Portland Raccoons (ABL)

[Westheim]

The Raccoons had a day off before their set in Vegas, which ended up with me sitting around in the nearest casino. But I had barely lost 200 bucks of Nick Valdes’ money at the craps table when I was sought out by an employee, notifying me of a phone call, which was apparently something they hadn’t had to do in almost 15 years, and they had been tempted of getting rid of the telephone entirely, which was not something that would cross my mind. I loved my ancient black-lacquered rotary phone at home in Portland.

It was Dr. Padilla calling me, informing me that the scans had come back on Raffy’s elbow, and that there was definitely a tear in his UCL, he definitely needed surgery, and yes, he’d definitely be out for the next 12 months.

I definitely wept after that.

The Coons thus disposed of two starting pitchers on Monday. Raffy (5-2, 2.31 ERA) went on the 60-day DL because we’d need the spot on the 40-man before long, and Phil Baker (4-3, 6.26 ERA) was plainly punted to AAA. I then summoned Kyle Brobeck, who had more walks than strikeouts amidst a 3.56 ERA in St. Pete, and Josh Mayo, who had an ERA under three, but still more than a walk per two innings, from the Alley Cats, then left my hotel, rented a car at the nearest lot, and drove north into the desert with no particular goal in my mind. Just get away from it all.

Get away from it all and cry as loud as you like without anybody hearing you.

Raccoons (22-22) @ Aces (16-28) – May 27-29, 2053

The Aces were 12 games under .500 but also only 12 runs under .500, with a seventh place in runs scored and ninth in runs allowed in the CL. Crummy defense, crummy bullpen, and only 12 stolen bases, which was a bottom three ranking in the league. They beat the Coons six out of nine in 2052.

Projected matchups:
Seisaku Taki (4-3, 2.19 ERA) vs. Juan Mercado (1-4, 4.78 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (1-3, 2.90 ERA) vs. Efrain Estrada (1-2, 4.62 ERA)
Victor Salcido (5-1, 2.89 ERA) vs. Medardo Regueir (2-6, 3.68 ERA)

The Raccoons got two left-handers in this set, on Tuesday and Thursday. They wouldn’t see anything of Jim White, Jorge Cruz, and Thomas Gould, who were all position players locked away on the DL for the Aces.

Game 1
POR: 3B Malkus – SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – LF Crum – 1B Ramsay – C Gowin – CF Suzuki – RF Lopez – P Taki
LVA: CF Blair – LF Austin – SS Welter – C DeFrank – 1B D. Riley – RF Bishop – 3B V. Fernandez – 2B Hager – P J. Mercado

Taki conceded two singles in the first, two walks in the second, but contact was soft, and while he struck out only one batter the first time through, he held Vegas off the board until Ken Crum homered to left for a 1-0 score in the fourth. Mercado stumbled on, walked Malkus to begin the fifth inning, but Lonzo grounded out, advancing the runner. Waters snuck one up the middle for an RBI single, 2-0, and more singles by Crum and Ramsay loaded the bases with one out. Chris Gowin clonked a deep drive to right, but was beaten by both distance, and Steve Bishop’s glove, having to settle for a sac fly right to the otherwise very inviting fence. Mikio Suzuki lined out to Brenton Hager to end the inning altogether.

All the 3-0 lead went bust in the bottom 6th, when Taki served up a leadoff triple to Ray DeFrank, and waved the run across with a wild pitch, followed by two more walks, a Brenton Hager single, and ultimately, a game-tying, pinch-hit, RBI groundout by … Jerry Outram. The bugger! Taki wasn’t returning for the seventh, which Waters opened with a single for Portland, but was doubled up by Crum, crummily. Instead, the Aces had another 3-spot in the eighth inning, getting their first four batters on base with two singles by Dan Riley and Danny Encarnacion against Vic Flores, then another single by Bobby Ortega, and a bases-loaded walk offered to John Fink by Raul Cornejo. The fourth straight pinch-hitter, Travis Stone, hit a sac fly, Dave Blair singled home a pair, and Aubrey Austin struck out to end the disaster. 6-3 Aces. Waters 2-4, RBI; Crum 2-4, HR, RBI; Gowin 1-2, BB, RBI;

I didn’t see the game. I had other problems. For example, standing on the only gas station on Nevada State Route 375 for 50 miles around, and finding out that the car you rented out only had a plug – and there was no outlet to plug it into.

By Wednesday morning, the Aces moved Regueir up to the middle game of the series, giving the Coons back-to-back southpaws to look poor against, and I had hitched a ride with a farmer, Gus, who was driving to the market and told me seven times that I couldn’t open the glove compartment in front of his pickup truck.

It was a weird market he was driving to. There was no produce on the pickup truck – only several boxes with warning labels reading everything from “hazardous waste” to “human tissue”.

One man’s human tissue is another man’s hazardous waste, I guess. Just look at that bullpen…

Game 2
POR: 3B Malkus – SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – LF Crum – 1B Ramsay – C Gowin – CF Puckeridge – RF Lopez – P Wheatley
LVA: 3B V. Fernandez – LF Austin – SS Welter – C DeFrank – 1B D. Riley – RF Bishop – CF Fink – 2B Hager – P Regueir

An Austin double aside, Wheats had only mild trouble in the early innings, and even got a timely lead when Ramsay whacked his 10th homer of the year, a solo shot to right in the second inning. That was also the Critters’ only hit through five innings, while the Aces had three off Wheats, but no runs, while Wheatley struck out six batters, one of whom – Austin in the fifth – reached when Gowin couldn’t keep his paws on the ball and then chased the ball up the third base line. DeFrank struck out to begin the sixth, before Riley singled up the middle, but Bishop found Lonzo for a double play. The Aces popped out three times in the seventh, which was Wheats’ final inning, as he reached 102 pitches by popping up Regueir to end the inning.

Chris Gowin’s leadoff single in the eighth was the first Coons hit after – and the only one besides – the Ramsay homer from 90 minutes ago, and he was still meandering around aimlessly by the time there were two outs and Wheats’ spot was up. Joe Boese batted and hit a gapper to right-center, and at least Gowin got a good read and was able to score from first base. Malkus grounded out, and Kevin Hitchcock then wasted no time setting fire to the lead. Leadoff single by Victor Fernandez, another single by Austin, Jeremy Welter walked, and DeFrank drove home a run, albeit with a double play grounder. The tying run at third base, Eloy Sencion came out for the left-handed pack in the 5-6-7 spots. Bobby Ortega, still a lefty batter, pinch-hit for Riley, popped out to Malkus, and Wheats’ lead lived to see the ninth inning. The Coons had two singles (Lonzo, Waters) in the ninth, were caught stealing (Lonzo) and doubled up by Crum (Waters), and then had to give the ball to daley Kevin Wobbly. John Fink whacked a 1-out double to right, but Hager popped out. Jerry Outram, hitting all of .133, then pinch-hit in the #9 hole, but as the winning run after all. He ended the game – with a groundout to Waters. 2-1 Blighters. Boese (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI; Wheatley 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K, W (2-3);

Gus told me to stay in the car at a “town” where two dusty county roads crossed somewhere in the middle of nowhere that evening. I wondered how far it was to his market, but I was hungry anyway and decided to visit the only convenience store in Dead Cow, Nevada, which had a charming blinking “O EN” sign in the door, while Gus said he’d collect something. I wanted chocolates.

Somehow, a basic chocolate bar cost $7.50 in that store, which probably was also the only store for 50 miles around. While I was trying to talk sense into Hilda, the store owner, who had three hairs left on the top of her head, but five on he double chin, there was suddenly commotion on the outside, and two pickup trucks and a van drove up on the “town” square, and dark hooded figures fired with automatic guns out of the truck windows, peppering Gus’ truck with bullets until it very cinematically exploded. When Gus came storming out of the building on the other side of the square, rifle in hand, he was immediately knocked over by two goons that had jumped out of the van, and then immediately dragged into the same. Just as soon as the three vehicles had appeared, they also drove off, engines and tires screaming, in different directions. The whole thing took less than 20 seconds to occur.

Okay, Hilda, back to this crunchy nut bar that is six weeks over its best-before date. I’ll give you a fiver, because I really like your service and I respect people driving a hard bargain. – What do you mean, I can have it for free if I just shut up about what I have seen here?

I then sat down outside at a shaded bus stop. According to the timetable, another bus was due to arrive this week. Hopefully the crunchy nut bar would last me that long.

Game 3
POR: RF Puckeridge – SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – CF Perez – 3B Boese – C Philipps – P Salcido
LVA: CF Blair – LF Austin – SS Welter – C DeFrank – 1B D. Riley – RF Bishop – 3B V. Fernandez – 2B Hager – P E. Estrada

Offense on Thursday was again scarce in the early innings, with only one hit for either team, but Salcido at least kept the home crowd busy when he walked the bags full with Estrada (…), Austin, and Welter in the third inning and only one out on the board. Dave Blair struck out, as did DeFrank; Dan Riley flew out to Crum, and the game remained scoreless. Pucks in the third and Ramsay in the fourth hit into double plays for Coon City, and we were still at zilch-zilch in the sixth inning when Philipps singled, Pucks walked, and Lonzo skipped a single in between a rapidly converging Welter and Austin to load the bases with one gone for Waters, who grounded to Hager. The Aces got Lonzo at second, but not the double play, and the Raccoons really and actually scored a run to go up 1-0. Ramsay fell to 1-2 before hitting a drive to right. The ball missed the fence by 20 feet, but also missed Bishop’s glove by two feet, and fell for a 2-out, 2-run double. Estrada walked Crum, Perez sloshed an RBI single to center, and the inning ended with Boese grounding out to short, naughtily. The Aces’ 3-4-5 answered with straight hits and a run off Salcido to begin the bottom 6th, but then made pathetic outs with the 6-7-8 batters and let the tying run die at the plate. It was also the end for Salcido, who needed 109 pitcehs through six innings, walking four and whiffing six. Jerry Outram whacked a double off Antonio Alfaro in the seventh inning, but was also stranded, and the same fate befell Dan Riley in the eighth despite tripling to center off Vic Flores. Daley appeared to get the final out of that inning, and thus remained eligible for a save even after Pucks’ 2-out solo homer to left off Carlos Ochoa in the ninth inning. Malkus and Waters hit two more singles after that, but Ramsay grounded out, keeping the Aces in slam range. Daley retired them on three grounders to end the game, though. 5-1 Raccoons. Puckeridge 2-4, BB, HR, RBI; Lavorano 2-4; Malkus (PH) 1-1; Perez 2-4, RBI;

The Coons arrived home in Portland on Wednesday night, one game above .500.

I arrived in Schurz, Nevada, after a 12-hour ride on the weekly bus on Wednesday night. It wasn’t much of a place, but I found a couple of half-grown teen boys loitering on a corner, and offered them a hundo if they could drive me the last hundred miles to Reno, the nearest airport from which I could hope to catch a flight to Portland. At first, one of them said that they were only 15 and not allowed to drive, but I cocked my head to the side and asked them not to kid me. They looked exactly like the sort of punks that would put their stepfather to sleep with six cans of beer and then took his car keys! – which was a shot in the dark, but they nodded immediately and one of them produced a set of car keys right away.

The two, named D’Artagnan and Jim-Bob, also tried to be smarter than the three pieces of cat droppings, stacked on top of each other, than they looked like, and asked for the 100 bucks right after we were out of sight of the town. I loudly sang them the chorus of “Don’t Pay the Ferryman” until they finally shut up about it.

Raccoons (24-23) vs. Thunder (31-15) – May 30-June 1, 2053

The Thunder were back in first place in the South, they were third in runs scored and first in runs allowed in the CL, and the Coons would come up with two scratchout pitchers that had failed before and were making their first starts of the year. The Thunder should handily extend their 2-1 lead in the season series…!

Projected matchups:
Kyle Brobeck (0-0) vs. Zach Boyer (5-2, 2.71 ERA)
Josh Mayo (0-0) vs. Mike Zeigler (4-3, 3.00 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (4-3, 2.39 ERA) vs. David Barel (7-3, 2.76 ERA)

For this series, we’d see a right-hander and then two southpaws.

Meanwhile, after paying off D’Artagnan and Jim-Bob with $100 of Nick Valdes’ money and two milkshakes – the additional surcharge for having them stop playing their death metal rap crap in the car – I saw on the departure board that all flights out of Reno were cancelled because apparently the guy driving the luggage cart was on strike.

Game 1
OCT: LF R. Cox – 2B Ban – SS Soberanes – 1B Worthington – RF Harmon – 3B R. Sifuentes – C Burnham – CF M. Allen – P Boyer
POR: 3B Malkus – SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – 1B Ramsay – CF Puckeridge – LF Crum – C Gowin – RF Lopez – P Brobeck

Brobeck entered with a 9-13 record and 4.47 ERA for his major league career, and when he left the game in the sixth inning, had little chance to avoid going to 9-14 anymore. The Thunder were up 4-0 on a pair of 2-run doubles by Ramon Sifuentes in the second and sixth innings, with three of the four runners that scored having reached base on walks, of which Brobeck offered six in total, the final one to Luke Burnham there with one out in the sixth. Vic Flores struck out Mike Allen and got a groundout from Boyer to end the inning, while Boyer was pitching a 3-hitter at this point. The Coons had yet to touch third base, and didn’t give anybody reason to believe they would any time soon. The Thunder scored five more runs in a pitching meltdown for Cornejo and Watson in the eighth inning that did not merit further description, but with the game a dead duck anyway, Watson batted for himself in the bottom 8th and finished out the game pitching-wise with three strikeouts in the ninth inning. Boyer finished out the game all by himself, scattering three base hits. 9-0 Thunder. Malkus 1-2, BB; Ramsay 1-2, BB;

I ended up hitching another rental car from Reno and decided to take the scenic route home, travelling west over I-80 into California, and while the Raccoons went down without much of a squeal against the Thunder for umpteenth time visited the memorial on Donner Pass, where the members of the eponymous party had resorted to eating each other.

Whatever warms the heart, y’know…

Game 2
OCT: LF R. Cox – 2B Ban – SS Soberanes – 1B Worthington – RF Harmon – 3B R. Sifuentes – C Burnham – CF M. Allen – P Zeigler
POR: 3B Malkus – SS Lavorano – C Gowin – LF Crum – 1B Ramsay – 2B Boese – CF Puckeridge – RF Lopez – P Mayo

An infield single for Ryan Cox and homers by Soberanes and David Worthington put the Thunder up 3-0 on Josh Mayo before long. I was by now in radio range of a Raccoons broadcast as I wound my way through northern Cali, although iffy weather in Portland soon sent the game into an hourlong rain delay, whereupon Scott Strype and Jon Craig – the white one, the one that pitched for the Coons – on the radio mused about the good old days. I eventually flicked them off and instead visited the last few old redwoods standing in Del Norte County, California, and wondered whether they’d make for good bats to get the damn Critters to hit.

Mayo despite the rain delay ended up pitching six innings for only one more run surrendered, which Strype and Craig made sound like a success, even though the Raccoons were still no closer to scoring a run. They had actually loaded the bases – in unearned fashion – in the fourth inning of the game, but then Mayo had struck out and Malkus had grounded out to short to keep everybody stranded.

Pucks drew a walk in the bottom 6th, and Zeigler beaned Tony Lopez out of the game; Perez ran for Lopez while Waters batted for Mayo with one out, and brought home the team’s first run in 15 innings with a floater to shallow center that dropped for an RBI single also thanks to a good read from Pucks, who went for home immediately. Malkus hit another RBI single to right, and that put the tying run on base, but 15 pitches later, including a full-count, 2-out walk to Gowin, the Coons stranded the sacks full once more with groundouts from Lonzo and Crum. Crummy. Alfaro pitched two innings for Portland then, giving up a run on a Soberanes double and Mike Harmon single in the eighth, to which the Coons responded with putting Suzuki (single) and Malkus (double) into scoring position with one out in the home half of the same inning, but the Lonzo and Gowin made outs that made the radio guys groan. The tying run reached the dish again in the bottom 9th, but only after 2-out singles by Naughty Joe and Pucks against left-hander Gustavo Chapa. Perez was next, but the bench was dry except for Ed Crispin, so no gains were to be had on that front, and Perez grounded out to Worthington to kill the game. 5-2 Thunder. Malkus 3-5, 2B, RBI; Waters (PH) 1-1, RBI; Suzuki 1-1;

Tony Lopez was day-to-day with a bruise, and wouldn’t be in the lineup on Sunday.

On Sunday, I travelled north on US-101. In the morning, I stared into Devil’s Churn from the viewing area, but was collected by attentive park rangers when I climbed over the railing to consign my body to the tumultuous waves. Shooed away, I eventually ended up in the annual Cheesefest in Tillamook County.

Mmmm. Cheese.

Game 3
OCT: LF R. Cox – 2B Ban – SS Soberanes – 1B Worthington – RF Harmon – 3B R. Sifuentes – C Burnham – CF M. Allen – P Barel
POR: 3B Malkus – SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – LF Crum – 1B Ramsay – RF Puckeridge – C Philipps – CF Suzuki – P Taki

Single, walk, walk, single – four straight Thunder reached before Taki summoned an out, but that he did by striking out Harmon and Sifuentes before Burnham calmly grounded out, stranding three runners amid a 1-0 deficit. The Coons in the bottom 1st started with two singles before hitting into a double play (Waters) and whiffing (Crum), and then didn’t reach base again until the next time Lonzo came up and hit a leadoff single in the fourth. He stole his 20th bag of the year, then was about to be left stranded by the 3-4-5 batters until Jonathan Ban threw Ramsay’s 2-out grounder away for a game-tying error. Pucks grounded out, politely declining to exploit such an unfortunate mistake by the opposition. Taki meanwhile allowed a hit in each of the third, fourth, and fifth innings, but got double plays the first two times, then a bad bunt for a 5-4 force out by Barel, who in his return to Raccoons Ballpark pitched like he had left it – mostly without blame. And then, when he did walk Suzuki in the bottom 5th, Taki was now the one to bunt into a force at second base, which probably cost the go-ahead run considering the following 2-out single by Malkus, which only moved the pitcher to second base rather than Suzuki from it. Lonzo grounded out to end the inning.

Two singles, a walk, and two double plays not turned then allowed the Thunder to score two runs in the sixth inning for a 3-1 lead. Soberanes opened with a single, Harmon walked, and not turning two on Sifuentes’ grounder to short and a Burnham single brought in two runs. Pucks countered with a 2-run homer in the bottom 6th, which could have been more if Matt Waters hadn’t grounded out on a 3-0 pitch to begin the ******* inning.

Taki pitched another inning, but was hit for with Crispin when Suzuki opened the bottom 7th with a leadoff single, and Crispin even drew a walk from Barel. The ex-Coon struck out Malkus, but Lonzo managed to slip an RBI single through the left side to send the Coons soaring, 4-3. The Thunder didn’t have the pen ready yet, but the Coons had Waters, who belted a 3-run homer to send Barel packing. The inning after, Pucks, Philipps, and Crispin loaded the bags on three soft singles against lefty Tom Spencer. Naughty Joe batted for Hitchcock in the #1 hole and at least got a run home with a groundout. Lonzo left two with a fly out to center, but even Steve Watson couldn’t blow the 5-run lead anymore. 8-3 Raccoons. Malkus 2-4; Lavorano 3-5, RBI; Puckeridge 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Crispin (PH) 1-1, BB;

In other news

May 26 – Milwaukee’s Phil Steinbacher (.198, 1 HR, 27 RBI) breaks out by driving in all but one of the Loggers’ runs in an 11-inning, 8-7 win over the Falcons, while going 3-for-6 and missing the cycle by the single.
May 27 – The Bayhawks pick up C Jorge Ortiz (.321, 13 HR, 32 RBI) from the Buffaloes, who receive left-hander Victor Merino (0-0, 0.44 ERA, 1 SV) and a prospect.
May 29 – A pinched nerve would keep Dallas’ RF/LF/1B Dario Martinez (.304, 7 HR, 28 RBI) out for at least three weeks.
May 29 – LAP RF Matt Diskin (.290, 2 HR, 21 RBI) would be out for a month with shoulder tendinitis.
May 29 – Boston RF/LF Dave Gonzalez (.257, 4 HR, 15 RBI) hits a home run in the top of the first inning against the Condors, and that is it for that game, which ends a 1-0 Titans victory.
May 30 – DAL SP Carlos Malla (6-3, 3.25 ERA) 2-hits the Blue Sox in an 8-0 shutout.
May 30 – Even before that game, the Blue Sox learned that their 3B Josh Frazier (.233, 4 HR, 8 RBI) would be on the DL for most of June with a strained MCL.
May 30 – LVA 3B/SS Jeremy Welter (.294, 4 HR, 28 RBI) was also to miss a month with a knee sprain.
May 30 – …and a strained hammy put PIT OF Matt Cox (.230, 8 HR, 29 RBI) on the shelf for at least six weeks…
May 31 – The Gold Sox acquire 2B/SS Shane Larsen (.272, 1 HR, 13 RBI) from the Pacifics, along with cash and a prospect, for 1B Chris Rice (.238, 2 HR, 4 RBI).

FL Player of the Week: WAS SP Bruce Mark jr. (7-1, 1.88 ERA, 1 SV), going 2-0 across 17.1 scoreless innings
CL Player of the Week: ATL OF/1B Jon Alade (.314, 3 HR, 28 RBI), batting .667 (14-21) with 5 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: SAC 1B Steve Wyatt (.326, 10 HR, 33 RBI), slugging .350 with 6 HR, 17 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: VAN 2B Tony Aparicio (.326, 12 HR, 48 RBI), driving .387 with 10 HR, 41 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: TOP SP Mike LeMasters (5-2, 2.04 ERA), going a perfect 5-0 with a 1.10 ERA, 25 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: NYC SP Edwin Sopena (6-1, 2.58 ERA), throwing 5-0 in 6 starts with a 2.37 ERA, 47 K
FL Rookie of the Month: SFW LF/CF Devin Tarver (.242, 7 HR, 20 RBI), punching .286 with 6 HR, 15 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: POR 1B Harry Ramsay (.289, 10 HR, 26 RBI), swatting .330 with 7 HR, 15 RBI

Complaints and stuff

I arrived home on Sunday night without having seen the team since Monday morning, grabbed Honeypaws, and fell into bed. Weird week. Weird team. Weird season.

Tony Aparicio at 39 years old managed to drive in more runs than his age in a month. He might be a filthy Elk now, but I have to lift my hat to that.

And the Ramsay trade? I am content with that so far.

Next week: road trip to Tijuana, New York. Why exactly did I drive home then…?

Fun Fact: Harry Ramsay was about two or three soggy outings away from demotion to AAA at the end of April.

He entered a double-header with the Baybirds on April 30 batting .182/.237/.273 with one homer and 5 RBI. He looked a bit lost, although a bad BABIP was a factor, because he had only struck out just ten times in 55 at-bats, which was reasonable.

Then he pounded the Baybirds for two homers and six RBI on April 30, and since then has made only five hitless appearances. At one point he had a 12-game hitting streak and a 6-game RBI streak, and got his OPS as high as .966 before calming down this week.

He might be a filthy Canadian, but for now he can stay!

[Westheim]

2053 DRAFT POOL ANALYSIS

The last time the Raccoons picked in the top 5 in the annual teen boy baseball pageant, they selected Manny Fernandez, which already tells you something about how rarely we’ve been at the bottom of the gutter recently, because Manny, a #5 selection in 2031, had a rather good career, 2,122 career hits anyway, and by now was almost eligible for the annual Hall of Fame ballot.

This time, losing 95 games in 2052 came with the reward of having the #3 pick in the draft, behind the Condors and Rebels. No supplemental round picks, though – our second pick would barely fit inside the top 50. Somehow the four-time-defending world champions Gold Sox would pick four times before the Raccoons got a second selection, which was proof of a system that worked well.

The task on paw was simple. Pick something that brought at least as much joy and/or WAR than Manny Fernandez did. For comparison: Manny was worth 45.6 WAR to the franchise, which ranked him sixth-highest among position players, behind only Neil Reece, Matt Nunley, Alberto Ramos, Daniel Hall, and Tim Stalker. Only two of those had been selected by the Coons in a draft: Hall at #2 in the very first draft the league held, and Nunley at a very prestigious #132. Reece and Stalker had been first-rounders for other teams, but outside the top 5, and Berto had been an international free agent signing as a youth. Nunley’s long-range success was still nothing compared to Brownie – Nick Brown, famously a #293 pick in the 1995 draft, topped the WAR chart for pitchers, ahead of only two other hurlers that topped Manny Fernandez’ WAR total for the franchise, both of whom had been acquired in trades: Jonny Toner and Kisho Saito.

…which were probably the three pitchers you’d name when tasked to name the three pitchers in franchise history with the most WAR. But who’d have Tim Stalker in the top 5 for batters?? Side note: in the top 5 for pitchers? Wheats, 5th, behind Hector Santos.

So, yes, making that #3 pick count was paramount. No pressure there.

Pat Degenhardt did what he could and compiled the following hotlist of the dozen-or-so most interesting players (*high school player; ²two-way player) out of the shortlist of 116 players:

SP Jay Everett (13/12/11) – BNN #1
SP Chance Fox (10/11/13) *
SP Jesse Connors (12/13/10)
SP Josh Scarbo (11/13/13)
SP Dave Robles (11/12/10) ²

CL Justin Round (18/13/8)
CL Ricky Herrera (12/12/12)

C Ben Newman (11/14/13) – BNN #9

INF/LF/CF Jeff Buss (11/10/10) – BNN #5
1B Dustin Williams (12/11/12) ²

RF/LF/1B John MacDonnell (10/16/10) – BNN #3
OF Chris Lauterbach (11/7/14) *
OF Mike Walker (15/8/15) * – BNN #6

Some of these needed talking about. Robles and Williams were perhaps superficially the most intriguing due to being competent both on the mound and (both) at first base. Robles however looked like a rather decent starting pitcher, and while he had tremendous power potential, a mellow 8 rating for contact potential and cruddy defense probably were gonna nudge him towards the hill career. Williams was more balanced as a first baseman, but had only two pitches in his arsenal and little time to learn more, so he was most likely to succeed as a hitter. There was another OF/MR we had listed both ways, college player Bill Zelazo, but he rated literally as the worst outfielder that made it onto the shortlist, so he was perhaps more of a novelty pick in the fifth round or so.

MacDonnell was also flawed with shaky defense, although a move to first base might make him more palatable.

For pitchers, Everett looked like a very high pick for sure, with OSA rating him 17/14/13. Oh Pat, always the miser! – I didn’t think we’d get Everett, who looked like a #1 pick. But I thought we could get Chance Fox, an 18-year-old southpaw from Florida that everybody seemed to sleep on. BNN didn’t rate him, Pat Degenhardt acknowledged he had talent, but still didn’t appreciate his stuff very much. But OSA had him at 13/14/15, which already put him about in Wheats territory, and then he was also a hard-working left-handed groundballer. What was not to like?

Failing to grab either Everett or Fox, generically named Mike Walker looked like a strong choice that you could have fun with for 15 years, no problem. His profile was not unlike Manny’s 22 years earlier. The one thing he was missing was perhaps a strong throwing arm, so leftfield looked like where it was gonna be at for him.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (25-25) @ Condors (22-29) – June 2-4, 2053

The Condors had lost eight in a row to crash out of early semi-contention, but at least had having the #1 pick later this month to look forward to. They were second from the bottom in runs scored, and a merely average seventh in runs allowed, with a -37 run differential that was rapidly building up. The Coons had however dropped two of three games to them earlier in the season.

Projected matchups:
Jason Wheatley (2-3, 2.47 ERA) vs. Nick Young (1-5, 4.53 ERA)
Victor Salcido (6-1, 2.75 ERA) vs. Larry Colwell (4-3, 4.58 ERA)
Kyle Brobeck (0-1, 6.75 ERA) vs. Aaron Erwin (3-4, 3.96 ERA)

The week started with a southpaw, then continued with two right-handers. Apart from shortstop Stephen Medlock, the Condors had no injuries to whine about. The Coons would have both Thursday and the Monday after the weekend off, so dropping one of the tack-on starters at the end of the mangled rotation sounded like a real option.

Game 1
POR: 3B Malkus – SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – LF Crum – RF Lopez – C Gowin – CF Perez – 1B Philipps – P Wheatley
TIJ: CF Ransford – 3B Chapa – 2B C. Navarro – 1B E. Rodriguez – RF Lamotta – C Carranza – LF Hildebrand – SS D. Mercado – P N. Young

Wheats retired none of the first four batters he faced for a nice start to the week, walking Dustin Ransford and Luis Chapa, who then went about their day with a double steal, and then allowed singles to Chris Navarro and Elias Rodriguez, who also did the double steal, and gave up a third run on Ricky Lamotta’s sac fly. Something seemed not right to Dr. Padilla, who talked to Wheats between innings, and although Wheats went back out for a 1-2-3 second inning, he didn’t return for the third. Numb claws, I was told. Which could be “aw shucks” and entirely benign, or a sign of something much worse. Oh golly goodness me, things are going rather well …!

The Raccoons initially rallied marginally; Malkus drove home Ed Crispin with hits to begin the third inning, and Tyler Philipps brought home Ken Crum in the fourth inning, but that left them still 3-2 behind, and then Raul Cornejo got bombed by Elias Rodriguez in the bottom of the fifth, with Dustin Ransford on base, to restore the 3-run lead for Tijuana. By the sixth inning, the Coons lineup was a mess. Tony Lopez reached base with a single, but Gowin popped out. Harry Ramsay pinch-hit for the unhelpful Cornejo in the #7 hole, smashed a double into the right-center gap … and limped off the field, as Dr. Padilla kept adding to his cabinet of broken bodies. At this stage, Mikio Suzuki was the last bat on the bench, so the Raccoons used ninth-string starting pitcher Josh Mayo as pinch-runner. Philipps popped out to Rodriguez, but Mayo scored along with Lopez on a Pucks single through the right side, narrowing the score to 5-4 again. Malkus singled as well, but Lonzo grounded out to short to end the inning. Then the Condors moved away again, whacking around Antonio Alfaro for a run each in the bottom 6th and 7th, going out to 7-4, f.e. with a leadoff triple by Luis Chapa in the latter inning. Dustin Ransford doubled home Domingo Mercado against Watson in the eighth, and even stole third base then, the last of SIX stolen bases for the Condors in the game. 8-4 Condors. Malkus 2-5, RBI; Gowin 2-4, 2B; Boese (PH) 1-1, 2B; Ramsay (PH) 1-1, 2B; Crispin (PH) 1-1;

(calmly picks individual splinters out of his snout)

By Tuesday morning, Wheats was a coin toss to make a start on the weekend, and Ramsay was out of order without a diagnosis. The Coons would probably use Mayo in long relief if necessary again in this series, and then make other plans if Wheats couldn’t go on the weekend.

Game 2
POR: LF Puckeridge – SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – 1B Crum – C Gowin – CF Perez – RF Lopez – 3B Crispin – P Salcido
TIJ: CF Ransford – 3B Chapa – 2B Navarro – C Mittleider – RF Lamotta – LF Marroguin – 1B Whitehurst – SS D. Mercado – P Colwell

The Condors continued to run with reckless abandon; while Lonzo also stole a base on his way to getting stranded in scoring position in the top 1st, Ransford in the bottom 1st singled, stole second, and scored on a Chris Navarro gapper for a quick Tijuana lead. The Raccoons were blanking – besides the Lonzo single in the first inning they had only a Crispin single inside the first five innings – and the Condors went up 2-0 on a so-so Salcido with a Lamotta double and a Jordan Marroguin single in the fourth inning. Ransford singled and stole a base again in the bottom 5th, but then with two outs and was stranded when Chapa popped out to Ken Crum in foul ground. Salcido threw 103 pitches for seven solid innings, but got no help and left still trailing 2-0. His spot led off the eighth inning. Malkus drew a walk in his spot, but was forced out by Alan Puckeridge’s grounder to second base. Lonzo singled through the left side, which put the tying run *on base* at least, only to also get forced out by Waters’ grounder to second. Crum singled home a run with a liner to left, but Gowin grounded out to strand a pair on the corners… Hitchcock held the Condors close in the bottom 8th, but Dale Mrazek retired Perez, Suzuki, and Crispin in order to close out the game. 2-1 Condors. Lavorano 2-4;

Ramsay remained unavailable on Wednesday, and I hadn’t seen him since Monday, really.

I had seen Dr. Padilla going round with a meat cleaver, though.

Game 3
POR: 3B Malkus – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – 1B Crum – CF Suzuki – RF Perez – 2B Boese – C Philipps – P Brobeck
TIJ: CF Ransford – 3B Chapa – 2B C. Navarro – C Mittleider – 1B E. Rodriguez – RF Lamotta – LF Marroguin – SS D. Mercado – P Erwin

A Chapa error and two singles loaded the bases with Coons right at the start of Wednesday’s game. Ken Crum batted with nobody out, struck out in a full count, and while I was still drawing in air to then unleash the mother of all sighs, Mikio Suzuki spanked a liner up the rightfield line for a 2-run double. Fine. I’ll see what happens then. Erwin balked home another run, but Perez and Boese made weak outs, and Brobeck started to test the defense right away, making Perez reach up right at the fence to snatch a Luis Chapa drive in the bottom 1st.

Suzuki singled home Ken Crum after the slugger’s leadoff triple in the third inning, 4-0, and the bags filled up with Perez and Philipps for Brobeck and one out. Now, when he had some extended time in the majors a couple of years back, Brobeck had been quite the hitter, and was slashing .333/.343/.530 in 66 career at-bats, with three homers. But here, he struck out, and Malkus popped out to Elias Rodriguez to strand the whole set. Brobeck on the hill didn’t allow a hit until Domingo Mercado singled with one out in the fifth inning, sending Marroguin to second base. Marroguin had walked, the fourth free pass given out by an erratic Raccoons starter. Poor outs by Nathan Whitehurst and Dustin Ransford nevertheless kept them from scoring. Ransford struck out, giving Brobeck 5 K in the game, just before Brobeck led off the sixth inning with a single through the right side. Ransford didn’t live to see the end of the inning, smacking the ground hard on a lunging grab on a drive by Lonzo and being walked off with some kind of sprain. That came with two on base, as Travis Malkus had also singled; Danny Hildebrand replaced Ransford in the field, while the Coons made two poor outs to strand their runners once more.

Chapa singled and stole a base in the bottom 6th to no great effect, while Marroguin hit a single and was caught stealing to end the bottom 7th, which I did find a great effect. That was also the end for Brobeck after 106 pitches and seven innings of 3-hit ball. Eloy Sencion put Micah Groom and Luis Chapa on base in the eighth, but Cornejo stopped being useless for ten seconds and got a double-play grounder from Navarro to kill the inning. Come the ninth, the Coons filled the bases again, then on, uh, Lonzo getting nicked, a walk issued by right-hander Juan Juarez to Pucks, and Suzuki reaching on a Mercado error. Whatever works, boys! Whatever works… They got one run when the Condors failed to turn two on a Pucks grounder, before Juarez hung a K on Naughty Joe. Cornejo had a chance for a save here, but instead got taken deep with two outs and for two runs by Marroguin, then got the hook. Daley gave up a hit to Mercado before whiffing Fernando Carranza to end the bloody game. 5-2 Raccoons. Suzuki 2-4, BB, 2B, 3 RBI; Brobeck 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 6 K, W (1-1) and 1-3;

The Raccoons then trekked to New York, and did so without Harry Ramsay, who was sent home with a strained abdominal muscle, and factoring in a rehab stint would not return before the All Star Game.

(deep groan)

Prospero Tenazes, who had gotten a pawful of at-bats with the Raccoons late in 2052, was called up from AAA to sit on the bench for a bit. He was hitting a lukewarm .258 with two homers for the Alley Cats.

Raccoons (26-27) @ Crusaders (32-19) – June 6-8, 2053

The Crusaders were 13 games over .500 with a +14 run differential, so either there was a correction in terms of wins due, or a correction in terms of run differential by beating up on some suckers. Well, that’s what we’re here for, I assume. New York led the season series 4-2, but were not in the top three in either runs scored or runs allowed in the CL.

Projected matchups:
Seisaku Taki (5-3, 2.52 ERA) vs. Felix Alvarez (2-4, 5.30 ERA)
Josh Mayo (0-1, 6.00 ERA) vs. Ben Seiter (4-2, 2.77 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (2-4, 2.92 ERA) vs. Dave Washington (3-5, 5.46 ERA)

That was also one wonky rotation. Unless they used their off day on Thursday for shenanigans, their sole left-hander would face us on Southpaw Sunday.

Wheats claimed to be good to go. I was sweating.

Game 1
POR: 3B Malkus – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – 2B Waters – 1B Crum – C Gowin – CF Suzuki – RF Lopez – P Taki
NYC: 3B Gates – CF M. Ceballos – SS O. Sanchez – RF D. Rivera – C Kissler – LF Caballero – 2B Russ – 1B Carreno – P F. Alvarez

Taki continued to be off. He nicked Oscar Caballero in the second inning and Prince Gates in the third, and would then plate Mario Ceballos, who replaced Gates by a fielder’s choice before stealing a base and moving up on Omar Sanchez’ groundout, with a 2-out wild pitch. That was the first run of the game, and with the Coons heretofore hitless. Crum didn’t get the team into the H column until the fifth inning, then with a looping single over a reaching ex-Coon Arturo Carreno and into shallow right. Gowin popped out, Suzuki hit into a double play, and that was that.

The Crusaders chewed up Taki in the sixth then; single to right from Danny Rivera, RBI single for Caballero, another RBI single for Carreno, 3-0. Then, a hard to explain walk in a full count against Felix Alvarez, and another RBI single to center for Prince Gates. Alfaro replaced Taki, had Ceballos at 1-2, and then gave up a 2-run double to right anyway. Down 6-0, the Coons got Lonzo on when he got nicked by Alvarez to begin the seventh inning. Pucks and Crum hit homers to right to cut the deficit in half, which still didn’t feel like a ballgame. Then Suzuki, Lopez, and Perez were all failed on base by the Crusaders with a combo of bad pitching and bad defense. Malkus batted with three on and two outs, and drew a bases-loaded walk, 6-4. …and then Lonzo flew out to center on the first pitch… When Ed Crispin batted for Steve Watson in the ninth inning, there was one out and the tying runs were on base after Suzuki and Lopez had both reached against Ryan Sullivan. Crispin slashed a 2-1 pitch over the hill and over the second base bag for an RBI single, with the tying run to second base. Malkus flew out. Lonzo popped out. And that was another loss. 6-5 Crusaders. Crum 2-4, HR, RBI; Suzuki 2-4; Lopez 2-4; Crispin (PH) 1-1, RBI;

(sigh)

Game 2
POR: 3B Malkus – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – 2B Waters – 1B Crum – C Gowin – CF Suzuki – RF Lopez – P Mayo
NYC: 2B Haney – 1B Carreno – SS O. Sanchez – 3B Gates – RF D. Rivera – C Kissler – LF Caballero – CF Fellows – P Seiter

Malkus and Lonzo opened the game with singles, going to the corners. Lonzo moved up by force with his 23rd stolen base of the year, and both scored on a Pucks sac fly and a Waters single. Gowin and Suzuki would also reach to fill the bases, but Tony Lopez, after going to 3-2, left everybody on base with a groundout to short. Starting with Mayo, the Coons then hit four singles to begin the second inning, which was good enough for three more runs and a 5-0 lead, especially with a wild pitch by Seiter mixed in prior to Pucks’ fourth and final hit of the inning. But it didn’t feel like a lot; not like when you handed a 5-0 lead to Peak Brownie. Mayo gave up a lot of hard-hit balls right from the start, and gave up three hits and a walk in the first three innings, and that was with two double play grounders to Lonzo to keep the Crusaders in check, and those, too, were hit hard. Waters added a sixth run with a 2-out single to score Malkus in the fourth inning – Lonzo had also singled again – but two strokes for balls that fell in got the New Yorkers on the board in the bottom of the same inning. Omar Sanchez doubled to right, then scored on Gates’ single, 6-1. Rivera whiffed, and Aaron Kissler found the home team’s third 6-4-3 of the game.

Malkus and Lonzo went to the corners again in the sixth inning with another pair of 1-out hits. Pucks’ sac fly added a run, but Waters grounded out. New York’s sixth? Mark Haney walked, Carreno whiffed, and Sanchez hit into another double play. Mayo’s luck ran out for good in the bottom 7th, though. Three sharp singles plated a run and knocked him from the game; Gates was in, and Rivera and Caballero were on with one out when the Coons got the hook out. Hitchcock came on, got a pop from Brandon Fellows, then gave up a run on a 1-2 single smacked by another marginal ex-Coon, Ken Mills. Haney flew out to Suzuki rather calmly then, and the Raccoons remained up by a slam. Mauricio Cuevas then worked wonders for the Crusaders in the eighth, sitting down both Malkus and Lonzo when both had so far gone a combined 8-for-8 in the game. Lonzo then got the Crusaders a run closer with a 2-base throwing error in the bottom 8th that made Eloy Sencion concede another run, and the bottom 9th began with a Caballero double and Fellows RBI single – but Fellows tried to get two bases, yet was thrown out for the first out of the inning. Andrew Russ (hiss!!!) made an out, but Haney drew a walk – and then Daley remained standing on the mound and nestling the ball with his paws, glove tossed to the ground. That eventually got Dr. Padilla’s attention, and they left the game together. I groaned. Hitchcock had already been used, so the Raccoons sent Steve Watson after Arturo Carreno, whom Watson walked on four ******* pitches. Sanchez singled to load the bases. Prince Gates however struck out to end the game. 7-5 Coons. Malkus 4-5, 2B; Lavorano 4-5, RBI; Waters 2-4, BB, 2 RBI; Suzuki 2-3, BB, 3B;

The thumb, Dr. Padilla? – Is it gonna come off? – Well, if it does anyway, we’ll have to have a talk!

Daley was going to be day-to-day with a sore thumb, which I’d just toss on the pile of problems over there…

Also, no southpaw on Sunday – instead it was right-hander Edwin Sopena (6-2, 3.05 ERA).

Game 3
POR: 3B Malkus – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – 2B Waters – 1B Crum – CF Suzuki – RF Perez – C Philipps – P Wheatley
NYC: 3B Gates – CF M. Ceballos – SS O. Sanchez – RF D. Rivera – C Kissler – LF Caballero – 2B Russ – 1B Carreno – P Sopena

Two singles and a walk gave the Coons three on and nobody out against Sopena on Sunday, and Waters’ sac fly and singles by Suzuki and Perez brought all the runners home before Perez was caught stealing to end the inning. Sanchez and Rivera countered with doubles and a run in the bottom 1st, then got another run in the third inning when Malkus threw away a Sopena grounder for two bases, which was such a thrill. Gates singled home the unearned run. Suzuki walked, stole second, and was left on base in the top of the fourth, and Waters drew another leadoff walk in the sixth, then was doubled up by Ken Crum. In turn, Sanchez opened the bottom 6th with a floating single to shallow center, stole second, and eventually came home on a 2-out single by Caballero. Andrew Russ, the despicable **** weasel, then doubled to right on Wheats’ first pitch, and Caballero bid for home, but was thrown out by Perez, which kept the gamed tied at three.

Perez also opened the seventh inning with a single to right, then stole second base; it was the Coons’ first hit in a good long while. Philipps walked, and Wheats bunted into a force at third base… Malkus completed the agony with a 4-6-3 double play grounder. Wheatley would have gotten through the seventh if not for an error by Waters then, but left with runners on the corners and two outs, and left-handed terror Omar Sanchez (.378 with no homers) batting. Vic Flores got the assignment, and secured a no-decision for Wheatley with a fly to Perez… once Perez hustled into the gap a little… Flores got two more outs in the eighth, but also allowed a single to Aaron Kissler. Cornejo then got Russ to pop out and bugger out of the inning, then also sent the game to extras with a scoreless ninth.

The Coons continued to not reach base in the 10th against Ryan Sullivan either, while Omar Sanchez hit a double off Sencion to begin the New York half of the inning. Two pops and a K to PH Jesus Nunez stranded him at third base, and the game continued. Three Coons then reached in the 11th, none of whom scored. Pucks singled and was caught stealing, while Crum and Lopez got on with two outs and were left right there when Perez popped out to shallow left. Another Crusaders double was left unconverted in the bottom of the inning, as Carreno socked one to the base of the fence in right against Kevin Hitchcock, but that was as much as the right-hander gave up. After a quick 12th, with Alfaro in for long relief duty now, Lonzo opened the 13th with a single to center against lefty Neal Hamann, who had already logged six outs. Pucks singled, and the pair pulled off a double steal to really up the pressure. Matt Waters answered the call – finally, somebody! – with a double to center, sending the Coons up 5-3 with their first runs in a dozen innings, and Crum, Perez, and Gowin all added singles off Hamann (Crum), then Sang-hoon Kim, the latter two each tacking on a run. That brought up Alfaro – the Coons had no batters left, but could pinch-hit with Brobeck … but they also had no relievers left, so stuck to Alfaro, who brought in a run with a groundout to second base …! That was the final run of the inning. Alfaro then took the 5-run lead to the mound. Kissler’s pop, and lineouts to Waters from Fellows and Russ ended the game. 8-3 Raccoons. Puckeridge 4-6; Crum 2-6; Perez 4-6, 2 RBI; Alfaro 2.0, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, W (3-0);

We had 16 hits – all singles except for Waters’ double there in the 13th.

In other news

June 3 – Milwaukee INF Zach Suggs (.369, 13 HR, 42 RBI) would be shut down for the month with a herniated disc.
June 6 – The Knights get 2B/SS Lance Harrison (.274, 3 HR, 17 RBI) from the Rebels for the steep price of five prospects.
June 7 – LAP SP Manny Vasquez (4-2, 4.62 ERA) was going to miss a full year for elbow ligament reconstruction surgery.
June 7 – A bruised kneecap was going to keep CIN LF/CF Juan del Toro (.335, 4 HR, 29 RBI) out of games at least until the middle of July.
June 8 – Condors OF/SS Jordan Marroguin (.286, 4 HR, 19 RBI) hits for the cycle and drives in four runs in a 9-7 win over the Thunder. Marroguin initially strikes out in the first inning before getting four hits in his last four at-bats.
June 8 – A rotator cuff strain figures to keep TIJ CL Dale Mrazek (2-2, 6.20 ERA, 14 SV) out of games for a month.
June 8 – A pinch-hit single by RIC C Wade Gardner (.214, 3 HR, 15 RBI) ends the Rebs’ game with the Blue Sox in walkoff fashion, 1-0 in 12 innings.

