Portland Raccoons (ABL)

[Westheim]

Raccoons (0-0) vs. Loggers (0-0) – April 2-3, 2069

The Raccoons for many years now had been on the struggle bus against the Loggers, winning only one of the last seven season series and none of the last four, going down 8-10 in 2068. The Loggers still had most of their murder offense together, but their rotation looked as wonky as ever, and they had a green rookie penciled in as starting shortstop and leadoff man.

Projected matchups:
Nick Walla (0-0) vs. Danny Ortiz (0-0)
Vinny Morales (0-0) vs. Curt Green (0-0)

Both Loggers starters were right-handers, as were the Critters’. This was only a 2-game set followed by another off day immediately afterwards.

Game 1
MIL: SS Van Leeuwen – CF Merrill – LF C. Dominguez – 1B C. Ramirez – RF D. Wright – 2B F. Carrera – 3B Reber – C Lulich – P D. Ortiz
POR: SS Duhe – 3B Gallo – CF Wharton – 1B Starr – RF Corral – 2B Fumero – C Flowe – LF Early – P Walla

Nick Walla threw 19 pitches before rain interrupted Opening Day, which was always a great sign that it would be a long summer… The game was scoreless in the third inning at that point, so he removed the first six Loggers quickly, allowing a single to Cesar Ramirez, who was doubled off by Fidel Carrera in the second inning. The Coons had already stranded three runners at that point, including new arrival J.P. Gallo with a single and Joel Starr with a double in the first inning, when Jose Corral flew out to Dave Wright. The delay was under 30 minutes before play resumed, and Walla was facing the minimum through three innings, and when Van Leeuwen began the fourth with a single he was doubled up by Jonathan Merrill, however, then Carlos Dominguez tripled to right-center, Ramirez dinked in an RBI single, and Wright clanked a 2-run homer to give Milwaukee a 3-0 lead, all with two down. Joel Starr replied with a solo home run in the bottom 4th to reduce the score to 3-1, but that was the only squeak that came out of the Raccoons’ dugout in the middle innings.

By the seventh, Walla was still trying to hold the game together, and the rain returned. Walla made it to the stretch, then was pinch-hit for when a thick scoring opportunity developed without much of the Raccoons’ doing, as Carlos Fumero reached with one out in the bottom 7th on a 2-base throwing error by Carrera, Jake Flowe drew a walk, and Marquise Early got on base when Van Leeuwen bobbled his grounder, filling the sacks for a pinch-hitter in Benito Otal, who grounded to Carrera, but the Loggers only got an out on Early at second base and a run scored. The inning ended when Otal was picked off first base by Ortiz, the sneaky bugger, and the team remained 3-2 behind…

Rafael Murcia with a pinch-hit and Jared Duhe to begin the inning both had a single in the eighth inning, but neither got very far on the bases. The bullpen kept the score close with two outs from Danny Nava and four from Ricky McMahan, and then the Raccoons faced right-hander and former teammate Tetsu Kurihara in the bottom of the ninth inning, leading off with Jose Corral, who grounded out, and so did Fumero. Jake Flowe lobbed a 2-out single into left, then was run for with Pablo Novelo as the tying run, but Early struck out and that as the end of the game. 3-2 Loggers. Starr 2-4, HR, RBI;

Did Tyler Wharton even play?? Might be a valid question, because he went 0-for-4 with a K in his Raccoons debut.

I’m sure it’ll get better.

I must be, I have my *** hanging in the wind for $54M here.

Game 2
MIL: SS Van Leeuwen – CF Merrill – LF C. Dominguez – 1B C. Ramirez – RF D. Wright – 2B F. Carrera – 3B Reber – C Lulich – P C. Green
POR: SS Duhe – 3B Gallo – CF Wharton – 1B Starr – RF Corral – 2B Fumero – C Flowe – LF Early – P Morales

Walks to Van Leeuwen and Merrill and two groundouts produced a run for the Loggers right in the first inning, and Morales remained at odds with his own body after that, issuing another leadoff walk to Carrera in the second, although Kyle Reber doubled him off. The Critters left Gallo on base after an infield single in the first inning, then loaded the bags with straight singles from the 5-6-7 batters to begin the bottom 2nd, but didn’t score as Early lined out, Morales struck out, and Jared Duhe grounded out to short. They sure found midseason clutch fast…!

Morales was clawing around on the brink of an early dismissal with another walk in the third inning, but the score remained 1-0 into the fourth where the Raccoons got another leadoff single from Corral and then a Fumero double to park runners on second and third with nobody out. Jake Flowe singled to right, marking the seventh Coons hit (against one for the Loggers) and brought in both runners to flip the score for Portland’s first lead of the year, 2-1. Early struck out, Morales bunted the runner over, and then Jared Duhe cranked a 2-run homer to gain some ground. Gallo walked and stole second base – the first Raccoons theft of the year – but was left on as Tyler Wharton grounded out to fall to 0-for-7 and still $54M.

Morales was yanked after allowing leadoff singles, soft as they were, to Ian Lulich and PH Mario Alaniz, with Gabriel Rios getting the ball against the four lefty bats at the top of the order. He allowed an infield single to Van Leeuwen to fill the bases, and Merrill flew out to Wharton in mid-center. Lulich went for home and was zingered out at the plate in an 8-2 double play – huzzah! – and Dominguez grounded out to end the inning with two left in scoring position. Bottom 5th, Fumero hit another double after Starr opened the inning by walking. Flowe grounded out to short, allowing Starr to score from third, 5-1, and Early ended the inning by punching another K.

The Raccoons tried to get two innings out of both Rios and later Cody Childress in this game, and neither got the job done, but both at least got five outs. Childress did so in the seventh and eighth before producing 2-out runners with Ramirez and Wright. Pedro Valentin got the call in a double switch, Arredondo replacing Fumero. Rafael Murcia hit a fly to left that was caught by Early to end the eighth. He retired the Loggers in order after that in the ninth inning. 5-1 Raccoons. Corral 3-4; Fumero 3-4, 2 2B; Flowe 2-4, 3 RBI;

Interlude: waiver claim

Manny Arredondo went 0-for-1 with a groundout in the bottom 8th and then was placed on waivers as the Raccoons executed their own waiver claim on 34-year-old Australian INF/CF/RF Wally Leggett, who the Bayhawks had tried to sneak into their strategic reserve in AAA. Leggett was a veteran journeyman of eight seasons and four teams, half of them in the CL South with the Aces and Baybirds. He was a versatile singles slapper with some residual speed and brought a switch-hitting stick with him. He was certainly an upgrade over Arredondo.

Raccoons (1-1) vs. Thunder (2-1) – April 5-7, 2069

The Raccoons had not won the season series from the Thunder in *five* years, losing six games most of the time, including last season. The Thunder had a ton of injuries – mostly leftovers from last season – and were without pitchers Ken Nielsen, Steve Keller, and Jake Frensley, as well as important first-sacker Ian Stone. Closer Brad Fales was day-to-day with a back issue. They had scored just five runs in taking to outta three from the Thunder to begin the season, but had also allowed only two runs.

Projected matchups:
Girolamo Pizzichini (0-0) vs. Alfredo Picun (0-0)
Tony Gaytan (0-0) vs. Luis Ramirez (0-0)
A.C. Stebbins (0-0) vs. Willie Campos (0-0, 2.45 ERA)

Willie Campos would be the first southpaw starter we’d see this year, and on a Sunday!

Game 1
OCT: 2B C. Gutierrez – SS Palominos – 1B Dowsey – C Bohannon – CF Thore – 3B B. Robinson – RF Ewig – LF J. Parker – P Picun
POR: SS Duhe – 3B Gallo – CF Wharton – 1B Starr – RF Corral – 2B Fumero – C Flowe – LF Otal – P Pizzichini

Tyler Wharton singled in the first inning, which at least ended the 0-for-8 futility to begin the season, but he was the only Raccoon to reach base there and was left on first. The Thunder scored a run in the second on singles by Brian Robinson and Johnny Parker, and then had Jose Palominos extend their early lead to 2-0 with a home run off Pizza. The Raccoons were slow to react, and the Thunder continued to put pressure on Pizza, like in the fifth inning when Johnny Parker got on base with a single, stole second, was bunted to third by the pitcher, and then had to hold on a lineout by Carlos Gutierrez and was stranded when Palominos took strike three hacking.

Wally Leggett made his Coons debut as pinch-hitter for Pizza to begin the bottom 6th in a 2-0 hole and singled over Palominos to get at least some paws on base. Duhe whiffed, but Gallo hit a double to the base of the wall in right and the Raccoons had the tying runs in scoring position or Big Tyler … who grounded out to Robinson at third base on the first pitch he got and that wasn’t gonna help with anything. What was gonna help was Joel Starr’s howling, 2-out, 3-run homer to left! McMahan then got straight outs from the bottom of the order in the seventh and popped out the switch-hitting Gutierrez to begin the eighth. Jesse Dover got the last two outs there, then yielded for Valentin for the ninth inning, still in a 3-2 game, as the Raccoons were held to five hits in eight innings by Picun. Martin Bohannon, Coby Thore, and Brian Robinson struck out in order to give the game to the Raccoons. 3-2 Critters! Starr 1-3, HR, 3 RBI; Leggett (PH) 1-2;

Joel Starr was on course to hit 108 homers this year, which would be a 108 more than Tyler Wharton, and for $5.7M less.

Yes, Maud, I would very much like an anti-panic tee. And a bucket of muffins.

Game 2
OCT: 2B C. Gutierrez – SS Palominos – 1B Dowsey – C Bohannon – CF Thore – RF B. Johnston – 3B B. Robinson – LF J. Parker – P L. Ramirez
POR: SS Duhe – 3B Gallo – CF Wharton – 1B Starr – RF Corral – 2B Fumero – C Flowe – LF Otal – P Gaytan

The Raccoons got a Wharton single with two outs in the bottom 1st, and then cried foul when a Starr drive to the wall was called a catch for Johnny Parker, even though the ball appeared to touch the padding before it went into the glove. The umpires were unmoved and the third out stood. Bottom 2nd, Corral and Fumero were in scoring position with nobody out again after the former reached on an error by Gutierrez and the latter hit another double. The Coons’ 7-8 batter both grounded out to Palominos up the middle, plating the two runners one by one, and then started to single again with two outs, but Gaytan and Duhe were stranded when Gallo grounded out to ex-Coon Justin Dowsey in a full count. The lead went bust right away with a leadoff single by Robinson and a Parker double, then after Luis Ramirez whiffed, a 2-run single to left by another former Raccoon on that infield, Carlos Gutierrez, in the top 3rd…

The fourth was uneventful, but Parker and Gutierrez reached base against Gaytan in the fifth. Palominos batted with two outs and doubled to left; Parker scored, but Gutierrez was thrown out trying, and the Thunder had a 3-2 lead. Gaytan ended up being chased after six innings when it started to rain, and the game went to a rain delay for almost an hour in the middle of the inning. Ramirez was gone as well, with lefty Randy Nichols replacing him for the bottom 6th. He gave up a leadoff single to Wharton and a free pass to Corral, but the Raccoons could not break through, making poor outs otherwise. Portland got a scoreless inning from Rios in the seventh, but Danny Nava gave up a triple to his former teammate Palominos, and then an RBI single to Dowsey, who he had been traded for last summer. The insurance run stood up for the Thunder, as the Raccoons were held to five hits for the second game in a row and didn’t get another runner into scoring position for the rest of the game. 4-2 Thunder. Wharton 2-4;

The offense has yet to live up to its payroll…

Game 3
OCT: RF Almanza – SS Palominos – C Bohannon – 1B Dowsey – CF Thore – LF B. Johnston – 2B Onelas – 3B B. Robinson – P W. Campos
POR: SS Duhe – 3B Gallo – CF Wharton – 1B Starr – LF Early – 2B Novelo – RF van Otterdijk – C Marquez – P Stebbins

It was bitterly cold – 36 degrees at game time – and there was an actual threat of SNOW for this rubber game – what is this, Nunavut?? Palominos also cranked a first-inning homer off Stebbins to get the Thunder going, before the Raccoons filled the bases with Duhe and Wharton singles, and a four-pitch walk to Marquise Early, but Novelo then flew out to Coby Thore and the inning ended. Van Otterdijk singled in the bottom 2nd but was doubled up right away by Lorenzo Marquez. The Raccoons filled the bags *again* in the bottom of the third, with Gallo and Wharton singles and a 1-out walk to Joel Starr. Campos still couldn’t find the zone, and at least Early held still long enough to draw a game-tying, bases-loaded walk. Novelo slapped at the first pitch, narrowly sending a single past a diving Palominos to get a 2-1 lead, but van Otterdijk then dropped a ball dead in front of the plate that Bohannon lunged for and stepped on home plate for the force play, and Marquez popped out to shallow left to strand another three Furballs on base, only for the Thunder to put the leadoff man Thore on base and then have Brian Robinson pop a 2-run homer to flip the score back their way, 3-2, in the fourth…

The offense remained useless, and the pitching wasn’t any better, and the game got out of hand entirely in the sixth. Johnston and Robinson put a run on the board with hits against Stebbins, who struck out the pitcher Campos for the second out in the inning, but was then lifted for Schmieder. The right-hander walked Roberto Almanza and then gave up a 3-run bomb to Palominos to open the score all the way up to 7-2. Leggett, hitting for the useless Schmieder, and Duhe went to the corners with singles in the bottom 6th, but a Gallo sac fly was the best the Raccoons could do before Wharton grounded out to end the inning, and that run was put right back on the board by Cody Childress in the seventh, giving up an unearned run … unearned by his own error and two hits, that was…

Right-hander Javier Arocho then made an honest bid to get the Raccoons back into the game in the bottom 8th, nicking Lorenzo Marquez and giving up a 2-out, 2-run homer to Duhe that reduced the score to 8-5. Jon McGinley retired the pinch-hitting Fumero to end the inning, Rios held the Thunder off base in the ninth, and Brad Fales then gave up a leadoff single to Wharton in the bottom 9th. Starr struck out, but Otal batted for Early and singled, putting runners on the corners and the tying run in the box. Novelo’s sac fly didn’t actually help anything, and Fales ended the game by punching out Corral. 8-6 Thunder. Duhe 3-4, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Wharton 3-5; Starr 2-4, BB; Otal (PH) 1-1; Leggett (PH) 1-2;

Raccoons (2-3) vs. Bayhawks (2-5) – April 8-10, 2069

The Baybirds had scored only 16 runs in seven games, which wasn’t even bottoms in the Continental League right now, and they had given up 30 runs, which was tied for most – but they had also played seven games. THIS season series the Raccoons had won for seven years running, 5-4 last year. The only injury on San Fran’s roster right now was last year’s Critter Ramon Archuleta, who had already strained an oblique.

Projected matchups:
Nick Walla (0-1, 3.86 ERA) vs. Steve Smith (0-1, 7.20 ERA)
Vinny Morales (0-0, 2.25 ERA) vs. Austin LaRosa (0-0, 9.00 ERA)
Girolamo Pizzichini (1-0, 3.00 ERA) vs. Brian Thompson (0-1, 6.00 ERA)

San Francisco brought only right-handed starters for this series.

Game 1
SFB: 2B Bruce – SS K. Ball – LF Streng – RF J. Ward – CF Parrish – C H. Valdez – 1B Nakamura – 3B J. Chavez – P S. Smith
POR: SS Duhe – 3B Gallo – CF Wharton – 1B Starr – RF Corral – 2B Fumero – C Flowe – LF Otal – P Walla

Ryan Bruce hit a single to begin the game, but was stranded in the first inning, and instead the Raccoons quickly scored a run as Duhe double to left-center and then scored on a Gallo single to right-center. Gallo stole second, advanced on a Starr grounder, and then scored on a wild pitch, 2-0. Smith then walked Corral and nicked Fumero, but Flowe sailed one out to Ian Streng in shallow left and the inning ended. The Raccoons tried to tack on in the bottom 3rd with Wharton walking out of the gate and then Starr doubled to right. Wharton was held at third base with nobody out, and they scored together when Corral strung another whistling double into the rightfield corner, 4-0. Fumero singled home Corral with a ball dropping into center, stole second, and held at third on a scratch single by Flowe. Otal popped out – the first retirement in the inning – and Walla knocked out Smith with a sac fly to Jake Ward, 6-0. Flowe was left on base, while in the next inning Gallo and Wharton went to the corners before Starr crashed into a run-scoring double play. Fumero got on base to begin the bottom 5th and was driven in by Nick Walla with a double to right-center, and Walla scored on a Duhe single off Jimmy Harris, a young right-hander getting to wear it after Smith’s early departure.

On the hill, Walla had yet to give up another hit after the Bruce single that had begun the game, although he had issued a walk and had hit Bruce with a breaking ball his second time up. He then hit Keith Ball in the sixth and allowed a single to Streng, but Jake Ward flew out easily to center and John Parrish took strike three blinking. A shutout was not really in the cards, as Walla was already over 80 pitches, though. He then also ran a full count on Joel Chavez before K’ing him in the seventh, and was hit for when his spot came up with two outs and nobody on in the bottom 7th. Wharton and Starr also departed the 9-0 game after that frame ended. Nava pitched a scoreless eighth, but Jesse Dover – who had pitched only once before in the season – got some work in the ninth, was taken deep by Streng, and then gave up another unearned run following an error by van Otterdijk in leftfield. 9-2 Raccoons. Duhe 3-5, 2B, RBI; Gallo 2-4, 2B, RBI; Wharton 1-2, 2 BB; Starr 2-4, 2B; Fumero 2-3, RBI; Walla 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K, W (1-1) and 1-2, 2B, 2 RBI;

Hopefully the offensive outbreak ill persist!

There would not be a day off this week and most regulars would probably get a day off at some point. Duhe was the first to take a seat, and in just the seventh game we already had neither of the shocking platoon of Otal and Early in leftfield. Those two were hitting a whopping 1-for-24 combined… somehow with 3 RBI between their useless pelts, when Wharton (.318) had zero.

Game 2
SFB: 2B Bruce – SS K. Ball – LF Streng – RF J. Ward – CF Parrish – C H. Valdez – 1B Nakamura – 3B J. Chavez – P LaRosa
POR: LF Fumero – 3B Gallo – CF Wharton – 1B Starr – RF Corral – SS Leggett – C Flowe – 2B Novelo – P Morales

Tyler Wharton kept being denied, like when Ward picked his drive to right off the fence in the bottom 1st on Tuesday, which kept Fumero at second base, and that was also where he ended the inning. Morales struck out five, exclusively in long counts, for 46 pitches the first time through the Baybirds’ lineup, then allowed hits to Bruce and Ball and a run to score in the third inning. Vinny also singled to begin the bottom 3rd, but was doubled up by Fumero. Morales retired the 5-6-7 in order in the fourth, but every count ran full, and he was not going to be much longer for this game. He didn’t get out of the fifth inning, walking Joel Chavez and giving up an RBI double to Bruce and an RBI single to Streng before being yanked with two outs. Childress got out of the inning and also pitched the sixth, while the Raccoons kept drawing blanks against LaRosa until Tyler Wharton socked a leadoff homer – ******* finally!! – in the bottom 7th, getting the Portlanders on the board in now a 3-1 game.

But LaRosa retired the next three in order and by now it was raining again. The Coons got two innings from Schmieder between the seventh and eighth in what was mostly quick contact right at defenders, then got a leadoff single to right from Flowe in the bottom 8th. Novelo and Duhe poked futilely before Fumero hit a 2-out single and knocked out the pesky pitcher. Roland Wiser then struck out Gallo to strand the tying runs. McMahan couldn’t get through the ninth, allowing two singles that Nava then cleaned up, so at least the Bayhawks didn’t get any tack-on runs. Southpaw Travis Davis faced the 3-4-5 batters in soggy conditions in the bottom 9th. He struck out Wharton and Starr before Early batted for Corral … and reached on an error by Joel Chavez. Leggett’s pop on the infield ended the game. 3-1 Bayhawks. Fumero 2-4; Schmieder 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

We decided to give Wharton the rubber game off to have him available for all of the Titans series that was going to follow.

Game 3
SFB: 2B Bruce – SS K. Ball – LF Streng – RF J. Ward – CF Parrish – C H. Valdez – 1B Nakamura – 3B J. Chavez – P B. Thompson
POR: SS Duhe – CF Fumero – 3B Gallo – 1B Starr – RF Corral – 2B Novelo – LF Otal – C Marquez – P Pizzichini

Pablo Novelo hurt himself on a double play attempt right in the first inning after Bruce’s leadoff single and Keith Ball’s grounder to short. The Coons got the lead runner, but Novelo got twisted awkwardly and hobbled off the field with trainer Luis Silva in favor of Wally Leggett. Pizza then struck out two to get out of the inning, not including Ward, who hit a 2-out double before Parrish whiffed to strand a pair in scoring position.

The first six Portland batters in the game were retired in order before Benito Otal hit a double to left in the bottom 3rd and got his tush stranded on base because the offensive decrepitude of the early games continued unabated in this contest. The weather, too – it was 38 and started to drizzle in the fourth inning of the scoreless game. Scoreless at least until Carlos Fumero yoinked one over the fence in right to begin the bottom of that fourth inning. There was a very brief rain delay in the top 5th, after which Pizza resumed pitching and got through the inning with the 1-0 lead. He gave up a double in the sixth to Parrish, but the 1-out runner was stranded on Hugo Valdez’ groundout and a K to Natsu Nakamura.

Things began to come undone with a leadoff single by Chavez in the seventh, and then Gallo threw away Thompson’s bunt for two bases, putting the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position with an out yet to be logged in the inning. Pizza hung around to strike out Bruce, but Rios came in to face the left-handed hitting Ball. San Fran sent right-handed Jimmy Poe instead, who lined out to a jumping Duhe and Thompson was almost doubled off second base, but scrambled back just in time. Dover then came in to face Streng, but gave up the lead on an RBI single before popping out Ward to strand a pair on the corners at stretch time, where the Baybirds were out-hitting the Critters, 8-2.

Gallo reached on a Nakamura error to begin the bottom 7th, advanced on Starr’s groundout to first, and then Nakamura couldn’t reach another grounder in his vicinity that escaped for an RBI single in Jose Corral’s name, and the Coons got the lead back. Ward’s vain attempt at home allowed Corral to take the insurance run to second base. Leggett’s soft single put runners on the corners, while I was having a shouting match with Cristiano Carmona when the best time was to use the $55k-a-game lumber on the bench. Wharton in fact came to bat for Otal in this spot, and hit into a double play, so that had NOT been the best spot…

On the bright paw, Dover got rid of the Baybirds in 1-2-3 fashion in the eighth before the Raccoons very slowly loaded the bases with van Otterdijk, Duhe, Gallo, and two outs in the bottom 8th. Roland Wiser faced Joel Starr in that spot, and prevailed when he got a pop to second base to end the inning. Valentin was thus in for the ninth, and immediately gave up a game-tying homer to Joel Chavez. He got three outs from the next three batters while I howled in pain, although Wharton had remained in the game and was going to bat in the bottom 9th, which Wiser began for San Francisco. Corral singled to right, Leggett walked, and Wharton … flew out to Ward in rightfield. Corral moved up to third base, notably, while the Bayhawks had an injury concern with Wiser, who left the game with their trainer. Left-hander David Figueroa came in, while Marquise Early batted for 0-for-7 Lorenzo Marquez, then popped out foul. Flowe flew out to left to send the game to extras, and our bench was empty at this point.

Childress got the ball, batting eighth, and struck out Streng and Ward in a 1-2-3 tenth inning. Jared Duhe by contrast led off the bottom 10th with a string double into the rightfield corner, after which the Bayhawks elected to walk Fumero intentionally. He was forced out on Gallo’s grounder, but the winning run was on third for Starr, with a sac fly being all that was needed. Starr ran a full count before knocking a sharp grounder right at Bruce, who fired home and – got the out. Instead Jose Corral got to be the hero, hitting a 2-out walkoff single through the right side to drive home Gallo with the suddenly-winning run. 3-2 Critters. Corral 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI; van Otterdijk (PH) 1-1, 2B; Pizzichini 6.1 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K;

In other news

April 2 – SFW SP Luis Olvera (1-0, 0.00 ERA) fires a 1-hit shutout against the Wolves to begin his season, striking out six in a 7-0 win. The lone Salem hit is a first-inning single by C Fernando Contreras (.250, 0 HR, 0 RBI).
April 4 – The Loggers take an early blow and will be without 2B/SS Fidel Carrera (0-for-4, 0 HR, 0 RBI) for three months after the 30-year-old suffered a broken fibula.
April 4 – PIT INF/LF Edgar Gonzales (.250, 0 HR, 1 RBI) will miss three weeks with a broken rib.
April 5 – Buffaloes SP Kelly Whitney (0-0, 3.60 ERA) could miss four months for surgery to remove bone chips from his elbow.
April 5 – The Titans beat the Condors, 1-0, on a home run in the eighth inning by BOS OF Eddie Marcotte (.375, 1 HR, 1 RBI).
April 5 – Five of the six Federal League games on Friday end in a walkoff, two of them in extra innings, and three of them after the road team tied or took the lead in the top of the last inning. The only non-walkoff is a 3-1 road win of the Miners against the Wolves.
April 6 – The Titans get only one base hit against the Condors in a 3-1 loss, a solo home run by INF Cesar Pena (.125, 1 HR, 1 RBI).
April 8 – 40-year-old Rebels 1B Bill Joyner (.280, 0 HR, 3 RBI) gets his 2,500th career hit in a 4-3 win against the Stars. The 5-time Gold Glover and career .318 hitter with 216 HR and 1,195 RBI hits a single off DAL SP Ray “Crabman” Walker (1-0, 1.69 ERA) before being double switched out of the game late.
April 8 – Falcons INF John Schmidt (.333, 0 HR, 2 RBI) was going to miss the rest of the month after straining a hammy.
April 8 – Miners C/1B Nick Dingman (.259, 1 HR, 3 RBI) will be out for a month after straining a groin muscle.
April 9 – Richmond’s 2B Matthew Selep (.368, 2 HR, 10 RBI) cracks a walkoff grand slam in the ninth inning to beat the Stars, 7-3.
April 9 – The Gold Sox beat the Cyclones, 6-5 in 16 innings, thanks to DEN OF Chris Tuck (.395, 1 HR, 7 RBI) sending everybody home with a walkoff single.

FL Player of the Week: RIC LF/CF/2B Darby Laybolt (.500, 2 HR, 7 RBI)
CL Player of the Week: ATL C Justin Hart (.560, 1 HR, 5 RBI)

Complaints and stuff

Everybody the Raccoons put on waivers this first week arrived in AAA without being claimed. No injury news on Pablo Novelo immediately after the game, so we’d play this by ear.

The AAA season has only just started, but we’re already watching the outfielders down there. Jamie Colter got off well, and it’s perhaps too early anyway for Jack Hamel, who is at least a ranked prospect after a few years of doubts and regrets. He was the first of the “reward” picks for suffering through three straight 90-loss seasons, at #5 in ’66. The others were of course Jimmy Wharton (#4 in ’67), who threw 8.1 shutout innings in his season debut in AAA, and outfielder Kyle Markovich (#6 last year), who was just getting used to AA and was not on the radar right now.

There’s not much to complain about, besides the obviously limp offense to begin the year. 4-4 isn’t bad when you’re up against the Loggers and Thunder right away, and the Titans will conclude the homestand with a 4-game set next.

After that the Raccoons will have a 2-week road trip to Indy, Tijuana, Atlanta, and Milwaukee – all 3-game sets – and will hopefully find an offensive groove at some point. More than 3.875 runs per game at least. Please.

Fun Fact: Cody Childress had the first W of his career in the final game of the Bayhawks series.

…and at a tender 28 years and 276 days old!

I should not complain too much, since so far the Baltimorean Childress was turning in six totally fine innings on garbage detail.

[DD Martin]

Wonder if Wharton is missing the bandbox park he used to hit in!

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by DD Martin

Wonder if Wharton is missing the bandbox park he used to hit in!

No no, I checked the label at the bottom, and our new power tool needs an ambient temperature of 60 degrees to function to its full potential. Maybe in July!

[Westheim]

Raccoons (4-4) vs. Titans (5-4) – April 11-14, 2069

The Titans would finish the homestand by coming in for four games. The Raccoons had not won a season series against the blue team since 2061, with one draw and lots of losses. Last season had been another 5-13 drumming, including that extremely depressing sweep at home to end the 2068 season that cost the Raccoons a shot at a tie-breaker whiff if nothing else. The Titans had started off soft, with just 23 runs scored in nine games, and 32 runs allowed. Regulars Steve Humphries and Jared Robichaud had already gone down to injury.

Projected matchups:
Tony Gaytan (0-1, 4.50 ERA) vs. Matt Nelson (0-1, 0.00 ERA)
A.C. Stebbins (0-1, 7.94 ERA) vs. Mike Bell (0-0, 1.13 ERA)
Nick Walla (1-1, 1.93 ERA) vs. Tyler Riddle (2-0, 1.20 ERA)
Vinny Morales (0-1, 3.12 ERA) vs. Ricardo Montoya (0-2, 5.84 ERA)

Riddle was the only left-handed starter in this series.

The Raccoons still had Pablo Novelo injured and undiagnosed on the roster, so we were a guy short on the bench.

Game 1
BOS: SS C. Pena – CF Marcotte – C D. Johnson – RF M. Garcia – 1B A. Metz – 3B D. Miller – LF Joe Washington – 2B Jer. White – P M. Nelson
POR: SS Duhe – 3B Gallo – CF Wharton – 1B Starr – 2B Fumero – RF Corral – C Flowe – LF Otal – P Gaytan

J.P. Gallo socked a 2-run homer after Jared Duhe drew a leadoff walk from Nelson, which was a nice start along with Gaytan’s scoreless first. David Johnson had singled in that first inning, and the Titans would put somebody on base in every inning against Gaytan, pairs even in the third and fourth innings, but never scored against him. Gallo meanwhile also had the second Portland hit, a double in the third, but nothing happened with regards of additional runs in that inning. The bottom 4th began with Fumero grounding out, but Nelson then nicked Jose Corral. Flowe whiffed, but Benito Otal found another single. Nelson then got Gaytan to 0-2 before getting lazy down the middle and Gaytan also went for the middle, up and into centerfield with the stupid thing, hitting an RBI single to extend his lead to 3-0. Duhe added another run with a single to left, while Gallo now grounded out to Jeremy White to end the inning.

The Titans then finally got on the board in the fifth, beginning with Nelson’s leadoff single off Gaytan. Otal dropped a fly by Eddie Marcotte for an error, and then Johnson wrapped one around the left foul pole for a 3-run homer with one out, so two runs were earned on Gaytan, who finished the inning and then struck out the bottom third of the order in the sixth to regain some composure. Gaytan batted for himself once more after Otal rolled a shy 2-out single in the bottom 6th and now took Nelson into the left-center gap for an RBI double, upping the score to 5-3. Duhe left him on base by grounding out to Danny Miller.

Gaytan kept chugging along on the hill all the way into the eighth. Manuel Garcia hit a leadoff double in the inning, but Gaytan struck out Andy Metz and had Danny Miller pop out on his 106th and final pitch. McMahan then replaced him for Joe Washington, got a groundout on the only pitch he threw in the game, and that was the inning. Bottom 8th, George van Otterdijk batted for Jake Flowe against Pedro Mendoza and socked a leadoff double to left, but was in some discomfort at second base, and Luis Silva soldiered out there with both paws stoically buried in his brown hoodie’s kangaroo pocket to look at him, eventually collecting him. Marquise Early ran for him, while Lorenzo Marquez batted for Benito Otal, grounding out to short to keep the runner pinned. Wally Leggett flew out and Jared Duhe grounded out, leaving the runner on base altogether, and the bench was now also empty, while Pedro Valentin entered the game with the 2-run lead. He struck out White, PH Jonathan Gutierrez grounded out, but Cesar Pena and Eddie Marcotte snapped 2-out singles before Fumero got paws on a Johnson grounder to end the game. 5-3 Raccoons. Gallo 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; van Otterdijk (PH) 1-1, 2B; Otal 2-3; Gaytan 7.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 8 K, W (1-1) and 2-3, 2B, 2 RBI;

Van Otterdijk had come out with back discomfort, which was gone by Friday morning, which was good to know, but Novelo was still in some tube and having pictures made.

Game 2
BOS: 1B I. Berrios – CF Marcotte – C D. Johnson – LF M. Garcia – 3B D. Miller – 2B Jer. White – RF J. Evans – SS Canning – P M. Bell
POR: SS Duhe – 3B Gallo – CF Wharton – 1B Starr – 2B Fumero – RF Corral – C Flowe – LF Early – P Stebbins

A.C. Stebbins was not having a good day on Friday, facing an all-right-handed lineup, running 3-ball counts against everybody in the first inning and walking Johnson and Manuel Garcia with two outs, while everybody else hit a rocket to the outfield that was somehow caught. He was less fortunate in the second inning, where White and Jake Evans hit singles and Dave Canning socked a 3-run homer. Those were the only runs Stebbins allowed in five pretty dismal innings before being pinch-hit for, while on the other side Mike Bell was throwing a 2-hitter and didn’t look like he was gonna blink until the end. In the end it was the pitch count that got him, as he was up to 102 after eight innings, and heroic long relief by Matt Schmieder, who pitched FOUR innings after Stebbins’ early demise and didn’t allow any additional runs to the Bostonians, who then brought in their closer, Jose Gomez, to face the 2-3-4 batters in the bottom 9th. They went down just as meekly against him as they had against Bell. 3-0 Titans. Schmieder 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K;

Pablo Novelo was found to have a partial tear in his labrum that needed stitching up. He would be out for at least two months and thus disappeared onto the DL by Saturday. The Raccoons called up INF/LF Jacob Davis, who had made eight appearances for us in late 2067, and who had hit .240 in 68 games for St. Pete last season. Warm body.

Joel Starr had Saturday off after falling to .200 with the stick.

Game 3
BOS: SS C. Pena – CF Marcotte – C D. Johnson – RF M. Garcia – 1B A. Metz – 3B D. Miller – LF Joe Washington – 2B Jer. White – P Riddle
POR: SS Duhe – 1B Fumero – CF Wharton – 3B Gallo – LF Early – 2B Leggett – RF van Otterdijk – C Marquez – P Walla

David Johnson walloped one of Walla in the first inning to give Boston a 1-0 lead they instantly blew and then some in the bottom of the inning as Duhe and Fumero began with singles. Wharton grounded out, Riddle plated a run with a wild pitch, and Gallo’s sac fly brought in Fumero to take a 2-1 lead. However, straight singles by the Titans’ 6-7-8 batters tied the game again in the second inning before Riddle slapped a poor bunt back to Walla, who started a spiffy 1-5-3 double play, ending the inning.

But for something new, in our 11th game of the season, $54M man Tyler Wharton finally drove somebody in that was not himself, when he followed a 2-out triple by Carlos Fumero in the bottom 3rd with a double to left that gave the Coons a new 3-2 lead. Riddle walked Gallo, the Coons pulled off a double steal, but Marquise Early then drew a walk when his count ran full. Wally Leggett also drove in his first runs since being claimed off waivers, hitting a 2-run single to right-center, van Otterdijk hit another RBI single, and Riddle’s pain only ended after Lorenzo Marquez bashed a 3-run homer on his first Portland base hit altogether, which led to Riddle’s removal after seven straight batters reached base and all scored, all with two outs…! Kyle Houck replaced him and K’ed Walla to end the inning. Walla now had the huge lead, but looked fairly hittable in this game, and he quite inexplicably walked Houck in the fifth, and on four pitches, AND he didn’t have much stuff altogether, but at least he lined up zeroes in some fashion. Johnson singled in the sixth, but was left on, and Joe Washington hit a leadoff single in the seventh, but ended up being doubled off.

Walla ended up pitching eight innings without much fanfare, and was not seen again in the ninth inning. Tyler Wharton was also out of the game after catching a Johnson fly to end the top 8th, which at first did not draw much attention in a lopsided game (builds some tension with shivering whiskers), while Danny Nava delivered s scoreless ninth to put the game away. 9-2 Raccoons! Duhe 2-4; Fumero 2-5, 3B; Gallo 1-2, BB, RBI; Marquez 2-3, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Walla 8.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W (2-1);

The reason why Tyler Wharton was out of the game was not just sitting down the valuable asset for an inning of Otal in center before it could break, but because it had already broken. Wharton felt something in his shoulder after the catch on Johnson and consulted Luis Silva, who disappeared to the clubhouse with him, unseen by the NWSN cameras. The verdict was just shoulder soreness, and Wharton was ruled day-to-day on Sunday morning, but rest assured I cried and screamed all through the night, much to the delight of my neighbors.

Wharton was expected to be hampered for up to a week, which was not long enough to move him to the DL. He was not in the lineup for the series finale, Monday was off, and we’d play it by ear from there. (puts the oxygen mask back over his snout)

Game 4
BOS: SS C. Pena – CF Marcotte – C D. Johnson – 1B A. Metz – 3B D. Miller – LF Joe Washington – RF J. Evans – 2B Canning – P R. Montoya
POR: SS Duhe – 2B Fumero – 3B Gallo – 1B Starr – CF Otal – RF Corral – LF van Otterdijk – C Flowe – P Morales

The diminished Critters took another lead in the first inning with a Duhe double and two productive outs from Fumero and Gallo. Otal then hit another leadoff double in the second, but Jose Corral had dinner reservations and socked a 2-run homer to get the run home pronto. Jake Evans took Vinny Morales deep for a solo job in the third inning, which also saw another leadoff double by Duhe. Fumero flew out to fence and Washington, but Gallo struck another double off Montoya to drive in Duhe again, 4-1. Joel Starr’s RBI single tacked on, and Jake Flowe’s solo homer to right in the fourth inning knocked out another Titans starter early on, with Montoya chased after 3.1 innings and six runs. Right-hander Jim Allen got out of the inning, but Fumero, Starr, and Otal piled up on base with one out in the bottom 5th. Corral’s sac fly was the only extra run, 7-1, and Allen K’ed van Otterdijk to strand the other two runners.

Morales kept trucking along, having a 4-hitter at the stretch, but had mostly used up his pitch allotment. Houck was back in for Boston, giving up a run when Otal tripled home Fumero with two outs in the bottom 7th. Corral then walked, but van Otterdijk popped out to strand two more. Morales threw two more pitches, one for a Jake Evans wallbanger and another for Canning to ground out on before Rios replaced him against PH Jonathan Gutierrez, whom he retired, and then Pena, whom he walked. Dover then entered with Early in a double switch and gave up a long fly to the fence to Marcotte, but it hung long enough for Otal to pick it six feet away from the wall. Duhe hit a solo homer in the bottom 8th, 9-1, before Dover returned for the ninth inning, where he allowed a homer to Andy Metz, another homer to Washington, and then ANOTHER homer to Evans with two outs. Childress had to come in and strike out Canning to end the game. 9-4 Furballs. Duhe 3-5, HR, 2 2B, RBI; Starr 2-3, BB, RBI; Otal 3-4, 3B, RBI; Corral 1-2, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Morales 7.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, W (1-1)

Wharton did not play in the game.

Raccoons (7-5) @ Indians (9-3) – April 16-18, 2069

The first-place Indians (!) had won six games in a row here, and ranked fourth in runs scored and seventh in runs allowed with a +10 run differential (Portland: +17). They were rated last in defense, while the Raccoons were ranked first in defense after just two weeks, so what were we even waffling about? Reliever John Nesbitt was the only early injury for Indy, and the Raccoons had won 12 games against them last season.

Projected matchups:
Girolamo Pizzichini (1-0, 1.46 ERA) vs. Justin Esch (1-0, 1.93 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (1-1, 3.29 ERA) vs. Jorge Flores (0-0, 5.40 ERA)
A.C. Stebbins (0-2, 6.75 ERA) vs. Miguel Lopez (1-0, 9.00 ERA)

The Indians came off two off days on Thursday and Monday, so they had plenty of wiggle room in that rotation. This was three right-handers, but southpaw ace Mike DeWitt (2-1, 2.81 ERA) would be the next in line.

Big Tyler was not in the lineup, but he was confirmed to be available to pinch-hit.

Game 1
POR: SS Duhe – 2B Fumero – 1B Starr – RF Corral – 3B Gallo – CF Otal – C Flowe – LF Early – P Pizzichini
IND: CF Hilario – 2B Masterson – C A. Gomez – 1B M. Rogers – 3B Ma. Martin – RF T. Torres – LF Menchaca – SS Valadez – P Esch

Pizza pitched a scoreless inning and then disappeared down the tunnel with Luis Silva, and I was starting to become a bit nauseous. The Raccoons had to go to Cody Childress from there, but he pitched only three innings before getting worked up by the Indians in the bottom 4th. Matt Rogers got him for a leadoff homer, he walked Tony Torres, and after a 2-out intentional walk to Fernando Valadez, Justin Esch singled to center. Torres scored, and Valadez scored when Otal threw the ball away for an error. Jose Hilario singled to right on an 0-2 single after that, but Corral rushed in and fired home to throw out the pitcher at the plate to end the inning. This gave Indy a 3-0 lead with Esch so far not having allowed a whole damn lot, and nothing much would change about that until Gallo randomly hit a home run to right in the seventh inning.

Down 3-1 in the eighth inning after more stingy relief by Nava, McMahan, and Schmieder, the Raccoons got Marquise Early on base with a leadoff single, and there came Wharton carrying a stick to the plate as the tying run. He popped out to Valadez behind short, but Duhe singled, sending Early to third base. Fumero got a run home by grounding into a fielder’s choice, then stole second with two outs, but was then left on base when Starr grounded out easily on a 3-2 pitch, leaving the score at 3-2. Dover shook off the shell shock for a 1-2-3 eighth before Indians righty Shamar King put the leadoff man and tying run on base, conceding a single to Corral. Gallo struck out, but an Otal single and a walk scratched out by Flowe loaded the bases with one out for … uh, Marquise Early? The Coons sent Wally Leggett instead, who ran a full count before hitting into a double play to kill the game. 3-2 Indians. Otal 2-4, 2B;

No news on Pizza from the trainer’s room by Wednesday, so we now had two injured players on the roster.

