Portland Raccoons (ABL)

[pgjocki]

I'm putting money with my booky that you will trade for Barry within 3 years; otherwise he's the ace that got away.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by pgjocki

I'm putting money with my booky that you will trade for Barry within 3 years; otherwise he's the ace that got away.

If I actually got him, he'd lose his arms in a shoe-tying accident, and we all know it.

+++

Raccoons (39-35) vs. Condors (27-48) – June 29-July 1, 2043

The carcassless Condors were in the bottom three in runs scored and runs allowed, with the most runs given up overall. Their .360 winning percentage already hinted at some general problems with the roster. They had no defense, no speed, little power, and their pitchers more often than not couldn’t get anybody out. And yet, the Coons had lost two of three the first time around this year. They had a couple of notable injuries, including infielder “Nine Fingers” Freeman and outfielder Justin Nelson.

Projected matchups:
Jake Jackson (6-6, 4.68 ERA) vs. Marc Hubbard (4-10, 4.74 ERA)
Brent Clark (7-5, 3.74 ERA) vs. Aaron Howell (6-4, 4.22 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (4-8, 3.48 ERA) vs. Matt Schwartz (3-6, 3.42 ERA)

The Condors would bring only right-handed pitchers to the mound for this series. Unfortunately the Raccoons had lost their prime lefty hitter in Manny Fernandez and had to botch things together with whatever was left.

Game 1
TIJ: CF Phinazee – 1B Willie Ojeda – LF Toohey – C T. Black – 2B J. Matos – 3B Barcia – RF R. Phillips – SS Rose – P Hubbard
POR: 2B Carreno – 1B Ayala – 3B Jimenez – CF Maldonado – LF de Wit – C Kilmer – SS Castro – RF Casas – P Jackson

The Raccoons showed up wholly **** in the opener. De Wit and Castro hit singles in the second, but were stranded when Casas struck out, and in turn the Condors waffled Jackson for seven hits and four runs in the first three innings. Bryce Toohey hit a home run to left in the first inning, and Jackson had two outs on the board in the third inning before imploding spectacularly once again. Willie Ojeda doubled. Toohey walked, and Terry Black singled home Ojeda. Jackson walked Matos, then gave up two more runs on a Sergio Barcia single. Because Ricky Jimenez dropped a foul pop, the last two runs were unearned. Hallelujah. It didn’t get a whole lot better in the fourth. Chris Rose legged off an infield single, and after a bunt by the pitcher Hubbard, Jackson walked Mal Phinazee, then gave up a single to Ojeda. Jose Casas threw out Rose at the plate, and Toohey hacked out on a 3-2 in the dirt to get Jackson out of the inning. The fifth began with another leadoff single by Black, a walk to Matos, and that was the end for Jackson. 10 hits and four walks in four-plus were well enough. Zack Kelly replaced him, threw a wild pitch, gave up a sac fly, a walk to Rose, and an RBI single to Hubbard, 6-0.

The slow bleed stopped with a couple different relievers. Jon Craig got five outs, Chuck Jones got four. The Raccoons rallied for all of one ****** run with an RBI triple that scored Jimenez in the sixth, and that was absolutely it. Only Josh Rella, thrown into the ninth inning of a hopelessly lost game, went under with another three hits and a Casas error contributing to two more runs (one earned). 8-1 Condors. De Wit 2-3; Gutierrez (PH) 1-1; Waltz 1-1;

Well, wasn’t that game a joy. Jackson’s ERA was closing in on five again. Yes, he was our Opening Day pitcher. At this rate we should just go ahead and designate the rancidest reliever as Opening Day starter, so he can catch the curse and be swiftly be released.

Can somebody pitch a good game, please? We’re running precariously low on bullpen juice!

Game 2
TIJ: 3B Barcia – RF Willie Ojeda – LF Toohey – 2B J. Matos – C T. Black – 1B Lorensen – CF Pohl – SS Kilgallen – P Howell
POR: 2B Carreno – 1B Ayala – 3B Jimenez – CF Maldonado – LF de Wit – C Kilmer – SS Castro – RF Nettles – P Clark

Tuesday’s game began with a Barcia homer well outta leftfield, then a Carreno throwing error that put Ojeda on second base. Brent Clark was kind enough to get a crucial strikeout to keep that runner stranded, but I marked an L in the pocket schedule right away. But he also put the leadoff man on base in every inning, which was something that had the potential to make me stark raving mad, and also imploded his pitch count in the third inning when a leadoff walk to Barcia was followed by an Ojeda double. Two runners in scoring position, Clark got a grounder from Toohey to Jimenez, keeping the runner pinned, then labored his way through a strikeout to Matos before losing Black on balls, filling the bases… and also Ryan Lorensen, who made his season debut, and thus pushed in the second run for Tijuana. Pat Pohl struck out, stranding three. Toohey hit a double to lead off the fifth inning and scored on two productive outs, though.

It was 3-0 through five, with the Raccoons having but one base hit and two walks, and no clue how to win a ballgame anymore. The top of the order would begin the sixth, though, and Carreno and Ayala, not reaching base with any sort of regularity, either of them, hit a pair of singles to go to the corners. Jimenez’ RBI groundout was as good as it got for Portland, with another two poor outs after that stranding Ayala in scoring position.

Brent Clark held out for seven innings, whiffing nine on 109 pitches, then saw the first two Critters hit singles again in the seventh. Kilmer to left, Castro to center, and how about a rightfielder doing ANYTHING now? Nettles swung at a 3-1, I screamed, but Nettles singled and the bases were loaded. The best we could find on the bench was Omar Gutierrez, hitting .237, but at least from the left side against Howell. He poked at another 3-1 pitch, hit a comebacker to Howell, and Kilmer was forced out at home plate. Carreno hit a liner with one out – but into Matos’ mitten. Ayala popped out, stranding a full set that had reached with nobody out. A leadoff walk to Matos, offered by Alex Ramirez, and an RBI double to center by Black instead plated a tack-on run for the Condors. Seth Green pitched the ninth inning… or at least some of hit. Hit, hit, walk, walk, yank. He retired nobody. One run was already in, and the Condors got three more – Craig walked in two, and plated the third with a wild pitch. 8-1 Condors. Ayala 2-3, BB; Nettles 2-4;

Seth Green (5.17 ERA) was axed after the game. 27 walks in 38.1 innings was a bit too much for my taste. 25-year-old right-hander Sam Bowman, who had a 3.38 ERA in AAA five years after being taken in the 10th round of the draft, and was overall entirely unremarkable, was promoted to take the spot.

Game 3
TIJ: CF Phinazee – 1B Willie Ojeda – LF Toohey – C T. Black – 2B J. Matos – 3B Barcia – RF R. Phillips – SS Rose – P Schwartz
POR: 2B Carreno – 1B Ayala – 3B Jimenez – CF Maldonado – C Sieber – LF Nettles – SS Gutierrez – RF Waltz – P Wheatley

Wheatley stranded a runner on third base in both of the first two innings before coming to bat in the bottom 2nd of a scoreless game, with Sieber, Nettles, and Waltz having reached base on two walks sandwiching a bloop single. Not a lot of authoritative hitting. At least Wheatley got his first RBI of the year with a sac fly to left, giving the Raccoons their first lead of the week with his shy floater to Bryce Toohey. Carreno popped out to Matos to waste the rest of the runners. Wheatley batted again with two aboard and two outs in the bottom 4th, but grounded out to Chris Rose that time.

At least he was in some sort of control of the Condors’ nominally meek lineup and allowed only one hit and two walks through five innings. And the Raccoons tacked on a run in the fifth, somehow. Carreno singled, Ayala singled, and Carreno was caught stealing third base. Jimenez grounded out before Maldonado was walked intentionally and Sieber walked in a full count. The wild Schwartz then walked Nettles on four pitches to push in the run, but Gutierrez struck out swinging to strand another three.

Willie Ojeda singled off Wheatley in the sixth, but Toohey hit a comebacker for a double play and the Raccoons’ rookie remained sturdy, while the offense stranded another pair, with Carreno and Ayala reaching in unearned fashion with two outs in the sixth. Wheatley lasted 7.2 innings before being lifted for Chuck Jones with Rose on second base and the lefty top of the order up again. Wheatley was on 104 pitches. Jones was fresh and got his only batter on a grounder to second base. The Coons loaded the bases in unearned fashion again in the eighth. Gutierrez singled and was caught stealing (the third Coon to be caught stealing), Waltz walked, Carreno reached on an error, and Ayala walked again. Jimenez batted against a new lefty in Ricardo Marquez with three on and two down, and grounded out to Rose. I was almost through my chewstick and convinced that Rella would blow the game to hell now. The Condors went down, though, on two grounders and Nettles snatching a deep fly by Terry Black. 2-0 Blighters. Sieber 1-2, 2 BB; Wheatley 7.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K, W (5-8);

Raccoons (40-37) vs. Titans (34-44) – July 2-5, 2043

Here was another trite team, let’s see how horribly we could use against them! The Titans had lost five straight, which wasn’t nearly a challenge to the Critters, and six of seven to the Critters, which sounded like they were due a 4-game sweep. They were seventh in runs scored and second from the bottom in runs allowed.

Projected matchups:
Corey Mathers (10-5, 2.94 ERA) vs. Jamal Barrow (0-8, 6.66 ERA)
Cory Lambert (2-6, 4.44 ERA) vs. Michael Donovan (6-3, 4.23 ERA)
Jake Jackson (6-7, 4.87 ERA) vs. Ryan Kinner (3-6, 5.96 ERA)
Brent Clark (7-6, 3.75 ERA) vs. Nick Myers (5-4, 3.61 ERA)

Donovan would be a southpaw on Friday.

The Titans had a pile of injuries, including starters Ignacio del Rio and Chris “Tuba” Turner, and position players Moises Avila and Oscar Aguirre, the latter of which had just gone onto the DL for the rest of the season with torn ankle ligaments.

Game 1
BOS: LF Liceaga – RF Ritchey – C D. Phillips – 1B C. Cortes – CF Tortora – 3B I. Lugo – SS Greeley – 2B Thennes – P Barrow
POR: 2B Carreno – 3B de Wit – 1B Ayala – CF Maldonado – C Kilmer – LF Nettles – SS Castro – RF Casas – P Mathers

Routinely ravaged Jamal Barrow faced the minimum in the first three innings, which wasn’t something that should come as a shock to seasoned suffering Raccoons fans. Ayala hit a 2-out infield single in the bottom 4th, and Barrow hit Maldonado with a pitch, but Kilmer floated out to Joe Ritchey to end the inning. Corey Mathers – still without a no-decision in ’43 – did his best, but struck out nobody through five innings and survived on stingy defense that held the Titans to two base hits and no runs. He then actually got a scratched-out lead in the bottom 5th. Nettles legged out an infield single, stole second while Devin Phillips fumbled the ball, and came around on two productive outs, including Jose Casas’ sac fly. Mathers spontaneously responded with two strikeouts in a shutdown sixth, but then suffered three straight singles with two outs by Cullen Tortora, Ivan Lugo, and PH Mark Vermillion in the seventh inning to get the game tied. I was bitter and moping and pretended to be concerned more with brushing Honeypaws than with the fourth utterly frustrating game of the week – and it was only Thursday!!

Mathers eeked out another scoreless frame in the eighth, but that would be it for him. If his decisions streak had to hold, the Raccoons had to get him the W in the eighth now! Jamal Barrow, infuriatingly still in the game, got a soft grounder from Casas, but conceded a single to Ricky Jimenez in the #9 hole. Carreno popped out, Jimenez was picked off, and Mathers had his no-decision. Zack Kelly pitched the top 9th against mostly left-handed Titans, but two on base anyway, but PH Paul Kuehn popped out to end the inning. Barrow also got a no-decision, being lifted after eight in a frustrating 1-1 tie. Right-hander Jose Colon pitched to the 2-3-4 Critters in the bottom 9th. Honeypaws’ fur was spotless now, so only the cookie jar remained to fake majority interest. Jay de Wit hit a leadoff single, but Ayala was asked to bunt and knocked the ball back to third base so hard, Ivan Lugo got the lead runner. Maldo’s groundout advanced Ayala to second base, where Van Anderson pinch-ran for him, but couldn’t score on Kilmer’s single right in front of Joe Ritchey. He scored on Nettles’ single, though. 2-1 Blighters. De Wit 2-4; Nettles 2-4, RBI; Jimenez (PH) 1-1; Mathers 8.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K;

Even when winning, they are not a great joy to watch this week.

Or this year.

Game 2
BOS: LF Liceaga – RF Ritchey – C D. Phillips – 1B C. Cortes – CF Tortora – 3B I. Lugo – SS Greeley – 2B Thennes – P Donovan
POR: 2B Carreno – LF de Wit – 3B Jimenez – 1B Maldonado – C Sieber – SS Castro – CF Waltz – RF Casas – P Lambert

Former Raccoon Carlos Cortes and Thomas Greeley combined for two hits and a 2-out run in the fourth inning, the first run on the board on Friday. Lambert scattered quite a few runners, while the Raccoons had no base hits the first time through. Maldonado and Waltz did reach base. The former was caught stealing, the latter stole a base, and neither scored. While the Raccoons kept hitting nothing whatsoever, the Titans got another 2-out RBI single from Greeley in the sixth inning for a 2-0 lead. They also managed to make two outs on the base paths against the Critters in the same inning, and were still winning this game; the inning began with a walk to Cortes and Tortora getting hit with a pitch. Lugo grounded into a force at second, while Greeley singled home Cortes just as Lugo was slapped out between second and third base. Jonathan Thennes then also singled, but Greeley was now going for third base, and was thrown out by Casas, ending the inning.

It was then LAMBERT in the bottom 6th to get the Coons into the H column with a single to center. Carreno forced him out with a grounder, then was caught stealing. Donovan then singled off Lambert in the seventh, the first of three singles in the inning, and scored another run, 3-0. Chuck Jones came in with two on and two out, but walked Tortora, then left immediately for Craig, who got a pop to third base from Lugo to end the inning. While the Coons got a hit from a position player eventually, a Castro single in the eighth, it was all ****, and it was all *****. The ninth inning saw Sauerkraut, left over from the eighth, get out Danny Liceaga, a lefty hitter, before Sam Bowman made his major league debut. Joe Ritchey singled, he walked Phillips, and then threw a wild pitch. Calm your ******* ****!! Bowman struck out Cortes, which didn’t shock me, because ex-Coon – I had *seen* it. Tortora popped out to short, which was not a given. Colon faced the Coons in the bottom 9th, beginning with Casas, who grounded out to short. Nettles hit for Bowman and grounded out. Gutierrez hit for Carreno… and grounded out. 3-0 Titans.

CAN ANYBODY HEAR SWING A ******* STICK???

Maldonado and Carreno got Saturday off. (marks an L in the schedule)

Game 3
BOS: LF Liceaga – RF Ritchey – C D. Phillips – 1B C. Cortes – CF Tortora – 3B I. Lugo – SS Greeley – 2B Thennes – P Kinner
POR: 1B Ayala – 3B de Wit – LF Nettles – C Kilmer – SS Castro – 2B Gutierrez – RF Waltz – CF Anderson – P Jackson

Kinner struck out four Raccoons the first time through, including Justin Waltz with Castro incidentally at third base and two outs in the bottom 2nd. Jackson allowed a walk to Ritchey and nailed Phillips for early panic in the first inning, but didn’t allow a hit until Cortes sunk a double in the gap in left-center in the fourth. That was with Phillips on base and reaching third, having drawn a leadoff walk. Tortora’s groundout and Lugo’s sac fly scored the runners, and the Raccoons were down 2-0, and with 98% probability that would be a terminal condition.

But idiots win the lottery all the time, despite terrible odds, and the Raccoons made up the deficit, despite terrible odds, and despite me mixing some stuff I had found under the trusty brown couch and which was of unknown age and provenance into my Capt’n Coma. Kinner walked Waltz to begin the bottom 5th, then hung one that even Van Anderson couldn’t miss and fired it into the seats in rightfield – a game-tying 2-piece! Inspired, Jackson singled to center, but the 1-2-3 in the lineup made 1-2-3 outs and that was that… and then he nailed Tortora and gave up singles to Greeley and Thennes in the sixth to fall behind right away again… In the seventh he gave up a leadoff single to the opposing pitcher, with Kinner singled home by Devin Phillips with two outs against reliever Alex Ramirez, who did not provide much tangible relief at all. Not that the Raccoons weren’t stirring – Waltz and Anderson hit singles to begin the bottom 7th. And then Maldonado hit into a fielder’s choice and Ayala into a soul-murdering double play. Instead the Raccoons’ pen collapsed for four runs between Sauerkraut and Bowman in the ninth inning. The former had pitched a scoreless eighth, then gave up a walk to Thennes and a double to Tony Graham. Kuehn hit a sac fly, Ritchey homered off Bowman, and more runners amounted to another run off Bowman, the newest disappointing Raccoon.

So the Coons were down 8-2 in the middle of the ninth. The bottom of the inning seemed like a throwaway, and the Titans went to the soft end of the bullpen, which created a mess. Gutierrez walked. Waltz singled. Anderson plated a run with a groundout, 8-3. Carreno hit for Bowman and hit an RBI single. Sal Ayala singled. Guillermo Vinales took over as third pitcher of the inning, walked Jay de Wit, and suddenly the Raccoons had the tying run at the plate… in Nettles. Maldonado had long been used up, but at least Vinales was a right-hander. He also struck out. Kilmer grounded out to short. 8-5 Titans. Ayala 2-5, RBI; Waltz 2-3, BB; Anderson 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Carreno (PH) 1-1, RBI;

(groans!)

Game 4
BOS: CF Tortora – RF Ritchey – LF C. Cortes – 3B I. Lugo – SS Greeley – 1B T. Graham – C Kuehn – 2B Thennes – P N. Myers
POR: 2B Carreno – 3B de Wit – 1B Ayala – CF Maldonado – 3B Jimenez – SS Castro – C Kilmer – RF Nettles – P Clark

Lugo doubled home a run in the first, but it only got worse in the second, when Brent Clark loaded the bases with the 6-7-8 batters, nobody out, and then fell 3-0 to Nick Myers, who then swung … and singled to center, too. That made it 2-0, a bases-loaded walk to Tortora made it 3-0, and Ritchey hit a sac fly, 4-0. Cortes hit into a double play, which had not made me happy a while back, and right now there was no reason for happiness anymore either. There was just finding the good rope that Maud had hidden away. The Raccoons shed Stephon Nettles by the third inning, running into the fence in pursuit of a Tony Graham fly and leaving the game with a sprained elbow. Casas replaced him, then hit a 2-run homer in the bottom 5th in his first time at the plate, collecting Kilmer. Of course by then Brent Clark had thrown away another run to the Titans, and the Raccoons still trailed by three. In the sixth they trailed by five; Clark had two outs before giving up a ******* single to the ******* opposing pitcher, then nailed Tortora. Ramirez came in for the right-handed Ritchey, and got raked for a 2-run double.

Bottom 6th, down 7-2, the Raccoons were again invited back into the game by Titans pitchers. Ayala led off with a single, advanced on a wild pitch, and to third on a groundout. But there were already two outs before Castro singled him in, and then Kilmer went deep to left, 7-5. Casas singled, Myers was yanked, and Gutierrez walked against Vinales, putting the tying run on base. The tying runs reached scoring position when Vinales walked Carreno to fill the bases. And then de Wit popped out to Thennes on the first pitch. On Aruba, all the lights went out at the same time.

Vinales offered two walks to Ayala and Maldo to begin the bottom 7th, putting the tying runs on base right away again. Jimenez singled to right. Damn it! Three on, no outs! We’re doomed! Castro hit a floater to shallow center that Tortora couldn’t reach, and everybody advanced by one base, with Ayala scoring, 7-6. Kilmer tied the game with a sac fly to center, but Casas and Sieber made ****** outs, keeping the remaining runners stranded. Chuck Jones held the Titans in place in the eighth inning, but the Critters only reached base with two outs in the bottom 8th against Justin Johns. Ayala singled, Maldo walked, and Jimenez grounded out to Lugo… He was then out in a double switch, with Josh Rella coming into the #5 hole and Van Anderson batting ninth (Maldo went to third base). Lugo singled, but Rella struck out two in the inning in keeping the Titans pinned. Jose Colon then came up for the bottom 9th, putting Castro on base with a soft single. Kilmer lined out before Castro stole second base. Colon then walked Casas on four pitches, which brought up Anderson – and the Raccoons had only Justin Waltz left on the bench, so there was no point in even glancing there. Anderson struck out, Carreno grounded out, and the game went to extras.

Rella had another two strikeouts in the 10th, keeping the Titans of the bases. Waltz batted for him with two outs in the bottom 10th after Maldonado had singled to right off Colon. Waltz also found a hit in rightfield, a single that was not enough to end the game, but sent Maldo to third base. Castro, however, ended the game with a gapper in right-center. 8-7 Critters. Ayala 2-4, 2 BB; Jimenez 2-5; Waltz (PH) 1-1; Castro 4-6, 2B, 3 RBI; Casas 2-3, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Rella 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, W (2-0);

In other news

July 1 – TOP SP Chris Inderrieden (6-4, 3.67 ERA) 2-hits the Scorpions in a 4-0 shutout win.
July 2 – The season of Scorpions SP Lazaro Cavazos (4-4, 5.75 ERA) ends with a torn back muscle.
July 3 – DEN INF Ronnie Thompson (.363, 2 HR, 53 RBI) might miss three weeks with an oblique strain.
July 4 – 25-year-old Denver INF/RF Brian Bass (.184, 1 HR, 7 RBI) hits a walkoff single in the 15th inning to beat the Warriors, 8-7. Bass is on his second cup of coffee in the major leagues.
July 5 – The Stars trade C Pacio Torreo (.289, 4 HR, 19 RBI) to the Scorpions for OF/1B/3B Phil Rogers (.194, 6 HR, 37 RBI) and a prospect.
July 5 – Capitals SP Jerry Banda (8-8, 3.57 ERA) throws a 3-hit shutout against the Cyclones, whiffing six in the 7-0 win.

FL Player of the Week: NAS 2B/SS Billy Bouldin (.328, 2 HR, 39 RBI), hitting .500 (15-30) with 1 HR, 4 RBI
CL Player of the Week: NYC SS Alex Adame (.327, 5 HR, 36 RBI), batting .485 (16-33) with 1 HR, 6 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: PIT 1B Danny Santillano (.350, 9 HR, 53 RBI), hitting .376 with 3 HR, 21 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: POR UT Jesus Maldonado (.331, 12 HR, 46 RBI), whipping it at .337 with 8 HR, 20 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: DAL CL Matt Simmons (5-3, 1.27 ERA, 11 SV), being flawless after being promoted to closer, 2-0 with 0.00 ERA in 16 IP with 11 SV
CL Pitcher of the Month: ATL SP Tim Scott (5-0, 2.63 ERA), starting six times for a 5-0 record with 2.01 ERA, 31 K
FL Rookie of the Month: PIT OF Felix Rojas (.294, 1 HR, 30 RBI), poking .313 with 0 HR, 9 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: IND C Jason Rose (.245, 4 HR, 28 RBI), hitting .286 with 4 HR, 18 RBI

Complaints and stuff

While Seth Green, disgraced, cleared waivers and accepted an assignment to St. Petersburg, there were more issues with the pitching staff that were less easily disposed of. In case you’re wondering, another $9.75M and four guaranteed years on that genious 6-year deal with Rake Jackson.

What a terrible week, especially offensively. We had SIX runs in the first FIVE games (and somehow won two). And there was no help in AAA, either. Shuta Yamamoto was hitting a little bit, but I was through that thought at the present time. 2039 third-rounder Brian Snyder was a terrible defender that was hitting .355 for the season between AA and AAA, and almost the same for either team! Nobody quite knew how he was doing it, o where to put him on the field. He played all infield positions (badly) and also some rightfield. Granted, rightfield for us was a bit of an open sore, oozing goo. Were we THIS desperate? It might not take much longer to go all bonkers and bring up Snyder.

That Stephon Nettles will hit the DL with the bum elbow – two weeks should do – might help out Snyder as well.

Last year’s supplemental-rounder OF Ken Mills was hitting .171 for Ham Lake after a recent promotion there, but stopped doing such folly this week – he tore his posterior cruciate ligament and will be on crutches for the rest of the season.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons don’t have a losing month yet this season.

11-10, 14-14, 14-13, 3-2.

I’m not saying it’s pretty. I’m just saying they have yet to be pushed over the brink.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (42-39) @ Crusaders (41-39) – July 6-9, 2043

The scoring-challenged Critters were off to the road for the last week before the All Star break, starting off with the road portion of our four-and-four set with the Crusaders over the next two weeks. The season series stood at 2-1 in the Raccoons’ favor, but wasn’t something that couldn’t be gotten rid of. The Crusaders conceded the fewest runs in the CL, which was a first sign of trouble, and both these teams were in the bottom three in terms of runs scored.

Projected matchups:
Jason Wheatley (5-8, 3.20 ERA) vs. Dave Hils (8-7, 3.18 ERA)
Corey Mathers (10-5, 2.80 ERA) vs. Paul Paris (6-4, 3.20 ERA)
Cory Lambert (2-7, 4.40 ERA) vs. Aaron Hickey (2-2, 4.28 ERA)
Jake Jackson (6-8, 4.93 ERA) vs. Ernie Quintero (7-7, 3.70 ERA)

That was all their right-handers, and none of their southpaw, Tony Galligher (7-4, 3.67 ERA).

The Raccoons placed Stephon Nettles on the DL to begin the week, bringing up Brian Snyder, meager fielder of many positions, from AAA. He had hit .368 in AAA, though.

Game 1
POR: 2B Carreno – LF de Wit – 1B Ayala – CF Maldonado – 3B Jimenez – RF Snyder – SS Gutierrez – C Kilmer – P Wheatley
NYC: SS Adame – CF Graf – RF Platero – 2B Briones – 1B Rudd – C H. Alvarez – LF J. Simmons – 3B Melendez – P Hils

Wheatley managed to give up four singles for three runs in the bottom of the first inning, which was almost admirable. Joe Graf hit a single to right that a good fielder with a sense for his surroundings might have caught, stole second, and then they dished home three singles in a row, which each runner getting the extra base on the throw to home plate, allowing them to score on the next single. It was brilliant, and also devastating. Ricky Jimenez’ solo homer in the top 2nd was soon matched with another shabby bottom 3rd, in which Tom Rudd, Hector Alvarez, and Justin Simmons all strafed Wheatley for hits, but got only one run this time.

Up 4-1 through four innings, the Crusaders then lost Dave Hils to injury after back-to-back singles by Brian Snyder – the first of his career – and Omar Gutierrez. It also started to rain. Soon enough the game went to a rain delay that took over an hour, with Wheatley being hit for once the game resumed and Jeff Johnson walked Kilmer in a full count. Three on, one out, Jose Casas took a stick, because there was nothing left on that bench worth writing home about, but lifted his average all the way to .198 with a deep fly to right, high, gone, and outta here!! GRAAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAAMMMM!!!

The lead didn’t look like it would last long; Zack Kelly got the ball in the bottom 5th, up 5-4, and nailed two batters while Mario Briones became the fourth Crusader of the game to steal a base off the Critters’ battery. Kelly struck out Bill Melendez to get out of the inning, then struck out Fernando Alba and Alex Adame (36 SB!) before walking Joe Graf. Jon Craig replaced Kelly. Jose Platero hit a deep fly to left, but de Wit was on it and caught it on the warning track. No such luck in the seventh with Briones’ shot – it was outta here, and tied the game at five.

At this stage the Raccoons were also saddled with a pretty bad outfield. De Wit and Snyder were on the wings, while Justin Waltz ended up in center; Maldonado had replaced Jimenez at third base in a double switch, and Van Anderson, batting ninth and playing center, had been ejected disputing strike three in the seventh. But they held the tie with Sauerkraut in the eighth, then got PH Sean Sieber to reach on an error by Adame. Synder was rung up, but Gutierrez walked and Kilmer lined a ball to deep left that fell for an RBI double and a 6-5 lead…! Waltz tacked on a sac fly, and a parade of Crusaders relievers continued to falter, walking Carreno and giving up an RBI single to de Wit, all with two outs. Left-hander Mike Lynn came in to face Sal Ayala, but gave up a screamer to left for a 2-run single. Maldonado grounded out, completing the inning and an 0-for-5 personally. Up by five, the Raccoons tried their luck with Sam Bowman in the bottom 9th – with success. A grounder to short, two easy flies to center, and that was that. 10-5 Crusaders. De Wit 2-5, RBI; Ayala 2-5, 2 RBI; Kilmer 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI; Casas (PH) 1-1, HR, 4 RBI;

Game 2
POR: 2B Carreno – LF de Wit – 1B Ayala – CF Maldonado – 3B Jimenez – RF Snyder – C Sieber – SS Castro – P Mathers
NYC: SS Adame – CF Graf – RF Platero – 2B Briones – LF J. Davis – 1B Rudd – C H. Alvarez – 3B Melendez – P Paris

Platero sprained his ankle on a double in the first inning and was replaced with Rich Salek right away, but nobody scored until the third inning when the Raccoons opened with a Sieber double to left and a Castro single to right-center, then got Corey Mathers to split John Davis and Joe Graf for a 2-run double…! That gave Mathers 8 RBI on the year, more than Waltz, Anderson, or Ayala (since joining the team). Ayala batted with Mathers on third base and two outs, but drew a walk. Maldonado plated the pitcher with a clean single to center. Jimenez struck out to end the inning, and Mathers then gave two runs back right away on a 2-piece by Salek in the bottom 3rd.

Maldo drove in another run his next time up, a 2-out double to right that chased home de Wit for a 4-2 lead. Jimenez tacked on, hitting a homer to left, 6-2. Suddenly they seemed to be hitting again …! 7.25 runs per game in the last four, and this one was not even over yet! …they also continued to give up runs, though. Mathers lasted six innings, but gave up another 2-piece of his own in the final frame, this one punched out by Tom Rudd, his first of the season, which made me grind my teeth again.

With the taxed pen, tough decisions had to be made. Chuck Jones pitched a scoreless seventh, but there was another left-hander (Salek) we wanted him to face to begin the eighth. The Crusaders made it hard on us by putting Sieber on base with an uncaught third strike, and Castro with a single. They were on the corners with one out and Jones’ spot up, and with a 2-run lead we had Jones, who was 1-for-1 this year, swing away … and single past Briones to bring in Sieber …! Lefty Brian McAllister continued to melt, walking Carreno to fill the sacks, and giving up a run on a de Wit single. Ayala and Maldo however popped out, stranding a full set. Jones and Ramirez did the eighth, before Josh Rella got the ball for the ninth inning with a 4-run lead. He ventured straight into the buzzing chainsaws, giving up singles to Justin Simmons, Melendez, Adame (8-5), and a double to Graf for an 8-7 score. Salek up with two outs. One ball. Two balls. Sigh. And a pop! Sieber tossing the mask and chasing after it, and he made the catch …! 8-7 Critters. De Wit 2-5, 2B, RBI; Maldonado 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Sieber 2-4, BB, 2 2B; Castro 2-4, BB; Jones 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K and 1-1, RBI;

Doesn’t look like two teams that can’t hit. Looks more like two teams that can’t do anything BUT hit.

Game 3
POR: LF de Wit – 3B Jimenez – RF Casas – CF Maldonado – C Kilmer – 2B Gutierrez – 1B Snyder – SS Castro – P Lambert
NYC: SS Adame – CF Graf – RF Salek – 2B Briones – LF J. Davis – 1B Rudd – C H. Alvarez – 3B Melendez – P Hickey

Jimenez reached on errors by infielders both of his first times up in this game, and while nothing good happened the first time, the second time around in the third inning the Raccoons got three RBI hits to follow up on his, uh, heroics. Casas and Maldo hit RBI doubles, and Gutierrez chipped an RBI single for a 3-0 lead. Like the other Cor(e)y the day before, Lambert gave some back though in the bottom of the inning, conceding a single to the opposing pitcher and then a double to Adame, who was however stranded on base. Things then came REALLY apart in the fourth. John Davis led off with a single, and was on second base with two outs thanks to an errant pickoff throw, of all things. We wouldn’t walk Melendez intentionally with Hickey hitting well off Lambert, but Melendez singled home Davis with a zinger to center. Oh well, there’s still the pitcher for the third ou- …outta here. Home run for Hickey, flipping the score. And the blunderbuss was in Portland!! Adame legged out an infield single, stole his 37th base, and then was driven in by Joe Graf to extend the New Yorkers’ lead to 5-3. I groaned, then went for the nearest booze concessions to drown the pain.

By the fifth, the Raccoons gave up on the game. Lambert was strafed for another three hits, and was yanked for Bowman, who wouldn’t get out of runners on second and third and one out against Melendez and Heinous Hickey, I was sure. Then he actually struck out Melendez and popped up Hickey for the third out. The Crusaders pumped out 15 hits in total in this game, including three more in the sixth off Bowman, though, and that gave them an extra run. The Raccoons only managed six hits in the game, and none in the last three innings… 7-3 Crusaders. Maldonado 2-4, 2B, RBI; Becker 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

We needed a fresh reliever – the string of bad starts was taking its toll. Sam Bowman (6.75 ERA) was returned to AAA, and we called up … Travis Sims. He had a 7.20 ERA in St. Pete, but we just needed a warm body to make it to the All Star Game…

Game 4
POR: 1B Ayala – LF de Wit – 3B Jimenez – CF Maldonado – C Sieber – RF Casas – 2B Carreno – SS Gutierrez – P Jackson
NYC: CF Graf – C Alba – RF Salek – 2B Briones – LF J. Davis – 1B Rudd – SS J. Simmons – 3B Melendez – P E. Quintero

Singles by Ayala, Jimenez, and Sieber gave the Raccoons a first-inning run before Casas struck out. Not batting atop the lineup was Carreno, dumped to the bottom for being stuck in a 1-for-21 slump. When he did reach base in the fourth inning it was by forcing out Casas, and then he was caught stealing. Sometimes, things just were really, really rotten.

Briones’ solo home run in the bottom of the fourth tied the game at one, after Jackson had scattered a few runners here and there in the early innings. An error by Rudd would put Ayala on base to begin the fifth. He advanced on a de Wit grounder, then scored on a Jimenez single to center, taking a 2-1 lead for Portland that was also short-lived. Jackson had one of those innings in the fifth, giving up doubles to Melendez and Graf to tie the game, and a single to Fernando Alba to put the Crusaders in front. Getting strikeouts would help at times, but he wasn’t, whiffing just two batters in five innings.

Then the Critters came back. Casas was nicked, Gutierrez reached base, too, and Jackson bunted them into scoring position for Ayala with two outs, because we were that kind of on-a-wing-and-a-prayer team. Ayala winged a ball into right for a single, and both runners scored, flipping the game back to the Coons, 4-3. Jackson was back out for the bottom 7th when Guillermo Obando appeared in the #9 hole, but yielded a single to the right-hander, putting the tying run on base. Chuck Jones yielded the lead on a 2-out single by Briones… after Joe Graf had legged out an infield single on a completely hosed Arturo Carreno. Davis struck out, ending the seventh in a 4-4 tie. From there, the Raccoons got a scoreless inning from Sims in the eighth, then went to Kelly against the left-handed top of the order in the ninth. He allowed a single to Alba, which meant Briones came up again. 6-4 Crusaders. Ayala 2-4, BB, 2 RBI; Jimenez 2-5, RBI; Gutierrez 2-3, BB;

Raccoons (44-41) @ Canadiens (52-35) – July 10-12, 2043

There was no way we would get out of Elk City with our tails still attached. They had won four in a row and were steaming away with the division now, while sitting second in runs scored and fifth in runs allowed. 2B Dan Schneller was still on the DL, but it wasn’t like there was no supporting cast around Jerry Outram (.362, 12 HR, 47 RBI) anymore. They were up 6-3 in the season series.

Projected matchups:
Brent Clark (7-6, 4.15 ERA) vs. Matt Sealock (10-6, 4.29 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (5-8, 3.43 ERA) vs. John Roeder (7-5, 4.43 ERA)
Corey Mathers (11-5, 2.97 ERA) vs. David Arias (11-3, 2.07 ERA)

Roeder was the lone left-hander to contend with. Besides all the bats, and anxiety.

Game 1
POR: 1B Ayala – LF de Wit – 3B Jimenez – CF Maldonado – C Kilmer – SS Castro – 2B Carreno – RF Casas – P Clark
VAN: SS R. Johnston – C Clemente – CF Outram – 1B M. Hernandez – LF J. Becker – 2B Malkus – RF V. Vazquez – 3B R. Ashley – P Sealock

Brent Clark faced the minimum the first time through, walking Timóteo Clemente before getting a double play grounder from Jerry Outram (!), but the Raccoons weren’t doing anything either. Maldonado had a single the first time through, and that… was it. Clark whacked Ryan Johnston with a pitch to begin the bottom 4th, but never let him get off first base. He then hit Travis Malkus in the fifth, and from there it all went south… and it was the opposing pitcher again that drew blood. With runners on the corners and two outs, Matt Sealock doubled to left, driving in both Malkus and Ray Ashley on the damn Elks’ first base hit of the game. And the hitting batters didn’t stop there – Clark nailed Outram in the sixth, and by now the Elks were becoming loud in the dugout. They shoved it to Clark in baseball fashion, though. Melvin Hernandez singled, and with one out, Travis Malkus tripled to center to drive in another pair. Victor Vazquez’ lineout and Ray Ashley’s easy fly stranded Malkus, but what did it matter? Four or five? The Coons couldn’t even score one! (looks into the box of donuts on the living room table) Honeypaws – there were five donuts in there before Malkus hit that triple and I had a little cry. Now there is only four! – Don’t give me that “what does it matter”!!

Clark completed seven innings on three hits and five walks (…), melting late after a stellar beginning, and leaving with a 4-run deficit. The Raccoons also had three hits, but of course they wouldn’t have a run against Sealock. And then we suddenly got the tying run up in the eighth. PH Van Anderson and Ayala singled to lead off, de Wit hit into a fielder’s choice, and Jimenez with the RBI single, and now Maldo was the tying run with one down…! He also grounded a fat one to Johnston for an inning-ending double play. Instead, in the bottom of the inning Malkus put the game away with a 2-run homer off Alx Ramirez.

Or did he? While I fought Honeypaws over the last donut, Kilmer singled, Castro singled, Kilmer scored on a throwing error, and Carreno hit an RBI double into the left-center gap, making the tying run appear with nobody out in the on-deck circle. It reached the box with Casas’ scratch single…! Van Anderson struck out before Sebastian Parham, who had inherited two runners with nobody out, threw a run-scoring wild pitch that also took off the double play. It didn’t protect against a grounder to first by Ayala and de Wit’s fly to center, though. 6-4 Canadiens. Castro 2-4; Carreno 2-4, 2B, RBI; Anderson (PH) 1-2;

Game 2
POR: 2B Carreno – LF de Wit – 3B Jimenez – 1B Maldonado – SS Castro – C Sieber – RF Casas – CF Waltz – P Wheatley
VAN: RF van der Zanden – C Clemente – CF Outram – LF M. Hernandez – 3B J. Becker – 1B J. Lopez – 2B Jorgensen – SS R. Johnston – P Roeder

The bags were full, Carreno (forced out by de Wit), Jimenez, and Maldo all reaching off Roeder to begin the game. Castro popped out, Sieber whiffed, and nobody scored. Through three, the Critters had four hits to the Elks’ one, and neither team got a run across, but in the fourth a walk drawn by Castro and a Sieber double put a pair in scoring position with nobody out, and things were getting a bit imperative here. Things also promoted three sub-.200 batters to the plate, so I expected nothing. Jose Casas’ sac fly was already more than I dared to ask for, but also was all the Critters got together. Waltz whiffed, Wheatley grounded out, then had Carreno drop an Outram pop to put the tying run on base in the bottom 4th. Somehow, he pitched around it.

No Critter reached in the fifth, while Maldonado got a leadoff single off Roeder in the sixth, but was stranded on third base when Casas struck out. Wheatley still had a 1-hitter, walked Clemente in the bottom of the sixth, but then struck out Outram, which not many Critters managed with runner(s) on base. The Elks remained shut out through six, but Wheatley approached 90 pitches due to some inefficiencies along the way. He walked Johnny Lopez in the seventh, but got three more outs to keep the Elks down; on 105 pitches however, his day was over.

