Portland Raccoons (ABL)

[Westheim]

With the division in the bag, there were two goals for this final home week. Goal #2 was not to dawdle away homefield advantage for the CLCS (we were up five wins on the Bayhawks). Goal #1 was more important though –

Don’t get hurt.

Raccoons (92-63) vs. Titans (72-83) – September 26-29, 2044

The Raccoons had already taken the season series from the Titans, 11-3, and now just had to stay in the dry. Boston was seventh in runs scored, ninth in runs allowed, and squabbling over fourth place with the Crusaders. They were third in on-base percentage, but bottoms in batting average and home runs, and second from the bottom in stolen bases. Jamal Barrow and Danny Liceaga were on the DL.

Projected matchups:
Corey Mathers (10-11, 4.05 ERA) vs. Victor Mondragon (1-2, 4.32 ERA)
Brent Clark (11-12, 3.82 ERA) vs. Ricky Contreras (0-0, 3.55 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (9-5, 4.61 ERA) vs. Chris Turner (13-14, 3.61 ERA)
Jake Jackson (14-6, 3.60 ERA) vs. Ignacio del Rio (12-13, 3.69 ERA)

The first two starters they’d throw at us were rookies. The middle two starters were southpaws.

Game 1
BOS: LF Watt – RF Ritchey – C Whitley – 3B I. Lugo – 2B Castaneda – SS J. Rodriguez – 1B Lindstrom – CF T. Lopez – P Mondragon
POR: CF Baskins – 1B Ayala – LF Fernandez – RF Toohey – 3B Jimenez – SS Hunter – C Kilmer – 2B Gutierrez – P Mathers

Stopping the blow-ups would also be a good thing to integrate into the game plan for any given day now. The Raccoons scattered seven hits through four innings, plating two runs when Jimenez drove home Ayala in the first inning, and with Toohey’s single that cashed Derek Baskins in the third. Apart from that, lots of wasted runners. The Titans had only one hit the first time through (a Mondragon single, what else), but Mathers ran face-first into the fence in the fifth, in which all the wheels once again fell off at once. Juan Rodriguez drew a leadoff walk and advanced on Matt Lindstrom’s grounder. Tony Lopez hit a comebacker that Mathers fumbled several times for an error. Mondragon then flew to center, and Baskins flubbed the catch for another error, scoring Rodriguez. Four balls to Matt Watt filled the bags with one out. Bryce Toohey’s rush into the gap to catch a Joe Ritchey drive held the Boston #2 to a game-tying sac fly, and somehow Dan Whitley hacked out to end the miserable inning that had given the Titans two runs without the benefit of a base hit. After the Raccoons waited out two Mondragon walks in the bottom 5th, Mathers continued to be obnoxious in the sixth. Leadoff walk to Ivan Lugo, then a soft single hit by Jose Castaneda. Juan Rodriguez grounder was taken to third base for a force out, and Lindstrom grounded to short for an inning-ending double play.

Mondragon walked six Raccoons in as many innings, but held out for the no-decision. Mathers pitched seven innings of 3-hit ball, but there was a sour taste in the mouth anyway. He was hit for with Mal Phinazee, who drew a 2-out walk off Terry Garrigan, in the bottom 7th, with Hunter and Kilmer on base. The situation was unearned – Hunter had reached base on an throwing error by Oscar Aguirre at second base. At least Garrigan, a Raccoon for the briefest time a few dark years back, continued to melt, and walked Derek Baskins on four pitches with the bases loaded to give the lead back to Portland. Then Ayala grounded out. Nelson Moreno got around a Ritchey single in the eighth to keep the tiny lead together, but Josh Rella was turned over for the tying run in the ninth inning. Carlos Cortes hit a 1-out single off the bench, then scored on Lindstrom's double that beat Baskins in the gap. Danny Tirado hit Tony Hunter in the bottom 9th, but no Raccoon could be bothered for a base hit, sending the game to extra innings.

Nate Norris pitched scoreless 10th and 11th innings, while the Raccoons were retired in order in the 10th by Tirado, then faced righty Aaron Durham in the 11th. Durham had 29 walks in 38 innings, so with a bit of patience … aaand Toohey began with a groundout. The pitcher’s spot had wandered into the #5 hole earlier, so Gene Pellicano pinch-hit for Norris here. Pellicano showed no patience, either, ripping away at the second pitch he got from Durham. At least he hit it some 400 feet. It’s a walkoff! 4-3 Raccoons. Ayala 2-6, 2B; Pellicano (PH) 1-1, HR, RBI; Mathers 7.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 4 K; Norris 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, W (10-3);

Whatever makes these games end. The longer they are on the field, the sooner they’ll break a leg…

Game 2
BOS: LF Watt – RF Ritchey – 1B Zuazo – 2B O. Aguirre – 3B I. Lugo – C Youngquist – SS Castaneda – CF T. Lopez – P R. Contreras
POR: 2B Carreno – 3B Jimenez – 1B Maldonado – RF Toohey – LF Pellicano – SS Waters – CF Anderson – C Gonzalez – P Clark

The Coons got two runs in the first, Jimenez reaching on a Joe Ritchey fumble in right, then scoring on a Maldonado triple. Toohey’s groundout brought in the second run. The second inning began with Waters reaching with a leadoff single, and he stole his 28th bag. Van Anderson hit a soft single for runners to go to the corners, and while Ruben Gonzalez grounded to short, he beat out the throw to first to break up the double play, and got the RBI as Waters dashed home, 3-0. While Clark was surely not perfect, scattering four runners on two hits and walk walks in the first three innings, the Raccoons got definitely more gifts from the opposition. Case in point, bottom 3rd, with leadoff walks to Jimenez (who advanced on a wild pitch) and Maldonado. Toohey flew out before another wild pitch advanced both runners. Pellicano then hit a single to right, bringing home Jimenez, and Waters whacked an RBI single to left, 5-0. Van Anderson was drilled, loading them up, and Ruben Gonzalez got another RBI with a deep sac fly to Ritchey. That wasn’t even the end; Clark singled home Waters with two outs and on a 1-2 pitch, which was the deserved end for Contreras. Carreno grounded out, keeping the score at 7-0 through three.

Clark meanwhile lasted six innings only, getting entangled in his usual barbed wire mesh of long counts and walks. The Titans got him for a run in the sixth, which began with a leadoff walk to Alvin Zuazo, then saw singles by Ivan Lugo on 3-2, and by Castaneda on 2-2. He also struck out three batters in the inning, which took positively forever and took him well over 100 pitches. The Raccoons tacked on, a 2-run homer by Maldo in the bottom 6th against Brian Jackson stretching the lead to 9-1. Toohey almost went back-to-back, but was caught by Watt at the fence. We also loaded the bases in the seventh, but Carreno flew out to Ritchey to strand everybody. That was the last runs on the board for the Raccoons, who got near-perfect relief from Alex Ramirez, Bob Ibold, and Steven Johnston for the last three innings to keep the Titans down. 9-1 Critters. Maldonado 2-4, BB, HR, 3B, 3 RBI; Waters 3-4, RBI; Anderson 2-3; Gonzalez 1-2, BB, 2 RBI; Clark 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 8 K, W (12-12) and 1-2, RBI;

Game 3
BOS: LF Watt – RF Ritchey – C Whitley – 1B C. Cortes – 3B I. Lugo – 2B Castaneda – SS O. Aguirre – CF T. Lopez – P C. Turner
POR: 2B Carreno – 1B Ayala – 3B Jimenez – RF Toohey – LF Fernandez – CF Pellicano – C Kilmer – SS Hunter – P Wheatley

Wheats had pretty much pitched himself into the playoff bullpen in the last few weeks, and it would take a gem to get us even start talking about him being a starter for the upcoming CLCS. He retired Boston in order in the first, then got a 1-0 lead spotted on Ricky Jimenez’ homer to left. Wheats retired eight in a row, then inexplicably walked “Tuba” Turner, and Watt for good measure, too. Ritchey (.277, 21 HR, 61 RBI) struck out, somehow. He also hit a pair of singles his first two times at the plate, getting the old batting average over .300 (!), with the latter instance in the bottom 4th leading to a 2-out run after Kilmer had doubled up Pellicano initially. Hunter had reached base, Wheatley singled, and Carreno hit an RBI single to right. Wheatley however also suffered **** to the brain on that play, running to third base, where he was out by a good 20 feet to concluded the fourth inning, Portland up 2-0.

He continued with a leadoff hit-by-pitch to Castaneda’s rib cage, but the runner was caught stealing, but his no-hit bid was broken up in the sixth when Watt singled to center with one out. Then he quickly walked Ritchey and nailed Whitley to stuff the bases… Carlos Cortes rammed a bases-clearing double into the gap, so there was that, but Whatley retired another four batters after that. He should have been lifted after a walk to Watt with two outs in the seventh, but hung around to give up a homer to Ritchey, the 22nd for the hitter and the 16th for the pitcher. While the Raccoons looked like they were out of ideas, Cortes hit a homer off Alex Ramirez in the top 8th for another run. We were still down 6-2 into the bottom 9th, but forced Danny Tirado into the game with one out after Waters and Carreno reached base with one out, making this a save situation. Tirado walked Ayala, and Jimenez came to the plate as the tying run. He also grounded to second base for a force there, but the Titans could not turn two; a run scored, and Toohey, home run leader on the team, would get a chance. He grounded out on the first pitch. 6-3 Titans. Carreno 2-5, RBI; Jimenez 3-5, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Phinazee (PH) 1-1;

In the South the Knights were eliminated on Wednesday, while the Bayhawks led the Aces by three. They’d play four on the weekend, including a double-header to begin the set.

In the FL East the Cyclones led the Buffos by two, and the Gold Sox had the same margin over the Stars. Denver had also reached 100 wins by now.

Game 4
BOS: LF Watt – RF Ritchey – C Whitley – 1B C. Cortes – 3B I. Lugo – 2B Castaneda – SS J. Rodriguez – CF T. Lopez – P del Rio
POR: CF Baskins – 1B Ayala – 3B Maldonado – RF Toohey – LF Fernandez – SS Waters – C Zarate – 2B Carreno – P Jackson

Both teams were on two hits and no runs in the bottom 3rd when Carreno drew a leadoff walk and stole second base, his 48th of the year. Jackson grounded out, and Derek Baskins brought in the run with a single. A groundout and a strikeout would leave Baskins on base, while the Titans began the fourth with singles from Whitley and Cortes. The latter was forced out by Lugo with a grounder, but the tying run reached third base on the play. Castaneda struck out, which offered a chance out of the inning, but Jackson wouldn’t take that route until after giving up the lead on Rodriguez’ single to right, and all hope for a decent game with a hanger and 3-run homer to Tony Lopez. Whitley then walked and Cortes banged a homer in the fifth to send Jackson to the bench to think about what he was the heck doing…

Mal Phinazee’s homer in Jackson’s spot in the bottom 5th only briefly got the Raccoons back into slam range. Zack Kelly was whacked around some more for a run in the sixth, which was an alarming degree of incompetence for a left-hander that had been sturdy as a cow from April to August. Chuck Jones and Jon Craig continued the collapse with three runs in the eighth inning. The Raccoons never hit for anything meaningful after the fifth inning. 10-2 Titans. Baskins 2-4, RBI; Phinazee (PH) 1-1, HR, RBI; Cruz (PH) 1-1;

Absolutely in playoff form, everybody!

