Portland Raccoons (ABL) - Page 204

Westheim · 12-22-2022, 04:22 PM

In a wicked way, I was emotionally at rest. The Raccoons, that had held first place in the North for most of the year, without getting noticeably over the 0 mark for their run differential until well into August, had turned in the worst World Series performance *ever* - somehow it all added up again in the end.

The Gold Sox had just beaten us to death. They never stopped hitting. We never hit. We got beaten by a crisp 35 runs.

Order in the universe was restored. Pick the bat shards out of your fur, bandage up the flesh wounds, splint the mangled joints, and climb the old hill again next year.

The work started with the offseason, and the offseason started with getting yelled at by Nick Valdes – in person! – that our performance had been horrendous and he was getting laughed at by the other haughty moneysacks at the country club. Nevertheless, the Coons had flushed dosh into his pockets by getting people back in the seats in the second half, and I had stayed well under budget last year, leaving over $5M out of the $45.5M budget unspent, and with the increased ticket revenue and the playoff revenue on top of that, the Coons had turned enough of a profit for Valdes to cash out some $26M in earnings for himself. For my troubles, I got the budget increased to $49.5M again ($50M would have been too hard, Nick? …too round?)

In any case, we would be able to add a big contract of three during the offseason.

The Coons only climbed from 14th to 12th with this budget increase, but there were also only five teams with at least 10% more to their budget, so this was something we could work with. The rough overview?

Top 5: Gold Sox ($69M), Thunder ($69M), Miners ($67M), Canadiens ($60M), Stars ($58M) – these are the same five teams as last year, although only the Thunder have MORE dosh to blow than last season

The bottom of the league was brought up by the Falcons ($40.5M), Indians ($35.5M), Wolves ($34M), Aces ($32M), and Loggers ($29.8M) – also the same five teams as last year, but only the Aces have less money available.

Missing from the CL North at this point were only the Titans (t-6th, $53M) and Crusaders (t-10th, $50M).

The average budget for a team in the league rose to $48.7M, up $1.09M from last season. The median team budget was $48.5M, up $2.25M from last season.

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Basic first-day accounting included Jesus Maldonado picking up his option for the final year of his 7-year, $38.5M contract, which shocked absolutely nobody.

By rule, we also had to empty our DL, and that included Maldo and Sean Suggs from the 60-day DL, with the 40-man roster chocked full. Bryan Lenderink and Roberto Medina ended up on waivers to begin the offseason thus.

There was very little going on with salary arbitration, though. The Raccoons had only three arbitration-eligible players, and would keep them all, obviously: Salcido, Wolinsky, and Hitchcock were all essential to proceedings here. There were even fewer free agents: Brian Kaufman and Willie Maldonado, who were markedly less significant. Kaufman especially had not done a whole lot; the Coons had used three different third basemen, and none of them had very much made himself impossible to dispose of – the others being Crispin and Sivertson of course.

There were multiple options for third base especially. One involved moving Nick DeMarco there on a more permanent basis. The other was going after a free agent. Sacramento’s Mike Crenshaw and Elktown’s Jesus Burgos were just two options that were probably be hitting the market in November.

Westheim · 12-23-2022, 03:09 PM

Third base was perhaps the most pressing question this offseason, since we had answers to basically all the other questions.

First base? – Maldo, because where else would you have him linger?
Short? – Lonzo, don’t ask stupid questions like that!
Corner outfield? – Crum and Pucks!
Catcher? – Suggs suggs, but he’s due $10M

Third base had three main suitors, including Ed Crispin from the left side, and Brian Kaufman (who was a free agent by November) and Mitch Sivertson from the right side. None of them had hit for a .700 OPS in 2051, although Crispin had done so in his rookie year and was the only one of the three hitting for a .700 OPS for his career.

Third base was also Nick DeMarco’s best position, perhaps. He was a .742 OPS hitter for his career, and had hit for exactly .700 after being acquired from the damn Elks (after batting for a .778 OPS for them through 83 games…). This was another righty option to toss on the pile.

But let’s look at other options. Mike Crenshaw was 28 and a 2-time All Star with the Scorpions. He had knocked the ball for a .781 OPS or better every year as a full-time player except ’49. He was a double-digit player for both homers and stolen bases, and if there was something to complain about, it was average defense. Of course, average defense at 28 would worsen to pathetic defense by 35, so maybe we should play it less loose with the 7-year deals here…

Jesus Burgos was already 32, and a 12-year veteran that had led the FL in hits in 2043, in triples in 2046, and was a 2-time All Star, 2-time Platinum Stick winner, and had taken the 2044 FLCS MVP. He was not into the power game as much – landing double digit bombs only once in his career – and his days of stealing 30+ were over (he managed all of four in 158 games last season), but he batted for a .311/.354/.424 slash with 51 extra-base hits anyway, since he was a doubles machine, hitting 30+ of those in almost every season when not hindered by injuries. He was a “me first” player though, and the Coons clubhouse already had a few of those, and they all wanted the biggest food bowl at the table.

For completion, there would also be Ramon Sifuentes available, who had been a Bayhawk for almost a decade and a Crusader before that, and who was 36 and clearly on the way down. He hit for the league average last year, although his defense was still decent. He hit 21 homers in 2050, and nine last year, while being plagued by old man pains. Probably not the smartest investment. Especially with another old man pains player on the other side of the diamond.

Speaking of… Maldo would be 38 on Opening Day, and we were all totally looking forward to that.

Apart from mulling over old man pains, the Raccoons also resolved their three arbitration cases with pitchers by the end of October. Bubba Wolinsky signed a contract for 2051 for $950k, while Kevin Hitchcock had to settle for $650k.

Victor Salcido also signed, but for five years and $7.8M. The first three years would be rather cheap for a 25-year-old with two no-hitters, and the last two years came in at $2.5M each. Not a bad haul for a super-2 player, though.

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November 1 – The Titans trade SP Troy Ratliff (15-10, 3.85 ERA) to the Buffaloes for two prospects, including #141 prospect OF/1B/SS Mario Navarro.

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The Raccoons were trying to get a sneaky trade in before the free agency deadline, which involved talking to the Warriors, a team often forgotten to exist on a basic level, for 1B Dale Haracz, the 2050 FL Rookie of the Year, who had not done a whole lot in his sophomore season… but had batted .271/.402/.392 for something the Coons direly needed – a leadoff batter.

The problems with this one were not the price – Ruben Gonzalez would do, and other combinations of second-row players were possible – but that first base was held over for Maldo, and that Haracz had stolen ONE base as a pro, three years ago in AA ball. He was slower than dirt. Parking him in the leadoff spot in front of Lonzo would get us NOTHING. With 152 stolen bases, Lonzo was a singles slapper that nevertheless was his own doubles machine, if you let him. He had 406 career hits and 44 walks; adding 37 hit-by-pitch welts and subtracting his 85 extra-base hits and ignoring pesky things like reaching on errors for a second, for a really dirty calculation, let’s add 10 times he’s reached on an error or other shenanigans like uncaught third strikes… and let’s say that 10% of his stolen bases were of taking third base, and that he grounded into fielder’s choices 30 times; that makes for 442 times of ending an at-bat at first base. From there, he stole his way to second base 31% of the time.

But if you put Haracz in front of him, that’s going down the toilet. So Haracz, the leadoff man, would have to bat second? Getting weirder. Oh Lonzo! If you could just draw a walk here or there… His OBP in 2051 had been .322, which was simply not enough for a leadoff batter. So we’d still need a leadoff batter in front of Lonzo in front of Haracz, who’s now batting … third? All of those ahead of Crum, Waters, Pucks, DeMarco, and Suggs, assuming all of those would even fit in the lineup. Waters had a .345 OBP last season, while mostly playing leadoff.

Who had the best OBP on the team last year? – Tyler Philipps, fifth-string catcher? – Cristiano, please, only serious answers! – Ken “Littlespeed” Crum? Hardly better. No. It was just not goo- … Wait, where’s Maldo?

(moaning from one of the reclining chairs in the corner, with Maldo apparently stuck in it, unable to get his old bones out)

Oh, there he is.

Yeah, I don’t know. Doesn’t sound like a trade that will make for a more harmonic lineup.

We need a guy that has a high OBP, decent-to-good speed, and plays, preferably, third base or centerfield. The latter wasn’t much of an option [see below], and the former wasn’t gonna be easy.

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2051 ABL AWARDS

Players of the Year: DEN 2B/3B Ivan Villa (.303, 38 HR, 111 RBI) and OCT 3B/SS/RF Ed Soberanes (.300, 31 HR, 122 RBI)
Pitchers of the Year: DEN SP Gary Perrone (20-6, 2.15 ERA) and BOS SP David Barel (19-9, 2.56 ERA)
Rookies of the Year: CIN 1B Gabriel Brown (.319, 10 HR, 37 RBI) and MIL 1B/OF Gaudencio Callaia (.312, 8 HR, 57 RBI)
Relievers of the Year: CIN CL Ross Mitchell (9-4, 1.48 ERA, 36 SV) and ATL CL David Hardaway (9-3, 1.36 ERA, 34 SV)
Platinum Sticks (FL): P SAC Matt Weber – C SFW Nick Samuel – 1B NAS Alejandro Ramos – 2B DEN Ivan Villa – 3B PIT Victor Corrales – SS DEN Rick Price – LF DAL Juan del Toro – CF DEN Sandy Castillo – RF DAL Dario Martinez
Platinum Sticks (CL): P IND Alfredo Llamas – C OCT Jesus Adames – 1B OCT David Worthington – 2B OCT Jonathan Ban – 3B OCT Ed Soberanes – SS NYC Omar Sanchez – LF OCT Ryan Cox – CF ATL Steve Royer – RF LVA Aubrey Austin
Gold Gloves (FL): P TOP Josh Swindell – C DEN Blake Mickle – 1B RIC Landon Guillory – 2B DEN Ivan Villa – 3B PIT Victor Corrales – SS CIN Juan Ojeda – LF DAL Juan del Toro – CF WAS Jason Monson – RF CIN Chad Williams
Gold Gloves (CL): P TIJ Kevin Daley – C OCT Jesus Adames – 1B OCT David Worthington – 2B OCT Jonathan Ban – 3B NYC Prince Gates – SS POR Lorenzo Lavorano – LF POR Ken Crum – CF ATL Steve Royer – RF BOS Tony Lopez

First Gold Gloves for both Lonzo and Crum, the latter now owning one of each of the more commonly available accolades (Glove, Stick, and All Star nomination) … *and* a Player of the Year grandfather clock next to his fireplace.

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And del Toro? Now, that's a player.

And the Stars would do a one-for-one deal.

But I think you'll know which the one Coon they'd do it for is, and why it will only happen over my thoroughly dead, cold, and stiff body.

Westheim · 12-24-2022, 04:32 PM

When the free agency deadline passed, both Brian Kaufman and Willie Maldonado departed the team, and both Mike Crenshaw and Jesus Burgos emerged as type A free agents, making the Raccoons forfeit their first-round pick (nothing special at #22, but it wasn’t like we were going to get anything better) by signing either one of them.

Another surprise emergence was a 24-year-old right-hander from Japan by the name of Seisaku Taki. Groundballer with a 95mph fastball, slider, and changeup, and with good control and movement to cut down on those walk, walk, 3-run homer sequences. The Raccoons were VERY interested…!

Burgos and Crenshaw both being type A’s also made a move of Nick DeMarco to third base on a more permanent basis that much more appealing. Mikio Suzuki was a nice centerfielder, although he didn’t hit a lot. Also, easily forgettable because he only played in 24 games in the regular season last year was Cullen Tortora, who was also an option for the centerfield job. It wasn’t like we didn’t have personnel there, and somebody had to at eighth after all.

But somebody also had to bat first, and that somehow got me back to Juan del Toro. The Stars would trade him for Raffy, but not as long as my whiskers were still twitching…! But it would be possible to work out a package of two or three players to send over there instead. The Stars longed for pitching of all sorts, and the Coons longed for a leadoff man. Interestingly enough, Juan del Toro had rarely batted there in his career, and had not batted outside of the #3 slot for all of 2051. Del Toro was decent in center, but better in leftfield. A meh arm made rightfield a sub-par assignment.

Then there was Maldo, who was beyond diving or jumping for a ball, but could still *move*. Pat Degenhardt and Cristiano Carmona opined that he might actually be better placed in rightfield at this point, which would open up first base for either Ken Crum or Pucks. Between those three and a potential del Toro addition, the three outfield spots and first base could be covered in multiple ways. Del Toro wasn’t playing first or right, and Maldo was beyond centerfield duties for sure, but his arm was still working, and he could still play four or five nights a week, with a sprinkling of f.e. Cullen Tortora against right-handers. Suzuki would be the fifth outfielder, and we could finally send Glodowski to Kingdom Come.

Getting del Toro and his .419 OBP to bat leadoff would be such a boon for the team. Then add Lonzo, Crum, Pucks, Waters, DeMarco, Suggs, and Maldo, and suddenly we’re almost having ourselves a lineup…

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Do you also feel me spending a week on the trade screen here, and then not do it?

Westheim · 12-26-2022, 06:31 PM

I applied the handbrake abruptly after turning into aisle 6 at my local Wlodzimierz’ Food Outlet, prompting the numerous bottles of booze in the shopping cart to clank against each other noisily. The coupon! I had almost forgotten. Mumblingly, I trudged back around the shelf I had just turned around and walked back to the booze rack I had just plundered. I clawed through all the pockets of my coat until I found the wrinkled coupon – any bottle of Washington white wine, 25 cents off! Granted, the product was hardly good enough to rinse a dirty plate with, but it was 25 cents off! I grabbed the first thing that looked like it would taste like asphalt soaked in the intestines of some roadkill and walked back to the cart.

To my dismay, in between my booze and the 50-pound sack of mixed nuts for Honeypaws, a reporter from the Agitator had taken a seat in the cart and immediately stuffed a little microphone into my pokey black nose.

What’s with the deal with Dallas? Sir, I really don’t know what you’re on about. – We’re trying to trade for Juan del Toro? Are we? Really? – Yeah, would be horrible if we traded for another injury-addled wreck. – Yes, yes, I am aware he’s missed 40-odd games in each of the last 40-odd seasons.

As I pushed the cart with the trenchcoat-wearing reporter, who noted down my every word, past a female customer and her cart, the five-year-old boy sitting in that cart gave us the most confused look.

Let me ask you a question instead, you muckraker. Don’t you think the Raccoons need a leadoff batter? – So what would we want from del Toro. He’s not batting leadoff! – Actually, hold on… (bends into the freezer and takes out five frozen pizzas, dumping them into the reporter’s crotch)

No, I also think the players need a more balanced diet. – Well as you can see I am a great role model. I got three pizzas with cheese in the crust and two without. Very balanced.

As we reached the checkout, we met the lady with the five-year-old again, who was now distracted by the annoyingly placed chocolates in front of the checkout and was trying to whine his mother into buying him some, but she tried to tell him off.

The Agitator snark, meanwhile, was about to ask some painfully valid questions about our prospect pipeline and the meh performance of our minor league teams the last few years, when he also noticed the chocolates and began to beg me for some chocolate as well. Him and the boy quickly started to out-whine each other, to the point where I turned to the mother and asked her whether she wanted to switch the two, for which I caught one in the snout, and probably for good reason.

+++

What do you mean, Steve from Accounting, you can’t reimburse me for this purchase at the Food Outlet?? (nestles through a file with other receipts) How is that … It’s 120 bucks of booze and foodstuffs! How’s that not tax-deductible?? – Yes. Mostly chocolate. – I had to throw a pound of chocolate into a hedge to coax the Portland Agitator reporter out of my car. – Well, next time I’ll bring him here with me, and YOU can talk to that leech!

(finds the receipt from the Honduran roofers that fixed the leak over section 52 for half the federal minimum wage, with his own confirming paw print authorizing payment in cash on it)

Actually, Steve, thinking about it, I’d prefer it if you didn’t talk to the Agitator about anything we’re doing here. Ever.

+++

November 10 – The Loggers’ 23-year-old 3B Nick Jackson (.262, 8 HR, 92 RBI) announces his retirement from baseball, unable to recover properly from a broken kneecap suffered in April.
November 15 – In a major trade, the Raccoons acquire LF/CF Juan del Toro (.337, 108 HR, 486 RBI) from the Stars for a package containing SP Bubba Wolinsky (58-42, 3.77 ERA), SP Juan Mercado (10-7, 3.79 ERA), and MR Willie Cruz (9-11, 3.60 ERA, 50 SV). The Stars also wire the Raccoons $750k in cash as part of the deal.
November 23 – The Rebels sign ex-LVA SP Pablo Paez (53-53, 4.27 ERA) to a 5-yr, $16.6M contract.

+++

Calm down, Honeypaws. It’s alright.

Well, that’s through! The Raccoons snatched one of the best players in the league to fix up their lineup once and for all (cough!), and instead blew a Kansas-sized hole into their rotation. The Stars wanted pitching, and they wanted a lot of it. Not that Cruz was much of a loss – he was certainly electric at times, but in two years we’d been through some quite spectacular blowouts with him, and even in a setup role he was tough to watch. The real losses were Wolinsky and Mercado, the latter a surprise breakout in 2051 after starting the season in AAA. So he could now have his sophomore swoon with the Stars, I guess! Hah!

Juan Mercado will definitely win a Pitcher of the Year before long, won’t he?

The Coons were left with Wheats, Salcido, and Raffy for a rotation. Add Kyle Brobeck if you feel brave today, but he walked more than he struck out over his 12 starts (70 innings) this year. He’s 23, with room for growth, but he also had the same 5.1 BB/9 mark he showed in the majors in AAA this season, so that’s that. I guess trading for del Toro means we’re officially competing again now, so we should maybe fix that hole in the rotation with a more serious effort than with the Honduran roofers. Also, all of those four pitchers mentioned here are right-handed (and so would be Seisaku Taki), so a lefty starter wouldn’t be the worst idea.

There was also the Rule 5 draft coming up and I was trying to create space on the 40-man roster to protect a number of AAA players, including Dave Blackshire, Carmen Argenziano, Prospero Tenazes, Dante Gutierrez, and Raul Medrano. Danny Hall and Steve Richardson, AAA pitchers with ABL experience, ended up on waivers, as did Jeff Raczka.

The thing was, there were a lot of players on the 40-man roster that had already seen quite some major league action, had not impressed, but were somehow still only 24, 25, or 26. You know, the Polibio O’Higgins, Rich Seymour, Tyler Philipps, Eric Reese, Matt Dixon, Oscar Rivera class of player. The ones you hate to waive to make them a future Elk.

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November 27 – The Raccoons come to terms with 24-year-old Japanese right-hander SP Seisaku Taki, who signs for 5-yr, $15M.
November 27 – The Loggers deal RF/1B Will McIntyre (.278, 27 HR, 242 RBI) to the Buffaloes for two prospects.
November 28 – The Stars acquire 3B Mike Crenshaw (.301, 84 HR, 368 RBI), a former Scorpion, for $16.56M over four years.
December 1 – Rule 5 Draft: 16 players are taken in the draft. The Raccoons are not affected.
December 1 – The Miners claim AAA SP Danny Hall (2-7, 3.52 ERA) off waivers by the Raccoons.

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Well, that’s gonna stuff the hole in the rotation! It’s now only Rhode Island-sized. Just when I was going to do something stupid to get David Barel from the Titans. Talk about selling the farm.

The WHOLE farm.

…which still had us with Brobeck provisionally pencilled into the #5 spot, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t gonna try and twangle us a new pitcher somehow. I tried to fool the Buffos out of Kennedy Adkins, a young pitcher I had tried to get from the Caps before, but they politely told me to take my business elsewhere.

What else could we need? A right-handed outfielder that’s not Matt Glodowski to provide some balance against lefty pitchers. Batting DeMarco leadoff was one of my wickeder ideas to give either del Toro or Pucks the day off against southpaws, and from our three switch-hitters (Crum, Suggs, Waters), only Waters had really lop-sided splits and was hitting right-handers much better. There’d probably be a Mitch Sivertson or something on the roster for those situations.

At this point, we carried 29 players on the extended roster, 13 pitchers and 16 position players. There was definitely room for more qualified pitching, since the pitchers included the (sometimes chronically) underdone Brobeck, Dixon, O’Higgins, and Reese as well as the rather pedestrian Snyder and Miles. Filler material among position players included Philipps, Seymour, and Glodowski’s useless pelt.

Other old Coons finding new employment: Juan Jimenez joins the Loggers for 2-yr, $924k;

Westheim · 12-27-2022, 01:54 PM

December 4 – The Cyclones grab back 3B Jesus Burgos (.305, 80 HR, 761 RBI) after three and a half years in Vancouver for the 32-year-old, with $13.96M over four years paid to facilitate the reunion.
December 4 – The Falcons sign up 34-year-old ex-LAP SP Kevin Clendenen (115-128, 3.79 ERA) to a 2-yr, $7.28M contract.
December 5 – The Stars coax ex-SFB 2B/SS Sergio Quiroz (.288, 107 HR, 610 RBI) to Dallas with the promise of a 5-yr, $17.6M contract.
December 5 – Another reunion: 38-yr-old INF/RF/LF Felix Marquez (.278, 176 HR, 888 RBI), lastly of the Cyclones, signs up for a third tour of duty with the Buffaloes on a 2-yr, $6.48M deal.
December 6 – The Warriors are a-shopping, trading for CL Ben Lussier (11-7, 3.82 ERA, 40 SV) with the Pacifics, who receive two prospects.
December 6 – In Atlanta, they also manage to fleece the Warriors for two prospects in exchange for MR Mike Hall (7-4, 2.82 ERA, 6 SV). The returns include #165 prospect C Marco Nieto.
December 7 – And the Warriors continue their reliever shopping spree during winter meetings, picking up MR Taylor Stabile (28-28, 3.64 ERA, 18 SV) from the Crusaders, with cash, for #153 prospect SP Jose Ortega.
December 19 – The Condors ink ex-RIC SP Omar Lara (135-104, 3.32 ERA) to a 2-yr, $11.6M contract.
December 20 – Dallas gets the services of 41-year-old CL Josh Livingston (99-91, 3.01 ERA, 376 SV) on board for 2052 for the cost of $2.44M.
December 21 – Denver inks ex-RIC SP Kellen Lanning (94-54, 3.46 ERA) for five years and $28.68M.
December 21 – The Rebels pass out $7.52M over two years to former Miners CL Sam Gibson (42-34, 2.64 ERA, 224 SV), a new high-water mark for a contract’s average annual value for closers.
December 21 – The Indians trade SP Alfredo Llamas (23-23, 3.97 ERA) to the Thunder for two prospects, #79 SP Tauro Mata and #104 UT Mark Younce.
December 22 – The Thunder also get longtime division rival 3B/1B Ramon Sifuentes (.281, 171 HR, 919 RBI), with two distinct Bayhawks stints, signed up to a 2-yr, $3.4M contract.

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The winter meetings passed without the Raccoons doing anything stupid for a change, but I was secretly working on “Project Lefty” to kick Kyle Brobeck out of the rotation and give us a truly Fearsome Five as the team made another push for the playoffs.

The lefty in question had just won a Pitcher of the Year award and had been a general nuisance to the Raccoons for years. And the Titans were in rebuilding mode and not entirely averse to trading David Barel either. Him and Wheatley, together with Salcido (two no-hitters at 25, he has to be doing *something* right), and then two high-ceiling wild cards in Taki and Raffy; if the latter turned out only half as good as I have been overprotective of him for the last five years, we’d win 120 games next year…

Be careful with that straw, Raffy. We don’t want you to poke your eye out while having a cocoa.

(turns back to his own booze-laced cocoa and pokes straw into his own big black googly eye)

The thing was, the Titans were lusting for prospects. They, too, were keen on pitchers, and the Raccoons had already stripped the farm quite a bit – the upcoming farm report would probably look harsh, but part of that was also the promotion of numerous well-ranked prospects to the major leagues this year. On the preliminary list as of December, the Coons held only four ranked prospects anymore, all pitchers, and it looked like the Titans would want at least two of those.

The Coons would have liked to get rid of a surplus outfielder in the trade, but that one didn’t seem likely to happen, either.

At the same time, there was another lefty option available without burning down the old plantation entirely, and probably for less than $1.5M on a 1-year deal (Barel, too, was only under contract for the 2052 season anymore), and he was also a former division rival, longtime Crusaders southpaw Carlos Malla.

Malla of course was a 33-51 pitcher with a 4.30 career ERA and three years from 2047 to 2049 where he was primarily injured, but he also played on some lackluster New York teams. No comparison to Barel, though, neither in the scouting report nor in the performance numbers on the geek sites, with Barel – routinely pitching without run support for his entire career – putting together a 2.84 ERA in 220 games (205 starts) with an 89-78 record. Barel would be paid $3.08M for 2052.

And I also tried to get the trade done before he could sign an extension with the Titans, which was something that was rumored to be in the works on the usual rumor mills on and off Gobble.

Elsewhere we were in the bidding for Sam Gibson, half-heartedly as it turned out. He kept saying he was having offers for over $3M per year when we were not going to offer more than $2M per season, and it turned out for once that a player wasn’t even blatantly lying to me.

From the Former Furball Re-Employment Wire: Eduardo Avila got $2.5M over two years from the Knights; Willie Maldonado signed with the Gold Sox for $442k; Brian Kaufman moved down I-5 to the Wolves for $580k;

Westheim · 12-29-2022, 06:54 AM

December 28 – The Gold Sox sign up ex-OCT CL Mike Lynn (48-43, 2.55 ERA, 225 SV) with a 3-yr, $9.6M contract.
December 28 – The Thunder console themselves by immediately adding ex-Loggers stopper Jeremy Mayhall (46-41, 3.17 ERA, 157 SV) for three years and $5.58M.
December 31 – Another former Thunder joins the FL West, as 30-yr old SS/3B Alex Adame (.284, 40 HR, 558 RBI) signs with the Stars for 3-yr, $6.36M.
January 4 – The Raccoons acquire 30-yr old SP David Barel (89-78, 2.84 ERA) and $850k in cash from the Titans for a package of 30-year-old C Ruben Gonzalez (.242, 54 HR, 266 RBI) and three prospects: #54 AAA SP Kenneth Spencer, AAA SP Daniel Silin, and AA OF Ethan Torrence.

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That was also my absolutely final offer to the Titans after the haggling went back and forth for a month. Spencer was the last top 100 prospect left in the system, so we flushed that one good, and now there was only the vague hope that it would all work out somehow. And that meant two things: that the team clicked and competed again, AND that we could work out a follow-up deal with Barel in the next ten months, because he was going to be a free agent at the end of the year and if he walked, it would be a sucky departure.

The other prospects in the deal were ultimately not the brightest burners; there was some hope for Torrence, but Silin had cost roughly half a million to sign in a July IFA window, but ultimately had no command over his pitches and looked like a bust, although he was still only 22.

Gone is also one of the last three-ringed Coons in Ruben Gonzalez (who also would have been in a contract year). Only Wheats, Maldo, and Waters remain from that category. Hitchcock took (a small) part in two rings – and that is ALL that is left from the 2044, 2046, and 2047 champs.

The move also opened a new hole at backup catcher, because Tyler Philipps is not considered The Thing, and we may want to look into acquiring a veteran backup to Sean Suggs at this latter stage of the offseason. We were also still at least one reliever short in the pen, but had a surplus of outfielders. Although, maybe we should look at it from a different perspective and weave first base into the outfield considerations, because that’s what the roster reality is – although that still meant seven roster spots for four positions on the field, with two catchers leaving only four guys to cover the other three infield spots. Maldo, Crum, Pucks were all going to move back and forth between the outfield and first base, and none of the other infielders really had much expertise there. It wasn’t the tallest bunch there on the infield, a lot of 6’0’’. Funnily enough, the shortest position player on staff was Ken Crum at 5’11’’ … and a-half as he claimed.

Also interesting: the shortest pitcher on the team, tied with Paul Miles? Wheats, at 5’10’’. There was some energy in that petit sized pitcher, though! (Wheats stops mid-gobble over his food bowl and glares, trying to work out whether that was a compliment or an insult)

We were also arriving at our budget cap now; only $1.2M were left after the Barel trade, but also $2.95M in cash, so there was room for another free agent; besides, what did we need a player development budget for anymore? We had no more players to develop…! (nervous snicker) … (fiddles the label off a bottle of Capt’n Coma)

Nah, I didn’t like that setup…

+++

January 9 – CLCS foes trade as the Coons send OF/1B Cullen Tortora (.256, 55 HR, 423 RBI) and $500k in cash to the Thunder for MR Justin Johns (44-59, 4.39 ERA, 29 SV) and AAA MR Ryan Harmer.

+++

The Thunder wanted to get rid of Johns, who was at odds with certain forces in their clubhouse. We had just parted with the odd malcontent or two, so why not add more of that sort? All the bickering aside, he was a very competent right-handed reliever and we needed somebody like that to strengthen the 7th/8th inning for us. Him and Eloy Sencion should be a sturdy setup pair in front of Hitchcock.

In reality, the Thunder would have taken almost everybody back for Johns, that urgent was his departure to them. They would have taken Rich Seymour, but by parting with a surplus left-handed outfielder (yes, they would have taken Glodowski, but right-handed outfielders are not a dime a dozen in January, so his useless pelt stayed), also the one most likely to cause squabbles once his playing time would diminish, the Coons hoped to help all areas of their roster. Harmer, the prospect, was not ranked, but had a nifty cutter/forkball combo, keeping it on the ground, and all he needed was better control. He was not a guarantee to make it – he was already 24 – but a nice backup to have in AAA.

The Raccoons cleaned out the lower minors in December, sending home some failed prospects, but the most notable example was probably eighth-rounder Jason Phillips, a 22-year-old outfielder still failing to hit in single-A Aumsville.

More ex-Coons with new jobs: Bryce Toohey took a 2-yr, $4.16M offer from the Buffos; Brian Nigro joined the Caps for $1.04M;

+++

2052 ABL HALL OF FAME VOTING

Only one player was added to the Hall of Fame this year, and it was the no-brainer newly added to the ballot, elected with a sweeping 99.1% of the vote: Danny Santillano. The left-handed batting first baseman signed out of Venezuela for $510k in 2022 and made his debut with the Miners four years later as a 20-year-old. By the time he was 21, he owned the Federal League, winning six straight batting titles, plus two home run crowns, a triple crown, and five slugging titles by the time of his age 26 season. He won also five straight Player of the Year awards during that time. And while he didn’t maintain that sort of dominance into the following 14 seasons in the majors, he remained a force at the plate, winning another two home run titles, four slugging titles, and an RBI crown in addition to 14 All Star nominations, 11 Platinum Sticks, and two FLCS MVPs, one of those (as well as two slugging titles) in a brief interlude with the Cyclones. For his career, Santillano menaced the league with a .331/.419/.531 slash line, 3,451 base hits, 457 homers, and 1,755 RBI – the latter mark being the all-time career mark in the league. His home run total is second only to Ron Alston’s 475, and only five players mashed more base hits (Pablo Sanchez, Victorino Sanchez, Dale Wales, Cristo Ramirez, Jeffery Brown).

Full results:

PIT 1B Danny Santillano – 1st – 99.1 – INDUCTED
??? C Nate Evans – 1st – 57.3
??? CL Josh Boles – 3rd – 39.8
??? CL Chris Henry – 1st – 38.3
SAL C Morgan Kuhlmann – 1st – 30.0
DAL SP Eric Weitz – 1st – 24.3
TIJ SP Jeff Little – 10th – 13.1 – DROPPED
LAP CF Justin Fowler – 7th – 12.5
SFW 2B Mario Colon – 2nd – 9.2
BOS LF Willie Vega – 4th – 5.9
TOP SP David Elliott – 6th – 5.0
SFW C Ethan McCullar – 2nd – 3.9 – DROPPED
SAL SP Ryan Bedrosian – 2nd – 3.3 – DROPPED
RIC CL Yeom Soung – 1st – 3.0 – DROPPED
VAN SP Mike Mihalik – 1st – 2.7 – DROPPED
SFB 2B Jose Cruz – 1st – 1.8 – DROPPED
SAL LF Kyle Weinstein – 1st – 1.5 – DROPPED
NAS SP Sean Fowler – 1st – 0.6 – DROPPED

Westheim · 12-30-2022, 08:51 AM

In what other ways could the franchise still be ruined now that we were already entering the second half of January? I wasn’t convinced yet by Cristiano Carmona’s idea for a prospect swimwear beauty contest, but maybe that was something for the All Star break…

+++

January 16 – The Bayhawks sign former Warriors outfielder Danny Munn (.260, 88 HR, 367 RBI) to a 5-yr, $25.24M contract.
January 16 – The Raccoons announce the addition of 29-yr old former Blue Sox MR Paul Crisler (23-16, 4.03 ERA, 18 SV) on a 3-yr, $3.75M deal.
January 18 – The Rebels add SP Paul Paris (106-106, 4.15 ERA, 2 SV), formerly of the Condors, on a 2-yr, $7.04M deal.
January 19 – The Scorpions strike two deals in one day, adding OF/1B Pedro Colon (.274, 46 HR, 296 RBI) from the Bayhawks in exchange for SP Mario de Anda (81-55, 3.68 ERA); and in the other deal get MR Ralph Needham (18-19, 3.27 ERA, 29 SV) from the Blue Sox for a prospect.
January 23 – The Aces get SP Josh Pennington (4-6, 4.23 ERA) from the Wolves for outfielder Dustin Huber (.230, 0 HR, 12 RBI).
January 27 – The Bayhawks grab ex-DAL SP Tony Martinez (47-35, 4.02 ERA) on a 3-yr, $14.76M deal.
January 27 – The Coons add 28-yr old C Aaron Brewer (.273, 4 HR, 26 RBI) for $500k. Brewer spent the last years in the Crusaders system.
February 6 – The Capitals acquire 3B Randy Wilken (.241, 92 HR, 382 RBI) from the Falcons for MR Victor Erazo (0-1, 5.79 ERA) and #42 prospect OF Doug Conner.

+++

Brewer also hasn’t played in the majors since 2049. In fact, he has appeared in just 63 career games, but for three different teams between 2044 and 2049. He’s a depth signing, also an admission that we can’t do much better than Tyler Philipps as the backup catcher to begin the 2052 season – the budget is almost used up at this point. To get Brewer onto the 40-man roster, AAA man Shane Honig was put on waivers.

Paris was another free agent the Raccoons sniffed at, but then Seisuke Taki signed and we went to go looking for a southpaw instead. The Colon-de Anda trade exchanged former Elks teammates for each other.

Seisaku? – Maud, are you sure? – In my head it’s Seisuke Taki. Just like Cesar Salcido and Ricky de la Cruz.*

What does Seisaku even mean, Maud? – Something like “perfect creation”? – We’ll talk about that once he’s Pitcher of the Year. And Seisuke? – I beg the baseball gods for mercy *anyway* …! – Fine, I’ll stick to yours…!

Crisler could have been a devastating starter with his wipeout slider and 96mph fastball and cutter if he had enough stamina, but he had never started a game above AA level, and even then was barely averaging five innings per start, and it wasn’t for a lack of class. He was yet another sturdy 7th/8th inning option, however – or even for earlier. He could readily pitch two or three innings, and in fact had been abused for 94 innings in relief by the Sox in ’51.

Other Coons with new teams? Arturo Carreno got $410k from the Rebs; the Buffaloes signed Rikuto Ito for $720k; Ricky Jimenez joined the Scorpions for $700k; Julian Ponce will pitch with the Warriors for two years and $1.36M;

+++

*I wish I was kidding.

The rest of the offseason might even come later today, and maybe also the season-opening post, this means we might start the new season still this year! Huzzah! =)

Westheim · 12-30-2022, 03:04 PM

There wasn’t much going on in Portland anymore in the last eight weeks of the offseason. The Raccoons signed one more discarded minor leaguer to a minor league deal, and that was that.

Carlos Malla, who the Raccoons would have gone after more aggressively if the Barel deal had not come together after all, signed in February with the Capitals, taking in $1.26M for the 2052 season.

Former Furballs that signed new contracts included: Wade Gardner getting all of $3.72M over two years from the Rebels; Pat Gurney landing with the Falcons for $466k;

Westheim · 12-31-2022, 07:41 AM

2052 PORTLAND RACCOONS – Opening Day Roster (first set in parenthesis shows 2051 stats, second set career stats; players with an * are off season acquisitions):

SP Jason Wheatley, 31, B:R, T:R (19-7, 2.51 ERA | 124-78, 3.29 ERA) – Although he was denied his second Pitcher of the Year award by then-foe David Barel, Wheats put in an excellent season after some soul-searching in 2050, and at least won his second ERA title. One of only three three-ringed Coons remaining (Waters, Maldo). He has five good to very good pitches, and when he mixes them well can breeze through innings untouched.
SP David Barel *, 30, B:L, T:L (19-9, 2.56 ERA | 89-78, 2.84 ERA, 2 SV) – acquired from the Titans in a trade this winter, Barel is the current CL Pitcher of the Year and as three excellent pitches to subdue hitters with. He has posted sub-3 ERA in his last four years (including one injury-shortened season), and has all the qualities you look for in a team leader. He’s also in a contract year.
SP Victor Salcido, 26, B:R, T:R (10-9, 3.38 ERA | 31-29, 3.59 ERA) – cost almost half a million to sign as international free agent in 2044, and found an opening in the rotation in 2048, immediately sticking in it. Could be a bit better in terms of control of his otherwise undisputable stuff, but he threw his second no-hitter at age 25, so he has to be doing *something* right…!
SP Seisaku Taki *, 24, B:R, T:R (no stats) – another right-handed groundballer that was imported from Japan. Taki has three very good pitches, throws 95, and should be a delight. But we said that about the last couple of Japanese imports, of which Mikio Suzuki has stuck around by far the longest already…..
SP Rafael de la Cruz, 21, B:L, T:R (7-8, 4.36 ERA | 7-8, 4.36 ERA) – it wasn’t all golden for golden boy in his debut season, but he worked respectably well in his first 21 starts. He can throw 100 for strikes, and still keep the damn thing on the ground; as soon as he works out some kinks, he’ll be a terror on the league. For sure!

SP/MR Paul Miles, 28, B:L, T:L (6-3, 3.82 ERA, 2 SV | 10-6, 3.97 ERA, 2 SV) – a waiver claim in mid-2050, Miles mostly got garbage time baseball ever since joining the Coons pen, but also made three spot starts, and has thrown 104.1 innings across 62 appearances. Three oh-well pitches, but somehow the fans like him.
MR Mike Snyder, 25, B:S, T:R (1-0, 4.72 ERA | 4-0, 4.60 ERA) – devastating curveball with a 95mph cutter, not bad a for a “failed starter” who was a first-round pick (#21 at least) in the 2045 draft. Quite serious control problems, though, walking over six batters per nine innings in 43 appearances across his two partial major league seasons.
MR Brett Lillis jr., 26, B:L, T:L (3-1, 1.45 ERA | 5-3, 2.81 ERA) – his father was a fairly pleasant presence on some Coons rosters that never progressed past the CLCS, but the offspring had quite the hard time of it in odd bits of major league playing time in 2049 and 2050, but seems to have turned it around in 2051 after starting the season in AAA. He struck out 10.1/9 upon his return and was rarely the issue across 53 appearances (96 for his career). 95mph cutter, scooping curve, and finally the walks are coming down as well.
MR Paul Crisler *, 29, B:R, T:R (7-6, 4.02 ERA, 1 SV | 23-16, 4.03 ERA, 18 SV) – Crisler, a former Blue Sock signed as free agent, is a very good right-handed setup option with three very good pitches; his main issues are ho-hum control and a lack of stamina that precludes him from being a potentially great starter.
SU Eloy Sencion, 25, B:L, T:L (4-2, 2.73 ERA, 3 SV | 4-2, 2.73 ERA, 5 SV) – vicious slider, and good enough control to rarely be an issue, Sencion is the top lefty in the bullpen going into 2052.
SU Justin Johns *, 34, B:R, T:R (1-2, 3.68 ERA, 1 SV | 44-59, 4.39 ERA, 29 SV) – a difficult character the Thunder had an acute urge to get rid off, Johns throws a great curve and should efficiently partner up with Sencion ahead of Hitchcock.
CL Kevin Hitchcock, 29, B:R, T:R (3-5, 2.20 ERA, 24 SV | 12-13, 3.09 ERA, 30 SV) – the German right-hander seems to have finally figured his own stuff out and after a stellar 2050 season won the closer’s job from Willie Cruz a few months into the 2051 campaign. Few things to complain about here; if anything it’s his tendency to give up a homer here or there. Only Coon other than Wheats, Waters, and Maldo with rings (two in fact) from the 2040s dynasty, even though he only partook occasionally in those last two championship seasons.

C Sean Suggs, 29, B:S, T:R (.287, 9 HR, 52 RBI | .310, 114 HR, 507 RBI) – solid defensively, the former Player of the Year came over from the Bayhawks during the summer, dropped 54 points of batting average and poked for a 79 OPS+ before disappearing onto the DL. It can not get much worse than that in his first full season as a Critter.
C/1B Tyler Philipps, 25, B:R, T:R (.250, 2 HR, 10 RBI | .250, 2 HR, 10 RBI) – excellent defensive catcher that debuted late in the 2051 season; not much of a hitter, and his knack to draw walks (9 BB vs. 12 H in 58 PA) is mostly useless given his lack of speed that would create a roadblock at the top of the order.

RF/1B/LF Jesus Maldonado, 38, B:R, T:R (.268, 5 HR, 55 RBI | .291, 206 HR, 1,136 RBI) – final year on that huge contract, and probably also the final year his body can drag itself onto the field at all, although he held up until September in 2051; his defense is completely gone, and he’s even a burden at first base; he might actually play some semi-workable rightfield more often than not, given that the one thing he can still do is fire rockets from down there.
SS/2B Matt Waters, 31, B:S, T:R (.239, 14 HR, 56 RBI | .258, 152 HR, 593 RBI) – Home Run King! …in 2048. Struggled to hit for anything at all for a long time in ’51 and eventually batted leadoff for most of the season since he was drawing more walks than ever, still pulling out a semi-defensible .345 OBP with some speed to boot (169 career SB). It could be touch and go between him and Juan del Toro in the leadoff spot, and they might even switch frequently. And wouldn’t you know – he has already served half of the 10-year contract he over-eagerly signed after the 2046 season!
SS/3B Lorenzo Lavorano, 24, B:R, T:R (.277, 3 HR, 52 RBI | .284, 8 HR, 113 RBI) – Everybody loves Lonzo! If you don’t love Lonzo, you can’t be my friend…! Has won two stolen base titles in two full seasons, and we have already elaborated on how his sub-.700 OPS means little when he can turn the singles and (rare) walks into doubles like that. And I wouldn’t sneeze at the Gold Glove he won at short in ’51, either!
2B/3B/SS/CF Nick DeMarco, 31, B:R, T:R (.271, 13 HR, 75 RBI | .282, 51 HR, 370 RBI) – very versatile defender on the infield, DeMarco was acquired from the damn Elks mid-season and hit a few walkoffs right away before quietly disappearing into the list of “also not hitting”.
3B Ed Crispin, 25, B:L, T:R (.257, 5 HR, 37 RBI | .263, 17 HR, 112 RBI) – once upon a time one of the returns from the Rebels in the deal that sent Josh Rella away, Crispin’s a good defender at the hot corner, with a middle of the road bat that might see him hit 12-15 homers in a full season, but with the personnel we have available, he figures very much to be a backup or infrequent starter against right-handers, with DeMarco shifting over to rest the middle infielders.
3B/SS/LF/RF/2B Mitch Sivertson, 26, B:R, T:R (.260, 0 HR, 17 RBI | .247, 0 HR, 22 RBI) – super-utility with a thin singles stick and no desire to walk or go yard. Could also be used as pinch-runner here or there.

LF/1B/RF Ken Crum, 29, B:S, T:L (.311, 14 HR, 70 RBI | .286, 85 HR, 457 RBI) – led the league in RBI and OPS in 2049, but had a major regression episode in ’50 before coming over in a trade with the Bayhawks. He hit well in 2051 until missing 45 games on the DL. If he can stay on the field and find the swing again that had him sock 27 homers in 2049, he might even win a second Player of the Year title.
LF/CF Juan del Toro *, 27, B:L, T:R (.360, 23 HR, 80 RBI | .337, 108 HR, 486 RBI) – what was the major offensive addition in Ken Crum last year, is del Toro this year. He came in a farm-ravaging trade with the Stars and brought along his 2051 batting title from the Federal League. Absolute menace in the lineup, although he’s been hitting third most of the time with Dallas, and the Coons toy with the thought of having him lead off due to his .394 career OBP (and .413+ in three of the last four years).
LF/1B/RF Alan Puckeridge, 24, B:L, T:R (.309, 14 HR, 87 RBI | .295, 20 HR, 138 RBI) – the offensive breakout of 2051 that was not nearly talked about enough, Pucks combined elegant outfield play (though still learning the ropes in center) with a high-average, occarional-power bat, and can also steal bases with great frequency. Ironically he might have stolen more than the 35 bags he got in ’51 on a roster without Lonzo, because you can’t be running on them *all* the time. Might end up playing center most of the time, which is his worst position.
RF/LF Matt Glodowski, 32, B:R, T:R (.231, 9 HR, 37 RBI | .253, 15 HR, 70 RBI) – one day I’ll figure out how his useless pelt made the roster again. Well, he does have some applications as a southpaw slayer, but he can’t hit right-handers, he can’t run, he can not field very well, and yet, he’s here…
CF/RF/LF Mikio Suzuki, 28, B:L, T:L (.248, 6 HR, 41 RBI | .248, 6 HR, 50 RBI) – signed out of Japan for not a lot of dosh, Suzuki was advertised as a versatile defender and potential base stealer, while probably having mostly a singles bat. What we got was a snuff movie of injuries, not hitting, more injuries and more not hitting. Keeps hanging on for the time being.

On disabled list: Nobody.

Otherwise unavailable: Nobody.

Other roster movement:
SP Kyle Brobeck, 24, B:S, T:R (4-5, 4.63 ERA | 7-7, 4.43 ERA) – optioned to AAA; groundballer acquired in a trade with the Knights for Armando Herrera, he threw a shutout as a 22-year-old, but has been getting whacked around a bit as well. Five pitches in the arsenal, but still finding both control and strikeouts. Notably a very good hitter by pitchers’ standards.
SP/MR Matt Dixon, 26, B:R, T:R (0-0, 1.80 ERA | 0-0, 1.80 ERA) – optioned to AAA; was used only in relief late in the 2051 season while being a starter throughout his minor league career, although he wasn’t gonna hack it as a starter in the majors.
MR Polibio O’Higgins, 25, B:R, T:R (3-1, 1.13 ERA | 3-5, 5.26 ERA) – waived and DFA’ed; loves to fire his 97mph heater, and hitters love to see that. Looks like he’s turning into a grave that took a bleeping $570k to dig. He was put on waivers when we could have optioned Mike Snyder for free.
MR Eric Reese, 24, B:L, T:L (0-0, 1.17 ERA | 0-0, 1.17 ERA) – optioned to AAA; made some odd appearances out of the pen as a situational lefty, and while it didn’t show in the majors (1 BB in 7.2 IP), he struggled for 5.2 BB/9 in AAA and is nowhere near major-league ready and probably never will be.
C Aaron Brewer *, 29, B:R, T:R (played in minors | .273, 4 HR, 26 RBI) – waived and DFA’ed; signed as free agent on the cheap and as backup to Suggs and Philipps. Only has 63 major league appearances.
2B Rich Seymour, 25, B:R, T:R (.143, 0 HR, 2 RBI | .204, 0 HR, 12 RBI) – waived and DFA’ed; young second-sacker that basically can’t hit and probably never will.

Everybody not mentioned by now has already been waived, reassigned, or turned into duck food during the offseason.

OPENING DAY LINEUP:

It’s really hard to give you a primary lineup this year, and the reason for that is the general state of flux among the three outfield spots and first base that we have now. Maldo plays only first and right, del Toro plays only left and center, but Pucks and Crum can roam on all four of those positions and we expect at least some degree of shifting back and forth. Suzuki will mostly offer rest days for the regulars by playing center against right-handers, while Glodowski should be in the lineup most of the time against left-handers, which would then sit either del Toro or Pucks, or maybe even Crum. Maldo might also get additional rest days against right-handers, which again gets Suzuki involved.

Vs. RHP: LF/CF del Toro – SS Lavorano – OF/1B Puckeridge – OF/1B Crum – 2B Waters – 3B DeMarco – 1B/RF Maldonado – C Suggs – P
(Vs. LHP: LF/CF del Toro (or 2B Waters) – SS Lavorano – OF/1B Puckeridge (or del Toro) – OF/1B Crum (or Pucks) – 2B Waters – 3B DeMarco – RF Glodowski – 1B Maldonado – C Suggs – P)

Ideally Maldo bats about sixth, which makes it more likely we hit a spot in the late game, where we can double-switch him out for defense in a close affair. Sivertson could also run for him and then take over a corner outfield spot late in the game. DeMarco also remains available as a plus centerfield option.

I mean, we have options here, which is better than having no options!

OFF SEASON CHANGES:

Two mellow seasons removed from five straight pennants 2044-48, the Raccoons were in the World Series again in ’51, but let’s not talk about that anymore. It was also not an extension of that previous dynasty. As pointed out, hardly any personnel from that title run was still left, and one of them (Ruben Gonzalez) got shipped off this offseason.

But the Raccoons had a good offseason by any measuring stick you’ll hold against it. We hardly lost anything in free agency, and the biggest established departure in trade was Ruben Gonzalez – or Cullen Tortora, although he was on the DL for five months in ’51 and hardly ever wore the brown shirt in combat.

But the Coons got back seven players this winter, three of which are projected to make much noise: the reigning CL Pitcher of the Year, the reigning FL batting champ, and the best-looking Japanese import pitcher in a number of years; plus two sturdy righty relievers. And don’t forget that we already acquired some beefy players last summer, they just still have breaking out to do. Isn’t that right, Sean?

