Portland Raccoons (ABL) - Page 233

Westheim · 04-19-2025, 05:20 AM

2065 ABL PLAYOFFS

October baseball again had a reduced field of the four division winners in the pursuit of the World Series and the championship.

The 97-65 Titans posted dominating numbers, leading the CL in runs scored and runs allowed with an impressive +223 run differential, but eked out the CL North by just two games over the Crusaders. The best rotation in the league was occasionally outdone by a middling bullpen and average defense, and they could score more for Jason Brenize (18-7, 2.36 ERA). Offensively the team lacked a bit in speed, but there were no complaints otherwise with one of the most formidable middles-of-the-order in the ABL. Eddie Marcotte (.285, 30 HR, 105 RBI), Jorge Arviso (.302, 21 HR, 116 RBI), and Bill Joyner (.299, 20 HR, 112 RBI) required a sophisticated plan to navigate through for any pitcher, and the Titans added two more batters with double digit home runs in Joe Washington (.246, 15 HR, 65 RBI) and Diego Mendoza (.273, 14 HR, 89 RBI) behind them. For injuries, the Titans were down one starter in Mike Bell, and infielder Ryan Spehar. They only carried right-handed starting pitchers into the playoffs.

Those would face a largely right-handed lineup that had scored the sixth-most runs for the 87-75 Thunder, who won a largely unimpressive South by four games over the Falcons. They had allowed the second-fewest runs and had posted a +83 run differential. Besides Ian Stone (.337, 20 HR, 67 RBI) they were thin on power without another guy with double digit home runs. Both their rotation and bullpen ranked in the top three in the CL, though, and their defense was also rated better than the Titans. Whether that could help them make up the difference in wattage remained to be seen, but they had come tenth in home runs, and didn’t have speed either. Scoring runs was basically a chore for the team as a whole. Roberto Almanza (.316, 0 HR, 56 RBI) was the only .300 hitter besides Stone. Aaron Harris (17-9, 3.03 ERA) and Tyler Riddle (16-7, 3.47 ERA) were leading that rotation. Infieders Mike Weber and Ramon Archuleta were missing the playoffs with injuries.

The 107-55 Dallas Stars had run away with the FL West, winning it early and by 14 games. They led the Federal League and the ABL with 872 runs scored, and had allowed the second-fewest runs in the FL for a +258 run differential. Home to many starts of the game, including starters Ray “Crabman” Walker (19-8, 2.76 ERA) and Ian Peters (19-4, 4.05 ERA) as well as surprise first-year rotation breakout Andy Canada (16-6, 2.93 ERA), as well as on the hitting side Xavier Reyes (.329, 1 HR, 69 RBI), Tyler Wharton (.353, 34 HR, 125 RBI), Chad Pritchett (.314, 26 HR, 121 RBI), and Juan de Luna (.243, 19 HR, 82 RBI), they figured to be favorites for this postseason. They had power almost throughout the lineup, same for speed, in which they led the league with 146 steals, and had only fringe injuries like reliever Brad Walker and infielders Adam Yocum and Elliott Grant.

The 89-73 Cyclones were already scared, probably. They won the FL East by three games over the Rebels, putting the FL’s fourth-best offense and third-best pitching to good effect. They got away with a +90 run differential, but were ranking in the bottom half of the league in homers and stolen bases. Their offensive players were not exactly household names (yet?) between John MacDonnell (.230, 21 HR, 63 RBI) and Josh Heath (.267, 18 HR, 74 RBI) leading the team in homers, and Roberto Soto (.356, 15 HR, 58 RBI) missing 66 games to not qualify for a batting title. The bottom of the lineup was quite thin overall, partly because of unfortunately injuries to regulars Melvin Avila and Kevin Rising. In the rotation, only Edwin Moreno (12-5, 3.03 ERA) had an ERA under four, but the bullpen was one of the best in the league. Three of their starters, including Moreno, were left-handed, which was not the sort of handedness you wanted to bring up against the Dallas batters, almost all of whom were right-handed batters.

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The Thunder extended their record for most playoff appearances in league history with their 26 October appearance, while the Titans were third-overall with their 22nd. The Stars made the 17th playoffs, and the Cyclones their 15th, jumping into the top half of teams in that category.

With the exception of the Blue Sox missing the playoffs by seven games, this was the identical playoff field for the third year in a row. For titles, the Titans had the most in the league (11), while the title defending Stars had five, the Thunder three, and the Cyclones two.

The Thunder and Titans had met up five times in the CLCS before, three times bunched together in 2001, 2002, and 2004, and then the last two seasons. The Thunder had even less luck in these matchups than against the Raccoons, as the Titans won all of these series, and with the exception of last season, each time also took the trophy off the FL pennant winners.

The Stars and Cyclones met three times in the FLCS, all in a row from 2006 to 2008. The Stars had won every single one of those encounters, taking a title in 2006.

For potential World Series matchups, the Titans had faced the Stars in both of the last two World Series, splitting the titles between them, Boston in ’63 and Dallas in ‘64. The Titans also beat the Cyclones in the 2025 World Series. The Thunder never encountered either of the two FLCS teams in the World Series.

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2065 LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

CIN @ DAL … 8-4 … (Cyclones lead 1-0) … CIN Steve Jordan 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; CIN John MacDonnell 2-2, BB, HR, RBI; CIN Dallas Baker 3-4, BB, RBI;

CIN @ DAL … 2-6 … (series tied 1-1) … CIN Roberto Soto 2-3, BB, HR, 2 RBI; DAL Chad Pritchett 3-5, HR, 2 RBI; DAL Belchior Fresco 3-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; DAL Juan de Luna 3-5, RBI;
OCT @ BOS … 0-1 … (Titans lead 1-0) … BOS Jason Brenize 8.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 9 K, W (1-0);

OCT @ BOS … 4-6 … (Titans lead 2-0) … OCT Roberto Almanza 4-5; OCT Coby Thore 2-4, 3B, 2 RBI; BOS Jorge Arviso 2-4, HR, 3 RBI;

DAL @ CIN … 2-3 (10) … (Cyclones lead 2-1) … DAL Tommy Pritchard (PH) 1-1, HR, 2 RBI; CIN Mario Padilla 1-1, RBI;

After no score through seven, the Stars score two on Pritchard’s pinch-hit homer in the top 8th. The Cyclones answer with a run each in the eighth and ninth through home runs hit by Dallas Baker (.308, 1 HR, 2 RBI) and Roberto Soto (.250, 2 HR, 3 RBI), respectively, then walk off on a single by Padilla, in the game after a cascade of pinch-hitting assignments earlier, in the tenth inning.

DAL @ CIN … 7-6 (13) … (series tied 2-2) … DAL Chad Pritchett 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; DAL Belchior Fresco 3-5, HR, 3 RBI; CIN John MacDonnell 3-4, HR, 2 RBI;
BOS @ OCT … 1-3 … (Titans lead 2-1) … OCT Josh Elling 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 9 K, W (1-0);

The Titans not only lose Game 3, but also the services of infielder Marcos Onelas for the rest of the campaign, as Onelas leaves the game with an abdominal strain.

DAL @ CIN … 5-1 … (Stars lead 3-2) … DAL Chad Pritchett 3-4, RBI; DAL Alan Deakin 9.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 5 BB, 2 K, W (1-0);
BOS @ OCT … 3-4 … (series tied 2-2) … OCT Ian Stone 3-4, HR, 2 RBI; OCT Ernesto Curiel 3-4; OCT Danny Baca 7.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 7 K, W (1-0);

The Thunder pen collapses almost entirely in the ninth inning, allowing four singles to the first five Titans batters, but greedy base running sees Eddie Marcotte thrown out at the plate to cost a run, and after the bases are walked full with a 4-3 score and two outs, new pitcher Tetsu Kurihara (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 SV) gets a huge strikeout on Pat Fowler (.000, 0 HR, 0 RBI) to end the game.

BOS @ OCT … 2-1 … (Titans lead 3-2) … BOS SP Jason Brenize 8.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (2-0);

CIN @ DAL … 2-3 … (Stars win 4-2) … DAL Chad Pritchett 3-4, RBI; DAL Ian Peters 6.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K;

The Stars win the pennant, but lose Peters (1-0, 1.98 ERA) to an unspecified knee injury.

OCT @ BOS … 7-2 … (series tied 3-3) … OCT Ramon Lopez (PH) 1-1, HR, 2 RBI;

OCT @ BOS … 4-3 (Thunder win 4-3) … OCT Ernesto Curiel 2-3, BB, RBI; BOS Bill Joyner 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI;

The Thunder piece together their first ever pennant against the Titans with seven pitchers, scoring the winning runs in the eighth inning on an uncharacteristically terrible outing for Boston’s Jason Rhodes (0-1, 18.00 ERA), who walks three batters and throws a wild pitch, and picks up the season-ending loss.

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2065 WORLD SERIES

The favorites from Dallas had made it to the World Series after some struggles in the FLCS, but had lost a valuable starter in Ian Peters along the way and now had to make do with Sean Guice (4-7, 5.69 ERA) for at least one game in the World Series. There was also the mysterious case of the best hitter in the league (probably!), as Tyler Wharton had batted a bland .261 in the FLCS without collecting a single RBI.

The Thunder had also suffered injuries in the CLCS, with Coby Thore and Ben Laity going down to add to the pile and thinning out that lineup even more. They were also still going to face a lineup with right-handers and switch-hitters while bringing up two lefty starters, both of whom had struggled in the CLCS.

The cards were not necessarily in the Thunder’s favor to win their first title since 2053. The Stars were still the defending champs.

OCT @ DAL … 1-2 … (Stars lead 1-0) … DAL Xavier Reyes 4-4, HR, RBI; DAL Ray Walker (8.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, W (1-1);

OCT @ DAL … 1-7 … (Stars lead 2-0) … DAL Tyler Wharton 2-4, HR, 3B, 2 RBI; DAL Ricardo Vargas 2-4, 3B, RBI; DAL Andy Canada 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, W (1-0);

With Wharton whacking it now, do the Thunder still have a chance?

DAL @ OCT … 4-1 … (Stars lead 3-0) … DAL Chad Pritchett 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; DAL Jason Bothe 2-3, RBI; DAL Alan Deakin 8.0 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 4 K, W (2-0);

DAL @ OCT … 5-6 (11) … (Stars lead 3-1) … OCT Johnny Parker 2-6, 3B, RBI; OCT Alberto Bonilla 3-5, RBI; OCT Danny Garcia 1-1, 2 BB, 2 RBI; OCT Dave Blackshire (PH) 1-1, RBI;

The Stars rush “Crabman” Walker on short rest to finish the deal, but Walker gets roughed up for three runs in the first inning, and while Dallas answers with a 4-run second, the game gets away from them again. The Thunder extend the season with a walkoff triple by Johnny Parker in the 11th inning.

DAL @ OCT … 1-8 … (Stars lead 3-2) … OCT Roberto Almanza 3-4, 2B, RBI; OCT Martin Bohannon 2-4, 3B, RBI; OCT Aaron Harris 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 3 K, W (1-3);

Sean Guice (0-1, 11.25 ERA) gets routed fast after getting the ball and the series will move back to Dallas, with the Texas thumpers being held to just three hits in Game 5.

OCT @ DAL … 4-7 … (Stars win 4-2) … OCT Ernesto Curiel 3-4, HR, 2 RBI; DAL Chad Pritchett 3-3, 2 BB, 2 2B, 2 RBI; DAL Juan de Luna 3-5, 3 RBI; DAL Ricardo Vargas 3-5, 3B, 2 RBI; DAL Andy Canada 8.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, W (2-0) and 3-4;

A ninth-inning rally by the Thunder falls short and the Stars defend their title on strong pitching by Andy Canada, and by Chad Pritchett (.458, 2 HR, 13 RBI) going on an absolute tear in the playoffs while Tyler Wharton (.283, 1 HR, 2 RBI) remained bland.

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2065 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS
Dallas Stars
(6th title)

Westheim · 04-20-2025, 06:28 PM

I blinked, I rubbed my big black googly eyes once, and I rubbed my big black googly eyes twice, but the number on the screen didn’t change. Adam Valdes had slashed the Raccoons’ budget for the 2066 season down to $59M. That was a whopping *11* million dollares less than in 2065! And look how far we got with *that*!

Valdes explained himself with a lot of the returns on investment being below average for his other assets. Well yes, but we’re not a six-story apartment building in Slum City, Adam!! Just when I started to tolerate the guy…

Predictably, the Coons took a bit of a slide down the pecking order, going from 8th to 12th among the 24 teams in terms of disposable allowance.

Top 5: Knights ($87M), Titans ($85M), Stars ($84M), Thunder ($82M), Crusaders ($81M)
Bottom 5: Bayhawks ($50M), Cyclones ($49.5M), Falcons ($48.5M), Aces ($42.5M), Wolves ($39.5M)

The remaining CL North teams ranked 14th (VAN, $56M), 18th (IND, $53M), and MIL ($51M). The budget available went up for every position in the top and bottom five, but not in the soggy middle. The median budget went down $1M to $58.5M, while the average budget went up about $800k to $62.1M.

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To be fair, the budget slash, while seriously putting the daily donut buffet in jeopardy, made the first decision that was required to begin the offseason a lot easier. Bruce Burkart had a $4M team option for 2066 which the Raccoons would have had a long debate over whether it was worth keeping a 35-year-old catcher with degrading defense, but still with a nice stick around, if you didn’t mind that he had spent roughly two months of both his Coons seasons on the DL. Such luxuries were no longer on the table now, with the team in the read by more than $2M right off the bat. Thankfully, the Caps, from whom we had acquired him in a trade two years ago, had negotiated a rather cheap $340k buyout into his contract, and the Raccoons pulled the emergency parachute.

The Raccoons also had to clean out the 60-day DL, which held relievers Isaac McDaniel and Cruz Madrid. Scott Lawson and Marco Campos were waived and DFA’ed, even though neither McDaniel nor Madrid figured in our plans going forwards. The former had spent the entire second half of the season in AAA and was projected to cost actual money in salary arbitration and weren’t having that, and the latter would miss the entire 2066 season (the last on his contract) after elbow reconstruction surgery. Then again neither Lawson nor Campos were under consideration for a regular roster spot in ’66…

Speaking of players not under consideration anymore, besides Bruce Burkart that was also true for the other free agents we had coming up, which included Corey Garmon, who was the second regular outfielder managing to post a full NEGATIVE WAR, and relievers Juan Carrillo and Sansao Tyson, who had tried my patience long enough. At least those four departures and that of McDaniel would free up over $8M of budget space, which was something we needed…

There were five arbitration cases, all of which would be retained. Angel Alba had been through a horrendous season and seemed to be melting, but it wasn’t like we had something in AAA that looked like a solid bet of improving on his 7-16 record and 4.42 ERA and replacing him on the market was probably prohibitive unless we managed to clear a big salary first. The others were relievers Jeremy Garvey (a candidate for the closer’s job if we even needed a fixed closer at this stage…), and Kody Mello, potential starting (again) catcher Marcos Arellano, and outfielder Jose Corral, who had took a terrible plunge by 150 points of OPS this year and now had OPS values of 72, 129, 136, and 91 for the last four seasons. Go ahead, YOU have a guess at what he’s gonna do next year!

Going back to the idea of clearing big salaries… The three biggest salaries on the Coons were probably untradeable at this point, as we had picked up another $5.1M salary owed to Juan Sanchez in ’66, there were two years of $5M each owed to Rich Monck, who had also slashed his power numbers in half season-to-season, and Jeff Crowley was beyond awful and had posted a 7.28 ERA for his $4.5M salary when he wasn’t hurt to begin with. Crowley had a vesting option for the same salary for 2067, which would require 170 innings pitched this year, which I would do my utmost to not give to him.

After that you had the long deal to Shoma Nakayama with $14.4M over four years, nothing too wild there, and then Joel Starr with three to four years (team option) of $3.3M annually, and one more $2.5M salary owed to Chance Fox. Good 2065 campaigns amongst those six: nah. Few if any of them appeared tradeable for anything of value.

So immediately the Raccoons had no money and were stuck with some really ****** contracts, automatically making everybody consider whether it would get worse before it could get better……

Westheim · 04-21-2025, 03:22 AM

Maud, I know that it will get worse before it can get better, but do you have to put away the big boy food bowls already?? – I don’t want my bucket of ice cream in the XL sized bowls, they are too small…!! – We can’t afford buckets of ice cream anymore???

Fine, I’ll look at the roster with horror in my eyes while only suckling on a bottle of Capt’n Coma…

Keeping in mind the upcoming departures, the Raccoons were left with six starting pitchers on the extended roster (Alba, Crowley, Fox, Nakayama, Sanchez, Walla), all in various states of dissolution. The rest of the staff looked even worse with the upcoming culling. The only established relievers signed for next year were Dover, Garvey, and Mello; that would leave ample room to keep the youngster Carrington around (I was just pretending Closing Day didn’t happen), and also Baca (who would be 27 in April and was far beyond prospect age). Behind that we were already down to serial do-no-goods that constantly kept getting waived and never claimed, with three more right-handers, Nesbitt, Read, and Soriano.

And I keep harping about how there’s nothing of redeemable value left on that AAA roster, and yet they somehow won the championship down there… I don’t know, I … (looks upwards to the baseball gods and shouts) Make it make sense, goddamnit!!!

A word on AAA pitching; virtually everybody on that roster that hadn’t been clawed up in September finished the season not with an ERA, but a FIP over four and terrible BB/9 numbers. Among starters you could not do better than Cody Childress, the 2062 second-rounder, who posted a 3.89 FIP, but went 6-10 with a 5.11 ERA. Relievers weren’t any better. Anyone remember Paul Barton? (shivers) I am excepting Tony Gaytan from criticism here, since he was only promoted to AAA in September and went 3-0 with a 3.18 ERA (but still walked 22 batters in 34 innings). Gaytan had gone from being picked off the street in the Dominican Republic to a prospect just outside the top 200 in the league last year, but our alleged knowledgeheads over there claimed that he’d be well into the top 200 and likely 100 for 2066. Gaytan, a right-hander, was 22 years old right now and mixed a grounder-inducing sinker with serviceable fastballs and curves. There was also a changeup, but that one was more of a distraction. With how things were going with everybody else down there, Gaytan looked like the best candidate for promotion to the major in any other circumstance than desperation down the road.

For position players, Marcos Arellano looked like becoming a poor man’s primary catcher again, with nothing but Guinea left on the extended roster for backup. The Raccoons would still be stuck with two first baseman that didn’t platoon well in Starr and Vargas. Monck and Novelo would be starting middle infielders, with Vic Morales butchering things at the hot corner. Gardner and Bonner were the only backup left on the extended roster. In the outfield it was still agony. Spicer had won the stolen base title and had hit .282 while killing the Coons to the tune of -1.4 WAR mostly on defense. We had a whole bunch more left-handed corner outfielders slash misfits with Bentley, Colter, and Corral, then another lefty hitter, Matas, as the only competent centerfielder. Finally, Tallent as a super utility that was getting way too many at-bats for anybody’s good.

As has been the case for about five years running now, the team could do with a near-complete new bullpen, and the accumulation of left-handed outfielders with questionable glove skills was becoming a real problem; also what the **** was going on with Corral?? The Raccoons would need at least one right-handed hitting outfielder besides Tallent, and better two.

Marquise Early had hit .340 in AAA in limited exposure (there was also a bit of injury time for him), but went 2-for-21 in a cup of coffee in Portland. He was surely in the mix, especially for a team sliding back into Poverty Row. Technically there was also Marco Campos, but we had ridden that pony to death in prior seasons with absolutely mixed results and had just gotten him through waivers *again*.

Another interesting prospect was infielder Josh Mireles, a highly skilled gloveman (although perhaps best used at second base with a *good*, but not *great* throwing arm), who had made his pro debut just 13 months ago for the Beagles and rose through the ranks to AAA all in his age 19/20 season. He had hit .361/.434/.544 in 41 games with the Alley Cats, although power didn’t even seem to be his strongest suit. He was also not a speed demon, but I’d love myself a strong defender on the infield with a balanced bat in any case should we have to part with Rich Monck in the foreseeable future. Mireles, who would turn 21 at the end of May, had been signed for $100k in the 2061 July IFA period.

Also, hah! Wasn’t it great to blow millions on international free agents this summer!? Yes, we’re banned from any spendy signings in 2066, but it’s not like we would have had dosh for big offers anyway. Tah!

(tries to bury his head in a depressingly small bowl of fudge)

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October 30 – The Crusaders send OF Alex Romero (.274, 33 HR, 204 RBI) to the Pacifics for 1B/RF/LF Jared Allen (.281, 45 HR, 236 RBI) and #89 prospect SP Nick Ellis.
November 4 – Persisting shoulder inflammation forces 28-year-old Knights SP Johnny Doolin into retirement. Doolin made just two starts for the Knights after being acquired in trade from the Canadiens in 2065 before his shoulder came apart. For his career, Doolin pitched to a 44-55 record and 3.97 ERA.

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The Raccoons signed all the arbitration cases in early November. Jeremy Garvey got $900k, Kody Mello got $850k, Jose Corral got $750k, and it was all a bit dull on that end.

The interesting ones were Marcos Arellano, who was signed to a 3-year, $3M contract buying out his remaining arbitration seasons and one year of free agency, which Maud now had to sell to the fans as a big W for the franchise – pray for her soul – while Angel Alba was gnarly about the negotiations and only reluctantly signed a $1.24M deal for ’66.

As the salary arbitration and free agency deadlines passed, the Raccoons were then left with 30 players on the extended roster, although in real terms Cruz Madrid would miss the entire final year on his contract with the busted elbow and there were really just 29 players to worry about.

There were also some early talks in mid-November, and surprisingly enough we got offers from the Titans and Knights when we dangled Jeff Crowley’s dead contract – albeit only for huge contracts in return. Bigger contracts, in fact, like the $16.8M over three years left on SS Casey Ramsey’s contract – who was a fine defensive shortstop (though 31) and a persistent above-average hitter and would not be the worst addition to a team trying to compete in the foreseeable future, but not the right fit for the Coons right now.

The Titans offered Bill Joyner, who was about to hit 37 and was due $6.9M each of the next two seasons, which no amount of hitting for an .800+ OPS could fix given our financial situation … and the fact that we already had two strictly-first basemen on the roster and should instead be thinking of moving Malcolm Spicer there.

Which wasn’t a great start to the offseason, having to eat Crowley’s contract. I’d much rather eat a bucket of ice cream. (makes big black googly eyes at Maud)

Rats.

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2065 ABL AWARDS

Players of the Year: DAL CF Tyler Wharton (.353, 34 HR, 125 RBI) and BOS LF/CF Eddie Marcotte (.285, 30 HR, 105 RBI)
Pitchers of the Year: DAL Ray Walker (19-8, 2.76 ERA) and BOS SP Jason Brenize (18-7, 2.36 ERA)
Rookies of the Year: SFW OF Adam Campbell (.278, 12 HR, 64 RBI) and IND LF/RF/1B Justin Dowsey (.263, 28 HR, 96 RBI)
Relievers of the Year: DAL CL Alex Quevedo (8-5, 2.52 ERA, 27 SV) and NYC CL Ricardo Montoya (7-3, 0.87 ERA, 43 SV)
Platinum Sticks (FL): P SAC Phil Nelson – C SAC Nate Danis – 1B SFW Miguel Medina – 2B WAS Angelo Flores – 3B TOP Alex de los Santos – SS NAS Wil Mejia – LF DAL Chad Pritchett – CF DAL Tyler Wharton – RF NAS Austin Gordon
Platinum Sticks (CL): P NYC Jerry Washington – C BOS Jorge Arviso – 1B OCT Ian Stone – 2B MIL Fidel Carrera – 3B LVA Alex Alfaro – SS CHA Trent Taylor – LF IND Justin Dowsey – CF BOS Eddie Marcotte – RF MIL Carlos Dominguez
Gold Gloves (FL): P DAL Alan Deakin – C RIC Justin Aguilar – 1B PIT Jose Campos – 2B CIN Jordan Hernandez – 3B TOP Alex de los Santos – SS PIT Edgar Gonzales – LF SFW Danny Perez – CF DAL Tyler Wharton – RF SFW Mario Asencio
Gold Gloves (CL): P TIJ Edgar Mauricio – C LVA Alex Gomez – 1B IND Danny Starwalt – 2B MIL Fidel Carrera – 3B VAN Steven Spalding – SS CHA Trent Taylor – LF MIL Scott Franks – CF NYC Bryant Box – RF ATL Jake Evans

Not even a former Raccoon to take anything home here…!

Malcolm Spicer unsurprisingly got no love in the Rookie of the Year voting.

Westheim · 04-23-2025, 05:54 PM

(sits at the desk with Slappy and Cristiano and has several baseball cards of ’65 Coons in his paw, with more laid out on the table)

So that’s … Alba… and that’s … Mello. And that is… Cristiano, do you have the Knights cards? (Cristiano looks through the cards he’s holding)

So, Slappy, how did little DeWayne’s school trip go? – M-hm. – You don’t say. – Yeah, you never want to bring home *that* … – Well, at least the girl’s parents are nice, you said. (looks through more of his cards)

Cristiano, I think I have a full house. (lays out more cards) And just with garbage relievers!

“What’s with Wilson” is a great question, Slappy; Maud? Mau-haud!? – (Maud pokes her head in) Maud, do we have more of those cards with the glossy rainbow print? – I don’t think it would impress the Aces, I just like how they change color when I turn my head. – You’re right, those aren’t in the budget anymore… - Maud, one muffin for the three of us is ridiculous! (fumbles a twenny from his wallet) Please go and buy us a full box from one of the bakeries conspicuously surrounding the ballpark…!

Alright, Cristiano, I’ll take a right-handed batting outfielder for 600, please.

(Cristiano takes a card from a facedown pile and reads a question) – How the heck would I know? I just know your wheelchair aches when you lean over there. Lay off the cookies!

(matches a couple of cards on the desk and shoves them into the middle of the table) Can I win with that or do I have to throw the dice? – *Fine*… (throws the dice) – Snake eyes, rats!

(Maud sticks her head back in) He’s on the phone again, Maud? – Tell him we’re not done here yet. Playing Solitaire with baseball cards is kinda hard. – Ya-ya, I’ll buy him a drink when I see him in Sacramento in December.

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I have a pair of trades on the table on which I have gotten mentally stuck. Please stand by and show the usual patience.

Westheim · 04-25-2025, 12:16 PM

November 25 – The Raccoons trade SP Angel Alba (52-57, 3.92 ERA) and MR Kody Mello (19-18, 3.76 ERA, 7 SV) to the Knights for 24-yr old MR Ricky McMahan (1-0, 5.23 ERA) and 21-yr old INF/LF Carlos Gutierrez (.286, 0 HR, 4 RBI).
November 25 – In a separate deal, the Raccoons also send 3B Victor Morales (.283, 22 HR, 161 RBI) to the Aces in exchange for OF Jaden Wilson (.296, 48 HR, 297 RBI).
November 28 – The Titans sign 39-year-old ex-Capitals 3B/SS Zach Suggs (.298, 384 HR, 1,510 RBI) to a 2-yr, $12.2M contract.
November 28 – Former Knights 2B/3B Nick Nye (.312, 233 HR, 1,005 RBI) inks a 3-yr, $16.8M contract with the Condors.
December 1 – Rule 5 Draft: 16 players are selected from outside their previous teams’ 40-man rosters. The Raccoons draft right-handed relievers Steven Hudson from the Cyclones and Garrett Napolitano from the Rebels.
December 6 – At age 39 and coming off the Buffaloes, SP Sean Sweeton (199-171, 3.65 ERA) signs a 2-yr, $7.6M contract with the Knights.
December 6 – Veteran third baseman Steve Dilly (.260, 186 HR, 861 RBI), 41 years old and most recently with New York, signs a $2.64M contract for 2066 with the Rebels.

+++

The guys coming over from the Knights exceeded rookie limits during the 2065 season, but McMahan was the #28 prospect going into that season, and Gutierrez might have appeared prominently on the list this year. I wasn’t trading away Angel Alba lightly, but his numbers were getting worse every year (he had led the CL in bombs away in 2063 and 2065) and this was a surprisingly good deal for him. Also, anything to break up that catastrophic bullpen that was not only terrible, but also full of chaos kids trying to light each other’s tails on fire.

Victor Morales had produced steadily the last two seasons, both a .740-ish OPS and a mountain of errors on the hot corner. The Coons badly needed a centerfielder, even though Wilson was a left-handed batter with injury issues, which might be why the Aces were so readily trading him. Wilson was making $3M in ’66 and then $4.48M annually for three years after that. He had been Rookie of the Year in 2061.

Gutierrez was not a lock to begin the season on the big league roster, but neither was McMahan really. Or he might be the closer. Who knew what we were going to throw at the wall next…!?

While we now needed a right-handed batting outfielder more than ever with the prospect of all three outfield starters being left-handed, the other question was concerning third base and who’d play there. In all honesty it was most likely Rich Monck getting shoved around one more time (Rich Hereford, anyone?), since he had the best throwing arm on that infield. Novelo would probably remain the shortstop for now. Between him and Gutierrez we’d have a pretty good defensive middle infield for the next few years, even though not necessarily right away on Opening Day, although Josh Mireles, the 20-year-old that shot up to AAA this past season, might soon have a word about that.

Entering December I was nagging the Gold Sox for another promising middle infielder of theirs. The Sox had perhaps even less pitching than the Raccoons, which didn’t mean that it was easy to tie a package for them.

+++

December 7 – The Raccoons acquire OF Tommy Branch (.224, 123 HR, 538 RBI) from the Gold Sox along with prospect AA INF Gary Gates, while delivering an orgy of failed prospects in MR Ricky Baca (3-2, 3.38 ERA, 2 SV), MR John Nesbitt (6-1, 4.60 ERA, 2 SV), AAA SP John Bollinger (8-8, 4.20 ERA), and AAA INF Carlos Cervantez. The Sox sweeten the deal with $250k in cash.

+++

Nobody had the intention of doing anything with Tommy Branch. He’s a salary dump by the Sox onto a team with no budget, but at least he’s on the final year of his contract. An all-or-nothing swinger, he brings at least a veteran presence to that outfield that could use a guiding paw or four. No, the main prize (besides getting rid of a flock of fringe pitchers and another clubhouse distraction in Baca) was Gary Gates, an unranked, but very interesting middle infielder with a contact bat, strong defense, and good speed. No power, sadly, but they can’t all hit 30 homers a year. Gates had not quite mastered AA pitching yet, so he was at least a year off right now.

At this point, the Raccoons had their outfield with Spicer, Wilson, and Corral starting and with right-handed support from Branch and Tallent, while Bentley, Matas, and Colter were probably all squeezed out to make the numbers add up, but who knows how many wicked trades we can swing here?

The rotation was reduced to (alphabetically ordered) Crowley, Fox, Nakayama, Sanchez, and Walla; while the bullpen had been torched quite relentlessly. The only relievers left on the extended roster that had worn the brown cap in earnest already were Dover, Garvey, Carrington, Soriano, and Read (these were ranked in decreasing willingness to put them anywhere near the Opening Day roster). I guess Cruz Madrid was still counting in a purely administrative sense. On top of that we now had McMahan and the Rule 5 picks Hudson and Napolitano. Good luck making a functional bullpen out of those. We still were nowhere near naming any of the hillbillies on staff an actual closer. There was also practically no budget room left. Go book your October vacations for next year now, you’ll get a good price and you’re not gonna miss anything.

What else is new? Victor Herrera has been waived off the 40-man roster, and I promise at some point I will stop talking about absolutely ghastly relievers.

Other Raccoons with new stalking grounds: Ben Morris got 2-yr, $1.27M from the Buffos; Isaac McDaniel signed with the Knights for 2-yr, $944k;

Hall of Fame voting is now also open, with the ballot being published even before the start of the winter meetings this year.

Westheim · 04-25-2025, 12:16 PM

Sorry, screenshot overflow!

Westheim · 04-26-2025, 06:28 AM

The Winter Meetings were only half the fun when your club is so broke that you had to stretch the remaining budget at the hot dog stand rather than join the other GMs at Chéz Richard.

Then again, sometimes a free steak dinner just flies into your lap…

+++

December 9 – Indy picks up SP Vince Ellison (54-51, 3.54 ERA) and $1.1M in cash from the Condors in exchange for a prospect, #47 ranked 1B Keith Bevilacqua.
December 9 – SP Kelly Whitney (39-43, 4.04 ERA) is sent from the Blue Sox to the Cyclones along with $700k in cash for 3B Sergio Rubio (.232, 1 HR, 11 RBI) and a prospect.
December 9 – The Knights sign ex-OCT 2B Mike Weber (.243, 41 HR, 282 RBI) to a $1.22M contract.
December 10 – The Thunder trade for the Raccoons’ SP Jeff Crowley () and send C Ramon Lopez () to the Raccoons instead.
December 10 – The Titans acquire 3B Phil Macomber (.262, 20 HR, 123 RBI) from the Wolves in exchange for infielder Danny Mijangos (.239, 17 HR, 107 RBI).
December 10 – Former Condors 3B/RF Eric Frasher (.245, 141 HR, 579 RBI) joins the Wolves on a $1.62M deal.
December 10 – The Loggers trade for the Buffos’ MR Steve Slye (9-4, 3.18 ERA, 1 SV), paying with two prospects.
December 11 – Nashville acquires 3B Rick Healey (.266, 44 HR, 203 RBI) from the Falcons, along with a prospect, in exchange for SP/MR Tony Lira (17-12, 3.76 ERA, 3 SV).
December 13 – The Loggers send catcher J.P. Jack (.284, 7 HR, 74 RBI) to the Buffaloes in a swap for MR Angelo Ramirez (10-7, 5.22 ERA, 3 SV) and a prospect.
December 20 – The Blue Sox jump and sign ex-CIN SP Edwin Moreno (51-61, 3.91 ERA) to a 7-year contract worth a staggering $53.9M.
December 20 – The Warriors also add a new frontline starting pitcher in 35-year-old veteran ex-Logger Bobby “Tipsy” Herrera (108-85, 3.21 ERA), who will make $23.1M over three years.
December 21 – Former Miners SP Coby Strutz (116-94, 3.69 ERA, 1 SV) gets a 4-year, $15.36M deal from the Buffaloes.
December 23 – The Knights lure in 27-yr old ex-WAS/MIL SP Adam Lunn (69-58, 3.98 ERA) with a 7-year, $51.8M deal.
December 23 – The Canadiens trade for the Scorpions’ SP Ray Rath (17-11, 4.33 ERA), paying for the 26-year-old with infielder Alex Castillo (.232, 26 HR, 181 RBI), #170 prospect INF/RF John Koonz, and half a million in cash.
December 25 – After a few trying seasons elsewhere, infielder Willie Acosta (.280, 117 HR, 766 RBI) returns to the Knights at age 36 for a 2-yr, $11.4M contract. He won all three of his Player of the Year awards with Atlanta.
December 28 – Topeka signs ex-CIN RF/LF/1B John MacDonnell (.266, 196 HR, 639 RBI) to a $4.16M contract for ’66.
December 31 – The Raccoons bring back 34-year-old SP/MR Duarte Damasceno (42-44, 4.73 ERA, 7 SV) from the Knights in a trade for 1B Alex Vargas (.266, 4 HR, 26 RBI) and AAA C Scott Lawson (.215, 4 HR, 28 RBI).

+++

No, I don’t know what possessed the Thunder to ask for Crowley in a trade for an actual catcher with an actual bat. But the Thunder had decided apparently that Martin Bohannon was their primary catcher going forward and didn’t want $4M a year tied up with a backup catcher for two more seasons. Instead they wanted Crowley…?

It’s not my business to talk other teams out of bad decisions though. The only one losing out on this deal on our sodden little franchise was of course Marcos Arellano, who had hoped to be the primary catcher himself. Lopez sure had the inside lane in that duel, although they might perhaps split duties more evenly than normal between two catchers. Interestingly, Lopez was a really fast runner – an absolute rarity for catchers – and had stolen as many as 38 bases in a season when he was the Rebels’ primary catcher early in the decade. Arellano didn’t have much in terms of splits, so he might primarily face southpaws next season.