Game 2
POR: SS Duhe – LF Fumero – 1B Starr – RF Corral – 3B Gallo – CF Otal – C Flowe – 2B Leggett – P Gaytan
IND: CF Hilario – LF Spicer – C A. Gomez – 1B M. Rogers – 3B Ma. Martin – RF T. Torres – 2B Masterson – SS Valadez – P J. Flores

Tony Gaytan struck out six in the first three innings, but found himself 1-0 behind on a Matt Rogers homer and for his own offense being on a meager single through three innings. They then loaded the bases to begin the fourth when Flores offered leadoff walks to Starr and Corral before Gallo scratched a single, so there were three on with nobody out. Otal popped out, which was … yes. But Jake Flowe laid off the garbage and made Flores walk in the tying run. A passed ball brought in the go-ahead run, and Leggett was then walked semi-intentionally. Tony Gaytan had driven in two runs in his last start, and drove in another one here with a single to left-center…! Duhe hit a comebacker that Flores took for an out at the plate on Flowe, but that was the last out he got, getting knocked out on Fumero’s 2-out, 2-run single to right that made it 5-1. Left-hander Pablo Apodaca struck out Starr to end the inning.

Gaytan was a bit out of tune after the long batting inning and struggled allowing two hits in the bottom 4th, then walked Valadez to begin the fifth, but Apodaca bunted forcefully into a double play. Jose Hilario then singled, but was caught stealing as the Indians mostly removed themselves from contention in the inning. Instead the Raccoons tacked on a run in the sixth with Leggett drawing a leadoff walk and being singled home by Fumero. Gaytan did not get another K until he rung up Alex Gomez in the bottom 6th, then right away gave up a second homer to Rogers, 6-2. Scott Masterson got on base in the seventh, and also got himself caught stealing. Gaytan fumbled on until he walked Hilario with one out in the eighth and then was removed. Rios replaced him, but put Malcolm Spicer and Rogers on base and left a three-on, two-out mess for Pedro Valentin to sort out. Matt Martin popped out to Starr on a 1-1 pitch to end the inning after coming up as the tying run. Valentin then made it “interesting” in all the wrong ways with a pair of free passes to Torres and Masterson in the bottom 9th. Valadez flew out, moving the lead runner to third base, and Guillermo Lujan hit a sac fly, and then Valentin finally stopped mucking about and K’ed Hilario to end the game. 6-3 Raccoons. Fumero 2-5, 3 RBI; Flowe 2-3, BB, RBI; Gaytan 7.1 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 9 K, W (2-1) and 1-3, RBI;

Coons scored six runs here without the benefit of an extra-base knock.

Wharton back on Thursday? He pinch-hit in the ninth inning again, and maybe … (sharply draws in air between teeth) No. Nor were there news on Pizza. We continued to play with a 23 1/2-man roster for the rubber game.

Game 3
POR: SS Duhe – LF Fumero – RF Corral – 1B Starr – CF Otal – 2B Leggett – C Flowe – 3B Davis – P Stebbins
IND: CF Hilario – 2B Masterson – C A. Gomez – 1B M. Rogers – 3B Ma. Martin – RF T. Torres – LF Valencia – SS Valadez – P Mi. Lopez

Nothing good came out of a Fumero double in the first, but Otal’s leadoff double in the second led to an early 1-0 lead on the second career RBI of Jacob Davis (he had gotten one in ’67). Stebbins singled, but Duhe left the pair on base, before Fumero hit another double to begin the third inning. Corral’s grounder and sac fly by the struggling Starr made it 2-0, but it all started to come unglued for Stebbins in the bottom 3rd. Valadez hit a leadoff double to right and was bunted to third base by Lopez before Hilario’s grounder was bungled for an error by Duhe (the run would have scored anyway). Masterson then walked, double steal, but Gomez bounced out sharply to third base, which kept the runners pinned. Matt Rogers was batting .316 with six homers and was sent to the open base, even when that meant that Stebbins faced a right-handed batter with the bases loaded now. Matt Martin of course hit a score-flipping 2-run single before Torres struck out…

The middle innings were rather dull. Neither team did much, but the Indians at least got Stebbins to a hundred pitches in six innings, so he was hit for in the seventh. Van Otterdijk struck out in his spot as the Coons went down 1-2-3. Starr hit a 2-out double in the eighth with nobody on and was left on base by Otal. The Coons were still down 3-2 into the ninth against Shamar King after McMahan got two out and Nava got four without any drama associated with their outings. Leggett led off the ninth inning with a single in a 3-2 count, but a hit-and-run call went awry when Flowe missed and Leggett was thrown out. Flowe then grounded out. Wharton batted for Davis, but flew out to right to end the game. 3-2 Indians. Fumero 2-4, 2 2B; Leggett 2-4;

In other news

April 11 – The Falcons trade 29-year-old 1B Justin Savalli (.194, 1 HR, 2 RBI) to the Scorpions for 35-year-old OF Matt McInnis (.325, 1 HR,4 RBI) and $2M, which will pay for almost all of McInnis’ remaining salary ahead of free agency.
April 12 – The Loggers blow a 5-run lead in the ninth inning at home, but still manage to walk off on a wild pitch by New York’s MR Jon Dominguez (0-1, 1.08 ERA) in the bottom of the ninth, taking an 8-7 victory.
April 13 – Warriors SP Harry Poteat (1-1, 2.05 ERA) spins a 2-hit shutout against Sacramento for a skinny 1-0 win. He strikes out eight batters.
April 13 – Condors C/1B Mike Brann (.212, 0 HR, 0 RBI) was going to miss at least a month with a broken forearm.
April 14 – The Crusaders beat the Loggers, 7-1 in 12 innings after a 6-run outbreak in the top of the 12th.
April 15 – OCT 2B/SS Jose Palominos (.275, 3 HR, 8 RBI) will miss two to three weeks, having sprained his ankle.
April 16 – The Condors beat the Knights, 5-4 in 14 innings.
April 17 – OCT SP Alfredo Picun (2-1, 2.59 ERA) 3-hits the Falcons, 2-0.

FL Player of the Week (2): NAS INF Jordan Sellman (.327, 3 HR, 9 RBI), batting .414 (12-29) with 3 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week (2): LVA C/1B Chris Haynes (.400, 5 HR, 10 RBI), hitting .464 (13-28) with 2 HR, 3 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The team has the worst OBP in the league at .303 at this point, which means Stebbins loses every game and the other three starters have almost a 2 ERA between them and it’s still not enough. The other thing is that maybe we should stop trying to catch live grenades with the snout and keep our best team on the field. Tyler Wharton is expected to be back in the lineup on Friday in Tijuana, so there’s that, but he’s not even near a 100 OPS+ right now.

The Raccoons have only three players raking right now, one of them suddenly being Benito Otal, who was looking like he was going to claim that leftfield assignment for good before long. The others were Duhe and Fumero. Joel Starr was struggling big, but he also was up against a terrible .200 BABIP so far, so it wasn’t all old age and departed skills.

Still no news on Pizza as of Thursday night. Potential fill-ins would be Childress out of the long man role, and I hear all the cries for Centeno and Jimmy Wharton, but they both had identical totals of nine walks and nine strikeouts from 15-16 innings in AAA so far, and were not ready. The only other option in AAA was Victor Chavez, a bit of a forgotten starter, who was already 25 and was in his fourth AAA season.

The rest of the road trip included stops in Tijuana, Atlanta, and Milwaukee.

Fun Fact: Tony Gaytan had the third-most strikeouts in the CL with 21.

This was behind Mike Bell (30) and Jason Brenize (26). He had 9 K/9 after three starts, after previously not topping 6.9/9 in his previous seasons. I sure hoped for more strikeouts and fewer walks to compensate for all the homers he tended to give up – so far 58 bombs in 508 innings, and three already this season.

[Westheim]

Pizza flew to Portland from Indianapolis, then to Los Angeles on Friday to have surgery for a partially torn UCL on Monday. He would miss the rest of the season and this likely ended his Coons stint given that he was a free agent after the year and we had the Centeno/Wharton situation bubbling in St. Petersburg.

The Coons tapped Cody Childress for the start on Sunday and brought up a spare reliever in right-handed swingman Juan Vega, who had pitched in two games last season for a 9.00 ERA. He had a 4.15 ERA in AAA. Vega had four pitches, but nobody considered him a viable option for a 5-month assignment to a major league rotation.

Raccoons (8-7) @ Condors (10-6) – April 19-21, 2069

With all that going on, the Raccoons went to Tijuana, where the Condors seemed to have shaken off last year’s tire fire stench and were now at least competitive in the standings. They had scored the eighth-most runs and allowed the fifth-fewest runs so far, and their rotation was the second-best by ERA, but injuries to Mike Brann especially and Mario Moreno were going to hurt. The Raccoons had kicked them for seven wins in nine games last season.

Proejcted matchups:
Nick Walla (2-1, 2.05 ERA) vs. Joe Allen (1-1, 1.77 ERA)
Vinny Morales (1-1, 2.25 ERA) vs. Tony Castellanos (2-1, 1.13 ERA)
Cody Childress (1-1, 2.89 ERA) vs. Jason Brenize (2-0, 1.61 ERA)

We would face a left-hander to begin the series, and with that 1.77 ERA he was really the butt of the joke in that rotation…

Game 1
POR: SS Duhe – 1B Fumero – CF Wharton – 3B Gallo – LF Early – 2B Leggett – RF van Otterdijk – C Marquez – P Walla
TIJ: RF Elliott – C Lippert – 1B D. Cline – 2B Pinault – 3B Monck – CF Rugar – SS D. Cox – LF M. Campos – P Joe Allen

Nick Walla got his ERA into the 1’s with a few outs to begin the inning, although he was taken deep by Jake Elliott his second time up, and that gave the Condors a 1-0 lead. There was not much to complain about Walla’s pitching otherwise – aside from the stray homer he allowed only two hits and struck out six through six innings, while the Raccoons had six hits and didn’t score anything with them. Tyler Wharton was thankfully back in the lineup and tripled in the first inning, which didn’t lead to a run in any way, shape, or form, and then grounded out when Duhe and Fumero reached base with 2-out singles in the third inning. The rest of the base knocks were frittered away in similar ways and the Raccoons remained trailing by the tiniest score of 1-0. Mike Pinault singled to left to begin the bottom 7th, but was caught up in a 4-6-3 double play grounder by ex-Coon Rich Monck, who was still fighting the .200 mark.

Walla rung up Josh Rugar to finish the inning, and the Raccoons then got Duhe on base with a leadoff walk in the eighth. Fumero singled, and both runners advanced on Wharton’s grounder to second as we had to continue waiting for a big bop from him. Gallo tied the game with a sac fly, chasing Allen, but his replacement David Carlson struck out Joel Starr, batting for Marquise Early in some despair, and the go-ahead run was left on third base. Leggett and van Otterdijk were on base in the ninth inning, and were left in scoring position after meek outs by Marquez, Otal, and Duhe. When scoreless relief by Nava and Rios sent the game into overtime, the Raccoons managed to waste two more singles by Gallo and Starr in the tenth, yet MORE singles by van Otterdijk (who removed himself in a baserunning blunder) and Corral in the 11th, and in the 12th arrived at the dreadful bases loaded, nobody out point. Fumero singled (yay…), stole second, and Wharton was walked intentionally after that, while Corey Vazquez’ error at second base put Gallo on base, all against right-hander Harry Facteau in his second inning of work. Starr struck out, but Wally Leggett ******* finally came through with an RBI single to right on the Raccoons’ SIXTEENTH hit of the ballgame. The rest of the litter were stranded on van Otterdijk’s pop and Marquez’ fly to center.

The funny part then was where Pedro Valentin entered the game, allowed a leadoff single to #2 batter Emilio Vidrio, walked David Cline, and after getting rid of Mike Pinault and Rich Monck, cracked up a 2-out RBI single to Dan Geiger before the Condors’ empty bench led to Facteau being carved up for dinner on strikes, sending the game to the 13th ******* inning. And that was not the end of the game either, as things led to Juan Vega making his season debut and pitching three scoreless innings with nothing happening otherwise. Starr singled in the 14th, Marquez singled in the 15th… and Wharton hit a double in the 16th, and that still was not good enough to get another run across. The Coons got one more inning out of Vega, then got a single from van Otterdijk in the 17th, and of course still weren’t able to score another run. By the end of the 17th inning, provided by Matt Schmieder, the Raccoons were out-hitting the Condors TWENTY to eight, and still couldn’t slide in the winning run.

And then it finally happened: the 18th inning broke, the fourth for Condors righty Tyler Reed on the hill, and Fumero singled his way on base ahead of Tyler Wharton, and Wharton finally got a hold of one and crushed a 2-run homer! That was all the runs there, and the Raccoons hung with Schmieder for a second inning to begin the bottom 18th at least, with McMahan the only backup available. Geiger flew out to right, and the reliever (Luis Lerma) was still batting seventh and popped out. Marco Campos grounded out. 4-2 Raccoons. Fumero 4-9; Wharton 3-8, BB, HR, 3B, 2B, 2 RBI; Starr (PH) 2-6; van Otterdijk 4-8; Corral (PH) 1-1; Walla 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K and 1-3; Rios 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K; Vega 4.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K; Schmieder 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, W (1-0);

Woof. We thanked Juan Vega for his four shutout innings by sending him back to AAA because after this game we’d need a fresh arm on the roster on Saturday. That turned out to be Manabu Yamauchi, who had been discarded in the middle of last season after posting a 5.94 ERA, and had now walked five batters in 3.2 innings in AAA in April, but this was a warm body assignment.

Game 2
POR: SS Duhe – 2B Fumero – CF Wharton – 1B Starr – LF Otal – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – C Flowe – P Morales
TIJ: RF Elliott – C Lippert – 1B D. Cline – 2B Pinault – 3B Monck – CF Rugar – SS C. Vazquez – LF M. Campos – P T. Castellanos

The Condors took 18 innings to score two runs on Friday, but didn’t even take 18 pitches to get two runs across on Saturday against Morales, who allowed an infield single to Jake Elliott, and RBI triple to Randy Lippert, and then a sac fly to Cline to be behind almost instantly. It didn’t get much better for him from there, as the Condors ran up his pitch count rather quickly, and tacked on a run in the fourth on Josh Rugar’s homer, and then got another run on a couple of singles in the sixth inning, which was also the last one with Morales in this game. He left trailing 4-0, since the Raccoons had used up all their hits allotment on Friday and were not getting anything much off Tony Castellanos now. The Brownshirts had only a few singles off Castellanos through six, and didn’t reach the scoreboard until J.P. Gallo hit a solo homer in the seventh – which coincidentally made him the first Critter to ten RBI.

Yamauchi pitched a scoreless seventh before the eighth inning saw a free Coons runner when Fumero was put on by Mike Pinault on a throwing error. Wharton smacked an RBI double, 4-2, Starr grounded out, and Benito Otal got in an RBI single with two outs. Gallo hit another single, but Pinault managed to intercept Corral’s grounder to end the inning with the tying run on second base. The Condors got an insurance run back when Rugar hit another homer in the bottom 8th off McMahan, and the Raccoons made poor outs with Flowe and Leggett in the ninth against Carlson before Duhe snuck a 2-out walk. Fumero grounded out to short to end the game. 5-3 Condors. Wharton 2-4, 2B, RBI; Otal 2-4, 2B, RBI; Gallo 2-4, HR, RBI; Corral 2-4;

Game 3
POR: SS Duhe – 2B Fumero – CF Wharton – 1B Starr – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – LF van Otterdijk – C Flowe – P Childress
TIJ: RF Elliott – C Lippert – 1B D. Cline – 2B Pinault – 3B Monck – CF Rugar – SS D. Cox – LF M. Campos – P Brenize

Not a pitching matchup the brown team was looking forward to. Elliott tripled to begin the bottom 1st, and while Childress struck out Randy Lippert and held the runner on a David Cline grounder that then became an infield single, Pinault hit a sac fly to put the Condors up 1-0. Monck struck out, falling under .200 with one homer. And Childress did his very best after that, but he was already in a hole, and Jason Brenize was *on*. He retired the Coons in order the first time through, struck out the side in the second, and five in total in three innings, and then continued with a 1-2-3 fourth with another two strikeouts. He rung up Starr a second time in the fifth inning, but then Gallo snuck a single up the middle. Corral grounded out and van Otterdijk flew out, leaving the tying run on base.

Marco Campos doubled into the rightfield corner to begin the bottom 5th and got around to score on productive outs, but the Coons got the tying runs into scoring position in the sixth when Flowe singled to right and Fumero doubled to center with two outs. Brenize battled Wharton with first base open, but eventually lost him in a full count, and the bags were loaded for Starr, who had nothing but whiffs in this game, also ran a full count, and then flew out to Campos on the warning track, stranding all the runners. Brenize got to 10 K against Gallo to begin the seventh. Childress made it through seven on six hits, then was hit for to begin the top 8th against Brenize. Strikeouts to Otal and Fumero in another 1-2-3 inning gave Brenize a dozen whiffs for the game – and that was it for him, as the Condors sent Chris Thompson for the ninth after Nava and Rios held the score to 2-0 in the bottom 8th. Thompson put the tying runs on base with walks to Wharton and Gallo, but Leggett batted for Corral only to pop out, and van Otterdijk struck out altogether. 2-0 Condors. Childress 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, L (1-2);

Raccoons (9-9) @ Knights (10-8) – April 23-25, 2069

After a Monday off day, the Raccoons went over to Atlanta by Tuesday, playing against another CL South team they had gone 7-2 against last season. The Knights were fourth in offense and sixth in pitching. They had the highest OBP in the CL, and sported the worst defense. Key acquisition Tomas Guangorena was on the DL, just like first baseman Phil Mower (who?).

Projected matchups:
Tony Gaytan (2-1, 3.00 ERA) vs. Adam Molloy (1-1, 3.66 ERA)
A.C. Stebbins (0-3, 4.86 ERA) vs. Rob Wilkinson (0-0, 2.40 ERA)
Nick Walla (2-1, 1.86 ERA) vs. Adam Lunn (2-0, 3.90 ERA)

Only right-handed starters, even allowing for the off day skipping Brett Bebout (2-2, 3.08 ERA) into the series, potentially at least.

Game 1
POR: SS Duhe – 2B Fumero – CF Wharton – 1B Starr – LF Otal – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – C Flowe – P Gaytan
ATL: CF J. Soto – 2B J. Munoz – C Hart – LF J. Acuna – RF Jad. Wilson – 3B Schomer – SS Ellis – 1B S. Jacobs – P Molloy

Things derailed right away after the off day when Tony Gaytan pitched two innings and a bit, put runners on the corners in the bottom 3rd, and then was washed away by a rainstorm and a rain delay of a solid hour and 45 minutes. Yamauchi inherited Scott Jacobs and Jorge Soto on the corners and one out, had Jorge Munoz pop out on a mile high silo shot to shallow center, and then Justin Hart grounded out to Fumero to strand Gaytan’s runners. The Raccoons had only put up one hit and no runs again through three innings, then got three hits off Nate Baker in the fourth, but Wharton ran into a premature out on third base on a Starr single, and while Otal hit another single, Gallo whiffed to keep two runners stranded.

Jaden Wilson walked against Yamauchi in the bottom 4th, and with two outs the Knights really started to crank it up. Ben Ellis singled home Wilson, who had advanced on Jon Schomer’s grounder, Jacobs walked, and PH Jose Consuegra snapped another RBI single before Jorge Soto struck out in a ten-pitch battle to end the inning. The Coons shrugged, hoped to get some more tragic outs from Yamauchi before disposing him for some other broken toy after the game, and so he was sent to bat with two down and nobody on in the fifth – and he walked. Duhe and Fumero filled the bases with singles against Baker, and then Wharton batted with three on and two outs and shot a single through the left side to tie the game, bringing in both Yamauchi and Duhe. Starr grounded out to Ellis, leaving two on.

The team remained annoying, stranding another pair in the sixth when Otal and Corral got on base, but Flowe and Early made poor outs to end that inning. Dover held the game tied in the bottom 6th. Kody Mello was then sent in by the Knights, and he was immediately taken deep to left on his second pitch by Jared Duhe, who took the team homer lead with four, and *gave* the team a lead in this contest, 3-2. Fumero singled, stole second, and the bases filled up with a walk to Starr and an infield single by Otal. Gallo batted with the sacks packed and one gone, slashed a single to left to drive in a run, but Starr was thrown out at the plate trying to join Fumero on the scoreboard. Corral popped out in foul ground to strand yet another pair of runners.

A gluelike game saw Nava give us a scoreless seventh, but McMahan allowed a leadoff single to Javier Acuna to begin the bottom 8th. This brought the tying run to the plate with nobody out, but Jaden Wilson popped out. We then sent in Schmieder, who got a double play grounder from Jon Schomer to get out of the inning. The Raccoons failed to get insurance, then sent Valentin against the bottom of the order in the ninth. Ellis, Jacobs, and Troy Swick made straight outs to give the opener to the Coons. 4-2 Raccoons. Duhe 2-5, HR, RBI; Fumero 4-5; Wharton 2-5, 2 RBI; Otal 3-4; van Otterdijk (PH) 1-1;

I just wish the offense would live up to its payroll.

Game 2
POR: 2B Fumero – 3B Gallo – CF Wharton – 1B Starr – LF Otal – SS Leggett – RF Corral – C Marquez – P Stebbins
ATL: CF J. Soto – 2B J. Munoz – C Hart – LF J. Acuna – RF Jad. Wilson – 3B Schomer – SS Ellis – 1B S. Jacobs – P Wilkinson

Lorenzo Marquez found Jose Corral on base to begin the third inning and hit a 2-run homer to overturn the 1-0 deficit that A.C. Stebbins had incurred in the first inning by basically being behind everybody in the early going, but he got a bit more steady from the second inning forwards, and through five innings had a 2-hitter going with four strikeouts, which was not *much*, but it was *something*. The Coons were not much better. They had one more hit through five after the Marquez homer, a leadoff triple by Wally Leggett in the fifth that did not lead to a run because Leggett was thrown out at the plate in a 7-2 double play on Corral’s fly to Javier Acuna.

So the score was still 2-1 into the sixth inning, where Gallo and Wharton hit a pair of 2-out singles to go to the corners, and then Wharton decided that this as a great spot to get caught stealing. It was at least of some comfort though that Stebbins put up two more 1-2-3 innings before being hit for (for zero gains of course) and then Dover retired the bottom of the order in due course in the eighth. The offense remained entirely absent, and to celebrate arriving in the bottom 9th with a lead, Pedro Valentin allowed another leadoff single to Jorge Soto. Munoz popped out, but he nicked Hart. Acuna flew out to center easily, but Schomer flicked a 1-2 pitch over the glove of Leggett at second base and it dinked in for a game-tying RBI single, the third blown save on Valentin already, and April wasn’t close to being over. Wilson struck out, so here was another ******* extra-inning game, and now the Knights could bring their new closer, Erik Swain, who remained unfazed by the Raccoons and retired them in order in the tenth. Matt Schmieder retired nobody, allowing a leadoff single to Ellis and a walkoff homer to Scott Jacobs to punch the loss. 4-2 Knights. Stebbins 7.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K;

******* useless.

Game 3
POR: 2B Fumero – SS Duhe – LF Otal – CF Wharton – 1B Starr – RF van Otterdijk – 3B Davis – C Flowe – P Walla
ATL: CF J. Soto – 2B J. Munoz – C Hart – LF J. Acuna – RF Jad. Wilson – 3B Schomer – SS Baxley – 1B S. Jacobs – P Lunn

Nick Walla had no strikeouts the first time through, but also allowed only one single to the Knights, while the Raccoons managed to put up three singles and a walk in the first three innings, but of course again didn’t score starting with Duhe and Otal getting on base in the first before Wharton grounded out and Starr struck out. On to the fourth, van Otterdijk hit a 1-out single and then Jacob Davis on a rare lineup assignment hit a ground-rule double off the warning track and over the fence to move runners to second and third with one gone. The Knights chose to not pitch to Jake Flowe, but then gave up a run when Walla hit a sac fly to Jaden Wilson, the first marker on the board. Fumero hit a piss poor grounder to second on the first pitch he got to end the inning. Another run scored and two more runners were stranded in the fifth: Otal singled, Starr was nicked, and van Otterdijk hit an RBI single, but then Davis struck out. Meanwhile Walla offered a leadoff walk in both the fourth and fifth innings, but the Knights twice hit into a double play to erase the free passes.

After this much ******* around by the offense, all the puny 2-0 lead went away on a Justin Hart homer with two outs in the bottom 6th, Soto having reached base ahead of him on a single. Walla would go on to pitch seven innings, holding a 2-2 tie while allowing four hits, four walks, and only getting four strikeouts. Lunn issued his fourth walk to van Otterdijk to lead off the eighth inning. Davis then hit into a 5-4-3 double play before Flowe doubled to right … Corral batted for Walla and grounded out on the first pitch he saw.

Nava held the game tied for the completely and disgustingly inept offense in the bottom 8th, while former Raccoons lefty Elijah LaBat, hardly the epitome of relieving at this stage or any other of his career, was sent out to meet the top of the Coons order in the ninth inning. Fumero and Duhe made blitz outs before Otal – unretired in the game – singled up the middle with two outs, but had to be held at third base when Wharton then doubled to right. Gallo batted for the foundering Starr, poked at the first pitch, and his silly looper found a spot to drop between the converging Acuna and Soto in right-center, and neither played the ball, which got behind them. Both runners scored, even though Gallo shied back to first base, settling for a single. Alvaro Garza replaced LaBat and retired van Otterdijk on a first-pitch bouncer to Munoz…

The save opportunity went to McMahan since Valentin had been out two days in a row with decidedly mixed success. And guess what? He blew the ******* lead and sent the game to extras with another ******* leadoff single allowed to Wilson, a walk to Schomer, a wild pitch (…!!!), and then productive and run-scoring outs by pinch-hitters Ryan Bonner and Ben Ellis before Vincenzo Romboni struck out to end the inning and brought on extras once more. Top 10th, and the Raccoons loaded the bases as slowly as possible against righty Nick Walker, who struck out Davis before Flowe singled. Early whiffed, Fumero walked, and Duhe singled, bringing up a 5-for-5 Benito Otal, who fell behind 0-2 before hitting a fly to left that as caught by Acuna. So that was another **** inning, and the 11th was not any better as Gallo drew a free pass from Walker before trying to score from first base on Davis’ 2-out double to left. Javier Acuna ensured it remained an honest try, but unsuccessful, throwing him out at the plate, too.

The game went to the 12th inning after two scoreless innings from Yamauchi, and with the Raccoons again completely out-hitting the opposition, 15-5, and not being able to get ANY ******* RUNS ACROSS. At least until the catchers ganged up on Walker in the 12th. Flowe led off with a double past Soto in center, and then Lorenzo Marquez batted for Yamauchi and socked another homer to right! Fumero walked against the new pitcher Nate Baker before the Coons made two outs – Otal whiffed rather than getting a sixth base hit – and Wharton singled. Gallo tacked on with an RBI single, and van Otterdijk’s grounder to second was mishandled by Tory Swick for a run-scoring error. Leggett grounded out in place of Davis, and the 4-run lead went to Rios, who got the Knights in order. 8-4 Coons. Otal 5-7; Wharton 2-6, BB, 2B; Gallo (PH) 2-2, BB, 3 RBI; van Otterdijk 2-6, BB, RBI; Davis 2-6, 2 2B; Flowe 3-4, 2 BB, 2 2B; Marquez (PH) 1-1, HR, 2 RBI; Yamauchi 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, W (1-0);

Great! Really! Now we can take a completely tuckered out pitching staff to MILWAUKEE.

Raccoons (11-10) @ Loggers (9-12) – April 26-28, 2069

Here the Raccoons could face another team with stat anomalies. Like the Raccoons, the Loggers piled up hits, leading the league in batting average, but were ranking only seventh in runs scored. Their pitching was still getting bombed, tying for the second-most runs allowed and in total they had a -17 run differential (Coons: +20). Of note, two key batters were missing from the lineup: Fidel Carrera would be out (again) for a while, but Jonathan Merrill could come off the DL any day. The season series was tied at one.

Projected matchups:
Vinny Morales (1-2, 3.27 ERA) vs. Julio Robles (1-1, 4.60 ERA)
Cody Childress (1-2, 2.76 ERA) vs. Danny Ortiz (2-2, 3.21 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (2-1, 2.70 ERA) vs. Matt Crist (2-1, 3.62 ERA)

There were three right-handers lined up here, but the Loggers had been off on Thursday and had the chance to skip southpaw ex-Coon Nick Robinson (2-0, 1.33 ERA) into the series.

Game 1
POR: 2B Fumero – SS Duhe – LF Otal – CF Wharton – 1B Starr – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – C Flowe – P Morales
MIL: 2B Van Leeuwen – 3B McKenna – LF C. Dominguez – 1B C. Ramirez – RF D. Wright – CF Alaniz – SS R. Murcia – C Lulich – P Ju. Robles

Portland took a quick 1-0 lead when Duhe hit a sac fly after Carlos Fumero’s game-opening triple deep into the right-center gap, while Sean Van Leeuwen hit an infield single leading off the Loggers’ half of the first and was caught stealing to end it after Pete McKenna and Carlos Dominguez had already made outs. Gallo upped the score to 2-0 by hitting a home run in the second inning, and Benito Otal got his first home run of the season with a 2-piece in the third inning, having Fumero on base with a double over Mario Alaniz. Wharton and Starr then hit 2-out singles, and Gallo fell to 1-2 before slapping a ball through Robles’ legs and up the middle for an RBI single. Corral whiffed to end the inning, the Critters being up 5-0.

And a big lead was good, because Vinny Morales was very much struggling. The Loggers were not on the board (yet), but he as constantly behind in the count and would not strike anybody out through five innings. He issued three walks, including one that came around to score on Van Leeuwen’s 2-out, 2-run double in the bottom 5th that *did* put the Loggers on the board, 5-2. McKenna then grounded out to end that inning. Morales got only one more out (and no K) in the sixth before he had failed the bases loaded on Carlos Dominguez and Cesar Ramirez hits and a walk to Alaniz, then was lifted for Jesse Dover, who walked in a run in a full count against Rafael Murcia before kindly striking out Ian Lulich and getting a pop from Kyle Reber to end the inning, now with the lead scrubbed down to 5-3.

After three frames of nothing, Fumero hit a leadoff jack to left against right-hander Jose Lugo in the seventh. Duhe walked, but was left on base, and when Rios got the ball in the bottom 7th, he walked two left-handed batters, Van Leeuwen and Dominguez, who embarked on a double steal on which Flowe threw the ******* ball away, allowing one to score and the other to third base, from where he scored on Ramirez’ groundout, 6-5. Dave Wright fanned, but the Raccoons had now almost managed to **** away that once sizable lead. Nava brought a 1-2-3 inning in the eighth, but a tack-on run was not in the cards for the Critters, and the 6-5 lead ent to wonky Valentin in the bottom 9th – but he came through with a 1-2-3 inning and two strikeouts against the 9-1-2 batters before the ACTUAL threats could come to the plate. 6-5 Coons. Fumero 3-5, HR, 3B, 2B, RBI; Gallo 2-4, HR, 2 RBI;

Fumero missed the cycle by the single. And Joel Starr was missing the .200 mark by only three or four hits right now…

And yet, despite all the crap and all my whining, the Raccoons were just one game outta first place on Friday night…

Game 2
POR: 2B Fumero – SS Duhe – LF Otal – CF Wharton – 1B Starr – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – C Marquez – P Childress
MIL: 2B Van Leeuwen – SS Reber – LF C. Dominguez – 1B C. Ramirez – RF D. Wright – CF Alaniz – 3B McKenna – C Lulich – P D. Ortiz

Van Leeuwen was on base again by means of balls to begin the bottom 1st, stole second, reached third on Dominguez’ single, and scored on Ramirez’ sac fly to put the Raccoons into a 1-0 hole early on. The Coons had already four hits on the board, but no runs, by the time Childress came to the plate in the top 2nd, doing so with one out and the bags full; Starr and Corral had singled, and Wright had dropped Marquez’ fly for an error to fill ‘em up. Childress hit a fly to Alaniz, Starr went for home – and was thrown out.

An irretrievably stupid team would not only pile up hits and no runs, but would also give up runs without allowing a hit. Childress – who, in his defense, had not been planned in as a major league starter at any point in his miserable career – walked the ******* bases full with Loggers, and then Duhe **** on a 2-out grounder by Wright for a run-scoring error. Alaniz then grounded out to Gallo on the next pitch, ending the bottom 3rd with three Loggers on base and them holding a 2-0 lead.

Top 6th, and the score was still 2-0, and the Loggers had only that first-frame Dominguez single for a base hit. The Raccoons went up to seven hits with a 1-out Starr single and then a Gallo double to left. Runners in scoring position, popped out in foul ground, Marquez was walked intentionally, and the Coons had van Otterdijk bat for Childress. He flew out to Alaniz in left-center……… Wright hit a single off Schmieder in the bottom 6th, but was left on base, while Fumero struck a leadoff double against Ortiz for Coons hit #8 in the top 7th. Duhe was a wash, but Otal’s single to right-center FINALLY got the brown caps on the scoreboard. Otal stole second, then was stranded by Wharton and Starr… I continued to bubble with rage when Gallo drew a leadoff walk in the eighth inning and was just blatantly left on base again, and then everything fell apart altogether with Yamauchi in the bottom 8th, who walked two, balked, threw a wild pitch, and conceded both runs for Loggers insurance. The Loggers took a 4-1 lead on TWO hits to the ninth, where Tetsu Kurihara allowed the team’s TENTH hit to the Raccoons on a 1-out single by Duhe. He was forced out by Otal, and Wharton hit another single. Starr flew out to center. 4-1 Loggers. Duhe 2-3, 2 BB; Otal 2-5, RBI; Starr 2-5;

I’m gonna have to ******* murder them all.

I’m gonna have to ******* murder them all.

I’m gonna have to ******* murder them all.

I’d have liked to put Snow White and the seven dwarves into the lineup on Sunday, but they were busy cleaning the house or something.

Game 3
POR: 2B Fumero – SS Duhe – LF Otal – CF Wharton – 1B Starr – 3B Gallo – RF van Otterdijk – C Marquez – P Gaytan
MIL: 2B Van Leeuwen – CF Merrill – LF C. Dominguez – 1B C. Ramirez – RF D. Wright – SS Reber – 3B Shapiro – C Lulich – P Crist

The team initially addressed by legitimate concerns about their offensive output by not getting any hits in the first two innings before van Otterdijk hit a leadoff double in the third of a scoreless game. Gaytan, holding the Loggers to a hit and three strikeouts so far, singled with one out, moving the runner to third base. Fumero hit a sac fly to Wright on the warning track and Duhe appeared to fly out to the rightfielder in foul ground, but he dropped the ball – right against the sidewall – for an error and Duhe got another chance, dropping in a single. Otal also singled, and Gaytan boldly ventured for home plate from second on the play – and was thrown out by Dominguez to end the inning. Dominguez then showed Gaytan his limitations for a second time with a game-tying *bomb* in the fourth.

Portland did nothing in the middle innings, so the Loggers took it upon themselves to tear Gaytan in half in the sixth inning. Dominguez doubled on the first pitch, Ramirez singled, Wright struck an RBI double, and Reber and Vince Shapiro both brought in a run on groundouts, both with two strikes on them. Van Leeuwen hit a triple to knock out Gaytan in the seventh, and McMahan made no attempts to keep the runner on base when he replaced him. Crist pitched into the ninth inning for the Loggers and fell one out short of a complete-game 4-hitter before Duhe walked and Wharton singled to knock him out. Kurihara got the save with a groundout by Starr. 5-1 Loggers.

Useless. Staggeringly useless.

In other news

April 19 – The Cyclones bleach the Pacifics, 16-0. OF Anthony Schneider (.333, 0 HR, 5 RBI) goes 3-for-6 with two doubles and his first five RBI of the year.
April 24 – SFW SP Harry Poteat (3-1, 1.62 ERA) throws a 2-hit shutout and strikes out ten Rebels in a 4-0 win.
April 24 – A ninth-inning home run by LVA C/1B Chris Haynes (.376, 8 HR, 14 RBI) beats the Canadiens, 1-0.
April 25 – SFW SP Alex Diez (3-0, 1.71 ERA) will miss half the season with a case of shoulder inflammation.
April 26 – Warriors INF Adam Yocum (.359, 0 HR, 7 RBI) has broken a thumb and will miss at least a month.
April 27 – An oblique strain would put NAS OF/1B Tony Roman (.181, 1 HR, 4 RBI) out of action for the next six weeks.

FL Player of the Week (3): CIN OF Fernando Cruz (.425, 2 HR, 7 RBI), batting .419 (13-31) with 1 HR, 1 RBI
CL Player of the Week (3): IND 1B Matt Rogers (.356, 7 HR, 21 RBI), raking .583 (14-24) with 4 HR, 7 RBI

FL Player of the Week (4): CIN OF Melvin Avila (.367, 7 HR, 20 RBI), whacking .550 (11-20) with 2 HR, 6 RBI
CL Player of the Week (4): MIL INF Sean Van Leeuwen (.362, 0 HR, 9 RBI), poking .545 (12-22) with 4 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The Raccoons have successfully put together another team that fundamentally doesn’t work, and once again it is the offense. The entire string of games here was beyond annoying:

Game – Runs (Coons-Opp) – Hits (Coons-Opp)
April 19 – W 4-2 – 22-8
April 20 – L 3-5 – 9-7
April 21 – L 0-2 – 4-7
April 23 – W 4-2 – 14-6
April 24 – L 2-4 – 5-6
April 25 – W 8-4 – 19-5
April 26 – W 6-5 – 10-5
April 27 – L 1-4 – 11-2
April 28 – L 1-5 – 5-10

So, yeah, if any of the hitters here are found nailed to a tree stump by their paws, nobody should be surprised. They out-hit the other teams a total of 99-56 in these nine games, but in runs it was a 29-33 deficit, and we lost five of nine games. That **** just can’t happen…!!

We also need to find a fifth starter, and starting next week you’ll be able to buy milk cartons with a missing person picture of Joel Starr’s 2068 Flopps card on the side.

No off day coming: we’ll play four against the Crusaders and three with the Miners next week.

Fun Fact: The Portland Raccoons lead the league in extra-base hits.

…and still can’t ******* score more than 3.9 runs per game.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (12-12) vs. Crusaders (11-14) – April 29-May 2, 2069

Neither of these two teams had gotten the start they had expected / hoped for. For New York, the offense was scoring 3.2 runs per game, which was quite pathetic, and even the best bullpen in the game and the fifth-fewest runs allowed in the CL could not make up for that lack of firepower. They had hit seven home runs so far, bottoms in the CL, and ranked in the bottom three in most offensive categories. Last year’s season series had gone to the Raccoons, 11-7.

Projected matchups:
A.C. Stebbins (0-3, 3.80 ERA) vs. Alex Dominguez (1-3, 5.27 ERA)
Nick Walla (2-1, 2.00 ERA) vs. Russell Anderson (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Vinny Morales (2-2, 3.62 ERA) vs. Erik Lee (2-4, 2.31 ERA)
Cody Childress (1-3, 2.11 ERA) vs. Colt Long (0-2, 3.25 ERA)

Right, left, right, left, assuming the Crusaders wanted to go with the 24-year-old Anderson, who had only appeared out of the pen so far this year. He had made six starts among 15 appearances for New York last year, posting a 6.41 ERA.

Game 1
NYC: CF Box – SS Maudlin – C A. Morris – 1B Starwalt – RF J. Paez – LF Ambriz – 2B Philpot – 3B Frasher – P A. Dominguez
POR: SS Duhe – 2B Fumero – LF Otal – CF Wharton – 1B Starr – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – C Flowe – P Stebbins

Stebbins went out and threw four straight balls to Bryant Box, balked him to second, and then had the defense sort out the rest, while the Raccoons put a 4-spot on the board right out of the gate. Fumero reached on an error by Jeff Maudlin before Otal and Wharton hit a pair of singles to get him in to score with an unearned run, but Joel Starr’s third home run of the year over the fence in left was worth three earned runs. We had been thinking that Dominguez’ secondary stuff had been going when we declined to resigned him this winter, and Starr promptly hit a bomb off a hanger. But thanks for that #18 pick for the draft!

After that big inning things calmed down a bit except for a stray home run by Eric Frasher in the third inning, and another one by Benito Otal in the fifth, edging the score to 5-1, and there it remained for a good long while. Stebbins was far from great, and best described as competent and pitching to the defense he had, getting into the eighth inning before Bryant Box strung a 1-out double to send him to bed. That was only the fourth hit off Stebbins in the game. Dover walked Maudlin, but Andy Morris flew out and Danny Starwalt fanned to end the inning. The ninth inning brought trouble, though, as Juan Paez hit a leadoff single to center against Danny Nava, and then Fumero fumbled Ryan Philpot’s 1-out grounder for an error. Valentin sprung forth from the pen with a save on offer suddenly, struck out Frasher, but then gave up a silly bloop single for an unearned run to Josh Bursley. Box then flew out to easily to Wharton. 5-2 Raccoons. Otal 2-4, HR, RBI; Flowe 2-3, 2B; Stebbins 7.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, W (1-3);

The Crusaders decided to go with Erik Lee on short rest on Tuesday, which was one way of going about things.

Game 2
NYC: CF Box – SS Maudlin – RF J. Paez – 1B Starwalt – C A. Morris – LF Ambriz – 2B Philpot – 3B B. Wilken - E. Lee
POR: SS Duhe – 2B Fumero – LF Otal – CF Wharton – 1B Starr – RF Corral – 3B Leggett – C Flowe – P Walla

Maybe the Crusaders should Erik Lee on three days’ rest more often, because he did not allow a hit to the Raccoons until Joel Starr flipped a single and was left on base in the bottom 5th, at which point the Crusaders had already chewed up an off Nick Walla pretty good. Starting with Box they got three singles for a run in the first inning, and then undressed him for a 4-spot in the top of the fifth when Ben Wilken singled, Lee doubled (…), and while Box struck out, Maudlin’s triple, Paez’ RBI groundout, and Starwalt’s homer brought in the runs to give New York a 5-0 lead.

Bottom 6th, and Marquise Early opened with a double in place of Walla. Duhe singled, as did Fumero on the eighth pitch in a full count, getting Portland on the board. Otal popped out to short, but four straight balls from Lee to Wharton loaded the bases. Starr came up as the tying run, struggling with the .200 mark still, and fell to 1-2 before lobbing a single to left-center that scored two runs, 5-3. Corral and Leggett made meager outs after that, however, and the tying runs were left on base. And while that temporarily made it look like a close game, the Raccoons then went, one after the other, to Schmieder and Yamauchi, and both were slapped around for another two runs in the seventh on the former, and two more on the latter in the eighth. The game was very much over at that point; the most damage we did from here was a Wharton drive to deep left that Jose Ambriz caught as he smacked into the wall and then fell to the ground. He left the game slightly dazed, replaced with Chris Duhon. Jake Flowe drove in a run against Jon Dominguez in the ninth inning, not that it made a dent in the final score. 9-4 Crusaders. Fumero 2-4, RBI; Starr 3-4, 2 RBI; Early (PH) 1-1, 2B;

The Manabu Yamauchi (1-0, 6.23 ERA) experiment ended just like the month of April here, and the Raccoons would give Jason Holzmeister another spin, just for the giggles.