All the effort got the Raccoons (just barely) into the top 5 in offseason WAR gains according to BNN:

Top 5: Warriors (+10.0), Stars (+7.1), Buffaloes (+6.1), Capitals (+4.7), Raccoons (+4.5)
Bottom 5: Aces/Knights (tied, -4.2), Canadiens (-4.6), Pacifics (-5.3), Wolves (-7.8), Titans (-12.5)

The other CL North teams would be ranked 10th (MIL, +1.0), 12th (IND, +0.3), and 18th (NYC, -4.1).

PREDICTION TIME:

When I said last year that the Coons would lose 86 games, I clearly just jumbled the numbers and really meant 68. (cough!)

The rebuild somehow got supercharged and the Raccoons are absolute contenders in the league again this year. In fact, if I look around the division I struggle to see which team might keep them from taking the division. 90 wins should be a baseline, and I think we can win 96 this year.

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT:

After three straight years of holding sixth place in the annual prospect rankings, then Raccoons plunged 14 spots all the way to 20th place, for which there are multiple reasons.

For once, of the nine ranked prospects we had last year, hardly anybody is left over. #5 Rafael de la Cruz, #46 Kyle Brobeck, #78 Tyler Philipps, and #197 Oscar Rivera all exceeded rookie limits and are no longer eligible, for one reason or another. Of course we then also sent #54 Kenneth Spencer to the Titans in the trade for David Barel, and #37 Duarte Damasceno to the Bayhawks for Sean Suggs. So that’s ALL of the top 5 from last year gone! Only three pitchers left over from the ranked prospects back then, although we did find three new ranked prospects in various ways for six in total, including two in the top 50 and top 100:

39th (new) – AA SP Matt Walters, 21 – 2051 first-round pick by Raccoons
50th (new) – ML SP Seisaku Taki, 24 – 2051 international free agent signed by Raccoons
101st (+24) – AAA SP Phil Baker, 23 – 2050 supplemental round pick by Raccoons
127th (+57) – AAA SP Carmen Argenziano, 23 – 2047 second-round pick by Raccoons
138th (new) – A 3B/2B Richard Anderson, 19 – 2050 supplemental round pick by Raccoons
198th (0) – AA CL Reynaldo Bravo, 20 – 2047 international free agent signed by Raccoons

Finally, the top 10 overall prospects this year are:

1st (new) – LAP A C Brett Hamill, 20
2nd (-1) – MIL AA SP Tyler Riddle, 20
3rd (+5) – SFW AAA CL Ricardo Montoya, 21
4th (new) – IND A OF Cory Oldfield, 19
5th (+2) – TOP AAA SP Bill Hernandez, 22

6th (-2) – ATL ML 2B/SS Willie Acosta, 22
7th (+17) – WAS AA OF Carlos Mata, 22
8th (+5) – SAC AAA SP Ernesto Rios, 23
9th (+5) – MIL AAA OF/1B Phil Steinbacher, 23
10th (+5) – LAP AA CL Jose Reyes, 21

Hamill was the #4 pick in the 2051 draft, where Oldfield was taken #6. Rios was a top 10 prospect once before, in 2049, and the same is true for Steinbacher, but in 2050.

This also leaves six prospects that were in the top 10 last season but are no longer. For #2 Knights C Pedro Almaguer, #3 Aces CF Dan Martin, #5 Coons SP Rafael de la Cruz, #6 Buffos C Matt McLaren, #9 Pacifics UT Jeremy Lindauer, and #10 Pacifics OF/1B Noah Caswell, the reason was always a happy one: they were all promoted to the majors, where most to them enjoyed some early success. Five of them also made the Opening Day roster for the new season, the sole exception being Almaguer, who was assigned back to AAA after hitting .204 across 54 games in 2051, but had hit .314 in AAA.

Next: first pitch.

Westheim · 12-31-2022, 06:32 PM

Raccoons (0-0) vs. Titans (0-0) – April 1-3, 2052

The Raccoons got to open the season on Monday this time, and would host the Titans, whom they had just debareled, for a set of three games. The Titans had finished bottoms in the offseason WAR gains table and were not expected to go anywhere nice this year. They also opened the season against the two CLCS teams from last year, so there was that on top of everything else. Last year, this set had been 9-9 at the end of it all.

Projected matchups:
Jason Wheatley (0-0) vs. Kyle Turay (0-0)
David Barel (0-0) vs. Thomas Turpeau (0-0)
Victor Salcido (0-0) vs. Jamie Guidry (0-0)

After the right-hander Turay, we’d straight up be served two southpaws.

Game 1
BOS: 2B Whitlow – SS A. Montes de Oca – LF D. Gonzalez – 1B L. Rodriguez – RF T. Lopez – C R. Gonzalez – CF Bumpus – 3B J. Rodriguez – P Turay
POR: LF del Toro – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – 1B Crum – 2B Waters – 3B DeMarco – RF Maldonado – C Suggs – P Wheatley

The season was fun for exactly eight batters. Nobody reached in the first inning, and Larry Rodriguez reached on an error by Nick DeMarco to begin the top 2nd. Wheatley retired Tony Lopez and Ruben Gonzalez, who got a nice enough hand during introductions, but didn’t throw another pitch and instead waved for the attention of Dr. Padilla, who would after a brief consultation disappear in the tunnel with Wheats. While Paul Miles warmed up on the mound, I stoically opened a bottle of Capt’n Coma and muttered curses onto the baseball gods, which they’d surely appreciate. Miles was also the first Raccoon to reach base with a single through the left side in the bottom 3rd in what only lacked a bullpen blowout to inch itself into the top echelon of worst Opening Days ever.

Angel Montes de Oca obeyed and hit a 2-out, 3-run homer in the fifth inning to break the ice on the season. Ahead of him, Jose Rodriguez had doubled to right and Eric Whitlow (who?) had drawn a full-count walk. Miles finished the inning, then was hit for with one gone in the bottom 5th after Maldo and Suggs hit singles off Turay. Ed Crispin grounded into an inning-ending 4-6-3, which sugged. Frankly, everything sugged. The top six in the Coons lineup stretched their non-hitting off Turay to 0-for-15 before DeMarco hit a 1-out single in the bottom 7th – that was with Ken Crum getting hit by Turay… twice. Maldo lined out to Jose Rodriguez, Suggs grounded out to Whitlow.

But the game had more to give; the Coons’ pen with Snyder, Sencion, and Johns held the line in the 3-0 game through eight innings before Turay finally laid an egg and gave up a leadoff jack to a new batter in the #9 hole in the bottom 8th – Matt Glodowski. The 1-2-3 batters then immediately went about extending their oh-fers, and it didn’t get any better in the ninth against Eddie Sotelo; Crum, Waters, and DeMarco went in order. 3-1 Titans. Glodowski 1-1, HR, RBI; Wheatley 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K; Johns 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

Don’t shoot the messenger – Dr. Padilla wasn’t 100% whether he could trust me with that one and sent Cristiano Carmona with the news instead.

Wheats is gonna miss two months? – Shoulder tendinitis? – Maybe three?

(pulls out the blunderbuss from under the desk and Cristiano spins around in his wheelchair to seek safety in flight) – Stop it, Cristiano! Come back! I’m not shooting you! – Come here. – Come here. – (hands Cristiano the blunderbuss and then dramatically tears off his shirt to expose his hairy chest) – Come on, Cristiano! Be a ******* man! Right in the heart!!!

Cristiano refused, and so I was left to put Wheats on the DL. The Coons had Thursday off and then the Monday two weeks from now, which made for ten games in between, which sugged. We’d probably bring back Kyle Brobeck for that, but for the rest of this series added another reliever in Matt Dixon, who flew to Florida in the morning and flew back to Oregon in the evening on this ****** Monday.

Game 2
BOS: 2B Whitlow – SS A. Montes de Oca – RF T. Lopez – 1B L. Rodriguez – C R. Gonzalez – LF D. Gonzalez – CF Bumpus – 3B J. Rodriguez – P Turpeau
POR: CF del Toro – SS Lavorano – LF Crum – 2B Waters – RF Glodowski – C Suggs – 1B Maldonado – 3B DeMarco – P Barel

Straight singles by Lonzo, Crum, and Waters plated a run for Portland in the first inning before Glodowski walked and Suggs grounded into an inning-foiling double play, which sugged. In the fourth, Maldo walked, scored on a DeMarco double, and Barel singled home the third baseman for a 3-0 lead. At that point Barel not only had an RBI, which tied him for the team lead, but also a perfect game with six strikeouts, although Ruben Gonzalez’ single up the middle took that away in the fifth inning.

Bottom 5th, the Coons loaded them up with straight singles by the 3-4-5 batters and one out, which brought back Suggs in a double play situation. He popped out this time, but Maldo also tamely flew out to Tony Lopez, which wasn’t helping. The Coons stranded another pair in the sixth when Lonzo flew out to Lopez and left DeMarco and del Toro on the corners, and Lopez then dropped a single in the seventh inning, which extended the Titans’ time at-bat long enough for Ruben Gonzalez to bury a 2-out, 2-run homer in the leftfield stands.

With the score down to 3-2, the Raccoons had another three on, one out situation in the bottom 7th. Turpeau gave up a double to Waters, then was lifted for Gabe Blanco, who walked Suggs and nicked Maldo to fill the sacks. DeMarco brought home a run with a grounder up the middle. Jason Lettner at short only had a play on Maldo. Pucks batted for Barel, but grounded out, and the tying runs were on against Justin Johns in the eighth inning as Adam Bumpus singled and Lettner in the #9 hole drew a walk. With Elias Rodriguez (how many Rodriguezes do you need on a roster??) pinch-hitting for Whitlow, the Coons went to lefty Brett Lillis jr., who gave up a first-pitch single over Lonzo, then walked in a run against Ian Davison, 4-3. Exit Lillis, enter Paul Crisler, and also enter a score-flipping Tony Lopez double into leftfield, and your scorecard at home. And a 2-run single for Larry Rodriguez.

The Coons entered the bottom 9th against Eddie Sotelo with a 3-run deficit, but after Waters popped out, both Suzuki and Crispin jabbed pinch-hit singles. Maldo came up as the tying run with one gone, but grounded out to Larry Rodriguez. DeMarco, though! Sharp grounder to the left side, and through…! It went for a 2-run double, and put the tying run in scoring position for … well, pinch-hitter Tyler Philipps. Who grounded out. 7-6 Titans. Crum 3-5; Waters 3-5, 2B, RBI; Suzuki (PH) 1-1; Crispin (PH) 1-1; DeMarco 2-4, BB, 2 2B, 4 RBI; Barel 7.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 9 K and 1-2, RBI;

Game 3
BOS: 2B Whitlow – SS A. Montes de Oca – LF D. Gonzalez – 1B L. Rodriguez – RF T. Lopez – C R. Gonzalez – CF Bumpus – 3B J. Rodriguez – P Guidry
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – LF Crum – 3B DeMarco – RF Glodowski – 1B Maldonado – C Philipps – P Salcido

Salcido struck out four against two hits the first time through, then smacked a leadoff double to left in the bottom 3rd to get the ******* offense going. Waters singled, putting runners on the corners, and Lonzo made it 1-0 with a sac fly to Lopez in deep right. That was all we got in the inning, however, and running the bases also messed up Salcido’s pitching, which soon led to a leadoff double in Larry Rodriguez’ and Boston’s own right in the top 4th, then two walks straightaway. Bumpus’ comebacker was taken for an out at home, but Salcido ran another full count against Jose Rodriguez, who ended up flying out to right. Glodowski made the catch, then fired home to strike down Tony Lopez and end the inning in 9-2 style. Salcido barely completed five innings of shutout ball in the end, with nothing but long counts to finish the outing. All in all, he walked four and struck out seven for over 100 pitches.

Snyder and Dixon offered scoreless innings against the Titans after that, but the offense remained on vacation until Juan del Toro batted for Dixon with nobody on and two outs in the bottom 7th, homering to right-center for his first in a Coons shirt. Eloy Sencion turned away the Titans’ 1-2-3 on five pitches in the eighth inning, and Hitchcock axed the Titans in order as well in the ninth to finally break into that win column… 2-0 Coons. Waters 2-4, 2B; DeMarco 1-2, BB; del Toro (PH) 1-1, HR, RBI;

Lick wounds. Rinse, repeat.

Maybe with better results.

Raccoons (1-2) vs. Condors (1-3) – April 5-7, 2052

The Condors had lost three of four to the Aces to begin the season, scoring 18 runs and giving up a league-worst 29 markers. Eh, it was early. They had also stolen seven bases, while the Coons had yet to get a single one, but that also had to do with Lonzo and Pucks batting a combined 1-for-21 against Boston… The Coons had won this series last year, 6-3, and in fact had a 7-year winning streak going on against the Condors.

Projected matchups:
Seisaku Taki (0-0) vs. Hyuma Hitomi (0-0)
Rafael de la Cruz (0-0) vs. Omar Lara (0-1, 6.00 ERA)
Kyle Brobeck (0-0) vs. Larry Colwell (0-1, 10.50 ERA)

The opener would see two Japanese pitcher that both made their first ABL start; although Hitomi had already pitched out of the pen for the Condors in 2051. Lara was the third southpaw we’d get to see this week.

Game 1
TIJ: SS C. Navarro – 1B G. Cabrera – C Mittleider – LF T. Duncan – CF Ransford – RF Blackburn – 2B Steel – 3B Chapa – P Hitomi
POR: LF del Toro – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – 1B Crum – 2B Waters – 3B DeMarco – RF Maldonado – C Suggs – P Taki

Taki’s major league career began with three groundouts in the first inning before Tim Duncan socked a double to open the second. Dustin Ransford’s pop to short, and two poor outs from Brian Blackburn and Jesse Steel, however, stranded the runner right there in place. Then a Waters error put Luis Chapa on board to begin the third inning. After a Hitomi bunt, Taki was swatted for singles by Chris Navarro, Jon Mittleider, and Duncan, and gave up two unearned runs. The Coons had yet to get on base, and only did so in the fourth inning with a leadoff walk drawn by del Toro. Lonzo forced him out with a grounder, but stole second base. Pucks walked, but Crum popped out and Waters grounded out to end the inning. It took the old man Maldonado to get a hit on the board in the fifth inning, but his 1-out double also led nowhere nice and he was also flatout stranded in scoring position.

While Taki held the Condors where they were and allowed no base hits in the middle innings of the game, the Coons stirred again with two outs in the bottom 6th. Pucks singled to right. Ken Crum scratched out a shy single to left. Waters hit a ball up the rightfield line, but couldn’t quite beat Blackburn to the fence; while Pucks scored on the double, Crum had to hold at third base with the tying run, and there he remained once Duncan clutched a fly by DeMarco.

…and while Seisomething Taki pitched his arm off in his debut and didn’t allow any base hits in the last three innings of the game either, the Raccoons just kept failing. Pucks erred into scoring position with a hit in the eighth inning, but was also left there by Crum, and then it was already the ninth against right-hander Kevin Daley. Waters led off with a sharp single to center, putting that tying run on base again. DeMarco worked a walk, Maldo worked a double play, and Ed Crispin batted for Suggs, and ended the game with a foul pop behind home plate that was shagged by Mittleider. 2-1 Condors. Puckeridge 2-3, BB; Waters 2-4, 2B, RBI; Taki 9.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K;

Complete-game effort, no earned runs allowed, and an L … (pats Taki on the back) You had to blend right in, didn’t you?

Game 2
TIJ: SS C. Navarro – 1B G. Cabrera – C Mittleider – LF T. Duncan – CF Ransford – RF Blackburn – 2B Whitehurst – 3B Lamotta – P O. Lara
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF del Toro – 3B DeMarco – CF Puckeridge – RF Glodowski – 1B Maldonado – C Suggs – P de la Cruz

Both teams scored in the first; Duncan doubled home Chris Navarro, who had walked to open the contest, while a Nathan Whitehurst error allowed Matt Waters across, with Waters having socked a leadoff double himself. The Critters then went up 2-1 in the second; Glodowski led off with another double to right, advanced on Maldo’s groundout, and then went home when Suggs hit a sac fly to Ransford. But the play at the plate was contested and the Condors disagreed with the safe call, angrily fluttering with their wings and crowing at the umpire.

Raffy offered more leadoff walks to Navarro in the third and Duncan in the fourth, but both were doubled up to short-circuit those innings, although in the latter case not until Whitehurst batted with one out after another walk to Ransford. Ex-Coon Ricky Lamotta also reached base leading off the fifth, but that was with a single. He was stranded with a bunt and two groundouts. By the sixth, we were back to a leadoff walk to Mittleider, and I was about ready to have a good old manly cry. AGAIN the Condors found a double play, this one started by Raffy on a comebacker, to dissipate the free runner, but then Raffy nicked Ransford, who stole second, and was singled home to tie the game by Blackburn…

Raffy departed after ANOTHER leadoff walk to Lamotta in the seventh. Paul Crisler worked out of the inning and kept the game tied at two. The Coons were also still at two in the H column, which wasn’t exactly the thrill I was seeking. Maldo did offer a third base hit with a single to center in the bottom 7th, which also sent Glodowski to third base with two outs against George Youngblood, who struck out Suggs, which sugged. Everything sugged.

At least the pen worked, sorta. Crisler, Lillis, and Hitchcock kept the Condors from scoring any more than they already had up to this point through nine innings, and the Coons brought the 3-4-5 batters to the plate against righty Aaron Erwin in the bottom of that inning. Del Toro hit a bouncer that bounced over Whitehurst’s glove and thus also bounced del Toro’s average over the good ol’ .100 mark. He was caught stealing, DeMarco whiffed, Pucks popped out, and we got to extra innings. Eloy Sencion got the ball, imploded for a Navarro double, two walks, and a run, and was only bailed out by Justin Johns. The 3-2 lead went to right-hander Adrian West in the bottom 10th. Suzuki, Maldo, and Crispin went in order without creating much of a headache for the Condors. 3-2 Condors. Glodowski 1-2, 2B, RBI;

All the headaches to me…! (slightly mangles the consonants with a bottle of booze in each paw)

Game 3
TIJ: SS C. Navarro – 1B G. Cabrera – LF T. Duncan – CF Ransford – RF Blackburn – 2B Whitehurst – C Robbinson – 3B Chapa – P Colwell
POR: LF del Toro – CF DeMarco – RF Puckeridge – 1B Crum – 2B Waters – 3B Crispin – SS Sivertson – C Philipps – P Brobeck

Sixth game, sixth different starting pitcher for the Coons. (sour look) Brobeck scattered three hits to the Condors in the first three innings before the Raccoons got any, then put the 7-8-9 batters on base with three straight singles to begin the bottom of the third inning. Juan del Toro was still new here and didn’t yet know what to do as a real Coon with three on and nobody out, so he peppered a homer to left. GRAAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAAMMMM!!!

Brobeck didn’t allow base hits in the middle innings, but instead had to contend with errors by Sivertson and Crum behind him, but kept the Condors off the bases. When Whitehurst led off the seventh with a sharp single to left, he was out of the game though, having thrown 93 pitches and with lefty hitters coming up in the 4-0 game. Lillis got the ball, two outs, but then walked PH Carmem Barrento. Crisler came on for Navarro at the top of the order, entering in a triple switch in the #6 hole, with Sivertson to third base and Lonzo in at short. Lonzo then promptly almost got pummeled by a rushing DeMarco on a pop into shallow center and only got out of the way at the last second, while DeMarco made the catch to end the inning. Crisler and Miles both put a batter on base in the eighth inning then, but were bailed out by Justin Johns, and by the way, no, we were not skipping any precious offensive moments by the Critters here; it was still del Toro’s slam and absolutely nothing ******* else until Ken Crum yanked a solo homer to right with two outs in the eighth. Johns finished the game in the ninth inning, which even gave him a 5-out save, since he came into the game four ahead with two on base. 5-0 Coons. Del Toro 1-3, BB, HR, 4 RBI; Philipps 2-3; Lavorano 1-1; Brobeck 6.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K, W (1-0) and 1-1; Johns 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, SV (1);

In other news

April 2 – The Capitals’ new addition of 3B Randy Wilken (.636, 2 HR, 10 RBI) introduces himself in style in a 19-3 drumming of the Blue Sox, going 5-for-6 with two homers, a double, two singles, and a whopping 8 RBI.
April 2 – LVA SP Chris Cornelius (0-0, 0.00 ERA) is expected to miss most if not all of the season for surgery to relief radial nerve compression.
April 2 – A double by Charlotte’s Mike Allegood (.375, 0 HR, 0 RBI) is all that stands between ATL SP Kodai Koga (1-0, 1.13 ERA) and a potential no-hitter. As it is, the Knights employ CL David Hardaway (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 SV) to close out the 4-1 win.
April 5 – Another combined 1-hitter, this time for NYC SP Jeff Johnson (1-0, 0.00 ERA) and CL Ryan Sullivan (0-0, 4.50 ERA, 1 SV), the former allowing a third-inning single to CHA OF Oscar Caballero (.118, 0 HR, 3 RBI) and nothing else in the Crusaders’ 2-0 win.

FL Player of the Week: TOP 2B/SS Tony Aparicio (.423, 4 HR, 6 RBI)
CL Player of the Week: LVA 3B/SS Jeremy Welter (.462, 2 HR, 11 RBI)

Complaints and stuff

Early signs for trouble included the Raccoons being bottom of the division on Friday, while the Loggers were in first place. Yeah, yeah, early days… No, I meant trouble for the universe and humanity as a whole…!

But here’s a tidbit worth a chuckle – the Coons are in last place with a +2 run differential! (giggles)

(giggles)

(giggles harder)

I can’t (giggles) breathe…!! (giggles ever more)

(cough!)

Next week, Thunder and Elks. I’m afraid.

Fun Fact: The Coons are in last place while holding four starting pitchers with an ERA of ******* zero.

Salcido didn’t allow a run. Brobeck didn’t allow a run. Taki didn’t allow an earned run in a complete-game loss. Wheats didn’t allow a run, but didn’t have much chance to.

And my eyes are already getting wet again.

Westheim · 01-01-2023, 04:28 PM

Raccoons (2-4) @ Thunder (4-2) – April 8-10, 2052

Over the last five seasons, the Raccoons had won 20 games from the Thunder – eight of those in two sets of CLCS games. It was that kind of complicated relationship. Last year we beat them five times, including once even in the regular season. They had put up 41 runs in six games to start the season, but a couple of bullpen blowouts had them in second place behind the Knights on Monday morning. Oh well, that’s what we’re here for then!

Projected matchups:
David Barel (0-0, 2.57 ERA) vs. Mike Zeigler (1-0, 1.00 ERA)
Victor Salcido (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. J.J. Hendrix (0-0, 2.25 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (0-1, 0.00 ERA) vs. Victor Marquez (1-0, 2.00 ERA)

Left, right, left, and probably three beatings to go to 2-7.

The Thunder were also still in second place on Tuesday morning, since Monday was rained out and we got a double header scheduled for Tuesday then. Oh well. All paws on deck!

Game 1
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – 3B DeMarco – 1B Crum – CF Puckeridge – LF Glodowski – RF Maldonado – C Suggs – P Barel
OCT: LF R. Cox – 2B Ban – SS Soberanes – 1B Worthington – 3B R. Sifuentes – C Adames – RF de Luna – CF A. Herrera – P Zeigler

Three 2-out hits in the bottom 2nd by Jesus Adames, Rich de Luna, and Armando Herrera helped the Thunder score the game’s first run, but while the first seven Critters were all retired in this game, Sean Suggs found a double in his bat and then scored on a 2-out single by Waters in the third inning to tie us up again. We didn’t stay tied down, though. The bottom 3rd saw Barel offer a leadoff walk for the second consecutive inning, and while David Worthington had been doubled up by Ramon Sifuentes in the second inning, Ryan Cox was the only out on Jonathan Ban’s following grounder to short. Doubles by Soberanes and Worthington then scored two runs before Barel regained control and got out of the inning.

The Coons scratched, though. Crum doubled and Pucks singled to score a run in the fourth inning, 3-2, and in the fifth Barel started an unlikely 1-out rally with a single to right. Waters singled to center, and Lonzo was tickled by a breaking pitch by Zeigler, and that filled the bases for Nick DeMarco, batting a sturdy .174, which didn’t get better by jamming a grounder into Soberanes’ mitten for a 6-4-3 double play. It didn’t score any runs, either. Maldo added another double play to kill an inning with two aboard in the sixth, and that was after the Thunder had added another insurance run with a Ban triple and Soberanes’ RBI groundout in the bottom 5th.

Barel kept getting hammered with hits in the sixth, as Sifuentes, Rich de Luna, Herrera, and even the ******* opposing pitcher all lined base knocks off him. The latter, an RBI double to get to 6-2 with two in scoring position and one out, actually knocked out both pitchers, as Zeigler strained something running the bases. Lillis stranded the remaining runners, but the game was in the bin, just as expected.

…and yet somehow, the team got the tying run to the dish in the ninth inning against Dale Mrazek. Maldo singled, and Crispin and Philipps walked as pinch-hitters at the bottom of the order to bring up Waters as the tying run with one gone. Matt Waters was batting .370 and appeared to be getting hotter, socking a ball over the head of de Luna for a 2-run double, and now the tying runs were in scoring position. Unfortunately, Lonzo was far from hot and with a groundout only brought in Philipps’ run that didn’t matter. The run that mattered, Waters, was still on second base with two outs, and then DeMarco flew out anyway… 6-5 Thunder. Waters 3-4, BB, 2B, 3 RBI; Snyder 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K;

Game 2
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF del Toro – 1B Crum – RF Puckeridge – 3B Crispin – CF Suzuki – C Philipps – P Salcido
OCT: LF R. Cox – 2B Ban – SS Soberanes – 1B Worthington – 3B R. Sifuentes – RF Angeletti – C Fiore – CF Tortora – P Hendrix

Matt Waters opened the game with a bang, 390 feet to right, but none of the next seven Coons reached, while the Thunder made up the deficit when Salcido leaked the first four batters on base in the fourth inning. Single, walk, walk, RBI single by Cullen Tortora went the Thunder, but with the bags full, Hendrix struck out, as did Cox, and Ban flew out to Pucks to strand a full set. The Raccoons remained invisible, while Ban drew a crucial 2-out walk in the bottom 5th off a meandering Salcido, who then was taken deep to left-center by Ed Soberanes, 3-1 Thunder.

Lonzo, doing his best to get above .100 at this early stage of the season (breathes into paper bag) then hit a leadoff double to center in the sixth, and quickly scored when del Toro did the same to Tortora, 3-2. Crum was nicked, Pucks singled firmly through the right side, and the bases were loaded with nobody out in that top of the sixth. Tee-hee, another loss! Ed Crispin was batting .111 in the early going, but laid off the junk from Hendrix, who was losing the zone entirely now and drew the game-tying walk. Jay Gunderson replaced Hendrix, while for Portland, Suzuki lined into a 3-U double play with kind assistance from a dozing Crispin. The Thunder walked Philipps intentionally for reasons beyond me, only for Gunderson to throw a wild pitch with two outs to *Salcido*. That scored the go-ahead run before Salcido whiffed.

Now, that lead didn’t stick, mostly because while we turned the switch-hitting Cox to his weak side with Sencion in the seventh, Sencion still hung one and it got taken deep for far enough to level the score at four, but Brian Grohoski returned the advantage to the Portlanders in the eighth, serving up a double to Pucks, a walk to Crispin, and an RBI single to Suzuki before Philipps hit into the unavoidable double play. Maldo grounded out to leave Crispin at third base. The Coons got a scoreless inning from Miles, but also stranded a leadoff double from Waters in the ninth inning before sending Hitchcock to save the 1-run game. Suzuki got a workout in center, chasing after de Luna and Cox drives, but at the end of it a 1-2-3 inning ended the game. 5-4 Coons. Waters 3-4, BB, HR, 2B, RBI; Puckeridge 2-5, 2B;

…and just like that, we matched last year’s regular-season wins total against the Thunder. Shaka!

Game 3
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – CF del Toro – 1B Crum – 3B DeMarco – LF Glodowski – RF Maldonado – C Suggs – P Taki
OCT: LF R. Cox – 2B Ban – SS Soberanes – 1B Worthington – 3B R. Sifuentes – RF Angeletti – C Adames – CF A. Herrera – P V. Marquez

The weather looked bad and the sky looked like it was gonna leak at some point or other, while yet another Coons pitcher leaked hits left and right, with a Cox double and Soberanes single making it 1-0 Thunder in the first, and three more hits getting the Thunder up 2-0 in the second, then with Cox driving home J.P. Angeletti. When Soberanes got nicked to begin the third inning, David Worthington took exception, and also Taki deep to left, 4-0. The Coons had yet to reach base, but did so with a Lonzo single in the fourth. He stole second and scored on a del Toro single to left-center, but then Ken Crum found another one of those exciting double plays to end the inning.

Apart from that, the team remained merrily inept. Waters and Lonzo made the corners with two outs in the sixth, but then del Toro popped out to Worthington. Taki resumed pitching as the rain began to fall in the bottom 6th and gave up a leadoff single to center to Sifuentes, then right away a screaming RBI double to Angeletti. At that point the tarp came on the field – and stayed on. 5-1 Thunder. Lavorano 2-3;

…at which point I got them out of my tired eyes for a few days, since the team went to Elk City for the weekend, and I couldn’t have even if I wanted.

Raccoons (3-6) @ Canadiens (6-2) – April 11-14, 2052

Fifth in runs scored and best in runs allowed in the CL, the damn Elks were off to a really nice start. (spits blood) They were hard to score on, we had a hard time scoring, and this could be a long four days sobbing into the pillows on the couch at home. Last year we had taken the season series, 11-7.

Projected matchups:
Rafael de la Cruz (0-0, 2.84 ERA) vs. Anton Jesus (1-0, 3.38 ERA)
Kyle Brobeck (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Federico Purificao (0-0, 2.84 ERA)
David Barel (0-1, 5.84 ERA) vs. Terry Herman (1-1, 4.50 ERA)
Victor Salcido (1-0, 2.38 ERA) vs. Juan Ramos (1-0, 2.70 ERA)

An all-righty rotation for the Elks, so maybe we’d get Crispin and Suzuki involved a bit more now.

Game 1
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF del Toro – 1B Crum – RF Puckeridge – 3B Crispin – CF Suzuki – C Suggs – P de la Cruz
VAN: 3B A. Soto – C Julio Diaz – SS Mullen – CF D. Moreno – RF Burkhart – LF T. Turner – 1B Cahill – 2B Clevidence – P Jesus

Portland took a 3-1 lead in the second inning of the opener when Crum led off with a double and the bases filled up behind him, partially with clumsy defense, after which Suggs singled home two and Waters singled home another runner to erase the deficit Raffy had incurred in the first inning with singles to Alex Soto and Damian Moreno around a walk to Dan Mullen. In the third, del Toro singled and stole second before Pucks walked behind him. Del Toro then went for third base, Julio Diaz threw the ball away to allow him to score, and Pucks chucked it into third base behind him before also scoring on a wild pitch to Ed Crispin, 5-1. None of this made Rafael de la Cruz pitch better, though. The Elks had two runners in the third, and in the fourth, and in the fifth, but only scored in that last inning when Damian Moreno drummed home Mullen with a double over the head of Suzuki. He *did* also strike out nine batters, including the entire side in his sixth and final inning, so it was not all bad. He just got whacked around. “just”.

That gave, after the stretch, the pen a 5-2 lead to try and bobble away. Sencion was on a good path, giving up a walk to Alex Soto and a single to Mullen. He was disposed of with two outs, but Crisler threw a run-scoring wild pitch before finally whiffing Tim Burkhart, now in a 5-3 game. Paul Miles then retired Tim Turner and Mark Cahill to begin the bottom 8th, after which the ball went to Hitchcock for hopefully a 4-out save. Indeed – he got the Elks in order, including a pinch-hitting Jerry Outram. 5-3 Coons. Del Toro 2-5; Crum 3-5, 2 2B; Puckeridge 1-2, BB;

Game 2
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF del Toro – 1B Crum – CF Puckeridge – 3B DeMarco – C Suggs – RF Maldonado – P Brobeck
VAN: 3B A. Soto – 1B Wheeler – SS Mullen – CF D. Moreno – RF Burkhart – LF T. Turner – C Julio Diaz – 2B Clevidence – P Purificao

Waters singled, stole second, reached third on a del Toro single to left-center, and then scored on a wild pitch. Purificao went on to walk Crum, but when Pucks singled to right, del Toro went home against Burkhart’s arm and was thrown out by about 15 feet at the plate. The trailing runners both advanced, though, and scored when DeMarco socked a double to the base of the leftfield fence against his old team. Suggs drove him home to score before Maldo popped out to Jeff Wheeler, ending the top 1st with a 4-0 tally. The Elks then delivered a peak performance in getting on base and staying on base, putting eight of their batters on base in five innings, and scoring not a single one of them: five hits, one walk, and errors by Maldo and Waters, and somehow they couldn’t blow over Kyle Brobeck.

The Coons didn’t tack on either, so it was by no means an easy cruise; I had a hunch that the old walk-walk-homer game was just minutes away from breaking out, but when Tim Burkhart *did* homer to left in the sixth inning, he did so leading off the frame and thus the score only shriveled to 4-1. Brobeck then retired six more in a row, including Jeff Wheeler, who got a second lease on life when Suggs dropped his 1-1 foul pop for the Coons’ third error of the game. The Coons scratched out a run in the eighth against Bill McMichael with base knocks from DeMarco and Maldo, and Glodowski also added a 2-out single, pinch-hitting for Brobeck, but Waters grounded out to Mullen. Justin Johns and Brett Lillis jr. then put the rest together in scoreless fashion for two and four outs, respectively. 5-1 Raccoons. Waters 2-5; del Toro 2-3, 2 BB; Suggs 2-4, RBI; Maldonado 2-4, RBI; Glodowski (PH) 1-1; Brobeck 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, W (2-0);

Back-to-back wins! Will wonders ever cease!?

Game 3
POR: SS Waters – 3B Crispin – LF del Toro – 1B Crum – CF Puckeridge – 2B DeMarco – RF Maldonado – C Philipps – P Barel
VAN: 3B A. Soto – C L. Miranda – 1B Wheeler – CF D. Moreno – SS Mullen – RF Burkhart – LF Escobido – 2B Clevidence – P Herman

In the first three-and-a-half innings, Barel offered two leadoff walks and yet faced the minimum, while Pucks reached base twice, stole second each time, and both times scored on a sac fly, by Maldo in the second and Philipps in the fourth. Those were the only runs at that point, and with Barel holding the damn Elks to a Wheeler single and no other hits through five, I got a treacherous sense of security.

Top 6th, Pucks walked for the second time in the game, then stole second for the third time in the game, with the Elks manager hitting his cap against the railing once Herman and Luis Miranda had the audacity to appear surprised at the move. The Elks walked DeMarco intentionally, but gave up an RBI double to right to Maldo. Pucks scored again, although DeMarco was thrown out by Burkhart trying to do the same.

That was the final stolen base for Pucks in the game. He grounded out in the seventh inning, stranding Waters and del Toro in the process, then appeared to break his neck on a wild tumble trying to catch a Damian Moreno liner in the bottom of that inning. Well, he made the catch, but he also remained motionless and face down on the ground afterwards, but was really mostly dazed and confused, although one of his paws had been jammed under his body, and Dr. Padilla took him out of the game for concussion concerns anyway. Sivertson entered the game as replacement, but DeMarco moved out to centerfield. Mullen hit a single to left after the mid-sized injury interruption, but Burkhart popped out to complete seven innings.

But three soft hits loaded the bags with Elks in the bottom 8th and chased Barel. Crisler inherited Angel Escobido, Mark Cahill, and Alex Soto on the bags and Luis Miranda in the box. A sac fly to center got the Elks on the board, but Wheeler floated out to Maldo and stranded the tying runs. The tying run would be back in the batter’s box in the bottom 9th, though, after Burkhart snuck a 2-out single to left against Hitchcock. It was Jerry Outram, batting for Escobido. The Elks were as tight-lipped as ever about Outram’s state of well-being, but he wasn’t starting against the Coons, so it had to be terminal. And not for Barel’s first Coons win – Outram popped out to Waters, and that was the game. 3-1 Critters! Puckeridge 1-2, 2 BB; Philipps 1-2, BB, RBI; Barel 7.1, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 7 K, W (1-1);

The good news: Pucks’ neck wasn’t broken, and he hadn’t suffered a concussion either – but had sprained a claw on his dominant paw and had to go to the DL anyway. The minimum 15 days should suffice, I’m being told from the frozen wastelands by Dr. Padilla.

I don’t care, I’m sucking my thumb anyway!

The Coons brought up a new outfielder, and, by the way, anybody remember Roberto Medina? Yeah, none of the demi-prospects on the 40-man were hitting anything in AAA, so we brought up the 30-year-old Medina again. Nope, none of them. Adam Samples not, and Oscar Rivera not, and Prospero Tenazes not, and Dante Gutierrez not….

Ah, whatever. Go for the throat, boys!

Game 4
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF del Toro – 1B Crum – CF Suzuki – 3B Crispin – RF Glodowski – C Suggs – P Salcido
VAN: 3B A. Soto – 1B Wheeler – SS Mullen – CF D. Moreno – RF Burkhart – LF T. Turner – C Julio Diaz – 2B Chacon – P J. Ramos

Singles by Wheeler, Mullen, and Burkhart to all fields gave the Elks a 1-0 lead in the first, but Waters claimed back the tie with a homer to left in the third inning after the team all marveled at a leadoff double to center smacked by Ken Crum in the top 2nd, but left him on base regardless.

And then Salcido suffered a complete explosion in the bottom 3rd. Like in one inning on Tuesday, the first four batters reached base as Soto singled, Wheeler doubled him home, 2-1, and then the bags filled with walks. Burkhart popped out, but Turner and Diaz both drew bases-loaded walks to push home two more runs, and Carlos Chacon’s grounder was good to get to 5-1. Ramos struck out, but that didn’t change my level of unhappiness back at home. Wheeler doubled and Mullen singled for another run in the fourth, and Salcido wasn’t seen again after that.

It didn’t get much better after that. Soto and Wheeler hit homers off Miles in garbage relief, and what little offense the Coons had usually ended up choking in another Suggs-sponsored double play, which sugged. Snyder walked three and gave up another run in the bottom 8th. Ramos pitched a complete-game 5-hitter. 9-1 Canadiens. Sivertson (PH) 1-1;

In other news

April 8 – TIJ SP Omar Lara (0-1, 4.09 ERA) was going to miss four months with a diagnosis of a torn labrum.
April 9 – Richmond CF/LF Jose Gutierrez (.357, 2 HR, 5 RBI) dishes out six base hits in a 14-1 rush of the Wolves, with two homers, a double, three singles, and five RBI in the game.
April 10 – A torn UCL means the end of the season and at least a year on the sideline for PIT SP Jose Arias (0-1, 3.86 ERA).
April 14 – CHA SP Andy Overy (1-1, 4.26 ERA) breaks out a 1-hit shutout in a 9-0 win over the Aces. The lone knock for Vegas is brought about by CF Dan Martin (.182, 0 HR, 1 RBI), who singles with nobody out in the ninth inning.

FL Player of the Week: SFW LF Mario Villa (.429, 1 HR, 6 RBI), hitting .538 (14-26) with 1 HR, 2 RBI
CL Player of the Week: POR 2B/SS Matt Waters (.373, 2 HR, 8 RBI), batting .407 (11-27) with 2 HR, 6 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Well yeah, it has been easier to find the good news at times, but we’re only a game and a half behind … well, almost everybody, but then again there’s things to point out. First, Pucks’ not dead, so that’s a plus, and then we also have a so far flawless closer, who doesn’t get a lot of work to begin with, and, uh, oh yes, Matt Waters is batting with as much noise as a fire engine (and people even notice, for once).

It gets a bit thinner after that.

Last in runs scored (3.23 R/G) again, huh? Eh! We rode that **** all the way to the pennant last year!

Besides, Lonzo can’t hit .125 for the full season, can he?

Can he?

Next week: start of a 2-week homestand that will see us host the Arrowheads, Baybirds, Falcons, and Titans. I like it when they come in nicely alphabetically ordered like that.

Cristiano, you have no sense for when to better be silent, do you?

Fun Fact: Kyle Brobeck leads the CL with an 0.69 ERA.

I know how to build a ******* roster.

Westheim · 01-02-2023, 04:13 PM

The week started with an off day for the Coons, and the casual news that the Thunder rewarded infielder Jonathan Ban (.269, 0 HR, 1 RBI) for his perpetual coonskinning with a new 6-year, $25.44M contract.

Raccoons (6-7) vs. Indians (7-5) – April 16-18, 2052

Apart from that I was still looking for offense under every rug and cover while the Arrowheads already descended on Portland. They had started the season ninth in runs scored and second in runs allowed, with a +5 run differential. No injuries – lucky them. This had been a tightly contested series for the last three years, with a total tally of 27-27, but the Coons had won it last year, 10-8.

Projected matchups:
Seisaku Taki (0-2, 3.21 ERA) vs. Tan Brink (0-1, 5.59 ERA)
Rafael de la Cruz (1-0, 2.92 ERA) vs. Dave Serio (0-2, 3.38 ERA)
Kyle Brobeck (2-0, 0.69 ERA) vs. Enrique Ortiz (2-1, 3.00 ERA)

Looks like we might be missing their only southpaw, Ricky Garcia (0-1, 2.92 ERA).

Game 1
IND: LF R. White – SS Clover – RF B. Quinteros – 3B B. Anderson – C Poindexter – CF Kokel – 2B D. Allen – 1B Ed. Ortiz – P Brink
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF del Toro – 1B Crum – RF Maldonado – CF DeMarco – 3B Crispin – C Suggs – P Taki

The week started ominously with a 2-base throwing error by Matt Waters that put Rusty White on second base right away. White stole third and scored on Chase Clover’s deep sac fly, so that was that. Waters tried to make amends (and probably win another Player of the Week award, too) by singling to right to begin the bottom 1st, but was forced out by Lonzo. Walks to Juan del Toro and Ken Crum filled the sacks, but Brink then rung up both Maldo and DeMarco. The Coons stranded two more in the second, while White, Clover, and Bobby Anderson all romped hard hits for two more runs in the third, 3-0.

From there, Taki pitched three more scoreless, although it wasn’t pleasant to look at, and I asked Steve from Accounting casually how many millions were left on that contract. The Coons didn’t reach the board until the sixth inning when Ed Crispin zinged a triple up the line and was singled home by Sean Suggs to cut the gap to 3-1. That was it for that rally, though, and instead the Indians put a run on Crisler and Lillis in the eighth, the former walking Anderson and the latter giving up a 2-out RBI single to PH Mike Gilmore. Same inning, a White error then put Maldo on base with one out. DeMarco singled off Steve Miles, and Bill Nichol walked Crispin to fill the bases with the tying runs. Lefty Michael McLaughlin then appeared to face Sean Suggs, but three on and one out and Suggs sugged, and the Raccoons played the Glodowski card. And wouldn’t you ******* know, the useless pelt bombed a bases-clearing double into the ******* right-center gap, and we were tied at four…!! Groundouts by Philipps and Waters left the go-ahead run on base, though, and Hitchcock had to come into a tied game in the ninth instead of trying to save a lead. Philip Locke pinch-hit in the #9 hole and legged out an infield single, and that was enough to break the Coons again, since it brought up Bill Quinteros with two outs, and he hit a ball over the fence in dead center. The Coons found no answers against Heath Turner in the bottom 9th. 6-4 Indians. Waters 2-5; Suggs 1-2, BB, RBI; Glodowski (PH) 1-1, 2B, 3 RBI;

Game 2
IND: LF R. White – 2B de Castro – RF B. Quinteros – 3B B. Anderson – C Poindexter – CF Kokel – SS Clover – 1B Ed. Ortiz – P Serio
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF del Toro – 1B Crum – RF Maldonado – 3B DeMarco – CF Suzuki – C Philipps – P de la Cruz

In 26 pitches in the first inning, de la Cruz offered three walks, a balk, and one RBI single to Manny Poindexter, which was the only run in the inning, mostly because Rusty White was caught stealing after a leadoff walk, but that didn’t keep my fur from getting grayer. At this rate he would not have been long for this game anyway, and a fourth-inning rain delay served to knock him out anyway after a total of four hits, four walks, and two runs against him. Mike Snyder did not have any more success after that in long relief, getting slapped around for six hits and two seventh-inning runs with RBI knocks for Chaz Kokel and Chase Clover. Somewhere in between the Coons had managed consecutive doubles from Waters and Lonzo to open an inning, but Lonzo had then been stranded by the alleged meat of the order and only the one run scored.

In the bottom 7th, DeMarco and Suzuki came up with leadoff singles and were balked into scoring position by Serio, at which point Tyler Philipps popped out, and Ed Crispin popped out, and I was ready to pop out of by shirt and strangle the first one of the numbnuts I could lay paws on, but then Waters singled through the right side and drove in both runners to shorten the gap to 4-3, but then Lonzo struck out. Sencion and Johns pitched scoreless innings to keep the Indians close, but the Raccoons drew nothing but blanks in the last few innings and lost anyway. 4-3 Indians. Waters 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; DeMarco 2-4; Glodowski (PH) 1-1;

I despise his facemask and his very presence, but I think Matt Glodowski needs to go in the lineup…

Game 3
IND: LF R. White – 2B de Castro – RF B. Quinteros – 3B B. Anderson – C Poindexter – CF Kokel – SS Clover – 1B Ed. Ortiz – P En. Ortiz
POR: 2B Waters – SS DeMarco – LF del Toro – 1B Crum – RF Glodowski – 3B Crispin – CF Suzuki – C Suggs – P Brobeck

Enrique Ortiz nicked del Toro with two outs in the bottom 1st, del Toro scooped second in a fit of rage, and then scored on a Ken Crum single, which gave Crum all of TWO RBI on the year. Manny Poindexter immediately homered the score level again, and both teams then resorted to stupidity in an attempt to entertain the attendance. Crispin led off the bottom 2nd with a double, but thought he’d have three until being told the opposite quite convincingly by Bill Quinteros’ perfect throw to hammer him out at third base. Suzuki then reached second on a throwing error by Alex de Castro, but was stranded, and then a DeMarco error put Rusty White at second base in the third inning, but he was caught stealing third base.

Waters hit a leadoff single and stole second base in the bottom 3rd, but was stranded there because that’s what our lineup was. Crispin got nicked on base in the fourth, with an intentional walk to Suggs followed by a 2-out single by Brobeck, but Crispin hadn’t been paying attention and hadn’t gone full beans at contact, and had to retreat to third base, for three on and two outs, but here came Matt Waters, the light of my life at .387 with 2 HR and 10 RBI: he struck out.

Brobeck held up for five innings, but disintegrated in the sixth, with singles by Anderson, Poindexter, and Clover giving the Indians a 2-1 lead, and then Edwin Ortiz doubled home Poindexter with two outs; Clover made the third out at home plate, thrown out by Glodowski, who if he really wanted to get any respect from me would have caught the damn baseball in the first place. Glodowski hit a drive to deep left in the bottom of the inning that caused Rusty White to run full-gob-smack in the fence and remain motionless on the field for 20 seconds before starting to crawl to his own dugout, to be replaced with Angel Mendez. BUT AT LEAST HE MADE THE ******* CATCH.

A Crispin throwing error sponsored an unearned run for the Indians in the seventh, 4-1, and in the eighth DeMarco knocked a leadoff single into center before getting doubled up by del Toro on a 3-0 pitch. Crum then singled, Glodowski doubled, and Crispin popped out foul behind home plate, in essence scoring zero runs. 4-1 Indians. Crum 2-4, RBI;

Just like Grandpa Moffett always said: if you have **** on the shoe, you have **** on the shoe.

Raccoons (6-10) vs. Bayhawks (6-10) – April 19-21, 2052

While the Coons were fourth in runs allowed and bottoms in runs scored, the Bayhawks were bottoms in runs allowed and fourth in runs scored. Our run differential was -8, theirs -19, but I was not thrilled to be around either of these teams. We owned their bottoms last year, 8-1, but I had my doubts. Outfielder Mark Roberts was on the DL for them, so that was something not to contend with.

Projected matchups:
David Barel (1-1, 4.12 ERA) vs. Tony Martinez (0-2, 5.48 ERA)
Victor Salcido (1-1, 5.28 ERA) vs. Juan Arrocha (0-2, 8.38 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (0-2, 3.15 ERA) vs. Mario de Anda (1-0, 5.60 ERA)

Left, and right, and left, but not even a Southpaw Sunday could lighten my mood right now. The Coons a shutout by any old bum away from dropping under three runs scored per game, and didn’t Tony Martinez just look like the any old bum to do it?

Game 1
SFB: 3B J. Gonzalez – 2B Peltier – SS Dau – CF Sedillo – LF Fink – 1B R. Correa – RF Bator – C M. Torres – P T. Martinez
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – CF DeMarco – 1B Crum – LF Glodowski – RF Maldonado – C Suggs – 3B Sivertson – P Barel

The Bayhawks had two of each in the first inning: two hits, two walks, two strikeouts, and two runs, both driven in by Todd Dau’s single to center after Jorge Gonzalez and former Coons farmhand Adam Peltier had already reached base against Barel, who was totally worth having signed over the farm to Boston. Waters homered to lead off the bottom 1st, but straight 2-singles to center by Mario Sedillo, John Fink, and Ricky Correa in the top 3rd just tacked on that run again, 3-1.

For all the little things that could even get a teetotaler to start boozing, Maldo appeared to hit a double in the bottom 4th, but was called out while panting at second base when the first base umpire ruled he had missed that base entirely, which the replay confirmed. The inning prior, Lonzo had whacked a triple in the gap, but had been stranded by DeMarco, but the team scored an unearned run in the bottom 5th when Suggs reached on a throwing error by the opposing backstop, Marv Torres, and then was singled home by – of course – Waters. Bottom 6th, DeMarco doubled and Crum singled to tie the game at three (!), and while Glodowski struck out, Crum stole second base, then scored the go-ahead run on Maldo’s next attempt on a double into the rightfield corner. That one stuck on the board, and Suggs singled to left to put runners on the corners. Sivertson then hit a sac fly to Fink, 5-3. Barel made the last out of the inning, but also pitched another one while maintaining the lead before retiring on 111 pitches.