That trade only gave us half a million of budget space, though, and we were now down to four starting pitchers on the roster. The only other starting pitcher left on the 40-man roster with the Bollinger trade was Applecore, which was not exactly a thrilling proposition. Since Tony Gaytan was not ready, you then had to look at a pair of 25-year-olds, Cody Childress and Sandy Pineda, that had both walked more than their fair share in AAA this season. Pineda had pitched to a 3.33 ERA, while Childress had clocked in at 5.11 – but there was also a stark 88 points of BABIP involved in that comparison. Childress had the better stuff, but he also had a propensity to hang one and would potentially follow in Angel Alba’s pawsteps to lead the league in bombs away.

And no, we only had a million of monopoly money, which would not buy a pitcher that could easily outdo those two in a major league capacity. We still got J.J. Sensabaugh, though, who hadn’t appeared for the Coons at all in 2065 (first time since 2056!), but knew no other home and refused to opt for minor league free agency at age 33. Minor league meal money still started with an “mmm” after all.

After the Thunder trade there were only 13 pitchers left on the extended roster, which included Madrid (out for the remainder of his contract) and easy pushovers Soriano and Reed, *and* the two Rule 5 picks Hudson and Napolitano, so the Raccoons looked like they were increasingly in actual trouble to fill out the pitching staff at all.

How that was going to get solved with the addition of Duarte “DD” Damasceno was anybody’s guess. He was also on an expiring contract and we might just try and sneak him into the rotation again. It didn’t go *that* badly during the two seasons he was mostly starting for the Raccoons some years ago, even though I vaguely remember complaining constantly. Vargas was trapped behind Joel Starr and I wasn’t gonna have two first basemen on the roster for the entire season, and Lawson was about fifth on the depth chart for catchers now.

What else? Carlos Matas changed his number from #38 to #19, slashing 50% off and probably still getting reassigned to AAA by Opening Day.

Apart from that we finished the year with a $650k offer out there to an experienced (not: strong) reliever, and had a budget room of … (looks at Steve from Accounting several times before reading the number from the paper) … of a whole $2,680.

Ho-ly furball…

Westheim · 04-27-2025, 02:48 PM

January 1 – The Falcons sign ex-TIJ SP Edgar Mauricio (100-78, 3.29 ERA) to a 7-year, $53.3M contract.
January 3 – Career Warriors 1B Miguel Medina (.283, 188 HR, 827 RBI) lands with the Knights for $18.4M over three years.
January 6 – Loggers SP Carlos Rodriguez is forced into retirement from a frayed labrum at the tender age of 27. Rodriguez made just 56 starts in the ABL, going 20-15 with a 3.95 ERA for the Condors and Loggers.
January 7 – The former Titans SP Joe Chalmers (85-91, 4.10 ERA) gets a $38.4M contract from the Capitals. The contract runs for six years.
January 10 – New York signs 32-yr old ex-TOP LF Jose Ambriz (.281, 55 HR, 390 RBI) to a 2-year, $13.8M deal.
January 11 – The Raccoons sign former Buffos MR Justin Cullum (20-13, 4.48 ERA, 18 SV) to a $650k contract.

+++

Cullum is the best we could do with our limited resources right now. He’s a hard worker and believes in law and order, which that pen direly needs, even though he keeps hanging curveballs that then get blasted to other realms entirely.

Former Raccoons with new dens: the Scorpions gave Elmer Maldonado $3.12M over two years; Adam Peltier (minor leaguer but a perpetual haunt ever since) signed with the Warriors for $1.04M; Phil Baker joined the Falcons for $2.6M; the Warriors got Jim White for $980k; the Gold Sox gave $1.28M to Mike Hall;

+++

The Hall of Fame welcomed two new members elected on the 2066 ballot.

Mike McCaffrey spent his entire career in the FL West and except for one last season with the Pacifics all of it with the Scorpions. He dominated the strikeout table for his 17-year career, recording the most punchouts in the Federal League nine times in a 12-year stretch – or every year that injuries didn’t curtail him, with a career-high of 316 K in just 218.2 innings in 2047. He led the league in ERA three times, but never in wins; however, he racked up four Pitcher of the Year awards (2047, 2054, 2056, 2057), three of them in his 30s, and a Gold Glove. Walks crept up on him towards the end of his career, limiting his effectiveness in his last seasons, but overall he was one of the most brutal pitchers on batters that the league had ever seen, going 197-114 with a 2.99 ERA and 3,535 strikeouts in 2,902 innings. The strikeouts rank him fourth on the career table behind Tony Hamlyn, Jose Lerma, and Martin Garcia.

Infielder (mostly second baseman) Jonathan Ban also spent most of his career with one team, the Thunder, before tingling around the Federal League towards the end, and coincidentally also finished with the Pacifics as a teammate of McCaffrey. Ban was an exception defensive centerfielder with eight Gold Gloves, but could also dole it out with the club. While power was not his game – he topped out at 11 for home runs in a season – and speed was limited, he employed his switch-hitting capabilities to great effect and was a perpetual threat to hit that go-ahead RBI single against any pitcher. Batting .312/.372/.399 for his career with 2,815 hits, 91 homers, and 1,053 RBI, Ban slipped himself to two batting titles in 2047 and 2052, and impressed enough to collect three Platinum Sticks. He led the CL in hits three times with a high of 243 in ’47.

Full voting results:

SAC SP Mike McCaffrey – 1st – 93.9 – INDUCTED
OCT 2B Jonathan Ban – 1st – 92.0 – INDUCTED
SFW LF Mario Villa – 2nd – 53.6
??? LF Eddie Moreno – 3rd – 46.8
DEN 3B Ronnie Thompson – 5th – 38.4
IND LF Danny Rivera – 3rd – 26.2
??? SS Alex Adame – 2nd – 13.3
??? CL Mike Lynn – 3rd – 12.9
??? SP Matt Sealock – 6th – 11.4
LVA C Kevin Weese – 1st – 11.0
SAC 1B Steve Wyatt – 1st – 8.7
??? SP Kennedy Adkins – 1st – 8.0
OCT SS Ryan Cox – 5th – 6.1
DEN CF Sandy Castillo – 3rd – 5.3
IND SS Andrew Russ – 1st – 2.3 – DROPPED
VAN SP Terry Herman – 1st – 1.5 – DROPPED
VAN SS Dan Mullen – 1st – 0.4 – DROPPED

Westheim · 04-30-2025, 07:29 PM

February 3 – Veteran outfielder Jesus Martinez (.251, 139 HR, 545 RBI) signs a 3-year deal with the Condors worth $4.92M after spending last season with the Falcons.
February 10 – Former Knights closer Erik Swain (37-32, 3.14 ERA, 227 SV) inks a 3-year, $19.26M contract with the Thunder.
February 10 – Dallas snaps up former Pacifics CL Roberto Ramirez (63-64, 3.47 ERA, 329 SV) to a 2-year, $3.24M contract.
February 14 – The Buffaloes prop up their rotation with ex-NYC/IND SP Josh Barcellona (82-72, 3.95 ERA) on a 4-year, $21.2M deal.
March 9 – 42-year-old SP Kodai Koga (238-240, 3.73 ERA) adds another season to his storied career by resigning with the Knights for $3.56M.
March 9 – The Raccoons splurge $555k for the services of ex-OCT INF Jorge Caballero (.276, 8 HR, 96 RBI).

+++

Half a million for a career backup was as good as it was gonna get for the Raccoons at this point. His throwing arm wasn’t much, so he was best kept on the right side of the infield, but he offered an option to spot Joel Starr against southpaws.

Apart from that the Raccoons only picked up a couple of minor league free agents on minor league deals, like f.e. Pete Bartlett, age 26, a former sixth-rounder by the Blue Sox with excellent defensive qualities, who had never seen the majors before; the type of personnel that was nice to have *off* the 40-man roster.

And the rest of the former miserable bunches? Bruce Burkart signed with the Stars for $1.48M (which is a rate for which we would have kept him); Dave Blackshire signed with New York for $590k; the Thunder got Juan Carrillo for $810k; the Gold Sox grabbed Malik Crumble for $530k; the Titans got Sansao Tyson for $760k; Angel Perez (out of the majors for two full seasons) hangs on to the Aces for $442k; the Cyclones signed Nick Fowler for $590k; New York signed James Murdock for $620k; Ryan Sullivan was going to steal $640k from the Aces; the Bayhawks were giving $570k to Alex Rios; Ryan Harmer found himself a Crusader for $560k; the Gold Sox went for Josh Carlisle for $550k;

Westheim · 05-01-2025, 06:03 AM

2066 PORTLAND RACCOONS – Opening Day Roster (first set in parenthesis shows 2065 stats, second set career stats; players with an * are off season acquisitions;

SP Shoma Nakayama, 28, B:R, T:R (10-18, 3.83 ERA | 10-18, 3.83 ERA) – the Raccoons’ annual attempt to find something big in Japan that would at least hold up reasonably well in the ABL, Nakayama has a well-rounded 4-pitch arsenal with a 94mph heater, good stamina, and fine control. That still made him launch an honest challenge at losing 20+ games for a good chunk of the season before being bailed out by a late winning streak. Getting negative a run and a half of support per game also played a factor.
SP Chance Fox, 31, B:L, T:L (10-8, 3.60 ERA, 1 SV | 87-72, 3.76 ERA, 1 SV) – usually a very competent mid-rotation starter that just happens to insist to get it on the snout really hard at least once a month, Fox came within a 10/5 refusal of a minor league assignment and escaping release mostly by being the longest-serving Raccoon on the roster after a horrendous start of the season, but he turned it around in the second half even though his strikeout numbers were very diminished. Looks like he’s losing the changeup, which might coincide nicely with being granted free agency after this season.
SP Nick Walla, 25, B:R, T:R (7-10, 3.98 ERA | 8-10, 3.84 ERA) – young right-hander throwing 94mph with four complementary pitches, but without a great putaway pitch; Walla had the opposite season trajectory to Fox, being strong early on after replacing an injured Jeff Crowley but progressively imploding towards the end of the season.
SP Juan Sanchez, 31, B:L, T:L (13-13, 4.42 ERA | 97-69, 3.54 ERA) – left-hander acquired in a pointless trade with the Blue Sox in July that is far removed from his early-career excellence which once saw him lead the FL in wins and in fewest homers allowed per nine innings. More of a finesse guy with four well-rounded pitches, and also a free agent after the season.
SP Duarte Damasceno *, 34, B:R, T:R (2-6, 5.36 ERA, 1 SV | 42-44, 4.73 ERA, 7 SV) – just in case you weren’t sure about quite how far away from contention the Raccoons were, they brought back struggling swingman “DD” Damasceno for a second tour of duty and fully intend him to hold up the back end of the rotation.

MR Steven Hudson *, 25, B:R, T:R (no stats) – Rule 5 pick from the Cyclones that brings a sinker/curve arsenal, no ABL experience, and a storied history of being a #58 pick in the draft before being taken off the starter trajectory within 12 months of becoming a pro.
MR Garrett Napolitano *, 23, B:R, T:R (no stats) – Rule 5 pick from the Rebels that was taken in the sixth round of the draft and lasted just over 12 months as a pro starting pitcher. Brings a 90mph fastball and splitter and ill control.
MR Justin Cullum *, 30, B:S, T:R (0-0, 4.30 ERA | 20-13, 4.48 ERA, 18 SV) – budget free agent signing with a fastball/curve combo, some odd saves for three different teams, and a disturbing run of four straight seasons with negative WAR contribution.
MR Ricky McMahan *, 24, B:L, T:L (1-0, 5.23 ERA | 1-0, 5.23 ERA) – the newest attempt to swipe a competent lefty reliever from a CL South team involves McMahan and his erratic cutter and curveball that walked 7.7 per nine innings in his debut season with the Knights. He came over in the Angel Alba deal with Carlos Gutierrez and we can’t wait to find out who gets sent to AAA first.
MR Juan Soriano, 28, B:R, T:R (0-0, 4.35 ERA | 0-1, 3.77 ERA) – since being claimed off waivers from Sacramento in June of ’64, Soriano has only made it into 15 games with the Raccoons, being either hurt or stowed away out of sight in St. Petersburg. Groundballer with a fastball, curve, and (bad) changeup, and a tendency to miss in the dirt.
SU Jesse Dover, 24, B:R, T:R (3-4, 3.55 ERA, 7 SV | 5-7, 2.92 ERA, 12 SV) – the Raccoons four years ago were taken enough by Dover’s fastball and slider that they took him with the #19 pick in the draft and after a cup of coffee in ’63 had themselves a competent if unspectacular reliever in the youngster who aspires to be a closer some day. Maybe he could achieve this dream with some steady pitching in place of some of his loudmouthing.
SU Jeremy Garvey, 33, B:L, T:L (2-2, 2.25 ERA, 7 SV | 22-7, 3.13 ERA, 13 SV) – perhaps the least pointless of the Coons’ pointless midseason acquisitions, being brought in from the damn Elks in May, Garvey did largely steady work in tough spots with his 96mph heater and a sweet curveball.

C Ramon Lopez *, 30, B:R, T:R (.279, 5 HR, 30 RBI | .270, 56 HR, 297 RBI) – the Coons got back a surprisingly competent catcher from the Thunder for the ticking time bomb that was Jeff Crowley. His defense was best described as “serviceable”, and he had a bit of pop, but the most striking feature was his penchant to steal bases. Funnily enough, him and Napolitano were once traded for each other between the Thunder and Rebels.
C Marcos Arellano, 29, B:R, T:R (.275, 4 HR, 26 RBI | .274, 15 HR, 134 RBI) – Arellano mostly tries to curry favor with his defense and was hoping to get the starting catcher’s job back with the departure of Bruce Burkart, but had Lopez plonked in front of his pokey black nose instead.

1B Joel Starr, 33, B:L, T:L (.251, 8 HR, 44 RBI | .277, 117 HR, 516 RBI) – stuck on the roster right now and proven to be untradeable during the winter (leading to Alex Vargas’ demise) after a season of injury and mediocrity, Starr hopefully still has enough juice left to get back on track with churning out extra bases and playing some nice D.
2B/3B/SS/LF Carlos Gutierrez *, 22, B:S, T:R (.286, 0 HR, 4 RBI | .286, 0 HR, 4 RBI) – the next attempt to find a really young contributor in this lineup, Gutierrez was acquired from the Knights along with the lefty McMahan, and brings an exceptional glove at least for a second baseman and the promise that he’ll hit at least .250; power was not guaranteed, but he was at least a tough strikeout and brought *some* speed on the bases
2B/SS/3B Pablo Novelo, 27, B:R, T:R (.290, 3 HR, 44 RBI | .278, 9 HR, 88 RBI) – it took Novelo, a bit of a hotshot acquisition from the Warriors three winters ago, two years to dispatch of Yukio Aoki and Franklin Serrano for the shortstop gig on the crashing Raccoons, which he achieved with heroics like… almost hitting league average. No speed, little flash, but it’ll do for now.
3B/2B/SS Rich Monck, 29, B:L, T:R (.273, 16 HR, 74 RBI | .292, 164 HR, 572 RBI) – like Starr suffered through injury and mediocrity for much of the previous season, and those 16 homers were polished up only with a late rally. For ’66, the CL’s home run champ from two years ago moves back to his best defensive position with the departure of Vic Morales.
1B/2B/3B/SS Jorge Caballero *, 31, B:R, T:R (.208, 0 HR, 0 RBI | .276, 8 HR, 96 RBI) – free agent picked off Poverty Row after a number of lean seasons with the Thunder; he mostly figures as spot guy for lefty sticks on the infield.
2B/3B/SS/RF Joe Gardner, 26, B:S, T:R (.255, 1 HR, 11 RBI | .230, 1 HR, 18 RBI) – defensively versatile, though not excellent at any position, and a switch-hitter, albeit with no power and no interesting splits to speak of, Gardner mostly hung on to the roster because he was out of options and Ryan Bonner very wasn’t…

LF/1B/RF Malcolm Spicer, 21, B:L, T:L (.282, 0 HR, 39 RBI | .288, 1 HR, 45 RBI) – looted from the Thunder in the Nick Nye trade at the deadline in 2062, Spicer won the leftfield gig with a convincing call-up in September of 2064 and went on to win the stolen base title in his rookie season… which is also where the good news end, because he was hitting way under league average while doing so, provoking incessant Yoshi Yamada comparisons, and his defense was flatout garbage even though it was not accentuated with the colossal pie of errors that got Vic Morales outta town. We are entirely not sure where to go with him right now, so he just keeps starting in leftfield and piling up negative WAR (-1.3 in 2065) for the Coons!
RF/CF/LF Jaden Wilson *, 29, B:L, T:L (.279, 9 HR, 60 RBI | .296, 48 HR, 297 RBI) – acquired from the Aces for Vic Morales, Wilson is part of a surprisingly strong intake of talent for a team that lost 91 games last year and was threatening to do so again this season. He was a strong defender, a steady well-above-average batter, and put the cherry on top with some stealing ability, to the point where we were wondering how he cost only $3M this year and then $4.48M through 2069.
RF/LF Jose Corral, 25, B:L, T:L (.232, 10 HR, 34 RBI | .267, 39 HR, 184 RBI) – after two seasons of hitting well above league average and the Coons thinking they had something, Corral crashed and burned prodigiously in 2065. Besides being hurt, he was cursed with a terrible BABIP, but even then dropped his walk rate and struggled to hit for power. Like with Spicer, the Raccoons had but few options but to keep going with him.
LF/RF/CF Tommy Branch *, 31, B:R, T:R (.206, 10 HR, 45 RBI | .224, 123 HR, 538 RBI) – expensive veteran presence in the final year of his contract acquired from the Gold Sox; always a spotty hitter with both power and the zinging speed that made him a league leader in triples in either league at different points in his career, Branch’s all-or-nothing “mourir pour la France” approach at the plate is sure to get some spotlight in him frequently subbing for the left-handed corner boys.
RF/LF/1B/2B/3B/CF/SS Randy Tallent, 29, B:R, T:R (.253, 4 HR, 34 RBI | .217, 17 HR, 87 RBI) – super utility that was never going to hit much of anything, but would still get another 200+ at-bats due to his right-handedness. At least he scrabbled together +1.4 WAR somehow while having neither a lobby nor any friends, without even going into puns involving his name.

On disabled list:
MR Cruz Madrid, 34, B:R, T:R (1-2, 5.04 ERA, 1 SV | 51-43, 4.22 ERA, 109 SV) – much hope was placed on this 2065 veteran free agent signing with a cutter/fork combo, but he was on the struggle bus all year long until blowing out his elbow in August; expected to miss the entire final season on his contract.

Otherwise unavailable: Nobody.

Other roster movement:
MR Josh Carrington, 24, B:L, T:R (0-1, 4.91 ERA | 0-1, 4.91 ERA) – optioned to AAA; the #31 pick from last year’s draft had a speedrun to the majors with 33 games in AAA and 13 more for the Coons in September, culminating in blowing a Closing Day lead with two homers in an Indians walkoff. Sent back for some more seasoning, he is widely expected to rejoin the roster in a few months, perhaps once I stop calling him Josh Cunningham.
MR Rich Read, 28, B:R, T:R (0-0, 3.00 ERA | 2-2, 4.63 ERA, 1 SV) – waived and DFA’ed; his stuff has not played in the majors across a number of short-term assignments, and I no longer have a hunch that he’s ever gonna be claimed off waivers.
C Miguel Guinea, 26, B:L, T:R (.333, 0 HR, 2 RBI | .236, 0 HR, 4 RBI) – waived and DFA’ed; lackluster batter with rather average defense that only slipped into a September call-up because Bruce Burkart was out of commission – for the second season in a row.
2B Ryan Bonner, 23, B:R, T:R (.333, 0 HR, 4 RBI | .333, 0 HR, 4 RBI) – optioned to AAA; shaky defense and a wealth of options made him lose out on the final roster spot compared to Joe Gardner after a solid cameo as young singles slapper late in ’65.
RF/LF/1B John Bentley, 26, B:L, T:L (.301, 4 HR, 19 RBI | .301, 4 HR, 19 RBI) – optioned to AAA; little range as a defender, no way to put him at first base, and little willingness to run with an outfield of all lefty sticks did not only send Bentley to the minors.
CF/RF/LF Carlos Matas, 25, B:L, T:L (.246, 2 HR, 12 RBI | .246, 2 HR, 12 RBI) – optioned to AAA; little hunger for another skilled defensive centerfelder, no way to put him at first base, and little willingness to run with an outfield of all lefty sticks did not only send Matas to the minors.
1B/LF/RF/3B Jamie Colter, 24, B:L, T:R (.315, 1 HR, 13 RBI | .315, 1 HR, 13 RBI) – optioned to AAA; little range as a defender, no way to put him at first base, and little willingness to run with an outfield of all lefty sticks did not only send Colter to the minors.

Everybody not mentioned by now has already been waived, reassigned, or swallowed up by merciful Mother Earth by now.

OPENING DAY LINEUP:

(Vs. RHP: CF Wilson – LF Spicer – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – RF Corral – 2B Gutierrez (Gardner/Caballero) – P)
Vs. LHP: CF Wilson – SS Novelo – C Lopez – 3B Monck – LF Branch – 1B Starr – 2B Caballero – RF Tallent – P

What a terrifying roster to build a lineup against a southpaw with. Ramon Lopez might not bat third on merit against right-handers but you gotta *somehow* break up the lefty barrage of Wilson, Spicer (or Corral if he can figure out all four of his paws again), Monck, and Starr. Wilson was a strong leadoff man against any pitcher. Both Gutierrez and Gardner were also stronger against right-handers, which gave Caballero an opening to start against southpaws.

OFF SEASON CHANGES:

The Raccoons had a rather meh offseason according to BNN, who ranked them 12th with a -0.5 WAR in total. The biggest L was the departure of Bruce Burkart (-2.8), while the Thunder trade for Ramon Lopez (+2.0) and the Aces trade for Jaden Wilson (+1.2) stood out on the positive side. The Coons *lost* WAR with their limited free agent signings, but I would describe the trades made mostly as savvy, except for the second trade with the Knights for “DD” Damasceno, which cost -0.3 WAR.

Top 5: Capitals (+15.3), Knights (+7.5), Gold Sox (+7.3), Buffaloes (+4.0), Falcons (+4.0)
Bottom 5: Thunder (-5.4), Miners (-6.1), Warriors (-7.4), Rebels (-7.5), Loggers (-11.4)

The poor Loggers suffered almost -12 WAR from losing three starting pitchers, half of that from Tipsy Bobby and the rest split between Adam Lunn and Carlos Rodriguez, who had to retire after his arm came off. Their free agent signings were dull, but at least not worth negative WAR…

The rest of the CL North was found in 6th (NYC, +3.6), 8th (IND, +3.3), 9th (BOS, +2.9), and 16th (VAN, -2.4).

PREDICTION TIME:

I didn’t even really make a prediction last year, perhaps foreseeing nothing good on the horizon. The Raccoons remained a mess on the pitching side – we’re now what, five years into persistent bullpen turmoil? – and then the key pieces in the offense all got hurt for months on end, and that was before we ran out Spicer every day for the vainest of glories, the stolen base title.

The rotation looks uninspiring (and reduced by Elling in July and Alba in the winter), the bullpen is held together entirely with duct tape, and we are banking on three key pieces to get their 2064 form back if we want to score any runs. And that was before we’d run out Spicer every day for the vainest of glories, the stolen base title.

The Coons did not look like they’d win more than 75 games this year.

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT:

After some years of persistently sliding down the rankings, the Coons’ farm system made a big jump from 16th to 3rd over the last 12 months, which was something trading for prospects did in the best cases. This jump even came with several of our top prospects from last year migrating to full time duty on the major league roster, including top prospect (and #37 overall) Nick Walla and #111 Malcolm Spicer. Even #154 Ryan Bonner lost eligibility by a single day.

Only two of the seven Raccoons prospects that were ranked last year (four in the top 100 and two in the top 50) remained ranked this season, with #44 Alexis Barron and #197 Eric Siebert dropping out of the top 200 (and even the franchise top 10).

4th (new) – AA INF A.J. Taylor, 21 – 2064 supplemental round pick by Thunder, acquired with Ricky Baca, George van Otterdijk for Josh Elling, Jack Kozak, Tetsu Kurihara
8th (new) – AAA CL Josh Carrington, 24 – 2065 supplemental round pick by Raccoons
19th (new) – A SS/3B Phil Townsend, 19 – 2065 first-round pick by Raccoons
70th (new) – AAA INF Josh Mireles, 20 – 2061 July IFA signed by Raccoons
87th (-32) – AA INF Brian Hills, 20 – 2064 second-round pick by Raccoons
91th (-22) – A C Andrew Farlow, 20 – 2064 first-round pick by Raccoons
98th (new) – AAA SP Tony Gaytan, 22 – 2059 July IFA signed by Raccoons
171st (new) – A LF/RF George van Otterdijk, 21 – 2061 July IFA signed by Thunder, acquired with A.J. Taylor, Ricky Baca for Josh Elling, Jack Kozak, and Tetsu Kurihara

The top 10 for the franchise were completed by INT SP Crispino D’Urso (2065 July IFA signing), A UT Tony Santiago (2061 scouting discovery), and AA OF Jesus Guerrero (2063 July IFA signing);

Finally, the top 10 overall prospects this year are:

#1 (new) – PIT A SP Brian Jones, 19
#2 (+46) – VAN A INF Roberto Barraza, 19
#3 (new) – TIJ ML MR Matt Guadagno, 24
#4 (-2) – POR AA SS/3B A.J. Taylor, 21
#5 (+12) – RIC AAA OF Juan Licona, 20

#6 (new) – RIC A SP Jayden Beck, 21
#7 (new) – SAC AA SP Eric Stengel, 22
#8 (new) – POR AAA CL Josh Carrington, 24
#9 (+89) – WAS A 1B Armando Curiel, 19
#10 (-6) – WAS AAA C Manuel Rodriguez, 22

For new arrivals to the rankings, Brian Jones had been the #4 pick in the 2065 draft, one spot ahead of Beck, and another spot ahead of Stengel, while Guadagno had been taken at #16, and Carrington at #31 of the 2065 draft. Licona had been the #10 prospect in 2064 before dipping to #17 last year.

This left a whopping eight of last year’s top 10 outside of the scope, as usual for varying reasons, good and bad, although for once there were at least no catastrophic injuries involved.

It could hardly go better for a #1 prospect than Carlos Dominguez’ 2065 season. He made the Opening Day roster for the Loggers and played the full season in rightfield, winning the batting title with a .355 clip and ten homers. The Blue Sox’ Tony Marquez, #8 on last year’s edition of the rankings, also made his team’s Opening Day roster, but had his struggles, pitching to an 8-6 record with 4.56 ERA, and was for a while sent back to AAA, but was back on the Opening Day roster now. #10 prospect, outfielder Ian Streng, promoted to the Bayhawks midseason, batting .260 with five homers in 71 games and remaining on the roster for the new season.

For a mixed case, the #7 prospect Alex Mendez, an Indians first baseman, jumped all the way from AA to the majors midseason, but after hitting .266 with three homers found himself assigned to AAA for the first time in his career as the new season broke. These four players had all run out of eligibility on service time grounds.

The remaining four top 10 boys had all been in single-A 12 months ago. The Aces outfielder Alfredo Rosado moved up to AA on schedule, but slipped from #3 to #13, much like the Titans’ outfielder Manuel Garcia, but Garcia had a bigger struggle in AA and a bigger slip consequently, going from #5 to #28. Buffaloes SP Jaden Kelly did not make it out of single-A last season (but was assigned to AA now), and struggled with command so badly he crashed from #6 to #58. The Cyclones’ SP John Robinson had similar issues with control and only getting to AA to begin the new season, but had struck out almost 11 batters per nine in single-A and went “only” from #9 to #40.

Next: first pitch.

Westheim · 05-01-2025, 04:44 PM

Raccoons (0-0) vs. Indians (0-0) – April 5-7, 2066

The Raccoons got to open the new season against the Indians, the only team in the division they had looked vaguely competent against in ’65, going 12-6, though not without suffering a walkoff loss in the final game of the season. That being said, we were now playing six games in a row against the Arrowheads between the three now and the three in Indy to close out last season.

Projected matchups:
Shoma Nakayama (0-0) vs. Mike DeWitt (0-0)
Chance Fox (0-0) vs. Vince Ellison (0-0)
Nick Walla (0-0) vs. Joe Napier (0-0)

We would open the season against a southpaw for some spice and also the only one we’d see this opening week of the season.

Game 1
IND: CF E. Ramirez – SS Aredondo – LF Dowsey – 1B Starwalt – RF T. Torres – 3B M. Martin – C Atencio – 2B Falcon – P DeWitt
POR: CF Wilson – SS Novelo – C Lopez – 3B Monck – LF Branch – 1B Starr – 2B Caballero – RF Tallent – P Nakayama

The season began with Ramon Lopez and Rich Monck hits in the first inning, as well as them being left stranded, while Nakayama retired the first seven batters he faced before Miguel Falcon reached on an error by Monck – so that’s what we traded Morales for? – and then Nakayama was taken well deep by Eddy Ramirez with two outs in the inning, giving the Indians an unearned 2-0 lead. The Coons’ starter then hit a leadoff single in the bottom 3rd, Jaden Wilson walked, and Novelo popped out and Lopez hit into a 6-4-3 double play. The Raccoons found the scoreboard the inning after, though, as Monck singled his way on base and went to third base on a Starr double. However, only Monck would be brought in to score on Jorge Caballero’s groundout to second base, while Randy Tallent was walked intentionally and Nakayama was then coaxed into an inning-ending pop to Falcon, keeping the Raccoons 2-1 behind.

Nakayama pitched his way around a Vinny Atencio double in the fifth, then allowed a single to Justin Dowsey in the sixth, but Danny Starwalt found a double play to hit into. Monck remained unretired, getting on base with a leadoff knock in the bottom 6th before Tommy Branch unloaded a score-flipping homer to left-center, and probably with his big black googly eyes closed. Caballero then walked with one out and Tallent cranked another homer to left to extend the score to 5-2. From there Nakayama completed eight innings, but not without allowing a triple to Falcon leading off the top of the eighth and conceding that run on a groundout. The Coons got Starr and the pinch-hitting Carlos Gutierrez on base in the bottom 8th before Tallent denied my formal request for insurance runs, so we had to find some bum to close a 5-3 game right away on Opening Day. With Dowsey leading off the ninth and him and Tony Torres being left-handed batters, the ball went to Jeremy Garvey, who did little to reward the trust given to him with a leadoff single given up to Dowsey and a walk to Starwalt before PH Ben Ellis shot a spanker right at Gutierrez for a 4-6-3 double play. Darby Laybolt then flew out to center. 5-3 Coons. Monck 3-4, 2B; Starr 2-4, 2 2B; Nakayama 8.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, W (1-0) and 1-3;

Winning record! Take a deep breath, because it’s probably not gonna last past Easter!

And Easter is THIS WEEK.

Right away, neither Malcolm Spicer nor Jose Corral appeared in that opener, so they probably should not feel too secure of their status on the team…

Game 2
IND: CF E. Ramirez – SS Aredondo – 3B M. Martin – 1B Starwalt – LF Dowsey – 2B Falcon – RF T. Torres – C Atencio – P Ellison
POR: CF Wilson – LF Spicer – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – RF Corral – 2B Gutierrez – P Fox

Corral then promptly homered, somewhat miffed, in his first at-bat of the season, giving Chance Fox a 1-0 lead on Tuesday. His second time up he drew a 2-out walk to fill the bases behind Lopez and Novelo and their pair of soft singles in the bottom 4th. Carlos Gutierrez then slapped a zinger up the middle which Oscar Aredondo knocked down behind second base, but couldn’t scramble up or flick the ball to Falcon in time to gain the third out on the play, and Gutierrez cashed an RBI single. Neatly, however, it was Chance Fox to work himself into a 3-1 count before slapping a ball over the head of Aredondo for a 2-out, 2-run single, giving himself a 4-0 lead. The inning ended with a Wilson groundout, while Fox then seamlessly resumed some honest work on the mound. He allowed a single in each of the first two innings, but apart from that held the Indians very short through five innings; the only complaints would have been a few too many full counts.

Bottom 5th, and Spicer opened with a double to right before Lopez and Monck filled the bases with walks and nobody out. Starr’s comebacker was taken by Ellison for an out at the plate, Novelo popped out to second, but Corral came through with a clean RBI single, 5-0. Gutierrez’ RBI single made it 6-0 and knocked out Ellison, with his replacement, Victor Perez, ringing up Fox to get out of the inning. Perez then batted for himself leading off the top 6th against Fox, singled to right, and from there the Raccoons had a bit of a meltdown on defense. A passed ball moved the runner to second before Novelo bobbled Ramirez’ grounder to short for an error, putting runners on the corners. Aredondo also grounded to short and the Raccoons only got an out at second while Perez scored, 6-1. Aredondo was nearly picked off by Fox, then stole second base and made it to third on a bad throw by Lopez for the second error of the inning, but Matt Martin’s ill-placed groundout and Starwalt’s pop fly to Starr kept him stranded and the Raccoons only conceded that one run in the inning.

Monck doubled and Starr reached on an uncaught third strike to put runners on the corners with nobody out in the bottom 7th. Novelo whiffed and Corral hit into a double play to dissipate the inning, while Fox returned to the hill for the eighth. He got a pop from Atencio before Laybolt pinch-hit and singled to left, which was the end for Foxie Brown in this game. The Coons went right to the Rule 5’s and brought in Steven Hudson, who got a grounder from Ramirez for an out, and a grounder from Aredondo that Gutierrez – the sure-pawed one! – bungled for another error. But Martin grounded out to Monck at third base and the runners remained on the corners. Still with a 5-run lead, the Coons then sent the other Rule 5 righty, Garrett Napolitano, into the ninth inning. He walked Starwalt on four pitches, allowed a single to Dowsey, and got a pop from Falcon, but was then exchanged for Ricky McMahan against the lefty-hitting bottom of the order. Tony Torres brought in a run with a groundout, but Atencio’s fly to left ended the game. 6-2 Raccoons. Corral 2-3, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Gutierrez 2-3, BB, 2 RBI; Branch (PH) 1-1; Fox 7.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (1-0) and 1-3, 2 RBI;

Game 3
IND: CF E. Ramirez – SS Aredondo – LF Dowsey – 1B Starwalt – RF T. Torres – 3B M. Martin – C Atencio – 2B B. Ellis – P Napier
POR: CF Wilson – LF Spicer – SS Novelo – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – C Arellano – RF Corral – 2B Gutierrez – P Walla

Spicer singled and stole the team’s first base of ’66 in the first inning of the series finale, but was also left on base. Offense soon turned out to be minimal for the time being, as both teams were held to two base hits through five innings, and one of the Indians’ hits was Napier doubling off Walla in the fifth inning. The Indians then scattered a single each in the next two innings without getting close to a round trip to home plate, while the Coons had to wait out a pair of walks to Starr and Corral in the bottom 7th before Gutierrez clipped a shy 2-out single to left and Starr just went for it, legging out Dowsey’s throw from leftfield to score the game’s first run from second base. Walla had already thrown 100 pitches and so was hit for in a RISP situation; Ramon Lopez drew a walk in his spot, filling the bases, but then one centerfielder flew out to the other to strand all the runners.

Justin Cullum made his Coons debut in the eighth and got two outs before he walked Dowsey. When left-handed Matt Rogers batted for Starwalt, the Raccoons flipped him for Garvey, who secured a strikeout, and was back on the mound with the 1-0 lead still on the board (and the Coons still on three hits) for the ninth inning, with another two lefty sticks coming up in Torres and Atencio. He struck out the former, while the latter never batted after a 1-out walk to Martin. Falcon and Laybolt instead popped out twice to complete the sweep! 1-0 Blighters. Walla 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K, W (1-0);

3-0 start, but please keep in mind, it’s the Arrowheads, and our RBI leader is now Carlos Gutierrez, a 22-year-old defensive middle infielder…

Raccoons (3-0) vs. Knights (1-3) – April 9-11, 2066

The Knights had lost three of four games to the Condors out of the gates, scoring the second-most runs and allowing the most runs in the CL so far, but the numbers were not outlandish (under six runs per game anyway) and it was just a precious few games so far. Even that 9.00 bullpen ERA might rankle itself in from here. Especially against the Critters, whom the Knights beat 6-3 in 2065. The Knights were without free agent acquisition Miguel Medina to begin the season; the first baseman was still laboring on a knee injury suffered in September 2065.