New York meanwhile went for right-hander Jon Mendosa (0-1, 5.02 ERA) for a spot start on Wednesday.

Game 3
NYC: CF Box – SS Maudlin – RF J. Paez – 1B Starwalt – C A. Morris – LF Duhon – 2B Philpot – 3B B. Wilken – P J. Mendosa
POR: SS Duhe – 2B Fumero – LF Otal – CF Wharton – 1B Starr – 3B Gallo – C Marquez – RF van Otterdijk – P Morales

The Raccoons went up 1-0 in the second inning in the third of four games and the first game in May as Wharton worked a leadoff walk, Starr doubled to right, and Gallo hit an infield RBI single. After that strong start to any old inning, the 7-8-9 batters all popped out on the infield, and I could hear the baseball gods snicker. Otal ould also pop out on the infield the inning after, and on a 3-0 pitch…

Vinny Morales however was perfect the first time through, whiffing four, which was always nice to see. He got through four perfectly, then walked Starwalt to begin the top 5th. The inning then turned into an absolute **** storm when he also nicked Duhon, walked Ryan Philpot, and with the bases loaded surrendered the skinny lead on Ben Wilken’s sac fly to center. New York still had no hits, but got Mendosa on base when Starr bottled his 2-out grounder for an error. That loaded the bases again, but Box flew out to keep the lid on a bubbling pot. Morales hit a single in the bottom of the inning and was doubled off by Duhe, then allowed a leadoff double to Maudlin. Paez singled and put runners on the corners, and Starwalt’s groundout to short brought the go-ahead run home for New York. Morales then plated the other run with TWO wild pitches while Andy Morris was waiting for anything in his own zip code. That made it 3-1 New York, and I was patiently petting Honeypaws waiting for old age to finally do its job and take me away from this place.

But there was more pain to gain from this game, such as Morales departing after allowing a 2-out double to Box in the seventh, an that run was then waved home by Nava on Maudlin’s RBI single. Mendosa however walked Starr to begin the bottom 7th and then was taken deep by J.P. Gallo, which reduced the score to 4-3 again. The Raccoons then got two scoreless innings from Holzmeister, but failed to score in the bottom 8th even with an error by Juan Paez in rightfield. John Faughnan was in for the bottom 9th, which Starr led off grounding out. Gallo walked, and Leggett grounded out in place of Marquez, moving the tying run to second base. Jake Flowe batted for van Otterdijk and fell to 1-2, but then rolled a ball through between Omar Vera and Ryan Philpot for a game-tying single, as Gallo was running as soon as bat met ball. Early then walked in place of Holzmeister, which moved Flowe to second base. There was no running for Flowe, since he was the last catcher we had, but we also didn’t need a pinch-runner, as Jared Duhe completely buried another 1-2 hanger so deep in the right-center gap that Flowe could have scored easily from second base by just hopping on one leg – it was a walkoff! 5-4 Critters. Gallo 2-2, 2 BB, HR, 3 RBI; Flowe (PH) 1-1, RBI; Holzmeister 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, W (1-0);

Okay, neither me nor Honeypaws, nor anybody in the stands, saw that one coming! This comeback W kept the Raccoons within one game of the first-place Indians, but it was four teams within one game at this point.

Game 4
NYC: CF Box – SS Maudlin – RF J. Paez – 1B Starwalt – 2B Philpot – LF Duhon – C McCarver – 3B Frasher – P C. Long
POR: SS Duhe – LF Fumero – CF Wharton – 3B Gallo – 1B Starr – RF van Otterdijk – C Flowe – 2B Leggett – P Childress

Both teams scored a run in the first; Starwalt singled home Maudlin and his double with two down in the top of the inning, while the Raccoons made two outs before Wharton and Gallo hit singles to right and Starr doubled in a run to left, but a pair was left in scoring position when van Otterdijk flew out to Box in center. As the game continued, Childress appeared completely out of his depth and was generously whacked around. Eric Frasher struck a 2-run homer in the top 2nd, giving New York a 3-1 lead, and the Crusaders then always got somebody on base, but also were twice caught stealing in the next couple of innings. The Raccoons stranded Fumero’s leadoff double in the bottom 3rd, and threatened to also not score a van Otterdijk leadoff double in the bottom 4th until Long did it for them with a 2-out wild pitch that had Childress evading the box before he struck out on the next pitch.

The Raccoons’ habit of being wasteful with runner(s) on base continued unabated, Gallo being left on base after a leadoff single in the sixth. Childress wobbled into the seventh inning before being replaced with Gabriel Rios – the first lefty reliever the Coons sent into any game in the series – and Long was out of the game after six busy innings. The Coons then sent FOUR relievers into the eighth inning, successfully holding the Crusaders to three runs in the inning after Box’ leadoff single against Rios. Nava came in and allowed three singles and a walk for one out, Dover allowed a sac fly to Braden McCarver and a walk, and then McMahan finally got out of the ******* inning against Omar Vera, who grounded out on a single pitch, but McMahan then managed to **** up another run in the ninth anyway.

Bottom 9th, and the Raccoons crawled in trailing by five runs. New York gave the ball to Mike Rocheford, who retired nobody, putting Starr, Jacob Davis, and Flowe on base in order. Russell Anderson, who did not *start* a game in the series after all, then was sent in to *save* one. Wally Leggett’s grounder to short was taken to get Flowe out at second while a run scored. Marquise Early was already batting ninth after a double switch and secured himself another bowl of food tomorrow with an RBI single to right, which made Duhe come up as the tying run with one gone. He brought in a run with another groundout, which surely was not helpful to the cause, nor was Fumero’s groundout to Maudlin, which ended the game. 7-5 Crusaders. Gallo 2-4; Davis (PH) 1-1;

Raccoons (14-14) @ Miners (11-18) – May 3-5, 2069

On to another fifth-place team, the Miners being *last* in runs scored in the Federal League with just 3.1 runs per game – as if that had helped us against the Crusaders – while allowing the fourth-fewest in their league. They were in the bottom four in most offensive categories, but the pitching appeared just fine. One big problem was of course a Nick Ding(er)man-sized hole in the lineup. The slugger was on the DL and would not return on the weekend. The Raccoons had won the last ELEVEN interleague series against the Miners, including 2-1 series wins in both of the last two seasons.

Projected matchups:
Tony Gaytan (2-2, 3.64 ERA) vs. Aldomiro Campion (1-2, 2.70 ERA)
A.C. Stebbins (1-3, 3.19 ERA) vs. Brian Jones (2-2, 1.96 ERA)
Nick Walla (2-2, 2.79 ERA) vs. Adam McDonald (2-3, 3.69 ERA)

Only right-handed pitchers were lined up by the Miners, and we would see the 26-year-old Brazilian “Aldomiro” as he had on his uniform, as if he was a soccer player, in a game.

Game 1
POR: SS Duhe – 2B Fumero – LF Otal – CF Wharton – 1B Starr – 3B Gallo – C Flowe – RF Corral – P Gaytan
PIT: CF N. Chapman – SS R. Ortiz – 1B M. White – 2B Hood – LF Takeuchi – 3B E. Gonzales – RF X. Contreras – C J. West – P Campion

Duhe hit leadoff singles in the first and third innings, both with no score on the board, but the second time around the rest of the team actually showed up – or at least some of them. Fumero hit another single to left, and then Benito Otal beat Norm Chapman for a triple to center, and a 2-0 lead for the Critters. Wharton lined out to Roland Hood, but Starr got Otal’s run home with a groundout to send Gaytan back out with a 3-0 lead. He had sat down the Miners in order so far, but Xavier Contreras and Jesse West hit a pair of singles to left to begin the bottom 3rd. Aldomiro bunted into a double play and Chapman grounded out to turn that into zero runs.

The Critters looked done for the day since Gaytan was stingy with runners and struck out six twice through the lineup, but then gave up a solo home run to Chapman in the bottom 6th to get the Miners on the board, 3-1, and Edgar Gonzales singled and stole second in the bottom 7th, then was singled in by Contreras, whom Gaytan had yet to retire, and now the lead was down to one puny run. Gaytan pitched one more inning, completing eight frames with seven strikeouts while getting around a Mike White single with two outs in the eighth. Hood grounded out to leave the tying run on first, and Aldomiro was also out after eight decent innings of 6-hit ball. Right-hander Chad Brown replaced him, but right away allowed a single to Flowe and then walked Corral. Van Otterdijk stuck one into the corner in leftfield for an RBI double, Duhe walked, and the bases were loaded with nobody out for one pitch before Brown threw a wild pitch to get another run in, 5-2. Fumero then also walked, while Otal rolled a ball in front of the plate for a casual out at the plate on van Otterdijk. Wharton then was already down 0-2 when he popped up a ball behind the plate, which Jesse West dropped for an error – since this was in foul ground, Wharton remained at the plate, and hit a 2-run single to left on the next pitch. Kerry Sheats replaced Brown, nailed Starr to reload the bases, and then gave up a pinch-hit, 2-run single to Leggett. Flowe, who had begun the inning, ended the 6-spot with a double play grounder. 9-2 Critters. Duhe 2-3, 2 BB; Fumero 2-4, BB; Leggett (PH) 1-1, 2 RBI; van Otterdijk (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI; Gaytan 8.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, W (3-2);

Good! Now try scoring that sixer earlier so I can relax a bit?

Game 2
POR: SS Duhe – 2B Fumero – LF Otal – CF Wharton – 1B Starr – 3B Gallo – C Marquez – RF Corral – P Stebbins
PIT: CF N. Chapman – C Beckner – 1B M. White – 2B Hood – 3B E. Gonzales – SS R. Ortiz – LF Branch – RF A. Romero – P B. Jones

Nobody reached base in the first inning on Saturday, after which Tyler Wharton still didn’t hit a homer, but at least a leadoff single for the top 2nd. Starr was ahead 3-0 before hitting a bouncer to second, where Gold Glover Roland Hood got a bad bounce and dropped the ball, losing the double play, and then threw hastily and poorly to first base, where White could not come up with the thing, and a 2-base error broke out, putting a pair in scoring position with nobody out. Gallo then struck out, Marquez walked, and Corral was down 0-2 before “Nuke” Jones DRILLED him in the chest to force in the game’s first run. Corral fell down, and kept holding his chest, taking almost five minutes to take his dying body to first base, with Luis Silva holding his other paw all the way there. There were still bases loaded, but with the pitcher batting, and Stebbins whiffed. Jones walked in a run against Duhe, but fanned Fumero in a full count to leave the bases loaded. And compared to how endlessly long it took to score two runs in this inning – and neither scored for something a Critter did – the Coons added two in a rush in the third inning as Otal singled and stole second, and then Wharton DID mash a homer to left.

Wharton doubled in the fifth inning – meaning he was a triple away from a cycle – and Lorenzo Marquez assaulted the board with another 2-run homer, running the score to 6-0. Stebbins had not allowed a hit so far, but gave up two in the bottom 5th, a single to Gonzales and an RBI triple to Tommy Branch with two outs, but got Alex Romero out to short before the Miners could put more on the board.

The Coons answered with four runs and extended the lead to 10-1 in the sixth; Duhe and Fumero went to the corners with one out, and Wharton did not get that triple, but snapped an RBI single. Joel Starr cranked a 3-run homer off Kerry Sheats to land the big blow – although Roland Hood came up with his own 2-out, 3-run homer off Stebbins in the bottom of the same inning. Stebbins kept pitching, allowing a single to Branch in the bottom 7th and a double to J.D. Johnson, 10-5, before being yanked after a walk to Chapman. Dover secured a groundout from Mitch Beckner to get out of the inning. Wharton got another chance for a cycle in the ninth, leading off against right-hander Austin Cross, but had to settle for another single to center. More singles by van Otterdijk (batting for Gallo) and Corral got Wharton across home plate, while Early batted for Dover with two outs and lined out to Hood to keep two runners on base. Holzmeister put the game away with a quick 1-2-3 ninth. 11-5 Furballs. Otal 2-5; Wharton 5-5, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; van Otterdijk (PH) 1-1; Marquez 2-4, BB, HR, 2 RBI;

I liked that one much better, yes!

The pitching assignment for the Miners changed for the Sunday game – now that they had already lost their 12th consecutive interleague series against the Critters, they might just as well go with right-hander Jesus Ordonez (1-3, 8.37 ERA).

Game 3
POR: SS Duhe – 2B Fumero – LF Otal – CF Wharton – 1B Starr – C Flowe – RF Corral – 3B Leggett – P Walla
PIT: CF N. Chapman – SS R. Ortiz – 1B M. White – 2B Hood – LF Takeuchi – 3B E. Gonzales – RF A. Romero – C J. West – P J. Ordonez

Wharton followed up his 5-for-5 day with a double play in the first on Sunday, erasing an inning with Fumero and Otal on the corners. Walla then came out and got WHACKED by everybody he faced as Chapman tripled, Robert Ortiz hit a deep sac fly, and White and Hood socked sharp singles before Kazuhide Takeuchi grounded out and Edgar Gonzales struck out. The whole ordeal took 32 pitches. The Raccoons at least made up the deficit in the top 2nd with hits from Starr and Corral, and Leggett’s RBI groundout, but the Miners right away hit balls through the seams now for an Alex Romero double and West’s RBI single before Walla struck out the next three batters somehow.

The score remained 2-1 through five, and Nick Walla went from passable to whackable several times just to make it that far. The Coons’ 4-5-6 made straight and quick outs in the sixth inning, and Leggett hit a single in the seventh, but was not moved an inch, let alone 270 feet, by Gallo or Duhe after that. Otal and Wharton singled in the eighth and were left on base once more as Starr K’ed and Flowe flew out to Romero in right. Nava, McMahan, and Schmieder held the score together through the end of eight, and the Miners were brave enough to bring Chad Brown, who had already been handed a beating in the series, but it was also the bottom of the order coming up. He walked Corral on four pitches before Leggett foolishly grounded into a double play, 6-4-3. Van Otterdijk struck out. 2-1 Miners. Otal 2-4; Starr 2-4; Corral 1-2, 2 BB, 2B;

In other news

April 29 – Boston puts OF Eddie Marcotte (.267, 3 HR, 8 RBI) on the DL for two weeks, owing to a mild shoulder strain.
April 29 – Gold Sox LF/1B/RF Miguel Sandoval (.179, 3 HR, 10 RBI) is going to miss a month with an oblique strain.
April 29 – The Loggers acquire C Manuel Rodriguez (.318, 2 HR, 7 RBI) from the Capitals, parting with CL Tetsu Kurihara (2-3, 5.40 ERA, 5 SV) and RF/3B/1B Pete McKenna (.087, 0 HR, 4 RBI).
May 4 – Pacifics 2B/LF Armando Montoya (.182, 1 HR, 3 RBI) gets his 2,500th career hit in a 4-2 in against Vancouver in general and right-hander Juan Rosado (0-2, 4.29 ERA) in particular. Montoya, who played all of his career prior to this season further north in California, is a career .285 hitter with 328 home runs and 1,433 RBI. He was a Rookie of the Year in 2053 and has seven Platinum Sticks in his trophy cabinet.
May 4 – Thunder CL Brad Fales (0-1, 3.72 ERA, 9 SV) could miss the rest of the season for surgery to relieve radial nerve compression.
May 5 – Boston acquires SP Paul Egley (2-3, 4.91 ERA) from the Bayhawks for three prospects. The package includes #117 SP Brad Yoxall.
May 5 – Plantar fascitis will keep Vegas OF Victor Lorenzo (.349, 2 HR, 20 RBI) on the DL for the next month.

FL Player of the Week: SAC LF/RF/1B Steve Giles (.348, 2 HR, 11 RBI), hitting .483 (14-29) with 1 HR, 6 RBI
CL Player of the Week: OCT LF/RF/1B Justin Dowsey (.286, 5 HR, 19 RBI), socking .467 (14-30) with 1 HR, 5 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: RIC LF/CF/2B Darby Laybolt (.352, 11 HR, 29 RBI)
CL Hitter of the Month: LVA C/1B Chris Haynes (.375, 8 HR, 16 RBI)
FL Pitcher of the Month: SAL SP Ramon Carreno (4-1, 0.80 ERA)
CL Pitcher of the Month: TIJ SP Jason Brenize (4-0, 1.26 ERA)
FL Rookie of the Month: DEN RF/LF Steve Millen (.351, 4 HR, 14 RBI)
CL Rookie of the Month: MIL INF Sean Van Leeuwen (.373, 0 HR, 11 RBI)

Complaints and stuff

I have no clue what this team is doing, but they’re hard to watch. The pitching and defense are not the problem – except that we’re giving up ALL the home runs. The staff is in the top three in every category, but they’re bottoms in bombs away with 28 home runs allowed – twice as many as the league-leading Indians.

We are also tied for second in home runs hit, but the team can’t get on base at all – says the OBP, which is worst in the league, but they are HITTING alright…

What a confusing team!!

Team What-the-heck-is-going-on will have Monday off and then play the Warriors and Indians at home.

Fun Fact: Val Centeno has a 2.25 ERA in St. Petersburg.

(gnashes teeth and winces)

[Westheim]

Raccoons (16-15) vs. Warriors (21-9) – May 7-9, 2069

The Warriors were looking strong after a .700 start to the season, coming in for this Tuesday-to-Thursday season with a 6-game winning streak. They brought the third-best offense and the best pitching in the Federal League, leading the FL in bullpen ERA, defense, and stolen bases. The only weakness on the team was home run power, but the Raccoons’ pitchers were happy to act as boosters. The Warriors took two of three games when these teams met last season, but they arrived without pitcher Alex Diez and infielders Adam Yocum and Jon Barrientos.

Projected matchups:
Vinny Morales (2-2, 3.97 ERA) vs. Steve Hunter (0-0, 1.04 ERA)
Cody Childress (1-4, 2.57 ERA) vs. Luis Olvera (4-2, 1.57 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (3-2, 3.35 ERA) vs. Dan Speake (3-1, 2.33 ERA)

The only left-hander was the journeyman swingman Hunter, who had 272 career games (182 starts) for six different teams in his career.

Game 1
SFW: SS Griffin – C J. Clark – LF J. Lopez – RF D. Perez – 3B B. Metz – CF A. Campbell – 2B Moraida – 1B J. Allen – P S. Hunter
POR: SS Duhe – 2B Fumero – CF Wharton – 3B Gallo – 1B Starr – RF van Otterdijk – C Marquez – LF Early – P Morales

Hunter was greeted rather rudely with a Duhe single and a Fumero homer in the bottom 1st, and the Raccoons would score another run with two outs thanks to Joel Starr doubling to right and scoring on a van Otterdijk single. Lorenzo Marquez struck out to end the inning, but then took Hunter deep to left for a solo home run in the fourth inning. This put the score at 4-0, and Marquez – the BACKUP catcher – even with J.P. Gallo for the team lead in home runs. (quietly looks at Tyler Wharton’s stat card)

Vinny Morales start went both good and bad. He only allowed two base hits and no runs to the Warriors, but the Warriors also tuckered him out in just six innings, drawing exactly 100 pitches off him for no walks and just two strikeouts, somehow. He was hit for with van Otterdijk and Early on second and first and one out in the bottom 6th, but Jacob Davis hit into a double play. However, relief was also very efficient. McMahan allowed a single to Jordan Lopez, one of the bright young stars in the league, in the seventh, but from there the Raccoons’ relievers – Schmieder and Dover followed McMahan, all getting three outs – to starve out the Warriors for good. The Raccoons’ offense held back and saved some runs for tomorrow, hopefully. 4-0 Raccoons. Fumero 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; van Otterdijk 2-4, RBI; Early 1-2, BB; Morales 6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, W (3-2);

Game 2
SFW: SS Griffin – C J. Clark – LF J. Lopez – RF D. Perez – 3B B. Metz – CF A. Campbell – 2B Madden – 1B J. Allen – P Olvera
POR: SS Duhe – 2B Fumero – LF Otal – CF Wharton – 1B Starr – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – C Flowe – P Childress

Sioux Falls ran up the pitch count on another Coons starter on Wednesday. While the Coons disappeared for the minimum in three innings (Wharton singled, but Starr grounded to short for a two-for-one), the Warriors grinded Childress for 68 pitches through 3.2 innings, getting only one runner the first time through, but then began the fourth with a Jamie Clark single before Jordan Lopez walked, two outs were made by Danny Perez and Beau Metz, and then Childress walked former Elks outfielder Adam Campbell to load the bases. This brought up .114 batter Jimmy Madden, who struck out rather helplessly, which marked the EIGHTH strikeout for Childress in this game. That was the only threat put up by either team through five-and-a-half innings and two outs. Benito Otal then singled and stole second in the bottom 6th, which was already the furthest the Raccoons had made it on the bases in the game, but Wharton then grounded to second base… except that Madden sunk his team on defense, too, threw away the ball for a 2-base, run-scoring error, and the Coons immediately came over Madden’s error like over a tray of muffins, and an RBI double by Starr, a walk drawn by Gallo, and Corral’s RBI single ran the score to 3-0 before Flowe grounded out to Madden.

Childress was on 97 pitches, though, but did return for the seventh, reaching 10 K with a strikeout to the leadoff man Campbell, another strikeout against Madden, and then Jared Allen grounded out on the first pitch – but that was all from the unexpected starting pitcher. Madden meanwhile made another error on an Otal grounder in the bottom 7th when Leggett (the pinch-hitter for Childress) and van Otterdijk (batting for Fumero) were already on base. Wharton brought in a run with a groundout, which was totally worth $9M a year, and Joel Starr then singled firmly to center to drive in two more unearned runs. The Raccoons then managed their 6-0 lead with Holzmeister and Rios, the latter of whom allowed the Warriors’ first run after 53 outs in the series when Perez and Campbell got two hits off him in the ninth inning. 6-1 Raccoons. Otal 2-4; Starr 3-4, 2B, 3 RBI; Childress 7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 11 K, W (2-4);

Childress with the hot paw!

Game 3
SFW: 2B Madden – C J. Clark – LF J. Lopez – RF D. Perez – 3B B. Metz – SS D. Franks – CF Griffin – 1B J. Allen – P Poteat
POR: SS Duhe – 2B Fumero – LF Otal – CF Wharton – 1B Starr – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – C Flowe – P Gaytan

Madden led a three-hit, one-run attack on Gaytan to begin the series finale, doubling off the wall in right before scoring on Clark and Lopez singles, but Gaytan then got a pop from Danny Perez and struck out the next two batters Beau Metz and Devon Franks. Fumero’s triple and an Otal sac fly tied the score in the bottom 1st. Gaytan then allowed a runner in every inning, which was Poteat with a frustrating 2-out walk in the top 2nd, Lopez with another single in the third, and then Jared Allen with a solo homer in the fourth. That lead didn’t last very long, since the Raccoons got Otal on to begin the bottom 4th, and then the rarest of things, a Tyler Wharton homer to left-center to flip the score to 3-2 Portland.

However, the Warriors continued to have Gaytan’s number, and Madden whacked another leadoff double in the fifth. Clark and Lopez made outs, but Danny Perez tied the game with a single, and Gaytan conceded another three straight singles to sit in a 4-3 hole with runners all over the ******* place before being yanked. McMahan struck out Allen to end the inning and keep the score to 4-3, but the Raccoons then also did absolutely nothing to make up that deficit, while Danny Nava pitched two innings and Holzmeister handled the Warriors in the eighth. Poteat was still going in the bottom 8th, which the #9 spot led off for the Raccoons. Lorenzo Marquez was sent and singled up the middle. When Duhe walked, the tying run moved to second base and the Coons sent Leggett in to pinch-run. Leggett had to avoid the ball on Fumero’s sharp grounder to left, but Danny Moraida also intercepted the baseball and held Fumero to an infield single, loading the bags with nobody out and the 3-4-5 approaching. Otal flew out to Tony Griffin in center, whose throw to home plate was well off and Leggett slid in with the tying run, while the remaining runners advanced. Surprisingly, Sioux Falls pitched to Wharton, who fell down 1-2 before grounding to Beau Metz – who had the ball go through his legs for a stupid error, and the go-ahead run scored. Starr singled in another run, and lefty Ed Caulk replaced Poteat. He got Gallo on a pop, but van Otterdijk batted for Corral and struck a 2-out, 2-run double to pile on, before Flowe’s groundout ended the 5-run inning. Valentin pitched the ninth, needing work, even though the lead was four runs and stayed four runs as he retired the 1-2-3 batters in order to complete the sweep. 8-4 Furballs! Duhe 2-3, BB; Fumero 2-4, 3B; Otal 1-2, 2 RBI; Starr 2-4, RBI; van Otterdijk (PH) 1-1, 2B, 2 RBI; Marquez (PH) 1-1; Nava 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Raccoons (19-15) vs. Indians (20-14) – May 10-12, 2069

One game behind the first-place Indians, the Raccoons had a chance to get even with a series win (although that might not be enough to take the lead in the division by Sunday night). Indy ranked fifth in runs scored and sixth in runs allowed, with a +15 run differential (Portland: +36). They had a low batting average, but worked both the speed and power departments to get runs on the board. Indy led the season series, 2-1.

Projected matchups:
A.C. Stebbins (2-3, 3.82 ERA) vs. Miguel Lopez (3-2, 6.06 ERA)
Nick Walla (2-3, 2.81 ERA) vs. Mike DeWitt (3-2, 2.59 ERA)
Vinny Morales (3-2, 3.38 ERA) vs. Justin Esch (3-2, 2.27 ERA)

DeWitt was the designated left-hander for the weekend series.

Game 1
IND: CF Hilario – LF Spicer – C A. Gomez – 1B M. Rogers – 3B Ma. Martin – RF T. Torres – 2B Masterson – SS Valadez – P Mi. Lopez
POR: SS Duhe – 2B Fumero – LF Otal – CF Wharton – 1B Starr – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – C Flowe – P Stebbins

The Lightning of Injury struck right in the first inning and scored bullseye on Tyler Wharton (who else), who made a sliding catch on an Alex Gomez fly in left-center, but hurt his ankle and had to be taken off the field in the cart, which looked GREAT. Otal went to center and Marquise Early took over leftfield barely minutes into the game and with former Raccoon Malcolm Spicer on first, who then ended the inning by getting caught stealing. Early singled after Duhe and Otal had already gone to the corners with singles off Miguel Lopez, giving the Coons a 1-0 lead in the bottom 1st, and another run each was brought in by Starr (single to left-center), Gallo (double to right-center), and Corral (groundout) before the inning ended with Flowe and a 4-0 score. I was crying regardless.

A.C. then managed the feat to pitch six and a third innings without getting a strikeout, but then striking out Scott Masterson and Fernando Valadez to end the seventh on his own volition, with Matt Martin lurking on second base. Stebbins pitched to contact, which on occasion was hard. Jose Hilario drove in Masterson for a run in the third, and Matt Rogers got him for a leadoff homer in the seventh, but that still left the Raccoons, who had two hits and two double plays from the second to the sixth innings, with a 4-2 lead, and Lopez was already out of the game. Top 8th, and Guillermo Lujan hit a leadoff single against Rios, but was then doubled up by the switch-hitting Hilario’s grounder to short. Spicer, batting .331 for a change, then reached when Otal dropped his fly ball to shallow center. Alex Gomez grounded out, though, and Valentin had a 1-2-3 ninth for a save in the ninth. 4-2 Critters. Duhe 1-2, 2 BB; Gallo 1-2, BB, 2B, RBI;

(breathes into paper bag) Tyler Wharton was off to the DL after this game.

(breathes into paper bag) He has a torn ankle ligament.

(breathes into paper bag) But Luis Silva says it’s not that bad.

(breathes into paper bag) Only three to four weeks!

(breathes into paper bag) Only $1.2M or $1.5M down the drain…

Carlos Matas was brought back from AAA after not being seen in Portland in all of 2068.

Game 2
IND: CF Hilario – LF Spicer – C A. Gomez – 1B M. Rogers – 3B Ma. Martin – RF T. Torres – 2B Masterson – SS Valadez – P DeWitt
POR: SS Duhe – 2B Fumero – CF Otal – RF van Otterdijk – 1B Starr – C Marquez – LF Early – 3B Davis – P Walla

Walla needed a good start, but wasn’t gonna get it. Spicer singled and Alex Gomez homered to left right in the first inning, although in the second inning he got around a leadoff triple by Tony Torres with Masterson grounding out to Jacob Davis, and then strikeouts against Valadez and DeWitt. Spicer then struck a double in the third inning, but was also left on base, whilst the Coons loaded the bases with Davis, Duhe, and Fumero in the bottom 3rd, bringing up the .340 hitter Otal with one out, but he popped out to Torres in shallow right, and van Otterdijk flew out to center, and nobody scored.

Marquez hit a double in the bottom 4th, but was also left on base, but the Indians tacked on a run with Valadez and Hilario getting knocks off Walla in the fifth. That same inning, van Otterdijk was in the box again with two outs and Duhe and Otal on the corners. We’d sure rather have Tyler Wharton here, but that ambulance had sailed, and we had to make do with the $850k July IFA signing from Bonaire – and he cranked a 3-run homer to left, and the Raccoons were even!!

The joy was temporary, though, since Matt Rogers bonked another homer off Walla, who had nothing good going and was hit for in the bottom 6th, departing on a 4-3 hook. Bottom 7th, the Raccoons had three hits and made two outs on the base paths as Duhe led off with a double and was thrown out trying to get to third base on the play, and then Fumero and Otal singled, but Fumero was thrown out trying to get to third base on the play. Otal was stranded by van Otterdijk.

The Indians got Spicer and Rogers on base against McMahan in the eighth, but hitting Rafael Valencia for the left-handed Torres drew in Jesse Dover, who secured the third out of the inning. Bottom 8th, and Joel Starr stuck a ball into the leftfield corner off Tim Tennant, and he even stopped at second base – mostly because he was in pain, and then departed the game with Luis Silva… (black stripe disappears from face) … Wally Leggett was sent to pinch-run carrying the tying run, while the Indians went to lefty Pablo Apodaca against Marquez, whose grounder sent the tying run to third base, and then right-hander Garrett Napolitano, who was met with Gallo batting for Early, but both him and Davis grounded out poorly and the run didn’t score…….

Dover held the Indians to their skinny lead in the ninth inning, then was hit for with Flowe against Shamar King to begin the bottom 9th. He singled, was doubled up by Duhe’s grounder to third base, and then Fumero flew out to end the game. 4-3 Indians. Fumero 2-5; Otal 2-4; Marquez 2-4, 2B; Flowe (PH) 1-1;

(cries out) Luis Silva!! Do we have anybody left???

Joel Starr went on the DL with a lat strain, and nobody expected him back before the end of June. At least I was told I shouldn’t. And suddenly the Raccoons’ lineup looked worse like a medium-sized sinkhole.

There was no sensical first base replacement in AAA – Dan Gomez was hitting .207 with his pants down – so we had to get creative. Fumero was a first base option, Flowe was only in an emergency, and none of the outfielders were seriously qualified, either. Tony Spink was still in AAA and was competent at the position, but he hit like Tony Spink. The call would probably go to Josh Mireles to make his ABL debut, but he was day-to-day with a bruised knee after getting hit by a pitch and that was thus a thing for next week. For now the Raccoons chose the warm body approach and indeed called up Spink as third catcher / second first baseman.

Game 3
IND: CF Hilario – LF Spicer – C A. Gomez – 1B M. Rogers – 3B Ma. Martin – RF T. Torres – 2B Masterson – SS Valadez – P Esch
POR: SS Duhe – 1B Fumero – CF Otal – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – LF van Otterdijk – C Flowe – 2B Leggett – P Morales

Fumero fumbled Hilario’s grounder for an error right away in the rubber game, and while Spicer singled and Gomez hit into a double play, Matt Rogers romped a 2-run homer. That one was unearned, but Valadez’ solo shot in the second wasn’t. Nor was Tony Torres’ solo homer in the fourth. Or the 2-piece that Alex Gomez cranked in the fifth. To make it short (but no less painful) Morales got whacked around a lot, gave up four bombs in five innings, and departed down 6-0 (four earned), with Portland on a single and well and truly beaten.

While the bottom 5th saw RBI singles from Duhe and Fumero, the rally was not big enough to really make the Indians shiver, and Gabriel Rios on garbage duty pitched two shutout innings before getting slapped around for three hits and two extra runs in the eighth inning and replaced with Schmieder, who pitched the remaining outs to finish out a garbage game. 8-2 Indians. Duhe 2-4, RBI; van Otterdijk 2-4; Matas (PH) 1-3;

In other news

May 6 – The Thunder could lose SP Chris Monahan (4-0, 1.82 ERA) for the rest of the season due to a serious case of shoulder inflammation.
May 7 – The Crusaders only have a triple INF/RF/CF Jeff Maudlin (.250, 0 HR, 8 RBI) for base hits in a 3-1 loss to the Scorpions.
May 9 – Last year’s FL Rookie of the Year, CIN OF Anthony Schneider (.254, 1 HR, 11 RBI), is out for the season after tearing his labrum.
May 10 – The Cyclones beat the Blue Sox, 6-5 in 16 innings. Both teams previously scored a pair of runs in the 11th inning.
May 11 – The Rebels trade SP Josh Jackson (1-2, 4.35 ERA) to the Capitals for a prospect.
May 11 – The Knights win a 10-inning, 5-4 game against the Condors on a walkoff balk committed by TIJ MR David Carlson (2-1, 3.38 ERA, 1 SV).

FL Player of the Week: DAL INF Jordan Hernandez (.315, 4 HR, 18 RBI), batting .500 (10-20) with 3 HR, 7 RBI
CL Player of the Week: BOS OF Steve Humphries (.402, 5 HR, 10 RBI), poking .682 (15-22) with 1 HR, 5 RBI

Complaints and stuff

(looks pale) It’s alright. It’s just flesh wounds. Time will heal these too.

I’m just not sure whether there’s much of a campaign for the division left when we’ll get Wharton and Starr back.

Also not sure where Cody Childress is coming from with his 9.3 K/9 … although that is not entirely correct. He’s always had a mean old changeup. The problems with his package are literally everything else, and so far this is not getting exposed much at all in the starter’s role.

Since we’re on AAA level starting pitching already… (tosses medical report in disgust) … guess who’s gonna have Tommy John surgery…! – No, the other one. – Yes, it’s Val Centeno.

I did not appreciate that hit from the baseball gods any more than the ones that took out Wharton and Starr, they were all low and uncalled for. Centeno had been 3-1 with a 2.06 ERA in AAA before ripping his elbow apart.

Looks like the universe does not want the Raccoons to win this year. And, oh no, we’re now gonna get swept by the damn Elks in a four-game set in their frozen scrapyard of a ballpark …! The Aces would come to Portland for a three-game set on the weekend.

Fun Fact: Nearly half of Matt Rogers’ league-leading 13 home runs have come off the Critters.

Sounds like something a drunkard would make up, except that it is true. Six of those 13 homers were mashed off Furballs, one in each of the games on the weekend, and three more in the first series played in April:

April 16 – leadoff jack off Childress in the fourth inning, ultimately the winning run for Indy
April 17 – leadoff jack off Gaytan in the second inning, and another solo homer off Gaytan in the sixth
April 18 – settled for two singles in Stebbins’ start
May 10 – leadoff jack off Stebbins in the seventh
May 11 – leadoff jack off Walla in the sixth, again ultimately the winning run for Indy
May 12 – a 2-run homer off Morales in the first, and once more that was already the ballgame

Just stop bothering. Throw him a fastball straight in the kisser…

No Raccoon has hit six homers for the whole ******* season, but we have a backup catcher working on it……

[Westheim]

Raccoons (20-17) @ Canadiens (12-24) – May 13-16, 2069

The damn Elks had gotten off to a wretched start and the Raccoons were in a technically hopeful position (if you ignore the bombed-out lineup) and that was exactly where a sixth-place Elks team wanted the Raccoons so they could to maximum damage to hopes and dreams we might stupidly harbor. They were just ninth in runs scored and seventh in runs allowed, too, so a major turnaround was to be expected. Why not start it in this four-game set? The Coons had not won any of the last seven season series against the damn Elks, lost the last five, and had gone 7-11 against them in ’68. Infielder Carlos Castro had already been lost for the season with a broken kneecap.

Projected matchups:
Cody Childress (2-4, 2.06 ERA) vs. Nick Waldron (3-3, 3.40 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (3-2, 3.83 ERA) vs. Ray Rath (2-1, 3.23 ERA)
A.C. Stebbins (3-3, 3.63 ERA) vs. Juan Rosado (0-2, 3.21 ERA)
Nick Walla (2-4, 3.17 ERA) vs. Nate Freeman (2-1, 2.72 ERA)

Only right-handed starters coming up from the Elks, and they only had one lefty reliever on the roster, Martyn Polaco (0-1, 5.40 ERA).

Game 1
POR: SS Duhe – 1B Fumero – CF Otal – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – LF van Otterdijk – C Flowe – 2B Leggett – P Childress
VAN: 3B W. de Leon – 2B Kilday – RF Lozada – 1B Atkins – CF D. Moore – LF Chenette – C Eaton – SS Rutecki – P Waldron

The Raccoons started the series with straight hits from their first three batters, and Benito Otal’s RBI single and J.P. Gallo’s sac fly gave them an early 2-0 lead. van Otterdijk hit another single, but was left on base with Otal. It was not enough to get me out from under my security blanket in my corner on the trusty brown couch in the office, and Todd Eaton cut the lead in half with a homer off Childress in the second inning. The Coons replied, though, getting straight singles from their 3-4-5 batters to have Jose Corral drive in a 1-out run in the top 3rd before van Otterdijk hit into a double play to kill the inning.

Childress was off with command and issued a leadoff walk to Eaton in the bottom 4th, his third free pass issued against one strikeout. John Rutecki singled, but a bad bunt by Waldron derailed the inning, getting Eaton out at third base and keeping the double play in order into which Willie de Leon then duly grounded into. No double play was turned on Tyler Chenette’s grounder in the bottom 5th after Childress had filled the bases with Roberto Lozada (‘nother walk), Rick Atkins, and Dan Moore (singles), and Wally Leggett only got the out at second base before Chenette beat out Jared Duhe’s return throw. The tying run scored on a wild pitch, Childress walked Eaton again, and then was unceremoniously yanked. Danny Nava rung up Rutecki to get out of the inning.

The Coons went through Nava, McMahan, and Dover from the pen while Waldron was still pitching and allowed a leadoff single to Otal in the eighth inning, but Gallo was available to hit into a double play and did so. Jose Corral singled, but as left stranded by van Otterdijk. The Elks then took Jason Holzmeister apart in the bottom of the inning, as Rutecki singled, John Bustillos hit a pinch-hit RBI double, and de Leon took the right-handed turd deep altogether. 6-3 Canadiens. Otal 3-4, RBI; Gallo 2-3, RBI; Corral 2-4, RBI;

Game 2
POR: SS Duhe – 1B Fumero – CF Otal – 3B Gallo – C Marquez – RF Corral – LF van Otterdijk – 2B Davis – P Gaytan
VAN: SS Barraza – 2B Kilday – RF Lozada – 1B Atkins – CF D. Moore – C Varner – LF Chenette – 3B W. de Leon – P Rath

Gaytan got obliterated pretty fast on Tuesday, allowing a double to Steve Varner and a home run to Chenette in the second inning, and then singles to Roberto Barraza and Matt Kilday, followed by Roberto Lozada’s 3-run homer in the third inning, quickly putting the Raccoons in a 5-0 hole. Gaytan ****** around until Barraza hit another double off him in the fourth, then was yanked for Rios to pitch long relief. The offense was non-existent, with just one measly van Otterdijk single in the box score through four innings, so I curled up tighter with Honeypaws under the blanket and made sobbing noises. It took the brown team seven innings to get a second single on the board – Marquez doing the futile honors – while Rios pitched 3.1 innings of scoreless, yet equally futile long relief. This was followed by Holzmeister giving up another run in the eighth inning, conceding two more singles. Rath finished a 2-hit shutout on 107 pitches, whiffing six Critters. 6-0 Canadiens. Rios 3.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

Jason Holzmeister (2-1, 5.14 ERA) was made the Alley Cats’ problem again after this game, and the Raccoons brought up another ham-and-egger, Cam Bridges and his 3.65 ERA in relief in St. Pete.

Duhe and Otal got a day off on Wednesday. It wasn’t like they were hitting anyway.

Game 3
POR: 2B Fumero – C Marquez – RF Corral – 3B Gallo – LF van Otterdijk – SS Leggett – 1B Spink – CF Matas – P Stebbins
VAN: SS Barraza – CF D. Moore – RF Lozada – LF Atkins – C Varner – 2B Kilday – 1B Eaton – 3B W. de Leon – P J. Rosado

We started the third game with a Fumero single and Marquez spanking one into a double play right away, so yay, go us! Tony Spink also hit into an inning-ending double play in his first at-bat of the season after van Otterdijk and Leggett had gone to the corners with a pair of singles the inning after, and in the third inning Fumero reached with a 2-out single, stole second, and was left on base when Lorenzo Marquez lined out to Eaton at first.

The best that could be said about Stebbins meanwhile was that he pitched well to the defense for 2.2 innings, when Barraza singled and Stebbins motioned for the trainer. Luis Silva collected him and Cam Bridges made his own season debut in a scoreless game that would surely soon turn to garbage, although for the moment Dan Moore made the third out to short. The Raccoons got Gallo on base by being hit by Rosado with one down in the fourth, and after a useless out by van Otterdijk, Wally Leggett doubled to left. Gallo held at third base, and both runners were stranded when Spink grounded out. Bridges then returned to the hill and retired none of the first four Elks in the bottom 4th, all of whom scored. Lozada walked, Atkins singled, Varner walked, and Kilday singled in two, as would de Leon after Eaton popped out.

At this point the Raccoons gave up on the game. Bridges would go as long as it took for his paw to turn blue, and there would be a minimum of one roster move afterwards. This turned out to be 3.2 innings, allowing a leadoff single to de Leon in the seventh before drilling the ******* opposing pitcher. Barraza bunted the runners into scoring position, Nava replaced Bridges, got a pop from Moore and then had Lozada fly out to center. Schmieder pitched the eighth, but Rosado, a bruise notwithstanding, took his shutout into the ninth inning before walking van Otterdijk and allowing a 1-out single to Otal batting for Spink. Matas resolved the scoring threat by hitting into a game-ending 5-4-3 double play, and Rosado had a 7-hit shutout. 4-0 Canadiens. Fumero 2-4; Leggett 3-4, 2B; Otal (PH) 1-1; Stebbins 2.2 P, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

Cam Bridges (0-1, 9.82 ERA) was removed from the roster right away. There were no news on Stebbins so far, so only one hunchbacked replacement was brought up, right-hander Juan Soriano, who had not seen the majors for almost two years. Thankfully we had so many 32-year-old punching bags stacked up in AAA!

