Portland Raccoons (ABL)

[Westheim]

Raccoons (16-15) vs. Stars (25-6) – May 11-13, 2049

When they say “this will get ugly”, they probably mean the .806 Stars coming in to maul your team into fifth place for good. Dallas had won 11 in a row, they were first in runs scored and second and runs allowed in the FL, and as if you needed any more confirmation that they were sorta good-plus, they had a +93 run differential, or in other words, they were scoring three more runs than they allowed PER GAME. (snickers madly)

The Raccoons had lost their last three meetings with the Stars, two of three each time in the 2047 and 2048 regular season….. and four of seven in last year’s World Series….. (gnashes teeth audibly)

Projected matchups:
Dave Hils (2-2, 6.82 ERA) vs. Ruben Guzman (5-1, 2.92 ERA)
Victor Merino (2-1, 4.18 ERA) vs. Justin Roberts (3-0, 4.72 ERA)
Chris Crowell (0-0, 5.28 ERA) vs. Arthur Pickett (4-0, 3.46 ERA)

We were going to get the Stars’ three right-handers. And more than likely romped.

Game 1
DAL: LF O. Gonzalez – 3B F. Marquez – CF del Toro – RF Cecil – 1B D. Martinez – C T. Alvarez – SS VIllacorta – 2B Sedillo – P Ru. Guzman
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 2B Waters – LF Preble – 1B Gurney – RF Zurita – C R. Gonzalez – P Hils

Tylor Cecil, the personified terror, singled home Omar Gonzalez in the first, and I figured we’d lose all three games anyway, so why not get started early? Ruben Gonzalez’ sac fly tied the game again in the bottom 2nd after Gurney and Zurita went to the corners with singles, and we remained tied for a while from there while neither team amounted to much against the opposing pitcher until Dave Hils bled 2-out walks to Omar Gonzalez and Felix Marquez in the top 5th. From there he entered the danger zone, e.g. three lefty hitters in the 3-4-5 spots that were all too keen on murdering hapless right-handers. Juan del Toro, batting .319 with three homers, got ahead 2-1, then popped out, somehow. The Stars put two on with two outs again in the sixth, this time on a Tony Alvarez single and a Leo Villacorta double. The Coons wanted to part of .333 hitter Mario Sedillo, preferring to bring up the pitcher with the bases loaded. Guzman made the third out to Matt Waters. Unfortunately Waters struck out for the third time on the day in the bottom 6th, when he batted with one out after Maldo had just buried a triple in centerfield. Maldo was stranded, the game remained tied, and Hils got a no-decision for 6.2 innings of work. Ponce and Hitchcock added two outs each, tip-toeing through the minefield that was the Stars’ order, while the Critters’ offense kept merrily failing.

Nate Norris survived three hard-hit balls in the ninth, two of which were caught, and one of which – by pinch-hitter Ivan Lugo – fell for a single. Gonzalez then flew out to right to end the inning, giving the Coons even a chance to walk it off against Adam Middleton, which passed untaken. Mike Lynn struck out the side in the 10th, and Nelson Moreno walked Villacorta, but didn’t occur actual damage in the 11th. Bottom 11th, Middleton still on, Armando Herrera opened with a single to right. Maldo flew out to left, but Waters singled to right to liven up an otherwise dismal day, sending Herrera to third. Oh, to have Preble bat next! – but he had been double-switched out a while back, and we had to send a pinch-hitter. Eddy Luna it was, he grounded to short, Villacorta came home, and Herrera was slapped out, killing the inning. Gurney grounded out to Marquez to send the game to the 12th. We had arrived at Orlando Altreche at this point, who gave up a 1-out single to Omar Gonzalez, the balked the go-ahead run to second base, but the also struck out Marquez and del Toro. A Ruben Gonzalez walk in the bottom 12th led precisely nowhere as the game grew longer in the tooth. At least the Stars had also lifted Tylor Cecil – pushing .390 with the stick and with eight homers – innings ago and recent Critter Chris Robinson was now in the #4 hole, batting all of .133. So of course he reached base to begin the 13th, albeit on a bad throw by Adame. Nevertheless, Altreche folded. He walked Kenny Leon, then gave up an RBI double to Villacorta and a sac fly to Jamie King for a 2-run deficit that I had no imagination power to see the Raccoons overturn. Against righty Dale Mrazek, Herrera opened the bottom 13th with a single. Maldo grounded out, but Waters whacked an RBI double to left, putting himself into scoring position as the tying run, although, again, the yawn for Mike Preble went unanswered. It was Justin “Soup of the Day” Brooks to pinch-hit for Altreche. He struck out. Gurney singled, but Waters had to be stopped at third base with Omar Gonzalez right on the ball, and Angelo Zurita grounded out to lose the game. 3-2 Stars. Herrera 2-6; Waters 2-6, 2B, RBI; Gurney 3-6;

Arf.

Game 2
DAL: LF O. Gonzalez – SS F. Marquez – CF del Toro – RF Cecil – C Mercado – 1B D. Martinez – 3B I. Lugo – 2B Sedillo – P J. Roberts
POR: CF Watt – SS Adame – 3B Maldonado – 2B Waters – LF Preble – 1B Gurney – RF Zurita – C Brooks – P Merino

The Raccoons took a 4-0 lead in the first inning that was half earned and half rather not. Both Watt and Maldo reached on throwing errors, while Adame hit a double and Waters hit a 2-run homer to right. While I feared that jubilations might be brief, Victor Merino held himself admirably against the countless fangs, spikes, and power drills in that Stars lineup. He faced the minimum in the first three innings, then shed two hits and a walk the second time through, but still didn’t allow a run. Much the contrary – he hit a home run himself in the bottom 5th to extend his own lead to 5-0! The Raccoons went on to make it a 3-run inning, getting Adame and Maldo both on base and around with an RBI knock by Waters, Preble getting plunked, and Gurney slipping an RBI single to right against Orlando Leos, who had replaced the yanked Roberts. While I still didn’t trust what was going on, Merino would pitch a strong eight innings, with the only permanent damage against him being a solo home run by Omar Gonzalez in the sixth inning. The Raccoons answered in the bottom 8th, when Rich Seymour dropped a leadoff single after hitting for Merino, then scored on a Matt Watt triple. Watt tweaked his groin and was collected by Dr. Padilla (will injuries ever cease?), with Armando Herrera pinch-running and scoring on Adame’s sac fly to Gonzalez. Hitchcock pitched the ninth without hiccups to put an easy one away. 9-1 Raccoons! Watt 2-4, BB, 3B, RBI; Adame 2-4, 2B, RBI; Seymour (PH) 1-1; Merino 8.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, W (3-1) and 1-3, HR, RBI;

That was a wonderful performance by Merino, and actually what you’re wishing for after a sour 13-inning loss.

Matt Watt’s injury was not *that* bad, and he was listed as day-to-day, but would not be in the lineup for at least Thursday.

Game 3
DAL: LF O. Gonzalez – 3B F. Marquez – CF del Toro – RF Cecil – 1B D. Martinez – C T. Alvarez – SS VIllacorta – 2B Sedillo – P Pickett
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 2B Waters – LF Preble – 1B Gurney – RF Zurita – C R. Gonzalez – P Crowell

Early signs on Crowell, who had been *decent* in garbage relief on Sunday, were discouraging. The first three Stars reached base in this rubber game, via single, walk, single – with Omar Gonzalez thrown out at home plate by Herrera on Juan del Toro’s single. The other two were stranded on Cecil’s uncharacteristic groundout to Gurney and Dario Martinez hacking out. Each made up for this in their own way – the Coons by having Adame in the first and Gurney in the second on base, but caught stealing, while Tylor Cecil was so mad at himself, he walloped a 430-footer with Felix Marquez aboard in the top 3rd to get Dallas up 2-0. The thing was so massive, Armando Herrera never went after it, remaining frozen in his spot in center, paws stemmed into his sides, and shaking his head at Crowell.

Crowell walked (and was forced out by Adame) and Herrera reached on a del Toro error in the bottom 3rd to put the tying runs on base, but Maldonado’s liner to left was shagged by Gonzalez and the Coons didn’t score again. Maldo committed a throwing error in the top 4th, and the same was true for Villacorta in the bottom 4th. The Stars hadn’t scored on the error, while the Coons now had Gurney and Zurita in scoring position and two outs for Ruben Gonzalez, who was hitting .173 and was walked intentionally anyway. Always by the same old stupid book, huh? Crowell struck out, so sometimes you can validate your actions with success after all… I ate my words, and slammed a glass on the floor to wash them down with some jagged glass shards.

Crowell went to begin the fifth with a walk to Marquez, a del Toro single, and a throwing error that tossed away Cecil’s double play comebacker. Three on, no out, exit Crowell, stage right. The Stars then scored a whole pile of runs on Ponce, who WALKED in a run, BALKED in a run, and when I was already blue in the face, gave up an RBI single to Tony Alvarez, then got a run-scoring double play from Villacorta. He was then excused further opportunity to display shambolics, and was replaced with Preston Porter, who got four outs without any funny (or less funny, looking at his ERA) accidents. At some point Matt Waters hit a sac fly, but the Raccoons by the seventh arrived at Altreche for garbage relief. He gave up a triple to Omar Gonzalez in the eighth, the Stars’ leadoff batter thus having ticked off all the hard parts of the cycle, and none of the easy ones. Since the Raccoons forewent a substantial rally in the last innings, and Nate Norris avoided getting run over to cycle the Stars’ lineup twice in an inning, he was denied the cycle altogether, much like the Coons were a series win or being over .500 for longer than the attention span of kids these days. 6-1 Stars. Herrera 2-3, BB; Avila (PH) 1-1; Altreche 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K;

Raccoons (17-17) @ Crusaders (17-17) – May 15-17, 2049

Stalwartly butting heads for fourth place would be the Coons and Crusaders – the latter leading the season series 2-1 – who both would have seen themselves nearer the top of the CL North before the season, but were right now 6 1/2 games out behind the… uh… Elks? New York ranked sixth in runs scored and runs allowed, with an even run differential (Coons: +4). They were second in homers, but near the bottom in stolen bases. With Carlos Malla, Jeff Frank, and Prince Gates they had a few notable injuries, although Gates might play with a bruised knee.

Projected matchups:
Jason Wheatley (3-3, 2.87 ERA) vs. Jim White (2-4, 4.07 ERA)
Bubba Wolinsky (2-3, 5.17 ERA) vs. Jeff Johnson (2-4, 4.40 ERA)
Dave Hils (2-2, 5.90 ERA) vs. Mike Zeigler (4-3, 5.23 ERA)

Southpaw Sunday – and Zeigler was the only one they had.

Game 1
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 1B Maldonado – 2B Waters – LF Preble – 3B Luna – RF Avila – C Gonzalez – P Wheatley
NYC: 1B Haertling – RF Garris – SS Gates – C O. Ramirez – LF Besaw – 2B Haney – CF Foss – 3B Nash – P J. White

There were two hits off Wheatley the first time through, which was not a problem. There were SIX hits off Wheatley the second time through, which was very much a problem. Ed Haertling singled and Josh Garris homered to right for a 2-0 lead in the bottom 3rd, with two more hits coming out of Omar Ramirez and Joe Besaw before Mark Haney grounded out to strand them. The bottom 4th then began with singles by Aaron Foss and Randolph Nash. White bunted them into scoring position, and Haertling brought in a run with a groundout, while Garris flew out to Preble. And the Coons? Drew two walks off White through four, but didn’t get a hit until Preble opened the fifth with a single to center… Three pathetic outs followed.

The tying run was at the plate when Wheats reached on a throwing error by Omar Ramirez and Adame singled in the sixth. Nobody out, runners on the corners, Herrera grounded to short for a run-scoring double play, which was not what I had had in mind here… Maldo hit a 2-out single after that, uselessly, with Waters grounding out to end the inning. After piling nine hits on Wheats, the Crusaders **** four more on Lynn and Porter in the seventh, which somehow amounted to only one run, but the brown-clad team appeared to have abandoned the idea of winning a couple o’ hours ago anyway.

Just when I had defeatism wash over me myself, the Raccoons somehow fumbled a rally together in the eighth. Gonzalez opened with a bloop single. Zurita scratched out another single, then was forced out on an Adame grounder. Herrera hit an RBI single, and Maldo was drilled by White to fill the sacks for Matt Waters – no better chance than this one then! In true Critters style, Wates grounded to Haney, but the Crusaders were too slow to turn two; a run scored, with Maldo out at second base. Preble then, to make sure, also grounded to Haney to end the inning. When Nate Norris, ex-Crusader Julian Ponce, and Matt Waters, who made an error, failed to conspire to blow out the game in the bottom 8th, the Coons entered the ninth down by one against righty Matt Fries. Problem was just that we had a bunch of non-hitters up, with the 6-7-8 batters scheduled, the pitcher sitting in the middle of that trio. Fries ran a full count on Luna, then walked him. Watt came out for Ponce and carved out another walk. Pat Gurney pinch-hit for Gonzalez – and walked on four pitches…! 15 pitches, 12 balls, and now the bases were teeming for … uh… Angelo Zurita, .203 and slugging under .300, too. Full count, though, so maybe … ball in the dirt, Fries walks in the tying run!! Insanity!! Of course, at one point we had to arrive at some numbnut that didn’t pay attention. Adame swiped at the first pitch and lined out to Aaron Foss in center, but at least it was enough for a sac fly and a 5-4 lead. Herrera singled to center, with Gurney waved around coming from second. Foss’ throw from center looked good, but Gurney warped himself around a lunging Ramirez – SAFE!! The trailing runners reached scoring position, while the Crusaders now thought the time had come to try a new pitcher, that being righty Kyle Conner. He rung up Maldo, and Waters grounded out, but the Coons now sent out Moreno. He issued a walk, too, but only ONE and that didn’t come around to score, either, before closing out the game. 6-4 Raccoons. Herrera 2-4, BB, 2 RBI; Zurita 1-1, BB, RBI;

Game 2
POR: LF Watt – SS Adame – CF Herrera – 2B Waters – RF Preble – 1B Gurney – 3B Luna – C Brooks – P Wolinsky
NYC: 1B Haertling – C Bayless – 3B Gates – LF Besaw – SS R. Martinez – CF Haney – RF Rico – 2B Nash – P J. Johnson

Johnson put the first four Coons on base, two walks and a soft single to load them up, then Waters plating a pair with another single to center. Preble’s double play and a fly to left from Gurney then ended the inning before a substantial lead could be achieved, and Bubba Wolinsky was upended for more than just the deficit in another rotten first inning for a Coons starter. Haertling singled to right, Gates and Ricardo Martinez whacked RBI doubles, and Haney singled home Martinez to give New York a 3-2 lead. The Coons flipped that around in the third, with Waters singling home Herrera with two outs, and two more 2-out singles by Preble and Gurney bringing in Waters for a new lead, too. Johnson walked Luna to fill the bases, but Justin Brooks was batting .184 and plunging, and whiffed on three pitches, stranding the lot of them.

Now up 4-3, Bubba Wolinsky hit a single the inning after, but was doubled up by Watt, but at least his pitching seemed to have recovered… at first. Bottom 5th, leadoff double, truly whacked, for Johnson (!), and then another Haertling single and a HUGE 3-run homer by .111 hitter Scott Bayless that not only flipped the score of the ballgame, but also flipped Wolinsky off the mound and into the dugout. Four-plus with eight hits and six runs, and his ERA up to 5.95 – when caught on camera in the dugout, he was staring at the scoreboard in true disbelief, and later dumbly into the distance, like a guy that didn’t know how he had lost it, and whether it would ever come back to him.

Hitchcock got the ball, pitched the Coons out of the fifth, and then got to hit in the sixth, meriting the assignment with a homer off Jeff Johnson aghast to left, and not a cheap one either. Not that much was gained by it – it still kept the Coons one run short, coming as it was with nobody on base, and Randolph Nash paid him back in kind with a solo shot to left-center in the bottom 6th, 7-5. A Herrera double and a Martinez error put the tying runs on the corners with two outs in the seventh, with Gurney slapping away at Kyle Conner’s first pitch, shoving an RBI single to right. Preble reached third base, so when Eddy Luna flew out to Danny Rico on a 3-1 pitch, the Coons got to strand the tying run 90 feet away again. Watt was left on first in the eighth, but the pen held up, and it was another 1-run situation and Matt Fries in the ninth. Huh! Herrera opened with a single to shallow center, and Waters continued by whamming a double off the ******* wall in right to put both the tying and go-ahead run in scoring position with nobody out. And I can’t really describe it, but I saw whatever was between Fries’ ears short-circuiting right there and then. He threw a wild pitch to tie the game, then served up an early birthday present to Mike Preble, who barraged it to 390 feet away in right-center. Score flipped!! Pitcher as well, Sean Yates getting the baseball and restoring order, 1-2-3. The Raccoons went to Moreno again, who got two outs quick, then walked Haertling and gave up a scary double to PH Omar Ramirez. Now the tying runs were in scoring position with Raccoons non-acquisition Prince Gates batting. Uh-oh. Moreno got to 0-2 before Gates hit a ball high to right. But high, as in, not deep, not out, and not even in. Preble made the catch, and the Raccoons had their second ninth-inning rally in two days. 9-7 Critters! Herrera 4-5, 2B; Waters 3-5, 2B, 3 RBI; Preble 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Gurney 2-5, 2 RBI; Hitchcock 3.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K and 1-1, HR, RBI;

When I took a stroll to a newsstand from my hotel on Sunday morning and heard that they had pulled a body with his feet in cement and a broadaxe sticking out of his back out of New York Bay last night, I immediately thought of Matt Fries (1-2, 10.13 ERA, 3 SV), but come game time on Sunday, there he sat in the home bullpen, uniform misbuttoned, one hand slid half into the pants, and a bottle of vodka in the other, so he could add to the dark rings around his eyes.

I knew the feeling. I had also seen things.

Game 3
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 1B Maldonado – 3B Waters – LF Preble – RF Avila – C Gonzalez – 2B Seymour – P Hils
NYC: 1B Haertling – RF Garris – SS Gates – C O. Ramirez – LF Besaw – 2B Haney – CF Foss – 3B Nash – P Zeigler

…and we’d all see more. After Hils narrowly escaped a two-on situation in the bottom 1st, the Raccoons took Zeigler into a headlock in the second. Waters, Preble, and Gonzalez all reached base, and Rich Seymour grounded to the right side with one out. Haney at first wanted to turn two, but looked for too long, then fumbled the ball from his glove, and lost the play at first, too. Infield single, and a run in. Another run scored when Zeigler walked Hils on four pitches, pushing Preble across. At that point I could clearly see Fries barfing into a bucket in the bullpen. An Adame sac fly made it 3-0, and Herrera singled home Seymour, with the inning ending with Hils getting caught in no man’s land between second and third. Top 3rd, Maldo and Waters wandered on base, and Mike Preble blasted a 3-run homer to left, 7-0! Avila followed up with a triple, and Seymour hit a grounder up the middle to get him home. Which was still not the point where the Crusaders considered Zeigler unwatchable – that was only when Hils chopped a 2-out single off him. THEN he was yanked, and not a minute sooner. Adame grounded out against Leborio Valdevesso to end the inning.

Now it was about Hils putting a good, lengthy outing together. And it didn’t look like it – the Raccoons’ starter used 60 pitches for four hits and no runs in just three innings. The Coons’ 2-3-4 all reached base to begin the top 4th, and Preble batted with the bags stacked, running a full count before making it 10-0 with a single into right-center. Those were the only runs in the inning, though. Valdevesso struck out the next two, Seymour walked, but Hils flew out to Foss.

Hils threw 40 pitches in the middle innings, which put him at 100 and ended his game. He didn’t allow a run, nor did Julian Ponce for five outs after that. Altreche ended the eighth, but then loaded the bases in the ninth inning and actually made us bother Mike Lynn. Haertling drove in a run with an infield single, Josh Garris struck out, and Danny Rico drove in two with a double before the game somehow ended. 10-3 Critters. Herrera 2-5, RBI; Waters 2-4, 2 BB; Preble 3-5, HR, 5 RBI; Avila 2-4, 3B; Hils 6.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, W (3-2) and 1-2, BB, RBI;

In other news

May 13 – ATL SP Marc Hubbard (2-5, 5.26 ERA) 1-hits the Rebels in a 3-0 Knights win. The shutout also ends the hitting streak of RIC 2B/SS Lance Harrison (.372, 4 HR, 24 RBI) at 23 games. RF/LF Victor Vazquez (.327, 3 HR, 10 RBI) hits a single for the only Rebels base hit.
May 14 – Falcons rookie SP Alfonso Jewel (1-2, 4.44 ERA) grabs his first major league victory in style as he 2-hits the Aces in a 12-0 rout, whiffing eight against no walks.
May 15 – The Miners adopt LF/RF Pablo Gonzalez (.182, 0 HR, 1 RBI) in a trade with the Rebels, who receive INF Felix Vazquez (.320, 0 HR, 5 RBI).
May 16 – OCT OF Juan Benavides (.269, 5 HR, 27 RBI) might miss two months with a broken thumb.
May 16 – The Scorpions walk off, 5-4, as they rally from a 4-3 deficit in the ninth against the Pacifics. They do so entirely without a base hit; hit batter, walk, walk, hit batter, and a wild pitch gives Sacramento the win.

FL Player of the Week: WAS 3B/2B Chris Strohm (.283, 4 HR, 20 RBI), batting .440 (11-25) with 2 HR, 5 RBI
CL Player of the Week: BOS 1B/2B Jeff Wheeler (.398, 1 HR, 13 RBI), whacking .462 (12-26) with 1 HR, 3 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Only a 4-2 week, but you can almost make out a slight uptick in performance. We out-scored the Dallas Stars, champs of the world, in the 3-game set this week, and while there are no extra points to be had for this feat, and it didn’t get us any closer to the top of the division, at least we didn’t get swept. We DID sweep the Crusaders then, and while two of the games were one only late and over Matt Fries’ dead body, we did eventually pound out 25 runs in a 3-game series.

We will also get back Bryce Toohey to start the next week, so that should be an offensive improvement over Rich Seymour.

It’s gonna be the Canadiens and Condors next week, with another off day on Monday, and the Monday after.

Fun Fact: On this day in the league’s inaugural season, the Blue Sox’ Ryan Childress hit for a natural cycle against the Miners.

Three of the first four cycles in the league were naturals, after which there would not be another one for almost 30 years.

Childress only played until 1980 for the Blue Sox and Wolves, being already over 30 when the ABL started play. He hit .280 with 39 homers and 269 RBI.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (20-17) vs. Canadiens (24-12) – May 18-20, 2049

We had yet to face the division-leading Elks (twitches in agony), and the grace period ran out on Tuesday when they came in for a 3-game set. They did so while being only eighth in runs scored, but somehow seemed to have fixed their pitching. For years they had been bottoms or rather close to bottoms in runs allowed, but suddenly they were giving up the second-fewest markers in the CL. We had beaten them 13-5 over the 2048 season series, and that +8 was also how far we were now above .500 against them all-time, a lead I was begging the team to defend with their lives in a clubhouse address as the series began.

Projected matchups:
Victor Merino (3-1, 3.57 ERA) vs. Mario de Anda (6-0, 2.44 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (3-3, 3.06 ERA) vs. Mario Godinez (4-2, 2.76 ERA)
Bubba Wolinsky (2-3, 5.95 ERA) vs. Terry Herman (3-1, 2.35 ERA)

The opener would be against an undefeated left-hander, then two righties. De Anda was pitching 1.5 runs under his career ERA, so there was technically hope.

The Raccoons got Bryce Toohey back from the DL, parting with Rich “Who?” Seymour.

Game 1
VAN: CF Escobido – 3B Burgos – RF Outram – 1B S. Henderson – LF Mancini – C Julio Diaz – SS R. Price – 2B DeMarco – P de Anda
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 2B Waters – 1B Toohey – LF Preble – RF Avila – C Gonzalez – P Merino

The Raccoons scored first, with de Anda beginning his day by nicking Adame. Two singles by Herrera and Maldo scored Adame for a 1-0 lead in the first, but just as quickly as that had come together, the inning fell apart with pops on the infield for Waters and Toohey, and Mike Preble grounding out to short. The damn Elks countered right away with leadoff hits for Bob Mancini and Julio Diaz in the top 2nd, Mancini bid for third base on Diaz’ single, drew a throw from Eduardo Avila, the useless pelt, and that allowed Diaz to second base and eventually cost the go-ahead run, as the Elks plated both runners with RBI groundouts. De Anda would, perhaps even more annoyingly, hit singles his first two times up. One came with two outs in the second and led nowhere, but the other drove in Rick Price and his leadoff double in the fourth, half an inning after the Raccoons had stranded Maldonado and his double to left. The Elks added a fourth run in the fifth inning with three leadoff singles by Jesus Burgos, Jerry Outram, and Sterling Henderson, before Mancini hit into a double play and Diaz popped out.

While Merino turned in his seven meh innings, the Raccoons had that terrible habit of getting one base runner per inning, and as consequence absolutely nowhere overall… if they didn’t hit into a double play anyway like Preble did to kill the bottom 6th. Ruben Gonzalez interrupted the drudge with a solo homer in the bottom 7th, but the Raccoons didn’t make much permanent gain, with Mike Lynn giving up a counter homer to Mancini as soon as the top of the eighth began. Gonzalez would end the game with the unhappy distinction of landing the Coons’ last two hits in the game, adding a single off Sam Gibson in the ninth. Gurney and Adame made poor outs after that, and the Raccoons opened the series with a hapless L. 5-2 Canadiens. Maldonado 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI; Gonzalez 3-4, HR, RBI;

Game 2
VAN: LF Escobido – 3B Burgos – RF Outram – SS R. Price – C Julio Diaz – 2B DeMarco – 1B Mancini – CF Tomasello – P Godinez
POR: LF Watt – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 2B Waters – RF Preble – 1B Gurney – SS Adame – C Gonzalez – P Wheatley

The hapless defense continued on Wednesday, with two leadoff singles for Angel Escobido and Jesus Burgos, who pulled off a double steal, and while Wheats got a big K on Jerry Outram, who was fighting the general aging process as much as the .300 mark, one run scored on Rick Price’s grounder. Diaz also grounded out, leaving Wheats in his usual position – behind. Nick DeMarco hit a leadoff jack in the top 2nd, upon which I groaned and wish myself to the 2054 season, when I approximately would have sorted this mess out finally… Although the Raccoons countered with a walk drawn by Matt Waters and a 2-run homer to right off the stick of Pat Gurney in the bottom 2nd, tying the game at two, the damn Elks took a new lead in the top 3rd, Price singling home Jesus Burgos for a 3-2 lead.

So, no, Wheats didn’t have it again on Wednesday, even after we went to the bother of skipping Chris Crowell’s turn to get him back to the hill five minutes sooner. He didn’t allow a run in the middle innings, but then the offense didn’t do anything to help him out once more. Waters hit a double at one point, but nobody reached as far as third base until a walk drawn by Matt Watt and a Maldonado single put runners on the corners with one gone in the bottom 6th. Waters popped out to short, leading to me howling in actual physical pain, but before things could get too wild, Mike Preble shoved a 2-out single to right, tying the game at three by bringing home Watt. Godinez then walked Gurney to fill the bases, but Adame grounded out and stranded everybody.

Top 7th, Wheats put on Adrian Higareda with a pinch-hit single, nailed Escobido, and couldn’t turn two on a Burgos grounder. The result was runners in scoring position with two outs, and Outram up. The Raccoons chose to bother a southpaw in Julian Ponce, while the damn Elks did the unthinkable and battd right-handed Sterling Henderson for Outram, which, although I had no sympathies for either one of them, felt like sacrilege. We were tempted to walk Henderson with intent to bring up another lefty in Rick Price, but there was plenty of righty sticks still in that dugout and room would run out. So of course Ponce gave up a 2-run single to center to Henderson, but in the end it didn’t matter, because he didn’t retire Price and Diaz, either. Porter got a flyout from DeMarco instead, stranding three, while I shrugged and got a Capt’n Coma opened.

The tying runs reached base in the bottom 7th, not on offensive heroics, but on consecutive errors by DeMarco. No actual base hits occurred, and the runners were stranded. Waters hit a leadoff single in the bottom 8th, but … that was that. Gibson went 1-2-3 in the ninth, and that was THAT. 5-3 Canadiens. Waters 1-2, 2 BB, 2B;

Aye….

Game 3
VAN: CF Escobido – 3B Burgos – RF Outram – 1B S. Henderson – C Julio Diaz – SS R. Price – LF Montana – 2B DeMarco – P Herman
POR: CF Watt – SS Adame – 3B Maldonado – 2B Waters – LF Preble – 1B Toohey – RF Gurney – C Brooks – P Wolinsky

Escobido opened Thursday’s unhappy scheduling with a jack to left, although the Coons tied it up when Waters singled home Watt in the bottom 1st. Preble also singled, but Toohey flew out too easily to strand a pair. Wolinsky, who was hopefully near the end of an ERA explosion (the Escobido jack briefly put him over six), allowed leadoff hits to Herman (…) and Escobido in the third, but then the 2-3-4 hitters all made poor contact and stranded the runners in what felt to me like it would eventually become a sweep.

Preble hit a homer to right in the fourth to give the Coons a 2-1 lead, but Wolinsky ran out of glue in the sixth, walked Henderson and conceded a double to Diaz, which put the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position with one out. Preston Porter conceded a game-tying sac fly to Price, then got Bob Montana to ground out, leaving Wolinsky with a no-decision. That was all that Porter did, his spot coming up with three on and one out in the bottom 6th after Herman allowed a double to Preble, walked Toohey, and nicked Brooks (at 0-2 at that); Armando Herrera grabbed a stick, smacked a wallbanger to center for a double, but Escobido got within two feet of the ball, and so the batters had to wait and only two of them scored for a 4-2 lead. Watt then did fly out to Escobido, Brooks was sent for home – and thrown out. The Coons blew the lead real quick then; Nate Norris was waffled for two screaming hits and a run, while Lynn came on with the tying run on third base an two outs in the top 7th, and Outram up again. This time he wasn’t hit for and promptly whomped an RBI double. There was no joy in this team anymore…

Bottom 7th, the home team took a lead for the third time in the game. Pedro de Leon walked the first guy he faced, Adame, who then stole second base. Maldo rocked a double to right, and that broke the 4-4 tie, but Maldo was left stranded. Maybe at least hold on to this one? Maybe at least not get swept? Please? Lynn got Diaz and Price to begin the eighth, and Nelson Moreno then came on for a 4-out save, beginning with a Montana pop to short to end the top 8th. With de Leon still on, the Raccoons put three on with nobody out in the bottom 8th. Brooks doubled to right, Herrera walked, and Eduardo Avila hit a scratch single. Adame grounded into a force at home with a sharp bouncer to the shortstop, and the most the Raccoons could get from the fat chance was a Maldo sac fly that made it 6-4 for Moreno. Would that be enough? A leadoff walk to DeMarco made me wince in the ninth, but Moreno then struck out two before Burgos singled up the middle. Of course that brought up Jerry Outram, who had not done *a lot* of damage in this series (two hits, one RBI). Here he walked, and I stuffed the bottle of booze deeper into my snout. Bases loaded, Henderson – a sorry comebacker to the mound, Moreno to first, and ballgame…! 6-4 Critters. Avila 1-1; Maldonado 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Preble 3-3, BB, 2B, RBI; Herrera (PH) 1-1, BB, 2B, 2 RBI;

Raccoons (21-19) vs. Condors (27-14) – May 21-23, 2049

Six, seven, seven, eight – those were the Raccoons’ win totals against Tijuana the last four years. I wasn’t quite sure about that string continuing in appreciable form, given that they somehow led the CL South out of the blue. They were second in runs scored, fourth in runs allowed, and besides a lack of home run power they seemed to excel or at least present themselves well enough in all important aspects of the game.

Projected matchups:
Dave Hils (3-2, 5.12 ERA) vs. Matt Weber (4-1, 2.72 ERA)
Chris Crowell (0-1, 6.05 ERA) vs. Aaron Erwin (5-1, 4.63 ERA)
Victor Merino (3-2, 3.80 ERA) vs. Sam Geren (2-3, 5.06 ERA)

Only righties to see here.

Game 1
TIJ: SS C. Navarro – 3B Ottinger – LF G. Cabrera – 1B Yamamoto – C Mittleider – CF Burkhart – RF Tortora – 2B C. Vega – P M. Weber
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 2B Waters – LF Preble – 1B Gurney – C Gonzalez – 3B Luna – RF Avila – P Hils

I had fears for Hils to get stomped, but after putting two on and getting a double play from ex-Coon Shuta Yamamoto to bail out in the first, he was dispatching the Condors rather quickly, and also got a lead in the bottom 2nd when Eddy Luna doubled home Gurney for a 1-0 lead. Waters, who had hit into a double play in the bottom 1st, homered in the fourth to go to 2-0. Hils was on 46 pitches through four, then stumbled with two outs in the fifth. Carlos Vega and Weber (…) hit singles, and while Vega went to third base, Avila’s throw there was errant and allowed Vega to turn and head for home and score. Chris Navarro grounded out, stranding the tying run at second base in a 2-1 game.

Hils hit a single himself in the fifth, but nobody else got on base. On the hill, he put Gil Cabrera on in the sixth, but got a double play from Yamamoto again, then reached two outs in the seventh before the lefty sticks at the bottom of the order drew up. It was still a 2-1 game, but the Raccoons were tricked into thinking Hils might have found confidence by the fact that he was mostly unshaken and had thrown only 67 pitches for 6.2 innings. He remained in the game, but of course immediately blew the lead with a Cullen Tortora double, a pinch-hit RBI single by Matt O’Reilly, and I had another gulp. He did stumble out of the inning somehow, the got another lead when Eddy Luna homered in the bottom 7th, 3-2. Hitchcock then held the fort in the eighth despite nicking speed demon Chris Navarro to put the tying run aboard with nobody out. A strikeout, pop, and groundout held Navarro at first, however, and the Raccoons stayed ahead. Nelson Moreno was kind enough to finish it in the ninth without unnecessary drama. 3-2 Raccoons. Waters 2-3, HR, RBI; Luna 2-3, HR, 2 RBI; Hils 7.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, W (4-2) and 1-2;

Game 2
TIJ: 3B Ottinger – RF Blackburn – LF G. Cabrera – C Mittleider – SS A. Lopez – 1B Tortora – CF O’Reilly – 2B C. Vega – P Erwin
POR: LF Watt – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 2B Waters – RF Preble – 1B Toohey – SS Luna – C Gonzalez – P Crowell

It took the Coons four innings to find an answer to a Gil Cabrera homer in the first, and I was mildly amazed that Crowell held out that long without getting entirely obliterated. But Preble doubled and scored on a Toohey single to tie the game at one in the bottom 4th, after the team had done next to nothing the first time through. Coons were on the corners in the bottom 5th on the merits of Gonzalez getting drilled and, after he was bunted to second, an infield single for Matt Watt with one gone. Herrera flew out to shallow left, Maldo grounded out to Carlos Vega, and I contemplated whether we should start to look for alternate personnel. Technically, Chad in the raccoon mascot was already wearing a Raccoons uniform, so maybe he could be an option to hit cleanup…?

Roster move musings ended just as soon as Crowell’s day with leadoff singles in the sixth for Cabrera and Jon Mittleider. Two on, no outs, four left-handed batters coming up, the Raccoons went to Ponce, who was usually accompanied by blowup noises as soon as he left the pen, but now stuck out both Alex Lopez and Cullen Tortora, then gave up a screamer to O’Reilly, but Watt was in the way in left and made the catch, keeping the score tied.

Waters walked and stole second, but was still stranded in the bottom 6th, and Herrera scratched out a 2-out single against righty Leonardo Ramos in the bottom 7th and also stole second. Maldo then crashed the 1-1 pitch past a diving Tortora for an RBI double, putting the Coons on top, 2-1…! While Maldo was lifted for D after that, Preston Porter needed lifting for rescue after two 1-out singles by Cabrera and Mittleider in the eighth. Lynn came on, gave up a bases-filling single to Lopez, but then whiffed the pinch-hitter Yamamoto, who would be my top pick to hit a ****** slam against the Coons, giving how ineffective his tenure here was. Lynn hung a K on O’Reilly, ending the inning. With Moreno having pitched two days in a row, and another lefty stick up to begin the ninth, Lynn hung around when the Coons were done with stranding a pair in the bottom 8th, whiffed Vega, got a grounder from Ricky Cruz, and had Reed Ottinger fly out to Watt to finish the deal. 2-1 Coons. Preble 3-4, 2B; Gurney (PH) 1-1; Lynn 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, SV (3);

Three in a row! None of them convincing or pretty, but they all count the same in the end.

Still 4 1/2 back though after losing the series to the damn Elks earlier in the week…

…and we would not get closer under our own power, because the week ended early, the finale of the homestand getting washed down the Willamette by steady rains. (It was a Northwest thing, the Elks getting rained out too against Vegas)

Monday would be off as well by schedule.

In other news

May 17 – Capitals SP Cory Ellis (5-1, 3.14 ERA) will spend the next two months rehabbing a partial tear in his labrum.
May 18 – PIT SS/2B Tony Aparicio (.368, 4 HR, 23 RBI) will be missing for a month with a herniated disc.
May 19 – The Capitals have a 5-run rally in the bottom 9th on nothing but singles and walks, base by base, to overturn the Rebels, 6-5.
May 20 – A fractured coracoid bone in his shoulder puts Atlanta ace SP Brian Buttress (4-3, 3.24 ERA) out of action for the season.
May 20 – CIN RF/LF/1B Salvador Montecino (.268, 3 HR, 12 RBI) hits a seventh-inning pinch-hit single for the only Cyclones knock in a 7-1 loss to Pittsburgh’s SP Marcos Nabo (2-6, 3.44 ERA), who turns in a complete-game 1-hitter.
May 21 – Owing to a sprained ankle, the Falcons will be without 2B/OF Miguel Martinez (.250, 0 HR, 9 RBI) for a month.

FL Player of the Week: SFW LF/RF Danny Munn (.321, 11 HR, 48 RBI), crushing .407 (11-27) with 5 HR, 12 RBI
CL Player of the Week: NYC LF/CF Joe Besaw (.415, 7 HR, 26 RBI), clicking .583 (14-24) with 1 HR, 2 RBI

Complaints and stuff

3-2 with a rainout and not a lot of vigor. It’s hard to make out bright spots, but I’ll try.

Maldo f.e. is 35, beyond redemption on defense, and makes more dosh a year than I have ever seen in an actual pile in my lifetime. But after a slow and injury-bugged start, he’s now up to a .768 OPS, which is at least as good as he was last year after sliding in the second half. Only two homers though in 105 at-bats, so that’s not great… Matt Waters looks the same as last year; right on pace for 31 homers at the first quarterpost, and well more than the 93 RBI he had last time ‘round. OPS just over .900, also just like last year.

The bad? Insert a pitcher of your choice, or the general rotten luck with their BABIP. It’s hard to actually blame the pitchers, it is *also* a baseball god’s vengeful escapades thing. And it’s hard to bring the baseball gods to reason.

Trust me, I have tried a lot of times.

Next week, road trip to Vegas and Atlanta, then another week at home for the Falcons and Indians as we’ll slide into June. Our rainout is scheduled to be made up in a double header on June 28, where a spot starter will have to be employed.

Fun Fact: In all of the Federal League, there are two winning teams, and none in the East.

The 21-22 Buffos are probably delighted to lead that shambolic division. On merit it might be the Blue Sox, 22-20 by expected record, and the only one actually above .500 even then. The entire FL is 10 games under .500.

[Westheim]

2049 DRAFT POOL ANALYSIS

It was your great-grandpa’s draft pool, with which I mean there were about as many catchers as pitchers on there that were worth picking up, and the number of catchers wasn’t that outrageous to begin with. We had a 113-strong shortlist, but of those only 33 were pitchers, including two two-way players, and we’d lose a few words about one of them in a second. But first let’s take a gander at the hotlist of the best young talent available in a couple of weeks, lovingly curated by Pat Degenhardt. I’m kidding, he’s not much of a people person, he just enjoys the thick paycheck he gets for doing things the way I want them.

Players shown with projected stuff/movement/control slash contact/power/eye and their BNN rank if in the top 10; * denotes high school players:

SP Josh Wilson (12/14/12)
SP Josh Mayo (11/10/10) *
SP Bill Lawrence (10/13/15) – BNN #3
SP Ben Karst (12/16/11) * - BNN #8

2B/SS Adam DeRosia (13/14/14) *
1B Travis Parker (7/18/13) *
1B/RF/LF Willie Jenkins (8/18/16)

OF/1B Phil Steinbacher (12/10/12) – BNN #10
OF Brandon Fellows (10/14/13) – BNN #9

Not much else to see here; and this does not even include Mr. Two-Way. With the Raccoons not getting a pick before #34, it might be a safe assumption that we won’t get any of these.

But we might get Jeff Kelly. He’s an 18-year-old Minnesotan, batting and throwing right-handed, and moonlighting as a catcher, third baseman, and pitcher, which projects exactly the sort of player profile the Raccoons are looking for now that everything’s going into the toilet. He had catcher’s speed, but was solid for both contact and power and rated 11/9/7 potential overall in the hitting regard. He obviously had a strong arm, but was also just nimble enough to hold down that hot corner competently. Weirdly, he had a hard time working with pitchers – or with catchers when pitching himself. On the mound he had a 88mph cutter that was what last-round picks were made out of, but a sweet curve that actually made the whole package worthwhile. He wasn’t worth it in any one aspect – but the whole prospect of a real Swiss army knife kinda player had me intrigued.

And those two first basemen with the outrageous power potential and certain contact-making challenges? These were Degenhardt’s ratings, but OSA was more or less agreeing with him, with the caveat of giving them both an additional point in contact and one or two less in power and/or eye.

Deeper down there were some other interesting fringe cases, f.e. a right-handed starting pitcher with a solid-enough profile going by the name of Nick Lillard. I don’t know where he’s supposed to go if not Portland…! Everybody in the Rose City still remembers Dorian Lillard, chief enforcer and skull collector of the Portland Chainsaws blood hockey team!

[Westheim]

Raccoons (23-19) @ Aces (19-23) – May 25-27, 2049

Off to the wilderness again, the Raccoons would have to contend with the Aces in a 3-game series starting on Tuesday. And the Aces on paper really weren’t very good. Second from the bottom in runs scored, just a sliver over 3.5 runs a game, and barely eighth in runs allowed, with a -46 run differential (Critters: +14). They were not getting on base, they were not hitting for average, and both their starters and their relievers managed to be in the bottom three in ERA in the CL. Add to that injuries, including to some players that could be quite useful like the hitting folk Josh Landstrom, Brent Cramer, Felix Rojas, and closer David Williams. How bad was it precisely? Coons castoff Ben Coen was third on the team with a .260 batting average, for example. Not that the .260 bit was the trouble – that he qualified to for a rate stat was the problem to begin with…

Projected matchups:
Victor Merino (3-2, 3.80 ERA) vs. Pablo Paez (5-2, 2.93 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (3-4, 3.47 ERA) vs. B.J. Brantley (3-4, 5.40 ERA)
Bubba Wolinsky (2-3, 5.66 ERA) vs. Sadaharu Okuda (4-4, 4.63 ERA)

Like the Critters, the Aces had been rained out on Sunday, and thus had been off for two days in a row, allowing them to go wild with their rotation. Our best guess was that they’d open with the right-handed Paez, then throw the two southpaws. Last year’s season series had been a 4-5 loss for the Coons.

Game 1
POR: LF Watt – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 2B Waters – RF Preble – 1B Gurney – SS Adame – C Gonzalez – P Merino
LVA: 2B Huber – 3B M. Lopez – C Weese – RF Austin – CF J. Harris – LF Encarnacion – SS Villalobos – 1B Witherspoon – P Paez

Just when I was ready to muse aloud that the Aces lineup looked really not that impressive at all, they gave Merino two in the snout right in the opening inning. Miguel Lopez doubled to left, sophomore hope Aubrey Austin doubled to right for his 18 RBI while battling the .200 mark, and Jonathan Harris snuck an RBI single up the middle. Paez meanwhile, continuing a recent trend of the Raccoons just not hitting anything whatsoever, except for the buffet three times a day, faced the minimum into the fifth inning. He had walked Matt Watt to begin the game, but Herrera had found a double play right away. Mike Preble took he no-hitter off with a shy single in the top 5th then, when the score was still 2-0, but felt like 9-0, and of course Preble was also stranded with great consistency. Merino got stuffed another four singles and two runs in the bottom 5th, then was hit for in the sixth. Eddy Luna walked in the spot, and the bags filled up with an infield single for Watt and Maldo getting nicked on a 3-2 with two outs. And then Waters, the tying run, fanned. And that was already the ballgame. Harris homered off Norris in the eighth, and the Raccoons never flicked a tail again. Or ever. 5-0 Aces. Preble 2-4;

While it is pretty obvious that we’re doomed, I would like to at least try and pretend that I’m still coming up with strokes of genius to pump the water out of the sinking ship. Or Matt Waters, who was a sturdy 0-4 with 3 K in this game.

Our catchers were hitting .182 between them, both as bad as the other, and our ho-hum rightfield platoon was hardly any better, around the .209 mark. Both pairs had one homer between them.