Maldonado came up after the 3-4-5 batters had all failed their way on base with two outs in the bottom 7th – only Crum reached on a clean hit – but grounded out to second out of an overabundance of trying to not be too harsh on the inept Baybirds. At least Sencion had a clean eighth and Hitchcock erased the bottom of the order in due time in the ninth… 5-3 Coons. Waters 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Crum 3-4, RBI;

Iffy weather gave us another rainout on Saturday and a double-header on Sunday, so at least we had an excuse for not scoring. The Bayhawks appeared to turn their starters around, sending de Anda in the opener on Sunday, but the Coons hung with Salcido for the first game. Besides, the weather was still looking like trouble and nobody knew whether we’d get two in anyway.

Game 2
SFB: C M. Torres – LF Sparr – 1B Witherspoon – 2B Peltier – CF Fink – SS J. Gonzalez – RF Sedillo – 3B Waldman – P de Anda
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF del Toro – CF DeMarco – RF Glodowski – 1B Maldonado – C Philipps – 3B Sivertson – P Salcido

Salcido played beyond salvation on Sunday; it was one thing to give up a run after a leadoff triple for Peltier in the second inning, but in the third he served up a leadoff double to Rob Waldman, then botched himself not one, but TWO plays to wave that runner around, too. The Coons brought in Sivertson on a run-scoring groundout by Lonzo in the bottom 3rd to get back to 2-1, but that was hardly reason for excitement, with Waters then stranded in scoring position by del Toro.

With the Coons held to all of two hits through six innings, Salcido wobbled on until putting Waldman on to lead off an inning for the third time finally broke him up in the seventh. A pinch-hit RBI double by Danny Munn and an RBI single by Sam Witherspoon extended the lead to 4-1, and somehow the Raccoons got the tying run to the plate again in the game. That came in the bottom 8th when Waters doubled to center and Lonzo singled to Danny Munn’s feet in shallow left. Del Toro, batting a .196 shtick that totally didn’t have me explore our refund policy with the Stars, and he hit a sac fly on the first pitch to not improve a iota on that. Lonzo stole second, but was stranded when DeMarco grounded out shoddily, anyway. That was that, and while Justin Johns held the Bayhawks at … uh, bay… in the top 9th, I had little hope of making up a whopping 4-2 deficit in the bottom 9th against righty Brad Barnes. The Coons lobbed lefty pinch-hitters at him; Suzuki hit a leadoff single, and Crispin took one to the bum to the same effect – the tying runs were on. They were still on after soggy outs for Philipps and Sivertson, but Sean Suggs scratched another single when he batted for Johns with two outs. That made for three on and two outs, but here came Matt Waters, the light of my life at .394 with 3 HR and 12 RBI: he struck one out of the goddamn state – 418 feet well to the right of the 418’ sign!! GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAMMMMMMM!!!! … 6-4 Raccoons! Waters 3-4, BB, HR, 2B, 4 RBI; Suzuki (PH) 1-1; Suggs (PH) 1-1;

Game 3
SFB: LF R. Correa – SS Dau – RF Munn – 2B Peltier – CF Fink – 1B Sedillo – C Petroni – 3B Waldman – P Arrocha
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF del Toro – 1B Crum – CF DeMarco – 3B Crispin – RF Suzuki – C Suggs – P Taki

Singles by the 3-4-5 batters put the Baybirds on top, 1-0, in the first, but the Coons countered right away. Waters singled, Lonzo hit an RBI double, and scored on two productive (!!) outs for a 2-1 lead, and a Suzuki single, stolen base, and Suggs RBI single got us to 3-1 in the bottom 2nd. While Taki tried his best to resist the urge to have another blow-up, the Coons kept scratching here and there, and Lonzo singled home Suggs in the fifth to extend the lead further to 4-1. Taki pitched into the seventh before giving up a 1-out single to a pinch-hitting Witherspoon and was removed; Sencion guided him out of the inning, while Bill McDermott scattered four singles for two runs to Sivertson, Waters, Lonzo, and Crum in the bottom 7th. Sencion and Snyder would finish the game from there, both logging four outs each to complete the sweep. 6-1 Raccoons. Waters 2-5; Lavorano 3-4, 2B, 3 RBI; Suggs 3-4, RBI; Sivertson 2-2; Taki 6.1 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (1-2);

In other news

April 15 – Falcons INF Ian Woodrome (.295, 2 HR, 4 RBI) is out with a broken hand and will not return for June after being hit by a pitch offered by Condors reliever Ruben Olivera (0-0, 4.91 ERA).
April 20 – Saturday baseball produces not only the longest game of the season to date, a 14-inning, 5-4 win of the Indians over the Falcons, but also a rain-shortened 7-inning affair in which the Wolves beat the Miners, 3-0.

FL Player of the Week: DEN 1B Raul Sevilla (.386, 6 HR, 23 RBI), hitting .417 (10-24) with 3 HR, 9 RBI
CL Player of the Week: POR 2B/SS Matt Waters (.403, 4 HR, 16 RBI), batting .462 (12-26) with 2 HR, 8 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Heyyy, we’re ahead of the Loggers…! Ace.

Takeaways from this week? We suck. All but Matt Waters at least. They banged out 14 hits in the final game, but that was probably again an insular occasion… I wish we had some Pitchers of the Year and batting champs on the roster to get us someplace. Oh, wait a minute…

At least Matt Waters is hitting well! And nothing can ever happen to him! No, no, nothing!

He even whacked us out of the bottom spot in runs scored in the league, all by his lonely self. That 10-year-deal will totally never go bad like Maldo’s 7-year deal has gone. (points at Maldo passed out and face down in his food bowl) – Wait a second, is there soup in there?? – Oh good, he’s still making bubbles.

Falcons, Titans next week.

Fun Fact: Matt Waters was hitting .403 with 4 HR and 16 RBI at the end of the first leg of Sunday’s double-header, or literally twice as much as any other qualifying batter on the roster (bar one) in any category.

DeMarco was hitting .200, and del Toro had 2 HR and 8 RBI. And those were the high-water marks. Glodowski, Suggs, and Suzuki were all batting over .200, but none of them qualified. The only exception that actually qualified was Ken Crum, at .270, but with a lone homer and 3 RBI.

(blows)

Westheim · 01-03-2023, 04:08 PM

Raccoons (9-10) vs. Falcons (9-9) – April 22-24, 2052

After the double header on Sunday there was luckily just the three games with the Falcons before an off day on Thursday, so we’d not get deeper into the AAA starting corps for the time being. The Falcons ranked sixth in both runs scored and runs allowed, with the rotation much better than the bullpen so far. These teams were both in the top three in stolen bases, but tied for eighth with eight homers each. The Coons had won the season series two years running, with a 7-2 total in ’51.

Projected matchups:
Rafael de la Cruz (1-1, 3.31 ERA) vs. Angel Velasquez (3-0, 0.84 ERA)
Kyle Brobeck (2-1, 1.89 ERA) vs. Tyler Weems (0-3, 3.86 ERA)
David Barel (2-1, 4.05 ERA) vs. Hiroyuki Takagi (1-2, 3.91 ERA)

Weems was the only southpaw to come up here. With Chris Jones, Ian Woodrome, and Tony Alvarez all on the DL for them, they had also suffered a few early and unpleasant injuries.

Game 1
CHA: SS Arreola – 3B J. Frazier – LF D. Ceballos – RF Allegood – CF Caballero – 1B Briones – 2B D. Diaz – C Gowin – P A. Velasquez
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF del Toro – 1B Crum – CF DeMarco – 3B Crispin – RF Suzuki – C Suggs – P de la Cruz

The weather remained iffy in the new week, with an on-and-off drizzle in the early innings. The Coons took the lead on a solo homer by del Toro in the bottom 1st… and again on a 2-run homer by DeMarco in the fourth inning after Oscar Caballero’s leadoff triple and Mario Briones’ deep sac fly had erased the first lead right away in the top 2nd. But Raffy allowed only two hits in the first four innings, which looked like things were improving. Same for the offense – after the DeMarco homer, the Coons put out three more straight hits, with Suggs singling home Crispin, 4-1, before both de la Cruz and Waters grounded out to end the inning.

The offense continued in the fifth, but so did the pain. Del Toro whacked a 1-out double, after which the Falcons walked Crum intentionally. DeMarco then beat Caballero for another double in center, which drove home a run, but also jammed his paw on the slide into second base and ended up leaving the game, replaced by Roberto Medina, who took over left, with del Toro to center. Crispin was walked intentionally onto the open base, but Velasquez gave up one final RBI single to Suzuki before being yanked. Sean Suggs singled home two more against lefty Victor Padilla. Raffy struck out, Waters walked, and Lonzo singled to center for another run, the fifth and final of the inning, now in a 9-1 game, before del Toro grounded out to Danny Diaz. From there, Raffy pitched one more inning, and that was the final inning of the game. The drizzle abruptly worsened to a good dousing by the bottom 6th and the game went into a delay that turned into a six-inning complete-game effort for de la Cruz about two hours later. 9-1 Furballs! Del Toro 3-4, 2 2B, RBI; Crum 1-2, BB, 2B; DeMarco 2-3, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Crispin 1-2, BB, 2B; Suzuki 2-3, RBI; Suggs 2-3, 3 RBI; de la Cruz 6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 3 K, W (2-1) and 1-3;

Ironically, Matt Waters went hitless in the second outburst of 13+ hits in a row.

DeMarco had a lightly sprained paw; it wasn’t too bad, but he was not in the lineup on Tuesday.

Game 2
CHA: SS Arreola – 2B E. Stevens – LF D. Ceballos – RF Allegood – CF Caballero – 1B Briones – 3B J. Frazier – C A. Mercado – P Weems
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – CF del Toro – LF Crum – RF Glodowski – 1B Maldonado – 3B Sivertson – C Philipps – P Brobeck

Maldo was beyond his prime by any definition, but managed a nice 3-U double play with a slight reach for a Danny Ceballos liner and caught Erik Stevens off guard, and more important, base. But the main problem was Brobeck, who was behind every batter, and walked everything with legs, unless it whacked a single off him first. The Falcons got three hits and two walks in the second inning, and scored two runs before running themselves out of the inning. Brobeck never worked out his control in this game, and walked another pair by the time he completed five innings, but also scored the Coons’ first run, which took five innings, too, when he whacked a double to left in that inning and was brought in by … a wild pitch eventually.

But Brobeck didn’t retire another batter. He faced three more in the top 6th, but allowed straight singles to Oscar Caballero, Mario Briones, and Josh Frazier before getting yanked. That was with a run already in, and when Justin Johns replaced him, he schmucked up another three runs with a walk to Anton Mercado, a Juan Arreola sac fly, and a 2-run single by Erik Stevens. Ceballos struck out, and three clean innings from Miles and Lillis followed, but that didn’t help with much of anything anymore as the Raccoons couldn’t put any sort of rally together. They had a hit in every inning, it seemed, but then also found a double play or a couple of pops, and didn’t drive in another hit until they were down to their final out when Matt Waters doubled home Suzuki. But Marcos Nabo then got Lonzo to fly out to Caballero, and that was that. 6-2 Falcons. Del Toro 2-4; Miles 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K;

Let’s go back to the other lineup then…!

Game 3
CHA: LF D. Ceballos – 2B E. Stevens – CF Caballero – 1B Briones – 3B J. Frazier – C Payne – RF Allegood – SS Arreola – P Takagi
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF del Toro – 1B Crum – CF DeMarco – 3B Crispin – RF Suzuki – C Suggs – P Barel

…and another rather inconvincing first inning for a Raccoons starter, as David Barel ran three balls to everybody, and four balls to three batters in the first inning. A Briones sac fly gave Charlotte a 1-0 lead, but the Coons at least came back right away; Waters doubled to right, then scored on singles by del Toro and Crum before DeMarco jammed into a double play.

My main concern was Barel, though, who pitched like arse and walked two more batters in the third inning. That time, Briones singled home a run, but the Falcons also left the bases loaded when Mike Allegood bounced out to Crum at first base. And the game really felt like it was gonna end in a blowout. Arreola opened the top 4th with a single to right, and then Takagi’s awful bunt was bungled by Waters for an error. Somehow Ceballos popped out and Stevens slapped a 6-4-3 gift at Lonzo to bugger out of that jam… but by the fifth, back-to-back homers for Josh Frazier and Ricky Payne gave the Falcons a 5-1 lead and the Raccoons a new pitcher on the mound…

The ****** Coons removed Barel in a double switch and put Mike Snyder in the just-vacated #6 hole but ended up getting only four outs out of him, because after going down in order in the bottom 5th, the Coons put Crum and DeMarco in scoring position in the sixth, bringing up that #6 spot. Maldo batted for the abbreviated long man and struck out, and I was taking a bite out of my coonskin cap. Bottom 7th, Suggs singled to send Takagi home, with Victor Padilla filling the bases by giving up a single to Sivertson and a walk to Waters. That brought up Lonzo, all .175 of him, as the tying run with one out. I wasn’t hoping for much, and I got a double play to short on the very first ******* pitch. Another three runners were stranded between the last two innings, and nobody scored. 5-1 Falcons. Waters 2-4, BB, 2B; del Toro 2-4; Crum 2-4, RBI; Suggs 2-4; Crisler 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

Raccoons (10-12) vs. Titans (14-7) – April 26-28, 2052

The Raccoons had already dropped two of three this month to the Titans and I had little doubt they could do that again and maybe even drop all three this time. Boston conceded the fewest runs in the lead, which oughta auto-defeat us, but was only eighth in runs scored. But they had won five straight and led the division as they came into Portland, so what the **** did I know?

Projected matchups:
Victor Salcido (1-1, 4.76 ERA) vs. Thomas Turpeau (0-0, 3.13 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (1-2, 2.73 ERA) vs. Jamie Guidry (3-1, 3.14 ERA)
Rafael de la Cruz (2-1, 2.82 ERA) vs. Jordan Ramos (2-1, 3.33 ERA)

Two left, one right, and three in the snout, probably.

The Coons made a roster move, dropping Roberto Medina (zilch, no RBI) back to AAA for 26-year-old non-prospect Eddy Veloz, a Dominican right-handed batting outfielder that had signed with the Cyclones at 16 and had been released twice before we had taken him off the street in ’47. He was batting .338/.434/.415 in 16 games in AAA and I was getting desperate.

Game 1
BOS: CF Whitlow – LF Bumpus – RF T. Lopez – 1B L. Rodriguez – C R. Gonzalez – 3B J. Rodriguez – 2B M. Castillo – SS Lettner – P Turpeau
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – CF del Toro – 1B Crum – RF Glodowski – C Suggs – 3B DeMarco – LF Veloz – P Salcido

Eric Whitlow (who?) whacked a gap triple to open the weekend set, and I opened a bottle of booze three second later. I couldn’t watch this in crystal clear XXHD, and the alternative was to poke my ******* eyes out. After a walk to Adam Bumpus and a sorry pop by Tony Lopez, Larry Rodriguez finally got the run home with a productive out, but oh well. Our turn to bat! To lead off the first four innings, Waters singled in the first, Glodowski singled in the second, Salcido singled in the third, and Crum walked in the fourth. None of them made it off first base, except for Waters, who gained an extra base on an error by Whitlow, and Crum, who was doubled off on a grounder Glodowski hit right at Jose Rodriguez for a 5-4-3 soul-bleacher. Suggs then was nicked, which was understandable, since I also had the constant urge to hit something hard over his head, and DeMarco hit another single. That brought up the unlikely debutee, and he grounded out to Manny Castillo.

At that point I chose to lean on Slappy’s shoulder and bawl for an inning, but didn’t miss much. Salcido, still holding the 1-0 score (on the wrong side, in case you forgot), then struck out to begin the bottom 5th. Waters singled, though! …and then was doubled off when Lonzo slapped the ball at Jason Lettner. Six, four, three, Cristiano, please, be a ******* man and kill me.

Salcido pitched seven, and somehow gave up three runs on four hits eventually. Ruben Gonzalez and Dave Gonzalez reached in the seventh on a walk and a single, respectively, and they were then stupidly driven home with two outs, and after a wild pitch, by Marty Gonza- uh, Serna. Marty Serna. Who?

Ruben Gonzalez later homered off Lillis in the ninth inning for an extra Boston run, after which NWSN caught a fan in the leftfield stands that held up a sign reading “REVERSE THE TRADE”, which I couldn’t find myself to disagree with. The Coons never stopped sugging, and lost their third in a row. 4-0 Titans. Waters 2-4; DeMarco 1-2, BB; Salcido 7.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 7 K, L (1-2) and 1-2;

Pucks would be back by Sunday.

That was all I had on Saturday.

For Saturday, I had nothing.

Game 2
BOS: CF Whitlow – LF Bumpus – RF T. Lopez – 1B L. Rodriguez – C R. Gonzalez – 3B J. Rodriguez – 2B M. Castillo – SS Lettner – P Guidry
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – CF Crum – RF Glodowski – C Suggs – 3B DeMarco – 1B Maldonado – LF Veloz – P Taki

Behold! The Coons took a 2-0 lead in the Saturday game! Waters walked, Lonzo singled, they swiped a pair, and then scored… on productive outs from Crum and Glodowski, but that was more than we got around these parts usually. Similarly unheard of was Taki NOT laying an egg right away. He didn’t allow a hit the first time through, holding himself to two walks through 12 batters, and one of those – Bumpus – was caught stealing. Larry Rodriguez inched a 2-out single past Waters to extend the fourth, though, but was stranded when Ruben Gonzalez grounded out.

Gonzalez, who still got a nice paw around here, hit a 2-out single in the seventh to get a blue shirt on base again, but was left right there when Jose Rodriguez grounded out, and Taki was clean through seven innings. And the Coons were still batting, it was just entirely for only the hardcore fans to watch, although by the bottom 7th the Coons got Waters and Lonzo back in scoring position with nobody out, this time by a single and double, respectively. The Titans chose not to bother with Ken Crum, and instead brought up Glodowski. I sighed. Three on, no outs. Glodowski went to 2-1 before bouncing one quickly to Manny Castillo, who managed to throw out Waters at home. Oh good, I thought as the first pitch to Sean Suggs was thrown, only a double play to go to get out of the – oh, what a knock! Outta here!! GRAAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAAMMMMM!!!!

To balance for that slam, the baseball gods then made Taki implode in the eighth, where he was taken deep for a 2-out, 3-run homer by Tony Lopez, and Larry Rodriguez whacked a double after that. We went right to Hitchcock, who rung up Ruben Gonzalez to get out of the inning, and retired three more in order in the ninth to put the game away… 6-3 Coons. Waters 2-4, BB; Lavorano 3-4, BB, 2B; Crum 2-4, BB, RBI; Suggs 2-4, HR, 4 RBI; DeMarco 2-4; Taki 7.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 9 K, W (2-2);

Veloz, 0-for-6 with an intentional walk to his name, returned to AAA with that, and was replaced by Pucks coming off the DL.

Game 3
BOS: CF Whitlow – LF Bumpus – RF T. Lopez – 1B L. Rodriguez – C R. Gonzalez – 3B J. Rodriguez – 2B M. Castillo – SS Lettner – P Jo. Ramos
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF del Toro – 1B Crum – CF Puckeridge – 3B Crispin – RF Suzuki – C Philipps – P de la Cruz

Back to Raffy, back to same old, same old with the young one. Bumpus walked in the first, and Tony Lopez cranked a deep homer. Bumpus singled in the third, and Tony Lopez cranked an even deeper homer. The good news was that after just four innings, the entirety of the Coons had as many hits combined as Lopez had, and they were only four runs behind…

By the fifth we even had the tying run at the plate. Suzuki and Waters got walked by Jordan Ramos; the former stole a base and scored on a Lonzo single to center, and del Toro then batted down 4-1 with two aboard and two outs, found the crease between Manny Castillo and Larry Rodriguez for another RBI single, but Crum grounded out to first base after all to strand two. But the tying runs were in scoring position again with nobody out in the bottom of the sixth…! Pucks walked, Crispin doubled to right, and … and that brought up the bottom of the order. Suzuki floated to Whitlow in center, who made the catch, and then threw out Pucks bolting for home plate for an 8-2 double play. Oh goody goodness. The Titans opted to bypass the .185 menace of Tyler Philipps with an intentional walk, instead pulling up Raffy de la Cruz, batting half that. Ramos slapped two strikes on him, then dished one right down the middle. And Raffy hit it a ******* 438 feet for a score-flipping 3-run homer.

Pandemonium broke out not only at home plate, but I hugged Slappy and gave him a smooch on the cheek, ran over and double-high-fived Cristiano, which sent him rolling backwards and crashing into the shelf of ever-tortured bobbleheads, and then chest-bumped Maud clean over the glass table with refreshments before Raffy even made it all of 360 feet…!

RAFFY!!! ALL THE TRADES NOT MADE – FOR THAT ******* HOMER!!! HAH!!! =) =)

Of course, in the end, it was all for naught. Ken Crum homered in the bottom 7th, 6-4, while Raffy pitched into the eighth, but gave up another hit to Bumpus. Crisler replaced him, gave up a single to Larry Rodriguez, and then a 3-run homer to Ruben Gonzalez. I bled from the snout. RUBEN GONZALEZ. That wasn’t all, as Marty Gonza- … Serna hit another homer off Eloy Sencion in the ninth inning, but the Raccoons went down in order against Eddie Sotelo in the ninth. 8-6 Titans. Del Toro 2-5, RBI; Puckeridge 3-4;

In other news

April 23 – Sacramento’s LF/RF/1B Nate Culp (.308, 6 HR, 13 RBI) hits for the cycle in a 12-5 win over the Cyclones. Culp hits a homer, triple, double, and single in order, putting together the first reverse-natural cycle since that of the Aces’ Mike Hall in 2038, and the third-ever cycle for the Scorpions.
April 23 – RIC 2B/SS Lance Harrison (.299, 1 HR, 12 RBI) might miss a month with a sprained ankle.
April 26 – With his first home run of the season, LVA CF/LF Dan Martin (.211, 1 HR, 5 RBI) walks off the Aces for a 16-inning, 7-5 win against the Condors.
April 26 – The Miners torch the Buffaloes, 20-0. Pittsburgh’s Eddie Moreno (.383, 5 HR, 23 RBI) leads all players with four hits and five RBI in the game.
April 28 – DEN SP Gary Perrone (2-1, 3.07 ERA) 3-hits the Wolves in a 3-0 shutout.
April 28 – The Indians beat the Loggers in ten innings by an 8-3 score. The game went to its only extra inning tied at one.

FL Player of the Week: SAC 1B Steve Wyatt (.365, 6 HR, 18 RBI), socking .435 (10-23) with 4 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week: VAN CF Damian Moreno (.326, 5 HR, 20 RBI), swatting .440 (11-25) with 2 HR, 9 RBI

Complaints and stuff

I just want to sleep. Forever.

David Barel wants to start talk extension? Is that so, Maud? – Well, tell him I want my ******* prospects back.

She’ll not do it, she’s about as smart as I am vengeful.

April is almost over. The Coons will have only six home games in the month of May, which at least means I don’t have to read the Agitator every day. We’ll go on the road to visit New York and Richmond next week.

Fun Fact: This week’s slam notwithstanding, Milwaukee’s chronically underpaid Zach Suggs (.221, 4 HR, 13 RBI) has four times as many homers than Sean Suggs.

That suggs.

Westheim · 01-05-2023, 05:21 PM

Raccoons (11-14) @ Crusaders (14-10) – April 29-May 2, 2052

Four games in New York as we escaped the Willamette Valley for the time being; the rusaders were in third place, fourth in runs scored and seventh in runs allowed, and actually had a -3 run differential (Critters: -2). They had no injuries, but a creaky defense and wobbly rotation, and maybe the Raccoons on-paper-great offense could finally break out… Maybe. But even last year we had lost 11 games to the Crusaders, so I was bracing for impact long before the team plane touched down at Ocasio-Cortez International…

Projected matchups:
Kyle Brobeck (2-2, 3.38 ERA) vs. Jim White (1-3, 5.67 ERA)
David Barel (2-2, 4.88 ERA) vs. Edwin Sopena (3-2, 4.26 ERA)
Victor Salcido (1-2, 4.55 ERA) vs. Austin Guastella (1-1, 6.49 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (2-2, 2.91 ERA) vs. Jeff Johnson (3-1, 2.45 ERA)

We’d tip-toe around New York’s only southpaw, Neil Hamann (2-2, 3.45 ERA) here.

Game 1
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF del Toro – 1B Crum – CF Puckeridge – C Suggs – RF Suzuki – 3B Crispin – P Brobeck
NYC: SS O. Sanchez – RF Magnussen – 3B Gates – LF D. Rivera – 2B Haney – C O. Ramirez – CF M. Ceballos – 1B Bent – P J. White

At least there was a quick start; Lonzo singled, stole second, was driven in by del Toro, and Pucks added an RBI double for a quick 2-0 lead before the ball went to Brobeck and the Crusaders batted through the order in the bottom of the inning. The first four Crusaders all reached on a leadoff walk to Omar Sanchez and hits by Adam Magnussen and Prince Gates before Crispin tossed away Danny Rivera’s grounder. Mark Haney hit a sac fly, and then Omar Ramirez, Mario Ceballos, and Art Bent all drummed more hits for a total of five runs (four unearned) before the inning ended with a mercy K to Jim White. Ah, impact!

Brobeck then homered off White in the second inning, 5-3, while the Coons then went on to hit into inning-ending double plays in each of the next three frames, which was only mildly infuriating. Crum, Suzuki, and Waters were all guilty, in that order. An improvement came about in the sixth inning, when none of the first two batters reached base, and when Ken Crum singled after that, Pucks left him on with a fly to Mario Ceballos. Brobeck struck out nine across six innings in an attempt to escape a severe beating after the game, which may or may not yet be successful. Eloy Sencion then applied for the beating instead, coming into the seventh inning with three left-handers in the first four slots of the Crusaders order to retire, but walked Sanchez to begin the inning and then got whacked around for an additional three runs, Omar Ramirez’ 2-out, 2-run single knocking him from the game in favor of Snyder before the inning was even over. Snyder walked Ceballos, allowed a single to Bent, and the inning only ended with a nice defensive play by Matt Waters on pinch-hitting Pedro Leal – it was the second time on the day that the Crusaders batted through the lineup. The Raccoons never did, and to round out their splendid efforts, after Crum hit a 1-out single off Dan Lawrence in the ninth, Sean Suggs bobbed into the fourth inning-ending double play of the game for them. 8-3 Crusaders. Crum 2-4; Suggs 2-4;

(labored breathing)

Game 2
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF del Toro – 1B Crum – CF Puckeridge – C Suggs – RF Glodowski – 3B DeMarco – P Barel
NYC: CF O. Sanchez – RF Magnussen – 3B Gates – LF D. Rivera – 2B Haney – 1B Leal – SS Russ – C Skelly – P Sopena

While Barel didn’t allow base hit or run the first time through the order, but still walked three to annoy me further, the Raccoons had a Lonzo double in the first inning, but tossed that away unused. Del Toro hit a single in the fourth inning and then stole second, though. Crum’s grounder got him to third base, Pucks walked, and Suggs hit a sac fly to Omar Sanchez in center to get the Coons on the board… just before Pucks was picked off first base before another pitch was thrown. Pucks would get a 2-out RBI single in the sixth though, driving home Matt Waters, so maybe he wouldn’t be drowned in the Atlantic yet.

Barel held the Crusaders to just two hits in six innings, but four walks, six strikeouts, and numerous long counts escalated his pitch count, and he was batted for in the seventh inning of a 2-0 game. In his spot, Sivertson poked a the second of three straight singles for him, DeMarco, and Waters, filling the bases with one out against Sopena. Lonzo fell to two strikes before grinding back and eventually dropped a ball behind the reaching Andrew Russ for the fourth straight single, driving home DeMarco in the process, 3-0. A fifth straight single by del Toro to center scored two more runs, before the inning fizzled out as Devin Crawford restored order for the Crusaders. The Coons pen struggled again; Johns put a guy on, but Rick Colwill got himself caught stealing. Lillis added two more runners on singles in the eighth and had to be rescued by Crisler, who got an easy grounder from Mark Haney to get out of that inning, and then also pitched the ninth to finish the game. 5-0 Coons. Waters 2-5; Lavorano 2-5, 2B, RBI; Puckeridge 1-2, 2 BB, RBI; Sivertson (PH) 1-2; Barel 6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 6 K, W (3-2) and 1-2;

Game 3
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF del Toro – 1B Crum – CF Puckeridge – 3B DeMarco – RF Maldonado – C Philipps – P Salcido
NYC: SS O. Sanchez – RF Magnussen – 3B Gates – LF D. Rivera – CF Leal – C O. Ramirez – 2B Russ – 1B Bent – P Guastella

Second 5-run first inning of the week, and this time they were all earned. Salcido walked three, and was banged around for another three hits, including a 3-run homer by Omar Ramirez somewhere in the middle. He also balked in a run with two outs and the pitcher batting. Like Brobeck on Monday, he sought salvation in offense, driving home DeMarco with a 2-out RBI single in the second inning, as if that would shave something off his considerable ERA. Lonzo reached to begin the third and Pucks whacked a 2-run homer to right to get the Coons back to 5-3, but Salcido was yanked after a 1-out triple by Omar Sanchez in the fourth inning. Miles got the ball and out of the inning with a grounder by Adam Magnussen, because for reasons best known to them, the Crusaders went with a steal of home attempt, but the Coons battery was for once alert and Sanchez was slapped out.

And the Coons crept closer. Del Toro was nicked and Pucks walked in the fifth before DeMarco foolishly grounded into a double play, but in the sixth, Maldo doubled to right and was driven in by Matt Waters, 5-4. Lonzo also reached base, but del Toro’s bouncer was cut off by Art Bent to kill the inning. While Miles held steady, the seventh saw another try: Crum got on, and so did Pucks. DeMarco grounded into a fielder’s choice at second base, and Maldo struck out after fouling off a few 2-2’s, but after Guastella got Philipps, batting all of .161 and getting close to a holiday in Florida, to 1-2, he also hung one over the middle of the plate and Philipps rushed it 400 feet… in front of the 426’ sign, but it still flipped the score as a 2-run double…! Crispin hit for Miles, but flew out to center to end the inning. Sencion held on in the bottom 7th, and Waters homered to right for an insurance run in the top 8th; del Toro, Crum, and Glodowski then all reached, only to be stranded when Maldo whiffed. The bottom 8th was tight, though. Johns entered, walked Prince Gates, and was yanked right away for Lillis, who walked Danny Rivera. Haney and Colwill pinch-hit and struck out, but the Crusaders figured that resentworthy coonskinner deluxe Andrew Russ (.184, 0 HR, 4 RBI) was good enough for an upset. He grounded out to first, which was the real upset here. When had Russ ever NOT killed the Coons in such a spot?? Hitchcock however retired New York in order to seal the deal. 7-5 Raccoons. Waters 3-6, HR, 2 RBI; del Toro 2-5; Crum 2-5; Puckeridge 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Maldonado 2-5, 2B; Philipps 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Sivertson 1-1; Miles 2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, W (1-1);

Not trying to rain on a 7-run unanswered rally, but we had 17 hits and stranded three pawfuls…

Game 4
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF del Toro – CF Puckeridge – 3B DeMarco – C Suggs – RF Suzuki – 1B Maldonado – P Taki
NYC: SS O. Sanchez – RF Magnussen – 3B Gates – LF D. Rivera – CF Leal – 2B Haney – C O. Ramirez – 1B Bent – P J. Johnson

Lonzo had a paw in the Coons’ first three runs on Thursday; he stole his way into scoring position and scored on a Pucks single in the first, then doubled home Waters in the third inning, only to immediately score on a del Toro single. Pucks right away bashed another RBI double, and it was 4-0. Lonzo added two more RBI in the fourth inning, finding Taki (single) and Waters (double) in scoring position, and zinged one down the line and into the leftfield corner for a two-bagger of his own. Taki meanwhile faced the minimum through five innings, walking Adam Magnussen in the first inning, and Gates doubled him up nicely right away there. Pedro Leal eventually flung a single to center in the fifth, but was also doubled up by Haney. The Crusaders didn’t reach again until Leal was brushed by a pitch in the eighth inning, and that was their first runner that wasn’t taken off again with a double play… but he didn’t come close to scoring either. Taki appeared to be cruising in fifth gear, while the Coons added a run with a Pucks homer in the sixth, and took out the regular middle infielders and Pucks in the middle of the eighth, and Maldo ahead of the final half-inning, which Taki entered with a 1-hitter on 90 pitches… and didn’t finish. Bent grounded out, but Colwill, Sanchez, Magnussen, and Gates flicked hits in order to score two runs before the hammer came down. Crisler secured the last two outs without conceding another run. 7-2 Critters. Waters 2-4, BB, 2B; Lavorano 2-4, 2 2B, 3 RBI; del Toro 2-5, RBI; Puckeridge 3-5, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Taki 8.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, W (3-2) and 1-4;

Let’s just pretend the last four batters against Taki didn’t happen and then we can all happy fly down to Richmond…

Raccoons (14-15) @ Rebels (16-12) – May 3-5, 2052

The Critters took a +5 run differential to Virginia, where the resident team sat at +17 and also atop the FL East. They were eighth in runs scored, but gave up the second-fewest runs in the Federal League. They were without one of their best batters in Lance Harrison, but could pound out a lot of singles to crowd batters; despite sitting fourth in team average, they were just seventh in OBP, though, and had bottom-quarter power. The Coons won two of three when these teams last met in 2049.

Projected matchups:
Rafael de la Cruz (2-1, 3.64 ERA) vs. Paul Paris (2-3, 4.66 ERA)
Kyle Brobeck (2-3, 3.00 ERA) vs. Eric Braley (2-3, 2.87 ERA)
David Barel (3-2, 4.10 ERA) vs. James Powell (3-3, 2.87 ERA)

The Rebs only had right-handers in their rotation, and they also had Sam Gibson waiting in the ninth, so you better got them early…

The Coons had another six games to play before the next off day and all regulars would get a day off in this weekend set; except for Ken Crum, who had already not appeared in the series finale in New York. Del Toro and DeMarco were not in the lineup on Friday to get started. Pucks, Waters, and Lonzo were yet to sit down.

Game 1
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF Crum – 1B Puckeridge – C Suggs – 3B Crispin – CF Suzuki – RF Glodowski – P de la Cruz
RIC: 2B Jav. Ramos – 1B Carreno – RF Grewe – 3B D. Espinosa – LF C. Morris – C Seidman – SS Guillory – CF J. Gutierrez – P Paris

The Rebs brought up a nearly-all-righty lineup (except for Chris Morris), but Raffy still almost managed to walk two and give up a 3-run homer to .167 hitter Landon Guillory in the bottom 2nd – Glodowski picked that one off the fence. Hitting a 3-run homer was instead left to Sean Suggs in the fourth inning; he collected Lonzo and Pucks with the fourth hit of the game, all for the Coons. Glodowski then added a solo piece the following inning, while de la Cruz befuddled the Rebels for 17 hitters without giving up a base knock, then shed a 2-out single to the opposing pitcher, of all people. Javier Ramos singled up the middle after that, but ex-Coon Arturo Carreno popped out hopelessly, which was just how I remembered ex-Coon Arturo Carreno.

Raffy went seven on three hits, the third of which was unfortunately a Bobby Grewe bomb to left, but still left with a 4-1 lead and only because his spot came up with Suggs and Crispin in scoring position after leadoff singles in the top 8th, two outs, and a lefty in Gustavo Chapa on the mound. DeMarco batted for him, but grounded out to Guillory. Crisler held the Rebs away in the eighth, however, and then Hitchcock came out for the 4-5-6 batters in the ninth. Danny Espinosa and Mike Seidman struck out, but Morris singled with one out. Guillory found Lonzo for the final out with a cozy grounder, though. 4-1 Coons! Waters 2-5, 2B; Lavorano 3-5; del Toro (PH) 1-1; Suggs 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; Crispin 2-4, 2B; de la Cruz 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, W (3-1) and 1-2;

Four in a row, and back to .500 now, four games outta first place.

Maldo would have been back in the lineup on Saturday, but five fish burritos got the better of him and he was … uh … “unavailable”. Pucks and Lonzo got the day off for rest purposes.

Game 2
POR: 2B Waters – 3B Crispin – LF del Toro – 1B Crum – C Suggs – SS DeMarco – CF Suzuki – RF Sivertson – P Brobeck
RIC: 2B Jav. Ramos – 1B Carreno – RF Grewe – 3B D. Espinosa – LF C. Morris – C Seidman – SS Guillory – CF J. Gutierrez – P Braley

DeMarco and Sivertson RBI singles in the second inning gave the Coons a 2-0 lead after Crum and Suggs had reached base to begin the inning. Suggs would go on to homer to right in the fourth, while DeMarco and Sivertson also reached again, although Sivertson only did so on an error by Mike Seidman, the backstop’s first of the season. Brobeck batted with runners on the corners and one out and hit a deep fly to center, but Jose Gutierrez caught up with it – it was still good for a sac fly and a 4-0 lead, though, before Sivertson got himself caught stealing. Gutierrez then went on to leg out a bases-loaded, 2-out RBI single in the bottom of the inning, in which the Rebs sent up eight batters, two of whom scored, after Brobeck had faced only one over the minimum in the first three frames. He nicked Carreno to begin the inning and it went downhill quickly from there, with three hits and a walk for the Rebs after the initial base runner, but Braley grounded out to Crum to strand a full set in a 4-2 game.

The Coons countered in the fifth; Waters walked and went to third on a Crispin single, then scored when del Toro grounded into a fielder’s choice at second base. Ken Crum drew a four-pitch after that, and with two outs, DeMarco wrapped a 3-piece around the left foul pole to double the Coons’ offensive output in the game to eight runs.

But after Braley, Brobeck also completely imploded in the bottom 5th. He retired… nobody. Walk, hit, walk, hit, walk, and exit, stage right, with the tying run already in the box. Justin Johns came in to salvage the lead… barely. Seidman’s sac fly and Guillory’s groundout were decent enough, but then he conceded two runs on a 2-out single by Gutierrez to get the Rebels all the way back to 8-7, and I swear I saw Jeb Stuart’s cavalry ride by behind our dugout during the middle of that meltdown… Boys, should we go home? I mean, just in case.

The remaining lead evaporated on the paws of Mike Snyder in the sixth inning. Grewe singled, and he walked him in with three straight free passes to the 4-5-6 batters before getting yanked. Crisler stranded the three runners with a pop to del Toro in shallow left and a fly to Sivertson in right, so it was eight-all through six. It also started to rain, or maybe it was just my tears. Del Toro and Crum found the corners against Caleb Martin in the seventh, but Suggs popped out for the second out. DeMarco bounced up the middle, Guillory dove and ticked the ball, but couldn’t knock it down, and the RBI single made it 9-8 Critters. Suzuki added another RBI single, Sivertson grounded out. 10-8 at the stretch, but the Coons had also now used up all their righty relief (bar Hitchcock), and had to make do with the left-handers, somehow, against that heavily right-handed lineup.

It didn’t go so well. Sencion was out first, but gave up a 1-out single to Ramos, who stole second. Carreno then reached on an infield single, and Grewe reached on an error by Waters, which also scored a run. Espinosa flew out to center, but Wade Gardner – another forgettable ex-Coon – batted for the only lefty hitter, but lined out to Waters to end the inning. Miles put on a pair in Gutierrez and Michael Schuettpelz (who?) in the bottom 8th, but rung up Ramos before things could get really ugly. The Coons came up against Sam Gibson in the ninth, put Suggs and DeMarco on… and then left them on as Suzuki and Sivertson made poor outs. But don’t you fear – Kevin Hitchcock had your back: Carreno, Grewe, and Espinosa went in order in the bottom of the ninth, and the Coons poked above .500 for the first time all year. 10-9 Critters. Crispin 2-5; Crum 2-4, BB; Suggs 2-4, BB, HR, RBI; DeMarco 5-5, HR, 5 RBI;

It also cost the Rebs first place in the East. Wouldn’t hurt to get a good outing from Barel on Sunday now… against THAT lineup…

Maldo still looked pale, but was technically available from the bench. Waters got the day off; it was the first game this year which he wasn’t going to start.

Game 3
POR: LF del Toro – SS Lavorano – 1B Crum – RF Puckeridge – 2B DeMarco – CF Suzuki – 3B Sivertson – C Philipps – P Barel
RIC: 2B Henriquez – 1B Carreno – 3B D. Espinosa – CF J. Gutierrez – LF C. Morris – RF Cooke – C W. Gardner – SS Guillory – P J. Powell

By Sunday, fans showed signs asking the home team to throw the Yankee Doodles back over the Potomac, but the first three innings saw only scarce offense before Sivertson singled home Pucks and DeMarco with a looper over the head of Jorge Henriquez in the fourth inning. And even though the forecast had been dry, the weather by the fourth very much was not, and we ended up having a 40-minute rain delay before the inning was over for the Rebs. The Coons continued to play it by fuzzy ear with Barel after that, but he seemed to have things under control even after the delay, and was 2-hitting the Rebels through six innings.

By the seventh, Sivertson figured in another run, reaching on an error and scoring on a single by Tyler Philipps that made it 3-0 with one gone in the inning. But when Barel offered a leadoff walk to Gutierrez in the bottom of the inning, the bullpen got stirring in earnest. Chris Morris and Manny Cooke grounded out, but Wade Gardner doubled home the runner, and that was the end for Barel. The Coons went to Justin Johns, who struck out Guillory to get out of the seventh.

A Lonzo hit, an error by Gardner, and a DeMarco sac fly put the run just scratched out by the Rebs back on the board in the eighth, 4-1, but Powell (!) and Carreno singled off Johns in the bottom 8th to put the tying run back in the box rather soon. We were anxiously waiting for a lefty pinch-hitter, but none came for Gutierrez, either, so we stuck to Johns, who thankfully got Gutierrez to pop up a 1-0 pitch in foul ground, and Philipps snagged the ball leaning into a camera well after dashing over while tossing all his gear in a wild display.

That made Morris lead off the ninth in a 3-run game. Hitchcock had been out two straight days, and the righty side of the pen had been torched in this set. The Coons thus went to Lillis for the bottom 9th, who was well rested and kinda bored. He got Morris on a grounder and Cooke on strikes, but then walked Gardner in a full count. But, eh, Guillory! Batting .136! Guillory on command hit a floater to right that Pucks approached… and dropped for an error. Once more, the tying run was in the box, with Mike Seidman pinch-hitting, .287 with no homers. The “no homers” part gave Lillis another shot, and he got a grounder to short on the first pitch. Lonzo had firm paws on that one, and the precise throw to first completed a sweep. 4-1 Raccoons! Sivertson 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Waters (PH) 1-1; Barel 6.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W (4-2);

In other news

April 30 – ATL SP Kodai Koga (3-2, 4.78 ERA) throws a 3-hit shutout against the Condors to notch a 4-0 win, striking out nine batters in the process.
May 2 – Defensive catcher Juan Jimenez (.275, 1 HR, 6 RBI) goes yard for the sole run in the Loggers’ 1-0 win over the Titans.
May 2 – After 14 innings of 1-1 ball with the Blue Sox, the Miners finally draw ahead by a run in the 15th inning, only to collapse for three hits and two runs for the Blue Sox and a 3-2 walkoff in the bottom 15th. NAS C Jose Cantu (.333, 5 HR, 21 RBI) drives in the tying and go-ahead runs with a single.
May 3 – 22-year-old rising star SFW LF/RF Tony Rodriguez (.274, 1 HR, 10 RBI) would miss three months with a torn hamstring.
May 3 – MIL INF Zach Suggs (.250, 4 HR, 18 RBI) has five singles and five RBI in an 11-4 win over the Stars.
May 3 – The Falcons beat the Capitals, 2-1 in 11 innings – all the runs score in the 11th inning.
May 5 – Topeka will be without 39-year-old INF/RF/LF Felix Marquez (.246, 1 HR, 8 RBI) for a month after the veteran was diagnosed with a strained hamstring.

FL Player of the Week: NAS C Jose Cantu (.337, 5 HR, 24 RBI), batting .435 (10-23) with 1 HR, 11 RBI
CL Player of the Week: ATL LF Chris Kirkwood (.311, 6 HR, 16 RBI), crushing .579 (11-19) with 5 HR, 12 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: LAP RF Matt Diskin (.409, 8 HR, 25 RBI)
CL Hitter of the Month: OCT 3B Ed Soberanes (.337, 8 HR, 26 RBI)
FL Pitcher of the Month: PIT SP Brian Buttress (5-0, 2.49 ERA)
CL Pitcher of the Month: OCT SP Alfredo Llamas (4-0, 1.86 ERA)
FL Rookie of the Month: LAP OF/1B Noah Caswell (.278, 2 HR, 12 RBI)
CL Rookie of the Month: VAN CF Damian Moreno (.330, 6 HR, 24 RBI)

Complaints and stuff

Maldo wants another contract. I can barely contain myself.

I have filed an official sharp protest with League HQ for the snubbing of Matt Waters (.370, 4 HR, 17 RBI) for POTM honors in April. I don’t think much will come of it, but sometimes you have to let off steam, lest you’re gonna strangle somebody. (looks at Honeypaws) … (looks at Slappy) … (looks at Cristiano) … (nods)

Apart from that, after Brobeck laid an egg on Monday (he laid another one on Saturday, too), the Coons won six straight from the Crusaders and Rebels and rallied to within a series’ worth of games of the division lead, with everyone but the Loggers bunched up tightly right now. We’re still bottom three in runs scored, but with a +12 run differential, and with the #1 defense in the league to support the occasionally noisy pitching.

Sencion might have by far the worst ERA in the pen, but the guy that’s gotta go is Snyder, with 14 walks in 12.1 innings. Unfortunately, Polibio O’Higgins was having issues of his own, as was Raul Medrano, a 24-year-old righty in AAA. Jim Larson was an option, as was Matt Dixon, or even Danny Cancel, who had not been called up at all in 2051, but was still hanging around at age 29, and was halfway decent this year.

We’d travel home to play three with the Wolves, then go right back on a 2-week roadtrip that would open in Indy on the weekend.

Fun Fact: Ten years ago today, Boston’s Alex Zacarias had three home runs in an 8-6 win over the Crusaders.

Zacarias, who was a scouting discovery for the Falcons in 2028, and still hung around in AAA as a 40-year-old last year, last played in the Bigs with the Buffos in 2049. The first baseman was a journeyman in the majors, appearing for eight different teams in all divisions across 14 seasons for 1,444 games in total, during which he hit .242/.376/.375 with 135 HR and 651 RBI.

Westheim · 01-07-2023, 06:30 AM

Raccoons (17-15) vs. Wolves (11-21) – May 6-8, 2052

The Wolves appeared in town rather tattered; they sat bottoms in the FL in both runs scored and runs allowed and didn’t look fit to face a team on a 6-winning streak. In other words, it was early May, they had a -64 run differential, and I felt for every single ex-Coon on that forsaken roster: Josh Rella and Brian Kaufman. The Coons had won the last four meetings with the Wolves, including one sweep. Most recently we had won two of three from them in 2050.

Projected matchups:
Victor Salcido (1-2, 5.45 ERA) vs. Jonathan Abernathy (3-1, 3.67 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (3-2, 2.76 ERA) vs. Pat Woodyard (0-5, 5.46 ERA)
Rafael de la Cruz (3-1, 3.19 ERA) vs. Blake Sparks (2-3, 2.96 ERA)

Abernathy was a left-handed spot starter in a rotation in complete disarray. Wednesday would be interesting: a meeting of gems; Sparks was in his third full season at age 24 and the main reason why he had yet to put a winning record together was the hat he was wearing. Pat Degenhardt rated him higher than Raffy’s potential (marginally, but still), which irked me greatly.

Game 1
SAL: SS Humphries – 2B F. Vazquez – 1B Hubbard – LF S. King – CF Hampton – RF Kinoshiita – C Garza – 3B Riario – P Abernathy
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF del Toro – CF Crum – C Suggs – RF Glodowski – 3B DeMarco – 1B Maldonado – P Salcido

So of course the Wolves scored first with the aid of a few second-inning extra-base hits. Scott King whacked a leadoff double to left-center and scored on productive outs by Jeremy Hampton and Eiji Kinoshiita before Salcido walked Lorenzo Garza and gave up a triple over the head of Ken Crum against Vittorio Riario, a former CL North foe, before finally putting a K on Jonathan Abernathy. – Maud, who are these people and why are they causing such a ruckus in my ballpark?

Because Salcido pitched so great, Joe Humphries, Felix Vazquez, and Sam Hubbard loaded the bases on a walk, single, and another walk to begin the third inning. King fired a shot at DeMarco, who picked it on the first bounce, stepped on third base, zinged to second, and Waters flung it to first – ALMOST in time, but King beat out the second throw to break up the triple play and that allowed Humphries to score. Hampton hit another single before Kinoshiita grounded out, and the Raccoons’ pen was stirring. Salcido struck out the bottom of the lineup in the fourth, but then ****** the bags full again and was yanked with two outs in the fifth. Crisler struck out Kinoshiita to get out of the ******* inning.

…which left the Coons without a guy in the lineup that had already on base in the game. Abernathy was tossing a no-hitter so far, and had only leaked a walk to Salcido (!) in the third inning. DeMarco hit a 2-out single in the bottom 5th, but that was that. The first time in the 3-0 game that the Coons brought the tying run to the plate was in the seventh inning, when Juan del Toro snuck a leadoff single to right and Ken Crum drew a walk. Suggs popped out, which still beat a double play, and Glodowski singled to center to get del Toro home for the team’s first run. DeMarco and the pinch-hitting Philipps made the last two outs, though. The tying run was back in the box in the bottom 8th right away; Pucks, who had entered earlier in a double switch, singled out of the #9 hole, Abernathy walked Waters, and then Lonzo hit into a double play, 6-4-3… del Toro’s RBI single shortened the gap to 3-2, but Crum grounded out. On the pitching side, two innings each from Miles and Snyder got the Raccoons through regulation before they got to see ex-teammate Josh Rella in the bottom 9th. Suggs and Suzuki grounded out, but DeMarco singled to extend the game. Rella struck out Ed Crispin to end the Raccoons’ winning streak. 3-2 Wolves. Del Toro 2-4, RBI; DeMarco 2-4; Miles 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K; Snyder 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

The only winner on this roster was Snyder, who was another ****** outing away from being turned over to the glover across the road.

