words – all their runners had been caught stealing. Their first runner not getting caught stealing was Roberts with a 2-out single in the bottom 3rd, although at this point I would not specifically mind him getting stolen altogether.

By the fourth inning Pereira was on his second base hit, Omar Alfaro on his second occurrence of fielding diarrhea, and these two being in conjunction gave the top of the order a man in scoring position with one out. After the one-hundred-seventeenth mound conference of the game, Roberts beaned Xavier Garcia with a 1-2 pitch, which was the kind of chain of events that made you wish to quit the game once and for all and become a fisherman in Mozambique, a noble dream that was reinforced in the bottom of the inning with Tovias reaching on Garcia's error (sloppy game…), Kopp singling, Pereira balking, and then Jon Gonzalez striking out, bringing up Alfaro, who flew out to center (out #2), with Shaffer gunning down Tovias at home plate (out #3), which also made for as many outs on the base paths made by the Raccoons as the Crusaders had runs in total on the board. … at least until Blake Doering went yard in the fifth.

Down 4-0, Spencer approached the plate with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom 5th. Singles by Cookie and Stalker plus a pinch-walk by Grigsby were crowding Ozzie Pereira. Spencer rammed a ball into the left-center gap, missed by inches by Douglas, and Jarod came up with a bases-clearing double, which made Tovias, on some kind of hot streak, the go-ahead run. Elias turned an 0-2 pitch into an RBI double past the reach of Nate Ellis, and the perversion of the day would be Jon Gonzalez' 2-out RBI single up the middle, which theoretically put Mark Roberts in line for the victory, assuming the Coons could find another four innings from a bullpen that had already tossed like a hundred frames in the week. Turns out, they couldn't, Vince Devereaux tying the score at five with a 2-out, 2-strike wild pitch to Lance Douglas in the seventh, his second inning of work. Restoration to the lead occurred via – whom else? – Elias Tovias in the bottom 7th as he hit a double up the rightfield line with one out that plated Justin Gerace; the undistinguished rookie had opened the inning with a single off Pereira, who now hung in for the loss again.

But not for long. Shaffer dropped a drag bunt to reach base with a leadoff single in the eighth inning against Lillis, who could have used a strikeout, but never got one, and got dipped by Piet Oosterom eventually. The sneaky shortstop hit a line drive double to left to plate the tying run with two outs once again, now evening the teams at six apiece. Spencer tripled off Travis Giordano in the bottom of the ninth, but that one came with two outs and nobody on, and Tovias couldn't get a grounder past Xavier Garcia, sending the Raccoons' ravaged pen to overtime. Ryan Corkum got the tenth and allowed another bunt base hit to Shaffer to lead off. The annoying pest would remove himself from the game, though; as Chris Peters grounded to short for what could be two, Shaffer scrambled and lost his helmet between the bases, then slid into Jarod Spencer's knee head-first. That sure broke up the double play, but also left Shaffer dazed and confused on the ground while Spencer walked off that blow. Also, the Crusaders were out of bench players – pitcher Steve Casey had to man the outfield now as Shaffer was stretchered off the field. There was another pest still in the game though, and that was Oosterom. After Garcia whiffed, Oosterom doubled up the line for his 250th extra-base hit in the series. Peters made for home plate, Alfaro firing a laser beam from the corner – A PERFECT THROW AND THE RUNNER'S OUT AT HOME!! That ended the inning, and the Crusaders had another casualty. Oosterom having hurt himself on the swing. Ace Mike Rutkowski now held a post in the infield for them, giving them three pitchers on defense and in the lineup. COME ON COONS!! COME ON COONS!! Gonzalez drew a 1-out walk from Giordano in the bottom 10th, and Alfaro – our old port in the storm – hit into a double play, very convincingly turned by Rutkowski.

Three shutout innings by Corkum amounted to nothing, though, leading to Snyder entering the game in the 13th and whiffing the top of the order, which included Rutkowski in the #2 hole. Snyder was our last reliever that hadn't already pitched two days in a row (and none of those three guys had enjoyed brief outings, either). Tim Dunn was however discreetly dazzling the Raccoons now and spun three perfect innings from the 11th through the 13th. A double play got Snyder out of trouble in the top 14th, and the bottom 14th finally saw the Coons back aboard. Cookie led off with a single, and Stalker hit another one, which put the winning run on second with nobody out and the pitcher's spot up. We still had one guy on the bench in Graves, but here a bunt looked … well, what was ever promising with this team? Bullock was in the #9 hole, for crying out loud. Snyder dropped down the bunt, NOT a good one, Dunn looking at third, but Cookie was too fast, so he had to whirl back around to first base and fire there, BUT IT'S PAST GARCIA!!! Ball goes into foul ground, Cookie racing around third base, Nate Ellis contains the ball in foul territory, but his throw is WAY TOO LATE, AND THE RACCOONS WALK OFF!!! 7-6 Furballs!! Spencer 3-6, 3B, 2B, 3 RBI; Tovias 2-6, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Carmona 4-6; Stalker 2-5, BB; Grigsby (PH) 0-0, BB; Gerace (PH) 1-1; Corkum 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K; Snyder 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, W (4-2);

****ING HELL YES, **** **** **** **** ****ING HELL YES!!! RACCOONS!!! RACCOOOOOOONSSSS!!!!

In other news

August 12 – NAS OF Juan Espinosa (.291, 5 HR, 46 RBI) hits for the cycle in the Blue Sox' 13-9 defeat at the hands of the Crusaders. The 24-year-old Espinosa goes 4-for-5 with 3 RBI in the game, connecting in the process for the 71st cycle in ABL history, and the eighth by a Blue Sock. It is also the first cycle in over two years, as most recently the Bayhawks' Rafael Gomez cycled in 2022.
August 13 – SAC INF Trey Rock (.298, 1 HR, 49 RBI) runs a hitting streak to 20 games with a 2-for-4 in a 3-1 win over the Thunder.
August 16 – The hitting streak for Sacramento's Trey Rock (.298, 1 HR, 50 RBI) ends after 22 games as the 25-year-old right-handed batter is held dry in a 5-3 Scorpions win over the Stars.
August 16 – Nashville rookie SP Josh Bell (4-2, 3.63 ERA) 3-hits the Rebels in an 8-0 blanking.
August 16 – Four Loggers pitchers combine for a 1-hitter over the Titans. BOS 1B Trent Herlihy (.201, 4 HR, 20 RBI) has a leadoff single off eventual winner SP Morgan Shepherd (6-10, 3.80 ERA) in the fifth inning for the only Boston entry into the H column as Milwaukee claims a 2-1 victory.
August 18 – Legendary Buffaloes SP Ernest Green (12-8, 5.34 ERA), who did the bulk of his work with the Pacifics, notches his 200th career win in a 7-4 victory over the Cyclones. The left-hander took part in all three of the Pacifics' championships in the 2010s and was an All Star five times, overall going 200-144 with a 3.82 ERA and 2,493 strikeouts.
August 18 – TIJ SP Jose Menendez (10-12, 3.48 ERA) whitewashes the Bayhawks in a 6-0 shutout. Rookie SFB SS/3B Tom Hawkins (.231, 2 HR, 13 RBI) has the Bayhawks' only hit, a pinch-hit single in place of starter Bobby Guerrero (1-11, 5.94 ERA) in the sixth inning.
August 18 – Torn ankle ligaments end the season of SAL CF Ben Adams (.261, 11 HR, 69 RBI).

Complaints and stuff

We saw some horrendous pitching, some real rallies, and somehow a winning week in the last seven days, even though the Raccoons were originally bound to lose plenty. Early-inning cockups by starting pitchers have been a major bane again recently, and besides Gutierrez and Delgadillo we only got lopsided trailing out of any of our starters.

We also saw Elias Tovias being named Player of the Week, going 15-24 (.625) with 2 HR and 7 RBI – you just couldn't get him out this week!

Despite being over .500 by merely a token amount, the Raccoons remain valid in the playoff race, though! This wretched crew is still only 6 1/2 games out!

I also need a new desk because after that glorious walkoff throwing error we just witnessed I think I broke mine with euphoric fist banging. I need to ask Steve from Accounting whether that is in the budget.

Also of note is Rico Gutierrez who went into the eighth in a shutout on Wednesday and lowered his ERA to 2.74 in the process. Since Luis Flores of the Condors suffered his fourth average to oh-dear start in a row this week, allowing four runs in seven innings to the Bayhawks on Friday (and going 1-3 in the stretch), Flores has now slid behind Gutierrez, who takes over the lead in the ERA race!

Next week, Loggers and Falcons, which has the potential to keep adding a few more wins.

Fun Fact: The sweep over the Rebels elevated the Raccoons to a .470 all-time clip in the regular season against them, moving the Rebels out of the bottom spot in the table. The Raccoons are now worst against the Gold Sox (.467).

The Rebels had been the team we had the worst record against all the way since 1978, when we were swept in a series by them. We didn't play them in '77, so the first team that graced the bottom of the list for us were the Bayhawks, who raked the Coons nine-for-nine in '77. The Coons did not get swept by any Federal League team that year.

[Westheim]

Service announcements

I have a new laptop on order which should arrive in ten to fourteen days. Once that thing arrives, the Coons will go on a brief hiatus until I get everything moved and set up how I need it. Should stuff get delayed (I know a story or two from ordering my mean PC plaything two winters ago) the Coons will go on hiatus after the 2024 playoffs, unless there's no end in sight...

+++

Also, the Raccoons turn six years old today, having been crudely born on May 20, 2012. There's some cake, but we will graciously accept presents to make life a bit easier.

Like, a useful pitcher or two...

[Westheim]

Raccoons (63-61) vs. Loggers (60-64) – August 19-21, 2024

This was an important 3-game set, and the Raccoons might want to finally beat the Loggers, actually. This season had seen the Loggers claim victory in eight out of a dozen games played against Portland, and there was no way we would make the playoffs by not pouncing on the Loggers like the Raccoons usually only pounced on a mixed bowl of fruit and chocolates. Milwaukee ranked third from the bottom in runs scored and fifth from the top in runs allowed. They actually had the best rotation by ERA with a strong 3.36 mark.

Projected matchups:
Rico Gutierrez (13-5, 2.74 ERA) vs. Ian Prevost (12-7, 3.32 ERA)
Dan Delgadillo (9-7, 3.86 ERA) vs. Jorge Villalobos (9-6, 2.96 ERA)
Jack Sander (7-7, 4.48 ERA) vs. Morgan Shepherd (6-10, 3.80 ERA)

Only right-handed offerings from Milwaukee.

Game 1
MIL: 2B Mancia – 1B Jaeger – CF Coleman – RF Gore – SS Tadlock – C Wool – LF Berntson – 3B A. Velez – P Prevost
POR: 2B Spencer – C Tovias – CF Kopp – 1B Gonzalez – RF Alfaro – LF Carmona – SS Stalker – 3B Grigsby – P Gutierrez

Astonishingly, the Raccoons found ways to further reduce their lineup through injuries. Spencer led off the Coons' half of the first inning with a single, then made for third when Terry Kopp singled to center. On sliding into the bag, Spencer jammed his ankle and had to be helped as he gingerly pawed off the field. Armetta replaced him and scored on Jon Gonzalez' sac fly for the first run of the game, and the only one in the first inning. Bottom 2nd, the bases were loaded with no outs with two singles and a walk, but that brought up Rico, batting a strong .089. Ian Prevost spread him on his toast, but after that strikeout he lost Sam Armetta to a full-count walk, pushing in the Coons' second run. Tovias (sac fly), Kopp (single), Gonzalez (single) all brought in an additional run, after which Alfaro grounded out to Danny Mancia. But with a 5-0 lead and their recently strong left-hander on the mound, the Coons felt rather comfortable. Rico allowed two base hits early on, but retired 11 in a row at one point, moving clean into the sixth when he walked Dan March, pinch-hitter for Prevost, who had not allowed another run after the 4-run second inning. Mancia hit a fly to deep right, but into an out, and Kevin Jaeger lined one to the right side, but Jon Gonzalez lunged and caught it. While the Raccoons had gone to bed altogether already, the Loggers got Alberto Velez aboard with a 2-out single in the eighth. Nick Gilmor batted for reliever David Warn, hit a 3-2 to deep left, but again the outfield stood in the way of the Loggers getting one across against Gutierrez, who remained on shutout course. He struck out Mancia to begin the ninth, but then hit Jaeger with his 100th pitch. Ian Coleman grounded to left, but the Coons only got the lead runner, bringing up Brad Gore, who was a left-hander and was going to be Gutierrez' last batter. This count also ran full, then bounced up the middle. Armetta stretched the paw to contain the ball, flung it to first, and Gore was out on a bang-bang play. 5-0 Raccoons! Kopp 4-4, 2B, RBI; Gonzalez 2-3, 2 RBI; Stalker 2-4; Gutierrez 9.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K, W (14-5);

The shutout also helps to reset the bullpen that had gotten flogged considerably – if not necessarily by runs, then by innings pitched – all of last week.