Since my previous stroke of genius had been to stuff $5.2M up Ruben Gonzalez’ furry *********, Justin Brooks bit the dust, while 2045 fifth-rounder Jeff Raczka was promoted from AAA. He was more of a glove-first catcher, so expectations were low, but had at least batted .256 with a homer in 15 AAA games this year. He was also a rare left-handed hitting catcher.

The outfield thing was not as easily fixed. Without reason, I longed to keep the lefty stick of Zurita, and Avila would refuse the assignment to AAA. Then again, what was Zurita hitting again? So he found himself on the waiver wire, while the Raccoons brought back Matt Glodowski (ignores the moans in the background) as an interim solution while trying to get a cheap left-handed corner outfielder somewhere else.

Game 2
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 2B Waters – LF Preble – 1B Toohey – RF Avila – C Gonzalez – P Wheatley
LVA: 2B Huber – CF J. Harris – 1B Witherspoon – RF Austin – 3B M. Lopez – LF F. Torres – C DeFrank – SS Villalobos – P Brantley

One of the other 35 problems we had on the roster was that Wheats had finally found first-half form in May, meaning that he hadn’t won a game since Easter, and his Wednesday had started by drawing the “All-Raisins Gnaw” in the “I feel lucky” breakfast lottery. Having two grounders go by Maldonado in the bottom 2nd surely didn’t help either, with Ray DeFrank singling home Austin for a 1-0 Aces lead. It only got worse from there, with Brantley (…) and Dustin Huber lobbing singles to begin the bottom 3rd, and both being doubled home by Sam Witherspoon with a ball crammed into the rightfield corner. As if being down 3-0 was not enough, the Coons (again) did not get a base hit the first time through, but then Jesus Maldonado opened the fourth inning with a double to right himself…! Except that he didn’t, having blatantly missed first base without realizing as he turned the corner at hazardous speed given his age, and was thusly called out while still sitting in the dirt next to second base, panting. It was not a game for old men.

Because baseball is a cruel thing and hates its children, the Coons then filled the bases with the next three batters. Waters and Preble singled, Toohey walked, before the unpurged half of the problem children came to the plate. Eduardo Avila was ahead 3-1, then chose to pop out to Witherspoon. Ruben Gonzalez ran a full count, then popped out to the youngster Austin in shallow right. Three Raccoons runners retreated to the dugout, Wheatley punched over a pyramid out of drinking cups somebody with too much time on their paws had built in the dugout, and I wondered whether it was too late to go back to college and get an actual degree in something other than herding third-rate squirrels.

Waters socked an unexpected solo homer to left-center in the sixth, but DeFrank stuck that run back into Wheatley with a 2-out RBI double in the same inning, and Wheats was gone after that unhappy sixth. Glodowski batted for him. He struck out. Had he reached base, he would have been the Raccoons’ final base runner on the day. 4-1 Aces. Herrera 2-4; Waters 2-3, BB, HR, RBI;

Jeff Raczka made his major league debut – and also the final out of the game, batting for Avila and grounding to second.

Game 3
POR: CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 2B Waters – LF Preble – 1B Toohey – RF Glodowski – SS Adame – C Gonzalez – P Wolinsky
LVA: 2B Huber – 3B M. Lopez – C Weese – RF Austin – CF J. Harris – LF Encarnacion – SS Villalobos – 1B Witherspoon – P Okuda

One day we’d find out what happened to Bubba last winter, but he met the Aces’ right-handed lineup (all but Witherspoon) and the results were grim. There was persistent loud contact the first time through, most of which somehow ended up with outfielders, except for a homer by Danny Encarnacion to right-center. Come the bottom 4th, the Aces hit three straight singles to begin the inning. Austin drove in a run, and Wolinsky walked Harris to fill the bases with nobody out. Encarnacion struck out, Mario Villalobos brought in a run with a grounder, and somehow Waters snatched a liner from Witherspoon to strand a pair in scoring position. Not only was Wolinsky pitching like stale arse, he also bunted into a force at second when Ruben Gonzalez actually did ******* reach base for once, and thus shortcircuited the fifth inning. And yet, somehow, he lasted seven innings, whiffing just as many. Nothing made sense anymore, but when he was hit for to begin the eighth, he was still in a 3-0 hole, because the team had mentally surrendered the season already, and was vehemently encouraging their GM to do the same.

The Coons loaded the bags in the eighth, unearned as it was, though. Herrera and Preble reached on merit, while Waters got on when Austin dropped his fly ball for an error. It was tying runs aboard, two out, and Toohey batting against Okuda – here were two people that knew pretty much every single hair in the other guy’s ears. Toohey prevailed, singling to left on an 0-1 pitch to drive home two, but Glodowski grounded out to Al Martell (sigh) to end the inning. After Porter and Lynn held the fort in the bottom 8th, the Coons were up against lefty Dave Saldivar in the ninth inning, having the impossible task to make up a run with the bottom of the order. Adame, in a bitter slump, grounded out to Miguel Lopez. Avila batted for Gonzalez, and grounded out to short. Watt had remained in the #9 hole after pinch-hitting for Wolinsky earlier, and now grounded out to Martell to complete the sweep. 3-2 Aces. Gonzalez 1-2, BB, 2B;

Raccoons (23-22) @ Knights (15-32) – May 28-30, 2049

The Knights were pretty dismal. They were giving up the most runs in the league (5.2 a game), and were scoring in the bottom quarter themselves, for a rough -78 run differential before the end of May. Thankfully, the Coons were here… We led the season series 2-1, but I had a hunch…

Projected matchups:
Dave Hils (4-2, 4.78 ERA) vs. Kodai Koga (2-5, 5.56 ERA)
Chris Crowell (0-1, 5.18 ERA) vs. Marc Hubbard (2-6, 4.97 ERA)
Victor Merino (3-3, 4.13 ERA) vs. Enrique Duran (0-7, 6.80 ERA)

An all-righty rotation here; they had already struggled before they had lost Brian Buttress and Adam Capone for the season, and it wasn’t likely to get better. Having a defense like nine little Maldos didn’t help them either…

Game 1
POR: LF Watt – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – RF Preble – SS Luna – C Raczka – P Hils
ATL: LF Hester – RF van der Zanden – SS A. Venegas – CF Alade – C Cass – 2B J. Lopez – 1B Swift – 3B A. Ramires – P Koga

The Coons scattered three hits and a double play, but no runs in the top 1st, Armando Herrera being the main culprit there. The Knights by contrast opened with a Billy Hester double to left, then ripped into Knave Hils to the tune of five hits, a walk, and four runs as they batted through the order in the first inning. Jon Alade and Tyler Cass both hit RBI singles; T.J. Swift singled home two. But they didn’t hit a triple! Mike Preble hit a triple to open the second inning! And Mike Preble also … didn’t score, thanks to a pop, another pop, and a strikeout on Hils, whose .313 batting average entering the game had been his foremost contribution to the team’s 2049 excess of success.

From there, the Knights beat another four hits and two runs out of Hils, who at least had the decency to absorb the blows for a full six innings while getting no support whatsoever until the seventh when Gurney got on base and Eddy Luna walloped a 2-run homer over the wall in left, as if it still mattered. Ponce had a scoreless bottom 7th, after which Watt and Herrera lobbed singles off Koga to begin the eighth. Maldonado flew out to Arnout van der Zanden in shallow right, runners holding. There was on holding Waters, though – he ripped into a breaking ball for a noisy 3-run homer to left, shortening the score to 6-5. Alade then reached on an infield single against Ponce to begin the bottom 8th. Porter took over, with Alade being thrown out by Raczka trying to steal second base, and the Knights didn’t tack on. Top 9th, then, with the Coons up against righty David Hardaway and his 2.41 ERA. Luna and Raczka made poor outs, but Adame singled in the pitcher’s spot. And then Matt Watt struck out. 6-5 Knights. Watt 2-5; Herrera 2-4; Waters 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Preble 2-4, 3B; Adame (PH) 1-1;

I think it will be enough to trade for a stick that will go its ways by himself after September ends.

Game 2
POR: LF Watt – SS Adame – CF Herrera – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – RF Preble – 3B Luna – C Gonzalez – P Crowell
ATL: LF Hester – RF van der Zanden – SS A. Venegas – CF Alade – 2B J. Lopez – 1B Swift – C Whitley – 3B A. Ramires – P Hubbard

Three soft singles and a T.J. Swift error allowed the Critters to score two runs in the top of the first, and Ruben Gonzalez added a run with a solo homer in the second, 3-0, before an Adame single and a throwing error by Dan Whitley put two in scoring position for Waters, but he grounded out to end the inning. The Knights tied the game back on their first base hit then, a 3-run homer by Whitley, after Crowell, the useless pelt, had issued leadoff walks to Jon Lopez and Swift in the bottom 2nd.

Portland was up 4-3 in the top 3rd then, when Ruben Gonzalez hit an RBI single with Gurney and Luna aboard already. Crowell struck out and Watt flew out to center to strand a pair, and Crowell then walked another two Knights in the bottom 3rd, setting up Eddy Luna to surrender the tying run when he fumbled Whitley’s 2-out grounder for an error. It was that kind of game, the kind that makes you wanna quit baseball. Antonio Ramires popped out to short, stranding Knights on the corners. It was a 4-4 game, with the Coons somehow ahead 7-1 in hits.

Top 4th, the Coons took the lead for the third time when Waters whacked a 2-out double to left, then scored on a Pat Gurney single to right-center. Crowell tried to get pushed over again, conceding singles to Hester and van der Zanden. Venegas flew out to center for the second out, but that was it for Crowell. 95 pitches for 11 outs – yay! Lynn got a groundout from Alade to keep the Coons up 5-4, then walked one and struck out two in the fifth. Hubbard was also gone by the fifth. Lefty Tony Rosas put Adame and Herrera on base in the sixth, but Waters popped out, and after Gurney walked, Preble popped out too, stranding a full set in a 5-4 game. It was no longer 5-4 in the bottom of the inning, when Kevin Hitchcock got rolled over for four straight base runners, a walk and three hits, the hit being a 2-out, 2-run single for Jon Lopez that flipped the score.

Luna and Gonzalez hit leadoff singles off Rosas to begin the top 7th, after which Maldonado batted for Hitchcock, but his high fly to right was caught by van der Zanden and didn’t advance Luna, either. Watt then found Lopez for a 4-6-3 double play. Once Nate Norris was exploded for three runs in the bottom 7th, this game was in the bin as well, with the first runs coming on a 2-run homer by Daniel Hertenstein. Four hits in total off Norris, as if there was a reward for giving up as many as possible. Top 8th, Brad Santry in. Herrera singled, stole second, and Waters walked. Gurney slapped a 1-out single to right, and Herrera beat van der Zanden’s arm to score, allowing the trailing runners into scoring position as Preble came up as the tying run, but was held to a sac fly, 9-7. Santry then lost Luna to a 2-out walk, then brought up Gonzalez and drilled him with the first pitch. That filled the bases with two gone for Bryce Toohey, batting for Norris, although honestly I was kind of annoyed with them for plucking my heartstrings again only to come up, inevitably, with nothing. Santry lost Toohey on balls, forcing home a run to make it 9-8, then was replaced with righty Matt Simmons for Watt. Despite an .442 OBP, Swatt watted away at the first pitch, I shrieked, but the ball went up the middle for a single, and two runs scored – Coons took the lead!!?? … Adame added an RBI single, 11-9, before Herrera grounded out to end the 6-run rush.

But don’t you dare think an easy win would be next. The Raccoons had already burned a good chunk of their pen and had to go to Orlando Altreche in the bottom 8th, which didn’t go too ******* well. Swift doubled, and Ramires and Tyler Cass drew 2-out walks, bringing up Hester again. The Raccoons went to Nelson Moreno, who had spent all week snoozing. He gave up a fly to shallow left, Watt raced in, made the catch, and kept the ruckus game with its bogus score in one piece for the ninth. Caleb Martin held off the Critters, while van der Zanden, the old Elks pest, drew a leadoff walk from Moreno. Venegas struck out, but Alade drew another walk. Moreno was then yelled at by the pitching coach, who also threatened him to take off his shoe and slap him with it. Jon Lopez flew out to Preble for the second out. Swift came up with runners on the corners, ran a full count, then hit a loud howler to deep left – but Watt caught it on the run…!! 11-9 Raccoons. Watt 2-5, BB, 2 RBI; Adame 3-6, RBI; Herrera 2-6, RBI; Waters 2-5, BB, 2B, RBI; Gurney 3-5, BB, 2 RBI; Gonzalez 3-4, HR, 2 RBI; Toohey (PH) 0-0, BB, RBI;

It’s a win that felt like a loss and a half. Rarely have I been less enthused about them scoring eleven runs. They left another FIFTEEN runners on base…!

And the PITCHING…!!

Interlude: Trade

But one after another.

The Raccoons exchanged left-handed outfielders with the Capitals on Saturday night, sending Angelo Zurita (.188, 0 HR, 4 RBI) to Washington in exchange for RF/CF Brian Nigro (.266, 0 HR, 17 RBI). The 28-year-old Nigro had a murder arm, but not that much range. He was also not exactly hitting like a corner outfielder, with all of ONE homer to his major league career in some 1,400 at-bats.

Matt Glodowski, 0-5 with 2 K, was returned to AAA to make room on the roster.

Raccoons (23-22) @ Knights (15-32) – May 28-30, 2049

Come Sunday, the Knights had just earlier signed right-hander Steve Huffman, who had made all of 20 innings in the last two years due to various ailments and issues, and threw him at the Critters in the rubber game.

Game 3
POR: CF Watt – SS Adame – 3B Maldonado – 2B Waters – LF Preble – 1B Gurney – RF Nigro – C Raczka – P Merino
ATL: RF van der Zanden – 3B A. Ramires – SS A. Venegas – CF Alade – C Cass – 1B Hester – LF Hertenstein – 2B S. Davison – P Huffman

Merino fell behind in the first, allowing a walk to Ramires, then singles to Venegas and Alade, with Venegas even caught in a rundown to help him out. The Coons tied it up in the third, when Jeff Raczka hit his first career single to right with one out, got bunted to second, and then scored on a Watt single to right. Two outs, Adame also singled, Maldo walked in a full count, and then Waters hit a floater to shallow left-center that dropped in between absolutely everybody – Hertenstein, Alade, Venegas, King George VII of England – they were all on the ball, but couldn’t quite reach it. Waters drove in two runs on it, grabbing a 3-1 lead. Preble then unraveled Huffman’s season debut further, smashing a 3-run homer to right, 6-1. The Knights kinda wanted more length, but wouldn’t get it. He filled the bags with the 6-7-8 batters, but wasn’t removed until after Merino poked an RBI single to left…! Watt then grounded out against Adam Brady, ending the 7-run onslaught.

Enter Merino, trying to blow it all at once. He filled the bags with a 1-2-3 batters in the bottom 3rd after retiring Brady to begin the inning, indicating the Knights had internally retired to their wingback chair in front of the fireplace. Alade plated a run with a groundout, but Merino just walked Cass to fill the plates again. Waters denied Hester with a lunging pick and flip to Adame to end the inning, it was still 7-2, and I couldn’t help but see an L coming. A crushing one.

Watt singled home Gurney and Nigro, and Adame singled in Merino, who had drawn a 2-out walk in the top 5th that saw Brady come apart to extend the lead to 10-2. Maldo walked to fill the bases, Waters walked with the bags already filled, and that got Brady out for Mike Lechowicz, who had Preble at 0-2 with two outs, then gave up a bases-clearing triple in the left-center gap. That already gave the Coons their second 7-spot of the game (!!), but they made it eight … or Hester made it eight, fumbling a Gurney grounder that should have ended the inning, but instead got Preble across, 15-2. Venegas countered with an RBI double against Merino in the bottom 5th, with Merino eventually going six and a third, departing with PH Chris Kirkwood on base in the bottom 7th. Norris got a double play grounder to end the inning, after which Avila – in to preserve Preble for days to come – opened the eighth with a leadoff jack off Tony Rosas.

Of course somebody down the road had to **** the nest, and it was Ponce, who gave up three runs on five hits in the bottom 8th. Admittedly, three of the hits were infield singles, which fit in nicely with the “can’t field” / “have no luck” Coons of ’49. On to the ninth, Caleb Martin pitching, and loading the bags with Watt, Adame, and Luna to begin the inning. Hertenstein spoiled a Waters drive to deep left while bouncing off the wall, holding Waters to a sac fly. Avila hit another sac fly to center, and Toohey singled to center. Nigro grounded out to end the inning. The 12-run lead actually stood up in the bottom of the ninth, too. 18-6 Raccoons. Watt 4-6, 3 RBI; Adame 3-6, RBI; Preble 3-4, HR, 3B, 6 RBI; Avila 1-1, HR, 2 RBI, Nigro 2-6; Raczka 2-4, BB;

In other news

May 26 – Miners catcher Giampaolo Petroni (.313, 4 HR, 22 RBI) ends a heretofore scoreless game against the Warriors with a 2-run walkoff homer in the ninth inning, Pittsburgh thus winning 2-0.
May 30 – DAL SP Mike LeMasters (10-1, 2.77 ERA) 2-hits the Rebels in a 3-0 shutout.
May 30 – Quad-A veteran IND OF Brian Oliver (.375, 1 HR, 5 RBI) hits a walkoff grand slam in the 11th inning to beat the Bayhawks, 7-3.

FL Player of the Week: PIT INF Victor Corrales (.404, 1 HR, 6 RBI), batting .480 (12-25) with 1 HR, 4 RBI
CL Player of the Week: VAN 1B Sterling Henderson (.414, 3 HR, 19 RBI), slashing .636 (14-22) with 2 HR, 12 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The Coons scored 37 runs this week, including 32 in a series against the Knights, and somehow they managed to even lose one of THOSE games after getting swept by the Aces to begin with. Every day it’s becoming more obvious that we ain’t got nothing, and we’re not gonna make it six in a row for the division.

The rotation is getting shredded – Wheats is now best in class with a 3.70 ERA that is persistently growing. Merino is treading water; the other three guys are drowning. Being second from the bottom in D of course helps nothing and nobody. The only thing that might still help was to trade both Toohey and Gurney, salvage the rest of Maldo’s generous contract at first base, and try to keep the rebuild to under a decade…

Next week: Falcons, Indians at home. Off day on Thursday, and that will be the last off day for three weeks. Great time to have no pitching.

Fun Fact: Matt Waters is leading the CL with 45 RBI.

Ahead of Preble, too. But Waters keeps raking, .304 with 10 homers, and I feel like he’s just getting warm. At least we still have him, while everything else is crumbling down.

Until he breaks a leg or so…

[Westheim]

Raccoons (25-23) vs. Falcons (22-28) – May 31-June 2, 2049

Here is another mediocre CL South team, you know, the sort of which had whacked the Coons around all of last week. Charlotte sat second in runs scored, but 10th in runs allowed, with a -7 run differential. They had the worst bullpen in the CL, but one of the best bullpens. They were down a few important players like Miguel Martinez and Esteban Sandoval, plus pitcher Chris Jones. They were also up 2-1 on the Coons in ’49.

Projected matchups:
Jason Wheatley (3-5, 3.70 ERA) vs. Hiroyuki Takagi (3-5, 3.88 ERA)
Bubba Wolinsky (2-4, 5.43 ERA) vs. Josh Swindell (4-4, 4.32 ERA)
Dave Hils (4-3, 5.22 ERA) vs. Kurt Olson (3-3, 3.57 ERA)

We’d be up against three right-handers. And a visit from Nick Valdes, who was aghast at our performance.

Game 1
CHA: RF Allegood – 2B E. Stevens – 1B Sevilla – 3B Wilken – C M. Castillo – CF Caballero – LF Ceballos – SS Woodrome – P Takagi
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 1B Gurney – 2B Waters – LF Preble – RF Nigro – 3B Luna – C Gonzalez – P Wheatley

Wheats hadn’t won any of his last six games, gave up doubles to Erik Stevens and Randy Wilken, and a single by Manny Castillo, too, giving up two quick runs while me and Valdes were stood at the big window overlooking the actual field and both looked on with great concern and not saying much. While the Coons didn’t do much of anything the first time through, the Falcons got Wilken on again with a leadoff walk in the fourth. He scored on a passed ball, a groundout, and a wild pitch, at which point Valdes finally turned over to me and stated plainly that they weren’t gonna win again this year. It was not a question, nor was he asking for my opinion. He was dense as iron, but even Valdes saw that it was all just a craptastic wreckfest. Speaking of which, bottom 4th, Preble drew a walk, Nigro hit a single, and Luna jammed into an inning-ending double play.

Ruben Gonzalez hit a solo homer in the fifth, but that wasn’t gonna dig out Wheatley, who much the contrary was digging a way deeper hole yet by walking the bags full in the sixth inning. He got yanked for Mike Lynn, who got a first-pitch, inning-ending double play from Oscar Caballero to close Wheats’ line at 5.1 innings and three runs – and again no W. At best he could hope for a no-decision, but that would require two runs to be scored by the Coons, and soon. Waters hit a leadoff triple in the bottom 6th, scored on a Preble sac fly, but … that was not enough. Which even Valdes noted, grumbling “still behind”. Well, there was some truth to that.

Lynn pitched another inning, but then Hitchcock and Ponce got bumped around for two hits, two walks, a run on the former, and then an extremely generous strike call at 3-2 and two outs and the bags full to Chris Gowin, upon which Valdes pulled out a pager, pressed a button, and quietly said “pay out” before having it disappear again. Well, while I didn’t necessarily approve of bribing umps, it got Wheats off the hook; the Falcons remained stuck at 4-2, and in the bottom 8th Preble homered off Alex Mancilla after Aaron Curl, ex-Coon, had walked Pat Gurney. All level at four! …and then Ponce, Moreno, and the defense blew up entirely in the ninth inning. The Falcons ran riot around the Coons, scored five runs – all unearned, thanks Pat Gurney – and that was the ballgame. Never mind a Herrera sac fly in the bottom 9th, which excited neither Valdes nor me. 9-5 Falcons. Preble 1-2, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Gonzalez 2-4, HR, RBI;

What needs fixing, Nick? I don’t think you have enough time to listen to all of it.

Not on the list though: Matt Waters. The little bugger won the CL Hitter of the Month honor for May, smacking .320 with 7 homers and 29 RBI. At least that before the league will slap the toilet lid on us and hit the flusher…!

Game 2
CHA: CF Caballero – 2B E. Stevens – LF Marroquin – 3B Wilken – C Gowin – SS Vamos – 1B Sevilla – RF Allegood – P Swindell
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 2B Waters – LF Preble – 1B Toohey – RF Nigro – C Gonzalez – P Wolinsky

Waters added another RBI right away to begin the month of June with a run-scoring groundout after Herrera walked and Maldo doubled in the bottom 1st. Preble hit an RBI single with two outs, and for once the Coons went up 2-0. Then it was about standing at the big window and waiting for Wolinsky to inevitable hold his paw into a buzzing chainsaw again, giggling. The Falcons failed to land a hit for two innings, so he resorted to a leadoff walk to Mike Allegood in the top 3rd, and gave up the run on a single by Oscar Caballero, 2-1. Toohey would pull the run back with a solo homer to right in the fourth, but Wolinsky just walked Erik Stevens in the fifth and gave up an RBI triple to Omar Marroquin. Randy Wilken grounded out to Adame on 3-2 to end the inning, stranding the tying run 90 feet away. “Even the young guys suck”, Nick remarked, which was not something I could deny without breaking a hole into the window with my nose. Well, except for Waters. Waters got a monthly award. He’d be the plank I chose to cling to as the ship sunk.

The starters were then done with thanks to a random June rain shower that broke out of nothing and gave everybody a good dousing in the bottom 5th. Altreche pitched the sixth against the bottom half of the order, and we would brought him back to begin the seventh, but his spot came up with Toohey and Nigro aboard and two outs in the bottom 6th. Pat Gurney pinch-hit and was walked by Justin Longley, who then ran a full count with the bags stacked against Adame – and threw the 3-2 in the dirt, forcing in a run. Valdes recommended trading for him, he’d be an improvement. I gnashed my teeth and remained silent. When the Falcons brought a new righty, Cameron Crawford, with control issues, the Coons sent Watt to bat for Herrera, since he was keen on drawing walks – and he drew another one, that also pushing in a run. Same for Maldo, who was wise to the game, wiser than Waters, who swung away, but hit a 2-run single. Ah, my new golden boy! Those were the last runs in the 5-spot, with Preble grounding out at 2-2, leaving the score at 8-2. The Falcons continued with Crawford in the seventh, where he walked another FOUR Coons in addition to a Gurney single, pushing home two runs for one out collected, 10-2. They replaced him with lefty Mario Benavidez, who DRILLED Maldo with his very first pitch, pushing home ANOTHER run. Waters slapped an RBI single to left, bringing up Preston Porter, whom we’d very much like to pitch two innings here and just let bat with three aboard and one gone. He struck out, Toohey flew out, and the inning ended. Porter then promptly gave up two runs on four hits, all with two outs, in the eighth, because baseball hated our guts. We won anyway. 12-4 Raccoons. Watt (PH) 0-0, 2 BB, 2 RBI; Waters 2-4, 4 RBI; Toohey 2-4, BB, HR, RBI; Gurney (PH) 1-2, BB;

13 walks drawn, and 12 runs scored on just eight base hits. I’ll take it.

Nick Valdes went home after that, but could not spare me the precious information that after those two games of butcherball he had to cleanse his mind with a double ticket for the hourly frequent flyer show at the airport nudie go-go bar.

Game 3
CHA: RF Allegood – 2B E. Stevens – 1B Sevilla – 3B Wilken – C M. Castillo – CF Caballero – LF Ceballos – SS Vamos – P Olson
POR: CF Watt – SS Adame – 3B Maldonado – 2B Waters – RF Nigro – 1B Toohey – LF Avila – C Raczka – P Hils

At least Valdes left before he got to see the weekly fireworks I blew $22M of his money to acquire. Doubles down either line, some assorted incompetence along with that, and the Falcons took a 2-0 lead on Dave Hils to start the rubber game. While there was no such thing as a well-pitched game anymore for this team, the Coons did flip the score in the bottom 1st, even though all but the first run were unearned. Watt and Adame made outs before straight singles by the 3-4-5 batters put a run on the board. Toohey reached on an error, after which Avila crammed a screamer into the leftfield corner for a score-flipping, 2-out, bases-clearing triple. 4-2! Was that all? No! Jeff Raczka picked something special for his 11th major league at-bat, and hit a 370-footer to left for a 2-run homer…! Hils and Watt hit two more singles out of Kurt Olson before Adame grounded out, thus making consecutive outs after eight straight Critters had reached base for a 6-2 lead.

Just don’t get excited. Dave Hils continued to pitch as well as stale beer. He was beaten around the ballpark for nine hits and six runs in four innings, meaning that, yes, he blew the ******* lead. Two runs in the second, two more in the fourth. The bloody ****! It didn’t get any better. Avila homered for a 7-6 lead in the bottom 5th, but Altreche immediately cocked that one up in the sixth, and then I got to sit around steaming out of both ears with sheer anger for an hour during another rain delay while it was 7-7 and nobody had any pitchers left. Randy Wilken hit a homer in the seventh to give the Falcons the lead, while the Raccoons arrived at Moreno in the ninth while behind, and he deepened the chasm with a wretched inning. Three hits, two walks, four runs. It was goddamn ******* ugly beyond description. Herrera singled home a run with two outs in the bottom 9th, not that it made a difference… 12-8 Falcons. Maldonado 4-5; Nigro 2-5, RBI; Avila 2-5, HR, 3B, 4 RBI; Herrera (PH) 2-3, RBI;

Absolutely awful.

No words.

Raccoons (26-25) vs. Indians (29-25) – June 4-6, 2049

By now I was expecting nothing but beatings anyway. The Arrowheads were fifth in runs scored, third in runs allowed, were down 4-2 in the season series, but had all the tools necessary to turn that one around. Mostly full sets of working limbs with an actual connection to their brains and a ******* clue about what they were doing on the field.

Projected matchups:
Chris Crowell (0-1, 5.46 ERA) vs. Josh Henneberry (4-3, 3.95 ERA)
Victor Merino (4-3, 4.14 ERA) vs. Bill Nichol (6-3, 2.35 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (3-5, 3.80 ERA) vs. Enrique Ortiz (5-6, 3.28 ERA)

Only more right-handers.

Game 1
IND: SS Russ – 1B de Castro – RF B. Quinteros – LF D. Rivera – 2B H. Acosta – 3B B. Anderson – CF Locke – C Pedraza – P Henneberry
POR: LF Watt – CF Herrera – 1B Maldonado – 2B Waters – RF Preble – SS Adame – 3B Luna – C Gonzalez – P Crowell

Andrew Russ, the ******* pestilence on humanity, opened the series with a drag bunt for a single, stole second, his 14th of the year, and then came around on Danny Rivera’s 2-run blast to right-center. Welcome to Raccoons Ballpark everybody! Be sure to arrive in your seat on time. We don’t do foreplay.

Alex Pedraza hit a solo shot in the second, 3-0, but the Coons actually threatened before going to bed. Henneberry walked Watt and Herrera in the bottom 3rd, then conceded a single to Maldo to stack the bases with one out. Waters reached 50 RBI on the year with a single through the left side, 3-1, Preble added a sac fly to Philip Locke, but then Adame grounded out and the rally fell short. Luna then drew a leadoff walk in the fourth and was doubled off on a hit-and-run when Gonzalez’ liner to right was actually caught by Bill Quinteros and Luna didn’t seem to realize about that at all. Gonzalez batted again in the sixth, then with Preble, Adame, and Luna on the bases and one out. His grounder was fired home by Henneberry for a force at the plate, while Gurney batted for an ineffective Crowell and flew out to center, keeping the Coons 3-2 behind. The ineptitude continued. The leadoff man – Watt – was on base in the seventh, and was also left on base, and in the eighth Henneberry, who was still in the game despite having walked SIX, was finally knocked out with a 2-out single by Eddy Luna. Tan Brink replaced him, walked Nigro – batting for Gonzalez – while Jeff Raczka batted for Ponce… and struck out. Nate Norris even pitched a 1-2-3 ninth, begging the team to rally over the Indians’ Sang-hoon Kim in the bottom 9th. Watt drew another leadoff walk… and then was stranded on three consecutive groundouts. 3-2 Indians. Watt 1-2, 3 BB; Luna 1-1, 3 BB;

Chris Crowell (0-2, 5.29 ERA) was designated for assignment after the game, after refusing a demotion to St. Pete. It was time for some big swipes at the roster, and the first one was to bring up Victor Salcido for good. The 23-year-old had a *1.33* ERA with the Alley Cats.

…and in fact Salcido, who was 0-0 with a 2.08 ERA in two spot starts earlier this year, was due to pitch and would do so on Saturday, pushing Merino to Sunday and Wheats into next week.

Game 2
IND: RF A. Mendez – 2B H. Acosta – CF B. Quinteros – LF D. Rivera – 3B B. Anderson – SS Russ – C Pedraza – 1B de Castro – P Nichol
POR: LF Watt – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 2B Waters – RF Preble – 1B Gurney – SS Luna – C Raczka – P Salcido

Salcido sawed off the Indians lineup once without putting any Arrowhead on base for just 31 pitches, but the Coons didn’t get a hit the first time through either. Watt and Herrera did draw 1-out walks in the bottom 3rd, though, which was four free passes issued by Nichol, and then Maldo found the gap in right-center for a 2-run triple…! …and then Waters whiffed and Preble flew out to center, failing to get Maldo in from third base….

Angel Mendez opened the fourth with a single ticked to center, but was stranded. It got dicier in the fifth, when the tying runs reached scoring position when Salcido walked Russ (…) and Alex Pedraza hit a double to right, all with one out. Alex de Castro then hit a bouncer to Maldo that kept the runners pinned and was good enough for the second out, bringing up the pitcher. Salcido rung up Nichol to bugger out of the inning. Bottom 5th, Herrera walked, Maldo singled, Waters walked, and Preble… grounded out to Hugo Acosta to strand them all. (groans)

The next Indians runner was Danny Rivera, reaching on an infield single in the seventh, but he was also stranded while the Indians got more and more weak contact off Salcido. The Coons brought Salcido back for the eighth, when it of course all went wrong. De Castro singled to left, PH Aaron Brayboy singled (hard) to center, and the tying runs were on the corners with nobody out. Exit Salcido, enter Lynn, and I was opening a new bottle of booze, just in case. PH Philip Locke struck out. Hugo Acosta hit a roller that Raczka took to second for a force out on Brayboy. (hollers drunkenly) Hey, Braybaby! Don’t hit your fat butt on your way out! HA!! … But the tying runs were still on the corners and Bill Quinteros hit a fly to deep center… but not deep enough to beat Herrera, who made a snatch to end the inning. After a quick bottom 8th, Lynn returned to face Rivera, while Moreno would the see the right-handed sticks after that. Between them they collected two strikeouts and a ginger fly to Watt. 2-0 Critters. Maldonado 2-4, 3B, 2 RBI; Salcido 7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, W (1-0);

Maldo went 2-for-4 with the game-winning triple. The rest of the team went 0-for-22.

(hiccups!)

Game 3
IND: RF A. Mendez – 2B H. Acosta – CF B. Quinteros – LF D. Rivera – 3B B. Anderson – SS Russ – C Pedraza – 1B de Castro – P E. Ortiz
POR: CF Watt – SS Adame – 1B Maldonado – 2B Waters – LF Preble – RF Nigro – 3B Luna – C Gonzalez – P Merino

Rubber game, somehow, and Merino was immediately wobbled around. Acosta tripled and scored on a wild pitch, while Merino then walked Quinteros, who was doubled in by Rivera for a 2-0 deficit. The Coons did flip the score in the bottom 1st, though; Waters singled home Watt and Adame with one out, Preble walked, and Nigro singled to right-center to score Waters from second for a 3-2 lead. Luna whiffed, Gonzalez grounded out, the inning ended, and the next four innings were all about who could strand the most runners. The Indians parked four, the Coons left five stranded, and pretty much everybody chipped in at least one missed RISP opportunity to keep it 3-2 through five.

Eddy Luna twice reached base to begin an inning, and twice stole second base afterwards. He was stranded in the fourth, but he reached third base with nobody out in the bottom 6th on a throwing error by Pedraza, which was begging for an insurance run. Gonzalez lined out to Bobby Anderson. Merino grounded out poorly, and Watt was robbed up the middle by Andrew Russ, the disgrace of the planet. Luna went for the dugout from third base, and nobody was happy… Although it only got worse after that. Merino got the first two outs in the seventh, then out of the blue was chopped into pieces. Mendez hit a triple to right, scored on an Acosta single to tie the game, and then Merino gave up another two hits to the left-handers Quinteros and Rivera to fall 4-3 behind and get yanked after all. Hitchcock walked Anderson on four pitches before Brayboy (…!!) hit for Russ (…!!) and grounded out to strand three more runners. While Hitchcock, Porter, and Ponce would pitch two scoreless after that, we still required an offensive awakening to stave off a series loss. The seventh and eighth were drab, an the ninth was against Kim and his 1.71 ERA again. Herrera, Gurney, and Watt hit three groundouts in short order… 4-3 Indians. Adame 2-4; Preble 1-2, 2 BB; Luna 2-4;

In other news

May 31 – Atlanta 3B/SS/LF/CF Anton Venegas (.325, 1 HR, 14 RBI) has a 20-game hitting streak after a seventh-inning single in an otherwise dreadful 11-4 loss to the Indians.
June 1 – LAP SP/MR Jon Craig (3-2, 3.52 ERA) 3-hits the Rebels in a 2-0 shutout.
June 2 – The Blue Sox beat the Wolves, 1-0 in 15 innings, when NAS INF/LF/RF Alfredo Napoles (.178, 0 HR, 9 RBI) ends 14 innings of futility and a personal 0-for-6 with an RBI single.
June 5 – Dallas’ OF Tylor Cecil (.347, 12 HR, 49 RBI) and RF/LF/1B Dario Martinez (.240, 9 HR, 38 RBI) each pile up four hits and five RBI in a 15-7 shootout with the Pacifics.
June 6 – The Knights’ hitting wonder Anton Venegas (.328, 1 HR, 14 RBI) makes it to 25 straight games with a base hit, knocking a first-inning single in a 5-2 win over the Bayhawks to reach that mark.
June 6 – The Wolves lose not one, but TWO starting pitchers to radial nerve compression; SP Blake Sparks (3-3, 3.65 ERA) and SP Miguel Soler (1-7, 4.45 ERA) are both out for the season.

FL Player of the Week: DEN INF Ivan Villa (.333, 20 HR, 57 RBI), raking .417 (10-24) with 3 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week: ATL C Tyler Cass (.333, 1 HR, 35 RBI), hitting .560 (14-25) with 7 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: DEN LF/CF Sandy Castillo (.370, 7 HR, 38 RBI), batting .364 with 5 HR, 20 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: POR 2B/SS Matt Waters (.303, 10 HR, 45 RBI), whacking .320 with 7 HR, 29 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: DEN SP Gary Perrone (7-2, 2.02 ERA), hurling for a 5-0 record with 1.84 ERA and 38 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: LVA SP Pablo Paez (7-2, 2.47 ERA), pitching for a 5-1 mark with 2.38 ERA, 25 K
FL Rookie of the Month: CIN RF/LF/1B Salvador Montecino (.318, 4 HR, 15 RBI), hitting .329 with 3 HR, 12 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: ATL 1B T.J. Swift (.294, 2 HR, 17 RBI), poking .348 with 1 HR, 11 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The rookie Swift is 31 years old. Still younger than Maldo, though. Or half the roster.

Sunday was the 5,600th regular season L for the franchise. More are to come, I think.

Next week: road trip to Boston for four games, then the Sacramento Stingers at home. True for all games, at home and on the road now: pack sandwiches and some drinks, because where the Raccoons are going there are no refreshing springs of wins, only more pain and agony.

Fun Fact: According to Game Score, Victor Salcido has pitched the two best starts by Raccoons hurlers since April 24.

Both against the Indians, with scores of 71 and 69. Those are the sixth- and seventh-best start of the season for Raccoons starters. Wolinsky pitched an 80 in beating the Titans on April 18 for the top mark. The other four were all mid-70s put up by Wheats in his first four outings of the year.

Y’know, before he remembered that he’s a second-half pitcher, strictly.

And I still think Salcido’s name is Cesar.

[Westheim]

It is 36°C / 97°F here, which is a lot, and … and I don’t think my head is functioning correctly.

Ah **** it, it’s not like I’m gonna ruin a playoff run if I play half-stupid…

+++

Raccoons (27-27) @ Titans (34-21) – June 7-10, 2049

The Raccoons had owned the Titans for seven straight years, but the tide seems to have turned now. Boston was chasing the Elks, two games out in second place, with the best pitching and nearly the best defense in the league. They definitely needed offensive help, ninth in runs scored, which made me wonder whether we should trade a functioning batter or two to them to sabotage Elk City. They were up 2-1 on the Coons this year, but there were aso some bad news, like pitchers Victor Scott and Jose Villalba having gone down, probably for the season, as well as outfielder Leo Estrada. Sorry, no functioning starting pitchers to be had from this roster.

Projected matchups:
Jason Wheatley (3-5, 3.80 ERA) vs. David Barel (5-4, 1.75 ERA)
Bubba Wolinsky (3-4, 5.28 ERA) vs. TBD
Dave Hils (4-3, 5.74 ERA) vs. Dave Serio (2-3, 3.35 ERA)
Victor Salcido (1-0, 1.35 ERA) vs. Kyle Turay (6-2, 2.59 ERA)

Barel was a southpaw, as would be Tony Ruiz (2-3, 4.91 ERA), who would have his turn on Tuesday. He was however nursing a mild abdominal strain and it was not yet known whether he could pitch or not.

Game 1
POR: LF Watt – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 2B Waters – RF Preble – 1B Toohey – SS Adame – C Gonzalez – P Wheatley
BOS: SS A. Silva – LF Mangual – 1B Wheeler – CF T. Lopez – C Youngquist – RF C. Jimenez – 2B T. Thompson – 3B J. Rodriguez – P Barel

Winless Wheatley struck out three against two hits (and a hit batter, and a wild pitch…) the first time through, but then was conquered by Ruben Mangual with a solo homer in the bottom 3rd. That looked literally like the game, because the Raccoons had a shy single by Bryce Toohey against Barel and nothing else in the first three innings. There was a Gonzalez single with two outs in the fifth, Maldo and Waters singles with two outs in the sixth, but Wheats and Preble made poor outs, respectively, to keep the Critters off the board. By contrast, the Titans’ 6-7-8 hitters lobbed three straight 2-out singles, none of them too hard, off Wheats in the bottom 6th to tack on another run before Barel at least struck out. Portland never came up with a run, so Wheats, who went seven innings before being hit for, came up with another loss instead. 2-0 Titans. Maldonado 2-4; Gurney (PH) 1-1; Wheatley 7.0 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, L (3-6);

Game 2
POR: LF Watt – CF Herrera – 1B Maldonado – 2B Waters – RF Gurney – SS Adame – 3B Luna – C Raczka – P Wolinsky
BOS: SS A. Silva – 2B Massey – 1B Wheeler – CF T. Lopez – RF C. Jimenez – LF Mangual – C Cadena – 3B J. Rodriguez – P Serio

Dave Serio went on short rest, which initially didn’t seem to do him much good, with Watt and Herrera reaching base to begin the game, but the 3-4-5 all croaked in due time and nobody scored. Things would continue mostly along that line; the Titans got Alejandro Silva on with a leadoff single in the bottom 1st, stranded him as well, and a lot of inane poking followed. Both teams had three hits apiece through five innings, and some of the fans in the good seats behind home plate had actually been lulled to sleep.

Matt Waters whacked a double to right to begin the sixth inning in a scoreless borefest, as if that could get some scoring going… Pat Gurney singled to right past Jeff Wheeler, but Waters got a bad read on the play, which was behind him, and had to stop at third base. Adame then grounded to short, 6-4-3, but Waters scored from third base at least, 1-0. Waters came back to the plate with Watt and Maldo on the corners and two outs in the seventh – one of them had doubled, and the other had forced out Armando Herrera… – and continued to be the single-most-productive person on the entire roster with a simple RBI single through the right side, 2-0. Pat Gurney added a gapper in right-center for a 2-run double, chasing Serio, while Wolinsky pitched his way through eight innings of shutout ball on 96 pitches. He did come back for the ninth, even though stamina was not his finest quality – his homemade quiche aux fromage blanc was! (drools) – but the pen had action going behind him. Jeff Wheeler’s leadoff jack put all ambitions to rest and brought on Nelson Moreno, who saved the game despite allowing a hit to Chris Jimenez and a walk to Jose Cadena… 4-1 Raccoons. Waters 2-5, 2B, RBI; Gurney 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Wolinsky 8.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W (4-4) and 1-3;

Game 3
POR: CF Watt – 3B Luna – 1B Gurney – 2B Waters – LF Preble – RF Nigro – SS Adame – C Gonzalez – P Hils
BOS: LF Mangual – 2B Massey – 1B Wheeler – CF T. Lopez – C Youngquist – RF C. Jimenez – SS T. Thompson – 3B J. Rodriguez – P Turay

Wednesday was Turay’s turn to go on short rest, and despite that fact and that the Coons pitched Dave “Ship be Sinking” Hils, another pitchers’ duel broke out. Nothing of particular interest happened the first time through either order, although Pat Gurney would hit a home run to left-center in the fourth inning for a 1-0 lead. Waters socked a double right afterwards, but was stranded. The Titans remained flat against Hils, and the Raccoons’ immediately dialed it back from that brief outburst of extra-base hits from consecutive batters, and didn’t threaten much for the next few innings. Adame’s throwing error in the bottom 7th made it interesting, however, putting Ryan Youngquist on second base with nobody out. Chris Jimenez grounded out, moving the tying run to third base, but Tom Thompson’s shallow fly to right was snatched by Brian Nigro and Youngquist wouldn’t dare. The Coons walked Jose Rodriguez intentionally, forcing Turay out of the game for pinch-hitter Jose Cadena, who grounded out to end the inning.

Adam Bates took over for Turay, immediately walking his former battery mate Ruben Gonzalez to begin the top 8th. Maldo pinch-hit for Turay and singled, putting the shocking number of two Critters on base at once. A passed ball advanced the runner before Eddy Luna walked to fill the bases anyway. Three on, one gone, Gurney grounded to Nate Massey. The Titans only got one, Luna at second base, while Gonzalez scored. Waters whiffed, leaving them at the corners then. The Raccoons’ pen then sent out Lynn and Porter for four full counts in the bottom 8th, split halfway down the middle between them. Boston would not score, narrowly, on the sequence of K, walk, scary-deep fly out to right, and another K on Tony Lopez. Moreno then struck out two and finished the game on a Silva groundout in the ninth. 2-0 Coons. Gurney 2-3, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Maldonado (PH) 1-1; Hils 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, W (5-3);

Back above .500 – wooo! …

Game 4
POR: SS Luna – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 2B Gurney – LF Preble – 1B Toohey – RF Nigro – C Raczka – P Salcido
BOS: SS A. Silva – LF Mangual – 1B Wheeler – CF T. Lopez – C Youngquist – RF C. Jimenez – 2B T. Thompson – 3B J. Rodriguez – P Flattery

For the last game of the set, the Titans sent rookie right-hander Bill Flattery (2-2, 6.75 ERA) with Ruiz still MIA. Another pitching duel broke out, with the Coons having two shy hits and no runs in the first three innings, while Salcido also allowed just two weak hits the first time through… and then stumbled. Consecutive 2-out walks to Ruben Mangual and Jeff Wheeler, then a pair of doubles by Lopez and Youngquist plated three runs before Jimenez finally grounded out to short. That looked like ample damage to win a few games here from the Coons, except that Flattery also walked the bases loaded with two outs in the fourth. The Coons, though, brought up Jeff Raczka, batting .136, and it didn’t get any better here, either. He grounded out, stranding the tying runs.