Game 2
SAL: CF Huber – 2B F. Vazquez – RF Montecino – 1B Hubbard – C J. Ortiz – LF Kinoshiita – SS Kaufman – 3B Riario – P Woodyard
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF del Toro – 1B Crum – RF Puckeridge – C Suggs – CF Suzuki – 3B Crispin – P Taki

Lonzo forced out Waters with a grounder in the bottom 1st, but at least laid off being caught stealing and instead scored on a 2-run homer by del Toro to right. Sam Hubbard was caught stealing after singling in the second; he was the only runner against Taki the first time through the Wolves’ order. Lonzo was back on base in the third, getting nicked by Woodyard, then stole second base, his 13th bag of the year. Del Toro drove him in again, this time with a gapper in right-center for an RBI double, 3-0, but both Crum and Pucks flew out to Dustin Huber in centerfield. By the fifth, the Coons took Woodyard behind the wood shed and beat the living crap out of him. After an initial groundout by Taki, six straight Critters reached base on either hits or walks, plating three and having another three on base before the Wolves employed the good old hook and replaced him with B.J. Brantley, a southpaw; the Coons stuck with Suzuki, who singled home two more runs for an 8-0 lead, and Crispin, who popped out, and Taki made the final out of the inning.

Could Taki toss a shutout this time? No. Brantley singled off him in the sixth, which made my whiskers twitch, and in the seventh he gave up a single to Salvador Montecino, walked Hubbard, and finally gave away an RBI single to Kaufman, which made my empathy for Kaufman a lot less all at once. Riario flew out to complete seven and a complete game was still possible. A walk to Huber in the eighth cast doubt on me again, but Vazquez hit into a double play and Taki retired the Wolves in order in the ninth inning to finish what he had started. 8-1 Critters. Del Toro 2-3, BB, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Crum 2-4, RBI; Taki 9.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, W (4-2);

Game 3
SAL: CF Huber – 2B F. Vazquez – RF Montecino – 1B Hubbard – C J. Ortiz – SS Humphries – LF Hampton – 3B Riario – P Sparks
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF del Toro – 1B Crum – RF Puckeridge – 3B DeMarco – CF Suzuki – C Philipps – P de la Cruz

The much-anticipated duel never materialized. Both pitchers gave up a homer before they logged an out – Vazquez taking de la Cruz deep for two, while Waters did the honors on his own against Sparks – and Blake Sparks left the game with an injury before the first inning was concluded. Raffy meanwhile got all tangled up in endless counts and needed 58 pitches just to get through three innings and wasn’t gonna be long for this game, either. Not that he allowed many runners – he was just extremely inefficient, like in the fifth inning, when he struck out the side, but that took 20 pitches again.

The Coons meanwhile had all of three base hits through five innings, including a leadoff double by Pucks in the second inning that went absolutely nowhere. It took a second homer by Matt Waters, then leading off the sixth against Valentino Prada, to finally get the score level at two; and that was with Raffy all used up after 105 pitches through six. A no-decision was as good as it got for him, since the Coons got Lonzo on base, but del Toro forced him out, and then was caught stealing.

It was the Wolves to score again, doing so in the eighth against Lillis and Crisler. The former came in to face Montecino to begin the inning, with PH Scott King popping out instead, but then Hubbard hit a single. The Coons went back to the righty Crisler, but Hubbard stole second and scored on a single by Jose Ortiz, 3-2. An underemployed Hitchcock held the line in the ninth inning, but it was Rella in a 3-2 game again in the bottom 9th. Lonzo opened the inning by singling up the middle, but couldn’t get a steal off. Del Toro struck out, and Crum hit into a double play. 3-2 Wolves. Waters 2-4, 2 HR, 2 RBI; Lavorano 2-4;

The Wolves got away with a mild shoulder strain on Sparks, who would probably only miss one start, and two of three taken from the Coons, dancing all the way back up the valley in jubilation.

Raccoons (18-17) @ Indians (20-13) – May 10-12, 2052

The Arrowheads had swept the Coons the first time these two teams had met in 2052, and sat eighth in runs scored, but second in runs allowed in the Continental League. Given how we had just played against the Wolves, I was understandably concerned. They were bottoms in power, but knew how to get on base and slowly strangle the opposition despite only two regulars (Bill Quinteros, Manny Poindexter) hitting over .255. The only notable DL case for them was outfielder Rusty White.

Projected matchups:
David Barel (4-2, 3.68 ERA) vs. Enrique Ortiz (4-1, 1.96 ERA)
Kyle Brobeck (2-3, 4.50 ERA) vs. Dave Serio (2-3, 3.55 ERA)
Victor Salcido (1-3, 5.50 ERA) vs. Tan Brink (3-2, 2.49 ERA)

Only right-handed opposition for this weekend.

Game 1
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF del Toro – 1B Crum – CF Puckeridge – C Suggs – 3B DeMarco – RF Maldonado – P Barel
IND: RF Locke – SS Clover – 3B B. Anderson – 1B B. Quinteros – 2B de Castro – C M. Gilmore – CF Ragen – LF Hare – P En. Ortiz

The first three Coons all reached base on eight pitches, giving Ken Crum three on and nobody out, and filling me with much foreboding already. Crum, Pucks, and Suggs struck out in order, which sugged. Ortiz made it four in a row with DeMarco in the second, and whiffed a total of nine batters through five innings, while David Barel was pitching a low-key no-hitter through four, with only two strikeouts, until Alex de Castro clipped him for a leadoff triple in the bottom 5th and scored on Mike Gilmore’s sac fly to put the Arrowheads on top, 1-0. Even better, Ortiz retired a teeth-gnashing *20* Critters in a row before Sean Suggs reached base on an error by de Castro, who would probably be forgiven if they found a way out of the inning. DeMarco rolled a single through the left side, which brought up the cursed remains of Jesus Maldonado, batting .183 with no homers and four RBI. Yeah, but he also clubbed Ortiz’ first pitch about 417 feet for a score-flipping 3-run homer, with the entire ballpark letting out a collective gasp. I giggled like a schoolgirl.

Barel would go eight innings of 2-hit ball on 111 pitches, and wouldn’t be back even if the Coons tacked on in the ninth inning against Ortiz, who was still grinding, entering the inning with five hits and a dozen strikeouts on his ledger. He walked Pucks to begin the inning, gave up a hit to Suggs, and was yanked. Heath Turner then went through a major explosion, walking DeMarco, and after K’s on Maldo and Glodowski walked in a run against Waters, nicked Lonzo for another one, and surrendered two more on a del Toro double before Crum grounded out to Chase Clover. Mike Snyder struck out the side in the bottom 9th. 7-1 Raccoons! Del Toro 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Maldonado 1-4, HR, 3 RBI; Barel 8.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, W (5-2);

Game 2
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF del Toro – 1B Crum – CF Puckeridge – C Suggs – 3B Crispin – RF Maldonado – P Brobeck
IND: RF Locke – 2B de Castro – 1B B. Quinteros – 3B B. Anderson – C Poindexter – SS Clover – CF A. Mendez – LF Ed. Ortiz – P Serio

The Coons went up 3-0 in the second inning when Ken Crum opened with a single, and Suggs and Maldo uncorked a pair of homers. (raises eyebrow) Pucks would add a 2-run homer to right by the next inning, and I wondered who the imposters in the brown shirts were. The guy that wore Brobeck’s shirt had a single in the second inning and didn’t allow a hit until de Castro singled with two outs in the bottom 3rd (only to get stranded), but had walked a pair in the first inning, so I had my usual level of discomfort with him.

…and not without reason. By the fourth, he was adrift. Bobby Anderson, Angel Mendez, and Edwin Ortiz had base hits for two runs, and then he walked the bags full with Josh Hare and Philip Locke. With the tying runs on base and the bullpen scrambling in panic, de Castro popped out to Waters to kill the rally. Brobeck pitched two more innings, giving up a 2-out RBI single to Locke in the sixth, and was gone with the middle of the order up in the bottom 7th of a 5-3 game. Sencion and Crisler put a scoreless inning together, after which Pucks and Suggs went to the corners against long man Mike McLaughlin to begin the eighth. Glodowski batted for Crispin against the left-hander, but Poindexter fumbled a pitch to bring home Puckeridge on a passed ball before he got a good swing off, and McLaughlin ended up walking Glodowski altogether. Maldo grounded into a fielder’s choice before Bill Nichol rung up DeMarco and Waters to keep the game within reach for Indy – and with success. Lillis and Johns came into the bottom 8th, faced five, and retired nobody. Mendez walked, Edwin Ortiz singled, Dan Allen singled, Mike Gilmore singled, Chaz Kokel singled… Miles replaced Johns, walked Quinteros, and then somehow buggered out with two grounders to short for three outs, but not only was the lead blown, the Coons were now also a run behind and came up against left-hander Heath Turner in the ninth. Lonzo lined out. Del Toro singled, Crum walked, but Pucks whiffed, and Suggs took a few nasty hacks before getting drilled. That filled the bags with two outs and Glodowski batting; but against a southpaw there were worse scenarios one could think of. Glodowski popped out to second base, and I needed his useless pelt gone, yesterday. 7-6 Indians. Del Toro 2-5; Crum 2-3, 2 BB, 2B; Puckeridge 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Suggs 3-4, HR, 2 RBI;

(looks expressionless)

Even worse, that meltdown concluded our week, in tandem with torrential rains on Sunday that had the game cancelled and the Coons on the way to Milwaukee right after lunchtime.

In other news

May 6 – NYC SP Jim White (3-3, 4.75 ERA) could be out for two months or longer with a case of biceps tendinitis.
May 7 – Capitals SP Bruce Mark jr. (4-2, 4.37 ERA) could be out for four months with a nasty case of shoulder inflammation.
May 7 – Boston’s OF Tony Lopez (.276, 7 HR, 19 RBI) lands the third and final hit for the Titans in their game against the Scorpions by hitting a walkoff homer off SP Sean Sweeton (1-5, 5.98 ERA) to lead off the ninth inning. It’s the only run in a 1-0 Boston win.
May 9 – Rebels 1B Arturo Carreno (.286, 1 HR, 12 RBI) flings three doubles and two singles with three RBI in a 10-4 win over the Thunder.
May 10 – PIT LF/RF Matt Cox (.291, 2 HR, 14 RBI) is expected to miss three or four months with a partial tear being discovered in his labrum.
May 10 – Titans SS/3B Angel Montes de Oca (.256, 2 HR, 7 RBI) could be out for the rest of the month with another oblique strain.
May 11 – The Condors’ SP Tony Llorens (3-3, 3.02 ERA) spins a 3-hit shutout against the Falcons. The left-hander whiffs five in the 3-0 win.
May 11 – LVA CF Brent Cramer (.244, 1 HR, 4 RBI) suffers a freak injury on a play against the fence in centerfield, and will miss most of the remainder of the season with a badly broken hand.
May 11 – A sprained wrist will probably cost DEN LF/CF Sandy Castillo (.313, 5 HR, 24 RBI) a month’s worth of games.

FL Player of the Week: RIC 1B Arturo Carreno (.295, 1 HR, 13 RBI), hitting .500 (13-26) with 6 RBI
CL Player of the Week: MIL C Chris Thomas (.315, 3 HR, 19 RBI), swatting .526 (10-19) with 1 HR, 4 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Arturo Carreno won Player of the Week honors? …and my blunderbuss is in Portland…!!

On one paw, we scored 25 runs and allowed just 15 this week. On the other paw, we also went 2-3 and remain stuck in fifth place. Only three games back, but you have to start rallying at some point. Being 2-8 in games decided by one run is not the way to go…

For the rained-out Sunday affair in Indy, the game has been rescheduled for next month as a Monday double header, giving us seven games in six days between two Thursday off days.

For good news, Jason Wheatley healed up well and will probably make two rehab starts in AAA and could rejoin the Raccoons even before the end of the month.

We have seven games next week; four in Milwaukee and three in Vegas. The travel itinerary will only get more stupid from there, with the next five series after that being played in Atlanta, Portland, San Francisco, Boston, and Portland again. Who made this schedule, Laurel and Hardy??

Fun Fact: Seisaku Taki has three complete games in seven starts as an ABL pitcher, but won only one of them.

His first two ABL starts were both complete-game losses, a 2-1 regulation loss to the Condors in his debut, and then a rain-shortened 5-1 whacking by the Thunder. He has yet to leave the game prematurely and take the loss then.

Westheim · 01-08-2023, 08:06 AM

Raccoons (19-18) @ Loggers (18-20) – May 13-16, 2052

The Raccoons arrived for a four-game set in Milwaukee after a rather unscheduled off day on Sunday, so that was that. The Loggers were their usual last in the division, but they were only a 3-1 series win away from dumping the Critters into last place, and at 18-20 in a division with five winning teams they had to be doing something not entirely badly. Maybe we’d even find out what it was; they were sixth in runs scored, eighth in runs allowed, with a -5 run differential (Coons: +22), had a quick base-stealing team with some OBP talent, but they had one HUGE problem: an explosive bullpen that was hellbent on undoing everything their fourth-ranked rotation put together. The Coons had won the season series for eight years running (well, it’s the Loggers…), with a 13-5 record in 2051.

Projected matchups:
Victor Salcido (1-3, 5.50 ERA) vs. Josh Costello (4-2, 3.69 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (4-2, 2.45 ERA) vs. John Morrill (2-4, 4.53 ERA)
Rafael de la Cruz (3-1, 3.16 ERA) vs. Ryan Clements (2-3, 3.79 ERA)
David Barel (5-2, 3.29 ERA) vs. Angelo Munoz (3-2, 3.16 ERA)

Only right-handers coming up for the Loggers, who were without infielder Jack Barrington, who was out with a mild oblique strain, but still on the 25-man roster, so they were playing a man short at least to begin the series.

Game 1
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF del Toro – 1B Crum – CF Puckeridge – C S. Suggs – 3B Crispin – RF Maldonado – P Salcido
MIL: CF de Lemos – LF Sayre – SS Z. Suggs – C C. Thomas – 1B Callaia – 3B K. Leon – RF C. Lowe – 2B R. Lopez – P Costello

Additionally, they were in their bullpen in the first inning when Josh Costello lasted all of two outs and two runs; the Coons opened the game with straight knocks from Waters, Lonzo, and del Toro, the latter getting an RBI just like Ken Crum did for a sac fly. Jamie Kempf then got out of the inning after Costello left the game following Pucks’ pop to Zach Suggs at short. But the Loggers shouldn’t fret, for the Coons were also in their pen in the first inning, because Salcido was doing THAT well. He started off by nicking Dave de Lemos, and disappeared in a shower of fireballs rather quickly after that. Craig Sayre homered the game tied, and the hits kept flying onto the scoreboard. He was yanked down 5-2 with two in scoring position and one out, as Erik Bush batted for Kempf to win the game in the first inning. Paul Miles got a weak grounder from Bush and a fly out to left from de Lemos to end the miserable inning.

But yes, that Loggers pen. Kyle Buemi was pitching in the top 2nd, and the right-hander walked Ed Crispin, who was then singled home by Miles after Maldo grounded out. Waters walked, Lonzo singled, and the bags were full, but del Toro hacked out and Crum grounded out to Ricky Lopez, crummily. Zach Suggs homered off Miles in the bottom 2nd, which sugged, but Maldo turned a Buemi pitch around for a 3-piece to left in the third inning, which leveled the game at six, and there were A LOT of innings to go. By the fourth, the Coons were back on top; Lonzo singled off Nicholas Pollock, stole his 15th bag, and then scored casually on Ken Crum’s homer to right, 8-6.

Miles batted for himself three times while the Coons rioted over the Loggers pen’s grave, but ran out of steam in the fifth inning and was lifted with Zach Suggs at third base and two outs, having covered 4.1 innings on 57 pitches. The Coons went to Snyder with the bottom of the order up (it would have been Johns at the top), and the bugger insisted on waving that runner home, giving up an RBI single to Leon, 8-7. Snyder managed a scoreless sixth, then was hit for with Nick DeMarco with Sean Suggs and Ed Crispin in scoring position in an unearned mess on Kyle McRay, the Loggers’ 29-year-old version of Polibio O’Higgins, who made his season debut in this mess of a game. He struck out DeMarco, but Waters walked, and Lonzo jabbed a ball up the middle for an RBI single, which was the last time the game was still in the realm of semi-saneness. McRay went on to throw a wild pitch, scoring a run, then walked del Toro, then threw another wild pitch, then gave up a 2-run bloop single that almost hit Sayre in the nose on a bounce in leftfield. McRay was excused further service, and Willie Gonzales replaced him, giving up singles to Pucks and Suggs, bringing home Crums. Crispin grounded out to Gaudencio Callaia, ending the 6-run inning, all runs on McRay, and all unearned for a throwing error on Ricky Lopez that began the whole mess.

Brett Lillis jr. then tried to work the Loggers back into a football score, 14-7, by giving up straight singles to Sayre, their Suggs, and Chris Thomas in the bottom 7th, which sugged. Callaia and Leon struck out after the pitching coach gave Lillis a good yelling-at on the mound, and Shuta Yamamoto – oh dear, that rang a bell – flew out easily to del Toro. The Raccoons then added on in the eighth against Chris Kaye; Maldo doubled and scored on a Lonzo single. Suzuki batted for del Toro as we began to feel pity for the Loggers, but Ricky Lopez threw that 2-out grounder away as well; Ken Crum wasn’t moved by their misery and drove in the runners with a wallbanger in left, but Pucks grounded out. Ricky Lopez tried to sound the rally horn and make up for the eight unearned runs on his ledger with a solo jack off Lillis in the bottom of the inning, but the rest of the team didn’t quite follow his example. It was the final run in the game, with Kaye and Johns both delivering scoreless ninths. 17-8 Furballs! Lavorano 5-6, 2B, 2 RBI; del Toro 2-4, BB, RBI; Crum 3-5, HR, 2B, 7 RBI; Puckeridge 3-6; Suggs 2-5, RBI; Philipps (PH) 1-1; Maldonado 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; Miles 4.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, W (2-1) and 1-3, RBI;

Well, that game left a couple o’ marks…

Game 2
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF del Toro – 1B Crum – RF Puckeridge – 3B DeMarco – C Philipps – CF Suzuki – P Taki
MIL: CF de Lemos – LF Sayre – SS Z. Suggs – 1B Callaia – 3B K. Leon – RF C. Lowe – C J. Jimenez – 2B R. Lopez – P Morrill

We wouldn’t mind a longer outing from Taki for Tuesday, but while he got a 1-0 lead in the top 1st as Waters doubled and scored on two productive outs, Gaudencio Callaia’s RBI triple brought in de Lemos and a regrettable leadoff walk in the bottom 1st to tie us up again right away. Taki offered another leadoff walk to Chris Lowe in the second, but Lowe was caught stealing. Lowe made another out on the base paths later after he opened the bottom 5th with a triple to left-center. This was after a Pucks homer had given the Coons a 3-1 lead in the fourth inning. When Juan Jimenez, our former defensive catcher, lifted a ball out to del Toro, Lowe went for home, but again found himself thrown out. Taki then bled three base hits in the sixth inning. De Lemos hit a double and scored on a Sayre groundout and a wild pitch before 2-out singles put Suggs and Callaia on the corners, but Kenny Leon fanned to keep the Coons afloat, now 3-2.

Taki batted for himself in the seventh after Tyler Philipps and Mikio Suzuki had gone to the corners on a leadoff walk and single, respectively. His grounder moved up Suzuki, but Philipps had to hold, and the Loggers then walked Waters with intent. Lonzo’s long sac fly made it 4-2, but del Toro floated out to Sayre to strand a pair.

Both teams worked their pitchers for as long as they had a measurable pulse, with Morrill completing eight, but Taki was taken out in with five outs to go. Sayre whacked a leadoff double and moved to third on a groundout. With Callaia, the reigning Rookie of the Year, approaching, the Coons went to Eloy Sencion, who along with Hitchcock and Crisler had not partaken in Monday’s game. The run came home anyway – on a passed ball charged to Philipps… When a Maldo single in the ninth inning led to nothing great, a Kevin Hitchcock 1-2-3 was just the answer we needed. 4-3 Coons. Puckeridge 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Maldonado (PH) 1-1; Taki 7.1 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W (5-2);

Game 3
POR: 2B Waters – RF Puckeridge – LF del Toro – 1B Crum – C S. Suggs – 3B DeMarco – CF Suzuki – SS Sivertson – P de la Cruz
MIL: CF de Lemos – RF C. Lowe – SS Z. Suggs – C C. Thomas – 1B Callaia – 3B K. Leon – LF Bush – 2B R. Lopez – P Clements

The Coons went up 1-0 in the first again, this time with a Puckeridge single, stolen base, and a Crum double to right. Waters added a solo homer in the third inning, but that was it for the Coons for hits in the early going, but at least the lead stood up for once. Raffy was all over the place, which meant two things: his pitch count went up quickly once again, and the Loggers struggled to get hits off him; in fact Erik Bush’s single in the fifth was their first base hit in the game after three walks drawn before that, including one by Leon to begin the inning. Ricky Lopez whiffed and Clements jammed into a double play to kill the inning for them despite having the tying runs on with no outs.

It was all well and games with the hotshot de la Cruz through five innings, but he came unglued entirely in the sixth. De Lemos struck out, but Lowe walked. Suggs grounded out, but Chris Thomas got the Loggers on the board with an RBI double, 2-1. Raffy then walked the bags full before being lifted for Sencion against Bush, who got out of the inning… eventually… against Lowe. Bush singled, Lopez singled, Sayre reached on an error by Waters, de Lemos walked, and Lowe finally struck out, but by then the Loggers were up 5-2.

Top 8th, Crispin grounded out against Chris Kaye, but Waters singled, bringing about a new pitcher in Willie Gonzales, who filled the bags with more singles conceded to Pucks and del Toro. Ken Crum socked the first pitch to deep center, where a racing de Lemos appeared to make the catch against the fence, but the ball actually bounced out of his reaching mitten, against the wall, and then back into his mitten, giving Crum a 2-run double; had the ball fallen in, it would have cleared the bases and tied the game, but the Coons had to hold until the umpire gave a sign that the ball was hot; so that made it 5-4 with runners in scoring position for Suggs, who got drilled. Paul Crisler was hit for with Lonzo in the #6 spot, and his sac fly tied the game at five, finally. A first-pitch triple into the rightfield corner by Suzuki escalated this latest bullpen blowout for Milwaukee further (the Coons must talk…) with Gonzales axed for Jamie Kempf, who finally evacuated the inning with a K on Mitch Sivertson.

And that was not final upset in the game, as Justin Johns retired two in the bottom 8th before beaning Dave de Lemos in the face – or so it seemed. De Lemos got off easy as the ball actually struck the flap on his helmet that was supposed to protect his face, then hit his bat, and then glanced back into his actual cheek. He left the game, but mostly for precautionary reasons. He was replaced by a pinch-runner in… Angelo Munoz, as the Loggers were out of bench players…! Lowe grounded out, and Hitchcock’s 1-2-3 ninth without drama was very welcome after that scare. 7-5 Raccoons. Waters 2-5, HR, RBI; Puckeridge 3-4, BB; Crum 2-4, 2 2B, 3 RBI;

Can this series get any more wicked??

Dave de Lemos was not in the lineup on Thursday, but reportedly available off the bench.

Game 4
POR: SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – LF del Toro – 1B Crum – C S. Suggs – 2B DeMarco – RF Maldonado – 3B Crispin – P Barel
MIL: 3B K. Leon – 2B R. Lopez – SS Z. Suggs – CF Callaia – 1B Yamamoto – LF C. Lowe – RF Sayre – C J. Jimenez – P Munoz

For the first time in the series, the Coons didn’t score in the first inning, or the first time through, or much at all at any point in time. The game was scoreless through four innings, with Barel pitching a 1-hitter until his head was done in by the Coons rejects in the bottom 5th. He walked Callaia and conceded hits to both Shuta Yamamoto and Juan Jimenez, with runs scoring on the latter single and a passed ball charged to Sean Suggs before that, putting the Loggers up 2-0, which sugged. Pucks and Crum doubles made up one run in the next half-inning, but that was it again then. Barel fought his way through seven without giving up all that much, but apparently just enough. He was pinch-hit for to begin the eighth in a 2-1 game, and Waters singled to center in his place, but the top of the order croaked and he was left in scoring position, with Sayre going quite the extra mile to shag a drive by Pucks in deep right. Crisler and Lillis held the Loggers in place in the bottom 8th, after which lefty David Fox and his 5.00 ERA came out against the 4-5-6 batters on the Coons’ side. Ken Crum, applying feverishly for Player of the Week honors, socked a double to left on the first pitch. Suggs walked, but DeMarco struck out. Maldo shot a hard grounder – but right at Ricky Lopez for an inning-ending double play. 2-1 Loggers. Crum 2-4, 2 2B, RBI; Crispin 2-3, 2B; Waters (PH) 1-1; Barel 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, L (5-3);

Raccoons (22-19) @ Aces (15-27) – May 17-19, 2052

The Aces had the worst record in the CL, had lost eight games in a row, and despite sitting third in runs scored managed to have a -27 run differential thanks to the second-most runs given up. Their starters and relievers were both in the bottom three in terms of ERA in the CL. Aubrey Austin was a real terror, hitting .291 with 10 homers at the quarter post, but apart from that it had all largely fallen apart, and a rash of injuries had now also taken their lineup apart. Brent Cramer, Rafael Ramos, Jeremy Welter, and Travis Stone (who?) were all on the DL for position players, and starting pitcher Chris Cornelius was also on the shelf. The Coons had won the season series last year, 6-3.

Projected matchups:
Kyle Brobeck (2-3, 4.50 ERA) vs. Larry Broad (2-4, 5.96 ERA)
Victor Salcido (1-3, 6.63 ERA) vs. Medardo Regueir (3-5, 5.11 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (5-2, 2.61 ERA) vs. Bill Lawrence (0-2, 9.19 ERA)

Righty, lefty, righty for the Aces in this set; that included a spot starter on Sunday. The 24-year-old Lawrence had never started in the majors before, but had 12 relief appearances for two different teams, for a total ERA of 11.25…

Be careful, boys, I think it’s a trap!

Game 1
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – 1B Crum – LF del Toro – 3B Crispin – RF Maldonado – C Philipps – P Brobeck
LVA: 2B Hager – 1B Austin – LF van de Wouw – C Weese – RF Bishop – SS J. White – CF D. Martin – 3B Howington – P Broad

Pucks and Crum doubles put the Coons up 1-0 in the first, but starting with del Toro, who fanned, the Coons made nothing but outs until the lead was blown in unearned, yet deserved, fashion in the bottom 4th. Brobeck allowed two hits the first time through, but by the fourth inning offered a 1-out walk to Neville van de Wouw, and then right away a double to Kevin Weese. With two in scoring position he fumbled Steve Bishop’s comebacker for a run-scoring error, but the Aces fumbled the inning when Bishop was caught stealing and Jim White grounded out easily. Broad retired 14 in a row before giving up a leadoff single in the sixth to Brobeck, who was batting .375, but after two poor fly outs only reached second when Pucks walked in a full count. At least that brought up Crum, who hit a ball for about 400 feet… but to the 422’ part of the ballpark, and into Dan Martin’s mitten to end the inning.

The Aces then batted through the order as they broke up Brobeck in the bottom 6th. Brenton Hager drew a leadoff walk, but they also made two outs before starting the dismantling process. Kevin Weese and Steve Bishop hit singles, and the inning kept escalating until three runs were on the board and Broad popped out to strand three more runners. Top 7th, the tying runs were on base after a del Toro single (to be replaced by Crispin on a grounder to second), a Maldo double, and Philipps RBI single under glove of John McDonell at third base. Here came the peculiar part. Brobeck was hitting so well, the Coons batted him with the tying runs on the corners and one out despite having no intention to send him back to the mound. He flew out to Bishop, and with a runner faster (or younger) than Maldo at third base that would probably have been a sac fly. Waters grounded out to end the inning. 2-out walks to Crum and del Toro put the tying runs on base again in the eighth, but then Crispin grounded out to short. Instead, Snyder’s leadoff walk to Weese and a 2-out double that Lillis conceded to Dan Martin added a run for Vegas in the same inning. And yet… top 9th, Maldo singled and Philipps walked against righty Josh Penington, and the tying run was to pinch-hit here; DeMarco grabbed a stick, popped out on the first pitch, and Waters flew to deep left, but that one was caught by van de Wouw. The Aces then conceded a run on a wild pitch, another one on Lonzo’s single, and then yanked Penington for ex-Coon Danny Landeta. He got Pucks to ground out. 5-4 Aces. Maldonado 2-4, 2B;

Like I said, a trap.

Game 2
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – C Suggs – LF Crum – RF Glodowski – 3B DeMarco – CF Suzuki – 1B Philipps – P Salcido
LVA: 2B Hager – 1B Austin – LF van de Wouw – RF Bishop – SS J. White – CF D. Martin – C DeFrank – 3B Howington – P Regueir

Salcido had to show something other than fireworks in this start. He had given up three runs or more in every start except his debut this season, and his last three starts had amounted to 8.1 innings and 13 runs, all earned. The danger for him was real – Wheats was gonna return before long, and I was just looking for any excuse to give Mike Snyder the axe, freeing up a garbage inning spot in the pen. He got spotted a lead when Crum singled home Suggs in the first, but was roughed up right in the first inning. Aubrey Austin walked, and with two outs the 4-5-6 batters went triple, triple, double on him for a 3-1 Aces lead. And it didn’t get better from there. Regueir singled in the second, and the bags gradually filled up again. Bishop singled home a 2-out run, and another run scored on a DeMarco error. After Martin popped out to strand three, he mostly continued to pitch because I considered the game lost given how the Coons were serially fanning against the pushover Regueir; although, the fourth saw Crum reach base, followed by an error by Brian Howington (who?). DeMarco hit an RBI double to center, 5-2, which brought the tying run to the plate. Suzuki’s sac fly shaved off another run, but Philipps flew out easily. Salcido gave up another leadoff triple to Austin in the bottom 4th, the run easily scoring on a sac fly by Neville van de Wouw, and was removed and quietly disposed of after the inning.

The tying run was back at the plate in a 6-3 game in the sixth, and with nobody out after Suggs and Crum opened with singles off Regueir. Glodowski struck out, but DeMarco scratched out another single to fill the bases. Mikio Suzuki came through with an RBI single shoved past Hager, 6-4, but Philipps fanned in a full count. Pucks batted for Snyder, scorched a liner – but right at Jim White to strand a full set of runners. Top 7th, and the tying runs were on AGAIN, thanks to Lonzo and Suggs singles with one out. Crum knocked out that southpaw with an RBI double to left, parking the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position, while the Aces went lefty-for-lefty with Mike Manning, who had more walks than strikeouts in 17.1 innings, but a 3.63 ERA. The inning ended with Glodowski’s fly to left, on which Suggs went for home, and was thrown out for a 7-2 double play, which sugged. Efrain Estrada retired the Coons in order in the eighth, while Adam Eutsler was sent out for the ninth in the 6-5 game. The 27-year-old had one career save. Crispin led off pinch-hitting in the #9 hole, drew a leadoff walk, and I felt more crushing disappointment approaching me. Waters legged out an infield single, though, moving the tying run to second base. Lonzo’s groundout meant another advance to third base. Suggs hit a comebacker that kept the runners pinned, WHICH SUGGED, and Crum’s fly to left was caught by van de Wouw. 6-5 Aces. Waters 2-5; Suggs 3-5, 2B; Crum 4-5, 2B, 2 RBI; DeMarco 2-4, 2B, RBI; Johns 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K;

That was the only time in the game that Ken Crum was retired.

(bangs head against door frame)

Game 3
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – RF Puckeridge – 1B Crum – LF del Toro – C Suggs – 3B DeMarco – CF Suzuki – P Taki
LVA: 2B Hager – 1B Austin – LF van de Wouw – C Weese – RF Bishop – SS J. White – CF D. Martin – 3B Howington – P Lawrence

Taki struck out five Aces in the first three innings and allowed nobody into scoring position, while the Raccoons put five runners on base, and stranded ALL OF THEM … and ALL OF THEM in scoring position. With even Ken Crum’s clutch slipping now, I was embracing the sweep and four straight losses against last-place teams, because what else was there to do?

On command, the Aces’ 2-3-4 batters opened the bottom 4th with three ****** singles in a row, and Bishop drew a walk to force home a run. Jim White’s sac fly made it 2-0 before Taki got out of the inning. He then opened the top 5th with an angry double to right, and with a Waters single added to that, the tying runs were on the corners, but I had seen that ****** movie on endless repeat for the last few days and it had never ******* led anywhere nice. Lonzo ran a full count and grounded out to Howington, which advanced Waters to second base. Pucks popped out, which advanced nobody. Crum flew out to Dan Martin. (looks up to the baseball gods) Good one.

The tying runs were also on in the sixth, with Suggs and DeMarco singles that were wasted on the Japanese boys, and the Coons never scored on Bill Lawrence, who was pinch-hit for in the bottom 7th, which was also Taki’s final inning. Landeta struck out the side in the eighth. Mike Manning was back in the ninth. He walked Glodowski in the #8 hole and Waters doubled… but by then Sivertson had already hit into a double play. Manning walked Lonzo, because we couldn’t possibly complete the sweep without stranding the tying runs once more. Even better, Manning also walked Pucks, filling the bases for Ken Crum, who was 5-for-12 in this series, which was LESS than what he had clubbed against the Loggers, but also hitless in this game. I don’t know, if you can’t forge a rally with your hottest iron, don’t even try. He flew out to Martin once more. 2-0 Aces. Waters 2-3, 2 BB, 2B; Lavorano 2-4, BB; Taki 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, L (5-3) and 1-2, BB, 2B;

In other news

May 13 – CIN SP Zach Tubbs (4-2, 2.50 ERA) whiffs ten Blue Sox and defeats them 7-0 in a 3-hit shutout.
May 14 – Warriors SP Fernando Salazar (4-2, 2.63 ERA) gets to within three outs and one pinch-hit double by DEN OF/3B Sean Lassley (.212, 0 HR, 5 RBI) of a no-hitter, and has to settle for a 1-hit shutout in a 6-0 win over the Gold Sox.
May 14 – DAL CL Willie Cruz (0-2, 5.63 ERA, 10 SV) is going to miss a month with shoulder tendinitis.
May 14 – The Titans have more errors (four) than hits (three) in an 8-1 loss to the Canadiens.
May 16 – A home run by SAL RF/LF/1B Salvador Montecino (.214, 4 HR, 11 RBI) marks the only run in the Wolves’ 1-0 win over the Scorpions.
May 18 – Capitals OF Jason Monson (.222, 6 HR, 24 RBI) hits the DL with an intercostal strain and will miss about a month.
May 18 – IND OF Philip Locke (.253, 3 HR, 13 RBI) mercifully ends the Indians’ game against the Condors with a walkoff homer, 4-2, in the 17th inning, after 11 straight innings of collective zeroes.

FL Player of the Week: DAL RF/LF/1B Dario Martinez (.331, 13 HR, 34 RBI), belting .385 (10-26) with 6 HR, 9 RBI
CL Player of the Week: POR 1B/LF/RF Ken Crum (.302, 3 HR, 23 RBI), driving .429 (12-28) with 1 HR, 14 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Four straight losses against the Loggers and Aces. Sometimes… (calmly knots rope) … sometimes life’s just not worth living anymore.

Ken Crum had quite the series in Milwaukee, going 7-for-15 with two walks, a homer, FIVE doubles, and 11 RBI. He struck out once. The Aces set was less successful (we sure noticed in the W column) but still enough for Player of the Week honors with a stunning 14 RBI.

The Coons have now scored 63 runs in the last 12 games, and have gone 5-7. That is with 46 runs conceded (not inherently a huge amount), and a mind-boggling 6 one-run losses (and one by two runs). I am still struggling to really work out whether that’s good or bad news.

There are holes on the pitching staff that a blind grandmother could drive an 18-wheeler through, but Wheats made two starts in rehab this week and will rejoin the team for his second ABL start of the year somewhere around the middle of next week. One head will roll then, and there’s no shortage of candidates.

Next week, we’ll lose to the Knights and Thunder. And I am not even kidding about the Thunder.

Fun Fact: Ken Crum is the first Raccoon to drive in seven runs in a game since Gene Pellicano did so in 2044. Gene Pellicano!

The record for RBI in a game for a Raccoon is nine, jointly held by some of the biggest names in franchise history: Neil Reece, Vern Kinnear, Craig Bowen (still the only ABL player to sock four homers in a game, and it was *that* game where he had 9 RBI all did it in regulation. Daniel Hall drove in nine runs in an extra-inning game.

Westheim · 01-09-2023, 03:14 PM

Raccoons (22-22) @ Knights (30-14) – May 21-23, 2052

The Knights had gone 83-79 with a mediocre team just last year, but were rolling in a 14-3 May. What exactly had changed for them we’d now find out first-paw, but they were first in runs scored with almost five per game. Fifth in runs allowed, but with a very nifty defense. We took the series 5-4 last year, but we were also on a four-game losing streak against last-place teams, while the Knights were winners of a dozen straight so things would probably end in blood splatters on somebody’s wall.

Projected matchups:
Rafael de la Cruz (3-1, 3.35 ERA) vs. Sam Geren (3-2, 2.09 ERA)
David Barel (5-3, 3.20 ERA) vs. Joe Byrd (5-2, 4.04 ERA)
Kyle Brobeck (2-4, 4.50 ERA) vs. Kodai Koga (5-2, 3.93 ERA)

Only right-handers coming up.

Game 1
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – 1B Crum – LF del Toro – C Suggs – 3B DeMarco – RF Maldonado – P de la Cruz
ATL: RF Kulak – C Cass – 1B Alade – LF Kirkwood – CF Royer – 2B S. Turner – 3B Thibault – SS Housey – P Geren

The game began with a Waters single and Lonzo jamming a 3-0 pitch into a double play, which gave me a first idea that the series wasn’t gonna go so great, although Waters would clonk a homer off the right foul pole his next time up for a shy 1-0 lead in the third inning. Pucks then opened the fourth with a drive to right that had the length for a homer, but not the height, and bounced hard off the top of the wall and away from 25-year-old sophomore William Kulak for a leadoff triple. Ken Crum made it 2-0 with a groundout, but after three fine innings, Rafael de la Cruz had another implosion in the bottom of the fourth inning. After Tyler Cass reached on a Lonzo error, he walked Jon Alade, and then was taken very, very deep by Chris Kirkwood to give the Knights a 3-2 lead at once. The Knights continued to strafe him in the sixth inning, whacking three sharp hits for two runs, and then he walked Sam Geren with two outs, which made him eligible for the worst punishment of all, a trade to the Loggers. Lillis cleaned up the mess behind de la Cruz, and Sean Suggs hit a homer in the seventh, but that was a solo shot, and we were still 5-3 behind. Lonzo whacked a triple in the eighth, but with two outs and nobody on, and Pucks did single him home to get within a run, but then was caught stealing. The ninth brought about right-hander David Hardaway and his 5.03 ERA, which was about three times his ERA in previous years. Obviously having making-up to do, he allowed a 2-out single to Suggs, but then got Crispin to ground out to second base. 5-4 Knights. Waters 2-4, HR, RBI; Puckeridge 3-4, 2B, RBI; Suggs 2-4, HR, RBI;

Another one-run loss. You don’t say.

Pitching change for Wednesday, with Kodai Koga moved up into the middle game, which gave us an option on southpaw Brian Jackson (5-1, 5.21 ERA) for Thursday.

Game 2
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – 1B Crum – LF del Toro – C Suggs – 3B DeMarco – RF Maldonado – P Barel
ATL: 2B S. Turner – SS Housey – RF Alade – CF Royer – 1B D. Riley – C D. Arroyo – LF Kulak – 3B Thibault – P Koga

Waters singled, Lonzo doubled, and the middle of the order all made ****** outs to strand the pair of them in scoring position in the first inning on Wednesday. Things would get better for Ken Crum, who went on to drive home Matt Waters in both the third and fifth innings with singles through the right side, but not for del Toro, who struck out twice and ended three of the first five innings, stranding a total of four runners for good. The Coons were up 3-1 by the middle of the fifth; Crum had the pair of RBI singles, and Koga had brought in Lonzo with a wild pitch in the fifth as well. Initially, Danny Arroyo had put the Knights on top in the bottom 2nd with a solo homer to left. Bobby Thibault never batted in the game, leaving the game in the second inning with a mild calf strain suffered on defense, but his replacement Thomas Greeley nearly mashed a game-tying blast to left in the bottom 7th, coming maybe three feet short of the fence and finding himself retired by del Toro to end the inning with Dan Riley on third base, stranded. He also made the final out of the game, again as the tying run, then in a 4-2 game. Glodowski had singled home Suggs in the eighth, but Sencion had put Steve Royer on base to begin the bottom 9th before the scheduled handover of the ball to Kevin Hitchcock, who conceded the run and walked Arroyo, but got Greeley on a calm grounder to Crum at first base. 4-2 Coons. Waters 4-5; Crum 2-5, 2 RBI; Glodowski (PH) 1-1, RBI; Barel 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, W (6-3);

This game ended both our 5-game spill and their 13-game winning streak. The next game might end Kyle Brobeck’s major league career, but if he pitched nicely, we’d make other arrangements with our rotation; Jason Wheatley was penciled in to pitch the opener against the Thunder on Friday.

Game 3
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – RF Puckeridge – 1B Crum – LF del Toro – 3B DeMarco – CF Suzuki – C Philipps – P Brobeck
ATL: 3B Thibault – C Cass – 1B Alade – LF Kirkwood – CF Royer – 2B S. Turner – RF Garris – SS Housey – P J. Byrd

Brobeck went about applying for continued employment entirely in the wrong way. He got whacked around quite good in the first inning, although a DeMarco error also didn’t help among two hits and a walk for the Knights, who went up 2-0 early, and then tacked on another run in the third inning, when Alade walked, stole second, and scored on a Royer single. Then Brobeck offered really solid middle innings when I was just looking for an excuse to put him on a bus to St. Pete right from Atlanta. And just when he had almost won me back over, he got bombed by Bobby Thibault in the seventh, which then lengthened the score to 4-1 in Atlanta’s favor. The Coons’ lone run in an otherwise entirely forgettable team effort against Joe Byrd had come in the sixth inning, where Lonzo doubled and was tripled home by the otherwise forgettable del Toro with two outs, but DeMarco continued to be just as forgettable… just like the rest of the team, that never put another paw on base after the triple. 4-1 Knights.

Brobeck was optioned to St. Petersburg after the game, although he might return soon if Victor Salcido couldn’t do a 180 on his fortunes near-instantly.

Raccoons (23-24) vs. Thunder (25-21) – May 24-26, 2052

The Thunder were now first in runs scored after the Knights didn’t take the Coons’ staff apart completely and wholly, but they were seventh in runs allowed. That still made for a +49 run differential, though, but with an extremely brittle bullpen. But I had little concern for them; they were up 2-1 on the Coons this year, so they were due another six wins.

Projected matchups:
Jason Wheatley (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. J.J. Hendrix (1-3, 5.07 ERA)
Victor Salcido (1-4, 7.07 ERA) vs. Zach Boyer (3-1, 3.30 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (5-3, 2.60 ERA) vs. Alfredo Llamas (6-1, 2.74 ERA)

Looks like we got exactly their three right-handers for this weekend set.

Game 1
OCT: LF R. Cox – 2B Ban – SS Soberanes – 1B Worthington – CF Harmon – 3B R. Sifuentes – RF Angeletti – C Adames – P Hendrix
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – 1B Puckeridge – LF Crum – C Suggs – 3B Crispin – RF Glodowski – CF Suzuki – P Wheatley

The crowd was excited to see Wheats back on the mound after he had only amounted to five outs on Opening Day. He got around a Suzuki error in the first inning, then got a 1-0 lead on straight singles by the 1-2-3 batters in the bottom 1st before the next three batters crapped out again. Bottom 2nd, Glodowski and Suzuki started with singles to right and left, respectively, and Wheats bunted them over before Waters and Lonzo crapped out now. Four stranded in scoring position in two innings. Good! Good…!

Suzuki threw out Ryan Cox at the plate when the Thunder had three straight singles in the third inning, the Thunder didn’t score, and the Coons then put Pucks and Crum on to begin the third inning. Crispin grounded to Jonathan Ban, with the double play only avoided on Ban’s brief bobble, but Matt Glodowski then finally came through with a big hit, belting a 3-run homer to left-center to get up 4-0. That looked nice, but by the middle of the fourth it was 4-3. Mike Harmon singled, but was forced out by Ramon Sifuentes. J.P. Angeletti grounded to short, where Lonzo bobbled the inning-ending double play, and the dam broke immediately. Jesus Adames single, Hendrix single (…), Ban single, and three runs scored in total before Ed Soberanes whiffed in a full count, two unearned. Wheats hit a single in the bottom 4th that was for nothing, then walked David Worthington in the fifth. The tying run reached third base on a passed ball and a wild pitch, and with two outs Angeletti flicked a blooper over Lonzo for a single, tying the score at four.

In total, Wheats scattered ten hits, but also struck out eight batters in six innings, which was a so-so outcome, which probably merited a no-decision… but we weren’t there yet. Suzuki led off the bottom 6th with a single off Hendrix, before both del Toto and Waters hit grounders for force outs at second base. Hendrix walked Lonzo, then was yanked for Felix Alvarez, who had Pucks at 1-2, then gave up a screamer down the line for a 2-out, 2-run double. Crum struck out, leaving it at 6-4 through six innings, but Alvarez sponsored another run in the seventh, where Suggs and Crispin got on, but the only score came on a wild pitch before del Toro struck out to strand a guy at third base once more.

But Wheatley got his no-decision after all. Jesus Adames homered off Sencion in the eighth. Armando Herrera homered off Sencion in the eighth. Ed Soberanes homered off Paul Crisler in the eighth. That last one counted for two and gave Oklahoma the lead, 8-7. Doesn’t matter. David Worthington homered off Paul Crisler in the eighth. The Coons had the tying runs in scoring position in the eighth after singles by Pucks and Sivertson, but Suggs struck out to keep them there, and the win with the Thunder, as usual. 9-7 Thunder. Lavorano 2-5; Puckeridge 4-4, BB, 2B, 3 RBI; Sivertson (PH) 1-1; Glodowski 3-5, HR, 3 RBI; Suzuki 2-4;

(hangs totally done in the trusty brown couch, one eye closed, a bottle o’ booze in one paw, and a half-smoked fag hanging from one corner of the snout)

Game 2
OCT: LF R. Cox – 2B Ban – SS Soberanes – 1B Worthington – CF Harmon – 3B R. Sifuentes – RF Benavides – C Adames – P Boyer
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – 1B Crum – C Suggs – LF del Toro – 3B DeMarco – RF Maldonado – P Salcido

Salcido had two four-pitch walks, a strikeout, and a double play grounder in the first inning, so that was also gonna be a fun one, no doubt. The Thunder went up 1-0 in the second, but that was with a throwing error by Matt Waters making it unearned to begin with, so that was that. By the third inning, it was a 4-0 game, with Salcido once again getting whacked in the snout, bum, and every other imaginable and unimaginable body part. On one paw, that sucked, but on the other paw, that was the last earned run off Salcido in the game. He put up three scoreless in the middle innings, although that also included the Thunder putting four straight pitches into play at one point, across innings, all for outs, but the look was just horrendous. The Thunder added another run in the seventh, but that was with Jesus Adames reaching on catcher’s interference, and getting waved across by Paul Miles with a wild pitch.

And the Critters? Suggs shooed home Pucks with a run in the fourth inning and that was mostly it, four hits in six innings, until del Toro and DeMarco reached base to begin the bottom 7th against Zach Boyer. Maldonado popped out, but Ed Crispin struck an RBI double from the #9 spot. That put the tying run in the box of a 5-2 game, but Waters lifted a floater to Ryan Cox in shallow left – which Cox dropped for an error, and now the tying runs were on the corners. Lonzo hit into a run-scoring fielder’s choice, stole second, Pucks walked, and Crum… grounded out. Crisler then tried to get the Thunder jumpstarted again in the eighth, putting Mike Harmon in scoring position with a walk and an error, but when Sifuentes flew out to Puckeridge, a zinger to home made for an 8-2 double play to end the inning. Armando Herrera tripled off Hitchcock with two outs in the ninth, but was stranded, but was nevertheless on a good pace to wear out his welcome-back way before eventual and inevitable retirement. Also inevitable? The Coons losing a one-run game. Dale Mrazek entered the bottom 9th, with Suzuki batting for Maldo against the right-hander, and singled to right. Oh goody me, maybe a double play to kill the game? Ed Crispin was still in the #9 hole after pinch-hitting earlier. Mrazek fell behind 3-1 against thim, at which point Crispin swung. I sighed. Crispin lifted it – a bomb! High! Deep! Very much gone! It’s a walkoff! 6-5 Critters! Puckeridge 1-2, 2 BB, 2B; del Toro 2-4; DeMarco 2-4; Suzuki (PH) 1-1; Crispin (PH) 2-2, HR, 3 RBI;

Prior to dragging that game out of the bin by his teeth with 3 RBI, Ed Crispin had all of 1 (one) RBI for the season.

Game 3
OCT: LF R. Cox – 2B Ban – SS Soberanes – 1B Worthington – CF Harmon – 3B R. Sifuentes – RF Angeletti – C Adames – P Llamas
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – 1B Crum – C Suggs – LF del Toro – 3B DeMarco – RF Maldonado – P Taki

Cox singled, Soberanes singled, Harmon singled, and Soberanes singled, and two runs scored in another *********** of a first inning. The inning only ended with Angeletti, and the next one began with a leadoff walk to Jesus Adames. Singles by Ban and Soberanes scored that run, too, and the Thunder chewed up Taki in five innings, but not without a farewell-don’t-hit-your-bum-in-the-door homer by Soberanes in the fifth that made it 4-0 Thunder. The Coons had basically nothing against Llamas, spitting on each and every chance they had with a guy on base, all two of them through six innings…! Bottom 7th then, leadoff man Pucks reached on a single, and Crum doubled. With two in scoring position, Sean Suggs struck out, which sugged, but del Toro reached on an infield single. DeMarco flew out to Angeletti, who dropped the ball to get the Coons on the board, 4-1. Maldo struck out, but Sivertson grounded up the ******* middle with two outs and chased home two runs, upon which Matt Waters drew a walk, and Lonzo … oh, Lonzo had been removed in a double switch. Oops. Crispin had to bat, grounded out, and stranded the tying and go-ahead runs.

