Portland Raccoons (ABL) - Page 215

DD Martin · 09-25-2023, 11:52 PM

That was a brutal week!

Westheim · 09-26-2023, 02:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DD Martin

That was a brutal week!

Y'know what's brutal? The vintage 1327 iron maiden I am having installed in the clubhouse *right* *now*.

Westheim · 09-28-2023, 12:59 PM

Raccoons (69-74) vs. Loggers (59-83) – September 11-14, 2056

The ship had sunk and there was nothing to win for anymore. Now it was for decency against the Loggers, who were in a 7-7 tie with the Coons for the season series. Their horrendous pitching (most runs allowed in CL) probably wouldn’t help us score any runs either, and their #8 offense would still offer plenty of stumbles for the Raccoons’ on-and-off pitching.

Projected matchups:
Sean Sweeton (12-9, 2.98 ERA) vs. Brad Blankenship (11-9, 3.74 ERA)
He Shui (13-9, 3.87 ERA) vs. Noah Hollis (9-7, 4.19 ERA)
Ryan Wade (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Jamie Kempf (7-10, 4.70 ERA)
Craig Kniep (8-11, 3.55 ERA) vs. Julian Dunn (8-8, 3.55 ERA)

The Raccoons would face only right-handers here. Ryan Wade was inserted into the 6-man rotation for the last few weeks after making his ABL debut in relief.

Game 1
MIL: CF Valenzano – RF Bishton – 1B D. Robles – LF Pigman – 2B E. Miller – 3B Triplett – SS Gaxiola – C M. Torres – P Blankenship
POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 2B Waters – CF Caballero – 1B Ramsay – 3B Venegas – C Fiore – P Sweeton

The Raccoons took a 1-0 lead in the first inning as Lonzo singled, advanced on a groundout by Kirkwood, and was then driven in by Matt Waters. Lonzo and Waters also had base hits their second time up, but then in different innings, and the Raccoons sucked their way onwards while Sean Sweeton pitched a pretty sweet game until he suddenly didn’t. Eric Miller grounded out to begin the fifth inning for Milwaukee, but then the bases filled on a full-count walk, a 3-2 single, and a four-pitch walk, putting Doug Triplett, Robby Gaxiola, and Marvin Torres all on base with one out. Depressingly, Brad Blankenship took himself off the hook with an RBI single, Steve Valenzano doubled in a pair, and Blankenship scored on Ryan Bishton’s groundout. Dave Robles singled home a run, Perry Pigman doubled in another run, and then Sweeton was finally disposed of after giving up five runs in under five innings. The Raccoons thereafter got scoreless relief from Alex Rios, Ricky Herrera, and Colby Bowen to complete nine innings, but their offense had nothing to offer. Lonzo hit a single in the sixth, then a double in the eighth, and both times was stranded in scoring position. The bottom 9th then began with Caballero drawing a leadoff walk and reaching third base on Harry Ramsay’s single. The Loggers went to right-hander Ryan Dow from there, but he walked Venegas to bring the tying run to the dish. Matt Fiore hit an RBI single through the left side, and Pucks pinch-hit for Bowen as the winning run, then drew four balls from Dow and pushed home a run that way. Dow also walked Callaia, which already made it 5-4, and there was still nobody out. The Loggers were scrambling for another reliever, until in quick succession Lonzo hit a comebacker on his first pitch that Dow chucked to home plate for an out on Fiore, Kirkwood popped out, and Waters grounded out to Miller… 5-4 Loggers. Lavorano 4-5, 2B; Waters 2-5, 2B, RBI; Puckeridge (PH) 0-0, BB, RBI; Bowen 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K;

Eight losses in a row.

The Loggers skipped Noah Hollis for reasons best known to them.

Game 2
MIL: CF Valenzano – SS Gaxiola – 1B D. Robles – LF Pigman – 2B E. Miller – 3B Triplett – RF Garmon – C C. Thomas – P Kempf
POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – CF Caballero – 1B Puckeridge – 2B Allred – C Fiore – 3B Anderson – P Shui

Valenzano’s leadoff double gave the Loggers a runner in scoring position right away on Tuesday, and they didn’t wait long to cash him, with Dave Robles singling home the runner with a ball that dropped in front of Kirkwood. Pigman also singled, but Miller and Triplett made outs to end the inning, and the Coons flipped the score in the bottom 1st, which began with doubles to left by Callaia, and right by Lonzo, and continued with Kirkwood’s single that moved Lonzo to third base, from where he scored on the double play Caballero hit into. Shui then fumbled that, as Corey Garmon crammed a triple into the rightfield corner to begin the top 2nd. He popped out Chris Thomas, but gave up the lead on Kempf’s single. He then ****** the bags full, but Robles’ grounder to Ryan Allred turned into a 4-6-3 double play to keep the game from escalating. But Shui continued to be completely off the rolls. Pigman opened the third with a single, then Miller hit a jack to left, 4-2. That made eighth hits in two+ innings off Shui, who soon put Garmon and Thomas on the corners before getting a K from Kempf. Valenzano grounded out, ending the inning with two guys up in the Critters pen…

From there, Shui failed his way into the sixth inning, giving just one more single to Thomas, but was lifted for Lillis to face Gaxiola with two outs in the inning. Lillis got an easy grounder and went on to get four outs on six pitches, which was the kind of efficiency I could get behind. And the lousy home team? They were entirely silent from the third through sixth innings, and Kempf still had a 4-hitter going in the seventh. He got Allred and Fiore out, then walked Richard Anderson. Daniel Espinoza singled for Lillis, and Callaia hit another single to suddenly load the bases for Lonzo, but his soft fly to shallow right was snatched by Garmon on the slide, stranding the bags very much loaded. Caballero and Allred reached against Kempf in the eighth, but the Loggers didn’t bother to change pitchers. There were two outs, and Fiore sure enough grounded out to Robles to end that inning, too. Ryan Dow axed Royer, Waters, and Callaia in order, with strikeouts on the latter two, to put this game away. 4-2 Loggers. Callaia 2-5, 2B; Allred 1-2, 2 BB; Espinoza (PH) 1-1;

Nine losses in a row!

Come on, boys! No half *****, make it a tenner! I DARE YOU.

Game 3
MIL: CF Valenzano – RF Bishton – 1B D. Robles – LF Pigman – 2B E. Miller – 3B Triplett – SS Gaxiola – C M. Torres – P Dunn
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 2B Waters – RF Puckeridge – 3B Brobeck – 1B Ramsay – C M. Chavez – P Wade

More of the same **** the first time through on Wednesday. Lonzo got on, but was caught stealing, and the Raccoons loaded the bases with their 4-5-6 batters and nobody out in the bottom 2nd before Ramsay popped out and Chavez trundled into a 6-4-3 double play. That was about it for offensive heroics for Portland in the early going, while the Loggers limited themselves to one hit and two Coons errors through five innings, not getting even near home plate from the third base side. Ryan Bishton was also caught stealing for the green team. He drew a walk in the sixth inning, but then was doubled up by Robles.

It was still scoreless at the stretch, with Dunn returning afterwards to offer a leadoff walk to Brobeck. Rams was fully expected to hit into a double play, but instead got a doublet of RBI’s with his eighth homer of the year over the rightfield fence. Gaxiola and Torres calmly grounded out to begin the eighth inning against Wade, before Dunn – of all people – hit a single to right. Wade struck out Valenzano, ending the inning. Dunn walked Waters and Pucks in the bottom 8th, but the Coons couldn’t buy a base hit, and the score remained 2-0 for the ninth. And if the Raccoons had still been in contention, Matt Walters would have been in there from the start as Wade drew up against the 2-3-4 batters, the 2-4 of whom were left-handers. But Wade was “only” 95 pitches, the Loggers had looked bad for two hours and small change, and we weren’t playing for anything anymore. Let the kiddo have a go! Bishton grounded out, but Robles hit a jack, which took away the shutout, and also the baseball from Wade. Walters ended the game with two strikeouts. 2-1 Raccoons. Lavorano 2-4; Waters 2-4; Puckeridge 0-1, 3 BB; Ramsay 1-3, HR, 2 RBI; Wade 8.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (1-0);

Not too terrible for a (starting) debut – we’ll let him have a couple more!

Game 4
MIL: CF Valenzano – SS Gaxiola – 1B D. Robles – LF Pigman – 3B Triplett – 2B E. Miller – LF Bishton – C Dye – P R. Alvarado
POR: CF Royer – LF Venegas – RF Caballero – 2B Waters – 1B Puckeridge – 3B Brobeck – SS Espinoza – C M. Chavez – P Kniep

Roberto Alvarado (4-11, 6.37 ERA) was on offer for the final Loggers game of the year, which was also another right-hander, and the Raccoons drew mostly blanks after Venegas and Waters hit singles in the bottom 1st and were left stranded. Kniep struck out five in the first three innings, but was also on his second wild pitch by the fourth, in which Milwaukee went up 1-0 on a Pigman single, a groundout by Triplett, and Eric Miller’s RBI double. Miller reached third on the wild pitch, but was stranded there when Bishton flew out to Venegas, who made a (this year) rare start in leftfield.

Alvarado nicked Waters to begin the bottom 4th, and Waters stole second, which was also a rare event in 2056 – this was only his second stolen base. Pucks walked behind him, Brobeck singled to left, and the bases were loaded with nobody out. We barely got the score even on Espinoza’s double play grounder to Triplett, Marcos Chavez was walked intentionally, and then Kniep popped out to Jonathan Dye. Chavez caught Valenzano stealing in the fifth inning before the Coons took a lead thanks to a leadoff triple over Valenzano’s head, mashed by Steve Royer in the bottom 5th. Venegas’ sac fly to right was good enough to bring him home. Matt Waters did him one better, hitting a ball over the fence with two outs and for a 3-1 lead.

Craig Kniep pitched seven innings of 4-hit ball defending the 3-1 lead before his spot led off the bottom 7th against Alvarado. He was just under 100 pitches, so the Raccoons sent Lonzo, who singled, stole his way to third base, and the bags filled with Royer and Venegas drawing walks off Alvarado and Josh Costello, respectively, behind him, so again we had three on and nobody out. Caballero singled home a pair, but Waters grounded out. Pucks drew another walk, filling the bags again, and Brobeck got an RBI single to center. Costello balked in a run, then conceded another on Espinoza’s sac fly before being yanked for Alan Marshall, who popped up Chavez to end the inning with a 5-spot. That put the game away, and led to a split for the season series. The Loggers couldn’t even rally against Alex Rios and Adam Harris. 8-1 Coons. Venegas 2-2, 2 BB, RBI; Waters 2-3, HR, RBI; Puckeridge 1-2, 2 BB; Brobeck 2-3, BB, RBI; Lavorano (PH) 1-1; Kniep 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (9-11);

Raccoons (71-76) @ Condors (67-79) – September 15-17, 2056

On to another team that was just playing out the string, with the Condors being fifth in the South and a whopping 26 games out. They had won four games in a row, however, so maybe they could get the streak going… The Condors were seventh in runs scored and ninth in runs allowed. We were up 4-2 on them for the year.

Projected matchups:
Seisaku Taki (11-14, 3.51 ERA) vs. Steve Hawkins (11-10, 3.44 ERA)
Kyle Brobeck (6-7, 4.20 ERA) vs. Jay Everett (7-8, 5.30 ERA)
Sean Sweeton (12-10, 3.14 ERA) vs. Miguel Batista (3-4, 2.70 ERA)

Another slate only with right-handed pitchers.

Game 1
POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 2B Waters – CF Puckeridge – 3B Venegas – 1B Ramsay – C Fiore – P Taki
TIJ: 1B Rosenstiel – 2B D. Mercado – RF J. Harmon – LF T. Duncan – C J. Morales – CF Hildebrand – SS N. Fowler – 3B Chapa – P S. Hawkins

In this Friday game, Seisaku Taki made it a bit of a habit to get to two strikes on guys and then not remove them orderly. The Condors scattered five hits in the first four innings, running him to 59 pitches while doing so. The score was 1-1, both runs scoring in the third inning; Gaudencio Callaia doubled home Ramsay to take the lead, but then Luis Chapa hit a leadoff single on a 1-2 pitch, reached third base on Hawkins’ bunt and John Rosenstiel’s grounder, and then was able to score on a passed ball charged to Fiore…

Taki got only more annoying after that. Danny Hildebrand hit a leadoff single on a 2-2 pitch in the bottom 5th. Nick Fowler forced him out, then advanced on Chapa’s groundout. It was a 1-2 pitch that was bludgeoned into the right-center gap for a go-ahead, 2-out RBI double by the pitcher Hawkins, which gave me at least three or four reasons to be mad about that particular hanger. Rosenstiel grounded out again, leaving Hawkins at second base.

Top 7th, leadoff walk drawn by Pucks, which was the first free pass offered by Hawkins, who otherwise had struck out seven so far. Venegas squinted a single into shallow right-center, moving the tying run to second base. Rams hit into an obvious double play and Fiore fanned, so everybody did what they did best once more, and the Raccoons scored no runs for it. Taki hung around until the bottom 7th, which Jerry Morales began with a leadoff single to left, then was lifted for the left-handed bunch at the bottom of the order. Eloy Sencion got two outs, then was lifted for Lane to face the righty pinch-hitter Mario Estrada, who grounded out to Venegas to strand Morales in scoring position. The Condors still got the crucial insurance run against Lane and Fiore in the eighth inning. It was another passed ball (…!) that allowed Craig Sayre to score after hitting a pinch-hit leadoff single off Lane. Then again, lefty Matt Otte didn’t allow anybody in the ninth inning anyway…. 3-1 Condors. Callaia 2-4, 2B, RBI;

Game 2
POR: 1B Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 2B Waters – RF Puckeridge – P Brobeck – 3B Venegas – CF Solorzano – C M. Chavez
TIJ: 1B Rosenstiel – 2B D. Mercado – RF J. Harmon – LF T. Duncan – SS Sheilds – C J. Morales – CF Hildebrand – 3B Chapa – P Everett

Marcos Chavez turned an 0-2, 2-out fastball around and lobbed a ball over Tyrese Sheilds for a 2-run single to give Portland a 2-0 lead in the second inning, with Waters and Venegas scoring, while Solorzano went to second base, as finally somebody on the team got a knock with the bags stacked. Callaia then promptly grounded out, while the Condors got a leadoff triple to right from Tim Duncan in the bottom 2nd, but then Sheilds lined out to Lonzo and Brobeck rung up both Morales and Hildebrand, which stranded the runner on third base. The Coons doubled the score in the third inning with a Lonzo single and stolen base, then a Kirkwood homer to left, 4-0. The inning continued as Waters and Brobeck went to the corners with singles, and then Anton Venegas drilled a ball up the line in left for an RBI double. Solorzano found the gap between Duncan and Hildebrand for another double, and the score ballooned to 7-0. The Raccoons loaded the bases again in the fourth inning against lefty Peter Faulds, who walked Kirkwood and Waters, then gave up a soft single to Pucks with one out in the fourth inning. Brobeck singled home a run, Venegas doubled in two, and the Raccoons suddenly reached double digits… and a new pitcher, as the Condors yanked Faulds for righty Zach Johnson, who gave up a sac fly to Solorzano, then an RBI single to Chavez. Callaia flew out again, somehow managing to be 0-for-4 by the fourth inning of a 12-0 game.

Ironically it was Johnson to get the Condors on the board against Brobeck in the fifth inning, hitting an RBI double to drive home Hildebrand. Brobeck allowed another two hits to John Rosenstiel and Jamie Harmon, but got Duncan out to end the inning with two across and two left in scoring position. Solorzano drove home Pucks for a 13th Coons run in the sixth, but that was also the last inning for Brobeck, who came apart wholly and fully in the bottom of the inning, conceded four hits, a walk, a balk, and three runs before being yoinked from the 13-5 game. Jamie Harmon flew out to Solorzano against Ricky Herrera to end the dismal inning.

The Raccoons lifted a few regulars at the stretch, and the Condors got two more runs off Herrera in the bottom 7th when Luis Chapa knocked a 2-out, 2-run single to plate Sheilds and Morales. Rosenstiel homered off Adam Harris in the eighth, whittling the lead down to five runs, but they would only get one more base runner after that when Tyrese Sheilds hit a single off Tanizaki in the ninth inning. He was stranded at second base, and the Raccoons just missed blowing a 12-run lead. 13-8 Critters. Lavorano 2-4; Kirkwood 2-5, BB, HR, RBI; Puckeridge 2-5, BB; Brobeck 3-4, RBI; Venegas 3-5, 2 2B, 3 RBI; Solorzano 2-2, 2 BB, 2B, 4 RBI; M. Chavez 2-5, 3 RBI;

Game 3
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – RF Caballero – 1B Puckeridge – 2B Allred – 3B Venegas – C Stanton – P Sweeton
TIJ: 1B Rosenstiel – 2B D. Mercado – RF J. Harmon – LF T. Duncan – SS Sheilds – C J. Morales – CF Hildebrand – 3B Chapa – P Batista

Tijuana took a 1-0 lead on hits by Rosenstiel and Duncan in the first inning against Sweeton, but the Raccoons would tie them up again in the third when Matt Stanton hit a leadoff double to center and then scored on Lonzo’s 2-out single. Batista threw a crucial wild pitch after Ryan Allred’s leadoff single in the fifth inning to move the runner into scoring position and Anton Venegas didn’t have to be asked twice and slapped an RBI single to send the Coons up 2-1.

Sweeton then had his fifth-inning explosion right on time. Rosenstiel got on base, there was another wild pitch, Mercado got the RBI knock to tie the game, and Harmon’s 24th bomb gave the Condors a 4-2 lead. He got out of the inning, then three pops in the sixth for a quick inning, but the damage was done, and Batista did not allow a base runner for the rest of his outing in the sixth and seventh innings. Rick Johnson then retired Callaia, Royer, and Lonzo in order in the eighth. Harris and Bravo kept the Condors away in the seventh and eighth, while it was the left-handed Matt Otte and his 5.52 ERA again in the ninth inning. He was up against the meat of the order. Kirkwood grounded out to third. Caballero grounded out to short. Pucks grounded out to second. 4-2 Condors.

In other news

September 11 – Capitals OF Dan Martin (.252, 20 HR, 62 RBI) is out for the year after suffering a torn meniscus.
September 12 – A 3-hit shutout is thrown by NYC SP Ben Seiter (14-7, 3.16 ERA) against the Indians. Seiter strikes out a dozen Indians in the 1-0 walk on the razor’s edge.
September 14 – Blue Sox INF Nick Nye (.351, 10 HR, 39 RBI) puts out five hits, three for extra bases, and drives in two runs in a 10-9 win over the Cyclones.
September 15 – NAS INF Nick Nye (.358, 10 HR, 41 RBI) keeps making good news with a 3-for-4 day and two RBI in a 6-0 win over the Gold Sox. Nye now has a 20-game hitting streak.
September 15 – A single by DAL RF/LF Josh Bursley (.284, 5 HR, 45 RBI) is all the hits the Stars can put together in a 5-0 loss to the Capitals. WAS SP Jesse Bulas (2-4, 6.39 ERA) does however walk seven Dallas batters in lieu of additional base knocks.
September 15 – A torn labrum ends the season for OCT SP Bubba Wolinsky (10-6, 3.65 ERA).

FL Player of the Week: SFW OF Jose Marroquin (.279, 12 HR, 49 RBI), slapping .441 (15-34) with 3 HR, 4 RBI
CL Player of the Week: NYC SP Ben Seiter (15-7, 3.05 ERA) going 2-0 with 17 scoreless innings and 18 K

Complaints and stuff

What’s new – Kennedy Adkins was not expected to pitch in the majors this year, but he has been cleared for baseball activities now and we could just cram him in for a start or two at the tail end of the season.

Apart from that we’re just playing out the string and stuffing our snouts with cookies. We will head home up I-5 now and then start a 9-game homestand with the Thunder, Indians, and Titans on Tuesday. The last weekend of the year will be another trip to New York for three games. And that’s gonna be that.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons and Loggers split their season series at 9-9 for consecutive years.

The odd one in there is that this had never happened before. There had been 13 ties before 2055-56, but none of them in consecutive years. In fact, consecutive 9-9 season series for the Raccoons and one of their division rivals have happened only three times before, never for more than two years, and it also hadn’t happened in a good long while:

1977-1978 Titans
1991-1992 Titans
2000-2001 Indians

I know, I know, I’d also prefer to harp on about how we’re winning and winning and winning.

Westheim · 09-30-2023, 04:57 PM

Raccoons (72-78) vs. Thunder (83-66) – September 19-21, 2056

Despite their good record, the Thunder were done for the year, and there was only the season series left to squabble over. That was tied at three entering play, and the Raccoons had to contend with the #5 offense and #4 pitching in the Continental League. Bubba Wolinsky and Jonathan Ban were on the DL for Oklahoma.

Projected matchups:
He Shui (13-10, 3.95 ERA) vs. Chris Kaye (3-3, 4.26 ERA)
Ryan Wade (1-0, 0.87 ERA) vs. Victor Marquez (7-10, 5.49 ERA)
Craig Kniep (9-11, 3.44 ERA) vs. Mike Zeigler (10-8, 3.64 ERA)

What was going on – not one, but TWO left-handers in one series?? That would be Marquez and Zeigler on Wednesday and Thursday.

Game 1
OCT: SS Almadanim – 3B Soberanes – LF D. Guzman – RF M. Harmon – 1B Worthington – CF Weant – C Korfhage – 2B Amburn – P Kaye
POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – CF Caballero – 1B Puckeridge – 3B Venegas – C Fiore – 2B Anderson – P Shui

Neither team got a base hit the first time through, and Shui was perfect through three innings altogether. He found Richard Anderson on first base in the bottom 3rd, the youngster having drawn a leadoff walk, and bunted him to second, just where he needed to be to score on Gaudencio Callaia’s gap double in right-center, which marked the first run of the game. The Coons left Callaia with two easy fly outs, though, while Hélder Almadanim’s leadoff double to left put the tying run in scoring position in the fourth inning. Ed Soberanes’ grounder and Danny Guzman’s sac fly tied the game, and Mike Harmon hit another double, but Caballero caught a David Worthington drive in deep center to end the inning. But Tim Weant socked another leadoff double in the fifth inning, and he, too, scored on a groundout by Mitch Korfhage and then a sac fly by rookie Daniel Amburn. The Thunder kept scoring with a Danny Guzman single and a Worthington homer in the sixth inning, running the score to 4-1, while the Coons were still limited to Callaia’s RBI double for hits. Callaia also got the second hit for Portland, a leadoff triple in the bottom 6th, but the RBI (sorta) went to Korfhage with a passed ball, before the Raccoons could fail three times to get the runner home from third base.

Shui was pinch-hit for with Matt Waters in the bottom 7th when a 2-out Anderson single meant that Shui came to the plate as the tying run, but Waters popped out. A struggling Mike Lane put runners on the corners in the eighth inning before Brett Lillis jr. came on with two outs to face Weant, was met with righty pinch-hitter Felix Martinez, and struck him out anyway. Lonzo singled off lefty Juan Valencia in the bottom 8th, which let the Thunder change pitchers for righty David Williams, which in turn gave Lonzo ideas and he scooped second base on the first offering to Kirkwood. It was his 50th steal of the season. Kirkwood’s subsequent infield single put the tying runs on the corners with one down, but Caballero popped one up to Ed Soberanes, who managed to drop the ball and kick it into foul ground, allowing Lonzo to dash home and shorten the score to 4-3. New pitcher Eric Barnes restored order, flying Pucks out to center and ringing up Venegas. Reynaldo Bravo whiffed two Thunder in a 1-2-3 ninth, so there was a chance for a comeback in the bottom 9th against Kevin Daley. Royer batted for Fiore, but grounded out. Allred batted for Anderson, but struck out. Ramsay batted for Bravo, but popped out. 4-3 Thunder. Callaia 2-4, 3B, 2B, RBI; Kirkwood 2-4; Anderson 1-2, BB;

I’d be hissing now if the games still mattered and if Maud hadn’t spiked my Capt’n Coma with a seasoning of soothing herbs from the forest.

Wednesday then brought incessant rain, and no game was played or playable. This gave us a double-header on Thursday, and with that came a pitching change from the Thunder, who now sent right-hander Aaron Harris (17-6, 3.11 ERA) into the opener. The Raccoons had enough chaff on the roster – 16 primetime position players plus Kyle Brobeck – to fill two lineups while using only one player twice. That was scheduled to be Oscar Caballero. We also swapped pitchers, with Kniep getting the opener.

Game 2
OCT: C Korfhage – 3B Soberanes – SS London – RF Bagoim – CF Weant – 1B F. Martinez – 2B Almadanim – LF H. Thomas – P A. Harris
POR: RF Callaia – 2B Allred – LF Caballero – 1B Puckeridge – 3B Brobeck – CF Solorzano – SS Espinoza – C Stanton – P Kniep

Don’t adjust your television set – this is still a major league game, even when the Thunder sent no fewer than four functional rookies, all 26 years old. Unsurprisingly, the game was scoreless early on, with Kniep whiffing three and Harris ringing up four batters, respectively, in each pitcher’s first go through the lineup, even though a few singles were scattered.

In the bottom 4th, the Raccoons took to the corners with 1-out singles to center by Pucks and Brobeck, which was the thickest scoring opportunity yet for either team. Solorzano grounded to Mike London at short, but at least legged out Almadanim’s throw to first base, breaking up the double play and allowing Pucks to score the game’s first run. Espinoza singled, but Matt Stanton struck out to end the inning.

Kniep pitched a nice, steady game. The Thunder got only two singles and a leadoff walk drawn by Harley Thomas through six innings, but struck out seven times, and the defense didn’t have to run back to the fences much at all before Felix Martinez sent Solorzano running back to the warning track in the seventh inning. The catch was made, marking the second out of the inning. Almadanim grounded out to complete the inning. Eddie de la Roca batted for Harris in the eighth inning, hit a 1-out single to center, but was then doubled up by Korfhage, 6-4-3. The Coons loaded the bases in the bottom 8th with David Williams walking Caballero, Puckeridge reaching on an error by Almadanim, and then Solorzano singled to center. Lonzo and Kirkwood pinch-hit in the 7-8 spots, but both made meek outs and nobody scored. The Coons stuck to Kniep in the ninth inning. It was a 1-0 game, the 2-3-4 batters were up, and Kniep was 96 pitches. Soberanes flew out to center. Worthington flew out to Caballero. Raimundo Bagoim singled through the right side. Raimundo who? Kniep was STILL in the game, tried to pick off Bagoim twice, then got Tim Weant to 1-2… and then hung one and had it blotched over the fence in right. Maud. Maud? I don’t feel my left arm anymore. Is that … reason for concern? Bravo struck out Martinez to end the inning, but the Raccoons remained no match for Kevin Daley in the bottom of the ninth. 2-1 Thunder. Callaia 3-5; Brobeck 3-4; Kniep 8.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, L (9-12);

(between games, finds Kniep sobbing into a towel in the clubhouse)

Well, kid. If that helps you anything, you made me feel even worse than you do now! (pats pitcher on head and waggles onwards)

Game 3
OCT: SS Almadanim – 3B Soberanes – LF D. Guzman – RF M. Harmon – 1B Worthington – CF Weant – C M. Castillo – 2B Amburn – P V. Marquez
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – RF Caballero – 2B Waters – 3B Venegas – C M. Chavez – 1B Ramsay – P Wade

Almadanim’s leadoff double, a balk, and Soberanes’ groundout gave the Thunder a really quick 1-0 lead, but the Raccoons flipped the tables on them in the bottom of the second, where Waters reached on an error, Venegas walked, and then Marcos Chavez uncorked one of those long homers that briefly made him a darling during the Elks games in July when he smashed a 3-run homer to left-center. Rams, Royer, and Lonzo would also all reach base to put a fourth run together before Kirkwood popped out to Soberanes; the RBI went to Lonzo with a single. After Wade walked Marquez to begin the third inning and managed to not have this blossom into a whole thing, the Coons had Caballero, Waters, and Chavez filling the bases with one down in the bottom 3rd. Rams hit a sac fly to left, Danny Guzman hurt himself on the throw to the plate, and Harley Thomas took his plays afterwards. Wade grounded out, then allowed a single to Thomas, a homer to Harmon, and two more singles to Manny Castillo and Daniel Amburn to put the tying runs on the corners in the fourth inning. PH Eddie de la Roca grounded out to Lonzo to finally end that inning…

Bottom 4th, Royer reached on an error by Mike Harmon before Lonzo singled off lefty Pedro Mendoza. The two pulled off a double steal, but only Royer scored on Kirkwood’s groundout while Lonzo was stranded at third base after three more long at-bats with the 4-5-6 batters – Waters walked, but the other two made sucky outs. Wade got through five innings, but took 95 pitches, and was thus batted for in the bottom 5th. Eloy Sencion had a trying sixth, but didn’t allow a run, and Alex Rios retired the Thunder in order in the seventh, then added a K on Harley Thomas to begin the eighth. Ricky Herrera got two more outs after a walk to Harmon, while the Coons were silent until they loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom 8th against Eric Barnes. Ramsay singled, but was forced out by Callaia. Royer singled. Kirkwood walked. Caballero batted with two outs, popped out, and that gave Matt Walters a save chance. He retired the Thunder in order. 6-3 Raccoons. Royer 2-5; Lavorano 2-5, RBI; Ramsay 3-3, RBI;

Raccoons (73-80) vs. Indians (61-91) – September 22-24, 2056

The string continued with three more against the Indians, who would be way closer to 100 losses if the Raccoons hadn’t flubbed eight of fifteen games so far played to them. Fewest runs scored, second-most runs allowed, -170 run differential, and yes, this team led the division for a substantial part of the 2055 season…!?

Projected matchups:
Seisaku Taki (11-15, 3.50 ERA) vs. Tan Brink (11-14, 4.42 ERA)
Kennedy Adkins (0-0) vs. Joe Bunch (3-11, 4.15 ERA)
Sean Sweeton (12-11, 3.23 ERA) vs. Shane Fitzgibbon (3-3, 2.93 ERA)

Southpaw Sunday! Maybe – they had been off on Thursday and had 78 pitchers on the roster. They had another 25 on the DL, including Juan Vasquez, Jeremy Fetta, and Enrique Ortiz, along with position players Will McIntyre and Juan Llampallas.

The Raccoons also revived Kennedy Adkins from the dead. Adkins, the 2055 CL Pitcher of the Year, had been on the shelf for just over 12 months after elbow ligament surgery, had returned to service too late to have an outing in AAA before that season ended, but maybe we could get five outta him here and once again next week. Kyle Brobeck would be in the lineup on Saturday and would potentially follow Adkins for multiple innings later on.

Game 1
IND: 2B Ewers – SS Bahena – 1B B. Quinteros – 3B A. Rios – CF Briggs – C Mi. Gilmore – LF Abel – RF Lovins – P Brink
POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 2B Waters – 1B Puckeridge – 3B Venegas – CF Solorzano – C M. Chavez – P Taki

Singles by Waters and Pucks, then a walk to Venegas – the Coons had the bases loaded with nobody out in the bottom 2nd, and I was embracing the choke before it even happened. Solorzano lined out to Kevin Ewers, Marcos Chavez hit into a double play, and nobody scored, and they didn’t even clear the ******* pitcher’s spot. In the fourth, a Kirkwood single to left and a Pucks double to right put a pair in scoring position, then with one gone. Brink got to 1-2 on Venegas, but then gave up a clean RBI single through the right side, although Chris Lovins’ arm kept Pucks at third base. Solorzano doubled to center to get Pucks home, 2-0, and the Arrowheads walked Chavez with intent. The three runners would then score on Taki’s sac fly, a wild pitch, and Lonzo’s 2-out RBI single, respectively, Callaia drawing a walk in between, and that was all for Brink, who couldn’t get out of the 5-run inning. Matt Green got a groundout from Kirkwood to do so.

Taki started strong, but came apart even stronger. The Indians put a pair on base in the fifth, but stranded them, but the sixth was one big fireworks show and ended with Taki yanked after allowing four runs. Bill Quinteros, Antonio Rios, and Chris Briggs all hit singles; Briggs drove in a run, Taki plated Rios with a wild pitch, then walked Mike Gilmore. Kevin Abel’s groundout brought home Briggs, and then Chris Lovins doubled home Abel. Eloy Sencion came in for PH Cory Oldfield and struck him out to get out of the damn inning. Bill Quinteros then tied the game with a jack off Tanizaki in the seventh…

Lonzo’s leadoff single against Tony Martinez in the bottom 7th led nowhere nice for a lack of support, while Gilmore and Abel singled off Ricky Herrera in the eighth inning. Again the Coons brought a new pitcher for a pinch-hitter in the #9 hole, and Lane struck out Mario Coto to move on. What we needed was a big homer – thankfully Marcos Chavez batted in the bottom 8th with two out and the bags empty against Bill Dewan. He smashed a homer to dead center to break the tie! It was just in time to get Walters in for another save chance, and the Indians sent up Kevin Price, Bernie Bahena, and Bill Quinteros, and Walters blasted all of them with three strikeouts …! 6-5 Raccoons. Lavorano 2-4, RBI; Puckeridge 2-4, 2B;

This Friday the Titans were eliminated mathematically from postseason contention, but the Coons could be done as soon as Saturday with their magic number down to one behind the Crusaders and Elks, who were tied for first place after Friday.

Game 2
IND: 2B Ewers – SS Bahena – 3B A. Rios – 1B B. Quinteros – RF Briggs – C Mi. Gilmore – CF Oldfield – LF J. Garza – P Bunch
POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 2B Waters – 1B Puckeridge – 3B Brobeck – CF Royer – C M. Chavez – P Adkins

Ewers doubled to start the game and scored on Rios’ single. Briggs also singled, but Adkins struck out Mike Gilmore to end the shaky inning. Jose Garza shot a triple through Pucks and then scored on another Ewers double in the second inning and I started to make whining noises even while Adkins logged three strikeouts in the inning. The Indians would score a third run two innings later; Oldfield drew a leadoff walk, Adkins threw a wild pitch, and Bunch hit a sac fly on an 0-2 pitch… Adkins got through five innings, but it certainly wasn’t pretty to look at.

Worse: the Coons. Bunch had a 2-hitter going through five innings, and it didn’t get much better after that. Adam Harris and Alex Rios put up scoreless innings for the Coons in the sixth and seventh before we went to Kyle Brobeck, asking for the last two frames, but all that got us was more splinters in the snout when the Indians rapped him for three hits, including RBI doubles by the 7-8 batters in the eighth inning. Ewers added a leadoff triple in the ninth, and Bernie Bahena got the run in with a groundout. Rios then singled, and Brobeck was kicked off the hill. Lillis had to get the last two outs, while Bunch had run out of gas by the eighth. The Indians pen did complete a 4-hit shutout, though. 6-0 Indians. Waters 2-3, BB, 2B;

Yuck.

Also: eliminated, despite both Elks and Crusaders losing.

Game 3
IND: 2B Ewers – SS Bahena – 1B B. Quinteros – 3B A. Rios – LF J. Garza – CF Briggs – C Keels – RF Abel – P Fitzgibbon
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – RF Caballero – 2B Waters – 1B Callaia – 3B Venegas – C M. Chavez – P Sweeton

Steve Royer was the Coons’ first two base runners, drawing a walk in the bottom 1st before being caught stealing, and then singling in the fourth, after which Lonzo hit into a double play. The game was still scoreless, with Sweeton having scattered three hits and a walk while also getting a double play and a runner thrown out stealing by his own defense, but the Raccoons developed another scoring opportunity in the inning when Kirkwood singled to left and Caballero walked with two outs. Waters whiffed, and that was that.

The Indians went up 1-0 in the sixth. Bahena singled, Quinteros walked, and the two pulled off a double steal with one out before Rios’ fly to center was just deep enough to allow Bahena to dazzle home on the sac fly. Jose Garza grounded out to leave Quinteros stranded. That at least didn’t turn into an L on Sweeton, who was pitching nicely enough, although it took the Coons seven innings to get a run across. Fitzgibbon walked Kirkwood to begin the bottom 7th, and then Caballero drove a ball into the right-center gap, where it went all the way to the fence for an RBI triple…! Moreover, the Coons even took the lead! Waters was walked intentionally, Callaia struck out, but Anton Venegas singled through the left side for a 2-1 lead. Chavez added an RBI single to center. Sweeton, who was on 81 pitches, swung away despite hitting .095 for the year, and singled to left, narrowly missing a jumping Bahena’s glove. That filled the bags and led to Fitzgibbon’s removal. Royer hit a sac fly off Adam Haller, but Lonzo grounded out to end the inning.

Sweeton had a 1-2-3 eighth, while Kirkwood had his 20th homer of the year, a leadoff jack in the bottom 8th to extend the gap to four runs. Caballero then singled and was caught stealing, and Waters singled and was hit by Callaia’s grounder to the right side, so that was another out made on the base paths. Pucks’ pinch-hit single made it runners on the corners, but Ryan Allred flew out in Chavez’ spot, leaving the runners on. Sweeton returned for the ninth inning against the 3-4-5 batters, coming back on 92 pitches. Quinteros grounded out and Rios popped out, both to Lonzo and both on 0-2 pitches. If anything was bickerworthy about Sweeton’s outing, it was a distinct lack of strike threes, of which he only had a pair. But Garza grounded out to short at 0-1, and that was the ballgame. 5-1 Critters. Kirkwood 2-3, BB, HR, RBI; Caballero 2-3, BB, 3B, RBI; Puckeridge (PH) 1-1; Sweeton 9.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, W (13-11) and 1-3;

In other news

September 18 – The Buffaloes and Wolves go to extra innings tied at two before the Buffos somewhat break the game open with a 7-run tenth inning for a 9-2 win.
September 19 – The Warriors hand the Rebels one of the worst drubbings in league history, brutalizing them 28-8. The Warriors have three separate innings of seven or eight runs, and five different Rebels pitchers are each bludgeoned for four or more runs allowed after RIC SP Larry Broad (10-12, 4.75 ERA) doesn’t make it out of the first inning without giving up eight earned runs. SFW OF Jose Marroquin (.281, 14 HR, 56 RBI) drives in seven runs from the leadoff spot.
September 20 – The estimated recovery time for BOS OF/1B Hector Weir (.291, 8 HR, 62 RBI) is nine months after the 22-year-old tears several ligaments in his knee.
September 20 – BOS SP Kodai Koga (12-14, 3.08 ERA) throws a 3-hit shutout against his former team, the Knights, for a 1-0 win. The sole offense is a home run by BOS C Jorge Ortiz (.244, 12 HR, 48 RBI).
September 20 – The Loggers and Aces play 16 innings of a meaningless game before Milwaukee prevails, 6-5.
September 20 – The Cyclones and Stars do them one better, with Cincy beating Dallas 5-4 in 17 innings in an equally irrelevant contest.
September 22 – NAS INF Nick Nye (.357, 11 HR, 43 RBI) goes to a 25-game hitting streak with a first-inning single in the Sox’ 11-3 win over the Miners.
September 23 – BOS OF/1B Israel Santiago (.330, 2 HR, 16 RBI) misses the cycle by the single in his 3-hit, 5-RBI effort to beat the Crusaders, 12-2.

FL Player of the Week: DEN 2B/3B Ivan Villa (.285, 27 HR, 118 RBI), swatting .476 (10-21) with 2 HR, 10 RBI
CL Player of the Week: VAN CF Damian Moreno (.286, 14 HR, 75 RBI), clipping .348 (8-23) with 3 HR, 9 RBI

Complaints and stuff

I’d want to give Brobeck another start next week, but we only have six games, and so far I don’t see which of the six guys that went out this week would get dropped. Both Adkins and Wade should go back out there for a few more innings of mere data. Taki, Sweeton, and Kniep are all puttering along nice enough. If anything it would be He Shui to get dropped. But why drop Shui for Brobeck…?

Maud? – Maud? – Can you call the league office whether we can get another game against the Loggers or something? – Because I have my knickers in a twist and can’t make my mind up about something.

On the other paw, Taki and Sweeton made their 32 expected starts, and Taki already had piled up 15 losses, which I felt was enough…

Adriano Chavez will rejoin the team for the last week, coming off the DL on Monday.

Titans and Crusaders is all that’s left. So we might have a paw in deciding the division after all.

Fun Fact: The last time the Raccoons won only one season series against their division rivals was in 2040.

Back then we beat the Indians 12-6, and the rest was rather dismal, including going 3-15 against the DAMN ELKS.

This year we’re a skinny 10-8 against those damn Elks, and the rest is a pair of 9-9’s against the Indians and Loggers, who are bringing up the rear of the division, and while we have three games each left against the Crusaders and Titans, we’ve already lost both of those season series, 5-10 and 4-11, respectively.

And in 2040, we even had a winning season! 84-78, so nothing special, but the best the Coons can still put out this year is .500 …

Westheim · 10-01-2023, 02:06 PM

Raccoons (75-81) vs. Titans (74-82) – September 25-27, 2056

Last home games of the season – the Raccoons would host the Titans, who had already run away with the season series at 11-4, but overall had an offense just as crummy as the Critters’, scoring the third-fewest runs in the league, while giving up the fifth-fewest, with a -34 run differential (Coons: +4). They also arrived without a bunch of players like Hector Weir, Sam Witherspoon, Ryan Musgrave, and Adam Gardner, who were all injured at the end of the season.

Projected matchups:
He Shui (13-11, 3.99 ERA) vs. Kodai Koga (12-14, 3.08 ERA)
Craig Kniep (9-12, 3.37 ERA) vs. Bobby Callejas (3-0, 3.14 ERA)
Ryan Wade (2-0, 2.35 ERA) vs. Kenneth Spencer (14-11, 3.15 ERA)

We’d have one more meeting with former Raccoons farmhand Kenneth Spencer, the only left-hander in sight. It was the fifth time this year he came up against us, Boston going 3-1 in those games.

