Portland Raccoons (ABL)

[Westheim]

Anybody know whether a suspension incurred at the end of the regular season also counts for the postseason? Asking for a friend…

+++

Raccoons (100-55) vs. Canadiens (85-70) – September 23-29, 2047

The Raccoons would try to play out the string in decent fashion, and if all things went well, not lose any more players to stupid injuries before getting whooped in the CLCS. The damn Elks had won five in a row, tried to put on a brave face to a .548 season in which they were out of contention in May, and would also try to make the Raccoons suffer a little bit longer than necessary. They had the CL’s #2 offense and some rather average pitching at their disposal. The season series stood 9-5 in the Coons’ favor, and we were two games under .500 all time against the damn Elks.

Projected matchups:
Jeremy Baker (4-4, 3.68 ERA) vs. Mario Godinez (8-3, 4.18 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (12-8, 2.78 ERA) vs. Juan Ramos (13-4, 3.78 ERA)
Victor Merino (14-9, 3.25 ERA) vs. David Farris (6-4, 3.65 ERA)
Jake Jackson (12-4, 2.90 ERA) vs. Mario de Anda (10-10, 4.34 ERA)

Three right-handers and then the southpaw de Anda for this series – maybe. Juan Ramos was nursing a sore ankle and things could change.

Game 1
VAN: CF I. Jaramillo – LF E. Moreno – C Julio Diaz – 1B Delagrange – 2B O. Aguirre – RF T. Romero – SS R. Price – P Godinez – 3B C. Rose
POR: RF Mercado – CF Herrera – 1B Maldonado – SS Waters – LF Baskins – 2B Martell – 3B Coen – C Morales – P Baker

As much as I hated the damn Elks, batting the pitcher eighth made me hate them even more. They hit leadoff single in each of the first two innings, but Baker struck out four the first time through the order to keep them off the board then, but gave up a 2-out solo homer to Eddie Moreno – his 36th between two leagues after starting the year with the Scorpions – in the top of the third. The Raccoons rallied though; Ben Coen opened the bottom 3rd with a single, an Baker’s bunt was mishandled by Godinez to put two aboard. With two outs, both Armando Herrera and Jesus Maldonado planted RBI singles to flip the score. The middle innings were entirely un-offensive, but the Elks got a leadoff walk drawn by Oscar Aguirre in the seventh. Tony Romero, briefly a Raccoon in 2042, hit into a double play to make that tying run go away from the basepaths. Annoyingly, pinch-hitter Dustin Fruman’s leadoff double in the top 8th pretty quickly led to a tied game, Nelson Moreno being charged with the run after a groundout and a wild pitch… But in the bottom 9th, with both teams on two runs and five hits, Derek Baskins also hit one of those, beating Mike Allen in centerfield for a leadoff double against righty Sam Gibson. A strikeout and two groundouts stranded the runner, however, and the Raccoons had to go to extras against the stinking Elks. Great, more chances to get injured! At least only one more inning was played; Josh Rella and Mike Lynn held the Elks off the bases, and with two outs in the bottom 10th, a Herrera double and a Maldo single ended the game. 3-2 Coons. Herrera 2-5, 2B, RBI; Maldonado 3-5, 2 RBI; Baker 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K;

Tuesday would be the final regular season start for Wheats, who would OF COURSE not pitch in the season closer with the CLCS coming up. His ERA was 2.78 right now, four points behind Bill Nichol of the Arrowheads, who would also make another start. Don’t count out SFB Kevin Nolte (2.83) either.

Also, by Tuesday, Gene Pellicano was written off for the season with wrist tendinitis. It was only a 2-3 week injury, but there were not enough weeks remaining before the playoffs… The Raccoons brought in Brian Shedd for the last few games, just for the extra warm body. The corner outfielder had appeared in 18 games for the ’45 Coons, hitting .143, and had not exactly advertised for himself in the time in between…

Game 2
VAN: RF F. Rojas – C Julio Diaz – 1B Delagrange – LF E. Moreno – SS R. Price – 2B O. Aguirre – CF M. Allen – P Farris – 3B J. Morales
POR: RF Mercado – SS Adame – 1B Maldonado – C Gonzalez – LF Baskins – 2B Martell – CF Mills – 3B Coen – P Wheatley

Farris was moved up to Tuesday by the Elks, and put Gonzalez and Baskins on the corners to begin the bottom 2nd, but then got three poor outs from the next three Critters to not allow a run. Wheats and Mercado opened the bottom 3rd with singles, but again three poor outs followed. We finally scored with two leadoff hits in the fourth – third time’s the charm! (manically keeps patting Honeypaws) – in that case a Baskins double to center and a Martell single to right-center. And then came the aforementioned three straight poor outs.

And Wheats? He sure eyed that ERA crown. He bested Nichol by the fourth inning, allowing only one hit to the Elks in four innings, but then gave up the tying run in the most stupid fashion in the fifth, allowing a 2-out walk to Allen, threw a wild pitch to the opposing pitcher, and then gave up a 2-out clonker for an RBI single… Ruben Gonzalez hit a 2-run homer in the bottom 5th for a new lead, but Wheats blew that too on a homer served up to Chris Delagrange, a Moreno single, and an RBI double by Rick Price… That was probably it with the ERA title. He did get a new lead though in the bottom 6th; with Ken Mills on first, Ben Coen was going to pop out to Julio Diaz behind home plate, but Diaz dropped the ball and Coen continued his at-bat, eventually lobbing an RBI triple to right-center. Wheats added a sac fly, 5-3, then turned in another scoreless inning, but his ERA would for eternity be 2.82 for this season, now eight points behind Nichol. At least he got the W – left-handers Bonnie and Lynn killed off the last six Elks in order to end the game. 5-3 Raccoons. Mercado 3-4, BB; Gonzalez 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Baskins 2-4, 2B; Martell 2-4, RBI;

Well, still ahead of Nolte at least, although Nolte pitched on Monday, so probably would also go again this week…

Game 3
VAN: CF I. Jaramillo – LF E. Moreno – 1B Delagrange – 2B O. Aguirre – RF T. Romero – C T. Phillips – SS Mullen – P Ju. Ramos – 3B C. Rose
POR: 2B Carreno – SS Adame – LF Baskins – C Morales – CF Herrera – 3B Martell – RF Mills – 1B Van Hoy – P Merino

With us even at .500 all time again, this game was an auto loss. I accepted that, Honeypaws accepted that – if only Maud could accept that I showed up to the office in only my underwear, unable to get dressed properly with an auto loss against the DAMN ELKS on the horizon. Merino faced an all-righty lineup, too, which was really not going well for him most of the time. The damn Elks promptly went up 2-0 on straight singles from their 2-3-4 hitters plus a Tony Romero RBI groundout in the first inning. – See, Maud? – See??

Delagrange added a 2-run homer for a 4-0 hole by the third, and the Raccoons did not get a base hit until Carreno legged out a single in the bottom 4th. He stole second, then scored on a Baskins single, so that was something, but the inning fizzled out after that. Merino ached through six, after which Preston Porter was taken deep by Eddie Moreno to make it 5-1 in the seventh. Some mild stirring occurred at the bottom of the order in the bottom 7th. Martell and Mills reached the corners with two outs and in unearned fashion, Mills reaching on an error. Evan Van Hoy singled home a run, but when Maldo batted as the tying run in the #9 hole, he struck out. The Raccoons pieced the last two innings together with Cancel, Alcala, and Ibold, not allowing any runs, but they also could not mount another challenge. 5-2 Canadiens. Baskins 2-4, RBI;

See, Maud? What would I have put on pants for?

Meanwhile, Bill Nichol pitched in a rout of the Loggers, matching Wheats’ performance from Tuesday with three runs allowed in seven innings, so that was the ERA title gone.

Game 4
VAN: RF F. Rojas – C Julio Diaz – 1B Delagrange – LF E. Moreno – SS R. Price – 2B O. Aguirre – CF I. Jaramillo – P de Anda – 3B J. Morales
POR: 3B Adame – CF Herrera – 1B Maldonado – SS Waters – C Gonzalez – 2B Carreno – RF Mills – LF Medina – P Jackson

Neither Jackson nor Moreno lasted long – the former gave up a 2-piece to Delagrange in the first, then nailed Moreno in the shoulder, and Moreno visibly disapproved, charging the mound with passion. A fistfight ensued, and Jackson got a thick lip in the process, but walked away with a sleeve of Moreno’s uniform when all was said and done. Both players were ejected on the spot, which was not how we had envisioned Jackson’s tune-up after coming off the DL. The Raccoons went to Adam Bates for long relief, while Tim Novak replaced the gone Moreno. Novak would single in two runs in the fifth inning, which was the one in which Bates hit the ball and melted down after initially allowing a homer to Felix Rojas in the third inning. Bates got stuck with two on and two outs, and Preston Porter conceded hits to Delagrange and Novak for three total runs to score. That made it 6-2, the Raccoons having gotten two runs on a Maldonado single in the bottom 3rd, and he added another RBI to his tally in the sixth with a jack to left, his 23rd of the year. The Raccoons crept closer again in the seventh, scoring a run with hits from Brian Shedd (!) and Baskins, narrowing the gap to 6-4.

Rella, Curl, and Moreno pieced the final two innings together, but the eighth saw Gonzalez hit into a double play after Matt Waters reached base to begin the inning, but Ken Mills drew a leadoff walk to begin the bottom 9th, bringing the tying run back to the plate. Mercado batted for Medina and flew out to Novak, but Novak could only watch when Al Martell uncorked a pinch-hit, game-tying 2-run homer with one out! Now, would that give us anything better than extra innings? Adame grounded out against Gibson, after which Tony Morales batted for Moreno in the #2 spot and singled to center. That brought back Maldo, already with a productive day. He one-upped himself with a second walkoff in the series, and this one being a screamer over the fence in left-center for his second homer in the game!! 8-6 Furballs!! Baskins (PH) 1-1, RBI; Morales (PH) 1-1; Maldonado 3-5, 2 HR, 5 RBI; Shedd (PH) 1-1, BB; Martell (PH) 1-1, HR, 2 RBI;

Raccoons (103-56) vs. Indians (91-68) – September 27-29, 2047

First vs. second, although the games didn’t matter anymore. The Indians were eighth in runs scored and second in runs allowed, but only with a +60 run differential. We still could not play them in any way that was even semi-successful, being behind in the season series, 9-6, after getting swept in the last meeting less than a month ago.

Projected matchups:
Sadaharu Okuda (14-8, 2.92 ERA) vs. Mark Elzinga (8-14, 5.07 ERA)
Jeremy Baker (4-4, 3.48 ERA) vs. Casey Pinter (9-11, 4.78 ERA)
Carlton Harman (2-4, 6.87 ERA) vs. Enrique Ortiz (4-1, 2.87 ERA)

Two more southpaws, then a right-hander to close out the regular season against Harman, a.k.a. a throwaway game.

Game 1
IND: RF A. Mendez – 2B de Castro – CF B. Quinteros – LF D. Rivera – SS Russ – 1B Massey – 3B B. Anderson – C J. Rose – P Elzinga
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 1B Maldonado – 2B Waters – 3B Coen – LF Medina – RF Shedd – C Dalton – P Okuda

Andrew Russ, the regrettable stain, entered the series with 37 steals, level with Alex Adame – although both were one behind Bill Reeves of the Loggers as of Friday morning. Russ hit the only single off Okuda the first time through, but could not get a steal off, yet Adame took #38 in the bottom 3rd, then went on to score the game’s first run on a Maldo sac fly to Bill Quinteros. Come the fourth, Quinteros followed on an Alex de Castro single with a score-flipping homer…

The Raccoons tied the score in the fifth, getting back-to-back doubles from Okuda (what a ballplayer!) and Adame with one out to get even at two, but Adame was stranded as Herrera grounded out and Maldonado whiffed. Okuda then held on to the tie to the seventh-inning stretch, getting hit for in the bottom of the seventh. Jimmy Dalton dropped in a single ahead of Mercado, but was forced out on a grounder, and Adame flew out to leave Okuda with a no-decision. Nelson Moreno struck out the side in order in the top 8th, while Waters and Coen knocked 2-out singles in the bottom 8th, but then Medina grounded out to John Davis at second base. Another 1-2-3 was turned in by Mike Lynn in the ninth, whiffing a pair, while Elzinga was gone after eight innings of two runs on nine hits. Tommy Gardner was up in the bottom 9th, striking out three pinch-hitters: Baskins, Morales, and Van Hoy – and that sent us to extras again.

Davis singled off Ibold in the 10th, but Bobby Anderson was robbed in the gap by Roberto Medina to keep the Indians off the board, while the Coons’ 1-2-3 all flew out against Gardner in the bottom 10th. A Coen single in the 11th helped nothing, and Adame singled with two outs in the 12th, but was then caught stealing. Top 13th, Danny Cancel allowed singles to Bobby Anderson and Aaron Brewer, but the former was caught stealing before the latter got on base, and the Indians were stalled, too. Maldo singled with one out in the bottom 13th, but Bobby Nelson got a grounder to short from Waters – yet the Indians couldn’t turn two on the play. Waters was safe at first, then stole second. Coen popped out to Ron Kurtz, however, and the futility continued. Maybe the rookie would help out, in more ways than once. Cancel tacked on a 1-2-3 14th, and then the Indians’ rookie, Anderson, threw away Medina’s grounder to begin the bottom of that inning, putting the winning run at second base. Baskins grounded out, moving the runner to third base. There were a few bats left on the bench, and against the lefty Nelson, Ruben Gonzalez batted for Morales. The Indians had none of that, walking him intentionally. Arturo Carreno then batted for Cancel, but struck out, and Adame popped out, frittering the W away way past anybody’s bedtime. Hitchcock took over pitching, getting three groundouts in the top 15th, and struck out two and got another groundout in the 16th.