Thankfully, I was spared the agony of another one-run loss. Brett Lillis jr. was kind enough to walk two, give up a 3-run blast to Adames, and then kept walking people, eventually getting socked for four runs in the eighth inning and doubling the Thunder’s score. Del Toro hit a meaningless sac fly that he could as well have folded and stuck between his fuzzy cheeks in the bottom 8th, and the Coons bled another run on Eloy Sencion’s newfound screaming ineptitude in the ninth inning anyway. Mike Harmon double, productive outs, and so on, and so on. The Coons kept getting meaningless runs with a Maldo double, Sivertson single, and run-scoring fielder’s choice for Waters against Jeremy Mayhall in the bottom 9th, but the game ended quickly after that. 9-5 Thunder. Puckeridge 2-5; Crum 2-4, 2B; del Toro 2-3, RBI; Sivertson (PH) 2-3, 2 RBI;

In other news

May 20 – Some questions surround the Aces’ minor league program after 16-year-old Rafael Argumedo, who had signed for $156k in the previous July’s international free agent period, fails a drug test and is suspended for 80 future games.
May 20 – The home run by CIN INF Steve Diaz (.291, 4 HR, 26 RBI) is only the Cyclones’ third hit of the game, but it also wins it in walkoff fashion, 1-0 in 12 innings over the Wolves.
May 20 – In a trade that was hard to explain, the Indians deal 25-yr old SP/MR Martino Barbiusa (5-0, 2.05 ERA) to the Cyclones for #49 prospect SP Josh Doyle.
May 22 – LAP RF Matt Diskin (.373, 10 HR, 36 RBI) comes down with a knee sprain and will be out for about a month.
May 22 – Blue Sox INF Gerardo Vazquez (.242, 3 HR, 13 RBI) homers for the only score in a 1-0, 10-inning win over the Pacifics, who amount to a lone double by LF/RF/1B Sal Rodrigues (.290, 3 HR, 16 RBI).
May 22 – DEN SP Jim Cushing (3-3, 3.98 ERA) throw a combined 1-hit shutout against the Rebels in a 1-0 Gold Sox win. The lone Reb with a hit is backup catcher Wade Gardner (.300, 1 HR, 4 RBI), pinch-hitting for a double in the eighth inning.
May 23 – The season is potentially over for SAC SP Mike McCaffrey (4-1, 2.63 ERA), who is diagnosed with a partially torn labrum.
May 23 – The Cyclones acquire OF/2B Dave Roura (.277, 2 HR, 11 RBI), along with a shady prospect, from the Buffaloes, who receive SP Pat DiLullo (1-6, 4.22 ERA).
May 23 – In a separate deal, the Buffaloes send INF Jose Rivas (.300, 0 HR, 20 RBI) to the Wolves for CL Josh Rella (0-3, 4.26 ERA, 11 SV) and #149 prospect CL Roberto Ramirez.
May 24 – NAS 1B Alejandro Ramos (.292, 13 HR, 27 RBI) bombs three home runs for five RBI in an 8-2 win over the Warriors. It’s the second-ever 3-homer game for the Blue Sox, and only three years after the first one by Jose Cantu against the Rebels.

FL Player of the Week: NAS 1B Alejandro Ramos (.299, 14 HR, 29 RBI), swatting .474 (9-19) with 5 HR, 9 RBI
CL Player of the Week: MIL INF Zach Suggs (.309, 12 HR, 38 RBI), hitting .522 (12-23) with 4 HR, 9 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Bull semen. That’s the word on what that Aces prospect tried to dope with. I don’t know. I don’t see – … how do you even take that? Orally or by injection? – Oh is that so, Cristiano?

Baseball. Really interesting, and remarkably terrifying at the same time.

I also traded for the wrong Suggs last year, which suggs.

David Barel wants a contract, and I want to hang myself on the nearest hook, although maybe I should talk to Steve from Accounting first, because maybe there’s a way to wite-out Salcido’s name on that 5-year contract of his and write it over to Barel. He can have those of Sencion and Lillis, too.

Ah, what the heck, half the roster needs purging. I have no clue how this team won 94 games last year, and now we can barely tie our shoes without running into another ******* 4-run inning…! Barel, del Toro, Taki, Crisler…! How did we add all THAT and now we have THIS…??

(rolls into a ball on the couch, sobbing)

Bayhawks, Titans next week. And also a new month. New month, new us?

Fun Fact: Matt Waters was still on the cusp of leading the batting title race in the CL, until the Coons tossers bowed and conceded to Jonathan Ban, 6-for-13 in Portland.

All of them were singles, and only two RBI for Ban, but somehow nobody in that Thunder order tears out trees against the Coons and yet they win all the games, all the time. It’s been like this for years.

Must be something in the water.

Westheim · 01-11-2023, 04:50 AM

2052 DRAFT POOL ANALYSIS

At this point, the draft was less than three weeks away, so why not think about the riches on offer with the, uh, #22 pick?

The shortlist for draft candidates had been compiled, and we have put a hotlist together with the dozen-ish most interesting prospects availa- … say, Pat Degenhardt, where are all the pitchers and catchers on the list? – A-ha. – Oh.

Looks like it’s more of a hitters draft class. Excluding catchers for the most part. Here’s the shortlist (*high school player):

SP Jaden Williams (14/12/8) – BNN #2
SP Rick Johnson (11/12/9) – BNN #1
SP Cameron Parks (10/13/12)*

1B Andy Metz (10/14/15)
2B/SS/CF Jesse Sweeney (10/6/11) – BNN #6
INF Billy Nichols (13/10/6)*

OF Ken Hummel (17/15/10) – BNN #9
RF/LF Perry Pigman (14/10/12) – BNN #7
OF Kyle Fisher (13/7/14) – BNN #8
OF Elijah Johnson (10/12/13)
OF/1B Chris Lovins (9/6/8)* – BNN #3

Hummel looked like the kind of guy that would end up on the Elks and torture us for the next 15 years. With Jerry Outram on the way out, this looked like perfect timing, too.

The left-handed Lovins, 19, was a bit the odd one out here, in that Pat Degenhardt didn’t like his composure much at all, but he had destroyed his high school league in its entirety with the stick. OSA was more friendly especially in the contact department, and we kinda hoped for a late-first-round steal there until BNN came out and ranked him third on their own hotshot list.

Westheim · 01-12-2023, 04:00 PM

Raccoons (24-26) @ Bayhawks (19-32) – May 27-29, 2052

The Bayhawks had just lost six in a row, but we had fallen down even shallower stairs recently. They sat tenth in runs scored, and bottoms in runs allowed in the CL, with a -63 run differential. Their rotation was the worst, as was their defense, and they were also bottoms in stolen bases, and close to worst in homers. Ricky Correa and Danny Munn were on the DL, further thinning an already weak lineup. The Coons had swept them in the first 3-game set of the year.

Projected matchups:
Rafael de la Cruz (3-2, 3.67 ERA) vs. Mario de Anda (1-2, 4.67 ERA)
David Barel (6-3, 3.00 ERA) vs. Milt Cantrell (2-8, 5.80 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (0-0, 2.35 ERA) vs. Jesse Bulas (2-3, 4.04 ERA)

De Anda was a southpaw we were quite familiar with, and then there were two righties that had been with the Baybirds for a while, even though Cantrell was only 25.

Game 1
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – 1B Crum – C Suggs – RF Glodowski – 3B DeMarco – LF Sivertson – P de la Cruz
SFB: 3B A. Diaz – 2B Peltier – 1B Witherspoon – SS Dau – CF M. Roberts – RF Fink – C Petroni – LF Sparr – P de Anda

A sac fly by Ken Crum brought in Waters and gave the Coons a quick 1-0 lead in the first, and Mitch Sivertson grabbed a sac fly that scored DeMarco after a double and wild pitch in the second, but three extra base hits whacked off Raffy in the bottom 2nd easily tied the game again. Mike Roberts tripled, and John Fink and Zach Sparr hit RBI doubles. It didn’t get better in the fourth against the same part of the lineup, then with Roberts drawing a walk, an RBI double to right by Giampaolo Petroni, and Sparr flying out to Pucks for what should have been the third out, but was dropped for a run-scoring, 2-base error.

So I was in the mood then, but, though down 4-2, the Coons after a few innings of hibernation actually climbed back into the game in the sixth. Pucks drew a leadoff walk on just four pitches, and then Ken Crum lodged a ball in the corner against his old team and ran it out for an RBI triple – and with nobody out! …and they left him there. Suggs was nicked, and Glodowski popped out, and DeMarco popped out, and Sivertson struck out altogether, and I sighed bitterly. It didn’t get better in the seventh inning, with Alonzo Diaz and Adam Peltier singles against Justin Johns; those were soft, but Sam Witherspoon’s 3-run homer to right really wasn’t all that soft. The Coons had only two more singles, and no threats. 7-3 Bayhawks. Sivertson 1-2, RBI;

Game 2
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – 1B Crum – C Suggs – LF del Toro – 3B Crispin – RF Maldonado – P Barel
SFB: C M. Torres – CF Sedillo – 2B Dau – 1B Witherspoon – SS Peltier – 3B J. Gonzalez – RF M. Roberts – LF Sparr – P Cantrell

This time the Bayhawks scratched out two early runs, with Witherspoon still hitting under .200 even after a pair of singles, including one that drove home Mario Sedillo to get to 1-0 in the first. Marvin Torres hit a homer to left in the third. The Coons erased the 2-0 deficit in the fourth inning; after being retired in order they got Waters on with a leadoff walk, then a zinger triple to left from Lonzo, and a sac fly by Pucks. Del Toro found a single the inning after, but that was all of two hits through five innings. The Bayhawks had eight, and four runs after Jorge Gonzalez’ 2-out, 2-run double to right chased home Sedillo and Todd Dau in the bottom 5th. And that was enough. The Coons didn’t get another base hit until Pucks lobbed a 1-out single off Brad Barnes in the ninth inning. Crum struck out, Suggs singled, but Juan del Toro unleashed a weak grounder to Witherspoon that ended the game. Barel was dull with just two strikeouts, but at least pitched seven innings in another loss. 4-2 Bayhawks.

The Bay is so neatly glitzening. I bet the water won’t take long to fill your lungs………

Game 3
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – 1B Crum – LF del Toro – 3B DeMarco – RF Suzuki – C Philipps – P Wheatley
SFB: 3B A. Diaz – 2B Peltier – SS Dau – CF M. Roberts – C M. Torres – RF Fink – 1B Sedillo – LF Sparr – P Bulas

John Fink homered to right off Wheats in the bottom 2nd, but the Coons turned the game into a 2-1 lead the next half-inning. Philipps’ leadoff single saw him bunted to second by Wheats and driven in by Lonzo with a 2-out double. Pucks’ single to right was enough to chase Lonzo home for the lead. Puckeridge was then caught stealing, and the inning after Crum was thrown out at home plate on a single by Mikio Suzuki to end another inning on the base paths.

And there, the score hovered; the middle innings were tense, with every half-inning but one having a guy on base, but somehow everything ended up either in a double play, or the guy just left on first base, or, well, Crum being crummily thrown out at home. The top 7th then began with an out by Wheats, but Waters and Lonzo got on base, and reached scoring position with a double steal. From there, both scored when Pucks split Diaz and Dau with a bouncer hit off new reliever Jeff Frank, and extended the lead to 4-1. Crum added another single, as did del Toro with a single that brought home Pucks, 5-1. And then DeMarco found another double play grounder, 6-4-3. But the lead was sizeable, and Wheats handled it well; he pitched another two innings, holding the Baybirds to six hits and their lone early run, all on 101 pitches. Maybe the DL time made him think this was the second half already? Lillis didn’t even **** up his first W of the season and retired the Baybirds in order in the ninth inning. 5-1 Raccoons! Lavorano 3-5, 2B; Puckeridge 3-5, 3 RBI; crum 2-5; del Toro 2-3, 2B, RBI; Wheatley 8.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, W (1-0);

Wheats should pitch every game. Maybe that would get us out of a tie for last place with the Loggers…

Raccoons (25-28) @ Titans (30-22) – May 31-June 2, 2052

The Titans by contrast had a 7-game winning streak, so maybe we could ruin that one, too? Just kidding of course. They were up 4-2 against the Coons this year, and led the division despite being bottoms in runs scored, batting average, and OBP. Somehow they were third in homers amongst all that detritus. And the real reason they were on top (by half a game) right now was their pitching, with the best rotation in the CL (even without Barel), the second-best bullpen and defense, and the fewest runs allowed in the Continental League – all of three runs per game, precisely…!

Projected matchups:
Seisaku Taki (5-4, 2.92 ERA) vs. Juan Ramos (5-3, 3.70 ERA)
Rafael de la Cruz (3-3, 3.77 ERA) vs. Kyle Turay (4-3, 2.58 ERA)
David Barel (6-4, 3.21 ERA) vs. Victor Scott (4-2, 1.90 ERA)

Southpaw Sunday, assuming the Titans would skip Jamie Guidry (4-6, 4.37 ERA) as indicated by starting Ramos on Friday. Guidry would also be left-handed, and Victor Salcido was also skipped in this series, because his act was very tiresome on my old milky eyes.

Game 1
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – 1B Crum – C Suggs – LF del Toro – 3B DeMarco – RF Maldonado – P Taki
BOS: CF Whitlow – 2B M. Martinez – RF T. Lopez – 1B L. Rodriguez – C R. Gonzalez – SS A. Montes de Oca – LF Bumpus – 3B J. Rodriguez – P J. Ramos

Seisaku Taki was simply singled to death by a team hitting under .240. Tony Lopez and Larry Rodriguez hit singles in the first, Jordan Ramos hit a single in the second, and none of them scored, but nearly the entire Titans lineup took a swing and they packed five singles and two runs into the third inning. Taki didn’t make it out of the fifth ultimately, giving up another three hits, beginning with a leadoff double to center by Lopez. Larry Rodriguez was nicked with an 0-2 pitch, and then singles by Angel Montes de Oca and Adam Bumpus brought in a total of three runs. The relentless assault that was the terrific Titans hit machine also whacked Justin Johns around for three runs in the bottom of the seventh, as if it still mattered. And the Coons? Could hardly walk straight, except in the sixth, when Waters got on, was forced out by Lonzo, who stole second, Pucks singled, and a Crum double and a Suggs sac fly brought in two soggy runs in the middle of the next team-wide meltdown. When they crowded Sam Heisler in the ninth, Juan del Toro strained an oblique on a dive into third base, trying to wiggle around Jose Rodriguez’ glove. He did that, but also left the game, with Sivertson pinch-running and scoring on a sac fly by Maldo. Tyler Philipps then hit into a game-ending double play. 8-3 Titans. Waters 1-2, 2 BB; Puckeridge 2-4; Glodowski (PH) 1-1; Maldonado 2-3, 2B, RBI;

Juan del Toro was off to the DL with that oblique, but 15 days should be enough to get him back to his normal brittleness.

Eddy Veloz, who had made two guest appearances earlier in the season, was recalled from AAA again.

Guidry came up on Saturday, so probably there wouldn’t be a Southpaw Sunday either. I can’t have anything around here, can I??

Game 2
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – LF Crum – C Suggs – RF Glodowski – 3B DeMarco – 1B Maldonado – P de la Cruz
BOS: CF Whitlow – 2B M. Martinez – RF T. Lopez – 1B L. Rodriguez – C R. Gonzalez – SS A. Montes de Oca – LF Bumpus – 3B J. Rodriguez – P Guidry

Single, single, single, GRAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAMMMMM – four batters into the game on Saturday, the Coons were up 4-0! …and then they stopped doing much of anything right away. The Titans answered with a homer of their own, by Larry Rodriguez, but only in the fourth and only a solo shot. That was the only run off Raffy, but he also only pitched six innings, allowing five hits and three walks, but also had many long counts and was at 100 pitches again through six innings. Crisler and Sencion kept the Titans at bay in the next two innings, and the Coons actually fumbled another run together all the way in the ninth inning with singles by Waters, Lonzo and Suggs. That made it a four-run lead, and made Kevin Hitchcock’s services somewhat redundant, but then again Kevin Hitchcock recently mostly existed on paper and was hardly getting any work. He still retired the Titans 1-2-3, even if it wasn’t for a save. 5-1 Coons. Waters 2-5; Lavorano 2-5; Crum 1-5, HR, 4 RBI; DeMarco 3-4;

Game 3
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – 1B Crum – RF Maldonado – 3B Crispin – CF Suzuki – C Philipps – P Barel
BOS: CF Whitlow – 2B M. Martinez – RF T. Lopez – 1B L. Rodriguez – C R. Gonzalez – SS A. Montes de Oca – LF Bumpus – 3B J. Rodriguez – P Turay

Single, single, oh, no, lineout, but Crum walked, and, no, Maldo’s sac fly was all there really was in terms of runs in the top 1st in Sunday’s rubber game. Barel remained inefficient and through four innings gave up three hits and three walks, but also saw Miguel Martinez and Angel Montes de Oca jam the ball into double plays in the first two innings, respectively, which bailed him out of a tight spot or two. Montes, however, also tied the game with a 2-out RBI single in the fourth inning, so there was that, before Adam Bumpus floated out to center. The Coons, ever annoying, would go on to load the bases in the fifth inning, but then with two outs, for Ken Crum, who, annoyingly, grounded out to first base. And we weren’t skipping over a lot of what they were doing here, either…

Bottom 7th, the habit of putting the leadoff man on base, which he did four times in the game, cost Barel for good, then with singles by Bumpus and Jose Rodriguez. The latter was forced out by Ian Davison, but Eric Whitlow hit a sac fly to Suzuki to give Boston a 2-1 lead. Miguel Martinez flew out, and Barel would not be seen again after the inning. Crispin and Glodowski hit 2-out singles off different relievers in the top 8th, but Philipps grounded out to short to make the point moot. Johns and Lillis also bobbled two Titans on base in the bottom of the inning, but Pucks tracked down a drive by Bumpus to end the inning with runners on the corners. The Coons arrived in the ninth trailing by one and faced right-hander Eddie Sotelo. Sivertson and Waters made quick outs, but Lonzo singled to center with two gone. Pucks grounded to the right side, and Sotelo dropped Larry Rodriguez’ feed to needlessly extend the torture, bringing up Ken Crum with the tying run on second base. He struck out. 2-1 Titans. Lavorano 3-5; Glodowski (PH) 1-1;

In other news

May 28 – TIJ CL Kevin Daley (3-4, 3.91 ERA, 10 SV) reportedly steps on a rake in his garden and has his nose broken when the handle slaps into his face, but also punctures is foot and is expected to miss at least one month.
May 30 – The season of IND SS Chase Clover (.245, 1 HR, 20 RBI) is over after being handed a diagnosis of a partially torn labrum that needs stitching.
May 31 – CHA OF/1B Mike Allegood (.343, 6 HR, 32 RBI) might also miss the rest of the year with a stretched elbow ligament.
June 1 – The Blue Sox’ 31-year-old CL Tommy Gardner (1-2, 1.35 ERA, 9 SV) gets his 300th career save as he nails down a 7-4 win against the Capitals. Gardner, a two-time Reliever of the Year with the Indians, and 7-time All Star, was 42-38 with a 2.53 ERA for his career, with 647 strikeouts in 633.2 innings.
June 2 – CIN SP Jameson Monk (2-2, 5.40 ERA) gets within two outs of no-hitting the Rebels before running out of juice, giving up two walks and finally a double to RIC RF/LF Chris Morris (.309, 6 HR, 28 RBI) before being relieved by Garrett Giustino (2-1, 5.33 ERA, 1 SV), who saves the game as a 4-3 win, but not without surrendering Morris’ run as well.
June 2 – Thunder utility Alvin Aguilera (.250, 1 HR, 5 RBI) hits a rare home run to end a 16-inning marathon with the Bayhawks in a 6-4 Thunder walkoff win.
June 2 – DAL RF/LF/1B Dario Martinez (.324, 15 HR, 40 RBI) homers off Warriors SP Jeff Ray (3-4, 4.59 ERA), pressed into relief in the top of the 15th inning of their Sunday game. The first run in seven innings stands up in the end for a 6-5 Stars win.

FL Player of the Week: TOP 2B/SS Tony Aparicio (.332, 12 HR, 40 RBI), shooting .423 (10-23) with 4 HR, 10 RBI
CL Player of the Week: SFB INF/LF/RF Adam Peltier (.303, 3 HR, 24 RBI), batting .414 (12-29) with 1 HR, 4 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: NAS 1B Alejandro Ramos (.301, 14 HR, 31 RBI), swatting .327 with 9 HR, 21 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: MIL INF Zach Suggs (.300, 12 HR, 38 RBI), hitting .385 with 8 HR, 25 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: DAL SP Arthur Pickett (8-3, 3.79 ERA), a perfect 6-0 record with 2.62 ERA, 27 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: MIL SP Angelo Munoz (6-2, 2.45 ERA), hurling for a 5-0 mark with 1.38 ERA, 20 K
FL Rookie of the Month: SFW OF/1B Aidan Calhoun (.316, 1 HR, 12 RBI), who made his debut this month
CL Rookie of the Month: VAN CF Damian Moreno (.311, 7 HR, 33 RBI), hitting .291 with 1 HR, 9 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Lonzo continues to lead the CL in stealing, now at a steady pace of two, three, four bags a week. And that is probably all the nice things I have to say about the team right now.

More of the same, more of the same this week. The Raccoons have lost their last five series, and we’re a woeful 4-12 since dropping the last game in Milwaukee during that 4-game set there. At least we’re finally losing by larger margins, the one-run losses were getting annoying.

Wickedest sort of progress.

I think a cleaning of house is in order. It is always in order when you’re behind the Loggers and it’s already June.

Not that I expect a bettering of fortunes in the very near future. The best part of next week will be another day off on Monday…! We have the Elks and Miners at home, then the Pacifics on the road for the next three opponents.

Fun Fact: The Miners lead the FL East with a losing record.

I like watching train wrecks like that division.

Westheim · 01-14-2023, 09:28 AM

Raccoons (26-30) vs. Canadiens (30-24) – June 4-6, 2052

These teams were both in the top 3 in fewest runs allowed in the CL, with the Coons third and the damn Elks second. We were also scoring more runs than them, sitting tied for sixth rather than their 10th spot in that category, but somehow it wasn’t quite working out for us. We had won the first series of the year, three games to one, but as of now hadn’t won a series since seeing the Loggers squat in the middle of May. The Elks were short of centerfielders, with Damian Moreno out (but on the roster) with a bothersome oblique, while Angel Escobido had left Sunday’s game with an injury, and that was all the news available for him, so they’d go into the opener with a 3-man bench.

Projected matchups:
Jason Wheatley (1-0, 1.72 ERA) vs. Terry Herman (6-4, 2.93 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (5-5, 3.35 ERA) vs. Juan Ramos (6-2, 2.82 ERA)
Rafael de la Cruz (4-3, 3.56 ERA) vs. Mario Godinez (5-4, 4.27 ERA)

The Coons used their off day on Monday, the second off day in a row after the preceding Thursday, to again skip the foundered and heavily listing Victor Salcido (1-4, 6.89 ERA). Looked like the Elks were gonna skip Anton Jesus (3-6, 4.19 ERA), but in any case all their starters were right-handers.

Game 1
VAN: 3B A. Soto – 1B Wheeler – SS Mullen – CF Outram – RF Burkhart – LF T. Turner – C Julio Diaz – 2B Clevidence – P Herman
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – 1B Crum – C Suggs – 3B DeMarco – RF Glodowski – CF Suzuki – P Wheatley

The Elks shed another outfielder in the first inning, but it wasn’t Jerry Outram, who was pressed into service at a position his body could no longer play, but Tim Burkhart, who slammed into the fence to make an inning-ending catch on Nick DeMarco in the bottom 1st, stranding Lonzo and Pucks (who had singled home Waters) in scoring position before wobbling off the field, shakily. Luis Miranda, the backup catcher, had to replace him! The only other bench options left to them were ancient first baseman Mark Cahill and third-sacker Chris Walley.

Wheats kept the Elks off the board in the early innings, but it wasn’t pretty, and he was definitely not on the same page as Sean Suggs. With the stick the Elks managed only the odd single here and there, but there were two stolen bases, a passed ball, a wild pitch, and lots of new gray hair in my fur. Wheatley also struck out five in the first four innings, so stuff was not the problem. Come the sixth, though, the Elks dropped in the balls. Jeff Wheeler led off with a single to left, and Dan Mullen beat Glodowski, the useless pelt, for a double to right. Outram flipped the score with a single over Lonzo’s head, just like in the olden days, and the Coons, on their three soggy hits, were now 2-1 behind. They staved off an L on Wheats for the time being, though, as Ken Crum opened the bottom 6th with a catcher-turned-rightfielder-assisted triple, then scored on Suggs’ single to center. DeMarco found a double to kill the inning, while Wheats retired the 8-9-1 in order in his seventh and final inning. Maldo batted for him after Suzuki got plonked to begin the bottom 7th, and was hit by Herman with the very next pitch…! C’mon boys! We’ll not be played like that!! Waters flew out to left, but Lonzo snuck a single up the middle to fill the bases. Pucks then grounded to short, 6-4-3, inning over. I grabbed Slappy’s hand and squeezed it to cope.

The Coons exploded in the eighth then, with Paul Crisler giving up a single to Jeff Wheeler, after which Eloy Sencion lit the fuse. Outram singled, Wheeler scored on a wild pitch, Miranda walked, but was forced out by Tim Turner’s grounder to second base, but then Sencion beaned Julio Diaz out of the game. That was the FOURTH injured player on the Elks’ roster. They did have a catcher left, but now had Chris Walley play out of position… Doug Clevidence took revenge with a 2-out, 2-strike, 2-run single up the middle against Justin Johns, and Outram drove in Alex Soto against Snyder in the ninth to really hammer home the point. The Coons disappeared silently, and nobody missed them. 6-2 Canadiens. Lavorano 3-5; Crum 2-4, 3B, 2B; Philipps (PH) 1-1; Wheatley 7.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K;

Not sure whether anybody would miss Eloy Sencion, but he and his 8.04 ERA were sent to St. Pete after the game. Matt Dixon was recalled and moved into the rotation at Salcido’s expense.

The Elks meanwhile had a 3-man bench again by Wednesday, game time. Julio Diaz was shaken, but available, and Tim Burkhart and his career-best .804 OPS were off to the DL with a broken hand that might cost him most of the remainder of the season. That still left Escobido and Moreno MIA.

Game 2
VAN: 3B A. Soto – LF T. Turner – SS Mullen – CF Hawkins – 1B Wheeler – C Julio Diaz – RF Outram – 2B Clevidence – P A. Jesus
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – 1B Crum – C Suggs – CF DeMarco – 3B Crispin – RF Maldonado – P Taki

Kyle Hawkins was the #93 prospect and made his first appearance of the year, batting cleanup right away after Jerry Outram had driven in three runs on Tuesday, but they probably knew what was best for them. The 24-year-old promptly struck out his first time up, stranding Dan Mullen, who was the game’s first and for a long time only base runner. The next would be Lonzo with a single to left-center in the bottom 4th. He stole second but was left there once Ken Crum flew out to Hawkins, who drew a leadoff walk in the seventh inning of a briskly progressing game, but was doubled up on a comebacker to Taki by Jeff Wheeler. Crum singled in the same inning, and was left on. Taki held the line until walking Doug Clevidence in a long at-bat in the eighth inning, got a second out from Anton Jesus, but was then lifted on a total of 118 pitches, four outs short of nine complete innings. Brett Lillis jr. gave up a single to a pinch-hitting Cahill, but Tim Turner bounced out to Pucks, now at first base after a Crum had been removed in a double switch. Eddy Veloz took the spot in leftfield and would bat fourth in the bottom 8th, if the baseball gods divined as such. They did in fact not, as DeMarco, Crispin, and Maldo went in order. Lillis held the scoreless tie in the top 9th, and Jesus completed nine innings of 2-hit ball, sending the game to extras while also hanging a golden sombrero on Jerry Outram.

After a 1-2-3 appearance by Kevin Hitchcock in the top 10th, Pucks opened the bottom of the inning with a double to left, by far the most exciting play on the day so far. Glodowski batted for Hitchcock, whiffed, and besides an intentional walk to Sean Suggs, the Coons got nothing countable together, which sugged. Suzuki and Crispin made weak outs to extend the game. Eddy Veloz then landed his first career hit, a 1-out single past Dan Mullen in the bottom 11th. Waters whiffed, Lonzo grounded out. Veloz then left the game again, since the Coons had used Tyler Philipps to pinch-hit to begin the inning in Maldo’s deserted spot, and wished to keep the backup catcher around at first base, with Pucks back in leftfield. But the Coons at the same time gave up on the game – Victor Salcido appeared in the top 12th for what we empathically would call “long relief” in the after-loss press release, but which none of us thought would be very long. Wheeler walked and Miranda singled with one out in the 12th, but Outram whiffed once more, his fifth K for the platinum sombrero. Clevidence also struck out, leaving runners on the corners. Pucks hit a deep fly to left to begin the bottom 12th, but Turner made the catch on the warning track.

The dam broke in the 13th inning; Chris Walley reached on catcher’s interference, a single and a walk filled the bags, and Hawkins hit a sac fly to left that Pucks had to snatch on the run. Wheeler whiffed to strand a pair, but the Coons had already shown a gross ineptitude when it came to scoring, so … ballgame? Against Bernardino Risso, Crispin whiffed, Philipps whiffed, and Sivertson flew out to Outram. Ballgame. 1-0 Canadiens. Taki 7.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K;

No, Maud, it’s okay, you can switch the lights off, I’ll just sit here in the darkness until tomorrow. And weep.

Tyler Philipps (.194, 0 HR, 5 RBI) was culled after the game. The Coons brought up Aaron Brewer, the $500k depth signing from offseason’s garbage time, who had hit .262 in AAA.

Game 3
VAN: 3B A. Soto – LF T. Turner – SS Mullen – CF Hawkins – 1B Wheeler – RF Outram – C Julio Diaz – 2B Clevidence – P Ju. Ramos
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – RF Puckeridge – 1B Crum – CF DeMarco – 3B Crispin – LF Sivertson – C Brewer – P de la Cruz

Ken Crum hit a 2-run homer in the first inning, but the Elks whacked de la Cruz around for three runs in the fourth. Hawkins doubled for his first career hit, then scored on a Wheeler single for his first career run. Diaz and Clevidence pounced out more RBI hits to get up 3-2 on the hapless Coons before Ramos mercifully struck out to strand a pair.

The educated consumer of the brown-wrapped product on the field did not expect much of a rally, and they didn’t get one either. The Raccoons barely reached base, and when they did, got Aaron Brewer to hit into a double play to restore order and cleanliness on the bases. De la Cruz pitched eight innings of 6-hit ball on 103 pitches, with nearly all the damage in that one ******* inning. He was hit for with Suzuki to begin the bottom 8th. Suzuki struck out, but the Coons eventually got the tying run on base again when Lonzo reached on … a Clevidence error. Outram maintained control of Pucks’ fly to deep right, however, and that inning also ended. An insurance run in the ninth was constructed from a Diaz triple off Paul Miles and a pinch-hit single that Cahill got off Johns. Not that insurance was needed – the Coons went 1-2-3 against Ruben Mendez in the ninth. 4-2 Canadiens. Crum 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; de la Cruz 8.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, L (4-4);

Raccoons (26-33) vs. Miners (29-32) – June 7-9, 2052

The Miners had led the FL East last Sunday, but had now plunged to fourth place, which was alright; we were all plunging. Six straight series losses for the Coons, and now they had to contend with the #1 offense in the FL, and the #5 pitch- … something wasn’t adding up here. The Miners had a +58 run differential?? Dios mio! The Coons had won the last three meetings from the Miners, which had taken place last year, two years ago, and … eight years ago.

Projected matchups:
David Barel (6-5, 3.15 ERA) vs. Jon Craig (5-0, 3.00 ERA)
Matt Dixon (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Kevin Nolte (4-6, 3.33 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (1-0, 1.99 ERA) vs. Brian Buttress (7-5, 4.45 ERA)

Southpaw Sunday; also, that was the black Jon Craig, the one that was in the Thunder pen when we had the white Jon Craig, who had last pitched in the majors in 2050. The Miners had a ton of injuries with Matt Sealock, Jose Arias, Tyler Tomasello, and Matt Cox all out on the DL. And yet I was confident we could get them back to .500 by Sunday night. Oh yes, that was right – on Sunday night we could display our shame on national television. Somewhere, somehow, a smart person a few weeks back had picked this game for the featured game of the week…

Well, at least it’d have Wheats in it.

Game 1
PIT: 2B A. Vasquez – CF J. Ward – 3B Corrales – RF E. Moreno – 1B Abecassis – C Lefebvre – LF A. Venegas – SS Stalker – P J. Craig
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – 1B Crum – C Suggs – 3B Crispin – RF Maldonado – CF Suzuki – P Barel

Ken Crum butchered Alex Vasquez’ grounder to begin the weekend, and Jayden Ward’s wallbanger double in left drove in a run right away, unearned as it was on Barel, who stranded Ward in scoring position with some stingy pitching against the 3-4-5 batters, who were all retired. He was less stingy in walking Anton Venegas and getting taken deep by Jeremy Stalker, 3-0 in the second inning.

But for a change, the Coons scored. Suzuki drew a leadoff walk from Jon Craig in the bottom 3rd, and after Barel’s bunt, Waters worked another walk. Lonzo then fired the next pitch into the gap for a 2-run triple, then scored when Pucks’ pop behind first base was dropped when Vasquez and Alex Abecassis collided. Pucks also stole second base to move the go-ahead run into scoring position, but was left there when both Crum and Suggs struck out, which sugged. Pucks was left on base again in the bottom 5th, which didn’t feel any better.

Barel fought Craig to a draw through six innings, both giving up three runs, two earned. But the Miners had also worked him to 100 pitches already. Johns had a scoreless inning after that, while the Coons got Lonzo on with two outs in the bottom 7th. He stole second base, but then was left by Pucks, whose drive to deep right ended up with Eddie Moreno. The Miners then upended Brett Lillis jr., who came in to face Abecassis, but gave up a single to PH Dan Whitley, then got taken deep by Michael Lefebvre to break the tie. Snyder replaced him for what we assumed was garbage time, while the Coons actually rallied in the bottom 8th. Crum doubled to right, was driven in by Ed Crispin, and Suzuki hit a 2-out double that put the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position, with Craig now facing Nick DeMarco, who had pinch-hit earlier and had stayed in the game instead of Lonzo. He flew out to Anton Venegas to kill the rally. Right-hander Mike Mensch retired the first two in the bottom of the ninth inning, but then gave up a single to Puckeridge and walked Crum. Sean Suggs was slumping so badly and was 0-for-4 in the game that the Coons sent Glodowski’s useless pelt to pinch-hit. He walked on four pitches, kicking the bill further down the lineup to Crispin, who grounded out to Chris Jimenez at second base. 5-4 Miners. Lavorano 2-4, 3B, 2 RBI; Puckeridge 2-5, RBI; Maldonado 2-4; Snyder 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K;

Fourth career homer for Jeremy Stalker, kid of ex-Coon Tim Stalker. (grumbles)

The Coons? .200 over their last 20 games.

Game 2
PIT: 2B A. Vasquez – CF J. Ward – 3B Corrales – RF E. Moreno – 1B Abecassis – LF Hartman – SS A. Venegas – C Lefebvre – P Nolte
POR: 2B Waters – RF Glodowski – LF Puckeridge – C Suggs – 3B Crispin – 1B Maldonado – SS Sivertson – CF DeMarco – P Dixon

Dixon wasn’t doing badly for an eighth-string starter or so, striking out six batters in the first five innings and giving up as many base hits. Four of them were singles and two were homers by Victor Corrales and Alex Abecassis in the first and fourth innings, respectively, but they were solo homers. The Coons had one of those as well, a DeMarco shot in the fifth that narrowed the gap to 2-1.

Of course, all good things (“good”) had to end somewhere, and Dixon’s thing ended in the sixth, which he didn’t get out of. Abecassis and Bill Hartman reached base with singles to begin the inning, including Hartman’s infield single on a very old Maldo. Dixon still scratched back and had them in scoring position, but no further, when Kevin Nolte came up with two outs. Nolte singled, driving home two, and Dixon failed the bags full after that before Lillis came out to face the .373 hitter Corrales, but gave up a 2-run single on the first pitch before ringing up Eddie Moreno. Too little, too late, and the 4-spot made it 6-1. With the game over, especially with no counter-offense on the horizon, the Coons gave the ball to Salcido for the final two innings. He did get six outs … walking two, and on 45 pitches. (shakes head with hanging whiskers) … The Coons only made up one run in the late innings with hits from Pucks and Suggs. Oh shucks. 6-2 Miners. Waters 2-4; DeMarco 2-4, HR, RBI; Salcido 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K;

Batting 1-for-9, Eddy Veloz was returned to AAA in exchange for Oscar Rivera, the 26-year-old ex-prospect, who was on a hot streak and overall hitting .256 with 10 HR, 33 RBI in St. Pete. Rivera had batted .215 with three homers for the ’51 Coons.

The weather for the Sunday night game was meh, with a drizzle that came and went just to annoy everybody.

Game 3
PIT: CF J. Ward – LF Abercrombie – RF E. Moreno – 1B Abecassis – SS C. Jimenez – 2B Stalker – 3B A. Venegas – C Whitley – P Buttress
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF Crum – RF Glodowski – CF DeMarco – 1B Maldonado – 3B Sivertson – C Brewer – P Wheatley

Both teams had two singles in the first; Ward and Abecassis were stranded on the corners when Jimenez grounded out, while Glodowski found Lonzo and Crum on the corners, and jammed into a double play. Nobody reached base again until Lonzo hit a second single, that one leading off the fourth inning for Portland. This time he got forced out by Crum, but Glodowski singled to left. DeMarco floated out to right, Maldo whiffed, and again, nobody scored. Instead, the Miners broke through against Wheats, who couldn’t get them to strike out, and then was forsaken by defense. Jeremy Stalker reached on a shy single to begin the inning, then scored on a double to left by Dan Whitley. Buttress, depressingly, singled with one out, and Jayden Ward walked in a full count to load the bases. Josh Abercrombie doubled the lead to 2-0 with a sac fly to Crum, while Moreno struck out to leave another two on base.

An Aaron Brewer solo homer cut the deficit in half in the same inning in what was his first base hit as a Coon, while Wheats labored on into the seventh inning, but was lifted, thoroughly stuck, with Whitley and Ward on the corners and two outs, and the lefty Abercrombie back up. Paul Miles got him to 1-2, but also couldn’t seal the deal; at least Abercrombie flew out to DeMarco in center.

Maldo then whacked a bone cruncher up the leftfield line for a leadoff double in the bottom 7th – bone cruncher because on every step he took as he lumbered out the double his knees and ankles grinded audibly on the broadcast and probably in the entire ballpark. Boys, please, at least take Wheats off the hook – the tying run was in scoring position with nobody out…! Sivertson’s grounder to first advanced Maldo to third base, and he went for home when Brewer flew out to Abercrombie – and made it, which drew almost raucous applause from the Sunday night crowd. Rivera pinch-hit for Miles, but struck out.

Waters singled after a scoreless eighth by Crisler, and reached second on Lonzo’s groundout. Here, the Miners elected to walk Crum intentionally to get to Glodowski, but then stuck with Buttress against the southpaw slayer. And Glodowski slayed a guy… just not Buttress. Eddie Moreno took a tumble on his drive to right and left the game with some assistance from the trainer after several minutes of getting checked out near the foul line. Hartman replaced him. When play resumed, DeMarco popped out to short to kill the inning anyway. Instead, the Miners destroyed Crisler with a string of hits and two runs coming home on an Abecassis wall tickler with two outs in the top 9th, and the Coons drew blanks against Mike Mensch when they went through the motions in the home half of the inning. 4-2 Miners. Lavorano 2-4; Brewer 1-2, HR, 2 RBI; Wheatley 6.2 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K;

In other news

June 3 – In a weird occurrence, the Loggers trade upwards, acquiring SP Noel Groh (2-5, 3.40 ERA) from the Pacifics for #51 prospect SP Dan Maly.
June 4 – Plantar fasciitis would keep OCT 3B/SS/RF Ed Soberanes (.306, 14 HR, 59 RBI) off the field for perhaps the rest of the month.
June 5 – Stars 2B/SS Sergio Quiroz (.302, 5 HR, 28 RBI) would miss two months with a strained hamstring.
June 6 – Crusaders INF Mark Haney (.283, 1 HR, 24 RBI) rips two doubles and three singles and drives home four runs in a 16-4 drumming of the Loggers.
June 6 – It takes until the 10th inning for BOS SS/3B Angel Montes de Oca (.215, 2 HR, 11 RBI) to single home Jason Lettner (.222, 1 HR, 10 RBI) for the only run in a 1-0 win over the Indians.
June 6 – A torn ACL ends the season of Capitals outfielder Pat Stipp (.223, 2 HR, 11 RBI).
June 9 – Bayhawks SP Milt Cantrell (5-8, 4.72 ERA) throws a 3-hit shutout in a 4-0 win over the Cyclones.
June 9 – CIN SP Zach Tubbs (6-3, 2.42 ERA) is out for the season to repair a fracture in his throwing elbow.

FL Player of the Week: DAL OF/1B Omar Gonzalez (.326, 2 HR, 20 RBI), batting .455 (15-33) with 1 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week: CHA RF/LF Danny Ceballos (.303, 2 HR, 22 RBI), slapping .500 (15-30) with 7 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Woof.

The Wolves asked for Victor Salcido this week; granted they offered nothing of even remote value in return, but I was tempted for a bit.

In general, I’m ready to sell. Something’s grossly amiss with the roster, and I can’t figure out what it is. There’s a prospect or two from last year’s draft class I’m keen on, and they of course can’t be traded for a full year after being drafted, so major moves will have to wait until the end of next week when we’ll have been beaten up in L.A. and by the Loggers at home.

Fun Fact: 40 years ago today, Stanley Murphy of the Pacifics fired the second 3-homer game of his career.

…in an 8-2 win over the Coons, that is. Which in itself isn’t a stunner, not even in terms of interleague games. There’ve been five more interleague 3-homer games since then, including one against the Coons, Carlos de la Riva of the Miners in 2027, but then in a 10-9 Coons win. Tah!

No, the stunner is that this was a Nick Brown start! Brownie began the game with his 2,400th career strikeout on Jens Carroll, but things went downhill from there fast, with seven runs on his ledger in the end, even though only three were earned, but he still got whacked for 11 hits in 5.2 innings. A throwing error by Walt Canning contributed greatly to the Miners runs total, but at the same time all of Murphy’s homers were off Brownie. Canning batted .050 that year and was booted after the game for Dave Roudabush.

Who?

Two years later, Murphy would become a Raccoon for a year and a half, which was also the time where he abruptly stopped being a .300 hitter. He hit 22 of his 371 career homers for the Coons. Overall he was a .288/.374/.452 force with a Player of the Year title, two rings, four Platinum Sticks, and 1,533 RBI.

We contributed about $4M to his $28.5M career earnings, but at least got his 1,000th career RBI, which is also a funny story: that one was a walkoff RBI single to stave off a 4-game sweep by the Indians in April of 2015, and it came off left-hander Ed Bryan, who had been a mainstay in the Coons pen from 2004 through 2009. The Indians were his fourth and final team.

12-22-2022, 04:22 PM	#4061
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,788	In a wicked way, I was emotionally at rest. The Raccoons, that had held first place in the North for most of the year, without getting noticeably over the 0 mark for their run differential until well into August, had turned in the worst World Series performance ever - somehow it all added up again in the end. The Gold Sox had just beaten us to death. They never stopped hitting. We never hit. We got beaten by a crisp 35 runs. Order in the universe was restored. Pick the bat shards out of your fur, bandage up the flesh wounds, splint the mangled joints, and climb the old hill again next year. The work started with the offseason, and the offseason started with getting yelled at by Nick Valdes – in person! – that our performance had been horrendous and he was getting laughed at by the other haughty moneysacks at the country club. Nevertheless, the Coons had flushed dosh into his pockets by getting people back in the seats in the second half, and I had stayed well under budget last year, leaving over $5M out of the $45.5M budget unspent, and with the increased ticket revenue and the playoff revenue on top of that, the Coons had turned enough of a profit for Valdes to cash out some $26M in earnings for himself. For my troubles, I got the budget increased to $49.5M again ($50M would have been too hard, Nick? …too round?) In any case, we would be able to add a big contract of three during the offseason. The Coons only climbed from 14th to 12th with this budget increase, but there were also only five teams with at least 10% more to their budget, so this was something we could work with. The rough overview? Top 5: Gold Sox ($69M), Thunder ($69M), Miners ($67M), Canadiens ($60M), Stars ($58M) – these are the same five teams as last year, although only the Thunder have MORE dosh to blow than last season The bottom of the league was brought up by the Falcons ($40.5M), Indians ($35.5M), Wolves ($34M), Aces ($32M), and Loggers ($29.8M) – also the same five teams as last year, but only the Aces have less money available. Missing from the CL North at this point were only the Titans (t-6th, $53M) and Crusaders (t-10th, $50M). The average budget for a team in the league rose to $48.7M, up $1.09M from last season. The median team budget was $48.5M, up $2.25M from last season. +++ Basic first-day accounting included Jesus Maldonado picking up his option for the final year of his 7-year, $38.5M contract, which shocked absolutely nobody. By rule, we also had to empty our DL, and that included Maldo and Sean Suggs from the 60-day DL, with the 40-man roster chocked full. Bryan Lenderink and Roberto Medina ended up on waivers to begin the offseason thus. There was very little going on with salary arbitration, though. The Raccoons had only three arbitration-eligible players, and would keep them all, obviously: Salcido, Wolinsky, and Hitchcock were all essential to proceedings here. There were even fewer free agents: Brian Kaufman and Willie Maldonado, who were markedly less significant. Kaufman especially had not done a whole lot; the Coons had used three different third basemen, and none of them had very much made himself impossible to dispose of – the others being Crispin and Sivertson of course. There were multiple options for third base especially. One involved moving Nick DeMarco there on a more permanent basis. The other was going after a free agent. Sacramento’s Mike Crenshaw and Elktown’s Jesus Burgos were just two options that were probably be hitting the market in November. Attached Images __________________ Portland Raccoons, 92 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

12-23-2022, 03:09 PM	#4062
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,788	Third base was perhaps the most pressing question this offseason, since we had answers to basically all the other questions. First base? – Maldo, because where else would you have him linger? Short? – Lonzo, don’t ask stupid questions like that! Corner outfield? – Crum and Pucks! Catcher? – Suggs suggs, but he’s due $10M Third base had three main suitors, including Ed Crispin from the left side, and Brian Kaufman (who was a free agent by November) and Mitch Sivertson from the right side. None of them had hit for a .700 OPS in 2051, although Crispin had done so in his rookie year and was the only one of the three hitting for a .700 OPS for his career. Third base was also Nick DeMarco’s best position, perhaps. He was a .742 OPS hitter for his career, and had hit for exactly .700 after being acquired from the damn Elks (after batting for a .778 OPS for them through 83 games…). This was another righty option to toss on the pile. But let’s look at other options. Mike Crenshaw was 28 and a 2-time All Star with the Scorpions. He had knocked the ball for a .781 OPS or better every year as a full-time player except ’49. He was a double-digit player for both homers and stolen bases, and if there was something to complain about, it was average defense. Of course, average defense at 28 would worsen to pathetic defense by 35, so maybe we should play it less loose with the 7-year deals here… Jesus Burgos was already 32, and a 12-year veteran that had led the FL in hits in 2043, in triples in 2046, and was a 2-time All Star, 2-time Platinum Stick winner, and had taken the 2044 FLCS MVP. He was not into the power game as much – landing double digit bombs only once in his career – and his days of stealing 30+ were over (he managed all of four in 158 games last season), but he batted for a .311/.354/.424 slash with 51 extra-base hits anyway, since he was a doubles machine, hitting 30+ of those in almost every season when not hindered by injuries. He was a “me first” player though, and the Coons clubhouse already had a few of those, and they all wanted the biggest food bowl at the table. For completion, there would also be Ramon Sifuentes available, who had been a Bayhawk for almost a decade and a Crusader before that, and who was 36 and clearly on the way down. He hit for the league average last year, although his defense was still decent. He hit 21 homers in 2050, and nine last year, while being plagued by old man pains. Probably not the smartest investment. Especially with another old man pains player on the other side of the diamond. Speaking of… Maldo would be 38 on Opening Day, and we were all totally looking forward to that. Apart from mulling over old man pains, the Raccoons also resolved their three arbitration cases with pitchers by the end of October. Bubba Wolinsky signed a contract for 2051 for $950k, while Kevin Hitchcock had to settle for $650k. Victor Salcido also signed, but for five years and $7.8M. The first three years would be rather cheap for a 25-year-old with two no-hitters, and the last two years came in at $2.5M each. Not a bad haul for a super-2 player, though. +++ November 1 – The Titans trade SP Troy Ratliff (15-10, 3.85 ERA) to the Buffaloes for two prospects, including #141 prospect OF/1B/SS Mario Navarro. +++ The Raccoons were trying to get a sneaky trade in before the free agency deadline, which involved talking to the Warriors, a team often forgotten to exist on a basic level, for 1B Dale Haracz, the 2050 FL Rookie of the Year, who had not done a whole lot in his sophomore season… but had batted .271/.402/.392 for something the Coons direly needed – a leadoff batter. The problems with this one were not the price – Ruben Gonzalez would do, and other combinations of second-row players were possible – but that first base was held over for Maldo, and that Haracz had stolen ONE base as a pro, three years ago in AA ball. He was slower than dirt. Parking him in the leadoff spot in front of Lonzo would get us NOTHING. With 152 stolen bases, Lonzo was a singles slapper that nevertheless was his own doubles machine, if you let him. He had 406 career hits and 44 walks; adding 37 hit-by-pitch welts and subtracting his 85 extra-base hits and ignoring pesky things like reaching on errors for a second, for a really dirty calculation, let’s add 10 times he’s reached on an error or other shenanigans like uncaught third strikes… and let’s say that 10% of his stolen bases were of taking third base, and that he grounded into fielder’s choices 30 times; that makes for 442 times of ending an at-bat at first base. From there, he stole his way to second base 31% of the time. But if you put Haracz in front of him, that’s going down the toilet. So Haracz, the leadoff man, would have to bat second? Getting weirder. Oh Lonzo! If you could just draw a walk here or there… His OBP in 2051 had been .322, which was simply not enough for a leadoff batter. So we’d still need a leadoff batter in front of Lonzo in front of Haracz, who’s now batting … third? All of those ahead of Crum, Waters, Pucks, DeMarco, and Suggs, assuming all of those would even fit in the lineup. Waters had a .345 OBP last season, while mostly playing leadoff. Who had the best OBP on the team last year? – Tyler Philipps, fifth-string catcher? – Cristiano, please, only serious answers! – Ken “Littlespeed” Crum? Hardly better. No. It was just not goo- … Wait, where’s Maldo? (moaning from one of the reclining chairs in the corner, with Maldo apparently stuck in it, unable to get his old bones out) Oh, there he is. Yeah, I don’t know. Doesn’t sound like a trade that will make for a more harmonic lineup. We need a guy that has a high OBP, decent-to-good speed, and plays, preferably, third base or centerfield. The latter wasn’t much of an option [see below], and the former wasn’t gonna be easy. +++ 2051 ABL AWARDS Players of the Year: DEN 2B/3B Ivan Villa (.303, 38 HR, 111 RBI) and OCT 3B/SS/RF Ed Soberanes (.300, 31 HR, 122 RBI) Pitchers of the Year: DEN SP Gary Perrone (20-6, 2.15 ERA) and BOS SP David Barel (19-9, 2.56 ERA) Rookies of the Year: CIN 1B Gabriel Brown (.319, 10 HR, 37 RBI) and MIL 1B/OF Gaudencio Callaia (.312, 8 HR, 57 RBI) Relievers of the Year: CIN CL Ross Mitchell (9-4, 1.48 ERA, 36 SV) and ATL CL David Hardaway (9-3, 1.36 ERA, 34 SV) Platinum Sticks (FL): P SAC Matt Weber – C SFW Nick Samuel – 1B NAS Alejandro Ramos – 2B DEN Ivan Villa – 3B PIT Victor Corrales – SS DEN Rick Price – LF DAL Juan del Toro – CF DEN Sandy Castillo – RF DAL Dario Martinez Platinum Sticks (CL): P IND Alfredo Llamas – C OCT Jesus Adames – 1B OCT David Worthington – 2B OCT Jonathan Ban – 3B OCT Ed Soberanes – SS NYC Omar Sanchez – LF OCT Ryan Cox – CF ATL Steve Royer – RF LVA Aubrey Austin Gold Gloves (FL): P TOP Josh Swindell – C DEN Blake Mickle – 1B RIC Landon Guillory – 2B DEN Ivan Villa – 3B PIT Victor Corrales – SS CIN Juan Ojeda – LF DAL Juan del Toro – CF WAS Jason Monson – RF CIN Chad Williams Gold Gloves (CL): P TIJ Kevin Daley – C OCT Jesus Adames – 1B OCT David Worthington – 2B OCT Jonathan Ban – 3B NYC Prince Gates – SS POR Lorenzo Lavorano – LF POR Ken Crum – CF ATL Steve Royer – RF BOS Tony Lopez First Gold Gloves for both Lonzo and Crum, the latter now owning one of each of the more commonly available accolades (Glove, Stick, and All Star nomination) … and a Player of the Year grandfather clock next to his fireplace. +++ And del Toro? Now, that's a player. And the Stars would do a one-for-one deal. But I think you'll know which the one Coon they'd do it for is, and why it will only happen over my thoroughly dead, cold, and stiff body. Attached Images __________________ Portland Raccoons, 92 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here. Last edited by Westheim; 12-23-2022 at 03:13 PM.