Oh if only there wasn't the blemish of Spencer jamming his ankle. The Druid adjudged him to be day-to-day and recommended to stay away from him for the rest of the series. And somehow we are really, really out of leadoff batters now…

Game 2
MIL: 2B Mancia – 1B Jaeger – CF Coleman – RF Gore – SS Tadlock – C Wool – 3B A. Velez – LF de Santiago – P Villalobos
POR: LF Graves – 2B Stalker – CF Kopp – 1B Gonzalez – RF Alfaro – C Delgado – SS Bullock – 3B Grigsby – P Delgadillo

No shutout on Tuesday – the Loggers had three singles in the first inning, and while Mancia was caught stealing in between, Delgadillo balked in a run with two outs. Graves hit a ball hard in the bottom 1st, but flew out to Brad Gore anyway. The Loggers had five base hits by the time the Coons got their first, a leadoff double to right by Mike Grigsby in the third inning. Graves this time singled hard to left on an 0-2 pitch, with Grigsby scoring on the play to tie the game, but the Loggers would get their own leadoff double at their next opportunity, Brad Gore doing the honors, and brought him around to score for a new 2-1 lead.

It took until the sixth for the Raccoons to get back on base. While the defense had held on for Delgadillo in the meantime, Graves and Stalker with singles became the tying and go-ahead runs – and that with nobody out. Say anything you want about our flurry of injuries, but nominally the middle of the order was still intact, even though it hadn't exactly made pitchers cry in recent times. This was no exception. Kopp almost legged out a grounder to third … almost. Velez retired him by a whisker, but at least the runners advanced, which gave them a better gander at Gonzalez striking out and then Alfaro's flyout to Carlos de Santiago. Nope, Delgadillo would be taken off the hook by Mike Grigsby in the seventh, smacking his first career dinger over the leftfield fence with two outs to get us even at two. Lillis nursed the Coons through the top half of the eighth, and then the bottom half began like the sixth inning: Graves singled, Stalker singled. Ah, here comes the middle of the order. I really wished we could find some Eddie Jackson type of player up here to pinch-hit and double in the go-ahead run. No Eddie Jackson was available, and as things were, Kopp flew out to left, Gonzalez flew out to right, and Alfaro grounded out to the ****ing pitcher. Vince D and Kipple held the Loggers to a single in the ninth, and Brian Gilbert replaced Villalobos for the bottom of the ninth. Tony Delgado took the second pitch of the inning into the gap for a leadoff TRIPLE, and NOW we were talking! One silly fly ball wins the game! Tovias batted for Bullock, grounded to Dan March, but with the infield in there was no way to send Delgado – he'd be dead 30 feet from home. Grigsby was walked intentionally, after which Spencer went to bat in the pitcher's spot. He didn't have to run that much – just hit where they ain't to get Delgado in. Or hit it where they are. His fly to left was caught by Jon Berntson, Delgado got the go signal, and beat the throw by two steps. It's a walkoff!! 3-2 Coons!! Graves 3-4, RBI; Stalker 3-4; Grigsby 2-3, BB, HR, 2B, RBI; Delgadillo 7.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K;

Winning seven of their last eight moved the Raccoons back to within five games of the Titans.

Game 3
MIL: 2B Mancia – 1B Jaeger – CF Coleman – RF Gore – SS Tadlock – 3B A. Velez – C W. Jones – LF de Santiago – P Shepherd
POR: RF Graves – C Tovias – CF Kopp – 1B Gonzalez – SS Stalker – LF Carmona – 3B Grigsby – 2B Armetta – P Sander

The top of the first yielded another 1-0 lead for the Loggers thanks to base hits by all of their first three batters. Ron Tadlock hit into a double play with runners on the corners, ending the inning, and probably sparing Sander a couple more runs thanks to Grigsby's nifty grip. The Raccoons amounted to only one base hit the first time through the order. Cookie hit a single, then was caught stealing. Tovias singled in the bottom of the fourth, Kopp drew a walk, and after that the middle of the order turned into a bit of nothing again, with Gonzalez flying out in shallow regions, and Stalker hit into a double play.

After the offense came part, pitching and defense followed suit in the sixth. Sander struck out Jaeger, his sixth victim, to begin the inning, but then walked Ian Coleman on four pitches. He balked the runner to second, allowing him to score on Brad Gore's double to center. Tadlock grounded to short, but Stalker threw away the ball and that runners was waved around, too, 3-0. Meanwhile, the Raccoons just couldn't get on base against Shepherd, at least until Jon Gonzalez drew a 1-out walk in the seventh. Stalker singled to right, sending Gonzalez to third base, and if there was more than two home runs across some 450 at-bats this year lurking in the next three spots, I would feel quite comfortable about the tying run coming up. Oh, well, maybe we could take this bit by bit. Cookie hit a looper near the rightfield line that fell in. Brad Gore didn't take the best route, leaving Cookie with an RBI double, and now the tying runs were in scoring position for Grigsby, who grounded to short for the second run and second out. Desperate, we sent Delgado to bat for Armetta, but he whiffed, leaving Cookie on.

Sander retired one batter to begin the eighth, after which we went to Billy Brotman. Gore hit a double, but Tadlock struck out. To the bottom of the inning, the Coons once more put two men to begin the inning. Justin Gerace walked in the #9 hole, and then Graves singled. The Loggers stuck with Shepherd, who got Tovias to ground out to Mancia; the runners advanced. Shepherd lost Terry Kopp to a walk, bringing up Jon Gonzalez' 23 home runs, none in the last 19 days. The park was booming. I was about to suffocate. And then – without throwing a pitch – Shepherd balked. A BALK WAS CALLED – the tying run came home! This changed the Loggers' plan, with Gonzalez being intentionally walked and Mike Kress replacing the canned Shepherd with three on and one out against Tim Stalker. The count ran full, then Stalker dug out ball four and lobbed it to right. Gore came on a few steps, had it, and Graves was sent. Not necessarily fast, Graves barely beat out the throw, and that was the go-ahead run! Cookie grounded out, bringing Snyder into the save situation in the ninth. Jon Berntson hit a 1-out triple, Carlos de Santiago hit a home run, and the Raccoons were in for a soul-crushing loss. Not so easily, though – they would make it tense. Grigsby led off the bottom 9th with a single off Brian Gilbert, becoming the tying run, at least until Bullock grounded to short. Tadlock got the lead runner, but not the batter. Omar Alfaro hit for the unreliable Snyder – have we ever had a great closer since Angel Casas? – and popped a 3-1 pitch to second base, causing me more heart arrhythmia. When Mancia dropped the ball, stupidly, I saw black spots; also, the winning run aboard for Graves, who walked, and then Tovias, who batted with the bases choked. Another full count, this one being put in play at 3-2, Tovias grounding up the middle. Mancia had no time for too and fired home in despair, nipping Bullock. Kopp came up with two outs and three different batters aboard, and flew out to Coleman. 5-4 Loggers. Carmona 2-4, 2B, RBI;

If I had a sword, I'd dig in the handle on the infield and throw myself into the blade, right now.

Raccoons (65-62) @ Falcons (57-69) – August 23-25, 2024

The Coons had won four of six games from the Falcons so far this year. They were fifth in the South and had been out of the running for a while, with Ryan Corkum having been acquired from them in July. They were seventh in runs scored, tenth in runs allowed, with their rotation and bullpen both in the bottom three in the CL.

Projected matchups:
Jesus Chavez (7-12, 4.09 ERA) vs. Kyle Anderson (6-17, 4.64 ERA)
Mark Roberts (8-7, 3.60 ERA) vs. Doug Moffatt (12-9, 3.79 ERA)
Rico Gutierrez (14-5, 2.58 ERA) vs. J.J. Rodd (4-8, 6.62 ERA)

Both teams had enjoyed a day off on Thursday, so there was a chance for them to skip their only left-handed starter, Rodd, to bring in Justin Fleming (8-7, 3.39 ERA) instead.

The Raccoons made a roster move, sending Sam Armetta (.077, 0 HR, 1 RBI) back to St. Petersburg as they activated Shane Walter from the DL.

Game 1
POR: 2B Spencer – 3B Walter – C Tovias – 1B Gonzalez – CF Kopp – SS Stalker – RF Alfaro – LF Carmona – P Chavez
CHA: SS Bowman – CF Erskine – 1B Fowlkes – LF Kok – 3B Czachor – 2B Good – RF McClenon – C Mattaliano – P K. Anderson

Walter came back with a bomb, putting the Raccoons 1-0 ahead in the first inning after a blast over the fence in right. The lead was not permanent, with Pat Fowlkes hitting one over the wall in left in the bottom of the inning. It was the second homer this year for Walter, the tenth for Fowlkes, and both were usually good for more. Both teams were fuzzy; Matt Good made the first out of the second inning on a single, trying to get an extra 90 feet, but was denied by a strong and accurate throw coming from Alfaro. The Raccoons sprayed a few singles, as usual made nothing of them, and Good made good in the fourth inning with a solo homer to right, giving Charlotte a 2-1 lead.

Portland had two more singles in the right via Spencer and Walter. The former was caught stealing before Walter hit his single, and we never amounted to as much as second base in the inning. The Falcons also had two singles in the bottom 5th, but didn't pretend to be mentally challenged that badly. Paul Mattaliano led off with a single, was bunted over, advanced on Sean Bowman's groundout, and then scored on Chris Erskine's 2-out single, 3-1. On to the sixth, where three base hits plated a run for the Raccoons. Gonzalez doubled, and with two down Alfaro and Cookie both singled, and we were needing runs badly enough that Chavez was batted for right here with two on and two outs, Graves grabbing a stick. Kyle Anderson's clumsiness came to the Coons' aid – he threw wildly to center attempting to pick Alfaro off second base, advancing the runners and allowing Zach Graves to drive in both runners with a single to right. The score was flipped, but the Coons couldn't hold on. Billy Brotman walked Ryan Czachor on four pitches with one out in the bottom 6th, allowed a single to Good, and then threw away Mattaliano's 2-out grounder to plate the tying run.

Even at four, both starters out of the game, the Raccoons faced right-hander Marcus Garner in the seventh and reclaimed a 5-4 lead. Jon Gonzalez was the hero, hitting a homer to left, his first whammy in three weeks. Well, maybe the pen can hold on to this one! Vince D had a clean seventh, Brett Lillis a not-so-clean eighth, but the 5-4 lead held on until it could be handed to Snyder in the ninth, with the 8-9-1 batters up. Two singles brought up Pat Fowlkes with two outs. For a moment we had a flash of replacing Snyder with Ryan Corkum, but that was probably the wrong move. If the Falcons knew about the antics of one of our relievers, it was definitely Corkum. When Fowlkes looked at strike three, for once we had done everything right. 5-4 Raccoons. Walter 2-5, HR, RBI; Gonzalez 3-4, HR, 2B, RBI; Alfaro 2-4, RBI; Graves (PH) 1-1, 2 RBI;

Game 2
POR: 2B Spencer – 3B Walter – C Tovias – 1B Gonzalez – CF Kopp – SS Stalker – RF Alfaro – LF Gerace – P Roberts
CHA: SS Bowman – 3B Czachor – LF Kok – 1B Fowlkes – 2B Good – RF Benson – C J. White – CF McClenon – P Moffatt

Terry Kopp dropping Pat Fowlkes' flyball in the bottom of the fourth inning gave the Falcons runners on second and third with one out in the scoreless game. Mark Roberts hadn't allowed much so far (and Doug Moffatt even less), but now was in trouble. Matt Good cracked a first pitch hard to right and was close to two RBI until Jon Gonzalez threw himself into the bouncer's way. The runners, started, hastily returned to their bases and Gonzalez scrambled to first base to remove Good for the second out. Next was Travis Benson, .287 with 15 homers from the left side, and then the skeleton of Jamal White, batting .171 with one homer from the right side. If Roberts were a righty, Benson would be put on intentionally, but he wasn't, so Benson was pitched to. When the 2-2 pitch was put in play and whizzed past a diving Spencer's glove into rightfield to score a pair, once again we hadn't done anything right. Although, sometimes, it doesn't matter which way you turn – you get ****ed anyway. White cranked a 2-1 pitch for half a mile, putting the Falcons 4-0 ahead. All runs were unearned, which was such a consolation.