Game 1
BOS: CF Torrence – LF Ma. Gilmore – RF Whitlow – 2B Sowell – C J. Ortiz – 3B Garris – 1B I. Santiago – SS M. Navarro – P Koga
POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 2B Waters – 3B Venegas – 1B Ramsay – CF Solorzano – C Fiore – P Shui

Shui in his last outing of the year (barring a 21-inning rocker on Sunday in which we’d go through each and everybody) struck out five Titans in the first three innings, but also managed to concede an unearned run in the third inning on singles by Koga and Ethan Torrence and a fielding error by Gaudencio Callaia in rightfield that gave Koga an extra base to begin the inning. Matt Gilmore’s sac fly made it 1-0 Boston in the game. The Coons made up the deficit in the bottom 3rd, though. Carlos Solorzano hit a leadoff single of the soft kind, and was still on first base with one out and an 0-2 count to Shui, who couldn’t get a bunt down. At that point, Solorzano just went for it, and stole second base while Shui struck out. Callaia’s single to left-center then scored him to tie the game.

Offense was at a glacial pace in the middle innings. Solorzano hit another single, and the Raccoons got Callaia on in the sixth, but Lonzo flew out and Kirkwood put a 3-0 pitch and stuffed it into a 6-4-3 double play. Instead, Boston went up in the seventh with a leadoff single by Jorge Ortiz, a wild pitch by Shui, and eventually an RBI single for Israel Santiago before Mario Navarro and Kodai Koga both whiffed, which gave Shui ten strikeouts on the day, and yet a pretty hook to dangle from. Bottom 7th, Waters hit a leadoff single up the middle and Venegas drew a walk from Koga. Ramsay hit into a fielder’s choice to get Venegas removed from the bases. Solorzano tied the game with a sac fly, and then Matt Fiore stunningly untied the game when he socked a home run to right. Shui went eight innings on 106 pitches, and the Raccoons tacked on a run in the bottom 8th when Callaia reached base and then with two outs was singled home when Ryan Allred batted for Matt Waters, while Matt Walters got the save opportunity in the ninth and struck out two while retiring three in a row. 5-2 Critters. Callaia 1-2, 2 BB, RBI; Allred (PH) 1-1, RBI; Solorzano 2-2, RBI; Shui 8.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 10 K, W (14-11);

Game 2
BOS: CF Torrence – 1B I. Santiago – RF Whitlow – C Burkart – 2B Sowell – LF Ma. Gilmore – SS M. Navarro – 3B Ro. Jimenez – P Callejas
POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 2B Waters – CF Caballero – 1B Ramsay – C M. Chavez – 3B Anderson – P Kniep

Kniep had a rather dismal final outing, aiming for ten wins in all the wrong ways. He nailed Torrence to begin the game, then walked Santiago (although Torrence had already stolen second base). Eric Whitlow gave Boston a 1-0 lead with a single, and Matt Gilmore doubled home two more runs with two down before Navarro finally grounded out. Kniep went on to walk a pair and give up another run on a 2-out single by Whitlow in the second inning, and while he would go on to pitch another three scoreless innings after that, the damage had been done. The Raccoons had three base hits before he got his token pat on the bum, one of which was a solo homer by Matt Waters, and that was the only tangible thing on the board for them. Daniel Espinoza pinch-hit for Kniep in the bottom 5th with Rams on third base after a leadoff single and two outs, but popped out to Rocky Jimenez in foul ground.

Rocky Jimenez, who entered the game with ONE at-bat on the season, then took Colby Bowen deep to left in the sixth inning, extending the Titans’ lead to 5-1. Matt Waters meanwhile tried to reach .300 for his injury-riddled season with a single to begin the bottom 7th, which lifted him to .299, but then was also had his old bones picked off first base. Boston added a run in the eighth with three singles off Ricky Herrera, which was matched in the bottom 8th with a Pucks double and Callaia RBI single, which in turn kept the Coons in slam range – yay. They remained in slam range to the very end without hitting a slam. 6-2 Titans. Callaia 2-4, RBI; Waters 2-4, HR, RBI; Ramsay 1-2, 2 BB; Puckeridge (PH) 1-1, 2B;

Game 3
BOS: CF Torrence – 1B I. Santiago – RF Whitlow – C J. Ortiz – 3B Garris – LF Y. Valdez – 2B W. de Leon – SS M. Navarro – P Spencer
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – RF Caballero – 2B Waters – 3B Venegas – 1B Puckeridge – C M. Chavez – P Wade

The annoying Titans began the rubber game with not one, but TWO infield singles against Ryan Wade, who quickly drowned. Two outs in, he walked Josh Garris, then served up a bases-clearing double to Yoslan Valdez. However – the Coons got the three runs right back. Royer and Lonzo hit clean singles, and Caballero and Waters hit gap doubles, driving in two and one run(s) respectively. Wade was outta whack, though; he offered a leadoff walk to Navarro in the top 2nd, then flung away Spencer’s bunt for two bases. Torrence and Santiago made soggy outs without getting the go-ahead run home, but then Whitlow drew another walk. Jorge Ortiz flew out to Royer, ending the inning, but the Coons pen began to whirr while the bottom 2nd was in progress.

Portland took the lead in that bottom 2nd, with Marcos Chavez drawing a leadoff walk before being forced out on a bad bunt by Wade. Royer advanced Wade to second, and then Lonzo hit another 403-foot belter to go up 5-3. Wade tried to get away with the W here by going five, but was yanked after two more messy frames when he made if five messy frames by starting the top 5th with singles to right allowed to Ortiz and Garris. This time the Coons pulled the plug, and the entire construction collapsed with great noise all at once. Eloy Sencion replaced Wade, walked Valdez, gave up a sac fly to Willie de Leon, and then surrendered three straight hits for another three runs on the board. Tanizaki then inherited runners on second and third, one out, and a 7-5 deficit. He got a soggy groundout from Israel Santiago, then nailed Whitlow. Ortiz struck out, however, stranding three. Bottom 5th, the tying runs were on the corners quickly with a Kirkwood double, a Caballero single, and nobody out. Waters singled home a run, but Venegas blundered into a double play and Pucks also grounded out against right-hander Dave Parra. After a calm sixth, the game went finally out the window for good in the seventh with Reynaldo Bravo, who was ****, then made another throwing error, and finally crowned his two hits and one walk already allowed by serving up a 3-run homer to Josh Garris. Four of the five runs allowed in the inning were unearned, which was such a consolation. 12-6 Titans. Royer 2-5; Lavorano 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Kirkwood 2-5, 2B; Caballero 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Waters 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Venegas 2-4;

They’re hard to watch, let put it that way…

The Crusaders and Elks were having a deathmatch all the while, and the New Yorkers, who’d host the Raccoons on the weekend, won two of the first three games to draw even with Elk City atop the North.

Unfortunately, the damn Elks prevailed for a 6-5 win on Thursday, our off day, and so maintained a 1-game lead into the final weekend.

Raccoons (76-83) @ Crusaders (84-75) – September 29-October 1, 2056

These games would matter much more for the Crusaders, who had a 10-5 edge in the season series and hoped a lot to build on that. They were second in runs scored and seventh in runs allowed, with a +82 run differential.

Projected matchups:
Kennedy Adkins (0-1, 5.40 ERA) vs. Jose Ortega (14-7, 3.39 ERA)
Sean Sweeton (13-11, 3.13 ERA) vs. Joel Luera (8-8, 3.90 ERA)
Kyle Brobeck (7-7, 4.58 ERA) vs. Ben Seiter (16-7, 2.92 ERA)

Nothing but right-handers to see here. The Raccoons indeed parked Taki for the year, because 15 losses were enough.

Game 1
POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 2B Waters – CF Caballero – 1B Puckeridge – 3B Espinoza – C Fiore – P Adkins
NYC: CF O. Sanchez – SS Z. Suggs – 1B Buss – RF C. Williams – C Seidman – LF Standard – 2B E. Stevens – 3B Adame – P J. Ortega

Singles by the 1-2 batters and a well-placed groundout by Matt Waters got home a Coons run in the first inning, while Adkins totally spread calmness and serenity to everybody involved by walking the first two batters he faced. Omar Sanchez – the CL stolen base champ-to-be with 62 bases to Lonzo’s 53 entering play – was caught stealing, though, and Jeff Buss hit a comebacker for a 1-6-3 double play, so the Crusaders bowled themselves out in the opening inning. The second was uneventful, while the bottom 3rd made me wish myself to Monday. After Erik Stevens grounded out, Adkins walked Alex Adame. Jose Ortega reached on an error by Espinoza, after which Sanchez doubled home the tying run. Zach Suggs singled home a pair, 3-1 New York, and then Buss reached… on another error by Daniel Espinoza, the dismal dolt. Adkins somehow wiggled out of the inning after that, but not without also walking Mike Seidman, and only emerging after having thrown just shy of SIX MILLION PITCHES.

Adkins and Lonzo hit singles in the fifth inning but were stranded when Kirkwood lined out to a rushing Jeff Standard to end the inning. Adkins headed into the bottom 5th on 67 pitches, and this would probably be his last inning of the game and season. Omar Sanchez singled his way on, was caught stealing again (snicker!), and the whole thing took 16 more offerings. By the sixth, Mike Lane was in the game, and Alex Rios did the seventh.

Top 8th, Lonzo singled off Ortega to get going, then scooped second base for the second time on the day, getting his stolen base total to 55 while Sanchez was 0-for-2. Hah-hah! The Raccoons’ 3-4-5 also failed to advance Lonzo a single inch from second base, so the whole thing with who laughs last and so on… At that time the Elks were losing to the Indians by a slam, so the New Yorkers were looking at a tied race with two games to play. They failed to tack on against Reynaldo Bravo, one of the seven very tack-on-able players on the Raccoons roster, then sent righty Ryan Sullivan out for the ninth in the 3-1 game. Pucks whiffed, but Adriano Chavez singled and Matt Fiore walked to put the tying runs on base. Ryan Allred pinch-hit for Bravo, grounded to short, and Zach Suggs fudged the play, which sure sugged for New York. Callaia singled home a run with a clean zipper to left, narrowing the score to 3-2, but Lonzo fanned. Kirkwood with two outs fell to two strikes, then hit a ball to deep center. But the park cheered, because Carlos Mata was ambling under it, made the catch, and the Crusaders were now even with the Elks. 3-2 Crusaders. Callaia 2-4, BB, RBI; Lavorano 3-5;

Joe Bunch (5-11, 3.73 ERA) and two relievers held the Elks to three hits in a 4-0 loss to Indy.

The Crusaders went straight to Ben Seiter for the Saturday game.

Game 2
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 2B Waters – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – 3B Venegas – C M. Chavez – P Sweeton
NYC: 2B O. Sanchez – SS Z. Suggs – 1B Sevilla – RF Buss – CF Pfeifer – C Seidman – LF S. Moore – 3B Adame – P Seiter

Sanchez drew a leadoff walk in the first, stole second base, then was thrown out trying to nip third as well, which wasn’t really helping the Crusaders with their postseason quest overall. Instead, singles by Waters and Venegas in the second inning gave Portland the 1-0 lead (not that we didn’t know how to blow one…).

Sweeton faced the minimum the first time through the lineup and hit a single for himself in the third inning, but was stranded on first base because Coons being Coons. The bottom 4th then saw him put Sanchez on base again with another damn walk. He scored the tying run on Suggs’ grounder and a Raul Sevilla single, the first hit for New York in the game, and then Mike Pfeider and Mike Seidman rapped out two more hits with two down to take a 2-1 lead. Chris Kirkwood also hurt himself on a defensive play and was replaced with Gaudencio Callaia. Pucks moved to leftfield and snatched Scott Moore’s liner to end the bottom of the fourth inning, now with New York ahead by one run, but the Elks were leading by three at the same time.

New York caught up with them in the bottom 5th. Sanchez singled with two outs, stole second (grumble grumble) and then came home at a leisurely pace when Zach Suggs parked his 20th homer of the year in the leftfield stands. Sweeton faced another three batters without getting out of the ******* inning, leaving a single, two walks, and the bases loaded to Tanizaki against Seidman, who hit a ******* infield single to bring in another run before Moore grounded out to second base.

The R in Raccoons didn’t seem to stand for Rally, because none took place. Seiter ran a 3-hitter into the eighth inning before Solorzano came close to a pinch-hit homer, but was denied by Mike Pfeifer making a leap and a grab at the fence. Also, the crowd was getting giddier – while this game was in the eighth, the Indians took a 4-3 lead on the damn Elks in the seventh in Indianapolis.

Seiter was still in the game in the ninth, which Lonzo opened with a single to center. He was forced out by Callaia, and Waters popped out to Sanchez. Pucks singled, and that was the end for Seiter, who departed to a great hand. Ryan Sullivan would face Rams, got a 2-2 grounder to short, and that was the ballgame. 5-1 Crusaders.

Blech.

Unfortunately for New York, the Indians crashed and burned in the eighth inning, and the Elks scored five for an 8-4 win, so the top two remained tightly tied ahead of Sunday’s nominal season finale.

Chris Kirkwood was not available for the finale with a mild case of shoulder inflammation that would have cost him the playoffs anyway. Good thing we sucked our way to fourth place and spared ourselves that agony then!

Game 3
POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Caballero – CF Puckeridge – P Brobeck – 1B Ramsay – 2B Allred – 3B A. Chavez – C Stanton
NYC: 2B O. Sanchez – SS Z. Suggs – 1B Sevilla – RF Buss – LF S. Moore – C Seidman – 3B Adame – CF C. Mata – P Luera

New York stranded a pair in the first, Portland stranded a pair in the second, and the ice was broken in the third with a homer to left-center by… Zach Suggs, which made it 1-0 Crusaders. Caballero’s deep fly to right to begin the fourth was caught by Buss, but Pucks then hit a 1-out single, moved up on Brobeck’s groundout, and scored when Ramsay dropped in a 2-out single, tying the game again. For a bit there, both battles for the division crown were tied at one, but then the Indians pulled ahead in their own bottom of the third inning, 2-1.

The Crusaders were in trouble, though. Adriano Chavez led off the fifth inning with a single. Stanton grounded out, but Luera then walked the bags full with Callaia and Lonzo. Caballero struck out, however, while the count with Pucks ran full, and then Luera buried a ball in the dirt to walk in the go-ahead run for the Critters. Brobeck popped out foul to strand a full set of runners. Luera offered two more walks to Allred and Chavez in the sixth inning, then was disposed of for Willie Santiago. The new righty got Stanton to fly out and Callaia to roll over to Suggs, ending the inning.

Omar Sanchez got the Crusaders back into a tie in the bottom 6th in front of an agonizing fanbase. He singled off Brobeck to begin the inning, stole second, then scored on groundouts by Suggs and Sevilla. It was no surge, but it was at least a tie for them now, 2-2. Brobeck walked Buss, but then got Moore out on a pop, and Seidman grounded out to begin the bottom 7th before Mike Pfeifer batted for Adame, and the Raccoons got a lefty of their own to counter. Ricky Herrera gave up two singles to Pfeifer and Mata, then a double steal while facing switch-hitter Chad Williams, but Williams’ grounder to third base kept the runners pinned and Chavez made the play for the second out of the inning. Sanchez popped out, and the chance was perdu.

At that point the Indians led the Elks by three runs. The Crusaders just had to get over the hump. Instead, they went to left-hander Ben Lussier, with his ERA near six, who put Rams and Allred on to start the eighth inning. Chavez grounded out, Stanton struck out. For the Coons, Matt Waters then pinch-hit for Callaia, who was a left-handed batter and 0-3 in the game. The Crusaders turned down the invitation, walked Waters intentionally, and instead would try their luck with Lonzo. Lonzo grounded out to short, and the Raccoons frittered away another three runners. Mike Lane turned away New York 1-2-3 in the bottom 8th. Indy was now up by four in the eighth inning. The Crusaders needed just ONE run to get to the playoffs.

Pucks ALMOST hit a homer off Alex Mancilla in the ninth inning, but the ball was caught on the warning track, and Mancilla had a 1-2-3 inning. Looking at Moore, the Coons sent Lillis into the bottom 9th, but the Crusaders used Erik Stevens to pinch-hit just as the game in Indy went final as an Elks loss. Lillis struck out Stevens, then was removed for Tanizaki anyway. Seidman responded with a 1-out single, but Jose Ortiz and Mamoru Makino made outs and the game went to extras.

Mancilla had a 1-2-3 tenth inning while the cameras kept panning over fans biting into their fists in the stands, or the occasional kiddo crying. The Raccoons were running out of qualified pitching, though. Tanizaki stayed in to begin the bottom 10th against right-handed Darrell Wagner, who reached base when Rams fudged his grounder to first base for an error. Sanchez bunted him to second base. Tanizaki *drilled* Suggs. The Coons went to Eloy Sencion against the switch-hitting Sevilla, who was then hit for with the charred remains of Nate Culp, batting all of .220 as bench-warmer deluxe. Sencion walked him in a full count, resulting in full bases, and another right-handed pinch-hitter, Justin Reese, hitting .307 in just 75 at-bats. At this point, though, we trusted Sencion more than whatever right-handed scum was left in the pen. Mound conference – then a strike, and then a fly to center. Solorzano made the catch coming in, Wagner went for the plate – and unlike Keith Ayers some 40 years ago, he was safe at home. 3-2 Crusaders. Ramsay 3-5, 2B, RBI;

In other news

September 25 – ATL SP Bruce Mark jr. (12-4, 3.28 ERA) throws a 2-hit shutout against the Thunder for a 5-0 win, striking out eight batters.
September 25 – The Wolves sock it to the Stars in a 19-8 scorefest, with nine runs in the second inning alone to reject the Stars’ 6-spot in the bottom of the first inning.
September 26 – A 3-hit shutout is thrown by DEN SP Nick Robinson (16-9, 3.51 ERA) as he beats the Scorpions, 7-0.
September 26 – The first-place Miners lose SP Jose Arias (12-6, 4.11 ERA) to a torn triceps. He’s out for the year and questionable for Opening Day.
September 26 – The Miners beat the Capitals, 7-6 in 17 innings, after rallying for four runs to tie the game in the ninth inning to begin with.
September 27 – Nashville’s Nick Nye (.359, 11 HR, 45 RBI) extends his hitting streak to 30 games with two RBI singles in a 5-3 loss to the Rebels.
September 27 – The first career home run by SAC SS Javy Garcia (.389, 1 HR, 5 RBI) is an 11th-inning walkoff grand slam to down the Gold Sox, 5-1.
September 28 – The hitting streak of NAS INF Nick Nye (.355, 11 HR, 45 RBI) ends at 30 games after the Rebels put him out in the cold in a 7-3 win over the Blue Sox.
September 30 – The Pacifics clinch the FL West with a 5-3 win over the Wolves.
September 30 – The Falcons, who clinched the CL South two days earlier, will be without INF/RF Travis Edwards (.194, 7 HR, 50 RBI) in the postseason. The 25-year-old was out with a torn back muscle; how much his bat would be missed was anybody’s guess.
October 1 – The Miners beat the Rebels, 5-3, in a win-or-go-home, last-day battle for the FL East title.

FL Hitter of the Month: SFW OF Jose Marroquin (.285, 19 HR, 70 RBI), blasting .313 with 12 HR, 32 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: SFB 1B Pat Fowler (.274, 16 HR, 92 RBI), batting .392 with 4 HR, 27 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: RIC SP Eric Braley (12-5, 3.25 ERA), going 4-0 with a 1.43 ERA, 32 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: NYC SP Ben Seiter (17-7, 2.85 ERA), throwing 5-0 with an 0.64 ERA, 45 K
FL Rookie of the Month: DAL OF Jose Munoz (.299, 8 HR, 63 RBI), hitting .386 with 1 HR, 8 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: MIL 1B Dave Robles (.237, 20 HR, 87 RBI), socking .295 with 4 HR, 21 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Well, that’s over, and not a minute too soon.

The Elks were of course braying that we didn’t really try that hard on the final weekend, getting swept like that, but on the other hoof, they lost two of three to the pitiful Indians, so maybe they should browse in their own forest…

We’ll go through the roster detritus in detail after the playoffs.

Fun Fact: Lonzo finished the season with a round 450 career steals.

He passed Alex Torres for 16th place overall with a dozen bags taken in the final month of the season. Navarro scooped six, while Adame got one and Gonzalez swiped two before ending the year on the DL. Appearing on the leaderboard is the tie for tenth between Jesus Banuelas and Jon Ramos, a pair that both retired after 2048 following 474 stolen bases each.

t-10th – Jesus Banuelas – 474
t-10th – Jon Ramos – 474
12th – Omar Gonzalez – 461 – active
13th – Diego Rodriguez – 460 – HOF
14th – Martin Ortíz – 457 – HOF
15th – Alex Adame – 452 – active
16th – Lorenzo Lavorano – 450 – active
17th – Alex Torres – 445
18th – Chance Bossert – 437
19th – Ricardo “Cookie” Carmona – 428
20th – Cristo Ramirez – 424 – HOF
21st – Chris Navarro – 423 – active

Both Banuelas and Ramos spent the majority of their career in the Federal League, although Banuelas had a few years with the Condors at the end of his career. Banuelas had two stolen base titles with a personal season-best of 57, while Stars shortstop Ramos stole 54 or 55 bases three times in his career, but NEVER led the league in the category…!

DD Martin · 10-01-2023, 03:26 PM

At least the Elks didn’t win! That almost saves the season.

Westheim · 10-01-2023, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DD Martin

At least the Elks didn’t win! That almost saves the season.

(without a word hands Eloy Sencion a bag of kibble on the way out of the clubhouse)

Westheim · 10-02-2023, 04:32 PM

2056 ABL PLAYOFFS

The sun was almost ready to settle on the ABL’s 80th season, but of course there was still the need to crown a champion. Four teams were left standing, trying to clinch the championship in a pair of best-of-seven series.

The Falcons – in the playoffs for the first time in 15 years – entered with the best record in the league at 104-58, having distanced the Knights by six games in the CL South. They had done so with the best pitching in the Continental League and the third-most runs scored, which added up to a +190 run differential. The team was only batting .253 as a whole, but they were drawing tons of walks and actually had the second-highest OBP at .349; mix in the #3 rotation, the best bullpen, and the third-highest rated defense, and you had yourself a contender – with a bit or two missing. 3B Bobby Anderson (.290, 15 HR, 72 RBI) had broken a rib during the final week of the season and would miss the playoffs. What was left was a fear-striking middle of the order with Danny Ceballos (.370, 10 HR, 75 RBI), Jason Schaack (.281, 23 HR, 125 RBI), and Luis Miranda (.252, 20 HR, 74 RBI), and a steady rotation and a bullpen with four sub-2 ERA relievers.

The 87-75 Crusaders had only punched their playoff ticket in extra innings on the final day of the season, but entered the knockouts with the highest batting average, second-most runs scored, and… well, they were only seventh in runs allowed in the CL, and had only a +88 run differential. The rotation was an asset with a 3.67 ERA, second-best in the league, but the bullpen was a never-ending horror story, the Crusaders having recycled closers several times during the year, and having posted a 4.58 bullpen ERA. So yeah, there were the CL stolen base champ Omar Sanchez (.325, 2 HR, 54 RBI), Zach Suggs (.314, 21 HR, 94 RBI), and Raul Sevilla (.274, 24 HR, 93 RBI), and Ben Seiter (17-7, 2.85 ERA) and Jose Ortega (15-7, 3.30 ERA) – but there was nothing you’d want as a sitter for your pet cactus in their relief corps at all.

In the Federal League, home field advantage for the FLCS went to the 90-72 Pacifics, who had won the division by two games over the Scorpions. There was a lot of average on that roster, which had shed some bit players during the last few weeks, but no key assets: fifth in runs scored, fourth in runs allowed, +52 run differential. Indifferent defense, mediocre in home runs and rotation, but they were second in stolen bases and bullpen ERA. Matt Diskin (.350, 4 HR, 16 RBI) had his usual high batting average, but had also missed 128 games with injury, but there were Aaron Kissler (.301, 18 HR, 69 RBI) and Jeremy Lindauer (.281, 11 HR, 67 RBI) to lend a hand. The best starter by ERA was Jim Reynolds (16-7, 3.15 ERA), along Ivan Torres (11-6, 3.31 ERA).

On the other side were the 89-73 Miners, also only winning the division on the final day of the season by beating the Rebels in a winner-take-all. They were the most productive offense in the league with 797 runs scored, but would rather not talk about their pitching much, which had given up the seventh-most runs and had left them with only a +90 run differential. They were constricting teams with a .363 OBP, which masked for them being near the bottom in home runs – although Eric Monaghan (.231, 20 HR, 92 RBI), Victor Corrales (.327, 19 HR, 125 RBI), and Alex Abecassis (.239, 16 HR, 76 RBI) had not exactly been shy with them – and stolen bases, and their rotation was a mess. Shoutout also to Josh Abercrombie (.348, 9 HR, 103 RBI), giving them three batters hitting .319 or better – although Alex Vasquez (.319, 4 HR, 53 RBI) would miss the FLCS with a broken finger and was highly questionable for the World Series, should the Miners partake. Pittsburgh didn’t have a starting pitcher with more than 100 innings pitched and an ERA under four, which would probably become a problem before long, with Josh Swindell (7-7, 3.70 ERA) and Jose Arias (12-6, 4.11 ERA) out for the year. The pen was better … but also not exactly great.

In the FLCS, both teams would rock up entirely right-handed rotations against a lineup with a left-handed middle of the order, which could get interesting. In the CLCS, the Crusaders had a more balanced lineup, but also an all-righty rotation, while the Falcons’ top of the order was very much left-handed batting.

In this playoff field, the Miners had the most playoff appearances, this being their 18th. The Pacifics were in the show for the 17th time, the Crusaders for the 13th time, and the Falcons for the 12th time. However, the Miners had never won a championship, and the Falcons only had one, while the Crusaders were third with seven titles and the Pacifics tied the Gold Sox for fourth with six titles.

The Crusaders and Falcons had previously met in the CLCS in 1978, 2007, and 2008 – always with the better end for New York. The last two instances resulted in championships for the Crusaders.

Miners and Pacifics had previously met in 1982, 2012, 2016, 2030, and 2031. Pittsburgh won the first encounter, and then never again. Three of the four Pacifics pennants also saw them go on to win the World Series.

Previous World Series meetings between participating teams included the Pacifics beating the Crusaders in 2011 as well as the Crusaders beating the Miners in 2015.

The Falcons were the odds-on favorites for their first title since 2005.

+++

LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

NYC @ CHA … 3-14 … (Falcons lead 1-0) … NYC Jeff Buss 2-3, BB, HR, 2 RBI; CHA William Kulak 2-5, BB, 2B, 4 RBI; CHA Danny Ceballos 3-6, 2 RBI; CHA Jason Schaack 3-5, BB, 2 RBI; CHA Jayden Ward 3-5, 2B, RBI; CHA Rich Fish 3-4, BB, 2B, 3 RBI;

PIT @ LAP … 9-3 … (Miners lead 1-0) … PIT Victor Corrales 3-5, 2 HR, 6 RBI; PIT Trevor Niemiec (PH) 1-1, HR, 2 RBI;
NYC @ CHA … 8-0 … (series tied 1-1) … NYC Omar Sanchez 2-4, 2 BB, 2B, 3 RBI; NYC Jeff Buss 2-4, HR, RBI; NYC Kyle Turay 9.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K, W (1-0) and 3-4, BB, 2 RBI;

Kyle Turay (1-0, 0.00 ERA) pitches a no-hitter!! The first-ever postseason no-hitter in the ABL comes in just 95 pitches and with just two walks offered to the Falcons, who never get into the game.

PIT @ LAP … 3-5 (11) … (series tied 1-1) … LAP Chris Maresh 1-2, HR, 2 RBI;

Maresh ties the series with his walkoff home run in the 11th inning after entering the game as defensive replacement for starting catcher Aaron Kissler before the Pacifics blow their lead in the eighth inning anyway.

CHA @ NYC … 3-8 … (Crusaders lead 2-1) … CHA Ian Woodrome 2-3, 2 BB; NYC Mike Seidman 3-4, HR, 2 RBI; NYC Jeff Standard 4-5, 2B, 3 RBI;

LAP @ PIT … 4-2 … (Pacifics lead 2-1) … LAP Jesse Sweeney 3-4, 3B, 2 RBI;
CHA @ NYC … 0-4 … (Crusaders lead 3-1) … NYC Omar Sanchez 3-4, RBI; NYC Ben Seiter 7.0 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K, W (1-1);

LAP @ PIT … 5-7 (12) … (series tied 2-2) … PIT Nick Thomason 3-6, 2B; PIT Andrew Russ 3-5, BB, 2B, RBI; PIT Alex Abecassis 2-5, BB, 2 HR, 2 RBI; PIT Chris Jimenez 2-5, BB, HR, 2 RBI;
CHA @ NYC … 0-1 … (Crusaders win 4-1) … NYC Omar Sanchez 1-3, RBI; NYC Kyle Turay 8.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K, W (2-0)

The Pacifics take a commanding 5-0 lead by the top of the third inning, then go to sleep and let the Miners gradually whittle away the deficit until the teams are tied in the eighth. Chris Jimenez (.286, 1 HR, 2 RBI) evens the series with a walkoff home run of his own.

The Crusaders have only two hits, Sanchez’ and Mike Pfeifer’s leadoff double off Art Schaeffer (1-1, 2.12 ERA) that gives Sanchez something to drive home in the inning. The Falcons are suffocated after running up two touchdowns and bonus points in Game 1, scoring only a field goal after that.

LAP @ PIT … 2-3 … (Miners lead 3-2) … PIT Eric Monaghan 3-4, 2B, RBI; PIT Jeff Crowley 8.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W (1-0);

PIT @ LAP … 5-2 … (Miners win 4-2) … LAP Jesus Espinoza 3-4; LAP Chris Rice 2-2, 2 BB, HR, 2B, RBI;

Seven different Miners have seven base hits, including two homers and two doubles, and bunch them up just enough to win the series in six games.

+++

2056 WORLD SERIES

The #3 and #4 seeds met in the World Series. The Crusaders’ elimination of the Falcons (odds-on favorites my ***) gave home field advantage to the Miners, who also managed to pry Alex Vasquez off the stretcher to bolster their lineup a bit. That still left them with a wonky rotation, and the Crusaders were on a 4-game winning streak, and that’s before we get into Kyle Turay throwing the first postseason no-hitter in league history. Neither team suffered additional injuries in their LCS.

The Crusaders looked like the stronger team here and might win in six games.

+++

NYC @ PIT … 3-0 … (Crusaders lead 1-0) … NYC Zach Suggs 2-4, HR, RBI; NYC Ben Seiter 8.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K, W (2-1);

NYC @ PIT … 2-4 … (series tied 1-1) … NYC Chad Williams (PH) 1-1, HR, RBI; PIT Alex Abecassis 3-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI;

PIT @ NYC … 4-5 … (Crusaders lead 2-1) … NYC Raul Sevilla 3-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; NYC Mario Villa 2-3, BB, HR, RBI;

PIT @ NYC … 3-10 … (Crusaders lead 3-1) … NYC Mike Seidman 2-4, HR, 3 RBI;

Both teams put together 11 base hits in Game 4, but while the Miners hit nothing but singles, the Crusaders jack four homers and three doubles, and leave only four guys on base.

PIT @ NYC … 4-6 … (Crusaders win 4-1) … PIT Victor Corrales 2-4, BB, 2 RBI; NYC Mario Villa 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI;

Two walks, two singles, and two runs off left-hander Matt Stephens (0-2, 10.80 ERA) in the bottom of the eighth inning means the Miners extend their whiffing streak in the postseason to 0-for-18.

+++

2056 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS
New York Crusaders
(8th title)

Westheim · 10-03-2023, 03:37 PM

Another year was in the books, and things kept moving on – sometimes. F.e. while head scout Eric Hartwig unexpectedly decided to retire, somewhat miffed that nobody ever listened to him that all our players were crap and was then surprised that the team lost 86 games, Anton Venegas picked up his rather luxurious player option for the 2057 season, so we remained on the hook for those $5.7M.

Yay, y’know.

Nick Valdes also remained same old, same old, being audibly displeased – he called in person! – with the team’s lack of success in 2055, and he wouldn’t take no “But Kennedy Adkins missed 30 starts and we had to give them to the clowns!” for an answer. The Raccoons had their budget rigorously slashed from $60M down to $53M. The Coons accordingly slipped from 9th to 12th in the rankings.

Top 5: Knights ($74M), Crusaders ($73M), Capitals ($72M), Thunder ($71M), Scorpions ($69M)
Bottom 5: Condors ($42M), Loggers ($41M), Blue Sox ($37.5M), Indians ($37M), Aces ($29M)

The remaining CL North teams ranked 8th (VAN, $65M) and t-13th (BOS, $51M).

The average budget for a team in the league rose to $54.54M, up about $1.14M from last season, while the median team budget was $52M, same as last season.

What do you mean, Steve from Accounting, we’re in the red in your first projection for budget room to sign reinforcements to the roster?? – Oh well! (claps paws together) That makes it more interesting to fix this mess of a roster, doesn’t it!?

(unscrews bottle of Capt’n Coma)

+++

Thankfully the second sheet I looked at was the salary arbitration and free agency overview [in mint condition below], which did indeed offer a few opportunities for savings immediately. The more disappointing thing though was that between our six free agents (Kirkwood, Caballero, Adriano Chavez, Lillis, Sencion, and Waters) only Kirkwood was eligible for draft pick compensation, and then only a type B free agent, which would cause me some agony with the lefty relievers especially.

Caballero, while useful indeed, and Waters would not be back. Letting Matt Waters go would cut the last connection to the teams that won three rings in the 2040s, but Waters would be 36 at the start of the new season and his defense had eroded to the point where he was going to be a tremendous burden in the field. In a way, that 10-year contract had been the perfect length (even though he himself had sold himself short) because the Raccoons managed to get out just before things could turn ugly with him. He missed half the season to injury, and while he hit for an .820 OPS when he was available, he cost almost a full win in the field.

Brett Lillis jr. and Eloy Sencion had been a tremendously sturdy lefty pair out of the pen for a number of seasons now. Of course they were also getting on in age, but Lillis was only 31 and Sencion would turn 30 in November – there were many more baseball years in them. It was all about whether you could afford the sneakers with the three stripes on them or whether you had to settle for two right now.

… at least as long as Anton Venegas was on the roster…!

The arbitration group was interesting for sure. It contained another seven players, including a pair of catchers that would get axed without making much of a fuss about them. Tyler Philipps had batted .253 with 10 homers in AAA after having been disposed of early in the season, but we weren’t gonna stuff another $500k into that project. Matt Fiore had been mostly meek and surely wasn’t worth almost seven figures. The Coons had a defensively inept Marcos Chavez that had hit .200 with six bombs in 44 games, which projected to something like 23 for a full season, so you already knew he’d hang around for another five years and suck the air out of the team without end since I craved nothing more than the THUD of hardwood banging brashly against balls. I just never seemed to get enough of it.

Harry Ramsay had value despite hitting for little more than 17 double plays (I counted) this season, and the same was true for Kyle Brobeck, Seisaku Taki, and Mike Lane. Brobeck and Lane were easy nods, but we had to try and settle with Taki out of arbitration. He was a tricky case – he had come from Japan on a 3-yr, $15M deal, which meant that the $3M per year were now the baseline for his arbitration case – which opened the Coons up to potentially offering $4M and having to pay $5M thanks to a braindead arbitrator. Now, there was a tautology if there ever was one….

That left Raffy, and just a few months earlier I said that we’d happily throw another million bucks at him if that meant he could try to figure himself out in AAA for another season, but the budget slashings meant that all expenses had to undergo scrutiny, and was giving him another contract even defensible anymore? Even in AAA, in 38.1 innings across various rehab outings and a banishment, he walked 30 batters and struck out only 31. He had closed games for the Alley Cats late in the year, but I had no interest in having him pitch in critical late innings, either.

A reasonable GM would send him away.

A reasonable GM would do that.

(shoves the whole bottleneck into his own snout)

+++

A rough draft for the Opening Day roster showed Seisaku Taki, He Shui, Sean Sweeton, Kennedy Adkins, and Craig Kniep in the rotation (in whatever order). Kyle Brobeck was still around for all sorts of assignments. Matt Walters was young and awesome, and then we had Mike Lane, Takenori Tanizaki, and … well… after that it got a bit sparse in the bullpen, because while we had another eight pitchers on the extended roster, they were either too green behind the ears (Ryan Wade?), bound for free agency (Lillis, Sencion), or just plain old terrible (the whole rest of them, literally). The sole exception might be lefty Ricky Herrera, although his numbers in the majors in 16 innings had been a lot better than the ones he had put up with the Alley Cats across 36 innings, so I was taking that with a grain of salt or an ounce.

For catchers we had Marcos Chavez, and then the next-best options were Matt Stanton and AAA Jeff Raczka, unless the latter would elect minor league free agency after the 2056 season had been the first in which he hadn’t made token big league appearances since 2048. Overall he had 355 PA across seven seasons. In other words: the position was a bundle of work, and we could only claim “oh somebody’s gotta bat eighth!” once or twice before it would get ridiculous.

Waters leaving left a whole on the infield where Harry Ramsay, Lonzo Lavorano, and Anton Venegas appeared to be set in their positions. Ryan Allred had batted a streaky .311 and offered a lefty stick at a traditionally right-handed position, so he had *some* appeal. Arturo Bribiesca (60-day DL), Daniel Espinoza and the woefully underdone Richard Anderson, plus AAA first-sacker Pedro Rojas were the only other infielders on the 40-man roster (sorta), and they might yet get DFA’ed in numbers to accommodate various personnel returning from the 60-day DL…

With Kirkwood and Caballero appearing to leave, the Raccoons were down to Gaudencio Callaia and Alan Puckeridge on the outfield corners, with Steve Royer and Carlos Solorzano (…) as centerfield options. AAA prospect Todd Oley never made an appearance last season, first not hitting well, and then chipping his kneecap, so that was one of those things… Trent Brassfield (60-day DL) tore up his shoulder in April, and hasn’t thrown a baseball since, and his return to “baseball activities” keeps being delayed again and again. He surely was no centerfield option. AAA David Flores also hadn’t appeared in the majors yet, but had posted a .425 OBP in St. Pete this year. The problem was that he couldn’t play center, and the Raccoons needed somebody to play center, and Pucks increasingly wasn’t it. Flores was also a switch-hitter and might yet wind up on the Opening Day roster as budget leadoff man until we’d dispose of him after batting .180 in 21 games.

And yes, I still do remember that I once said the Raccoons were holding out for a push in 2057 in the season just completed…

Westheim · 10-07-2023, 06:46 AM

Oh, what to do with Raffy? What to do with Raffy?

(stands on the roof of the ballpark and stares down into the alleyway with the dumpsters, leaning against a rather rickety-looking railing while complaining to Chad in the mascot costume, who is making very understanding motions)

See, he had that 3.32 ERA in 33 starts in 2052, and everything seemed to be on the right path – in his age 21 season!

(Chad nods emphatically)

And then one injury hit, and then another, and then another, and now he walks seven AAA bobs in nine innings and it’s all horrible.

(Chad covers his eyes with the mascot’s enormous front paws)

And he’s gonna cost a million or more to have failing around in AAA for another season, and Nick Valdes took all our budget cushion away!

(Chad punches one of the fuzzy fists into the other palm, then shakes the fist)

It’s just not what a reasonable person would do, resigning him to any sort of contract, costing any sort of money.

(the fire brigade arrives with the big winding ladder)

Woe is me! Chad, woe is me…!

(the fire chief slowly whirrs into view in the rescue bucket and Chad waves hi to him)

Morning, Jeff. – Oh, you know, the sun goes up, the sun goes down. – Ya ya, I’ll come down with you.

(is helped by Chad and Jeff, the fire chief, over the railing and into the rescue bucket)

Say, Jeff, would you re-sign Raffy de la Cruz for a million bucks? – Thought so.

+++

The Raccoons’ offseason started with the funnest of all tasks, emptying the 60-day DL onto a crammed 40-man roster, because the league said so. Jesus Guzman (who in 2055 had walked eight in his only ABL start (to date?)) had already cleared waivers earlier and was assigned to AAA. That still required us to find space for Trent Brassfield (anybody remember him?) and Arturo Bribiesca. Colby Bowen (0-0, 4.91 ERA) was quickly identified as easily expendable and waived off the 40-man roster. But we needed *two* spots, and there was nobody else on the 40-man roster I would merrily throw to the lions, and it could not be done with free agents in the making, because the league said so.*

The Raccoons effectively only had room for five AAA players to be on the 40-man roster right now, but had six on it: SP Ramon Carreno (age 21), 1B Pedro Rojas (24), outfielders Todd Oley (24), David Flores (25), Elijah Johnson (25), … and, well, Raffy (26).

Raffy became my cop-out. I didn’t HAVE to make a hard decision regarding whether to resign him if some other team claimed him off waivers first! Hah! Brilliant! I could have had a great career as a hostage negotiator! (tries to drink the nerve-soothing tea that Maud made but shakes so hard that it spills everywhere)

Three days passed.

There were no takers.

Which didn’t mean that the drama was all over, because Raffy then refused his re-assignment to AAA, even though he had accepted the assignment during the season. The next few days were rather ugly in the office, because everybody threw paragraphs from the back pages of the rulebook at each other why this and that couldn’t or shouldn’t … all I say is, thank the Baseball Gods for Capt’n Coma…

Raffy remained and by now the tablecloth was torn asunder anyway – he had to go, one way or another. At least it already hurt about 25% less now… There were only two options available to the Raccoons, and non-tendering him was not one of them, because he needed to be assigned *somewhere* and the actual free agency filing date was still weeks away, much longer than his DFA window lasted. That left only an outright release or a trade to a particularly brave team.

That team was the Wolves down I-5, who were happy to take on the reclamation project. They were the only team tendering an offer when Raffy was floated on the shopping wire. They initially offered a hapless swingman pitcher, right-hander Jeff Puccia, who had posted a 4.59 ERA this year, but the Raccoons were able to swat two flies with one swing by working a swap of catchers into the deal, sending over Matt Fiore – who would have been non-tendered anyway – for Ruben Zamora, a career backup catcher that was none too exciting to talk about.