Oh, woe is me. (grabs Honeypaws and rocks back and forth)

Home field for the CLCS was clinched with a Bayhawks loss. They were still three up on Vegas.

Raccoons (94-65) vs. Loggers (61-98) – September 30-October 2, 2044

The season series against Milwaukee was also in the bag, 11-4. Maybe don’t get swept, still, boys, yes? No? They looked tired. Oh dear. The Loggers were in the bottom three in runs scored and runs allowed, with a slightly iffy -150 run differential (Coons: +141). Turns out shedding nearly all your good position players for most of the season isn’t something a small-market team can overcome.

Projected matchups:
Sadaharu Okuda (15-8, 3.31 ERA) vs. Matt Peterson (8-12, 4.82 ERA)
Corey Mathers (10-11, 3.91 ERA) vs. Jordan Calderon (2-6, 4.58 ERA)
Victor Merino (2-1, 2.31 ERA) vs. Sergio Piedra (8-14, 3.47 ERA)

Looked like two more right-handers around a southpaw.

Game 1
MIL: LF Borchard – SS Davison – CF Reeves – RF Hertenstein – C Payne – 2B S. Pena – 3B T. Ruiz – 1B Cannizzard – P M. Peterson
POR: SS Waters – 1B Ayala – 3B Maldonado – LF Fernandez – RF Pellicano – CF Phinazee – C Gonzalez – 2B Gutierrez – P Okuda

The Coons scored there in a dragging first inning, in which a walk, two singles, and another walk to Manny forced in the first run. Pellicano hit a sac fly to center, Phinazee walked, and Gonzalez plated a run with a groundout before Gutierrez grounded out. Okuda had voiced his desire to pitch 200 innings in the regular season, which would require 6.2 innings, and he was sure on a good track the first time through, allowing only a walk to Daniel Hertenstein. The same guy also got the Loggers’ first hit, a 2-out single in the fourth, soon followed by another one poked by Ricky Payne. Sergio Pena was out to short, though, stranding the runners. While bidding for a shutout, Okuda also casually hit doubles his first two times at the plate, neither of which occurred with a runner on base, or anybody behind him doing anything worth writing home about.

Adam Borchard left the game with some sort of core injury suffered on his leadoff double in the sixth. T.J. Serad replaced him, and scored on Scott Davison’s single to get Milwaukee on the board, 3-1. Okuda retired the next three, though, and remained afloat. With Phinazee on third base and two outs in the bottom 6th, Okuda drew a walk from Ron Purcell. Waters struck out, though. At 199.2 innings, Okuda walked Tomas Ruiz in the seventh, but then got Tim Cannizzard to fly out to Phinazee for the second out. There were the 200…! And then he gave up an RBI triple to PH Josh Clausing, and a homer to Serad to fall 4-3 behind…

While I clamored to the baseball gods as to why, why, WHY, the measly Raccoons actually seemed to wake up from their afternoon naps. Maldo and Manny reached base with one out in the seventh against lefty Marvin Verduzco. Pellicano’s drive to right was taken by Hertenstein, though, merely moving Maldo to third base. Toohey hit for Phinazee, walked, and with the bases loaded, Carreno batted for Gonzalez… and grounded out. Two singles off Bob Ibold instead gave the Loggers a tack-on run when Chuck Jones gave up a sac fly to Jonathan Fleming in the eighth. The Raccoons sent their secret weapon – Jay de Wit batted for Gutierrez to begin the bottom 8th and homered to left, which was sure to cause a power outage and fireworks on Aruba, with the score narrowed down to 5-4 again. Nelson Moreno held the Loggers in place in the top 9th, with righty Cesar Perez out for the bottom 9th. The inning began with both Maldo and Manny sending singles through the left side on the infield, getting the tying and winning runs on base. Pellicano grounded to short, Manny being forced out. Van Anderson had ended up in the #6 hole and had a single to right, and that tied the ballgame…! Pellicano to third base, and Derek Baskins would hit for Moreno in the #7 spot… and he grounded out to first. Anderson advanced, but Pellicano had to stay put. But why worry? We still had the Aruban fireworks machine in the #8 spot! Jay de Wit, two outs, a grounder up the middle, and a walkoff single…!! 6-5 Critters. Maldonado 3-5; Fernandez 1-2, 3 BB, RBI; Anderson 1-1, RBI; de Wit (PH) 2-2, HR, 2 RBI;

And we also learned of our CLCS opponent – it would be the Bayhawks, who split their double-header with the Aces, which was enough to take the South.

Game 2
MIL: LF Fox – SS Davison – RF Hertenstein – CF Reeves – 2B S. Pena – C Payne – 1B J. Hill – 3B T. Ruiz – P J. Calderon
POR: 2B Carreno – LF Baskins – 1B Maldonado – RF Toohey – CF Pellicano – 3B Cruz – C Kilmer – SS Hunter – P Mathers

While the Loggers loaded the bases with three 2-out runners, a single to right, a walk, and a Maldo error being involved, the Raccoons turned the third out on Ricky Payne’s grounder, then actually scored a pair in the bottom 1st. Carreno got on, stole his 49th base, and got to the corner when Maldo singled. Toohey hit an RBI double to left for his first worthwhile hit of the week, and Pellicano added a sac fly to get up 2-0 for Mathers. The lead disappeared in the third, when Bill Reeves homered to center with Hertenstein aboard to get the Loggers even. Neither team did much in the next two innings, but Brian Fox broke the tie with a homer in the sixth inning, giving the Loggers a 3-2 lead. The Coons had only three hits at that point; Toohey whacked a double in the bottom 6th, but was stranded.

After Steven Johnston had a scoreless seventh to keep the Loggers at 3-2, the Raccoons tried again with one out in the bottom 7th. Hunter walked, and Manny singled in the pitcher’s spot. Calderon rung up Carreno, but allowed a hit to Baskins to right. The single was picked up right away by Hertenstein, though, and Tony Hunter had to hold at third base. Maldonado got the bases loaded with two down, hit a liner to right on an 0-1, and that fell into nobody’s backyard in particular…! Hunter in, Manny home, score-flipping 2-run single for Maldo! Calderon got yanked, with the lefty Verduzco taking over. He threw a wild pitch, then walked Toohey, giving Pellicano another three on, two out chance. And PELLICANO hit a liner, to center, and in for two runs…! Jose Cruz grounded out, ending the 4-spot. Those were also the final runs in the game – Moreno, Kelly, and Rella pieced it together for the Raccoons. 6-3 Raccoons. Maldonado 2-4, 2 RBI; Toohey 2-3, BB, 2 2B, RBI; Fernandez (PH) 1-1; Jimenez (PH) 1-1;

First major league win for Steven Johnston!

Game 3
MIL: LF Serad – 2B Davison – CF Reeves – RF Hertenstein – 1B Cannizzard – 3B T. Ruiz – C Bayless – SS McNelis – P Piedra
POR: 2B Carreno – 1B Ayala – LF Baskins – 3B Jimenez – RF Pellicano – SS Waters – CF Phinazee – C Gonzalez – P Merino

Davison singled, stole a base, and scored on a Hertenstein single in the first inning to give the Loggers the lead. The Coons wasted walked to Ayala and Jimenez in the bottom 1st, then saw Waters throw away a Ruiz grounder before Merino gave up a homer to Eric McNelis, of all people, to fall behind 3-0. Merino never got his crap together – he struggled the bases full in the third, but nobody scored, and in the fourth McNelis, who had hit one homer all season in scarce exposure, hit a leadoff jack of him, giving him two in the game. The Raccoons meanwhile had no hits through three, four, five innings. Waters drew a leadoff walk in the bottom 5th, but never got a steal off. Phinazee popped out, and Gonzalez hit into a double play. That was the way the offense went for Portland in the regular season finale.

Merino was yanked in the sixth after giving up another run on two singles, including one by McNelis. Preston Porter took over and exited the sixth with a grounder by Davison. Van Anderson walked in the #9 hole in the bottom 6th, but also wasn’t moved around, and slowly but surely Piedra was on no-hitter watch… The Coons struck out in order in the seventh, but ran long counts and got Piedra to 100 pitches. Manny Fernandez pinch-hit for Nate Norris in the #7 spot to begin the bottom 8th. He took a 1-1 to left, single in front of Serad, and the ghost of getting no-hit was dispelled! Piedra was lifted at once. Gonzalez popped out, while Anderson reached on an error by Davison. Carreno flew out, and Ayala walked – all against Bobby Freels. Baskins was up with three on and two outs, but flew out to Reeves in center… The Loggers would get a run off Jon Craig – unearned – in the ninth inning, not that it much mattered anymore with the game in the bin. Freels hung around for the bottom 9th, walking Jose Cruz in place of Jimenez. Pellicano popped out. Waters flew out to left. Toohey hit for the pitcher, struck out, and that was the end of the regular season. 7-0 Loggers. Fernandez (PH) 1-1;

In other news

September 27 – The second-place Stars lose another linchpin of their roster, with INF/CF Jose Rivas (.355, 0 HR, 60 RBI) out for the season with a strained triceps.
September 27 – RIC SP Omar Lara (13-13, 3.84 ERA) 3-hits the Cyclones for a shutout in a 3-0 Rebels win.
September 27 – Every Scorpions position player in the lineup reaches base safely at least twice in an 17-8 win over the Stars. The Scorpions score 10 runs in the third inning alone.
September 30 – All remaining divisions are clinched on Friday, as the Bayhawks split a double-header with the Aces to stay in front, while in the Federal League the Cyclones beat the Capitals 6-2, and the Gold Sox beat the Stars, 4-1, to each win their divisions.
October 1 – SFB 2B/SS Sergio Quiroz (.316, 16 HR, 71 RBI) whacks five hits in a 12-7 win over the Aces, including a homer and three doubles. He drives in three runs.
October 1 – Pittsburgh SS Doug Clevidence (.285, 5 HR, 60 RBI) drives in five runs from the leadoff spot in an 11-0 rush of the Blue Sox.

FL Hitter of the Month: TOP OF Dave Lee (.321, 17 HR, 62 RBI), batting .423 with 5 HR, 14 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: IND OF Danny Rivera (.280, 24 HR, 90 RBI), hitting .315 with 6 HR, 23 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: WAS SP Matsuichi Yazawa (21-10, 3.20 ERA), pitching for a 5-1 record with 1.84 ERA, 30 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: SFB SP Eric Weitz (15-8, 3.66 ERA), hurling for a 5-1 mark with 2.60 ERA, 43 K
FL Rookie of the Month: SFW CF Clay Krabbe (.227, 7 HR, 40 RBI), hitting .305 with 3 HR, 15 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: CHA OF David Vasquez (.292, 9 HR, 50 RBI), poking .322 with 3 HR, 16 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Most wins in a season since 2028!