Top 5th, Justin Gerace opened with a single to center. Roberts bunted, Good threw it poorly and got nobody, so maybe the Raccoons had an unearned rally in them, too. The Coons plated two in the inning, which was a start, but ultimately the groundouts of Spencer and Walter hadn't been very helpful in getting something going. Walter plated one run, and Tovias' 2-out single plated another, but things stopped with Gonzalez once again, and before they got any better, they got worse, with Mark Roberts being tagged for three more base hits and another run in the sixth inning, which he didn't finish either. Jimmy Lee pitched in the seventh, but he also didn't get his assignment done, retiring two batters before leaving with an injury. The Druid would later diagnose him with a mild shoulder strain, rendering him inoperable for a week. Also inoperable: the Coons against Moffatt, who lasted eight innings and didn't allow an earned run. Elijah Taylor in the ninth was not so lucky, despite him retiring the first two batters, Stalker and Alfaro. After that he allowed base hits to two pinch-hitters, Grigsby, who singled, and Delgado, who doubled him in. It was not enough, though. Jarod Spencer grounded to short, and that was the ballgame. 5-3 Falcons. Tovias 3-4, RBI; Grigsby (PH) 1-1; Delgado (PH) 1-1, 2B;

No roster movement regarding Jimmy Lee as of now. We have four more games until an off day on Thursday, and he might be able to come back by the following weekend.

Meanwhile, J.J. Rodd was indeed skipped; we'd see Fleming on Sunday.

Game 3
POR: LF Spencer – 2B Walter – C Tovias – 1B Gonzalez – CF Kopp – SS Stalker – RF Carmona – 3B Grigsby – P Gutierrez
CHA: SS Bowman – 3B Czachor – LF Kok – 1B Fowlkes – 2B Good – RF Benson – C J. White – CF McClenon – P Fleming

For a change, the Raccoons scored first; Shane Walter hit a single past Fowlkes in the first, and Tovias worked a walk that the Falcons were not entirely happy about, and even more so once Jon Gonzalez lined up the leftfield line, past Barend Kok, and into the corner to plate both runners with a double. Shane Walter collided with Ryan Czachor at second base in the bottom of the inning; Czachor tried to break up the double play that Kok was about to ground into, but broke up Walter just as well. Walter left the game, Spencer moved in from left, and Zach Graves entered the game in the #2 hole. Once we were done picking up individual bones around second base, Pat Fowlkes took Rico Gutierrez deep, erasing the 2-0 lead wholly and fully.

The recently excellent Rico Gutierrez was anything but; he walked three in the third, and while Barend Kok hit into a double play in between allowed 2-out RBI singles to Good and Benson. Jamal White popped out and Gutierrez would get through the middle innings unharmed, but without even as much as a spark of excellence, striking out nobody. The Raccoons struck out in bushels against Fleming, not amounting to anything much of a threat. Their season slithered away in a bullpen meltdown in the seventh inning that featured Devereaux and Lillis, five base hits, a walk, and three ostensibly fatal runs. Gerace batted for Lillis to begin the eighth and reached on Fowlkes' error. Spencer singled off Garner, as did Graves, driving in Gerace, 7-3. Tovias grounded out before the Falcons went to right-hander George Barnett, who got Gonzalez to hit a sac fly. Two down, Terry Kopp walked, and Tim Stalker hit an RBI double, 7-5. Oh god, you teases! Cookie Carmona flew to center, Joseph McClenon misjudged the ball and turned it into a 2-run double, and we were tied! Oh dear, what a rally! Spencer singled in the ninth, but was left on when Joel O'Brien struck out both Graves and Tovias, but maybe we could get this thing into the win column in extra innings!

There were no extra innings. There was just Tim Stalker flubbing Fowlkes' grounder to begin the bottom of the ninth. There was Ryan Corkum hanging a breaking ball. And there was Matt Good murdering the Raccoons with a walkoff homer. 9-7 Falcons. Spencer 2-5; Walter 1-1;

In other news

August 21 – A 9-run fourth inning secures a sizable lead for the Crusaders in their 13-2 clubbing of the Indians. NYC RF/LF Nate Ellis (.249, 24 HR, 90 RBI) has four hits with a home run and 4 RBI in the game. IND LF/CF Danny Morales (.284, 9 HR, 38 RBI) also has four base hits and 2 RBI, or more than the rest of his team combined.
August 22 – TOP 3B Pat Green (.263, 5 HR, 29 RBI) has four base hits and as many RBI in the Buffaloes' 17-1 mangling of the Blue Sox.
August 22 – RIC SP Alex Quintero (6-9, 4.05 ERA) is done for the year with a ruptured finger tendon.
August 24 – In a 1-0 Aces win, LVA SP Chris Wickham (10-7, 3.03 ERA) and LVA CL Harry Merwin (3-4, 3.16 ERA, 28 SV) spin a combined 1-hitter over the Indians, who only amount to a fourth-inning single by 3B Justin Jackson (.216, 1 HR, 24 RBI).

Complaints and stuff

And this quickly five games out turn back into seven-and-a-half games out, with five weeks to play, and still for all intents and purposes a .500 team that wasn't getting out of its own way. How can this team even be rock bottom in the Continental League in home runs? We were supposed to be back on the horse with the offense, with Gonzalez and Alfaro and Tovias and some contribution coming from Nunley and Walter and Stalker!

Coulda, woulda, shoulda.

Shoulda sold at the deadline. Like there was any fixing this mangled mess. And that was a mangled mess even before half the lineup moved to the DL, so that can't be a valid excuse either.

Monday saw Rico Gutierrez' second career shutout – both have come against the Loggers, and only a month and a day apart. He allowed six hits in the July shutout, but just like on Monday then had two walks and six strikeouts on his ledger.

There is not only a flurry of injuries in the majors for the Raccoons, but also in the minors. By the middle of the week we had 13 players on various DL's, with more of them day-to-day with various ailments. Things have gotten so bad that we moved Juan Magallanes, the Colombian kid from the Jewish New York high school, to St. Petersburg this week just to fill out the ranks. We still had plenty of pitchers – but we were seriously running out of position players by now.

Next week it's the Aces and Elks, but in all honesty I don't think there's much value in holding out on booking an October vacation anymore. Go see the sun! It never ****ing shines up here.

Fun Fact: Friday, the Stars were the first team to be eliminated from playoff contention. It was the 16th straight year that they didn't make the playoffs.

Only four teams had longer playoff droughts than the Stars, who had most recently won their division in 2008: the Indians (2006), Wolves (2004), Buffaloes (2004), and Gold Sox (2003);

[Westheim]

Raccoons (66-64) @ Aces (69-61) – August 26-28, 2024

Both teams were trundling out of the playoff chase slowly but surely, with the Coons 7 1/2 games out, one more than the Aces. The Aces certainly had the offense for the playoffs – they led the Continental League in runs scored – but decidedly lacked the pitching necessary, sitting ninth in runs allowed. The season series was level at three and the Coons had to take the series to win the season series for the third year in a row.

Projected matchups:
Dan Delgadillo (9-7, 3.80 ERA) vs. Abramo Archibugi (7-8, 4.58 ERA)
Jack Sander (7-7, 4.43 ERA) vs. Brian Leser (9-12, 5.66 ERA)
Jesus Chavez (7-12, 4.14 ERA) vs. Samuel McMullen (10-9, 3.88 ERA)

In Archibugi and McMullen we would meet two of their three southpaws, with the right-hander Leser mixed in between.

Game 1
POR: 2B Spencer – SS Stalker – CF Kopp – 1B Gonzalez – RF Alfaro – C Delgado – 3B Grigsby – LF Gerace – P Delgadillo
LVA: SS A. Medina – 2B Maldonado – LF Dally – RF C. Martinez – 3B I. Alvarez – C J. Vargas – 1B Retzer – CF Raynor – P Archibugi

Maddeningly, the Raccoons loaded the bases with singles by Spencer and Stalker, a mild error by Cesar Martinez weaved into that to move them into scoring position, and Terry Kopp walked onto the open base. Three on and none out, the Raccoons' Jon Gonzalez, Omar Alfaro, and Tony Delgado struck out, struck out, and … struck out. The Raccoons, dazed and confused and at least two of them wandering around the field with their heads entangled in their underpants, would be subject to straight retirement by Archibugi for quite a bit after the Kopp walk, while the Aces, who irritatingly had the CL home run leader bat eighth, but then again had reliable power throughout the lineup, were sat down by Delgadillo in the first three innings, but tagged him good in the fourth. Justin Dally singled, Cesar Martinez hit an RBI double, and Izzy Alvarez landed an RBI single to give them a 2-0 lead.

Archibugi – which is an amazing name, you gotta admit, livened up additionally by the Abramo first name – retired 13 straight until Justin Gerace reached on an infield single in the fifth. Nothing much came of that, although the sixth saw the Raccoons get aboard again with Kopp's 1-out single, and Omar Alfaro for once didn't choke with two outs at the plate and doubled into the gap to bring in the Coons' first run. Jon Gonzalez choked with the tying run (Spencer) on second and two outs in the top of the eighth, fouling out to Allen Retzer. Delgadillo remained on the 2-1 hook, only to have that become a 3-1 hook in the bottom 8th. Raul Maldonado's 1-out single knocked Yusneldan from the game, after which David Kipple appeared and didn't do a whole lot to re-endear himself. Cesar Martinez singled home Maldonado with two outs, which was all the more frustrating given Omar Alfaro's leadoff jack against Harry Merwin in the ninth inning. That one could have tied the game. It didn't. Merwin allowed a pinch-hit single to Elias Tovias with two outs, but Zach Graves, batting for Kipple, popped out to Maldonado. 3-2 Aces. Spener 2-4; Alfaro 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Tovias (PH) 1-1;

By Tuesday, the Raccoons sent Shane Walter back to the disabled list, less than a week after retrieving him from there. Walter was not seriously hurt, but would be out for another two weeks with a sprained thumb. In one swoop, Matt Nunley was activated from the DL at the same time.

Game 2
POR: 2B Spencer – C Tovias – CF Kopp – 1B Gonzalez – RF Alfaro – 3B Nunley – SS Stalker – LF Carmona – P Sander
LVA: SS A. Medina – 2B Maldonado – LF Dally – RF C. Martinez – 3B I. Alvarez – C J. Vargas – 1B Retzer – CF Raynor – P Leser

Slowly but surely it would dawn on me why I had found Jack Sander on waivers by the Cyclones. This was another more or less terrible start from him, although the scoreboard wouldn't let you suspect that at first hunch. Through three innings, Sander actually had the lone RBI in the 1-0 contest, grounding out to allow Cookie Carmona – who tripled again – to score from third base in the third inning. The Aces did not score in the early innings – despite five base hits and three free passes doled out by the meandering Sander. Terry Kopp threw out Maldonado at home at one point. Stalker spun a marvelous double play and made another flying grab near second base. It was THAT kind of shutout.

There'd be no RBI for the Raccoons' second run in the game. Alfaro, who had just forced out Jon Gonzalez (leadoff single) with a grounder, went hard to third base on Matt Nunley's single to right. Martinez fired to third wildly, with Izzy Alvarez having to chase down the ball in foul ground, allowing every runner to scoot up another 90 feet as Alfaro scored and Nunley reached scoring position, where he would set up his camp for the winter. Stalker popped out, Cookie was walked intentionally, and Sander popped out as well. Speaking of Sander, he expended 89 pitches on a 5-frame shutout, allowing five hits, six walks, and whiffing but one. There was another double play in the fifth to save his lousy bacon. Nobody reached in the next innings against Vince D (four outs) and Lillis (four more outs)… at least until Izzy Alvarez' 2-run bomb off Lillis, who also allowed a looping double to Jose Vargas right after that. Ryan Corkum brilliantly walked Allen Retzer on four pitches, then proceeded to exploit Cookie's fragile skeleton as the 32-year-old has-been collected Ron Raynor's deep drive near the fence to keep the fragile 2-1 lead in shape.

Which was obviously the point where the Raccoons caught fire and plated four on the unassuming Leser in the ninth inning, and that was while making two outs to begin the inning. Then an unretired Cookie singled, as did Graves, batting for Corkum. Spencer singled to load the bases. Tovias singled past Retzer to plate two, Kopp was nailed, and Gonzalez singled through Alvarez to plate another two. Rodney Hintze then finally replaced Leser and struck out Alfaro to end the inning. Billy Brotman did away with the Aces in the bottom of the inning. 6-1 Coons. Spencer 2-6; Tovias 2-5, 2 RBI; Gonzalez 2-5, 2 RBI; Carmona 3-3, BB, 3B; Graves (PH) 1-1;

Alfaro, a day after being the sole cog turning in whatever machine we were trying to assemble with all the loose pieces, went 0-for-5 with 2 K. These were the team's only two strikeouts.