An excess of long counts in the fourth and fifth exploded Salcido’s pitch count (and a Maldo error didn’t help either…), and he would not be back for the sixth; nor was Raczka. Gurney and Preble reached base to begin the inning before Toohey tumbled into a 5-3 double play, leaving only Preble on second base until Flattery issued another walk (his sixth) to Brian Nigro. Raczka was the tying run now, and the Coons had none of it – Matt Waters batted for him. On the first pitch, he popped out to short. Come the seventh, Flattery allowed a single to Herrera and a walk to Maldonado, but then Gurney grounded out harmlessly to short to strand them. It got better in the eighth, with Toohey, Nigro, and Watt filling the bases with one out, but Gonzalez and Luna both popped out to strand the full set. I was already on the way to the team bus to be grumpy there before the ninth inning began, but I hear that no major rally took place, nor a minor one. 3-0 Titans. Toohey 2-3, BB; Nigro 1-2, 2 BB;

Seven hits, eight walks, no runs, in regulation no less. I’m not saying they’re not artists, but I’m also not saying that I approve of their heinous act.

Raccoons (29-29) vs. Scorpions (27-33) – June 11-13, 2049

Sacramento came in with an unhealthy -43 run differential (Portland: +18), courtesy of sitting in the bottom four in both runs scored and runs allowed in the Federal League. They had only 12 stolen bases on the season, but hit homers at a league average rate. Their defense was probably their finest department. They came in missing two stating outfielders in Pedro Leal and Gustavo Pena. These teams had not met since 2044, when the Raccoons were still ascending to the heights of their now dying dynasty. We swept them that year.

Projected matchups:
Victor Merino (4-4, 4.27 ERA) vs. Angel Velasquez (2-4, 5.40 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (3-6, 3.69 ERA) vs. Paul Paris (4-6, 5.33 ERA)
Bubba Wolinsky (4-4, 4.79 ERA) vs. Paul Medvec (4-5, 3.01 ERA)

Only right-handers for Sacramento; Paris was a well-known opponent, having spent most of his career with the Crusaders.

Game 1
SAC: 3B Crenshaw – LF Culp – RF Sanderfer – 2B O’Keefe – SS Coto – 1B Wyatt – C J. Wilson – CF Vernon – P A. Velasquez
POR: CF Watt – SS Adame – 3B Maldonado – 2B Waters – LF Preble – 1B Gurney – RF Avila – C Gonzalez – P Merino

Mike Crenshaw double, Nate Culp homer, 2-0 in the first – two Stingers came up and made more noise than Coons and Titans had combined for in four dismal days in Boston. I was mildly confused and startled, and asked Maud to kindly make it stop. And she did! – Merino suffered no more harm in the early innings. The Raccoons meanwhile were not very impressive the first time through, but loaded the bases with Watt, Adame, and Maldo in the bottom 3rd and with one out. Matt Waters slapped an RBI single into center to get Portland on the board, 2-1, which brought up Brian Nigro, which required explantion. Mike Preble had distorted himself well enough on a catch in the second inning that he left the game to get checked out, and Nigro had been inserted, batting fifth and playing right, with Eduardo Avila over to left. Nigro’s sac fly tied the game, and Gurney’s RBI single to right put Portland up 3-2 before Avila whiffed.

It remained 3-2 into the sixth, where Merino retired the first batter, then got stuck and loaded the bases with Alex Sanderfer, Mario Coto, and Steve Wyatt and two down. The Raccoons went to Kevin Hitchcock, who along with Julian Ponce had recently made a 4-day trip to Boston where he had done nothing but looking pretty in the pen. Now needed against twice-ex-Coon Jeff Wilson, he gave up an 0-1 drive to right… but it was caught by Nigro on the run!

The Coons had nothing going through two outs in the sixth before Ruben Gonzalez singled up the middle, requiring removal of the lazy Hitchcock again. Bryce Toohey hit for him, got hit, and there were two aboard for Matt Watt, who drummed in both runners with a double into the rightfield corner, 5-2…! The Portland pen then emptied in a hurry in the seventh, although the Scorpions scored no runs in the inning. Norris retired Shane Vernon, but when lefty Ryan Phillips batted for Velasquez, we went to Ponce, who got that out, but not Mike Crenshaw at the top of the lineup. Crenshaw and Culp both singled, and Preston Porter was called in with nothing but right-handers coming up well into the pain zone in this inning. Sanderfer grounded out to Adame to strand the runners. Bottom 7th, singles by Maldo, Nigro, and Gurney added a run, while another inning from Porter and a 1-2-3 ninth by Mike Lynn put the game away on the pitching side. 6-2 Raccoons. Watt 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Waters 2-4, RBI; Nigro 1-2, BB, RBI; Gurney 2-4, 2 RBI;

Game 2
SAC: 3B Crenshaw – 1B Wyatt – LF Culp – C W. Gardner – SS Coto – CF Vernon – RF Rangel – 2B Kindle – P Paris
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – LF Toohey – RF Nigro – C Raczka – P Wheatley

How about a win for Wheats? Nate Culp said no, punching another first-inning 2-run homer to left. Mario Coto also said no, walloping a 3-piece to left in the third. The in-between bits were no less unpleasant, a Bryce Toohey homer in the bottom 2nd aside, and Wheats was yanked in the fifth down 5-1 and with Crenshaw and Culp on the corners, one out, and the water up to his neck. Hitchcock rung up Coto, but gave up an RBI single to Vernon. Ruben Rangel struck out to end the miserable experience.

A 6-1 score looked like we’d be back at .500 in an hour or two, but the Raccoons then rolled up Paris all the way to Bordeaux, Nebraska in the bottom 5th, and the one in France was within reach. Watt hit a single in Hitchcock’s place to begin the inning, then went to third on an Adame single. Herrera doubled them both home, and then Maldo broke a homer drought with a 2-piece to right-center, narrowing the score to 6-5. Altreche then pitched five outs before allowing a single to Culp (run for by Tony Romero) and nailing Wade Gardner. Preston Porter replaced him and got a K from Coto to end the top half of the seventh inning. The bottom half saw Joe Nix retire Maldo and Waters before Gurney and Avila both hit singles to go to the corners. Nigro was next and shoved a ball through the right side to tie up the score. Avila went for third base, Rangel threw the ball away, and that allowed Avila to rush for home, scoring to take a 7-6 lead.

Unfortunately, the lead proved as transitory as human existence. Jeff Wilson, of all people, tripled home the tying run in Rangel, whom Mike Lynn had walked with one out in the eighth. Sanderfer’s pop and Crenshaw’s fly to center stranded Wilson at third base, and the game was now even at seven. The Coons were running out of pen, though; Lynn soldiered through the ninth with a Romero single and two strikeouts worth mentioning, and kept the game tied for the 4-5-6 batters against righty Paul Crisler, also a leftover from the eighth inning. Waters, Gurney, and Luna amounted to precisely nothing, and we hit extras with Nelson Moreno pitching. He turned in a pair of scoreless innings, even through the 11th ended when Herrera threw out Steve Wyatt trying to go first-to-third on a Gardner single to center. The bottom 11th was the second inning for Tim Moore, who gave up a leadoff single to Alex Adame, then couldn’t prevent him from stealing second base. Herrera was walked intentionally, while Maldo grinded out an unintentional walk, filling the bases with nobody out. – Slappy, I feel queasy! (grabs Slappy’s hand without asking) … Waters grounded hard at Wyatt, too hard in fact. Wyatt had to zing it home, and did so in time to have Adame slapped out at the plate. Oh dear. It was still three on for Gurney, who popped out to short. Moreno was in the #6 hole; Gonzalez batted for him, the last stick off the bench, and gloriously struck out.

Coto made the third out at third base in the 12th, adding a 9-5 double play to the general weirdness of this game, and the Stingers wasted another leadoff single by Wilson in the 13th by stranding him at second. – Hah, Slappy, at least we’re not the only stupid team in the house. Now let go of my paw, I must unscrew a new Capt’n Coma… (sigh)

Coto was the next Stinger aboard, reaching on a 2-base throwing error by Maldo (sigh!) with two outs in the 14th just when Ponce was finding a groove. Shane Vernon flew out to Nigro, though, ending that inning as well. Ponce got to bat in the bottom 14th, completing a 1-2-3 inning that was the third inning in relief for Sacramento’s C.J. Harney, who bunted Rangel and his leadoff walk to second in the 15th then, still with Ponce on the mound, although Bubba Wolinsky was by now throwing in the bullpen. We needed just one more out from Ponce, and from a left-handed batter, Crenshaw. The Scorpions’ #1 batter whacked the first pitch he saw to left, but Matt Watt was on top of that to end the inning. Now it was either scratching out a run against Harney with the bottom of the pile, or burn Sunday’s starter. Harney walked both Raczka and Adame in full counts before getting yoinked for another righty, Dan Bell, with two outs and Herrera up. Armando Herrera broke my heart by flying out to Vernon, so Wolinsky in the 16th it was. Bubba got around a Gardner single in the 16th, which was enough to notch him the win. After Maldo grounded out to begin the bottom 16th, Waters ended an absolutely breathtaking 0-for-7 day with a single to right. He scored on his surfeit of energy, conserved all day and all night long, when Pat Gurney beat Vernon in deep center for a ******* walkoff triple. 8-7 Blighters. Adame 2-6, 2 BB; Herrera 3-7, BB, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Toohey 2-3, HR, RBI; Avila (PH) 1-1; Moreno 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K; Ponce 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K;

I don’t know what makes me angrier, burning Bubba Wolinsky in late-night relief or that he then only pitched one ******* inning for the win.

Pitching looked a bit desperate for Sunday then, with no starter on paw, although there was the worst straw to grasp: Mike Preble went to the DL with shoulder tendinitis, which opened a roster spot for a spot starter. HOW CONVENIENT.

So what was there? Lynn and Ponce were entirely unavailable, and Hitchcock and Porter had both pitched in both Scorpions game, but not in excess of 40 pitches total as the two southpaws. Norris had not pitched on Saturday on account of having been out two days in a row before that, but was available. Moreno and Altreche were also available, though not for multiple innings. AAA’ starter of the day was Andrew Clarke (4-4, 3.21 ERA), who had been signed as depth for $400k and was thus on the 40-man roster and duly yoinked to make a spot start, even though Dave Hils on Sunday morning declared himself 90% good to start on short rest.

As if 120% of Dave Hils would be any good……

Hils would be housed in the pen during the game and would be long relief fodder if the need arose. Bubba had thrown only 17 pitches to win the marathon, so he might be able to start on Monday …?

We’re a mess.

Game 3
SAC: 3B Crenshaw – 1B Wyatt – LF Culp – C W. Gardner – RF R. Phillips – CF Vernon – SS O’Keefe – 2B Kindle – P Medvec
POR: CF Watt – SS Adame – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – LF Toohey – RF Nigro – 3B Luna – C Gonzalez – P Clarke

This was the 25-year-old Clarke’s major league debut, and three pitches in he had already given up two singles to Crenshaw and Wyatt. Culp found a double play, though, and Clarke found his way out of the inning. He then was spotted a 1-0 lead made out of Watt, Adame, and Gurney singles, then singled himself in a full count and with Ruben Gonzalez on first in the bottom 2nd. Gonzalez went to third base, from where he scored when Watt grounded to Chris Kindle for a fielder’s choice that sent all of the Coons’ battery back to the dugout.

Clarke pitched three overall fairly nice innings before unravelling in the fourth. Leadoff walk to Gardner, who was on third base with two outs, then got singled home by Chris O’Keefe. Kindle drew another walk, and then Medvec popped out to end the inning, thankfully. The hope had been to get at least six out of Clarke, but he was already on 70 pitches, then walked Crenshaw in a 9-pitch battle to begin the fifth. Wyatt smacked into a 4-6-3 double play before both Culp and Gardner hit 2-strike, 2-out singles to go to the corners. Phillips flew out to Toohey, but Clarke was chewed up and was not back after the fifth. Teeth gnashing, the Coons sent Altreche into the sixth, where he blew the lead right away, allowing a leadoff single to Vernon, who stole second, and was driven in with two outs by … the opposing pitcher. (bites into his clenched fist in agony)

Altreche retired nobody in the seventh, leaving loaded bases to Nate Norris, who gave up two runs on a Phillips sac fly and a Vernon single before O’Keefe chopped into a double play. The Coons’ sticks were rather silent around that time, but the tying runs would get to the corners in the bottom 8th when the Scorpions rapidly emptied their bullpen. Crisler walked Waters, Nix got Gurney rung up, and Toohey singled off Gabe Blanco to send Waters to third base. Lefty Tony Rollens was next as the Scorpions went full-on five different pitchers against five consecutive batters. Shambolically, they pulled through with it, as Rollens popped up Maldo, who was batting for Nigro, and rung up Luna. Hitchcock then pitched the ninth after already doing the eighth on his third straight day out, which was borderline animal cruelty, and then I somehow had a hunch the buggers would score a pair precisely in the bottom 9th just to make me madder. They actually didn’t – Gonzalez, Raczka, Watt went down in order. The good boys! 4-2 Scorpions. Hitchcock 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

In other news

June 7 – The Condors smash the Knights, 20-8. Each player in the Condors lineup, including starter Matt Weber (5-2, 3.57 ERA) – who is knocked out before five innings are complete – has at least two base hits, while five Condors have three RBI each.
June 8 – CIN INF/LF Chris Delgado (.316, 6 HR, 28 RBI) has the lone Cyclones hit in a 6-0 loss to the Blue Sox’ Will Cormack (5-3, 3.04 ERA) and two Blue Sox relievers.
June 10 – SAL SP/MR Jonathan Abernathy (1-1, 2.60 ERA) throws a 3-hit shutout over the Scorpions in his first major league start, being promoted to starter after the Wolves’ rotation had an axe taken to them the week before.
June 12 – It’s a 30-game hitting streak! ATL 3B/SS/LF/CF Anton Venegas (.339, 2 HR, 20 RBI) goes 2-for-4 in a 5-3 loss to the Blue Sox to reach that rare mark.
June 12 – The Condors’ SP Aaron Erwin (6-2, 3.99 ERA) and two relievers are one single by TOP 2B/3B Travis Malkus (.293, 2 HR, 25 RBI) away from a combined no-hitter in a 5-0 win over the Buffos.
June 13 – Atlanta’s Anton Venegas (.344, 2 HR, 21 RBI) ends the week on a 31-game hitting streak after falling merely a homer shy of the cycle in a 5-4 win over the Blue Sox.

FL Player of the Week: PIT LF/RF Matt Cox (.255, 9 HR, 40 RBI), hitting .409 (9-22) with 3 HR, 10 RBI
CL Player of the Week: ATL 3B/SS/LF/CF Anton Venegas (.344, 2 HR, 21 RBI), clipping away at .524 (11-21) with 1 HR, 7 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Winning week, 4.5-2.5; I will count Sunday’s loss as a moral draw, since we at least didn’t burn up another next-day’s-starter in Dave Hils. Speaking of burning up – Dr. Padilla, I think Kevin Hitchcock needs another ice wrap on his much-abused paw.

Bubba’s W on Saturday was the first time he pitched in relief as a professional; nothing but starts since we had taken him at #12 in the 2041 draft!

If you needed more hints that the Coons aren’t gonna go anywhere nice in October, we played a 4-game set in Boston this week in which a total of 12 runs was scored, and somehow there wasn’t any real fire in the whole thing. Mostly burying your face in your paws and groaning because they somehow managed to ******* strand another pair of runners……

Chris Crowell cleared waivers, then was released early this week. With him, Brooks, and Zurita purged so far, and with Hils unpurgeable, but also outlandishly awful, the Raccoons had already emotionally defaulted on half of their offseason acquisitions. And I wasn’t exactly married to Ponce, Altreche, Luna, and Avila either…!

What next? Another roster move is coming, but it’s probably gonna be something lame like Glodowski for Clarke. Also, the first two legs of a rather pointless road trip through Nashville, Elk City, and New York.

Oh, and the draft on Tuesday, so I get to do even more silly cross-country flying, like going in or out of New York a total of four times in nine days…

Fun Fact: Cesar Salcido was a lefty reliever for the Raccoons for 48 games in the late 1990s.

At least Cristiano Carmona claims so. He allegedly went 1-0 with a 3.98 ERA. 33 walks in 43 innings. Brrr. Ended up being claimed off waivers by the Indians and somehow journeymaned himself a 12-year career together.

No, Cristiano, I have no recollection of that. It can’t be true. And I remember ALL our former players.

(looks around and sees Matt Waters sitting in the other chair, munching out of his food bowl) Who are you?

Yes, Cristiano, speaking of Decade of Darkness crappy southpaw relievers, I do remember Juan Diaz.

OH BOY DO I REMEMBER JUAN DIAZ.

[Westheim]

We jump ahead in time to Draft Day, which is on Tuesday. I played the first two Blue Sox games right on Wednesday, but was all mush in the brain from the heat yesterday and declined playing with the Coons. Well, it’s still too hot to live, but let’s at least bugger away the draft and maybe finish the week around the draft tomorrow…

+++

2049 AMATEUR DRAFT

Head scout Pat Degenhardt and the Raccoons’ fluffiest GM flew out to New York from Nashville on Tuesday morning to grab the Critters’ share of the youngest crop of fresh talent. We would have picked at #19, but that pick had gone to the Loggers (on a detour), forfeited for the now ridiculous signing of Dave Hils. The Raccoons’ top pick was thus a supplemental round pick, #34, compensation for the loss of Jake Jackson.

I had a hunch that meatier drafts were to come in the next few years…

Players shown with projected stuff/movement/control slash contact/power/eye and their BNN rank if in the top 10; * denotes high school players:

SP Josh Wilson (12/14/12)
SP Josh Mayo (11/10/10) *
SP Bill Lawrence (10/13/15) – BNN #3
SP Ben Karst (12/16/11) * - BNN #8

2B/SS Adam DeRosia (13/14/14) *
1B Travis Parker (7/18/13) *
1B/RF/LF Willie Jenkins (8/18/16)

OF/1B Phil Steinbacher (12/10/12) – BNN #10
OF Brandon Fellows (10/14/13) – BNN #9

This list did not even include the wicked P/C/3B Jeff Kelly, who was somebody that I might be tempted to pick in the supplemental round for the sheer wickedness of it all.

Well, the #34 pick was still far away. The Loggers not only had our old first-rounder, but also the first pick overall, and they took Phil Steinbacher with it. The Warriors went on to grab Adam DeRosia, before the #3 pick by the Wolves was right off the hotlist, starting pitcher James Murdock. Same for #4, outfielder Ethan Whitehead to the Falcons, while the Crusaders took Brandon Fellows fifth overall. Willie Jenkins then was picked by the Pacifics at #6.

So far untouched, the pitching contingent of the hotlist then began to get ravaged, starting at #7, three of them went in order to the Aces (Wilson), Buffos (Karst), and Knights (Lawrence), while #11 was Nick Lillard, who had also been under also-rans in our initial draft projections. Lillard was grabbed by the Capitals. Travis Parker was then also made a Warrior with a compensation pick at #13, which left only Josh Mayo from that hotlist. The Loggers would go on to select pitcher Steve Lyon with our original #19 pick. Mayo however was entirely passed over in the first round, annoyingly making me get my stupid old hopes up.

…and then Mayo fell all the way to the Coons. The Rebels at #33 took one of the two two-way players we had on our shortlist – Justin Reese, NOT Jeff Kelly, so that option was also still there. And Mayo was still around. Pat Degenhardt looked surprised, but no less committed to stick to his guns, and I liked myself a little lefty anyway. Josh Mayo was made a Raccoons prospect at once!

…which ended up passing on Jeff Kelly, who was taken by the Blue Sox with the #40 pick, still in the supplemental round. I sighed and flipped over the first page of our draft book; you know, the one which I had all adorned with little red hearts.

+++

2049 PORTLAND RACCOONS DRAFT CLASS

Supp. Round (#34) – SP Josh Mayo, 19, from Manhattan, NY – southpaw with a mighty zinger for a 96mph fastball, and a promising assortment of curve, slider, and changeup; plenty of stamina, and for his age quite decent control
Round 2 (#62) – 1B Scott DiPiazza, 22, from San Antonio, TX – boilerplate first-sacker: decent contact, stiff defense, slower than glaciers, but it was the power potential that made you pay attention
Round 3 (#86) – OF Edwin Archevald, 19, from Lancaster, NH – there was a nice mobile outfielder with a decent throwing arm, solid contact and power characteristics, and at least a bit of speed … if you could look past the utter lack of plate discipline…
Round 4 (#110) – C/1B Jonathan Rhodes, 18, from San Francisco, CA – switch-hitter with the ability to wear out a pitcher with a great eye at the plate; power potential was also there, as was the typical catcher/first baseman body type which made him no joy to watch on the bases.
Round 5 (#134) – SS/3B David Cunningham, 18, from Tracy, MN - promised to be a very adept fielder on the left side of the infield, with good speed and stealing prospects; was definitely hitting like a shortstop though with rather little to offer in terms of power
Round 6 (#158) – 3B/SS Amari Williams, 20, from Porterville, CA – promised to be a very adept fielder on the left side of the infield, with good speed and stealing prospects; was definitely hitting like a shortstop though with rather little to offer in terms of power …… what? Are we not allowed to draft a carbon copy from the guy in the previous round?
Round 7 (#182) – SP Matt Spurgin, 21, from Columbus, OH – left-hander with six different pitches, all of which were being hit for distance occasionally, and his stamina was on the low side too…
Round 8 (#206) – 2B/LF/SS Tyler Colley, 19, from Early, TX – if all goes well, an average middle infielder with average contact, average speed, and no power…
Round 9 (#230) – SP Jason Pollard, 17, from Oregon City, OR – best lefty Oregon City has to offer! They had … two, I think. Four pitches, all crummy, very much including the 85mph fastball. But he can throw that thing all day long…
Round 10 (#254) – LF/RF/1B Jordan Franklin, 22, from Schuylkill Haven, PA – lefty-hitting kid with no power, playing power positions. Good eye and throwing arm, though.
Round 11 (#278) – SP Bobby Turner, 19, from Moultonborough, NH – probably a second cousin of our third-rounder, given that New Hampshire is not all that big; throws only a 86mph fastball and a sinker to any effect, and struggles with control too, but not every lefty taken in the 11th round can make the Hall of Fame…
Round 12 (#302) – C Ramiro Ramirez, 18, from Rio Grande, Puerto Rico – there was quite a bit of contact potential, a good old eye, and a good story teller here, but unfortunately he was also wider than a bus and just as slow, and wasn’t working well with pitchers either…
Round 13 (#326) – INF/LF Kenny Dillard, 20, from Parkland, FL – really good defense, weighed down by no stick, no sense for timing a stolen base, and no real will to work on that..

+++

With such a haul, there was of course also a purge in the system going on. Since we did not draft a lot of hot pitching, most bombs dropped onto position players, although one high-profile release was certainly that of Alejandro Gutierrez, who was four single-A seasons and three major elbow surgeries into his professional career since leeching $160k from the Coons in the July 2045 IFA period, and all that for a 5.45 ERA in Aumsville. The “damaged goods” label was applied and the 20-year-old Venezuelan was shown out the door. 2046 10th-rounder Vinny Ellis and 2044 Nick Brown Memorial pick Nick Alix were also released off the Beagles’ roster.

For position players (that were at least mentioned once before, plus others) the Raccoons parted with AAA C Andy Boyette (2043, 6th Round), AA 1B Mark Watts (2045, 6th Rd.), AA 3B/OF Justin Benne (2043, 4th Rd.), A 1B Edward Skinner (2048, 12th Rd.), A LF/RF Ben Kupferberg (2045, 8th Rd.), and A LF/CF Trevor Gillespie (2046, 4th Rd.);

Baseball is cruel, loves no one, and doesn’t care for their feelings, mine, or yours.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (31-30) @ Blue Sox (31-29) – June 14-16, 2049

Despite their meager record, the Sox were only one game out in the FL East as we rolled in. The entire division played Coonish. They ranked seventh in runs scored, third in runs allowed in the Federal League. Despite the second-lowest batting average and not a whole lot of homers either, they were still scoring pretty solidly thanks to a team-wide knack to draw walks by the bushel. They had taken two of three games from us last season.

Projected matchups:
Dave Hils (5-3, 5.17 ERA) vs. Luke Moses (4-7, 5.31 ERA)
Bubba Wolinsky (5-4, 4.72 ERA) vs. Will Cormack (5-3, 3.04 ERA)
Victor Salcido (1-1, 2.16 ERA) vs. Chris Cornelius (5-6, 3.08 ERA)

Another series where we’d see only righty pitchers to start the games.

Andrew Clarke was demoted after the spot start on Sunday, and the Raccoons opted for an additional reliever for at least a day or two, bringing up Steve Richardson, who had made a scoreless appearance already this season.

Game 1
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – LF Toohey – RF Nigro – C Gonzalez – P Hils
NAS: CF Pfeifer – 1B Ale. Ramos – C Cantu – RF Magnussen – 3B Reid – LF McLain – 2B Kaufman – SS J. Cortes – P Moses

Portland jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first, which Moses began by parting Adame’s bum with a wayward fastball, nicking the game’s first runner on base. Adame stole second, got singled home by Maldo, and Gurney whacked a 2-run homer with two outs. Gurney would be up in another thick spot with two outs in the third, Maldo and Waters having just reached base, but then popped out to Brian Kaufman. Two more were on to start the fourth, Toohey on merit and Nigro on a Kaufman error, but Ruben Gonzalez hit into a double play and Hils struck out. Hils, by the way, retired the first ten Blue Sox in order before Alejandro Ramos hit a single to left, only to get immediately tied up in Jorge Cantu’s 6-4-3 double play. Justin McLain drew a walk in the bottom 5th, then was caught stealing, and the top 6th saw a 2-out crunch with a Toohey single, Nigro walking, and Gonzalez getting brutalized by a 3-1 changeup. That brought up Hils, who grounded out to David Reid, but was excellent on the mound for another… two outs, and then everything flew full speed into the nearest wood chipper. Jose Garza singled in place of Moses, Mike Pfeifer homered to right, Ramos reached on a throwing error by Adame, then scored on Cantu’s single to left. The only good thing was that Cantu thought he had two and was thrown out by Bryce Toohey to end the inning, all even at three.

Hils pitched a 1-2-3 seventh, the was hit for in the eighth with Nigro and Gonzalez on the corners against lefty Carlos Castillo. Avila lined out to Jorge Cortes to waste the opportunity. The Coons went on to Steve Richardson against plenty a lefty in the bottom 8th, which worked out to the tune of all hitters’ counts, a leadoff walk to PH Jay Rogers, and Toohey spoiling Pfeifer’s 2-out RBI double with an inspiring rush into the gap to make the snatch and keep the game knotted. The Coons still wouldn’t score in the top 9th, and Richardson remained in the game to see leadoff man Ramos reach base on another Adame error in the bottom 9th. He then walked Cantu, while Adam Magnussen grounded into a fielder’s choice at second base. Ramos and the winning run were at third base, with Preston Porter replacing Richardson opposite Reid. David Reid was decidedly unimpressed and shoved a 3-1 pitch up the middle and into center to end the game. 4-3 Blue Sox. Maldonado 3-5, RBI; Gurney 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Hils 7.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K;

Richardson (0-1, 0.00 ERA for ****’s sake) was sent back to AAA after this game, with switch-hitting corner outfielder Roberto Medina brought up from AAA, where he was hitting .270 with two homers in 52 games. Medina was a .228/.264/.333 hitter in the majors, where he had seen things 46 times with the 2047-48 Coons.

Game 2
POR: LF Watt – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – RF Nigro – SS Luna – C Raczka – P Wolinsky
NAS: LF Napoles – 1B Ale. Ramos – 3B Reid – SS Kaufman – C C. Baker – RF Magnussen – CF J. Garza – 2B Clary – P Cormack

Wolinsky pitched on Draft Day, with me absent in New York. Eddy Luna gave him a 1-0 lead in the second with a sac fly with Gurney and Nigro on the corners before Raczka raczed into another double play, but the Blue Sox put a flurry of batter on base to begin the bottom 2nd. Brian Kaufman singled, while Chris Baker – in his first game of the season – walked. Magnussen singled to center, where Herrera picked, thundered to home plate, and threw out Kaufman. Baker had stopped at second base, was almost called out for interference when Luna tried to catch Garza’s pop right next to second base, and then scored anyway on a full-count single to right-center by Eric Clary. Cormack whiffed, keeping it 1-1.

Jeff Raczka the sabotaged the Raccoons by *doubling* … TWICE. In the fifth inning, Luna was on base to begin the inning, but was caught stealing, that move having been ordered to stay out of the inevitable double play. Somehow Raczka scored from second on a 2-out single by Watt to grab a new 2-1 lead anyway, and that lead was still good in the seventh, when Raczka doubled again… AFTER Luna had been thrown out at third base on his own double to right, trying to get an extra base to maybe score on a grounder to short. Raczka hit a gapper instead, then looked happy and sad at the same time while parked up at second base, wondering why nobody loved him. Toohey batted for Wolinsky, who had thrown 91 pitches, but struck out looking against righty Pedro Flores, ending the inning. Lynn and Porter then offered scoreless frames for the Furballs, with the ninth seeing hits by Gurney and Luna off Ryan Person, going to the corners, while Magnussen hurt himself trying to throw out Gurney going to third base, and was replaced with Pfeifer. There was Raczka again, batting with two on and two outs. Or would the Coons…? No, no pinch-hitter. Apparently the hope was for a third double from Raczka. He struck out, of ******* course. On Moreno’s watch in the bottom 9th then, David Reid began with a strikeout, but Moreno and Raczka got into each other’s fur trying to field a Jorge Cortes roller, and the tying run reached first base on an infield single. After a bit of hissing, Chris Baker hit a comebacker to Moreno though. No Raczka to bother him anywhere near, Moreno started a 1-6-3 series leveler! 2-1 Coons. Watt 2-4, RBI; Gurney 2-4, 2B; Luna 2-2, BB, 2B, RBI; Raczka 2-4, 2 2B; Wolinsky 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, W (6-4);

You should pull more than two runs out of your bums on five doubles, but I have sorta resigned myself to a “**** happens” state as they continued to play barely .500-ish.

Game 3
POR: CF Watt – SS Adame – 1B Gurney – 2B Waters – LF Toohey – RF Nigro – 3B Luna – C Gonzalez – P Salcido
NAS: CF Pfeifer – 1B Ale. Ramos – C Cantu – RF Magnussen – LF Jager – 3B Reid – 2B Kaufman – SS Napoles – P Cornelius

When Bryce Toohey whacked a solo homer to put the team up 1-0 in the fourth, Salcido was still pitching a no-hitter while the Raccoons had seen both Waters and Gonzalez fly out all the way to the fence, and Eddy Luna get picked off first base to end the second inning with him and Nigro on the corners and the pitcher batting.

When the Blue Sox did get a hit off Salcido, an Alejandro Ramos single with one out in the bottom 4th, they piled another three on top of the youngster immediately, scoring a 3-spot eventually. Magnussen and Reid drove in runs, but Salcido also flubbed the go-ahead run across on a wild pitch with Jose Cantu at third base. Salcido did not get out of the quagmire for the rest of his outing. The Sox did not score in the fifth, but David Reid singled home another run with two outs in the bottom 6th, and that was the end for Salcido. Zero hits to the first ten batters, then nine hits to the next fifteen… Nate Norris replaced Salcido, got out of the sixth, but put Justin McLain on base in the seventh, and that run scored on a Cantu double given up by Ponce.

While I regretted even stopping over in Nashville on the way from New York to Portland, where I’d have to spend the Coons’ next series in Elk City, the top 8th began with straight singles by Avila, Watt (knocking out Cornelius), and Adame (off Ryan Person), loading the bases with nobody out. When Person lost Gurney to ball four in a full count, that pushed home Avila to make it 5-2, and the tying runs were now on base. Waters struck out in a full count, but Toohey held out for another bases-loaded walk. Maldonado then batted for Ponce in the #6 hole after an earlier double switch, hit a 1-2 up the middle, but it was snatched by Alfredo Napoles. Toohey clobbered into Brian Kaufman at second base to break up the double play, allowing another run to score, 5-4, but a K to Luna ended the inning. Herrera, Avila, and Watt went down in order against Zack Stahl in the ninth to end the game. 5-4 Blue Sox. Adame 2-4; Toohey 1-2, 2 BB, HR, 2 RBI;

Waiver claim

The Raccoons grabbed themselves another roll of the dice on a catcher, picking up 29-year-old Aruban Wade Gardner (.221, 1 HR, 14 RBI) off waivers by the Scorpions. He had posted some nice hitting seasons with the Warriors and Titans in the past, while his D was charitably described as average.

Jeff Raczka (.176, 1 HR, 2 RBI) was returned to AAA to make room on the roster.

Raccoons (32-32) @ Canadiens (40-22) – June 17-20, 2049

The damn Elks were up 2-1 on the Coons this year, and from about 400 miles away I had a hunch it would soon get worse. They ranked fourth in runs scored and runs allowed, with a +52 run differential (Coons: +20) that was enough to lead the North by five and a half games at this point. The Coons were nine games out, but I had given up – I would spend the weekend in the office, trying to wheel and deal to maybe start snatching prospects from people.

Projected matchups:
Victor Merino (5-4, 4.18 ERA) vs. Terry Herman (4-3, 4.69 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (3-6, 4.15 ERA) vs. Bill McMichael (3-5, 1.84 ERA)
Dave Hils (5-3, 4.93 ERA) vs. Mario Godinez (7-3, 3.31 ERA)
Bubba Wolinsky (6-4, 4.46 ERA) vs. Mario de Anda (10-1, 2.69 ERA)

Not sure what McMichael had done to offend the baseball gods, but Wheats hadn’t won a game since APRIL, going 0-5 with four no-decisions, so this was his chance. McMichael and de Anda were two left-handers.

Game 1
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – RF Nigro – C Gardner – LF Medina – P Merino
VAN: CF Escobido – SS R. Price – 1B S. Henderson – RF Outram – 3B Burgos – C Julio Diaz – LF Tomasello – 2B DeMarco – P Herman

Angel Escobido singled to left, Rick Price singled to right, Sterling Henderson opened up a 3-run homer, and the Coons lost the game right in the first inning without Merino getting anybody out. Merino didn’t get out of the first inning, either. Jesus Burgos singled and was caught stealing, but then he walked Julio Diaz, and allowed yet more hits to Tyler Tomasello, Nick DeMarco, and Terry Herman, then was yanked down 5-0, with two on and two out. Escobido flew out to Herrera against Kevin Hitchcock to end the ******* barrage. I patted Slappy on the thigh, Honeypaws on the head, and went back to the phone to have another phone call with the Wolves, those calls maybe or maybe not being the reason why there was no Bryce Toohey in the lineup.

The drumming didn’t get any less with Hitchcock around. Burgos crushed a 2-run homer in the second, and Henderson singled in another run in the third, as the Elks were already on their third time through the order against completely overwhelmed Critters. It was 8-1 after three, with the Coons’ lone marker having been glitched across home plate by Herman on a wild pitch. The runner was Gurney, who would have the only Coons hit in the first seven innings to get on base. He was not joined in the H column until the eighth, when new arrival Wade Gardner hit a 1-out single up the middle, still down 8-1 after the pen stopped the atrocious bleed. Herman went on to nick Roberto Medina, then walked Watt, who had been in the #9 hole for a while, Armando Herrera having been double-switched out. Adame rushed a 2-run double to left, Toohey hit a sac fly in place of Mike Lynn, and Maldo struck out, keeping the team a slam short. Preston Porter’s pointlessly pristine eighth kept it that way, but Pedro de Leon was not far behind in the ninth, allowing nothing but a 2-out double to Nigro. 8-4 Canadiens. Lynn 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

Interlude: Trade

The sac fly Bryce Toohey (.266, 5 HR, 15 RBI) hit in the eighth inning on Thursday was his 640th career RBI, and the 447th as a Coon. It was also the last in the latter category. After five-and-a-half years in the brown shirt, and three rings, Toohey was traded to the Rebels for the #13 pick from 2047, 23-year-old potential super utility Mitch Sivertson, who was batting .274 with two homers in his first 41 games in AAA.

Sivertson had good range and a solid arm, hitting mostly for singles, but had the speed to turn singles into doubles by other means. He might be a potential September call-up this year.

INF Tim Rogers was called up as a filler for now. With Preble on the DL, the Coons would play Gurney in the outfield and move Maldo to first, allowing for a platoon of Rogers and Luna at third base for the next two weeks.

Raccoons (32-32) @ Canadiens (40-22) – June 17-20, 2049

Game 2
POR: LF Watt – CF Herrera – 1B Maldonado – 2B Waters – RF Avila – SS Adame – C Gonzalez – 3B Rogers – P Wheatley
VAN: LF Escobido – 3B Burgos – RF Outram – SS R. Price – 1B S. Henderson – C Julio Diaz – 2B Mancini – CF Tomasello – P McMichael

The Coons went up 1-0 in the second on absolutely nothing. Rick Price committed a 2-base throwing error to put Adame on base, McMichael threw a wild pitch, and Gonzalez’ groundout brought in the run, barely. Neither team put much together through five innings. The Coons had two hits, the Elks had three, and Wheats also issued three walks, but got some help from double plays, and struck out four, including Escobido with Tomasello on second base to complete the bottom 5th.

Top 6th, Watt and Herrera slapped a pair of singles to left to put runners on the corners with nobody out. Maldo got ahead 3-0, then drove a ball to right that was caught by Jerry Outram, but at least amounted to a sac fly, 2-0. Waters, in a deepening slump, walked after striking out twice earlier in the game. However, Avila whiffed, and Adame grounded out, and two were stranded. Burgos opened the bottom 6th with a leadoff single, but Jerry Outram, of all people, hit into a double play. Price singled again, but Henderson grounded out. Wheats then raised his average from .032 to a lofty .063 with a 1-out single in the seventh, moving Ruben Gonzalez from second to third with one out; Gonzalez had singled himself off McMichael and had been bunted to second by Tim Rogers, who now had the same batting average as Wheats. Watt grounded out, allowing Gonzalez to score, 3-0. Wheats was left on, then returned for the bottom 7th, gave up two soft hits to begin the inning to Julio Diaz and Bob Mancini, then got Tomasello on a fielder’s choice and PH Adrian Higareda for a 6-4-3 double play, concluding seven shutout innings and his day after 107 pitches.

Porter retired the 1-2 batters to begin the bottom 8th, but Outram rammed one out against Julian Ponce to get the damn Elks on the board. Price then made the third out, setting up Nelson Moreno for the ninth. It also set up some rain. Sterling Henderson hit a leadoff single, after which a 35-minute rain delay broke out and I carved a tenth dent into my desk to formally extend Wheats’ winless streak. When baseball resumed, Julio Diaz popped out on the first after-rain pitch thrown by Moreno, while Mancini lined out to Gurney on the next pitch. And Henderson had made a run for it, was far off the base, and Gurney hustled to the plate to double him off, 3-unassisted to end the game…!! 3-1 Critters! Watt 2-4, RBI; Wheatley 7.0 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 K, W (4-6) and 1-3;

Winless Wheats no more!

Waters, however? Now 3-for-29 in his last seven games and due for a day off or three.

Game 3
POR: LF Watt – CF Herrera – 1B Maldonado – 2B Gurney – RF Nigro – 3B Luna – SS Adame – C Gonzalez – P Hils
VAN: LF Escobido – 3B Burgos – RF Outram – SS R. Price – 1B S. Henderson – 2B DeMarco – C T. Phillips – CF Tomasello – P Godinez

In an inning with three singles, Dave Hils singled home his own 1-0 lead in the second inning on Saturday, coming up with two outs and Nigro and Adame on the corners, and poking one through the left side for an RBI before Watt flew out. Deep fly outs by both Henderson and DeMarco to begin the bottom 2nd made me clutch Honeypaws a little tighter, seeing little hope for back-to-back wins in hostile tundra territory. With a Herrera leadoff single, Maldo’s RBI double and him advancing to third base on Escobido’s throw to home plate, plus a Gurney sac fly, the Coons even went up 3-0 again in the third, and it was 4-0 when Watt singled home Adame the next inning, but I’d seen things from Hils before, and every thing was worth six figures…

…and yet, the Elks remained shut out on two hits through five innings, despite at least four fly outs readily classifiable as scary. Instead, a soft single and two walks put the 6-7-8 batters on base in the top 6th, bringing up Hils with nobody out. He grounded out, getting the score to 5-0 as Luna scored, and then Watt walked to refill the bags, now with righty Grant Bergman pitching. Herrera and Maldo both shot singles up the middle, driving in one and two runs, respectively, before, paradoxically, Bergman struck out both Gurney and Nigro to end the inning at 8-0. Hils was still untouched through seven, when the Coons began the eighth with a Watt single and Price throwing away Herrera’s double play grounder to make it two on, no outs rather than two outs, none on. From there, the Coons hit three lineouts to not score.

Hils threw 107 pitches, same as Wheats the day before, but got two outs further, but then left with Mancini and Burgos on the corners after the pair had hit singles off him. Lynn checked in on Outram, gave up an RBI single, and then walked Price, leaving without retiring anybody. Hitchcock got the bases loaded, and managed to unload them by ways of a Sterling Henderson grand slam to left, and suddenly it was a real ballgame at 8-5. DeMarco hit another single, but Tim Phillips grounded out to short to kill the rally. When Ruben Gonzalez homered off Tim Abraham in the ninth, 9-5, the bottom 9th went to Altreche rather than Moreno, who only got involved after a 1-out walk to Diaz and a Escobido single. Moreno stuck out Burgos, then ran a full count to Outram before blowing the constant terror away with 99mph at the top of the zone. 9-5 Raccoons. Watt 2-4, BB, RBI; Herrera 2-5, RBI; Maldonado 3-5, 2B, 3 RBI; Adame 2-4, BB; Hils 7.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, W (6-3) and 1-4, 2 RBI;

Game 4
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 1B Maldonado – 2B Waters – RF Avila – C Gardner – LF Medina – 3B Rogers – P Wolinsky
VAN: CF Escobido – SS R. Price – 1B S. Henderson – RF Outram – LF Mancini – 3B Higareda – C T. Phillips – 2B DeMarco – P de Anda

Gardner and Medina opened the second with singles, and Outram overran Medina’s ball for an error to put them into scoring position. Avila had already popped out to strand a pair in the top of the first, and now came Rogers and the pitcher, so I was filled with foreboding. Rogers, though, got his third big league hit and first RBI with a single to left, while Bubba popped out. Adame doubled to center to make it 2-0 and put a pair in scoring position again, both of which were cashed by Armando Herrera, and in style, with a 3-run homer to left, 5-0!