FL Player of the Week: DEN 2B/3B Ivan Villa (.433, 9 HR, 27 RBI), spanking .500 (12-24) with 2 HR, 9 RBI
CL Player of the Week: TIJ OF/SS Jordan Marroguin (.286, 4 HR, 19 RBI), batting .533 (8-15) with 2 HR, 8 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Everything is a drift, and most of the stuff has a few chunks missing. With Ramsay to the DL, the Raccoons’ offense had a few teeth knocked out. Somehow we keep clinging to .500, but the rest of the month looks like it’s gonna be tough.

Only six games out, but I don’t feel like we’re anywhere near competing. As things are, I feel like we’re mostly gonna stand pat at the deadline, although maybe a sneaky deal for prospects can be had. I don’t see us trading *up* right now.

Wheats is a bit of a problem child right now – according to me. Cristiano said, though, in a lot of big words, that while Wheats was only 2-2 in his last six games, and had thrown only 33 innings in them, he had a 1.91 ERA with 25 K, had not given up a homer, and asterisking out the injury-shortened starts, had averaged a game score of 65.

Oh Cristiano, silly Cristiano. Always disregarding the most important metric for the standings. Wins, wins, wins!

Next week: homestand with the damn Elks and the Blue Sox. Also, the draft on Sunday.

Fun Fact: Jordan Marroguin hit his second career cycle on Sunday. His first had been *against* the Condors.

That came when he was still with the Falcons, half of the rather confusing Marroquin/Marroguin pair, in 2047. Even though Marroguin was on his fourth team by now and mostly a league-average hitter, he still fared miles better than Omar Marroquin, who had been forced to retire at age 28 two years ago due to a torn labrum.

Marroquin batted .256 with 31 HR, 243 RBI, and 89 SB in a six-year career. Marroguin, in his ninth year, was hitting .263 with 77 HR, 414 RBI, and 90 SB. Both Dominican. Both right-handed throwers (although Marroguin was a switch-hitter).

Like twins!

[Westheim]

Raccoons (28-28) vs. Canadiens (32-22) – June 10-12, 2053

I would enjoy us tripping up the damn Elks, but they had already won three of four from us this season, and I didn’t particularly like our chances, although they were not as good as the record would hint at; merely fourth in runs scored, but third-worst in runs allowed, with only a +6 run differential. Both the starters and pen had ERA’s well over four, and they had the worst-rated defense in the league.

Projected matchups:
Victor Salcido (6-2, 2.73 ERA) vs. Jesse Bulas (5-5, 6.07 ERA)
Kyle Brobeck (1-1, 2.92 ERA) vs. Mario Godinez (3-4, 3.83 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (5-4, 2.99 ERA) vs. Anton Jesus (2-2, 5.56 ERA)

All right-handers coming from them.

Game 1
VAN: LF Magnussen – SS Mullen – CF D. Moreno – 2B Aparicio – RF K. Hawkins – 1B Wheeler – C Julio Diaz – 3B K. Leon – P Bulas
POR: 3B Malkus – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – 2B Waters – 1B Crum – C Gowin – CF Suzuki – RF Lopez – P Salcido

Pro: Travis Malkus put the Coons up 1-0 with a leadoff jack to leftfield in the first inning, and then Pucks tripled and Waters and Crum walked the bases full with one out. Con: Chris Gowin found a double play to hit into, and nobody else scored. Before long though, Salcido got drubbed. After a leadoff walk to Tony Aparicio and a Jeff Wheeler single, Kenny Leon singled home the tying and go-ahead runs in the second inning, spanking a 3-2 pitch to center with two outs. Kyle Hawkins and Wheeler then hit back-to-back doubles to add a run in the third inning. Back-to-back homers swatted by Waters and Crum tied the score again in the fourth, but Salcido kept being the gift that keeps on giving, and walked Aparicio with one out in the fifth, then conceded two more runs on a Hawkins single, Wheeler RBI double, and Julio Diaz’ run-scoring groundout. Salcido was not seen after that fifth inning…

The Raccoons had the tying runs on the corners in the bottom 6th, however, and with nobody out. Besides a Waters knock, however, it took an error by shortstop Dan Mullen to get Crum on base as well. Gowin turned a 1-2 pitch into an RBI single in left, 5-4, but Suzuki’s fly to left was caught by Adam Magnussen, and then Tony Lopez muppeted into a double play. The inning after, singles by Malkus and Lonzo with one out chased Bulas. Ben Arner, right-hander with a 5.40 ERA and *terrible* BABIP, needed only one pitch to flip the score, Pucks dishing a 2-run double to right-center on a splitter that didn’t split. Waters flew out, but Crum added a run with another double to left, 7-5. That was the final score as well, even though both Vic Flores in the eighth and Kevin Daley in the ninth put a runner into scoring position. The game ended with a K on pinch-hitter Tim Turner. 7-5 Coons. Malkus 4-4, HR, 2B, RBI; Puckeridge 2-4, 3B, 2B, 2 RBI; Waters 2-3, BB, HR, 2B, RBI; Crum 2-3, BB, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Gowin 2-4, RBI; Watson 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, W (1-1);

Game 2
VAN: LF Magnussen – SS Mullen – CF D. Moreno – 2B Aparicio – RF K. Hawkins – 1B Wheeler – C Julio Diaz – 3B K. Leon – P A. Jesus
POR: 3B Malkus – SS Lavorano – RF Puckeridge – 2B Waters – 1B Crum – C Gowin – CF Suzuki – LF Tenazes – P Brobeck

Brobeck walked Magnussen, nailed Mullen, threw a wild pitch, and gave up the runners on a Moreno groundout and Aparicio’s base hit for a quick 2-0 deficit. Magnussen doubled home Kenny Leon, who had drawn another walk, in the second inning, and Wheeler and Diaz singles in the fourth were followed by a Leon sac fly, 4-0. Nope, not Brobeck’s day – nor the rest of the team’s. At that point the only hit for a Raccoon was a single by… Brobeck. Lonzo then hit a leadoff single in the bottom 4th, stole second, and was singled home by Pucks with a drive to shallow center. Waters singled to center as well, and Ken Crum hit an RBI double into shallow right. Out of the blue yonder, the Coons had the tying runs in scoring position, and with nobody out in the inning, but Gowin’s sac fly was the last marker made in the inning as Suzuki made a sucky out, Prospero Tenazes was walked with intent, and Brobeck grounded out to Aparicio.

Brobeck finished the start with two scoreless innings for only a soft single in those, but remained 4-3 behind by his departure. Waters singled to begin the bottom 6th, but was ignored, but Anton Jesus’ leadoff single off Raul Cornejo also didn’t get the Elks anywhere nice. He was doubled up by Mullen’s groundout to short. But the Elks got a tack-on run against Sencion in the eighth. Aparicio walked, Dan Whitley chipped in a pinch-hit single, and then Julio Diaz drove home Aparicio with a single. The Coons had no answer anymore; they reached base neither in the eighth, nor the ninth, where Bernardino Risso nailed the save down with two strikeouts and a Suzuki grounder. 5-3 Canadiens. Waters 2-4;

Juan Arrocha (2-1, 5.12 ERA) would get the ball for the rubber game, but that was also a right-hander.

Game 3
VAN: LF Magnussen – SS Mullen – CF D. Moreno – 2B Aparicio – RF K. Hawkins – 1B Wheeler – C Julio Diaz – 3B Guillory – P Arrocha
POR: 2B Malkus – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – 1B Crum – CF Suzuki – RF Perez – 3B Crispin – C Philipps – P Taki

Taki struggled in the first with three full counts and two Elks on base, Magnussen with a leadoff walk and Mullen by an infield single, but he stranded those runners. With another full count in the second inning, he needed a staggering 54 pitches just ONCE through the Elks order, which made me wonder whether Raffy had risen from the DL. By the third, it started to drizzle, and the Raccoons were not having a base hit, but runners in scoring position with nobody out, courtesy of a leadoff walk drawn by Philipps and a throwing error by Landon Guillory that added Taki to the base paths. The Coons also took a lead without a base hit when Malkus grounded out to second base, allowing Philipps to score, but Lonzo then made it 2-0 with a soft single to left. That was the last action before a long rain delay, at the other end of which, hits by Pucks and Crum chased home Lonzo, 3-0. With two outs, Perez slugged a 3-run homer to right, 6-0, and maybe the Elks would want to reconsider their choice of pitcher – Arrocha was still on the hill, looking slightly shellshocked, but then Taki had yet to surrender the game ball in the Coons’ dugout despite sitting for an hour. He batted before he pitched, since Crispin doubled and Philipps was walked intentionally, then knocked out Arrocha for good with an RBI single to left. He then took the 7-0 lead back to the mound, and had a quick fourth before walking Julio Diaz to begin the fifth. Reliever Dan Lawrence forced out the catcher, and Magnussen grounded out after Taki balked Lawrence to second base, ending the fifth inning and Taki’s day. It also ended the Elks’ day as an effective fighting force. The Raccoons went on to parade Cornejo, Flores, and Hitchcock through the last four innings, none of whom surrendered much of anything. The Raccoons tacked on a lone run in the sixth when Pucks singled home Malkus, but apart from that, the entire game story was contained in a third inning that with the rain delay lasted well over an hour. 8-0 Furballs! Puckeridge 2-4, RBI; Crispin 1-2, BB, 2B; Taki 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K, W (6-4) and 1-1, RBI; Cornejo 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

(yells at the Elks) …and don’t hit your fat moose bums on your way out! (slams door to Maud’s room)

Slappy, did I just yell at Maud about fat bums?

Raccoons (30-29) vs. Blue Sox (23-38) – June 13-15, 2053

The Blue Sox were having a wretched time, scoring barely four runs per game, and giving up the very most runs in the entire league, with a -74 run differential in the middle of June. Like the Elks, they ranked in the bottom three in both starters’ and bullpen ERA, and had the worst defense in their league. Unlike the Elks, they had a pile of injuries as well, with Josh Frazier, Nick Nye, and Craig Sayre all unavailable and further decimating an already ho-hum lineup. The Coons had lost the last three series against the Sox, all two games to one.

Projected matchups:
Jason Wheatley (2-4, 2.89 ERA) vs. Cory Ellis (0-2, 3.58 ERA)
Josh Mayo (1-1, 5.11 ERA) vs. Victor Mondragon (1-7, 6.34 ERA)
Victor Salcido (6-2, 3.17 ERA) vs. Zack Stahl (2-5, 4.46 ERA)

Again, only right-handed opposition to be had here.

The Raccoons made two roster moves before the series, however. Tyler Philipps (.155, 0 HR, 5 RBI) and Joe Boese (.175, 0 HR, 4 RBI) were both disposed of. SS Matt Knight was promoted from AAA to fill the middle infield spot, batting .272 with 4 HR and 26 RBI for the Alley Cats. Knight, a third-rounder in 2046, had at one point been claimed off waivers by the Elks, but by now was 25 and … not that special.

Brett Lillis jr. was moved to the 60-day DL to get Jeff Raczka up as backup catcher – the Raccoons previously had not had a third catcher on the 40-man roster, which had also been full. Not that Raczka was doing anything worth talking about as a 29-year-old AAA’ler, but ya gotta have two catchers…

Game 1
NAS: CF Pfeifer – SS Groff – 1B Ale. Ramos – LF D. Ramirez – RF J. Garza – C Kelly – 3B Ri. Jimenez – 2B G. Vazquez – P Ellis
POR: 3B Malkus – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – 2B Waters – 1B Crum – CF Suzuki – C Gowin – RF Perez – P Wheatley

Wheats had a fine first run through the Sox order, whiffing three while giving up a single to Jose Garza along the way. The Raccoons started off slow, but got Perez on base with a single in the third inning, then 2-out knocks from Lonzo (single) and Pucks (double) that each brought in a run for a 2-0 lead. The Sox answered with an infield single for Jake Groff to begin the fourth, then after two strikeouts a stupid RBI double for Garza in the left-center gap. Jeff Kelly struck out again, bringing Wheats’ total to six. But the Coons failed to reply, and Travis Malkus failed to play an Alejandro Ramos grounder in the sixth inning, botching it into an error that gave the Sox Mike Pfeifer and Ramos on the corners with one out. They scored the tying run on a Danny Ramirez single before Garza and Kelly made outs to strand a pair in the 2-2 game. Garza left the game with an injury after a sliding catch on Gowin in the bottom 6th, which also served to strand Pucks and Crum on the corners and kept the game tied, so at least the sacrifice wasn’t for naught (yet). Edwin Flores replaced Garza, but could only look with a sad expression after a 2-out homer by Pucks in the bottom 7th, which then extended an already extant lead; the Coons got only on base with two outs when Malkus walked, which saw Cory Ellis depart the game. Dusty Gaddy then gave up an RBI double to Lonzo, and the homer to Pucks… and another homer to Matt Waters. Wheats made 100 pitches last exactly eight innings, while Chris Gowin’s solo homer in the bottom 8th extended the lead to five runs. Nevertheless, the Coons managed to have Kevin Daley pitch in the ninth inning after Antonio Alfaro slipped and fell on his snout in the ninth inning, giving up a hit and two walks to load the bases with Gerardo Vazquez, Pfeifer, and Groff and two outs. Alejandro Ramos, the old war horse, singled home a pair on Daley’s first pitch, but Ramirez grounded out. 7-4 Raccoons. Malkus 1-2, 2 BB, 2B; Lavorano 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Puckeridge 3-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Wheatley 8.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 9 K, W (3-4);

Goods and bads in this game. Looks like Wheats still has it. And it also looks like we can’t insert any reliever without fireworks breaking out…

Game 2
NAS: CF Ed. Flores – 2B G. Vazquez – 1B Ale. Ramos – RF J. Garza – 3B Lundberg – SS Groff – LF Pfeifer – C Kelly – P Mondragon
POR: 3B Malkus – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – 2B Waters – 1B Crum – CF Suzuki – C Gowin – RF Perez – P Mayo

Both pitchers faced the minimum in three innings, and only Pfeifer’s single saw a guy reaching without endangering life and limb before he was doubled off by Jeff Kelly. Lonzo was nicked in the first, but forced out by Pucks, who was then caught stealing. Pucks got a single in the fourth, but was left on base by Waters, while Mayo ran out of skill and/or luck in the fifth inning. Jose Garza doubled to begin the inning, while Mike Pfeifer’s double and Jeff Kelly’s homer then scored a total of three runs for Nashville. Mayo ended up pitching another three innings, but the 3-run fifth ended up sticking out of his ledger like a sore thumb, especially with the Coons completely invisible. Matt Knight made his major league debut with a pinch-hitting appearance in the bottom 8th, and like the established guys made a meek out. He finished the game in the field, with Lonzo hitting the showers. Mondragon, who had entered the game with an ERA indicating obsolescence, pitched not only a complete game, but also a 5-hit shutout. 3-0 Blue Sox. Puckeridge 2-4; Mayo 8.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, L (1-2);

Game 3
NAS: CF Pfeifer – SS Groff – 1B Ale. Ramos – C Cantu – LF D. Ramirez – RF J. Garza – 3B Lundberg – 2B G. Vazquez – P Stahl
POR: LF Puckeridge – C Gowin – 2B Waters – 1B Crum – CF Suzuki – 3B Crispin – RF Lopez – SS Knight – P Salcido

By Sunday, I was off to New York for draft business, which spared me witnessing Salcido getting slapped again in person. Jose Cantu and Tyler Lundberg hit doubles in the second inning for a Nashville run, and they rapped three more hits off him, beginning with a single by the pitcher (sigh) in the third inning for two more runs. The Coons scattered four runners in the first three innings, before Mikio Suzuki walked in the bottom 4th to get a runner on base leading off. Crispin hit into a fielder’s choice, but Groff hurt himself on the play and was removed for Edwin Flores, who then threw away Tony Lopez’ grounder right afterwards for an error. Matt Knights’ first hit in the Bigs was a double to left for the team’s first run in the game, 3-1, and then Salcido jabbed a grounder through the right side for an RBI single, 3-2. The tying run went to third base, then scored when Gerardo Vazquez fudged Pucks’ grounder for another error. Whatever works, huh? Gowin flew out to center, with Salcido daring to dash second-to-third, from where he scored for a 4-3 lead on another RBI single by Waters that dinked into left-center. Pucks was caught stealing third base to end the inning.

Suzuki was caught stealing to end the next inning for Portland, but Salcido at least held on to the lead for the time being, despite two Sox reaching in the fifth inning. Pucks opened the bottom 7th with a triple to center, then was standing there at third base while Gowin was out on a grounder to Tyler Lundberg, Waters walked, and was replaced by Crum at first on a comebacker to Gaddy. Finally, Suzuki’s 2-out single got the tack-on run home. Crispin added another RBI single to center before Tony Lopez lined out to short. Hitchcock retired the Sox in order in the eighth, while Lundberg’s 1-out single off Daley was the only runner the Sox got in the ninth. 6-3 Raccoons. Waters 3-3, BB, RBI; Suzuki 2-3, RBI; Salcido 7.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 9 K, W (7-2) and 1-3, RBI;

In other news

June 12 – A torn labrum could be the end of the season for Wolves SP Pat Woodyard (3-4, 3.43 ERA).
June 12 – The Knights’ Jon Alade (.289, 3 HR, 31 RBI) could be out until the All Star Game after being diagnosed with a torn thumb ligament.
June 14 – The Aces trade OF John Fink (.276, 1 HR, 13 RBI) to the Cyclones for two prospects.
June 15 – The seventh career hit by WAS 1B Belchior Fresco (.241, 0 HR, 6 RBI) is a pinch-hit single in the ninth inning of a 7-0 loss by the Caps to Atlanta – and also breaks up a no-hit bid by ATL SP Esteban Duran (9-1, 2.84 ERA), who is then lifted from the game and has to settle for 8.1 shutout innings.

[No Players of the Week available]*

Complaints and stuff

Over .500 for more than a few hours now – and I can’t lie, I enjoyed taking a set from the damn Elks for once. Not that I have illusions – too many holes on the roster. We made two roster moves this week and we could easily do four more, although there is not really anybody filing an application in AAA right now. I also don’t feel like shelling out prospects this summer, so we’ll in all likelihood limp towards a .500-ish finish. Only 100 games to go!

Tony Lopez on that $3.6M contract? .467 OPS and -0.8 WAR.

And I really didn’t look forward to trading with the Titans, especially since they were pandering their alleged good players so aggressively.

Next week: a trip to Texas, then another set at home with said Titans. Maybe I can talk them into a rewind on that trade…

Fun Fact: Lonzo has a 93% success rate in stealing bases this year. (26/28)

Gotta love that little bugger!!

*Draft tomorrow, along with the Players of the Week!

[Westheim]

2053 AMATEUR DRAFT

While the Coons won a rubber game for their first series win over the Blue Sox in seven years, on the other side of the continent the annual player draft took place. The Raccoons had the #3 pick in every round, and were determined to make a great move with their #3 overall pick from the following hotlist (*high school player; ²two-way player):

SP Jay Everett (13/12/11) – BNN #1
SP Chance Fox (10/11/13) *
SP Jesse Connors (12/13/10)
SP Josh Scarbo (11/13/13)
SP Dave Robles (11/12/10) ²

CL Justin Round (18/13/8)
CL Ricky Herrera (12/12/12)

C Ben Newman (11/14/13) – BNN #9

INF/LF/CF Jeff Buss (11/10/10) – BNN #5
1B Dustin Williams (12/11/12) ²

RF/LF/1B John MacDonnell (10/16/10) – BNN #3
OF Chris Lauterbach (11/7/14) *
OF Mike Walker (15/8/15) * – BNN #6

And while we had already discussed that the two-way pitchers/first basemen Robles and Williams were interesting, I didn’t see either of them as a #3 pick. And as a matter of fact, with the #3 pick, why did you need a 13-player hotlist? If we’re honest, then the hotlist has really just three players. And I had a personal ranking for them, too:

SP Jay Everett (13/12/11) – BNN #1
SP Chance Fox (10/11/13) *
OF Mike Walker (15/8/15) * – BNN #6

Everett looked like a sure #1 pick to me and I didn’t get my hopes up for that . But I thought we could get Chance Fox, an 18-year-old southpaw from Florida that everybody seemed to sleep on. BNN didn’t rate him, Pat Degenhardt acknowledged he had talent, but still didn’t appreciate his stuff very much. But OSA had him at 13/14/15, which already put him about in Wheats territory, and then he was also a hard-working left-handed groundballer. What was not to like? Behind those two, Walker was the best position player in the draft in my opinion unless you wanted to take a fling at a two-way first-baseman, although those two were good either way probably, but great no way. Walker had the potential to be very good at what he was doing.

The Condors had the first pick and we totally expected them to take Jay Everett – and they did. Then I hoped very much that the Rebels wouldn’t take Chance Fox – and they didn’t! They selected Jesse Connors, the third starting pitcher on our hotlist rather than the second pitcher on it…! Fox!! Fox!! We take Fox!!

Walker sagged to #10 and the Pacifics, and to make it brief – the hotlist was picked empty by the time our next selection rolled around with the single exception of Ricky Herrera, who looked like a potential lefty closer, and if everything else failed at least a hardcore reliable lefty specialist of the Manobu Sugano tier. There was no way he wasn’t gonna pan out, and maybe he was even on the fast track – the Coons would start the 21-year-old in AA to begin his professional career.

+++

2053 PORTLAND RACCOONS DRAFT CLASS

Round 1 (#3) – SP Chance Fox, 18, from Pinellas Park, FL – hot left-handed groundballer with a 92mph fastball, slider, changeup, and complementary curveball. Control looks very good, and doesn’t get hit hard at all. Signing him is very exciting!!
Round 2 (#47) – CL Ricky Herrera, 21, from Akron, OH – left-hander with 93mph heat and a vicious slider that is sure to carve up opponents. Slight concerns about his really low stamina and whether he will get out big-money right-handers reliably.
Round 3 (#71) – INF/CF Paul Labonte, 18, from Beaupré, Canada – Quebecois right-handed thrower, left-handed hitter. Good range, contact, and eye, with some speed, could be one of those quirky ones you often sleep on and that move up and down the lineup with form.
Round 4 (#95) – 1B Aaron Wade, 22, from Marathon, FL – passionate student of the game, constantly working on something, but unfortunately he’s just not much of a defender at all, or a runner; could be a pretty solid power bat at a power position however!
Round 5 (#119) – SP Alex Rios, 19, from Bayamón, Puerto Rico – right-hander throwing 91, slider, good control … but sub-par stamina and a lack of a good third pitch, will probably slide into the pen.
Round 6 (#143) – RF/LF/INF Mike Stern, 18, from Bohemia, NY – super utility defensive portfolio with a singles bat
Round 7 (#167) – C/1B Kevin Tissue, 22, from Beecher, IL – think of a standard catcher with all the prejudices. That’s Kevin Tissue.
Round 8 (#191) – CL Dusty Ferber, 22, from Fort Hancock, TX – lefty with a 91mph fastball and a good curve, and really bad control.
Round 9 (#215) – CL Tyler DeFilippo, 20, from South Whittier, CA – righty, 92, good curve, and really bad control. I see a pattern developing.
Round 10 (#239) – RF Joe Jones, 18, from Edwardsville, IL – quite amazing power potential here and even the talent to lay off garbage. The problem is that he can really only hit what’s on a stick. Also shoddy in the field – he can only catch what’s on a stick.
Round 11 (#263) – SP Matt DeFusco, 18, from Visalia, CA – nice, obviously left-handed, kid with a “fast”ball (87 anyway) and curveball, pitching to his best ability, which unfortunately wasn’t much.
Round 12 (#287) – LF/RF Justin Bartnick, 18, from Rubidoux, CA – little in terms of mobility, yet nothing in terms of power, the worst kind of composition for a batter
Round 13 (#311) – INF/LF/RF Jason Robinson, 21, from Brookfield, MA – fairly good defender at multiple positions, but he just can’t hit with any amount of consistency, or success

+++

Of course we also had to make some purges in the minor leagues again. This included the odd trash heap pick-up and scouting discovery, but also a few that were listed by name before like 2051 Nick Brown Memorial Pick Adam Ide, thoroughly overmatched in single-A. He also insisted on uniform #1. Weirdo.

Also gone: 2047 13th-rounder MR Eric Resek, who sure held out longer than most and reached AA, 2051 9th-rounder 3B/RF Randy Bruce, 2051 13th-rounder C Hector Castro, and perhaps more notably 2049 3rd-rounder OF Edwin Archevald, batting a sturdy .150 in Ham Lake.

Ricky Herrera was the only draft pick assigned to AA to begin his pro career.

+++

FL Player of the Week: NAS C Jose Cantu (.275, 9 HR, 36 RBI), batting .550 (11-20) with 3 HR, 6 RBI
CL Player of the Week: POR OF/1B Alan Puckeridge (.333, 6 HR, 37 RBI), hitting .458 (11-24) with 1 HR, 8 RBI

[Westheim]

Raccoons (32-30) @ Stars (32-30) – June 16-18, 2023

The Stars ranked third in the FL West, somehow within striking distance of the Gold Sox despite being barely over .500 just like the Critters. They were scoring the very most runs in the league, but were also giving up the third-most in the FL, with barely a +6 run differential. Their rotation was getting battered particularly hard. These teams had met last year, when the Raccoons swept the series.

Projected matchups:
Kyle Brobeck (1-2, 3.93 ERA) vs. Alejandro Villanueva (6-3, 4.36 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (6-4, 2.82 ERA) vs. Adam Middleton (3-3, 5.51 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (3-4, 2.81 ERA) vs. Bill Quinn (3-6, 5.06 ERA)

We’d again only see right-handed pitching here.

Game 1
POR: 3B Malkus – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – 2B Waters – 1B Crum – CF Perez – RF Lopez – C Raczka – P Brobeck
DAL: LF F. Rojas – 2B Quiroz – 1B V. Cruz – 3B Wilken – RF Barton – SS S. Diaz – CF Monroe – C R. Zamora – P Villanueva

The Raccoons were up 2-0 in no time thanks to Lonzo ripping an RBI triple in between a leadoff single for Travis Malkus and Pucks’ run-scoring groundout. Brobeck gave up three singles to Felix Rojas, Sergio Quiroz, and Danny Barton in the first inning, with a balk in between, but somehow surrendered only half the lead. The Coons stranded pairs in the second and third innings when Malkus and Perez struck out, respectively, so the Stars tied the game on doubles smacked to either side by Victor Cruz and Randy Wilken, who bad both whiffed in the first inning against Brobeck, in the bottom 3rd. Brobeck further gave up singles to the Stars battery in the bottom 4th, but Ruben Zamora was thrown out by Perez trying to go first-to-third, and so even when Brobeck nailed Felix Rojas with two outs and two strikes, Quiroz’ groundout ensured they didn’t score in the inning.

Brobeck would settle for a no-decision in the 2-2 game despite putting a full dozen Stars on base in six innings, one way or another. The Raccoons were stuck and didn’t make much noise, while the Stars needed just two singles off Kevin Hitchcock by Leo Arguello, batting for Steve Diaz, and Zamora in the bottom 8th to take a 3-2 lead. Vic Flores cleaned up behind Hitchcock, but the Raccoons were now down a run, up against Willie Cruz (say, say…), and brought up the bottom of the order against Cruz, who was pitching to a 2.61 ERA in his second year away from Raccoons Ballpark. Perez and Crispin made meek outs before Jeff Raczka drew a 2-out walk to at least put the tying run on base. Willie Cruz shrugged, struck out Mikio Suzuki, and that was that game being over. 3-2 Stars. Raczka 2-3, BB;

Game 2
POR: 3B Malkus – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – 2B Waters – 1B Crum – C Gowin – CF Perez – RF Lopez – P Taki
DAL: LF F. Rojas – 2B Quiroz – RF D. Martinez – 3B Wilken – 1B V. Cruz – CF Barton – SS S. Diaz – C Cass– P Middleton

The Coons started Tuesday with a bunch of hits again. Malkus and Lonzo singled, and Pucks doubled to right for a 1-0 lead. Waters’ comebacker was not properly fielded by Middleton for an infield single, but since the play was near the third base line, the existing runners had retreated, so the bags were now full with nobody out. To my great relief, a wild pitch chased home Lonzo at 2-1 to Ken Crum, who ended up singling up the middle at 3-2, 3-0. Then the inning ended rather quickly; Gowin hit a sac fly, 4-0, but Perez and Lopez struck out. Now if Taki only had a good day, then the Stars had already lost this game. The early innings looked promising, and Waters also singled home another run with two outs in the second inning. And the Coons moved out further; Sergio Quiroz made not one, but TWO errors in the fourth inning, one before and one after Pucks peppered a 2-run homer to right to extend the lead further to 7-0. Tony Lopez even chipped in (snort!) by drawing a walk with one gone in the fifth and getting singled home by Malkus with two outs.

The Critters went on to bash three homers in the sixth inning as the Stars worked their way through a crumbling bullpen. Pucks and Perez both took Bobby Shenk deep (Perez for two runs with Gowin on base), and Tony Lopez (!) homered off ex-Coon Preston Porter to make the dozen full, and Porter also gave up another run in the seventh when Waters singled home Pucks, at which point you wondered whether they shouldn’t save a few for the rest of the week. But Pucks kept raking, facing Brian Shan in the eighth with Malkus and Lonzo in scoring position after getting on against Nick Whetsell, who had then left with an injury. Pucks rushed a triple down the rightfield line for a 15-0 score, and Waters added one more with a double to right-center.

Taki pitched eight, but by then was on 113 pitches, and we deemed that enough, even with the shutout practically lying on the door step. No reason to churn him to dust in a 16-0 game. Alfaro handled the 1-2-3 in order in the ninth to complete the game. 16-0 Furballs! Malkus 3-5, BB, RBI; Lavorano 2-6, 2B; Puckeridge 4-5, BB, 2 HR, 3B, 2B, 6 RBI; Waters 4-6, 2B, 3 RBI; Gowin 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Taki 8.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, W (7-4) and 1-5;

Pucks missed the cycle by the *single*. Ouch.

Game 3
POR: SS Lavorano – 3B Crispin – RF Puckeridge – 2B Waters – 1B Crum – C Gowin – CF Suzuki – LF Tenazes – P Wheatley
DAL: LF F. Rojas – 2B Quiroz – RF D. Martinez – 1B V. Cruz – CF Barton – SS S. Diaz – 3B Arguello – C R. Zamora – P B. Quinn

Lonzo’s leadoff single and walks drawn by Crispin and Pucks loaded the bases to begin the game, but the Coons didn’t make any hay besides Matt Waters’ sac fly to Felix Rojas. And that was the offense in the early going; Danny Barton hit a single for the Stars the first time through against Wheats, and Pucks had that single he had missed on Tuesday in the third inning, but was also left on base. The next base hit in the game didn’t occur until the bottom of the sixth when Rojas singled to center with two outs. Wheats had struck out four at that point, no walks, but a few flies to the warning track and a waiting glove there. Quiroz lined to center, but right at Suzuki, who moved just two tiny steps to snatch the ball and end the inning, but had made two hustling plays earlier in the game, so it was not all roses for Wheats in this start. The all-left-handed 3-4-5 batters would all hit a loud ball off him in the seventh inning, but Dario Martinez was also out to Suzuki, and Victor Cruz and Barton spanked grounders right at Lonzo. Ed Crispin drew a walk in the eighth for the most rousing offensive rush the Coons had delivered in almost two hours, but despite stealing second base was stranded by Pucks and Waters. The Furballs even found a third base hit in the game, a 2-out double by Suzuki in the top 9th against Willie Cruz. Raczka batted for Tenazes (Perez had batted for Gowin previously), but grounded out to Victor Cruz.

Like on Taki Tuesday, Wheats Wednesday saw the Coons’ starter go eight innings, but not get the shutout. In Wheats’ case it was the lack of offense, and the fact that he would not get even a right-handed hitter come up in the bottom 9th. With a sizable lead, he’d been sent back out at 97 pitches. Kevin Daley got groundouts to Waters from Jonathan Monroe and Rojas, but then gave up a single to Quiroz, who was run for with .121 hitter and professional pinch-runner Chad Pritchett. The move didn’t work – Daley threw over several times before throwing a pitch to Dario Martinez at all, and when everybody was tired of that game, Martinez finally got a pitch and rolled an inside fastball over to Crum to end the game. 1-0 Blighters. Wheatley 8.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K, W (4-4);

(pats Wheats on the back as the starter gobbles in half a cream pie) Sometimes a win is a win is a win! (Wheats gobbles faster)

I am such a motivator.

Raccoons (34-31) vs. Titans (31-35) – June 20-22, 2023

From the top offense in one league to the bottom offense in the other; the Titans were scoring under 3.8 runs per game, but were at least fourth in runs conceded, but with a -30 run differential. The Coons led the season series, 3-1, and the Titans arrived without three semi-regulars, with Ian Davison, Angel Montes de Oca, and Matt Gilmore all on the DL.

Projected matchups:
Victor Salcido (7-2, 3.23 ERA) vs. David Barnes (3-7, 3.33 ERA)
Kyle Brobeck (1-2, 3.70 ERA) vs. Jamie Guidry (5-1, 2.16 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (7-4, 2.59 ERA) vs. Kyle Turay (7-5, 3.90 ERA)

For something novel: two southpaws to begin this set. Turay was a right-hander on Sunday, though, which was just disrespectful to rob me of a Southpaw Sunday. Bad planning, Titans. Bad planning. Get your act together.

The Coons skipped Josh Mayo (1-2, 4.43 ERA), whose regular turn would have been on the off day on Thursday. There was a double-header coming up on Monday, and he’d get the opener against the Indians then, after which he’d be sent back to AAA to open a roster spot for a spot starter, probably Cameron Argenziano. (convulses!)

Game 1
BOS: CF Whitlow – 2B M. Martinez – RF D. Gonzalez – 1B L. Rodriguez – C R. Gonzalez – SS Lettner – LF Hunt – 3B Ro. Jimenez – P D. Barnes
POR: 3B Malkus – SS Lavorano – C Gowin – 2B Waters – 1B Crum – LF Puckeridge – RF Lopez – CF Tenazes – P Salcido

Salcido gave up a single to Eric Whitlow in the first, with the runner stealing second eventually, but retired the next three to keep the Titans from scoring. Portland was retired in order in the first two innings, but Lopez and Tenazes hit singles (!) to begin the bottom 3rd and were bunted into scoring position by Salcido. A shy RBI single to the feet of Dave Gonzalez by Malkus and a more substantial single rushed through the left side for Lonzo scored the two runners, after which Gowin and Waters made poor outs in the air. The Titans answered with a leadoff single for Miguel Martinez and a double past the diving Crum for Dave Gonzalez, parking the tying runs in scoring position, where they remained parked whilst Larry Rodriguez whiffed, Ruben Gonzalez (waves hi) grounded out sharply to Malkus, and then Salcido hung another K on Jason Lettner. Boston started with two hits for Danny Hunt and Rocky Jimenez again in the fifth inning, and Barnes bunted them into scoring position with the first out. Whitlow’s sac fly got Boston on the board, 2-1, but Martinez still grounded out.

But the Coons answered – which was a bit of a new concept, but anyway: Lonzo and Gowin smacked doubles in the bottom 5th, and Gowin was driven home by Ken Crum’s 2-out single, 4-1. Top 6th, the Gonzalez Brothers gave a performance – best clown show in town! – as Dave Gonzalez hit a double to the base of the rightfield fence to get the inning underway, and after Rodriguez whiffed, Ruben Gonzalez hit a spanker to the left side, that hit Dave in the leg and thus rendered him out. I snickered. But then Lettner homered to right, Hunt tripled to center, and Salcido waved for Dr. Padilla’s attention, and the snicker got stuck in my craw, and Maud had to do the Heimlich maneuver on me before I choked.

Watson replaced Salcido, got Jimenez to pop one over to Lonzo, and Lonzo, speaking of clown shows, dropped that pop for a run-scoring error, and to even the score at four. Barnes struck out to end the ******* inning, then put Lopez and Tenazes on the corners with a leadoff walk to the frivolously expensive .185 hitter and another single served up to the fifteenth-string rookie outfielder. Watson bunted Tenazes to second base, and the Coons reclaimed the lead on Malkus’ sac fly before Barnes fell over Lonzo and Gowin singles to also concede Tenazes’ run. Waters struck out, keeping the score at 6-4, which was upped an inning later by Ken Crum’s solo homer to left-center.

Danny Hunt singled off Hitchcock in the eighth, but didn’t reach scoring position, while the tying run was at the dish with nobody out in the ninth as Daley dallied around again. Marty Serna walked in the #9 hole to get going, and Eric Whitlow singled. Martinez grounded out, moving both to scoring position. Daley was ahead 0-2 on Dario Martinez, then gave up a single to right anyway. Serna scored, Whitlow came around as well – but was struck down at the plate by Tony Lopez, who finally did something useful. A K to Larry Rodriguez ended the game. 7-5 Coons. Malkus 1-2, BB, 2 RBI; Lavorano 3-4, 2B, RBI; Gowin 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Crum 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Lopez 2-3, BB; Tenazes 3-4;

Salcido had a tweak in his back, but Dr. Padilla thought him unlikely to actually miss a start. That’d be great, Doc, because, y’know, we kinda have a tight schedule around here, and for some reason he actually gets people out again this year.

Game 2
BOS: CF Whitlow – 2B M. Martinez – RF D. Gonzalez – 1B L. Rodriguez – C R. Gonzalez – SS Lettner – LF Hunt – 3B Ro. Jimenez – P Guidry
POR: 3B Malkus – LF Puckeridge – C Gowin – 2B Waters – 1B Crum – RF Lopez – CF Tenazes – SS Knight – P Brobeck

Both teams’ first run was a bit wobbly in this one; Guidry plated one for the Coons in the first with a wild pitch, chasing home Pucks from third base. Pucks had singled, as had Chris Gowin. The Titans drew even again in the top 2nd, bringing home Ruben Gonzalez, who reached on a Malkus error, with Rocky Jimenez’ sac fly to Lopez. The Raccoons answered in the home half of the inning in unlikely fashion: Tony Lopez doubled, and Prospero Tenazes smacked his first career homer. That, too, however was equalized as soon as Brobeck got his filthy paws back on the ball – Larry Rodriguez in turn took him deep for a 2-run homer in the third inning. Dave Gonzalez scored ahead of him, and all that after Eric Whitlow had drawn a walk but been caught stealing.

The Critters kept turning the crank: Gowin singled to center, Waters doubled to right, and Ken Crum walloped a 3-run homer to left in the bottom 3rd. Lopez and Tenazes also reached again before Matt Knight killed the inning with a double play grounder. That one, too, was blown by Brobeck, who didn’t make it out of the fourth inning, giving up straight hits to Jimenez, Guidry (…), and Whitlow, walked, Martinez, and was then knocked out with a game-tying single by Dave Gonzalez – all with two outs. Raul Cornejo surrendered another run on a Rodriguez single, 7-6 Boston, before Ruben Gonzalez flew out to Lopez in rather deep right. Lonzo doubled in place of Cornejo and scored on a Puckeridge sac fly to even the score again in the bottom 4th, now all flat at seven.

After all that commotion, the scoring suddenly stopped. Antonio Alfaro closed the flood gates for Portland, as did Chad Shultz for Boston, both pitching 2+ innings apiece. But don’t you worry – the Raccoons didn’t run out of suck just yet. Sencion had a clean seventh, but the whole house of cards collapsed with great noise once more in the eighth inning. Steve Watson appeared and basically retired nobody, filling the bags with Titans, and the bottom of the order, too. Hitchcock replaced him, struck out Whitlow, but then gave up runs galore. Miguel Martinez singled home two, and Dave Gonzalez hit a fly to right that Tony Lopez clunked into an error and a run. Larry Rodriguez and Jason Lettner also both added an RBI single, while the inning ended on the Lettner single when Rodriguez was caught in a rundown between second and third. Five runs had scored by then. That was that; Matt Knight drove in a run in the ninth inning, but by then the Coons were down to their final out against Justin Johns and didn’t have the tying run anywhere near the dish. 12-8 Titans. Gowin 4-5; Waters 3-4, BB, 2B; Lopez 2-3, BB, 2B; Tenazes 2-4, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Lavorano (PH) 1-1, 2B; Alfaro 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Game 3
BOS: CF Whitlow – 2B M. Martinez – RF D. Gonzalez – 1B L. Rodriguez – C R. Gonzalez – SS Lettner – LF Hunt – 3B Ro. Jimenez – P Turay
POR: 3B Malkus – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – 2B Waters – 1B Crum – C Raczka – CF Suzuki – RF Lopez – P Taki

The Coons were quick out of bed again on Sunday, as Malkus walked, Lonzo singled, Pucks doubled, and Waters hit a sac fly, all for two runs, before the inning fizzled out. And that was already all the hits for the Coons in the first five innings… Taki wasn’t the sharpest either, but scattered three Titans hits in a way that they didn’t score a run, although they reached the corners before Dave Gonzalez flew out to Suzuki in the top of the third inning. Ken Crum singled in the bottom 6th and stole second base, but all with two outs and was left stranded. Suzuki’s leadoff walk in the seventh also led precisely nowhere.

Like on Tuesday, Taki threw eight shutout innings, but was already quite a bit over 100 pitches by then, this time on 108. Unlike Tuesday, he didn’t even have the colossal lead behind him this time. It was still a timid 2-0 through the middle of the eighth, but Turay allowed a leadoff single to Lonzo in the bottom 8th. Lonzo stole second, and scored on a Waters single for a tack-on run. Turay walked the bags full after that, but Suzuki’s grounder to short ended the inning. This time, Taki came back for the ninth inning, but the pen was up and angry. The Titans went in order; Dave Gonzalez struck out, and while Larry Rodriguez hit a scratch single, Ruben Gonzalez squared a bouncer right at Lonzo for a game-ending 6-4-3 double play. 3-0 Coons! Lavorano 2-4; Crum 1-2, 2 BB; Taki 9.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K, W (8-4);

In other news

June 16 – The season of 39-year-old Cincy outfielder Rich de Luna (.364, 0 HR, 6 RBI) ends with a torn labrum.
June 17 – DEN 2B/3B Ivan Villa (.432, 11 HR, 35 RBI) hits a walkoff double to beat the Bayhawks, 1-0 in 11 innings.
June 18 – The first home run of the year for WAS INF Alejandro Silva (.213, 1 HR, 9 RBI) is something special indeed – a walkoff grand slam against the Loggers to beat them 6-2 in regulation.
June 20 – Denver 3B/2B Ronnie Thompson (.266, 0 HR, 17 RBI) notches his 2,000th career hit in a 7-6 loss to the Scorpions. The 35-year-old Thompson, a career Gold Sox, has led the FL in walks drawn six times, but otherwise was mostly a singles slapper. He was an All Star five times while batting .284/.421/.350 for his career with 11 HR and 668 RBI, plus 399 SB. The milestone hit was a seventh-inning double off SAC SP Craig Czyszczon (5-7, 4.68 ERA).
June 20 – Another veteran falls, as 40-year-old LVA SP Matt Sealock (5-5, 4.46 ERA) needs to get bone chips removed from his elbow and is out for the year.
June 21 – Las Vegas super utility Jim White (.348, 2 HR, 23 RBI) is super versatile in a 13-11 loss to the Knights, connecting for all types of base knocks as he hits for the cycle. White goes 4-for-6 and drives in five runs.
June 21 – The Gold Sox acquire OF Mario Ceballos (.245, 2 HR, 34 RBI) from the Crusaders, along with a prospect. In turn, New York receives 1B Raul Sevilla (.267, 8 HR, 36 RBI) and just under a million dollars in cash.
June 21 – The Indians pick up RF/LF Chris Morris (.241, 3 HR, 18 RBI) from the Rebels in exchange for two prospects.
June 21 – Wolves 1B Toushi Imai (.253, 6 HR, 34 RBI) collects five hits in an 18-7 bashing of the Stars, including a homer, two doubles, and four RBI.

FL Player of the Week: NAS 1B Alejandro Ramos (.258, 7 HR, 33 RBI), spanking .500 (10-20) with 2 HR, 6 RBI
CL Player of the Week: BOS RF/LF Dave Gonzalez (.303, 9 HR, 30 RBI), hitting .481 (13-27) with 1 HR, 7 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Taki threw 17 scoreless innings again this week, and pitched hit third career shutout on Sunday. With a bit more efficiency, he could have also finished the game on Tuesday – the gap had certainly been big enough.

Taki was also currently chasing down Oklahoma’s Zach Boyer for the CL ERA lead, and trailed by 23 points on Sunday night. Third in the CL? Wheats – but due do the earlier DL stint it was touch and go right now for Wheats, who was right on the edge of qualifying at all.

Double header on Monday, and it will be Wheats and Mayo – but the other way round. Mayo was going to be optioned after the opener, probably for Argenziano (frowns) to make a spot start on Tuesday, where Salcido would have to go on short rest with a balking back, which was not the best of starting points. If Mayo got roughed up early, it was also possible that we’d bring on a spare reliever for the second game on Monday.

(pats Wheats on the shoulder) Just throw a shutout. (Wheats nods eagerly)

If in doubt we can also throw Steve Watson to the lions.

After four games in three days in Indy, we’ll be in Charlotte on the weekend. The month will end with the first game of a new homestand that will see the Knights and Elks in town.

Fun Fact: The Aces’ nine cycles are tied for most amongst all CL teams with the Condors.

The following players have hit for the cycle as an Ace:

Mark Allen (1984)
Wes McCormick (2000)
Ricardo Garcia (2009 + 2010)
Graciano Salto (2034)
Mike Hall (2038)
John Byrd (2040)
Brent Cramer (2048)
Jim White (2053)

Like White, McCormick hit for the cycle in a losing effort.

+++

Fun Fact (Out of Character Bonus Round): After 4,960 hours in OOTP 16, the Raccoons for the first time won a game between 15-0 and 19-0, triggering a missing Steam achievement.

Also, it’s one of my pet peeves when a greater achievement (score 20+ in a shutout) doesn’t also trigger the corresponding lesser one.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (36-32) @ Indians (36-31) – June 23-25, 2053

Four games with an opening double header in Indy now – things could get sketchy with the rotation here, although Victor Salcido proclaimed that his back was much better now. Although I wondered then why he was being carried around by some of the relievers and bench players everywhere he went… The Arrowheads ranked third in the North, fourth in runs scored, and fourth in runs allowed in the CL, with a +33 run differential. Ours was +51 (!?), and we were up 3-2 for the season series.