Jon Craig was out for the eighth, but put Arnout van der Zanden on base with a 1-out single. Clemente grounded out, after which the Coons went to Chuck Jones, who held Outram – MAYBE the best player in the league! – to an .077 batting average. He gave up a game-tying double on a 2-2 pitch, and I sunk into the cushions, not registering that Hernandez struck out until Johnny Lopez hit a 2-run walkoff homer off Alex Ramirez in the ninth. 3-1 Canadiens. Maldonado 2-4; Wheatley 7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 K;

We kept Sauerkraut in reserve for the last few days, unsure whether Corey Mathers would be an All Star or not – he was not, and thus would start the Sunday game himself. Jon Craig and Jesus Maldonado were All Stars.

There was a roster move, incidentally, with Manny Fernandez coming off the DL just ahead of the last game in Elk City. Justin Waltz was disposed of once more, hitting .192/.273/.256, somehow. Maldonado got the Sunday game off instead.

Game 3
POR: 1B Ayala – SS Castro – 3B Jimenez – LF Fernandez – C Kilmer – RF Casas – 2B Carreno – CF Anderson – P Mathers
VAN: RF van der Zanden – C Clemente – LF M. Hernnadez – 1B J. Lopez – 2B Malkus – CF Mann – 3B R. Ashley – SS R. Johnston – P D. Arias

With neither Maldo nor Outram engaged, neither team knew how to score and didn’t do so ahead of a third-inning rain delay that lasted over an hour and was sure to derail the starting pitchers earlier than expected in a scoreless affair. The fourth began with both pitchers still involved, and with Manny Fernandez reaching on a Johnston fumble. Kilmer doubled to left, then was doubled off when Casas lined out to Malkus. ARGH!! Arturo Carreno stopped me from eating Honeypaws in frustration when he took Arias deep to left for a 2-0 lead.

Mathers pitched five innings, not allowing a run, although singles by Arias (…) and van der Zanden to begin the bottom 5th looked like he’d get chewed up now. Clemente hit into a double play, though, and after a clumsy walk to Hernandez, Mathers was told by the pitching coach in no uncertain terms that it was get Lopez, or get yoinked. He got Lopez on strikes.

The Raccoons then went to Travis Sims, which was a bold move with a 2-run lead, but the right-handed bottom half of the order was up, and he retired five in a row, three on strikes. Zack Kelly got a fly to center from van der Zanden to complete seven. Brian Snyder then hit a leadoff double for Kelly in the eighth and ended up stranded, which made me really giddy. Jon Craig got around a Hernandez single in the damn Elks’ half of the eighth, so the Carreno homer kept standing up. It was also all the Critters got here, with Casas reaching base only when Ryan McConnell hit him in the ninth, and then being stranded. Josh Rella got the ball for the ninth. Jeremy Mann grounded out. Ray Ashley flew out. Ryan Johnston popped out. Arturo Carreno stole a game in Elk City…! 2-0 Raccoons. Carreno 1-4, HR, 2 RBI; Snyder (PH) 1-1, 2B; Mathers 5.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 3 K, W (12-5) and 1-2; Sims 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

In other news

July 9 – SFB 3B/1B Ramon Sifuentes (.267, 16 HR, 65 RBI) will miss a month with a torn meniscus.
July 9 – Pacifics OF/1B Jon Sullivan (.248, 3 HR, 25 RBI) hits a home run for the only score in a 1-0 win over the Gold Sox.
July 11 – The Bayhawks beat the Condors, 15-11. They do so while being out-hit 16-9, but draw 13 walks to make up the difference in runners. SFB RF/LF Juan Brito (.286, 7 HR, 27 RBI) drives in four runs on a homer and a single.

FL Player of the Week: NAS 1B/C Jeff Wilson (.350, 12 HR, 30 RBI), batting .476 (10-21) with 3 HR, 9 RBI
CL Player of the Week: VAN 2B/3B Travis Malkus (.220, 5 HR, 13 RBI), poking .364 (8-22) with 5 HR, 11 RBI

Complaints and stuff

**** the Elks. Malkus especially, whatever hole he crawled out of to replace Schneller’s production just in time.

More losing pretty much has put us so far out, with all the flaws we already have, that we can’t realistically fantasize about the playoffs anymore, and so there is no need to make any more ill-advised trades down the line. We already got Ayala, hitting a sturdy .652 OPS since the trade. That is a teamwide ailment…

Mario Briones hit 10-for-19 in the Raccoons series, whacking three home runs and driving in seven. At least one guy likes seeing the Raccoons play.

We spent $617k on international free agents this week, which got us into the penalty zone for next year, but we should still be able to sign one sterling talent for big dosh next year. This year we got three players; most of the money went to 16-year-old Venezuelan right-hander Políbio O’Higgins, a groundballer with fastball, curve, changeup combination. We will maybe revisit him in a couple years and voice disappointment over burning $570k on him.

Fun Fact: Jerry Outram has won the batting title, OBP crown, and slugging belt four out of the last five years, and there is no way to believe he won’t go 5-for-6.

.360/.484/.554. The man is a natural disaster ready to wash your village away at any time.

Unless he’s hurt. He played in more than 146 games only twice in his career, with 2036 being his first full time season. Three times he missed at least 48 games.

[Westheim]

All Star Game

RIC 3B Josh Frazier (.293, 10 HR, 56 RBI) is named the 2043 All Star Game MVP. He has a 2-run home run in the contest, which the Federal League wins 4-3.

Jesus Maldonado pinch-hits in his first All Star Game appearance, striking out. Jon Craig, also a first-time participant, pitches a scoreless inning.

Raccoons (45-43) vs. Crusaders (46-41) – July 16-19, 2043

Parte deux of our four-and-four back-and-forth with the Crusaders. The season series stood at 4-3 after our split in New York last week. They had since won five games in a row, but were still second from the bottom in runs scored and conceding the fewest runs overall.

Projected matchups:
Jason Wheatley (5-8, 3.21 ERA) vs. Dave Hils (9-7, 3.07 ERA)
Corey Mathers (12-5, 2.84 ERA) vs. Paul Paris (7-5, 3.31 ERA)
Cory Lambert (2-8, 4.83 ERA vs. Ernie Quintero (7-7, 3.71 ERA)
Brent Clark (7-7, 4.22 ERA) vs. Tony Galligher (8-4, 3.68 ERA)

Their only left-hander was Tony Galligher. Southpaw Sunday!

Game 1
NYC: SS Adame – C Alba – RF Platero – 1B Briones – CF Graf – 2B Nash – LF Rudd – 3B Melendez – P Hils
POR: 1B Ayala – 3B Jimenez – CF Maldonado – LF Fernandez – C Kilmer – SS Castro – 2B Carreno – RF Snyder – P Wheatley

Mario Briones and Arturo Carreno continued to perform at opposite ends of the spectrum right from the start of the second half here, with Briones doubling home Alex Adame, who had reached base on a terrible throwing error by Carreno right at the start of the game. Nothing was working out for the rookie Carreno, and that ROTY title was receding behind the hills in the far, far distance. The Raccoons, however, as a whole made up the unearned run and then some in the bottom 1st, starting with singles from Sal Ayala and Jimenez. Manny would tie the game with a sac fly, Kilmer hit another single, and then Jose Castro hit a gapper for a 2-run double to take a 3-1 lead. He also pulled up lame with some sort of physical malady and was replaced with Omar Gutierrez after some on-field medical consultation. Carreno then, fittingly, grounded out to end the inning. Top 2nd, the first batter also reached via defensive sabotage, with Kilmer fumbling strike three on Randolph Nash to get him on base. Tom Rudd hit into a double play, though. In the third, a Gutierrez error put Alex Adame on base for no good reason. Adame stole second, his 39th bag of the season, then reached third on a wild pitch. Can anybody here … at least try to play this game…?? Somehow, Wheatley kept the runner on third base, with Fernando Alba popping out and Jose Platero flying out to center…

The game entered a lull after that, with nobody really doing anything until Alba whacked a leadoff double in the sixth. Suddenly, the tying run was back in the box, and before long that meant Briones, who had slaughtered the Raccoons in the series in New York, and had gotten off to a neat start here, too. He found another gap for an RBI triple, parking himself at third base as the tying run with one out, but again the Crusaders choked. Joe Graf lined out to Snyder in shallow right, and Briones shied back, and Nash was out on an easy grounder. Bottom 6th, Maldo and Manny opened the inning with a soft single and an even softer double that hit off the corner of the sidewall in foul ground on the left side to befuddle Tom Rudd for the extra base. Nobody out, Kilmer was walked intentionally to put the proven hex on the Coons: three on, nobody out, doom. Gutierrez hit into a force at home plate, and Carreno, the cursed creature, into a double play.

Wheatley lasted seven, was hit for by Van Anderson in the bottom of that inning, and Anderson was nicked and stole second… then was stranded. The bullpen immediately set out to **** the whole 3-2 lead thing up, with Platero and Briones hitting off Alex Ramirez, Chuck Jones walking PH John Davis before whiffing Nash, and Jon Craig crawling through a full count against PH Guillermo Obando with three on and two down – and then finally whiffing him. Compared to that, Josh Rella had quite a calm ninth inning, issuing only a walk to another pinch-hitter, Rich Salek. 3-2 Critters. Maldonado 2-4, 2B; Fernandez 2-3, 2B, RBI; Castro 1-1, 2B, 2 RBI; Wheatley 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, W (6-8);

Jose Castro was diagnosed with a quad strain, not of the serious kind, but bad enough that he’d miss at least one week and probably two, and there was no point in not putting him on the DL.

The temptation was there to bring up Matt Waters – but we resisted. His stats were not *great* in AAA, and maybe it was just too early yet. The Raccoons, who didn’t have any nice things, would move Maldonado in to short, and added an outfielder in LF/CF Jordan Gonzalez, last seen hitting .114 in 18 games with Portland in ’42.

Game 2
NYC: SS Adame – C Alba – RF Platero – 1B Briones – CF Graf – 2B Nash – LF J. Simmons – 3B Melendez – P Paris
POR: 1B Ayala – 3B Jimenez – SS Maldonado – LF Fernandez – C Kilmer – RF Casas – 2B Carreno – CF Anderson – P Mathers

With “weather” said to be on the approach, the Raccoons scored a pair in the first inning when they got their first three runners on base via a walk, single, and RBI double. Manny chipped in a run-scoring groundout, but Kilmer and Casas made poor outs and Maldo was left on second base. In the second inning, Carreno (single), Mathers, and Ayala (walks) stuffed the bases with one down, but both Jimenez and Maldonado were robbed by Joe Graf in deep center, and the former’s sac fly was the only run they tacked on. The rain arrived in the fourth, with Mathers having shed a run on three hits. We had a brief delay of about half an hour in the inning, but Mathers for the time being would continue (on 52 pitches) and batted for himself with Carreno on third base after another hit and a stolen base, and one out in the bottom 4th. He hit a sac fly to center, 4-1. Another run was tacked on in the fifth, Ricky Jimenez’ leadoff double presenting a good starting point. Paris’ wild pitch moved him to third base with Manny at the plate, and the following single got the run across.

Alba’s home run to right cut the lead to 5-2 to begin the sixth, and Mathers wobbled through two walks in the inning before somehow getting a double play grounder to Jimenez, 5-4-3, to get out of the jam. We declared him done after 89 pitches, and his spot was conveniently up in the bottom 6th anyway. Bryan Snyder hit for him and whiffed. Sal Ayala came after that and homered to right, his ninth of the year and first as a Critter. Paris was yanked at that point, but lefty Brian McAllister put Jimenez and Maldonado on base before also giving up a 2-out, 2-run triple to Manny Fernandez, pretty much putting the game away, 8-2. Manny would be up with two aboard and facing a lefty again in the eighth, then with Todd Lush presiding over Ayala and Maldo (who had forced out Jimenez) on the corners and one gone. This time Manny singled to right, 9-2.

All looked well, even with relief from Travis Sims (…), Sauerkraut, and Zack Kelly, until there were two outs in the ninth. Tom Rudd pinch-hit and doubled for Melendez, then limped off with an injury, pinch-run for by John Davis. Guillermo Obando then reached on a Jimenez error. I was filled with foreboding; also a good gulp of Capt’n Coma. Kelly walked Adame, then gave up a 2-run single to Alba. Then he walked Platero in a full count, bringing up Briones with the bases loaded – but not as the tying run quite ******* yet. Josh Rella rung him up before that could become an actual problem… 9-4 Raccoons. Ayala 2-3, 2 BB, HR, RBI; Jimenez 4-4, 2B, RBI; Maldonado 2-4, BB, 2 2B, RBI; Fernandez 3-4, BB, 3B, 5 RBI; Carreno 2-4;

So far, so series in New York. Now we’d lose the next two.

Game 3
NYC: SS Adame – C Alba – RF Platero – 1B Briones – LF J. Davis – 2B Nash – CF Salek – 3B Melendez – P E. Quintero
POR: 1B Ayala – 3B Jimenez – SS Maldonado – LF Fernandez – C Sieber – 2B Carreno – RF Casas – CF Gonzalez – P Lambert

Single, single, walk, walk, single – Cory Lambert retired none of the first five batters the Crusaders brought up in the game, and they all came around to score eventually in a 4-hit, 2-walk inning. The Raccoons were in an immediate 5-0 hole, then lost Manny Fernandez on an infield single in the bottom 1st when he hit the first base bag weirdly and took a tumble up the line. Jay de Wit would replace him in this Verdun-like series. Which immediately got us to the drumheads – Lambert was just as **** in the second inning as in the first, hit Adame to begin it, and then got whacked for another two walks, three hits, and three runs – that included two infield singles to his feet. He was yanked with three on and one out, and was told to pack his **** and head to St. Pete, maybe.

The game was of course completely over, even with Alex Ramirez getting out of the inning without conceding another run. Sims was inserted after that to eat innings (and probably share a plane with Lambert). The Crusaders meanwhile kept stealing bases with an 8-run lead, which pissed me off even more than the start just delivered by Ma Lambert’s afterbirth. Adame stole a base in the third, which led to a run, while Salek was caught stealing in the fourth. A fastball “slipped away” from Sims in the fifth inning and drilled Adame, who glared as he went to first base, then promptly tried to steal second – and was thrown out. **** YOU, ADAME!! **** YOU!!

Ricky Jimenez had hit a home run in the third inning, 9-1, then hit an RBI double that scored Sims in the fifth. The Raccoons’ throwaway reliever had opened the frame with a single, and Ayala was also on. Maldonado walked, and de Wit and Carreno’s singles and a sac fly by Casas would drive in three runs total, getting the Raccoons back to 9-5. Unfortunately that was about all the rally the Raccoons had in them, while Chuck Jones fell to right-handed batters for four hits and two runs in the seventh inning. Portland did make a run in the bottom 7th again, with Maldonado and Sieber hitting singles, while Carreno got the RBI groundout – but there was also a passed ball involved that took a double play away from Jay de Wit in between singles, so there was that… Sieber caught John Davis trying to steal in the eighth inning, and Joe Graf in the ninth, giving him four out of seven in the game. 11-6 Crusaders. Jimenez 3-5, HR, 2B, RBI; Fernandez 1-1; Kilmer (PH) 1-1; Sieber 2-5; Carreno 1-2, 2 BB, 2 RBI; Sims 4.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K and 1-1; Craig 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

Well.

There were a couple of roster moves after this game. First was … Manny Fernandez, off to the DL with a quad strain that should knock him out about clean through August. Oh boy. We also placed Cory Lambert (2-9, 5.62 ERA) on waivers now that he was finally pitching up to his scouting report, and outrighted Travis Sims back to AAA for a fresh arm.

Three replacements… well… warm bodies arrived: outfielder Justin Waltz and pitchers Angelo Montano (groan!!) and Bob Ibold. Waltz would only be back for a day before Stephon Nettles would come off the DL on Monday.

Ibold had been half the return (next to Gene Pellicano, who was on the minor league DL) from the Buffos for Tony Hunter and Wyatt Hamill almost exactly one year ago. Hard-throwing righty with a good curve, but meh control. Only 22, but we had a long of young ones that weren’t fully ripened.

Game 4
NYC: SS Adame – 1B Briones – RF Platero – 3B Melendez – LF J. Davis – 2B Nash – CF Graf – C H. Alvarez – P Galligher
POR: 2B Carreno – 3B Jimenez – 1B Ayala – SS Maldonado – LF de Wit – C Kilmer – RF Casas – CF Anderson – P Clark

The Coons were in the Death Zone early, beginning the second inning of a scoreless game with singles from de Wit and Kilmer, then had Casas draw a walk. Three on, no outs! Van Anderson’s sac fly was all they got, with Clark grounding out in a full count and Carreno whiffing. Jay de Wit got another single the next inning, though, driving in Maldonado and his 2-out triple for a 2-0 lead. Clark didn’t allow a hit through three innings, but then conceded one in the fourth and three in the fifth. Graf, Adame, and Briones put a run together, narrowing the Raccoons’ lead by half. The rest disappeared in the seventh amid Graf’s next leadoff single, his 17th stolen base, and a terrible bloop single by Galligher that landed ON the ******* rightfield line and was shoddily played by Casas, the bum, to get the game tied. Adame forced him out, and Briones grounded out to complete the inning and Clark’s day.

Galligher was still around in the bottom 7th of the 2-2 game, fell 3-1 to Anderson, who then singled, and also gave up a pinch-hit single to Waltz, who was between bus rides to the airport. Carreno found the double play immediately, 6-4-3, and Jimenez flew out to centerfielder Joe Graf to end the inning… Bottom 8th, Ayala and de Wit reached the corners against Galligher and Josh Livingston with one out. In between Maldonado had a deep fly out to center. Livingston walked Kilmer to fill the bases for Casas, then … drilled Casas. That would push home the go-ahead run. Anderson hit a sac fly to right after that, while Waltz grounded out to short. With the left-handed Graf and Hector Alvarez leading off the ninth inning, the Raccoons went to Chuck Jones – he retired New York in order, whiffing Alvarez and Justin Simmons to close the game. 4-2 Raccoons. de Wit 3-4, RBI; Kilmer 2-3, BB; Anderson 1-2, 2 RBI; Waltz (PH) 1-2; Clark 7.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K;

Alex Ramirez got the W for a scoreless eighth.

In other news

July 18 – VAN OF Jerry Outram (.357, 13 HR, 51 RBI) will miss two weeks with a knee sprain.
July 19 – DEN C Amari Thompson (.241, 3 HR, 18 RBI) ends an 11-inning game with the Pacifics with a pinch-hit walkoff grand slam off LAP Danny Tankersley (0-2, 6.00 ERA). The Gold Sox win 6-2.

FL Player of the Week: RIC LF/RF Pablo Gonzalez (.377, 21 HR, 67 RBI), hitting .583 (7-12) with 2 HR, 3 RBI
CL Player of the Week: TIJ RF/1B Willie Ojeda (.313, 6 HR, 40 RBI), batting .474 (9-19) with 2 HR, 5 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Manny Fernandez is clever – getting hurt quickly again means he can’t be traded anymore this year and doesn’t have to clean out that old apartment of his. Clever boy. Really clever.

We took three of four from the New Yorkers this time, meaning it was a 5-3 double-whammy and we’re up 7-4 for the year with them. We’re again only seven games out, but I don’t feel like this means we’re closing in now. Injuries have taken the last few teeth out of the lineup (minus Maldo) and it’s gonna be a long August without Manny.

For the first time Jason Wheatley had back-to-back starts with at least a 66 game score. He previously had four straight games with a 59+ game score early in the season, but most of his year has been an unholy pattern of good and bah starts always alternating with another.

As far as the fifth starter is concerned – we don’t need one next week. Thursday will be off while we’re on a Midwest trip to Milwaukee and Oklahoma. Either Sauerkraut or Montano (brrr!) will slide into the #5 spot after that, at least until we can make sense out of our AAA pitching. Tony Negrete had just arrive there and was not a concern. Jose Arias had a 3.77 ERA, Adam Capone had a 4.75 ERA, and Tony Cristobal had a 5.89 ERA. Arias was also by far the most fresh-faced, barely 21 years old. Negrete was the #25 prospect, Arias was #115, and Capone #66. Not included was Victor Merino, the #55 prospect, who had spent almost all of this season on the DL and was just about to return to pitching.

Fun Fact: Maud packed a new box of cookies in my bag for the road trip!

Like we have any other sort of fun around here…

[Westheim]

As indicated, we started the week by sending Justin Waltz right back to AAA and activated Stephon Nettles from the DL.

Raccoons (48-44) @ Loggers (50-43) – July 20-22, 2043

First in runs scored, the Loggers fought their own pitching as much as they did other teams’, and they were third from the bottom in the runs conceded category. Their run differential was +41 (Critter: -10), which wasn’t all bad. They led the league in average and OBP, but were only middling in both power and speed. Their rotation was third-worst by ERA, their bullpen was the worst outright. Milwaukee led the season series, 5-4.

Projected matchups:
Jake Jackson (6-8, 4.99 ERA) vs. Matt Peterson (9-2, 2.69 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (6-8, 3.09 ERA) vs. Bobby Freels (6-4, 5.12 ERA)
Corey Mathers (13-5, 2.85 ERA) vs. Chris Lulay (8-4, 4.11 ERA)

Another series that would end with left-hander; Lulay was the only southpaw they had.

Game 1
POR: 2B Carreno – 3B Jimenez – 1B Ayala – SS Maldonado – C Kilmer – CF Nettles – RF Casas – LF Gonzalez – P Jackson
MIL: CF Reeves – RF Cannizzard – 1B Brayboy – LF Hertenstein – 3B Paul – SS Del Vecchio – C Sicco – 2B J. Cruz – P M. Peterson

With rain on the horizon, neither team did much in the early innings, with two hits aside, and no runner reaching third base. Ayala walked to begin the fourth inning and only made it into scoring position on a wild pitch, but he made it there just in time for a Nettles single to right that allowed him to score the game’s first run. That was the only run on the board through five innings and a rain delay in the fifth that lasted about 45 minutes and was certain to cut into the starters’ stamina in all unpleasant ways imaginable.

They made it through six though, somewhat aided by the lack of serious offense. Maldonado singled with two outs in the sixth, stole second base, but Kilmer struck out and the score remained 1-0. Peterson sat down Nettles and Casas to begin the seventh before Jordan Gonzalez singled. The Raccoons hit for Jackson, sending Synder, who flew out to Tim Cannizzard. We then pieced the next two innings together between Craig and Kelly, but the score was still 1-0 through eight. Maldonado walked against lefty Marvin Verduzco to begin the ninth inning, and then Kilmer was hit on a 2-2 pitch. The ump sent him to first base, but the Loggers vigorously protested that he swung at the pitch. No luck – the Coons got their second runner of the inning. Sieber batted for Nettles in the spot and cracked a single to right on the first pitch against the southpaw, with Maldonado racing around third base to score an insurance run. Casas hit a duck snort on 2-2 for a single to stuff the bases … with nobody out. Jordan Gonzalez popped out. Jay de Wit hit for Kelly, and bounced into a double play… LIKE ******* CLOCKWORK. One way or another … Josh Rella completed the shutout, and I’d settle for the W. 2-0 Critters. Nettles 2-3, RBI; Sieber (PH) 1-1, RBI; Gonzalez 2-4; Jackson 6.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K, W (7-8);

Game 2
POR: 2B Carreno – 3B Jimenez – 1B Ayala – SS Maldonado – C Sieber – CF Nettles – LF de Wit – RF Casas – P Wheatley
MIL: CF Reeves – RF Cannizzard – 1B Brayboy – LF Hertenstein – 3B Paul – SS Del Vecchio – C Sicco – 2B J. Cruz – P Freels

Wheatley gave up a double to Valentino Sicco the first time through, and hit a double his first time up in the middle game – and neither occurrence led to a run. Wheatley’s offensive heroics even came leading off the third inning, but still … no luck. The Coons had all of two hits in five innings, while the Loggers had some more; three through three innings, and then singles by Jared Paul and Jose Cruz around a walk drawn by Sicco in the bottom 4th. Freels struck out for a crucial second out in the inning, but Wheatley got bombed by Bill Reeves with a grand slam to center. That wasn’t even all… Cannizzard walked, and singles by Aaron Brayboy and Daniel Hertenstein got a fifth run across before Paul struck out.

That was more or less the ballgame, and Wheatley had found another stinker after two decent starts. The Raccoons remained duds, and he was hit for in the fifth inning to no great effect. It was not until the sixth that the Raccoons got on the board; Jimenez hit a leadoff double to left, Ayala singled to right, and Maldonado hit a sac fly that was less helpful than it seemed. Sieber found a double play after that, ending the inning. The bases got loaded without a hit at all in the seventh as de Wit reached on a Cruz error and Freels walked Gutierrez and Carreno, but Jimenez grounded out to strand everybody.

Bob Ibold, promoted on Sunday, then actually got into his first major league game. He also got booked for his first run, walking miserable Ted Del Vecchio and giving up an RBI single to Cruz in the bottom 7th. Nobody did anything in the eighth, while Van Anderson hit a single of Ron Purcell to begin the ninth, appearing for Casas in the #8 hole. Gutierrez and Kilmer made unhelpful outs, but Jimenez ripped a longball to left, reducing the gap to three runs… but the Raccoons didn’t get another runner, with Ayala striking out against Cesar Perez. 6-3 Loggers. Carreno 0-1, 3 BB; Jimenez 2-5, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Ayala 2-5; Anderson (PH) 1-1; Montano 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Will the Raccoons ever find another ace, anywhere?

Probably not.

Mathers, stop polishing your 13-5 record and get your lame bum out there.

Game 3
POR: 2B Carreno – 3B Jimenez – 1B Ayala – CF Maldonado – LF de Wit – C Kilmer – SS Gutierrez – RF Snyder – P Mathers
MIL: C Sicco – RF Cannizzard – 1B Brayboy – LF Hertenstein – 3B Paul – SS Del Vecchio – CF Serad – 2B J. Cruz – P Lulay

The Raccoons had another bases loaded spot with less than two outs right at the start of the rubber game when Carreno and Jimenez singled and Maldonado walked, but de Wit popped out to shallow left and Kilmer grounded out to short and another chance was dropped and smashed for nothing but a silent tear. Similarly, nothing good happened with Carreno’s leadoff double to left in the third inning. Popout, strikeout, groundout, and if I had the blunderbuss with me, brains out.

Mathers allowed a hit to Cruz and nothing else through four innings, then finally got in line for a W when Jimenez hit a solo homer to left-center, his 11th of the year and career, in the fifth. That one of course came with nobody on base. Mathers took it and ran with it, continuing to 1-hit the Loggers through six before giving up a 1-out double to center in the seventh to Brayboy. Jonathan Fleming grounded out, Jared Paul popped out to Jimenez, and the tying run was stranded on third base. Top 8th, de Wit’s 2-out single knocked out Lulay, with new lefty Marvin Verduzco allowing another single to Kilmer. In another obvious move, Sean Sieber hit for an 0-for-3 Jose Gutierrez for the platoon advantage, and it worked again when Sieber crammed a 2-0 pitch into the rightfield corner for a 2-run double…! Casas batted for Snyder, also 0-for-3, but grounded out, giving the ball back to the 2-hitting Mathers, who was on 96 pitches. Certified ******** Ted Del Vecchio floated a leadoff single into no man’s land, then advanced on T.J. Serad’s grounder. Cruz’ triple to center, into and out of the glove of Stephon Nettles at the fence, ended Mathers’ day, especially with left-handed PH Brad Simon appearing in he #9 hole. Chuck Jones entered in the #7 hole, making Stephon Nettles’ appearance in the game, a defensive replacement for Maldonado, who zoomed in to play shortstop after the top 8th, a brief one, removed in a double switch for Gonzalez. Simon grounded out to first for a big second out that kept the runner pinned, and even though Jones nicked Sicco, he got through the inning with a foul pop to strand the tiny runs on the corners. He remained in the game to begin the bottom 9th then, still up by two, with two more lefty bats coming up. He struck out Brayboy, then got a pop from Fleming. Jared Paul was hitting .334, but Jones would remain in to get one (but only one) shot at the save – and he got him on a grounder to third base! 3-1 Raccoons. Carreno 2-5, 2B; Jimenez 2-5, HR, RBI; Sieber (PH) 1-1, 2B, 2 RBI; Mathers 7.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, W (14-5) Jones 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, SV (3);

I should buy a pack of playing cards on the way to the airport, just so I can look at an ace once again…

Raccoons (50-45) @ Thunder (50-44) – July 24-26, 2043

The Thunder were more games than runs over .500, sitting on a +5 run differential, but within sneezing distance of first plcae in the South anyway. Half a game out, they were fourth in runs scored and eighth in runs allowed. They had the second-most homers in the CL. Up 2-1 in the season series, they lacked a few regulars that were stuck on the DL, Al Martell and Ethan Moore.

Projected matchups:
Brent Clark (7-7, 4.12 ERA) vs. Alan Fleming (7-4, 3.96 ERA)
Jake Jackson (7-8, 4.71 ERA) vs. Lachlan Clarke (11-5, 4.31 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (6-9, 3.37 ERA) vs. Ruben Guzman (6-4, 4.07 ERA)

All right-handers in Oklahoma.

Game 1
POR: 2B Carreno – 3B Jimenez – 1B Ayala – CF Maldonado – C Sieber – LF de Wit – SS Gutierrez – RF Snyder – P Clark
OCT: 2B C. Vega – CF C. Greer – C Adames – SS Rowell – 1B A. Zacarias – RF Peck – LF Abel – 3B Kalinowski – P Fleming

No scoring continued for the Raccoons, with three hits scattered in the first five innings and nobody reaching third base. The Thunder weren’t much better, only getting an unearned runner to third base in the opening frame. Chad Greer reached when Snyder botched his fly to right, stole second base, and got to third base on Jesus Adames’ groundout, but was then stranded by Rick Rowell. The Thunder weren’t much better, held to two hits by Brent Clark, but also drew three walks off the left-hander, who struck out as many through five innings. Ayala hit a 2-out single in the sixth, Maldonado struck out, and Sieber opened the seventh with a single, but was forced out by Gutierrez and then Snyder stranded the runner altogether with a groundout. Clark maintained a 2-hitter through seven innings, but failed to maintain a double-digit pitch count and thus was pinch-hit when his spot led off the eighth inning. Nettles flew out for him before Carreno and Ayala hit singles to reach the corners – hey, third base! Now Maldonado just had to – no, he flew out to Angelo Zurita in right. Bob Ibold gave up a pair of 2-out singles in the bottom of the inning, but those led nowhere once Rowell struck out, and the game remained scoreless. Top 9th, another two singles for the Critters, both with two outs. Gutierrez hit the first one, and then the hopeless Snyder was hit for with Jose Casas against a right-hander, Brad Blankenship. He singled, Gutierrez went for third base, reached safely, and Casas snuck into second base behind him. However, all the Coons had to hit for Ibold was Van Anderson, who ran a 3-1 count before poking up the middle … and Rowell missed it, 2-run single …! Carreno grounded out, giving the ball to Josh Rella for the Thunder ninth. Rick Webb hit a double off him with one out, Rella moved the runner to third with a wild pitch, then surrendered it on Josh Kalinowski’s 2-out single to center. Can we please not…? Jimmy Kuhn was pinch-hitting in the #9 hole, who had some coonskinning history – but not this time, he grounded out to short. 2-1 Blighters. Ayala 2-4; Gutierrez 2-4; Casas (PH) 1-1; Anderson (PH) 1-1, 2 RBI; Clark 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 4 K;

Hitting .115, Brian Snyder was sent back to AAA. The Raccoons shrugged, then called up 29-year-old Steve Nickas, one of their many symbols of years of futility. Nickas was hitting .219 in AAA. He was a .213 hitter for his career in the majors, including .207 (6-for-29) last year. This would be his eighth season of some sort of cup of coffee for the perpetually mediocre Raccoons.

Game 2
POR: 2B Carreno – 3B Jimenez – 1B Ayala – SS Maldonado – C Kilmer – CF Nettles – RF Casas – LF Gonzalez – P Jackson
OCT: RF Zurita – CF C. Vega – C Adames – SS Rowell – 1B A. Zacarias – LF C. Greer – 2B R. Webb – 3B Kuhn – P Clarke

Portland scored in the first with a Carreno double and a Jimenez single, and Carlos Vega injured himself on a sliding catch to retire Maldonado, requiring a substitution by Adrian Ringel. Maldo wouldn’t be denied his second time at the plate, with two outs in the third inning. With Carreno and Jimenez on base, Maldo cracked a 3-run homer to left to extend the Coons’ lead to a dizzying 4-0. Jackson brought back some comfort in a convoluted bottom of the inning, allowing three singles before walking in the Thunder’s first run against Alex Zacarias with two outs. Chad Greer thankfully grounded out before the Coons tacked on ANOTHER 3-spot … in THE SAME GAME! …and the NEXT INNING!! Casas and Gonzalez both hit singles and pulled off a double steal. Jackson hit a sac fly, and Carreno and Jimenez both landed 2-out RBI singles to get up to 7-1.

Now it was about whether the wobbly Jackson could get through an appreciable number of innings. A single and a Gonzalez error put two on base to begin the bottom 5th, but he wound his way around there in three long at-bats with the 2-3-4 hitters, keeping the Thunder six runs distant. His pitch count was getting up there, though. Nevertheless, the Raccoons moved into blowout territory in the sixth against right-hander Mike Carnes, who issued a leadoff walk to Jackson, and thus deserved all the pain that befell him thereafter. Carreno singled, Jimenez whacked a 2-run double, Ayala walked, and Maldonado hit his second 3-run homer of the game, this one to right-center…!

The 5-spot made it a 12-1 game. Jimenez and Maldonado were removed for some extra rest after the top 7th. Jackson also was gone after seven, throwing 104 pitches for a W. Rick Rowell homered off Angelo Montano in the bottom 8th, which barely made a scratch in our massive lead, and Portland countered with three runs off Jimmy Driver in the ninth inning. de Wit hit a sac fly, and Kilmer drove in a pair. The Thunder answered with a 4-spot on Bob Ibold in the bottom of the ninth, with Rick Rowell banging a 3-run homer off the apparently overwhelmed right-hander. 15-6 Raccoons. Carreno 4-5, BB, 2 2B, RBI; Jimenez 4-4, 2B, 4 RBI; Maldonado 2-5, 2 HR, 6 RBI; Nettles 2-5, BB, 2B; Casas 3-6, 2B; Gonzalez 2-5; Jackson 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, W (8-8);

The late meltdown notwithstanding, the Raccoons now again had more runs scored than runs allowed, with a lofty +1 run differential.

Game 3
POR: 2B Carreno – 3B Jimenez – 1B Ayala – SS Maldonado – C Sieber – CF Nettles – RF Casas – LF de Wit – P Wheatley
OCT: RF Zurita – 3B Bennett – C Adames – SS Rowell – 1B A. Zacarias – LF Ringel – CF C. Greer – 2B Kuhn – P R. Guzman

Maldonado’s sac fly in the first inning gave the Raccoons the lead, but was also unearned – Ricky Jimenez had reached on an error by Ringel before Ayala had doubled. The Raccoons would then put a few runners on in the next three innings, stranding all five of them, while Wheatley was not dominating, but adequate… but then came apart in the fourth, as he was always doing, wasn’t he? Granted, the defense needed to be beaten with a stick just as badly, with Adames’ leadoff single being followed by a Jimenez error on Rowell’s grounder. Wheatley walked Zacarias, three on with no outs, then gave up a game-tying single to Ringel. Greer popped out, but Kuhn singled through Jimenez for two runs, and de Wit’s throw to home plate only invited the remaining runners into scoring position. With the pitcher at the plate, Wheatley gave up a 2-run single to left, and I kicked a chair into the drywall – and halfway through it – in the visiting team’s suite.

The visiting team continued to strand runners. One in the fifth, two in the sixth, and another one in the seventh, when Ayala drew a 2-out walk, but Maldonado’s long fly was not quite flying long enough away and was caught at the fence by Zurita. The score remained 5-1 into the ninth, when Tony Fuentes, ancient by all standards, got the ball, but retired only de Wit before Gutierrez and Carreno both singled. Blankenship was called to the rescue – and rescued dutifully, getting a double play grounder to short from Jimenez that was executed 6-4-3…. 5-1 Thunder. Nettles 2-4; Gutierrez (PH) 1-1;

In other news

July 21 – Gold Sox C/1B David Pinedo (.232, 9 HR, 50 RBI) contributes four hits and five runs knocked in as Denver drowns Sacramento, 16-2.
July 22 – LAP SP Mike LeMasters (13-3, 2.60 ERA) 3-this the Warriors in a 6-0 shutout.
July 23 – The Thunder trade LF/CF/1B Matt Kinder (.250, 9 HR, 62 RBI) and cash to the Aces for a minor leaguer and a prospect.
July 24 – DAL 2B Hugo Acosta (.384, 4 HR, 53 RBI) drives in six runs in a 13-4 rout of the Miners.
July 24 - The Loggers pick up SP Jose de Lucio (4-8, 3.74 ERA) from the Falcons, along with $1.2M in cash, for two prospects.
July 25 – The Rebels’ SP Justin Kaiser (10-3, 3.38 ERA) is out for the year with shoulder inflammation.
July 26 – Denver picks up SP John Kennedy (4-10, 4.55 ERA) from the Buffaloes for three prospects.

FL Player of the Week: DAL 2B Hugo Acosta (.387, 4 HR, 53 RBI), batting .455 (10-22) with 1 HR, 9 RBI
CL Player of the Week: TIJ RF/1B/LF Willie Ojeda (.328, 7 HR, 52 RBI), hitting .565 (13-23) with 1 HR, 12 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Well, we can’t score 15 every day, can we? Actually, the 15 on Saturday were more runs than we scored in the other five games this week, combined. Good old Portland baseball – never change.

Trade deadline coming up next Friday. Are the Raccoons still good for a deal? With Ayala already on board, I am hesitant to take on a non-expiring contract for a most whimsical and theoretical chance. There are a few outfielders on the trading block, and rightfield has been such a giant black hole this entire season that even Carreno keeps cautiously eyeing behind him that the hole doesn’t encroach on his heels.

Let’s be honest – there’s nothing that can be done for this team. The only trade we’d do was for an outfielder with expiring contract that also didn’t cost us any meaningful prospect.

Cory Lambert went unclaimed and was assigned to AAA again.

Fun Fact: Corey Mathers is third in ERA in the CL, and leads the league in wins.

Really, Maud? Who does he play for? – Us? – Can’t be. I know all our players. – What do you mean, he’s sitting on the table with us? – (Mathers interrupts his munching and rummaging in the food bowl and bangs his pitching paw on the desk, then flinches)

[Westheim]

Hey, somebody want a ... DOUBLE WHAMMY?

+++

Raccoons (52-46) vs. Aces (40-59) – July 27-29, 2043

Vegas were fifth in the South, and eighth in runs scored and ninth in runs allowed. They were also unlucky, sitting five games under their Pythagorean record, with only a -47 run differential while 19 games under .500. We were up 2-1 in the season series after having been swept in all nine games in 2042.

Projected matchups:
Corey Mathers (14-5, 2.76 ERA) vs. Tim Steinbach (2-10, 4.12 ERA)
Leonhart Becker (0-2, 3.18 ERA) vs. Steve Huffman (2-10, 4.33 ERA)
Brent Clark (7-7, 3.89 ERA) vs. Josh Brown (10-5, 2.77 ERA)

Two right-handers, and one former Raccoon southpaw. Huffman’s turn would normally be Monday, but he was laboring on a sore back and Steinbach would have to go on short rest in his stead.

Game 1
LVA: SS Montes de Oca – CF Beaudoin – RF Gurney – LF Kinder – 3B D. Richardson – 1B J. Byrd – C Lunde – 2B Kilgallen – P Steinbach
POR: 2B Carreno – 3B Jimenez – 1B Ayala – SS Maldonado – C Sieber – LF Nettles – RF Casas – CF Anderson – P Mathers

Corey Mathers walked Angel Montes de Oca to begin the game and melted from there. While Montes stole his way to third base, Mathers walked the bags full behind him, then walked in a run against John Byrd with two outs, and gave up two more runs on an actual base hit, John Lunde’s single to center, before ex-Coon Matt Kilgallen grounded out. Given our run-scoring prowess, I marked an L in the schedule. Dough Richardson hit a homer in the third inning, 4-0, while the Raccoons didn’t hit much of anything.