Game 3
POR: 2B Spencer – C Tovias – CF Kopp – 1B Gonzalez – RF Alfaro – SS Stalker – 3B Grigsby – LF Carmona – P Chavez
LVA: SS A. Medina – 2B Maldonado – LF Dally – RF C. Martinez – 3B I. Alvarez – C J. Vargas – 1B Retzer – CF Raynor – P S. McMullen

At least Jesus Chavez had the decency to go under quickly. Two singles and two homers, the latter by Justin Dally (#15) and Jose Vargas (#16), buried him four deep in the opening inning. The Raccoons didn't amount to a whole lot until the fifth inning, when they loaded the bases with one out while still not doing a whole lot. Cookie hit a single, that was to our credit. Chavez bunted badly, but Vargas threw the ball into centerfield rather than taking any out, and after a passed ball McMullen was somewhat out of sync with his battery mate and threw several pitches in the dirt to walk Tovias. Sam McMullen recollected himself after the walk, Kopp popped out, and Gonzalez lined out to Retzer, stranding all the precious runners. It was pretty much all the precious runners they had the entire game. On a day where few sucked little and many sucked a lot, Chavez at least added five shutout innings after the early blow. David Kipple shuffled the bases full in the eighth and got charged with another two runs that didn't matter all that much in the bigger picture. Daniel Bullock hit a pinch-hit double to plate a run with two outs in the ninth against Franklin Alvarado – the entire extent of the Raccoons' offense. 6-1 Aces. Bullock (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI;

Raccoons (67-66) vs. Canadiens (59-73) – August 30-September 1, 2024

The really excruciating fact about the Raccoons' season was not losing out on the playoffs that had been tantalizingly close, yet so far away, the entire year, but going 4-7 against the damn Elks. However, there was still time! Three games now, and another four later in September gave us plenty of chances for at least an even 9-9. (grins) Yeah, sure. The Elks, who had lost four in a row, ranked sixth in runs scored, but second-to-last in runs allowed. Their rotation was the worst in the CL.

Projected matchups:
Mark Roberts (8-8, 3.54 ERA) vs. Mario Aragon (4-10, 5.57 ERA)
Rico Gutierrez (14-5, 2.71 ERA) vs. Greg Becker (10-13, 5.16 ERA)
Dan Delgadillo (9-8, 3.80 ERA) vs. Andy Purdy (2-3, 4.98 ERA)

Right, left, right, or whatever wretched creature they would find to pitch on Sunday.

Game 1
VAN: 3B Jon. Morales – 2B Ra. Mendez – LF A. Torres – CF Coca – SS Calfee – C Holliman – RF Luckett – 1B Wise – P Aragon
POR: 2B Spencer – C Tovias – CF Kopp – 1B Gonzalez – RF Alfaro – 3B Nunley – SS Stalker – LF Carmona – P Roberts

Raul Mendez took Roberts deep in the third for the first run of the game, which was not the kind of thing that I was really eager to see right now. At least the Raccoons, who went down mostly meekly the first time through the order, had something cookin' in the bottom 3rd, too. Cookie hit a leadoff single, and then Roberts also smacked a single to right in a full count, sending Cookie to third. Spencer dropped a bloop into shallow center for a single, which also tied the game. After that, there were another three straight RBI singles, one of those – Kopp's – of the infield variety. Up 3-1, still with three on and nobody out, Omar Alfaro then smacked into a 5-2-3 double play, and Nunley grounded out to Mendez. Through five, Roberts allowed one more hit (two in total) and the Raccoons scored one more run (four in total) with a Nunley groundout in the bottom of the fifth that brought in Jon Gonzalez after his 1-out double. Alfaro had walked in between, and Aragon had thrown a wild pitch to get Gonzalez to third base.

Tim Stalker made a crucial play in the sixth inning. In between walks that Roberts issued to Alex Torres and John Calfee, Stalker went back on the kind of terrible bloop that was usually in despite having been barely made contact with, lunged and caught the ball mid-fall while hardly looking. It was absolutely not pretty, but a second out that kept the Elks from scoring in the inning on Ryan Holliman's later flyout to Alfaro. Roberts still managed to stall in the following inning, allowing a soft single to Ehren Wise, a long double to Dave O'Rourke, and then walked Jonathan Morales. The bases were loaded with one out, and I longed for a right-hander. Ryan Corkum threw two pitches for two outs, a double play grounder to short by Raul Mendez, and Stalker executed this one flawlessly. That didn't keep Corkum from jamming in the eighth, though. Alex Torres and Tony Coca both hit singles, John Calfee hit into a fielder's choice, and Ryan Holliman dropped a single in front of Cookie to score a run, 4-2. Lillis replaced Corkum, retired Elijah Luckett, but then Wise smacked another RBI single to left. PH Chris Brill struck out, with the Raccoons holding on to a tender, flimsy 4-3 lead now. Singles by Cookie and Graves did not amount to an insurance run, so Snyder was on his own in the ninth inning. His first pitch was rolled across the infield for an eternity by Jonathan Morales for a leadoff single. Oh, here it comes – doom once more! Mike Chaplin struck out. Alex Torres struck out. Tony Coca struck out. 4-3 Furballs. Spencer 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Kopp 2-4, RBI; Gonzalez 2-4, 2B, RBI; Graves (PH) 1-1; Roberts 6.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 5 K, W (9-8) and 2-2;

Game 2
VAN: 3B Jon. Morales – 2B Ra. Mendez – LF A. Torres – CF Coca – RF O'Rourke – SS Calfee – C Holliman – 1B Wise – P Becker
POR: 2B Spencer – C Tovias – CF Kopp – 1B Gonzalez – RF Alfaro – SS Stalker – 3B Grigsby – LF Gerace – P Gutierrez

Gutierrez would face nine right-handed batters in this game, which was not the kind of deal that made me feel confident for his league ERA lead. The Elks got to Rico as early as the second inning, Calfee doubling over Terry Kopp's head in centerfield to score Dave O'Rourke, although originally Tony Coca had reached base in the inning with a leadoff walk on four pitches. Things looked a lot like they would get a lot worse in the third inning, which Gutierrez started with a leadoff walk (…) to Becker (…!!), followed by Kopp dropping Morales' fly to center for an error. Mendez cracked into a double play, but Alex Torres belched a ball over the fence in left-center to extend the Elks' lead to 3-0, and the ****ing Stenches then added singles by Coca and O'Rourke to put runners on the corners. Calfee struck out, but the Coons were still in a terrible hole I didn't like very much. Gutierrez got completely torn apart in the fourth, where three walks and two hits plated another three runs for the ****ing Elks whom I despised beyond words.

For seven innings, the Raccoons couldn't have amounted to less of a threat against Greg Becker, who was tossing a 3-hit shutout when he drilled Graves to begin the bottom 8th. Spencer hit a single that was additionally misfielded by O'Rourke, and with runners in scoring position Elias Tovias' bouncer to the left side bounced off Morales' glove and went further up the line, allowing two runs to score. Oh well, just another five now to get even! They didn't even get ONE more, with Kopp making one out, and Gonzalez making two. 7-2 Canadiens. Spencer 3-4;

Indeed, this rectal exam of a game returned the ERA lead to Luis Flores, whose 2.78 mark now led Rico Gutierrez by eight points.

The Raccoons added a few paws for the Sunday game, which was also the first game of September, thus rosters were expanding. Both Abel Mora and Shane Walter were a couple of days away from rejoining the roster (or in Walter's case another eight days of mandatory DL time), and there wasn't much else in terms of hopeful hitting in AAA.

The Raccoons added two relievers in Kevin Surginer (6.38 ERA in St. Pete…) and Hector Morales (2.25 ERA). The continued injury crisis throughout the system made it hard to add anything else, at least of remote value – including a third-string catcher. Greg Borg was the only batter added to the expanded roster for the moment.

Game 3
VAN: 3B Jon. Morales – C Vallejo – LF A. Torres – CF Coca – RF Chaplin – 1B Myles – SS Ra. Mendez – 2B Crosby – P Purdy
POR: 2B Spencer – C Tovias – CF Kopp – 1B Gonzalez – RF Alfaro – 3B Nunley – SS Stalker – LF Carmona – P Delgadillo

Portland scored a run in the first on three base hits, of which only the first two were important for the run as Spencer doubled and scored on Tovias' single to center right away, but the Elks levelled the score right away in the top of the second with Adam Myles' sac fly, making the 25-year-old debutee an instant annoyance. Delgadillo returned himself to the lead in the bottom of the inning; finding Stalker and Carmona on the corners, he flew to center just deep enough to get Stalker in ahead of Coca's throw.

That 2-1 edge remained the score through five innings, the end of which wasn't even witnessed by Andy Purdy, who left with an injury after tossing 4.2 innings of largely negating ball to the Raccoons, which in itself was no special achievement. The loss didn't stick to Purdy, though, thanks to Delgadillo allowing a single to former Raccoons farmhand Marco Vallejo, walking Alex Torres, and then falling with two outs and two strikes to a 2-run triple by Chaplin in the sixth. That one flipped the score, agonizingly. The Coons continued to gnaw on baseballs rather than hitting them into the far distance. Gonzalez walked against Nick Van Fossen in the sixth inning and was left stranded. Brandon Smith walked Cookie in the seventh, but got Zach Graves to smack into a two-for-one. Kevin Surginer came out for the eighth for his first big-league appearance since suffering demotion for he had had an option and David Kipple didn't, which sounded stupid from seven weeks removed, and pitched a perfect eighth, which didn't give near enough credit to Omar Alfaro for his flying grab on Morales' rocket in the right-center gap, but we can't give out pats on the back for every potentially game-saving play all the time.

Bottom 8th, Spencer singled off Smith, and then Tovias singled off Antonio Muniz, a left-hander. Wickedly, Grigsby was sent to bat for Terry Kopp, but the Elks just kept emptying that pen and sent another former Coons farmhand, Dan Moon, a right-hander. Grigsby sure-pawedly grounded into a double play, and Jon Gonzalez hadn't been of use in months, and wouldn't break out of his trot just now. Chaplin, a left-handed batter, homered off Kipple in the ninth, although Kipple had been brought in specifically for him, but wretched does as wretched is. Bottom 9th, Omar Alfaro doubled to right against closer J.R. Hreha, who was hardly striking out five per nine innings. Nunley and Stalker did nothing much, but Cookie singled up the middle to score the runner. This brought up the winning run as pinch-hitter for Kipple, but gone were the days of an Eddie Jackson to win one dramatically … or win one at all. The bench was a wasteland. Tony Delgado saw one pitch, hit it for about 32 feet and was out by 6,000 miles. 4-3 Canadiens. Spencer 2-4, 2B; Tovias 2-3, BB, RBI; Carmona 2-3, BB, RBI;

In other news

August 26 – Only a replacement in the Cyclones rotation, 30-year-old left-hander Mark Thibodeau (5-4, 4.79 ERA) almost enters the record books as he 1-hits the Stars in a 3-0 Cyclones win. DAL 2B/SS Omar Casillas (.236, 1 HR, 31 RBI) has Dallas' lone base hit, a single.
August 27 – ATL SS Andrew Showalter (.303, 24 HR, 78 RBI) has collected his 2,000th base hit in the Knights' 5-0 win over the Indians. Showalter, 33, goes 1-for-3 against Indy, with the milestone being a solo home run off IND SP Tom Shumway (11-9, 3.12 ERA). Showalter, a fifth-round pick once by the Blue Sox, has only been in the Continental League for a month after spending his career with the Blue Sox, Cyclones, and Gold Sox before. He is a career .308/.354/.475 batter with 197 HR and 958 RBI, plus 123 SB.
August 30 – SAC CF Justin McAllester (.293, 19 HR, 103 RBI) is out with an oblique strain – for the remainder of the season, including the playoffs.
August 30 – WAS RF/CF Guadalupe Ramirez (.212, 6 HR, 22 RBI) is out for the season with a torn back muscle.
September 1 – NYC SP Ed Hague (10-9, 3.49 ERA) turns in a crucial 2-hit shutout in a 2-0 win of the Crusaders over their division rivals, the Boston Titans.

Complaints and stuff

(has visibly bled from the mouth) Well, that was fun. But while getting thumped by the Elks – in slow motion – is one thing, the one that really hurt was some 40-year-old ass hat that sat along the first base line the entire weekend, wore a vintage David Brewer uniform from his Elks days and cheered the Elks' every good move… so all their moves.

At the tail end of the season, this has become one of those years where I now wished the Coons would have gone 9-16 in April to kill all hope straight out of the gate. Would have spared us all a lot of agony over the last four months. They only had two winning months so far, including April (13-12) and July (16-10).

All our minor league teams are running losing records, two of them even horrendous ones. Only the Ham Lake Panthers (AA) are somewhat respectable.

Oh who am I kidding! Everything is horrendous.