Projected matchups:
Josh Mayo (1-2, 4.43 ERA) vs. Adam Foley (3-4, 5.19 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (4-4, 2.50 ERA) vs. Enrique Ortiz (4-5, 4.47 ERA)
TBD vs. Tan Brink (3-6, 3.81 ERA)
Victor Salcido (7-2, 3.33 ERA) vs. Thomas Turpeau (3-3, 3.52 ERA)

Turpeau was the only left-hander we saw coming here. TBD would most likely be Cameron Argenziano (what a thrill that was gonna be…), who was 0-2 with an 11.74 ERA in two starts this season.

Game 1
POR: 2B Malkus – SS Lavorano – RF Puckeridge – 1B Crum – C Gowin – CF Suzuki – 3B Crispin – LF Tenazes – P Mayo
IND: 2B A. Rios – CF A. Mendez – RF B. Quinteros – 3B B. Anderson – C Poindexter – LF S. King – 1B Lovell – SS de Castro – P Foley

Mayo legged out a grounder to short and beat Antonio Rios’ return throw to first base to break up a potential 6-4-3 double play after the Coons had put Gowin, Suzuki, and Tenazes on base in the top 2nd, and with one out, which allowed Chris Gowin to score and the Raccoons to go up 1-0 before Malkus grounded out to short. Mayo’s pitching didn’t quite keep up with his running, though; he walked Foley on four pitches with one out in the bottom 3rd, then gave up a mighty drive to left to the roster filler Rios, which Tenazes picked off the top of the fence to take away a double. Angel Mendez singled, but Bill Quinteros popped out to strand two Indians, who kept hitting the odd hard ball, but never found a spot on the open prairie with those – they were all caught by outfielders, and when Bill Quinteros hit a single in the sixth inning, that was somehow only their second base hit off Mayo. None the better, though: the Coons, who had three hits in six innings, and had Tenazes only reach on an error by Alex de Castro in the seventh. Mayo bunted into a force play at second, which cost a run as Malkus and Lonzo singles now loaded the bags with two gone, but Mendez caught Pucks’ fly to center to end the inning. Manny Poindexter then tied the game on Mayo’s first pitch in the bottom 7th, pumping a homer to left. A Lonzo error put Pat Lovell on base in the inning, and with two outs, Josh Hare hit an RBI triple to right to get the Indians on top. Rios’ groundout kept the score at 2-1.

Pinch-hit singles by Tony Lopez (off left-hander Bill McMichael) and Matt Waters (against right-hander Josh Livingston) then put Coons on the corners in the eighth inning, but also with two outs. Perez batted for Tenazes, struck out, and the inning ended. Raul Cornejo pitched a scoreless bottom 8th before David Williams came out for the save opportunity. Matt Knight pinch-hit for Cornejo and walked in a full count, which got the tying run back on base. Malkus travised his way into a 6-4-3 double play, though, and Lonzo flew out to center. 2-1 Indians. Suzuki 1-2, BB, 2B; Lopez (PH) 1-1; Waters (PH) 1-1; Tenazes 1-2, BB; Mayo 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, L (1-3);

For his losing performance, Josh Mayo won a trip to Florida due to the roster crunch. There was a chance though that he’d be back right away next week when we’d need a fifth starter again.

Raul Medrano (8.1 IP, 0 ER last year) was added to the roster as bullpen padding.

Game 2
POR: 3B Malkus – LF Puckeridge – 2B Waters – 1B Crum – RF Lopez – CF Perez – C Raczka – SS Knight – P Wheatley
IND: 1B N. Fernandez – CF A. Mendez – RF B. Quinteros – 3B B. Anderson – LF S. King – 2B A. Rios – C Payne – SS de Castro – P En. Ortiz

The Coons went for max turnover in their lineup, and an unearned 1-0 deficit in the first inning as Nick Fernandez singled off Wheats, reached second by stealing and advancing on Raczka’s throwing error, and finally scored on a Quinteros groundout after Angel Mendez popped out. In the third inning, both pitchers hit a single off each other, and both half-innings went into the bin on a double play; Wheats was doubled up by Malkus directly, while Ortiz was forced out by Fernandez, and then Mendez found the 4-6-3 double play.

The score flipped in the fourth; Pucks drew a leadoff walk, Waters doubled to left-center, and the pair scored on successive productive outs by Crum and Lopez. The game then dripped on through the middle innings without either team exceeding three base hits through six innings; Wheats had the odd wayward pitch, though, nicking Ricky Payne in the fifth and Quinteros in the sixth, although neither runner reached even second base. He proceeded then to nail Rios to begin the seventh. Second mound conference of the game then, after which Wheats walked Payne anyway, and the Indians scored the tying run from a bunt and a sac fly before PH Chris Morris hit a comebacker to strand Payne and the go-ahead run on second base. Wheats ended up with a no-decision; Lonzo batted for him for no gains in the top 8th, Malkus singled, and Pucks found another one of those diabolic double plays.

Lopez singled and Perez walked with two outs against David Williams in the ninth inning, but Williams hung a K on Raczka, while the Coons used Flores and Medrano to get the game to extra innings. Pat Lovell was the only player to reach base in the tenth inning, singling off Antonio Alfaro, but was also stranded right on first base, but the tie was broken in the 11th as McMichael (who had faced only one batter in the early game) made his second appearance of the day, but gave up a double to Waters and a homer to Ken Crum! It was the game winner – Kevin Daley faced the minimum in the bottom of the inning. 4-2 Coons. Waters 2-4, BB, 2 2B; Wheatley 7.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K and 1-2;

Medrano then was optioned back to AAA right away, and Argenziano promoted for an L on Tuesday.

Game 3
POR: 3B Malkus – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – 2B Waters – 1B Crum – C Gowin – CF Suzuki – RF Lopez – P Argenziano
IND: 1B N. Fernandez – CF A. Mendez – RF B. Quinteros – 3B B. Anderson – C Poindexter – LF S. King – 2B A. Rios – SS de Castro – P Brink

Brink brinked Lonzo, then gave up a double to Pucks and a 2-run single to Waters for some swift punishment. The Coons soon found themselves beleaguered, though. The Indians loaded the bases with a Bobby Anderson single, a Lonzo error, and a walk to de Castro in the bottom 2nd, upon which Argenziano at least managed to sit down Brink on strikes to escape. It only got more annoying from there. Nick Fernandez and Anderson hit singles in the bottom 3rd, and Poindexter hit a comebacker with two outs that looked like the end of another attempt, except that Argenziano tossed that one *way* over the head of Ken Crum for two bases and a run, then walked Scott King before he at least handled Rios’ comebacker for the third out. De Castro opened the bottom 4th with a single, but was doubled up on a terrible Brink bunt, and in the sixth King opened the inning with a double to center, but was caught digging for third base, where Suzuki threw him out. Not the best advertisement for the game as a whole, this one.

Argenziano was gone after six, not having allowed an earned run, but still having pitched dreadfully. His W disappeared in another just as dreadful appearance of Steve Watson, who walked Fernandez and was taken deep by PH Chris Morris, flipping the score to 3-2 Indians. But – oh wait; the Raccoons had a comeback. Brink was yanked after he walked Malkus and Lonzo in the top of the eighth inning. Pucks hit into a fielder’s choice, but Matt Waters crashed a 3-run homer to left off frequent flyer Bill McMichael that grabbed the lead right back, 5-3. Crum hit a double but was left on base. Hitchcock’s eighth was neat and tidy before the Indians put the tying runs on base to begin the bottom 9th … on errors. Daley dropped a feed by Crum at first base to get Josh Hare on base, and Lovell reached on a flub by Malkus, which was the fourth Coons error in the game, and they had *yet* to lose it. Morris in the #2 hole hit a comebacker to Daley that the closer took to third base for the first out. Philip Locke then grounded to the second base bag, and somehow Lonzo and Waters ping-ponged the ball back and forth between their bodies, and neither made a play – infield single, charitably, and the bags were thus full, winning run on first base. Anderson struck out, while Poindexter got ahead 3-1 before hitting a sharp grounder to the right side – but Ken Crum was on his post and saved the day with a sure grab and tap. 5-3 Raccoons. Puckeridge 2-4, 2B; Waters 2-4, HR, 5 RBI;

This flayed win moved the Raccoons ahead of the Indians into third place in the division, 5 1/2 games behind the Crusaders.

Steve Watson (3-2, 6.00 ERA, 1 SV) got the axe, however, and was sent to the Alley Cats again. Argenziano (0-2, 6.59 ERA) was also sent away again. Medrano returned right away, along with Dave Blackshire, who was hitting .306 in St. Pete.

Game 4
POR: CF Tenazes – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – 2B Waters – 1B Crum – C Gowin – RF Lopez – 3B Blackshire – P Salcido
IND: 2B A. Rios – CF A. Mendez – RF B. Quinteros – C Poindexter – 3B B. Anderson – LF S. King – 1B Lovell – SS de Castro – P Turpeau

Salcido laid a bit of an egg in the second inning; having walked King and with the runner on second base and two outs, the Coons elected to walk Alex de Castro intentionally, knowing little about how Salcido would then also put Turpeau on base on four pitches out of the zone, and give up two runs on a Rios single. Mendez flew out to Tenazes to end the inning, giggling too hard to make proper contact with an 0-2 right down the middle.

Dave Blackshire then returned with a bang, homering to left to open the third inning, his first of the season. He also drew a leadoff walk his next time up in the fifth inning, but then Salcido bunted into a double play. Actual base hits remained few and far between in this game, with Chris Gowin hitting consecutive singles for Portland, three frames apart. The Indians hit a pair of singles in the bottom 7th to put Lovell and de Castro on the corners and knock out Salcido, with a run conceded by Vic Flores on Morris’ pinch-hit groundout, 3-1.

Top 8th, the tying runs were on with nobody out, somehow. Tenazes was hit by Scott Livingston, and even before that, Malkus had reached on a de Castro error as pinch-hitter in the #9 hole, which had ended Turpeau’s day. A Lonzo single loaded the bases and doomed the whole undertaking, presumably, with the Indians continuing to cycle pitchers, with Heath Turner now in the game. Pucks hit a sac fly, and Waters and Crum both flew out to King in shallow left, keeping the remaining runners on base… It was David Williams then in the ninth again, down by a run. Gowin struck out, but Perez walked. Blackshire struck out. Crispin hit for the pitcher, but grounded out… 3-2 Indians. Lavorano 2-4; Gowin 2-4;

Raccoons (38-34) @ Falcons (43-29) – June 27-29, 2053

I didn’t quite remember the last time the Falcons were actually good, but for now they were just two games out in the South. They did it on pitching, with a league-leading 3.6 runs allowed per game, but were only seventh in runs scored. Their run differential was +54, and they had to make up a 2-1 deficit in the season series, but had to do so without regulars Ian Woodrome and Mike Allegood, who were on the DL.

Projected matchups:
Kyle Brobeck (1-2, 5.14 ERA) vs. Hiroyuki Takagi (6-5, 3.47 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (8-4, 2.37 ERA) vs. Andy Overy (3-6, 3.84 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (4-4, 2.39 ERA) vs. Tyler Weems (7-2, 3.29 ERA)

One right-hander to start things, then two southpaws to finish out the week!

Game 1
POR: 3B Malkus – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – 2B Waters – 1B Crum – C Gowin – CF Suzuki – RF Lopez – P Brobeck
CHA: LF Sharp – 1B Tinoco – RF D. Ceballos – C Weese – SS Arreola – 3B Buckner – 2B R. Wright – CF Whitehead – P Takagi

Singles by Lonzo, Waters, and Crum gave the Coons a 1-0 lead in the top 1st before Gowin flew out to center, and Lonzo had an RBI single in the second inning after Suzuki reached on an error and Malkus drew a walk, getting the lead runner home with two outs before Pucks whiffed. Two runs and four left stranded wasn’t good enough, because the Falcons, after short-circuiting two innings by hitting into double plays against a generously runner-producing Brobeck, scored two runs to tie the game in the bottom 4th with a leadoff walk to Danny Ceballos, and singles by Kevin Weese and Juan Arreola to get to 2-1 with two aboard before Rich Wright’s sac fly then leveled the score. Ethan Whitehead flew out to Tony Lopez to end the inning.

Lonzo stole a base after a dry series in Indy, #29 for the year, and scored on a Pucks single in the top 5th to give the Coons a new 3-2 lead right away. Puckeridge also nipped second base by force, but was left stranded, while the Falcons got the tying run into scoring position in both the fifth and sixth innings, but each time left him on second base. They then got Wright to draw a leadoff walk in the seventh. Whitehead grounded to Malkus, who bungled another play, putting two on, before Esteban Sanches pinch-hit for Takagi and slapped one into a double play. Sencion replaced Brobeck for the left-handed Matt Sharp, but the Falcons countered with righty Erik Stevens, who shot a skipper up the middle, but somehow Lonzo not only played that damn thing, he also got it to first base in time…! That yet again stranded the tying run. Trouble resumed with Adrian Tinoco’s leadoff double into the right-center gap in the bottom 8th, but Sencion and Hitchcock then struck out the next three Falcons to step into the box. And then, after four innings of futility, Kevin Daley served up a leadoff triple to Jalen Buckner in the bottom 9th… Wright whiffed, but Whitehead’s sac fly tied the game, and after Mitch Sivertson flew out to right, the game went to extras.

Josh Clem plunked Ken Crum with two gone in the top 10th, and the Raccoons, who had been deeply a-snooze in the hour before, quickly scrambled two singles from Gowin and Suzuki to drive him home. Crispin batted for Tony Lopez and hit another RBI single before Josh Tomlinson struck out Dave Blackshire. The next save chance then went to Flores, with the top of the Falcons order that was up for the home half of the inning leaning well to the left side. Tinoco snuck a single, but Danny Ceballos flung a grounder to Lonzo for a game-ending double play. 5-3 Coons! Lavorano 3-5, RBI; Crispin (PH) 1-1, RBI;

Game 2
POR: 3B Blackshire – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – 2B Waters – 1B Crum – C Gowin – RF Lopez – CF Tenazes – P Taki
CHA: LF Sharp – 1B Tinoco – RF D. Ceballos – C Weese – SS Arreola – 2B E. Stevens – 3B R. Wright – CF Whitehead – P Overy

A walk, a single, and a very prainful bruise to Juan Arreola was what Taki loaded the bases with in the bottom 1st before hanging a K on Erik Stevens, which at least kept the linescore clean, although the Falcons drew 27 pitches off him in that opening inning. It got worse in the third, where Tinoco and Ceballos sloshed poor man’s singles, and Kevin Weese smacked a gapper for a 2-run double. The Coons had little offense, and when Lonzo hit a leadoff single in the fourth, he was caught stealing. A walk to Gowin and a fastball into Tony Lopez’ bum put the tying runs on base in the fifth, but only for Prospero Tenazes to chunk into a double play that ended the attempt.

The Falcons worked up Taki – they made him throw 99 pitches in five innings, which was about unheard of for the Japanese sophomore, and he was hit for as early as the top of the sixth in what I’d like to florally describe as a “tactical retreat” to fight another day. He was spared the loss, though. Pucks opened the seventh with a shy single against Overy, who then offered his absolute best – a 99mph heater to Waters, which was deposited into the leftfield stands just as quickly and tied the game at two. While Medrano and Sencion held the Falcons to their two early runs, the Coons saw Blackshire draw a 2-out walk from Overy in the ninth inning. Lonzo then raked a gapper in left-center that kept running around from Whitehead for an RBI triple and a 3-2 lead, but was stranded when Pucks bounced out to Tinoco. Hitchcock was fine in the eighth, but Daley struggled with the ninth inning again. He got two outs before Jaden Richards singled and he lost Tinoco on a ball count at 3-2. Ceballos ran another full count, but grounded out…! 3-2 Critters. Lavorano 2-4, 3B, RBI;

Game 3
POR: 3B Malkus – LF Puckeridge – 2B Waters – 1B Crum – C Gowin – RF Lopez – CF Tenazes – SS Knight – P Wheatley
CHA: LF Sharp – 1B Tinoco – RF D. Ceballos – C Weese – SS Arreola – 2B E. Stevens – 3B Buckner – CF Whitehead – P Weems

Wheats entered the game second in ERA in the CL after inching ahead of Taki during the latter’s sub-par performance on Saturday, but still a tenth of a run behind Zach Boyer. The first inning was enough though to give the team lead back to Taki. Wheats allowed a leadoff triple to Matt Sharp, then four singles, mostly hit sharply, for a 3-0 deficit. That was most of the commotion through four innings, with the Raccoons making the mere minimum of noise with a lone base hit, and the Falcons settling into defending their 3-0 lead nicely. The exception was Travis Malkus, who tweaked his back on a defensive play and left the game in favor of Dave Blackshire in the fourth inning, and Blackshire soon played a role in erasing the early deficit. The Coons got two solo homers in the fifth from otherwise mostly unhelpful batters, Tony Lopez and Matt Knight; it was the first career homer for the latter. Wheats then spanked a 1-out double to right, Blackshire singled to put runners on the corners, and Pucks scratched out the tying run with a grounder to the right side, although Blackshire was forced out at second base. Pucks then stole second, reached third when Weese’s throw got away from Arreola, and was then balked home by a shell-shocked Tyler Weems, giving Portland a 4-3 lead.

Wheats held on through six innings, and was even used to bunt Tenazes to second base in the seventh inning, but the runner was stranded on a deep fly to left by Blackshire that Sharp snatched. Flores defended the lead in the seventh, and with Pucks on in the eighth the Coons got robbed of run(s) twice. First Sharp picked a Crum drive off the very top of the fence – tough to say whether it would have bounced out or caromed back though – and then Gowin did hit one out… but on the bounce for a ground-rule double, with Pucks, who actually crossed home plate on the play, receiving directions back to third base by the home play umpire, after which Tony Lopez grounded out to Tinoco to strand a pair in scoring position. Cornejo held on in the eighth, but the ninth saw the mound taken by … Alfaro? Neither Hitchcock nor Daley were going to pitch unless things dragged on, having had back-to-back outings, and the 7-8-9 batters were coming up, so the Raccoons dared to go with their Rule 5 pick. Buckner struck out. Richards grounded out to Waters. And Sanches struck out as well…! 4-3 Critters!

First career save for Alfaro, while nobody on the team qualified for a mention in the post-game dispatch. Eight hits for the team, by eight different batters.

In other news

June 26 – OCT SP David Barel (12-4, 2.50 ERA) spins a 2-hit shutout against the Aces, who also get whooped 10-0 by the Thunder.
June 28 – Loggers SP Josh Costello (6-6, 5.47 ERA) throws a 3-hit shutout over the Bayhawks, who also surrender ten runs to the Loggers.

FL Player of the Week: TOP LF/RF/1B Nate Culp (.274, 17 HR, 53 RBI), whacking .421 (8-19) with 3 HR, 10 RBI
CL Player of the Week: MIL 1B/RF/LF Gaudencio Callaia (.328, 8 HR, 33 RBI), spanking .542 (13-24) with 2 HR, 9 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Looks like Malkus will miss a month with a balking back, so the Raccoons are back to the drawing board for a leadoff hitter, although while Malkus worked nice in the role for six to eight weeks, he had dropped off quite a bit in the last 10, 12 games. He dropped 35 points off his OBP from the start of the Titans series, batting 2-for-30 with three walks.

The good news is, at that rate Tony Lopez can bat leadoff and we wouldn’t know the difference!

So normally Matt Knight would have been returned to the Alley Cats as the Raccoons have to get a fifth starter back on the roster for Tuesday at the latest, but with Malkus to the DL he might hang around a wee bit longer.

Pat Degenhardt didn’t object when I wondered out loud whether it would be insane to have Kyle Brobeck play third base a bit – he sure had the throwing arm, but the problem was of course that it would interfere with his pitching. Could he play first base, though? Although I liked Ken Crum there.

Of course there remains the possibility that Pat Degenhardt after some ten years with the team is picking his fights more wisely.

Next week: homestand against the Knights and Elks. There’s no more off day before the All Star Game now, with the final week ahead of the showcase spent on the road with the Loggers and Crusaders.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons are holding opponents to a .234 batting average this year.

How long is that gonna hold up? I mean, we’re merely hitting .254 as a team, ninth in the CL…

[UltimateAverageGuy]

The trade deadline maybe very interesting…..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Westheim]

Raccoons (41-34) vs. Knights (45-31) – June 30-July 2, 2053

The Knights came in screaming hot, having won ten games in a row, which was not enough to even lead the CL South, in which they trailed the Thunder by 2 1/2 games. They scored the most runs in the CL – 5.3 per game! – but were also below average in giving up runs, conceding the eighth-most runs in the Continental League. Outfielder Jon Alade was a notable injury for them and would not play in this series. The Coons held a 2-1 edge over them this year.

Projected matchups:
Phil Baker (4-3, 6.26 ERA) vs. Matt Weber (8-2, 2.58 ERA)
Victor Salcido (7-3, 3.40 ERA) vs. Dave Hils (8-5, 4.96 ERA)
Kyle Brobeck (1-2, 4.67 ERA) vs. Esteban Duran (9-1, 3.23 ERA)

Only right-handed opponents scheduled for this set!

The Coons optioned Matt Knight (.143, 1 HR, 3 RBI) to AAA before the series, who would thus not get to meet his relatives from Atlanta, while bringing up nominally disgraced Phil Baker for a spot start. Also, Travis Malkus went on the DL with chronic back soreness, and the Coons recalled the more versatile Joe Boese from AAA.

Game 1
ATL: SS W. Acosta – C Almaguer – 1B J. Rogers – 2B L. Harrison – LF Kirkwood – RF Angeletti – CF Wada – 3B Housey – P Weber
POR: LF Puckeridge – SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – 1B Crum – RF Lopez – CF Perez – C Raczka – 3B Crispin – P Baker

Pucks flew out to Chris Kirkwood on a 3-0 pitch to begin the Coons’ batting for the week, and it set the tone for a while. Weber retired the first ten Coons straight before giving up a pair of singles to Lonzo and Waters, but Ken Crum unhelpfully hit into an inning-ending double play. By then, Baker had not allowed a run the first time through the Knights’ order, but had been taken deep by Pedro Almaguer to begin the top of the fourth. Baker pitched surprisingly well and into the eighth inning, where he then gave up a 1-out single to Matt Housey and nicked Willie Acosta before suffering removal from the game with two outs and Almaguer back at the plate, the batter that had provided the only score in the game so far. Raul Cornejo and Mikio Suzuki entered in a double switch with two outs, Perez being removed, and then worked together for the third out of the inning when Cornejo’s pitch was lifted to Suzuki by Almaguer. Suzuki hit a 1-out single off right-hander Eli Dupuis in the bottom 8th, and Pucks reached on an error by Lance Harrison. Lonzo lashed a liner to left for an RBI single, taking Baker off the hook, but meek outs by Waters and Crum killed the inning before the Coons could take a lead.

Cornejo held the Knights in check in the top 9th, then followed Tony Lopez’ leadoff walk drawn off Dupuis in the bottom 9th and was retained to bunt the winning run into scoring position, but from there the team choked again. Joe Boese pinch-hit and whiffed, Crispin walked, and Suzuki grounded out to Acosta, sending the game into overtime. Vic Flores got the 10th, walked, PH Eduardo Avila, and was taken deep by Jushiro Wada, which was *not* enough to lose the game – a Pucks homer off David Hardaway to begin the bottom 10th, a Lonzo double, and an RBI single by Tony Lopez (!) tying the game again…! Chris Gowin also singled, but Naughty Joe grounded out to extend the game further. Hitchcock struck out two in a 1-2-3 outing in the top 11th, but Tenazes opened the bottom of the inning with a groundout in his place. Suzuki also grounded out, but Pucks doubled off Hardaway. Lonzo was less flashy, but shoved a ball up the middle and through between the infielders to walk off the Critters anyway. 4-3 Raccoons! Puckeridge 2-6, HR, 2B, RBI; Lavorano 4-6, 2B, 2 RBI; Gowin 1-1; Suzuki (PH) 1-3; Baker 7.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K;

Baker (4-3, 5.47 ERA) was returned to AAA despite the good start – we were running a clean operation here, and he had only been flown cross-country with instructions to only pack a single set of underwear. We’d instead try and throw Ryan Harmer against the wall once more.

The intent was now to use Alfaro as fifth starter until the All Star Game, so he could probably pitch an inning or two in the next two games, but then had to be reserved.

Pucks was named the CL Hitter of the Month by Tuesday morning, his first such designation.

Game 2
ATL: SS W. Acosta – CF Wada – 1B J. Rogers – 2B L. Harrison – LF Kirkwood – RF Angeletti – C S. Suggs – 3B Villacorta – P Hils
POR: LF Puckeridge – SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – 1B Crum – C Gowin – CF Perez – RF Lopez – 3B Crispin – P Salcido

Portland went up 2-0 in the first with singles from Lonzo, Waters, and Gowin, with a Ken Crum sac fly in between. Pucks didn’t get a hit in that first inning, but singled home Ed Crispin with two outs in the bottom 2nd, 3-0, which was just as well. Waters’ triple and Crum’s homer to begin the third inning rushed the score to 5-0. That was barely enough to survive a hellacious fourth inning for Salcido, in which he was whacked from left to right and back again; Lance Harrison singled, Chris Kirkwood doubled, and the runners scored on a groundout and a wild pitch. Sean Suggs struck out, but then the Knights hit fourth gear. Leo Villacorta double, Aaron Foss single, Willie Acosta double, Jushiro Wada single, and somehow a fly to left that Pucks caught from Jay Rogers, which kept the score at 5-4 and stranded two runners on base.

Hils was gone already, but Kyle DuPlessis gave back a run to the Critters when Gowin doubled home Crum with two outs in the bottom 4th, but Salcido put the tying runs on base with a Harrison double and a walk to Kirkwood and was unceremoniously yanked. Eloy Sencion got a double play ball to Waters from Angeletti, but instead gave up a game-tying homer to Sean Suggs, which, frankly, sugged…!

All even at six, the Coons went back to work on DuPlessis in the bottom 5th. Tony Lopez drew a leadoff walk, stole second, and scored on a Crispin single. Pucks walked, Waters singled home two with two outs, and Crispin kept raking from the #8 hole, doubling home Fernando Perez in the next inning, then against Dupuis. At that point we were up 10-6 and kept batting with Raul Medrano and two outs, and took the K with the reliever, to keep him tossing long relief. The Knights were collapsing, though: the bottom 7th saw Pucks and Lonzo singles, then a 3-run blast to right from Matt Waters. Crispin then hit a wallbanger RBI double off Kyle Doering in the bottom 8th, going up to 14-6, and Medrano kept batting even in that inning, taking another K. Pucks then doubled home Crispin, and while Lonzo grounded out, the Raccoons brought Waters back to the plate; the second-sacker was a double short of the cycle, but flew out to J.P. Angeletti to end the inning. Medrano didn’t retire anybody in the ninth inning anymore and was yanked after three batters and a run was across, and Alfaro gave up just three more screamers for hits. On to Harmer, who allowed a run on Villacorta’s groundout, whiffed Angel Quintana, then walked Willie Acosta … and now the Coons had turned a 9-run lead into a save situation. Daley flew Wada out to Pucks to end the clown show. 15-11 Furballs. Puckeridge 3-5, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Lavorano 2-6; Waters 4-6, HR, 3B, 5 RBI; Gowin 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Crispin 3-3, BB, 2 2B, 3 RBI;

We scored in every inning we batted in!

Game 3
ATL: SS W. Acosta – C Almaguer – 1B J. Rogers – 2B L. Harrison – LF Kirkwood – RF Angeletti – CF Wada – 3B Villacorta – P E. Duran
POR: RF Puckeridge – SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – 1B Crum – C Gowin – CF Suzuki – 3B Crispin – LF Tenazes – P Brobeck

The Coons continued to score in every inning on Wednesday; Crum doubled home Waters with two outs in the first inning, while in the second inning we had to wait on a Villacorta error on Brobeck’s 2-out grounder to allow Crispin to come in from third base, 2-0, but Almaguer took it all away again with a homer in the third inning after Acosta had hit a 2-out single off Brobeck, and the Coons’ scoring streak ended with a 1-2-3 bottom 3rd as well.

They loaded the bags in the fourth, however, with Gowin, Tenazes, and Brobeck accumulating by the time there were two outs. Pucks batted and floated a 2-0 pitch over Lance Harrison’s glove for a howler of a 2-run single. Lonzo grounded out to short to strand two, but the inning after Ken Crum went deep to left to tack on a run, 5-2. And while Brobeck was holding up his end of the box score, the Coons kept hitting. Waters drew a 1-out walk in the seventh before scoring on a string of 2-out singles by Gowin, Suzuki, and Crispin, although Prospero Tenazes then flew out to Wada to strand a full buffet of runners.

Brobeck held out until the eighth, but was lifted after a walk and a single put Wilie Acosta and Pedro Almaguer on the corners with one out. It took Flores *and* Cornejo to extricate the Coons from the inning, but they did so without allowing a run; Jay Rogers popped out against the former, who walked Harrison, and Kirkwood flew out to left facing Cornejo, who entered in a double switch with the intent to finish the game – and he did just that, but put two Knights on base even in the ninth inning. 6-2 Raccoons. Puckeridge 2-5, 2 RBI; Crum 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Gowin 3-4; Brobeck 7.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, W (2-2) and 1-2, BB; Cornejo 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, SV (1);

Raccoons (44-34) vs. Canadiens (44-32) – July 3-6, 2053

Interesting series coming up here – four games with the damn Elks, as both teams were within 2 1/2 games of the first-place Crusaders! The Elks were set up a bit like the Knights, mostly surviving on offense, with the third-most runs scored and the fourth-most runs conceded to their names and hooves. Their rotation was especially crummy with a 4.61 ERA, although they had just acquired Cory Ellis in a trade with the Blue Sox. They led the season series, 4-3.

Projected matchups:
Seisaku Taki (8-4, 2.43 ERA) vs. Juan Arrocha (3-4, 5.05 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (5-4, 2.54 ERA) vs. Mario Godinez (5-6, 3.72 ERA)
Antonio Alfaro (4-0, 4.23 ERA) vs. Cory Ellis (2-4, 3.34 ERA)
Victor Salcido (7-3, 3.73 ERA) vs. Jesse Bulas (7-8, 6.70 ERA)

All right-handers here; Godinez and Ellis had gone on the same day and were interchangeable for the two middle starts. Starting pitchers Terry Herman and Juan Ramos were on the DL, and 2B Tony Aparicio was day-to-day with a calf injury.

That poor moose calf.

Game 1
VAN: CF D. Moreno – SS Mullen – 2B Aparicio – LF Magnussen – 3B Guillory – C Julio Diaz – 1B Wheeler – RF Burkhart – P Arrocha
POR: LF Puckeridge – SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – 1B Crum – RF Lopez – CF Perez – 3B Crispin – C Raczka – P Taki

The series started with a triple play in the first inning; Damian Moreno singled to right and Dan Mullen was brushed on the knee by a pitch, putting two on. They were also in motion when Aparicio lined to left – but somehow Ed Crispin lunged and snatched the ball! The runners had to throw the anchor, but too late. Moreno was out on a zinger to second base, and Mullen fell down reversing, and couldn’t out-scramble the throw to first base, 5-4-3! Pucks opened with a single in the bottom 1st, but was forced out by Lonzo. Lonzo stole two bases, but was stranded on third, while the Elks then had a strike-em-out-throw-em-out double play done unto them in the second; Taki walked Adam Magnussen, but he was thrown out at second while Landon Guillory went down flailing on a 3-2 pitch. It remained a busy day for Taki, who was just off and kept missing generously once more, which had happened a few more times recently. The Elks had no runs through four, however, while the Coons’ 4-5-6 loaded the bases with one gone in the bottom 4th, bringing up Crispin, suddenly red hot, in a scoreless game. He grounded to Guillory on a 2-1 pitch, which at least brought in the game’s first run, with the only play at first base. Raczka was walked intentionally, but Taki flew out to Damian Moreno.

It was still 1-0 with one gone in the bottom 6th when Arrocha plunked Lopez and Perez singled. Crispin was not allowed to do more damage, getting nicked by a pitch as well, which loaded the bases for the battery, which could not lead anywhere nice. Jeff Raczka disagreed, getting his first two RBI of the season with a sharp single through the right side! Taki bunted the runners into scoring position, and Pucks bounced to Guillory, who flubbed the ball and kicked it into foul ground, allowing Crispin to score. Lonzo then grounded out, stranding a pair on the corners in a 4-0 game.

Taki reached the eighth and got a groundout from Jeff Wheeler before giving up a single to Tim Burkhart and getting a lift. Sencion walked the pinch-hitter Tim Turner, but struck out Moreno and got Mullen to ground out to wiggle out of the inning. Harmer then pitched the ninth without coming to substantial harm. 4-0 Furballs! Perez 2-4; Crispin 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI; Taki 7.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 5 K, W (9-4);

Taki gets the nod there for the final line, not for how we reached that point.

Game 2
VAN: CF D. Moreno – SS Mullen – 2B Aparicio – 1B Liberos – LF Magnussen – 3B Guillory – C Julio Diaz – RF T. Turner – P Ellis
POR: RF Puckeridge – SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – 1B Crum – C Gowin – 3B Crispin – CF Perez – LF Tenazes – P Wheatley

Moreno whacked a leadoff jack to begin the game on Friday, which marked the first time the Raccoons trailed since Monday. The Raccoons then scattered five singles in the first three innings, getting Perez to hit into a double play and stranding the other four runners for no gains of their own. The bottom 4th saw Crispin walk with one out and be caught stealing for two outs. Perez walked as well, did steal second himself, which gave the four-fingered salute to Tenazes. Wheats then singled, loading the bags for Pucks, who raked a ball into the right-center gap for a bases-clearing double…!

After Lonzo flew out to shallow left, the Elks regained a run on Wheats with three singles in the fifth inning, Moreno driving home Turner to get to 3-2. The Coons pulled that one back right away, although Mullen was involved there as well, dropping a Crispin pop with two outs, and thus allowing Waters to score from third base, 4-2. Wheats ended up going seven perfectly fine innings, and Ken Crum socked a solo homer off Josh Rella in the bottom 7th to extend the score to 5-2. Hitchcock retired the top of the order just like that, 1-2-3, in the eighth, and Daley walked Guillory with two outs in the ninth, but got a foul pop from Julio Diaz for the final out after that. 5-2 Coons! Puckeridge 2-4, 2B, 3 RBI; Lavorano 2-4; Crum 2-4, RBI; Wheatley 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (6-4) and 1-3;

We had to give days off to the top four at some point here, but I was hesitant to do it while we were having the damn Elks in the house. Harry Ramsay was not far from returning – plugging him back in at first base would help rotating the Crums and Puckeridges out of the lineup.

The baseball gods then divined that maybe I should change plans, and sent rain all day on Saturday, which would have been Alfaro’s spot start, and gave up a Sunday double-header, which was still a spot start for Alfaro then.

Game 3
VAN: CF D. Moreno – SS Mullen – 2B Aparicio – 1B Liberos – LF Magnussen – 3B Guillory – C Julio Diaz – RF Burkhart – P Bulas
POR: LF Puckeridge – SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – 1B Crum – C Gowin – RF Lopez – CF Perez – 3B Blackshire – P Salcido

Waters was on base in the bottom of the first, at least until he was picked off by Bulas, who then loaded the bags in the bottom 2nd with singles to Crum and Gowin and a full-count walk to Tony Lopez, all with nobody out then. Perez’ run-scoring 6-4-3 double play grounder was all the Critters got before Blackshire struck out to end the inning for good. The game then low-key drizzled along until the fifth inning when Salcido smacked Burkhart in the elbow with a fastball and the outfielder left the game after a lengthy consultation with their team trainer, to be replaced by good ol’ Pat Gurney, who was stranded by groundouts for both Bulas and Moreno. The Coons had Blackshire and Lonzo on the corners in the bottom 5th, but Waters stranded them with a K, before Blackshire’s error put Moreno aboard to begin the top 6th. Salcido walked Aparicio, got a double play from Manny Liberos, but then had the game tied on him on a shy single by Adam Magnussen, only the second Elks hit in the game. Guillory then lined out to Lonzo.

The Coons returned to the corners in the bottom 6th, then with 1-out hits for Chris Gowin (double to right) and Lopez (single to left). Perez got a run home again, this time by singling over Mullen’s head, but the inning then dried up as Blackshire and Salcido made easy outs. The Elks then socked four hits off Salcido in the seventh, who didn’t finish the inning; Mullen, Aparicio, and Liberos all had a 2-out RBI knock. Eloy Sencion entered to face Magnussen, faced Jeff Wheeler instead, fell to 3-1, and then still got a groundout.

Pucks crashed a huge homer to right off Josh Rella to lead off the bottom 7th, shortening the gap to 4-3, who then retired the next three batters. Gowin’s double off Ruben Mendez to open the eighth put the tying run into scoring position, though. Tony Lopez reached base on an error by Manny Liberos, advancing Gowin to third base. Perez struck out, but Blackshire shoved a ball through the left side for a score-knotting single! Crispin lined out, Pucks grounded out, but at least we were even. Daley kept us even with a 1-2-3 ninth, and Bernardino Risso was trying to do the same, retiring Lonzo and Waters to begin the bottom 9th. Ken Crum singled to left, though, and Gowin walked in a full count. Tony Lopez normally wouldn’t be allowed to get anywhere near a situation where the winning run was in scoring position with two outs, but it was hard to find a better right-handed bat on that bench, so he was sent to the plate. He ticked the 1-0 through the right side, Crum started early, and scored on Gurney’s off-line throw to walk off the Critters for their ninth straight win! 5-4 Raccoons! Crum 2-5; Gowin 3-4, BB, 2 2B; Lopez 2-4, BB, RBI; Blackshire 2-4, RBI;

Come on, boys! Keep your knee on their neck!!

Matt Waters was given a rest in the second game anyway then, but the other three in the top half of the lineup were sent back out.

What do you mean, Cristiano, it rains again? – (looks outside, where it blitzes with passion)

Well, maybe Antonio Alfaro *won’t* make a spot start after all!

In other news

June 30 – Rookie Loggers OF Joe Gragg (.105, 0 HR, 0 RBI) gets busted on his first drug test as a major leaguer and is suspended for 80 games.
June 30 – NAS OF Edwin Flores (.244, 0 HR, 16 RBI) hits a walkoff double to give the Blue Sox a 14-inning, 6-5 win over the Wolves.
July 1 – OCT SP David Barel (13-4, 2.33 ERA) has consecutive 2-hit shutouts after humbling the Titans, his former long-time team, in a 5-0 shutout.
July 1 – The Blue Sox trade SP Zack Stahl (3-6, 4.05 ERA) to the Aces for two prospects.
July 2 – The Thunder drop 38-year-old 3B/1B Ramon Sifuentes (.262, 9 HR, 46 RBI) on the Buffaloes, along with a prospect, for MR Ryan Moore (2-1, 1.73 ERA).
July 2 – Vancouver acquires SP Cory Ellis (2-4, 3.34 ERA) from the Blue Sox for four prospects. The package includes #66 1B Andy Metz and #141 CL Ryan Hogues.
July 5 – The Thunder acquire right-hander Alex Mancilla (0-6, 3.76 ERA, 12 SV) from the Warriors for two prospects, including #177 RF/LF/1B Cesar Santiago.

FL Player of the Week: TOP 1B/LF/RF Eddie Moreno (.285, 13 HR, 52 RBI), batting .462 (12-26) with 2 HR, 7 RBI
CL Player of the Week: MIL INF Zach Suggs (.370, 18 HR, 50 RBI), socking .481 (13-27) with 5 HR, 8 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: NAS 1B Alejandro Ramos (.259, 7 HR, 34 RBI), batting .333 with 5 HR, 25 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: POR OF/1B Alan Puckeridge (.323, 9 HR, 50 RBI), socking .343 with 6 HR, 31 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: LAP SP Jim Reynolds (9-5, 2.68 ERA), throwing for a 5-0 record, 0.87 ERA, and 35 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: CHA SP Art Schaeffer (10-3, 2.38 ERA), going 5-0 with a 1.38 ERA, 38 K
FL Rookie of the Month: LAP INF Gustavo Miguel (.290, 5 HR, 20 RBI), hitting .287 with 1 HR, 8 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: SFB 2B/LF Armando Montoya (.259, 8 HR, 37 RBI), batting .307 with 1 HR, 9 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Puuuucks! Bestest batter in the league in June! And all that for $22k as an intentional free agent in ’44!

Speaking of those international teenagers, that signing window also opened again on Tuesday. The Coons have made offers to six players so far (and actually already signed a few cheap ones), although none of them have scouting reports that would light your fur on fire. But neither did Pucks nine years ago.

We have won nine in a row and are now in second place, which begs the question whether the Raccoons will be buyers at the deadline. The thing is that we don’t have many prospects to go around, so I am not sure what we’d even pay with. The rained out Elks game will be made up double header fashion on August 22, in the middle of a 6-day string of games with the Caps and Elks.

Harry Ramsay started a rehab assignment with the Alley Cats on the weekend and will probably return early next week.

We’re off to Milwaukee and New York then. Meanwhile, we have already won more games against the Elks this year than all of last season, when we got trounced, 13-5.

Fun Fact: The hot **** during the 2044 July IFA window that the Raccoons eventually balked on was Dominican outfielder Victor Magana.

He signed with the Thunder for $520k eventually, which you’ll notice is almost 24 Puckses worth, and has yet to reach the major leagues. He turned 26 this week, and has so far appeared in only 24 AAA games.

Fun Fact (Bonus Round): The Raccoons do have a minor leaguer named Victor Magana after all.

That one’s a left-handed pitcher though that the cat dragged in, respectively, Pat Degenhardt on a fishing trip to Venezuela. He doesn’t look like anything much, just like the other Victor Magana.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (47-34) @ Loggers (36-46) – July 7-10, 2053

The Loggers were in the doldrums, as ever, with a -61 run differential on the eighth-ranked offense and the third-worst pitching in the league, and a bullpen that was especially awful as it pushed an ERA of five. Starter Jayden Woods was on the DL, having thrown only in a single game this year before going down, but apart from that they at least had a clean bill of health, a 3-1 deficit over the Raccoons ahead of the four-and-four in the next two weeks, and the burning question whether Zach Suggs (.370, 18 HR, 50 RBI) would still be a Logger four weeks from now.

Projected matchups:
Kyle Brobeck (2-2, 4.29 ERA) vs. Angelo Munoz (4-6, 4.10 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (9-4, 2.28 ERA) vs. Josh Costello (6-6, 5.26 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (6-4, 2.54 ERA) vs. John Morrill (5-5, 4.04 ERA)
Antonio Alfaro (4-0, 4.23 ERA) vs. Noah Hollis (4-7, 4.46 ERA)

Only right-handed pitching for this series; the division was a bit thin on southpaws currently.

Losing that one game out of the Elks series had prevented Alfaro from taking the hill, but he was penciled in for the final game in this set. He was available for an inning on Monday, but not after that. He had last pitched on July 1, and had last logged an out on June 29. Meanwhile, the Raccoons trotted out the lineup that would have been up for the second game on Sunday, but had been rained out again, for the Monday opener. Despite the rainout on Saturday (effectively), the Raccoons would still rotate the top four in the rotation across the bench to begin this week, and it was Waters’ turn on Monday.

Game 1
POR: SS Lavorano – 3B Crispin – LF Puckeridge – 1B Crum – RF Lopez – CF Suzuki – C Raczka – 2B Boese – P Brobeck
MIL: LF Pigman – C C. Thomas – SS Z. Suggs – CF Steinbacher – RF Callaia – 1B Haracz – 2B Edwards – 3B J. Rodriguez – P A. Munoz

Brobeck threw 29 pitches in the first, giving up a run on Perry Pigman’s double and Zach Suggs’ single, failed the bags full after that, all of which sugged, and then at least got Naughty Joe to play Travis Edwards’ grounder to end the inning before the number on the scoreboard could get crooked. Doubles by Boese, Brobeck, and Crispin turned the game around in the third inning, 2-1, and Tony Lopez would single home the white-hot Crispin when he was on base again in the fifth inning, with two outs even, for an extra run, but the Loggers got all of that back in another shoddy inning for Brobeck in the bottom 5th. Munoz whacked a double off Brobeck now, Pigman singled, Chris Thomas hit an RBI single, and Suggs landed a sac fly with Pucks to even the score at three before Phil Steinbacher was robbed in the gap by Lopez to end the inning…

After an uneventful sixth, the Coons’ 1-2-3 hit 1-2-3 singles to begin the seventh inning, which meant runners on first and second and one out, since Lonzo was caught stealing ahead of Crispin and Pucks reaching base. Ken Crum helped out, though, doubling over Gaudencio Callaia in right to get Crispin home with a run, after which, funnily enough, the .188 menace that was Tony Lopez was intentionally walked to load the bags. But he who laughs last, laughs best, and that was the Loggers in this case, as Suzuki and Raczka made poor outs and stranded the whole set of runners. When Perry Pigman singled off Sencion and stole second in the bottom 7th, however, and the Coons walked Suggs intentionally with two gone, it didn’t help them – Steinbacher’s RBI single tied the score at four before Callaia grounded out.

The Coons went back up in the eighth against Jamie Kempf, who issued three walks and a wild pitch that scored Naughty Joe, but the Raccoons did no hitting and failed to break the score open. In the ninth, Dave Lister walked Suzuki, who stole second, and with two outs Perez singled in Boese’s spot, with Suzuki going around third base for home – and being thrown out by Steinbaher, relayed by Suggs, all of which *sugged*, and also ended the inning. At least Daley continued the good work of Hitchcock in the bottom of the ninth and held the Loggers to a walk drawn by Ricky Lopez, but not the tying run. 5-4 Raccoons. Crispin 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Boese 1-2, 2 BB, 2B; Perez (PH) 1-1;

Harry Ramsay had gone 7-for-12 in his rehab stint in St. Pete and was recalled for Tuesday. Ken Crum got the day off, along with Lonzo. Pucks was scheduled to get Wednesday off. Prospero Tenazes (.211, 1 HR, 2 RBI) was sent back to the Alley Cats.