When I wasn’t busy breaking the good porcelain and burning bridges, I was also signing 1-year extensions with arbitration candidates, with Harry Ramsay ($900k) and Mike Lane ($660k) still signing theirs in October.

There had been the hope to sign Seisaku Taki to a 4- or 5-year deal, but the bugger wanted nine years, which wasn’t exactly lining up with my plans for a pitcher turning 30 next June. At least we were able to hammer out a 1-year extension worth $3.75M for his final year under team control, and with that *nobody* was going to be happy. Kyle Brobeck, finally, got $625k for his complicated services for 2057. Tyler Philipps was not tendered an offer and could become a free agent.

What about the other free agents? Well, Kirkwood was offered arbitration to secure the draft pick, while the Coons would have liked to keep Brett Lillis jr. and Eloy Sencion around. While Sencion at least took home an offer for two years, $1.8M ($800k this year and $1M next), Lillis demanded four years and $1.49M per annum, while Nick Valdes made angry phone calls that the budget was NOT TO BE EXCEEDED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.

Steve from Accounting had shown me a neat trick a while back where you could temporarily at least print money by slashing the player development budget in half, but even then I didn’t want to pay a million and a half for an (admittedly excellent) seventh/eighth inning reliever.

Sencion signed on eventually, but the team didn’t come to terms with Lillis, and the more L’s the Raccoons took in October and November, the dimmer my outlook for the upcoming season became.

+++

October 21 – The Wolves acquire OF/1B Aidan Calhoun (.242, 30 HR, 213 RBI) from the Warriors in exchange for LF/1B Andy Hudson (.290, 17 HR, 108 RBI).
October 25 – The Raccoons acquire 32-yr old C Ruben Zamora (.270, 26 HR, 170 RBI) from the Wolves by admitting defeat and moving right-hander Rafael de la Cruz (33-36, 3.74 ERA) and C Matt Fiore (.265, 28 HR, 186 RBI) to the Wolves.
November 10 – The Miners acquire 25-year-old right-hander Cruz Madrid (9-7, 4.72 ERA, 15 SV) from the Aces in exchange for two prospects, and 40-year-old SP Brad Blankenship (145-156, 3.91 ERA) from the Loggers for another two prospects.
November 13 – Tijuana sends MR Rick Johnson (3-7, 6.12 ERA, 1 SV) to the Buffaloes for two prospects, including #128 CL Jimmy Dingman.
November 14 – The Canadiens stun everybody by trading decorated SS/3B Dan Mullen (.301, 28 HR, 492 RBI) to the Indians for 36-year-old veteran 1B Larry Rodriguez (.250, 179 HR, 656 RBI) and a prospect.

+++

This was Brad Blankenship’s 14th switch of teams as a professional pitcher: Gold Sox, Warriors, Thunder, Falcons, Titans, Thunder (again), the damn Elks, Stars, Pacifics, Scorpions, Miners, Pacifics (again), Blue Sox, Loggers, and now Miners (again). That was more changes of uniform than Slappy in the last 15 years. He was traded for the seventh time, but the other six times had all occurred mid-season. The Thunder had acquired him mid-season twice, in 2042 and 2046.

Chris Kirkwood rejected salary arbitration and became a free agent.

+++

2056 ABL AWARDS

Players of the Year: PIT INF Victor Corrales (.327, 19 HR, 125 RBI) and ATL 2B/SS Willie Acosta (.320, 16 HR, 80 RBI)
Pitchers of the Year: SAC SP Mike McCaffrey (12-5, 2.34 ERA) and NYC SP Ben Seiter (17-7, 2.85 ERA)
Rookies of the Year: NAS 1B Andy Metz (.277, 18 HR, 73 RBI) and OCT SP Aaron Harris (19-6, 2.94 ERA)
Relievers of the Year: LAP MR Brad Walker (8-5, 2.12 ERA, 2 SV) and CHA CL Steve Watson (6-3, 1.58 ERA, 43 SV)
Platinum Sticks (FL): P RIC Eric Braley – C SAC Kevin Weese – 1B RIC Mario Delgadillo – 2B DEN Ivan Villa – 3B PIT Victor Corrales – SS Alex de los Santos – LF CIN Juan del Toro – CF PIT Josh Abercrombie – RF RIC Willie Sanchez
Platinum Sticks (CL): P TIJ Steve Hawkins – C CHA Luis Miranda – 1B LVA Aubrey Austin – 2B ATL Willie Acosta – 3B LVA Alex Alfaro – SS NYC Zach Suggs – LF MIL Perry Pigman – CF VAN Damian Moreno – RF CHA Danny Ceballos
Gold Golves (FL): P TOP Ben Karst – C WAS Chris Gowin – 1B SFW Miguel Medina – 2B RIC Alex Murillo – 3B PIT Victor Corrales – SS WAS Jesus Nunez – LF CIN Juan del Toro – CF SAL Noah Caswell – RF PIT Nick Thomason
Gold Golves (CL): P SFB Andy Overy – C BOS Jorge Ortiz – 1B LVA Aubrey Austin – 2B CHA Travis Edwards – 3B VAN Prince Gates – SS VAN Dan Mullen – LF CHA William Kulak – CF BOS Hector Weir – RF BOS Eric Whitlow

Nicaraguan switch-hitting terror Willie Acosta reached base at a .466 clip this season, the fifth-best single-season OBP in the last 30 years, behind only Ronnie Thompson (tops with .475 in ’46 and retiring at the conclusion of the just-expired season) and Jerry Outram (thrice).

If you count carefully enough, you can spot Raccoons taking home a Reliever of the Year, a Platinum Stick, and three Gold Gloves… former Raccoons that is, in order: Watson, del Toro, Gowin, del Toro (part deux), and Thomason.

Nick ******* Thomason!

+++

*Of course you could always waive a free agent-to-be off the 40-man roster, but the AI doesn’t do it, so it would be an undue advantage to do so.

Westheim · 10-08-2023, 12:51 PM

After 17 seasons in the organization, Matt Waters and his four rings left the organization as free agent, and with him the last living connection to the three-ringed Coons from the previous decade. It also left a hole at second base that we couldn’t hope to fill with Ryan Allred, even when the 25-year-old lefty-hitting second baseman, who had been taken in the 12th round in 2050 and was best described as “plucky”, had hit .311/.414/.419 over 62 games with the team this year. There were a few things about that. He had batted .254 in 40 games in AAA, and .283 in 105 games there last season, and he had put up a BABIP of a whopping .372 to get to .311 this year. While he definitely had the swing of somebody time and again lobbing a ball over the shortstop for a clean single, it would be foolish to bank on more of that kind of .300 hitting – which didn’t mean that he didn’t potentially have a place on the roster. You’d definitely at least want to pair him with a right-handed batter, though.

Something else I’d want would be to find a landing place for Anton Venegas, who had so far spent three seasons with the Raccoons and had yet to hit for more than a 98 OPS+ in any of them. He’d be 36 in July, and we needed the $5.7M owed to him more than ever now. In my head, we’d then play a lot of Kyle Brobeck at third base, which would remove him from the rotation for obvious reasons (not that I hadn’t already done so on paper), but would still leave him available for long relief at any point – in a way it was like having an extra reliever, a 26th man on the roster, more than ever with him being the regular (as in, most days) third base starter. You would also want a steady third baseman behind him, though – if the starter got knocked out early and Brobeck went to pitch garbage relief, we obviously needed a quality replacement at the hot corner for the rest of the game … and perhaps all of the next game.

Besides Brobeck (…), Venegas, and Lonzo, the only other experienced infielder left was Ramsay, unless you also included the outfielders that could hold down first base, which was not a small crowd: Pucks, Callaia, Brassfield, Royer, and Solorzano ALL had at least spent time there, and some were actual quality at first base. In reality, if we didn’t have Ramsay there, we’d probably want Brassfield there, given that he was coming back (maybe, eventually) from completely ******* up his shoulder in April and still laboring on the bloody thing.

So yes, the offense definitely needed help. We still had a quality rotation with (in alphabetical order, because no decision on the Opening Day starter had been made yet) Adkins, Kniep, Shui, Sweeton, and Taki all still around. Side note there: Taki was a free agent after 2057, while Sweeton was a free agent after 2058, and Adkins and Shui both had player options for 2059, so it was not entirely unreasonable to expect us to sit here with nothing but a very scared Craig Kniep two years from now.

And, maybe, Perpetual Brobeck.

The Raccoons, thanks to losing 86 games, also had a protected first-round pick in the 2057 draft, so maybe we should splurge on type A free agents. There was just a slight issue, even with poverty aside for a moment. Of the 16 type A free agents, 11 were either starting pitchers or established closers, and we didn’t need any of those. That aside, there were three catchers (Mike Gilmore, Aaron Kissler, and Kevin Weese), and we pretended we had something other than a wild pitch machine and a .200 bat with the occasional dramatic power in Marcos Chavez. That left only two position players commonly found in fair territory. One was 43-year-old Felix Marquez, and I didn’t have dosh to burn on *that*, and the other was Eddie Moreno, he of two consecutive home run crowns. Thing was only that Moreno was already 38 and moved like Marquez at 43, if not worse. He also reportedly demanded $7M, and I wouldn’t know where to find those even if I wanted to, except on Nick Valdes’ Swiss bank account.

+++

November 16 – Atlanta acquires LF/RF Tony Rodriquez (.289, 54 HR, 316 RBI) from the Warriors, who get five prospects for the 27-year-old outfielder, none ranked.
November 17 – The Bayhawks send C/1B Tim Fuller (.280, 21 HR, 172 RBI) and cash to the Wolves for two prospects.
November 21 – 2B/SS Jordan Sanchez (.258, 10 HR, 63 RBI) is sent from the Falcons to the Pacifics, along with a prospect, for outfielder Kyle Fisher (.247, 5 HR, 59 RBI).
November 22 – Vancouver adds ex-SAC C Kevin Weese (.301, 112 HR, 772 RBI) on a 2-yr, $5.12M contract.
November 23 – Ex-RIC SP Pablo Paez (.101-117, 4.25 ERA) agrees to a 2-yr, $4.2M contract with the Wolves.
November 24 – The Raccoons sign former Crusaders MR Alex Mancilla (32-37, 4.14 ERA, 82 SV) to a $700k contract for 2057.
November 26 – Las Vegas trades OF/1B Gunner Epperson (.260, 33 HR, 171 RBI) to the Bayhawks for 1B Gustavo Jacinto (.294, 13 HR, 64 RBI) and a prospect.
November 29 – The Condors sign ex-SFW C Nick Samuel (.246, 170 HR, 669 RBI) to a 4-year contract that will pay out $8.1M to the 34-year-old backstop.
November 29 – Former Thunder starter Bubba Wolinsky (103-78, 3.74 ERA) wins a 3-yr, $7.2M contract from the Warriors.
November 29 – Boston adds former Aces SP Medardo Regueir (55-74, 4.02 ERA) for $3.24M over two years.
November 30 – Washington secures the services of 35-yr old longtime Raccoons 2B Matt Waters (.263, 233 HR, 918 RBI) for the 2057 season at a price point of $1.42M.
December 1 – Another one: 3B/RF/2B/LF Felix Marquez (.271, 215 HR, 1,147 RBI), who spent the last two years with the Capitals, signs a $3.72M contract with the Wolves for the 2057 season. Marquez will be 44 on Opening Day.
December 1 – Rule 5 Draft: 17 players are selected. The Raccoons lose MR Ryan Harmer (4-5, 4.63 ERA) to the Stars.

+++

(writes a letter with a feather and ink on thick paper smelling of roses)
Dear Dallas,
whenever you tire of Ryan Harmer – don’t you ******* dare sending him back here!!
Love.
Your Coonie Coons.

(absent-mindedly strokes with the feather across the bottom of his pokey black nose)

(SNEEZE!!!!)

The funny thing is that Marquez missed only four games in his age 43 season and hit for a .798 OPS, and over here we have Luis Silva having spent over seven months massaging Trent Brassfield’s blown-out shoulder and he still can’t throw a ******* baseball, when Brassfield (24) could *easily* be Marquez’ offspring by age.

The question is always whether you want to burn a pick on what nature dictates is a short-term rental (although I probably also said this when Marquez was 35 and who’s the idiot now?), but then again the Wolves had already burned their #15 pick on Paez at that point and were merely going for broke.

There’s not a lot to say about Mancilla. Decent reliever. That’s about it.

And former Raccoons? So far not a lot, but the Buffaloes took on Matt Fiore for $416k;

Westheim · 10-10-2023, 06:29 PM

The time of the Winter Meetings arrived, and the Raccoons were still looking for a second baseman and to slide Anton Venegas’ contract into somebody else’s stocking. More at-bats for Kyle Brobeck – even though our new head scout, Chris “Banjo” Pigg, openly wondered whether we were insane to put him there in the first place. He valued defense even more than me, and that wasn’t Kyle Brobeck’s strongest trait.

The Winter Meetings were then mostly about dumping things…

+++

December 4 – The Cyclones sign ex-WAS SP/MR Jordan Ramos (55-78, 3.72 ERA, 83 SV) to a 3-yr, $5.88M contract.
December 4 – Vancouver acquires right-hander Ernie Gomes (8-13, 4.62 ERA) from the Blue Sox. The 26-year-old costs them two prospects.
December 4 – The Warriors receive three prospects for trading right-handed MR Josh Penington (23-27, 4.49 ERA, 34 SV) to the Falcons. The package includes #151 CL Justin Titus and #187 CL Danny Zepeda.
December 5 – The Raccoons trade 1B Harry Ramsay (.276, 51 HR, 252 RBI) to the Condors for right-handed SP/MR Ivan Ornelas (15-10, 4.37 ERA, 20 SV)
December 5 – The Loggers sign up former Indians C/1B Mike Gilmore (.247, 38 HR, 201 RBI) on a 2-yr, $3.48M contract.
December 5 – 25-year-old right-hander Josh Doyle (8-23, 4.83 ERA), who led the CL with 15 losses, is traded from the Aces to the Falcons – his third CL South team in four months – for #115 prospect SP Vincent Hernandez.
December 6 – The Raccoons trade 3B/LF Anton Venegas (.304, 32 HR, 602 RBI) to the Thunder, receiving 2B/OF Daniel Amburn (.185, 0 HR, 6 RBI) in return.
December 6 – The Gold Sox land 35-yr old former Knights SP Terry Herman (118-79, 3.52 ERA) with a 3-yr, $19.5M contract.
December 6 – New York acquires SP David Concha (84-69, 3.72 ERA) from the Warriors. The 30-year-old southpaw costs them three prospects including #172 SP Jon McGinley.
December 13 – RF/LF Danny Munn (.256, 196 HR, 706 RBI), having left the Scorpions as free agent, signs a 5-yr, $16.2M deal with the Knights.
December 13 – The Gold Sox acquire ex-DAL CL Sam Gibson (58-61, 2.70 ERA, 313 SV), giving a 2-yr, $4M contract to the 36-year-old right-hander.
December 15 – The Crusaders land a big new bullpen arm in former Miners closer Ross Mitchell (95-67, 3.16 ERA, 289 SV), who inks a 3-yr, $13.98M contract.

+++

Why trade “Double Play” Ramsay? I just gave you two reasons. But he also hasn’t done anything offensively since he hit 20 homers in 2053 (in 124 games). It was two scratch-above-league-average seasons, and now a 89 OPS+ in ’57. There’s also the point that Gaudencio Callaia is an *excellent* defensive first baseman and we have quite the traffic at the outfield corners. Ornelas is nothing special. 12 months ago, he was a Rule 5 pick. He is another extra piece in the 500-piece jigsaw that is our roster, and so far all the corner pieces are missing.

Daniel Amburn is a very adept defender as well, and while he didn’t hit a lick in his first 20 major league games, he also was stricken with a .222 BABIP. I’m just glad we found a team dumb enough to take on Venegas, who had one year with that huge contract left, and I wasn’t keen on wiring him a million a month for what he was putting on the table (mostly his hindpaws).

After those moves, and even with reassigning Gaudencio Callaia to first base mentally, the Raccoons really had just two real major league infielders – the other being Lonzo – unless nobody called us out on that bluff of plonking Brobeck down at the hot corner on Opening Day for real. There was a whole host of mediocre bums (Allred, Amburn, Bribiesca, Anderson, Espinoza) loitering around for the second and third base and backup jobs, but this was where we had to find a strong bat either at second base or in centerfield. We needed somebody to bat fifth behind Callaia, Lonzo, Brassfield, and Pucks, because even I wasn’t banking on Marcos Chavez growing into that role any time soon, unless nobody called us out on that bluff of plonking Brobeck down at the hot corner on Opening Day for real and he’d bat fifth.

One other former Raccoon signed a new contract: Tony Lopez got 2-yr, $1.92M from the Wolves;

Westheim · 10-11-2023, 01:28 PM

Bit of a weird update today, because I didn’t advance a single day and instead only slowly slithered into a bit of an existential crisis

+++

It was mid-December. The 76-86 Raccoons had so far shed some 2,400 at-bats from their 2056 roster and replacements were as of now thin. Sure, Trent Brassfield would pick up 500 of them – (pauses to see whether Luis Silva will interject) – and Ruben Zamora might yet become the starting catcher if Marcos Chavez shaved 20% off that .200 batting average. The team definitely needed an impact bat in some shape or form, and the positions that were most readily available to add such an impact bat to were funnily ones that were commonly considered defense-first ones: centerfield and second base.

Prince Gates, longtime Crusaders and briefly Elks foe, was to be 34 on Opening Day and looking for $6M. Per year, not until retirement, in case you wondered. Yes, we kicked out Waters for being old, but Gates looked like he was still better in shape, but for how long? Steady .300 bat with some 10 homers, and 25+ doubles, but not much straight line speed anymore. It was enough to safely produce 110 OPS+ values for nine straight seasons. But even after dumping the contract of Anton Venegas for next to nothing, Gates wasn’t quite in our budget for the next season.

Thanks, Nick!

Unfortunately, that was mostly it for free agent second-sackers, unless you wanted to go even older, or even more reviled; Andrew Russ was available, but, heyy, only over MY DEAD BODY! – So what’s with centerfield?

Bobby Rivera would turn 30 in March and has posted numbers all over the place with the Warriors in his earlier years, then with the Loggers in ’55 and half of ’56, and a few at-bats with the Buffos before the end of the season where he had batted .347 in 18 games. The important takeaway from his 2056 season was probably that he had missed 74 games with knee, back, and shoulder injuries, which was certainly good, because now that was all out of the way, right? But spotty exposure with the Warriors and all the injuries in the last two seasons (he only played in 117 games in ’55 either and had only one qualifying season overall) left his season-by-season numbers a terrible mess. He had hit .300/.343/.453 between Milwaukee and Topeka this year, and he was at .273/.308/.388 for his career. Consider the Warriors brought him up this Mexican switch-hitter at 21 and then he sat on the bench a lot, but also consider that he posted a *63* OPS+ as recently as his age 27 season. He wasn’t even an elite defender in centerfield, but he could certainly steal bases with playing time – he scooped 42 in ’55.

Mario Ceballos would also turn 30 next season. He was the lesser of the two Ceballoses the Falcons had carried to a first-place finish and an early CLCS exit this season, and had posted .774 OPS marks in both of the last two seasons, the 2055 year being with the Indians that didn’t finish first in the North. He was a more defensive-minded option despite less speed, but “Banjo” Pigg sneered at his swing and gave him a dismal 8 for a contact rating.

Then there was always the option to come crawling back to Oscar Caballero and beg for him to return after all – at least Kirkwood was the one with the compensation pick attached.

What about Pucks in center? This had never been the best option in the first place. Pucks was a plus defender on the corners, but very much not so in the center, where Cristiano Carmona claimed he had already cost the Raccoons 4.1 wins in 2,385 innings played. This was perhaps the best point to acknowledge that, yes, Steve Royer was still on the roster, had batted leadoff quite a lot early in the season, but that had also been when he had actually ******* hit something. From April to September, his six monthly OPS values had been: .707, .829, .766, .713, .504, .509; so he swung a nice stick until he didn’t. Four months of a nice ballplayer apparently cost $3.12M annually by now, and we’d have the opportunity to get more of this for two more years.

It was mid-December, we had already shed roughly half our at-bats from the previous season, and so far had to find any meaningful replacement.

Did I mention I wanted to make a run for the division?

Westheim · 10-12-2023, 05:31 AM

The Coons spent the rest of December sneaking around the Condors’ INF Tyrese Sheilds, a renowned hothead that could also hit for average and draw more walks than strikeouts, but the Condors had no budget space to accept a contract of any size (Sheilds made the minimum) and the Coons didn’t have any prospects that tickled their fancy, either.

A lack of prospects was a major problem for the team in more ways than this, because we also didn’t have any reinforcements coming from AAA any time soon. There was that trio of outfielders in AAA, but apart from that we mainly had 1B Forbes Tomlin as a ranked position player prospect, which was weird given Tomlin’s reluctance to hit for any sort of average. He had hit .229/.308/.389 with Ham Lake this season, after finally making it out of Aumsville. The #22 pick from 2054 would be 22 years old next year.

Centerfield also remained a position of interest, where we’d love to find an improvement over Steve Royer’s August and September, and perhaps even April through July. Prospects weren’t working, so the Raccoons were forced to start and dangle their better pitchers to get a deal done with somebody.

+++

December 16 – The Canadiens snatch up former Knights starter Bruce Mark jr. (126-118, 3.40 ERA). The 34-year-old right-hander will make $13.4M over two seasons.
December 17 – The Stars pick up INF Joe Humphries (.254, 29 HR, 226 RBI) in a trade from the division rival Wolves, who receive right-handed swingman Oscar Juarez (59-57, 4.27 ERA, 2 SV) and a prospect.
December 18 – San Francisco adds lefty SP Mark Jacobs (17-26, 4.26 ERA) from Topeka in exchange for outfielder Lupe Pina (.219, 1 HR, 4 RBI).
December 19 – The Warriors sign ex-PIT SP Victor Salcido (86-79, 4.40 ERA) on a 3-yr, $10.08M contract.
December 22 – The Buffos bring back 1B/LF Eddie Moreno (.278, 464 HR, 1,655 RBI). The 38-year-old signs a 2-yr, $12.2M contract, returning to the Federal League after two years with the Knights. Moreno is the career RBI leader among active players and ranks fifth all-time, just 100 RBI behind all-time leader Danny Santillano.
December 25 – Pacifics fans find 35-year-old INF Steve Diaz (.267, 91 HR, 569 RBI) under the tree, the former Stars player having signed for $5.36M over two seasons.
January 1 – The Buffaloes trade for the Aces’ LF/RF John Kaniewski (.262, 51 HR, 264 RBI), with OF Nick Thayer (.239, 3 HR, 24 RBI) and a prospect going to Las Vegas.
January 3 – The Buffos continue to raid the league for players, acquiring OF/1B Armando Caban (.274, 14 HR, 145 RBI) from the Bayhawks for OF/1B John Gough (.269, 22 HR, 140 RBI) and a prospect.
January 4 – Ex-CHA OF Mario Ceballos (.245, 31 HR, 280 RBI) signs a 4-yr, $13.16M contract with the Scorpions.
January 5 – The Falcons scoop former Knights SP Esteban Duran (94-85, 4.03 ERA) with an offer of $30.5M over five years.
January 6 – Oklahoma City rejoices over the signing of ex-IND SP Tan Brink (88-82, 3.48 ERA) on a 3-yr, $7.92M deal.
January 7 – The Knights sign ex-IND SP Enrique Ortiz (122-95, 3.39 ERA) on a 6-yr, $36.6M deal.
January 9 – In a major trade with the Miners, the Raccoons acquire the reigning Federal League batting champion OF Josh Abercrombie (.317, 33 HR, 412 RBI), with right-handed SP He Shui (52-25, 3.03 ERA), the 2054 CL Rookie and Pitcher of the Year, going to Pittsburgh.
January 15 – The Loggers sign former Raccoons MR Brett Lillis jr. (16-15, 2.90 ERA, 13 SV) on a 3-year, $5.12M contract.

+++

Zing! Well, that was a trade, wasn’t it? Abercrombie brings a .340 stick that will surely wither to a .265 twig in Portland, and maybe break a leg in April, because that’s the way it goes here. We were also taking a bit of a gamble here, because while he was signed for two more years at $2.24M p.a., that second year was a player option that was NEVER going to be picked up, so essentially he was a free agent after the 2057 season and would probably command $6M or more if he had even a semi-decent season.

One issue could be that Abercrombie wants to hit in the middle of the order, but I’d prefer his OBP in the #1 slot. Callaia was the faster one, however, so if Callaia could hit like he did as a Logger (up to .419 OBP) rather than what he did as a latter-half Raccoon in 2056 (.331 OBP), then he could merrily remain in the leadoff spot and Abercrombie could hit third, with Pucks and Brass behind that.

Both Shui and Abercrombie wore #11 and basically just changed shirts.

That left second base as the only throwaway position on the roster. Ryan Allred had surely hit well against right-handed batters (almost exclusively) in his spurts of action in ’56, but all the right-handed options we had to pair with him were basically meh. In realty, Bribiesca and Espinoza would probably be the backup infielders, although – did the departure of He Shui create a hole in the rotation that needed stuffing with Kyle Brobeck?

We still had – in no particular order – Adkins, Taki, Sweeton, and Kniep, but there was now an open spot there. Ivan Ornelas was surely *an* option – although he had never been a full-time starter in the major leagues. But almost the same could be said for Brobeck, who had reached 162 innings only once in 2055, and even then he had made only 27 starts and five relief appearances for 169.1 innings and a 4.41 ERA. Brobeck was sure enough to be a #5 starter on a 76-86 team, but that wasn’t where we wanted to be next year.

Quality options were still available on the free agent market, including two type A free agents, former Knight Austin Wilcox and Martino Barbiusa, but the latter came off the Elks and I’d rather saw my own arm off with a butter knife than give the damn Elks even a second-round pick of ours (our first-rounder was protected). Left-handed FL veteran Troy Ratliff (just half a season with the Titans in his time in the Bigs) had no compensation attached, but recent history hinted at us having to pay full price for half a season and another naughty bill from an elbow specialist.

Rhetorical question – what’s with our AAA pitching? And their 2056 numbers?

Ryan Wade (24) – 2-0, 4.19 ERA for the Coons; 14-7, 4.80 ERA for the Alley Cats
Josh Mayo (26) – 0-0, 6.00 ERA for the Coons; 7-3, 4.74 ERA with Alley Cats
Chance Fox (22) – 7-8, 3.87 ERA at Panthers; 2-0, 4.29 ERA with Alley Cats
Ramon Carreno (21) – 1-2, 2.24 ERA with the Panthers; 6-8, 4.69 ERA at Alley Cats
Nick Hampton (24) – 8-14, 5.30 ERA) with Alley Cats
Cameron Argenziano (28) – 4-14, 5.85 ERA with Alley Cats
Chris Foa (23) – 3-2, 2.43 ERA with Panthers; 1-1, 5.14 ERA for Alley Cats (but mostly pitched in relief in AAA)

They get longshottier as you go down the list. Technically, Fox and Carreno – top 100 prospects, both of them – were our best bets, but it was too early for both of them. Fox had only made three starts with St. Pete late in the season in particular. Wade was the only one on the extended roster, while only Carreno was on the 40-man roster besides him. Hampton had the best raw stuff (198 K in 173.1 IP this year) and the worst control (134 BB in 173.1 IP…).

+++

2057 HALL OF FAME VOTING

The Hall of Fame received two new denizens in the most recent election, both of whom had languished on the ballot for a while.

Manny Fernandez spent his entire 18-year professional career with the Raccoons, who took the Puerto Rican left-handed outfielder at #5 in the 2031 draft. A strong defender at least in the first half of his career and a consistent hitter for most of it, Fernandez picked up four All Star nominations, three Platinum Sticks, a Gold Glove, as well as the more prestigious 2036 Player of the Year award, 2037 CLCS MVP, and three World Series rings with the Raccoons in the 2040s. He led the league in RBI once, and batted .280/.335/.421 with 198 HR and 1,110 RBI for his career, also stealing 189 bases along the way, before his career effectively ended with a broken elbow in June of 2048.

Chris Henry, the #23 pick in the 2026 draft, was a well-travelled closer in the Federal League, spending only half a season in the CL with the Indians, but touring around five different FL teams, with two stints with the Warriors and Stars. He won a World Series with the 2040 Wolves, the same year he won his first Reliever of the Year award, the other coming in 2043 with the Blue Sox. A closer for 13 of his 17 major league seasons, Henry just narrowly missed 500 career saves, putting up final numbers of an 88-95 record, 3.00 ERA, and 494 saves in 1,093 games, 1,131 innings, and 1,034 strikeouts. He was an All Star ten times, and led the FL in saves twice, in 2039 and 2040 with the Wolves.

Full results:

POR LF Manny Fernandez – 4th – 82.1 – INDUCTED
SFW CL Chris Henry – 6th – 76.5 – INDUCTED
SAL C Morgan Kuhlmann – 6th – 17.5
??? SP Brad Santry – 1st – 14.6
CHA LF Joe Besaw – 1st – 12.6
??? C Jorge Santa Cruz – 1st – 10.3
PIT SP Roberto Pruneda – 4th – 7.3
LAP C David Alvardo – 1st – 7.0
BOS SP Rich Willett – 5th – 6.0
DAL SP Eric Weitz – 6th – 5.3
??? SP Rafael Pedraza – 1st – 5.0 – DROPPED
SAL CL Rico Sanchez – 3rd – 4.6 – DROPPED
SAL 2B Bob Mancini – 1st – 1.3 – DROPPED
??? SP Josh Brown – 1st – 0.7 – DROPPED
SAL 1B Bill Jenkins – 2nd – 0.7 – DROPPED
SAC 2B Alfonso Cedillo – 1st – 0.3 – DROPPED

The Raccoons announced later in the week that Manny Fernandez’ #27 would be officially retired this season, and Maud threw herself into planning the festivities immediately. In reality, #27 had not been given out since Manny had retired anyway.

It was one of several numbers currently in purgatory, of not being on the rafters, but also no longer assigned to random hoodlum moving through. These included Jesus Maldonado’s #4, Jason Wheatley’s #22, and Matt Nunley’s #42, even when Nunley had retired when current shortstop Lonzo had been four years old.

Westheim · 10-14-2023, 06:04 AM

January 18 – Scandal! New Buffaloes signing and twice-defending CL home run king Eddie Moreno is suspended for 80 games for failing a drug test. Moreno, age 38, claims the blood sample analysis was off because he ate two big bowls of Crunchies that morning.
January 18 – The Scorpions ink ex-NYC/VAN INF Prince Gates (.295, 94 HR, 700 RBI) to a 2-yr, $12M deal.
January 20 – Scandal, part deux! WAS CL Tommy Gardner, who saved 37 games in 2056, is suspended for 80 games for a failed drug test as well. Gardner, age 35, claims that the Crunchies are to blame as well.

+++

(calmly pours gallons of milk into a barrel filled with 260 pounds of Crunchies)

The only way to protect the Raccoons’ players from also falling victim to Crunchies is to eat them all myself! – Chad, where’s my big spoon? – Chad? – Chad?

(bubbles rise from the bottom of the barrel) Maud! Help! Chad is eating all the Crunchies on his own!!

+++

January 25 – The Capitals ink ex-SFW SP Troy Ratliff (57-64, 4.28 ERA) on a deal worth $24.8M over four years.
January 25 – San Francisco acquires MR Travis Julien (9-8, 5.64 ERA, 15 SV) from the Cyclones for a prospect.
January 30 – Pittsburgh picks up former Loggers and Buffaloes OF Bobby Rivera (.273, 30 HR, 231 RBI) for three years and $4.64M.
February 3 – Sacramento takes on ex-Canadiens starting pitcher Martino Barbiusa (65-64, 3.86 ERA), with the contract amounting to $15.84M over four years.
February 9 – Los Angeles inks ex-ATL SP Austin Wilcox (136-132, 4.00 ERA) for 2-yr, $12.3M.
February 11 – The Pacifics also secure the services of 3B Randy Wilken (.249, 212 HR, 849 RBI), who last played for the Wolves. The 33-year-old will earn $1.52M in 2057.

+++

The Raccoons were still nosing around bench options but the #5 starter spot might become a bit of an issue going forwards. For most of early February we were in a late-erupting bidding war with the Warriors for Oscar Caballero, who didn’t appear like such a bad option as a fourth outfielder after all.

Chris Kirkwood remains unsigned in mid-February, so no draft pick compensation coming from there for the Raccoons yet.

The Scorpions’ signing of Barbiusa sent the #14 pick to the Elks – who had originally owned it, but given it to the Knights when they had signed Bruce Mark jr., but it went from the Knights to the Scorpions with the signing of Danny Munn by the Knights, and now back to the damn Elks, and by the way, guys, if none of you wants the #14 pick, I’ll take it gladly for the Raccoons.

What else? Raccoons with new employment include Matt Cox getting $1.68M over two years from the Thunder – this is the Cox that was a Raccoon in 2054, while the Thunder still had Ryan Cox; Fernando Salazar joined the Indians for $1.06M; Eduardo Avila is with the Miners for $570k;

Westheim · 10-14-2023, 02:16 PM

February 19 – The Bayhawks trade SP Andy Overy (94-80, 3.81 ERA) to the Pacifics for OF/2B Jeremy Lindauer (.239, 39 HR, 253 RBI) and a prospect.
February 25 – Just ahead of training camp, the Raccoons re-sign OF Oscar Caballero (.267, 65 HR, 564 RBI) to a $1.33M deal for 2057.
March 13 – The Canadiens acquire 3B Tyler Lundberg (.255, 38 HR, 221 RBI) from the Blue Sox, along with a prospect, for INF Alan Leitch (.278, 4 HR, 61 RBI) to go to Nashville.
March 16 – The Crusaders sign 33-year-old former Raccoons LF Chris Kirkwood (.257, 105 HR, 458 RBI) to a $540k contract. The Raccoons receive a supplemental round draft pick in compensation.
March 17 – The Raccoons complete the signing of 32-yr old ex-LAP SP Roberto Oyola (49-61, 4.30 ERA, 1 SV) to a $750k contract.

+++

Caballero nearly doubled last year’s salary through clever negotiations, because we were offering something like $800k initially. That signing kicks Carlos Solorzano off the team and gives us a very strong array of six outfielders / first basemen including Pucks, Brass, Callaia, Abercrombie, and Royer. We will have a hard time finding playing time for all of them!

The infield remained more muddled, while there was a growing sense of disillusion that a good starting pitcher could still be found this late into the offseason, especially if you were a team rather lean on the prospect side of things.

I tried to swing a trade for the Blue Sox’ Richard Castillo or Travis Baker (which would have violated Rule No.1 anyway: NO MORE TRAVISES!), and even for the Bayhawks’ Bob Ruggiero, hardly the pinnacle of pitching, any of them, but the respective teams were hardly impressed with me buggering them.

That’s how we wound up with Roberto Oyola being signed halfway through training camp. Oyola went 3-11 with a 5.63 ERA last season, and my only defense that has a whiff of holding up in the court of public opinion is the damp .318 BABIP behind him (never mind that it was a bit worse than that even in 2055 and yet he managed to fabricate a 4.32 ERA with that…). Oyola has twice led the Federal League though – in home runs allowed, in case you’re wondering what he could possibly lead a pitching category in. On the plus side – he doesn’t walk anybody! …because there are scarcely any batters in the league that can lay off four of his meatballs.

Hey, how about this for validation: he signed for peanuts and he can be released at any time!?

Who else? Shuta Yamamoto went to the damn Elks to bring more terror onto the Raccoons for $780k; Vic Scott joined the Titans for $492k; the Bayhawks added Victor Merino for $510k;

The offseason ends though with an unsigned ex-Coon type-A free agent, right-hander Justin Johns, now age 39 and off a year where the Pacifics abused him to throw in 81 games. He was still decent even then (3-3, 3.43 ERA), but the amount of innings thrown and the type-A compensation attached ruined his chances to get another look-at.

Westheim · 10-15-2023, 05:26 AM

2057 PORTLAND RACCOONS – Opening Day Roster (first set in parenthesis shows 2056 stats, second set career stats; players with an * are off season acquisitions; ^ denotes Kyle Brobeck as a two-way player, who will be listed twice on the roster below):

SP Kennedy Adkins, 32, B:L, T:L (0-2, 4.50 ERA | 86-51, 2.74 ERA) – Good stuff, steady control, keeps it in the ballpark. Won Pitcher of the Year award in 2055, same year he shredded his elbow in September and then missed most of the next (the previous) season, making only two cameos in September of 2056. Will TOTALLY be awesome again now.
SP Seisaku Taki, 29, B:R, T:R (11-15, 3.57 ERA | 61-54, 3.29 ERA) – right-handed groundballer that was imported from Japan to some success, like, uh, winning both Rookie of the Year and Pitcher of the Year in his debut season (like He Shui!), PLUS a Gold Glove. Taki has three very good pitches, throws 95, and should continue to be a delight, even though his ERA keeps creeping up every year. The good news is that he’s in a contract year. The bad news is… that he’s *again* in a contract year and while he’s always had ups and downs, they have been getting upper and downer; f.e. he led the CL in losses in ’56, and he hasn’t pitched a winning season post-2053.
SP Sean Sweeton, 31, B:R, T:R (13-12, 3.28 ERA | 88-69, 3.51 ERA, 1 SV) – acquired from the Scorpions in the sweeping Danny Munn trade, Sweeton brings four good pitches, a solid track record for a slumbering team, and good behavior to the plate. Pitched a silently strong season in his first year in Portland.
SP Craig Kniep, 25, B:R, T:L (9-13, 3.48 ERA | 11-13, 3.68 ERA) – was acquired from the Capitals as a prospect a few years back and arrived as injury replacement for since discarded (sniff!) Raffy de la Cruz, and stuck it out to the end in ’56. Despite not being overly flashy and walking eight in a game at one point, he somehow led the CL in K/9 with a rather modest 8.3 mark.
SP Roberto Oyola *, 32, B:R, T:R (3-11, 5.63 ERA | 49-61, 4.30 ERA, 1 SV) – signed as free agent in March, because his stats in recent times were *that* attractive. I don’t know whether I should boldly proclaim that he’ll totally last the season in the rotation or whether I should just not bother and keep our AAA pitchers sorted out instead.

P/3B Kyle Brobeck, 29, B:S, T:R (7-7, 4.34 ERA, 1 SV | 43-39, 4.34 ERA, 2 SV) – what *is* Kyle Brobeck, for real, though? He’s not a very good starter (though he’s had his moments), and hasn’t been able to hold down a spot in the rotation for very long, ever, and he has been swinging a rather impressive bat at least in limited capacity as a third baseman, but he doesn’t have a very good glove at all. The Raccoons would try to get more of the stick and less of the tossing out of him this year, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not in the cards that Brobeck could start a game at third base and be the first guy in line to take the mound if the starter is knocked out in the third inning. Somehow I feel that none of this is thought out very well.
SP/MR Ivan Ornelas *, 27, B:R, T:R (8-4, 4.53 ERA, 18 SV | 15-10, 4.37 ERA, 20 SV) – acquired from the Condors for Harry Ramsay, Ornelas is a swingman that had limited success as a closer due to a lack of raw stuff, but is very much at the front of the line to replace Oyola in the rotation once that plan inevitably goes up in smoke.
MR Ricky Herrera, 25, B:L, T:L (0-0, 1.69 ERA | 0-0, 1.69 ERA) – former second-rounder with a fastball/slider combo that pitched very nicely in limited action in 2056 and will now have no smaller task than to replace Brett Lillis jr.
MR Takenori Tanizaki, 29, B:R, T:R (4-5, 2.75 ERA | 4-12, 2.85 ERA, 1 SV) – did his work in the pen rather silently, much as that splitter rather silently passes my raking bats.
MR Alex Mancilla *, 33, B:R, T:R (8-9, 5.02 ERA, 3 SV | 32-37, 4.14 ERA, 82 SV) – signed as free agent after being grossly overworked to 89.2 innings by the Crusaders last year, which worsened pretty much all of his stats; should do much better with more careful use.
SU Eloy Sencion, 30, B:L, T:L (4-5, 2.75 ERA | 24-7, 3.11 ERA, 8 SV) – fastball, vicious slider, and by now has firmly established himself in the majors after apparently forgetting how to pitch in 2052 and taking a nosedive all the way to Ham Lake as a 25-year-old. Pitched without many complaints for a few years in a row, although he has to be applied rather carefully against right-handed power hitters…
SU Mike Lane, 29, B:R, T:R (5-2, 2.90 ERA, 3 SV | 21-12, 3.26 ERA, 13 SV) – right-hander with a fastball and curve and quite variable results as far as his K/9 goes, which has been all over the place between 5.7 and 9.3 in his five seasons as a regular with three different teams; Lane was awesome for most of his first year in Portland before foundering late, but who didn’t founder late…?
CL Matt Walters, 26, B:L, T:L (0-2, 1.26 ERA, 45 SV | 6-4, 1.43 ERA, 51 SV) – Rookie of the Year, Reliever of the Year without even being the regular closer in 2055, and while he didn’t win any awards in 2056, he still co-led the CL in saves in his first full season as the stop sign in the ninth inning. Who even cares anymore whether this former #8 pick is technically a failed starter? Unhittable curve and a 94mph heater; more than five strikeouts to every walk in his 126.2 innings over the last two years. I will take that sort of failed starter every day of the week!