Bubba faced the minimum the first time through, allowing a single to Outram, who was doubled up right away by Mancini, and on a 3-2 pitch. Waters’ slump wasn’t getting any better. He was no help offensively in any way, including popping out to strand Herrera and Maldo in the fourth. The Elks wasted an Escobido double to begin the fourth, but then really crowded Wolinsky in the fifth, loading the bases on three singles with one out. Bob Montana batted for de Anda, but flew out to Roberto Medina for a sac fly, 5-1. Escobido reached on a Gardner fumble, but Rick Price flew out easily to Herrera to end the inning as the tying run. That was the last inning completed by Wolinsky, who gave up a homer to Outram in the sixth, and then parked Mancini and Phillips in scoring position with two outs before departing. Preston Porter got DeMarco to ground out, keeping the 5-2 lead in one piece, but then was charged a run in the seventh, allowing a single to Escobido, although the run scored against Ponce later on. No tack-on offense was forthcoming, and the rest of the lead was blown by Hitchcock in the bottom 8th, allowing a single to Higareda and a 2-piece to DeMarco…

Matt Watt pinch-hit and drew a leadoff walk in the ninth, but was doubled off by Adame, but the Elks didn’t get on base, either, and the series finale went to extras. Overtime opened with Maldo singling up the middle against Sam Gibson, who then walked Waters. Gurney batted for Avila, struck out, and Wade Gardner hit into a double play, and nobody scored… Altreche kept the Coons in the game after that, while Tim Rogers hit a 1-out double off Tim Abraham in the 11th, which I had already pre-marked a 1-2-3 on my scorecard. But both Nigro and Adame grounded out, and Rogers was left on third base. DeMarco then hit a leadoff single against Altreche, and Julio Diaz ended the bitter charade with a no-doubter to right-center. 7-5 Canadiens. Adame 2-6, 2B, RBI; Medina 2-5; Rogers 2-5, 2B, RBI;

In other news

June 15 – TOP RF/CF J.P. Angeletti (.276, 6 HR, 25 RBI) whacks three home runs and drives in six runs in a 9-4 win over the Titans. It’s the second 3-homer game for a Buffalo in three seasons, after Vittorio Riario achieved the feat in April 2047 against the Rebels.
June 16 – Atlanta’s Anton Venegas (.347, 2 HR, 22 RBI) keeps churning out hits with a stellar 3-hit day to extend his hitting streak to 34 games in a 7-4 win over the Scorpions.
June 16 – There is a challenger around, though, with OCT 2B/SS Jonathan Ban (.322, 4 HR, 29 RBI) stringing together a 20-game hitting streak of his own with a sixth-inning single in a 4-3 loss to the Wolves.
June 16 – The Rebels acquire LF Joe Besaw (.351, 8 HR, 28 RBI) from the Crusaders for nothing more than an unranked catching prospect, David Skelly.
June 18 – Shoulder inflammation ends the season of BOS SP David Barel (6-6, 2.22 ERA), and probably also the Titans’ season as a whole.
June 18 – BOS SP Dave Serio (3-5, 2.84 ERA) 2-hits the Crusaders in a 3-0 shutout.
June 18 – The first career homer of RIC 3B Danny Espinosa (.348, 1 HR, 3 RBI) is the only run scored in a 1-0 win over the Capitals.
June 18 – The Indians acquire C Ray DeFrank (.293, 0 HR, 7 RBI) from the Aces for two prospects including #79 SP Nelson Salinas.
June 19 – As the Miners crush the Cyclones to size in a 25-6 rout, 22-year-old PIT INF Victor Corrales (.361, 1 HR, 14 RBI) has five hits in the first five innings, but then makes only outs from there to miss a thick chance at a six-hit game. He drives in two runs in the game, in which the Miners score a crooked number in each of the first seven innings, but nothing thereafter.
June 19 – ATL 3B/SS/LF/CF Anton Venegas (.347, 2 HR, 22 RBI) doubles in the first and singles in the second, but the Knights lose 6-3 to the Falcons, while Venegas’ hitting streak reaches 3-6.

FL Player of the Week: SFW LF Mario Villa (.381, 7 HR, 46 RBI), hitting .478 (11-23) with 1 HR, 7 RBI
CL Player of the Week: OCT 2B/SS Jonathan Ban (.340, 5 HR, 33 RBI), batting .609 (14-23) with 1 HR, 6 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Four, three, two; five, four; two, five – that’s the start of the Miners’ line score from Saturday. ZIP codes in there? New Albany, OH; Eglin AFB, FL; and my personal favorite as a Civil War nut, 25425, Harpers Ferry, WV! – What do you mean, Cristiano, did I fight for the North or South?? – I AM NOT *THAT* OLD!!!

In a way I am not unhappy that the Coons blew a 5-0 lead and lost on Sunday, because that spares me the Agitator headlines about a stupid and premature trade of Bryce Toohey, and now the Coons go 3-0 after that. This is one of the rare cases where I can confidently say that a split in Elk City is *enough*…

And from here? The Coons have basically four lots of players now:
- Good players with good contracts that can easily be moved (Wheats, Waters, Moreno…)
- Good players with bad contracts on the way down that can’t be moved (Maldo, Herrera, Hils…)
- Young guys making the minimum that won’t be moved (Wolinsky, Salcido)
- Filler material (Rogers, Altreche, Medina, Gardner and others)

I am probably not spilling secrets when I say that Pat Gurney is also on the way out. He’ll be a free agent at the end of the year, unlikely to be a type A compensation case, and thus best traded earlier. It would also free up first base for Maldonado as an upstate farm to retire to, permanently.

Mike Lynn is an interesting case. He makes way too much dosh to be easily shiftable, and I’m not gonna sweeten a deal with helping of Lorenzo Lavorano or similar prospects. Trade Moreno and use up Lynn as closer while the team sucks, sounds fine.

Inauspicious pro debuts? Not even a draft pick this time, but the relative lack of early-round pitching we drafted (behind #34 Josh Mayo) got a few guys promoted from the international complex perhaps ahead of schedule. 18-year-old Dominican Reynaldo Bravo, an $80k signing in the 2047 July IFA period, then made his first appearance in Aumsville this week and immediately came up with back soreness.

Back to New York now, and then we’ll have a homestand with the Bayhawks and Condors to begin the pre-All Star Game spell without an off day, 17 games this year. There is also no off day between the Baybirds and Rufflebirds for an easy resolution of that make-up double header next Monday…

Oh well, at least things stay interesting around here…

Fun Fact: Only five hitting streaks longer than ATL Anton Venegas’ current streak are in the history books.

Venegas reached 37 games in a 3-1 loss to the Falcons on Sunday, and he could roll up all but one of the record-holders next week, technically including all *players* that have a longer hitting streak in history:

SFB Claudio Rojas (1983) – 47
CIN Claudio Rojas (1979-80) – 40
VAN Roland Moore (1993) – 39
LVA Danny Serrano (2026) – 39
MIL Bartolo Hernandez (2003) – 38

The longest hitting streaks by Critters are a pair of 32-game efforts by Neil Reece (1991) and Cookie Carmona (2020). The top 5 fill up with Reece again, a 27-game streak in ’94, then Reece AGAIN, 25 games in ’92, and then there were 24-game streaks by two players: David Brewer (1996) and Cosmo Trevino (2042);

[Westheim]

Raccoons (34-34) @ Crusaders (29-40) – June 21-23, 2049

The Raccoons were already going to nowhere, but the Crusaders were still worse. Eighth in runs scored and sixth in runs allowed somehow worked out to a -19 run differential and 11 games under .500, and they were 2-4 against the Raccoons this year. New York was without SP Carlos Malla, CL Jeff Frank, and infielder Randolph Nash. The Critters still had Mike Preble and Bob Ibold on the DL.

Projected matchups:
Victor Salcido (1-2, 2.93 ERA) vs. Jeff Johnson (4-7, 3.79 ERA)
Victor Merino (5-5, 4.77 ERA) vs. Taylor Stabile (5-1, 2.10 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (4-6, 3.83 ERA) vs. Sal Chavez (6-6, 3.88 ERA)

Three more right-handers coming up in this series.

Game 1
POR: LF Watt – CF Herrera – 1B Maldonado – RF Gurney – 2B Waters – 3B Luna – SS Adame – C Gardner – P Salcido
NYC: 1B Haertling – 2B R. Martinez – SS Gates – C O. Ramirez – CF D. Hernandez – LF Garris – 3B Haney – RF Foss – P J. Johnson

The week started out really great. Salcido struck out the first two he faced, then allowed a single to Prince Gates and a homer to Omar Ramirez, and when Matt Waters led off the top 2nd, he got beaned out of the game. Tim Rogers replaced him, Eddy Luna walked, but the bottom of the order croaked and nobody scored. The team didn’t get a hit the first time through the order, while the Crusaders got another two singles off Salcido in the bottom 2nd, but stranded those. The Coons’ entry into the H column was a gap triple by Luna with one out in the fourth. Alex Adame hit an RBI double to left to cut the deficit in half, but then Wade Gardner grounded out and Salcido whiffed to end the inning.

Through four innings, young Salcido was on six strikeouts… but also three homers, giving up solo shots to both Josh Garris and Aaron Foss in the bottom 4th, falling behind 4-1 in the process. He got bopped around some more in the fifth, giving up a run on an RBI double by Garris, then allowed a single to Mark Haney, too, and was yanked for Ponce with two outs and two aboard. Ponce struck out Foss to close the book on Salcido at 4.2 innings, five earned runs, and all deserved…

Top 6th, Johnson plunked the #5 hitter again, which was about the only way to get Tim Rogers on base, then gave up duck snort singles to shallow center to both Luna and Adame, filling the bags with one gone and bringing up Gardner as the tying run. He lined out to Haney, but Johnson walked in a run against PH Brian Nigro. Watt ran a full count, then flew out to Dave Hernandez to leave the tying runs on base. Nate Norris pitched the next two innings, giving up a run on a Prince Gates double in the sixth, which proved the final run in a listless loss for the Critters, in which they had to use Nelson Moreno in the bottom 8th to continue to make ends meet at all in the pen. 6-2 Crusaders. Luna 2-3, BB, 3B; Adame 2-4, 2B, RBI; Nigro (PH) 0-0, BB, RBI;

Matt Waters hit the DL by Tuesday morning with a bad bruise on his elbow, but fortunately no structural damage. Of course, an already watery Coons lineup only got worse with that… 22-year-old Rich Seymour had played nine games with Portland earlier this year, hitting .167, and was brought back from St. Pete. He was hitting .262/.347/.369 with the Alley Cats.

With both Preble and Waters on the DL, the team home run lead among active players devolved onto Pat Gurney and Bryce Toohey with five each.

Oh, wait…

Game 2
POR: CF Watt – 3B Luna – 1B Maldonado – LF Gurney – C Gonzalez – RF Nigro – SS Adame – 2B Seymour – P Merino
NYC: 1B Haertling – LF Garris – SS Gates – CF D. Hernandez – 2B R. Martinez – 3B Haney – C Brewer – RF Foss – P Stabile

The Coons had four hits in the first inning, barely scoring a run, since there was also a 9-2 double play weaved into that inning when Maldo came up with runners on the corners, flew out to Foss, and Watt was thrown out at home plate in the same go-around. Ruben Gonzalez eventually singled home Luna, and that was that. Ed Haertling tied up the score on the first pitch by Merino, homering mighty deep to right. Haertling would also have a hand in taking the lead in the third inning, hitting a leadoff single to left that Gurney overran for an extra base, which allowed Haertling to score on two groundouts afterwards, which then made it 2-1 New York.

But the Coons came back, in rather bizarre fashion. Merino whacked a gap double to lead off the fifth inning, then scored on a 2-base throwing error by Ricardo Martinez, who peppered a Matt Watt grounder into the first base dugout. That got us even at two with the go-ahead run in scoring position. Luna singled to make it corners for Maldo again, and Maldo found another double play, a more conventional 6-4-3 this time, but that got Watt home to grab that 3-2 lead. Maldo had another chance for a double play with Watt and Luna on second and first, respectively, in the seventh, but this time only flew out to Foss again. Gurney then grounded out against Ryan Fentress to bring about the stretch. Merino pitched still in the bottom 7th, faced four lefty hitters, and gave up straight 1-out singles to the latter three of them, Tom Labedz, Haertling, and Garris. That tied the game and got Merino sent for the showers. Hitchcock replaced him, got a double play from Prince Gates, and Merino ended up with a no-decision.

The Coons wasted Gonzalez and Adame singles in the eighth, while the Crusaders left the go-ahead run on third base in the bottom of that inning, where Martinez arrived on a 2-base throwing error by Rich Seymour and a wild pitch by Nate Norris. Nobody even reached scoring position in the ninth, giving the Coons’ beleaguered pen extra innings to contend with. The Coons’ best bet in the tenth was a Gurney fly to deep center that was nevertheless caught, while the Crusaders got a 1-out double by Ron Arens to left against Orlando Altreche in the bottom 10th. Martinez grounded out, but Randy Anton (who?) pinch-hit for pitcher Sean Yates with two outs and made Yates a winner with a walkoff homer to right. 5-3 Crusaders. Luna 3-4, BB; Gurney 2-5, 2B; Gonzalez 2-5, RBI;

The Crusaders sent SP Mike Zeigler (5-7, 5.77 ERA) to Tijuana between games, receiving two prospects.

Maybe related, maybe not, their guy for Wednesday became right-hander Jerry Felix (0-1, 4.89 ERA).

Game 3
POR: 3B Luna – CF Herrera – 1B Maldonado – LF Gurney – C Gonzalez – RF Avila – SS Adame – 2B Seymour – P Wheatley
NYC: 1B Haertling – 2B R. Martinez – SS Gates – C O. Ramirez – CF D. Hernandez – LF Garris – 3B Haney – RF Foss – P Felix

Gurney and Gonzalez went to the corners with a walk and a single to begin the top 2nd, and Eduardo Avila hit a sac fly to center to get the first run on the board. Felix drilled Adame, then gave up an RBI double to Rich Seymour that went into the gap in right-center, 2-0. Even better, Wheats drove a double down the rightfield line to snatch his first two RBI of the season…! That was the end of that inning, but on the mound Wheats was flawless the first time through, allowing nobody on base while whiffing a pair.

The bottom of the order tore deeper into Felix in the fourth inning. Avila reached on a soft leadoff single before Adame and Seymour ripped back-to-back RBI doubles. Wheats even chipped a single to center, putting runners on the corners in a 6-0 game. Felix brought in Seymour with a wild pitch, then gave up yet another RBI double to Luna, then was graciously removed for euthanasia. Maldo grabbed an RBI for a pair of productive groundouts by Herrera and him off Jonathan Ramsey, 9-0, but apart from that the top of the order was eerily silent in that early drubbing.

Wheats walked Gates in the fourth after retiring 11 straight, then found actual trouble in the fifth, all with two outs. He nicked Mark Haney, Foss singled to right, and Arens drew a walk in the pitcher’s spot. Wheats ran a full count against Haertling, but got squeezed on a ball outside to walk in a run, but Martinez grounded out to end the inning before it could get really, really ugly. The middle of the Coons’ order then woke up with a Maldo homer and a Gurney double off Leborio Valdevesso in the sixth. That made it double digits, while Wheats made it seven innings of 3-hit ball, even though the last three were not nearly as neat as the first four. A botched double play grounder blamed on Luna in the sixth also didn’t help and drove up his pitch count even more. Top 8th, Matt Fries walked Gurney and gave up a longball to Avila to further escalate the score, and while the Crusaders got a run off Hitchcock in the ninth, this one went into the books as a rout. 12-2 Raccoons! Avila 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Seymour 4-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Nigro (PH) 1-1; Wheatley 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, W (5-6) and 3-3, 2B, 2 RBI;

Wheeeeeats!

It will break my heart when we turn him into snot-nosed 20-year-olds…

Raccoons (35-36) vs. Bayhawks (40-32) – June 25-27, 2049

The Baybirds came into Portland for another CLCS rematch, and like the Coons were not in first place at this point. But while the Coons were ten games out and fourth in the North, the Bayhawks were only three games back and in third place in the South. They were fifth in runs scored and runs allowed in the CL, and overall a far cry from their stomping team last year. And the Coons were even up 2-1 in the season series…!

Projected matchups:
Dave Hils (6-3, 4.70 ERA) vs. Kevin Nolte (5-6, 3.08 ERA)
Bubba Wolinsky (6-4, 4.37 ERA) vs. Chih Ke (7-3, 3.36 ERA)
Victor Salcido (1-3, 3.82 ERA) vs. Jesse Bulas (4-3, 3.33 ERA)

Only right-handers in their rotation!

Game 1
SFB: CF M. Roberts – SS Quiroz – C S. Suggs – LF Crum – 3B Copeland – 1B D. Riley – RF Fink – 2B McCutcheon – P Nolte
POR: LF Watt – CF Herrera – 1B Maldonado – RF Gurney – C Gonzalez – 3B Luna – SS Adame – 2B Seymour – P Hils

Hils got whacked around from the get-go, with a single by Mike Roberts and a Sergio Quiroz homer putting the Bayhawks on top 2-0 immediately. While the Coons left the tying runs on in the first, and Adame on third base in the second, the Baybirds put the game away in the top 3rd; Quiroz and Sean Suggs got on, Ken Crum raked Hils for a triple, and then scored on a wild pitch, 5-0, e.g. ballgame. Whacking here, whacking there, Hils remained in there to eat innings, since the Raccoons had no vested interest on burning out their pen right from the start of seven games in six days. It was entirely on Hils whether he wanted to eat just the innings, or also the fire…

Meanwhile, the Coons hit into two double plays from the time they were down five to the point where they were through five, and I largely resigned myself to a batting helmet’s worth of ice cream – a full-size helmet, mind – that had been doused in plenty of Capt’n Coma. It didn’t make for *much* easier watching, and Hils departed in the seventh after giving up another run on a Sebastian Copeland double, driving home Crum with two outs. Orlando Altreche got the garbage innings after Ponce retrieved Hils from the seventh, and gave up three more runs, two of them on a Roberts homer in the eighth, and the other one in the ninth. It didn’t matter, it just hurt. 9-0 Bayhawks. Gurney 2-4; Rogers (PH) 1-1;

Game 2
SFB: CF M. Roberts – 3B Copeland – C S. Suggs – RF Ritchey – SS Quiroz – 1B A. Marquez – LF Fink – 2B McCutcheon – P Ke
POR: LF Watt – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Gurney – SS Luna – RF Nigro – C Gardner – 2B Seymour – P Wolinsky

The Raccoons’ already ramshackle pitching plans leading into the upcoming Monday double header were thrown under the bus for good in the third inning of the middle game when Bubba Wolinsky first served up a homer to Mike Roberts, then drilled – and I mean *drilled* – Copeland, who objected, and sought to crush Wolinsky’s jaw through the back of his head for getting nailed. A mild brawl ensued, at the end of which Wolinsky and Copeland were both tossed, the former after logging only eight outs. Josh Jackson replaced Copeland, while the Coons shrugged and put Nate Norris in the game and told him to go as far as possible. He struck out Sean Suggs to end the top 3rd, then opened the bottom 3rd with a single, but that ultimately went nowhere. Joe Ritchey then took him deep to open the fourth, and he nailed Quiroz. The Bayhawks were barking harshly, the Coons shrugged as if to say “sorry, ran out of talent”, and no second brawl occurred. Norris then ran into another Roberts homer in the fifth, and then also three 2-out base hits to give up another two runs, 5-0… and not that it mattered, but when Adame opened the bottom 5th as pinch-hitter in the #9 hole, ran a 3-0 count, and then poked and grounded out, I tuned out from the game on the field and TV, and instead played a game where I’d try to make reasonable deals for the entire roster to each team in the league, one player at a time. We’d only keep Maldo and Hils, by happenstance.

The Bayhawks got Ke to third base in the sixth inning in one of the weirder sequences ever. Julian Ponce nicked Lee McCutcheon, who was forced out on a bad bunt, then advanced on a balk and a passed ball before being stranded by Roberts. Hitchcock drilled Johnson in the seventh, which was the fourth Baybird hit by pitch in the game, which was hardly short of the Coons’ total number of base runners in the entire game. We did score a run in the eighth, an inning which began with a Watt triple and a Herrera RBI double, then went on with a lame groundout by Maldo and by Gurney lining into a double play to McCutcheon. The Bayhawks replied with a 2-run homer by Ritchey off Mike Lynn in the ninth, to which the Coons’ reply was to get Luna and Medina on base to begin the ninth, which actually chased Chih Ke, but then Gardner slapped one into a double play against Bobby Nelson. Seymour snuck an RBI single to right, Avila walked, and Watt singled up the middle … and suddenly it was a save situation. Brad Barnes appeared accordingly, Herrera grounded out, and that was that. 7-2 Bayhawks. Watt 2-4, BB, 3B; Medina (PH) 1-1; Hitchcock 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

League HQ slapped Bubba Wolinsky with a 6-game suspension to cause additional havoc to our rotation. He was thus banned from participation through the first game of the Titans series next weekend.

Salcido meanwhile had not completed six innings in any of his last three starts, and had lost all of them. We needed him to keep the bullpen in one piece for the double-header, though.

Game 3
SFB: CF M. Roberts – 3B Jo. Jackson – C S. Suggs – LF Crum – SS Quiroz – RF Fink – 1B P. Colon – 2B McCutcheon – P Bulas
POR: LF Watt – CF Herrera – 1B Maldonado – RF Gurney – C Gonzalez – 3B Luna – SS Adame – 2B Seymour – P Salcido

A pitching duel broke out, Salcido allowing only one hit the first time through, with two for Portland, but no runs on either side. Things looked promising until all the **** hit the fan at once in the fifth inning. Leadoff walk to Sergio Quiroz, then a single by John Fink right on the next pitch; Pedro Colon sacrificed the runners into scoring position, McCutcheon clipped an RBI single to right, and then Bulas’ bunt was thrown away by Luna for a run-scoring error. How Roberts did not smash a 17th homer in this series, is beyond me, but him and Jackson both flew out to Watt to end the inning. Down 2-0, the Raccoons remained calm, got a leadoff single from Adame in the bottom 5th, and then Adame got himself caught stealing, which sucked doubly hard, given that Seymour then singled, was bunted over, and Watt singled him home for a run with two outs, which would have been a tied ballgame if Adame had stayed the **** on base. Herrera flew out, and the Coons remained 2-1 behind. Salcido completed seven, but not without giving up a 2-out, 2-run single to Josh Jackson that drove home McCutcheon and Dan Riley in the top 7th, 4-1. The dazzling McCutcheon would take Preston Porter deep in the ninth inning to add additional agony to the tally. The Coons had no answers. 5-1 Bayhawks. Watt 3-4, RBI; Gurney 1-2, 2 BB; Rogers (PH) 1-1;

In other news

June 21 – The Thunder erase not only the Knights’ attempt at decency in a 14-1 rout, but also the 37-game hitting streak of Atlanta’s Anton Venegas (.343, 2 HR, 22 RBI), who goes hitless in the dismantling.
June 21 – SFB INF Ted Del Vecchio (.283, 1 HR, 11 RBI) is out for the season after breaking his elbow.
June 22 – The still extant hitting streak of OCT 2B/SS Jonathan Ban (.336, 5 HR, 34 RBI) reaches 25 games with a seventh-inning single in a 9-5 loss to the Knights.
June 22 – SFW INF Julio Moriel (.402, 1 HR, 6 RBI) could miss the rest of the season; the 21-year-old is down with a partially torn labrum.
June 22 – TIJ 1B Shuta Yamamoto (.300, 4 HR, 41 RBI) homers to beat the Bayhawks, 1-0.
June 23 – Sacramento’s rookie catcher Henry Howie (.324, 4 HR, 12 RBI) has five hits with two doubles and two RBI in a 6-4 win over the Pacifics.
June 23 – The Falcons get C Tony Alvarez (.321, 0 HR, 19 RBI) from the Stars for MR Alex Mancilla (1-1, 5.40 ERA, 1 SV) and a prospect.
June 23 – A first-inning homer by CHA 3B Randy Wilken (.244, 7 HR, 34 RBI) remains the only scoring in a 1-0 win by the Falcons over the Aces.
June 25 – The hitting streak of OCT 2B/SS Jonathan Ban (.335, 5 HR, 35 RBI) ends at 26 games with a dry appearance in a 5-4 win over the Titans.
June 27 – Falcons OF/1B Mike Allegood (.304, 5 HR, 43 RBI) is going to miss a month with a sprained ankle.
June 27 – A sac fly by 2B/SS Jonathan Ban (.336, 5 HR, 37 RBI) hits a sac fly to walk off the Thunder against the Titans, 7-6 after 17 innings.

FL Player of the Week: RIC RF Chris Morris (.319, 9 HR, 32 RBI), hitting .440 (11-25) with 3 HR, 3 RBI
CL Player of the Week: ATL C Tyler Cass (.345, 2 HR, 51 RBI), slapping .571 (12-21) with 7 RBI

Complaints and stuff

That was a terrible week. Wheats pitched a fine one; everything else was just leaving you aghast. They lost every game not started by Jason W. from Kinnelon, NJ. Maldo is in a slump. Gurney is in a slump. Waters *was* in a slump, but now is on the DL. The pitching staff is holding daily fireworks shows. Defense is atrocious. We’re playing a parade of guys that you wouldn’t have thought about before the season, and I’m not even talking about Brian Nigro now. Now add the Wolinsky suspension on top of all of that…

Then there’s the impending double header. We have Merino as scheduled for Monday. And then we have a rather bold plan to use Brett Lillis jr. for his major league debut. Clarke is not available, and no other true starters in AAA are on the 40-man roster. Lillis jr. has a 2.28 ERA – but only in relief. He has never started in AAA.

…and then you wonder, does it even matter? We’re going nowhere. One bad start won’t break the kid. He never learned a third pitch of value, so he’ll eventually be a sneaky lefty reliever like his father was, maybe even on this team. The baseball gods know we have a lot of time to try what will stick to the walls ‘round here in the next few years.

Wheats will then go as scheduled on Tuesday. He would be on regular rest on Monday, but then the rest of the series with the Condors doesn’t check out anymore. Thursday will be off, then a trip to Boston on the weekend.

The only other thing to look forward to now is the July IFA period, which will open on Thursday. The Coons have budget space (was $2M before the Toohey deal, is about $3.8M now), and no limitations on signing teen boys this year.

Fun Fact: Eight years ago today, Ernesto Lujan of the Crusaders pitched a no-hitter against the Titans.

Lujan, a 20-year veteran, was then 38 years old and in his final year as an effective starter, going 12-8 with a 3.43 ERA.

Lujan is remarkable in that he was in the majors for that long, and never won *anything*. No All Star, no Gold Glove, not even a wicked Platinum Stick or a random ring. The only distinction he has is leading the CL in games started twice, in both 2028 and 2029, that while getting traded from the Gold Sox to the Buffos mid-year in ’28.

He went 150-163 with a 3.92 ERA and 12 saves, striking out 1,592 in 2,789 innings.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (35-39) vs. Condors (44-29) – June 28-30, 2049

Four games in three days with the team leading the CL South. The Condors were sixth in runs scored and second in runs allowed, with a +64 run differential (Coons: +6 and dropping), while having the best team batting average at .277, but the fewest homers in the CL (31). Their defense was first in the league, and yet somehow the Raccoons were up 2-0 with a rainout on them.

Projected matchups:
Victor Merino (5-5, 4.73 ERA) vs. Sam Geren (3-6, 5.57 ERA)
Brett Lillis jr. (0-0) vs. Mike Zeigler (5-7, 5.45 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (5-6, 3.64 ERA) vs. Matt Weber (6-2, 3.90 ERA)
Dave Hils (6-4, 4.95 ERA) vs. TBD

Zeigler was the only left-hander here. The Condors would have to scramble something to make ends meet here, much like the Coons. We gave Brett Lillis jr. – the #15 pick in 2044 – his debut in the second game on Monday, while they had not enough pitchers to make the three days’ worth of starts at all, with their other two starters, Kevin Daley (10-3, 2.19 ERA) and Ramon Montes de Oca (8-5, 2.55 ERA) both having pitched on Sunday. Things remained interesting!

The Raccoons would use their two extant third basemen the wrong way round, since Tim Rogers was tabbed for demotion to activate Lillis for Game 2.

Game 1
TIJ: SS C. Navarro – RF Blackburn – LF G. Cabrera – 1B Yamamoto – C Mittleider – 3B Ottinger – CF Burkhart – 2B Watanabe – P Geren
POR: LF Watt – CF Herrera – 1B Gurney – C Gonzalez – RF Nigro – SS Adame – 2B Seymour – 3B Rogers – P Merino

Herrera doubled, Gurney singled, and Gonzalez and Nigro both brought in a first-inning run with a groundout and a single, respectively, but the Condors had an all-righty lineup against Merino and I was much afraid, and within reason; the Condors were in scoring position in each of the first three innings, sometimes just in passing, like when Tim Burkhart socked a solo homer in the top 2nd. Brian Blackburn had already hit a long double off the fence in the first, but had been stranded, and then Merino also showed rather wonky command and began to walk batters. Rich Seymour drove home Brian Nigro with the 3-1 run in the bottom 4th, but Merino exploded in the fifth for an infield single by Chris Navarro, who stole second for the second time in the game, and then a barrage of four 2-out base hits, starting with Gil Cabrera, who drove in a run, and continuing with Shuta Yamamoto, the former Critter tying the game, and Jon Mittleider as well as Reed Ottinger, and somehow Merino buggered out down only 4-3 after the ordeal.

The Coons counterattacked (!) in the bottom 5th, though. Watt, Herrera, and Gonzalez loaded the bags on a single and two walks, and Nigro’s sac fly to center tied the game. Alex Adame came up with an RBI double to left, 5-4 Portland, and while Seymour struck out to end the fifth, he only did so after Sam Geren had plated Gonzalez with a wild pitch, 6-4. Merino dragged himself through six, after which Preston Porter was taken deep by Jon Mittleider for a solo homer in the seventh. Nate Norris defended the 6-5 lead in the eighth, getting Moreno ready. No insurance was available; while Eduardo Avila drew a walk from David Fox in the bottom 8th, he also got struck-out-thrown-out with Wade Gardner to end the inning. Moreno then did the next-best thing to giving up an outright game-tying homer, walking Navarro to begin the ninth. Navarro was 2-for-2 in stolen bases on the day, and had 31 for the season now. The Condors however tried to bunt him to second, yet Blackburn popped out trying. Gil Cabrera lined out to Watt on the first pitch. And Yamamoto struck out…! 6-5 Raccoons. Watt 1-2, 2 BB; Herrera 2-4, 2B; Nigro 1-2, BB, 2 RBI; Maldonado (PH) 1-1;

Tim Rogers went 0-for-3 and was demoted as a .167 hitter, while Brett Lillis jr. was activated.

Sadly, Brett Lillis sr. could not be with us for his son’s debut. He was receiving in-patient treatment at an upstate facility for his out-of-control tuna addiction.

Game 2
TIJ: SS C. Navarro – RF Blackburn – LF G. Cabrera – 1B Yamamoto – 3B Ottinger – CF Burkhart – C R. Cruz – 2B Watanabe – P Zeigler
POR: CF Watt – SS Adame – 1B Malonado – 2B Gurney – RF Avila – 3B Luna – C Gardner – LF Medina – P Lillis

Two groundouts and a fly to left gave Lillis a scoreless inning to start his career, but Yamamoto doubled to open the second. Lillis also walked Ricky Cruz, but also got his first career K from Tim Burkhart, and handled a comebacker from Shintaro Watanabe to remain unscored upon. And that was about as good as it got. The Condors whipped him for three hard hits in the top 3rd, taking a 1-0 lead on a Cabrera double that plated Navarro, and by the fourth he was basically stuck – and the baseball gods had turned against him, too. The Condors had a walk, TWO infield singles, and scored another run that way, but he also nicked Blackburn with two gone to load the bags and then had to applaud Watt for racing down a Cabrera drive in center to strand a full set of runners. Through four innings of 6-hit, 2-run ball, he threw 80 pitches, and we deemed that enough. We still had Altreche and Hitchcock to get some distance here (plus the two southpaws, who hadn’t pitched in the opener), but the kid was done.

Altreche then exploded the score with the breathtaking fifth-inning sequence of error, balk, walk, RBI single, single, grand slam, all with one out in the inning, and that was before I tell you that the grand slam was hit my Mike ******* Zeigler. By now I had seen enough of that act; with the score what it was and the Coons not exactly threatening to rally – they loaded the bags once but then Maldo grounded out to Watanabe and that was that – Altreche was left in for 55 pitches, or three innings of 5-run ball, and once he was removed told to pack his **** and **** off. Kevin Hitchcock got blasted for three more runs in the eighth, two of them on a Burkhart homer, and my wrath only grew, while Zeigler completed an 8-hit shutout. 10-0 Condors. Watt 2-4; Gardner 2-4;

Okay, time for some house cleaning. There were ample roster moves on Tuesday.

First, Brett Lillis jr. (0-1, 4.50 ERA) was returned to AAA to recover emotionally. I also had some recovery necessary, but there was no AAA to assign me to, ha-hah! – Yes, Maud, I will eat the banana you peeled for me. – I will eat it later. – Yes, Maud, I will eat it later. – Fine, Maud, I will eat the first slice now. – (munching) Are you habby mow?

Orlando Altreche (3-5, 5.82 ERA) needed purging. Nobody wanted a piece of his bum when shopped overnight, he refused an assignment to AAA, and thus became the second pitcher released outright from the roster this season, and it was still June. Kevin Hitchcock (0-1, 4.70 ERA) had no right to refuse an assignment to AAA, and was thus sent back to the Alley Cats. These spots were taken by Danny Cancel (0-0, 3.60 ERA) and Polibio O’Higgins, the next debutee in line.

O’Higgins, 22, was a failure in our books already. He had cost $570k to sign out of Venezuela in July of 2043, and had absolutely not expanded his arsenal as projected. Run-of-the-mill righty reliever with fastball, curve, but at least the fastball was 99. He was also hellaciously undercooked, but I had to wait on the waiver wire to churn out something good… He had a 7.36 ERA in AAA, but that was with a .414 BABIP, though, so maybe he’d thrive in Portland. (shrugs) What the **** do I know about baseball??

The final roster spot was grabbed by 3B Ed Crispin, batting .297/.368/.464 in 64 AAA games. He was the third-sacker with a balanced scouting profile that we had gotten from the Rebs in exchange for mostly Josh Rella in ’47. Crispin was also 22 and a lefty batter, so didn’t gel well with Luna.

Game 3
TIJ: SS C. Navarro – RF Blackburn – LF G. Cabrera – 1B Yamamoto – C Mittleider – 3B Ottinger – CF Tortora – 2B Watanabe – P Weber
POR: LF Watt – CF Herrera – 1B Maldonado – RF Gurney – C Gonzalez – SS Luna – 3B Crispin – 2B Seymour – P Wheatley

The Raccoons continued to play horrendous baseball on Tuesday. Navarro reached base to begin the game on a clumsy error by Matt Watt, stole a base, and scored an unearned run before long. While the offensive braved the storm by doing nothing, Wheats kept getting sabotaged and/or sabotaged himself, like in the top 4th, where Yamamoto reached with a leadoff single to center, gained one base when Herrera overran the baseball, and another when Wheats balked him to third base. He scored on Mittleider’s groundout then, 2-0. Wheats would go seven innings in a decent effort, but was readily outpitched by Weber, who came in on short rest, lasted only six innings, but also conceded only one measly hit to the Critters, a Gurney single in the second inning. Leonardo Ramos replaced him in the bottom 7th and immediately took a tumble down the nearest set of stairs. He nicked Maldo, Gonzalez singled with one out, and Eddy Luna slapped an RBI double to right-center. That made it 2-1, with the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position for … debutee Ed Crispin, who was 0-for-2 at that point. I callously shrugged. Sometimes you have to throw the young ones into the breach. Crispin struck out, and so did Seymour. Wheats *still* got off the hook, though, because Mittleider lost strike three, kicked the ball halfway to Eugene, and thus allowed Ruben Gonzalez to score anyway. Nigro batted for Wheats, but grounded out. Rats. Mike Lynn blew the tie (blowing leads required you to have one first…) right away in the eighth, walking the leadoff man Alex Lopez and giving up a double to Gil Cabrera with two outs. O’Higgins made his debut in the ninth, going 1-2-3 on the 6-7-8 batters, but thanks to double plays hit into by Herrera in the eighth and Gonzalez in the ninth, the Raccoons failed to make up the deficit late… 3-2 Condors. Gurney 2-4; Wheatley 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K;

It's getting ugly out here.

Game 4
TIJ: SS C. Navarro – RF Blackburn – LF G. Cabrera – C Mittleider – CF Burkart – 1B Tortora – 3B A. Lopez – 2B Watanabe – P R. Montes de Oca
POR: LF Watt – CF Herrera – 1B Maldonado – RF Gurney – SS Adame – C Gardner – 3B Crispin – 2B Seymour – P Hils

Maldo doubled and Gurney homered in the first for a 2-0 lead, which didn’t sound like something Dave Hils couldn’t suck in half just by tipping his hat, but the Raccoons’ starter continued a recent run of halfway-decentness and didn’t allow a run (albeit on four hits) in the first three innings, then whacked a leadoff double to right-center in bottom 3rd. Watt walked, but then the inning went into the bin rather quickly, and Hils, Watt, and Gurney, who was nicked, were all stranded once Adame grounded out to Navarro. Bottom 4th was the first major league hit for Ed Crispin, singling to right with one out. He was on base but briefly, with Rich Seymour finding a double play right away.

Hils held together for five innings, but the problem was that he went beyond that. Brian Blackburn tripled into the rightfield corner to begin the sixth, scoring soon on a Gil Cabrera sac fly, and then Burkhart tied the game with a homer to left. Crispin would draw a 2-out walk in the bottom 6th, stole second base, but went nowhere from there as the inning didn’t get past the bottom of the order. The next inning brought a double by Watt off Dusty Gaddy, making me giddy, and the run did get home for a 3-2 lead… on two walks and a Gurney sac fly. And then Adame grounded out pathetically… That held up in the eighth, despite Navarro hitting a leadoff single off Hils, who was yanked for Ponce. PH Benito Mendoza hit into a fielder’s choice, and while Mittleider hit a single off Ponce, Burkhart flew out to center rather easily to end the inning. The Coons scratched out a tack-on run in the bottom 8th, however – yay, yay, yay! – when Gardner got on base against David Fox to begin the frame, was bunted to second by Crispin, and singled home by Eduardo Avila, who pinch-hit in the pitcher’s slot. Moreno would secure the split, striking out three lefty hitters in the ninth inning… *whilst* walking Watanabe with two down, and Watanabe was a righty hitter. 4-2 Coons. Gurney 1-2, HR, 3 RBI; Crispin 1-2, BB; Avila (PH) 1-1, RBI; Hils 7.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, W (7-4) and 2-3, 2B;

Raccoons (37-41) @ Titans (44-33) – July 1-4, 2049

Boston was still chasing the damn Elks, now 3 1/2 games out. Offense was their main issue, as they sat last in runs scored in the league. Pitching was not an issue – they were also giving up the fewest runs, but more on that in a second. Overall they only had a skinny +21 run differential, and a 4-3 lead in the season series.

Projected matchups:
Victor Salcido (1-4, 3.83 ERA) vs. Kyle Turay (8-3, 2.47 ERA)
Bubba Wolinsky (6-5, 4.34 ERA) vs. Jake Jackson (5-3, 4.24 ERA)
Victor Merino (6-5, 4.82 ERA) vs. Dave Serio (5-5, 2.51 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (5-6, 3.48 ERA) vs. TBD

The Titans had injuries, lots, including starters Victor Scott, Jose Villalba, David Barel… and also Thomas Turpeau (0-0, 6.17 ERA), who was something like a third-string swingman, and was ALSO ailing now. It would be his turn on Sunday, and he was the only southpaw they had around currently. Leo Estrada was the only position player on the DL.

Salcido went on short rest in the opener with Wolinsky still suspended for the opener.

Game 1
POR: LF Watt – CF Herrera – 3B Luna – 1B Gurney – RF Nigro – SS Adame – C Gardner – 2B Seymour – P Salcido
BOS: 2B T. Thompson – 3B Massey – 1B Wheeler – CF T. Lopez – RF C. Jimenez – LF Mangual – C I. Davison – SS J. Rodriguez – P Turay

The Coons hit four singles from their first four batters in the second inning, which was not enough to score a run when Pat Gurney was caught stealing before Nigro, Adame, and Gardner loaded up the bases for Seymour. He got a sac fly to Chris Jimenez in right, giving a 1-0 lead to Salcido, who struck out. And young Salcido sure made a run for it, especially on short rest. He allowed three hits and a walk through five innings, but also kept it on the ground and got two double plays to help himself out and needed just over 60 pitches for five innings. He had a long 1-2-3 sixth with two full counts, but didn’t put any between the 8-9-1 batters aboard, then gave up a 2-out single to Tony Lopez in the seventh. Since the Coons were terrible at this point and couldn’t hit a barn from the inside, that was the tying run, and Salcido balked it to second base … but then got out of it when Jimenez grounded out to Seymour, keeping it 1-0.

The Coons also coolly kept it 1-0 with a hitless, hopeless eighth, while the bottom 8th saw Julian Ponce give up a double to Ruben Mangual, the only lefty stick he saw. Porter rung up Ian Davison, got Jose Rodriguez on an easy pop, but then was lifted for Lynn when another lefty stick showed up to pinch-hit, Elias Rodriguez, a 22-year-old first-sacker that had yet to start a big league game, but this was his 11th appearance. He stuck to one career RBI, grounding out to end the eighth. The Coons still did nothing in the ninth, which left Moreno no cushion against the top of the order. He struck out Tom Thompson, but then Nate Massey and Jeff Wheeler whacked back-to-back doubles to tie the ******* game. Lopez and Jimenez left Wheeler stranded, though, and we got to play extras, yay…

Nigro and Gardner drew walks off Jordan Ramos in the tenth, but the Coons continued to be unable to land a base hit and stranded their runners with a K to Seymour and a fly to center by Crispin. Nate Norris made it a quick end at least in the bottom 10th. Ruben Mangual tripled to center, but also tore out a leg colliding with Eddy Luna at third base. Manuel Arellano pinch-ran for him, and scored easily on a Davison grounder. 2-1 Titans. Salcido 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K;

Woof.

Well, at least Mike Preble came off the DL for Friday. Roberto Medina (.267, 0 HR, 0 RBI) was sent back to AAA. The Titans however put Turpeau to sleep for the year with radial nerve compression and went on to figure out what Plan G was going to be.

Game 2
POR: CF Watt – SS Adame – 1B Maldonado – LF Preble – 3B Luna – RF Avila – C Gonzalez – 2B Seymour – P Wolinsky
BOS: 2B T. Thompson – RF C. Jimenez – 1B Wheeler – CF T. Lopez – 3B Massey – C Youngquist – LF Mangual – SS J. Rodriguez – P Ja. Jackson

Gurney singled home Adame off seven-year Critter Jake Jackson in the first inning, and the Coons tacked on in the second, where Avila hit a double, and was on third base with two outs. It kind of hurt me to see Jackson walk Wolinsky with two down, but that brought the top of the order back and Watt slapped an RBI single to left in a full count. Adame grounded out to Jose Rodriguez, though, ending the inning. Wolinsky was fine the first time through – he was absolutely not fine the second time through, which began with 1-out singles in the bottom 3rd by Thompson and Massey. They pulled off a double steal, and then Jeff Wheeler and Tony Lopez pulled off a double blast, both to left, to make it a 4-2 Titans game. Three more singles after that, and then ANOTHER 3-run homer by Jose Rodriguez. Jackson struck out after EIGHT straight hits, including three homers. That was all for Wolinsky…

The Coons went on to use their new runts of the litter for an inning and small change each, with neither Cancel nor O’Higgins giving up a run, although they both had quite a few runners aboard. The Coons scored two in the fifth; Adame got on, stole second, and was singled home by Maldo, who eventually came in on a sac fly by Eddy Luna after Preble had singled him to third base. But that was also it. There were only two Coons runners after that fifth inning, and that was not nearly enough to score another run, let alone five to win… Lynn and Norris also got to participate in blowout relief, which aggravatingly enough was scoreless all the way through… 8-4 Titans. Adame 3-5, 2B; Preble 3-4, 2B, RBI; Agila 2-4, 2 2B;

Game 3
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 1B Maldonado – LF Preble – 2B Gurney – 3B Luna – RF Avila – C Gonzalez – P Merino
BOS: 2B T. Thompson – RF C. Jimenez – 1B Wheeler – CF T. Lopez – 3B Massey – C Youngquist – LF Mangual – SS J. Rodriguez – P Serio

On day two off the DL, Gurney singled in two in the first inning, plating both Adame and Herrera for a new lead to flunder away. It would be a bit of a challenge though, given that Maldo doubled home a pair with two outs in the second, making it 4-0 by chasing home Ruben Gonzalez and Armando Herrera. It got even better, with Luna, Avila, and Gonzalez loading the bags with one out in the third. Merino batted and grounded out to the right side, allowing Luna to score, and then Adame singled home the other runners, 7-0…! Meanwhile, Boston had three singles the first time through, but Merino faced the minimum in the first three innings; the Titans found two double plays (Jimenez, PH Jordan Giammarco), while Tony Lopez was caught stealing. The Raccoons responded with another 2-spot on ex-Coon Jon Craig (the white one) in the fourth inning, those runs driven in by Luna and Gonzalez, and Ruben Gonzalez struck again in the fifth. Craig had already walked in a 2-out run facing Avila, and then Gonzalez pushed a 3-2 through the right side for another 2-out single. What the actual heck was going on, and where were my Raccoons??

Well, whoever the guys in the brown shirts were, they stopped scoring after a dozen. The Titans got a run off Merino in the bottom 5th, which Lopez opened with a double to center and came around to score. Tony Lopez hit another double in the seventh, but that one amounted to nothing. Merino finally got stuck in the eighth inning, loading the bases with a single, a walk, and a hit batter. Preston Porter came in to face Jeff Wheeler with two outs, and got a fly to Avila on the first pitch. Avila brought home another run against Victor Acevedo in the ninth inning, but then of course Danny Cancel had to get bombed for three runs in the bottom 9th… 13-4 Raccoons. Adame 2-5, 2 RBI; Herrera 4-5, BB; Preble 3-5, BB, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Gurney 2-5, BB; Seymour (PH) 1-1; Gonzalez 4-5, BB, 3 RBI; Merino 7.2 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, W (7-5) and 1-5, RBI;

That was probably all the runs for the next six games, fumbled away prematurely.