By the bottom 16th the Indians arrived at a starting pitcher, sending in Jason Palladino, who had over 200 innings on the clock for the year. He held the Coons short in the bottom 16th, after which Hitchcock came apart to begin the next inning. Kurtz doubled, Quinteros tripled, and Daniel Hertenstein singled to put two runs on the board, and the first ones in a good long while. There wasn’t much to manage in the bottom 17th. Gonzalez, Carreno, and the pitcher’s spot were up, which meant Mills, the only player left on the bench. A grounder and two flyouts ended the game. 4-2 Indians. Adame 3-7, 2B, RBI; Maldonado 2-6, RBI; Coen 2-6, BB; Dalton 1-2, BB; Okuda 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K and 1-2, 2B; Ibold 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K; Cancel 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

(looks salty)

Game 2
IND: RF A. Mendez – 2B de Castro – CF B. Quinteros – LF D. Rivera – SS Russ – 1B Massey – 3B Lapinski – C J. Rose – P Pinter
POR: RF Mercado – 2B Carreno – CF Herrera – SS Waters – C Gonzalez – 3B Coen – LF Medina – 1B Van Hoy – P Baker

Thick clouds threatened another bullpen-heavy game on Saturday, and the rain delay came in the fourth and lasted an hour and ended Baker’s day early – he had needed over 70 pitches to get through four innings. The Raccoons were up 1-0 at the intermission, courtesy of a Waters single, stolen base, wild pitch, and Gonzalez sac fly in the bottom 2nd. Pinter’s pitch count was only in the 30s at the rain delay, so he continued at the other end, while the Coons went to Bates, who imploded at first sight, getting raked with a walk, de Castro’s game-tying double, and a 2-run homer by Quinteros in the top 5th. The Indians made it back-to-back 3-spots in the sixth on Bob Ibold, and especially Arturo Carreno, who had a 2-base throwing error to *really* get them going. The Coons went through another three relievers, who did not allow any more runs, but it did not really matter, because Casey Pinter apparently effortlessly pitched a complete game despite sitting down for an hour in the middle of it… 6-1 Indians. Medina 2-3; Baker 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K and 1-1;

Great. Swept again.

Game 3
IND: RF A. Mendez – 2B de Castro – CF B. Quinteros – LF D. Rivera – 1B Massey – 3B B. Anderson – SS Lapinski – C Turbeville – P E. Ortiz
POR: 3B Adame – CF Herrera – 1B Maldonado – SS Waters – LF Baskins – RF Mills – 2B Martell – C Morales – P Harman

Still even with Reeves with 38 bags taken (and Russ not having gotten one in the series (yet)), Adame was on with a leadoff single in the bottom 1st and obviously itching to go. He never got a jump and eventually made it to second on a scratch single by Herrera. Ortiz then hit Maldo in the bum, which gave me more anxiety and also loaded the bases with no outs. Waters singled home two with a grounder through the right side, but then followed three quick and unhelpful outs. Harman had two scoreless innings to begin the game, then bunted Tony Morales on after the catcher drew a leadoff walk in the bottom 2nd. Ortiz then nicked Adame, too, which A) put a handbrake in form of Morales ahead of him, and B) made me wonder whether Jake Jackson could go out and break his neck before he hurt one of our guys – he was suspended anyway! A walk in a full count to Herrera loaded the bases with one gone for Maldo, who found the same hole Waters had found in the first inning for a 2-run single. Herrera was thrown out at third base, though, and the inning ended with Maldo being caught stealing.

Could the Coons outscore Colton Harman? He retired the first seven in order, then walked Bill Turbeville, but Ortiz hit into a double play after that. Waters doubled and Martell singled, extending the lead to 5-0 in the bottom of the inning, while Angel Mendez’ leadoff triple in the fourth got Indy on the board eventually. De Castro popped out, Quinteros walked, but Rivera hit an RBI single. Nate Massey then found Maldo with a quick bouncer for a 3-6-3 double play. Steve Lapinski and Turbeville reached in the fifth, but then PH Ron Kurtz found a double play to hit into.

While Harman failed his way through the innings while staying afloat in the 5-1 game, the Raccoons chickened once Maldonado hit a single to open the bottom 7th and sent Van Hoy to pinch-run. Waters flew out, Baskins singled, and then Ken Mills put the game away with a 3-run homer that ran the score to 8-1. Harman continued to complete eight innings on 100 pitches, never faltering entirely. Oscar Alcala got the ball for the 3-4-5 lefties in the ninth inning, getting them all out in order to complete regular season business. 8-1 Critters. Maldonado 2-3, 2 RBI; Waters 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Baskins 2-4; Mills 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Harman 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 6 K, W (3-4);

In other news

September 23 – Pacifics SP Kevin Clendenen (14-12, 3.48 ERA) throws a 2-hit shutout over the Warriors for an 8-0 win.
September 23 – Longtime Pacific, now Thunder OF Juan Benavides (.314, 30 HR, 105 RBI) hits a home run for the only score in the Thunder’s 1-0 win over the Bayhawks.
September 25 – LVA SP Jose Villalba (7-13, 3.79 ERA) 3-hits the Knights in a 5-0 shutout.
September 25 – The Indians flatten the Loggers to the tune of a 21-3 score. Outfielder Bill Quinteros (.258, 9 HR, 48 RBI) leads the team with four hits, and drives in two runs.
September 26 – The Stars clinch the FL West with a 5-3 win over the Gold Sox.
September 27 – The Condors’ SP Marc Hubbard (12-17, 3.23 ERA) has a 3-hit shutout against the Aces. He whiffs four to claim the 6-0 win.
September 29 – The Miners clinch the FL East on Closing Day, whooping the Cyclones, 10-5.
September 29 – DAL OF/1B Omar Gonzalez (.300, 6 HR, 66 RBI) finishes the season with a 20-game hitting streak, reaching that mark with a double in the regular season-ending 6-5 loss to the Scorpions.

Complaints and stuff

No more injuries suffered in the final week! Well, except that there is Jake Jackson’s suspension. There are five more games on that, and we are working on appealing to the League HQ that he should be allowed to pitch in the CLCS regardless.

I don’t like our chances with that appeal…

I am mildly annoyed that Matt Waters did not hit another home run. 20 steals, homers, and doubles each would have been something!

Alex Adame did not steal another base on Sunday, but neither did Bill Reeves, so the two will share the CL stolen base crown with 38 bags. And Russ will get nothing! – In the FL, 38 steals barely get you a sympathetic grin. Alex Vasquez of the Miners stole *69*. Wheats came only second in ERA to Nichol, but Mike Lynn led the majors in saves with 44.

At least we have Wheats for the playoffs! No Toohey, no Bubba, no Manny, no Pellicano, and no Gurney, and probably no Jackson. Oklahoma won 108. Go get ‘em, boys!

Fun Fact: Carlton Harman claimed the 6,000th regular season win for the Raccoons to finish this season.

It’s the first time we posted two milestones of 100 wins in a season, which is a function of virtually never winning 100 games to begin with. It’s also the closest 100 win milestones have occurred after each other, which… see the previous sentence.

We are still none too fond of Harman.

[UltimateAverageGuy]

Maybe I’m getting old, but why is Jake Jackson suspended? He made his last start the post before, huh?

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by UltimateAverageGuy

Maybe I’m getting old, but why is Jake Jackson suspended? He made his last start the post before, huh?

You can be forgiven for missing his 13 pitches on Thursday - it was over *that* fast - the final game of the Elks series, where he was tossed for drilling and fighting Eddie Moreno. He got 8 games for that, 5 of which are still up to be served.

[Westheim]

2047 CONTINENTAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Portland Raccoons (104-58) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (108-54)

Caution! Step with care – the struggle bus with all the injured players is moving through…!

The Raccoons had won 104 games, taken the CL North for the fourth straight year, and had generally been awesome all through the season, despite some significant injury burdens more or less since May. Third in runs scored, best in runs allowed, with a +158 run differential. Best defense, best rotation, best bullpen. Third in homers, second in stolen bases – we could do almost anything! …except keeping our paws mended and in one piece.

Thus we arrived in Oklahoma City for the CLCS without budding ace Bubba Wolinsky (rotator cuff), best-bench-bat-money-can-buy Pat Gurney (oblique), formidable slugger Bryce Toohey (claw), old veteran Manny Fernandez (wrist), and plucky platoon piece Gene Pellicano (wrist). The latter two were *perhaps* options for a World Series later in the month, but first we had to get there.

The Thunder had packed on 19 wins compared to their division title from last year, and this time had also won the season series against Portland, 5-4. They had thumped their way to #1 in runs scored with 856 markers on the board, and had come third in runs allowed. Their run differential was a mighty +226. Their defense was second-best to ours, and they had led the league in home runs – but could not steal bases all that efficiently, ranking in the bottom three in that category. They had shed two pitchers in Victor Marquez and Oscar Flores, and thus had to use rotation filler material, but let me get to that in our case in a moment… They still had three sturdy starters, a tight pen, and a lineup, where at least the first six could all significantly hurt your chances, including a core with Juan Benavides (.308, 30 HR, 108 RBI), Steve Humphreys (.235, 26 HR, 98 RBI), Jesus Adames (.320, 27 HR, 93 RBI), Ryan Cox (.284, 17 HR, 92 RBI) – and that was behind the CL batting champ Jonathan Ban (.367, 11 HR, 90 RBI) and behind likely leadoff man Angelo Zurita (.294, 7 HR, 69 RBI). That lineup was real trouble (or they would not have scored 5.3 runs a game, duh!). Handedness was best described as “varied”, including the switch-hitters Ban and Cox.

And the Raccoons? What did they have left, besides coming off a 12-15 September that was at times hard to watch?

This was actually a more complicated explanation than usual because September had been like the ******* Huertgen Forest for the Raccoons. Toohey, Gurney, and Pellicano had all gone down after the September cut-off date for nominal playoff roster eligibility. The Raccoons still retained 26 nominally (I will get to that right in a second) eligible players – whoever had been on the roster on August 31 plus those that had returned from the DL after that date, which included Herrera (from a rehab assignment that mostly delighted the accounting department – (Steve from Accounting pokes his head in)), Jackson, and Wheatley… and was still walking around without aid right now.

The 26 included our four surviving Opening Day starters (including Jackson), plus Baker and Harman, our standard seven bullpen contingent, plus Hitchcock, our catcher platoon, plus Dalton, but only five infielders (Adame, Waters, Maldo, Martell, Coen) and four outfielders (Baskins, Herrera, Mills, Mercado). For the additionally suffered injuries, the league gave us credit to add three more players to the roster that were *not* in the group of 26 players. And at this point we needed to go back to Jake Jackson, who was on the DL on August 31, returned in September, then duked it out with Eddie Moreno on the final Thursday of the season, and now was serving an 8-game suspension, of which there were 5 games remaining, so he could not ride into battle in this series unless it went all the way to a second trip to Oklahoma City.

So why put him on the roster? Here, the emergence of Jeremy Baker helped us out. While the rest of the makeshift starters we had employed through the year had been nothing but awful, Baker had been sent out 15 times and had put up a respectable 3.32 ERA with no run support and thus a 4-4 record in the end. Yeah, he hardly struck out anybody, but he also wasn’t exactly getting stomped into the ground by the opposition. Putting Baker on the roster for Game 4 in Portland rather than Jackson for a maybe Game 6 in Oklahoma seemed like a much more sensible options, especially given our pinches in other areas.

Hitchcock remained on the roster, but we now only had four starters, and adding a long option from here that could fill in should more injury woes arise sounded sensible. Chaney was not an option, having been removed from the 40-man roster. That left us with Harman, Alcala, and Cancel. I preferred a left-hander, so Oscar Alcala became one of the three freebies the league granted to us. Were nine relievers overkill? Probably. But not as bad as three catchers, so there was no room for Jimmy Dalton on the playoff roster. The other surviving batters were all picked up, leaving us with four other position players that could fill the final roster spot: Van Hoy, Carreno, Medina, and Shedd. The Thunder would have three right-handed starting pitchers, so I leaned lefty again here, and with all our established first basemen out, Evan Van Hoy lucked his way onto the playoff roster as the second freebie / injury replacement. Him and Coen might platoon with Maldo swinging back and forth from one corner to the other. Yes, Van Hoy had been in Ham Lake as late as July, and had all of 18 plate appearances of major league experience, but I can’t help it. Blame the baseball gods. We all do it.

The third freebie remained unused for the CLCS. Who knows – maybe we’d actually win this stupid thing and would then have to replace more players that listlessly stepped onto landmines on the basepaths…

For the record, this was our 19th playoff appearance, tying the Titans for most in the league, and the Thunder’s 18th. As you’d expect we were frequent CLCS foes. This was the seventh meeting overall and the third clash in three years. We had beaten them every time except for 1995, advancing to the World Series through them in 1983, 2010, 2026, 2045, and 2046. We had six rings (including the most freshly minted ones), and they had two, and none after 2000.

[Westheim]

2047 CONTINENTAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Portland Raccoons (104-58) @ Oklahoma City Thunder (108-54)

And so it began, in Oklahoma. The Agitator bade as farewell with a sigh of relief that at least we’d save the travel costs for a second trip there after getting swept, and my state of mind was similarly bleak.

Game 1 – Jason Wheatley (13-8, 2.82 ERA) vs. Juan Ramos (19-11, 3.96 ERA)

Wheats had faced the Thunder twice this year, going 1-1 with a 3.60 ERA, but had somehow pitched much better in his loss in September than in his win in July. Ramos had met the Coons in the first two series of the year (the two sweeps), going 1-1 as well with a 2.63 ERA. Ramos also brought things to an end – he had picked up a decision in all his starts but four this year, and in all starts in the second half. In August and September he had gone 11-1 in 12 starts. Meanwhile, we had no Toohey, no Gurney, no Manny, and no ****-I-forgot-the-rest, the list was just too long.