C Marcos Chavez, 24, B:R, T:R (.200, 6 HR, 19 RBI | .200, 6 HR, 19 RBI) – nobody likes to pitch to him, quite clumsy, and a free swinger, too, but he hit a pair of dramatic home runs against the damn Elks last July, and that virtually assures him a job on the team as long as he likes.
C Ruben Zamora *, 33, B:R, T:R (.322, 5 HR, 45 RBI | .270, 26 HR, 170 RBI) – career backup catcher with a lot of AAA experience. You never know what you get from his stick (he hit .175 for the 2054 Cyclones), and then there is the trauma that we traded away Raffy for him attached to his persona, too…

1B/RF/LF Gaudencio Callaia, 30, B:L, T:L (.299, 8 HR, 55 RBI | .298, 60 HR, 405 RBI) – excellent defensive first baseman and quality corner outfielder that was acquired at the deadline from the Loggers, when the Raccoons still thought they might go somewhere. Tanked his batting average by 72 points compared to Milwaukee, but who doesn’t? Surplus to requirements in the outfield, and the removal of Harry Ramsay freed up this position for Callaia, although we have multiple outfielders that can also hold down first base without issue.
2B Ryan Allred, 25, B:L, T:R (.311, 1 HR, 17 RBI | .277, 1 HR, 17 RBI) – Year I past Matt Waters sees the Raccoons with a bit of a clusterheck at second base; Ryan Allred certainly hit well enough to claim at least a platoon job at the position on the Opening Day roster, but he’s basically blind against lefty pitching, so that’s that. Average defender at best, but nominally should have some decent speed, although he stole bases at a 25% success rate last season.
SS/3B Lorenzo Lavorano, 29, B:R, T:R (.275, 6 HR, 44 RBI | .286, 30 HR, 389 RBI) – Everybody loves Lonzo! If you don’t love Lonzo, you can’t be my friend…! Has won five stolen base titles in six full (as in: not-injured) seasons, a Gold Glove at least once… and he keeps being a delight in the field and on the career steals list, which he’s racing up at the moment. He came close enough to the single season steals record in ’55 to call it a close miss, and starts the season with 450 bags taken and sitting 16th on the career leaderboard. The chances that he breaks into the top 10 before his 30th birthday (May 3) are not something to bet your house on, but it should happen in the first half this year regardless!
P/3B Kyle Brobeck, 29, B:S, T:R (.287, 5 HR, 22 RBI | .308, 13 HR, 75 RBI) – what *is* Kyle Brobeck, for real, though? He’s not a very good starter (though he’s had his moments), and hasn’t been able to hold down a spot in the rotation for very long, ever, and he has been swinging a rather impressive bat at least in limited capacity as a third baseman, but he doesn’t have a very good glove at all. The Raccoons would try to get more of the stick and less of the tossing out of him this year, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not in the cards that Brobeck could start a game at third base and be the first guy in line to take the mound if the starter is knocked out in the third inning. Somehow I feel that none of this is thought out very well.
3B/RF/SS Daniel Espinoza, 28, B:R, T:R (.248, 1 HR, 15 RBI | .260, 2 HR, 22 RBI) – mostly a defensive backup for the left side of the infield, although this could yet turn into a starting opportunity depending on how quick we’re tiring of Kyle Brobeck’s everyday defense.
2B/3B/SS/RF/CF Arturo Bribiesca, 25, B:R, T:R (.231, 0 HR, 9 RBI | .231, 0 HR, 9 RBI) – Cuban exile that is glove-first and didn’t get many chances to hit in the first place, with only 53 PA to his name in the majors. Also considers ball four a personal insult, and yes, the Raccoons had six months to figure something out about second base, and Bribiesca is the best they could come up with…

LF/RF/1B Trent Brassfield, 24, B:R, T:R (.304, 1 HR, 3 RBI | .278, 16 HR, 72 RBI) – shredded his shoulder two weeks into the 2056 season and didn’t start throwing again until this January; was planned in as rightfield starter previously but with the recurring arm problems gets moved back to leftfield and I will put on a concerned look with curled eyebrows whenever he has to make a throw.
LF/CF/RF Josh Abercrombie *, 30, B:L, T:L (.348, 9 HR, 103 RBI | .317, 33 HR, 412 RBI) – the big trade acquisition from the Miners this winter, Abercrombie is the reigning FL batting champ and poked out 226 hits last season. His best position would be leftfield, but somebody from the starting three needs to play center and it better be Abercrombie, who wants to bat in the middle of the lineup, although I’d rather have him lead off, so somebody is already guaranteed to be cranky and it better be Abercrombie!
LF/RF/1B/CF Alan Puckeridge, 28, B:L, T:R (.302, 16 HR, 78 RBI | .296, 79 HR, 435 RBI) – the Aussie recovered from an awful 2054 season by posting his fourth OPS+ of 130 or better in five full seasons, and reached double digits in each sort of extra-base hit. Also valuable on defense, and luckily signed on the cheap for another three seasons.
LF/RF/CF Oscar Caballero, 33, B:S, T:R (.258, 6 HR, 38 RBI | .267, 65 HR, 564 RBI) – was a free agent for about four months this winter before crawling back in through the back door, but still offers decent hitting and strong defense at all three outfield positions, and can be expected to play regularly against lefty pitchers.
CF/RF/LF/1B Steve Royer, 31, B:S, T:R (.269, 3 HR, 34 RBI | .277, 53 HR, 443 RBI) – spent quite some time batting leadoff last season before completely crashing in the final two months, but was still retained as a (rather luxuriously paid) outfield bat.

On disabled list: Nobody.

Otherwise unavailable: Nobody.

Other roster movement:
SP Ryan Wade, 24, B:R, T:R (2-0, 4.19 ERA | 2-0, 4.19 ERA) – optioned to AAA; former ninth-rounder that was signed as minor league free agent a while back; impressive curveball, but that’s about it.
MR Reynaldo Bravo, 25, B:R, T:R (1-2, 4.09 ERA | 1-2, 5.28 ERA) – waived and DFA’ed; good fastball/curveball, not such a great rotator cuff. Missed most of 2055 and made only a few token appearances in the Bigs over the last two seasons (11.1 IP total), and as a whole seems to get whacked around quite a bit.
MR Adam Harris, 22, B:R, T:L (0-0, 8.10 ERA | 0-0, 8.10 ERA) – optioned to AAA; pitched just a pawful of innings, but could still turn into something with more seasoning.
MR Alex Rios, 23, B:R, T:R (0-0, 4.76 ERA | 0-0, 4.76 ERA) – optioned to AAA; pitched at three different levels and overall walked too many guys, especially with the Raccoons, but the fastball/slider combo could still play up for something.
C Matt Stanton, 26, B:R, T:R (.229, 0 HR, 3 RBI | 229, 0 HR, 3 RBI) – optioned to AAA; average behind the plate, quite below average with the stick, but I had a hunch that we’d see more of him at some point not for his own merits but for a lack of merits by guys that actually made the roster.
2B/RF/LF/CF Daniel Amburn *, 25, B:R, T:R (.185, 0 HR, 6 RBI | .185, 0 HR, 6 RBI) – optioned to AAA; from straight salary dump return (Anton Venegas) to straight dump to AAA. Good defensive second baseman, but little else to write home about.
3B/2B Richard Anderson, 24, B:R, T:R (.111, 0 HR, 1 RBI | .111, 0 HR, 1 RBI) – optioned to AAA; very good defensive third baseman that couldn’t hit, couldn’t run, and couldn’t get more than 20 PA with the Coons late last year.
LF/CF/RF Carlos Solorzano, 25, B:L, T:L (.242, 1 HR, 20 RBI | .232, 1 HR, 29 RBI) – optioned to AAA; solid defender, blistering speed, but he’s never hit much in the majors with 225 PA between the last two seasons.

Everybody not mentioned by now has already been waived, reassigned, or disappeared in a landfill during the offseason.

OPENING DAY LINEUP:

Vs. RHP: 1B Callaia – SS Lavorano – CF Abercrombie – LF Brassfield – RF Puckeridge – 3B Brobeck – 2B Allred – C Chavez – P
(Vs. LHP: LF Abercrombie – SS Lavorano – 1B Brassfield – RF Caballero – 3B Brobeck – CF Royer – C Chavez – 2B Bribiesca – P)

Is it me, or are these lineups getting even mouthier with every year? Anyway, Callaia leading off and Abercrombie third is the version of the lineup that will keep the players happier, even though them switched around might have a better run production. We’ll play it by ear for the first few weeks. Caballero and Royer are switch-hitters on the bench in this setup, while the only right-hander they can get subbed in for would be Brass.

I am not sure whether that hypothetical lefty lineup ever sees the light of day, but it keeps the left-handed batters in the lineup to a minimum. Rather than Brassfield at first, you could have Pucks at first and Abercrombie out, and Royer could bat leadoff again against left-handers, too.

OFF SEASON CHANGES:

BNN gave the Raccoons a -1.0 WAR for the offseason, 13th among all teams. Dumping Venegas’ salary cost 2 WAR as well, and if you claim that the 2.5 WAR contributed by Matt Waters and Brett Lillis jr. last year were not replaced in any way, you’d be correct. The Abercrombie trade added 1.1 WAR.

Top 5: Crusaders (+9.9), Buffaloes (+9.5), Gold Sox (+6.5), Thunder (+4.9), Cyclones (+4.3)
Bottom 5: Falcons (-5.0), Aces (-6.2), Indians (-8.2), Rebels (-11.1), Knights (-11.1)

The rest of the North ranks 9th (BOS, +1.8), 14th (VAN, -1.1), and 16h (MIL, -1.7).

PREDICTION TIME:

The Coons won 102 games in 2055. I was full of apprehension going into last year, expecting them to shed 12 wins. They shed 26. Few things worked out, many players missed much time, the prospects were mostly unsatisfying (exception certainly being Kniep), and it was always “oh well, but next year…!”

Next year has arrived now, we have a mess at three positions in the lineup, no fifth starter to speak of, and few rookies in positions where they shouldn’t be in, plus two key players that missed virtually all of last year and have to piece themselves together again in the first place.

No, the Raccoons are not going to win the division this year. But the roster should still be good enough to win 85 games and build towards better days.

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT:

Better days (slightly) in the farm system, where we were moving up four spots from 16th to 12th this year, despite shedding the number of ranked prospects from twelve to eight. However, the number of top 100 prospects was unchanged (four), and those were on average higher ranked than last year.

It didn’t help, of course, that some of the highly ranked prospects from last year graduated to the majors, foremost #42 Marcos Chavez, who was the top prospect in the system last year, but also #155 Ricky Herrera and #170 Alex Rios. Former #135 prospect SP John Blevins, our 2052 third-rounder, exceeded age limits for the prospect rankings, while #186 Jose Villegas was still in the team’s top 10, but no longer in the league’s top 200.

21st (new) – AA CL Elijah LaBat, 23 – 2056 supplemental-round pick by Raccoons
35th (+15) – AAA CL Adam Harris, 22 – 2055 first-round pick by Raccoons
61st (-17) – AAA SP Chance Fox, 22 – 2053 first-round pick by Raccoons
76th (+35) – AAA LF/RF David Flores, 25 – 2052 second-round pick by Raccoons

116th (-24) – AAA SP Ramon Carreno, 21 – 2051 international free agent signed by Raccoons
124th (-2) – AA 1B Forbes Tomlin, 21 – 2054 first-round pick by Raccoons
144th (-32) – AA OF Jose Estrada, 22 – 2051 international free agent signed by Raccoons
186th (-49) – AAA OF Todd Oley, 24 – 2051 second-round pick by Capitals, acquired with Craig Kniep for Tommy Gardner, Brent Cramer, Brian Moore

Completing the franchise top 10 were AAA 3B/2B Richard Anderson (2050 supp. round) and AA SP Jose Villegas (2050 scouting discovery), both 24 years old.

Finally, the top 10 overall prospects this year are:

1st (new) – DAL A OF Tyler Wharton, 19
2nd (-1) – BOS AA SP Jason Brenize, 20
3rd (new) – TIJ A SP Ben Caldwell, 19
4th (new) – BOS A OF Eddie Marcotte, 19
5th (+4) – SFW AAA CL Alex Flores, 22

6th (-3) – DAL AAA SP Ray Walker, 22
7th (+33) – BOS ML C Jorge Arviso, 22
8th (+49) – DAL AAA SP Alex Quevedo, 21
9th (+7) – DAL AAA CL Jon Dominguez, 21
10th (-2) – IND AA INF Matt Kilday, 20

Yes, the Boston and Dallas farms are ranked #1 and #2, respectively, which should not be a surprise for them hogging seven of the top 10 players on the list. They had another ten top 100 players between them.

Wharton was taken #1 in the 2056 draft, where Marcotte was taken at #2, and Caldwell was taken at #5.

That still left six top 10 prospects from last season that were no longer ranked in there this time around. This included some success stories of promotion to the majors, like the Loggers’ Steve Valenzano playing 84 games with the team while batting .231 with one homer after entering last year as the #10 prospect at age 21. Former #4 prospect Josh Elling was promoted by the Wolves as well, and while the right-hander is projected as a starter, he made only 33 bullpen appearances for a 3-1 record and 4.50 ERA.

OF Jose Ambriz slid from #2 to #15 this year, but made the Aces’ Opening Day roster despite not making an appearance for the team so far.

Not in the majors now and perhaps not any time soon: Condors OF Chad Cardwell remains in AA for this Opening Day and slipped from #5 to #17. Similarly, Crusaders outfielder Javier Acuna didn’t make it out of single-A last year and went from #6 to #19 on the list. And Capitals SP Jon Reyes made 27 starts in AA, but remains at the level, slipping four positions from #7 to #11.

Next: first pitch.

Westheim · 10-15-2023, 12:56 PM

Raccoons (0-0) @ Indians (0-0) – April 3-5, 2057

The season started on the road, which was just as well, given that it might still be freezing in Portland at night in early April. The Indians had finished last in the North last year, and the early indicators were that it wouldn’t get any better for them any time soon and that 100 losses were entirely possible. Despite their struggles, they had held the Raccoons to a 9-9 tie in 18 games last season.

Projected matchups:
Kennedy Adkins (0-0) vs. Chris Kaye (0-0)
Seisaku Taki (0-0) vs. Jeremy Fetta (0-0)
Sean Sweeton (0-0) vs. Sean Fitzgibbon (0-0)

Both teams carted up one left-hander in this opening set. The Coons put Adkins first, and the Indians put Fitzgibbon last.

Game 1
POR: 1B Callaia – SS Lavorano – CF Abercrombie – LF Brassfield – RF Puckeridge – 3B Brobeck – 2B Allred – C Chavez – P Adkins
IND: CF Abel – 3B Mullen – 2B A. Rios – 1B B. Quinteros – RF McIntyre – LF Briggs – C Villafan – SS Llampallas – P Kaye

Lonzo singled and was caught stealing in the first inning, which was such a sturdy start to the new season. The Indians in turn began their season batting with Kevin Abel drawing a leadoff walk and Dan Mullen sneaking a single through the right side. Antonio Rios popped out, Bill Quinteros struck out, but Will McIntyre’s 2-out liner drove in both of the runners for a quick 2-0 Indy lead before Chris Briggs grounded out to Brobeck.

Adkins never really stopped struggling in this start, with the Indians getting on base against him in every inning, and on top of that, he also got the Raccoons’ first RBI of the new season with a sac fly to right when he came to bat with Brobeck and Allred on the corners and nobody out in the fifth inning. Callaia and Lonzo made meek outs to leave the tying run in Ryan Allred on base. In both the fourth and fifth innings, the Indians got the first two batters on base, but then hit into a double play, which helped Adkins advance, but the Raccoons knew that trick better than anybody, and after Abercrombie and Brassfield hit singles in the top of the sixth, Pucks zinged one into a 4-6-3 double play to derail the rally.

Adkins took 101 pitches through six messy innings, while outlasting Kaye on the timeline, because Kaye was removed in the top 7th after a walk to Allred. Tim Jacoby replaced him, walked Marcos Chavez, but Caballero grounded out in Adkins’ spot, and Callaia struck out to strand the runners in scoring position. The Raccoons next went to Alex Mancilla, who offered four balls straight to Juan Llampallas, then was taken deep by pinch-hitter Kevin Price. Rally efforts in the late innings were then limited to a walk drawn by Lonzo and a double play tumbled into by Abercrombie. 4-1 Indians. Allred 2-3, BB;

Good start.

Good start…

Game 2
POR: 1B Callaia – SS Lavorano – CF Abercrombie – LF Brassfield – RF Puckeridge – 3B Brobeck – 2B Allred – C Chavez – P Taki
IND: SS Llampallas – 2B A. Rios – 1B B. Quinteros – LF Abel – CF Oldfield – RF McIntyre – 3B Mullen – C Villafan – P Fetta

Pucks doubled home Lonzo and Abercrombie and their pair of singles for a 2-0 lead in the first inning, which was already a lot more to my liking. Kyle Brobeck socked a ball to deep center after that, but it was caught by Cory Oldfield on the run. Taki had one of his vintage first innings then, giving up three straight singles to begin his season, along with a run, then after two strikeouts to Abel and Oldfield another RBI single to Will McIntyre, tying the score altogether. Dan Mullen then grounded out to strand a pair on base. After that hurry of a first inning, things calmed down considerably for three scoreless innings before the Raccoons would have Abercrombie on base with two outs and Brassfield batting in the top 5th. Fetta ran a 3-0 count before giving up a looper to right. McIntyre came hustling and went into the headfirst slide, the ball bounced an inch from his glove, then nestled in it, but the first base umpire threw the fist up. The Coons were outraged and demanded the holographic instant replay to be consulted, but the umps had none of it! Scandalous!

Like Adkins on Tuesday, Taki went six innings on 101 pitches on Wednesday, which was not ideal, but at least he departed in a 2-2 tie still. There was no W in the cards for him, though, because while the Raccoons put the pinch-hitting Caballero and Lonzo on base in the seventh inning against Tim Jacoby, Abercrombie floated one out to centerfielder Oldfield to end the inning. Caballero stayed in the game for Abercrombie then, and came back to the plate in the eighth inning against Jacoby, then with the bases loaded on a Brassfield and Brobeck singles and a walk issued to Chavez, also two outs. He grounded out on an 0-2 pitch with a hobbler to replacement shortstop Bernie Bahena, and “hobbled” was a fitting description for the whole appearance on display…

Ivan Ornelas pitched two scoreless and fruitless innings. While Randy Slocum walked leadoff man Callaia in the ninth, the Raccoons then excelled in avoidance, leaving him stranded at second base. Ricky Herrera sent the game to extras, striking out two despite singles by Price and Willie Villafan. Jason Perry whiffed in the #9 spot to bring overtime about. There in the top 10th, the Raccoons loaded the bases again with some help from Bahena, who after Bill Dewan allowed singles to Brobeck and Arturo Bribiesca, fudged Chavez’ wannabe 6-4-3 inning-ending double play grounder, with the misgrab loading the bases for Caballero. When Caballero lined out to Antonio Rios and Bribiesca was at third base to score on the “single” and was rather casually, almost cruelly, doubled up to end the inning, I knew that it would be a long season. Rios, Quinteros, and Abel then loaded the bases against Mike Lane in the bottom 10th on two bloops and a walk, but Eloy Sencion came in, struck out Oldfield, and then got Danny Werman to ground out to Lonzo, further extending a game everybody had well enough of by now. Top 11th, Lonzo drew a walk off Jon Netherland, stole second, and died a lonely death at second base, and Dutch Indy would continue to pitch into the 13th inning, with Mancilla giving the Raccoons two scoreless to make it that far. Chavez walked and Caballero singled to begin the 13th inning, but Callaia’s grounder merely advanced the runners. At least it brought up Lonzo, who was 2-for-5 in the game, but regressed with 1-for-5, in the sense of one bouncer to the third baseman Mullen for the useless second out. Royer had remained in the game earlier and batted with two outs (but Brass was gone from the #4 hole), and FINALLY SOMEBODY SCORED A ******* RUN! Single to left, one run in, two runs in, and the Raccoons had a lead…! Ruben Zamora flew out to center, then caught Matt Walters’ scoreless bottom of the 13th to get the team into the damn win column. 4-2 Blighters. Lavorano 2-6, BB; Brobeck 3-6, 2B; Bribiesca (PH) 1-2; Ornelas 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K; Mancilla 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, W (1-0);

Two days in, and now we already had a game where Kyle Brobeck was in the lineup, but if things went yikes there was every chance that he’d be pitching before long in the rubber game.

Game 3
POR: LF Abercrombie – SS Lavorano – 1B Brassfield – RF Caballero – 3B Brobeck – CF Royer – C Zamora – 2B Bribiesca – P Sweeton
IND: SS Llampallas – 2B A. Rios – 1B B. Quinteros – LF Abel – CF Oldfield – RF McIntyre – 3B Mullen – C Villafan – P Fitzgibbon

Brobeck came close to the first Coons homer of 2057 when he hit a ball off the top of the wall in leftfield for a leadoff double in the second inning, but he didn’t come particularly close to scoring a run in the inning, being left exactly there for as long as it took the Coons to make three outs. The next hit for the brown team was another double, hit by Ruben Zamora with one out in the fifth inning – so yes, that level of production – and he was stranded just the same by Bribiesca and Sweeton. The latter allowed a single to Mullen and very much nothing else in the first five innings of the game.

Top 7th, Brobeck was at it again, smacking a leadoff double into the left-center gap in a scoreless game. Royer struck out, Zamora was walked intentionally, and Bribiesca smashed a bouncer into a 5-4-3 double play. (deep breath)

Sweeton allowed hits to Quinteros and PH Kevin Price in the seventh inning, but then got a double play from Oldfield. Will McIntyre singled his way on to begin the bottom 8th, but was still on second base with two outs when the Indians sent Chris Briggs to pinch-hit in the #9 spot. The Raccoons sniffed the air, then called Eloy Sencion from the bullpen. The lefty struck out the lefty, and the game went to the ninth scorelessly. Brassfield drew a leadoff walk from Jeff Caldwell, which was as good as it got. Caballero, Brobeck, and PH Callaia made meek outs. Tanizaki got three more of those from the Arrowheads, and here we were again in extra innings…!

It began to rain by the time that Bribiesca, Pucks, and Abercrombie hit straight 1-out singles off Caldwell in the 10th inning. The last one went to rightfield with Bribiesca at second base, but by this point we were so desperate for a ******* run that he was sent against McIntyre’s murder arm – and was thrown out at the plate. The remaining runners went into scoring position, but Lonzo hit a comebacker to Caldwell to kill the inning for good. At that point Brobeck went to the hill, if nothing else to make it end. Making it end he did. Price he nicked with a 1-2 pitch, Oldfield hit into a fielder’s choice, but stole second base, and McIntyre’s single to left ended the game. 1-0 Indians. Brobeck 2-4, 2 2B; Puckeridge (PH) 1-1; Sweeton 7.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K;

Luis, my fuzzy lips are so weirdly dry.

Raccoons (1-2) vs. Bayhawks (1-2) – April 6-8, 2057

The Bayhawks had lost a series to the Falcons to begin the season and had scored ten runs in doing so, which to my fuzzy old ears sounded like an outrageous amount. Ten runs – in THREE games?? Wizardry, that! They had given up 13 runs, mostly in the bullpen, which came in with an 8.10 ERA. We had won seven of nine games from San Fran last year.

Projected matchups:
Craig Kniep (0-0) vs. Salvatore Calderon (0-0)
Roberto Oyola (0-0) vs. Darren McRee (0-0)
Kennedy Adkins (0-1, 3.00 ERA) vs. Milt Cantrell (0-1, 7.04 ERA)

Only righty pitchers from the opposition for our home opener series.

Game 1
SFB: SS X. Reyes – 3B Peltier – 2B A. Montoya – RF A. Walker – LF Lindauer – CF M. Brown – C Redfern – 1B P. Fowler – P S. Calderon
POR: 1B Callaia – SS Lavorano – CF Abercrombie – LF Brassfield – RF Puckeridge – 2B Allred – C Chavez – 3B Espinoza – P Kniep

The Coons scored in the first inning after Calderon offered a leadoff walk to an 0-11 Gaudencio Callaia, who was then moved around to score with Abercrombie and Brassfield singles. Pucks walked to fill the bases, and Ryan Allred drew another walk to push home a second run. Marcos Chavez added another run with an RBI single, but Espinoza popped out and Kniep grounded out to keep it at 3-0. That became 3-1 in the top 2nd when Kniep had nothing better to do than walk the ******* bags full with the 4-5-6 batters, before getting a run-scoring double play grounder from Keith Redfern and a pop to Allred from Pat Fowler. Slappy, I think you’ll need to hold my hand a little earlier than usual this year.

The third inning quickly spiralled out of control once Calderon opened with a double to left. Kniep walked Xavier Reyes, then gave up RBI singles to both Adam Peltier and Armando Montoya. On the next pitch, Aaron Walker went well deep to left, and the Bayhawks had turned a 3-run deficit into a 3-run lead. Kniep was yanked after offering another ******* walk to Lindauer, with Tanizaki working out of the inning after that. But the game would get well worse well soon. Brobeck got the ball in the fifth inning and got one out on 34 pitches. Leadoff walk to Montoya, then singles by Walker and Lindauer, the latter plating Montoya, 7-3. Matt Brown walked, Redfern struck out with the bases loaded. Pat Fowler singled home two, Calderon singled home one, and another run scored on a throwing error by Brassfield, and then Reyes tripled to clean up whatever was left behind. Exit Brobeck, enter Ornelas, who gave up an RBI single to Peltier, ballooning Brobeck’s ERA to 108, but held the Baybirds to a 7-spot in the inning. Yes! That’s the moral victories we need! (unscrews the first bottle of Capt’n Coma of the year)

The Coons had four hits, including their first homer of the year by Brassfield in the bottom 5th and scored exactly one run. Lonzo singled and was doubled up by Abercrombie, and after the homer Pucks and Allred singled but were stranded when Chavez grounded out. Not that I expected a successful rally out of a 10-run hole… By the seventh, Ornelas gave up a run on three singles in his third inning of garbage relief, while Xavier Reyes found it necessary to steal a base in a 13-4 game before scoring to extend the lead to 14-4. San Fran tacked on two more in the ninth against Ricky Herrera, who was left to his own devices and gave up two walks and three singles. 16-5 Bayhawks. Lavorano 3-5, 2B; Brassfield 2-3, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Allred 1-2, BB, RBI; Bribiesca (PH) 1-2; Chavez 2-5, 2 RBI; Zamora (PH) 1-1; Royer (PH) 1-1; Tanizaki 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Fun fact: NOW comes the guy that I expected to get bowled over. – The Bayhawks went to Cantrell, who had already gotten bowled over.

Game 2
SFB: SS X. Reyes – C Mittleider – 1B P. Fowler – 2B A. Montoya – CF Epperson – 3B Peltier – RF A. Walker – LF Lindauer – P Cantrell
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Abercrombie – RF Brassfield – 1B Puckeridge – 2B Allred – C Zamora – 3B Bribiesca – P Oyola

Oyola allowed a whole loada NUTHIN’ the first time through the order, whiffing three Baybirds, while the Raccoons expertly failed their way around a leadoff double for Royer in the first and a leadoff single still for Pucks in the second inning, with the latter eventually doubled up by Zamora, 4-6-3 style. Oyola ran his perfect game to 3.2 innings with strikeouts on Reyes and Jon Mittleider in the fourth before he was suddenly taken pretty well deep to right by Pat Fowler, and at the same time it started to rain, or maybe it was just the tears dropping on my shirt with five happy Raccoons for five straight pennants from the 2040s.

There was a 20-minute rain delay in the bottom 4th after which Lonzo singled and was caught stealing, but then the Critters turned the score around to 2-1 home team with a single by Abercrombie, Pucks’ RBI double, and Allred’s RBI single; although hits by Peltier and Walker and a sac fly hit by Lindauer to left would tie the game at two right away again in the fifth inning. By the third time through, Oyola was getting hit really hard. Armando Montoya gave San Francisco a 4-2 lead in the sixth with a huge homer to left, and it was more of a consolation price that Oyola at least finished seven innings to help out the beleaguered bullpen. The Coons made up a run in the bottom 7th, getting Allred and Bribiesca to the corners, and a run-scoring fielder’s choice grounder to second from the pinch-hitting Caballero, but that still left us 4-3 behind.

Make that two after Mittleider’s leadoff jack off Mancilla in the eighth inning, 5-3, and then the Baybirds swatted out three straight singles to load the bases while Mancilla retired absolutely ******* nobody. The inning descended into madness as Mike Lane replaced him. Adam Peltier singled home a run (…), and Sam Witherspoon drove home two with a pinch-hit single. Lindauer struck out, while the remaining runners reached scoring position with a wild pitch to Eric Cobb, whom Lane would drill with the 1-1 pitch to load them up for Reyes, the rat. Reyes flew out to Caballero in center on the first pitch, and Caballero unleashed a throw home that killed Peltier at the plate to end the inning, but apparently also separated Caballero’s arm from the rest of his body, and he left the game injured. Pucks moved to center, and Callaia entered at first base. Lane then allowed another two hits and a wild pitch, but no runs in the ninth inning… Bottom 9th, Pucks and Espinoza hit leadoff singles off ex-Coon Victor Merino and scored on a Bribiesca double and a Callaia groundout, but Dave Lister then restored order and the Raccoons punched another L on their scorecard. 8-5 Bayhawks. Puckeridge 3-4, 2B, RBI; Allred 2-3, RBI; Espinoza (PH) 1-1; Bribiesca 2-4, 2B, RBI;

(blows)

Game 3
SFB: SS X. Reyes – 3B Peltier – 2B A. Montoya – RF A. Walker – LF Lindauer – C Redfern – CF Gough – 1B P. Fowler – P McRee
POR: 1B Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Abercrombie – RF Puckeridge – 3B Brobeck – CF Royer – 2B Allred – C Chavez – P Adkins

The sky looked dull, as did Adkins, who gave up three runners and three stolen base attempts in the first inning. Reyes was caught stealing (hah-hah!), but Peltier and Walker swiped bags, and Peltier especially scored the game’s first run. Redfern’s double and John Gough’s single produced another run off Adkins in the second, and while Abercrombie doubled home Callaia to get the Coons on the damn board in the third inning, the traffic against Adkins never stopped. Redfern homered for a 3-1 Bayhawks lead in the fourth, and it started to rain around the same time and before long we had a 30-minute rain delay. It all went swimmingly, really.

Longtime Wolves starter McRee was in theory well accustomed to Oregon weather, but still loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom 4th. Brobeck hit a soft single. Royer hit an infield single. Allred reached on an error by Reyes. Whatever works, boys, just keep it up. Marcos Chavez tied the game on the very next pitch, shoving a single through the left side to allow Brobeck and Royer to score and even the tally at three. Adkins whiffed, Callaia walked, and Lonzo got home the go-ahead run with a groundout before Abercrombie emptied the bases with a 2-out, 2-strike, 2-run gap triple that put Portland up 6-3 and sent McRee to the showers. Oscar Soliz popped out Pucks to end the 5-run inning, but saw Royer reach on a clumsy error by Gough in the next. Royer stole second and scored on Allred’s hit through Fowler, 7-3. This time, Adkins got through seven innings on 100 pitches, and with the 4-run lead still all in one piece. Tanizaki and Herrera added scoreless innings of their own to stave off the sweep. 7-3 Raccoons. Callaia 2-4, BB; Abercrombie 2-3, BB, 3B, 2B, 3 RBI; Allred 2-4, 2B, RBI;

Raccoons (2-4) vs. Falcons (2-4) – April 9-11, 2057

The Falcons had started out 2-0, but had since lost four straight, including getting swept by the Crusaders on the weekend. They ranked seventh in runs scored and sixth in runs allowed in the CL, better than the Raccoons in either category. Last year, we had drowned eight out of nine times against the Falcons.

Projected matchups:
Seisaku Taki (0-0, 3.00 ERA) vs. Esteban Duran (0-1, 7.71 ERA)
Sean Sweeton (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Alfonso Jewel (0-1, 6.00 ERA)
Craig Kniep (0-1, 27.00 ERA) vs. Josh Doyle (0-0)

Jewel would be the second lefty opponent of this season.

Abercrombie and Lonzo had Monday off – they were the only players that had started every game during Opening Week, and we would not have a day off for a while yet.

Game 1
CHA: LF K. Fisher – SS Woodrome – RF D. Ceballos – 3B B. Anderson – 1B Schaack – C L. Miranda – CF Conner – 2B T. Edwards – P E. Duran
POR: 1B Callaia – 2B Allred – LF Brassfield – RF Puckeridge – 3B Brobeck – CF Royer – C Chavez – SS Espinoza – P Taki

Callaia whiffed and Allred bounced out to short to begin the bottom 1st, but then Brass and Pucks got on with a single and walk, respectively. Miranda fumbled the 2-2 pitch to Brobeck for a passed ball, and then with the runners in scoring position and the earliest start imaginable, Brobeck singled them both in with a clean slicer to center. Royer and Chavez would fill the bags after that, but Espinoza’s K ended the inning. It didn’t take long for Taki to blow that, and then some, though; the Falcons found the board with three singles in the third inning, then added a 3-run homer by Bobby Anderson, the old foe. (gnashes teeth)

Marcos Chavez’ bomb to left in the bottom 4th was a solo job and narrowed the score to 4-3, but Kyle Fisher’s single and Ian Woodrome’s RBI double pulled that run right back in the top 5th, and not much of Taki was seen afterwards….

More disaster befell Ornelas in the seventh inning. Travis Edwards rammed a leadoff triple through Brobeck, he nailed Braden McCarver, and then gave up an RBI double to Kyle Fisher. One run scored, and the two trailing runners were stranded when Eloy Sencion rung up Woodrome and got two cozy outs to first base from Danny Ceballos and Bobby Anderson, but we were down 6-3 by now, but substantial rallying was hard to spot. Brass was on base in the eighth, and also doubled up by Pucks. The bottom 9th saw the Raccoons against Coons discard Steve Watson, who nicked Chavez and walked Abercrombie to bring the tying run to the plate with one out. That would be, uh, pinch-hitter Ruben Zamora. He flew out to right, which was still better than a game-ending double play. Two outs, Callaia, single to left, and a run scored, with the winning run appearing at the plate. Ryan Allred probably hadn’t hit a homer since stickball times, and didn’t start with that stuff now either, striking out instead. 6-4 Falcons. Brassfield 2-4; Chavez 2-2, HR, RBI;

Three days later, we also finally learned that Oscar Caballero would miss substantial time with a triceps strain. He went to the DL and was expected to be out for six weeks or longer. Squee. There were no minor league stats to fall back on as of Tuesday, which was the day the AAA season only started. The Raccoons recalled Carlos Solorzano because I didn’t know what else to do …

Game 2
CHA: LF K. Fisher – SS Woodrome – RF D. Ceballos – 3B B. Anderson – 1B Schaack – C L. Miranda – CF Ward – 2B T. Edwards – P Doyle
POR: 1B Callaia – 2B Allred – LF Brassfield – RF Puckeridge – 3B Brobeck – CF Royer – C Chavez – SS Espinoza – P Sweeton*

Singles by the 2-3-4-5 batters put Sweeton in a 2-0 hole before very long in the first inning, but at least Miranda hit into a double play. Portland got Allred and Brassfield singles in the bottom 1st, a floater to right from Pucks, and then a 3-run homer off Brobeck’s weird stick! Doyle, in his first start of the season, would offer leadoff walks to the 2-3 batters in the bottom 3rd, then gave up a sac fly to Brobeck after Pucks’ roller into a fielder’s choice at second base, which extended the lead to 4-2, but the Falcons got that one back; Luis Miranda drew a 1-out walk in the fourth, advanced on Jayden Ward’s grounder to first base, and then scored when Edwards knocked a ball through the right side for a 2-out RBI single…

Allred and Brassfield reached base together for the third time in the bottom 5th, then already against reliever Franklin Mendoza and with one out. Pucks shot a single through the right side, but too hard for Allred to try and score from second base. Brobeck instead batted with the bases full, but popped out to short, remaining on four RBI for the game – or all the Critters had. That was, until Steve Royer drove a screamer into the right-center gap. It fell between Ward and Ceballos, then escaped to the fence, and became a bases-clearing double…! Chavez grounded out, keeping the score at 7-3 through five. Sweeton pitched one more inning, but gave up a run thanks to a leadoff double by Bobby Anderson, leaving with a 7-4 lead eventually. And that one held up – neither being taken away from nor added to. For Portland, Mancilla, Lane, and Walters all threw scoreless innings. 7-4 Coons. Brassfield 2-3, BB; Brobeck 2-3, HR, 4 RBI; Royer 2-4, 2B, 3 RBI;

No left-hander to close out the series for the Raccoons – Wednesday’s game was rained out, which was apparent quite early, and the Falcons and Coons both flew out of town mid-day, because they both had places to be by Thursday.

In other news

April 4 – 39-year-old left-hander Mike Lynn, who pitched to a 3.12 ERA with the Capitals last year, signs a 2-yr, $2.24M contract with the Miners, three days into the new season.
April 5 – 39-year-old right-hander Justin Johns, 3-3 with a 3.43 ERA for L.A. in ’56, signs a 2-yr, $2.2M contract with the Wolves, who forfeit their third-round pick to the Pacifics for picking up the last type-A free agent on the market.
April 7 – BOS OF/2B Eric Whitlow (.200, 0 HR, 0 RBI) will miss a month with torn thumb ligaments.
April 9 – Aces 2B/SS Jim White (.333, 0 HR, 1 RBI) is out for the year after being diagnosed with a fracture in his elbow.
April 10 – The Wolves will not have OF/1B Noah Caswell (.275, 1 HR, 6 RBI) until the start of May with a fracture in the 27-year-old’s foot putting him on the DL.
April 11 – Cyclones RF/LF/1B John MacDonnell (.342, 1 HR, 6 RBI) hits for the cycle in a 12-inning, 11-8 loss to the Warriors. MacDonnell notably does not require extra innings to get his four hits, which he all enters in the box score by the eighth inning. He goes 4-for-6 with 5 RBI, but can’t stave off defeat.

FL Player of the Week: PIT INF Alex Vasquez (.600, 1 HR, 5 RBI)
CL Player of the Week: ATL OF Jon Alade (.467, 0 HR, 9 RBI)

Complaints and stuff

Struggling to score, and struggling to keep the opposition from scoring. It was a bit of a rough first eight games, even though most of the damage was done by that one bombardment brought by the brawny Baybirds. Y’know, if we erase the first four games entirely, we almost have a great run differential for four games played…!

And if I erased myself off the nearest bridge over the Willamette… Oh well, at least nobody (was) drowned so far. There’s candidates, though.

Reynaldo Bravo went unclaimed and was assigned to AAA.

The Coons will play four with the Crusaders in New York starting on Thursday, the start of a 4-city road trip that will also see us head to Elk City, Atlanta, and Oklahoma. Oh well, at least we’re getting out of the truly dreadful Portland April. Wednesday’s rainout will only be made up in September, in surely more dreadful weather.

Fun Fact: The previous cycle in the league had come a year less a day earlier, and also against the Warriors.

Willie Sanchez of the Rebels even managed to win that game with his team.

It’s the third cycle for a losing player in the decade. The other two involved the Knights, including the cycle that the Aces’ Jim White hit for in 2053 in a loss to Atlanta.

No more cycles for Jim White this year…

*Let’s just say I bungled the opposing starters being switched until it was too late…

DD Martin · 10-15-2023, 07:39 PM

Good luck to the Raccoons on the upcoming season. I hope they go over the projected 85 but that will likely take some in season moves before the deadline if they are within striking distance

Westheim · 10-16-2023, 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DD Martin

Good luck to the Raccoons on the upcoming season. I hope they go over the projected 85 but that will likely take some in season moves before the deadline if they are within striking distance

I don't think you can have such amounts of luck as the Raccoons will need to not drown.

+++

Raccoons (3-5) @ Crusaders (6-2) – April 12-15, 2057

The Crusaders had started 0-2 before rapping off a 6-game winning streak, and now the Raccoons rocked up in New York to get some of that. The Crusaders had allowed the fewest runs in the CL so far – 3.25 per game – but they were also only eighth in runs scored. Their rotation and bullpen ranked first each in ERA. Thankfully it was still early. New York had whooped Portland, 13-5, across 18 games last year, which was a crucial piece in them making it through the damn Elks and to a World Series championship.

Projected matchups:
Craig Kniep (0-1, 27.00 ERA) vs. Joel Luera (0-0, 3.60 ERA)
Roberto Oyola (0-1, 5.14 ERA) vs. Jose Ortega (1-0, 1.42 ERA)
Kennedy Adkins (1-1, 3.46 ERA) vs. Ben Seiter (1-1, 1.13 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (0-1, 5.25 ERA) vs. David Concha (0-1, 4.50 ERA)

We were promised a Southpaw Sunday here. With the rainout on Wednesday robbing us of a lefty against the Falcons, this would only be the second southpaw we’d face this year.

Game 1
POR: CF Abercrombie – SS Lavorano – LF Brassfield – RF Puckeridge – 3B Brobeck – 1B Callaia – 2B Allred – C Chavez – P Kniep
NYC: CF O. Sanchez – 3B Adame – SS Z. Suggs – 2B Buss – 1B Sevilla – LF Ogawa – RF C. Williams – C R. Salas – P Luera

The struggling Gaudencio Callaia was moved out of the #1 spot, but responded with a solo home run in the second inning that put the first run on the board. The New Yorkers drew even again right away, thanks to Jeff Buss’ leadoff single and then two walks issued by Kniep to Raul Sevilla and Chad Williams, which loaded the bases, then Raul Salas’ sac fly to center. Luera flew out to Pucks to end the inning. Kniep, who had been brutalized for six runs in 2+ innings in his first start of the year, continued to pitch behind, whiff next to nobody (and no position player until Zach Suggs in the fifth inning), and require constant defensive intervention to not get rolled over early on again. He walked four Crusaders total through five innings, needing 92 pitches to even make it that far. He still batted for himself in the sixth, but then allowed leadoff singles to Sevilla and Ikuo Ogawa in the bottom 6th. Williams and Salas popped out poorly before ex-Coon Chris Kirkwood pinch-hit for Luera. That also ended Kniep’s day. Tanizaki secured a K against Kirkwood, and a no-decision for Kniep.