Fumero and Gallo got a day off in the finale of this wretched, yet by Elk City standards rather average series.

Game 4
POR: SS Duhe – 2B Leggett – CF Otal – RF Corral – LF van Otterdijk – C Flowe – 3B Davis – 1B Spink – P Walla
VAN: SS Barraza – 2B Kilday – RF Lozada – 1B Atkins – CF D. Moore – C Varner – LF Chenette – 3B W. de Leon – P N. Freeman

Matt Kilday once more became an issue, getting a single and a stolen base his first two times up against Nick Walla, who stranded him the first time around, then struck out four Elks the rest of the way through the lineup, but was less lucky in the fourth inning when Kilday led off with the single and stolen base, and then scored on Rick Atkins’ single to right, which marked the first run of the game, in which one team was by now scoreless for their last 28 ******* innings. Walla allowed another single to Moore, a passed ball advanced the runners, but Varner whiffed, Chenette squeezed out a 2-out walk, and with the bags stacked, de Leon popped an 0-2 pitch to Jacob Davis to end the inning.

The Coons’ only hit so far had been a single by Jake Flowe, who dropped another one to begin the fifth inning, but that runner never got off first base. Leggett and Otal hit back-to-back 1-out singles in the sixth, but Corral banged into a double play after that.

Walla pitched into the eighth, but got nobody out before he was knocked out on straight hits by Eaton, Barraza, and Kilday, departing in a 2-0 game with two runners on base. Jesse Dover entered, gave up an RBI double to Lozada and a 3-piece to Atkins, and that was that. Soriano then came in to get the actual ******* outs in the inning. The Raccoons would go on to score a completely useless run in the ninth against Ernesto Culver after a screaming 32 innings of ******** nothing. 6-1 Canadiens. Fumero (PH) 1-1; Flowe 3-4, 2B; Gallo (PH) 1-1, RBI; Walla 7.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, L (2-5);

(sits silently on the couch, eyes all red)

A.C. Stebbins went on the DL on Friday morning when he was diagnosed with an oblique strain. It was not a *bad* strain, and he was expected to only miss two, maybe three starts. The Coons called up former tenth-rounder and then trash heap signing John Reynolds as roster filler for the weekend. The 24-year-old left-hander had a cutter, fork, miserable changeup, and 6.2 BB/9 in AAA.

Go Coons!

Raccoons (20-21) vs. Aces (20-22) – May 17-19, 2069

The battered Raccoons hosted the Aces on the weekend. The guests were on a 5-game winning streak (Coons: L6), and second in the league in scoring runs. They also gave up the third-most runs, but that would not be a problem for them this weekend… The Coons had lost the season series, five games to four, for both of the last two seasons. The Aces also had a few injuries, most notably outfielder Vic Lorenzo, but nothing that would give me any hope anymore.

Projected matchups:
Vinny Morales (3-3, 3.80 ERA) vs. Danny Ryba (4-3, 2.59 ERA)
Cody Childress (2-4, 2.50 ERA) vs. Tim Henderson (3-2, 3.74 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (3-3, 4.50 ERA) vs. Tim Cropp (1-4, 6.75 ERA)

More right-handers. Doesn’t matter. Can’t hit ******* anybody.

Corral and van Otterdijk were off on Friday.

Game 1
LVA: SS Hatakeyama – 1B A. Alfaro – C Haynes – LF A. Rosado – 2B Rodewald – RF A. Warner – 3B Perea – CF Phelps – P Ryba
POR: SS Duhe – 1B Fumero – CF Otal – 3B Gallo – LF Early – C Flowe – 2B Leggett – RF Matas – P Vin. Morales

While Koji Hatakeyama reached on an infield single to begin the game, he also got himself caught stealing to clean up the bases in the first inning. Bottom 1st, and the Raccoons got Duhe on with a walk, and Fumero reached when Juan Perea dropped his pop behind third base. A Gallo single with one out loaded the bases, but both Marquise Early and Jake Flowe whiffed, and once more nobody scored. Leggett’s leadoff walk in the second also led nowhere, while Hatakeyama reached base again in the third inning. This time he stole second – already his 24th theft of the season, on pace for some 90 bags – and was thrown out trying to make it 25 with third base.

The Coons’ next two base runners was Benito Otal, who got nicked in the third inning, and then hit a leadoff single in the bottom 6th of a scoreless affair, which marked a rousing second base hit for the Portland Pathetics. Ryba struck out Gallo and Early, running his K total to nine in this game, but Flowe reached on a sorry infield roller for a single. Leggett, however, struck out, ending the inning. Morales held out on the hill, and the Raccoons got the leadoff man on base again in the bottom 7th, when Carlos Matas surprisingly singled. He was bunted on by Morales, and then SCORED on a Duhe double to left, the first run on the board. The Aces walked Fumero intentionally to get Ben Caldwell, lefty, to face Otal, but Otal singled to load the bases with one gone. Right-hander Leo Garcia replaced Caldwell, nicked J.P. Gallo with his first pitch to force in a run, then rung up Early and got a groundout from Flowe.

With a bigger lead, Vinny Morales would have continued to go for a shutout, but as things were, and with Matas hitting a 1-out double in the bottom 8th, he was hit for. We had a closer sitting out there who had done nothing but to pick his nose for four days in the wilderness after all. Corral grounded out and the extra run remained on base (…), and so Pedro Valentin got a 2-0 lead to work with in the ninth. The Aces disappeared in order against him. 2-0 Blighters. Otal 2-3; Matas 2-4, 2B; Morales 8.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K, W (4-3);

Six runs in five games this week.

Marquise Early (.149, 0 HR, 3 RBI) punched himself a golden sombrero on Friday and then ended up on waivers on Saturday. In despair, the Raccoons brought up 2066’s #5 pick, Jack Hamel, who was only hitting .250 with two homers in AAA, but…

Game 2
LVA: 1B A. Alfaro – RF Caceres – LF A. Rosado – 3B Vic. Morales – 2B Rodewald – SS Perea – C B. Duncan – CF Phelps – P T. Henderson
POR: SS Duhe – 1B Fumero – CF Otal – 3B Gallo – LF Hamel – RF Corral – C Marquez – 2B Leggett – P Childress

Jack Hamel struck out his first time at-bat, and by the fourth inning had a run-scoring error on his ledger as well, dropping a fly ball by Jorge Caceres to allow Byron Duncan to score. It was not a game-breaking error – Childress had already given up solo jacks to Alfredo Rosado in the first and Matt Rodewald to begin the fourth, and then Juan Perea had singled, stolen second, and been singled home by Duncan, who advanced on a wild pitch and Henderson’s single before scoring on the error after Alex Alfaro struck out, so the score was now 4-0. A pair of 2-out hits by Marquez and Leggett had put Critters in scoring position in the bottom 2nd, but Childress had struck out. Hamel drew a walk in the bottom 4th before 2-out singles by Marquez and Leggett filled the bases – but only for Childress, who grounded out and left everybody stranded again.

The Aces lost Tim Henderson to injury after 4.1 shutout innings and proceeded with lefty Gabe Molina, who allowed hits to Otal and Gallo, then walked the debutant with two outs to fill the bases again, now for Corral – who was batting .216 and hit for with van Otterdijk … who grounded out to Perea on the first pitch he saw.

Leggett hit another ignored single in the sixth, with Tony Spink batting for Childress for nothing. John Reynolds made his ABL debut in the seventh, allowing a double to Alfaro before whiffing Caceres. Rosado grounded out, and then Nava took over against ex-Coon Vic Morales, giving up an RBI double of course, 5-0. Rodewald struck out. Hamel punched another strikeout for himself before being removed in a double switch in the top 8th when McMahan entered with Matas. The Raccoons failed to plate van Otterdijk after his leadoff double to center in the bottom 8th, which was also the point where I finished a bottle of Capt’n Coma and straightaway opened the next one, since the pain was endless, too.

Bottom 9th, then, and the pretense of a chance when Leo Garcia walked Duhe and Fumero to begin the inning. Otal and Gallo hit into a pair of fielder’s choices at second base that got a run home, but literally nothing else, but Jake Flowe pinch-hit and singled in place of McMahan. Righty Chris Derrick replaced Garcia and popped out van Otterdijk on a single pitch to end the game. 5-1 Aces. Otal 3-5; Flowe (PH) 1-1; Marquez 2-4; Leggett 3-4, 2B;

Dire.

Game 3
LVA: SS Hatakeyama – RF Caceres – C Haynes – LF A. Rosado – 3B Vic. Morales – 1B A. Alfaro – 2B Perea – CF Phelps – P Cropp
POR: SS Duhe – 1B Fumero – CF Otal – 3B Gallo – LF Hamel – RF van Otterdijk – 2B Leggett – C Flowe – P Gaytan

Gaytan got on the snout really soon again, allowing back-to-back leadoff doubles to Rosado and Vic Morales in the second inning, and a 2-out RBI single to Josh Phelps for good measure. The Coons then got their first homer of the week when van Otterdijk popped one out to right in the bottom 2nd, 2-1, and then loaded the bases with Leggett, Gaytan, Duhe, and two outs. FOR ******* ONCE they scored, as Fumero singled through the left side to flip the score to 3-2, but Otal then grounded out, and Gaytan blew the lead in no time, allowing all the 3-4-5 batters on base with two down in the top 3rd, and Morales singled home Chris Haynes. Alfaro then lined out to Leggett to end the inning.

Jack Hamel had his first big league hit, a double to left, in the bottom 3rd. He was also thrown out at the plate for the first time, being denied by Rosado on a van Otterdijk single. Instead, two innings of Gaytan being *all over the ******* place* later, Fumero gave the Critters the lead for the second straight time, homering to left-center to begin the bottom 5th. TWO homers in ONE game??? WILL WONDERS EVER CEASE???

Gaytan was allowed to be a ******* mess into the seventh inning, still up 4-3, where he drilled #9 hitter Joe Hade ith one out, but struck out Hatakeyama before a move to have Aaron Warner bat for Jorge Caceres prompted a move to McMahan. Hade stole second base, but Warner grounded out to Fumero to end the inning. Rosado singled off Dover in the eighth inning, but the Aces hit three easy grounders otherwise and the lead persisted against all odds, while no tack-on runs came together for the Critters. Valentin thus faced the bottom of the order in the ninth, getting Roy Ben to pop out before Leggett threw away Phelps’ grounder to put the tying run on second base. Hade popped out in a full count, and Hatakeyama ran another full count before grounding out to short. 4-3 Critters. Fumero 2-3, BB, HR, 3 RBI; van Otterdijk 2-4, HR, RBI;

In other news

May 13 – WAS 3B Rick Healey (.265, 5 HR, 20 RBI) drives in eight runs in a 15-3 thrashing of the Cyclones, bashing two home runs, a single, and drawing two walks.
May 14 – The Miners acquire 2B Matthew Selep (.283, 2 HR, 13 RBI) from the Rebels in exchange for two prospects, including #116 SP Stewart Doubleday.
May 15 – The Titans beat the Crusaders, 4-3 in 15 innings.
May 16 – The Crusaders’ 3B/RF Eric Frasher (.304, 2 HR, 8 RBI) is out for the year after tearing the posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
May 16 – SFB CL Travis Davis (0-0, 2.08 ERA, 10 SV) is going to miss at least three months with a partially torn labrum.
May 16 – Bayhawks catcher Hugo Valdez (.230, 2 HR, 15 RBI) drives in six runs in a 14-8 shootout in against the Condors despite getting only one base hit, a 3-run homer. He also plates runs with a pair of groundouts and a sac fly.
May 18 – The Warriors beat the Capitals, 1-0 in ten innings, on 2B/3B Jimmy Madden’s (.232, 2 HR, 9 RBI) walkoff single. SFW SP Steve Hunter (1-1, 1.35 ERA) goes 9.2 innings of 6-hit ball, but gets a no-decision.
May 19 – CHA SP Carlos Gomez (5-1, 4.24 ERA) throws a 5-hit shutout in an 18-0 rout of the Canadiens. CHA C/1B Oscar Matos (.302, 10 HR, 34 RBI) socks three home runs and drives in TEN runs, while 1B Tetsuharu Ishii (.286, 5 HR, 19 RBI) goes 5-for-6 with two homers and three RBI.

FL Player of the Week: NAS 1B Kris DiPrimio (.306, 3 HR, 18 RBI), batting .448 (13-29) with 2 HR, 7 RBI
CL Player of the Week: CHA C/1B Oscar Matos (.302, 10 HR, 34 RBI), raking .556 (10-18) with 3 HR, 12 RBI

Complaints and stuff

I ******* hate the ******* Elks.

Stebbins’ replacement will NOT be Jimmy Wharton, who just isn’t ready (and Centeno dropped dead already). The call is going to go to Victor Chavez, a $140k international free agent signing TEN years ago, and about to turn 26. Chavez had been living in St. Pete for the last three years, and there was no fanfare about his lackluster stuff with just two-and-a-half pitches.

We scored all of 11 runs in seven games this week. We’re so ******* dead.

We will be on the road next week with three games each in Charlotte (who hit themselves warm against the ******* Elks) and against the Baybirds. And nothing good has ever happened at the Bay.

Fun Fact: Sunday’s 18-0 win by the Falcons against the Elks was the most-lopsided score of a 3-homer game in league history.

In fact, nobody has ever hit three home runs while his team scored MORE than 18 runs in the game.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (22-22) @ Falcons (22-21) – May 20-22, 2069

The Falcons had won five of nine games from the Raccoons in 2068, and let’s just say the door was wide open for a head start here. Their team ranked fifth in runs scored and third in runs allowed. The bullpen was pretty explosive, but that would require getting a starter out of the game early on, so… No injuries for the Falcons, while the Raccoons had 20% (and not the cheapest 20%) of their Opening Day roster on the DL by now.

Projected matchups:
Victor Chavez (0-0) vs. Jason Morea (2-2, 3.96 ERA)
Nick Walla (2-5, 3.39 ERA) vs. Edgar Mauricio (4-2, 3.05 ERA)
Vinny Morales (4-3, 3.23 ERA) vs. Antonio Santelices (2-4, 3.71 ERA)

Right, right, left, and probably three times on the snout.

Victor Chavez replaced John Reynolds on the roster to make (hopefully) two spot starts while A.C. Stebbins was away.

Game 1
POR: SS Duhe – 1B Fumero – CF Otal – 3B Gallo – RF van Otterdijk – C Marquez – LF Hamel – 2B Leggett – P Chavez
CHA: 2B J. Schmidt – LF Whetstine – C O. Matos – SS Tr. Taylor – RF S. Gil – 3B Lampton – CF Christopher – 1B Ishii – P Morea

This was the only game on Monday night and was thus on national TV, our shame for all to see. Chavez struck out John Schmidt to begin his major league career, but by the second inning gave up a homer to Sal Gil and was a-trailing. Morea faced the minimum the first time through the brown lineup, and didn’t give up a hit until Benito Otal singled (and was stranded) in the fourth. The score was 1-0 into the bottom 5th which John Schmidt opened with a single and then stole second and third. Chad Whetstine walked, Oscar Matos hit an RBI single, and Trent Taylor walked to fill the bases. Gil then emptied them at once with a double into the right-center gap, and scored after more singles by Sean Lampton and Tetsuharu Ishii before Chavez was yanked. Since Matt Schmieder, who replaced him, then gave up more RBI hits to Schmidt and Whetstine, the final line on Chavez was eight runs, all earned, in 4.2 innings. Yikes.

Trent Taylor added a homer off Schmieder in the sixth and the Raccoons put Otal and Otter hits together for a pity run in the seventh – and van Otterdijk managed to get tagged out at second base on his RBI not-a-double. Did I mention national TV?

The Coons added two unearned runs on a bunch of ******** in the eighth, beginning with an error by Sean Lampton that put Jacob Davis, batting for the pitcher Soriano in the #7 spot, on base. Jose Corral singled from the #9 spot, Duhe got nicked, and a Fumero single and Otal’s groundout each plated a run before Gallo grounded out to leave two aboard. Morea finished a complete-game 5-hitter. 9-3 Falcons. Otal 2-4, RBI;

Like I said, you need to get the starter out of the game to…

Game 2
POR: SS Duhe – 1B Fumero – CF Otal – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – C Flowe – LF Matas – 2B Leggett – P Walla
CHA: 2B J. Schmidt – RF Gil – C O. Matos – 3B P. Weber – CF Barber – LF McInnis – SS Lampton – 1B Ishii – P E. Mauricio

Walla had lost four games in a row, but the Raccoons loaded the bases in the first inning with Duhe, Otal, and Gallo before … not scoring as Corral whiffed and Flowe sailed one out for Sal Gil to catch. The Falcons got only – “only” – two base runners in the bottom 1st, but they both scored, as Schmidt singled, Matos doubled, and the runners came home on a wild pitch (……) and Paul Weber’s groundout.

The Coons stranded another pair in the third inning and then had a pair on base when Matas singled and Leggett walked to begin the fourth inning. Walla, already over 50 pitches, bunted the tying runs into scoring position, but of course there were no runs scored in the inning. Duhe lined out to Weber, and Fumero grounded out to Lampton, and the runners walked back to the dugout from second and third. Bottom 4th, Weber led off with a single, and then Walla ran full counts again with Jonathon Barber and Matt McInnis, and failed to retire either one. Barber walked, McInnis tripled, and scored himself on Ishii’s single to run the score to 5-0. Walla was disposed of after the inning, having punched his fifth straight loss. Rios threw two scoreless after that, but the score was still 5-0.

The score seized to be 5-0 in the seventh, when Mauricio socked a leadoff double against Soriano and was brought around to score by his team, as if they needed any more runs. Mauricio pitched into the ninth inning, but was yanked after retiring Matas when he walked the pinch-hitting van Otterdijk with one out. Oliver Graham replaced him, immediately loaded the bases by giving up a single to Lorenzo Marquez and a walk to Duhe, but from there the Raccoons were held to a Fumero sac fly before Otal grounded out. 6-1 Falcons. Leggett 1-2, BB, 2B; Marquez (PH) 1-1; Rios 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Like I said, you need to get the starter out of the game to…

Can Tyler Wharton play soon, Luis Silva? – Not even a little bit? – (buries face in paws)

Game 3
POR: SS Duhe – 2B Fumero – CF Otal – RF van Otterdijk – C Marquez – LF Hamel – 3B Davis – 1B Spink – P Morales
CHA: 2B J. Schmidt – LF Whetstine – C O. Matos – 3B P. Weber – SS Tr. Taylor – CF Barber – RF McInnis – 1B Ishii – P Santelices

Duhe drew a leadoff walk on Wednesday, but was fielder’s-choiced away and that was that. More interestingly, Tony Spink singled to begin the third inning, but Morales struck out bunting feebly, and Duhe then bumbled into a 4-6-3 double play. While Morales held the Falcons off the board, but was running up quite the pitch count early on, the Raccoons didn’t look like they would score a run any time soon until Marquez struck a leadoff double over the head of Barber in the fifth inning. Hamel grounded out poorly, Davis’ grounder moved the runner to third, and Spink was walked intentionally, which came back to make the Falcons regret their actions when Morales hit a 2-out RBI double to left. The Coons battery was then stranded when Duhe hacked himself out to end the inning, and the score then got flipped immediately when Morales walked Barber and got taken deep by McInnis on the very next pitch…

The sixth inning saw Santelices depart the game after he put van Otterdijk and Marquez on the corners, but Evan Alvey struck out Hamel to end the inning. In turn, Morales struck out the first two batters in the bottom 6th, then conceded singles to Weber and Taylor, and a 2-run gap double to Barber. And so the Raccoons trundled towards an utterly deserved sweep…

Charlotte tacked on a run in the bottom 7th against Schmieder, who allowed hits to Ishii and PH Steve Thompson, and Hamel chipped in an error, although the run was earned. The Coons never touched scoring position again. 5-1 Falcons. Marquez 2-4, 2B; Spink 1-2, BB; Corral (PH) 1-1;

Raccoons (22-25) @ Bayhawks (22-25) – May 24-26, 2069

The garbage Raccoons were up 2-1 this year on the garbage Baybirds, a score that would surely experience a bit of a swing this weekend. The Coons had collapsed to 11th in runs scored and were still third in runs allowed with the best defense, while the Bayhawks sat ninth in runs scored and were allowing the most runs in the CL. Whatever the opposite was of the immovable object being hit by the unstoppable force, you’d see it in the tops of innings here. San Fran also had their own injuries troubles, being without Ramon Archuleta and three pitchers they had been counting on, Ed Nadeau, Roland Wiser, and Travis Davis.

Projected matchups:
Cody Childress (2-5, 2.76 ERA) vs. Austin LaRosa (2-3, 4.08 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (4-3, 4.44 ERA) vs. Travis Brooks (0-1, 5.06 ERA)
Nick Walla (2-6, 3.88 ERA) vs. Liberio Ivo (3-6, 3.99 ERA)

All right-handers. Brooks was a 24-year-old rookie that would make his fifth appearance and third start. He had more walks than strikeouts so far.

Victor Chavez was skipped to the end of the line. Not that anybody else was meriting wearing the brown shirt and cap right now.

Game 1
POR: SS Duhe – 1B Fumero – CF Otal – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – C Flowe – LF Hamel – 2B Leggett – P Childress
SFB: 2B Bruce – 1B Dengel – LF Streng – RF J. Ward – CF Parrish – C H. Valdez – 3B Jo. Chavez – SS K. Ball – P LaRosa

Duhe (who was forced out by Fumero) and Otal drew four-pitch walks in the first inning, but Gallo’s lineout to Ryan Bruce and Corral’s fly to Jake Ward kept them on base even after a double steal was successfully executed. Speaking of which, which is the nearest state with an ABL team that still executes murderers? Asking for a friend.

The Bayhawks then put four on Childress in the bottom 1st, beginning with a single by Robby Dengel (who?). Ian Streng’s double, Jake Ward’s single, a walk to John Parrish, and another double by Hugo Valdez, plus Joel Chavez’ groundout for the fourth run, did plenty of damage. The best thing that could be said about Childress and his useless tossing was that he gobbled up some more loose innings after the fact, while the Raccoons were already beaten, amounting to a Flowe single and eight strikeouts against LaRosa at the end of the fifth, at one point punching out five times in a row. LaRosa was nevertheless pinch-hit for with Jimmy Poe and runners on the corners in the bottom 6th, and Poe hit a sac fly to close the line on Childress, 5-0.

The Coons had a pair on base in the seventh against Rich Krogman when Keith Ball threw away Hamel’s 2-out grounder for two bases and Leggett worked a walk, but van Otterdijk then lined out to Joel Chavez and that was the inning. Krogman went on to pitch a 3-inning save. He allowed a double to Duhe in the eighth, and a solo jack to Flowe in the ninth, but combined with LaRosa for a 3-hitter on the useless Raccoons. 5-1 Bayhawks. Flowe 2-4, HR, RBI;

*****. Just plain old *****. A whole pile of plain old horse *****.

Jacob Davis (.156, 0 HR, 1 RBI) got sent to St. Petersburg after this game, and the Raccoons brought up a debutant, 23-year-old infielder Josh Mireles, who was an elite defensive infielder up the middle, competent at third base, and was hitting .306/.362/.401 in St. Petersburg after overcoming a bit of a nagging injury. He had been a top 100 prospect for four years now after having been signed for $100k as a July IFA in 2061.

Game 2
POR: SS Duhe – 1B Fumero – CF Otal – LF van Otterdijk – C Marquez – 2B Mireles – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – P Gaytan
SFB: 2B Bruce – 1B Dengel – LF Streng – RF J. Ward – CF Parrish – C H. Valdez – 3B Jo. Chavez – SS K. Ball – P T. Brooks

The Coons stranded Otal and Otter with 2-out singles in the first inning while Ryan Bruce reached base on an infield single to begin the bottom 1st. Gaytan tried to get him off first base with repeated pickoffs, then removed him with a wild pitch instead… to second base. From there, he scored on Ward’s double to right, and the Coons were trailing yet again. Mireles then singled to begin the top 2nd for his first ABL knock, and Gallo added another single of his own, but Corral popped out and Gaytan bunted into a double play. The Baybirds’ 6-7-8 reached base on a walk, infield single, and hit by pitch. Brooks extended his own lead to 2-0, Bruce singled the bags full again, but then Dengel popped out and Streng whiffed, leaving three Baybirds on base. Fumero’s solo homer in the top 3rd might have fooled the easily impressionable into believing in a comeback, but Gaytan ****** the run right back on the board on loud hits by Ward and Hugo Valdez in the bottom 3rd, 3-1. Joel Chavez then hit into a double play.

While the Raccoons then did not score from leadoff doubles by Mireles in the fourth or Duhe in the fifth, Ward smashed a 1-out homer in the bottom 5th, and Parrish’s single, a Valdez walk, and a Chavez single led to Parrish thrown out at home by Corral, but Gaytan just kept sucking, walked Keith Ball, and then gave up a 2-out, bases-loaded single to the ******* opposing pitcher. Travis Brooks plated a run, and a second run scored on a throwing error by Benito Otal. Gaytan was yanked, down 6-1, and it was 8-1 after Bruce hit a sharp liner to left for two more runs against Dover. Dengel struck out, as if it mattered. It did in fact not matter, as the Raccoons never put up another threat, or a leadoff double, or much of anything, really. 8-1 Bayhawks. Duhe 2-5, 2B; Otal 2-4; Mireles 2-4, 2B; Hamel (PH) 1-1;

Jake Ward went 5-for-5. The Raccoons couldn’t even walk five steps before stumbling over their own paws.

Will the pain ever end?

Game 3
POR: SS Duhe – 1B Fumero – CF Otal – LF van Otterdijk – C Marquez – 2B Mireles – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – P Walla
SFB: 2B Bruce – 1B Dengel – LF Streng – RF J. Ward – CF Parrish – C H. Valdez – 3B Jo. Chavez – SS K. Ball – P Ivo

Neither team put a runner on base the first time through the order, and both pitchers had only one strikeout while there was a ton of poor contact otherwise. The first base runner ended up being Benito Otal with a single and he was right away left stranded, and then Walla nailed Dengel with a fastball, but the runner was left on base as well. Marquez hit a leadoff single in the fifth and was doubled off by Mireles, who we had had such high hopes in, and instead doubles by Parrish and Ball off Walla gave San Fran the 1-0 lead in the same inning.

However, for the second time all ******* week, the Raccoons took the lead in the sixth inning when they scored a pair of runs with two gone: Duhe singled, Fumero tripled, and Otal singled, and Portland went up 2-1. The lead was defended nicely by Nick Walla for a while, even though Parrish hit another double off him in the seventh. Ivo departed after walking Jared Duhe with one out in the eighth, but replacement Angelo Ramirez right away nicked Fumero with an 0-2 pitch. Otal then smashed into a double play and the inning ended. Walla also hit another batter in the eighth, Bruce with two outs and two strikes, and then got Dengel to ground out and complete eight innings. The ninth – no tack-on run(s) materialized on the furry side of the box score, surprise – would go to Valentin, who had not thrown a pitch in anger in a week and now had to face the 3-4-5 with no cushion. Ian Streng socked a deep fly to right – but it was caught on the warning track by Corral. Ward then grounded out and Parrish struck out to end the game. 2-1 Blighters. Otal 2-4, RBI; Marquez 2-4; Walla 8.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, W (3-6);

In other news

May 20 – ATL OF Jorge Soto (.240, 1 HR, 15 RBI) would miss a month with a strained hammy.
May 21 – Gold Sox SP Aaron O’Harra (2-1, 3.59 ERA) throws a no-hitter in a 1-0 win against the Miners in his 13th career start. O’Harra walks four and strikes out five in the game.
May 21 – BOS SP Tyler Riddle (6-2, 3.45 ERA) fires a 3-hit shutout of the Aces while they get stomped for a 13-0 final score by the Titans. BOS C Jonathan Gutierrez (.222, 2 HR, 8 RBI) cranks a pinch-hit grand slam in the game.
May 22 – The Buffaloes beat the Stars, 6-5 in 15 innings.
May 23 – The Loggers get beaten by the Bayhawks, 2-1, with their only hit being a home run by MIL 1B/RF/LF Cesar Ramirez (.341, 7 HR, 36 RBI). San Francisco has 11 hits and barely gets ahead of them.
May 25 – Atlanta’s rookie SP Nick Walker (2-2, 2.22 ERA) and three relievers combine for a 1-hit shutout of the Crusaders in a 3-0 Knights win. The only New York hit is a single by CF/RF Bryant Box (.284, 3 HR, 17 RBI).

FL Player of the Week: WAS 1B Armando Curiel (.362, 14 HR, 38 RBI), smashing .455 (10-22) with 4 HR, 5 RBI
CL Player of the Week: IND C/1B Alex Gomez (.267, 12 HR, 34 RBI), cranking .480 (12-25) with 5 HR, 10 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The Raccoons won a game this week, and they were not shut out even once! They also scored exactly NINE ******* RUNS.

NINE ******* RUNS.

Tyler Wharton suffered a setback with that torn ankle ligament and would miss an additional week. (looks like he’s cried) He still leads the All Star voting for centerfielders, and Pedro Valentin is still third among closers although he never pitches anymore.

Marquise Early cleared waivers to arrive in St. Pete on Tuesday.

Condors, Loggers at home next week. The Loggers are gonna blow us out by FIFTY.

Fun Fact: Walla’s win was the Raccoons’ 7,777th regular season victory.

…and we’re right on pace for a .077 winning percentage in May. While that is an exaggeration, we’re 3-12 for our last 15 games. The wretched stretch started with the game in which Starr left with his injury, and Wharton was already on the DL then.

I have zero hope left for this season. And the next. And the one after that.

Jimmy Wharton good yet, Cristiano? – No.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (23-27) vs. Condors (27-22) – May 27-29, 2069

The Inepticoons returned home to find the first-place Condors there, lusting for freshly deceased meat and free wins. Tijuana was only eighth in runs scored, but they were conceding the fewest runs in the CL this year, and were up 2-1 on the Coons this year. I think we can just skip the bottoms of innings here. Nothing good is gonna happen. The Condors had one predicament though: both catchers from their Opening Day roster were on the DL as neither Mike Brann nor Randy Lippert were available at this point. Third- and fourth-stringers it was behind the plate for them.

Projected matchups:
Vinny Morales (4-4, 3.51 ERA) vs. Phil Nelson (3-5, 6.27 ERA)
Victor Chavez (0-1, 15.43 ERA) vs. Tony Castellanos (3-5, 4.06 ERA)
Cody Childress (2-6, 3.31 ERA) vs. Jason Brenize (8-0, 1.58 ERA)

Brenize’s back, baby, and those were also all right-handed.

Game 1
TIJ: RF J. Elliott – LF M. Campos – 1B D. Cline – 2B Pinault – CF Rugar – 3B Vidrio – SS D. Cox – C F. Gomez – P P. Nelson
POR: SS Duhe – 1B Fumero – CF Otal – LF van Otterdijk – C Flowe – 2B Mireles – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – P Morales

Nelson walked Duhe and van Otterdijk around a soft Fumero single in the first inning and the bases were loaded, and against expectations the Raccoons unloaded: Jake Flowe singled up the middle to get two runs home, Nelson lost another batter (Josh Mireles) on balls, and then J.P. Gallo cranked his first homer since April – GRAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAMMMMMMM!!!

Unsurprisingly, the Raccoons were done with scoring (and probably for the series) after going up 6-0, and thankfully Vinny Morales was having quite the competent day. The Condors didn’t score, nor get more than one body on base at any one point against him in the first five innings, which included David Cline getting picked off first base by Flowe after drawing a leadoff walk in the fourth inning. Morales didn’t D.Cline until the sixth inning, when the Condors’ #3 batter drove in Jake Elliott with a 2-out RBI single. Mike Pinault flew out to left to end the inning, but the seventh began with a Josh Rugar double and singles from Emilio Vidrio and Dustin Cox, who got the RBI for plating Rugar. Freddy Gomez grounded into a double play, and Morales rung up PH Corey Vazquez in a full count to end the inning, and then added a scoreless eighth around a Marco Campos single before bumping into 101 pitches and being tush-patted out of the game. Nava collected the final three outs for Portland. 6-2 Coons. Van Otterdijk 2-3, BB; Gallo 1-2, BB, HR, 4 RBI; Corral 3-3; Morales 8.0 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (5-4);

A whole TWO-GAME WINNING STREAK!!!

Game 2
TIJ: RF J. Elliott – LF M. Campos – 1B D. Cline – 2B Pinault – 3B Monck – CF Rugar – SS C. Vazquez – C M. Watson – P Castellanos
POR: SS Duhe – 1B Fumero – CF Otal – C Marquez – RF Corral – 3B Gallo – 2B Mireles – LF Hamel – P Chavez

While the Raccoons got a single from Fumero in the first and Gallo in the second, and saw both of them left stranded on second base, Chavez, who had been bombed out quite thoroughly in his ABL debut the week before, retired the Condors in order in the first three innings, but then saw Elliott reach on an infield single. Campos forced him out, but stole his way to third base while the #3 batter D.Clined to do anything with that precious runner and struck out. Pinault walked with two outs, but Rich Monck, aiming for familiar fences, was caught looking at a pitch accidentally dotting the corner for strike three.

The first scoring in the game came from a first-time RBI producer, as Corral and Gallo reached base with two outs in the bottom 4th and were then both driven in when Josh Mireles stuck a double into the leftfield corner (the ball actually stopped dead in there), before the Condors walked Jack Hamel – RBI-less so far – intentionally and then got the third out from Chavez. They also got a Josh Rugar homer in the fifth to cut the score in half, 2-1, but Fumero doubled to left and scored on Otal’s single to left in the bottom 5th to get the run back. Otal stole second, but was eventually left on third base.

Chavez then ran outta luck in the sixth with a leadoff infield single from Elliott, whom Campos doubled home immediately. Cline walked, and Pinault popped out, but the Raccoons went to McMahan for Monck this time, double switching him in with Carlos Matas replacing Jose Corral. It was the lefty socker Monck that almost hit a 3-run homer to right, Matas making a catch right against the wall, but the right-handed slugger Rugar, who had 11 homers on the year already, struck out meekly against the southpaw, leaving runners on the corners in a 3-2 game. Vazquez’ leadoff single to left in the top 7th was overrun by .105 batter Jack Hamel for an extra base, but McMahan and Schmieder then stingily retired the next three batters in order *and* kept the tying run on base. This included Castellanos, who then put Duhe and Otal on the corners with one gone in the bottom 7th. Lorenzo Marquez popped out, and the Raccoons tried with another catcher after that as Jake Flowe pinch-hit for Schmieder. Flowe slapped an RBI single through the right side, 4-2, but Rugar then tracked down a long fly from Gallo to center to keep two on base.

The Raccoons went to Dover for the eighth, but the right-hander walked Pinault ahead of Monck with two outs and another move was made to Rios. Like the previous left-hander engaged, Rios did rather mediocre against Monck, allowing a 2-out single, but then struck out Rakin’ Rugar to get out of the jam. Pedro Valentin made easy pickings out of the bottom of the order to extend the Coons’ winning streak to three. 4-2 Raccoons. Fumero 2-4, 2B; Otal 2-4, RBI; Corral 2-3; Flowe (PH) 1-1, RBI;

Game 3
TIJ: RF J. Elliott – LF M. Campos – 1B D. Cline – 2B Pinault – 3B Monck – CF Rugar – SS D. Cox – C M. Watson – P Brenize
POR: SS Duhe – 1B Fumero – CF Otal – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – C Flowe – 2B Mireles – LF Hamel – P Childress

Childress was constantly getting buried in runners on Wednesday, allowing his first run in the second inning when he walked Cox and allowed singles to Mitch Watson and Jake Elliott to get the free runner home. Josh Rugar homered with Pinault on base in the top 3rd, although Gallo answered with a 2-run homer of his own against Brenize in the bottom of the fourth. Somehow both teams had six hits after five innings, although Brenize struck out six and walked nobody, and Childress split those numbers evenly down the middle with three in each box.

Childress departed after allowing a pair of singles to Campos and Cline to begin the seventh inning and was replaced with Schmieder, who conceded a run on Rich Monck’s sac fly to give the Condors a 4-2 lead. Soriano got the ball for the eighth inning, also allowed two 1-out singles to Brenize and Elliott, but Campos popped out to Mireles on the infield, and then Gabriel Rios entered and struck out Cline, keeping the runners stranded. Brenize was still going, retiring the first two in the bottom 8th before Benito Otal tripled over a meandering Rugar in centerfield and came in to score on a Gallo single, 4-3. Corral, however, whiffed, and the tying run remained on base. The ninth inning saw Rios retire the 4-5-6 batters in order before left-hander Chris Thompson was sent after the Raccoons. Marquez batted for Flowe and singled to right, and Thompson walked Mireles to also put the winning run on base, but then rung up Hamel. Leggett batted for the pitcher – van Otterdijk had sadly already been used – and flew out to Elliott on a 3-1 pitch. Duhe struck out. 4-3 Condors. Otal 2-4, 3B; Gallo 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Flowe 2-3; Marquez (PH) 1-1;

Raccoons (25-28) vs. Loggers (29-22) – May 31-June 2, 2069

The Loggers were scoring the most runs in the Continental League, still, putting up over 5.6 marker per game, while the Raccoons were second-worst and scoring just 3.6 runs a game. In turn, Milwaukee still had no functioning pitching staff, giving up the second-most runs (not that I felt encouraged), had the second-worst defense, and the worst bullpen by ERA. Fidel Carrera was in his usual spot on the DL and starter Curt Green was also out. Milwaukee was up 3-2 in the season series.

Projected matchups:
Tony Gaytan (4-4, 5.34 ERA) vs. Danny Ortiz (5-3, 3.91 ERA)
Nick Walla (3-6, 3.58 ERA) vs. Matt Crist (5-2, 4.09 ERA)
Vinny Morales (5-4, 3.36 ERA) vs. Jorge Quinones (1-1, 6.16 ERA)

Southpaw Sunday. And probably also bitter tears.

Game 1
MIL: 2B Van Leeuwen – CF Merrill – 1B C. Ramirez – C M. Rodriguez – LF C. Dominguez – RF D. Wright – SS Reber – 3B R. Murcia – P D. Ortiz
POR: SS Duhe – 1B Fumero – CF Otal – LF van Otterdijk – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – C Flowe – 2B Leggett – P Gaytan

Tony Gaytan’s day began quite rough; while Jonathan Merrill hit into a double play to get rid of a game-opening single up the middle by Sean Van Leeuwen, the Loggers were all over him in the second inning and scored a run on three singles. However, the Raccoons made up the difference in the following inning, which began with Jake Flowe singling to center and getting forced out by Wally Leggett. However, Leggett stole second base and then scored when Gaytan slapped a ball down the leftfield line for an RBI double…! The Coons of course left their pitcher on base, but Gaytan pitched a few calmer innings and then was back at the plate in the bottom 5th with Flowe on second, Leggett on first, and nobody out. This time he was asked to bunt and rolled a ball in front of the plate that Manuel Rodriguez threw to third base – but not in time to beat Flowe there, and now the bases were loaded with nobody out for the top of the order. Duhe promptly popped out on a 3-1 pitch, which gave me heartburn, and Fumero barely hit a sac fly to get Flowe in before Otal grounded out to second…

The 2-1 lead promptly met its maker on a throwing error by Leggett that put Merrill on base in the top 6th, and then Rodriguez’ score-flipping homer that made it 3-2 Loggers. Van Otterdijk then grounded out on a 3-0 pitch to lead off the bottom 6th, which possibly ended up costing the tying run when Corral and Flowe later reached with two outs, and Leggett grounded out to leave them on…

Gaytan somehow pitched to the stretch, and then still batted for himself, given that he was hitting .350 and we were a bit out of ideas. He singled. When Duhe hit another single, Carlos Matas ran for Gaytan at second base, but the Raccoons made three ****** outs and he never advanced any further than that… Flowe and Leggett got on base with two outs in the eighth and were stranded when Jack Hamel flew out to Dave Wright. Instead, Danny Nava allowed an insurance run on three more singles in the ninth inning, and whilst Jared Duhe hit a leadoff single against Victor Ramirez in the bottom 9th, he was then forced out on a fielder’s choice grounder by Fumero, and Otal and van Otterdijk both popped out, the former on a 3-1 pitch… 4-2 Loggers. Duhe 2-5; van Otterdijk 2-5, 2B; Flowe 4-4; Leggett 2-4; Gaytan 7.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, L (4-5) and 2-2, 2B, RBI;

Roster move on Saturday, as A.C. Stebbins came off the DL and the Raccoons returned Victor Chavez (1-1, 9.00 ERA) to the minor leagues. Stebbins would however only make his next start on Monday.

Game 2
MIL: 2B Van Leeuwen – CF Merrill – 1B C. Ramirez – C M. Rodriguez – LF C. Dominguez – RF D. Wright – SS Reber – 3B R. Murcia – P Crist
POR: SS Duhe – 1B Fumero – CF Otal – LF van Otterdijk – 3B Gallo – C Flowe – RF Matas – 2B Mireles – P Walla

The Loggers did not get on base in the first couple of innings, but the Raccoons already wasted hits by Otal and van Otterdijk in the first inning when Gallo struck out. Flowe began the bottom 2nd with another single, and then Crist struck Matas on the funny bone and made him leave the game, replaced by Corral. Mireles made another meek out, Walla worked a walk to fill the bases, and then the game’s first run scored on a wild pitch. Duhe’s K and Fumero’s groundout to short ensured that it was the only run in the inning. Walla struck out five the first time through the order, including the entire side in the third inning. He got 11 Loggers to begin the game, then saw Cesar Ramirez and Manuel Rodriguez hit their way to the corners with two outs in the fourth, but Carlos Dominguez grounded out to Mireles, and that was the inning.

