Portland Raccoons (ABL)

[Westheim]

Raccoons (45-60) @ Thunder (57-46) – July 29-31, 2069

The Raccoons began a 2-week, 13-game road trip in Oklahoma City, against whom they were well underway to lose the season series for the sixth straight year, sitting at 2-4 ahead of the final three games. Oklahoma was allowing the fewest runs in the league, and their rotation was ranked second in ERA. Offensively they were in fourth place in runs scored. They had little speed on the bases, but found enough other ways to manufacture runs, like f.e. the dark sorcery of HITTING with runners in scoring position. SP Chris Monahan and CL Brad Fales were on the DL.

Projected matchups:
A.C. Stebbins (5-5, 3.98 ERA) vs. Willie Campos (6-6, 4.40 ERA)
Nick Walla (6-13, 3.93 ERA) vs. Danny Baca (9-9, 3.45 ERA)
Jimmy Wharton (3-3, 5.51 ERA) vs. Alfredo Picun (8-5, 3.34 ERA)

The Thunder’s two southpaw starters would lead off this series against the Raccoons.

Game 1
POR: SS Duhe – LF van Otterdijk – CF T. Wharton – 1B Starr – C Marquez – 3B Gallo – RF Fumero – 2B Gates – P Stebbins
OCT: LF D. Perez – SS Palominos – C Bohannon – 1B I. Stone – CF Thore – RF B. Johnston – 2B C. Gutierrez – 3B B. Robinson – P W. Campos

Stebbins’ first two pitches were taken for a single by Danny Perez and a home run by Jose Palominos, so that was that. Things only got worse from there, as Stebbins allowed a single to Carlos Gutierrez in the bottom 2nd, then retired Carlos Gutierrez on strikes before Gallo threw away Willie Campos’ bunt for two bases. Perez legged out an infield roller for a single that loaded the bases, and then Palominos hit a ball into the left-center gap for a 2-run double. Martin Bohannon’s sac fly and Ian Stone’s double to right added two unearned runs before the inning ended with a K on Coby Thore, but Portland was by now down 6-0 (three earned).

Robinson then also made a 2-base throwing error in the third inning, which added Tyler Wharton to base runner George van Otterdijk with two outs. The Otter had singled, Joel Starr drew a walk, and then Lorenzo Marquez lobbed a 3-1 pitch over the head of Gutierrez for two unearned runs. Gallo added an RBI single, but Fumero grounded out to short, leaving the score at 6-3 with three unearned runs on either side. The Otter then doubled home Gary Gates in the next inning, 6-4, but was left on base by Wharton, and by then Stebbins had already been hit for as the Thunder were taking aim at the scoreboard. Jason Holzmeister was then wrung out for two innings, allowing two more unearned runs in the bottom 5th after a gross error by Tyler Wharton in centerfield.

Down 8-4 in the seventh, the Raccoons came up against right-hander Bronson Vanderven, who walked Wharton and Starr. Marquez struck out for the second retirement of the top 7th, but Gallo singled to right to drive in Wharton, 8-5. Vanderven issued another walk to Fumero, loading the bases, then brought up Gary Gates, who somehow was batting 14-for-49 with zero RBI. Benito Otal pinch-hit, but grounded out just as meekly. The Thunder came back in the bottom 7th, invited by Pablo Novelo, who was playing short after some lineup shenanigans, and dropped a pop by Bryan Johnston. Gabriel Rios threw a wild pitch, nicked the other Brian (Robinson), and eventually gave up a 2-out, pinch-hit, wallbanger RBI double to Marcos Onelas, but Perez was out on an 0-2 comebacker to Rios. Yamauchi was pitching in the bottom 8th and became the fourth Raccoons pitcher stabbed in the back by a fourth teammate with a fourth error in this ****** game when, with Bohannon already on base with a single, Ian Stone singled to left, and Otal played the bounce off his snout for an extra base for the runners and an error on him. Thore grounded out poorly, but Johnston walked the bags full with to outs. Gutierrez flew out to deep center. 9-5 Thunder. Leggett (PH) 1-1; van Otterdijk 2-5, 2B, RBI; Gallo 2-4, BB, 2 RBI; Novelo (PH) 1-2, 2B;

Game 2
POR: SS Duhe – LF van Otterdijk – CF T. Wharton – C Marquez – RF Corral – 1B Fumero – 3B Gates – 2B Novelo – P Walla
OCT: RF D. Perez – SS Palominos – 1B I. Stone – 2B C. Gutierrez – C Bohannon – CF Thore – 3B B. Robinson – LF J. Parker – P D. Baca

Both teams had two singles in the first inning and didn’t score. Wharton and Marquez got their hits with two outs, but had Corral fly out to Johnny Parker, while Perez and Palominos slapped theirs off Winless Walla to begin the inning, but Perez was caught stealing third base and Palominos was left stranded at second. Walla’s weekly run of support came in the second then, when Fumero led off with a gap double in left-center and barely scored on groundouts by Gates and Novelo. The lead did not hold; Parker got a leadoff double of his own in the bottom 3rd and scored on Baca’s bunt and Perez’ groundout to second.

Pablo Novelo then went yard with Fumero on base again in the fourth inning, giving Walla a 3-1 lead, which was nearly unheard of this season. Walla himself celebrated with a 1-out single, was left on first base, and then had his pitch count run up with chewy, gluey fourth and fifth innings, in which he put three more Thunder on base, two with walks, and somehow managed to have them all stranded, but his pitch count was up to a whopping *98* through just five innings once Perez grounded out to Duhe to keep Robinson and Parker stranded on third and second, respectively, in the bottom 5th. He came back for the sixth, got two quick outs from Palominos and Stone, but then allowed a dink single to Gutierrez and walked Bohannon in a full count. McMahan and Gallo replaced him and Gates in a double switch, and the switch-hitting Coby Thore popped out to short to keep the 3-1 score alive for the time being.

After van Otterdijk narrowly missed a homer to left with Duhe on first in the seventh inning, having the ball caught by Parker, Tyler Wharton cranked #14 to FINALLY tie for the team lead with J.P. Gallo, and extended the lead to 5-1 with two outs. Novelo hit a double in the eighth, but got nowhere, and the lead was then in danger when Dover got Perez out in the bottom 8th, but then walked the 2-3 batters on base. The Coons sent Valentin on a quest for a 5-out save, but he allowed a run on the way out of this inning as Gutierrez’ fielder’s choice grounder moved the lead runner to third base, from where Palominos scored on Bohannon’s infield single – oh those damned catchers that actually have SOME semblance of speed (Bohannon had five steals on the year) – to narrow the score to 5-2, but Thore then struck out as the tying run to end the inning. The bottom 9th was calmer, although Marcos Onelas drew a 2-out walk before Perez’ pop to second ended the game. 5-2 Raccoons. T. Wharton 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Marquez 2-5; Fumero 2-4, 2B; Novelo 2-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI;

Winless Walla wins a game – it just wasn’t pretty. At all.

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

The Coons had an offensive outburst in the first inning (!?), starting with Duhe and Otal singles. Wharton grounded out, Starr walked, and Gallo grounded out again to bring in a run. Corral then romped a 3-run homer to get the score to 4-0. Inevitably, we waited for Jimmy Wharton to fumble, but the first two innings were clean before Onelas and Robinson hit singles to begin the bottom 3rd. Gutierrez grounded out, advancing the runners when he batted for the quickly dismissed Picun, and Perez lined out to Fumero. Palominos then went down on strikes, and the Thunder left a pair in scoring position.

Fumero singled and stole second, but was left on in the fourth, an Wharton then allowed a 1-out single to Stone and nailed Thore. Johnston singled and filled the bases, Wharton threw a wild pitch to score a run before Onelas grounded out to Starr for the second out. Robinson walked, PH Johnny Parker singled in two, and Danny Perez doubled home two to flip the score to 5-4 Thunder… Palominos then struck out.

Wharton allowed another run in the fifth and was then unceremoniously yanked. The game then trundled along for a bit with the Coons doing nothing and Holzmeister and Dover holding the Thunder to their 6-4 lead. Otal and Gallo hit singles off different relievers in the top 8th then, putting the tying runs on base with two outs. The latter hit came off left-hander and ex-Coon Jon McGinley. Van Otterdijk pinch-hit for Corral, but the Thunder answered with the right-handed Vanderven, who walked the bags full with him. Lorenzo Marquez then batted for Fumero, but his fly out to right-center was run down by Johnston to end the inning.

Rain was falling as Rios retired the Thunder in order in the bottom 8th and then Jake Flowe hit a soft single off Steve Keller in the ninth. There was no running for Flowe, since Marquez had already been used, and besides, only Novelo was left on the bench and had to bat for Rios. He smacked a double to right, and suddenly the tying runs were in scoring position with nobody out. Jared Duhe nearly was out on a foul pop behind home plate that Steve Preston, backup catcher, actually caught, but the home plate umpire ruled that the ball had touched the catch fencing and was thus dead. Given an extra life, Duhe singled through the left side; Flowe scored, and Novelo was sent around and beat Perez’ throw to score as well, tying the game at six, and Duhe jiggled up to second base. Otal struck out – except that the Gold Glover Preston lost the ball, which went to the backstop. Duhe went to third, and Otal reached first on the uncaught third strike. Tyler Wharton then raked a 3-run crusher to chase replacement closer Keller, who retired nobody (though Preston and the ump didn’t exactly help). Luis Ramirez then got three rather quick outs before Valentin mopped up the Thunder. 9-6 Furballs!! Duhe 2-5, 2 RBI; Otal 2-5; van Otterdijk (PH) 1-1, BB; Flowe 2-4; Novelo (PH) 1-1, 2B;

Jimmy Wharton (3-3, 6.21 ERA) avoided the loss, but not demotion back to St. Petersburg. The Raccoons recalled Cam Bridges, even though they should really know better.

Raccoons (47-61) @ Canadiens (47-60) – August 1-4, 2069

Misery played against suffering for four games in Elk City, with the sad-sack old GM back in Portland to hold on to Honeypaws. The Elks were eighth in runs scored and runs allowed, too, for a -44 run differential. Their 5-2 lead in the season series was *bothering* me. They had a bunch of injuries, most notably to infielders Matt Kilday and Carlos Castro. Starter Vince Ellison (3-11, 4.72 ERA) left his last start with a blister and was so far questionable.

Projected matchups:
Tony Gaytan (7-10, 4.28 ERA) vs. Nate Freeman (9-6, 3.76 ERA)
Vinny Morales (8-7, 3.11 ERA) vs. Nick Waldron (9-10, 3.37 ERA)
A.C. Stebbins (5-6, 4.15 ERA) vs. TBD
Nick Walla (7-13, 3.84 ERA) vs. Ray Rath (6-8, 3.64 ERA)

Saturday would be Ellison’s spot; all Elks starters were right-handed.

Game 1
POR: SS Duhe – LF Otal – CF T. Wharton – 1B Starr – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – 2B Fumero – C Flowe – P Gaytan
VAN: SS Barraza – 2B Eggert – RF Lozada – 1B An. Ramirez – CF D. Moore – LF Chenette – C Eaton – 3B W. de Leon – P N. Freeman

Both teams put two runners on base and stranded them, which included Tony Gaytan nicking Roberto Lozada with Dan Eggert already on before K’ing Antonio Ramirez and getting a pop from Dan Moore. Fumero walked and stole second in the top 2nd, and Flowe reached on a scratch single to put runners on the corners for Gaytan, who hit a deep fly to center to give himself a 1-0 lead on the sac fly caught by Moore. A walk drawn by Starr, a wild pitch, and Gallo’s 2-out RBI single then produced another run in the third inning for the Portlanders. The lead went bust though in the same inning when Gaytan drilled another Elk, Roberto Barraza, and then gave up 2-out RBI knocks to Lozada and Ramirez, a single and a double, respectively, before Moore grounded out to short.

The Coons’ strikeout leader then wobbled along without stuff and relying on the defense to keep the game close. Through five innings, Gaytan got only two strikeouts. Antonio Ramirez then bombed him with a leadoff homer in the bottom 6th and the Elks took a 3-2 lead. Rick Atkins batted for Freeman and singled himself on base in the seventh, advancing on Barraza’s grounder into scoring position. McMahan replaced Gaytan with two outs as John Bustillos batted for Eggert, but gave up an RBI single to the left-handed batter before retiring Lozada. The Coons were stuck on four base hits and then McMahan allowed a leadoff single to Ramirez in the bottom 8th. The Coons went to Bridges, who imploded on sight, giving up a walk and a 2-out double to Todd Eaton to put the game away. 6-2 Canadiens. Starr 1-2, 2 BB; Flowe 2-4;

Game 2
POR: SS Duhe – LF Otal – CF T. Wharton – 1B Starr – 3B Gallo – RF van Otterdijk – C Flowe – 2B Novelo – P Morales
VAN: SS Barraza – C Varner – RF Lozada – 1B An. Ramirez – CF D. Moore – 2B Eggert – LF Bustillos – 3B W. de Leon – P Waldron

The Coons scored first again, getting Duhe on with a walk drawn off Waldron, and getting him around to score on an Otal groundout and Wharton’s RBI single. Van Otterdijk went deep leading off the second inning, 2-0, and Flowe almost hit another homer right after that, but Lozada scratched that rocket off the top of the wall. It was the Otter’s last at-bat for a while, as he hurt himself on a throw in the bottom 3rd, which began with a Waldron single and then saw Steve Varner single to right. Van Otterdijk tried to throw out the pitcher rushing for third base, but only strained his shoulder and left the game with Luis Silva. Corral replaced him. Lozada and Moore with two outs then tied the game with a pair of RBI singles, another single by Dan Eggert loaded the bases, but Bustillos then busted the inning with a pop to Duhe, leaving three aboard in a 2-2 tie.

Top 4th, Gallo drew a leadoff walk, Corral walked as well, and the two did a double steal before scoring on a Flowe drive into the right-center gap for a 2-run double. Novelo singled sharply, sending the catcher to third base, and Morales hit a sac fly to get to 5-2. Novelo then stole second off a discombobulated Waldron, who conceded another run on Duhe’s single and was then yanked. Ernesto Culver struck out Otal, but got taken deep by Wharton, 8-2!

Morales then returned to the hill for the fourth, gave up a homer to Willie de Leon, and then got a pop from Culver. He, too, then motioned for Luis Silva, and I upgraded from holding Honeypaws and sobbing to holding Slappy and sobbing on the trusty brown couch. Silva collected Morales after 3.1 miserable innings (7 hits) and Yamauchi was brought in for long relief, and immediately began to scatter as many runners as possible without quite allowing a run. He reached himself on an error by Eggert to begin the top 6th. Otal singled with one out, and then Big Boy Wharton CRUSHED another 3-run homer. – There you go, Cristiano! The monster has awoken!!

Bottom 6th, and Yamauchi allowed leadoff hits to reliever Ken McDonald and Barraza. Varner popped out, and Lozada hit a double play grounder to short that Duhe threw poorly to Novelo, who dropped the ball, and the bases were loaded. Ramirez hit a sac fly to center, and Moore and Eggert hit a pair of (unearned) RBI singles, chasing Yamauchi. McMahan and Gates entered in a double switch for the lousy garbage man and Gallo, and McMahan got a pop to end the inning on the first pitch, the score now at 11-6.

Top 7th, and McDonald saw Novelo reach on a 2-base throwing error by de Leon to begin the inning. He walked Duhe, threw a wild pitch, but Otal lined out to short. Wharton snipped a 2-out RBI single, and Starr popped out. The Coons then boldly went to Bridges again with the 6-run lead and Varner and Lozada immediately hit screamers for singles, but the next three Elks made unhelpful outs and stranded the eighth-inning runners, and in the ninth Bustillos and de Leon *also* opened with a pair of singles before Bridges struck out Tyler Chenette. Barraza then hit into a double play that was actually ******* turned. 12-6 Raccoons. Duhe 2-4, 2 BB, RBI; T. Wharton 4-5, 2 HR, 7 RBI; van Otterdijk 1-1, RBI; Flowe 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Bridges 2.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Roster moves! Vinny Morales and George van Otterdijk both had mild shoulder strains and were headed to the DL. The hope was that both would be back in 15 days’ time. Additionally, Cameron Bridges (0-1, 6.75 ERA) went back to where he came from.

Three new players were thus added to the roster on Saturday: Victor Chavez would make the spot start on Monday in Jimmy Wharton’s deserted roster spot, Juan Soriano returned as bullpen filling, and Marquise Early returned to warm the bench despite not hitting anything in AAA either.

Game 3
POR: SS Duhe – LF Otal – CF T. Wharton – 1B Starr – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – C Marquez – 2B Fumero – P Stebbins
VAN: SS Barraza – CF D. Moore – RF Lozada – LF Atkins – 1B An. Ramirez – C Varner – 2B Eggert – 3B W. de Leon – P V. Ellison

Stebbins had ******* nothing and gave up a triple to Barraza, singles to Moore and Lozada, another triple to Rick Atkins, and then nailed Antonio Ramirez before he got an out on Varner’s sac fly that made it 4-0 in the bottom 1st. He pitched only three innings, allowing a 2-run homer to Ramirez in the third inning on his way to the corner to be very ashamed of himself. The game was basically over at that point, with the Raccoons on one base hit through three innings. They would take until the sixth inning to score a run, when Starr hit a sac fly to get Otal home from third base, but in the half-innings before and after the Elks bombed three homers off Dover and Holzmeister, who were taken deep by Varner in the fifth, and Moore and Lozada in the sixth, respectively. Marquise Early entered the game in a double switch, then immediately hit into a double play in the seventh. Vince Ellison, blister be damned, pitched a complete-game 8-hitter, while the highlight for the Raccoons was Gabriel Rios whiffing five in two garbage innings. 9-1 Canadiens. Marquez 2-4; Fumero 2-3; Rios 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K;

Game 4
POR: SS Duhe – LF Fumero – CF T. Wharton – 1B Starr – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – C Flowe – 2B Leggett – P Walla
VAN: SS Barraza – C Varner – 1B An. Ramirez – CF D. Moore – LF Chenette – 2B Eggert – RF Atkins – 3B W. de Leon – P Rath

Walla threw four pitches in the first inning, all of which were put in play, which was … perhaps suboptimal. Ramirez singled, but was left on base when Moore grounded out to short. Conversely, Chenette and Eggert then struck out in full counts to begin the 1-2-3 second inning. The Raccoons only got Wally Leggett on base the first time through the lineup, but Wharton and Starr went to the corners with singles in the fourth inning and J.P. Gallo hit a sac fly for the first run of the game.

While the Raccoons then dilly-dallied around again, got Duhe on base to begin the sixth and then immediately doubled off by Fumero before Wharton and Starr reached, but were left on base, de Leon got a single to right to begin the bottom 6th, the first Elks runner since the first inning. Rath’s bad bunt and a Barraza grounder both forced out the lead runner, and then Varner popped out to Starr to end the inning. Moore singled in the seventh, but got himself thrown out in a bid to steal second. Dan Eggert hit the first solid fly off Walla in a while to begin the bottom 8th, but it was caught by Fumero on the edge of the warning track and the Elks’ 6-7-8 went down in order in the inning.

Top 9th, and right-hander Miguel Batista fell to 3-0 on Wharton before the vaunted slugger opened the inning with a lineout to short. Starr then singled, and Gallo reached on an error by John Rutecki at second. Corral lined out to first, while Marquez batted for a hitless Jake Flowe and flew out to Moore to keep the runners stranded. The Raccoons then stuck with Walla, who seemed to have this 1-0 game under control. He struck out Rutecki to begin the bottom 9th, and the lineup flipped over to Barraza, who socked a double to right. Switch-hitter Roberto Lozada grounded out to short when he hit for Varner, which left Ramirez to sort out. The left-hander was hitting only .226, and Walla bagged him on three pitches to finish off the game! 1-0 Blighters! Starr 3-4; Walla 9.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 K, W (8-13);

In other news

July 29 – The Knights send veteran SP Ryan Musgrave (3-2, 4.09 ERA) to the Capitals for two prospects.
July 30 – The blue Sox trade 1B Kris DiPrimio (.302, 9 HR, 41 RBI) to the Knights for MR Kody Mello (4-4, 3.43 ERA, 1 SV) and a prospect.
July 30 – MIL 1B/RF/LF Cesar Ramirez (.338, 20 HR, 76 RBI) drives in five runs and misses the cycle by the triple in a 15-2 rout of the Aces.
July 31 – Milwaukee slugger Cesar Ramirez (.343, 23 HR, 84 RBI) finishes the month in style by crashing three home runs and driving in *eight* runs in a 19-10 shootout win in Las Vegas. Remarkably, the Loggers first score their 19 runs and only then do the Aces run up double digits for no good reason in the last four innings.
July 31 – CHA SP Jason Morea (9-5, 2.81 ERA) throws a 2-hit shutout against the Crusaders, striking out eight on the way to claiming the 7-0 victory.
July 31 – The Titans beat the Condors, 3-2 in 16 innings. The winner is a home run by outfielder Steve Humphries (.297, 10 HR, 50 RBI) in the top of the 16th.
August 2 – The Condors beat the Bayhawks in 12 innings, and by the wicked score of 12-3. TIJ 1B David Cline (.247, 8 HR, 55 RBI) hits a grand slam in the 9-run 12th inning.
August 4 – RIC SP Jose Villegas (1-9, 5.50 ERA) takes a no-hitter into the ninth inning against the Miners, but is lifted after allowing two singles in the 3-0 game. RIC CL Jorge Garza (8-6, 5.29 ERA, 20 SV) then explodes for two walks, two hits, and four runs to cash a 4-3 loss.

FL Player of the Week: WAS OF/2B Tim Goss (.334, 6 HR, 40 RBI), clipping .542 (13-24) with 1 HR, 3 RBI
CL Player of the Week: MIL 1B/RF/LF Cesar Ramirez (.350, 26 HR, 89 RBI), crushing .560 (14-25) with 7 HR, 18 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: CIN OF Melvin Avila (.310, 15 HR, 71 RBI), batting .295 with 4 HR, 21 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: MIL 1B/RF/LF Cesar Ramirez (.343, 23 HR, 84 RBI), raking .354 with 10 HR, 24 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: CIN SP Jose Aguilar (14-2, 2.01 ERA), going for a 5-0 record with 1.83 ERA, 32 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: IND CL Shamar King (5-2, 2.53 ERA, 35 SV), saving 11 games with a flat zero ERA, 2-0 record, and just five K
FL Rookie of the Month: DEN RF/LF Steve Millen (.319, 16 HR, 73 RBI), batting .341 with 7 HR, 19 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: LVA OF Josh Phelps (.250, 10 HR, 46 RBI), hitting .286 with 5 HR, 18 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Nick Walla accidentally rumbled into the 7,800th regular season W for the franchise with his lackluster performance on Tuesday, but then brought the sparkle in my big black googly eyes back at least briefly with his 4-hitter on Sunday to beat the dastardly Elks. It was his third career shutout, and the first this year, in 151 career starts, across which he had a 3.44 ERA and a sodden 52-57 record.

Apart from that it was another dreary week, even though the Coons technically won more games than they lost (still got outscored, though…), and then we had to banish Jimmy Wharton, Vinny Morales and George van Otterdijk fell over, and we’re gonna have a bum starting on Monday, and nobody starting on Wednesday right now.

Road trip continues through New York and Sacramento. The Stingers series is framed by off days, so maybe we can wing something with Gabriel Rios starting on Wednesday.

Fun Fact: Nick Walla won the team’s 7,800th regular-season game four years to the day after winning the 7,500th.

Walla was a rookie when he beat the Aces, 8-3, in seven innings of work. He became the first Raccoon to win multiple “100s” since Bob Ibold took #6,200 in 2050, and the first Raccoons starter to claim a second “100” since Bubba Wolinsky did so for #6,100 in 2049.

Walla is the 11th Raccoon to pick up multiple “100” wins. Ralph Ford and Jonny Toner remain untouched with three each, while Walla joins two-times Nick Brown, Wally Gaston, Bob Ibold, Miguel Lopez, Ricky Ohl, Law Rockburn, Raffaello Sabre, and Bubba Wolinsky.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (49-63) @ Crusaders (56-56) – August 5-7, 2069

The Portland Roadkills travelled onwards to New York, visiting another team that had absolutely not had the season they had expected. A combined 39 games out of first place, it was only about playing out the string for either bunch. Up 8-4, the Crusaders could also bag the season series in this visit to New York. They ranked tenth in runs scored and third in runs allowed with a -16 run differential. Regulars Bryant Box, Eric Frasher, and Ryan Marty were all on the DL, but the pitching staff was complete, which couldn’t be said about the Coons…

Projected matchups:
Victor Chavez (1-1, 9.00 ERA) vs. Alex Dominguez (5-9, 3.76 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (7-11, 4.34 ERA) vs. Erik Lee (8-11, 3.58 ERA)
Gabriel Rios (3-1, 1.54 ERA) vs. Adam Dochterman (8-10, 3.36 ERA)

The Crusaders brought up three right-handers.

The Coons made a roster move, with Rios penciled in as spot starter, and put Juan Soriano (0-0, 5.23 ERA) on waivers to bring up another left-hander, 22-year-old Dominican Antonio Pacheco, a $120k signing in the July IFA pool some years back. He had a GREAT knuckle curve. He also had no command. He had just this year reached AAA, making 13 appearances, but we needed a body for the week and it wasn’t gonna be John Reynolds again…

Tyler Wharton needed a day off ahead of what Thursday had to offer and was not in the lineup on Monday.