Yay-zers.

POR: RF Mercado – SS Adame – 3B Maldonado – 2B Waters – CF Herrera – LF Baskins – C Gonzalez – 1B Van Hoy – P Wheatley
OCT: LF Zurita – 2B Ban – SS R. Cox – RF Benavides – 1B Humphreys – C Adames – 3B Greer – CF J. Price – P Ju. Ramos

Right away I got the feeling that Maldo was now trying to do too much and win the title all on his own, when he grounded out on a 3-0 pitch with Mercado on first base in the first inning. The Coons stranded the runner in that inning, and just the same in the second, which Armando Herrera opened with a double to right. Nobody reached in the top 3rd, while Wheats retired the first six Thunder in order before walking Marshall Greer to begin the bottom 3rd. Of course that would come around to bite, on 2-out singles by Angelo Zurita and Jonathan Ban, the latter getting the RBI. Ryan Cox then popped out.

We were not behind for long, however. Maldo singled on a 3-1 pitch (raises eyebrow) to begin the fourth inning, while Waters flew out to Jim Price in deep center. When Herrera singled to right, Maldo gassed it to third base, and Juan Benavides – a Gold Glover in an earlier life – threw the ball past the reach of Greer. While it was retrieved in foul ground, Maldo turned around and scored, and Herrera scooted up to second base, halting briefly before scoring on Derek Baskins double on the next pitch. Gonzalez then whiffed, Van Hoy was walked intentionally (!!), but Wheats struck out to strand two. Benavides and Jesus Adames hit singles in the bottom 4th, but in between Steve Humphreys had found a 6-4-3 double play already.

Mercado walked and stole second in the fifth, but received little support behind him. Maldo was excused, getting hit by a pitch once again. 28 times last year (including the playoffs), “only” 19 times so far this year…

Stranding personnel in scoring position would of course be punished. The bottom 6th saw a leadoff single for Jonathan Ban through the right side, and then Benavides split Herrera and Mercado for an RBI double to even the score at two. Wheats lost Humphreys in a full count, then struck out Adames, trying to stem the tide. Another full count was raised against Marshall Greer, who grounded out to second to strand the pair of runners in the 2-2 game, but that put Wheats at 99 pitches, so he didn’t have much more to give. In fact, with a left-hander leading off in the bottom 7th, he would not be back at all. Would he at least get the chance for the W? Ramos retired the first two Coons in the seventh, but then began to leak, allowing a single to Maldo, a walk to Waters, and then Cox chimed in with an error that put Herrera on base, all with two outs. Baskins was back up, but popped out on the first pitch to fritter it all away.

The Coons turned to Jake Bonnie, who was faced with two pinch-hitters, but retired the 8-9-1 in order in the bottom 7th. And with that, Ramos’ string of decisions also ended, as he was lifted for Tom Spencer to begin the eighth inning, and with the game still tied at two. The Raccoons managed two singles off Spencer, from Ben Coen (hitting for Van Hoy) and Mercado, but Adame flew out to strand them on the corners… Moreno then struggled through the bottom 8th, running three 3-ball counts. Ban flew out, Cox doubled on a gapper in right-center but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple by Mercado, and while Benavides walked, Humphreys struck out in a full count to end the eighth.

Maldo hit away at a 3-ball count for the third time on the day to begin the top 9th, singling off closer John Steuer. Waters added an infield single, and Herrera an outfield single, loading the bases with nobody out! Oh boy! The pressure! Baskins to the plate, laboring to a 2-2 count, then poking the ball up the middle, and through between Cox and Ban for an RBI single! And then Gonzalez grounded into a force at home, Coen struck out, and Al Martell fell to two strikes – and then drove a single to left, plating two runs! Danny Landeta replaced Steuer and got Mercado to ground out, but the Raccoons now gave a 3-run lead to Mike Lynn. He allowed a single, but nothing more, in putting the game away.

Raccoons 5, Thunder 2 – Portland leads series 1-0

Mercado 2-5, BB; Maldonado 3-4; Herrera 3-5; Baskins 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Coen (PH) 1-2; Martell (PH) 1-1, 2 RBI;

Game 2 – Sadaharu Okuda (14-8, 2.91 ERA) vs. J.J. Hendrix (12-9, 3.39 ERA)

The Raccoons stuck to the lineup that had won in Game 1 despite individually stranding 34 runners. The ball went to Okuda, who had pitched against the Thunder twice this year and had gone 1-1, posting a 6.00 ERA thanks to that L being his very worst start of the season. Hendrix was in the same club though, having pitched three times against the Raccoons this year, and going 1-2, including a start where he was bombed for nine runs in September (Okuda gave up eight in his croaker). Hendrix’ ERA was an unsightly 9.49 against the Coons.

POR: RF Mercado – SS Adame – 3B Maldonado – 2B Waters – CF Herrera – LF Baskins – C Gonzalez – 1B Van Hoy – P Okuda
OCT: CF J. Price – 2B Ban – RF Benavides – LF Humphreys – 1B R. Cox – C Adames – 3B Greer – SS Lujan – P Hendrix

Adame singled in the first but was caught stealing, while Baskins hit a double in the second, but was stranded when Ruben Gonzalez struck out. The Thunder hit some early deep flies off Okuda, including Benavides to end the first and Humphreys to begin the second, ending up with Herrera and Baskins, respectively.

Neither team scored through three, with the Coons having two hits and three strikeouts, while Okuda struck out nobody the first time through, but held the Thunder to a Cox single, then got a K on Jim Price to end the bottom 3rd. Adame then opened the fourth with his second single of the game, this time did not get caught stealing, but was still stranded when the 3-4-5 hitters came up very much empty. A Gonzalez single was met with Evan Van Hoy’s double play grounder in the fifth inning, after which Okuda was sort of surprisingly hit with back-to-back home runs by Ryan Cox and Jesus Adames in the bottom 5th, which gave the Thunder a 2-0 lead.

Behind then, the Raccoons kept up appearances. Mercado hit a 1-out single in the top 6th. Maldo snuck a 2-out grounder through the left side for a single, and Matt Waters singled to center to bring in Mercado for the visitors’ first run. Herrera found Jonathan Ban, though, and the inning ended. The Thunder then got two singles to begin their inning in the sixth, with Ban and Benavides getting on, but Humphreys hit into another double play. The switch-hitting Cox was generally more approachable from his right side, so Okuda remained in – and got socked or the third and final homer off him in that game, putting the Coons in a 4-1 hole. Kevin Hitchcock replaced him at once, getting out of the sixth, but in the seventh the Coos kept melting. Between sub-par pitching by Bob Ibold (a hit), Jake Bonnie (a hit, a walk), and Derek Baskins’s gruesome throwing error, they gave up another two runs. The Coons would get a run on a single and stolen base by Adame and another Waters RBI single against Spencer in the eighth, but that was not gonna be enough. Baskins and Gonzalez made outs to begin the ninth inning before Ken Mills hit for Van Hoy and like Al Martell in Game 1 hit a surprise pinch-hit homer. It was a solo job, and thus indeed wasn’t gonna be enough. Ben Coen grounded out against John Steuer to end the game.

Thunder 6, Raccoons 3 – series tied at one

Adame 3-4; Waters 2-4, 2 RBI; Gonzalez 2-4, 2B; Mills (PH) 1-1, HR, RBI;

[Westheim]

2047 CONTINENTAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Portland Raccoons (104-58) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (108-54)

The circus came to Portland, where the Thunder divined that they would open the road portion of the series with their lefty option, Danny Orozco.

Game 3 – Victor Merino (14-10, 3.34 ERA) vs. Danny Orozco (9-5, 3.20 ERA)

Orozco, who had missed a few months to injury, had faced the Raccoons only once, allowing no runs in eight innings in a no-decision in July. Merino hadn’t been on the DL, but had also only faced the Thunder once, giving up three runs (two earned) in seven innings in September, the opener to his season-concluding 3-game losing streak.

The ceremonial first pitch was thrown out by publicly acclaimed Honorary Mayor, Mrs. Felicitas Sturgeon, who identified as pigeon rather than a human. She threw a perfect strike to Ruben Gonzalez, then flew onto the roof above section 29 of the stands to watch the game from a perch up there.

OCT: CF J. Price – 2B Ban – RF Benavides – LF Humphreys – 1B R. Cox – C Adames – 3B Greer – SS Lujan – P Orozco
POR: RF Mercado – SS Adame – 1B Maldonado – SS Waters – C Gonzalez – CF Herrera – 3B Coen – LF Baskins – P Merino

As against Okuda two days before, the Thunder did not go all-out righty lineup against the left-handed starter, which could only be to Merino’s advantage, since his struggles against all-righty lineups were just all too obvious. Even then, only Price, Benavides, and the pitcher would approach him for the left side here…

Ironically Benavides doubled off Merino in the first, but nobody else got on base and the runner was stranded. Maldo hit a 2-out single and was stranded just the same, while the top 2nd began with a single by last game’s chief coonskinner, Ryan Cox, who then ended up caught stealing. After the Coons got Coen on with a single, but no further, the top 3rd began with a T.J. Lujan-sponsored screamer into the rightfield corner for a leadoff triple. Even with the pitcher up next, the run was gonna score, as Merino gave up a 1-0 lead to the Thunder when Orozco flew out to Herrera.

After Mercado hit a single and was stranded in the bottom 3rd, continuing a pattern that already annoyed the crap out of me, Cox drew a 2-out walk in the fourth, and was caught stealing by Gonzalez yet again. Bottom 4th, the Raccoons were less wasteful with runners, going down 1-2-3…

Ben Coen (where did he actually ever come from…?) then opened the bottom 5th with a surprise jack to right, which was a bit of a head scratcher. The Raccoons now had three homers in the series, none of them by a player you’d name as a major offensive force on the team.

The Coons aggressively batted for Merino in that fifth inning, but it got them nowhere really, except into their pen, so Merino was left with a no-decision in a 1-1 game. Aaron Curl took over to begin the sixth, getting two outs for a Jonathan Ban single, but when Preston Porter replaced him, he rung up Benavides to get out of the inning. The Coons then got free runners to begin the bottom 6th: Adame walked, Maldo was nicked (grumbles), but Waters flew out to Jim Price. Gonzalez was next and hit a better one – high and deep to left, and OUTTA here!! 3-run homer, and a 4-1 lead! After Herrera doubled and Coen was walked intentionally (hah!), Derek Baskins hit into a fielder’s choice. We would have wanted to keep Porter for the seventh, but it was runners on the corners and two outs now, of course we sent a batter up there. Martell had been used in the fifth, so Mills grabbed a stick and grounded out.

Adames reached on an error by Josh Rella in the top 7th, but the next batter, Greer, hit into a double play to make the blemish go away. Bottom 7th, the 1-2-3 batters all reached against Orozco as it began to rain. Three on, nobody out for Waters, he hit an 0-1 pitch to right. Benavides caught it, Mercado went for home – and was thrown out, which was at least a novel way to plump away these fat chances, with a 9-2 double play. Except – there were still two on with two outs, and Gonzalez kept pouncing, singling both in on a 2-2 pitch that finally sent Orozco home.

Top 8th, Rella began with a pop coaxed from Lujan, after which left-hander Jayden Lockwood pinch-hit for reliever Jon Craig (still not the ex-Coon, but the left-hander, or the black one). Up by five, the Raccoons got cocky. They sent Oscar Alcala into the fray! He gave up a single to Lockwood, but got a double play grounder from Price, concluding eight. Then the rain got heavy, and we had to sit out a rain delay of about an hour – no early-bird eight-inning wins in the postseason…! After the rain delay, righty Ray Thune put Coen and Baskins on with singles, then walked Tony Morales. Nobody out with the bases loaded again! Mercado’s RBI single and Adame’s bases-clearing triple to center put the game in blowout territory, and got us a new pitcher in Oliver Delcid. Maldonado hit him for an RBI single, then was run for by Van Hoy, because why take risks? Delcid would concede a run after a Gonzalez double and a wild pitch, giving the Coons a 6-spot in addition to the six they already had banked! Benavides and Cox touched Hitchcock for a run in the ninth, but it didn’t really matter.

Raccoons 12, Thunder 2 – Portland leads series 2-1

Mercado 3-5, RBI; Adame 2-4, BB, 3B, 3 RBI; Maldonado 2-3, BB, RBI; Gonzalez 3-5, HR, 2B, 5 RBI; Coen 3-4, BB, HR, RBI; Merino 5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K;

Game 4 – Jeremy Baker (4-4, 3.32 ERA) vs. Felix Alvarez (4-3, 2.56 ERA)

So here were two 26-year-old fill-ins / rookies that nobody had put on their fantasy team and that somehow had come through to have quite impressive half-seasons (although Alvarez had pitched mostly from the pen). Alvarez had faced the Coons three times; twice in relief in May and once as a starter in September. He had won the start, and overall had gone 1-0 with a 1.54 ERA. Baker had not met the Thunder in person so far.

I had considered starting Tony Morales with a right-hander back on the mound, but after a 5-RBI game it was not possible to remove Ruben Gonzalez. Coen (hitting 4-for-7) remained in the lineup, with Maldo moving to first base and Van Hoy (0-for-5) taking a seat.

The ceremonial first pitches were offered up by Hector Santos and Ron Thrasher, who had been pitchers on those late-2010s teams that had always gotten stuck in the CLCS. – Maud? – Maud, can we talk about bad omens for a second??