Bottom 4th, Sal Ayala drew a leadoff walk, was balked to second by Steinbach, and Maldonado hit a chopper on an 0-2 pitch for a single to put runners on the corners, which was the first time we got two runners aboard in the same inning in this game. Sieber hit a sac fly, 4-1, Maldo stole second base, but Nettles and Casas made unhelpful outs and stranded him at third base. Mathers in turn didn’t even last five innings, walking six in a rancid start that saw him stuff the bases in the fifth inning before being yanked with two outs. Ramirez struck out Byrd to keep everybody stranded in the 4-1 game. That was the only out Ramirez got in the game. Angelo Montano got six after that, but not without giving up solo homers to Matt Kilgallen and Matt Kinder in the sixth and seventh, respectively. Steinbach walked the bases full in the bottom 7th on his way out of the game, but the Raccoons didn’t score, Carreno popping out to end the inning. It was very much the Raccoons’ last chance in the game that had gotten out of paw early on. 6-1 Aces. Maldonado 2-4; Sieber 1-2, BB, RBI;

Tuesday’s start had been earmarked for Sauerkraut, not because we were convinced it was a good idea, but we needed a warm body, and a warm body he was. Thursday would be the last off day for Portland ahead of a string of 20 consecutive games, so a more permanent solution might have to be found by August. Prospects in AAA were there, it was just about deciding who should get burned in the Bigs.

Game 2
LVA: SS Montes de Oca – C Prow – 3B D. Richardson – LF Kinder – RF Gurney – 1B J. Byrd – CF Beaudoin – 2B Kilgallen – P Huffman
POR: 2B Carreno – 3B Jimenez – 1B Ayala – SS Maldonado – C Kilmer – LF Nettles – RF Casas – CF Anderson – P Becker

A good, secure pitcher sure looked differently. Sauerkraut put Montes de Oca and Kevin Prow on base to begin the game, but bailed out when Matt Kinder lined into a double play, 4-6, with Prow doubled off second base. Pat Gurney and John Byrd went to the corners on singles in the top 2nd, with a run scoring on a wild pitch, but poor outs stranding Byrd. Then came the Raccoons, made two quick outs to begin the bottom 2nd, then had Anderson reach on a Byrd error with two outs. An annoyed Huffman walked Sauerkraut, then also walked Carreno on eight pitches. Jimenez grounded to left, Doug Richardson made a diving stop on the ball deep on the dirt, but had no play! Infield single, tied game! And seconds later a 4-1 lead when Sal Ayala rushed a ball into the leftfield corner for a bases-clearing double. Maldonado flew out to left to end the inning. Jose Casas tripled in Nettles the next inning to go up 5-1.

And then Sauerkraut dug a trench and put the game away. After two shaky innings he zeroed in more and more, and while he didn’t rack up strikeouts and didn’t dominate, he got lots and lots of poor contact and would pitch the Raccoons all the way through eight innings before running into a wall at 110 pitches. The Aces scattered two hits and a walk after the third inning, and no runs, and they didn’t get close to a run, either. Neither did Portland after that Casas triple, which also saw him stranded by Anderson and Sauerkraut, until the eighth inning had two Critters retired already. Then Casas singled, stole second, and scored on Anderson’s single to center. Zack Kelly struck out two in the ninth to put the game away. 6-1 Raccoons. Jimenez 1-2, BB, RBI; Casas 2-4, 2B, RBI; Becker 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, W (3-0);

A pleasant surprise, for once!

It got us into a 3-way tie for second place in the division with the Loggers and Crusaders. The damn Elks, though, were 7 1/2 games ahead, and I still didn’t see the need to shed prospects on a wing and a prayer.

Game 3
LVA: SS Montes de Oca – C Prow – 3B D. Richardson – RF Gurney – CF Beaudoin – 1B J. Byrd – LF Dustal – 2B Kilgallen – P J. Brown
POR: 2B Carreno – 3B Jimenez – 1B Ayala – CF Maldonado – RF Casas – C Kilmer – LF de Wit – SS Nickas – P Clark

Jimenez had two doubles in his first two plate appearances in the rubber game. The first time he was doubled up when he went for third base on an Ayala liner that was caught by Kilgallen, but the second time he drove in Steve Nickas, who had opened the inning with a single to left in the bottom 3rd. That was also the first run of the game, and the Raccoons soon enough ripped two more doubles: Ayala drove in Jimenez, and Maldonado singled, then saw Casas mash another RBI double off the fence. Kilmer stranded the runners with a groundout to left. Up 3-0, Brent Clark, who had not won a game the entire month, still had to give up his first base hit, but soon did so to Richardson in the fourth. Jonathan Dustal singled in the fifth, but the Aces had no runs through five innings while whiffing seven times against Clark. The sixth began with two more strikeouts to Prow and Richardson before Pat Gurney singled on a 3-2 pitch. Justin Beaudoin hit an 0-2 pitch to deep center, but flew out to Maldonado. Byrd struck out to begin the seventh, but the Aces got singles from Kilgallen and PH Brandon Owen with two outs, a defensive bobble by Maldonado gave the runners the extra base, and on 100 pitches Clark was removed. Jon Craig and Jordan Gonzalez entered in a double switch that exited de Wit, and Craig ended the inning with a K … but not until AFTER he had walked the bags full against Montes, and had pushed in a run against Kevin Prow with a second walk. Richardson then struck out to keep the score at 3-1. Honeypaws and me solemnly mused whether a tack-on run would be a good idea, and Gonzalez and Jimenez obliged. The former singled, and the latter whacked his 12th homer, a 2-out, 2-piece to left, in the bottom 7th to extend the lead to slam range. Craig had a very tidy eighth all of a sudden, and the Raccoons boldly went to Montano in the ninth inning against the bottom of the order. Dustal, Kilgallen and John Lunde made outs in order to put the game and the series away. 5-1 Critters. Jimenez 3-4, HR, 2 2B, 3 RBI; Gonzalez 1-1; Clark 6.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 10 K, W (8-7);

Raccoons (54-47) vs. Knights (51-50) – July 31-August 2, 2043

Third in the South, the Knights were only two games out of first place and were still scrambling – more in a second. They were fifth in runs scored, eighth in runs allowed, and had a foreboding -11 run differential (Coons: +1). The season series was tied at three. With Dave Myers, Greg Ortiz, Kurt Olson, and Javy Santana all on the DL they had a few annoying injuries.

The Knights came in having done some last-minute renovations. They had just picked up ex-Coon Doug Levis (.234, 20 HR, 50 RBI) in a trade with the Capitals, getting Levis, #58 prospect SP David Hardaway, and seven figures in cash for OF Justin Kristoff (.283, 3 HR, 40 RBI), and - in a separate deal with the Capitals – SP Jerry Banda (11-9, 3.40 ERA) for four prospects, including #9 SP Jeremy Chaney… (takes breath) … AND in a deal with the Scorpions had brought on INF Paul Laughren (.288, 3 HR, 20 RBI) for CL Antonio Prieto (1-5, 2.62 ERA, 27 SV) and a prospect. The Raccoons’ reinforcement was Jose Castro, coming off the DL to replace a hardly used Steve Nickas (1-for-4).

Projected matchups:
Jake Jackson (8-8, 4.50 ERA) vs. David Farris (13-3, 2.50 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (6-10, 3.52 ERA) vs. Bill Nichol (6-7, 5.08 ERA)
Corey Mathers (14-6, 2.93 ERA) vs. Tim Scott (5-2, 3.35 ERA)

All right-handers here – but the arrival of Banda would also jumble things and he could potentially slide into the series on Sunday.

Game 1
ATL: C Horner – 1B Jam. King – RF Hester – CF B. Oliver – SS Crim – 3B L. Duarte – LF N. Velez – 2B Caskey – P Farris
POR: 2B Carreno – 3B Jimenez – 1B Ayala – SS Maldonado – C Sieber – LF Nettles – RF Casas – CF Anderson – P Jackson

Slowly but surely, Jose Casas seemed to come out of the waste basket, and covered in punchouts as he was, he both threw out Lorenzo Duarte at home plate on Nelson Velez’ double in the second inning, then singled home the Raccoons’ first run himself in the same inning, finding the hole on the right side with Maldo and Nettles (forced out Sieber) on the corners and one out. Van Anderson popped out, but Jackson helped himself with a single up the middle, 2-0. Farris walked Carreno on four pitches, but Ricky Jimenez popped out to strand a full set of runners.

Jackson scattered six hits without giving up a run, somehow, in five innings. Never allowing more than two in an inning was one good way to go about it. The Raccoons had six hits in just four innings; Maldonado made it seven with a double to center in the bottom 5th, chasing Ayala from first to third in the process, all with one out. Farris, who had walked Ayala unintentionally, then had to walk Sieber intentionally, bringing up Nettles with the bags full. He cracked a 1-0 pitch into a double play to kill the inning. In the sixth, Casas walked, stole second, and Anderson also walked. Jackson made the first out on a well-placed bunt. Carreno hit a 3-1 pitch to left for a sac fly, which didn’t completely satisfy me, but at least got the tally up to 3-0. Farris issued another walk, his sixth, to Jimenez, then conceded another run to Ayala on a single before getting yanked. Righty Mike Lechowicz came on to face Maldonado, got a grounder to Joe Crim, but that grounder was thrown away for a run-scoring 2-base error. Sieber grounded out, stranding two in a 5-0 game.

Jackson whiffed Lorenzo Duarte to begin the seventh, then gave up singles to Nelson Velez and former Raccoon Jon Caskey, who was hitting .243 while being used sparingly after spending the first few months in the minors. With left-hander Dick Oshiita hitting for Lechowicz, the Raccoons went to Chuck Jones; with the lefty hitters atop the lineup, he entered in a double switch that replaced Maldo with Castro, who only got a few innings fresh off the DL. Jones got a double play grounder to second from Oshiita, cleaning up Jackson’s ledger. The Critters stranded three runners without scoring in the bottom 7th, with Casas, Anderson, and Carreno being left aboard when Jimenez grounded out.

While Jones got five outs without trouble, the ninth inning was then much trouble and few outs. Ibold came in first, got Brian Oliver, then gave up a jack to Crim and a single to Duarte. Zack Kelly appeared only to surrender a single to Nelson Velez, then left right away for Rella, as we had now fumbled the game into a save situation. Rella had Caskey at 1-2 before getting a grounder to third base. Jimenez thought of two, tapped third base, THEN went to first, but too late. New arrival Doug Levis pinch-hit in the #9 hole then – and struck out. 5-1 Coons. Maldonado 2-4, 2B; Sieber 2-3, BB; Anderson 2-3, BB, 2B; Jackson 6.1 IP, 8 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, W (9-8) and 1-2, RBI; Jones 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

The trade deadline passed without Raccoons activity.

Game 2
ATL: C Horner – 1B Jam. King – RF Hester – CF B. Oliver – SS Crim – LF Montes – 3B L. Duarte – 2B Laughren – P Nichol
POR: 2B Carreno – 3B Jimenez – 1B Ayala – CF Maldonado – C Sieber – RF Casas – SS Castro – LF Nettles – P Wheatley

Wheatley gave up a few hard knocks in the first, but nothing that didn’t go for outs, although I had a hunch that he’d struggle with a heavily lefty-leaning lineup. The Raccoons though scored without making an out altogether as Carreno opened the bottom 1st with a double to left, Jimenez walked, and Ayala hit an RBI single. Maldo singled to fill the bases. Sieber grounded slowly up the middle, with Crim’s only play at first base, and a second run scored. Jose Casas then put the hammer down with a booming 3-run homer to left-center, and that was a 5-0 lead!! Wheatley batted before he went back to the mound, popping out to strand Nettles, but this was now his game to dawdle away. He quickly loaded the bases with two walks and a single in the top 2nd, but then the Knights did not bat for Nichol, instead taking a K for the third out. It didn’t get MUCH better with Wheatley, who put two more aboard in the third, then allowed a single to Andy Montes in the fourth before getting a double play grounder from Duarte. He drew a walk then in the bottom of the fourth, then stood on first until Ricky Jimenez hit a 2-run blast to left that extended the lead to 7-0 and chased Nichol from the game after all.

It got a bit easier for Wheatley after that. The Knights went in order in the fifth, and Billy Hester singled in the sixth, but was again immediately doubled up. He needed 52 pitches through the early three innings, then just 25 pitches through the middle three innings. And then he came apart at once in the seventh… Montes hit a jack, and then Paul Laughren and Adam Horner both reached base before being doubled in with two outs by Jamie King. Zack Kelly replaced Wheatley at that point, but gave up another RBI double to Hester, 7-4, before getting Oliver on a pop.

Bottom of the inning, Ayala opened with a double over the head of Montes. Maldo walked, but Sieber popped out before a wild pitch advanced the runners into scoring position for Casas, who was maybe, hopefully warming up to major league pitching – but was intentionally walked after the wild pitch by Sean Fowler. Castro lined out, Nettles flew out to center, nobody scored… Ramirez struck out the side in the top 8th, then was hit for by Gonzalez to begin the bottom 8th; the outfielder grounded out, but Carreno walked, stole second, and scored on Ayala’s 2-out single to extend the lead to slam range. Maldo also singled before an 0-for-4 Sieber was hit for by Omar Gutierrez. Fowler balked the runners into scoring position, then surrendered both runs on a single to center…! Casas singled off new pitcher Jose Vasquez, but the inning ended with Castro’s groundout. Angelo Montano then got the ninth with a 6-run lead and made it interesting, putting the first three Knights on base. That was already a run, but then he got a double play roller from Jamie King. He still managed to walk Hester, but all these guys were lefty hitters. One more – Oliver. And Oliver grounded out. 10-5 Raccoons. Ayala 4-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Maldonado 2-4, BB; Gutierrez (PH) 1-1, 2 RBI; Casas 2-4, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Nettles 2-4;

Are these our Raccoons? – Just asking, they’re scoring, and I’m not used to that.

Game 3
ATL: C Horner – 1B Jam. King – RF Hester – CF B. Oliver – SS Crim – LF Montes – 3B L. Duarte – 2B Laughren – P T. Scott
POR: 2B Carreno – 3B Jimenez – 1B Ayala – CF Maldonado – C Kilmer – RF Casas – SS Castro – LF Nettles – P Mathers

Ricky Jimenez tied Maldonado for the team lead in homers in the first inning, going deep to left with Carreno (leadoff double) aboard for a quickie 2-0 lead. Ayala’s grounder to second was the first Portland out, but Laughren also hurt himself, an oblique strain seeing him replaced with Caskey. Then Maldo told off Jimenez with a solo shot to right, 3-0. Mathers scattered singles without getting into too much trouble until the fifth when Duarte and Caskey opened with two hits and were on the corners for Scott, who bunted Caskey to second. Adam Horner crucially struck out, opening a path for Mathers out of the inning, and while he got to 2-2 on Jamie King, he then gave up a fat fly to center. Maldonado hustled back and made the catch, keeping the 3-0 lead in one piece…!

Like Wheatley the day before, Mathers had a shutout on 70-some pitches through six innings, but the lead was much smaller… at least until Maldonado hit his second bomb of the game, a 2-piece that collected Ayala and his leadoff single. That one went to left, illustrating how no stand was safe from him. Mathers thus now had a 5-0 lead and some leeway, the immediately walked Montes to begin the seventh. Duarte flew out, Caskey struck out, but PH Dick Oshiita singled to right. Montes raced for third base, but was thrown out by Casas, ending the inning. Mathers hit for himself in the bottom 7th, then retired the 1-2-3 in order in the eighth, and then came back out for the ninth – but with double-barrel action in the pen and Mathers on 106 pitches. Brian Oliver bounced out to Ayala on a 1-0 pitch. Joe Crim fell to 1-2, then flew out easily to Casas. Montes put the 0-1 in play – another groundout to first, completing the shutout! 5-0 Critters! Carreno 2-4, 2B; Maldonado 2-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI; Mathers 9.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 9 K, W (15-6);

In other news

July 27 – The Wolves’ SS/3B Josh Jackson (.269, 5 HR, 33 RBI) hits for the cycle in an 8-0 shutout of the Buffaloes. Jackson gets precisely one of every type of hit, driving in half the runs in the process.
July 29 – The Pacifics pick up the Buffos’ closer, John Steuer (0-5, 4.50 ERA, 25 SV), for two prospects. The pair includes #48 prospect SP Michael Sanchez.
July 29 – Los Angeles wins a 10-inning, 1-0 game over the Cyclones on a pinch-hit walkoff single by SS/1B Jon Rodriguez (.248, 3 HR, 17 RBI).
July 30 – The Warriors gift SP Sal Lozano (8-7, 4.42 ERA) to the Aces for AAA INF Angel Quintana.
July 30 – VAN C/1B Timóteo Clemente (.270, 10 HR, 45 RBI) ends an 11-inning scoreless affair with the Thunder with a walkoff single, giving the Canadiens a 1-0 win.
July 31 – Falcons and Indians play *16* scoreless innings before the Falcons break through for seven runs in the 17th inning. The Indians find no answer, and lose 7-0. CHA C Tony Morales (.291, 3 HR, 25 RBI) breaks 16 innings of ice with an RBI double.
August 1 – A broken thumb would keep LAP OF Juan Benavides (.334, 17 HR, 51 RBI) out of action for the whole month.

FL Player of the Week: SFW RF Matt Diskin (.270, 15 HR, 67 RBI), blasting .385 (10-26) with 6 HR, 12 RBI
CL Player of the Week: ATL 1B Jamie King (.231, 10 HR, 46 RBI), batting .423 (11-26) with 2 HR, 7 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: TOP/NAS 1B/C Jeff Wilson (.332, 14 HR, 32 RBI), hitting .342 with 8 HR, 17 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: POR 3B Ricky Jimenez (.262, 12 HR, 46 RBI), swatting .320 with 6 HR, 19 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: LAP SP Mike LeMasters (14-3, 2.45 ERA), hurling for a 6-0 record with 1.44 ERA, 32 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: VAN CL Sebastien Parham (6-1, 3.50 ERA, 14 SV), with a 3-0 record, 7 SV, 13 K
FL Rookie of the Month: SFW RF Matt Diskin (.268, 12 HR, 61 RBI), hitting .287 with 5 HR, 22 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: POR 3B Ricky Jimenez (.262, 12 HR, 46 RBI), swatting .320 with 6 HR, 19 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Ricky Jimenez! Maybe, for once, not a stupid signing by the Raccoons!

We have won the last five games, and we’re 12-4 since the All Star Game (13-4 if you include the last game before, which was a W in Elk City). There won’t be a day off for the next five straight series, which will see the second single-series road trip to the Bay this season, then an 8-game homestand against Indy and New York. We’ll then face Dallas and Topeka to complete the interleague portion of the schedule.

Do I believe in another interleague series after August? No. I still don’t see how the Portland Van Andersons are going to beat the damn Elks to first place. We can’t fill a competent lineup, we have no bench whatsoever, and we don’t even have a starter you’d file away as ace.

Corey Mathers pitched his second career shutout on Sunday. He had previously put up a 3-hitter against the Crusaders, almost exactly a year ago. He’s 4-1 with a 1.97 ERA in his last five outings. Jake Jackson is even better, 3-0 with an 0.47 ERA in his last three games, after months of imploding.

Fun Fact: Josh Jackson’s cycle on Monday was the 100th in league history, and the first one in a shutout since Omar Lastrade’s in 2030.

The Lastrade cycle came in a 13-0 rout of the Capitals. Lastrade, a career Miner until signing a minor league deal with the Crusaders this season, was never a candidate for a Gold Glove, but an All Star twice, shining solely through his bat at the hot corner. Never leading the league in anything, he nevertheless hit over .300 three times and hit as many as 21 homers in a season. For his career he’s .293/.364/.430 with 181 HR and 875 RBI.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (57-47) @ Bayhawks (57-49) – August 3-5, 2043

Another weird single-series trip brought the Raccoons back to the Bay, playing their last three against the Baybirds this year. You know, unless the Baybirds held on to their first place, and the Raccoons caught up with the damn Elks. Which was a bold position to take. Anyway, the Bayhawks were third in both runs scored and runs allowed, but we held a 4-2 lead in the season set. San Francisco had won four in a row, but were down two important bats in Danny Cruz and Ramon Sifuentes, removing 24 of their 64 home runs from the lineup in one swipe. Power was by far their weakest point in terms of offense, sitting third from the bottom in longballs.

Projected matchups:
Leonhart Becker (3-0, 2.83 ERA) vs. Miguel Alvarado (11-8, 2.79 ERA)
Brent Clark (8-7, 3.76 ERA) vs. Garrett Sutherland (8-6, 3.85 ERA)
Jake Jackson (9-8, 4.26 ERA) vs. Rafael Pedraza (9-10, 3.88 ERA)

The week would start with a left-handed opponent, then two right-handed ones.

Game 1
POR: 2B Carreno – C Sieber – 3B Jimenez – 1B Maldonado – RF Casas – SS Castro – CF Nettles – LF Jord. Gonzalez – P Becker
SFB: SS Jorge Gonzalez – CF M. Hall – LF D. Martinez – RF S. Martin – C J. Hill – 2B B. Nelson – 3B Lusk – 1B Canas – P M. Alvarado

Singles by Carreno, Maldonado, and Casas gave the Raccoons a run in the first, and Stephon Nettles opened the second with a triple in the gap, then had to wait two strikeouts until Carreno would single him home. Sauerkraut put the first three Baybirds in the bottom 2nd on base, then got a run-scoring 6-4-3 from Rodrigo Canas before whiffing Alvarado for damage control. Alvarado continued to get hit; Jimenez and Maldo opened the third inning with doubles, 3-1, and Casas singled home Maldonado immediately, 4-1. San Fran filled the sacks *again* on Sauerkraut in the bottom of the inning on a Jorge Gonzalez double and two walks to Scott Martin and John Hill, but then Bob Nelson rolled over to Castro to end the inning… Portland had three on and no outs in the fourth, Sauerkraut and Carreno walking ahead of a Sieber single to center. Jimenez’ 2-run double sent Alvarado to bed, with right-hander Steven Wilson yielding an RBI single to Maldo, and another run on Castro’s groundout, putting the Coons up 8-1.

Sauerkraut allowed two runs in six innings in total, then was brought back for the seventh, which didn’t go quite as well. Hall and Dave Martinez singled, and Martin took him deep to left to end his day on 99 pitches. Thankfully, Stephon Nettles had hit a 2-piece in the top of the inning, and the Coons still led 10-5. Come the eighth, Bob Ibold, who had pitched the rest of the seventh, and Angelo Montano were taken deep back-to-back by Canas and PH Juan Brito, narrowing the gap to three, and then Alex Ramirez put the tying runs on base without getting an out; Gonzalez and Hall singld, Martinez got nailed, and I got ready to drown some of the ******* in the Bay. Ramirez struck out two, then WALKED two. Somehow Canas grounded out to end the inning…

Top 9th, up 10-9, the Raccoons faced righty Jeff Draper, who conceded singles to Casas and Castro with one out. Nettles popped out before Sal Ayala hit for Jordan Gonzalez and walked. Three aboard, Kilmer batted for Ramirez, who was hiding somewhere far from the water, and Kilmer shoved a grounder through the right side for two recovery runs …! Better yet, Carreno socked a 2-run double into the corner in rightfield, and new pitcher Bryan Carmichael then filled the bases with two more Critters, then gave up a bases-clearing double over the head of Martin for another three runs driven in by Maldonado …! Casas hit ANOTHER double to center, eight runs across, and then Castro struck out. The Bayhawks didn’t quite recover from that drubbing in the bottom 9th. 18-9 Furballs!! Carreno 3-5, BB, 2B, 3 RBI; Sieber 2-6; Jimenez 2-5, BB, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Maldonado 4-6, 2 2B, 5 RBI; Casas 4-6, 2B, 3 RBI; Nettles 2-5, HR, 3B, 2 RBI; Kilmer (PH) 1-1, 2 RBI;

(blinks!)

Game 2
POR: 2B Carreno – 3B Jimenez – 1B Ayala – CF Maldonado – C Kilmer – RF Casas – LF Nettles – SS Castro – P Clark
SFB: SS Jorge Gonzalez – CF M. Hall – LF D. Martinez – RF S. Martin – C J. Hill – 2B B. Nelson – 3B Lusk – 1B Canas – P Sutherland

Carreno doubled and scored on two groundouts by Jimenez and Ayala to begin the Tuesday game, but the lead didn’t last when Brent Clark nicked Jorge Gonzalez and conceded that run on a Mike Hall triple. Amazingly though, Hall was stranded on a strikeout to Dave Martinez and two pops on the infield. Clark didn’t get much better after that, walking the bases loaded with nobody out in the bottom of the second. Sutherland put an 0-2 pitch in play – granted for a double play, but John Hill scored the go-ahead run. Clark then exploded entirely in the third, which saw the Bayhawks bat through the order against him. Single, hit by pitch, single (and the runner thrown out at home), and then with two outs: a walk, 2-run single, RBI single, 2-run double… by the opposing pitcher. After that, the Critters went to Bob Ibold, which netted the Bayhawks another three runs before the fifth inning was out, at which point, down 10-1 in both hits and runs, I longingly looked out to the Bay, wondering how lungs filled with water would feel, fifty feet under the surface.

That was before Zack Kelly walked the bases full and gave up a 3-run double to Kyle Lusk in the sixth. For completeness sake, it should be mentioned that Maldonado drove in a run in the ninth inning, but that this didn’t amount to an actual rally of any proportion; for the most part I was in favor of the water-in-the-lungs bit. 13-2 Bayhawks. Montano 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

Bob Ibold (12.27 ERA) was done away with at this point, and replaced him with the next underdone right-hander, 2041 #42 pick Sean Marucci. He had started the year in AA, had 13-ish K/9 both there and in AAA, and … walks were a slight problem.

Game 3
POR: 2B Carreno – 3B Jimenez – 1B Ayala – CF Maldonado – C Sieber – RF Casas – LF Nettles – SS Castro – P Jackson
SFB: SS Jorge Gonzalez – CF M. Hall – 1B D. Martinez – LF Caldwell – 2B Quiroz – RF Ju. Brito – C Canas – 3B B. Nelson – P Pedraza

Carreno scored another run to get another game going, this time singling, stealing second to take the team lead for his own with 21 bags taken and Nettles distanced to second place, and coming around on Jimenez’ single. A 2-out single by Sieber added another run in the same inning. A third run was added in the second inning; Jose Castro tripled into the gap, and Jackson put a ball in play for sac fly to go up 3-0. The Baybirds continued with errors that put Carreno and Jimenez on base, but the inning fizzled out after that.

Jackson scattered four hits in the first three innings, which was concerning, but didn’t allow a run. He hit a single in the fourth, though, giving the Critters a chance to tack on, coming as it did with nobody out and Jose Castro already on base and going to second. Except that Carreno hit into a double play, 6-4-3 … but Pedraza folded with a walk to Jimenez, then threw a run-scoring wild pitch at 0-2 to Sal Ayala, an absolute gift run with Ayala grounding out in a full count in the end. Then Jackson came apart as well, getting exploded in a 3-run fifth inning that just didn’t want to end after it began with a 1-out nailing of Gonzalez. Three hits followed, each scoring a run, and the lead was rubbed down to 4-3…

Jackson retired the 7-8-9 without more hiccups in the sixth, but that brought him to 100 pitches anyway. The Coons got Ayala and Maldonado on base in the top 7th, but only with two outs, and without Sieber hitting anything Pedraza threw him. Jon Craig, he of the 0.85 ERA, then had the next blow-up in the bottom of the inning. He conceded a single to Gonzalez, who stole second, then third, and walked Mike Hall. Dave Martinez raked a 3-run homer to flip the score. Chuck Jones had to pitch the seventh instead, and Josh Rella got to hurl a meaningless bottom 8th while two runs behind. The Raccoons didn’t get the tying run to the plate until they were down to their final out, when Bryan Carmichael walked Ricky Jimenez. Ayala worked another walk after that, bringing on Maldonado, who ripped a fly to deep right – but couldn’t get it outta here… or past Brito. 6-4 Bayhawks. Castro 2-4, 3B;

Nothing good has ever happened at the damn Bay!

Raccoons (58-49) vs. Indians (47-61) – August 6-9, 2043

The horrors didn’t stop at home, courtesy of Nick Valdes sitting on the brown couch when I entered on Thursday. My first reaction was to turn back and ask Maud who had been so stupid to let that guy in, but I then found out he was pretty tame and congratulated me to the team scoring 18 runs in San Francisco before coming here. Somehow he had missed the last two games’ results, I assumed, and said nothing. Ignorance was bliss – and Nick Valdes’ especially.

The Indians were also in, sitting in sixth place as they were, bottoms in runs scored and fifth in runs allowed with a -66 run differential. They had a functional pitching staff and a good defense, and were in the top 3 in homers and stolen bases… but couldn’t get on base much at all, starving in last place in average and on-base percentage. We were behind in the season series, having lost four of seven so far.

Projected matchups:
Jason Wheatley (7-10, 3.62 ERA) vs. Manuel Herrera (2-1, 1.86 ERA)
Corey Mathers (15-6, 2.74 ERA) vs. Bill Drury (4-17, 4.13 ERA)
Leonhart Becker (4-0, 3.35 ERA) vs. Orlando Altreche (8-8, 4.28 ERA)
Brent Clark (8-8, 4.15 ERA) vs. Luke Moses (4-8, 4.55 ERA)

All righty opposition. And 4-17 against 15-6 sounded like I could already mark a loss for Friday.

With the long string of games, it was also recommended to give the odd day off to the regulars. Ricky Jimenez made the start in the Thursday game.

Game 1
IND: SS Russ – RF M. Ochoa – 3B Hutson – LF D. Rivera – 1B Zuazo – CF B. Quinteros – 2B E. Vargas – C J. Diaz – P M. Herrera
POR: 2B Carreno – 1B Ayala – C Sieber – 3B Maldonado – RF Casas – SS Castro – LF Nettles – CF Anderson – P Wheatley

Nick Valdes asked me whether Jason Wheatley would win the Pitcher of the Year or at least the puny Rookie of the Year award this year while he shuffled the bases full in the second inning, walking two while sabotaged additionally by a Castro error, while bailing out only on Van Anderson’s sliding catch in center, snatching Manuel Herrera’s soft fly to center to end the inning; I replied that he probably wasn’t gonna be Pitcher of the Year this season, then opened some booze to numb my senses. Offensively, Wheatley hit a double in the bottom 3rd, just like Maldo had done in the second inning. The other six Raccoons batting in their innings made six pathetic outs, and the game remained scoreless through three.

Things got weird in the fourth then; Wheatley struck out two and kept holding Indy to one hit, and Maldonado hit another double, this time with one out. Jose Casas walked behind him, and a double steal was unsuccessful, Maldo being thrown out at third base. The Indians then walked Castro with intent before getting burned by Stephon Nettles with a triple in the right-center gap, driving in the game’s first two runs. Valdes applauded eagerly, then asked Cristiano Carmona next to him who that guy was. Slappy and me just clanked our bottles together. Despite an intentional walk to Van Anderson, the Raccoons got the third run when Herrera threw a wild pitch to Wheatley with two outs. Wheatley grounded out eventually.

Herrera tried to make up and opened the fifth with a single. Andrew Russ also singled softly, but Mario Ochoa popped out to short and Dan Hutson slapped a grounder into a double play. Six innings was then all that Wheatley amounted to, issuing two more walks in the sixth inning and five total for the game. He remained a mess, but at least a mess that worked most of the time and left in line for a W, which soon was endangered by the bullpen. Ramirez had a clean seventh, then allowed a leadoff walk to Hutson in the eighth. Kelly came on, conceding a single to Danny Rivera before a groundout and a sac fly plated the Indians’ first run. Valdes voiced concern, and I also groaned bitterly. The Raccoons moved to a double switch to bring in Rella for a 4-out save with the right-handed Enrique Vargas up as the tying run. Maldonado had been the last batter cleared in the bottom 7th and was removed; since Jimenez had already pinch-hit (to be walked intentionally), Jay de Wit took over third base. Rella ended the eighth with a K, saw his team make three sad groundouts in the bottom half, then came back for the ninth. Julian Diaz grounded out, then gave up a bomb to PH Nick Crocker, 3-2. Sigh! Glugg-glugg-glugg… Andrew Russ popped out. Ochoa flew to left… and to Nettles. 3-2 Critters. Ayala 2-4, 2B; Maldonado 2-3, BB, 2 2B;

So we won on that wild pitch – fine by me. Made Valdes shut up.

Yes, Nick, we have a winning streak! Seven in a row! – Cristiano, don’t you have something to do OUTSIDE??

Game 2
IND: C J. Diaz – RF M. Ochoa – 3B Hutson – 1B Zuazo – CF B. Quinteros – SS Huber – LF Crocker – 2B A. Avila – P Drury
POR: 2B Carreno – 3B Jimenez – 1B Ayala – CF Maldonado – RF Casas – C Kilmer – SS Gutierrez – LF Gonzalez – P Mathers

Nick Valdes wondered how Mathers led the league in wins when he had never heard of him, to which I stammered and somehow barfed up that I didn’t think he was that memorable a pitcher to begin with. Thankfully Julian Diaz hit a leadoff double to begin the game and scored on two groundouts to hand Mathers an early deficit. Valdes worried for the winning streak while Carreno hit a leadoff single in the bottom 1st and Drury walked the bases full without getting an out. Maldonado hit the game-tying sac fly, Casas popped out, but Jeff Kilmer hit an RBI double to left. Gutierrez flew out to Mario Ochoa to strand two in scoring position. Mathers blew the lead promptly, giving two hits and a walk to fill the bases in the second inning with one out. Drury struck out, but Diaz hit a 2-run single to center, flipping the score right back. Ochoa flew out to Gonzalez in a busy game that I didn’t see us winning at this point…

The Raccoons stranded pairs of runners in the second and fourth innings, while the Indians tacked on a run on three singles against Mathers in the fifth, going up 4-2. He remained entirely unconvincing and rather pedestrian, and also bunted into a double play at the plate in this game. Nevertheless, the Raccoons had a beleaguered bullpen, and when the Raccoons got an unearned bases-loaded situation with Kilmer, Gutierrez, and Gonzalez aboard, two outs, and Mathers up, the Raccoons didn’t go to the bench – not that there was much on the bench that one should boast with. Valdes complained loudly about the lack of a slugging pinch-hitter, and then Mathers floated out to Crocker in left to end the inning. That move backfired even more in the sixth inning, when Mathers got all of two more outs while getting strafed with Andres Avila’s 2-run home run, putting the game away. The Raccoons got Jimenez and Ayala on base in the bottom 6th, but Maldonado and Casas both grounded out to strand those runners, too. Zack Kelly continued the awful pitching and departed with Alvin Zuazo and Nick Crocker on the corners and two outs in the seventh. Sean Marucci entered for his major league debut in a double switch, striking out his first ABL batter, Avila.

The Raccoons had three hits in the bottom 7th, scoring a run when Gonzalez drove in Gutierrez; but with Gonzalez and Carreno on the corners, Jimenez flew out to right to strand ANOTHER pair. In the eighth a parade of Indians pitchers gave up a solo homer to Sal Ayala, 6-4, then a hit to Maldonado, who was doubled up by PH Jay de Wit before Kilmer and Gutierrez got on base as the tying runs with two down. Right-hander Chris Volk got Gonzalez to 1-2, then gave up a grounder to third base that Hutson botched for an error. Nettles came up with the bases loaded, facing another new reliever in righty Alex Flores, and lined out to second base – which stranded a pair and then some, the umpteenth chance with multiple runners aboard that the Coons frittered away in this miserable game. Nick Valdes also looked very unhappy, which didn’t change when Jon Craig gave up a homer to Zuazo in the ninth. Bottom 9th, Carreno grounded out against Ruben Vela, who walked Jimenez and gave up a single to Ayala. Maldonado as the tying run! …struck out in a full count. Jose Castro pinch-hit for Craig, flew out to Crocker entirely expectedly, and when Valdes grumpily remarked that this game left him unhappy, I just nodded. 7-4 Indians. Carreno 4-6; Jimenez 3-4, 2 BB, Ayala 2-4, 2 BB, HR, RBI; Kilmer 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI; Gutierrez 2-4, BB; Gonzalez 2-4, BB, RBI;

We had 16 hits, seven walks, a hit batter, three Indians errors, and we stranded EIGHTEEN batters. That even after hitting into two double plays.

It was the sort of game to quit baseball forever.

Nick Valdes only quit baseball for the weekend, preferring to go stray cut hunting in Pomona rather than sit through two more games with the Arrowheads, especially with Maldonado getting the day off on Saturday.

Game 3
IND: SS Russ – 1B Zuazo – 3B Hutson – 2B E. Vargas – C J. Diaz – CF Galvan – LF M. Ochoa – RF B. Quinteros – P Altreche
POR: 2B Carreno – SS Castro – 1B Ayala – 3B Jimenez – RF Casas – C Sieber – LF de Wit – CF Anderson – P Becker

For something new, the Raccoons scored a run in the third inning. Jay de Wit opened with a double, then had to wait through two outs and a walk drawn by Carreno, but then was singled home by Jose Castro. Ayala singled to right to load the bases after that, and we wished for Maldonado now, but had to make do with Ricky Jime- OH! That one is … is it? Will it? – GRAAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAAAAMMMM!!!

Casas and Sieber also reached before the inning ended like it began, with de Wit, but now popping out. Nevertheless, we were up 5-0 and Sauerkraut was somehow holding on, scattering three hits and three walks against only one K through five innings, without giving up a run. The bottom 5th saw a 1-out single by “Slam Bang” Jimenez, then walks issued by reliever Alex Flores until the bags were full for de Wit, who had fallen into a slump recently and had yet to come out of it, but now rode out a full count before drawing ball four as well, forcing in the Raccoons’ sixth run. #7 came on a groundout by Anderson before Sauerkraut struck out. The Raccoons’ scratch left-hander went into the seventh before a sac fly by Crocker in the #9 hole ended his game; it came on the 107th pitch and brought back the right-handed top of the order with Bill Quinteros still on second base with two outs. Ramirez conceded that one on a Russ single, but in turn Russ was caught stealing to end the inning.

Portland tacked on a run driven in by Casas in the eighth, then had another meltdown in the ninth. Angelo Montano hit not one, but two batters in Nelson Galvan and Quinteros, then with two down got a floater to center from Jason Rose that Van Anderson dropped for a 2-base error. Craig came on for Russ, gave up a 2-run single, and was immediately yanked for Rella, who finally got the ******* third out on a Zuazo fly to left. 8-5 Raccoons. Jimenez 2-4, HR, 4 RBI; Casas 3-4, BB, 2B, RBI;

Angelo Montano, too, was disposed of again. He had a 4.66 ERA and a FIP about twice that much.

Has anyone seen Travis Sims lately?

Game 4
IND: SS Russ – 1B Zuazo – LF D. Rivera – 2B E. Vargas – C J. Diaz – CF Galvan – 3B A. Avila – RF M. Ochoa – P Moses
POR: 2B Carreno – 1B Ayala – 3B Jimenez – CF Maldonado – RF Casas – C Kilmer – SS Castro – LF Nettles – P Clark

Coming off a clunker last time out, Clark was looking pretty bad again in the early innings, allowing three hits and nailing a guy in two innings, without allowing a run because Russ was caught stealing and there was a double play grounder, too. Instead he drove in the team’s first run, coming up with Casas (reached on error) and Nettles (single) on the corners and two outs, and ramming a ball through the hole between Russ and Avila for an RBI double…! Carreno added an RBI single on a 3-1 pitch, 2-0, then stole second base, his 22nd of the year. Ayala walked anyway, and so did Jimenez, grinding out another free pass in a full count, pushing home a run since the bases were now loaded, and getting Clark back to the dugout. Maldonado grounded out, ending the inning. Clark continued to struggle, hitting Zuazo in the top 3rd, but getting out of the inning again on defense. In the fourth, the Indians finally got him when Avila hit a solo homer to left, and in the fifth Rivera tripled home Zuazo, who had singled. Crucially, Vargas popped out for the second out before Julian Diaz flew out to Nettles in left-center.