Game 2
POR: LF Puckeridge – 3B Crispin – SS Waters – 1B Ramsay – C Gowin – CF Suzuki – RF Perez – 2B Boese – P Taki
MIL: C C. Thomas – LF de Lemos – SS Z. Suggs – CF Steinbacher – RF Callaia – 1B Haracz – 2B Edwards – 3B J. Rodriguez – P Costello

Chris Thomas singled off Taki his first two times up, and for the first two Loggers hits in the game, but both times Dave de Lemos grounded out to Crispin afterwards, for a double play in the first and just to plainly end the inning in the third. Thomas had another single his next time up, which was in the very next inning, which meant trouble; Taki gave up six hits and five runs in the inning – five singles and a double by Costello, starting with hits for Suggs and Steinbacher and deteriorating from there. Thomas drove in the last two of the Loggers’ five runs in the inning, and the Raccoons’ 10-game winning streak was looking like it was over, since the offense was still looking for their pants at this point. We didn’t reach the board until the sixth when Ed Crispin hit a leadoff double and scored on productive outs by Waters and Ramsay, the latter of whom hit a sac fly to de Lemos in left, 5-1; despite missing a month and small change, Ramsay still tied for second on the team in homers, but had way fallen off in RBI, having less than half (27) of team leader Pucks’ 58.

Taki threw another two innings without allowing a runner after getting some pepper in the snout, then was hit for in the seventh after a leadoff triple for Perez and Naughty Joe popping out. Lonzo grounded out to Suggs near the second base bag, at least getting the runner home, 5-2. Medrano and Flores kept the Loggers honest in the seventh and eighth innings, and the Coons got the tying run to the plate, if only with two outs, in the ninth inning against Lister, owing to singles by Perez and Pucks, the latter of whom added to his RBI total with a run-scoring dropper into shallow center. Crispin singled to left, putting his bum on base as the tying run, but Waters’ grounder to first was easily contained and ended the inning, the game, and the winning streak. 5-3 Loggers. Puckeridge 3-5, RBI; Crispin 2-4, BB, 2B; Perez 3-4, 3B;

Pucks had two things at this point – an 11-game hitting streak and a perfect attendance record and was begging and whining and scratching my pants and my legs all bloody to stay in the lineup now.

*Fine*. But if you strain your neck or break a leg, don’t come crying to me!

Game 3
POR: CF Puckeridge – SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – C Gowin – 3B Crispin – RF Lopez – P Wheatley
MIL: LF Pigman – C C. Thomas – SS Z. Suggs – RF Callaia – 1B Haracz – 2B Edwards – CF de Lemos – 3B J. Rodriguez – P Morrill

Wheats and Morrill singled off each other in the third inning, and both ends of the frame led to a sticky situation – and neither team scored a run. After Wheats’ 1-out hit, Lonzo and Waters also reached, but Ramsay grounded out to Suggs, stranding all the runners, which sugged, while Morrill was joined by Pigman with another single, but Thomas and Suggs then made easy outs to keep them stranded. Callaia doubled and Edwards walked in the fourth, but de Lemos whiffed and Jose Rodriguez grounded out easily to Lonzo to keep the game scoreless. Same through five, despite Wheats tickling Morrill in the side with a breaking ball to begin that inning. Pigman forced out the runner with a single-bounce comebacker to Wheatley, while Thomas found Lonzo for a double play.

The Coons broke the scoreless tie in the sixth with doubles from Lonzo and Gowin. Ramsay had been walked intentionally in between, and was thrown out at home plate by de Lemos as he tried to score behind Lonzo. WELL behind Lonzo. That ended the inning, and Wheats defended what little lead he had like a lion, shutting out the Loggers on four hits through seven innings, but was on almost 100 pitches after the sometimes busy earlier innings.

The eighth saw Pucks ground out to fall to 0-4 on the day, while Lonzo beat de Lemos once more for a 1-out triple in center. Waters popped out, and Ramsay was walked with intent again. Crum grounded squarely to Suggs, who squarely bungled the play for a run-scoring error, advancing the Coons to a 2-0 lead. Gowin flew out to center, stranding two. Wheats got one more out to begin the bottom 8th, then was lifted when the lefty-heavy top of the order came back to the plate. Vic Flores entered with Suzuki in a double switch (Crum sat down), and retired Pigman and Thomas to end the eighth. Hitchcock was more rested than Daley and got the ninth, sawing off the Loggers in order. 2-0 Raccoons! Lavorano 3-4, 3B, 2B; Wheatley 7.1 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K, W (7-4) and 1-3;

Wheats went 7.1 shutout innings and hit a single, Lonzo was a homer shy of a cycle – and the rest of the position players, including the bench, was a Chris Gowin single short of being no-hit by John Morrill, who lost, but pitched a complete-game 5-hitter for the Loggers.

Pucks’ hitting streak thus ended, and he said no word when he was put on the bench for a day off on Thursday, the series finale.

Game 4
POR: SS Lavorano – CF Suzuki – 2B Waters – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – RF Lopez – C Raczka – 3B Blackshire – P Alfaro
MIL: LF Pigman – 2B R. Lopez – CF Steinbacher – RF Callaia – 1B Haracz – SS Edwards – C Cadena – 3B J. Rodriguez – P Hollis

Alfaro’s first career start went pear-shaped rather quickly; he walked two amidst allowing a hit in the first inning, and only stayed unscored upon because Pigman was caught stealing before more Loggers littered the base paths. Ken Crum’s homer briefly put the Raccoons up 1-0 in the second inning, but the Loggers flipped the score in the third inning with a barrage of sharp hits, going up 2-1, and Ricky Lopez’ 2-run homer in the fifth extended their lead to 4-1. In total they whacked Alfaro around for eight hits, two walks, and the four runs in just five dismal innings. Lonzo singled, stole his 32nd bag, and scored on a Suzuki single in the sixth, scratching a run back, and the inning after Raczka and Blackshire put themselves on base as the tying runs with one out. Pucks batted in that situation for Ryan Harmer, but lined into a double play to Ricky Lopez, with Raczka getting caught well off second base, thinking about scoring and little else.

Waters chased Hollis with a solo shot in the eighth inning, but that still left the Coons a run short. Cornejo before and Sencion after held the Loggers to their four runs, giving the Coons another chance against Lister in the ninth, starting with Ken Crum, but him, Crispin, and Raczka were retired in order. 4-3 Loggers. Raczka 3-4;

If Jeff Raczka is the best guy in the lineup, you’re not scaring the Loggers.

Or the Crusaders.

Raccoons (49-36) @ Crusaders (52-34) – July 11-13, 2053

The Coons entered the final set before the All Star Game trailing 2 1/2 games and in a virtual tie with the damn Elks for second place. New York was doing it with the #5 offense and #4 pitching staff in the league, although the rotation was not even league average. Strong pen, even stronger D, though. They were up 5-4 in the season series.

Projected matchups:
Victor Salcido (7-3, 3.75 ERA) vs. Ben Seiter (7-6, 3.44 ERA)
Kyle Brobeck (2-2, 4.28 ERA) vs. Felix Alvarez (5-6, 5.17 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (9-5, 2.53 ERA) vs. TBD

The Crusaders’ rotation was also in disarray due to Edwin Sopena (9-3, 3.35 ERA) dealing with elbow soreness (and Jim White still being on the DL). Seiter was going on short rest on Friday, and they had nobody lined up for Sunday yet. Seiter and Alvarez were right-handers; next in line would be Jeff Johnson (6-5, 3.50 ERA), also a righty, but he’d also go on short rest.

Game 1
POR: RF Puckeridge – SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – CF Perez – 3B Crispin – C Gowin – P Salcido
NYC: 3B Gates – RF Bednarz – SS O. Sanchez – LF D. Rivera – 1B Sevilla – C Kissler – 2B Russ – CF Caballero – P Seiter

Salcido had struggled in the last few weeks, but faced the minimum the first time through. Danny Rivera walked for New York, but was also doubled up. The Coons had three hits in as many innings, but got nowhere, with Waters caught stealing. Crum and Crispin hit singles in the fourth inning for Portland, but Chris Gowin killed the inning with a 6-4-3 double play. Instead, Prince Gates hit a leadoff jack in the bottom 4th to put New York up 1-0, and a Rivera single and a throwing error by Waters set up an unearned 2-out, 2-run double for Aaron Kissler. Andrew Russ (hiss!) grounded out. And it looked a lot like that was gonna be the whole game. The Raccoons kept out-hitting the Crusaders, but couldn’t even get near completing a trip around the bases, while Salcido stumbled onwards, pitching eight innings in a losing effort while holding the 3-0 score. Seiter – on short rest! – reached the ninth on 104 pitches (more than Salcido through eight), having allowed seven hits to Salcido’s six, popped out Crum, struck put Perez, and had Crispin at 0-2 before nicking him. Suzuki batted for Gowin, struck out, and that was a shutout for Seiter. 3-0 Crusaders. Crum 2-4; Salcido 8.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, L (7-4) and 2-3;

That was … that was a sucky game.

Game 2
POR: RF Puckeridge – SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – CF Perez – C Gowin – 3B Blackshire – P Brobeck
NYC: 3B Gates – 2B Haney – LF D. Rivera – 1B Sevilla – C Kissler – SS Russ – RF Mills – CF Caballero – P F. Alvarez

Brobeck had three walks and three strikeouts the first time through, being all over the place, while nobody for either team had a hit through three innings. Waters was the first batter to hit his way aboard for either team, smacking a leadoff double over Oscar Caballero in the fourth inning. A wild pitch and a Crum single plated Waters, 1-0, and it went to 2-0 after the bottom of the order scratched out two more singles with two outs, Gowin and Blackshire moving Crum around the bases and across home plate. Brobeck grounded out to Haney, leaving the pair stranded, held the Crusaders hitless through four, then got another run of support when Pucks thundered a leadoff jack to center in the fifth, ending a 3-day hitless spell for himself. Lonzo then singled, stole second on the first pitch to Waters, emboldened went for third base on the next pitch, and scored when Kissler’s throw was spiked and bounced over Prince Gates’ glove, 4-0, and Ramsay romped his first homer since coming back from injury in the same inning, 5-0.

Caballero then lined a leadoff triple off Brobeck in the bottom 5th, which was just as well given that Brobeck had thrown 71 pitches in four innings and wasn’t gonna finish the game anyway – made *my* life easier! Matt Ward’s sac fly in place of Alvarez got New York on the board, but that was all they got in the inning. Portland had the bags full in the sixth; Austin Guastella drilled Gowin, Blackshire singled, and after Brobeck bunted, Pucks was walked intentionally. Lonzo flew out to Ken Mills in shallow right, but Waters singled past Haney to get a run home. Ramsay grounded out to Russ to strand a full set, though.

Gowin took his anger out on Guastella his next time up, whacking a 2-run homer in the seventh to extend the lead to 8-1, which got Guastella hooked, and Waters hit another one of those an inning later against Mike Vance to get the Critters into double digits. Raul Sevilla joined the fun on the other side of the box score, whacking a 2-piece off Raul Medrano in the bottom of the eighth inning, but the Coons were still up by seven, and Medrano was sent back out for the ninth, which he completed in 1-2-3 fashion to put the game away. 10-3 Furballs. Suzuki (PH) 1-1, 2B; Waters 3-4, BB, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Gowin 2-3, HR, 2 RBI; Blackshire 2-5, RBI;

Dilemma then on Sunday – the league announced that both Taki and Wheats had made the All Star team, but the Raccoons didn’t have a replacement pitcher lined up and thus couldn’t vacate Taki from the Sunday start. He had to go there, forgoing a chance to wind up in the All Star Game itself.

Game 3
POR: RF Puckeridge – SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – 3B Crispin – C Gowin – CF Suzuki – P Taki
NYC: 3B Gates – RF Bednarz – SS O. Sanchez – LF D. Rivera – 1B Sevilla – C Kissler – 2B Russ – CF Caballero – P J. Johnson

Hits by Crum and Gowin got the Coons up 1-0 in the first, but while the Crusaders had quite a few hard hit balls off Taki in the first two innings – all of which ended with outs – they tied the game on a shy single by Oscar Caballero, a stolen base, and two productive outs in the bottom 3rd. The game then trundled along through the middle innings. Neither pitcher was particularly sharp – Taki was allowing the occasional screamer, but with a good helping of luck that the defense contained almost all of them, and Johnson kept missing here and there and had many long counts without actually walking more than one Critter through six innings, but needed over 100 pitches to get even that far and was soon gone.

Taki went seven and two thirds, leaving after 108 pitches and a Crispin error that put Mike Seidman on base in the bottom 8th. Mike Bednarz forced out Seidman, but Vic Flores came on to face Omar Sanchez, batting .347 from the left side, getting a foul pop that Crispin caught to end the inning. Righty Ryan Sullivan then stumbled in the ninth. Ramsay hit a 1-out single to right and Crum doubled to center to put a pair in scoring position in the 1-1 game. Crispin fell to 0-2, but scratched out a sac fly to Danny Rivera in left-center to break that tie. Gowin struck out, giving the ball to Kevin Daley against the 4-5-6 batters, although Arturo Carreno batted for Rivera, which was a rather weird move. The ex-Coon grounded out, but Raul Sevilla walked. Ward struck out, bringing up the vile Andrew Russ with two outs. He had no homers on the year, and didn’t hit a walkoff, either, but put his bum on base by legging out an infield single, and I kept hating him ever more. Mark Haney pinch-hit for Caballero, but struck out to bring about the break. 2-1 Coons. Crum 3-4, 2 2B; Taki 7.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K;

In other news

July 8 – The Titans trade SP Kyle Turay (8-6, 3.61 ERA) to the Capitals for a handful of prospects, including #45 MR Alex Diaz (4-1, 6.34 ERA), who was already in the majors, and #140 C Camergon Grogan.
July 9 – NAS SP Victor Mondragon (4-7, 5.25 ERA) will undergo surgery for a stretched elbow ligament and could be out for a full year.
July 9 – It’s gonna be at least one month on the sidelines for CHA RF/LF Danny Ceballos (.345, 0 HR, 33 RBI). The 22-year-old had a partial tear in his labrum.
July 10 – Warriors OF Devin Tarver (.221, 10 HR, 32 RBI), a tender 22 years old, whacks a walkoff grand slam in the ninth inning against SAC CL Tim Moore (2-6, 4.93 ERA, 23 SV), who retires nobody in the inning, for a 5-4 Warriors walkoff.
July 10 – 23-year-old TIJ OF Danny Hildebrand (.250, 3 HR, 23 RBI) hits a walkoff single to end a 15-inning contest with the Bayhawks in a 5-4 Condors win.
July 11 – The Thunder and Condors nearly play two in one, reaching a 2-2 score by the fifth inning and keeping it at that for a dozen more before the Thunder break through in the top of the 17th inning for a 5-2 win.
July 13 – Gold Sox LF/CF Sandy Castillo (.329, 10 HR, 55 RBI) rakes in a 15-1 rout of the Warriors, getting five hits, three for extra bases, and five RBI in the trouncing.
July 13 – The Falcons trade SP Hiroyuki Takagi (8-5, 3.35 ERA) to the Buffaloes for outfielder Billy Hester (.273, 12 HR, 52 RBI).
July 13 – 3B Jesus Burgos (.263, 1 HR, 37 RBI) is traded from Cincy to Sacramento for outfielder Jamie Harmon (.278, 6 HR, 26 RBI).
July 13 – With a torn labrum, BOS SP/MR Jamie Guidry (4-3, 4.31 ERA) is out for the season.

FL Player of the Week: WAS SP Bruce Mark jr. (11-3, 2.10 ERA, 1 SV), going 2-0 with an ERA of zilch, 16 K (but 1 R)
CL Player of the Week: LVA 1B/RF/LF Aubrey Austin (.281, 4 HR, 27 RBI), batting .560 (14-25) with 5 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Besides Taki and Wheatley, only Pucks made the All Star team for the Critters. It was Pucks’ first nomination, Taki’s second (or: every year he’s been in the league), and Wheats’ third (or: the first since *‘47*!).

We’ll need another spot start on the other end of the All Star Game, having seven straight games out of the break, hosting the Loggers and Indians. After that it’s a Thursday and Monday off back-to-back. So probably one more start from Alfaro there somewhere, and then we’d need a proper fifth starter again to begin the month of August.

Hmmm!

Ed Crispin batted 11-for-21 in a 7-game string to begin the month, but since then has gone 2-for-11 again. He previously had gone without a multi-hit game from May 24 to June 30.

Fun Fact: 23 years ago today, the damn Elks’ Brian Wojnarowski bashed three homers in a 9-6 win over the Raccoons.

That guy was a real menace and pain in the butt for a while! He was the CL Player of the Year in 2027, when he led the league in slugging and OPS. Twice he led the CL in WAR, in 2027 and 2030. He hit 20+ homers three times, mostly held back by repeated injuries. He never played more than 144 games in a season, and only three times more than 122. While he was a persistent threat from 2027 through 2030, hitting for an OPS of .886 or better each year, injuries began to take their toll by then, and from age 29 onwards he only had one more season of an .800+ OPS, and that was while falling well short of 502 PA (409) in ’33. He faded from the spotlight by age 33, hitting .220 in just 19 games for the Cyclones, and only appeared in three games after turning 35.

For his career, he was an All Star seven times, won two Gold Gloves in the outfield, and batted .265/.376/.433 with 1,026 hits, 149 homers, and 551 RBI. He stole 185 bases.

His 3-homer game against the Coons came against highly erratic Yusneldan “Dan” Delgadillo, who gave up a solo and a three-piece, and Mauricio Garavito, who conceded another solo shot.

Matt Nunley also hit three of a kind in this game, but it was three doubles and he plated only one run with them.

[Westheim]

All Star Game

The CL defeats the FL in the annual All Star Game, 6-3, with the difference being a 3-run home run by Oklahoma’s David Worthington in the seventh inning, and for which he is named MVP of the game. The shot comes off Wolves reliever James Murdock.

For Portland, Jason Wheatley pitches an inning and is whacked for four hits and two runs, while Alan Puckeridge starts the game in rightfield, but goes only 1-for-4 with little excitement. Seisaku Taki did not pitch.

Raccoons (51-37) vs. Loggers (40-49) – July 16-19, 2053

The Raccoons led the season series 5-3 as the Loggers came to Portland for the return leg of the customary four-and-four in early July. They ranked in the bottom four in runs scored and runs allowed, and their bullpen was the second-worst in the league, steadily approaching that 5 mark for bullpen ERA.

Projected matchups:
Victor Salcido (7-4, 3.56 ERA) vs. Angelo Munoz (5-6, 3.99 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (9-5, 2.45 ERA) vs. Josh Costello (8-6, 4.81 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (7-4, 2.36 ERA) vs. John Morrill (5-6, 3.74 ERA)
Kyle Brobeck (3-2, 3.98 ERA) vs. Noah Hollis (5-7, 4.39 ERA)

We expected only right-handers in this series.

And the Loggers were not the only visitors in town. The Raccoons had festivities planned for Saturday – a number retirement ceremony! No big brass was present as of game time, Thursday, but Nick Valdes was expected to descend and wreak havoc on Friday.

Game 1
MIL: LF Pigman – 2B R. Lopez – SS Z. Suggs – CF Steinbacher – RF Callaia – 1B Haracz – C C. Thomas – 3B J. Rodriguez – P A. Munoz
POR: RF Puckeridge – SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – C Gowin – 3B Crispin – CF Perez – P Salcido

Perhaps most perturbed about the busy weekend was Maud, who kept wiping isolated spots with a sponge, and also kept hissing at Slappy and me to ******* use a coaster for our bottles on the table. It wasn’t like Maud to use the term “*******”, so we wisely obliged after the third admonishment. Salcido didn’t, progressively regressing to his 2052 form, which was not great news exactly. The Loggers scalded him for three hits, three walks, and three runs in the second inning, as he had neither control nor stuff available, and was getting spanked accordingly, failing to retire any of the first four batters in the inning, starting with Gaudencio Callaia. While Salcido hit a single in the bottom 3rd, he also gave up three more singles in the fourth inning to Munoz (…), Ricky Lopez, and Zach Suggs, which sugged, but at least Ken Crum threw out Munoz at home plate as he tried to score from second base on Suggs’ single, and the Loggers wouldn’t tack on to their 3-0 lead once Phil Steinbacher went down on strikes.

Lonzo reached to begin the bottom 4th, but was forced out by Waters. Ken Crum’s triple got the Coons on the board, though, and then scored on a wild pitch, but then Salcido offered two more walks and a run in the fifth inning, falling behind 4-2, and wasn’t invited back after that. He wound up with a lead in the bottom 5th, however. Fernando Perez legged out a soft roller between Ricky Lopez and Dale Haracz for a single, Tony Lopez was nicked, and then Pucks took Munoz deep for a score-flipping 3-run homer, 5-4! There the score remained for a while; Cornejo and Sencion pitched scoreless innings, while the Coons got Crispin and Pucks on base in the bottom 7th, but Lonzo’s grounder to short was handled by Suggs for the third out. Hitchcock then stunningly blew the lead in the eighth. Jose Rodriguez singled, stole second, and easily scored on Jose Cadena’s double to left that Crum could not reach. He kept Cadena on base, though, got another out in the ninth, and Vic Flores held the Loggers in the tie to see out the completion of nine innings for them. The Coons still had a chance to walk off against righty Dave Lister, which Maud was rooting for hardest, so that everybody could get out of the building and she could replace all the dirty door mats with new ones.

But the Coons didn’t score, or reach, nor did the Loggers against Flores in the top of the tenth inning. Rookie John Norris, a right-hander with a 2.40 ERA, faced the Coons’ 9-1-2 in the bottom of the frame, but Suzuki, Pucks, and Lonzo went in order there as well. The 11th, Daley struck out Lopez and Suggs and popped out Steinbacher, while Norris returned and walked both Waters and Ramsay to crowd the base paths. Crum grounded out, advancing the runners, after which Chris Gowin was walked intentionally. Crispin batted with the winning run 90 feet away and with a force behind him, but popped out. Perez didn’t pop out; after falling to 0-2, he slashed a single through the right side to walk off the Critters. 6-5 Raccoons. Perez 3-5, RBI;

Nick Valdes arrived by lunchtime on Friday, which was right the wrong moment, as he walked right into a food fight between some outfielders and half the bullpen and was hit by several meatballs. He immediately turned red in the face, and hollered, sending the players scattering. I opened a new bottle of Capt’n Coma.

Game 2
MIL: LF Pigman – 2B R. Lopez – SS Z. Suggs – CF Steinbacher – RF Callaia – 1B Haracz – C C. Thomas – 3B J. Rodriguez – P Costello
POR: CF Puckeridge – SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – 3B Crispin – RF T. Lopez – C Raczka – P Taki

Taki had another shaky start, getting ticked for three hits and two runs in the first inning, then two triples in the second inning. Chris Thomas tripled and scored on a wild pitch (oh boy…), while Perry Pigman also tripled, but with two outs, and was stranded when Lopez struck out. It didn’t get much better – Suggs, Steinbacher, and Gaudencio Callaia loaded the bases with nobody out in the third inning as they hit a single, double, and drew a walk. At that point, Nick Valdes stormed to the window, opened it, and yelled down onto the field that Taki should get his **** together, now! I had my doubts as to the efficiency of such treatment, at least until the next three Loggers made sub-standard outs and failed to score any of the three runners.

Also in trouble: the offense, at least until consecutive errors by Ricky Lopez and Chris Thomas put the Coons battery into scoring position to begin the bottom 3rd. Pucks whiffed, but Lonzo hit a sac fly and Waters got an RBI single to get the unearned runs home and narrow the score to 3-2. Costello then promptly reached on a Ramsay error, and Pigman singled to center to open the fourth. Ricky Lopez struck out, but a wild pitch advanced the runners. Suggs plated a run with a grounder to short, but Pigman was stranded with a K to Steinbacher, 4-2. The Loggers added another run in the fifth with a leadoff single for Callaia, who stole a base and scored on a groundout by Chris Thomas eventually… Taki was also not back after the fifth inning, and I put a bit more effort into calling around with some last-place teams for pitching help. … which had the added benefit that I could hiss at Nick Valdes to be silent when he started to bicker about something I couldn’t change anyway, like the weather, which was mostly cloudy, yet dry.

Not that the offense was any good. Ramsay doubled and Crum walked in the sixth, but Costello got a double play grounder from Crispin to bail out of the inning. Blackshire drew a 2-out walk in the #9 hole in the seventh, then went to third base on Pucks’ single, bringing up the tying run again, but Lonzo grounded out to short again. Medrano then gave up another run after Jose Rodriguez hit a leadoff triple into the rightfield corner in the top 8th, which moved the Loggers out to slam distance. – I know, Nick, I know. They’re not gonna win if they play this way. – Well, I can’t help that either. – What do you mean, you have business partners flying in for the big day tomorrow and you promised them a win??

And it didn’t get better. Medrano pitched another inning, while in the bottom 9th, Costello tried to complete the game until walking PH Chris Gowin and getting taken deep by Pucks, which narrowed the gap to two runs again, but with two already out. – I don’t know, Nick, why that skinny wimp is now batting. – Wait, how are you talking about Lonzo?? – (looks at TV) – That’s not Lonzo. … No, it wasn’t Lonzo that was batting with two out and two down in the bottom 9th against Lister. It was Naughty Joe, but he doubled to center… and then Waters grounded out. 6-4 Loggers. Puckeridge 3-5, HR, 2 RBI; Boese (PH) 1-1, 2B; Ramsay 2-4, 2 2B; Harmer 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K;

Lonzo had hurt himself on the final play in the top of the ninth inning and would not be in the lineup on Saturday, so while everybody celebrated the career achievements of Yoshi Nomura and Alberto Ramos, who jointly had #7 retired for them, on the field before the game, I spent the pre-game time whimpering and crying and begging the baseball gods for mercy on the trusty brown couch.

And then came Nick Valdes’ business partners. Maud made me say hi to them, even though my facial fur was all wet and my whiskers were hanging southwards.

The big black guy with the giant golden earrings and the triple chin looked nice enough, but almost broke my paw when he was shaking it. Nick Valdes introduced him as Mamba, the meanest warlord of the Congo basin, not that I cared. I was much taken aback by the appearance of Dr. Vitrolescu, however, a pale, ghoulish figure, mind-bogglingly thin, and with suspiciously pointy canines.

I wasn’t particularly interested in their business talks – something about a landmine factory that Dr. Vitrolescu wanted to build Transnistria, or other… I had a priced shortstop to worry about!

Speaking of shortstops, yes, Maud, I see Yoshi and Berto take the cover of that baseball-shaped #7 marker. Oh, my bad. The #7 is actually square. The baseball-shaped thing was Berto.

Game 3
MIL: LF Pigman – 2B R. Lopez – SS Z. Suggs – CF Steinbacher – RF Callaia – 1B Haracz – C C. Thomas – 3B J. Rodriguez – P Morrill
POR: RF Puckeridge – CF Perez – SS Waters – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – C Gowin – 3B Crispin – 2B Boese – P Wheatley

The game began with not one, but two infield singles, after which Suggs hit into a 5-4-3 double play, but Wheatley then gave up an RBI triple to Steinbacher and RBI single to Callaia anyway. Nick Valdes panicked immediately and reminded me that the Raccoons had to win to appease his guests, otherwise Mamba wouldn’t supply child labor orphans at a decent price…! – I’m sorry, Nick, what? I wasn’t listening, I was busy sulking on the inside.

The Coons answered with a Pucks single and Waters walking, after which Ramsay tied the game with a homer. If that didn’t add up, that was because Pucks was caught stealing third base on the pitch before Ramsay went yard to right. At least Valdes shut up for a while, at least until a Pigman double and Steinbacher triple in the third inning put the Loggers on top, 3-2, again… Ramsay tied the game again, though, and in the same inning. Pucks and Perez reached base to begin the bottom 3rd, but Waters now jabbed into a double play. After Ramsay tied the game, Crum and Gowin also hit singles to center, Ramsay tried to score from second base on the latter play, and was thrown out by Steinbacher. One of those games. – No, Nick, I don’t… Where the **** am I supposed to get a 12-year-old with tiny fingers as a sample right now??

Pucks opened *another* inning with a double in the bottom 5th, and when Perez singled, runners were on the corners in a 3-3 game. Waters struck out, and Ramsay hit into a double play. Wheats probably also sighed and shrugged inside, but at least held the (ugly) line of eight hits and a 3-3 tie to the seventh-inning stretch, which took him just over 100 pitches. He had to settle for a no-decision – Pucks hit a 2-out single in the bottom 7th, but Perez grounded out to Dale Haracz. – What is it, Maud? I have emotionally checked out from everything while those three caricatures over there discuss a fair price for kids. – Berto wants to say hi? Well, he should come in then! – But we measured it, and his personal mobility scooter should fit the door perfectly! – Oh, I see, the scooter fits, but not his overhanging lard bottoms. – Sigh. Let’s get a few blocks of butter to smear on the door frame, so we can glitch him through.

Cornejo began the top 8th, giving up two sharp drives to left to Suggs and Steinbacher, both of which somehow ended up with Crum. Sencion then allowed a single to Callaia, but Haracz grounded out. The Coons then got Waters on with a leadoff double, followed by Ramsay walking. Crum, always a candidate to hit into a double play, graciously and considerately struck out, and the Coons then took a lead on Gowin’s double to right, 4-3! The ball was hit so loud and banged off the wall so hard, Dr. Vitrolescu’s lower jaw fell off in awe, but he quickly re-hinged the wayward appendage. And then, because these were the Coons, Crispin was walked intentionally and Naughty Joe naughtily hit into a double play, killing the inning.

Daley got the ninth, and I got more of Valdes taking me aside and imploring me that we had to win this game, as if I had any influence on ****** relief pitching. Cadena flew out to Perez, but Daley then walked Rodriguez and Dave de Lemos singled to left. Valdes’ face became redder, but Dr. Vitrolescu’s only seemed to become ever paler – regardless, Perry Pigman grounded sharply at Naughty Joe, who zinged the ball to Waters, on to Ramsay – ballgame! 4-3 Coons! Puckeridge 2-2, 2 BB; Perez 2-4; Waters 2-4, 2B; Ramsay 2-3, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Gowin 2-4, 2B, RBI;

See you, Berto, see you. (hugs!) – Maud, just put the bucket with cake for the way home on the trailer behind the scooter.

They’re gonna sign? – Gee, Nick, that makes me so giddy. (gets hugged by Valdes, and lacks the energy to resist)

Sorry, I don’t know, Dr. Vitrolescu, where you can find the best blood sausages in town.

Yoshi, Yoshi, ssshh. I know that he’s an evil spirit, but you can only finish him off with your ceremonial sword once that ink is dry.

And once Nick Valdes is outta town.

Things calmed down on Sunday, except for me whining like a *****. Dr. Padilla reported that Lonzo had a serious case of shoulder tendinitis, and would have to miss six weeks. Matt Knights was recalled from St. Petersburg.

Well, there goes our season!

Game 4
MIL: LF Pigman – 2B R. Lopez – SS Z. Suggs – CF Steinbacher – RF Callaia – 1B Haracz – C C. Thomas – 3B J. Rodriguez – P Hollis
POR: RF Puckeridge – CF Perez – 2B Waters – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – C Gowin – 3B Blackshire – SS Knight – P Brobeck

For a change, the Raccoons scored first on Sunday as Waters singled and was doubled home by Ramsay in the bottom 1st. Blackshire and Knight went the other way round in the second inning, with a double and RBI single, respectively. Bottom 3rd, Perez singled, stole second, and was singled home by Waters, 3-0. Ken Crum added two with a homer to right, 5-0!

Brobeck faced the minimum the first time through; while Callaia hit a single in the second, he was also caught stealing. Callaia would also hit a triple and was driven in by Haracz in the fifth inning, which got the Loggers on the board. Chris Thomas also singled, but Rodriguez’ double play grounder and a K to Hollis bailed Brobeck out in the inning. But the Loggers kept lurking; Pigman and Lopez hit singles to begin the sixth, but were both stranded on Suggs’ pop and two strikeouts. Instead, Blackshire and Knight were at it again in the bottom of the inning. The former singled to left, the latter doubled to right, and drove home Blackshire once more, 6-1. Brobeck singled to right, stole second (!), Pucks was walked with intent, but then Perez lined out softly and Waters barely managed to stay out of the double play on a grounder to second base. Ramsay made up for that, ramming a 2-run double off the wall in left against righty Ryan Clements.

Brobeck’s nice line fell apart in the seventh on a 2-out, 3-run homer by Perry Pigman, who was becoming increasingly and rapidly annoying, which Raul Medrano already was. He put on a pair in the eighth inning, but was bailed out by another double play grounder. The Coons loaded the bases in the bottom 8th with Perez, Ramsay, and Crum, scratched out a run on a Gowin grounder, but Blackshire struck out to strand a pair. Ryan Harmer retired the first two in the ninth, then walked Cadena, bringing Pigman back to the dish – but struck him out, which delighted me greatly in my abundance of pain. 10-4 Raccoons. Perez 2-5; Ramsay 2-4, BB, 2 2B, 3 RBI; Blackshire 3-5, 2B; Knight 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Lopez (PH) 1-1;

In other news

July 16 – The Titans acquire OF/2B Dave Roura (.244, 4 HR, 26 RBI) from the Cyclones in exchange for UT Jason Lettner (.256, 4 HR, 25 RBI) and a prospect.
July 16 – More pitching for the Indians, who pick up SP Larry Broad (7-6, 4.82 ERA) from the Rebels, along with cash, for two prospects.
July 18 – Topeka 1B/LF/RF Eddie Moreno (.284, 14 HR, 57 RBI) drives in five runs as he lands three hits in a 17-2 rout of the Rebels, including the 2,000th hit of his career, a third-inning grand slam smacked off Rebels rookie MR Nick Gibbens (0-1, 5.68 ERA). Moreno, 34, was a 3-time home run king with the Scorpions, the 2044 FL Player of the Year, and was batting .276/.347/.475 with 367 HR and 1,281 RBI for his career.
July 18 – WAS OF Neville van de Wouw (.293, 21 HR, 52 RBI) goes 4-for-4 with 4 RBI, including three home runs, in a 5-4 win over the Cyclones, including a deciding solo home run in the top of the 10th inning. The Aruban is the second player to whack three bombs against Cincinnati this year, after Denver’s Ivan Villa did the trick in April.
July 18 – IND SP Enrique Ortiz (5-8, 4.65 ERA) throws a 3-hit shutout against the Canadiens, taking a 5-0 win despite walking five batters.
July 20 – Buffos closer Trent O’Sullivan (3-4, 4.46 ERA, 20 SV) brings his 300th career save across in a 6-4 win over the Rebels – all of them with Topeka. The three-time FL saves champ – including last year – and 2050 FL Reliver of the Year had a 36-63 record, 3.19 ERA, and 614 K in 594 appearances.

FL Player of the Week: WAS OF Neville van de Wouw (.293, 21 HR, 52 RBI), batting .524 (11-21) with 3 HR, 5 RBI
CL Player of the Week: POR 1B Harry Ramsay (.290, 12 HR, 34 RBI), hitting .467 (7-15) with 1 HR, 6 RBI

Complaints and stuff

So, #7 now hangs from the rafters – both Yoshi Nomura and Berto Ramos wore it in their Coons careers, and it’s complicated. Yoshi wore it first, but obtained free agency after ten years of faithful service with the Coons and signed with the Capitals. He would return to the Raccoons later for the 2020 and 2021 seasons, but was still not retired when Berto made his debut, and the Raccoons were so-so on saving up #7 for him, because he has spent almost half his career elsewhere. Berto did the number further proud, playing 18 seasons with the Critters, and another abortive backbencher campaign with the Buffos before retiring. They almost overlapped, but while Nomura signed a 4-year deal before 2020, the Raccoons faded at that point and he was eventually traded to the Gold Sox in a package that brought back Frank Kelly and Ricardo Romero. Funnily enough, the first time Yoshi was traded, from the Caps to the Cyclones in 2017, he was dealt straight-up for Shunyo Yano – who had signed with the Coons out of Japan, but had been traded for a young Jonny Toner five years earlier.

Altogether, Nomura batted .305/.384/.398 across his career, with 3,050 hits, 83 HR, and 1,051 RBI. He won a batting title with the 2022 Gold Sox at age 38, a Gold Glove, seven All Star nominations, and three Platinum Sticks.

Berto batted .299/.388/.362 with 2,478 hits, 20 HR, 1,189 RBI, and 745 stolen bases. He was Rookie of the Year, a 6-time All Star, won three Platinum Sticks, and rings with the 2026 and 2028 teams.

The Coons are in second place, a game and a half out. But my fatalistic outlook says, with Lonzo off to the DL for the rest of this month and all of the next, they might as well be behind the Loggers. It’s all over!

Next week: Indians at home, then the Baybirds on the road.

Fun Fact: Neville van de Wouw is the first Capital ever to hit three home runs in a game.

They were the last team to never have had a 3-homer game by anybody. All teams now have one of those, and all teams have at least one no-hitter and one cycle.

As far as 6-hit games are concerned, the Blue Sox and Condors both have never had one of those.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (54-38) vs. Indians (43-49) – July 21-23, 2053

The Indians had fallen off now, having posted two losing months after a 13-8 April, and were 5-12 in July. Their run differential was still +7, but there was a lot of average in that team. Sixth in runs scored, eighth in runs allowed… they were giving up the most homers, and hitting the fewest extra-base hits themselves, though, which was a weird occurrence. The Coons led the season series, 5-4.

Projected matchups:
Antonio Alfaro (4-1, 4.57 ERA) vs. Thomas Turpeau (4-3, 3.54 ERA)
Victor Salcido (7-4, 3.72 ERA) vs. Tan Brink (4-9, 4.09 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (9-6, 2.62 ERA) vs. Enrique Ortiz (5-8, 4.65 ERA)

Turpeau was the only southpaw approaching us here.

The Indians arrived without Angel Mendez (.327, 3 HR, 36 RBI), who from home announced his retirement due to struggles with post-concussion syndrome while the series in Portland was being played out. Making his debut at 19, he was not even 27 years old, and had batted .284 with 11 HR and 238 RBI as well as 178 SB and 830 hits in an 8-year career.

Travis Malkus was starting a rehab assignment with AAA on Monday, but would probably only rejoin the team on the weekend.

Game 1
IND: CF Locke – 2B A. Rios – RF B. Quinteros – C Poindexter – 3B B. Anderson – LF C. Morris – 1B Lovell – SS Ed. Ortiz – P Turpeau
POR: 2B Waters – CF Puckeridge – C Gowin – LF Crum – 1B Ramsay – 3B Blackshire – RF Lopez – SS Knight – P Alfaro

Crum singled home a 1-0 lead for the Coons in the first, bringing in Matt Waters, who had been nicked by Turpeau to begin the bottom 1st. He also nicked Matt Knight with two outs in the bottom 2nd, then allowed a single to Alfaro… and on the next pitch a 3-run homer to Waters! Harry Ramsay homered in solo fashion in the third inning, and that was a quick way to go up 5-0 on five hits! Alfaro in the meantime had faced the minimum through three innings, despite some hard contact throughout. Philip Locke’s and Bill Quinteros’ singles led to an Indians run in the top of the fourth, 5-1, but after that the Indians didn’t get another hit until Quinteros found another single in the sixth, and that was the last hit off Alfaro. The Rule 5 pick lasted seven innings, in part chased by iffy weather that gave us a brief rain delay in the fifth inning. The rain subsided initially, then picked up again by the bottom 7th, which began with Alfaro being hit for by Suzuki, who grounded out. Adam Foley then nicked Waters, which was the second welt for the Coons’ second-sacker in the game. Pucks singled, and both angrily swiped a pair of bases. Gowin’s groundout scored Waters, but Crum flew out to Chris Morris in left and stranded Pucks. Ryan Harmer got the ball in the eighth, allowed a hit to Edwin Ortiz and a walk to Locke, but Antonio Rios found a 5-4-3 double play to kill the effort. Raul Medrano offered a walk to Quinteros to begin the ninth inning, but that runner never got off first base before the game ended. 6-1 Raccoons. Waters 1-2, HR, 3 RBI; Ramsay 3-4, HR, 2B, RBI; Blackshire 1-2, 2 BB; Alfaro 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, W (5-1) and 1-2;

Game 2
IND: CF Locke – 2B A. Rios – RF B. Quinteros – C Poindexter – 3B B. Anderson – LF C. Morris – 1B Alex Ramos – SS Ed. Ortiz – P Brink
POR: RF Puckeridge – CF Perez – 2B Waters – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – 3B Crispin – SS Knight – C Raczka – P Salcido

Bill Quinteros’ busy first inning included homering off Salcido for a 1-0 lead for the Indians, then throwing out Pucks at home plate as he tried to score from second base on a Waters single to right. Pucks himself had opened the inning with a double; Waters went to second on the throw, however, and then scored on a Ramsay single to tie the score at one after all before Crum grounded out. The Indians re-took the lead in the second inning however; Edwin Ortiz singled, and then Crispin and Raczka committed a pair of 2-out errors with Locke and Rios batting that absolutely forced the run around to score, but at least Salcido got a K against K-interos with a Q having formed in scoring position…

The Coons tied the game again in the bottom 2nd, and like the Indians had taken their lead in the top of the inning, it wasn’t all on their own merits; while the bags filled up with singles from Matt Knight and Salcido, and Pucks drawing a 2-out walk, it was then a blatantly wayward slider into Fernando Perez’ legs that forced home the tying run on the hit-by-pitch call, while Waters flew out to center on the first pitch to strand all the go-ahead runs. The inning after, Crum and Crispin went to the corners with 1-out singles, but were stranded by Knight and Raczka making weak outs.

The Indians at least got a run-scoring double play grounder from Quinteros in the fifth inning after Locke and Rios had also set up camp on the corners against Salcido, which gave Indy a new 3-2 lead. This time the Coons didn’t answer any time soon; when Salcido was hit for to begin the bottom 7th, he was still on the hook for the 3-2 score. Suzuki, Pucks, and Perez made three shockingly weak outs on the infield to keep him right there. Flores and Hitchcock kept the Indians from scoring in the eighth, even though Rios led off with a single to left, and instead Waters opened the bottom 8th with a double in the right-center gap. Maybe now, Honeypaws! Maybe now! Ramsay singled, moving Waters to third base, and Crum singled to center, scoring him to get the team even, but that was it; Crispin slashed a ball into a 6-4-3 double play, and that was the inning. A pinch-hit homer by Josh Hare off Hitchcock reclaimed the lead for the Indians for a fourth time in the game, and now we carted up the sorry excuse of a bottom of the order in the bottom 9th against righty David Williams. Pinch-hitters were washed forth from the bench, thusly. Blackshire made no measurable impact, but Chris Gowin at least singled. Suzuki was still batting ninth, but popped out. Pucks was up with the Coons down to their last out – and Williams failed to log it. He hung a 69mph curveball for a 2-1 pitch, and Alan Puckeridge was so confused he almost forgot to whack it 370 feet for a walkoff homer…!! 5-4 Coons!! Puckeridge 2-4, BB, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Waters 2-4, 2B; Ramsay 2-4, RBI; Gowin (PH) 1-1; Salcido 7.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K and 2-2;

Game 3
IND: LF R. White – 2B A. Rios – RF B. Quinteros – 3B B. Anderson – CF C. Morris – 1B Alex Ramos – C Payne – SS Ed. Ortiz – P En. Ortiz
POR: RF Puckeridge – CF Perez – 2B Waters – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – 3B Crispin – C Gowin – SS Knight – P Taki

Taki continued a trend of shaky early innings, giving up two hits, but at least no runs, in the first inning. The first runs in the game were courtesy of a 2-run homer to right by Ed Crispin in the second inning, with Ken Crum having drawn a leadoff walk ahead of him. Two innings later, another leadoff walk, this time to Ramsay, made Crispin pounce again when he hit an RBI single to center. 3-0, and all runs driven in by Crispin.

When Rusty White ran into a bad pitch by Taki and homered to right for two runs, Crispin had surrender that belt in the fifth inning; it also narrowed the score to 3-2, since Edwin Ortiz had also been on base, and the Arrowheads were out-hitting the Coons at that point, 6-3. The Coons tacked on a run with a leadoff jack by Crum in the sixth, only for White to strike an RBI single with two outs in the seventh, plating Ortiz again.

Like all Coons starters this week so far, Taki was hit for to begin the bottom 7th, but the inning led nowhere nice, nor did the top of the eighth. Cornejo struck Quinteros with a fastball, then threw away a pickoff attempt while pitching to Chris Morris, who singled home the tying run with two outs. Alex Ramos struck out, leaving the score even at four in the middle of the eighth inning. Well, Ed Crispin to the rescue! He batted against lefty Bill McMichael with one gone in the bottom 8th, and Waters and Crum on the corners. Waters had opened the inning with a single, had stolen second, and had advanced on Ramsay’s groundout, while Crum had been walked intentionally. Crispin hit the first pitch to left, Ortiz dove and missed it, and the resulting single put the Coons ahead again…! Gowin dutifully and immediately grounded into a double play then, giving the 5-4 lead to Kevin Daley, who struck out three Indians to put the game away, give or take an intermediate error by Waters on an Ortiz grounder. 5-4 Furballs. Crum 1-2, 2 BB, HR, RBI; Crispin 3-4, HR, 4 RBI;

Raccoons (57-38) @ Bayhawks (30-65) – July 25-27, 2053

The Baybirds were last in runs scored, next-to-last in runs allowed, had a ghastly -132 run differential, the worst rotation, the second-worst defense, nary a player you’d know by name, and the Coons had swept them in the first series between the two teams this year. This was somehow stinking – remember, boys! Nothing good ever happens by the Bay!

Projected matchups:
Jason Wheatley (7-4, 2.45 ERA) vs. Kodai Koga (2-14, 6.08 ERA)
Kyle Brobeck (4-2, 4.11 ERA) vs. Mario de Anda (2-4, 7.26 ERA)
Victor Salcido (7-4, 3.65 ERA) vs. Tony Martinez (2-13, 4.07 ERA)

Two southpaws following the right-handed Koga; him and de Anda had been pretty good pitchers for a while, and their collapse had been abrupt and sudden, and in Koga’s case (he was 29) also early. They were also burning almost $5M a year on former Dallas pitcher Tony Martinez, or about $2.5M per win.

I tell you, boys! This stinks! Something’s off here. In fact, his stinks worse than the fish sandwiches Mama Knight makes Matty every morning!