Game 1
POR: SS Duhe – LF Fumero – 1B Starr – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – C Marquez – CF Otal – 2B Novelo – P Chavez
NYC: SS Roza – CF Maudlin – LF Ambriz – C A. Morris – 3B Gaines – 2B Philpot – RF L. Morales – 1B Duhon – P A. Dominguez

Victor Chavez retired the first six Crusaders in the game, which was meant to read that the defense retired them, because every single ball hit off Chavez was hit very well and some were hit far, but not far enough. He self-dismantled with leadoff walks to Luis Morales and Chris Duhon in the bottom 3rd, and then after a bunt gave up a 2-run single to pesky Josh Roza. In this manner Chavez pitched another three innings rather lousily, but without allowing more runs, and then was hit for when the Raccoons accidentally put runners (Corral, Otal) on the corners with two outs in the seventh and his spot coming up. Jose Corral’s paw on third was the furthest advance by the brown team, and only one other batter had even reached second base before him when Fumero hit a double in the fourth inning to get stranded. The choice was made easier with Tyler Wharton on the bench. The slugger slugged, crushing ex-coon Dominguez’ hopes with a first-pitch, 3-run BOMB to left-center, then went back to eating cake with his hindpaws up.

Pacheco then made his ABL debut in the bottom 7th and immediately blew the tender 3-2 lead. He retired Tony Gaines on a groundout, but then allowed a single to Ryan Philpot, who stole second, reached third on Marquez’ throwing error, and then scored on Morales’ sac fly. Gallo (who forced out Starr) and Corral went to the corners with two outs against Brian Doster in the eighth, but Marquez flew out to left and couldn’t get them in. Otal reached base in the ninth, but couldn’t get off first base, and then Jesse Dover struck out the first two batters in the bottom 9th before allowing a double to PH Natsu Nakamura and a walkoff single to another pinch-hitter, Ben Wilken. 4-3 Crusaders. Corral 3-4; T. Wharton (PH) 1-1, HR, 3 RBI;

Horrible bunch.

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

Starters lasted three innings before being chased by an endless rain delay that was officially clocked at 87 minutes, but I called humbug on that. Gaytan used the time he had to give up a homer to Andy Morris and trail 1-0. We were then left with Yamauchi, the bum, once more, and he wasted no time digging a deeper hole when he walked Jose Ambriz in the fourth and conceded that run with two outs on a Ryan Philpot knock.

However, the Coons tied the game up with four singles by Otal, Flowe, Duhe, and Fumero, most of them soft and scrappy, against lefty Russell Anderson in the fifth inning. Wharton then grounded out to end the inning, and the ******** Raccoons then immediately loaded the bases between a Nakamura single, a Gallo error, and a four-pitch walk to PH Josh Bursley in the bottom 5th. Crucially, Roza popped out on the infield, and the Crusaders got only an unearned run (to take the lead, however) on Jeff Maudlin’s groundout before Otal chased down Ambriz’ looper to shallow left to end the inning.

Top 6th, Starr got on base to begin the inning, then was immediately forced by Gallo, who attempted to get a jump to steal second, but was shooed back repeatedly by right-hander Matt Taylor and then didn’t have the lead required to score on Corral’s gap double in right-center. Otal and Flowe both fanned to keep the runners in scoring position…

The rain returned in the eighth inning of the 3-2 game, and Tyler Wharton began that inning with a gapper in left-center. He bolted through second base and would have been out at third if the wet ball hadn’t glitched out of Ambriz’ hand on the throw to third, making Wilken vacate the base to keep the ball from getting out of play. So that was the tying run on third with nobody out against righty Jon Mendosa, and the Raccoons followed that up with three PISS POOR GROUNDERS and kept a visibly dismayed Wharton on base. The Coons lost, and wouldn’t have deserved it any other way. 3-2 Crusaders. Corral 2-4, 2B;

The most unhappy triple by Tyler Wharton in the eighth inning was his 2,000th major league hit, but he (career: .327, 293 HR, 1,186 RBI) was not in the mood to celebrate after the game.

Nor was I.

Game 3
POR: SS Duhe – 2B Fumero – CF T. Wharton – 1B Starr – RF Corral – C Flowe – 3B Leggett – LF Early – P Rios
NYC: SS Roza – CF Maudlin – LF Ambriz – 2B Philpot – 1B Duhon – RF L. Morales – C McCarver – 3B Gaines – P Dochterman

Jared Duhe went yard to begin the game, and Wharton and Starr wobbled on base with one out, but were stranded for obvious reasons. Another pair was stranded when Leggett and Duhe reached in the second inning and Fumero ultimately grounded out to Philpot to keep them on base. Rios then took a few on the snout in the bottom 2nd, which Chris Duhon opened with an infield single. Morales hit a double to left, Braden McCarver drove both of them in with a single to flip the score, and Gaines drew a walk before Dochterman crashed into a double play to derail the inning; Roza popped out to Wharton to leave a runner on base. The Coons tied it back up with a Wharton single, a wild pitch, Starr’s groundout, and Corral’s sac fly in the third, but Rios just kept taking damage. Ambriz singled, Philpot doubled, and Duhon hit a 2-run single in the bottom of the third to give New York a 4-2 lead.

The Raccoons tied the game AGAIN when Marquise Early accidentally slapped a single from batting .140 and was tripled home by Duhe with two outs (which ticked off all the “hard” parts of the cycle), and Fumero knotted the score at four with a single. Wharton then singled, Starr walked to fill the bases, and Jose Corral ended Dochterman’s day with a bases-clearing double that stretched over the head of Maudlin. Flowe’s groundout then ended the inning and the 7-4 lead went back to Rios, who still couldn’t get anybody out, allowed a run on Gaines and Maudlin singles in the bottom 4th, and then was yanked before the inning was over. Nava came in and plonked Ambriz before Philpot flew out to center.

Nava bunted in the top 5th with Leggett and Early on base, and Duhe’s sac fly extended the lead to 8-5 again. Fumero flew out to keep Early at second, but Joel Starr hit a homer to right in the sixth, 9-5. Pacheco pitched a 1-2-3 sixth after four outs from Nava, and the top 7th saw Coons all over the place as Early doubled, Gallo drew a walk, and Duhe singled against Jon Mendosa. Fumero grounded sharply to second, but Philpot’s throw to Roza broke the latter’s rhythm to make a throw to first, so the Crusaders settled for one out and conceding another run. Fumero stole second, but Wharton popped out and Starr grounded out, and no other runs scored. It was also the final run in the game. The Raccoons pieced the last three innings together with Holzmeister, McMahan, and Valentin, even though this was a 5-run game, but we were out of arms and the closer hadn’t done anything but eating burgers in three days. 10-5 Critters. Duhe 3-4, BB, HR, 3B, 3 RBI; Novelo (PH) 1-1; T. Wharton 3-6; Leggett 2-4, 2B; Early 3-5, 2B;

No double and no cycle for Duhe, but he was named Player of the Game, whatever the **** that was worth. The pointless bauble had been given to CHAVEZ on Monday.

Raccoons (50-65) @ Scorpions (51-63) – August 9-11, 2069

Another deadbeat team! The Stingers were fifth in the FL West, though only half as far back of first place than the Raccoons. They were scoring the second-fewest runs in their league, and allowed the fourth-most. Their -78 run differential was worse than the Coons’ (-56). They had no speed, but hit the third-most homers in the FL (and still couldn’t score a lick). Their pitching was uniformly crummy. Starter Shane Utting was on the DL, as was 1B Justin Savalli, but the teams leader in batting average was expected to return maybe as early as Saturday. These teams had last played in ’66, with the Coons getting swept.

Projected matchups:
A.C. Stebbins (5-7, 4.60 ERA) vs. Andres Lopez (2-0, 3.86 ERA)
Nick Walla (8-13, 3.62 ERA) vs. Bobby O’Connor (7-9, 3.78 ERA)
Victor Chavez (1-1, 6.75 ERA) vs. Jay Williams (6-10, 3.99 ERA)

Lopez was the only left-hander in sight. The 39-year-old Panamanian had made most of his appearances out of the pen so far and last had been a regular starter in the majors with the 2065 Knights.

Game 1
POR: SS Duhe – 1B Fumero – CF T. Wharton – C Marquez – RF Corral – LF Early – 3B Gates – 2B Novelo – P Stebbins
SAC: SS Blandon – C Danis – 3B D. Mendoza – 2B Cervantez – 1B DuFresne – RF A. Barnes – LF S. Giles – CF Quezada – P An. Lopez

The first five innings on Friday were scoreless. While the Raccoons did not get a hit until the fourth inning, the Scorpions were hitting Stebbins every which way, but couldn’t get the runners home. They stranded pairs in each of the first, third, and fourth innings, as Stebbins offered four hits and two walks, but didn’t allow anything permanent to pop up on the scoreboard.

Top 6th, and Jared Duhe hit a leadoff single. He advanced on Fumero’s groundout, upon which the Stingers walked Tyler Wharton intentionally, because they had been through years of abuse by him and were still properly traumatized. Marquez popped out, but Jose Corral’s 2-out single brought in Duhe from second base and the first run onto the board. Lopez balked, walked Early, and then got a groundout to short from Gary Gates, who remained RBI-less in 60 at-bats as he ended the inning. Duhe then drew a 2-out walk in the seventh, ending Lopez’ day, and Fumero legged out an infield single against Mike Perez. Wharton fired a shot to left-center, but it was rushed down by Steve Giles to end the inning.

Stebbins lasted six and two thirds before the Raccoons went to Dover, who struck out Omar Lopez in the #9 hole to end the seventh, and Humberto Blandon to begin the eighth, then gave up a walk to PH Omar Sanchez, the old foe, and a pinch-hit, score-flipping homer to Joseph Kazar (who?) in a valiant and successful bid to blow the game. The Raccoons went down rather quickly against ex-Coon George Kehoe in the ninth. 2-1 Scorpions. Stebbins 6.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K;

Finding ever creative way to lose…!

Game 2
POR: SS Duhe – 2B Fumero – CF T. Wharton – 1B Starr – RF Corral – 3B Gallo – LF Otal – C Flowe – P Walla
SAC: CF Kazar – LF S. Giles – RF A. Barnes – 1B Savalli – C Danis – SS Hills – 2B Cervantez – 3B DuFresne – P O’Connor

As a rule of thumb, you could just skip watching Nick Walla’s next start following a gem this year, because there was usually nothing worth witnessing. Giles took him deep in the first, and ex-Coons no-clue-what-to-do-with-him infielder Brian Hills walloped a 450-footer in the second inning for a 2-0 Scorpions lead. In the third, Walla was behind everybody and issued two walks, but somehow didn’t allow another run. The Coons also got two walks in the first inning, then nothing for a while. When Walla led off the third inning with a single, Duhe doubled him off. Joel Starr hit a solo home run in the fourth, however, narrowing the score to 2-1.

It didn’t remain narrow for long. Walla was still out of sorts in the fourth, allowed a leadoff single on an 0-2 pitch to Carlos Cervantez, who was forced out by Ben DuFresne on a groundout. O’Connor bunted, Walla walked Kazar, and then got bombed again by Giles for a 3-piece. Walla lingered like a bad smell, hit a double in the fifth, and was left on base for that effort, although the Coons then got Wharton and Starr to the corners in the sixth inning. Gallo hit an RBI single, but Otal struck out and Flowe popped out to end the inning.

Walla was gone after six, but the Coons remained blue in the face a while longer. They were still down 5-2 into the ninth inning facing Kehoe again. The right-hander issued a leadoff walk to Otal, but Flowe flew out. Marquez pinch-hit and hit a pop behind second that Cervantez dropped for an error, which brought the tying run to the plate. Duhe hit an uninspired fly out on the first pitch he saw, and Novelo batted for a hitless Fumero, but fanned to end the game. 5-2 Scorpions. Starr 2-3, BB, HR, RBI; Gallo 2-4, RBI;

Game 3
POR: SS Duhe – 2B Leggett – CF T. Wharton – 1B Starr – RF Corral – 3B Gallo – LF Otal – C Flowe – P Chavez
SAC: CF Kazar – LF S. Giles – RF A. Barnes – 1B Savalli – C Danis – SS Hills – 2B Cervantez – 3B D. Mendoza – P J. Williams

Wally Leggett hit a double in the first inning, but don’t you let yourself be fooled and think that could lead to a run. Wharton fanned, and Starr hit a ball to the warning track, but also to Alex Barnes, and the runner was left on base. Chavez then went in and walked the first two batters, nailed Barnes, walked in a run against Justin Savalli, and then got Danis to hack out in a full count, but conceded another run on a Hills single, the only Stingers hit in the inning. Cervantez’ comebacker became an out at home and Diego Mendoza flew out to left, leaving three aboard. Top 2nd, and Gallo singled with one out. Flowe drew a 2-out walk and Chavez hit an RBI single to center, so maybe he could be turned into a batter if that pitching career was gonna flame out soon. After a Duhe single loaded the bases, Leggett then flew out easily to Giles…

Chavez held out through three, then walked the bags full with the 6-7-8 batters and nobody out in the bottom 4th, which gave him seven walks in the game. Mayhem broke out when the pitcher Williams hit a fly to left. Hills at first went for home, then had to rush back when Otal made a sliding catch. He then went for home again, but arrived late, was thrown out by Otal, and to add injury to insult also hurt himself and was replaced with Ralph Lange. Also replaced: Chavez, who was yanked for McMahan, who struck out Kazar to end the inning. Jay Williams then walked Wharton and Starr in the fifth, but of course nothing came of THAT.

Gallo drew a leadoff walk in the sixth and after Otal did nothing, Flowe doubled to center. The Coons had a pair in scoring position and Novelo batted for McMahan, tying the game with a long sac fly to center, if nothing else. Duhe clubbed a 2-out RBI single to right-center, getting Portland the lead and Williams out of the game. J.P. Knox then retired Leggett on a fly to right.

The Coons fumbled bravely onwards, getting four out from McMahan, four more from Nava, and two from Pacheco. Jake Flowe put an insurance run on the board with a rare homer to right in the eighth, and Dover pitched around a Danis single to keep the score in order. Former Coons right-hander Angel Alba then loaded the bases with Duhe, Leggett, and Starr, and one out, in the ninth – yes, Wharton flew out – and then faced Corral, who chased him by drawing a bases-loaded walk, 5-2. Gallo popped out and Otal flew out against Mike Perez then. Valentin got the bottom 9th with a 3-run lead, struck out two, gave up a 2-2 single to Jonathan Quezada, and then rung up Kazar to end the game. 5-2 Coons. Duhe 2-4, BB, RBI; Leggett 2-5, 2B; Flowe 2-3, BB, HR, 2B, RBI;

Chavez walked seven, but the bullpen walked nobody despite 20 paws getting involved. The Scorpions ended up walking eight.

In other news

August 5 – Thunder outfielder Danny Perez (.302, 6 HR, 47 RBI) will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL.
August 6 – Boston ace Mike Bell (16-2, 2.16 ERA) leaves his start against the Indians with back soreness and might miss another start.
August 6 – The Thunder take ten innings to beat the Aces, 1-0, as both teams are held to four hits apiece.
August 9 – The Buffaloes beat the Condors, 2-1. Topeka puts out two base hits to win the game, including a solo home run by 2B/1B Mike Weber (.227, 5 HR, 33 RBI) to Tijuana’s ten.

FL Player of the Week: LAP 1B Alejandro Olivares (.290, 10 HR, 55 RBI), clipping .478 (11-23) with 1 HR, 5 RBI
CL Player of the Week: IND C/1B Alex Gomez (.262, 20 HR, 77 RBI), batting .500 (11-22) with 3 HR, 9 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Another week with extremely lackluster scoring, 23 runs in total, and that already included a tenner on Wednesday, so you know that we lost almost every other game (and almost lost that tenner, too). I don’t know how much more we have to do besides buying Tyler Wharton to get the offense going…!

The pitching is getting worse and worse, and I am not even sure how to pass the time until Vinny Morales comes back. We’ll need two starts from a warm body other than Walla, Gaytan, and Stebbins next week. And I already want to stuff Chavez into a rocket and fire him directly into the sun…!

Happy to see the Critters next week are, probably, the Blue Sox and Titans, all after another day off on Monday.

Fun Fact: Jason Brenize will not win the Triple Crown this year because his team can’t score any runs.

The Condors are second from the bottom in the CL in runs scored (whistles innocently enough) and so while Brenize is comfortably ahead in ERA and strikeouts right now, he’s won only 13 games compared to 16 for former Boston teammate Mike Bell.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (51-67) vs. Blue Sox (63-54) – August 13-15, 2069

Last interleague meeting for the next nine months, and the same was true for the Sox, who despite their winning record were 21 games out in the FL East, which was being smothered by the Cyclones playing well over .700 ball. The Sox were sixth in runs scored and third in runs allowed. Defense was a bit creaky, but apart from that there were no real issues on that team; they just couldn’t stink up to Cincy. The Coons had last played Nashville in ’66 and had been swept by them in that series.

Projected matchups:
Tony Gaytan (7-11, 4.31 ERA) vs. Edwin Moreno (8-7, 2.66 ERA)
A.C. Stebbins (5-7, 4.29 ERA) vs. Tony Marquez (10-9, 4.16 ERA)
Nick Walla (8-14, 3.76 ERA) vs. Eddie Gonzalez (0-4, 6.23 ERA)

Moreno was the only left-hander in that baby blue rotation.

Game 1
NAS: CF Aracena – 2B Custer – RF A. Gordon – 1B T. Roman – SS Sellman – LF M. Moore – C Gillin – 3B D. Molina – P E. Moreno
POR: SS Duhe – RF Fumero – CF T. Wharton – 1B Starr – C L. Marquez – 3B Gallo – 2B Leggett – LF Early – P Gaytan

Tony Roman got Tony Gaytan for a solo homer in the second inning, but Gaytan got Moreno for a 2-out RBI single in the same frame after Moreno allowed a single to Gallo and nicked Leggett on base. Duhe walked, but the bases remained loaded to end the inning as Fumero floated one out to centerfielder Fernando Aracena, whose back-to-back doubles with Rob Custer gave the Sox a new 2-1 lead in the third inning. Jordan Sellman popped another homer in the fourth, 3-1, and Sellman had quite a few longballs this year (22) for somebody whose name I was hearing for the very first time. (disappointed sigh by Cristiano Carmona)

Bottom 6h, and soft singles by Wharton and Starr somehow put the tying runs on the corners with nobody out after the Raccoons had barely existed as an offensive participant for the last few innings. Starr got picked off first, and Marquez and Gallo both grounded out to third base to ensure no run(s) were scored. Gaytan pitched into the seventh, but got stuck after Aracena and Custer hit a pair of 2-out singles. McMahan then retired Austin Gordon to get out of the inning. Moreno saw the eighth, if only for a leadoff walk to Duhe. Fumero hit into a fielder’s choice against Kody Mello, Wharton whiffed, and Starr hit a double to left-center off southpaw Benjamin Earle, but sending Fumero around third base was a mistake and he was thrown out at the plate to end the inning. Curt Carter retired the Coons in order in the ninth. 3-1 Blue Sox. Duhe 1-2, 2 BB; Starr 2-4, 2B;

Will this pain ever end?

Game 2
NAS: CF Aracena – C Roviva – RF A. Gordon – 1B T. Roman – SS Sellman – LF M. Moore – 2B Custer – 3B C. Santiago – P T. Marquez
POR: SS Duhe – C Flowe – CF T. Wharton – 1B Starr – RF Corral – 3B Gallo – LF Otal – 2B Novelo – P Stebbins

Stebbins was really rubbish, but somehow managed to leave the game after six innings with a lead. Austin Gordon singled and Tony Roman homered right away in the first inning, so that was a great start, and then Francisco Roviva added a solo homer in the third inning for a 3-0 score. The Sox almost constantly had a runner on base, but they also ran into two caught-stealings credited to Jake Flowe to diminish the potential output, like in the fifth, when the 1-2 batters again put up a pair of hits, in this case singles, and then Flowe threw out the opposing catcher on an attempted double steal. Gordon’s groundout then stranded Aracena on third base. The Coons got their first run not until the bottom 4th, when Wharton doubled and was singled home by Corral with two down, and then mounted another threat in the sixth inning. This time Duhe got on base by a leadoff single. Flowe fanned, and Wharton grounded out, but Joel Starr singled home the runner from second with two outs, and then Corral flipped the score with a homer to right, 4-3!

Stebbins never threw a pitch with the lead, and instead Danny Nava got five outs and bunted into a force on Novelo in the bottom of the seventh that prevented any tacking on. Rios then got Gordon to end the eighth. Flowe cranked a 425-footer off Mario Nieves to begin the bottom 8th, tacking on an insurance run. Wharton singled, Starr grounded out, Corral walked, and Gallo reached on an error by Custer, loading the bags with one gone. Benito Otal, who had negative production for a long time by now, hit an absolute rocket to center – but also to here Aracena could reach and catch it. Still good enough for a sac fly, though; Leggett grounded out in Novelo’s place, leaving two on, and the Coons waited for Rios to retire the dangerous lefty Tony Roman on a grounder before sending in Valentin, who struck out the rest of the bunch. 6-3 Raccoons. T. Wharton 2-4, 2B; Starr 2-4, RBI; Corral 2-3, BB, HR, 3 RBI;

Jose Corral and his -0.6 WAR seem to have some sort of pulse after all…

Game 3
NAS: CF Aracena – C Roviva – RF A. Gordon – 1B T. Roman – SS Sellman – 2B Custer – LF D. Schmidt – 3B C. Santiago – P E. Gonzalez
POR: SS Duhe – C Flowe – CF T. Wharton – 1B Starr – RF Corral – 3B Gallo – LF Otal – 2B Gates – P Walla

Walla’s woes continued with hitting Aracena with a 3-0 pitch to begin the game on Thursday, even though Aracena was then also caught stealing by Jake Flowe. Gonzalez walked Duhe and Flowe to begin his day, and Wharton singled the bags full for Starr with frighteningly nobody out. Starr hit a wailing looper for an RBI single on 0-2, but Corral crashed into a run-scoring double play, and while Gallo drew another walk, Otal’s skills had completely departed him and he popped out to shallow left to leave two runners on.

Curt Santiago in the second and Tyler Wharton in the third hit into more double plays to keep offense down, but Joel Starr hit a 2-out double in that bottom 3rd … but also pulled something and left the game, being replaced with Fumero. Walla then also blew the lead by allowing a 1-out single to Roviva, a triple to Gordon, and a run-scoring grounder to Sellman in the fourth inning…

Tyler Wharton sent a home run flying with Flowe on base to take a 4-2 lead in the fifth, but Walla blew that one as well, giving up four straight hits to the 2-3-4-5 batters in the sixth inning before Custer bailed him out by hitting into a double play, and the score was even at four in the middle of the sixth. He would have to settle for a no-decision, which was what naughty boys usually got for blowing multiple 2-run leads in a game…

The Coons then got outs from Dover and Pacheco to get through eight, and Gallo and Otal hit 2-out singles against Gonzalez in the bottom 8th, but Gary Gates remained RBI-less in *65* at-bats this year and grounded out to Danny Molina. Pacheco struck out the 4-5-6 batters in the ninth, which combined with a K to Gordon ending the eighth gave him four straight strikeouts in his fifth ABL game. Leggett batted for him to begin the bottom 9th, flew out, and Duhe walked and was doubled off by Flowe…

Holzmeister got the ball in extras and got around a walk to Molina in the tenth inning before Fumero hit a 1-out single in the bottom 10th against Carter, but was caught stealing. Corral and Gallo then hit *more* singles, which shoulda ended the game by now, alas… a fourth straight single by Benito Otal would do, as his ball dropped into right-center and brought in Corral from second base to finish the job. 5-4 Raccoons. Flowe 2-4, BB; T. Wharton 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Starr 2-2, BB, 2B; Corral 2-5, 2B; Gallo 2-3, 2 BB; Otal 2-5, RBI;

There were roster moves after this game, as we finally disposed of Gary Gates (.231, 0 HR, 0 RBI) after 65 at-bats of producing no offense, and Antonio Pacheco (0-0, 0.00 ERA) went back to AAA to make room for a starter for Saturday, which would be Rated-R. By Thursday we also put Joel Starr on the DL with a strained posterior cruciate ligament, which had the potential to end his Coons career.

Besides the dreadful prospect of Randy Rautenstrauch returning for more garbage innings, the Coons added back 1B Dan Gomez, who had batted .294 in his first 15 games with Starr on the shelf, and maybe Josh Mireles could be of any use *this* time around…? Tony Spink was placed on waivers to make room on the 40-man for Rated-R.

Raccoons (53-68) vs. Titans (72-50) – August 16-18, 2069

The Titans were 6 1/2 games back of the Indians, and the Raccoons were part of the problem for them, since the season series was even at six between these two teams. The #3 offense and #3 pitching in the CL was somehow not enough to overturn whatever the **** we had going on at any one time, but they’d get freebies against at least two starters in this series… No injuries on that Boston team.

Projected matchups:
Victor Chavez (1-1, 6.41 ERA) vs. Paul Egley (7-9, 5.35 ERA)
Randy Rautenstrauch (0-0) vs. Bryce Wallace (7-11, 4.67 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (7-12, 4.29 ERA) vs. Tyler Riddle (9-5, 3.38 ERA)

Southpaw Sunday!