I find it sad when players have real sluggers' names like Greg Borg, which sounds like somebody either hitting .290 with 34 dingers to make you miserable, or to assimilate you right away so you won't ever feel miserable anymore, and then they are such a total waste of oxygen. You know, like Bradley Heathershaw years and years ago.

I will make Maud a suggestion for a slogan for next year's campaign to get unwitting victims to the ballpark. "Raccoons – First in Bums!" … this will both hint at raccoons having the fattest butts among all cute critters, as well as this team bumming you out like no other.

Fun Fact: Despite hitting only 17 home runs in his 3-year stint with the Raccoons (1995-1997), David Brewer remains fourth in OPS by players with at least 1,000 at-bats as a Raccoon, and by far the one with the lowest slugging percentage with his Raccoons slash of .335/.420/.454.

I will not go into the great tragedy of '97, which I do often enough, but instead evoke a few (few) good memories with this list:

RACCOONS BATTERS* WITH HIGHEST FRANCHISE OPS (min. 1,000 AB)

1st – Royce Green (1994-1997) – .924
2nd – Ron Alston (2008-2010) – .884
3rd – Hugo Mendoza (2017-2022) – .883
4th – David Brewer (1995-1997) – .874
5th – Tetsu Osanai (1985-1993) – .857
6th – Albert Martin (1999-2005) – .807
7th – Adrian Quebell (2005-2014) – .805
8th – Daniel Hall (1978-1994) – .804
9th – Neil Reece (1989-2004) – .800
10th – Vern Kinnear (1991-1997) – .795

And because the end of the section would be nothing without some cringing…

RACCOONS BATTERS* WITH LOWEST FRANCHISE OPS (min. 1,000 AB)

1st – Angel Costa (1978-1982) – .552
2nd – Darryl Maloney (1977-1979) – .613
3rd – Kelly Weber (1984-1988) – .620
4th – Luke Newton (1995-2000) – .624
5th – Michael Palmer (2011-2013) – .651
6th – Steve Walker (1982-1988) – .663
7th – Matt Higgins (1988-1996) – .665
8th – Mike Crowe (1996-2000) – .677
9th – Chris Parker (1998-2002) – .678
10th – Jose Flores (1977-1979) – .679

Jason Bergquist would be third on the loser list if he had managed to get at-bats more than he has: 998.

Lowering the threshold of the second list to 500 at-bats would mostly flood it with 1970s Raccoons that nobody though of in a long, long time. Anybody heard what Johan Dolder is up to these days?

*pitchers not included; Brownie (.477) and Master Kisho (.479) would otherwise top the second list.

[UltimateAverageGuy]

This is and has been a remarkable read, kudos to you and the great job you do with this.

Sent from my SM-J727T using Tapatalk

[Westheim]

Nope, this is not the announced hiatus yet. But the last three days were 'not in the zone', 'came home and fell asleep', and 'no time'.

+++

Raccoons (68-68) @ Indians (54-83) – September 3-5, 2024

The Arrowheads had already secured a losing record for the season and had a pretty good grasp on sixth place at this point. They ranked bottoms in the Continental League in runs scored AND runs allowed, so their .394 mark was probably still kind to them. Their run differential was a raw -220 with a month to spare. Yet, despite them being completely wretched, the Raccoons hadn't managed to gain games against them – the season series was level at six.

Projected matchups:
Jack Sander (8-7, 4.21 ERA) vs. Sam Kramer (9-5, 3.12 ERA)
Jesus Chavez (7-13, 4.20 ERA) vs. Fernando Marron (1-12, 5.63 ERA)
Mark Roberts (9-8, 3.47 ERA) vs. Alvin Smith (6-8, 5.38 ERA)

Right, left, right, and the left-hander was neither Tom Shumway (11-10, 3.31 ERA) or Tristan Broun (DL), nor had he won a bushel so far this year…

Game 1
POR: 2B Spencer – C Tovias – RF Kopp – 1B Gonzalez – 3B Nunley – SS Stalker – LF Carmona – CF Borg – P Sander
IND: 2B Stevenson – SS Folk – RF Staebell – 1B M. Rucker – LF D. Morales – CF Linnell – C T. Perez – 3B Duling – P Kramer

Coons scored first, two unearned runs in the third inning which began with Greg Borg singling between Brody Folk and Mike Duling. Borg had hit all of .143 last season, so every single was progress. After Sander bunted the runner to second, Spencer reached on an error, and the Coons plated their runs on Tovias' sac fly and a Terry Kopp double over the head of a meandering Danny Morales. There were more runs to plate in the fourth inning, and these were also unearned. Nunley walked, Stalker got drilled, and Jack Sander hit a brain fart between the converging middle infielders for a 2-out single that filled the bags for Spencer, who ran a full count before grounding over to short, albeit Brody Folk's throw to first was high and out of Mike Rucker's reach, caromed off the front of the first base dugout's roof and caused some havoc amongst the Indians' bench players. Two runs scored on the old Elk's error, two more scored on Tovias' dying swan of a single to left-center, and another two when Terry Kopp walloped a Pablo Correa fastball over the rightfield fence. That made it 8-0 Coons and closed Sam Kramer's line at 3.2 innings, seven runs, and none of them earned. This was now a so far steady Sander's to drop into a gutter, but he didn't actually allow a base hit until the fifth inning, when Richard Linnell singled to center with one out, but ended up caught stealing to end the inning after Tony Perez was retired on a fly. An unearned run would also find its way onto Sander's ledger eventually, courtesy of a leadoff walk to Duling in the bottom 6th, a stolen base and connected throwing error by Tovias, and then Folk's 2-out RBI single to center. Portland added single runs in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings, usually combining the additional counters with an out made, except for Terry Kopp's RBI double in the eighth inning. Sander went eight before running out of breath at 110 pitches, with Jimmy Lee finishing the game in a 10-run rout. 11-1 Coons! Spencer 2-6; Tovias 2-4, 4 RBI; Kopp 3-4, BB, HR, 2 2B, 4 RBI; Stalker 1-2, BB, 3B; Borg 2-5, 3B; Sander 8.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, W (9-7) and 1-2, BB;

Abel Mora came off the DL by Wednesday. There was also a change of pitcher for the Wednesday contest by the Indians, with Manny Estrella, a right-hander, to make his first appearance of the season. Estrella, 26, had made three relief appearances between 2022 and 2023 for the Indians, allowing three earned runs in 7.2 innings.

Game 2
POR: 2B Spencer – C Tovias – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – LF Kopp – 3B Nunley – RF Alfaro – SS Bullock – P Chavez
IND: 2B Stevenson – SS Folk – RF Staebell – 1B M. Rucker – LF D. Morales – CF Linnell – C T. Perez – 3B J. Jackson – P Estrella

The Indians took the early lead on John Staebell's solo shot in the bottom 1st, clocking a hapless fastball squarely in the middle of the zone. It was only the third home run this year for Staebell, but everybody and their grandma could have hit that one 400 feet. The Indians continued to crowd Chavez, putting runners in scoring position in the second, with Nunley securing a quick bouncer by Estrella for the third out. Chavez remained adrift, allowing a solo home run to Brody Folk in the third, then walked Staebell and Rucker back-to-back before Daniel Bullock got hold off Danny Morales' bouncer to turn two and end the inning. While Chavez hung around a while longer, so did the rest of the team, loitering aimlessly near home plate for no discernible reason against the maiden starter. They had a few base this here and there. They never reached third base, and never hit a ball that smelled like an extra-base hit off the bat. Chavez lumbered into the sixth before walking Linnell with two outs. Tony Perez fly was dropped by Abel Mora as it began to rain, putting runners in scoring position. Vince Devereaux replaced Chavez and struck out Justin Jackson to keep the game nominally close at 2-0.

Estrella would not log an out in the seventh, undone by a leadoff walk to Nunley, ex-Coon Josh Stevenson's error on Alfaro's probable two-for-one, and then a 32-minute rain delay. Right-hander Eric Davidson replaced him after the delay and went on to blow Estrella's lead with two outs. Following Bullock hitting into a fielder's choice that removed Alfaro, and Graves popping out foul, Jarod Spencer, Elias Tovias, and Abel Mora singled in order. Spencer plated Nunley, and Mora scored two, flipping the score in the Raccoons' favor at 3-2. Once Jon Gonzalez grounded out to end the inning, the Coons were in trouble. Josh Stevenson doubled off Kevin Surginer with one out in the bottom 7th, after which Folk struck out. Billy Brotman came in for the left-handed Staebell, who was then pinch-hit for by right-handed batter Justin Calhoun. Brotman – without throwing a pitch – sneezed with the foot on the rubber, moving Stevenson to third base on the balk, but Calhoun eventually struck out to leave him there. Brotman also issued a leadoff walk to Mike Rucker in the bottom 8th, on straight balls even, but that one would come undone for the Indians on a double play grounder. Snyder would get the ninth with an insurance run to work with, which Tim Stalker scored on a wild pitch. Stalker had been the pinch-runner for Bullock, who hit a double and hurt himself in the same go, requiring replacement. In a special quirk to this game, Snyder would get the save, throwing a single pitch. Justin Jackson grounded out to Spencer on that one, and then the rain that had hung around after the initial delay got bad enough to send the contest to delay again, and this time it never continued. The Indians were unhappy, the Raccoons weren't bloody quite. 4-2 Raccoons. Tovias 2-5; Bullock 3-4, 2B; Carmona (PH) 1-1;

The Druid was in trance that night and we couldn't get a diagnosis on Bullock right away, but still sent for a replacement infielder from St. Pete, as stripped for personnel as they were down there. Sam Armetta rejoined the team.

Game 3
POR: 2B Spencer – SS Stalker – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – RF Alfaro – C Delgado – 3B Grigsby – LF Gerace – P Roberts
IND: SS Duling – 3B J. Jackson – C T. Perez – 2B Folk – CF Stevenson – RF Faulk – LF Coffman – 1B Linnell – P Marron

Marron had managed to take 12 losses in just 78.1 innings this year, which was somewhat of a record pace, and while he retired the first four Raccoons in the game, the next umpteen Raccoons made him suffer. Omar Alfaro lightened up his consistent struggles with a solo homer in the second inning, after which Delgado and Grigsby reached with base hits, and Justin Gerace walked onto the open base with one out. Roberts fouled out for the second retirement of the inning, but Jarod Spencer's stick remained a-glow, and he singled to right-center to plate a pair, 3-0. Marron added another run for the Coons on not playing Tim Stalker's short groundball to any kind of result – leaving Stalker with an infield single that reloaded the bags – then threw a wild pitch to cash Gerace for the fourth and final run of the inning. The third inning offered a brief flashback to the second, with Omar Alfaro hitting another 1-out solo shot to left, but nobody else reached in what was now a 5-0 game, at least until Roberts coughed up a run in the bottom 3rd on a leadoff walk to Linnell and then an RBI single by Duling.

Marron lasted only 4.1 innings, two outs less than Roberts, although Roberts was done in by the weather rather than by bats. The sky had been gray at game time, but the forecast had called for a dry afternoon. Well, the forecast had been wrong, and both teams were in their pen by the sixth inning of a 5-1 game. The Indians were not out of it, however. They put two men on in the sixth – Lee walking both eventually stranded runners – and then again in the eighth, Duling and Tony Perez reaching the corners on two singles, with one out in the frame. Brody Folk popped out, and I was totally expecting Mike Rucker to pinch-hit at some point now, as he had sat with most other left-handed regulars against Roberts, but he was nowhere to be seen, at least not with a bat. Josh Stevenson struck out, quelling this threat. The Coons tacked on in the ninth on Abel Mora's 2-piece off Tony Lino, but failed to get Omar Alfaro to the plate again for a third bid for a third longball. There *was* another longball in the game, but that was A.J. Faulk's leadoff jack off Hector Morales in the bottom of the ninth. It was also the Indians' last runner in getting swept at home. 7-2 Raccoons! Spencer 2-5, 2 RBI; Alfaro 2-3, BB, 2 HR, 2 RBI; Grigsby 2-4, 2 2B; Carmona (PH) 1-1; Roberts 5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, W (10-8);

Raccoons (71-68) @ Titans (79-62) – September 6-8, 2024

For the Titans, this could probably the division – win this series and win the division, for all intents and purposes. The Crusaders had hit a rough spot and were now tied for second with the Coons, both sitting seven games out the Titans. The Loggers were technically a thing, 9 1/2 away, but only because the September schedule always favored in-division matchups. But if the Titans could deny the Raccoons here and win at least a pair in this weekend 3-set, then the North would probably be won with three weeks to spare. Recent events offered no encouragement, as the Coons were still playing .333 against the Titans since the start of the 2022 season, even if they were 7-8 this year.