The Portlanders stranded pairs of runners in each of the first three innings, then had Duhe double off Walla when the pitcher foolishly singled to try to get something going. Otal singled and was caught stealing in the fifth, and Walla managed to get beaten by a Merrill single and a Ramirez homer in the sixth. He finished seven innings, then was hit for with Marquez after Mireles had actually hit a leadoff single. Marquez went to right-center for a double, putting the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position for the top of the order. (hugs Honeypaws a little tighter) Crist walked Duhe on four pitches, making it the dreadful three on, nobody out, and Fumero immediately popped out on the first pitch, leaving me fumero as well. Otal’s groundout tied the game, but that was the best the little stinkers could actually do for their best pitcher, as van Otterdijk hit another ******* pop-up, and left another ******** pair of runners on base.

Scoreless innings by Rios and Valentin followed before Jack Hamel singled as pinch-hitter in the #9 hole to lead off the bottom 9th against Crist, but he was then caught stealing and the game silently and depressingly went to extra innings. The actual win went to Danny Nava for a scoreless tenth, followed by Otal reaching on an error by Vince Shapiro at second base, and then George van Otterdijk popped the most unseen of wonders in this ballpark, a walkoff home run…! 4-2 Critters. Otal 2-5, RBI; van Otterdijk 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Flowe 2-4; Marquez (PH) 1-1, 2B; Hamel (PH) 1-1; Walla 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 8 K and 1-1, BB;

One day, Nick Walla might be on a team that deserves him.

Carlos Matas wasn’t seriously injured, and was already shoveling his snout with both paws by the time the game ended.

The Coons tied for last in runs scored (with the Crusaders, of all people) by now.

Also, no Southpaw Sunday, as the Loggers used the common off day on Thursday to skip right-hander Julio Robles (4-3, 4.74 ERA) into the rubber game instead.

Game 3
MIL: 2B Van Leeuwen – CF Merrill – 1B C. Ramirez – C M. Rodriguez – LF C. Dominguez – RF D. Wright – SS Reber – 3B Shapiro – P Ju. Robles
POR: SS Duhe – 1B Fumero – CF Otal – LF van Otterdijk – C Marquez – RF Corral – 2B Mireles – 3B Leggett – P Morales

Van Otterdijk and Marquez hit singles to begin the bottom 2nd, but a K to Corral and Mireles’ double play ruined the inning. Leggett reached to lead off the bottom 3rd and was bunted onwards by Morales. Duhe was no help, but Fumero zinged a double to left and drove in the runner, which marked the first run on the board on Sunday. Otal’s scratch single was followed by another RBI double by van Otterdijk, this one to right, but then Marquez left two in scoring position with a soft liner to Ramirez at first. Morales had scattered three hits so far and was yet to be scored on, while coming to bat in the fourth with Mireles and Leggett on the corners and one out. He hit a fly to Dave Wright that was *just* deep enough to get Mireles home with a sac fly, 3-0.

This remained the score through the middle innings, with the Raccoons’ outfielders doing some fine work when Morales got no strikeouts in the middle frames and the majority of the Loggers hit fly balls. All were tracked down, somehow, and the green team didn’t reach base in those innings, but Morales’ line looked better than himself on screen. Manuel Rodriguez hit another deep fly out to left to begin the seventh, and then Duhe threw away Dominguez’ grounder for two bases, and that kicked the door a mile wide open. Dave Wright immediately drove a truck through it with an RBI single to center, and when Morales lost Reber on balls, he was yanked. McMahan came into the game in a double switch (Gallo for Leggett) and got an inning-ending double play from PH Roberto Soto, keeping a 3-1 lead intact. It was to get worse, though. McMahan allowed a bloop single to the opposing pitcher to begin the eighth, and then a Gallo error put Van Leeuwen on base with the tying run. McMahan got a pop from PH Mario Alaniz, struck out Ramirez, and because Dover was so wonky with the homers, we sent Schmieder in to face Rodriguez, who then hit a 3-run homer… Robles pitched a 1-2-3 eighth, and Jake Flowe hit a pinch-hit single to begin the bottom 9th to put the tying run on base, but was then entirely ignored and ended the game still standing on first base after poor outs by Matas, Gallo, and Hamel. 4-3 Loggers. Fumero 2-3, 2B, RBI; van Otterdijk 2-4, 2B, RBI; Flowe (PH) 1-1; Leggett 2-3; Morales 6.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 K;

In other news

May 28 – The Loggers put up a 6-spot against the Knights in the first inning before proceeding with five in the second, four in the third, and three in the fourth on the way to a 20-4 rout of Atlanta. The Loggers’ #8 hitter 3B/2B Rafael Murcia (.283, 3 HR, 26 RBI) hits a 3-run homer and a bases-clearing double to lead the team with six RBI.
May 29 – The Scorpions and Miners play a 20-inning game in Sacramento that ends in a 6-5 walkoff single by SAC RF/LF Alex Barnes (.280, 11 HR, 32 RBI), who goes 3-for-9 with a triple in the game, while teammate LF/RF/1B Steve Giles (.269, 5 HR, 15 RBI) and Miners leadoff man OF Norm Chapman (.237, 5 HR, 17 RBI) both post blighted 0-for-10 lines.
May 31 – BOS SP Mike Bell (6-1, 1.98 ERA) might miss at least one start after suffering a mild oblique strain.
June 2 – TOP SP Aiden Shaw (5-3, 3.48 ERA) throws a 3-hit shutout to beat the Miners, 6-0.
June 2 – PIT SP Aldomiro Campion (2-4, 2.27 ERA) was going to miss three months with a forearm strain.

FL Player of the Week: DEN 1B Juan Gutierrez (.297, 9 HR, 28 RBI), batting .480 (12-25) with 4 HR, 9 RBI
CL Player of the Week: IND 1B Matt Rogers (.326, 18 HR, 46 RBI), smashing .542 (13-24) with 3 HR, 6 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: SAC RF/LF Alex Barnes (.291, 12 HR, 34 RBI), socking .443 with 8 HR, 20 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: MIL 1B/RF/LF Cesar Ramirez (.354, 8 HR, 46 RBI), slapping .366 with 5 HR, 32 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: NAS SP Tomas Restrepo (6-1, 2.27 ERA), going 4-0 with a 1.41 ERA, 22 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: TIJ SP Jason Brenize (9-0, 1.74 ERA), hurling for a 5-0 record with 2.20 ERA, 43 K
FL Rookie of the Month: DEN RF/LF Steve Millen (.332, 7 HR, 35 RBI), batting .313 with 3 HR, 21 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: MIL INF Sean Van Leeuwen (.382, 0 HR, 21 RBI), clipping .392 with 10 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Nothing new to see here. The team accidentally scored six runs on Monday, which is two more than they have scored than in any other game since May 10. That’s over three weeks’ worth of scoring 2.32 runs per game… The Raccoons have allowed 4.36 runs per game in that same span, which is nearly twice as many.

Tyler Wharton will probably go for a round of AAA rehab at the end of next week, which means he still won’t be *here* for another week. We’re really missing that .288 stick with four homers…

The Raccoons would without much doubt continue their deplorable ways next week with four games in Boston (oh dear) and then have the Stars at home on the weekend. The Stars…

Fun Fact: The Stars are second in runs scored in the Federal League.

…without Tyler Wharton!

But rest well tonight, because I’m sure we can achieve some other feat soon and be LAST in runs scored WITH Wharton…! Hah!

[Westheim]

Raccoons (26-30) @ Titans (34-23) – June 3-6, 2069

The Titans were second in the division, two games behind, and were welcoming the thought of choking the Raccoons some more (although we had won three of four games in the first series of the season). Boston was third in runs scored and fifth in runs allowed for a +36 run differential (Coons: -9). The Titans topped the league in home runs, but had no speed, and had one of the best bullpens, but terrible defense. Ace Mike Bell was on the roster, but laboring on an oblique tweak, and it was uncertain whether he was going to pitch in the series.

Projected matchups:
A.C. Stebbins (3-3, 3.42 ERA) vs. Paul Egley (3-5, 5.33 ERA)
Cody Childress (2-7, 3.57 ERA) vs. Bryce Wallace (3-5, 5.60 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (4-5, 5.04 ERA) vs. TBD
Nick Walla (3-6, 3.49 ERA) vs. Tyler Riddle (6-2, 3.56 ERA)

That TBD was Bell’s (6-1, 1.98 ERA) spot. The southpaw Riddle and the right-handed relic Ricardo Montoya (3-5, 4.36 ERA) would have to go on short rest without a spot starter.

Game 1
POR: SS Duhe – 1B Fumero – CF Otal – LF van Otterdijk – C Flowe – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – 2B Mireles – P Stebbins
BOS: LF S. Humphries – CF Marcotte – C D. Johnson – RF M. Garcia – 3B D. Miller – 2B Jer. White – 1B I. Berrios – SS Robichaud – P Egley

The Raccoons started the game with two singles, but ended up not scoring when Otal hit into a fielder’s choice, was caught stealing, and then van Otterdijk whiffed. The Titans in turn began their day with drawing two walks from the returning Stebbins and then a 3-run bomb by David Johnson, so the game was basically over.

Or so I thought. The Raccoons rallied in the third inning as Jared Duhe hit another leadoff single. He scored from second on an Otal single, who scored from second on Jake Flowe’s double, and then J.P. Gallo socked his team-leading eighth homer to flip the score to 4-3 Critters. The lead did not hold, though, as Stebbins put another pair on base in the bottom 3rd, and conceded a 2-out, game-tying RBI single to Ivan Berrios, driving in Manuel Garcia. Jared Robichaud then grounded out with Danny Miller and Berrios on the corners. Top 4th, and Stebbins bashed a double over the head of Marcotte to begin the inning, which was interesting. He scored after Duhe grounded out and Fumero hit an RBI double, and Benito Otal added an RBI single, 6-4. When Stebbins got the ball back, he barely got out reliever Jesse Cruise, and then put the 1-2-3 batters on base with one out, two walks, and a single. Dover replaced him, walked in a run in a full count to Garcia, but then got a double play grounder from Miller, and the Coons remained up 6-5 for the time being.

Cruise nicked Jose Corral in the fifth. Tony Spink batted for Dover with two outs and walked, and then Duhe hit an RBI single to left before Fumero grounded out. Schmieder got the ball in the bottom of the inning and blew the 7-5 lead allowing two singles, two walks, and finally Marcotte staying out of a 6-4-3 double play on his 1-out grounder to get the tying run home from third base. Johnson flew out to Otal in deep center to strand two runners in a 7-7 game. The Coons would continue to bleed runs after Schmieder put up a scoreless sixth, when Ricky McMahan allowed a single to Jared Robichaud in the bottom 7th, and then a 2-out RBI double to Steve Humphries. Marcotte walked, but Johnson flew out to end the inning. Juan Soriano then got the eighth, allowed straight singles to the right-handed Garcia, Miller, and Jeremy White, and then got slammed to dead center by left-handed Joe Washington. He gave up another 2-out homer to Humphries for good measure. 13-7 Titans. Duhe 3-5, RBI; Fumero 2-5, 2B, RBI; Otal 2-5, 2 RBI; Gallo 2-5, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Corral 2-3;

Well, that was ******* atrocious.

Game 2
POR: SS Duhe – 2B Fumero – CF Otal – LF van Otterdijk – 3B Gallo – C Marquez – RF Corral – 1B Spink – P Childress
BOS: LF S. Humphries – CF Marcotte – C D. Johnson – RF M. Garcia – 1B A. Metz – 3B D. Miller – SS Robichaud – 2B Jer. White – P B. Wallace

For good news, while the Raccoons had no hits the first time through and only frittered away a pair of walks while striking out five times against Bryce Wallace, at least Cody Childress retired the Titans in order the first time through. The bad news was that they were just pooling all their hits together for the bottom of the fourth, when Humphries opened with a single to left, Johnson hit a 1-out double to right-center, and while Garcia popped out, Andy Metz singled in the pair of runners straight over the second base bag. Miller and Robichaud got more singles to also get Metz home and give Boston a 3-0 lead. The Coons didn’t get a hit until Corral singled in the fifth, and he was immediately doubled off by Spink.

Marcotte homered off Childress in the fifth, running the score to 4-0, but Wallace then stumbled in the sixth. Whiffing Childress to begin the inning, he then walked Duhe, popped out Fumero, and then allowed three hits and three runs in just five pitches as Otal and van Otterdijk slapped a pair of doubles (both RBI going to the Otter), and Gallo added an RBI single. Lorenzo Marquez flew out to Humphries to end the inning, Portland down 4-3.

Danny Miller left the game with a back strain after six innings, heading for the DL and being replaced with Ivan Berrios in the game. The Coons got the tying run into scoring position in the seventh with Jose Corral’s leadoff double to right. Spink grounded out, but advanced the runner, however Wally Leggett whiffed in Childress’ spot, and Duhe’s grounder to third base left that tying run just there. It was the last time the team got a runner on base in the game. Nava collected five outs and Rios one to keep the Titans close, but to no avail. 4-3 Titans. Corral 2-3, 2B;

Tyler Wharton was sent on a rehab assignment on Wednesday, which opened up the possibility to get him back this week. We wanted him to get at least two to three games’ worth of swings in, though.

Game 3
POR: SS Duhe – 1B Fumero – CF Otal – RF van Otterdijk – 3B Gallo – C Marquez – LF Hamel – 2B Mireles – P Gaytan
BOS: LF S. Humphries – CF Marcotte – C D. Johnson – RF M. Garcia – 1B A. Metz – 2B Jer. White – SS Canning – 3B I. Berrios – P Riddle

Tony Gaytan struck out two in a 1-2-3 first inning, then came to the plate after Marquez walked and Hamel and Mireles rolled soft 1-out singles in the second inning, loading the bases with Critters. Riddle rung him up and Duhe grounded out, scoring zero runs in the process. The Titans instead scored an unearned run in the bottom 2nd with a leadoff walk to Garcia, a single to right by Andy Metz, and van Otterdijk’s throwing error that allowed Garcia to score all the way from first base. Gaytan then rung up two more before Ivan Berrios grounded out. Marcotte almost took Gaytan deep to right in the third inning, but the ball passed the pole on the foul side by about three feet. Instead, Marcotte ended up flying out easily to van Otterdijk. But don’t you worry about the Titans – they got Gaytan for a 3-spot in the fourth with Johnson and Garcia singles, and a Jeremy White homer to left…

The Coons only made the board in the fifth; Mireles hit a leadoff single and was bunted to second by Gaytan, then scored on a Duhe single. The Titans bobbled the ball in no man’s land to give Duhe an extra base, and then Dave Canning made a throwing error to pull Metz off the base on Fumero’s grounder to make it corners with one out and the tying run stepping into the box. Otal grounded out to first, scoring a run. Fumero went to second on the play, then to third on a wild pitch, and then scored on Otter’s 2-out double, but Gallo’s sharp grounder was right at Berrios and ended the inning, Portland short at 4-3 again – but not for long, as Gaytan was blasted by Marcotte and Johnson, back-to-back, in the bottom 5th, and was yanked after 4.2 ****** innings when he allowed a single to Garcia.

The Raccoons got four outs from Soriano to get through six, then, down 6-3, saw Leggett (who entered the game with Soriano in a double switch), Duhe, and Fumero all tumble on base with nobody out against right-hander Kyle Houck in the top of the seventh. Those were the tying runs for Otal, who popped out to short, and then van Otterdijk hit into a double play. Soriano got wrung out for another inning, then went straight to the bus station to head to St. Petersburg. The game ended with another double play, Duhe finding a 6-4-3 after Leggett drew a 1-out walk from Jose Gomez in the ninth. 6-3 Titans. Umero 2-4; Mireles 2-4; Leggett 1-1, BB, 2B; Soriano 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

(blows)

Juan Soriano (0-0, 6.75 ERA) ended up on waivers, and we also sent Jack Hamel (.152, 0 HR, 0 RBI) back to the Alley Cats after 15 games of breathtaking futility. Left-hander John Reynolds returned for maybe a second career game, and we’d try to kill a couple of days of waiting for Tyler Godot with infielder Gary Gates, who was hitting .308 in St. Petersburg.

Game 4
POR: SS Duhe – 1B Fumero – CF Otal – LF van Otterdijk – 3B Gallo – C Flowe – RF Matas – 2B Leggett – P Walla
BOS: LF S. Humphries – CF Marcotte – C D. Johnson – RF M. Garcia – 1B A. Metz – 2B Jer. White – SS Canning – 3B I. Berrios – P Egley

Yes, the Titans sent Paul Egley on TWO days’ rest for a second go in this series, with the understanding that he would only do a few innings and the pen would have to pick up the pieces – so just like on Monday. The Coons immediately sent eight guys to the plate in the first inning, although they scored only two as Duhe came home on Otal’s groundout and Fumero scored on van Otterdijk’s single, before the bases filled with Gallo and Flowe and remained filled while Matas and Leggett made outs. While Walla held his ground for the most part, the Raccoons then made it DEPRESSINGLY easy for Egley to cover innings, being overly eager to make piss poor contact, with the notable exception of Duhe, who went unretired by Egley in four attempts, and knocked him out in the SIXTH with an RBI single to drive in Matas. Fumero then singled home Leggett, 4-1, before the pen stopped the bleeding and sent Walla back to the hill. Lacking stuff, Walla had scattered six hits through five innings, conceding a run on Berrios’ leadoff double, a bunt, and a sac fly in the bottom 5th. He would pitch another two shutout innings before reaching 100 pitches and was hit for when his spot led off the eighth against left-hander Pedro Mendoza, who got straight groundouts from Gates, Duhe, and Fumero. Nava and McMahan put the eighth together well enough then, and Pedro Valentin, rarely used, retired the Titans in order in the ninth inning to finally chalk down a W. 4-1 Coons. Duhe 3-4, BB, RBI; Fumero 3-5, RBI; Gallo 2-3, BB; Walla 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W (4-6);

Raccoons (27-33) vs. Stars (30-29) – June 7-9, 2069

Both these teams currently wished they had Tyler Wharton around, but the Stars at least still got runs on the board even without the slugger. They ranked second in offense in the Federal League, but were seventh in runs allowed. Their pen and defense were particularly atrocious. It always confused me how they could have bad defense, playing half their games in a ballpark the size of my kitchen. They led the FL in steals. They had also swept the Coons in the last series played in 2067, and the one before that, too.

Projected matchups:
Vinny Morales (5-4, 3.07 ERA) vs. Ray Walker (4-4, 3.31 ERA)
A.C. Stebbins (3-3, 4.09 ERA) vs. Ramon Torres (3-5, 5.03 ERA)
Cody Childress (2-8, 3.80 ERA) vs. Andy Canada (6-3, 3.18 ERA)

They had only right-handers to offer here, including a “Crabman”, and a Canada guy that was actually from Kansas. Very confusing team. Honeypaws and me were not amused.

Game 1
DAL: CF LeVan – 2B A. Rodriguez – RF V.D. Morales – LF N. Vaughn – SS J. Hernandez – 1B R. Guzman – C Reyna – 3B McColgin – P R. Walker
POR: SS Duhe – C Flowe – CF Otal – LF van Otterdijk – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – 2B Mireles – 1B Spink – P Vin. Morales

The Raccoons scored first against “Crabman” Walker with a Gallo homer in the bottom 2nd, but the 1-0 lead was immediately given away and then some by Morales in the third inning, when he nicked Phil LeVan with two outs and then was taken well deep by Alex Rodriguez. Dallas got to 3-1 in the fourth through a Jordan Hernandez double and Victor Reyna’s 2-out RBI single.

While the Coons struggled to get another base hit on the board, the Stars continued beating Morales around quite relentlessly. Reyna drove in another run in the sixth inning, he walked William McColgin, which filled the bases with one out, and then gave up a sac fly to Walker. That got Vinny Morales yanked, and Rios struck out LeVan to end the inning, but Portland was by now down 5-1 and looking their usual listless. That general vibe extended to the bullpen, as Schmieder loaded the bases with the bottom of the order in the seventh inning, and John Reynolds allowed a 2-out, 2-run single to LeVan. Rodriguez then grounded out, and Reynolds got straight outs from the 3-4-5 batters in the ninth, but by then the game was of course completely out of paw. 7-1 Stars.

Tyler Wharton was clawed back after just two games and an off day in AAA, batting 1-for-8 with a few walks. We needed him. We needed anybody. So, two roster moves were made to bring back the not-so-slugging slugger and then also bring up another debutant in 1B Dan Gomez, a 24-year-old undrafted amateur signing that had been released from two minor league systems, including the Stars’, before being picked off the trash heap by the Coons. Tony Spink (.125, 0 HR, 0 RBI) and Josh Mireles (.212, 0 HR, 2 RBI) were sent back to AAA.

Pablo Novelo went on rehab in AAA on Saturday.

Game 2
DAL: CF LeVan – 2B A. Rodriguez – RF V.D. Morales – C Goodwin – SS J. Hernandez – 1B R. Guzman – LF X. Reyes – 3B McColgin – P R. Torres
POR: SS Duhe – 2B Fumero – LF Otal – CF Wharton – 3B Gallo – C Flowe – RF Corral – 1B Gomez – P Stebbins

Fumero and Otal got a walk and a single to go to the corners in the bottom 1st and I was hugging Honeypaws tightly and begging for a homer, or a single, or at least a sac fly, but we got a ****** pop to second base. With two gone, Otal stole second base, but Gallo then came through with a 2-run triple over the head of LeVan in center. Flowe singled to right, 3-0, and Corral dropped a double between LeVan and Xavier Reyes. Dan Gomez had his first big-league at-bat with a pair in scoring position and two outs, and slapped the first pitch through the right side for an RBI single. Stebbins struck out, then took a 4-0 lead to the hill.

The score held for a few innings, although Stebbins had no stuff to impress Dallas with, and issued the odd walk. He also bunted badly in the bottom 4th after Corral singled and Gomez walked, getting Corral forced out for the first retirement of the inning. Duhe flubbed his chance, but Fumero’s 2-out single to left-center got Gomez home to score, 5-0. Otal’s groundout stranded a pair. Stebbins held up through five, but allowed three straight hits to begin the sixth inning to take some damage. Alex Rodriguez and Victor David Morales hit a pair of singles, and Curt Goodwin struck a double into the leftfield corner to drive both of them in. Stebbins then got a good talking-to from the pitching coach, then popped out three batters in a row to get out of the inning. Stebbins bunted into another stupid out in the bottom 6th after Gomez hit a leadoff single, followed by Duhe walking to push the pitcher around the bases, but only until Fumero rumbled into a double play.

Stebbins got two more outs in full counts before LeVan doubled off him in the seventh and was removed. Dover surrendered the run on a Rodriguez single, walked Morales, and then finally rung up Goodwin to keep the Coons going with a 5-3 lead at the stretch.

Bottom 7th, and Alan Deakin put Wharton on base after he had gone 0-for-3 in his return, but drew a walk off the southpaw. Flowe hit a single with two outs, and the Coons sent van Otterdijk to bat for Corral against Deakin. The ploy worked, as the Otter slapped an RBI single to right-center, getting a welcome insurance run. Gomez whiffed, leaving two on, but that was the first out he made in the majors. Nava got the ball in the eighth, striking out Hernandez and Rafael Guzman, who objected, then was ejected, and replaced with Nick Vaughn. Reyes also struck out. Bottom 8th, and Gary Gates singled, Duhe doubled, and Fumero walked, filling the bases with nobody out. Deakin wasn’t removed until he allowed an RBI single to Otal. Right-hander Gary Ponds came out for Wharton, who hit a fly to deep right, but Morales raced back and made a catch on the warning track, holding Wharton to a sac fly. Gallo hit another sac fly, but that was the last run in the inning. Reynolds then got the last three outs instead of Valentin. 9-3 Raccoons. Otal 2-5, RBI; Flowe 3-4, RBI; Corral 2-3, 2B; van Otterdijk (PH) 1-2, RBI; Gomez 2-3, BB, RBI; Gates (PH) 1-1;

Offense! Maybe you just need to plug Wharton into the lineup and he immediately makes everybody else around him better?

Game 3
DAL: CF LeVan – 2B A. Rodriguez – RF V.D. Morales – LF N. Vaughn – SS J. Hernandez – 1B R. Guzman – C Reyna – 3B McColgin – P Canada
POR: 2B Fumero – C Marquez – LF Otal – CF Wharton – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – SS Leggett – 1B Gomez – P Childress

Childress had lost four straight games and his ERA had kicked up a quarter-run or more in his last five games, so he was not the perfect pick for the rubber game, but sometimes it is what it is. He loaded the bases with the first three Stars batters, then forced in a run by drilling Nick Vaughn. Another run scored on Hernandez’ double play grounder, but he managed to walk Guzman to fill the bags again before Victor Reyna popped out to Marquez on the first pitch. The Coons also loaded the bags in the first, but didn’t score. After Marquez singled, Wharton walked, and Gallo hit an infield single, Jose Corral struck out in a full count. Gomez walked and Fumero got nicked to put a pair on base in the second, but they were also stranded; Hernandez however tripled into the gap and scored on Guzman’s groundout to extend the Stars’ lead to 3-0 in the third inning. Same frame, Wharton worked a 1-out walk, Gallo singled, and Corral blundered into a double play…

Childress failed his way through the middle innings without giving up more runs (the defense did some good work, though), and only then did the Raccoons get onto the board when J.P. Gallo hit his tenth homer of the season in the bottom 6th, albeit with nobody on base. Leggett hit a single after that, but his furry tush was left on base. Rios held the score at 3-1 in the seventh, after which Fumero opened the after-stretch part of the game with a single to left. He wanted to run, but Jason Stine nailed Marquez to move him to second base anyway, which brought up Otal with the tying runs on base. He popped out on a 2-0 pitch, and Wharton hit into a fielder’s choice. Gallo hit a double to left, but Wharton had to be held at third base. Van Otterdijk batted for Corral again, but was drilled onto the open base with two outs, loading the sacks for Leggett, whom Stine rung up. Gary Gates hit a pinch-hit single in the bottom 8th, but was caught stealing, removing the tying run from the bases again. Nava and Valentin kept the Stars from tacking on in the late innings, and the bottom 9th was right-hander Jerry Washington against the 2-3-4 batters in a 3-2 game. Marquez grounded out. Otal grounded out. Wharton flew out to center. 3-2 Stars. Gallo 4-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Gates (PH) 1-1;

In other news

June 4 – CIN SP Jose Aguilar (6-2, 2.32 ERA) throws a 2-hit shutout against the Buffaloes to claim a 6-0 victory.
June 5 – The Warriors’ SP Harry Poteat (7-4, 3.11 ERA) shines with a 3-hit shutout of the Scorpions, scratching out a 1-0 victory. The only run scores in the first inning on a wild pitch by SAC SP Bobby O’Connor (4-5, 4.22 ERA), who throws a complete-game 5-hitter on the losing side.
June 6 – The Falcons beat the Knights, 1-0, on a homer by OF Matt McInnis (.283, 4 HR, 18 RBI).
June 8 – BOS SP Ricardo Montoya (4-5, 3.98 ERA) and two relievers pitch a combined 1-hitter against the Scorpions for a 2-0 win. The only Sacramento hit is a single by 1B/3B Ben DuFresne (.210, 3 HR, 10 RBI).
June 9 – The Rebels put up a 10-run fourth inning in smashing the Bayhawks, 19-2. Rebs 1B Jerry Morejon (.267, 5 HR, 13 RBI) drives in five runs on two homers, a double, and a single, leading the team.

FL Player of the Week: RIC OF Willie Ospina (.259, 9 HR, 40 RBI), hitting .478 (11-23) with 1 HR, 9 RBI
CL Player of the Week: POR 3B/SS/LF/RF J.P. Gallo (.250, 10 HR, 40 RBI), socking .423 (11-26) with 3 HR, 9 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Tyler Wharton is back! …maybe his stick will be shipped next week. Joel Starr is perhaps a week away from starting a rehab assignment. Remember that the plunge began once those two were gone from the lineup. The plunge is now 29 games of 2.76 runs per game – and that was already up significantly from the hellhole we were in last week! Record in that stretch: 9-20.

If Wharton can find his bat, and Starr can get his body pieced together, and Gallo (who hit ALL our dingers this week) can hack himself out a bit less often, and then you put Otal and the Otter around them, that might actually still make a decent lineup. It’s a lotta if’s though.

Juan Soriano passed through waivers unclaimed. Yay.

The Raccoons will shamble onwards, playing the Rebs and the damn Elks next week. There’s also a draft next week that I currently feel unprepared for.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons have the best bullpen by ERA in the CL.

Did that by accident, while trying to have the best offense.

Whoopsie!

[Westheim]

2069 AMATEUR DRAFT ANALYSIS

Yes, yes, we have looked at the Class of ’69 and – Cristiano, what’s there to snicker about? – and … what was I gonna say? Anyway, it’s not like we’re only sleeping and nomming, and only alternate between those two. The Coons had dutifully compiled a 132-count shortlist for the draft, for which we would have a solid selection of picks, despite punting our own first-rounder to sign Tyler Wharton (still waiting on the dividends…), only to get a slightly better pick back from the Crusaders for Alex Dominguez.

Overall the Raccoons had the #18 pick in the first round, two supplemental round picks (all in the top 50), and then the #19 pick in all following rounds.

And these are the guys that made the annual hotlist of the dozen-or-so most glittering prospects (*high school player):

SP Omari Hopwood (12/13/12) *
SP David Brunson (11/13/11) * – BNN #8
SP Gabe Croley (12/12/12) – BNN #7
SP Brent Shaw (14/15/11) * – BNN #10

CL James Bilodeau (19/14/13)

SS Dan Mammen (7/15/15)
1B Justin DiMartino (11/9/12)

OF Mike Pick (10/9/11) – BNN #3
LF/RF Josh Field (11/15/11) * – BNN #6
OF Landon Collins (9/9/10) – BNN #5
RF/LF Isaac Bishop (8/13/14) – BNN #4

Caveat on Shaw: he had only two-and-a-half pitches going right now, so unless the Scott Wade miracle eventually repeats (and we’ve been waiting some 70 years now), he might end up becoming a closer instead.

Not sure what Oscar Semchez has against Dan Mammen, but his OSA report doesn’t make him look like a human windmill or a strikeout on legs, but still with prodigious power. And it feels like getting a good contact rating out of Semchez requires being able to hit a 120mph artillery projectile with a badminton racket and your eyes covered with a thick black cloth – after your coach has spun you round eleven times really quickly. OSA is friendlier to all of the hotlist candidates.

The #1 and #2 picks by BNN that are missing from our hotlist are more 2 1/2 pitch hurlers, and they don’t even rank very high on that sub-list of ours. Welcome to the Hall of Fame, Terry Kilroy and Dylan Tremblett! The latter was one of 16 Canadians in the draft.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (28-35) @ Rebels (27-35) – June 10-12, 2069

Here we had two teams that were both in fourth place in their divisions and yet were both already out by more than double digits, 12 1/2 games for the Critters, and 15 games for the Rebs. Unlike Portland, the Richmond team was good at scoring, sitting third in the Federal League in runs plated, but employed a set of sieves for pitching and also allowed the third-most runs, with the second-worst rotation in the game. They had a few relievers on the DL, but all of their third-worst defense was still around. The Raccoons had swept the Rebels last season, but had been swept by them the year before.

Projected matchups:
Tony Gaytan (4-6, 5.48 ERA) vs. Sean Ranney (1-4, 5.76 ERA)
Nick Walla (4-6, 3.31 ERA) vs. Pedro Acebedo (6-4, 3.72 ERA)
Vinny Morales (5-5, 3.42 ERA) vs. Bobby Marceau (3-5, 2.48 ERA)

Ranney was one of two left-handers in that Rebs rotation, and the only one we’d get to see in the series.

Game 1
POR: SS Duhe – 2B Fumero – CF Wharton – LF van Otterdijk – 3B Gallo – C Marquez – RF Corral – 1B Gomez – P Gaytan
RIC: LF Licona – SS C. Ramsey – CF Laybolt – C Vaillancourt – 1B Joyner – 3B L. Medina – RF T. Bickerton – 2B C. Gonzalez – P Ranney

The great carpet-bombing of Tony Gaytan continued unabated with a Darby Laybolt homer in the first inning on Monday, which was also preceded by a free pass to Casey Ramsey, so right away Gaytan was in another 2-0 hole. Laybolt laid another bolt in the third inning, hitting another 2-run homer to score Juan Licona, who had hit a leadoff single, and Gaytan’s ERA was rapidly galloping towards six, getting there just two batters later after John Vaillancourt doubled and Bill Joyner socked ANOTHER 2-run homer. Gaytan got a couple more outs until he ran out of bottom of the order to retire, and then was replaced with Schmieder for garbage relief. The Coons were getting 1-hit by Ranney through four innings, so the game was basically over anyway. We had already given up to the tune of having Schmieder bat for himself to begin the sixth inning, in which the Critters also disappeared in 1-2-3 fashion.

Ranney allowed a leadoff single to Tyler Wharton after all in the seventh inning and then was taken deep by George van Otterdijk. While Schmieder got eight outs and then was followed by Dover and McMahan with scoreless innings, the Raccoons entered the ninth down by a slam, and still facing Ranney. Wharton hit another leadoff single, and then van Otterdijk’s grounder was bungled for an error by Leo Medina, at which point the Rebs ran for right-hander Jorge Garza. He struck out Gallo, but Jake Flowe batted for Lorenzo Marquez and singled to left-center, filling the bases and bringing Jose Corral up as the tying run. We were held to a sac fly to Travis Bickerton, though, before Dan Gomez grounded out to Carlos Gonzalez to end the game. 6-3 Rebels. Duhe 1-2, 2 BB; Wharton 2-4; Flowe (PH) 1-1; Schmieder 2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K;

Game 2
POR: SS Duhe – 2B Fumero – LF Otal – CF Wharton – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – C Flowe – 1B Gomez – P Walla
RIC: LF Licona – SS C. Ramsey – CF Laybolt – C Vaillancourt – RF Ospina – 1B Joyner – 3B L. Medina – 2B T. Bickerton – P Acebedo

Somewhat misplaced at second base, Travis Bickerton made an error in the first inning that put Fumero (single and stolen base) and Benito Otal on the corners with one out. Tyler Wharton got a run home (!) with a single to center and the Raccoons took a 1-0 lead, did a double steal, and then scored two more when J.P. Gallo also singled to center, but the inning fizzled out after that. The Coons then foundered a leadoff walk drawn by Dan Gomez in the second, then went on to almost sink Nick Walla with ****** defense in the bottom 2nd. While Vaillancourt reached base on a leadoff single to left-center, Otal then dropped Bill Joyner’s fly and Gallo flubbed a 2-out Bickerton grounder to load the bases – but Walla rung up the pitcher Acebedo to escape the undeserved jam.

Vaillancourt was on with another leadoff single in the fourth and that time was scored by Joyner with a double to right, reducing the lead to 3-1, although Benito Otal answered with a solo jack to right in the following half-inning. Wharton then hit a 2-out double, but was stranded when Gallo whiffed. The score was still 4-1 when Gallo came up again in the seventh with Otal (forced out Fumero) and Wharton (single) on the corners. This time he hit a fly to center that as caught by Laybolt, but was good enough to get the runner home from third base with a sac fly, 5-1. Right-handed reliever Josh Tarver then walked Corral, but struck out Flowe to get to the stretch. Walla allowed a Bickerton double in the bottom 7th; the runner stole third base before Carlos Gonzalez struck out for the second out of the inning on Walla’s 103rd pitch – also the final pitch for him in the game, as Gabriel Rios replaced him to face Juan Licona. He entered in a double switch that replaced Corral with Matas in right, and got a fly to left to keep Walla’s runner stranded.

Bickerton and Tarver then made consecutive errors to put Gomez and Matas on base to begin the eighth, and Tarver walked the bags full against Duhe. Fumero forced in a run, drawing another walk, but Otal struck out. Wharton singled through the left side and everybody moved up 90 feet. Javy Carpio replaced Tarver and got a double play grounder from Gallo to end the inning. Rios ended up logging five outs and was replaced after allowing a double to Joyner in the ninth inning. John Reynolds got the last two outs to nail down the W. 7-1 Raccoons. Fumero 2-4, BB, RBI; Wharton 4-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Walla 6.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (5-6); Rios 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Game 3
POR: SS Duhe – 2B Fumero – LF Otal – CF Wharton – RF van Otterdijk – 3B Gallo – C Flowe – 1B Gomez – P Morales
RIC: LF Licona – 3B L. Medina – CF Laybolt – C Vaillancourt – RF Ospina – 1B Joyner – SS T. Bickerton – 2B C. Gonzalez – P Marceau

In the second inning of the rubber game, the Raccoons would not score from hits by van Otterdijk and Gallo with one out, getting only poor outs from Flowe and Gomez that left the runners stranded. Vinny Morales had two scoreless innings on the board for himself, then hit a leadoff single in the third. Marceau filled the bases with walks to the 1-2 hitters, then got a run-scoring double play grounder, 4-6-3, from Otal, and Wharton to fly out easily to left. Marceau hit a double off Morales in the bottom 3rd, but was left on base, then allowed a leadoff double to van Otterdijk in the fourth. Flowe reached base this time, and then Dan Gomez slapped his first major-league homer, a 3-piece to left-center to run the score to 4-0.

After Morales scattered two singles in the bottom 4th and nailed Travis Bickerton, only to get him doubled up on Gonzalez’ grounder to second, in the fifth, Dan Gomez would go on and drive in another run with a 1-out single in the sixth. Gallo scored from second base, which he had stolen one pitch earlier. All looked so well and wonderful in a 5-0 game, and then Vinny Morales ran face first into a brick wall in the bottom 6th and retired nobody, facing five. Juan Licona tripled, Leo Medina hit an infield single that kept Licona at third, but Darby Laybolt hit a 3-bomb before Vaillancourt and Willie Ospina got to the corners with yet more hits. Those were the tying runs, and Ryan McMahan did little to relieve the pressure. He got Bill Joyner out on a fly to shallow left, but then allowed Ospina to steal second base, plated Vaillancourt with a wild pitch – tying run to third – before striking out Bickerton, and then did get a grounder from Gonzalez to Gallo, but Gallo threw that one away for an error, conceding the tying run after all and allowing Gonzalez to second, and McMahan then also gave up another single to PH Jeremy Jenkins to right, and van Otterdijk ******* THREW THAT ONE AWAY TOO, and so the go-ahead run scored before Licona popped out to short to end the ******* 6-run ********.

When the Raccoons got a leadoff triple to right from Fumero in the seventh, they made sure to not score that tying run with a ****** groundout by Otal, and then Wharton flew out rather basically to right. Fumero went for home anyway, and was thrown out by Ospina. The Rebels instead beat another run out of Reynolds in the bottom 8th, and while the Raccoons got the leadoff man Wally Leggett on base with a walk issued by Jose Garza in the ninth inning, that run never got off first base on useless outs by Corral, Fumero, and Otal. 7-5 Rebels. Van Otterdijk 2-4, 2B; Gallo 1-2, 2 BB, 2B; Gomez 2-4, HR, 4 RBI;

Raccoons (29-37) vs. Canadiens (28-37) – June 14-16, 2069

The damn Elks had DESTROYED the Raccoons in a 4-game set earlier this year, so I was totally looking forward to this series. Just kidding, I was glad I could bail for the draft on Saturday, and would take my sweet time to go home afterwards… The Elks had the eighth-most runs scored and the fifth-most runs allowed for a -27 run differential. They had one of the worst pens in the land, but hey, it was enough to stomp this bunch into the ground…

Projected matchups:
A.C. Stebbins (4-3, 4.08 ERA) vs. Vince Ellison (2-6, 3.99 ERA)
Cody Childress (2-9, 3.86 ERA) vs. Nick Waldron (5-7, 3.80 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (4-7, 5.97 ERA) vs. Ray Rath (3-3, 3.52 ERA)

Only right-handers in sight.

Game 1
VAN: SS Barraza – CF D. Moore – RF Lozada – C Varner – 1B A. Ramirez – LF Bustillos – 2B Rutecki – 3B W. de Leon – P Ellison
POR: SS Duhe – 2B Fumero – CF Wharton – RF Corral – LF van Otterdijk – 3B Gallo – C Flowe – 1B Gomez – P Stebbins

The Raccoons made three outs on five pitches in the first inning, while the Elks drew 31 tosses from Stebbins, and scored a run on straight singles by Dan Moore, Roberto Lozada, and Steve Varner. Yay. The game then went through a 30-minute rain delay in the third inning, despite the exhortations by the NWSN blabbermouths that no rain was in the forecast for today, and somehow Stebbins was still holding together enough to allow the Coons to tie the game in the bottom 4th on little more than a deep breath and having some heart. Corral and van Otterdijk went to the corners with a pair of singles, and Gallo hit a sac fly. And that was about it.

Varner and John Rutecki hit two singles against Stebbins in the sixth inning. With the left-handed Willie de Leon up, the Coons went for McMahan for an inning-ending strikeout, followed by an inning-beginning strikeout from Tyler Wharton, who would surely soon begin slugging worthy of his money. The 4-5-6 batters then all reached base on a walk and two singles, filling them up for Jake Flowe, who hit a sac fly for a 2-1 lead, but Gomez also flew out easily to center and left two on base. McMahan struck out Ellison before making way for Jesse Dover in a double switch in the seventh. Fumero slid to first base, and Leggett replaced Dan Gomez in the game. Dover did precious little, blowing the lead by walking Moore and allowing singles to Lozada and Varner, all with two outs. Rios replaced him against lefty stick- nope, pinch-hitters, and a four-pitch walk to Todd Eaton, but Rick Atkins struck out and left the bases loaded in the 2-2 game.

Bottom 8th, and singles by Wharton and Corral against Ellison put Raccoons on the corners with nobody out. Van Otterdijk flew out to shallow center and Wharton held; and Gallo flew out to right and Wharton went. He was thrown out at the plate by Lozada. I was about reaching the end of my tether and kept asking Honeypaws why a warm and loving universe would allow this.

Pedro Valentin retired the top of the Elks lineup in good order in the ninth inning, while Ellison was *still* going in the bottom 9th, nicking Jake Flowe on base as the winning run. The Coons had Valentin bunt, then ran for Flowe from second base with Carlos Matas, but Flowe would have scored as well on the double that Leggett flung over the head of Dan Moore in deep center. 3-2 Raccoons! Corral 3-3, BB; van Otterdijk 2-4; Gallo 2-3, RBI; Leggett 1-2, 2B, RBI; Stebbins 5.2 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K;

At least they scored eventually. Dropping to 0-5 against the Elks, and I’ll open a plane door somewhere over Wisconsin…

Game 2
VAN: SS Barraza – 2B Kilday – 1B Atkins – C Varner – CF D. Moore – RF Bustillos – LF Rutecki – 3B W. de Leon – P Waldron
POR: SS Duhe – 2B Fumero – LF Otal – CF Wharton – RF Corral – 3B Gallo – C Marquez – 1B Gomez – P Childress

Childress and Gaytan both had to get their act straight to close out the week, not that our AAA rotation was bursting with instant replacement options. Or even a surfeit of starting pitchers in general. However, Childress speedran to his sixth straight defeat, allowing a single to Matt Kilday, another single to Varner, and a 3-run homer to Moore right away in the first inning, then remained crap after that. A Varner single, Moore triple (cycle alarm), and Rutecki single piled up another two runs on the scoreboard in the third inning. At this point the Raccoons could also just give in to another L (and another one on Sunday with Gaytan). Childress was left in and somehow pitched another three scoreless innings after that, piling up nine strikeouts in six innings.