And 2028 was not a bad old year, wasn’t it?

Now, we didn’t exactly end the regular season on a high note… (pinches Manny Fernandez in cheek for preventing getting no-hit by the Loggers). But we at least figured out that Wheatley was not gonna be a starter in the postseason (12.18 ERA in his last four starts), although not all the position player spots were set in stone yet.

The 12 pitchers and pair of catchers were set (and included Porter rather than Ramirez). For infielders, eligible were Ayala, Carreno, Jimenez, Waters, Hunter, and Cruz. For outfielders: Manny, Maldo, Baskins, Phinazee, Toohey, Pellicano, and Anderson.

Van Anderson was likely an odd man out. But who was the second position player to get dropped? Pellicano? Or maybe Cruz, who had hit nicely all year while not getting a lot of playing time, but who was mostly a pinch-hitter only with his limited defense having gotten worse by now. Pellicano was of course a sixth outfielder – although Maldonado could fill in on the infield readily.

Carreno came second in stolen bases for the year, getting beaten by a single base by Andrew Russ. Angel Montes de Oca was another bag behind. Toohey in homers and Maldo in batting each came third. San Fran’s Ramon Sifuentes collapsed this week, with the damn Elks bugger Jerry Outram sneaking into another batting title.

Fun Fact: Arturo Carreno and Tony Hunter finished the regular season a combined 6-for-73.

Yikes.

[Westheim]

2044 CONTINENTAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Portland Raccoons (96-66) vs. San Francisco Bayhawks (91-71)

The Raccoons had made the CLCS for the first time since 2037, when they had also played against the Bayhawks. This was the fifth CLCS matchup of these two teams, with the Raccoons prevailing in 1991, 1992, an 2037, while getting bumped in 2017.

San Francisco had won the season series, 5-4, although the Raccoons had actually outscored them in the series, 46-40. That was fine in the regular season. Now I was more interested in wins.

We had finished the CL second in runs scored and fourth in runs allowed with a +138 run differential. The offense could do it all – get hits (2nd), get on base (2nd), hit bombs (2nd), snatch bags (4th), heck, sometimes even all of it in one game! Our main weakness right now was a rotation 6th in ERA and a bullpen that had suffered a few selective meltdowns in September, and which had at least one left-hander that was ice cold.

San Francisco had come fourth in runs scored and seventh in runs allowed. Their run differential was a mere +30. They were good at hitting homers, but were actually below average in OBP. Their 121 homers put them third, and they had also stolen 104 bags, sixth in the league. Their rotation was about as good or average as the Raccoons’, but the pen was worse, and they had a bottom three defense. So how exactly had they gotten here again?

The Raccoons couldn’t hope for more than one left-handed Bayhawks starter (Noe Candeloro (11-13, 3.97 ERA), but regardless made a potentially controversial roster choice by including right-handed outfielder Gene Pellicano on the playoff roster at the expense of grizzled veteran Jose Cruz. But Ricky Jimenez had turned it up in the last six weeks, and then we might also want to move Maldonado to third base in certain situations. It was hard to see more than a pinch-hitter in Cruz at this point. Well, Pellicano hit for an .857 OPS, besting Cruz by 138 points. He could certainly pinch-hit just as well.

The series would start on Wednesday, which gave the Raccoons ample time to start Sadaharu Okuda, rookie by numbers, in Game 1. Jason Wheatley was dropped from the rotation after a wholly craptastic September and would serve as extra reliever.

The Baybirds came in with no injuries worth worrying about (the Raccoons missed Jonathan Dustal, but also barely remembered who that was. Quirky Sergio Quiroz (.316, 16 HR, 71 RBI) and streaking Ramon Sifuentes (.327, 29 HR, 100 RBI) were to watch out for atop the order, but the Raccoons had also suffered plenty of burns by Jamie McGuigan (.294, 11 HR, 97 RBI), Jose Platero (.226, 15 HR, 82 RBI), and Kenichi Saito (.227, 16 HR, 79 RBI) during the season. Their lineup was mostly right-handed (or switch-hitters), so that would certainly be a challenge if we fed both Okuda and Clark as starters into the series. Clark was placed at the tail end, so they’d see left-handers no more than thrice.

On paper, the Raccoons looked like they might have good cards in the paw here.

But baseball isn’t played on paper.

[Westheim]

2044 CONTINENTAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Portland Raccoons (96-66) vs. San Francisco Bayhawks (91-71)

Game 1 – Sadaharu Okuda (15-8, 3.37 ERA) vs. Eric Weitz (15-8, 3.66 ERA)

The pesky Weitz, former damn Elk, was nothing the Raccoons were thrilled to see in the series opener, but in fact both Game 1 starters had not done well against the opposition in the regular season, posting ERA’s around six in a pair of starts each. Only Weitz had won a game. And did I mention Sifuentes? He had batted .429/.474/.886 against Portland this season across 35 at-bats. Shutting that guy down would already go a long way.

Unfortunately some things were hard to shut down; this included Nick Valdes, who arrived for the opening two games, anointed himself to toss the honorary first pitch, even though we warned him that this was bad luck, and so I was left to dry the tears of previously imported deliverer of the first pitch, 2026 and 2028 Raccoons World Series champions member Ricky Ohl, while Valdes lobbed a baseball underhand for 35 feet in front of a national audience. The ball almost rolled to Jose Zarate.

Almost.

SFB: SS J. Gonzalez – 2B K. Saito – LF Hennessy – 3B Sifuentes – RF Platero – C J. Hill – 1B M. Castillo – CF McGuigan – P Weitz
POR: CF Baskins – 1B Ayala – 3B Maldonado – RF Toohey – LF Fernandez – SS Waters – C Zarate – 2B Carreno – P Okuda

Sifuentes was retired his first time up, grounding out to Okuda with Kenichi Saito on second base. The Japanese infielder had reached on a throwing error by Matt Waters. The Raccoons also got their #2 on base in the first inning, although Sal Ayala reached under his own power with a single to right. Maldonado grounded out, but Bryce Toohey beat Bobby Hennessy near the leftfield line for an RBI double, and the Raccoons made it to the board first…! Manny struck out to end the first inning.

Both teams had a pair of runners in the second; the Bayhawks stranded John Hill and Jamie McGuigan when Weitz popped out, while the Raccoons reached the corners with one out on a Zarate double to right and a Carreno single to left. Carreno had been starved for hits in the last few weeks, putting him down in the #8 hole for the series. The paws were nimble, though, and when Okuda assaulted Weitz for a first-pitch single up the middle, Carreno wasted no time to go to third base to take the spot of Zarate, who scored, 2-0. Could we get more? Yes – Derek Baskins hit a single to left, 3-0! He was then forced out on a grounder to second by Ayala, and Maldo popped out to end the inning.

By the third inning it got worse, and not only because Jorge Gonzalez hit a leadoff single, stole second, and was driven in by Saito, but also because by now Nick Valdes had made his way to the office, where I was in a generally tense state, refusing food and rocking back and forth while squeezing my thighs into my chest and only peeking at the TV from the tiny spot between my knees. Honeypaws was somewhere squished into the huddle.

The Bayhawks got a leadoff runner in Hill in the fourth inning; he reached on a Maldonado error, but the run never got off first in the 3-1 game. Weitz, in the ropes not long ago, had been steady in the third and got two outs in the fourth, but then allowed singles to Baskins and Ayala. Baskins bid for third, drew a bad throw from Jose Platero, and both runners reached scoring position for Maldonado, who hit a single through the left side to extend the lead to 4-1. That was already 10 hits for the Raccoons in the game. Toohey added another run with a single up the middle, but Manny grounded out, keeping it 5-1 through four.

At about that point Nick Valdes opined that the Bayhawks should go home, they clearly had nothing on his Raccoons. I eyed the ceiling, beggingly, trying to explain to the baseball gods that he was a moron, didn’t know what he was talking about, and that this should not merit striking the Critters with lightning. For the time being, the Raccoons reached a 6-1 lead with Waters being doubled home by Carreno in the fifth. But Maldonado committed another throwing error to put Platero on base in the sixth, and this time Okuda didn’t recover. He walked McGuigan with two outs, gave up a 2-run double to PH Victor Acosta, and then walked Gonzalez. That was the end of him; with Saito up as the tying run, the Raccoons went to Nelson Moreno, because this had to stop *right* *now*. Moreno instead fell 3-1 behind, then got a slow grounder to the third base side of the mound out of Saito. Maybe too slow! Maldonado on the run, zinger to first, out! 6-3 in the middle of the sixth. Moreno did the seventh, getting around a leadoff infield single by Hennessy.

For the eighth and the bottom of the order, the Raccoons went to Preston Porter. McGuigan hit a 1-out single, but PH Cosmo Trevino (!) and Gonzalez both flew out to Manny Fernandez to keep him stranded. The Coons got Baskins on with a leadoff single in the bottom 8th, but Mike Mihalik got a double play grounder from Ayala. Maldo lined out to Saito, and that concluded all the hitting the Raccoons wished to do in this game. Josh Rella would get the ball for the ninth. Poignantly, Ricky Jimenez replaced Maldonado for defense at this point, with two errors on Maldo’s ledger already. There didn’t appear to be much chance for errors behind Rella, though. He struck out Saito. He struck out Hennessy. Sifuentes came up with an 0-for-4 in the game. He fell to 2-2, but then grounded to the left side. Jimenez was on it, throw to first – ballgame!

Raccoons 6, Bayhawks 3

Baskins 3-5, RBI; Ayala 2-5; Toohey 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Carreno 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI;

Finally, I unclenched, producing a very wrinkly-looking Honeypaws in my lap while Nick Valdes explained to Maud how his first pitch had set up the Raccoons’ entire pitching plan to perfection. He should do it again tomorrow!

And I shall prevent that with my blunderbuss.

Game 2 – Jake Jackson (14-7, 3.79 ERA) vs. Rafael Pedraza (18-8, 3.72 ERA)

We saw no reason to change our lineup for Game 2, the first pitch of which was thrown out by … well, a pair of first pitches, by Ricky Ohl and by Manobu Sugano, another Raccoons reliever of old, who had somehow been on the team twice, precisely sparing out the 2017-2020 period in which we went to the CLCS three times and died by Nick Lester in extra innings of a second tie-breaker the fourth time.

SFB: 2B Quiroz – 3B Sifuentes – 1B N. Duncan – CF McGuigan – RF Platero – SS K. Saito – C J. Wilson – LF M. Castillo – P Pedraza
POR: CF Baskins – 1B Ayala – 3B Maldonado – RF Toohey – LF Fernandez – SS Waters – C Zarate – 2B Carreno – P Jackson

The quirky Quiroz opened the game with a full-count walk, but Jackson got two strikeouts and an easy fly to center from the next three batters, and the runner never left first base. While Jackson began to retire the Bayhawks in order, the Raccoons found it hard to get on base. They were retired 1-2-3 in the first, and Manny walked in the second inning, but also never got off first base. Carreno drew a leadoff walk in the third inning, but was caught stealing by Jeff Wilson, and nobody else bothered to get on either.