(Matt Knights’ sandwiches spontaneously flaps its tail)

Game 1
POR: RF Puckeridge – CF Perez – 2B Waters – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – 3B Crispin – C Raczka – SS Knight – P Wheatley
SFB: 2B A. Montoya – LF G. Cabrera – RF Munn – 1B Witherspoon – C J. Ortiz – SS Peltier – CF Cramer – 3B Al. Diaz – P Koga

As expected, the Raccoons did next to nothing against the routinely pushed over Koga in the early innings, while the Baybirds whacked Wheatley around for five hits and three runs, two of which were earned because of course Pucks had to drop a fly ball for an error as well. Both the second and third inning began with a pair of singles for San Francisco, and they scored two in the former and one in the latter.

The Coons didn’t get the tying run to the plate until the sixth inning, having just two ******* hits off Koga in the first five innings. Pucks opened the sixth with a single, but was forced out by Perez. Waters legged out an infield roller for another single then. Also, Ramsay pounded the ball into a double play to kill the inning right after that. The tying run was at the dish again with Crispin and Raczka on the corners and one out in the seventh. That brought up Matt Knight, which was never a good sign if you were hoping for offense, but he banged the first pitch over the head of Brent Cramer in center for an RBI double, getting the team on the damn board and putting the tying runs into scoring position. While Wheats had some gas left in the tank, the Raccoons had to bat for him here; Suzuki grounded out to third base for him, pinning the runners, while Pucks walked in a full count, presenting Perez with stuffed bases. He singled to center, Raczka scored, and Knight was sent, but thrown out by Cramer, killing the inning, and giving me fits. Cornejo and Sencion held the Bayhawks away from the bases in the seventh and eighth innings, while Koga went eight with the lead. Patrick Jones, a righty with a 5.13 ERA, got the ball for the ninth inning. Gowin singled in place of Raczka, but that was it for the Raccoons, who dropped their first game at the ******* Bay of Horrors. 3-2 Bayhawks. Knight 2-4, 2B, RBI;

Wheats’ day only got worse. Thinking about drowning himself in the Bay, he unluckily chose the exact spot where I usually went after the usual soul-scorching loss in this stupid place, which thus was, whenever the Coons were in town, patrolled by several SFPD officers, paramedics, and a priest.

I liked the priest, Joe. He was Irish and knew a few dirty rhymes.

Game 2
POR: 2B Waters – CF Puckeridge – C Gowin – LF Crum – 1B Ramsay – 3B Blackshire – RF Lopez – SS Knight – P Brobeck
SFB: 2B A. Montoya – LF G. Cabrera – RF Munn – 1B Witherspoon – C J. Ortiz – SS Peltier – CF Cramer – 3B Al. Diaz – P de Anda

The Coons had the bags full in the second, when Brobeck then flew out to Danny Munn to strand them all, and again in the third inning, then with Waters, Pucks, and Gowin reaching in order on a single, Adam Peltier error, and a walk. De Anda balked home a run, and Crum “singled” one in when a ball went inches past Peltier’s glove, who really could have reached a bit more for it, not that I was complaining. Ramsay slapped a clean RBI single to center, but Blackshire found a double play, 6-4-3. De Anda walked Tony Lopez, then gave up an RBI double to Knight in left-center. Brobeck ended the second straight inning, this time with a fly out to Gil Cabrera, but at least he now did so with a 4-0 lead on the board. Munn robbed Pucks of a homer and was robbed of a homer by Crum, all in the fourth inning, and by the fifth, Brobeck was batting with three on and two outs again. He grounded out to Alonzo Diaz, which was a staggering amount of non-hitting for the best-hitting pitcher since Jonny Toner on the roster.

Instead the Baybirds hit four straight singles between Jorge Ortiz, Peltier, Cramer, and Diaz in the bottom 5th and scored three runs off Brobeck, narrowing the score to 4-3 again, after Brobeck had started the game with four scoreless innings. The Coons loaded them up against Cody Lovett in the seventh then, Knight coming up with one out and some runs direly needed to make my paws stop shaking. Lovett nailed Knight, which in this case I’d approve of, extending the score to 5-3 again. Brobeck now batted AGAIN with the bases loaded, struck out, and broke his bat over his leg before slamming the remains on the ground as he walked back to the dugout. Waters bailed him out with a bases-clearing double to right, giving the Coons their second 4-spot of the day, before being stranded by Pucks’ foul pop. They were also the final runs in the game; Brobeck went eight innings with only that regrettable string in the fifth inning soiling his line, and Vic Flores struck out the 3-4-5 batters in the ninth. 8-3 Raccoons. Waters 2-4, BB, 2B, 3 RBI; Crum 2-5, RBI; Ramsay 3-4, BB, RBI; Blackshire 2-3, 2 BB; Knight 1-2, 2 BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Brobeck 8.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W (5-2);

Well, give or take 11 left on base.

For Brobeck. He left *more* runners on base as the team did as a whole (10). And he’s still batting .320.

Baseball is weird and makes no sense.

Interlude: Trade

The Raccoons made a minor trade on Sunday morning, dealing former second-rounder and AAA 1B Scott DiPiazza, who was 26 years old and had St. Pete his home for four years now, to the Wolves for right-handed Venezuelan swingman Valentino Prada (1-3, 3.51 ERA), also 26 years old.

Prada had only one start among his 121 big-league appearances, but had three working pitches on paper and would surely cause further clutter in our clumsy attempts to sort out the back end of the rotation.

Since Prada did not arrive rested, having thrown 62 pitches in three outings across the last four days, he was not activated for the Sunday game. He’d only make the roster for the Vegas series starting on Tuesday.

Raccoons (57-38) @ Bayhawks (30-65) – July 25-27, 2053

Game 3
POR: SS Waters – CF Puckeridge – C Gowin – LF Crum – 1B Ramsay – 3B Blackshire – RF Lopez – 2B Boese – P Salcido
SFB: 2B A. Montoya – LF G. Cabrera – RF Munn – 1B Witherspoon – C J. Ortiz – SS Peltier – CF Cramer – 3B Al. Diaz – P T. Martinez

The Coons went double, single, RBI double to begin the game, then farted three times and stranded two in scoring position, which bit us in the rear by the third inning at the latest, when Salcido walked Diaz and then gave up a score-flipping 2-run homer to Armando Montoya for the first Baybirds hit in the game. The Raccoons did precious little in between Gowin doubling home the game’s first run and homering the game tied in the sixth, but I don’t want to skip completely over Naughty Joe’s double to left in the fifth inning, which unfortunately came with nobody on base and found no support from anybody batting after him. And we definitely shouldn’t skip over Tony Lopez’ 2-out, 3-run homer to left in that sixth inning, because with Tony Lopez you never know when his last good knock will be before I splatter a big fat hole into his chest with the blunderbuss. Tony Martinez nicked Ken Crum, allowed a single to Ramsay, and then had a changeup murdered for 390 feet and a 5-2 Coons lead, plus an early ticket for the showers.

It only got worse from here, with Matt Waters doubling to right in the seventh inning, then doing enough stretches at second base and shaking his head to attract the attention of Dr. Padilla. I sighed even before the two left the field together. Crispin would run for him and play third base from here on, with Dave Blackshire going over to short. Crispin was stranded.

Salcido went seven and a third on 108 pitches before yielding against Munn and Witherspoon. Sencion sat down the former, but Witherspoon singled to center. Switch-hitter Jorge Ortiz flew out to Crum, ending the inning. Daley did the ninth without allowing any more panic. 5-2 Raccoons. Waters 2-4, 2 2B; Perez (PH) 1-1; Gowin 2-5, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Ramsay 2-4; Boese 2-4, 2B; Salcido 7.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 8 K, W (8-4);

In other news

July 22 – NYC RF/LF Mike Bednarz (.258, 3 HR, 22 RBI), who was inches away from having his business card printed with the subscript “former ABL player” last year, collects three hits, a homer, and five RBI in a 15-3 drubbing of the Loggers. Bednarz, 29, did not play in the majors in 2052, but at all three minor league levels instead.
July 23 – The Miners pick up SP J.J. Hendrix (9-6, 3.60 ERA) from the Capitals, while INF/RF/CF Jimmy Reed (.273, 3 HR, 11 RBI) and a prospect go to Washington.
July 23 – The Capitals beat the Rebels, 13-12, despite blowing an 11-1 lead they hold in the middle of the sixth inning, collapsing on all fronts for 11 runs (five earned) from the bottom 6th through bottom 8th before rallying and winning the game in the ninth after all. Washington’s Jason Monson (.217, 3 HR, 14 RBI) leads all players involved with five RBI on three base hits, all for extra bases.
July 24 – DEN 3B/2B Ronnie Thompson (.259, 0 HR, 29 RBI) will miss a month with an intercostal strain.
July 24 – The Thunder accept 3B Mike Crenshaw (.273, 1 HR, 5 RBI), thoroughly unwanted in Dallas, for a minor league catcher.
July 25 – The Indians acquire left-hander SP Carlos Malla (7-9, 3.40 ERA) from the Stars for a bundle of four prospects.
July 26 – Las Vegas acquires OF Dustin Ransford (.291, 4 HR, 31 RBI) from the Condors for a pair of prospects: #21 C Tyler May, and #120 1B Felix Martinez.
July 26 – OCT SP David Barel (14-6, 2.30 ERA) 2-hits the Loggers in a 6-0 shutout, striking out seven.
July 26 – MIL SP John Morrill (5-7, 3.82 ERA) would miss the rest of the season to have bone chips removed from his elbow.
July 26 – Falcons C/1B Kevin Weese (.308, 2 HR, 41 RBI) would miss a month with a strained rib cage muscle.

FL Player of the Week: PIT RF/LF/1B Diego Mayorga (.342, 10 HR, 33 RBI), batting .600 (6-10) with 3 HR, 7 RBI
CL Player of the Week: NYC RF/LF Mike Bednarz (.284, 4 HR, 26 RBI), slapping .480 (12-25) with 2 HR, 9 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Matt Waters was diagnosed with a sore back and would be out for a few days while Dr. Padilla reassembles his spinal column. (points at oddly shaped bone lying on the ground) Didn’t you forget that one, Dr. Padilla? Looks like a lumbar vertebra. – Why’s your ashtray shaped like a lumbar vertebra??

So we’re now without our entire starting infield, at least for the next few games, and will be playing a guy short.

We have also somehow managed to fail our way into first place on Sunday, when the Knights beat the Crusaders, 6-1, to allow us to sneak through.

The Coons tried to trade for Carlos Malla, but couldn’t put the prospect bundle together that the Stars wanted. The Coons also thought about trading for John Morrill, but luckily didn’t before his elbow blew out.

The prospects thing is the real bother here. We don’t have enough that carry any weight and value with other teams. Teams always ask for Trent Brassfield, but apart from that everybody wants Pucks or Taki, which are obvious non-starters. It doesn’t look like we’ll put a division-winning trade together. The fresh meat currency just isn’t there, not even for a #5 starter.

Prada of course doesn’t really fit the description of a fifth starter – at least on a team that is on the verge of leading their division. He’ll probably not do much better than Alfaro. Not that we’re not gonna try and piss away a few games in August with him…

We go by Vegas on the way home, but will only host the Condors on the next weekend before making a pointless trip to Charlotte right the Monday after. That Falcons series will be the only time the Coons venture out of Oregon in August, with only six road games on the schedule, and three of those are down in Salem.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons spent $531k on six players in this year’s International Free Agent window.

Three pitchers and three position players, that is. Javier Simo is a Mexican lefty with four interesting pitches, but he lacks velocity and might be more of a finesse pitcher. He signed for $170k. For $130k we signed the six-pitch arsenal of right-handed Bonairean Jeroen Barelds, who somehow falls into the same finesse category, it seems. The third and final six-figure addition was 2B/LF Bernie Ortega for $112k; he has decent range, but a weak throwing arm, so will probably remain at second base. The 17-year-old Dominican bats right-handed, with a good eye and decent speed.

Furthermore, while looking at various Dominican players on the island, Pat Degenhardt also spotted a 17-year-old C/1B Generoso Castillo, who had a surprising amount of pop in his bat for a professional goat herder. The Raccoons managed to sign him for free, and to be honest I am more intrigued by his scouting report than any of those half dozen boys that actually cost us dosh.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (59-39) @ Aces (37-60) – July 29-31, 2053

Back to Vegas, where, last time out, things had gone totally well, and nothing strange had occurred whatsoever. Totally. Back to the craps table, I guess. The Aces were of course very bad, trailing the stomping Thunder by 28 1/2 games on Tuesday morning. They were ninth in runs scored, tenth in runs allowed, and had a pen with an ERA over five, which was always a sign of quality. The Raccoons were up 2-1 in the season series.

Projected matchups:
Seisaku Taki (9-6, 2.68 ERA) vs. Josh Wilson (8-7, 3.62 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (7-5, 2.48 ERA) vs. Medardo Regueir (6-11, 4.23 ERA)
Kyle Brobeck (5-2, 4.02 ERA) vs. Zack Stahl (5-7, 3.85 ERA)

One southpaw in that set, which would be Regueir. But the Aces had had Monday off just the same as us and could skip another one, ex-Coon Juan Mercado (4-7, 4.82 ERA) into the series.

The Coons started the week with roster moves, recalling Travis Malkus from a rehab assignment and putting the recently acquired Valentino Prada on the roster as well. Dave Blackshire and Ryan Harmer were optioned back to St. Petersburg to make room. Matt Waters remained on the roster, but was unlikely to play in Vegas with the sore back. Except maybe blackjack over there. Hi, Matt Waters! (waves) – (Waters waves back, and is immediately dealt another card, then gets into an argument with the teller as that gets him to 24 and bust) – What do you mean, Matt, you just waved to your “******ed GM”?

Game 1
POR: 2B Malkus – CF Perez – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – 3B Crispin – C Gowin – SS Knight – P Taki
LVA: LF Ransford – RF Austin – SS Welter – CF Hummel – 1B D. Riley – C B. Ortega – 3B V. Fernandez – 2B J. Cruz – P Jo. Wilson

The Coons had Ed Crispin thrown out at the plate in the second inning, trying to score from first on a double whacked by Matt Knight, but then scored in the third. Malkus and Perez got on base to begin the inning, Pucks hit a sac fly, and Ramsay bashed an RBI double. Crum walked behind him, a soft Crispin single loaded the bases with one gone, Gowin hit another sac fly, but then Knight lined out softly to Dan Riley to end the inning at 3-0. Taki shook off the dodgy first inning, but instead was taken deep by Jeremy Welter in the fourth for one run, and then gave up hits to Jorge Cruz and Dustin Ransford for another run in the fifth, 3-2. The Coons continued to put the odd runner on base, but couldn’t get back into scoring position, but the Aces crowded Taki out of the game in the seventh inning on… not a whole lot, really. A soft single for Bobby Ortega, then walks offered to Steve Bishop and Dustin Ransford to cram the bags full with two outs. Hitchcock ran a full count against Aubrey Austin before getting a swing and a miss on a high fastball, killing the Aces’ rally. He nicked Ken Hummel’s thick butt* in the eighth, and Vic Flores walked Riley when he appeared, but got a K on Ortega. Right-handed John McDonell then drew Prada in his first Coons outing, and like Hitchcock he ran a full count before … walking the batter. That filled the bags; Steve Bishop then singled home two with a skimmer up the middle, the Aces took the lead, and a K to Danny Encarnacion was hardly consolation. The Coons disappeared into the night without reaching scoring position in the ninth, getting only a 2-out single from Perez and a grounder to first from Pucks to end it. 4-3 Aces. Perez 2-5, 2B; Ramsay 3-4, 2B, RBI; Crum 1-2, 2 BB;

We out-hit them 11-6. But then again they didn’t walk anything with legs.

Or without legs.

The Aces then acquired SP Chris Cornelius (6-8, 5.15 ERA) from the Rebels by Wednesday, parting with a bundle of prospects, none of them ranked. Cornelius was not ready to pitch in this series, though.

Game 2
POR: 3B Malkus – C Gowin – CF Puckeridge – LF Crum – 1B Ramsay – RF Lopez – SS Knight – 2B Boese – P Wheatley
LVA: LF Ransford – RF Austin – SS Welter – CF Hummel – 1B D. Riley – C B. Ortega – 3B V. Fernandez – 2B J. Cruz – P Regueir

The Coons stranded six batters in the first three innings, including having the bags full with Gowin, Pucks, and Crum in the first and Ramsay popping out and Lopez flying out to left. The Aces cleaned their plates, though; Ransford and Aubrey Austin reached scoring position with a single and double, respectively, right in the bottom 1st, then scored on productive outs for a quick 2-0 lead. Wheatley got better after that, even though the Aces had a pair on base again in the fourth, but mostly stopped their offensive efforts after those early shenanigans. The Raccoons meanwhile did little in the middle innings, a forlorn Pucks double to left aside. Pucks hit another one of those in the seventh, then with one out and Chris Gowin already on base. It put the tying runs in scoring position, but Crum flew out to Austin in shallow right, and Ramsay grounded to Welter, who fudged the ball for a 2-out error, allowing Gowin to score. Tony Lopez then singled home Pucks, which was the ultimate punishment for that error – get your lead bopped by *Tony Lopez*! An unsettled Regueir then fell behind when Matt Knight singed a ball to shallow center for another RBI single before Naughty Joe hacked himself out.

Wheats held on through seven, then was hit for to begin the top of the eighth. The Coons were retired in order before Raul Cornejo gave up singles to Ray DeFrank, Austin, and Welter to load the bags with one out in the bottom of the inning. When Bishop batted for Hummel, the Coons sent Eloy Sencion against what now was three straight lefty bats in the lineup, but he conceded the lead on an RBI single by Bishop before PH Dave Encarnacion lined out to Malkus and Ortega flew out to Pucks. The game went to extra innings after a quick ninth, but only briefly until Jeremy Welter homered off Antonio Alfaro to walk the Aces off. 4-3 Aces. Gowin 2-5; Puckeridge 2-4, BB, 2 2B; Knight 2-5, RBI; Wheatley 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K;

Interlude: Trade

The Raccoons picked up a starting pitcher before the deadline after all – just when it seemed that what they really needed was offense. While I was working on maybe getting a right-handed batting outfielder (cough! Tony Lopez. cough!) for some offensive improvement, we wrapped up one of our basically identical left-handed batting outfielders into a deal for a #5 guy.

And so the Raccoons acquired SP Victor Scott (9-4, 3.52 ERA) from the Falcons, parting with OF Fernando Perez (.254, 2 HR, 19 RBI), extremely erratic AAA MR Steve Watson (3-2, 6.00 ERA, 1 SV), and AA MR Guido Kauffman, who appeared on nobody’s radar or prospect list, but somehow was always a popular ask in trade talks. Fine. Have him!

Scott was on a 1-yr, $1.9M deal, 30 years old, and not exactly the hottest commodity on the market, but we missed Malla and dodged disaster with Morrill, and we lacked the high-caliber prospects (besides probably Trent Brassfield) that would make a deal for a top-of-the-line starter possible.

Scott was penciled in to start the first game against the Condors on Friday, but was not assigned as of Thursday as I spent more time on the phone with Cristiano at home, Pat Degenhardt at the ballpark, and various other GMs than on my beloved craps tables.

Outfielder Nick Thomason was called up from AAA to fill the open roster spot.

Raccoons (59-39) @ Aces (37-60)

Game 3
POR: 2B Malkus – 3B Crispin – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – C Gowin – CF Suzuki – SS Knight – P Brobeck
LVA: LF Ransford – RF Austin – SS Welter – CF Hummel – 1B D. Riley – C B. Ortega – 3B V. Fernandez – 2B J. Cruz – P Stahl

Brobeck was busy from the start, giving up a single to Ransford, who was doubled up by Aubrey Austin, then issued a walk to Welter and was buzzed by Hummel with a liner past his head for an RBI single to center, but Dan Riley then made a cozy third out. Ken Crum found a double play in the second after Ramsay reached, and then the Coons didn’t get back on base until Brobeck singled in the third inning, but was stranded by Travis Malkus. Pucks was on base in the fourth, but was doubled off by Ramsay, but Chris Gowin finally broke up the scoreless tie with a solo homer to left in the fifth inning.

Brobeck’s four shutout innings went bust with a thick one in the bottom 5th. He walked the bags full, which was never co-indicated with great success, then had the score flipped by Ken Hummel, who hit a ball so weakly that it didn’t seem like the thing could fly to the outfield, or fly at all – but the ball didn’t know that, soared over Malkus anyway, and dropped in for a 2-run single. Riley and Ortega hit RBI singles, and the Aces went up 4-1.

The Raccoons reacted immediately with three singles from the 1-2-3 batters to begin the sixth inning, making for three on, no outs, and probably more agony. Ramsay hit an RBI single to right, but Crum rolled into a force out at home plate. Gowin’s sac fly narrowed the scoreline to a run, but Suzuki flew out to Ransford to strand a pair. Brobeck was knocked out in the same inning with 2-out hits for Ransford and Austin, a double and RBI single in that order. Vic Flores entered with Nick Thomason in a double switch, exiting Suzuki, and Zack Stahl walked Knight and Thomason to begin the seventh inning, then hung a 66mph curve that Travis Malkus exited to leftfield, 368 feet, to flip the score to 6-5 Portland! Righty Carlos Ochoa replaced him, allowed singles to Crispin and Pucks, but only allowed an unearned run on a passed ball charged to Ortega before Gowin smacked into a double play to end the inning. The Coons tacked on more in the eighth, again unearned on Ortega’s ledger as Tony Lopez reached on a throwing error by Dave Encarnacion, Thomason walked again, and after Malkus grounded out to move the runners into scoring position, Ed Crispin sloshed a 2-out, 3-2 pitch through the right side to chase both runners home, 9-5.

That lead survived an appearance by Raul Medrano in the eighth, but when Cornejo came in for the ninth he was immediately bombed by Dan Riley and thus save range was established, giving Kevin Daley an excuse to appear in this series. He walked Ortega, McDonell singled, but Encarnacion then hit into a double play to take the tying run off the dish. The game ended with a calm fly to Crum. 9-6 Coons. Malkus 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; Crispin 3-5, 2 RBI; Puckeridge 4-5; Ramsay 2-5, RBI;

Interlude: Trade

With an hour to go on the trade deadline, the Raccoons acquired OF/SS Jordan Marroguin (.292, 8 HR, 29 RBI) from the Condors, who seemed eager to get rid of him. All it took was a 23-year-old minor league catcher from Cuba, Andy Avila.

Marroguin, a switch-hitter who was on a 1-yr, $1.34M contract, always seemed to get employed as middle infielder by his teams (of which there had been many in recent years), but the Coons intended to keep him in the outfield. It was nice *having* the option though.

Speaking of the Condors…

Raccoons (60-41) vs. Condors (50-50) – August 1-3, 2053

The Condors ranked seventh in runs scored, fourth in runs allowed, and had a +9 run differential (Coons: +100!). Power was not their game, in fact, they were second from the bottom in homers, and it didn’t look much better with OPS. But they had a solid defense, a stingy pen with a 2.83 ERA, second in the CL, and somehow kept hugging that .500 mark. They were also up 4-2 on the Coons this year.

Projected matchups:
Victor Scott (9-4, 3.52 ERA) vs. Bill McDermott (6-8, 3.47 ERA)
Victor Salcido (8-4, 3.59 ERA) vs. Juan Juarez (4-1, 3.42 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (9-6, 2.68 ERA) vs. Larry Colwell (9-5, 4.13 ERA)

I saw only right-handed pitchers approaching here.

For roster moves, the Raccoons activated their new acquisitions, while optioning Raul Medrano (0-0, 4.26 ERA) and Nick Thomason back to AAA. Thomason had drawn two walks and scored two runs in his brief cameo.

Game 1
TIJ: 2B C. Navarro – RF Spilotro – C Mittleider – LF T. Duncan – SS Medlock – 3B Chapa – 1B Barrento – CF Blackburn – P McDermott
POR: 2B Malkus – CF Puckeridge – SS Waters – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – 3B Crispin – RF Marroguin – C Raczka – P Scott

Perhaps most importantly, Matt Waters returned to the lineup after missing all of the Aces series, hit a double in the bottom 1st, and scored on a Ramsay single for a 1-0 lead. Scott pitched calmly the first time through, whiffing two while allowing a single to Luis Chapa, the only left-hander in the Condors lineup, but Chapa got himself caught stealing. All that went out in the fourth inning; Chapa singled again, but this time drove home the tying run with two outs as Scott had leaked a double to Jon Mittleider and a walk to Stephen Medlock. Carmem Barrento doubled in another two runs, and the Condors went up 3-1 before Brian Blackburn grounded out to short. The Coons answered with Crum, Crispin, and Raczka singles to load the bases in the bottom of the fourth, but Scott was rung up for the second out. Malkus fell to 1-2, then grounded a slow ball towards Chris Navarro, who had to hustle in – and had no play. All paws were safe for a run-scoring infield single! Pucks edged out a walk to push home the tying run, and then Waters floated one over Medlock for a 2-run single in shallow left-center. Ramsay grounded out, keeping the score at 5-3.

The Condors whacked another three 2-out hits off Scott in the fifth; Jeremy Spilotro doubled and scored on a Mittleider single. Tim Duncan singled, but Medlock rolled out to Ramsay. Not the best of debuts after all, then… He was hit for in the bottom 5th because the bags were full again; left-hander Gabe Hill had allowed singles to Crum and Raczka, with Marroguin having reached by walking. Tony Lopez pinch-hit against the southpaw Hill, struck out, and, by the way, Maud, we have to write another “sorry…!” letter to Nick because we burned $7.6M on that bum. But – could it get any wickeder? – Travis Malkus came to the rescue, turned another 1-2 pitch around, and this time strung it into the rightfield corner for a bases-clearing double…! That was too much goodness for the baseball gods – when Pucks singled to center and Malkus came around to score from second base, he grabbed his thigh a few steps from home plate, but still managed to score ahead of Blackburn’s throw, although he mostly fell onto home plate and left the game with an injury and the support of the batboy. Naughty Joe replaced him, while Matt Waters raked a homer off new pitcher Jayden Durant to extend the score to 11-4.

Tijuana’s Luis Chapa then struck a leadoff triple off Antonio Alfaro in the sixth inning, but was stranded with strikeouts against Barrento and Blackburn, and a pop fly to right by Durant, for whom the Condors couldn’t be bothered to bat anymore. Durant then left with an injury in the bottom of the inning. Top 7th, Chris Navarro hit a leadoff single against Alfaro, stole two bases… and was stranded anyway with three more meek outs. Waters batted with two outs and Pucks on first base against righty Jim Woods in the bottom 7th, but needed a triple for the cycle. He settled for a single over the head of Medlock.

Valentino Prada then laid another egg in the eighth inning, allowing two hits and walking THREE Condors, conceding two runs before getting yanked for Hitchcock, who got an easy groundout from Mittleider to end the rally. He would remain in the game for the ninth inning in what Prada had ****** into a save situation, but before that, Ken Crum hit the triple that Waters would have needed to begin the bottom 8th against Ramon Montes de Oca. Marroguin would plate him with a sac fly after Crispin whiffed, and that was the final run in a ruckus of a game. 12-6 Critters! Malkus 2-4, 2B, 4 RBI; Waters 5-5, HR, 2B, 4 RBI; Crum 3-5, 3B; Crispin 3-5; Raczka 2-5; Alfaro 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Friday was the first day where the Raccoons got into a lead bigger than one game in the North. The Falcons beat the Crusaders, 5-4 in 11 innings, to grow our lead to 1 1/2. They did so mostly with Coons outcasts: Mitch Sivertson slapped four hits, Fernando Perez played before double-switched out, and Paul Crisler and Corey Mathers offered scoreless relief, the latter claiming the W.

Malkus was day-to-day with a thigh muscle strain. It wasn’t *bad*, but he would not be in the lineup for the rest of the series.

Game 2
TIJ: 2B C. Navarro – 3B Chapa – C Mittleider – LF T. Duncan – 1B E. Rodriguez – RF Blackburn – CF Hildebrand – SS Barrento – P J. Juarez
POR: CF Puckeridge – 3B Crispin – 2B Waters – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – C Gowin – RF Marroguin – SS Knight – P Salcido

Salcido plainly and simply got on the snout on Saturday. He walked Luis Chapa in the first, with the runner scoring on 2-out singles by Tim Duncan and Elias Rodriguez, while the Condors spanked him for four more runs in the third inning. Duncan hit a 2-run homer, but the barrage continued afterwards, with a bunch of loud hits and 2-out RBI knocks for Danny Hildebrand and Barrento. Matt Knight homered off the Mexican Juarez in the bottom 3rd, the only Raccoon to get on base the first time through. Salcido got around a leadoff hit by Navarro when the runner was caught stealing in the fourth, but in the fifth gave away another leadoff single to Duncan, then an RBI triple to Rodriguez, and was excused from further participation. Blackburn’s sac fly made it 7-1 against Alfaro, who gave up a walk, a double, and another run on a wild pitch before the inning ended. The Coons went to Cornejo after that, who surrendered another three runs (one earned) between the sixth and eighth, which at least soaked up innings.

Things still managed to get uglier. The Coons rallied in the bottom 8th with a pinch-hit double for Jeff Raczka, and Pucks singling him home before being caught stealing. The Condors had already stolen a base with Elias Rodriguez in the top 8th when they were up by a whole lot, and after Eloy Sencion was raped for a single and three straight RBI doubles to begin the ninth inning, the Condors’ Chris Navarro thought it necessary to steal third base, too. He scored on a groundout by Mittleider, the second out in the inning, but Sencion had none of it and struck Tim Duncan in the knee with a fastball. Duncan had to hobble off the field and some Condors spilled out of the dugout, trying to pick a fight, but the Raccoons were already putting the meat on the barbeque and no time for that crap. 15-2 Condors. Puckeridge 2-4, RBI; Raczka (PH) 1-1, 2B;

Duncan went to the DL with a knee contusion, but I couldn’t promise that Navarro hadn’t one coming for his head in the rubber game… Seisaku Taki was probably above such bush league moves, but you never know!


Game 3
TIJ: 1B E. Rodriguez – 3B Chapa – 2B C. Navarro – C Mittleider – CF Hildebrand – RF Blackburn – SS N. Fowler – LF Castaneda – P Colwell
POR: RF Puckeridge – 3B Crispin – SS Waters – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – C Gowin – CF Suzuki – 2B Boese – P Taki

Chapa reached on an infield single and stole second in the opening inning, but was stranded, which didn’t mean it didn’t get both my blood pressure and my alcohol level up. (closes lips around the neck of a bottle of Capt’n Coma) The only outfield hit for any team the first time through the order was a Suzuki single in the bottom 3rd. Taki reached on an error by Rodriguez, but a Pucks grounder for a fielder’s choice and Crispin whiffing kept the Coons off the board. The game progressed quickly and without incidents, and also without runs until the bottom 5th saw Suzuki on with a leadoff walk. Naughty Joe popped out, Taki bunted him to second, and Pucks found the hole on the right side for an RBI single. He stole second, but was stranded when Ed Crispin grounded out to Navarro, who appeared to say something at Pucks as they crossed paths on the way to their respective dugouts, with Pucks looking at him from behind while Navarro kept walking.

Maud! My blunderbuss!!

Taki had no leeway for shenanigans anyway in the 1-0 game, but nicked Chapa to begin the seventh inning. Now, that one was *clearly* unintentional, coming with a 1-run lead, and on an 0-2 pitch. The Condors brayed forth from their dugout anyway. Navarro’s grounder led to an out at second base, but that put the main offender on first again. Taki threw over to first base a total of five times while also walking Jon Mittleider, which pushed Navarro and the tying run to second base anyway. There he remained as Hildebrand flew out to Ken Crum and Blackburn whiffed his way out of the inning.

Before the teams could come to blows and claps, thunder did right at the seventh inning stretch, sending everybody scurrying to safety, although the weather passed quickly. The 30-minute rain delay ended Taki’s day, however. Colwell, on 82 pitches, returned to pitch in the bottom 7th. He gave up a single to Mikio Suzuki, then a pinch-hit homer to his former teammate Jordan Marroguin, 3-0! Vic Flores kept the bottom of the order off the bases in the eighth, and the Coons did not tack on either, so Daley got the ball against the top of the order in the ninth. It was not exactly likely that he’d throw at Navarro now, either, especially after following a K to Rodriguez, Chapa singled to right. Navarro batted without incident, flying out to left. Mittleider flew out to Pucks on the very next pitch. 3-0 Coons. Puckeridge 2-4, RBI; Suzuki 2-2, BB; Marroguin (PH) 1-1, HR, 2 RBI; Taki 7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K, W (10-6);

(symbolically slams the office door on the Condors) AND STAY OUT!!

In other news

July 28 – The Scorpions sign 1B Steve Wyatt (.287, 19 HR, 61 RBI) to a 7-yr, $44.5M extension.
July 29 – In a trade that made no sense, the Bayhawks acquired CL Sam Gibson (2-6, 1.83 ERA, 24 SV) from the Rebels for four prospects. The deal included #130 prospect INF Roberto Alfaro.
July 29 – The first Boston RBI for newly acquired OF/2B Dave Roura (.241, 4 HR, 27 RBI) is a 14th-inning, walkoff sac fly to beat the Condors, 2-1.
July 31 – TIJ SP Tony Llorens (3-9, 4.76 ERA) 2-hits the Titans in a 7-0 shutout. The left-hander strikes out eight Bostonians.
July 31 – The Blue Sox beat the Pacifics, 9-0, with a 3-hit shutout thrown by 26-yr old Nashville left-hander Travis Baker (4-5, 3.32 ERA), who made only his seventh major-league start, mostly working from the bullpen since the Blue Sox signed him out of the Virginia Traveling Salesmen Hardball League last year.
August 1 – The Pacifics trounce the Capitals, 15-0, with 11 runs being scored in the sixth inning alone. LAP INF Gustavo Miguel (.291, 6 HR, 33 RBI) drives in four runs from the #8 hole, all on a grand slam off WAS MR Danny Grimstead (1-1, 3.07 ERA).
August 2 – It’s back to the DL for DEN LF/CF Sandy Castillo (.306, 10 HR, 56 RBI) who won’t return until September with a strained hamstring.
August 3 – Sacramento SS/3B Alex Adame (.295, 1 HR, 20 RBI) and the Scorpions go down 10-1 to the Cyclones on Sunday, but gets in his 2,000th career hit off Cincy righty Garrett Giustino (2-1, 3.22 ERA, 2 SV) in the eighth inning. Adame, three weeks shy of his 32nd birthday, had a real chance at 3,000 career hits, since he was usually putting out 150+ per year. A two-time Gold Glover at short, he was hitting .286/.333/.365 with 41 HR and 623 RBI for his career, and had stolen 410 bases including leading the CL in steals twice in his 20s with the Crusaders and Raccoons.

FL Player of the Week: DAL RF/1B/LF Dario Martinez (.282, 16 HR, 52 RBI), hitting .500 (12-24) with 2 HR, 7 RBI
CL Player of the Week: IND C Manny Poindexter (.293, 8 HR, 48 RBI), slashing .458 (11-24) with 1 HR, 6 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: DAL 3B Randy Wilken (.301, 22 HR, 83 RBI), batting .337 with 8 HR, 21 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: MIL INF Zach Suggs (.363, 22 HR, 61 RBI), socking .389 with 8 HR, 17 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: WAS SP Bruce Mark jr. (13-4, 2.38 ERA, 1 SV), throwing for a 5-1 record with 2.33 ERA, 34 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: BOS SP Chris Ferguson (11-8, 3.12 ERA), going 5-1 with a 1.02 ERA, 29 K
FL Rookie of the Month: LAP 1B Chris Rice (.312, 3 HR, 22 RBI), hitting .356 with 1 HR, 10 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: POR 1B Harry Ramsay (.317, 13 HR, 39 RBI), hitting .384 with 3 HR, 13 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Some week. We went 3-3 with some casualties, including common decency, and we’ll probably have to send another “sorry…!” card to Tim Duncan, who was on the DL now. But the Condors started it!!

The Crusaders and Elks both fared no better against South opponents, and despite tribulations, we never lost hold of first place. The Crusaders lost not one, but two extra-inning games to the Falcons, but before we get too hot about that we should probably play the Falcons ourselves next week. That’ll be a road series starting on Monday, after which we’ll have a 7-game homestand against the bottom pair in the division.

So, our Rule 5 pick is now out of the rotation again, although despite hiccups and some stumbles I am not too unhappy with having taken Antonio Alfaro. Less annoying than Cornejo for sure… and I claim Prada can still do something that will spare him from getting speared.

What about the Rule 5 pick the Coons lost last year? That was Polibio O’Higgins, selected by the Warriors. They still have him on the roster, although they also pitch him as little as possible – just 14 appearances for 20 innings, with a 2.70 ERA, but 1.85 WHIP. The Coons shed $570k for O’Higgins ten years ago, but by now we can safely say that he didn’t work out at all.

Meanwhile, the Condors put southpaw Nick Young (4-6, 4.45 ERA) on waivers. He’ll be hard to cram onto the roster now, but I am tempted to jump, even though he likes to “discuss” things, and is never far from controversy, and after a year where the clubhouse was constantly bubbling, it’s nice having this calm all around. Also, we can’t tell whether he’s on revocable waivers or not. Well, there *is* a way to find out.

Then again, why be hot about a 31-year-old that keeps riding the bus back to AAA?

Fun Fact: Victor Scott was the CL ERA champ in 2052.

Also true: his 2.41 ERA was more than a full run better than his final mark in any other qualifying season.

+++

Hummel is the German name for the bumblebee. If you can’t find good ones, put in the dumb ones.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (62-42) @ Falcons (58-47) – August 4-6, 2053

Somehow the Raccoons had beaten up the Falcons so far this year, 5-1, despite the Falcons being hard to score on, but also hardly scoring. They were in the bottom quarter of runs scored on either side of the ledger, but with a +40 run differential. Despite that, the Thunder had distanced them by a full dozen games by now and they had hardly any hope for the postseason anymore.

Projected matchups:
Jason Wheatley (7-5, 2.49 ERA) vs. Andy Overy (4-11, 4.27 ERA)
Kyle Brobeck (5-2, 4.32 ERA) vs. Joe Thomlison (0-0, 2.70 ERA)
Victor Scott (10-4, 3.66 ERA) vs. Art Schaeffer (13-4, 2.47 ERA)

The series would start with a left-hander; it would not feature any of the following lineup regulars for Charlotte, though, as Kevin Weese, Ian Woodrome, and Danny Ceballos, along with backup Jalen Buckner, were all stowed away on the DL.

Game 1
POR: 3B Malkus – SS Waters – C C. Gowin – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – CF Puckeridge – RF Lopez – 2B Boese – P Wheatley
CHA: 3B R. Wright – C M. Castillo – RF Allegood – LF Hester – SS Arreola – 2B E. Stevens – CF F. Perez – 1B Earnest – P Overy

The Falcons hit four singles through the seams in their first run through the order against Wheats, while the hardest ball, a Juan Arreola drive to Ken Crum in deep left, was caught to strand a pair in the first inning, and the only early run was scored when Tony Lopez doubled home Ken Crum for the Portlanders in the second inning. But the Coons didn’t do much else, besides Chris Gowin, who was especially inept and hit into not one, but two double play inside five innings, and when Naughty Joe threw Rich Wright’s grounder away for two free bases in the bottom 5th, that opened the door for trouble for Wheats. Manny Castillo walked, Mike Allegood singled through the left side, and Billy Hester tied the game with a sac fly, but then Arreola struck out to end the inning with two still on base.

Wheats never got the lead back, but had to settle for another no-decision. He went six, then hung another K on Overy to begin the seventh, but the top of the Falcons’ order was all left-handed, and despite some teeth having knocked out of it, Wheats was just over 100 pitches. Sencion replaced him and danced around a few righty pinch-hitters, including Mitch Sivertson, but then gave up a leadoff double to Billy Hester in the bottom 8th. Hitchcock could not stem the tide, conceded the run on two fly balls, then walked ex-Coon Fernando Perez and surrendered that run on a Cole Earnest triple, too. The Coons looked beaten, and made outs against Paul Crisler, one of many former Critters on that roster, before Travis Malkus reached base with a 2-out single to left. Matt Waters wasn’t gonna make the final out – he homered to right, tying the game, and ensuring there’d be at least a bottom of the ninth, and Antonio Alfaro ensured with scoreless relief that there was also a 10th and an 11th inning. That latter inning was opened with a Naughty Joe double to left-center off right-hander John Scott. Ed Crispin batted for Alfaro and sent a drive to center that Perez could not catch up with and which dropped for an RBI triple! Malkus popped out, but Waters singled home the extra run, exiting Scott for right-hander Joe Gowin, the younger brother of Chris Gowin, who was 0-for-5 in the game and would face his brother for the first time in the major leagues. Youth prevailed by strikeout, but Kevin Daley prevailed overall in the bottom of the 11th. 5-3 Raccoons. Malkus 2-5, BB; Waters 3-5, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Crum 2-5; Crispin (PH) 1-1, 3B, RBI; Wheatley 6.1 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K; Alfaro 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, W (6-2);

Game 2
POR: CF Puckeridge – 3B Crispin – 2B Waters – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – RF Marroguin – C Raczka – SS Knight – P Brobeck
CHA: CF M. Sharp – C M. Castillo – RF Allegood – LF Hester – SS Arreola – 2B E. Stevens – 3B R. Wright – 1B Earnest – P Thomlison

The Coons unfurled a 4-spot in the first inning, with hits for Pucks, Waters, Ramsay, and Crum, while RBI’s went to Waters, Crum, Raczka, and … nobody, because one run scored on a passed ball. Charlotte got an unearned run back in the bottom 2nd as Arreola singled, stole two bases, and scored on Raczka’s errant throw to third base (or at least a neighboring ZIP code) on his second attempt. The Falcons went on to level that 4-0 lead as well, because the Raccoons absolutely didn’t tack on, or do much of anything after taking the early lead, and the Falcons just kept chipping away. Stevens and Wright had back-to-back hits, a double and RBI single, in the bottom 5th to make up another run, and in the sixth Allegood reached on a double, advanced on a wild pitch, and then Brobeck was taken deep, and quite so, by Hester to level the score at four.

By finishing the inning, Brobeck would be returned to the lead eventually. Pucks singled to begin the seventh, stole second base, and went over to third on Crispin’s groundout. Waters was nicked, but Ramsay found a hole next to Sivertson at second base, and singled home Pucks, 5-4. The Falcons went to righty Kyle Conner, who with two outs in the inning gave up an RBI single to Jordan Marroguin, a walk to Raczka that filled the bags, and then another 2-run single to Matt Knight. The Coons then kept running away; Corey Mathers (ex-Coons galore! …no wonder they sucked, relatively) was busted with Malkus and Ramsay doubles in the eighth, plus an RBI single for Ken Crum. Joe Gowin appeared again, walked Marroguin, but got an inning-ending K on Raczka. John Scott was back in the ninth, but Knight, Suzuki (on an error), and Lopez loaded the bases with nobody out. All scored – but only with two outs. Crispin popped out, Waters plated a run with a groundout, and Ramsay then singled home two with a ball to center. Chris Gowin chipped in another pinch-hit single before Marroguin grounded out. 13-4 Coons! Puckeridge 2-4, 2B; Malkus (PH) 1-1, 2B; Ramsay 5-6, 2 2B, 4 RBI; Gowin (PH) 1-1; Marroguin 2-5, BB, 2 RBI; Knight 2-4, BB, 2 RBI;

We’d sprinkle in a day off to all the regulars once more, since the next off day was over a week away and we had enough injuries already. Ken Crum and Pucks had the day off for the season finale.

Game 3
POR: 3B Malkus – LF Marroguin – 2B Waters – 1B Ramsay – C C. Gowin – CF Suzuki – RF Lopez – SS Knight – P V. Scott
CHA: CF M. Sharp – 3B Sivertson – 2B E. Stevens – C Sanches – LF Hester – SS Arreola – 1B Earnest – RF Allegood – P Schaeffer

The very first defensive play for the Coons went awry on Wednesday, as Ramsay received a Matt Sharp grounder, but threw the ball into the hustling Vic Scott’s legs, where the hurler had a hard time holding onto it. Sharp reached second base on the error, advanced on Stevens’ single, and scored on a wild pitch to get the Falcons up 1-0. A leadoff double for Juan Arreola and two productive outs made it 2-0 in the second, which the Coons leveled in the top 3rd with hits by Knight, Malkus (scoring Knight from second and going to second himself on the throw home), and the ever-digging Waters, who notched his 76th RBI of the year. He’d strike out with Malkus (double) and Marroguin (walk) on base in the fifth, however, ending that inning.

Scott settled in after his early woes, and allowed only three hits through seven innings, although he sure made it hairy in the seventh inning by walking both Arreola and Earnest to create undue traffic. They were on the corners with one out, but Allegood popped out and Jaden Richards grounded out to Malkus to keep the Falcons from re-taking the lead. Steve Watson, just disposed of by us, appeared pitching in the eighth, walked a pair, but Mikio Suzuki then hit into an inning-ending double play.

He held on through eight innings, but Scott would be hit for in the ninth inning. Crisler walked Tony Lopez to get it underway, although Knight forced out the lead runner with a grounder to short. Pucks pinch-hit and – BOOM! What a homer!! Far away, and never to be seen again!! …and then Esteban Sanches homered off Daley to begin the bottom 9th. Oh well, thankfully Pucks had gone yard for two! Mike Allegood also went deep for two, however, after Billy Hester singled his way on, and Daley went right down Broadway with 97 and two outs. That ball, too, was long, long gone. 5-4 Falcons. Malkus 3-5, 2B, RBI; Puckeridge (PH) 1-1, HR, 2 RBI; Scott 8.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K and 1-3;

Three ex-Coons (Watson, Crisler, Mathers) pitched after Schaeffer left in the eighth inning, and the Coons still couldn’t win the game – now that’s an indictment…!

Raccoons (64-43) vs. Titans (45-64) – August 7-10, 2053

The Titans were behind the Loggers, so that was how bad it was for them. They ranked bottoms in runs scored, and seventh in runs allowed, with a -95 run differential. The pitching side was mostly fine for them, but they were at the bottom in many pitching categories, except for raw power, were they were average with 61 homers, and speed, which saw them second in the league with 129 sacks taken. All of that was derailed by a team hitting .235 overall, though, and then add in some injuries to Ian Davison and Miguel Martinez. The Raccoons had the edge in the season series, 5-2.