Singles by Brobeck and Callaia with two outs in the seventh went nowhere when Bribiesca popped out in Allred’s place against the southpaw Ben Lussier, while Tanizaki put Alex Adame, another ex-Critter, and Buss on the corners with two outs in the bottom of the inning. The Coons sent Eloy Sencion to turn around the switch-hitting Sevilla to his much weaker side, and after the count ran full Sevilla struck out swinging to end the inning. Lussier and Mike Lane kept the game tied in the eighth, while Lonzo opened the ninth inning with a double to left-center against Ross Mitchell. Then nothing happened while Brass and Brobeck made meager outs around an intentional walk to Pucks. Callaia, however, still hitting under .200 despite a 2-for-3 day, rushed a ball past Raul Sevilla and up the rightfield line for a 2-out, 2-run double! The Crusaders removed Mitchell for right-handed veteran Ryan Sullivan, who couldn’t get anybody out. First Bribiesca took him deep to right, but then he also allowed singles to Chavez and Espinoza, then a 2-run triple to Abercrombie. The Crusaders needed a third reliever, Austin Guastella, to get out Lonzo to end the inning, but not before the Coons had scored six runs. The Crusaders answered with two off Ricky Herrera in the bottom 9th, with the hapless lefty allowing another three hits and a walk, with Buss singling home two runs with the bags full before the inning fizzled out for New York. 7-3 Coons. Callaia 3-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Chavez 2-4; Espinoza (PH) 1-1;

Game 2
POR: CF Abercrombie – SS Lavorano – LF Brassfield – RF Puckeridge – 3B Brobeck – 1B Callaia – 2B Allred – C Zamora – P Oyola
NYC: CF O. Sanchez – 3B Adame – SS Z. Suggs – LF Buss – RF C. Williams – CF Pfeifer – 1B Ogawa – C R. Salas – P J. Ortega

The Raccoons had a quick start on Friday; Ortega walked Abercrombie, Lonzo singled and stole a base, and both runners then scored on productive outs by Brassfield (grounder) and Pucks (sac fly) for a 2-0 lead. New York answered with Sanchez and Adame singles and two groundouts to grab a run right back, but Adame was stranded with Williams’ groundout to Allred. The tie was achieved an inning later, though, as Ogawa, Ortega, Omar Sanchez all offered singles off Oyola. Oh-oh.

Pucks came close to a homer his second time up, but had it caught at the fence by Williams, while Oyola didn’t get particularly close to finishing five innings, thanks to the Crusaders whacking him from line to line in the fourth inning and scoring three runs for a 5-2 lead. Eight hits, two walks off the late addition in just four innings of work… He was followed by Ornelas, who gave up a single to Williams and a homer to Mike Pfeifer in the bottom 5th, extending the Crusaders’ lead to five runs. After that it was Brobeck on the mound, who hoped to shave off some of that 108.00 ERA. He had a scoreless sixth, but the Crusaders piled on another three singles with a Pfeifer RBI in the seventh against him. In the eighth, Raul Sevilla opened with a pinch-hit single, advanced on a wild pitch, and scored on Suggs’ 2-out double, which sugged.

The Raccoons actually put on a non-trivial rally with a 7-run gap in the ninth inning. Pucks, Callaia, and Allred all hit singles to load the bases against Ken Quisenberry, who then walked in a run against Ruben Zamora, struck out Espinoza for the second out, and then walked Abercrombie again to shove in another run. Ross Mitchell came out against Lonzo, who drove in two runs with a single through the left side, and that actually brought the tying run to the plate. Brassfield didn’t tie the game, but kept the line moving with an RBI single to right-center. And then Pucks popped out foul to end the game… 9-7 Crusaders. Lavorano 3-5, 2 RBI; Callaia 2-4, 2B; Allred 2-4, 2B;

Ten games in, the Coons had a rotation ERA over five, and a bullpen ERA over six.

Game 3
POR: 1B Callaia – SS Lavorano – CF Abercrombie – RF Puckeridge – LF Brassfield – 2B Allred – C Chavez – 3B Espinoza – P Adkins
NYC: CF O. Sanchez – 3B Adame – SS Z. Suggs – 2B Buss – 1B Sevilla – RF C. Williams – LF Kirkwood – C R. Salas – P Seiter

Adkins fell 1-0 behind in the second on a homer by Kirkwood, then failed to get a bunt down after Espinoza drew a leadoff walk against Seiter in the third inning. Down 0-2, he waited for a pitch to hit, which turned out the 2-2, which he dinked into leftfield for a single. Callaia and Lonzo then both hit into fielders’ choices at second base, but that somehow got Espinoza home with the tying run. Lonzo was then caught stealing to end the inning.

Instead New York went up 2-1 again in the fourth inning. Buss led off with a single to left that Brassfield bungled for an error and an extra base, and immediately Sevilla hit an RBI single. Williams flew out, Kirkwood hit into a double play to end the inning. The fifth was peaceful, but the Crusaders came out choosing violence in the sixth. Suggs drew a leadoff walk, Buss singled him to third base, then stole second himself, and both scored on Sevilla’s single to left-center, 4-1. Adkins struck out Chad Williams, then was removed after 94 muddled pitches. Mancilla would somehow get out of the inning, after which the Raccoons made up two runs in the top 7th. Abercrombie led off with a double off the wall, Pucks walked, then was forced out by Brass, and then Seiter’s wild pitch scored Abercrombie. Allred singled home Brass from second base on a 3-1 pitch, shortening the score to 4-3 before the inning ended, but then Mancilla failed two batters on base before bringing up Sevilla with two outs in the bottom 7th. The Coons tried to be sneaky again and sent Eloy Sencion again, but this time New York responded with Ikuo Ogawa pinch-hitting and drawing a walk to fill the bases. Sencion then also walked the next switch-hitter, Williams, to force in a run. Kirkwood grounded out to strand three runners. Tanizaki then allowed another run in the eighth, Raul Salas whacking a leadoff double and scoring on two productive outs. 6-3 Crusaders.

(blows)

Game 4
POR: 1B Callaia – SS Lavorano – RF Brassfield – LF Abercrombie – 3B Brobeck – CF Royer – C Chavez – 2B Bribiesca – P Taki
NYC: 2B O. Sanchez – CF Pfeifer – SS Z. Suggs – 1B Sevilla – LF Buss – 3B Villacorta – RF Ogawa – C R. Salas – P Concha

Suggs and Sevilla hit home runs to Sevilla, which sugged, in the first inning for a quick 2-0 Crusaders lead, and it didn’t get any better from there. The Coons had somebody on base in each of the first three innings, but either hit into a fielder’s choice or a double play altogether, while the Crusaders took Taki apart (once more) in the third inning; Sanchez drew a leadoff walk and scored immediately on Pfeifer’s double to right-center. Suggs singled, Sevilla popped out, and Buss bounced to Bribiesca, but his attempt at a double play was dropped by Lonzo for an error and a run scored. Another one scored on Ogawa’s 2-out RBI single before Salas struck out to end the dismal inning.

The Coons got RBI singles from Chavez and Bribiesca, driving home Abercrombie and Royer in the fourth inning, but Taki whiffed and Callaia flew out to Buss as the tying runs, ending the inning. Taki answered with a 1-out single allowed to Sanchez, who stole second and scored on another Pfeifer single, 6-2. Taki wasn’t seen again after that fourth inning. Top 5th, the Coons got Lonzo (single) and Brass (double) on base with nobody out, but also stranded them at second and third with a huge collective crap-out by the 4-5-6 batters.

Ornelas got the ball for garbage relief in the fifth, which went well enough, and the sixth, where he ****** the bags full and then was taken deep on a 2-out, 3-2 pitch by Jeff Buss for a grand slam. Drowning badly by then, the Raccoons would have a bit of a 3-run outburst against Sullivan in the eighth inning again, but that hardly scratched the Crusaders’ humungous lead. Matt Walters then went to pitch with a 6-run deficit in the bottom 8th in the vain hope to keep him engaged mentally. He struck out a pair in a 1-2-3 inning. 11-5 Crusaders. Callaia 3-5, RBI; Espinoza (PH) 1-1, 2B; Royer 2-4, BB, 2B; Chavez 2-4, RBI; Bribiesca 3-4, 2 RBI; Puckeridge (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI;

The team then travelled on to Elk City, while I retreated to Portland, calmly went into the office on Monday morning, sat myself on my spot on the trusty brown couch, and as soon as the Coons’ game against the damn Elks began, wisely covered my eyes with my bushy striped tail.

Raccoons (4-8) @ Canadiens (8-4) – April 16-18, 2057

This was the #1 offense in the league with 5.66 runs scored per game, so this was as good a time as any to not watch anymore. They were sixth in runs allowed, with just a +10 run differential (Coons: -18). Tops in batting average, tops in OBP, tops in homers – there was no reason to not expect more and more beatings unless the Coons’ starters would randomly catch a good day or be struck by lightning, leading to the suspension of the game. We had beaten the damn Elks in the season series last year, 10-8.

Projected matchups:
Sean Sweeton (1-0, 2.63 ERA) vs. Ernie Gomes (0-1, 3.86 ERA)
Craig Kniep (0-1, 8.22 ERA) vs. Jesse Lausch (0-1, 10.29 ERA)
Roberto Oyola (0-2, 7.36 ERA) vs. Jeff Kozloski (1-1, 3.95 ERA)

Nothing but right-handers coming up here.

And nothing but pain.

Game 1
POR: 1B Callaia – SS Lavorano – CF Abercrombie – LF Brassfield – RF Puckeridge – 3B Brobeck – 2B Allred – C Chavez – P Sweeton
VAN: CF D. Moreno – SS R. Price – RF Magnussen – C Waker – LF K. Hawkins – 1B Yamamoto – 2B E. Stevens – 3B Lundberg – P Gomes

Three singles, two of which didn’t get beyond the infield dirt, and a walk drawn by Abercrombie helped the Raccoons to score two runs in the first inning again, with RBI’s for Brass and Pucks and their scratch singles before Brobeck and Allred both made easy outs to strand a pair. Sweeton conceded one of the runs before he got an out, as Damian Moreno doubled and scored on Rick Price’s single. That run was pulled back on Chavez’ double and Callaia’s RBI triple in the top 2nd, 3-1, but Lonzo flew out to Moreno and Callaia was thrown out trying to score on that play to end the inning with an 8-2 double play. That was most of the noise through five innings; Erik Stevens hit a double in the fourth inning, and Callaia and Lonzo were on in the fifth and pulled off a double steal, but were then still stranded by Brassfield, just twice 90 feet further ahead.

The top of the sixth began with Shuta Yamamoto having Pucks’ grounder glance off his glove for an error. Pucks reached third base on a Brobeck single to right, and the Coons were on the corners, which was begging for an insurance run or two, especially with nobody out. Ernie Gomes then walked Allred in a full count, which gave us three on and nobody out, a.k.a. doom. Chavez barely hit a sac fly, Sweeton struck out, and then Callaia raked away at a 3-1 pitch and hit a fly to right. Adam Magnussen gradually moved further back and back and back, and suddenly the bloody thing was outta there for a 3-run homer…!! From there, Lonzo singled to knock out Gomes, who was followed by Edwin Sopena, who walked enough Coons to push Lonzo all the way around to score. Brobeck knocked in a pair with a single to right, Sopena was yanked without having retired anybody, and Allred grounded out against Dan Lawrence to end the 7-run inning.

Sweeton was already on 80 pitches through five. The Coons got him into the seventh, but he retired nobody there. Stevens walked, Tyler Lundberg singled, and when Sadafumi Taniguchi pinch-hit for the pitcher, a string of lefty batters appeared in the lineup, and the Coons went back to Ricky Herrera, who got a grounder from Taniguchi, struck out Moreno, and then gave up an RBI single to Rick Price. Stevens scored, Lundberg tried to follow, and was thrown out at the plate by Brassfield to end the inning and close the book on Sweeton. Herrera got two more outs in the eighth, while the last four outs were left to Mancilla… who got them… but not without giving up an RBI double to Jorge Uranga and an RBI single to Damian Moreno with two outs in the bottom 9th. Rice finally made the final out to Lonzo. 10-4 Coons. Callaia 4-5, BB, HR, 3B, 4 RBI; Lavorano 2-5; Brobeck 2-5, 2 RBI; Sweeton 6.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, W (2-0) and 1-4;

Game 2
POR: 1B Callaia – SS Lavorano – CF Abercrombie – LF Brassfield – RF Puckeridge – 3B Brobeck – 2B Allred – C Zamora – P Kniep
VAN: 2B E. Stevens – LF K. Hawkins – C Weese – 1B Yamamoto – RF Magnussen – 3B Lundberg – CF D. Garcia – SS R. Price – P Lausch

Kniep remained completely off the rolls. Kevin Weese clonked a homer off the left foul pole in the bottom 1st, after which Kniep offered a pair of 2-out walks and an RBI single to Lundberg. Danny Garcia struck out to end the inning. Lundberg left the game in the second inning, hurting himself on a defensive play and being replaced by Uranga. Pucks then drew a walk, stole second, and scored on Allred’s 2-out single to cut the gap in half, and Pucks would also score the tying run in the fourth inning. Then Brobeck singled him across home plate after Pucks had raked a double to right. Allred added another 2-out single, but Zamora grounded out. None of this was to mean that Kniep had found himself. He was all over the damn place; through three innings, he allowed four hits, three walks, and struck out five, all for a staggering 65 pitches. He struck out two more in the bottom 4th, but also managed to allow a howling single to left to Lausch. Weese hit a leadoff single in the fifth, but Kniep struck out two more as he retired the next three in order. He needed over 90 pitches for five “it’s complicated” innings, whiffing nine. He’d get to ten with a quick sixth against the bottom of the order, ringing up Rick Price, but that put him at 101 pitches, and the righty top of the order would be back in the seventh inning, whilst Kniep was not.

There was not much offense for the rest of regulation. Steve Royer batted for Kniep after Zamora drew a leadoff walk in the seventh, but flew out, and the Raccoons failed to get the go-ahead run across. Mike Lane allowed a single to Weese in the seventh, but got through the inning still tied at two. Eloy Sencion offered a leadoff walk to Magnussen in the eighth, but then retired the next three without allowing the go-ahead run to get off first base. Bernardino Risso didn’t allow the Coons any offensive attempts in the ninth, but Takenori Tanizaki struck out the side to send the game to extras. The 10th inning was more of the same, though – Risso retired three more in order, and Tanizaki allowed a 2-out single to Magnussen, but then Uranga popped out.

Ornelas pitched the 11th for Portland, but the Critters still couldn’t scratch out a run against Tony Negrete, another left-hander, and for the bottom 12th we then went to Brobeck again, while Daniel Espinoza, who had pinch-hit in the top 12th, stayed in to play third base. The Coons finally broke through in Negrete’s third inning, the top 13th, as Brass hit a single, and then Brobeck – now as pitcher – noisily clanged a 2-out RBI double off the wall in leftfield. Bribiesca added an RBI double off Dan Lawrence, but Zamora struck out. That gave the ball to Matt Walters. Yamamoto flew out to left, Magnussen homered to right – thank the bed factory for cushions! – and then an angry Walters struck out the next two to end the game. 4-3 Critters! Callaia 2-5, BB; Brassfield 2-6; Brobeck 3-5, BB, 2B, 2 RBI and 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, W (1-1); Allred 2-4, RBI; Kniep 6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 10 K and 1-2; Tanizaki 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K;

Game 3
POR: 1B Callaia – SS Lavorano – CF Abercrombie – LF Brassfield – RF Puckeridge – 2B Allred – C Chavez – 3B Espinoza – P Oyola
VAN: 2B E. Stevens – SS R. Price – RF Magnussen – C Waker – 1B Yamamoto – CF Taniguchi – LF D. Garcia – 3B Goldstein – P Kozloski

The Coons went up 1-0 in the second when Chavez doubled home Pucks, but things went as **** as possible in the bottom of the same inning, despite Oyola appearing to strike out Jacob Goldstein to end the inning with Taniguchi on first base. The ump called catcher’s interference, though, and the inning continued with two on and two out, then three on and two out when Allred one-pawed and dropped a pop by Kozloski, and then was lucky that the blunderbuss’ range fell just short of British Columbia. Pucks tracked down Erik Stevens’ fly to right to still end the inning without an Elk City score. In the third, the Coons failed to capitalize on a 2-base throwing error by Kozloski, then had their skinny lead blown on Magnussen’s solo homer to right, his fifth bomb of the season.

Top 5th, Chavez and Espinoza opened with singles off the rookie right-hander, and Oyola bunted them into scoring position. Callaia grabbed the lead back with a sac fly to deep center, but Lonzo’s liner was snatched by Price to end the inning. The Elks answered by exploding Oyola with four 2-out hits in the bottom 5th: Magnussen singled, Waker doubled to tie the game, Yamamoto singled them a 3-2 lead, and then Taniguchi went yard to right, 5-2. Oyola put another pair on base in the sixth, and Magnussen singled those in with two outs against hapless Herrera.

The Coons had the bags full with Espinoza, Solorzano, and Callaia in the seventh inning, but Lonzo’s fly to deep center was rushed down and caught by Taniguchi to strand everybody in sight. The damn Elks instead tacked on an unearned run on Mancilla, and especially Espinoza, who had made the error to start the inning in the first place. The Raccoons never managed a rally against Kozloski, who pitched into the eighth, and then Negrete, who got the last few outs of the game. 8-2 Canadiens. Chavez 2-4, 2B, RBI; Solorzano (PH) 1-1; Bribiesca (PH) 1-1;

Sigh.

Raccoons (6-9) @ Knights (8-8) – April 20-22, 2057

Atlanta had shed a lot of personnel over the winter and was playing only .500 ball early in the season. They were third in both runs scored and runs allowed, though, with the Raccoons not particularly close in either category. The Knights were getting on base a lot, but were second from the bottom in home runs, having hit only five so far this year, with Danny Munn (.217, 3 HR, 9 RBI) claiming a majority. We had gone 6-3 against the Knights last season.

Projected matchups:
Kennedy Adkins (1-2, 4.42 ERA) vs. Matt Weber (1-1, 9.00 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (0-2, 6.19 ERA) vs. Morgan Aben (1-1, 2.91 ERA)
Sean Sweeton (2-0, 2.75 ERA) vs. Jose Arias (0-0, 2.84 ERA)

Another Southpaw Sunday – we were getting really spoiled on this road trip! Arias was their only lefty starter.

Game 1
POR: 1B Callaia – SS Lavorano – CF Abercrombie – LF Brassfield – RF Puckeridge – 3B Brobeck – 2B Allred – C Chavez – P Adkins
ATL: SS Wartella – 1B Wheeler – C M. Nieto – 2B W. Acosta – LF Rodriquez – CF Alade – 3B Russ – RF C. Morris – P Weber

Adkins remained in trouble right from the get-go. The Knights put a pair on base in the first, but Tony Rodriquez grounded out to Callaia. Another pair, disgusting Andrew Russ and Chris Morris were on the corners in the bottom 2nd. Adkins struck out Weber, but Matt Wartella drove a double into the rightfield corner with two outs. Russ scored (hack!), while Morris was thrown out at the plate while trying, at least concluding the inning. Marco Nieto would reach on an error by Adkins, then was caught stealing in the bottom 3rd, while the Raccoons against Weber didn’t reach base in the first three innings, and struck out four times; Callaia singled to left to begin the fourth inning, though. Lonzo dropped a double in right-center to put a pair in scoring position, but the Coons barely got the tying run home on Brass’ groundout. Abercrombie popped out in shallow left, and Pucks whiffed altogether. Atlanta retook the lead right away with hits by Rodriquez and Morris; Morris was pitched to with two outs, first base open and two outs because he was a left-hander. Adkins gave up the go-ahead single anyway. We then arrived at the same situation again in the sixth inning; Rodriquez had reached on an Allred error and was on third base with two outs and Morris batting. At this stubbornness set in. Adkins on 101 pitches continued to face Morris. The run scored… but because Callaia now ****** up an easy bouncer for ANOTHER error. I had a nervous giggle and wished myself to the 2057-58 offseason…

Brobeck and Chavez reached base in the seventh, and with two outs the Knights brought lefty Jeremy Baker (all those ex-Coons…) in before we ever batted for Adkins. Thing was, we didn’t have a punchy right-hander on the bench… we had to go to Royer, Royer made a meek third out, and that was that. Better yet, in the bottom 7th the Coons’ Lane and Sencion collapsed in another 3-run inning, this one sparked by Pucks’ drop of a Marco Nieto fly in right with one out. Willie Acosta then got on, and Sencion surrendered three runs on two loud doubles… Arturo Bribiesca hit a pinch-hit homer for Portland off Baker before the game ended, but that was not enough to rally out of a mostly unearned 5-run hole… 6-2 Knights. Lavorano 2-4, 2B; Bribiesca (PH) 1-1, HR, RBI; Brobeck 2-4; Solorzano 1-1;

Four errors in this game, for four unearned runs. The problems with this team are manifold indeed.

Game 2
POR: 1B Callaia – SS Lavorano – CF Abercrombie – LF Brassfield – RF Puckeridge – 3B Brobeck – 2B Allred – C Chavez – P Taki
ATL: LF Rodriquez – 1B Wheeler – 2B W. Acosta – CF Alade – RF Munn – 3B Russ – C Almaguer – SS Wartella – P Aben

The game started with two singles and a walk, and the bags full with nobody out for Portland. The Raccoons got four more singles from there; Brassfield singled home two, Pucks got home one run with a single, Allred drove in a pair, and Chavez also singled, but there was nobody in scoring position for him to plate. Taki and Callaia made the last two outs of the inning, and Taki took a 5-0 lead to the hill. The first two batters he faced hit singles, and Tony Rodriquez scored in that inning, but the score then didn’t budge through five innings anymore, despite both teams scattering a few hits and walks here and there. The Coons left the bases loaded in the fifth inning in particular when Marcos Chavez flew out to Danny Munn with three on and two already down. Taki hit a leadoff single in the sixth, and the bases filled with Callaia and Abercrombie against right-hander Eli Dupuis. Brass singled over Matt Wartella to drive in a run, and Pucks hit a sac fly to Rodriquez. Felix Alvarez replaced Dupuis, but got burned on a 2-run double by Brobeck, which ran the score to 9-1. Bribiesca would later add to that with a 2-out, 2-run triple off Amari Walker in the eighth inning, pinch-hitting for a 3-for-4 Ryan Allred against the left-handed pitcher.

Taki would throw 120 pitches – which he had done more regularly in his first two seasons over from Japan – which got him through 7.2 innings, although he left with Jeff Wheeler on first base after a 1-out walk in the bottom 8th. Herrera conceded an infield single to Jon Alade, but Danny Munn’s drive to deep left was caught on the warning track by Brassfield, which dispelled the last threat in the game. 11-1 Furballs! Lavorano 2-5; Espinoza (PH) 1-1; Abercrombie 2-5, BB; Brassfield 2-3, 2 BB, 3 RBI; Allred 3-4, 2 RBI; Bribiesca (PH) 1-1, 3B, 2 RBI; Chavez 2-4, BB, 2B; Taki 7.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 2 K, W (1-2) and 1-5;

Our results are absolutely all over the place. We were scoring almost five runs per game – and giving up well more than that, over 5.5 runs per game…

Game 3
POR: 1B Callaia – SS Lavorano – RF Brassfield – LF Abercrombie – 2B Bribiesca – CF Royer – C Chavez – 3B Espinoza – P Sweeton
ATL: LF Rodriquez – 1B Wheeler – C M. Nieto – 2B W. Acosta – CF Alade – RF Munn – 3B Russ – SS Wartella – P J. Arias

Callaia and Bribiesca drew walks and Brassfield hit a single in between in the first inning, but Royer’s fly to center ended the inning without a run scoring. Both teams would score their first run in consecutive half innings, the bottom 2nd and top 3rd, and in the same away: one guy (Acosta, Lonzo) walked, and another guy (Munn, Abercrombie) doubled him home for a 1-1 tie in the middle of the third. Acosta drew another leadoff walk in the fourth inning, but that time was stranded on second base. Lonzo singled in the fifth, but was forced out by Brass. Abercrombie singled, but Bribiesca made the third out with a fly to Rodriquez, who in turn whacked a double into the rightfield corner in the bottom 5th. Sweeton walked Wheeler with two outs, but Nieto grounded out on a 3-1 pitch to end the inning and keep the game tied.

Arias was knocked out in the sixth inning after loading the bases. He walked Marcos Chavez with one down, then gave up singles to Espinoza and Sweeton. Callaia’s shot over the second-base bag narrowly missed the lunging Acosta’s glove and escaped into centerfield for a 2-run single, thus giving Portland a 3-1 lead. Lonzo did him one better – he drove a ball deep into the left-center gap and all the way to the fence for a 2-run triple! Brass’ sac fly to center extended the lead to 6-1. Sweeton held on for only one more inning; four walks and some other long counts left him with a pitch count just over 100 through six innings, despite allowing only two base hits to the Knights. Herrera, Mancilla, and Ornelas would collect the last nine outs for only two more Knights hits and no runs, though, and the Raccoons won their second consecutive series. 6-1 Raccoons. Lavorano 4-5, 3B, 2 RBI; Abercrombie 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI;

In other news

April 14 – TOP LF/RF John Kaniewski (.237, 3 HR, 12 RBI) suffers a groin strain and could be out until the end of May.
April 15 – It could be four months on the sidelines for SFB MR Victor Merino (0-0, 3.18 ERA), who has been diagnosed with a torn back muscle.

April 16 – OCT 3B/SS/RF Ed Soberanes (.238, 0 HR, 4 RBI) would miss three weeks with an oblique strain.
April 17 – Another player falls victim to the Crunchies scandal, as the league slaps DEN 3B Sandy Castillo (2-for-5, 0 HR, 0 RBI) with an 80-game suspension for a failed drug test!
April 17 – LAP LF/RF/1B Salvatore Rodrigues (.333, 1 HR, 8 RBI) will miss at least two months after breaking a finger.
April 17 – Four hits a side, but one of them is worth four runs as a ninth-inning grand slam by New York outfielder Chad Williams (.244, 2 HR, 11 RBI) gives them a 4-0 win over the Titans.
April 18 – Entering the bottom 9th down 2-0 against the Aces, the Bayhawks win the game, 4-2, on three home runs by John Gough (.533, 2 HR, 2 RBI), Xavier Reyes (.318, 1 HR, 6 RBI), and Pat Fowler (.362, 3 HR, 11 RBI), the latter mashing the 2-run walkoff shot.

April 19 – IND RF/LF/1B Bill Quinteros (.315, 1 HR, 9 RBI) is expected to miss two weeks after being hit by a pitch and suffering an elbow contusion.
April 21 – LAP OF/1B Jesus Espinoza (.375, 4 HR, 12 RBI) decides the Pacifics’ game against the Rebels with a solo home run, the only score in the 1-0 L.A. win.
April 22 – SAC SP A.C. Stebbins (2-1, 2.00 ERA) throws a 1-hit shutout against the Cyclones and strikes out seven batters in the 7-0 win, and as a side service hits a single, a home run, and drives in four runs. The only Cyclones hit is a pinch-hit single by 2B/SS/LF Mike Tovar (.242, 0 HR, 0 RBI).
April 22 – PIT INF Alex Vasquez (.347, 1 HR, 8 RBI) could miss up to two months after being diagnosed with shoulder tendinitis.
April 22 – The Loggers beat the Condors, 4-3 in 17 innings. The game ends in a walkoff on a throwing error by rookie TIJ MR Blake Lewis (0-1, 0.00 ERA), who makes only his third career appearance at age 24.

FL Player of the Week (2): DAL RF/LF/1B Josh Bursley (.468, 2 HR, 9 RBI), hitting .500 (13-26) with 2 HR, 6 RBI
CL Player of the Week (2): LVA 1B/RF/LF Aubrey Austin (.419, 2 HR, 7 RBI), batting .522 (12-23) with 1 HR, 4 RBI

FL Player of the Week (3): RIC RF/LF Willie Sanchez (.371, 3 HR, 12 RBI), stroking .565 (13-23) with 2 HR, 4 RBI
CL Player of the Week (3): OCT 2B/SS Jonathan Ban (.400, 1 HR, 10 RBI), clipping .522 (12-23) with 1 HR, 3 RBI

Complaints and stuff

We are scoring five runs a game, wheeeee! … We’re also tied for last place in the division because we’re giving up even more than five runs per game. Booo.

When I thought that the three scarcely covered positions (C, 2B, 3B) might be the problem, we instead have Brobeck and Espinoza batting a combined .325, Allred and Bribiesca even batting a combined .371, and while Zamora hasn’t hit a whole lot so far, Chavez is putting up a 119 OPS+ on his own.

None of this will last. Every single player in that group of five has a BABIP of .320 or better. In fact every infielder on the roster has a BABIP of .320 or better (including Callaia and Lonzo). The outfielders have been considerably less lucky (all at .290 or worse, excluding Solorzano’s six at-bats). But at least I can *pretend* for the time being that only half the roster is completely ****** beyond repair and that not all is lost yet.

It doesn’t help to hawk the AAA rotation for replacements yet, because the guys there have all only made two or three starts so far, and none of them had *great* returns, with Ryan Wade perhaps the best option this early on. Solorzano also needs replacing for a right-handed outfield bench bat, which is not something in AAA at all. We have switch-hitters. Just none of them that are actually hitting anything. Things are complicated.

Next week we will finish the road trip with three games in Oklahoma, then return home to play the Indians. The Titans are also coming in for four games on that homestand.

Fun Fact: When Craig Kniep strikes out nobody, it’s rather poetic.

The K is silent after all…

09-28-2023, 12:59 PM	#4283
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,731	Raccoons (69-74) vs. Loggers (59-83) – September 11-14, 2056 The ship had sunk and there was nothing to win for anymore. Now it was for decency against the Loggers, who were in a 7-7 tie with the Coons for the season series. Their horrendous pitching (most runs allowed in CL) probably wouldn’t help us score any runs either, and their #8 offense would still offer plenty of stumbles for the Raccoons’ on-and-off pitching. Projected matchups: Sean Sweeton (12-9, 2.98 ERA) vs. Brad Blankenship (11-9, 3.74 ERA) He Shui (13-9, 3.87 ERA) vs. Noah Hollis (9-7, 4.19 ERA) Ryan Wade (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Jamie Kempf (7-10, 4.70 ERA) Craig Kniep (8-11, 3.55 ERA) vs. Julian Dunn (8-8, 3.55 ERA) The Raccoons would face only right-handers here. Ryan Wade was inserted into the 6-man rotation for the last few weeks after making his ABL debut in relief. Game 1 MIL: CF Valenzano – RF Bishton – 1B D. Robles – LF Pigman – 2B E. Miller – 3B Triplett – SS Gaxiola – C M. Torres – P Blankenship POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 2B Waters – CF Caballero – 1B Ramsay – 3B Venegas – C Fiore – P Sweeton The Raccoons took a 1-0 lead in the first inning as Lonzo singled, advanced on a groundout by Kirkwood, and was then driven in by Matt Waters. Lonzo and Waters also had base hits their second time up, but then in different innings, and the Raccoons sucked their way onwards while Sean Sweeton pitched a pretty sweet game until he suddenly didn’t. Eric Miller grounded out to begin the fifth inning for Milwaukee, but then the bases filled on a full-count walk, a 3-2 single, and a four-pitch walk, putting Doug Triplett, Robby Gaxiola, and Marvin Torres all on base with one out. Depressingly, Brad Blankenship took himself off the hook with an RBI single, Steve Valenzano doubled in a pair, and Blankenship scored on Ryan Bishton’s groundout. Dave Robles singled home a run, Perry Pigman doubled in another run, and then Sweeton was finally disposed of after giving up five runs in under five innings. The Raccoons thereafter got scoreless relief from Alex Rios, Ricky Herrera, and Colby Bowen to complete nine innings, but their offense had nothing to offer. Lonzo hit a single in the sixth, then a double in the eighth, and both times was stranded in scoring position. The bottom 9th then began with Caballero drawing a leadoff walk and reaching third base on Harry Ramsay’s single. The Loggers went to right-hander Ryan Dow from there, but he walked Venegas to bring the tying run to the dish. Matt Fiore hit an RBI single through the left side, and Pucks pinch-hit for Bowen as the winning run, then drew four balls from Dow and pushed home a run that way. Dow also walked Callaia, which already made it 5-4, and there was still nobody out. The Loggers were scrambling for another reliever, until in quick succession Lonzo hit a comebacker on his first pitch that Dow chucked to home plate for an out on Fiore, Kirkwood popped out, and Waters grounded out to Miller… 5-4 Loggers. Lavorano 4-5, 2B; Waters 2-5, 2B, RBI; Puckeridge (PH) 0-0, BB, RBI; Bowen 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K; Eight losses in a row. The Loggers skipped Noah Hollis for reasons best known to them. Game 2 MIL: CF Valenzano – SS Gaxiola – 1B D. Robles – LF Pigman – 2B E. Miller – 3B Triplett – RF Garmon – C C. Thomas – P Kempf POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – CF Caballero – 1B Puckeridge – 2B Allred – C Fiore – 3B Anderson – P Shui Valenzano’s leadoff double gave the Loggers a runner in scoring position right away on Tuesday, and they didn’t wait long to cash him, with Dave Robles singling home the runner with a ball that dropped in front of Kirkwood. Pigman also singled, but Miller and Triplett made outs to end the inning, and the Coons flipped the score in the bottom 1st, which began with doubles to left by Callaia, and right by Lonzo, and continued with Kirkwood’s single that moved Lonzo to third base, from where he scored on the double play Caballero hit into. Shui then fumbled that, as Corey Garmon crammed a triple into the rightfield corner to begin the top 2nd. He popped out Chris Thomas, but gave up the lead on Kempf’s single. He then **** the bags full, but Robles’ grounder to Ryan Allred turned into a 4-6-3 double play to keep the game from escalating. But Shui continued to be completely off the rolls. Pigman opened the third with a single, then Miller hit a jack to left, 4-2. That made eighth hits in two+ innings off Shui, who soon put Garmon and Thomas on the corners before getting a K from Kempf. Valenzano grounded out, ending the inning with two guys up in the Critters pen… From there, Shui failed his way into the sixth inning, giving just one more single to Thomas, but was lifted for Lillis to face Gaxiola with two outs in the inning. Lillis got an easy grounder and went on to get four outs on six pitches, which was the kind of efficiency I could get behind. And the lousy home team? They were entirely silent from the third through sixth innings, and Kempf still had a 4-hitter going in the seventh. He got Allred and Fiore out, then walked Richard Anderson. Daniel Espinoza singled for Lillis, and Callaia hit another single to suddenly load the bases for Lonzo, but his soft fly to shallow right was snatched by Garmon on the slide, stranding the bags very much loaded. Caballero and Allred reached against Kempf in the eighth, but the Loggers didn’t bother to change pitchers. There were two outs, and Fiore sure enough grounded out to Robles to end that inning, too. Ryan Dow axed Royer, Waters, and Callaia in order, with strikeouts on the latter two, to put this game away. 4-2 Loggers. Callaia 2-5, 2B; Allred 1-2, 2 BB; Espinoza (PH) 1-1; Nine losses in a row! Come on, boys! No half *, make it a tenner! I DARE YOU. Game 3 MIL: CF Valenzano – RF Bishton – 1B D. Robles – LF Pigman – 2B E. Miller – 3B Triplett – SS Gaxiola – C M. Torres – P Dunn POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 2B Waters – RF Puckeridge – 3B Brobeck – 1B Ramsay – C M. Chavez – P Wade More of the same the first time through on Wednesday. Lonzo got on, but was caught stealing, and the Raccoons loaded the bases with their 4-5-6 batters and nobody out in the bottom 2nd before Ramsay popped out and Chavez trundled into a 6-4-3 double play. That was about it for offensive heroics for Portland in the early going, while the Loggers limited themselves to one hit and two Coons errors through five innings, not getting even near home plate from the third base side. Ryan Bishton was also caught stealing for the green team. He drew a walk in the sixth inning, but then was doubled up by Robles. It was still scoreless at the stretch, with Dunn returning afterwards to offer a leadoff walk to Brobeck. Rams was fully expected to hit into a double play, but instead got a doublet of RBI’s with his eighth homer of the year over the rightfield fence. Gaxiola and Torres calmly grounded out to begin the eighth inning against Wade, before Dunn – of all people – hit a single to right. Wade struck out Valenzano, ending the inning. Dunn walked Waters and Pucks in the bottom 8th, but the Coons couldn’t buy a base hit, and the score remained 2-0 for the ninth. And if the Raccoons had still been in contention, Matt Walters would have been in there from the start as Wade drew up against the 2-3-4 batters, the 2-4 of whom were left-handers. But Wade was “only” 95 pitches, the Loggers had looked bad for two hours and small change, and we weren’t playing for anything anymore. Let the kiddo have a go! Bishton grounded out, but Robles hit a jack, which took away the shutout, and also the baseball from Wade. Walters ended the game with two strikeouts. 2-1 Raccoons. Lavorano 2-4; Waters 2-4; Puckeridge 0-1, 3 BB; Ramsay 1-3, HR, 2 RBI; Wade 8.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (1-0); Not too terrible for a (starting) debut – we’ll let him have a couple more! Game 4 MIL: CF Valenzano – SS Gaxiola – 1B D. Robles – LF Pigman – 3B Triplett – 2B E. Miller – LF Bishton – C Dye – P R. Alvarado POR: CF Royer – LF Venegas – RF Caballero – 2B Waters – 1B Puckeridge – 3B Brobeck – SS Espinoza – C M. Chavez – P Kniep Roberto Alvarado (4-11, 6.37 ERA) was on offer for the final Loggers game of the year, which was also another right-hander, and the Raccoons drew mostly blanks after Venegas and Waters hit singles in the bottom 1st and were left stranded. Kniep struck out five in the first three innings, but was also on his second wild pitch by the fourth, in which Milwaukee went up 1-0 on a Pigman single, a groundout by Triplett, and Eric Miller’s RBI double. Miller reached third on the wild pitch, but was stranded there when Bishton flew out to Venegas, who made a (this year) rare start in leftfield. Alvarado nicked Waters to begin the bottom 4th, and Waters stole second, which was also a rare event in 2056 – this was only his second stolen base. Pucks walked behind him, Brobeck singled to left, and the bases were loaded with nobody out. We barely got the score even on Espinoza’s double play grounder to Triplett, Marcos Chavez was walked intentionally, and then Kniep popped out to Jonathan Dye. Chavez caught Valenzano stealing in the fifth inning before the Coons took a lead thanks to a leadoff triple over Valenzano’s head, mashed by Steve Royer in the bottom 5th. Venegas’ sac fly to right was good enough to bring him home. Matt Waters did him one better, hitting a ball over the fence with two outs and for a 3-1 lead. Craig Kniep pitched seven innings of 4-hit ball defending the 3-1 lead before his spot led off the bottom 7th against Alvarado. He was just under 100 pitches, so the Raccoons sent Lonzo, who singled, stole his way to third base, and the bags filled with Royer and Venegas drawing walks off Alvarado and Josh Costello, respectively, behind him, so again we had three on and nobody out. Caballero singled home a pair, but Waters grounded out. Pucks drew another walk, filling the bags again, and Brobeck got an RBI single to center. Costello balked in a run, then conceded another on Espinoza’s sac fly before being yanked for Alan Marshall, who popped up Chavez to end the inning with a 5-spot. That put the game away, and led to a split for the season series. The Loggers couldn’t even rally against Alex Rios and Adam Harris. 8-1 Coons. Venegas 2-2, 2 BB, RBI; Waters 2-3, HR, RBI; Puckeridge 1-2, 2 BB; Brobeck 2-3, BB, RBI; Lavorano (PH) 1-1; Kniep 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (9-11); Raccoons (71-76) @ Condors (67-79) – September 15-17, 2056 On to another team that was just playing out the string, with the Condors being fifth in the South and a whopping 26 games out. They had won four games in a row, however, so maybe they could get the streak going… The Condors were seventh in runs scored and ninth in runs allowed. We were up 4-2 on them for the year. Projected matchups: Seisaku Taki (11-14, 3.51 ERA) vs. Steve Hawkins (11-10, 3.44 ERA) Kyle Brobeck (6-7, 4.20 ERA) vs. Jay Everett (7-8, 5.30 ERA) Sean Sweeton (12-10, 3.14 ERA) vs. Miguel Batista (3-4, 2.70 ERA) Another slate only with right-handed pitchers. Game 1 POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 2B Waters – CF Puckeridge – 3B Venegas – 1B Ramsay – C Fiore – P Taki TIJ: 1B Rosenstiel – 2B D. Mercado – RF J. Harmon – LF T. Duncan – C J. Morales – CF Hildebrand – SS N. Fowler – 3B Chapa – P S. Hawkins In this Friday game, Seisaku Taki made it a bit of a habit to get to two strikes on guys and then not remove them orderly. The Condors scattered five hits in the first four innings, running him to 59 pitches while doing so. The score was 1-1, both runs scoring in the third inning; Gaudencio Callaia doubled home Ramsay to take the lead, but then Luis Chapa hit a leadoff single on a 1-2 pitch, reached third base on Hawkins’ bunt and John Rosenstiel’s grounder, and then was able to score on a passed ball charged to Fiore… Taki got only more annoying after that. Danny Hildebrand hit a leadoff single on a 2-2 pitch in the bottom 5th. Nick Fowler forced him out, then advanced on Chapa’s groundout. It was a 1-2 pitch that was bludgeoned into the right-center gap for a go-ahead, 2-out RBI double by the pitcher Hawkins, which gave me at least three or four reasons to be mad about that particular hanger. Rosenstiel grounded out again, leaving Hawkins at second base. Top 7th, leadoff walk drawn by Pucks, which was the first free pass offered by Hawkins, who otherwise had struck out seven so far. Venegas squinted a single into shallow right-center, moving the tying run to second base. Rams hit into an obvious double play and Fiore fanned, so everybody did what they did best once more, and the Raccoons scored no runs for it. Taki hung around until the bottom 7th, which Jerry Morales began with a leadoff single to left, then was lifted for the left-handed bunch at the bottom of the order. Eloy Sencion got two outs, then was lifted for Lane to face the righty pinch-hitter Mario Estrada, who grounded out to Venegas to strand Morales in scoring position. The Condors still got the crucial insurance run against Lane and Fiore in the eighth inning. It was another passed ball (…!) that allowed Craig Sayre to score after hitting a pinch-hit leadoff single off Lane. Then again, lefty Matt Otte didn’t allow anybody in the ninth inning anyway…. 3-1 Condors. Callaia 2-4, 2B, RBI; Game 2 POR: 1B Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 2B Waters – RF Puckeridge – P Brobeck – 3B Venegas – CF Solorzano – C M. Chavez TIJ: 1B Rosenstiel – 2B D. Mercado – RF J. Harmon – LF T. Duncan – SS Sheilds – C J. Morales – CF Hildebrand – 3B Chapa – P Everett Marcos Chavez turned an 0-2, 2-out fastball around and lobbed a ball over Tyrese Sheilds for a 2-run single to give Portland a 2-0 lead in the second inning, with Waters and Venegas scoring, while Solorzano went to second base, as finally somebody on the team got a knock with the bags stacked. Callaia then promptly grounded out, while the Condors got a leadoff triple to right from Tim Duncan in the bottom 2nd, but then Sheilds lined out to Lonzo and Brobeck rung up both Morales and Hildebrand, which stranded the runner on third base. The Coons doubled the score in the third inning with a Lonzo single and stolen base, then a Kirkwood homer to left, 4-0. The inning continued as Waters and Brobeck went to the corners with singles, and then Anton Venegas drilled a ball up the line in left for an RBI double. Solorzano found the gap between Duncan and Hildebrand for another double, and the score ballooned to 7-0. The Raccoons loaded the bases again in the fourth inning against lefty Peter Faulds, who walked Kirkwood and Waters, then gave up a soft single to Pucks with one out in the fourth inning. Brobeck singled home a run, Venegas doubled in two, and the Raccoons suddenly reached double digits… and a new pitcher, as the Condors yanked Faulds for righty Zach Johnson, who gave up a sac fly to Solorzano, then an RBI single to Chavez. Callaia flew out again, somehow managing to be 0-for-4 by the fourth inning of a 12-0 game. Ironically it was Johnson to get the Condors on the board against Brobeck in the fifth inning, hitting an RBI double to drive home Hildebrand. Brobeck allowed another two hits to John Rosenstiel and Jamie Harmon, but got Duncan out to end the inning with two across and two left in scoring position. Solorzano drove home Pucks for a 13th Coons run in the sixth, but that was also the last inning for Brobeck, who came apart wholly and fully in the bottom of the inning, conceded four hits, a walk, a balk, and three runs before being yoinked from the 13-5 game. Jamie Harmon flew out to Solorzano against Ricky Herrera to end the dismal inning. The Raccoons lifted a few regulars at the stretch, and the Condors got two more runs off Herrera in the bottom 7th when Luis Chapa knocked a 2-out, 2-run single to plate Sheilds and Morales. Rosenstiel homered off Adam Harris in the eighth, whittling the lead down to five runs, but they would only get one more base runner after that when Tyrese Sheilds hit a single off Tanizaki in the ninth inning. He was stranded at second base, and the Raccoons just missed blowing a 12-run lead. 13-8 Critters. Lavorano 2-4; Kirkwood 2-5, BB, HR, RBI; Puckeridge 2-5, BB; Brobeck 3-4, RBI; Venegas 3-5, 2 2B, 3 RBI; Solorzano 2-2, 2 BB, 2B, 4 RBI; M. Chavez 2-5, 3 RBI; Game 3 POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – RF Caballero – 1B Puckeridge – 2B Allred – 3B Venegas – C Stanton – P Sweeton TIJ: 1B Rosenstiel – 2B D. Mercado – RF J. Harmon – LF T. Duncan – SS Sheilds – C J. Morales – CF Hildebrand – 3B Chapa – P Batista Tijuana took a 1-0 lead on hits by Rosenstiel and Duncan in the first inning against Sweeton, but the Raccoons would tie them up again in the third when Matt Stanton hit a leadoff double to center and then scored on Lonzo’s 2-out single. Batista threw a crucial wild pitch after Ryan Allred’s leadoff single in the fifth inning to move the runner into scoring position and Anton Venegas didn’t have to be asked twice and slapped an RBI single to send the Coons up 2-1. Sweeton then had his fifth-inning explosion right on time. Rosenstiel got on base, there was another wild pitch, Mercado got the RBI knock to tie the game, and Harmon’s 24th bomb gave the Condors a 4-2 lead. He got out of the inning, then three pops in the sixth for a quick inning, but the damage was done, and Batista did not allow a base runner for the rest of his outing in the sixth and seventh innings. Rick Johnson then retired Callaia, Royer, and Lonzo in order in the eighth. Harris and Bravo kept the Condors away in the seventh and eighth, while it was the left-handed Matt Otte and his 5.52 ERA again in the ninth inning. He was up against the meat of the order. Kirkwood grounded out to third. Caballero grounded out to short. Pucks grounded out to second. 4-2 Condors. In other news September 11 – Capitals OF Dan Martin (.252, 20 HR, 62 RBI) is out for the year after suffering a torn meniscus. September 12 – A 3-hit shutout is thrown by NYC SP Ben Seiter (14-7, 3.16 ERA) against the Indians. Seiter strikes out a dozen Indians in the 1-0 walk on the razor’s edge. September 14 – Blue Sox INF Nick Nye (.351, 10 HR, 39 RBI) puts out five hits, three for extra bases, and drives in two runs in a 10-9 win over the Cyclones. September 15 – NAS INF Nick Nye (.358, 10 HR, 41 RBI) keeps making good news with a 3-for-4 day and two RBI in a 6-0 win over the Gold Sox. Nye now has a 20-game hitting streak. September 15 – A single by DAL RF/LF Josh Bursley (.284, 5 HR, 45 RBI) is all the hits the Stars can put together in a 5-0 loss to the Capitals. WAS SP Jesse Bulas (2-4, 6.39 ERA) does however walk seven Dallas batters in lieu of additional base knocks. September 15 – A torn labrum ends the season for OCT SP Bubba Wolinsky (10-6, 3.65 ERA). FL Player of the Week: SFW OF Jose Marroquin (.279, 12 HR, 49 RBI), slapping .441 (15-34) with 3 HR, 4 RBI CL Player of the Week: NYC SP Ben Seiter (15-7, 3.05 ERA) going 2-0 with 17 scoreless innings and 18 K Complaints and stuff What’s new – Kennedy Adkins was not expected to pitch in the majors this year, but he has been cleared for baseball activities now and we could just cram him in for a start or two at the tail end of the season. Apart from that we’re just playing out the string and stuffing our snouts with cookies. We will head home up I-5 now and then start a 9-game homestand with the Thunder, Indians, and Titans on Tuesday. The last weekend of the year will be another trip to New York for three games. And that’s gonna be that. Fun Fact:** The Raccoons and Loggers split their season series at 9-9 for consecutive years. The odd one in there is that this had never happened before. There had been 13 ties before 2055-56, but none of them in consecutive years. In fact, consecutive 9-9 season series for the Raccoons and one of their division rivals have happened only three times before, never for more than two years, and it also hadn’t happened in a good long while: 1977-1978 Titans 1991-1992 Titans 2000-2001 Indians I know, I know, I’d also prefer to harp on about how we’re winning and winning and winning. Attached Images __________________ Portland Raccoons, 92 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