The Bayhawks got their first hit with one out in the fourth, Nick Duncan lining one over Matt Waters or a single. McGuigan was down 0-2 before floating a bloop single into center. Platero grounded a 2-2 pitch to Maldonado, who started a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning and keep the game scoreless. Nick Valdes puffed Maud in the side and bragged how he had taught Maldo that move. Maybe that also explained the two errors in the first game…

The game got its first run in the bottom 4th when Bryce Toohey hit a 2-out solo homer to right. Manny also hit a fly to deep right, but this one was catchable for Platero and ended the inning. Jackson walked Castillo in the fifth, but got around that by retiring Pedraza, then faced Pedraza again with two outs in the bottom 5th, and with Jose Zarate on third base. If we didn’t already have the lead, there’d be a certain impetus to pinch-hitting, but we were already up 1-0 and Jackson was going really well. He flew out to Castillo to strand Zarate, then sat down the Baybirds 1-2-3 in the sixth.

Bottom 6th, Baskins and Ayala went to the corners with a pair of leadoff singles. The Birds hung with Pedraza yet, who gave up a liner to short to Maldo that Saito jumped for, appeared to tip with the edge of his glove, but couldn’t contain – RBI single for Maldonado, 2-0 lead…! Toohey though spanked a ball at Sifuentes for a 5-3 double play, and Manny grounded out to Quiroz to end the inning quickly after three straight singles to begin it.

Promptly, Jamie McGuigan homered off Jackson to begin the seventh. Platero walked, and the Raccoons got the pen scurrying. Saito and Wilson both struck out, so we felt a bit better about Jackson also facing Mel Castillo, who was 0-for-5 in the series. He stopped being 0-for-5 with a 2-0 pitch into the right-center gap, though. It was a double, and the Bayhawks waved Platero around for home plate – but Bryce Toohey made a PERFECT throw, a real rocket, and hammered out the tying run at the plate!! The 2-1 lead remained intact at the seventh inning stretch!

Jackson was hit for with Matt Waters on second base and two outs in the bottom 7th. Gene Pellicano hit a grounder up the middle that Saito fumbled for an error, putting two on the corners for Baskins, who ended Pedraza with a HUGE 3-run homer to right-center!! 5-1 Critters!

For the eighth we went to Nate Norris, but the pen had both Chuck Jones and Nelson Moreno going while the inning was just beginning. Norris struck out Cosmo Trevino and got Quiroz on a grounder, but Sifuentes broke out of an 0-for-8 spell to begin the series when he legged out an infield grounder for a single. That was the cue or Jones, to face Nick Duncan, whom he rung up in a full count. The Coons then loaded the bases on a single and two walks against Joe West in the bottom 8th, but Zarate struck out and Carreno lined out to Sifuentes to strand all the runners.

Jones remained in for McGuigan, a switch-hitter that was clearly weaker from the right side, to begin the ninth, but gave up a single anyway. In came Moreno, popping out Platero, but walking Saito. The bullpen door flung open again, this time for Josh Rella. Jeff Wilson crushed a 3-run homer on his first pitch …! Oh dear – the entire lead, reduced to one meek run …! The park got *really* tense at this point, and Nick Valdes almost choked on a donut. I reached for the bottle of Capt’n Coma, but Rella struck out Castillo for the second out. Here came Jorge Gonzalez to pinch-hit – and to strike out!

Raccoons 5, Bayhawks 4

Baskins 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Maldonado 2-4, RBI; Jackson 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, W (1-0);

A 2-0 series lead for the Raccoons as they’d travel to the Bay!

Nothing good has ever happened at the Bay.

[Westheim]

2044 CONTINENTAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Portland Raccoons (96-66) @ San Francisco Bayhawks (91-71)

The Coons arrived in San Francisco with the best possible outcome from their first two home games. The goal now had to be to only have another home game against the Federal League representative. The FLCS was tied at one at that point, so there was no point of musing about it.

Game 3 – Corey Mathers (10-11, 3.92 ERA) vs. Garrett Sutherland (11-7, 3.69 ERA)

Mathers had won ONE game after the All Star Game, a complete-game effort against the Titans in August. He had lost nine. Somehow, that still made him the third-most attractive option against the Bayhawks, who he had faced twice this year, going 1-0 with a 3.75 ERA. Sutherland had not faced the Critters in the regular season.

We still hung with the lineup that had won two games so far. San Francisco brought back the Game 2 lineup.

POR: CF Baskins – 1B Ayala – 3B Maldonado – RF Toohey – LF Fernandez – SS Waters – C Zarate – 2B Carreno – P Mathers
SFB: 2B Quiroz – 3B Sifuentes – 1B N. Duncan – CF McGuigan – RF Platero – SS K. Saito – C J. Wilson – LF M. Castillo – P Sutherland

The Coons disappeared in order in the first, but the Bayhawks wouldn’t bloody quite. Sifuentes singled up the middle – warming up now, the bugger! – and Duncan singled to right. McGuigan, annoyingly, hit a double right over the bag that Ayala couldn’t reach, and that hit off the sidewall to fool Toohey and allow both runners to score for an early 2-0 deficit. Mathers, annoyed, struck out the next two to end the inning. The Raccoons opened the second with Toohey and Manny singles, but then choked. Waters hit into a fielder’s choice, Zarate lined out to Quiroz, and Carreno grounded out to Saito.

Two were on again in the third inning, Mathers hitting a leadoff single before being forced out by Baskins, while Ayala walked on five pitches. Maldonado flew out to center, but Toohey walked on four pitches, presenting three on with two outs for Manny Fernandez, who had his 0-1 grounder snatched by Duncan and taken to first to end the inning. The Raccoons FINALLY reached the board in the fourth, when Waters singled, stole second, and was driven in with two outs by … Mathers, with another single. Baskins grounded out, keeping it a 2-1 game.

That Mathers guy kept shedding runners. The Bayhawks had gotten two in the second, one in the third, and by the fourth Wilson and Castillo reached base with one out. Sutherland bunted badly into a force on Wilson at third base, but that still left two on with two out for Quiroz. The switch-hitter spanked one up the middle, but Carreno warped over and made the play to put away the side. There was still pepper in this game for sure…!

Maldo and Platero were stranded on second base by either team in the fifth inning before Matt Waters opened the sixth with a wallbanger in right, hitting for a leadoff double to become the tying run in scoring position. Zarate hit a soft liner up the middle on which Waters at first had to dive back for the bag, fearing Saito could reach it and double him off if he went, and as a consequence had to park it at third base. Runners on the corners, no outs for Carreno – and he DID line out to Saito …! Oh bother. Mathers was hit for now, Mal Phinazee grabbing a stick in his stead, but also taking him off the hook by poking a 1-2 pitch over Quiroz for an RBI single, leveling the score at two. Sutherland began to lose command now, walked Baskins to fill the bases, and gave up a first-pitch single to Ayala that gave Portland a 3-2 lead! And just as quickly, Maldonado hit into a double play, 6-4-3.

The lead went to Jon Craig, who walked Saito to begin the bottom 6th, but got a double play grounder from Wilson, and another grounder to short from Castillo to exit the inning. Toohey hit a leadoff jack off Sutherland to send him to bed in the seventh, while Jesse Bulas walked Zarate and allowed a single to Carreno with two outs, but Gene Pellicano would line out to end the inning, and the bullpen exploded in the bottom 7th. Norris got two outs before Sifuentes singled, and then Zack Kelly came on and allowed a single to Duncan and a game-tying double to McGuigan. At this point the Raccoons went to Jason Wheatley for length; he struck out Platero to at least bow out of the seventh inning with a tie on the board…

Bulas was still on in the eighth, but walked Baskins and Ayala to gift a chance to the Critters. Maldonado hit a soft dinker to Platero’s feet, loading the bases – but there it was! The old trap! Three on and nobody out! Surely we’d lose this game now! Well, for the time being, Toohey hit a sac fly to center, which brought in Baskins with the go-ahead run. Despite a wild pitch by Bulas, that was the only Coons run in the inning. Manny popped out, Waters whiffed, and it was only 5-4 in the middle of the eighth. Wheats retired the side in order in the eighth, however, so things were still pointing upwards. Hunter, Carreno, and Kilmer made outs in order in the ninth against Jeremy Mayhall, and so it was on Josh Rella again, now with a 1-run lead.

Gonzalez popped out to Ayala to begin the bottom 9th. Quiroz ran a full count for seven pitches, then popped out over the infield. Waters and Carreno bumped into each other, but Waters held on to the ball while I shrieked. One out to go for a 3-0 series lead, and Sifuentes was the batter, 2-for-4 on the day, and reaching 3-for-5 with a single to left. That brought up Duncan, and bringing Chuck Jones was *an* option, but he would probably run into Bobby Hennessy as pinch-hitter, and this was not desired. Rella faced the left-hander. And walked him. McGuigan next. Mound conference. Endless seconds. The tension. Oh god, make it stop. McGuigan made it stop –

… by striking out!

Raccoons 5, Bayhawks 4

Maldonado 2-5; Toohey 2-3, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Waters 2-5, 2B; Phinazee (PH) 1-1, RBI;

So Jason Wheatley won a playoff game after all. Huh!

At this point we would have expected Noe Candeloro, the left-hander, but with their wings to the wall, the Bayhawks would go back to Eric Weitz on short rest. We had no reason to hurry – Brent Clark had been picked for Game 4 before the series, and Brent Clark got Game 4.

Game 4 – Brent Clark (12-12, 3.75 ERA) vs. Eric Weitz (15-8, 3.66 ERA)

With another right-handed starter up, there were also no changes to the lineup. With a playoff winning streak, I wasn’t changing my underwear, and I sure as hell wasn’t changing our lineup!

POR: CF Baskins – 1B Ayala – 3B Maldonado – RF Toohey – LF Fernandez – SS Waters – C Zarate – 2B Carreno – P Clark
SFB: SS J. Gonzalez – 2B K. Saito – LF Hennessy – 3B Sifuentes – RF Platero – C J. Hill – 1B M. Castillo – CF McGuigan – P Weitz

Maldonado put the Baybirds behind the 8 ball right away, hitting a 2-out solo jack in the first inning. Unfortunately, Clark’s charme didn’t play so well against a lineup where nobody would bat lefty against him. He retired the side in order in the first, but Sifuentes hit a single to open the second and Platero doubled immediately after that. John Hill hit a sac fly to tie the game, and Mel Castillo flew out to Toohey on an 0-2 pitch. The Baybirds smelled another sac fly and a lead, and sent Platero for home plate. Toohey threw him out by inches, keeping the game tied and sending Weitz back to the hill.

Instead, the Critters got another sac fly and the 2-1 lead in the third. Baskins opened with a double to center, advanced on Ayala’s grounder, and scored when Maldo flew out to McGuigan. That lead, too, was temporary, though, and Clark soon drowned in runners in the bottom 3rd. McGuigan hit a leadoff double and scored on Gonzalez’ single, 2-2, and then he walked the bags full. Sifuentes put San Fran on top with a sac fly. Platero grounded out on a 3-1 pitch, ending the inning.