12-24-2022, 04:32 PM	#4063
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,788	When the free agency deadline passed, both Brian Kaufman and Willie Maldonado departed the team, and both Mike Crenshaw and Jesus Burgos emerged as type A free agents, making the Raccoons forfeit their first-round pick (nothing special at #22, but it wasn’t like we were going to get anything better) by signing either one of them. Another surprise emergence was a 24-year-old right-hander from Japan by the name of Seisaku Taki. Groundballer with a 95mph fastball, slider, and changeup, and with good control and movement to cut down on those walk, walk, 3-run homer sequences. The Raccoons were VERY interested…! Burgos and Crenshaw both being type A’s also made a move of Nick DeMarco to third base on a more permanent basis that much more appealing. Mikio Suzuki was a nice centerfielder, although he didn’t hit a lot. Also, easily forgettable because he only played in 24 games in the regular season last year was Cullen Tortora, who was also an option for the centerfield job. It wasn’t like we didn’t have personnel there, and somebody had to at eighth after all. But somebody also had to bat first, and that somehow got me back to Juan del Toro. The Stars would trade him for Raffy, but not as long as my whiskers were still twitching…! But it would be possible to work out a package of two or three players to send over there instead. The Stars longed for pitching of all sorts, and the Coons longed for a leadoff man. Interestingly enough, Juan del Toro had rarely batted there in his career, and had not batted outside of the #3 slot for all of 2051. Del Toro was decent in center, but better in leftfield. A meh arm made rightfield a sub-par assignment. Then there was Maldo, who was beyond diving or jumping for a ball, but could still move. Pat Degenhardt and Cristiano Carmona opined that he might actually be better placed in rightfield at this point, which would open up first base for either Ken Crum or Pucks. Between those three and a potential del Toro addition, the three outfield spots and first base could be covered in multiple ways. Del Toro wasn’t playing first or right, and Maldo was beyond centerfield duties for sure, but his arm was still working, and he could still play four or five nights a week, with a sprinkling of f.e. Cullen Tortora against right-handers. Suzuki would be the fifth outfielder, and we could finally send Glodowski to Kingdom Come. Getting del Toro and his .419 OBP to bat leadoff would be such a boon for the team. Then add Lonzo, Crum, Pucks, Waters, DeMarco, Suggs, and Maldo, and suddenly we’re almost having ourselves a lineup… +++ Do you also feel me spending a week on the trade screen here, and then not do it? __________________ Portland Raccoons, 92 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

12-26-2022, 06:31 PM	#4064
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,788	I applied the handbrake abruptly after turning into aisle 6 at my local Wlodzimierz’ Food Outlet, prompting the numerous bottles of booze in the shopping cart to clank against each other noisily. The coupon! I had almost forgotten. Mumblingly, I trudged back around the shelf I had just turned around and walked back to the booze rack I had just plundered. I clawed through all the pockets of my coat until I found the wrinkled coupon – any bottle of Washington white wine, 25 cents off! Granted, the product was hardly good enough to rinse a dirty plate with, but it was 25 cents off! I grabbed the first thing that looked like it would taste like asphalt soaked in the intestines of some roadkill and walked back to the cart. To my dismay, in between my booze and the 50-pound sack of mixed nuts for Honeypaws, a reporter from the Agitator had taken a seat in the cart and immediately stuffed a little microphone into my pokey black nose. What’s with the deal with Dallas? Sir, I really don’t know what you’re on about. – We’re trying to trade for Juan del Toro? Are we? Really? – Yeah, would be horrible if we traded for another injury-addled wreck. – Yes, yes, I am aware he’s missed 40-odd games in each of the last 40-odd seasons. As I pushed the cart with the trenchcoat-wearing reporter, who noted down my every word, past a female customer and her cart, the five-year-old boy sitting in that cart gave us the most confused look. Let me ask you a question instead, you muckraker. Don’t you think the Raccoons need a leadoff batter? – So what would we want from del Toro. He’s not batting leadoff! – Actually, hold on… (bends into the freezer and takes out five frozen pizzas, dumping them into the reporter’s crotch) No, I also think the players need a more balanced diet. – Well as you can see I am a great role model. I got three pizzas with cheese in the crust and two without. Very balanced. As we reached the checkout, we met the lady with the five-year-old again, who was now distracted by the annoyingly placed chocolates in front of the checkout and was trying to whine his mother into buying him some, but she tried to tell him off. The Agitator snark, meanwhile, was about to ask some painfully valid questions about our prospect pipeline and the meh performance of our minor league teams the last few years, when he also noticed the chocolates and began to beg me for some chocolate as well. Him and the boy quickly started to out-whine each other, to the point where I turned to the mother and asked her whether she wanted to switch the two, for which I caught one in the snout, and probably for good reason. +++ What do you mean, Steve from Accounting, you can’t reimburse me for this purchase at the Food Outlet?? (nestles through a file with other receipts) How is that … It’s 120 bucks of booze and foodstuffs! How’s that not tax-deductible?? – Yes. Mostly chocolate. – I had to throw a pound of chocolate into a hedge to coax the Portland Agitator reporter out of my car. – Well, next time I’ll bring him here with me, and YOU can talk to that leech! (finds the receipt from the Honduran roofers that fixed the leak over section 52 for half the federal minimum wage, with his own confirming paw print authorizing payment in cash on it) Actually, Steve, thinking about it, I’d prefer it if you didn’t talk to the Agitator about anything we’re doing here. Ever. +++ November 10 – The Loggers’ 23-year-old 3B Nick Jackson (.262, 8 HR, 92 RBI) announces his retirement from baseball, unable to recover properly from a broken kneecap suffered in April. November 15 – In a major trade, the Raccoons acquire LF/CF Juan del Toro (.337, 108 HR, 486 RBI) from the Stars for a package containing SP Bubba Wolinsky (58-42, 3.77 ERA), SP Juan Mercado (10-7, 3.79 ERA), and MR Willie Cruz (9-11, 3.60 ERA, 50 SV). The Stars also wire the Raccoons $750k in cash as part of the deal. November 23 – The Rebels sign ex-LVA SP Pablo Paez (53-53, 4.27 ERA) to a 5-yr, $16.6M contract. +++ Calm down, Honeypaws. It’s alright. Well, that’s through! The Raccoons snatched one of the best players in the league to fix up their lineup once and for all (cough!), and instead blew a Kansas-sized hole into their rotation. The Stars wanted pitching, and they wanted a lot of it. Not that Cruz was much of a loss – he was certainly electric at times, but in two years we’d been through some quite spectacular blowouts with him, and even in a setup role he was tough to watch. The real losses were Wolinsky and Mercado, the latter a surprise breakout in 2051 after starting the season in AAA. So he could now have his sophomore swoon with the Stars, I guess! Hah! Juan Mercado will definitely win a Pitcher of the Year before long, won’t he? The Coons were left with Wheats, Salcido, and Raffy for a rotation. Add Kyle Brobeck if you feel brave today, but he walked more than he struck out over his 12 starts (70 innings) this year. He’s 23, with room for growth, but he also had the same 5.1 BB/9 mark he showed in the majors in AAA this season, so that’s that. I guess trading for del Toro means we’re officially competing again now, so we should maybe fix that hole in the rotation with a more serious effort than with the Honduran roofers. Also, all of those four pitchers mentioned here are right-handed (and so would be Seisaku Taki), so a lefty starter wouldn’t be the worst idea. There was also the Rule 5 draft coming up and I was trying to create space on the 40-man roster to protect a number of AAA players, including Dave Blackshire, Carmen Argenziano, Prospero Tenazes, Dante Gutierrez, and Raul Medrano. Danny Hall and Steve Richardson, AAA pitchers with ABL experience, ended up on waivers, as did Jeff Raczka. The thing was, there were a lot of players on the 40-man roster that had already seen quite some major league action, had not impressed, but were somehow still only 24, 25, or 26. You know, the Polibio O’Higgins, Rich Seymour, Tyler Philipps, Eric Reese, Matt Dixon, Oscar Rivera class of player. The ones you hate to waive to make them a future Elk. +++ November 27 – The Raccoons come to terms with 24-year-old Japanese right-hander SP Seisaku Taki, who signs for 5-yr, $15M. November 27 – The Loggers deal RF/1B Will McIntyre (.278, 27 HR, 242 RBI) to the Buffaloes for two prospects. November 28 – The Stars acquire 3B Mike Crenshaw (.301, 84 HR, 368 RBI), a former Scorpion, for $16.56M over four years. December 1 – Rule 5 Draft: 16 players are taken in the draft. The Raccoons are not affected. December 1 – The Miners claim AAA SP Danny Hall (2-7, 3.52 ERA) off waivers by the Raccoons. +++ Well, that’s gonna stuff the hole in the rotation! It’s now only Rhode Island-sized. Just when I was going to do something stupid to get David Barel from the Titans. Talk about selling the farm. The WHOLE farm. …which still had us with Brobeck provisionally pencilled into the #5 spot, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t gonna try and twangle us a new pitcher somehow. I tried to fool the Buffos out of Kennedy Adkins, a young pitcher I had tried to get from the Caps before, but they politely told me to take my business elsewhere. What else could we need? A right-handed outfielder that’s not Matt Glodowski to provide some balance against lefty pitchers. Batting DeMarco leadoff was one of my wickeder ideas to give either del Toro or Pucks the day off against southpaws, and from our three switch-hitters (Crum, Suggs, Waters), only Waters had really lop-sided splits and was hitting right-handers much better. There’d probably be a Mitch Sivertson or something on the roster for those situations. At this point, we carried 29 players on the extended roster, 13 pitchers and 16 position players. There was definitely room for more qualified pitching, since the pitchers included the (sometimes chronically) underdone Brobeck, Dixon, O’Higgins, and Reese as well as the rather pedestrian Snyder and Miles. Filler material among position players included Philipps, Seymour, and Glodowski’s useless pelt. Other old Coons finding new employment: Juan Jimenez joins the Loggers for 2-yr, $924k; Attached Images __________________ Portland Raccoons, 92 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

12-27-2022, 01:54 PM	#4065
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,788	December 4 – The Cyclones grab back 3B Jesus Burgos (.305, 80 HR, 761 RBI) after three and a half years in Vancouver for the 32-year-old, with $13.96M over four years paid to facilitate the reunion. December 4 – The Falcons sign up 34-year-old ex-LAP SP Kevin Clendenen (115-128, 3.79 ERA) to a 2-yr, $7.28M contract. December 5 – The Stars coax ex-SFB 2B/SS Sergio Quiroz (.288, 107 HR, 610 RBI) to Dallas with the promise of a 5-yr, $17.6M contract. December 5 – Another reunion: 38-yr-old INF/RF/LF Felix Marquez (.278, 176 HR, 888 RBI), lastly of the Cyclones, signs up for a third tour of duty with the Buffaloes on a 2-yr, $6.48M deal. December 6 – The Warriors are a-shopping, trading for CL Ben Lussier (11-7, 3.82 ERA, 40 SV) with the Pacifics, who receive two prospects. December 6 – In Atlanta, they also manage to fleece the Warriors for two prospects in exchange for MR Mike Hall (7-4, 2.82 ERA, 6 SV). The returns include #165 prospect C Marco Nieto. December 7 – And the Warriors continue their reliever shopping spree during winter meetings, picking up MR Taylor Stabile (28-28, 3.64 ERA, 18 SV) from the Crusaders, with cash, for #153 prospect SP Jose Ortega. December 19 – The Condors ink ex-RIC SP Omar Lara (135-104, 3.32 ERA) to a 2-yr, $11.6M contract. December 20 – Dallas gets the services of 41-year-old CL Josh Livingston (99-91, 3.01 ERA, 376 SV) on board for 2052 for the cost of $2.44M. December 21 – Denver inks ex-RIC SP Kellen Lanning (94-54, 3.46 ERA) for five years and $28.68M. December 21 – The Rebels pass out $7.52M over two years to former Miners CL Sam Gibson (42-34, 2.64 ERA, 224 SV), a new high-water mark for a contract’s average annual value for closers. December 21 – The Indians trade SP Alfredo Llamas (23-23, 3.97 ERA) to the Thunder for two prospects, #79 SP Tauro Mata and #104 UT Mark Younce. December 22 – The Thunder also get longtime division rival 3B/1B Ramon Sifuentes (.281, 171 HR, 919 RBI), with two distinct Bayhawks stints, signed up to a 2-yr, $3.4M contract. +++ The winter meetings passed without the Raccoons doing anything stupid for a change, but I was secretly working on “Project Lefty” to kick Kyle Brobeck out of the rotation and give us a truly Fearsome Five as the team made another push for the playoffs. The lefty in question had just won a Pitcher of the Year award and had been a general nuisance to the Raccoons for years. And the Titans were in rebuilding mode and not entirely averse to trading David Barel either. Him and Wheatley, together with Salcido (two no-hitters at 25, he has to be doing something right), and then two high-ceiling wild cards in Taki and Raffy; if the latter turned out only half as good as I have been overprotective of him for the last five years, we’d win 120 games next year… Be careful with that straw, Raffy. We don’t want you to poke your eye out while having a cocoa. (turns back to his own booze-laced cocoa and pokes straw into his own big black googly eye) The thing was, the Titans were lusting for prospects. They, too, were keen on pitchers, and the Raccoons had already stripped the farm quite a bit – the upcoming farm report would probably look harsh, but part of that was also the promotion of numerous well-ranked prospects to the major leagues this year. On the preliminary list as of December, the Coons held only four ranked prospects anymore, all pitchers, and it looked like the Titans would want at least two of those. The Coons would have liked to get rid of a surplus outfielder in the trade, but that one didn’t seem likely to happen, either. At the same time, there was another lefty option available without burning down the old plantation entirely, and probably for less than $1.5M on a 1-year deal (Barel, too, was only under contract for the 2052 season anymore), and he was also a former division rival, longtime Crusaders southpaw Carlos Malla. Malla of course was a 33-51 pitcher with a 4.30 career ERA and three years from 2047 to 2049 where he was primarily injured, but he also played on some lackluster New York teams. No comparison to Barel, though, neither in the scouting report nor in the performance numbers on the geek sites, with Barel – routinely pitching without run support for his entire career – putting together a 2.84 ERA in 220 games (205 starts) with an 89-78 record. Barel would be paid $3.08M for 2052. And I also tried to get the trade done before he could sign an extension with the Titans, which was something that was rumored to be in the works on the usual rumor mills on and off Gobble. Elsewhere we were in the bidding for Sam Gibson, half-heartedly as it turned out. He kept saying he was having offers for over $3M per year when we were not going to offer more than $2M per season, and it turned out for once that a player wasn’t even blatantly lying to me. From the Former Furball Re-Employment Wire: Eduardo Avila got $2.5M over two years from the Knights; Willie Maldonado signed with the Gold Sox for $442k; Brian Kaufman moved down I-5 to the Wolves for $580k; Attached Images __________________ Portland Raccoons, 92 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

12-29-2022, 06:54 AM	#4066
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,788	December 28 – The Gold Sox sign up ex-OCT CL Mike Lynn (48-43, 2.55 ERA, 225 SV) with a 3-yr, $9.6M contract. December 28 – The Thunder console themselves by immediately adding ex-Loggers stopper Jeremy Mayhall (46-41, 3.17 ERA, 157 SV) for three years and $5.58M. December 31 – Another former Thunder joins the FL West, as 30-yr old SS/3B Alex Adame (.284, 40 HR, 558 RBI) signs with the Stars for 3-yr, $6.36M. January 4 – The Raccoons acquire 30-yr old SP David Barel (89-78, 2.84 ERA) and $850k in cash from the Titans for a package of 30-year-old C Ruben Gonzalez (.242, 54 HR, 266 RBI) and three prospects: #54 AAA SP Kenneth Spencer, AAA SP Daniel Silin, and AA OF Ethan Torrence. +++ That was also my absolutely final offer to the Titans after the haggling went back and forth for a month. Spencer was the last top 100 prospect left in the system, so we flushed that one good, and now there was only the vague hope that it would all work out somehow. And that meant two things: that the team clicked and competed again, AND that we could work out a follow-up deal with Barel in the next ten months, because he was going to be a free agent at the end of the year and if he walked, it would be a sucky departure. The other prospects in the deal were ultimately not the brightest burners; there was some hope for Torrence, but Silin had cost roughly half a million to sign in a July IFA window, but ultimately had no command over his pitches and looked like a bust, although he was still only 22. Gone is also one of the last three-ringed Coons in Ruben Gonzalez (who also would have been in a contract year). Only Wheats, Maldo, and Waters remain from that category. Hitchcock took (a small) part in two rings – and that is ALL that is left from the 2044, 2046, and 2047 champs. The move also opened a new hole at backup catcher, because Tyler Philipps is not considered The Thing, and we may want to look into acquiring a veteran backup to Sean Suggs at this latter stage of the offseason. We were also still at least one reliever short in the pen, but had a surplus of outfielders. Although, maybe we should look at it from a different perspective and weave first base into the outfield considerations, because that’s what the roster reality is – although that still meant seven roster spots for four positions on the field, with two catchers leaving only four guys to cover the other three infield spots. Maldo, Crum, Pucks were all going to move back and forth between the outfield and first base, and none of the other infielders really had much expertise there. It wasn’t the tallest bunch there on the infield, a lot of 6’0’’. Funnily enough, the shortest position player on staff was Ken Crum at 5’11’’ … and a-half as he claimed. Also interesting: the shortest pitcher on the team, tied with Paul Miles? Wheats, at 5’10’’. There was some energy in that petit sized pitcher, though! (Wheats stops mid-gobble over his food bowl and glares, trying to work out whether that was a compliment or an insult) We were also arriving at our budget cap now; only $1.2M were left after the Barel trade, but also $2.95M in cash, so there was room for another free agent; besides, what did we need a player development budget for anymore? We had no more players to develop…! (nervous snicker) … (fiddles the label off a bottle of Capt’n Coma) Nah, I didn’t like that setup… +++ January 9 – CLCS foes trade as the Coons send OF/1B Cullen Tortora (.256, 55 HR, 423 RBI) and $500k in cash to the Thunder for MR Justin Johns (44-59, 4.39 ERA, 29 SV) and AAA MR Ryan Harmer. +++ The Thunder wanted to get rid of Johns, who was at odds with certain forces in their clubhouse. We had just parted with the odd malcontent or two, so why not add more of that sort? All the bickering aside, he was a very competent right-handed reliever and we needed somebody like that to strengthen the 7th/8th inning for us. Him and Eloy Sencion should be a sturdy setup pair in front of Hitchcock. In reality, the Thunder would have taken almost everybody back for Johns, that urgent was his departure to them. They would have taken Rich Seymour, but by parting with a surplus left-handed outfielder (yes, they would have taken Glodowski, but right-handed outfielders are not a dime a dozen in January, so his useless pelt stayed), also the one most likely to cause squabbles once his playing time would diminish, the Coons hoped to help all areas of their roster. Harmer, the prospect, was not ranked, but had a nifty cutter/forkball combo, keeping it on the ground, and all he needed was better control. He was not a guarantee to make it – he was already 24 – but a nice backup to have in AAA. The Raccoons cleaned out the lower minors in December, sending home some failed prospects, but the most notable example was probably eighth-rounder Jason Phillips, a 22-year-old outfielder still failing to hit in single-A Aumsville. More ex-Coons with new jobs: Bryce Toohey took a 2-yr, $4.16M offer from the Buffos; Brian Nigro joined the Caps for $1.04M; +++ 2052 ABL HALL OF FAME VOTING Only one player was added to the Hall of Fame this year, and it was the no-brainer newly added to the ballot, elected with a sweeping 99.1% of the vote: Danny Santillano. The left-handed batting first baseman signed out of Venezuela for $510k in 2022 and made his debut with the Miners four years later as a 20-year-old. By the time he was 21, he owned the Federal League, winning six straight batting titles, plus two home run crowns, a triple crown, and five slugging titles by the time of his age 26 season. He won also five straight Player of the Year awards during that time. And while he didn’t maintain that sort of dominance into the following 14 seasons in the majors, he remained a force at the plate, winning another two home run titles, four slugging titles, and an RBI crown in addition to 14 All Star nominations, 11 Platinum Sticks, and two FLCS MVPs, one of those (as well as two slugging titles) in a brief interlude with the Cyclones. For his career, Santillano menaced the league with a .331/.419/.531 slash line, 3,451 base hits, 457 homers, and 1,755 RBI – the latter mark being the all-time career mark in the league. His home run total is second only to Ron Alston’s 475, and only five players mashed more base hits (Pablo Sanchez, Victorino Sanchez, Dale Wales, Cristo Ramirez, Jeffery Brown). Full results: PIT 1B Danny Santillano – 1st – 99.1 – INDUCTED ??? C Nate Evans – 1st – 57.3 ??? CL Josh Boles – 3rd – 39.8 ??? CL Chris Henry – 1st – 38.3 SAL C Morgan Kuhlmann – 1st – 30.0 DAL SP Eric Weitz – 1st – 24.3 TIJ SP Jeff Little – 10th – 13.1 – DROPPED LAP CF Justin Fowler – 7th – 12.5 SFW 2B Mario Colon – 2nd – 9.2 BOS LF Willie Vega – 4th – 5.9 TOP SP David Elliott – 6th – 5.0 SFW C Ethan McCullar – 2nd – 3.9 – DROPPED SAL SP Ryan Bedrosian – 2nd – 3.3 – DROPPED RIC CL Yeom Soung – 1st – 3.0 – DROPPED VAN SP Mike Mihalik – 1st – 2.7 – DROPPED SFB 2B Jose Cruz – 1st – 1.8 – DROPPED SAL LF Kyle Weinstein – 1st – 1.5 – DROPPED NAS SP Sean Fowler – 1st – 0.6 – DROPPED Attached Images __________________ Portland Raccoons, 92 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

12-30-2022, 08:51 AM	#4067
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,788	In what other ways could the franchise still be ruined now that we were already entering the second half of January? I wasn’t convinced yet by Cristiano Carmona’s idea for a prospect swimwear beauty contest, but maybe that was something for the All Star break… +++ January 16 – The Bayhawks sign former Warriors outfielder Danny Munn (.260, 88 HR, 367 RBI) to a 5-yr, $25.24M contract. January 16 – The Raccoons announce the addition of 29-yr old former Blue Sox MR Paul Crisler (23-16, 4.03 ERA, 18 SV) on a 3-yr, $3.75M deal. January 18 – The Rebels add SP Paul Paris (106-106, 4.15 ERA, 2 SV), formerly of the Condors, on a 2-yr, $7.04M deal. January 19 – The Scorpions strike two deals in one day, adding OF/1B Pedro Colon (.274, 46 HR, 296 RBI) from the Bayhawks in exchange for SP Mario de Anda (81-55, 3.68 ERA); and in the other deal get MR Ralph Needham (18-19, 3.27 ERA, 29 SV) from the Blue Sox for a prospect. January 23 – The Aces get SP Josh Pennington (4-6, 4.23 ERA) from the Wolves for outfielder Dustin Huber (.230, 0 HR, 12 RBI). January 27 – The Bayhawks grab ex-DAL SP Tony Martinez (47-35, 4.02 ERA) on a 3-yr, $14.76M deal. January 27 – The Coons add 28-yr old C Aaron Brewer (.273, 4 HR, 26 RBI) for $500k. Brewer spent the last years in the Crusaders system. February 6 – The Capitals acquire 3B Randy Wilken (.241, 92 HR, 382 RBI) from the Falcons for MR Victor Erazo (0-1, 5.79 ERA) and #42 prospect OF Doug Conner. +++ Brewer also hasn’t played in the majors since 2049. In fact, he has appeared in just 63 career games, but for three different teams between 2044 and 2049. He’s a depth signing, also an admission that we can’t do much better than Tyler Philipps as the backup catcher to begin the 2052 season – the budget is almost used up at this point. To get Brewer onto the 40-man roster, AAA man Shane Honig was put on waivers. Paris was another free agent the Raccoons sniffed at, but then Seisuke Taki signed and we went to go looking for a southpaw instead. The Colon-de Anda trade exchanged former Elks teammates for each other. Seisaku? – Maud, are you sure? – In my head it’s Seisuke Taki. Just like Cesar Salcido and Ricky de la Cruz.* What does Seisaku even mean, Maud? – Something like “perfect creation”? – We’ll talk about that once he’s Pitcher of the Year. And Seisuke? – I beg the baseball gods for mercy anyway …! – Fine, I’ll stick to yours…! Crisler could have been a devastating starter with his wipeout slider and 96mph fastball and cutter if he had enough stamina, but he had never started a game above AA level, and even then was barely averaging five innings per start, and it wasn’t for a lack of class. He was yet another sturdy 7th/8th inning option, however – or even for earlier. He could readily pitch two or three innings, and in fact had been abused for 94 innings in relief by the Sox in ’51. Other Coons with new teams? Arturo Carreno got $410k from the Rebs; the Buffaloes signed Rikuto Ito for $720k; Ricky Jimenez joined the Scorpions for $700k; Julian Ponce will pitch with the Warriors for two years and $1.36M; +++ I wish I was kidding. The rest of the offseason might even come later today, and maybe also the season-opening post, this means we might start the new season still this year! Huzzah! =) Attached Images __________________ Portland Raccoons, 92 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

12-30-2022, 03:04 PM	#4068
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,788	There wasn’t much going on in Portland anymore in the last eight weeks of the offseason. The Raccoons signed one more discarded minor leaguer to a minor league deal, and that was that. Carlos Malla, who the Raccoons would have gone after more aggressively if the Barel deal had not come together after all, signed in February with the Capitals, taking in $1.26M for the 2052 season. Former Furballs that signed new contracts included: Wade Gardner getting all of $3.72M over two years from the Rebels; Pat Gurney landing with the Falcons for $466k; __________________ Portland Raccoons, 92 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

12-31-2022, 07:41 AM	#4069
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,788	2052 PORTLAND RACCOONS – Opening Day Roster (first set in parenthesis shows 2051 stats, second set career stats; players with an * are off season acquisitions): SP Jason Wheatley, 31, B:R, T:R (19-7, 2.51 ERA \| 124-78, 3.29 ERA) – Although he was denied his second Pitcher of the Year award by then-foe David Barel, Wheats put in an excellent season after some soul-searching in 2050, and at least won his second ERA title. One of only three three-ringed Coons remaining (Waters, Maldo). He has five good to very good pitches, and when he mixes them well can breeze through innings untouched. SP David Barel , 30, B:L, T:L (19-9, 2.56 ERA \| 89-78, 2.84 ERA, 2 SV) – acquired from the Titans in a trade this winter, Barel is the current CL Pitcher of the Year and as three excellent pitches to subdue hitters with. He has posted sub-3 ERA in his last four years (including one injury-shortened season), and has all the qualities you look for in a team leader. He’s also in a contract year. SP Victor Salcido, 26, B:R, T:R (10-9, 3.38 ERA \| 31-29, 3.59 ERA) – cost almost half a million to sign as international free agent in 2044, and found an opening in the rotation in 2048, immediately sticking in it. Could be a bit better in terms of control of his otherwise undisputable stuff, but he threw his second no-hitter at age 25, so he has to be doing something* right…! SP Seisaku Taki , 24, B:R, T:R (no stats) – another right-handed groundballer that was imported from Japan. Taki has three very good pitches, throws 95, and should be a delight. But we said that about the last couple of Japanese imports, of which Mikio Suzuki has stuck around by far the longest already….. SP Rafael de la Cruz, 21, B:L, T:R (7-8, 4.36 ERA \| 7-8, 4.36 ERA) – it wasn’t all golden for golden boy in his debut season, but he worked respectably well in his first 21 starts. He can throw 100 for strikes, and still keep the damn thing on the ground; as soon as he works out some kinks, he’ll be a terror on the league. For sure! SP/MR Paul Miles, 28, B:L, T:L (6-3, 3.82 ERA, 2 SV \| 10-6, 3.97 ERA, 2 SV) – a waiver claim in mid-2050, Miles mostly got garbage time baseball ever since joining the Coons pen, but also made three spot starts, and has thrown 104.1 innings across 62 appearances. Three oh-well pitches, but somehow the fans like him. MR Mike Snyder, 25, B:S, T:R (1-0, 4.72 ERA \| 4-0, 4.60 ERA) – devastating curveball with a 95mph cutter, not bad a for a “failed starter” who was a first-round pick (#21 at least) in the 2045 draft. Quite serious control problems, though, walking over six batters per nine innings in 43 appearances across his two partial major league seasons. MR Brett Lillis jr., 26, B:L, T:L (3-1, 1.45 ERA \| 5-3, 2.81 ERA) – his father was a fairly pleasant presence on some Coons rosters that never progressed past the CLCS, but the offspring had quite the hard time of it in odd bits of major league playing time in 2049 and 2050, but seems to have turned it around in 2051 after starting the season in AAA. He struck out 10.1/9 upon his return and was rarely the issue across 53 appearances (96 for his career). 95mph cutter, scooping curve, and finally the walks are coming down as well. MR Paul Crisler , 29, B:R, T:R (7-6, 4.02 ERA, 1 SV \| 23-16, 4.03 ERA, 18 SV) – Crisler, a former Blue Sock signed as free agent, is a very good right-handed setup option with three very good pitches; his main issues are ho-hum control and a lack of stamina that precludes him from being a potentially great starter. SU Eloy Sencion, 25, B:L, T:L (4-2, 2.73 ERA, 3 SV \| 4-2, 2.73 ERA, 5 SV) – vicious slider, and good enough control to rarely be an issue, Sencion is the top lefty in the bullpen going into 2052. SU Justin Johns , 34, B:R, T:R (1-2, 3.68 ERA, 1 SV \| 44-59, 4.39 ERA, 29 SV) – a difficult character the Thunder had an acute urge to get rid off, Johns throws a great curve and should efficiently partner up with Sencion ahead of Hitchcock. CL Kevin Hitchcock, 29, B:R, T:R (3-5, 2.20 ERA, 24 SV \| 12-13, 3.09 ERA, 30 SV) – the German right-hander seems to have finally figured his own stuff out and after a stellar 2050 season won the closer’s job from Willie Cruz a few months into the 2051 campaign. Few things to complain about here; if anything it’s his tendency to give up a homer here or there. Only Coon other than Wheats, Waters, and Maldo with rings (two in fact) from the 2040s dynasty, even though he only partook occasionally in those last two championship seasons. C Sean Suggs, 29, B:S, T:R (.287, 9 HR, 52 RBI \| .310, 114 HR, 507 RBI) – solid defensively, the former Player of the Year came over from the Bayhawks during the summer, dropped 54 points of batting average and poked for a 79 OPS+ before disappearing onto the DL. It can not get much worse than that in his first full season as a Critter. C/1B Tyler Philipps, 25, B:R, T:R (.250, 2 HR, 10 RBI \| .250, 2 HR, 10 RBI) – excellent defensive catcher that debuted late in the 2051 season; not much of a hitter, and his knack to draw walks (9 BB vs. 12 H in 58 PA) is mostly useless given his lack of speed that would create a roadblock at the top of the order. RF/1B/LF Jesus Maldonado, 38, B:R, T:R (.268, 5 HR, 55 RBI \| .291, 206 HR, 1,136 RBI) – final year on that huge contract, and probably also the final year his body can drag itself onto the field at all, although he held up until September in 2051; his defense is completely gone, and he’s even a burden at first base; he might actually play some semi-workable rightfield more often than not, given that the one thing he can still do is fire rockets from down there. SS/2B Matt Waters, 31, B:S, T:R (.239, 14 HR, 56 RBI \| .258, 152 HR, 593 RBI) – Home Run King! …in 2048. Struggled to hit for anything at all for a long time in ’51 and eventually batted leadoff for most of the season since he was drawing more walks than ever, still pulling out a semi-defensible .345 OBP with some speed to boot (169 career SB). It could be touch and go between him and Juan del Toro in the leadoff spot, and they might even switch frequently. And wouldn’t you know – he has already served half of the 10-year contract he over-eagerly signed after the 2046 season! SS/3B Lorenzo Lavorano, 24, B:R, T:R (.277, 3 HR, 52 RBI \| .284, 8 HR, 113 RBI) – Everybody loves Lonzo! If you don’t love Lonzo, you can’t be my friend…! Has won two stolen base titles in two full seasons, and we have already elaborated on how his sub-.700 OPS means little when he can turn the singles and (rare) walks into doubles like that. And I wouldn’t sneeze at the Gold Glove he won at short in ’51, either! 2B/3B/SS/CF Nick DeMarco, 31, B:R, T:R (.271, 13 HR, 75 RBI \| .282, 51 HR, 370 RBI) – very versatile defender on the infield, DeMarco was acquired from the damn Elks mid-season and hit a few walkoffs right away before quietly disappearing into the list of “also not hitting”. 3B Ed Crispin, 25, B:L, T:R (.257, 5 HR, 37 RBI \| .263, 17 HR, 112 RBI) – once upon a time one of the returns from the Rebels in the deal that sent Josh Rella away, Crispin’s a good defender at the hot corner, with a middle of the road bat that might see him hit 12-15 homers in a full season, but with the personnel we have available, he figures very much to be a backup or infrequent starter against right-handers, with DeMarco shifting over to rest the middle infielders. 3B/SS/LF/RF/2B Mitch Sivertson, 26, B:R, T:R (.260, 0 HR, 17 RBI \| .247, 0 HR, 22 RBI) – super-utility with a thin singles stick and no desire to walk or go yard. Could also be used as pinch-runner here or there. LF/1B/RF Ken Crum, 29, B:S, T:L (.311, 14 HR, 70 RBI \| .286, 85 HR, 457 RBI) – led the league in RBI and OPS in 2049, but had a major regression episode in ’50 before coming over in a trade with the Bayhawks. He hit well in 2051 until missing 45 games on the DL. If he can stay on the field and find the swing again that had him sock 27 homers in 2049, he might even win a second Player of the Year title. LF/CF Juan del Toro , 27, B:L, T:R (.360, 23 HR, 80 RBI \| .337, 108 HR, 486 RBI) – what was the major offensive addition in Ken Crum last year, is del Toro this year. He came in a farm-ravaging trade with the Stars and brought along his 2051 batting title from the Federal League. Absolute menace in the lineup, although he’s been hitting third most of the time with Dallas, and the Coons toy with the thought of having him lead off due to his .394 career OBP (and .413+ in three of the last four years). LF/1B/RF Alan Puckeridge, 24, B:L, T:R (.309, 14 HR, 87 RBI \| .295, 20 HR, 138 RBI) – the offensive breakout of 2051 that was not nearly talked about enough, Pucks combined elegant outfield play (though still learning the ropes in center) with a high-average, occarional-power bat, and can also steal bases with great frequency. Ironically he might have stolen more than the 35 bags he got in ’51 on a roster without Lonzo, because you can’t be running on them all the time. Might end up playing center most of the time, which is his worst position. RF/LF Matt Glodowski, 32, B:R, T:R (.231, 9 HR, 37 RBI \| .253, 15 HR, 70 RBI) – one day I’ll figure out how his useless pelt made the roster again. Well, he does have some applications as a southpaw slayer, but he can’t hit right-handers, he can’t run, he can not field very well, and yet, he’s here… CF/RF/LF Mikio Suzuki, 28, B:L, T:L (.248, 6 HR, 41 RBI \| .248, 6 HR, 50 RBI) – signed out of Japan for not a lot of dosh, Suzuki was advertised as a versatile defender and potential base stealer, while probably having mostly a singles bat. What we got was a snuff movie of injuries, not hitting, more injuries and more not hitting. Keeps hanging on for the time being. On disabled list: Nobody. Otherwise unavailable: Nobody. Other roster movement: SP Kyle Brobeck, 24, B:S, T:R (4-5, 4.63 ERA \| 7-7, 4.43 ERA) – optioned to AAA; groundballer acquired in a trade with the Knights for Armando Herrera, he threw a shutout as a 22-year-old, but has been getting whacked around a bit as well. Five pitches in the arsenal, but still finding both control and strikeouts. Notably a very good hitter by pitchers’ standards. SP/MR Matt Dixon, 26, B:R, T:R (0-0, 1.80 ERA \| 0-0, 1.80 ERA) – optioned to AAA; was used only in relief late in the 2051 season while being a starter throughout his minor league career, although he wasn’t gonna hack it as a starter in the majors. MR Polibio O’Higgins, 25, B:R, T:R (3-1, 1.13 ERA \| 3-5, 5.26 ERA) – waived and DFA’ed; loves to fire his 97mph heater, and hitters love to see that. Looks like he’s turning into a grave that took a bleeping $570k to dig. He was put on waivers when we could have optioned Mike Snyder for free. MR Eric Reese, 24, B:L, T:L (0-0, 1.17 ERA \| 0-0, 1.17 ERA) – optioned to AAA; made some odd appearances out of the pen as a situational lefty, and while it didn’t show in the majors (1 BB in 7.2 IP), he struggled for 5.2 BB/9 in AAA and is nowhere near major-league ready and probably never will be. C Aaron Brewer , 29, B:R, T:R (played in minors \| .273, 4 HR, 26 RBI) – waived and DFA’ed; signed as free agent on the cheap and as backup to Suggs and Philipps. Only has 63 major league appearances. 2B Rich Seymour, 25, B:R, T:R (.143, 0 HR, 2 RBI \| .204, 0 HR, 12 RBI) – waived and DFA’ed; young second-sacker that basically can’t hit and probably never will. Everybody not mentioned by now has already been waived, reassigned, or turned into duck food during the offseason. OPENING DAY LINEUP: It’s really hard to give you a primary lineup this year, and the reason for that is the general state of flux among the three outfield spots and first base that we have now. Maldo plays only first and right, del Toro plays only left and center, but Pucks and Crum can roam on all four of those positions and we expect at least some degree of shifting back and forth. Suzuki will mostly offer rest days for the regulars by playing center against right-handers, while Glodowski should be in the lineup most of the time against left-handers, which would then sit either del Toro or Pucks, or maybe even Crum. Maldo might also get additional rest days against right-handers, which again gets Suzuki involved. Vs. RHP: LF/CF del Toro – SS Lavorano – OF/1B Puckeridge – OF/1B Crum – 2B Waters – 3B DeMarco – 1B/RF Maldonado – C Suggs – P (Vs. LHP: LF/CF del Toro (or 2B Waters) – SS Lavorano – OF/1B Puckeridge (or del Toro) – OF/1B Crum (or Pucks) – 2B Waters – 3B DeMarco – RF Glodowski – 1B Maldonado – C Suggs – P) Ideally Maldo bats about sixth, which makes it more likely we hit a spot in the late game, where we can double-switch him out for defense in a close affair. Sivertson could also run for him and then take over a corner outfield spot late in the game. DeMarco also remains available as a plus centerfield option. I mean, we have options here, which is better than having no options! OFF SEASON CHANGES: Two mellow seasons removed from five straight pennants 2044-48, the Raccoons were in the World Series again in ’51, but let’s not talk about that anymore. It was also not an extension of that previous dynasty. As pointed out, hardly any personnel from that title run was still left, and one of them (Ruben Gonzalez) got shipped off this offseason. But the Raccoons had a good offseason by any measuring stick you’ll hold against it. We hardly lost anything in free agency, and the biggest established departure in trade was Ruben Gonzalez – or Cullen Tortora, although he was on the DL for five months in ’51 and hardly ever wore the brown shirt in combat. But the Coons got back seven players this winter, three of which are projected to make much noise: the reigning CL Pitcher of the Year, the reigning FL batting champ, and the best-looking Japanese import pitcher in a number of years; plus two sturdy righty relievers. And don’t forget that we already acquired some beefy players last summer, they just still have breaking out to do. Isn’t that right, Sean? All the effort got the Raccoons (just barely) into the top 5 in offseason WAR gains according to BNN: Top 5: Warriors (+10.0), Stars (+7.1), Buffaloes (+6.1), Capitals (+4.7), Raccoons (+4.5) Bottom 5: Aces/Knights (tied, -4.2), Canadiens (-4.6), Pacifics (-5.3), Wolves (-7.8), Titans (-12.5) The other CL North teams would be ranked 10th (MIL, +1.0), 12th (IND, +0.3), and 18th (NYC, -4.1). PREDICTION TIME: When I said last year that the Coons would lose 86 games, I clearly just jumbled the numbers and really meant 68. (cough!) The rebuild somehow got supercharged and the Raccoons are absolute contenders in the league again this year. In fact, if I look around the division I struggle to see which team might keep them from taking the division. 90 wins should be a baseline, and I think we can win 96 this year. PLAYER DEVELOPMENT: After three straight years of holding sixth place in the annual prospect rankings, then Raccoons plunged 14 spots all the way to 20th place, for which there are multiple reasons. For once, of the nine ranked prospects we had last year, hardly anybody is left over. #5 Rafael de la Cruz, #46 Kyle Brobeck, #78 Tyler Philipps, and #197 Oscar Rivera all exceeded rookie limits and are no longer eligible, for one reason or another. Of course we then also sent #54 Kenneth Spencer to the Titans in the trade for David Barel, and #37 Duarte Damasceno to the Bayhawks for Sean Suggs. So that’s ALL of the top 5 from last year gone! Only three pitchers left over from the ranked prospects back then, although we did find three new ranked prospects in various ways for six in total, including two in the top 50 and top 100: 39th (new) – AA SP Matt Walters, 21 – 2051 first-round pick by Raccoons 50th (new) – ML SP Seisaku Taki, 24 – 2051 international free agent signed by Raccoons 101st (+24) – AAA SP Phil Baker, 23 – 2050 supplemental round pick by Raccoons 127th (+57) – AAA SP Carmen Argenziano, 23 – 2047 second-round pick by Raccoons 138th (new) – A 3B/2B Richard Anderson, 19 – 2050 supplemental round pick by Raccoons 198th (0) – AA CL Reynaldo Bravo, 20 – 2047 international free agent signed by Raccoons Finally, the top 10 overall prospects this year are: 1st (new) – LAP A C Brett Hamill, 20 2nd (-1) – MIL AA SP Tyler Riddle, 20 3rd (+5) – SFW AAA CL Ricardo Montoya, 21 4th (new) – IND A OF Cory Oldfield, 19 5th (+2) – TOP AAA SP Bill Hernandez, 22 6th (-2) – ATL ML 2B/SS Willie Acosta, 22 7th (+17) – WAS AA OF Carlos Mata, 22 8th (+5) – SAC AAA SP Ernesto Rios, 23 9th (+5) – MIL AAA OF/1B Phil Steinbacher, 23 10th (+5) – LAP AA CL Jose Reyes, 21 Hamill was the #4 pick in the 2051 draft, where Oldfield was taken #6. Rios was a top 10 prospect once before, in 2049, and the same is true for Steinbacher, but in 2050. This also leaves six prospects that were in the top 10 last season but are no longer. For #2 Knights C Pedro Almaguer, #3 Aces CF Dan Martin, #5 Coons SP Rafael de la Cruz, #6 Buffos C Matt McLaren, #9 Pacifics UT Jeremy Lindauer, and #10 Pacifics OF/1B Noah Caswell, the reason was always a happy one: they were all promoted to the majors, where most to them enjoyed some early success. Five of them also made the Opening Day roster for the new season, the sole exception being Almaguer, who was assigned back to AAA after hitting .204 across 54 games in 2051, but had hit .314 in AAA. Next: first pitch. Attached Images __________________ Portland Raccoons, 92 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