Sunday then brought a spot start from right-hander Bill Flattery (3-4, 2.43 ERA). It would be his third start of the year, and in his first one he had shut out the Coons for eight innings in June…

Game 4
POR: LF Watt – CF Herrera – 1B Maldonado – RF Preble – 2B Gurney – SS Adame – 3B Crispin – C Gardner – P Wheatley
BOS: 2B T. Thompson – 3B Massey – 1B Wheeler – CF T. Lopez – C Youngquist – RF C. Jimenez – LF Mangual – SS J. Rodriguez – P Flattery

Due another clown shoes game, the Raccoons drew two walks in the first, but couldn’t buy a hit, then saw Youngquist double off the wall in right before Jimenez blooped a ball between Preble and Gurney in shallow right. Gurney caught a lunging Preble’s cap, Preble caught a snout full of grass, and Jimenez caught an RBI double. Rodriguez then whacked him home, too, and the Titans were 2-0 up on a despairing Wheatley, who struck out to begin the top 3rd. Watt also made an out, but Herrera got on, then scored on a Maldo double to center. Better yet, Mike Preble crashed his 11th homer of the year, flipping the score to 3-2 Coons. Wheats did his best to buckle down and allowed only one more hit through five, while Maldo singled home Matt Watt with two outs in the top 5th, 4-2.

And Wheats showed second-half form (it was July after all!) and made it through to the eighth with just one more Youngquist single against him; he left after 105 pitches after getting a groundout from Tom Thompson, with the final five outs to be collected by the pen. Julian Ponce entered to face Massey and *maybe* Wheeler, but walked Massey on four pitches and surely didn’t get to face Wheeler. Preston Porter did the honors and got a 6-4-3 double play. Jim Cushing held the Coons off base in the ninth, bringing Moreno in with a 4-2 game in the bottom 9th and Maldo removed for defense, which was happening often these days… The 4-5-6 whiffed, popped out, and grounded out to Crispin to grab another 4-game split. 4-2 Raccoons. Maldonado 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Wheatley 7.1 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, W (6-6);

In other news

June 29 – SFB 3B/SS Josh Jackson (.291, 1 HR, 13 RBI) beats the Loggers, 6-5, with a walkoff grand slam in the bottom of the ninth.
July 2 – PIT SP Joe Feltman (8-7, 4.49 ERA) comes up with a 3-hit shutout in a 5-0 win over the Capitals.
July 4 – The Mines acquire SP Jerry Cruz (4-3, 4.08 ERA) from the Pacifics by shedding two prospects. The deal includes #31 SP Ivan Torres.
July 4 – Salem sends MR John Steuer (2-1, 2.45 ERA) and seven figures in cash to the Indians for two prospects.

FL Player of the Week: DAL LF/CF Juan del Toro (.324, 9 HR, 48 RBI), hitting .478 (11-23) with 2 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week: OCT LF/1B/RF Steve Humphreys (.266, 12 HR, 47 RBI), clipping .357 (10-28) with 3 HR, 7 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: SFW LF Mario Villa (.381, 11 HR, 58 RBI), batting .384 with 6 HR, 29 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: OCT 2B/SS Jonathan Ban (.343, 5 HR, 37 RBI), hitting .417 with 1 HR, 15 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: RIC SP Zach Tubbs (7-5, 3.59 ERA), hurling for a 5-0 record with 1.54 ERA, 36 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: SFB SP Kevin Nolte (7-6, 2.83 ERA), pitching or a 4-0 mark with 1.79 ERA, 29 K
FL Rookie of the Month: SFW C Blake Mickle (.338, 2 HR, 7 RBI), all of that in June
CL Rookie of the Month: CHA LF/RF Danny Ceballos (.336, 1 HR, 11 RBI), batting .343 with 1 HR, 10 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Superficially decent week given the opposition and the myriad of challenges, but they surely were not a blast to watch as they went 4-4 with two 4-game splits. Couple more inauspicious debuts, another couple dozen at-bats of Maldo looking like an old man… that sorta schtick. We’ll get Matt Waters back early next week, whatever that will mean.

Since Waters is signed to such a team friendly contract, he’s certainly quite unlikely to be traded this early. With a speedy rebuild he could be the centerpiece of the offense of the next Coons team challenging for the postseason. Same for Wheats. Everybody established is certainly up for grabs – not that they’d all find grabbers.

Unfortunately, the international free agent pool that came out this week isn’t all that deep after all. We’re probably not going to spend too much dosh there, and thus the excitement is out of this season and probably the next few, too.

Fun Fact: We have already used 39 players this year.

The 2044 Coons used 39 players the entire season…! In 2045 and 2046 it was 40 players each. And knowing how stable things were, probably the same 40 players…!

Oh well. Empires rise. Empires fall. Baseball always has a new Opening Day though.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (39-43) @ Loggers (29-53) – July 5-8, 2049

Series of sadness? Surely. The Raccoons were on the plunge as we had seen recently, while the Loggers, who were our four-and-four partners this year in July, had done little else but losing all year long (and not just this year). They had a -98 run differential, were stuck in the bottom three in both runs scored and runs allowed, but had held the Coons to a 2-2 tie so far this year.

Projected matchups:
Dave Hils (7-4, 4.78 ERA) vs. Gabe Butler (5-7, 4.33 ERA)
Victor Salcido (1-4, 3.28 ERA) vs. John Morrill (5-7, 4.20 ERA)
Bubba Wolinsky (6-6, 5.04 ERA) vs. Noah Hollis (5-9, 4.47 ERA)
Victor Merino (7-5, 4.52 ERA) vs. Victor Padilla (7-9, 5.21 ERA)

Something rare to see here in this series – not one, but TWO left-handed pitchers, Butler and Padilla. Now, sshh, don’t make any quick moves. We don’t want to scare them and not shoo them away. Just look at them and marvel.

Matt Waters would rejoin the Critters from the DL on Tuesday.

Game 1
POR: LF Watt – CF Herrera – 1B Maldonado – RF Avila – C Gonzalez – 3B Luna – SS Adame – 2B Seymour – P Hils
MIL: LF J. Delgado – CF B. Allen – SS Z. Suggs – 1B E. Hernandez – C T. Sanchez – 3B N. Jackson – RF de Lemos – 2B Barrington – P G. Butler

Armando Herrera hurt himself on a sliding catch on the first defensive play of the game, requiring replacement by Mike Preble (with Watt to center). That one stung, but the Raccoons tried to made me feel better with a 3-spot in the second inning. Gonzalez and Luna opened with singles, Alex Adame drove an RBI double to right, and Luna scored on a passed ball. While Rich Seymour struck out, Hils drove in another run for himself with a groundout to Zach Suggs. Preble was then on in the third, was forced out by Maldo, but Maldo in turn scored on an Eduardo Avila triple, 4-0. Hils wasn’t exactly pitching great, giving up plenty of high fly balls, but he kept the Loggers shut out early on, while the Loggers seemed unable to keep the Coons off the bags. Gabe Butler walked the bases full with the 5-6-7 batters and one gone in the fifth inning, but then squeezed out the Coons’ Seymour and Hils, who made poor outs and left everybody stranded. Two more were left on the inning after, while Milwaukee’s Tony Sanchez drove an RBI double to score Zach Suggs in the bottom 6th and shorten the score to 4-1 against a Dave Hils that had been long torn in half by a proper team. Against the Loggers, he lasted seven innings on 103 pitches. And then Nate Norris got shredded in the bottom 8th. No stuff, no control, a hit and two walks to load the bases, and then Sanchez singled home a pair on a 3-2 pitch with only one out. Mike Lynn replaced him, got a double play comebacker from PH David Nagel, and that ended the inning. Since he had already pants on, and a hat, Lynn would also get the ninth inning with no cushion, and walked Tony Ferrusquia, but then got a K on Jose Delgado to end the game. 4-3 Raccoons. Adame 1-2, 2 BB, 2B, RBI; Hils 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, W (8-4) and 1-4, RBI;

Armando Herrera ended up on the DL with back spasms, but Dr. Padilla opined that 15 days might be enough.

There I was, having looked forward to disposing of Rich Seymour (.183, 0 HR, 7 RBI), but now I only got to interact with the DL rather than the Alley Cats…

Game 2
POR: CF Watt – SS Adame – 1B Maldonado – 2B Waters – LF Preble – RF Gurney – 3B Crispin – C Gonzalez – P Salcido
MIL: LF J. Delgado – 3B N. Jackson – SS Z. Suggs – 1B E. Hernandez – RF McIntyre – C T. Sanchez – CF de Lemos – 2B Barrington – P Morrill

Victory remained a dim concept for Victor Salcido, who got lit up in all the colors of the rainbow in the second inning on Tuesday. Ernesto Hernandez homered to right, after which he hit not one, but two batters with pitches, Sanchez and former top prospect Dave de Lemos, batting all of .216. Worse yet, there were two outs, and John Morrill slapped an RBI single, a move mirrored by Jose Delgado afterwards. Nick Jackson grounded out, ending a dismal inning at 3-0. It didn’t get much better after that. Sanchez doubled home Hernandez in the bottom 3rd, 4-0, and the bases filled up through more incompetence, again with two outs. Morrill this time grounded out to Matt Waters, sharply…

While Maldo brought in Adame and his leadoff triple with a fourth-inning groundout, Salcido ended up getting yanked in the same inning after two more walks issued around an RBI knock by Zach Suggs, which sugged. The Coons went to Polibio O’Higgins, who got out of the inning with a grounder to Adame and a Will McIntyre fly to the fence in left that Preble barely got to.

Despite the fireworks, the Coons almost took Salcido off his well-deserved (3.1 IP, 8 H, 4 BB, 0 K) hook in the fifth, getting Avila and Watt on base with two outs, after which Adame slapped an RBI single, and Maldo beat de Lemos for a 2-run double. Waters whiffed, though, and we remained just short at 5-4. And for what? For Preston Porter to get rushed for five hits and three runs by THE LOGGERS before the baseball gods’ tears of laughter brought a rain delay to the game that I used for staring silently and pondering where it had all gone wrong so badly. Ponce had a run beaten out of him in the sixth, after which the Coons somehow placed Seymour and Watt on base and Adame bashed his second triple of the game, shortening the score to 9-6 in the top 7th against lefty Chris Cortright. Maldo’s sac fly made it 9-7, but Waters ended the inning again. Then, next pitcher, next beating, with Danny Cancel walking the leadoff man Delgado on four pitches in the bottom 7th, then got roughed up with a Suggs RBI single, Hernandez double (although Hernandez also roughed himself up and left the game), and a McIntyre sac fly that was plenty deep. And yet, the tying run was at the plate with two outs in the eighth, Matt Watt facing righty Chris Kaye with Crispin and Gonzalez having reached base on merit, and Seymour… having reached base at all. Watt of course popped out easily to Dave de Lemos to piss the inning away. Cancel, the useless ****, was then ravaged for another four runs without even finishing the bottom 8th, requiring rescue by Norris. 15-7 Loggers. Adame 3-5, 2 3B, 3 RBI; Maldonado 2-4, 2 2B, 4 RBI; Avila (PH) 1-1;

22 base hits. That’s … that’s just for the Loggers, mind.

The time of sentimentalities was over. Danny Cancel (0-0, 11.42 ERA) was unceremoniously purged. Brett Lillis jr. was recalled, this time as a reliever.

Game 3
POR: CF Watt – SS Adame – 1B Maldonado – 2B Waters – LF Preble – RF Gurney – 3B Crispin – C Gardner – P Wolinsky
MIL: LF J. Delgado – CF B. Allen – 1B Lovell – RF McIntyre – C T. Sanchez – 2B Barrington – SS M. Grant – 3B N. Jackson – P Hollis

Matt Watt walked, then was caught stealing. Adame singled, Maldo tripled, and Waters hit a run-scoring grounder for a 2-0 lead in the first anyway. The Coons managed to blow that right away, too, with Bubba Wolinsky continuing to lose his fight against the 5+ ERA zone, allowing a single to Brent Allen, then nicking both McIntyre and Sanchez with two ******* outs. He walked in a run against Barrington, and Mike Grant reached on an error by Waters, tying the game. How Jackson didn’t hit a slam but grounded out was beyond me entirely. Gurney, Wolinsky, and Watt loaded the bases in the second, but Adame flew out to center to leave them all on.

Wolinsky continued to display zero control, best evidenced by the fourth, in which he drilled Jackson and walked Delgado, somehow without getting blown up. Baffling fact, though: in 6.1 innings of “watch out for your head” ball, the Loggers landed only three hits of an extremely erratic Wolinsky, and didn’t score again. Nor did the Coons, giving both Wolinsky and Hollis no-decisions in a 2-2 stall. But Porter got in line for a W for cleaning up behind Bubba; Ed Crispin reached base and stole second in both the sixth and eighth innings. He was ignored the first time, but the second time Wade Gardner got hold of a Kaye pitch and crushed a 2-run homer to left to break the 2-2 tie. That homer was the balance in the end – Lynn and Moreno, a rather formidable 8-9 squad for a team waiting for a bus to nowhere, held the Loggers to a Ferrusquia single in the last two innings to put the game away. 4-2 Coons. Maldonado 2-5, 3B, RBI; Preble 2-5;

Game 4
POR: CF Watt – RF Avila – 1B Maldonado – SS Waters – LF Preble – 3B Crispin – C Gonzalez – 2B Seymour – P Merino
MIL: 2B Barrington – CF B. Allen – 1B E. Hernandez – C T. Sanchez – LF de Lemos – SS M. Grant – RF Lovell – 3B N. Jackson – P V. Padilla

The Coons went up 2-0 again in the Thursday finale, this time in the second, but it was Crispin again who scored the tie-breaking run, this time on a Ruben Gonzalez homer to left. But the Raccoons couldn’t do it without casualties right now, it seemed, as Mike Preble would make a lunging grab on a Victor Padilla fly in the bottom 3rd, but hit the ground hard and consulted Dr. Padilla after the inning, then was absent from the field by the Coons’ next defensive inning, replaced by Brian Nigro. The Loggers had two hits in that bottom 4th, from Barrington and Sanchez, but also ran into an 8-5-4-6 double play on that Sanchez single.

While Padilla allowed just one more hit to Mike Grant through six, the Raccoons actually tacked on eventually. Nigro popped out with Watt and Maldo on the corners in the fifth, and Crispin was stranded once more in the sixth, but in the seventh Watt and Avila got on against Padilla to begin the inning. Maldo flew out, but Matt Waters – still in a slump off the DL – whacked a much-needed RBI double to left to prevent a drop under the .260 mark for the day. Nigro popped out again for the second out, but Ed Crispin drove in his first two runs in the Bigs with a 2-out single to shallow left-center where everybody went on contact. Then Merino stumbled, giving up a run on a 2-out Grant single in the bottom 7th to narrow the score to 5-1. Grant plated Brent Allen, who had opened the inning with an infield single. Hernandez then walked, and Merino got two outs easily, but was beaten by Grant. He then grounded out Pat Lovell to Waters to end the bottom 7th. Merino returned for the eighth, but was knocked out with two outs after a walk, single, and RBI double. The Coons sent Moreno, who gave up a 2-run single to Sanchez, 5-4, another single to de Lemos that sent the tying run to third base, and then got Grant out to Seymour, somehow, upon which Matt Waters took Angelo Munoz deep in the ninth for a tack-on run. Moreno still didn’t get the save. He popped out Pat Lovell to begin the ninth, but then shook his head repeatedly and that caught the attention of Dr. Padilla. I sighed while he collected Moreno from the mound. Mike Lynn would finish off the game within two more batters. 6-4 Raccoons. Maldonado 2-5; Waters 2-5, HR, 2B, 2 RBI;

The carnage report showed only “mild” injuries. Moreno was day-to-day with neck stiffness. Preble had a bruised rib cage and was also day-to-day. He might take a week-plus to get back to 100% (but the All Star break was looming) and would definitely be available for light duty at least, but would not be in the lineup at least on Friday.

Raccoons (42-44) vs. Indians (41-45) – July 9-11, 2049

These teams had fought for first in recent years, now the price was third, and maybe finishing .500… The Indians were ninth in runs scored and third in runs allowed, with a +27 run differential that hinted at rotten luck. The Coons’ run differential was +1, hinting at mediocrity. The season series was 5-4 in the Critters’ favor, and this was the final series before the All Star Game.

Projected matchups:
Jason Wheatley (6-6, 3.42 ERA) vs. Bill Drury (6-9, 3.77 ERA)
Dave Hils (8-4, 4.54 ERA) vs. Tan Brink (1-3, 2.88 ERA)
Victor Salcido (1-5, 3.93 ERA) vs. Bill Nichol (7-8, 2.48 ERA)

Only right-handers up. No Andrew Russ to terrorize me – he was on the DL with a broken foot. Good! – (slaps paws on his snout and looks panicked, fearing the baseball gods were listening)

Game 1
IND: CF A. Mendez – 2B H. Acosta – RF B. Quinteros – LF D. Rivera – 3B B. Anderson – 1B Brayboy – C J. Rose – SS de Castro – P Drury
POR: LF Watt – RF Gurney – 1B Maldonado – 2B Waters – CF Nigro – SS Adame – 3B Crispin – C Gardner – P Wheatley

Single, single, walk – not the start we envisioned from “Second Half” Wheatley in the opener. Danny Rivera brought in a run with a double-play grounder, and Bobby Anderson singled home one more before a K to official ******** Aaron Brayboy ended the damn inning, down 2-0. While Wheats made it through six with only an unearned run blamed on Gurney, putting Angel Mendez on to begin the top 3rd, he never stopped looking like a confused freshman on orientation day, and made me groan a lot. So was the offense, which had nothing through five before Watt, Maldo, and Waters all reached base in the bottom 6th, but that also only amounted to one run on a Waters single, and the Coons were down 3-1 after six. Wheats pitched another inning, allowing a 2-out single to Drury (…), but getting Mendez to fly out easily. He was hit for in the bottom 7th with Crispin on first and two outs, and the Coons sent Mike Preble… who struck out.

Ponce did the eighth and held the Indians in place, and then Matt Watt opened the bottom 8th with a triple before scoring on a passed ball charged to Jason Rose. Drury walked Maldo and Waters, putting the tying and go-ahead runs on base, but rung up Nigro in a full count, and Maldo had to stop at third base on Adame’s shy single that followed. Here was a pretty big spot, and the Raccoons had arrived at Ed Crispin of 23 major league at-bats and a .575 OPS. Eddy Luna would pinch-hit for the kit and coaxed a bases-loaded walk, tying the game and taking Wheatley off the hook. Wade Gardner was lifted for Eduardo Avila, who shoved a 2-run single through the left side to flip the game all around…! I high-fived with Slappy, briefly, then remembered that it was all for naught and the plunge was still picking up pace overall, and sunk deeper into the cushions. Ruben Gonzalez ended the inning batting for Ponce, with the ball then going to Nate Norris. Neither of our two more established closers were available, Moreno with the neck and Lynn for pitching to lots o’ Loggers. Jason Rose hit a 1-out single between K’s to Brayboy and Alex de Castro, but Jordan Santiago’s fly to center ended up with Nigro to end the game. 5-3 Critters. Watt 2-4, 3B; Waters 2-3, BB, RBI; Avila (PH) 1-1, 2 RBI;

First save for Norris as a Critter, including his first stint with the team in 2044-45. Has 16 wins though.

Game 2
IND: CF A. Mendez – 2B H. Acosta – RF B. Quinteros – LF D. Rivera – 3B B. Anderson – 1B Brayboy – C DeFrank – SS de Castro – P Brink
POR: CF Watt – LF Gurney – 1B Maldonado – 2B Waters – 3B Luna – SS Adame – RF Avila – C Gonzalez – P Hils

An early rain delay paused the action after two innings and 28 pitches for Dave Hils, and ultimately got him out of the game after five. Brayboy singled home a run off him in the second, and Rivera went deep in the fourth for a 2-0 Indians lead, before the Coons ever landed a base knock; Gurney then singled up the middle in the bottom 4th, but was doubled off by Maldo, the second two-for-one found by the well-compensated veteran in this game. The Raccoons did scratch out a rally in the fifth, though. Waters opened with a double to left, and Luna singled to put the tying runs on the corners. Adame hit into a fielder’s choice bringing in Waters, 2-1, stole second base with two outs, and that prompted an intentional walk to Gonzalez. Here, the Coons sent Mike Preble to pinch-hit, and this time the move worked, as he slapped a game-tying single through the left side. Watt flew out to Bill Quinteros, leaving Hils without a decision.

Quinteros then doubled off Lillis jr., then scored on a Bobby Anderson single to grab a new 3-2 lead in the sixth for Indy. The Coons came back with two outs in the bottom 6th, getting Waters and Luna on the corners once more, then got an RBI single from Adame. The runners then swiped bags in unison, then scored together when Avila rammed a drive off the wall in leftfield for a go-ahead, 2-run double…!

O’Higgins answered with an 8-pitch seventh, and Watt and Gurney found the corners in the same inning, but then Maldo also found a THIRD double play. The eighth was largely uneventful, but then Nelson Moreno was well enough to pitch the ninth inning. He got two outs before Santiago singled with two outs. Philip Locke hit for Mendez as the tying run, but grounded out easily. 5-3 Raccoons. Gurney 2-4; Waters 2-4, 2B; Luna 2-4; Adame 2-3, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Preble (PH) 1-1, RBI;

First career win for Brett Lillis jr. …!

Somehow we were also back to .500 with a 5-1 week to this point, but I had little hope that this would be a permanent arrangement…

Next to Preble, neither Maldo nor Waters were in the lineup on Sunday. Both had made the All Star Game and would get an extra day of rest here… or as long as it would last at least.

Game 3
IND: CF A. Mendez – 2B H. Acosta – RF B. Quinteros – LF D. Rivera – 3B B. Anderson – 1B Brayboy – C DeFrank – SS de Castro – P Nichol
POR: CF Watt – SS Adame – 3B Luna – 1B Gurney – LF Avila – RF Nigro – C Gonzalez – 2B Seymour – P Salcido

The Arrowheads took a 2-0 lead again, this time in the third on a Quinteros homer to right. Salcido lacked stuff, bled runners, and Quinteros knew what to do in those cases. It was his 116th career homer. Bottom 3rd, Rich Seymour led off with a single to center. Salcido then couldn’t get a bunt down, but Seymour stole second base at 0-2, the first bag of his career. And then Salcido actually singled to left, driving home Seymour from second to shorten the score to 2-1. Watt forced out the pitcher with a grounder, but an Adame single and a Luna walk loaded the bases with one out for Pat Gurney, but Nichol buckled down, rung up both Gurney and Avila, and I was left moaning and miserable.

It didn’t get much better after that. Salcido put his paws into a meatmincer in the fifth inning, getting bludgeoned for four runs when he couldn’t retire anybody anymore. I didn’t quite know what was the worst thing, the four runs overall or the 2-run double that Brayboy hit in particular… For highlights, O’Higgins struck out the side in the sixth inning, while the Coons had three on and nobody out in the bottom 7th after Nichol issued walks to Gonzalez and Seymour, and Bobby Anderson bungled Lillis’ bunt to load them up. Watt promptly popped out, but Adame dropped an RBI single into right, 6-2. Luna was the tying run, but grounded out to bring in only one, and Gurney flew out to center against Jason Palladino, leaving the Critters 6-3 behind. The tying run was back at the plate with two outs in the eighth after Avila and Seymour had reached. Ed Crispin was already in the #9 hole after a double switch, and would face new pitcher and righty John Steuer… and got carved up. Sang-hoon Kim’s ninth was flawless. 6-3 Indians. Adame 3-5, RBI; Seymour 2-3, BB;

In other news

July 5 – The Indians have an eighth-inning, 10-run rally for a 12-5 win over the Crusaders.
July 6 – DAL SP Noe Candeloro (3-5, 4.50 ERA) is a strike away from a no-hitter against the Scorpions when he gives up a 3-2 single to Sacramento’s Nate Culp (.240, 15 HR, 44 RBI). DAL CL Dale Mrazek (3-3, 4.65 ERA, 17 SV) completes the 3-0 win after that.
July 6 – The Condors pick up 2B/OF Miguel Martinez (.250, 0 HR, 9 RBI) from the Falcons for a handful prospects.
July 6 – CIN OF Nelson Galvan (.298, 0 HR, 33 RBI) is a homer short of the cycle in a 5-hit game as the Cyclones beat the Capitals 8-4. Galvan drives in four runs with two doubles and a triple next to two singles.
July 7 – NAS C Jose Cantu (.292, 11 HR, 45 RBI) has the second 3-homer game of the season after Topeka’s J.P. Angeletti, doing massive damage for 5 RBI in a 14-7 win over the Rebels.
July 7 – VAN OF Angel Escobido (.255, 11 HR, 39 RBI) can’t prevent his team’s 4-0 loss to the Titans, but staves off a combined no-hitter for Boston with a 1-out single in the ninth inning off BOS MR Ron Purcell (3-2, 5.04 ERA, 6 SV). Five pitchers combine for the 1-hitter in a game that starter Jake Jackson (6-3, 4.29 ERA) left with an injury in the second inning.
July 8 – Dallas’ Juan del Toro (.345, 12 HR, 55 RBI) bangs out two homers and three singles for three RBI in a 4-0 win over the Scorpions.
July 8 – Indy trades SP Brian Jackson (5-7, 3.86 ERA) to the Miners for a prospect.
July 9 – CIN INF/LF Chris Delgado (.320, 7 HR, 43 RBI) will miss a month with a bruised kneecap.
July 11 – The Indians acquire SP Paul Medvec (7-6, 2.74 ERA) from the Scorpions for two prospects.

FL Player of the Week: DAL LF/CF Juan del Toro (.345, 12 HR, 55 RBI), batting .565 (13-23) with 3 HR, 7 RBI
CL Player of the Week: BOS 1B Jeff Wheeler (.344, 7 HR, 44 RBI), swatting .519 (14-27) with 1 HR, 7 RBI

Complaints and stuff

We have two All Stars, Matt Waters and Jesus Maldonado (!), who both made it in by winning the voting at their position, in Maldo’s case by just a couple of thousand votes. It’s the second appearance for Waters, who also was nominated last year, and the seventh for Maldo – all consecutively!

Man, Slappy, Cristiano, you guys filling out 10,000 ballots really paid off!

We will be at home for a while longer after the All Star Game, playing three more series with the Loggers, Crusaders, and Thunder before heading out again at the end of the month.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons are third in runs scored in the CL.

Which doesn’t make much sense. We’re batting .253, second from the bottom, and we’re not even up there in homers or stolen bases (sixth, twice). And yet somehow – up there. All the while Maldo was third in RBI on the team with just 38 in 89 games.

Nothing made much sense in this season…

[Westheim]

Service announcement: I'll order a new laptop since this one has now randomly frozen up while doing nothing interesting whatsoever several times. I'll pull a fresh copy of the Coons save right now, because one of the random freeze-ups was literally this morning.

This will also fix the annoying keyboard issues I've battled with for a few months where it just doesn't register keystrokes sometimes. You may have noticed, because I sure didn't add in all the missing Ds and Es and so on...

That does not necessarily mean there will NOT be Coons update in the next week or so (heck, there might be one in a few hours if things behave...), but if there IS no update in the next week or so, you know why.

I hate this electric boogaloo crap. I think I would have been right at home with Stratomatic and a set of dice. I might have made my own multiplication tables for it.

[Westheim]

All Star Game

The Federal League beat the Continental League, 7-2, in this year’s All Star Game. Dallas’ Tylor Cecil went 2-for-2 with a walk and 3 RBI to claim MVP honors. The CL’s scoring solely consisted of solo homers by Vancouver’s Jerry Outram and Portland’s Jesus Maldonado – e.g. the last waltz before the ship is swallowed by the waves.

Maldo went 1-for-3 with a walk in total. Matt Waters pinch-hit and struck out.

Raccoons (44-45) vs. Loggers (31-58) – July 15-18, 2049

The back half of the season started with the back half of the Loggers four-and-four. We were now up 5-3 in the season series, and they were still outlandishly horrible. Second from the bottom in both runs scored and runs allowed, with a -101 run differential.

Projected matchups:
Jason Wheatley (6-6, 3.37 ERA) vs. Victor Padilla (7-10, 5.24 ERA)
Dave Hils (8-4, 4.50 ERA) vs. Gabe Butler (5-9, 4.78 ERA)
Bubba Wolinsky (6-6, 4.79 ERA) vs. John Morrill (6-7, 4.10 ERA)
Victor Salcido (1-6, 4.53 ERA) vs. Noah Hollis (5-9, 4.37 ERA)

Two left, two right.

The Coons also had made an acquisition over the break, bringing in a new intern in some young lady named Autumn that Cristiano Carmona had hired. She was doing some sort of business degree or something. I hadn’t really listened. All I could do was look at the roster and wonder where it had all gone wrong so badly.

Game 1
MIL: LF J. Delgado – CF B. Allen – SS Z. Suggs – 1B E. Hernandez – C T. Sanchez – 3B N. Jackson – RF de Lemos – 2B Barrington – P V. Padilla
POR: CF Watt – RF Avila – 1B Maldonado – SS Waters – LF Preble – 3B Luna – C Gonzalez – 2B Seymour – P Wheatley

Brent Allen singled, Zach Suggs homered, and the Loggers were up 2-0 on Wheats in the first inning, which sugged. Matt Waters, however, homered to left in the bottom 1st with Maldo on base, having drawn a 2-out walk, and tied the game. Things then got stuck there for a while, with a drizzle coming from above, and with Padilla hitting a leadoff single in the third inning. Jose Delgado also singled, but Wheats retired the next three to bugger out of the inning, then got a 4-2 lead in the bottom 4th, soggy as he was, when Ruben Gonzalez doubled to center with Preble and Luna on base to begin the inning. Seymour grounded out, and then the tarp came on to my great annoyance. After 40 minutes, the game resumed with Wheats batting for himself, plating Gonzalez with another groundout, 5-2, then went back to the mound, having thrown 56 pitches before the rain delay. He threw 16 more in the fifth, but went 1-2-3 on the Loggers, as chewy as it was, then was not seen afterwards.

The bottom 5th began with celebrations, as Jesus Maldonado and Mike Preble hit singles – for the former it was his 2,000th base knock in the majors! We took a minute for some fireworks on the scoreboards with some neat flashback clips, and then the inning went on. Eddy Luna grounded to Jack Barrington with two outs, which oughta have ended the inning, but Barrington threw the ball away for two bases and a run. Ruben Gonzalez then grounded out to third base to actually end the fifth. Norris had a clean sixth, while O’Higgins put on Dave de Lemos and Barrington with two outs, but got a groundout from Mike Grant to bail out. O’Higgins continued in the eighth, but retired nobody, facing three and giving up two runs on a Suggs single, which sugged. Lynn came on, got a double play grounder from Ernesto Hernandez and hung a K on Tony Sanchez to restore order. Moreno went 1-2-3 in the ninth to seal the deal and get the Critters back to .500 as if that meant something good. 6-4 Coons. Preble 2-4; Gonzalez 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Adame (PH) 1-1;

Game 2
MIL: LF J. Delgado – 3B N. Jackson – SS Z. Suggs – 1B E. Hernandez – RF McIntyre – C T. Sanchez – RF de Lemos – 2B Barrington – P G. Butler
POR: CF Watt – SS Adame – 1B Maldonado – 2B Waters – LF Preble – RF Avila – 3B Luna – C Gonzalez – P Hils

Jose Delgado opened with an infield single, stole second, and scored eventually on a Hernandez groundout, having reached third on Nick Jackson’s single, so again the Loggers were up early. The Coons got to the corners in the bottom 1st, but Preble popped out to keep Watt and Waters (who forced out Maldo, who hit #2,001) stranded. Instead, Eddy Luna tied the game with a homer in the bottom 2nd instead, and an inning later, Maldo landed hit #2,002 and his fifth homer of the year to grab a 2-1 lead…!

Hils kept his crap together in these innings, holding the Loggers to four hits total through five innings, then slapped a soft 1-out single in the bottom 5th to spark a little something. Watt also singled up the middle, while Adame found the gap in left-center for an RBI double, 3-1. Unfortunately, runners were then left in scoring position on a Maldo comebacker and a K to Waters… Instead, Zach Suggs hit a homer in the sixth, 3-2. The Raccoons loaded them up in the bottom 6th; Luna hit a 2-out single, stole second, and Milwaukee then walked Gonzalez intentionally, only for Butler to plunk Hils and lose Watt to ball four in a full count, forcing home a run. Adame’s next fly to left-center was tracked down by Delgado, ending the inning.

Hils pitched seven and two thirds innings of very fine ball, then was knocked out by a Delgado single, bringing back the tying run in lefty Nick Jackson. Ponce appeared, got a pop behind home plate, and that ended the Loggers’ eighth. Bottom 8th, Chris Kaye filled the bases with nobody out, putting on Gonzalez, Nigro, and Watt in order. Adame flew out to Delgado again, but Gonzalez went home and scored on a terrible throw, on which Delgado also hurt himself quite visibly and was replaced with Tony Ferrusquia. Maldo singled then to fill the bases again for Waters, who drew a bases-loaded walk, 6-2. Preble added one more run with a grounder to first before the Loggers dumped Kaye for Julian Villarreal, who retired Pat Gurney to end the inning. With a 5-run lead, Brett Lillis jr. got the ninth, allowed a leadoff single to Zach Suggs, but then retired the next three in order to finish the contest. 7-2 Coons. Watt 1-2, 3 BB, RBI; Maldonado 3-5, HR, RBI; Luna 2-4, HR, RBI; Nigro (PH) 1-1; Hils 7.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 8 K, W (9-4) and 1-2;

Shoulder strain’s the word on Delgado and he’s out for at least a week.

That comes from improper workout routines, Autumn, as I explained to her the next morning when the Raccoons were working out on the field by having a hot dog eating contest, followed by a group nap on lawn chairs. – No no, Autumn, I don’t want to hear any of your nutritional heresies. Some of these guys won five pennants and three rings with this Saturday regime, before their bodies crapped out at age 33…!

(freezes, lecturing index claw still raised, and stares into the distance, pondering)

Game 3
MIL: LF de Lemos – CF B. Allen – SS Z. Suggs – RF McIntyre – C T. Sanchez – 2B Barrington – 1B Lovell – 3B N. Jackson – P Morrill
POR: CF Watt – SS Adame – 1B Maldonado – 2B Waters – LF Gurney – RF Luna – 3B Crispin – C Gardner – P Wolinsky

Third day, third time the Loggers scored first, but for the first time in unearned fashion. Pat Lovell singled home Tony Sanchez in the top 2nd, with Sanchez having reached scoring position on a particularly gross throwing error by Ed Crispin, which made me open the Capt’n Coma a bit earlier than usual. – Yes, Autumn, this is the point where I try to do something against the pain. – Well, isn’t that sorry to hear that your father and uncle and grandfather all drank themselves to death. – No no, you see, I know when to stop. I stop exactly when the game is over and I can go home for the night. – Yes, sometimes I just fall asleep on the couch and litter the office overnight. Your point?

Not unearned: the run that Dave de Lemos plated by singling home Jackson with two outs in the fifth inning. That made it 2-0, with the Raccoons having done little of value in between. Crispin, the scapegoat in the second, struck out with two aboard to end the bottom 4th for additional tickets in the “who goes back to Florida” lottery. We had only two hits total through five and I saw an L coming, but Maldo had something against that defeatist attitude, found Adame on base to begin the bottom 6th, and cranked a game-tying homer to left, leveling us at two! MALDOOOO!!! The Coons went on to load the bases in the same inning with a Gurney double, Luna walk, and Crispin single, bringing up Wade Gardner with one out. More lottery tickets were doled out with a 5-4-3 double play that wrecked the inning. God ******* damnit!!! – No, Autumn. Where you *really* get in trouble is when you use the name of the *baseball gods* in vain. (looks upwards) I didn’t say anything, Igor! Put that lightning bolt away!

Bubba went seven and held the tie, then was batted for with Brian Nigro to begin the bottom 7th. Nigro walked and stole second, although Morrill walked Watt anyway after that. Adame grounded to short, Suggs fumbled the ball for an error rather than two, which sugged for the Loggers, and that made it three on, no outs, which would surely soon sugg for the Coons, too. Maldo was next and slapped the first pitch he saw up the middle. Suggs missed it narrowly, and Maldo cashed another two RBI with a single to center! Waters grounded out, but Gurney singled up the middle as well for another run, 5-2. The Loggers’ staff now fell apart as a whole, yielding more RBI hits to Luna and Crispin, and Gardner singled to fill the bases again, bringing Nigro to the plate for the second time in the inning, now with three on and one out and Kyle McRay pitching. Nigro walked *again*, pushing home another run. McRay walked in another run against Watt, then gave up an RBI single to Adame, which made it double digits, 10-2, and brought back suddenly scalding hot Jesus Maldonado, who drew *another* bases-loaded walk. Waters, who had made the first out in the inning, made the second out as well, bringing home Watt as he grounded out to first. Gurney then struck out. We then looked for O’Higgins to pitch at least one, maybe two innings. He pitched two outs, and was wrecked for four hits and three runs, ending with a 2-run double by McIntyre. Preston Porter K’ed Tony Sanchez to end the eighth, then spit the ninth with Lillis. 12-5 Furballs. Watt 2-4, 2 BB, RBI; Adame 2-6, RBI; Maldonado 2-3, 2 BB, HR, 5 RBI; Gurney 3-5, 2B, RBI; Luna 2-3, 2 BB, RBI; Crispin 2-5, RBI; Gardner 2-5; Nigro (PH) 0-1, 2 BB, RBI; Wolinsky 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, W (7-6);

Romp!

Game 4
MIL: LF de Lemos – CF B. Allen – SS Z. Suggs – 1B E. Hernandez – C T. Sanchez – 3B N. Jackson – RF Lovell – 2B Barrington – P Hollis
POR: CF Watt – SS Adame – 1B Maldonado – 2B Waters – LF Gurney – RF Nigro – 3B Crispin – C Gonzalez – P Salcido

Salcido had lost six of his last eight starts, with his only W of the season coming on June 5 in the first game after permanent promotion to the major league rotation. He had been blown up by these very same Loggers the week before and was closer to St. Pete than anybody might have thought at this point. He did not allow a runner of his own in the first two innings, although Waters made an error, before the Coons loaded the bags with the 5-6-7 batters and nobody out in the bottom 2nd. Ruben Gonzalez whiffed, but Salcido gave himself a lead with a sac fly to Brent Allen, and then it again got somewhat ugly for Milwaukee; Matt Watt singled home Nigro, and then Adame singled to right, scoring Ed Crispin. Jack Barrington ended the inning with lunge and flip on a Maldo grounder for the third out, Portland up 3-0. – See, Autumn, primitive heads might now think that we’re gonna sweep them, but I’ve seen **** before, and thus I need to unscrew my booze now before it actually gets so bad I need it. You live, you learn!

Salcido struck out four the first time through the Loggers’ order, then gave up his first hit, a Dave de Lemos single with two outs in the third. He walked Allen, and I felt confirmation, but then Suggs grounded out to short to end the frame. Instead the Coons kept scoring in the bottom 3rd. Waters walked, stole second, and came home on a Gurney knock, 4-0. The inning ended at 5-0 with a Crispin single bringing home Gurney, and before Salcido could complete five innings, there was another 40-minute rain delay. (looks skywards) Igor! I didn’t say anything!!! ******* ******** *********!!

While Salcido walked two and was held together by the infielders in the fourth, Gurney tripled home a pair to knock out Hollis in a 7-0 game. Salcido walked de Lemos, but completed the fifth on 77 pitches, which would be all for him, given the rain delay and all. The Coons got two innings from Nate Norris for the cost of a run after Salcido’s departure, but the Coons answered with three pinch-hit RBI’s off the Loggers’ pen in the bottom 7th. Avila batted for Nigro and doubled home two, and Gardner hit for the pitcher Norris and brought in Avila for a 2-out run, 10-1. Ponce conceded a run on three singles in the eighth, while the ninth came from Moreno, with Monday off and all. He completed the sweep. 10-2 Raccoons. Watt 2-4, BB, RBI; Adame 3-5, RBI; Gurney 3-4, BB, 3B, 3 RBI; Nigro 1-2, BB; Avila (PH) 1-1, 2B, 2 RBI; Crispin 3-4, RBI; Gardner (PH) 1-1, RBI; Salcido 5.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 5 K, W (2-6);

In other news

July 12 – DAL LF/CF Juan del Toro (.345, 12 HR 55 RBI) will miss the rest of July with shoulder tendinitis.
July 12 – It will be two months on the sidelines for SFB MR Jeremy Mayhall (4-1, 3.99 ERA, 5 SV), who needs to have bone chips removed from his elbow.
July 15 – Fresh off ASG MVP honors, Dallas’ Tylor Cecil (.347, 18 HR, 77 RBI) cranks three homers and plates *eight* runs in a 13-5 mauling of the Scorpions. This is the third 3-homer day of the season, and it comes only five business days (excluding the break) after Jose Cantu did it with the Blue Sox.
July 17 – The Canadiens crush the Titans, 19-1, with a full dozen runs scored in the third inning alone. Vancouver’s Bob Mancini (.317, 8 HR, 40 RBI) leads the team with three hits and five RBI.
July 18 – SFB C David Alvardo (.321, 2 HR, 7 RBI) breaks a 14th-inning tie with a 2-run homer, giving the Bayhawks an 8-6 win over the Thunder.

FL Player of the Week: NAS 1B Alejandro Ramos (.278, 15 HR, 46 RBI), batting .500 (8-16) with 3 HR, 6 RBI
CL Player of the Week: OCT OF Juan Benavides (.311, 7 HR, 34 RBI), whooping .632 (12-19) with 2 HR, 7 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Oh well, it’s the Loggers. They’re hardly the same species. – Autumn, how am I possibly disrespecting them? Have you seen their stats?? – No, Autumn. Not ALL life is precious…!

Over the break, I shopped some pieces, including our two back-end relivers. No great offers came in, and no offers at all for Mike Lynn. Nelson Moreno got *some* interest, but teams weren’t exactly piling over each other for him.

Maldo won’t go anywhere anyway, and with his big 5-RBI game on Saturday he got within a hundo of the career mark for RBI by franchise leader Manny Fernandez, who retired at 1,110 RBI. That makes Maldo third overall for the Coons with 1,013 RBI, with only Matt Nunley (1,053) in between.

We continue our homestand on Tuesday with the Crusaders and Thunder still to come in before we hit the road for the rest of the month.

We have yet to sign a July free agent, and we’re actually only bidding for one anymore, 18-year-old Dominican hurler Duarte Damasceno. We were in it for three initially, but dropped out of the bidding for Manuel Portillo (who signed with Indy) and Lorenzo Ugalde (who is still out there) when he hit the soft cap each time. None of the three was worth taking a penalty for next year.

Fun Fact: Zach Suggs is the most cost-efficient player on the Loggers, compiling 2.9 WAR so far this year.

He does this on a minimum salary, so that’s $92,068 per win above replacement. Just behind would be Jose Delgado, after which it goes dark for them rather quickly. They have 11 players with less than $1M per WAR, which is not a function of their high payroll (they are bottoms by a lot in team payroll), but more of having so many players with 0.1 to 0.4 WAR. If that.

The Raccoons have nobody with that much cost efficiency, but then again, beyond Salcido we also don’t have a minimum player with more than 0.3 WAR, which somehow is Ed Crispin, who is one of only SEVEN Coons coming in at less than $1M/WAR (top 10 shown):

Player – WAR – Salary – $/WAR
Matt Watt – 2.4 – 550k – 229k
Eddy Luna – 2.3 – 740k – 322k
Victor Salcido – 0.7 – min – 381k
Victor Merino – 1.1 – 660k – 600k
Brian Nigro – 1.0 – 640k – 640k
Matt Waters – 2.2 – 1.43M – 650k
Ed Crispin – 0.3 – min – 890k
Kevin Hitchcock – 0.2 – min – 1.34M
Jason Wheatley – 2.2 – 3.5M – 1.59M
Nelson Moreno – 0.9 – 1.49M – 1.66M

Maldo? 0.5 WAR @ $5.5M. You can do that math yourself. I refuse to do it.

Cristiano – burn this report good. If Nick sees it, I might be in actual trouble for once…..

[Westheim]

The week began with an off day, and by Tuesday, the Raccoons got to activate Armando Herrera from the DL. Ed Crispin (.294, 0 HR, 4 RBI) was returned to AAA to make room.

Raccoons (48-45) vs. Crusaders (41-52) – July 20-22, 2049

Well out of it, the Crusaders were in fifth place in the North. They ranked sixth in runs scored, seventh in runs allowed, and we held a 5-4 lead in the season series. Injuries had decimated their pitching staff especially, with Carlos Malla, Jerry Felix, and Jeff Frank down, but they were also without Randolph Nash, Ed Haertling, and Aaron Foss by this point as the roster kept getting thinner for them.

Projected matchups:
Victor Merino (8-5, 4.53 ERA) vs. Taylor Stabile (6-3, 2.74 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (7-6, 3.38 ERA) vs. Jeff Johnson (8-7, 3.49 ERA)
Dave Hils (9-4, 4.36 ERA) vs. Jim White (5-11, 4.15 ERA)

Only right-handers to see here.