Zarate got hit and Carreno singled, bringing up the pitcher’s spot for Portland with two outs in the fourth. Oh bother. That was a bad spot. Clark had nothing against the all-righty lineup, but we were not desperate; we were up 3-0. It could be 3-2 in a hurry if we burned down the pen again in this situation. Clark hit for himself, hit a stupid RBI single in a 1-1 count, and got himself off the hook. I couldn’t help but giggle. The baseball gods were rewarding the cautious. So far. Baskins grounded out to Saito to end the inning.

Clark had a clean fourth, but the fifth saw Weitz reach on an error by Baskins (…!), and then a 2-run crusher to left by Saito to put the Baybirds up, 5-3. Sifuentes’ double finally chased Clark, tattered and torn, and the Raccoons put Jon Craig in for long relief. He went into the last cleared spot, Manny’s, with Baskins to left and Phinazee to center, batting ninth. Craig gave up an RBI double to Platero, which deepened the hole to 6-3, before catching a comebacker from Hill. The Raccoons then hit balls hard in the sixth and seventh innings, but all into outs. Carreno hit a deep fly to the warning track to end the sixth, caught by Hennessy, who also shagged a Phinazee fly in a slide to begin the seventh. The game was clearly and obviously lost.

The Coons didn’t get back on base until Ricky Jimenez doubled in Craig’s spot with two outs in the eighth. Weitz struck out Waters to turn them away. Porter pitched a scoreless bottom 8th, but we got the bottom of the order up against Mayhall in the ninth. Pellicano hit for Zarate, .154 in the series, and singled to center. Carreno was next – a drive to right! High! Deep! OUTTA HERE!! The gap was down to one run! Phinazee singled to left-center. Baskins ran a full count, then hit a slow dribbler along the third base line. Sifuentes raced in, picked it, then gave up – Baskins had FLOWN up the line and got the infield single. Sal Ayala grounded out to first, at least advancing the runners! COME ON BOYS!! Next was Maldo. He reached for the first pitch offered by Mayhall and dumped it into center! RBI single! Tied game!!

That was the end of Mayhall, with Mike Mihalik replacing him. He struck out Toohey, with Jeff Kilmer hitting for Porter in the #5 hole. He took a high strike, then clubbed a low pitch to the left side. Sifuentes dove and missed it! Gonzalez reached and couldn’t get it! RBI single! COONS TAKE THE LEAD!!

Waters struck out in a full count, and now Josh Rella just had to get three outs without giving up a run, against the top of the order. Pellicano remained in the game over Toohey, so we wouldn’t have to lead off a potential 10th with our final man on the bench, Tony Hunter. Defensively that was even an upgrade. Quiroz popped out. Kenichi Saito struck out! Only Bobby Hennessy left between the Raccoons and the World Series! He struck the first pitch he saw to deep left. Baskins dashed back to the wall, looked up, parked himself in the middle of the warning track, and made the catch!

The Coons have won the pennant! The Coons have won the pennant! The Coons have won the pennant!!!

Raccoons 7, Bayhawks 6

Baskins 2-5, 2B; Maldonado 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Jimenez (PH) 1-1, 2B; Kilmer (PH) 1-1, RBI; Pellicano (PH) 1-1; Carreno 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Craig 2.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

[Westheim]

2044 FLCS

While the Raccoons swept the Bayhawks on their way to the World Series, there was of course also action in the Federal League. There, the 104-58 Gold Sox had won home field advantage throughout the playoffs with the fifth-most runs scored and the fewest runs allowed in the league. They had piled up a +195 run differential, but had also lost two pitchers, Bill Quintero and Ryan Kinner to injury along the way. Infielder Ronnie Thompson was also out for the team, which had only one double-digit home run hitter in Sandy Castillo (.274, 20 HR, 115 RBI), but was stealing more than one base per game, second in the FL (they were 11th in homers!). Their rotation had been the best, as had been their defense. They had the third-best pen by ERA. Their lineup laned to the left side, and they also had an array of lefty pitching.

Opposite them were the 86-76 Cyclones, who didn’t have any major injuries, but had also won 18 fewer games to begin with. That was a treacherous stat, though – they had a +119 run differential and had been in the top four in both runs scored and runs allowed. Their major weakness was a crummy bullpen and a terrible 13-26 record in one-run games. In the rotation and on defense, they were second in the FL to the Gold Sox only. They also carried four .300 hitters, and five guys with 14+ homers, all led by Dan Mathes (.315, 26 HR, 114 RBI). They also had a number of lefty hitters, but had only one lefty starter in Bill McMichael (15-12, 3.63 ERA), worst of the bunch by ERA.

This was the Cyclones’ 13th playoff appearance, and their third in four years. They hadn’t won the World Series since beating the Raccoons in 2010.

The Gold Sox had ended a *40-year drought*, going to the postseason for the first time since *2003*. This was only their fifth playoff appearance ever, but they also had two championships, same as the Cyclones, last winning in 2003. The two teams had never met in the FLCS.

+++

CIN @ DEN … 6-9 … (Gold Sox lead 1-0) … CIN Jesus Burgos 3-4, BB, RBI; DEN Eric Miller 2-4, 2 RBI; DEN Tim Turner 2-4, 2 RBI;

The Gold Sox fire off a 7-run rally in the bottom 8th to stave off a Game 1 loss, tearing up three pitchers in the process.

CIN @ DEN … 7-5 … (series tied 1-1) … CIN Jesus Burgos 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; DEN Eric Miller 2-4, 2 RBI; DEN Jason Robinson 3-4;

DEN @ CIN … 6-12 … (Cyclones lead 2-1) … DEN Ryan Cox 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; DEN Ricky Rodriguez 3-5, RBI; DEN Tim Turner 2-4, BB, 2B; CIN Valentino Sicco 4-5, 2 2B, 4 RBI; CIN Celio Umbreiro 2-3, 2 BB;

DEN @ CIN … 1-3 … (Cyclones lead 3-1) … DEN Ryan Cox 3-3, BB, 3B; CIN Chris Delgado 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; CIN Willie Gallardo 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (1-0);

DEN @ CIN … 8-2 … (Cyclones lead 3-2) … DEN Dan Harroun (PH) 1-1, RBI; DEN Sandy Castillo 3-5, 2 2B, 3 RBI; DEN Tim Turner 2-4, RBI; DEN Jeremy Hornig 2-4, 2B, RBI; DEN Michael Donovan 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, W (1-0); CIN Jesus Burgos 2-4, RBI; CIN Carson Jarvinen 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K;

Cincy has another 7-run blowup, this time in the top of the ninth inning.

CIN @ DEN … 1-5 … (series tied 3-3) … CIN Victor Chavez 2-4, HR, 2B, RBI; DEN David Pinedo (PH) 2-2, 2 RBI; DEN Jeremy Hornig 2-4, 3B, 2 RBI; DEN Lopo Malfati (PH) 1-1, RBI; DEN John Kennedy 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, W (1-1);

CIN @ DEN … 6-4 … (Cyclones win 4-3) … CIN Chris Strohm 2-5, RBI; CIN Victor Chavez 2-5, 2 2B, RBI; CIN Celio Umbreiro 1-2, 2 RBI; DEN Jason Robinson 2-4, HR, 2 RBI;

So the Raccoons will have a rematch of the 2010 World Series with the Cyclones…!

[Questdog]

Huzzah!

[Westheim]

2044 WORLD SERIES
Portland Raccoons (96-66) vs. Cincinnati Cyclones (86-76)

Seven years after losing the World Series to the Blue Sox in seven games, the Raccoons returned to the big stage with another CL pennant. We had done so without suffering injuries, and without losing a game in the CLCS, although three of the games had been 1-run wins, and the team didn’t exactly sweep the Bayhawks all the way under the rug.

We arrived back at Okuda as Game 1 starter, although everybody was in fact well-rested thanks to the sweep, while the Cyclones had (surprisingly!) chewed through the Gold Sox in seven games, and came into the World Series with only one day off in between games. While that would give the Raccoons a little advantage for the first game or two, there was a much bigger boost to their chances coming from the Cyclones’ DL: in Game 6, OF Dan Mathes (.315, 26 HR, 114 RBI) had suffered a knee injury which turned out to be a broken kneecap, rendering him out for the World Series! This took the biggest lefty bat out of their lineup, but there were for sure more left-handers to face for Chuck Jones and Zack Kelly (0.1 IP, 3 ER between them in the CLCS) than in the Bayhawks series. Heck, we might even see a left-handed starter in Bill McMichael (15-12, 3.63 ERA) for a change! Remarkably, neither team had a starter with an ERA better than 3.20…

No changes were made to the CLCS roster; Jose Cruz stayed off, and Gene Pellicano, who had gotten the ninth-inning rally in Game 4 underway, stayed on. Sorry, Jose. Playing the hot paw.

The teams had not met in the regular season. The last interleague play between them had been in 2042, when the Raccoons swept the Cyclones in those three games.

There was World Series history between the two franchises, though, with the 2010 World Series as the prior meeting between them. The Cyclones took that one in six games. It was the only World Series Raccoons legend Nick Brown ever played in. He took the two wins, after posting two losses in the CLCS against the Thunder.

[Westheim]

2044 WORLD SERIES
Portland Raccoons (96-66) vs. Cincinnati Cyclones (86-76)

Game 1 – Sadaharu Okuda (15-8, 3.37 ERA) vs. Willie Gallardo (11-11, 3.24 ERA)

Fifth playoff game, fifth time of using the same lineup for Portland. We didn’t feel like there was a reason to make a move… yet. Jose Zarate wasn’t hitting a lot, though…

The first pitch was thrown out by Jonny Toner, Hall of Famer. Afterwards he went straight to consult with Dr. Padilla.

CIN: CF Leyva – 2B Strohm – SS C. Delgado – 3B J. Burgos – 1B V. Chavez – LF Lockwood – RF Umbreiro – C Sicco – P W. Gallardo
POR: CF Baskins – 1B Ayala – 3B Maldonado – RF Toohey – LF Fernandez – SS Waters – C Zarate – 2B Carreno – P Okuda

Okuda retired the Cyclones in order in the first inning, while Gallardo got Baskins on a grounder to second baseman Chris Strohm, then got taken deep to right by Sal Ayala for a quick 1-0 lead.

It didn’t last, because while Okuda sat down the first eight Cyclones he encountered, he got beaten by none other than Gallardo for a 2-out single in the third inning. Rico Leyva then stuffed a ball into the rightfield corner, which was enough to bring Gallardo around to score and tie the game. Okuda threw a wild pitch to move Leyva to third base, but then struck out Strohm to make it stop for the moment. He walked Chris Delgado – probably the Rookie of the Year in the FL – to begin the fourth, but Jesus Burgos, hitting almost .500 and driving in six in the FLCS, hit into a 5-4-3 double play.