Projected matchups:
Rico Gutierrez (14-6, 2.86 ERA) vs. Dustin Wingo (15-11, 3.63 ERA)
Dan Delgadillo (9-9, 3.80 ERA) vs. Alberto Molina (9-8, 3.41 ERA)
Jack Sander (9-7, 3.98 ERA) vs. Jeremy Waite (10-4, 3.16 ERA)

Starting with a left-hander here, after which the Titans have only righties on offer anymore, or in other words, starters' handedness would match for all games in the series.

Game 1
POR: 2B Spencer – C Tovias – LF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – RF Alfaro – 3B Nunley – SS Stalker – CF Borg – P Gutierrez
BOS: CF Reichardt – LF M. Owen – RF Braun – 2B R. West – 1B Elder – 3B Corder – C Arias – SS Spataro – P Wingo

Alfaro kept dealing, cashing Tovias with an RBI double right in the first inning. Nunley hit a single along the rightfield line to plate both Mora and Alfaro, putting the Coons up 3-0 rather quickly in the series opener. Rico however faced an all-right-handed lineup (minus Wingo), so this was going to be a tough cookie regardless. Rico struck out the side in the first, but things were going to be volatile for him – he walked the bags full in the third inning in stark contrast. Alex Arias, Kevin Spataro, and Adrian Reichardt drew the free passes, two of them even of the 4-pitch variety, and then the Titans deflated when Matt Owen jocked a quick one to Matt Nunley, who started an inning-ending double play. Nunley started *another one* the next inning on Continental League batting race leader Rhett West following Adam Braun's leadoff single to right.

But Gutierrez labored himself into narrower and narrower spots until he got stuck in the sixth inning. Adrian Reichardt and Adam Braun hit doubles off him (and not cheap ones), and with two outs Jay Elder turned a 2-1 pitch into a RBI single to bring up the go-ahead run in Adam Corder. The Coons had seen enough and sent Kevin Surginer to face the right-hander, whom he walked, but struck out Arias after that to maintain a shallow 3-2 lead. Bottom 7th, Vince D allowed a leadoff double to Spataro, so the trouble was real until Dustin Wingo bunted badly, Vince had Spataro dead at third, and the tying run was set back 90 feet and robbed of a couple of miles an hour. And there was the first left-handed pinch-hitter: Jamie Wilson hit for Adrian Reichardt, always an odd move considering Reichardt was batting .962 all time against the Coons, and Brett Lillis replaced Devereaux and got a double play grounder from Wilson. The Coons, who hadn't figured much in offensive proceedings since the first inning, lost a leadoff single on the bases in the eighth when Elias Tovias tried to stretch his drop to right-center into a double, which it really wasn't as Braun showed him soon enough. Lillis remained in for the bottom 8th, because there were only so many pitchers available and the Titans could send another left-handed pinch-hitter any second. So by having Lillis face right-handers, we were really showing them! … or something like that.

After Owen singled and Braun walked, the crisis was real – Jonathan Synder was thrown into a 6-out save situation with the winning run for the Titans aboard, which was a recipe for disaster if there ever was one, and THERE was the left-handed batter, Keith Leonard hitting for Rhett West, and singling to right in a full count. Alfaro's strong arm kept the Titans from tying the game here, but the bases were now full with nobody out. Mike Kane, another lefty, pinch-hit for Elder, the count ran full, and Kane struck out. Corder was not hit for, fell to 0-2, then hit a fly to right that was Alfaro's, but was also deep enough to score the tying run. Arias grounded out to short. Top 9th, Omar Alfaro hit a LONG fly off Edwin Balandran to deep right, but it was just that, a fly, and an out, too. The Coons made three against Balandran in as many attempts, and Adam St. Germaine walked off the Titans in the bottom of the inning, his pinch-hit single to center off David Kipple scoring Jose Duran from second base. 4-3 Titans. Tovias 2-4; Nunley 2-4, 2 RBI;

New York lost as well to the Elks, so the Titans were now eight ahead of anybody else.

The Raccoons meanwhile put Daniel Bullock on the shelf with a ruptured medial collateral ligament, which was fancy doctor speak for "he ****ed up his knee pretty good". Recovery was probably going to take a while and he was unlikely to get back to baseballing for the first few months of the 2025 season.

Game 2
POR: 2B Spencer – C Tovias – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – LF Kopp – RF Alfaro – 3B Nunley – SS Stalker – P Delgadillo
BOS: CF Reichardt – C Leonard – RF Braun – SS Jam. Wilson – 2B Kane – LF St. Germaine – 1B Cornejo – 3B Corder – P A. Molina

The Titans burst right out of the gate while the Coons conceded two runs in a team effort in the first inning. Delgadillo walked Leonard, allowed a single to Wilson, then had Mike Kane ground one to Spencer, who threw the ball to Jon Gonzalez' off-side and Gonzalez looked bad trying to compensate for that – he didn't. The error plated the first run, Delgadillo plated the second one with a wild pitch, and this game was tumbling towards the river fast until Adam St. Germaine grounded out to short. And I don't want to blame it all on the rookie, but Delgadillo really wasn't up to snuff mentally. When he surrendered two hits in the third inning he went on to balk in a run, and surrendered the other one as well eventually. That was a 4-0 hole that the Raccoons weren't likely to emerge from again, having landed only one base hit against Molina in the first three innings.

Delgadillo didn't last five, but not because he was murdered by the Titans along the way – nope, he was the newest injury victim on the team and the Druid was barely keeping up with things. Molina for the Titans missed few beats. Elias Tovias hit a leadoff jack off him in the fourth inning; and that was the Coons' only base hit in the middle innings. They didn't get another one until Mora singled to begin the seventh, which moved the tying run to the on-deck circle, technically, although it also brought up Jon Gonzalez, who was in a slump that was now in its second month. He lined to short, Wilson missed it, and the tying run came up to bat in Terry Kopp, who struck out. Zach Graves pinch-hit in the #6 hole for Hector Morales, who had taken over mound duties after the Delgadillo injury and had not allowed another run, and Zach came extremely close to making this a brand-new ballgame, driving a 2-1 pitch to deep center and past Reichardt who usually displayed unnatural vacuum cleaner abilities out there. The ball went all the way to the track, with Graves scoring a standup 2-run triple and closed the score to 4-3. However, Nunley flew out to left, and Stalker grounded back to the mound as the Coons stranded the tying run 90 feet away. The Titans answered in the bottom of the inning; Leonard hit a 450-footer off Ryan Corkum that was impressive but still only counted for one run. Corkum walked Braun, made way for Brotman, and Billy worked his way out of the inning.

The eighth started with a Cookie single to right from the #9 hole, putting the Raccoons' once-upon-a-time leadoff batter at .250 for the first time since probably April, if he hit it by accident back then. He was then parked there as Spencer and Tovias made unhelpful outs. Mora turned on a 1-2 pitch, drilled it to center, and Reichardt couldn't reach that one, too. Mora had an RBI double, and then Jon Gonzalez ripped Molina for another 2-out RBI double up the rightfield line, and this game was tied! Javy Salomon replaced Molina and retired Kopp, but now we had a tie, and Vince D seemed to have runners on the corners almost immediately in the bottom of the eighth. He walked Rhett West in the #6 hole, then allowed a pinch-hit single to Trent Herlihy. Corder flew out to Abel Mora, now in rightfield and catching this one shallow, and West didn't dare to. Matt Owen was the next pinch-hitter, smacked one at Spencer, and the Coons turned a double play to bail out of the mess… only for the mess to re-appear in the ninth. Reichardt singled, Leonard singled, sending Reichardt to third base, and the Raccoons were now one snort away from ending their season. Here, Adam Braun popped out in foul ground for the first out, after which we sent Lillis to contend with the left-handers, alas, Jay Elder pinch-hit and that would be a right-hander. He cracked a 2-2 pitch to left, no chance for Cookie, and it was over. 6-5 Titans. Tovias 2-4, HR, RBI; Mora 2-4, 2B, RBI; Gonzalez 2-4, 2B, RBI; Graves (PH) 1-1, 3B, 2 RBI;

Oh well.

(sigh)

Game 3
POR: 2B Spencer – C Tovias – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – RF Kopp – 3B Nunley – LF Carmona – SS Armetta – P Sander
BOS: CF Reichardt – C Leonard – 1B R. Amador – RF Braun – SS Jam. Wilson – 2B Kane – LF St. Germaine – 3B Corder – P Waite

Spencer singled, stole, and scored on Tovias' single in the first inning, giving the Coons the early lead against Waite, the 1998 Ugliest Baby Boy Born in New York State. For a wee while, Jack Sander appeared to run with it, facing the minimum in the first three innings, which included a Corder single, and Corder getting caught stealing by Tovias for the second out. In the next inning, Corder made the third out, already hinting at things turning well south for Sander, who started the inning with a walk to Reichardt, then allowed singles to Leonard and Roberto Amador, with more base hits eventually chipped in by Jamie Wilson and Adam St. Germaine, giving the Titans a 3-1 lead. Waite kept the Raccoons in such short supply of base hits or other opportunities to spawn a runner that they didn't reach even SECOND base into the late innings. In the seventh, Nunley singled to center, but that was already with two outs and Cookie's fly to center was contained by Reichardt easily.

To Sander's credit, he at least struggled his way into the seventh before being taken apart on Kane's leadoff single and Corder's 1-out RBI double that extended the Titans to a 4-1 lead as their fans had a pretty obnoxious dance-off in the stands. Surginer replaced Sander after the Corder double and kept the runner on base with a groundout and a strikeout, while the eighth saw Hector Morales whiff Alex Arias to begin the inning, with Arias visibly unhappy and snapping at the umpire, who swiftly tossed him. Yay, we got their catcher out of the game – now get them! Morales pitched a perfect inning, but even more perfect was Julio San Pedro in the ninth. He retired Tovias, Mora, and Gonzalez on only seven pitches to complete the sweep. 4-1 Titans.

In other news

September 2 – The Loggers put eight on VAN SP Bryce Sudar (13-10, 5.09 ERA) and 13 on the Elks in general in just four innings and cruise to a 14-1 victory, with the Canadiens amounting to only two base hits. MIL 3B Alberto Velez (.227, 13 HR, 57 RBI) is retired only once on a 1-for-2 day with a walk, and hits a grand slam off Sudar in the third inning.
September 3 – LVA RF/LF Justin Dally (.302, 16 HR, 65 RBI) becomes a member of the 300 HR club, knocking the milestone over the fence against Tijuana's Jose Menendez (12-12, 3.43 ERA) in a game the Aces eventually lose, 5-4.
September 4 – VAN SP Andy Purdy (2-3, 4.88 ERA) is out for the season with a torn labrum.
September 6 – No-hitter!! The trundling Indians are dismantled by MIL SP Jorge Villalobos (11-7, 2.85 ERA), who allows a walk, no hits, and strikes out 10 in the Loggers' 3-0 win over Indianapolis. This is the third no-hitter in Loggers history after those pitched by Bill Warren (1980, and against Indy as well) and Michael Foreman (2018).
September 7 – TIJ C Pat Sanford (.223, 16 HR, 60 RBI) is done in by a torn posterior cruciate ligament and figures to be off the field for up to ten months.
September 8 – Major history is made in Richmond as WAS SP Eric Williams (15-8, 2.99 ERA) sees 27 batters, and retires 27 batters in order for the first no-hitter in Capitals history, and the second PERFECT GAME in ABL history! Williams strikes out five in his team's 4-0 win, joining CIN Juan Garcia (2008) as only artists of a perfecto in the league annals.
September 8 – WAS C David Lessman (.315, 9 HR, 49 RBI) figures to miss the rest of the regular season with knee tendinitis, and with the Capitals 9 1/2 games out that might also be the end of his season altogether.

Complaints and stuff

Richard Linnell was the sole Indian to reach base safely in the Villalobos no-hitter on Friday, but there was also an error by Ron Tadlock that put Tony Ruiz on base in the eighth inning. Linnell stole a base after walking in the fifth, was left on, while Ruiz was collected in A.J. Faulk's double play grounder.

In sweeping the Indians midweek, the Raccoons matched their win total from 2022, which thus remains the nadir of this fall from contention (unless we manage to finish the year with a 23-game losing streak). I hesitate to call this season for the Coons as being *in contention* because they were semi-comatose on the sidelines for months while neither the Titans nor the Crusaders could make their mind up about winning games in regular fashion. Being around .500 is certainly better than losing 90 (more or less) for consecutive seasons), but there is certainly room to grow for this team.

I say that even as most of the "youngsters" are no longer actually young. Spencer and Stalker are already 26, for example. Tovias is still 24 and has a shot as being the Raccoons' first long-term catching solution since the 1990s (and that was only hanging onto David Vinson's limp body for more years than was advisable), and Alfaro is 24 as well, and yet already has nearly 1,000 at-bats of decidedly below-league-average batting. He could be a super-2 arbitration case this fall, for what it's worth…

All the while I am having serious flashbacks to 1998-ish when we had all that young talent in Newton and Brady and Farley and Ford and they would quite definitely click at some point, just a little while longer, any minute now, well maybe next year, nope we're still losing, has it really been seven years since the Raccoons won more than they lost, maybe we should just relocate to Sheboygan where no one notices when you fail.