Game 1
NYC: 3B Haney – LF Garris – SS Gates – 1B D. Hernandez – 2B R. Martinez – C Brewer – RF Arens – CF Ceballos – P Stabile
POR: LF Watt – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – RF Nigro – SS Adame – C Gardner – P Merino

Merino fell behind on homers by Dave Hernandez and Aaron Brewer, both solo shots, in the second inning, and while Wade Gardner singled home Pat Gurney in the bottom 2nd to make up one of the two runs, by the fourth inning the Crusaders appeared set to single Merino to death. Prince Gates and Hernandez opened the inning with base hits. Ricardo Martinez flew out to center, but Aaron Brewer singled to right-center. Gates scored, with Gurney as the cut-off man noticing the trail runners also advancing and instead firing to third base, where Hernandez and Maldonado collided viciously, complete with caps and false teeth flying, and both were out – Hernandez on the ump’s call, and Maldo on suffering some sort of old man’s pain or other. He was replaced by Eddy Luna. Merino then allowed another single to Ron Arens, then beaned Mario Ceballos out of the game; Nick Crocker took his spot as the bases were loaded with two outs and Stabile up, whom Merino had stupendously walked to begin the top 3rd, but who grounded out now to end a dismal inning.

Top 5th, Mark Haney singled, Josh Garris walked, and Merino was ready for lifting before getting two soft outs. Martinez however sent a drive to deep left and I groaned… but Watt made a good dash for it *and* the catch, stranding the runners in scoring position! A soft leadoff single by Wade Gardner and a sharp 1-out single by Matt Watt then put the tying runs on the corners in the bottom of the inning. Stabile lost Herrera on balls to fill the bases, but Eddy Luna popped out to short. Waters was still slumping, but laid off the garbage to draw a bases-loaded walk, shortening the gap to 3-2, but then Gurney flew out to center. And then Stabile singled home Ron Arens with two outs in the sixth against Merino, and I was ready for the season to officially end…

The tying runs were on with Nigro and Adame to begin the bottom 6th, but Gardner, Preble, and Watt made poor outs in order and nobody scored. Nate Norris then retired absolutely ******** nobody in the seventh inning; Gates walked, Hernandez and PH Randy Anton singled, and Norris fumbled a comebacker from Brewer for another base runner, leaving with one run in and three Purple Poopers on the bases with nobody out. Ponce replaced him and ****** up no less badly. PH Danny Rico hit a sac fly, Crocker walked. Stabile singled home another run, as did Mark Haney. Garris plated a run with a groundout. Gates then singled home two more off O’Higgins before Hernandez grounded out to short. All in all, a 7-run seventh, three of them earned, all deserved, and I casually remarked that it wouldn’t be so bad if the team bus crashed into a flood-swollen river on the way to the airport on Sunday, which deeply upset Autumn, who protested that all life was precious. She had apparently not been watching the game.

Because the amount of misery was still insufficient according to the baseball gods, the Coons made up a run with the RBI going to Waters by a groundout (eh…) in the bottom 7th, before the umpires – in an EIGHT-RUN GAME – made us sit out a rain delay of AN HOUR AND A HALF in the eighth inning. Somebody reportedly hollered “Eh!! Blue!! You SUUUUUCK!!” from somewhere high up in the bleach areas, and it might have been me. When play resumed, Brett Lillis jr. pitched the last five outs. Mike Preble hit a homer in the bottom 8th. Nobody cared. Only the incorrigibles were left at the ballpark anyway. 11-4 Crusaders. Herrera 2-4, BB; Luna 2-3; Gardner 2-4, RBI;

This was the last game with New York for Ricardo Martinez (.269, 7 HR, 44 RBI), who was traded to Dallas for ex-Coon Chris Robinson (.184, 0 HR, 6 RBI) afterwards.

Game 2
NYC: 3B Haney – RF C. Robinson – 3B Gates – C O. Ramirez – 1B D. Hernandez – LF Garris – SS Labedz – CF Arens – P J. Johnson
POR: LF Watt – CF Herrera – RF Preble – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – SS Adame – 3B Luna – C Gonzalez – P Wheatley

While Luna homered with Gurney aboard for a quick 2-0 lead in the bottom 2nd, Wheats only allowed Garris aboard the first time through, issuing a walk in a full count to the outfielder. That was the only New York runner through five, Wheats whiffing as many, while the Raccoons failed to tack on. Waters almost hit a 2-out homer in the third, but was denied by Robinson at the fence (angrily shakes fist), while Luna doubled in the bottom 4th but was left on with an intentional walk to Ruben Gonzalez and a K on Wheats. Bottom 5th, Watt drew a leadoff walk, then was doubled home by Preble with one out, 3-0.

Ron Arens then broke up the no-hit bid with an 0-2 single up the middle to begin the sixth inning. Wheats was visibly angry with himself, then turned Jeff Johnson’s bunt into a 1-6-3 double play purely out of spite. Haney popped out to complete six for New York. The bottom 6th saw Luna leg out an infield single, which put him a triple shy of the cycle. He again didn’t score, but not because of Wheats, who hit a 2-out double. Watt then left the pair in scoring position, grounding out to second.

And then Wheats exploded in the seventh. Gates hit a 1-out single, and Omar Ramirez struck out after that. And then nobody made an out anymore. Dave Hernandez doubled. Wheats threw a wild pitch to score Gates. Garris singled home Hernandez. Anton singled. Arens singled, tying the game. Omar Sanchez singled, giving New York the lead. Wheats was finally removed, screaming into his glove as he left the field, while I screamed into my bottle of Capt’n Coma. Porter got a groundout from Haney, but my big black googly eyes were wet anyway.

Luna would come up in the bottom 8th, with Adame on second as the tying run after doubling off Eddie Sopena, with righty Kyle Conner in as replacement, and one out. Luna needed a triple, but struck out, and Gonzalez grounded out to kill the inning for good. Lynn had pitched the eighth and got one more out in the ninth before the Coons, who had the #9 spot to begin the bottom 9th, double-switched out the battery for Moreno and Gardner. Moreno got the last two outs in the top 9th, while Gardner singled to begin the bottom 9th. Watt walked, pushing the tying run to second base and representing the winning run on base himself. Sean Yates struck out Herrera, but walked Preble to fill the bases. Waters had another 0-for-3 around his neck, but there was also no reasonable pinch-hitting for him. I shrugged. Waters whiffed. I shrugged some more. Gurney staved off defeat, slapping a single over Danny Rico at second base on the first pitch, but Adame flew out to center, sending an annoying game to extras, where Moreno had a 1-2-3 tenth, with Luna getting another chance for the cycle, leading off the bottom 10th against Yates, but this time walked. Nigro batted for Moreno, ran a full count, then doubled, but Luna was held at third base against the arm of Chris Robinson. Winning run at third, no outs, the Coons dragged it out. Gardner made an out to third base, pinning the runners, while Watt grinded out a walk to set up a double play to send us to the 11th. Herrera grounded to the shortstop’s area left of second base – but the Crusaders didn’t have a shortstop there anymore. Using up the entire bench and some shuffles had left Haney at short, and he didn’t reach that ball, allowing Herrera to walk off the Critters. 5-4 Raccoons. Preble 3-4, BB, 2 2B, RBI; Gurney 2-4, BB, RBI; Luna 3-4, BB, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Nigro (PH) 1-1; Gardner 1-2; Moreno 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, W (1-1);

Game 3
NYC: 2B Haney – SS O. Sanchez – 3B Gates – C O. Ramirez – LF Garris – RF C. Robinson – 1B Anton – CF Arens – P J. White
POR: LF Watt – CF Herrera – RF Preble – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – SS Adame – 3B Luna – C Gonzalez – P Hils

Preble homered in the first for a 1-0 lead in the rubber game under dark clouds, his 13th of the season, breaking a tie in the rather subdued race for first with Waters. It was still 1-0 when Jim White left the game with an injury in the third inning, replaced by Leborio Valdevesso. The dark clouds soon opened, giving us a 25-minute rain delay in the fourth, and Hils allowed only two hits in 5.2 innings, but with some long counts and the rain delay was then lifted for Julian Ponce against a heavily lefty-leaning lineup. Ponce struck out Ramirez to complete the top 6th and keep the 1-0 lead in one piece.

1-0 became 4-0 in the bottom 6th with Sopena pitching. Herrera and Preble reached on consecutive errors by Gates and Haney, and then Waters unloaded all of the slump, hopefully, into a 452-footer to right. The ball was just GONE – and the home run race on the team was tied again, with both him and Preble at 13 now. Edwin Sopena was gone, with Jonathan Ramsey taking over. He walked Gurney, and Adame reached on an error by Omar Sanchez, as the inning began to devolve into a third-rate comedy. Luna singled to load them up, Gonzalez whiffed, and the Coons wished to keep Ponce around to pitch and batted him with three on and two outs, ending the inning with a K. Ponce had a clean seventh, then allowed a leadoff single to Arens in the eighth. Norris got a double play from the pinch-hitting Dave Hernandez on his way out of the eighth then. Bottom 8th, Waters doubled off Matt Fries, then scored on a throwing error by Sanchez – which made for four New York errors against three base hits – while Lillis got the ninth in a 5-0 game. Sanchez and Gates hit singles off him, but he was about to get out of it when Luna threw away Robinson’s 2-out grounder for a run-scoring error. The Raccoons twitched, sent Mike Lynn, and he got a K from Anton to end the game and send the Crusaders out of town. 5-1 Coons. Waters 2-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Luna 2-4; Hils 5.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K, W (10-4);

Still not processed by the end of the series, or the start of the next? Maldo.

Dr. Padilla, what’s up with Maldonado? – What do you mean, who is Maldoado?? He should be somewhere down in your butchery! – Well, then stop having coffee with Autumn and go look for him!

(shakes head)

Slappy, you shaved?? – But it’s the middle of the season!

Raccoons (50-46) vs. Thunder (57-40) – July 23-25, 2049

The Thunder came in half a game ahead of the Bayhawks for the lead in the South, with the Condors just 3 1/2 behind. We had lost two of three of them so far, and they came in with no injuries, and while leading the league in runs scored, batting average and homers. Speed was not their thing, nor was defense. Their pitching was sixth in runs allowed, as well as starters’ and bullpen ERA.

Projected matchups:
Bubba Wolinsky (7-6, 4.55 ERA) vs. Ben Lehman (6-6, 3.82 ERA)
Victor Salcido (2-6, 4.16 ERA) vs. J.J. Hendrix (2-3, 6.48 ERA)
Victor Merino (8-6, 4.61 ERA) vs. Victor Marquez (9-5, 2.26 ERA)

Southpaw Sunday…! Although an off day could also allow them to skip Hendrix, move up Marquez, and send righty Juan Ramos (7-5, 3.90 ERA) on Sunday instead.

Game 1
OCT: 3B A. Montes de Oca – 2B Ban – 1B B. Jenkins – LF Humphreys – RF Benavides – SS R. Cox – C Adames – CF M. Allen – P Lehman
POR: CF Watt – 3B Luna – LF Preble – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – SS Adame – RF Nigro – C Gardner – P Wolinsky

Bubba struck out four the first time through, but also fell behind 1-0 on a Jesus Adames homer in the second inning. He nicked Angel Montes de Oca with two outs in the third, then gave up a run on two more singles after that, 2-0. Luna singled home a run in the bottom 3rd to get the Coons on the board, the runner scoring being Bubba, who had bunted badly to force out Wade Gardner. The Coons had two on in the bottom 4th, didn’t do anything, then found themselves 4-1 down in the fifth when Steve Humphreys doubled and Juan Benavides homered to right-center. Bubba Wolinsky, once again, was just not having much of anything…

Luna walked with two outs in the bottom 5th, stole second, and was then singled home by Preble, 4-2, but Waters grounded out to end that inning. I was then distracted by bickering, Maud being upset that Slappy had shaved on a random Friday in the middle of the season, but hadn’t shaved for her birthday a couple weeks earlier. By the time bickering was over, Wolinsky was gone in the sixth, Porter finishing that inning, and the Raccoons were batting in the bottom 6th. Gurney got on base with a leadoff walk, and then Adame crammed an RBI triple into the leftfield corner. The score was shortened to 4-3, but Adame limped off after calling for time, and the Raccoons had another injured infielder. Rich Seymour ran for him, but was also stranded when Lehman struck out Nigro, struck out Gardner, and got a groundout from Herrera… The game then fell apart in the seventh, which the Raccoons intended to be pitched by O’Higgins, who got one out and put runners on the corners before being lifted for Lillis, who got romped for one out and four runs (two charged to O’Higgins) before Nate Norris had to come in just to end the ******* inning. Norris pitched the eighth, Ponce the ninth, all in another waste of everybody’s time. 8-3 Thunder. Preble 2-4, RBI; Gonzalez (PH) 1-1;

Okay, plenty of roster moves after this one. First, Alex Adame hit the DL with an intercostal strain. 15 days should be enough for him to get it back together. Then, both Brett Lillis jr. (1-1, 4.35 ERA) and Polibio O’Higgins (0-0, 7.56 ERA) were purged back to St. Pete for being underdone and wildly unhelpful.

And by Saturday we also discovered, finally, a fracture in Jesus Maldonado’s ankle that would put the old man out for the season. He ended up on the 60-day DL, with the 40-man roster currently full.

The roster was restocked with Kevin Hitchcock (1.04 ERA in AAA) and 2045 10th-rounder Bryan Lenderink (0.89 ERA in AAA!), the latter being a 25-year-old righty with a 91mph heater and a neat curve that was not going to be part of a championship winner, but at this stage the only reasonable goal was to click off another 65 games with some sort of dignity. On the batting side, Ed Crispin returned after four days away, and we also divined to give Lorenzo Lavorano, popular prospect even though he had never been ranked in the top 100, his major league debut while Adame was down. Lavorano was an elite level defensive shortstop that at age 22 was hitting a nice .280 with five homers for the Alley Cats. He could steal bases almost at will, too, and we kinda had high hopes for this player that had been washed in as a random scouting discovery from the Dominican Republic six years earlier. Our scout on location down there had found him while watching a group of boys harvesting fruit in an orchard, with Lavorano chugging the fruit to the next boy over with deadly precision, and beating fruit refusing to be shaken off with a stick with great vigor.

Great vigor can give you a job on this team…!

Game 2
OCT: 3B A. Montes de Oca – 2B Ban – RF Benavides – SS R. Cox – LF Humphreys – 1B B. Jenkins – CF M. Allen – C Adames – P Hendrix
POR: 3B Luna – CF Herrera – LF Preble – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – SS Lavorano – RF Nigro – C Gonzalez – P Salcido

Jonathan Ban singled, Ryan Cox homered, 2-0 Thunder in the first. Lavorano reached base his first time up… on a throwing error, which plated Pat Gurney, who had shoved a 1-out triple into the corner in rightfield just ahead of the debutee, who was left on base carrying the tying run. Salcido whacked a leadoff double to left in the bottom 3rd, then was left to rot on second base by the 1-2-3 batters. Whiff, pop, pop, inning over. A disappointed Salcido returned to the mound, then immediately gave up a blast to Humphreys to begin the fourth, 3-1. Adames singled, Hendrix doubled (…), Montes walked, and somehow Jonathan Ban grounded out to Gurney to strand the whole lot of them. Bottom 4th, leadoff double off the wall for Waters…! He, too, was stranded. F8, K, F1. I had enough – I went for the cookie jar, having to fight for access to it with Jesus Maldonado, who, hindpaw in a red cast, was inexplicably laid up on the trusty brown couch with Slappy and me, and kept blinking at Autumn, who kept blinking back. By the fifth, Slappy and Maldo were hissing at each other for Autumn’s attention.

By the sixth, Salcido gave up another run, Adames singling home Bill Jenkins, and by the seventh, we were in the pen. Salcido departed with Benavides and Humphreys on the corners and two outs, with Hitchcock getting Jenkins out to end the inning. Nigro and Crispin reached base in the bottom 7th, but were stranded when Luna fanned. To begin the eighth then, Bryan Lenderink became the second Coons debutee in this game. He gave up five straight singles and three runs before retiring ******* anybody, then got Benavides, Cox, and Humphreys in order while stranding a pair, which also made the casual observer realize that the Coons had given up on this game. The cavalry wasn’t gonna come – fix your own mess, will ya!? The Coons entered the bottom 9th trailing by five, then put Nigro and Gonzalez on base against Brian Grohoski to begin the inning. Crispin popped out, Watt whiffed, and Herrera flew out to center. 7-2 Thunder. Waters 2-4, 2B; Gurney 2-4, 3B, RBI; Crispin (PH) 1-2;

Lavorano went zip in his debut, but at least didn’t make stupid errors, which technically beats out two innings of 3-run ball for Lenderink in my book, thus earning the worthless title of Debutee of the Day…

Game 3
OCT: 3B A. Montes de Oca – 2B Ban – 1B B. Jenkins – LF Humphreys – RF Benavides – SS R. Cox – C Adames – CF M. Allen – P V. Marquez
POR: 3B Luna – CF Herrera – LF Preble – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – RF Avila – SS Lavorano – C Gonzalez – P Merino

Montes opened the Sunday game with a triple to left, Merino walked Ban, and Jenkins cleaned up with a run-scoring, 6-4-3 double play. The Coons also hit into a double play in the first. Waters was the guilty party, following three singles with the 6-4-3 killer. No runs scored – Luna had been caught stealing before Herrera and Preble got on. Adames homered in the second, 2-0, but the Thunder then lost Marquez to injury in the third inning. Felix Alvarez, a righty, took over with one out and nobody on. Luna would reach on an error, but was left stranded. Bill Jenkins then fell on a leadoff double in the top 4th, limping off supported by the Thunder trainer and replaced by Jim Price. The pinch-runner scored on a Benavides single, 3-0.

Alvarez gave up the first big league hit to Lorenzo Lavorano, a fifth-inning single. Nothing great came off it, Lavorano being then caught stealing by Adames. Alvarez pitched 3.2 innings to thoroughly earn the W, while Merino drowned with the bases loaded and one out in the seventh. Bobby Schmitt pinch-hit for Alvarez in that precise spot, with the Coons countering with Preston Porter, who got a K from Schmitt and a grounder to Waters from Montes to salvage Merino’s line. Nothing could salvage the Coons’ batting lines, though. Tom Spencer, Elijah Powell, and Brian Grohoski followed Alvarez to complete a 7-hit shutout. 3-0 Thunder. Herrera 2-4, 2B;

In other news

July 20 – ATL OF Jon Alade (.254, 5 HR, 51 RBI) is going to miss three to four weeks with a knee sprain.
July 21 – The Condors receive 1B/2B/LF/RF Bob Mancini (.321, 8 HR, 41 RBI) from the Canadiens for OF Tim Burkhart (.259, 7 HR, 35 RBI).
July 24 – New York loses two players on Saturday: SP Jim White (5-12, 4.13 ERA) is headed for surgery for a stretched elbow ligament and will miss up to 12 months, while INF Prince Gates (.306, 3 HR, 45 RBI) breaks his thumb sliding into a base and could also miss the rest of the season.
July 24 – The Condors pick up SP Larry Colwell (6-3, 3.83 ERA) from the Knights for #39 prospect, SP Kyle Brobeck.
July 25 – The Miners drum the Scorpions, 17-1, with six RBI’s each being piled up by 1B/2B Mario Briones (.276, 6 HR, 52 RBI) and LF/RF Pablo Gonzalez (.264, 6 HR, 35 RBI), their 7-8 hitters in that game, with Briones in addition missing the cycle by the double.
July 25 – CIN LF/1B/RF Eddie Moreno (.245, 16 HR, 60 RBI) hits the DL with a back strain for at least three weeks.

FL Player of the Week: RIC INF Felix Vazquez (.301, 4 HR, 22 RBI), batting .429 (12-28) with 2 HR, 7 RBI
CL Player of the Week: CHA 1B Raul Sevilla (.265, 10 HR, 52 RBI), hitting .500 (13-26) with 1 HR, 8 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Outscored, 34-19, this week, Maldo out for the season, and who are all those faces on the roster?? The next years will be hard on me. – Yeah yeah, Autumn, and the fans. Why does nobody ever think of the kids…!?

We are very open to trading Pat Gurney and Mike Preble, but the offers haven’t been very good. I would especially like to trade them to the offensively-challenged Titans, but the Titans’ farm is so dire that I can’t find anything there that I’d like to trade for…

We signed our Dominican righty Duarte Damasceno for $590k this week. As indicated, he’s the only international free agent we take this year, and we thus stayed under the $642k soft cap and would get a new run at it without limitations next year.

Up next, road trip – Vegas, Charlotte, Baytown. I’m quite glad to get out of Bickering Central for a while. Slappy and Chad both want to bake muffins for Autumn tomorrow, and that just sounds like the kind of thing that will leave seven innocent bystanders dead… Thankfully, the Coons travel lightly, and I only take Pat Degenhardt and Dr. Padilla with me in terms of staff.

Fun Fact: The last time the Raccoons posted a losing season was in 2042.

Isn’t it amazing how we always hit the gutter at the end of the decade, then gradually recover over the start of the next one?

By the way, the last time we had *consecutive* losing seasons? All the way back in 2030-32. And I don’t see us holding it together this year *and* rebuild in time next year.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (50-49) @ Aces (40-57) – July 26-28, 2049

First station on the road trip was Vegas, where the Aces ranked bottoms in runs scored and eighth in runs scored, with a -92 run differential. The Coons’ run differential desperately clung to around the .500 mark, at +9 entering this week. Regardless, the Aces had swept the Coons in the first three games’ worth of playing each other this season.

Projected matchups:
Jason Wheatley (7-6, 3.48 ERA) vs. Pablo Paez (7-7, 3.88 ERA)
Dave Hils (10-4, 4.16 ERA) vs. Dave Saldivar (2-1, 2.52 ERA)
Bubba Wolinsky (7-7, 4.64 ERA) vs. B.J. Brantley (9-7, 3.93 ERA)

Wheats would duel with a right-hander, but then it was lefties for the rest of the series.

The Agitator clamored whether this would be the last Coons start of Wheats’ career, but there was no real plan to trade him at this point. The plan currently was to every bit rebuild around him, Waters, and another odd piece or two. W+W, the double import from the Knights in 2040, were probably the last two to be let off the sinking ship…

The ship is the USS Maldonado by the way…

Game 1
POR: CF Watt – SS Luna – LF Preble – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – 3B Crispin – RF Nigro – C Gardner – P Wheatley
LVA: LF F. Rojas – CF Cramer – 1B Witherspoon – RF Austin – SS Landstrom – 3B M. Gross – C F. Gomez – 2B M. Lopez – P Paez

Besides, who’d take him? Once again, Wheats was taken deep in the first, this time with one out, Felix Rojas on third, and by Sam Witherspoon belting one to right. Witherspoon got another pair of RBI’s in the fifth inning, singling home Rojas and Brent Cramer, who had both drawn full-count walks and advanced on a double steal. Paez would not win the game, however, having already left with an injury in the third, but the Raccoons were entirely clueless against long man Ryan McConnell just as well. The Raccoons in six innings had six hits, no runs, and weren’t particularly close to a run, either, somehow never reaching third base. Bottom 6th, Matthew Gross reached on an infield single, and Miguel Lopez reached on an out-of-the-park blast, putting Wheatley to bed after 5.1 innings in a 6-0 game. Julian Ponce walking Rojas and getting homered off by Cramer in the same inning only lengthened the score… and my suffering, too.

In the seventh, Wes Gardner homered off Edgar Grimaldo, as if anybody still gave a crap… and Matthew Gross and Jonthan Harris both homered off Bryan Lenderink. A Luna error in between meant that was three runs, one earned on Lenderink, in case you can still be bothered to count. Lorenzo Lavorano hit an RBI single as the Coons whacked around Philip Wise in entirely meaningless fashion in the ninth inning, at least until two runs were in and Eduardo Avila grounded out to strand the bases loaded… 11-3 Aces. Gardner 4-4, HR, RBI; Lavorano (PH) 1-1, RBI;

Ghastly.

Game 2
POR: LF Watt – CF Herrera – 1B Gurney – 2B Waters – RF Avila – SS Lavorano – C Gardner – 3B Crispin – P Hils
LVA: LF F. Rojas – CF Cramer – C Weese – 1B Witherspoon – RF Austin – SS Landstrom – 3B M. Gross – 2B M. Lopez – P Saldivar

Rojas opened the bottom 1st with a triple and scored on Kevin Weese’s sac fly, but Waters tied the game with his 14th homer of the year in the second inning. The Aces – the worst offense in the league, remember? – hit three singles and a double off Hils’ worthless pelt in the bottom 2nd then, taking a 4-1 lead. Gross singled home another 2-out run in the bottom 3rd, after Hils allowed an infield single to Aubrey Austin and walked Josh Landstrom, 5-1. What the actual **** was wrong with this team??

Hils continued long enough to give up a leadoff single to the ******* opposing pitcher in the bottom 4th, then homers against Cramer and Witherspoon, 8-1, then was yanked and hopefully disposed of in the nearest toxic landfill. *********.

Not that Saldivar was any good actually; he put Lavorano on base in the fifth, allowed that run to score on a sharp Ed Crispin single, then got taken deep by the pinch-hitting Mike Preble, tying Waters again with 14 bombs. Waters objected, hit another blast to lead off the sixth, 8-5, after which the Aces went to Efrain Estrada, who beaned Avila with his first pitch. Avila had none of *that* and stormed the mound, bowling over Estrada before being dragged off him by Miguel Lopez just before he could give him a face rearrangement. Both dickheads were tossed from the game, the Aces proceeding to righty sophomore Bill Sickafoose, whose name had a real last-place vibe to it, while Brian Nigro took over for the ejected Avila. When Sickafoose allowed a double to Lavorano and walked Gardner, the tying runs were suddenly aboard for Crispin, who needed only that much of an invitation for his first major league home run – GRAAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAAMMMM!!!!

This put the Coons up 9-8, and to anybody’s surprise they didn’t immediately blow it this time. Hitchcock pitched the sixth inning, his second in the game, and Lynn delivered a 1-2-3 seventh, before the Coons had the bases loaded again with one out in the eighth, Luna, Watt, and Herrera all aboard for Pat Gurney against Wise. The Aces righty plated a run with a wild pitch, got Gurney to pop out, but then conceded two more runs on a smoked Waters double, 12-8, and 11 unanswered runs. Grimaldo then retired Nigro to end the inning. The tack-on runs proved unnecessary, the Aces having been spiritually slain several innings earlier; Preston Porter and Nelson Moreno added scoreless innings to finish the game – the Aces drew just 22 pitches in the last three innings, combined. 12-8 Raccoons. Herrera 2-4, BB; Waters 3-5, 2 HR, 2B, 4 RBI; Lavorano 3-4, 2B; Crispin 2-5, HR, 5 RBI; Preble (PH) 1-1, HR, 2 RBI; Luna (PH) 1-1, BB; Hitchcock 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, W (1-1);

Ed Crispin, huh? The kid is really trying to improve out of the “better than Slappy’s Grandma” tier of players on the roster.

Eduardo Avila was suspended for three games.

Game 3
POR: LF Watt – CF Herrera – 1B Gurney – RF Preble – C Gonzalez – SS Lavorano – 3B Crispin – 2B Seymour – P Wolinsky
LVA: LF F. Rojas – SS Landstrom – C Weese – RF Austin – CF J. Harris – 2B M. Lopez – 3B M. Gross – 1B Witherspoon – P Brantley

As was good costum, the Coons’ silly starter of the day conceded at least one run in the first, this one coming on an Austin groundout after Landstrom singled and stole two bases. Never mind Bubba also walking Weese and hitting Harris… Wolinsky continued to pitch in that manner, allowing two more runners in the second, and then got waffled for four hits and three runs in a cruncher of a third inning. He needed 64 pitches to clear three innings, all of them bad. The Coons had nothing in the early innings that was worth recounting, but then crowded Brantley to begin the fourth. Preble hit a leadoff jack, after which Gonzalez, Lavorano, and Crispin all reached base as the tying runs, with nobody out (eh…) and Rich Seymour up (…!!). But Brantley was crumbling fast, running a full count on Seymour before giving up a single through the right side and two runs. Wolinsky bunted the runners into scoring position, and Matt Watt tied the score at four with a hard single through the left side. Herrera lined out to Matt Gross, but Gurney singled to center, 5-4. Then Preble went yard to left – his second homer in the damn ******* inning.

Up 8-4, Wolinsky somehow managed to put another three innings together. After all the runners in the early innings, he allowed only one runner in his second three-frame set: Bill Sickafoose, of all people, who hit a 2-out single in the bottom 6th, of at all times. The Aces had only one more base runner, Landstrom singling off Nate Norris in the seventh, before conceding defeat. The Coons never scored (or even reached third base) outside the 8-run fourth inning. 8-4 Critters. Watt 2-4, BB, RBI; Preble 2-4, BB, 2 HR, 4 RBI; Lavorano 2-5, 2B; Crispin 2-4, 2B;

Raccoons (52-50) @ Falcons (48-54) – July 30-August 1, 2049

Next station on the way to the merciful end of the season was Charlotte, where the Falcons sat fourth in the South, fifth in runs scored, and eighth in runs allowed, with a -17 run differential. They had a myriad of injuries, mostly pitchers but also Mike Allegood, but also had a 4-2 lead in the season series.

Projected matchups:
Victor Salcido (2-7, 4.28 ERA) vs. Andy Overy (5-6, 3.65 ERA)
Victor Merino (8-7, 4.59 ERA) vs. Koichi Miyatake (2-2, 4.39 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (7-7, 3.74 ERA) vs. Hiroyuki Takagi (9-7, 3.13 ERA)

Another southpaw, then two Japanese right-handers in this series.

Game 1
POR: LF Watt – CF Herrera – 1B Gurney – RF Preble – C Gonzalez – SS Lavorano – 3B Crispin – 2B Seymour – P Salcido
CHA: RF Ceballos – 2B E. Stevens – 1B Sevilla – 3B Wilken – CF Marroquin – C T. Alvarez – SS Woodrome – LF Caballero – P Overy

The Raccoons’ first two base runners were Armando Herrera drawing a walk and Armando Herrera drawing a walk, so it was that type of game, although Salcido at least held up his end, too, and allowed only one hit and no runs the first time through the Charlotte order. Gurney followed up Herrera’s second walk with a hit, and both runners reached scoring position when the Falcons bumbled the ball around in confused manner, but then Overy nicked Preble with a 2-0 anyway. Gonzalez whiffed, but the kits came through…! Lavorano singled home two, Crispin hit an RBI single, too, and even Rich ******* Seymour found an RBI single in his stick, all with two outs…! The inning ended with a groundout by Salcido, who allowed a single base runner in the middle innings on a walk to pinch-hitter Ron Gibbs. The Falcons did not reach again until a single by Ian Woodrome in the eighth, and he, too, was stranded. Salcido threw 94 pitches through eight and was obviously brought back for the ninth, only to give up a leadoff walk to Danny Ceballos and a single to Erik Stevens. (whiskers hang) Moreno took over, walked Raul Sevilla to bring up the tying run with nobody out, and while he whiffed Randy Wilken, he conceded Salcido’s runs on an Omar Marroquin double. Tony Alvarez hit a sac fly, with the tying run moving to third base with two outs – but Woodrome flew out to Preble. 4-3 Raccoons. Herrera 0-1, 3 BB; Salcido 8.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 7 K, W (3-7);

Game 2
POR: CF Watt – SS Luna – LF Preble – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – 3B Crispin – RF Nigro – C Gardner – P Merino
CHA: RF Ceballos – 2B E. Stevens – 3B Wilken – CF Marroquin – LF Caballero – C T. Alvarez – SS Vamos – 1B Sevilla – P Miyatake

Another first inning from hell saw Merino get swung around for four hits (one on the infield, one in the gap), three stolen bases, one call of catcher’s interference, and when the dust settled and the tears started to dry, three runs. As if I needed any confirmation, just when the inning was up, the Falcons’ GM strolled past behind me in the big fancy suite the Falcons kept for the visiting brass, and asked whether I knew now why he wouldn’t trade for Merino, which might or might not have been a casual discussion topic that month. He didn’t wait for an answer. He didn’t have to.

Waters doubled and scored on a Crispin sac fly in the top 2nd, 3-1, and Wade Gardner hit a solo jack in the third, but that was where the rally stopped. Instead, Merino got shoved another 3-spot in the fourth, punctuated by a 2-run homer mashed by Randy Wilken, and wasn’t seen again after that inning, the ******* bum.

The Raccoons raised the white flag by sending out Bryan Lenderink, who went two innings again, and gave up a second 2-run homer to Wilken, which made it 8-2 in runs by the sixth inning, and 13-2 in hits. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the Coons then shed two players in five minutes, Nate Norris coming up with a bum shoulder from pitching in garbage relief in the seventh, and Matt Watt getting upended in a collision at second base on a fielder’s choice grounded into. With Avila still suspended and some pinch-hitting and double-switching already having gone on, we ended up with Rich Seymour manning first base by the bottom 8th. He awkwardly made conversation with the parade of Falcons Hitchcock walked on base in the bottom 8th, which eventually saw Josh Vamos hit a sac fly, but no other runs actually scored. It just took forever. 9-2 Falcons.

The Falcons went 6-for-6 in stolen bases against Wade Gardner in this game.

Norris would miss a few days with mild shoulder soreness, while Matt Watt hit the DL with a claw sprain. With that, and Lenderink and his bloody 9.00 ERA bumped back to AAA, the Raccoons added two new players. Well. “New”. Danny Cancel and … hey, anybody remember Gene Pellicano? Barely arrived in Charlotte, he walked into a door and got a nasty bruise, giving Dr. Padilla more work and his old GM more agony.

Oh look, I can X out another month on my pocket schedule!

Too bad there’s still two full months to go…

Game 3
POR: 3B Luna – CF Herrera – LF Preble – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – SS Lavorano – RF Nigro – C Gonzalez – P Wheatley
CHA: RF Ceballos – 2B E. Stevens – 1B Sevilla – 3B Wilken – CF Marroquin – SS Woodrome – C M. Castillo – LF Caballero – P Swindell

Josh Swindell (9-8, 3.95 ERA) was switched around with Takagi for the rubber game. Righty here, righty there, always righties everywhere… He got crowded from the start, putting the first three Coons on base, which also meant it was three on with nobody out… Matt Waters brought in a run with a groundout, and that was the only run of the inning, with Gurney hitting into a double play. The Falcons put the tying run on second base in both of the first two innings before making an out – Ceballos doubled in the first, while Marroquin walked and stole second in the… second – but didn’t get either of them home before the Coons’ 1-2-3 reached base to begin the top 3rd again, this time with Preble singling home Luna to make it 2-0. Waters popped out this time, Gurney singled home a run, and Lavorano grounded out. In the fourth Nigro and Luna were on the corners with two outs when Luna took off to steal second. Manny Castillo threw the ball into centerfield, allowing Luna to third (where he was stranded) and Nigro to score, 4-0.

And Wheats? Put the leadoff man on base four out of five times to begin the game, and stranded all of them, somehow, but that string ended in the sixth. Erik Stevens hit another leadoff single, then was doubled in by Raul Sevilla immediately, but Sevilla was then stranded on second base to maintain a 4-1 lead. The Coons then doubled their output against Swindell and Tyler Weems in the seventh. Waters singled off the former, while the latter allowed hits to Lavorano and Nigro with two outs, the latter driving home Waters, before Ruben Gonzalez pounded a 3-run homer to left. This quite definitely put the game away – neither Wheats in the bottom 7th, nor Lynn and Cancel in relief allowed the Falcons to even think about a rally. 8-1 Raccoons. Preble 3-5, RBI; Nigro 2-3, BB, RBI; Gonzalez 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Wheatley 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (8-7) and 1-4;

In other news

July 26 – The Indians deal their closer Sang-hoon Kim (1-3, 1.73 ERA, 22 SV) to the Blue Sox for two prospects.
July 27 – OCT 1B Bill Jenkins (.246, 14 HR, 59 RBI) could miss the rest of the season with a bad oblique strain.
July 29 – VAN RF Jerry Outram (.287, 8 HR, 40 RBI) is going to be out for the next month, having suffered a strained rib cage muscle.
July 29 – Vancouver acquires SP Bill Drury (7-12, 4.21 ERA) from the Indians, along with cash, for a prospect.
July 29 – INF Angel Quintana (.225, 2 HR, 19 RBI) is shipped from the Pacifics to the Knights, along with a prospect, for SP Marc Hubbard (6-11, 5.33 ERA).
July 29 – The Miners acquire SP Bobby Freels (2-9, 4.67 ERA) from the Cyclones for OF Chad Williams (.318, 10 HR, 65 RBI) and a prospect.
July 30 – The Thunder add OF/1B Mike Harmon (.285, 7 HR, 26 RBI) from the Cyclones, parting with a prospect.
August 1 – A torn back muscle ends the season of LAP SP Kevin Clendenen (8-9, 3.58 ERA).
August 1 – DEN 2B/SS/LF/RF Javier Ramos (.282, 0 HR, 9 RBI) hits a double, then scores to walk off the Gold Sox against the Miners, 5-4 in 10 innings, when Pittsburgh catcher Giampaolo Petroni (.293, 12 HR, 57 RBI) throws away the baseball trying to keep Ramos from stealing third base.

FL Player of the Week: WAS 3B/2B Chris Strohm (.290, 13 HR, 50 RBI), batting .647 (11-17) with 4 HR, 7 RBI
CL Player of the Week: VAN OF/2B Ismael Jaramillo (.372, 1 HR, 16 RBI), hitting .619 (13-21) with 1 HR, 4 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: PIT 3B/SS/RF Ed Soberanes (.293, 16 HR, 73 RBI), batting .283 with 9 HR, 31 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: ATL C Tyler Cass (.366, 4 HR, 76 RBI), raking .407 with 2 HR, 22 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: DEN CL Brian Shan (6-2, 1.39 ERA, 35 SV), nailing down 9 saves with a 3-0 record and 13.1 scoreless innings
CL Pitcher of the Month: TIJ SP Kevin Daley (14-4, 1.97 ERA), dominating with a 4-1 record, 1.26 ERA, and 25 K
FL Rookie of the Month: SAC OF Jermaine Williams (.294, 1 HR, 8 RBI), hitting all of that in July
CL Rookie of the Month: ATL 1B T.J. Swift (.285, 5 HR, 42 RBI), bashing .315 with 3 HR, 16 RBI

Complaints and stuff

There were no trades at the deadline, but not for a lack of trying. Preble, Gurney, Moreno all just generated lukewarm interest. Lynn produced none. And like I said, Wheats and Waters are not the first to go, but the last.

Preble and Gurney will thus leave as free agents after this season, while Moreno is signed for 2050. What do we really have for 2050? Well, a full rotation it seems, including some unmovables like Hils (horrendous contract) and Merino (nobody called me back, not even to laugh at me), two back end relievers, with a horde of has-beens and never-will-bes in between. We’re also stuck with Ruben Gonzalez for a while, and with Maldo, Herrera, Waters, and whatever we want to do around those three. Mind that we have most of an infield’s worth of 22-year-olds on the roster even right now and some of them even don’t look half bad. The other would be Rich Seymour.

Adame is signed through ’51 though; Nigro is under team control. Avila was a rental I can’t wait to see go.

Hey, there’s always a Gene Pellicano to fall back on.

Next week: back home via San Fran, then a probably dismal 4-game set with the damn Elks. The Loggers will also be in for that homestand.

Fun Fact: 60 years ago today, Mark Dawson hit for the cycle as the Raccoons downed the Knights, 13-3.

This was the first Raccoons cycle, the 12th in league history, and the second of four that year. The Raccoons were also on th way to their second ever playoff appearance, and their second World Series loss, this one cocked up by Glenn Johnston in extras in Game 6, dropping Ed Parrell’s fly ball…

Nope, I don’t forget, nor forgive.

Mark Dawson was a low-key addition from the Buffaloes in 1981, but really broke out in Portland, leading the CL in home runs in 1982 and 1988, and in RBI the latter year, too. He never challenged for a batting title with a high of .268 in a qualifying season, but he was a guy that could play on all four corners well, and netted five Gold Gloves in his career (all at third base, four with the Coons) in addition to socking 304 homers and driving in 1,268 runs on a .243/.299/.425 slash line. Too bad he came apart just a year after his cycle and was released in ’91 as the Coons were revving up for their third pennant…

[Westheim]

Raccoons (54-51) @ Bayhawks (61-44) – August 2-4, 2049

Second in the South, second in runs scored, but only fifth in runs allowed, thee Bayhawks were struggling with their porous bullpen as well as infield defense. They were also second in homers in the CL, but in the bottom quarter in stolen bases. The Raccoons trailed in the season series, 4-2.

Projected matchups:
Dave Hils (10-4, 4.59 ERA) vs. Jesse Bulas (6-5, 3.17 ERA)
Bubba Wolinsky (8-7, 4.72 ERA) vs. Milt Cantrell (2-0, 3.56 ERA)
Victor Salcido (3-7, 4.07 ERA) vs. Chih Ke (10-6, 4.12 ERA)

Only right-handers to be found here. In good news, the persistent Coons killer Ted Del Vecchio was squared away on the DL, and reliever Jeremy Mayhall was also out.

Game 1
POR: 3B Luna – CF Herrera – LF Preble – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – SS Lavorano – RF Nigro – C Gardner – P Hils
SFB: CF M. Roberts – SS Dau – C S. Suggs – LF Crum – 1B A. Marquez – 2B Quiroz – 3B Copeland – RF Fink – P Bulas

Armando Herrera reached on an error and was doubled off on a Mike Preble grounder in the first, but in the second inning the Coons loaded them up with nobody out on a walk to Matt Waters and Gurney and Lavorano singles. Runs scored on a wild pitch (…) and a Wade Gardner sac fly, but Lavorano was left on by the bottom of the order, and Hils immediately surrendered one of the runs again, giving up leadoff singles to Alex Marquez and Sergio Quiroz, then a run-scoring groundout to Sebastian Copeland in the bottom 2nd. Copeland and John Fink would reach base in the bottom 4th against an ineffective Hils, who nevertheless wiggled out of the jam when following Bulas’ bunt, Mike Roberts struck out swinging in a full count to end the inning. Ken Crum whacked a 2-out double in the fifth, but Marquez got robbed by Preble on the run in left-center to keep him aboard as well. The Coons similarly fumbled away a Herrera double in the sixth, but that was only their third base hit in the entire game.

Somehow Hils wobbled into the seventh, then was knocked out by Roberts with a 1-out single, the seventh Bayhawks hit off Hils. Dan Riley batted for Todd Dau, prompting a move to left-handed pitching. Mike Lynn rung up Riley, then got a groundout from Sean Suggs, ending the inning. The Coons awoke from an apparent coma briefly in the eighth when Ed Crispin batted for Lynn and smacked a solo homer to right, 3-1. Preston Porter held the game together in the eighth, working around a walk to Marquez, but the Bayhawks then shredded Nelson Moreno to bits in the ninth, opening the inning with straight base hits by John Fink (single), Joe Ritchey (RBI double), and Roberts (single). Josh Jackson struck out, but Sean Suggs tied the game with another single to right, which sugged. Moreno rung up Crum and Marquez to send the game to extras, which was exactly what you wanted with one pitcher unavailable (Norris) and no day off anywhere in sight. THANKS, NELS. Sebastien Parham then began the top 10th by conceding a single to Lorenzo Lavorano, who stole second and was balked to third almost immediately by Parham. Nigro cashed the run with a single to center, while Gardner whiffed and Avila hit into a double play. Hitchcock then retired the Baybirds in order to clutch a save. 4-3 Coons. Lavorano 2-4; Crispin (PH) 1-1, HR, RBI;

Game 2
POR: 3B Luna – CF Herrera – LF Preble – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – SS Lavorano – RF Avila – C Gonzalez – P Wolinsky
SFB: CF Fink – SS Dau – C S. Suggs – LF Crum – 3B Copeland – 2B Quiroz – RF M. Roberts – 1B A. Marquez – P Cantrell

Three singles by Luna, Preble, and Waters loaded the bases in the opening half-inning, but Gurney sent a hard grounder right at Quiroz, who could have turned two if he had made a better flip to Dau, but Dau had to reach and then was out of shape for the throw to first, allowing Gurney to reach first base safely and the Coons to take a 1-0 lead. Lavorano then singled home Preble, stole second, but Avila struck out to end the inning. The Bayhawks flipped the game instantly against Wolinsky, who walked Dau, then gave up big noises to Crum (RBI double) and Copeland (homer). The game was tied up again in the third inning, 3-3, on a 2-out RBI double that Lavorano whacked to drive home Gurney. Dig his scouting report or don’t, but Lavorano sure was trying to make the most of Alex Adame’s DL stint…!

Bubba Wolinsky then made the most out of Ruben Gonzalez’ annual triple in the fourth inning, singling him home for a 4-3 lead, which was also Bubba’s first RBI of the year and lifted his batting average all the way to .081. The rest of the middle innings was mostly both teams suffering serial retirements by Wolinsky and Cantrell and the score was still 4-3 through seven. Eduardo Avila, mostly useless at the plate, made a few nice snags to support a wonky Wolinsky, who was batted for in the top 8th after Lavorano and Avila both reached and stole their way into scoring position. But Gonzalez popped out and Crispin flew out to right, stranding those runners, while the bottom 8th saw a 1-out single by Josh Jackson off Ponce in the #9 hole. Ritchey pinch-hit for Fink, was countered with Porter, and smacked into a double play. And Moreno in the ninth? Blew that game too! Dau hit a leadoff single, Crum cranked an RBI double, and Dan Riley walked off the Baybirds with a single with two outs. 5-4 Bayhawks. Preble 2-5; Lavorano 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Gonzalez 2-4, 3B;

Yes, Maud, can you check whether any team still offers a bag of baseballs for Moreno? – And, yes, Maud, make sure there are donuts in the office when we come home after the rubber game. – Maud, Maud, what is it, I have to tell you so much, but I am out of ten dollar coins for this payphone! – What do you mean, Autumn is making a mess of the office? – Maud, I will deal with this when we come home. … Maud? Maud? Hello??