While the Raccoons struggled to reach base after the early homer, the Cyclones had the leadoff man on base again in the fifth inning when Jayden Lockwood singled. Celio Umbreiro grounded out to move him to second, but Valentino Sicco grounded out to the left side to keep him pinned. Gallardo then struck out. And after the Coons had been held to two hits in four innings, they opened the bottom 5th with two more hits, getting singles from Zarate and Carreno. Okuda dropped a perfect sac bunt to get the both of them into scoring position for Derek Baskins, who regrettably popped out to Strohm on a 2-1 pitch. Gallardo got to 1-2 on Ayala, who then hit a grounder to right. Strohm dove, couldn’t get it, and the Raccoons took a 3-1 lead on the 2-out single…! Maldo clubbed a single to center, but Toohey lined out to Delgado to strand a pair.

Chris Delgado was a chewy out, though. The 28-year-old Cuban was anything but a greenhorn rookie – he had been playing professionally for a decade. He drew a walk with two outs in the sixth, stole second, and then was singled home by Burgos to get the Cyclones closer. Okuda struck out Victor Chavez, who was one of three lefty hitters in the lineup along with Lockwood and Sicco.

The Raccoons then made two outs on the base paths in the bottom 6th to send me into gnawing on the couch table. Manny led off with a single, but was caught stealing. Zarate hit a 2-out single, but was picked off by Gallardo. Carreno went on to lead off the seventh with a single to left, after which Mal Phinazee batted for Okuda, who had held on to the 3-2 lead in the top of the inning, retiring the 6-7-8 in order. Carreno couldn’t get the right jump – Sicco had a major gun attached to his shoulder, so it wasn’t easy to steal off him – but Phinazee worked a 5-pitch walk to shove him to second base anyway. Baskins loaded the bases with a soft single – ah, crapkowski! Three on, nobody out. Doom! Ayala popped out on the infield for the first out. Maldonado sent a bouncer to Burgos that – he took it back to third base! No attempt was made on Carreno, and he scored to extend the lead to 4-2…! Toohey, though, struck out, and the Raccoons had to settle for one run, still above their expected run total with three on and nobody out…

Nelson Moreno got the ball for the eighth. Dan Meyer, Rico Leyva, and Chris Strohm were out in order on two grounders and a pretty deep fly to left that sent Manny to the warning track. No insurance came forth in the bottom 8th, and so it was Josh Rella in the ninth, maintaining a perfect attendance record in this postseason. Ricky Jimenez had replaced Maldo for defense – our newest weird trick – and handled Delgado’s grounder to begin the inning for the first out. Burgos was out to Carreno. And Vic Chavez grounded out to Matt Waters.

Raccoons 4, Cyclones 2

Ayala 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Zarate 3-4; Carreno 2-3; Okuda 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, W (2-0)

(hugs Honeypaws and Maud at the same time)

Game 2 – Jake Jackson (14-7, 3.79 ERA) vs. Carson Jarvinen (11-13, 3.20 ERA)

There were still no lineup changes for the Raccoons in Game 2. Zarate had hit three singles, and nobody else was begging to be replaced, either. We’d probably only shuffle the lineup for McMichael or once people’s paws began to fall off.

The ceremonial first pitch was thrown out by Mrs. Ruth Winterstein, who had opened the first rental hoverboard station in Portland in 2025 and had revolutionized transportation as a whole with it.

CIN: CF Umbreiro – 2B Strohm – SS C. Delgado – 3B J. Burgos – 1B V. Chavez – RF D. Meyer – LF Lockwood – C Sicco – P Jarvinen
POR: CF Baskins – 1B Ayala – 3B Maldonado – RF Toohey – LF Fernandez – SS Waters – C Zarate – 2B Carreno – P Jackson

There were a few 2-out hits in the first inning, first a double for Delgado, but Burgos grounded out to strand him, and then a single for Maldo in the bottom 1st, plus Toohey getting plunked. Manny’s grounder up the middle was sucked up and turned into the third out by Delgado, though. Jackson allowed 2-out singles to Lockwood and Sicco in the second inning, but they were stranded on the corners when Jarvinen popped out easily to Manny in left.

Delgado proved to be unretireable at this point, walking with two outs in the third before being stranded by Burgos again. Chavez opened the fourth with a single, but was stranded, and Jackson retired the Cyclones in order in the fifth. The Raccoons were still stuck on nothing but that Maldonado single by then. Jarvinen had made two starts in the FLCS, throwing 13 innings for three earned runs on eight hits and two walks – he was a tough customer. Zarate reached on an error by Strohm to begin the bottom 5th, but the next three Critters made poor outs and the game remained scoreless yet.

Jackson was scratching and hissing and maintained his end of the mutual shutout in the sixth inning, even getting Delgado on a comebacker to begin the inning. Ayala coaxed a leadoff walk in the bottom 6th, but was doubled up by Toohey to end the inning.

The next started with a bomb – Dan Meyer took Jake Jackson very, very deep to center. The Coons reacted at once, yanked Jackson, and brought in Zack Kelly, who continued to not retire people when Lockwood singled off him. He got Sicco and Jarvinen, though, then yielded for Jon Craig with Lockwood on second and two outs. Celio Umbreiro singled to right, Lockwood turned the corner, and became the third victim at home plate for Bryce Toohey in this postseason, ending the inning.

Jarvinen yielded singles to Manny to begin the bottom 7th, and Carreno with two outs, but Manny by then didn’t get further than second base, either. Phinazee was sent to bat for Craig, plopped a single into shallow center, and Manny sped around third base for home plate – and he made it! Tied ballgame! That was the end for Jarvinen, replaced by right-hander Alex Banderas, longtime Loggers and Indians closer in the 2030s. He got a grounder from Baskins to short that ended the inning.

Things then fell apart for Preston Porter, who walked Delgado with one out in the eighth, then balked pinch-runner Matt Cook to second. Granted, he would have scored anyway on Burgos’ triple… Chavez’ groundout brought home Burgos to extend the Cyclones’ lead to 3-1 before the inning ended. The inning got worse yet, with Maldonado being plunked by Banderas in the bottom 8th. Toohey then grounded to second, with a double play developing. Shortstop Alfonso Madrid stepped on Maldonado’s foot as he slid into second base, which broke up the play, but also broke Dr. Padilla out of the dugout to take a look at Maldonado, who was ruled out and then limped off the field. Ricky Jimenez would replace him. Manny hit a 2-out, 0-2 single off Chris Sulkey to put the tying run aboard, which would be the only batter faced by Sulkey, the left-hander, before being replaced by Dave Peluso. The righty walked Waters to fill the bases. Zarate was 0-for-3 in the game – the Raccoons sent Gene Pellicano to pinch-hit for him. It was one of those shrewd moves that get you vilified in the Agitator forever – except that it ******* worked. Pellicano ripped an 0-1 pitch to center, deep, deep, and too deep for Umbreiro to catch up with it. The ball hit off the base of the wall, the tying runs scored, here came Waters on their heels, and he scored, and the Raccoons took the lead on a bases-clearing double!!

Peluso walked the bases full with Carreno and Phinazee, who had replaced Baskins after pinch-hitting. Jeff Kilmer batted for Porter with the bases loaded again, but grounded out. Thus, Rella, as usual. Lockwood flew out to Manny. Sicco grounded out to Ayala. Madrid flew out to Pellicano!!

Raccoons 4, Cyclones 3

Fernandez 2-4; Pellicano (PH) 1-1, 2B, 3 RBI; Phinazee (PH) 1-1, BB, RBI;

Some good news and some bad. We have a fourth-round infielder pick that is 6-for-6 in save opportunities in this postseason. We’re also up 2-0 in the World Series, which is ******* dandy!

We also have a super utility with a .320 stick that was stepped on and was ruled out for the games in Cincinnati for sure. Jesus Maldonado *might* be available again for a Game 6 or 7. But Dr. Padilla made no guarantees.

[UltimateAverageGuy]

Oh and GO RACCOONS!!!

[Westheim]

2044 WORLD SERIES
Portland Raccoons (96-66) @ Cincinnati Cyclones (86-76)

Game 3 – Corey Mathers (10-11, 3.92 ERA) vs. Melvin Lucero (14-12, 3.20 ERA)

Lucero was a veteran by now after four big-league seasons, but I still remembered the big sad hazel eyes he made when he was wrapped up in the deal for Troy Greenway with the Scorpions in ’37. He had arrived in Cincy last year and had been an All Star this season. He was 1-0 with a 4.76 ERA in this postseason.

Guess what, the Raccoons had to come up with a new lineup with Maldonado out. Ricky Jimenez played third base. Arturo Carreno was moved to the leadoff spot, with Baskins filling the #3 position instead.

POR: 2B Carreno – 1B Ayala – CF Baskins – RF Toohey – LF Fernandez – 3B Jimenez – SS Waters – C Zarate – P Mathers
CIN: CF Umbreiro – 2B Strohm – SS C. Delgado – 3B J. Burgos – 1B V. Chavez – RF D. Meyer – LF Lockwood – C Sicco – P Lucero

Neither team got a runner on base until Sicco singled up the middle with one out in the third inning. He advanced on a bunt, but Manny caught Umbreiro’s fly to left to keep him stranded.

The Raccoons’ first runner was Baskins with a 2-out single in the fourth. Toohey added one of those himself, but Manny flew out to Lockwood. Portland went down in order in the fifth, while Dan Meyer hit a double off Mathers with one gone in the bottom 5th. Lockwood struck out before Sicco was walked intentionally to get the pitcher up. Mathers had Lucero at 1-2 before throwing a wild pitch that Lucero nevertheless spit on. He then hit a floater into shallow center – Baskins hustling, hustling, QUICKER!! And he caught it!

Scoreless through five, with two hits per side, the game remained a nail biter. Mathers opened the sixth with an out, but Carreno singled to center. He had an urge to steal, but faced both Sicco’s rocket launcher and a very alert pitcher, especially for a right-hander. He only advanced on Ayala’s groundout, but that was enough – with two outs Derek Baskins singled up the middle and thus drove home Carreno! Toohey grounded out, but Mathers had a 1-2-3 sixth, and the Raccoons reached the corners with Manny and Waters singles in the seventh. That ended Lucero’s day, with Banderas back in the game. Zarate fell behind 2-2 while Matt Waters also didn’t get a jump to steal a base, then hit a fly to deep right. Meyer caught it on the warning track, but there was ample time for Manny to score. Waters was in motion with two outs and Mathers batting, and reached third base when Mathers hit a single through the left side…! Carreno lined out to short, though.

Mathers was on only 70 pitches, but the pen was armed and ready for action as he closed in on the bottom of the order, where the lefties lived. Trouble arose soon enough; Chavez hit a 1-out single, and Meyer was lost on balls in a full count, putting the tying runs aboard. The Raccoons sent Chuck Jones, but the Cyclones sent Rico Leyva, a right-handed batter. He flew out to Toohey at 1-0. Sicco wasn’t hit for, but walked, and with the bases loaded and two outs, plus right-handed batter Alfonso Madrid into the game, the Raccoons sent Moreno, and Moreno struck him out!!