The Raccoons scored a run in the bottom 3rd on a Fumero double and Otal’s triple before Wharton flew out to center again. Corral drew a leadoff walk in the fourth and Gallo homered to shorten the score to 5-3 then. But while Lorenzo Marquez hit another single, Gomez grounded into a double play and the inning fizzled out.

Bottom 6th, and Wharton drew a leadoff walk, because that’s what you want from your deliciously paid slugger. He advanced on a Corral groundout and then scored when Gallo socked an RBI double, 5-4. Marquez’ groundout and Gomez getting intentionally walked got us to van Otterdijk pinch-hitting with runners on the corners and two outs, but he grounded out to de Leon.

The ball went to Nava for the seventh and he got two outs before allowing a single to PH Roberto Lozada. When Varner also singled, Lozada moved to second base, then was run for by Tyler Chenette with the insurance run. Moore was down 0-2, then flicked another single, and Chenette scored from second base, 6-4. Reynolds came in and got a fly out from John Bustillos to end the inning. Waldron was coming back for the bottom 7th, but walked only the tying runs on base with Duhe and Fumero before getting yanked. Ken McDonald got a fielder’s choice grounder from Otal, and then Wharton batted in a prime RBI position to be a hero and – hit into a 6-4-3 double play… and Marquez hit into another inning-ending double play in the eighth after Gallo got on base. McMahan at least managed to not give up a double for the cycle to Moore in the ninth, but Miguel Batista retired the Critters in order in the ninth inning. 6-4 Canadiens. Fumero 1-2, 2 BB, 2B; Otal 2-4, 3B, RBI; Gallo 3-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI;

Oh, the pleasure of being three time zones away and generally busy…!

Game 3
VAN: SS Barraza – 2B Kilday – RF Lozada – 1B Atkins – C Varner – CF D. Moore – LF Chenette – 3B W. de Leon – P Rath
POR: SS Duhe – 1B Fumero – LF Otal – CF Wharton – 3B Gallo – RF van Otterdijk – C Flowe – 2B Gates – P Gaytan

Not sure what the biggest marvel of the first inning was – Gaytan pitching a 1-2-3 inning and whiffing two, or Tyler Wharton actually driving in a run with a 2-out RBI single, getting Fumero home for a 1-0 lead, that became 2-0 when Gallo struck an RBI double to center after him. Van Otterdijk then made a meek out to end the inning. While Varner and Moore got on base for the Elks in the second inning, Chenette then hit into an inning-ending double play, but the Raccoons upped to 3-0 with Gates and Duhe base hits in the bottom 2nd.

The Elks had another pair of hits in the fifth inning from Chenette and Barraza. With two outs they were on the corners, Barraza stole second base, but Matt Kilday’s liner to left was caught by Otal and the inning ended. Next inning, next pair on base, but the 2-out runners Varner (walk) and Moore (single) were stranded when Chenette struck out. While the Raccoons had gone to bed by this time, Gaytan kept scratching and got six more outs, pitching eight shutout innings against the damn Elks out of the blue. Van Otterdijk then took Martyn Polaco deep for a solo jack in the bottom 8th, 4-0, and another run came together between pinch-hitters Lorenzo Marquez doubling to left and Jose Corral hitting an RBI single to center.

Up 5-0, the Raccoons sent in John Reynolds, who loaded the bases by nicking Moore and walking Chenette and de Leon, and getting no outs in the ninth inning. That mess then went to Valentin, who popped out Bustillos, and then struck out Barraza and Kilday to prevent any stupid runs from scoring. 5-0 Furballs. Duhe 2-4, BB, RBI; Wharton 2-4, RBI; Marquez (PH) 1-1, 2B; Corral (PH) 1-1, RBI; Gaytan 8.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K, W (5-7);

In other news

June 10 – VAN OF Dan Moore (.363, 5 HR, 28 RBI) has put a 20-game hitting streak together by landing a single in an 8-0 loss to the Cyclones.
June 11 – DEN 1B Juan Gutierrez (.299, 10 HR, 33 RBI) beats the Condors with a home run in a 1-0 game. Denver SP Aaron O’Harra (5-2, 2.44 ERA) throws a 6-hit shutout in the game.
June 11 – Vancouver outfielder Dan Moore (.358, 5 HR, 28 RBI) has his hitting streak already end in a 2-1 win against the Cyclones, going hitless.
June 12 – CIN OF Melvin Avila (.317, 10 HR, 41 RBI) sits pretty at a 20-game hitting streak following a double and a single in a 10-4 loss to the Canadiens.
June 12 – Denver RF/LF Steve Millen (.330, 8 HR, 42 RBI) singles in the second inning of a 9-3 loss to the Condors to also run a hitting streak to 20 games.
June 13 – Crusaders RF/LF/1B Juan Paez (.263, 1 HR, 40 RBI) retires from baseball after re-tearing the labrum in his shoulder and requiring more complex surgery. The 29-year-old Paez batted .304 in his career, with 51 HR and 425 RBI, was named an All Star in 2065, and won a World Series ring as a rookie with the 2061 Bayhawks.
June 13 – The hitting streak of CIN OF Melvin Avila (.313, 10 HR, 41 RBI) also ends at 20 games with an 0-for-3 appearance in a 5-2 win against the Capitals.
June 14 – Three dead hitting streaks in a week, as the one by Denver’s Steve Millen (.327, 8 HR, 43 RBI) ends at 21 games in a 9-4 win against the Pacifics.
June 15 – The Gold Sox beat the Pacifics, eventually, 4-3 in 14 innings. DEN INF Jim Fusselman (.285, 2 HR, 15 RBI) only enters the game in a double switch in the #9 spot, but is the only player in the game with three base hits, and scores the winning run in the 14th inning.

FL Player of the Week: NAS RF Austin Gordon (.321, 12 HR, 38 RBI), batting .500 (13-26) with 3 HR, 5 RBI
CL Player of the Week: IND 1B Matt Rogers (.331, 20 HR, 59 RBI), slapping .536 (15-28) with 6 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Tony Gaytan finally pitched a fine game on Sunday. Only took him 14 attempts to not get blown up and have his intestines strung from foul pole to foul pole!

Joel Starr started a rehab assignment today, and him and Novelo should rejoin the team at different points next week; Novelo still isn’t hitting anything even in AAA.

The Raccoons had another three games at home against the Indians, and then would go on a hard road trip to see the Thunder, Aces, and Titans, for a total of ten games, all the way to the end of the month.

Fun Fact: Tyler Wharton’s worst PA/HR rate in the last eight seasons was 25.60;

Last year: 17.95 plate appearances per home run.

This year: 42 plate appearances per home run.

None since May 9. And I can’t give him much for “oh I was on the DL for four weeks” …

[Westheim]

2069 AMATEUR DRAFT

The Raccoons brought a good set of draft picks, but probably not a lot of a clue in general to this year’s Amateur Draft, but let’s see how much damage we can do to ourselves with three top 50 and six top 100 picks.

As a reminder, this oddly rated bunch was our hotlist for the year (*high school player):

SP Omari Hopwood (12/13/12) *
SP David Brunson (11/13/11) * – BNN #8
SP Gabe Croley (12/12/12) – BNN #7
SP Brent Shaw (14/15/11) * – BNN #10

CL James Bilodeau (19/14/13)

SS Dan Mammen (7/15/15)
1B Justin DiMartino (11/9/12)

OF Mike Pick (10/9/11) – BNN #3
LF/RF Josh Field (11/15/11) * – BNN #6
OF Landon Collins (9/9/10) – BNN #5
RF/LF Isaac Bishop (8/13/14) – BNN #4

The first selection of the draft was the Buffaloes, and they went with the pitcher Brent Shaw, the one with just two-and-a-half pitches. Bless their little hearts. The Gold Sox then made Omari Hopwood the #2 pick, followed by … not a hotlist selection. Infielder Jimmy “Wacko” Williams went to the Aces at #3. The next three were outfielders taken by more CL South teams, as the Condors took Mike Pick, the Falcons selected Landon Collins, and the Baybirds took non-hotlist Brandon Ward.

No further hotlisters were taken until Josh Field went to the Loggers at #10. Dan Mammen followed immediately, to the Blue Sox, and then David Brunson to L.A. at #12. The Miners grabbed Gabe Croley with the #15 pick, and this left the Raccoons to select between the closer James Bilodeau, first-sacker Justin DiMartino, and outfielder Isaac Bishop. We went with the latter one, buying into the power potential and begging the baseball gods that his contact would improve. But I could see Oscar Semchez shaking his head.

Bilodeau went on to be taken by the Capitals with their #24 pick at the end of the first round, but DiMartino fell to the Raccoons in the supplemental round.

+++

2069 PORTLAND RACCOONS DRAFT CLASS

Round 1 (#18) – RF/LF Isaac Bishop, 21, from Hopewell, VA – left-handed batter with considerable power potential and questionable contact and patience, but, oh! The power! The power!
Supp. Round (#37) – 1B Justin DiMartino, 20, from Baytown, TX – right-handed batter with a balanced and promising contact and power profile, actually some speed, and some defense to show at first base.
Supp. Round (#44) – SP Mike Pavan, 22, from Thousand Oaks, CA – left-hander with four decent-to-good pitches, and pretty good control for a 22-year-old, but his stamina is a bit of a concern
Round 2 (#66) – INF Justin Montgomery, 17, from Mishawaka, IN – perhaps not enough arm power for third base, and not a lot of home run power, but he was agile and fast, and had a keen eye at the plate, maybe one of those quirky middle infielders batting at the top of the order
Round 3 (#90) – SP Kevin Beane, 22, from Sarasota, FL – left-hander throwing 91 and adding a curve and splitter with decent control, but also not with a ton of stamina
Round 4 (#114) – LF/INF Ron Robinson, 18, from Visalia, CA – versatile infielder or leftfielder with a patient approach and a knack and desire to wear the pitcher out; also some speed, but not a lot of power
Round 5 (#138) – SP Omari Campbell, 19, from Baltimore, MD – right-handed groundballer with a 92mph fastball and a sinker, but only a mediocre changeup on top of that
Round 6 (#162) – SP Joe Cameron, 21, from Richmond Hill, Canada – left-hander with four pitches but low stamina, and tell me whether you’ve heard that story recently
Round 7 (#186) – CL Rob Greenfield, 20, from Kyle, TX – right-hander with a good curveball, but little else going for him
Round 8 (#210) – 2B/SS Conner Sepkiechler, 17, from Richmond, Canada – very adept defensive middle infielder with some speed and not a lot of hitting prowess at all
Round 9 (#234) – LF/RF Gates Wooldridge, 19, from Winnipeg, Canada – if you saw him in the field, you’d call him a stick-first corner outfielder, but if you see him at the plate…
Round 10 (#258) – MR Adan Gonzalez, 21, from Guaynabo, Puerto Rico – right-hander with 93mph heater and a slider, and not much in terms of a clue where any of that was going
Round 11 (#282) – MR Aaron Heppe, 22, from Montgomery, AL – the obligatory 11th-round left-hander, also offering a fastball and slider, and nothing in terms of control and clue
Round 12 (#306) – 2B/SS Jamie Schwartz, 18, from Austin, TX – switch-hitting middle infielder, but without power from either side, and without much speed, and the throwing arm was also rather average
Round 13 (#330) – SP Russell Dares, 19, from Toronto, Canada – left-hander tossing 86, and offering a curve that doesn’t curve a lot

+++

That’s definitely been a draft with too many Canadians. (raises paw) Re-do! (looks on with bewilderment as all the other teams keep packing up and leaving the draft room)

Isaac Biship and Mike Pavan were assigned to AA Ham Lake, while the rest of the crowd went to Aumsville to begin their pro careers.

The Coons then also parted ways with a number of players, starting with left-hander Sean Thomas, long ago signed as minor league free agent, who had seen occasional and disastrous use as reliever in the majors and had posted a career 9.88 ERA in 38 games in Portland. We also cut loose former $310k investment in the July IFA signing period, Australian Glen Vankrimpen, who was in his SIXTH year in Ham Lake, and still couldn’t get a good K/BB value down. Walks, walks, walks! Enough of that. He had once been a #62 prospect. The list also included Mitchell Dougherty (2065, 8th round) and Brian Keener (2068, 13th round).

On the batting side, the organization parted with catcher Bobby Kymer (2066, 5th round), 3B Jake Spakes (2067, 8th round), outfielder Jeremy Simonds (2068, 12th round), and in general hoped for better times…

+++

There’s a new NASCAR game coming out on PC tomorrow (consoles already got it, with mixed reviews…), and I'm jaded and can't like things anymore, but I'll put some paw prints on it and if I find it tolerable at all, the Raccoons might only resurface on the weekend…

[Westheim]

Raccoons (31-38) vs. Indians (45-24) – June 17-19, 2069

Meanwhile, what was actually going on with those Indians? They led the Raccoons by 14 games (which was not going to the final measuring stick at this rate…) and the second-place Titans by a decent four-and-a-half. They scored the most runs in the CL (take that, Loggers!) and had the best rotation to pair with that. They had certainly climbed out of the depths rather quickly (they had still finished bottoms just last season!), and were up 4-2 on the Coons this year. They had only reliever John Nesbitt and infielder Fernando Valadez on the DL at this point.

Projected matchups:
Nick Walla (5-6, 3.17 ERA) vs. Jorge Flores (3-4, 3.62 ERA)
Vinny Morales (5-5, 3.64 ERA) vs. Justin Esch (6-3, 2.68 ERA)
A.C. Stebbins (4-3, 3.86 ERA) vs. Miguel Lopez (7-3, 4.64 ERA)

Only right-handers on offer here.

Game 1
IND: CF Hilario – SS Masterson – 1B M. Rogers – 3B Ma. Martin – RF T. Torres – LF Valencia – C Atencio – 2B G. Lujan – P Jo. Flores
POR: SS Duhe – 2B Fumero – LF Otal – CF Wharton – 3B Gallo – RF van Otterdijk – C Marquez – 1B D. Gomez – P Walla

Walla started out just fine and retired the Indians in order the first time through the lineup, but the Raccoons scored two runs on Flores in the second inning, clipping a total of four singles from Gallo and van Otterdijk (who both scored), and Dan Gomez and Duhe (who both drove in a run). Walla ran the total of retired batters to begin the game to 11, while only striking out the pitcher Flores, and then was at once taken deep by Matt “Rakin’” Rogers for his 21st homer (!) of the season – almost all of them against the Portlanders. That knell woke up the rest of the Indians, and they got Tony Torres and Rafael Valencia on base to begin the fifth inning. Vinny Atencio grounded out, and Guillermo Lujan flipped the score with a 2-run single, then scored himself on another single by Jose Hilario, as Walla was now being picked limb from limb. A lack of stuff was of course to blame – he still had yet to get a strikeout against anybody not of his own profession. He also would not get one of those for the rest of the days, despite retiring the Indians in order from after another 2-out single by Scott Masterson when he got Rogers to pop out to end the top 5th, and then pitched another three scoreless innings. The Raccoons went down just as fecklessly against Flores and the pen, that took over after the seventh, and the Coons’ own relievers Schmieder and Rios then got banged around for another two runs in the ninth. A pair of 2-out singles by Corral and Duhe against Juan Pera got the Indians’ closer Shamar King into the game, and on his third pitch the right-hander gave up a 2-run triple into the leftfield corner that shortened the score to 6-4. Benito Otal’s groundout to short ended the game. 6-4 Indians. Duhe 2-5, RBI; Wharton 2-4; Gomez 2-4, 2B, RBI; Corral (PH) 1-1;

We then went on to activate Pablo Novelo from his rehab assignment. Gary Gates, who had gotten just nine at-bats while rotting on the bench, batting .333, was returned to AAA.

Game 2
IND: CF Hilario – LF Spicer – C A. Gomez – 1B M. Rogers – 3B Ma. Martin – SS Masterson – RF Valencia – 2B Z. DeWitt – P Esch
POR: SS Duhe – 2B Fumero – LF Otal – CF Wharton – 3B Gallo – C Flowe – RF Corral – 1B D. Gomez – P Morales

Vinny Morales’ pitch count exploded rapidly in the Tuesday game. He already put a pair on base in the first, mostly in long counts, and then allowed a leadoff single to Scott Masterson in the second. Rafael Valencia doubled, and Zach DeWitt (not related to ace Mike DeWitt) hit a sac fly to give them a 1-0 lead. Esch fanned, but Morales then excruciatingly walked the bags full before battling to strike out Alex Gomez and hold the Indians to one run in the inning. His pitch count was already at 45 by then; and walking Rogers to lead off the third, allowing a stolen base, and then a single to Masterson, cost another run in the third inning.

Morales ended up puckered out after five innings of amateur tossing, barely holding the Indians to two runs (they had runners in the corners in the fifth until DeWitt popped out), while the Coons had a Wharton single and stolen base, and literally nothing else through four innings. Schmieder then got swatted around for the second time in two days in the sixth, walking two and getting 3-run bombed by Alex Gomez to spread the score to 5-0. Dan Gomez singled in the bottom 6th for the extent of no rally, and then Dover walked two more Indians in the seventh, but buggered out of there without allowing another run. McMahan got around his own fielding error for a scoreless eighth, and that inning’s Raccoons rally was Pablo Novelo pinch-hitting for the southpaw and reaching base on a throwing error before being left at second.

There was one last (last? What woulda been the first one??) hurrah for the Raccoons in the bottom 9th, which began with Leggett batting and singling in place of Fumero. Otal popped out, but Tyler Wharton socked his first homer since May 9 with a 2-run shot to right. It got Esch out of the game, but that was as good as it got. 5-2 Indians. Leggett (PH) 1-1; Wharton 2-4, HR, 2 RBI;

Yikes.

Game 3
IND: CF Hilario – LF Spicer – C A. Gomez – 1B M. Rogers – 3B Ma. Martin – RF T. Torres – SS Z. DeWitt – 2B G. Lujan – P Mi. Lopez
POR: RF van Otterdijk – 2B Fumero – LF Otal – CF Wharton – 3B Gallo – C Flowe – 1B D. Gomez – SS Novelo – P Stebbins

The series finale was scoreless and not really rousing any fur nor feathers until the bottom 3rd suddenly began with Jose Corral pinch-hitting for A.C. Stebbins, who was consulting with Luis Silva, the harbinger of pestilence. Corral singled, got nowhere, and then John Reynolds was in for the fourth inning. He loaded the bases with Malcolm Spicer, Alex Gomez, and Matt Martin, then seamlessly gave up 2-run knocks to Torres (a double) and DeWitt (a single), before the 8-9 batters made outs, finally, so this game was also in the bin. Reynolds did a scoreless fifth, and then the Raccoons sent in Cody Childress, successless starter / punching bag, to forego his next starting assignment – we had an off day coming right up – and instead finish out this garbage game. He put Martin (single) and Torres (walk) on base right away in the sixth, and surrendered a run after DeWitt’s groundout and Lujan’s sac fly to center, 5-0. Benito Otal answered with a solo home run in the same frame, and then nothing else happened until the bottom 9th, when the Raccoons suddenly stirred again. Flowe singled and Novelo drew a walk from Brian McLaughlin to get right-hander Kao-Kan Ngui into the game – King had pitched on Saturday as well to finish out that game after the Wharton homer and was not available. Duhe batted for Childress and drew straight balls for a walk, loading the bases and bringing up van Otterdijk as the tying run with one down. He lined out hard to Rogers at first and Duhe barely got back on the base to avoid the game-ending double play. Fumero then poked a 3-1 pitch into play; the grounder was so poor the Indians couldn’t get to it to make a play in time and the infield single pushed home Flowe and brought up Otal as the winning run. He flew out to Hilario. 5-2 Indians. Fumero 2-4, RBI; Flowe 2-4; Stebbins 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

A.C. Stebbins had a sore shoulder (oh, those old man pains!) and would have to go to the DL for another two weeks at least. We also put Carlos Matas (.143, 0 HR, 0 RBI) on waivers. Joel Starr returned from his rehab assignment, and we brought back Juan Soriano for an extra bullpen arm for the weekend, but we’d need a new starter for next week.

Raccoons (31-41) @ Thunder (38-33) – June 21-23, 2069

The Thunder were tops in the CL South despite only ranking fifth in runs scored and sixth in runs allowed in the Continental League. They had a +29 run differential and living on defense and their rotation. They were however bottoms in stolen bases and didn’t have a lot of power either. They led the series against the Coons, 2-1, for the year, but they had a number of players on the DL, including former Raccoons Justin Dowsey and Carlos Gutierrez, as well as closer Brad Fales.

Projected matchups:
Tony Gaytan (5-7, 5.38 ERA) vs. Luis Ramirez (5-2, 3.78 ERA)
Nick Walla (5-7, 3.28 ERA) vs. Ken Nielsen (4-3, 3.47 ERA)
Vinny Morales (5-6, 3.54 ERA) vs. Alfredo Picun (5-4, 3.20 ERA)

The Thunder had two southpaws in the rotation, and we would not see either of them in this series.

Game 1
POR: SS Duhe – LF Otal – CF Wharton – 1B Starr – 3B Gallo – RF van Otterdijk – 2B Fumero – C Flowe – P Gaytan
OCT: CF Thore – SS Palominos – 1B I. Stone – C Bohannon – RF B. Johnston – 3B B. Robinson – LF J. Parker – 2B Onelas – P L. Ramirez

The first two Raccoons hits in the opener were specifically George van Otterdijk doubles, one to right in the second, and one to left in the fifth, and by then Gaytan had already given up a buncha bombs and the Coons were down 3-0. Jose Palominos had hit a homer to right in the first inning, Ian Stone had cranked another one of those in the fourth, and then right after that back-to-back doubles by Martin Bohannon and Bryan Johnston had produced another run. The second Otter double led off the top 5th and Fumero joined him on base with a scratch single. Jake Flowe then hit an RBI double to left, and suddenly the tying runs were in scoring position with nobody out. Gaytan whiffed, Jared Duhe’s drive to center was caught by Coby Thore, holding him to a sac fly, and when Otal grounded out, the Raccoons remained 3-2 behind, despite the furious start to the inning.

Van Otterdijk tried again and strung another leadoff double to right in the seventh inning. Fumero drew a walk, leading to Luis Ramirez’ exit, and replacement Javier Arocho struck out Flowe. Corral batted for Gaytan, lined out to a diving Marcos Onelas, but van Otterdijk thought the ball had been trapped and was plainly and easily doubled off second base to end the inning while standing at third ******* base. John Reynolds then conceded an insurance run to the Thunder when he put everything with legs on base, and Thore singled home Johnny Parker for them to go up 4-2. Reynolds put two more left-handed batters on base in the eighth and was disposed of, Dover cleaning up his mess, and the Raccoons then punched out with Starr and Gallo to begin the ninth against left-hander Steve Keller before van Otterdijk reached again, on an error by Brian Robinson. Still brought up the tying run in Fumero, and he grounded out in a very basic manner. 4-2 Thunder. Van Otterdijk 3-4, 3 2B;

Game 2
POR: SS Duhe – LF van Otterdijk – 1B Starr – CF Wharton – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – C Marquez – 2B Novelo – P Walla
OCT: CF Thore – SS Palominos – 1B I. Stone – C Bohannon – RF B. Johnston – 3B B. Robinson – LF J. Parker – 2B Onelas – P Nielsen

Another day, another first-inning longball for Palominos against Walla, who then also allowed straight hits to Bohannon, Johnston, and Robinson with two outs to give away two more runs, in other words, the game was over after one inning, Portland down 3-0. The Coons got a free runner to begin the second inning because Nielsen plunked Wharton. Corral singled, but Marquez hit into a double play, so we still got nothing.

The air then left the ballpark entirely and the next innings were just plain poking. The Coons took until the fifth and a Corral single to center to get another hit, and then never got the runner off first base, while Walla lacked putaway stuff and constantly pitched to two strikes and then begged his defense with his eyeballs to pick that grounder and catch that flyball, but at least the Thunder didn’t tack on even more runs.

Joel Starr went deep with a drive to right-center to put the Coons on the board beginning the top 7th, followed by three calm outs made by the 4-5-6 batters. Walla went seven and was pinch-hit for by Dan Gomez in the eighth, who drew a 2-out walk and then went back to the dugout after Duhe finished fanning. Keller got the ninth again, and the Coons put every first pitch in play for Otter popping out, Starr grounding out, and then Wharton singled, bringing the tying run to the dish with two outs again. And Gallo sent one to left! High! Deep! Too high. Not deep enough. Parker. Mitten. Ballgame… 3-1 Thunder. Corral 2-3;

(sigh!)

Game 3
POR: SS Duhe – LF Otal – CF Wharton – 1B Starr – RF Corral – 2B Fumero – C Flowe – 3B Leggett – P Morales
OCT: CF Thore – SS Palominos – 1B I. Stone – C Bohannon – RF B. Johnston – 3B B. Robinson – LF J. Parker – 2B Onelas – P Picun

Vinny Morales tossed 35 balls in the first inning, putting all of Thore, Palominos (singles), and Bohannon (drilled) on base in full counts. Brian Robinson’s grounder to second was not turned into an inning-ending double play, so Coby Thore right away scored to put the Thunder ahead, and then a walk to Bryan Johnston loaded the bags again before Johnny Parker flew out to Wharton. But when Corral and Fumero hit singles in the second, Flowe was right there on call to crash into a double play that would end the inning. Morales remained out of sorts and walked the bags full in the second inning, although Bohannon grounded out to Starr with the bases loaded for the third and final out. The pitch count was over 60 by then.

Morales could only keep up with that sort of shenanigans for five innings, the last three being considerably less rage-inducing, and then reached 100 pitches and was ushered away. He left NOT on the hook, thanks to a game-tying homer by Tyler Wharton in the fourth inning, and then even got the posthumous lead when Benito Otal went deep to right in the sixth! The ball then went to Schmieder, who struck out the side in the sixth (the bottom of the order, admittedly), but Danny Nava worked himself into a mess in the bottom 7th and was replaced by Rios and Novelo (for Fumero) in a double switch. With Thore on second and Stone on first, and two outs, the Thunder sent right-hander Wu-ti Yin to bat for Johnston, but he grounded out to Leggett and left the runners on base.

Top 8th, and Picun walked Leggett to begin the inning. Leggett stole second, advanced on Novelo’s groundout, and Duhe worked a walk, because that’s what we want with a runner on third and one out, you putting your stupid fat lard *** on base for a double play. Otal found the hole on the left side, however, and funneled through an RBI single to extend the lead to 3-1. Wharton added an RBI single to right, Starr walked, and Picun was replaced with left-hander and former Coons closer (boy, was that a ride) Jon McGinley. Van Otterdijk batted for Corral – and smacked into a double play anyway. Rios then got around a walk to Parker in the bottom 8th to keep the 4-1 lead in one piece, and seldom-seen Pedro Valentin then got the ball for the bottom of the ninth. He struck out Thore and Palominos, then lost Ian Stone on a ball four call that made him visibly unhappy. It didn’t get better when Bohannon socked a double to left. Matt Ewig then pinch-hit in the new pitcher’s spot, and flew out to Otal to allow the Coons to snap their 5-game losing streak. 4-1 Coons. Otal 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Wharton 2-4, HR, 2 RBI;

In other news

June 17 – The Aces beat the Bayhawks, 12-6, with an 8-run rally in the sixth inning. Vegas OF Josh Phelps (.243, 5 HR, 24 RBI) misses the cycle by the double and drives in six runs in the game.
June 18 – 2B/SS Dustin Cox (.253, 0 HR, 7 RBI) is traded from the Condors up I-5 to the Pacifics for two prospects.
June 19 – The Loggers win a 16-inning game from the Titans, 6-4.
June 20 – SFW SP Luis Olvera (7-6, 2.43 ERA) is headed for Tommy John surgery for a torn UCL and is expected to miss a full year.
June 21 – The Falcons acquire LF/RF/1B Brady Terrell (.267, 2 HR, 11 RBI) from Los Angeles in exchange for MR Oliver Graham (2-3, 2.25 ERA, 1 SV) and a prospect.
June 23 – The Aces pick up SP Gary Peoples (7-2, 2.54 ERA) from the Wolves in a trade for a prospect.
June 23 – The Capitals beat the Gold Sox, 12-11 in 15 innings.
June 23 – The Stars score 15 runs in just four innings before going into management mode against the Cyclones, eventually winning 15-4.

FL Player of the Week: WAS OF/1B Jose Alvarez (.299, 5 HR, 27 RBI), going .500 (10-20) with 2 HR, 9 RBI
CL Player of the Week: BOS C David Johnson (.307, 11 HR, 43 RBI), batting .478 (11-23) with 1 HR, 6 RBI

Complaints and stuff

We’ve not fallen back into last place… YET.

Our rotation is currently Nick waLLa (not a typo), Binny Morales, and Tony “Oh, that’s a long one!” Gaytan. I can hear Cristiano Carmona snicker about that one from two time zones away, by the way. Beyond that, Cody Childish, and a big open hole. – Cristiano, stop it.

We need a body on Monday, and it looks like somebody’s gonna get his major league debut. I don’t want to spoil anything, but the name rhymes with Timmy Carton. And we might get another guy up here, Harrison Hunt, just to get away from Childress, who has lost every game he’s started for over a month. In fact, he might be 2-10 with a 4.05 ERA for the year, but as a starter he’s even 1-9 with a 4.32 ERA.

NOBODY’S getting run support, Nick, stop crying!!

I sense the tone getting rougher again. Must be lingering half a game away from the bottom of the ******* division.

Anyway, Hunt pitched on Saturday, so he’s more of a later thing, and he has six pitches, none particularly good. He was a third-rounder in ’64, and has a 3.12 ERA in St. Pete, which was marginally better than Timmy Carton, who was walking more people. Semchez warns that the #4 draft pick from ’67 is not ready yet and has a lot to grow still especially with the curve and the changeup, as well as control. But I think Childress is making depressed Raccoons fans kill themselves on dark forsaken Wednesday nights somewhere in Suburbia, so this is also a public health and welfare issue.

The Raccoons would spend their next week getting brutally mauled by the Aces and Titans for seven games, all on the highway to nowhere.

Fun Fact: I have issues with this team.

+++

But I also have issues with that new NASCAR game, so nobody has to fear the Coons disappearing any time soon.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (32-43) @ Aces (38-37) – June 24-26, 2069

The Raccoons began their week in Las Vegas to play the Aces, who ranked second in the CL South. They were both scoring and allowing the fourth-most runs in the CL, for a +14 run differential (Coons by now: -21). They were in the top 3 in the league in both stolen bases and home runs, but also ranked third from the bottom in defense. SP Ivan Rodriguez was on the DL, but apart from that they were complete. The Coons had won the first series of the year, two games to one.

Projected matchups:
Jimmy Wharton (0-0) vs. Tim Henderson (6-3, 3.34 ERA)
Cody Childress (2-10, 4.05 ERA) vs. Gary Peoples (7-2, 2.54 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (5-8, 5.32 ERA) vs. Danny Ryba (5-7, 3.19 ERA)

Yet another series where the other team had two southpaw starters, and somehow we would not see any of them. Gary Peoples had only been acquired by the Aces from the Wolves on Sunday, so this would be his first start as an Ace.

The big news was of course the promotion of former #4 draft pick and southpaw Jimmy Wharton, who took the roster spot of John Reynolds and would hopefully do better than that left-hander, who left the team with a 7.00 ERA.

Game 1
POR: SS Duhe – LF Otal – CF T. Wharton – 1B Starr – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – 2B Fumero – C Flowe – P J. Wharton
LVA: SS Hatakeyama – 3B Vic. Morales – LF Lorenzo – C Haynes – RF A. Rosado – 2B Rodewald – CF Phelps – 1B Caceres – P T. Henderson

Wharton got a groundout from Koji Hatakeyama to short on his first pitch in the majors, then rapidly gave up three singles and a run to ex-Coon Vic Morales, Victor Lorenzo, and Chris Haynes. Lorenzo was caught stealing third base to help him out of the inning, but not without conceding a fourth single to Alfredo Rosado. Runners were left on the corners with a K to Matt Rodewald, and this was certainly a performance that could be improved upon. He did so by striking out the bottom three in the lineup in order in the second inning. While the Coons were busy scattering singles for no greater gains, Wharton walked Rodewald and Josh Phelps to begin the bottom 4th, and then the Coons twice couldn’t turn the double play on infield grounders, allowing another run to score before Hatakeyama struck out to end the inning. Vic Morales led off the bottom 5th with a single to center, then scored on Lorenzo’s triple into the leftfield corner, but Lorenzo would remain on base as Wharton struck out Haynes and Rosado, and Rodewald then grounded out to Gallo at third.

So far this was still a respectable result for an ABL debut, but Wharton was INSISTENT on putting every single leadoff batter on base. Phelps singled his way on to begin the sixth, but was stranded; and the two Victors hit more leadoff singles in the seventh, and then Haynes emptied a 3-piece for his 19th homer of the year to soil the debutant’s line for good. He got a grounder from the only lefty batter in the lineup, Rosado, and then left the game looking sad, and I was looking sad as well. Soriano got the ball to maybe finish this soggy defeat, but stepped on his own tail and gave up two unearned runs – he made the error himself – on a 2-out Haynes double with the bases loaded in the bottom 8th and then McMahan came in to strike out Rosado. The Raccoons never scored, nor threatened to. 8-0 Aces. Fumero 2-3; Gomez (PH) 1-1, 2B;

Six-and-a-third, 11 hits and seven strikeouts. I’ll blame the .500 BABIP until the Titans will teach me better on Saturday.

Childress made another start on Tuesday, but the Raccoons – who finally fell into last place in the North on Monday – were prepared to bring up the next debutant (Harrison Hunt) to take his spot if he ****** up again.

Game 2
POR: LF Otal – RF van Otterdijk – 1B Starr – CF T. Wharton – 3B Gallo – 2B Fumero – C Flowe – SS Novelo – P Childress
LVA: SS Hatakeyama – 3B Vic. Morales – RF A. Rosado – LF Lorenzo – 2B Rodewald – C B. Duncan – CF A. Warner – 1B A. Alfaro – P Peoples

The Raccoons didn’t get a hit until two down in the fourth inning when Tyler Wharton doubled to right-center. He scored on a Gallo single to erase a 1-0 deficit, and then Gallo was thrown out at third base on Fumero’s single to right to end the inning. Childress had “only” allowed that one run on a walk to Rodewald and Aaron Warner’s 2-out RBI single in the bottom 2nd, but he was behind in the count all the time, and put Rodewald and Warner on base again in the bottom 4th. Alex Alfaro grounded out to advance the runners into scoring position, and Childress faced the opposing pitcher with two outs, got to 0-2 on him, and then still gave up a rocket liner that thankfully Pablo Novelo caught to end the inning.

The walls started to come down crumbling for good in the bottom 5th, which Hatakeyama opened with a triple in the gap. Morales brought him in with a groundout and gave Vegas a new 2-1 lead. Rosado then struck a double, Childress walked the bases full with one gone, got to 1-2 on Byron Duncan, and that batter, too, unleashed a rocket liner that Novelo caught, somehow. The Coons had seen enough – Childress had five walks to one strikeout in the game – and went to Gabriel Rios against Warner, who flew out to Otal in left to leave the runners stranded. Childress was then taken off the hook in the top 6th, after Otal and Otter made outs to begin the inning. Starr and Wharton then slapped a pair of singles, and Gallo brushed the foul pole with a 3-run homer to flip the score to 4-2 Portland.

While Rios, Dover, and Nava then each collected three outs to get through the eighth inning, the Raccoons had pairs on base in each inning against the Aces, but Flowe hit into a double play in the seventh, Starr hit into a double play in the eighth, and the pair was left on plainly by Otal in the ninth. Pedro Valentin then retired the Aces in order in the bottom 9th. 4-2 Coons. T. Wharton 3-4, 2B; Gallo 2-4, HR, 4 RBI; Novelo 2-3, BB, 2B;

The Raccoons had seen enough and reduced Cody Childress to garbage duty again. Juan Soriano (0-0, 5.79 ERA) was sent to AAA, and the 2064 third-rounder Harrison Hunt – another southpaw – was called up to make his ABL debut at some point this week.

Game 3
POR: LF Otal – RF van Otterdijk – 1B Starr – CF T. Wharton – 3B Gallo – 2B Fumero – C Marquez – SS Duhe – P Gaytan
LVA: SS Hatakeyama – 3B Vic. Morales – RF A. Rosado – LF Lorenzo – 2B Rodewald – CF Phelps – C B. Duncan – 1B A. Alfaro – P Ryba

Somehow Tony Gaytan was still not in the conversation of getting purged, then walked Hatakeyama to begin the bottom 1st on Wednesday. The runner was caught stealing, and then Gaytan allowed three straight hits. Van Otterdijk threw out Vic Morales (who had doubled) at the plate on a Rosado single to right, but Lorenzo hit another double to drive in Rosado. Rodewald then struck out to end the inning, the only out that Gaytan got on his own merit.

The Coons usually had a runner on base in the first three innings and didn’t score any of them, then sent Gallo and Marquez to the corners with a walk and a single, respectively, and one out in the top 4th. Absolutely foundering Jared Duhe lurched his way into a full count, then popped out to short, but with now two outs, Tony Gaytan slapped a single up the middle to tie the game himself. Ryba walked Otal, the fifth free pass issued by the Aces righty, but van Otterdijk grounded out meekly to leave the bags full. Joel Starr’s leadoff homer in the fifth then gave the Critters a 2-1 lead that was not long-lived as Gaytan allowed a 2-out single to Hatakeyama and then a game-tying triple to Vic Morales. Rosado struck out and the score was even at two after five frames.

The Portland battery then was on the corners with one out in the sixth as Marquez and Gaytan hit singles off a teetering Ryba, who was knocked out when Benito Otal found the gap in left-center for an RBI double, 3-2. Luis Ortiz then popped out van Otterdijk, and Starr flew out to Lorenzo to keep a pair in scoring position; and in the seventh, the Aces’ pen put Gallo, Fumero, and Duhe on base and brought up Gaytan with two outs. The right-hander was hitting .345 at this point, was 2-for-3 in the game, and the bench was a sad sight to behold anyway. **** it, let him bat! He struck out.

Thankfully Gaytan then retired the 7-8-9 in order in the bottom of the inning so we didn’t look like total *******, and the Raccoons then tacked on against Mel Guerra, when Starr hit a 2-out single and Tyler Wharton held off with the whiffing (3 K in the game already) and smashed a 2-run homer enlarging the lead to 5-2. Gaytan continued to get through eight innings reasonably clean, and then Valentin had another 1-2-3 inning to put the game to bed. 5-2 Raccoons. Starr 3-4, BB, HR, RBI; Marquez 2-5; Gaytan 8.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W (6-8) and 2-4, RBI;

Good start from Gaytan, who will thus return for another start or two next week as we try to sort this mess out.

Raccoons (34-44) @ Titans (48-31) – June 27-30, 2069

Beatings were incoming against the Titans in Boston, where nothing good ever happened. The blue team was 3 1/2 games behind the Indians and needed the wins, and they were third in runs scored and eighth in runs allowed (run differential: +52), but somehow were only even against the Critters with the season series at 4-4. They were however leading the team in homers, we were bringing up two rookies and a Vinny Morales that was still hard to explain to ourselves, and did I mention that nothing good ever happened in Boston?

Projected matchups:
Nick Walla (5-8, 3.31 ERA) vs. Tyler Riddle (7-3, 3.50 ERA)
Harrison Hunt (0-0) vs. Mike Bell (10-1, 1.97 ERA)
Vinny Morales (6-6, 3.45 ERA) vs. Paul Egley (4-7, 6.05 ERA)
Jimmy Wharton (0-1, 8.53 ERA) vs. Bryce Wallace (5-7, 5.36 ERA)

We slipped Hunt in on Friday for an extra day of rest, and made a point of keeping the two rookie southpaws apart. Speaking of southpaws, there was 37-year-old ex-Coon Tyler Riddle in the opener. Also, Hunt made his debut against Mike Bell, merry ******* Christmas.

Game 1
POR: LF van Otterdijk – RF Fumero – CF T. Wharton – 1B Starr – C Marquez – 2B Novelo – 3B Leggett – SS Duhe – P Walla
BOS: LF S. Humphries – CF Marcotte – C D. Johnson – RF M. Garcia – 1B A. Metz – 3B D. Miller – SS Robichaud – 2B Jer. White – P Riddle

Novelo and Leggett reached the corners with a pair of singles in the second, but no further thanks to Duhe and Walla both whiffing to end the inning, while the leadoff man reached for the Titans in both of the first two innings (and then, spoiler, in every inning after that as well), but Steve Humphries was stranded at third base after a leadoff single, and Andy Metz was thrown out at third base by Fumero after a leadoff double to right that he tried to stretch into a triple. The Raccoons, back to the top of the order, then got singles to start the third from the Otter and Fumero, but then struck out, grounded out, and struck out with the 3-4-5 batters and scored nothing, while the Boston run of getting the leadoff man on continued with Riddle getting on base on an uncaught third strike… He was left there, at least…

Novelo singled to open the fourth and was doubled off by Leggett, while Manuel Garcia hit a ground-rule double to right to keep the pressure on Walla, who buckled and allowed the run to score on singles by Andy Metz and Jared Robichaud, but then rung up Jeremy White and got Riddle on a groundout to keep those two stranded at least. Humphries drew a leadoff walk in the fifth, but got doubled up by Eddie Marcotte grounding out to short. Walla FINALLY had a 1-2-3 in the sixth, which was also his final inning. Benito Otal batted for him against Kyle Houck, who issued a leadoff walk to Duhe in the seventh. Otal flew out and that tying run never moved his tush off first base in the inning as van Otterdijk whiffed and Fumero grounded out.

The Raccoons had the tying run on base to begin the eighth AGAIN, and left Wharton and his single AND STOLEN BASE on base A-*******-GAIN, making nothing but **** outs from Starr, Marquez, and Dan Gomez. Schmieder, Nava, and McMahan held the Titans to their lone run through eight, and left-hander Joe Cash then faced the bottom of the order in the ninth inning. Leggett was rung up easily, and then Duhe and Otal both hit long fly balls that were rushed down by Garcia and Humphries, respectively. 1-0 Titans. T. Wharton 2-4; Novelo 1-2, BB; Walla 6.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, L (5-9);

Useless.