Stupid ******* payphones!! I wish humanity would invent a more convenient way to speak to people in another state! (is wordlessly extended his credit card-sized mobile entertainment center by Pat Degenhardt) What do I want with that, Pat? – No, the numbers on the screen are too tiny for my fatty paws…

Game 3
POR: SS Lavorano – 3B Crispin – 1B Gurney – 2B Waters – RF Nigro – C Gardner – LF Avila – CF Pellicano – P Salcido
SFB: CF M. Roberts – SS Dau – C S. Suggs – LF Crum – 1B A. Marquez – 2B Quiroz – 3B Copeland – RF P. Colon – P Ke

The Coons burst out for a 3-spot in the opening inning with hits by Lavorano, who stole second again, and Crispin, Gurney’s run-scoring groundout, Waters’ RBI double, and Nigro’s RBI single. The Bayhawks shrugged, scratched out a single with Roberts, then a homer with Suggs, which sugged, and it was merely 3-2 after the first inning anymore… Crispin would single home Pellicano in the second inning for a tack-on run, but Salcido kept sucking hard and loaded the bases in the bottom 3rd with max ineptitude. Sergio Quiroz’ 2-out, 2-run single evened the score at four, and I was sad. Copeland grounded out to Crispin to end the inning then.

While Lavorano hit a double in the fourth that led nowhere whatsoever, Suggs hit a double in the fourth that drove home Pedro Colon, which gave the Baybirds a 5-4 lead, which also sugged. And there the score froze. Which was partly due to Salcido being not returned for the fifth inning, with Hitchcock, Cancel, and Lynn putting together four scoreless innings to keep the Baybirds in reach. Problem was, the Coons didn’t do anything. With the exception of Lavorano, they mostly stayed off base for the duration of scoreless relief. Brad Barnes then took the ball for the ninth inning, with Eddy Luna batting for Gene Pellicano to begin proceedings. He flew out to Ritchey, but Preble drew a walk in place of the pitcher. Lavorano popped out behind home plate, but Ed Crispin drove a ball to deep center. Mike Roberts failed to catch up in the cavernous outfield at the Bay, the ball fell in and made its way to the fence, and Preble scored to tie the game with two outs on Crispin’s triple…! Gurney floated out to Ken Crum to end the inning, though, and the tied game then went to Nate Norris, who lost it bigly on a Crum double, a walk to Marquez, and a 3-run homer by Quiroz. 8-5 Bayhawks. Lavorano 2-4, BB, 2B; Crispin 3-5, 3B, 2 RBI; Nigro 2-4, RBI; Hitchcock 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

By the time the Raccoons returned home and came to the park on Thursday morning, I saw groups of young fans wearing Lavorano jerseys with the #9 painted on their faces, and screeching with high-pitched voices while holding up cardboard signs mostly stating “I [heart] Lonzo!!!”

I also saw Cristiano Carmona talking to two boys that looked like they were 17 1/2 at best in the same “Lonzo” fanboy dress outside the ballpark and overheard him say that he could maybe get them into the clubhouse to meet their new favorite player. When he also winked at them as I walked by, I grabbed the push handles of his wheelchair and resolutely pushed him through the door to the offices even though he wildly protested that he had yet to get the boys’ number, then threatened him to have him splashed with cold water by the head groundskeeper.

Oh yeah, for actual problems, the Elks were also here…

Raccoons (55-53) vs. Canadiens (66-39) – August 5-8, 2049

The damn Elks led the Titans by eight and I was losing hope that the Bostonians could prevent them from winning the division, which caused me considerable agony. They were fourth in runs scored and third in runs allowed in the CL, with a +98 run differential (Coons: +7). They were also up 4-3 in the season series, but arrived without lifelong terror Jerry Outram, their only player on the DL.

Projected matchups:
Victor Merino (8-8, 4.90 ERA) vs. Bill Drury (8-12, 4.02 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (8-7, 3.62 ERA) vs. Mario Godinez (11-5, 3.62 ERA)
Dave Hils (10-4, 4.44 ERA) vs. Terry Herman (8-5, 4.34 ERA)
Bubba Wolinsky (8-7, 4.67 ERA) vs. Bill McMichael (7-10, 2.50 ERA)

Southpaw Sunday! … if I live that long.

Maud, what’s up with Autumn then? – (Maud silently pushes the door to the GM’s office open, where Autumn sits on the trusty brown couch and paints her toe nails while being surrounded by several players and front office personnel, all watching intently) – So your problem is that they adore her more than you? – But *I* love you just as much as ever, Maud. By the way, where are the donuts?

Game 1
VAN: CF Burkhart – LF Escobido – 1B S. Henderson – C Julio Diaz – SS Mullen – 2B DeMarco – 3B R. Price – RF Tomasello – P Drury
POR: SS Lavorano – 1B Luna – LF Preble – 2B Waters – 3B Crispin – CF Herrera – RF Nigro – C Gonzalez – P Merino

The ballpark went bonkers when Lonzo opened the bottom 1st with a single, but then Luna hit into a fielder’s choice, Preble hit into a double play, and it was all sad and subdued again. The damn Elks then turned Merino into a bonfire in the second inning, with Dan Mullen and Nick DeMarco singles to lead off, and it didn’t get any better any time soon. Merino threw a wild pitch, walked Tyler Tomasello, and fell behind on a Bill Drury sac fly. Tim Burkhart singled home a run, and Angel Escobido tripled home two more, 4-0. Sterling Henderson grounded out to end the miserable inning, but not my even more miserable existence, so I went to take care of more important things than another sad-sack loss. – So, Maud, where *are* those donuts…? –

(a metal crutch falls out from behind one of the tall curtains) – Who’s behind there? (pulls back curtains to find three-legged Maldo with as many donuts crammed into his snout and a panicked look in his big black googly eyes)

Four straight singles starting with Merino (!) and two outs scored the Coons two runs in the bottom 3rd to cut the gap in half, but an Escobido homer ran the score to 5-2 in the fifth, which was also the last inning for Merino, the bum. Lavorano was 3-for-3 when he doubled in the bottom 5th, but was also left on base by Luna, who grounded out. Ponce pitched the sixth, and Matt Waters went yard to tie Preble for the team lead in homers again in the bottom 6th, narrowing the score to 5-3 again. The Elks pulled that run back in the eighth, which was the second inning assigned to Danny Cancel, who allowed two leadoff singles to Mullen and DeMarco. Lynn replaced him against the lefty-hitting bottom of the order, but got bombarded by righty pinch-hitters, conceding a run on Jesus Burgos’ double play grounder.

Lonzo raked a triple to left to begin the bottom 8th, which got all the screechers excited, and also put him a homer shy of the cycle. Tim Abraham walked Luna to bring up Preble as the tying run, with righty Sam Heisler replacing him. Preble hit an RBI single to right, scoring Lonzo to make it 6-4 to the home crowd’s loud amazement, and Waters drew another walk to fill the bases with nobody out (uh-oh). The early demise of another starting pitcher however meant that the pitcher’s spot had been double-switched into where Ed Crispin had started the game. Gurney was already batting ninth, so the Coons boldly went forth and sent Wade Gardner to pinch-hit against new pitcher, lefty Jordan Calderon, who threw a wild pitch to score a run before giving up the lead on Gardner’s sac fly to center. Even at six, Herrera was walked intentionally. Avila then pinch-hit for Nigro, but struck out, while Gonzalez flew out to Bob Montana in right, ending the inning and leaving the go-ahead run on third base.

All for naught – Preston Porter, who if I remember correctly never quite sucked before as Preston Porter has sucked this year, gave up a walk, a hit, and a 2-run double to Julio Diaz in the top of the ninth to give the damn Elks a new lead. That 8-6 lead went to Sam Gibson in the bottom 9th, with Gurney whiffing, Lonzo grounding out (!!), and Luna also out on a groundout. 8-6 Canadiens. Lavorano 4-5, 3B, 2B; Preble 2-4, 3 RBI;

(reads the Agitator on Friday morning, with the headline “LONZO GREAT, COONS LOSE ANYWAY”, but reaches boiling point halfway through the article, folds up the paper and then beats it into shreds against the edge of his desk while Autumn in a very tight top polishes his good ol’ rotary dial phone)

Yes, yes, Autumn. You’re doing a great job. One of the best around here. – You don’t have to rub the handle of the speaker that hard, Autumn.

(Cristiano rolls in with Lonzo in tow to show him his favorite bobbleheads in the collection, but keeps staring at Lonzo’s bum at all times)

Honeypaws, we’re the last two normal ones, aren’t we? – Honeypaws? – Honeypaws? – Stop undressing Autumn with your big black googly eyes, Honeypaws!

Game 2
VAN: 2B I. Jaramillo – LF Escobido – SS R. Price – 1B S. Henderson – 3B Burgos – RF Tomasello – C Oden – CF Burkhart – P Herman
POR: SS Lavorano – 3B Luna – LF Preble – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – CF Herrera – RF Nigro – C Gonzalez – P Wheatley

Wheats retired none of the first five batters in the game, who went walk, single, double, homer on him, making it 4-0 Elks with no outs on the ******* board. Uh, Wheats? It’s the second half! Jesus Burgos also singled, and Wheatley walked Tim Burkhart with two outs before somehow stumbling out of the inning. While Terry Herman walked the bags full in the bottom 1st nobody could get a damn hit, and Herrera flew out to strand all the runners eventually. Portland scored a pair in the bottom 3rd, somehow, with Herman walking Luna and giving up a double to Preble, with the runs scoring on a wild pitch and a Gurney sac fly. Whatever works…

Wheats worked, mostly, after the horrendous first inning, adding five scoreless for three more hits and a walk after the initial bludgeoning, but that still left him trailing 4-2. Avila batted for him with two outs and Nigro on third base in the bottom 6th, but popped out behind home plate. Norris and Ponce offered scoreless relief until the Coons pushed Herman from the game with Waters and Herrera singles in the bottom 8th, putting the tying runs aboard with one out. Tim Abraham appeared to face Nigro, but the Coons sent Pellicano instead, who hit into a fielder’s choice, and Gonzalez flew out to Burkhart in center. Nelson Moreno then actually pitched an inning without taking a tumble down the nearest set of stairs, but it was all for nothing. Sam Gibson sawed off the Coons again in the ninth. 4-2 Canadiens. Waters 1-2, 2 BB; Nigro 1-2, BB, 2B;

What’s that, Ruben? If Lorenzo gets called Lonzo, you want to be Gonzo? – How about a compromise and we call you Bozo?

Rick Price (.262, 6 HR, 55 RBI) went to the DL after the game, having sprained his ankle. By contrast, the Coons activated Alex Adame from the DL, sending Rich Seymour to AAA.

Game 3
VAN: 2B I. Jaramillo – LF Escobido – C Julio Diaz – 1B S. Henderson – SS Mullen – RF Tomasello – 3B Higareda – CF DeMarco – P Godinez
POR: SS Adame – 3B Crispin – LF Preble – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – C Gardner – RF Avila – CF Pellicano – P Hils

The crowd was visibly disappointed to find now Lonzo in the lineup (nor a Gonzo), and that was before the Coons’ 4-5-6 batters all reached base to begin the bottom 2nd, setting up three on and nobody out, and thus further crushing disappointment. Godinez glitched a bases-loaded walk to Avila, though, then struck out Pellicano. Hils then came through with an RBI single to right, and Alex Adame pushed a 2-run single to left-center. That was the last; Crispin whiffed and Preble flew out to left, stranding two in a 4-0 game. Waters singled and stole a base in the bottom 3rd, and Godinez filled the sacks with 2-out walks to Avila and Pellicano, but Hils then grounded out to Adrian Higareda to strand all three.

Come the fourth, the Elks reached the board with a Julio Diaz homer, but Pat Gurney countered with a home run of his own in the bottom of the inning. While Diaz’ homer was longer, it came with nobody aboard, while Gurney mashed his with Crispin and Waters on base, extending the lead to 7-1. Nick DeMarco responded with another solo homer to left in the fifth, 7-2. DeMarco almost hit another one his next time up with two outs in the seventh, but had to settle for a double off the fence and being stranded by Hils, who went eight innings of 2-run ball before being pinch-hit by Lonzo to begin the bottom 8th, which by itself almost made pandemonium break out in the park once Lonzo slapped a single off right-hander Grant Bergman. He stole second, but was thrown out at third by Diaz on a double steal attempt with Adame, and the inning fizzled out for the Critters with no tack-on runs. Hitchcock’s 1-2-3 ninth put the game away. 7-2 Coons. Adame 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Waters 2-3, BB; Lavorano (PH) 1-1; Hils 8.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, W (11-4) and 1-3, RBI;

Thank goodness, at least we’re not swept…!

Speaking of sweeping, Slappy, what are you doing?? – I haven’t seen you sweep the floor since 1985!! – I see, everything must be shiny, so Autumn can also shine more.

I need a vacation.

Game 4
VAN: 2B I. Jaramillo – CF Burkhart – 1B S. Henderson – C Julio Diaz – SS Mullen – LF Montana – 3B DeMarco – RF Tomasello – P McMichael
POR: SS Lavorano – CF Herrera – LF Preble – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – 3B Adame – C Gonzalez – RF Avila – P Wolinsky

A solo homer by Preble put the Coons up 1-0 in the first, but the Elks flipped the score in the third, whacking Wolinsky for doubles by Tyler Tomasello (who tore out a leg and was replaced with Higareda) and Burkhart, then a go-ahead RBI single by Sterling Henderson. Three singles in the fourth added a run, Higareda singling home Dan Mullen to make it 3-1. Wolinsky proceeded to get taken deep by Bob Montana in the sixth, and while Lonzo hit a double in the bottom 6th, he was left stranded to everybody’s dismay. Bubba went on to pitch seven innings of 11-hit ball (brrr!) on exactly 100 pitches, while the Coons were held to three hits by McMichael in the same amount of innings.

Avila led off the bottom 8th with a single, but was still on first with two outs, when Armando Herrera snuck a ball past Ismael Jaramillo for another single. Preble was the tying run, but grounded over to DeMarco… who threw the ball away for a run-scoring, 2-base error, which suddenly brought up Waters with the tying runs in scoring position. He flew out to Montana, though. Porter held the Elks in place in the top 9th (Cancel had pitched the top 8th), but all that did was bring back Sam Gibson for the third time in the series, and the Coons had yet to as much as look aggressively at him. Gurney drew a leadoff walk, then was forced out on a grounder by Adame. Ruben Gonzalez drew another walk, and the tying runs were aboard once more. Nigro batted for Avila, grounded to short, and was out at first, but advanced the runners for Ed Crispin, who batted for Porter with two outs… and flew out to Montana. 4-2 Canadiens.

In other news

August 2 – The season of CIN SP Carson Jarvinen (2-14, 5.16 ERA) comes to a merciful end as the 32-year-old right-hander is shut down for the season with a herniated disc in his back.
August 3 – New York catcher Aaron Brewer (.281, 4 HR, 25 RBI) drives in six runs on two hits and three walks as the Crusaders rush the Aces, 19-1.
August 4 – The Titans score two runs in the top of the 15th inning to untie a game against the Thunder, but are then turned away in a 6-run outburst in the bottom of the 15th. OCT 3B/SS Angel Montes de Oca (.248, 4 HR, 35 RBI) ends the game with a walkoff grand slam, 9-5 Thunder.
August 4 – At age 37, IND SP Josh Henneberry (8-3, 3.54 ERA) gets to head for Tommy John surgery with a torn UCL, and will miss the next 12 months.
August 7 – OCT SP Danny Orozco (10-4, 3.19 ERA) spins a 2-hit shutout against the Condors, claiming a 2-0 win.

FL Player of the Week: SFW LF Mario Villa (.375, 15 HR, 72 RBI), whacking .467 (14-30) with 2 HR, 4 RBI
CL Player of the Week: NYC C Aaron Brewer (.293, 4 HR, 26 RBI), batting .667 (8-12) with 2 HR, 8 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Lonzo reminds me of the young Berto, which is a rare comparison to make around these quarters. And even Berto never hit .415 as far as I can remember.

Yes, yes, Mr. Degenhardt, it’s only been 15 games. Will you let us have SOME excitement, please??

Next week we’ll host the Loggers, then skip over to Sioux Falls before starting another 3-team, 9-game homestand.

We’ll probably also be the most-fragranced team by then, judging by the awful smell in here right now.

Honeypaws, stop rubbing your fuzzy bum on a rosebud, there’s no helping *that*…..

Fun Fact: The most-recent team not from Portland to win the CL North? The Canadiens…

They won the division five out of six seasons from 2038 through 2043, immediately preceding our own 5-year domination of the division (and following the Coons taking the 2037 pennant). The only other team besides these two Pacific Northwest teams to win the North since ’37?

THE LOGGERS. They grabbed their second ring in ’41, then almost immediately retreated to the bottom half of the division.

Before that, the Titans won the division all but four times in the 2022-2036 span, taking six rings in the process. Three of the four exceptions were the Raccoons (2026, 2028, 2035), plus the Indians in 2030. Only ’30 and ‘35 did not result in another CL North ring.

And the Crusaders? Dry ever since 2016, when they went 100-62 for their fourth straight division title. They have come second seven times since (and last three times), missing the playoffs by as little as one game on three separate occasions, including in a tie-breaker game in ’23.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (56-56) vs. Loggers (37-75) – August 9-11, 2049

The Loggers were in to close out the homestand, and they were admirably still traveling around the country when nobody would have blamed them if they would just file a note that the other team could keep the wins. Bottoms in runs scored at 3.7 per game, and second from the bottom in runs allowed at just over five runs given up per contest, they were no pleasure to watch either way. The Coons, themselves not the pinnacle of the sport anymore, were up 9-3 in the season series.

Projected matchups:
Victor Salcido (3-7, 4.43 ERA) vs. Victor Padilla (8-12, 5.10 ERA)
Victor Merino (8-8, 5.07 ERA) vs. Noah Hollis (6-11, 4.49 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (8-8, 3.72 ERA) vs. Bubba Poss (2-7, 4.30 ERA)

Sadly, no Bubba-Bubba shootout could be arranged despite the Loggers having moved that southpaw into the rotation. Padilla also threw left-handed, and wasn’t it amazing that there were three Victors pitching in this series again, but none of them was all that victorious?

Infielder Zach Suggs and reliever Miguel Herrera were the only noteworthy injuries for the Loggers. The Raccoons in turn were paid a control visit by Nick Valdes, which could only lead to good things.

Game 1
MIL: 2B Barrington – CF B. Allen – RF McIntyre – 1B E. Hernandez – C T. Sanchez – LF de Lemos – 3B Ferrusquia – SS M. Grant – P V. Padilla
POR: SS Lavorano – CF Herrera – LF Preble – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – 3B Adame – C Gonzalez – RF Avila – P Salcido

Jack Barrington opened the week by reaching on a throwing error by Alex Adame, but was stranded by the pathetic Loggers lineup. – What do you mean, Nick, where are our actual players? – Those *are* our actual players now!

The Coons stranded Herrera and Preble in scoring position in the first when Waters popped out and Gurney grounded out, then had the bags loaded in unearned fashion thanks to a Tony Ferrusquia error in the bottom 2nd, with two outs, but Armando Herrera grounded out on a 3-1 pitch.

The Coons then went on to have a snooze for the next few innings, and the only thing that kept Nick Valdes from sawing my last nerve in half with his usual bickering was Salcido pitching a very fine game – two hits and no runs through six innings, albeit against a terrible lineup – and the occasional distraction by Autumn, who kept sneaking into the office even though Maud tried to busy her with menial tasks to keep her out of sight. – Who she is, Nick? The new intern. – Yeah yeah, great skills. – Yes, with people especially. – I don’t know, the CV said only Spanish.

Adame, Gonzalez, and Avila were all on base with one out in the bottom 6th then, which promoted Salcido to the plate with one out. Oh well, we’d still have Lonzo after him, right? Technically true, but when Lonzo drew a 2-out walk, Padilla had already scored the go-ahead run with a wild pitch. Herrera grounded out to end the inning. Salcido then had a long seventh, nicking Dave de Lemos in the process, but worked through that and maintained a 2-hit shutout through seven. He also reached 103 pitches, however, and was thus not back for the eighth. Pinch-hitter John Wieczorek hit a leadoff single off Preston Porter in that inning, but Porter worked through that, too. Bottom 8th, Julian Villarreal allowed a leadoff single to Adame, but he was doubled up by Ruben Gonzalez. Avila then walked, as did Ed Crispin. Lavorano was next and stuffed a triple into the gap to add two runs! – Who he is, Nick? I hope the future! – Yes, I said that a few times before. – Yes, mostly uncalled for. – Yes, I do wonder how I keep this job, too.

Herrera knocked home Lavorano before the eighth inning ran out for us, and then Julian Ponce had a 1-2-3 ninth against the Loggers, who did not amount to more than three hits in the game. 4-0 Raccoons. Herrera 3-5, 2B, RBI; Preble 2-4, BB, 2B; Adame 2-4; Salcido 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K, W (4-7);

Game 2
MIL: LF J. Delgado – 2B Barrington – RF McIntyre – C T. Sanchez – 3B N. Jackson – CF de Lemos – 1B Lovell – SS Wieczorek – P Hollis
POR: SS Lavorano – 3B Crispin – LF Preble – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – CF Herrera – RF Nigro – C Gardner – P Merino

Jose Delgado and Tony Sanchez drew walks in the first, while Barrington whacked a double, loading the bases with one out for the Loggers. Nick Jackson struck out, but de Lemos dropped a ball into shallow center for an RBI single. Pat Lovell smacked a liner – but right at Ed Crispin, who snatched it to end the inning. The Coons then resorted to hitting doubles in the worst ways. Lonzo hit one to open the bottom 1st, but was stranded. Gardner hit a double to *end* the bottom 2nd, with Herrera trying to score from first base and being thrown out by de Lemos at the plate. Lonzo was stranded in scoring position again in the third, while the Loggers got singles from Jackson and Pat Lovell in the fourth, but Jackson was then caught tying to nip third base with Wieczorek batting. Wieczorek grounded out to end the inning then.

The game got only stupider from here. Merino offered a leadoff walk to Hollis – the opposing pitcher, mind – in the fifth, with Hollis then getting caught stealing as well by Wade Gardner. Not that the Coons were doing anything. Down 1-0, they didn’t get on base at all in those middle innings, which included Lonzo getting robbed on a sliding catch by Jose Delgado as he smacked another liner to the left side. – Yes, Nick, he’s a treasure. – Yes, Nick, he should be Rookie of the Year. But he came up too late and won’t get many votes. – But if we want him to win it *next* year we have to send him back to St. Petersburg until some time in September. – (stares at Nick Valdes with big black googly eyes)

Like Salcido, Merino pitched seven innings on just over 100 pitches, but unlike Salcido, he was not gonna be a victorious Victor unless the Coons rallied for two in the bottom 7th. Herrera, Nigro, and Gardner hit 1-out singles in order off Hollis to tie the game, with Eddy Luna then hitting for Merino and ticking another single to center, loading the bags for Lonzo. Boy, how could this not be good!? Deep fly to left! But … not deep enough … to beat the fence or Delgado, but it was deep enough for a sac fly, thus opening up the possibility to make Merino a victorious Victor after all! Ed Crispin added an RBI single, 3-1, before Preble grounded out. Hitchcock and Moreno did nothing to change that in the last two innings, putting the game away rather calmly. 3-1 Raccoons. Lavorano 2-3, 2B, RBI; Gardner 2-3, 2B, RBI; Luna (PH) 1-1; Merino 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 3 K, W (9-8);

Nick Valdes departed after the game, going to Florida and taking Lonzo (.417, 0 HR, 8 RBI) with him, much to the fans’ dismay. Lonzo would play a few more weeks with the Alley Cats, while Valdes was gonna spend the rest of the week jet-skiing in a nature reserve nearby.

Tim Rogers (.167, 0 HR, 1 RBI) was called up to make up the numbers. No, I wasn’t thrilled either.

Game 3
MIL: LF J. Delgado – 2B Barrington – 1B E. Hernandez – C T. Sanchez – 3B N. Jackson – 2B Barrington – RF Lovell – SS M. Grant – P Poss
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – LF Preble – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – C Gonzalez – 3B Crispin – RF Avila – P Wheatley

Ernesto Hernandez hit a double to left that was followed by singles hit by Sanchez and Jackson, allowing the Loggers to take a 1-0 lead on Wheats, but the run was scored by Ferrusquia, Hernandez having pulled some thing or other on his dash. Gurney would single to tie the game again in the bottom of the same inning, but with Herrera and Preble on the corners, Waters had almost hit a 3-run homer to left, being caught by Delgado right at the fence. I would have liked that 3-run homer…! Avila doubled in the bottom 2nd, then was singled home by Wheats, who thus gave himself a 2-1 lead while I heard Maud snapping outside in the kitchen adjacent to her office, where Slappy had waggled off to bring Autumn a soda.

And in all the decades we had watched games together in this office, he had NEVER left his spot on the brown couch! … Okay, once, but that was in an 18th inning and the urge became too big. I’ll give him that.

Wheats was on base again when Jackson fumbled his bunt in the bottom 5th, advancing Avila to second base with nobody out. Nothing came of it, Adame – having a terrible year – hitting into a double play, and Herrera lining out to Barrington. Ferrusquia doubled and was caught stealing third base in the sixth, which took the tying run off the bases again, but Wheats took another stumble in the seventh inning. Barrington singled, Pat Lovell homered, and that flipped the score back to Milwaukee. He would not take the loss thanks to Crispin doubling off the wall with one out in the bottom 7th against Poss, then scoring on an Avila single to center, tying the game at three. Pellicano hit a single for Wheats, but the inning fizzled out after that. Nate Norris retired the Loggers’ 1-2-3 just like that in the eighth, then got in line for a W when Preble smashed a leadoff jack off Poss. The ninth was Nelson Moreno again, putting the 4-3 lead into immediate danger when he allowed a double to Tony Sanchez leading off, then walked Jackson. Barrington bunted the runners into scoring position, while Lovell popped out to Waters. Mike Grant flew out to Herrera, completing a sweep. 4-3 Raccoons. Preble 2-4, HR, RBI; Gurney 2-4, RBI; Avila 2-2, BB, 2B, RBI; Pellicano (PH) 1-1;

With that, we buggered out of town for the weekend, leaving all the chaos behind us. Well, part of the chaos would travel to Sioux Falls by necessity, but you get the gist…

Raccoons (59-56) @ Warriors (51-60) – August 13-15, 2049

Third in the FL West, but 28 games out and thus solidly buried were the Warriors, who we had last faced in 2047, then sweeping that 3-game set. They ranked eighth in runs scored, ninth in runs allowed, with the worst rotation in the league, also furthered (or held back, depending on how much you mustard you liked on it) by a really shoddy defense. They had half a bullpen on the DL along with regulars Julio Moriel, Joe Crim, and Danny Ramirez.

Projected matchups:
Dave Hils (11-4, 4.32 ERA) vs. Matt Sealock (9-7, 4.55 ERA)
Bubba Wolinsky (8-8, 4.69 ERA) vs. Juan Arrocha (5-13, 3.98 ERA)
Victor Salcido (4-7, 4.08 ERA) vs. Jeremy Ray (9-5, 4.52 ERA)

Only right-handers on offer; with Arrocha leading that team in ERA and losses. It was a mad sport.

Game 1
POR: SS Adame – 3B Crispin – LF Preble – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – RF Luna – CF Nigro – C Gardner – P Hils
SFW: 2B J. Rivas – CF Krabbe – LF M. Villa – RF Munn – SS E. Miller – 1B Bastos – C Payne – 3B Walling – P Sealock

While Dave Hils enjoyed (and annoyed me by) being behind almost all the hitters the first time through, but didn’t actually scored on, the Coons went up on Sealock, the old Elks foe, in the top 3rd. Nigro got on, stole second, and was plated with a Gardner double. Adame singled home Gardner with one out, stole second, and Crispin walked, but Preble found Jose Rivas for a double play. The Warriors didn’t get a hit until Mario Villa hit a soft single in the bottom 4th, then with Clay Krabbe going from second to third. Hils had brushed Krabbe with a pitch, and he had stolen second base. When Danny Munn flew out to Luna, Krabbe went for home, but was thrown out by Luna for a 9-2 double play. Eric Miller grounded out to end the inning. Portland tacked on a run in the fifth; Adame drew a 2-out walk, stole second base again, then was singled home by Crispin. While Hils looked steady by the middle innings and also completed seven innings, and was up 4-0 on an unearned run in the eighth inning; Danny Munn had completely clonked a Nigro fly in right, sending Waters to third base, then home on a Gardner single. Hils logged two more outs in the bottom 8th before switch-hitter Jose Rivas singled off him on pitch #106, and the Coons went to Ponce against the all-lefty 2-3-4 array. Ponce struck out Krabbe to strand Hils’ runner, but gave up a double to Villa before K’ing Munn in the bottom 9th. The Coons tried to sneak the last two outs with Danny Cancel, but he threw a wild pitch, gave up a sac fly to Eric Miller, then nailed Garcia Bastos. With lefty Fernando Perez pinch-hitting, the Raccoons advanced to Mike Lynn, who gave up another single, but then struck out Bobby Rivera to end the game. 4-1 Raccoons. Adame 3-4, BB, RBI; Nigro 2-4, RBI; Pellicano 1-1, 2B; Hils 7.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K, W (12-4);

Game 2
POR: 3B Crispin – CF Herrera – LF Preble – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – SS Luna – RF Nigro – C Gonzalez – P Wolinsky
SFW: CF B. Rivera – 1B Bastos – LF M. Villa – SS E. Miller – RF Munn – C Mickle – 2B J. Rivas – 3B Elkins – P Arrocha

Herrera doubled home Crispin for a 1-0 lead before the Raccoons made an out, but was then stranded on straight outs by the middle of the order. Bubba nursed that through the early innings, conceding two hits and no runs, although the Warriors did have Joe Elkins in scoring position in the bottom 3rd when Bastos lined out to Preble in left-center. Next, Bubba was batting with three on and nobody out in the top 4th, with Arrocha just having walked the bags full with the Raccoons’ 6-7-8 batters. After Bubba shoved an RBI single through the right side, Crispin whiffed and Herrera hit into a force play at home. The bags were still full for Preble, who also found the hole between Rivas and Bastos for a 2-run single, 4-0. Waters was down 0-2 when he got peppered with a pitch, refilling the bases for Gurney, who socked in two more with a sharp single to right-center. Luna grounded out to Rivas to end the 5-run inning.

The Warriors appeared as if they just couldn’t score, even when Jose Rivas hit a leadoff triple in the bottom 5th. Elkins fanned, Krabbe popped out to shallow center, and Rivera flew out to Preble. But they had the bases loaded themselves in the bottom 6th, with straight 1-out hits by Villa, Miller, and Munn. Bubba struck out Blake Mickle and appeared to shake off another threat, but then Rivas singled home the Warriors’ first run. Elkins flew out to left just as the Coons’ pen got stirring. Gurney hit a solo homer off Jose Jacinto in the seventh to make up the Rivas run, 7-1. Bubba also completed seven and hung around to give up a leadoff double to Villa in the bottom 8th before being lifted for Norris, who gave up an infield single to Miller, a 3-run blast to Munn, then waved for Dr. Padilla and left with him. Hitchcock became the third pitcher in the inning, and the first to actually log an out, all three of them in fact to preserve a 7-4 lead. Casey Pinter was pitching for the Warriors in the ninth, nailed – *nailed*! – Preble with a 1-2 pitch, then suffered a revenge homer by Matt Waters, who had not hit a lick otherwise all week long. Double digits were reached with two righty pinch-hitters; Tim Rogers singled, then scored on an Avila double. The Warriors needed another reliever, David Concha, to restore order, and then the Coons tried again with Danny Cancel and a 6-run lead in the bottom 9th. He got outs from Rivera and Bastos, then walked both Villa and Miller. Munn struck out before we had to bother more personnel. 10-4 Critters. Crispin 2-5; Herrera 2-5, 2B, RBI; Preble 2-4, 2 RBI; Gurney 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; Rogers (PH) 1-1; Avila (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI; Wolinsky 7.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, W (9-8) and 1-4, RBI;

Nate Norris hit the DL with a dead arm, but should be good two weeks from now. At the same time Matt Watt was activated from the DL for Sunday, which required two more roster moves. Gene Pellicano was waived and DFA’ed, and Steve Richardson was added to the pen once more.

Game 3
POR: LF Watt – CF Herrera – RF Preble – 1B Gurney – 3B Luna – SS Adame – C Gonzalez – 2B Rogers – P Salcido
SFW: 2B J. Rivas – CF Krabbe – LF M. Villa – RF Munn – SS E. Miller – 1B Bastos – C Mickle – 3B Elkins – P J. Ray

Of Salcido’s so fine start on Monday, absolutely ******* nothing carried over into the Sunday game. While the bottom 1st started with a Rogers error, Salcido then gave up a walk and three hits, including a 2-run homer to Miller, to be down 5-0 within five batters faced. Mickle and Elkins both clipped additional base hits in the inning to plate a sixth run, and I was very sad. There were no visible rally attempts by the Raccoons immediately afterwards; Gurney and Luna arrived on the corners with two outs in the fourth, but Adame lined out to Elkins and that was that. Salcido pitched into the fourth before being double-switched out with Luna for Richardson and Crispin. Richardson got out of the fourth, but then put the first two batters in the fifth on base, with Porter conceding the runs on a Mickle double.

Gurney hit a solo homer in the top 6th, which sparked no major rally whatsoever. Much the contrary, Krabbe homered off Ponce in the bottom of the sixth to just make it double-slam range again. A Rivas error plated another run in the seventh, but Hitchcock gave that back to the Warriors in the same inning yet again. 10-2 Warriors. Gurney 4-4, HR, RBI; Luna 1-2; Gonzalez 1-2, BB; Rogers 2-4;

In other news

August 9 – Just five games into his stint with the Stars, infielder Ricardo Martinez (.271, 7 HR, 39 RBI) is felled by a ruptured disc and thus out for the season.
August 10 – DAL SP Mike LeMasters (15-3, 3.17 ERA) shines with a 2-hit shutout against the Scorpions, whiffing six in a 7-0 win.
August 12 – The only CL South action on Thursday takes 15 innings for the Condors to beat the Falcons, 5-3.
August 13 – NAS INF/LF/RF Alfredo Napoles (.227, 0 HR, 33 RBI) scores to walk off the Blue Sox, 3-2 over the Falcons, on a balk by CHA MR John Scott (1-3, 3.65 ERA).
August 14 – The Gold Sox smother the Crusaders, 21-3, with 5 RBI each for their middle infielders, Ivan Villa (.317, 35 HR, 109 RBI) and Edwin Zuniga (.272, 6 HR, 60 RBI).
August 15 – Dallas’ SP Mike LeMasters (16-3, 3.01 ERA) pitches his second shutout of the week, a 5-hitter over the Titans in a 5-0 Stars win.
August 15 – ATL 3B/SS/LF/RF Anton Venegas (.356, 2 HR, 42 RBI) will have to spend three weeks on the DL with elbow sprain.

FL Player of the Week: DAL LF/CF Juan del Toro (.353, 16 HR, 68 RBI), hitting .538 (14-26) with 4 HR, 11 RBI
CL Player of the Week: SFB C Sean Suggs (.302, 10 HR, 48 RBI), batting .571 (12-21) with 4 RBI

Complaints and stuff

5-1 week against meager opposition. Included was a 5-game winning streak in which every starter in the rotation pitched a quality start with at least seven innings (only Hils got additional outs), and four of them grabbed a W (all except Wheats). And then the Warriors scalped Salcido on Sunday to send us home unhappy.

The damn Elks basically won the division early this week, landing a few double-digit-runs blows squat on the nose of the Titans to also reach double digits in terms of their lead in the division. I furiously clenched my fists, snarled, and then did the mature thing, and resolved to root for the CL South winners come October, who ever that might be; Condors, Thunder, Bayhawks, the Khmer Rouge, I don’t care, just sock it to the damn Elks, will ya??

Bob Ibold (remember him?) started a rehab assignment in the minors this weekend after missing all of the season up to this point.

New three-team homestand now – it will start with the Buffos, and then continue with the Titans and Crusaders.

We are also tied with the Titans right now as they fell out of contention. I don’t know. They can have second place. I’d rather say “we came third” than “we came second to THE DAMN ELKS”……..

Fun Fact: The last catcher to win the batting title in the CL was Ernesto Huichapa with a .328 clip in 2034.

The Falcon might be superseded by a Knight this year, if Tyler Cass (hitting .359) can hold off his own teammate Anton Venegas, who is three points behind. With Venegas on the DL until early September, just holding station would be enough for at least a few more weeks.

Huichapa had an 11-year career with five different teams, primarily the Falcons. He was the Rookie of the Year in ’32, then won Player of the Year along with the batting title in ’34, also taking the home run crown with 39 bombs and 123 RBI, but was denied the triple crown. It was his singular best season, with only one other season (2035) even within 140 points of his .952 OPS in ’34. He did win two Gold Gloves and was an All Star five times, though, and finished his career with a .284/.330/.461 clip, 1,344 base hits, 206 homers, and 778 RBI.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (61-57) vs. Buffaloes (61-55) – August 17-19, 2049

The Critters had lost two of three the last time they had played the Buffaloes in the 2047 season. Now the Buffos came in as the leaders in the FL East, while the Raccoons were… uh, assured of no further Federal League opposition once the Buffos’d be outta town on Thursday night. Topeka ranked fourth in runs scored and runs allowed in the FL. They had a very stingy pen, but it was a bit mysterious how they actually scored their runs, sitting fourth despite being in the bottom half in all of batting average, on-base percentage, homers, and stolen bases. It seemed like runs would just magically appear on the board for them. They also had six players on the DL, including some old CL North opposition with Alex Zacarias and Vittorio Riario. Still had their murderous catcher, Brett Banks (.286, 18 HR, 73 RBI), though.

Projected matchups:
Victor Merino (9-8, 4.86 ERA) vs. Josh Vercher (1-0, 2.61 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (9-8, 3.72 ERA) vs. Jose Arias (10-6, 4.06 ERA)
Dave Hils (12-4, 4.10 ERA) vs. Jay Carroll (8-11, 4.76 ERA)

One right-hander, two left-handers were on the menu. Maybe. Both teams had been off on Monday before this series.

Game 1
TOP: LF A. Vazquez – 3B Malkus – RF Millikan – C Banks – CF D. Lee – 2B A. Madrid – 1B Bush – SS Marroguin – P Vercher
POR: CF Watt – 3B Luna – LF Preble – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – SS Adame – RF Nigro – C Gonzalez – P Merino

Vercher was just back from shoulder inflammation having taken him out for four months, but Merino was the one that couldn’t get guys out. The Buffos had the leadoff man on base in each inning against him, including back-to-back extra-base knocks from both Alfonso Madrid and Erik Bush to begin the second *and* fourth innings. Madrid scored on two doubles in the first instance, but homered outright the second time. Bush hit another double, but that time was scored on productive outs while he had been stranded earlier. That made it 3-0 Buffos, but the Coons woke up then. Preble was out on a deep fly to the fence to begin the bottom 4th, but Waters singled and stole second. Adame singled home Waters, stole second himself, then was driven in by Brian Nigro. Gonzalez flew out, but at least we were back to 3-2. Oh, sorry, for a moment I forgot that Merino sucked. Travis Malkus and Dave Millikan hit singles to begin the fifth inning, Dave Lee spanked a 3-run homer, and the game was more or less over – at least for Merino.

…and the offense too. The Raccoons didn’t do much at all that would be worth talking about in the latter half of the game, while we got solid relief from Richardson and Lynn to get through six, but with the Coons still a slam short then, tried their luck with Danny Cancel in long relief. Cancel was quickly blown up for three more runs, but was left out there to finish the last three innings when he really wasn’t a 3+ innings guy, a surefire sign of a guy that was gonna wake up a different time zone tomorrow. Vercher finished a complete game. 9-2 Buffaloes. Watt 3-5; Luna 2-5; Waters 3-4; Adame 2-4, RBI;

Indeed, Danny Cancel (0-0, 7.50 ERA) was cancelled back to St. Pete. We’d try our luck with Bryan Lenderink once more.

Game 2
TOP: LF Marroguin – CF D. Lee – RF Angeletti – C Banks – 1B V. Cruz – 2B Malkus – 3B Mujica – SS A. Madrid – P J. Arias
POR: LF Watt – CF Herrera – RF Preble – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – SS Adame – 3B Crispin – C Gonzalez – P Wheatley

Another first-frame whacking for Wheats then, only increasing my despair for the season to finally ******* end; Jordan Marroguin and Dave Lee both opened with 2-strike singles, and things went downhill from there. In total, the Buffaloes hit four singles and drove in three runs in the inning. It got marginally better in the following innings, and he gave up three more hits in the next three innings, while working on tying the game at three. What? Yeah. He bunted badly in the bottom 3rd, forcing out Ruben Gonzalez, but then was singled home by Herrera in the inning to narrow the score to 3-1. In the fourth, the bags happened to fill up with two outs and Wheats’ spot coming up. There was no way we would pinch-hit for our ace (only guy under 4 in the ERA column after all…! …barely…), and in a 2-2 count, Wheats would shove a grounder through between Travis Malkus and Victor Cruz for a 2-run single, knotting the score at three.

Watt popped out to end the inning, and the Coons stranded Preble and a double in the fifth. Of course the Buffos scratched out another run off Wheats in the sixth on singles by Malkus and Madrid, and thus took a new 4-3 lead. Brett Banks would take it upon himself to hit another homer off Wheats in the seventh, and he left trailing 5-3 and biting into his glove. Welcome to 2049, where nothing works, not even Wheats in the second half. And this was while Matt Waters went yard in the bottom 7th with Watt and Preble aboard, flipping the score to 6-5 Coons and giving Wheats a potential W after all…! Mike Preble though wrinkled his pokey black nose at the thought of having to share the homer lead on the team with Waters, and mashed his own 3-run homer off Marcos Rivera in the bottom 8th when the Coons tried to get fancy, pinch-running with an outfielder (Avila) for their catcher on base, while the other catcher pinch-hit for another outfielder (Watt). Nonsense, barked Preble, unpacked the hammer, and established slam range.

The ninth went to Steve Richardson, at least until Erik Bush singled and J.P. Angeletti homered. Moreno then got rid of Banks and Cruz to actually give Wheats that shoddy win. 9-7 Raccoons. Herrera 2-5, RBI; Preble 3-5, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Gonzalez 1-2, 2 BB;

(comes into the office on Thursday, finding Waters and Preble flexing in front of Autumn and trying to get her to pick the stronger one between them)

(heads for the booze cabinet without saying a word)

Game 3
TOP: LF Marroguin – 3B Mujica – RF Angeletti – C Banks – 1B V. Cruz – 2B Malkus – CF A. Vazquez – SS A. Madrid – P Carroll
POR: LF Watt – CF Herrera – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – RF Avila – SS Adame – C Gardner – 3B Rogers – P Hils

In another rotten first, Frank Mujica and J.P. Angeletti went to the corners with singles, then both scored; Mujica came in on a throwing error by Gardner, who tried to catch Angeletti stealing, but did literally anything but. Brett Banks’ sac fly made it 2-0. The Coons did not get a base hit until Avila singled with two outs in the fourth, which somehow developed into a minor rally. Adame was nicked, Gardner hit an RBI single, but the inning inevitably ended with a 2-1 score when Tim Rogers grounded out meekly.

Victor Cruz homered to right in the sixth, which was actually the first earned run off Hils, and made it 3-1 in a game that was mostly devoid of actual events so far, but then the Coons’ 4-5-6 hitters put three straight singles together to load the bases with one out in the bottom 6th. Of course it ended badly; Gardner slapped a 3-1 pitch back to Carroll to get Gurney out at home, and Rogers grounded out like a wimp again. Hils went seven and allowed that many hits, then was hit for with Eddy Luna, who opened the bottom 7th with a leadoff single. Watt flicked a weak single over Madrid at 3-2, putting the tying run on base. Herrera found Madrid for a double play, and Waters flew out to Vazquez in center. Ponce and Hitchcock put a scoreless eighth together, but the latter opened the ninth by allowing a single to Cruz and nailing Malkus. Lynn replaced him, got two outs, but then surrendered the runs on a sharp single by Erik Bush in the #9 hole… Not that the Coons had any sort of rally in the bottom 9th… 5-1 Buffaloes. Avila 3-4; Gardner 2-3, BB, RBI; Luna (PH) 1-2; Hils 7.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, L (12-5);

Raccoons (62-59) vs. Titans (63-58) – August 20-22, 2049

This was for second place, not that anybody really cared. The Titans were up 6-5 in the season series, but somehow were five games over .500 despite having a -46 run differential (Coons: +5). Their pitching was average, but their offense remained abysmal. The Titans had most of a rotation on the DL, plus outfielders Ruben Mangual and Leo Estrada.