Projected matchups:
Victor Salcido (8-5, 3.95 ERA) vs. Chris Ferguson (11-9, 3.22 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (10-6, 2.56 ERA) vs. Justin Johns (4-10, 5.19 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (7-5, 2.36 ERA) vs. Marcus Wilkins (6-8, 3.48 ERA)
Kyle Brobeck (6-2, 4.33 ERA) vs. Jordan Ramos (1-6, 3.09 ERA)

Johns’ start was contingent of overcoming a forearm complaint he had; we’d otherwise walk our way around their only southpaw in the rotation, overburdened David Barnes (3-15, 4.54 ERA).

Matt Waters sat out on Thursday, which left Ramsay to get a day off.

Game 1
BOS: 2B Roura – LF M. Gilmore – CF Whitlow – RF D. Gonzalez – C R. Gonzalez – SS A. Montes de Oca – 1B Weir – 3B Ro. Jimenez – P Ferguson
POR: 2B Malkus – 3B Crispin – CF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – RF Marroguin – C Raczka – SS Knight – P Salcido

Dave Roura reached on a single to begin the game, but was caught stealing. In the second, the Titans packed the bags with the Gonzales, Dave and Ruben, and Angel Montes de Oca, the first and last of whom walked, while the ex-Critter hit a single, before Hector Weir gave them the lead… with a double-play grounder, 4-6-3. Rocky Jimenez then grounded out to short to leave Ruben Gonzalez at third base. He’d drive in the second run of the game though, singling in Matt Gilmore all the way down in the sixth, in which the Coons got three singles off Salcido, or in other words, more than the Raccoons had in total at that point. Ferguson had retired them in order the first time through, while Malkus and Ramsay had clipped singles in the fourth inning… but had been stranded. Salcido and Crispin hit singles in the bottom 6th to put the tying runs on base, but this time Pucks couldn’t break the plane above the outfield wall… but he broke Matt Gilmore instead, who tumbled wildly after making the catch and had to be carted off the field, replaced by Josh Spath. Ramsay flew out to Dave Gonzalez to strand runners on the corners. The game then tilted away for good in the seventh; Weir reached on a Ramsay error, and he could not do anything with Rocky Jimenez’ following grounder either, putting two Titans aboard to begin the inning. Ferguson bunted well, and Dave Roura singled home both runners, 4-0. Salcido pitched into the eighth, but Ferguson went into the ninth, until he was taken deep by Pucks, but that was with nobody on base either, and also the last Critter to get on base at all. 4-1 Titans.

Harry Ramsay had cooled off, so it wasn’t the worst time to give him that day off on Friday, either.

Game 2
BOS: 2B Roura – LF Spath – CF Whitlow – RF D. Gonzalez – C R. Gonzalez – 1B Weir – SS J. Alvarez – 3B Ro. Jimenez – P Johns
POR: 3B Malkus – CF Marroguin – 2B Waters – LF Puckeridge – 1B Crum – C Gowin – RF Lopez – SS Knight – P Taki

Eric Whitlow and Alan Puckeridge exchanged solo homers for the first runs for either side in this game, but the bottom 2nd continued for the Coons, with Gowin and Lopez hitting singles before Matt Knight one-upped them with one gone in the bottom 2nd and doubled to the base of the fence behind Dave Gonzalez. Gowin scored, and the Coons went up 2-1. Taki struck out, but Whitlow couldn’t reach a Malkus drive to center that also dropped for a double, plating two. Marroguin grounded out, but the Raccoons found more offense in the bottom 3rd, as Pucks singled to right, stole second base, and then scored on another single to right slashed by Ken Crum, 5-1. Matt Knight reached and stole his first base in the fourth, then was doubled home by another Malkus drive, this time beating Josh Spath in left. Johns was batted for in the top of the fifth after getting spanked for six runs in four innings.

Taki went on about his business until the eighth inning when he very suddenly stumbled and faceplanted. The Titans rocked him for four hits with the Coons pen initially still dormant, after Boston had not progressed past a casual seamer single for 90 minutes. Whitlow and Dave Gonzalez drove home runs for the Titans, and Ruben Gonzalez was the tying run at the dish all of a sudden. Hitchcock and Suzuki entered in a double switch, and Ruben Gonzalez flew out from one to the other to end the inning. The Coons then failed to score despite leadoff singles for Pucks and Crum in the bottom 8th against Felix Castano, which sucked, and Hitchcock kept the ball for the ninth. He struck out two, then popped out Rocky Jimenez to first base. 6-3 Raccoons. Malkus 2-4, 2 2B, 3 RBI; Puckeridge 3-4, HR, RBI; Crum 2-4, RBI; Knight 2-4, 2B, RBI; Taki 7.2 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, W (11-6); Hitchcock 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, SV (3);

That win secured the lead in the division through the weekend, with a 2 1/2 game lead over the Crusaders.

Game 3
BOS: LF Roura – 2B M. Martinez – CF Whitlow – RF D. Gonzalez – C R. Gonzalez – 1B Weir – SS A. Montes de Oca – 3B J. Alvarez – P Wilkins
POR: 3B Malkus – 2B Waters – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – C Gowin – CF Suzuki – SS Knight – P Wheatley

Alan Puckeridge continued to play like his tail was on fire, homering on a line drive screamer in the first inning on Saturday, giving Wheats a 1-0 lead. The rest of the team completed a team cycle in the bottom 2nd, as Crum tripled, Gowin singled, and Suzuki doubled, all with nobody out, making it 2-0 with a pair in scoring position. Knight whiffed, but Wheats hit a sac fly, which somehow was his first RBI of the season. Wilkins walked Malkus, then was singled off by Waters to drive in a fourth run. Pucks then flew out to deep left, leaving a pair stranded. Ramsay homered in solo fashion in the third inning, and up 5-0 I felt treacherously at ease, with Wheats only having given up a single the first time through. He hit a single his second time up, then scored along with Malkus on another long homer to right, and Knight doubled home Suzuki in the fifth as the Raccoons scored in each inning. The Titans scored in the sixth when Dave Roura found the gap for a 1-out triple and scored on Miguel Martinez’ groundout, 8-1. The Coons didn’t score in that inning and the next, and Wheats ran some long at-bats in the eighth and was lifted after walking Raul Salas in the #9 hole after a 10-pitch battle. The ball went to Cornejo, the useless ****, who gave up the run, and another one, on three straight 2-out singles by Roura, Martinez, and Whitlow, drawing as much ire as I could muster in an 8-3 game. At least he finished the game without blowing it entirely… 8-3 Coons. Waters 3-4, BB, 2 2B, RBI; Puckeridge 2-4, BB, HR, RBI; Gowin 2-4, 2B, RBI; Wheatley 7.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (8-5) and 1-3, RBI;

Game 4
BOS: 1B Weir – 2B M. Martinez – CF Whitlow – RF D. Gonzalez – C R. Gonzalez – SS A. Montes de Oca – LF Hunt – 3B Serna – P Jo. Ramos
POR: 3B Malkus – SS Waters – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – C Gowin – RF Lopez – 2B Boese – P Brobeck

Could Pucks mash one for the fifth straight game? Well, maybe, but for the start, Harry Ramsay hit a 2-run score-flipper to right in the bottom 1st, after Hector Weir’s leadoff double had quickly led to a Boston run in the top half of the inning. Malkus had reached base ahead of Ramsay, who dinged his 15th of the year. Brobeck, up 2-1, gave up a leadoff double to Jordan Ramos in the third inning, but managed to strand the tying run at third base as Weir grounded out, Martinez popped out, and Whitlow flew out easily. Brobeck then opened the bottom 3rd with a single of his own, but was doubled up by Malkus.

The Titans hit three singles off Brobeck in the fourth, but also had Ruben Gonzalez shove into a double play to derail the effort. The Coons had the bags full in the bottom of the fourth, as with one out Crum walked, Gowin singled, and Lopez got drilled by a former teammate, which was rather inconsiderate of Ramos. Naughty Joe managed a sac fly, 3-1, and Brobeck whiffed in a full count, ending the inning. Ramos then reached again to begin the next frame, this time when Pucks dropped his fly ball to center, but then caught two much harder hit balls by Weir and Whitlow as Brobeck retired the next three.

Pucks was still dry in the sixth, but Ramsay and Crum reached, then scored when Chris Gowin sent Ramos to bed with a 430-footer to dead center, a 3-piece for a 6-1 lead. Lopez grounded out, but then Naughty Joe ran into one off Kenneth Spencer (former Coons farmhand) and homered to left for his maiden dinger! Also, not quite a first, but the first in three years: Kyle Brobeck went the distance as the Titans folded in the late innings, and picked up his seventh W of the year in 14 starts. 7-1 Critters! Ramsay 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Gowin 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Brobeck 9.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, W (7-2) and 1-2, BB;

In other news

August 5 – Denver right-hander Jon Craig (13-5, 3.48 ERA) 3-hits the Rebels in a 5-0 shutout win.
August 5 – Right-handed L.A. swingman Omar Vargas (8-3, 4.26 ERA) is out for the year after tearing his labrum.
August 6 – A sac fly by NAS 2B/SS/RF Jake Groff (.249, 3 HR, 37 RBI) ends a 15-inning game against the Scorpions with a 4-3 Blue Sox win.
August 7 – It’s 300 career saves for TIJ CL Dale Mrazek (4-2, 4.76 ERA, 20 SV), who holds off the Falcons for a 7-6 Condors win to reach the milestone.
August 8 – LAP OF/1B Noah Caswell (.334, 5 HR, 49 RBI) could be done for the year after being diagnosed with shoulder tendinitis.
August 8 – The Loggers crush the Indians, 17-1, with five of their starters notching at least three hits, and four of them driving at least three runs. Somehow, amidst all that, Dave de Lemos (.176, 0 HR, 13 RBI) manages to go 0-for-5 with 2 K and nothing else.
August 9 – OCT SS/1B/LF Ryan Cox (.272, 10 HR, 48 RBI) is expected to miss two weeks with a sore ankle.

FL Player of the Week: WAS OF Dan Martin (.330, 16 HR, 64 RBI), hitting .382 (13-34) with 4 HR, 11 RBI
CL Player of the Week: NYC INF Prince Gates (.296, 10 HR, 70 RBI), scratching .483 (14-29) with 3 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Good 5-2 week, even though Daley’s blow-up in the finale in Charlotte still sticks in my craw. But the offense works now – we’ve hit our way up into third place in runs scored, and we’re second in runs allowed, with the run differential up to +117!

Pucks hitting homers in four straight games, once as pinch-hitter, was a bit of a joyride as well this week. He went “only” 9-for-24 though (.375) with a double in addition of the four homers, five RBI, and three stolen bases. He’s up to third in the CL in both batting and homers, and one RBI off third place in that category, too, even though the leaders are a ways away in all cases: 21 points of average, 5 homers and 8 RBI missing towards Zach Suggs (twice) and Tony Aparicio, of the Loggers and Elks, respectively.

Those Loggers and Elks are also out next CL opponents; although while we have the Loggers in starting on Monday, the Elks are two weekends away; it’s the final interleague games against the Wolves and Caps in between.

Victor Scott has only made two starts so far, so maybe it’s a bit early to toss him under the bus, but Cornejo and Prada in the pen have been *rough*, and Marroguin is hitting .174 as a Coon. At least he is hitting under .180 while costing only 1/3 of what Tony Lopez is cashing!

Reinforcements? Brett Lillis jr. (remember him?) might start a rehab assignment next weekend, but Lonzo is unlikely to join the team before the roster expansion, and might be late even for that.

Fun Fact: Alan Puckeridge was signed for $22k out of Austr-aah-lia.

I’m still giggling.

Just shy of 500 games and in his age 25 season, he’s batted .309/.360/.452 with 556 hits, 45 homers, and 271 RBI. He’s also stolen 92 bags, was an All Star, and if we could decide to finally plant him on a corner for good, might even win a Gold Glove some day. Right now he’s getting the Maldo treatment, which isn’t great if you want a guy to win awards.

I’m not even kidding. This year he’s spent 303 innings in center, 297 innings in left, and 265 innings in right, plus 17 innings at first base. For his career it’s basically the same picture: 1,312 in right, 1,193 in center, and 1,144 in left, plus 298 at first.

Of course, when you say Australia in Portland, you have to say Vern Kinnear, who made 809 appearances for the Coons before leaving as free agent. He batted .263/.365/.430 with 688 hits, 72 homers, 397 RBI, and just five stolen bases as a Coon in the 90s.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (67-44) vs. Loggers (50-62) – August 11-13, 2053

Three with the Loggers, then, against whom the Raccoons led the season series, 8-4. The Loggers were fifth in the division, scoring the eighth-most runs and giving away the second-most runs, which was not a winning formula. Cranky defense, second-worst rotation, and the worst pen, with that ERA well over five, all the while wasting the precious youth of Zach Suggs, who was bidding for a triple crown… except that he had nobody to drive in on that cruddy team and was almost 20 RBI behind the CL lead.

Projected matchups:
Victor Scott (10-4, 3.51 ERA) vs. Noel Groh (4-12, 5.16 ERA)
Victor Salcido (8-6, 3.93 ERA) vs. Jamie Kempf (6-3, 3.44 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (11-6, 2.61 ERA) vs. Angelo Munoz (7-7, 4.16 ERA)

Only right-handed starters to come up here, with the battered pitching staff further diminished with injuries to John Morrill and Jayden Woods.

Game 1
MIL: LF Pigman – 2B R. Lopez – CF Steinbacher – RF Callaia – 1B Haracz – C Cadena – SS T. Edwards – 3B J. Rodriguez – P Groh
POR: 3B Malkus – 2B Waters – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – C Gowin – CF Marroguin – SS Knight – P Scott

The Raccoons took a 1-0 lead in the first when Pucks doubled and Ramsay singled him home, but Victor Scott went under as early as the second inning. Gaudencio Callaia opened it with a single to center, and before long the bags were full with nobody out. Travis Edwards’ sac fly tied the game, but the Loggers scored two more on hits by Jose Rodriguez and Perry Pigman before the inning wore out. The Loggers kept whacking hits off Scott, but they also were caught stealing twice – Pigman in the first and Phil Steinbacher after singling home Noel Groh in the fifth inning – and Callaia was doubled off trying to advance on Jose Cadena’s fly to center in the fourth inning. The Coons had Malkus and Waters on to begin the third, then saw Pucks pop out and Ramsay hit into a double play, and that was about that until those two were back at the dish in the sixth inning. Pucks led off with an infield single, and Ramsay crushed a fastball for a 2-run homer, cutting the gap back to 4-3, while also reaching 50 RBI for the season. Nobody else reached for that inning, though.

Scott was out after six innings, followed by a rare accident-free inning for Raul Cornejo. After that the Raccoons kept upping the pressure. Matt Knight drew a leadoff walk in the bottom 7th, and then Ed Crispin whacked a double to right to put the tying and go-ahead runs into scoring position. Three poor outs followed – except that Waters’ grounder to first was bobbled by Dale Haracz for an error, which allowed the tying run to score, and also extended the inning for Ramsay to turn the game around with an RBI single to right, 5-4, against lefty Jeff Fox, who then gave up another RBI single to Ken Crum, Gowin walked, Marroguin whiffed, and that ended the inning, four batters later. Steinbacher homered to left-center in the eighth to reduce the lead to one run, 6-5, again, taking deep Alfaro, who split the inning with Vic Flores. Daley retired three in a row in the ninth, though, and no panic broke out, ever. (shakingly clings to Honeypaws with terror in all four of their eyes) … 6-5 Raccoons. Puckeridge 2-4, 2B; Ramsay 3-4, HR, 4 RBI; Crispin (PH) 1-1, 2B;

Game 2
MIL: LF Pigman – 2B R. Lopez – SS Z. Suggs – CF Steinbacher – RF Callaia – 1B Haracz – C C. Thomas – 3B J. Rodriguez – P Kempf
POR: 3B Malkus – 2B Waters – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – C Gowin – CF Marroguin – SS Knight – P Salcido

Salcido fell off the mound pretty much right away, putting Pigman on with a game-inaugurating error, and walking Ricky Lopez and Steinbacher in a busy inning, that also saw a double steal, a wild pitch, a Haracz single, and somehow only two runs for the Loggers before Pucks hustled into the gap to spear a Chris Thomas drive and end the bloody inning. The Coons loaded the bags in the bottom 1st without making an out, thanks to Zach Suggs misfiring on Waters’ potential double play grounder after Malkus had hit a leadoff single. Pucks also singled, and it was three on and no outs for Ramsay, who hit a sac fly, and that was as much as the Raccoons produced in the inning with more meek outs from Crum (K) and Gowin (grounder to short). Marroguin was on base to begin the bottom 2nd, but was caught stealing, while Callaia doubled home Ricky Lopez after a leadoff walk offered by Salcido in the top 3rd…

Ah! Leave it to Ramsay – Hairy Harry harked a harmless hanger hard to left in the bottom 3rd, and outta here! Waters was on base, having forced out Malkus, and the Coons thusly tied the game at three. And Salcido? Had himself taken even deeper by Chris Thomas to lead off the fourth. He was done after five miserable innings, giving up four runs on four hits and three walks, even though it felt worse watching it live. In any case, he needed over 100 pitches, and I didn’t quite know who that doppelganger had been that had subbed in for him in the first half of the season, but Salcido was now back to stinkin’ it up like it was ’52…

For that he was spotted with the lead in the bottom 5th when Suzuki batted for him, reached, and Waters also got on. Pucks then split Callaia and Steinbacher for a 2-run triple, flipping the score to 5-4 Coons. The Loggers had gotten enough grief from Ramsay already and walked him intentionally, but Kempf gave up an RBI single to Ken Crum anyway. Gowin walked to fill the bases, but both Marroguin and Knight popped out to strand a full set in a 6-4 game. The Raccoons then tore down the Loggers’ pen for good in the sixth, where Matt Waters hit a 2-run bomb before new right-hander Roberto Alvarado walked two before getting burned by Chris Gowin with a 2-out, 2-strike, 2-run triple in the rightfield corner. The Coons went to Valentino Prada from there, and the ****-headed right-hander managed to turn a 10-4 lead into a 10-7 lead by getting battered all over the ******* ballpark and logging only one Logger out. He was yanked with Callaia at second, one out, and the tying run on deck. Vic Flores surrendered that run on a 2-out single by Thomas, 10-8, but at least got out of the ******* inning. The Coons held on, somehow; Flores began the eighth with a walk to Jose Cadena in the #9 spot, but got a force at second from Pigman grounding to short. Hitchcock replaced him, wound up the inning with a Ricky Lopez double play grounder, and then continued to retire the Loggers for good in the ninth. 10-8 Coons. Malkus 3-4, BB; Puckeridge 3-4, BB, 3B, 2 RBI; Ramsay 1-2, 2 BB, HR, 3 RBI; Suzuki (PH) 1-2, BB, 2B; Hitchcock 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, SV (4);

At this point I accepted that if you buy something for a fizzled-out 26-year-old AAA first baseman, it’s gotta be a pile of crap. Valentino Prada had a 13.50 ERA as a Raccoon now, and was axed just 15 days after having been acquired.

SIGH. ‘nother round of Mike Snyder, anybody?

Game 3
MIL: LF Pigman – 2B R. Lopez – SS Z. Suggs – CF Steinbacher – RF Callaia – 1B Haracz – C C. Thomas – 3B J. Rodriguez – P A. Munoz
POR: 3B Malkus – SS Waters – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – CF Suzuki – 2B Boese – C Raczka – P Taki

Both starters scattered a bevvy of runners right from the get-go on Wednesday, as the early innings remained Taki’s problem zone. Or the early in *every* inning. The first four leadoff batters for the Loggers all reached base, but none of them scored, with the defense doing a fine job. Naughty Joe turned a double play on a Ricky Lopez grounder in the first to erase Pigman’s leadoff walk, for example. The Coons were just as wasteful with runners, arriving at Taki’s spot for the second time with two outs and two on in the fourth inning, and nothing on the board that was worth a hoot. This time, though, Taki worked a full-count walk from Munoz to fill the bases along with Crum and Raczka, and when Munoz lost Malkus to another 3-2 walk, that forced in the game’s first run. Waters drew *another* bases-loaded walk – those were the first three walks Munoz had offered in the game. Pucks changed things up by falling to 1-2, but then hit an RBI single to center. Ramsay grounded out to short, keeping it a 3-0 game.

The Loggers responded by getting a leadoff single from Munoz, the fifth Milwaukee leadoff man to reach in the fifth inning. Taki retired Pigman, then walked the bags full with Lopez and Suggs before Steinbacher spanked the first pitch he got into a 6-4-3 double play. Callaia drew a leadoff walk in the sixth, but never got moved off first base, but in the seventh – o-ho! – Dave de Lemos batted for Munoz to lead off, but whiffed! He was the second-to-last batter retired by Taki, who got Pigman, then was chased by rain. (looks skywards) I guess the game dragged on long enough for fall to arrive.

Play resumed eventually. Cornejo logged the last out in the top 7th before the Coons broke up Nicholas Pollock for scrap in the bottom of the frame. Straight hits by Crum, Suzuki, and Naughty Joe scored a run, 4-0, before the bases filled with walks to Raczka and Tony Lopez, after which Malkus ran a full count, then split Pigman and Steinbacher for a bases-clearing double. The inning ended with Waters, who was then along with Crum removed for that bit of extra rest ahead of an off day. The ball went to Mike Snyder with the real intent of him finishing the game in the #2 spot, while he had walked five in his only ABL appearance of the season. He improved, walking one and whiffing three in putting the game and series away. 7-0 Raccoons. Malkus 2-3, BB, 2 2B, 4 RBI; Puckeridge 2-5, RBI; Crum 2-4, 2B; Suzuki 2-4, BB; Boese 2-5, RBI; Taki 6.2 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 5 BB, 6 K, W (12-6) and 1-2, BB; Snyder 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K;

That’s an honorable mention for Taki on the basis of no runs allowed and hardly anything else.

Also an honorable mention for the Titans, who somehow swept the Crusaders while we dumped the Loggers, which all of a sudden opened a 5 1/2 game lead for the Raccoons. By Thursday night, the damn Elks tied them for second in the division.

Raccoons (70-44) @ Wolves (61-53) – August 15-17, 2053

Not only the Coons were winning; the Wolves had won five in a row and were just half a game behind the endlessly stomping Gold Sox now! In fact, the entire FL West was under a 7 1/2 game blanket on Friday morning. Salem did it on pitching, conceding the fewest runs in the Federal League, but they had trouble scoring, ranking ninth in offense, still good enough for a +40 run differential (Coons: +127). Salvador Monteino (.307, 20 HR, 69 RBI) was the undisputed anchor of the lineup, which was quite thin otherwise. These teams had met last year, when the Wolves won two of three games.

Projected matchups:
Jason Wheatley (8-5, 2.36 ERA) vs. Zach Stewart (7-4, 2.95 ERA)
Kyle Brobeck (7-2, 4.00 ERA) vs. Brian Fuqua (3-1, 3.00 ERA)
Victor Scott (10-4, 3.62 ERA) vs. Blake Sparks (10-7, 2.46 ERA)

Stewart seemed like the sole southpaw we’d see these seven days.

Game 1
POR: 3B Malkus – 2B Waters – C Gowin – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – CF Marroguin – RF Lopez – SS Knight – P Wheatley
SAL: 3B Thatcher – LF Stipp – 1B Imai – RF Montecino – SS E. Miller – C J. Ortiz – 2B Humphries – CF Tortora – P Z. Stewart

After an initial out by Malkus, the 2-3-4 reached base, even though Ramsay only reached on a Joe Humphries error. Crum singled with three on, putting the Coons up 1-0, to which Marroguin added a run by sneaking another single past a diving John Thatcher. Tony Lopez was less subtle, whacking a homer to left – GRAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAMMMM!!!

Wheats batted before he pitched, grounding out to end the top 1st before taking the 6-0 lead to the hill with him. He struck out the side in the first, got another run spotted on Waters’ 17th homer of the year, and the Coons would storm into double digits in the fifth inning, whacking Roger Pritchard for four more runs driven in by the bottom half of the order, with an RBI single for Marroguin, a 2-run double for Lopez (!), and a run-scoring groundout for Matt Knight. At that point, Wheats had not allowed a runner, and had whiffed five, but then was taken well deep to left by Jose Ortiz with two outs in the fifth. Aw shucks!

Wheats started to lose it a bit the third time through. Thatcher drew a 2-out walk in the sixth, but Pat Stipp struck out. Toushi Imai drew a leadoff walk the inning following, but was doubled up by Montecino. Joe Humphries singled in the eighth, just the second hit off Wheatley in the game. He needed 100 pitches exactly through eight innings, and came back for the ninth to have a try at least. Thatcher whiffed, as did pinch-hitter Antonio Jaimes. That brought up the tough double left-handed pair in 3-4. Better only make it 3! No – Imai singled at 1-1, and did Wheats get one more? He got one more, he still got to see Montecino. And he struck him out! 11-1 Furballs! Waters 2-4, BB, HR, RBI; Gowin 3-4; Marroguin 2-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Lopez 3-4, HR, 2B, 6 RBI; Wheatley 9.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 11 K, W (9-5);

Wheeeeeats!!

Game 2
POR: 2B Waters – 3B Crispin – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – C Gowin – CF Suzuki – SS Knight – P Brobeck
SAL: 2B Humphries – LF Stipp – RF Montecino – SS E. Miller – C J. Ortiz – CF Jaimes – 1B McLaurin – 3B Thatcher – P Fuqua

Fuqua’s wild pitch with Waters and Pucks on the corners plated a first-inning run for the Raccoons, but Brobeck got under the wheels in the first inning, starting with a leadoff walk to Humphries, and quickly deteriorating from there. Stipp and Montecino singled the bags full, Eric Miller’s sac fly tied the game, and Ortiz and Thatcher got home additional runs; three walks, three hits, three runs in the first inning until Fuqua lined out to Knight at short to strand three more runners. Brobeck kept pitching much from behind after that; there were two runners on base in the third inning for Salem until Matt McLaurin hit into a 1-6-3 double play, but after that nifty play Brobeck loaded the sacks in the fourth with a Thatcher single, a walk to Humphries, and nicking Stipp. Montecino was held to a sac fly to Pucks, but Eric Miller then romped a 3-piece to left, and Brobeck wasn’t seen after the fourth inning, having been smothered for seven runs in four innings.

The Coons got two scoreless innings from Alfaro after that, but their offense kept being choked by Fuqua, who rallied after a wonky first to allow only one base hit across the next five innings. Gowin hit another single in the seventh, but was far and wide alone on base there. A pinch-hit walk by Marroguin and a Waters single put runners on the corners again in the eighth inning, then with one out, and Ed Crispin broke through with a zinger into the leftfield corner. Waters got a good read and scored from first base on the double, which got the Coons back into slam range, but the Wolves pen got involved and quickly brought the inning to an end. Old foe Sam Heisler allowed a 2-out single to Jeff Raczka in the ninth, but that was it for the game. 7-3 Wolves. Waters 2-4; Raczka (PH) 1-1; Alfaro 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K;

Game 3
POR: 3B Malkus – 2B Waters – CF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – RF Lopez – SS Knight – C Raczka – P Scott
SAL: CF Jo. Shaw – LF Stipp – 1B Huber – SS E. Miller – C J. Ortiz – 2B Humphries – RF Jaimes – 3B Thatcher – P Sparks

After a quick first, Ramsay opened the second with a single and Tony Lopez joined him on base by walking. Matt Knight’s double to left gave us a 1-0 lead in the rubber game, with another run scoring on a wild pitch while the 8-9 batters left Knight on base. But for a while it looked like that 2-0 lead could be well enough for Scott, who wasn’t overly flashy in the early innings, but held the Wolves away from third base, and through five innings scattered only three singles and a walk, while whiffing five. The Coons then loaded the bags with their 4-5-6 batters and one gone in the sixth inning, but that brought up the bottom of the order again. Matt Knight produced again, however, singling through between Miller and Humphries to chase home two runs and double the lead to 4-0. Sparks striking out the battery meant however that he remained the only Critter with RBI’s in the game.

Scott then walked Josh Shaw on four pitches to begin the bottom 6th. The runner was caught stealing, but Stipp drew another walk in a full count. I sighed. Dustin Huber whiffed, Stipp stole second, and then Miller hacked out as well, ending the inning. Malkus stole a rare base for Portland the following half-frame, but was also stranded by a disinterested middle of the order. Then an Ortiz single to center and another four-pitch walk to Humphries led to Scott getting yanked with nobody out in the bottom 7th. Hitchcock was sent – the tying run was on deck – after having pitched a pointless inning the day before, but was picked apart for a double by Jaimes and a Thatcher homer, and just as soon as you could say “I sure they won’t blow th–“, they already had. Cornejo nailed Ortiz in the eighth, but kept the score even at four.

Brad Barnes’ leadoff walk to Jeff Raczka put the go-ahead run on base in the top of the ninth. Marroguin ran for him, while Crispin batted for Cornejo, grinding out another walk in a full count. Malkus’ fly to center was caught, but Marroguin dashed to third base, and then scored when Waters bashed a double over the head of Antonio Jaimes in rightfield. Crispin also made for home like heck and scored narrowly ahead of the relay throw, 6-4…! After Pucks and Ramsay left Waters in scoring position, the Coons got an all-new battery for the bottom 9th, as Daley pitched to Gowin. Thatcher grounded out to Malkus. John Miller whiffed. Shaw popped one up near first base, and Ramsay got paws on it to end the game…! 6-4 Raccoons. Malkus 2-5, 2B; Ramsay 2-5; Knight 3-4, 2B, 3 RBI;

In other news

August 11 – A homer, three doubles, a single, and four RBI – RIC RF/LF Willie Sanchez (.333, 7 HR, 27 RBI) keeps himself busy in a 13-3 win over the Buffaloes, collecting five base hits on his own, or as much as the Buffaloes grab as a team.
August 11 – The lone run in SAC SP C.J. Harney’s (10-7, 3.33 ERA) 4-hit shutout of the Warriors is a home run by OF Rick Colwill (.367, 2 HR, 10 RBI).
August 13 – Aces SP Josh Wilson (10-8, 3.38 ERA) 1-hits the Falcons in a 7-0 Vegas win, but rues a missed chance at history, since the lone Falcons hit does not occur until LF/CF Nelson Marquez (.258, 0 HR, 5 RBI) pinch-hits with one out in the ninth inning.
August 13 – Knights RF J.P. Angeletti (.240, 1 HR, 15 RBI) gets his 2,000th career hit with a pinch-hit single off OCT SP Alfredo Llamas (8-9, 4.58 ERA) in an eventual 3-2 Atlanta victory. Angeletti, 37, spent most of his career with the Buffaloes, hitting .271 with 186 HR and 956 RBI. He was an All Star in 2048.
August 13 – The Buffos would be without LF/RF/1B Nate Culp (.244, 27 HR, 78 RBI) for the rest of the month; the slugger was out with a knee sprain.
August 15 – Atlanta’s Lance Harrison (.278, 8 HR, 48 RBI) might miss the remainder of the regular season with recurring back spasms.
August 15 – NAS OF Jose Garza (.315, 1 HR, 33 RBI) hits five singles amidst little support as the Blue Sox lose to the Bayhawks, 9-6 in 17 innings. Garza takes eight chances to collect his five hits.
August 16 – Season over for IND SP Tan Brink (5-11, 4.45 ERA); the 27-year-old righty was out with a strained hamstring.

FL Player of the Week: PIT INF Victor Corrales (.312, 15 HR, 83 RBI), batting .550 (11-20) with 2 HR, 9 RBI
CL Player of the Week: LVA 3B/SS Jeremy Welter (.314, 13 HR, 57 RBI), hitting .545 (12-22) with 1 HR, 4 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The Crusaders swept L.A. on the weekend to come to within 4 1/2 games again after their misstep against Boston early in the week, but the Elks went under wholly and completely in Sioux Falls and got swept there, sliding to 7 1/2 behind. There were still 45 games to play (for us), so this was by no means the end for them – especially with another eight games against Portland for them!

Somehow the Raccoons were also holding the second-best record in the league at this point – both the CL and the ABL as a whole, with the Caps an FL-best 70-48. Best? The Thunder, at 77-41, and they were probably already booking mid-October vacations given their legendary string of shortcomings against the Raccoons in the CLCS.

Three months ago precisely, the Raccoons were in fifth place, six games behind the division-leading Indians.

17-20 at that stage, ahead of only the Loggers. Well, the run differential was decent ever since the first few rocky weeks, but run differential had been a big liar the last two years (in either direction)…

The rest of the month will be a giant, 13-game homestand, hosting the Caps, Elks, Arrowheads, and Knights. All bets are off – as well as all Mondays.

Fun Fact: Only two (maybe three, your mileage may vary) teams have previously finished on opposite ends of their division for three or more straight seasons.

By that I mean winning it one year between last place finishes, or coming last in between division titles. There are just two true cases here, and one of them did it for *four* seasons:

2031-34 Miners (1st, 6th, 1st, 6th)
2039-41 Knights (6th, 1st, 6th)

Then there are the 2016-19 Condors, that won the CL South in 2016, but finished dead last in 2017 and 2019. In between, they came third in 2018 … *sorta*. They finished in a 3-way tie for first place, but came up short in the tie-breakers against the Bayhawks, who had to bow to the Aces. The Knights finished just two games back of that mess.

The only other team – ever – to go from a last-place finish to win their division the year after were the 1987 Indians, that rallied from coming sixth to pip the Raccoons to the playoffs by one game.

Besides the 2016 Condors, 2031 and 2033 Miners, and 2040 Knights listed above, the following division-winning teams finished at the bottom of the pile the very next season:

1982 Pacifics
1986 Elks
1992 Wolves
2022 Falcons
2051 Raccoons

None of the teams mentioned in this section (unsurprisingly??) won a championship in the years of their respective, uh, “feats”.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (72-45) vs. Capitals (70-48) – August 19-21, 2053

Interesting series here, the last interleague meet-up of the year … in the regular season at least. The Caps led the FL in offense, but had only middling pitching. It was still good enough for a +53 run differential and the third-best record in the ABL, and the best in their league. This was the fourth straight year these teams played each other. The Coons had swept the set in ’51, but had been swept in return in ’52.

Projected matchups:
Victor Salcido (9-6, 3.98 ERA) vs. Bruce Mark jr. (15-4, 2.68 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (12-6, 2.51 ERA) vs. Sean Fowler (8-7, 3.49 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (9-5, 2.28 ERA) vs. Charlie Hudson (4-6, 5.27 ERA)

Only righty starters for them.

Game 1
WAS: 2B Ale. Silva – LF van de Wouw – CF D. Martin – RF C. Lowe – C Korfhage – 1B S. King – 3B Baldwin – SS J. Reed – P Mark jr.
POR: 3B Malkus – 2B Waters – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – C Gowin – CF Marroguin – SS Knight – P Salcido

Of Salcido’s first 13 pitches, 12 were balls and that filled the bases with Capitals Alejandro Silva, Neville van de Wouw, and Dan Martin. Chris Lowe then whiffed, and Mitch Korfhage hit into a double play to kill the inning for them. The Caps then started to show some deflation and made serial outs against Salcido. While Lowe almost homered to right in the fourth inning, Pucks picked the ball off the fence and gave Salcido ten straight batters retired at that point. Not a lead, though – the Raccoons had twice put pairs on base, but had yet to get a hit when it counted. The game was still scoreless in the fifth when Matt Waters singled with two outs, which didn’t look like a huge breakthrough – but Pucks’ huge homer to right that followed it, surely was!

Alejandro Silva broke up the no-hitter with a 1-out single in the sixth, but then was tangled up with Waters in a noisy collision at second base when van de Wouw grounded to short. Silva was taken off and replaced with Alex Lopez, but Waters was fine, if angry. The Caps then reached the board with two outs, as Ramsay bumbled Martin’s grounder, and Lowe singled home van de Wouw. Korfhage floated out to Puckeridge to end the inning. Ken Crum immediately reached base on a throwing error by Lopez to begin the bottom 6th, putting an insurance run into scoring position when the ball sailed into the first row of the stands. Gowin was walked intentionally, Marroguin grounded out, and Knight was walked intentionally again, bringing up the pitcher’s spot with three aboard and one out. Ed Crispin would pinch-hit … and smack right into a 4-6-3 double play to keep the Coons from tacking on.

Waters doubled and Ramsay was walked with intent in the seventh, but that time the ploy didn’t work; Ken Crum ticked a 2-out RBI single off Mark, and the Coons went up to 3-1. Gowin fanned, though. Scoreless relief from Cornejo and Sencion was in danger when Kevin Daley began the ninth with a leadoff single slapped by Lowe, then walked Scott King with one out. Jayden Baldwin struck out, and on three more pitches, so did Jimmy Reed. 3-1 Critters! Waters 2-3, BB, 2B; Puckeridge 2-3, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Salcido 6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, W (10-6);

Game 2
WAS: 2B Ale. Silva – LF van de Wouw – CF D. Martin – RF C. Lowe – C Korfhage – 1B S. King – 3B A. Lopez – SS E. Luna – P S. Fowler
POR: 3B Malkus – 2B Waters – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – C Gowin – CF Suzuki – SS Knight – P Taki

First inning trouble kept finding Seisaku Taki, who gave up an early run when Silva doubled, advanced on a wild pitch, and scored on Martin’s groundout. The Raccoons had chances; the bottom 2nd saw Crum and Suzuki in scoring position with two outs, but Knight was walked with intent again and Taki made a soft third out, while in the third inning Malkus led off with a double, Waters walked, and Pucks’ single filled the bases with nobody out. Ramsay ran a full count before looking at a rather fat strike three, while Crum hit a roller just next to the mound. Fowler hustled and pounced, but bobbled the ball into his legs, then kicked it towards second base. All paws were safe, and Fowler was mad at himself, with the game now even at one. Fowler walked in a run against Gowin, then gave up a third with a sac fly to center by Suzuki. Knight grounded out to strand a pair, 3-1.

The fourth was uneventful, while in the fifth Silva almost took Taki deep to left, but Crum made the catch against the fence, then turned the thing around and hit a 2-run homer to right with Ramsay on base in the bottom of the same inning, extending the lead to 5-1. Scott King would finally take Taki deep in the seventh inning, but at least it was only a solo homer; they only got four hits off him in seven innings. The Raccoons in turn had the bags full with Ramsay, Crum, and Gowin in the bottom 7th, but Suzuki grounded out to Silva to strand the whole lot of them. Two more hits for the Caps in the eighth then; a Silva single off Mike Snyder, then a homer off Flores by Dan Martin, which reduced the lead to a skinny run, even though Knight and Tony Lopez reached in the bottom 8th and a groundout by Matt Waters brought in an insurance run again before the inning ended with Pucks popping out. Daley allowed no batters on base in the ninth inning this time, and the Coons won another game. 6-4 Critters! Crum 2-3, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Lopez (PH) 1-1; Taki 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (13-6);

The Coons!

Game 3
WAS: 2B Ale. Silva – LF van de Wouw – CF D. Martin – RF C. Lowe – C Korfhage – 1B S. King – 3B E. Luna – SS J. Reed – P C. Hudson
POR: 3B Malkus – 2B Waters – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – CF Suzuki – SS Knight – C Raczka – P Wheatley

Wheats came, saw, and gave up three runs inside ten pitches with an infield single, hit batter, Dan Martin’s triple, and a run-scoring groundout for Lowe. I opened a new bottle of Capt’n Coma, because I’d need it. The Coons stranded a pair in the bottom 2nd when Raczka struck out, then had another pair on base with two outs in the third after Waters and Pucks reached. Ramsay doubled over the head of Martin from there, and Waters scored, but Puckeridge was thrown out trying, also ending the inning.

The game continued to go worse and worse; Wheats got more on the snout in the fifth inning with a leadoff walk to Silva, then threw a wild pitch. Van de Wouw and Martin both whacked RBI hits, going up to 5-1. And the main problem was not losing THIS game, but that we’d play *two* on Friday with the damn Elks, and needed some sort of bullpen. Wheats batted for himself in the bottom 5th despite having nothing and having thrown away a chance at the ERA title already. He grounded out; Malkus homered after that, 5-2, and then Waters triple. Pucks was brushed in the elbow with a pitch, which brought up Ramsay as the tying run. He singled home Waters, but Crum grounded out, and so did Suzu– … nah, Jimmy Reed flubbed it. Pucks scored on the error, 5-4, and the game got tied with Matt Knight’s single through the right side. When Raczka walked, Wheats returned to the plate, batting with three on and two outs. But … the pitching situation hadn’t changed. We *still* had to play two with the damn Elks on damn Friday! Wheats struck out, returned to the mound, and only managed one more inning before hitting 100 pitches.

Bottom 6th, Waters reached base, then was caught stealing for the second out. Pucks then singled, and he did steal second base. The Caps walked Ramsay on the open base before righty Ben Akman created a new open base with a wild pitch. To heck, walk Crum too! Suzuki then ran a full count before zinging a single over Reed’s head for a go-ahead, 2-run single! Crum went to third on the play, while Suzuki stole second base, which led to another intentional walk to Knight, the third willful free pass of the inning. Raczka struck out, and then the Coons sent Wheats back out for the seventh. He got two more outs, then walked both Martin and Lowe and was yanked after 119 pitches. Hitchcock replaced him with Tony Lopez in a double switch – Suzuki was out and Pucks went to center – … and Pucks then immediately couldn’t reach a Korfhage drive to left-center. It dropped for a double, Martin scored, and Lowe tried to get to home plate – but was thrown out on Knight’s perfect relay!! The Coons remained ahead, 7-6!

The Caps’ pen failed the bags full with Lopez, Waters, and Pucks in the bottom 7th, bringing up Ramsay with three on and one gone against lefty Jake White, but crashed into a double play on the first pitch. The eighth was rather uneventful, Hitchcock holding on to the lead, but he was also hit for in the bottom 8th with Naughty Joe to nary an effect. And the ninth? Daley had been out two days straight, and would not be available for either end of the double header if he pitched now. Hitchcock was gone. Cornejo?? (snickers, then drinks harder). *Eloy Sencion*, disgraced as recently as April, appeared for the ninth inning. Eric Thomas grounded out, but Silva singled on a 3-1 pitch. Jason Monson singled on a 1-2 pitch. Martin lined – out to Knight! Silva scrambling back to the bag – safe! Nooo!! Open your eyes, blue!! (throws bottle against the wall, where it shatters) … (Maud sighs) … The Caps didn’t bat for the lefty Lowe with two outs, but the Coons held a mound conference, not that there was an intent to replace Sencion here. The 0-1 was hit to center though, and pretty loudly. Pucks scurried back, turned left, turned right, reached – and grabbed the ******* ball!! 7-6 Furballs! Waters 3-4, BB, 3B; Ramsay 2-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI;

Sweep! As usual in this series.

Raccoons (75-45) vs. Canadiens (66-53) – August 22-24, 2053

The Coons then had a vile stench in the house again, as the damn Elks came to visit for four games in three days, not that anybody was keen on seeing them. They were 8 1/2 back in the division, but I never doubted them using their black hoof magic to wreck our season. They were fourth in runs scored and tenth in runs allowed, with only a +6 run differential. We were up 6-4 in the season series.

Projected matchups:
Kyle Brobeck (7-3, 4.50 ERA) vs. Cory Ellis (6-8, 2.89 ERA)
Antonio Alfaro (6-2, 3.97 ERA) vs. Jesse Bulas (10-10, 5.44 ERA)
Victor Salcido (10-6, 3.82 ERA) vs. Juan Arrocha (5-8, 4.84 ERA)
Victor Scott (10-4, 3.59 ERA) vs. Terry Herman (12-7, 3.69 ERA)

Only right-handed opposition once again! Yeah the mantra was to use the better pitcher first in a double-header, but who can pick between Brobeck and Alfaro…? I had a bad vibe going into this Friday. On the plus side, our lead was 5 1/2 games, so we could not possibly lose the lead while the stink antlers were in town.

Juan Ramos and Jeff Wheeler were on the DL for Elk City. Tony Aparicio was hitting .326 with 20 homers, while the rest of the lineup struggled for power, or to hit over .290.

Game 1
VAN: CF D. Moreno – SS Mullen – 2B Aparicio – 1B Liberos – LF Magnussen – 3B Guillory – C Julio Diaz – RF Burkhart – P Ellis
POR: 3B Malkus – 2B Waters – LF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – RF Lopez – CF Suzuki – SS Knight – C Raczka – P Brobeck

The Raccoons had reserve pitching on standby during Game 1. If Brobeck blew up early, Snyder would be tossed to the lions for as long as he could lift his arm, then waived off the roster after the game to get fresh breath up for Game 2.

In the event, the Coons batted through the order in the first, and then some. Singles for Malkus and Waters, doubles by Ramsay and Lopez, more singles for Knight and Raczka, a Brobeck double, Malkus got nicked, and Waters singled home one more run for a 6-0 lead after the first inning, while Pucks made two outs, and Tony Lopez was the only batter to drive home a pair! Being up by six, however, didn’t stop Brobeck from sucking. He walked three batters the first time through, even though the Elks didn’t score any of them, then did give up a run on three singles in the third inning; Adam Magnussen singled home Dan Mullen to shorten the gap to 6-1, while Pucks had to make a headlong dive to rob Landon Guillory of an RBI hit and end the damn inning. Magnussen had another RBI single in a dreadfully long fifth inning, in which the Elks stranded another pair but got Brobeck’s pitch count up to a regrettable 90. The gap was still five – in between Magnussen RBI’s, Pucks had compensated for his first-inning troubles with a solo homer to left, his 20th of the year.

The Coons ended up getting seven very messy innings from Brobeck, who gave up only two runs on eight hits and four walks, needing 116 pitches through seven. Snyder got into the game anyway, hoping he’d pitch for six outs while giving up at most four innings, preferably less. He gave up a single to Julio Diaz and nothing else, whiffing four Elks instead. 7-2 Raccoons! Waters 2-4, RBI; Puckeridge 2-4, HR, RBI; Raczka 2-4, RBI; Snyder 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K;

As thank you for the nice outing, Mike Snyder was optioned (but not waived), and Ryan Harmer was activated from the mobile reserve for at least the second game of the double header and maybe also the rest of the weekend.