Game 1
BOS: LF S. Humphries – CF Marcotte – C D. Johnson – RF M. Garcia – 1B Dowsey – 3B D. Miller – SS Robichaud – 2B Jer. White – P Egley
POR: SS Duhe – C Flowe – CF T. Wharton – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – 1B D. Gomez – LF Otal – 2B Mireles – P Chavez

David Johnson homered after a free pass to Eddie Marcotte, and the Coons were 2-0 down before I had even had time to cuddle up in my corner of the trusty brown couch. Duhe singled and was doubled off in the bottom 1st before Wharton and Gallo hit more singles and Corral stuck a ball into the rightfield corner for a 2-run double, though, so the difference was made up before Dan Gomez whiffed.

Chavez ached through the second inning, then actually hit a single in the bottom 2nd that sent Otal to third base with one out and Duhe cashed the sac fly to grab a 3-2 lead, and Flowe and Wharton singles loaded the bases, but Gallo’s groundout left them loaded. Chavez then ran 3-ball counts on everyone, but only walked Marcotte in the third inning and got away with it. More long counts followed in the fourth, and he finally ran out of leeway in the fifth, walking Marcotte again and then giving up a 2-out single to Manuel Garcia on his 106th pitch of the game. Rios replaced him and struck out ex-Coon Justin Dowsey to keep it a 3-2 Coons lead. Rios got four outs in total, and Dover got three strikeouts on the 2-3-4 batters in the seventh after issuing a leadoff walk to Steve Humphries. McMahan handled the eighth, while Egley went through all eight innings, scattering 11 hits and somehow never allowing another run.

…and then Pedro Valentin blew the lead with a leadoff double by Jeremy White and Jonathan Gutierrez’ pinch-hit single for Egley in the ninth. Humphries and Marcotte made meek outs, David Johnson hit a soft single, but Garcia grounded out to short, keeping the game tied. Early, Mireles, and Novelo were rubbish against southpaws Tyler Gleason (who left with an injury) and Joe Cash in the bottom of the ninth, and the game went to extras. Yamauchi got three straight outs in the tenth, while Cash allowed a 1-out single to leftfield to Jake Flowe. Wharton grounded out, advancing the winning run, and White dropped Gallo’s pop for an error to move Flowe to third base. Jose Corral had seen enough by now and peppered a 3-run homer to end the game! 6-3 Raccoons! Flowe 3-5; T. Wharton 2-5; Corral 2-5, HR, 2B, 5 RBI; Otal 1-2, BB;

Game 2
BOS: LF S. Humphries – CF Marcotte – C D. Johnson – RF M. Garcia – 1B Dowsey – 3B D. Miller – SS Robichaud – 2B Jer. White – P B. Wallace
POR: SS Duhe – C Flowe – CF T. Wharton – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – 1B D. Gomez – LF Otal – 2B Mireles – P Rautenstrauch

An overabundance of long counts meant that Rated-R was getting banned from the game before long, needing *53* pitches the first time through the Titans order, putting two runners on base, including White with a walk in the top 3rd, which meant when Humphries homered once the lineup flipped over, it was 2-0 Boston. It took Rated-R another 19 pitches to get through the *third* inning, and although the team made up the difference with BIG assists by the Titans in the bottom 3rd, his innings were clearly numbered. The Raccoons had stranded Mireles (single), Rated-R, and Duhe (walks) in the bottom 2nd on a flyout by Flowe, and then got Wharton on base with a leadoff walk in the bottom 3rd. Gallo singled to right, Garcia bobbled the ball, and the runner got into scoring position. A wild pitch plated Wharton, Corral whiffed, and Gomez’ groundout got Gallo home to tie the score. Bottom 4th, and Rautenstrauch hit a double to left (!?) with one out. Duhe walked, Flowe did nothing, but Wharton flicked an RBI single to take a wicked 3-2 lead. Wallace lost his sixth batter on balls against Gallo, loading them up for Corral, but he hacked out easily and the inning ended. Otal singled and Wallace walked Rated-R and Duhe with two outs to load the bases again in the bottom 5th, but now Flowe grounded out to White on the first pitch…

Rated-R ended up hanging on the hook after issuing leadoff walks to Marcotte and Johnson in the sixth inning and getting yanked for McMahan, who at first struck out Dowsey, but then got backstabbed by Gallo with an error, and then walked in both the tying run facing Jared Robichaud and the go-ahead run against Jonathan Gutierrez with two outs. Humphries grounded out to leave the bases loaded, while the Coons went from runners on the corners and nobody out after Wharton wallbangered a double and Gallo singled in the bottom 6th to not ******* scoring as Corral blundered into a 1-6-3 double play to reliever Matt Nelson and Gomez grounded out.

Scoreless innings by Holzmeister and Nava brought on the bottom 8th, which began with Joe Cash walking Jared Duhe. It was Duhe’s fifth plate appearance of the game and he had to get an at-bat, since he had walked in ALL of them. He also had yet to ******* score. Flowe fanned, but Wharton singled past a diving Dowsey to right, and Duhe dug for third base, reaching it safely ahead of Manuel Garcia’s throw. Right-hander Jose Gomez walked the bags full in a full count against Gallo, which was the TENTH free pass issued to a ******* Critter in this game and they were still behind. Lorenzo Marquez batted for Corral, who alone was responsible for like five outs and five more left on base in this contest, STRUCK OUT, and then it was on the rookie Dan Gomez, who grounded the **** out to Jeremy ******* White. (primal screams)

Yamauchi got around two runners in the ninth to send the 4-3 score to the bottom of the final inning, where Otal and Mireles made pitiful outs before Carlos Fumero slapped a single past Ivan Berrios at third base. Duhe finally got an at-bat, and grounded out to short to end the ******* game. 4-3 Titans. Duhe 0-1, 5 BB; T. Wharton 3-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Gallo 2-3, 2 BB; Fumero 1-1;

(cowers behind the couch with his underpants on his head, rocking slowly back and forth)

I think they’re wearing on me.

More roster moves followed as the team continued to rummage through the dumpster trying ever more desperate to find some half-eaten lasagna to get them to the end of the ******* season. Victor Chavez (1-1, 5.92 ERA) got purged along with Marquise Early (.175, 0 HR, 3 RBI) as Vinny Morales and George van Otterdijk came off the DL. Morales would start on Monday in Indy, and the Coons could then use the off day on Thursday to go right back to Gaytan, so as soon as I had another brilliant idea we could also recycle Rated-R.

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

A Gallo triple and Corral’s sac fly to center meant the Coons scored first in the rubber game, taking a 1-0 lead in the second inning while Gaytan retired the Titans in order the first time through, getting three strikeouts and two picks on the warning track from Corral. Duhe walked and Fumero doubled in the third inning and both were driven in on a Wharton single. Gaytan struck out Humphries and Marcotte in the fourth before it began to rain and Johnson hit a double. Garcia’s groundout in a full count ended the inning.

With light rain continuing, Gaytan struck out seven through five innings, but also gave up a homer to Danny Miller to reduce the lead to 3-1. He rung up two more in the sixth, then saw Duhe bobble a wet grounder by Johnson for a leadoff base runner in the seventh. A strikeout on Garcia gave him 10 K for the game, but the lead then got away on Miller and Robichaud singles, and the inability to get a double play on White’s grounder to short, which allowed Miller to score the tying run from third base. Gutierrez then grounded out. Duhe and Fumero got on base to begin the bottom 7th against Jose Gomez, but Wharton lined out and the Otter hit into a fielder’s choice at second. Lorenzo Marquez was down 0-2, but then slithered a roller through the right side for a go-ahead RBI single, and J.P. Gallo BOMBED a 3-run homer (his first in a month) to extend the score to 7-3!

Gaytan returned for the eighth, struck out Humphries and Marcotte, allowed a single to the pesky Johnson, and then got a pop from Garcia before a rain delay broke out in the middle of the eighth inning, ending his day for sure after 113 pitches and a dozen strikeouts. Robichaud homered off Holzmeister in the ninth inning, but that wasn’t enough to save the soggy Titans. 7-4 Furballs. Gallo 3-4, HR, 3B, 3 RBI; Corral 1-2, BB, RBI; Gaytan 8.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 12 K, W (8-12);

In other news

August 14 – SFB 2B/SS Ramon Archuleta (.316, 5 HR, 31 RBI) busts a walkoff grand slam in the 11th inning to beat the Scorpions, 10-6.
August 14 – A pinch-hit RBI single by rookie OF Adam Seybert (.362, 0 HR, 12 RBI) plates the only run in the Cyclones’ 1-0, 10-inning win over the Indians.
August 16 – 23-year-old Rebels INF Carlos Gonzalez (.254, 1 HR, 18 RBI) had a fracture in his elbow and required surgery that would keep him out until early in the 2070 season.
August 16 – Rebels UT Leo Medina (.270, 7 HR, 44 RBI) was expected to be out until mid-September with a forearm strain.
August 17 – The Blue Sox beat the Miners, 1-0 in 11 innings as NAS MR Kody Mello (5-4, 3.22 ERA, 1 SV) gets both the win and the game-winning sac fly.
August 18 – CHA 3B/SS Trent Taylor (.257, 11 HR, 55 RBI) was announced to miss the rest of the season with a pretty good concussion.

Player of the Week (FL): RIC SS Casey Ramsey (.307, 3 HR, 42 RBI), batting .481 (13-27) with 1 HR, 5 RBI
Player of the Week (CL): MIL C Manuel Rodriguez (.279, 20 HR, 67 RBI), hitting .600 (9-15) with 1 HR, 4 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The Coons are now 8-7 against confused Titans, and 3-9 against the Arrowheads, which constitutes approximately half the 6 1/2 games between the only contending teams in the division.

Tony Gaytan pitched a bit of a gem on Sunday with a dozen strikeouts, but of course had to let one fly again. It’s up to par for the season, as he leads the team in strikeouts, and he has already surrendered a shocking 26 homers. He has almost MORE home runs than walks allowed…!! I don’t know what the heck to do with him as he’s heading for arbitration this year, but I guess as long as the rest of the team is in the toilet like this, he can just as well stay and scratch a million for his bothers.

Wednesday, Jimmy Wharton struck out 11 in his third straight game of 7.1+ innings and maximum of two runs allowed since being sent back to AAA. He was not available to slide into the rotation for Saturday of course, and we will not need a fifth starter next week, but he’s gonna come back in September, and maybe even the last week of August.

Speaking of the Arrowheads, they’re next on a single-city road trip. We’ll be right back in Portland on Friday for a 6-game stay against Vegas and Atlanta.

Fun Fact: Jared Duhe became the second Raccoon to draw five walks in a game, joining Jesus Martinez.

Didn’t score ******* once.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (55-69) @ Indians (79-45) – August 19-21, 2069

The Indians had already won more games than in all of last year when they had still finished bottoms in the CL North, 12 games outta first place. They were still up 6 1/2 on the Titans and were up 9-3 on the hapless Raccoons, who didn’t figure to be a major stepping stone in this midweek three-game set. The second-best offense and best rotation and most prolific base-stealing team came up against … the Raccoons. Not all was smelling of roses in Indy, f.e. their pen had a 4.33 ERA and ranked second from the bottom in the league. But it figure to be enough to stomp the Raccoons the next three days…

Projected matchups:
Vinny Morales (8-7, 3.24 ERA) vs. Jorge Flores (7-8, 3.26 ERA)
A.C. Stebbins (6-7, 4.30 ERA) vs. Justin Esch (11-5, 3.18 ERA)
Nick Walla (8-14, 3.82 ERA) vs. Miguel Lopez (11-5, 4.19 ERA)

Only right-handers coming up here, as we’d miss ace Mike DeWitt (13-4, 2.71 ERA) and his left arm of destruction by a day.

Game 1
POR: SS Duhe – 2B Leggett – CF T. Wharton – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – LF Otal – C Flowe – 1B D. Gomez – P Morales
IND: CF Hilario – LF Spicer – C A. Gomez – 1B M. Rogers – 3B Ma. Martin – RF T. Torres – SS Valadez – 2B Z. DeWitt – P J. Flores

Indy took the lead on three singles in the second inning, all of which were stupid, as Tony Torres reached on a 1-out blooper behind Jared Duhe, Fernando Valadez legged out an infield single, and then Jorge Flores hit a clean 2-out single through the left side to get Torres home with the run. Jose Hilario, who had 41 stolen bases and was just ahead of Malcolm Spicer’s 34, grounded out to Leggett. Vinny Morales also hit a single his first time up, leading off the third inning, and was totally left on base for it. That’s as far as Morales got without looking like a wet rag, as Spicer then legged out an infield single to begin the bottom 3rd, and the Indians then slapped another three singles off Morales without making an out, then got Torres to leg out another infield single. The bottom of the order then made straight, poor outs, but by then the score was up to 4-0 and we could calmly stop bothering.

Top of the fifth, and Jared Duhe hit a double to center that got past Hilario. Leggett grounded out, moving the runner to third base, and then Flores walked the bags full with Wharton and Gallo, and one down. Corral grounded out to first, getting a run home, and Otal grounded out to short, not getting a run home… The Indians answered with a Torres homer in the bottom of the inning, and then Valadez tripled and scored on Zach DeWitt’s sac fly, knocking out Morales after 11 hits and six runs in 4.2 innings. Rios replaced him, struck out five of the seven Indians he faced over the next 2.1 innings, and showed how it was done (but whenever you gave him the ball to START a game, he’d be reduced to a puddle of blood and grime within 30 minutes…); Zach DeWitt then took Dover deep in the eighth inning for a tack-on run. 7-1 Indians. Duhe 3-5, 2B; Mireles (PH) 1-1; Otal 2-3, BB; Rios 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K;

Both teams had 12 hits in the box score, but I can’t for the life of me explain where ours went.

Game 2
POR: SS Duhe – 2B Leggett – CF T. Wharton – 3B Gallo – RF van Otterdijk – LF Otal – C Flowe – 1B Fumero – P Stebbins
IND: CF Hilario – SS Valadez – 1B M. Rogers – 3B Ma. Martin – RF T. Torres – LF Valencia – C Atencio – 2B G. Lujan – P Esch

Hilario singled, stole second, and was thrown out at the plate by Otal when Matt Rogers singled to left in the first inning, keeping Indy off the board. The Coons did nothing in the first two innings, but then Flowe and Fumero hit singles to begin the third. Stebbins’ bunt was taken to third base by Esch, but late, and now the bags were full with nobody out. Predictably, Duhe whiffed, Leggett popped out behind home plate, and Wharton grounded out to short. Otal and Flowe hit 2-out singles in the fourth, but were left on by Fumero, flying out to Rafael Valencia in shallow left.

Lightning struck and thunder clapped, and emptied the field after four innings and a bit and eventually chased the starters, although Stebbins, who had poked a leadoff single in the top 5th would return as base runner after an hourlong storm delay. Wharton hit a 2-out single against Pablo Apodaca, who got to 0-2 on Gallo, but then allowed a single to left, and Stebbins made it around to score from second base, giving Gallo a nice 69 RBI on the year. Van Otterdijk grounded out to end the inning. Yamauchi then got the ball and retired the 7-8-9 in order in the bottom of the fifth.

Otal and Flowe knocked out hits again in the sixth, this time a leadoff single and a double to right, putting a pair in scoring position with nobody out. Fumero popped out to first, Yamauchi – who was needed for length – struck out, and Duhe drew a walk off Apodaca in a full count. Wally Leggett then finally hit a ball through the right side for a 2-run single, extending the lead to 3-0, and then Wharton popped out to Rogers….. Indy made up a run with Hilario in the bottom 6th, as he reached on a drag bunt, stole his 43rd base, and was maneuvered around with productive outs, 3-1. The Coons replied with a van Otterdijk homer in the seventh, followed by a Flowe double and Fumero’s RBI single with two outs, 5-1, before Dan Gomez whiffed batting for Yamauchi. Kao-kan Ngui then allowed hits to Duhe and Leggett in the eighth, but struck out Wharton and Gallo. The Otter walked, but Otal grounded out, and the bags were left full. Again. After five outs from McMahan and one from Holzmeister, the Raccoons loaded the bases again in the ninth with a Flowe single, Shamar King drilling Corral, and then a soft Duhe single, and one out. Leggett drove in two with a single to right, and Wharton continued to be ******* useless and grounded out to third base. Worse, Gallo whiffed. The ball went to Valentin for a lack of options in the bottom 9th inning, and he retired the Indians on seven pitches. 7-1 Raccoons. Duhe 2-5, BB, 2B; Leggett 3-6, 4 RBI; Otal 2-5; Flowe 5-5, 2 2B; Fumero 2-5, RBI; Stebbins 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K and 1-1;

We had 18 hits in this game and still managed to look like dimwits.

Game 3
POR: SS Duhe – 3B Leggett – RF van Otterdijk – CF T. Wharton – LF Otal – C Flowe – 1B Fumero – 2B Mireles – P Walla
IND: CF Hilario – LF Spicer – C A. Gomez – 1B M. Rogers – 3B Ma. Martin – RF T. Torres – SS Valadez – 2B G. Lujan – P Mi. Lopez

Wharton finally did SOMETHING by means of an RBI groundout in the first inning after Leggett walked and van Otterdijk doubled to left against Lopez. Otal then left the Otter stranded with another groundout. Hilario singled his way on in the bottom 1st against Walla, but was caught stealing by Flowe. It did not look like we got the good version of Walla for this rubber game, as he walked Rogers to begin the bottom 2nd, then allowed a sharp single to Matt Martin. Torres struck out, but Valadez’ grounder advanced the runners. Chickening out, we walked Guillermo Lujan, a left-handed batter, intentionally and got the final out from Miguel Lopez instead, although that required Otal to run into the gap to make the catch…

Walla then pitched around a Duhe error in the third inning, while the Raccoons waited for a chance to get to the after-game buffet instead of scoring runs. Fumero singled his way on to begin the fifth inning, stole second, and then bid for home on a Mireles single to center, but was thrown out at the plate by Hilario, and the team did not score in the inning. Spicer singled with two outs in the bottom 5th, and was also caught stealing by Flowe, who was having a bit of a series here. But Walla had only two strikeouts in five innings and looked like a boo-boo waiting to happen… But the Indians’ 3-4-5 batters disappeared silently in the bottom 6th, beginning with Alex Gomez striking out in a full count and then Rogers and Martin making outs on the first pitches, and not good ones. Valadez singled in the seventh, but didn’t get off first base.

For oddity, Walla drew a leadoff walk in the eighth inning and was then left on first base as well there, while Tim Tennant replaced Lopez in the inning. Walla came back for the eighth, got a first-pitch pop from Hilario, and then struck out Spicer in a full count. Gomez then popped out to short. The score remained 1-0 and it looked like the Coons had a hard decision to make for the bottom 9th. Before we could go *there*, however, Tennant hit Flowe with a 2-out pitch in the ninth inning. Novelo ran for Flowe and Corral batted for Fumero in a desperate cry for an insurance run, but the inning ended with a K. The Coons then … (gasp!) … sent Nick Walla back out for the bottom 9th, but with a new catcher (Marquez) and first baseman (Gomez) and rightfielder (Corral). Rogers popped out to Leggett in foul territory. Martin grounded out to Leggett. Tony Torres fell to 0-2, and then hit a bouncer back to Walla, who carried it halfway to Dan Gomez before lobbing him the baseball to complete an unlikely shutout! 1-0 Blighters! Walla 9.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K, W (9-14);

Another Nick Walla shutout! And in another 1-0 squeezer!

Raccoons (57-70) vs. Aces (59-66) – August 23-25, 2069

The Aces sat fifth in runs scored and ninth in runs allowed in the CL, and had a -33 run differential (Coons: -49). We actually led this season series, 4-2. They had the second-most stolen bases, but other than that didn’t manage to sparkle in any major category. With SP Tim Henderson and position players Leo Jimenez and Alfredo Rosado they were missing three regulars.

Projected matchups:
Tony Gaytan (8-12, 4.12 ERA) vs. Gary Peoples (11-4, 2.91 ERA)
Vinny Morales (8-8, 3.52 ERA) vs. Ignazio Flores (9-11, 4.21 ERA)
A.C. Stebbins (6-7, 4.14 ERA) vs. Alex Duarte (8-4, 2.08 ERA)

Flores was the only left-hander we expected to face in this series. Rated-R was skipped in the makeshift rotation, and available out of the pen at least for the opener. He still had to make a start on Tuesday next week.

Game 1
LVA: SS Hatakeyama – CF Phelps – LF Lorenzo – C Haynes – 3B Vic. Morales – 2B Rodewald – 1B M. Roberts – RF Caceres – P Peoples
POR: SS Duhe – 3B Leggett – RF van Otterdijk – CF T. Wharton – LF Otal – C Flowe – 1B Gomez – 2B Mireles – P Gaytan

George van Otterdijk hurt himself again on a throw in the second inning and left the game for Jose Corral before any runs were scored. Peoples had walked Duhe and then rung up the 2-3-4 batters in order in the first inning. Otal singled and stole second in the bottom 2nd, then reached third on Flowe’s grounder where Peoples bobbled Mike Roberts’s feed at first base for an error. Gomez whiffed and Mireles hit into a double play to prevent the Aces from giving up any runs here, though. Otal and Flowe also reached in the fourth, but with two outs and before Gomez popped out unhelpfully. Gaytan had a 2-hitter through five, ringing up four Aces in a mostly right-handed lineup, so you would be forgiven for expecting more strikeouts, dipped his ERA under four by doing so, and then reached himself on a throwing error by Koji Hatakeyama in the fifth inning, but was of course stranded.

All hell then broke loose in the sixth as Peoples smashed a 1-out double off Gaytan, and in the next six pitches the Aces got three runs as Hatakeyama hit an RBI single, Josh Phelps raked an RBI triple to center, and then scored on Vic Lorenzo’s groundout. Chris Haynes hit another single but was left on by ex-Coon Vic Morales. Matt Rodewald then chased Gaytan with a leadoff jack in the seventh, 4-0, and the Coons turned to Rated-R for garbage relief. He turned in three shutout innings, but the Raccoons never got a run to begin with. 4-0 Aces. Otal 2-4; Flowe 2-4; Rautenstrauch 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K;

The Raccoons then had a change of heart on Saturday. George van Otterdijk was sent to the DL without a diagnosis, and the open roster spot went to Jimmy Wharton (3-3, 6.21 ERA in seven starts with Portland), who was on his throwing day, and thrown into the fray right here and now against the Aces. The bench was thus a body short for the time being.

Game 2
LVA: SS Hatakeyama – CF Phelps – LF Lorenzo – C Haynes – 3B Vic. Morales – 2B Rodewald – 1B M. Roberts – RF Joe Jackson – P I. Flores
POR: SS Duhe – 3B Leggett – 1B Fumero – CF T. Wharton – C Marquez – RF Corral – 2B Novelo – LF Otal – P J. Wharton

Hatakeyama led off with a sharp single and was then immediately forced out on Phelps’ grounder. Lorenzo struck out, but Wharton nicked Haynes and then allowed RBI single to Morales and Rodewald before Mike Roberts finally grounded out… Duhe then grounded out to begin the bottom 1st before the Raccoons fired off five straight singles. Tyler Wharton drove in Leggett, Marquez brought home two, Corral hit the fifth single, and then Novelo’s grounder was botched by the shortstop for a run-scoring error. Otal hit an RBI single to left, 5-2, Jimmy Wharton whiffed, and Duhe made the third out (and his second) of the inning with a groundout.

After that ruckus of an inning, it was only natural that neither team would get on base again until Jimmy Wharton singled off Flores with one out in the bottom 4th, and was promptly left on base. The rookie southpaw went back to the hill, walked Alex Corpus when he batted for Flores in the fifth, and then saw Phelps reach on a 2-out error by Duhe, but Lorenzo’s fly to left was caught by Otal to end the inning with runners on the corners. Jimmy Wharton then issued a pair of 2-out walks to Rodewald and Roberts in the sixth which I considered quite unnecessary, but got Joe Jackson out, and then struck out two against a Phelps single to complete seven innings against a mostly right-handed lineup. Gallo batted for him and whiffed in the bottom 7th, and the ball then went to Danny Nava, who gave up a run on Haynes and Roberts doubles in the eighth inning. The Coons had only three hits after that first inning and were never near tacking on, so Valentin had a 2-run lead in the ninth inning. He got two outs before Phelps doubled to left, and then got Lorenzo to ground to first base, where Fumero fudged the play, and now the tying runs were on the corners, and all 28 homers’ worth of Chris Haynes were in the box. He hit a long 0-1 to left, but not long enough, and Otal made the catch on the warning track… 5-3 Coons. T. Wharton 2-4, RBI; J. Wharton 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, W (4-3) and 1-2;

Coulda gone worse!

George van Otterdijk was found to have a herniated disc, and would be on the shelf for a month, which was basically the rest of the season now. He was of course already on the DL.

No roster move on Sunday, as we didn’t know what to ******* do anymore.

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

Vinny Morales walked Phelps, who stole his way to third base while Morales also walked Lorenzo, but Lorenzo was caught stealing second, and thus Phelps was stranded when Haynes flew out to Tyler Wharton in center. Duhe hit a leadoff single in the bottom 1st, advanced on a grounder by Corral, and was then singled home by Wharton for the game’s first run. Flowe and Gallo singles made it 2-0, but Jorge Caceres caught a Fumero liner on the slide to end the inning. Dan Gomez hit a back to begin the bottom 2nd, 3-0, and Duhe singled and Corral walked with one gone, but Wharton and Flowe both grounded out.