12-31-2022, 06:32 PM	#4070
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,788	Raccoons (0-0) vs. Titans (0-0) – April 1-3, 2052 The Raccoons got to open the season on Monday this time, and would host the Titans, whom they had just debareled, for a set of three games. The Titans had finished bottoms in the offseason WAR gains table and were not expected to go anywhere nice this year. They also opened the season against the two CLCS teams from last year, so there was that on top of everything else. Last year, this set had been 9-9 at the end of it all. Projected matchups: Jason Wheatley (0-0) vs. Kyle Turay (0-0) David Barel (0-0) vs. Thomas Turpeau (0-0) Victor Salcido (0-0) vs. Jamie Guidry (0-0) After the right-hander Turay, we’d straight up be served two southpaws. Game 1 BOS: 2B Whitlow – SS A. Montes de Oca – LF D. Gonzalez – 1B L. Rodriguez – RF T. Lopez – C R. Gonzalez – CF Bumpus – 3B J. Rodriguez – P Turay POR: LF del Toro – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – 1B Crum – 2B Waters – 3B DeMarco – RF Maldonado – C Suggs – P Wheatley The season was fun for exactly eight batters. Nobody reached in the first inning, and Larry Rodriguez reached on an error by Nick DeMarco to begin the top 2nd. Wheatley retired Tony Lopez and Ruben Gonzalez, who got a nice enough hand during introductions, but didn’t throw another pitch and instead waved for the attention of Dr. Padilla, who would after a brief consultation disappear in the tunnel with Wheats. While Paul Miles warmed up on the mound, I stoically opened a bottle of Capt’n Coma and muttered curses onto the baseball gods, which they’d surely appreciate. Miles was also the first Raccoon to reach base with a single through the left side in the bottom 3rd in what only lacked a bullpen blowout to inch itself into the top echelon of worst Opening Days ever. Angel Montes de Oca obeyed and hit a 2-out, 3-run homer in the fifth inning to break the ice on the season. Ahead of him, Jose Rodriguez had doubled to right and Eric Whitlow (who?) had drawn a full-count walk. Miles finished the inning, then was hit for with one gone in the bottom 5th after Maldo and Suggs hit singles off Turay. Ed Crispin grounded into an inning-ending 4-6-3, which sugged. Frankly, everything sugged. The top six in the Coons lineup stretched their non-hitting off Turay to 0-for-15 before DeMarco hit a 1-out single in the bottom 7th – that was with Ken Crum getting hit by Turay… twice. Maldo lined out to Jose Rodriguez, Suggs grounded out to Whitlow. But the game had more to give; the Coons’ pen with Snyder, Sencion, and Johns held the line in the 3-0 game through eight innings before Turay finally laid an egg and gave up a leadoff jack to a new batter in the #9 hole in the bottom 8th – Matt Glodowski. The 1-2-3 batters then immediately went about extending their oh-fers, and it didn’t get any better in the ninth against Eddie Sotelo; Crum, Waters, and DeMarco went in order. 3-1 Titans. Glodowski 1-1, HR, RBI; Wheatley 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K; Johns 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K; Don’t shoot the messenger – Dr. Padilla wasn’t 100% whether he could trust me with that one and sent Cristiano Carmona with the news instead. Wheats is gonna miss two months? – Shoulder tendinitis? – Maybe three? (pulls out the blunderbuss from under the desk and Cristiano spins around in his wheelchair to seek safety in flight) – Stop it, Cristiano! Come back! I’m not shooting you! – Come here. – Come here. – (hands Cristiano the blunderbuss and then dramatically tears off his shirt to expose his hairy chest) – Come on, Cristiano! Be a ***** man! Right in the heart!!! Cristiano refused, and so I was left to put Wheats on the DL. The Coons had Thursday off and then the Monday two weeks from now, which made for ten games in between, which sugged. We’d probably bring back Kyle Brobeck for that, but for the rest of this series added another reliever in Matt Dixon, who flew to Florida in the morning and flew back to Oregon in the evening on this ** Monday. Game 2 BOS: 2B Whitlow – SS A. Montes de Oca – RF T. Lopez – 1B L. Rodriguez – C R. Gonzalez – LF D. Gonzalez – CF Bumpus – 3B J. Rodriguez – P Turpeau POR: CF del Toro – SS Lavorano – LF Crum – 2B Waters – RF Glodowski – C Suggs – 1B Maldonado – 3B DeMarco – P Barel Straight singles by Lonzo, Crum, and Waters plated a run for Portland in the first inning before Glodowski walked and Suggs grounded into an inning-foiling double play, which sugged. In the fourth, Maldo walked, scored on a DeMarco double, and Barel singled home the third baseman for a 3-0 lead. At that point Barel not only had an RBI, which tied him for the team lead, but also a perfect game with six strikeouts, although Ruben Gonzalez’ single up the middle took that away in the fifth inning. Bottom 5th, the Coons loaded them up with straight singles by the 3-4-5 batters and one out, which brought back Suggs in a double play situation. He popped out this time, but Maldo also tamely flew out to Tony Lopez, which wasn’t helping. The Coons stranded another pair in the sixth when Lonzo flew out to Lopez and left DeMarco and del Toro on the corners, and Lopez then dropped a single in the seventh inning, which extended the Titans’ time at-bat long enough for Ruben Gonzalez to bury a 2-out, 2-run homer in the leftfield stands. With the score down to 3-2, the Raccoons had another three on, one out situation in the bottom 7th. Turpeau gave up a double to Waters, then was lifted for Gabe Blanco, who walked Suggs and nicked Maldo to fill the sacks. DeMarco brought home a run with a grounder up the middle. Jason Lettner at short only had a play on Maldo. Pucks batted for Barel, but grounded out, and the tying runs were on against Justin Johns in the eighth inning as Adam Bumpus singled and Lettner in the #9 hole drew a walk. With Elias Rodriguez (how many Rodriguezes do you need on a roster??) pinch-hitting for Whitlow, the Coons went to lefty Brett Lillis jr., who gave up a first-pitch single over Lonzo, then walked in a run against Ian Davison, 4-3. Exit Lillis, enter Paul Crisler, and also enter a score-flipping Tony Lopez double into leftfield, and your scorecard at home. And a 2-run single for Larry Rodriguez. The Coons entered the bottom 9th against Eddie Sotelo with a 3-run deficit, but after Waters popped out, both Suzuki and Crispin jabbed pinch-hit singles. Maldo came up as the tying run with one gone, but grounded out to Larry Rodriguez. DeMarco, though! Sharp grounder to the left side, and through…! It went for a 2-run double, and put the tying run in scoring position for … well, pinch-hitter Tyler Philipps. Who grounded out. 7-6 Titans. Crum 3-5; Waters 3-5, 2B, RBI; Suzuki (PH) 1-1; Crispin (PH) 1-1; DeMarco 2-4, BB, 2 2B, 4 RBI; Barel 7.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 9 K and 1-2, RBI; Game 3 BOS: 2B Whitlow – SS A. Montes de Oca – LF D. Gonzalez – 1B L. Rodriguez – RF T. Lopez – C R. Gonzalez – CF Bumpus – 3B J. Rodriguez – P Guidry POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – LF Crum – 3B DeMarco – RF Glodowski – 1B Maldonado – C Philipps – P Salcido Salcido struck out four against two hits the first time through, then smacked a leadoff double to left in the bottom 3rd to get the *** offense going. Waters singled, putting runners on the corners, and Lonzo made it 1-0 with a sac fly to Lopez in deep right. That was all we got in the inning, however, and running the bases also messed up Salcido’s pitching, which soon led to a leadoff double in Larry Rodriguez’ and Boston’s own right in the top 4th, then two walks straightaway. Bumpus’ comebacker was taken for an out at home, but Salcido ran another full count against Jose Rodriguez, who ended up flying out to right. Glodowski made the catch, then fired home to strike down Tony Lopez and end the inning in 9-2 style. Salcido barely completed five innings of shutout ball in the end, with nothing but long counts to finish the outing. All in all, he walked four and struck out seven for over 100 pitches. Snyder and Dixon offered scoreless innings against the Titans after that, but the offense remained on vacation until Juan del Toro batted for Dixon with nobody on and two outs in the bottom 7th, homering to right-center for his first in a Coons shirt. Eloy Sencion turned away the Titans’ 1-2-3 on five pitches in the eighth inning, and Hitchcock axed the Titans in order as well in the ninth to finally break into that win column… 2-0 Coons. Waters 2-4, 2B; DeMarco 1-2, BB; del Toro (PH) 1-1, HR, RBI; Lick wounds. Rinse, repeat. Maybe with better results. Raccoons (1-2) vs. Condors (1-3) – April 5-7, 2052 The Condors had lost three of four to the Aces to begin the season, scoring 18 runs and giving up a league-worst 29 markers. Eh, it was early. They had also stolen seven bases, while the Coons had yet to get a single one, but that also had to do with Lonzo and Pucks batting a combined 1-for-21 against Boston… The Coons had won this series last year, 6-3, and in fact had a 7-year winning streak going on against the Condors. Projected matchups: Seisaku Taki (0-0) vs. Hyuma Hitomi (0-0) Rafael de la Cruz (0-0) vs. Omar Lara (0-1, 6.00 ERA) Kyle Brobeck (0-0) vs. Larry Colwell (0-1, 10.50 ERA) The opener would see two Japanese pitcher that both made their first ABL start; although Hitomi had already pitched out of the pen for the Condors in 2051. Lara was the third southpaw we’d get to see this week. Game 1 TIJ: SS C. Navarro – 1B G. Cabrera – C Mittleider – LF T. Duncan – CF Ransford – RF Blackburn – 2B Steel – 3B Chapa – P Hitomi POR: LF del Toro – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – 1B Crum – 2B Waters – 3B DeMarco – RF Maldonado – C Suggs – P Taki Taki’s major league career began with three groundouts in the first inning before Tim Duncan socked a double to open the second. Dustin Ransford’s pop to short, and two poor outs from Brian Blackburn and Jesse Steel, however, stranded the runner right there in place. Then a Waters error put Luis Chapa on board to begin the third inning. After a Hitomi bunt, Taki was swatted for singles by Chris Navarro, Jon Mittleider, and Duncan, and gave up two unearned runs. The Coons had yet to get on base, and only did so in the fourth inning with a leadoff walk drawn by del Toro. Lonzo forced him out with a grounder, but stole second base. Pucks walked, but Crum popped out and Waters grounded out to end the inning. It took the old man Maldonado to get a hit on the board in the fifth inning, but his 1-out double also led nowhere nice and he was also flatout stranded in scoring position. While Taki held the Condors where they were and allowed no base hits in the middle innings of the game, the Coons stirred again with two outs in the bottom 6th. Pucks singled to right. Ken Crum scratched out a shy single to left. Waters hit a ball up the rightfield line, but couldn’t quite beat Blackburn to the fence; while Pucks scored on the double, Crum had to hold at third base with the tying run, and there he remained once Duncan clutched a fly by DeMarco. …and while Seisomething Taki pitched his arm off in his debut and didn’t allow any base hits in the last three innings of the game either, the Raccoons just kept failing. Pucks erred into scoring position with a hit in the eighth inning, but was also left there by Crum, and then it was already the ninth against right-hander Kevin Daley. Waters led off with a sharp single to center, putting that tying run on base again. DeMarco worked a walk, Maldo worked a double play, and Ed Crispin batted for Suggs, and ended the game with a foul pop behind home plate that was shagged by Mittleider. 2-1 Condors. Puckeridge 2-3, BB; Waters 2-4, 2B, RBI; Taki 9.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K; Complete-game effort, no earned runs allowed, and an L … (pats Taki on the back) You had to blend right in, didn’t you? Game 2 TIJ: SS C. Navarro – 1B G. Cabrera – C Mittleider – LF T. Duncan – CF Ransford – RF Blackburn – 2B Whitehurst – 3B Lamotta – P O. Lara POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF del Toro – 3B DeMarco – CF Puckeridge – RF Glodowski – 1B Maldonado – C Suggs – P de la Cruz Both teams scored in the first; Duncan doubled home Chris Navarro, who had walked to open the contest, while a Nathan Whitehurst error allowed Matt Waters across, with Waters having socked a leadoff double himself. The Critters then went up 2-1 in the second; Glodowski led off with another double to right, advanced on Maldo’s groundout, and then went home when Suggs hit a sac fly to Ransford. But the play at the plate was contested and the Condors disagreed with the safe call, angrily fluttering with their wings and crowing at the umpire. Raffy offered more leadoff walks to Navarro in the third and Duncan in the fourth, but both were doubled up to short-circuit those innings, although in the latter case not until Whitehurst batted with one out after another walk to Ransford. Ex-Coon Ricky Lamotta also reached base leading off the fifth, but that was with a single. He was stranded with a bunt and two groundouts. By the sixth, we were back to a leadoff walk to Mittleider, and I was about ready to have a good old manly cry. AGAIN the Condors found a double play, this one started by Raffy on a comebacker, to dissipate the free runner, but then Raffy nicked Ransford, who stole second, and was singled home to tie the game by Blackburn… Raffy departed after ANOTHER leadoff walk to Lamotta in the seventh. Paul Crisler worked out of the inning and kept the game tied at two. The Coons were also still at two in the H column, which wasn’t exactly the thrill I was seeking. Maldo did offer a third base hit with a single to center in the bottom 7th, which also sent Glodowski to third base with two outs against George Youngblood, who struck out Suggs, which sugged. Everything sugged. At least the pen worked, sorta. Crisler, Lillis, and Hitchcock kept the Condors from scoring any more than they already had up to this point through nine innings, and the Coons brought the 3-4-5 batters to the plate against righty Aaron Erwin in the bottom of that inning. Del Toro hit a bouncer that bounced over Whitehurst’s glove and thus also bounced del Toro’s average over the good ol’ .100 mark. He was caught stealing, DeMarco whiffed, Pucks popped out, and we got to extra innings. Eloy Sencion got the ball, imploded for a Navarro double, two walks, and a run, and was only bailed out by Justin Johns. The 3-2 lead went to right-hander Adrian West in the bottom 10th. Suzuki, Maldo, and Crispin went in order without creating much of a headache for the Condors. 3-2 Condors. Glodowski 1-2, 2B, RBI; All the headaches to me…! (slightly mangles the consonants with a bottle of booze in each paw) Game 3 TIJ: SS C. Navarro – 1B G. Cabrera – LF T. Duncan – CF Ransford – RF Blackburn – 2B Whitehurst – C Robbinson – 3B Chapa – P Colwell POR: LF del Toro – CF DeMarco – RF Puckeridge – 1B Crum – 2B Waters – 3B Crispin – SS Sivertson – C Philipps – P Brobeck Sixth game, sixth different starting pitcher for the Coons. (sour look) Brobeck scattered three hits to the Condors in the first three innings before the Raccoons got any, then put the 7-8-9 batters on base with three straight singles to begin the bottom of the third inning. Juan del Toro was still new here and didn’t yet know what to do as a real Coon with three on and nobody out, so he peppered a homer to left. GRAAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAAMMMM!!! Brobeck didn’t allow base hits in the middle innings, but instead had to contend with errors by Sivertson and Crum behind him, but kept the Condors off the bases. When Whitehurst led off the seventh with a sharp single to left, he was out of the game though, having thrown 93 pitches and with lefty hitters coming up in the 4-0 game. Lillis got the ball, two outs, but then walked PH Carmem Barrento. Crisler came on for Navarro at the top of the order, entering in a triple switch in the #6 hole, with Sivertson to third base and Lonzo in at short. Lonzo then promptly almost got pummeled by a rushing DeMarco on a pop into shallow center and only got out of the way at the last second, while DeMarco made the catch to end the inning. Crisler and Miles both put a batter on base in the eighth inning then, but were bailed out by Justin Johns, and by the way, no, we were not skipping any precious offensive moments by the Critters here; it was still del Toro’s slam and absolutely nothing *** else until Ken Crum yanked a solo homer to right with two outs in the eighth. Johns finished the game in the ninth inning, which even gave him a 5-out save, since he came into the game four ahead with two on base. 5-0 Coons. Del Toro 1-3, BB, HR, 4 RBI; Philipps 2-3; Lavorano 1-1; Brobeck 6.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K, W (1-0) and 1-1; Johns 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, SV (1); In other news April 2 – The Capitals’ new addition of 3B Randy Wilken (.636, 2 HR, 10 RBI) introduces himself in style in a 19-3 drumming of the Blue Sox, going 5-for-6 with two homers, a double, two singles, and a whopping 8 RBI. April 2 – LVA SP Chris Cornelius (0-0, 0.00 ERA) is expected to miss most if not all of the season for surgery to relief radial nerve compression. April 2 – A double by Charlotte’s Mike Allegood (.375, 0 HR, 0 RBI) is all that stands between ATL SP Kodai Koga (1-0, 1.13 ERA) and a potential no-hitter. As it is, the Knights employ CL David Hardaway (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 SV) to close out the 4-1 win. April 5 – Another combined 1-hitter, this time for NYC SP Jeff Johnson (1-0, 0.00 ERA) and CL Ryan Sullivan (0-0, 4.50 ERA, 1 SV), the former allowing a third-inning single to CHA OF Oscar Caballero (.118, 0 HR, 3 RBI) and nothing else in the Crusaders’ 2-0 win. FL Player of the Week: TOP 2B/SS Tony Aparicio (.423, 4 HR, 6 RBI) CL Player of the Week: LVA 3B/SS Jeremy Welter (.462, 2 HR, 11 RBI) Complaints and stuff Early signs for trouble included the Raccoons being bottom of the division on Friday, while the Loggers were in first place. Yeah, yeah, early days… No, I meant trouble for the universe and humanity as a whole…! But here’s a tidbit worth a chuckle – the Coons are in last place with a +2 run differential! (giggles) (giggles) (giggles harder) I can’t (giggles) breathe…!! (giggles ever more) (cough!) Next week, Thunder and Elks. I’m afraid. Fun Fact: The Coons are in last place while holding four starting pitchers with an ERA of ***** zero. Salcido didn’t allow a run. Brobeck didn’t allow a run. Taki didn’t allow an earned run in a complete-game loss. Wheats didn’t allow a run, but didn’t have much chance to. And my eyes are already getting wet again. Attached Images __________________ Portland Raccoons, 92 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

01-02-2023, 04:13 PM	#4072
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,788	The week started with an off day for the Coons, and the casual news that the Thunder rewarded infielder Jonathan Ban (.269, 0 HR, 1 RBI) for his perpetual coonskinning with a new 6-year, $25.44M contract. Raccoons (6-7) vs. Indians (7-5) – April 16-18, 2052 Apart from that I was still looking for offense under every rug and cover while the Arrowheads already descended on Portland. They had started the season ninth in runs scored and second in runs allowed, with a +5 run differential. No injuries – lucky them. This had been a tightly contested series for the last three years, with a total tally of 27-27, but the Coons had won it last year, 10-8. Projected matchups: Seisaku Taki (0-2, 3.21 ERA) vs. Tan Brink (0-1, 5.59 ERA) Rafael de la Cruz (1-0, 2.92 ERA) vs. Dave Serio (0-2, 3.38 ERA) Kyle Brobeck (2-0, 0.69 ERA) vs. Enrique Ortiz (2-1, 3.00 ERA) Looks like we might be missing their only southpaw, Ricky Garcia (0-1, 2.92 ERA). Game 1 IND: LF R. White – SS Clover – RF B. Quinteros – 3B B. Anderson – C Poindexter – CF Kokel – 2B D. Allen – 1B Ed. Ortiz – P Brink POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF del Toro – 1B Crum – RF Maldonado – CF DeMarco – 3B Crispin – C Suggs – P Taki The week started ominously with a 2-base throwing error by Matt Waters that put Rusty White on second base right away. White stole third and scored on Chase Clover’s deep sac fly, so that was that. Waters tried to make amends (and probably win another Player of the Week award, too) by singling to right to begin the bottom 1st, but was forced out by Lonzo. Walks to Juan del Toro and Ken Crum filled the sacks, but Brink then rung up both Maldo and DeMarco. The Coons stranded two more in the second, while White, Clover, and Bobby Anderson all romped hard hits for two more runs in the third, 3-0. From there, Taki pitched three more scoreless, although it wasn’t pleasant to look at, and I asked Steve from Accounting casually how many millions were left on that contract. The Coons didn’t reach the board until the sixth inning when Ed Crispin zinged a triple up the line and was singled home by Sean Suggs to cut the gap to 3-1. That was it for that rally, though, and instead the Indians put a run on Crisler and Lillis in the eighth, the former walking Anderson and the latter giving up a 2-out RBI single to PH Mike Gilmore. Same inning, a White error then put Maldo on base with one out. DeMarco singled off Steve Miles, and Bill Nichol walked Crispin to fill the bases with the tying runs. Lefty Michael McLaughlin then appeared to face Sean Suggs, but three on and one out and Suggs sugged, and the Raccoons played the Glodowski card. And wouldn’t you ***** know, the useless pelt bombed a bases-clearing double into the *** right-center gap, and we were tied at four…!! Groundouts by Philipps and Waters left the go-ahead run on base, though, and Hitchcock had to come into a tied game in the ninth instead of trying to save a lead. Philip Locke pinch-hit in the #9 hole and legged out an infield single, and that was enough to break the Coons again, since it brought up Bill Quinteros with two outs, and he hit a ball over the fence in dead center. The Coons found no answers against Heath Turner in the bottom 9th. 6-4 Indians. Waters 2-5; Suggs 1-2, BB, RBI; Glodowski (PH) 1-1, 2B, 3 RBI; Game 2 IND: LF R. White – 2B de Castro – RF B. Quinteros – 3B B. Anderson – C Poindexter – CF Kokel – SS Clover – 1B Ed. Ortiz – P Serio POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF del Toro – 1B Crum – RF Maldonado – 3B DeMarco – CF Suzuki – C Philipps – P de la Cruz In 26 pitches in the first inning, de la Cruz offered three walks, a balk, and one RBI single to Manny Poindexter, which was the only run in the inning, mostly because Rusty White was caught stealing after a leadoff walk, but that didn’t keep my fur from getting grayer. At this rate he would not have been long for this game anyway, and a fourth-inning rain delay served to knock him out anyway after a total of four hits, four walks, and two runs against him. Mike Snyder did not have any more success after that in long relief, getting slapped around for six hits and two seventh-inning runs with RBI knocks for Chaz Kokel and Chase Clover. Somewhere in between the Coons had managed consecutive doubles from Waters and Lonzo to open an inning, but Lonzo had then been stranded by the alleged meat of the order and only the one run scored. In the bottom 7th, DeMarco and Suzuki came up with leadoff singles and were balked into scoring position by Serio, at which point Tyler Philipps popped out, and Ed Crispin popped out, and I was ready to pop out of by shirt and strangle the first one of the numbnuts I could lay paws on, but then Waters singled through the right side and drove in both runners to shorten the gap to 4-3, but then Lonzo struck out. Sencion and Johns pitched scoreless innings to keep the Indians close, but the Raccoons drew nothing but blanks in the last few innings and lost anyway. 4-3 Indians. Waters 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; DeMarco 2-4; Glodowski (PH) 1-1; I despise his facemask and his very presence, but I think Matt Glodowski needs to go in the lineup… Game 3 IND: LF R. White – 2B de Castro – RF B. Quinteros – 3B B. Anderson – C Poindexter – CF Kokel – SS Clover – 1B Ed. Ortiz – P En. Ortiz POR: 2B Waters – SS DeMarco – LF del Toro – 1B Crum – RF Glodowski – 3B Crispin – CF Suzuki – C Suggs – P Brobeck Enrique Ortiz nicked del Toro with two outs in the bottom 1st, del Toro scooped second in a fit of rage, and then scored on a Ken Crum single, which gave Crum all of TWO RBI on the year. Manny Poindexter immediately homered the score level again, and both teams then resorted to stupidity in an attempt to entertain the attendance. Crispin led off the bottom 2nd with a double, but thought he’d have three until being told the opposite quite convincingly by Bill Quinteros’ perfect throw to hammer him out at third base. Suzuki then reached second on a throwing error by Alex de Castro, but was stranded, and then a DeMarco error put Rusty White at second base in the third inning, but he was caught stealing third base. Waters hit a leadoff single and stole second base in the bottom 3rd, but was stranded there because that’s what our lineup was. Crispin got nicked on base in the fourth, with an intentional walk to Suggs followed by a 2-out single by Brobeck, but Crispin hadn’t been paying attention and hadn’t gone full beans at contact, and had to retreat to third base, for three on and two outs, but here came Matt Waters, the light of my life at .387 with 2 HR and 10 RBI: he struck out. Brobeck held up for five innings, but disintegrated in the sixth, with singles by Anderson, Poindexter, and Clover giving the Indians a 2-1 lead, and then Edwin Ortiz doubled home Poindexter with two outs; Clover made the third out at home plate, thrown out by Glodowski, who if he really wanted to get any respect from me would have caught the damn baseball in the first place. Glodowski hit a drive to deep left in the bottom of the inning that caused Rusty White to run full-gob-smack in the fence and remain motionless on the field for 20 seconds before starting to crawl to his own dugout, to be replaced with Angel Mendez. BUT AT LEAST HE MADE THE *** CATCH. A Crispin throwing error sponsored an unearned run for the Indians in the seventh, 4-1, and in the eighth DeMarco knocked a leadoff single into center before getting doubled up by del Toro on a 3-0 pitch. Crum then singled, Glodowski doubled, and Crispin popped out foul behind home plate, in essence scoring zero runs. 4-1 Indians. Crum 2-4, RBI; Just like Grandpa Moffett always said: if you have on the shoe, you have on the shoe. Raccoons (6-10) vs. Bayhawks (6-10) – April 19-21, 2052 While the Coons were fourth in runs allowed and bottoms in runs scored, the Bayhawks were bottoms in runs allowed and fourth in runs scored. Our run differential was -8, theirs -19, but I was not thrilled to be around either of these teams. We owned their bottoms last year, 8-1, but I had my doubts. Outfielder Mark Roberts was on the DL for them, so that was something not to contend with. Projected matchups: David Barel (1-1, 4.12 ERA) vs. Tony Martinez (0-2, 5.48 ERA) Victor Salcido (1-1, 5.28 ERA) vs. Juan Arrocha (0-2, 8.38 ERA) Seisaku Taki (0-2, 3.15 ERA) vs. Mario de Anda (1-0, 5.60 ERA) Left, and right, and left, but not even a Southpaw Sunday could lighten my mood right now. The Coons a shutout by any old bum away from dropping under three runs scored per game, and didn’t Tony Martinez just look like the any old bum to do it? Game 1 SFB: 3B J. Gonzalez – 2B Peltier – SS Dau – CF Sedillo – LF Fink – 1B R. Correa – RF Bator – C M. Torres – P T. Martinez POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – CF DeMarco – 1B Crum – LF Glodowski – RF Maldonado – C Suggs – 3B Sivertson – P Barel The Bayhawks had two of each in the first inning: two hits, two walks, two strikeouts, and two runs, both driven in by Todd Dau’s single to center after Jorge Gonzalez and former Coons farmhand Adam Peltier had already reached base against Barel, who was totally worth having signed over the farm to Boston. Waters homered to lead off the bottom 1st, but straight 2-singles to center by Mario Sedillo, John Fink, and Ricky Correa in the top 3rd just tacked on that run again, 3-1. For all the little things that could even get a teetotaler to start boozing, Maldo appeared to hit a double in the bottom 4th, but was called out while panting at second base when the first base umpire ruled he had missed that base entirely, which the replay confirmed. The inning prior, Lonzo had whacked a triple in the gap, but had been stranded by DeMarco, but the team scored an unearned run in the bottom 5th when Suggs reached on a throwing error by the opposing backstop, Marv Torres, and then was singled home by – of course – Waters. Bottom 6th, DeMarco doubled and Crum singled to tie the game at three (!), and while Glodowski struck out, Crum stole second base, then scored the go-ahead run on Maldo’s next attempt on a double into the rightfield corner. That one stuck on the board, and Suggs singled to left to put runners on the corners. Sivertson then hit a sac fly to Fink, 5-3. Barel made the last out of the inning, but also pitched another one while maintaining the lead before retiring on 111 pitches. Maldonado came up after the 3-4-5 batters had all failed their way on base with two outs in the bottom 7th – only Crum reached on a clean hit – but grounded out to second out of an overabundance of trying to not be too harsh on the inept Baybirds. At least Sencion had a clean eighth and Hitchcock erased the bottom of the order in due time in the ninth… 5-3 Coons. Waters 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Crum 3-4, RBI; Iffy weather gave us another rainout on Saturday and a double-header on Sunday, so at least we had an excuse for not scoring. The Bayhawks appeared to turn their starters around, sending de Anda in the opener on Sunday, but the Coons hung with Salcido for the first game. Besides, the weather was still looking like trouble and nobody knew whether we’d get two in anyway. Game 2 SFB: C M. Torres – LF Sparr – 1B Witherspoon – 2B Peltier – CF Fink – SS J. Gonzalez – RF Sedillo – 3B Waldman – P de Anda POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF del Toro – CF DeMarco – RF Glodowski – 1B Maldonado – C Philipps – 3B Sivertson – P Salcido Salcido played beyond salvation on Sunday; it was one thing to give up a run after a leadoff triple for Peltier in the second inning, but in the third he served up a leadoff double to Rob Waldman, then botched himself not one, but TWO plays to wave that runner around, too. The Coons brought in Sivertson on a run-scoring groundout by Lonzo in the bottom 3rd to get back to 2-1, but that was hardly reason for excitement, with Waters then stranded in scoring position by del Toro. With the Coons held to all of two hits through six innings, Salcido wobbled on until putting Waldman on to lead off an inning for the third time finally broke him up in the seventh. A pinch-hit RBI double by Danny Munn and an RBI single by Sam Witherspoon extended the lead to 4-1, and somehow the Raccoons got the tying run to the plate again in the game. That came in the bottom 8th when Waters doubled to center and Lonzo singled to Danny Munn’s feet in shallow left. Del Toro, batting a .196 shtick that totally didn’t have me explore our refund policy with the Stars, and he hit a sac fly on the first pitch to not improve a iota on that. Lonzo stole second, but was stranded when DeMarco grounded out shoddily, anyway. That was that, and while Justin Johns held the Bayhawks at … uh, bay… in the top 9th, I had little hope of making up a whopping 4-2 deficit in the bottom 9th against righty Brad Barnes. The Coons lobbed lefty pinch-hitters at him; Suzuki hit a leadoff single, and Crispin took one to the bum to the same effect – the tying runs were on. They were still on after soggy outs for Philipps and Sivertson, but Sean Suggs scratched another single when he batted for Johns with two outs. That made for three on and two outs, but here came Matt Waters, the light of my life at .394 with 3 HR and 12 RBI: he struck one out of the goddamn state – 418 feet well to the right of the 418’ sign!! GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAMMMMMMM!!!! … 6-4 Raccoons! Waters 3-4, BB, HR, 2B, 4 RBI; Suzuki (PH) 1-1; Suggs (PH) 1-1; Game 3 SFB: LF R. Correa – SS Dau – RF Munn – 2B Peltier – CF Fink – 1B Sedillo – C Petroni – 3B Waldman – P Arrocha POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF del Toro – 1B Crum – CF DeMarco – 3B Crispin – RF Suzuki – C Suggs – P Taki Singles by the 3-4-5 batters put the Baybirds on top, 1-0, in the first, but the Coons countered right away. Waters singled, Lonzo hit an RBI double, and scored on two productive (!!) outs for a 2-1 lead, and a Suzuki single, stolen base, and Suggs RBI single got us to 3-1 in the bottom 2nd. While Taki tried his best to resist the urge to have another blow-up, the Coons kept scratching here and there, and Lonzo singled home Suggs in the fifth to extend the lead further to 4-1. Taki pitched into the seventh before giving up a 1-out single to a pinch-hitting Witherspoon and was removed; Sencion guided him out of the inning, while Bill McDermott scattered four singles for two runs to Sivertson, Waters, Lonzo, and Crum in the bottom 7th. Sencion and Snyder would finish the game from there, both logging four outs each to complete the sweep. 6-1 Raccoons. Waters 2-5; Lavorano 3-4, 2B, 3 RBI; Suggs 3-4, RBI; Sivertson 2-2; Taki 6.1 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (1-2); In other news April 15 – Falcons INF Ian Woodrome (.295, 2 HR, 4 RBI) is out with a broken hand and will not return for June after being hit by a pitch offered by Condors reliever Ruben Olivera (0-0, 4.91 ERA). April 20 – Saturday baseball produces not only the longest game of the season to date, a 14-inning, 5-4 win of the Indians over the Falcons, but also a rain-shortened 7-inning affair in which the Wolves beat the Miners, 3-0. FL Player of the Week: DEN 1B Raul Sevilla (.386, 6 HR, 23 RBI), hitting .417 (10-24) with 3 HR, 9 RBI CL Player of the Week: POR 2B/SS Matt Waters (.403, 4 HR, 16 RBI), batting .462 (12-26) with 2 HR, 8 RBI Complaints and stuff Heyyy, we’re ahead of the Loggers…! Ace. Takeaways from this week? We suck. All but Matt Waters at least. They banged out 14 hits in the final game, but that was probably again an insular occasion… I wish we had some Pitchers of the Year and batting champs on the roster to get us someplace. Oh, wait a minute… At least Matt Waters is hitting well! And nothing can ever happen to him! No, no, nothing! He even whacked us out of the bottom spot in runs scored in the league, all by his lonely self. That 10-year-deal will totally never go bad like Maldo’s 7-year deal has gone. (points at Maldo passed out and face down in his food bowl) – Wait a second, is there soup in there?? – Oh good, he’s still making bubbles. Falcons, Titans next week. Fun Fact:** Matt Waters was hitting .403 with 4 HR and 16 RBI at the end of the first leg of Sunday’s double-header, or literally twice as much as any other qualifying batter on the roster (bar one) in any category. DeMarco was hitting .200, and del Toro had 2 HR and 8 RBI. And those were the high-water marks. Glodowski, Suggs, and Suzuki were all batting over .200, but none of them qualified. The only exception that actually qualified was Ken Crum, at .270, but with a lone homer and 3 RBI. (blows) Attached Images __________________ Portland Raccoons, 92 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

01-03-2023, 04:08 PM	#4073
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,788	Raccoons (9-10) vs. Falcons (9-9) – April 22-24, 2052 After the double header on Sunday there was luckily just the three games with the Falcons before an off day on Thursday, so we’d not get deeper into the AAA starting corps for the time being. The Falcons ranked sixth in both runs scored and runs allowed, with the rotation much better than the bullpen so far. These teams were both in the top three in stolen bases, but tied for eighth with eight homers each. The Coons had won the season series two years running, with a 7-2 total in ’51. Projected matchups: Rafael de la Cruz (1-1, 3.31 ERA) vs. Angel Velasquez (3-0, 0.84 ERA) Kyle Brobeck (2-1, 1.89 ERA) vs. Tyler Weems (0-3, 3.86 ERA) David Barel (2-1, 4.05 ERA) vs. Hiroyuki Takagi (1-2, 3.91 ERA) Weems was the only southpaw to come up here. With Chris Jones, Ian Woodrome, and Tony Alvarez all on the DL for them, they had also suffered a few early and unpleasant injuries. Game 1 CHA: SS Arreola – 3B J. Frazier – LF D. Ceballos – RF Allegood – CF Caballero – 1B Briones – 2B D. Diaz – C Gowin – P A. Velasquez POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF del Toro – 1B Crum – CF DeMarco – 3B Crispin – RF Suzuki – C Suggs – P de la Cruz The weather remained iffy in the new week, with an on-and-off drizzle in the early innings. The Coons took the lead on a solo homer by del Toro in the bottom 1st… and again on a 2-run homer by DeMarco in the fourth inning after Oscar Caballero’s leadoff triple and Mario Briones’ deep sac fly had erased the first lead right away in the top 2nd. But Raffy allowed only two hits in the first four innings, which looked like things were improving. Same for the offense – after the DeMarco homer, the Coons put out three more straight hits, with Suggs singling home Crispin, 4-1, before both de la Cruz and Waters grounded out to end the inning. The offense continued in the fifth, but so did the pain. Del Toro whacked a 1-out double, after which the Falcons walked Crum intentionally. DeMarco then beat Caballero for another double in center, which drove home a run, but also jammed his paw on the slide into second base and ended up leaving the game, replaced by Roberto Medina, who took over left, with del Toro to center. Crispin was walked intentionally onto the open base, but Velasquez gave up one final RBI single to Suzuki before being yanked. Sean Suggs singled home two more against lefty Victor Padilla. Raffy struck out, Waters walked, and Lonzo singled to center for another run, the fifth and final of the inning, now in a 9-1 game, before del Toro grounded out to Danny Diaz. From there, Raffy pitched one more inning, and that was the final inning of the game. The drizzle abruptly worsened to a good dousing by the bottom 6th and the game went into a delay that turned into a six-inning complete-game effort for de la Cruz about two hours later. 9-1 Furballs! Del Toro 3-4, 2 2B, RBI; Crum 1-2, BB, 2B; DeMarco 2-3, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Crispin 1-2, BB, 2B; Suzuki 2-3, RBI; Suggs 2-3, 3 RBI; de la Cruz 6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 3 K, W (2-1) and 1-3; Ironically, Matt Waters went hitless in the second outburst of 13+ hits in a row. DeMarco had a lightly sprained paw; it wasn’t too bad, but he was not in the lineup on Tuesday. Game 2 CHA: SS Arreola – 2B E. Stevens – LF D. Ceballos – RF Allegood – CF Caballero – 1B Briones – 3B J. Frazier – C A. Mercado – P Weems POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – CF del Toro – LF Crum – RF Glodowski – 1B Maldonado – 3B Sivertson – C Philipps – P Brobeck Maldo was beyond his prime by any definition, but managed a nice 3-U double play with a slight reach for a Danny Ceballos liner and caught Erik Stevens off guard, and more important, base. But the main problem was Brobeck, who was behind every batter, and walked everything with legs, unless it whacked a single off him first. The Falcons got three hits and two walks in the second inning, and scored two runs before running themselves out of the inning. Brobeck never worked out his control in this game, and walked another pair by the time he completed five innings, but also scored the Coons’ first run, which took five innings, too, when he whacked a double to left in that inning and was brought in by … a wild pitch eventually. But Brobeck didn’t retire another batter. He faced three more in the top 6th, but allowed straight singles to Oscar Caballero, Mario Briones, and Josh Frazier before getting yanked. That was with a run already in, and when Justin Johns replaced him, he schmucked up another three runs with a walk to Anton Mercado, a Juan Arreola sac fly, and a 2-run single by Erik Stevens. Ceballos struck out, and three clean innings from Miles and Lillis followed, but that didn’t help with much of anything anymore as the Raccoons couldn’t put any sort of rally together. They had a hit in every inning, it seemed, but then also found a double play or a couple of pops, and didn’t drive in another hit until they were down to their final out when Matt Waters doubled home Suzuki. But Marcos Nabo then got Lonzo to fly out to Caballero, and that was that. 6-2 Falcons. Del Toro 2-4; Miles 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K; Let’s go back to the other lineup then…! Game 3 CHA: LF D. Ceballos – 2B E. Stevens – CF Caballero – 1B Briones – 3B J. Frazier – C Payne – RF Allegood – SS Arreola – P Takagi POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF del Toro – 1B Crum – CF DeMarco – 3B Crispin – RF Suzuki – C Suggs – P Barel …and another rather inconvincing first inning for a Raccoons starter, as David Barel ran three balls to everybody, and four balls to three batters in the first inning. A Briones sac fly gave Charlotte a 1-0 lead, but the Coons at least came back right away; Waters doubled to right, then scored on singles by del Toro and Crum before DeMarco jammed into a double play. My main concern was Barel, though, who pitched like arse and walked two more batters in the third inning. That time, Briones singled home a run, but the Falcons also left the bases loaded when Mike Allegood bounced out to Crum at first base. And the game really felt like it was gonna end in a blowout. Arreola opened the top 4th with a single to right, and then Takagi’s awful bunt was bungled by Waters for an error. Somehow Ceballos popped out and Stevens slapped a 6-4-3 gift at Lonzo to bugger out of that jam… but by the fifth, back-to-back homers for Josh Frazier and Ricky Payne gave the Falcons a 5-1 lead and the Raccoons a new pitcher on the mound… The **** Coons removed Barel in a double switch and put Mike Snyder in the just-vacated #6 hole but ended up getting only four outs out of him, because after going down in order in the bottom 5th, the Coons put Crum and DeMarco in scoring position in the sixth, bringing up that #6 spot. Maldo batted for the abbreviated long man and struck out, and I was taking a bite out of my coonskin cap. Bottom 7th, Suggs singled to send Takagi home, with Victor Padilla filling the bases by giving up a single to Sivertson and a walk to Waters. That brought up Lonzo, all .175 of him, as the tying run with one out. I wasn’t hoping for much, and I got a double play to short on the very first *** pitch. Another three runners were stranded between the last two innings, and nobody scored. 5-1 Falcons. Waters 2-4, BB, 2B; del Toro 2-4; Crum 2-4, RBI; Suggs 2-4; Crisler 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K; Raccoons (10-12) vs. Titans (14-7) – April 26-28, 2052 The Raccoons had already dropped two of three this month to the Titans and I had little doubt they could do that again and maybe even drop all three this time. Boston conceded the fewest runs in the lead, which oughta auto-defeat us, but was only eighth in runs scored. But they had won five straight and led the division as they came into Portland, so what the did I know? Projected matchups: Victor Salcido (1-1, 4.76 ERA) vs. Thomas Turpeau (0-0, 3.13 ERA) Seisaku Taki (1-2, 2.73 ERA) vs. Jamie Guidry (3-1, 3.14 ERA) Rafael de la Cruz (2-1, 2.82 ERA) vs. Jordan Ramos (2-1, 3.33 ERA) Two left, one right, and three in the snout, probably. The Coons made a roster move, dropping Roberto Medina (zilch, no RBI) back to AAA for 26-year-old non-prospect Eddy Veloz, a Dominican right-handed batting outfielder that had signed with the Cyclones at 16 and had been released twice before we had taken him off the street in ’47. He was batting .338/.434/.415 in 16 games in AAA and I was getting desperate. Game 1 BOS: CF Whitlow – LF Bumpus – RF T. Lopez – 1B L. Rodriguez – C R. Gonzalez – 3B J. Rodriguez – 2B M. Castillo – SS Lettner – P Turpeau POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – CF del Toro – 1B Crum – RF Glodowski – C Suggs – 3B DeMarco – LF Veloz – P Salcido Eric Whitlow (who?) whacked a gap triple to open the weekend set, and I opened a bottle of booze three second later. I couldn’t watch this in crystal clear XXHD, and the alternative was to poke my *** eyes out. After a walk to Adam Bumpus and a sorry pop by Tony Lopez, Larry Rodriguez finally got the run home with a productive out, but oh well. Our turn to bat! To lead off the first four innings, Waters singled in the first, Glodowski singled in the second, Salcido singled in the third, and Crum walked in the fourth. None of them made it off first base, except for Waters, who gained an extra base on an error by Whitlow, and Crum, who was doubled off on a grounder Glodowski hit right at Jose Rodriguez for a 5-4-3 soul-bleacher. Suggs then was nicked, which was understandable, since I also had the constant urge to hit something hard over his head, and DeMarco hit another single. That brought up the unlikely debutee, and he grounded out to Manny Castillo. At that point I chose to lean on Slappy’s shoulder and bawl for an inning, but didn’t miss much. Salcido, still holding the 1-0 score (on the wrong side, in case you forgot), then struck out to begin the bottom 5th. Waters singled, though! …and then was doubled off when Lonzo slapped the ball at Jason Lettner. Six, four, three, Cristiano, please, be a *** man and kill me. Salcido pitched seven, and somehow gave up three runs on four hits eventually. Ruben Gonzalez and Dave Gonzalez reached in the seventh on a walk and a single, respectively, and they were then stupidly driven home with two outs, and after a wild pitch, by Marty Gonza- uh, Serna. Marty Serna. Who? Ruben Gonzalez later homered off Lillis in the ninth inning for an extra Boston run, after which NWSN caught a fan in the leftfield stands that held up a sign reading “REVERSE THE TRADE”, which I couldn’t find myself to disagree with. The Coons never stopped sugging, and lost their third in a row. 4-0 Titans. Waters 2-4; DeMarco 1-2, BB; Salcido 7.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 7 K, L (1-2) and 1-2; Pucks would be back by Sunday. That was all I had on Saturday. For Saturday, I had nothing. Game 2 BOS: CF Whitlow – LF Bumpus – RF T. Lopez – 1B L. Rodriguez – C R. Gonzalez – 3B J. Rodriguez – 2B M. Castillo – SS Lettner – P Guidry POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – CF Crum – RF Glodowski – C Suggs – 3B DeMarco – 1B Maldonado – LF Veloz – P Taki Behold! The Coons took a 2-0 lead in the Saturday game! Waters walked, Lonzo singled, they swiped a pair, and then scored… on productive outs from Crum and Glodowski, but that was more than we got around these parts usually. Similarly unheard of was Taki NOT laying an egg right away. He didn’t allow a hit the first time through, holding himself to two walks through 12 batters, and one of those – Bumpus – was caught stealing. Larry Rodriguez inched a 2-out single past Waters to extend the fourth, though, but was stranded when Ruben Gonzalez grounded out. Gonzalez, who still got a nice paw around here, hit a 2-out single in the seventh to get a blue shirt on base again, but was left right there when Jose Rodriguez grounded out, and Taki was clean through seven innings. And the Coons were still batting, it was just entirely for only the hardcore fans to watch, although by the bottom 7th the Coons got Waters and Lonzo back in scoring position with nobody out, this time by a single and double, respectively. The Titans chose not to bother with Ken Crum, and instead brought up Glodowski. I sighed. Three on, no outs. Glodowski went to 2-1 before bouncing one quickly to Manny Castillo, who managed to throw out Waters at home. Oh good, I thought as the first pitch to Sean Suggs was thrown, only a double play to go to get out of the – oh, what a knock! Outta here!! GRAAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAAMMMMM!!!! To balance for that slam, the baseball gods then made Taki implode in the eighth, where he was taken deep for a 2-out, 3-run homer by Tony Lopez, and Larry Rodriguez whacked a double after that. We went right to Hitchcock, who rung up Ruben Gonzalez to get out of the inning, and retired three more in order in the ninth to put the game away… 6-3 Coons. Waters 2-4, BB; Lavorano 3-4, BB, 2B; Crum 2-4, BB, RBI; Suggs 2-4, HR, 4 RBI; DeMarco 2-4; Taki 7.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 9 K, W (2-2); Veloz, 0-for-6 with an intentional walk to his name, returned to AAA with that, and was replaced by Pucks coming off the DL. Game 3 BOS: CF Whitlow – LF Bumpus – RF T. Lopez – 1B L. Rodriguez – C R. Gonzalez – 3B J. Rodriguez – 2B M. Castillo – SS Lettner – P Jo. Ramos POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF del Toro – 1B Crum – CF Puckeridge – 3B Crispin – RF Suzuki – C Philipps – P de la Cruz Back to Raffy, back to same old, same old with the young one. Bumpus walked in the first, and Tony Lopez cranked a deep homer. Bumpus singled in the third, and Tony Lopez cranked an even deeper homer. The good news was that after just four innings, the entirety of the Coons had as many hits combined as Lopez had, and they were only four runs behind… By the fifth we even had the tying run at the plate. Suzuki and Waters got walked by Jordan Ramos; the former stole a base and scored on a Lonzo single to center, and del Toro then batted down 4-1 with two aboard and two outs, found the crease between Manny Castillo and Larry Rodriguez for another RBI single, but Crum grounded out to first base after all to strand two. But the tying runs were in scoring position again with nobody out in the bottom of the sixth…! Pucks walked, Crispin doubled to right, and … and that brought up the bottom of the order. Suzuki floated to Whitlow in center, who made the catch, and then threw out Pucks bolting for home plate for an 8-2 double play. Oh goody goodness. The Titans opted to bypass the .185 menace of Tyler Philipps with an intentional walk, instead pulling up Raffy de la Cruz, batting half that. Ramos slapped two strikes on him, then dished one right down the middle. And Raffy hit it a *** 438 feet for a score-flipping 3-run homer. Pandemonium broke out not only at home plate, but I hugged Slappy and gave him a smooch on the cheek, ran over and double-high-fived Cristiano, which sent him rolling backwards and crashing into the shelf of ever-tortured bobbleheads, and then chest-bumped Maud clean over the glass table with refreshments before Raffy even made it all of 360 feet…! RAFFY!!! ALL THE TRADES NOT MADE – FOR THAT *** HOMER!!! HAH!!! =) =) Of course, in the end, it was all for naught. Ken Crum homered in the bottom 7th, 6-4, while Raffy pitched into the eighth, but gave up another hit to Bumpus. Crisler replaced him, gave up a single to Larry Rodriguez, and then a 3-run homer to Ruben Gonzalez. I bled from the snout. RUBEN GONZALEZ. That wasn’t all, as Marty Gonza- … Serna hit another homer off Eloy Sencion in the ninth inning, but the Raccoons went down in order against Eddie Sotelo in the ninth. 8-6 Titans. Del Toro 2-5, RBI; Puckeridge 3-4; In other news April 23 – Sacramento’s LF/RF/1B Nate Culp (.308, 6 HR, 13 RBI) hits for the cycle in a 12-5 win over the Cyclones. Culp hits a homer, triple, double, and single in order, putting together the first reverse-natural cycle since that of the Aces’ Mike Hall in 2038, and the third-ever cycle for the Scorpions. April 23 – RIC 2B/SS Lance Harrison (.299, 1 HR, 12 RBI) might miss a month with a sprained ankle. April 26 – With his first home run of the season, LVA CF/LF Dan Martin (.211, 1 HR, 5 RBI) walks off the Aces for a 16-inning, 7-5 win against the Condors. April 26 – The Miners torch the Buffaloes, 20-0. Pittsburgh’s Eddie Moreno (.383, 5 HR, 23 RBI) leads all players with four hits and five RBI in the game. April 28 – DEN SP Gary Perrone (2-1, 3.07 ERA) 3-hits the Wolves in a 3-0 shutout. April 28 – The Indians beat the Loggers in ten innings by an 8-3 score. The game went to its only extra inning tied at one. FL Player of the Week: SAC 1B Steve Wyatt (.365, 6 HR, 18 RBI), socking .435 (10-23) with 4 HR, 8 RBI CL Player of the Week: VAN CF Damian Moreno (.326, 5 HR, 20 RBI), swatting .440 (11-25) with 2 HR, 9 RBI Complaints and stuff I just want to sleep. Forever. David Barel wants to start talk extension? Is that so, Maud? – Well, tell him I want my *** prospects back. She’ll not do it, she’s about as smart as I am vengeful. April is almost over. The Coons will have only six home games in the month of May, which at least means I don’t have to read the Agitator every day. We’ll go on the road to visit New York and Richmond next week. Fun Fact:** This week’s slam notwithstanding, Milwaukee’s chronically underpaid Zach Suggs (.221, 4 HR, 13 RBI) has four times as many homers than Sean Suggs. That suggs. Attached Images __________________ Portland Raccoons, 92 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