OCT: CF J. Price – 2B Ban – RF Benavides – LF Humphreys – 1B R. Cox – C Adames – 3B Greer – SS Lujan – P F. Alvarez
POR: RF Mercado – SS Adame – 1B Maldonado – 2B Waters – CF Herrera – LF Baskins – C Gonzalez – 3B Coen – P Baker

Price started the game with a single, but was immediately doubled up by Ban. The Coons began with two outs in the bottom 1st, but then Maldo singled. Alvarez threw a wild pitch, walked Waters anyway after that, and then gave up an RBI single in right-center to Armando Herrera. Baskins grounded out to Cox, leaving two aboard, after which the Thunder started the top 2nd with not one, but TWO singles that did not leave the infield. I cussed at the baseball gods that that was unfair, but Humphreys and Cox were both driven home by Marshall Greer to flip the score, and T.J. Lujan had another base hit for four singles in total, but those last two runners were at least stranded by Alvarez and Price…

Gonzalez and Mercado singles left us even at two after as many innings, but Baker could not find any sort of groove. After an uneventful third inning, the Thunder got a leadoff single from Adames, a walk drawn by Greer, and quickly an RBI double by Lujan in the fourth. Alvarez hit a sac fly, Oklahoma going up 4-2, before the inning ended on consecutive first-pitch fly outs. No, Baker was not fooling anybody. He was hit for in the bottom 5th, where his spot led off the inning. Martell popped out, but Mercado and Adame put their fuzzy tails on base with one out as the tying runs. Depressingly, Maldo found a double play with the shortstop…

With Gonzalez’ double play from the fourth, and the one Baskins hit into after a Herrera single in the sixth, the Raccoons found two-for-ones in each of the middle innings, while Preston Porter and Jake Bonnie wasted the remnants of their youth for scoreless innings in the 4-2 ballgame.

Van Hoy hit a pinch-hit single with two outs in the bottom 7th, but Mercado grounded out. Bob Ibold then turned in a scoreless inning, but again the Raccoons only got on with two outs in the eighth when Waters singled, knocking out Alvarez in favor of Spencer. Herrera grounded out, concluding eight. A 1-2-3 by Nelson Moreno followed against the 7-8-9 hitters, and then John Steuer was back for the bottom of the ninth inning and the 6-7-8 batters up agains the right-hander. Baskins grounded out to first. Gonzalez grounded out to short. Coen grounded out to the pitcher himself.

Thunder 4, Raccoons 2 – series tied at two

Herrera 2-4, RBI; Van Hoy (PH) 1-1;

Game 5 – Jason Wheatley (13-8, 2.82 ERA) vs. Juan Ramos (19-11, 3.96 ERA)

Back to the start of the rotation then! Wheats vs. Ramos had ended well for us eventually the last time around, and it was a premise I liked for the pivotal Game 5 of the series.

Ruben Gonzalez had been back to bleak in Game 4, and Tony Morales got the nod behind the dish this time.

For this game, the ceremonial first pitch was delivered by Eddie Muller, best of class and commencement speaker of the Class of ’47 of the Willamette Institute for the Limbless and the Blind. His guide dog then tried to retrieve it from Tony Morales and nearly got violent.

OCT: LF Zurita – 2B Ban – SS R. Cox – RF Benavides – 1B Humphreys – C Adames – 3B Greer – CF J. Price – P Ju. Ramos
POR: RF Mercado – SS Adame – 1B Maldonado – 2B Waters – CF Herrera – LF Baskins – C Morales – 3B Coen – P Wheatley

No runs in the early innings, despite Wheats shoveling everybody and their mother on base. He allowed two hits in the first, a walk in the second, and a leadoff walk to Angelo Zurita in the third. Zurita was caught stealing (like Herrera in the bottom 2nd), but Ban then immediately got on when Adame dropped his pop in shallow left for an error. Wheats storked around that runner, too, but walked Greer in a full count in the fourth, and while he still didn’t allow a run, his pitch count had already blown through 60.

Neither team amounted to more than two hits or even a single run through five innings, despite working the pitchers extensively. The Raccoons drew 70 pitches from Ramos, and Wheatley even threw 77 in five frames.

A nine-pitch at-bat that ended with a fly to Baskins by Cox to begin the sixth didn’t make Wheats look any fresher, but he put the Thunder away 1-2-3 in the sixth inning of a pitchers’ duel. He also bunted into a double play after Ramos nicked Coen to begin the bottom 6th… and gave up a 1-out single to Greer, but pitched his way around that by retiring Price and Ramos, arriving unscored upon at the seventh-inning stretch, but at 103 pitches, he was done.

While Maldo was nicked (…!!) by Ramos in the bottom 7th, the Raccoons could not put anything else together and left Jason Wheatley with another one of those cherished no-decisions. We went to Curl for the eighth and the top of the order, although Nick DeMarco batted for Zurita and popped out. Curl walked Cox with two outs, the runner stole second, but was stranded when Benavides struck out.

Ramos retired the 6-7-8 in order in the bottom 8th, after which the conundrum was whether to send Lynn into the ninth textbook-style, or a right-hander considering the actual opposition. Lynn would be a much better match in the potential 10th. So it was Moreno that was sent out. He got Humphreys to ground out to short, but also got Adame to tweak his ankle on the play. He was removed by necessity; Waters moved to short, and Martell took over at second base and the second spot in the lineup, which would bat third in the bottom of the inning. Adames’ grounder to Martell and a K to Greer ended the inning. Ken Mills batted for Moreno then against Steuer to begin the bottom 9th. At 1-1, he singled to right, putting the winning run aboard. Mercado and Martell both flew out easily, not advancing the runner.

Enter Jesus Maldonado. Keen on carrying the team all by himself (which was all I could ask for $5.5M of Nick Valdes’ dosh per season), especially after Bryce Toohey’s regrettable demise in late September, he was raking formidably in this series, batting just over .400. He came up with two outs, took a loopy strike, and then zeroed in on a fastball on the outside of the plate. He drilled it down the rightfield line – Cox leapt in vain at first base, and Benavides had shaded to the gap instead. Mills was of course going full speed with two outs, and the ball made it to the corner! Mills around third! He was gonna …! They wouldn’t …! It was a walkoff!!!

Raccoons 1, Thunder 0 – Portland leads series 3-2

Maldonado 1-3, 2B, RBI; Mills (PH) 1-1; Wheatley 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 3 K;

Back to plain old Oklahoma then, huh?

[Westheim]

2047 CONTINENTAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Portland Raccoons (104-58) @ Oklahoma City Thunder (108-54)

The Raccoons brought back Okuda for a rematch of Game 2, which had not ended all that well for the Critters. Not that we had other options. In terms of catchers, we went back to Gonzalez now, because making up my mind is hard.

Game 6 – Sadaharu Okuda (14-8, 2.91 ERA) vs. J.J. Hendrix (12-9, 3.39 ERA)

The good news were that Jesus Adame’s ankle had not taken serious damage in the ninth inning of Game 5 and he was 100% (or claimed to be that much) for the potential series clincher in Oklahoma. Otherwise the lineup remained unchanged.

POR: RF Mercado – SS Adame – 1B Maldonado – 2B Waters – CF Herrera – LF Baskins – C Gonzalez – 3B Coen – P Okuda
OCT: CF J. Price – 2B Ban – RF Benavides – LF Humphreys – 1B R. Cox – C Adames – 3B Greer – SS Lujan – P Hendrix

Adame singled, stole second, and scored on Matt Waters’ 2-out single to center to take the lead in the first. Waters also stole second, but Herrera struck out to leave him aboard. Jim Price also hit a first-inning single and then went on to steal second base, but Okuda struck out the next two and Steve Humphreys grounded over to Coen – who flubbed the ball for an error that put runners on the corners. Cox walked, filling them up, and Adames ran a full count before grounding out to Coen, which stranded everybody, but also added 12 pitches in a laborious bottom 1st. All in all, Okuda threw 43 pitches just the first time through the lineup, which amounted to two innings.

The Raccoons had gotten Derek Baskins and Ruben Gonzalez on with a walk and single, respectively, to begin the top 2nd, but Coen, Okuda, and Mercado were no help at all in even getting a runner to third base. Baskins and Gonzalez were on base again in the fourth, then with an out on the board and the walk and single reversed. Coen flew out, Okuda struck ou- … no, Adames kicked the ball away, and with two outs, Okuda legged it up to first base to reach on the uncaught third strike to fill the bases …! Lamentably, while Nelson Mercado ran a full count, he then struck out, throwing another three-pack on the pile of stranded runners.

Okuda needed 82 pitches through five, allowing four hits and two walks against three strikeouts, but he kept the Thunder off the board, and the skinny 1-0 lead still stood up after five innings. He put away the 4-5-6 in order in the sixth, and batted for himself in the next inning, not because he had that much more gas to go on, but because he was a respectably-hitting pitcher and our bench was thin enough. Unfortunately, he issued a leadoff walk to Marshall Greer in the bottom of the seventh inning… For one reason or another, the Coons stuck to him. T.J. Lujan grounded out. Nick DeMarco popped out. That even brought a lefty to the plate in Jim Price, batting a paltry .118 in the CLCS. But he also tied the game with an RBI single. Ban singled, Benavides walked, and the bags were full for Nelson Moreno then. Inexplicably, Nelson Moreno walked Humphreys in a full count, and walked Cox in a full count, pushing home two runs, as things escalated away from the Portlanders…. Jesus Adames finally popped out.

The Thunder were in their pen by the eighth, which began with two retirements before Waters and Herrera hit a pair of singles off Jon Craig. Delcid took over against Baskins, who clanked the first pitch – and only pitch Delcid threw in the game – to shallow center for an RBI single, 3-2. Ray Thune, who had gotten whacked for five runs and no outs in Game 3, was then sent in as replacement. The Raccoons hung with Ruben Gonzalez, who scratched out a single at 2-0 – but there was no sending Herrera from second against Benavides on that play. Bases loaded, and we *did* bat for Ben Coen, sending Al Martell. He fell behind 1-2, then flicked a howler into shallow left, where it dropped between Lujan and Humphreys, and died a hero. Game-tying RBI single!! With the bags still full, Tony Morales batted for the pitcher Moreno, and hit another single to right! Again, station by station minding Benavides, but that was the lead back in our paws!! Mercado then swung at the first pitch offered by Thune, grounding up the middle. Brad Simon intercepted the ball behind second base – but had no play! Infield single, another run in! Adame then finally flew out on a 3-2 pitch.

That put the 5-3 lead with the pen, which needed to get six outs, starting with Greer. Rella made the start, but allowed a leadoff double to Greer, and the runner advanced on Lujan’s groundout. We then sent Lynn right away with Simon in the #9 hole being the first of three lefty batters to cum up (with the pitcher mixed into that in the #2 hole). Simon struck out! …and Price grounded out to Maldonado, stranding the runner at third base!

Thune was still out there, just as shell-shocked as his manager and coaches, in the top 9th. Maldo singled, but Wates flew out to center, where Price injured himself and was replaced by Jayden Lockwood. Herrera singled, knocking out Thune for *Steuer*. The Thunder had to stop the Coons *now* or there’d be no tomorrow to save him for. But he gave up two RBI singles, to Baskins and Martell, before the Raccoons forfeited the inning by not batting for Lynn with two outs. Lynn struck out, then returned to the mound.

Ex-Coon Jose Zarate led off the bottom 9th in the #2 hole, batting righty. He singled over Adame. Benavides doubled to right, and the Raccoons now hurried to get a right-hander in the game. Lynn walked Humphreys on four pitches, and that was that. He would not even see Cox – the Raccoons rushed to get Bob Ibold.

Ibold walked Cox, pushing home a run, then struck out Angelo Zurita. Greer ran a full count with Ibold, then swung over a pitch in the dirt that Gonzalez contained, and that was the second out! Come on, boys! T.J. Lujan was up with three on and two outs! No reason to get away from Ibold – the Thunder had no pinch-hitters remaining – but Curl was ready for Simon if things got more wacky. And they did not. Lujan hacked through the 1-2 pitch, and that gave the pennant to Portland!

Raccoons 7, Thunder 4 – Portland wins series 4-2

Maldonado 2-5; Waters 2-5, RBI; Herrera 2-5; Baskins 3-4, BB, 2 RBI; Gonzalez 2-4, BB; Martell (PH) 2-2, 2 RBI; Morales (PH) 1-1, RBI; Ibold 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, SV (1);

We had 16 base hits in this wicked game – all singles. Somehow, we won! …while the Thunder will have six months to figure out how 108 wins still wasn’t enough to get through these pesky Coons…

Starting pitchers got zero wins for Portland in this series, but Nelson Moreno managed to go 3-0.

We are the fourth team to win four consecutive pennants after the 1990-93 Capitals, and the Titans of both 2001-2004 and 2022-2025. Those teams won two, three, and four rings, respectively. We’re at two and counting.

[Westheim]

2047 FLCS

At 86-76, the Pittsburgh Miners were by far the “worst” team to make the postseason this year. They had done so by squeaking through a tight FL East, beating both the Rebels and Buffaloes by a single game while nobody was further out than 13 games. On the way, they scored the third-most runs, and occupied the same spot in runs allowed, for a +114 run differential. They got to the FLCS without a batter hitting 20 home runs – Ed Soberanes led the team with 18 while batting .334 – and without a starting pitcher grabbing more than 13 wins; good old Joe Feltman (13-13, 3.54 ERA) took that honor. They were hard to grab and pin down as a team though, leading the FL in OBP and – by far – stolen bases, swiping an impressive 208 bags over the last six months.