Lorenzo singled in the fourth, which was the first Aces hit in the game, but was left on, and Gomez singled and Duhe walked after a bunt by Morales to put another pair of brownshirts on base in the bottom of the fourth inning. Corral struck an RBI double into the rightfield corner, the Aces declined to engage Wharton with first base open, and instead went after Flowe, who BANGED a ball off the wall in right for a 2-run double, which was the grisly end for Duarte in this game, down 6-0 with a pair in scoring position after 3.1 innings. Otal’s sac fly off Josh Barcellona made it seven runs on his ledger, but Flowe was left on base.

Rodewald singling ana a Caceres homer got Vegas on the board in the fifth, 7-2, and Vinny Morales only made it to two outs in the sixth before walking Vic Morales and Rodewald for five free passes against one strikeout, and was removed. McMahan then retired the old, but still dangerous switch-hitter Alex Alfaro. McMahan and Dover then issued leadoff walks in the seventh, but Hatakeyama hit into a double play and the Coons buggered out of the inning unscathed. Instead, Fumero and Gomez doubles off Jason Bair gave Portland an eighth run in the bottom 7th, and the left-hander then walked the bags full against Novelo and Duhe with one out, but Corral hit into an inning-ending double play, as usual. Yamauchi was used for an inning, giving up a run, but that was pulled back with a pinch-hit homer off Bair by Lorenzo Marquez. Mireles then added a pinch-hit double, but was left on base. Holzmeister got the ball for the ninth inning and allowed a leadoff walk to Aaron Warner, then left the game with an injury after collecting outs from Hatakeyama and Phelps. Rios came in, walked Lorenzo, and gave up a triple to Haynes for two runs, but then got Vic Morales to ground out. 9-5 Raccoons. Duhe 2-3, 2 BB; Flowe 2-3, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Marquez (PH) 1-1, HR, RBI; Mireles (PH) 1-1, 2B; Gomez 3-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI;

In other news

August 21 – LVA SP Tim Henderson (7-5, 3.21 ERA) will miss the rest of the year to repair a torn labrum.
August 21 – L.A. outfielder John Miller (.274, 8 HR, 41 RBI) could also miss the rest of the season with torn ligament in his thumb.
August 21 – The Scorpions but the hurt on the Gold Sox early with a 12-run riot in the first inning, then manage the rest of the game for a 16-5 win. All the damage is done without the benefit of a home run; in fact, the only two home runs in the game are hit by Denver C Ryan Rogers (.265, 6 HR, 36 RBI), driving in three of his team’s runs, tying Sacramento’s Brian Hills (.243, 9 HR, 43 RBI) and Diego Mendoza (.258, 10 HR, 37 RBI) for most in the game.
August 23 – LAP SP Sergio Davila (8-6, 3.11 ERA) throws a 3-hit shutout against the Buffaloes for a 4-0 win.
August 23 – The Cyclones take 16 innings to beat the Wolves, 4-3.
August 24 – The Thunder beat the Loggers in an amusing back-and-forth, 15-14 in ten innings. MIL INF Sean Van Leeuwen (.320, 6 HR, 56 RBI) and catcher Manuel Rodriguez (.290, 23 HR, 78 RBI) each have four hits in the game, but nobody drives in more than three runs. Van Leeuwen has one of three Loggers homers in the contest.
August 25 – OCT SP Danny Baca (11-11, 3.63 ERA) will miss the rest of the year with a torn labrum.

Player of the Week (FL): RIC OF Willie Ospina (.241, 15 HR, 64 RBI), slapping .417 (10-24) with 2 HR, 10 RBI
Player of the Week (CL): MIL RF/LF Carlos Dominguez (.347, 17 HR, 102 RBI), churning .407 (11-27) with 2 HR, 8 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Offense remains lackluster, and I don’t think it’s gonna get better with van Otterdijk back on the DL. Once again we failed to scratch even four runs per game for the week. We remain bottoms in runs scored, 20 markers behind the second-worst team, the Condors.

One of the marvels of this god-forsaken season must be Schrödinger’s Walla, because you never know whether he’s stinking or sparkling until you open the damn box. Second shutout of the month, and both in 1-0 dramas. Let’s just not talk about how he got bombed for nine runs in the two starts in between…

Is Jimmy Wharton the #5 pitcher for the rest of the year? I mean, who *are* the challengers? We might try Gabriel Rios again, but that would be some turnaround from his previous attempts…

Three more home games with the Knights, then a 7-game road trip to Elk City and Milwaukee. Rosters will expand on Sunday next week.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons have won four straight series, after not being able to tack more than two series wins together all year long.

They were all 2-1 series wins, though, so don’t get excited.

[Westheim]

Jason Holzmeister was diagnosed with a creaky shoulder and labeled day-to-day for at least the Knights series. He remained on the roster, mostly because the butcher wouldn’t take him.

Raccoons (59-71) vs. Knights (54-75) – August 26-28, 2069

Playing out the string since June was the theme of this pointless series, where the Raccoons tried to somehow get their 4-2 lead in the season series over the finish line. They ranked eighth in runs scored and tenth in runs allowed. There was not a lot to see here in general.

Projected matchups:
Nick Walla (9-14, 3.63 ERA) vs. Adam Molloy (4-13, 6.96 ERA)
A.C. Stebbins (6-7, 4.14 ERA) vs. Rob Wilkinson (7-10, 4.38 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (8-13, 4.19 ERA) vs. Adam Lunn (8-12, 3.94 ERA)

Only right-handers in this Knights rotation.

Game 1
ATL: CF Jo. Soto – 2B J. Munoz – C Hart – 1B DiPrimio – RF Jad. Wilson – 3B Schomer – SS Guangorena – LF B. Campbell – P Molloy
POR: SS Duhe – RF Corral – CF T. Wharton – C Flowe – LF Otal – 3B Gallo – 1B D. Gomez – 2B Mireles – P Walla

Walla was well off and walked a batter in each of the first three innings, and also allowed a 3-0 fly to deep right to Jaden Wilson that Jose Corral pulled down. The Knights didn’t get any hits to move their runners around, but the Coons were also waiting on a base knock or a runner until Dan Gomez opened the bottom of the third inning with a home run to right-center. The lead lasted not very long, as Justin Hart then doubled into the right-center gap to begin the fourth for Atlanta, and effortlessly got around to score on groundouts by Kris DiPrimio and Wilson. The Coons loaded the bases in the bottom 4th in the most silly way, getting Tyler Wharton on with a leadoff single, only for Flowe to hit into a double play. Otal, Gallo, and Gomez then all reached, and were all stranded by Josh Mireles’ grounder to third baseman Jon Schomer.

The Raccoons next threatened to strand Nick Walla after he doubled to left to begin the bottom 5th. Duhe whiffed, Corral popped out, and then Tyler Wharton sighed and popped his 20th home run of this forsaken season to get the pitcher around to score after all. Walla labored onwards, issued another walk to Wilson in the seventh inning – at no point in this game did he have more strikeouts than walks on his ledger – and somehow completed seven innings on a weirdly awful 1-hitter. Fumero batted for him in the bottom 7th to no great outcome, and then Nava got the ball. Phil Mower’s pinch-hit double and Jorge Soto’s single put runners on the corners with one out in the eighth, and while Jorge Munoz whiffed, Soto stole second, putting the tying run in scoring position. The Raccoons went to Pedro Valentin for a 4-out save, and he got a grounder to the right side from Justin Hart. Gomez knocked it down and fed the ball to Valentin – who dropped it, and the error continued the inning. DiPrimio floated one out for Corral to catch to get the 3-2 lead out of the inning. There was no more hope for the Knights in the ninth, though, as Valentin got three poor outs on seven pitches to get the game over the line. 3-2 Raccoons. T. Wharton 2-4, 2 HR, 2 RBI; Marquez (PH) 1-1; Otal 2-4; Gomez 2-3, HR, RBI; Walla 7.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 4 K, W (10-14) and 1-2, 2B;

Game 2
ATL: CF Jo. Soto – 2B J. Munoz – C Hart – 1B DiPrimio – RF Bonner – 3B Schomer – LF Jad. Wilson – SS Guangorena – P R. Wilkinson
POR: SS Duhe – LF Otal – CF T. Wharton – RF Corral – 3B Gallo – C Marquez – 1B D. Gomez – 2B Fumero – P Stebbins

Tuesday saw the brown team take a very quick lead on a Duhe double and Benito Otal’s single to get up 1-0 in the bottom 1st, but things didn’t go so smoothly beyond that as Wharton hit into a double play, we had a rain delay as early as the second inning, if only for 25 minutes, and Stebbins was giving up the usual rockets from the get-go and DiPrimio hit a leadoff double in the second inning before being stranded. Fumero also hit a leadoff double in the bottom 3rd, and scored on a Duhe sac fly. Wharton doubled with two outs, but Corral’s fly to center was caught by Soto and pair was left in scoring position. DiPrimio hit a jack to left off Stebbins in the fourth, narrowing the score to 2-1 again.

Things dawdled along into the sixth when Soto walked and Munoz singled with one out. Hart grounded to third base, where Gallo took the out at his own base, but then was late with a throw to first, and the Knights continued to bat with two on and two outs. Stebbins did face DiPrimio here, but walked him on four pitches, and then was excused from further pretending on his way to retirement. Dover came in for ex-Coon Ryan Bonner, who had no homers in 227 at-bats and grounded out sharply to Jared Duhe to end the inning. Dover also pitched the seventh, allowing a single to Wilson, but maintained the lead, but the game had all the vibes of a late blowout. The Raccoons certainly didn’t do anything to tack on; when Marquez singled in the bottom of the seventh, Dan Gomez doubled him off *immediately*. The score remained 2-1 as McMahan retired the Knights in good order in the eighth inning, and then Valentin was up against DiPrimio, Bonner, and Schomer. The leadoff man singled, and Bonner flew out to left. Schomer grounded to short, and Duhe started a 6-4-3 to put another skinny win away. 2-1 Blighters. Otal 1-2, 2 RBI;

I know, Honeypaws, I know, the dimwits are ruining our draft position!

Just when we were hoping to get another #5 pick to waste on a trouble child like Jimmy Wharton…! – (Jimmy Wharton stops gobbling and looks up from his food bowl, visibly sad)

Game 3
ATL: CF Jo. Soto – 2B J. Munoz – 1B DiPrimio – LF J. Acuna – RF Jad. Wilson – 3B Schomer – C O. Diaz – SS Guangorena – P Lunn
POR: SS Duhe – LF Otal – CF T. Wharton – RF Corral – 3B Gallo – C Flowe – 1B D. Gomez – 2B Novelo – P Gaytan

The game opened with a Soto single, but before long DiPrimio punched a strikeout from Tony Gaytan and said just a couple of words to the home plate umpire, but that was enough to get ejected. Phil Mower replaced him. Gaytan walked Javier Acuna, but got a pop from Wilson to end the inning; however in the second inning Oscar Diaz singled up the middle and Tomas Guangorena doubled to left, and Lunn then hit a sac fly to give himself a lead. Soto flew out to Wharton. The Raccoons made up the run immediately, though, as Flowe hit a bloop single and then scored on Novelo’s 2-out double to left in the bottom 2nd. Gaytan struck out to end the inning.

A walk to Munoz and back-to-back bombs bashed by Mower and Acuna then put Atlanta up 4-1 to begin the third inning, and while Tyler Wharton answered with a solo shot of his own in the bottom 3rd, that wasn’t enough to make up the difference. When he actually batted with Leggett (who hit for Gaytan and singled) and Otal on base with two outs in the bottom 5th, he struck out.

The Coons handed the ball to Rated-R, who managed a scoreless sixth before walking the bags full with Knights for only one out in the seventh. Nava came on and struck out Acuna, and McMahan retired Wilson on a fly to Otal to get out of that sticky spot with no runs allowed, before the tying runs appeared on base with nobody out in the bottom 7th. Dan Gomez doubled down the rightfield line, and Lunn walked Novelo. Fumero batted for McMahan and drew another walk, getting us to the dreadful three-on, no-outs situation. Duhe promptly sucked his way into a (run-scoring) 6-4-3 double play, but Otal completed the fiery demise with a grounder to first base. ********.

Manabu Yamauchi had the ball in the eighth inning and issued leadoff walks to Schomer and Diaz before mishandling a Lunn comebacker for an error to load the bases with one out AGAIN. He walked in a run against Soto, plated another one with a wild pitch, and then conceded two more on a Munoz single to put the game away for Atlanta. The Coons tried to steal three outs in the ninth with the so-so Jason Holzmeister, who walked the bags full before being yanked for Gabriel Rios, who allowed a pinch-hit RBI single to Bonner, but then got two outs to get this ******* game over with. 9-3 Knights. Otal 2-4; Leggett (PH) 1-1;

Well. That sucked.

And just look what’s next…! (hides underneath the couch cushions)

Raccoons (61-72) @ Canadiens (62-71) – August 30-September 1, 2069

The Elks were up 7-4 on the Raccoons in their decades-long humiliation campaign against us, and I was actively offended and not looking forward to this series. Neither team was going anywhere, but the evil fiends were at least scoring at a usual rate. They ranked seventh in runs scored and eighth in runs allowed, for a -30 run differential (Coons: -51). With Carlos Castro and Matt Kilday they still had two regulars on the shelf.

Projected matchups:
Jimmy Wharton (4-3, 5.64 ERA) vs. Nick Waldron (10-12, 4.15 ERA)
Vinny Morales (9-8, 3.51 ERA) vs. Vince Ellison (6-13, 4.40 ERA)
Nick Walla (10-14, 3.54 ERA) vs. Ray Rath (6-10, 3.86 ERA)

Only right-handers to be found here, although Sunday was also roster expansion day, and who knew what new horrors that would allow them to bring upon us.

Game 1
POR: SS Duhe – LF Otal – CF T. Wharton – RF Corral – 3B Gallo – C Flowe – 1B Gomez – 2B Novelo – P J. Wharton
VAN: SS Barraza – CF D. Moore – RF Lozada – LF Atkins – 1B An. Ramirez – C Varner – 2B Eggert – 3B W. de Leon – P Waldron

The Friday opener at least *started* well, with a walk drawn by Duhe, an Otal single to left, and then a 3-run homer mashed by Tyler Wharton that some other Wharton would soon dearly pay for, surely. The pitcher Wharton was behind each and every one of the first six Elks he faced, walking three of them before he got yelled at by the pitching coach and then finally got in strikeouts against Dan Eggert and Willie de Leon and stranded base runners Antonio Ramirez and Steve Varner on Waldron’s groundout. Roberto Barraza singled to begin the bottom 3rd and was doubled up by Dan Moore, although Wharton then also walked Roberto Lozada, whom Rick Atkins left on base. Varner hit a single in the fourth, but now Eggert hit into a double play.

Top 5th, and both Whartons hit singles in the same inning, loading the bases along with Duhe (another single) and one out against Waldron. Corral hit a dinker behind Eggert for an RBI single, and Gallo drove in two and knocked out Waldron with a liner to center for another single, 6-0. Dallas Samson then suffocated Flowe and Gomez to get out of the inning.

The Sorrows of Young Wharton continued in the sixth with another free pass to Moore, and then giving up a homer to Lozada to get the Elks on the board; and in the seventh he gave up a leadoff double to Eggert, who came in to score on two productive outs to narrow the score to 6-3, but Wharton finished the inning and then departed from the game. Novelo hit a solo home run off Paul Wolk in the eighth, while Moore nearly hit a bomb against Dover in the same inning, but Corral made the catch right against the wall. The Coons tacked on another run when the remaining Wharton hit into a run-scoring double play after Duhe and Otal put themselves on the corners to begin the ninth inning. Rated-R then got the final inning in with a 5-run lead. 8-3 Raccoons! Duhe 2-3, 2 BB; Otal 2-5; T. Wharton 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; Corral 2-5, RBI;

Five walks, five strikeouts, and blatantly obvious growing pains…

Jason Holzmeister was finally deemed healthy again on Saturday, but there was no point in making a roster move for the missing fifth bench body *now* with expansion day just 24 hours away.

Game 2
POR: SS Duhe – LF Otal – CF T. Wharton – RF Corral – 3B Gallo – C Flowe – 1B Gomez – 2B Mireles – P Morales
VAN: SS Barraza – C Varner – 1B An. Ramirez – CF D. Moore – LF Chenette – 2B Eggert – RF Bustillos – 3B W. de Leon – P Ellison

Vinny Morales’ first pitch drilled Barraza good and he soon came around to score on Antonio Ramirez’ double to give them a 1-0 lead in the first, although Jose Corral’s second-inning homer got the teams even again. Morales would continue to struggle with the zone, and hitting batters. He walked two in the second, but didn’t allow a run, and then allowed a single to Varner, drilled Ramirez, and allowed a run on a 2-out single by Tyler Chenette after Moore hit into a 6-4-3 double play initially. Eggert grounded out sharply to end the inning. Corral tied the game *again*, this time with a sac fly in the fourth, bringing in Otal, who had singled, stolen second, and advanced on a Wharton grounder to short.

Five consecutive batters – the Coons’ 6-7-8 and the Elks’ 2-3 men – then struck out in the fifth inning before Moore hit a groundout to second. Morales then hit a leadoff single in the sixth only to be forced out and watch the Critters not score, and then nailed the leadoff man Chenette when he returned to the hill. I’m sure there were better ways to display your annoyance with your own hunchbacked team… Chenette stole second, but was left stranded by the bottom of the order, and Morales would complete seven innings of 4-hit ball in a 2-2 tie, same as Ellison, before being hit for with Fumero to begin the eighth, and for absolutely no greater gains at that.

Nava and Rios pieced the bottom 8th together scorelessly before Miguel Batista replaced Ellison and allowed a tie-breaking homer to Tyler Wharton to begin the ninth inning! Gallo and Flowe would go to the corners with 1-out singles, but Gomez popped out and Lorenzo Marquez grounded out when he batted for Mireles. Regardless, Pedro Valentin put the lid on in single-digit pitches again, nine this time around, and didn’t allow a runner between Mark Read, John Rutecki, and Varner. 3-2 Coons. Morales 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K and 1-2;

The W left the Raccoons in sole possession of a lofty fifth place for the first time in months.

Rosters expanded and the Raccoons invited some more stuffing to make it through September, including four unexciting relivers in Cam Bridges, Mike Davis, Juan Vega, and Antonio Pacheco – all of whom had already seen Portland at least once this year. The batting additions were almost as dull: Gary Gates, Jamie Colter (for the first time this year!), although we also added a weird toy, 23-year-old switch-hitting catcher slash THIRD baseman Willie Jalomo, who was hitting .267 with five homers in 110 games in St. Petersburg. He had originally been a Capitals scouting discovery, but released, and had been signed off the trash heap by us in early 2068.

Pizza was moved to the 60-day DL to make enough room on the 40-man roster.

Game 3
POR: SS Duhe – LF Otal – CF T. Wharton – RF Corral – 3B Gallo – C Marquez – 1B Fumero – 2B Mireles – P Walla
VAN: SS Barraza – C Varner – RF Lozada – 1B An. Ramirez – CF D. Moore – LF Chenette – 3B E. Campos – 2B Terrazas – P Rath

Barraza’s single and Varner’s homer to center immediately put the Elks 2-0 ahead on Sunday, before Walla struck out four batters while completing three innings and not giving up another run. The Raccoons were hitless the first time through, only getting Wharton aboard on an error by Eddie Campos in his first major league game. Wharton was on base again in the fourth, drawing a 1-out walk from Rath. Corral then singled, and a high Gallo fly to left landed safely in Chenette’s glove. Marquez’ single through the right side got Wharton around to score, though. Fumero grounded out. It also began to rain at around this time, and snow was probably not far off here in East Siberia.

Funnily enough, Nick Walla didn’t put a runner on base for four innings and then got exploded again all at once with Barraza and Lozada reaching base in the bottom 6th. Antonio Ramirez, just named Rookie of the Month for August, then carved him up for a 3-run homer, 5-1. Walla completed seven innings, allowing five runs on four hits, somehow, and being deserted again by his useless team. Top 8th, Jamie Colter batted for him in the leadoff spot and doubled to right in his first ABL at-bat of the year. Duhe singled, and a wild pitch by Rath scored Colter, 5-2. Otal legged out an infield single, and that brought up Wharton as the tying run, although he crashed into a 6-4-3 double play, with Duhe scoring from third base. And then Corral homered, but he was of course not the tying run anymore… Gallo was, but he basically hadn’t homered in three months and flew out to Chenette.

The Coons bullpen answered with a 3-run explosion in the bottom of the inning to put the game to bed. Holzmeister allowed a leadoff single to Barraza, then got two outs from Varner and Lozada. McMahan came in for Ramirez, but rookie Hector Moreno pinch-hit and hit an RBI single, and Moore walked. Jesse Dover then allowed three straight singles to PH Rico Cordero, Campos, and Juan Terrazas, and finally struck out John Bustillos… The Elks’ Josh Meighan then made a mess on the rug in the ninth and put pinch-hitters Gomez and Flowe on base with one out and was yanked for the closer Batista. Leggett batted for Dover and flew out, as did Jared Duhe. 8-4 Canadiens. Corral 3-4, HR, RBI; Flowe (PH) 1-1; Colter (PH) 1-1, 2B;

In other news

August 27 – Miners C Nick Dingman (.274, 21 HR, 63 RBI) smashes his 300th career home run in a 6-5 win against the Pacifics, banging a score-flipping 3-run homer off L.A. lefty Kevin Bennett (3-1, 4.00 ERA). Dingman is hitting .282 with 1,438 hits and 907 RBI for his career and has collected the 2063 FL Player of the Year award, five Platinum Sticks, and two Gold Gloves. He led the FL in bombs three times.
August 27 – Boston OF Steve Humphries (.299, 14 HR, 63 RBI) could miss the rest of the season after breaking his finger.
August 28 – The Condors beat the Loggers not only by a score of 1-0, but in 11 innings as well.

Player of the Week (FL): DAL OF/1B Victor David Morales (.301, 14 HR, 70 RBI), batting .429 (12-28) with 3 HR, 6 RBI
Player of the Week (CL): BOS RF/LF/1B Manuel Garcia (.261, 22 HR, 89 RBI), slapping .435 (10-23) with 2 HR, 12 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: CIN OF Melvin Avila (.318, 21 HR, 102 RBI), hitting .345 with 6 HR, 31 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: MIL RF/LF Carlos Dominguez (.351, 18 HR, 105 RBI), smashing .425 with 5 HR, 28 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: SAL SP Jimmy Nelson (17-6, 2.19 ERA), going an unbeaten 5-0 with 1.61 ERA, 37 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: NYC CL John Faughnan (10-1, 1.39 ERA, 34 SV), going 3-0 with a 2.08 ERA, 18 K, and 9 SV
FL Rookie of the Month: DEN RF/LF Steve Millen (.323, 18 HR, 87 RBI), batting .339 with 2 HR, 14 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: VAN 1B Antonio Ramirez (.305, 12 HR, 33 RBI), bashing .400 with 10 HR, 27 RBI

Complaints and stuff

(looks disheveled while wearing a bathrobe and drags his hindpaws across the floor in the office, holding a mug that is without a doubt filled with at least 50% booze)

Maud. – Maud. I don’t think I like this team. – Can you make them all go away?

Tyler Wharton hit four homers this week, which was all a bit late and a bit too little. Even though he was now hitting a scratch over .300 and the power was finally there, his 148 OPS+ was still worse than anything he had produced in Dallas in the last decade. And by a good bunch.

(hits head on door frame repeatedly)

There is not a lot to do for the rest of the year besides watch and suffer. We’d almost certainly be mathematically eliminated while in Milwaukee for the next four games. After that was a 7-game homestand against the Crusaders and these disgusting Elks again.

Fun Fact: The Loggers have the top 3 players in OPS in the CL.

They have also scored 750 runs, or more than 50% more than the Raccoons have this year…

Unless the Raccoons score another 89 runs in their last 26 games, which couldn’t be much farther from a given, they would post their worst offensive season in at least 47 years, and the sky was the limit.

Oh boy, even *600* runs scored seemed so impossibly far away, and 600 runs were PATHETIC.

Did I mention we signed TYLER ******* WHARTON this winter?

[Westheim]

Raccoons (63-73) @ Loggers (69-66) – September 2-5, 2069

The Coons were not quite done yet with receiving beatings from the Loggers, with seven games remaining between these teams. Milwaukee was actually only up 6-5 this year, but the Critters had not looked great in this matchup for a long time. This was the best offense facing the very worst offense (guess which one we are), but the Loggers also conceded the most runs. However, they murdered pitchers so marvelously, they still had a +77 run differential while bleeding runs like crazy. Starting pitcher Danny Ortiz (12-8, 4.13 ERA) was day-to-day with a sore shoulder, which was their only injury.

Projected matchups:
A.C. Stebbins (7-7, 4.01 ERA) vs. Julio Robles (12-6, 4.31 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (8-14, 4.29 ERA) vs. TBD
Jimmy Wharton (5-3, 5.40 ERA) vs. B.J. Butrico (2-6, 5.46 ERA)
Vinny Morales (9-8, 3.47 ERA) vs. Curt Green (5-11, 6.05 ERA)

Only right-handed pitchers here… and whatever they’d find for Tuesday, which was Ortiz’ spot.

Willie Jalomo made his ABL debut as a starter at third base on Monday.