While the Raccoons failed to tag on, or get any base hits at all, Clark struggled into the seventh inning, retiring lefty PH Nick Crocker to begin that inning before being lifted on 100 pitches, but still 3-2 ahead. Ramirez retired Russ and Zuazo to complete seven. Bottom 7th, lefty Chris Myers gave up a single to Carreno, who stole another base, then came around on Jimenez’ 2-out single. Top 8th, Chuck Jones struck out Rivera before he made a bid for a few retired righties with him. Vargas promptly homered, 4-3. In a pinch, the Coons went to Marucci, who struck out Diaz before Galvan sailed out to left to end the inning. Bottom 8th, still Myers – Casas opened with a single, Kilmer singled as well, and Castro worked a walk. Sieber hit for Nettles, but hit a grounder at Vargas so hard the Indians threw out Casas at home and ALMOST got Sieber at first, still. Three were still on with Gonzalez hitting for the pitcher, and did better indeed – finding a 6-4-3 double play. Rella offered a leadoff walk to Jason Rose in the seventh, but got a double play from Ochoa before Adam Huber’s strikeout ended the game. 4-3 Critters. Carreno 2-3, BB, RBI; Jimenez 3-3, BB, 2 RBI; Clark 6.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, W (9-8) and 1-2, 2B, RBI;

In other news

August 3 – LAP 2B Sergio Pena (.362, 5 HR, 47 RBI) has a 20-game hitting streak after a first-inning single in a 5-2 win over the Miners.
August 3 – Season over: DEN SS/LF/1B Ryan Cox (.288, 9 HR, 56 RBI) was out with a torn posterior cruciate ligament, and the prognosis for an Opening Day return in 2044 was pretty dim, too.
August 4 – LAP 2B Sergio Pena (.356, 5 HR, 47 RBI) has his hitting streak end right away at 20 games in a 9-3 loss to the Pacifics.
August 5 – CHA SP Oscar Flores (10-7, 3.39 ERA) could be out for the season with an abdominal strain.
August 7 – DEN SP John Kennedy (5-10, 4.44 ERA) pitches a 1-hit shutout of the Wolves in his third start for the Gold Sox, who win 2-0. SAL 1B Bill Jenkins (.279, 17 HR, 55 RBI) has a fourth-inning single for the only Wolves base knock.
August 7 – OCT INF T.J. Bennett (.273, 1 HR, 11 RBI) has a 20-game hitting streak with a ninth-inning single in a 5-4 win over the Condors.
August 8 – ATL SP Jerry Banda (12-9, 3.44 ERA) is in only his second Knights start when he 2-hits the Aces with 11 strikeouts to his name, claiming a 2-0 shutout win.
August 8 – Stars OF Mario Sedillo (.264, 5 HR, 43 RBI) will miss six weeks with a sprained ankle.
August 8 – The two teams on the FL East’s struggle bus, the Buffaloes and Capitals, play an entertaining game in which the Caps lead 8-1 before exploding for a 12-run eighth inning by the Buffos, which hands a 13-8 lead to the Buffaloes.
August 8 – BOS RF/CF Joe Ritchey (.286, 13 HR, 40 RBI) will miss two weeks with back tightness.
August 9 – Tijuana SP Marc Hubbard (9-13, 3.97 ERA) 2-hits the Thunder for a 5-0 shutout. In the same game, Oklahoma’s T.J. Bennett (.272, 1 HR, 12 RBI) goes empty and has his hitting streak end at 21 games.

FL Player of the Week: CIN 1B Victor Chavez (.347, 6 HR, 30 RBI), hitting .500 (13-26) with 2 HR, 10 RBI
CL Player of the Week: POR 3B Ricky Jimenez (.275, 15 HR, 59 RBI), batting .500 (11-22) with 1 HR, 9 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The team remains a pawful behind the damn Elks, and the GM remains faithless. I mean, look at them… just look at them. Manny Fernandez would help, but Manny Fernandez won’t be back for a few weeks. It’s hard to score if you carry seven guys that hit like a pitcher, and none of them is a pitcher.

We continue with four against the Crusaders, then three games in Dallas.

Fun Fact: 37 years ago today, the Knights’ Jason Clark hit for a reverse-natural cycle against the Thunder.

It was the singular highlight of a spotty career for a catcher that debuted as a 19-year-old for the Indians, last played as a 37-year-old with the Thunder, and in total appeared in only 689 games, the majority of which came in a 4-year span from 2004 through 2007. He hit .282/.349/.363 for the 2006 Knights, hitting five home runs and driving in 59. For his career he was a .249/.332/.330 hitter with 16 home runs and 210 RBI.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (61-50) vs. Crusaders (58-51) – August 10-13, 2043

Ahead 7-4 in the season series, the Raccoons had the Crusaders in the house for four games to start the week. They were giving up the fewest runs, but also scored the second-fewest runs in the Continental League. Their pitchers ranked first in ERA – both rotation and bullpen – while sitting only eighth in defense, which was even more amazing. And the Raccoons struggled with their hitcraft, which probably made for a long series… (and the Stars with the league-best record were waiting on the weekend…)

Projected matchups:
Jake Jackson (9-8, 4.27 ERA) vs. Ernie Quintero (10-8, 3.72 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (8-10, 3.46 ERA) vs. Aaron Hickey (4-3, 3.06 ERA)
Corey Mathers (15-7, 3.01 ERA) vs. Dave Hils (10-9, 2.78 ERA)
Leonhart Becker (5-0, 3.28 ERA) vs. Paul Paris (10-7, 3.34 ERA)

We looked set to miss the only southpaw for New York, Tony Galligher (10-6, 3.70 ERA); however, they had been rained out in Boston on Sunday, so they also had room to juggle pitchers, and were more rested, while the Raccoons were squat in the middle of a 20-day string with no day off.

Game 1
NYC: SS Adame – C Alba – 1B Briones – LF Zimmerman – CF Graf – 2B Nash – RF J. Davis – 3B Melendez – P E. Quintero
POR: 2B Carreno – 1B Ayala – 3B Jimenez – CF Maldonado – C Sieber – RF Casas – SS Castro – LF de Wit – P Jackson

Four pitches into the game, the Crusaders had their first run on a pair of singles by Alex Adame and Fernando Alba, plus Jose Casas’ throwing error on the latter base knock. Alba was stranded when Jackson struck out two of the next three batters, but it was not the greatest of beginnings to a week that promised to be long and painful. 1-0 was the score through five innings, with Jackson allowing only one more hit, a single to Jason Zimmerman, while the Raccoons scattered four hits in the worst way, not even reaching third base in the process. Maldonado also hit a leadoff single in the fourth and was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double – he was trying too hard, but at least somebody was trying…

Something seemed to be budding in the bottom 6th, which began with Carreno drawing a leadoff walk and stealing his 24th base of the season. Quintero then nicked Sal Ayala, putting two on with nobody out, by far the best on-base state for the team on this Monday. And then Jimenez flew out to center, Maldonado popped out to short, and Sieber grounded out to second to ensure the runners stranded. On the other paw, the top of the seventh saw Jimenez fumble Randolph Nash’s grounder for an error, and Sieber committed another error when Nash set out for second base, in essence putting a doubly-unearned runner at third base that also promptly scored, 2-0. The bullpen, comprised of Travis Sims and Zack Kelly, would hold on to that score, but so did the offense. Carreno hit a leadoff single to begin the eighth, but was doubled up by Jimenez after Ayala whiffed. Between Maldonado, Van Anderson, and Jose Casas in the ninth, nobody reached base. 2-0 Crusaders. Jackson 7.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, L (9-9) and 1-2;

Galligher (10-6, 3.70 ERA) was inserted for the Tuesday game, bringing out our vaunted lineup that would shred southpaws. (chuckles)

Game 2
NYC: SS Adame – C Alba – RF Platero – LF J. Davis – CF Graf – 2B Nash – 1B Rudd – 3B Melendez – P Galligher
POR: 2B Carreno – 1B Ayala – 3B Jimenez – CF Maldonado – C Kilmer – RF Casas – SS Castro – LF Gonzalez – P Wheatley

The bases were loaded in unearned fashion in the bottom of the first inning, but even New York errors couldn’t get the Raccoons involved on the scoreboard, with Casas flying out all too easily to strand a full set of runners. Carreno had landed the only base hit in the inning, but had been forced out by Ayala. An unearned run or three *were* scored in the third inning, but by the New Yorkers. Wheatley allowed a leadoff single up the middle to Bill Melendez, then threw away Galligher’s bunt for an error of his own. He held it together for two outs, then folded for a Jose Platero single and a John Davis double and a total of three runs. When Carreno and Ayala went to the corners with a walk and a single to begin the bottom 3rd, Jimenez’ groundout was the only run-scoring event of that inning, though.

Wheatley remained whobbley, ran up his pitch count to depart after six innings and 100 pitches, but at least without conceding any more, or earned runs. The offense remained shambles and was held to three hits through six innings, and there was a Castro walk in the fifth that saw him caught stealing promptly. After Wheatley left, Sean Marucci spun a 1-2-3 inning, followed by the tying runs reaching against Galligher to begin the seventh on a Castro single and Jordan Gonzalez’ walk. Jay de Wit flew out easily batting for Marucci, but Carreno singled the bases full. Galligher ran a full count on Ayala before losing him on a call the Crusaders bitterly disputed to within inches of getting ejected. It was 3-2 for Jimenez, who hit the very first pitch he saw through the left side for a 2-run single, flipping the score! Maldonado singled, Kilmer walked in another run against right-hander Jeff Johnson, but then Casas struck out and Castro grounded out to Nash. But a 2-run deficit had been turned into a 2-run lead and Chuck Jones held on to it in the eighth; the crumbling only began in the ninth with Rella, who allowed singles to Nash and Tom Rudd with one out, then got Melendez on a fly to center. Justin Simmons pinch-hit and singled through the left side for one run to score, and with the tying run on second base, Alex Adame flew to left and – to Jordan Gonzalez. 5-4 Raccoons. Carreno 2-4, BB; Kilmer 0-1, 2 BB, RBI;

Sean Marucci got his first career decision in this game.

We remain five games behind the damn Elks.

Game 3
NYC: SS Adame – C Alba – RF Platero – 1B Briones – LF J. Davis – CF Graf – 2B Nash – 3B Melendez – P Hils
POR: 2B Carreno – 1B Ayala – 3B Jimenez – CF Maldonado – C Sieber – RF Casas – SS Castro – LF de Wit – P Mathers

The first two Crusaders runners were Alex Adame, twice, walking in the first inning and singling in the third, and never getting very far. The Raccoons scored first on a Jay de Wit homer to right, leading off the home half of the third inning, and his first of the year. The Raccoons added three more hits by Carreno, Ayala, and Maldonado, plus two stolen bases, in the inning and took a 3-0 lead after all was said and done and Maldonado was caught stealing second base. Likewise, Carreno would be caught stealing to end the fifth inning. – Are we too aggressive, Slappy? – Yeah, you’re right, I’m not nearly aggressive enough. (pats bat in the paw) – I know that isn’t what you said, Slappy, I was paraphrasing rather liberally.

Bags full in the sixth, the Raccoons had Casas batting with one out and Jimenez (double), Maldo (intentional walk) and Sieber (single) on base. Jose Casas had looked like he was de-funking a few weeks back, but now was back to being boilerplate terrible. The thing was … there was no bench bat that promised a better result. He hit a 1-1 pitch for a comebacker to Hils, who looked to second base, then looked home, then looked at first base, and then got nobody out on the play at all! Brainfart for Dave Hils, and the Raccoons scored a run for it! Castro added a sac fly before de Wit struck out against Brian McAllister in a 5-0 game. That was also the final score – the Raccoons managed to strand the bases full in the eighth inning later on, but had done enough to win the game. The pitchers completed the shutout – Mathers going seven and two thirds before running out of steam, and Jones and Ramirez put the remaining Crusaders away. 5-0 Raccoons. Carreno 2-4; Jimenez 1-2, 2B, RBI; Mathers 7.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K, W (16-7);

Game 4
NYC: SS Adame – 1B Briones – RF Platero – 3B Melendez – LF J. Davis – 2B Nash – CF Graf – C H. Alvarez – P Paris
POR: 1B Ayala – C Sieber – 3B Jimenez – CF Maldonado – SS Castro – RF Nettles – 2B Gutierrez – LF Gonzalez – P Becker

Aided by Paul Paris, the Raccoons had another early 3-spot, this time in the first inning. He hit Ayala, walked Sieber, and with two outs Castro and Nettles landed an RBI double and a 2-run single, respectively, and put Sauerkraut up with a 3-0 lead. Joe Graf soon enough took some off with a 2-run homer to center in the second, which was the only hit allowed by Sauerkraut in the early innings, but then he also walked three batters. The Raccoons began the bottom 3rd with a Sieber single and a Jimenez double, putting two in scoring position with nobody sat down. Maldonado kept the ball moving with a single up the middle, narrowly past Adame, for his 70th RBI of the year and a rejuvenated 4-2 lead. Then he was caught stealing again, after which Castro hit a sac fly to left, emptying the bags. Again, Sauerkraut gave back a run right away, when the fourth saw Nash single and Hector Alvarez doubled him in, but Paris whiffed to end the inning. Adame singled to begin the sixth for New York, and ended by being caught stealing himself.

Sauerkraut made it through the lineup three times before the kettle stewed and he was removed after 6.2 innings and 107 pitches. Craig got a fly to right from Adame to complete seven, with the same inning seeing Todd Lush place Sieber and Jimenez in scoring position with a single and a double and one out. The Crusaders bypassed Maldonado, preferring Castro with the bags full. Lush walked him on five pitches as that plan sort of backfired. Nettles’ groundout scored another run, while Omar Gutierrez flew out to end the inning. Craig had three consecutive pitches put in play in the eighth inning for two outs and a Platero single, but got through the inning without major woes.

Todd Lush kept walking everything with legs, stuffing the bases on walks in the bottom 8th with nobody out, and maybe Cristiano might want to try, because maybe Lush would even walk everything with no legs, too! The Coons got only one run out of three on and nobody out, on a Jimenez sac fly. Then the Raccoons sat out to blow an 8-3 lead in the ninth inning. Nash singled off Marucci, while Kelly gave up singles to Graf and Gastao Rosado. Josh Rella came in with three on and one out and the top of the order back to the plate. Adame hit a sac fly, which was fine by me. Briones walked, which was not bloody quite as fine. Fernando Alba pinch-hit for Platero… but also grounded out to Gutierrez to strand the bases loaded. 8-4 Coons! Sieber 2-5; Jimenez 3-3, BB, RBI; Castro 1-2, BB, 2B, 3 RBI; Nettles 2-4, 3 RBI;

Raccoons (64-51) @ Stars (70-43) – August 14-16, 2043

The Raccoons’ reward for taking three of four from the Crusaders was a trip to Dallas to play in the shoebox owned by the best team in baseball. It was the fourth year in a row these teams met, with Portland having dropped the last two series, 2-1 each time. The Stars had the most runs scored in the league, which didn’t shock me, but were also second in runs allowed, which did. Their run differential was +138 (Critters: +21).

Projected matchups:
Brent Clark (9-8, 4.09 ERA) vs. Orlando Leos (11-8, 4.58 ERA)
Jake Jackson (9-9, 4.12 ERA) vs. Daniel Hernandez (3-2, 3.82 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (8-10, 3.31 ERA) vs. Mark Holliday (13-6, 3.29 ERA)

Only right-handers here.

SOME of the Stars’ hitting was unavailable, with Nate Evans and Mario Sedillo on the DL, and shortstop Jon Ramos listed as day-to-day with an oblique tweak.

Game 1
POR: 2B Carreno – 1B Ayala – 3B Jimenez – CF Maldonado – C Kilmer – LF Nettles – SS Gutierrez – RF Casas – P Clark
DAL: CF O. Gonzalez – 3B J. Rivas – C Graham – 2B H. Acosta – SS Villacorta – RF Cecil – LF Calais – 1B Riley – P Leos

The Stars had 20 home runs on Dan Riley and batted him eighth, with nobody else even close to him, which assured me that we were doomed and were going to get swept. Dallas took a 1-0 lead in the first, as Clark walked Jose Rivas and gave up singles to Andy Graham and Leo Villacorta. Tylor Cecil flew out to Nettles to strand them on the corners. The bases were loaded in the bottom 3rd on walks to Rivas and Graham, then Hugo Acosta getting hit, all with one down. Leo Villacorta hit a sac fly and Cecil struck out, and the Raccoons eloped with a 2-0 deficit and a pitcher that couldn’t find the zone for his dear life. A Jimenez double and a Kilmer single gave Portland a run in the fourth, but the Stars came back with two in the fifth inning, which Rivas and Graham, who Clark just couldn’t retire, opened with a double and a walk. A passed ball on Kilmer helped the Stars to score both runs, and, down 4-1, Clark was not seen again after the fifth inning.

Rivas remained a thorn in the Raccoons’ side, legging out an infield single with two outs to tack on a run in the sixth; Travis Sims had put runners on the corners. And the Raccoons? When Kilmer drew a leadoff walk in the seventh inning, Nettles hit into a double play right away, and then Gutierrez doubled into the gap for no greater purpose than being stranded on second base. It was THAT hopeless. The Critters couldn’t get to Orlando Leos through eight innings, and they didn’t start in the ninth against Dale Mrazek either. 5-1 Stars. Kilmer 1-2, BB, RBI;

This series smelled like a sweep from the beginning, and I believed in it even more firmly now.

Game 2
POR: 2B Carreno – 1B Ayala – 3B Jimenez – CF Maldonado – C Kilmer – LF Nettles – SS Gutierrez – RF Anderson – P Jackson
DAL: 3B J. Rivas – SS Villacorta – CF Cecil – 1B Riley – 2B H. Acosta – C Graham – LF R. Correa – RF Rogers – P D. Hernandez

The Coons had two base runners in the first two innings, doubled up one, and had the other one picked off first, while Jackson ran three 3-ball counts to the first three batters in the bottom 2nd, and all three of them reached on a single sandwiched between two walks. Ricky Correa plated the game’s first run with a grounder to short for a fielder’s choice, while Phil Rogers hit into an actual double play after that to clean up. The Portland Woefuls continued to load the bases with Anderson (walk), Carreno (single), and Ayala (walk) in the top of the third. Ricky Jimenez ran a full count before putting a soft liner into play and into center. Tylor Cecil came rushing on, then pulled up at the last second, conceding the RBI single, but it held the Raccoons to one run, tying the game. Then Maldonado rumbled into a 4-6-3 double play…

Jackson got whacked around for two runs in the bottom 3rd; Rivas doubled and left with an injury, with his knee being paid some attention by the trainer. Jon Ramos, still day-to-day, replaced him and scored on Villacorta’s double, and a walk and a single procured another run for Dallas. The tying runs were on the corners in the fifth inning, Carreno and Jimenez presenting themselves for Maldonado, who improved on last time around, rammed the first pitch through Dan Riley, and then legged out a triple while Phil Rogers chased the carom around the rightfield corner, with the game tied at three. The Stars walked Kilmer intentionally, which there was not much reason for, then gave up the lead on a Nettles sac fly. That ended Hernandez’ day after 4.2 muddy innings. His replacement was 9-time Pitcher of the Year Phil Harrington, who was very much on his last leg, threw a wild pitch, an then conceded the inherited run on a Gutierrez single before Anderson hacked out.

Jackson torched the 5-3 lead immediately and was yanked without logging an out in the bottom 5th. Single, walk, RBI double, and Jon Craig inherited a 5-4 game with runners in scoring position. That pot cooked over, with Craig walking Riley for no immediate improvement, and then conceding a 6-5 deficit on a groundout and a sac fly before Ricky Correa flew out to Nettles in leftfield…

In a game that would probably take long enough to blow some dinner reservations, the Raccoons came right back over the corpse of Harrington, who nailed Jordan Gonzalez to begin the sixth, allowed a single to Carreno, and while Ayala hit into a force at second base, Jimenez tied the game at six with a single. Crucially, Maldonado popped out on a 3-1 pitch. Kilmer struck out, stranding two. But the seventh saw Mrazek pitching and giving up six bases in just two batters, an the lead to the Coons again. Nettles doubled to right, Gutierrez homered to center, and the Raccoons were up 8-6!

Chuck Jones retired Dallas left-handers in order in the bottom 7th, then hung around for three switch-hitters in the eighth, retiring those in order as well! The Critters were also sat down orderly in the eighth and ninth, meaning it was again a 2-run lead for Josh Rella in the bottom 9th. He struck out Rogers, and Sean Calais grounded out to Jimenez. Jon Ramos whiffed, ending the game! 8-6 Raccoons. Carreno 4-4, BB; Jimenez 4-5, 2 RBI; Nettles 1-2, BB, 2B, RBI; Gutierrez 2-4, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Casas (PH) 1-1, 2B; Jones 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Okay, maybe we won’t get swept.

Maybe we’ll even hit another ball for 240 feet, which is about how far it is to the fence in dead center…

Game 3
POR: 2B Carreno – 1B Ayala – 3B Jimenez – CF Maldonado – C Kilmer – SS Castro – RF Nettles – LF de Wit – P Wheatley
DAL: C Graham – 3B J. Ramos – 2B H. Acosta – CF Cecil – LF R. Correa – SS Villacorta – RF D. Gonzales – 1B O. Gonzalez – P Holliday

The rubber game saw Mark Holliday glitch the bases loaded in the second inning; Maldonado singled, Kilmer reached on a Jon Ramos error, and Nettles got nailed with one out. Jay de Wit fell to 0-2 before singling up the middle, driving in two runs, which caused next May’s birth rate in Aruba to spike. The inning fizzled out after that and Wheatley walked a pair in the bottom 2nd, followed by giving up a scorched liner to Omar Gonzalez with two outs – but Ayala snatched the rocket, and the inning ended! The Raccoons extended their lead to 3-0 in the third inning. Maldonado reached base, actually stole another base for the first time this week in four attempts, then came around on an error. That made three errors for Dallas in a third of a game. They were less successful with the H column, from which Wheatley excluded them all the way into the fifth inning, then gave up 2-out singles to both the opposing pitcher (duh!) and Andy Graham. Ramos grounded out to strand the runners.

The shutout went bust in the sixth (not that his pitch count wasn’t too far up anyway) when Cecil reached on catcher’s interference, Correa walked (…!), and after a double steal Villacorta singled in both of them. That got the Stars back to 3-2 and the inning only ended when Villacorta was caught stealing. Wheatley got two more outs before running into triple digits in pitches and left-handers in the lineup and yielded for Kelly, who flew out Jon Ramos to end the bottom 7th. And the Stars lineup, remember, was a minefield. Kelly remained in for the eighth, but gave up a leadoff single to Hugo Acosta. Phil Rogers hit for the left-handed Cecil, but struck out. Correa was a switch-hitter like Acosta, and flew out easily. Villacorta was another lefty bat, and he ripped a double off Kelly. A double switch had put the pitcher in the #7 hole though, and another left-handed batter, Govaart van Eijk (sic!), a Dutch Antillean rookie batting left-handed, appeared in the box. Kelly remained on the mound, struck out the 22-year-old, and the tying and go-ahead runs were stranded in scoring position. The Raccoons would get two men on in the ninth inning against right-hander Matt Simmons, but wouldn’t score, Maldonado flying out to center to end the inning. Rella thus had no cushion this time. Omar Gonzalez led off with a single to right, but Sean Calais, the old Titan, grounded to short and that was a 6-4-3 palate cleanser! Rella insisted on walking Andy Graham, which slightly infuriated me, then got a fly to center from Jon Ramos. Maldo barely had to move. 3-2 Raccoons. Nettles 2-3, 2B; Gutierrez (PH) 1-1;

In other news

August 11 – The Knights beat the Thunder, 4-3 in 16 innings. RF/LF Billy Hester (.289, 8 HR, 39 RBI) goes 3-for-8 for Atlanta with 3 RBI, including the walkoff home run.
August 12 – Season over for PIT 1B Danny Santillano (.336, 13 HR, 71 RBI); the veteran has broken his ankle and will need the rest of the year to recuperate.
August 14 – DEN SP Drew Johnson (7-7, 5.14 ERA) will be out for four months with a ruptured finger tendon.
August 16 – A strained hammy would leave the Gold Sox without OF Sandy Castillo (.292, 7 HR, 56 RBI) for a month.

FL Player of the Week: PIT RF/1B/LF John Marz (.260, 13 HR, 58 RBI), hitting .519 (14-27) with 2 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week: CHA 1B/LF/RF Ed Haertling (.298, 6 HR, 51 RBI), batting .500 (15-30) with 6 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The Agitator writes that the Raccoons are close for the first time in a few years. And they’re also speculating how the stupid management will blow it from here on out. Overusing Maldonado and Jimenez until they get injured his atop the list. Neither of them had a day off this week.

And we have to play three more against the mediocre Buffos before we can get a day off. That will be the last home set before a 2-week roadtrip through Boston, Milwaukee, Tijuana, and Oklahoma City that will get us clean through the rest of the month and into September. There’s only six home series remaining, including the Buffos gig to start next week, then two weeklong homestands in September, followed by one final series against the damn Elks in early October.

Meaningful October baseball, wouldn’t that be something?

When Corey Mathers won his 16th game on Wednesday, nobody else in the CL had more than 13 wins. Not sure how he’s doing it. I also still couldn’t pick him out of a lineup if I tried.

Nelson Moreno – anybody remember him? – just started a rehab assignment in the minors. I don’t see him returning before September 1 after missing almost four months with the bum shoulder. Manny Fernandez – still on the shelf, and probably also a September 1 addition, which should allow for a few days of rehab in AAA.

Fun Fact: Phil Harrington’s contract is up after the season.

Rumor has it that he will retire. He’ll be 39 in early October, an while he was a very efficient closer in his first year out of the rotation last year, this year it has become unpretty. The stuff is gone (13 K in 45 IP) and the homers are up.

He’s in the Hall of Fame anyway – nine Pitcher of the Year and two Reliever of the Year titles will do that for you – with a 225-74 career record, 146 saves, and 3,118 strikeouts.

He also won his Reliever of the Year titles 14 years apart, and all the Pitcher of the Year awards in between as the Wolves’ great dominator. Not even kidding, nine ERA titles, three triple crowns. He was a monster. I’m just glad we didn’t run into him five times a year…

[Westheim]

Raccoons (66-52) vs. Buffaloes (50-68) – August 17-19, 2043

We had not played the Buffaloes in four years, most recently having dropped two of three games against them in 2038. They had an average offense, but pitching was a bit of an issue. The rotation already had issues with an ERA well over four, but the bullpen was three times worse, with an incomprehensible 5.61 ERA for the relief corps, which offered anything but relief. Add passionate but clumsy defense and a flush of injuries to pitchers Jon Pereira and Alvaro Molina and position players Marshall Greer, Derek Baskins, and Alberto Velarde, and you had a team that was hoping for October to end the pain.

Projected matchups:
Corey Mathers (16-7, 2.86 ERA) vs. Wilson Torres (0-1, 2.77 ERA)
Leonhart Becker (6-0, 3.36 ERA) vs. Josh Bourgeois (11-10, 5.05 ERA)
Brent Clark (9-9, 4.20 ERA) vs. Carlos Vasquez (5-9, 3.65 ERA)

The series started with a rookie southpaw followed by two right-handers. Torres would make his fifth major league start. He had 7.3 walks per nine innings so far.

Game 1
TOP: RF Quintanilla – 1B Delagrange – CF Angeletti – LF D. Lee – 2B Batista – SS Riquenes – C Dalton – 3B M. Miles – P W. Torres
POR: 2B Carreno – SS Castro – 3B Jimenez – 1B Maldonado – C Kilmer – RF Casas – LF de Wit – CF Anderson – P Mathers

With Sergio Riquenes on first base and two outs, Mathers walked Wilson Torres on four pitches, which was mildly infuriating, as was the following RBI single by Jorge Quintanilla, and with that the Buffos took a 1-0 lead. Chris Delagrange, offensive factor in a distant past, struck out, ending the top 2nd. Portland managed to equalize on singles by Van Anderson and Jose Castro in the bottom 3rd, but didn’t draw a single walk off the guy with 7.3 walks per nine up to that point, and he didn’t even pitch in bad counts much either.

Both teams hit two singles in the fourth, with Delagrange whiffing again to strand a pair in scoring position, while the Raccoons got their singles from Maldonado and Jose Casas; that was before Jay de Wit ripped the first pitch into the left-center gap for a lead-grabbing RBI double. Van Anderson was walked half-*******, loading the bases with one out for Mathers, whom Torres got to 2-2 before giving up an RBI single to left. And then they finally started to see bad pitches, held out, and the Raccoons’ 1-2-3 drew THREE bases-loaded walks in order before Torres was yanked by management, but now it was already a 6-1 game. Luis Parra, right-hander and replacing Torres, was little help, despite getting a first-pitch pop from Maldonado before hitting Kilmer and walking Casas to force another two runs across home plate. De Wit flew out to center, ending the 7-run onslaught.

The rest of the game was devoted to administering the lead. Mathers lasted 6.1 innings on 109 pitches, and the Raccoons overcame an outless appearance by Chuck Jones after that, with Alex Ramirez striking out two and stranding everything Jones had put on base. Marucci gave up a run in the eighth, but the Raccoons rallied for three in the same inning against a parade of Buffos relievers. Maldonado, Casas, and de Wit got additional RBIs in the inning. 11-2 Raccoons. Castro 3-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Casas 2-4, BB, 2 RBI; de Wit 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Mathers 6.1 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, W (17-7) and 1-2, RBI;

17th win for Corey Mathers, you say, Maud? – Who is Corey Mathers?

Unbelievably, both teams had 11 hits apiece in this game. Must have been the seven walks in crucial spots we drew, then (although the Buffaloes also drew five walks). Weird game. Win. So who cares.

Game 2
TOP: LF Armesto – 1B Delgrange – SS A. Castillo – C J. Wilson – RF Angeletti – 2B Batista – CF D. Lee – 3B M. Miles – P Bourgeois
POR: 2B Carreno – 1B Ayala – 3B Jimenez – CF Maldonado – C Sieber – SS Castro – RF Nettles – LF Gonzalez – P Becker

Portland started with three hits in the bottom 1st, Carreno, Ayala, and Jimenez all hitting singles, with Ricky Jimenez already giving the team a 1-0 lead. Maldonado flew out to center, but Sean Sieber singled to load the bases against Bourgeois. A run scored on Castro’s groundout to first base, but Nettles also grounded out poo- no, the ball was misplaced on the infield, all paws were safe, and the Raccoons got an unearned run, 3-0. Jordan Gonzalez then actually grounded out to end the inning. Bottom 2nd we had nobody on with two outs before Ayala and Jimenez got on, followed by RBI singles by Maldonado and Sieber. Castro flew out to J.P. Angeletti, the score staying at 5-0.

And Sauerkraut? He was wild, and barely got through the innings. Through four innings he walked as many, ran quite a few long counts, and his pitch count was up to 69 through four, but the Buffos didn’t score off him until that fourth inning, loading the bases on two singles and a walk, but not getting past Mike Miles’ sac fly to right before PH Tom Moeller grounded out, ending Bourgeois’ day but keeping Sauerkraut’s going.

Left-hander Dave Gorey was given the ball in the bottom 4th. He walked two, then gave up a 3-piece to left for Maldonado’s 17th homer and an 8-1 score. That score didn’t change for the rest of Sauerkraut’s tenure of erring from full count to full count. He only left with runners on the corners and two outs in the seventh, having thrown 111 pitches, with Travis Sims entering in a double switch that removed Ricky Jimenez, and getting a fly to Van Anderson in center (Maldo had moved to third base) from Alex Castillo to end the inning. Sims also did the eighth, while Zack Kelly held Topeka down in the ninth inning for the second clear win in a row. 8-1 Raccoons. Ayala 1-1, 3 BB; Jimenez 2-3, BB, RBI; Maldonado 2-4, HR, 4 RBI; Sieber 2-4, RBI; Becker 6.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 5 BB, 3 K, W (7-0);

Sauerkraut! Undefeated! And uneaten, because sauerkraut’s fairly disgusting if we’re brutally honest…

Game 3
TOP: LF Armesto – 1B Delagrange – SS A. Castillo – C J. Wilson – RF Angeletti – 2B Batista – CF D. Lee – 3B M. Miles – P C. Vasquez
POR: 2B Carreno – 1B Ayala – 3B Jimenez – CF Maldonado – C Kilmer – SS Castro – RF Casas – LF Gonzalez – P Clark

Wednesday’s lead came in the first inning on a wild pitch with Carreno and Maldonado on the corners and two outs. Vasquez conceded a Kilmer RBI single after that, finding his way into a 2-0 hole. Castro also reached, but Jose Casas popped out. Ex-Coon Jeff Wilson drew a leadoff walk in the second, but was doubled up by Angeletti. Brent Clark would go on to face the minimum until a Delagrange homer in the fourth inning took half the lead away and made facing the minimum impossible for the rest of the day. Top 5th, Tony Batista walked, Dave Lee singled, and Castro misfiled a grounder for an error that Mike Miles aboard, loading the bases with one down. Carlos Vasquez came up with a fat chance to do major damage – and did so … to his own team, grounding the first pitch he got to Carreno for a 4-6-3 double play that kept the Raccoons’ pokey black noses above the waterline.

Bottom 6th, Maldonado and Kilmer hit deep fly balls that were caught, but then Castro found the gap for a 2-out double. Jose Casas made himself useful, poking a 3-1 pitch (hh!!) through the right side for an RBI single, putting an insurance run on the board. He stole second, but Gonzalez was walked intentionally right away and Clark grounded out to end the inning. The personnel then changed in the bottom 7th but the procedure was similar: Sal Ayala doubled off Vasquez, this one up the line in right, and Jimenez singled in the run right away, 4-1. Clark then pitched into the eighth inning until he allowed a single to right-handed pinch-hitter Jimmy Dalton with two outs. The Raccoons skipped straight to Josh Rella, who retired Rich Armesto with a groundout to end the eighth. This put him in line for a 4-out save even when the Raccoons tacked on runs with hits by Casas (who was caught stealing and didn’t amount to a run thusly), Gonzalez, Nettles (a double), and Carreno (2-run single) in the bottom 8th. Carreno was ALSO caught stealing, after which Luis Parra walked Ayala and allowed a single to Jimenez. That brought up Rella, who had been inserted in a double switch for Maldonado. The Raccoons had Thursday off, and preferred Rella to make the last out with a 5-run lead over going back to Marucci or somebody… Rella grounded out, then retired the Buffos in order to complete the sweep in the ninth. 6-1 Raccoons. Jimenez 3-5, RBI; Kilmer 2-3, BB, RBI; Castro 2-4, 2 2B; Gonzalez 2-3, BB; Nettles 1-1, 2B; Clark 7.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W (10-9) and 1-3;

Off we were then, outta town for the next two weeks. First station on the road was the Titans’ hellhole, where we hadn’t looked good approximately since Jason Wheatley was ******** his diapers.

Raccoons (69-52) @ Titans (52-68) – August 21-23, 2043

Boston was in last place, which was the perfect spoiler position, so I expected the worst. They were eighth in runs scored and second from the bottom in runs allowed. Like the Buffos, the Bostons didn’t count defense as their strength either. They were good in getting on base (fourth in CL), but couldn’t hit much, not for power especially, and had little speed. They had a -55 run differential (Coons: +41). We were up 8-3 in the season series.

Projected matchups:
Jake Jackson (9-9, 4.39 ERA) vs. Ignacio del Rio (6-1, 2.62 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (9-10, 3.28 ERA) vs. Chris Turner (1-0, 2.00 ERA)
Corey Mathers (17-7, 2.80 ERA) vs. Michael Donovan (10-6, 4.29 ERA)

Southpaw Sunday … AND Southpaw Saturday! Also a former Raccoon on Friday that we didn’t remember all too fondly.

For 32-year-old “Tuba” Turner, it was almost a full year since tearing a flexor tendon in his elbow. In between he had made two rehab starts (injuring his knee in the process) and had pitched a complete-game 3-hitter in his return to the Titans on the 16th.

Game 1
POR: 2B Carreno – 1B Ayala – 3B Jimenez – CF Maldonado – C Kilmer – SS Castro – RF Casas – LF Nettles – P Jackson
BOS: LF Liceaga – RF Tortora – 2B M. Avila – CF Vermillion – C D. Phillips – 3B I. Lugo – 1B Lindstrom – SS Greeley – P del Rio

Cullen Tortora singled both of his first two times at the plate, and in the bottom 3rd scored the game’s first run. Reaching base with two outs, he stole second, Jackson nicked Moises Avila, and then Mark Vermillion hit a single to left-center to allow Tortora to circle around for home plate. Devin Phillips ended the inning with a groundout. It was the first time the Raccoons trailed this week. The Raccoons couldn’t hit del Rio, who struck out eight in the first four innings, giving me stomach rumbles. Ironically, Jake Jackson was 2-for-2 by the fifth inning, but got no support from the Critters around him in the lineup and the team remained shut out. Danny Liceaga answered with a leadoff double in the bottom 5th, but was stranded and the score remained 1-0 through seven innings, during which del Rio struck out 11 Critters…

The scarcity of Titans offense was del Rio’s demise, with Rob Bottino hitting for him in the bottom 7th, but for no great effect. Guillermo Vinales walked Ayala with one out in the eighth, but that also led nowhere. The Coons pieced the bottom 8th together between Kelly, Ramirez, and Jones, who all got one out, and only Ramirez put a pair on base. Nobody scored again, and the Raccoons were up against righty Jose Colon in the ninth inning. Kilmer grounded out. Castro grounded out. Casas whiffed. 1-0 Titans. Jackson 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, L (9-10) and 2-3;

Well. That sucked.

Game 2
POR: 2B Carreno – 1B Ayala – 3B Jimenez – CF Maldonado – C Kilmer – RF Casas – LF de Wit – SS Castro – P Wheatley
BOS: 1B Lindstrom – RF Tortora – 2B M. Avila – CF Vermillion – C D. Phillips – 3B I. Lugo – LF Bottino – SS Greeley – P C. Turner

Carreno opened the game with a triple over the head of Vermillion and scored on Sal Ayala’s sac fly for a quick run. Then the great scattering of singles began, with two more hits in the first, and another pair of hits in the second inning, and no runs from either of those situations. Jose Casas being caught stealing after a leadoff single in the top 2nd cost a run in that inning. We cautiously eyed Wheatley, who pitched behind in the count quite a bit early on, but we also saw singles by Jimenez and Maldonado, both really soft, before Kilmer ripped an RBI double to the base of the fence in the third inning, all with one out. Casas brought in another run with a groundout, 3-0, while Jay de Wit flew out to Bottino.

While Wheatley continued to flirt with walks, but allowed precious little of actual Titans reaching base through three innings, the Raccoons started the fourth with Castro singling. Wheatley bunted him over, and Carreno walked. The Raccoons pulled off a double steal, which ended up not mattering at all, given that Sal Ayala then ripped a 3-piece over the fence in right to double the lead to 6-0 …! That was the end of “Tuba” Turner, the last few notes being entirely discordant, and Jamal Barrow replaced him. Wheatley, who needed 59 pitches in three scoreless innings, was tasked with getting some length out of his arm. But things got tighter and tighter for him in the fifth, with Barrow (…) and Matt Lindstrom on the corners on singles, and rain falling, two outs, and Tortora in the box. He was already on 83 pitches, but we really wanted to get him through the fifth inning at least. Tortora hit a high ball to center, but Maldo hardly had to move, making the catch. With the rain still holding off for a bit, Wheatley would get through the sixth in 1-2-3 fashion, but was at 101 pitches after that and got his pat on the bum – no runs allowed at least!

Sean Marucci would pitch the seventh against the bottom of the order, while the Raccoons tagged on against long man Barrow in the eighth. Carreno got on, Ayala doubled, and Maldo clipped a 2-out, 2-run single to ostensibly put the game away at 8-0. Barrow went on to walk Kilmer, but got Casas to fly out to end the inning. Bottom 8th, Travis Sims came on, walked Tony Graham and Lindstrom, nailed Tortora, and left without having retired anybody. Oh boy. Trouble. Jon Craig somehow held the damage to one run, but I briefly got queasy – it hadn’t been that long ago that the Raccoons rubbled away seven eighths of an 8-run lead. The Raccoons would not need a pitcher for the ninth inning. The rain that had hung around since the middle innings got worse in the top of the ninth, the game went to a rain delay, and was not resumed on account of the big lead. 8-1 Critters. Carreno 2-3, 2 BB, 3B; Ayala 2-4, HR, 2B, 4 RBI; Maldonado 3-5, 2 RBI; Kilmer 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Casas 2-5, RBI; Castro 2-5; Wheatley 6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K, W (10-10) and 1-2;

The weather forecast was not necessarily better for the rubber game on Sunday.