Game 2
VAN: CF D. Moreno – SS Mullen – 2B Aparicio – 1B Liberos – LF Magnussen – 3B Guillory – C Whitley – RF Burkhart – P Bulas
POR: CF Marroguin – 3B Crispin – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – C Gowin – SS Knight – 2B Boese – P Alfaro

Both teams scored a pair of runs in the third inning after a calmer start to the game. Damian Moreno took Alfaro deep for the Elks’ 2-0 lead, but Pucks with two outs equalized, singling home Naughty Joe and Marroguin to get even again. Alfaro held his end of the box score, while the Coons scratched out a lead in the fifth inning. Alfaro actually led off with a single, but was forced out on Marroguin’s grounder to second base. Marroguin stole second base, his first successful swipe as a Critter after getting caught four times since being traded over here. A soft single by Pucks moved him to third base with two outs, and Pucks also stole second base before Ramsay singled home both of them for a 4-2 lead. Crum walked, but Gowin struck out, ending the inning.

Alfaro threw 89 pitches in six innings, but felt tired before the seventh and was not brought back. Cornejo replaced him, having Dan Whitley reach base on catcher’s interference to begin the seventh inning, but then retired the next three batters to get around that annoying runner.

Singles off Josh Rella by Marroguin and Crispin put runners on the corners with nobody out in the bottom 7th, a fat chance to tack on an insurance run or five. Pucks grounded out on a sorry wobbler on a 3-2 pitch, with two in scoring position after that. Ramsay hit a sac fly to center, 5-2, and Crum scratched out a single to re-take the corners with Crispin. Chris Gowin grounded out to end the inning, though. We pieced the eighth together with Harmer and Flores, and Daley got the ninth and axed Guillory, Whitley, and Tim Burkhart in order. 5-2 Raccoons! Ramsay 2-3, 3 RBI; Boese 3-4; Alfaro 6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (7-2) and 1-2;

More winnnnns!! (giggles!)

Six in a row in any case, and now a 7-game lead over the Crusaders.

Come Saturday,

Game 3
VAN: CF D. Moreno – SS Mullen – 2B Aparicio – 1B Liberos – LF Magnussen – 3B Guillory – C Julio Diaz – RF Burkhart – P Arrocha
POR: 3B Malkus – 2B Waters – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – C Gowin – CF Suzuki – RF Lopez – SS Knight – P Salcido

The Raccoons went up 1-0 in the second on Saturday when Knight hit into a double play after the 5-6-7 batters had all reached base to begin the inning, including Chris Gowin, who scored, getting nicked by Arrocha. Salcido was erratic, walking two and striking out four the first time through, but didn’t allow a base hit until Dan Mullen’s leadoff single in the fourth inning. Salcido walked Tony Aparicion, but got a double play from Manny Liberos, only to give up the lead anyway on a Magnussen double. Guillory flew out to Lopez to end the inning, with the score even at one.

Getting two on and then hitting into a double play remained a pattern here. The Coons did it with Gowin and Suzuki singles in the bottom 6th before Tony Lopez was a killjoy. Matt Knight got his 35th intentional walk of the week, leading to Salcido getting pinch-hit for with Pucks, who had the day off on the bench, but grounded out and the game remained tied. Sencion followed on, striking out the side in the seventh and getting Julio Diaz on a fly to left to start the eighth. Hitchcock then entered in a double switch, taking over the #3 spot as Ramsay was rotated out. Marroguin entered the game in left, with Crum to first base. Two pinch-hitters’ groundouts ended the inning, but the Coons couldn’t score either. The Elks went down in order against Hitchcock in the ninth inning, which offered a chance to walk off against righty Ruben Mendez… except that we brought up the bottom of the order in the ninth inning. Tony Lopez opened with a single to left, but was caught stealing, and Knight and Marroguin struck out to send the game to extras, the Coons out-hitting the Elks, 7-2, but not out-scoring them.

Daley pitched for the fourth time in five days in the 10th inning, but struck out two and popped out Guillory in a quick outing. Malkus and Waters made outs to begin the bottom 10th before Bernardino Risso started bleeding runners. Crispin pinch-hit and walked; Crum singled, and Gowin was nicked. Suzuki was not a great match for the southpaw Risso, but the Raccoons also had no outfielders left on the bench, and the Japanese defensive specialist was sent to bat. Maybe he could stick his bum into a pitch! Nope, he grounded out to second. Tony Lopez was on base in the 11th again, drawing a leadoff walk from Ben Arner, but the right-hander got a double play bouncer from Knight and the game yet dragged on. Another double switch moved the pitcher back to the #8 spot, with Naughty Joe at second and Waters at short. Cornejo allowed a leadoff single to Mullen in the 12th, but got a double play from Aparicio, the 69th double play in the game. Then Cornejo walked the bases full, THEN nailed Dan Whitley out of the game with an elbow contusion. While that left the Elks with no bench players and Jesse Bulas pinch-running for the time being – and who knows catching in the bottom 12th – they had also scored the go-ahead run. Tim Turner singled home two more, before the ******* inning finally ended. Arner retired the Coons in order. 4-1 Canadiens. Crum 2-5; Suzuki 2-4, BB, 2B; Lopez 2-4, BB; Salcido 6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K;

**** Raul Cornejo. ******* ******** ******, I’m gonna break a ******* ************ over his ******* ***************!!!

Yes, Maud, I’ll drink my goodnight sleepy juice now.

Game 4
VAN: CF D. Moreno – C L. Miranda – 2B Aparicio – 1B Liberos – LF Magnussen – SS Mullen – 3B Guillory – RF Burkhart – P Herman
POR: 3B Malkus – SS Waters – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – CF Marroguin – C Raczka – 2B Boese – P Scott

Walks to Burkhart and Luis Miranda, replacement on the roster for Whitley, in the third inning set up Tony Aparicio for an RBI single to left in the third inning, putting the Elks in front, 1-0. Liberos flew out to left, and Waters flew out to right, but *out* to right, tying the game again with a solo jack in the bottom 3rd. The Elks stranded two more in the fourth inning, but the Raccoons took the lead. Ramsay and Marroguin went to the corners before Jeff Raczka’s sac fly to center made it a 2-1 advantage for the home team. Naughty Joe walloped a fastball out of the park then, extending that to 4-1 while also reaching the vaunted .200 mark again.

The fifth inning began then with a Damian Moreno double. Scott, increasingly useless, walked the bags full, threw a wild pitch, nailed Liberos, got Magnussen to fly out to Crum rather calmly, but then gave up a grand slam to Dan Mullen that flipped the score very much back to the damn Elks, 6-4. It also ended Scott’s ****** day. The Raccoons went to Ryan Harmer from there, who managed to cock up five more hits and three more runs in the inning, giving the damn Elks an 8-spot and a 5-run lead. Harmer failed the bags full in the sixth, but the Elks’ bottom of the order failed to get an actual run home there. The Raccoons never recovered from the fifth-inning collapse, and never scored another run. They only put on a pair of runners in the ninth inning with 2-out singles for Raczka and Lopez, but Ruben Mendez then got out Suzuki to end the game. 9-4 Canadiens. Raczka 2-3, RBI; Boese 1-2, BB, HR, 2 RBI;

In other news

August 19 – Condors SP Larry Colwell (10-7, 4.00 ERA) holds the Pacifics to one hit in a 4-0 shutout. The only Pacifics hit is a sixth-inning single for LF/RF/1B Salvatore Rodrigues (.321, 13 HR, 68 RBI).
August 19 – CHA SP Tyler Weems (9-8, 3.66 ERA) throws a 2-hit shutout against the Warriors, taking a 7-0 win.
August 19 – Cincy utility Jason Lettner (.207, 1 HR, 9 RBI) slams down his bat after being called out on strikes, but the lumber bounces and hits the umpire in the legs, for which Lettner is ejected and handed a 3-game suspension.
August 19 – OCT OF/1B Mike Harmon (.273, 10 HR, 81 RBI) is expected to miss a month with a sprained ankle.
August 20 – TOP INF/LF/RF Felix Marquez (.235, 8 HR, 24 RBI) might miss the rest of the season with a quad strain.
August 20 – Atlanta OF/1B Jushiro Wada (.278, 6 HR, 49 RBI) dashes for home on a grounder by Willie Acosta (.281, 4 HR, 31 RBI) and scores ahead of the throw to the plate, walking off the Knights with the very first and only run in a 17-inning slog against the Gold Sox.
August 21 – SFB INF Alonzo Diaz (.252, 2 HR, 29 RBI) retires from baseball after suffering a catastrophic tear in his labrum.
August 23 – DEN SP Nick Robinson (12-8, 3.05 ERA) throws a no-hitter against the Stars, walking three and whiffing six while scratching out a 1-0 win. This is the second-ever no-hitter for the Gold Sox franchise, after the one Robby Gonzalez threw against the Scorpions in 2028.

FL Player of the Week: CIN SS/3B Juan Ojeda (.325, 5 HR, 58 RBI), hitting .519 (14-27) with 1 HR, 6 RBI
CL Player of the Week: TIJ LF/RF Tim Duncan (.350, 8 HR, 33 RBI), mashing .652 (15-23) with 3 HR, 8 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The good news? Raul Cornejo will be a ******* free agent at the end of the season. ******* ******* licker. If you looked at the August record for this team – 17-6 and climbing – you’d think we absolutely smashed the trade deadline, but in fact, none of the additions are doing anything worth writing paragraphs about… at least if you discount all the sucking.

Anyhow, the Raccoons were a whisker under .500 (24-25) at the end of May. We’ve gone 53-22 since.

Indians and Knights next. The rosters will then expand the week after. Lonzo might start a rehab assignment next weekend, but will probably not rejoin the team on September 1 right away. Lillis has started a rehab assignment, but I wish he hadn’t, and he’s been shredded good by AAA hitting.

Looks like things will remain rather complicated around here.

Fun Fact: 71 years ago today, Carlos León of the Wolves hit for his second and final cycle of the 1982 season in an 8-4 win over the Stars.

León was the first player to hit multiple cycles in the league, and is still the only one to hit for two cycles in the same season. The only other player to hit for two cycles in the same 12-month span was the Aces’ Ricardo Garcia in 2009 and 2010.

León had a 9-year career in the ABL, with 1982 and 1983 his best seasons. In the latter, he batted .321 with 11 homers and 49 doubles, driving home 93 runs, although he had more homers (18) and RBI (107) against a lower batting average (.299) in ’82. He began to slowly fade after that. His final season was in 1987 with the Raccoons, batting .272 with six homers in semi-regular exposure in the outfield, but he was not resigned after the year ended and also never got a contract from another team.

For his career, he ended up hitting .279/.346/.416 with 67 HR and 497 RBI.

+++

Yes I mixed up the two Victors in the rotation at the end of the week. The shame!

[Westheim]

Raccoons (77-47) vs. Indians (59-65) – August 26-28, 2053

The Raccoons were up on the Indians, 8-4, for the year, but the Indians came in with a 7-game winning streak, which was slightly concerning. Overall there was a whole lot of middling to their team, which ranked sixth in runs scored and eighth in runs allowed, and mostly hovered around the league average for many more detailed stats as well, although they had the third-highest team batting average, and the third-fewest homers.

Projected matchups:
Seisaku Taki (13-6, 2.51 ERA) vs. James Powell (10-8, 3.46 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (10-5, 2.54 ERA) vs. Thomas Turpeau (6-4, 3.64 ERA)
Kyle Brobeck (8-3, 4.37 ERA) vs. Enrique Ortiz (8-11, 5.03 ERA)

Turpeau was the first southpaw opponent in over a week, and the only one we expected to face in the set.

The Indians had a whole clutch of injuries that mostly affected their lineup, with Rusty White, Chase Clover, Mike Roberts, and Antonio Rios all missing in addition to starter Tan Brink.

Game 1
IND: 2B N. Fernandez – LF Hare – RF B. Quinteros – C Poindexter – 3B B. Anderson – CF C. Morris – SS Ed. Ortiz – 1B A. Ramos – P J. Powell
POR: 3B Malkus – 2B Waters – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – C Gowin – CF Marroguin – SS Knight – P Taki

It was another first inning from hell for Seisaku Taki, whom Nick Fernandez doubled off before the Indians drew three straight walks to send me spiraling into another round of depression right away on Tuesday. Bobby Anderson hit into a run-scoring double play to short-circuit a really big inning, but they went up 2-0 nevertheless by the time Chris Morris flew out to center on a 3-1 pitch. To make it worse, Taki never really sorted himself out in this game, and would not go beyond five innings, walking as many batters in total, and giving up another run in the fourth on a Bobby Anderson double and Morris’ RBI single. At that point the Raccoons were on a grand total of one base hit, a Chris Gowin single in the second. Ryan Harmer followed on the hill, logging five outs, all by strikeouts, but he also gave up a single to Josh Hare in the seventh, moved him to second on a wild pitch, and had Vic Flores wave in that runner on a Bill Quinteros screamer to right that fell for a single, and on the first skip almost tore a hole into Alan Puckeridge’s lower body. Quinteros then ended the inning by getting himself caught stealing. Jordan Marroguin hit a home run to right with nobody on base in the bottom of the inning, but that was also the last base hit for a Raccoon on that day. 4-1 Indians.

On the bright side, Lonzo was cleared to start his rehab assignment with the Alley Cats on Wednesday.

Game 2
IND: 2B N. Fernandez – SS de Castro – RF B. Quinteros – C Poindexter – 3B B. Anderson – CF C. Morris – LF Cordova – 1B A. Ramos – P Turpeau
POR: 3B Malkus – 2B Waters – C Gowin – 1B Crum – LF Puckeridge – CF Marroguin – RF Lopez – SS Knight – P Wheatley

Malkus walked and Waters homered for a quick 2-0 Coons lead on Wednesday, but with concern I had noted that the Indians had hit three hard balls off Wheats in the first inning, of which only one had dropped in for a Quinteros double with two gone. But he pitched around a Knight error in the second and the Indians were held away in the early innings altogether, so maybe we’d be fine.

Nah. Manny Poindexter drew a walk in a full count to begin the fourth inning, and then Anderson and Morris explored various holes on the infield to load the bases with singles and nobody out. Wheats only had one strikeout so far, and wouldn’t get one for the rest of the inning, but the bottom of the order also wouldn’t get a solid hit. Jerry Cordova, Alex Ramos, and Turpeau all popped out – and only Ramos did so in the fairly distant outfield to allow Poindexter to tag up and scamper home ahead of Tony Lopez’ throw, narrowing the score to 2-1.

Portland answered in the bottom 5th by mirroring their score from the first: Travis Malkus drew a walk, and then somebody whacked one outta sight, in this case Chris Gowin, for a 4-1 advantage. Meanwhile, as much as the Indians had bothered Wheats in the first four innings, as little did they keep up appearances in the four after, allowing him to pitch through eight with just two more base runners; Cordova reached with an infield single, and Quinteros drew a walk but was immediately doubled up by Poindexter’s grounder to short. Daley replaced him for the ninth, gave up a leadoff double to Morris, but then retired the next three batters without Morris even reaching third base. 4-1 Coons. Malkus 0-1, 3 BB; Wheatley 8.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, W (11-5) and 1-3;

One of those games where the result is the only thing you should look at. We had only four hits, including that pair of 2-run homers and a scratch single for Wheats. Tony Lopez hit a single, the only clean hit that didn’t leave the yard.

Game 3
IND: 2B N. Fernandez – SS de Castro – RF Quinteros – C Poindexter – 3B B. Anderson – CF C. Morris – LF Locke – 1B Lovell – P En. Ortiz
POR: 3B Malkus – SS Waters – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – CF Marroguin – C Raczka – 2B Boese – P Brobeck

Pucks socked a solo shot in the first, but the Indians answered with three runs (one earned) in the top of the second against Brobeck, who allowed a single to Bobby Anderson, then had Naughty Joe naughtily add Chris Morris to the bases for him. Philip Locke doubled home the pair to flip the score, then scored on a teeth-gnashing 2-out single by the opposing pitcher to make it 3-1. Ortiz hit another one of those in the fourth, then on the other side of a 40-minute rain delay. Brobeck was yanked when he walked Fernandez to fill the bases. Alfaro stranded the runners with a K to Alex de Castro, although the question that kept popping up was who the heck was supposed to be in a quality playoff rotation for this team…

Alfaro didn’t pitch for long, getting only two more outs before leaving with a stiff neck, probably from craning it too hard after a long drive Quinteros had whacked to begin the fifth, but which was caught out there somewhere – don’t know by whom, I had been looking through my binoculars. Ortiz meanwhile was still pitching despite putting pairs of Coons aboard in the third (before the delay) and fourth (after it), mostly by walking the crap out of the brown-clad lineup, then reached base for the third time in the top 6th when Cornejo had already put Locke and Pat Lovell on base, then misfielded Ortiz’ bunt to load them up. Fernandez spanked a liner to left, Crum caught the thing, and Locke went for home, but underestimated Crum’s rocket launcher and was slapped out at the plate to end the inning and keep the score at 4-1, a very popular result in this series, but Cornejo ruined that like he ruined everything he got his filthy rotten paws on by conceding a double to de Castro and an RBI single to Quinteros right to begin the seventh inning. Poindexter found another double play to clean up after that, while the Raccoons had to resort to Poindexter flubbing strike three on Jordan Marroguin to begin the bottom 7th to get ******* anybody on base – we began the inning on two stinking base hits for the entire game. Marroguin stole a base, but lacking support behind him, was stranded. He was the last Critter to reach base in the game. 5-1 Indians.

We made three errors in the game, which was as many hits and runs as we had COMBINED.

Raccoons (78-49) vs. Knights (70-57) – August 29-31, 2053

The long homestand would end with a weekend visit paid by the Knights, who would have been off on Thursday if not for a makeup game with the Gold Sox, which they won. We had already won the season series against Atlanta, 5-1, but they were nothing to sneeze at, despite being 13 games out of the lead in the South and thus virtually eliminated: fourth in runs scored, sixth in runs allowed, but with a sticky rotation that kept being outdone by the bullpen, which ranked in the bottom three in the CL. Strong in the power department with 92 homers, third in the CL, but bottoms in stolen bases, having swiped only 35 bags.

Projected matchups:
Victor Salcido (10-6, 3.73 ERA) vs. Matt Weber (13-3, 2.14 ERA)
Victor Scott (10-5, 3.85 ERA) vs. Dave Hils (9-11, 5.10 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (13-7, 2.59 ERA) vs. Brian Jackson (8-10, 4.47 ERA)

Southpaw Sunday!

Also, Weber was second in the CL in ERA, so maybe that was a good time for the offense to wake up and smash him a few in the mouth so that Wheats and Taki could catch up in the ERA crown race.

Game 1
ATL: SS W. Acosta – 2B Alba – CF Alade – 1B J. Rogers – LF Kirkwood – RF Wada – C S. Suggs – 3B Villacorta – P Weber
POR: RF Puckeridge – 2B Waters – C Gowin – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – 3B Crispin – CF Suzuki – SS Knight – P Salcido

Four straight Knights reached with two outs in the first inning, as Jon Alade and Jay Rogers singled, Chris Kirkwood walked, and Jushiro Wada legged out a 3-2 roller near the third base line that nobody managed to play for anything. Sean Suggs grounded out to short then, stranding three, which sugged for him for sure… Salcido erred Leo Villacorta and Willie Acosta on the corners in the second when Alade hit a drive to deep center that Mikio Suzuki caught on the fly, but then couldn’t slow down before tumbling into the fence, which he hit arm, knee, chest, and face first before rolling into a heap on the warning track – but at least he kept the ball with the third out in his glove… He had to be removed for Marroguin, who was the second of three batters to make meek outs after Ken Crum whacked a leadoff double in the bottom 2nd, and was then stranded.

After Salcido wound his way around more base runners in the third inning, which he produced exclusively by smacking Kirkwood and Suggs with baseballs, the Coons flipped the score in the bottom 3rd. Pucks drew a 1-out walk, Waters punked one out of sight for his 20th longball of the year, and it was 2-1 for the home team. – I don’t know, Slappy. All the signs are on us losing by 11, but I’m willing to have myself surprised.

Gowin and Ramsay went on base to continue the bottom 3rd, but were stranded, after which Salcido ****** the bags full again in the fourth inning. Weber whacked a leadoff single, Acosta walked, and with one out, Salcido smacked another fastball into a Knight, in that case Alade. Jay Rogers hit a comebacker that Salcido took for the second out at home plate, but then gave up two runs on a Kirkwood single to left anyway, and fell behind 3-2 again. Wada grounded out to short to end the top 4th in a really, really, really chewy game that reached a 3-3 score in the bottom 4th with Marroguin singling, Pucks walking, them going on a 1-1 pitch to Waters with two outs, Waters swinging and missing, and then Suggs throwing the ball past Villacorta for an error. Marroguin scored, but Pucks was left on third base when Waters struck out eventually.

Bottom 5th, the bags were full with Gowin (single), Crum (walk), and Crispin (single) and one out. Marroguin popped out to second, but Weber then threw a 1-1 pitch to Matt Knight entirely past Sean Suggs, conceding the go-ahead run on a wild pitch. Knight was then walked intentionally with first base suddenly open, and Salcido struck out to strand the full set, then continued with a leadoff walk to Acosta in the sixth. Fernando Alba then promptly homered, flipping the score to the other side of the board for the fourth time on the day. Salcido was gone after the inning, while the Coons hit three singles off Tony Rosas in the bottom 7th, but Ramsay was doubled up by Crum before Crispin and Marroguin got on base, and before Knight harmlessly flew out to Kirkwood… The pen, with Cornejo, Flores, and Hitchcock, held the Knights to their 5-4 lead through the end of regulation, but the offense had yet to cash in on that scoreless relief. They were dry in the eighth, and the ninth brought up the 3-4-5 batters against David Hardaway. Gowin grounded out, but Ramsay walked. Crum grounded to Thomas Greeley on second base, but at least was not doubled up this time. All that did, however, was allow Ed Crispin to strike out to end the game. 5-4 Knights. Gowin 2-5, 2B; Ramsay 2-4, BB; Crispin 2-5; Marroguin 2-4;

Weber’s ERA didn’t even go up a tenth of a run, so they didn’t really help Wheats and Taki either…

Game 2
ATL: SS W. Acosta – C Almaguer – 1B J. Rogers – LF Kirkwood – CF Alade – 2B Alba – RF E. Avila – 3B Greeley – P Hils
POR: CF Marroguin – 2B Waters – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – 3B Crispin – SS Knight – C Raczka – P Scott

A Marroguin double put the leadoff man in scoring position in the bottom 1st, upon which the Raccoons didn’t score. An inning later a throwing error put Ken Crum in scoring position to begin the bottom 2nd, upon which … well, Crispin singled, putting runners on the corners, but that got us into the “definitely open roster spots this winter” territory. Knight struck out, but Jeff Raczka managed to sling a single to center to at least get Crum home. Scott’s bunt and Marroguin’s fly to center ended the inning, though.

Waters and Ramsay hit singles in the third but the inning ended on a Crummy double play, while the Knights reached the corners with Jay Rogers and Jon Alade in the top 4th before Alba hit a sac fly to Pucks to tie the game. Eduardo Avila also singled, but Knight contained a Greeley spanker to force the Knights out of the inning. Knight was nicked, then caught stealing in the bottom 4th before Raczka hit a 2-out single and Scott reached on an Alba error. What the 38-year-old catcher slash first baseman was doing at *second* base was well beyond my understanding. Marroguin drove in one run with a 2-out knock, but Waters fanned and stranded two more, while Crum found ANOTHER double play in the inning after.

The Knights didn’t have much for stretches here, but they had three straight 2-out singles from their 1-2-3 batters in the seventh inning to tie up the game and chase Scott. Alfaro retired Kirkwood to get out of the damn inning, then was right away hit for with Travis Malkus, who grounded out to begin the bottom 7th. Marroguin socked a double to left, but Waters whiffed again. Pucks finally got one past the defense, though, also hitting a double to left and giving the Raccoons their third lead on the day. Ramsay flew out, though, and the skinny lead went to Vic Flores, who retired Alade and Alba in the eighth before Daley was inserted in a switcheroo. Ramsay left for dinner, while Crum moved to first, Pucks to left, and Tony Lopez entered in right. Daley retired Avila easily to complete the eighth, then got extra run support after Ken Crum’s leadoff single in the bottom 8th. Knight ripped an RBI triple against the Knights, and Lopez punched an RBI double to left. He also made the final out of the game in the field, robbing Pedro Almaguer of a potential bloop hit in shallow right on a headlong diving play. 5-2 Coons. Marroguin 3-5, 3 2B, RBI; Ramsay 2-4; Crispin 2-4; Raczka 2-4, RBI; Lopez 1-1, 2B, RBI;

Not only did Tony Lopez rob that hit with a plunge, he also managed to hit his head into the ground on the dive and was somewhat dazed afterwards, although he wasn’t diagnosed with a mild concussion until Sunday. He went to the DL, perhaps for the minimum 15 days, perhaps forever, and we’d sorely miss his .198 bat.

Would we miss Suzuki? He was diagnosed with a broken thumb, also on Sunday. He would probably miss most of the remaining regular season. Both went to the DL, and the Raccoons had to make a few call-ups a day ahead of schedule: Oscar Rivera and Nick Thomason joined the team, only the latter of whom had made an appearance for the 2053 Coons so far, and that was a single appearance.

Oscar Rivera had worn #12 while batting .241 with 8 HR, 32 RBI in 78 games for the Coons in 2051-52, but that number had since gone to Matt Knight, and he was assigned #18 instead, last worn by Rich Seymour, who was still in AAA, but didn’t figure in anybody’s plans anymore.

Game 3
ATL: SS W. Acosta – 2B Alba – CF Alade – 1B J. Rogers – LF Kirkwood – C Almaguer – RF Wada – 3B Villacorta – P B. Jackson
POR: 3B Malkus – 2B Waters – C Gowin – LF Crum – 1B Ramsay – CF Marroguin – RF Rivera – SS Knight – P Taki

Taki couldn’t get a clean first for his life anymore – he walked Acosta, who stole second, reached third on a wild pitch, and scored on Alade’s groundout for an early Knights lead. Rogers singled with two outs, but was left by Kirkwood. It was gonna get worse. Wada tripled in the second, and the Knights spanked another three singles, including one by their pitcher, to put three more runs on Taki and go up 4-0. Taki didn’t make it out of the fourth inning, giving up more runs on more hits yet. Wada doubled this time, and Villacorta and Acosta had RBI knocks. Eloy Sencion replaced him, Acosta was caught stealing, but the inning after Sencion failed two left-handed batters in Alade and Rogers on base, then gave up two bombs to right-handers Almaguer and Wada, who was thus a single shy of the cycle. It was a 10-0 game by then, and it was a 10-0 game in the worst way.

The ball went to Harmer in the sixth at a point where individual results no longer mattered. Just get the ******* game over with, will ya? He threw three shutout innings before hitting a single in the bottom of the eighth, then scored on a homer to right by Chris Gowin, which marked the first runs on the board for Portland. Harmer remained on the mound, allowed a double and a walk to Alade and Rogers to begin the ninth, but for clear signs that we weren’t giving a **** about the game or Ryan Harmer in person, remained in the game, and actually ******* retired the next three hitters without allowing a run OR giving Wada that elusive single, the cycle unfulfilled. 10-2 Knights. Gowin 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Crum 2-3, BB, 2B; Harmer 4.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K and 1-1;

In other news

August 27 – The Condors trade MR Jake Hill (5-4, 2.34 ERA, 7 SV) to the Pacifics for outfielder Justin Bradley (.208, 0 HR, 5 RBI). L.A. also receives #78 prospect Terry Dwyer for their troubles.
August 27 – Cincy picks up catcher Wade Gardner (.249, 7 HR, 43 RBI) in a trade with the Rebs, who receive a prospect.
August 30 – Falcons SP Tyler Weems (10-9, 3.56 ERA) 3-hits the Indians in a 9-0 shutout.
August 30 – RIC LF/CF Jose Gutierrez (.250, 12 HR, 57 RBI) could miss up to a month with a sore shoulder.

FL Player of the Week: TOP 3B/1B Ramon Sifuentes (.283, 19 HR, 79 RBI), hitting .500 (11-22) with 4 HR, 11 RBI
CL Player of the Week: VAN 2B Tony Aparicio (.329, 24 HR, 102 RBI), slapping .455 (10-22) with 4 HR, 12 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: SFW LF Mario Villa (.347, 16 HR, 91 RBI), hitting .395 with 3 HR, 24 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: VAN 2B Tony Aparicio (.329, 24 HR, 102 RBI), socking .371 with 8 HR, 28 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: SAC SP Sean Sweeton (16-6, 2.58 ERA), throwing for a 5-0 record with 1.97 ERA, 38 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: OCT SP David Barel (19-6, 2.00 ERA), hurling to 5-0 and an 0.84 ERA with 22 K
FL Rookie of the Month: RIC RF/LF Willie Sanchez (.296, 9 HR, 31 RBI), hitting .317 with 6 HR, 16 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: MIL LF/RF Perry Pigman (.329, 8 HR, 47 RBI), batting .348 with 1 HR, 6 RBI

Complaints and stuff

This was our first losing week since… uh… (shrugs!) … Cristiano, you always know everything that’s not worth knowing, when did the Coons last have a losing week? – In *May*???

(checks pocket schedule) Well, yes. May 5-11, the Raccoons took three of four from the Loggers, but then got swept in Cincy, for a 3-4 week. That was the last time. Quite a few 3-3’s in there in May and June, but no losing week for more than three months!

And now, this week! The bums! It was hard to watch!

But September is upon us on Monday, and thanks to some injuries to the spare outfielders we already made some of the call-ups. There’d just be a modest number of additions on Monday, since we had Lonzo and Lillis to come back as well, but both were still on rehab assignments. I was inclined to give Lonzo, hitting .333 in four games, a few more days, while Lillis was bluntly sucking. He had two weeks left on his rehab stint, then he’d have to come back for better or worse.

The Coons would begin the month with a nonsensical trip through Bayhawks and Titans territory, return home for a Crusaders series, and then jet to Milwaukee for a single-series weekend trip. I know I drink *a lot*, but whoever makes these schedules should lay off the varnish.

Fun Fact: Tyler Weems has four career shutouts, with three of them coming this season.

Even weirder: the left-handed Weems is 35 years old, and this is his first season where he doesn’t pitch out of the bullpen even once.

Drafted in the seventh round in 2038, he made a single appearance for the Bayhawks in ’42 before ending up with the Falcons after obtaining minor league free agency as a 26-year-old. He made 17 appearances for them in ’45 but kept going back to the minors many times in the following years. He made his first 19 career starts (among 11 relief appearances) in ’47, going 9-7 with a 3.47 ERA, but then made only 14 more starts in the five years after that. This year? 25 games, 25 starts, and it doesn’t look like he’s having much trouble with it.

Wasted talent, perhaps. In any case, for his career, he’s 34-29 with a 3.62 ERA and a lone save.

[Westheim]

The new week opened with the September 1 roster expansion, but the Raccoons initially made only a few modest additions. Eric Reese and Raul Medrano were brought up to lengthen the bullpen, and the only bat that was added was Dave Blackshire; that, knowing that Lonzo would follow soon.

Yes, not even a third catcher so far. There were only nine active catchers left across four levels as of now, and we were not quite willing to dig into the international complex at this junction.

Raccoons (79-51) @ Bayhawks (48-81) – September 1-3, 2053

The Bayhawks had nothing but honor left to play for, having already been mathematically eliminated by the Thunder in August. They were 11th in the CL in both runs scored and runs conceded, with the worst rotation and bottom three ranks in many other key categories, including defense and batting average. The Coons were up 5-1 on the year against them.

Projected matchups:
Jason Wheatley (11-5, 2.46 ERA) vs. Kodai Koga (4-16, 5.62 ERA)
Kyle Brobeck (8-4, 4.39 ERA) vs. Bob Ruggiero (7-10, 4.42 ERA)
Victor Salcido (10-7, 3.87 ERA) vs. Milt Cantrell (14-8, 3.46 ERA)

Three right-handers coming up, dodging all the southpaws in their rotation.

Game 1
POR: 3B Malkus – 2B Waters – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – C Gowin – CF Marroguin – SS Knight – P Wheatley
SFB: 2B A. Montoya – 3B G. Cabrera – RF Munn – 1B Witherspoon – SS Peltier – C J. Ortiz – CF Felix – LF Wiener – P Koga

A Pucks homer put the Coons on top in the first inning, but the lead dissipated when Jorge Ortiz doubled off the wall, gained a base on a passed ball, and scored on Jorge Felix’ groundout in the second. Wheats’ stuff wasn’t exactly overbearing, but at least he got another lead right away when Malkus doubled home Knight in the top of the third for a new 2-1 lead. More offense came the inning after. Ken Crum drew a 1-out walk, then dashed to third base on Chris Gowin’s single to left-center. Marroguin belted a ball to right that clanked off the fence for an RBI double, 3-1. The Bayhawks walked Knight intentionally, but gave up a run on Wheats’ deep enough fly to left-center to get Gowin home with a sacrifice. The Raccoons then went for a successful double steal, but for no great effect, as Malkus grounded out to short. Bottom 4th, Danny Munn homered to right on the first pitch, narrowing the score to 4-2. That was just the start, though. Sam Witherspoon walked on four pitches, and Adam Peltier singled. Ortiz struck out, but that was the last guy Wheatley retired. Felix walked, and then Bobby Wiener, Pedro Colon, and Armando Montoya raped him for two doubles, a triple, and five runs.

While I sat motionless in a corner, crying silently, Raul Medrano assumed garbage duty. He stranded Montoya with a K and a grounder, then added two more scoreless innings to complete six. The Coons had two on in the top 6th before Knight hit into a double play, but Zach Alldred walked Waters and Pucks with one out in the seventh before being yanked for lefty Matt Otte. Ramsay singled to fill the bases with all the tying runs, but Crum’s sac fly was as good as it got. Gowin walked, and Marroguin flew out easily in another choke job. Malkus walked his way on with two outs in the eighth, but Waters whiffed. Sam Gibson – perhaps the best player still left on the Bayhawks as they raced for 100 losses, was in for the ninth inning. The former Elk faced the 3-4-5 batters, gave up a long out to Pucks, followed by a Ramsay homer and a Crum triple to center, which put the tying run 90 feet away. Gowin popped out to Witherspoon, which did not get the run home – but Ed Crispin’s single to center did, tying the game at seven after all. Knight also singled to right, but Oscar Rivera struck out, cementing uselessness status.

The Baybirds started with Brent Cramer and Montoya singles against Hitchcock in the bottom 9th, but then choked with a fielder’s choice, and with the W 90 feet away now, strikeouts for Munn and Witherspoon to send the game to extras. Nick Roseto and Danny Diaz reached against Alfaro in the 10th, but were also stranded with two poor outs to end that inning. The Coons had been silent in the 10th, but greeted lefty Bill Grau with a Ramsay single and Crum double in the 11th. Ramsay had to hold at third base, and the Bayhawks played the nasty card and walked Gowin intentionally. Three on, no outs, Thomason, Knight, and the pitcher’s spot – good luck. …..or Grau would throw a first pitch to Thomason that had the youngster (makes unsure paw movement) evade, and catcher Keith Redfern scamper after it. Ramsay scored from third unchallenged, and the tie was broken. With a pair still in scoring position, Thomason then lined out, Knight whiffed, and Naughty Joe grounded out to short to strand the runners in truly spectacular fashion. The sole saving grace was Kevin Daley ending the game seeing only three more batters, and retiring them all. 8-7 Coons. Puckeridge 2-5, BB, HR, RBI; Ramsay 3-6, HR, RBI; Crum 3-4, BB, 3B, 2B, RBI; Gowin 2-4, 2 BB; Marroguin 2-4, 2B, RBI; Crispin (PH) 1-1, RBI; Knight 2-5, BB; Medrano 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K;

Isn’t it the most Coons thing ever to face a guy with an ERA roughly 2.5 times that of their own, and not get an L onto him?

Game 2
POR: 3B Malkus – 2B Waters – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – C Gowin – CF Marroguin – SS Blackshire – P Brobeck
SFB: 2B A. Montoya – 3B G. Cabrera – RF Munn – 1B Witherspoon – SS Peltier – C J. Ortiz – CF M. Brown – LF Felix – P Ruggiero

Brobeck walked the bags full and gave up four ******* first-frame runs on a bases-clearing triple by former Coons farmhand Adam Peltier and a double for Jorge Ortiz, so Tuesday again started right at the bottom of a dismal hole. From there, Brobeck would try to save his bacon by going six innings, and while in total he walked as many, he didn’t give up any more runs after that horrendous first inning. The Coons littered runners on six hits and a walk against Bob Ruggiero, but the only run that scored for them was Chris Gowin’s solo homer in the fourth, barely shortening the score to 4-1. Marroguin reached on an error by Peltier and Blackshire singled in the seventh, putting them on the corners with one out and the pitcher’s spot up, and while Brobeck was Brobeck, we’d at least pretend – but Oscar Rivera wasn’t good for more than a sac fly, 4-2, and Malkus popped out. Top 8th, Waters walked in a full count, Pucks singled, and the tying runs were on. Ruggiero lost Ramsay on a disputed ball four call in a full count to fill the bases for Crum, who singled through the right side, 4-3. From there, we barely tied the game up; Gowin made a useless out, grounding to third base, from where Bradley Riley threw out Pucks at home. Marroguin flew to Matt Brown in center, Ramsay went for home, bowled over Jorge Ortiz, and the ball broke loose, leading to Ramsay being called safe on account of violence, flattening the score at four. Grau struck out Blackshire to keep it level then.

Scoreless relief by Cornejo and Ben Lehman for San Fran followed, after which Sencion came in for three lefty batters in the 7-8-9 spots. He got rid of Cramer to begin that bottom 9th, but then pinch-hitters attacked, Nick Roseto singled, and Aaron Harvey doubled, putting the winning run 90 feet away once more with one out on the board. Montoya then struck out. Bobby Wiener batted for the pitcher in the #2 spot; he was a right-handed September call-up for the second time at age 26, so nothing to write home about, having batted .235 in 22 games in ’52. He grounded out easily to Blackshire to send this game, too, to extra innings. Doubles by Pucks and Crum off Greg Hansen gave the Raccoons a 1-run lead in the tenth inning, after which Kevin Hitchcock came out and retired another three in a row. 5-4 Raccoons. Waters 2-4, BB, 2B; Puckeridge 3-5, 2B; Crum 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Gowin 2-4, BB, HR, RBI;

Rejoice – Lonzo was brought back after six rehab games in AAA and would end the parade of replacements at short and Matt Knight getting intentionally walked day in, day out.

Game 3
POR: 3B Malkus – SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – CF Thomason – C Raczka – P Salcido
SFB: 2B A. Montoya – 3B G. Cabrera – RF Munn – 1B Witherspoon – SS Peltier – CF M. Brown – C Redfern – LF Wiener – P Cantrell

Salcido walked two in the first, conceded two singles in the second, and finally was scored on in the third inning as Gil Cabrera got a triple into the right-center gap, and after Munn walked, scored on a Witherspoon sac fly. Three games, three ****** starts for Raccoons hurlers – nothing good ever happened at the stupid Bay.

The Coons flipped the score in the top 4th with their first two base hits in the game, a Lonzo double and a Waters homer, the latter reaching 21 homers, one shy of Pucks on the team, and 93 RBI, which led the team and Pucks in particular by five. Pucks walked, but got doubled up by Ramsay. But Salcido had something left in the quiver – he gave up not one, not two, but three homers in the bottom of the fifth inning. Montoya and Cabrera went back-to-back, Witherspoon got nicked, and Peltier raked another one for two runs and a 5-2 lead.

On the bright paw, the Coons got excellent garbage relief after they purged Salcido, with Harmer and Reese alone getting them through to the end of eight without giving up another run or even letting a Bayhawk touch third base. Unfortunately, the Raccoons offense was just as dismal, and they had only four hits before running into Sam Gibson in the ninth inning. Lonzo grounded to short, but Peltier’s throw fell short, bounced up and off Witherspoon’s wrist, and Lonzo was ruled safe. That was as good as it got for a while, as it took Ramsay and a 2-out single to get Lonzo to score, and that only brought the tying run to the plate. But, oh, don’t underestimate Ken Crum. He was a heck of a #6 hitter – he hit a heck of a homer to right on the 0-1 pitch, and for the third game in a row, the stupid Coons rallied from the depths of nowhere to tie the Baybirds in the ninth inning…!

Despite a throwing error by Raczka than moved Pedro Colon to third base and two outs, with Alfaro pitching in the bottom 9th, this game, too, reached extra innings after Montoya grounded out to Lonzo. The Coons did nothing in the 10th, while Roseto doubled and Munn walked against Alfaro to start the home half of that first tack-on inning, but Witherspoon whiffed and Peltier grounded into a double play. This one went to the Bayhawks, though. The Coons still couldn’t get on base in the 11th against Matt Otte, while Raul Medrano instantly had Matt Brown on second base with a scorched hit in the bottom of the frame. Keith Redfern’s grounder advanced the runner, and while Danny Diaz popped out, Pedro Colon ended the game with a single through the right side. 6-5 Bayhawks. Alfaro 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K;

We should play 11 every day…

Raccoons (81-52) @ Titans (54-80) – September 4-7, 2053

The Titans were on a roll… down the hill, having lost eight straight, after having won six of their last eight before that. They had the fewest runs scored in the CL, and the third-most runs allowed, with a -144 run differential (Coons: +131). Jamie Guidry, Matt Gilmore, Ian Davison and more were on the DL. We led the season series quite good, 8-3.

But Boston is also a place where nothing good ever happens.

Projected matchups:
Victor Scott (10-5, 3.80 ERA) vs. Marcus Wilkins (8-9, 4.40 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (13-8, 2.83 ERA) vs. Chris Ferguson (13-12, 3.75 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (11-5, 2.81 ERA) vs. Justin Johns (6-12, 4.99 ERA)
Kyle Brobeck (8-4, 4.47 ERA) vs. David Barnes (4-18, 4.48 ERA)

Southpaws Sunday – in fact, Barnes would be the only southpaw to come up this week.

Game 1
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – C Gowin – 3B Crispin – CF Marroguin – P Scott
BOS: LF Roura – 2B M. Martinez – CF Whitlow – C R. Gonzalez – SS A. Montes de Oca – 1B Weir – RF Ro. Jimenez – 3B Tamargo – P Wilkins

Top 2nd, a single, a walk, and a Miguel Martinez error loaded the bases with the 5-6-7 batters in the brown-clad lineup, bringing up Jordan Marroguin with one out. Wilkins lost him on balls, too, forcing in the game’s first run, but then got a double play grounder from Vic Scott to get out of the mess. The Coons then unfurled some violence in the third inning. The 1-2-3 in the order went 2-3-4 for bases, with a Waters double, a Lonzo triple, and a Pucks homer to right for three quick runs. Too bad Scott gave back two runs immediately with a leadoff single to Wilkins, always a thrill, Martinez’ RBI triple, and an Eric Whitlow sac fly to cut the 4-0 lead in half. There were too many long flies off Scott for my taste, and by the sixth the Titans got a double from ex-Coon Ruben Gonzalez, and got him around with a sharp single to left by Hector Weir, then a deep sac fly hit by Oscar Tamargo, 4-3.

The Coons had been very, very silent in the middle innings, but began the seventh with putting Waters and Lonzo on the corners, which soon became two in scoring position when Lonzo stole his 36th base of the year, and the first since coming off the DL. The Coons scored zero runs from that, with a Pucks pop to short, Ramsay grounding out to third base, and Ken Crum flying out to right. Brilliant.

Even more brilliant was cocking up the lead in the bottom of the seventh; Scott fooled around until Martinez hit a 2-out single, then was yanked for Cornejo, who retired nobody, and gave up the lead with singles hit by Whitlow and Ruben Gonzalez. When Dave Gonzalez pinch-hit, the Coons went to Sencion and got a K to at least strand the go-ahead runs on the ******* corners. Raul Medrano got through the eighth, despite walking leadoff man and pinch-hitter Raul Salas, who was then run for by Rich Wright, who was then caught stealing. After the Coons wasted a Waters double in the top of the ninth, Medrano pitched another inning, put another runner on (Roura on a single), and that runner was also caught stealing by Chris Gowin, which eventually gave the Coons their fourth straight overtime contest. Not that only the Titans were thrown out – Nick Thomason entered in a double switch at one point, and was caught stealing in the 11th inning.

The tie wasn’t broken until the 12th inning. Pucks hit a double to center, and Ramsay walked, both with one out. Righty Felix Castano struck out Crum, but couldn’t get past 0-2 on Chris Gowin. His third pitch was slapped up the middle and into center. Pucks went like heck with two outs and dashed home, scoring ahead of Eric Whitlow’s throw for Portland to go up 5-4. Crispin grounded out, after which Kevin Daley got the ball against the 2-3-4 batters. And the #5. And the #6. He walked Whitlow, then gave up RBI doubles to Aaron Brewer and Marty Serna to lose the game with two outs. 6-5 Titans. Waters 3-5, BB, 2 2B; Lavorano 3-6, 3B, RBI; Puckeridge 2-6, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Gowin 3-5, BB, RBI; Medrano 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K;

Gah.

The Coons needed more arms after four straight extra inning games and some short starts. Lillis was not gonna be of any use, and the 40-man was full, so it was gonna be the same old tiresome faces. Mike Snyder and Phil Baker were ushered from Florida.

Game 2
POR: 2B Malkus – SS Lavorano – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – C Gowin – 3B Crispin – CF Thomason – P Taki
BOS: LF Roura – 2B M. Martinez – CF Whitlow – RF D. Gonzalez – C R. Gonzalez – 1B M. Gilmore – SS A. Montes de Oca – 3B Tamargo – P Ferguson

Both starting pitchers struck out with two on base to end their team’s half of the second inning, but the difference was that the Coons remained shut out even after walks to Crum and Crispin, while Tamargo had already singled home a run against Taki before Ferguson whiffed. Malkus and Lonzo reached base to begin the third inning, but then the middle of the order croaked, but Pucks redeemed himself the next time up with only the team’s second base hit, a 2-out single in the fifth that plated Malkus from second base, all even at one. Malkus had drawn a 1-out walk, the fourth issued by Ferguson. Ramsay struck out to end that top 5th, and the Titans came right back. Ferguson hit a leadoff single off Taki, who was forced out by Roura. Roura stole second base, then went home on a Martinez single – but was thrown out by Crum! …Martinez went to second base though, then scored on another single, Whitlow’s with two gone, to right-center, and then Dave Gonzalez drove an RBI double into the corner in left, 3-1, before “our” old Gonzalez popped out. Another run scored for Boston in the sixth when Angel Montes de Oca reached and scored on a throwing error by Pucks…

Taki was hit for to begin the seventh, but Matt Knight grounded out and nobody else was much help, either. The pen held up with Alfaro and Flores, but the offense wasn’t coming around and we were still down three by the ninth inning. Marroguin hit a pinch-hit double off Castano in the inning, but the game ended on the next batter, as Matt Waters grounded out to first base. 4-1 Titans. Malkus 1-2, 2 BB; Marroguin (PH) 1-1, 2B;

Nothing good has ever…

Game 3
POR: 3B Malkus – SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – LF Puckeridge – 1B Crum – CF Marroguin – C Raczka – RF Rivera – P Wheatley
BOS: LF Roura – 2B M. Martinez – RF D. Gonzalez – 1B M. Gilmore – SS A. Montes de Oca – CF Weir – C R. Salas – 3B Tamargo – P Johns

Saturday began with a Malkus error to put Roura on base, but Martinez then hit into a double play, so maybe Wheats would recover from Monday’s slapping after all. Then the Titans hit three singles, with Salas driving home Gilmore in the second inning, and Montes de Oca in between, so Boston was up 1-0 again anyway, but at least Wheats got K’s on Tamargo and Johns to get out of the jam. Wheats rung up four through three innings, but Johns got *six* Coons, and the brown offense was nowhere to be seen.