The Raccoons then poured it on Taylor Joachim in the eighth; Ayala on, Baskins on, and Manny with a 2-run double to left-center! Leborio Valdevesso replaced Joachim, walked Jimenez, and gave up a 2-run double to right to Waters! Phinazee would hit for Moreno to single home Waters, the final knock in a 5-run eighth!

Jon Craig got the ball for the eighth, allowed singles to Umbreiro and Strohm, plus a run-scoring double play grounder from Delgado, but with a 7-0 lead to begin with we could work around that. The Coons responded with three hits, a walk, and two runs – a Jimenez sac fly and an RBI single for Waters – in the ninth inning. Nate Norris then put the Cyclones away 1-2-3 in the ninth.

Raccoons 9, Cyclones 1

Carreno 2-5; Baskins 3-5, 2B, RBI; Fernandez 3-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Waters 3-5, 2B, 3 RBI; Kilmer (PH) 1-1; Phinazee (PH) 1-1, RBI; Mathers 6.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K, W (1-0);

OH BOY!

Mr. Busing, I just thought of something. Wouldn’t this be the most memorable postseason ever if the Raccoons didn’t sweep it 8-0, but got all the way to 7-0 and then lost four times in a row?

(looks skywards to try to decipher which shenanigans the baseball gods would be up to)

Game 4 – Brent Clark (12-12, 3.75 ERA) vs. Bill McMichael (15-12, 3.63 ERA)

Southpaw duel for Game 4 of the series; Brent Clark had been pretty bad in his CLCS start, but Wheatley had sucked all September, and there was no need to rush Okuda on short rest. The Raccoons would be *fine* with Brent Clark.

They also faced a left-handed pitcher after all, which gave us another readjustment to the lineup. Most notably, Sal Ayala was on the bench, batting .222/.344/.333 in the postseason. Toohey moved in to first base, and Pellicano got into the lineup.

POR: 2B Carreno – SS Waters – LF Baskins – 1B Toohey – RF Fernandez – CF Pellicano – C Kilmer – 3B Jimenez – P Clark
CIN: CF Umbreiro – 2B Strohm – SS C. Delgado – 3B J. Burgos – 1B V. Chavez – RF D. Meyer – LF Lockwood – C Sicco – P McMichael

Carreno opened with a single, but was forced out by Waters and the first inning led nowhere. Clark hit Delgado with a 1-2 pitch, but Delgado was caught stealing to end the inning anyway. The Cyclones took the 1-0 lead the following inning though, on the strength of a leadoff double by Burgos. Clark walked Vic Chavez, got a groundout from Meyer that advanced the runners, and gave up the run on a Lockwood sac fly to Baskins. Sicco grounded out to short.

Waters was caught stealing after drawing a 2-out walk in the top 3rd, and the Raccoons were held to the Carreno single in terms of hits through four, while Clark soon enough went down the rabbit hole of endless counts and dragged out at-bats. When Ricky Jimenez notched the Raccoons’ second hit of the game, a 2-out double in the fifth, there was the urge to bat for Brent Clark, but with the short bench and all… we didn’t do it. Clark flew out to Lockwood, who singled off him to begin the bottom 5th, then was doubled up by Sicco’s grounder, 3-6-3.

Then Clark bafflingly walked McMichael on four pitches. Then pen jumped into action in earnest, double-barrel action going on in the cage for a brief period until Celio Umbreiro grounded out to short to end the inning.

Carreno opened the sixth with a single, putting the tying run aboard again. Stealing off McMichael was hard – only five players had managed to do that off him this season, and for his career his CS% was over 50%. Carreno budged once, with one out and Baskins batting, but immediately faced three throws to first base. Baskins flew out to Lockwood, but Carreno got a great jump when Bryce Toohey hit a ball into the right-center gap. No throw to home plate was ever made, and Carreno scored with the tying run on the double!

Manny’s groundout ended the inning, and brought back the left-handed problem kid Clark. He got Strohm and Delgado to begin the bottom 6th, but Burgos hit a soft single. He stole second, but Vic Chavez popped out to strand him in scoring position.

Top 7th, 2-out walk for Jimenez, which was another “interesting” situation. The Cyclones expected a pinch-hitter, replaced McMichael with Banderas, and waited for things to come to them. Begged to send Mal Phinazee, the Raccoons couldn’t decline. Phinazee grounded out to short. The Raccoons went to Chuck Jones, who gave up a single to Dan Meyer in the bottom 7th, but struck out the two left-handers. Leyva then batted for Banderas, prompting a move to Porter, who got Leyva on a long, high foul pop that Manny caught near the tarp in rightfield.

Taylor Joachim and Preston Porter exchanged scoreless eighths then, before the Raccoons ran into righty Pedro de Leon in the ninth. He had given up the last two outs in Game 3, so maybe we could get some more here. Nope – Toohey and Manny struck out, and Pellicano grounded out. The Raccoons then went to the other left-handed problem kid, Zack Kelly, because that spot of the lineup was due in the bottom 9th. He retired Chavez on a pop and Meyer on strikes, but gave up a single to PH Alfonso Madrid, who was replaced with Matt Cook to pinch-run. Sicco was not hit for though, and so the Raccoons had no inclination to change pitchers. Sicco grounded out to first, and this game went into overtime.

De Leon hung around for the 10th, facing the 7-8-9. He ran a full count with Kilmer before giving up a loud knock to left. It fell near the line for a leadoff double! Jimenez struck out. Ayala batted for Kelly and hit a ball to deep left – but it caught at the fence by Umbreiro! Carreno grounded out to Burgos, wasting the leadoff double – Kilmer never got off second base. The Raccoons went to Nelson Moreno, who walked the pinch-hitter Mike Gibson, but got through the 10th otherwise.

Dave Peluso and his 23+ ERA in the postseason was in for the 11th inning. He gave up a single to Baskins, but that was all. Moreno remained in for the 11th, getting Burgos on a grounder before Chavez hit a DRIVE to center! Pellicano raising back – A LEAPING GRAB! HE CAUGHT IT!! Two outs in the bottom 11th! Meyer singled, but Cook struck out.

Peluso yielded a 2-out walk to Jimenez in the 12th, but Tony Hunter grounded out hitting for Moreno. Pitching duties then fell onto Nate Norris. Umbreiro hit a 2-out single off him, but Manny caught Strohm’s soft fly to right on the run, and the game would linger on. A game for the ages – literally.

Valdevesso was on the hill for Cincy in the 13th, which the Raccoons began with the top of the order, but they were sat down 1-2-3. The Cyclones didn’t go much further with Norris.

And then the tie was broken! Valdevesso threw a heater to Toohey, right in the sweet spot, and Toohey flicked it over the fence for a leadoff jack!! Now it was becoming a ballgame!!

Valdevesso retired the next three in order, and the Raccoons made the obvious move. They sent Josh Rella for the seventh time in eight games in this postseason. Rella ran a full count with Matt Cook, but got him to swing and miss on the sixth pitch. One out. No such luck with Sicco, who singled to left. But – the Cyclones were out of bench players (the Coons were down to Zarate), and Valdevesso had to hit. The Coons were hell bent on the bunt – but Valdevesso swung away and zinged a single to right! Sicco reached third base in the confusion. Nooo!!

Mound conference. Umbreiro was .184 in the postseason, and the Raccoons did not crowd the infield. Maybe Rella could get him to get himself out. The first pitch was a ball. The second pitch he swung at. A chopper back to Rella! Rella snatched it, turned around, throw to second to easily get Valdevesso, and Waters fired to first. And the throw beat Umbreiro!! DOUBLE PLAY!! THE COONS TURNED THE DOUBLE PLAY!!!

Raccoons 2, Cyclones 1 (14)

Carreno 2-6; Toohey 2-6, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Moreno 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K; Norris 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, W (1-0);

[alexsimon99]

A perfect postseason!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

WE'RE DANCING IN PORTLAND TONIGHT BABYYYYYYYY

[ayaghmour2]

What a postseason! Nice to see another ring added to the Raccoons collection!

[Westheim]

(picks gold flitter out of his fur)

I'll bask in this for another day or two, you know, before ruining it all with stupid moves.

Meanwhile...

Fun Fact: The 2044 Raccoons became only the second team in history with a perfect 8-0 postseason. The other team was the 1999 Bayhawks.

[Archelirion]

A 7-year playoff drought followed by only the 2nd 8-0 playoff in a 69-year competition is the most Raccoons thing. Well-deserved and absolutely worth the wait!

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by Archelirion

A 7-year playoff drought followed by only the 2nd 8-0 playoff in a 69-year competition is the most Raccoons thing. Well-deserved and absolutely worth the wait!

68 years.

+++

On the day of what would have been Game 6, Nick Valdes snowed into the ballpark, looked around, found nobody here, and much less any media to talk smugly to, and had to explained that no, there was no ballgame today, because the World Series was over. Robbed of the exposure, he chastised me for having built the team so well that they won the championship on the road rather than at home, and how dare I?

Problems, I guess.

Head scout Josh Busing got up, announced he had no nerves for this anymore, and there was a like to fish at that needed his presence dearly. So now we had an angry owner, no scout anymore, and maybe I could kill myself by throwing myself chest first into the many pointy ends of this World Series trophy that had taken 16 years to bring home.

Valdes angrily reduced our 2044 budget from $45M to $43M, which was still up $3.5M from last year’s shoestring allowance. It moved us from t-15th among all teams up to sole possession of 11th place in terms of budget size, which was at least something.

The richest teams would be the Stars ($54M), Miners ($51M), damn Elks ($50M), Bayhawks ($49.5M), and Pacifics ($49M).

The bottom five held the Aces ($36.5M), Condors ($35.5M), Warriors ($34M), Loggers ($33.5M), Indians ($31.5M). The missing CL North tams sat in 10th (NYC, $44.5M), and 15th (BOS, $41.5M).

The average budget for a team in the league rose to $42.44M, rising $370k compared to 2044. The median budget was $42.25M, up $250k from last season.

+++

Once we had Nick Valdes out the door, Cristiano, Steve from Accounting, and me tried to make some sense of the numbers. Many factors were involved in putting together next year’s team, which was not made easier by the fact that we had 15 arbitration and free agency cases. Before *anything*, including before signing a head scout, we had roundabout $7.1M available, but we also already knew that we wouldn’t retain at least a few of the arbitration cases.

There were four free agents – Sal Ayala and Manny Fernandez on the one side, and Jose Cruz and Tony Hunter on the other. Neither of the latter two would be back, because ultimately Cruz was too limited in what he could still do at 37, and there was a thing with Maldonado’s defense getting too wonky for centerfield, and that he needed more time at a corner. Third base was one option, and there was already Ricky Jimenez there, who was signed for another three years and $9M. Tony Hunter had batted .120 for the Coons after coming over in July, and had not been a whole lot of help as a whole.