Projected matchups:
Juan Sanchez (0-0) vs. Angel Alba (0-0)
Duarte Damasceno (0-0) vs. Adam Lunn (0-1, 6.00 ERA)
Shoma Nakayama (1-0, 1.13 ERA) vs. Sean Sweeton (0-1, 9.00 ERA)

Not one, but two former Raccoons would come up here, Lunn being the exception. Angel Alba would in fact make his first start with the Knights *in* Raccoons Ballpark! All three were right-handed.

Game 1
ATL: CF Fumero – C Hart – RF J. Evans – SS C. Ramsey – LF K. Hummel – 2B W. Acosta – 1B Savalli – 3B Baxley – P Alba
POR: CF Wilson – LF Spicer – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – RF Corral – 2B Caballero – P Sanchez

Jaden Wilson walked and stole his first base of the year in the first inning, but had just as much luck with getting scored as Spicer two days earlier against the Indians. Even less luck was with Jose Corral, who legged out an infield single and his own leg in the second inning and left the game with Luis Silva, being replaced with Tommy Branch.

The game was scoreless into the fourth inning, which Justin Hart opened with a double to left-center before scoring on a 2-out single hit by Ken Hummel. Juan Sanchez kept on tracking while Corral’s bloody infield single was the only Coons hit into the sixth inning of this game. Wilson began that with making an out before Alba *plonked* Spicer, who took his revenge by stealing second base. Lopez was no help, but Rich Monck then exploited Alba’s willingness to be taken deep and raked a score-flipping, 2-run bomb to right! Starr then hit a double and was stranded by Novelo, while Branch socked another double to lead off the seventh. He advanced on a Caballero groundout before scoring on Sanchez’ single to center, 3-1. Sanchez was left on base, then completed eight innings on exactly 100 pitches. The save opportunity this time went to Jesse Dover, who had not pitched against the Indians. He walked Jake Evans in a full count, struck out Casey Ramsey, whom the Coons coulda had twice over this past summer *and* winter, then mishandled a comebacker by PH Jose Consuegra for an error. Willie Acosta in his return to Atlanta struck out, though, and then Justin Savalli rolled over to Starr to end the game. 3-1 Raccoons. Wilson 1-2, 2 BB; Corral 1-1; Sanchez 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 9 K, W (1-0) and 1-3, RBI;

4-0 start…!?

Honeypaws, I’m confused. Do something.

Game 2
ATL: CF Fumero – 1B Savalli – RF J. Evans – C Hart – 2B W. Acosta – SS C. Ramsey – LF J.P. Sheridan – P Lunn – 3B Baxley
POR: CF Wilson – LF Spicer – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – 2B Gutierrez – RF Tallent – P Damasceno

Spicer and Lopez were on base in the first inning before Monck grounded out and Starr floated out to center to leave them on base. And while Monck turned a 5-3 double play on Ramsey in the second inning, J.P. Sheridan then still singled in the game’s first run, bringing in Willie Acosta from second base as “DD” Damasceno allowed an abundance of runners early on. This included nicking John Baxley to lead off the third inning and then getting taken deep by Justin Savalli for a 3-0 deficit.

The Coons had only one hit the first time through, then saw Ramon Lopez reach base on an error by Acosta to begin the bottom 4th. Lopez reached third base on a Monck single, then scored on Starr’s grounder to second base that got Monck forced out in a fielder’s choice. Starr was left on base, and then the Knights doubled their output against Damasceno on a huge 3-run homer mashed by Ramsey in the top 5th. DD limped out of the inning, down 6-1, and was hit for with Joe Gardner in the bottom 5th, who hit a 1-out double. Lunn then walked Wilson, allowed an RBI single to Spicer, and walked Lopez to fill the bases, which suddenly brought up Monck as the tying run. He drove in two with a single to center, 6-4, but then Starr crashed into a 6-4-and-3 double play to end the inning…

The Coons then tried to get multiple innings from Garrett Napolitano, but ended up getting a singular out while the Knights battered him for four runs in the top of the sixth as he simply couldn’t get anybody out. From there, Juan Soriano pitched a scoreless inning in his season debut, while the Coons had a pair on base in the bottom 7th, but now Monck blundered into an inning-ending double play. The Coons didn’t grab another run until they were down to their final out in the ninth inning when Marcos Arellano drove in Spicer for a meaningless run. The game then ended with a deep fly out to right off Monck’s bat. 10-5 Knights. Spicer 2-3, BB, RBI; Arellano (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI; Monck 2-5, 2 RBI; Gardner (PH) 1-1, 2B;

Hudson, the other Rule 5 guy, pitched the last two innings, walking three and allowing a hit, but no run(s), but I didn’t exactly consider that a good day out.

Game 3
ATL: CF Fumero – 1B Savalli – RF J. Evans – LF Consuegra – 2B W. Acosta – SS C. Ramsey – C McLaren – P Sweeton – 3B Baxley
POR: CF Wilson – LF Spicer – RF Branch – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – C Arellano – SS Novelo – 2B Gardner – P Nakayama

Nakayama walked Carlos Fumero in a full count to begin the rubber game and was then immediately taken quite deep by Justin Savalli, who already mashed his fourth home run of the season, which was *one* way to start a ballgame. The Coons had a Starr single in the second inning and left him on, and Gardner singled his way on in the third inning, but was doubled off on Nakayama’s bunt attempt. They remained shy in the following innings, although Arellano got on with a single in the fifth inning. He was running and stole second base with one out and a full count on Gardner, who struck out. No throw was made to second base by a confused Matt McLaren. Meanwhile, Savalli in the sixth and Ramsey in the seventh opened with doubles for the Knights, but both were stranded on third base in their respective innings to keep the score at 2-0.

Starr drew a leadoff walk in the bottom 7th but was forced out by Arellano’s grounder to short before Novelo hit into a double play altogether. Nakayama was done by then, pitching seven innings on four hits and the two runs from the very start of the game. Cullum held the score at 2-0 in the top 8th before Gutierrez hit for him and scratched out a 1-out single in the bottom 8th. He advanced on Wilson’s groundout, then scored on a Spicer single, 2-1. Spicer stole second to move the tying run into scoring position, Branch drew a walk in a full count, but Monck’s fly to left was easily caught by Consuegra and that ended the inning. Garvey held the Knights at bay in the ninth inning before the skinny lead went to Brad Fales, right-hander, for the bottom 9th. Starr and the two catchers disappeared in order, though, and the Coons had their first losing streak of the year. 2-1 Knights. Gutierrez (PH) 1-1; Nakayama 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, L (1-1);

At 40 years old, Sean Sweeton bagged his 200th career win against the Coons here.

That’s 200 overall, not 200 against the Coons. He got 23 wins *with* the Coons in 2056-57, in what had been his only time in the CL prior to hooking up for two years with the Knights now.

Raccoons (4-2) @ Thunder (4-2) – April 12-14, 2066

The Thunder were second in runs scored and sixth in runs allowed in the early going, but with uneasy defense. The real quirk here was that they had played super-long extra-inning games with the Indians on both Saturday and Sunday, and that the Raccoons were coming up against an exhausted bullpen… IF they could get Monday’s starter Tyler Riddle out of the game early. The Thunder had won five of nine games against Portland in 2065.

Projected matchups:
Chance Fox (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Tyler Riddle (1-0, 4.50 ERA)
Nick Walla (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Josh Elling (0-0, 4.91 ERA)
Juan Sanchez (1-0, 1.13 ERA) vs. Danny Baca (0-0, 7.11 ERA)

Riddle and Baca were left-handers, and Riddle and Elling were former Raccoons starters, which made it three straight ex-Coons taking the ball against the Critters here, four in five days, and hopefully familiarity would finally breed some offense.

The Raccoons moved Jose Corral to the DL with a hip strain on Monday and called up Jamie Colter.

Game 1
POR: CF Wilson – SS Novelo – LF Branch – 3B Monck – C Lopez – 1B Starr – 2B Caballero – RF Tallent – P Fox
OCT: RF Almanza – C Bohannon – 2B Palominos – LF Kaniewski – SS Archuleta – CF Thore – 1B Kozak – 3B Bonilla – P Riddle

Chance Fox got five outs to begin the game, then gave up three straight home runs to Coby Thore, Jack Kozak, and Alberto Bonilla. While the Raccoons brought up the minimum against Riddle the first time through, the Thunder threw another 3-spot onto the board in the bottom 3rd, this time fully unearned after an error by Monck at third base that put Roberto Almanza on base right away. Fox then walked Martin Bohannon, Jose Palominos hit into a double play, but John Kaniewski got an RBI single and Ramon Archuleta socked a fourth homer off the Coons’ rather hapless left-hander. Fox would pitch another inning, getting three outs from the bottom of the order with some loud contact mixed in, and then was whisked away, especially with the Coons still down 6-0 and on only two base hits of their own in the middle of the fifth.

Soriano pitched a scoreless fifth before the Raccoons went back to Napolitano for another attempt at getting some outs from him. He got six outs, but also gave up two more runs while continuously being battered around. Tyler Riddle pitched a 4-hit shutout against the Coons, and any hope to take advantage of an exhausted bullpen definitely dissipated with that. 8-0 Thunder. Gardner (PH) 1-2;

At this point the Raccoons were firmly bottoms in runs scored in the league, with a .214 team batting average. Rich Monck was hitting .346, Malcolm Spicer was at .250, and after that it rapidly got really dire…

Game 2
POR: CF Wilson – LF Spicer – C Arellano – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – RF Colter – 2B Gutierrez – SS Novelo – P Walla
OCT: RF Almanza – CF Thore – C Bohannon – 1B I. Stone – SS Palominos – LF Laity – 2B Archuleta – 3B Curiel – P Elling

Martin Bohannon, Ian Stone, and Jose Palominos filled the bags with singles in the first inning against Walla, who got a crucial K on Ben Laity to strand all the runners and keep the game scoreless for the time being. Instead, Joel Starr opened the scoring with a solo jack to left in the second inning. Thore and Stone would set up camp on the corners in the bottom 3rd with another pair of singles (six singles in total against Walla at that point already), but they were wrapped up in Palominos’ double play grounder to Novelo that ended the inning.

Walla couldn’t get a clean inning, allowing a single to Ernesto Curiel in the fourth, and then a single to Roberto Almanza leading off the fifth inning, although the Thunder were still being shut out despite out-hitting the Raccoons 8-3 through five innings.

Jaden Wilson was batting .042 at that point, but was at least drawing walks. He opened the sixth with a double to the base of the wall in leftfield, which hopefully would spark more base hits, maybe even two per week, from here on out. Spicer was retired hitting a liner to a sliding Almanza in right, while Arellano hit one over the fence in right… foul. He had to go back to the dish, then struck out. Elling lost Monck on balls with two outs, but then got Starr on a fly to center for the third out. The same inning, Walla finally retired the Thunder in order for once. Almanza hit another single off him in the seventh, but was also stranded on base; however after seven innings and nine hits for absolutely nothing worth counting, the Thunder had at least chewed up Walla for the day.

Tallent batted for Walla leading off the eighth inning and hit a double to center. Wilson walked behind him and a double steal put a pair in scoring position with nobody out against Elling, who on the next pitch allowed an RBI single through the right side to Spicer, who then could not resist taking off, was hit in the back by Bohannon’s throw while sliding, and the ball bounced away, allowing Wilson to score and Spicer to reach third base. Arellano struck out, while Monck hit a sac fly to Laity, who dove heroically for the ball and cranked out his back. He had to leave the game and was replaced with John Kaniewski. The Coons then gave the 4-0 lead to the pen; McMahan got one out from Ian Stone to begin the eighth before immediately yielding for Cullum, who gave up a run on two screamers belted for hits by Kaniewski and Ramon Archuleta before Curiel struck out to end the eighth. Cullum hung around in the ninth inning and got the last three outs from Tony Rodriquez, Almanza, and Thore without another reliever needing to be bothered. 4-1 Coons. Spicer 2-4, RBI; Colter 2-4; Tallent (PH) 1-2, 2B, RBI; Walla 7.0 IP, 9 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K, W (2-0);

Wilson and Novelo – both hitting under .100 – were given a day off on Wednesday. There would not be an off day on Thursday, so they needed a day down at some point anyway…

Game 3
POR: SS Gutierrez – LF Spicer – C Lopez – 3B Monck – RF Branch – 1B Starr – CF Tallent – 2B Caballero – P Sanchez
OCT: RF Almanza – C Bohannon – 2B Palominos – SS Archuleta – CF Thore – 1B I. Stone – LF Kozak – 3B Bonilla – P D. Baca

The rubber game went pear-shaped quickly as Spicer and Lopez reached base with one down in the top of the first before being doubled home by Rich Monck… who came up limping at second base, and after consultation with Luis Silva left the game right away. Joe Gardner replaced him as pinch-runner, was stranded, and then took over third base. Sanchez bobbled the Thunder a run on the board with a walk to Bohannon, a single by Archuleta, and a wild pitch in the bottom 1st, but Randy Tallent answered with a homer in the top 2nd, 3-1, and Tommy Branch added another solo home run in the fourth for a 4-1 lead. Ian Stone’s homer in the bottom 4th then counted for two and the lead was down to 4-3 again…

Palominos then gave the Raccoons a chance to tack on again, throwing away Carlos Gutierrez’ grounder to lead off the top 5th for an error and two bases. Baca came back with strikeouts against the 2-3 hitters, however, and then Gardner flew out harmlessly, and Gutierrez retreated to the bench from second base. Sanchez went back to the hill for the bottom 5th, got an out from Bonilla, but then allowed a double to the opposing pitcher and then nailed Almanza as he was becoming rapidly unglued. Bohannon popped out, but Luis Silva was back out on the field and having a talk with Sanchez, who made awkward motions before leaving the game with Silva. Juan Soriano got the ball and as much time to warm up as he liked, then gave up a mighty old drive to deep left to Palominos – but Spicer raced back to the fence, leapt, and stole a 3-run homer and ended the inning at the same time…!

It didn’t help, though, as Archuleta singled leading off the sixth, stole second, reached third on Lopez’ bad throw, and then immediately scored on a sac fly to center hit by Coby Thore, what’s more, score even at four. Jaden Wilson batted for Soriano in the seventh, singled, and was caught stealing.

Thunder reliever Bill Hernandez became the third injury of the game, striking out Gardner in the eighth for his only batter before being hauled in by their trainer. In the meantime McMahan walked one in the seventh, was rescued by Dover, who then walked two in the eighth and had to fight his way out of there himself. The game remained tied, however, into the ninth inning where Erik Swain retired Tallent on a pop to short – the first time in the game that Tallent didn’t reach – before Caballero struck a double to right. Jamie Colter then batted for Dover … and cranked a homer to right-center! Tetsu Kurihara then got two outs from the Coons to get the Thunder back in the box against Garvey in the bottom 9th. He struck out Curiel before falling to 3-0 on Bum-kyoo Su and giving up a homer, 6-5. Almanza grounded out, but Bohannon singled to bring up Palominos as the winning run with two down. The Critters shrugged, went to Cullum, and he threw a single pitch to Palominos, getting a grounder to short for the final out of the game. 6-5 Critters. Monck 1-1, 2B, 2 RBI; Tallent 3-4, HR, RBI; Wilson (PH) 1-1; Colter (PH) 1-1, HR, 2 RBI; Dover 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K, W (1-0);

In other news

April 6 – Teams go the extra mile on Opening Day in Washington as the Capitals beat the Blue Sox, 7-6 in 19 innings. WAS LF/RF/1B Bryan Johnston (.714, 0 HR, 2 RBI) collects five hits including two doubles, while the Caps debut of former Titans starter Joe Chalmers (1-0, 0.00 ERA) consists of 6.1 shutout innings in red-eye relief as his team’s ninth pitcher of the day. On the other side, NAS OF/1B Kyle Ricker (1-for-3, 0 HR, 0 RBI) makes his ABL debut in extra innings, but leaves the game after cutting his hand on a jarring bit of outfield fence on a defensive play, leaving him day-to-day for a week.
April 9 – LAP SP Shane Fitzgibbon (1-0, 0.00 ERA) and Dan Graham (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 SV) combine for a 1-hitter in a 3-0 game against the Cyclones, who get nothing beyond a single by RF/LF Roberto Soto (.357, 0 HR, 0 RBI).
April 9 – The Titans beat the Bayhawks, 3-1, but for a price, losing both OF Eddie Marcotte (.333, 2 HR, 4 RBI) and 3B/SS Zach Suggs (.143, 0 HR, 1 RBI) to injury. The veteran Suggs would be out for at least a month with a broken thumb, while Marcotte was day-to-day with a sore thumb.
April 10 – IND 2B Miguel Falcon (.400, 0 HR, 0 RBI) puts out five singles for no run batted in and no run scored in a predictably futile 18-inning, 5-4 win against the Thunder.
April 11 – Because it was that much fun, the Indians and Thunder play another extra-long game on Sunday. This time the Thunder claim the 5-4 win, and in a brisk 14 innings.
April 12 – A ruptured UCL ends the season of Scorpions SP Mike Pohlmann (0-0, 6.75 ERA) after just one week.
April 12 – Blue Sox OF/1B Tony Roman (.346, 2 HR, 5 RBI) contributes five hits in a 12-inning, 7-3 win over the Scorpions; four singles followed by a 3-run homer in the Sox’ 4-run top of the 12th inning.
April 12 – The Rebels beat the Warriors, 4-3 in 15 innings.
April 13 – After 14 innings, the Falcons beat the Titans, 9-4.
April 14 – The Capitals rout the Pacifics, 19-6. Every Capitals position player in the lineup has at least two hits, a run scored, and an RBI – except for OF Isaiah Birth (.240, 0 HR, 1 RBI), who goes 0-for-5. WAS RF/SS/2B Ted Lloyd (.207, 1 HR, 5 RBI) collects four hits, including two doubles, for the most hits by any player in the game.

FL Player of the Week: SAC OF Cory Oldfield (.458, 2 HR, 10 RBI)
CL Player of the Week: TIJ 1B Andy Metz (.500, 3 HR, 6 RBI)

Complaints and stuff

There’s normally not much to complain about in a 6-3 start, except that we’re tied for bottoms in runs scored (3.44 per game) and we’re doing it on a hardly sustainable defensive rating (.732).

Also, Jose Corral is already on the DL, Juan Sanchez left the Wednesday game with a balking back and might miss a start or might not miss a start, and we have no news on Rich Monck, who also left the final game in Oklahoma City after a first-inning double. Monck and Spicer are the only qualifying batters putting at least a .200 clip together.

So don’t depart to la-la land quite yet, because it might not last after all. For the time being we had to depart to New York for four games with the Crusaders, followed by a 2-week homestand against the damn Elks, Aces, Falcons, and Indians.

Fun Fact: Nick Walla is the only qualifying pitcher in either league with a flat zero ERA.

He has 14 shutout innings on the board so far, seven in each of his two starts, although the one against the Indians felt considerably easier for him.

Westheim · 05-03-2025, 07:40 AM

The Raccoons dodged one bullet when Rich Monck was found out to be merely having a mild back spasm in his lower back (just above the bushy tail) and was day-to-day as the team headed to New York. He was not in the lineup on Thursday, but then again, he would have gotten a day off at some point anyway (though probably not against a right-hander if we could help it). Juan Sanchez was also down with back soreness and was questionable for his next start, but that would not have been in New York anyway.

Raccoons (6-3) @ Crusaders (7-1) – April 15-18, 2066

The Crusaders had started the season with four wins, like the Raccoons, although fortunes had diverged a bit since. They were second in runs scored and first in runs allowed in the early going, with a +23 run differential (Coons: -1).

Projected matchups:
Duarte Damasceno (0-1, 10.80 ERA) vs. Jeff Kozloski (0-0, 7.20 ERA)
Shoma Nakayama (1-1, 1.80 ERA) vs. Erik Lee (1-0, 3.00 ERA)
Chance Fox (1-1, 2.38 ERA) vs. Ricardo Montoya (2-0, 4.15 ERA)
Nick Walla (2-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Ben Seiter (1-0, 1.20 ERA)

These were in fact all right-handed starters for the Crusaders. Monday was a scheduled day off then beore we’d have a 12-game homestand.

Game 1
POR: CF Wilson – LF Spicer – 3B Tallent – 1B Starr – RF Branch – C Lopez – 2B Gutierrez – SS Gardner – P Damasceno
NYC: 2B Spehar – SS O. Sanchez – CF Box – RF Takeuchi – C Reyna – LF Menchaca – 3B Blackshire – 1B J. Allen – P Kozloski

Kozloski struck out four straight the first time through the Coons order, but gave up a 2-out double to “DD” in the third inning and conceded the run on Jaden Wilson’s single. Wilson stole second before being stranded by Spicer, while the Crusaders were making solid contact against Damasceno, but could not get a run across in the early going. Top 4th, and Randy Tallent, batting third for some odd reason, socked a double to left-center to get things going. Starr popped out, but Tommy Branch found a hole on the infield for an RBI single to extend the lead to 2-0, then scored on a score-doubling homer to left by Ramon Lopez, who had just dropped under .100 in the second inning.

DD managed to fool the Crusaders for five innings before very much running out of guile and, some might say, dumb luck. Omar Sanchez drew a leadoff walk and a pair of singles by Bryant Box and Kazuhide Takeuchi loaded the bases. Damasceno walked in a run on four pitches, then was yanked for some urgently needed relief. Jeremy Garvey conceded another run on Eddie Menchaca’s groundout, but then walked Dave Blackshire, allowed a run-scoring infield single to Jared Allen, two runs on PH Ben Wilken’s single to left, another RBI single to Ryan Spehar, and then walked Sanchez, who faced eight pitches in the inning, none of them in the zone. Thoroughly shanked, Garvey was replaced with Steven Hudson, who allowed another run on a Box groundout, which was at least and at last A ******* OUT, walked the bags full AGAIN facing Takeuchi, and then got a K (somehow) on Victor Reyna. All being said, the Crusaders scored seven runs in an absolute meltdown.

The Coons meekly answered with hits by Gardner and Wilson for a run in the seventh, but the Crusaders beat that run (and a bonus marker) out of Hudson again in their half of the seventh. Randy Tallent homered to left to begin the eighth, 9-6, but another Rule 5 pick in another inning led to another two runs for the Crusaders as Napolitano continued to get absolutely nobody out. 11-6 Crusaders. Wilson 2-5, 2 RBI; Tallent 3-4, HR, 2B, RBI;

Somehow Randy Tallent was now the sole team home run leader, with three bombs on the young season. He broke a tie with Tommy Branch. Nobody else had more than one, so yes, the team’s power department was led by the two backup outfielders.

Game 2
POR: CF Wilson – LF Tallent – 1B Starr – 3B Monck – C Lopez – RF Colter – SS Novelo – 2B Gutierrez – P Nakayama
NYC: LF Jose Alvarez – SS O. Sanchez – CF Box – RF Takeuchi – 3B B. Wilken – C Reyna – 2B Spehar – 1B J. Allen – P E. Lee

Rakin’ Randy hit a single in the first inning when every other Coon stepping up against Erik Lee struck out, while Ramon Lopez singled in the second, but was doubled up by Colter. The Crusaders bunched up four left-handed batters at the top of their order against Nakayama, who got three in order in the bottom 1st, but Takeuchi doubled to left leading off the bottom 2nd. He, too, was doubled off when he was found astray on Wilken’s lineout to Pablo Novelo, 6-4 on the double play. However, Spehar led off the next inning with another double to center, Jared Allen singled and stole second, and while Lee struck out, Jose Alvarez doubled home the game’s first pair of runs before getting stranded by Sanchez and Box.

Alvarez drove in Allen again with a 2-out single in the fifth inning, making it a 3-0 game, while the Raccoons were mostly poking in vain against Lee, who rung up seven of them in the first five innings. Both starters were then chased by a 50-minute rain delay after six innings, with the score still 3-0 at that point. New York right-hander Dave Hyman allowed a run to the Critters in the seventh inning, which Ramon Lopez led off with a single. Carlos Gutierrez scored him with a 2-out single, but the Coons’ pen immediately had a fumble in the bottom 7th. Juan Soriano walked three batters, already allowing a run on a passed ball charged to Lopez before McMahan came in and allowed a 2-out RBI double to Omar Sanchez, 5-1. Box popped out to Starr to leave a pair in scoring position. McMahan then allowed a leadoff walk to Takeuchi in the eighth, and Jesse Dover replaced him, but allowed that run to score. The Raccoons mounted no rally in the late innings. 6-1 Crusaders. Lopez 2-3, BB; Gutierrez 2-3, RBI;

Game 3
POR: CF Wilson – LF Tallent – 1B Starr – 3B Monck – RF Branch – C Arellano – SS Novelo – 2B Caballero – P Fox
NYC: CF Box – SS O. Sanchez – 3B B. Wilken – RF Takeuchi – LF Menchaca – 2B Spehar – C Villafan – 1B Jose Alvarez – P R. Montoya

The 35-year-old, two-time FL Pitcher of the Year Montoya was back to starting after a season of closing for a lot of dosh, in which he saved his first 43 career games, easily leading the CL. His main issue was stamina, so the Raccoons had to try and squeeze him out of the game early, but it was Chance Fox who was pitching behind in the count all the time in the early going, and who walked two batters the first time through the Crusaders lineup. Ironically he was also the only Raccoon to get a hit off Montoya the first time through. Fox melted down in the bottom 4th as he walked Menchaca, allowed an RBI double to Spehar, then walked Willie Villafan as well and for good measure gave up a 2-out RBI single to Montoya. Box hit another RBI single, 3-0, Sanchez walked to fill the bases, but Wilken grounded out to end the blighted inning. Through four innings, Fox was on 85 pitches, almost twice Montoya’s tally…..

While the Coons couldn’t pour themselves a cup of water against Montoya, Fox dragged himself into the sixth inning, walked two more for a final tally of six against zero strikeouts, then had one of the runs surrendered on an errant pickoff attempt by Arellano after Cullum released him. Cullum got out of the inning, now down 4-0. Bright sides after that were limited to Napolitano pitching a 1-2-3 garbage eighth, which barely made a dent in his 20+ ERA, but Montoya reached the ninth inning on 86 pitches and retired Colter, Wilson, and Tallent in order to record a 2-hit shutout… 4-0 Crusaders. Novelo 1-2;

Game 4
POR: CF Wilson – RF Tallent – 1B Starr – 3B Monck – C Lopez – LF Spicer – 2B Gutierrez – SS Novelo – P Walla
NYC: 2B Spehar – SS O. Sanchez – CF Box – RF Takeuchi – 3B B. Wilken – C Reyna – LF Ambriz – 1B J. Allen – P Seiter

Walla, the only qualifying CL pitcher with an ERA of zilch, and Seiter, a routine contender for Pitcher of the Year, clashed and got through five innings in just a blip over an hour as neither team amounted to ANYTHING. Lopez hit a single for Portland and was doubled off by Spicer, while the Crusaders had a Spehar single in the fourth and a Jose Ambriz double in the fifth, but couldn’t do something with either of those hits. Walla then got a 2-out single against Seiter in the sixth inning, but was left on by Wilson. That was Walla’s fatal mistake, because now Seiter was miffed, socked a leadoff double against him in the bottom 6th, and from there things escalated briskly. Spehar reached on an error by Novelo, Sanchez walked to fill the bases with nobody out, and Bryant Box cracked a first-pitch, bases-clearing triple, then scored on a groundout by Takeuchi on the pitch after. Victor Reyna reached on a 2-out error by Starr, and scored on Ambriz and Allen singles that left Walla truly and thoroughly beaten with five runs (three earned) in the inning. The Crusaders put another two runs on Garvey in the seventh, as the left-hander suddenly also could not get anybody out, and Hudson was then taken deep for a 2-run homer by Allen in the eighth. Hudson got swatted around for three more hits and another run before the Crusaders let go, but Seiter pitched back-to-back shutouts with Montoya, allowing five hits and whiffing eight Coons. 10-0 Crusaders. Gardner (PH) 1-1;

That was a four-game sweep to the tune of 31-7 runs.

Ow.

Raccoons (6-7) vs. Canadiens (6-6) – April 20-22, 2066

Ugh, Elks! It stinks! They came in ranking sixth in runs scored and third in runs allowed with a +7 run differential. Like the Crusaders they had whooped the Coons, 12-6, last season. The Coons were by now bottoms in runs scored, not having scored since Friday, and were nearing the bottom in runs allowed, with a -25 run differential… At least the bullpen ERA was over seven!

Projected matchups:
Duarte Damasceno (0-1, 8.10 ERA) vs. Martyn Polaco (1-0, 1.29 ERA)
Juan Sanchez (1-0, 2.84 ERA) vs. Dallas Samson (2-0, 2.08 ERA)
Shoma Nakayama (1-2, 2.57 ERA) vs. Ken Nielsen (1-1, 4.50 ERA)

Polaco was a southpaw at the start of this series.

DD would go on regular rest thanks to the Monday off day, while Sanchez was given another day to fully recover from the back soreness that had seen him leave his last start early.

Game 1
VAN: SS C. Castro – 2B Kilday – 1B Whetstine – RF Lozada – LF N. Vaughn – C Varner – CF D. Moore – 3B Yue – P Polaco
POR: CF Wilson – LF Tallent – C Lopez – 3B Monck – RF Branch – 1B Spicer – SS Novelo – 2B Caballero – P Damasceno

Pitching woes continued as DD issued three walks in the first two innings, although Matt Kilday doubled off Carlos Castro in the first and the other two – Steve Varner and Hsi-chuen Yue – were stranded in the second. In the third he nailed Chad Whetstine, but the Elks still lacked the base hit(s) required to do actual damage. The Coons were getting a shot in the bottom 3rd as Caballero drew a leadoff walk and Yue mishandled DD’s bunt, trying to get the lead runner when he had no shot at Caballero, and the Coons instead had two on with nobody out. They then made poor outs with Wilson (K) and Tallent (groundout) immediately, but Ramon Lopez broke the scoring drought with a long 3-run homer to left! Rich Monck almost made it back-to-back, but had his drive to deep center plucked by Dan Moore within arm’s reach of the wall to end the inning. Tommy Branch then socked a leadoff jack in the fourth, reuniting with Tallent at the top of the team’s home run board. Monck missed another homer by not a lot, ending the bottom 5th with two on and a fly to the warning track and Roberto Lozada.

DD meanwhile had a 2-hit shutout through five innings, but on 94 pitches, with many long counts and four walks to his name. He came back out for the sixth, got a groundout from Lozada, rung up Nick Vaughn, and was then taken deep by Varner and ushered away in a hurry. The Coons picked two outs from Hudson before going to Garvey in a double switch that put Joel Starr on first base over Spicer. Starr made an error in the eighth to put Whetstine on base, who advanced on a Lozada grounder and scored on Vaughn’s RBI single on an 0-2 pitch. Cullum then replaced Garvey, struck out two to get out of the inning with a 2-run lead, and with Dover getting ready for the ninth. Dover struck out the first two batters he faced in the ninth before walking Castro, giving up a bloop single to Kilday (which extended a 15-game hitting streak), and then finally got Whetstine on a groundout to short. 4-2 Coons. Lopez 2-2, 2 BB, HR, 3 RBI;

Yay, a win!

Game 2
VAN: 3B C. Castro – 1B R. Cordero – CF R. Atkins – C Varner – LF Whetstine – SS D. Moore – RF N. Vaughn – 2B Yue – P Samson
POR: CF Wilson – SS Tallent – 1B Starr – 3B Monck – C Lopez – LF Spicer – RF Colter – 2B Gutierrez – P Sanchez

Depression was back in the second inning on Wednesday as the Raccoons immediately ****** a crooked number on the board as Sanchez hit Varner with a 1-2 pitch leading off before walking Whetstine and before Tallent ran out of randy at short and bungled a Dan Moore grounder that coulda been worth something. The error loaded them up with nobody out and Sanchez walked in a run in a full count against Nick Vaughn beore yetting a pop from Yue. Samson singled in two, though, before Castro whiffed and Rico Cordero flew out to keep it a 3-0 game.

From there, Sanchez pitched valiantly and put another four and two thirds innings on the board without allowing a run or many runners, although he left Yue on base for Soriano to deal with, which he did, ending the seventh with a K on Cordero. That put the stretch on, and the Raccoons could use a little mental break, as Samson was 3-hitting them and the score was still 3-0. The Critters had yet to reach third base, which they did in the bottom 7th with singles by Starr and Lopez putting them on the corners with tying run at the plate and one out, but Spicer popped out to Whetstine in shallow left, and Colter grounded out to short, ending the inning with no run across. Soriano got another three outs in the eighth before Napolitano got the ball for the ninth. Gutierrez immediately made an error behind him, Napolitano walked the bags full, but the Elks could not get a hit to seal the deal and Atkins flew out to Colter to leave three on base. Samson however finished the third shutout against the Coons in four games, despite putting Starr and Monck on base in the bottom 9th. Lopez and Spicer made meager outs to end the game. 3-0 Canadiens. Wilson 2-4; Starr 2-4;

Samson is the first non-Pitcher of the Year in that sprinkling of shutouts, but he’s only a sophomore. The Raccoons were now down to 2.8 runs per game.

Game 3
VAN: SS C. Castro – 2B Kilday – 1B Whetstine – RF Lozada – C Varner – CF D. Moore – LF Chenette – 3B Yue – P Nielsen
POR: CF Wilson – 2B Gutierrez – 1B Starr – 3B Monck – C Lopez – RF Colter – LF Spicer – SS Novelo – P Nakayama

A Castro single and Whetstine double in the first inning seemed like trouble was brewing early, but Nakayama got a crucial K on Lozada beore Varner grounded out to Novelo, stranding both runners in scoring position. Kilday kept his hitting streak alive and at 17 games with a single in the third, while the Coons were still waiting for their first base knock in the contest. Their only runner so far, Gutierrez, had reached on an error by Yue. It took Nakayama to drop a 1-out single in the bottom 3rd, but he was then swiftly stranded at first base, then gave up a solo homer to Varner in the fourth, which was probably ballgame…

The offensive blackout continued unabated after that. Novelo hit a single in the fifth, which was not enough to even get back over the .100 mark, and was stranded by Nakayama, who at least kept the game close. Jaden Wilson then struck a double leading off the sixth inning for Portland… and was stranded on three pathetic outs by Gutierrez, Starr, and Monck. Dan Moore instead hit a leadoff triple and scored immediately on a sac fly by Tyler Chenette in the seventh, Nakayama’s final inning. Ramon Lopez then opened the bottom 7th with a double into the leftfield corner, scored on Colter and Spicer groundouts, 2-1, and at least we weren’t gonna be shut out AGAIN. The bar was getting precipitously low here…

McMahan found a way through beneath even that bar, putting the two left-handers he faced in the eighth on base before giving up a sac fly to Rick Atkins, and then required rescue by Cullum. Wilson struck a 1-out triple off Jesse Connors in the bottom 8th, but was stranded on a foul pop by Gutierrez and Starr’s grounder to Kilday… The ball then went to Napolitano in the ninth. He walked one guy, gave up three sharp hits for two runs, and then was immediately axed. The Coons scratched Jon McGinley for an unearned run – Kilday made an error – with a 2-out RBI single by Novelo in the bottom 9th, but that was that. 5-2 Canadiens. Wilson 2-4, 3B, 2B; Novelo 2-4, RBI; Nakayama 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, L (1-3) and 1-2;

The Garrett Napolitano (0-0, 14.85 ERA) experiment lasted seven games and 6.2 innings, in which he managed to walk eight batters and give up 14 hits. He was sent back to the Rebels for keeping.

Since Josh Carrington had not gotten the best of starts in AAA, and wasn’t rested anyway after two straight days pitching, the Coons grabbed Paul Barton, who was by now 30 years old, getting fatter every year, but never better.

Raccoons (7-9) vs. Aces (6-10) – April 23-25, 2066

The Aces were in the bottom four in both runs scored and runs allowed (cough!) so maybe we could win this series? Please? We had beaten them six-for-nine last season, so that was that. You had to get them early though, because most of the damage was on the rotation, while the pen was very steady. They also led the CL in stolen bases, but were near the bottom in defense.