Game 1
POR: SS Duhe – LF Otal – CF T. Wharton – RF Corral – C Flowe – 2B Fumero – 1B Gomez – 3B Jalomo – P Stebbins
MIL: RF D. Wright – CF Merrill – 1B C. Ramirez – C M. Rodriguez – LF C. Dominguez – SS Reber – 2B F. Carrera – 3B Murcia – P Ju. Robles

Stebbins did not allow a base runner through three innings, but Jose Corral did, dropping Kyle Reber’s fly in the second inning for an error. Reber was left on base though by Fidel Carrera, who was nearing the end of an injury-wrecked and miserable season. The Raccoons got Otal and Wharton on base with singles in the first, but didn’t score until the fourth when Wharton hit a leadoff jack to left. Cesar Ramirez and Carlos Dominguez then hit singles off Stebbins in the bottom of the inning, but a timely K on Reber dismissed the challenge.

Willie Jalomo hit a single for his major league knock in the fifth inning and was then forced out by Stebbins on a bad bunt, and that was basically all there was to the game through five, Stebbins hurling a 2-hitter with five strikeouts. Dave Wright drew a leadoff walk in the bottom 6th, but the run never got off first base as Jonathan Merrill hit into a force and Ramirez and Manuel Rodriguez both flew out. Jalomo hit another single in the seventh and was stranded this time, and Fidel Carrera hit a 2-out single off Stebbins in the bottom of the inning, but got himself caught stealing to get Stebbins through seven on 98 pitches.

Top 8th, Otal and Wharton hit another pair of singles with one out and were then balked into scoring position by Robles. Corral was walked intentionally, but that move proved inefficient when Robles then went on to nick Jake Flowe to force in a run. J.P. Gallo pinch-hit for Fumero, but popped out, and Gomez grounded out to third base to decline further runs on the board. Danny Nava pitched a quick eighth inning before the ball went to Valentin in the ninth inning. He got outs from Merrill and Ramirez before getting taken deep by Rodriguez, 2-1. Oh well, still ahead! Dominguez eked out a walk, and then Sean Van Leeuwen batted for Reber. The rookie was the last batter of the game, crushing a walkoff homer to right. 3-2 Loggers. Otal 2-5; T. Wharton 4-4, HR, RBI; Jalomo 2-4; Stebbins 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K;

(looks like he’s had well enough from everything and everybody)

Game 2
POR: SS Duhe – LF Otal – CF T. Wharton – RF Corral – 3B Gallo – 2B Fumero – 1B Gomez – C Jalomo – P Gaytan
MIL: 3B Van Leeuwen – CF Merrill – 1B C. Ramirez – C M. Rodriguez – LF C. Dominguez – RF D. Wright – 2B Carrera – SS Reber – P Butrico

Gaytan pitched behind in the count a lot *and* gave up rockets, so he was probaby not gonna get very far in this game. Reber singled home Wright in a messy bottom 2nd in which Gaytan issued hits to Dominguez and Reber, and walked Carrera, all in 3-ball counts. The Coons began the fourth inning with an Otal single and stolen base, before Wharton walked. Corral smashed into a double play and Gallo flew out to right rather easily as scoring remained hard. Dan Gomez hit a double in the fifth and overran second base to get tagged out as he tried to dive back in, which was … splendid, and then the Loggers got an unearned run when the Coons’ defense let the guard down and Fumero made an error ahead of a pair of singles for Ramirez and Dominguez, the latter getting his 107th RBI of the year as he brought in Merrill. You’d struggle to make 107 by putting any two Raccoons’ tallies other than those of Wharton and Gallo together….

Gaytan failed his way into the sixth before being squeezed out of the game. Pacheco struck out Van Leeuwen to strand a runner left over by Gaytan, and the left-hander and Holzmeister both got two outs to complete seven innings. The Raccoons were basically invisible until the eighth inning, when Fumero hit a leadoff single and stole second base. Dan Gomez hit another double, this one bringing in the team’s first run in the now 2-1 game, and this time he also ******* stayed on second base as the tying run with nobody out. Jalomo singled softly to right and runners went to the corners. Marquez batted for Holzmeister and tied the game with a firm single to left. Victor Ramirez replaced Butrico, but allowed a single to Duhe to load the bases for Otal (with nobody out…), who struck out (of course!). Tyler Wharton clipped an RBI single to left, though, giving the Coons a 3-2 lead. Corral singled to right, driving in Marquez and Duhe, Gallo walked, and Fumero hit a sac fly to center. Dan Gomez wasn’t done raking and got an RBI single to right-center, and the Loggers reached for Vincent Hernandez to K Jalomo to end the inning, a raucous 7-spot for the Raccoons!

Juan Vega and Gabriel Rios collected the last six outs for the Raccoons from there, and didn’t allow the Loggers to get back into the game. 7-2 Coons. Duhe 2-4, BB; Gomez 3-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Marquez (PH) 1-1, RBI; Mireles 1-1;

Tony Gaytan did not allow an *earned* run, but oh dear, he wasn’t good at all…!

Game 3
POR: SS Duhe – LF Otal – CF T. Wharton – RF Corral – 3B Gallo – C Flowe – 1B Gomez – 2B Mireles – P J. Wharton
MIL: RF D. Wright – CF Merrill – 1B C. Ramirez – C M. Rodriguez – LF C. Dominguez – SS Reber – 2B F. Carrera – 3B Van Leeuwen – P C. Green

Jimmyboy was behind almost immediately, giving up a 2-2 triple to leadoff man Wright and the run then on Merrill’s groundout in the bottom 1st. It didn’t get any better after that. Cesar Ramirez already hit a long fly out, and while Green struck out four Coons in a row between the second and third, Wharton allowed a leadoff single to Van Leeuwen in the third inning, then walked Green on four pitches, and finally gave up a 3-run bomb to Wright.

Otal doubled and Tyler Wharton singled him home in the fourth, but that only narrowed the score to 4-1. Green didn’t get an out in the sixth, leaving after Duhe hit a leadoff single in the inning, and was replaced with Jorge Quinones. Otal forced out the runner with a groundout to second, but Wharton doubled to left, bringing up the tying run, but Corral and Gallo both fanned and the runners were left on second and third. Jimmy Wharton went a bit longer and covered six and two thirds after the early bombardment, but the damage had of course already been done. Quinones and Jimmy Dingman held the Raccoons away into the ninth inning, when ex-Coon Nick Robinson tried to put the game away. Gallo and Novelo hit 1-out singles with one out, but Dan Gomez found a double play to swat the runners with. 4-1 Loggers. T. Wharton 2-4, 2B, RBI; Novelo (PH) 1-1;

Not that it meant anything, but the Raccoons notched mathematical elimination with this loss, as the first team in the Continental League this year.

Day off for Tyler Wharton and Jared Duhe on Thursday. The Raccoons came up against another right-hander in Matt Crist (10-6, 4.45 ERA).

Game 4
POR: CF Otal – LF Fumero – C Marquez – RF Corral – 3B Gallo – 1B Gomez – 2B Novelo – SS Mireles – P Morales
MIL: 3B Van Leeuwen – CF Merrill – 1B C. Ramirez – LF C. Dominguez – RF D. Wright – 2B F. Carrera – C Bergeron – SS Reber – P Crist

The Raccoons couldn’t score in the first despite a Fumero double and Marquez reaching on an error when Corral softly lined out to first, and Gallo grounded out. Merrill and Ramirez singled and Carlos Dominguez bombed Vinny Morales for a 3-run homer inside four batters for the home team, though. Dominguez added a fourth RBI for himself, the 111th to his 2069 tally, in the third when Merrill and him hit a pair of doubles off a rather unimpressive Morales, who was chewed up after five miserable innings and left down 4-0, because of course the Raccoons were not scoring.

The lousy Coons got Novelo on base in the seventh, then sent Wharton to pinch-hit for Jason Holzmeister, who had done a scoreless sixth against the bottom of the Loggers lineup. Before Wharton could take a rip, Novelo got himself picked off first base. Wharton then singled, but was stranded… Crist was still going in the eighth and allowed a single to Marquez and a double to Corral with one out. J.P. Gallo finally did a thing and bonked a 3-piece to right, but that of course left the Critters still one run short. Dan Gomez singled to put the tying run on base, and Novelo crashed into an inning-ending double play to render the effort pointless. A pinch-hit single by Willie Jalomo against Robinson put the tying run on again with one gone in the ninth. Jalomo was many things, but not a runner, and Wally Leggett pinch-ran for him. Leggett responsibly held court at first base while Otal whiffed and Fumero grounded out to end the game. 4-3 Loggers. Marquez 2-4; Corral 2-3, BB, 2B; Novelo 2-4; T. Wharton (PH) 1-1; Jalomo (PH) 1-1;

Raccoons (64-76) vs. Crusaders (72-68) – September 6-8, 2069

The season series against the Loggers was not quite lost yet (6-9), but it was against the Crusades (5-10), who came in to mop up for the year. They were ninth in runs scored and fifth in runs allowed, but despite being four games over .500 they had a negative run differential at -14. With Eric Frasher and Ryan Marty they had two position players on the DL for the rest of the season, and Josh Roza, who had been quite the pain in the tush the last couple of meetings, was day-to-day with a back strain.

Projected matchups:
Nick Walla (10-15, 3.64 ERA) vs. Erik Lee (8-14, 4.23 ERA)
A.C. Stebbins (7-7, 3.78 ERA) vs. Russell Anderson (5-6, 5.42 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (8-14, 4.14 ERA) vs. Colt Long (11-8, 3.71 ERA)

One more righty, and then we’d finish the suck for the week with two southpaws.

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

Walla got around conceding two singles in the second inning, but not around giving up another FOUR singles in the fourth inning, conceding a pair of runs to the Crusaders, and those were OF COURSE the first runs in the game, because the Raccoons had a Wharton single and not a lick more in the first three innings… - Maud, I am tired, can you just make them go away, please?

Nothing changed about the dire sight of the right-hand side of the box score in the middle innings, while Walla bravely and stubbornly soldiered on, but allowed another run in the seventh inning, which Chris Duhon began with a single to center. Raul Ledesma whiffed, but Erik Lee singled to center and Wharton completely bungled the ball and flubbed it through his own legs for an error, extra bases, and a run that became earned after Roza’s groundout. Lee was stranded, but I was clinging to the Capt’n Coma and wished for the season to ******* end. Poor Nick Walla pitched into the ninth, then allowed a double to Duhon and another stupid single to Lee, and was chased when Duhon rushed around to score from second base. Cam Bridges replaced him, was USELESS, and allowed two more singles to Roza and Jeff Maudlin, and then allowed Walla’s fifth run on Bryant Box’ groundout. Lee lost the shutout on a throwing error by catcher Zachary Norwood, who peppered away a grounder by Dan Gomez from the #9 hole leading off the bottom 9th, putting the runner on second base. Gates and Otal groundouts then brought the runner around. Wharton flew out, and that was the ******* game. 5-1 Crusaders.

Wharton single in the first – and no base hit after that.

Good grief.

Game 2
NYC: 3B Roza – SS Maudlin – CF Box – LF Ambriz – C A. Morris – 2B Philpot – 1B Duhon – RF Ledesma – P R. Anderson
POR: SS Duhe – LF Otal – CF T. Wharton – C Marquez – 2B Leggett – 1B Fumero – RF Corral – 3B Gates – P Stebbins

Wharton singled in the first again and that was it for a while. The Crusaders did not get a hit off Stebbins until Maudlin hit a leadoff single in the fourth, but he was left on base as well. Stebbins wasn’t exactly dominating, giving up three meaty fly outs to Wharton the first time through the order. Ryan Philpot hit a single in the fifth and was left on base as well, while the Raccoons remained on their daily Wharton single through five. Duhe and Wharton both drew walks in the bottom 6th and advanced into scoring position on Marquez’ groundout. Wally Leggett FINALLY got something done with a single to left, driving in both runners. Fumero then promptly hit another pathetic groundout.

Top 7th, and Jose Ambriz hit a single up the middle to get going. Andy Morris flew out, and Bryant Box, the only left-handed-hitting position player in the lineup against Stebbins, crashed a 2-run homer to right to take the lead away again. Stebbins completed seven, and was hit for after Gary Gates (still RBI-less) singled with one out in the bottom of the inning. Novelo grounded out after a wild pitch moved Gates to second, so the go-ahead run was on third base with two outs for Duhe, who grounded to the right side. Philpot knocked the ball down, but had no play, and the Coons took the lead on the infield single. Otal then flew out against Alex Dominguez to end the inning.

Danny Nava got the ball for the eighth inning, facing .116 hitter Raul Ledesma. He got him to 0-2 and then gave up a game-tying homer, at which point I felt one half of my stripey face drooping. Bottom 8th, Marquez hit a double and was stranded. Yamauchi did a scoreless ninth to keep the game tied. Brian Doster walked Corral and Gates to begin the bottom 9th, and Gallo batted for Yamauchi and was hit by a pitch to load the bags with nobody out. Duhe then hit into a splendid old 6-2-3 double play, and Otal grounded out to first, sending the ******* game to extra innings after all…….!! … (sobs) … McMahan’s 1-2-3 inning then was followed by Tyler Wharton socking an equally disgusted walkoff homer off Doster in the bottom 10th. 4-3 Blighters. T. Wharton 2-4, BB, HR, RBI; Stebbins 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K;

This was the 300th career homer for Tyler Wharton, not that he was in the mood to celebrate with the mouthbreathing halfwits on the team.

Game 3
NYC: 3B Roza – SS Maudlin – CF Box – C A. Morris – 2B Philpot – 1B Duhon – LF Nakamura – RF Ledesma – P L. Morales
POR: SS Duhe – LF Otal – CF T. Wharton – C Marquez – 2B Leggett – RF Fumero – 1B Gomez – 3B Jalomo – P Gaytan

Portland took a 2-0 lead in the first, which entailed no base hits, but a walk drawn by Otal, Wharton getting nicked, a double steal with a run-allowing throwing error by Morris, and after Marquez whiffed, a 2-out error by Philpot on Leggett’s grounder to get the second run home. Leggett got balked to second, but was left there by Fumero.

Gaytan loaded the bases with the 9-1-2 batters and nobody out in the third inning before Box grounded into a fielder’s choice at second, bringing in a run. Morris whiffed in a full count and Box was caught stealing second on the play, suddenly ending the inning. Otal walked and stole another base in the bottom of the inning, and Lorenzo Marquez banged a 2-run homer to give Gaytan a dizzying 4-1 lead. Fumero tripled and Gomez walked in the fourth, but Jalomo hit into his second double play of the game, even when this one scored another run.

Gaytan had left his stuff at home in the meantime. He fooled his pitch count up to 74 through four innings with only one strikeout and relying heavily on the defense. He got a K on Luis Morales in a 1-2-3 fifth, and then struck out two more in the sixth. Bottom 6th, Leggett and Fumero slapped 1-out singles off right-hander Mike Rocheford, and the slapping continued. Dan Gomez clapped an RBI single, and then Jalomo also shot an RBI single to right, which was his first career RBI, although not his first runner aided home… Dave Hyman replaced Rocheford and conceded another run not on hits, and not on one wild pitch, but on TWO wild pitches, but retired the Coons for the time being. Gaytan finished seven innings, but not without giving up another homer to Natsu Nakamura.

Pacheco got two outs in the eighth and then yielded for Holzmeister, who saw Maudlin reach on an error by Duhe, then gave up a triple to Box and a homer to Morris, and was beaten off the mound for ******* an 8-2 game into an 8-5 game. Nava got a fly out from Philpot to end the eighth inning. Fumero, Jalomo, and Gallo then loaded the bases against Alex Dominguez in the bottom 8th, when Corral batted for an 0-4 Duhe with one out. He drove in two with a single to right, and those were the final Raccoons runs in the game. Rated-R then got three straight outs from the Crusaders to put the game to bed. 10-5 Critters. Corral (PH) 1-1, 2 RBI; Fumero 3-4, 3B; Gomez 2-3, BB, RBI; Jalomo 2-4, RBI; Gallo (PH) 1-1; Gaytan 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, W (9-14);

In other news

September 2 – The Gold Sox beat the Stars, 7-6 in 14 innings. Both teams already scored a run in the 13th inning, but only the Sox kept scoring in the 14th.
September 2 – Wolves rookie OF/1B/2B Mike Raymond (.209, 6 HR, 32 RBI) hits a home run to beat the Warriors, 1-0.
September 4 – The Thunder score in only two innings against the Condors, but it’s enough for a 17-4 win with ten runs in the fourth and seven more in the sixth inning.
September 6 – Warriors catcher Gabe Rivas (.272, 6 HR, 41 RBI) bangs out five base hits and hits for the cycle with a spare double in a 17-8 slugfest win against the Gold Sox. Rivas drives in six runs in the effort.
September 6 – The Falcons beat the Condors, 9-3 in 13 innings, by scoring seven runs in the top of the 13th. Tijuana only answers with one run in their half of the inning before conceding.
September 7 – BOS SP Mike Bell (19-3, 2.32 ERA) is out for the season suffering from rotator cuff inflammation.
September 7 – Condors OF/1B/2B Mike Pinault (.217, 16 HR, 69 RBI) was also out for the year with a separated shoulder.
September 8 – SFB SP Austin LaRosa (10-11, 4.07 ERA) has his team’s only base hit, a single, in a 2-0 loss to the Knights’ Rob Wilkinson (8-11, 4.15 ERA) and Erik Swain (3-4, 2.29 ERA, 34 SV).

Player of the Week (FL): WAS RF/LF/1B Jay Lawyer (.374, 1 HR, 32 RBI), clipping .462 (12-26) with 1 HR, 6 RBI
Player of the Week (CL): POR CF Tyler Wharton (.315, 25 HR, 72 RBI), slapping .480 (12-25) with 2 HR, 4 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Tyler Wharton smashed his 300th career homer to end Saturday’s otherwise wretched game, and afterwards wasn’t in the mood for celebrations. EVERYBODY just wanted to get outta town for the winter…… Just pack your bag and leave for the night.

Four runs per game this week, despite knocking out a tenner and a seven. Didn’t win much outside those two games…

The season drags, and now the Elks are upon us again for four more games in Portland. We will visit Charlotte on the coming weekend.

Fun Fact: The three last cycles in the league have all been hit in Denver.

This includes SFW Gabe Rivas’ cycle this week, and the two 2068 cycles that gave five days apart, by DEN Ben Wilken at home against the Wolves, and IND Matt Martin on a visit to Colorado before that.

This is the longest string of league cycles at one specific place.

[DD Martin]

On the bright side you have the best bullpen by ERA in the CL and Tyler is on fire!

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by DD Martin

Tyler is on fire!

...about that...;

+++

Raccoons (66-77) vs. Canadiens (66-75) – September 9-12, 2069

Ugh, those guys again. The Elks were up 8-6 in the season series against the Raccoons, and I would love it very much if we could stop playing doormat to their hooves at some point. Seventh in offense, eighth in pitching, and arriving without Carlos Castro and Justin Wittman, not that any length of an injury list anywhere could help the Raccoons to score more than four runs a game for a week.

Projected matchups:
Jimmy Wharton (5-4, 5.40 ERA) vs. Nate Freeman (14-8, 3.30 ERA)
Vinny Morales (9-9, 3.59 ERA) vs. Juan Rosado (10-7, 3.70 ERA)
Nick Walla (10-16, 3.72 ERA) vs. Nick Waldron (11-13, 4.19 ERA)
A.C. Stebbins (7-7, 3.72 ERA) vs. Vince Ellison (6-14, 4.48 ERA)

Nothing but right-handers in that rotation.

Game 1
VAN: SS Barraza – CF D. Moore – RF Lozada – LF Atkins – C Varner – 1B H. Moreno – 3B Forrest – 2B Eggert – P N. Freeman
POR: SS Duhe – LF Otal – CF T. Wharton – RF Corral – C Flowe – 3B Gallo – 2B Fumero – 1B Gomez – P J. Wharton

Jimmyboy barely stranded Roberto Barraza (sharp single) and Rick Atkins (walk) in the first inning, but there was no keeping Adam Forrest and his single on base once Dan Eggert tripled into the rightfield corner in the second. At least a strikeout on Freeman and Barraza’s fly to Otal kept the extra runner at third base. Portland got back even in the bottom 2nd with an unearned 2-out RBI single by Dan Gomez, who drove in Flowe, who had reached on an error by Eggert. Forrest made an error to put the leadoff man Duhe on base in the bottom 3rd, but he was forced out by Otal, and Otal was then caught stealing. Freeman walked Corral to begin the Coons’ fourth, and then allowed singles to Flowe and Gallo to load the bags with nobody out. As usual, nothing happened, as Fumero popped out and both Gomez and the pitcher Wharton whiffed, leaving absolutely everybody stranded. I sobbed on Slappy’s shoulder, quite uncontrollably.

The main concern was Jimmyboy, though, because he was constantly behind in the count. The defense did what they could, like when Freeman got overconfident after a leadoff walk to Eggert in the fifth and hit into a 6-4-3 double play, but Tyler Wharton also hit into a double play in the same inning…

Jimmy Wharton’s day ended as soon as he got an incidental lead in the bottom 6th on a Flowe double and Fumero’s 2-out RBI single. When Gomez walked, Leggett pinch-hit for him and drew another walk to load the bags, and Freeman walked in a run with another free pass issued to Duhe, but then Otal flew out on a 3-2 pitch to end the inning. Up 3-1, the Raccoons got two outs from Yamauchi against a Fumero error that put Forrest on base. When Antonio Ramirez pinch-hit for Freeman with two down, bringing his lefty .314 stick with 13 homers, McMahan was brought in to get him out on a grounder. Bottom 7th, Paul Wolk nicked Corral and then conceded that run on 2-out singles by Gallo and Fumero, 4-1. Novelo batted for Gomez, but popped out to end the inning. Dover then tried to blow the lead by putting Robertos Barraza and Lozada on base in the eighth inning, but the following sharp grounders were taken for outs by the infielders to get out of the inning. Pedro Valentin then put the game away in the ninth, but not without giving up a senseless homer to .111 hitting Hector Moreno. 4-2 Raccoons. Flowe 2-4, 2B; Gallo 2-3, BB; Fumero 2-4, 2 RBI; Gomez 1-2, BB, RBI;

Maiden homer of the 23-year-old Moreno’s career in his tenth game (and first time in the starting lineup), not that I cared for such charities towards hooved menaces.

Game 2
VAN: SS Barraza – C Varner – RF Lozada – 1B An. Ramirez – CF D. Moore – LF Chenette – 3B Forrest – 2B Terrazas – P J. Rosado
POR: SS Duhe – C Flowe – CF T. Wharton – RF Corral – LF Fumero – 3B Gallo – 1B Gomez – 2B Mireles – P Morales

The drowning on dry land continued on Tuesday, where Vinny Morales gave up a single in each of the first three innings, but no runs, and needed only 31 pitches, but also struck out nobody and looked like an implosion in the making, while the Raccoons simply disappeared in order the first time through against Juan Rosado. In the fourth, Lozada hit a leadoff single, but would be forced out by Dan Moore with the second out. Moore stole second, reached third on a wild pitch, Morales walked Tyler Chenette, and then gave up a 3-2 rocket to right, but more or less exactly to Jose Corral’s campsite for the third out, somehow. Jake Flowe singled for Portland in the bottom 4th and Wharton walked before Corral popped out to shallow right. Another soft single by Fumero to right loaded the bags with two gone, but Gallo grounded out bleakly.

Morales struck out Juan Terrazas to begin the fifth – yay, a K! – and then immediately gave up a first-pitch single to Rosado. He nailed Barraza, struck out Steve Varner, and then allowed another single to Lozada. Corral fudged the play in right, allowing the pitcher to score after he had already stopped, and gave the Elks an unearned 1-0 lead before Morales glitched another walk to Ramirez and finally Moore flew out to Wharton in deep center. As the day before though, the Raccoons answered immediately, if initially rather meekly. Gomez drew a 1-out walk in the bottom 5th, was bunted to second, and then scored on a Duhe single to left-center. Flowe and Wharton flicked two more singles to get Duhe home for a 2-1 lead. Corral then lined out to Ramirez.

Morales then suddenly struck out four more batters in the last innings he pitched, completing seven frames in total, while holding the 2-1 lead. Coons were on the corners to begin the bottom 7th as a Barraza error put Duhe on base and he took third on a Flowe single to right-center. Wharton fell down 0-2, then almost hit a 3-piece, having to settle for an RBI double off the base of the wall in right. Corral whiffed, but Fumero’s single to right and Gallo’s groundout both brought in another run each before Gomez K’ed to end the inning with Fumero left on base.

Top 8th, and Antonio Pacheco made a right mess, walking Lozada and Chenette, while also allowing a single to Moore. The only out he got was a K on Ramirez, so the bags were full and Danny Nava had the tying run in the box. He got two outs on two pitches, by Forrest popping out on the infield and by Terrazas flying out to Corral near the warning track. Giving a 4-run lead to Juan Vega in the ninth did not work out that well, either, and after getting an out from Hector Moreno he allowed a single to Barraza and a walk to Varner. Gabriel Rios replaced him, walked the bags full with Lozada, but then got out on a sac fly and a groundout. 5-2 Raccoons. Flowe 2-4; T. Wharton 2-3, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Fumero 3-4, RBI; Morales 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, W (10-9);

Game 3
VAN: SS Barraza – C Varner – RF Lozada – 1B An. Ramirez – CF D. Moore – LF Chenette – 3B E. Campos – 2B Eggert – P Waldron
POR: SS Duhe – LF Fumero – CF T. Wharton – RF Corral – 3B Gallo – 1B Gomez – C Jalomo – 2B Mireles – P Walla

Straight hits by Fumero, who doubled, and the 3-4-5 batters all singling gave Nick Walla a 2-0 lead in the first, which ended on Gomez’ double play grounder. One run was immediately pulled back by the damn Elks and J.P. Gallo’s wild throwing error that gave them a 2-out runner in Eddie Campos in the top 2nd, who then scored on an Eggert single. Waldron depressingly also singled before Barraza grounded out. Bottom 2nd, and Walla drove in a run on a groundout after Willie Jalomo’s leadoff single and a Mireles double to left. The inning continued with a 1-out infield single for Duhe, Fumero popped out behind the plate, and a walk in a full count to Wharton. Before Corral could do something stupid, Waldron did, and balked in Mireles. Corral then grounded out in another full count, leaving the score at 4-1 for now, but a Varner homer to left in the third inning took off a marker from that lead.