Game 3
POR: 2B Carreno – 1B Ayala – 3B Jimenez – CF Maldonado – C Sieber – SS Castro – RF Casas – LF Gonzalez – P Mathers
BOS: LF Liceaga – CF Tortora – 2B M. Avila – RF Ritchey – C D. Phillips – 3B I. Lugo – 1B T. Miles – SS Greeley – P Donovan

Two walks and a Sieber single loaded the bases all with two outs in the first inning, but Castro struck out to keep them loaded, and instead Joe Ritchey’s leadoff home run in the bottom 2nd put the first run on the board. Then Portland’s 3-4-5 reached base again with two outs in the third inning; Jimenez hit a double to left, Maldonado singled to left, and then Sieber found a hole up the middle to bring in Jimenez with the tying run. Castro was down 0-2 again, then flew out to left, which was not necessarily better.

The score remained 1-1 through five. The Raccoons did little outside of their 3-4-5 players, while Mathers allowed two leadoff singles that were both removed on double plays, and scattered six hits in total in five innings. The 3-4-5 did not reach the third time through the lineup, which made the Raccoons appear a bit listless, while the Titans broke through Mathers in the seventh inning. Ivan Lugo doubled to left, and Vermillion pinch-hit for Tyler Miles and hit an RBI single to right-center, claiming a 2-1 lead for Boston. Mathers finished the inning, but it looked bleak for his 18th win, or any win for Portland in this rubber game – nothing good ever happened in Boston…

The Raccoons had the top of the order up against right-hander Justin Johns in the eighth inning. Carreno grounded out. Guillermo Vinales then came in, walked Ayala, and departed right away for right-hander Joe West, who lost Jimenez in a full count. All eyes on Maldo! …and he struck out. Sieber grounded out to first. Chuck Jones delivered a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth, and then it was on a flush of Joses to decide the game, Jose Colon facing Jose Castro, Jose Casas, and certainly not Jose, uh, Jordan Gonzalez. One Jose grounded out, but the second Jose walked. Stephon Nettles hit for Gonzalez, and drew *another* walk. Here, the Raccoons went for it – Jeff Kilmer batted for Jones, but his high fly to left did not challenge Danny Liceaga. Carreno grounded out to first, ending the game and nailing down the series loss. 2-1 Titans. Jimenez 1-2, 2 BB, 2B; Sieber 2-4, RBI; Mathers 7.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, L (17-8);

In other news

August 17 – A 3-hit shutout over the Aces is pitched by SAL SP Eric Weitz (9-11, 3.86 ERA). The Wolves win 2-0.
August 17 – LAP INF Brian Bowman (.301, 7 HR, 40 RBI) is out for the season with a torn labrum.
August 18 – DAL OF/1B/3B Phil Rogers (.198, 8 HR, 29 RBI) could be out for the year with a broken hand.
August 19 – Scorpions 1B/LF/RF Eddie Moreno (.283, 24 HR, 89 RBI) drives in seven runs on three hits as Sacramento routs the Condors, 16-7.
August 20 – The Knights’ INF/RF Joe Crim (.260, 17 HR, 62 RBI) hits a walkoff home run for the only score in a 2-0 win over the Gold Sox.
August 21 – The Gold Sox’ playoff case crumbles with news that DEN INF Ronnie Thompson (.356, 2 HR, 70 RBI) will miss three weeks with a back strain.
August 22 – The Condors beat the Aces on a walkoff in the 13th inning, 8-7. Previously, both teams had scored a run in the 12th inning.
August 23 – SAL SP Justin Roberts (10-2, 3.02 ERA) and Julian Ponce (8-3, 3.05 ERA) pitch a combined 1-hit shutout of the Scorpions for an 8-0 win. Only LF/RF/1B Nate Culp (.220, 0 HR, 10 RBI) reaches with a single for Sacramento.

FL Player of the Week: RIC 2B/3B Jon Loyola (.275, 9 HR, 66 RBI), hitting .429 (12-28) with 2 HR, 10 RBI
CL Player of the Week: VAN OF Jerry Outram (.365, 18 HR, 66 RBI), clipping .481 (13-27) with 1 HR, 5 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Nate Culp is from Portland! … the Portland in Texas. I was not aware of a Portland in Texas. I hear it’s near what’s left of Corpus Christi, which isn’t much given the sea level rising and the land sinking due to Nick Valdes’ Sinkhole Works there. He was the #66 pick in the 2041 draft and is a rookie for Sacramento.

Did I ever mention nothing good ever happens in Boston? Two choke losses there mean the Raccoons drop a further game behind the damn Elks.

Jason Wheatley had another chewy game on Saturday, which is kind of emblematic of his last few months. Not visually impressive, but with decent results – six innings of hard labor yielded no runs for Boston. Cristiano Carmona however warned me that his FIP was nearly a full run higher than his ERA and that he wouldn’t always be so lucky. Well, what am I supposed to do, Cristiano? Have Travis Sims start??

Who knows what September will bring. I don’t see any pitching improvements, especially with Sauerkraut somehow holding it together despite having hostile scouting reports on virtually every platform. Jose Arias was doing alright in AAA, but he was probably not going to improve on the personnel we were using right now.

Fun Fact: No Raccoons pitcher has won 20 games in a season since Mark Roberts did it in 2025.

The feat has only been achieved nine times in total, which reeks of a team that routinely doesn’t find ways to score for their aces, of which we had a few. For example, Kisho Saito, as good as anybody in the late 80s, early 90s, never posted a 20-win season.

Nick Brown has two (2004, 2010), both times winning 20, while Jonny Toner also has two seasons, 22 wins in 2020, and 23 wins – the franchise record – in 2018. Tadasu Abe also won 22 games in 2017.

Other 20-win seasons were dropped by Kel Yates (21 W, 2007), Jason Turner (20 W, 1995), and Scott Wade in 1989. That was the famous season in which he started 15-0 and then went 6-6 the rest of the way.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (70-54) @ Loggers (64-60) – August 25-27, 2043

If the Raccoons wanted to have a serious conversation about the playoffs, they had to stop being woeful against the Loggers. This year, the season series was tied up, 6-6, after four years of us losing the damn thing, and sometimes not very subtly at all. The thing was that the Loggers were first in runs scored in the CL, and our pitching was creaky, to say the least. They were also fourth from the bottom in runs scored with a modest +48 run differential (Raccoons: +46).

Projected matchups:
Brent Clark (10-9, 4.05 ERA) vs. Sal Chavez (5-14, 5.68 ERA)
Jake Jackson (9-10, 4.24 ERA) vs. Jose de Lucio (8-10, 3.52 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (10-10, 3.16 ERA) vs. Sergio Piedra (8-6, 3.76 ERA)

The Raccoons used the common off day on Monday to skip Sauerkraut in the rotation, which seemed like a bold move given his 7-0 record. Milwaukee threatened with three right-handers here, but the off day could skip southpaw Chris Lulay (10-5, 3.78 ERA) into the series – although if they didn’t skip Chavez, who should be skipped after all?

Game 1
POR: 2B Carreno – 1B Ayala – 3B Jimenez – CF Maldonado – C Sieber – SS Castro – RF Nettles – LF de Wit – P Clark
MIL: 3B Paul – RF Cannizzard – CF Reeves – LF Hertenstein – 1B Brayboy – SS Del Vecchio – 2B J. Cruz – C F. Gomez – P S. Chavez

The Raccoons started with a Carreno double and three weak outs to strand him at second base, while Clark reached 3-ball counts with Jared Paul, Tim Cannizzard, and Bill Reeves in the bottom of the first inning, and all three somehow retired themselves. It was the usual ******** that made the most trouble right from the start, with Aaron Brayboy hitting a double to left-center in the second inning, soon followed by a Ted Del Vecchio single to right, but the Loggers waved Brayboy around third base and then saw him thrown out at home plate by Stephon Nettles. Felipe Gomez reached on a leadoff single in the bottom 3rd, though, and came around to score on Tim Cannizzard’s howling double with two outs in the inning, and that was the first run on the board. So Clark was fooling nobody, and the rest of the team looked like the usual fools against a pitcher with an ERA pushing six. After the Carreno double they didn’t get another base hit until Maldonado rolled a single up the middle in the SIXTH, which came with Ayala and Jimenez having drawn walks off Sal Chavez. The bases were loaded for Sean Sieber with one out and the deficit still a skinny run, but he lined out to Jared Paul, and Castro rolled over to Jose Cruz at second base. Nobody scored. Nettles chucked a leadoff single in the seventh, then went absolutely ******* nowhere, and Maldonado’s double in the eighth came with two outs and nobody on. Sieber whiffed. The bottom 8th saw Ramirez and Kelly hold the Loggers to their lonely run, while the Raccoons would cart up the thin, linty part of the order against right-hander Cesar Perez in the ninth inning. Castro grounded out to first, but Nettles legged out a soft grounder for a single. Omar Gutierrez batted for a listless Jay de Wit, but flew out to Daniel Hertenstein. Jeff Kilmer batted for the pitcher – a clear slight to the non-right-handed batters still left on the bench – and grounded out to short. 1-0 Loggers. Maldonado 2-4, 2B; Nettles 2-4; Clark 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, L (10-10);

We see more and more of those fabled “well pitched losses” ….

Game 2
POR: 2B Carreno – 1B Ayala – 3B Jimenez – CF Maldonado – C Kilmer – SS Castro – LF Nettles – RF Casas – P Jackson
MIL: CF Reeves – 3B Simon – 1B Brayboy – LF Hertenstein – 2B Paul – SS Del Vecchio – RF Fleming – C Sicco – P de Lucio

Hertenstein’s triple and Jonathan Fleming’s single into no man’s land gave the Loggers their all-we’re-gonna-need 1-0 lead in the second inning on Wednesday. Not that they didn’t tack on – they had Jackson out of the game in the third inning. The right-hander’s newest explosion was fueled through conceding a leadoff single to the opposing pitcher, hitting Brad Simon with a fastball, and then a 3-piece by the infuriating Brayboy. Hertenstein, Paul, and ******* Del Vecchio all reached base as well, and it was 5-0 with two aboard after 2.1 innings for Jackson. Sauerkraut came on to pick up the pieces, surrendering another run on a sac fly. Down 6-0, the game was over after just three innings.

…but because they drew infinite glee from making me suffer the maximum amount feasible, the Raccoons then fired off base runner after base runner in the fourth inning. Carreno walked. Ayala doubled, so two were in scoring position for Jimenez, who singled to left, with Hertenstein overrunning the ball for an error, although both runners might have scored anyway, but Jimenez reached second base. He made it to third on Maldo’s single. Kilmer singled to right, and now Fleming overran the ball for an error, conceding two more runs, putting Kilmer at second base, and bringing up Castro as the tying run with nobody out. The Raccoons then also made three quick and hopeless outs to get the Loggers back in command. Wow, boys – you really had them anxious for ten seconds there …! (sighs)

And then, down by two, they stopped. Jimenez hit into a double play to kill the fifth with two runners aboard, and that was it. After that, they produced three innings of utter sadness before a throwing error by Omar Gutierrez enabled the Loggers to scratch out an unearned run on Jon Craig in the eighth inning, which to be fair was also utterly sad. Jeff Kilmer then opened the ninth with a jack off Cesar Perez, reducing the gap to two runs again. Jay de Wit batted for Craig in the #6 hole and doubled to left-center. Nettles flew out to Reeves, but Casas singled, and now the tying runs were on the corners! Gutierrez remained no help, grounding to short for a fielder’s choice while de Wit scored a meaningless run. With two gone, the tying run was still at first base. Carreno then grounded out. 7-6 Loggers. Maldonado 2-4; Kilmer 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; de Wit (PH) 1-1, 2B; Jones 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Arf.

Game 3
POR: 2B Carreno – 1B Ayala – 3B Jimenez – CF Maldonado – C Kilmer – SS Castro – LF Nettles – RF Casas – P Wheatley
MIL: CF Reeves – RF Cannizzard – 1B Brayboy – 3B Paul – SS Del Vecchio – LF Serad – 3B J. Cruz – C Sicco – P Piedra

Arturo Carreno opened another game with a double, hitting one past T.J. Serad to start Thursday’s affair. This time he actually scored, with Ayala walking and Jimenez singling him home before being forced out by Maldonado’s grounder to first. Kilmer was nicked, filling the bases for Castro, who rammed a ball through Brayboy for a 2-run double…! And then Nettles whiffed and Casas flew out to right, stranding a pair of potentially precious runners in scoring position. Jimenez would make it 4-0 in the second inning, hitting a sac fly to Reeves after Wheatley and Ayala had reached the corners with a pair of singles off Piedra.

Wheatley seemed to be doing *alright*, allowing a single in each of the first two innings, but then rain came soon enough and forced a 45-minute delay in the middle of the third inning. Wheatley had thrown only 22 pitches before the interruption and was obviously sent back out again, but we kept our weary eyes on him. And immediately and easily to see was that the rain hadn’t done him any good. Piedra led off with a hard grounder, and before long, Loggers piled on base. Reeves singled, Cannizzard walked, both stole bases, and then Brayboy hit a sac fly. A Jimenez error helped the Loggers to load the bags again until Serad grounded out to strand the tying runs in a 4-1 game that had me mighty nervous.

A three-hit rush with two outs gave the Raccoons two more outs on Piedra, who’d exit soon after, as Jimenez singled, Maldo tripled, and Kilmer singled in the fourth to extend that wonky lead to 6-1. It was still a wonky lead, as we soon found out. Wheatley sucked in the fourth, but escaped on a double play, and sucked for another walk and two hits in the fifth inning that got a run across and put Brayboy and Paul in scoring position with one out. He was yanked. Jon Craig game on. He threw a wild pitch, walked ******** Del Vecchio, conceded a sac fly, and then surrendered a single to Jose Cruz, which Maldonado conveniently fumbled for extra bases, putting the tying runs in scoring position. Zack Kelly replaced Craig, ran a full count against the left-handed Valentino Sicco, and then threw one right down the middle that was knocked to right for the game-tying 2-run single. **** you! All of you! You bums!!!

While I was still screaming into my paws, right-hander Tim Fouts loaded the bases in the sixth inning with a single, a walk, and a hit batter against the 2-3-4 Critters, all with one out. Kilmer socked a double up the leftfield line, two runs scored, and Maldonado was thrown out at home, with Kilmer stranded when Nettles grounded out after an intentional walk to Castro. The Raccoons instead scored another run in unearned fashion in the seventh; Carreno singled with two outs, stole his 30th base, and then came around on Paul’s throwing error on Ayala’s grounder, 9-6. That run was beaten back out of Sean Marucci in the bottom 7th, however, and it was 9-7 after that. Chuck Jones struck out a pair to begin the bottom 8th before Paul singled off Josh Rella, on for a 4-out save. Del Vecchio stunningly grounded out. T.J. Serad opened the ninth with a single to left, but Rella got a pop for an out, a K for another, and then rung up Felipe Gomez in the #9 hole to at least get that one win… 9-7 Raccoons. Carreno 2-5, 2B; Jimenez 3-4, 2 RBI; Kilmer 2-4, 2B, 3 RBI;

That was ugly. How about a last-place team to look bad against?

Raccoons (71-56) @ Condors (52-76) – August 28-30, 2043

We were 2-4 behind in the season series, which was not good to begin with. Their pitching was the worst in the CL, last in starters’ ERA, bullpen ERA, and even defense, which was not something the Raccoons knew how to take advantage of, and they were fourth in runs scored. Their run differential was a flat -100.

Projected matchups:
Corey Mathers (17-8, 2.79 ERA) vs. Aaron Howell (9-7, 4.53 ERA)
Leonhart Becker (7-0, 3.11 ERA) vs. Matt Schwartz (7-10, 4.24 ERA)
Brent Clark (10-10, 3.93 ERA) vs. Tommy Kubik (7-14, 5.53 ERA)

Kubik was the only eligible candidate for a potential Southpaw Sunday – and it seemed like the stars would align!

Sauerkraut had thrown 15 pitches on Wednesday, which seemed not at odds with a start on Saturday.

Game 1
POR: 2B Carreno – 1B Ayala – 3B Jimenez – CF Maldonado – C Kilmer – LF Nettles – RF Casas – SS Gutierrez – P Mathers
TIJ: CF Phinazee – RF Willie Ojeda – 1B Gibbs – LF Toohey – 2B Matos – 3B Barcia – C Pasko – SS C. Rose – P Howell

The Raccoons went up 1-0 in the first inning, and did so in unearned fashion. Sal Ayala reached on an error and advanced on a wild pitch, then came around on Maldo’s 2-out single. Mathers however came unglued at once, allowing a single to Willie Ojeda, walked a pair, and then gave up three runs on a single by Jesus Matos and Sergio Barcia’s sac fly for the early deficit.

The next two Raccoons hits were Stephon Nettles singles, and they accordingly scored no runs any time soon. Nettles had a chance for three team hits in a row, with no Critter reaching base until Howell walked Jimenez and Kilmer with one out in the sixth inning. Nettles ran a full count before striking out, and the perpetually useless Jose Casas grounded out to Jesus Matos. Mathers failed his way into the bottom 6th before loading the bases on two hits and a walk – and nobody out. All the runners scored against Alex Ramirez, who gave up a 2-run double to Mark Pasko right away, and a sac fly to Ryan Phillips with one out. Mal Phinazee singled home Pasko, 7-1, and the game was long over of course. Ramirez was yanked and another run surrendered when Sims served up a double to Willie Ojeda.

The Raccoons scored three runs against a hopeless bullpen in the late innings, but by then the gap was so big that they could not unfreeze my stone-hard face anymore… 8-4 Condors. Nettles 3-4, 2B, RBI; Castro (PH) 1-1, RBI;

We haven’t had a 20-game winner in forever, and it doesn’t look like we’re gonna get one now, either…

Game 2
POR: 2B Carreno – 1B Ayala – 3B Jimenez – CF Maldonado – C Sieber – SS Castro – LF Nettles – RF Anderson – P Becker
TIJ: CF Rossi – RF Willie Ojeda – LF Toohey – 2B Matos – 3B Barcia – C J. Guerra – SS C. Rose – 1B Phinazee – P Schwartz

Sergio Barcia’s single and Juan Guerra’s howling double over the head of Jimenez gave the Condors a 1-0 lead in the second inning, while the Raccoons continued to be unable to do anything. They had a Castro single in the second, a Maldonado single in the fourth… and that was about it until Schwartz brushed the uniform sleeve of Sauerkraut with two outs and nobody on in the top 5th. Carreno singled to center, where Nate Rossi fumbled the ball briefly for an extra base. With a pair in scoring position, Sal Ayala rolled a ball behind the mound, Jesus Matos and Chris Rose were late to it, and somehow the Critters tied the game on the infield single, and we hadn’t seen a less deserved run yet this week. A confused Schwartz walked Jimenez to fill the bags, then nailed Maldonado with a 2-2 pitch to push the go-ahead run across. But Sieber whiffed, stranding three, and we just couldn’t get a ******* base hit when it counted…!

Willie Ojeda singled on an 0-2 pitch, Bryce Toohey walked, but the Condors stranded two in the bottom 5th against a pot of Sauerkraut that looked like it was nanoseconds from spoiling. The Raccoons then got Castro on with a leadoff single in he sixth. He stole second, reached third base on a bad throw by Juan Guerra, and Nettles popped out foul. Van Anderson saved my mood, briefly, with a single up the middle, extending the lead to 3-1. Then Van Anderson was caught stealing…

Sauerkraut was yanked after walks to Guerra and Phinazee in the bottom 6th, leaving after receiving Schwartz’ bunt with the runners in scoring position and two outs. Jon Craig secured a pop from Rossi that Jimenez caught right on top of third base. Schwartz held out a while longer, walking Ayala with one out in the seventh before giving up an RBI double to the depths of centerfield to Jimenez. Maldo was walked intentionally, while de Wit struck out in Sieber’s place before Castro grounded out… The Condors came apart further in the eighth, in which the Raccoons got singles from Nettles and Carreno, who both stole second base and scored (on a Gutierrez sac fly and an Ayala single, respectively), while the Condors continued to cycle through their pen, finding little relief and no comfort. Ricky Jimenez almost hit a bomb off Joe Wilden then, but Toohey picked the ball right at the fence to end the inning. Three more runs scored in the ninth inning against Derrick Forbes and Miguel Herrera, the RBIs going to Anderson (one) and Gutierrez (two). Sean Marucci had pitched the eighth inning and struck out to end the top 9th, because we wanted another inning from him with an 8-run lead. The rookie wisely obliged. 9-1 Critters. Carreno 2-5; Ayala 2-4, BB, 2 RBI; Maldonado 2-2, 2 BB, RBI; Castro 2-5; Gutierrez (PH) 1-1, 3 RBI; Marucci 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K;

Game 3
POR: 2B Carreno – SS Castro – 3B Jimenez – 1B Maldonado – C Kilmer – LF Gonzalez – CF Anderson – RF Casas – P Clark
TIJ: CF Rossi – RF Willie Ojeda – LF Toohey – 2B Matos – 3B Barcia – C J. Guerra – SS C. Rose – 1B Gibbs – P Kubik

Maldo doubled home Carreno and Castro in the first inning, giving the Critters a 2-0 lead. Clark blew it the same inning, allowing a double to Ojeda, a triple to Toohey, and a single to Barcia to get the teams even again. Top 2nd, the Raccoons had Casas on first base and one out, with Clark struggling to get a bunt down. At 1-2, a hit-and-run was called instead, and now Clark flicked a single to right..! Runners were on the corners when Carreno popped out, but Castro found a single in right for a 3-2 lead. Jimenez then grounded out.

Jose Casas meanwhile kept annoying the crap out of me, dropping a fly by “Kitten” Kubik in the bottom 2nd to put a guy on base with two outs. Clark didn’t stumble over that tripwire, retiring Rossi instead, and then Casas came to the plate in the third inning with Maldo and Kilmer on the corners and two outs. He chucked a single past Chris Rose, narrowly avoiding having his name struck off the ticket list for the flight outta Mexico. Clark struck out to end the inning, up 4-2, then allowed a 1-out double to Toohey in the bottom of the inning. Matos flew to right, Casas meandered around before suddenly having to dash in, and barely made the catch. I checked at that point, and he was definitely not Bill Balaski. Bill Balaski had been white. But the defense was sure terrible. Chris Rose and Ron Gibbs hit singles in the bottom 4th. The latter single went to right, Casas fired to third base … or where he thought third base was. The ball had to be chased after by Ricky Jimenez, and a run scored on the error. Gibbs moved to second, then to third on Clark’s wild pitch. PH Greg Dowden tied the game with a groundout, and by now I was dialing Maud in Portland to have both Casas’ and Clark’s plane tickets voided.

The Condors then scored two more in the fifth that would be charged to Clark, but scored on Ramirez’ watch. He came in and walked Barcia to fill the bases with nobody out, and things came apart from there. The Raccoons had to give up on the game after that, down 6-4, and plunked Travis Sims on the mound to somehow sit out the last few innings. He retired none of the first three batters he faced, and allowed two runs on three hits and two walks in the sixth inning alone – and even then Jordan Gonzalez helped out with throwing out Bryce Toohey at home plate. Right-hander Miguel Herrera then walked the bases full against Jimenez, Maldonado, and Gonzalez in the seventh inning. Van Anderson batted with one out as the tying run, and jammed a grounder into a double play. Sims, the dumb ********, walked two more Condors in the bottom 7th, gave up an RBI single to Toohey, then was yanked. Chuck Jones came in against right-handed batters, because other options were slim, and gave up another three runners and three runs as things kept escalating. Ricky Jimenez hit a 3-run homer in the eighth that didn’t remotely matter. 12-7 Condors. Castro 2-5, RBI; Sieber (PH) 1-1, 2B; de Wit (PH) 1-1;

In other news

August 25 – TOP 3B Mike Miles (.228, 4 HR, 36 RBI) announces his retirement at the end of the season after suffering a torn labrum. The 35-year-old had an 11-year career hitting .263/.341/.346 with 51 home runs and 449 RBI.
August 26 – The Bayhawks lose SP Miguel Alvarado (13-10, 3.02 ERA) to a torn labrum. He’s out for the season, but should return before Opening Day.
August 29 – LAP SP Kevin Clendenen (14-11, 2.71 ERA) throws a 2-hit shutout over the Capitals and strikes out nine Washingtonians. L.A. wins 6-0.
August 29 – Season over for Richmond’s LF/RF Pablo Gonzalez (.371, 27 HR, 95 RBI), who is out with a strained hamstring.

FL Player of the Week: TOP 2B/3B Alex Castillo (.287, 8 HR, 44 RBI), hitting .750 (9-12) with 1 HR, 4 RBI
CL Player of the Week: TIJ RF/LF/1B Bryce Toohey (.267, 18 HR, 73 RBI), batting .565 (13-23) with 1 HR, 5 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Well, wasn’t that a **** week?

Milwaukee’s becoming the new Boston, isn’t it? No luck there, none. I claim that Wheatley would have done better if not for the rain, but coulda woulda shoulda has never won a championship.

Regardless, Wheatley’s 3-0 for his last five games with a 1.86 ERA. Cristiano can shove his FIP up his bum – when the guy has a sub-2 ERA I’m not listening to anything that starts with “yes, but…”!

I don’t even want to get into that Condors set. That was just crap from top to bottom. Will it get better next week? We’ll play in Oklahoma before heading home to face the Indians. The damn Elks will make one of their remaining two appearances in Portland after that.

Manny Fernandez was sent to AAA for a brief rehab gig this weekend; he will return on September 1 with some other bums to stretch the roster out for September.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons are still sort of counting on Matt Waters to be their starting shortstop next year.

.222/.359/.342 in AAA this year in 77 games. 23 stolen bases! The BABIP is .270. So if you say he should hit 20-25 points higher, that would give him a .380-ish OBP … but that’s still an AAA value then.

It will be fiiiine. Totally.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (72-58) @ Thunder (66-63) – August 31-September 2, 2043

Here was a season series that was tied at three, and both teams needed the wins for their weird ambitions. The Raccoons kept pretending they had a shot, and the Thunder were also in second place, just two and a half games out, despite their pedestrian record – far more pedestrian than the Raccoons even. They had lost three in a row (but the Raccoons came off a weekend in Tijuana where they had looked like Montezuma’s Revenge had gotten into their little brains…), ranked sixth in runs scored and eighth in runs allowed with a crisp zero run differential. Definitely material that could stop the damn Elks in the CLCS … not. C’mon boys, get out there and whoop them!

Projected matchups:
Jake Jackson (9-11, 4.48 ERA) vs. Ruben Guzman (9-5, 3.64 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (10-10, 3.30 ERA) vs. Lachlan Clarke (14-8, 4.35 ERA)
Corey Mathers (17-9, 3.02 ERA) vs. Juan Ramos (9-12, 4.02 ERA)

All righties here; the Thunder were a bit weakened with injuries, missing Al Martell and Angelo Zurita on the DL, and Ethan Moore was day-to-day. The Monday opener would be the last game before rosters would expand on September 1.

Game 1
POR: 2B Carreno – 1B Ayala – 3B Jimenez – CF Maldonado – C Sieber – SS Castro – LF Nettles – RF Anderson – P Jackson
OCT: CF C. Vega – 2B Bennett – C Adames – SS Rowell – LF E. Moore – 1B A. Zacarias – RF Aviles – 3B Kalinowski – P R. Guzman

It already would have helped the Raccoons if Jake Jackson could have stopped being terrible, alas, that wasn’t in the cards. After a clean first, he nicked Rick Rowell to begin the bottom 2nd, then walked Jose Aviles and Josh Kalinowski with two outs. Which still didn’t make for a blowup! But Guzman’s 2-out (groans!), 2-run single to right-center sure did. Carlos Vega somehow grounded out, but the damage was done. More damage followed in the third inning. T.J. Bennett and Rowell hit singles. Then Jackson walked Moore and Alex Zacarias, and threw a wild pitch. Then Jackson was thrown – down the steps to the clubhouse tunnel. Zack Kelly came on, gave up a sac fly to Aviles, then rung up Kalinowski. The Raccoons were down 5-0, and didn’t look like a rally threat either…

It took Portland until the fifth inning to file away for a run, which came together on doubles to left and left-center, respectively, by Jose Castro and Van Anderson, the latter being then stranded by de Wit and Carreno. Things continued to look bleaker yet in the sixth, in which Guzman gave up leadoff singles to Sal Ayala and Ricky Jimenez, then walked Jesus Maldonado – oh no! Three on, nobody out, tying tun at the plate; now the Raccoons were surely doomed! Sieber struck out. Castro popped out. Nettles popped out. Nobody scored. Well, except for the Thunder getting a run off Alex Ramirez in the bottom of the inning. After another abortive inning at the plate in the seventh, Sean Marucci got the ball for the seventh and eighth innings; at least that was the intention. The pitching coach told him it was all his, and he was not to come back crying just because he was getting clobbered. He walked Kalinowski in the seventh, but the runner was stranded. He walked two more in a long, long eighth inning, which somehow ended with the bases loaded and Stephon Nettles chasing down an Aviles drive for the third out. Marucci returned to the dugout with his right arm blue, which was just what we had wanted. It all game in a loss; while Jose Castro drove in a late run, the Raccoons lost by plenty. 6-2 Thunder. Ayala 2-4; Maldonado 2-3, BB, 2B; Castro 2-4, 2B, RBI; Marucci 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 1 K;

Some ******* god-awful pitching here – the Raccoons issued ELEVEN walks in this game, which always makes it hard to win. Jackson, the bum, walked four, and all three relievers involved walked at least two each.

With that, September and the roster expansion dawned. The damn Elks won on Monday, putting the Raccoons in arrears by six and a half, but we also had six left against the damn Elks, and while going 6-0 against them was not exactly a real world scenario one should calculate with, we at least had to go through the motions. That meant bringing up plenty of personnel and not just the two bats and two or three arms we brought up normally when out by double digits.

The first call-up was Manny Fernandez, who had briefly rehabbed in AAA. The second call-up was NOT Nelson Moreno, who had been rehabbing in St. Pete for a while – he was issuing twice as many walks as he struck out, something was broken, and we had no interest of finding out what while he wore a brown shirt. We did bring up Shuta Yamamoto for a first base platoon with Ayala, and Steve Nickas for some added flexibility on the infield. Matt Waters would remain in AAA until that season ended at least.

On the pitching side, we returned Seth Green for good behavior (but not good performance) in AAA, Angelo Montano as cannon fodder, and gave first-time promotions to Steven Johnston and Preston Porter. The latter three moves required kicking three players off the stuffed 40-man roster, which turned out to be pitchers Ryan van Campenhout, Alexis Cortes (demoted to AA after a ****** first half in St. Pete), and infielder Phil Haley (same as Cortes).

Johnston had been our second round pick, 55th overall, in the 2040 draft. The left-handed groundballer threw 95 with the fastball, and the curve was quite impressive. He would be 24 in October, so it wasn’t too late for him to make his debut after pitching to a 2.18 ERA in AAA this year. Porter was another right-hander, 22, and had come over with Justin Waltz and Generos de Leon in the big deal with the Aces last year … a deal that looked more and more terrible as the months passed. He had strong control but not much stuff and threw only 90.

Notably, no third catcher was called up – none was on the 40-man roster, and we had a hard time yanking somebody else off the 40-man to accommodate Chris Lancaster for bench-warming duties.

Game 2
POR: 2B Carreno – 1B Ayala – CF Maldonado – LF Fernandez – 3B Jimenez – C Kilmer – SS Castro – RF Nettles – P Wheatley
OCT: CF C. Vega – 2B Bennett – C Adames – SS Rowell – LF E. Moore – 1B A. Zacarias – RF J. Moore – 3B Tormenta – P Clarke

Wheatley looked like trouble out of the box, giving up three long flies, one of them for a Bennett double, in the first inning, then walking a pair in the bottom 2nd before call-up Jonathan Moore thankfully grounded a 3-1 pitch into a double play and fellow call-up Sansao Tormenta struck out. The Coons didn’t have a hit the first time through, but Ayala singled to lead off the fourth, and Manny added another single with one out. Clarke lost Jimenez in a full count, loading the bags for Kilmer, who hit a sac fly on the first pitch before Castro rolled out to Alex Zacarias. Rick Rowell took Wheats deep to left in the bottom of the inning to restore a tie, now at 1-1.

With Wheatley hanging on barely, the Raccoons got Kilmer to the plate again in the good spot in the sixth inning. Maldo and Jimenez were on the corners with one out, having hit a pair of soft singles. Jeff Kilmer did no such thing, grounding over to short for a 6-4-3. Wheatley had another scoreless inning in the bottom 6th, then was pinch-hit for when Castro and Nettles reached scoring position with another two hits to begin the seventh inning – he was on 94 pitches anyway, so it wasn’t like he was getting robbed of a complete game. The Raccoons now had a big bench, and somehow still had to send Jay de Wit to pinch-hit with runners on second and third and nobody out. He grounded out on the first pitch and the runners had to stay. Carreno hit a sac fly, and Ayala grounded out to strand Nettles. Oh, the unspeakable sadness on this baseball field! Oh, humanity!

The Raccoons went to Jon Craig for the bottom 7th, getting no outs from him and instead the bases loaded on walks to Ethan Moore and Zacarias, then a Dan Whitley infield single. Chuck Jones replaced him, but encountered a right-handed pinch-hitter in Sterling Henderson instead of the left-handed Tormenta. He got a comebacker, however, getting the force at home plate, then struck out PH Chad Greer *and* Carlos Vega! Three Thunder stranded – HAVE MY CHILDREN, CHUCK JONES!!

None of Chuck Jones’ heroics solved the conundrum that three right-handers were up in the bottom 8th, the score was still 2-1, and the Raccoons had gassed Ramirez and Marucci on Monday, Seth Green had not arrived rested, we didn’t want to go to the debutee Porter, didn’t want to try Rella for two innings, and were reluctant to send for Travis Sims, but at this point we were also sorta out of options besides a left-hander of which we carried four, including Jones, who was still eligible for participation. Nah. Sims it was. He got outs from Bennett and the CL home run leader Jesus Adames (.323, 26 HR, 71 RBI), but then Rowell doubled to right. Zack Kelly came on for Ethan Moore, nicked PH Rick Webb instead, then left for Rella pronto. Rella rung up Zacarias, and somehow we crawled on with the lead. Jeff Kilmer tacked on a run in the ninth with a homer off Brad Blankenship, but Rella sat down the Thunder in order to complete the game. 3-1 Blighters. Gonzalez (PH) 1-1; Wheatley 6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, W (11-10); Jones 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K; Rella 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, SV (38);

Well, it was neither pretty, nor arousing, but at least it was a W and the Elks lost (as did the Crusaders, for the second time this week), and the Raccoons returned to sole possession of second place, and again 5 1/2 behind the damn Elks.

Game 3
POR: 2B Carreno – 1B Ayala – CF Maldonado – LF Fernandez – 3B Jimenez – C Kilmer – SS Castro – RF Nettles – P Mathers
OCT: CF C. Vega – 2B Bennett – C Adames – SS Rowell – LF E. Moore – 1B A. Zacarias – RF Peck – 3B Tormenta – P J. Ramos

Mathers’ next bid for 18 wins didn’t start much better than the last couple, with three Thunder singles giving them a 1-0 lead in the bottom 1st, and that was only the beginning. The Raccoons being as inept as ever, Mathers was easily the worst of the bunch even before rotten luck got involved in the third inning, which began with an infield single for Juan Ramos. Vega flew out, but Bennett walked. Adames singled to load the bases. Rick Rowell’s deep fly to center was caught by Maldonado, but a run scored and Bennett moved to third base, from where Mathers plated him with a wild pitch before Moore singled and Zacarias walked to fill the bags again. John Peck struck out, somehow, stranding three in a 3-0 game.

It was the last inning Mathers finished before being yanked in the fourth. Vega, Bennett, Adames hit 2-out singles, it was 4-0, and nine hits in 3.2 innings was ******* enough. Jon Craig got the third out on a pop to first base by Rowell. Steven Johnston made his major league debut with a scoreless fifth, and the Raccoons actually reached the board in the sixth inning with singles by Carreno and Maldonado, and a wild pitch in between… That was about the extent of their offensive ambitions. Preston Porter made his debut in the bottom 7th, conceding a run on two walks and a hit. Down by a slam, the Raccoons got a leadoff single by Nettles off Mike Wilt in the eighth inning. Yamamoto batted for Porter – right into a double play. Travis Sims was then mopped up for two walks and a 2-out, 2-run double by Ethan Moore in the bottom 8th. 7-1 Thunder. Carreno 2-4;

How pathetic!

The damn Elks also lost on Wednesday, but also played the first game of a long weekend set against the Loggers on Thursday, which was an off day for the Coons. Alex Lewis squeaked out a 2-1 win for the damn Elks, giving them a 6-game lead over the Furballs by Friday morning.

Raccoons (73-60) vs. Indians (62-71) – September 4-6, 2043

We held a narrow 6-5 lead in this season series against a team that couldn’t get out of its own way. The Indians were way in last place in runs scored, but were also fourth in runs allowed with a -70 run differential. The offense was really bad, scoring under 3.6 runs per game. But then again, we had seen the recent Coons’ attempts to get out of the ballpark as quickly as feasible, so this could become another sad, sad series.

Projected matchups:
Leonhart Becker (8-0, 3.00 ERA) vs. Bill Drury (8-18, 3.97 ERA)
Brent Clark (10-11, 4.16 ERA) vs. Orlando Altreche (11-9, 3.82 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (11-10, 3.23 ERA) vs. Ayden Cobb (7-4, 3.18 ERA)

Only right-handers to see here. Notably, this time Sauerkraut was not skipped – but rather Jake Jackson was moved to the end of the line. Which put him in the Elks series next week. Which was probably stupid.

Game 1
IND: SS Russ – RF Sanderfer – 3B Hutson – LF D. Rivera – 2B E. Vargas – C J. Diaz – CF Galvan – 1B B. Quinteros – P Drury
POR: 2B Carreno – 1B Ayala – CF Maldonado – LF Fernandez – 3B Jimenez – C Kilmer – SS Castro – RF Nettles – P Becker

Sauerkraut repaid the trust by walking Enrique Vargas and Julian Diaz in the second inning, giving up a run on a Nelson Galvan single, another one on a sac fly, and plating one more with a wild pitch. In the third inning, Andrew Russ singled, stole his 39th base, and scored on Alex Sanderfer’s single. That made it 4-0, and Honeypaws agreed with me that it was basically game over.

The Raccoons had three base hits through five innings, all in different innings. When Kilmer (hit by pitch) and Nettles (single) were on base together in the bottom 5th, Gutierrez and Carreno struck out to keep the team off the board. It only got more excruciating from there. Marucci got the ball in the sixth, nailed Dan Hutson with a 1-2 pitch, gave up a single to Danny Rivera, and an infield single to Vargas that loaded the bases – with nobody out. Diaz singled to center, Maldonado overran the ball, and two runs scored. A Carreno error led to a third run in the inning. I was sitting motionless on the good old brown couch by this point, my big black googly eyes very wet.

Van Anderson’s double from the #9 hole and Sal Ayala’s RBI single ruined Bill Drury’s shutout bid no sooner than the eighth inning. Maldonado and Manny both hit singles to fill the bases with one out, but Jimenez had been lifted in a double switch when the intent had been for Angelo Montano to mop up the game. Jay de Wit batted for him and chucked an RBI single, 7-2, which also meant the tying run appeared in a visible spot, the on-deck circle. He wasn’t there for long, with Kilmer flying out to Nelson Galvan on a 3-2 pitch, Maldo making for home plate, and being thrown out. While Maldo only had his pride hurt, Galvan left the game with stinging pain in the shoulder, replaced with Juan Salinas. The Raccoons seemed to make another token effort in the bottom 9th, just to annoy the crap out of me. Against Ruben Vela and with one out, Nettles walked. He made for third base on Anderson’s single, drew a late throw, and Anderson snuck into second base behind him. Carreno struck out, but Ayala ripped a 3-piece to left. The tying run appeared in the on-deck circle again, but this time it was Manny Fernandez with two outs. Maldo singled, knocking out Vela for right-hander Willie Gonzales, who’d face Manny as the tying run. Deep fly to left! …and caught at the track. 7-5 Indians. Ayala 2-5, HR, 4 RBI; Maldonado 3-5; Fernandez 2-5, 2B; de Wit (PH) 1-1, RBI; Anderson 2-2, 2B;

Slappy, I think I should take the vows and move to a monastery, just to get away from them…

The gap increased to seven games with the Loggers also not being remotely helpful.