01-07-2023, 06:30 AM	#4075
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,788	Raccoons (17-15) vs. Wolves (11-21) – May 6-8, 2052 The Wolves appeared in town rather tattered; they sat bottoms in the FL in both runs scored and runs allowed and didn’t look fit to face a team on a 6-winning streak. In other words, it was early May, they had a -64 run differential, and I felt for every single ex-Coon on that forsaken roster: Josh Rella and Brian Kaufman. The Coons had won the last four meetings with the Wolves, including one sweep. Most recently we had won two of three from them in 2050. Projected matchups: Victor Salcido (1-2, 5.45 ERA) vs. Jonathan Abernathy (3-1, 3.67 ERA) Seisaku Taki (3-2, 2.76 ERA) vs. Pat Woodyard (0-5, 5.46 ERA) Rafael de la Cruz (3-1, 3.19 ERA) vs. Blake Sparks (2-3, 2.96 ERA) Abernathy was a left-handed spot starter in a rotation in complete disarray. Wednesday would be interesting: a meeting of gems; Sparks was in his third full season at age 24 and the main reason why he had yet to put a winning record together was the hat he was wearing. Pat Degenhardt rated him higher than Raffy’s potential (marginally, but still), which irked me greatly. Game 1 SAL: SS Humphries – 2B F. Vazquez – 1B Hubbard – LF S. King – CF Hampton – RF Kinoshiita – C Garza – 3B Riario – P Abernathy POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF del Toro – CF Crum – C Suggs – RF Glodowski – 3B DeMarco – 1B Maldonado – P Salcido So of course the Wolves scored first with the aid of a few second-inning extra-base hits. Scott King whacked a leadoff double to left-center and scored on productive outs by Jeremy Hampton and Eiji Kinoshiita before Salcido walked Lorenzo Garza and gave up a triple over the head of Ken Crum against Vittorio Riario, a former CL North foe, before finally putting a K on Jonathan Abernathy. – Maud, who are these people and why are they causing such a ruckus in my ballpark? Because Salcido pitched so great, Joe Humphries, Felix Vazquez, and Sam Hubbard loaded the bases on a walk, single, and another walk to begin the third inning. King fired a shot at DeMarco, who picked it on the first bounce, stepped on third base, zinged to second, and Waters flung it to first – ALMOST in time, but King beat out the second throw to break up the triple play and that allowed Humphries to score. Hampton hit another single before Kinoshiita grounded out, and the Raccoons’ pen was stirring. Salcido struck out the bottom of the lineup in the fourth, but then **** the bags full again and was yanked with two outs in the fifth. Crisler struck out Kinoshiita to get out of the *** inning. …which left the Coons without a guy in the lineup that had already on base in the game. Abernathy was tossing a no-hitter so far, and had only leaked a walk to Salcido (!) in the third inning. DeMarco hit a 2-out single in the bottom 5th, but that was that. The first time in the 3-0 game that the Coons brought the tying run to the plate was in the seventh inning, when Juan del Toro snuck a leadoff single to right and Ken Crum drew a walk. Suggs popped out, which still beat a double play, and Glodowski singled to center to get del Toro home for the team’s first run. DeMarco and the pinch-hitting Philipps made the last two outs, though. The tying run was back in the box in the bottom 8th right away; Pucks, who had entered earlier in a double switch, singled out of the #9 hole, Abernathy walked Waters, and then Lonzo hit into a double play, 6-4-3… del Toro’s RBI single shortened the gap to 3-2, but Crum grounded out. On the pitching side, two innings each from Miles and Snyder got the Raccoons through regulation before they got to see ex-teammate Josh Rella in the bottom 9th. Suggs and Suzuki grounded out, but DeMarco singled to extend the game. Rella struck out Ed Crispin to end the Raccoons’ winning streak. 3-2 Wolves. Del Toro 2-4, RBI; DeMarco 2-4; Miles 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K; Snyder 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K; The only winner on this roster was Snyder, who was another ** outing away from being turned over to the glover across the road. Game 2 SAL: CF Huber – 2B F. Vazquez – RF Montecino – 1B Hubbard – C J. Ortiz – LF Kinoshiita – SS Kaufman – 3B Riario – P Woodyard POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF del Toro – 1B Crum – RF Puckeridge – C Suggs – CF Suzuki – 3B Crispin – P Taki Lonzo forced out Waters with a grounder in the bottom 1st, but at least laid off being caught stealing and instead scored on a 2-run homer by del Toro to right. Sam Hubbard was caught stealing after singling in the second; he was the only runner against Taki the first time through the Wolves’ order. Lonzo was back on base in the third, getting nicked by Woodyard, then stole second base, his 13th bag of the year. Del Toro drove him in again, this time with a gapper in right-center for an RBI double, 3-0, but both Crum and Pucks flew out to Dustin Huber in centerfield. By the fifth, the Coons took Woodyard behind the wood shed and beat the living crap out of him. After an initial groundout by Taki, six straight Critters reached base on either hits or walks, plating three and having another three on base before the Wolves employed the good old hook and replaced him with B.J. Brantley, a southpaw; the Coons stuck with Suzuki, who singled home two more runs for an 8-0 lead, and Crispin, who popped out, and Taki made the final out of the inning. Could Taki toss a shutout this time? No. Brantley singled off him in the sixth, which made my whiskers twitch, and in the seventh he gave up a single to Salvador Montecino, walked Hubbard, and finally gave away an RBI single to Kaufman, which made my empathy for Kaufman a lot less all at once. Riario flew out to complete seven and a complete game was still possible. A walk to Huber in the eighth cast doubt on me again, but Vazquez hit into a double play and Taki retired the Wolves in order in the ninth inning to finish what he had started. 8-1 Critters. Del Toro 2-3, BB, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Crum 2-4, RBI; Taki 9.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, W (4-2); Game 3 SAL: CF Huber – 2B F. Vazquez – RF Montecino – 1B Hubbard – C J. Ortiz – SS Humphries – LF Hampton – 3B Riario – P Sparks POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF del Toro – 1B Crum – RF Puckeridge – 3B DeMarco – CF Suzuki – C Philipps – P de la Cruz The much-anticipated duel never materialized. Both pitchers gave up a homer before they logged an out – Vazquez taking de la Cruz deep for two, while Waters did the honors on his own against Sparks – and Blake Sparks left the game with an injury before the first inning was concluded. Raffy meanwhile got all tangled up in endless counts and needed 58 pitches just to get through three innings and wasn’t gonna be long for this game, either. Not that he allowed many runners – he was just extremely inefficient, like in the fifth inning, when he struck out the side, but that took 20 pitches again. The Coons meanwhile had all of three base hits through five innings, including a leadoff double by Pucks in the second inning that went absolutely nowhere. It took a second homer by Matt Waters, then leading off the sixth against Valentino Prada, to finally get the score level at two; and that was with Raffy all used up after 105 pitches through six. A no-decision was as good as it got for him, since the Coons got Lonzo on base, but del Toro forced him out, and then was caught stealing. It was the Wolves to score again, doing so in the eighth against Lillis and Crisler. The former came in to face Montecino to begin the inning, with PH Scott King popping out instead, but then Hubbard hit a single. The Coons went back to the righty Crisler, but Hubbard stole second and scored on a single by Jose Ortiz, 3-2. An underemployed Hitchcock held the line in the ninth inning, but it was Rella in a 3-2 game again in the bottom 9th. Lonzo opened the inning by singling up the middle, but couldn’t get a steal off. Del Toro struck out, and Crum hit into a double play. 3-2 Wolves. Waters 2-4, 2 HR, 2 RBI; Lavorano 2-4; The Wolves got away with a mild shoulder strain on Sparks, who would probably only miss one start, and two of three taken from the Coons, dancing all the way back up the valley in jubilation. Raccoons (18-17) @ Indians (20-13)** – May 10-12, 2052 The Arrowheads had swept the Coons the first time these two teams had met in 2052, and sat eighth in runs scored, but second in runs allowed in the Continental League. Given how we had just played against the Wolves, I was understandably concerned. They were bottoms in power, but knew how to get on base and slowly strangle the opposition despite only two regulars (Bill Quinteros, Manny Poindexter) hitting over .255. The only notable DL case for them was outfielder Rusty White. Projected matchups: David Barel (4-2, 3.68 ERA) vs. Enrique Ortiz (4-1, 1.96 ERA) Kyle Brobeck (2-3, 4.50 ERA) vs. Dave Serio (2-3, 3.55 ERA) Victor Salcido (1-3, 5.50 ERA) vs. Tan Brink (3-2, 2.49 ERA) Only right-handed opposition for this weekend. Game 1 POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF del Toro – 1B Crum – CF Puckeridge – C Suggs – 3B DeMarco – RF Maldonado – P Barel IND: RF Locke – SS Clover – 3B B. Anderson – 1B B. Quinteros – 2B de Castro – C M. Gilmore – CF Ragen – LF Hare – P En. Ortiz The first three Coons all reached base on eight pitches, giving Ken Crum three on and nobody out, and filling me with much foreboding already. Crum, Pucks, and Suggs struck out in order, which sugged. Ortiz made it four in a row with DeMarco in the second, and whiffed a total of nine batters through five innings, while David Barel was pitching a low-key no-hitter through four, with only two strikeouts, until Alex de Castro clipped him for a leadoff triple in the bottom 5th and scored on Mike Gilmore’s sac fly to put the Arrowheads on top, 1-0. Even better, Ortiz retired a teeth-gnashing 20 Critters in a row before Sean Suggs reached base on an error by de Castro, who would probably be forgiven if they found a way out of the inning. DeMarco rolled a single through the left side, which brought up the cursed remains of Jesus Maldonado, batting .183 with no homers and four RBI. Yeah, but he also clubbed Ortiz’ first pitch about 417 feet for a score-flipping 3-run homer, with the entire ballpark letting out a collective gasp. I giggled like a schoolgirl. Barel would go eight innings of 2-hit ball on 111 pitches, and wouldn’t be back even if the Coons tacked on in the ninth inning against Ortiz, who was still grinding, entering the inning with five hits and a dozen strikeouts on his ledger. He walked Pucks to begin the inning, gave up a hit to Suggs, and was yanked. Heath Turner then went through a major explosion, walking DeMarco, and after K’s on Maldo and Glodowski walked in a run against Waters, nicked Lonzo for another one, and surrendered two more on a del Toro double before Crum grounded out to Chase Clover. Mike Snyder struck out the side in the bottom 9th. 7-1 Raccoons! Del Toro 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Maldonado 1-4, HR, 3 RBI; Barel 8.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, W (5-2); Game 2 POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF del Toro – 1B Crum – CF Puckeridge – C Suggs – 3B Crispin – RF Maldonado – P Brobeck IND: RF Locke – 2B de Castro – 1B B. Quinteros – 3B B. Anderson – C Poindexter – SS Clover – CF A. Mendez – LF Ed. Ortiz – P Serio The Coons went up 3-0 in the second inning when Ken Crum opened with a single, and Suggs and Maldo uncorked a pair of homers. (raises eyebrow) Pucks would add a 2-run homer to right by the next inning, and I wondered who the imposters in the brown shirts were. The guy that wore Brobeck’s shirt had a single in the second inning and didn’t allow a hit until de Castro singled with two outs in the bottom 3rd (only to get stranded), but had walked a pair in the first inning, so I had my usual level of discomfort with him. …and not without reason. By the fourth, he was adrift. Bobby Anderson, Angel Mendez, and Edwin Ortiz had base hits for two runs, and then he walked the bags full with Josh Hare and Philip Locke. With the tying runs on base and the bullpen scrambling in panic, de Castro popped out to Waters to kill the rally. Brobeck pitched two more innings, giving up a 2-out RBI single to Locke in the sixth, and was gone with the middle of the order up in the bottom 7th of a 5-3 game. Sencion and Crisler put a scoreless inning together, after which Pucks and Suggs went to the corners against long man Mike McLaughlin to begin the eighth. Glodowski batted for Crispin against the left-hander, but Poindexter fumbled a pitch to bring home Puckeridge on a passed ball before he got a good swing off, and McLaughlin ended up walking Glodowski altogether. Maldo grounded into a fielder’s choice before Bill Nichol rung up DeMarco and Waters to keep the game within reach for Indy – and with success. Lillis and Johns came into the bottom 8th, faced five, and retired nobody. Mendez walked, Edwin Ortiz singled, Dan Allen singled, Mike Gilmore singled, Chaz Kokel singled… Miles replaced Johns, walked Quinteros, and then somehow buggered out with two grounders to short for three outs, but not only was the lead blown, the Coons were now also a run behind and came up against left-hander Heath Turner in the ninth. Lonzo lined out. Del Toro singled, Crum walked, but Pucks whiffed, and Suggs took a few nasty hacks before getting drilled. That filled the bags with two outs and Glodowski batting; but against a southpaw there were worse scenarios one could think of. Glodowski popped out to second base, and I needed his useless pelt gone, yesterday. 7-6 Indians. Del Toro 2-5; Crum 2-3, 2 BB, 2B; Puckeridge 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Suggs 3-4, HR, 2 RBI; (looks expressionless) Even worse, that meltdown concluded our week, in tandem with torrential rains on Sunday that had the game cancelled and the Coons on the way to Milwaukee right after lunchtime. In other news May 6 – NYC SP Jim White (3-3, 4.75 ERA) could be out for two months or longer with a case of biceps tendinitis. May 7 – Capitals SP Bruce Mark jr. (4-2, 4.37 ERA) could be out for four months with a nasty case of shoulder inflammation. May 7 – Boston’s OF Tony Lopez (.276, 7 HR, 19 RBI) lands the third and final hit for the Titans in their game against the Scorpions by hitting a walkoff homer off SP Sean Sweeton (1-5, 5.98 ERA) to lead off the ninth inning. It’s the only run in a 1-0 Boston win. May 9 – Rebels 1B Arturo Carreno (.286, 1 HR, 12 RBI) flings three doubles and two singles with three RBI in a 10-4 win over the Thunder. May 10 – PIT LF/RF Matt Cox (.291, 2 HR, 14 RBI) is expected to miss three or four months with a partial tear being discovered in his labrum. May 10 – Titans SS/3B Angel Montes de Oca (.256, 2 HR, 7 RBI) could be out for the rest of the month with another oblique strain. May 11 – The Condors’ SP Tony Llorens (3-3, 3.02 ERA) spins a 3-hit shutout against the Falcons. The left-hander whiffs five in the 3-0 win. May 11 – LVA CF Brent Cramer (.244, 1 HR, 4 RBI) suffers a freak injury on a play against the fence in centerfield, and will miss most of the remainder of the season with a badly broken hand. May 11 – A sprained wrist will probably cost DEN LF/CF Sandy Castillo (.313, 5 HR, 24 RBI) a month’s worth of games. FL Player of the Week: RIC 1B Arturo Carreno (.295, 1 HR, 13 RBI), hitting .500 (13-26) with 6 RBI CL Player of the Week: MIL C Chris Thomas (.315, 3 HR, 19 RBI), swatting .526 (10-19) with 1 HR, 4 RBI Complaints and stuff Arturo Carreno won Player of the Week honors? …and my blunderbuss is in Portland…!! On one paw, we scored 25 runs and allowed just 15 this week. On the other paw, we also went 2-3 and remain stuck in fifth place. Only three games back, but you have to start rallying at some point. Being 2-8 in games decided by one run is not the way to go… For the rained-out Sunday affair in Indy, the game has been rescheduled for next month as a Monday double header, giving us seven games in six days between two Thursday off days. For good news, Jason Wheatley healed up well and will probably make two rehab starts in AAA and could rejoin the Raccoons even before the end of the month. We have seven games next week; four in Milwaukee and three in Vegas. The travel itinerary will only get more stupid from there, with the next five series after that being played in Atlanta, Portland, San Francisco, Boston, and Portland again. Who made this schedule, Laurel and Hardy?? *Fun Fact:* Seisaku Taki has three complete games in seven starts as an ABL pitcher, but won only one of them. His first two ABL starts were both complete-game losses, a 2-1 regulation loss to the Condors in his debut, and then a rain-shortened 5-1 whacking by the Thunder. He has yet to leave the game prematurely and take the loss then. Attached Images __________________ Portland Raccoons, 92 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

01-09-2023, 03:14 PM	#4077
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,788	Raccoons (22-22) @ Knights (30-14) – May 21-23, 2052 The Knights had gone 83-79 with a mediocre team just last year, but were rolling in a 14-3 May. What exactly had changed for them we’d now find out first-paw, but they were first in runs scored with almost five per game. Fifth in runs allowed, but with a very nifty defense. We took the series 5-4 last year, but we were also on a four-game losing streak against last-place teams, while the Knights were winners of a dozen straight so things would probably end in blood splatters on somebody’s wall. Projected matchups: Rafael de la Cruz (3-1, 3.35 ERA) vs. Sam Geren (3-2, 2.09 ERA) David Barel (5-3, 3.20 ERA) vs. Joe Byrd (5-2, 4.04 ERA) Kyle Brobeck (2-4, 4.50 ERA) vs. Kodai Koga (5-2, 3.93 ERA) Only right-handers coming up. Game 1 POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – 1B Crum – LF del Toro – C Suggs – 3B DeMarco – RF Maldonado – P de la Cruz ATL: RF Kulak – C Cass – 1B Alade – LF Kirkwood – CF Royer – 2B S. Turner – 3B Thibault – SS Housey – P Geren The game began with a Waters single and Lonzo jamming a 3-0 pitch into a double play, which gave me a first idea that the series wasn’t gonna go so great, although Waters would clonk a homer off the right foul pole his next time up for a shy 1-0 lead in the third inning. Pucks then opened the fourth with a drive to right that had the length for a homer, but not the height, and bounced hard off the top of the wall and away from 25-year-old sophomore William Kulak for a leadoff triple. Ken Crum made it 2-0 with a groundout, but after three fine innings, Rafael de la Cruz had another implosion in the bottom of the fourth inning. After Tyler Cass reached on a Lonzo error, he walked Jon Alade, and then was taken very, very deep by Chris Kirkwood to give the Knights a 3-2 lead at once. The Knights continued to strafe him in the sixth inning, whacking three sharp hits for two runs, and then he walked Sam Geren with two outs, which made him eligible for the worst punishment of all, a trade to the Loggers. Lillis cleaned up the mess behind de la Cruz, and Sean Suggs hit a homer in the seventh, but that was a solo shot, and we were still 5-3 behind. Lonzo whacked a triple in the eighth, but with two outs and nobody on, and Pucks did single him home to get within a run, but then was caught stealing. The ninth brought about right-hander David Hardaway and his 5.03 ERA, which was about three times his ERA in previous years. Obviously having making-up to do, he allowed a 2-out single to Suggs, but then got Crispin to ground out to second base. 5-4 Knights. Waters 2-4, HR, RBI; Puckeridge 3-4, 2B, RBI; Suggs 2-4, HR, RBI; Another one-run loss. You don’t say. Pitching change for Wednesday, with Kodai Koga moved up into the middle game, which gave us an option on southpaw Brian Jackson (5-1, 5.21 ERA) for Thursday. Game 2 POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – 1B Crum – LF del Toro – C Suggs – 3B DeMarco – RF Maldonado – P Barel ATL: 2B S. Turner – SS Housey – RF Alade – CF Royer – 1B D. Riley – C D. Arroyo – LF Kulak – 3B Thibault – P Koga Waters singled, Lonzo doubled, and the middle of the order all made **** outs to strand the pair of them in scoring position in the first inning on Wednesday. Things would get better for Ken Crum, who went on to drive home Matt Waters in both the third and fifth innings with singles through the right side, but not for del Toro, who struck out twice and ended three of the first five innings, stranding a total of four runners for good. The Coons were up 3-1 by the middle of the fifth; Crum had the pair of RBI singles, and Koga had brought in Lonzo with a wild pitch in the fifth as well. Initially, Danny Arroyo had put the Knights on top in the bottom 2nd with a solo homer to left. Bobby Thibault never batted in the game, leaving the game in the second inning with a mild calf strain suffered on defense, but his replacement Thomas Greeley nearly mashed a game-tying blast to left in the bottom 7th, coming maybe three feet short of the fence and finding himself retired by del Toro to end the inning with Dan Riley on third base, stranded. He also made the final out of the game, again as the tying run, then in a 4-2 game. Glodowski had singled home Suggs in the eighth, but Sencion had put Steve Royer on base to begin the bottom 9th before the scheduled handover of the ball to Kevin Hitchcock, who conceded the run and walked Arroyo, but got Greeley on a calm grounder to Crum at first base. 4-2 Coons. Waters 4-5; Crum 2-5, 2 RBI; Glodowski (PH) 1-1, RBI; Barel 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, W (6-3); This game ended both our 5-game spill and their 13-game winning streak. The next game might end Kyle Brobeck’s major league career, but if he pitched nicely, we’d make other arrangements with our rotation; Jason Wheatley was penciled in to pitch the opener against the Thunder on Friday. Game 3 POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – RF Puckeridge – 1B Crum – LF del Toro – 3B DeMarco – CF Suzuki – C Philipps – P Brobeck ATL: 3B Thibault – C Cass – 1B Alade – LF Kirkwood – CF Royer – 2B S. Turner – RF Garris – SS Housey – P J. Byrd Brobeck went about applying for continued employment entirely in the wrong way. He got whacked around quite good in the first inning, although a DeMarco error also didn’t help among two hits and a walk for the Knights, who went up 2-0 early, and then tacked on another run in the third inning, when Alade walked, stole second, and scored on a Royer single. Then Brobeck offered really solid middle innings when I was just looking for an excuse to put him on a bus to St. Pete right from Atlanta. And just when he had almost won me back over, he got bombed by Bobby Thibault in the seventh, which then lengthened the score to 4-1 in Atlanta’s favor. The Coons’ lone run in an otherwise entirely forgettable team effort against Joe Byrd had come in the sixth inning, where Lonzo doubled and was tripled home by the otherwise forgettable del Toro with two outs, but DeMarco continued to be just as forgettable… just like the rest of the team, that never put another paw on base after the triple. 4-1 Knights. Brobeck was optioned to St. Petersburg after the game, although he might return soon if Victor Salcido couldn’t do a 180 on his fortunes near-instantly. Raccoons (23-24) vs. Thunder (25-21) – May 24-26, 2052 The Thunder were now first in runs scored after the Knights didn’t take the Coons’ staff apart completely and wholly, but they were seventh in runs allowed. That still made for a +49 run differential, though, but with an extremely brittle bullpen. But I had little concern for them; they were up 2-1 on the Coons this year, so they were due another six wins. Projected matchups: Jason Wheatley (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. J.J. Hendrix (1-3, 5.07 ERA) Victor Salcido (1-4, 7.07 ERA) vs. Zach Boyer (3-1, 3.30 ERA) Seisaku Taki (5-3, 2.60 ERA) vs. Alfredo Llamas (6-1, 2.74 ERA) Looks like we got exactly their three right-handers for this weekend set. Game 1 OCT: LF R. Cox – 2B Ban – SS Soberanes – 1B Worthington – CF Harmon – 3B R. Sifuentes – RF Angeletti – C Adames – P Hendrix POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – 1B Puckeridge – LF Crum – C Suggs – 3B Crispin – RF Glodowski – CF Suzuki – P Wheatley The crowd was excited to see Wheats back on the mound after he had only amounted to five outs on Opening Day. He got around a Suzuki error in the first inning, then got a 1-0 lead on straight singles by the 1-2-3 batters in the bottom 1st before the next three batters crapped out again. Bottom 2nd, Glodowski and Suzuki started with singles to right and left, respectively, and Wheats bunted them over before Waters and Lonzo crapped out now. Four stranded in scoring position in two innings. Good! Good…! Suzuki threw out Ryan Cox at the plate when the Thunder had three straight singles in the third inning, the Thunder didn’t score, and the Coons then put Pucks and Crum on to begin the third inning. Crispin grounded to Jonathan Ban, with the double play only avoided on Ban’s brief bobble, but Matt Glodowski then finally came through with a big hit, belting a 3-run homer to left-center to get up 4-0. That looked nice, but by the middle of the fourth it was 4-3. Mike Harmon singled, but was forced out by Ramon Sifuentes. J.P. Angeletti grounded to short, where Lonzo bobbled the inning-ending double play, and the dam broke immediately. Jesus Adames single, Hendrix single (…), Ban single, and three runs scored in total before Ed Soberanes whiffed in a full count, two unearned. Wheats hit a single in the bottom 4th that was for nothing, then walked David Worthington in the fifth. The tying run reached third base on a passed ball and a wild pitch, and with two outs Angeletti flicked a blooper over Lonzo for a single, tying the score at four. In total, Wheats scattered ten hits, but also struck out eight batters in six innings, which was a so-so outcome, which probably merited a no-decision… but we weren’t there yet. Suzuki led off the bottom 6th with a single off Hendrix, before both del Toto and Waters hit grounders for force outs at second base. Hendrix walked Lonzo, then was yanked for Felix Alvarez, who had Pucks at 1-2, then gave up a screamer down the line for a 2-out, 2-run double. Crum struck out, leaving it at 6-4 through six innings, but Alvarez sponsored another run in the seventh, where Suggs and Crispin got on, but the only score came on a wild pitch before del Toro struck out to strand a guy at third base once more. But Wheatley got his no-decision after all. Jesus Adames homered off Sencion in the eighth. Armando Herrera homered off Sencion in the eighth. Ed Soberanes homered off Paul Crisler in the eighth. That last one counted for two and gave Oklahoma the lead, 8-7. Doesn’t matter. David Worthington homered off Paul Crisler in the eighth. The Coons had the tying runs in scoring position in the eighth after singles by Pucks and Sivertson, but Suggs struck out to keep them there, and the win with the Thunder, as usual. 9-7 Thunder. Lavorano 2-5; Puckeridge 4-4, BB, 2B, 3 RBI; Sivertson (PH) 1-1; Glodowski 3-5, HR, 3 RBI; Suzuki 2-4; (hangs totally done in the trusty brown couch, one eye closed, a bottle o’ booze in one paw, and a half-smoked fag hanging from one corner of the snout) Game 2 OCT: LF R. Cox – 2B Ban – SS Soberanes – 1B Worthington – CF Harmon – 3B R. Sifuentes – RF Benavides – C Adames – P Boyer POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – 1B Crum – C Suggs – LF del Toro – 3B DeMarco – RF Maldonado – P Salcido Salcido had two four-pitch walks, a strikeout, and a double play grounder in the first inning, so that was also gonna be a fun one, no doubt. The Thunder went up 1-0 in the second, but that was with a throwing error by Matt Waters making it unearned to begin with, so that was that. By the third inning, it was a 4-0 game, with Salcido once again getting whacked in the snout, bum, and every other imaginable and unimaginable body part. On one paw, that sucked, but on the other paw, that was the last earned run off Salcido in the game. He put up three scoreless in the middle innings, although that also included the Thunder putting four straight pitches into play at one point, across innings, all for outs, but the look was just horrendous. The Thunder added another run in the seventh, but that was with Jesus Adames reaching on catcher’s interference, and getting waved across by Paul Miles with a wild pitch. And the Critters? Suggs shooed home Pucks with a run in the fourth inning and that was mostly it, four hits in six innings, until del Toro and DeMarco reached base to begin the bottom 7th against Zach Boyer. Maldonado popped out, but Ed Crispin struck an RBI double from the #9 spot. That put the tying run in the box of a 5-2 game, but Waters lifted a floater to Ryan Cox in shallow left – which Cox dropped for an error, and now the tying runs were on the corners. Lonzo hit into a run-scoring fielder’s choice, stole second, Pucks walked, and Crum… grounded out. Crisler then tried to get the Thunder jumpstarted again in the eighth, putting Mike Harmon in scoring position with a walk and an error, but when Sifuentes flew out to Puckeridge, a zinger to home made for an 8-2 double play to end the inning. Armando Herrera tripled off Hitchcock with two outs in the ninth, but was stranded, but was nevertheless on a good pace to wear out his welcome-back way before eventual and inevitable retirement. Also inevitable? The Coons losing a one-run game. Dale Mrazek entered the bottom 9th, with Suzuki batting for Maldo against the right-hander, and singled to right. Oh goody me, maybe a double play to kill the game? Ed Crispin was still in the #9 hole after pinch-hitting earlier. Mrazek fell behind 3-1 against thim, at which point Crispin swung. I sighed. Crispin lifted it – a bomb! High! Deep! Very much gone! It’s a walkoff! 6-5 Critters! Puckeridge 1-2, 2 BB, 2B; del Toro 2-4; DeMarco 2-4; Suzuki (PH) 1-1; Crispin (PH) 2-2, HR, 3 RBI; Prior to dragging that game out of the bin by his teeth with 3 RBI, Ed Crispin had all of 1 (one) RBI for the season. Game 3 OCT: LF R. Cox – 2B Ban – SS Soberanes – 1B Worthington – CF Harmon – 3B R. Sifuentes – RF Angeletti – C Adames – P Llamas POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – 1B Crum – C Suggs – LF del Toro – 3B DeMarco – RF Maldonado – P Taki Cox singled, Soberanes singled, Harmon singled, and Soberanes singled, and two runs scored in another ******* of a first inning. The inning only ended with Angeletti, and the next one began with a leadoff walk to Jesus Adames. Singles by Ban and Soberanes scored that run, too, and the Thunder chewed up Taki in five innings, but not without a farewell-don’t-hit-your-bum-in-the-door homer by Soberanes in the fifth that made it 4-0 Thunder. The Coons had basically nothing against Llamas, spitting on each and every chance they had with a guy on base, all two of them through six innings…! Bottom 7th then, leadoff man Pucks reached on a single, and Crum doubled. With two in scoring position, Sean Suggs struck out, which sugged, but del Toro reached on an infield single. DeMarco flew out to Angeletti, who dropped the ball to get the Coons on the board, 4-1. Maldo struck out, but Sivertson grounded up the *** middle with two outs and chased home two runs, upon which Matt Waters drew a walk, and Lonzo … oh, Lonzo had been removed in a double switch. Oops. Crispin had to bat, grounded out, and stranded the tying and go-ahead runs. Thankfully, I was spared the agony of another one-run loss. Brett Lillis jr. was kind enough to walk two, give up a 3-run blast to Adames, and then kept walking people, eventually getting socked for four runs in the eighth inning and doubling the Thunder’s score. Del Toro hit a meaningless sac fly that he could as well have folded and stuck between his fuzzy cheeks in the bottom 8th, and the Coons bled another run on Eloy Sencion’s newfound screaming ineptitude in the ninth inning anyway. Mike Harmon double, productive outs, and so on, and so on. The Coons kept getting meaningless runs with a Maldo double, Sivertson single, and run-scoring fielder’s choice for Waters against Jeremy Mayhall in the bottom 9th, but the game ended quickly after that. 9-5 Thunder. Puckeridge 2-5; Crum 2-4, 2B; del Toro 2-3, RBI; Sivertson (PH) 2-3, 2 RBI; In other news May 20 – Some questions surround the Aces’ minor league program after 16-year-old Rafael Argumedo, who had signed for $156k in the previous July’s international free agent period, fails a drug test and is suspended for 80 future games. May 20 – The home run by CIN INF Steve Diaz (.291, 4 HR, 26 RBI) is only the Cyclones’ third hit of the game, but it also wins it in walkoff fashion, 1-0 in 12 innings over the Wolves. May 20 – In a trade that was hard to explain, the Indians deal 25-yr old SP/MR Martino Barbiusa (5-0, 2.05 ERA) to the Cyclones for #49 prospect SP Josh Doyle. May 22 – LAP RF Matt Diskin (.373, 10 HR, 36 RBI) comes down with a knee sprain and will be out for about a month. May 22 – Blue Sox INF Gerardo Vazquez (.242, 3 HR, 13 RBI) homers for the only score in a 1-0, 10-inning win over the Pacifics, who amount to a lone double by LF/RF/1B Sal Rodrigues (.290, 3 HR, 16 RBI). May 22 – DEN SP Jim Cushing (3-3, 3.98 ERA) throw a combined 1-hit shutout against the Rebels in a 1-0 Gold Sox win. The lone Reb with a hit is backup catcher Wade Gardner (.300, 1 HR, 4 RBI), pinch-hitting for a double in the eighth inning. May 23 – The season is potentially over for SAC SP Mike McCaffrey (4-1, 2.63 ERA), who is diagnosed with a partially torn labrum. May 23 – The Cyclones acquire OF/2B Dave Roura (.277, 2 HR, 11 RBI), along with a shady prospect, from the Buffaloes, who receive SP Pat DiLullo (1-6, 4.22 ERA). May 23 – In a separate deal, the Buffaloes send INF Jose Rivas (.300, 0 HR, 20 RBI) to the Wolves for CL Josh Rella (0-3, 4.26 ERA, 11 SV) and #149 prospect CL Roberto Ramirez. May 24 – NAS 1B Alejandro Ramos (.292, 13 HR, 27 RBI) bombs three home runs for five RBI in an 8-2 win over the Warriors. It’s the second-ever 3-homer game for the Blue Sox, and only three years after the first one by Jose Cantu against the Rebels. FL Player of the Week: NAS 1B Alejandro Ramos (.299, 14 HR, 29 RBI), swatting .474 (9-19) with 5 HR, 9 RBI CL Player of the Week: MIL INF Zach Suggs (.309, 12 HR, 38 RBI), hitting .522 (12-23) with 4 HR, 9 RBI Complaints and stuff Bull semen. That’s the word on what that Aces prospect tried to dope with. I don’t know. I don’t see – … how do you even take that? Orally or by injection? – Oh is that so, Cristiano? Baseball. Really interesting, and remarkably terrifying at the same time. I also traded for the wrong Suggs last year, which suggs. David Barel wants a contract, and I want to hang myself on the nearest hook, although maybe I should talk to Steve from Accounting first, because maybe there’s a way to wite-out Salcido’s name on that 5-year contract of his and write it over to Barel. He can have those of Sencion and Lillis, too. Ah, what the heck, half the roster needs purging. I have no clue how this team won 94 games last year, and now we can barely tie our shoes without running into another *** 4-run inning…! Barel, del Toro, Taki, Crisler…! How did we add all THAT and now we have THIS…?? (rolls into a ball on the couch, sobbing) Bayhawks, Titans next week. And also a new month. New month, new us? Fun Fact:** Matt Waters was still on the cusp of leading the batting title race in the CL, until the Coons tossers bowed and conceded to Jonathan Ban, 6-for-13 in Portland. All of them were singles, and only two RBI for Ban, but somehow nobody in that Thunder order tears out trees against the Coons and yet they win all the games, all the time. It’s been like this for years. Must be something in the water. Attached Images __________________ Portland Raccoons, 92 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

01-11-2023, 04:50 AM	#4078
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,788	2052 DRAFT POOL ANALYSIS At this point, the draft was less than three weeks away, so why not think about the riches on offer with the, uh, #22 pick? The shortlist for draft candidates had been compiled, and we have put a hotlist together with the dozen-ish most interesting prospects availa- … say, Pat Degenhardt, where are all the pitchers and catchers on the list? – A-ha. – Oh. Looks like it’s more of a hitters draft class. Excluding catchers for the most part. Here’s the shortlist (high school player): SP Jaden Williams (14/12/8) – BNN #2 SP Rick Johnson (11/12/9) – BNN #1 SP Cameron Parks (10/13/12) 1B Andy Metz (10/14/15) 2B/SS/CF Jesse Sweeney (10/6/11) – BNN #6 INF Billy Nichols (13/10/6)* OF Ken Hummel (17/15/10) – BNN #9 RF/LF Perry Pigman (14/10/12) – BNN #7 OF Kyle Fisher (13/7/14) – BNN #8 OF Elijah Johnson (10/12/13) OF/1B Chris Lovins (9/6/8)* – BNN #3 Hummel looked like the kind of guy that would end up on the Elks and torture us for the next 15 years. With Jerry Outram on the way out, this looked like perfect timing, too. The left-handed Lovins, 19, was a bit the odd one out here, in that Pat Degenhardt didn’t like his composure much at all, but he had destroyed his high school league in its entirety with the stick. OSA was more friendly especially in the contact department, and we kinda hoped for a late-first-round steal there until BNN came out and ranked him third on their own hotshot list. __________________ Portland Raccoons, 92 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

01-12-2023, 04:00 PM	#4079
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,788	Raccoons (24-26) @ Bayhawks (19-32) – May 27-29, 2052 The Bayhawks had just lost six in a row, but we had fallen down even shallower stairs recently. They sat tenth in runs scored, and bottoms in runs allowed in the CL, with a -63 run differential. Their rotation was the worst, as was their defense, and they were also bottoms in stolen bases, and close to worst in homers. Ricky Correa and Danny Munn were on the DL, further thinning an already weak lineup. The Coons had swept them in the first 3-game set of the year. Projected matchups: Rafael de la Cruz (3-2, 3.67 ERA) vs. Mario de Anda (1-2, 4.67 ERA) David Barel (6-3, 3.00 ERA) vs. Milt Cantrell (2-8, 5.80 ERA) Jason Wheatley (0-0, 2.35 ERA) vs. Jesse Bulas (2-3, 4.04 ERA) De Anda was a southpaw we were quite familiar with, and then there were two righties that had been with the Baybirds for a while, even though Cantrell was only 25. Game 1 POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – 1B Crum – C Suggs – RF Glodowski – 3B DeMarco – LF Sivertson – P de la Cruz SFB: 3B A. Diaz – 2B Peltier – 1B Witherspoon – SS Dau – CF M. Roberts – RF Fink – C Petroni – LF Sparr – P de Anda A sac fly by Ken Crum brought in Waters and gave the Coons a quick 1-0 lead in the first, and Mitch Sivertson grabbed a sac fly that scored DeMarco after a double and wild pitch in the second, but three extra base hits whacked off Raffy in the bottom 2nd easily tied the game again. Mike Roberts tripled, and John Fink and Zach Sparr hit RBI doubles. It didn’t get better in the fourth against the same part of the lineup, then with Roberts drawing a walk, an RBI double to right by Giampaolo Petroni, and Sparr flying out to Pucks for what should have been the third out, but was dropped for a run-scoring, 2-base error. So I was in the mood then, but, though down 4-2, the Coons after a few innings of hibernation actually climbed back into the game in the sixth. Pucks drew a leadoff walk on just four pitches, and then Ken Crum lodged a ball in the corner against his old team and ran it out for an RBI triple – and with nobody out! …and they left him there. Suggs was nicked, and Glodowski popped out, and DeMarco popped out, and Sivertson struck out altogether, and I sighed bitterly. It didn’t get better in the seventh inning, with Alonzo Diaz and Adam Peltier singles against Justin Johns; those were soft, but Sam Witherspoon’s 3-run homer to right really wasn’t all that soft. The Coons had only two more singles, and no threats. 7-3 Bayhawks. Sivertson 1-2, RBI; Game 2 POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – 1B Crum – C Suggs – LF del Toro – 3B Crispin – RF Maldonado – P Barel SFB: C M. Torres – CF Sedillo – 2B Dau – 1B Witherspoon – SS Peltier – 3B J. Gonzalez – RF M. Roberts – LF Sparr – P Cantrell This time the Bayhawks scratched out two early runs, with Witherspoon still hitting under .200 even after a pair of singles, including one that drove home Mario Sedillo to get to 1-0 in the first. Marvin Torres hit a homer to left in the third. The Coons erased the 2-0 deficit in the fourth inning; after being retired in order they got Waters on with a leadoff walk, then a zinger triple to left from Lonzo, and a sac fly by Pucks. Del Toro found a single the inning after, but that was all of two hits through five innings. The Bayhawks had eight, and four runs after Jorge Gonzalez’ 2-out, 2-run double to right chased home Sedillo and Todd Dau in the bottom 5th. And that was enough. The Coons didn’t get another base hit until Pucks lobbed a 1-out single off Brad Barnes in the ninth inning. Crum struck out, Suggs singled, but Juan del Toro unleashed a weak grounder to Witherspoon that ended the game. Barel was dull with just two strikeouts, but at least pitched seven innings in another loss. 4-2 Bayhawks. The Bay is so neatly glitzening. I bet the water won’t take long to fill your lungs……… Game 3 POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – 1B Crum – LF del Toro – 3B DeMarco – RF Suzuki – C Philipps – P Wheatley SFB: 3B A. Diaz – 2B Peltier – SS Dau – CF M. Roberts – C M. Torres – RF Fink – 1B Sedillo – LF Sparr – P Bulas John Fink homered to right off Wheats in the bottom 2nd, but the Coons turned the game into a 2-1 lead the next half-inning. Philipps’ leadoff single saw him bunted to second by Wheats and driven in by Lonzo with a 2-out double. Pucks’ single to right was enough to chase Lonzo home for the lead. Puckeridge was then caught stealing, and the inning after Crum was thrown out at home plate on a single by Mikio Suzuki to end another inning on the base paths. And there, the score hovered; the middle innings were tense, with every half-inning but one having a guy on base, but somehow everything ended up either in a double play, or the guy just left on first base, or, well, Crum being crummily thrown out at home. The top 7th then began with an out by Wheats, but Waters and Lonzo got on base, and reached scoring position with a double steal. From there, both scored when Pucks split Diaz and Dau with a bouncer hit off new reliever Jeff Frank, and extended the lead to 4-1. Crum added another single, as did del Toro with a single that brought home Pucks, 5-1. And then DeMarco found another double play grounder, 6-4-3. But the lead was sizeable, and Wheats handled it well; he pitched another two innings, holding the Baybirds to six hits and their lone early run, all on 101 pitches. Maybe the DL time made him think this was the second half already? Lillis didn’t even ** up his first W of the season and retired the Baybirds in order in the ninth inning. 5-1 Raccoons! Lavorano 3-5, 2B; Puckeridge 3-5, 3 RBI; crum 2-5; del Toro 2-3, 2B, RBI; Wheatley 8.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, W (1-0); Wheats should pitch every game. Maybe that would get us out of a tie for last place with the Loggers… Raccoons (25-28) @ Titans (30-22) – May 31-June 2, 2052 The Titans by contrast had a 7-game winning streak, so maybe we could ruin that one, too? Just kidding of course. They were up 4-2 against the Coons this year, and led the division despite being bottoms in runs scored, batting average, and OBP. Somehow they were third in homers amongst all that detritus. And the real reason they were on top (by half a game) right now was their pitching, with the best rotation in the CL (even without Barel), the second-best bullpen and defense, and the fewest runs allowed in the Continental League – all of three runs per game, precisely…! Projected matchups: Seisaku Taki (5-4, 2.92 ERA) vs. Juan Ramos (5-3, 3.70 ERA) Rafael de la Cruz (3-3, 3.77 ERA) vs. Kyle Turay (4-3, 2.58 ERA) David Barel (6-4, 3.21 ERA) vs. Victor Scott (4-2, 1.90 ERA) Southpaw Sunday, assuming the Titans would skip Jamie Guidry (4-6, 4.37 ERA) as indicated by starting Ramos on Friday. Guidry would also be left-handed, and Victor Salcido was also skipped in this series, because his act was very tiresome on my old milky eyes. Game 1 POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – 1B Crum – C Suggs – LF del Toro – 3B DeMarco – RF Maldonado – P Taki BOS: CF Whitlow – 2B M. Martinez – RF T. Lopez – 1B L. Rodriguez – C R. Gonzalez – SS A. Montes de Oca – LF Bumpus – 3B J. Rodriguez – P J. Ramos Seisaku Taki was simply singled to death by a team hitting under .240. Tony Lopez and Larry Rodriguez hit singles in the first, Jordan Ramos hit a single in the second, and none of them scored, but nearly the entire Titans lineup took a swing and they packed five singles and two runs into the third inning. Taki didn’t make it out of the fifth ultimately, giving up another three hits, beginning with a leadoff double to center by Lopez. Larry Rodriguez was nicked with an 0-2 pitch, and then singles by Angel Montes de Oca and Adam Bumpus brought in a total of three runs. The relentless assault that was the terrific Titans hit machine also whacked Justin Johns around for three runs in the bottom of the seventh, as if it still mattered. And the Coons? Could hardly walk straight, except in the sixth, when Waters got on, was forced out by Lonzo, who stole second, Pucks singled, and a Crum double and a Suggs sac fly brought in two soggy runs in the middle of the next team-wide meltdown. When they crowded Sam Heisler in the ninth, Juan del Toro strained an oblique on a dive into third base, trying to wiggle around Jose Rodriguez’ glove. He did that, but also left the game, with Sivertson pinch-running and scoring on a sac fly by Maldo. Tyler Philipps then hit into a game-ending double play. 8-3 Titans. Waters 1-2, 2 BB; Puckeridge 2-4; Glodowski (PH) 1-1; Maldonado 2-3, 2B, RBI; Juan del Toro was off to the DL with that oblique, but 15 days should be enough to get him back to his normal brittleness. Eddy Veloz, who had made two guest appearances earlier in the season, was recalled from AAA again. Guidry came up on Saturday, so probably there wouldn’t be a Southpaw Sunday either. I can’t have anything around here, can I?? Game 2 POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – LF Crum – C Suggs – RF Glodowski – 3B DeMarco – 1B Maldonado – P de la Cruz BOS: CF Whitlow – 2B M. Martinez – RF T. Lopez – 1B L. Rodriguez – C R. Gonzalez – SS A. Montes de Oca – LF Bumpus – 3B J. Rodriguez – P Guidry Single, single, single, GRAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAMMMMM – four batters into the game on Saturday, the Coons were up 4-0! …and then they stopped doing much of anything right away. The Titans answered with a homer of their own, by Larry Rodriguez, but only in the fourth and only a solo shot. That was the only run off Raffy, but he also only pitched six innings, allowing five hits and three walks, but also had many long counts and was at 100 pitches again through six innings. Crisler and Sencion kept the Titans at bay in the next two innings, and the Coons actually fumbled another run together all the way in the ninth inning with singles by Waters, Lonzo and Suggs. That made it a four-run lead, and made Kevin Hitchcock’s services somewhat redundant, but then again Kevin Hitchcock recently mostly existed on paper and was hardly getting any work. He still retired the Titans 1-2-3, even if it wasn’t for a save. 5-1 Coons. Waters 2-5; Lavorano 2-5; Crum 1-5, HR, 4 RBI; DeMarco 3-4; Game 3 POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – 1B Crum – RF Maldonado – 3B Crispin – CF Suzuki – C Philipps – P Barel BOS: CF Whitlow – 2B M. Martinez – RF T. Lopez – 1B L. Rodriguez – C R. Gonzalez – SS A. Montes de Oca – LF Bumpus – 3B J. Rodriguez – P Turay Single, single, oh, no, lineout, but Crum walked, and, no, Maldo’s sac fly was all there really was in terms of runs in the top 1st in Sunday’s rubber game. Barel remained inefficient and through four innings gave up three hits and three walks, but also saw Miguel Martinez and Angel Montes de Oca jam the ball into double plays in the first two innings, respectively, which bailed him out of a tight spot or two. Montes, however, also tied the game with a 2-out RBI single in the fourth inning, so there was that, before Adam Bumpus floated out to center. The Coons, ever annoying, would go on to load the bases in the fifth inning, but then with two outs, for Ken Crum, who, annoyingly, grounded out to first base. And we weren’t skipping over a lot of what they were doing here, either… Bottom 7th, the habit of putting the leadoff man on base, which he did four times in the game, cost Barel for good, then with singles by Bumpus and Jose Rodriguez. The latter was forced out by Ian Davison, but Eric Whitlow hit a sac fly to Suzuki to give Boston a 2-1 lead. Miguel Martinez flew out, and Barel would not be seen again after the inning. Crispin and Glodowski hit 2-out singles off different relievers in the top 8th, but Philipps grounded out to short to make the point moot. Johns and Lillis also bobbled two Titans on base in the bottom of the inning, but Pucks tracked down a drive by Bumpus to end the inning with runners on the corners. The Coons arrived in the ninth trailing by one and faced right-hander Eddie Sotelo. Sivertson and Waters made quick outs, but Lonzo singled to center with two gone. Pucks grounded to the right side, and Sotelo dropped Larry Rodriguez’ feed to needlessly extend the torture, bringing up Ken Crum with the tying run on second base. He struck out. 2-1 Titans. Lavorano 3-5; Glodowski (PH) 1-1; In other news May 28 – TIJ CL Kevin Daley (3-4, 3.91 ERA, 10 SV) reportedly steps on a rake in his garden and has his nose broken when the handle slaps into his face, but also punctures is foot and is expected to miss at least one month. May 30 – The season of IND SS Chase Clover (.245, 1 HR, 20 RBI) is over after being handed a diagnosis of a partially torn labrum that needs stitching. May 31 – CHA OF/1B Mike Allegood (.343, 6 HR, 32 RBI) might also miss the rest of the year with a stretched elbow ligament. June 1 – The Blue Sox’ 31-year-old CL Tommy Gardner (1-2, 1.35 ERA, 9 SV) gets his 300th career save as he nails down a 7-4 win against the Capitals. Gardner, a two-time Reliever of the Year with the Indians, and 7-time All Star, was 42-38 with a 2.53 ERA for his career, with 647 strikeouts in 633.2 innings. June 2 – CIN SP Jameson Monk (2-2, 5.40 ERA) gets within two outs of no-hitting the Rebels before running out of juice, giving up two walks and finally a double to RIC RF/LF Chris Morris (.309, 6 HR, 28 RBI) before being relieved by Garrett Giustino (2-1, 5.33 ERA, 1 SV), who saves the game as a 4-3 win, but not without surrendering Morris’ run as well. June 2 – Thunder utility Alvin Aguilera (.250, 1 HR, 5 RBI) hits a rare home run to end a 16-inning marathon with the Bayhawks in a 6-4 Thunder walkoff win. June 2 – DAL RF/LF/1B Dario Martinez (.324, 15 HR, 40 RBI) homers off Warriors SP Jeff Ray (3-4, 4.59 ERA), pressed into relief in the top of the 15th inning of their Sunday game. The first run in seven innings stands up in the end for a 6-5 Stars win. FL Player of the Week: TOP 2B/SS Tony Aparicio (.332, 12 HR, 40 RBI), shooting .423 (10-23) with 4 HR, 10 RBI CL Player of the Week: SFB INF/LF/RF Adam Peltier (.303, 3 HR, 24 RBI), batting .414 (12-29) with 1 HR, 4 RBI FL Hitter of the Month: NAS 1B Alejandro Ramos (.301, 14 HR, 31 RBI), swatting .327 with 9 HR, 21 RBI CL Hitter of the Month: MIL INF Zach Suggs (.300, 12 HR, 38 RBI), hitting .385 with 8 HR, 25 RBI FL Pitcher of the Month: DAL SP Arthur Pickett (8-3, 3.79 ERA), a perfect 6-0 record with 2.62 ERA, 27 K CL Pitcher of the Month: MIL SP Angelo Munoz (6-2, 2.45 ERA), hurling for a 5-0 mark with 1.38 ERA, 20 K FL Rookie of the Month: SFW OF/1B Aidan Calhoun (.316, 1 HR, 12 RBI), who made his debut this month CL Rookie of the Month: VAN CF Damian Moreno (.311, 7 HR, 33 RBI), hitting .291 with 1 HR, 9 RBI Complaints and stuff Lonzo continues to lead the CL in stealing, now at a steady pace of two, three, four bags a week. And that is probably all the nice things I have to say about the team right now. More of the same, more of the same this week. The Raccoons have lost their last five series, and we’re a woeful 4-12 since dropping the last game in Milwaukee during that 4-game set there. At least we’re finally losing by larger margins, the one-run losses were getting annoying. Wickedest sort of progress. I think a cleaning of house is in order. It is always in order when you’re behind the Loggers and it’s already June. Not that I expect a bettering of fortunes in the very near future. The best part of next week will be another day off on Monday…! We have the Elks and Miners at home, then the Pacifics on the road for the next three opponents. Fun Fact:** The Miners lead the FL East with a losing record. I like watching train wrecks like that division. Attached Images __________________ Portland Raccoons, 92 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.