Fun Fact: Juan Garcia, the author of the ABL's first perfect game on May 19, 2008, finished his 14-year career with a losing record, 128-139, and a 4.44 ERA.

…which doesn't mean his career was shabby by any standard. He was an All Star (once, 2013), he got a Platinum Stick (once, 2007), and he took home a ring, once, too!

(cough) 2010. (cough)

He won Game 2 in that World Series, opposing Jong-Hoo Umberger, which is all I'm gonna say. He also made about $12m in his career, which is more than I have earned in almost 50 years at the helm, thanks to most meager paychecks wired from Mexico. Steve from Accounting says if I want to reach $12m in salaries from the Mexican Prick ever, I need to make it through about the 2062 season and should really change my lifestyle. I will contemplate this once I have washed down all the pills I stole from our injured players with some Capt'n Coma.

+++

True fact: there is a brand of rum being sold in some discounters over here named Captain Comark. So there is that.

[Westheim]

With Dan Delgadillo ailing with whatever, the Raccoons added Josh Whitaker from AAA to take his next scheduled start on Thursday. Whitaker had gone 0-4 with a 4.24 ERA earlier in the season. The minor league season would be over by the weekend; we were the proud owners of three fifth-place teams.

Raccoons (71-71) @ Canadiens (64-78) – September 9-12, 2024

Nothing mattered anymore as the fourth-place Raccoons faced the fifth-place Elks in Vancouver. I barricaded up the house after getting enough booze to last four days without having to go outside and see people, because nothing good would come of this. Nothing good had come off facing the Elks all year long, as the Raccoons trailed 5-9 in the season series, heading for their first series loss since 2020. Vancouver ranked sixth in runs scored, but second from the bottom in runs allowed. Their run differential was -81 (Coons: +30).

Projected matchups:
Jesus Chavez (7-13, 4.17 ERA) vs. Greg Becker (12-13, 4.91 ERA)
Mark Roberts (10-8, 3.42 ERA) vs. Luis Vasquez (0-1, 5.05 ERA)
Rico Gutierrez (14-6, 2.87 ERA) vs. Antonio Muniz (1-0, 1.27 ERA)
Josh Whitaker (0-4, 4.24 ERA) vs. Bryce Sudar (13-11, 5.05 ERA)

They would throw them up in alternating handedness, left then right, left then right. Muniz was a 21-year-old rookie that had made 15 relief appearances so far and was now penciled in for his first career start after the Elks lost their third official starting pitcher to injury in Andy Purdy. Muniz' nickname was "Furball", which in my book was not an eligible nickname for him, but supposedly stemmed from lively growing hair all over his body.

Game 1
POR: 2B Spencer – 3B Nunley – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – RF Alfaro – C Delgado – SS Stalker – LF Gerace – P Chavez
VAN: 3B Jon. Morales – C Vallejo – LF A. Torres – CF Coca – SS Calfee – 1B Myles – RF Day – 2B Crosby – P Becker

Through four innings, Chavez walked as many, somehow without getting obliterated or allowing any run at all, while the Raccoons amounted to two base runners (Spencer being nailed to start the game, and Nunley with a single in the fourth) and as many double plays hit into. The bottom 5th began with a leadoff walk to Norman Day, the fifth on Chavez' ledger. Day stole second, then was singled in by Greg Becker (…) for the first run in the game. It was also the only run on Chavez' ledger, as the Cuban got yanked in the sixth inning with a man on. David Kipple exited the sixth, entered the seventh, walked Becker (…!!), and that was also a deed that wouldn't go unpunished. Kevin Surginer came on, allowed a single to Dave O'Rourke, then threw a wild pitch to plate Kipple's run.

Then there was some rain, which became worse and worse, and the game went to delay in the top of the eighth with the Elks up 2-0, nobody on base, and one out. The delay took almost two hours – and then the game continued anyway. The Elks were mildly irate that Greg Becker was robbed of an abbreviated shutout, Justin Gerace hit an infield single, and somehow stumbled around to score in the inning with Spencer hitting a single in his support. That cut the gap in half, but didn't prevent three Raccoons relievers from allowing four base runners and somehow only one run in the bottom 8th. J.R. Hreha didn't mind one way or another, surrendering Mora, Gonzalez, and Graves in order to end the game. 3-1 Canadiens. Spencer 2-3, RBI; Nunley 2-4;

Abel Mora hasn't hit a single ball well since coming off the DL… maybe we will have more luck with the next returnee from the sickhouse, as Shane Walter came off the DL by Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Elks moved Muniz up into the Tuesday game.

Game 2
POR: 2B Spencer – C Tovias – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – 3B Walter – RF Alfaro – SS Stalker – LF Carmona – P Roberts
VAN: 3B Jon. Morales – 1B Myles – CF Coca – SS Calfee – C Holliman – LF Chaplin – RF Luckett – 2B Ra. Mendez – P Muniz

Muniz issued three walks to Tovias, Mora, and Gonzalez in order in the first inning, but Shane Walter made sure nothing would come of that, smacking into a double play to Raul Mendez that ended the inning. This was not an aberration.for this game. Muniz was all over the place, and still the Coons couldn't touch him with a 30-foot pole. He walked them left and right, hit a pair, but no batted ball fell into a helpful spot. Mark Roberts, however, as soon as he drilled Tony Coca in the fourth inning, John Calfee was up to snuff and took him deep to left to give the Elks a 2-0 lead.

Top 5th, the bases were loaded on three straight singles by the 1-2-3 batters in the lineup, which was quite the big change. Spencer singled hard, Tovias singled softly, and Mora singled hard again, pulling up Jon Gonzalez, who was due one, took a very hittable strike three, and the Raccoons were held to Shane Walter's sac fly in the inning, because Omar Alfaro was Luke Newton reincarnated, just to get to me. Muniz retired from the contest after six innings with some sort of discomfort, but before Mark Roberts could get even that far, Calfee jumped him for another 2-piece in the bottom 6th, giving Calfee 19 on the season, five of those against the Critters, and three off Roberts.

Because things were wicked in general up here, Jarod Spencer hit a leadoff jack off Nick Van Fossen in the seventh, cutting the gap to 4-2, and his third dinger of the season. Probably like that one year that Cookie had in which he hit six and we thought he could be a power threat, too, and how sweet would that have been? By now, Cookie was batting .246 and everything about this team was tasting either bitter or stale. On to the eighth, where Shane Walter hit a leadoff single against Dan Moon, who was replaced with Fernando Ortega. Alfaro grounded to second, it looked like two, it smelled like two, but it was none at all since Raul Mendez threw the ball into Calfee's legs and it bounced away into centerfield. The tying runs were thus aboard for Tim Stalker, who had been ON FIRE in the first few months, and had hardly a pulse these days. He lined out softly to Jonathan Morales on third base. Cookie struck out. Nunley batted for Roberts and flew out to Mike Chaplin in left. Speaking of Calfee, he came up once again, facing Jimmy Lee with two outs and nobody on in the bottom 8th. I covered my face with a pillow that had much been screamed into already in these two games, but I had nothing to cover my ears to blend out the horrendous clanking sound bat and ball made when they met with force on a 1-2 slouch pitch over the middle of the plate. Calfee hit that one out of dead center to make it three in the game, and six on the season against Portland. Top 9th, Jasper Devitt retired Spencer and Tovias with a 5-2 lead to begin the inning, then allowed a single to Abel Mora. Terry Kopp batted for Jon Gonzalez and singled to center. Shane Walter hit an RBI single to center. Zach Graves batted for a clueless Alfaro and singled to center, and another run scored. And then Tim Stalker, the ass, poked at a 3-0 pitch and flew out to Elijah Luckett. 5-4 Canadiens. Spencer 2-5, HR, RBI; Mora 3-4, BB; Kopp (PH) 1-1; Walter 2-4, 2 RBI; Graves (PH) 1-1, RBI;

The boundless horrors...

Elias Tovias has a 12-game hitting streak going, though, so maybe he will lose an arm and an eye soon… not either/or – there's never either/or with this team. They embrace misery with open arms, fully and wholly.

Game 3
POR: 2B Spencer – C Tovias – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – RF Kopp – 3B Nunley – LF Carmona – SS Stalker – P Roberts
VAN: 1B Myles – C Vallejo – LF A. Torres – RF O'Rourke – SS Calfee – 3B Rickard – CF Chaplin – 2B Crosby – P L. Vasquez

Calfee, fresh off a 3-homer day, hit a double his first time up in the Wednesday contest as he led off the second inning against Rico Gutierrez. Just hit him in the head, I say – keeps him to one run. In the actual event Calfee scored on Mike Chaplin's RBI double, the first run of the game. The second run followed the following innings, Marco Vallejo with a double off the wall in rightfield, then scoring on Dave O'Rourke's 2-out single, and another Elks pitcher got an RBI in the fourth, Luis Vasquez scoring the pinch-runner Raul Mendez with a groundout. In another game in which the Raccoons hurler was little more than a glorified launchpad with a funny brown cap with a propeller glued on top, Bobby Rickard had hit a hard double but had then hurt himself on the bases, requiring replacement by Mendez. That made for a 3-0 deficit through four innings, with the Raccoons obviously clueless as to how they would possibly be able to approach the Elks' ragdoll thrower of the day. Through six innings they had three base hits, no runs, and weren't worth being bothered about much. Gutierrez on the other paw professionally drank away his still-extant chances for the CL ERA crown in this game, surrendering a fourth run in the bottom 6th thanks to a leadoff triple by left-handed batter Mike Chaplin, who had no issues in coming home on Adrian Crosby's sac fly to Cookie Carmona. The Raccoons would get on the board eventually, but not against Vasquez. Brandon Smith allowed a run on a double by Abel Mora and Terry Kopp's 2-out single, which also gave Kopp his 100th RBI of the season, only a fraction of which had come with the Raccoons unfortunately. 4-1 Canadiens.

Elias Tovias' hitting streak found an end, too. The only things remaining were a 6-game losing streak, plenty of empty booze bottles strewn all over the floor, and a new barf stain on the wall beneath the window.

Game 4
POR: 2B Spencer – C Tovias – CF Mora – 1B Kopp – 3B Nunley – RF Graves – LF Gerace – SS Armetta – P Whitaker
VAN: 3B Jon. Morales – C Vallejo – LF A. Torres – CF Coca – RF O'Rourke – SS Calfee – 1B Myles – 2B Crosby – P Sudar

The Raccoons got an Abel Mora double and three walks in the first inning and scored … not. Jarod Spencer had been caught stealing, and Zach Graves popped out to left to leave the bases loaded. Nothing came out of Justin Gerace's leadoff double in the second inning either, and so it was the Elks striking first for the fourth time in the series, Dave O'Rourke hitting a leadoff jack in the bottom 2nd, and it wasn't a close one, hitting the top of the batter's eye, and centerfield wasn't exactly shallow in the Elks' stinkin' park. While Whitaker was obviously winless in the majors, he had a paw in the draw for the best Coons' starting pitcher in the series, occasionally even fooling an Elk and striking out six in four innings, until Bryce Sudar (…) and Jonathan Morales hit back-to-back doubles to begin the fifth inning, with Morales being maneuvered around and scoring on Marco Vallejo's sac fly eventually to grow the score to 3-0. Both starting pitchers were done after six innings, with Whitaker not even finishing his part of the sixth, but it didn't matter for the Elks, either, who got flawless relief from their otherwise soggy bullpen to complete a 4-game dismantlement of the Raccoons. 3-0 Canadiens. Mora 2-3, BB, 2B; Nunley 1-2, BB; Surginer 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

Raccoons (71-75) vs. Knights (87-59) – September 13-15, 2024

A year removed from winning only one game against the Knights, the Raccoons were one win removed from winning the season series, which stood 4-2 in their favor. They were however also on a 7-game losing streak, the Knights – with the most productive offense in the CL and average-enough pitching – weren't bloody quite, and my head was killing me.

Projected matchups:
Jack Sander (9-8, 4.05 ERA) vs. Leon Hernandez (13-7, 3.69 ERA)
Jesus Chavez (7-14, 4.09 ERA) vs. Antonio Quintana (10-4, 3.92 ERA)
Mark Roberts (10-9, 3.49 ERA) vs. Brian Cope (14-8, 3.39 ERA)

Right, left, right, and probably loss, loss, loss. The Raccoons will never win again.