There were a total of TEN leadoff batters on base in this 1-0 final game.

Dan Gomez (.294, 1 HR, 6 RBI) was sent back to AAA for more regular playing time, which he wasn’t gonna get with Joel Starr not on the DL, and the Raccoons replaced him with more versatile infielder Gary Gates again.

Game 2
POR: LF Otal – RF van Otterdijk – 1B Starr – CF T. Wharton – 3B Gallo – 2B Fumero – C Flowe – SS Duhe – P Hunt
BOS: LF S. Humphries – CF Marcotte – C D. Johnson – RF M. Garcia – 3B D. Miller – 2B Jer. White – 1B I. Berrios – SS Robichaud – P M. Bell

Steve Humphries welcomed Harrison Hunt to the major leagues with a leadoff home run, and that was that. Mark a loss. Hunt wobbled onwards, but allowed another run each in the third and fourth innings, in both cases for allowing three straight base runners with two outs and nobody on base, RBI’s going to Jeremy White and David Johnson, respectively. Tyler Wharton hit a leadoff homer for the Coons in the fifth, ending a perfecto bid by Bell. That’ll show him.

Bottom 5th, Danny Miller singled, and then back-to-back doubles by White and Ivan Berrios upped the Boston lead to 5-1 before the rains came. Hunt struck out Robichaud and Bell, then was chased by nature after 4.2 innings of 11-hit ball… Bell tried to return to the game after an hourlong rain delay, but gave up a loud knock to van Otterdijk and then was chased, with Pedro Mendoza cleaning up behind him.

Matt Schmieder pitched 2.1 innings of garbage relief for no runs before Gates hit and grounded out in his place to begin the eighth against Mendoza. Novelo then batted for Otal and singled off the southpaw, who also allowed a hit to the Otter, and then walked Starr on four pitches. Right-hander Matt Nelson then entered to attend a situation where Wharton was suddenly batting as the tying run, but gave up a 1-out, 2-run single to left-center, 5-3. Gallo grounded out, moving the tying runs into scoring position, and Jose Corral batted for Fumero … but grounded out as well. The Titans answered with a pinch-hit homer by Andy Metz off Jesse Dover in the bottom 8th, and Joe Cash sorted out the rest. 6-3 Titans. Novelo (PH) 1-1; van Otterdijk 2-4, 2B; Wharton 2-3, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Schmieder 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

That’s all the hits listed there, by the way, that the Raccoons had in the game.

Game 3
POR: LF Otal – 2B Fumero – 1B Starr – CF T. Wharton – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – C Flowe – SS Leggett – P Morales
BOS: LF S. Humphries – CF Marcotte – C D. Johnson – RF M. Garcia – 1B A. Metz – 3B D. Miller – SS Robichaud – 2B Jer. White – P Egley

The Coons kibbled their first lead since baseball-gods-know-when together in the second inning, scoring a tiny run from singles by Wharton, Flowe, and Leggett, who got the RBI, before Morales was carved up by Egley to end the inning. This became 2-0 in the third inning with a leadoff walk to Benito Otal, who stole second and then was driven in on a Fumero double over the head of Marcotte. A passed ball moved the runner to third base, Starr walked, and Wharton socked another RBI double. Gallo got drilled to fill ‘em up with nobody out, which meant that Corral whiffed by law and Flowe grounded into an inning-ending double play by statute.

Boston reached the H and R columns simultaneously with David Johnson’s 2-out homer in the bottom 4th, 3-1, although they had been on base before right at the start of the game when Morales walked Humphries, but got a double play comebacker from Marcotte. Joel Starr answered with a solo jack of his own in the fifth, and then both starters continued decently through the end of seven, when Morales got his pat on the tush after reaching 104 pitches, which was plenty for him, but he had kept a 2-hitter intact through the end of the seventh. Egley, who had considerably more stamina, continued with a 1-2-3 eighth, but was left behind by three runs when Rios and Nava pooled together for a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth. Right-hander Jose Gomez got the ball for the ninth and allowed a single to Flowe and a double to Leggett to get going. When van Otterdijk pinch-hit for Nava, he was walked intentionally to make it three on and nobody out, which should be prohibited by the rules of baseball. Otal then grounded into a force at home and Fumero found a double play to crap into and the Raccoons AGAIN did not score. Valentin at least had his stuff together and struck out three Titans around a 2-out single by Johnson. 4-1 Critters. T. Wharton 3-4, 2B, RBI; Flowe 2-4; Leggett 2-4, 2B, RBI; Morales 7.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W (7-6);

Jimmy Wharton was then up for his second career start on Sunday. The other Wharton got a needed day off though, as there would not be an off day next week either in this 17-game stretch to the All Star break.

…where he’d probably get another three days off.

Game 4
POR: CF Otal – LF van Otterdijk – 1B Starr – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – C Flowe – 2B Novelo – SS Duhe – P J. Wharton
BOS: LF S. Humphries – CF Marcotte – C D. Johnson – RF M. Garcia – 3B D. Miller – 2B Jer. White – 1B I. Berrios – SS Robichaud – P B. Wallace

The 8-9 batters were the only left-handed sticks in that lineup, and Wharton walked Robichaud with two outs in the second after giving up a run on a Miller double and Berrios’ RBI single to fall 1-0 behind. Wallace struck out, and Humphries got on base with a leadoff single in the third, but was caught stealing, while the Coons got Starr on with a walk and then Corral raked a score-flipping homer to right after Gallo narrowly missed.

Top 5th, and Novelo strung a leadoff triple into the leftfield corner. Oh goodie, how are we gonna strand him…!? Wallace walked Duhe, struck out Wharton, and then got a grounder from Otal to White, but it bounced awkwardly just before White could pick it, ended up in the palm end of the glove, and White couldn’t get it out for two, then also lost the play at first, and Otal ended up with a charitable RBI infield single. The Coons then went for the double steal, Johnson threw the ball past Miller, and Duhe scored on the error, while Otal went to third and scored on the Otter’s groundout, 5-1. Wallace got an F8 from Starr to end the inning, then was pinch-hit for in a 1-2-3 bottom of the inning.

Gallo and Corral were on the corners to begin the sixth after Gallo got tickled by a Roberto Ramirez pitch, the right-hander then balked, and Corral hit a soft single. Flowe grounded to second base for and out, but got Gallo home from third. All looked dandy with a 6-1 lead, and then the Titans woke up. Wharton allowed a walk to Humphries to begin the bottom 6th, and the runner this time did steal second. Marcotte hit an RBI single, Johnson singled, and Garcia cranked a 3-run homer, and suddenly it as 6-5. The depressed Raccoons lifted Wharton after 78 muddled pitches, then needed length and had to go to Childress, who somehow pitched two innings without exploding the pitiful remainder of the lead.

We had been eyeing a chance to send Tyler Wharton to bat for a bit now, and when Matt Nelson gave up singles to Starr and Flowe in the eighth, the moment came with two outs in Novelo’s spot, but he popped out to White. Nava and Cash then both got three fast outs to send the game to the bottom 9th. Andy Metz batted for Miller against Valentin and flew out to center. White whiffed, and then Jake Evans batted for Berrios. The count ran full and he struck out. 6-5 Raccoons! Corral 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Childress 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

In other news

June 24 – VAN SP Juan Rosado (6-3, 3.09 ERA) throws a 3-hit shutout to beat the Falcons, 3-0.
June 25 – Scorpions southpaw Eric Stengel (3-9, 4.84 ERA) shines with a 2-hitter in a 1-0 win against the Rebels.
June 25 – NYC 2B/SS Ryan Philpot (.226, 4 HR, 35 RBI) drives in seven runs with a grand slam, a double, and a single in a 16-4 rout of the Bayhawks.
June 25 – OCT 1B Ian Stone (.237, 9 HR, 25 RBI), finding his team down 4-1 to the Loggers, hits a solo home run to begin the bottom of the eighth inning, then ends the game with a walkoff grand slam in the ninth inning for a 6-4 Thunder win.
June 27 – The Falcons empty the bat rack in an 11-run sixth inning against the Knights and end up winning 16-3.
June 28 – Loggers 1B/RF/LF Cesar Ramirez (.338, 12 HR, 58 RBI) puts out five hits and drives in four runs in a 14-2 rush of the Crusaders.
June 28 – VAN SP/MR Justin Wittman (3-4, 3.63 ERA, 1 SV) is out for the season for tearing his labrum.

FL Player of the Week: RIC LF/CF/2B Darby Laybolt (.329, 23 HR, 66 RBI), hitting .516 (16-31) with 3 HR, 6 RBI
CL Player of the Week: MIL 1B/RF/LF Cesar Ramirez (.340, 13 HR, 60 RBI), slapping .519 (14-27) with 3 HR, 9 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: RIC LF/CF/2B Darby Laybolt (.329, 23 HR, 66 RBI), going .398 with 10 HR, 31 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: IND 1B Matt Rogers (.315, 22 HR, 64 RBI), bashing .331 with 5 HR, 21 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: CIN SP Jose Aguilar (9-2, 2.08 ERA), an unbeaten 4-0 with 1.00 ERA, 28 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: BOS SP Mike Bell (11-1, 1.95 ERA), a perfect 5-0 with 1.87 ERA, 31 K
FL Rookie of the Month: NAS INF/RF Rob Custer (.299, 4 HR, 26 RBI), hitting .402 with 3 HR, 19 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: MIL INF Sean Van Leeuwen (.343, 3 HR, 37 RBI), clipping .274 with 3 HR, 16 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The Titans are probably very confused why they can’t bank wins against the Raccoons like everybody else does, but my main concern is that we played our two cards for the rotation and so far they have been ravaged for 16 runs in 16 innings.

We reached last place in runs scored once again. Nick Walla can tell you all about it.

The International Free Agent signing window opens on Monday, but the Raccoons are on the penalty bench after splurging big last year. We can not sign anybody for more than $73,583 – a rather specific number – and that puts us nowhere nice, really.

There are now seven games at home against the Crusaders and Loggers before the All Star Game. Play would then resume with another four-game set in New York, and more road games in Indy and Atlanta after that.

Fun Fact: Carlos Fumero still leads position players by WAR on this team.

Tyler Wharton has been rallying from sucking early on and then spending almost a month on the DL. They’re now even at 2.1 WAR. Slumping Duhe, Otal, and Gallo all have between 1.6 and 1.8; Jose Corral is the worst batter on the roster with -0.7 WAR. How’s he doing it??

[Westheim]

Raccoons (36-46) vs. Crusaders (38-44) – July 1-4, 2069

Here were two teams that did not like each other much and that were both having a highly disappointing and frustrating season. The Crusaders had lost five games in a row, and they were the team to score the fewest runs in the Continental League … outside the Raccoons of course. Their pitching ranked them fifth in runs allowed, but that -27 run differential didn’t look great. The season series was even at two.

Projected matchups:
Tony Gaytan (6-8, 5.06 ERA) vs. Colt Long (3-5, 4.27 ERA)
Nick Walla (5-9, 3.22 ERA) vs. Erik Lee (5-7, 3.52 ERA)
Harrison Hunt (0-1, 9.64 ERA) vs. Russell Anderson (2-4, 6.12 ERA)
Vinny Morales (7-6, 3.30 ERA) vs. Jarod Nesbit (8-7, 3.98 ERA)

Oh boy, a team that had two left-handed starters and we would get to see BOTH of them. Long and Anderson were the southpaws in question. Nobody was gonna see Jose Ambriz and Eric Frasher; the two regular position players were both on the DL.

Game 1
NYC: 3B Roza – SS Maudlin – CF Box – 1B Starwalt – 2B Philpot – LF Duhon – C McCarver – RF Ledesma – P C. Long
POR: LF van Otterdijk – RF Fumero – CF T. Wharton – 1B Starr – C Marquez – 3B Gallo – 2B Novelo – SS Duhe – P Gaytan

Everybody expected Tony Gaytan to deliver a stinker after a fine time out in his most recent start, but he struck out five and retired the Crusaders in order the first time through the batting order on just *29* pitches. Of course, Josh Roza and Jeff Maudlin then immediately struck singles to begin the fourth inning, van Otterdijk took his big black googly eyes off Danny Starwalt’s 1-out fly to left and dropped it for an error that loaded the bases, and while Ryan Philpot then popped out, Chris Duhon belted a 2-run single to left, the first runs in the game (duh!) and it as left to Braden McCarver to make the last out on a fly to van Otterdijk that he was kind enough to actually ******* catch. Gaytan then struck out the side in the fifth in considerable frustration.

The Raccoons had had runners on the corners right in the first inning, but Starr and Marquez had proven unable to get any of them home, ending the inning with poor groundouts instead. It then took until the fifth for Novelo to reach on Ryan Philpot’s error and Duhe to hit a single to left. Gaytan made the first out bunting the tying runs into scoring position, but van Otterdijk popped out on the first pitch he saw, and Fumero grounded out to second on the first pitch he saw…

Danny Starwalt and McCarver then banged homers off Gaytan in the sixth and Bryant Box tripled in Maudlin’s run in the seventh inning, while the Raccoons went absolutely ******* nowhere and Colt Long was pitching a 4-hit shutout until he didn’t when Pablo Novelo took him deep with a solo homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. 5-1 Crusaders. Fumero 2-4, 2B; T. Wharton 1-2, 2 BB;

Shucks.

Game 2
NYC: 3B Roza – SS Maudlin – CF Box – 1B Starwalt – C A. Morris – 2B Philpot – LF Duhon – RF Bursley – P E. Lee
POR: LF Otal – 2B Fumero – CF T. Wharton – 1B Starr – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – C Flowe – SS Duhe – P Walla

Walla entered the game on two full months’ worth of getting 2.5 runs of support for every time he put on pants, so giving up a 2-out, 2-strike, 2-run triple to Josh Bursley in the second inning pretty much put him on the losing side again or the day. That inning had seen him nick Andy Morris on base, and Morris was also on base when Chris Duhon spanked a 2-run homer to left in the fourth inning, in other words, ballgame.

The Coons were limited – foremost by their own misshapen legs and general ineptitude – and in this case by Lee especially to a Flowe single the first time through the order, and in that case Walla didn’t help himself by bunting into a force at second base, either. When the Raccoons did score a run in the bottom 4th you might as well have given it to the Crusaders, as Tyler Wharton hit a soft single, then advanced on an errant pickoff throw by Lee, a wild pitch, and then finally a groundout by Joel Starr. Whee, rally!!

Walla was held to six quite mediocre innings and left the game down 4-2 thanks to a Fumero homer in the bottom 6th. It was part of a rally at glacial pace. Schmieder and Childress pitched scoreless innings from the shallow end of the gene pool in the seventh and eighth, and then Benito Otal got on base against Lee in the bottom 8th, stole second, and scampered home on a Wharton single with two outs to reduce the gap to 4-3. Wharton stole second, but Starr flew out to Box and the inning ended. Danny Nava then gave up a leadoff double to Philpot in the ninth inning, and the Crusaders threatened to bring in the tack-on run when PH Tristan Michaux’s groundout moved Philpot to third base. But Bursley popped out poorly, and PH Ben Wilken whiffed, and Philpot remained at third base. Right-hander John Faughnan then faced the 5-6-7 batters in the bottom 9th, and Gallo popped out and Corral grounded out, but Jake Flowe worked a walk. Gary Gates ran for him, but there was nowhere to run to on Duhe’s grounder to second base, where Maudlin picked the ball and stepped on the bag to end the game. 4-3 Crusaders. T. Wharton 2-4, RBI; Flowe 2-3, BB;

The Crusaders swapped reliever Jon Dominguez (0-4, 3.69 ERA, 1 SV), who had not yet appeared in this series, and a prospect to the Capitals by Wednesday. They got outfielder Luis Morales (.231, 0 HR, 10 RBI) for their troubles.

Game 3
NYC: 3B Roza – SS Maudlin – C A. Morris – 1B Starwalt – 2B Philpot – CF Box – LF L. Morales – RF Ledesma – P R. Anderson
POR: LF Otal – 1B Fumero – CF T. Wharton – 3B Gallo – RF van Otterdijk – C Marquez – 2B Novelo – SS Duhe – P Hunt

Harrison Hunt was harassed and hunted from the get-go on Wednesday, walking Andy Morris and giving up a 2-piece to Starwalt right in the first inning. In the third inning, Maudlin singled and Hunt walked the bags full with Morris and Philpot (while whiffing Starwalt), and then surrendered a 2-out slam to Bryant Box. The Raccoons had yet to get close to scoring position. Hunt staggered into the fourth inning, where Gallo fudged the grounder of leadoff man Raul Ledesma to put a cozy runner on base, and then Hunt with two outs walked Maudlin and gave up an unearned RBI single to Morris, then was quietly covered in blankets and ushered away. Childress came in, walked the bags full, and then somehow got Otal to chase down a Philpot drive to left to end the ******* inning. Childress then gave up a run in the fifth, driven in by pitcher Russell Anderson with two outs on a sharp single to left-center. The runner that scored was Bursley, who replaced Luis Morales, the Crusaders’ newest toy, who had doubled and hurt himself.

Bottom 5th, and the Raccoons out of nowhere loaded the bases with Anderson’s leadoff walk to Duhe and a pair of singles to Gates and Otal. No outs, though. But guess what – the Raccoons got into the slam department when Fumero BOMBED a fastball over the wall in left. GRAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAMMMM!!!

Somehow we were still four runs down. Anderson managed to get eight runs of support and not get the W, though, allowing a single to Wharton, a double to van Otterdijk, and then a sac fly to Marquez. At 8-5, he was gone. Novelo then flew out to left against Mike Rocheford, but Gates and Otal came up with a pair of 1-out singles in the bottom 6th to get the tying run to the dish. Rocheford lost Fumero in a full count, but then struck out Wharton. Gallo held out for a bases-loaded walk with two outs, 8-6, and Joel Starr was sent to bat for van Otterdijk, and finally a move here worked out. Starr sharply singled to left, two runs scored, and the Raccoons had rallied out of an 8-0 hole!!

Dale Hyman got Marquez out to end the inning, and McMahan pitched a scoreless seventh to get us to the stretch in an 8-all ballgame. Roberto Navarro was in for the bottom 7th, walked Corral batting for McMahan in the #7 hole, and then Duhe and Gates singled the bags full with nobody out. While Otal then whiffed over-eagerly, a passed ball charged to Morris allowed Corral to score with the go-ahead run when Fumero was already down to two strikes. Both Fumero and Wharton popped out, leaving a pair in scoring position, and then Josh Roza doubled off Rios to begin the eighth inning and scored on productive outs, something the Raccoons were ******* incapable of, by Maudlin and Morris, and now it was a 9-9 game. Gallo then singled to center to get the bottom 8th underway and advanced on a wild pitch. Navarro drilled Starr onto the open base, Marquez flew out to left, and Flowe pinch-hit into a double play.

The game went to extras with a 1-2-3 ninth from Valentin and Otal plodding into a double play after Gary Gates singled from the #9 hole with one out. Gates was 4-for-4 at this point. Valentin continued in the tenth inning, but gave up a homer to Josh Roza with two outs, then nicked Maudlin, and allowed a single to Morris. Starwalt struck out. Right-hander Brian Doster was up for the bottom 10th against the 2-3-4 batters. Fumero singled to center, Wharton walked in a full count, and they too off for a double steal, and got it done!! Tying and winning runs in scoring position, nobody out, and Gallo… grounded out to Maudlin and the runners shied back. Oh for crying out loud!! But Joel Starr had seen enough and wanted to get to his hot cocoa and dry crackers, the only joys afforded to an old man, and hit a walkoff single to left to end the charade. 11-10 Furballs!! Otal 2-6; Fumero 2-5, BB, HR, 4 RBI; van Otterdijk 2-2, BB, 2B; Starr (PH) 2-2, 4 RBI; Gates (PH) 4-4;

What a wicked game that was…!

Also wicked, the pitching on this team. The Raccoons had seen enough from Harrison Hunt (0-1, 11.88 ERA), who would not get another start before the All Star Game, nor one soon thereafter, and Cody Childress (2-10, 3.94 ERA), and both were made the Alley Cats’ problems again (with Childress hitting waivers).

The Raccoons were 17 days away from needing a fifth starter again (which would be Stebbins anyway), and so the open roster spots went to ill-commanding 26-year-old 2064 fourth-rounder and right-hander Mike Davis and towards another Juan Vega cameo.

Game 4
NYC: LF Duhon – SS Maudlin – CF Box – 1B Starwalt – C A. Morris – 2B Philpot – 3B B. Wilken – RF Bursley – P Nesbit
POR: SS Duhe – LF Otal – CF T. Wharton – 1B Starr – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – 2B Fumero – C Flowe – P Morales

Morales struck out three in the first inning, getting around a Maudlin single, and then got a 1-0 lead when Gallo singled home Duhe and his leadoff double in the bottom 1st. Starr had drawn a walk to get the team’s home run leader to the plate to hit a little plonker to right. Corral then flew out easily to Box. While Morales did his best, the Raccoons stranded another pair in the bottom 3rd, then left the bases loaded after Nesbit nailed Fumero, Morales singled, and Duhe walked, only for Otal to ground out to Philpot.

The Crusaders then hit three singles and made two outs on the base paths to not score in the fifth inning. Ben Wilken singled and was thrown out by Corral trying to reach third base on a Bursley single. Nesbit bunted the remaining runner onwards to second base, from where he tried to score on Chris Duhon’s 2-out single to center, except that now Wharton threw out the runner at the plate to end the inning. To make up for defensive excellence, Corral then blundered into an inning-ending double play after Starr doubled and Gallo walked in the bottom 5th…

Maudlin doubled to left at the start of the sixth, putting Morales under pressure again, although the right-hander struck out Box and got Starwalt to fly out harmlessly. The runner scored anyway, but not with anything the Crusaders did. A passed ball and Duhe’s throwing error on Morris’ grounder got him home to blow the 1-0 lead. A frustrated Vinny Morales held out for six-and-two-thirds, but had to settle for a no-decision. Rios got two outs, but allowed a single to Box in the eighth, and Jesse Dover replaced him and also pitched two outs, but only after he was taken WELL deep by Danny Starwalt. J.P. Gallo hit a home run off Doster in the bottom 8th, 3-2, and Fumero hit a single off Roberto Navarro after that, but was stranded when Flowe struck out. Gary Gates pinch-hit for reliever Juan Vega to begin the bottom 9th against Faughnan, but popped out. Duhe singled to left-center, promoting the winning run into the box. A wild pitch moved the tying run to second base, but Otal struck out, and the Crusaders were bold enough to pitch to Wharton with first base open, and were rewarded by getting a fly to Box to win the series. 3-2 Crusaders. Duhe 2-4, 2B, RBI; Starr 2-3, BB, 2B; Gallo 2-3, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Fumero 2-3; Morales 6.2 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K and 1-3;

Sigh.

Raccoons (37-49) vs. Loggers (46-38) – July 5-7, 2069

Beatings were then scheduled for the final weekend before the All Star Game. The Loggers were back to first place in runs scored in the CL, putting out just over 5.2 runs per game. They were also giving up the fourth-most runs, but that still left them with a comfy +64 run differential. They were up 5-3 in the season series and had no injuries. Woe is us.

Projected matchups:
Jimmy Wharton (1-1, 8.74 ERA) vs. Nick Robinson (8-3, 2.98 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (6-9, 4.97 ERA) vs. Danny Ortiz (9-6, 3.77 ERA)
Nick Walla (5-10, 3.36 ERA) vs. Matt Crist (7-3, 4.17 ERA)

Poor Jimmy Wharton. May the baseball gods have mercy upon his soul. Also, he was facing the only southpaw the Loggers were carrying in their rotation, 40-year-old former Raccoon Nick Robinson, in the opener.

Game 1
MIL: RF D. Wright – 2B Van Leeuwen – 1B C. Ramirez – LF C. Dominguez – SS Reber – CF Shapiro – C Guitreau – 3B Murcia – P N. Robinson
POR: SS Duhe – RF Fumero – CF T. Wharton – 1B Starr – RF van Otterdijk – 3B Gallo – C Marquez – 2B Novelo – P J. Wharton

Wharton got three outs alright in the first inning, but allowed a single to Carlos Dominguez and then THREE walks to Kyle Reber, Vince Shapiro, and Rafael Murcia in the second to force in the game’s first run. He struck out Robinson in a full count, and then had van Otterdijk run down Dave Wright’s fly to left-center to end the inning. The bags right away refilled in the third with ****** soft singles from Sean Van Leeuwen and Cesar Ramirez, and then another free pass to Dominguez. After some yelling-at from an annoyed coach, he then struck out Reber, Shapiro, and Tommy Guitreau in order, somehow. All that he got done in a snappy 75 pitches in three innings.

Novelo and Jimmy Wharton then both singled in the bottom 3rd, and Duhe’s groundout and Fumero’s RBI double turned the score around to 2-1 Coons before Tyler Wharton popped out pathetically and Starr whiffed. A Murcia error put the Otter on base in the fourth, and then Gallo doubled to left-center, parking a pair in scoring position. Those runners also scored; one on Marquez’ single to right, and one on the double play Novelo crashed into, 4-1. Wharton struck out, then issued a fifth walk for the start to Ramirez in the top 5th, but got a double play grounder from Dominguez to end the inning. Duhe and Fumero went to the corners in the bottom 5th and Starr hit a sac fly that knocked out Robinson, while Wharton pitched through the sixth inning. The second set of three frames took him only *32* pitches AND he held the 5-1 lead.

Fumero singled in Marquez for a 2-out run in the bottom 6th, 6-1, and then Mike Davis boldly made his ABL debut against the 8-9-1 batters, retiring them in order, although Tyler Wharton had to chase down a drive from Mario Alaniz, batting for the reliever B.J. Butrico. Starr doubled and was driven in by Marquez with another 2-out single for another run against southpaw Dave Parra in the seventh, which marked the fifth straight inning that the Raccoons scored a run in. McMahan gave up a run in the eighth, walking Van Leeuwen and Ramirez right out of the gate. Dominguez and Reber both flew out, the latter scoring a sac fly, and then Schmieder managed to create a save situation in the ninth inning, cluelessly walking Guitreau, drilling Murcia, and giving up a 3-run blast to Dave Wright… Valentin sorted out the rest of the game… 7-5 Raccoons. Fumero 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Marquez 2-3, BB, 2 RBI; Corral (PH) 1-1;

In total, Raccoons pitchers walked eight batters and drilled one. Can we please stop INVITING them??

Game 2
MIL: 2B Van Leeuwen – CF Merrill – 1B C. Ramirez – C M. Rodriguez – LF C. Dominguez – RF D. Wright – SS Shapiro – 3B Murcia – P D. Ortiz
POR: SS Duhe – LF Otal – CF T. Wharton – 1B Starr – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – 2B Fumero – C Flowe – P Gaytan

The Loggers loaded up on lefty bats against Gaytan, but the first inning was scoreless and then Sean Van Leeuwen hurt himself on a defensive play right in the first inning and had to leave the game in favor of Kyle Reber (a righty hitter). The Coons also went up 1-0 in the inning with an unearned run, the error being on Shapiro with two outs, bobbling a Gallo grounder with Duhe (walk) and Otal (single) on the corners. Corral grounded to leave two on.

Come the third inning, Tony Gaytan ran SIX full counts in a row, beginning with strikeouts of Ortiz and Reber before he lost Jonathan Merrill and Ramirez on balls. Manuel Rodriguez singled the bags full, and then Carlos Dominguez flew out to Ota- no, he dropped it. The ******* just dropped it, two runs scored, Gaytan lost Wright in another full count, and then struck out Shapiro in his EIGHTH straight full count. He threw *50* pitches in the inning, and did not return for the fourth. Otal did, but only because Maud would not allow me to approach him with the blunderbuss. Mike Davis pitched the fourth, ran a ninth consecutive full count on Murcia and walked him (…!!), but got through the inning without conceding a run. Bottom 4th, the Coons loaded the bases on Corral’s leadoff double, a soft single by Fumero, and an infield single by Flowe – and there was nobody out. Van Otterdijk pinch-hit and tied the game with a sac fly to Merrill, but Duhe tumbled into the obligatory double play to **** it all to hell again…

Duhe then also made an error behind Schmieder, which somehow didn’t send the walls down a-crumbling, and a leadoff double by Corral to begin the bottom 6th and an intentional walk to Fumero threatened to begin another round of teasing, except that Flowe socked a drive to deep left that hit off the tippy-top of the wall for a 2-run double and a 4-2 lead. Schmieder batted for himself and hit an RBI double to left in a 1-2 count. It was then the top of the order that proved useless with a guy in scoring position and nobody out.

Up 5-2, Schmieder pitched until the bags were full with the tying runs and two outs in the seventh, and when the Loggers sent lefty pinch-hitter Roberto Soto after him, the Coons answered with Rios, who expertly walked in a run against the .208 batter, then allowed a Reber single to left that Otal played with his chicken chest for an error, and the tying runs came home to roost on the team’s third ******* error of the ballgame. Rios then still found time and muse to walk PH Mario Alaniz, and then got Starr to throw his old tired body into the way of a sharp Ramirez bouncer to finally end the bloody inning, all even at five.

The Raccoons reacted by doing what they did best – nothing – and let Rios issue a leadoff walk in the eighth. He got one out, Nava entered in a double switch with Wally Leggett and got five, and the score was still even into the bottom 9th, with Otal leading off against right-hander Jose Lugo. He singled to right, but Wharton whiffed and Starr rumbled into a double play for extra innings. There, Pedro Valentin pitched a 1-2-3 tenth, while Gallo drew a leadoff walk and then stole second in the bottom 10th. Corral grounded out miserably, Gates pinch-hit for Valentin and was walked with malicious intent, and then Flowe fell to 1-2 but slapped a soft single to shallow center. Gallo stopped at third base, and the loaded bases were turned over to Leggett, who hit a fly to the leftfield corner. Dominguez got there to make the catch – but didn’t get the ball home to beat Gallo tagging up from third base. 6-5 Coons. Otal 2-5; Corral 2-5, 2 2B; Fumero 2-3, BB; Flowe 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI;

Ain’t no easy game with this bunch…….

Game 3
MIL: RF D. Wright – CF Merrill – 1B C. Ramirez – C M. Rodriguez – LF C. Dominguez – 2B R. Fisher – SS Shapiro – 3B Murcia – P Crist
POR: SS Duhe – LF Otal – CF T. Wharton – 1B Starr – 3B Gallo – 2B Fumero – RF van Otterdijk – C Flowe – P Walla

Walla was taken apart right in the first inning, giving up a leadoff walk and then a 2-run homer to Ramirez before allowing three more singles to Rodriguez, Dominguez, and Shapiro. Rafael Murcia finally struck out to end the bloody inning. Tyler Wharton – NOT an All Star, as we knew at that point – then hit a soon enough meaningless solo homer in the bottom 1st. The 6-7-8 batters loaded the bases with singles in the bottom 2nd, bringing up Walla with one out, and both him and Duhe whiffed. Walla then started the top 3rd by nailing Rodriguez. Two groundouts followed, then a four-pitch walk to Shapiro. Murcia, Crist (…), and Wright then all smacked RBI knocks, and Walla was yanked after 2.2 ****** innings, and of course Gabriel Rios, the *******, couldn’t keep his pants on against left-handed batters, either, allowing a 2-run double to Merrill and a homer to Ramirez to explode the score to 10-1. To celebrate, Tyler Wharton then hit another ******* meaningless solo home run.

No more scoring took place in a dead-*** game until the seventh when Wright hit a solo home run off Juan Vega in the right-hander’s second inning of garbage relief. McMahan went on to load the bases with nothing but left-handed batters in the eighth inning and allowed a run on an RBI single by Jesse Sowards. Van Otterdijk doubled home Gallo and Fumero against Jimmy Dingman in the bottom 8th, all meaningless runs, and Dingman ended up finishing the game anyway. 12-4 Loggers. Corral (PH) 1-2; T. Wharton 2-4, 2 HR, 2 RBI; Fumero 2-4; van Otterdijk 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI;

In other news

July 1 – SFB SP Billy Thompson (10-1, 2.67 ERA) throws a 2-hit shutout against the Knights and strikes out seven batters for a 6-0 victory.
July 1 – Warriors OF Jordan Lopez (.267, 8 HR, 45 RBI) is going to miss a month after suffering an elbow sprain.
July 1 – Rebs OF Willie Ospina (.238, 9 HR, 41 RBI) sprained his knee in an on-base collision and was going to miss three weeks at least.
July 1 – LAP OF Chris McLean (.188, 1 HR, 3 RBI) hits a 2-out walkoff single in the bottom 10th to beat the Wolves, 1-0. Settling for a no-decision is L.A. starter Sergio Davila (2-3, 3.78 ERA), who carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning before giving up a pinch-hit double to SAL C Joey Opsahl (.261, 2 HR, 7 RBI) that remains the Wolves’ only base hit in the game.
July 2 – ATL Brett Bebout (4-12, 4.80 ERA) and two relievers pitch a combined 1-hitter in a 1-0 win against the Bayhawks, who get a single from C/1B Mario Lopez (.208, 0 HR, 9 RBI) and nothing else.
July 2 – The Thunder trade RF/LF Matt Ewig (.265, 3 HR, 23 RBI) to the Warriors, along with a prospect, for OF Danny Perez (.311, 4 HR, 28 RBI).

July 3 – A torn abdominal muscle puts Aces OF Victor Lorenzo (.372, 3 HR, 41 RBI) on the DL until mid-August.
July 3 – The Stars put SP Alex Quevedo (8-3, 2.31 ERA) on the DL with forearm tendinitis, but he was expected to return after 15 days.
July 4 – Dallas picks up 1B/3B/OF Dallas Stockton (.260, 6 HR, 35 RBI) from the Gold Sox, as it should be. Denver receives a prospect in the deal, #146 3B Kyle Fischer.
July 4 – PIT OF Alex Romero (.290, 4 HR, 23 RBI) is the only offense in a 1-0 win against the Cyclones, hitting a home run in the third inning to decide a game with only seven total base hits.

July 5 – The Crusaders pick up INF Tony Gaines (.257, 4 HR, 39 RBI) from the Blue Sox, who receive a prospect, the #160 SS/3B Jeff Stevens.
July 5 – DAL OF/1B Victor David Morales (.281, 8 HR, 45 RBI) drives in five runs on two homers, including a grand slam, in a 14-2 beating of the Gold Sox.
July 7 – The Blue Sox beat the Capitals, 3-1, despite getting out-hit 10-4. All the Blue Sox’ four singles come in the seventh inning.

FL Player of the Week: PIT OF Alex Romero (.294, 4 HR, 25 RBI), hitting .400 (10-25) with 1 HR, 5 RBI
CL Player of the Week: OCT 1B Ian Stone (.268, 12 HR, 38 RBI), batting .400 (12-30) with 3 HR, 12 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The Raccoons had two All Stars this year, both relievers. Pedro Valentin was not a great surprise, even though the lackluster performance of the team kept him down in saves. This was his third All Star Game, and his second in a row with the Coons. The other participant was Danny Nava, who made his first All Star Game.

Joel Starr wants a new deal. And I want somebody to shoot me right between the big black googly eyes.

We can’t always get what we want.

Newest please-kill-me stats involve Tyler Wharton. He is batting .320/.379/.500 with the bases empty! …and .268/.311/.375 as soon as there’s an even vaguely warm body (even a catcher or pitcher) in scoring position. And with bodies on second and third? A whopping .167/.286/.167. Gee, I wonder how he didn’t make the ******* All Star Game for THE FIRST TIME IN *NINE* ******** YEARS. (buries face in paws and sobs)

A.C. Stebbins will be sent to St. Pete to make a rehab start over the All Star break. We have zero clue how to go forward with the rotation, which is always comforting.

The Raccoons signed 16-year-old Venezuelan right-hander Alex Betancourt for $36k this week, as well as Dominican infielder Juan Valenzuela for half that amount, and that will be all for us in this year’s July IFA bonanza. Semchez was keen on Valenzuela, while OSA had a rosy report on the Venezuelan, but somehow he got no interest from other teams and signed after just two days of being on the market.

Unless our application to fold and drop down to single-A ball is accepted by the league, we’ll be on the road for ten games after the All Star Game, visiting New York, Indy, and Atlanta in order.

Fun Fact: Nick Walla manages to be well into the top 10 in the league in a puzzling array of stats.

He is third in WHIP, and fourth in BB/9, and at least manages to hang on to seventh in strikeouts (Gaytan is fourth, but miles off Jason Brenize). Even after Sunday’s absolute disasterclass against the Loggers, he’s still eighth in WAR among pitchers.

And yet, he loses every game he touches. His 11 losses rank third in the CL, behind only SFB Liberio Ivo (13) and ATL Brett Bebout (12). He has lost five games in a row, allowing as little as one run.

It’s his second 5-game losing streak of the season.

(helplessly moves paws around)

[Westheim]

All Star Game

In a see-saw All Star contest, the Federal League takes a 7-5 lead into the bottom of the eighth, but concedes two runs to blow it, then retakes an 8-7 lead in the ninth, and blows that one as well for a 9-8 Continental League walkoff win in Tijuana. OCT Jose Palominos, CHA Oscar Matos, and IND Tony Torres put the game-winning hits and runs together in the ninth inning.

Bayhawks outfielder Jake Ward is named MVP for doling out three hits, including a 2-run triple in the second inning.

Portland representatives Danny Nava and Pedro Valentin pitch a total of 1.1 scoreless innings in the middle part of the game.

Raccoons (39-50) @ Crusaders (41-48) – July 11-14, 2069

Both teams were now officially playing out the string, being a pile of games behind the division leading Indians with nothing but garbage games left to play, 73 of them each, and of those, ten against each other. New York had the second-worst offense, beating out the Raccoons only, and ranked sixth in runs allowed. They were ahead in the season series, 5-3, after winning a four-game set in Portland just a week earlier.

By the time this series began, the Raccoons had shipped Juan Vegaa (0-0, 1.29 ERA) back to St. Pete and had brought back A.C. Stebbins from a rehab start. The Crusaders acquired excellent defensive catcher Ryan Marty (.302, 3 HR, 19 RBI) in the night before the series, sending reliever Roberto Navarro (2-0, 2.61 ERA) and a prospect to Cincinnati.

Projected matchups:
Vinny Morales (7-6, 3.09 ERA) vs. Jarod Nesbit (9-7, 3.83 ERA)
A.C. Stebbins (4-3, 3.68 ERA) vs. Erik Lee (6-8, 3.71 ERA)
Nick Walla (5-11, 3.87 ERA) vs. Colt Long (4-6, 4.25 ERA)
Jimmy Wharton (2-1, 6.23 ERA) vs. Alex Dominguez (4-8, 3.91 ERA)

Long was the only left-handed opposition here.

Game 1
POR: SS Duhe – LF Otal – CF T. Wharton – 1B Starr – 3B Gallo – 2B Fumero – RF van Otterdijk – C Flowe – P Morales
NYC: 3B Roza – SS Maudlin – CF Box – 1B Starwalt – C Marty – 2B Philpot – LF Duhon – RF Ledesma – P Nesbit

Jared Duhe began the hangover part of the season with a triple into the leftfield corner and then sodded off the field with a quad strain, being replaced with Pablo Novelo, who was left on base as Otal popped out, Wharton struck out, Starr got struck with a breaking ball and put on first base, and then Gallo finally ******* flew out to Chris Duhon to end the ******* inning. The Crusaders answered with a Josh Roza single, Jeff Maudlin’s 2-run homer, and Bryant Box’ single, and a Danny Starwalt homer. Marty also doubled and was brought around to score, and the ******* useless Raccoons were already down 5-0. Morales went on to issue a leadoff walk to Nesbit in the second inning, and was gone by the third.

The Raccoons then burned long man Mike Davis in what everybody assumed to be a lost game, especially when Davis right away game up a run in the bottom 3rd, going down 6-0, but the Raccoons then suddenly did things. Tyler Wharton hit one of those superficially useless solo homers in the fourth, and then Starr and Fumero rumbled on base before van Otterdijk swatted a 3-run homer to get the score back to 6-4. Davis went into the bottom 6th before allowing a leadoff single to reliever Fernando Chacon and a 2-out infield hit go Box, then was lifted in a double switch (Leggett for Gallo) for Danny Nava, who walked Danny Starwalt on four pitches to load the bases, but then got Marty on a high pop to Wharton in shallow center. Nava then allowed a run in the seventh with a Ryan Philpot single, a wild pitch, an RBI single to .091 hitter Raul Ledesma, who got the RBI, and then another single to Roza, before Maudlin finally made the third out. Box doubled off McMahan to begin the bottom 8th, and then Schmieder came in right away, who walked the bags full, and then gave up a pinch-hit grand slam to Josh Bursley. 11-4 Crusaders. Duhe 1-1, 3B; T. Wharton 2-4, HR, 2B, RBI; Gates (PH) 1-1;

Couple of … couple of tiny roster adjustments. Duhe went on the DL with the loose quad, and Mike Davis (0-0, 1.35 ERA) and Matt Schmieder (1-2, 5.56 ERA) were off the roster as well. Schmieder went on waivers since he had no options. Josh Mireles would pretend to be a major league shortstop in Duhe’s absence, and then we brought back more ham-and-eggers for the pen; Manabu Yamauchi hadn’t gotten on the snout in a while, and – **** it – why not bring back Jason Holzmeister for a week, until he pisses me off again!?

Game 2
POR: 2B Fumero – LF Otal – CF T. Wharton – 1B Starr – RF van Otterdijk – 3B Gallo – C Flowe – SS Mireles – P Stebbins
NYC: 3B Roza – SS Maudlin – C Marty – 1B Starwalt – 2B Philpot – CF Box – LF Duhon – RF Ledesma – P E. Lee

Fumero began Friday with a double and being stranded on base by Otal, Wharton, and van Otterdijk, while Joel Starr tried staying under the radar by walking. Stebbins pitched around a van Otterdijk error in the first inning, only to give up a homer to Bryant Box for a 1-0 deficit in the second, after Box had even been dropped in the order for some reason against him. Box singled and stole second in his second trip to the plate, but was stranded, just like J.P. Gallo was stranded after both of his leadoff singles in the second and fourth innings as the Raccoons were again doing their utmost to avoid accidentally scoring a run. Gallo remained unretired in the sixth, drawing a 2-out walk to join Starr on base as free pass recipients, but both ended up left there with Jake Flowe’s miserable groundout to Starwalt.