09-30-2023, 04:57 PM	#4284
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,731	Raccoons (72-78) vs. Thunder (83-66) – September 19-21, 2056 Despite their good record, the Thunder were done for the year, and there was only the season series left to squabble over. That was tied at three entering play, and the Raccoons had to contend with the #5 offense and #4 pitching in the Continental League. Bubba Wolinsky and Jonathan Ban were on the DL for Oklahoma. Projected matchups: He Shui (13-10, 3.95 ERA) vs. Chris Kaye (3-3, 4.26 ERA) Ryan Wade (1-0, 0.87 ERA) vs. Victor Marquez (7-10, 5.49 ERA) Craig Kniep (9-11, 3.44 ERA) vs. Mike Zeigler (10-8, 3.64 ERA) What was going on – not one, but TWO left-handers in one series?? That would be Marquez and Zeigler on Wednesday and Thursday. Game 1 OCT: SS Almadanim – 3B Soberanes – LF D. Guzman – RF M. Harmon – 1B Worthington – CF Weant – C Korfhage – 2B Amburn – P Kaye POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – CF Caballero – 1B Puckeridge – 3B Venegas – C Fiore – 2B Anderson – P Shui Neither team got a base hit the first time through, and Shui was perfect through three innings altogether. He found Richard Anderson on first base in the bottom 3rd, the youngster having drawn a leadoff walk, and bunted him to second, just where he needed to be to score on Gaudencio Callaia’s gap double in right-center, which marked the first run of the game. The Coons left Callaia with two easy fly outs, though, while Hélder Almadanim’s leadoff double to left put the tying run in scoring position in the fourth inning. Ed Soberanes’ grounder and Danny Guzman’s sac fly tied the game, and Mike Harmon hit another double, but Caballero caught a David Worthington drive in deep center to end the inning. But Tim Weant socked another leadoff double in the fifth inning, and he, too, scored on a groundout by Mitch Korfhage and then a sac fly by rookie Daniel Amburn. The Thunder kept scoring with a Danny Guzman single and a Worthington homer in the sixth inning, running the score to 4-1, while the Coons were still limited to Callaia’s RBI double for hits. Callaia also got the second hit for Portland, a leadoff triple in the bottom 6th, but the RBI (sorta) went to Korfhage with a passed ball, before the Raccoons could fail three times to get the runner home from third base. Shui was pinch-hit for with Matt Waters in the bottom 7th when a 2-out Anderson single meant that Shui came to the plate as the tying run, but Waters popped out. A struggling Mike Lane put runners on the corners in the eighth inning before Brett Lillis jr. came on with two outs to face Weant, was met with righty pinch-hitter Felix Martinez, and struck him out anyway. Lonzo singled off lefty Juan Valencia in the bottom 8th, which let the Thunder change pitchers for righty David Williams, which in turn gave Lonzo ideas and he scooped second base on the first offering to Kirkwood. It was his 50th steal of the season. Kirkwood’s subsequent infield single put the tying runs on the corners with one down, but Caballero popped one up to Ed Soberanes, who managed to drop the ball and kick it into foul ground, allowing Lonzo to dash home and shorten the score to 4-3. New pitcher Eric Barnes restored order, flying Pucks out to center and ringing up Venegas. Reynaldo Bravo whiffed two Thunder in a 1-2-3 ninth, so there was a chance for a comeback in the bottom 9th against Kevin Daley. Royer batted for Fiore, but grounded out. Allred batted for Anderson, but struck out. Ramsay batted for Bravo, but popped out. 4-3 Thunder. Callaia 2-4, 3B, 2B, RBI; Kirkwood 2-4; Anderson 1-2, BB; I’d be hissing now if the games still mattered and if Maud hadn’t spiked my Capt’n Coma with a seasoning of soothing herbs from the forest. Wednesday then brought incessant rain, and no game was played or playable. This gave us a double-header on Thursday, and with that came a pitching change from the Thunder, who now sent right-hander Aaron Harris (17-6, 3.11 ERA) into the opener. The Raccoons had enough chaff on the roster – 16 primetime position players plus Kyle Brobeck – to fill two lineups while using only one player twice. That was scheduled to be Oscar Caballero. We also swapped pitchers, with Kniep getting the opener. Game 2 OCT: C Korfhage – 3B Soberanes – SS London – RF Bagoim – CF Weant – 1B F. Martinez – 2B Almadanim – LF H. Thomas – P A. Harris POR: RF Callaia – 2B Allred – LF Caballero – 1B Puckeridge – 3B Brobeck – CF Solorzano – SS Espinoza – C Stanton – P Kniep Don’t adjust your television set – this is still a major league game, even when the Thunder sent no fewer than four functional rookies, all 26 years old. Unsurprisingly, the game was scoreless early on, with Kniep whiffing three and Harris ringing up four batters, respectively, in each pitcher’s first go through the lineup, even though a few singles were scattered. In the bottom 4th, the Raccoons took to the corners with 1-out singles to center by Pucks and Brobeck, which was the thickest scoring opportunity yet for either team. Solorzano grounded to Mike London at short, but at least legged out Almadanim’s throw to first base, breaking up the double play and allowing Pucks to score the game’s first run. Espinoza singled, but Matt Stanton struck out to end the inning. Kniep pitched a nice, steady game. The Thunder got only two singles and a leadoff walk drawn by Harley Thomas through six innings, but struck out seven times, and the defense didn’t have to run back to the fences much at all before Felix Martinez sent Solorzano running back to the warning track in the seventh inning. The catch was made, marking the second out of the inning. Almadanim grounded out to complete the inning. Eddie de la Roca batted for Harris in the eighth inning, hit a 1-out single to center, but was then doubled up by Korfhage, 6-4-3. The Coons loaded the bases in the bottom 8th with David Williams walking Caballero, Puckeridge reaching on an error by Almadanim, and then Solorzano singled to center. Lonzo and Kirkwood pinch-hit in the 7-8 spots, but both made meek outs and nobody scored. The Coons stuck to Kniep in the ninth inning. It was a 1-0 game, the 2-3-4 batters were up, and Kniep was 96 pitches. Soberanes flew out to center. Worthington flew out to Caballero. Raimundo Bagoim singled through the right side. Raimundo who? Kniep was STILL in the game, tried to pick off Bagoim twice, then got Tim Weant to 1-2… and then hung one and had it blotched over the fence in right. Maud. Maud? I don’t feel my left arm anymore. Is that … reason for concern? Bravo struck out Martinez to end the inning, but the Raccoons remained no match for Kevin Daley in the bottom of the ninth. 2-1 Thunder. Callaia 3-5; Brobeck 3-4; Kniep 8.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, L (9-12); (between games, finds Kniep sobbing into a towel in the clubhouse) Well, kid. If that helps you anything, you made me feel even worse than you do now! (pats pitcher on head and waggles onwards) Game 3 OCT: SS Almadanim – 3B Soberanes – LF D. Guzman – RF M. Harmon – 1B Worthington – CF Weant – C M. Castillo – 2B Amburn – P V. Marquez POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – RF Caballero – 2B Waters – 3B Venegas – C M. Chavez – 1B Ramsay – P Wade Almadanim’s leadoff double, a balk, and Soberanes’ groundout gave the Thunder a really quick 1-0 lead, but the Raccoons flipped the tables on them in the bottom of the second, where Waters reached on an error, Venegas walked, and then Marcos Chavez uncorked one of those long homers that briefly made him a darling during the Elks games in July when he smashed a 3-run homer to left-center. Rams, Royer, and Lonzo would also all reach base to put a fourth run together before Kirkwood popped out to Soberanes; the RBI went to Lonzo with a single. After Wade walked Marquez to begin the third inning and managed to not have this blossom into a whole thing, the Coons had Caballero, Waters, and Chavez filling the bases with one down in the bottom 3rd. Rams hit a sac fly to left, Danny Guzman hurt himself on the throw to the plate, and Harley Thomas took his plays afterwards. Wade grounded out, then allowed a single to Thomas, a homer to Harmon, and two more singles to Manny Castillo and Daniel Amburn to put the tying runs on the corners in the fourth inning. PH Eddie de la Roca grounded out to Lonzo to finally end that inning… Bottom 4th, Royer reached on an error by Mike Harmon before Lonzo singled off lefty Pedro Mendoza. The two pulled off a double steal, but only Royer scored on Kirkwood’s groundout while Lonzo was stranded at third base after three more long at-bats with the 4-5-6 batters – Waters walked, but the other two made sucky outs. Wade got through five innings, but took 95 pitches, and was thus batted for in the bottom 5th. Eloy Sencion had a trying sixth, but didn’t allow a run, and Alex Rios retired the Thunder in order in the seventh, then added a K on Harley Thomas to begin the eighth. Ricky Herrera got two more outs after a walk to Harmon, while the Coons were silent until they loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom 8th against Eric Barnes. Ramsay singled, but was forced out by Callaia. Royer singled. Kirkwood walked. Caballero batted with two outs, popped out, and that gave Matt Walters a save chance. He retired the Thunder in order. 6-3 Raccoons. Royer 2-5; Lavorano 2-5, RBI; Ramsay 3-3, RBI; Raccoons (73-80) vs. Indians (61-91) – September 22-24, 2056 The string continued with three more against the Indians, who would be way closer to 100 losses if the Raccoons hadn’t flubbed eight of fifteen games so far played to them. Fewest runs scored, second-most runs allowed, -170 run differential, and yes, this team led the division for a substantial part of the 2055 season…!? Projected matchups: Seisaku Taki (11-15, 3.50 ERA) vs. Tan Brink (11-14, 4.42 ERA) Kennedy Adkins (0-0) vs. Joe Bunch (3-11, 4.15 ERA) Sean Sweeton (12-11, 3.23 ERA) vs. Shane Fitzgibbon (3-3, 2.93 ERA) Southpaw Sunday! Maybe – they had been off on Thursday and had 78 pitchers on the roster. They had another 25 on the DL, including Juan Vasquez, Jeremy Fetta, and Enrique Ortiz, along with position players Will McIntyre and Juan Llampallas. The Raccoons also revived Kennedy Adkins from the dead. Adkins, the 2055 CL Pitcher of the Year, had been on the shelf for just over 12 months after elbow ligament surgery, had returned to service too late to have an outing in AAA before that season ended, but maybe we could get five outta him here and once again next week. Kyle Brobeck would be in the lineup on Saturday and would potentially follow Adkins for multiple innings later on. Game 1 IND: 2B Ewers – SS Bahena – 1B B. Quinteros – 3B A. Rios – CF Briggs – C Mi. Gilmore – LF Abel – RF Lovins – P Brink POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 2B Waters – 1B Puckeridge – 3B Venegas – CF Solorzano – C M. Chavez – P Taki Singles by Waters and Pucks, then a walk to Venegas – the Coons had the bases loaded with nobody out in the bottom 2nd, and I was embracing the choke before it even happened. Solorzano lined out to Kevin Ewers, Marcos Chavez hit into a double play, and nobody scored, and they didn’t even clear the ***** pitcher’s spot. In the fourth, a Kirkwood single to left and a Pucks double to right put a pair in scoring position, then with one gone. Brink got to 1-2 on Venegas, but then gave up a clean RBI single through the right side, although Chris Lovins’ arm kept Pucks at third base. Solorzano doubled to center to get Pucks home, 2-0, and the Arrowheads walked Chavez with intent. The three runners would then score on Taki’s sac fly, a wild pitch, and Lonzo’s 2-out RBI single, respectively, Callaia drawing a walk in between, and that was all for Brink, who couldn’t get out of the 5-run inning. Matt Green got a groundout from Kirkwood to do so. Taki started strong, but came apart even stronger. The Indians put a pair on base in the fifth, but stranded them, but the sixth was one big fireworks show and ended with Taki yanked after allowing four runs. Bill Quinteros, Antonio Rios, and Chris Briggs all hit singles; Briggs drove in a run, Taki plated Rios with a wild pitch, then walked Mike Gilmore. Kevin Abel’s groundout brought home Briggs, and then Chris Lovins doubled home Abel. Eloy Sencion came in for PH Cory Oldfield and struck him out to get out of the damn inning. Bill Quinteros then tied the game with a jack off Tanizaki in the seventh… Lonzo’s leadoff single against Tony Martinez in the bottom 7th led nowhere nice for a lack of support, while Gilmore and Abel singled off Ricky Herrera in the eighth inning. Again the Coons brought a new pitcher for a pinch-hitter in the #9 hole, and Lane struck out Mario Coto to move on. What we needed was a big homer – thankfully Marcos Chavez batted in the bottom 8th with two out and the bags empty against Bill Dewan. He smashed a homer to dead center to break the tie! It was just in time to get Walters in for another save chance, and the Indians sent up Kevin Price, Bernie Bahena, and Bill Quinteros, and Walters blasted all of them with three strikeouts …! 6-5 Raccoons. Lavorano 2-4, RBI; Puckeridge 2-4, 2B; This Friday the Titans were eliminated mathematically from postseason contention, but the Coons could be done as soon as Saturday with their magic number down to one behind the Crusaders and Elks, who were tied for first place after Friday. Game 2 IND: 2B Ewers – SS Bahena – 3B A. Rios – 1B B. Quinteros – RF Briggs – C Mi. Gilmore – CF Oldfield – LF J. Garza – P Bunch POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 2B Waters – 1B Puckeridge – 3B Brobeck – CF Royer – C M. Chavez – P Adkins Ewers doubled to start the game and scored on Rios’ single. Briggs also singled, but Adkins struck out Mike Gilmore to end the shaky inning. Jose Garza shot a triple through Pucks and then scored on another Ewers double in the second inning and I started to make whining noises even while Adkins logged three strikeouts in the inning. The Indians would score a third run two innings later; Oldfield drew a leadoff walk, Adkins threw a wild pitch, and Bunch hit a sac fly on an 0-2 pitch… Adkins got through five innings, but it certainly wasn’t pretty to look at. Worse: the Coons. Bunch had a 2-hitter going through five innings, and it didn’t get much better after that. Adam Harris and Alex Rios put up scoreless innings for the Coons in the sixth and seventh before we went to Kyle Brobeck, asking for the last two frames, but all that got us was more splinters in the snout when the Indians rapped him for three hits, including RBI doubles by the 7-8 batters in the eighth inning. Ewers added a leadoff triple in the ninth, and Bernie Bahena got the run in with a groundout. Rios then singled, and Brobeck was kicked off the hill. Lillis had to get the last two outs, while Bunch had run out of gas by the eighth. The Indians pen did complete a 4-hit shutout, though. 6-0 Indians. Waters 2-3, BB, 2B; Yuck. Also: eliminated, despite both Elks and Crusaders losing. Game 3 IND: 2B Ewers – SS Bahena – 1B B. Quinteros – 3B A. Rios – LF J. Garza – CF Briggs – C Keels – RF Abel – P Fitzgibbon POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – RF Caballero – 2B Waters – 1B Callaia – 3B Venegas – C M. Chavez – P Sweeton Steve Royer was the Coons’ first two base runners, drawing a walk in the bottom 1st before being caught stealing, and then singling in the fourth, after which Lonzo hit into a double play. The game was still scoreless, with Sweeton having scattered three hits and a walk while also getting a double play and a runner thrown out stealing by his own defense, but the Raccoons developed another scoring opportunity in the inning when Kirkwood singled to left and Caballero walked with two outs. Waters whiffed, and that was that. The Indians went up 1-0 in the sixth. Bahena singled, Quinteros walked, and the two pulled off a double steal with one out before Rios’ fly to center was just deep enough to allow Bahena to dazzle home on the sac fly. Jose Garza grounded out to leave Quinteros stranded. That at least didn’t turn into an L on Sweeton, who was pitching nicely enough, although it took the Coons seven innings to get a run across. Fitzgibbon walked Kirkwood to begin the bottom 7th, and then Caballero drove a ball into the right-center gap, where it went all the way to the fence for an RBI triple…! Moreover, the Coons even took the lead! Waters was walked intentionally, Callaia struck out, but Anton Venegas singled through the left side for a 2-1 lead. Chavez added an RBI single to center. Sweeton, who was on 81 pitches, swung away despite hitting .095 for the year, and singled to left, narrowly missing a jumping Bahena’s glove. That filled the bags and led to Fitzgibbon’s removal. Royer hit a sac fly off Adam Haller, but Lonzo grounded out to end the inning. Sweeton had a 1-2-3 eighth, while Kirkwood had his 20th homer of the year, a leadoff jack in the bottom 8th to extend the gap to four runs. Caballero then singled and was caught stealing, and Waters singled and was hit by Callaia’s grounder to the right side, so that was another out made on the base paths. Pucks’ pinch-hit single made it runners on the corners, but Ryan Allred flew out in Chavez’ spot, leaving the runners on. Sweeton returned for the ninth inning against the 3-4-5 batters, coming back on 92 pitches. Quinteros grounded out and Rios popped out, both to Lonzo and both on 0-2 pitches. If anything was bickerworthy about Sweeton’s outing, it was a distinct lack of strike threes, of which he only had a pair. But Garza grounded out to short at 0-1, and that was the ballgame. 5-1 Critters. Kirkwood 2-3, BB, HR, RBI; Caballero 2-3, BB, 3B, RBI; Puckeridge (PH) 1-1; Sweeton 9.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, W (13-11) and 1-3; In other news September 18 – The Buffaloes and Wolves go to extra innings tied at two before the Buffos somewhat break the game open with a 7-run tenth inning for a 9-2 win. September 19 – The Warriors hand the Rebels one of the worst drubbings in league history, brutalizing them 28-8. The Warriors have three separate innings of seven or eight runs, and five different Rebels pitchers are each bludgeoned for four or more runs allowed after RIC SP Larry Broad (10-12, 4.75 ERA) doesn’t make it out of the first inning without giving up eight earned runs. SFW OF Jose Marroquin (.281, 14 HR, 56 RBI) drives in seven runs from the leadoff spot. September 20 – The estimated recovery time for BOS OF/1B Hector Weir (.291, 8 HR, 62 RBI) is nine months after the 22-year-old tears several ligaments in his knee. September 20 – BOS SP Kodai Koga (12-14, 3.08 ERA) throws a 3-hit shutout against his former team, the Knights, for a 1-0 win. The sole offense is a home run by BOS C Jorge Ortiz (.244, 12 HR, 48 RBI). September 20 – The Loggers and Aces play 16 innings of a meaningless game before Milwaukee prevails, 6-5. September 20 – The Cyclones and Stars do them one better, with Cincy beating Dallas 5-4 in 17 innings in an equally irrelevant contest. September 22 – NAS INF Nick Nye (.357, 11 HR, 43 RBI) goes to a 25-game hitting streak with a first-inning single in the Sox’ 11-3 win over the Miners. September 23 – BOS OF/1B Israel Santiago (.330, 2 HR, 16 RBI) misses the cycle by the single in his 3-hit, 5-RBI effort to beat the Crusaders, 12-2. FL Player of the Week: DEN 2B/3B Ivan Villa (.285, 27 HR, 118 RBI), swatting .476 (10-21) with 2 HR, 10 RBI CL Player of the Week: VAN CF Damian Moreno (.286, 14 HR, 75 RBI), clipping .348 (8-23) with 3 HR, 9 RBI Complaints and stuff I’d want to give Brobeck another start next week, but we only have six games, and so far I don’t see which of the six guys that went out this week would get dropped. Both Adkins and Wade should go back out there for a few more innings of mere data. Taki, Sweeton, and Kniep are all puttering along nice enough. If anything it would be He Shui to get dropped. But why drop Shui for Brobeck…? Maud? – Maud? – Can you call the league office whether we can get another game against the Loggers or something? – Because I have my knickers in a twist and can’t make my mind up about something. On the other paw, Taki and Sweeton made their 32 expected starts, and Taki already had piled up 15 losses, which I felt was enough… Adriano Chavez will rejoin the team for the last week, coming off the DL on Monday. Titans and Crusaders is all that’s left. So we might have a paw in deciding the division after all. Fun Fact:** The last time the Raccoons won only one season series against their division rivals was in 2040. Back then we beat the Indians 12-6, and the rest was rather dismal, including going 3-15 against the DAMN ELKS. This year we’re a skinny 10-8 against those damn Elks, and the rest is a pair of 9-9’s against the Indians and Loggers, who are bringing up the rear of the division, and while we have three games each left against the Crusaders and Titans, we’ve already lost both of those season series, 5-10 and 4-11, respectively. And in 2040, we even had a winning season! 84-78, so nothing special, but the best the Coons can still put out this year is .500 … Attached Images __________________ Portland Raccoons, 92 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

10-01-2023, 02:06 PM	#4285
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,731	Raccoons (75-81) vs. Titans (74-82) – September 25-27, 2056 Last home games of the season – the Raccoons would host the Titans, who had already run away with the season series at 11-4, but overall had an offense just as crummy as the Critters’, scoring the third-fewest runs in the league, while giving up the fifth-fewest, with a -34 run differential (Coons: +4). They also arrived without a bunch of players like Hector Weir, Sam Witherspoon, Ryan Musgrave, and Adam Gardner, who were all injured at the end of the season. Projected matchups: He Shui (13-11, 3.99 ERA) vs. Kodai Koga (12-14, 3.08 ERA) Craig Kniep (9-12, 3.37 ERA) vs. Bobby Callejas (3-0, 3.14 ERA) Ryan Wade (2-0, 2.35 ERA) vs. Kenneth Spencer (14-11, 3.15 ERA) We’d have one more meeting with former Raccoons farmhand Kenneth Spencer, the only left-hander in sight. It was the fifth time this year he came up against us, Boston going 3-1 in those games. Game 1 BOS: CF Torrence – LF Ma. Gilmore – RF Whitlow – 2B Sowell – C J. Ortiz – 3B Garris – 1B I. Santiago – SS M. Navarro – P Koga POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 2B Waters – 3B Venegas – 1B Ramsay – CF Solorzano – C Fiore – P Shui Shui in his last outing of the year (barring a 21-inning rocker on Sunday in which we’d go through each and everybody) struck out five Titans in the first three innings, but also managed to concede an unearned run in the third inning on singles by Koga and Ethan Torrence and a fielding error by Gaudencio Callaia in rightfield that gave Koga an extra base to begin the inning. Matt Gilmore’s sac fly made it 1-0 Boston in the game. The Coons made up the deficit in the bottom 3rd, though. Carlos Solorzano hit a leadoff single of the soft kind, and was still on first base with one out and an 0-2 count to Shui, who couldn’t get a bunt down. At that point, Solorzano just went for it, and stole second base while Shui struck out. Callaia’s single to left-center then scored him to tie the game. Offense was at a glacial pace in the middle innings. Solorzano hit another single, and the Raccoons got Callaia on in the sixth, but Lonzo flew out and Kirkwood put a 3-0 pitch and stuffed it into a 6-4-3 double play. Instead, Boston went up in the seventh with a leadoff single by Jorge Ortiz, a wild pitch by Shui, and eventually an RBI single for Israel Santiago before Mario Navarro and Kodai Koga both whiffed, which gave Shui ten strikeouts on the day, and yet a pretty hook to dangle from. Bottom 7th, Waters hit a leadoff single up the middle and Venegas drew a walk from Koga. Ramsay hit into a fielder’s choice to get Venegas removed from the bases. Solorzano tied the game with a sac fly, and then Matt Fiore stunningly untied the game when he socked a home run to right. Shui went eight innings on 106 pitches, and the Raccoons tacked on a run in the bottom 8th when Callaia reached base and then with two outs was singled home when Ryan Allred batted for Matt Waters, while Matt Walters got the save opportunity in the ninth and struck out two while retiring three in a row. 5-2 Critters. Callaia 1-2, 2 BB, RBI; Allred (PH) 1-1, RBI; Solorzano 2-2, RBI; Shui 8.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 10 K, W (14-11); Game 2 BOS: CF Torrence – 1B I. Santiago – RF Whitlow – C Burkart – 2B Sowell – LF Ma. Gilmore – SS M. Navarro – 3B Ro. Jimenez – P Callejas POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 2B Waters – CF Caballero – 1B Ramsay – C M. Chavez – 3B Anderson – P Kniep Kniep had a rather dismal final outing, aiming for ten wins in all the wrong ways. He nailed Torrence to begin the game, then walked Santiago (although Torrence had already stolen second base). Eric Whitlow gave Boston a 1-0 lead with a single, and Matt Gilmore doubled home two more runs with two down before Navarro finally grounded out. Kniep went on to walk a pair and give up another run on a 2-out single by Whitlow in the second inning, and while he would go on to pitch another three scoreless innings after that, the damage had been done. The Raccoons had three base hits before he got his token pat on the bum, one of which was a solo homer by Matt Waters, and that was the only tangible thing on the board for them. Daniel Espinoza pinch-hit for Kniep in the bottom 5th with Rams on third base after a leadoff single and two outs, but popped out to Rocky Jimenez in foul ground. Rocky Jimenez, who entered the game with ONE at-bat on the season, then took Colby Bowen deep to left in the sixth inning, extending the Titans’ lead to 5-1. Matt Waters meanwhile tried to reach .300 for his injury-riddled season with a single to begin the bottom 7th, which lifted him to .299, but then was also had his old bones picked off first base. Boston added a run in the eighth with three singles off Ricky Herrera, which was matched in the bottom 8th with a Pucks double and Callaia RBI single, which in turn kept the Coons in slam range – yay. They remained in slam range to the very end without hitting a slam. 6-2 Titans. Callaia 2-4, RBI; Waters 2-4, HR, RBI; Ramsay 1-2, 2 BB; Puckeridge (PH) 1-1, 2B; Game 3 BOS: CF Torrence – 1B I. Santiago – RF Whitlow – C J. Ortiz – 3B Garris – LF Y. Valdez – 2B W. de Leon – SS M. Navarro – P Spencer POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – RF Caballero – 2B Waters – 3B Venegas – 1B Puckeridge – C M. Chavez – P Wade The annoying Titans began the rubber game with not one, but TWO infield singles against Ryan Wade, who quickly drowned. Two outs in, he walked Josh Garris, then served up a bases-clearing double to Yoslan Valdez. However – the Coons got the three runs right back. Royer and Lonzo hit clean singles, and Caballero and Waters hit gap doubles, driving in two and one run(s) respectively. Wade was outta whack, though; he offered a leadoff walk to Navarro in the top 2nd, then flung away Spencer’s bunt for two bases. Torrence and Santiago made soggy outs without getting the go-ahead run home, but then Whitlow drew another walk. Jorge Ortiz flew out to Royer, ending the inning, but the Coons pen began to whirr while the bottom 2nd was in progress. Portland took the lead in that bottom 2nd, with Marcos Chavez drawing a leadoff walk before being forced out on a bad bunt by Wade. Royer advanced Wade to second, and then Lonzo hit another 403-foot belter to go up 5-3. Wade tried to get away with the W here by going five, but was yanked after two more messy frames when he made if five messy frames by starting the top 5th with singles to right allowed to Ortiz and Garris. This time the Coons pulled the plug, and the entire construction collapsed with great noise all at once. Eloy Sencion replaced Wade, walked Valdez, gave up a sac fly to Willie de Leon, and then surrendered three straight hits for another three runs on the board. Tanizaki then inherited runners on second and third, one out, and a 7-5 deficit. He got a soggy groundout from Israel Santiago, then nailed Whitlow. Ortiz struck out, however, stranding three. Bottom 5th, the tying runs were on the corners quickly with a Kirkwood double, a Caballero single, and nobody out. Waters singled home a run, but Venegas blundered into a double play and Pucks also grounded out against right-hander Dave Parra. After a calm sixth, the game went finally out the window for good in the seventh with Reynaldo Bravo, who was **, then made another throwing error, and finally crowned his two hits and one walk already allowed by serving up a 3-run homer to Josh Garris. Four of the five runs allowed in the inning were unearned, which was such a consolation. 12-6 Titans. Royer 2-5; Lavorano 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Kirkwood 2-5, 2B; Caballero 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Waters 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Venegas 2-4; They’re hard to watch, let put it that way… The Crusaders and Elks were having a deathmatch all the while, and the New Yorkers, who’d host the Raccoons on the weekend, won two of the first three games to draw even with Elk City atop the North. Unfortunately, the damn Elks prevailed for a 6-5 win on Thursday, our off day, and so maintained a 1-game lead into the final weekend. Raccoons (76-83) @ Crusaders (84-75) – September 29-October 1, 2056 These games would matter much more for the Crusaders, who had a 10-5 edge in the season series and hoped a lot to build on that. They were second in runs scored and seventh in runs allowed, with a +82 run differential. Projected matchups: Kennedy Adkins (0-1, 5.40 ERA) vs. Jose Ortega (14-7, 3.39 ERA) Sean Sweeton (13-11, 3.13 ERA) vs. Joel Luera (8-8, 3.90 ERA) Kyle Brobeck (7-7, 4.58 ERA) vs. Ben Seiter (16-7, 2.92 ERA) Nothing but right-handers to see here. The Raccoons indeed parked Taki for the year, because 15 losses were enough. Game 1 POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 2B Waters – CF Caballero – 1B Puckeridge – 3B Espinoza – C Fiore – P Adkins NYC: CF O. Sanchez – SS Z. Suggs – 1B Buss – RF C. Williams – C Seidman – LF Standard – 2B E. Stevens – 3B Adame – P J. Ortega Singles by the 1-2 batters and a well-placed groundout by Matt Waters got home a Coons run in the first inning, while Adkins totally spread calmness and serenity to everybody involved by walking the first two batters he faced. Omar Sanchez – the CL stolen base champ-to-be with 62 bases to Lonzo’s 53 entering play – was caught stealing, though, and Jeff Buss hit a comebacker for a 1-6-3 double play, so the Crusaders bowled themselves out in the opening inning. The second was uneventful, while the bottom 3rd made me wish myself to Monday. After Erik Stevens grounded out, Adkins walked Alex Adame. Jose Ortega reached on an error by Espinoza, after which Sanchez doubled home the tying run. Zach Suggs singled home a pair, 3-1 New York, and then Buss reached… on another error by Daniel Espinoza, the dismal dolt. Adkins somehow wiggled out of the inning after that, but not without also walking Mike Seidman, and only emerging after having thrown just shy of SIX MILLION PITCHES. Adkins and Lonzo hit singles in the fifth inning but were stranded when Kirkwood lined out to a rushing Jeff Standard to end the inning. Adkins headed into the bottom 5th on 67 pitches, and this would probably be his last inning of the game and season. Omar Sanchez singled his way on, was caught stealing again (snicker!), and the whole thing took 16 more offerings. By the sixth, Mike Lane was in the game, and Alex Rios did the seventh. Top 8th, Lonzo singled off Ortega to get going, then scooped second base for the second time on the day, getting his stolen base total to 55 while Sanchez was 0-for-2. Hah-hah! The Raccoons’ 3-4-5 also failed to advance Lonzo a single inch from second base, so the whole thing with who laughs last and so on… At that time the Elks were losing to the Indians by a slam, so the New Yorkers were looking at a tied race with two games to play. They failed to tack on against Reynaldo Bravo, one of the seven very tack-on-able players on the Raccoons roster, then sent righty Ryan Sullivan out for the ninth in the 3-1 game. Pucks whiffed, but Adriano Chavez singled and Matt Fiore walked to put the tying runs on base. Ryan Allred pinch-hit for Bravo, grounded to short, and Zach Suggs fudged the play, which sure sugged for New York. Callaia singled home a run with a clean zipper to left, narrowing the score to 3-2, but Lonzo fanned. Kirkwood with two outs fell to two strikes, then hit a ball to deep center. But the park cheered, because Carlos Mata was ambling under it, made the catch, and the Crusaders were now even with the Elks. 3-2 Crusaders. Callaia 2-4, BB, RBI; Lavorano 3-5; Joe Bunch (5-11, 3.73 ERA) and two relievers held the Elks to three hits in a 4-0 loss to Indy. The Crusaders went straight to Ben Seiter for the Saturday game. Game 2 POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 2B Waters – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – 3B Venegas – C M. Chavez – P Sweeton NYC: 2B O. Sanchez – SS Z. Suggs – 1B Sevilla – RF Buss – CF Pfeifer – C Seidman – LF S. Moore – 3B Adame – P Seiter Sanchez drew a leadoff walk in the first, stole second base, then was thrown out trying to nip third as well, which wasn’t really helping the Crusaders with their postseason quest overall. Instead, singles by Waters and Venegas in the second inning gave Portland the 1-0 lead (not that we didn’t know how to blow one…). Sweeton faced the minimum the first time through the lineup and hit a single for himself in the third inning, but was stranded on first base because Coons being Coons. The bottom 4th then saw him put Sanchez on base again with another damn walk. He scored the tying run on Suggs’ grounder and a Raul Sevilla single, the first hit for New York in the game, and then Mike Pfeider and Mike Seidman rapped out two more hits with two down to take a 2-1 lead. Chris Kirkwood also hurt himself on a defensive play and was replaced with Gaudencio Callaia. Pucks moved to leftfield and snatched Scott Moore’s liner to end the bottom of the fourth inning, now with New York ahead by one run, but the Elks were leading by three at the same time. New York caught up with them in the bottom 5th. Sanchez singled with two outs, stole second (grumble grumble) and then came home at a leisurely pace when Zach Suggs parked his 20th homer of the year in the leftfield stands. Sweeton faced another three batters without getting out of the *** inning, leaving a single, two walks, and the bases loaded to Tanizaki against Seidman, who hit a ***** infield single to bring in another run before Moore grounded out to second base. The R in Raccoons didn’t seem to stand for Rally, because none took place. Seiter ran a 3-hitter into the eighth inning before Solorzano came close to a pinch-hit homer, but was denied by Mike Pfeifer making a leap and a grab at the fence. Also, the crowd was getting giddier – while this game was in the eighth, the Indians took a 4-3 lead on the damn Elks in the seventh in Indianapolis. Seiter was still in the game in the ninth, which Lonzo opened with a single to center. He was forced out by Callaia, and Waters popped out to Sanchez. Pucks singled, and that was the end for Seiter, who departed to a great hand. Ryan Sullivan would face Rams, got a 2-2 grounder to short, and that was the ballgame. 5-1 Crusaders. Blech. Unfortunately for New York, the Indians crashed and burned in the eighth inning, and the Elks scored five for an 8-4 win, so the top two remained tightly tied ahead of Sunday’s nominal season finale. Chris Kirkwood was not available for the finale with a mild case of shoulder inflammation that would have cost him the playoffs anyway. Good thing we sucked our way to fourth place and spared ourselves that agony then! Game 3 POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Caballero – CF Puckeridge – P Brobeck – 1B Ramsay – 2B Allred – 3B A. Chavez – C Stanton NYC: 2B O. Sanchez – SS Z. Suggs – 1B Sevilla – RF Buss – LF S. Moore – C Seidman – 3B Adame – CF C. Mata – P Luera New York stranded a pair in the first, Portland stranded a pair in the second, and the ice was broken in the third with a homer to left-center by… Zach Suggs, which made it 1-0 Crusaders. Caballero’s deep fly to right to begin the fourth was caught by Buss, but Pucks then hit a 1-out single, moved up on Brobeck’s groundout, and scored when Ramsay dropped in a 2-out single, tying the game again. For a bit there, both battles for the division crown were tied at one, but then the Indians pulled ahead in their own bottom of the third inning, 2-1. The Crusaders were in trouble, though. Adriano Chavez led off the fifth inning with a single. Stanton grounded out, but Luera then walked the bags full with Callaia and Lonzo. Caballero struck out, however, while the count with Pucks ran full, and then Luera buried a ball in the dirt to walk in the go-ahead run for the Critters. Brobeck popped out foul to strand a full set of runners. Luera offered two more walks to Allred and Chavez in the sixth inning, then was disposed of for Willie Santiago. The new righty got Stanton to fly out and Callaia to roll over to Suggs, ending the inning. Omar Sanchez got the Crusaders back into a tie in the bottom 6th in front of an agonizing fanbase. He singled off Brobeck to begin the inning, stole second, then scored on groundouts by Suggs and Sevilla. It was no surge, but it was at least a tie for them now, 2-2. Brobeck walked Buss, but then got Moore out on a pop, and Seidman grounded out to begin the bottom 7th before Mike Pfeifer batted for Adame, and the Raccoons got a lefty of their own to counter. Ricky Herrera gave up two singles to Pfeifer and Mata, then a double steal while facing switch-hitter Chad Williams, but Williams’ grounder to third base kept the runners pinned and Chavez made the play for the second out of the inning. Sanchez popped out, and the chance was perdu. At that point the Indians led the Elks by three runs. The Crusaders just had to get over the hump. Instead, they went to left-hander Ben Lussier, with his ERA near six, who put Rams and Allred on to start the eighth inning. Chavez grounded out, Stanton struck out. For the Coons, Matt Waters then pinch-hit for Callaia, who was a left-handed batter and 0-3 in the game. The Crusaders turned down the invitation, walked Waters intentionally, and instead would try their luck with Lonzo. Lonzo grounded out to short, and the Raccoons frittered away another three runners. Mike Lane turned away New York 1-2-3 in the bottom 8th. Indy was now up by four in the eighth inning. The Crusaders needed just ONE run to get to the playoffs. Pucks ALMOST hit a homer off Alex Mancilla in the ninth inning, but the ball was caught on the warning track, and Mancilla had a 1-2-3 inning. Looking at Moore, the Coons sent Lillis into the bottom 9th, but the Crusaders used Erik Stevens to pinch-hit just as the game in Indy went final as an Elks loss. Lillis struck out Stevens, then was removed for Tanizaki anyway. Seidman responded with a 1-out single, but Jose Ortiz and Mamoru Makino made outs and the game went to extras. Mancilla had a 1-2-3 tenth inning while the cameras kept panning over fans biting into their fists in the stands, or the occasional kiddo crying. The Raccoons were running out of qualified pitching, though. Tanizaki stayed in to begin the bottom 10th against right-handed Darrell Wagner, who reached base when Rams fudged his grounder to first base for an error. Sanchez bunted him to second base. Tanizaki drilled Suggs. The Coons went to Eloy Sencion against the switch-hitting Sevilla, who was then hit for with the charred remains of Nate Culp, batting all of .220 as bench-warmer deluxe. Sencion walked him in a full count, resulting in full bases, and another right-handed pinch-hitter, Justin Reese, hitting .307 in just 75 at-bats. At this point, though, we trusted Sencion more than whatever right-handed scum was left in the pen. Mound conference – then a strike, and then a fly to center. Solorzano made the catch coming in, Wagner went for the plate – and unlike Keith Ayers some 40 years ago, he was safe at home. 3-2 Crusaders. Ramsay 3-5, 2B, RBI; In other news September 25 – ATL SP Bruce Mark jr. (12-4, 3.28 ERA) throws a 2-hit shutout against the Thunder for a 5-0 win, striking out eight batters. September 25 – The Wolves sock it to the Stars in a 19-8 scorefest, with nine runs in the second inning alone to reject the Stars’ 6-spot in the bottom of the first inning. September 26 – A 3-hit shutout is thrown by DEN SP Nick Robinson (16-9, 3.51 ERA) as he beats the Scorpions, 7-0. September 26 – The first-place Miners lose SP Jose Arias (12-6, 4.11 ERA) to a torn triceps. He’s out for the year and questionable for Opening Day. September 26 – The Miners beat the Capitals, 7-6 in 17 innings, after rallying for four runs to tie the game in the ninth inning to begin with. September 27 – Nashville’s Nick Nye (.359, 11 HR, 45 RBI) extends his hitting streak to 30 games with two RBI singles in a 5-3 loss to the Rebels. September 27 – The first career home run by SAC SS Javy Garcia (.389, 1 HR, 5 RBI) is an 11th-inning walkoff grand slam to down the Gold Sox, 5-1. September 28 – The hitting streak of NAS INF Nick Nye (.355, 11 HR, 45 RBI) ends at 30 games after the Rebels put him out in the cold in a 7-3 win over the Blue Sox. September 30 – The Pacifics clinch the FL West with a 5-3 win over the Wolves. September 30 – The Falcons, who clinched the CL South two days earlier, will be without INF/RF Travis Edwards (.194, 7 HR, 50 RBI) in the postseason. The 25-year-old was out with a torn back muscle; how much his bat would be missed was anybody’s guess. October 1 – The Miners beat the Rebels, 5-3, in a win-or-go-home, last-day battle for the FL East title. FL Hitter of the Month: SFW OF Jose Marroquin (.285, 19 HR, 70 RBI), blasting .313 with 12 HR, 32 RBI CL Hitter of the Month: SFB 1B Pat Fowler (.274, 16 HR, 92 RBI), batting .392 with 4 HR, 27 RBI FL Pitcher of the Month: RIC SP Eric Braley (12-5, 3.25 ERA), going 4-0 with a 1.43 ERA, 32 K CL Pitcher of the Month: NYC SP Ben Seiter (17-7, 2.85 ERA), throwing 5-0 with an 0.64 ERA, 45 K FL Rookie of the Month: DAL OF Jose Munoz (.299, 8 HR, 63 RBI), hitting .386 with 1 HR, 8 RBI CL Rookie of the Month: MIL 1B Dave Robles (.237, 20 HR, 87 RBI), socking .295 with 4 HR, 21 RBI Complaints and stuff Well, that’s over, and not a minute too soon. The Elks were of course braying that we didn’t really try that hard on the final weekend, getting swept like that, but on the other hoof, they lost two of three to the pitiful Indians, so maybe they should browse in their own forest… We’ll go through the roster detritus in detail after the playoffs. *Fun Fact:* Lonzo finished the season with a round 450 career steals. He passed Alex Torres for 16th place overall with a dozen bags taken in the final month of the season. Navarro scooped six, while Adame got one and Gonzalez swiped two before ending the year on the DL. Appearing on the leaderboard is the tie for tenth between Jesus Banuelas and Jon Ramos, a pair that both retired after 2048 following 474 stolen bases each. t-10th – Jesus Banuelas – 474 t-10th – Jon Ramos – 474 12th – Omar Gonzalez – 461 – active 13th – Diego Rodriguez – 460 – HOF 14th – Martin Ortíz – 457 – HOF 15th – Alex Adame – 452 – active 16th – Lorenzo Lavorano – 450 – active 17th – Alex Torres – 445 18th – Chance Bossert – 437 19th – Ricardo “Cookie” Carmona – 428 20th – Cristo Ramirez – 424 – HOF 21st – Chris Navarro – 423 – active Both Banuelas and Ramos spent the majority of their career in the Federal League, although Banuelas had a few years with the Condors at the end of his career. Banuelas had two stolen base titles with a personal season-best of 57, while Stars shortstop Ramos stole 54 or 55 bases three times in his career, but NEVER led the league in the category…! Attached Images __________________ Portland Raccoons, 92 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