J.P. Gallo answered with a leadoff jack in the bottom 3rd, 5-2, but a couple of scoreless innings later, Nick Walla hung a 2-run bomb to Eggert in the sixth inning, and now the tally was a much less comfortable 5-4. Walla got two more outs in the seventh, but was then ushered away when Antonio Ramirez appeared in the box. McMahan gave up a single to the lefty slugger instead, but Moore then grounded out to end the inning.

Tyler Wharton began the bottom 7th by mauling the crap out of an 0-2 pitch by Brian Brillhart for a 454-footer to right, which shoulda been worth bonus runs for beauty, but only counted for one. Brillhart gave up another solo bomb to Gallo. The left-hander Wolk replaced the righty, but the bags filled up on an error, a single, and a walk. Lorenzo Marquez batted for McMahan, but struck out, however, Duhe turned an 0-2 around for a 2-out, 2-run single to left…! Fumero grounded out to end a 4-run inning. Up five, the Raccoons tried to get outs from the mouthbreathers again, which worked for a 1-2-3 inning by Cam Bridges, who then complained about a stiff back and was replaced with Rated-R for the ninth inning. Barraza singled and Lozada homered with two outs in the inning, and Pacheco was brought in for Ramirez, allowing a double. It took Pedro Valentin to finally nail the lid onto the box in this one… 9-6 Critters. Duhe 3-5, 2 RBI; T. Wharton 2-4, BB, HR, RBI; Novelo (PH) 1-1, 2B; Gallo 3-4, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Jalomo 2-5; Mireles 1-2, 2 BB, 2B;

Come on, boys! One more for our first season series win against the Stinkers in EIGHT years! Come on!

Game 4
VAN: SS Barraza – CF D. Moore – RF Lozada – LF Atkins – C Varner – 1B H. Moreno – 2B De. Wright – 3B Forrest – P Ellison
POR: SS Duhe – LF Fumero – CF T. Wharton – C Flowe – RF Corral – 1B Gomez – 3B Jalomo – 2B Novelo – P Stebbins

Jose Corral opened the scoring with a homer to right in the second inning, but the score remained 1-0 even when Gomez and Jalomo also reached base as Novelo grounded out and Stebbins popped out to bring up all the red lights on the board.

Stebbins was a ways away from being brilliant and scattered runners all over, even if the Elks managed not to score. In the fourth, Rick Atkins reached on a Jalomo error and a Varner single and a walk to Adam Forrest with two outs filled the bases before Ellison struck out to leave them all over the bases. At that point, seven Elks runners had been put on base and none had scored. The Elks even remained off the board when Jalomo committed ANOTHER leadoff error, this time on the throw and for two bases on Atkins in the sixth inning before Varner, Moreno, and Dennis Wright all made loud outs, failing to move Atkins on an inch. The Raccoons, who had barely taken place in the last few innings, then got a leadoff triple from Duhe in the bottom 6th, then immediately produced a poor grounder from Fumero and a Wharton pop that got nothing done in terms of getting that runner home. Jake Flowe whacked a homer to dead center to get the job done, making it 3-0 with two outs.

Stebbins somehow wobbled seven shutout innings together on a 3-hitter (pronounced shrug!), then made way for Benito Otal to pinch-hit with two gone and Gomez on third base in the bottom 7th. He flew out to Lozada. The Coons then sent Dover to pitch, who gave up an infield single to Dan Moore, but got a double play grounder from Lozada just in time before giving up another monstrous homer to Rick Atkins, 3-1. Varner grounded out, and the Coons pulled the run back with straight leadoff singles against Ellison from their 1-2-3 batters in the bottom 8th. Flowe’s RBI single knocked him out, and Martyn Polaco walked Corral to fill the bases with nobody out. A pinch-hit sac fly by Leggett and a 2-out RBI single by Novelo added two more runs before Mike Davis collected the last three outs. 7-1 Furballs!! Duhe 2-4, 3B; Flowe 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Gomez 2-3, 2B; Stebbins 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K, W (8-7);

HAH!! SWEEP!!! **** YOU, DAMN ELKS!!!

HA-HAH…!!!

Now watch us not win another game for the rest of the year.

Raccoons (70-77) @ Falcons (67-78) – September 13-15, 2069

The Elks had the third-fewest runs scored and the third-fewest runs allowed, for a -19 run differential (Coons: -33). They combined a capable rotation with strong defense, but were lousy with the stick throughout the board (sounds hauntingly familiar). Trent Taylor and Edgar Maurico were notable DL cases and done for the year. We had already lost the season series, down 1-5 with these three games to play.

Projected matchups:
Tony Gaytan (9-14, 4.08 ERA) vs. Ayahito Ochi (7-10, 3.20 ERA)
Jimmy Wharton (6-4, 5.04 ERA) vs. Jason Morea (10-9, 3.07 ERA)
Vinny Morales (10-9, 3.49 ERA) vs. John Robinson (3-4, 4.07 ERA)

We got a southpaw to begin the series, and Sunday might be the southpaw Robinson or right-hander Dan Speake (14-6, 3.04 ERA), who had both pitched in a double header on Tuesday. Morea was right-handed.

Game 1
POR: SS Duhe – RF Fumero – CF T. Wharton – C Marquez – LF Otal – 2B Leggett – 1B D. Gomez – 3B Gates – P Gaytan
CHA: 2B J. Schmidt – LF Whetstine – C O. Matos – 1B A. Metz – 3B P. Weber – CF Barber – RF McInnis – SS Bazua – P Ochi

Portland took the early lead with Fumero and Wharton taking the corners on a pair of first-frame singles before Lorenzo Marquez’ grounder was just good enough to get Fumero home before the inning ended with the struggling Otal. No run came together when Gaytan led off the third inning with a single and was eventually stranded at third base, and instead Matt McInnis hit a home run in the bottom 3rd to tie the game. Otal and Leggett hit singles off Ochi to begin the fourth, but two strikeouts and Gaytan’s fly to right kept them from scoring. Instead, the Falcons got a leadoff single from Oscar Matos, who was forced out by Andy Metz. Paul Weber struck out, but Jonathon Barber stuffed a 2-out drive so deep into the right-center gap that he legged it out for a 2-out, 2-run, inside-the-park home run and gave Charlotte a 3-1 lead.

The Coons went on to fritter away leadoff singles by Duhe in the fifth and Otal in the sixth, while Gaytan went seven innings of 3-hit ball, but remained trailing 3-1 while the Coons had eight hits for one run… In the eighth, Lorenzo Marquez hit another leadoff single off reliever Carlos Gomez, who was then replaced with lefty Travis Bickerton. Otal and Leggett flew out before another lefty, ex-Coon Evan Alvey, replaced the rookie Bickerton. Novelo pinch-hit for Dan Gomez, but lined out to short. Orazio Cecere then shut the door in the ninth. 3-1 Falcons. Fumero 2-3, BB; Otal 2-4;

Game 2
POR: SS Duhe – 1B Fumero – CF T. Wharton – C Flowe – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – LF Otal – 2B Mireles – P J. Wharton
CHA: 2B J. Schmidt – SS Bazua – C O. Matos – 3B P. Weber – RF Terrell – 1B Ishii – LF Barber – CF E. Mullen – P Morea

Jimmy Wharton dipped the ol’ ERA under five two outs into the game, while the Coons loaded the bags on *nothing* in the second inning as Gallo reached on an error by John Schmidt and then Morea walked Corral and Otal, all with one out. Mireles then fanned and Wharton popped out… but a run scored on a passed ball charged to Oscar Matos, if nothing else. Fumero then singled and stole second in the third inning, and was driven in on Flowe’s 2-out double to right. Gallo singled home Flowe, Corral walked, and Otal hit another RBI single before the Falcons wasted four intentional balls on Mireles. Wharton popped out again, but was now up 4-0, then got around a Barber single and a walk to Schmidt in the bottom 3rd.

Duhe doubled and Fumero reached on an error to put runners on the corners to begin the fourth for Coon City, but Tyler Wharton’s 1-6-3 double play didn’t even get a run home, nor did Flowe’s groundout to Tetsuharu Ishii. Corral and Otal were on base again in the fifth, but Mireles was simply useless and Wharton struck out this time, stacking up a total of seven runners left on base in the game.

Oh well as long as he pitched well…! Barber doubled in the bottom 5th and a Duhe error on Eddie Mullen’s grounder put runners on the corners with one out. Mullen stole second while Wharton struck out PH Sean Lampton, but lost Schmidt in a full count, and then conceded a 2-out, 2-run single to Raul Bazua. The runs were unearned, Matos popped out, and the inning ended, but … hnnghh! Also, Ishii whacked a very much earned homer in the bottom 6th, and the score was down to 4-3. Mullen drew a leadoff walk and Tony Lopez flew out to deep right in the seventh, and the Raccoons then called it quits on Jimmy Wharton for the day. Nava replaced him, was met by PH Andy Metz, whom he walked (after Mullen had already stolen second), and when McInnis batted for Bazua, McMahan answered that call, but after he flew out, Matos whacked a 3-piece.

Down 6-4 into the eighth, the Coons got a leadoff triple from Otal against Carlos Gomez, who then even conceded an RBI double to Mireles, leading to his immediate dismissal for Bickerton. Marquez, Duhe, and Fumero then masterfully made three outs without advancing the tying run one ******* inch. Cecere allowed a single to Flowe in the ninth, but struck out Tyler Wharton, Gallo, and Corral. 6-5 Falcons. Flowe 2-5, 2B, RBI; Otal 3-3, BB, 3B, RBI;

(bites into clenched fist)

We got a Southpaw Sunday in a kind attempt by the Falcons to lessen the agony.

Game 3
POR: SS Duhe – 2B Leggett – CF T. Wharton – RF Fumero – 3B Gallo – LF Otal – C Jalomo – 1B D. Gomez – P Morales
CHA: 2B Schmidt – CF Barber – C O. Matos – 1B A. Metz – 3B P. Weber – RF Terrell – LF T. Lopez – SS Bazua – P J. Robinson

Leggett walked and Wharton nearly hit a homer – emphasis on “nearly” as it was just a very deep F7 – and the Coons didn’t score in the first inning. Otal singled and stole second the inning after, but didn’t fare any better in the end when it came to scoring a run. Morales issued a walk to Andy Metz and was then 2-out bombed by Tony Lopez to get the second sweep of the week underway then. The Portlanders ignored another Leggett walk in the third inning and then had the bags full and nobody out in the fourth when Gallo doubled, a Schmidt error put Otal on base, and Jalomo walked in a full count. Robinson lost Dan Gomez on ball four in another full count, forcing a run home, and then surrendered the lead on a first-pitch sac fly to Vinny Morales. Duhe whiffed, but Leggett strung a 2-out, 2-run double into the leftfield corner to take a (very unearned at this point) lead before Wharton spanked a hard bouncer right at Metz for the third out.

The lead was not to last, because Morales was not exactly good and because John Schmidt had to compensate for an error worth three unearned runs and whacked a game-tying, 2-out, 2-run triple in the fifth to level the score at four, driving in Lopez and Bazua. Barber popped out to keep the go-ahead run on base, and the Coons did nothing with Dan Gomez’ leadoff single off Jack Moses in the sixth.

Fumero hit another leadoff single off the right-handed Moses in the seventh, and Gallo walked. Otal singled through the 37-year-old Metz and got Fumero home from second to take a new 5-4 lead just as Vinny Morales got his “you done, pal” pat on the tush in the dugout after six busy, busy innings. The remaining runners pulled off a double steal on the inattentive Moses, but Jalomo and Gomez both fanned, and then Corral lined out to Metz on a 3-0 pitch. Brilliant.

Three pinch-hitters and three Coons relievers (Holzmeister, Rios, Nava) were then thrown into the breach in the bottom 7th, as Nava struck out Ishii in the #2 hole with Lopez and the fiend Chad Whetstine on the corners to bugger out of the inning. The brown team then frittered away more Leggett and Fumero singles against David Gooding in the eighth before Paul Weber banged a game-tying homer off Nava with two outs in the bottom of the inning. Otal then flubbed another runner on base when Pacheco replaced Nava to face the left-handed 6-7-8 batters, but the inning ended without an unearned go-ahead run. Jalomo then reached on the Falcons’ leftfielder’s error, as Juan Suarez klutzed his pop to shallow left for a 1-out error in the ninth. Dan Gomez socked a 1-2 double against Alvey, putting a pair into scoring position. Here it got interesting; the Coons had inserted Pacheco in a double switch that replaced Gallo with Gary Gates at third base, and Gates was coming up, batting .216 with zero RBI in 74 at-bats this year. But he figured to be a good match for Alvey, so he was sent to the plate. He ferociously lined out to Weber and Gomez was almost doubled off second base… A walk to Duhe filled the bases and brought up Leggett, who had reached base four times on the day, and did so again, holding out and laying off the garbage in a full count to draw a bases-loaded walk for a 6-5 lead. Conversely, Tyler Wharton was on his second consecutive 0-for-5, but why would you pinch-hit for him with anything or anybody? He popped out to short. Valentin then got three outs in order at least. 6-5 Raccoons. Leggett 2-3, 3 BB, 2B, 3 RBI; Fumero 2-4; Gallo 2-4, BB, 2 2B; Otal 2-5, RBI; Gomez 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI;

In other news

September 10 – CHA 1B Andy Metz (.222, 10 HR, 51 RBI) hits his first home run for his new team (in 42 games), which is also the 300th of his career, in an 8-0 win against the Aces. Metz, age 37 and on his seventh ABL team, was the 2056 FL Rookie of the Year with the Blue Sox, and oddly won a CL home run title in 2060 despite playing the first month of the year with the FL Sox. For his career, in which he won two rings with the Blue Sox in 2057 and 2058, he was hitting .265 with 1,844 hits and 1,118 RBI.
September 10 – Season over for NAS RF Austin Gordon (.283, 24 HR, 76 RBI), who has suffered an intercostal strain.
September 10 – The season of Vegas INF/RF Victor Morales (.285, 9 HR, 82 RBI) also ends with a strained hip muscle.
September 12 – As defending champions, the Cyclones clinch the FL West with 16 games to spare by beating the last remaining competition, the Capitals, 8-6.
September 12 – SAL OF Jesus Garza (.258, 1 HR, 19 RBI) whacks out five hits, including a home run and two doubles, and drives in four runs to beat the Scorpions, 7-3.
September 14 – Rebels OF Willie Ospina (.242, 16 HR, 73 RBI) ends the season on the DL due to an elbow sprain.
September 14 – Wolves INF/CF John Katzman (.287, 11 HR, 72 RBI) is befallen by the same ailment with the same consequences.
September 14 – The Blue Sox score all their 12 runs in a 12-4 win against the Pacifics in the fourth inning. NAS SP Tony Marquez (13-12, 3.95 ERA) bats twice in the inning and drives in three runs, tied for most on the team.
September 15 – The Warriors beat the Cyclones, 10-9, with a 6-run rally in the bottom of the ninth.

Player of the Week (FL): LAP RF/LF Cesar Chavarraga (.301, 4 HR, 9 RBI), clubbing .455 (10-22) with 2 HR, 6 RBI
Player of the Week (CL): MIL C Manuel Rodriguez (.291, 24 HR, 83 RBI), poking .542 (13-24) with 1 HR, 7 RBI

Complaints and stuff

I don’t think there is a better description for the spectacular offensive failures of this team this season than Gary Gates, RBI-less in 75 at-bats, even when presented with fat scoring chances. Even your grandma might get a runner home from third with less than two outs, but Gary Gates ******* won’t.

New medical reports indicate that Joel Starr might return for a farewell at the very end of the season, and we also might not have seen the last of George van Otterdijk this year.

In the minors, the Alley Cats won their division by two games and are acing the Rebs’ affiliate Albion Vanquishers in the first round of the AAA playoffs. The Panthers and Beagles both ended with losing records and sixth and fourth in their divisions, respectively.

The Raccoons will return home for a final 9-game homestand, hosting the Bayhawks (starting Tuesday), Indians, and Titans. After a final off day, we’ll finish the season in Milwaukee.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons are eight games under .500, which is currently not good / bad enough for a protected draft pick.

We would have the #13 pick next season, because there’s actually a dozen teams with worse records than us. 14 teams in total have losing records right now, including the 74-75 Stars. Except for the Buffaloes on 90 losses, however, nobody even has a chance at 100 losses anymore.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (71-79) vs. Bayhawks (69-79) – September 17-19, 2069

Sad remainder games all abounding, the Raccoons had to face the Bayhawks, who were on a 6-game losing streak, for three games starting on Tuesday. Worst offense met worst pitching, huzzah! The season series was even at three.

Projected matchups:
Nick Walla (11-16, 3.73 ERA) vs. Ed Nadeau (8-6, 3.91 ERA)
A.C. Stebbins (8-7, 3.52 ERA) vs. Billy Thompson (14-9, 4.66 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (9-15, 4.06 ERA) vs. Austin LaRosa (10-12, 4.06 ERA)

Nadeau was a left-hander in the opener. We would not get to see the CL’s runaway loss leader, Liberio Ivo (8-20, 5.09 ERA), who had successfully out-suffered Nick Walla in that category.

Game 1
SFB: SS Bruce – 3B J. Chavez – LF Streng – RF J. Ward – CF Parrish – 1B Starwalt – C H. Valdez – 2B Archuleta – P Nadeau
POR: SS Duhe – 3B Leggett – CF T. Wharton – C Marquez – LF Fumero – RF Corral – 2B Mireles – 1B Gomez – P Walla

Ian Streng singled and was caught stealing to end the top 1st, while the Coons had their first three batters on base on two singles and a walk issued by Nadeau, after which Lorenzo Marquez immediately crapped into a 1-6-3 double play to technically get a run home, but COME THE **** ON!! Fumero popped out on the infield, leaving Leggett on third base. Josh Mireles then hit his first career homer in the bottom 2nd, doing so with Corral on base after a leadoff single; and Tyler Wharton barely scored after shooting a leadoff triple in the third inning, only getting home on Corral’s 2-out single after more desiccated outs by Marquez and Fumero. Mireles hit a single after that, but Dan Gomez grounded out. Nick Walla meanwhile scattered singles, and eventually a 2-run homer to Danny Starwalt in the fourth inning… that same inning Wharton hit a double, but didn’t score; this however meant that he was a homer away from a cycle.

The main concern was Walla in increasingly dragging middle innings. He hit Ryan Bruce with an 0-2 pitch in the fifth for some unnecessary traffic, and then Streng led off the sixth with an infield single, and Jake Ward added a bloop single. John Parrish struck out, #7 for Walla on the day, but he then lost both Starwalt and Hugo Valdez in full counts to force in a run and narrow the score to 4-3. Ramon Archuleta popped out, just like he had done in the brown shirt all the time, but when left-hander Keith Ball pinch-hit in the #9 slot, the Coons sent McMahan, who got a groundout to second from Ball, and the lead was narrowly preserved.

Wharton batted with Duhe and Legget on second and first, respectively, and no outs in the bottom 6th, but flew out easily to Streng. Marquez flew out to Ward in deep right, and the bags filled up when Cory Leonard drilled Fumero, but Corral struck out, so both teams left the sacks loaded in the sixth. Yamauchi allowed two singles in the seventh, and when Pacheco replaced him with two outs to face the left-handed John Parrish, the Baybirds sent Nate Navarre, but the right-handed batter struck out anyway against the rookie southpaw.

The lead was finally blown in the eighth when Jesse Dover gave up a leadoff triple to Starwalt – of all people! – and still got a K on Valdez, but conceded the run on Archuleta’s groundout to even the score at four. Wharton walked in the bottom 8th, which helped neither with the cycle, nor with regaining a lead. Pedro Valentin had an unusual ninth inning, walking two batters (after nine walks issued all year), but also rung up two and got the third out on Navarre’s pop to Dan Gomez in foul territory. The game went to extras when Bayhawks lefty Travis Davis retired the Coons’ 5-6-7 in order in the bottom 9th. After Holzmeister saw off the Bayhawks in the tenth, the Coons made outs from pinch-hitters Pablo Novelo and Benito Otal before Davis walked both Duhe and Leggett, bringing up Wharton again – however, he neither homered, nor ended the game otherwise, and instead was fed four garbage pitches and another walk. Marquez then grounded out, sucking himself to 0-for-6 on the day. Bruce and Streng singled off Cam Bridges in the 11th, but the Bayhawks could not get those runners around either. Left-hander David Figueroa issued a leadoff walk to Fumero in the bottom 11th. Fumero stole his second base in the game, then moved up on a Corral fly out. Mireles got an intentional walk to set up a double play with Novelo, who had none of that and ended the game with a single through the left side. 5-4 Coons. Duhe 2-3, 3 BB; T. Wharton 3-4, 2 BB, 3B, 2B; Corral 2-6, RBI; Mireles 2-4, 2 BB, HR, 2 RBI;

Ian Streng had five hits in the game, so it wasn’t like Tyler Wharton was the only guy missing something quite narrowly.

Game 2
SFB: CF Parrish – 3B J. Chavez – RF J. Ward – LF Streng – 1B Starwalt – SS J. Juarez – C M. Lopez – 2B Archuleta – P B. Thompson
POR: SS Duhe – 1B Fumero – CF T. Wharton – C Flowe – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – LF Otal – 2B Mireles – P Stebbins

The Bayhawks put six on Stebbins in the first inning. The old man had nothing. Parrish and Joel Chavez singled to begin the game, Ward got nicked, and Streng walked to push home a run. Starwalt lined out softly, but Jose Juarez singled in a run, Mario Lopez drew another bases-stacked walk, and then Archuleta emptied the bases with a triple. A strikeout by the pitcher and Parrish’ groundout finally ended the bloody inning. The game was of course over. Stebbins came back out for the second, allowed two singles, and was yanked. Yamauchi allowed both runs to score, conceding another single to Streng, walking Starwalt, and on Juarez’ sac fly, before getting out of that inning of horse droppings. Yamauchi wasn’t done sucking, allowing a single to the pitcher and committing a throwing error in the third inning, which somehow didn’t amount to umpteen more runs. The ball went to Rated-R from there, and he could keep it for as long as he wanted or until he needed putting down. He immediately gave up three runs by walking Starwalt and giving up a 2-run homer to Lopez, and then continued to suck runners on base after that. He put two more Baybirds on base in the fifth, which then scored on Lopez’ double off Juan Vega.

By then, the score was 13-0 and the Raccoons had tallied a grand total of a single. Otal hit a USELESS homer in the bottom 5th, and the Raccoons then piled singles on Thompson in the sixth for three equally meaningless runs. Duhe singled and Jake Flowe homered in the bottom 7th, and the Coons were still seven runs down. Mike Davis got the last three innings in scoreless fashion done, although he also put plenty of Baybirds on base. They were just done scoring. 13-6 Bayhawks. Flowe 2-4, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Otal 3-4, HR, 2 RBI; M. Davis 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K and 1-1;

Rated-R (0-1, 6.75 ERA) was on waivers that night; the Raccoons were done with him.

Matt Schmieder was added back to the 40-man to fill out the pen.

Game 3
SFB: C H. Valdez – 3B J. Chavez – LF Streng – RF J. Ward – CF Parrish – 1B Starwalt – SS K. Ball – 2B Archuleta – P Ivo
POR: SS Duhe – 2B Fumero – CF T. Wharton – RF Corral – 3B Gallo – C Jalomo – LF Otal – 1B Gomez – P Gaytan

Surprise! There was Liberio Ivo after all! Hugo Valdez gave him a 1-0 lead on Gaytan’s very first pitch of the rubber game, which marked the disturbing 33rd homer given up by Gaytan this year, with room for more. The Raccoons did precious little after that, with Wharton hitting singles in his first two plate appearances, and being pretty much ignored in either one. Gaytan allowed only one more hit through five innings, although Danny Starwalt nearly got him for another homer to right in the fifth, Corral picking that missile off the top of the fence.

Bottom 5th, and Dan Gomez somehow reached on an infield single despite having flour sacks for hindpaws, and Gaytan’s bunt was then misfielded by Ivo to put another glacial runner on base. They advanced on a wild pitch, and Duhe eventually walked in a full count, leading to the dreadful three on, nobody out. Maud, just kill me right now…! – But no, Carlos Fumero came through with a score-flipping, 2-run double to center, and Wharton added a sac fly for a 3-1 lead before the inning fizzled out.

Gaytan nearly got taken deep by Streng in the sixth and Parrish in the seventh, both being caught, and then also survived an actual 2-out double by Keith Ball to get to the stretch. Gaytan in fact completed eight innings with the 3-1 lead, retiring the Baybirds 1-2-3 in the eighth, and Valentin did the rest. 3-1 Coons! Fumero 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; T. Wharton 2-3, RBI; Gaytan 8.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, W (10-15);

Imagine a drinking game where you have to take a shot every time Gaytan lets one fly.