Game 2
IND: SS Russ – RF Sanderfer – 3B Hutson – LF D. Rivera – 2B E. Vargas – C J. Diaz – 1B Balaski – CF Galvan – P A. Cobb
POR: 2B Carreno – 1B Ayala – CF Maldonado – LF Fernandez – 3B Jimenez – SS Castro – C Sieber – RF Casas – P Clark

No more losing! – that was my motivational speech to Brent Clark, who promptly went out and lost. He walked Sanderfer, and gave up straight hits on a Hutson double and singles by Rivera and Vargas for a total of three runs in the first inning. Boom! Take that, losing! Slappy, I’ll need some harder stuff than Capt’n Coma, I can’t take this **** anymore. – What’s this black bottle you have there? – What’s on the label? “Zeke’s Ka-BLAMM”? – Does it make the head spin from something other than ****** baseball? – Pour it in here!

For the rest of the first five innings, both teams amounted to only one more hit, and nobody scored a run. Clark struck out eight through five innings, and would have looked just fiiiine if he hadn’t done all his exploding in the first inning. But, y’know, this Ka-BLAMM was … weirdly chilling me out. And while the Raccoons were being shutout for an undue amount again, I really found myself no caring all that much anymore. Everything was … fiiiiiine.

Cobb, who had been moved ahead of Altreche and was hurling a 1-hitter in the sixth, walked a pair in the inning, then came up against Maldonado with two outs. Maldo had a 12-game hitting streak that needed extending and wouldn’t bow to Cobb for sure, slapping a single to left that scored Carreno to put Portland on the map at least. Manny also singled, hitting a ball to right on the first pitch. Sal Ayala scored, 3-2, and Alex Sanderfer’s bad throw to home plate allowed Maldo and Manny into scoring position. Jimenez left them there when his fly to left-center was robbed by Rivera. Which, y’know… (giggles) … was fiiiiine! (giggles uncontrollably)

Sieber’s double and Nettles’ pinch-hit single for Clark, who struck out ten Indians in the end, ended with them being left on the corners when Carreno grounded out to end the seventh. Ramirez held the Indians in place in the eighth, after which Maldonado ripped a triple with one out in the eighth. That came off Willie Gonzales, who was yanked for left-hander Chris Myers against Manny Fernandez. The Raccoons would certainly not pinch-hit for one of their best hitters. Manny also grounded out to third base, keeping Maldo pinned. Just fine. Eeeeeeverything is fiiiiine. Jimenez flew out, Maldo was stranded, but I was seeing entirely new colors and was very fascinated by that. Honeypaws, you have a pink nose! (giggles)

Kelly and Green stumbled through the ninth inning, stranding runners on the corners, somehow, before Ruben Vela, shackled on Friday, made a comeback for the bottom of the ninth in a 3-2 game. Castro, de Wit, and Kilmer made outs in order. 3-2 Indians. Maldonado 2-4, 3B, RBI; Nettles (PH) 1-1;

By Sunday I had a nasty headache, partly from our season having ended against the ******* Arrowheads, and probably also from Slappy’s devil juice. Eight games out, nothing mattered anymore, anyway.

Game 3
IND: SS Russ – RF M. Ochoa – LF D. Rivera – 3B Hutson – CF B. Quinteros – 2B Sanderfer – 1B Balaski – C J. Diaz – P Altreche
POR: 2B Carreno – 1B Ayala – CF Maldonado – LF Fernandez – 3B Jimenez – C Kilmer – SS Castro – RF Anderson – P Wheatley

The Raccoons took a first-inning lead (!!) on a single that extended Maldo’s hitting streak to 14 games, then a 2-run homer by Manny that made him the fourth Critters with double-digit homers (but only the third with double-digit homers for the Critters). Wheatley hit a sac fly that scored Kilmer, who had been hit and had stolen a base in revenge, in the bottom 2nd, while pitching for only a walk to ex-Coon Bill Balaski the first time through, though aided by two nifty grabs by Jimenez and Maldonado. Bill Quinteros walked to begin the fifth inning, but was caught stealing, and Wheatley completed five innings for only the two walks allowed on 70 pitches.

Wheats then also singled to right in the bottom 5th and advanced on a wild pitch, Carreno’s groundout, then waited on third base while Ayala grinded out to a walk with two outs. Maldo grounded to short, Andrew Russ bungled the play, and Wheatley scored on the error, 4-0. Manny Fernandez then sent Altreche to bed with a 2-run triple over Quinteros. Manny scored on Chris Volk’s wild pitch. Jimenez grounded out, keeping the score 7-0 through five.

Van Anderson made a sliding grab in a 1-2-3 sixth, but after Mario Ochoa grounded out, Rivera walked in a full count in the seventh. Wheats was on 86 pitches, with eight outs left to collect. He threw a wild pitch, then had it all come apart on Hutson’s RBI double in the gap. No no-hitter for the rookie …! Quinteros singled, Hutson scored on another wild pitch, and Wheatley was ushered to safety after Sanderfer popped out. Zack Kelly retired Balaski to end the inning.

Manny singled in the bottom 7th, but that came with two outs and he still was a double short of the cycle. Jimenez singled to center, plating Ayala from second base, and Volk walked Kilmer to fill the bases, after which Castro flew out to Rivera. That meant that the Raccoons would need three base runners in the bottom 8th to get Manny to the plate again. Johnston retired the Indians in order in the eighth, but the Coons only managed a Nettles triple and stranding that run on third base in the bottom 8th, so Manny Fernandez didn’t get another chance at the cycle, either. With a 6-run lead and my endless faith they wouldn’t botch that even as Angelo Montano warmed up in the bullpen, Manny was lifted for Jordan Gonzalez even, to give him an inning off. Montano held up. 8-2 Raccoons. Fernandez 3-4, HR, 3B, 4 RBI; Nettles (PH) 1-1, 3B; Wheatley 6.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 7 K, W (12-10) and 1-2, RBI;

Sigh.

In other news

September 1 – NYC OF/3B Bill Melendez (.242, 12 HR, 55 RBI) pounds out five hits and is a triple short of the cycle, driving in three runs, but the Crusaders fall to the Falcons, 8-5.
September 1 – The Loggers lose 3B/2B/RF Jared Paul (.319, 12 HR, 62 RBI) for the year; the 28-year-old is down with a strained hamstring.
September 3 – The Thunder walk off on the Condors, 1-0 in 10 innings, on a late, late home run by C Dan Whitley (.228, 5 HR, 28 RBI).
September 3 – The Blue Sox have to do without 3B/SS Brad Critzer (.277, 10 HR, 68 RBI) for the next three weeks. The 28-year-old is sidelined by a broken rib.
September 4 – OCT SP Jimmy Driver (9-6, 3.79 ERA, 1 SV) 3-hits the Condors, whiffing nine batters in a 5-0 shutout.
September 4 – Falcons phenom OF/2B Miguel Martinez (.353, 1 HR, 40 RBI) has his rookie season end with a forearm strain.
September 6 – Charlotte also loses LF/CF Joe Besaw (.313, 11 HR, 74 RBI) to a strained posterior cruciate ligament. He is also out for the season.

FL Player of the Week: SAC 1B/LF/RF Eddie Moreno (.290, 30 HR, 105 RBI), slugging .393 (11-28) with 4 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week: MIL LF/CF Bill Reeves (.263, 20 HR, 97 RBI), hitting .444 (12-27) with 2 HR, 7 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: RIC 1B Manny Liberos (.272, 18 HR, 77 RBI), hitting .303 with 10 HR, 27 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: POR 3B Ricky Jimenez (.289, 16 HR, 77 RBI), swatting .385 with 4 HR, 31 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: DEN SP John Kennedy (9-10, 3.92 ERA), hurling for a 5-0 record with 1.53 ERA, 30 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: NYC SP Ernie Quintero (14-8, 3.33 ERA), tossing to a 5-0 tune with 1.38 ERA, 23 K
FL Rookie of the Month: CIN 1B Victor Chavez (.352, 8 HR, 44 RBI), batting .386 with 4 HR, 25 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: POR 3B Ricky Jimenez (.289, 16 HR, 77 RBI), same as above!

Complaints and stuff

The offense this week was pants. The pitching was also pants, the exception being Wheatley, who grabbed the only two wins on offer this week, pitching 12.2 innings for three runs on six walked and 11 strikeouts. Not *great* - but if the rest of the staff hadn’t crapped out so hard we would still have a chance.

Ya-ya, we can still take six games from the Elks, blah blah. Like that’s gonna happen. 4-2 would already be a MAJOR success. And they WILL be in town on Monday morning… which brings us to BNN and the playoff odds, remaining games, and strength of schedule:

VAN (82-56) – 94.5% – POR (6), ATL (3), BOS (3), IND (3), MIL (3), NYC (3), OCT (3) – .508
POR (74-62) – 3.4% – VAN (6), BOS (4), IND (4), CHA (3), LVA (3), MIL (3), NYC (3) – .497
NYC (73-62) – 2.1% – IND (7), BOS (4), MIL (4), POR (3), SFB (3), TIJ (3), VAN (3) – .493

Not the best odds. I’ve won more betting on the horse with three legs down at the racetrack. We also play our last games against the Crusaders next week. If it even matters after the Elks series…

None of the players purged off the 40-man roster on Tuesday were claimed by another team, which is always that sign that you did everything right.

Fun Fact: Jason Wheatley has not lost a game since July.

That was a rotten loss to the Thunder, who he beat on Tuesday, on July 26. Since then he’s gone out eight times, won six games, and pitched without allowing an earned run three times. He also never finished the seventh inning. We call that a work in progress, and for now enjoy the 2.42 ERA in 48 1/3 innings.

Probably not Rookie of the Year – he’s probably not even the Rookie of the Year for THIS team! Although Ricky Jimenez stumbled into a 3-for-17 spell just when we could have used his contributions…

[Westheim]

Raccoons (74-62) vs. Canadiens (82-56) – September 7-9, 2043

The Raccoons were seven games behind the damn Elks, with six to play – that looked like a chance on paper, but ignored that the Raccoons were 29-55 against the damn Elks in the last five seasons, including 4-8 this year. Elk City was second in runs scored and fifth in runs allowed, with a +89 run differential. Somehow we were better in runs allowed (3rd), but scoring runs was a tough chew for the Raccoons, sixth in the league. We had a +40 run differential.

Projected matchups:
Corey Mathers (17-10, 3.16 ERA) vs. Matt Sealock (16-9, 3.57 ERA)
Jake Jackson (9-12, 4.71 ERA) vs. Alexander Lewis (10-6, 2.78 ERA)
Leonhart Becker (8-1, 3.03 ERA) vs. David Arias (13-8, 2.93 ERA)

Right, left, right. They had only one minor injury to Victor Vazquez, and apart from that were ready to take the Raccoons apart.

Game 1
VAN: RF van der Zanden – C Clemente – CF Outram – 1B M. Hernandez – 3B J. Becker – LF Escobido – 2B Malkus – SS R. Johnston – P Sealock
POR: 2B Carreno – 1B Ayala – CF Maldonado – LF Fernandez – 3B Jimenez – C Sieber – SS Castro – RF Nettles – P Mathers

While Corey Mathers, who was on a bit of a losing spill, allowed no hits the first time through the order, he also opened the bottom 3rd with a bloop single off Sealock. Manny and Sieber had hit singles in the second inning without amounting to a run, but Mathers’ hit was followed up by Arturo Carreno with another single, and now there were two on with no outs. I refused to get excited yet, having seen a lifetime’s worth of choking by this team just in situations of one guy in scoring position and nobody out. When Sal Ayala rolled a ball on the infield that nobody managed to play and thus loaded the bases with nobody out, I groaned and left the room to get more snacks from the nearest fridge. I had seen enough three on, no outs futility to last me into the NEXT lifetime. When I came back with a gallon of vanilla ice cream, I saw Slappy, Maud, Cristiano, and Steve from Accounting all high-fiving after Ricky Jimenez had dropped a single into shallow center for a 2-out, 2-run single after Maldo (K) and Manny (pop) had indeed failed to get a run in. Sieber singled to reload the bases, but Jose Castro grounded out to end the inning with three aboard.

Mathers and Carreno hit singles again with one out in the fourth, but Ayala hit into a double play to kill the effort. In turn, Justin Becker killed Mathers’ no-hit bid with a leadoff single to right in the fifth inning, but was stranded on third base eventually, after an intentional walk to Ryan Johnston with two outs. Sealock struck out, then went on to give up a homer to Manny Fernandez in the bottom of the fifth. That made it 3-0 Critters while being up 10-1 on base hits, which made me queasy. But Mathers retired the damn Elks in order in the sixth, and the seventh, and the eighth, too, carrying a 1-hitter into the ninth inning – after appearing in the box in the bottom 8th with Sieber and Nettles on the corners and two outs. The Raccoons, boldly, did not pinch-hit for Mathers – the game was all his. Mathers popped out, then faced the top of the order. Arnout van der Zanden grounded out to Carreno. Julio Diaz hit for Timóteo Clemente and struck out. I kept spooning ice cream as Jerry Outram – merely hitting .350 with 19 homers – appeared in the box as the Elks’ final out. He flew to left – and to Manny! Shutout!! 3-0 Raccoons!! Carreno 2-4; Fernandez 2-4, HR, RBI; Sieber 3-4; Mathers 9.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K, W (18-10) and 2-4;

(forcefully high-fives Cristiano with the spoon still in the snout, sending the younger Carmona toppling out of his wheelchair)

**** HELL YES, PORTLAND!!

Can we get two more of those?

Game 2
VAN: RF van der Zanden – C Clemente – CF Outram – 2B Schneller – 1B M. Hernandez – LF Escobido – 3B Malkus – SS Holbrook – P A. Lewis
POR: 2B Carreno – SS Castro – CF Maldonado – LF Fernandez – 3B Jimenez – C Kilmer – 1B Yamamoto – RF Casas – P Jackson

Unfortunately, Tuesday promised to be a different game. First, no Corey Mathers, second, runners on the corners for Elk City in a hurry. Jackson nailed Clemente, Outram singled, and they were on the corners with one out in the first. However, Dan Schneller, rested on Monday, struck out in the big spot, and Jose Casas brought in the drive Mel Hernandez hit on a 3-1 pitch, ending the inning. Not much more happened the first time through, but Clemente and Outram were on base again in the top 3rd, but this time with two outs and the other way round – Clemente singled and Outram took one to the hip. Now Schneller flew out to Casas, ending another inning. Casas opened the bottom 3rd with a double to right, then scored on an unassuming Castro single with two outs, giving Portland a 1-0 lead. Then Castro was picked off first base to complete the early innings.

The Elks kept having no luck, thankfully. Hernandez and Angel Escobido reached the corners to begin the fourth inning, upon which Jackson struck out Travis Malkus. With the count on Steve Holbrook at 2-2, Escobido took off for second base – and was thrown out by Kilmer! Holbrook ended up whiffing in a full count, stranding Hernandez on third base. I continued to feel uneasy, but wasn’t pouring Capt’n Coma into my daily gallon of ice cream yet. In the fifth inning Lewis hit a leadoff single, which was annoying, advanced on Arnout van der Zanden’s grounder, then looked on as Clemente struck out. That brought up Outram with two outs and the tying run on second base. The Raccoons passed, putting him on base intentionally to exchange his lefty .351 bat for a righty .307 bat in Schneller’s. After a mound conference, Jackson secured the strikeout. YES!!

The Coons didn’t have many runners, and didn’t tack on against Lewis. Carreno and Manny reached in the sixth, the latter on an error, but Jimenez grounded out to end that inning. Jackson was on 97 pitches after six, grinding away on the mighty Elks lineup, and started the seventh against Lewis, after which we’d probably soon enough send the pen. Lewis flew out to center, and Jackson remained in and popped out van der Zanden to shallow left. Clemente was his final batter (a right-handed one, too), and popped out to Carreno. Seven shutout innings by Jackson, which was all we could have hoped for after his recent meltdowns!

The Raccoons loaded the bases in the bottom 7th, beginning with a Kilmer double and a walk drawn by Shuta Yamamoto. Casas popped out, but Jay de Wit singled for Jackson, bringing up Carreno with three on and one down. The count ran full before Carreno singled to left, everybody advancing a station in the 2-0 game! And then Castro grounded to Schneller to end the inning. 4-6-3. Arf. But – Chuck Jones retired the 3-4-5 batters in the eighth inning, setting the Raccoons up for Josh Rella in the ninth against the bottom of the order. Rella walked Escobido on four pitches, which almost made me faint into my ice cream. Thankfully, Julio Diaz grounded to short, and Castro spun it around for two, 6-4-3! Holbrook went down on a comebacker to Rella – TWO SHUTOUTS!! 2-0 Raccoons!! Carreno 2-4, RBI; Casas 1-2, 2B; de Wit (PH) 1-1; Jackson 7.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K, W (10-12);

Mystery! Jerry Outram was not in the lineup on Wednesday? Was he sore, injured? *Ashamed*?

Okay, that’s too much gloating. The baseball gods are always watching. (gleans skywards)

Game 3
VAN: RF van der Zanden – C Clemente – 2B Schneller – 1B M. Hernandez – LF J. Becker – CF Escobido – 3B R. Ashley – SS R. Johnston – P D. Arias
POR: 2B Carreno – 1B Ayala – CF Maldonado – LF Fernandez – 3B Jimenez – C Sieber – SS Castro – RF Nettles – P Becker

The baseball gods had paid attention. They made the damn Elks hit three homers in the first inning, and that was with Sauerkraut, the bum, also walking two batters. Schneller, Becker, and Escobido all went deep, and it was 5-0 by the time we batted. Sauerkraut returned briefly for an abortive second inning, giving up singles to Arias (…) and van der Zanden before being yanked for Ramirez, who got out of the inning, somehow, with the aid of a double play. Nettles also hit into a double play in the second, killing a frame with Jimenez and Castro on the corners and one out, and probably also the comeback chance. I poured Capt’n Coma into my ice cream.

Maldo had already extended his hitting streak to 17 games the first time through (he had one hit in each of the first two games, but didn’t figure into the scoring much), then was at the plate in the bottom 3rd with Anderson and Ayala on the corners after a pair of singles. He lobbed a 1-1 pitch over Schneller for a third single, and got the Coons on the board, 5-1. Unfortunately Manny then lined out to Ray Ashley, with Sal Ayala having strayed off second base and being doubled off to end the inning… As if that wasn’t enough, Angel Escobido’s second homer of the game, a 2-piece off Seth Green then indeed put the game away, putting Portland in a 6-run hole in the fifth.

Did Van Anderson’s homer in the bottom 5th change anything? It came with Stephon Nettles on base and out of the #9 hole, where Anderson had pinch-hit and singled for Preston Porter (…) in the bottom 3rd and reduced the gap to a slam again. Another run fell out of Travis Sims in the seventh inning, and Sean Marucci fared no better in the eighth. The Raccoons kept getting a runner here and there, but didn’t get back on the board until the bottom 8th when Sieber reached on an error and lefty Ryan McConnell hung a ball that Jose Castro pulverized into hundreds of little souvenirs. But again – that only got the Critters back into slam range, and an actual slam was not anywhere in sight. Never mind that Angelo Montano was also booked for a run in the ninth inning… 10-5 Canadiens. Ayala 1-2; Gutierrez (PH) 1-1; Maldonado 3-4, RBI; Castro 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Anderson (PH) 2-3, BB, HR, 2 RBI;

Well, you can’t win them all.

But in this case, you should have.

Raccoons (76-63) @ Crusaders (76-63) – September 11-13, 2043

Time to play the Crusaders and take valuable W’s away from another to allow the damn Elks to increase their 6-game lead again. We had already taken the season series, 10-5, but the Crusaders had won three in a row from the Arrowheads. They were tenth in runs scored, but had conceded the fewest runs in the league, with a +44 run differential.

Projected matchups:
Brent Clark (10-12, 4.15 ERA) vs. Ernie Quintero (14-10, 3.64 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (12-10, 3.21 ERA) vs. Dave Hils (12-12, 2.83 ERA)
Corey Mathers (18-10, 3.01 ERA) vs. Paul Paris (14-8, 3.61 ERA)

All right-handers from New York here – IF Dave Hils could make his start. He had been out of his last game in the first inning with back spasms and the Crusaders had yet to confirm or deny his turn on Saturday.

Game 1
POR: 2B Carreno – 1B Ayala – CF Maldonado – LF Fernandez – 3B Jimenez – C Kilmer – SS Castro – RF Nettles – P Clark
NYC: SS Adame – RF Platero – CF Melendez – 3B Riario – 2B Nash – 1B Lovett – LF J. Simmons – P E. Quintero – C H. Alvarez

The first few innings saw usually one guy reaching base and then getting somehow stranded on second base. Brent Clark would run many long counts, and had quite a few picks made by the defense when he gave up line drives. The scoreboard didn’t light up though, even in the fourth inning when Bill Melendez drew a leadoff walk, stole second and then went for home on a single hit by Adam Lovett on a 3-1 pitch. Manny Fernandez fired home for the out, ending the fourth inning of a scoreless game. Clark upped his brittling to two walks in the fifth, leadoff walk to Justin Simmons, and another free pass to Hector Alvarez, who batted behind the pitcher, which was a disgrace that should be merited with a forfeit on the team that did it. Alex Adame lined out to Manny in left, while Jose Platero popped out to short, and the game somehow remained scoreless.

After that Clark struck out the side in the sixth, then left the game after having run up nearly 100 pitches on a 6-inning, 3-hit shutout. A decision was not in the books, because Ernie Quintero held the Raccoons very short in the middle innings. PH Tom Rudd (against Ramirez) and Alvarez (against Jones) hit singles in the bottom 7th, but Jon Craig got a pop from Adame to escape the inning still without a score. Then came Kilmer and led off the eighth with a jack to left-center, and there was the score: 1-0 Portland. That was all the Critters managed in nine innings; Maldonado hit a single in the ninth that led nowhere, while Craig retired the Crusaders in due time in the bottom 8th, then handed the ball to Rella in the ninth. There was a leadoff walk to Randolph Nash, then singles by Rudd and Simmons, and things went downhill in a hurry. Three on, no outs, the Raccoons got a double play grounder from Jason Zimmerman in the #8 hole, a.k.a. the weirdo’s pitcher’s slot, although the tying run scored and the winning run reached third base. Alvarez struck out – sending the game to extras.

The Raccoons had the pitcher in the #5 hole by now, and that spot led off the tenth inning. Van Anderson pinch-hit and walked against right-hander Andy Hyden, but that was all the Coons got off Hyden. The bottom 10th began with an Adame double off Travis Sims, and the runner was bold enough to steal third base. Sims buckled down, struck out Platero and Melendez, then was replaced with rookie Steven Johnston against the left-handed Rich Salek. The Crusaders countered with right-handed pinch-hitter Danny Rico – and that was the winning move. Clean single to left, ballgame. 2-1 Crusaders. Maldonado 2-4; Clark 6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 5 K;

We had five hits in this game, which was a lower total than the number of relievers that failed their way through the late innings (six).

Game 2
POR: 2B Carreno – 1B Ayala – CF Maldonado – LF Fernandez – 3B Jimenez – C Kilmer – SS Castro – RF Anderson – P Wheatley
NYC: SS Adame – C Alba – RF Platero – LF Melendez – 1B Rudd – 2B Nash – CF Graf – 3B Riario – P Hils

Maldonado put the Coons ahead in the first inning with his 18th home run of the year, which was a solo job, but could have been two if Carreno hadn’t been caught stealing ahead of him. That was about the extent of the Raccoons’ offensive ambitions for the time being, while Wheatley held up until being betrayed by Kilmer. Bill Melendez started the game 2-for-2, and in the fourth stole second base and reached third on Kilmer’s throwing error. From there, Tom Rudd plated him with a sac fly to right, tying the game.

Wheatley didn’t get a strikeout until the sixth inning, whiffing Platero in between a Fernando Alba double and Melendez’ third single of the game, that one giving New York a 2-1 lead… He pitched another inning, holding on to that score line, but the remainder of the team couldn’t have been of less use if they had been engaged in squaredancing. Castro, Anderson, and Nettles went down in order in the eighth, while Zack Kelly held the New Yorkers short. In the ninth it was ex-Coon Josh Livingston to face the top of the order. Carreno struck out, but Ayala singled, then was run for with Jordan Gonzalez, who reached scoring position when Maldo was nicked by a 1-2 pitch. Manny grounded up the middle, where Adame barely reached the ball, and the Crusaders got the out on Maldo, but runners were on the corners for Jimenez. And Ricky Jimenez … flew out to center. 2-1 Crusaders. Carreno 2-4; Wheatley 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, L (12-11);

(makes gargling noises)

Game 3
POR: 2B Carreno – 1B Ayala – CF Maldonado – LF Fernandez – C Kilmer – 3B de Wit – RF Anderson – SS Gutierrez – P Mathers
NYC: CF Graf – C Alba – RF Platero – LF Melendez – 1B Rudd – 2B Nash – SS Austin – 3B Riario – P Paris

The game started with a Carreno homer, after which the Raccoons immediately went for supper. Mathers scattered four hits in the first two innings, with the second inning yielding a run on hits by Nash and Vittorio Riario, tying the game. The game became untied in the third inning in a violent explosion by Mathers, who allowed a leadoff jack to Alba, then walked Platero, allowed a single to Melendez, and a 2-run triple to Rudd, who would score on Nash’s groundout. That put the Raccoons a slam behind, which also meant the game and the season were over.

The Coons offense had nothing – one base hit besides the Carreno homer through six innings – and the Crusaders tacked on with a Riario home run against Preston Porter in the sixth inning, extending the lead to 6-1. New York added an unearned run in the seventh inning, capitalizing on a Gutierrez throwing error. The Raccoons never got another base hit. Jay de Wit drew a walk in the eighth. And nothing came of that. 7-1 Crusaders.

And with that, the Raccoons would come back to nothing.

In other news

September 11 – The rookie season of DEN OF/1B Tim Turner (.265, 1 HR, 31 RBI) ends with a broken elbow. He is out for the season and questionable for Opening Day 2044.

FL Player of the Week: RIC OF/1B Alex Marquez (.315, 14 HR, 66 RBI), hitting .458 (11-24) with 2 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week: NYC C Fernando Alba (.295, 17 HR, 51 RBI), batting .524 (11-21) with 2 HR, 7 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Our season, just like Jesus Maldonado’s hitting streak, ended in Sunday’s bleak loss to the Crusaders, which completed an untimely sweep that was enough to suck the last bit of hope out of this team. The offense. The ******* offense. The Raccoons scored 13 runs this week. Five of those in a loss to the Elks. That’s no way to win anything, not even the hearts.

VAN (86-58) – 94.7% (+0.2%) – ATL (3), IND (3), MIL (3), NYC (3), OCT (3), POR (3) – .516
NYC (79-63) – 4.8% (+2.7%) – BOS (4), MIL (4), IND (3), SFB (3), TIJ (3), VAN (3) – .489
POR (76-66) – 0.4% (-3.0%) – BOS (4), IND (4), CHA (3), LVA (3), MIL (3), VAN (3) – .474

We never intended to contend this year. I’m just not sure how to contend next year, either…

Three meaningless weeks of games remain. We will play the Indians and Aces next week. Probably badly.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons haven’t reached the modest mark of 700 runs scored since they scored 758 runs in 2038.

We haven’t been close the last two years (665, 659), and we’re stuck at 601 this year and might well sort in below those two years.

But it is nowhere near the fewest runs a Raccoons team has ever scored. The vaunted 1981 Raccoons managed all of 519 runs (3.2/G).

[alexsimon99]

Just the absolute worst time to get a trip to New York and have things hit a wall. Brutal.

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by alexsimon99

Just the absolute worst time to get a trip to New York and have things hit a wall. Brutal.

As you can see, I needed three days to cry myself out over it. Not THAT they didn't make it. But HOW they didn't make it, as usual. Two shutouts of the damn Elks, and then -

+++

Raccoons (76-66) @ Indians (66-77) – September 14-17, 2043

The Indianapolis Inanes were bottoms in runs scored, although nobody quite knew how this Raccoons offense wasn’t tucking in behind them. They were hitting only .236 as a team, scored under 3.6 runs per game, and thus drowned their vaguely competent pitching, which was about average overall. Well, it was enough to keep the Portlanders in check – the season series was neatly knotted at seven wins each.

Projected matchups:
Jake Jackson (10-12, 4.50 ERA) vs. Bill Drury (9-19, 4.17 ERA)
Leonhart Becker (8-2, 3.52 ERA) vs. Ayden Cobb (8-4, 3.09 ERA)
Brent Clark (10-12, 4.01 ERA) vs. Orlando Altreche (11-10, 3.83 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (12-11, 3.13 ERA) vs. Manuel Herrera (5-3, 2.73 ERA)

Four right-handers – not that it matters. We don’t score against anybody. Right paw, left paw, no paws – the Raccoons treat them all equally reverently.

Game 1
POR: 2B Carreno – SS Castro – CF Maldonado – LF Fernandez – C Sieber – 1B Yamamoto – RF Nettles – 3B de Wit – P Jackson
IND: SS Russ – LF D. Rivera – 3B Hutson – CF B. Quinteros – 2B Sanderfer – 1B Balaski – RF Crocker – C J. Diaz – P Drury

To open the week, the Raccoons scored their daily run in a hurry when Arturo Carreno buried a ball in the gap in right-center for a triple and then scored on a Maldonado single, giving Maldo 89 RBI for ’43. Jake Jackson continued to be a public nuisance, putting the leadoff man on base in each of the first two innings, but also whiffing four Indians the first time through to get out of trouble again.

The Raccoons then shed their shortstop in the third inning when Jose Castro hit a leadoff double, but pulled up lame, and was soon found out to have strained his groin, ending his year. Steve Nickas replaced him, but I made a call to St. Pete from the nearest payphone between innings. Nickas scored to make it 2-0 when Maldo singled and was forced out on Manny’s grounder. Manny stole second base, but was stranded by Sieber and Yamamoto. Bill Balaski doubled home Bill Quinteros in the fourth inning to give Indy a run, 2-1. Jackson issued a total of three leadoff walks; two to Andrew Russ and one to Quinteros in six innings of work. Quinteros was forced out by Alex Sanderfer in the bottom 6th, and Sanderfer was caught stealing. Russ was also caught stealing once.

Nick Crocker reached third base against Jon Craig in the bottom 7th, representing the tying run. When the Indians sent Mario Ochoa to bat for Russ with two outs, the Raccoons jumped to Chuck Jones to counter the lefty bat; Jones got the strikeout, but conceded the tying run in the eighth. Dan Hutson hit a 1-out single on an 0-2 pitch when Jones was supposed to pitch to Quinteros, who was then hit for with another right-hander. Alex Ramirez came on, allowed two singles from there, including the tying 2-out single to Balaski. Sanderfer was caught in a rundown on the play, ending the bottom 8th. The Raccoons had nothing to offer in the ninth, then put Nelson Moreno in for the bottom of the order in the bottom of the ninth. Moreno’s rehab stint had run out, and he had to be added back to the roster – and here he was. He walked the leadoff man, Crocker, but was stingy after that and extended the game to extras. Preston Porter in the 10th was less lucky, or charming. He gave up a deep fly to left to Hutson with one out. Manny raced back, jumped into the fence to pick it off the wall for the second out, but also appeared to crush his rib cage into the wall, and ended up walking off the field rather gingerly, holding his side. I groaned. Jordan Gonzalez replaced him and caught Sanderfer’s fly to extend the game to 11 innings after an Enrique Vargas single.

Top 11th, Ayala batted for the listless Yamamoto and hit a 1-out double to left against righty Willie Gonzales. Nettles rolled a soft single, putting runners on the corners, and Jay de Wit grounded to second base, but Vargas’ only play was at first, and the tie-breaking run scored. When Kilmer batted for Porter, he was walked intentionally, and Carreno grounded out to strand a pair. Josh Rella though stranded nobody in the bottom 11th – he didn’t even let the Indians on base. 3-2 Raccoons. Carreno 2-6, 3B; Castro 1-2, 2B; Maldonado 2-5, RBI; Ayala (PH) 1-1, 2B; de Wit 2-5, RBI;

After this Verdunesque victory, the Raccoons placed their two maimed starters on the DL for the balance of the season (although Manny with the strained rib cage might come back once more right at the end). Jose Castro was definitely out with the groin strain.

So the debut of Matt Waters dawned. To squeeze him onto the 40-man roster, right-hander Sam Bowman was waived and DFA’ed.

Game 2
POR: 2B Carreno – SS Waters – 1B Ayala – CF Maldonado – C Kilmer – 3B Jimenez – RF Casas – LF Nettles – P Becker
IND: CF B. Quinteros – RF Sanderfer – 3B Hutson – LF D. Rivera – C J. Diaz – SS A. Avila – 2B Round – 1B Balaski – P A. Cobb

Carreno opened the game with a triple for the second day in a row. This time he was stranded on Waters whiffing in his ABL at-bat, Ayala drawing the walk, and Maldonado hitting into a double play. Carreno hit ANOTHER triple in the third inning – and then was stranded too by Waters and Ayala. In between, Hutson doubled home Sanderfer in the first inning, putting Indy up 1-0.

But Carreno was also no help with a guy on base – he batted with two outs in the fifth and Nettles on third base and popped out. That was about the extent to which the Raccoons delivered any sort of offense in this game. In turn the Indians drowned Sauerkraut in a barrel in the bottom of the fifth inning. Cobb led off with a single (groans!), was forced out by Quinteros, but Sanderfer doubled, Hutson singled in the both of them, and things just kept collapsing from there for Sauerkraut. Jimenez managed to somehow singled home Sal Ayala in the sixth inning, and after that the team went to bed for good. Relief by Marucci and Montano was as scoreless as it was futile in a swift loss. 5-1 Indians. Carreno 2-4, 2 3B; Montano 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Matt Waters’ debut was wretched at the plate: 0-for-4, 2 K, failing to get Carreno in from third base twice. At least he didn’t step on any landmines in the field……

Game 3
POR: 2B Carreno – SS Waters – 1B Ayala – CF Maldonado – 3B Jimenez – C Kilmer – RF Casas – LF Nettles – P Clark
IND: SS Russ – RF Sanderfer – 3B Hutson – 2B E. Vargas – C J. Diaz – LF M. Ochoa – CF Crocker – 1B Balaski – P Altreche

Maldonado doubled in Sal Ayala, who had walked with two outs in the first, so there was the daily run right away for Wednesday. Enrique Vargas never batted in the game, hurting himself on defense in the top 2nd, and was replaced with Andres Avila, who grounded out to lead off the bottom 2nd, part of eight straight Indians retired by Clark to begin the game. Then Altreche doubled. I snorted, but the runner would be stranded by Andrew Russ, keeping Portland up 1-0 through three, with both teams on one meager base hit.

Casas hit a single in the fourth, but was forced out by Nettles. With two outs, Nettles stole second base, his 26th of the year, then was doubled in by Clark, who flew to left. The ball didn’t look like trouble in particular, but Mario Ochoa first came in, then realized he had grossly misjudged the fly ball, and couldn’t get to it anymore on the way back. The score was still 2-0 in the sixth inning when Nettles was on base again to lead off the inning, drawing a walk from Altreche. Clark bunted him to second base, after which the Indians walked Carreno intentionally to get to Matt Waters, 0-for-7 for his career. The Raccoons twitched their whiskers and pulled off a double steal, giving Nettles and Carreno 60 stolen bags between them. It didn’t help them any time soon, with Waters striking out before Ayala grinded out a 2-out walk in a full count. Maldonado then dropped a ball near the leftfield line for a 2-run single. Jimenez hit an RBI single, but then reliever Chris Manley put an end to the scoring, getting Kilmer to fly out easily to right.

So, how about a shutout? Brent Clark unfortunately had a long seventh inning, walking Julian Diaz for his first free pass of the game, and entered the bottom 8th already on 91 pitches. The bottom of the order were retired 1-2-3, but it took Clark another 15 pitches, putting him at 106 for Wednesday. Maldonado hit a jack off Alex Flores in the ninth inning, extending the lead to six runs for Clark, who was up against the top of the order, all right-handers, in the bottom 9th. Andrew Russ flew out to Nettles on 2-1. Sanderfer saw five pitches before grounding out on a roller in front of home plate, played by Kilmer. Hutson singled to left on 2-1, and Clark was about panting on the mound. He would get one more chance against the injury replacement, Avila – grounder up the middle, Waters zipping over, and he tapped the base in time to end the game…! 6-0 Raccoons! Maldonado 4-4, BB, HR, 2B, 4 RBI; Clark 9.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, W (11-12) and 1-3, 2B, RBI;

Second career shutout for Brent Clark, who also shut out the Falcons last September after this wacky experiment with him in the rotation started.

Waters? 0-for-9. He’d get a chance to watch how to take a big-league at-bat on Thursday, with Nickas starting at short.

Game 4
POR: 2B Carreno – 1B Ayala – 3B Jimenez – CF Maldonado – LF Nettles – C Sieber – RF Anderson – SS Nickas – P Wheatley
IND: SS Russ – LF D. Rivera – RF M. Ochoa – CF B. Quinteros – 2B Sanderfer – 1B Balaski – 3B Round – C J. Diaz – P M. Herrera

Wheatley had a rancid bottom 2nd, allowing a run on three straight 2-out singles by ex-Coon Bill Balaski, Jim Round, and Julian Diaz. He then walked Herrera, which probably annoyed me even more, but at least Maldonado caught Russ’ fly to center to strand three runners… Herrera would not get a W, leaving the game with an injury the very next inning, which also saw Wheatley implode some more. A Nickas error started the misery and made two of the three Indians runs unearned, but Wheatley conceded two hits, a walk, and a run-scoring wild pitch after that to dig himself a 4-0 hole.

Right-hander Allen Garner allowed straight hits to begin the fourth inning then; Ayala doubled, and Jimenez and Maldonado both singled, plating a run and putting the tying run in the box with nobody out. Nettles hit into a fielder’s choice at second, but Sean Sieber singled past Sanderfer to cut the gap to 4-2. Van Anderson’s sac fly got the team to 4-3, and Garner replaced with another righty, Mike Iannone. Nickas grounded out to end the inning, but Iannone walked both Carreno and Ayala with one out in the fifth, putting a very speedy tying runner into scoring position. Ricky Jimenez singled to left, Carreno was waved around – and thrown out by Danny Rivera…! Agony! – and then: a score-flipping, 2-out, 3-run homer by Maldonado, the 20th of the season for him!

But Wheatley didn’t get the W either, because he didn’t last five innings. Sanderfer homered off him in the bottom 5th, 6-5, and Balaski and Round reached and the Raccoons pulled the plug. Alex Ramirez replaced him, threw one pitch, and got an inning-ending double play from Diaz. Ramirez also didn’t get the W, owing to a bullpen blow-up two innings later. Steven Johnston placed Round and Diaz on the bases with two outs. Called to the rescue against righty PH Jason Rose, Jon Craig gave up a 3-run homer to put Indianapolis on top again, 8-6. Mario Ochoa added a home run off Montano in the eighth inning, while the Raccoons had Maldo on base and doubled off by Nettles in the top 8th, then brought up a pile of pinch-hitters in the ninth inning against righty Ruben Vela. Waters hit for Anderson and flew out to deep left. Omar Gutierrez hit a double, but Jose Casas struck out. Carreno singled home the runner, bringing up Ayala as the tying run, but his fly to deep left was caught by Will Peets. 9-7 Indians. Carreno 2-4, BB, RBI; Ayala 2-4, BB, 2B; Jimenez 2-4; Maldonado 3-4, HR, 4 RBI; Gutierrez (PH) 1-1, 2B;

Elsewhere, the damn Elks got swept by the Loggers, which meant that the Raccoons were now 7 1/2 games behind, which was probably too much to get worked up about it. New York had been mean to Boston, moving to within 2 1/2 games of the damn Elks.

Raccoons (78-68) @ Aces (62-84) – September 18-20, 2043

20 games out, the Aces were already eliminated, and had no worries anymore. They were in the bottom three in both runs scored and runs allowed, although their rotation was not that shabby, sitting fourth in ERA. A better defense might have actually helped their cause. Portland led the season series, 4-2.

Projected matchups:
Corey Mathers (18-11, 3.19 ERA) vs. Josh Brown (14-9, 2.85 ERA)
Jake Jackson (10-12, 4.39 ERA) vs. Steve Huffman (6-14, 4.38 ERA)
Leonhart Becker (8-3, 3.80 ERA) vs. Josh Henneberry (4-6, 5.15 ERA)

Opposite Mathers, who was running out of chances to reach 20 wins, Josh Brown, former Critter, was the only southpaw the Critters would see this week. The only notable Ace on the DL was catcher Kevin Prow.