Projected matchups:
Chance Fox (1-2, 3.71 ERA) vs. Gabe Molina (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
Nick Walla (2-1, 1.35 ERA) vs. Chris Monahan (0-1, 6.19 ERA)
Duarte Damasceno (1-1, 5.74 ERA) vs. Javier Huichapa (0-3, 3.43 ERA)

The Aces had three southpaw starters in the rotation, but we’d only get one, Molina, who would actually make his first start this season after six relief outings. Molina had started ten games in 52 appearances last season.

Javier Huichapa was the son of former ABL catcher Ernesto Huichapa, a 27-year-old Dominican righty who had gotten some cups of coffee with the Titans in earlier years, but hadn’t been able to break into that rotation on more than a spot start basis.

In the end the Coons could have waited out Carrington getting ready again, because rain struck on Friday and wiped out that game. We got a double header scheduled for Saturday. For that game, Jose Corral was activated from the DL and Jamie Colter (.313, 1 HR, 2 RBI) was returned to the Alley Cats.

The Aces would use the righty Monahan for the opener on Saturday. The Coons did not make a change in their pitching arrangement, but were already looking at dread towards Wednesday, when they’d need a spot starter ahead of a day off.

Game 1
LVA: LF Lorenzo – CF Marazzo – 3B Vic. Morales – C A. Gomez – 2B M. Roberts – RF Alf. Mendez – SS Medford – 1B Hade – P Monahan
POR: CF Wilson – 2B Gutierrez – 1B Starr – 3B Monck – RF Corral – C Arellano – LF Spicer – SS Novelo – P Fox

Fox allowed a run in the first as he allowed singles to Nate Marazzo, who stole second, and Alex Gomez; Vic Morales did not get him, but entered the series hitting .292 with four homers and a dozen RBI, which would easily make him the triple crown king on his old team. Rich Monck was in a 2-for-22 rut, but struck a 2-run homer in the bottom 1st with Gutierrez on base to flip the score around.

By the third inning the rain returned and before long we had a 30-minute rain delay, which surely wasn’t gonna help with anything… at least the offense died down for both sides with hardly a runner on base through the middle innings and Fox taking a 3-hitter to the seventh, although we were anxiously watching him. Monck then bungled a grounder by Daniel Medford to put a runner on first base to begin the top 7th, but former Coons catcher Angel Perez pinch-hit and went straight for the 4-6-3 double play. Fox struck out Monahan, and we’d consider that a job well done after seven rain-addled innings. Monahan also completed seven and would go into the eighth after a 1-2-3 by Cullum. He allowed an infield single to Novelo, but remained on the hill and got three straight outs from there. The Coons then gave the ball to Jesse Dover, who gave up a leadoff single to Gomez, who was run for by Koji Hatakeyama, and the speedster immediately took second. Dover struck out Alex Alfaro and Alf Mendez, but then blew the lead on a pinch-hit single by Aaron Warner to right. Perez grounded out, but the game was now even, and the Aces still went with Monahan, who was approaching 100 pitches even before Monck reached on a Hatakeyama error at second and a Corral single with one out in the bottom 9th. Monahan nailed Arellano to fill the bases, and the Aces still didn’t make a move although there were definitely people in that third base dugout. Spicer walked off the Coons with a ball to right that woulda been a double at least if a single hadn’t sufficed to end the game according to the rulebook. 3-2 Coons. Corral 2-3, BB; Novelo 2-3, 2B; Fox 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K;

Game 2
LVA: LF Lorenzo – CF Marazzo – C A. Gomez – 3B A. Alfaro – 2B M. Roberts – CF A. Warner – SS Leggett – 1B Hade – P G. Molina
POR: CF Wilson – LF Tallent – C Lopez – 3B Monck – RF Branch – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – 2B Caballero – P Walla

The second game started pronto rapido after the first one and the Coons again took a lead in the bottom 1st, this time with a Tallent double and Lopez RBI single, both to left. It rained a bit in the second inning, but only enough to keep everybody well moist, and offense was then again at the bare minimum. Walla allowed a single in each of the first three innings, but the Aces didn’t gain any lasting traction on those, but then he nailed Gabe Molina with a pitch to begin the top 6th. He then made a tactical error – hindsight would be 20/20 soon enough – when he got the lead runner out on Vic Lorenzo’s comebacker, because Lorenzo then swiped his way to third base in time to get plated on Marazzo’s grounder to short, which tied the score at one. Molina would not have scored in any capacity if Walla had gone for Lorenzo at first. Alex Gomez ended the inning with a fly to Tallent.

It then rained for real for a 40-minute rain delay in the bottom 7th, which served to knock the starting pitchers out for no-decisions, and Soriano and Adam Edge had clean eighth innings to keep the score locked. Barton made his season debut in the ninth and nicked Marazzo, but then got a double play from Alex Gomez to clean up. Edge hung around to send the game to extra innings; Tommy Branch hit a single in the bottom 9th, but with two outs, and without Starr getting the stick out of his tush. Barton now also pitched a second inning, just with less success, an walked Aaron Warner before getting bombed by Vic Morales. Welcome back, I guess? David Gaither then retired Novelo, Gutierrez, and Arellano in order to split the double header. 3-1 Aces.

This offense is actively depressing. Randy Tallent hitting .250 is the high point at this stage, but he doesn’t even qualify. Rich Monck (.237) was the ONLY qualifying Coons hitter with a clip over .183 (!!) at this stage.

When you bad, you bad.

Game 3
LVA: LF Lorenzo – CF Marazzo – SS Vic. Morales – C A. Gomez – 3B A. Alfaro – CF A. Warner – 2B Leggett – 1B Hade – P Huichapa
POR: CF Wilson – RF Corral – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – 2B Gardner – LF Spicer – SS Novelo – P Damasceno

It was cold but dry on Sunday, and the Coons again took an early lead with a Monck double and Gardner’s RBI single in the bottom 2nd. Gardner stole second, took third on Spicer’s groundout, but Novelo was bypassed with two outs to get to DD, who coldly singled up the middle to get the game’s second run home. Wilson then popped out on the first pitch to leave a pair aboard. Rich Monck extended the score to 3-0 in the bottom 3rd with a homer to right.

DD retired the first ten Aces he faced before walking Marazzo in the fourth, but then got a grounder to short from Vic Morales for a 6-4-3 ticket back to the bench. The Coons tacked on another run in the inning as Spicer singled to left, stole second, reached third when Gomez’ throw got away from Morales, and then came home on Novelo’s sac fly to Marazzo, 4-0. DD retired the Aces in order in the fifth and sixth, then came to the plate with the bases loaded and nobody out in the bottom 6th and hit into a run-scoring double play; not exactly pretty, but it did get a fifth run home for a team that was still under three per game for the season. Wilson then ended that inning as well.

Lorenzo reached base to begin the seventh, getting on when Gardner threw his grounder away for two bases. He then got himself caught stealing at third base, which was a braindead move if I ever saw one, but Marazzo then broke up the no-hitter with a single to left, only to get doubled up by Morales, now in 4-6-3 fashion. The Raccoons then sent ten men to the plate in the bottom 7th, hanging four runs (three earned) on the Aces pen as Corral singled and Lopez homered right away, while Novelo and DD would collect 2-out RBI singles against Adam Johnson later in the inning. Wilson walked to fill the bases at that point, but Corral whiffed to leave them like that. DD still had juice and carried a shutout into the ninth inning, but there gave up a leadoff double to Wally Leggett and then lost the shutout with two outs as Lorenzo singled the runner home. Marazzo grounded out to Novelo to end the game. 9-1 Furballs. Lopez 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Monck 4-5, HR, 2B, RBI; Spicer 3-5; Novelo 1-1, 2 BB, 2 RBI; Damasceno 9.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (2-1) and 2-3, BB, 2 RBI;

In other news

April 16 – Blue Sox INF Wil Mejia (.333, 3 HR, 7 RBI) hits a home run to beat the Buffos, 1-0.
April 17 – Buffaloes 3B/1B Alex de los Santos (.302, 1 HR, 7 RBI) finds his 2,000th career hit in a 5-4 win against the Blue Sox, connecting three times, with a 3-run homer in the first inning, but the milestone is a mere single against NAS SP Josh Rivera (1-1, 3.60 ERA). The 35-year-old Cuban is .276 with 261 home runs and 1,130 RBI for his career, winning a Player of the Year award and three Gold Gloves in 13 seasons with the Buffaloes.
April 17 – SFW SP Alex Dominguez (2-0, 1.25 ERA) strikes out 11 Gold Sox while also firing a 3-hit shutout in a 10-0 rout.
April 17 – The Canadiens oddly beat the Indians, 7-0 in ten innings.
April 18 – Warriors outfielder Alex Barnes (.226, 2 HR, 6 RBI) will miss six weeks on the DL after suffering a strained hammy.
April 22 – TOP 3B/1B Alex de los Santos (.333, 2 HR, 12 RBI) keeps having a good time with four hits, including a grand slam, and five RBI in a 6-5 win against the Capitals.
April 22 – The Titans make an early trade, sending INF Diego Mendoza (.220, 0 HR, 2 RBI) to the Cyclones for MR Jose Gomez (0-1, 2.35 ERA) and #165 prospect CL Chris Thompson.
April 22 – NYC SP Jeff Kozloski (0-1, 5.82 ERA) will miss three weeks with a strained oblique.
April 23 – It’s a 20-game hitting streak for SFB SS/2B Dustin Cox (.329, 5 HR, 11 RBI), who takes MIL SP Ignazio Flores (2-0, 0.93 ERA) deep in the first inning of a 7-3 loss to the Loggers to reach the 20 mark.
April 23 – MIL RF Dave Wright (.245, 1 HR, 2 RBI) would miss two weeks with an elbow sprain.
April 24 – The hitting streak of San Fran’s Dustin Cox (.313, 5 HR, 11 RBI) ends at 20 games with a hitless day in an 11-5 loss to the Loggers.
April 24 – The Falcons pick apart the Canadiens in a 19-5 game. Six different Falcons have three base hits each, and both SS/3B Trent Taylor (.328, 3 HR, 13 RBI) and LF/RF/1B Natsu Nakamura (.297, 1 HR, 8 RBI) drive in five runs each. Taylor goes deep twice and Nakamura once to help get those runs home.
April 25 – The Loggers will have to make do without 2B/SS Fidel Carrera (.286, 3 HR, 17 RBI) for at least three weeks; the 27-year-old 2064 Player of the Year was in a walking boot with a broken foot.
April 25 – A tear in his quad will keep Thunder OF Coby Thore (.364, 4 HR, 9 RBI) on the sidelines for at least a month.

FL Player of the Week (2): DEN OF/1B Vince Goll (.386, 3 HR, 12 RBI), batting .469 (15-32) with 3 HR, 7 RBI
CL Player of the Week (2): SFB SS/2B Dustin Cox (.356, 4 HR, 10 RBI), cracking .364 (12-33) with 4 HR, 7 RBI

FL Player of the Week (3): DAL OF Chad Pritchett (.392, 6 HR, 18 RBI), socking .500 (8-16) with 4 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week (3): IND C Vinny Atencio (.284, 1 HR, 9 RBI), batting .571 (12-21) with 8 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The Raccoons rank first in defense in the CL after a few weeks of games, which does not mesh that well with the league-worst 6.55 bullpen ERA. It’s being a bit of a ride at the moment, and we had a few days this week where seemingly every inning started with ball four.

The offense was beyond decrepit – they had to score nine runs on Sunday just to get to a flat three runs per game for the season – which opened options for AAA batters to get noticed. By Sunday, the Coons had a couple of candidates to come up, including infielder Manny Arredondo and outfielders Carlos Matas, Marco Campos (still around, yes), and – misplaced into pro baseball from Germany – Olaf Volkert. Let’s just say Malcolm Spicer was opening himself up for discussion with his start to the season, and the Coons infielders were just *tragic* as a whole. After Spicer’s 3-hit day on Sunday, the move was not gonna be made immediately, but he was on the clock, as was the sole remaining Rule 5er Hudson and a few infielders.

The homestand continues with six games against the Falcons and Indians, but to make up for that we’ll be mostly gone from home in May with just eight home games across the month. In fact, from the end of the homestand on March 2 we would not get a multi-series homestand again until June 8!

Fun Fact: While Javier Huichapa had begun his career with the Titans, his dad Ernesto had finished his with the Titans.

It was the last 44 games of the older Huichapa’s career, in 2041, who mostly appeared for the Falcons, and who had a huge season in 2034, winning the batting title and the home run crown with a blinding .328, 39 HR, 123 RBI season, but missed out on the triple crown. He never led the league in anything in any other season, but that was good enough for the CL Player of the Year award. He also won Rookie of the Year honors in ’32, and got two Gold Gloves and three Platinum Sticks in a career that started late and in which he failed to win a full pension with nine years and 165 days of service time.

Overall he batted .284 with 206 homers and 778 RBI for five different teams.

Westheim · 05-06-2025, 07:11 PM

Raccoons (9-10) vs. Falcons (9-8) – April 26-28, 2066

The Falcons had taken seven of nine games from the Coons last season. For the time being they were combining the #3 offense and #4 pitching, although there were asterisks all over the place. Their offense was relying on the sustainability of a .284 team batting average, while their pitching was contingent of a 1.46 bullpen ERA while the starters were getting beaten around to the tune of a 5.56 ERA. Those marks were, respectively, the best and worst in the league. They also had a bunch of injuries already, including outfielder David Flores and a couple of relievers. Infielder Trent Taylor was on the roster, but battling a bum elbow.

Projected matchups:
Juan Sanchez (1-1, 2.79 ERA) vs. Jose Lugo (0-2, 8.59 ERA)
Shoma Nakayama (1-3, 2.57 ERA) vs. Phil Baker (1-0, 1.86 ERA)
Chance Fox (1-2, 3.00 ERA) vs. Edgar Mauricio (1-3, 3.54 ERA)

The Falcons were only carrying right-handed starters.

Game 1
CHA: 3B Schmidt – CF T. Garcia – C O. Matos – 1B M. Rubin – SS Tr. Taylor – 2B Duhe – RF Nakamura – LF Padgett – P J. Lugo
POR: CF Wilson – RF Corral – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – LF Spicer – 2B Gutierrez – SS Novelo – P Sanchez

The Falcons got three hits in the first inning, which included two infield singles for John Schmidt and Trent Taylor sandwiching an Oscar Matos home run, and Sanchez also walked the bases full before getting the final out from Cody Padgett, a fly to right. The 2-0 deficit was erased by Rich Monck; not in the first, when he came up with Corral and Lopez on base and hit into an inning-ending double play, but in the third inning, when Sanchez legged out an infield single, Wilson and Lopez added more scratch singles to load the bases, and then Monck singled through the left side to get Sanchez and Wilson home and even the score at two. Slumpin’ Starr then hit a ball to deep right, but couldn’t get it out, nor beat the reach of Natsu Nakamura, and the inning ended. The Falcons got their 2-run lead right back though, because Sanchez was awful. He walked Padgett to begin the fourth, which was his fourth walk against no strikeouts in the game, and surrendered a run on Schmidt’s RBI single following Lugo’s bunt, and Tony Garcia singled Schmidt to third base, from where he scored on a Matos groundout, 4-2. Manny Rubin flew out to deep right like Starr, ending that inning.

Sanchez was yanked just one out in the fifth inning after another walk to Jared Duhe and a Nakamura single to center. Justin Cullum came in and got a double play grounder from Padgett to Gutierrez to get out of that jam. The funny part was that Lugo also had no strikeouts going for himself, but worked his way around a Nakamura error that put Jose Corral on base, and a walk to Starr in the bottom 5th anyway without surrendering a run. Lugo finally got a K on Pablo Novelo in the sixth, the Coons surrendering in order in that inning. Lugo added another scoreless inning after that, and the Raccoons drew nothing but blanks against the Falcons’ pen after him, while Hudson, McMahan, and Soriano put up scoreless, 1-hit relief combined with Cullum for 4.2 innings – all to no avail. 4-2 Falcons. Lopez 2-3, BB; Gutierrez 2-4;

Game 2
CHA: 3B Schmidt – SS Tr. Taylor – C O. Matos – 1B M. Rubin – CF T. Garcia – RF Nakamura – LF S. Brown – 2B Duhe – P P. Baker
POR: CF Wilson – RF Corral – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – LF Spicer – 2B Gutierrez – SS Novelo – P Nakayama

The Coons‘ offensive day on Tuesday started with Jaden Wilson drawing a walk and being immediately doubled up by Corral’s grounder to second. Ramon Lopez then tripled, but Monck grounded out. In turn, Manny Rubin singled to lead off the top 2nd, Monck fumbled Tony Garcia’s grounder for an error, Natsu Nakamura singled off Shoma Nakayama (be sure to bring the right one back!), and the bags were full with nobody out. The Falcons would get two runs out of this on Scott Brown’s run-scoring groundout and an RBI single to center off the stick of Jared Duhe, before Baker and Schmidt went down. The third inning then began with Oscar Matos reaching on catcher’s interference, and things went into the toilet from there with consecutive hits from Rubin and Garcia, and the Falcons got two more runs out of that inning.

Bottom 3rd, and the Raccoons had a chance to wipe the board with a Nakayama single, Wilson getting nicked, and a walk to Corral to begin the inning. Lopez batted as the tying run, hit a sac fly, and Monck batted as the tying run, and hit another sac fly, and then Joel Starr batted as the tying run, and we had run out of chances to hit more sac flies, and there was no runner on third base now anyway. Starr was hitting .141 with a lone homer and two measly RBI at this point, but doubled two of the categories with a game-tying homer to right! Yaay, he’s not quite dead yet!! (tosses Honeypaws into the air)

In the 4-4 tie, Nakayama worked around a leadoff walk in the fifth, then nicked Nakamura with force to start off the sixth inning. The two exchanged a death stare before Nakamura pretended to be unbothered and stalked to first base. He then swiftly stole second, but the Falcons’ bottom of the order failed to get him around to score from there. Stalling Nakamura at third base against PH Dan Geiger was also the last act for Nakayama in this game.

Cullum held the score tied in the seventh while the Falcons were on the second inning of relief for Tony Lira in the bottom 7th; the right-hander got Branch and Wilson out before giving up a tie-breaking homer to Jose Corral. Lopez then hit a gapper for two bases, although he thought he’d have three until convinced otherwise by Tony Garcia on the throw, and John Schmidt on the tag. The Coons somehow held on to the lead in the eighth despite Paul Barton pitching in the first place, then walking Garcia with one out. When Garvey replaced him and continued his struggles with a single allowed to Nakamura, the Falcons pinch-hit catcher Mike Seidman for the speedier Scott Brown, leading to a 6-4-3 double play and a graceless end to the inning. The ninth went to Dover, who got two groundouts in full counts from Duhe and Scott Moore, then a line drive to left that Spicer caught from Schmidt. 5-4 Coons. Lopez 3-3, 3B, 2B, RBI; Spicer 2-4;

Game 3
CHA: 3B Schmidt – CF T. Garcia – C O. Matos – 1B M. Rubin – SS Tr. Taylor – 2B Duhe – RF Nakamura – LF Padgett – P E. Mauricio
POR: CF Wilson – SS Novelo – RF Corral – 3B Monck – LF Branch – 1B Starr – C Arellano – 2B Caballero – P Fox

Fox put a pair of runners on base in both of the first two innings. He was able to escape with Trent Taylor hitting an inning-ending comebacker to him in the first, but John Schmidt drove in two runs with a double to left in the second inning to give the Falcons the early lead. The Raccoons didn’t have a hit the first time through, but Caballero drew a leadoff walk in the bottom 3rd before scoring on 1-out doubles by Wilson and Novelo. Corral then cleaned up in the worst way with a double play grounder, ending the inning, and Fox was slapped around for another three singles and a run driven in by Schmidt in the fourth. He was not fooling anybody in this game, and allowed seven hits in four innings, with Tony Garcia leaving a pair in scoring position with a grounder to Rich Monck for the third out. The Raccoons got that run back with a Monck single and Starr’s RBI double (any sign of life was appreciated) in the bottom of the inning, but remained one behind, 3-2.

The Raccoons then stopped getting hits, while Fox ached his way into the seventh inning. Tony Garcia hit a 1-out single off him, while Matos popped out. Fox was lifted for Soriano in a double switch, inserting Gardner for Caballero, but that helped little when Arellano threw away Manny Rubin’s 2-out grounder for two bases, and Trent Taylor zinged a 2-run single up the middle. Duhe grounded out to short to end the inning. McMahan and Barton would go on to collect the final outs from there, but the Coons’ offense refused to restart against Mauricio or a parade of three relievers in the eighth inning. Jason Stine, left-hander, entered for the bottom 9th with a 5-2 lead and got Arellano on strikes, but then gave up singles to Ramon Lopez (who extended a 10-game hitting streak) and Gardner to bring the tying run to the plate. Jaden Wilson drove a ball to right-center that fell between Scotts Moore and Brown to drive in a run and put the tying runs in scoring position with one out. The Raccoons had Novelo coming up as a righty batter and then had to wonder whether they could potentially find another one of those somewhere between the refreshments, but Novelo ended the game on his own with his first home run of the season, a no-doubt drive to left that sent the team pouring out of the dugout before the ball had a chance to break the plane above the fence. 6-5 Furballs!! Wilson 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Novelo 2-5, HR, 4 RBI; Corral 2-4; Lopez (PH) 1-1;

Raccoons (11-11) vs. Indians (9-12) – April 30-May 2, 2066

The Indians were back; the Raccoons had swept them to open the season, which felt like it had been a long time ago now. Indy ranked eighth in runs scored and fifth in runs allowed. Their -2 run differential hinted at the potential to move upwards again in the division, and we should not say a word about the Raccoons’ -22 mark.

Projected matchups:
Nick Walla (2-1, 1.33 ERA) vs. Keith Thompson (1-0, 4.50 ERA)
Duarte Damasceno (2-1, 4.01 ERA) vs. Vince Ellison (2-1, 3.25 ERA)
Juan Sanchez (1-2, 3.80 ERA) vs. Joe Napier (1-2, 3.67 ERA)

Only right-handers coming up in this series, since Mike DeWitt (0-3, 4.94 ERA), their only lefty starter, had gone on Thursday, the Coons’ off day.

Game 1
IND: CF E. Ramirez – SS Aredondo – LF Dowsey – 1B Starwalt – RF T. Torres – 3B M. Martin – C Atencio – 2B Falcon – P K. Thompson
POR: CF Wilson – RF Corral – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – LF Spicer – 2B Gutierrez – P Walla

Like Fox on Wednesday, Walla was beaten around quite a bit in his start as the Indians gave him the business for seven hits in the first four innings. Straight hits from Oscar Aredondo, Justin Dowsey, and Danny Starwalt plated two runs for them in the third inning, while the Coons had a Starr double the first time through and … nothing besides that, really.

It was Novelo to get the Coons on the board with a solo homer in the bottom 5th, thus going yard in back-to-back games. Spicer then singled right afterwards and was caught stealing before Gutierrez also singled and was left on by Walla. The distance was only temporary shortened to one run, however, as Jose Corral clonked a Vinny Atencio fly to right for a 2-base error leading off top of the sixth, and from there Walla walked Miguel Falcon, the runners were advanced on a bunt, and Eddy Ramirez hit an RBI single to center. Falcon also tried to score, but was thrown out by Wilson, and Walla did not allow an earned run in the inning, which ended with a K to Aredondo. Bottom 6th, and the Coons went to the corners as Thompson appeared to become more hittable; Corral and Lopez put out hits to present Monck with the tying runs, and his single over the head of Falcon shortened the score to 3-2 again. Thompson then lost Starr in a full count, filling the bases with one out… but a game-tying sac fly by Novelo was as good as it got before Spicer grounded out.

Walla held the tie through seven muddled innings, allowing ten base hits. Thompson also reached ten hits allowed in the bottom 7th on 1-out singles by Caballero and Wilson before he lost Corral in another full count. Again, the Raccoons managed a sac fly, this time by Ramon Lopez and to go ahead, but could get no more as Monck was retired for the third out. Garvey then held the Indians short in the eighth before right-hander Victor Ramirez appeared for the Indians in the bottom 8th. Joel Starr drew another walk, Novelo whiffed, Spicer singled, and Gutierrez flew out to left. Tommy Branch then batted for Garvey and whacked a 3-run homer with his eyes closed to put the game away. Cullum got the last three outs to make it happen. 7-3 Raccoons. Corral 2-3, BB, 2 2B; Starr 1-2, 2 BB, 2B; Spicer 2-4; Caballero (PH) 1-1; Branch (PH) 1-1, HR, 3 RBI;

Game 2
IND: C Atencio – SS Aredondo – LF Dowsey – 1B Starwalt – RF T. Torres – 3B M. Martin – CF Laybolt – 2B B. Ellis – P Ellison
POR: CF Wilson – RF Corral – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – LF Spicer – 2B Tallent – P Damasceno

DD was all over the place on Saturday. He walked one in the first, two in the second – and to begin the inning – and the CL Rookie of the Month, Darby Laybolt, followed up the free passes to Tony Torres and Matt Martin with an RBI single to right. The remaining runners were somehow stranded, as were Dowsey and Starwalt on base hits in the third, but the traffic was quite voluminous. Things had to go badly at some point, and the fourth began with a Laybolt single and stolen base. Ben Ellis doubled home the runner, 2-0, before Damasceno got two outs, but then walked Aredondo and gave up a 3-run homer to Dowsey for a 5-0 score. The Coons offense was nowhere to be seen, nor was Damasceno after the fourth inning.

The gap only widened with another Dowsey homer, that one for two runs and off Steven Hudson in the sixth inning. The Coons were on just two hits at that point in a 7-0 game, but Carlos Gutierrez drew a walk in the pitcher’s spot, stole a base, and then was doubled home by Corral to at least leave *a* mark on the board. Starr hit a leadoff homer in the seventh, and the Indians created more traffic with Novelo reaching base on an error by Starwalt. Spicer singled, but Tallent didn’t get more than a fielder’s choice. Tommy Branch pinch-hit with two on again, but had to settle for a sac fly, 7-3, and Wilson ended the inning calmly. Ellison nicked Lopez on base with one down in the bottom 8th, then was taken deep by Monck, cutting that deficit in half (after Dover had rescued McMahan after two walks issued in the top 8th), but Dover then gave up a 2-run homer of his own to Matt Martin in the ninth inning, and that was the ballgame for good then. Dover issued another walk to Laybolt, and that runner was waved home by Garvey, when he gave up a 2-out triple to Vinny Atencio… and then another RBI single to Aredondo. 11-5 Indians. Starr 2-4, HR, RBI; Spicer 2-4;

Ramon Lopez ended an 11-game hitting streak in this game.

One day we’ll fix the pitching.

One day.

Maybe I’ll still be alive then.

Game 3
IND: CF E. Ramirez – RF T. Torres – 3B M. Martin – 1B Starwalt – LF Dowsey – 2B Falcon – SS B. Ellis – C J. Edwards – P Napier
POR: CF Wilson – RF Corral – C Lopez – 3B Monck – LF Branch – 1B Spicer – SS Tallent – 2B Gutierrez – P Sanchez

A hit batter and a walk in the first; an error and two singles in the second; and then three singles to start the third inning – the Indians were crowding Juan Sanchez in an uncomfortable way to begin the rubber game. They left all five runners on base in the first two innings, but Sanchez wouldn’t Houdini his way out of the most recent mess, despite getting a pop to shallow center for no gains from Miguel Falcon. He walked in a run against Ellis, John Edwards hit an RBI single, and while Napier struck out, Eddy Ramirez slapped in two more runs with a ball through the left side, and the Indians were up 4-0 again. Tony Torres was rung up to end the miserable inning. Meanwhile, the Coons through three innings? One runner. Spicer had singled and been stranded in the second.

Bottom 4th, Corral reached on an error by Ben Ellis. Lopez’ triple in the right-center gap got the Coons on the board, and Monck hit an RBI single through between Falcon and Starwalt, to bring the tying run to the plate. Napier walked Branch, Spicer grounded out, Tallent hit a sac fly, 4-3, but an intentional walk to Gutierrez and Sanchez went down to end the inning.

Sanchez departed after six busy innings – the first three much more so than the last three – and was still behind by a run. Monck singled his way on base in the bottom 6th, but was forced out by Branch, who gained a base on an errant pickoff attempt and then scored the tying run on a 2-out single by Randy Tallent, all even at four! Tallent then stole second, after which the Indians curiously walked Gutierrez with intent again, as if they didn’t see Joel Starr in the on-deck circle. Starr promptly punished them with a go-ahead RBI single zinged past a diving Falcon, 5-4! Jaden Wilson then killed Napier for good with a 2-run double into the rightfield corner before Melvin Guerra restored order with a groundout from Corral to end the inning.

The Coons now had to get nine outs with a 3-run lead and their dunderheaded bullpen, which sounded like a challenge. Cullum collected three in a quick seventh before things went to McMahan in the eighth and Laybolt and Torres appeared on the corners before long. The Coons brought Soriano for Martin with two outs, the triple switch removing Branch from the game, while Tallent went out to left and Novelo entered at short. All the shenanigans helped little when the Indians hit back-to-back RBI singles to rightfield to narrow the score to 7-6, before Dowsey popped out to short. The Raccoons passed on the chance to tack on, despite Gutierrez singling and stealing a base and Wilson getting nicked on base with two outs. Brian McLaughlin came in and struck out Corral to end the bottom 8th, and now what? Dover had been beaten up for 28 pitches the day before, Garvey had pitched two days in a row, and the only other pitchers left in the pen were Barton and Hudson, neither of whom screamed “circle of trust” (although that was true for the entire roster). We stuck with Soriano, who allowed a leadoff single to Falcon, who was – as tying run – immediately run for with blitzing fast Matthew Parker. Ellis popped out. Edwards grounded out to third, moving the runner along. Aredondo pinch-hit in the #9 spot, struck out, and Juan Soriano escaped with a save…! 7-6 Raccoons. Monck 2-4, RBI; Starr (PH) 1-1, RBI;

In other news

April 26 – Rebels INF/RF Robby Cox (.206, 0 HR, 2 RBI) is done for the season after tearing his posterior cruciate ligament.
April 26 – Pacifics SP Joel Luera (1-1, 2.45 ERA) might miss up to two months with a tear in his meniscus.
April 27 – Season over as well for SFW SP Alex Dominguez (2-1, 2.19 ERA), having his kneecap broken on a comebacker line drive.
April 27 – DAL SP Andy Canada (4-0, 1.55 ERA) throws a 3-hit shutout to beat the Blue Sox, 6-0.
April 28 – Titans SP Will Glaude (1-1, 2.79 ERA) is expected to miss a month with a strained biceps tendon suffered in the second inning of a 14-3 rout of the Knights. The Titans land 13 hits and draw 15 walks in that game; every position player in the lineup walks at least once.
April 29 – In three CL games on this Thursday, all road teams are shut out. The Knights beat the Titans, 5-0, the Condors win 4-0 against the Indians, and the Thunder have just two hits in a 2-0 win against the Loggers.
April 30 – The Scorpions engage in not one, but two deals at the end of April, trading C/1B John Vaillancourt (.268, 2 HR, 8 RBI) to the Rebs for INF/LF Jon Barrientos (.211, 1 HR, 5 RBI); and LF/RF/1B Josh Bursley (.214, 0 HR, 1 RBI) and $3M in cash go to the Bayhawks for 1B Jared McLaughlin (.292, 0 HR, 8 RBI).
May 1 – The Warriors’ veteran RF/3B/2B/LF Adam Peltier (.257, 3 HR, 12 RBI) finds his 2,000th base hit at age 38 with a single in a 6-5 loss to the Wolves. Peltier was on his fourth ABL team in a 16-year career, batting .277 with 141 home runs and 909 RBI. He had won a Gold Glove along the way.
May 1 – Thunder catcher Travis Anderson (.333, 1 HR, 1 RBI) goes yard to beat the Aces, 1-0.
May 1 – The Knights beat the Condors, 7-5 in 15 innings.
May 1 – The Bayhawks take even longer – 17 innings – to beat the Falcons, 6-5. Before pushing the winning run across on three singles in the top of the 17th inning, the Bayhawks had gone a dozen innings without scoring and had blown a 5-0 lead in the process.
May 2 – The Rebels get flogged by the Buffaloes, 15-0. The Buffos put out 15 hits and draw 12 walks, while C J.P. Jack (.267, 2 HR, 16 RBI) leads them with four RBI on three hits, including a double.

FL Player of the Week: SAL 3B/RF Eric Frasher (.322, 7 HR, 21 RBI), cranking .368 (7-19) with 4 HR, 13 RBI
CL Player of the Week: IND CF/LF/1B/3B Matt Martin (.320, 2 HR, 16 RBI), clipping .462 (12-26) with 1 HR, 4 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: DAL OF Chad Pritchett (.364, 6 HR, 21 RBI)
CL Hitter of the Month: MIL INF Kyle Reber (.346, 3 HR, 19 RBI)
FL Pitcher of the Month: NAS CL Curt Carter (3-0, 1.54 ERA, 8 SV)
CL Pitcher of the Month: BOS SP Jason Brenize (5-0, 1.53 ERA)
FL Rookie of the Month: DEN OF Chris Tuck (.291, 0 HR, 5 RBI)
CL Rookie of the Month: IND LF/CF/2B Darby Laybolt (.400, 1 HR, 5 RBI)

Complaints and stuff

The team narrowly climbed out of the cellar for runs scored in the CL on Sunday, even though it was hard to believe that barely scoring 3.5 runs per game could even get you to 11th in the league. As it was, the Aces had sunk to 3.4, so that was their problem. At the same time, the pen was also 11th in ERA in the league.

No it was not going great, and I wasn’t quite sure how we were (just) above .500 at this point. And we were gonna run out of Indians games at some point…

Midwest week coming up next with games in Milwaukee and Nashville. The poor Loggers had found last place once more, but the Blue Sox were atop their division right now.

Fun Fact: Juan Soriano’s age is a bigger number than his number of career games.

The right-handed former scouting discovery that ended up in Portland as a waiver claim in ’64 and then immediately got hurt and vanished to AAA for the rest of that season and most of the next turned 29 years old in April. His first career save on Sunday, which came more in “aw shucks” fashion than in any sort of plan, came in his 26th career game, all but one of which he contested as a Raccoon. He made one appearance for the Stingers in ’62, then two in ’64, 13 last year, and now ten this season for the Brownshirts.

For what little career he’s been having, he’s 0-1 with a 3.33 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 24.1 innings.

Westheim · 05-07-2025, 02:32 PM

Raccoons (13-12) @ Loggers (9-15) – May 3-6, 2066

The Loggers were colder than a body that had been dead for two weeks, entering this four-game series on a 7-game losing streak. They were third in runs scored in the CL with almost five runs per game and yet managed to give up almost a full run more themselves, easily the most runs allowed in the league. Both their starters and relievers had ERA’s over five as groups. To add injury to insult, they were without Fidel Carrera and Dave Wright for this series, and starter Nick Waldron was probably out for the year. The Loggers had won 12 of 18 games against the Coons last year.

Projected matchups:
Shoma Nakayama (1-3, 2.91 ERA) vs. Girolamo Pizzichini (0-2, 8.61 ERA)
Chance Fox (1-2, 3.23 ERA) vs. Ignazio Flores (2-1, 1.32 ERA)
Nick Walla (3-1, 1.59 ERA) vs. Oliver Graham (1-1, 5.40 ERA)
Duarte Damasceno (2-2, 5.02 ERA) vs. Luis Palacios (1-1, 4.99 ERA)

Right, left, right left coming up. Palacios had the second-best ERA in that rotation.