10-02-2023, 04:32 PM	#4288
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,731	2056 ABL PLAYOFFS The sun was almost ready to settle on the ABL’s 80th season, but of course there was still the need to crown a champion. Four teams were left standing, trying to clinch the championship in a pair of best-of-seven series. The Falcons – in the playoffs for the first time in 15 years – entered with the best record in the league at 104-58, having distanced the Knights by six games in the CL South. They had done so with the best pitching in the Continental League and the third-most runs scored, which added up to a +190 run differential. The team was only batting .253 as a whole, but they were drawing tons of walks and actually had the second-highest OBP at .349; mix in the #3 rotation, the best bullpen, and the third-highest rated defense, and you had yourself a contender – with a bit or two missing. 3B Bobby Anderson (.290, 15 HR, 72 RBI) had broken a rib during the final week of the season and would miss the playoffs. What was left was a fear-striking middle of the order with Danny Ceballos (.370, 10 HR, 75 RBI), Jason Schaack (.281, 23 HR, 125 RBI), and Luis Miranda (.252, 20 HR, 74 RBI), and a steady rotation and a bullpen with four sub-2 ERA relievers. The 87-75 Crusaders had only punched their playoff ticket in extra innings on the final day of the season, but entered the knockouts with the highest batting average, second-most runs scored, and… well, they were only seventh in runs allowed in the CL, and had only a +88 run differential. The rotation was an asset with a 3.67 ERA, second-best in the league, but the bullpen was a never-ending horror story, the Crusaders having recycled closers several times during the year, and having posted a 4.58 bullpen ERA. So yeah, there were the CL stolen base champ Omar Sanchez (.325, 2 HR, 54 RBI), Zach Suggs (.314, 21 HR, 94 RBI), and Raul Sevilla (.274, 24 HR, 93 RBI), and Ben Seiter (17-7, 2.85 ERA) and Jose Ortega (15-7, 3.30 ERA) – but there was nothing you’d want as a sitter for your pet cactus in their relief corps at all. In the Federal League, home field advantage for the FLCS went to the 90-72 Pacifics, who had won the division by two games over the Scorpions. There was a lot of average on that roster, which had shed some bit players during the last few weeks, but no key assets: fifth in runs scored, fourth in runs allowed, +52 run differential. Indifferent defense, mediocre in home runs and rotation, but they were second in stolen bases and bullpen ERA. Matt Diskin (.350, 4 HR, 16 RBI) had his usual high batting average, but had also missed 128 games with injury, but there were Aaron Kissler (.301, 18 HR, 69 RBI) and Jeremy Lindauer (.281, 11 HR, 67 RBI) to lend a hand. The best starter by ERA was Jim Reynolds (16-7, 3.15 ERA), along Ivan Torres (11-6, 3.31 ERA). On the other side were the 89-73 Miners, also only winning the division on the final day of the season by beating the Rebels in a winner-take-all. They were the most productive offense in the league with 797 runs scored, but would rather not talk about their pitching much, which had given up the seventh-most runs and had left them with only a +90 run differential. They were constricting teams with a .363 OBP, which masked for them being near the bottom in home runs – although Eric Monaghan (.231, 20 HR, 92 RBI), Victor Corrales (.327, 19 HR, 125 RBI), and Alex Abecassis (.239, 16 HR, 76 RBI) had not exactly been shy with them – and stolen bases, and their rotation was a mess. Shoutout also to Josh Abercrombie (.348, 9 HR, 103 RBI), giving them three batters hitting .319 or better – although Alex Vasquez (.319, 4 HR, 53 RBI) would miss the FLCS with a broken finger and was highly questionable for the World Series, should the Miners partake. Pittsburgh didn’t have a starting pitcher with more than 100 innings pitched and an ERA under four, which would probably become a problem before long, with Josh Swindell (7-7, 3.70 ERA) and Jose Arias (12-6, 4.11 ERA) out for the year. The pen was better … but also not exactly great. In the FLCS, both teams would rock up entirely right-handed rotations against a lineup with a left-handed middle of the order, which could get interesting. In the CLCS, the Crusaders had a more balanced lineup, but also an all-righty rotation, while the Falcons’ top of the order was very much left-handed batting. In this playoff field, the Miners had the most playoff appearances, this being their 18th. The Pacifics were in the show for the 17th time, the Crusaders for the 13th time, and the Falcons for the 12th time. However, the Miners had never won a championship, and the Falcons only had one, while the Crusaders were third with seven titles and the Pacifics tied the Gold Sox for fourth with six titles. The Crusaders and Falcons had previously met in the CLCS in 1978, 2007, and 2008 – always with the better end for New York. The last two instances resulted in championships for the Crusaders. Miners and Pacifics had previously met in 1982, 2012, 2016, 2030, and 2031. Pittsburgh won the first encounter, and then never again. Three of the four Pacifics pennants also saw them go on to win the World Series. Previous World Series meetings between participating teams included the Pacifics beating the Crusaders in 2011 as well as the Crusaders beating the Miners in 2015. The Falcons were the odds-on favorites for their first title since 2005. +++ LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES NYC @ CHA … 3-14 … (Falcons lead 1-0) … NYC Jeff Buss 2-3, BB, HR, 2 RBI; CHA William Kulak 2-5, BB, 2B, 4 RBI; CHA Danny Ceballos 3-6, 2 RBI; CHA Jason Schaack 3-5, BB, 2 RBI; CHA Jayden Ward 3-5, 2B, RBI; CHA Rich Fish 3-4, BB, 2B, 3 RBI; PIT @ LAP … 9-3 … (Miners lead 1-0) … PIT Victor Corrales 3-5, 2 HR, 6 RBI; PIT Trevor Niemiec (PH) 1-1, HR, 2 RBI; NYC @ CHA … 8-0 … (series tied 1-1) … NYC Omar Sanchez 2-4, 2 BB, 2B, 3 RBI; NYC Jeff Buss 2-4, HR, RBI; NYC Kyle Turay 9.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K, W (1-0) and 3-4, BB, 2 RBI; Kyle Turay (1-0, 0.00 ERA) pitches a no-hitter!! The first-ever postseason no-hitter in the ABL comes in just 95 pitches and with just two walks offered to the Falcons, who never get into the game. PIT @ LAP … 3-5 (11) … (series tied 1-1) … LAP Chris Maresh 1-2, HR, 2 RBI; Maresh ties the series with his walkoff home run in the 11th inning after entering the game as defensive replacement for starting catcher Aaron Kissler before the Pacifics blow their lead in the eighth inning anyway. CHA @ NYC … 3-8 … (Crusaders lead 2-1) … CHA Ian Woodrome 2-3, 2 BB; NYC Mike Seidman 3-4, HR, 2 RBI; NYC Jeff Standard 4-5, 2B, 3 RBI; LAP @ PIT … 4-2 … (Pacifics lead 2-1) … LAP Jesse Sweeney 3-4, 3B, 2 RBI; CHA @ NYC … 0-4 … (Crusaders lead 3-1) … NYC Omar Sanchez 3-4, RBI; NYC Ben Seiter 7.0 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K, W (1-1); LAP @ PIT … 5-7 (12) … (series tied 2-2) … PIT Nick Thomason 3-6, 2B; PIT Andrew Russ 3-5, BB, 2B, RBI; PIT Alex Abecassis 2-5, BB, 2 HR, 2 RBI; PIT Chris Jimenez 2-5, BB, HR, 2 RBI; CHA @ NYC … 0-1 … (Crusaders win 4-1) … NYC Omar Sanchez 1-3, RBI; NYC Kyle Turay 8.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K, W (2-0) The Pacifics take a commanding 5-0 lead by the top of the third inning, then go to sleep and let the Miners gradually whittle away the deficit until the teams are tied in the eighth. Chris Jimenez (.286, 1 HR, 2 RBI) evens the series with a walkoff home run of his own. The Crusaders have only two hits, Sanchez’ and Mike Pfeifer’s leadoff double off Art Schaeffer (1-1, 2.12 ERA) that gives Sanchez something to drive home in the inning. The Falcons are suffocated after running up two touchdowns and bonus points in Game 1, scoring only a field goal after that. LAP @ PIT … 2-3 … (Miners lead 3-2) … PIT Eric Monaghan 3-4, 2B, RBI; PIT Jeff Crowley 8.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W (1-0); PIT @ LAP … 5-2 … (Miners win 4-2) … LAP Jesus Espinoza 3-4; LAP Chris Rice 2-2, 2 BB, HR, 2B, RBI; Seven different Miners have seven base hits, including two homers and two doubles, and bunch them up just enough to win the series in six games. +++ 2056 WORLD SERIES The #3 and #4 seeds met in the World Series. The Crusaders’ elimination of the Falcons (odds-on favorites my **) gave home field advantage to the Miners, who also managed to pry Alex Vasquez off the stretcher to bolster their lineup a bit. That still left them with a wonky rotation, and the Crusaders were on a 4-game winning streak, and that’s before we get into Kyle Turay throwing the first postseason no-hitter in league history. Neither team suffered additional injuries in their LCS. The Crusaders looked like the stronger team here and might win in six games. +++ NYC @ PIT … 3-0 … (Crusaders lead 1-0) … NYC Zach Suggs 2-4, HR, RBI; NYC Ben Seiter 8.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K, W (2-1); NYC @ PIT … 2-4 … (series tied 1-1) … NYC Chad Williams (PH) 1-1, HR, RBI; PIT Alex Abecassis 3-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI; PIT @ NYC … 4-5 … (Crusaders lead 2-1) … NYC Raul Sevilla 3-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; NYC Mario Villa 2-3, BB, HR, RBI; PIT @ NYC … 3-10 … (Crusaders lead 3-1) … NYC Mike Seidman 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Both teams put together 11 base hits in Game 4, but while the Miners hit nothing but singles, the Crusaders jack four homers and three doubles, and leave only four guys on base. PIT @ NYC … 4-6 … (Crusaders win 4-1) … PIT Victor Corrales 2-4, BB, 2 RBI; NYC Mario Villa 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Two walks, two singles, and two runs off left-hander Matt Stephens (0-2, 10.80 ERA) in the bottom of the eighth inning means the Miners extend their whiffing streak in the postseason to 0-for-18. +++ 2056 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS New York Crusaders (8th title)* Attached Images __________________ Portland Raccoons, 92 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

10-03-2023, 03:37 PM	#4289
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,731	Another year was in the books, and things kept moving on – sometimes. F.e. while head scout Eric Hartwig unexpectedly decided to retire, somewhat miffed that nobody ever listened to him that all our players were crap and was then surprised that the team lost 86 games, Anton Venegas picked up his rather luxurious player option for the 2057 season, so we remained on the hook for those $5.7M. Yay, y’know. Nick Valdes also remained same old, same old, being audibly displeased – he called in person! – with the team’s lack of success in 2055, and he wouldn’t take no “But Kennedy Adkins missed 30 starts and we had to give them to the clowns!” for an answer. The Raccoons had their budget rigorously slashed from $60M down to $53M. The Coons accordingly slipped from 9th to 12th in the rankings. Top 5: Knights ($74M), Crusaders ($73M), Capitals ($72M), Thunder ($71M), Scorpions ($69M) Bottom 5: Condors ($42M), Loggers ($41M), Blue Sox ($37.5M), Indians ($37M), Aces ($29M) The remaining CL North teams ranked 8th (VAN, $65M) and t-13th (BOS, $51M). The average budget for a team in the league rose to $54.54M, up about $1.14M from last season, while the median team budget was $52M, same as last season. What do you mean, Steve from Accounting, we’re in the red in your first projection for budget room to sign reinforcements to the roster?? – Oh well! (claps paws together) That makes it more interesting to fix this mess of a roster, doesn’t it!? (unscrews bottle of Capt’n Coma) +++ Thankfully the second sheet I looked at was the salary arbitration and free agency overview [in mint condition below], which did indeed offer a few opportunities for savings immediately. The more disappointing thing though was that between our six free agents (Kirkwood, Caballero, Adriano Chavez, Lillis, Sencion, and Waters) only Kirkwood was eligible for draft pick compensation, and then only a type B free agent, which would cause me some agony with the lefty relievers especially. Caballero, while useful indeed, and Waters would not be back. Letting Matt Waters go would cut the last connection to the teams that won three rings in the 2040s, but Waters would be 36 at the start of the new season and his defense had eroded to the point where he was going to be a tremendous burden in the field. In a way, that 10-year contract had been the perfect length (even though he himself had sold himself short) because the Raccoons managed to get out just before things could turn ugly with him. He missed half the season to injury, and while he hit for an .820 OPS when he was available, he cost almost a full win in the field. Brett Lillis jr. and Eloy Sencion had been a tremendously sturdy lefty pair out of the pen for a number of seasons now. Of course they were also getting on in age, but Lillis was only 31 and Sencion would turn 30 in November – there were many more baseball years in them. It was all about whether you could afford the sneakers with the three stripes on them or whether you had to settle for two right now. … at least as long as Anton Venegas was on the roster…! The arbitration group was interesting for sure. It contained another seven players, including a pair of catchers that would get axed without making much of a fuss about them. Tyler Philipps had batted .253 with 10 homers in AAA after having been disposed of early in the season, but we weren’t gonna stuff another $500k into that project. Matt Fiore had been mostly meek and surely wasn’t worth almost seven figures. The Coons had a defensively inept Marcos Chavez that had hit .200 with six bombs in 44 games, which projected to something like 23 for a full season, so you already knew he’d hang around for another five years and suck the air out of the team without end since I craved nothing more than the THUD of hardwood banging brashly against balls. I just never seemed to get enough of it. Harry Ramsay had value despite hitting for little more than 17 double plays (I counted) this season, and the same was true for Kyle Brobeck, Seisaku Taki, and Mike Lane. Brobeck and Lane were easy nods, but we had to try and settle with Taki out of arbitration. He was a tricky case – he had come from Japan on a 3-yr, $15M deal, which meant that the $3M per year were now the baseline for his arbitration case – which opened the Coons up to potentially offering $4M and having to pay $5M thanks to a braindead arbitrator. Now, there was a tautology if there ever was one…. That left Raffy, and just a few months earlier I said that we’d happily throw another million bucks at him if that meant he could try to figure himself out in AAA for another season, but the budget slashings meant that all expenses had to undergo scrutiny, and was giving him another contract even defensible anymore? Even in AAA, in 38.1 innings across various rehab outings and a banishment, he walked 30 batters and struck out only 31. He had closed games for the Alley Cats late in the year, but I had no interest in having him pitch in critical late innings, either. A reasonable GM would send him away. A reasonable GM would do that. (shoves the whole bottleneck into his own snout) +++ A rough draft for the Opening Day roster showed Seisaku Taki, He Shui, Sean Sweeton, Kennedy Adkins, and Craig Kniep in the rotation (in whatever order). Kyle Brobeck was still around for all sorts of assignments. Matt Walters was young and awesome, and then we had Mike Lane, Takenori Tanizaki, and … well… after that it got a bit sparse in the bullpen, because while we had another eight pitchers on the extended roster, they were either too green behind the ears (Ryan Wade?), bound for free agency (Lillis, Sencion), or just plain old terrible (the whole rest of them, literally). The sole exception might be lefty Ricky Herrera, although his numbers in the majors in 16 innings had been a lot better than the ones he had put up with the Alley Cats across 36 innings, so I was taking that with a grain of salt or an ounce. For catchers we had Marcos Chavez, and then the next-best options were Matt Stanton and AAA Jeff Raczka, unless the latter would elect minor league free agency after the 2056 season had been the first in which he hadn’t made token big league appearances since 2048. Overall he had 355 PA across seven seasons. In other words: the position was a bundle of work, and we could only claim “oh somebody’s gotta bat eighth!” once or twice before it would get ridiculous. Waters leaving left a whole on the infield where Harry Ramsay, Lonzo Lavorano, and Anton Venegas appeared to be set in their positions. Ryan Allred had batted a streaky .311 and offered a lefty stick at a traditionally right-handed position, so he had some appeal. Arturo Bribiesca (60-day DL), Daniel Espinoza and the woefully underdone Richard Anderson, plus AAA first-sacker Pedro Rojas were the only other infielders on the 40-man roster (sorta), and they might yet get DFA’ed in numbers to accommodate various personnel returning from the 60-day DL… With Kirkwood and Caballero appearing to leave, the Raccoons were down to Gaudencio Callaia and Alan Puckeridge on the outfield corners, with Steve Royer and Carlos Solorzano (…) as centerfield options. AAA prospect Todd Oley never made an appearance last season, first not hitting well, and then chipping his kneecap, so that was one of those things… Trent Brassfield (60-day DL) tore up his shoulder in April, and hasn’t thrown a baseball since, and his return to “baseball activities” keeps being delayed again and again. He surely was no centerfield option. AAA David Flores also hadn’t appeared in the majors yet, but had posted a .425 OBP in St. Pete this year. The problem was that he couldn’t play center, and the Raccoons needed somebody to play center, and Pucks increasingly wasn’t it. Flores was also a switch-hitter and might yet wind up on the Opening Day roster as budget leadoff man until we’d dispose of him after batting .180 in 21 games. And yes, I still do remember that I once said the Raccoons were holding out for a push in 2057 in the season just completed… Attached Images __________________ Portland Raccoons, 92 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

09-25-2023, 11:52 PM	#4281
DD Martin All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Seattle area Posts: 943	That was a brutal week!

10-01-2023, 03:26 PM	#4286
DD Martin All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Seattle area Posts: 943	At least the Elks didn’t win! That almost saves the season.

10-07-2023, 06:46 AM	#4290
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,731	Oh, what to do with Raffy? What to do with Raffy? (stands on the roof of the ballpark and stares down into the alleyway with the dumpsters, leaning against a rather rickety-looking railing while complaining to Chad in the mascot costume, who is making very understanding motions) See, he had that 3.32 ERA in 33 starts in 2052, and everything seemed to be on the right path – in his age 21 season! (Chad nods emphatically) And then one injury hit, and then another, and then another, and now he walks seven AAA bobs in nine innings and it’s all horrible. (Chad covers his eyes with the mascot’s enormous front paws) And he’s gonna cost a million or more to have failing around in AAA for another season, and Nick Valdes took all our budget cushion away! (Chad punches one of the fuzzy fists into the other palm, then shakes the fist) It’s just not what a reasonable person would do, resigning him to any sort of contract, costing any sort of money. (the fire brigade arrives with the big winding ladder) Woe is me! Chad, woe is me…! (the fire chief slowly whirrs into view in the rescue bucket and Chad waves hi to him) Morning, Jeff. – Oh, you know, the sun goes up, the sun goes down. – Ya ya, I’ll come down with you. (is helped by Chad and Jeff, the fire chief, over the railing and into the rescue bucket) Say, Jeff, would you re-sign Raffy de la Cruz for a million bucks? – Thought so. +++ The Raccoons’ offseason started with the funnest of all tasks, emptying the 60-day DL onto a crammed 40-man roster, because the league said so. Jesus Guzman (who in 2055 had walked eight in his only ABL start (to date?)) had already cleared waivers earlier and was assigned to AAA. That still required us to find space for Trent Brassfield (anybody remember him?) and Arturo Bribiesca. Colby Bowen (0-0, 4.91 ERA) was quickly identified as easily expendable and waived off the 40-man roster. But we needed two spots, and there was nobody else on the 40-man roster I would merrily throw to the lions, and it could not be done with free agents in the making, because the league said so.* The Raccoons effectively only had room for five AAA players to be on the 40-man roster right now, but had six on it: SP Ramon Carreno (age 21), 1B Pedro Rojas (24), outfielders Todd Oley (24), David Flores (25), Elijah Johnson (25), … and, well, Raffy (26). Raffy became my cop-out. I didn’t HAVE to make a hard decision regarding whether to resign him if some other team claimed him off waivers first! Hah! Brilliant! I could have had a great career as a hostage negotiator! (tries to drink the nerve-soothing tea that Maud made but shakes so hard that it spills everywhere) Three days passed. There were no takers. Which didn’t mean that the drama was all over, because Raffy then refused his re-assignment to AAA, even though he had accepted the assignment during the season. The next few days were rather ugly in the office, because everybody threw paragraphs from the back pages of the rulebook at each other why this and that couldn’t or shouldn’t … all I say is, thank the Baseball Gods for Capt’n Coma… Raffy remained and by now the tablecloth was torn asunder anyway – he had to go, one way or another. At least it already hurt about 25% less now… There were only two options available to the Raccoons, and non-tendering him was not one of them, because he needed to be assigned somewhere and the actual free agency filing date was still weeks away, much longer than his DFA window lasted. That left only an outright release or a trade to a particularly brave team. That team was the Wolves down I-5, who were happy to take on the reclamation project. They were the only team tendering an offer when Raffy was floated on the shopping wire. They initially offered a hapless swingman pitcher, right-hander Jeff Puccia, who had posted a 4.59 ERA this year, but the Raccoons were able to swat two flies with one swing by working a swap of catchers into the deal, sending over Matt Fiore – who would have been non-tendered anyway – for Ruben Zamora, a career backup catcher that was none too exciting to talk about. When I wasn’t busy breaking the good porcelain and burning bridges, I was also signing 1-year extensions with arbitration candidates, with Harry Ramsay ($900k) and Mike Lane ($660k) still signing theirs in October. There had been the hope to sign Seisaku Taki to a 4- or 5-year deal, but the bugger wanted nine years, which wasn’t exactly lining up with my plans for a pitcher turning 30 next June. At least we were able to hammer out a 1-year extension worth $3.75M for his final year under team control, and with that nobody was going to be happy. Kyle Brobeck, finally, got $625k for his complicated services for 2057. Tyler Philipps was not tendered an offer and could become a free agent. What about the other free agents? Well, Kirkwood was offered arbitration to secure the draft pick, while the Coons would have liked to keep Brett Lillis jr. and Eloy Sencion around. While Sencion at least took home an offer for two years, $1.8M ($800k this year and $1M next), Lillis demanded four years and $1.49M per annum, while Nick Valdes made angry phone calls that the budget was NOT TO BE EXCEEDED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. Steve from Accounting had shown me a neat trick a while back where you could temporarily at least print money by slashing the player development budget in half, but even then I didn’t want to pay a million and a half for an (admittedly excellent) seventh/eighth inning reliever. Sencion signed on eventually, but the team didn’t come to terms with Lillis, and the more L’s the Raccoons took in October and November, the dimmer my outlook for the upcoming season became. +++ October 21 – The Wolves acquire OF/1B Aidan Calhoun (.242, 30 HR, 213 RBI) from the Warriors in exchange for LF/1B Andy Hudson (.290, 17 HR, 108 RBI). October 25 – The Raccoons acquire 32-yr old C Ruben Zamora (.270, 26 HR, 170 RBI) from the Wolves by admitting defeat and moving right-hander Rafael de la Cruz (33-36, 3.74 ERA) and C Matt Fiore (.265, 28 HR, 186 RBI) to the Wolves. November 10 – The Miners acquire 25-year-old right-hander Cruz Madrid (9-7, 4.72 ERA, 15 SV) from the Aces in exchange for two prospects, and 40-year-old SP Brad Blankenship (145-156, 3.91 ERA) from the Loggers for another two prospects. November 13 – Tijuana sends MR Rick Johnson (3-7, 6.12 ERA, 1 SV) to the Buffaloes for two prospects, including #128 CL Jimmy Dingman. November 14 – The Canadiens stun everybody by trading decorated SS/3B Dan Mullen (.301, 28 HR, 492 RBI) to the Indians for 36-year-old veteran 1B Larry Rodriguez (.250, 179 HR, 656 RBI) and a prospect. +++ This was Brad Blankenship’s 14th switch of teams as a professional pitcher: Gold Sox, Warriors, Thunder, Falcons, Titans, Thunder (again), the damn Elks, Stars, Pacifics, Scorpions, Miners, Pacifics (again), Blue Sox, Loggers, and now Miners (again). That was more changes of uniform than Slappy in the last 15 years. He was traded for the seventh time, but the other six times had all occurred mid-season. The Thunder had acquired him mid-season twice, in 2042 and 2046. Chris Kirkwood rejected salary arbitration and became a free agent. +++ 2056 ABL AWARDS Players of the Year: PIT INF Victor Corrales (.327, 19 HR, 125 RBI) and ATL 2B/SS Willie Acosta (.320, 16 HR, 80 RBI) Pitchers of the Year: SAC SP Mike McCaffrey (12-5, 2.34 ERA) and NYC SP Ben Seiter (17-7, 2.85 ERA) Rookies of the Year: NAS 1B Andy Metz (.277, 18 HR, 73 RBI) and OCT SP Aaron Harris (19-6, 2.94 ERA) Relievers of the Year: LAP MR Brad Walker (8-5, 2.12 ERA, 2 SV) and CHA CL Steve Watson (6-3, 1.58 ERA, 43 SV) Platinum Sticks (FL): P RIC Eric Braley – C SAC Kevin Weese – 1B RIC Mario Delgadillo – 2B DEN Ivan Villa – 3B PIT Victor Corrales – SS Alex de los Santos – LF CIN Juan del Toro – CF PIT Josh Abercrombie – RF RIC Willie Sanchez Platinum Sticks (CL): P TIJ Steve Hawkins – C CHA Luis Miranda – 1B LVA Aubrey Austin – 2B ATL Willie Acosta – 3B LVA Alex Alfaro – SS NYC Zach Suggs – LF MIL Perry Pigman – CF VAN Damian Moreno – RF CHA Danny Ceballos Gold Golves (FL): P TOP Ben Karst – C WAS Chris Gowin – 1B SFW Miguel Medina – 2B RIC Alex Murillo – 3B PIT Victor Corrales – SS WAS Jesus Nunez – LF CIN Juan del Toro – CF SAL Noah Caswell – RF PIT Nick Thomason Gold Golves (CL): P SFB Andy Overy – C BOS Jorge Ortiz – 1B LVA Aubrey Austin – 2B CHA Travis Edwards – 3B VAN Prince Gates – SS VAN Dan Mullen – LF CHA William Kulak – CF BOS Hector Weir – RF BOS Eric Whitlow Nicaraguan switch-hitting terror Willie Acosta reached base at a .466 clip this season, the fifth-best single-season OBP in the last 30 years, behind only Ronnie Thompson (tops with .475 in ’46 and retiring at the conclusion of the just-expired season) and Jerry Outram (thrice). If you count carefully enough, you can spot Raccoons taking home a Reliever of the Year, a Platinum Stick, and three Gold Gloves… former Raccoons that is, in order: Watson, del Toro, Gowin, del Toro (part deux), and Thomason. Nick ******* Thomason! +++ Of course you could always waive a free agent-to-be off the 40-man roster, but the AI doesn’t do it, so it would be an undue advantage to do so. Attached Images __________________ Portland Raccoons, 92 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

10-08-2023, 12:51 PM	#4291
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,731	After 17 seasons in the organization, Matt Waters and his four rings left the organization as free agent, and with him the last living connection to the three-ringed Coons from the previous decade. It also left a hole at second base that we couldn’t hope to fill with Ryan Allred, even when the 25-year-old lefty-hitting second baseman, who had been taken in the 12th round in 2050 and was best described as “plucky”, had hit .311/.414/.419 over 62 games with the team this year. There were a few things about that. He had batted .254 in 40 games in AAA, and .283 in 105 games there last season, and he had put up a BABIP of a whopping .372 to get to .311 this year. While he definitely had the swing of somebody time and again lobbing a ball over the shortstop for a clean single, it would be foolish to bank on more of that kind of .300 hitting – which didn’t mean that he didn’t potentially have a place on the roster. You’d definitely at least want to pair him with a right-handed batter, though. Something else I’d want would be to find a landing place for Anton Venegas, who had so far spent three seasons with the Raccoons and had yet to hit for more than a 98 OPS+ in any of them. He’d be 36 in July, and we needed the $5.7M owed to him more than ever now. In my head, we’d then play a lot of Kyle Brobeck at third base, which would remove him from the rotation for obvious reasons (not that I hadn’t already done so on paper), but would still leave him available for long relief at any point – in a way it was like having an extra reliever, a 26th man on the roster, more than ever with him being the regular (as in, most days) third base starter. You would also want a steady third baseman behind him, though – if the starter got knocked out early and Brobeck went to pitch garbage relief, we obviously needed a quality replacement at the hot corner for the rest of the game … and perhaps all of the next game. Besides Brobeck (…), Venegas, and Lonzo, the only other experienced infielder left was Ramsay, unless you also included the outfielders that could hold down first base, which was not a small crowd: Pucks, Callaia, Brassfield, Royer, and Solorzano ALL had at least spent time there, and some were actual quality at first base. In reality, if we didn’t have Ramsay there, we’d probably want Brassfield there, given that he was coming back (maybe, eventually) from completely ******* up his shoulder in April and still laboring on the bloody thing. So yes, the offense definitely needed help. We still had a quality rotation with (in alphabetical order, because no decision on the Opening Day starter had been made yet) Adkins, Kniep, Shui, Sweeton, and Taki all still around. Side note there: Taki was a free agent after 2057, while Sweeton was a free agent after 2058, and Adkins and Shui both had player options for 2059, so it was not entirely unreasonable to expect us to sit here with nothing but a very scared Craig Kniep two years from now. And, maybe, Perpetual Brobeck. The Raccoons, thanks to losing 86 games, also had a protected first-round pick in the 2057 draft, so maybe we should splurge on type A free agents. There was just a slight issue, even with poverty aside for a moment. Of the 16 type A free agents, 11 were either starting pitchers or established closers, and we didn’t need any of those. That aside, there were three catchers (Mike Gilmore, Aaron Kissler, and Kevin Weese), and we pretended we had something other than a wild pitch machine and a .200 bat with the occasional dramatic power in Marcos Chavez. That left only two position players commonly found in fair territory. One was 43-year-old Felix Marquez, and I didn’t have dosh to burn on that, and the other was Eddie Moreno, he of two consecutive home run crowns. Thing was only that Moreno was already 38 and moved like Marquez at 43, if not worse. He also reportedly demanded $7M, and I wouldn’t know where to find those even if I wanted to, except on Nick Valdes’ Swiss bank account. +++ November 16 – Atlanta acquires LF/RF Tony Rodriquez (.289, 54 HR, 316 RBI) from the Warriors, who get five prospects for the 27-year-old outfielder, none ranked. November 17 – The Bayhawks send C/1B Tim Fuller (.280, 21 HR, 172 RBI) and cash to the Wolves for two prospects. November 21 – 2B/SS Jordan Sanchez (.258, 10 HR, 63 RBI) is sent from the Falcons to the Pacifics, along with a prospect, for outfielder Kyle Fisher (.247, 5 HR, 59 RBI). November 22 – Vancouver adds ex-SAC C Kevin Weese (.301, 112 HR, 772 RBI) on a 2-yr, $5.12M contract. November 23 – Ex-RIC SP Pablo Paez (.101-117, 4.25 ERA) agrees to a 2-yr, $4.2M contract with the Wolves. November 24 – The Raccoons sign former Crusaders MR Alex Mancilla (32-37, 4.14 ERA, 82 SV) to a $700k contract for 2057. November 26 – Las Vegas trades OF/1B Gunner Epperson (.260, 33 HR, 171 RBI) to the Bayhawks for 1B Gustavo Jacinto (.294, 13 HR, 64 RBI) and a prospect. November 29 – The Condors sign ex-SFW C Nick Samuel (.246, 170 HR, 669 RBI) to a 4-year contract that will pay out $8.1M to the 34-year-old backstop. November 29 – Former Thunder starter Bubba Wolinsky (103-78, 3.74 ERA) wins a 3-yr, $7.2M contract from the Warriors. November 29 – Boston adds former Aces SP Medardo Regueir (55-74, 4.02 ERA) for $3.24M over two years. November 30 – Washington secures the services of 35-yr old longtime Raccoons 2B Matt Waters (.263, 233 HR, 918 RBI) for the 2057 season at a price point of $1.42M. December 1 – Another one: 3B/RF/2B/LF Felix Marquez (.271, 215 HR, 1,147 RBI), who spent the last two years with the Capitals, signs a $3.72M contract with the Wolves for the 2057 season. Marquez will be 44 on Opening Day. December 1 – Rule 5 Draft: 17 players are selected. The Raccoons lose MR Ryan Harmer (4-5, 4.63 ERA) to the Stars. +++ (writes a letter with a feather and ink on thick paper smelling of roses) Dear Dallas, whenever you tire of Ryan Harmer – don’t you ***** dare sending him back here!! Love. Your Coonie Coons. (absent-mindedly strokes with the feather across the bottom of his pokey black nose) (SNEEZE!!!!) The funny thing is that Marquez missed only four games in his age 43 season and hit for a .798 OPS, and over here we have Luis Silva having spent over seven months massaging Trent Brassfield’s blown-out shoulder and he still can’t throw a ***** baseball, when Brassfield (24) could easily be Marquez’ offspring by age. The question is always whether you want to burn a pick on what nature dictates is a short-term rental (although I probably also said this when Marquez was 35 and who’s the idiot now?), but then again the Wolves had already burned their #15 pick on Paez at that point and were merely going for broke. There’s not a lot to say about Mancilla. Decent reliever. That’s about it. And former Raccoons? So far not a lot, but the Buffaloes took on Matt Fiore for $416k; Attached Images __________________ Portland Raccoons, 92 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