Malkus made another error to put Weir on after Montes de Oca hit a leadoff single in the bottom 4th, but Wheats got out on two easy pops to the shallow outfield and a K to Johns. Top 5th, Johns walked Marroguin to get going, and Raczka snuck a single to center. But Rivera, the bum, struck out, Wheats struck out, and Malkus grounded out, which didn’t help with getting on the ******* board. While Wheats was holding on rather valiantly through six, the top 7th saw another start with two on and nobody out. Crum walked and Marroguin singled this time, and now Raczka flew out to right before Rivera managed to hit a dinker into shallow right for his first base hit of the year. Crum had to wait halfway for the ball to get behind Miguel Martinez, though, which loaded the bags for … Wheats? Nah – Ramsay was on the bench on his day off. He popped out, then resumed his day off, and Malkus struck out, leaving Wheats hanging on the hook.

Top 8th, Lonzo’s leadoff single off Chad Shultz put the tying run on base once again. He stole second base, because what else would he do, then advanced as Waters grounded out. Against Kenneth Spencer, another former Coons farmhand, Pucks hit a sac fly to left, which at least got us finally ******* even. Sencion held the tie in the bottom 8th, then got in line for a W in the ninth when the Coons scratched up Eddie Sotelo’s legs. A leadoff single to Marroguin didn’t help the right-hander’s cause. Raczka popped out, but he walked Ed Crispin in Rivera’s place, and Gowin came through hitting for Sencion, singling home Marroguin. Blackshire batted for a hitless Malkus, but whiffed anyway, making the leadoff spot 0-for-5. Lonzo popped out, stranding a pile more runners. Alright – bring back Daley, the clown. He got through the Titans’ menacing array of left-handed AAA pinch-hitters this time, putting the game into the books on just a Salas single. 2-1 Coons. Marroguin 3-3, BB, 2B; Gowin (PH) 1-1, RBI; Wheatley 6.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K;

That game mathematically eliminated the Titans from playoff consideration, not that that had been my main concern…

Game 4
POR: SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – C Gowin – LF Crum – 1B Ramsay – CF Marroguin – 3B Blackshire – RF Rivera – P Brobeck
BOS: SS A. Montes de Oca – LF S. Lewis – CF Whitlow – RF D. Gonzalez – C R. Gonzalez – 1B M. Gilmore – 2B Steel – 3B Tamargo – P D. Barnes

The Raccoons, after resting thoroughly for a few days, were out in force early on Sunday, with Gowin driving in the go-ahead run(s) after Lonzo and Waters had gotten on and had pulled off a really aggro double steal, then both scored on a double over the head of Whitlow. Crum lobbed an 0-2 pitch over the shortstop for a single, and Steve Lewis overran the ball for an extra base, helping Gowin score. Crum scored after a Ramsay single and Marroguin grounded out, while Oscar Rivera was still trying to win some sort of right to exist on the roster and homered to left, which put us at 6-0 in the first inning. Brobeck reacted by getting spanked for four hits, some sharp, and a run the first time through the Titans order, then lined up two zeroes before giving up another one in the fifth, which Tamargo opened with a double to left and quickly scored with productive outs by Marty Serna and Montes de Oca. Whitlow singled to begin the sixth, stole second, and then also scored on two productive outs, which eroded half of the first-inning barrage by now, and which the Raccoons also hadn’t followed up with anything at all so far.

Then Danny Easter, the old gift-bearing bunny, opened the seventh inning with 12 straight balls to Waters, Gowin, and Crum, filling the bases with nobody out. Harry Ramsay hit a fly to left-center, good enough for a sac fly, which was better than NOTHING, and a 7-3 lead. Marroguin flew out to shallow right, but Blackshire got a double into right-center to drive in Gowin, though Crum had to hold at third base, but Rivera then grounded out. Sencion dug out Brobeck after he got stuck in the seventh, while Snyder got the eighth, walked Gilmore, and gave up that run on a Tamargo double to right with two outs. Raul Salas struck out to end the bottom 8th, however, and the Coons were still up by four. Ryan Harmer however gave away two singles in the bottom 9th without even getting two outs. The Coons went to Hitchcock here, with the Gonzalezes coming up. He actually only faced one – Dave Gonzalez hit into a double play to end the game. 8-4 Raccoons. Waters 2-4, BB; Blackshire 2-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Rivera 1-2, 2 BB, HR, 2 RBI;

In other news

September 1 – MIL 1B/RF/LF Gaudencio Callaia (.316, 9 HR, 61 RBI) could be done for ’53 after suffering a case of forearm tendinitis.
September 3 – ATL SS/2B Willie Acosta (.295, 4 HR, 34 RBI) was out with a concussion; there was no timetable for the 23-year-old Nicaraguan’s return, although the Knights front office expected him to miss most if not all of the remaining season.
September 5 – DEN C Blake Mickle (.242, 9 HR, 60 RBI) leads the charge with two homers and five RBI as the Gold Sox thrash the Scorpions, 14-5.
September 6 – Buffaloes LF/RF/1B Nate Culp (.245, 27 HR, 79 RBI) is expected to miss the rest of the regular season with a separated shoulder.
September 7 – SFB SP Kodai Koga (5-16, 5.41 ERA) has a highlight in a rotten season by throwing a 2-hit shutout against the Thunder in a 3-0 Bayhawks win.
September 7 – VAN 1B/2B Jeff Wheeler (.284, 5 HR, 42 RBI) hits a homer to beat the Crusaders in the ninth inning, 1-0.

FL Player of the Week: SAC 1B Steve Wyatt (.298, 25 HR, 83 RBI), batting .481 (13-27) with 2 HR, 6 RBI
CL Player of the Week: NYC INF Prince Gates (.311, 14 HR, 97 RBI), hitting .444 (12-27) with 2 HR, 10 RBI

Complaints and stuff

That was a …. a week. Four straight extra-inning games, seven games against last-place teams, and somehow we barely went 4-3. Gee, if that doesn’t fill you with confidence.

Hey, hey, the Raccoons are in a pennant chase! BNN has opinions about the remaining strength of schedule and chance to make the playoffs in this division:

POR (83-54) – NYC (6), VAN (4), BOS (3), IND (3), LVA (3), MIL (3), OCT (3) – .508 – 95.5%
NYC (76-60) – POR (6), IND (4), VAN (4), BOS (3), MIL (3), SFB (3), TIJ (3) – .497 – 3.9%
VAN (74-61) – MIL (7), NYC (4), POR (4), ATL (3), BOS (3), CHA (3), IND (3) – .507 – 0.7%

We will play three with the Crusaders right next week, plus three in Milwaukee. Apart from that, the other seven games against the contenders will all be crammed into the last week of the season.

Fun Fact: The Caps’ Bruce Mark jr. (17-5, 2.54 ERA, 1 SV) is in the FL’s top 3 in all pitching triple crown categories.

…but not leading any of them on his own. He’s third in ERA behind David Concha and Blake Sparks, tied for first with Concha in wins, and third in strikeouts behind Mike McCaffrey and Sparks. While Concha’s .35 runs lead in ERA was non-trivial to make up if Concha just ran into a bad fortnight of outings, McCaffrey’s 233 strikeouts were far ahead of Mark’s 186, so it wasn’t like he had the greatest odds of getting there without McCaffrey getting hit by a Sacramento city bus.

And preferably yesterday.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (83-54) vs. Crusaders (76-60) – September 9-11, 2053

Not a series that was recommended to lose for us, although even only taking one game would still keep the Crusaders behind by 5 1/2 – although we’d play three more games against them to close out the regular season. They ranked fourth in runs scored and fifth in runs allowed, with a +47 run differential not even half the Coons’ +132, but the season series was all even at six.

Projected matchups:
Victor Salcido (10-7, 4.03 ERA) vs. Edwin Sopena (13-5, 4.28 ERA)
Victor Scott (10-5, 3.87 ERA) vs. Ben Seiter (9-13, 4.24 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (13-9, 2.88 ERA) vs. Dave Washington (10-11, 4.11 ERA)

New York’s sole lefty was Washington.

That sounds like it makes no sense, and Cristiano is snickering.

Game 1
NYC: 3B Gates – C Seidman – SS O. Sanchez – LF D. Rivera – 1B Sevilla – CF Caballero – RF Fellows – 2B Haney – P Sopena
POR: SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – C Gowin – 3B Crispin – CF Marroguin – P Salcido

Lonzo led off with Malkus in a substantial slump at this inopportune moment, hit a single to open the bottom 1st, and was caught stealing rather unceremoniously by Mike Seidman. The Crusaders were already up 1-0 at that point thanks to a leadoff triple by Prince Gates, whom Omar Sanchez singled home. In the second inning, let’s just say, it got worse for Salcido. Leadoff walk to Oscar Caballero, a Brandon Fellows single, and while Mark Haney whiffed, Edwin Sopena’s double to center chased home a run and set off the real meltdown. With two outs, Salcido nicked Seidman, gave up an RBI single to Omar Sanchez, and walked Danny Rivera with the bags full, and Raul Sevilla without the bags full, having already plated another run with a wild pitch, before Caballero flew out to Ken Crum to strand three in a 5-0 game.

In good news, that was the last run off Salcido, but in bad news, the Coons didn’t score while he was in the game, tumbling through five dismal innings once more. Malkus batted for him with one out and nobody on in the bottom 5th, was nicked on a 1-2 pitch, and then scored ahead of Matt Waters when the latter hit his 22nd bomb to right, shortening the score to 5-2. Bottom 6th, Crum singled to lead off, after which Gowin got ahead 3-0, poked, and grounded to short. I was aghast, but Omar Sanchez didn’t see it coming either, was confused for a second, and that cost him any play on the free double play bouncer. Not that it led anywhere nice – Crispin, Marroguin, and Rivera made pathetic outs in order, and nobody scored. The Coons paraded out four relivers, all of whom – even Ryan Harmer! – pitched a scoreless inning after Salcido departed, but the offense remained crummy apart from the Waters homer. By the time there were two outs in the bottom 9th with righty Ryan Sullivan pitching, the Coons didn’t have anybody on base. Then, Lonzo whacked a triple to center. Waters obliged and singled him home, which brought Pucks to the plate as the tying run, but he looked at a borderline 3-2 pitch to get punched out. 5-3 Crusaders. Lavorano 3-5, 3B; Waters 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; Puckeridge 2-4, BB;

Should have traded Salcido while we would have gotten more for him than a Jerry Outram doll with a mustard stain on the pink uniform.

Game 2
NYC: RF Bednarz – C Seidman – SS O. Sanchez – 3B Gates – LF D. Rivera – 2B Russ – 1B Carreno – CF Caballero – P Seiter
POR: SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – C Gowin – 3B Crispin – CF Thomason – P Scott

As far as agony goes, it would be hard to beat the top of the second inning on Wednesday; Scott walked Danny Rivera, drilled Andrew Russ (grumble grumble), then gave up a 3-run homer to Coons discard Arturo Carreno, who had now hit all of two on the season. Another sizeable deficit was born. Scott, who was such a great acquisition (grumble grumble) gave up another run in the fourth on a Russ triple (grumble grumble!) and Carreno single (sigh), while the Coons had no base hits the first time through the order. Or the second time, for that matter…

Scott was disposed of after five innings just like Salcido had been, trailing even 6-0 after giving up another homer to Danny Rivera in the fifth inning. The Coons didn’t get a hit until Waters singled with two outs in the sixth, at which point Raul Medrano had already given up another run to New York. Pucks homered to right, 7-2, but that was it through eight for the Coons. Waters grounded out against Seiter to begin the ninth inning, but then Pucks walked and Ramsay singled. When Ken Crum drew another walk to load the bases, Seiter was yanked for Sullivan. He struck out Gowin, Marroguin flew out to right, and the Coons had definitely played away all of their allowance for the series now… 7-2 Crusaders. Puckeridge 1-2, 2 BB, HR, 2 RBI; Snyder 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

Snyder’s thank for two scoreless garbage innings was getting waived and DFA’ed – we needed the spot on the 40-man to get Brett Lillis back on the roster from his rehab assignment, which had gone … not well.

Game 3
NYC: 3B Gates – C Seidman – SS O. Sanchez – LF D. Rivera – 1B Sevilla – RF Bednarz – CF Caballero – 2B Haney – P Washington
POR: 3B Malkus – SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – LF Puckeridge – 1B Crum – C Gowin – CF Marroguin – RF Rivera – P Taki

Seidman tripled in the first inning, but was stranded on Sanchez’ pop to first and a K Taki hung on Rivera. The Coons actually scored first this time, with Malkus drawing a leadoff walk and advancing on two outs before scoring on … a wild pitch. In fairness, though, Pucks hit a 2-out single on the next pitch and would have driven him in if Malkus had still been on third base. The Crusaders battery was not on the same page – with Marroguin on second in the inning with the same ordinal, Seidman was charged with a passed ball that moved the runner to third base with one out. Washington ended up walking Oscar Rivera, and Taki poked the first pitch he got through the hole on the left side for an RBI single. Malkus found the shortstop though for a double play.

The Crusaders made up a run on two hits off Taki in the third, but Pucks triple home Lonzo in the bottom of the same inning to restore a 2-run gap, then scored himself when Ken Crum flew out to Oscar Caballero in deep center, 4-1.

The sky fell in the fifth inning on Thursday. Haney reached on a leadoff error by Malkus, who was becoming increasingly Travis-ish, but Taki logged two outs before it all exploded. Seidman singled home the unearned run, Sanchez walked, Rivera singled home another run, and then Raul Sevilla unfurled a 3-run bomb, 412 feet to center, to flip the score to 6-4 New York. I started to drink with more vigor after that. It only got worse; Vic Flores and Raul Cornejo were turned inside out by pinch-hitters in the seventh, and Aaron Kissler drove in two more New York runs with another triple to center. The Coons got a pinch-hit triple in the same inning, with Matt Knight driving home Oscar Rivera, who of course had only reached base by getting drilled again. Lillis made his first major league appearance since April in the ninth inning, entering with one out and giving up a walk to Sanchez, then singles to Darrell Wagner and Ken Mills (in case you needed more Coons toss-offs to come back and exact revenge), and a run before Caballero popped out. The Coons made a stir in the bottom 9th again, a bit past their due time, when Crispin hit a 2-out double. Ramsay pinch-hit for Lillis in the #1 slot and doubled home the run, then scored on a Lonzo single, but Waters, the tying run, flew out to Caballero to complete the sweep. 9-7 Crusaders. Knight (PH) 1-1, 3B; Ramsay (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI; Lavorano 2-5, RBI; Puckeridge 2-4, 3B, RBI;

(dials a number on his old rotary phone and listens to it tooting)

Yes, hello. I call because of your ad in the Agitator on page 38; I think I require your services. – Because I have panic. – What do you mean, where is the car? What car? – There is no car. – What do you mean, you’re a towing company? (looks at the ad in the Agitator again) – Oh, “Bruce Panik Towing Services”. Sorry, Ma’am, I think I read “tutoring”, it was hard to see with all the tears in my ey–… hello? Hello?

Raccoons (83-57) @ Loggers (63-77) – September 12-14, 2053

These were the last games with the Loggers for the year, against whom the Raccoons were 11-4 and could in theory eliminate them mathematically with two wins in the series. The Loggers ranked eighth in runs scored, and 11th in runs allowed in the Continental League, and were just a perpetual construction site.

Projected matchups:
Jason Wheatley (11-5, 2.76 ERA) vs. Angelo Munoz (8-11, 4.35 ERA)
Kyle Brobeck (9-4, 4.38 ERA) vs. Josh Costello (16-8, 3.94 ERA)
Victor Salcido (10-8, 4.17 ERA) vs. Noah Hollis (7-13, 5.02 ERA)

Only right-handed opposition for the weekend. No Phil Steinbacher and Gaudencio Callaia – the outfield regulars were on the DL.

Game 1
POR: SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – 3B Crispin – CF Marroguin – C Raczka – P Wheatley
MIL: RF Pigman – CF de Lemos – SS Z. Suggs – C C. Thomas – 2B R. Lopez – 1B Haracz – LF Bush – 3B J. Rodriguez – P Munoz

Wheatley gave up five screaming hits the first time through the lineup. Dave de Lemos tripled, Chris Thomas doubled, Ricky Lopez singled for two runs in the first inning, and Erik Bush led off with a double and scored in the second inning for another rather brisk 3-0 deficit. That was as much damage as the Loggers did onto Wheatley in the game, but boy, was it ugly. He pitched another four innings, allowing just two more hits, but also left dangling on the hook, because the Raccoons remained entirely rancid. Pucks and Ramsay went to the corners to begin the fourth inning, but the only run they got came in on a Crispin groundout, and when Ramsay doubled in the sixth inning, he was the only Critter to reach base in the frame. It took until the eighth to get new brown baserunners, with Waters singling to center to bring the tying run to the dish. Pucks also singled, and so did Ramsay, loading up the bases for Ken Crum, who on the first pitch unleashed a liner to left for a game-tying single. A fourth straight single for Crispin loaded the bags again, and the go-ahead run came in on Marroguin’s groundout, but Raczka was then also out to short and left two in scoring position, and Eloy Sencion blew the lead as quickly as feasible, giving up three hits in the bottom 8th, with PH Nick Carr tying the score before Cornejo replaced Sencion and actually finished an inning without waving around every single ******* runner on base.

Top 9th, the Coons went to the corners against Dave Lister immediately… well, Malkus reached on an error once again, and then Lonzo singled. Lonzo stole second after Waters struck out, but Pucks ended up walking anyway. Lister, who had *11* losses on the year without having started a game, drilled Ramsay really good to force home the go-ahead run, 5-4. Crum’s single and Crispin’s bases-loaded triple blew the game wide open, even though Crispin was then stranded by the bottom of the order. Ryan Harmer retired the Loggers in good order in the bottom 9th. 9-4 Raccoons. Puckeridge 2-4, BB, 2B; Ramsay 4-4, 2B, RBI; Crum 2-5, 3 RBI; Crispin 2-5, 3B, 4 RBI;

Okay, we can still whoop the Loggers, that’s good to know.

Whoop eventually.

The AAA season ended on this day, so the Raccoons added Tyler Philipps as third catcher.

Game 2
POR: SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – C Gowin – CF Marroguin – 3B Malkus – P Brobeck
MIL: RF Pigman – CF de Lemos – SS Z. Suggs – C C. Thomas – 2B R. Lopez – 1B Haracz – LF Bush – 3B J. Rodriguez – P Costello

Waters socked a homer to put the Coons up 1-0 in the top 1st, but the offense continued for a while longer. Pucks and Ramsay went to the corners with singles, after which Crum grounded to Ricky Lopez, who bluntly fudged the ball for an error, which scored a run. Gowin singled softly, loading them up for Marroguin, whom Costello struck out, but he then offered a 2-out walk to Malkus with the bags full. Brobeck batted up three, with three on, scorched the first pitch he got into the left-center gap, and dashed around for a bases-clearing triple! Lonzo singled him home, 7-0, Waters walked, and Pucks flew out to center to end the onslaught. More was to come; in the third, Costello drilled Malkus, then misfielded Brobeck’s bunt to add a runner. Lonzo singled to center, where Dave de Lemos overran the ball for an extra base. Waters singled home the second run of the inning, which was finally the end for Costello. His final line closed at 2.1 innings, 11 runs, six earned after his relief, Kyle Buemi, gave up a 3-run homer to right to Pucks, which ramped the score up to 12-0.

That was still not all. Brobeck singled home a run off Buemi in the fourth, although that inning was killed when Lonzo hit into a double play. With the score at 13-2, the Raccoons perhaps semi-controversially lifted their middle infielders and Crum as early as the fifth inning. Rivera, Naughty Joe, and Knight would replace them in the #1, #2, and #5 spots, respectively.

Brobeck didn’t last past six, scattering three runs in the middle innings; Erik Bush drove home two, and Ricky Lopez another run, and he needed 101 pitches to get that far, although on the other paw, he also drove in four runs himself, so technically was beating the Loggers without any help. Top 7th, Pucks drew a walk and was run for by Nick Thomason, who swiftly scored on a Ramsay double off Tyler Riddle. Reese and Lillis pitched scoreless innings for Portland, but the Loggers ticked Alfaro for a run in the ninth… not that I had much panic by then. 14-4 Raccoons! Lavorano 2-4, 2 RBI; Waters 3-3, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Puckeridge 2-3, 2 BB, HR, 3 RBI; Ramsay 3-6, 2B, RBI; Brobeck 6.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, W (10-4) and 2-3, 3B, 4 RBI;

Good! I hope that unclogged the SUCK from the last ten days or so!

I hope activating Tony Lopez from the DL now didn’t introduce a new clog right away.

Game 3
POR: SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – 3B Crispin – CF Thomason – C Raczka – P Salcido
MIL: RF Pigman – CF de Lemos – SS Z. Suggs – C C. Thomas – 2B R. Lopez – 1B Haracz – LF Bush – 3B J. Rodriguez – P Hollis

Lonzo opened with a double to left and scored on Pucks’ single to right for a quick run, but Ramsay then hit into a double play. Then Salcido took a dump on the mound again, right in the bottom 1st. Perry Pigman singled, stole a base, got another base on a wild pitch, and scored on a groundout while Salcido walked two and gave up an RBI single to Dale Haracz, falling behind 2-1 before Thomason threw himself into Bush’s liner to center to end the inning. Bush ended another inning with two on, whiffing in the bottom 3rd, and there was overall no shortage of Loggers runners around Salcido in another shoddy start. The Loggers failed to drive anybody in through the end of five, though, and then Matt Waters launched a solo rocket to even the score at two, which also tied him for the team RBI lead with Pucks – both had 99 now.

Salcido got around a Bush double in the bottom 6th to complete his scruffy day. He settled for a no-decision, while Alfaro kept the game tied, whiffing two in the bottom 7th. Flores and Hitchcock navigated the eighth, but the Raccoons couldn’t get over the hump against the Loggers’ pen after Hollis exited, either. Hitchcock logged three more outs for four on the day with a quick ninth, sending the game to extras.

The go-ahead run reached when Lister nicked Crum to begin the 10th inning, and Crispin then chucked a single to center. Blackshire batted for Thomason, but fanned, while Philipps was batting in the #8 hole after Raczka had been batted for the previous time through the order. Philipps crunched a fastball and rocketed it off the top of the fence in left for an RBI double; in fact, he hit it too hard, with leftfielder Bryant Law getting a perfect carom that forced Crispin to hold at third base. Matt Knight batted for Hitchcock and singled home a run, but the inning ended with Lonzo rolling into a double play. Daley retired the Loggers in order in his only outing of the week. 4-2 Coons! Philipps (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI; Knight (PH) 1-1, RBI;

Nobody on the team had more than one base hit in this game. Taking solace that they at least made four runs out of their eight hits?

In other news

September 11 – The Loggers beat the Canadiens, 5-1, with all runs in the game scoring in the ninth inning.
September 11 – The Pacifics beat the Stars in walkoff fashion, 9-8 in 15 innings. LAP OF Dave Cardenas (.333, 0 HR, 2 RBI), a September call-up, singles home the winning run.
September 12 – A home run by SAL C Steve Sepulveda (.231, 3 HR, 15 RBI) is the only score in a 1-0 Wolves win over the Gold Sox.
September 13 – NYC SP Jeff Johnson (12-7, 3.43 ERA) 3-hits the Titans in a 4-0 shutout.
September 14 – The Crusaders lose infielder Prince Gates (.308, 14 HR, 97 RBI) for the rest of the season; the 30-year-old was out with a groin strain.

FL Player of the Week: NAS C Jose Cantu (.285, 19 HR, 70 RBI), batting .526 (10-19) with 1 HR, 9 RBI
CL Player of the Week: POR OF/1B Alan Puckeridge (.332, 25 HR, 99 RBI), shooting .476 (10-21) with 2 HR, 7 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Okay, getting swept by the Crusaders was not ideal, but neither was them dropping two of three to the Titans on the weekend, while we swept the Loggers. That limits the damage of lost lead to one game, and we’re still up by 5 1/2. The Elks are nominally still there, but 9 1/2 behind now. Also, as long as the snotty Elks still have four games left against the Critters, I consider them being only 5 1/2 back as well.

POR (86-57) – VAN (4), BOS (3), IND (3), LVA (3), NYC (3), OCT (3) – .514 – 92.5% (-3.0%)
NYC (80-62) – IND (4), VAN (4), MIL (3), POR (3), SFB (3), TIJ (3) – .493 – 7.4% (+3.5%)
VAN (76-66) – NYC (4), POR (4), ATL (3), BOS (3), CHA (3), MIL (3) – .521 – 0.1% (-0.6%)

Lonzo has an 11-game hitting streak going, which is all the games since he came back from AAA rehab.

Final homestand coming up, with the Titans, Aces, and Thunder games. The rest of the schedule will be on the road afterwards.

Fun Fact: Pucks ties for the CL lead in homers now.

It’s a crowd, though. Pucks, who leads the CL in total bases by a bunch, and ties for third in batting average *and* RBI, the latter with Waters, has no shortage of company in the boom-boom crown race: Zach Suggs and Tony Aparicio also have 25 bombs each. Waters has 24. Oklahoma’s Dave Worthington has 23. Danny Munn (22) and Sam Witherspoon (21) gave the Bayhawks something to root for in the final weeks, and for completeness’ sake, don’t count out Bill Quinteros’ 20, especially with the Indians having a few more games left against the Critters.

Pucks ranks in the CL top 10 in 11 batting categories compiled by BNN, and Waters joins him in no fewer than ten (all except batting average). He wasn’t ranking *ahead* of Pucks in any category, and tied him only in RBI. The only other Critters position player to sit in the top 10 in any category would be Lonzo; despite missing over a month on the DL, he was 5th in stolen bases with 43 to his name. The CL leader (Omar Sanchez) was a dozen ahead though and highly unlikely to be caught anymore.

[Westheim]

The Raccoons had Monday off, while the Crusaders and Elks began their head-to-head series in Vancouver. The Crusaders won the opener, and by a bunch: 10-0, with six runs driven in on two homers and three total hits by Raul Sevilla (.259, 19 HR, 93 RBI). So by the time we got underway on Tuesday, we were up by five games.

Raccoons (86-57) vs. Titans (58-86) – September 16-18, 2053

Boston was bottoms in runs scored and ninth in runs allowed, with a -153 run differential. We held a 10-5 lead against them, and the only thing the Titans were remotely good at was stealing bases; they were third in bags bagged this year. Boston also had a host of injuries, including but not limited to Jamie Guidry, Ian Davison, Angel Montes de Oca, and Ruben Gonzalez.

Projected matchups:
Victor Scott (10-6, 4.07 ERA) vs. Chris Ferguson (14-13, 3.63 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (13-10, 2.84 ERA) vs. Marcus Wilkins (8-10, 4.40 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (11-5, 2.82 ERA) vs. Justin Johns (7-12, 4.86 ERA)

These three starters would all be right-handers.

Game 1
BOS: LF Roura – C R. Salas – RF D. Gonzalez – CF Whitlow – 2B M. Martinez – 3B Ro. Jimenez – 1B Steel – SS M. Navarro – P Ferguson
POR: 3B Malkus – SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – C Gowin – CF Thomason – P Scott

The Coons got going quickly against Ferguson, who nicked Malkus and gave up a single to Lonzo to begin the bottom 1st. Matt Waters narrowly missed a homer to tie Pucks with 25, but his double off the top of the fence drove home the runners and put him over the 100 RBI mark with ribbies 100 and 101. The next three batters failed to get Waters home, however. That seemed to be enough for Scott, who had been a Titan for the first six years of his career, and who encountered little trouble, the fifth inning aside, when the bottom pair, Mario Navarro and Ferguson, reached the corners with a 2-out walk and a single, but then Dave Roura struck out. The Coons? Well, they had two runs, why continue to bother?

That was not a great attitude, especially once Miguel Martinez opened the seventh with a single to center. Rocky Jimenez popped out, but Jesse Steel singled to right. Martinez went for home – but was thrown out by Pucks! Ken Crum grabbed a Navarro fly to left to end the inning. Scott opened the bottom 7th with a single and was left on first, then logged two more outs before Raul Salas’ single in the eighth inning. Dave Gonzalez would be his last batter, but the left-hander stuck an RBI double to the base of the wall in right, and that was the end for Scott, now with the tying run on second base. The Coons went to Daley in a double switch, Knight replacing Lonzo at short, but he walked the bags full … then finally struck out PH Nate Oden to bugger out of the inning. Daley furthermore allowed a 1-out single to Marty Serna in the ninth, but Aaron Brewer chopped one to Knight for a game-ending double play. 2-1 Coons. Lavorano 2-4; Gowin 1-2, BB, 2B; Thomason 1-2, BB, 3B; Scott 7.2 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (11-6) and 1-2;

New York beat the Elks again, 7-5, so the gap remained at five.

Wilkins wasn’t pitching on Wednesday – Justin Johns was moved up into this game.

Game 2
BOS: LF Roura – C R. Salas – CF Whitlow – RF D. Gonzalez – 2B M. Martinez – 1B M. Gilmore – 3B Ro. Jimenez – SS Tamargo – P Johns
POR: 3B Malkus – SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – C Gowin – CF Marroguin – P Taki

Taki and first innings… This time he walked Dave Roura, although Salas hit into a double play, which was all the better considering Eric Whitlow bombed a fastball outta leftfield for a 1-0 Boston lead that would have been 2-0. From there, both teams had pretty much a runner per half-inning, and neither could put anything together. The Titans hit into another two double plays before the seventh inning stretch, and the Raccoons never touched third base apart from Ken Crum’s 2-out triple in the second inning (which saw him stranded by Gowin) while having Waters caught stealing, making nothing out of five hits and a walk received in six innings.

Crum was good for another extra-base knock in the bottom 7th, a leadoff double to right. Maybe that could get the Critters going! Yes, that, and Dave Roura misplaying a Chris Gowin fly into an RBI triple, which tied the game. Marroguin singled home Gowin, 2-1 Coons, but Tony Lopez flew out hitting for Taki, and Malkus found a double play against reliever Alex Diaz. Here, the Coons tried to get the game in without using Daley, who had thrown a pile of pitches in his glitchy 4-out save the day before, so Cornejo came in for the top 8th. Salas hit a 2-out single off him, but Whitlow grounded out easily before Sencion would have faced Dave Gonzalez. The Coons didn’t tack on, and instead Hitchcock got the ball in the ninth. Gonzalez, Martinez, and Serna went down in order. 2-1 Raccoons. Crum 2-3, 3B, 2B; Gowin 2-3, 3B, RBI; Taki 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 6 K, W (14-10);

The Crusaders also won another one in Elk City, this time 5-2.

Kind of surprisingly, we drew a left-hander for the series finale. Just as surprisingly, the Titans would try to get a 21st loss onto David Barnes (4-20, 4.63 ERA).

Game 3
BOS: LF Roura – C R. Salas – CF Whitlow – RF D. Gonzalez – 2B M. Martinez – 1B M. Gilmore – 3B Ro. Jimenez – SS Tamargo – P D. Barnes
POR: 3B Malkus – SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – LF Puckeridge – 1B Crum – C Gowin – CF Marroguin – RF Lopez – P Wheatley

Pucks joined the 100 RBI club when he singled home Lonzo in the first inning on Thursday, which put the Coons ahead, 1-0. Tony Lopez drew a 1-out walk in the second, was bunted on by Wheats, and then came home on a gap double by Travis Malkus, who was slumping badly otherwise. Lonzo flew out to strand him. All of that went out the window in the third inning; Wheats had struck out the first two batters in the game, then didn’t get any of the next dozen, of which he walked three and another three had hits. All of that piled up in the third inning for a Barnes single (meh), a walk to Roura, and a 3-run homer by Salas… The Coons pulled even in the same inning as Waters doubled and was singled home by Ken Crum with a dinker into left-center, but it was a short start for Wheats, who walked four and struck out six in five near-tumultous innings and was then lifted.

He was lifted with a lead, though, due to a homer to right for Matt Waters in the bottom 5th, which gave him a 4-3 lead and did put Waters level with Pucks. The pen flushed the potential W instantly, however. We tried to scratch the bottom of the order with the shallow end of the pen in the sixth inning, but while Reese got his man (Gilmore), Medrano was torn up, putting Jimenez and Tamargo on base, and conceding the runs on a 2-out single by Roura, which flipped the score. Harmer held that 5-4 score after that before Malkus walked and Lonzo singled to begin the bottom 7th against Barnes, who was still bidding for his 21st loss, and potentially found it; after Waters grounded out sharply to first base, Pucks, who sneered at the thought of bowing to Waters for the team homer crown (and potentially the league title, too!), CRUSHED a 3-piece to right, which flipped the score back to 7-5 Critters. Ex-Coons farmhand Kenneth Spencer put Crum and Gowin on base right afterwards, then gave up a 2-out RBI single to center to Tony Lopez. Naughty Joe then grounded out to end the inning. The Titans gave in to their fate at that point, though – against Cornejo and Daley, no Boston batter got on base anymore in the last two innings. 8-5 Furballs. Waters 3-5, HR, 2B, RBI; Puckeridge 2-5, HR, 4 RBI; Crum 2-3, BB, RBI; Lopez 2-2, 2 BB, RBI;

That was the first W for Harmer this season, who was now 1-1 in 30 games and 30.2 innings. Last year he was 1-1 in 30 games and 31.2 innings.

It took 11 innings, but the Crusaders completed a sweep of the Elks with a 3-2 win, which kept the distance at five games, while the magic number for the Coons was down to 12.

Raccoons (89-57) vs. Aces (64-82) – September 19-21, 2053

Another bottom-feeding team was in, although the Aces were fifth in the South and the season series was even at three. They were not nearly as dismal as the Titans though, despite a superficially similar record; their run differential was “only” -53, with mediocre runs totals, but they weren’t in the bottom three in either category. Of the major statistics, only their bullpen ERA ranked as low as the bottom three, 11th with a shoddy 4.73 mark. Notable DL cases included Matt Sealock, Dustin Ransford, and Jim White.

Projected matchups:
Kyle Brobeck (10-4, 4.39 ERA) vs. Juan Mercado (6-11, 4.23 ERA)
Victor Salcido (10-8, 4.13 ERA) vs. Chris Cornelius (10-9, 4.57 ERA)
Victor Scott (11-6, 3.94 ERA) vs. Medardo Regueir (8-17, 4.16 ERA)

Two more southpaws in this set with ex-Coon Mercado and then Medardo Ramba-Zamba or whatever his name was on Southpaw Sunday.

The series began with Pucks tying Tony Aparicio for the CL homer lead at 26, and him 10 RBI behind David Worthington, who was day-to-day with a sore thumb. He had fallen to 15 points out in the batting race though. The Crusaders would play the last-place Baybirds.

Game 1
LVA: LF Blair – RF Austin – SS Welter – 1B D. Riley – CF Bishop – 2B Howington – C DeFrank – 3B T. Stone – P J. Mercado
POR: 3B Malkus – SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – LF Puckeridge – RF Rivera – 1B Raczka – CF Lopez – C Philipps – P Brobeck*

Offense was scarce in the early going, although the Coons went up 1-0 with a leadoff double for Oscar Rivera and two productive outs by Raczka and Lopez to get the runner home in the bottom 2nd. Mercado walked Pucks to begin the bottom 4th, with another walk offered to Raczka with one out. Mercado’s 1-1 to Lopez was wild, advancing the runners, but didn’t make much difference ultimately; Lopez singled to center on the next pitch, but Pucks would have scored from second, and Raczka wasn’t gonna unless Steve Bishop broke a hip fielding the ball, which he didn’t. 2-0, and the corners, but Tyler Philipps chucked a bouncer to Brian Howington to kill the inning, 4-6-3 style.

Howington opened the fifth by drawing a walk, then scored on a 2-out single by Mercado, which was such a thrill. Dave Blair reached on a Raczka error, but the inning ended on an easy fly by Aubrey Austin. That was Brobeck’s last inning; he threw only 74 pitches, but was then not brought back for the sixth, in which the Aces brought the all-lefty 3-4-5 batters to the plate. Vic Flores allowed a double to Dan Riley, after which Alfaro came on, walked Howington again, but got Ray DeFrank on a grounder to keep the 2-1 lead in one piece.

Alfaro ended up logging five outs across three innings before that left-handed array came back up. Eloy Sencion went out this time, but gave up a Jeremy Welter drive that clanked off the left foul pole to tie the game before seeing out the inning. All even at two now, with the Coons down in order in the bottom 8th, while Hitchcock pitched around a Harry Ramsay error in the ninth to keep the game level for the bottom 9th, when lefty Nelson Garcilazo would see the Coons’ middle of the order – and sat them down in order.

The Aces took the lead in the 10th inning, though. Dave Blair hit a single to center against Hitchcock, stole second base, and then scored on productive outs, the RBI going to Welter. Quick turnaround, though: Adam Eutsler got the ball in the bottom 10th and offered a leadoff walk to Marroguin. Ramsay then cranked a pitch into the right-center gap. Marroguin went like hell and scored, and Ramsay slid in safely at third base, so the winning run was just 90 feet away with nobody out! The end came quick after that. Eutsler missed grossly twice, then came over the middle of the plate. Even Tyler Philipps could tick that one to center for a walkoff. 4-3 Raccoons! Lopez 1-2, 2 RBI; Ramsay 1-2, 3B, RBI; Philipps 2-4, RBI;

Of note, the walkoff killed Lonzo’s 14-game hitting streak with an 0-for-4, while the Crusaders also ended their winning streak with a ninth-inning meltdown and 7-4 loss to the Bayhawks. The lead was now six games, and the magic number was 10. The Indians were mathematically eliminated on this day, while the Elks could be killed off as soon as Saturday.

Game 2
LVA: CF Hummel – LF Austin – SS Welter – C B. Ortega – 1B D. Riley – 3B Blair – RF Kaniewski – 2B J. Cruz – P Cornelius
POR: SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – LF Crum – C Gowin – 3B Crispin – CF Marroguin – P Salcido

The Coons had another productive first inning… well… after the Aces’ Blair and Riley made a pair of errors on Lonzo and Pucks balls, which already got a run home. Pucks stole second, Ramsay singled him home, and the bags then filled up with one out for Crispin, who drove home Ramsay with a 3-2 dinker into shallow left. Facing Marroguin, Cornelius walked in a fourth run, and the line kept moving even as Salcido came up to bat. He singled over Jorge Cruz to drive in another run. Lonzo hit into an out at second base, but a sixth run scored, and three more came around when Matt Waters whacked a 3-piece to right. That was the end for Chris Cornelius, who lasted 0.2 innings, gave up five hits, two walks, NINE runs – and NONE of them were earned!! Reliever Jeremy Fetta allowed a single to Pucks, but got Ramsay out to end the endless inning.

So it was now Salcido’s to lose. He did mostly fine, but gave up a 2-run homer to Bobby Ortega in the fourth inning. That aside, the Raccoons put the hindpaws up and scattered just the odd hit after their early outburst. The Raccoons lifted their 1-2-3 and #5 batters after the sixth inning, with Knight, Naughty Joe, Lopez, and Thomason taking over. Matt Knight drove home the Coons’ first runs since the first inning when he came to the dish with two outs in the bottom 7th and Crispin and Marroguin in scoring position, and shot a liner to left-center for a 2-out single off Bill Lawrence, while Salcido pitched eight innings. Brett Lillis jr. took over in the ninth, whiffing two to get around a Welter double. 11-2 Raccoons! Knight 1-1, 2 RBI; Crum 2-4; Crispin 2-3, BB, RBI; Marroguin 2-3, BB, RBI; Salcido 8.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 9 K, W (11-8) and 1-3, RBI;

The Crusaders drowned the Baybirds without much faff on Saturday, winning 9-1 with a big first inning, just like the Critters. The gap remained at six.

Game 3
LVA: CF Hummel – RF Austin – LF Kaniewski – C DeFrank – 1B Blair – 2B Howington – SS Welter – 3B Hager – P Regueir
POR: 3B Malkus – SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – CF Puckeridge – LF Crum – 1B Ramsay – C Gowin – RF Lopez – P Scott

The Coons went up 1-0 in the first, and this time even without shenanigans, although after Malkus and Lonzo went to the corners, Waters only got the run home with a 5-4-3 double play grounder. A Dave Blair single and Howington’s homer then flipped the score immediately in the second inning. The Coons had only Lonzo’s single the first time through, and he hit another one of those to lead off the bottom 4th, but was caught stealing. The next Coons hit was a 2-out single for Tony Lopez in the bottom 8th. Blackshire batted for Scott, but struck out.

While Medrano and Alfaro brought scoreless innings to the plate, the Raccoons’ offense remained substantially absent, aside from the persistently singling Lonzo, who jabbed one to left in the bottom 6th, but was stranded this time. Ramsay singled in the seventh, but was doubled up with Gowin’s grounder to short. The Coons then changed the battery to get Phil Baker, who had not pitched since having been called up, two innings to work with, entering him in a double switch with new pitcher Tyler Philipps. He nicked a batter and walked another in the eighth, but Philipps doubled to right in the bottom 8th and made it to third base on a Malkus groundout, but just when we needed a Lonzo single the most, he lined out to Jorge Cruz at second base. Baker was yanked after putting Danny Encarnacion and Dan Riley on base with one out in the ninth. Cornejo gave up a 3-1 single to Aubrey Austin to load the bases, and when Bishop batted for John Kaniewski, was right away vacated for Sencion, who secured on a pop to short on the only pitch he threw. Hitchcock then entered and struck out DeFrank, so the Raccoons still only had one run to make up to at least extend the game in the bottom 9th. Eutsler came up against the meat of the order, which hadn’t worked terribly well for the Aces on Friday, but today Waters, Pucks, and Crum went down in order. 2-1 Aces. Lonzo 3-4; Philipps 1-1, 2B;

In other news

September 16 – CIN SP Arthur Pickett (6-4, 3.93 ERA) cranks his back in the gym and will have to sit out for at least two weeks.
September 17 – CHA C Kevin Weese (.297, 2 HR, 43 RBI) will miss two weeks with elbow soreness.
September 18 – Terrible news for the FL East-leading Capitals, who lose OF Neville van de Wouw (.289, 27 HR, 79 RBI) to shoulder soreness. He would miss the rest of the regular season and was highly questionable for the playoffs.
September 18 – The Indians beat the Loggers, 2-1 in 19 innings. The winning run scores on a throwing error by MIL C Jose Cadena (.211, 0 HR, 7 RBI).
September 18 – The Stars beat the Wolves, 3-2 in 17 innings. DAL RF/LF/1B Dario Martinez (.293, 23 HR, 84 RBI) singles to plate Leo Arguello (.256, 0 HR, 21 RBI) for a walkoff.
September 18 – The Capitals break through with three runs in the top of the 15th inning to beat the Blue Sox, 7-4.
September 21 – Bayhawks LF/RF/INF Bobby Wiener (.346, 1 HR, 12 RBI) swings a hot stick in a 3-1 win over the Crusaders, hitting two doubles and three singles, and driving home one of the three San Fran runs.

FL Player of the Week: SFW LF Mario Villa (.350, 17 HR, 103 RBI), hitting .464 (13-28) with 1 HR, 5 RBI
CL Player of the Week: NYC 1B Raul Sevilla (.269, 19 HR, 95 RBI), batting .517 (15-29) with 2 HR, 8 RBI

Complaints and stuff

We didn’t quite manage to knock off the damn Elks in the numbers, but our 5-1 week and getting swept by the Crusaders at home had nevertheless eliminated them, their magic number being one. That left the Crusaders to deal with, and New York did pretty well this week, posting a 5-2 week, which still cost them half a game in the standings.

POR (91-58) – VAN (4), IND (3), NYC (3), OCT (3) – .554 – 97.0% (+4.5%)
NYC (85-64) – IND (4), MIL (3), POR (3), TIJ (3) – .506 – 3.0% (-4.4%)

Yeah yeah, 3% chance to blow it. We still have three games with the Crusaders and four with the vile hooved demons up North, so I am taking that 6-game lead with a grain of salt. Next up were the Thunder, then the Indians. The former were not so much concerned with the 3-game set in Portland starting on Monday – they could clinch their own division even by losing the series – but with that 3% chance the Crusaders were being given to topple the division yet. The Thunder were ready for EVERYTHING … except facing the Raccoons in the CLCS yet again. The Coons had won the last six times these teams had met in the CLCS, including FOUR such occurrences since 2045.

As far as individual honors were concerned, Pucks’ gap to Omar Sanchez in batting only grew on the weekend, while there were now FOUR batters tied with 26 homers: Pucks, Waters, Aparicio, and Zach Suggs. Sam Witherspoon had 23, with Dave Worthington still day-to-day and also at 23. Worthington drove in one run on the weekend, and led that RBI list with 114, ahead of Aparicio (109), Waters (105), Pucks, and Danny Rivera (both 104).

Fun Fact: Of the 10 games played on Thursday, half went extras.

In addition to the 19-, 17-, and 15-inning games above, there were two 11-inning games: the Crusaders completing the sweep of the Elks, and an otherwise unremarkable 8-7 win of the Aces over the Knights. That’s an average of 2.8 additional innings per game played on the day.

Or in other words: 28 tack-on innings, or enough to play three more games of regulation baseball.

+++

*That was supposed to be Ramsay, but I suck and grabbed Raczka instead. Don’t ask how long it took me to notice.

Whoopsie!