Game 1
POR: CF Wilson – LF Spicer – RF Tallent – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – C Arellano – 2B Gutierrez – P Nakayama
MIL: LF Franks – CF Merrill – 1B C. Ramirez – RF C. Dominguez – 2B Goss – SS Reber – C Guitreau – 3B Murcia – P Pizzichini

While the Loggers stacked up five capable left-handed batters at the top of their lineup against Nakayama, they struggled to put him under pressure, and if anything it was the four right-handed batters at the bottom of the lineup that got three of the Loggers’ four hits through five innings against him that were causing most of the trouble. They didn’t score, and in fact, nobody scored an earned run through five; the Raccoons did take a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Arellano reached on a 2-base throwing error by Tim Goss and was then singled around to score by Carlos Gutierrez. That was it until the sixth when Monck singled and was doubled home by Novelo to make it 2-0. In between the Coons had hit into double plays in consecutive innings to make sure that lead wouldn’t get outta paw. Nakayama was still clicking through seven, while the Loggers were getting long relief from Jose Soto after “Pizza” Pizzichini allowed that second run. He walked Starr with two outs in the eighth before allowing straight soft singles to Novelo and Arellano to fill the bases, and then had to watch Rafael Murcia fail to play a Gutierrez roller with the necessary vigor to get the third out at any base. Instead the Coons scored their third run on the infield single. At that point we left Nakayama in to bat for himself, and he grounded out to short. He got two more outs in the bottom 8th before a Jonathan Merrill single and a walk to Cesar Ramirez knocked him out. Garvey got young Carlos Dominguez to ground out to Starr to end the inning, then continued in the ninth inning to finish out the game even when Tommy Guitreau singled with two outs. 3-0 Raccoons. Wilson 3-5, 3B; Novelo 3-4, 2B, RBI; Gutierrez 2-4, 2 RBI; Nakayama 7.2 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K, W (2-3) and 1-4; Garvey 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, SV (3);

Jaden Wilson, who finally reached the .200 mark again with the stick on Monday, got Tuesday off against the timely left-handed hurler.

Game 2
POR: SS Novelo – RF Tallent – C Lopez – 3B Monck – CF Branch – 1B Starr – 2B Caballero – LF Spicer – P Fox
MIL: SS Reber – 2B Gilliam – LF C. Ramirez – 1B D. Robles – RF C. Dominguez – C Guitreau – CF Franks – 3B Willoughby – P I. Flores

Kyle Reber punked Chance Fox for a leadoff jack in the bottom 1st; Tyler Gilliam also reached base, but was doubled off by Dave Robles, and the Coons tied up the game in the top 2nd as Monck got on base and was driven in by Jorge Caballero with a 2-out single. Unfortunately it looked like more hard contact and loud noises would come out of Fox in this start, and soon enough he was befuddled enough to allow a leadoff single to Flores in the bottom 3rd before balking the runner to third base after a Reber groundout. Gilliam then grounded out to Monck to keep the runner pinned and Cesar Ramirez flew out to Tallent in right to bring a lucky end to the inning.

Top 4th, the Coons got a chance outta thin air when Ramon Lopez reached on an error by Devin Willoughby and Branch was nicked on base, but Joel Starr found a 4-6-3 double play to hit into, ending the inning. Things only got worse from there as Chance Fox oversaw a Robles groundout to begin the bottom 4th, but then motioned for the trainer and left the game with Luis Silva… Paul Barton came in for long relief and got out of the fourth, then struck out the side in the fifth inning. The Coons drew walks with Tallent and Lopez to begin the top 6th and then croaked, and Barton did the same in the bottom 6th, giving up a go-ahead homer to Ramirez before walking Robles and Dominguez. Unlike the Coons, the Loggers did not make straight pathetic outs from there, loaded the bases with a Guitreau single, but Barton was replaced with McMahan against Scott Franks, who flew out to left. Robles made for home and was thrown out at the plate by Spicer for a double play, and Willoughby grounded out to Novelo to end the inning, Milwaukee only up 2-1.

Now, if only the Raccoons could find some more offense; they got Spicer on base in the seventh, but left him there, before Ramon Lopez doubled himself into scoring position to begin the eighth against righty Angelo Ramirez, left over from the seventh, who was removed for lefty Vincent Hernandez immediately afterwards. Monck grounded out, advancing the runner, and Branch’s sac fly to center against righty Jose Soto tied the score at two. Soto then left injured as well after a 2-out walk to Starr, but Steve Slye got out of the inning against the pinch-hitting Gutierrez, who popped out to short. The Loggers immediately reclaimed the lead in the bottom 8th against Soriano. Sunday’s hero issued a walk to Dominguez and then gave up a go-ahead double to Franks… When Spicer led off the ninth with a single against lefty Steve Keller, Soriano was kept around to bunt, getting the tying run into scoring position, but both Novelo and Tallent made meek outs and the Loggers snapped their losing streak at eight games. 3-2 Loggers. Spicer 3-4;

The last thing the Coons needed was losing a starting pitcher…

Luis Silva was mum about Fox initially though, so no roster moves were made immediately.

Game 3
POR: CF Wilson – RF Corral – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – LF Spicer – 2B Gardner – P Walla
MIL: LF Franks – CF Merrill – 1B C. Ramirez – RF C. Dominguez – 2B Goss – SS Reber – C Guitreau – 3B Murcia – P O. Graham

The 2-3-4 core of those five left-handed bats atop the Loggers order gave Walla fits in his game, maybe more so than his own offense that left Corral in the first and Spicer in the second inning at third base respectively without scoring. Instead, the Loggers took a 1-0 lead in the bottom 3rd when Merrill walked with two outs and was driven in with a Ramirez single and a Dominguez RBI double before Tim Goss grounded out. Merrill and Ramirez would then go to the corners in the fifth inning and Dominguez came up with one out, but spanked a grounder at Joe Gardner for a 4-6-3 double play. In between, Gardner had gotten the Coons going with a leadoff single in the top 5th, only to be forced out on Walla’s bad bunt. Corral and Lopez hit 2-out singles, though, and Walla scored on the second knock… on which Corral also was killed dead in a rundown between second and third to end the inning after the tying run scored.

Top 6th, and singles by Monck and Spicer gave the Coons a 2-1 lead. Gardner was walked intentionally and Walla popped out to end the inning, but at least got another four outs from the Loggers before the lineup flipped over again and we went to Garvey instead, who struck out Franks and got a groundout from Merrill to complete seven, but then put Ramirez and Goss on base with a single and walk, respectively, in the bottom 8th. The Raccoons sent for Jesse Dover instead, potentially for a 5-out save, and he got Reber on a fly to center and Guitreau on strikes to wiggle out of the jam.

A tack-on run came from an unexpected angle when Malcolm Spicer took Angelo Ramirez deep to lead off the ninth inning. Jaden Wilson reached on an error with two outs and stole second base, but was left on by Corral, who flew out to deep center. Dover then retired Rafael Murcia and Mario Alaniz, right-handed batters, but the lineup flipped over again and Franks promptly doubled to left. Dover fought Merrill to a 2-2 count before the Logger hit a pop behind short. Novelo hustled backwards, turned left, turned right, and then made a catch over the shoulder to end the ballgame…! 3-1 Raccoons. Corral 2-4, BB, 2B; Monck 2-4; Spicer 3-4, HR, 2 RBI; Walla 6.1 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, W (4-1); Dover 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, SV (4);

But we can’t have nice things, so Luis Silva told us on Thursday morning that Chance Fox had a tear in the flexor tendon in his elbow and was going to be out for the next 12 months. Since he was on an expiring contract, that essentially ended his Raccoons career.

(sullenly stuffs snout with cookies)

The Raccoons needed a starter for Sunday regardless, for which we’d reserve AAA’s Vinny Morales to make his ABL debut at age 25. The right-hander had been taken in the third round in the 2063 draft and was 1-0 with a 2.48 ERA in five starts this season. Last year he had posted a 5.24 ERA in AAA, though. He had a groundball tendency, but also a tendency to leave something right in the middle of the plate from where it would get tattooed.

Morales was not called up right away, though, as the Raccoons opted to use the temporarily open roster spot to give infielder Manny Arredondo, a minor league free agent signing, a shout for three days. Arrendondo was a left-handed singles slapper with speed that could adequately fill all infield spots to the left of Joel Starr.

Game 4
POR: SS Novelo – RF Corral – C Lopez – LF Branch – CF Tallent – 1B Starr – 2B Caballero – 3B Arredondo – P Damasceno
MIL: C Guitreau – CF Merrill – 1B C. Ramirez – RF C. Dominguez – 2B Goss – SS Reber – LF Alaniz – 3B Murcia – P L. Palacios

The Raccoons drew nothing but blanks against Palacios for six innings, while DD did what he could, which included some traffic, but also a catlike play on a Dominguez grounder to get the third out in the third inning when Guitreau and Merrill were in scoring position and ready to come home. Things went pear-shaped just an inning later, though, when a Starr error put Tim Goss on base, and then Reber singled, Alaniz tripled, and Murcia’s groundout made it 3-0 inside of five pitches. The inning almost escalated further with a 2-out double to right from Guitreau and a walk issued to Merrill, but Ramirez then grounded out to first to keep those two on base. The Raccoons were adrift until the seventh, when soft contact put Tallent and Caballero on the corners with one out. Manny Arrendondo had yet to do much, and grounded out to first, but that was still good enough to get Tallent home and the Critters on the board, 3-1. Monck batted for DD as the tying run, but grounded out to keep Caballero on second base.

Both teams were in their pen and the Loggers’ Vincent Hernandez appeared but briefly, allowed two singles to Novelo and Corral to begin the eighth, and then was replaced with Aiden Shaw. Lopez slapped another bloop single to left, filling the bags with nobody out. From there, Spicer batted for Branch and struck out; Wilson did *not* hit for Tallent, who struck out; and Starr rolled over on a groundout, and nobody ******* scored. Marcos Arellano would go on and hit a pinch-hit homer to left off Steve Keller in the ninth inning, but that was with two outs, nobody on, and without any further offensive heroics coming from Novelo, the next guy up. 3-2 Loggers. Novelo 2-5; Lopez 3-3, BB; Arellano (PH) 1-1, HR, RBI;

Raccoons (15-14) @ Blue Sox (18-10) – May 7-9, 2066

The Raccoons had to venture on to Nashville, where soon chaos broke out when Juan Sanchez, their starter for the first game, woke up with migraines on Friday and first thing in the morning barfed up his entire hotel room. He was day-to-day officially, but there was no way he could pitch like that and the Raccoons had to emergency-airlift the next available starter from AAA for that night’s game against the FL’s #8 offense, but second-best pitching. Their bullpen had a 1.54 ERA that the Coons would hardly put scratches into. These teams had met in 2065, when the Sox won two of three games.

Projected matchups:
Sandy Pineda (0-0) vs. Edwin Moreno (2-3, 4.06 ERA)
Shoma Nakayama (2-3, 2.38 ERA) vs. Josh Rivera (2-1, 2.93 ERA)
Vinny Morales (0-0) vs. Ken McDonald (2-3, 3.89 ERA)

We’d get two more left-handers to begin this series, and a right-hander for the finale.

The pitching emergency voided the last two days of the Arredondo (0-for-3, RBI) trial, and the Raccoons brought up Sandy Pineda, who was 4-1 with a 2.30 ERA in St. Pete after having gotten on the snout last season, much like Vinny Morales. Pineda, a 25-year-old southpaw, had been a #31 pick five years ago and had arrived in that trade that sent Tipsy Bobby Herrera, Nick Robinson, and Angel Perez to the Capitals in ’62, along with Applecore and Kyle Pisciotti, the former being also around in AAA and the latter having since washed out.

Game 1
POR: SS Novelo – RF Corral – CF Tallent – 3B Monck – LF Branch – 1B Spicer – 2B Caballero – C Arellano – P Pineda
NAS: CF Aracena – 1B DiPrimio – RF A. Gordon – LF Roman – C D. Johnson – 3B Healey – SS W. Mejia – 2B Kocot – P E. Moreno

Nobody had seen Pineda’s ABL debut here coming, including Pineda and the Blue Sox, who seemed to have an incomplete scouting report on him, which gave Pineda a free first run through the order – except for A.J. Kocot, a 30-year-old AAA veteran with just blips of ABL experience … but he knew Pineda from the minors and singled to right after seven straight Sox were sat down. By the fourth, however, they had his number and socked four straight hits to begin the inning between a Kris DiPrimio double, Austin Gordon’s single, another double for Tony Roman, and David Johnson’s single. Three runs scored in the inning, while Edwin Moreno had yet to put a Critter on base. The Sox would get two more base runners against Pineda in the fifth, but he soldiered through and pitched seven innings against the first-place team, which was commendable given the circumstances, even though he was well on track for a loss in his debut, given that Edwin Moreno still wasn’t allowing any base runners. He had the Coons down through six, through seven, and still had plenty of gas in the tank, even before Monck, Branch, and Spicer all popped out on three consecutive pitches, to three different infielders, in the eighth inning. Steven Hudson pitched a 1-2-3 bottom 8th, but all the excitement was about Moreno now, who was three batters away from history – and then Jorge Caballero singled to right on a string to lead off the ninth inning. The Sox whisked Moreno away at once after a 24-for-25 outing, giving the ball to Curt Carter, who struck out Arellano, walked Wilson, struck out Novelo, and got Corral on a pop to Kocot. 3-0 Blue Sox. Pineda 7.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, L (0-1);

Pineda was gone by dawn on Saturday and the Raccoons now brought up Vinny Morales for the Sunday start.

Game 2
POR: CF Wilson – SS Novelo – C Lopez – 3B Monck – RF Tallent – LF Branch – 1B Starr – 2B Caballero – P Nakayama
NAS: 3B Healey – 1B DiPrimio – RF A. Gordon – LF Roman – 2B W. Mejia – CF Ricker – C Feldbusch – SS Kocot – P Jo. Rivera

Wilson and Lopez drew walks in the opening frame, not that that led anywhere nice. Nakayama then walked Kris DiPrimio, gave up a double to Austin Gordon, a single to Tony Roman, both driving in the runner ahead of them, and the Sox were up 2-0. This already described almost half of the total base runners from the start of the game to the seventh-inning stretch, but the Raccoons made sure to at least show some token offense with some of the struggle bus kids in fhe fourth inning when Tommy Branch hit a 2-out single, was doubled home by Starr, and then Caballero walked, but Nakayama grounded out to end the inning. Monck hit a leadoff single in the sixth, which led nowhere, and suddenly we were already in the bottom 7th. Nakayama was still going and clicking off batters trailing 2-1, but Rivera had only pitched six innings before being replaced, but the Coons looked just as witless against the bullpen. Randy Tallent hit a deep fly to center to conclude the eighth, which was … at least loud?

Top 9th, and Curt Carter allowed a leadoff single to Branch, putting the tying run on base. Starr whiffed before Spicer batted for Caballero and singled to left-center. Branch went aggro for third base, the Sox briefly bobbled the ball in no man’s land, and Spicer moved up to second with the go-ahead run and one out. Corral batted for Nakayama, who had finished eight innings, but then had to watch Corral strike out on three pitches, bringing Jaden Wilson to the plate. Wilson drove a 2-0 pitch to left-center, pretty deep, but not deep enough to beat Tony Roman… 2-1 Blue Sox. Branch 2-3, BB; Spicer (PH) 1-1; Nakayama 8.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, L (2-4);

Game 3
POR: CF Wilson – RF Corral – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – LF Spicer – 2B Gutierrez – P Morales
NAS: CF Aracena – 1B DiPrimio – LF Roman – C D. Johnson – 3B Healey – RF Ricker – 2B S. McLaughlin – SS Kocot – P K. McDonald

Morales was both hittable and kept it on the ground, and so Fernando Aracena singled in the first and was doubled off by Roman; Rick Healey singled in the second and was doubled off by Kyle Ricker; and Sean McLaughlin and Kocot opened the third inning with two singles, but McDonald banged the ball back to Morales on the bunt, and the Coons twisted it into a 1-5-3 double play, somehow! Kocot was left on second base by Aracena flying out to right. The Coons also scattered singles, and failed to reach third base in the first four innings despite SIX base hits before the Sox took a 1-0 lead in the fourth on a David Johnson homer to left.

For an answer, the Raccoons got a 2-out single to right from Corral in the fifth inning. Lopez doubled to left, but Corral held at third base, and then Monck flew out gingerly to Tony Roman, because that would teach the Blue Sox…! They were so impressed, they ran up the score in the bottom 5th with Ricker and Kocot singles, a 2-out walk to Aracena, and then a bases-clearing double over the head of Jaden Wilson whacked by Kris DiPrimio that put Morales down 4-0. He struck out Roman to complete the inning, got two more outs to begin the bottom 6th, but then nicked Ricker and was then torn to shreds on straight singles by the 7-8-9 batters that brought in a run, and another single allowed by Soriano that scored another, 6-0. Hudson followed and pitched into a bases-loaded trouble, and then out of it again with a pop from McLaughlin to Corral in shallow right, and a K on Kocot to strand the bags full in the seventh. McDonald lasted seven and two thirds, allowing a meager eighth-inning run on hits by Monck, Novelo, and Spicer before Roberto Navarro came in and saw off Carlos Gutierrez, and that was about it. 6-1 Blue Sox. Corral 3-5; Lopez 2-5, 2B; Monck 2-4; Novelo 2-4; Spicer 3-4, RBI;

In other news

May 3 – Dallas OF Chad Pritchett (.342, 8 HR, 26 RBI) tags SAC SP Jay Williams (3-2, 3.08 ERA) for a grand slam for his 2,000th career base hit in a 5-3 against the Scorpions. All of the 34-year-old’s hits have come with the Stars, with whom he has batted .278 with 234 homers and 1,085 RBI over the years, winning two World Series titles and six stolen base titles, all in his 20s. For his career he had 443 steals, but none so far this season.
May 5 – The Condors beat the Thunder, 1-0 in 12 innings. After lots of trying, TIJ OF/2B/SS Mike Pinault (.254, 5 HR, 16 RBI) singles home the winning run in the top of the 12th.
May 6 – Rebels OF Jeremy Jenkins (.240, 4 HR, 12 RBI) was expected to miss three weeks with a bruise to his wrist.
May 6 – Dallas INF Adam Yocum (.342, 0 HR, 11 RBI) has a finger broken in an on-base collision and will miss at least a month.
May 6 – The Miners win in walkoff fashion, 9-8 in 14 innings, against the Buffaloes after both teams previously scored three runs each in the 12th.
May 9 – Wolves RF/LF Javier Acuna (.321, 1 HR, 11 RBI) would miss a month with a torn meniscus.

FL Player of the Week: DAL RF/LF/1B Juan de Luna (.275, 7 HR, 22 RBI), bashing .440 (11-25) with 3 HR, 12 RBI
CL Player of the Week: NYC C Victor Reyna (.306, 3 HR, 17 RBI), batting .478 (11-23) with 2 HR, 8 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Bum week. Chance Fox has been lost for the season / forever given the contract situation, and the offense scored their 100th run of the season on Saturday, in the team’s 31st game of the season. Not sure how we’re third in the division, but it’s not gonna last. I hope the Crusaders and Titans have fun up there.

The Fox injury tears a hole into the rotation, which was beleaguered this week after Juan Sanchez was also incapacitated by migraines on the weekend (aka when we needed him to take his turn). We have Thursday off, which means the fifth starter is not required the next time through the rotation. The plan is now to start Walla on regular rest against the Stingers on Monday, then slide Sanchez back in for the second game, and then we still have DD for the finale. So Vinny Morales won’t hang around; a fifth starter will be required once on the 19th, again on the 29th, and then not again until June 12, so we might get away with rotating spot starts for a while longer.

What about Josh Carrington coming back? Well maybe not as long as he has a 6+ ERA in St. Pete…

Besides three games at home against the Stingers, the Raccoons would also start a new 4-city road trip next Friday with three games in Elk City. Boston, Tijuana, and San Fran also on that itinerary.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons this week played six straight games in which neither they nor their opponents managed to score more than three runs.

The word “fun” is getting increasingly abused around here…

Westheim · 05-09-2025, 08:14 AM

Raccoons (15-17) vs. Scorpions (12-20) – May 10-12, 2066

The Raccoons returned home for a single 3-game set against the Stingers, who were bottoms in the FL West with a productive offense and a beleaguered pitching staff; both their rotation and bullpen ranked in the bottom three in ERA in the Federal League, and they were giving up the second-most runs overall. The Raccoons had won the last two meetings with the Scorpions, including two out of three games last season.

Projected matchups:
Nick Walla (4-1, 1.56 ERA) vs. Freddy Castillo (1-1, 4.62 ERA)
Juan Sanchez (2-2, 4.25 ERA) vs. Curt Green (1-3, 5.91 ERA)
Duarte Damasceno (2-3, 4.67 ERA) vs. Kenny Donnelly (3-1, 5.18 ERA)

Castillo, the sole southpaw to come up here, had gotten his start in the majors as a Raccoon before having been traded to the Stingers at the deadline two years ago to inexplicably retrieve Ryan Harmer.

The Coons entered with a roster move, optioning Vinny Morales (0-1, 9.53 ERA) back to St. Petersburg for outfielder Marco Campos, who had last appeared in the majors in 2064 and was hitting .303 in AAA at age 27. He was also a righty batter and why not give him another shake as an supernumerary outfielder?

Game 1
SAC: CF Oldfield – RF Buras – C Danis – LF Anker – SS Gallo – 1B J. McLaughlin – 2B F. Martinez – 3B Barrientos – P F. Castillo
POR: CF Wilson – SS Novelo – C Lopez – 3B Monck – LF Branch – 1B Tallent – RF Campos – 2B Caballero – P Walla

Walla was not overly convincing from the start, scattering three hits the first time through the order before getting tagged for a 3-spot in the fourth inning, which began with a leadoff double to right by Grant Anker. The former Baybird scored on a Jared McLaughlin single, and with two outs Jon Barrientos went yard to give Sacramento a 3-0 lead. Was it even worth relating that the Raccoons were not doing anything good in terms of hitting and/or scoring in yet another game? Walla never really improved; twice he walked the leadoff batter in an inning, and in the seventh he allowed a leadoff single to Castillo before conceding the run on a 2-out double by Nate Danis. He was yanked, and replacement Steven Hudson fooled the bags full against Anker and J.P. Gallo, but McLaughlin was retired by Tommy Branch hustling into the left-center gap to keep the bases loaded. Branch struck a triple off Castillo with one out in the bottom 7th and scored on Tallent’s grounder to second base, 4-1. Branch’s triple was the fourth and final Raccoons hit in a listless loss. 4-1 Scorpions. Branch 1-2, BB, 3B;

Game 2
SAC: 2B A. Castillo – CF Oldfield – C Danis – LF Anker – SS Gallo – RF E. Maldonado – 1B F. Martinez – 3B Barrientos – P C. Green
POR: CF Wilson – LF Spicer – RF Corral – 3B Monck – SS Novelo – 1B Starr – 2B C. Gutierrez – C Arellano – P Sanchez

Sanchez pitched again on eight days’ rest after illness wiped out his start on Friday; this time, weather threatened to get in the way, and while the game started on time, the dark clouds overhead spelled trouble from the get-go. J.P. Gallo took him deep to left for a 1-0 Scorpions lead in the second inning, but the Raccoons came back with Monck and Novelo hits and a Carlos Gutierrez sac fly to tie the game in the same frame. Nate Danis shrugged and homered again in the third inning, 2-1, while the Coons had both Wilson and Spicer on base in the bottom 3rd and they were caught stealing in succession.

After four innings it started to rain, and the Scorpions quickly tacked on a run with Alex Castillo and Cory Oldfield hits in the top 5th, extending their lead to 3-1 against Sanchez, who looked lacking in stuff and doubting his own tosses. The game then cleared the bottom 5th without the Raccoons amounting to anything but wasted oxygen, and from there the way was free to a rain-shortened loss if the baseball gods and umpires were to divine so. The game promptly went to a rain delay in the top 6th, which lasted 55 minutes and chased Sanchez after 5.2 innings mediocre innings. Soriano and then Garvey were pitching the Coons to the stretch in what felt like a lost game, even though the score was only 3-1 still.

Bottom 7th, and the Raccoons got the leadoff man Corral on base when right-hander Ben Dickson walked him in a full count. Monck then doubled to left, putting the tying runs in scoring position with nobody out. Novelo struck out, Starr struck out, and Branch pinch-hit for Garvey in the #7 spot and … flew out to Grant Anker. (hits head against wall in the office repeatedly)

Top 8th, Paul Barton got the ball, got an out from Danis, then walked Anker on four pitches. Gallo popped out, but Barton kept shaking his arm and drew unwanted attention from Luis Silva, who looked a bit worn out at this point. McMahan replaced the injured pitcher and got Elmer Maldonado to fly out to end the inning, then also did the ninth inning. With all that additional drama it was still just a 3-1 game, but the Raccoons did nothing in the bottom 8th, but righty Tony Torres walked Corral with one out to bring Monck to the plate as the tying run, which was by now our only hope. Monck hit a single on 2-0, then looked on with some dismay as Novelo flew out easily to shallow center, and Starr popped out over home plate to end the bloody ballgame. 3-1 Scorpions. Monck 3-4, 2B;

There were no news on Barton on Wednesday, ahead of the off day, and I kept checking the train schedule posted on the wall next to the door to Maud’s office, but it didn’t say a word about when the ******* offense would finally arrive.

Game 3
SAC: 2B A. Castillo – RF Buras – LF Anker – SS Gallo – CF Oldfield – C Solomon – 1B A. Gutierrez – 3B Barrientos – P Donnelly
POR: LF Spicer – RF Corral – C Lopez – 3B Monck – CF Branch – 1B Starr – 2B C. Gutierrez – SS Gardner – P Damasceno

The Coons were threatening to slip under THREE runs per game for the season again, and immediately wasted Corral and Monck singles in the first inning. Starr struck a double to left to begin the bottom 2nd, and the rain began to fall again. Joe Gardner drew a 1-out walk with Starr on third after Gutierrez’ groundout before we had another hour of rain delay right there in the bottom 2nd. DD eventually got back in the box and grounded out, scoring Starr from second base, but Spicer grounded out to Alex Gutierrez to end the inning. DD had only thrown 26 pitches in the first two innings and returned to the hill, but immediately in the top 3rd gave up a 2-out game-tying homer to Alex Castillo. Will Buras singled to center, Anker doubled to center, Buras tried to score from first base, but was thrown out at the plate by Branch, ending the inning.

Bottom 4th, Starr and Gutierrez reached base to begin the inning and advanced on Gardner’s groundout. The Raccoons were not ready to part with DD, who was hitting .273 anyway and had almost as many RBI as Jose Corral, so why bother? He *tied* Corral with a run-scoring grounder to short, both sitting at four for the year, and also gave himself a 2-1 lead. Spicer then drove in Gutierrez with a single, 3-1, then was caught stealing to end the inning. Again then, the lead went bust immediately, although this time it was stupid to the n-th degree, as DD had two outs before allowing a single to Donnelly, after which Castillo flew one over to Corral, who flubbed, dropped, kicked, and chased it for two bases for the runners, both of whom scored to tie the game at three on a Buras single to right-center then.

Damasceno was chased in the sixth on a sequence of Oldfield single, Greg Solomon double, Alex Gutierrez triple, before Jon Barrientos could hit a homer. Barrientos had to settle for an RBI on a grounder hit off Cullum, 6-3, who in turn batted for himself after a Gardner single with two outs in the bottom 6th and reached on an error by Castillo. Spicer singled home Gardner with a 2-out single, but Corral fanned to leave the tying runs on base. Cullum then walked the 1-2 batters in the seventh, the Coons couldn’t turn two on an Anker groundout, and Gallo added a run back on with a sac fly to left. Hudson and Garvey pitched the late innings with the rain returning and soaking all the hanging whiskers further. Garvey loaded the bases in the ninth and gave up a run on a sac fly, which turned out to matter, preventing Rich Monck from tying the game with a 3-run homer off Josh Richardson in the home half of the ninth inning. Monck’s 2-out blast followed pinch-hitters Caballero and Tallent reaching base, but fell short of tying the ballgame. Instead the game ended with a fly to left off Branch’s bat. 8-7 Scorpions. Spicer 2-5, 2 RBI; Monck 3-5, HR, 3 RBI; Starr 2-4, 2B; Gardner 2-4; Caballero (PH) 1-1;

Things kept falling apart on the off day, when Sandy Pineda frayed an elbow tendon in an Alley Cats start and was out for the season, but Luis Silva still didn’t know what pained Barton by the time the team departed for Elk City. Josh Carrington’s ERA ballooned over seven, and we needed to make a roster move for an extra reliever somehow. Carlos Gutierrez (.225, 0 HR, 7 RBI) ended up getting sent down to make room for an arm.

Hey, anybody remember J.J. Sensabaugh??

Raccoons (15-20) @ Canadiens (13-20) – May 14-16, 2066

The Elks were up 2-1 on the Coons this year, but these were the two worst offenses by runs scored in the league at this point. The Elks ranked ninth in runs allowed with a -42 run differential, while the Coons were sixth in runs allowed with a -35 run differential. Misery against Suffering, reloaded. Outfielder Chad Whetstine was on the DL for the damn Elks.

Projected matchups:
Shoma Nakayama (2-4, 2.36 ERA) vs. Ken Nielsen (2-1, 3.00 ERA)
Nick Walla (4-2, 2.11 ERA) vs. Ray Rath (0-3, 2.82 ERA)
Juan Sanchez (2-3, 4.33 ERA) vs. Jose Villegas (0-5, 6.88 ERA)

Southpaw Sunday! That was probably going to be my only joy this week. I was going to watch the games from home, hidden under a heavy woolen blanket that Aunt Ethel had knitted a long time ago, but it was patterned, so you could look through the holes in the pattern and watch the ballgame that way, and be much afraid.

Game 1
POR: LF Spicer – RF Corral – C Lopez – 3B Monck – CF Branch – 1B Starr – 2B Novelo – 2B Tallent – P Nakayama
VAN: SS C. Castro – 2B Kilday – LF N. Vaughn – RF Lozada – C Varner – 1B R. Cordero – CF D. Moore – 3B Yue – P Nielsen

I saw the Coons sneak an early run with two outs in the first inning when Nielsen nicked Ramon Lopez and two singles by Monck and Branch brought the runner around before Joel Starr’s molding process continued live on national TV that day. Spicer was caught stealing again to end the second inning with him and Tallent on the corners, while in the fourth we had Branch and Starr lead off with singles. Tommy Branch *did* steal a base before scoring on Novelo’s groundout. The inning continued with Nakayama reaching on a 2-out error by Hsi-chuen Yue before Nielsen lost Spicer on four pitches to load the bases. Rico Cordero stretched and caught a liner Corral hit at 0-2 to end the inning with three left stranded.

Nakayama scattered three soft singles for no runs through five innings, and never looked in trouble. He then reached *again* on a 2-out error by Yue in the sixth (!), adding to Tallent on the bases, but Spicer grounded out to strand another pair in the 2-0 game. Nakayama then promptly blundered in the bottom 6th, losing both Carlos Castro and Roberto Lozada on balls in full counts, with a Matt Kilday single in between. That loaded the bases with one out, but Steve Varner’s grounder to Novelo ended the inning, 6-4-3 style. The Coons had Lopez and Monck on base, and Branch hitting into a double play to Yue kill that effort in the next half-inning, before Yue hit into a double play himself in the bottom 7th to continue his busy day.

The Raccoons did not hit for Nakayama in the eighth when Jesse Connors nicked Starr and loaded the bags with singles surrendered to Novelo and Tallent. ANYBODY on this roster could fart into a bag with three on and nobody out, why get somebody from the bench specifically to do so!? Nakayama hit a ball to Yue on the first pitch, and Yue fired home to retire Starr, but Conners then plated a run with a wild pitch and gave up two more runs on a Spicer single, whilst Spicer was caught stealing again in a strike-em-out-throw-em-out double play with Corral to end the inning. The Coons tacked on another run when Novelo singled home Monck in the ninth inning, while Nakayama came back out for the bottom 9th. He struck out Nick Vaughn and Roberto Lozada before Steve Varner felt the childish need to ruin the shutout with a homer to right. Nakayama settled for a complete-game 6-hitter against Cordero, who wound up grounding out to short. 6-1 Raccoons. Spicer 2-4, BB, 2 RBI; Monck 2-5; Novelo 2-4, 2 RBI; Tallent 3-5; Nakayama 9.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, W (3-4);

Barton was finally moved to the DL with a torn meniscus on Saturday, allowing for another roster move. Ryan Bonner was brought up after clipping .313 for mostly singles with the Alley Cats. He had hit .333 in 69 AB with the Coons last year. Shame he was such a clumsy second baseman.

Game 2
POR: CF Wilson – LF Spicer – C Lopez – 3B Monck – RF Corral – 1B Starr – 2B Bonner – SS Novelo – P Walla
VAN: SS C. Castro – 2B Kilday – CF R. Atkins – LF N. Vaughn – C Varner – 1B R. Cordero – RF D. Moore – 3B Yue – P Rath

The Elks scored right out of the gate with a four-pitch walk to Carlos Castro, who was brought in on singles by Rick Atkins and Nick Vaughn before Walla found something more resembling a groove and got out of the inning. The Raccoons answered with straight singles by Corral, Starr, and Bonner to tie the game in the top 2nd, and got the go-ahead run when Novelo chopped an 0-2 grounder into play for a productive out before Walla whiffed to end the inning.

Walla never really stopped struggling; there were lots of pitches, another leadoff walk to Castro, a Rath single, a hit batter – but all in different innings and he wiggled his way and the 2-1 lead’s way through five innings with that, although it took him almost 80 pitches to make it even that far, with a single strikeout to his name. The Raccoons meanwhile remained offensively illiterate; Spicer singled and was caught stealing again in the sixth before Monck, Corral, and Starr filled the bases and were left on base on a Bonner pop to Yue. In turn, Varner hit a leadoff jack to tie the game in the bottom 6th, and Walla walked Dan Moore before Yue and Tyler Chenette slapped singles to get the damn Elks in front, 3-2, leading to Walla’s dismissal. Deploying McMahan didn’t help jack **** as he allowed three more runs to score on a Carlos Castro groundout, a Kilday single, and finally an Atkins triple before being purged as well. The 5-run outburst in the inning gave the damn Elks a 5-2 lead and black smoke was billowing forth from under a wool blanket in Portland. Spicer singled home Novelo and his leadoff walk in the seventh to reduce the gap to three before Sensabaugh pitched a scoreless inning as the Raccoons signaled surrender by deploying him in the first place. Monck homered off Robbie Lingard to begin the eighth, 6-4, but that was the last run in the ballgame. Dover needed work and handled the bottom 8th, but the Raccoons’ three right-handed pinch-hitters Arellano, Branch, and Tallent were turned away by Jon McGinley in the ninth inning without leaving a mark on the scoreboard. 6-4 Canadiens. Spicer 2-4, RBI; Lopez 2-4; Monck 2-4, HR, RBI; Starr 2-3;

Game 3
POR: CF Wilson – LF Branch – 3B Tallent – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – RF Campos – 2B Bonner – C Arellano – P Sanchez
VAN: 3B C. Castro – SS Kilday – CF R. Atkins – RF Lozada – C Varner – 1B R. Cordero – 2B Yue – LF D. Moore – P J. Villegas

The Coons’ Sunday lineup cried “surrender!” but the boys went out anyway and singles by Wilson and Starr scrabbled a run together in the top 1st. Novelo also singled, but Campos made the third out in the air. The Elks were turned away with their Castro and Atkins singles in the bottom 1st before Arellano, who entered with an OPS+ of *two* doubled in the top 2nd, but was left on base.

Sanchez wasn’t shy to scatter runners with four hits, a walk, and a hit batter in the first three innings, but didn’t allow the Elks to score until a Cordero homer beat him and knotted the score at one in the fourth inning. He then had a meltdown in the fifth, getting two outs before allowing two singles to Atkins and Lozada, plating the go-ahead run with a wild pitch, and filling the bags with walks to Varner and Cordero before Yue flew out to Campos to leave three stranded. Sanchez would creep through six busy innings on 101 pitches and left trailing 2-1 because – … did I mention the surrender lineup?