Game 1
POR: 2B Carreno – SS Waters – 3B Jimenez – CF Maldonado – C Kilmer – 1B Yamamoto – LF Gonzalez – RF Casas – P Mathers
LVA: 3B Montes de Oca – LF Montana – CF Kinder – RF Gurney – 2B D. Richardson – SS Quintana – 1B Kilgallen – C Lunde – P J. Brown

This wasn’t Corey Mathers’ 19th win of the season. In fact, he didn’t get out of the first inning, getting battered for six runs on three walks and four hits, and was knocked out when Josh Brown hit a 2-out single up the middle to score John Lunde. Preston Porter replaced him and got a groundout from Angel Montes de Oca to end the goddamn inning. The game was over, though.

The Raccoons loaded the bases in the top 2nd with a Maldo single and walks to Kilmer and Gonzalez. Angel Casas, chief corker in rightfield, corked the inning with a 6-4-3 double play. Porter gave up a run in the bottom 2nd, but after a walk to Carreno with one out in the top 3rd, the Raccoons rapped out three hits for two runs, including Matt Waters breaking an 0-for-11 spell to begin his career and hit a single to left …! In the fourth, Brown walked Casas with one out, de Wit singled in the #9 hole, and then Carreno hit a gapper to left-center for an RBI double, cutting the deficit to four. Waters lined out to Pat Gurney, with de Wit shying back to third base, and Jimenez grounded out to short to end the inning and strand a pair in scoring position, though. After that the Raccoons would not reach scoring position again until the NINTH when Sal Ayala hit a double, pinch-hitting in the #9 hole against Felipe Jacquez to begin the inning. The score was still 7-3 at that stage, with an endless parade of Raccoons relievers having lined up six zeroes on the board. And then Carreno struck out. Gutierrez hit for Waters and grounded out. And the game ended on a Jimenez grounder to short. 7-3 Aces. Maldonado 2-4, RBI; de Wit (PH) 1-1; Nettles (PH) 1-1; Ayala (PH) 1-1, 2B; Green 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K;

The Raccoons fell 8 1/2 out again with this loss, and also into a tie with the resurging Loggers.

We would not be off again until next Thursday, so the regulars would get a day off in these last two games. Jimenez had already been off on Monday, though, so it was really just Carreno and Maldonado. The latter got parked for Saturday, and Carreno would watch on Sunday.

Game 2
POR: 2B Carreno – SS Waters – 1B Ayala – 3B Jimenez – C Kilmer – RF Anderson – LF Gonzalez – CF Nettles – P Jackson
LVA: 3B Montes de Oca – LF Beaudoin – RF Gurney – 2B D. Richardson – SS Quintana – 1B Kilgallen – CF M. Roberts – C D. Gomez – P Huffman

Jackson looked messy to begin the game, put a couple runners on board, but Montes was caught stealing, and the Aces were contained in the first two innings until Matt Waters got his maiden RBI in the top 3rd, putting Portland 1-0 ahead with an RBI double that chased home Carreno. Ayala followed it all up with a homer to left, extending the fresh lead to 3-0. Jackson quickly gave back a run on hits by Mike Roberts and the opposing pitcher (…), nailed Montes, and then almost gave up a 3-piece to Pat Gurney that was picked at the fence by Nettles… That ended the bottom 3rd, with more deep fly outs by Doug Richardson and Angel Quintana to begin the fourth. Defense held Jackson together, though, and the Raccoons remained up 3-1 through five.

Jackson’s struggles didn’t end though. Montes, Beaudoin, and Richardson all hit singles in the sixth inning, plating a run for Vegas, with Jimenez picking a sharp Matt Kilgallen grounder to end the inning with the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position. Jackson was hit for with de Wit in the seventh, and the Raccoons tried to piece it together with the pen for three innings. Chuck Jones retired the 7-8-9 in order in the seventh before Jacquez was in for the top 8th, walking Ayala to begin the inning and giving up a homer to Jimenez to grow the Raccoons’ lead to three runs again. Up 5-2, Nelson Moreno struck out two to begin the bottom 8th, then shuffled the bases full with Gurney, Richardson, and Quintana. When left-hander Brian Fox pinch-hit for Kilgallen, the Raccoons went for Zack Kelly, who got a fly out to Van Anderson in centerfield, Anderson having shifted over there in the double switch that brought on Kelly. Casas entered in right and led off the top 9th, striking out. Gutierrez doubled in place of Carreno, then scored on a Waters single. Then came Ayala again, hitting another home run off new pitcher Dusty Behrens, 8-2. With the lead then greatly extended, the Raccoons stuck to Kelly for the rest of the game, allowing him to slide into his second save of the year when he retired the Vegans in order in the ninth. 8-2 Raccoons! Gutierrez (PH) 1-1, 2B; Maters 3-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Ayala 3-4, BB, 2 HR, 4 RBI; Jimenez 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Kelly 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, SV (2);

Waters woke up, finally. For a guy assumed to be an OBP thing, I am more worried about the zero walks drawn in 19 plate appearances.

Game 3
POR: SS Waters – 1B Ayala – 3B Jimenez – CF Maldonado – C Sieber – 2B Gutierrez – RF Anderson – LF Nettles – P Becker
LVA: 3B Montes de Oca – LF Beaudoin – 2B D. Richardson – CF Kinder – SS Quintana – C Lunde – RF M. Roberts – 1B Kilgallen – P Henneberry

Not much had gone well recently for Sauerkraut, and this game was not really an exception. The Coons didn’t score early, which was nothing new, and the bottom 3rd began with Sauerkraut nicking Matt Kilgallen, who stole second base, then was slapped out at third base on a hard bunt by Henneberry. Becker went on to walk Montes, then gave up a 2-out, 2-run double to Richardson to find his 2-0 hole. Matt Kinder was retired on a lunging grab by Waters, saving a run to end the inning.

Top 4th, Henneberry walked Jimenez to begin the inning. Maldonado flew out to deep right before Sieber drew another walk. Gutierrez ripped a ball up the leftfield line for an RBI double, putting the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position. Van Anderson hit a sac fly to get the team that far, but Nettles was walked intentionally ahead of Sauerkraut, batting 0-for-20. He struck out, then proceeded to shuffle Aces on the bases. Two reached in the fourth, but Kilgallen hit into a double play. Two more reached in the fifth, but Beaudoin and Richardson were left on the corners when Matt Kinder grounded out to Matt Waters.

Sauerkraut somehow held out through six with the game tied. Henneberry walked Carreno in his spot to begin the top 7th, who advanced on Waters’ groundout. Ayala walked, and Jimenez killed the inning with a 6-4-3 grounder. Porter and Marucci gave the Raccoons scoreless innings to maintain the tie, which was under fire again in the ninth inning when ex-Coon right-hander Dennis Citriniti walked Nettles on four pitches to begin the inning. Yamamoto hit for Marucci and singled, sending the go-ahead run to second base. Waters squeezed out a walk in a full count (!), loading the bases with nobody out and dooming his team all at the same time. Actually, we’re talking about DENNIS ******* CITRINITI here – he nailed Ayala with the bases loaded to push in the go-ahead run. And then Jimenez and Maldonado both hit comebackers for outs at home plate, and Sieber grounded out to short. I hit my numb skull against the nearest concrete pillar repeatedly after everything came up tails once more, except that Josh Rella retired the Aces in order to end the game anyway. 3-2 Critters. Ayala 0-1, 3 BB, RBI; Sieber 2-4, BB, 2B; Nettles 1-2, 2 BB; Yamamoto (PH) 1-1;

In other news

September 14 – The Gold Sox lose INF Ronnie Thompson (.357, 2 HR, 71 RBI) again. Shoulder soreness will keep him out of the remainder of the season.
September 14 – SAL 1B Bill Jenkins (.271, 21 HR, 72 RBI) is out for the rest of the season with a broken foot. He could make a recovery by the time a World Series would be played, but the Wolves are nine games out.
September 15 – A torn flexor tendon in his elbow is assumed to cost SAL SP John Gano (14-11, 4.21 ERA) the rest of this and all of next season.
September 17 – TIJ SP Aaron Howell (11-7, 4.30 ERA) is out for the year with a torn flexor tendon in his elbow.
September 18 – Indians OF Nick Crocker (.336, 3 HR, 16 RBI) hits a home run for the sole tally in the Indians’ 1-0 win over the Condors.
September 19 – BOS 1B/RF/LF Carlos Cortes (.298, 16 HR, 77 RBI) has his season end early with an elbow sprain.
September 20 – Miners OF Felix Rojas (.300, 8 HR, 61 RBI) has a single for the only hit in a 10-1 rout Pittsburgh suffers at the hands of the Warriors. SFW SP Andy Mejia (7-16, 4.80 ERA) and MR Rafael Zacarias (4-1, 2.37 ERA, 1 SV) combine for the 1-hitter.
September 20 – DEN SP Matt Hose (10-10, 3.88 ERA) pitches eight innings of 2-hit shutout ball before the Gold Sox go to the pen in the ninth inning. The Rebels spontaneously erupt for seven runs against multiple relievers, and elope with a 7-5 win.

FL Player of the Week: LAP OF Juan Benavides (.336, 24 HR, 73 RBI), hitting .435 (10-23) with 3 HR, 9 RBI
CL Player of the Week: NYC 1B/2B Mario Briones (.315, 16 HR, 68 RBI), batting .448 (13-29) with 1 HR, 5 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Going through the motions, but BNN claims the Raccoons are not dead yet! So keep buying those tickets.

VAN (88-62) – 71.5% (-23.2%) – ATL (3), IND (3), NYC (3), POR (3) – .519
NYC (85-64) – 28.4% (+23.6%) – MIL (4), IND (3), TIJ (3), VAN (3) – .501
POR (80-69) – 0.1% (-0.3%) – BOS (4), CHA (3), MIL (3), VAN (3) – .484

Yeah. I don’t know. If we swept the Elks, and the Crusaders swept the Elks, and we swept the Loggers while the Loggers swept the Crusaders, we’d still be out by 1.5 games. And that assumes a generous amount of sweeping action.

Victor Merino (4-4, 3.94 ERA in AAA) had a largely abortive season in the minors thanks to injuries, but he will probably come up to take the last few starts that Sauerkraut would have made in the last two weeks. He already is on the 40-man roster; we wouldn’t have brought up anybody not on the 40-man anymore. He couldn’t make the Sunday start since he was last out for the Alley Cats on Wednesday.

Neither Sam Bowman, nor Eric Cox, both forced off the 40-man roster during the ongoing squeeze, were claimed and were reassigned to AAA.

All of our minor league teams posted losing records this year, with the AA Panthers the most wretched at 56-84.

Fun Fact: With Maldonado hitting his 20th home run of the year this week, and Ricky Jimenez at 17, the Raccoons could have two 20-homer hitters for the first time since 2037.

Back then Justin Fowler (33) and Manny Fernandez (21) did the honors, with Troy Greenway close behind with 18 bombs in a partial season. He hit seven more for Sacramento before being acquired in a trade.

The last time the Raccoons had *three* players hit 20 homers in a season? We have to go back all the way to 19-*******-90! And it was very tight: David Vinson hit 21, sparking a decade of waiting for him to do it again, and Mark Dawson and Tetsu Osanai both had 20. Daniel Hall followed with 16.

And that is also the *only* time we had three hitters with 20+ homers for the team in a season. There are many seasons where it’s close, with #3 having 18 or 19 homers. But only 1990 we actually got there. And even that closeness hasn’t happened in back-to-back seasons since 2007-08.

In 2007, Luke “Duke Black” Smack landed 31, Craig Bowen had 21 (four of them on August 31 against the Loggers), and Tomas Castro had 19 as the year’s surprise breakout that soon broke some parts of his body and vanished. Black had 33 in ’08, followed by Bowen with 20 and Adrian Quebell with 19. Ron Alston hit 14 in 64 games after coming over from Indy.

The last time we were remotely close to three guys with 20 homers was the in-between year of 2027. Rafael Gomez was the only guy that actually got there with 25. Both Kevin Harenberg and Elias Matías Tovias Diaz were just outside with 18. Add Abel Mora with 16 and Tim Stalker with 13, and the last three here all didn’t reach 502 PA for various reasons.

[Bub13]

Whoever said "April is the cruelest month" clearly wasn't a Raccoons fan in September.

(Tickets bought, though.)

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by Bub13

Whoever said "April is the cruelest month" clearly wasn't a Raccoons fan in September.

(Tickets bought, though.)

Maud, can we send a gift basket to this kind man? - No? - Why do we not have any gift baskets anymore? - Well, then you should have locked up the closet so no Critter gets in there!

+++

Raccoons (80-69) vs. Falcons (66-83) – September 21-23, 2043

Last games against the CL South this year. (nods confirmingly) The Falcons were fourth in the South, ninth in runs scored and sixth in runs allowed, with a -36 run differential that hinted at them being in fact better than 17 games under .500. The season series was tied at three, and getting two out of three here would be neat for statistical purposes, but would not matter anymore in the standings. Our magic number was six, and we’d probably be extinguished by the weekend.

Projected matchups:
Brent Clark (11-12, 3.82 ERA) vs. Kareem Woods (1-5, 5.80 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (12-11, 3.21 ERA) vs. Chris Watson (9-3, 2.48 ERA)
Corey Mathers (18-12, 3.46 ERA) vs. Jerry Felix (10-14, 4.37 ERA)

Watson was the sole left-hander to face here, while Woods was a 28-year-old rookie that was washed into the rotation due to injuries to Oscar Flores and Adam Messer. We would not see longtime Critter Bernie Chavez (7-11, 5.01 ERA), who pitched on Sunday. As a creature of habit, he did climb into the dumpster behind the ballpark though.

Game 1
CHA: RF Haertling – 1B Alicea – SS Aparicio – CF Turley – LF Case – C Kokoszka – 3B Mujica – 2B Shay – P K. Woods
POR: 2B Carreno – SS Waters – 1B Ayala – CF Maldonado – 3B Jimenez – LF Nettles – C Kilmer – RF Anderson – P Clark

The Falcons batted through the order in the first inning as Brent Clark was mostly behind in the count, loaded the bases on a Ramon Alicea single, a 4-pitch walk to Tony Aparicio, a fastball into Archie Turley’s ribs, and then surrendered three runs on three straight RBI singles to center to Seth Case, Chris Kokoszka, and Frank Mujica. Adam Shay and Woods struck out, and by the way, Ed Haertling says hi.

Woods also was a mess, loading the bases to begin the bottom 2nd on straight walks to Jimenez, Nettles, and Kilmer. Of course, that was three on and nobody out and we were certainly doomed. Actually, Van Anderson and Clark hit singles, each plating a run, and only then the misery started with the people that were expected to do better. Carreno and Ayala both struck out; Waters got the tying run home with a groundout at least, so everybody was even at three after two innings.

Clark pitched four innings for a no-decision. He needed *108* pitches to get through four innings, thanks to extensive use of long counts. He somehow also struck out seven, but apart from that it was quite frustrating. Shuta Yamamoto batted for him in the bottom 4th and doubled home Jeff Kilmer with a wallbanger in right, giving the Raccoons a 4-3 lead, but of course Clark hadn’t gone the required distance for a W. Kareem Woods didn’t make it out of the fourth inning at all, walking Carreno and Ayala around Waters’ groundout, and then walked Maldo with the bases loaded, pushing home a 2-out run. Left-hander Xavier Gomez gave up a 2-run double to Ricky Jimenez, then collected a groundout from Stephon Nettles to end the inning, with Portland up 7-3. Carreno singled home a run in the bottom 5th against Gomez, then hit a leadoff double in the eighth and was driven in by Ayala with a 1-out single for additional runs, while the Raccoons got scoreless relief from Travis Sims (!), Preston Porter, and Steven Johnston. They’d use Seth Green to finish the game. 9-3 Raccoons. Carreno 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Jimenez 2-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Kilmer 1-1, 3 BB; Yamamoto (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI; Porter 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

Game 2
CHA: 1B Haertling – C Kokoszka – SS Aparicio – CF Turley – 2B Farfan – 3B Mujica – LF Esperanza – RF Quesada – P C. Watson
POR: 2B Carreno – SS Waters – 3B Jimenez – CF Maldonado – C Kilmer – 1B Yamamoto – LF de Wit – RF Casas – P Wheatley

Wheats was no bueno, giving up lots of loud contact early on. Haertling opened the game with a double, but was stranded, however, Jose Farfan and Ruben Esperanza both whacked doubles in the second inning and that put the Falcons on the board, 1-0. Watson even hit a liner that was snatched by Yamamoto to strand Esperanza on third base. Watson also retired the Coons in order the first time through, but then gave up a game-tying leadoff jack to Arturo Carreno to begin the fourth inning.

Wheatley was then chewed to pieces in the fifth inning, which Watson opened with a single, and it was straight into the dumpster from there. Haertling walked, Tony Aparicio singled in the go-ahead run with one out, and Turley was nailed to fill the bases. Wheatley could not get strike three past anybody, but the Falcons could get balls past the infielders. Farfan singled home a run, Mujica popped out, Esperanza singled home another run, and then Antonio Quesada grounded to Jimenez, who fumbled the ball for an error. Watson grounded out to Yamamoto to end the damn inning, which turned out to be the last one for Wheatley, down 5-1. Sal Ayala batted for him with Kilmer and Yamamoto in scoring position and two outs in the bottom 5th, chucked an RBI single past Farfan, 5-2, moved to second when Carreno walked to fill the bases, and then was stranded along with everybody else when Matt Waters grounded out poorly.

In the sixth, Maldo got on and Jeff Kilmer went yard to left-center, reducing the Falcons’ lead to one, and the tying run was put on base by Watson to begin the bottom 7th when he nailed Jose Casas, but Casas ended up caught stealing. Moreno, Jones, Marucci, Johnston (who retired nobody), and Ramirez gave the Raccoons scoreless relief through regulation, but when Waters drew a leadoff walk in the bottom 8th, Jimenez hit into a double play, and the bottom of the order dawned for the ninth against righty Mike Gutierrez. Yamamoto and de Wit made outs before Stephon Nettles hit a single to right. Van Anderson pinch-hit after that, but grounded out. 5-4 Falcons. Kilmer 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Nettles (PH) 1-1; Ayala (PH) 1-1, RBI;

I’m calm.

Game 3
CHA: 1B Haertling – 3B Mujica – CF Turley – 2B Farfan – LF Case – C Alicea – SS M. Estrada – RF Quesada – P Felix
POR: 2B Carreno – SS Waters – 3B Jimenez – 1B Maldonado – RF Nettles – C Sieber – CF Anderson – LF Gonzalez – P Mathers

Wednesday brought another leadoff jack by Carreno, this one in the first inning and to take the lead, 1-0! No other scoring occurred through five innings, with both teams scattering three hits in very inefficient manner in this largely meaningless rubber game. Mathers looked miles better than recently – both compared to himself and to his predecessors in the series – or at least he did until he hung a thing to Archie Turley with two outs in the sixth, and that baseball was never seen again, hit all the way to Mount St. ******* Helens, tying the game at one.

Waters hit a leadoff single in the sixth, but was doubled up by Jimenez. Maldo then doubled, all four naught, with Nettles grounding out. Mathers added a scoreless seventh, then saw the bases fill up in the bottom 7th with Sieber, Anderson, and Gonzalez as Felix started to lose it. Three on, nobody out was bad enough, but we couldn’t give up an out with the pitcher here. Sal Ayala hit for him, grinded out a walk against the melting Felix, and that gave Mathers a posthumous potential W. Carreno added a sac fly, but Waters grounded out and Jimenez popped out to end the inning. Chuck Jones retired the Falcons in order in the eighth, but Rella allowed 1-out singles to Farfan and Esperanza in the ninth inning after Turley grounded out to begin the ninth. Alicea hit a screamer through Jimenez for an RBI double. And Adam Shay banged a ball off the right foul pole for a major collapse becoming official. And there went Corey Mathers’ 19th win. Zack Kelly replaced Rella, got the last two outs, and then the deflated Critters had to get back in there against Mike Gutierrez. Jordan Gonzalez opened with a single to center, but Gutierrez then retired de Wit and Carreno before Waters hit a liner to center that fell for a 2-out RBI double…! And then Jimenez struck out. 5-4 Falcons. Waters 2-5, 2B, RBI; Sieber 3-4; Gonzalez 3-4; Ayala (PH) 0-0, BB, RBI; Mathers 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K;

The series loss dropped the Raccoons a further game out behind the damn Elks and Crusaders, who kept 2 1/2 behind. None of the three teams in question played on Thursday, but a Coons loss and an Elks win could secure mathematical elimination by Friday.

Raccoons (81-71) vs. Loggers (80-72) – September 25-27, 2043

Down 8-7 in the season series, we had to play three more with the Loggers, who were also surging again and trying to get into third place in the division still. They were scoring the most runs in the Continental League, but gave up the fourth-most, which was still enough for a +59 run differential (Critters: +40). But their bullpen had a 4.65 ERA, second-worst in the CL, and that was definitely something that needed urgent tackling if they wanted to compete going forwards. The Loggers were without Jared Paul, who was on the DL, but all the annoying ********* that kept ruining the Raccoons would be available.

Projected matchups:
Jake Jackson (11-12, 4.34 ERA) vs. Matt Peterson (12-8, 3.29 ERA)
Victor Merino (0-0) vs. Jose de Lucio (12-11, 3.65 ERA)
Brent Clark (11-12, 3.88 ERA) vs. Sal Chavez (8-16, 5.45 ERA)

The Venezuelan southpaw Merino, who had cost roughly a quarter million in the 2039 July IFA period, and who would be 23 next Opening Day, would make his debut after an abbreviated – on account of injuries – AAA season. He had not been *amazing*, but we were eager for a look and would give him the last two starts that otherwise would have gone to Sauerkraut (8-3, 3.75 ERA in 41 games, 10 starts, 98.1 innings). Merino was the #55 prospect, but had been as high as #45 in the past.

The Loggers offered up only right-handers.

Game 1
MIL: CF Reeves – SS Del Vecchio – 1B Brayboy – LF Hertenstein – C F. Gomez – 3B Simon – RF Serad – 2B J. Cruz – P M. Peterson
POR: 2B Carreno – 1B Ayala – 3B Jimenez – CF Maldonado – C Kilmer – RF Nettles – LF de Wit – SS Nickas – P Jackson

Bill Reeves hit a game-opening homer to right, the 23rd of the year for him. Felipe Gomez hit another one of those in the second inning, which already made it 2-0 Loggers, but the Raccoons loaded the bases with Kilmer, Nettles, and de Wit in the bottom 2nd to bring up, with one out, uh, Steve Nickas and the pitcher. Oh well, maybe tomorrow! But, funny story – those two combined to give the Coons (and partially themselves) the lead. Nickas grounded out to first, bringing home the team’s first run, and Nettles and de Wit both scored as Jackson socked a single to right, flipping the score to 3-2 Critters! Carreno singled after that, but Ayala popped out to end the inning.

Jackson’s struggles continued, and he gave up a run to tie the game in the fourth. Aaron Brayboy walked, Daniel Hertenstein and Brad Simon singled, and we only parachuted out of the inning after an intentional walk to Jose Cruz and a K to the .046 hitter Peterson. Jackson then went on to give himself the lead *a second time*: Nettles led off with a single in the bottom 4th, then stole second base. De Wit popped out, but Nickas walked. When bunting failed, Jackson swung away at 0-2, and flicked another single to right, chasing home Nettles from second base to take a 4-3 lead…! That also put Jackson at 10 RBI, a rarity for a pitcher. Carreno hit a dying quail into no man’s land in shallow right-center which was fumbled by T.J. Serad, giving everybody an extra base, with Nickas scoring. A confused and suffering-looking Peterson walked Ayala, gave up a 2-run single to Jimenez, then was yanked. Two deep fly outs off Mackenzie O’Toole ended the inning, with Portland up 7-3. Bottom 5th, Nickas doubled (!) with two outs, then was sent around when Jackson singled to right AGAIN, but was thrown out at the plate by Serad.

That was the offensive heroics for Jackson, who did not get another at-bat, with the Coons’ seventh stopping with Nickas, and him only retiring Ted ******* Del Vecchio to begin the eighth before yielding for a left-hander, who turned out to be Angelo Montano, who got whacked around a bit and gave up a run on a hard single by Brad Simon before somehow waggling out of the inning. The Raccoons had another run thrown out at home plate in the bottom 8th, Carreno being struck down on a mighty toss by Bill Reeves as he tried to score from first on an Ayala double. Josh Rella pitched a successful ninth this time around, though… 7-4 Raccoons. Carreno 3-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Ayala 2-4, BB, 2 2B; Jimenez 2-5, 2 RBI; Jackson 7.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, W (12-12) and 3-3, 3 RBI;

The damn Elks beat the Crusaders, putting the Raccoons into the elimination zone even if we won on Saturday. Our magic number was down to one. We had eliminated the Loggers with this Friday win.

Game 2
MIL: LF Reeves – CF Cannizzard – 1B Brayboy – RF Hertenstein – SS Del Vecchio – 2B J. Cruz – C Bayless – 3B Ju. Flores – P de Lucio
POR: SS Waters – 1B Ayala – 3B Jimenez – CF Maldonado – LF Nettles – C Sieber – 2B Gutierrez – RF Casas – P Merino

Three pitches, three groundouts for Merino in the first inning, which we chalked up as success and not as fooling nobody whatsoever. Waters opened the bottom 1st with a single up the middle, then stole his first base in the majors, but was stranded. Jose Cruz was the first batter to reach base against Merino, hitting a single in the top 2nd, and also was left on base when Scott Bayless popped out. By the third, the Loggers put the first run on Merino. Juan Flores singled to center, was advanced on the bunt, and scored on Reeves’ single to left-center.

The game was tied in the fourth when Maldonado rocked a leadoff jack to center, his 21st homer of the year and putting him into triple digits in terms of RBI, the third CL player to reach those lofty heights in ’43. Nettles walked after that, stole his 30th base, and Jose Casas was walked intentionally with two outs, bringing up Merino with the go-ahead run still on second base. He singled through the left side, barely beating the reach of Del Vecchio, and Nettles flashed around to score and give Merino a 2-1 lead. De Lucio then rung up Waters to end the fourth. It didn’t last, though – an Ayala error cost the tying (unearned) run in the fifth, but Merino did contribute with a walk to Reeves and a wild pitch… In a back-and-forth game, Jimenez and Maldo reached in the bottom 5th against de Lucio, and Sean Sieber clipped a clean RBI single to left-center to put Portland up 3-2. Omar Gutierrez fouled out to strand runners on the corners, but Merino held up in the sixth despite a Jose Cruz single, striking out two in the inning.

Matt Waters had another single and stolen base in the bottom 6th, but with two outs. Somehow Ayala legged out an infield roller for a single, though, putting them on the corners for Jimenez, who struck out. Merino would retire another five batters in order – all left-handers or switch-hitters – before getting a nice applause upon removal with two outs in the eighth inning and right-hander Ted Del Vecchio lusting for a piece of the debutee, but not getting it. Instead, the little sewer rat doubled off Jon Craig. Exit Craig, enter Chuck Jones, induce a pop from PH Jonathan Fleming to escape with the 3-2 lead intact. Portland went 1-2-3 in the eighth, so Josh Rella had no cushion against the 7-8-9 batters. His first pitch was wrapped around the good – foul – side of the right foul pole by PH Valentino Sicco. After Sicco popped out in a full count, Ricky Payne and Brad Simon went quickly, though. 3-2 Coons. Waters 2-4, BB; Ayala 2-4; Maldonado 2-3, BB, HR, RBI; Merino 7.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, W (1-0) and 1-3, RBI;

Precisely 100 pitches for Merino in his debut, which I will dare to call an all-out success! He also assured us a tie in the season series against Milwaukee for the first time since ’38.

The damn Elks beat New York again, which also meant we got that dreaded “e” assigned ahead of “Portland” in the standings in the Agitator.

They always seemed to print the “e” a little thicker for the Raccoons…

Game 3
MIL: LF Reeves – CF Cannizzard – 1B Brayboy – RF Hertenstein – SS Del Vecchio – C Payne – 2B Davison – 3B Simon – P S. Chavez
POR: 2B Carreno – SS Waters – 3B Jimenez – CF Maldonado – C Kilmer – RF Nettles – 1B Yamamoto – LF Gonzalez – P Clark

Brent Clark pitched into the second inning before grimacing and being removed by Dr. Padilla in short order. No Logger had reached base against him, and we went to Nelson Moreno after some deliberation, although the Loggers’ lineup was balanced and no major advantage was to be gained from the move. Moreno sucked, putting two on in the inning without getting scored upon, and then putting even more aboard in the third with plenty of scoring. Reeves drew a 1-out walk, then scored after singles by Tim Cannizzard and Aaron Brayboy. Hertenstein was hit by the pitch to load the bases, and while Del Vecchio popped out (!), Ricky Payne shoved in two runs with a single to left-center. Sean Marucci replaced Moreno, got a groundout from Scott Davison, then was immediately pinch-hit for, while Sauerkraut was tabbed for another attempt at long relief. This one went better, with two scoreless innings to his name before he also broke his 0-for-21 spell at the plate with a single in the bottom 5th. Like the Coons’ other three hits in the first five innings, this one was isolated and went for nothing. Sauerkraut pitched into the seventh before getting docked for a run by the top of the order and requiring retrieval by Craig,. The Coons continued to do nothing, and trailed 4-0 at the seventh inning stretch. Porter and Johnston pitched scoreless ball in the last two innings, Johnston facing only Cannizzard, but getting an inning-ending double play from him, but the Raccoons faced being shut out by a 5+ ERA pitcher once again, with Sal Chavez staggering into the bottom 9th on 114 pitches, but still on a 4-hitter. Kilmer struck out. Nettles got struck, which, hey, was at least a ******* base-runner. Ayala popped out. De Wit grounded out. 4-0 Loggers. Becker 3.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K and 1-1;

In other news

September 21 – SAC SP Raul Cornejo (6-10, 4.83 ERA) 3-hits the Miners in a 4-0 shutout.
September 23 – The season of SFB 3B/1B Ramon Sifuentes (.280, 21 HR, 88 RBI) ends with an oblique strain, with the Bayhawks leading the CL South by a handful at this time.

FL Player of the Week: NAS 2B/SS Billy Bouldin (.354, 3 HR, 92 RBI), batting .480 (12-25) with 12 RBI
CL Player of the Week: NYC C Fernando Alba (.306, 20 HR, 62 RBI), hitting .600 (9-15) with 2 HR, 5 RBI

Complaints and stuff

For the first time in five years we didn’t lose the season series to the Loggers, which I’ll take. And we can still stave off another lost season series against the damn Elks if we sweep them at the end of the season! (giggles) We didn’t even sweep the Loggers, and had to settle for a 9-9 there, so I have little hope.

Manny Fernandez is currently not expected to make a return at the end of the season. When I asked him, Dr. Padilla looked over the rim of his glasses like I was kidding, then continued to try and unfurl the rolled-up pitching paw of a whimpering Brent Clark. Only good things can come out of that one, I’m sure. If Brent Clark can’t go on the weekend, we’ll probably send Angelo Montano in, just to get some free fireworks on Friday.

Maud informed me that I neglected to mention that Jake Jackson claimed the team’s 5,600th regular season win last Saturday. In my defense I was sad and my snout was crammed full with cookies.

Also cookie dough.

4-game trip to Boston and the home set against the damn Elks is all that’s left. The Elks are given 93.7% to win the division by BNN.

Fun Fact: The last Raccoons pitcher to drive in 10+ runs in a season was Jared Ottinger in 2037, and only one pitcher has done it more than once.

He hit .328 with two homers and 10 RBI. Wasn’t that some promise for a 24-year-old hurler? We already dreamed of having another Jonny Toner!

Man, were we silly.

The complete compendium of 10+ RBI seasons by Raccoons pitchers in a single season:

t-1st – Robert Vazquez (1991) – 14
t-1st – Jonathan Toner (2020) – 14
t-3rd – Carl Bean (2002) – 12
t-3rd – Mark Roberts (2024) – 12
t-5th – Carlos Gonzalez (1986) – 11
t-5th – Kisho Saito (1986) – 11
t-5th – Scott Wade (1992) – 11
t-5th – Nick Brown (2004) – 11
t-9th – Kisho Saito (1988) – 10
t-9th – Jared Ottinger (2037) – 10
t-9th – Jake Jackson (2043) – 10 *

So Kisho Saito *was* the Master, in every regard!

I miss Kisho. He used to keep a very low profile after his pitching days and returned to Japan to tend to a garden on the mountainside, but he always used to send a congratulatory note on fine paper, with the text in both English and Kanji, when the Raccoons won something big.

No note has arrived in a long time.

[Westheim]

I’m a bit ill today, which means I stay home, and you get the final week of the Critters a bit earlier than normal. Unless I lose consciousness and faceplant on the laptop.

+++

Brent Clark was ruled out for the last week with shoulder inflammation, which he’d have all winter to cure, so I did not see great harm befalling us there… yet. We’d find a starter somewhere, I guess.

Raccoons (83-72) @ Titans (60-95) – September 28-October 1, 2043

Leftovers baseball led the Raccoons into Boston, where the Titans would probably avoid 100 losses solely on the basis of the Raccoons just never winning anything in that goddamn ballpark. The Titans were in the bottom three in both runs scored and runs allowed and there was as a whole little to like about that team. We led the season series, 9-5. One more W would give us the season series win for the first time since…. it’s actually so long ago that it is not on the printout I took with me. I will have to call Maud in Portland.

Projected matchups:
Jason Wheatley (12-12, 3.31 ERA) vs. Chris Turner (2-3, 3.62 ERA)
Corey Mathers (18-12, 3.39 ERA) vs. Ryan Kinner (7-13, 4.98 ERA)
Jake Jackson (12-12, 4.31 ERA) vs. Jamal Barrow (1-16, 5.67 ERA)
Victor Merino (1-0, 1.17 ERA) vs. Nick Myers (5-12, 4.65 ERA)

“Tuba” Turner was the only southpaw coming up here. And no, even though you’d put a tenner on it, Jamal Barrow’s only W of the season had not come against the Raccoons, but against the Bayhawks on July 26. But the Raccoons had also faced him three times and never hung a loss on him. He was 0-0 with a 2.18 ERA in 20.2 innings in the three games (2 starts) against the Raccoons…

Game 1
POR: 2B Carreno – 2B Waters – 3B Jimenez – CF Maldonado – C Kilmer – 1B Yamamoto – LF de Wit – RF Casas – P Wheatley
BOS: 2B J. Rodriguez – CF Tortora – RF Ritchey – 3B I. Lugo – LF Liceaga – C Kuehn – 1B T. Graham – SS Castaneda – P C. Turner

The Raccoons put up three in the first inning, key to which was a 1-out, 2-run triple by Maldonado into the rightfield corner. Jeff Kilmer then chased him home with a sac fly. Doubles by Juan Rodriguez and Ivan Lugo pulled a run back for Boston in the bottom of the inning, and Wheats offered a leadoff walk to Paul Kuehn in the bottom 2nd, but then handled Tony Graham’s comebacker for a 1-6-3 double play. Except on defense, he sure looked shaky, offering another walk to Rodriguez in the third, followed by a Cullen Tortora single. Defense bailed him out of that, too, and then he was at the plate in the fourth, batting with one out after straight singles by Shuta Yamamoto, Jay de Wit, an Jose Casas had loaded the bases. He popped out on the first pitch, Carreno grounded out, and nobody scored.

Then dullness broke out with neither team managing to put any weight onto the bases in the next few innings. The Raccoons had Matt Waters reach base twice on a walk, and twice he was caught stealing, to begin the fifth and eighth innings. The tranquility was rather rudely interrupted when Maldo doubled with two outs in the eighth, Kilmer singled, and with runners on the corners, Sal Ayala batted for Yamamoto against righty Jose Colon. He popped out. Wheatley battled his way through eight innings, allowing no more than four hits to the Titans, and maintaining the 3-1 lead. He was hit for in the ninth inning with Jay de Wit on first, having drawn a leadoff walk from Joe West. Nettles buried a baseball in centerfield in Wheatley’s spot and legged it out for an RBI triple, 4-1. Carreno singled home Nettles before Waters based another triple off new pitcher Guillermo Vinales. Jimenez got his 90th RBI of the year (and his career) with a sac fly to left. Maldonado grounded out to end the inning. Preston Porter would sit down the Titans in order in the ninth inning to secure the W, and also the season series. 7-1 Raccoons. Waters 1-2, 3 BB, 3B, RBI; Maldonado 2-5, 3B, 2B, 2 RBI; Nettles (PH) 1-1, 3B, RBI; Wheatley 8.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 K, W (13-12);

The Crusaders’ Paul Paris (17-8, 3.43 ERA) spun a 3-hit shutout of the Loggers for a 5-0 win to keep New York in the race for the division on Monday. The Elks routed the Indians, though, and the gap remained 3 1/2 games.

Game 2
POR: 2B Carreno – SS Waters – 1B Ayala – CF Maldonado – 3B Jimenez – LF Nettles – C Sieber – RF Anderson – P Mathers
BOS: 2B J. Rodriguez – CF Tortora – C D. Phillips – RF Ritchey – 3B I. Lugo – 1B Lindstrom – LF Liceaga – SS Castaneda – P Kinner

Maldonado drove in the first run in the first inning again, singling home Arturo Carreno with two outs after the youngster had walked and stolen second base, his 38th of the year. Jimenez drew a walk after that, but Sieber struck out to end the inning. Mathers, after retiring Boston 1-2-3 in the first, then started to work actively against 20 wins again, putting Joe Ritchey, Ivan Lugo, and Matt Lindstrom all aboard to start the bottom 2nd. Two runs scored on groundouts before Ryan Kinner flew out to Van Anderson. Ivan Lugo singled in another run in the bottom 3rd after Mathers had walked Rodriguez (forced out by Tortora) and Ritchey. It was once again not the way in which a wannabe 20-game winner should want to conduct himself…

The other problem was the dearth of offense from the Critters, who managed only three hits off Kinner in six innings. They had no hit in the seventh, either, but Van Anderson reached base on a throwing error with two outs, and we had to pretend, at least. Jay de Wit batted for Mathers, but grounded out. In the eighth, Carreno led off with a double, and was also stranded on second base. With Kelly and Moreno offering scoreless relief for Portland, the Raccoons remained at least close to the Titans. Joe West though retired Jimenez and Nettles to begin the ninth inning before conceding a double to Sean Sieber and a walk to Anderson. Omar Gutierrez pinch-hit and grounded out to end the misery. 3-1 Titans. Maldonado 2-4, 2B, RBI;

The two contenders both lost on Tuesday, keeping the gap the same, but reducing the magic number to two, meaning the damn Elks could damn clinch any day now.

Game 3
POR: 2B Carreno – 1B Ayala – 3B Jimenez – CF Maldonado – C Kilmer – LF Nettles – SS Nickas – RF Anderson – P Jackson
BOS: 2B J. Rodriguez – CF Tortora – C D. Phillips – RF Ritchey – 3B I. Lugo – 1B Lindstrom – LF Liceaga – SS Castaneda – P Barrow

No score in the first three innings, with Van Anderson having the only actual base hit, while Jackson walked two Titans in the third, but didn’t incur actual damage. Ivan Lugo had a 2-out single in the fourth for the first Titans entry into the H column, but by this time Barrow was in line to go 1-17 thanks to two runs in the top of the inning. Ricky Jimenez walked, Maldonado singled, a wild pitch advanced them into scoring position, and Kilmer found the hole on the left side for a 2-run single. The Coons stranded three runners combined in the next two innings before Van Anderson doubled off the wall in the seventh. There was a temptation to hit for Jackson, but he was still on a 1-hitter, so why not let him… He would not drive in the run, which was a mission the Boston battery embarked on bravely. Barrow threw a wild pitch, Phillips bumbled another offering for a passed ball, and that was enough to get Anderson across for a 3-0 score, with Jackson looking on bemusedly before grounding out eventually.

The Raccoons were still up 3-0 and Jackson still had that 1-hitter in the ninth inning. Barrow was even still pitching! He walked Anderson with two outs and Jackson was not hit for, singling instead. Carreno flew out to Tortora, stranding the runners, and Jackson went back to the mound bidding for the shutout. Rodriguez grounded out on the first pitch, Jackson’s 102nd of the game. Tortora whiffed on three pitches. Devin Phillips whiffed on four more. 3-0 Raccoons! Anderson 2-3, BB, 2B; Jackson 9.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K, W (13-12) and 1-4;

So there’s what we paid $11M for…! Fifth career shutout for Jackson, the third as a Brownshirt, and his first 1-hitter.