Opposite them were the 100-62 Dallas Stars, that had put an end to the Gold Sox’ 3-year reign in the FL West. The Stars led all of the ABL in runs scored and tied the Miners for third place in runs allowed, coming out to a +144 run differential. They ended up second in OBP and stolen bases, but actually added a semblance of power to that, although the main source of voltage was Tylor Cecil (.331, 38 HR, 148 RBI), who smashed his own single-season RBI mark (144) from two years ago in decimating pitchers. Jamie King (.312, 22 HR, 98 RBI) was no country bumpkin, but even compared to him, Cecil looked like he was from another planet. Pitching-wise they had a middling rotation with a strong pen that save one game or another, but the 3.97 starters’ ERA looked like trouble unless they could out-swat that. Chances were promising, with six .300 hitters in their lineup, ALL of whom were qualifiers.

Interestingly, neither team carted up a left-handed starter for the FLCS. Both lineups leaned to lefty hitting, though, so it could become a scorefest FLCS.

This was the 12th postseason for the Stars and only their second October appearance in the last 39 years. They had three championships, none after 2006. The Miners reached the postseason for the 13th time and first time since 2038 this year. But they were one of three ABL teams to never have won a championship at this point, and their prior 12 FLCS appearances had also resulted in only three pennants. One of those had come in 2036 when they beat the Stars in six games, the only prior FLCS meeting between these two teams.

+++

PIT @ DAL … 3-5 … (Stars lead 1-0) … PIT Ivan Lugo 3-4, RBI; DAL Jose Rivas 2-4, 2B, RBI;

PIT @ DAL … 9-10 … (Stars lead 2-0) … PIT Giampaolo Petroni 3-4, BB, HR, RBI; PIT Jayden Ward 2-3, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; DAL Jose Rivas 3-5; DAL Tylor Cecil 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; DAL Juan del Toro 3-3, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; DAL Leo Villacorta 3-4, 3 RBI; DAL Joreao Porfirio (PH) 1-1, HR, 3 RBI;

In a game with six home runs – evenly split – the Stars rally for six runs in the last two innings to pull off a surprise comeback win. Cecil, the brunette terror, ends the game with a 2-run shot off Rico Sanchez (0-1, undef. ERA)

DAL @ PIT … 1-3 … (Stars lead 2-1) … DAL Omar Gonzalez 2-4, 2B, RBI; PIT Joe Feltman 8.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, W (1-0);

The Miners are out-hit in Game 3, but can make two home runs count to stay in the series.

DAL @ PIT … 5-7 … (series tied 2-2) … DAL Tylor Cecil 4-5, RBI; DAL Juan del Toro 2-5, 2 RBI; PIT Alex Vasquez 2-3, 2 BB, 3B; PIT Ed Soberanes 3-5, 2 RBI; PIT Victor Vazquez 2-3, BB, RBI;

DAL @ PIT … 3-0 … (Stars lead 3-2) … DAL Tylor Cecil 3-4, HR, RBI; DAL Daniel Hernandez 6.0 IP, 9 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K, W (1-0); Marcos Nabo 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Both teams have ten hits, but this time the Stars unpack the pair of home runs to grab the pivotal Game 5.

PIT @ DAL … 0-2 … (Stars win 4-2) … DAL Jose Rivas 3-4, 2B; DAL Raul Castaneda 2-4, 2 RBI; DAL Roberto Pruneda 8.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 K, W (1-0);

Two separate RBI singles by Castaneda and strong pitching by Pruneda put the series away for the Stars.

+++

Service announcement: I am currently not sure whether I can even deliver the World Series today. I have major roster problems. I want to add Jackson (who served his suspension now), Pellicano, and Manny, yet keep a long man, and Hitchcock, too, and we have to keep Van Hoy, the bum, because otherwise nobody but Maldo has first base experience, and I am being told, no, we can’t have 46 players on the roster just because I can’t make up my lilly mind.

[Westheim]

2047 WORLD SERIES
Portland Raccoons (104-58) vs. Dallas Stars (100-62)

The Raccoons and Stars met for a rematch of the 1983 World Series, the first that we ever played in (and lost (cough!)). We had homefield advantage for this one and despite less impressive overall offensive numbers, had the better run differential by 14 runs.

So, there they were, six .300 hitters, with the Landkreuzer Ratte of baseball players, old and new single-season RBI king Tylor Cecil (.331, 38 HR, 148 RBI). Jamie King had been day-to-day at one point in the FLCS, but recovered fully in time for this series, bringing his .312, 22 HR, 98 RBI bat along, although third-best on their team in homers was actually Leo Villacorta (.305, 11 HR, 78 RBI). Mostly they killed their prey by asphyxiation.

Mostly, they also batted left-handed, apart from the .344 switch-hitter Rivas and right-handed Omar Gonzalez and Mario Sedillo (who was at the bottom of the order). For pitchers, they carried four right-handed starters, which dropped the stock of players like Ben Coen or Arturo Carreno (who would have been a potential “third freebie” addition) when it came to our ongoing roster crunch. Left-handed hitting *and* pitching went up in value for the Raccoons, who now wished to even keep Oscar Alcala on the roster, in addition to Hitchcock, and maybe Baker, and the other seven relievers that were our well-known and trusted stock, and oh, by the way, Jackson’s suspension was up and he could be added to – … and now you have 18 pitchers on the roster and nobody that can hold a bat.

Or play first base.

Ugh, first base.

Besides Jesus Maldonado, Evan Van Hoy was the only living player that could cover that spot somewhat reliably. A crazy thought was to dump Van Hoy for Bryce Toohey – who was not cleared to play – put Ruben Gonzalez at first, and close our eyes at every grounder to the right side, which would be man(n)y. Oh yes, can’t go without Manny, can you? He was available to be added from the DL, so was Pellicano. Then again, righty batter…

But Toohey would be out for at least the first two games in Portland, and was not a guarantee to be available for the opener in Dallas after that, either. If Dr. Padilla could guarantee me that Toohey would be available for Game 3, I’d make the switch rab/pidly. But Dr. Padilla would not sign that paper, and so the Raccoons had to go without Toohey (and Gurney, too).

At some point, though, we had try and stop to outsmart ourselves. My think tank, consisting mainly of Honeypaws, Slappy, and Chad in the mascot costume, finally agreed that certain cuts had to be made. The 4-man bench in the CLCS had not been a success, so we needed to trim the pitchers down to a dozen. Add Jackson, trim Alcala and Hitchcock, and keep Baker as the left-handed spare.

That opened a spot for a batter, but we wanted to add two – Manny and Gene Pellicano. We went over this a few times, and I counted it on my claws all day, but between Manny, Baskins, and Mercado we had three left-handed outfielders, and we’d still keep Herrera in the lineup – so what did we need Ken Mills for? Yoink, he goes.

That keeps the rather useless Evan Van Hoy on the roster, but at the rate Jesus Maldonado got plunked at now, a spare first baseman was not the worst of concepts. And as established, neither Toohey nor Gurney were valid options…

The teams had met in the regular season in May, with the Stars taking two of three games. Wheats took a hefty loss in about his worst start of the season, and Merino lost too, despite that lefty tilt to the Stars lineup. Jake Jackson performed best for a single earned run and the only team W in the series when the Coons routed Arthur Pickett in the first two innings.

[Westheim]

2047 WORLD SERIES
Portland Raccoons (104-58) vs. Dallas Stars (100-62)

The Raccoons would begin the World Series at home, having attained the superior record during the regular season.

Game 1 – Victor Merino (14-10, 3.34 ERA) vs. Arthur Pickett (15-9, 3.63 ERA)

The Critters did not change the lineup much, but replaced Ben Coen with Al Martell. Ruben Gonzalez, who had won the CLCS MVP decoration – which gave him an MVP award at both playoff levels at age 26! – continued to bat seventh for reasons only known to me and Honeypaws. At least I hope we have reasons.

The opener would be started by Victor Merino, who would hopefully blossom against a mostly left-handed lineup. The turnaround after the CLCS was too quick for Wheats to take the ball in Game 1, but it was enough for him to go out in Game 2.

Was I confident we’d win? Depends. Can Tylor Cecil play with birdshot in his bottocks? – (has the blunderbuss taken away by Maud)

For the ceremonial first pitch and the national anthem in one swoop, the Raccoons intended to invite beloved country artist Teddy Hucklebottom, a true Pacific Northwest original. Due to an agent’s mix-up, however, we got stuck with Patty Bucklerotten, the menfolk-hating androcide activist, who refused to sing, and then instead of throwing a baseball to a player of her choice, tried to wrestle the baton from a policeman to cause atrocity with it, before being dragged off the field by security.

Portland, huh!? What are you gonna – … (shrugs)

DAL: SS J. Rivas – 2B Sedillo – CF del Toro – LF O. Gonzalez – RF Cecil – 3B Higareda – C Rollin – 1B Jam. King – P Pickett
POR: RF Mercado – SS Adame – 1B Maldonado – 2B Waters – CF Herrera – LF Baskins – C R. Gonzalez – 3B Martell – P Merino

…and then there was no mostly left-handed lineup. The Stars moved up Mario Sedillo and added Adrian Higareda to the lineup, and only three lefty position players remained – Juan del Toro, Cecil, and Jamie King.

The Raccoons had two hits and two walks in the first two innings, but Alex Adame was caught stealing, and Merino came up with two aboard and two out in the second, and was out on strikes. Then we committed two errors in the top 3rd, which began with a Dan Rollin double and got worse from there. Jamie King reached on Waters’ error, and Pickett flew to left. Baskins’ throw to home plate as Rollin tried to score was so far off it was good for a second error, conceding the run and moving King to second, from where he scored on a 2-out hit by Sedillo. Del Toro flew out to Herrera, ending the inning with the Raccoons behind 2-0 on a pair of unearned runs.

While the Raccoons were mostly harmless with the bats the second time through, the Stars began the fifth like the third inning. Rollin doubled into right-center, while King now reached first base on balls. Here, Pickett knocked a bunt back hard to Merino, who managed to turn a double play with it, while Jose Rivas flew out to Herrera to strand the remaining runner. The Coons went on to get nothing out of Al Martell’s leadoff walk in the bottom of the inning, still trailing 2-0.

That doubled to 4-0 in the sixth inning. Sedillo singled, and del Toro also singled. Omar Gonzalez popped out, but Tylor Cecil hit a ball into the left-center gap so deep, it might have lined its way to Saskatchewan if not for the pretty sturdy fence out there. He had to settle for a 2-run double, but that still put the Stars well in command in this game. Pickett gave up 1-out singles to Waters and Herrera in the bottom 6th, but got a double play from Derek Baskins to bail out.

Merino went seven solid innings, but continued to trail with no offensive backup. Bob Ibold and Jake Bonnie would offer solid relief, but with Pickett still hurling a shutout. The Englishman (a draft target for the Coons back in the day!) went into the ninth, but allowed a double to Waters, threw a wild pitch, and then walked Herrera, which was enough for the Stars to become concerned and send in righty Dale Mrazek. When he lost Baskins in a full count, the tying run appeared at the plate, but also with no outs… The CLCS MVP grounded to short for a 6-4-3 soul-stabber, which technically scored a run, but actually **** off… Martell flew out to del Toro.

Stars 4, Raccoons 1 – Dallas leads series 1-0

Waters 2-4, 2B; Herrera 2-3, BB; Merino 7.0 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, L (0-1);

Game 2 – Jason Wheatley (13-8, 2.82 ERA) vs. Orlando Leos (14-7, 4.03 ERA)

A semblance of offense would be required in Game 2 to even the series, even if Wheats remained relatively sturdy. The Raccoons would bring in some veteran savvy ™ with Manny Fernandez starting over Derek Baskins in leftfield.

The ceremonial first pitch was delivered by Yoshi Nomura, who had two stints in Portland and at some point would have half his number retired now that Alberto Ramos was also done with it and baseball in general. They had more things in common than #7 – both f.e. had spent most of the 2030s and 2040s gaining weight.

DAL: RF O. Gonzalez – 3B J. Rivas – CF Cecil – 1B Jam. King – LF del Toro – SS Villacorta – 2B Sedillo – C Castaneda – P O. Leos
POR: RF Mercado – SS Adame – 1B Maldonado – 2B Waters – C R. Gonzalez – CF Herrera – 3B Martell – LF Fernandez – P Wheatley

Hah, there were those left-handed batters… Cecil and King both struck out after a Rivas double in the first, making me briefly think that we’d be alright, especially when Mercado and Adame opened the bottom 1st with singles to right. Maldonado cracked a bouncer into a double play, Waters struck out, and nobody scored…

The third inning was weird in that Wheats both committed an error and reached base on an error himself, and that the other player involved was both times Jose Rivas. Great move to put on bodies in front of Cecil, by the way, although the serial slugger popped out to Waters to end the top 3rd. Adame hit a 2-out single in the bottom of the inning, moving Wheats to second, and a full-count walk to Maldonado filled the bases for Matt Waters – who grounded out to King.

The Stars got three singles from King, del Toro, and Sedillo in the fourth inning, which loaded the bags for Rafael Castaneda with one out, but he spanked the ball back into Wheatley’s mitten for a 1-4-3 double play to keep the game scoreless. The Raccoons then got a gapper for a 1-out triple from Armando Herrera in the bottom of the fourth! But now, boys! Now we’ll take the lead! Yes indeed – Al Martell’s sac fly made it 1-0 Critters.

Wheats responded with a pair of clean innings before Waters and Gonzalez logged base hits to occupy the corners with one out in the bottom 6th. Even with Wheats looking good, tack-on runs would be much appreciated by a certain old man rocking back and forth on a sat-through brown couch in an office above the baseball field, as he nervously fingered a visibly stressed-out toy raccoon in search of comfort. A 3-run homer would do, though. The best Herrera could offer, however, was to stay out of the double play on his slow grounder up the middle. Waters scored on the fielder’s choice, so there was that. The inning ended with Herrera caught stealing…

The next began with a single to center by Leo Villacorta, but then another comebacker from Sedillo allowed Wheatley to start another double play. Castaneda grounded out to complete the pre-stretch part of the game. Joreao Porfirio, Omar Gonzalez, and Jose Rivas went down in order in the eighth. And if the lead was bigger, Wheats would go back to war in the ninth inning even against the army of left-handed brutes that was going to wait for him, but not in a 2-0 or 3-0 game. Mike Lynn was tossing in the pen, and after the Coons’ middle of the order left no visible marks on reliever Adam Middleton, Lynn took over the mound. Cecil grounded out to Waters, which was as good as it got for Dallas, with King and del Toro vanishing on strikes.