The Coons were mostly silent from the third through the seventh inning, amounting to only two hits after the Arellano double, but Spicer batted for Juan Soriano in the #9 spot to begin the eighth and singled off Villegas. When Jaden Wilson reached on a Kenny Graves error at short, the Elks replaced the starter with right-hander Josh Meighan. Rich Monck immediately batted for Branch, but struck out, and Corral batted for Tallent, drawing lefty Paul Wolk and hitting into a 4-6-3 double play……… (wails under his blanket, also sweating)

Hudson and Garvey combined for a scoreless bottom 8th (never mind the two singles off the Rule 5er) to keep the damn Elks within a run, but Starr, Novelo, and Lopez were retired on eight pitches by McGinley in the ninth inning… 2-1 Canadiens. Wilson 2-4; Spicer (PH) 1-1;

In other news

May 13 – The Indians flip LF/CF/2B Darby Laybolt (.345, 1 HR, 8 RBI) to the Rebels for a prospect.
May 16 – Condors catcher Mike Brann (.285, 3 HR, 17 RBI) would miss a month with a torn hamstring.

FL Player of the Week: SAC RF Will Buras (.218, 4 HR, 21 RBI), spotting .471 (8-17) with 2 HR, 10 RBI
CL Player of the Week: POR INF Rich Monck (.313, 6 HR, 21 RBI), hitting .478 (11-23) with 2 HR, 4 RBI

Complaints and stuff

(looks up from the waiver wire)

(deep sigh)

Rich Monck will one day be on a team that deserves him.

The Raccoons played two last-place teams this week and ended up going 1-5. That’s about what you really need to know at this point. Hapless against last-place teams, can’t score a lick, and Sensabaugh is back on the roster. All the ingredients for a 100-losses season are here.

We would need a fifth starter in Boston; since Sandy Pineda’s arm had conveniently come off in the five minutes since he had been returned to AAA after his major league debut last Friday, the Coons would have to get a bit more creative. A premature ABL debut for Tony Gaytan was not completely off the table right now.

Marcos Arellano might have been sent to AAA this week if not for his lack of options, which was a stark turnaround from “oh well, he’ll hold down the primary spot without problems”. But then again, who’s on this roster and is NOT sucking the cover off the baseball?

The road trip would continue to Boston, Tijuana, and San Francisco. That was two outta three cities were nothing good ever happened.

Fun Fact: Malcolm Spicer is third in the batting title race in the Continental League, hitting .331/.352/.373.

Don’t you think that would make him a contributor.

ZERO WAR, rounded up!

He was also caught stealing five times in a row this week, which only furthered my depression.

Westheim · 05-10-2025, 08:07 PM

Raccoons (16-22) @ Titans (26-12) – May 17-20, 2066

The Raccoons had a rough week coming with four weeks in Boston up next. The Titans had won five in a row, a lot of games overall, and were fifth in runs scored and third in runs allowed in the CL. They had hands down the best rotation in the league and had won the season series from the Critters for four straight years, and rather convincingly (13-5) in 2065. The only injury for them right now was starter Will Glaude.

Projected matchups:
Duarte Damasceno (2-4, 4.95 ERA) vs. Jason Brenize (6-0, 1.74 ERA)
Cody Childress (0-0) vs. Matt Taylor (5-1, 1.54 ERA)
Shoma Nakayama (3-4, 2.15 ERA) vs. Tony Castellanos (1-2, 5.52 ERA)
Nick Walla (4-3, 2.75 ERA) vs. Mike Bell (5-2, 2.48 ERA)

The Titans brought only right-handers, and the Raccoons had yet another ABL debut candidate lined up for Tuesday in 25-year-old right-hander Cody Childress, the second-round pick from 2062, who had a very nice curve and changeup, but ever so often just hung one in the middle of the nearest slugger’s wheelhouse. He had a 4.95 ERA even in St. Pete at this point. Childress was not yet on the roster on Monday, but would most likely take the roster spot of Marco Campos, who was hitting zilch-for-7.

Game 1
POR: CF Wilson – LF Spicer – C Lopez – 3B Monck – RF Corral – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – 2B Tallent – P Damasceno
BOS: LF S. Humphries – RF Joe Washington – CF Marcotte – C Arviso – SS Z. Suggs – 1B Joyner – 2B Onelas – 3B C. Pena – P Brenize

Spicer singled and continued his bleak streak of getting caught stealing for the sixth straight time in the opening inning on Monday, and Brenize didn’t look like he’d allow many other chances to the Critters in this series opener. Damasceno allowed only one runner, walking Bill Joyner, in the first two innings, but then had his head semi-surgically beaten off his neck by the Titans in the bottom 3rd as they batted through the lineup and stripped him down for four runs, although after Cesar Pena’s leadoff triple to right they made two poor outs with Brenize (K) and Steve Humphries, who hit a comebacker, before Joe Washington doubled home the runner. Eddie Marcotte socked a homer, and then the Titans clipped four straight singles before Pena grounded out leave the bases loaded.

That was already most of Damasceno’s outing, as he only pitched one more inning, allowed another run on a hit batter and two singles, and then was hit for with two outs in the fifth and Joel Starr in scoring position. Ryan Bonner hit an RBI single in his place before being left on base by Jaden Wilson. Hudson labored through two innings after this, giving up a run on two clumsy walks and a well-placed groundout by Marcotte in his second inning on duty. Soriano and Garvey filled the rest of the box score on the pitching side, while Brenize went eight innings, whiffing ten Critters against just four hits. Jason Rhodes retired the Coons in order in the ninth. 6-1 Titans. Starr 1-2, BB, 2B; Bonner (PH) 1-1, RBI;

Marco Campos had a fly out against Brenize, then went onto waivers with his 0-for-8 clip.

Game 2
POR: CF Wilson – LF Spicer – C Lopez – 3B Monck – RF Corral – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – 2B Tallent – P Childress
BOS: LF S. Humphries – RF Joe Washington – CF Marcotte – SS Z. Suggs – 1B Joyner – 2B Onelas – C S. Moreno – 3B C. Pena – P Ma. Taylor

The game plan for Tuesday involved hoping for the best and otherwise piggy-backing Childress with J.J. Sensabaugh. In the event, the first 15 batters in the game were all retired before Sandy Moreno opened the bottom 3rd with a double to left. Childress, who had struck out a pair in the first two innings, walked Cesar Pena in a full count, then misfielded Taylor’s bunt to fill the bases, trying to get Moreno at third base, which turned out to be ill advised. Childress did not exactly buckle down here. He walked in a run against Humphries, Joe Washington hit an RBI single to center, and only then did the Titans make three outs with a run-scoring groundout by Marcotte, Zach Suggs’ sac fly, which sugged, and a fly out by Joyner, keeping the damage at four runs (two earned). Taylor walked Ramon Lopez after retiring 11 in a row, so the Raccoons were slowly defrosting to compete in this game, too, maybe, but Childress was picked limb from limb by angry Titans after hitting Sandy Moreno in the hand and forcing him from the game in the bottom 4th. The bases again filled up rapidly before he walked in a run with two outs against Washington, and then gave up a big old grand slam to Marcotte, which made it 9-0, and seven earned.

Sensabaugh then gave everything, expending 61 pitches over 3.1 scoreless innings in pointless relief, and actually batted 2-for-2 against Taylor, who began to leak in the middle innings. Ramon Lopez drove in Tallent with a run in the sixth inning, and in the seventh Starr was on base with two outs and scored on Sensabaugh’s second single off Taylor. The Coons got another (unearned) run in the eighth, in which Spicer finally stole a base again after a considerably dearth, and came home when Washington had a Lopez single escape through his legs for an error. None of this prevented the first pitching appearance of the year of Pablo Novelo, who came into a 9-3 game and got two outs in the bottom 8th before a pair of singles by Marcotte and Suggs, and a 3-run homer by Joyner, tagged on some more runs. Taylor finished the game for Boston, but not without allowing a run for a fourth straight frame in the top 9th on a pinch-hit Gardner triple and Jorge Caballero’s run-scoring groundout. 12-4 Titans. Lopez 2-3, BB, 2 RBI; Gardner (PH) 1-1, 3B; Sensabaugh 3.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K and 2-2, RBI;

That coulda gone better…

Game 3
POR: CF Wilson – LF Spicer – RF Corral – 3B Monck – C Arellano – 1B Starr – SS Gardner – 2B Caballero – P Nakayama
BOS: LF S. Humphries – RF Joe Washington – CF Marcotte – C Arviso – SS Z. Suggs – 1B Joyner – 2B Onelas – 3B C. Pena – P T. Castellanos

Nakayama was whacked for two runs right in the first inning, losing Humphries on a leadoff walk and allowing singles to Washington, Suggs, and Joyner; Arviso’s groundout and the Suggs single got the runs home, all of which sugged. Jorge Arviso hit a solo homer to get the score to 3-0 in the third inning, while the Raccoons disappeared in order again the first time through, and I started to wonder why we were putting pants on in the first place at this point. Jaden Wilson singled to begin the fourth, but was caught stealing, and Castellanos continued to face the minimum. Instead, the Titans churned Nakayama harder, getting triples from Marcos Onelas and Castellanos (…) in the bottom 4th, and another RBI double from Humphries, 5-0… Come the fifth, the Coons finally escaped the minimum trap when Monck… got hit…? And Starr singled, but then Joe Gardner crapped into a double play. Unbeknownst at that point, those were the final base runners for the Raccoons; Castellanos would finish the game with a 2-hit shutout, while the Coons got no more than five innings from Nakayama before piecing the rest together with Cullum, McMahan, and Dover for no runs allowed by the pen. 5-0 Titans.

Game 4
POR: CF Wilson – LF Spicer – C Lopez – 3B Monck – RF Corral – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – 2B Bonner – P Walla
BOS: LF S. Humphries – RF Joe Washington – CF Marcotte – C Arviso – SS Z. Suggs – 1B Joyner – 2B B. Snyder – 3B C. Pena – P M. Bell

No shutout on Thursday, because the Raccoons started the game with singles by Wilson and Spicer, then an RBI double off the stick of Ramon Lopez, before Bell struck out Monck, struck out Corral, and struck out Starr to keep a pair in scoring position. Walla walked Washington in the bottom 1st, but got a double play grounder from Marcotte, and thus after 28 full innings in Boston, the Raccoons were finally ahead at the end of one…

Bafflingly, they then repeated the three strikeouts in order with runners on second and third RIGHT IN THE NEXT ******* INNING after Novelo singled and Bonner doubled in the top 2nd, and the 9-1-2 went all down flailing against Bell. The Titans answered with a 7-run second inning against Walla, who tossed like an amateur, walked Arviso and Joyner around a Suggs single to begin the inning, and didn’t get any better from there. Brendan Snyder tied the game drawing a four-pitch walk, Cesar Pena and Bell hit RBI singles, Humphries plated a run with a groundout, and Washington hit a 3-run blast. A 2-out walk to Arviso then ended Walla’s day after five outs, four hits, five walks, and seven runs, all earned, when even Steven ******* Hudson managed to get ten outs from the ******* Titans without allowing a ******* run afterwards!!

The Raccoons were dead in a ditch, punching out a total of 12 times against Bell in six innings before being handed over to the bullpen. The Portland relief corps shone with a scoreless sixth by Garvey before Soriano and McMahan got gangbanged for another four runs in the seventh. Jesse Dover walked the bases full in the eighth, but the Titans were tired from all the scoring and left the runners on base. 11-1 Titans. Novelo 3-4, 2B; Hudson 3.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K;

In case you are currently covering your eyes with both paws, we were out-smashed to the tune of 34-6 runs in this series. The term “sweep” wasn’t quite covering the result of this four-game set.

Raccoons (16-26) @ Condors (23-19) – May 21-23, 2066

Second in the South and four games behind, the Condors had been waiting for the Raccoons to pass through town on their way to the dog food factory. Tijuana was seventh in runs scored and fifth in runs allowed in the Continental League, with a +15 run differential (Coma Coons: -61), which was bound to get better, even though they were missing a few regulars from the lineup, with Andy Metz, Mike Brann, and Ralph Lange all down hurting. The Condors had won the season series last year, 5-4.

Projected matchups:
Juan Sanchez (2-4, 4.14 ERA) vs. Brett Bebout (3-1, 2.03 ERA)
Duarte Damasceno (2-5, 5.52 ERA) vs. Bronson Vanderven (0-3, 3.22 ERA)
Cody Childress (0-1, 17.18 ERA) vs. Marco Clemente (3-3, 5.29 ERA)

This group would make for a full set of seven right-handers facing the Critters this week.

Game 1
POR: LF Spicer – RF Corral – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – CF Branch – 2B Caballero – P Sanchez
TIJ: 1B L. Jimenez – 3B M. Moreno – 2B Nye – CF Pinault – RF J. Martinez – SS Veguilla – LF Arcos – C M. Nieto – P Bebout

The Condors brought up only right-handed position players – oddly enough Bebout was a lefty hitter – and got singles from Nick Nye, who stole second, and Chad Pinault in the bottom 1st, but had Nye thrown out at the plate by Jose Corral to prevent an early deficit. Not for long, though. While the Coons got Starr on base (on an error…) in the top 2nd and had Branch hit into a double play to prevent any accidental offense, the Condors drew walks with Jesus Martinez and Roberto Arcos, then had Ramon Lopez paw into a swing by Marco Nieto to send the opposing catcher to first on catcher’s interference … and with nobody out…! Bebout then smacked a 2-run single to left, Leonardo Jimenez singled to reload the bases, and then Mario Moreno singled in two more before pops by Nye and Pinault ended the ******* inning.

Down 4-0 again, the Raccoons put Caballero, Corral, and Lopez on base in the third inning until Monck struck out to strand the whole lot of them, and after that the middle innings didn’t see much action from either lineup as both pitchers quickly got through six innings with the 4-0 score. Joel Starr then opened the seventh with a double to center, immediately followed by Novelo doubling to left to get the Coons on the board. Branch grounded out, moving Novelo to third base, and Caballero flew out to center. Pinault made the catch and fired home to kill Novelo at the plate and end the inning. At the same time it started to rain. RAIN. IN ******* TIJUANA.

Sanchez came back for the seventh to retire Bebout but was then chased in a brief rain delay as I saw with my very own eyes that, yes indeed, the Condors *had* a tarp! They were not very skilled in deploying it, but they *had* one. Top 8th, and Spicer and Corral went to the corners with one out. Lopez grounded to short, but the Condors failed to turn two, allowing Spicer to score, 4-2, and bring back Monck as the tying run, but Monck had to settle for a soft single. A passed ball advanced the tying runs into scoring position before Starr hit a bloop for a single in front of Roberto Arcos. Monck had to be held at third base with the tying run, and Nick Leigh came in and retired Novelo to get out of the inning. The Condors clawed a run back immediately with Pinault’s single off Cullum, and Matt Ewig’s pinch-hit double against Garvey, who then surrendered Cullum’s run on a Miguel Veguilla groundout before Arcos whiffed to end the inning. Takenori Tanizaki then had more success in relief as he had enjoyed with Portland and retired Branch, Wilson, and Bonner in order to finish the game. 5-3 Condors. Starr 2-4, 2B, RBI; Novelo 2-4, 2B, RBI;

The Coons found last place with this loss, their seventh straight, and FOURTEENTH in FIFTEEN games.

Jorge Caballero (.189, 0 HR, 3 RBI) and Marcos Arellano (.114, 1 HR, 2 RBI) both ended up on waivers on Friday night. They were replaced with Marquise Early, who was a lousy centerfielder and didn’t even hit in AAA, and right-handed catcher Tony Spink and his .389 OBP in St. Pete. Spink, who batted righty and could also play first base rather well, had been a fifth-round pick in 2061. He was a week away from turning 27 years old.

Game 2
POR: LF Spicer – RF Corral – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – 2B Tallent – CF Wilson – P Damasceno
TIJ: 3B M. Moreno – C F. Rivera – 2B Nye – LF Ewig – RF J. Martinez – 1B L. Jimenez – CF K. Hawkins – SS Veguilla – P Vanderven

Spicer singled and stole second, and with two outs Monck hit an RBI single and Starr added an RBI double for a quick and confusing 2-0 lead. Of course it would not last. Veguilla led off the third inning for Tijuana with a sharp single, was bunted to second, and while Mario Moreno was surrendered orderly on a groundout that moved Veguilla to third base, DD then walked Felix Rivera in a full count, threw a wild pitch at 1-2 to Nick Nye, and then hung the next one and had it punched over the fence to flip the score to 3-2 Condors. He allowed another single to Matt Ewig, threw ANOTHER wild pitch, but Jesus Martinez hacked himself out in a full count to end the bloody inning.

Top 4th, and the Coons loaded the bases with Starr, Tallent, and Wilson on two singles and a walk in between those, but then brought up Damasceno with one out. The Australian Vanderven carved him up on three pitches before Spicer popped out on an 0-1 pitch in foul ground. I was facepawing until Corral struck a leadoff double to right-center in the fifth, advanced on a wild pitch, and scored the tying run on Lopez’ single to right. Vanderven got Monck on a groundout, but lost Starr on balls and was yanked. Novelo flew out, but with two gone Randy Tallent singled through the left side against Joe Cash and the Coons had a 4-3 lead. Wilson then fanned, left two runners on base, as well as DD to somehow crawl around a Moreno single and an error by Spicer to keep the tying run from scoring right away in the bottom 5th – which he somehow did.

And then we sent him back for the sixth, which turned out … sub-optimal. Ewig and Jimenez drew walks, Kyle Hawkins buried a ball behind the cacti in the right-center gap, and the Condors had the lead back, 5-4, and Damasceno was sent packing. Hawkins stole third base off Soriano then and scored on a Veguilla single to add an extra run. But suddenly the Raccoons had some fight, and Cash blew the 6-4 lead – in unearned fashion – in the seventh inning. An error by Veguilla put Monck on base, Starr reached as well, both advanced into scoring position on a Novelo groundout for the second out of the inning, and then scored when Tallent found another hole for another single, knotting the score at six, which was also the score at the stretch.

It wasn’t tied for long, either, as Justin Cullum got the ball for the bottom 7th, got two outs, but then saw Ewig reach on a Starr error, and was immediately blasted over the big wall in left by Martinez for an 8-6 Condors lead. A Corral single in the eighth led nowhere, while Steven Hudson kept toying with his Rule 5 status, allowing a double to Hawkins in the bottom 8th before plating the runner with two outs with a wild pitch. Matt Nelson then finished the game for the Condors… 9-6 Condors. Corral 2-5, 2B; Lopez 2-5, RBI; Starr 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Tallent 2-3, BB, 3 RBI;

L8.

Which doesn’t mean it’s getting late. Oh no. Another 118 games to play with this star-crossed bunch.

We did not see a lefty starter on the horizon in San Fran either, so Spicer and Monck got days off on Sunday. There was no hope to be had. The only good news was that Sensabaugh had not pitched since garbage duty on Tuesday and thus could piggy-back with Childress again, and they could both be sent back to St. Pete together…

Game 3
POR: CF Wilson – 3B Tallent – RF Corral – 1B Starr – LF Branch – SS Novelo – 2B Gardner – C Spink – P Childress
TIJ: CF Pinault – C F. Rivera – 2B Nye – LF Ewig – RF J. Martinez – 1B L. Jimenez – 3B M. Moreno – SS Veguilla – P M. Clemente

Childress had two scoreless to begin the Sunday game, but he had gotten that far against the Titans as well before getting crucified and dropped into the harbor. He got another three quick outs in the third inning, although Clemente hit a single with two outs. The Coons also had just one hit, a Starr double, in the early innings. No, of course he wasn’t scored!? Starr even hit another double his second time up, with two outs and nobody on in the fourth inning, and Tommy Branch left him on base there as well.

Childress allowed a clean single to Felix Rivera past Gardner to begin the fourth, but the Condors made three weak outs in keeping that runner on first base for the entire inning. Novelo then opened the fifth with a double, got a base on a wild pitch, and then scored the game’s first run on Tony Spink’s first career hit, a single to center…!

Childress made it into the sixth inning, where Clemente led off with another single and advanced on a groundout by Pinault. Childress plunked Rivera with a 1-2 pitch, then saw the bags full up on Nye’s single. There were scenarios where you’d sent a veteran reliever with three on and one down to maybe get away with the 1-run lead. But the Raccoons – barely past the first quarterpost in ’66 – were already beyond trying to win. They had to check out their young pitching instead. Childress got a talking-to, and then struck out Ewig and popped out Martinez behind Novelo to keep all the pesky runners on base and maintain the 1-0 lead…!

And for what? For straight singles by the 6-7-8 batters in the bottom 7th to load the bags again. Childress was given more counseling, then struck out Arcos in the #9 spot, but then walked in the tying run against Pinault and was lifted. Garvey replaced him, got a double-play grounder to Novelo from Rivera, and that at least spared the rookie a loss. Top 8th, Marquise Early batted for Garvey against lefty Joe Allen and singled to begin the inning, followed by another single hit by Wilson. Tallent ran out of such and popped out, while Monck batted for Corral and singled to fill the bases. Starr hit a go-ahead sac fly to center, bringing in Early, 2-1, but Branch flew out easily to leave two on base. Soriano then survived a Jimenez double in the bottom 8th, and the skinny lead went to Jesse Dover in the ninth, who got a groundout from Veguilla, rung up Chad Cardwell, and then Pinault singled to left. Dover couldn’t close the ******* bag, walked Rivera, and allowed a single to Nye, then was yanked with the bases loaded, biting into his glove on the way out. McMahan got the ball against lefty hitter Matt Ewig, threw but one pitch, and Ewig **** it into the left-center gap for a 2-run walkoff. 3-2 Condors. Wilson 2-4; Monck (PH) 1-1; Starr 2-3, 2 2B, RBI; Early (PH) 1-2; Childress 6.1 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K;

(looks on, snout agape)

In other news

May 18 – LAP SP Melvin Lebron (4-1, 3.18 ERA) spins his first career shutout, a 3-hitter, in an 8-0 win against the Gold Sox.
May 18 – The Falcons beat the Thunder, 1-0, despite being held to one hit, a double by SS/3B Trent Taylor (.302, 6 HR, 24 RBI), against Oklahoma’s seven. OCT SP Josh Elling (2-3, 4.07 ERA) pitches a complete game for the loss.
May 19 – Los Angeles acquires catcher Matt Warner (.368, 3 HR, 12 RBI) from the Capitals for the #85 prospect, 3B/SS Sergio Parada.
May 19 – It takes 15 innings for the Blue Sox to beat the Rebels, 8-7.
May 20 – DAL SP Alex Quevedo (7-0, 1.26 ERA) strikes out ten and allows just one hit in seven innings of a combined 1-hitter for a 4-0 win against the Wolves, for whom 3B/RF Eric Frasher (.304, 10 HR, 27 RBI) collects a lonely single.
May 21 – ATL SP Sean Sweeton (5-3, 3.08 ERA) pitches a no-hitter, allowing just one walk against five strikeouts, in an 8-0 win against the Canadiens.
May 21 – L.A. outfielder Brady Terrell (.284, 3 HR, 18 RBI) will miss at least a month with a broken shoulder blade.
May 23 – Capitals and Wolves play 16 innings before the Caps prevail, 10-6. SAL OF Bill Davidson (.114, 1 HR, 6 RBI) is one of the main reasons for the long game, going 1-for-8 with a game-tying grand slam.

FL Player of the Week: TOP OF Wade Griffith (.344, 0 HR, 22 RBI), skipping .538 (14-26) with 2 RBI
CL Player of the Week: VAN LF/RF Nick Vaughn (.313, 5 HR, 22 RBI), socking .455 (10-22) with 3 HR, 8 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Sunday’s lineup – which ultimately made this team hold the worst record in organized baseball – by batting average entering the game: .186, .215, .261, .203, .150, .223, .278 (in six games), (undefined / debut), .000 (zip-for-1); I like how we have excuses for the last three, but the first six are a bit of a problem…

With this week’s disastrous Boston visit, the Raccoons have an all-time losing record against the Titans again. 802-805.

(deep sigh!)

The Raccoons this week fired hitting coach Mike Moss, who had been with the team since 2060, so he had also overseen the team scoring the most runs in the Continental League just TWO years ago, but this year absolutely NOTHING was clicking. AAA hitting coach Corey Kramer was promoted to the job, but the 68-year-old was likely to retire soon.

Marcos Arellano and Jorge Caballero cleared waivers on Sunday night. Both will accept a minors assignment (although only Caballero had the right to refuse).

Cody Childress might stay for another start against the Thunder next weekend, and after that we don’t need a fifth starter for a bit. I would like to give Tony Gaytan a little bit more time.

Speaking of time… Honeypaws, when’s it gonna be October?

(presses Honeypaws to his chest and weeps)

Fun Fact: All three pitchers that threw a no-hitter in 2059 have thrown a second no-hitter afterwards.

Jayden Craddock threw no-hitters for the Titans on April 29, 2059 (against the Falcons) and on May 12, 2063 (against the Crusaders).

Vic Harman threw no-hitters for the Knights on May 20, 2059 (facing the Thunder) and September 7, 2060 (opposite the Baybirds).

And 40-year-old Sean Sweeton, the former Raccoon, put up a no-hitter with Miners against the Blue Sox on July 12, 2059, and then this week, also with the Knights, against the Canadiens!

Including Joel Luera’s no-hitter from September 2058 with New York and against Indy, that makes four straight first no-no’s that ended up being followed by a second, in Luera’s case also against the damn Elks on April 6, 2061.

Westheim · 05-12-2025, 02:32 PM

Raccoons (16-29) @ Bayhawks (23-21) – May 25-27, 2066

Last stop on the long road trip. San Francisco sat fourth in the South, just over .500, but without any good numbers to back up a winning season. They had a -20 run differential and sat eighth in runs scored in ninth in runs allowed, and actually sported the worst rotation by ERA in the league, with a horrendous 5.70 ERA on their hurlers. Of course, everything looked better than the Raccoons’ run of nine straight defeats, 1-16 in their last 17 games, and 4-18 for the month of May… The Baybirds would end four years of futility in the season series against the Portlanders this year, having lost six of nine against the Coons last year, and similar amounts ever since 2062.

Projected matchups:
Shoma Nakayama (3-5, 2.69 ERA) vs. Justin Wittman (6-3, 4.22 ERA)
Nick Walla (4-4, 3.83 ERA) vs. Paul Egley (2-5, 4.78 ERA)
Juan Sanchez (2-5, 4.34 ERA) vs. Ryan Musgrave (3-4, 6.45 ERA)

The Baybirds came off two off days on Thursday and Monday (the latter shared by the battered Coons). Regardless of any rotation shuffles, the Critters would only face righty pitching here.

Game 1
POR: LF Spicer – RF Corral – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – CF Wilson – 2B Bonner – P Nakayama
SFB: RF J. Paez – SS D. Cox – 2B A. Montoya – CF Navarre – LF Streng – 1B Jer. White – 3B T. Gaines – C L. Marquez – P Wittman

Five pitches in, Nakayama was 2-0 behind, seeing Juan Paez reach on a drag bunt to begin the bottom 1st, and then immediately hung one to Dustin Cox that became the shortstop’s seventh homer of the year and piece of a 14-game hitting streak. And that was only the beginning, as usual. While Wittman retired the first six batters in a row, Nakayama began the bottom 2nd with a walk to Jeremy White, got an out from Tony Gaines, and then rapidly was flattened with Lorenzo Marquez’ triple, a Wittman RBI single, a Paez double, and after a K to Cox, a 2-run single by veteran Armando Montoya, which ran the score to 6-0 by the end of the inning. L10, yaay.

Nakayama at least tried to pick up the tap and continued to pitch, and also became one of only two Coons to reach base in the first five innings, drawing a walk in the third inning and being left on base by Malcolm Spicer. Joel Starr drew another walk in the fifth, was forced out by Jaden Wilson, and Wilson was caught stealing. Oh goodness gracious. Five was enough for Nakayama, while Wittman took the no-hitter into the seventh, where Corral broke it up with a single. Monck hit another one of those, and Starr doubled home Corral, but Novelo’s foul pop and a K to Wilson ended the inning with a pair left in scoring position. A Bonner single and a walk drawn by PH Tommy Branch put two Coons on base to start the eighth, and they were in scoring position after Spicer’s groundout, but Corral’s comebacker saw Wittman shoo back the runners, and Ramon Lopez was out on a roller in front of the plate… Wittman pitched into the ninth until offering a 1-out walk to Starr, after which righty Jose Salazar collected the last two outs from Gardner and Wilson. 6-1 Bayhawks. Starr 1-2, 2 BB, 2B, RBI;

Musgrave was then allotted to the middle game before it was fogged out (!), the announcement being made an hour before game time. Double header on Thursday.

As if any of it mattered.

Game 2
POR: LF Spicer – RF Corral – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – CF Branch – 2B Tallent – P Walla
SFB: RF J. Paez – SS D. Cox – 2B A. Montoya – CF Navarre – LF Streng – 1B Jer. White – 3B T. Gaines – C L. Marquez – P Musgrave

Cox’ hitting streak reached 15 games with a first-inning double, but Walla managed to retire Montoya and Nate Navarre to keep him on base. The Coons then took to the corners in the top 2nd as Novelo (who stole second) and Tallent hit singles, but that brought up .111 hitter Walla with one out. Ready Randy rallied his furry tush to second base before Walla could ground out to Montoya, which took the double play away and allowed Walla to drive in Novelo for a 1-0 lead. Spicer singled home Tallent, then stole another base, the third of the inning, getting singled across home plate by Jose Corral two pitches later. 3-0! Stop it, I’m dizzy!!

The Baybirds also got to the corners in the bottom 2nd with Ian Streng walking and a Tony Gaines single, but Gaines ran in a full count to Marquez, who struck out, and was then thrown out by Ramon Lopez to end the inning. Monck and Novelo were on base in the third inning, but an intentional walk to Tallent brought up Walla with two outs and the bases loaded, and he floated one out to Navarre to end that inning, then gave up a leadoff jack to the opposing pitcher in the bottom 3rd. Oy vey…! Cox and Montoya struck back-to-back doubles in the inning to put another run on the board, 3-2, and the bases were loaded in the bottom 4th, mostly on ********, as Jeremy White reached on a Monck error, Marquez singled, and Musgrave reached when Walla ****** up his bunt for another error. The pitching coach hurried out to calm Walla’s whiskers; Juan Paez then lined out sharply and precisely to Novelo, and Tommy Branch caught a Cox fly to center to strand the bases full of runners.

Branch left the game an inning later with concern for an oblique and was replaced with Jaden Wilson, who in the bottom 7th couldn’t reach another Cox drive to right-center that fell for a double. Montoya swiftly singled home the tying run – he was on a 12-game hitting streak of his own and certifiably hot – and Walla left without registering an out in the inning after a walk to Navarre. Jesse Dover came in, struck out Streng, got a foul pop from White, and then a grounder to second from Gaines to keep the game tied. Dover returned for the bottom 8th, where he fared less brilliantly and allowed a double to Marquez and issued a full-count walk to Paez before being replaced with Cullum, who finally got rid of Cox with a groundout for the second out, but still got beaten by Montoya for a 2-run single.

Top of the ninth, and Vince Vandiver saw two Raccoons reach on infield hits, first leadoff batter and pinch-hitter Joe Gardner, and after Spicer forced him out, Corral as well. Lopez’ fly to center was tracked down by Navarre for the second out. Monck drew up with the tying runs on the corners and two outs, but grounded a 3-1 pitch to Montoya to end the game and punch another loss. 5-3 Bayhawks. Spicer 2-5, 2B, RBI; Corral 2-5, RBI; Monck 2-5; Novelo 1-2, BB; Gardner (PH) 1-1;

Tommy Branch was off to the DL with an oblique strain, but should be able to return after the minimum 15 days’ assignment.

I’m sure his .138 bat will be missed.

No replacement was available for the second game of the double-header and the Coons played a paw short, because nobody had been ferried to San Fran as backup after the fogout.*

Game 3
POR: CF Wilson – RF Spicer – SS Novelo – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – LF Early – 2B Gardner – C Spink – P Sanchez
SFB: RF J. Paez – SS D. Cox – 2B A. Montoya – CF Navarre – LF Streng – 1B Jer. White – 3B T. Gaines – C McCarver – P Egley

The Raccoons scratched out a first-inning run on soft singles by Wilson, Novelo, and Monck, who got the RBI, but then also left a pair in scoring position on poor groundouts by Starr and Marquise Early. That was only the beginning, as Tony Spink hit a single past Montoya in the second, was bunted to second, and then the 1-2-3-4 batters in the Coons’ order all put out an RBI hit, either a single or double, to run the score to 5-0 before the inning ended with Starr grounding out again. Sanchez in the meantime retired the first seven batters he faced before being taken deep to right-center by backup catcher Braden McCarver, and then had his own 2-out Waterloo with the top of the order. Paez, Cox, and Montoya filled the bases in a hurry – but then Nate Navarre struck out and the Coons remained up by a slam. More actually by the top 4th, with Egley already gone, and instead Roberto Mendez getting shredded for five hits and two runs. Wilson singled and was caught stealing, but then the ball got in motion and Monck and Starr now both drove in a run. Early hit another single, but Joe Gardner struck out.

Aside from the wonky fourth inning, Juan Sanchez did very well and held the Bayhawks to the McCarver homer and four hits in total through seven innings, holding on to the 7-1 lead. The Coons tacked on two more runs in the eighth inning against righty Roland Wiser, who started the inning by allowing a single to Novelo and walking Monck, and then gave up an RBI single to Starr and a sac fly to Early. The Raccoons then sent Hudson with an 8-run lead, which became a 5-run lead and two on base by the time he was dragged off the hill by his useless ear after he had given up singles to Cox and Montoya, a triple to Navarre, and another RBI single to Jeremy White. He then walked Gaines before being replaced with Soriano, who got a K from McCarver and grounded out PH Josh Bursley, and then finished the game and ended the spill for the time being with a 1-2-3 ninth. 9-4 Raccoons! Wilson 3-5, BB, 2B, RBI; Spicer 2-6, RBI; Novelo 5-5, 2B, RBI; Monck 3-4, BB, 3B, 2B, 3 RBI; Starr 2-4, BB, 2 RBI; Sanchez 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W (3-5); Soriano 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Raccoons (17-31) vs. Thunder (30-16) – May 28-30, 2066

Back home, the Thunder were waiting. They ranked tenth in offense and second in pitching, with a good +44 run differential, although they could use a stick or two. The Raccoons had won two of three games from them earlier in the season, which felt like a really long time ago, despite our ongoing 1-game winning streak.

Projected matchups:
Duarte Damasceno (2-5, 6.02 ERA) vs. Tyler Riddle (5-2, 1.79 ERA)
Cody Childress (0-1, 7.20 ERA) vs. Danny Baca (5-1, 2.70 ERA)
Shoma Nakayama (3-6, 3.28 ERA) vs. Aaron Harris (7-2, 2.56 ERA)

Riddle and Baca were left-handed. The Thunder had been off on Thursday, so had some wiggle room, while the Raccoons had played two games on Thursday, although the bullpen was relatively okay, thanks to Walla and Sanchez pitching a total of 13 innings on Thursday.

To replace Tommy Branch on the roster, the Raccoons brought up Jamie Colter, although he would make room for another spot starter on Monday. That spot starter would probably be Vinny Morales.

Game 1
OCT: RF Almanza – CF Thore – C Bohannon – 1B I. Stone – SS Palominos – LF J. Parker – 2B D. Richardson – 3B Curiel – P Riddle
POR: LF Spicer – SS Novelo – C Lopez – 3B Monck – RF Tallent – 1B Starr – 2B Bonner – CF Early – P Damasceno

Neither team reached base in the series’ opening inning, but the leadoff men in the second reached for both sides. Ian Stone was doubled up by Jose Palominos’ grounder to short, though, while Rich Monck hit a double to right, advanced on a wild pitch, and came home on a Tallent groundout. The Thunder continued to put the leadoff batter on base, but could not get a run out of Ernesto Curiel’s leadoff walk in the third, or Martin Bohannon reaching base on a Monck throwing error in the fourth.

Bottom 4th, and the Raccoons’ 2-3-4 batters all reached base on a single, walk, and another single. The Raccoons scored no runs from there, as Tallent struck out in a full count and Starr grounded into a double play to clean up the bases. – Maud, I will need the big hatchet later. – Yes, I totally promise to be careful with it.