Projected matchups:
Bubba Wolinsky (9-8, 4.58 ERA) vs. Tony Ruiz (3-10, 5.72 ERA)
Victor Salcido (4-8, 4.42 ERA) vs. David Barnes (0-2, 3.60 ERA)
Victor Merino (9-9, 5.11 ERA) vs. Kyle Turay (14-5, 2.79 ERA)

This series would *begin* with two southpaws, then send us a righty – although the Titans came in on a day off, so there was that. Next in line would be righty Bill Flattery (5-9, 4.71 ERA).

Game 1
BOS: CF Monson – LF C. Jimenez – 1B Wheeler – RF T. Lopez – 3B Massey – C Youngquist – 2B T. Thompson – SS J. Rodriguez – P T. Ruiz
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – LF Preble – 2B Waters – RF Avila – 3B Luna – C Gonzalez – 1B Rogers – P Wolinsky

The Coons stranded pairs in the first and third innings without scoring, first Adame and Waters, then Herrera and Preble. In the fourth, Luna and Gonzalez were on the corners, and then Tim Rogers rotted into a inning-ending 6-4-3 double play. And the Titans? Tom Thompson took Wolinsky deep in the second with Nate Massey on base, so it was 2-0 Boston. They didn’t have much else, but they had the lead…

Bubba pitched seven, whiffing nine and giving up just four hits, but was still down 2-0 at the seventh-inning stretch. Eddy Luna had hit into a double play to end the sixth, but the seventh for the Coons began with a single for Ruben Gonzalez. Rogers grounded to the right side where Thompson kicked the ball for an error, putting the tying run on base. Watt batted for Wolinsky, popped to shallow right, Tony Lopez came on and clonked the ball off the heel of his glove for a second straight error. Three on, no outs, doubly-unearned, sounded like some real doom was going to befall us now. …or maybe Ruiz! He walked Adame in a full count, pushing in a run, and Herrera chopped the game tied with a bouncer through the left side on another 3-2 pitch. Preble hit a sac fly, and then … handbrake. The Coons had two hapless fly outs and didn’t build on their gifted 3-2 lead. Preston Porter had a 1-2-3 eighth with two strikeouts on Jason Monson and Chris Jimenez, but Adam Bates pretty much matched him for Boston against the Raccoons. Nelson Moreno thus got the 3-4-5 batters in the ninth with no cushion, offered a leadoff walk to Jeff Wheeler, but got a double play from Tony Lopez to short. Massey walked with two outs, putting the tying run on base *again*, but Ryan Youngquist kindly grounded out to Waters. 3-2 Critters. Herrera 2-3, BB, RBI; Gonzalez 1-2; Wolinsky 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 K, W (10-8);

(sniffs around the snack bucket before the Saturday game) – Maud? Maud? – Where are the donuts? – What do you mean, there are no donuts?? We can’t play without donuts! – What *is* this stuff in the bucket after all? – Organic algae cookies? What?? That’s not even FOOD! – Autumn bought those?

AUTUUUMN!!!!

Game 2
BOS: CF Monson – 3B Massey – 1B Wheeler – RF T. Lopez – C Youngquist – LF C. Jimenez – SS J. Rodriguez – 2B T. Thompson – P D. Barnes
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – LF Preble – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – RF Avila – C Gardner – 3B Crispin – P Salcido

Wheeler tripled home Massey for a 1-0 Boston lead in the first inning. The first inning was easily the worst inning for Coons pitchers in recent memory… Preble would tie the game with his 20th homer in the bottom 1st, though. That was all the offense through five; the Coons had three more hits and as many double plays grounders, while Salcido allowed no more hits and struck out six, including the entire Titans brigade that dared show up in the second inning, Youngquist, Jimenez, and Jose Rodriguez.

Wheeler then whipped another extra-base hit, a 2-out double in the sixth inning with nobody aboard. I sighed when Tony Lopez singled to center, but Herrera fired home to strike down Wheeler and end the inning with the game still tied. The Coons then took the lead in the bottom of the frame. Herrera squeaked out a 2-out single, Wheeler dropped a Preble pop in fair territory to add a runner, and then Waters hit an RBI single to left. Gurney grounded out to Thompson, stranding a pair. Salcido, now up 2-1, worked around an Adame error in the seventh, but Adame knocked home a run in the bottom of the inning … more or less. There were two outs, with Crispin and Salcido on the corners after hitting a pair of singles. Adame hit a roller near the third base line, with Massey flinging wildly to first base. Wheeler reached into Adame’s lane, while the first base coach made a swiping motion that Adame picked up just in time to duck under Wheeler’s extended arm to slide into the base safely. Crispin scored, 3-1, but Adame was having some abdominal pain after the fact and was replaced with Luna to pinch-run and in the field. Herrera flew out to Jimenez to end the inning.

Salcido was allowed to fool on until the tying runs were on base in the eighth, Wheeler singling and Lopez walking with two outs. Nelson Moreno was summoned early, got a groundout from Youngquist to end the eighth, then retired three more in order in the ninth. 3-1 Raccoons. Adame 2-4, RBI; Herrera 2-4; Gurney 2-4; Salcido 7.2 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 K, W (5-8) and 1-3; Moreno 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, SV (33);

That gave us sole possession of first place… 13 games back, so who cares…?

I guess I’d talk differently if we came off five straight 87-losses seasons rather than five straight pennants…

Alex Adame was day-to-day with a mild abdominal strain. He was not in the lineup on Sunday, and might be sitting for a couple of days more after that.

Game 3
BOS: CF Monson – LF C. Jimenez – 1B Wheeler – RF T. Lopez – 3B Massey – C Youngquist – 2B T. Thompson – SS J. Rodriguez – P Turay
POR: CF Watt – 3B Luna – LF Preble – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – RF Nigro – 3B Crispin – C Gardner – P Merino

For a change, Victor Merino retired the first 11 batters he faced before giving up a single to Jeff Wheeler. Lopez grounded out, but the game was scoreless, because the Coons had just as many hits as the Titans had put together before Wheeler’s hit, although Ed Crispin had been on base in the bottom 3rd by virtue of having gotten nicked. He had been stranded at third base by Watt. Turay also hit Preble with a fastball in the bottom 4th, to which Matt Waters objected, because he still needed Preble for competition for the team home run crown (and maybe he could still grab the league title again??), and blasted a 2-piece to center, his 19th of the year.

Merino walked Rodriguez in the sixth, and Gardner doubled home Crispin in the seventh, 3-0. Merino was on 79 pitches through seven, and still on a 1-hitter, and the Raccoons had every inclination to let him go for it. Youngquist whiffed to begin the eighth, Thompson flew out to center, but Jose Rodriguez socked a double up the leftfield line. PH Ian Davison bounced out to Luna, stranding that runner. Matt Waters singled and stole second against Jordan Ramos in the eighth, but was stranded by Gurney and Nigro, and then Merino tried to finish that shutout, and we’d grant him two runners as the inning began on 93 pitches. Monson ran a full count, then flew out easily to Preble. Jimenez grounded up the middle, but was retired on a nice Waters play. Wheeler popped out over home plate. 3-0 Furballs! Waters 2-3, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Crispin 1-2; Gardner 2-3, 2B, RBI; Merino 9.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, W (10-9);

In other news

August 16 – DAL OF Tylor Cecil (.339, 22 HR, 106 RBI) will miss three weeks with an oblique strain.
August 17 – Sioux Falls southpaw Walt Wright (5-2, 3.80 ERA) 2-hits the Knights in a spot star, whiffing eight in a 5-0 win.
August 17 – Indians OF/1B Bill Quinteros (.228, 14 HR, 40 RBI) will be out for a month with a case of shoulder bursitis.
August 19 – 24-year-old Scorpions right-hander Alberto Cuellar (1-1, 6.38 ERA) 2-hits the Falcons in a 3-0 shutout in just his second ABL start.
August 20 – RIC SP Omar Lara (14-8, 3.13 ERA) 2-hits the Buffaloes in an 8-0 shutout.
August 22 – The Capitals amount to three hits but no runs in a shutout by PIT SP Bobby Freels (5-9, 4.08 ERA), who claims the Miners’ 8-0 win.

FL Player of the Week: SFW LF Mario Villa (.388, 16 HR, 83 RBI), batting .467 (14-30) with 9 RBI
CL Player of the Week: OCT OF/1B Mike Harmon (.305, 9 HR, 37 RBI), swatting .500 (9-18) with 1 HR, 7 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Quite a few 2-hit shutouts this week, and I would not have guessed Merino until my third or fourth try at least if the baseball gods would have asked me beforepaw who’d get the Critters’ shutout. It’s the fourth shutout in Merino’s career, and he’s had one every season since ’46.

It was actually his second-worst one, behind a 1-hitter against the Crusaders and a no-hitter against the Titans on July 5, 2046. Tee-hee! So if he’s on, he can be *really* on. Unfortunately he’s only been on like three or four times this year. It was only his fourth outing with a game score over 60 – but the second one this month after his W over the Loggers on August 10. Turning the corner? Well, he’s been mauled for 5+ runs in the other three of his last five starts, so I’m not gonna bet my stripey tail on it quite yet.

Three more at home with New York, then the start of a road trip to Tijuana, Oklahoma, and September in general, which means our pain will turn third base for the year pretty soon.

Fun Fact: Denver’s Ivan Villa has more than 50% more home runs to his name this season than any other player in the league.

Villa has smashed 38 for the Gold Sox. Dallas’ Dario Martinez is next with 24. The CL lead is Vegas’ Sam Witherspoon with 22, so both Preble and Waters are very much in the running, along with San Fran’s Ken Crum, who has 21, Thunder Steve Humphreys, and Indy’s Danny Rivera (both 19).

Waters is also only three shy of the CL RBI lead held jointly by Crum and Atlanta’s Tyler Cass.

+++

As an aside, still on the old laptop, which was noticeably slow in processing ******* OOTP today. I have a hunch this was the last week played on it. I’ll draw my biweekly paranoid external backup now (biweekly in Coons’ terms) and then toss it into the nearest corner to alleviate some frustration.

Nope, the new laptop isn’t here yet.

[Westheim]

New laptop slated for delivery tomorrow. I can't be without my Critters that long...! Yes, I am addicted to fuzzballs. But how can one not be??

+++

Raccoons (65-59) vs. Crusaders (55-69) – August 23-25, 2049

Three more on the homestand, all against the Crusaders, who were fifth in runs scored and ninth in runs allowed. In fact, their run differential (-18) was barely greater than their record under .500 (-14), so maybe they were now due some good luck. The Coons led the season series, 7-5.

Projected matchups:
Jason Wheatley (9-8, 3.84 ERA) vs. Edwin Sopena (0-1, 1.63 ERA)
Dave Hils (12-5, 3.97 ERA) vs. Jeff Johnson (11-7, 2.97 ERA)
Bubba Wolinsky (10-8, 4.48 ERA) vs. Jerry Felix (3-4, 5.22 ERA)

With a number of injuries, including starters Jim White and Carlos Malla (plus Aaron Foss and Prince Gates for position players), the Crusaders moved the rookie Sopena to the rotation. This would be his third career start after 11 relief appearances. All the scheduled starters for New York were right-handed.

Game 1
NYC: 3B Labedz – SS Haney – C O. Ramirez – 1B Haertling – LF Garris – RF C. Robinson – CF Ceballos – 2B Nash – P Sopena
POR: 3B Luna – CF Herrera – LF Preble – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – RF Nigro – 3B Crispin – C Gonzalez – P Wheatley

Josh Garris hit a double off Wheats in the second and scored on Mario Ceballos’ sac fly for a 1-0 New York lead, but when Tom Labedz hit a 1-out triple in the third, Wheats struck out Mark Haney and got a snatch from Matt Waters on Omar Ramirez to bugger out of that inning. The Raccoons, though, were entirely hapless. They had one base hit, a Gurney double, in the first five innings, stranded Gurney, and otherwise had only Armando Herrera in scoring position after a walk and a stolen base, and that was about that. Wheats went quite well until he didn’t, which occurred in the sixth. Left-handers Omar Ramirez and Ed Haertling flicked soft singles, Chris Robinson raked a 2-out, 2-run double, then scored on a Ceballos singled, exploding the score to 4-0. That was also the final score. The Raccoons brought Bryan Lenderink after Wheats went six with the usual sour taste, but Lenderink logged only one out before a tremendous summer storm broke over the ballpark and gave us a rain delay that never ended, the game being called after two hours of intense blitzing. 4-0 Crusaders.

First career win for Edwin Sopena.

(calmly wrings out his wet Coons cap)

Game 2
NYC: 3B Labedz – SS Haney – C O. Ramirez – 1B Haertling – LF Garris – RF C. Robinson – CF Ceballos – 2B Nash – P J. Johnson
POR: LF Watt – CF Herrera – RF Preble – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – SS Adame – 3B Crispin – C Gardner – P Hils

Matt Watt was back in the #1 hole, hit a leadoff single and got caught stealing. Herrera then walked and Mike Preble hit his 21st homer, putting the Coons up 2-0, but also meaning Watt had cost the team a run by getting thrown out. Ceballos, a 22-year-old Puerto Rican rookie, then hit his first career homer off Hils, a solo job in the second that cut the lead in half. Hils had a bit of two games in one; in the first four innings, he struggled with command and walked four batters in total, but when he wasn’t busy getting taken deep by the next rookie line, he didn’t give up a lot of contact. After the fourth, he was untouchable, with poor contact after poor contact, and a string of outs. He ended up going into the eighth, retiring Haney on a single pitch, but was then lifted with the left-handed array coming up again. Mike Lynn got the other two outs from Ramirez and Haertling, then remained in the game for the ninth; it was still a 1-run game, with the Raccoons sitting on all of four base hits. Aaron Brewer pinch-hit and singled to left to open the ninth, and when Dave Hernandez pinch-hit for Chris Robinson, the Raccoons moved on to Moreno after all. He retired the next two, but then Randolph Nash shot an RBI double through Tim Rogers at third base, and the Crusaders tied the ******* game. Danny Rico struck out, sending us to the bottom 9th in a tie. The Coons sent the 2-3-4 batters, got a Preble single, and absolutely nothing else, and the game went to extras. Steve Richardson and Kevin Hitchcock combined to walk the bases full, and the latter gave up a 2-out grand slam on a 1-2 pitch to Dave Hernandez to put that game into the L column. 6-2 Crusaders. Preble 3-4, HR, 2 RBI; Luna 1-1; Hils 7.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 3 K;

How I’d like my cupcake, Autumn? What do you have? – Blueberries, chocolate chips, nuts, I see, I see… none with shards of glass in them? – Too bad. Chocolate chip then.

Game 3
NYC: 1B Haertling – SS Haney – LF Garris – 1B D. Hernandez – RF C. Robinson – C Brewer – 2B Nash – 3B Labedz – P Felix
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – LF Preble – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – 3B Luna – RF Avila – C Gonzalez – P Wolinsky

Hernandez made it back-to-back plate appearances with go-ahead homers, hitting a leadoff jack in the second on Wednesday to get the New Yorkers up one-zip. Wolinsky held them there despite some ill command, walking four in five innings, while the Raccoons remained impressively inept and appeared resolved to complete the sweep. And not for not being *on* base – but from five hits and three walks the Coons grabbed in the first four innings, they found two double plays and two caught-stealings to whittle down the numbers before stranding the whole rest of their runners. Eduardo Avila would have been the worst, chopping a comebacker to Felix in the fourth with Waters and Gurney in scoring position and one out. The runners had to hold, Gonzalez was bypassed, and Wolinsky floated out to Josh Garris to strand three runners.

All that changed, or was at least plastered over, when Matt Waters whacked his 20th homer of the year in the bottom 5th, a 2-out, 2-piece that collected Armando Herrera and flipped the score to 2-1 Coons. Wolinsky answered with three singles conceded in the sixth, but then brought up Felix for a K and the second out, and Waters handled Ed Haertling’s 2-out grounder to leave the bases loaded. Portland stranded a pair in the sixth, but got scoreless relief from Porter, Hitchcock, and Ponce in the seventh and eighth, then loaded the bases with nobody out and their 6-7-8 batters in the bottom 8th against Sean Yates. Watt pinch-hit for Ponce and scratched out a bases-loaded walk for a much-welcomed insurance run. Adame however chopped into a double play with a comebacker, home-and-first, but Herrera flicked a 2-out RBI single, 4-1. Preble livened up an 0-for-4 with another RBI single, the Crusaders went to lefty Jonathan Ramsey, but Waters flicked the third consecutive RBI single to center. Ramsey walked Gurney, but Luna grounded out to end the inning. Steve Richardson struck out three in the ninth then for the cost of a Haney single, but nothing more. 6-1 Critters. Herrera 3-5, RBI; Waters 4-4, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Luna 2-5, 2B; Gonzalez 1-2, 2 BB; Nigro (PH) 1-1; Watt (PH) 0-0, BB, RBI;

Raccoons (66-61) @ Condors (74-52) – August 27-29, 2049

The Condors were only 3 1/2 games out in the South and needed the wins, but the Coons were up 4-2 in the season series so far. Tijuana brought up the best pitching in the league, but was held back by a mediocre offense ranked eighth in runs scored with a +89 run differential (Coons: +8). No injuries whatsoever for them, though!

Projected matchups:
Victor Salcido (5-8, 4.17 ERA) vs. Matt Weber (10-6, 3.45 ERA)
Victor Merino (10-9, 4.79 ERA) vs. Tony Llorens (6-6, 4.29 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (9-9, 3.92 ERA) vs. Kevin Daley (17-5, 1.90 ERA)

Llorens would be a southpaw, but they had been off on Thursday, just like the Critters, and had already skipped Weber ahead of him. Next guy in line would be another left-hander, Mike Zeigler (11-11, 4.19 ERA), so we’d at least get one of those lefties.

Game 1
POR: CF Watt – SS Adame – LF Preble – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – 3B Luna – RF Nigro – C Gonzalez – P Salcido
TIJ: SS C. Navarro – 2B M. Martinez – LF G. Cabrera – 1B Mancini – C Mittleider – RF Blackburn – CF O’Reilly – 3B A. Lopez – P M. Weber

Portland in the opener had two hits and as many double plays (Preble, Gonzalez) the first time through, while the Condors went up 1-0 early when Miguel Martinez got on, stole second, and was singled in by Bob Mancini in the first inning. Gil Cabrera would single home Chris Navarro in the bottom 3rd as the 1-2-3 all reached to begin the inning, but Mancini then struck out and Jon Mittleider found a double play to keep the score at 2-0.

Top 4th, Adame hit a 1-out double, then was immediately singled home by Preble, who reached second base as the tying run when Matt O’Reilly mishandled his ball in center. Waters singled to move that tying run to third base, but Gurney whiffed and Luna popped out foul to fritter the chance away. Salcido’s six stingy innings kept the Coons close, and they tied the game with a Nigro single, driving home Luna, who had also singled and stolen second, in the top 7th. The inning ended with Crispin grounding out for Salcido, thus bringing on the pen for the bottom 7th in a 2-2 game, but Julian Ponce was immediately overcome by an Alex Lopez double and Chris Navarro’s RBI single for a new 3-2 deficit. Matt Weber would get away with that win, defended by three relievers, Tommy Gardner retiring Waters, Gurney, and Luna 1-2-3 in the ninth. 3-2 Condors. Adame 2-4, 2B; Nigro 2-2, BB, RBI;

Indeed the Condors then moved up Pitcher of the Year candidate Kevin Daley to Saturday.

Game 2
POR: LF Watt – CF Herrera – RF Preble – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – SS Adame – 3B Crispin – C Gardner – P Merino
TIJ: SS C. Navarro – 2B M. Martinez – CF G. Cabrera – LF Mancini – C Mittleider – RF Blackburn – 1B Tortora – 3B Ottinger – P Daley

Daley was ahead, but Merino was behind ******* everybody and got whacked around on a walk and three hits in the bottom 1st, with Cabrera and Mittleider both slapping RBI singles for a quick 2-0 lead for Tijuana. Merino then more lingered than excelled in the next few innings, so it was that much more of a surprise that he’d actually tie the game with a stick in the fifth inning. Adame and Crispin had opened that inning with back-to-back doubles to left, scoring one run, and Merino then brought in the other with a single to right. Watt also singled, but Herrera popped out and Preble struck out to keep the score tied, while the Condors un-tied the score in the same inning with three straight 2-out singles by Martinez, Cabrera, and Mancini before Mittleider popped out to Waters.

The Condors got two more runners in the bottom 6th that were not Merino’s fault, Cullen Tortora getting on by means of a Crispin error, while Reed Ottinger legged out an infield single. Merino received Daley’s bunt for the second out of the inning, but that was the end of his wholly shoddy outing, with Hitchcock following up with a K on Chris Navarro, keeping the Condors just one run away. Daley nailed Nigro and Watt singled, both with two outs in the top 7th, but Herrera flew out to Gil Cabrera and left them on the corners. The Condors tacked on a run, though, whacking three singles off Preston Porter for a run in the bottom 7th, Miguel Martinez coming across on a Mittleider single. The Coons got that one back when Waters walked in the eighth, moved up on a Gurney grounder, and was singled home by Adame with two outs, but Crispin was caught in right-center to keep the tying run on base. Tommy Gardner was flawless in the ninth, and the Coons posted another loss. 4-3 Condors. Watt 2-4; Adame 2-4, 2B, RBI;

Nate Norris rejoined from the DL for Sunday, while Bryan Lenderink had to take his 8.53 ERA back to St. Pete.

Game 3
POR: LF Watt – CF Herrera – RF Preble – 2B Waters – C Gonzalez – SS Adame – 3B Crispin – 1B Rogers – P Wheatley
TIJ: SS C. Navarro – 2B M. Martinez – LF G. Cabrera – 1B Mancini – C Mittleider – CF Tortora – RF Blackburn – 3B Ottinger – P Llorens

For the early innings on Sunday it very much looked like more of the same, the Coons doing diddly squat, and Wheats eventually wobbling into a sad loss that would leave him muttering into his glove, but through three innings neither team had more than one soggy single and nothing else. The Coons got Gonzalez on base with two outs in the fourth when Navarro made an error, and then Adame singled to center. A wild pitch moved up the runner, but the Raccoons still needed a knock from Ed Crispin – and got it, at 2-1, a 3-run homer to right-center for the ice breaker! Wheats immediately stepped on the nearest banana in the bottom 4th, walking Martinez to get going, and Cabrera singled to center. Mancini spanked a ball at Crispin, though, and the rookie turned it for a 5-4-3 double play. The next pitch was the last of the inning, Mittleider grounding out to Waters.

Portland instead added a run in the fifth; Herrera got on base with one out, stole second with two outs, and after Waters walked, Gonzalez singled him home. Adame grounded out to leave two. The Condors were not subdued, yet, however – they had a pair of 2-out singles from their 2-3 batters in the sixth, but Wheats rung up Mancini to escape. Brian Blackburn had an unsettlingly deep fly out right to the fence in the seventh, but Preble made the catch against the wall. The Coons tried to get a run off Jake Bonnie (grumbles something) in the ninth, but Watt was thrown out at home, trying to score from second on a 2-out single by Waters, and that ended the inning and brought Wheats back for the bottom 9th with a 4-0 lead and 95 pitches on the clcock. Martinez flew out easily to Watt on the 96th offering. Cabrera grinded out a walk, but Mancini went down on strikes. Mittleider was next, and maybe also last for Wheats, who was on 105 pitches, with the left-handed Tortora waiting behind the catcher. Mittleider was in fact last – the last out! He hit a chomper back to Wheats, who gently tossed it over to Rogers, and that completed the shutout! 4-0 Raccoons!! Waters 2-4, BB; Adame 2-4; Crispin 1-4, HR, 3 RBI; Rogers 2-4; Wheatley 9.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 6 K, W (10-9) and 1-4;

In other news

August 24 – BOS OF Tony Lopez (.270, 14 HR, 70 RBI) tries his hardest, is a triple shy of the cycle, knocking out five hits with four RBI, but all in a 9-7 loss to the Indians.
August 25 – SAC 3B Mike Crenshaw (.298, 10 HR, 46 RBI) has a 20-game hitting streak put together with a pair of doubles in Sacramento’s 7-5 win over the Pacifics.
August 28 – With a torn UCL, PIT SP Joe Feltman (11-11, 5.27 ERA) is out for the next 12 months and headed for Tommy John surgery.

FL Player of the Week: TOP 3B/2B Frank Mujica (.255, 5 HR, 36 RBI), slapping .500 (12-24) with 2 HR, 4 RBI
CL Player of the Week: VAN 3B/RF/1B Adrian Higareda (.287, 4 HR, 24 RBI), hitting .800 (4-5) with 2 HR, 6 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Second-half Wheats!! … I am really straining that theme this year; his two halves so far are barely distinguishable. In fact, this was only his second outing in which he wasn’t scored upon, and the other had been in the first half, seven shutout innings on June 18 over the damn Elks for a W.

We’ll be in Oklahoma City starting on Monday, the series ending on roster expansion day. Thursday will be off, and then we’ll host the damn Elks on the weekend. That will be all for that homestand, with a 3-city road trip to follow immediately.

For expansion personnel, you know that Bob Ibold will rejoin the team from his rehab assignment where so far no stuff has been seen. There will also be Lonzo, but probably not from the Oklahoma finale, since we want to preserve the little bugger’s rookie eligibility for next season. And then we’re really hampered with what we can do because of a stuffed 40-man roster. It’s gonna be the same hopeless relievers you’ve seen before and the same hapless batters, too. Not that we have many more exciting prospects in AAA except for Mitch Sivertson and Alan Puckeridge. The latter is only 21 and still adjusting to AAA ball, so he’ll not come up this year (but needs to go on the 40-man roster before the rule 5 draft), while Sivertson is hitting .290 in St. Pete since we acquired him from the Rebels in June. He’s 24 now, and he would totally deserve a nod, plus he’s that yummy type of super utility and can play five positions with at least basic competence.

Fun Fact: Sunday was Wheats’ sixth career shutout, and the first since ’46.

Only once did he do better than a 4-hitter, though, when he 3-hit the Loggers in ’45.

[Westheim]

Final week with the old laptop, probably. If I can get it over myself to unpack the new one that’s still all packaged up in the kitchen.

+++

Raccoons (67-63) @ Thunder (76-54) – August 30-September 1, 2049

Playing the Thunder had netted the Coons not a lot of wins so far this year, with five of the six games having been lost. Then again, the Thunder were fighting for October, the Coons were anything but, and the Thunder were also the powerhouse of offense in the league with the most runs scored. They sat fifth in runs allowed, with a +92 run differential (Coons: +10).

Projected matchups:
Dave Hils (12-5, 3.85 ERA) vs. Elijah Powell (6-6, 3.84 ERA)
Bubba Wolinsky (11-8, 4.35 ERA) vs. J.J. Hendrix (6-4, 3.84 ERA)
Victor Salcido (5-8, 4.10 ERA) vs. Ben Lehman (8-8, 4.47 ERA)

Only right-handers to see in this set; for the Thunder, there were also no Bill Jenkins and Steve Humphreys – those two sluggers were stowed away on the DL.

Game 1
POR: LF Watt – CF Herrera – RF Preble – 2B Waters – 3B Crispin – SS Adame – 1B Luna – C Gonzalez – P Hils
OCT: 3B A. Montes de Oca – 2B Ban – 1B Worthington – SS R. Cox – RF Benavides – C Adames – LF Harmon – CF M. Allen – P E. Powell

Hils was whacked right in the first inning, as was good custom for Coons pitchers this year. He walked the leadoff man Angel Montes de Oca, then quickly got taken deep by injury replacement David Worthington. Ryan Cox doubled, then scored on Ed Crispin’s throwing error, and in one blink of the old big black googly eyes, we were down 3-0. But we didn’t remain down – Hils singled in the third, was driven in by Armando Herrera with a single, and then Mike Preble rushed a shot over the wall in right for a game-tying, 2-run homer. Waters walked, stole second, and was stranded after that, ending the inning, only for the Thunder to load the bases with singles by Juan Benavides, Jesus Adames, and Mike Harmon in the bottom 3rd, and Hils to wave in a run with a wild pitch before Mike Allen could pop out and Powell got rung up.

The Coons tied the score at four in the fourth when Adame got on, swiped his 29th base of the year, and scored on two productive groundouts, Ruben Gonzalez getting the RBI there – also his 29th of the year. Montes doubled to left to open the bottom 4th, but was then caught trying to steal third base. Hils and Powell both allowed seven hits for four runs through three innings, but while Powell threw only 81 pitches to get there, Hils was over a hundred and hit for with Brian Nigro in the top 6th, without any great results. Powell continued to pitch into the seventh, allowing a single to Herrera, who stole second, and then was singled home by Preble to give Portland a 5-4 lead…!

Julian Ponce pitched two scoreless innings to get in line for the win, while Mike Lynn didn’t get through the eighth without putting Adames and Harmon on base. Nelson Moreno arrived with two outs and got Montes to ground out, then got an insurance run in the ninth when Brian Grohoski put Watt and Preble on the corners, and Matt Waters shoved an RBI single through the middle. The insurance was immediately called to limit the damage in the bottom 9th, which Moreno began with a Jonathan Ban single to right, then walked Worthington. Cox and Benavides both flew out, but deep enough each time to move Ban around to score, 6-5. Adames also hit a fly to right, but Preble was in position and put the W in the books with a firm grab. 6-5 Raccoons. Herrera 3-5, RBI; Preble 3-3, 2 BB, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Adame 2-5; Ponce 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, W (5-2);

Game 2
POR: LF Watt – CF Herrera – 3B Luna – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – SS Adame – RF Avila – C Gardner – P Wolinsky
OCT: 3B A. Montes de Oca – C Adames – 1B Worthington – RF Benavides – 2B Ban – SS R. Cox – LF Harmon – CF B. Allen – P Hendrix

Ban single, Cox double, Harmon plunked – the Thunder had the bags full with one out in the bottom 2nd, but Bubba buggered out when he got a double play grounder, 4-6-3, from Mike Allen. Apart from that early episode, in general haplessness reigned for both offenses in this game, at least until Wolinsky forgot how to pitch in the bottom 5th. Still scoreless, and with two outs, he put on Montes and Adames with singles, walked Worthington, and then Benavides, too. That pushed in a run alright, Ban slapped home another one with a single to left, and then Ryan Cox somehow grounded out to strand a full set. It was the last inning Bubba completed, before getting yanked out of the sixth after Hendrix hit his second single of the day and Montes doubled, all with two outs. Hitchcock stranded the runners with a groundout from Adames. None of this got the Coons any closer to scoring a run – and they wouldn’t. Sprinkling five hits throughout the game, they never amounted to a threat, and Bubba’s fifth-inning meltdown stood up in the end. 2-0 Thunder. Herrera 2-3; Gurney 2-3;

And with that, rosters expanded.

The Raccoons were hampered a bit by the stuffed 40-man roster. Well, stuffed once we activated Bob Ibold from his rehab assignment; he had been on the 60-day DL all season long. He was coming back from a stretched elbow ligament, which together with the major shoulder trouble he had a few years ago and the fact that his throwing arm was blue most days made him a prime target for a long-term extension. Lenderink, Lillis, and O’Higgins were also all called up to fill out the pen. Justin Brooks returned as the third catcher. The only other batter added now was John Castner. Yes, everybody wanted Lonzo, but Lonzo had to wait another week to remain eligible for the ROTY crown next year. Castner, a second-sacker, had most recently appeared in seven games in ’47, and had shown his ugly face in the majors a total of 78 times, batting .212 with no homers. Somehow thee 2046 team had voted him eligible for that year’s championship ring, and his mom wore it very proudly on a heavy gold necklace.

Game 3
POR: CF Watt – 3B Luna – LF Preble – 1B Gurney – RF Nigro – SS Adame – C Gonzalez – 2B Castner – P Salcido
OCT: 3B A. Montes de Oca – 2B Ban – 1B Worthington – SS R. Cox – RF Benavides – C Adames – LF Harmon – CF M. Allen – P Lehman

John Castner singled in his first major league at-bat in two years, but that was also the only hit for the Critters the first time through and he was dutifully stranded. The Thunder had also only one hit, an Adames single, the first time through against Salcido. The second time through the Thunder lineup, Salcido walked three batters, but somehow still avoided damage. The game was scoreless through five innings, but the Coons got Matt Watt on with a leadoff double in the sixth. Luna popped out, Preble grounded out, Gurney walked, but Brian Nigro finally came through with an ice-breaking RBI single to shallow left. Adame grounded out, stranding two, while Salcido in the bottom 6th walked Worthington, allowed a single to Cox, then got an inning-ending double play from Benavides. Instead, Adames homered the game tied in the bottom 7th, and when Allen and Montes reached base, Salcido was yanked for Lynn, who got a K from Ban to end the inning. Lynn in turn put Cox on base in the eighth, but Porter then retired Adames to keep the score level.

The ninth brought a Gurney single and an Adame double play to Portland, while the Raccoons put up Richardson against the lefty bottom of the order, but the Thunder sent two righty pinch-hitters. Bobby Schmitt struck out, but Luke Burnham singled, then was run for with Fernando Bonilla. Those last two made their season debut and ABL debut, respectively. September 1, huh!? Nate Norris shut the door though, getting the game to extras. The Coons began the 10th with Herrera singling off Grohoski in Gonzalez’ spot, and he reached third on a Castner single. Waters pinch-hit for Norris with runners on the corners and nobody out, but flew out to Bonilla, who had remained in leftfield, and Herrera didn’t dare to challenge that unknown arm. Watt walked, filling the bags for Luna, who popped out. Preble grounded out to Worthington. I groaned. The Raccoons sent Bryan Lenderink into the bottom 10th, and he got two outs before waving for the trainer. I groaned harder. Ponce struck out Cox to get us to the 11th, and ultimately the 12th, which turned out to be the final inning. The Raccoons didn’t reach base, and David Worthington ended the game with a walkoff homer blasted off Polibio O’Higgins. 2-1 Thunder. Nigro 2-5, RBI; Adame 2-5; Castner 2-5;

Bryan Lenderink (0-0, 7.71 ERA) went right to the DL with what turned out bone chips in his elbow. He wanted to continue to pitch, but Dr. Padilla prescribed at least three weeks’ rest, which would open him up for a return in late September, with cleanup scheduled for after the season.

Raccoons (68-65) vs. Canadiens (81-51) – September 3-5, 2049

4-7 against the damn Elks this year, and thus only five over .500 all time anymore. That skinny edge in the all time record, currently at 656-651, was something I would hate to give up, but by the looks of things, giving up would be done automatically by the Raccoons. We entered this series still in second place, but 13 1/2 games out. Despite seven games left with the damn Elks, nobody was pretending that the division was still within grasp. They sat third in runs tallied *and* fumbled up, and I hoped to at least stave off a sweep…

Projected matchups:
Victor Merino (10-10, 4.79 ERA) vs. Bill McMichael (10-10, 2.66 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (10-9, 3.72 ERA) vs. Mario Godinez (12-7, 3.85 ERA)
Dave Hils (12-5, 3.90 ERA) vs. Mario de Anda (14-5, 3.30 ERA)

Left, right, left, but they had also been off on Thursday and could skip Bill Drury (10-12, 4.35 ERA), another righty, into the set if so desired.

The Raccoons grabbed another ho-hum reliever to replace Lenderink, calling up Danny Cancel again.

Game 1
VAN: LF Escobido – SS Mullen – 1B S. Henderson – RF Outram – C Julio Diaz – CF Burkhart – 3B R. Price – 2B DeMarco – P McMichael
POR: LF Watt – CF Herrera – RF Preble – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – SS Adame – C Gonzalez – 3B Rogers – P Merino

Teams slapped a total of seven hits the first time through either order, and nobody scored. Herrera, Adame, and Rogers had singles for the Coons, but were stranded at second, and at the corners, respectively. The Elks had hit into their second double play by the top 3rd, when Dan Mullen singled and got rounded up along with Sterling Henderson on a grounder to short. Jerry Outram opened the next inning by ramming one out in rightfield, 1-0. The Elks then socked another FIVE singles off Merino to knock him out in the fifth inning, with two out, two across, and Angel Escobido having been thrown out on the base paths by Herrera. Julio Diaz hit an RBI double off Ponce, who drilled Tim Burkhart, and then got Rick Price out mostly because Watt in left made a headlong diving catch just to get back to the dugout where there were hot dogs and refreshments, while out on the field, there was only the smell of SUCKING.

Dan Mullen tripled home Nick DeMarco to score a run off Nate Norris in the sixth, 5-0, after which Brett Lillis jr. got four outs across the seventh and eighth without funny accidents. Bob Ibold returned to the Bigs for the first time this year with a K on Escobido in the eighth and remained unscored upon overall, Mullen flying out to left to end the inning. The Elks never had to go to a reliever, with Bill McMichael allowing only two more hits after the second inning, and certainly no runs. 5-0 Canadiens. Rogers 2-3;

Since Waters drove in that insurance run in the ninth on Monday, the Coons have scored a grand total of ONE run, in 29 innings. Oh boy.

Another lefty the on Saturday, as the Elks moved up de Anda.

Game 2
VAN: 1B Scannell – LF Escobido – SS R. Price – RF Outram – C Julio Diaz – 3B Burgos – CF Tomasello – 2B DeMarco – P de Anda
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – LF Preble – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – C Gardner – RF Avila – 3B Rogers – P Wheatley

Adame hit a leadoff double in the first and was singled home by Preble for an early 1-0 lead and the second Coons run since Monday, hooray! Outram singled and Jesus Burgos doubled off Wheats in the top 2nd then, but Outram was doubled up by Julio Diaz and Burgos was stranded when Tyler Tomasello whiffed himself a K. DeMarco drew a leadoff walk in the third, but then de Anda bunted into a double play. Outram hit into ANOTHER double play in the fourth… but by then Angel Escobido had already taken Wheats deep to left to tie the game at one.

It took until the sixth, but the Raccoons answered with a counter-homer by Mike Preble, a no-doubter to center, but also in solo fashion, establishing a 2-1 lead. Wheats retired the Elks 1-2-3 in the seventh, but was batted for when Tim Rogers hit a 2-out single in the bottom 7th, only the fifth Coons hit on the day. Ruben Gonzalez flew out to Tomasello, ending the seventh, and Porter and Lynn combined for a 1-2-3 eighth with Wheats now gone. An insurance run was not in the cards, and the Raccoons stuck to Lynn for the ninth inning, which began with the righty Escobido, but would then feature three left-handed hitters in Rick Price, Jerry Outram, and Julio Diaz. Or at least that was the case on paper. Escobido struck out, upon which Mullen hit for Price. The Coons hung with Lynn, but Moreno was ready and would probably come in if they’d also bat for Outram – which they did not after Mullen popped out to Wade Gardner. Lynn struck out Outram, and the Coons squeaked out a close on. 2-1 Critters. Preble 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Wheatley 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (11-9);

Some love girls, some love boys (Cristiano Carmons perks up), and I love Wheats! (Wheats freezes over his food bowl and looks around nervously)

Maud, why are you hitting Slappy with a rolled-up magazine? – No, I didn’t hear him say that he loved Autumn.

Although, who doesn’t love autumn? All the leaves turn gol-… – Ow! Ow! Maud! No! Ow! I meant the time of year! Maud! Ow! Stop!

Game 3
VAN: 1B Scannell – LF Escobido – SS R. Price – RF Outram – C Julio Diaz – 3B Burgos – CF Tomasello – 2B DeMarco – P Godinez
POR: LF Watt – CF Herrera – RF Preble – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – 3B Crispin – SS Luna – C Brooks – P Hils

Godinez was up for the rubber game on Sunday, and got a 1-0 lead in the fourth as the Raccoons continued their policy of mostly passive resistance. The run in the fourth scored in the most stupid way; Rick Price hit a leadoff single, after which Hils engaged in a full count with Outram. In the course of that at-bat, which would end with a groundout, Price scored from first base by a wild pitch, a balk, and another wild pitch. I was demonstratively breaking out the family-sized bottle of Capt’n Coma, and even Slappy sat there with his mouth hanging open. It was THAT bad.

Worse: the Coons’ offense. They had three hits in seven innings against Godinez, of which a 1-out double by Crispin in the bottom 5th was the most promising, but he, too, was stranded as everybody entered a slump at the same time. Hils pitched nice enough except for that one brain-dead at-bat with Outram, and left after seven and two thirds of 5-hit ball, with Mullen on second base and the lefty middle of the order up again. Richardson was brought in with Adame in a double switch, drew the attention of righty pinch-hitter Antonio Peralta, but Herrera caught his fly to center, stranding Mullen on second base. Matt Watt drew a 2-out walk off Sam Heisler in the bottom 8th, which counted as a remarkable offensive outburst these days, while Richardson and Norris held the middle of the lineup at bay in the ninth. Sam Gibson the appeared in the bottom 9th, facing the meat of the Coons’ order with a 1-0 lead. They went down hard; pop, grounder, K. 1-0 Canadiens. Crispin 2-3, 2B; Hils 7.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, L (12-6);

In other news

August 30 – PIT SS Tony Aparicio (.355, 12 HR, 69 RBI) chips three hits off SAC SP Alberto Cuellar (2-2, 6.47 ERA) to reach 2,000 base hits for his career. The 35-year-old Aparicio is hitting .286/.388/.433 over his 15-year career, with 191 HR and 1,019 RBI.
August 30 – In the same game, SAC 3B Mike Crenshaw (.302, 11 HR, 51 RBI) reaches a 25-game hitting streak with a 2-for-5 day against the Miners.
August 31 – August ends, and so does the hitting streak of SAC 3B Mike Crenshaw (.300, 11 HR, 51 RBI), who draws nothing but blanks in an 11-0 loss against the Miners, and thus can’t get past the 25-game mark.
August 31 – LAP SP Tim Steinbach (4-7, 5.13 ERA) fires a 3-hit shutout in a 13-0 blowout of the Cyclones.
September 1 – DEN SP John Kennedy (15-8, 3.29 ERA) pitches a complete-game 1-hitter over the Buffaloes. The only hit is a homer by Alfonso Madrid (.193, 4 HR, 14 RBI). The Gold Sox win, 7-1.
September 2 – The Warriors’ veteran SP Matt Sealock (11-9, 4.29 ERA) spins a 2-hit shutout against the Scorpions for a 4-0 win.
September 3 – LVA C/1B Kevin Weese (.313, 8 HR, 75 RBI) goes yard for the only score in the Aces’ 1-0 win over the Bayhawks.
September 3 – The Rebels beat the Capitals, 5-4 in 17 innings. Both teams scored a run in the 16th, but the Rebs’ run in the 17th stands up. September callup LF Craig Piano (1-1, 0 HR, 1 RBI) singles home the winning run in his first appearance of the season.

FL Player of the Week: TOP C Brett Banks (.296, 21 HR, 84 RBI), hitting .520 (13-25) with 2 RBI
CL Player of the Week: CHA LF/RF Danny Ceballos (.305, 4 HR, 24 RBI), hitting .419 (13-31) with 1 HR, 4 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: DEN LF/CF Sandy Castillo (.361, 24 HR, 99 RBI), hitting .418 with 7 HR, 25 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: SFB C Sean Suggs (.305, 12 HR, 57 RBI), batting .368 with 4 HR, 21 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: DAL SP Arthur Pickett (18-7, 3.81 ERA), hurling a perfect 6-0 mark with 3.51 ERA, 28 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: TIJ SP Larry Colwell (12-5, 3.13 ERA), throwing for a 5-1 record with 1.41 ERA, 23 K
FL Rookie of the Month: SFW 1B Garcia Bastos (.272, 3 HR, 45 RBI), batting .297 with 2 HR, 18 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: TIJ SP Larry Colwell (12-5, 3.13 ERA), still throwing for a 5-1 record with 1.41 ERA, 23 K

Complaints and stuff

Nine runs scored – FOR THE WHOLE WEEK. Good thing that we were out of it already (since about June, if I recall correctly) and nothing mattered anymore anyway.

And six of those runs were on Monday, so in the last five games the Coons have scored a total of THREE runs. Somehow Wheats won his start. I wonder how many more innings of futility we could have packed into the Sunday game if Hils hadn’t had that stroke while facing Outram in the fourth, personally awarding home plate to Rick Price from first base.

On the bright paw – just 26 games left. The next ten of these will be on the road on a trip to Indy, Milwaukee, and Elk City. In total we have 13 games each at home and away left.

And – Lonzo will join the team on the road trip, too! Yay!

…y’know, unless he breaks a leg real quick against the Savannah Sandholes, or whoever the Alley Cats might be playing right now.

Fun Fact: 45 years ago today, the Indians’ Claudio Rey hit three home runs to beat the Loggers, 6-3.

The Dominican rightfielder had a remarkably brief career, making his debut at age 24 in 2003. The year of his power heroics, 2004, was also the only time he appeared in more than half the games of a season, and even then had only 320 plate appearances, hitting .268 with just seven homers. It’s just that the Loggers ran right into him.

The Loggers!

Claudio Rey last appeared in a major league game in 2008. He spent all his time with the Indians, batting .272 with 16 homers and 113 RBI. He hung around in minor league ball until 2013, but never got another call to the Bigs.