Raccoons 2, Stars 0 – series tied 1-1

Adame 2-4; Wheatley 8.0 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, W (1-0) and 1-3;

Next: trip to Dallas.

[Westheim]

2047 WORLD SERIES
Portland Raccoons (104-58) @ Dallas Stars (100-62)

No, Bryce Toohey would not have been available for Game 3 in Dallas. The claw still ached, and it was hard to hit homers with that.

Game 3 – Sadaharu Okuda (14-8, 2.91 ERA) vs. Daniel Hernandez (15-8, 3.59 ERA)

The 34-year-old Hernandez had enjoyed sort of a second spring after years of mediocrity in the Stars rotation. He had also pitched strong in the FLCS (1.38 ERA), which could not be said of Okuda (5.11 ERA) …

POR: RF Mercado – SS Adame – 1B Maldonado – 2B Waters – C R. Gonzalez – CF Herrera – 3B Martell – LF Fernandez – P Okuda
DAL: SS J. Rivas – 2B Sedillo – CF del Toro – LF O. Gonzalez – RF Cecil – 3B Higareda – C Rollin – 1B Jam. King – P D. Hernandez

The Raccoons managed five hits in the first three innings, and did not score. Mercado and Waters were left on the corners in the first inning, Herrera was stranded in the second, and Adame was caught stealing in the third before Maldo could whack a double into the leftfield corner that might have gotten him home even from first base…

Okuda allowed a single to del Toro, who was caught stealing, and a double to King, who was left on by Hernandez and Rivas, the first time through, whiffing a pair in the meantime. The Coons then tried again, with Ruben Gonzalez legging out a *leadoff triple* in the fourth. The Stars walked Herrera intentionally, which did not turn out to be a winning move. Al Martell dished a double to left, plating the game’s first run and putting a pair in scoring position for Manny Fernandez, who was also walked intentionally to much chagrin on my part. Okuda batted with three on and nobody out, and maybe the Stars were not fully aware of him being good in the clutch? Despite falling behind 2-2, he pushed an RBI single through the right side, increasing the lead to 2-0. Mercado grounded into a force at home plate, but Adame hit a ball all the way up the leftfield line and into the corner for a bases-clearing triple! The Coons!!

After Maldo scored Adame with a groundout to get the score to 6-0, and the Stars scratched the remains of Hernandez off the mound, it was on Okuda to hold up with that big support behind him. He retired the side in order in the bottom 4th, but Cecil singled off him to begin the bottom 5th, then removed himself from the basepaths in a strike-em-out-throw-em-out double play with Higareda.

Was that enough? Was that the game? The Raccoons surely appeared like they *thought* they had enough, and the Stars made no reasonable inroads into the 6-run lead any time soon. In the seventh then, Manny Fernandez plated Herrera with a sac fly. Sedillo countered with a solo homer in the bottom of the inning, but that merely kept the gap at six runs.

The game moved into Bizarroworld in the eighth inning. After two went out against righty Ryan Porter, the Raccoons sent Evan Van Hoy to bat for Maldonado to keep him uninjured until tomorrow (unless he’d bite his tongue or get a teammate’s fork in the paw at all-you-can-eat steak buffet). Van Hoy, the nothing player that was only a warm body on the bench, homered off Porter – and to dead center to boot.

Yeah, I could not compute it either.

A stunned Porter allowed another three batters on base and conceded a run before the inning ended. Okuda went through the eighth rather quickly despite a pinch-hit single by Rick Rowell. He issued two 2-out walks in the ninth inning, but still had enough juice (and a huge cushion) to put the game away in complete-game fashion!

Raccoons 9, Stars 1 – Portland leads series 2-1

Mercado 2-5, BB; Adame 2-6, 3B, 3 RBI; Van Hoy (PH) 1-1, HR, RBI; Waters 2-4, BB, 3B; Gonzalez 2-5, 3B; Herrera 3-4, BB; Okuda 9.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W (1-1) and 1-5, RBI;

Do I dare say that I wished they’d have saved the last few runs for Game 4?

Game 4 – Jake Jackson (12-4, 3.01 ERA) vs. Roberto Pruneda (14-12, 5.00 ERA)

Jackson had sat out the CLCS and in general had only thrown 6.1 innings in the last two months. On the other paw, we had long relief potential from the left side, and the bullpen looked kind of bored and in need of exercise anyway.

Me and my cocky comments.

POR: RF Mercado – SS Adame – 1B Maldonado – 2B Waters – C R. Gonzalez – CF Herrera – 3B Martell – LF Baskins – P Jackson
DAL: RF O. Gonzalez – 3B J. Rivas – CF Cecil – 1B Jam. King – LF del Toro – SS Villacorta – 2B Sedillo – C Castaneda – P Pruneda

After Rivas singled and Cecil doubled to right, Jamie King struck out in quite the big, if early, at-bat. Juan del Toro flew out to Baskins in deep left, but Jackson’s first inning was not entirely convincing. In the second, he walked Sedillo before ringing up Castaneda and Pruneda, then got the lead in the third inning.

Adame and Maldonado hit a pair of 1-out doubles up the leftfield line to get the team on the board, and Waters hit an RBI single through the hole on the left side, advancing to second on del Toro’s throw to home plate, which was nowhere near in time to get Maldo. Gonzalez grounded out, as did Herrera, while Jackson fudged a Rivas comebacker for an error in the bottom 4th, which was the second time a Coons right-hander errored a runner on base in front of Cecil. This time the slugger singled to right, moving Rivas to third base, all with one gone. And this time Jamie King struck a gap double to tie the game, too.

Singles by Baskins, who was bunted to second base by Jackson, and Mercado gave the Coons a new 3-2 lead in the top 4th, but Cecil tied that one up with an RBI single to score Omar Gonzalez in the bottom 5th. Jackson didn’t retire another batter, allowing a single to King and a walk to del Toro before being yanked from a 3-3 tie with three aboard and only one out. The Coons went to Aaron Curl, but he allowed an RBI single to Villacorta and another run on a Sedillo groundout. Castaneda grounded out to strand a pair, but the Raccoons were now down by as many.

Pellicano batted for Curl in the sixth after Baskins had reached base with one gone. It was his first appearance in the series and he made it a memorable one, hitting a ball into the rightfield corner for an RBI triple, at once putting himself at third base with the tying run. Pruneda walked Mercado, while Adame fell behind 0-2. He then hit a pop into shallow left, near the line… and… where they getting to it? Yes, and no! Rivas reached up and made the catch as he went backwards, but that was already mid-stumble. He lost the ball as he fell, and Pellicano scored once he did, tying the game at five. The Stars somehow still hung with Pruneda, at least with another righty coming up here. It was a righty too many – Jesus Maldonado hit a 440-footer to left-center, and the Raccoons took an 8-5 lead on a 5-spot!

Of course, there was still a lot of pitching to do. Josh Rella turned in a scoreless sixth, after which Bonnie got the ball for the 3-4-5 batters and maybe more – he in any case entered the bottom 7th in the #8 slot, with Manny replacing Baskins in the double switch. Cecil hit a leadoff single and stole a base, but was still stranded as Bonnie completed the inning. He was back for the eighth, but allowed a single to Sedillo and a walk to Sal Ayala to bring the tying run to the plate with one out. Time for Nelson Moreno! …who walked Gonzalez, then allowed an infield single for a run to Rivas.

With Cecil twitching a twig in the box, the Raccoons went to Mike Lynn, needing five outs to complete the game, and now with little cushion left, 8-6. Cecil grounded to Waters at 1-0, but the Coons could not turn two and a run scored. Higareda then pinch-hit to bring up a righty bat, but fouled out near first base to strand runners on the corners.

Mrazek kept the Critters off the bases in the ninth, so it would be all on Lynn. Del Toro grounded out to begin the bottom of the hopefully final frame. Joreao Porfirio whiffed. And then Sedillo scratched out a 2-out walk. Dan Rollin pinch-hit for Castaneda, another righty bat that had already done plenty of harm in this series. Not now, though – he struck out.

Raccoons 8, Stars 7 – Portland leads series 3-1

Adame 2-5, 2B, RBI; Maldonado 3-5, HR, 2B, 4 RBI; Waters 2-5, RBI; Pellicano (PH) 1-1, 3B, RBI;

Tight, but a win!

So, Vic? How about getting a playoff win, huh?

Game 5 – Victor Merino (14-10, 3.34 ERA) vs. Arthur Pickett (15-9, 3.63 ERA)

The Game 1 matchup was back for Game 5, which could also be the final game of the year – but only if Merino reversed fortunes from back then…!

POR: RF Mercado – SS Adame – 1B Maldonado – 2B Waters – C R. Gonzalez – CF Herrera – 3B Martell – LF Baskins – P Merino
DAL: SS J. Rivas – 2B Sedillo – CF del Toro – LF O. Gonzalez – RF Cecil – 3B Higareda – C Rollin – 1B Jam. King – P Pickett

Adame was nicked in the first, but left aboard, then turned a double play on Omar Gonzalez in the bottom of the inning to bail out Merino with Sedillo and del Toro on the corners. The Portlanders had no hits through three innings, while Pickett had a double off Merino in the bottom 3rd. He tried to score on Rivas’ single to center, but was thrown out by Herrera at the plate…! Sedillo popped out to complete three scoreless.

The first five batters in the fourth inning were all sat down before Cecil hit a 2-out single. The bags then filled up on Higareda getting nailed on 0-2, and Martell’s bad throw that pulled Maldo off the bag on Rollin’s roller. Jamie King, hitting .139 in the playoffs, went down on strikes to strand all the runners…!

Pickett walked Martell in the fifth, but otherwise did not allow runners, a.k.a. still no hits for the Critterfolk. Rivas (single) and Sedillo reached with one out in the bottom half of that inning, but then embarked on a double steal that saw Rivas thrown out at third base by Ruben Gonzalez. Del Toro flew out to Baskins, ending the fifth.

Then it was Merino who took the no-hitter away, singling up the middle to begin the sixth. Whatever works! Mercado hit a jammer in front of the plate in a full count, but legged out Rollin’s throw to first base to add a *second* runner at the same time – what luxury! While Adame lined out to the other shortstop, Maldonado turned a 1-2 pitch around and singled over Sedillo’s head to load the bases. Matt Waters swung away at the very next pitch, grounding to the right side, and past Sedillo! Merino in! Mercado in! 2-0 lead! You go, boys!!

From there, Gonzalez grounded out, and Herrera drew a walk to fill the sacks again. Martell grounded to Higareda, who threw wildly to first, the ball bounced off King’s wrist, and into foul ground, allowing two runs to score! Intentional walk to Baskins to force up Merino again – and the Raccoons did NOT go for a pinch-hitter. Nor did the Stars go for a reliever – surely Pickett would get Merino out *this* time, right?

Wrong.

Single up the middle, two runs were in, 6-0, and the park went absolutely silent. Now Pickett was yanked. Rodger Arrendell replaced him. Too late? Mercado grounded out, but now the Raccoons were 12 outs away from back-to-back championships, and their starter was still going good so far – unless he considered himself a hitter after two singles and two RBI’s in one inning and was no longer effective on the mound, of course. Cecil singled in the bottom 6th, but was left on first. No Stars appeared on the basepaths in the seventh at all.

The Stars pen did what they could, keeping the Raccoons off the bags as well. But by now the 6-run gap had only six more outs to withstand. Bottom 8th, Sedillo popped out to begin the inning. Del Toro however singled to right, and then Merino lost Gonzalez on balls, his first walk in the game. Cecil was next, but Merino would remain in for one more batter; the old aversion to switching lefty-for-lefty, I guess. Cecil took the first pitch to right, and it dinked for a single. Mercado collected the ball and fired home, and del Toro also made for home plate – and he was beaten! A catastrophic out for the Stars! They could have had the bases loaded with one out and the tying run on the dugout steps, but instead del Toro was thrown out, and the tying run was moved back to the bat rack…! Two on, two outs, but Merino was now finished. Nelson Moreno came on for Higareda, entering in a double switch that put Coen on third base. Higareda struck out, completing the eighth inning.

The Raccoons did not reach base in the ninth, and they did not need to. They still had Moreno back for the ninth, and the Stars would cart up the bottom of the order. So they started to rake against Moreno. Rollin hit a leadoff double, and after King struck out, Rick Rowell stroked an RBI triple. Rivas poked at 1-0, flying out to Gene Pellicano in shallow right, and Rowell held. One more out to go – either from Moreno and Sedillo, or if not, with Aaron Curl taking over.

Aaron Curl did not take over. Nelson Moreno threw one more pitch, and Sedillo popped it up. Ruben Gonzalez made the catch in foul ground, and that was the baseball season completed, and a winner found.

Raccoons 6, Stars 1 – Portland wins series 4-1

Merino 7.2 IP, 9 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, W (1-1) and 2-3, 2 RBI;

They had 11 hits. We had five.

And yet, we were the ones running around the big trophy in the on-field ceremony!

…

2047 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS
Portland Raccoons
(7th title)

[pgjocki]

That's outstanding and I'm glad after taking a long break I was able to come back and witness a Championship!