The Critters fumbled another pair of runners in the sixth, again with Tallent whiffing to leave them stranded in scoring position, and that was Novelo and Lopez reaching *after* Spicer had been caught stealing once again. DD meanwhile kept holding the Thunder to three hits through six innings until it suddenly went very wrong all at once and Johnny Parker and Tony Rodriquez reached on a single and a walk, and while Curiel made a weak second out, John Kaniewski’s pinch-hit home run to left-center was well enough to flip the score in the Thunder’s favor. Brian Doster got the ball from the Thunder for the bottom 7th, nicking Starr and allowing a 2-out single to Corral in the #9 spot, but then Spicer grounded out. Monck reached base with two outs in the bottom 8th. Jamie Colter batted for Tallent, singled, and then Starr struck out against Tetsu Kurihara, which I found especially discouraging. Cullum and Hudson pitched scoreless relief, the latter even while Novelo made an error behind him, but then the Coons brought up the bottom of the order against Erik Swain, who had an 8.25 K/BB and 1.17 ERA. Wilson and Early were sawed off quick, but Tony Spink chipped a pinch-hit single to bring the tying run to the plate again – and then Spicer struck out on three pitches. 3-1 Thunder. Novelo 2-4; Monck 3-4, 2B; Colter (PH) 1-1; Corral (PH) 1-1; Spink (PH) 1-1;

Game 2
OCT: RF Almanza – CF Thore – C Bohannon – 1B I. Stone – SS Palominos – LF J. Parker – 2B Archuleta – 3B Curiel – P D. Baca
POR: LF Wilson – SS Novelo – C Lopez – 3B Monck – RF Tallent – CF Early – 2B Bonner – 1B Spink – P Childress

Childress’ next attempt at starting a game and not getting battered didn’t get underway too well as he walked Coby Thore and Bohannon inside the first three batters he faced. Ian Stone hit an RBI single, but Palominos and Parker made outs on the infield to let him get away for the moment. Wilson then reached base on a Palominos error to begin the bottom 1st, but never got off first base. Ramon Archuleta doubled to start the top 2nd, scored on two productive outs, and then Roberto Almanza tripled to center and scored … on a wild pitch. Another walk, a Palominos triple, and an Archuleta single added two more runs for the Thunder in the third inning, and there was no hope and Childress was hit for with Colter, who made a pop second out in the bottom 3rd. But with two outs, Baca gradually put the top three batters in the Raccoons’ lineup on base, and then Rich Monck walloped one over the fence in left-center – GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMM!!!

However, that gave a 5-4 game to Sensabaugh, which didn’t sound like a winning proposition, but he got six quick outs from the first seven batters he faced before the Raccoons scrambled to tie the game in the bottom 5th, where Novelo got on base, stole the next, Monck walked, and then Tallent chipped a 2-out RBI single through the left side to get the score even at five. Baca was yanked for Kurihara, who hit a fly to deep right, but it was caught on the warning track by Almanza.

Sensabaugh got clean through the middle innings, but Almanza hit a leadoff single in the seventh and Coby Thore got hit good by a pitch. Bohannon flew out, but then Garvey came into the game to face Stone, but the Thunder sent a righty stick instead; however, Kaniewski popped out to short, but that was only the second out, and Palominos clipped an RBI single over the head by Novelo to give the Thunder a new lead. Ben Laity flew out, leaving a pair on base, and when Wilson got on base to begin the bottom 7th, he was caught stealing AGAIN. Instead, the Coons’ pen imploded in the eighth. Archuleta took Soriano deep, and Soriano then loaded the bases while getting two outs. Dover replaced him, but gave up a bases-clearing triple into the right-center gap to Kaniewski, and that restored a 5-run lead for the Thunder. Some pinch-hitting and Spicer singling and stealing a base led to a consolation run for the Coons in the bottom 9th, driven in by Wilson, and that was that. 10-6 Thunder. Wilson 4-5, RBI; Monck 1-3, BB, HR, 4 RBI; Spicer (PH) 1-1;

(deep sigh)

Absolutely not fit for service, Cody Childress (0-1, 9.00 ERA) was handed back to AAA after this disaster, and Vinny Morales was added in that roster spot instead.

Game 3
OCT: RF Almanza – CF Thore – C Bohannon – 1B I. Stone – SS Palominos – LF J. Parker – 2B Archuleta – 3B Curiel – P Aa. Harris
POR: LF Spicer – RF Corral – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – CF Wilson – 2B Bonner – P Nakayama

The Thunder clipped five singles off Nakayama in the first three innings, including straight with the 1-2-3 batters for a run in the third inning. The Raccoons had one hit, a double in the bottom 3rd, on which the batter-turned-runner, Ryan Bonner, also tore out his leg and had to be replaced with Tallent, who was promptly left on base.

Jose Corral went yard to begin the bottom 4th and tied the game at one, followed by a Lopez single. He was forced out by Monck’s grounder to Archuleta, but Starr singled and Novelo’s bouncer was bungled by Curiel for an error, loading the bases for Jaden Wilson with one out. He fell to 0-2, then hit a chopper at Archuleta, but the ball was not quick enough to turn two, and Archuleta got the safer out at first base as Monck scored with the go-ahead run. Tallent was pitched to with first base open, but lined out to a diving Palominos. (unscrews bottle of Capt’n Coma and then pours the contents over his head)

Nakayama wobbled around a leadoff single by Harris in the fifth, but then was taken deep by Palominos in the sixth to get the game tied again. In response, Monck, Starr, and Novelo all hit flies to the warning track in the bottom 6th, but the first two were caught and only Novelo doubled, but that was enough to get a lead on Wilson’s zinger past a diving Curiel for a double up the line. This time, Tallent was intentionally walked and Nakayama made the third out to short, and then gave up another leadoff single to Harris in the seventh… When Tony Rodriquez pinch-hit for Almanza, the Coons went to McMahan, who allowed a single before getting two infield pops from Thore and Bohannon. Kaniewski batted for Stone, walked facing the new pitcher Dover, but Palominos then popped out to Starr in foul territory to leave a full set of runners on base.

Spicer singled and stole second … and then was stranded in the bottom 7th, while Dover put Parker and Archuleta on base to begin the eighth. He was replaced with Garvey with two outs and Ben Laity batting in the #1 spot. Laity rolled an 0-2 pitch near the first base side of the mound, Garvey got it, and threw it well over Starr’s head for a 2-out, 2-base, 2-run, aaaaaand score-flipping error. Thore added an RBI single for good measure before the inning ended with Bohannon. The Raccoons got only one more base runner, Novelo in the eighth, and he was left on first base for a rally. 5-3 Thunder. Bonner 1-1, 2B;

Slappy, will you be so kind and hand me that rope catalogue?

In other news

May 25 – Miners SP Cameron Parks (4-4, 5.46 ERA) shows off with a 2-hit shutout against the Wolves for a 6-0 win.
May 26 – Knights OF/1B Victor David Morales (.285, 7 HR, 20 RBI) drives in five runs on two home runs from the leadoff spot in a 15-4 rout of the Loggers.
May 30 – Condors OF/2B/SS Mike Pinault (.278, 7 HR, 27 RBI) was rendered out for the season with a tear in the UCL of his throwing arm.

FL Player of the Week: NAS RF Austin Gordon (.310, 6 HR, 28 RBI), hitting .448 (13-29) with 3 HR, 10 RBI
CL Player of the Week: BOS LF/CF Eddie Marcotte (.292, 7 HR, 28 RBI), slapping .556 (10-18) with 2 HR, 3 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Bright sides, at least we’re not in Europe, where their sports are all French and they have relegation rules and stuff, and even if the Coons do lose a hundred games this year (or more), we won’t have to play the Cumming Rainstorm next year…

That’s about all the motivational speech I have right now. The team is 5-23 in May. I’ve seen chronically ill farm dogs do a lot better than that and still get put down (with a shotgun behind the shed).

Next week we’ll lose on the road to the Aces and Indians.

Fun Fact: The Wolves are just as bad.

Look… I could also talk about how Malcolm Spicer is leading the CL in steals with a 52% success rate, and is hitting .301 and is STILL costing the team half a win with whatever he’s doing after two months.

+++

*I probably mentioned it before, but that’s one of my house rules. Roster substitutions between ends of double headers are only allowed if I write it down before the game AND reserve the players by setting their “bench for X days” in their game strategy to 1 (which obviously then has to be reset again when they are actually put on the roster)

DD Martin · 05-13-2025, 05:17 PM

Wow what is going on in Portland? These guys have been brutal this season.

Westheim · 05-13-2025, 07:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DD Martin

Wow what is going on in Portland? These guys have been brutal this season.

It's a combo deal of a slashed budget, a couple of pointless trades, the odd bombing free agent signing, prospects that are useless in the most spectacular fashion, and the reliance on covering middle innings with Rule 5ers.

Also, injuries. (weeps for Chance Fox)

To be honest, I think the main reason is that I ran over Mr. Muffins, the three-headed hellhound of Igor, the shortest and meanest of all the baseball gods, with my car, and he isn't taking it well.

Mr. Muffins is *fiiiine*. He's a hellhound after all. My dear beige 1973 Chevelle isn't doing so great though...

Westheim · 05-14-2025, 02:55 PM

Raccoons (17-34) @ Aces (20-31) – May 31-June 2, 2066

Let’s just say neither team was doing particularly great at this point in time. These were the two worst offenses in the CL, although that was still giving the Raccoons too much credit for anything, since while the Aces were scoring just about four runs per game, the Raccoons had their heads fully under water, failing to plate even 3.2 markers per contest. The Aces’ pitching was worse, but not to a degree that was going to be helpful here. Vegas had a -54 run differential, with the Critters at -77. Portland was up 2-1 in the season series, achieved during the better days of April.

Projected matchups:
Vinny Morales (0-1, 9.53 ERA) vs. Chris Monahan (0-6, 7.35 ERA)
Nick Walla (4-4, 3.90 ERA) vs. Javier Huichapa (3-6, 3.82 ERA)
Juan Sanchez (3-5, 3.95 ERA) vs. Dan Gaither (1-5, 10.72 ERA)

The Aces had two southpaws in the rotation – and the Raccoons would step around both of them.

For injuries, Vegas had starters Matt May and Tim Henderson out as well as outfielder Nate Marazzo, and Joe Hade was ailing, but on the roster, just like Ryan Bonner still was on Portland’s roster after exiting Sunday’s game with an apparent injury.

Game 1
POR: LF Spicer – RF Corral – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – CF Wilson – 2B Gardner – P Vin. Morales
LVA: SS Hatakeyama – 1B A. Alfaro – LF Lorenzo – 3B Vic. Morales – CF A. Warner – C A. Perez – 2B Medford – RF Caceres – P Monahan

Monahan retired the Raccoons in *19* pitches the first time through the order, and IN order, so things were totally going according to plan. Vinny Morales allowed three hits the first time through, all singles, and Vic Lorenzo removed himself from the bases by being caught stealing to help him out. Things looked rather well for him, until he walked Koji Hatakeyama with two outs and nobody on base in the bottom 5th. The runner stole second immediately, and then doors blew off immediately with straight RBI hits from Alex Alfaro (single), Lorenzo (double), and good ol’ Coon Victor (Hugo) Morales, who hit an RBI single to left. Aaron Warner then popped out foul behind home plate to Ramon Lopez.

At that point Monahan had retired 15 straight, but Jaden Wilson singled his way on base to begin the sixth inning, which was such a rush of offense, at least until Joe Gardner immediately bashed his face into a double play, 6-4-3. Vinny Morales reached with a single after that, but was left on by Spicer. On the hill, he gave up another run on three hits in the bottom 6th, and pitched two outs’ worth into the seventh inning before being replaced with Sensabaugh, who got the last four outs for the Raccoons, which were all the outs still required against Monahan, who gave up a 2-out single to Spicer in the ninth inning, but then got a groundout from Tony Spink (batting for Sensabaugh in the #2 slot) to end the game with a 3-hit shutout. 4-0 Aces.

(opens snout)

(closes snout)

Vegas’ Joe Hade (.237, 0 HR, 20 RBI) ended May with being named CL Rookie of the Month, but also had his season end with a ruptured disc. He was moved to the DL, but Ryan Bonner kept rotting on the Raccoons’ roster.

The Raccoons deleted Joe Gardner (.255, 0 HR, 1 RBI), who went on waivers, and Marquise Early (.133, 0 HR, 1 RBI) and continued to try and catch any warm paw whatsoever. Newly on the roster were then two infielders. Manny Arredondo returned after an earlier 1-game cameo, and we also brought up 27-year-old minor league free agent signing INF/RF/LF Leon Arantes, who would be making his ABL debut by merit of hitting a little bit for the Alley Cats.

Game 2
POR: CF J. Wilson – LF Spicer – RF Corral – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – 2B Arantes – SS Arredondo – C Spink – P Walla
LVA: SS Hatakeyama – CF LeVan – LF Lorenzo – C A. Gomez – 1B A. Alfaro – 3B Vic. Morales – 2B M. Roberts – RF A. Warner – P Huichapa

The Raccoons went down in order AGAIN in the first three innings on Tuesday, while the Aces had two singles in the bottom 1st, but managed to run themselves out of the inning as Hatakeyama, while stealing second, was thrown out at home plate on Phil LeVan’s single. LeVan would lead off the fourth inning with Lorenzo and a pair of singles, but Lorenzo was caught stealing second after Alex Gomez popped out, and Alex Alfaro then flew out to right, leaving LeVan stranded on third base.

Huichapa retired 13 Raccoons in order before the certified nobody and despair promotion Leon Arantes rolled a single through the left side to get the Coons on base. Arredondo added another single right away, while Tony Spink drew a walk to fill the bases. Walla then of course orderly popped out to LeVan in shallow center and nobody scored. Walla stalked his way around two runners in the bottom 5th, but then allowed more leadoff singles to LeVan and Lorenzo in the sixth. This time LeVan had already reached third base with a stolen base and a free one on Spink’s throwing error, so Lorenzo plated him for the first run of the game. That was the last action for Walla, since the Raccoons brought his spot back up in the seventh inning after Starr walked, Arantes reached when Hatakeyama ****** up his potential inning-ending 6-4-3 grounder for an error, and Spink narrowly drew another walk. Ramon Lopez batted for Walla with three on and two outs, ran a full count, cranked a bases-clearing double to left-center, and then stomped on second base and angrily pointed with both frontpaws at the Coons bench as if to say that this was how it was done, and now they were up. No the mood on the team was not that great right now. The Aces walked Wilson intentionally for reasons best known to them, then collected a wimpy groundout from Spicer to end the inning.

McMahan pitched a scoreless seventh before Joel Starr took Huichapa deep to right in the eighth to extend the lead to 4-1, and Rich Monck tacked on two more runs in the ninth inning with a bases-loaded, 2-out single after Spink, Colter, and Wilson had reached base to begin the inning against Huichapa and Adam Edge. In between Spicer and Corral made more breathtakingly useless outs. Cullum followed a scoreless eighth from Juan Soriano with a decently quick ninth around a walk to Aaron Warner to end the game. 6-1 Raccoons! Arantes 2-5; Spink 1-2, 2 BB; Lopez (PH) 1-1, 2B, 3 RBI; Walla 6.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W (5-4);

UNBEATEN IN JUNE!!!

TAH!!!

Vic Lorenzo had a 20-game hitting streak thanks to his two singles in this game. He was hitting .358 with 3 HR, 19 RBI for the season.

Ryan Bonner meanwhile was finally shuffled off to the DL with a broken paw, which would keep him out until the All Star Game. Not that the All Star Game per se was a measuring stick he should be looking forward to. Outfielder Carlos Matas was recalled to make up the numbers.

Game 3
POR: CF Wilson – LF Spicer – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – RF Colter – 2B Arantes – SS Arredondo – P Sanchez
LVA: SS Hatakeyama – RF Caceres – LF Lorenzo – C A. Gomez – 1B A. Alfaro – 3B Vic. Morales – 2B M. Roberts – CF Leggett – P Gaither

The Aces scored quickly in the bottom 1st of the rubber game, getting a bloop single from Jorge Caceres, a walk drawn by Lorenzo, and an RBI single from Alex Gomez to take the 1-0 lead, but Alfaro struck out and Vic Morales popped out to leave two on base. The Coons wasted a Spicer double in the first and an Arredondo double in the fifth, and didn’t have a whole lot of anything in between again. Both teams were held to three hits through five-and-a-half, but then Lorenzo and Gomez opened the bottom 6th with singles through the left side on the first two pitches by Sanchez. Alfaro grounded out, allowing Vic Morales to hit a long sac fly to left, and Mike Roberts lined out to Arantes. Those two runs on five hits was all that Juan Sanchez allowed through seven innings, but it looked like plenty once more. The Coons only got on base in the eighth against Gaither when he nicked Jaden Wilson with two down, and then Spicer grounded out to second base. Instead, Juan Soriano was whacked around for three hits and two runs, driven in by Morales on a 2-out triple to send the Critters on their merry way, 3-hit and shut out by Gaither. 4-0 Aces. Arredondo 1-2, BB, 2B; Sanchez 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, L (3-6);

GAITHER.

Raccoons (18-36) @ Indians (25-27) – June 4-6, 2066

This was the one team the Raccoons were still having a good record against, having beaten them five out of six games in the first four weeks of the season, before the Coons had turned into a dark spot in the middle of the highway. Indy was a distant third in the North, already double digits away from the top two, and ranked sixth in runs scored and fifth in runs allowed, and with a +22 run differential. They had turned the corner, it seemed. Would the Raccoons, and soon?

Projected matchups:
Duarte Damasceno (2-6, 5.75 ERA) vs. Vince Ellison (5-2, 3.66 ERA)
Shoma Nakayama (3-6, 3.25 ERA) vs. Keith Thompson (2-4, 5.00 ERA)
Nick Walla (4-4, 3.68 ERA) vs. Victor Perez (3-2, 3.72 ERA)

Vinny Morales (0-2, 7.30 ERA) was skipped for this run through the rotation with another off day coming up on Monday. He would instead be available out of the pen. If the Indians wanted to use the common off day on Thursday for something, they could skip their only left-hander, Mike DeWitt (4-3, 2.45 ERA) into the series for a Southpaw Sunday.

Game 1
POR: CF Wilson – LF Spicer – C Lopez – 3B Monck – RF Corral – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – 2B Tallent – P Damasceno
IND: CF E. Ramirez – SS Aredondo – LF Dowsey – C Atencio – RF T. Torres – 3B A. Mendez – 1B Ma. Rogers – 2B B. Ellis – P Ellison

Monck went yard for the first run of the game in the second inning, but DD spent his time behind in the count once again. He issued a leadoff walk to Tony Torres in the bottom 2nd, the runner was doubled up by Alex Mendez’ grounder to short, and then Matt Rogers grounded out on a 3-0 pitch. In contrast, Ben Ellis waited out ball four to begin the bottom 3rd, and eventually scored on a 2-out knock by Oscar Aredondo, in no way related to Manny Arredondo – they didn’t even have the same amount of ARRRRR…!

Vinny Atencio’s solo homer in the fourth gave Indy a 2-1 lead that Pablo Novelo erased with a homer of his own in the following half-inning, but an Eddy Ramirez single, a stolen base, and another single by Aredondo put the Indians right back in the lead, 3-2 in the bottom 5th. Aredondo was caught stealing, Justin Dowsey singled, and Atencio hit another long fly, but that was caught on the warning track by Jose Corral, who went on to take DD, who was done after six busy innings in which he allowed nine hits, off the hook with a game-tying leadoff jack in the seventh inning.

Two-R Arredondo entered in the bottom 7th in a double switch with Garvey, replacing Novelo at short, and when the southpaw kept the game tied, Arredondo put his furry tush on base as the go-ahead run with a leadoff single in the eighth. Wilson’s single to center sent him to third, and Spicer got him home with a sac fly to Torres. Wilson was then caught stealing and Lopez grounded out. Garvey got another three outs in the bottom 8th, but Jesse Dover’s ninth began with a Rogers double off the wall and a pinch-hit single by John Edwards, which put the tying runs on the corners with nobody out. 19-year-old (!) rookie Jose Hilario *didn’t* hit a walkoff homer, which would have been Hilario-us, but got rung up on strikes instead, and Matthew Parker in the leadoff spot cashed another strikeout. Aredondo then grounded out to Ar-…antes at second base to end the ballgame. 4-3 Critters. Arantes (PH) 1-1; Arredondo 1-1;

Game 2
POR: CF Wilson – LF Spicer – C Lopez – 3B Monck – RF Corral – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – 2B Arredondo – P Nakayama
IND: CF E. Ramirez – SS Aredondo – LF Dowsey – 1B Starwalt – C Atencio – RF T. Torres – 3B A. Mendez – 2B B. Ellis – P K. Thompson

Rain threatened on Saturday, and the Coons left another first-inning Spicer double unused and on the bases. Indy scored first with straight hits for Atencio, Torres, and Mendez in the bottom 2nd, the latter two of whom were stranded in scoring position. Spicer instead singled home Arredondo to tie the game in the third inning after the newcomer had singled an stolen second base. Nakayama struck out the side in the third inning, and didn’t allow another baserunner until Ben Ellis hit a shy single in the fifth, but that runner was stranded. Both teams were on one run on five hits through five innings.

Spicer was robbed of extra bases in deep center by Eddy Ramirez to lead off the sixth, which then held the Coons to Ramon Lopez’ single in the inning, and they did not score. Nakayama walked Atencio in the bottom 6th, but then got a double play grounder from Torres to clean up. However, Mendez and Ellis then opened the seventh with singles and a sac fly by Keith Thompson himself put the Indians up 2-1 before Rogers grounded out in a full count to strand Ellis on third base.

It started to rain, finally, in the eighth inning, and a brief rain delay nevertheless chased Thompson from the game, although Victor Ramirez held the Coons away in the inning after replacing him. The Coons then had to use three relievers in the bottom 8th as Cullum walked Aredondo and Danny Starwalt on base. Atencio was retired by McMahan, but Dover came in for pinch-hitter Matt Martin and gave up a drive into the gap in left-center on his first pitch – but there was Spicer coming out of nowhere and taking the 2-run double away! Inning over, instead, and the Raccoons tried to squeeze out a tying run in the ninth against Cody Kleidon. Monck hit a leadoff single, but Tallent, Starr, and Novelo were brushed away with two strikeouts and a sorry pop. 2-1 Indians. Spicer 2-4, 2B, RBI; Arredondo 2-3; Nakayama 7.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, L (3-7);

No southpaw was offered by the Indians, as they kept Victor Perez in his regular spot in the rotation for the rubber game.

Game 3
POR: 1B Spicer – SS Novelo – C Lopez – 3B Monck – RF Corral – LF Arantes – 2B Arredondo – CF Matas – P Walla
IND: CF E. Ramirez – SS Aredondo – LF Dowsey – 1B Starwalt – C Atencio – RF T. Torres – 3B A. Mendez – 2B B. Ellis – P V. Perez

Spicer singled, stole second, and eventually scored after Lopez walked and Monck hit a sac fly to center. Corral left Lopez stranded in that first inning. Manny Arredondo then was the center of attention in the second inning. He struck out fairly unexcitingly in the top of the inning, in which the Coons went in order, but in the bottom 2nd threw away an Atencio grounder for a 2-base error leading off the inning. Torres singled, and with runners on the corners, Alex Mendez lined the ball hard at Arredondo, who had to jump, but made the catch. Atencio had read the play very badly, had gone for home, and then fell down trying to return, and was easily doubled off in 4-5 style! A K on Ben Ellis ended the inning, and Ellis also ended the fourth inning with a soggy out after the Indians had tried to sneak up on Walla with two outs. Starwalt walked, Torres singled, and Mendez walked, but Ellis’ pop to short left everybody stranded on base in the 1-0 game.

The Coons didn’t get another base hit until Novelo slapped a single in the sixth. Lopez walked, but a foul pop by Monck and a Corral fly to center left the runners on base. Walla did what he could, even without any sort of stuff. He walked Dowsey and Atencio in the bottom 6th, but the Indians again left all the runners stranded. However, after six innings and five walks, Walla was done at that point. Soriano, for novelty, had a 1-2-3 inning in the seventh before Cullum put Dowsey on base in the eighth. Jeremy Garvey replaced him and got out of the inning on soft contact, and the Raccoons then actually did add an insurance run against Victor Ramirez in the ninth as Corral hit a 2-out double to right, and Starr batted for Arantes against the righty and snuck an RBI single up the middle, 2-0. Arredondo struck out, and Garvey retained the ball for the bottom 9th, and when Torres and Mendez, a lefty and a switch-hitter, both made outs to Starr, also got Ellis, a right-handed batter. And Ben Ellis also grounded out to Starr…! 2-0 Blighters. Starr (PH) 1-1, RBI;

In other news

May 31 – Blue Sox CF/RF/1B Fernando Aracena (.373, 0 HR, 22 RBI) ends the month of May with two hits against the Warriors and a 20-game hitting streak, although the hosting Warriors hold on to win the ballgame, 7-6.
May 31 – San Francisco beats Milwaukee, 3-2. All runs score in the tenth inning.
June 1 – Nashville’s 2B/SS Franklin Serrano (.322, 2 HR, 27 RBI) decides another game in Sioux Falls with a tenth-inning grand slam, 10-6 Blue Sox.
June 1 – SFW OF Danny Perez (.331, 5 HR, 31 RBI) would miss at least a month for tearing his meniscus.
June 3 – SS/3B Dustin Cox (.320, 7 HR, 24 RBI) is traded from San Francisco to Los Angeles in exchange for INF Adan Yniguez (.277, 2 HR, 22 RBI) and a prospect.
June 4 – A torn ACL ends the season of Capitals outfielder Brent Campbell (.270, 1 HR, 18 RBI).
June 6 – The hitting streak of NAS CF/RF/1B Fernando Aracena (.369, 0 HR, 23 RBI) ends at 24 games as he goes hitless in a 5-4 loss to the Capitals on Sunday.
June 6 – BOS SP Mike Bell (8-2, 2.14 ERA) falls two outs shy of a no-hitter in a 7-0 win against the Canadiens, surrendering a single to 2B/3B Hsi-chuen Yue (.255, 3 HR, 21 RBI). Bell is removed and MR Jose Gomez (2-1, 1.23 ERA, 1 SV) finishes the game as a combined 1-hitter.

FL Player of the Week: WAS INF Angelo Flores (.316, 10 HR, 29 RBI), striking .478 (11-23) with 3 HR, 6 RBI
CL Player of the Week: MIL 1B/RF/LF Cesar Ramirez (.367, 5 HR, 40 RBI), raking .462 (12-26) with 3 HR, 7 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: CIN RF/LF Roberto Soto (.374, 8 HR, 44 RBI), batting .408 with 6 HR, 27 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: NYC LF/RF Kazuhide Takeuchi (.311, 11 HR, 43 RBI), hitting .330 with 6 HR, 25 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: DAL SP Alex Quevedo (8-0, 1.39 ERA), going 5-0 in six starts, with 1.38 ERA, 45 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: OCT CL Erik Swain (2-1, 1.08 ERA, 18 SV), closing out 11 games with a 2-0 record, zilch ERA, 25 K
FL Rookie of the Month: SFW INF Jimmy Madden (.330, 2 HR, 25 RBI), hitting .406 with 2 HR, 20 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: LVA LF/CF/1B Joe Hade (.237, 0 HR, 20 RBI), hitting .240, 0 HR, 15 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Stunningly competent 3-3 week, if you ignore that the team only scored 13 runs while being at it. We’re once more oh so close to hitting below three runs per game for the season.

Joe Gardner passed through waivers unharmed and was assigned to the Alley Cats. Because who’d want a guy that’s not hitting enough to be on the RACCOONS??

Northwest sequence coming up. We’ll have a home week against the Crusaders and Buffos, then a 3-game trip to the Wolves. Another home series against Boston will be followed with a road trip that start in Elk City, so we’re playing our next five series in the wider region.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons as a whole are batting below replacement level.

The Raccoons have already used 38 players this season, and you can’t say that variety is really improving the menu here. Of the 38 players, a mere dozen has a positive batting WAR, and of those dozen players, nine have at most +0.2 WAR. That leaves just three players that have done ANYTHING with a stick: Monck (+1.5), Lopez (+1.1), and Novelo (+0.6).

Thing is, I don’t really know what I am supposed to replace the feeble flailers with anymore. We’ve already gone through much of the AAA batters. Only the kid on the milk carton left to call up, and he hasn’t been seen in seven months!

04-19-2025, 05:20 AM	#4641
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,731	2065 ABL PLAYOFFS October baseball again had a reduced field of the four division winners in the pursuit of the World Series and the championship. The 97-65 Titans posted dominating numbers, leading the CL in runs scored and runs allowed with an impressive +223 run differential, but eked out the CL North by just two games over the Crusaders. The best rotation in the league was occasionally outdone by a middling bullpen and average defense, and they could score more for Jason Brenize (18-7, 2.36 ERA). Offensively the team lacked a bit in speed, but there were no complaints otherwise with one of the most formidable middles-of-the-order in the ABL. Eddie Marcotte (.285, 30 HR, 105 RBI), Jorge Arviso (.302, 21 HR, 116 RBI), and Bill Joyner (.299, 20 HR, 112 RBI) required a sophisticated plan to navigate through for any pitcher, and the Titans added two more batters with double digit home runs in Joe Washington (.246, 15 HR, 65 RBI) and Diego Mendoza (.273, 14 HR, 89 RBI) behind them. For injuries, the Titans were down one starter in Mike Bell, and infielder Ryan Spehar. They only carried right-handed starting pitchers into the playoffs. Those would face a largely right-handed lineup that had scored the sixth-most runs for the 87-75 Thunder, who won a largely unimpressive South by four games over the Falcons. They had allowed the second-fewest runs and had posted a +83 run differential. Besides Ian Stone (.337, 20 HR, 67 RBI) they were thin on power without another guy with double digit home runs. Both their rotation and bullpen ranked in the top three in the CL, though, and their defense was also rated better than the Titans. Whether that could help them make up the difference in wattage remained to be seen, but they had come tenth in home runs, and didn’t have speed either. Scoring runs was basically a chore for the team as a whole. Roberto Almanza (.316, 0 HR, 56 RBI) was the only .300 hitter besides Stone. Aaron Harris (17-9, 3.03 ERA) and Tyler Riddle (16-7, 3.47 ERA) were leading that rotation. Infieders Mike Weber and Ramon Archuleta were missing the playoffs with injuries. The 107-55 Dallas Stars had run away with the FL West, winning it early and by 14 games. They led the Federal League and the ABL with 872 runs scored, and had allowed the second-fewest runs in the FL for a +258 run differential. Home to many starts of the game, including starters Ray “Crabman” Walker (19-8, 2.76 ERA) and Ian Peters (19-4, 4.05 ERA) as well as surprise first-year rotation breakout Andy Canada (16-6, 2.93 ERA), as well as on the hitting side Xavier Reyes (.329, 1 HR, 69 RBI), Tyler Wharton (.353, 34 HR, 125 RBI), Chad Pritchett (.314, 26 HR, 121 RBI), and Juan de Luna (.243, 19 HR, 82 RBI), they figured to be favorites for this postseason. They had power almost throughout the lineup, same for speed, in which they led the league with 146 steals, and had only fringe injuries like reliever Brad Walker and infielders Adam Yocum and Elliott Grant. The 89-73 Cyclones were already scared, probably. They won the FL East by three games over the Rebels, putting the FL’s fourth-best offense and third-best pitching to good effect. They got away with a +90 run differential, but were ranking in the bottom half of the league in homers and stolen bases. Their offensive players were not exactly household names (yet?) between John MacDonnell (.230, 21 HR, 63 RBI) and Josh Heath (.267, 18 HR, 74 RBI) leading the team in homers, and Roberto Soto (.356, 15 HR, 58 RBI) missing 66 games to not qualify for a batting title. The bottom of the lineup was quite thin overall, partly because of unfortunately injuries to regulars Melvin Avila and Kevin Rising. In the rotation, only Edwin Moreno (12-5, 3.03 ERA) had an ERA under four, but the bullpen was one of the best in the league. Three of their starters, including Moreno, were left-handed, which was not the sort of handedness you wanted to bring up against the Dallas batters, almost all of whom were right-handed batters. +++ The Thunder extended their record for most playoff appearances in league history with their 26 October appearance, while the Titans were third-overall with their 22nd. The Stars made the 17th playoffs, and the Cyclones their 15th, jumping into the top half of teams in that category. With the exception of the Blue Sox missing the playoffs by seven games, this was the identical playoff field for the third year in a row. For titles, the Titans had the most in the league (11), while the title defending Stars had five, the Thunder three, and the Cyclones two. The Thunder and Titans had met up five times in the CLCS before, three times bunched together in 2001, 2002, and 2004, and then the last two seasons. The Thunder had even less luck in these matchups than against the Raccoons, as the Titans won all of these series, and with the exception of last season, each time also took the trophy off the FL pennant winners. The Stars and Cyclones met three times in the FLCS, all in a row from 2006 to 2008. The Stars had won every single one of those encounters, taking a title in 2006. For potential World Series matchups, the Titans had faced the Stars in both of the last two World Series, splitting the titles between them, Boston in ’63 and Dallas in ‘64. The Titans also beat the Cyclones in the 2025 World Series. The Thunder never encountered either of the two FLCS teams in the World Series. +++ 2065 LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES CIN @ DAL … 8-4 … (Cyclones lead 1-0) … CIN Steve Jordan 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; CIN John MacDonnell 2-2, BB, HR, RBI; CIN Dallas Baker 3-4, BB, RBI; CIN @ DAL … 2-6 … (series tied 1-1) … CIN Roberto Soto 2-3, BB, HR, 2 RBI; DAL Chad Pritchett 3-5, HR, 2 RBI; DAL Belchior Fresco 3-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; DAL Juan de Luna 3-5, RBI; OCT @ BOS … 0-1 … (Titans lead 1-0) … BOS Jason Brenize 8.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 9 K, W (1-0); OCT @ BOS … 4-6 … (Titans lead 2-0) … OCT Roberto Almanza 4-5; OCT Coby Thore 2-4, 3B, 2 RBI; BOS Jorge Arviso 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; DAL @ CIN … 2-3 (10) … (Cyclones lead 2-1) … DAL Tommy Pritchard (PH) 1-1, HR, 2 RBI; CIN Mario Padilla 1-1, RBI; After no score through seven, the Stars score two on Pritchard’s pinch-hit homer in the top 8th. The Cyclones answer with a run each in the eighth and ninth through home runs hit by Dallas Baker (.308, 1 HR, 2 RBI) and Roberto Soto (.250, 2 HR, 3 RBI), respectively, then walk off on a single by Padilla, in the game after a cascade of pinch-hitting assignments earlier, in the tenth inning. DAL @ CIN … 7-6 (13) … (series tied 2-2) … DAL Chad Pritchett 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; DAL Belchior Fresco 3-5, HR, 3 RBI; CIN John MacDonnell 3-4, HR, 2 RBI; BOS @ OCT … 1-3 … (Titans lead 2-1) … OCT Josh Elling 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 9 K, W (1-0); The Titans not only lose Game 3, but also the services of infielder Marcos Onelas for the rest of the campaign, as Onelas leaves the game with an abdominal strain. DAL @ CIN … 5-1 … (Stars lead 3-2) … DAL Chad Pritchett 3-4, RBI; DAL Alan Deakin 9.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 5 BB, 2 K, W (1-0); BOS @ OCT … 3-4 … (series tied 2-2) … OCT Ian Stone 3-4, HR, 2 RBI; OCT Ernesto Curiel 3-4; OCT Danny Baca 7.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 7 K, W (1-0); The Thunder pen collapses almost entirely in the ninth inning, allowing four singles to the first five Titans batters, but greedy base running sees Eddie Marcotte thrown out at the plate to cost a run, and after the bases are walked full with a 4-3 score and two outs, new pitcher Tetsu Kurihara (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 SV) gets a huge strikeout on Pat Fowler (.000, 0 HR, 0 RBI) to end the game. BOS @ OCT … 2-1 … (Titans lead 3-2) … BOS SP Jason Brenize 8.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (2-0); CIN @ DAL … 2-3 … (Stars win 4-2) … DAL Chad Pritchett 3-4, RBI; DAL Ian Peters 6.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K; The Stars win the pennant, but lose Peters (1-0, 1.98 ERA) to an unspecified knee injury. OCT @ BOS … 7-2 … (series tied 3-3) … OCT Ramon Lopez (PH) 1-1, HR, 2 RBI; OCT @ BOS … 4-3 (Thunder win 4-3) … OCT Ernesto Curiel 2-3, BB, RBI; BOS Bill Joyner 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; The Thunder piece together their first ever pennant against the Titans with seven pitchers, scoring the winning runs in the eighth inning on an uncharacteristically terrible outing for Boston’s Jason Rhodes (0-1, 18.00 ERA), who walks three batters and throws a wild pitch, and picks up the season-ending loss. +++ 2065 WORLD SERIES The favorites from Dallas had made it to the World Series after some struggles in the FLCS, but had lost a valuable starter in Ian Peters along the way and now had to make do with Sean Guice (4-7, 5.69 ERA) for at least one game in the World Series. There was also the mysterious case of the best hitter in the league (probably!), as Tyler Wharton had batted a bland .261 in the FLCS without collecting a single RBI. The Thunder had also suffered injuries in the CLCS, with Coby Thore and Ben Laity going down to add to the pile and thinning out that lineup even more. They were also still going to face a lineup with right-handers and switch-hitters while bringing up two lefty starters, both of whom had struggled in the CLCS. The cards were not necessarily in the Thunder’s favor to win their first title since 2053. The Stars were still the defending champs. OCT @ DAL … 1-2 … (Stars lead 1-0) … DAL Xavier Reyes 4-4, HR, RBI; DAL Ray Walker (8.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, W (1-1); OCT @ DAL … 1-7 … (Stars lead 2-0) … DAL Tyler Wharton 2-4, HR, 3B, 2 RBI; DAL Ricardo Vargas 2-4, 3B, RBI; DAL Andy Canada 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, W (1-0); With Wharton whacking it now, do the Thunder still have a chance? DAL @ OCT … 4-1 … (Stars lead 3-0) … DAL Chad Pritchett 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; DAL Jason Bothe 2-3, RBI; DAL Alan Deakin 8.0 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 4 K, W (2-0); DAL @ OCT … 5-6 (11) … (Stars lead 3-1) … OCT Johnny Parker 2-6, 3B, RBI; OCT Alberto Bonilla 3-5, RBI; OCT Danny Garcia 1-1, 2 BB, 2 RBI; OCT Dave Blackshire (PH) 1-1, RBI; The Stars rush “Crabman” Walker on short rest to finish the deal, but Walker gets roughed up for three runs in the first inning, and while Dallas answers with a 4-run second, the game gets away from them again. The Thunder extend the season with a walkoff triple by Johnny Parker in the 11th inning. DAL @ OCT … 1-8 … (Stars lead 3-2) … OCT Roberto Almanza 3-4, 2B, RBI; OCT Martin Bohannon 2-4, 3B, RBI; OCT Aaron Harris 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 3 K, W (1-3); Sean Guice (0-1, 11.25 ERA) gets routed fast after getting the ball and the series will move back to Dallas, with the Texas thumpers being held to just three hits in Game 5. OCT @ DAL … 4-7 … (Stars win 4-2) … OCT Ernesto Curiel 3-4, HR, 2 RBI; DAL Chad Pritchett 3-3, 2 BB, 2 2B, 2 RBI; DAL Juan de Luna 3-5, 3 RBI; DAL Ricardo Vargas 3-5, 3B, 2 RBI; DAL Andy Canada 8.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, W (2-0) and 3-4; A ninth-inning rally by the Thunder falls short and the Stars defend their title on strong pitching by Andy Canada, and by Chad Pritchett (.458, 2 HR, 13 RBI) going on an absolute tear in the playoffs while Tyler Wharton (.283, 1 HR, 2 RBI) remained bland. +++ 2065 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS Dallas Stars (6th 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.