No movement again at the top of the table, this time with both teams winning again. The magic number was nevertheless scrubbed down to one. The damn Elks were off on Thursday, while the Crusaders would play the Loggers once more.

All four divisions were still up for grabs as September ended. Besides the CL North, the FL West was also one day from potentially being over, with the Pacifics leading the Stars by four games. In the FL East the Blue Sox and Rebs were tied. In the CL South, the Bayhawks led the Thunder by one and the Knights by four.

Pitching change on Thursday – the Titans went to left-hander Emanuel Caceiro (8-7, 4.95 ERA) for the final game of the set.

Game 4
POR: 2B Carreno – 2B Waters – 3B Jimenez – CF Maldonado – C Kilmer – 1B Yamamoto – LF Gonzalez – RF Casas – P Merino
BOS: 1B Tortora – LF Casaus – CF M. Avila – RF Ritchey – 3B I. Lugo – 2B Castaneda – C Youngquist – SS Greeley – P Caceiro

Carreno opened the Thursday game with a single to left-center, his 150th hit of the season. He was also doubled up by Jimenez to end the inning after Waters had flown out to left. Tortora singled off Merino to begin the bottom 1st, while the Coons rookie walked Sandy Casaus, recent Raccoons prospect-washout. Moises Avila, Ritchey, and Lugo made poor outs in succession, though, stranding the runners in scoring position. Through three, both teams ended up with two hits, and two double plays hit into, and no runs on the board. Once Matt Waters was caught stealing in the fourth, both had also a runner thrown out on the base paths – Ryan Youngquist had been caught stealing for Boston.

The Titans broke through in the bottom 4th, landing three hits off Merino. Avila led off with a single, scored on Jose Castaneda’s 2-out double, and Youngquist chipped in an RBI single before Thomas Greeley flew out to left. The Raccoons countered with the bases loaded and nobody out in the fifth, Kilmer walking ahead of singles by Yamamoto and Jordan Gonzalez, surely setting up another choke job. Jose Casas, chief choker in rightfield, which had been a sore wound all year long, struck out. Merino flew to left, Casaus dropped the ball, and a run scored on the error. See, this is why we dumped that guy… Carreno’s sac fly tied the game, and Matt Waters re-conquered the .200 mark and gave the Critters the lead with a sharp RBI single past Greeley. Jimenez singled to load the bags again, and Maldonado ripped a ball to deep right that eluded Ritchey and bounced to the fence for a 2-run double…! Maldo actually overran second base, expecting Jimenez to score, but the third-sacker had been held at third-sack, and Maldo had to scamper back to second base, barely getting in there. The inning ended anyway with a Kilmer K after that, but Portland was up 5-2.

Merino struggled with control afterwards, yielding two walks and nailing Tortora at one point, and was removed after 6.2 innings with Greeley on second (the dreaded leadoff walk) and two outs. Alex Ramirez replaced him, loaded the bases throwing nothing but balls, then rung up Joe Ritchey on three pitches to end the inning, because baseball had never made any sense, and wouldn’t start to make sense NOW in the bottom of the seventh of a meaningless October game in Boston. Ramirez walked Lugo to begin the eighth, after which we brought on Chuck Jones, who shockingly gave up a homer to the left-handed hitting Castaneda, reducing the lead to one skinny run. Him and Jon Craig somehow wobbled out of the inning, but I was well shaken by the experience of a lefty taking Jones deep.

Joe West, frequently employed in this series, walked Carreno, who stole a base, and Jimenez in the top 9th, then gave up a -2-out insurance run on a Maldonado single, and another one on a Kilmer single to center. Boston went to Danny Tirado, who got Van Anderson to pop out. Josh Rella retired the Bostonians in order to put the game away. 7-4 Raccoons. Waters 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Maldonado 3-5, 2B, 3 RBI; Kilmer 2-4, BB, RBI; Gonzalez 2-3, BB;

Danny Rico’s 11th-inning single walked off the Crusaders against the Loggers, 7-6, which a) guaranteed that the Raccoons would be sole owner of third place at the end of the season, and b) that the damn Elks would clinch on our field unless we swept them and the Crusaders swept the Indians to force a tie-breaker.

Nicer scenarios had been seen…

The Pacifics took the FL West on Thursday. The Knights were eliminated in the South, with the Bayhawks two games ahead of the Thunder. They’d play the Condors and Aces, respectively. In the FL East, the Rebs and Blue Sox were tied – and would play each other for the crown.

Raccoons (86-73) vs. Canadiens (94-65) – October 2-4, 2043

Ugh. Does it have to be? Okay, the skinny: second in runs scored, fourth in runs allowed. 9-6 up against us in the season series. And Maud has already hidden away the blunderbuss.

Projected matchups:
Nelson Moreno (0-1, 3.12 ERA) vs. Paul Medvec (16-8, 3.61 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (13-12, 3.23 ERA) vs. John Roeder (8-9, 4.57 ERA)
Corey Mathers (18-13, 3.42 ERA) vs. Matt Sealock (19-10, 3.41 ERA)

Roeder and Alex Lewis (11-9, 2.94 ERA) were left-handers; due to them having Thursday off, they could skip Roeder, which would give us a Southpaw Sunday. Not that this was lightening my mood.

And Manny Fernandez? Working hard to get back on the field in the last minutes of the season, but whether it would work out was still up in the air.

Game 1
VAN: RF van der Zanden – 1B Clemente – CF Outram – 2B Schneller – LF M. Hernandez – C J. Diaz – 3B J. Becker – SS Holbrook – P Medvec
POR: 2B Carreno – SS Waters – 1B Ayala – CF Maldonado – 3B Jimenez – C Kilmer – LF Nettles – RF Anderson – P Moreno

Moreno had pitched all of 8.2 innings in the majors (and a bit more than that on rehab) due to injury, so he was a weird choice in trying to prevent the damn Elks from winning the division here, but then again the only serious alternatives that did not involve another 40-man roster shuffle were Sauerkraut and Seth Green. Both looked like they might get involved sooner rather than later when a single by Arnout van der Zanden and two walks to Timóteo Clemente and Jerry Outram loaded the bases for Elk City straight away. Dan Schneller and Mel Hernandez both popped out, and Julio Diaz lined out to Ricky Jimenez to keep everybody aboard. (blinks nervously) That generous outcome didn’t change the fact that Moreno was entirely outta whack on the mound; he offered a leadoff walk to Justin Becker in the second, and while Becker was caught stealing, he was also 3-1 on Steve Holbrook when the shortstop grounded out to our shortstop. In the third, van der Zanden singled again, Clemente walked again, and at 3-2 Outram rolled into a double play. Schneller struck out. Hernandez opened the fourth with a single, but was doubled up by Diaz. It was either the best or the worst baseball game, and I had a hard time deciding…

It was actually the Raccoons that scored first; Maldonado hit a 1-out triple to center in the fourth, then came home on a sac fly by Jimenez. Moreno somehow held on to the lead; his fifth was scoreless, and in the sixth Outram led off with a single, but was doubled up by Schneller. That was the end for Moreno after 87 mostly wayward pitches, with lefty hitters coming up. Zack Kelly got out of the inning with Diaz’ groundout after Hernandez had legged out an infield single, and also pitched the seventh and struck out van der Zanden to begin the eighth. Ramirez struck out Clemente. Jones got a cozy grounder to Carreno from Outram, completing eight for the Critters. Medvec held out into the bottom 8th, but was lifted after a 2-out hit by Waters. His replacement, Matt Fries, gave up singles to Ayala and Maldonado to move the run across before Jimenez grounded out. Top 9th, Dan Schneller hit a leadoff double off Rella, but the next two struck out. Becker grounded to short, Waters made the routine play, and the damn Elks were shut out in Portland for the third time in the last four games there. 2-0 Critters! Waters 2-3, BB, 2B; Maldonado 2-4, 3B, RBI; Kilmer 2-2, BB; Kelly 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Dan Schneller’s last-ditch double extended his hitting streak to 20 games, though. He was hitting .316 with 20 HR and 72 RBI.

New York won, 5-2, behind Paul Paris on short rest, keeping their hopes alive one day longer. In the South, both contenders won, while in the FL East, Richmond romped Nashville for 13 runs to take command and needing only a split from the last two games.

Game 2
VAN: RF van der Zanden – 1B Clemente – CF Outram – 2B Schneller – LF M. Hernandez – C J. Diaz – 3B J. Becker – SS J. Sifuentes – P Roeder
POR: 2B Carreno – 2B Waters – 3B Jimenez – CF Maldonado – C Sieber – 1B Yamamoto – LF de Wit – RF Casas – P Wheatley

No shutout on Saturday – Jerry Outram rammed one out of Wheats in the first inning, giving the damn Elks a 1-0 lead. They seemed to have a new ritual for celebrating home run hitters, who on return to the dugout would done a giant moosehead and strut down the dugout in a mean pose with that. I resented every bit of it and sure hoped they wouldn’t hit more homers. Speaking of which, Julio Diaz hit a 2-run homer in the fourth inning, leading to more mooseheading, and I got even grumpier. Half the homer was unearned, a Carreno error having put Hernandez on base immediately prior to the big bop to right-center. Wheatley allowed a single to Becker after that, then walked the bases loaded against Jose Sifuentes and van der Zanden, bringing up Clemente with three on and two outs. He scored two with a single up the middle before Outram flew out to Maldonado. It was now 5-0, the Raccoons had one base hit, and this looked very much like a done deal.

Ricky Jimenez then swatted a leadoff jack in the bottom 4th, which was at least *something*. Maldonado followed with another homer of his own, which was a bit more. Both hit balls into the leftfield stands, into neighboring sections. The moist part of the order then made three quick outs, though, keeping the tally at 5-2.

Wheats was yoinked after five, and the damn Elks put pairs on base that they stranded against a parade of relievers including Johnston, Marucci, Kelly, and Sims in the sixth and seventh. Outram doubled off Sims in the eighth, getting him dangerously close to a cycle, but Angelo Montano (!) would keep him on the bases. None of which changed the fact that the offense kept missing in action until Matt Waters hit his maiden homer in the bottom of the eighth, that one also landing in the leftfield stands and narrowing the gap to 5-3. Jimenez flew out to center to end the inning. Montano walked two in the ninth inning, a mess that Jon Craig disposed of. Then it was Sebastian Parham for the bottom 9th, facing the 4-5-6 batters. Maldonado grounded out. Ayala hit for Sieber and whiffed. And – what is that? Manny Fernandez, taped from top to bottom, grabbed a bat and batted for Yamamoto! Manny had been quietly activated before the game, sore all over, but not shying back from this fight. He was the last straw – and he kept the team alive, doubling to right on a 3-1 pitch…! …and then Jay de Wit flew out to right to end the game. 5-3 Canadiens. Maldonado 2-4, HR, RBI; Fernandez (PH) 1-1, 2B; Nettles (PH) 1-1;

Dancing, braying mooseheads everywhere.

On our field!

Dr. Padilla, I need a little something to pull the corners of the snout up…! – What do you mean, I should take a walk every day? – I walk from the brown couch to the fridge at least three times during a game, isn’t that enough??

Since the Sunday game no longer mattered in any way, we gave some playing time to some of the backups that hadn’t gotten much of it despite sitting on the roster all the time. Manny and Maldo were in there, and Kilmer probably was the only other regular (no third-string catcher being carried this year).

Game 3
VAN: RF van der Zanden – 1B Clemente – CF Outram – 2B Schneller – LF M. Hernandez – C J. Diaz – 3B J. Becker – SS R. Johnston – P Sealock
POR: SS Waters – 3B de Wit – 1B Maldonado – LF Fernandez – C Kilmer – 2B Gutierrez – CF Gonzalez – RF Anderson – P Mathers

Corey Mathers pitched like stale arse in the finale, walking three batters in the first inning amongst two walks. Outram drove in a run with a groundout, and Justin Becker drew a bases-loaded walk before Ryan Johnston grounded out to strand a full set. The Coons made up a run in the bottom 1st in unearned fashion, Outram dropping a de Wit fly for two bases, a wild pitch, and Maldo’s run-scoring groundout. But Mathers couldn’t get anybody out – in the second inning he allowed a leadoff single to Sealock, then issued three straight 2-out walks en route to an early exit. No 20 wins, and not even 19. Chuck Jones struck out Diaz for his final contribution of the season.

The Coons scored *another* unearned run, this time on a Schneller error that put Omar Gutierrez aboard, another wild pitch, and a 2-out Van Anderson single in the bottom 2nd. Jose Casas hit for Jones, but flew out to left. Seth Green was then inserted, ostensibly for long relief, holding the Elks in check in the top 3rd before the Raccoons scored ANOTHER unearned run in the bottom 3rd. Maldo reached on a throwing error by Clemente with two outs, then was doubled in by Manny Fernandez for some excitement in the stands. Kilmer grounded out.

Both Green and Sauerkraut delivered two scoreless innings, and then the Raccoons actually took the lead in the sixth, which Manny Fernandez led off with a home run to right. It was a meaningless homer, but the fans were jumping up and down anyway. Sauerkraut hung around for another inning, a scoreless seventh, before being hit for in the bottom of the seventh. Anderson opened that inning with a single, then was caught stealing with Steve Nickas batting in the #9 hole. Sean Marucci was put into the eighth, got a grounder from Becker, but then walked two, with Johnston run for by Angel Escobido, and Johnny Lopez drawing the pinch-walk. With Zack Kelly used up, the Portlanders turned to Steven Johnston against van der Zanden, who was hit for by catcher Derek James, righty batter, who flew out to center. Jon Craig replaced him against Clemente and got a grounder up the middle that Nickas picked and took to second base himself to end the inning. No insurance run came about, and the Raccoons stuck to Craig in the ninth inning – three of the next four batters were left-handers, but besides Montano, we were out of left-handed pitchers. Outram lined out to Gutierrez. Schneller whiffed. Hernandez grounded out to Maldonado at third base – ballgame! 4-3 Blighters! Ayala (PH) 1-1; Fernandez 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Anderson 2-3, RBI; Green 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K; Becker 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, W (9-3); Craig 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, SV (3);

The Crusaders won their finale. Oh if only we hadn’t dorked out on Saturday…

At least we killed Schneller’s hitting streak at the end there…

In other news

September 28 – The first-place Bayhawks also lose SS Jorge Gonzalez (.288, 0 HR, 46 RBI) for the year. The 24-year-old is out with shoulder soreness.
September 30 – The first-place Blue Sox lose INF/LF Felix Marquez (.266, 9 HR, 64 RBI) to a broken shoulder blade.
September 30 – OCT SP Lachlan Clarke (16-10, 4.54 ERA) 3-hits the Falcons for a 6-0 shutout win.
October 1 – The Pacifics become the first team to clinch their division, beating the Stars, 11-6, to eliminate them as the last contenders.
October 1 – Canadiens outfielder Victor Vazquez (.314, 6 HR, 40 RBI) is out for the season with a concussion.
October 3 – The Bayhawks take possession of the CL South, beating the Condors 6-0 on a combined 3-hitter led by Garrett Sutherland (14-10, 3.40 ERA).
October 3 – NAS LF/RF/1B Sean Ashley (.310, 9 HR, 27 RBI) goes 1-for-2 with a 3-run homer, three walks, and drives in five runs total in a 14-1 rout of the Rebels, again tying the FL East ahead of the winner-takes-all finale.
October 4 – The Rebels end 23 years of futility with a 7-1 win over the Blue Sox to grab the FL East. 24-year-old swingman Johnny Anderson (4-5, 3.72 ERA, 2 SV) pitches seven innings for the W in the team’s first clincher in a generation.
October 4 – The Bayhawks get warm for the playoffs by running circles around the Condors an scoring in every inning but the second in a 20-6 rout. SFB RF/LF Juan Brito (.297, 16 HR, 57 RBI) goes unretired, 4-for-4 with a walk and drives in three runs.

FL Player of the Week:
CL Player of the Week:

FL Hitter of the Month: RIC RF/LF/1B Alex Marquez (.320, 18 HR, 76 RBI), batting .423 with 7 HR, 20 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: NYC C Fernando Alba (.306, 21 HR, 66 RBI), raking .422 with 8 HR, 26 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: LAP SP Joe Feltman (16-11, 3.38 ERA), tossing for a 5-0 record with 1.94 ERA, 34 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: NYC SP Jeff Johnson (11-9, 3.62 ERA), hurling to a 5-1 mark with 2.42 ERA, 31 K
FL Rookie of the Month: SFW RF Matt Diskin (.283, 27 HR, 106 RBI), batting .314 with 8 HR, 24 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: SFB C Sean Suggs (.377, 3 HR, 18 RBI), a September call-up

Complaints and stuff

Most wins since 2038! … which doesn’t mean a lot, because we haven’t been good since 2038. I wouldn’t describe this year’s team as good either, despite 88 wins, which is a lot more than I would have dared to dream of at any point this year.

But… There’s some glaring holes to fill. But we still have Ayala next year, and if we could sign a slugger for the maggot-infested flesh wound that has been rightfield this year, that would be a great improvement. Not sure how short’s gonna sort out. I don’t want to get a big name in there, but Waters also doesn’t look ready for Opening Day… although he did start to draw walks at the end.

And somebody’s gotta bat eighth, huh?

Manny Fernandez, who missed 73 games this year, but returned right at the end for a few meaningless (if, on Sunday, game-winning!) at-bats, has a $2.5M team option for ’44 that nobody doubts the team will execute. So with him, Maldo, Jimenez, and Ayala we have a robust core; if Carreno and Waters would play good D up the middle, and one of them could muster enough on-base presence to lead off, that would be great. Kilmer is still under contract for a while and his season was pretty drab, but he’s a serviceable bat in, say, the #6 slot. What we need is one more big bat in rightfield.

Be aware of that Suggs kid; he’s the #2 pick from 2041, could have actual power and contact, and he’s only 20 years old. Then be glad he’s in the South and not on the damn Elks, and a catcher and we might get away with seeing him only six times a year.

We took 12 games from Boston this year, after 11 last season. It’s the first time we have won the season series in consecutive years from the Titans since winning it five years in a row from 2017 through 2021.

Maldonado missed the RBI crown by four guys driven in. Mathers led the W column by two in July/August, but ended up losing out to Sealock. Josh Rella ended tied with NYC Andy Hyden for the most saves in the CL. Carreno stole 38 bases, which only got him fourth place in the CL, and barely more than half than the champ, Alex Adame. The Crusader swiped 65 bases, the eighth-best single-season mark all time. Hugo Acosta’s 76 in 2038 remain the high-water mark. Good old Coons Cosmo and Berto remain tied for second with 74 each in 2027 and 2030, respectively.

Berto, who signed with the Buffaloes well after the season began, never started a game in the majors this year, and hit .308 in limited pinch-hitting action. He also didn’t steal a base. He finished the year in Bakersfield, AAA.

We played only five extra-inning games this year, posting a 4-1 record. Our streak of posting a winning or even record every month didn’t hold, with a 13-14 crash in September. I guess that will bum me out the most going forwards.

Fun Fact: For the first time since 2028, three ABL teams posted 100 losses.

Back then in ’28, there were even two teams losing 100 games each in the same division. It’s the two teams that doled out the FL East to the final day this year: the Blue Sox came fifth with a 58-104 record. The Rebels tucked in two games behind, 56-106. The Falcons lost 100 games precisely that year.

Prior to that, the only other time the same “feat” occurred was in 1988 with the Crusaders (102), Warriors (102), and Scorpions (112). The Scorpions’ 50-112 season is still the worst all-time in the ABL.

[Westheim]

2043 ABL PLAYOFFS

Once more it had taken six months to whittle the 24 ABL teams down to just four and it would take most of October to find a winner between those.

Entering in the #1 position as far as seeding was concerned were the Pacifics, who had won 97 games and the FL West by four games. They had done so mostly on pitching, conceding the fewest runs in the Federal League with the best rotation and a bullpen that was not far behind. Offensively … eeeeh. They were tied for seventh in runs scored – but due to the great pitching, that still made for a +124 run differential. They had the third-most homers with 129, but had not been able to steal many bases at all. The offense revolve around Juan Benavides (.339, 25 HR, 85 RBI), supported by two more 20-homer hitters in Mark Cahill and David Alvardo. Sergio Pena was also hitting .323 ahead of all the power hitters. The lineup was a bit thinner towards the bottom, but there was no such concern about the rotation. Led by 23-game winner Mike LeMasters (23-5, 2.81 ERA) the rotation didn’t get worse than Joe Feltman’s 3.38 ERA. In the pen, John Steuer (1-6, 3.24 ERA, 47 SV) had been acquired from the Buffaloes mid-season and had pitched to a 1.35 ERA with L.A.

Second to only the Pacifics in runs allowed were the Rebels, winning the FL East by one game over the Blue Sox and with 94 games overall. They were also second in runs scored in the FL, and had posted a +135 run differential. They had 140+ in both homers and stolen bases, sitting in the top 3 in both categories, and were also third in OBP with a .349 team on-base rate. Their rotation was second to the Pacifics in ERA, although the bullpen was softer with a 3.99 ERA, only eighth in the Federal League. Manny Liberos (.279, 26 HR, 101 RBI) led the offense on the playoff roster – which already got us to a problem. Pablo Gonzalez had hit .371 with 27 homers by late August before suffering a severely strained hamstring, rendering him out for the year. The rotation was led by Ryan Person (16-5, 3.00 ERA) and Omar Lara (15-10, 3.44 ERA), but was missing Justin Kaiser (also on the DL), while the bullpen had a lot of pitchers hanging around the 4 ERA mark.

Over in the Continental League, the Canadiens had home field advantage for the CLCS, having beaten the Crusaders by one game with 95 wins overall. They had come out of the CL North with a +94 run differential, third in runs scored and fourth in runs allowed in the CL, which they ha led in home runs and had finished second in OBP in. Only eighth in stolen bases, agility was not their strongest suit – they were also remarkably pedestrian in offense, ninth in defensive efficiency in the CL with a .689 percentage. It hadn’t hurt their starters so much, who ranked third in ERA in the CL, but the pen had an ERA over four, well in the bottom half of the league. Jerry Outram (.330, 24 HR, 86 RBI) and Dan Schneller (.315, 20 HR, 72 RBI) were at the heart of the offense, while Matt Sealock (19-11, 3.35 ERA) had led the CL in wins, while Alex Lewis (11-9, 2.94 ERA) actually had a better ERA. The Canadiens were without backup outfielder Victor Vazquez.

Bottom seed with 89 wins, but three ahead of anybody else in the CL South, the Bayhawks had interestingly a +123 run differential, much better than the Canadiens, sitting second in both runs scored and runs allowed. Both starters and bullpen had strong ERAs, while the offense led the league in average and OBP, but with only 98 home runs they were third from the bottom in the power department. They were also down on personnel, having lost a score of regulars late in the season, including Danny Cruz, Ramon Sifuentes, and Jorge Gonzalez from he lineup, while starter Miguel Alvarado was also out. The injuries removed 31 of the team’s 98 homers from the lineup, with Sifuentes leading the team in both home runs and RBI. Scott Martin (.300, 11 HR, 80 RBI) an Juan Brito (.297, 16 HR, 57 RBI) now had to carry whatever was left, while former Canadien Mike Mihalik (16-9, 3.21 ERA) was the best available starting pitcher.

Both CLCS teams seemed to bring one left-handed starter, with the Canadiens’ lineup leaning more to the left side than the Bayhawks’. In the FL, the Pacifics seemed to have the advantage with at least four lefty batters against three right-handed Rebels starters. L.A. offered two left-handed starting pitchers against a slightly right-handed Rebels lineup.

Among the participating teams, the Pacifics had the most playoff entries with their 16th October participation. They also had the most championships in the field, with six. They ended a 10-year drought that had broken out after six playoff appearances in seven years from 2026-32, with titles in 2027, 2030, and 2032.

The Canadiens made their 11th playoff appearance and had three titles. It was their fifth division crown in six years, with one title in 2038.

Opposite them, the Bayhawks had one title and were trying to win a second one in their ninth playoff attempt. They had last participated in 2037, and their only championship had come in 1999.

The Rebels only were in October for the sixth time (more only than the Loggers and Gold Sox), but had two titles in the bank. It was their first postseason trip since 2019 (the tail end of the three straight FL West wins), and they had last won the whole shebang in 2017.

Rebels and Pacifics had previously met in the FLCS in 2018, with Richmond having the upper hand before losing to the Aces in the World Series. Bayhawks and Canadiens had never met in the CLCS before.

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2043 LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

RIC @ LAP … 3-8 … (Pacifics lead 1-0) … LAP Aaron Foss 4-5, HR, 2 RBI; LAP Juan Benavides 3-5, RBI; LAP Mark Cahill 2-4, 2 RBI; LAP Kevin Clendenen 8.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 10 K, W (1-0);

RIC @ LAP … 6-12 … (Pacifics lead 2-0) … LAP Juan Benavides 2-4, BB, HR, 3 RBI; LAP David Alvardo 2-2, 3 BB, 2B, RBI; LAP Kenny Leon 2-4, 3 RBI;
SFB @ VAN … 3-4 … (Canadiens lead 1-0) … SFB Kyle Lusk 1-2, BB, 2B, RBI;

The Canadiens overcome losing starter Paul Medvec to injury to grind out a Game 1 win with the bullpen.

SFB @ VAN … 1-9 … (Canadiens lead 2-0) … VAN Jerry Outram 2-3, 2 BB, 2B; VAN Melvin Hernandez 2-4, 2B, 3 RBI;

LAP @ RIC … 4-3 (10) … (Pacifics lead 3-0) … LAP Juan Benavides 2-4, BB, HR, 2 RBI; LAP Tony Romero 2-4, BB, 2B; RIC Alex Marquez 3-6, 2B, RBI; RIC Josh Frazier 3-5, RBI;

LAP @ RIC … 5-2 … (Pacifics win 4-0) … LAP Juan Benavides 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; LAP Jon St. Pierre (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI;
VAN @ SFB … 12-4 … (Canadiens lead 3-0) … VAN Arnout van der Zanden 3-4, 2 BB, 2 2B; VAN Jerry Outram 3-6, 3B, RBI; VAN Dan Schneller 3-6; VAN Melvin Hernandez 3-6, HR, RBI; VAN Julio Diaz 4-6, 2 2B, RBI; VAN Ryan Johnston 2-5, 2B, 3 RBI;

VAN @ SFB … 2-3 … (Canadiens lead 3-1) … SFB Bob Nelson 2-2, 3B, RBI; SFB Noe Candeloro 8.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, W (1-0);

VAN @ SFB … 0-2 … (Canadiens lead 3-2) … SFB Mike Mihalik 7.2 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 9 K, W (1-1);

Are the Canadiens out of offense?

SFB @ VAN … 13-6 … (series tied 3-3) … SFB Scott Martin 2-3, 2 BB; SFB Dave Martinez 2-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; SFB John Hill 2-4, 2 RBI; SFB Mel Castillo 2-5, 2 HR, 6 RBI; SFB Sergio Quiroz 3-5, 2B; VAN Jerry Outram 3-4, BB, RBI; VAN Melvin Hernandez 3-4, HR, RBI;

No, but two separate 6-spots by the Bayhawks serve to complete the comeback from 0-3 to 3-3 and a Game 7! John Roeder and Juan Dias take the worst of the abuse on the Vancouver side as the series goes the full distance.

SFB @ VAN … 11-7 … (Bayhawks win 4-3) … SFB Scott Martin 3-6, HR, 2 RBI; SFB Corey Caldwell 2-5, BB, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; SFB John Hill 3-5, RBI; SFB Mel Castillo 3-5, 2 RBI; SFB Bob Nelson 2-5, 2 RBI; VAN Jerry Outram 3-5, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; VAN Dan Schneller 2-3, 2 BB;

No pitcher was granted quarter in Game 7, but the Bayhawks erase two early deficits before a 6-run seventh inning rips the series away from the Canadiens for good. As Jeremy Mann strikes out swinging to end the Canadiens’ season, Jerry Outram, who hit .517/.576/.759 in the series, is caught by the camera, standing on the dugout steps with watery eyes before dropping his bat and wordlessly disappearing into the clubhouse tunnel. Outram, 29, and a likely fifth-time Player of the Year, has two more years on his contract in Vancouver.

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With that stunning turnaround, the World Series had become a California-only affair – the first time that had happened.

The Bayhawks, on a 4-game winning streak, had not gotten any of their regular players back, but had at least not lost anybody else while going the distance in dramatic fashion against Vancouver, but the Pacifics were also as healthy as ever and had been off for almost a week while the CL teams had beaten each other’s heads in.

The run differential of both teams was virtually the same. Additional rest, better defense, home field advantage, eight more wins in general, and those four lefty bats atop the order all hinted at the Pacifics having an advantage in the series.

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2043 WORLD SERIES

SFB @ LAP … 6-5 … (Bayhawks lead 1-0) … SFB Dave Martinez 2-3, 2 2B; LAP Tony Hunter 2-4, BB, RBI;

The Bayhawks almost blow a 6-0 lead in the last three innings after the Pacifics had been mostly silent in the first six.

SFB @ LAP … 7-8 … (series tied 1-1) … SFB Sergio Quiroz 3-5, 2 RBI; SFB Bob Nelson 2-2, BB; SFB Victor Acosta (PH) 1-1, HR, 4 RBI; LAP David Alvardo 3-3, 2 BB, 2B, RBI; LAP Kenny Leon 1-2, 3 BB, HR, 2 RBI; LAP Tony Romero 2-5, 2 RBI;

This time, they blow it. San Fran’s Bryan Carmichael is taken apart for three runs in the bottom of the ninth, with Tony Romero driving in the tying and winning runs, Alvardo and Leon, with a single to right.

LAP @ SFB … 5-7 … (Bayhawks lead 2-1) … LAP Mark Cahill 2-4, BB, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; LAP Kenny Leon 1-2, 2 BB, 2B; SFB Sergio Quiroz 4-4, 3B, 2B, 3 RBI;

A homer shy of the cycle, 22-year-old Sergio Quiroz is the playoff hero you never heard about. The rookie infielder and defensive wiz hit .301 in just 44 games in the regular season, and is now slapping it for a .457/.500/.629 slash line in the playoffs.

LAP @ SFB … 6-3 … (series tied 2-2) … LAP Mark Cahill 3-4, BB, 2 HR, 3B, 5 RBI;

LAP @ SFB … 3-4 … (Bayhawks lead 3-2) … SFB Dave Martinez 2-4, RBI; SFB Mike Mihalik 7.2 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, W (3-1);

SFB @ LAP … 3-1 … (Bayhawks win 4-2) … SFB Mel Castillo 3-4, 2B; SFB Juan Brito 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; SFB Bob Nelson 3-4, 2B; SFB Rafael Pedraza 8.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, W (2-1) and 2-3, RBI;

Except for a Mark Cahill home run, Rafael Pedraza suffocates the Pacifics, who are out-hit 12-3 in the deciding Game 6. The Bayhawks score their three runs in the first two innings before coasting on the wings of Pedraza (and Carmichael) for just 2 hours and 21 minutes.

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2043 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS
San Francisco Bayhawks
(2nd title)

[Westheim]

Maud, the good old girl, knew what to do. As usual, we sent a thank you telegram to the CL South team that had humped the Canadiens out of the CLCS, complete with a fruit basket, and we also sent a plush toy raccoon to the Canadiens with a note reading “so sorry”.

As usual, the raccoon was sent back with both ears cut off its head and a miniature Elks hat with wiggling antlers glued on top.

Nothing like a good, old-fashioned rivalry!

Which brought us right to Nick Valdes, who stopped over in Portland on his return from the Easter Islands, where he had overseen all the giant stone heads being tossed into the ocean and the island planed for an amusement park. He brought the budget allowance with him an took a couple of millions out of the sack with dollar notes we kept under the sink in the bathroom, citing various costs he incurred year round with this team. None of this went by without the two of us haggling over the numbers and hissing at each other.

All the haggling was for nothing in the end. The Raccoons’ budget stayed the same at $39.5M, which we hadn’t even spent all last year, and which would have been $41.5M if Valdes hadn’t bet two million on the Pacifics to win the World Series in the Owners’ Raffle. So in the end, the team would suffer for it again, but he still went home with $500 bills poking out of every pocket of his clothes when he left the ballpark and was promptly mugged and thrown into the dumpster when he reached the street. That wasn’t my problem though. I hadn’t replaced the city police force with a community discussion board – which promptly convened, condemned the violence, and then nothing happened anymore and everybody went home to bake artisanal muffins.

Despite the stagnating budget, the Raccoons moved from being tied for 18th in the league to being tied for 15th in the league, although the difference was marginal.

The five richest teams were the Blue Sox ($53M), damn Elks ($51M), Miners ($51M), Stars ($50M), and Pacifics ($48.5M), with the defending champs, the Bayhawks, in sixth place ($47M).

The bottom five were comprised of the Condors ($36M), Buffaloes ($36M), Warriors ($34.5M), Aces ($32.5M), and Indians ($28M). The missing CL North teams were t-8th (NYC, $44.5M), t-12th (BOS, $42M), and 17th (MIL, $39M).

The average budget for a team in the league rose to $42.07M, rising $280k compared to 2043. The median budget was $42M, up $250k from last season.

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There were other things to sort out – the Raccoons did not renew the contract with hitting coach David Holman, and Scout Guy – what, Maud? – “Jorge Perez”? – Never heard of him. … Scout Guy retired to coach his grandkids, 3-year-old twin girls. So these were holes that needed filling.

No hole was allowed to be created by Manny Fernandez’ $2.5M team option. We picked that up without hesitation. And while we reached out to professional personnel to fill the other positions around the team, the team itself deserved some observation, too, especially as far as free agency, salary arbitration and numerous fringe cases were concerned.

The Raccoons had six players heading for arbitration, five of them pitchers, and one of them Steve Nickas. There were also four free agents, none of them eligible for compensation. [full panel below]

Most of our bullpen was on the list, and we might want to retain at least a few of the bums. Although there was something to be said for cutting loose Travis Sims and Steve Nickas, persistent harbingers of a last place finish waiting to happen. Seth Green had also not exactly pitched great… Jose Castro had always been intended to be a one-year filler, but was Matt Waters ready? Chuck Jones was somebody we’d perhaps like to retain!

Decisions, decisions. And then there was the question with what to do with rightfield. Our production there had been sort of atrocious, and we needed a big bat in there to liven up the lineup. In-house production had failed us here, and the free agent market didn’t look too great, either. Troy Greenway had burned us once before. Mike Hall of the Bayhawks was not a power batter. Jose Platero of the Crusaders was, but also struck out like no tomorrow, an while he had hit 22 homers this year, he had also batted only .222, so there was that…

Again, decisions, decisions…

[Westheim]

So let’s talk team needs! First we need more donuts… (shakes empty box dramatically in front of Maud, who rolls her eyes, takes it and goes to retrieve a new one)

What did the Raccoons not need? I’d boldly say starting pitching. Between Wheatley, Mathers, Clark, Jackson, and mayyybe Merino…? … we sure had quite a rich selection already. There was no point in blowing dosh on that – and speaking of dosh, while Nick Valdes didn’t exactly open his wallet for us here, we still had quite a bit of currency on hand to swing a few deals. Steve from Accounting gave a preliminary of $7M and small change of budget room, but that was without head scout, hitting coach, several minor league coaches, and in reality we were probably around $6M. Which should buy a rightfielder, I guess.

The bullpen of course depended on resigning a number of people on the aforementioned arbitration and free agency list, so that was a work in progress at least until free agents would file in mid-November. In any case we could easily save about $1.2M by just letting go of Seth Green, Travis Sims, and Steve Nickas. That would be more than enough to extend, say, Chuck Jones.

The catcher position was filled, with Kilmer in a yearlong slump and under a pricey contract for another three years that made him immovable at this point, while Sean Sieber had out-hit him, although that came with the benefit of a ridiculous .354 BABIP for him (Kilmer: .297). Here we were especially watching 22-year-old Ruben Gonzalez, who had moved to St. Pete mid-season, and had batted .253/.314/.334 in 85 games there after hitting .303/.358/.461 in 39 games with Ham Lake. He was the current #76 prospect and had been signed for a mere $18k in the 2038 July IFA period.

On the infield we had the corners occupied with Sal Ayala (signed through 2044) and ROTY contender Ricky Jimenez. Arturo Carreno had fared rather well in his first full season, and whether we would put Matt Waters next to him to begin the 2044 season was still worth a debate. Waters hit .227/.311/.379 in 18 games in September/October, which was for a 92 OPS+. Given his strong defense at short, you’d forgive him for not slugging .500, though. Potential backups here were Gutierrez and de Wit, but improvements could certainly be made with those two. If we were convinced that Waters would start the year in AAA, we’d probably get another 1-year deal off the market like we had gotten Jose Castro this season. I was not hot on resigning Castro, who was just shy of 34 and already showed signs of coming apart at the seams.

In the outfield, Manny and Maldo were givens, and we had failed to find a third guy to be more than a warm body all year long. That was the main construction site for this winter: get a third outfielder worth the ticket price. Van Anderson was an unimpressive hitter, but good enough for a fifth outfielder of the defensive sort, same for Nettles, but Anderson might be cheaper. Nettles hit for triples and stole 30 bases despite a 76 OPS+ (getting close to Yoshi Yamada territory…), while Anderson was dull throughout. They both hit lefty.

Nobody was wasting that much thought on the rest of the bums. Jose Casas (.612 OPS in 300 PA), Jordan Gonzalez (.515 in 144 PA for his career), and Justin Waltz (.516 in 257 PA, also for his career). The remaining AAA outfielders had been even less impressive, including Juan Rosario (who wasted space on the 40-man), Gene Pellicano, Ben Finegold, and Roberto Medina.

Maud, why are you screaming outside? – Why did you let Carreno barf onto the donuts??

The first news item of any kind was thus that Arturo Carreno came down with food poisoning, but that he’d be ready for Opening Day.

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For the rightfield job, it should be worth noting that Sal Ayala had played rightfield in the past, but never successfully, and he was not very mobile anyway. Manny Fernandez, the older ones among us might remember, played multiple seasons as the starting rightfielder when we unsuccessfully tried to hide Jimmy Wallace in leftfield. But I would prefer to keep him in left, because he was more of a rangy outfielder than blessed with a murder arm – although he did get his share of assists.

Lacking a scout, I had Cristiano Carmona play a bit with this laptop and filter the playerbase for rightfielders with at least average defense and 20+ homers in 2043. There were a few names on there that would be impossible to acquire because they were cornerstones of winning teams (like Juan Benavides), and Maldonado was also on there, but there were also a few interesting cases, all in the CL.

Joe Ritchey of the Titans was one, hitting .268 with 20 homers this year. Cristiano gave me a red flag though, saying his defensive numbers indicated a beginning decline at age 31, and he was signed for another five seasons, probably not a tab we were hot on taking up, especially with $3M+ a year on the line. Then there was Jose Platero of the Crusaders, hitting .222 with 22 homers, who should probably wear #22. He was an impending free agent though, and could not be traded for now.

In the CL South, the Condors were wasting the career of Bryce Toohey, a 28-year-old eligible for arbitration only now after rotting in AAA for many years. He had however never hit for power in the minors before bursting out with 18 home runs for the Condors in 2042, and 22 this year, while hitting .279 and .267 respectively. Only this year did he play a full season and landed an .802 OPS. His range was not great, but his arm was. He was also batting right-handed – and did that make too many righty bats? Maldonado and Jimenez and both catchers were right-handers and would also bat somewhere in that real estate. Toohey was also Australian, and would continue the proud tradition of Aussie hitters on the Raccoons. You know, Vern Kinnear, and … uh… anybody remember Liam Wedemeyer?

The Indians were using Danny Rivera (.265 with 17 homers) in left, but we thought he’d fit better in right. The 24-year-old had hit 27 homers last year, while leading the league in strikeouts. He was a left-handed hitter and possessed great speed, stealing 34 bases in 50 attempts each of the last two seasons.

Those two were probably my favorites. Both would cost prospects galore.

However – how many more pitching prospects did we really need? Assuming Merino to fill the #5 hole, we had Wheats and Mathers, who would probably cover us for a long time, and Clark and Jackson were *suitable* and under contract for 3+ years. Was there a point in stashing up another five starting pitching prospects?

No, I think the time has come to cash some of those in for the bats we really need. Tony Negrete (#25 prospect / #2 for the franchise), Generos de Leon (#60/4), Adam Capone (#66/5), Sean Belisle (#90/7), Jose Arias (#115/8), Bubba Wolinsky (#146/11) – those were all still ranked starting pitching prospects that currently had very few open spots beckoning, and the list did not include Merino (#55/3).