Stebbins got stuck in the sixth inning, issuing a leadoff walk to Maudlin. Starwalt singled in a full count, and then Philpot hit another soft single to load the bases. Box’ grounder to Starr was not good enough to turn a 3-6-3 double play, and Maudlin scored to double the lead. Dover replaced Stebbins, let Box steal second base, and then surrendered both runs on Duhon’s single to center before retiring Ledesma. Brilliant.

Yamauchi allowed a run on singles by Roza (who stole second) and Marty in the bottom 7th, and Holzmeister was taken ******* well deep by Philpot in the eighth for another tack-on run. Lee pitched into the ninth inning on five hits and four walks allowed, then also put Corral and Flowe on base with 1-out free passes. Mireles, hitless until this point, then ended the game with a clever double play grounder, and Lee had a 5-hit shutout. 6-0 Crusaders. Gallo 2-3, BB;

(pale face)

Game 3
POR: RF Fumero – LF van Otterdijk – CF T. Wharton – 1B Starr – C Marquez – 2B Novelo – 3B Gates – SS Mireles – P Walla
NYC: 3B Roza – SS Maudlin – CF Box – 1B Starwalt – C Marty – 2B Philpot – LF Duhon – RF Ledesma – P C. Long

The Raccoons started the game with a Fumero double and then left him on base in the first inning. On the plus side, Nick Walla was not exploded on sight, and while he nicked Marty in the second, and gave up a 2-out triple to Maudlin in the third inning, he kept the Crusaders off the board in the early innings. The Raccoons took a 1-0 lead in the fourth when it as donated to them on a wild pitch by Long, which came with van Otterdijk and Starr on the corners and one out. Marquez and Novelo made poor outs, so the runner would not have scored otherwise.

Long walked Walla and Walla allowed a single to Long in opposite ends of the fifth inning, but neither of them scored, being all alone on the base paths in their offensive halves of the inning. Bryant Box hit a long fly to the fence in the sixth inning, but Fumero rushed back and took the projectile within three feet of the wall to get Walla through the inning. Walla ended up going seven shutout innings, holding the gifted 1-0 lead in one piece, and then was hit for with Leggett to begin the eighth against Long, as they were both on 96 pitches. Leggett grounded out, but van Otterdijk hit a solo home run with two outs, 2-0, and Danny Nava then struck out two Crusaders in a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth, and Pedro Valentin also had a blameless inning to put the game away. 2-0 Blighters. Van Otterdijk 2-4, HR, RBI; Walla 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, W (6-11);

Nick Walla finally wins a game!

Game 4
POR: 2B Fumero – LF Otal – CF T. Wharton – 1B Starr – RF van Otterdijk – 3B Gallo – C Flowe – SS Mireles – P J. Wharton
NYC: 3B Roza – SS Maudlin – C Marty – 1B Starwalt – 2B Philpot – CF Box – LF Duhon – RF Ledesma – P A. Dominguez

There was not a lot of offense in the early innings on Sunday, and some of that also caught itself stealing, like Fumero in the first and Roza in the third inning; nobody scored, and that continued in the fourth when Philpot hit a gapper in left-center for a 2-out double, but lusted for a 2-out triple and was thrown out to end the inning by Tyler Wharton. Duhon and Dominguez hit singles to go to the corners in the fifth against Jimmy Wharton, who was not showing a lot of stuff, but at least kept them off the board.

Fumero hit another leadoff double in the sixth inning, but Otal popped out. Wharton was walked intentionally by the Crusaders, but Starr struck out and van Otterdijk grounded out to waste that chance. Bottom 6th, and things finally came apart for Jimmy Wharton, who allowed a leadoff single on a 1-2 pitch to Maudlin, then walked Marty in a full count. Starwalt popped out, but Philpot’s grounder to Gallo was bungled for an error, and then Wharton walked in the game’s first run against Box. Dover replaced him, allowed a sac fly to Duhon, then struck out Ledesma. The Raccoons then scored a run with a Flowe double and Corral’s RBI single in place of Dover in the seventh, but Fumero’s fly to deep center was taken by Box to end the inning. McMahan then got into the bottom 7th, walked Bursley and mishandled Roza’s comebacker by trying to get a double play, but getting nobody instead by going to second base. Nava replaced him; Maudlin grounded into a force at third base, but then **** came apart for good. Nava threw a wild pitch, nailed Marty to fill them up, and then conceded two runs to Starwalt, and another run on Philpot’s groundout, 5-1. The Raccoons didn’t get another runner on base for the rest of the game. 5-1 Crusaders. Fumero 2-4, 2B; Corral (PH) 1-1, RBI;

In other news

July 9 – Cyclones OF/1B/3B Dallas Baker announces his retirement after reinjuring an already torn labrum in his shoulder. The 30-year-old 3-time All Star spent his entire career with Cincy and batted .282 with 86 HR and 485 RBI.
July 9 – LVA RF/LF Alfredo Rosado (.307, 6 HR, 33 RBI) will miss two months with a badly sprained ankle.
July 10 – The Titans acquire RF/LF/1B Justin Dowsey (.271, 6 HR, 27 RBI) from the Thunder in exchange for grizzled MR Pedro Mendoza (3-0, 3.32 ERA, 2 SV) and a prospect.
July 10 – In a separate deal, Boston sends 1B Andy Metz (.232, 9 HR, 39 RBI) to the Falcons for the return of left-hander Tyler Gleason (4-4, 2.31 ERA, 18 SV) and #165 prospect SP Guillermo Arzola.
July 12 – Almost 40-year-old bench piece Omar Sanchez (.242, 0 HR, 5 RBI) is sent from the Stars to the Scorpions for INF/LF/RF Mike Baird (.290, 0 HR, 12 RBI).
July 12 – The Warriors trade SP Dan Speake (9-3, 2.66 ERA) to the Falcons for outfielder Sal Gil (.234, 4 HR, 24 RBI) and a prospect.
July 12 – DEN RF/LF Steve Millen (.320, 12 HR, 60 RBI) clinches a 1-0 win for the Gold Sox over the Warriors with a sixth-inning home run.
July 14 – The Condors bring in SP Ryan Mann (7-6, 3.46 ERA) from the Buffaloes, parting with a prospect in the deal.

FL Player of the Week: CIN INF Daniel Richardson (.312, 0 HR, 40 RBI), slapping .625 (10-16) with 6 RBI
CL Player of the Week: VAN OF Dan Moore (.370, 8 HR, 44 RBI), going .647 (11-17) with 1 HR, 6 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Hey, Matt Schmieder made it to AAA without getting claimed off waivers. And… well, otherwise I have only bad news here, as there will be another 69 games of *this* until the merciful end of the season.

And I don’t know how we’re gonna try to fix it yet.

Road games in Indy and Atlanta coming up for the rest of the road trip.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons are well in play for another top 5 pick next year.

I know, but what else do we have to look forward to here??

[Westheim]

Raccoons (40-53) @ Indians (61-32) – July 16-18, 2069

Monday was off, and then the Raccoons rumbled onwards to Indianapolis to get beaten up by the team residing there. Indy was up 7-2 in the season series, had won seven games in a row, and was up 5 1/2 games on the Titans. They were second in runs scored, had the best starters’ ERA, the most stolen bases, and were second in homers. The only weak point was the pen, which had an ERA over four and ranked second-worst in the league.

Projected matchups:
Tony Gaytan (6-9, 4.83 ERA) vs. Miguel Lopez (9-4, 4.61 ERA)
Vinny Morales (7-7, 3.45 ERA) vs. Mike DeWitt (10-3, 2.43 ERA)
A.C. Stebbins (4-4, 3.89 ERA) vs. Victor Perez (4-5, 3.18 ERA)

DeWitt was the only southpaw starter, and the ace on staff in Indy.

Game 1
POR: 2B Fumero – LF van Otterdijk – CF T. Wharton – 1B Starr – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – C Flowe – SS Leggett – P Gaytan
IND: CF Hilario – LF Spicer – C A. Gomez – 1B M. Rogers – 3B Ma. Martin – RF T. Torres – SS Masterson – 2B Z. DeWitt – P Mi. Lopez

The week started GREAT, with Tony Gaytan pitching for five outs and then leaving the game with a creaky back. Yamauchi took over a scoreless game, popped out Zach DeWitt, and stranded a runner – Matt Martin – left by Gaytan. The Raccoons then took an unearned 1-0 lead in the third inning when van Otterdijk singled home Wally Leggett with two outs. Leggett had reached only on a throwing error by DeWitt. Yamauchi was in to cover innings, but that meant he blew the lead in good time and order, allowing a leadoff single to Alex Gomez in the bottom 4th, then got a double play grounder from Matt Rogers, only to give up another hit to Martin and then a 2-run homer over the rightfield wall to Tony Torres. While Scott Masterson then made the third out, the fifth began with the first career home run of Zach DeWitt, a 30-year-old quad-A infielder of 101 major league games.

And the Coons? They took their turns at-bat, but rarely amounted to much. In the sixth inning, however, they got the tying runs into scoring position after Joel Starr drew a 2-out walk and J.P. Gallo doubled to right. Jose Corral, however, grounded out easily to DeWitt. The Coons got 4.1 innings from Yamauchi, as ineffective as they were, and then got the tying runs to the corners with singles by Flowe and Otal, batting for Yamauchi, by the time they had made an out with Leggett in the seventh. Fumero crashed right into a 4-6-3 double play to take care of that situation. The Raccoons got scoreless innings from Holzmeister and Rios at the end there, but the Indians got eight innings without an earned run from Lopez and then got Shamar King to slam the door on the Critters in the ninth. 3-1 Indians. Van Otterdijk 2-4, RBI; Otal (PH) 1-1;

Tony Gaytan was not seriously injured, Luis Silva claimed, although I thought they were all terminally decrepit and needed recycling. Gaytan was planned in to start again on Sunday.

Game 2
POR: RF Fumero – LF van Otterdijk – CF T. Wharton – 1B Starr – C Marquez – 2B Novelo – 3B Gates – SS Mireles – P Morales
IND: CF Hilario – SS Masterson – C A. Gomez – 1B M. Rogers – 3B Ma. Martin – RF T. Torres – LF Valencia – 2B G. Lujan – P M. DeWitt

Fumero and Masterson hit singles in the first inning, and both were immediately doubled up by the next batter, and nobody else reached base until Rafael Valencia legged out an infield single in the bottom 3rd. He advanced on Guillermo Lujan’s grounder, and then scored when Mike DeWitt – entering batting a sturdy .034 – slapped a single past Novelo to bring him in from second base. Brilliant.

For what it was worth, the Raccoons made up the deficit immediately. Van Otterdijk slapped a double to right-center to begin the fourth, and while Wharton remained useless with runners in scoring position, Joel Starr tied the game with a single to left-center. Marquez also singled, but after that Novelo whiffed and Gates flew out to Valencia in left, leaving two on base. Vinny Morales then got around a Rogers double before Fumero and the Otter put up a pair of 2-out singles in the top 5th, but Wharton remained useless with runners in scoring position and grounded out to short.

DeWitt struck out eight in 5.2 innings, but was knocked out when Novelo and Gates hit 2-out singles in the sixth. Otal batted for a useless Josh Mireles (0-12 since being recalled) against right-hander Kao-Kan Ngui, got drilled, and then Gallo batted for Morales with the bags stacked and two down. He unleashed a liner to left, but right at Valencia, and the inning ended without a run being scored… again…

Jesse Dover collected four outs before the Coons went to McMahan in the bottom 7th to face the 6-7-8 batters, the first and last of whom were batting left-handed. McMahan’s decomposition in fifth gear continued, however, as he walked Torres, allowed a single to Valencia, and when he got a grounder to Novelo from PH Wil Mejia, Novelo ****** THAT up, and the bases were loaded on the error. Zach DeWitt pinch-hit in the #9 spot, drove in two runs against Danny Nava, and that was that. Jose Hilario then whiffed, Masterson walked, and Alex Gomez whiffed again.

The Raccoons then trailed 3-1 into the ninth inning and were up against Shamar King again. Gates grounded out, but he walked Corral, pinch-hitting for the pitcher in the #8 hole. Gallo, still leading the team in home runs, had remained in the game to play third base earlier, and now was up just in time to … hit into a game-ending double play. 3-1 Indians. Fumero 2-4; van Otterdijk 2-4, 2B; Morales 5.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K;

(utter frustration in the face)

Game 3
POR: 2B Fumero – LF Otal – CF T. Wharton – 1B Starr – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – C Flowe – SS Mireles – P Stebbins
IND: CF Hilario – LF Spicer – C A. Gomez – 1B M. Rogers – 3B Ma. Martin – RF T. Torres – SS Masterson – 2B G. Lujan – P V. Perez

Scoring opened with a Gallo homer in the second inning on Thursday, and then Corral singled and Flowe doubled, allowing Josh Mireles to bring in a run even while still making nothing but outs with a grounder to second, 2-0. Stebbins also grounded out to leave a runner on third. The southpaw pitched two scoreless innings before walking Masterson to begin the bottom 3rd, and then couldn’t pick Lujan’s wheezing grounder on the infield fast enough to get an out anywhere. Perez bunted the tying runs onwards, and they scored one by one on a Hilario single and Spicer’s fielder’s choice grounder. Spicer stole second, his 27th bag of the year, which wasn’t even tops on his own team (Hilario had 31), but was left on when Gomez flew out to Corral in deep right.

Portland reclaimed the lead in the fourth on three singles by Starr (who was forced out by Gallo), Corral, and Flowe, who brought in Gallo from second base, 3-2. Mireles’ fielder’s choice grounder and a K on Stebbins ended the inning, but the Indians began to zero in on Stebbins and the fourth and fifth saw a lot of long fly balls, that however all ended up being caught. The Coons then had another chance in the sixth, getting Gallo on with a hit-by-pitch, and then Corral on a throwing error by Martin with one out, but Flowe poked a 3-1 pitch into a double play to end the inning.

Stebbins pitched into the seventh, but allowed singles to Torres and Mejia, who was batting for Lujan with two outs. When Valencia pinch-hit for Perez, the Raccoons sent Dover, and he got a strikeout to end the inning and keep the 3-2 lead together. Top 8th, and right-hander Tim Tennant was in the game to pitch and Zach DeWitt was back at second base, and immediately made an error on Otal’s grounder to give the Coons a leadoff base runner. Wharton then forced him out, but gained second base on a wild pitch. Starr grounded out to short, keeping the runner pinned, but Gallo doubled over the head of Spicer in left to get a tack-on run home, 4-2. Corral grounded out, and Dover allowed a leadoff single to Hilario in the bottom 8th. Spicer grounded to short, but stayed out of the double play. Dover rung up Gomez, and then McMahan came in to see after Rogers, who had yet to tear the Raccoons in half in this series – Rogers had smashed seven homers against the Coons already this year – but gave up a single to right. Spicer, however, was too greedy, bid for third base, and was denied by Corral, being thrown out to end the inning. The Coons were quiet in the ninth, and Valentin put the game away rather easily, despite allowing a single to Tony Torres in the bottom of the ninth. He then got the last two outs with a K on Masterson and an easy grounder by DeWitt. 4-2 Raccoons. Gallo 2-3, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Corral 2-4; Flowe 3-4, 2B, RBI;

The Coons’ first four batters in the lineup went 0-15 with a walk for Starr. Novelo pinch-hit for Fumero in the ninth and also did nothing. All seven Coons hits came from the 5-6-7 spots.

Raccoons (41-55) @ Knights (41-55) – July 19-21, 2069

Both teams were in last place in their divisions, so there was really nothing to see here… Atlanta had the worst pitching in the land, giving up over 4.9 runs a game, with the worst rotation by ERA and the second-worst rated defense. They were also bottoms in homers, but were getting on base rather well overall, and scored the sixth-most runs in the CL. They had a -61 run differential, marginally worse than the Coons’ -51. Portland had won two of three games so far. Notably, Knights outfielder Javier Acuna was on the DL.

Projected matchups:
Nick Walla (6-11, 3.66 ERA) vs. Rob Wilkinson (5-6, 4.99 ERA)
Jimmy Wharton (2-2, 5.16 ERA) vs. Nick Walker (5-7, 4.01 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (6-9, 4.75 ERA) vs. Adam Lunn (7-8, 3.48 ERA)

The Knights only had right-handed starting pitchers.

Game 1
POR: 2B Fumero – LF Otal – CF T. Wharton – 1B Starr – RF van Otterdijk – 3B Gallo – C Flowe – SS Novelo – P Walla
ATL: CF Jo. Soto – 2B J. Munoz – C J. Hart – 3B Schomer – RF Jad. Wilson – 1B Mower – SS Guangorena – LF B. Campbell – P R. Wilkinson

The Knights batted through the order against Walla in the first, Jorge Soto drawing a walk before Jorge Munoz struck out. They then doled out five hits, including four in a row from Justin Hart, Jon Schomer, Jaden Wilson, and Phil Mower. Tomas Guangorena hit into a fielder’s choice, Brent Campbell singled again, and Wilkinson finally struck out to leave the bases loaded, with three runs across. It would not get any better with him for the rest of the game, which in Walla’s case ended in the fifth, battered and beleaguered continuously. After the Raccoons had made up a run on an Otter double and Flowe’s RBI single in the second inning, and a 1-2-3 second inning from Walla, the Knights went back to work on him. Guangorena doubled home Wilson with a run in the third inning, Walla made an error to put leadoff man Soto on base in the fourth and then had to labor around that runner, and in the fifth Wilson hit a leadoff single, Walla threw a wild pitch, Guangorena singled home Wilson to make it 5-1, and Campbell hit another single to put runners on the corners. Walla struck out the pitcher, then was disappeared. Nava replaced him, and got Soto to line out to Novelo to end the inning.

The Raccoons, down 5-1, put Otal and Wharton on base to begin the sixth inning, and then had Starr strike out and van Otterdijk crash into a double play. The Otter and Nava were replaced in a double switch with Corral and Rios after two outs in the bottom 6th, and Rios got four outs to get through seven innings, and Yamauchi then added a scoreless eighth, but the Raccoons had no rally in them. Ex-Coon Elijah LaBat walked Wharton to begin the ninth inning and then balked the runner onwards, and somehow Gallo drove in that meaningless run with a 2-out single, but that was as good as it got on that Friday… 5-2 Knights.

(buries face in paws)

Game 2
POR: 2B Fumero – LF Otal – CF T. Wharton – 1B Starr – RF van Otterdijk – C Marquez – 3B Gates – SS Mireles – P J. Wharton
ATL: CF Jo. Soto – 2B J. Munoz – RF Bonner – C J. Hart – 3B Schomer – 1B Mower – SS Guangorena – LF Jad. Wilson – P N. Walker

Fumero legged out an infield single to begin the game, but got himself caught stealing. However, Joel Starr went deep to begin the second inning, and the Raccoons scored first, while Jimmy Wharton faced the minimum the first time through, allowing a single to Munoz and getting a double play from ex-Coon Ryan Bonner, batting third for some stupid reason, but he did not strike out anybody.

Top 4th, and Starr opened the inning with a single, followed by more hits; van Otterdijk singled to center, and Marquez hit an RBI double to right, 2-0. Gates then grounded out to third base to hold up the runners, and Mireles was walked intentionally (!?), getting a K from Wharton and a fly to left from Fumero to keep the bases loaded. Jimmy Wharton then kept sailing onwards, allowing a 2-out single to Phil Mower in the fifth before ringing up Guangorena for his first strikeout. The Coons had van Otterdijk on with a leadoff single, and then caught stealing, in a rather stupid sixth inning that also saw a Gates double, another intentional walk to Mireles, still no tack-on runs, and then a leadoff walk from Wharton to Jaden Wilson, but then three outs, including a K to Munoz to keep Wilson at second base.

Bonner hit a leadoff single in the seventh, and Hart popped out. Jon Schomer then sent a long drive to the wall in left, and Otal made a leaping grab at the fence to keep the 2-0 lead in one piece. Never mind that the Coons were out-hitting the Knights 11-3 at this point. Bonner moved to third base on the long fly out, then scored when Mower singled, 2-1. Wharton now walked the bags full and then got a groundout from the opposing pitcher in an even stupider seventh inning. He struck out two in the eighth, finished that inning, and then was hit for in the ninth while Walker was still going. The Raccoons couldn’t get another body – warm or cold – on base, but Valentin saw off the Knights in three batters in the ninth inning to wheeze another W into the record books. 2-1 Blighters. T. Wharton 2-4; Starr 2-4, HR, RBI; van Otterdijk 2-4; Marquez 2-4, 2B, RBI; Gates 2-4, 2B; J. Wharton 8.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, W (3-2);

Nick Walker pitched a complete-game 11-hitter for the loss, which was apparently a thing that existed.

Game 3
POR: SS Gates – CF Otal – LF van Otterdijk – 1B Starr – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – C Flowe – 2B Novelo – P Gaytan
ATL: CF Jo. Soto – 2B J. Munoz – C J. Hart – 3B Schomer – RF Jad. Wilson – 1B Mower – SS Guangorena – LF C. Cardenas – P Lunn

The Raccoons went up 2-0 in the second inning, though not without more agony in the second inning, which began with a single by Gallo and then Corral tripled into the depths of centerfield, before the brown team made two pathetic outs that still had Corral standing at third base and looking miffed. Gaytan then got himself another run with a 2-out single to center, raising his batting average to .364. Another run scored in the third inning when Otal singled, stole second, moved on when Lunn threw a wild pitch, and then scored on van Otterdijk’s sac fly.

On the hill, Gaytan cruised through five innings with the 3-0 lead, allowing two singles and whiffing four, before he suddenly issued straight four-pitch walks to Soto and Munoz with one gone in the bottom 6th. A double steal went wrong though, and Soto was thrown out at third base, and Hart whiffed to end the inning.

Gaytan hit another 2-out single in the seventh with nobody on base. Gates dropped another single, and then Schomer threw away Otal’s grounder for two bases and allowed Gaytan to score, 4-0. Instead, van Otterdijk made the final out with a groundout to Guangorena. Gaytan got around a pair of singles by Chad Cardenas and the pinch-hitting Bonner in the eighth, batted for himself again in the ninth inning, and then returned to face the 3-4-5 batters. Hart flew out to right. Schomer grounded out sharply to Gallo. Wilson flew to left and sent van Otterdijk back a bit, but he made the catch, and Gaytan pitched a 4-hit shutout on 113 pitches! 4-0 Critters! Gaytan 9.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K, W (7-9) and 2-4, RBI;

In other news

July 16 – The Titans tear down the Loggers in a 16-2 blowout, and BOS RF/LF/1B Manuel Garcia (.256, 14 HR, 51 RBI) leads the charge with three base hits, including a pair of 3-run homers, and eight RBI in total.
July 17 – Rebels SP Bobby Marceau (6-7, 2.30 ERA) throws a 2-hit shutout against the Buffaloes for a 4-0 win.
July 19 – A frayed elbow ligament will send CHA SP Edgar Mauricio (9-7, 3.64 ERA) to the shelf for the next 12 months.
July 20 – A torn flexor tendon in his elbow will keep Washington SP Josh Jackson (3-6, 3.72 ERA) out for the rest of the year and potentially into the 2070 season.
July 21 – L.A. would be without corner outfielder John Miller (.279, 8 HR, 41 RBI) for a month as the 26-year-old was headed to the DL with a herniated disc.
July 21 – Topeka INF/RF Danny Rodriguez (.305, 8 HR, 42 RBI) beats the Gold Sox, 1-0, with his fourth-inning homer.

FL Player of the Week: DAL OF/1B/3B Dallas Stockton (.272, 8 HR, 46 RBI), hitting .381 (8-21) with 1 HR, 6 RBI
CL Player of the Week: NYC CF/RF Bryant Box (.305, 12 HR, 52 RBI), hitting .478 (11-23) with 3 HR, 9 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The Raccoons might be lingering at the bottom of the CL North, but they came second in a test of vacuum cleaners in Small Appliances Monthly magazine. They came tops on sucking, but lost a few points on cost efficiency…

This despite us somehow turning a paltry 14 runs into a 3-3 week, even while facing one of the worst pitching teams the league had on offer.

Somehow the game with the most runs scored by us was the one without Big Stick Wharton appearing at all… So yeah, little Jimmy automatically won the title of Wharton of the Week with his eight innings on Saturday.

Next week we’ll have a homestand against the Falcons and Condors.

Fun Fact: Tony Gaytan has not allowed a run in his last three starts.

That sounds great, but is also greatly deceiving, because while the 4-hit shutout on Sunday was impressive, he got just five outs before leaving with “back” on Tuesday, and before that spent 84 pitches on – SOMEHOW – three shutout innings-and-fly against the Loggers, which could hardly be classified as a success. It was really only 13.2 shutout innings he had put together here.

Regardless, Sunday marked the first shutout of his career, and his fifth complete game, coming in his 99th start in the big leagues. He’s 29-43 with a 4.27 ERA on a team that routinely never scores.

And while he might be hitting .361/.395/.417 this year, the three years before have been rather consistently … NOT that. He was under .200 before the season began, and now was a career .227 hitter with nine doubles (no homers) and 21 RBI.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (43-56) vs. Falcons (46-52) – July 23-25, 2069

Another Monday off and another losing CL South team, albeit now at home. The Falcons had swept the Raccoons in the previous series played this year, and ranked ninth in runs scored and fourth in runs allowed. Their run differential was -1. Pitchers Edgar Mauricio and Antonio Santelices as well as old Elks foe outfielder Chad Whetstine were locked away on the DL.

Projected matchups:
Vinny Morales (7-7, 3.38 ERA) vs. Evan Alvey (3-4, 4.43 ERA)
A.C. Stebbins (5-4, 3.79 ERA) vs. Dan Speake (9-3, 2.86 ERA)
Nick Walla (6-12, 3.87 ERA) vs. Ayahito Ochi (4-8, 3.73 ERA)

For a change, the Raccoons were up against two southpaws at either end of the series, and Speake, acquired this month from the Warriors, was the only right-hander.

Game 1
CHA: 2B J. Schmidt – SS Tr. Taylor – C O. Matos – 1B A. Metz – 3B P. Weber – LF McInnis – RF T. Lopez – CF Barber – P Alvey
POR: RF Fumero – LF van Otterdijk – CF T. Wharton – 1B Starr – C Marquez – 3B Gallo – 2B Novelo – SS Mireles – P Morales

Both teams left a single on base in the first inning, while Paul Weber nearly led off the second inning with a homer to right, but that ball was caught at the fence by van Otterdijk. The Raccoons then got a leadoff double from Lorenzo Marquez to left-center in the bottom 2nd, but no help whatsoever from Gallo and Novelo. The Falcons neglected to put Josh Mireles on with two outs, as the youngster was 0-for-18 since being recalled from AAA. He made it 1-for-19 with an RBI double up the rightfield line before Vinny Morales ended the inning with a strikeout. John Schmidt hit his second single and stole his second base of the game in the third inning, but was left on base again, and that was the score through five innings. Morales’ pitch economy was horrendous once again and he was coming to the end of his tether in the sixth inning, but before he left the game quickly gave up a game-tying homer to Paul Weber with two outs in the sixth, and we were even at one.

When Wharton and Starr led off the bottom 6th with singles, Marquez hit into a double play and Jonathon Barber ran down a Gallo drive to keep the Coons from taking another lead. Two more were on base in the seventh as Mireles snapped a 1-out single up the middle and then Gary Gates hit a double in place of McMahan, who had turned in a clean seventh inning against the bottom of the order, including Alvey. With runners in scoring position, Fumero hit a lean single to left, plating Mireles, while Gates had to be stopped at third base. That was the correct move, because van Otterdijk then knocked out Alvey with a no-doubter of a 3-run homer to left…!

The Raccoons went on to steal the eighth inning with Holzmeister despite a leadoff walk to Schmidt, who ended up being doubled off by Oscar Matos to end the inning. Mireles was on base with another double in the bottom 8th, but was stranded, and Jesse Dover then put the lid on the game with a 1-2-3 ninth. 5-1 Raccoons. Fumero 2-5, RBI; van Otterdijk 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; T. Wharton 2-4; Marquez 2-4, 2B; Mireles 3-4, 2 2B, RBI; Gates (PH) 1-2, 2B; Morales 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K;

We were getting trade offers at this point, but it was nothing good in there. Somehow people thought we wanted MORE veterans with hefty contracts and take all our cash.

Game 2
CHA: 2B J. Schmidt – RF Terrell – C O. Matos – 3B P. Weber – SS Tr. Taylor – LF McInnis – 1B Ishii – CF Barber – P Speake
POR: 2B Fumero – LF Otal – CF T. Wharton – 1B Starr – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – C Flowe – SS Mireles – P Stebbins

Stebbins began the middle game with two strikeouts, then gave up two runs on two pitches as Matos singled and Weber homered again. The Coons had the bases loaded in the bottom 2nd as Speake walked Gallo and Corral, Flowe snipped a single, and with one out Josh Mireles grounded into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play. Things went better in the third; Fumero got on with one out, was forced out by the foundering Otal, but Tyler Wharton then socked a game-tying homer. Matos nearly hit a counter-homer to begin the fourth inning as Stebbins appeared certainly whackable, and Matt McInnis hit a long fly out to center in the fifth. The Falcons were seeing Stebbins so well, he threw only 45 pitches in five innings, and because the glovemen were alert, allowed only the two hits from the start, and struck out three in five innings.

Speake and Schmidt struck out to begin the sixth, but Matos got his homer with a leadoff jack to left in the seventh. Weber and McInnis hit singles after that, but were cleaned up with the help of some D. Down 3-2, the Raccoons did nothing offensively to perhaps accidentally alleviate the situation while Stebbins went into the eighth and got two outs before Brady Terrell singled to center. Stebbins remained in for the switch-hitting Matos – and gave up another homer to end his day.

Bottom 8th, and the Raccoons got the tying run to the plate on … not a whole lot. Benito Otal hit a grounder to right off Freddie DeWitt that was knocked down by Tetsuharu Ishii, and then thrown past the pitcher as he hustled to first base for a 2-base error. DeWitt threw a wild pitch, then walked Wharton. Left-hander Scott Bickerton replaced him, struck out Starr, then plated a run with another wild pitch. Gallo then smashed an RBI double to right, 5-4, after which van Otterdijk batted for Corral. The Falcons answered with right-hander Scott Moses, who had more walks than strikeouts on his ledger, walked van Otterdijk, and was replaced with lefty John Robinson. Two could play *that* game, and Wally Leggett batted for Flowe, but him and Mireles both flew out easily and the Coons fell short. Yamauchi then failed to keep the Falcons from scoring in the ninth, walking the insurance run on base in leadoff man Trent Taylor, and then conceded the run on a 2-out single by Barber. Orazio Cecere had the ball in the bottom 9th and got two outs – although Andy Metz left the game with an injury this late – before Otal’s 2-out single brought Wharton to the plate as the tying run. He was out of game-tying bombs, though, and grounded to short … and Taylor threw that ball away for a 2-base error! This brought up Starr with the tying runs in scoring position, but he grounded out to Weber… 6-4 Falcons. Otal 2-5; Gallo 1-2, 2 BB, 2B, RBI; Corral 1-2, BB;

Game 3
CHA: 2B J. Schmidt – SS Tr. Taylor – C O. Matos – 3B P. Weber – RF Terrell – CF Barber – LF T. Lopez – 1B S. Thompson – P Ochi
POR: RF Fumero – LF van Otterdijk – CF T. Wharton – 1B Starr – C Marquez – 3B Gates – 2B Leggett – SS Mireles – P Walla

Walla seemed to be “on” rather than “fur on fire” this time out, striking out five for only an infield single by Steve Thompson in the first three innings (although that was not the greatest news for the pitch count early on). Unfortunately, the Raccoons were just as mute against Ochi, and only had a Wally Leggett single to show for the first time through, and Leggett was picked off first base with Walla trying to get a bunt down.

Brady Terrell began the fifth inning with a single to center. Walla tried to pick him off a couple of times, unsuccessfully, and then gave up a 2-run homer to Tony Lopez instead. In the sixth, Walla issued a leadoff walk to Schmidt, who stole his way to third base rather unimpededly, and then scored on Taylor’s groundout. The Falcons then added another run with Matos and Weber doubles, although Matos injured himself and was replaced with Andy Johnson. The Raccoons got their second single of the game from Mireles in the bottom 6th and then left him on base. Walla ended up going seven innings, but was well beaten again, and while Holzmeister and McMahan finished out the pitching assignments competently, Ochi completed a 3-hit shutout against entirely listless Raccoons. 4-0 Falcons.

Jason Holzmeister now had a better ERA than Nick Walla…

Maud. Help. (faints)

Josh Mireles (.177, 0 HR, 4 RBI) was sent back to AAA on Friday, as Jared Duhe came off the DL.

Raccoons (44-58) vs. Condors (43-56) – July 26-28, 2069

The All Star Condors had started the season well, but since June were in free fall, and were second-worst in scoring runs at this point (you know who’s bottoms). Their pitching other than Jason Brenize (11-2, 2.00 ERA) was decidedly meh, and they had a -26 run differential. The season series was even at three.

The Condors had acquired INF/RF Danny Rodriguez (.304, 8 HR, 44 RBI) from the Buffos for two prospects; also Salem CL Pat Bidwell (4-3, 3.43 ERA, 23 SV) for two prospects; and also OF/1B Jeremy Jenkins (.341, 4 HR, 15 RBI) from the Rebels for another prospect on the way in. I was very happy about the last transaction, as now the Rebs would stop to bother me with dumping Jenkins on us…

Projected matchups:
Jimmy Wharton (3-2, 4.11 ERA) vs. Jason Brenize (11-2, 2.00 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (7-9, 4.38 ERA) vs. Goffredo Merlin (4-11, 5.21 ERA)
Vinny Morales (7-7, 3.28 ERA) vs. Ryan Mann (7-7, 3.65 ERA)

Only right-handers coming up here.

Game 1
TIJ: RF J. Elliott – C Brann – 1B D. Cline – CF Pinault – SS Rugar – 2B M. Moreno – LF J. Jenkins – 3B D. Rodriguez – P Brenize
POR: SS Duhe – 2B Fumero – CF T. Wharton – 1B Starr – 3B Gallo – LF Otal – RF Corral – C Flowe – P J. Wharton

The weather forecast was ugly, and so was Wharton’s start to the second inning, where he allowed four straight singles to Mike Pinault, Josh Rugar, Mario Moreno, and Jeremy Jenkins, amounting to two runs and thus probably all that Brenize would need, before Danny Rodriguez’ comebacker and strikeouts on Brenize and Jake Elliott ended the inning and kept two runners in scoring position. Wharton was then ****** for another FIVE straight base runners to begin the third inning, allowed four more runs, and was yanked during a 45-minute rain delay.

Yamauchi got out of the inning, but allowed another run in the fourth on an Elliott double, a wild pitch, and David Cline’s sac fly. He also walked Mike Brann in between, who remained on base. Brenize had a 7-0 lead now, but did not look quite as crisp after the rain delay than in the first innings. He didn’t allow a hit until Starr singled in the fourth, but Gallo’s grounder advanced him and he scored on Otal’s 2-out single, giving the Coons a pity run on the board. Jake Flowe’s leadoff double to right in the fifth did not lead to a run…

Yamauchi pitched 3.2 innings, allowing another un in the sixth before Rios replaced him with two on and two out. He nailed Jenkins, but rung up Rodriguez with the bases loaded to keep Cline and Mario Moreno on base. Bottom 6th, and Wharton and Starr got on base leading off before Gallo was called out on strike three looking, but loudly disagreed and got run from the game. Leggett took over third base on this failing team, and Otal dutifully hit into a double play to get Brenize out of his jam. The serial Pitcher of the Year would go seven innings of 1-run ball, and the pen did not let the Coons back into the game either. 8-1 Condors. Leggett 1-1;

Slappy, do you remember the times when we actually had a winning team that was fun to watch? – Ya, me neither.

Game 2
TIJ: RF J. Elliott – C Brann – 1B D. Cline – CF Pinault – SS Rugar – 3B D. Rodriguez – LF J. Jenkins – 2B Monck – P Merlin
POR: SS Duhe – RF van Otterdijk – CF T. Wharton – 1B Starr – 3B Gallo – LF Otal – 2B Novelo – C Flowe – P Gaytan

Gaytan started out nailing Elliott with a 1-2 pitch, Elliott stole second, and then scored on a Cline single, so the Raccoons were a-trailing right away again. Jenkins homered in the fourth to make it 2-0, but Gaytan was not doing all that badly in between. The Coons did; Wharton hit a double, but apart from that they might just as well not have bothered leaving the den that morning.

The game went along into the sixth, where Gaytan worked around an Otal error to keep the score close, and it got closer when Wharton hit a homer to left in the bottom 6th, but of course with nobody on base, reducing the score to 2-1. Starr then singled, but got forced out on a Gallo grounder, and the tying run remained on base when Otal popped out. Gaytan put up another scoreless effort in the seventh on his way out, and Novelo drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the inning before getting doubled up by Flowe…… Gates then hit for Gaytan and grounded out. Nava got the eighth, walked Cline with one out and allowed a single to Pinault, sending Cline to second. Josh Rugar struck out, McMahan came in for the left-handed Rodriguez, was met with right-handed Tommy Pritchard, and got a groundout to short to strand the runners.

Merlin was still going in the bottom 8th and allowed a leadoff single to Duhe, but the Otter hit into a force at second base right away. A walk to Wharton ended Merlin’s day, and Bidwell, who had pitched the ninth on Friday, came in. Starr found the double play that needed hitting into. McMahan kept the Condors close in the ninth, but one run was like twenny with this bloody team. Left-hander Chris Thompson was sent in for the bottom 9th. Gallo whiffed. Fumero batted for Otal and grounded out to short. When Novelo walked with two outs, Marquez batted for Flowe, but grounded out to short. 2-1 Condors. Wharton 2-3, BB, HR, 2B, RBI; Gaytan 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, L (7-10);

(opens a new bottle of Capt’n Coma, and a bottle for Honeypaws, too)

Game 3
TIJ: RF J. Elliott – LF J. Jenkins – 1B D. Cline – CF Pinault – SS Rugar – 3B D. Rodriguez – C Lippert – 2B Vidrio – P Mann
POR: SS Duhe – LF van Otterdijk – CF T. Wharton – 1B Starr – 3B Gallo – C Marquez – RF Corral – 2B Fumero – P Morales

Otter and Starr hit singles in the first inning on Sunday, but that was not enough for a run, and Fumero’s 2-out double in the second inning also was met with nobody on base, and Vinny Morales grounding out. But Morales was holding the Condors hitless through three, and then Jared Duhe led off the bottom 3rd with a homer to left. Wharton had a deep fly out in the inning, and Starr walked with two outs. Gallo and Marquez then hit a pair of singles, getting him around to score. Mann lost Corral on four balls to fill the bags, but Fumero flew out to Pinault to leave everybody on base. A Duhe error gave Morales a runner to worry about in the fourth inning, and in the fifth Emilio Vidrio hit a 2-out single to take the no-hitter away before we could actually get antsy about it. Mann grounded out to Fumero to end the inning. Jenkins doubled with one out in the sixth, but Cline whiffed and Pinault grounded out to short to keep the Condors away.

Bottom 6th, and Rugar threw away Fumero’s grounder for two bases, putting a runner in scoring position right away. Morales lined out, but Duhe doubled to left to up the score to 3-0 before van Otterdijk and Wharton popped out. Morales was going into the seventh with a K on Rugar, but Rodriguez doubled off the wall, then nicked Randy Lippert. Vidrio grounded out sharply, moving up the runners, and when Rich Monck batted for the pitcher, McMahan met him and got a groundout to short to keep Tijuana off the board; he also did away with the 1-2-3 batters in the eighth. The ninth went to closer Pedro Valentin, who had so far pitched a garbage inning this week and nothing else. He walked Pinault out of the gate. Rugar grounded into a fielder’s choice. Rodriguez and Lippert were both struck out. 3-0 Coons. Duhe 2-5, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Morales 6.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, W (8-7);

In other news

July 22 – The Indians take a blow when 1B Matt Rogers (.308, 22 HR, 66 RBI) is diagnosed with a separated shoulder and about to miss a month.
July 22 – VAN SP Nick Waldron (9-9, 3.48 ERA) pitches a 3-hit shutout while teammate RF/LF Roberto Lozada (.246, 12 HR, 53 RBI) leads the charge with two home runs and four RBI as the Canadiens riot over the Knights, 13-0.
July 23 – The Stars win a wicked see-saw battle with the Buffaloes, 13-12 in 11 innings. The lead changes hands five times in the game.
July 24 – Topeka sends CL Dennis Marck (1-8, 4.78 ERA, 25 SV) to the Cyclones for two prospects. The deal includes #171 RF/LF Francisco Montano.
July 24 – The Rebels trade 1B Jerry Morejon (.284, 5 HR, 16 RBI) and cash to the Warriors for a prospect.
July 25 – The Crusaders pick up SP Adam Dochterman (8-9, 3.24 ERA) from the Blue Sox for two prospects.
July 26 – Rebels LF/CF/2B Darby Laybolt (.312, 23 HR, 72 RBI) has suffered a concussion and is expected to miss at least six weeks.
July 26 – SAL 1B Jeremy McDermott (.256, 11 HR, 37 RBI) is expected to miss a month with a sore shoulder.
July 27 – Left-handed SP Eric Stengel (6-11, 4.14 ERA) goes from Sacramento to Charlotte in a trade for #72 prospect SP Jeff Tolliver.
July 28 – For some reason, New York acquires LF/RF/1B Natsu Nakamura (.178, 0 HR, 1 RBI) from the Bayhawks, parting with 1B Danny Starwalt (.197, 13 HR, 47 RBI), #35 prospect SP Ricky Ochoa, and $1.5M in cash.
July 28 – CHA C/1B Oscar Matos (.293, 19 HR, 68 RBI) will miss six weeks with a quad tear.

FL Player of the Week: DAL OF/1B/3B Dallas Stockton (.281, 11 HR, 54 RBI), batting .407 (11-27) with 3 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week: OCT 2B/SS Jose Palominos (.272, 17 HR, 43 RBI), swinging .429 (12-28) with 2 HR, 4 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Just put the lid on the box and nail it shut, please.

Road trip coming up to Oklahoma City, Elk City, New York City, and Sacramento… City.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons scored 14 runs for the second week in a row.

And in that Crusaders series after the All Star Game, we scored only 7 runs, so that extrapolates to THREE weeks of scoring 14 runs per week.

+++

I played this entire series while waiting for Lando to get disqualified from the Vegas GP. I am tired and emotional. The Coons are not helping.