Sent from my SM-G781V using Tapatalk

[Bub13]

DYNASTY DYNASTY DYNASTY

Three wins in four years? Yeah, that counts. Congrats.

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by pgjocki

That's outstanding and I'm glad after taking a long break I was able to come back and witness a Championship!

So was your absence good luck or ...?

Originally Posted by Bub13

DYNASTY DYNASTY DYNASTY

Three wins in four years? Yeah, that counts. Congrats.

We're totally a dynasty now!

Well, sort of... see below.

+++

My fur was still sticky with champagne as we arrived back home in Portland, where I ran into beloved owner Nick Valdes in the office on the day after. He grandly announced that he had already taken care of the new merch to celebrate our newest fantastic championship, and showed a green sweatshirt to me. Maud, standing behind him, tried to signal me with big arm movements to at least fake a little enthusiasm, but I could not help it.

Nick, these shirts just read “Dynasty Town”. That is not our colors. Actually, it doesn’t even read “Dynasty Town”, it reads “Dynatsy Town”. – No, I am not done with my criticizing. For example, we play baseball, remember. – Because there’s a ******* hockey stick and puck on the front of that shirt!! – What do you mean, we’re gonna wear it anyway, because you got six shipping containers of these on the cheap??

After gently discussing our disagreements – Cristiano Carmona was hit by several flying pillows, but suffered no serious injury – we moved on to the money part of the offseason, because a new budget needed to be set for 2048. Nick Valdes was terribly unhappy that we overspent his gracious allowance in 2047, however. We went $2,650 over his budget of $51M! How dare we!

Yet, Steve from Accounting then produced the invoice from Kampuchea Apparel Inc. for the Dynatsy Town shirts that was mostly Cambodian characters, but quite clearly read $69,000 at the bottom of it. Hah! So I was actually $66,350 under the budget!

So the pillow fight continued until Maud came in with blueberry muffins and everybody was friends again, at least until the mayor’s office called that there were six rusty shipping containers piled up in the street next to the ballpark, and we had to get them moved away, this instant.

The Coons, huh?

In any case, we’d have more dosh to spend in the new season, with Nick growing to like the taste of winning a pennant every year. To make sure that would continue, he packed another $5M onto our budget for 2048, increasing it to $56M. That moved the Coons from a tie for fifth to sole possession of fourth in the budget rankings.

We now trailed only the Gold Sox ($59M), Thunder ($57M), and Miners ($57M). The Stars ($55M) completed the top 5.

The bottom of the league was brought up by the Titans ($38M), Falcons ($37.5M), Aces ($37M), Wolves ($33.5M), and … the Loggers ($30M).

The remaining CL North terms sat in seventh (VAN, $52M) and a tie for 18th (NYC and IND, $39.5M each).

The average budget for a team in the league rose to $45M, up over $700k from last season. The median team budget or 2047 was $42M, down $1M from last season.

Yes, the rich got richer – 13 teams were in the bracket between $37M and $44.5M, and then there were nine teams all the way over $50M, with nothing in between. I hear $5.5M buys you a pretty decent player. (looks over to Maldonado, gobbling an ungodly pile of mac and cheese from his food bowl)

+++

The Raccoons had only five players headed for salary arbitration this fall, which was one of the signs that the Visigoths were banging at the gates and soon enough the Western Roman Empire and all its aqueducts and floor heating and Continental League pennants would soon collapse. The team was getting old, prospects were few and far between, and all that was left was to fling money at all the problems whenever a crack in the wall appeared.

Money usually wasn’t infinite, but cracks potentially were.

Three of the five arbitration candidates then were starting pitchers, and while Victor Merino was a first-time candidate and might have to sign up for cheap, the other two were Sadaharu Okuda and Jason Wheatley, and they were *already* making seven figures. Wheats’ arbitration estimate was *well* over $2M. It was also the last time he was eligible, and the Raccoons might want to get that long-term deal done NOW. An honorable mention goes to Jake Jackson, who had a $1.5M team option for this season and had no hopes of not seeing that picked up.

The other two players were Preston Porter and Arturo Carreno. Porter was one of the more efficient right-handers that nobody ever talked about, while Carreno was … well, he hit .327 in under 100 at-bats, and .329 in AAA in about 250 at-bats. He found his stick again, it seemed, but he was now also 28 and his position was blocked by Matt Waters.

Free agents were quite numerous, but nobody was eligible for compensation, not even ABL saves king Mike Lynn, also an important piece to re-sign. Aaron Curl was the only other pitcher on the list – losing both of them would mean our best lefty was now Jake ******* Bonnie. Panic.

Manny Fernandez failed to meet the requirements of his vesting option, which basically would have been to not spend half the year on the DL, because we worked our bums off to get him into every game at one point. Nelson Mercado was also a free agent – a weirdly plucky, efficient player that certainly saw his price go up now. Al Martell and Tony Morales completed the list. Martell remains a pinch-hitting wonder, while Morales picked the wrong year to have an abominable first half, followed by a merely decent second half. He wasn’t likely to be back, at all.

[Westheim]

The Raccoons started the offseason by nibbling around their arbitration cases and trying to convince the odd free agent or other to stay around and win more rings. He first things worthy of reporting were actually moves to avoid arbitration with Preston Porter and Victor Merino with new 1-year deals. The two pitchers signed for $420k and $550k, respectively.

Another open personnel question was settled in late October as well. Manny Fernandez had failed to meet the requirements of his $1.5M vesting option, which would have required to not make a home of the DL, but the Raccoons (or maybe just me) wished to keep his, uh, veteran savvy around for a bit longer. Manny also liked the size of the food bowls and had nowhere else to go to after almost 20 years in the Raccoons’ system, and so signed on for just $725k for the 2048 campaign.

Since we were already on throwing around Nick Valdes’ money – Mike Lynn was also kept in the fold for an eye-watering $10.8M over the next four years, a flat contract with no kinks in it. Closer’s money wasn’t what it used to be…!

Thinking about it, Jason Wheatley signed his furry bottoms way too cheap when he signed a new 7-year deal with the Raccoons that would net him $24.5M. That one was also flat; the last year was a vesting option requiring 140 innings pitches. Wheats had wanted a 10-year retirement deal, but I was able to beat some sort of sense into the boy!

But that was also the point where we had to apply a touch of handbrake where it came to throwing out the dosh. Our budget was rich, but not infinite. Then there was trouble on the arbitration front with Okuda, who also longed for an extensive deal, but we were not keen on signing him through age 38 all at once, but all that did was send a 7-figure case to the arbitrator’s table, which… y’know, not ideal!

It also meant that we didn’t see room in the budget for Aaron Curl and Nelson Mercado, both of whom saw themselves entitled to millions. Seven figures for a closer was one thing; seven figures to a situational lefty was a bit hefty. And Mercado was a good tool to have at the top of the order, but he was just asking for too much, especially with Pat Degenhardt flashing a yellow light where he saw Mercado’s agility going in the near future.

The last two contracts were signed in early November. Arturo Carreno inked for $630k, and Al Martell, who wanted a 3-year deal, got a 1-year contract worth $700k. The Carreno contract wasn’t for long though…

+++

October 21 – The Condors acquire LF/RF Ethan Moore (.257, 125 HR, 641 RBI) from the Wolves, who receive a prospect.
October 27 – The Indians pick up right-hander Sang-hoon Kim (14-11, 4.56 ERA, 3 SV) from the Capitals for a prospect.
November 6 – The Raccoons trade MR Josh Rella (24-18, 3.14 ERA, 175 SV), OF Ken Mills (.269, 3 HR, 16 RBI), and 2B Arturo Carreno (.260, 15 HR, 147 RBI) to the Rebels for C Kevin Prow (.283, 27 HR, 194 RBI) and 20-yr old AA 3B Ed Crispin.

+++

Prow had been the Aces’ primary catcher for a few years before becoming a backup in the Federal League. He was going to be the new backup here, behind Ruben Gonzalez. We tried to get a lefty counterpart for Ruben again, but there was just nobody available. There were a few young and promising left-handed batting catchers on bad teams that wouldn’t give them up, and there was 37-year-old Manichiro Toki, who we tried to acquire a few years back when he had not yet been 37…

So wasn’t the price for a backup catcher a tad high? We also got Crispin, an unranked but quite promising third base prospect. Thunderous arm with above-average range – and quite strong speed! The bat was expected to be more of a .240 stick with power, which wasn’t bad to have in the pipeline. He would only turn 21 later in the month and had split this season between two organizations and three minor league clubs, and would be assigned to Ham Lake.

The Rebels got a second baseman we were basically through with, an outfielder that wasn’t quite getting into the lineup any time soon, and then Josh Rella, a longtime righty on this team. For Rella, walks had been up in 2046, but down this year; instead the homers and hits had gone up. He was losing effectiveness with the slider, so that basically left him with his fastball, and that at age 30 and signed for another two years. It was not the worst deal, especially with Kevin Hitchcock right there to slide into the open spot.

Let’s just say we didn’t tear out a leg here.

There were other trade proposals that were considered. Foremost probably the Thunder, offering up Angelo Zurita, either for Mills or for Pat Gurney, but always for Rafael de la Cruz, the young pitcher that had cost us seven figures to sign this July, and I was all nah on signing off on that, even though Zurita would be a *great* leadoff hitter, batting left-handed and being cheaper than Mercado would be.

+++

2047 ABL AWARDS

Players of the Year: DAL OF Tylor Cecil (.331, 38 HR, 148 RBI) and OCT C Jesus Adames (.320, 27 HR, 93 RBI)
Pitchers of the Year: SAC SP Mike McCaffrey (17-7, 2.18 ERA) and ATL SP Brian Buttress (15-7, 2.92 ERA)
Rookies of the Year: TOP C Brett Banks (.300, 27 HR, 107 RBI) and IND 3B Bobby Anderson (.262, 9 HR, 59 RBI)
Relievers of the Year: CIN CL Ross Mitchell (9-1, 1.61 ERA, 36 SV) and POR CL Mike Lynn (5-2, 1.54 ERA, 44 SV)
Platinum Sticks (FL): P DAL Arthur Pickett – C TOP Brett Banks – 1B NAS Alejandro Ramos – 2B RIC Lance Harrison – 3B DAL Jose Rivas – SS PIT Ed Soberanes – LF SFW Mario Villa – CF DAL Tylor Cecil – RF SAC Nate Culp
Platinum Sticks (CL): P CHA Jerry Felix – C OCT Jesus Adames – 1B ATL John Marz – 2B OCT Jonathan Ban – 3B POR Jesus Maldonado – SS OCT Ryan Cox – LF IND Danny Rivera – CF SFB Alex Marquez – RF OCT Juan Benavides
Gold Gloves (FL): P TOP Kuniyoshi Nagai – C RIC Kyle Duncan – 1B PIT Aaron Brayboy – 2B DEN Ivan Villa – 3B DAL Jose Rivas – SS TOP Adriano Chavez – LF DAL Juan del Toro – CF PIT Jayden Ward – RF WAS Brian Nigro
Gold Gloves (CL): P MIL Ruben Guzman – C LVA Kevin Weese – 1B MIL Erik Bush – 2B OCT Jonathan Ban – 3B CHA Bobby Thibault – SS VAN Rick Price – LF MIL Bill Reeves – CF ATL Jon Alade – RF DEN Armando Luis Herrera

[Westheim]

By mid-November, the free agents filed off the roster; in the end the Raccoons lost Tony Morales, Aaron Curl, and Nelson Mercado to free agency, then had to take Sadaharu Okuda to arbitration, where we offered $1.5M and then found out that Okuda was asking for the same. How the actual **** we hadn’t been able to come to an agreement beforepaw was absolutely beyond me.

We also reassigned some players to AAA that would certainly not be on the Opening Day roster, including Oscar Alcala, Danny Cancel, Brian Shedd, and the ludicrous postseason addition Evan Van Hoy.

This reduced the extended roster to 29 (including Bubba Wolinsky, who would not be a factor in the first half of 2048), including five natural outfielders: Armando Herrera, venerable Manny Fernandez, Derek Baskins (all over 30 by the way), Gene Pellicano, and Roberto Medina. There was certainly room for an addition there. Another option would be to move Toohey to a corner more regularly and then play Pat Gurney at first base more often.

The 28 healthy players also still included Jimmy Dalton as third catcher, as well as a seventh infielder in Ben Coen that probably wasn’t gonna make the roster unless we did move more to the outfield with Bryce Toohey. Gurney and Maldo were also potential corner outfield options – it wasn’t like we really needed five true outfielders on the roster, an with Baskins and Pellicano we had two backups to Herrera in center even now.

And the pitchers? Wheats, Okuda, Merino, Jackson were still here; Jeremy Baker looked like he’d hold down the fifth spot well enough until Wolinsky would return in June or July.

In the pen, Lynn and Moreno held down the back end, with Porter and Ibold as credible alternatives in late innings. There was still Bonnie, for better or worse (usually worse), and then Hitchcock, who was only 24 and looked worth every dime o that $60k bonus to sign him out of Germany in the 2040 July IFA period. Then again, we had gotten a whole Nelson Moreno for no more than *$20k* a few years prior! And Moreno wasn’t doing shabbily for a failed starter (11-13, 5.01 ERA in ’42 to bring the curtains down) at all.

Carlton Harman and Adam Bates were the only other pitchers still on the roster. Both were right-handers, and thus had no real chance on a spot unless we’d have to fling another reliever in a deal down the road. Because what we needed was another lefty reliever to replace Curl. I had no trust whatsoever in Bonnie, and I was angry for every single one of the $1.74M he’d make in 2048 (after which he’d be granted free agency). Now, Baker was a left-hander, and might be able to do well in the bullpen, but that would mean spending on a free agent or trading for somebody for a 3-month assignment.