There’d be no survivors.

Raccoons (73-80) vs. Indians (94-58) – September 20-22, 2069

The Indians brought a 4 1/2 game lead over the Titans and were looking forward to keep beating the Raccoons, whom they had so far beaten 10-5 this year. Indy was third in runs scored and fifth in runs allowed. They had the best rotation by ERA, which was certainly gonna work wonders again on the Raccoons.

Projected matchups:
Jimmy Wharton (6-4, 4.84 ERA) vs. Victor Perez (5-9, 3.26 ERA)
Vinny Morales (10-9, 3.58 ERA) vs. Justin Esch (13-8, 3.45 ERA)
Nick Walla (11-16, 3.75 ERA) vs. Miguel Lopez (12-7, 3.93 ERA)

Three right-handers, and probably not a lotta fun.

Game 1
IND: CF Hilario – 2B Masterson – C A. Gomez – 1B M. Rogers – 3B Ma. Martin – RF T. Torres – LF Valencia – SS Valadez – P V. Perez
POR: SS Duhe – C Flowe – CF T. Wharton – RF Corral – 2B Fumero – 3B Gallo – 1B D. Gomez – LF Colter – P J. Wharton

For an interesting start to the game, Jimmy Wharton struck out two in a 1-2-3 first, and then Duhe singled and Flowe tripled into the gap to get the run home… and then was of course stranded on a strikeout, groundout, and popout. Matt Rogers’ leadoff double to center and two productive outs tied the game again, but the Raccoons would have a bit of an inning in the bottom 3rd, breaking up Victor Perez on five hits, the last four for extra bases: Flowe singled, and Tyler Wharton homered to left, which was good for to points. Fumero and Gallo then hit back-to-back doubles, and Dan Gomez cranked another 2-run homer to take a 6-1 lead.

For the rest of his outing, Jimmy Wharton then did that annoying thing where he regularly put the leadoff man on base, but didn’t allow runs; this included hitting reliever Luis Pulido with a breaking ball to begin the sixth inning. Wharton got through eight innings on 102 pitches and allowing just three actual base hits, and then was allowed to go back out for the ninth. He struck out Scott Masterson, then walked Alex Gomez, but kept that runner on first base while collecting the last outs for a complete-game 3-hitter! The Coons’ offense never flicked the tail again after the 5-spot in the third. 6-1 Raccoons. Flowe 2-4, 3B, RBI; Gomez 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; J. Wharton 9.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (7-4);

Okay, okay…! That was very nice! Mostly.

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

The Indians did show up on Saturday, singling Vinny Morales halfway to death in the third inning with base hits for Scott Masterson, Fernando Valadez, Jose Hilario, and Malcolm Spicer. Hilario got one RBI, Spicer got two, and both stole second base in the inning, after Hilario had been caught stealing in the first. He would again be caught stealing in the fifth inning, this time at third base. The Raccoons were not a factor this time around, amounting to two hits through five innings, while the Indians had seven, three of them of the infield variety, against Morales.

Morales was done after six, allowing a 2-out run when Valadez doubled home Tony Torres, who had singled and stolen second base. The game looked a bit dead even when Flowe and Wharton hit 1-out singles in the bottom of the sixth, but then Jose Corral romped a 3-piece to right off the so far excellent Esch, and now we were in a 4-3 game. Gallo hit another single, but was left on base.

Danny Nava turned in a scoreless seventh for the Brownshirts, and Wally Leggett then singled in his place with one out in the bottom 7th. Jared Duhe thundered a 2-run homer to center, flipping the score, and chasing Esch, and suddenly the Indians were behind, which they’d scarcely been all year against Portland. Gabriel Rios retired the 4-5-6 batters without complaints in the eighth, and Valentin collected two poor outs from Masterson and Valadez in the ninth before Eddie Menchaca hit a drive to deep right, but Corral got back to the track and caught the bloody thing. 5-4 Raccoons! Flowe 2-4; Leggett (PH) 1-1;

The good news for Indy? Boston was losing just as awkwardly to the Loggers. They still had their 4 1/2 game lead with eight games to play and no head-to-head games left.

Joel Starr came off the DL on Sunday, and with no minor league season still ongoing, he returned to the big bucks club.

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

Indy went up quickly on Sunday once Jose Hilario buried a leadoff triple in the right-center gap. Spicer struck out, but Alex Gomez got him home with a sac fly to Otal. The Raccoons would also tie the game with a sac fly by Wally Leggett in the second, getting Starr home after he reached on an error, advanced on a wild pitch, moved up on Otal’s infield single, and then watched calmly as Otal was caught stealing.

Indy took another lead in the fourth inning, which Matt Martin opened with his second infield single of the game. Torres singled like a man, Masterson walked, and two groundouts got in two runs after Walla had struck out five in the first three innings, but nobody in this one. Hilario grounded out to end the inning. Indy went up 4-1 on an unearned run in the fifth; Novelo threw away Matt Rogers’ grounder for two bases with two outs, and he scored on Martin’s single to leftfield.

Masterson left the game in the sixth with an injury and was replaced with Zach DeWitt, and Walla left in the seventh after a 2-out, 4-pitch walk to Alex Gomez. McMahan got rid of Rogers to end the inning, while the Coons were still down 4-1. Instead of a rally, we got an implosion in the eighth. McMahan faced the first two batters, Martin and Torres, and gave up singles to both. When Dover replaced him, he sucked, allowed another single to DeWitt, walked in a run against Valadez, and then allowed another single for two runs to the pitcher Lopez before being cast down the nearest storm drain. Pacheco finally got out of the bloody inning. Schmieder pitched a garbage ninth while giving up two walks, but no more runs. 7-1 Indians. Flowe 2-4;

In other news

September 16 – The Thunder wrap up the CL South with a 5-2 win against the Titans.
September 18 – The Buffaloes scratch out a 1-0 win against the Wolves. Topeka has only one hit, a single by INF Alex Castillo (.198, 4 HR, 35 RBI) to the Wolves’ seven hits, but that single does not even figure into the lone run of the game, which comes from a leadoff walk of pinch-hitting INF/LF Santos Llerena (.246, 0 HR, 14 RBI), who is run for with OF Sandy Alvarez (.175, 1 HR, 3 RBI), who gains a base on a groundout, steals third, and then comes home on a squeeze play with SP Kelly Whitney (1-5, 5.52 ERA) bunting.
September 21 – The Warriors clinch the FL West with a second consecutive 5-1 win against L.A.
September 22 – BOS 3B/1B Danny Miller (.250, 11 HR, 46 RBI) ends his season with elbow tendinitis.

Player of the Week (FL): SAL OF Bill Davidson (.221, 9 HR, 43 RBI), selectively bashing .667 (8-12) with 3 HR, 9 RBI
Player of the Week (CL): MIL RF Dave Wright (.273, 17 HR, 95 RBI), bashing .500 (11-22) with 3 HR, 8 RBI

Complaints and stuff

There is really not that much to say anymore about this listless season. I’m looking forward to it ending.

It will take six more games against the Titans and Loggers to get to a happier place, a.k.a. the offseason.

Fun Fact: Gaytan’s 3-hit performance on Thursday claimed the season series against San Fran for the eighth straight year.

At least SOMETHING we got done this year!

[DD Martin]

Just if you were in the south, you’d be celebrating 2nd place.

And Gary Gates has he ever done anything in Portland? Why is he still laying around?

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by DD Martin

Just if you were in the south, you’d be celebrating 2nd place.

Hope we'll celebrate our #13 pick for a 77-85 season.

Originally Posted by DD Martin

And Gary Gates has he ever done anything in Portland?

(opens snout)

(closes snout)

(shrugs)

No.

Originally Posted by DD Martin

Why is he still laying around?

There's this drawer with fudge that we have over there, and he's kinda... stuck on it.

[Westheim]

Just a note that I'm on day 3 of my fourth plague of the year and can't keep my eyes open for even a single inning right now. The sad rest of the sad season will come once I'm less miserable. MAYBE tomorrow. No promises.

(cough)

(warg)

(snodder)

Ya. Disgusting.

[DD Martin]

Hope you feel better soon! I think we are all curious to see what happens in the off-season after spending all that money and the team failed to live up to its hype. Was it a fluke this year and you just tinker with a few pieces or does it get blown up with the first one leaving the Rose City be Big Money Tyler

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by DD Martin

Hope you feel better soon! I think we are all curious to see what happens in the off-season after spending all that money and the team failed to live up to its hype. Was it a fluke this year and you just tinker with a few pieces or does it get blown up with the first one leaving the Rose City be Big Money Tyler

Still alive and scratching. Kicking would be a bit much right now.

Let's just finish our part of the season for now. The playoffs might come today, but maybe not. We'll see.

+++

Raccoons (75-81) vs. Titans (91-65) – September 23-25, 2069

The Titans’ chances were running away from them, as they entered the last week of the season with a magic number of three towards the first-place Indians. They needed to whoop the Raccoons, no questions asked, and hope for mercy, but the Raccoons led the season series, 8-7, SOMEHOW. Boston brought the #4 offense and the best pitching in the league. And somehow we had STILL beaten them eight times?? They did not bring ace Mike Bell, or regulars Steve Humphries, Jared Robichaud, or Danny Miller, all of whom were out for the year.

Projected matchups:
A.C. Stebbins (8-8, 4.03 ERA) vs. Ricardo Montoya (11-11, 3.75 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (10-15, 3.93 ERA) vs. Matt Nelson (7-4, 2.63 ERA)
Jimmy Wharton (7-4, 4.41 ERA) vs. Tyler Riddle (12-7, 3.29 ERA)

Stebbins would make his final Coons start on Monday to finish his filler capacity season. It could have gone a lot worse. Jimmyboy got the home closer (opposite the only left-handed Titans starter), and for the season finale we were still debating whether Gaytan would get another start on regular rest or whether we’d bring back Harrison Hunt for that one. It was against the Loggers, though, so you weren’t necessarily doing the youngster a favor – AND the Alley Cats were playing for the AAA championship, so this was probably a stupid idea.

Game 1
BOS: 3B I. Berrios – CF Marcotte – C D. Johnson – 1B M. Garcia – 2B Jer. White – RF J. Evans – SS Canning – LF Dowsey – P R. Montoya
POR: SS Duhe – LF Otal – CF T. Wharton – 1B Starr – 3B Gallo – C Jalomo – RF Colter – 2B Mireles – P Stebbins

Stebbins walked Eddie Marcotte and got walloped over the leftfield wall by David Johnson right afterwards, so the Titans were on track to at least be able to claim that they did all they could. Things went tit-for-tat for a bit then, as Gallo doubled and was driven in by Jamie Colter in the bottom 2nd, although the Titans answered with a run made from Ivan Berrios and Manuel Garcia singles in the third inning. The Raccoons came back by putting Otal on base with a single, and he advanced on Wharton’s groundout and scored on Joel Starr’s single to center, 3-2. Gallo struck out to end the inning, but made a nifty play on a slow Berrios grounder in the fourth inning, beating the batter on a bang-bang play at first when the Titans had two outs and Jake Evans and Dave Canning in scoring position. Instead the Titans scored more in the fifth on Marcotte’s 20th homer of the year leading off, and then Johnson socked another double before scoring on productive outs by the 3-4 batters, turning the score to 5-2. Stebbins completed the inning, then was pinch-hit for to lead off the bottom of the inning, ending his Coons career. Novelo hit a double in his place and scored on Otal’s 1-out single. Evans threw home late, allowing Otal to second, and that in turn allowed Wharton to add another RBI single to center, 5-4. Starr struck a double to right, and suddenly the tying and go-ahead runs were in scoring position with one gone. Gallo singled through the right side to tie the game, but Starr was held at third base. He instead scored on an identical single by Willie Jalomo, and Montoya was knocked out, now with the Coons 6-5 ahead. Replacement righty Juan Dominguez walked Colter to fill the bags, allowed a sac fly to Mireles, and then Novelo grounded out to short to end the 5-run attack.

The Coons got six straight outs from Yamauchi after taking the lead, while Danny Nava allowed a single to Jeremy White in the eighth inning, but otherwise pulled through without jeopardizing the lead. No tack-on run ever materialized, and so the ball ended up with Pedro Valentin against the 8-9-1 batters in the ninth inning. Ex-Coon Justin Dowsey grounded out, Joe Washington whiffed, and Ivan Berrios also grounded out to end the game and definitely deny the Titans a W in the season series, besides – most likely – any hope for the playoffs. 7-5 Raccoons. T. Wharton 2-4, RBI; Starr 2-4, 2B, RBI; Gallo 2-4, 2B, RBI; Colter 2-3, BB, RBI; Novelo (PH) 1-2, 2B; Yamauchi 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

The Indians indeed beat the Elks, 5-1, on Monday, so the magic number was down to one for Boston.

George van Otterdijk came off the DL on Tuesday.

Game 2
BOS: 3B C. Pena – CF Marcotte – RF M. Garcia – C D. Johnson – 2B Jer. White – LF J. Evans – 1B I. Berrios – SS Canning – P M. Nelson
POR: SS Duhe – LF Otal – C Flowe – CF T. Wharton – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – 1B D. Gomez – 2B Fumero – P Gaytan

Nelson made his eighth start of the season against 57 relief appearances, and like Gaytan struck out three opponents the first time through the order. The only hit he allowed was a single to Carlos Fumero to begin the bottom 3rd. Fumero stole second and advanced on Gaytan’s groundout, then scored on another groundout by Duhe to scratch out the game’s first run. The Titans had three hits off Gaytan, but no runs, despite giving them baseballs some good whacks again, threatening to go deep some more off the right-hander, but it was Tyler Wharton to bash a solo homer instead in the bottom 4th, marking #28 on the early on very disappointing year, and now in his late chase for 30.

Gaytan got more dominant in the middle innings, as the Titans stopped getting on base, and he cranked up the strikeouts to eight through the middle of six innings. Both teams had only three base hits through six, Flowe singling in the bottom 6th before being left on. Gaytan then finally (?) ran into one when Manuel Garcia took him deep leading off the seventh inning, hitting his 26th bomb to shorten the score to 2-1. Jeremy White got pretty close to a game-tying shot that same inning, but had to settle for a very deep F7. Gaytan got no more strikeouts in the seventh and eighth, but finished orderly for no more runners allowed and was then hit for to begin the bottom 8th. Van Otterdijk, Duhe, and Starr made straight outs, and then it was straight back to Valentin. Joe Washington singled this time, batting for Cesar Pena, but Marcotte whiffed, and Garcia forced out the fast lead runner with a grounder to short. PH Justin Dowsey was the last lifeline for the Titans’ season, and grounded out to Fumero. 2-1 Critters. Gaytan 8.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K, W (11-15);

Game 3
BOS: 3B I. Berrios – CF Marcotte – C D. Johnson – 1B M. Garcia – 2B Jer. White – RF J. Evans – SS Canning – LF S. Leon – P Riddle
POR: SS Duhe – LF Fumero – CF T. Wharton – RF van Otterdijk – 1B Starr – C Marquez – 2B Novelo – 3B Gates – P J. Wharton

The Titans turned out an all-right-handed lineup against the rookie for the home wrapper, but their first-inning run was unearned thanks to an error by wholly useless Gary Gates, although Jimmyboy also did give up to singles to Marcotte and White. The Raccoons turned it around real quick with straight singles from the 2-3-4 guys. Tyler Wharton stole a base, and van Otterdijk was thus able to drive him in from second base to take a 2-1 lead before Starr crashed into an inning-ending double play.

Jimmy Wharton also had to contend with a Duhe error in the second, and his stuff was just absent against this lineup. He had no strikeouts and walked his third batter in Marcotte with one out in the top 5th before getting taken very, very deep by David Johnson to flip the score back to 3-2 Boston. Garcia than absolutely hacked himself out on the way out of the inning. The Coons had Gates and Duhe singles in the bottom of the inning, but ultimately Tyler Wharton struck out to leave the runners on the corners. Jimmy Wharton was done after allowing a pinch-hit single to the left-handed Dowsey in the seventh. Dover replaced him, but walked another pinch-hitter (Washington), and then allowed Wharton’s run on Garcia’s 2-out single to right, 4-2.

Bottom 7th, and the Raccoons were slowly and in unearned fashion loaded the bases. Novelo reached on an error to begin the inning before Gates and Corral made ineffective outs. Otal batted for Duhe and walked against righty Jose Gomez, and then Fumero singled to fill the sacks for Tyler Wharton. He grounded out to Canning…

The Raccoons pieced the last two innings together with the shallow end of the pen, sending out Schmieder, Pacheco (who did still have a flat zero ERA), and Mike Davis for six scoreless outs, while waiting for a late rally; in the ninth, Jake Flowe, batting seventh after several switcheroos, drew a leadoff walk from closer Tyler Gleason to bring the tying run to the plate, but both Leggett and Jalomo did nothing. Otal struck a double from the #1 hole, though, so Fumero still had a chance to tie the game with a single. He grounded out to Pena, however. 4-2 Titans. Duhe 1-2, BB; Otal (PH) 1-1, BB, 2B; Fumero 2-5;

An Elks loss on Wednesday meant that they secured the red lantern for themselves this year. The Raccoons still had a mathematical chance to tie the Crusaders for fourth at that point, but New York beat the Loggers on Thursday, 3-1, and that assured the brown team of a fifth-place finish.

Raccoons (77-82) @ Loggers (84-75) – September 27-29, 2069

The Raccoons needed a sweep to get even with the Loggers for the year, as the season series stood at 9-6 Milwaukee. Given their #1 offense and +115 run differential despite the second-worst pitching in the league, I was not entirely confident.

Projected matchups:
Vinny Morales (10-9, 3.66 ERA) vs. Julio Robles (13-6, 4.22 ERA)
Nick Walla (11-17, 3.76 ERA) vs. Curt Green (8-12, 5.43 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (11-15, 3.82 ERA) vs. Matt Crist (14-7, 4.51 ERA)

Only right-handers remaining as opposition.

Game 1
POR: SS Duhe – LF Otal – CF T. Wharton – 1B Starr – C Flowe – RF Corral – 3B Gallo – 2B Fumero – P Morales
MIL: 2B F. Carrera – CF Merrill – LF C. Dominguez – 1B C. Ramirez – RF Da. Wright – 3B Murcia – C Bergeron – SS Reber – P Ju. Robles

After Wharton ended the first inning by hitting into a double play to remove Jared Duhe from the bases, Joel Starr and Jose Corral hit a pair of homers inside the first three batters in the second inning. Since Flowe had also reached base, that meant a 3-0 lead for the brown team in the early going. Cesar Ramirez wasn’t having THAT and immediately answered with his 31st of the year, a leadoff jack in the bottom 2nd; and Morales gave up another leadoff jack to Kyle Reber in the bottom 3rd before also being singled off by both the pitcher Robles and Fidel Carrera. Jonathan Merrill then tied the game with a sac fly to right. Morales’ season ended with another single by Carlos Dominguez, and then a 3-run homer by Ramirez, 6-3.

The Coons were then in the depths of their own bullpen, using Vega, Rios, and Bridges just to get through five, before Tyler Wharton knocked #29 off Robles in the sixth to shorten the score again to 6-4. The Loggers made up the run in unearned fashion and on Bridges’ own 2-base throwing error in the bottom of the inning.

Top 7th, and Jake Flowe reached base on a 1-out walk against Jimmy Dingman. Gallo popped out, but Fumero doubled to center, which promoted the tying run to the dish. The Raccoons sent van Otterdijk to bat for Cam Bridges, and he wrapped a 3-run homer around the left foul pole to even the game at seven!

Jason Holzmeister issued two leadoff walks to Ramirez (who was run for with Mario Alaniz) and Dave Wright in the bottom 7th, but the next three Loggers made very poor outs and the runners were left in scoring position even against as flammable a pitcher as Holzmeister. Instead, Portland went up in the eighth inning as Wharton and Flowe got on base, and then Jose Lugo allowed a 2-out double to right-center to Corral. Wharton scored, but Flowe was thrown out at the plate to end the inning. The Coons inserted McMahan in a double switch (Colter replaced Corral in right) to get up to five outs from five left-handed bats, but got only two before Merrill reached on a Fumero error, and McMahan then *drilled* Dominguez. Tommy Guitreau then batted for Alaniz, Portland sent Dover, and Guitreau tied the game with a double. Wright then struck out, so we were level at eight after eight.

The Coons got Wally Leggett on base on an error in the ninth, but failed to get him around to score, while Dover got straight outs in the bottom 9th to send the game to extra innings. Ex-Coon Nick Robinson was in his second inning of work in the tenth, allowing a leadoff single to Wharton, a wild pitch, and then a walk to Starr. Flowe and Novelo both flew out quite deep, but only got Wharton to third base for their two outs, but Leggett then singled up the middle when Reber dove and narrowly missed the ball. Wharton scored from third to break the tie. Fumero added another RBI single, and Colter grounded out to give the ball to Valentin. The Loggers went down rather quickly. 10-8 Raccoons. Duhe 2-5; T. Wharton 2-4, BB, HR, RBI; Flowe 2-4, BB; Corral 2-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Leggett (PH) 1-2, RBI; Fumero 3-5, 2B, RBI; van Otterdijk (PH) 1-1, HR, 3 RBI;

Game 2
POR: SS Duhe – C Flowe – CF T. Wharton – 1B Starr – LF van Otterdijk – RF Corral – 3B Gallo – 2B Mireles – P Walla
MIL: 3B Van Leeuwen – CF Merrill – LF C. Dominguez – 1B C. Ramirez – C M. Rodriguez – RF Da. Wright – 2B F. Carrera – SS Reber – P C. Green

Jose Corral hit a solo home run in the second inning to give the Raccoons a temporary 1-0 lead that was soon overturned on an extremely hard to watch 2-out, 2-run double by Curt Green off Walla, who just wanted the season to end as well. The Raccoons then right away loaded the bases with the 2-3-4 batters and two outs in the third inning, but van Otterdijk grounded out. Green was back batting with the bases loaded in the bottom 4th after Wright singled, Carrera reached on an error by Duhe, and Reber walked. He popped out this time, and Sean Van Leeuwen grounded out to Josh Mireles to keep the Loggers from piling on.

Walla was done after five in a terrible final start, allowing a third and final run on a sac fly in the bottom 5th in which he allowed two walks and hit a batter. The less said, the better. Mike Davis issued a leadoff walk to Reber in the sixth and was double-switched out when left-handed Randy Fisher pinch-hit for Green (the top 4 of the Loggers lineup were also lefty sticks), and Rios and Otal entered at Corral’s expense. While sound in theory, the plan went kinda pear-shaped once Starr and Otal made errors on consecutive plays, and then the comedy of errors kicked into fifth gear with a balk on Rios, Ramirez and Manuel Rodriguez base hits, a passed ball, a walk to Wright, and another double by Carrera. By that point, SIX runs were in, all but two unearned, and since the doors AND windows had been thoroughly blown off this game, the Coons might just as well throw Matt Schmieder into the meat mincer. He gave up another run on a Reber single, 10-1, before the inning finally ******* ended.

The Coons had Mireles and Otal hits in the seventh, but only scored a run on a wild pitch by Nobuo Noda (who?). The unknown right-hander put Wharton and Starr on base to begin the eighth, threw another wild pitch, but then struck out the Otter and Dan Gomez. Gallo’s fly to right was dropped by Wright for two unearned runs to come in, but Mireles grounded out. Yamauchi allowed another two runners, a wild pitch, and somehow no runs on the way back to the clubhouse. 10-4 Loggers.

Game 3
POR: SS Duhe – C Flowe – CF T. Wharton – 1B Starr – LF van Otterdijk – RF Corral – 3B Gallo – 2B Mireles – P Gaytan
MIL: 3B Van Leeuwen – CF Merrill – 1B C. Ramirez – C M. Rodriguez – RF Da. Wright – 2B F. Carrera – LF R. Soto – SS Reber – P Crist

Tony Gaytan entered Closing Day sitting third in the CL in strikeouts with 169. Jason Brenize had run away with the strikeout crown (and more), but Mike DeWitt was second on 171, and while rested, had the sniffles. His opponent Crist tied Boston’s Bryce Wallace for sixth with 164, one behind a tie between Boston’s Mike Bell and Nick Walla for fourth. This was about the only thing the Raccoons still had to root for in this game – many strikeouts for Tony Gaytan!

The first whiff in the game was on Flowe, so Crist was already even with Walla and Bell. Van Leeuwen and Merrill then hit singles, and Cesar Ramirez raked a 3-run homer for statement purposes. Gaytan struck out Wright, then was taken deep by Carrera. Splendid! Marvelous! Even wackier, Crist passed Walla with an *uncaught* third strike on the Otter in the top 2nd, which put him and Starr (double) on the corners with nobody out. Corral fanned, Gallo walked, and Mireles got a run home with a grounder to short. Crist plated another run with a wild pitch, then walked Gaytan in a full count with two outs before Duhe grounded out. Duhe made an error in the bottom 2nd, but Gaytan rung up Merrill to tie DeWitt with 171.

The Coons got to 4-3 with another Starr double and van Otterdijk’s RBI single in the third inning, while Gaytan didn’t get another strikeout until he rung up Crist in the fourth with Roberto Soto and Reber on the corners and one out – and Soto had already smashed a bouncer that had hit the base running Carrera for a free out. Van Leeuwen raked a 2-run double, 6-3, and it was becoming increasingly indefensible to keep Gaytan getting hammered for more strikeouts he wasn’t collecting. He did finish the inning when Merrill grounded out, but Crist himself reached 171 with a K on van Otterdijk in the fifth. Gaytan somehow pulled through the fifth (Rodriguez was caught stealing), while Crist began the sixth 0-2 on Corral before hanging one and giving up a homer, 6-4.