10-10-2023, 06:29 PM	#4292
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,731	The time of the Winter Meetings arrived, and the Raccoons were still looking for a second baseman and to slide Anton Venegas’ contract into somebody else’s stocking. More at-bats for Kyle Brobeck – even though our new head scout, Chris “Banjo” Pigg, openly wondered whether we were insane to put him there in the first place. He valued defense even more than me, and that wasn’t Kyle Brobeck’s strongest trait. The Winter Meetings were then mostly about dumping things… +++ December 4 – The Cyclones sign ex-WAS SP/MR Jordan Ramos (55-78, 3.72 ERA, 83 SV) to a 3-yr, $5.88M contract. December 4 – Vancouver acquires right-hander Ernie Gomes (8-13, 4.62 ERA) from the Blue Sox. The 26-year-old costs them two prospects. December 4 – The Warriors receive three prospects for trading right-handed MR Josh Penington (23-27, 4.49 ERA, 34 SV) to the Falcons. The package includes #151 CL Justin Titus and #187 CL Danny Zepeda. December 5 – The Raccoons trade 1B Harry Ramsay (.276, 51 HR, 252 RBI) to the Condors for right-handed SP/MR Ivan Ornelas (15-10, 4.37 ERA, 20 SV) December 5 – The Loggers sign up former Indians C/1B Mike Gilmore (.247, 38 HR, 201 RBI) on a 2-yr, $3.48M contract. December 5 – 25-year-old right-hander Josh Doyle (8-23, 4.83 ERA), who led the CL with 15 losses, is traded from the Aces to the Falcons – his third CL South team in four months – for #115 prospect SP Vincent Hernandez. December 6 – The Raccoons trade 3B/LF Anton Venegas (.304, 32 HR, 602 RBI) to the Thunder, receiving 2B/OF Daniel Amburn (.185, 0 HR, 6 RBI) in return. December 6 – The Gold Sox land 35-yr old former Knights SP Terry Herman (118-79, 3.52 ERA) with a 3-yr, $19.5M contract. December 6 – New York acquires SP David Concha (84-69, 3.72 ERA) from the Warriors. The 30-year-old southpaw costs them three prospects including #172 SP Jon McGinley. December 13 – RF/LF Danny Munn (.256, 196 HR, 706 RBI), having left the Scorpions as free agent, signs a 5-yr, $16.2M deal with the Knights. December 13 – The Gold Sox acquire ex-DAL CL Sam Gibson (58-61, 2.70 ERA, 313 SV), giving a 2-yr, $4M contract to the 36-year-old right-hander. December 15 – The Crusaders land a big new bullpen arm in former Miners closer Ross Mitchell (95-67, 3.16 ERA, 289 SV), who inks a 3-yr, $13.98M contract. +++ Why trade “Double Play” Ramsay? I just gave you two reasons. But he also hasn’t done anything offensively since he hit 20 homers in 2053 (in 124 games). It was two scratch-above-league-average seasons, and now a 89 OPS+ in ’57. There’s also the point that Gaudencio Callaia is an excellent defensive first baseman and we have quite the traffic at the outfield corners. Ornelas is nothing special. 12 months ago, he was a Rule 5 pick. He is another extra piece in the 500-piece jigsaw that is our roster, and so far all the corner pieces are missing. Daniel Amburn is a very adept defender as well, and while he didn’t hit a lick in his first 20 major league games, he also was stricken with a .222 BABIP. I’m just glad we found a team dumb enough to take on Venegas, who had one year with that huge contract left, and I wasn’t keen on wiring him a million a month for what he was putting on the table (mostly his hindpaws). After those moves, and even with reassigning Gaudencio Callaia to first base mentally, the Raccoons really had just two real major league infielders – the other being Lonzo – unless nobody called us out on that bluff of plonking Brobeck down at the hot corner on Opening Day for real. There was a whole host of mediocre bums (Allred, Amburn, Bribiesca, Anderson, Espinoza) loitering around for the second and third base and backup jobs, but this was where we had to find a strong bat either at second base or in centerfield. We needed somebody to bat fifth behind Callaia, Lonzo, Brassfield, and Pucks, because even I wasn’t banking on Marcos Chavez growing into that role any time soon, unless nobody called us out on that bluff of plonking Brobeck down at the hot corner on Opening Day for real and he’d bat fifth. One other former Raccoon signed a new contract: Tony Lopez got 2-yr, $1.92M from the Wolves; Attached Images __________________ Portland Raccoons, 92 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

10-11-2023, 01:28 PM	#4293
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,731	Bit of a weird update today, because I didn’t advance a single day and instead only slowly slithered into a bit of an existential crisis +++ It was mid-December. The 76-86 Raccoons had so far shed some 2,400 at-bats from their 2056 roster and replacements were as of now thin. Sure, Trent Brassfield would pick up 500 of them – (pauses to see whether Luis Silva will interject) – and Ruben Zamora might yet become the starting catcher if Marcos Chavez shaved 20% off that .200 batting average. The team definitely needed an impact bat in some shape or form, and the positions that were most readily available to add such an impact bat to were funnily ones that were commonly considered defense-first ones: centerfield and second base. Prince Gates, longtime Crusaders and briefly Elks foe, was to be 34 on Opening Day and looking for $6M. Per year, not until retirement, in case you wondered. Yes, we kicked out Waters for being old, but Gates looked like he was still better in shape, but for how long? Steady .300 bat with some 10 homers, and 25+ doubles, but not much straight line speed anymore. It was enough to safely produce 110 OPS+ values for nine straight seasons. But even after dumping the contract of Anton Venegas for next to nothing, Gates wasn’t quite in our budget for the next season. Thanks, Nick! Unfortunately, that was mostly it for free agent second-sackers, unless you wanted to go even older, or even more reviled; Andrew Russ was available, but, heyy, only over MY DEAD BODY! – So what’s with centerfield? Bobby Rivera would turn 30 in March and has posted numbers all over the place with the Warriors in his earlier years, then with the Loggers in ’55 and half of ’56, and a few at-bats with the Buffos before the end of the season where he had batted .347 in 18 games. The important takeaway from his 2056 season was probably that he had missed 74 games with knee, back, and shoulder injuries, which was certainly good, because now that was all out of the way, right? But spotty exposure with the Warriors and all the injuries in the last two seasons (he only played in 117 games in ’55 either and had only one qualifying season overall) left his season-by-season numbers a terrible mess. He had hit .300/.343/.453 between Milwaukee and Topeka this year, and he was at .273/.308/.388 for his career. Consider the Warriors brought him up this Mexican switch-hitter at 21 and then he sat on the bench a lot, but also consider that he posted a 63 OPS+ as recently as his age 27 season. He wasn’t even an elite defender in centerfield, but he could certainly steal bases with playing time – he scooped 42 in ’55. Mario Ceballos would also turn 30 next season. He was the lesser of the two Ceballoses the Falcons had carried to a first-place finish and an early CLCS exit this season, and had posted .774 OPS marks in both of the last two seasons, the 2055 year being with the Indians that didn’t finish first in the North. He was a more defensive-minded option despite less speed, but “Banjo” Pigg sneered at his swing and gave him a dismal 8 for a contact rating. Then there was always the option to come crawling back to Oscar Caballero and beg for him to return after all – at least Kirkwood was the one with the compensation pick attached. What about Pucks in center? This had never been the best option in the first place. Pucks was a plus defender on the corners, but very much not so in the center, where Cristiano Carmona claimed he had already cost the Raccoons 4.1 wins in 2,385 innings played. This was perhaps the best point to acknowledge that, yes, Steve Royer was still on the roster, had batted leadoff quite a lot early in the season, but that had also been when he had actually ******* hit something. From April to September, his six monthly OPS values had been: .707, .829, .766, .713, .504, .509; so he swung a nice stick until he didn’t. Four months of a nice ballplayer apparently cost $3.12M annually by now, and we’d have the opportunity to get more of this for two more years. It was mid-December, we had already shed roughly half our at-bats from the previous season, and so far had to find any meaningful replacement. Did I mention I wanted to make a run for the division? __________________ Portland Raccoons, 92 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

10-12-2023, 05:31 AM	#4294
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,731	The Coons spent the rest of December sneaking around the Condors’ INF Tyrese Sheilds, a renowned hothead that could also hit for average and draw more walks than strikeouts, but the Condors had no budget space to accept a contract of any size (Sheilds made the minimum) and the Coons didn’t have any prospects that tickled their fancy, either. A lack of prospects was a major problem for the team in more ways than this, because we also didn’t have any reinforcements coming from AAA any time soon. There was that trio of outfielders in AAA, but apart from that we mainly had 1B Forbes Tomlin as a ranked position player prospect, which was weird given Tomlin’s reluctance to hit for any sort of average. He had hit .229/.308/.389 with Ham Lake this season, after finally making it out of Aumsville. The #22 pick from 2054 would be 22 years old next year. Centerfield also remained a position of interest, where we’d love to find an improvement over Steve Royer’s August and September, and perhaps even April through July. Prospects weren’t working, so the Raccoons were forced to start and dangle their better pitchers to get a deal done with somebody. +++ December 16 – The Canadiens snatch up former Knights starter Bruce Mark jr. (126-118, 3.40 ERA). The 34-year-old right-hander will make $13.4M over two seasons. December 17 – The Stars pick up INF Joe Humphries (.254, 29 HR, 226 RBI) in a trade from the division rival Wolves, who receive right-handed swingman Oscar Juarez (59-57, 4.27 ERA, 2 SV) and a prospect. December 18 – San Francisco adds lefty SP Mark Jacobs (17-26, 4.26 ERA) from Topeka in exchange for outfielder Lupe Pina (.219, 1 HR, 4 RBI). December 19 – The Warriors sign ex-PIT SP Victor Salcido (86-79, 4.40 ERA) on a 3-yr, $10.08M contract. December 22 – The Buffos bring back 1B/LF Eddie Moreno (.278, 464 HR, 1,655 RBI). The 38-year-old signs a 2-yr, $12.2M contract, returning to the Federal League after two years with the Knights. Moreno is the career RBI leader among active players and ranks fifth all-time, just 100 RBI behind all-time leader Danny Santillano. December 25 – Pacifics fans find 35-year-old INF Steve Diaz (.267, 91 HR, 569 RBI) under the tree, the former Stars player having signed for $5.36M over two seasons. January 1 – The Buffaloes trade for the Aces’ LF/RF John Kaniewski (.262, 51 HR, 264 RBI), with OF Nick Thayer (.239, 3 HR, 24 RBI) and a prospect going to Las Vegas. January 3 – The Buffos continue to raid the league for players, acquiring OF/1B Armando Caban (.274, 14 HR, 145 RBI) from the Bayhawks for OF/1B John Gough (.269, 22 HR, 140 RBI) and a prospect. January 4 – Ex-CHA OF Mario Ceballos (.245, 31 HR, 280 RBI) signs a 4-yr, $13.16M contract with the Scorpions. January 5 – The Falcons scoop former Knights SP Esteban Duran (94-85, 4.03 ERA) with an offer of $30.5M over five years. January 6 – Oklahoma City rejoices over the signing of ex-IND SP Tan Brink (88-82, 3.48 ERA) on a 3-yr, $7.92M deal. January 7 – The Knights sign ex-IND SP Enrique Ortiz (122-95, 3.39 ERA) on a 6-yr, $36.6M deal. January 9 – In a major trade with the Miners, the Raccoons acquire the reigning Federal League batting champion OF Josh Abercrombie (.317, 33 HR, 412 RBI), with right-handed SP He Shui (52-25, 3.03 ERA), the 2054 CL Rookie and Pitcher of the Year, going to Pittsburgh. January 15 – The Loggers sign former Raccoons MR Brett Lillis jr. (16-15, 2.90 ERA, 13 SV) on a 3-year, $5.12M contract. +++ Zing! Well, that was a trade, wasn’t it? Abercrombie brings a .340 stick that will surely wither to a .265 twig in Portland, and maybe break a leg in April, because that’s the way it goes here. We were also taking a bit of a gamble here, because while he was signed for two more years at $2.24M p.a., that second year was a player option that was NEVER going to be picked up, so essentially he was a free agent after the 2057 season and would probably command $6M or more if he had even a semi-decent season. One issue could be that Abercrombie wants to hit in the middle of the order, but I’d prefer his OBP in the #1 slot. Callaia was the faster one, however, so if Callaia could hit like he did as a Logger (up to .419 OBP) rather than what he did as a latter-half Raccoon in 2056 (.331 OBP), then he could merrily remain in the leadoff spot and Abercrombie could hit third, with Pucks and Brass behind that. Both Shui and Abercrombie wore #11 and basically just changed shirts. That left second base as the only throwaway position on the roster. Ryan Allred had surely hit well against right-handed batters (almost exclusively) in his spurts of action in ’56, but all the right-handed options we had to pair with him were basically meh. In realty, Bribiesca and Espinoza would probably be the backup infielders, although – did the departure of He Shui create a hole in the rotation that needed stuffing with Kyle Brobeck? We still had – in no particular order – Adkins, Taki, Sweeton, and Kniep, but there was now an open spot there. Ivan Ornelas was surely an option – although he had never been a full-time starter in the major leagues. But almost the same could be said for Brobeck, who had reached 162 innings only once in 2055, and even then he had made only 27 starts and five relief appearances for 169.1 innings and a 4.41 ERA. Brobeck was sure enough to be a #5 starter on a 76-86 team, but that wasn’t where we wanted to be next year. Quality options were still available on the free agent market, including two type A free agents, former Knight Austin Wilcox and Martino Barbiusa, but the latter came off the Elks and I’d rather saw my own arm off with a butter knife than give the damn Elks even a second-round pick of ours (our first-rounder was protected). Left-handed FL veteran Troy Ratliff (just half a season with the Titans in his time in the Bigs) had no compensation attached, but recent history hinted at us having to pay full price for half a season and another naughty bill from an elbow specialist. Rhetorical question – what’s with our AAA pitching? And their 2056 numbers? Ryan Wade (24) – 2-0, 4.19 ERA for the Coons; 14-7, 4.80 ERA for the Alley Cats Josh Mayo (26) – 0-0, 6.00 ERA for the Coons; 7-3, 4.74 ERA with Alley Cats Chance Fox (22) – 7-8, 3.87 ERA at Panthers; 2-0, 4.29 ERA with Alley Cats Ramon Carreno (21) – 1-2, 2.24 ERA with the Panthers; 6-8, 4.69 ERA at Alley Cats Nick Hampton (24) – 8-14, 5.30 ERA) with Alley Cats Cameron Argenziano (28) – 4-14, 5.85 ERA with Alley Cats Chris Foa (23) – 3-2, 2.43 ERA with Panthers; 1-1, 5.14 ERA for Alley Cats (but mostly pitched in relief in AAA) They get longshottier as you go down the list. Technically, Fox and Carreno – top 100 prospects, both of them – were our best bets, but it was too early for both of them. Fox had only made three starts with St. Pete late in the season in particular. Wade was the only one on the extended roster, while only Carreno was on the 40-man roster besides him. Hampton had the best raw stuff (198 K in 173.1 IP this year) and the worst control (134 BB in 173.1 IP…). +++ 2057 HALL OF FAME VOTING The Hall of Fame received two new denizens in the most recent election, both of whom had languished on the ballot for a while. Manny Fernandez spent his entire 18-year professional career with the Raccoons, who took the Puerto Rican left-handed outfielder at #5 in the 2031 draft. A strong defender at least in the first half of his career and a consistent hitter for most of it, Fernandez picked up four All Star nominations, three Platinum Sticks, a Gold Glove, as well as the more prestigious 2036 Player of the Year award, 2037 CLCS MVP, and three World Series rings with the Raccoons in the 2040s. He led the league in RBI once, and batted .280/.335/.421 with 198 HR and 1,110 RBI for his career, also stealing 189 bases along the way, before his career effectively ended with a broken elbow in June of 2048. Chris Henry, the #23 pick in the 2026 draft, was a well-travelled closer in the Federal League, spending only half a season in the CL with the Indians, but touring around five different FL teams, with two stints with the Warriors and Stars. He won a World Series with the 2040 Wolves, the same year he won his first Reliever of the Year award, the other coming in 2043 with the Blue Sox. A closer for 13 of his 17 major league seasons, Henry just narrowly missed 500 career saves, putting up final numbers of an 88-95 record, 3.00 ERA, and 494 saves in 1,093 games, 1,131 innings, and 1,034 strikeouts. He was an All Star ten times, and led the FL in saves twice, in 2039 and 2040 with the Wolves. Full results: POR LF Manny Fernandez – 4th – 82.1 – INDUCTED SFW CL Chris Henry – 6th – 76.5 – INDUCTED SAL C Morgan Kuhlmann – 6th – 17.5 ??? SP Brad Santry – 1st – 14.6 CHA LF Joe Besaw – 1st – 12.6 ??? C Jorge Santa Cruz – 1st – 10.3 PIT SP Roberto Pruneda – 4th – 7.3 LAP C David Alvardo – 1st – 7.0 BOS SP Rich Willett – 5th – 6.0 DAL SP Eric Weitz – 6th – 5.3 ??? SP Rafael Pedraza – 1st – 5.0 – DROPPED SAL CL Rico Sanchez – 3rd – 4.6 – DROPPED SAL 2B Bob Mancini – 1st – 1.3 – DROPPED ??? SP Josh Brown – 1st – 0.7 – DROPPED SAL 1B Bill Jenkins – 2nd – 0.7 – DROPPED SAC 2B Alfonso Cedillo – 1st – 0.3 – DROPPED The Raccoons announced later in the week that Manny Fernandez’ #27 would be officially retired this season, and Maud threw herself into planning the festivities immediately. In reality, #27 had not been given out since Manny had retired anyway. It was one of several numbers currently in purgatory, of not being on the rafters, but also no longer assigned to random hoodlum moving through. These included Jesus Maldonado’s #4, Jason Wheatley’s #22, and Matt Nunley’s #42, even when Nunley had retired when current shortstop Lonzo had been four years old. Attached Images __________________ Portland Raccoons, 92 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

10-14-2023, 06:04 AM	#4295
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,731	January 18 – Scandal! New Buffaloes signing and twice-defending CL home run king Eddie Moreno is suspended for 80 games for failing a drug test. Moreno, age 38, claims the blood sample analysis was off because he ate two big bowls of Crunchies that morning. January 18 – The Scorpions ink ex-NYC/VAN INF Prince Gates (.295, 94 HR, 700 RBI) to a 2-yr, $12M deal. January 20 – Scandal, part deux! WAS CL Tommy Gardner, who saved 37 games in 2056, is suspended for 80 games for a failed drug test as well. Gardner, age 35, claims that the Crunchies are to blame as well. +++ (calmly pours gallons of milk into a barrel filled with 260 pounds of Crunchies) The only way to protect the Raccoons’ players from also falling victim to Crunchies is to eat them all myself! – Chad, where’s my big spoon? – Chad? – Chad? (bubbles rise from the bottom of the barrel) Maud! Help! Chad is eating all the Crunchies on his own!! +++ January 25 – The Capitals ink ex-SFW SP Troy Ratliff (57-64, 4.28 ERA) on a deal worth $24.8M over four years. January 25 – San Francisco acquires MR Travis Julien (9-8, 5.64 ERA, 15 SV) from the Cyclones for a prospect. January 30 – Pittsburgh picks up former Loggers and Buffaloes OF Bobby Rivera (.273, 30 HR, 231 RBI) for three years and $4.64M. February 3 – Sacramento takes on ex-Canadiens starting pitcher Martino Barbiusa (65-64, 3.86 ERA), with the contract amounting to $15.84M over four years. February 9 – Los Angeles inks ex-ATL SP Austin Wilcox (136-132, 4.00 ERA) for 2-yr, $12.3M. February 11 – The Pacifics also secure the services of 3B Randy Wilken (.249, 212 HR, 849 RBI), who last played for the Wolves. The 33-year-old will earn $1.52M in 2057. +++ The Raccoons were still nosing around bench options but the #5 starter spot might become a bit of an issue going forwards. For most of early February we were in a late-erupting bidding war with the Warriors for Oscar Caballero, who didn’t appear like such a bad option as a fourth outfielder after all. Chris Kirkwood remains unsigned in mid-February, so no draft pick compensation coming from there for the Raccoons yet. The Scorpions’ signing of Barbiusa sent the #14 pick to the Elks – who had originally owned it, but given it to the Knights when they had signed Bruce Mark jr., but it went from the Knights to the Scorpions with the signing of Danny Munn by the Knights, and now back to the damn Elks, and by the way, guys, if none of you wants the #14 pick, I’ll take it gladly for the Raccoons. What else? Raccoons with new employment include Matt Cox getting $1.68M over two years from the Thunder – this is the Cox that was a Raccoon in 2054, while the Thunder still had Ryan Cox; Fernando Salazar joined the Indians for $1.06M; Eduardo Avila is with the Miners for $570k; __________________ Portland Raccoons, 92 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

10-14-2023, 02:16 PM	#4296
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,731	February 19 – The Bayhawks trade SP Andy Overy (94-80, 3.81 ERA) to the Pacifics for OF/2B Jeremy Lindauer (.239, 39 HR, 253 RBI) and a prospect. February 25 – Just ahead of training camp, the Raccoons re-sign OF Oscar Caballero (.267, 65 HR, 564 RBI) to a $1.33M deal for 2057. March 13 – The Canadiens acquire 3B Tyler Lundberg (.255, 38 HR, 221 RBI) from the Blue Sox, along with a prospect, for INF Alan Leitch (.278, 4 HR, 61 RBI) to go to Nashville. March 16 – The Crusaders sign 33-year-old former Raccoons LF Chris Kirkwood (.257, 105 HR, 458 RBI) to a $540k contract. The Raccoons receive a supplemental round draft pick in compensation. March 17 – The Raccoons complete the signing of 32-yr old ex-LAP SP Roberto Oyola (49-61, 4.30 ERA, 1 SV) to a $750k contract. +++ Caballero nearly doubled last year’s salary through clever negotiations, because we were offering something like $800k initially. That signing kicks Carlos Solorzano off the team and gives us a very strong array of six outfielders / first basemen including Pucks, Brass, Callaia, Abercrombie, and Royer. We will have a hard time finding playing time for all of them! The infield remained more muddled, while there was a growing sense of disillusion that a good starting pitcher could still be found this late into the offseason, especially if you were a team rather lean on the prospect side of things. I tried to swing a trade for the Blue Sox’ Richard Castillo or Travis Baker (which would have violated Rule No.1 anyway: NO MORE TRAVISES!), and even for the Bayhawks’ Bob Ruggiero, hardly the pinnacle of pitching, any of them, but the respective teams were hardly impressed with me buggering them. That’s how we wound up with Roberto Oyola being signed halfway through training camp. Oyola went 3-11 with a 5.63 ERA last season, and my only defense that has a whiff of holding up in the court of public opinion is the damp .318 BABIP behind him (never mind that it was a bit worse than that even in 2055 and yet he managed to fabricate a 4.32 ERA with that…). Oyola has twice led the Federal League though – in home runs allowed, in case you’re wondering what he could possibly lead a pitching category in. On the plus side – he doesn’t walk anybody! …because there are scarcely any batters in the league that can lay off four of his meatballs. Hey, how about this for validation: he signed for peanuts and he can be released at any time!? Who else? Shuta Yamamoto went to the damn Elks to bring more terror onto the Raccoons for $780k; Vic Scott joined the Titans for $492k; the Bayhawks added Victor Merino for $510k; The offseason ends though with an unsigned ex-Coon type-A free agent, right-hander Justin Johns, now age 39 and off a year where the Pacifics abused him to throw in 81 games. He was still decent even then (3-3, 3.43 ERA), but the amount of innings thrown and the type-A compensation attached ruined his chances to get another look-at. Attached Images __________________ Portland Raccoons, 92 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

10-15-2023, 05:26 AM	#4297
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,731	2057 PORTLAND RACCOONS – Opening Day Roster (first set in parenthesis shows 2056 stats, second set career stats; players with an * are off season acquisitions; ^ denotes Kyle Brobeck as a two-way player, who will be listed twice on the roster below): SP Kennedy Adkins, 32, B:L, T:L (0-2, 4.50 ERA \| 86-51, 2.74 ERA) – Good stuff, steady control, keeps it in the ballpark. Won Pitcher of the Year award in 2055, same year he shredded his elbow in September and then missed most of the next (the previous) season, making only two cameos in September of 2056. Will TOTALLY be awesome again now. SP Seisaku Taki, 29, B:R, T:R (11-15, 3.57 ERA \| 61-54, 3.29 ERA) – right-handed groundballer that was imported from Japan to some success, like, uh, winning both Rookie of the Year and Pitcher of the Year in his debut season (like He Shui!), PLUS a Gold Glove. Taki has three very good pitches, throws 95, and should continue to be a delight, even though his ERA keeps creeping up every year. The good news is that he’s in a contract year. The bad news is… that he’s again in a contract year and while he’s always had ups and downs, they have been getting upper and downer; f.e. he led the CL in losses in ’56, and he hasn’t pitched a winning season post-2053. SP Sean Sweeton, 31, B:R, T:R (13-12, 3.28 ERA \| 88-69, 3.51 ERA, 1 SV) – acquired from the Scorpions in the sweeping Danny Munn trade, Sweeton brings four good pitches, a solid track record for a slumbering team, and good behavior to the plate. Pitched a silently strong season in his first year in Portland. SP Craig Kniep, 25, B:R, T:L (9-13, 3.48 ERA \| 11-13, 3.68 ERA) – was acquired from the Capitals as a prospect a few years back and arrived as injury replacement for since discarded (sniff!) Raffy de la Cruz, and stuck it out to the end in ’56. Despite not being overly flashy and walking eight in a game at one point, he somehow led the CL in K/9 with a rather modest 8.3 mark. SP Roberto Oyola , 32, B:R, T:R (3-11, 5.63 ERA \| 49-61, 4.30 ERA, 1 SV) – signed as free agent in March, because his stats in recent times were that* attractive. I don’t know whether I should boldly proclaim that he’ll totally last the season in the rotation or whether I should just not bother and keep our AAA pitchers sorted out instead. P/3B Kyle Brobeck, 29, B:S, T:R (7-7, 4.34 ERA, 1 SV \| 43-39, 4.34 ERA, 2 SV) – what is Kyle Brobeck, for real, though? He’s not a very good starter (though he’s had his moments), and hasn’t been able to hold down a spot in the rotation for very long, ever, and he has been swinging a rather impressive bat at least in limited capacity as a third baseman, but he doesn’t have a very good glove at all. The Raccoons would try to get more of the stick and less of the tossing out of him this year, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not in the cards that Brobeck could start a game at third base and be the first guy in line to take the mound if the starter is knocked out in the third inning. Somehow I feel that none of this is thought out very well. SP/MR Ivan Ornelas , 27, B:R, T:R (8-4, 4.53 ERA, 18 SV \| 15-10, 4.37 ERA, 20 SV) – acquired from the Condors for Harry Ramsay, Ornelas is a swingman that had limited success as a closer due to a lack of raw stuff, but is very much at the front of the line to replace Oyola in the rotation once that plan inevitably goes up in smoke. MR Ricky Herrera, 25, B:L, T:L (0-0, 1.69 ERA \| 0-0, 1.69 ERA) – former second-rounder with a fastball/slider combo that pitched very nicely in limited action in 2056 and will now have no smaller task than to replace Brett Lillis jr. MR Takenori Tanizaki, 29, B:R, T:R (4-5, 2.75 ERA \| 4-12, 2.85 ERA, 1 SV) – did his work in the pen rather silently, much as that splitter rather silently passes my raking bats. MR Alex Mancilla , 33, B:R, T:R (8-9, 5.02 ERA, 3 SV \| 32-37, 4.14 ERA, 82 SV) – signed as free agent after being grossly overworked to 89.2 innings by the Crusaders last year, which worsened pretty much all of his stats; should do much better with more careful use. SU Eloy Sencion, 30, B:L, T:L (4-5, 2.75 ERA \| 24-7, 3.11 ERA, 8 SV) – fastball, vicious slider, and by now has firmly established himself in the majors after apparently forgetting how to pitch in 2052 and taking a nosedive all the way to Ham Lake as a 25-year-old. Pitched without many complaints for a few years in a row, although he has to be applied rather carefully against right-handed power hitters… SU Mike Lane, 29, B:R, T:R (5-2, 2.90 ERA, 3 SV \| 21-12, 3.26 ERA, 13 SV) – right-hander with a fastball and curve and quite variable results as far as his K/9 goes, which has been all over the place between 5.7 and 9.3 in his five seasons as a regular with three different teams; Lane was awesome for most of his first year in Portland before foundering late, but who didn’t founder late…? CL Matt Walters, 26, B:L, T:L (0-2, 1.26 ERA, 45 SV \| 6-4, 1.43 ERA, 51 SV) – Rookie of the Year, Reliever of the Year without even being the regular closer in 2055, and while he didn’t win any awards in 2056, he still co-led the CL in saves in his first full season as the stop sign in the ninth inning. Who even cares anymore whether this former #8 pick is technically a failed starter? Unhittable curve and a 94mph heater; more than five strikeouts to every walk in his 126.2 innings over the last two years. I will take that sort of failed starter every day of the week! C Marcos Chavez, 24, B:R, T:R (.200, 6 HR, 19 RBI \| .200, 6 HR, 19 RBI) – nobody likes to pitch to him, quite clumsy, and a free swinger, too, but he hit a pair of dramatic home runs against the damn Elks last July, and that virtually assures him a job on the team as long as he likes. C Ruben Zamora , 33, B:R, T:R (.322, 5 HR, 45 RBI \| .270, 26 HR, 170 RBI) – career backup catcher with a lot of AAA experience. You never know what you get from his stick (he hit .175 for the 2054 Cyclones), and then there is the trauma that we traded away Raffy for him attached to his persona, too… 1B/RF/LF Gaudencio Callaia, 30, B:L, T:L (.299, 8 HR, 55 RBI \| .298, 60 HR, 405 RBI) – excellent defensive first baseman and quality corner outfielder that was acquired at the deadline from the Loggers, when the Raccoons still thought they might go somewhere. Tanked his batting average by 72 points compared to Milwaukee, but who doesn’t? Surplus to requirements in the outfield, and the removal of Harry Ramsay freed up this position for Callaia, although we have multiple outfielders that can also hold down first base without issue. 2B Ryan Allred, 25, B:L, T:R (.311, 1 HR, 17 RBI \| .277, 1 HR, 17 RBI) – Year I past Matt Waters sees the Raccoons with a bit of a clusterheck at second base; Ryan Allred certainly hit well enough to claim at least a platoon job at the position on the Opening Day roster, but he’s basically blind against lefty pitching, so that’s that. Average defender at best, but nominally should have some decent speed, although he stole bases at a 25% success rate last season. SS/3B Lorenzo Lavorano, 29, B:R, T:R (.275, 6 HR, 44 RBI \| .286, 30 HR, 389 RBI) – Everybody loves Lonzo! If you don’t love Lonzo, you can’t be my friend…! Has won five stolen base titles in six full (as in: not-injured) seasons, a Gold Glove at least once… and he keeps being a delight in the field and on the career steals list, which he’s racing up at the moment. He came close enough to the single season steals record in ’55 to call it a close miss, and starts the season with 450 bags taken and sitting 16th on the career leaderboard. The chances that he breaks into the top 10 before his 30th birthday (May 3) are not something to bet your house on, but it should happen in the first half this year regardless! P/3B Kyle Brobeck, 29, B:S, T:R (.287, 5 HR, 22 RBI \| .308, 13 HR, 75 RBI) – what is* Kyle Brobeck, for real, though? He’s not a very good starter (though he’s had his moments), and hasn’t been able to hold down a spot in the rotation for very long, ever, and he has been swinging a rather impressive bat at least in limited capacity as a third baseman, but he doesn’t have a very good glove at all. The Raccoons would try to get more of the stick and less of the tossing out of him this year, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not in the cards that Brobeck could start a game at third base and be the first guy in line to take the mound if the starter is knocked out in the third inning. Somehow I feel that none of this is thought out very well. 3B/RF/SS Daniel Espinoza, 28, B:R, T:R (.248, 1 HR, 15 RBI \| .260, 2 HR, 22 RBI) – mostly a defensive backup for the left side of the infield, although this could yet turn into a starting opportunity depending on how quick we’re tiring of Kyle Brobeck’s everyday defense. 2B/3B/SS/RF/CF Arturo Bribiesca, 25, B:R, T:R (.231, 0 HR, 9 RBI \| .231, 0 HR, 9 RBI) – Cuban exile that is glove-first and didn’t get many chances to hit in the first place, with only 53 PA to his name in the majors. Also considers ball four a personal insult, and yes, the Raccoons had six months to figure something out about second base, and Bribiesca is the best they could come up with… LF/RF/1B Trent Brassfield, 24, B:R, T:R (.304, 1 HR, 3 RBI \| .278, 16 HR, 72 RBI) – shredded his shoulder two weeks into the 2056 season and didn’t start throwing again until this January; was planned in as rightfield starter previously but with the recurring arm problems gets moved back to leftfield and I will put on a concerned look with curled eyebrows whenever he has to make a throw. LF/CF/RF Josh Abercrombie , 30, B:L, T:L (.348, 9 HR, 103 RBI \| .317, 33 HR, 412 RBI) – the big trade acquisition from the Miners this winter, Abercrombie is the reigning FL batting champ and poked out 226 hits last season. His best position would be leftfield, but somebody from the starting three needs to play center and it better be Abercrombie, who wants to bat in the middle of the lineup, although I’d rather have him lead off, so somebody is already guaranteed to be cranky and it better be Abercrombie! LF/RF/1B/CF Alan Puckeridge, 28, B:L, T:R (.302, 16 HR, 78 RBI \| .296, 79 HR, 435 RBI) – the Aussie recovered from an awful 2054 season by posting his fourth OPS+ of 130 or better in five full seasons, and reached double digits in each sort of extra-base hit. Also valuable on defense, and luckily signed on the cheap for another three seasons. LF/RF/CF Oscar Caballero, 33, B:S, T:R (.258, 6 HR, 38 RBI \| .267, 65 HR, 564 RBI) – was a free agent for about four months this winter before crawling back in through the back door, but still offers decent hitting and strong defense at all three outfield positions, and can be expected to play regularly against lefty pitchers. CF/RF/LF/1B Steve Royer, 31, B:S, T:R (.269, 3 HR, 34 RBI \| .277, 53 HR, 443 RBI) – spent quite some time batting leadoff last season before completely crashing in the final two months, but was still retained as a (rather luxuriously paid) outfield bat. On disabled list: Nobody. Otherwise unavailable: Nobody. Other roster movement: SP Ryan Wade, 24, B:R, T:R (2-0, 4.19 ERA \| 2-0, 4.19 ERA) – optioned to AAA; former ninth-rounder that was signed as minor league free agent a while back; impressive curveball, but that’s about it. MR Reynaldo Bravo, 25, B:R, T:R (1-2, 4.09 ERA \| 1-2, 5.28 ERA) – waived and DFA’ed; good fastball/curveball, not such a great rotator cuff. Missed most of 2055 and made only a few token appearances in the Bigs over the last two seasons (11.1 IP total), and as a whole seems to get whacked around quite a bit. MR Adam Harris, 22, B:R, T:L (0-0, 8.10 ERA \| 0-0, 8.10 ERA) – optioned to AAA; pitched just a pawful of innings, but could still turn into something with more seasoning. MR Alex Rios, 23, B:R, T:R (0-0, 4.76 ERA \| 0-0, 4.76 ERA) – optioned to AAA; pitched at three different levels and overall walked too many guys, especially with the Raccoons, but the fastball/slider combo could still play up for something. C Matt Stanton, 26, B:R, T:R (.229, 0 HR, 3 RBI \| 229, 0 HR, 3 RBI) – optioned to AAA; average behind the plate, quite below average with the stick, but I had a hunch that we’d see more of him at some point not for his own merits but for a lack of merits by guys that actually made the roster. 2B/RF/LF/CF Daniel Amburn , 25, B:R, T:R (.185, 0 HR, 6 RBI \| .185, 0 HR, 6 RBI) – optioned to AAA; from straight salary dump return (Anton Venegas) to straight dump to AAA. Good defensive second baseman, but little else to write home about. 3B/2B Richard Anderson, 24, B:R, T:R (.111, 0 HR, 1 RBI \| .111, 0 HR, 1 RBI) – optioned to AAA; very good defensive third baseman that couldn’t hit, couldn’t run, and couldn’t get more than 20 PA with the Coons late last year. LF/CF/RF Carlos Solorzano, 25, B:L, T:L (.242, 1 HR, 20 RBI \| .232, 1 HR, 29 RBI) – optioned to AAA; solid defender, blistering speed, but he’s never hit much in the majors with 225 PA between the last two seasons. Everybody not mentioned by now has already been waived, reassigned, or disappeared in a landfill during the offseason. OPENING DAY LINEUP: Vs. RHP: 1B Callaia – SS Lavorano – CF Abercrombie – LF Brassfield – RF Puckeridge – 3B Brobeck – 2B Allred – C Chavez – P (Vs. LHP: LF Abercrombie – SS Lavorano – 1B Brassfield – RF Caballero – 3B Brobeck – CF Royer – C Chavez – 2B Bribiesca – P) Is it me, or are these lineups getting even mouthier with every year? Anyway, Callaia leading off and Abercrombie third is the version of the lineup that will keep the players happier, even though them switched around might have a better run production. We’ll play it by ear for the first few weeks. Caballero and Royer are switch-hitters on the bench in this setup, while the only right-hander they can get subbed in for would be Brass. I am not sure whether that hypothetical lefty lineup ever sees the light of day, but it keeps the left-handed batters in the lineup to a minimum. Rather than Brassfield at first, you could have Pucks at first and Abercrombie out, and Royer could bat leadoff again against left-handers, too. OFF SEASON CHANGES: BNN gave the Raccoons a -1.0 WAR for the offseason, 13th among all teams. Dumping Venegas’ salary cost 2 WAR as well, and if you claim that the 2.5 WAR contributed by Matt Waters and Brett Lillis jr. last year were not replaced in any way, you’d be correct. The Abercrombie trade added 1.1 WAR. Top 5: Crusaders (+9.9), Buffaloes (+9.5), Gold Sox (+6.5), Thunder (+4.9), Cyclones (+4.3) Bottom 5: Falcons (-5.0), Aces (-6.2), Indians (-8.2), Rebels (-11.1), Knights (-11.1) The rest of the North ranks 9th (BOS, +1.8), 14th (VAN, -1.1), and 16h (MIL, -1.7). PREDICTION TIME: The Coons won 102 games in 2055. I was full of apprehension going into last year, expecting them to shed 12 wins. They shed 26. Few things worked out, many players missed much time, the prospects were mostly unsatisfying (exception certainly being Kniep), and it was always “oh well, but next year…!” Next year has arrived now, we have a mess at three positions in the lineup, no fifth starter to speak of, and few rookies in positions where they shouldn’t be in, plus two key players that missed virtually all of last year and have to piece themselves together again in the first place. No, the Raccoons are not going to win the division this year. But the roster should still be good enough to win 85 games and build towards better days. PLAYER DEVELOPMENT: Better days (slightly) in the farm system, where we were moving up four spots from 16th to 12th this year, despite shedding the number of ranked prospects from twelve to eight. However, the number of top 100 prospects was unchanged (four), and those were on average higher ranked than last year. It didn’t help, of course, that some of the highly ranked prospects from last year graduated to the majors, foremost #42 Marcos Chavez, who was the top prospect in the system last year, but also #155 Ricky Herrera and #170 Alex Rios. Former #135 prospect SP John Blevins, our 2052 third-rounder, exceeded age limits for the prospect rankings, while #186 Jose Villegas was still in the team’s top 10, but no longer in the league’s top 200. 21st (new) – AA CL Elijah LaBat, 23 – 2056 supplemental-round pick by Raccoons 35th (+15) – AAA CL Adam Harris, 22 – 2055 first-round pick by Raccoons 61st (-17) – AAA SP Chance Fox, 22 – 2053 first-round pick by Raccoons 76th (+35) – AAA LF/RF David Flores, 25 – 2052 second-round pick by Raccoons 116th (-24) – AAA SP Ramon Carreno, 21 – 2051 international free agent signed by Raccoons 124th (-2) – AA 1B Forbes Tomlin, 21 – 2054 first-round pick by Raccoons 144th (-32) – AA OF Jose Estrada, 22 – 2051 international free agent signed by Raccoons 186th (-49) – AAA OF Todd Oley, 24 – 2051 second-round pick by Capitals, acquired with Craig Kniep for Tommy Gardner, Brent Cramer, Brian Moore Completing the franchise top 10 were AAA 3B/2B Richard Anderson (2050 supp. round) and AA SP Jose Villegas (2050 scouting discovery), both 24 years old. Finally, the top 10 overall prospects this year are: 1st (new) – DAL A OF Tyler Wharton, 19 2nd (-1) – BOS AA SP Jason Brenize, 20 3rd (new) – TIJ A SP Ben Caldwell, 19 4th (new) – BOS A OF Eddie Marcotte, 19 5th (+4) – SFW AAA CL Alex Flores, 22 6th (-3) – DAL AAA SP Ray Walker, 22 7th (+33) – BOS ML C Jorge Arviso, 22 8th (+49) – DAL AAA SP Alex Quevedo, 21 9th (+7) – DAL AAA CL Jon Dominguez, 21 10th (-2) – IND AA INF Matt Kilday, 20 Yes, the Boston and Dallas farms are ranked #1 and #2, respectively, which should not be a surprise for them hogging seven of the top 10 players on the list. They had another ten top 100 players between them. Wharton was taken #1 in the 2056 draft, where Marcotte was taken at #2, and Caldwell was taken at #5. That still left six top 10 prospects from last season that were no longer ranked in there this time around. This included some success stories of promotion to the majors, like the Loggers’ Steve Valenzano playing 84 games with the team while batting .231 with one homer after entering last year as the #10 prospect at age 21. Former #4 prospect Josh Elling was promoted by the Wolves as well, and while the right-hander is projected as a starter, he made only 33 bullpen appearances for a 3-1 record and 4.50 ERA. OF Jose Ambriz slid from #2 to #15 this year, but made the Aces’ Opening Day roster despite not making an appearance for the team so far. Not in the majors now and perhaps not any time soon: Condors OF Chad Cardwell remains in AA for this Opening Day and slipped from #5 to #17. Similarly, Crusaders outfielder Javier Acuna didn’t make it out of single-A last year and went from #6 to #19 on the list. And Capitals SP Jon Reyes made 27 starts in AA, but remains at the level, slipping four positions from #7 to #11. Next: first pitch. Attached Images __________________ Portland Raccoons, 92 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

10-15-2023, 07:39 PM	#4299
DD Martin All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Seattle area Posts: 943	Good luck to the Raccoons on the upcoming season. I hope they go over the projected 85 but that will likely take some in season moves before the deadline if they are within striking distance