With Tim Stalker completely funked out by now, the Raccoons also promoted Jon McGrew from AAA to begin the series. McGrew was a veteran of ten major-league games between 2022 and 2023, batting a grand total of 1-for-12. This year in St. Pete he had batted .205 in 109 games (101 starts). He was also 26. He is not the future. He is not much of anything.

Game 1
ATL: RF Stuckey – 3B Rolland – C Luna – SS Showalter – 1B Wright – 2B Hibbard – LF Cervantes – CF McDougall – P L. Hernandez
POR: 2B Spencer – 3B Nunley – C Tovias – 1B Gonzalez – CF Kopp – RF Alfaro – LF Carmona – SS McGrew – P Sander

The Raccoons could actually score first in a game, which we hadn't seen in a while, with Elias Tovias singling home Jarod Spencer – who doubled to lead off the bottom 1st – to make it Portland 1, Other Guys zip. Of course with this opponent as the other guys, one run was hardly going to cut it, and indeed it didn't. The Raccoons were lumbering inefficiently in the next few innings, and while the Knights didn't get to Jack Sander – himself having lumbered inefficiently for two months as a Raccoon – right away, they did get two doubles from right-handed batters Andrew Showalter and Devin Hibbard in the fourth to tie the game, and then a 2-out RBI single from Ruben Cervantes to zoom ahead, 2-1. That didn't last, either – Tovias jacked #13 to lead off the bottom of the fourth, getting the score even at two.

Meanwhile the right-handed batters continued to punt Sander like a puppy. This included their pitcher, Leon Hernandez, who hit a screaming leadoff double in the fifth inning. Johnny Stuckey hit a grounder to the right side that Jarod Spencer intercepted just ahead of the outfield grass but couldn't turn into an out, putting runners on the corners. Jaylen Rolland popped out foul to Tovias, Ruben Luna struck out, and then Andrew Showalter drove a ball to deep center, Kopp hustling after it, lunging, and he CAUGHT IT. And then he hit the ground, and the ball broke free from the glove, giving Showalter a 2-run double and the Knights as a whole a 4-2 lead. But, after Matt Wright flew out to center, the Raccoons also had runners on the corners and nobody out in their half of the fifth! Cookie led off with a double to left, and Devin Hibbard misfired on Jon McGrew's poor grounder, putting the fourth-string shortstop aboard with an error. The Coons turned the unearned opening into the tying runs on Abel Mora's sac fly (PH'ing for Sander) and a 2-out single by Matt Nunley before Hibbard was a little more sure-handed on Tovias' grounder that ended the inning, but the Critters did take their second lead of the day in the sixth on Cookie Carmona's second extra-base hit of the day, another double to left, this one with two outs and scoring Omar Alfaro from first after an accidental single that lifted Omar to six-for-his-last-39.

The seventh saw the Coons survive after Brett Lillis drilled Ruben Luna, then load the bases in unearned fashion in the bottom of the inning. With Nunley on, Tovias hit a 2-out fly to left that Cervantes dropped. Jon Gonzalez walked, but Terry Kopp grounded out. Brotman handled the eighth, handing it off to Jonathan Snyder, who had last been seen blowing a save to the Titans exactly seven days ago. He gave blowing this one an honest effort, drilling Alex Sauceda with one out and then allowing a deep fly to Stuckey that somehow ended up with Greg Borg in centerfield. Jaylen Rolland struck out in a full count to give the Coons their first W in over a week. 5-4 Blighters. Nunley 2-4, RBI; Tovias 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Carmona 2-4, 2 2B, RBI;

Game 2
ATL: RF Stuckey – 3B Rolland – C Luna – SS Showalter – 1B Wright – 2B Hibbard – LF A. Sauceda – CF Cobb – P A. Quintana
POR: 2B Spencer – C Delgado – 3B Walter – 1B Gonzalez – RF Alfaro – SS Stalker – LF Gerace – CF Borg – P Chavez

Chavez continued to make a case for repatriation to his native Cuba, where a 30-year sentence to hard labor in chains in a quarry were awaiting the defector, allowing a single to Rolland and a home run to Luna (#29!) in the first inning. In the second, it was Hibbard with the single and Sauceda – far less of a prestigious power hitter – with the home run, adding up to an early 4-0 hole. Surprisingly, the Raccoons were close to climbing out of it before the third inning was over; Greg Borg hit an RBI single to score Stalker in the second, and then in the third the Raccoons got a single from Delgado, who moved up on Walter's groundout, followed by Jon Gonzalez hitting a single to center to plate the catcher with two outs in the inning, 4-2. Omar Alfaro doubled to the fence, moving the tying runs to scoring position, and then Tim Stalker shyly grounded out to Rolland at third base to keep them on.

While Chavez continued to threaten his own team with accelerated unravelment, but was bailed out of the fourth when Jarod Spencer turned a double play, the Raccoons made up another run in unearned fashion in the bottom 4th, Andrew Showalter's throwing error scoring Greg Borg to get the Coons to 4-3. They didn't make the final step though, partly because Jesus Chavez allowed a run on straight singles by the 1-2-3 batters in the fifth inning, and partly because they were retired in order in the bottom 5th… but not in the bottom 6th. Mike Grigsby landed a pinch-hit 2-out double in the #9 hole, then scored on Spencer's single to left to again move the Coons to one run away from tying the game, but Delgado popped out to end the inning against reliever Mike Cockcroft. Speaking of relief, the Coons got scoreless such relief from their bullpen, mixing four relievers to great effect after Chavez' departure, but the offense still lamed and the Coons faced off against Jarrod Morrison in the bottom 9th still trailing 5-4 and sending up Grigsby, Mora, and Delgado after several double switches. The rookie Grigsby grounded out, but a single and a double put the tying and winning runs in scoring position for Shane Walter, since moved back to his natural position at the keystone. Walter unhelpfully grounded out to the right side, Jeff Christiansen playing the ball aggressively with the infield in and scaring Mora back to third base before getting the second out on Walter. Jon Gonzalez, who had been useless for about two months now and accordingly was not walked intentionally which other teams had done at the slightest provocation in the first half of the season, grounded out to short. 5-4 Knights. Mora 1-1; Delgado 2-5, 2B; Alfaro 2-3, 2B; Grigsby (PH) 1-2, 2B; Morales 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

(makes sounds of a dying wombat)

Game 3
ATL: RF Stuckey – 1B McIntyre – SS Showalter – C Luna – 3B Rolland – CF Cobb – 2B Greene – LF A. Sauceda – P Cope
POR: CF Mora – 2B Walter – C Tovias – 1B Gonzalez – RF Kopp – 3B Nunley – LF Carmona – SS McGrew – P Roberts

The Knights opened with two singles by Johnny Stuckey and Will McIntyre, then embarked on a double steal. Tovias threw away the ball to allow Stuckey to score and move McIntyre to third, and combined with a sac fly by Andrew Showalter the Knights got out to a quick and unearned 2-0 lead. Jon Gonzalez had runners in scoring position for the second time in two innings in the bottom 1st, and again grounded unhelpfully to short. While a run scored with Mora coming in after landing a hit to start the inning, boy had Gonzalez had a rotten second half…! It took two more singles by Kopp and Nunley to plate Shane Walter from second base, tying the game, after which Cookie grounded out to Drew Greene. Portland zoomed out front the following inning, landing straight 2-out singles with the 1-2-3 batters in the lineup, after which Jon Gonzalez flew out to center, once again not helping the cause.

While Roberts was holding his ground for the moment without further deflating, the Raccoons' top of the order really was not fooled by Brian Cope. When they came around again in the fourth inning, Cope had issued a leadoff walk to Jon McGrew, who was on second base after the obvious bunt call. Abel Mora walked, and Shane Walter singled to right-center, McGrew racing around to score, 4-2. Tovias grounded to the right side, but Greene got hold of the ball, retiring Walter on a fielder's choice, which brought up Gonzalez with runners on the corners and two outs. He popped out. Gonzalez didn't get a base hit until he came to the plate with nobody in scoring position, which was one of those weird things that robbed a GM's sleep at night, hitting a single to center in the seventh inning with nobody out and Tovias on first after a leadoff walk. This was still against Cope, who had by now tallied nine hits, four walks, and no strikeouts in a 5-3 game, the score having been extended with solo home runs by Terry Kopp, his 16th, and Ruben Luna, his 30th. The Raccoons failed to bury Cope, who stubbornly held on to his plot of land in the middle of the infield, and retired the three left-handers behind Gonzalez on three soft flies to strand both runners. Roberts hung in there, too, at least until he bumped against 100 pitches and the chewy right-handed part of the order that had given him the most problems, being relieved after seven and two thirds, with Ryan Corkum retiring the only batter he faced, McIntyre, and Synder retired Showalter and Luna in the ninth before it all fell apart once more. Jaylen Rolland singled to right. Ruben Cervantes walked. Phil Neubecker hit a pinch-hit RBI single, eliminating Snyder's cushion. Fortunately Snyder stood right in the way of Alex Sauceda's sorry bouncer to still snag victory from the gaping jaws of defeat with a play at first that left Sauceda out by 60 feet. 5-4 Coons. Mora 3-4, BB, 2B; Walter 2-4, BB, RBI; Kopp 2-4, HR, RBI; Roberts 7.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W (11-9);

In other news

September 9 – Reconvalescant NYC SP Jonathan Toner (3-3, 2.97 ERA) spins a vintage 3-hit shutout over the Loggers, whiffing seven and walking three in a 6-0 Crusaders victory.
September 9 – A home run by NAS 1B Ruben Santiago (.254, 11 HR, 36 RBI) is the only tally in the Blue Sox' 1-0 win over the Miners.
September 10 – DEN SP Chris Sinkhorn (19-8, 3.54 ERA) 3-hits the Warriors in a 5-0 win.
September 11 – SAC SP Mario Alva (13-6, 3.49 ERA) whiffs ten and allows only two hits in a 7-0 shutout of the Wolves.
September 11 – DEN OF Cory Briscoe (.275, 2 HR, 41 RBI), who started the season with the Raccoons, has patched together a 20-game hitting streak with a single against the Warriors.
September 12 – The idle Scorpions clinch the FL West with the Pacifics' 3-1 loss to the Stars.
September 12 – NYC SP Mike Rutkowski (11-8, 3.15 ERA) is out for the season with a ruptured finger tendon.
September 12 – PIT C J.J. Henley (.267, 19 HR, 70 RBI) is done for this year after breaking a thumb.
September 13 – The Bayhawks walk off on the Crusaders, 8-4 in 11 innings, on a grand slam by INF/RF Pat Pick (.231, 7 HR, 51 RBI) off New York's Travis Giordano (4-5, 2.09 ERA, 29 SV).
September 14 – SFB SP Denzel Durr (6-12, 4.70 ERA) no-hits the Crusaders through seven, only for Blake Doering (.294, 6 HR, 36 RBI) to land a leadoff double for New York in the eighth inning. Doering comes around to score, but the bullpen holds on for Durr, who takes the 2-1 victory.
September 15 – Indy's SP Juan Ortega (1-4, 5.16 ERA), who is washed away by an hourlong rain delay in the fifth inning, and five relievers combine for a 1-hit shutout of the Falcons, 2-0, in which C Paul Mattaliano (.278, 3 HR, 34 RBI) lands the Falcons' only entry into the H column.
September 15 – The Capitals lose their Swiss Army knife type of player, Dave Menth (.294, 29 HR, 92 RBI), who can play most positions, to elbow inflammation for two weeks or basically the rest of the season.

Complaints and stuff

If there is one thing from this season that was not a horrendous disappointment or otherwise a promising beginning heading for wretched dismembering, it was probably Elias Tovias. Hitting for power (though not prodigiously), hitting almost .300, and throwing out base stealers now with something almost resembling regularity.

John Calfee was the Player of the Week, which gave me another nosebleed, because pretty much all his damage this week was in the midweek series. The one we will never talk about again.

Minor league seasons concluded; we will add a few more players on Monday, most notably a third catcher and another arm or two. There is plenty of room to give somebody a few starts, if only there was anybody on that wicked AAA team that would be worth giving a start to.

You may have noticed that Dan Delgadillo has quietly disappeared from the roster this week after being injured in his latest start last week. Well, to make things short… he had Tommy John surgery on Wednesday for a ruptured UCL and he's probably going to miss all of the 2025 season.

That will be $1.75M well spent for a so-so sophomore pitcher on the 60-day DL.

We ended this season a tense 5-13 against the ****ing Elks, our worst mark against them since 2015 (also 5-13), which was also the only season in the 2010s where the Raccoons ended up with a losing record. It also drops us back to .500 against them all-time, 432-432.

Fun Fact: The Canadiens' Alex Torres and John Calfee are the first team mates to both slug for a three home runs in a game, in the same season, against the same team.

YES OF COURSE AGAINST THE ****ING RACCOONS.