And then? Oh right, somebody else’s arm(s) would have fallen off by then, right? The injury bugs had not been very kind to us in the last few years…

Eh, still won rings…!

+++

November 9 – The Rebels acquire catcher Juan Jimenez (.302, 3 HR, 36 RBI) from the Aces for two prospects.
November 12 – Richmond also adds 2B/SS T.J. Lujan (.261, 18 HR, 105 RBI) from the Thunder for MR Willie Maldonado (25-18, 4.49 ERA, 9 SV) and a prospect.
November 13 – The Raccoons trade for the Miners’ MR Joy-shan Kuo (5-5, 2.14 ERA, 16 SV), parting with SP Carlton Harman (3-4, 5.87 ERA).
November 13 – The Condors acquire OF Justin Kristoff (.274, 44 HR, 395 RBI) from the Knights for 2B Eric Clary (.241, 15 HR, 199 RBI) and a prospect.
November 19 – Salem adds free agent outfielder Rikuto Ito (.258, 93 HR, 407 RBI) for 3-yr, $6.24M. Ito was with the Condors for the last three and a half years.
November 19 – The Thunder sign ex-SAL 1B Bill Jenkins (.273, 192 HR, 879 RBI) to a 3-yr, $12.84M deal.
November 22 – Former Scorpion LF/RF Mike Preble (.304, 166 HR, 711 RBI) joins the Aces for $5.76M over two years.
November 23 – Los Angeles snatches ex-PIT SP/MR Raul Cornejo (44-54, 4.41 ERA), committing $2.24M over two years to the 29-year-old righty.
November 25 – 24-year-old right-hander Kodai Koga, the biggest talent to emerge from Japan this year, signs a 4-yr, $7.5M deal with the Knights.
November 28 – Ex-CIN/LAP Chris Strohm (.281, 86 HR, 670 RBI) joins the Capitals for the offer of $3.56M over two years.
December 1 – Rule 5 Draft: 12 players are selected across two rounds, but the Raccoons are not affected.

+++

The left-handed Kuo came over from Taiwan last fall and was signed to a cheap 3-year deal by the Scorpions, but was turned over to the Miners in July. The Scorpions used him as a closer, but the Miners were not quite that desperate. He has quite pronounced splits and not much stamina at all, so he’s not easy to use right, especially with Bonnie as the other household lefty, but then again the Miners were kind enough to ask for basically nothing and we were all too happy to pick them up on it.

Kuo was then immediately sick for a week after arriving in Portland, apparently not being used to the big servings of food that are common up here. I don’t know, some guys seem to start barfing after just four or five schnitzels…!

[Westheim]

Needs and wants – what did the Raccoons want? Another ring, of course! We had grown our collection, but I was sitting on top of all the treasure and lusting for more.

And needs? Not many, actually. Few 104-win teams had many needs.

Which was why we sat mostly tight for another offseason, which annoyed the Agitator, who lamented that we’d stay put until we were no longer relevant, which was somewhat true, but the following was also true: Jesus Maldonado made $5.5M a year. He would not be traded, or only over my dead and stone-cold body, as long as he was still good-to-great! And nobody would take him on once he was no longer good-to-great. He was ours all through 2052.

I would want a lefty other than Jake Bonnie, but he was hardly movable. At least this would be his last year. And while he had been decent in the second half of the season, he had made me mad for a full six months by May of this year, so there was that.

Nelson Mercado’s departure cost us one of our more prolific base stealers, and it didn’t look like we’d get a replacement for that.

Funny thing. For the first 48 years of their existence, the Raccoons NEVER stole 100 bases as a team. They got up to 99 (in 2014), but never reached triple digits. Since 2025, we have stolen 100+ bases in 18 of 23 seasons, with a low of 82 and a high of 137 (the latter in 2043). I don’t remember a specific swing in roster construction philosophy. 2025 was the first cup of coffee of Alberto Ramos, but he stole only six that year, breaking out big the year after, and then readily contributed 40+ for the next ten years without much effort, winning the CL stolen base title six times. The top base stealers on the 2025 Coons were otherwise useless Greg Borg (11), Cookie Carmona (13), Abel Mora (17), and in a singular outburst in his age 27 season: Jarod Spencer, taking the stolen base title that year with 46 sacks claimed. He also batted .305 that year, somehow still managed to post a 96 OPS+, an was out of the majors by ’29.

The most leadfooted Raccoons edition? Take 1982. Stole all of 20 bases. Daniel Hall took nine by himself. Jayson Bowling batted .238 and stole five. Eduardo Guerrero barely had a .248 OBP and swiped three. Steve Walker, well underdone that season, but soon a neat contributor, took two (in eight attempts). Catcher Enrique Sanchez stole a single base, probably by accident.

But yeah, we should totally steal 100+ again in 2048, despite Mercado’s departure. Almost everybody on the team can swipe at least a handful, the exceptions being the catchers and Bryce Toohey, who was 4-for-9 in the majors, and hadn’t swiped one in three years.

He had other nice qualities!

+++

December 1 – The Bayhawks sign ex-SAC SP Craig Czyszczon (90-72, 3.62 ERA), giving the 31-yr old right-hander a 4-yr, $14.88M contract.
December 1 – San Francisco further adds former Thunder closer John Steuer (54-54, 3.28 ERA, 239 SV) on a $2.4M deal for 2048.
December 1 – The Indians land 37-year old 2B Oscar Aguirre (.236, 119 HR, 786 RBI) and over $2M in cash from the Canadiens for 3B/SS Chris Walley (.251, 4 HR, 54 RBI) and a second-rate prospect.
December 1 – OF/1B Marty Reidinger (.248, 53 HR, 255 RBI) becomes a Miner after a trade made by the Condors, who receive a prospect.
December 2 – The Miners add former Crusaders 1B/2B Mario Briones (.281, 152 HR, 954 RBI), age 36, on a 3-yr, $8.84M contract.
December 2 – The Condors continue to sell, sending SP Blake Sansone (25-18, 3.64 ERA) to the Blue Sox for #87 prospect SP Medardo Regueir.
December 3 – Oklahoma City signs ex-PIT CL Rico Sanchez (.68-89, 3.36 ERA, 430 SV) to a new 3-yr, $8.68M contract.
December 3 – SP Kurt Olson (45-59, 4.90 ERA) changes CL South homes; the former Knight will ink with the Falcons for 3-yr, $4.56M.
December 3 – The Indians send MR Bobby Nelson (7-5, 2.82 ERA, 9 SV) to the Buffaloes for a prospect.
December 3 – Boston deals MR Ricky Contreras (21-41, 3.46 ERA, 2 SV) to Richmond, receiving a prospect in return.
December 4 – The Canadiens pick up 3B/RF/1B Adrian Higareda (.247, 3 HR, 19 RBI) from the Stars, along with a prospect, for right-hander Juan Ramos (29-16, 3.39 ERA, 5 SV).
December 6 – The Thunder snatch 34-year-old ex-ATL INF/RF Joe Crim (.269, 110 HR, 621 RBI) for 2-yr, $4.48M.

+++

We chased after Daniel Hertenstein for a while during the winter meetings, but the price escalated to $1.9M per year by the end of them, for which we also could have just resigned Nelson Mercado, except that Hertenstein, 32, was only a mediocre corner outfielder and a terrible baserunner. He was a switch-hitter, but that singular skill was not worth his demands.

Other former Raccoons with new contracts include Josh Livingston getting 2-yr, $2.6M from the Miners; Tony Morales joining the Titans for $680k;

What else is new? Well, the Hall of Fame ballot!

[Westheim]

And for the rest of December, literally nothing happened around Portland. I did some light weaseling around the Scorpions for Nate Culp, who had hit .290 with 27 homers this year, but even though they were 17 games out of the Stars and had no real track upwards, the Scorpions were also entirely not thrilled by the prospect selection we could (or would) offer. Definitely a 5-star talent there in Culp, but we were miles apart in negotiations and it just wasn’t gonna work out. Culp was 28, and a righty batter, and would probably be the everyday rightfielder for us.

…in a parallel universe, that is, where we still have prospects to throw at people.

No, Rafael de la Cruz will not be thrown. He’s precious and MINE!

+++

December 20 – Former Bayhawks stalwart 3B/1B Ramon Sifuentes (.283, 119 HR, 643 RBI) joins forces with the Rebels for $4.48M over two years.
December 29 – The Capitals get themselves former Falcons outfielder Joe Besaw (.302, 111 HR, 674 RBI) for 2-yr, $4.32M. Besaw, who regularly posted 6+ WAR for years, played in only 11 major league games in an injury-wrecked 2047 season.
December 30 – The Miners grab ex-CHA/OCT SP Oscar Flores (97-66, 3.42 ERA) on a 2-yr, $10.6M deal.

+++

Once-upon-a-time Furballs? Ricky Jimenez took $1.64M from the Wolves for 2048; Corey Mathers landed on the Warriors for $1.82M; Nelson Mercado wound up with the mighty sum of $570k from the Condors;

+++

These offseasons with a strong team on your paws are so weird. I don’t know what to do at all besides advancing the calendar =)

[Westheim]

The new year began, and for two weeks, absolutely nothing happened in Portland. Like, really, zero events. It was that kind of offseason.

The Miners livened up the daily drudgery with a funny trade offer by the middle of the month, putting up Justin Waltz – a former Critter that was part of the Toohey-snatching package to the Condors in ’43 – for Pat Gurney *and* a prospect. Nog gonna lie… I am not even close to being tempted to calling back, Maud.

+++

January 5 – The Crusaders pick up ex-SAC SP Luke Moses (44-56, 3.86 ERA) for three years and $10.68M.
January 31 – The Raccoons acquire LF/CF Matt Watt (.253, 5 HR, 133 RBI) from the Aces for SP Jeremy Chaney (2-4, 5.12 ERA, 2 SV).
February 12 – The Wolves ink ex-BOS CL Ben Arner (37-45, 3.62 ERA, 133 SV) with a offer of $3.96M over three years.
February 15 – Dallas adds a closer option in 34-yr old right-hander Damon DeOrio (55-50, 4.45 ERA, 125 SV), who last went out for the Loggers. DeOrio will make $3.24M over two years.

+++

The Watt deal is a bit of a nothing trade. If we even keep him on the 25-man roster come April, he gives us a switch-hitting option off the bench, which is never bad, and emotionally and otherwise we were done with Chaney, anyway. Watt does walk *a lot* and puts up a high OBP despite lackluster actual hitting talents, so if he does well, he would be a rather cheap option for a leadoff man now that Mercado is gone; however, he has next to no speed on the bases, so he might actually hold up whoever is hitting second behind him then, which would be Adame or Herrera.

Still an upgrade over potentially carrying Roberto Medina; although we so far have not made up our mind on whether to cut the fifth outfielder or rather Ben Coen, who’d be the seventh infielder.

Assorted former Furballs moving: Jeff Kilmer took a $422k offer from the Miners; Tony Romero wound up on the Baybirds for $570k; the Crusaders snatched Aaron Curl for $1.28M;

The Hall of Fame will not get any new players this year, and nobody was even remotely close in the voting process.

LAP CF Justin Fowler – 3rd – 20.7
VAN CF Tony Coca – 1st – 19.5
TOP SP David Elliott – 2nd – 18.5
TIJ SP Jeff Little – 6th – 17.6
??? SP Andy Bressner – 1st – 16.1
MIL SP Chris Sinkhorn – 10th – 12.8 – DROPPED
??? SP Michael Frank – 2nd – 9.1
PIT C J.J. Henley – 8th – 6.1
DEN CF Abel Madsen – 2nd – 4.0 – DROPPED
??? SP Bryce Sparkes – 1st – 3.6 – DROPPED
??? C Mike Burgess – 5th – 3.6 – DROPPED
??? CL Jermaine Campbell – 2nd – 2.4 – DROPPED
??? SP Francisco Colmenarez – 2nd – 2.4 – DROPPED
RIC CL Seth Odum – 2nd – 2.4 – DROPPED
??? SP Mario Gonzalez – 1st – 1.2 – DROPPED
ATL RF Roy Pincus – 1st – 0.9 – DROPPED
WAS SP Alfredo Vargas – 1st – 0.3 – DROPPED
??? SS Antonio Gil – 1st – 0.3 – DROPPED
DAL CF Aaron Botzet – 1st – 0.0 – DROPPED

[Westheim]

In late February, an opportunity arose to dump Jake Bonnie on the Crusaders, who sent a trade offer to take him on for SP Jim White, who had gone 9-13 with a 3.36 ERA in 2047 and looked like he could do much better with a proper defense (and offense). Pat Degenhardt was actually quite enthused about him, and he would certainly make for a much better plug in the #5 hole than Jeremy Baker.

The thing was, the Crusaders did not only want Bonnie. They would also like a piece of Rafael de la Cruz (didn’t everybody?), another prospect in Loren Decker (they could have that one), and… oh, just to round out the package, Bryce Toohey.

Pass.

+++

March 7 – The Cyclones add ex-RIC CL Kurt Crater (60-66, 3.69 ERA, 205 SV), who won his third saves title in 2047 at age 34, on a 3-yr, $3.45M contract.
March 14 – IND 1B/LF/RF Aaron Brayboy (.300, 125 HR, 594 RBI) is traded from the Miners to the Indians, who send outfielder Nelson Galvan (.283, 3 HR, 159 RBI) to Pittsburgh.
March 27 – The Condors get OF Cullen Tortora (.259, 40 HR, 291 RBI) from the Rebels while sending SP Marc Hubbard (67-76, 4.15 ERA) to Richmond.

+++

Brayboy’s back in the division? With the Indians? Okay, we’ll go 2-16 against them this year, but maybe we can scratch out enough wins against the other teams…….

Recent Raccoons relocating round the realm: Jon Craig took $396k from Vegas; and that’s all.