And the other two? Manny was Manny! He had been here forever, taken at the #5 pick in the 2031 Amateur Draft, hailing from Puerto Rico and thus being eligible for the draft. His 8-year deal signed after the 2036 season was up, and we had to decide whether we wanted to give him a new one. Sal Ayala of course was a well-traveled first-sacker (no longer suited for the outfield), who we had picked up from the Aces in the middle of the 2043 season. He had a career .396 OBP – with a .394 mark in the title season, in which he drew 100+ walks for the fourth time in his career – all in the last four years. He added extra-base power, too, but he was slower than dirt and thus irked me in the #1 spot. The #2 spot was not ideal, but we can’t say it didn’t work out this year.

One deciding factor in keep-or-go might be free agent compensation – shockingly, Manny was not eligible for compensation. Ayala though was a type A …!

In the arbirtration category, we had four position players taking part in the shenanigans. Jonathan Dustal had hit solidly before his knee had come apart and he would remain relatively cheap. Bryce Toohey, a late bloomer, was 29, but went for arbitration only for the second time; he’d command seven figures, though. The other two candidates were Omar Gutierrez and Jay de Wit, who had both hit poorly last year, and had been in the minors for lengths of time. Now, the infield was the area where the Raccoons had the fewest meaningful prospects on offer – so maybe we would not kick them out right away.

Seven pitchers were eligible for arbitration, including almost all of our bullpen sans Chuck Jones and Preston Porter. Corey Mathers was the only starter eligible. Retaining him was a no-brainer, but the question was whether a long-term contract should be talked about.

We also had a number of other young relievers in AAA ready to push up, Bob Ibold and Sean Marucci coming to mind, although the latter had missed a chunk of time on the DL last year. A bit further behind was Brad Barnes, supplemental-rounder in 2042. These were all righties. And don’t forget about Victor Merino, who was asking loudly for a spot. Also there: Tony Negrete, Adam Capone, Jeremy Baker, Bubba Wolinsky… there was surely no shortage of young pitching in the minors. We had no highly-rated infield prospects, though, as mentioned before.

[Westheim]

Outta leftfield, I've turned 40-or-so seasons in OOTP 16, but didn't get this achievement until today.

I suck

[alexsimon99]

So hold on ... Valdes *decreased* your budget and was mad after you *WON THE DANGED TITLE* this year?!?!? I am so confused by that reaction.

[pgjocki]

Originally Posted by alexsimon99

So hold on ... Valdes *decreased* your budget and was mad after you *WON THE DANGED TITLE* this year?!?!? I am so confused by that reaction.

By sweeping the championship series the GM deprived the owner of additional playoff home game revenues; ergo, it makes perfect sense for the owner to recoup the "lost" earnings from next year's budget.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by pgjocki

By sweeping the championship series the GM deprived the owner of additional playoff home game revenues; ergo, it makes perfect sense for the owner to recoup the "lost" earnings from next year's budget.

That, and he missed out on another pageant, parading around like a peacock for Game 6 or 7. That was the intent of that opening, yes.

The Valdeses are / have been not always completely rational.

[Westheim]

Indeed, the numbers Cristiano compiled showed that Maldonado’s defense in centerfield had eroded to the point of costing the Raccoons half a win on defense this year. He had competently played six positions in his defensive prime, but by now should be kept off the prime defensive positions of shortstop and centerfield. Now, the next-smartest plan we came up with was to let Sal Ayala walk, move Maldo to right, Toohey to first (which between those two was the better defensive alignment still), and find a new centerfielder.

That could either be Derek Baskins, or if we didn’t resign Manny Fernandez either, we could move Baskins to left, and chase a free agent – and I already had my eye on somebody, just down I-5. Salem’s Armando Herrera was a serial Gold Glover in center, an also a serial .300 hitter, doing it from the right side (I’d prefer left). For his career he was a .314/.366/.404 hitter, and this year he had hit for that slash line almost precisely. He was also good for 20 stolen bases; he’d be perfect for the #2 hole, assuming we’d ever find a leadoff hitter. If Manny hung around, Baskins wasn’t gonna be it, because there would not be room in the lineup for both Manny and Baskins. Herrera was gonna be 31 on Opening Day, but I’d rather blow the millions on him than give them back to Nick Valdes.

Even keeping Manny would not preclude going after Herrera. The actual problem was probably somebody else: Mal Phinazee. While he had come up with a number of clutch hits in the playoffs, Phinazee had largely been a disappointment during the season, hitting only .241 for the Coons. The thing was that his about-average production came with a very much above-average contract. He was signed for three more years, for a total of $5.22M. Shifting that kind of dosh would indeed be hard in the offseason.

Meanwhile we were taking the buzzsaw to the arbitration class. Alex Ramirez was non-tendered. The 35-year-old had ended up in AAA during the season and would cost at least $1M in 2045. That was a bit much for a right-handed pitcher that had walked 38 batters in 47 innings, especially when we had a host of minimum salary replacements available. The question was whether to axe Jon Craig, too – or Nate Norris, although Norris had fewer homers and more strikeouts on his ledger, was younger, and had been rated better by the departed Josh Busing, too.

There was a real urge to non-tender both Omar Gutierrez and Jay de Wit, .210-ish hitters with limited skillsets. Gutierrez at least had good defense at multiple infield positions, while hitting lefty; de Wit was a switch-hitter, but with questionable defense. The fact that we utterly lacked prospects on the infield beyond Waters and Carreno, who were already established here, might keep those two bums around on really cheap contracts. The personnel in AAA on the infield? Nick Lando, Phil Haley, Brian Snyder all were here at some point and none impressed. Ricardo Bejarano was one of those failed first base prospects we liked to pile up (but on the 40-man, like Snyder). Tommy Markiewicz had versatility around the infield, but was already 26 and had never been near a call-up. That left John Castner, a second-sacker taken at #17 in the ’41 draft. He had been promoted to AAA this year, batting .266/.329/.395 in 72 games, then had gotten beaned badly in September and was still lingering with a bad concussion. That was the extent of our AAA infield options. The odd Omar Gutierrez sprinkled in there wouldn’t hurt!

What about actual improvements? We didn’t end up with any starting pitcher with an ERA even near 3-flat, although the overall package was not horrendous, either. Wheatley got run around the courtyard towards the end of the year, but was he ripe for disposal and replacement by Victor Merino? On the plus side, the assembled rotation as it was had a top earner of Jake Jackson for a mere $1.5M for the next four years (after frontloading a contract to him when the Raccoons were in their lean years). The whole rotation would cost less than $4.5M for the season, with Mathers headed to arbitration.

Brent Clark had some problematic stats, like a 1.30 WHIP that was rising, and 4.3 BB/9. On the other paw, he had led the league in K/9 with 8.3; he still had struck out only 171 batters thanks to untimely exits and only 185 innings pitched. It was hard to find faults with Okuda and Mathers and Jackson, except that none of them was Nick Brown, c.2009 …

Behind the dish, Kilmer was somewhat overpaid and Zarate was a free agent. Ruben Gonzalez had not exactly rubbed his bum in our faces with his cups of coffee this year, hitting .191/.216/.234 (with a .243 BABIP) in 51 plate appearances. He had batted .279/.347/.413 with 12 homers in 111 AAA games. Talent was definitely there; we just wondered whether he’d be better up with another start in AAA.

Decisions, decisions.

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October 27 – The Buffaloes acquire SP Leo Iniguez (2-14, 4.33 ERA) from the Condors for #26 prospect OF Brian Blackburn.
November 4 – The Loggers send right-hander Bobby Freels (27-27, 4.51 ERA, 3 SV) to the Knights. The 25-year-old brings them two prospects.
November 7 – The Indians acquire 1B Miguel Barrientos (.264, 12 HR, 73 RBI) from the Capitals, with two prospects to Washington.

+++

The Raccoons were merely busy with extensions at this pre-arbitration time – much depended on the availability of Armando Herrera otherwise.

But we were taking players off the arbitration list at a steady rate. In October, extensions were signed with Nelson Moreno ($555k), Zack Kelly ($380k), and Nate Norris ($540k) for next season, and also long term deals with two other players. Josh Rella had his arbitration years and two years of free agency bought out for a total of $4.75M, starting with $500k next season, and then adding $250k every year until the last two years paid $1.25M each.

Bryce Toohey didn’t come quite that ******* cheap: he asked for 8 years and $21M – given that he was already 29 a bit too progressive for my taste, but he was also bluffing, and quickly settled for a more modest offer of 6 years and $14M, starting with $1M next season, then $1.5M and $2.5M and three stacks of $3M – the last of which was contingent to a team option worth $700k.

But the main excitement for the Portland fan base came only on November 1 when the Raccoons sent out the announcement that they had come to terms with Manny Fernandez on a new 4-yr, $6M deal. The contract was flat for his age 35-38 seasons; the last year was a vesting options, requiring 120 games played in 2047.

After that, there were only more 1-year deals; Jon Craig signed for $560k; Jonathan Dustal, still nursing the knee, got $450k; we finally also signed 1-year deals with Omar Gutierrez ($400k) and Jay de Wit ($365k), although neither of the two were really planned in for next season.

Sal Ayala would decline arbitration and head for free agency, doing so as a type A free agent. Armando Herrera also became a free agent, with the same type A tag.

My whiskers twitched.

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2044 ABL AWARDS

Players of the Year: SAC 1B/LF/RF Eddie Moreno (.324, 40 HR, 130 RBI) and SFB 3B/1B Ramon Sifuentes (.327, 29 HR, 100 RBI)
Pitchers of the Year: DEN SP Edward Flinn (23-4, 2.85 ERA) and ATL SP Brian Buttress (13-11, 2.72 ERA)
Rookies of the Year: CIN INF/LF Chris Delgado (.308, 14 HR, 83 RBI) and ATL SP Brian Buttress (13-11, 2.72 ERA)
Relievers of the Year: PIT CL Rich Kappel (5-5, 1.98 ERA, 37 SV) and VAN MR Ruben Vela (8-3, 1.51 ERA, 4 SV)
Platinum Sticks (FL): P LAP Mike LeMasters – C NAS Jorge Santa Cruz – 1B SAC Eddie Moreno – 2B NAS Felix Marquez – 3B CIN Jesus Burgos – SS WAS Chris O’Keefe – LF TOP Dave Lee – CF CIN Dan Mathes – RF LAP Juan Benavides
Platinum Sticks (CL): P ATL David Farris – C OCT Jesus Adames – 1B ATL Doug Levis – 2B VAN Dan Schneller – 3B SFB Ramon Sifuentes – SS CHA Tony Aparicio – LF IND Danny Rivera – CF VAN Jerry Outram – RF POR Bryce Toohey
Gold Gloves (FL): P DEN John Kennedy – C DEN Ricky Rodriguez – 1B TOP Shuta Yamamoto – 2B NAS Felix Marquez – 3B NAS Brad Critzer – SS SAL Josh Jackson – LF TOP Dave Lee – CF SAL Armando Herrera – RF CIN Celio Umbreiro
Gold Gloves (CL): P MIL Ruben Guzman – C VAN Julio Diaz – 1B CHA Ed Haertling – 2B NYC Randolph Nash – 3B SFB Ramon Sifuentes – SS NYC Alex Adame – LF CHA Joe Besaw – CF ATL Brian Oliver – RF CHA Archie Turley