04-20-2025, 06:28 PM	#4642
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,731	I blinked, I rubbed my big black googly eyes once, and I rubbed my big black googly eyes twice, but the number on the screen didn’t change. Adam Valdes had slashed the Raccoons’ budget for the 2066 season down to $59M. That was a whopping 11 million dollares less than in 2065! And look how far we got with that! Valdes explained himself with a lot of the returns on investment being below average for his other assets. Well yes, but we’re not a six-story apartment building in Slum City, Adam!! Just when I started to tolerate the guy… Predictably, the Coons took a bit of a slide down the pecking order, going from 8th to 12th among the 24 teams in terms of disposable allowance. Top 5: Knights ($87M), Titans ($85M), Stars ($84M), Thunder ($82M), Crusaders ($81M) Bottom 5: Bayhawks ($50M), Cyclones ($49.5M), Falcons ($48.5M), Aces ($42.5M), Wolves ($39.5M) The remaining CL North teams ranked 14th (VAN, $56M), 18th (IND, $53M), and MIL ($51M). The budget available went up for every position in the top and bottom five, but not in the soggy middle. The median budget went down $1M to $58.5M, while the average budget went up about $800k to $62.1M. +++ To be fair, the budget slash, while seriously putting the daily donut buffet in jeopardy, made the first decision that was required to begin the offseason a lot easier. Bruce Burkart had a $4M team option for 2066 which the Raccoons would have had a long debate over whether it was worth keeping a 35-year-old catcher with degrading defense, but still with a nice stick around, if you didn’t mind that he had spent roughly two months of both his Coons seasons on the DL. Such luxuries were no longer on the table now, with the team in the read by more than $2M right off the bat. Thankfully, the Caps, from whom we had acquired him in a trade two years ago, had negotiated a rather cheap $340k buyout into his contract, and the Raccoons pulled the emergency parachute. The Raccoons also had to clean out the 60-day DL, which held relievers Isaac McDaniel and Cruz Madrid. Scott Lawson and Marco Campos were waived and DFA’ed, even though neither McDaniel nor Madrid figured in our plans going forwards. The former had spent the entire second half of the season in AAA and was projected to cost actual money in salary arbitration and weren’t having that, and the latter would miss the entire 2066 season (the last on his contract) after elbow reconstruction surgery. Then again neither Lawson nor Campos were under consideration for a regular roster spot in ’66… Speaking of players not under consideration anymore, besides Bruce Burkart that was also true for the other free agents we had coming up, which included Corey Garmon, who was the second regular outfielder managing to post a full NEGATIVE WAR, and relievers Juan Carrillo and Sansao Tyson, who had tried my patience long enough. At least those four departures and that of McDaniel would free up over $8M of budget space, which was something we needed… There were five arbitration cases, all of which would be retained. Angel Alba had been through a horrendous season and seemed to be melting, but it wasn’t like we had something in AAA that looked like a solid bet of improving on his 7-16 record and 4.42 ERA and replacing him on the market was probably prohibitive unless we managed to clear a big salary first. The others were relievers Jeremy Garvey (a candidate for the closer’s job if we even needed a fixed closer at this stage…), and Kody Mello, potential starting (again) catcher Marcos Arellano, and outfielder Jose Corral, who had took a terrible plunge by 150 points of OPS this year and now had OPS values of 72, 129, 136, and 91 for the last four seasons. Go ahead, YOU have a guess at what he’s gonna do next year! Going back to the idea of clearing big salaries… The three biggest salaries on the Coons were probably untradeable at this point, as we had picked up another $5.1M salary owed to Juan Sanchez in ’66, there were two years of $5M each owed to Rich Monck, who had also slashed his power numbers in half season-to-season, and Jeff Crowley was beyond awful and had posted a 7.28 ERA for his $4.5M salary when he wasn’t hurt to begin with. Crowley had a vesting option for the same salary for 2067, which would require 170 innings pitched this year, which I would do my utmost to not give to him. After that you had the long deal to Shoma Nakayama with $14.4M over four years, nothing too wild there, and then Joel Starr with three to four years (team option) of $3.3M annually, and one more $2.5M salary owed to Chance Fox. Good 2065 campaigns amongst those six: nah. Few if any of them appeared tradeable for anything of value. So immediately the Raccoons had no money and were stuck with some really ****** contracts, automatically making everybody consider whether it would get worse before it could get better…… 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.

04-21-2025, 03:22 AM	#4643
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,731	Maud, I know that it will get worse before it can get better, but do you have to put away the big boy food bowls already?? – I don’t want my bucket of ice cream in the XL sized bowls, they are too small…!! – We can’t afford buckets of ice cream anymore??? Fine, I’ll look at the roster with horror in my eyes while only suckling on a bottle of Capt’n Coma… Keeping in mind the upcoming departures, the Raccoons were left with six starting pitchers on the extended roster (Alba, Crowley, Fox, Nakayama, Sanchez, Walla), all in various states of dissolution. The rest of the staff looked even worse with the upcoming culling. The only established relievers signed for next year were Dover, Garvey, and Mello; that would leave ample room to keep the youngster Carrington around (I was just pretending Closing Day didn’t happen), and also Baca (who would be 27 in April and was far beyond prospect age). Behind that we were already down to serial do-no-goods that constantly kept getting waived and never claimed, with three more right-handers, Nesbitt, Read, and Soriano. And I keep harping about how there’s nothing of redeemable value left on that AAA roster, and yet they somehow won the championship down there… I don’t know, I … (looks upwards to the baseball gods and shouts) Make it make sense, goddamnit!!! A word on AAA pitching; virtually everybody on that roster that hadn’t been clawed up in September finished the season not with an ERA, but a FIP over four and terrible BB/9 numbers. Among starters you could not do better than Cody Childress, the 2062 second-rounder, who posted a 3.89 FIP, but went 6-10 with a 5.11 ERA. Relievers weren’t any better. Anyone remember Paul Barton? (shivers) I am excepting Tony Gaytan from criticism here, since he was only promoted to AAA in September and went 3-0 with a 3.18 ERA (but still walked 22 batters in 34 innings). Gaytan had gone from being picked off the street in the Dominican Republic to a prospect just outside the top 200 in the league last year, but our alleged knowledgeheads over there claimed that he’d be well into the top 200 and likely 100 for 2066. Gaytan, a right-hander, was 22 years old right now and mixed a grounder-inducing sinker with serviceable fastballs and curves. There was also a changeup, but that one was more of a distraction. With how things were going with everybody else down there, Gaytan looked like the best candidate for promotion to the major in any other circumstance than desperation down the road. For position players, Marcos Arellano looked like becoming a poor man’s primary catcher again, with nothing but Guinea left on the extended roster for backup. The Raccoons would still be stuck with two first baseman that didn’t platoon well in Starr and Vargas. Monck and Novelo would be starting middle infielders, with Vic Morales butchering things at the hot corner. Gardner and Bonner were the only backup left on the extended roster. In the outfield it was still agony. Spicer had won the stolen base title and had hit .282 while killing the Coons to the tune of -1.4 WAR mostly on defense. We had a whole bunch more left-handed corner outfielders slash misfits with Bentley, Colter, and Corral, then another lefty hitter, Matas, as the only competent centerfielder. Finally, Tallent as a super utility that was getting way too many at-bats for anybody’s good. As has been the case for about five years running now, the team could do with a near-complete new bullpen, and the accumulation of left-handed outfielders with questionable glove skills was becoming a real problem; also what the **** was going on with Corral?? The Raccoons would need at least one right-handed hitting outfielder besides Tallent, and better two. Marquise Early had hit .340 in AAA in limited exposure (there was also a bit of injury time for him), but went 2-for-21 in a cup of coffee in Portland. He was surely in the mix, especially for a team sliding back into Poverty Row. Technically there was also Marco Campos, but we had ridden that pony to death in prior seasons with absolutely mixed results and had just gotten him through waivers again. Another interesting prospect was infielder Josh Mireles, a highly skilled gloveman (although perhaps best used at second base with a good, but not great throwing arm), who had made his pro debut just 13 months ago for the Beagles and rose through the ranks to AAA all in his age 19/20 season. He had hit .361/.434/.544 in 41 games with the Alley Cats, although power didn’t even seem to be his strongest suit. He was also not a speed demon, but I’d love myself a strong defender on the infield with a balanced bat in any case should we have to part with Rich Monck in the foreseeable future. Mireles, who would turn 21 at the end of May, had been signed for $100k in the 2061 July IFA period. Also, hah! Wasn’t it great to blow millions on international free agents this summer!? Yes, we’re banned from any spendy signings in 2066, but it’s not like we would have had dosh for big offers anyway. Tah! (tries to bury his head in a depressingly small bowl of fudge) +++ October 30 – The Crusaders send OF Alex Romero (.274, 33 HR, 204 RBI) to the Pacifics for 1B/RF/LF Jared Allen (.281, 45 HR, 236 RBI) and #89 prospect SP Nick Ellis. November 4 – Persisting shoulder inflammation forces 28-year-old Knights SP Johnny Doolin into retirement. Doolin made just two starts for the Knights after being acquired in trade from the Canadiens in 2065 before his shoulder came apart. For his career, Doolin pitched to a 44-55 record and 3.97 ERA. +++ The Raccoons signed all the arbitration cases in early November. Jeremy Garvey got $900k, Kody Mello got $850k, Jose Corral got $750k, and it was all a bit dull on that end. The interesting ones were Marcos Arellano, who was signed to a 3-year, $3M contract buying out his remaining arbitration seasons and one year of free agency, which Maud now had to sell to the fans as a big W for the franchise – pray for her soul – while Angel Alba was gnarly about the negotiations and only reluctantly signed a $1.24M deal for ’66. As the salary arbitration and free agency deadlines passed, the Raccoons were then left with 30 players on the extended roster, although in real terms Cruz Madrid would miss the entire final year on his contract with the busted elbow and there were really just 29 players to worry about. There were also some early talks in mid-November, and surprisingly enough we got offers from the Titans and Knights when we dangled Jeff Crowley’s dead contract – albeit only for huge contracts in return. Bigger contracts, in fact, like the $16.8M over three years left on SS Casey Ramsey’s contract – who was a fine defensive shortstop (though 31) and a persistent above-average hitter and would not be the worst addition to a team trying to compete in the foreseeable future, but not the right fit for the Coons right now. The Titans offered Bill Joyner, who was about to hit 37 and was due $6.9M each of the next two seasons, which no amount of hitting for an .800+ OPS could fix given our financial situation … and the fact that we already had two strictly-first basemen on the roster and should instead be thinking of moving Malcolm Spicer there. Which wasn’t a great start to the offseason, having to eat Crowley’s contract. I’d much rather eat a bucket of ice cream. (makes big black googly eyes at Maud) Rats. +++ 2065 ABL AWARDS Players of the Year: DAL CF Tyler Wharton (.353, 34 HR, 125 RBI) and BOS LF/CF Eddie Marcotte (.285, 30 HR, 105 RBI) Pitchers of the Year: DAL Ray Walker (19-8, 2.76 ERA) and BOS SP Jason Brenize (18-7, 2.36 ERA) Rookies of the Year: SFW OF Adam Campbell (.278, 12 HR, 64 RBI) and IND LF/RF/1B Justin Dowsey (.263, 28 HR, 96 RBI) Relievers of the Year: DAL CL Alex Quevedo (8-5, 2.52 ERA, 27 SV) and NYC CL Ricardo Montoya (7-3, 0.87 ERA, 43 SV) Platinum Sticks (FL): P SAC Phil Nelson – C SAC Nate Danis – 1B SFW Miguel Medina – 2B WAS Angelo Flores – 3B TOP Alex de los Santos – SS NAS Wil Mejia – LF DAL Chad Pritchett – CF DAL Tyler Wharton – RF NAS Austin Gordon Platinum Sticks (CL): P NYC Jerry Washington – C BOS Jorge Arviso – 1B OCT Ian Stone – 2B MIL Fidel Carrera – 3B LVA Alex Alfaro – SS CHA Trent Taylor – LF IND Justin Dowsey – CF BOS Eddie Marcotte – RF MIL Carlos Dominguez Gold Gloves (FL): P DAL Alan Deakin – C RIC Justin Aguilar – 1B PIT Jose Campos – 2B CIN Jordan Hernandez – 3B TOP Alex de los Santos – SS PIT Edgar Gonzales – LF SFW Danny Perez – CF DAL Tyler Wharton – RF SFW Mario Asencio Gold Gloves (CL): P TIJ Edgar Mauricio – C LVA Alex Gomez – 1B IND Danny Starwalt – 2B MIL Fidel Carrera – 3B VAN Steven Spalding – SS CHA Trent Taylor – LF MIL Scott Franks – CF NYC Bryant Box – RF ATL Jake Evans Not even a former Raccoon to take anything home here…! Malcolm Spicer unsurprisingly got no love in the Rookie of the Year voting. __________________ 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.

04-23-2025, 05:54 PM	#4644
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,731	(sits at the desk with Slappy and Cristiano and has several baseball cards of ’65 Coons in his paw, with more laid out on the table) So that’s … Alba… and that’s … Mello. And that is… Cristiano, do you have the Knights cards? (Cristiano looks through the cards he’s holding) So, Slappy, how did little DeWayne’s school trip go? – M-hm. – You don’t say. – Yeah, you never want to bring home that … – Well, at least the girl’s parents are nice, you said. (looks through more of his cards) Cristiano, I think I have a full house. (lays out more cards) And just with garbage relievers! “What’s with Wilson” is a great question, Slappy; Maud? Mau-haud!? – (Maud pokes her head in) Maud, do we have more of those cards with the glossy rainbow print? – I don’t think it would impress the Aces, I just like how they change color when I turn my head. – You’re right, those aren’t in the budget anymore… - Maud, one muffin for the three of us is ridiculous! (fumbles a twenny from his wallet) Please go and buy us a full box from one of the bakeries conspicuously surrounding the ballpark…! Alright, Cristiano, I’ll take a right-handed batting outfielder for 600, please. (Cristiano takes a card from a facedown pile and reads a question) – How the heck would I know? I just know your wheelchair aches when you lean over there. Lay off the cookies! (matches a couple of cards on the desk and shoves them into the middle of the table) Can I win with that or do I have to throw the dice? – Fine… (throws the dice) – Snake eyes, rats! (Maud sticks her head back in) He’s on the phone again, Maud? – Tell him we’re not done here yet. Playing Solitaire with baseball cards is kinda hard. – Ya-ya, I’ll buy him a drink when I see him in Sacramento in December. +++ I have a pair of trades on the table on which I have gotten mentally stuck. Please stand by and show the usual patience. __________________ 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.

04-25-2025, 12:16 PM	#4645
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,731	November 25 – The Raccoons trade SP Angel Alba (52-57, 3.92 ERA) and MR Kody Mello (19-18, 3.76 ERA, 7 SV) to the Knights for 24-yr old MR Ricky McMahan (1-0, 5.23 ERA) and 21-yr old INF/LF Carlos Gutierrez (.286, 0 HR, 4 RBI). November 25 – In a separate deal, the Raccoons also send 3B Victor Morales (.283, 22 HR, 161 RBI) to the Aces in exchange for OF Jaden Wilson (.296, 48 HR, 297 RBI). November 28 – The Titans sign 39-year-old ex-Capitals 3B/SS Zach Suggs (.298, 384 HR, 1,510 RBI) to a 2-yr, $12.2M contract. November 28 – Former Knights 2B/3B Nick Nye (.312, 233 HR, 1,005 RBI) inks a 3-yr, $16.8M contract with the Condors. December 1 – Rule 5 Draft: 16 players are selected from outside their previous teams’ 40-man rosters. The Raccoons draft right-handed relievers Steven Hudson from the Cyclones and Garrett Napolitano from the Rebels. December 6 – At age 39 and coming off the Buffaloes, SP Sean Sweeton (199-171, 3.65 ERA) signs a 2-yr, $7.6M contract with the Knights. December 6 – Veteran third baseman Steve Dilly (.260, 186 HR, 861 RBI), 41 years old and most recently with New York, signs a $2.64M contract for 2066 with the Rebels. +++ The guys coming over from the Knights exceeded rookie limits during the 2065 season, but McMahan was the #28 prospect going into that season, and Gutierrez might have appeared prominently on the list this year. I wasn’t trading away Angel Alba lightly, but his numbers were getting worse every year (he had led the CL in bombs away in 2063 and 2065) and this was a surprisingly good deal for him. Also, anything to break up that catastrophic bullpen that was not only terrible, but also full of chaos kids trying to light each other’s tails on fire. Victor Morales had produced steadily the last two seasons, both a .740-ish OPS and a mountain of errors on the hot corner. The Coons badly needed a centerfielder, even though Wilson was a left-handed batter with injury issues, which might be why the Aces were so readily trading him. Wilson was making $3M in ’66 and then $4.48M annually for three years after that. He had been Rookie of the Year in 2061. Gutierrez was not a lock to begin the season on the big league roster, but neither was McMahan really. Or he might be the closer. Who knew what we were going to throw at the wall next…!? While we now needed a right-handed batting outfielder more than ever with the prospect of all three outfield starters being left-handed, the other question was concerning third base and who’d play there. In all honesty it was most likely Rich Monck getting shoved around one more time (Rich Hereford, anyone?), since he had the best throwing arm on that infield. Novelo would probably remain the shortstop for now. Between him and Gutierrez we’d have a pretty good defensive middle infield for the next few years, even though not necessarily right away on Opening Day, although Josh Mireles, the 20-year-old that shot up to AAA this past season, might soon have a word about that. Entering December I was nagging the Gold Sox for another promising middle infielder of theirs. The Sox had perhaps even less pitching than the Raccoons, which didn’t mean that it was easy to tie a package for them. +++ December 7 – The Raccoons acquire OF Tommy Branch (.224, 123 HR, 538 RBI) from the Gold Sox along with prospect AA INF Gary Gates, while delivering an orgy of failed prospects in MR Ricky Baca (3-2, 3.38 ERA, 2 SV), MR John Nesbitt (6-1, 4.60 ERA, 2 SV), AAA SP John Bollinger (8-8, 4.20 ERA), and AAA INF Carlos Cervantez. The Sox sweeten the deal with $250k in cash. +++ Nobody had the intention of doing anything with Tommy Branch. He’s a salary dump by the Sox onto a team with no budget, but at least he’s on the final year of his contract. An all-or-nothing swinger, he brings at least a veteran presence to that outfield that could use a guiding paw or four. No, the main prize (besides getting rid of a flock of fringe pitchers and another clubhouse distraction in Baca) was Gary Gates, an unranked, but very interesting middle infielder with a contact bat, strong defense, and good speed. No power, sadly, but they can’t all hit 30 homers a year. Gates had not quite mastered AA pitching yet, so he was at least a year off right now. At this point, the Raccoons had their outfield with Spicer, Wilson, and Corral starting and with right-handed support from Branch and Tallent, while Bentley, Matas, and Colter were probably all squeezed out to make the numbers add up, but who knows how many wicked trades we can swing here? The rotation was reduced to (alphabetically ordered) Crowley, Fox, Nakayama, Sanchez, and Walla; while the bullpen had been torched quite relentlessly. The only relievers left on the extended roster that had worn the brown cap in earnest already were Dover, Garvey, Carrington, Soriano, and Read (these were ranked in decreasing willingness to put them anywhere near the Opening Day roster). I guess Cruz Madrid was still counting in a purely administrative sense. On top of that we now had McMahan and the Rule 5 picks Hudson and Napolitano. Good luck making a functional bullpen out of those. We still were nowhere near naming any of the hillbillies on staff an actual closer. There was also practically no budget room left. Go book your October vacations for next year now, you’ll get a good price and you’re not gonna miss anything. What else is new? Victor Herrera has been waived off the 40-man roster, and I promise at some point I will stop talking about absolutely ghastly relievers. Other Raccoons with new stalking grounds: Ben Morris got 2-yr, $1.27M from the Buffos; Isaac McDaniel signed with the Knights for 2-yr, $944k; Hall of Fame voting is now also open, with the ballot being published even before the start of the winter meetings this year. 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.

04-25-2025, 12:16 PM	#4646
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,731	Sorry, screenshot overflow! 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.

04-26-2025, 06:28 AM	#4647
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,731	The Winter Meetings were only half the fun when your club is so broke that you had to stretch the remaining budget at the hot dog stand rather than join the other GMs at Chéz Richard. Then again, sometimes a free steak dinner just flies into your lap… +++ December 9 – Indy picks up SP Vince Ellison (54-51, 3.54 ERA) and $1.1M in cash from the Condors in exchange for a prospect, #47 ranked 1B Keith Bevilacqua. December 9 – SP Kelly Whitney (39-43, 4.04 ERA) is sent from the Blue Sox to the Cyclones along with $700k in cash for 3B Sergio Rubio (.232, 1 HR, 11 RBI) and a prospect. December 9 – The Knights sign ex-OCT 2B Mike Weber (.243, 41 HR, 282 RBI) to a $1.22M contract. December 10 – The Thunder trade for the Raccoons’ SP Jeff Crowley () and send C Ramon Lopez () to the Raccoons instead. December 10 – The Titans acquire 3B Phil Macomber (.262, 20 HR, 123 RBI) from the Wolves in exchange for infielder Danny Mijangos (.239, 17 HR, 107 RBI). December 10 – Former Condors 3B/RF Eric Frasher (.245, 141 HR, 579 RBI) joins the Wolves on a $1.62M deal. December 10 – The Loggers trade for the Buffos’ MR Steve Slye (9-4, 3.18 ERA, 1 SV), paying with two prospects. December 11 – Nashville acquires 3B Rick Healey (.266, 44 HR, 203 RBI) from the Falcons, along with a prospect, in exchange for SP/MR Tony Lira (17-12, 3.76 ERA, 3 SV). December 13 – The Loggers send catcher J.P. Jack (.284, 7 HR, 74 RBI) to the Buffaloes in a swap for MR Angelo Ramirez (10-7, 5.22 ERA, 3 SV) and a prospect. December 20 – The Blue Sox jump and sign ex-CIN SP Edwin Moreno (51-61, 3.91 ERA) to a 7-year contract worth a staggering $53.9M. December 20 – The Warriors also add a new frontline starting pitcher in 35-year-old veteran ex-Logger Bobby “Tipsy” Herrera (108-85, 3.21 ERA), who will make $23.1M over three years. December 21 – Former Miners SP Coby Strutz (116-94, 3.69 ERA, 1 SV) gets a 4-year, $15.36M deal from the Buffaloes. December 23 – The Knights lure in 27-yr old ex-WAS/MIL SP Adam Lunn (69-58, 3.98 ERA) with a 7-year, $51.8M deal. December 23 – The Canadiens trade for the Scorpions’ SP Ray Rath (17-11, 4.33 ERA), paying for the 26-year-old with infielder Alex Castillo (.232, 26 HR, 181 RBI), #170 prospect INF/RF John Koonz, and half a million in cash. December 25 – After a few trying seasons elsewhere, infielder Willie Acosta (.280, 117 HR, 766 RBI) returns to the Knights at age 36 for a 2-yr, $11.4M contract. He won all three of his Player of the Year awards with Atlanta. December 28 – Topeka signs ex-CIN RF/LF/1B John MacDonnell (.266, 196 HR, 639 RBI) to a $4.16M contract for ’66. December 31 – The Raccoons bring back 34-year-old SP/MR Duarte Damasceno (42-44, 4.73 ERA, 7 SV) from the Knights in a trade for 1B Alex Vargas (.266, 4 HR, 26 RBI) and AAA C Scott Lawson (.215, 4 HR, 28 RBI). +++ No, I don’t know what possessed the Thunder to ask for Crowley in a trade for an actual catcher with an actual bat. But the Thunder had decided apparently that Martin Bohannon was their primary catcher going forward and didn’t want $4M a year tied up with a backup catcher for two more seasons. Instead they wanted Crowley…? It’s not my business to talk other teams out of bad decisions though. The only one losing out on this deal on our sodden little franchise was of course Marcos Arellano, who had hoped to be the primary catcher himself. Lopez sure had the inside lane in that duel, although they might perhaps split duties more evenly than normal between two catchers. Interestingly, Lopez was a really fast runner – an absolute rarity for catchers – and had stolen as many as 38 bases in a season when he was the Rebels’ primary catcher early in the decade. Arellano didn’t have much in terms of splits, so he might primarily face southpaws next season. That trade only gave us half a million of budget space, though, and we were now down to four starting pitchers on the roster. The only other starting pitcher left on the 40-man roster with the Bollinger trade was Applecore, which was not exactly a thrilling proposition. Since Tony Gaytan was not ready, you then had to look at a pair of 25-year-olds, Cody Childress and Sandy Pineda, that had both walked more than their fair share in AAA this season. Pineda had pitched to a 3.33 ERA, while Childress had clocked in at 5.11 – but there was also a stark 88 points of BABIP involved in that comparison. Childress had the better stuff, but he also had a propensity to hang one and would potentially follow in Angel Alba’s pawsteps to lead the league in bombs away. And no, we only had a million of monopoly money, which would not buy a pitcher that could easily outdo those two in a major league capacity. We still got J.J. Sensabaugh, though, who hadn’t appeared for the Coons at all in 2065 (first time since 2056!), but knew no other home and refused to opt for minor league free agency at age 33. Minor league meal money still started with an “mmm” after all. After the Thunder trade there were only 13 pitchers left on the extended roster, which included Madrid (out for the remainder of his contract) and easy pushovers Soriano and Reed, and the two Rule 5 picks Hudson and Napolitano, so the Raccoons looked like they were increasingly in actual trouble to fill out the pitching staff at all. How that was going to get solved with the addition of Duarte “DD” Damasceno was anybody’s guess. He was also on an expiring contract and we might just try and sneak him into the rotation again. It didn’t go that badly during the two seasons he was mostly starting for the Raccoons some years ago, even though I vaguely remember complaining constantly. Vargas was trapped behind Joel Starr and I wasn’t gonna have two first basemen on the roster for the entire season, and Lawson was about fifth on the depth chart for catchers now. What else? Carlos Matas changed his number from #38 to #19, slashing 50% off and probably still getting reassigned to AAA by Opening Day. Apart from that we finished the year with a $650k offer out there to an experienced (not: strong) reliever, and had a budget room of … (looks at Steve from Accounting several times before reading the number from the paper) … of a whole $2,680. Ho-ly furball… 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.

04-27-2025, 02:48 PM	#4648
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,731	January 1 – The Falcons sign ex-TIJ SP Edgar Mauricio (100-78, 3.29 ERA) to a 7-year, $53.3M contract. January 3 – Career Warriors 1B Miguel Medina (.283, 188 HR, 827 RBI) lands with the Knights for $18.4M over three years. January 6 – Loggers SP Carlos Rodriguez is forced into retirement from a frayed labrum at the tender age of 27. Rodriguez made just 56 starts in the ABL, going 20-15 with a 3.95 ERA for the Condors and Loggers. January 7 – The former Titans SP Joe Chalmers (85-91, 4.10 ERA) gets a $38.4M contract from the Capitals. The contract runs for six years. January 10 – New York signs 32-yr old ex-TOP LF Jose Ambriz (.281, 55 HR, 390 RBI) to a 2-year, $13.8M deal. January 11 – The Raccoons sign former Buffos MR Justin Cullum (20-13, 4.48 ERA, 18 SV) to a $650k contract. +++ Cullum is the best we could do with our limited resources right now. He’s a hard worker and believes in law and order, which that pen direly needs, even though he keeps hanging curveballs that then get blasted to other realms entirely. Former Raccoons with new dens: the Scorpions gave Elmer Maldonado $3.12M over two years; Adam Peltier (minor leaguer but a perpetual haunt ever since) signed with the Warriors for $1.04M; Phil Baker joined the Falcons for $2.6M; the Warriors got Jim White for $980k; the Gold Sox gave $1.28M to Mike Hall; +++ The Hall of Fame welcomed two new members elected on the 2066 ballot. Mike McCaffrey spent his entire career in the FL West and except for one last season with the Pacifics all of it with the Scorpions. He dominated the strikeout table for his 17-year career, recording the most punchouts in the Federal League nine times in a 12-year stretch – or every year that injuries didn’t curtail him, with a career-high of 316 K in just 218.2 innings in 2047. He led the league in ERA three times, but never in wins; however, he racked up four Pitcher of the Year awards (2047, 2054, 2056, 2057), three of them in his 30s, and a Gold Glove. Walks crept up on him towards the end of his career, limiting his effectiveness in his last seasons, but overall he was one of the most brutal pitchers on batters that the league had ever seen, going 197-114 with a 2.99 ERA and 3,535 strikeouts in 2,902 innings. The strikeouts rank him fourth on the career table behind Tony Hamlyn, Jose Lerma, and Martin Garcia. Infielder (mostly second baseman) Jonathan Ban also spent most of his career with one team, the Thunder, before tingling around the Federal League towards the end, and coincidentally also finished with the Pacifics as a teammate of McCaffrey. Ban was an exception defensive centerfielder with eight Gold Gloves, but could also dole it out with the club. While power was not his game – he topped out at 11 for home runs in a season – and speed was limited, he employed his switch-hitting capabilities to great effect and was a perpetual threat to hit that go-ahead RBI single against any pitcher. Batting .312/.372/.399 for his career with 2,815 hits, 91 homers, and 1,053 RBI, Ban slipped himself to two batting titles in 2047 and 2052, and impressed enough to collect three Platinum Sticks. He led the CL in hits three times with a high of 243 in ’47. Full voting results: SAC SP Mike McCaffrey – 1st – 93.9 – INDUCTED OCT 2B Jonathan Ban – 1st – 92.0 – INDUCTED SFW LF Mario Villa – 2nd – 53.6 ??? LF Eddie Moreno – 3rd – 46.8 DEN 3B Ronnie Thompson – 5th – 38.4 IND LF Danny Rivera – 3rd – 26.2 ??? SS Alex Adame – 2nd – 13.3 ??? CL Mike Lynn – 3rd – 12.9 ??? SP Matt Sealock – 6th – 11.4 LVA C Kevin Weese – 1st – 11.0 SAC 1B Steve Wyatt – 1st – 8.7 ??? SP Kennedy Adkins – 1st – 8.0 OCT SS Ryan Cox – 5th – 6.1 DEN CF Sandy Castillo – 3rd – 5.3 IND SS Andrew Russ – 1st – 2.3 – DROPPED VAN SP Terry Herman – 1st – 1.5 – DROPPED VAN SS Dan Mullen – 1st – 0.4 – DROPPED Attached Images __________________ Portland Raccoons, 92 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

04-30-2025, 07:29 PM	#4649
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,731	February 3 – Veteran outfielder Jesus Martinez (.251, 139 HR, 545 RBI) signs a 3-year deal with the Condors worth $4.92M after spending last season with the Falcons. February 10 – Former Knights closer Erik Swain (37-32, 3.14 ERA, 227 SV) inks a 3-year, $19.26M contract with the Thunder. February 10 – Dallas snaps up former Pacifics CL Roberto Ramirez (63-64, 3.47 ERA, 329 SV) to a 2-year, $3.24M contract. February 14 – The Buffaloes prop up their rotation with ex-NYC/IND SP Josh Barcellona (82-72, 3.95 ERA) on a 4-year, $21.2M deal. March 9 – 42-year-old SP Kodai Koga (238-240, 3.73 ERA) adds another season to his storied career by resigning with the Knights for $3.56M. March 9 – The Raccoons splurge $555k for the services of ex-OCT INF Jorge Caballero (.276, 8 HR, 96 RBI). +++ Half a million for a career backup was as good as it was gonna get for the Raccoons at this point. His throwing arm wasn’t much, so he was best kept on the right side of the infield, but he offered an option to spot Joel Starr against southpaws. Apart from that the Raccoons only picked up a couple of minor league free agents on minor league deals, like f.e. Pete Bartlett, age 26, a former sixth-rounder by the Blue Sox with excellent defensive qualities, who had never seen the majors before; the type of personnel that was nice to have off the 40-man roster. And the rest of the former miserable bunches? Bruce Burkart signed with the Stars for $1.48M (which is a rate for which we would have kept him); Dave Blackshire signed with New York for $590k; the Thunder got Juan Carrillo for $810k; the Gold Sox grabbed Malik Crumble for $530k; the Titans got Sansao Tyson for $760k; Angel Perez (out of the majors for two full seasons) hangs on to the Aces for $442k; the Cyclones signed Nick Fowler for $590k; New York signed James Murdock for $620k; Ryan Sullivan was going to steal $640k from the Aces; the Bayhawks were giving $570k to Alex Rios; Ryan Harmer found himself a Crusader for $560k; the Gold Sox went for Josh Carlisle for $550k; 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.

05-13-2025, 05:17 PM	#4658
DD Martin All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Seattle area Posts: 943	Wow what is going on in Portland? These guys have been brutal this season.