Things got more ridiculous when Gaytan’s spot came up with two outs in the inning and he was not removed. The count ran full, and Gaytan singled. Crist then lost Duhe on balls, then gave up a ground-rule RBI double to Flowe – and that knocked him out of the game, one K short of Gaytan. Tyler Wharton, however, flew out to right against Jose Lugo and kept the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position. Gaytan did not get any more strikeouts, allowed Carrera and Soto on base in the bottom 6th instead, and was then removed with one out. McMahan retired Vince Shapiro and Van Leeuwen to keep the score from blooming.

Top 8th, down 6-5, and with Duhe and Flowe on base and one out, Tyler Wharton grounded to the right side against lefty Nick Walters. Cesar Ramirez made the play, but Walters dropped his throw to first, and the bases were loaded for Joel Starr in perhaps his final Coons at-bat. He struck out and van Otterdijk flew out in a microcosm of this bloody season. Antonio Pacheco then managed to **** up two runs when he was just trying to finish out the season in the bottom 8th, putting Carrera and Alaniz on base and giving up a 2-out, 2-run single to Randy Fisher. Fumero and Gallo then made outs against Nick Robinson to begin the ninth before Willie Jalomo pinch-hit and singled in the #8 hole. Pablo Novelo then batted for Pacheco and hit a 2-run homer that not enough to stave off defeat now, and the season ended with Duhe flying out to Dave Wright. 8-7 Loggers. Flowe 3-5, 2B, RBI; Starr 2-5, 2 2B; Jalomo (PH) 1-1; Novelo (PH) 1-1, HR, 2 RBI;

In other news

September 27 – ATL catcher Justin Hart (.330, 21 HR, 97 RBI) rakes three home runs and drives in all but one of the Knights’ runs in a 7-2 win against the Aces.

Player of the Week (FL):
Player of the Week (CL):

Complaints and stuff

Not all was bad this year – we’ll happily take the first season series wins against the Titans and damn Elks in an eternity! – but much of it was.

Tony Gaytan *did* finish second in strikeouts despite the horrible final outing, pipping incapacitated Mike DeWitt (who’d probably overcome his illness for the CLCS) and Matt Crist by one whiff, as those two tied for third place. Walla and Bell thus tied for fifth. And it was only these two Coons starters that featured on year-end top 10 lists, including the top 5 in losses (…), but Gaytan also finished second in K/BB and K/9, and sixth in WHIP, while Walla was third in H/9 and WHIP, second in shutouts (more of a vanity thing), and then showed on quite a few more lists in the bottom part of the top 10.

So yes, Nick Walla out-lost all but two other pitchers (Liberio Ivo and Danny Ryba) in the entire league this year, but he also came seventh in pitcher WAR (and only half a win behind third-place DeWitt) in the CL. So it’s the entire rest of the team that’s the main problem, not so much Nick Walla, whose final run support was an indefensible 3.41 runs/game, well worse than even the already wretched 3.82 runs the Coons scored across all games.

Also, Tony Gaytan managed to almost give up more homers (36) than walks (38), which is insane.

Joel Starr will in all likelihood be out the door after 12 seasons in brown. His final season was not good, and after romping to a home run crown with 34 homers in ’68, he was hurt a lot and missed 70 games, and hit only 11 dingers this year, thus falling short of 200 for his career. He’s at .274 with 198 bombs and 807 RBI at age 37. Dan Gomez will not be the answer – he had a .340 BABIP to hit as much as he did.

There’s probably more of an autopsy on this season to be made later on and lots of work for the offseason.

One final note though: the Alley Cats are AAA champions, taking down the Blue Sox’ affiliate Unity Grizzlies in five games to win the title!

Fun Fact: Jason Brenize won his third pitching triple crown after 2062 and 2067.

The monster went 19-3 with a 2.02 ERA and 225 strikeouts. He tied with Mike Bell for wins, but was miles ahead in the other two categories. Considering his relatively wretched first year with the Condors (11-12, 3.32 ERA, but still K King), this was quite a remarkable turnaround. Brenize led the league in wins for the sixth time, in ERA for the fifth time, and in strikeouts for the eighth time, all in a nine-year span.

For his career, the probably soon 8-time Pitcher of the Year, is 191-99 with a 2.61 ERA in 408 games (404 starts). He has struck out 2,706 batters in 2,680 innings.

[DD Martin]

I think the Raccoons should petition the league to make all games at least 10 innings. 9 innings is for wimps. Portland was 11-1 in extra innings

[Westheim]

2069 ABL PLAYOFFS

With just four teams left standing in the ABL, the 108-54 Cyclones entered the postseason with the best record in baseball, a 19-game margin in their own division, and a credible claim towards defending their 2068 title. Cincy outscored the opposition quite easily in the Federal League, putting down 827 runs with their mostly left-handed lineup, while allowing the fifth-fewest for a +188 run differential. They had not shown any major weaknesses as a team, and their rotation, led by Jose Aguilar (21-4, 1.93 ERA), had even ended up with the second-best ERA. Jorge Arviso (.268, 24 HR, 80 RBI) and Mel Avila (.309, 23 HR, 118 RBI) did most of the damage on the offensive side, but support was everywhere, from outfielder Fernando Cruz (.293, 14 HR, 69 RBI) to rookie first baseman Matt Peterson (.365, 8 HR, 42 RBI), who played in 61 games. However, last season’s ROTY Anthony Schneider had torn up his shoulder in May and was still on the mend, and the team would also be without regular Daniel Richardson and reliever John Steele for the postseason.

On the other side were the 95-67 Warriors, who had won their FL West by 12 games. While hitting home runs was not their strong suit, and they ended up eighth in the power department in the FL, they otherwise ranked fourth or better in every other major stat, from runs scored (fourth), runs allowed (third), and with second-place finishes for defensive rating and bullpen ERA. They brought two starters with sub-3 ERA’s to the postseason, Harry Poteat (19-8, 2.73 ERA) and Alex Diez (10-2, 2.24 ERA), but also had lost Luis Olvera to injury and had to sub in swingman Ed Caulk (3-2, 2.90 ERA) to make the numbers add up. Closer Cody Kleidon (9-7, 2.49 ERA, 40 SV) was beyond doubt, though. For offnse, the limited power was concentrated in the bats of Adam Campbell (.275, 13 HR, 69 RBI), Jordan Lopez (.299, 18 HR, 84 RBI), and Jerry Morejon (.281, 15 HR, 64 RBI), but most other regulars were hitting around .300 to provide some on-base fodder and keep the threat up. Nobody drove in more runs than Lopez, though. They had no shortage of left-handed pitchers to counter the Cyclones’ lineup with, as they had no fewer than six southpaws on the playoff roster, including Caulk.

In the CL North, the 99-63 Indians eventually won the division quite comfortably by seven games, even though they had been the last team to clinch their postseason spot. They ranked third in runs scored and fifth in runs allowed, and had led the CL in stolen bases and starters’ ERA, with a rotation led by ace Mike DeWitt (17-6, 2.81 ERA) and three right-handers with mid-3 ERA’s behind him. The bullpen and defense had however given them trouble all year long, and both stats actually saw them in the bottom three in their league, which was not a good sign at all. On offense, they brought a chunky middle of the order with Alex Gomez (.262, 30 HR, 105 RBI), Matt Rogers (.297, 29 HR, 92 RBI), Matt Martin (.272, 12 HR, 75 RBI), and Tony Torres (.260, 18 HR, 75 RBI) – although Torres was bothered by a sore wrist as the playoffs began – combined with speed devils at the top of the order. The bottom two spots were weak, though. Overall, the lineup was balanced for handedness.

The bottom seed in the playoffs, the 91-71 Thunder, had distanced a blob of five teams that were only three games apart by 15 whole wins, and had scored the second-most runs and allowed the sixth-most runs in the CL this year. They had an all right-handed rotation, but were missing ace Danny Baca and had to make do with makeshift replacement Chris Monahan and three guys with 4-ish ERA’s. The pen was much more sturdy, but that wasn’t a lot of comfort. More injuries had decimated their outfield, with regulars Danny Perez and Johnny Parker out for the season. What was left was a good 1-2 punch with Jose Palominos (.294, 24 HR, 70 RBI) and Ian Stone (.263, 21 HR, 76 RBI) behind .330 batters Carlos Gutierrez and Jon Reyes, age 21, although neither of them had accumulated enough PA to qualify for the batting title. Nobody else left standing had hit more than the ten homers of Brian Robinson (.279, 10 HR, 87 RBI). They had a balanced lineup together with a couple of switch-hitters (Gutierrez, Coby Thore), but all their starters were right-handed.

+++

The Indians replacing the Titans aside, this was the identical playoff field to last year, when the Cyclones had dispatched the Warriors in seven games … and then the Titans in four.

These playoffs saw both the constant presence of the Thunder, who made their 30th appearance (six more than any other team), and the Indians, who were third from the bottom with just their eighth October ticket. The Warriors (18th) and Cyclones (17th) were in between.

The Thunder also had the most titles among this group with four, ahead of the Warriors and Cyclones (three each), and Indians (two).

For past encounters, the Cyclones and Warriors had met in the FLCS three times before, in 1999, 2013, and last year of course. The Warriors won the first encounter, and the Cyclones the other two, but only last year’s Cyclones then won the World Series.

In the CLCS, three of the Indians’ previous seven playoff appearances had pitted them against the Thunder, in 1980, 1981, and 2062. The Thunder won the first meeting, but the Indians won the last two, and ended up winning the World Series both times.

The 2062 title had of course been the Indians’ most recent one. The Cyclones had last won the championship last year, and the Thunder the year before. The Warriors were the longest-ago winner among the crowd, having to reach back to 2034.

Past World Series meetings of the four teams involved were limited to the first two times the Thunder won the World Series in 1994 and 2000, both times beating the Warriors. Neither the Indians nor the Cyclones had faced one of the two teams on the other side of the thin black line in the standings before in the World Series.

+++

2069 LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

Warriors @ Cyclones … 4-3 … (Warriors lead 1-0) … SFW Jamie Clark 2-3, 2 BB, HR, 2 RBI; CIN Matt Little 2-4, HR, RBI;

The Warriors win the first game, but suffer a crushing blow with an elbow injury to Jordan Lopez, who will miss at least the rest of the FLCS, but probably the rest of the playoffs.

Warriors @ Cyclones … 4-10 … (series tied 1-1) … SFW Adam Campbell 2-5, 3 RBI; SFW Jamie Clark 2-3, 2 BB; SFW Tony Griffin 3-5; SFW Jon Barrientos 3-4; CIN Matt Murray 3-5, HR, 3B, 2B, 4 RBI; CIN Adam Seybert 1-1, 3B, RBI; CIN Aaron Hutnick 2-2, RBI;
Thunder @ Indians … 7-2 … (Thunder lead 1-0) … OCT Brian Johnston 3-5, 2B; OCT Alfredo Picun 8.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 6 BB, 4 K, W (1-0) and 3-4, 3 RBI;

Casualties mount in the FLCS with a thigh injury to Seybert on his RBI triple, but at least the Cyclones can even the series at one.

Thunder @ Indians … 2-4 … (series tied 1-1) … OCT Carlos Gutierrez 2-4, 2 2B; IND Malcolm Spicer 3-4, RBI; IND Tony Torres 2-4, 2 RBI;

Cyclones @ Warriors … 7-4 (11) … (Cyclones lead 2-1) … CIN Miguel Medina (PH) 1-1, 2B, 2 RBI; CIN Melvin Avila 2-5, HR, 2B, 4 RBI; SFW Andy Yocum 2-5, 3B, RBI; SFW Jimmy Madden 2-5, HR, RBI;

Cyclones @ Warriors … 1-5 … (series tied 2-2) … SFW Jimmy Madden 1-3, HR, 3 RBI; SFW Harry Poteat 8.2 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, W (2-0);
Indians @ Thunder … 5-4 (11) … (Indians lead 2-1) … IND Matt Martin 3-5, 2B, RBI; OCT Bryan Johnston 3-6, 2B, RBI;

Cyclones @ Warriors … 8-2 … (Cyclones lead 3-2) … CIN Fernando Cruz 2-4, 2B, 3 RBI; CIN Jose Aguilar 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, W (1-1);
Indians @ Thunder … 4-2 … (Indians lead 3-1) … IND Jose Hilario 2-5, 3B, 2 RBI; IND Fernando Valadez 2-3, BB, RBI; OCT Martin Bohannon 2-4, 2 2B, RBI;

Indians @ Thunder … 5-9 (11) … (Indians lead 3-2) … IND Matt Rogers 3-4, BB, 2B, RBI; IND Scott Masterson 1-3, 2 BB, HR, 2 RBI; OCT Jon Reyes 3-6, HR, 5 RBI; OCT Jose Palominos 3-3, RBI; OCT Steve Preston (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI;

While backup catcher Steve Preston (.500, 0 HR, 1 RBI) keeps the Thunder alive with a 2-out RBI double in the bottom of the tenth, it’s the 21-year-old Jon Reyes (.261, 1 HR, 6 RBI), who sends the series back to Oklahoma City with his 11th-inning walkoff grand slam that makes him an instant hero for the fanbase. Reyes hit just three homers in the regular season.

The Indians meanwhile were in tears over the loss of Matt Rogers (.300, 0 HR, 1 RBI), who sprained his ankle running the bases and was out of the picture for the rest of the playoffs.

Warriors @ Cyclones … 0-7 … (Cyclones win 4-2) … CIN Alejandro Guerrero 3-5, RBI; CIN Fernando Cruz 2-3, 2 BB; CIN Matt Murray 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; CIN Shoma Nakayama 9.0 IP, 8 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 10 K, W (1-0);

A complete-game shutout by Shoma Nakayama (15-10, 4.37 ERA in the regular season) and a whirring Cyclones offense eliminates the Warriors in the FLCS for the second straight year.

Thunder @ Indians … 1-13 … (Indians win 4-2) … OCT Bryan Johnston 3-4; IND Jose Hilario 3-4, RBI; IND Matt Martin 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; IND Tony Torres 3-5, HR, RBI;

The Indians slap the Thunder for nine runs in just four innings to end any discussion the Thunder were still wanting to have.

+++

2069 WORLD SERIES

The two teams with the most wins in their divisions had made it to the playoffs, although neither arrived their completely unscuffed. But while the Cyclones were only worrying about the immediate availability of reliever Dennis Marck, who had a tender forearm, and otherwise had all their precious tools still in play, the Indians – who had not been worrying about any injuries into the postseason – had lost one of their two most prolific sluggers in the CLCS and had to make the rest of the way without Matt Rogers and his 29 homers. Wil Mejia (.271, 4 HR, 23 RBI) did not immediately make for a great replacement at first base.

Both teams sent a lineup that was balanced to somewhat left-leaning against a team with limited left-handed pitching options. The Indians had two southpaw relievers besides ace Mike DeWitt; the Cyclones had their own ace Aguilar and just one lefty reliever.

The series did pit the FL’s best offense against one of the CL’s worst defenses, which should be an advantage to the Cyclones.

+++

IND @ CIN … 6-3 … (Indians lead 1-0) … IND Matt Martin 3-5; IND Wil Mejia 3-4; IND Scott Masterson 3-4, 3B, 4 RBI; IND Justin Esch 8.0 IP, 9 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, W (1-0); CIN Alejandro Guerrero 2-5, 2 RBI;

Neither team that won Game 1 in the LCS phase made the World Series. The Indians are undeterred and barge ahead.

IND @ CIN … 6-1 … (Indians lead 2-0) … IND Tony Torres 2-4, HR, RBI; IND Wil Mejia 2-3, 2B, RBI; IND Mike DeWitt 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K, W (1-1) and 1-4; CIN Fernando Cruz 3-4, HR, RBI;

CIN @ IND … 4-8 … (Indians lead 3-0) … CIN Matt Peterson 3-4, HR, RBI; IND Fernando Valadez 2-4, HR, 3 RBI;

Indy takes a commanding 7-1 lead against Shoma Nakayama (1-1, 3.18 ERA) by the fifth inning and then manages the rest of the game from there for four matchballs.

CIN @ IND … 3-1 … (Indians lead 3-1) … CIN Alejandro Guerrero 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; CIN Luis Briseno 8.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (1-1); IND Alex Gomez 2-3, BB, RBI;

Neither team gets more than six hits in tight game, and the Cyclones have Jose Aguilar on deck for Game 5.

CIN @ IND … 11-4 … (Indians lead 3-2) … CIN Matt Little 4-6; CIN Melvin Avila 3-5, BB, HR, 3B, 3 RBI; CIN Matt Peterson 3-4, BB, 3 RBI; CIN Matt Murray 3-5, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; IND Wil Mejia 3-4;

The Cyclones break out huge and send the series back to Cincinnati, scoring five runs almost immediately against 24-year-old Justin Esch (1-1, 5.17 ERA), who is later found out to having torn his rotator cuff and will miss the entire 2070 season. Aguilar (2-2, 3.38 ERA) goes seven steady innings in his fourth and final playoff start.

IND @ CIN … 2-4 … (series tied 3-3) … IND Malcolm Spicer 3-5; IND Scott Masterson 2-4, 2 RBI; CIN Melvin Avila 2-3, BB, 3B;

The Indians are fully going off the rails with a loss behind Mike DeWitt (1-2, 3.60 ERA) in Game 6.

IND @ CIN … 2-4 … (Cyclones win 4-3) … IND Jose Hilario 2-4, RBI; CIN A.J. Taylor 1-4, 3B, 2 RBI;

The bottle job is completed, as the Indians score two runs against reliever Ben Dickson (0-0, 4.91 ERA) when Shoma Nakayama (1-1, 2.84 ERA) leaves after two innings with a blister, but they can’t make it hold up. The Cyclones score one run in the fifth, and then three runs in the sixth inning around A.J. Taylor’s triple. The 24-year-old drives in the tying and go-ahead runs, then scores on a sac fly by Matt Murray. The Game 7 win goes to MR Dennis Marck (3-0, 2.45 ERA), with shutdown services provided by Roberto Navarro and Marc Timmons (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 3 SV).

+++

2069 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS
Cincinnati Cyclones
(4th title)

[Westheim]

The regional Action Committee of the National Alliance for the Progress of Raccoons (NAP-RAC) held its annual assembly in Raccoons Ballpark in October – oh my, thank goodness that we didn’t qualify for the playoffs…! But to be fair, we had a good time and I fell into a food coma with Brother Sigfried, a raccoon working in forestry up near Medford, over a drum of fried chicken. Good times, good times!

But the fun had to end at some point and there was still a team with a last-place offense that needed fixing. I wonder how many more millions it would take north of the $54M we had blown on Tyler Wharton last winter.

Adam Valdes would try to help where he could by increasing the budget from $64.5M to $66M, which wasn’t a lot, but seemed to gloss over our 9-win slip in the record department. It got us nowhere in terms of the competition, but we ended up in a 4-way tie for 10th place with the Loggers, damn Elks (shakes fist!), and Condors, all with the same budget.

Top 5: Thunder ($95M), Titans ($95M), Stars ($86M), Crusaders ($83M), Knights ($78M)
Bottom 5: Gold Sox / Scorpions / Indians ($58M), Bayhawks ($56M), Falcons ($51M), Wolves ($50M), Aces ($48M)

Between the top five and bottom five/seven and our cuddles with the Loggers and Elks (spits on the floor, much to Maud’s annoyance), all CL North teams were already accounted for. The top five remained the same as the previous years, but the Stars, Crusaders, and Knights all took quite the slashing from their owners. In turn, most of the bottom dwellers could budget increases that might help them out.

So while the league was moving closer together financially, the median budget increased another $1.5M to $66M around our 4-way tie, while the average budget increased only by pennies and remained a rounded $67.3M.

+++

To begin the offseason, J.P. Gallo informed us that he would execute his $2.96M player option for 2070, which I also would have done if my production had plunged like his.

Six players remained eligible for free agency, including Joel Starr, who was eligible for type-A compensation, and Pizza, who was eligible as type-B free agent, despite missing almost all of this season. Both would get the arbitration offer required to qualify for compensation, and if they took it, we’d find a use for them. It wasn’t like we had a replacement first baseman ready to go…

Not eligible for compensation were A.C. Stebbins, Lorenzo Marquez, Wally Leggett, and Pablo Novelo. Leggett had been the most useful among the position players, but he was months away from turning 35 and 35-year-old middle infielders were one of my many reasons to keep drinking. Marquez and Novelo had been largely ineffective, even though Novelo had gone out with a homer in his final at-bat of the season, and while A.C. Stebbins had done *okay* whenever he hadn’t been on the DL, we weren’t hot on the 40-year-old version of him.

There were only three players eligible for salary arbitration, all pitchers. Tony Gaytan was the most interesting one after just having finished giving up 36 homers this season, some of which hadn’t even landed yet. The other two were the two lefties in the pen, which had done a formidable job and would be retained in any case. I mean, Gaytan would be kept as well, but I would probably stay away from a 7-year deal… None of them could be expected to break the bank next year, or even seven figures. Rios still looked like a potential starter, but whenever we actually tried him out, he got blown up…

Sniffing up and down the roster, there was at least one opening in the rotation (Rios?), or two if you wanted to send Jimmy Wharton back to AAA. In the pen we had the core five (also including Valentin, Dover, and Nava), and A LOT of weeds. With Marquez departing there was the option to have Willie Jalomo as backup to Jake Flowe next year, which didn’t sound great, but I also was tired of the 1-year catcher rentals. First base was a question, because Dan Gomez had nominally hit alright in his spotty appearances, but he had enjoyed the best BABIP on the team. Fumero was a backup for first base as well, and besides him we had Duhe and Gallo as infield starters. Josh Mireles had a real chance to become the second base starter right now, despite hitting .195, but he had done that with the WORST BABIP on the team (.222).

The outfield was “interesting” because the corners were a mess. Otal had been terrible for the entire second half, Corral had batted for a 90 OPS+ as well, and van Otterdijk had hit for a 131 OPS+, but had enjoyed time on the DL and was a (mildly) terrible glover. There was a conversation to be had about a defensive corner outfielder with speed and a singles bat, like f.e. Cookie Carmona. That guy would ideally hit right-handed. Jamie Colter wasn’t it.

Gary Gates and a whole bunch of relievers might actually end up on waivers to avoid having them draw minimum salaries out of the gate, but there was still some weeks from here to the free agency date.

[Westheim]

The Raccoons still had five years to get anything done with big expense Tyler Wharton, so trading him after one year (in which his stats ultimately turned out *fine* considering he missed 28 games, although he also did not come close to the OPS values of recent seasons) in the brown shirt was not something we were considering. Yet.

So how to build up what was around him? As usual, something to put on base ahead of him would be nice, a task in which the Raccoons were routinely failing. Jared Duhe had hit .238 for two years with the Raccoons, with a .366 and .355 OBP in those two seasons after a .409 between two different teams in 2067. It wasn’t easy to fill the #2 hole, either, and maybe George van Otterdijk needed more playing time. At this point, though, I was not entirely against adding another expensive bat just to get the lineup to thicken. Remember, last in runs scored, and Joel Starr was leaving. Was this a good time to mention that Boston’s Steve Humphries, though 33 by April, was currently heading for free agency, was a strong defender in leftfield, and had reached base on a .408 or better rate in five of the last six seasons (and the outlier was a .393, boo!)?

+++

October 28 – SP Eric Stengel (32-42, 4.47 ERA) is traded for the second time in three months, this time from the Falcons to the Rebels for two prospects, including #177 SS Ramon Fernandez.
November 16 – The Falcons acquire SP Gary Peoples (25-25, 4.34 ERA) from the Aces for quad-A infielder Elijah Fountain (.233, 11 HR, 124 RBI) and the same #177 prospect they picked up three weeks earlier.

+++

For the time being, the Raccoons settled with their three arbitration cases. McMahan got $910k, Rios got $650k, and Tony Gaytan had to take $620k, which means he’ll earn $3.50 for every homer allowed next year.

Joel Starr and Pizza declined salary arbitration and became free agents in the middle of November.

With the books cleared then, the Raccoons had about $12.1M of budget space, or in other terms, one-and-a-third Whartons. That oughta buy a #2 hitter, I think. And Steve Humphries is a type-B free agent. His salary expectations are type-A, though. For the time being we made an offer to a 27-year-old right-handed reliever coming in from Mexico, but he was asking for pesos compared to Humphries.

+++

2069 ABL AWARDS

Players of the Year: CIN OF Melvin Avila (.309, 23 HR, 118 RBI) and MIL 1B/RF/LF Cesar Ramirez (.339, 33 HR, 135 RBI)
Pitchers of the Year: CIN SP Jose Aguilar (21-4, 1.93 ERA) and TIJ SP Jason Brenize (19-3, 2.02 ERA)
Rookies of the Year: DEN RF/LF Steve Millen (.319, 21 HR, 98 RBI) and MIL INF Sean Van Leuuwen (.308, 9 HR, 73 RBI)
Relievers of the Year: CIN CL Marc Timmons (8-5, 2.40 ERA, 42 SV) and NYC CL John Faughnan (11-2, 1.63 ERA, 41 SV)
Platinum Sticks (FL): P LAP Melvin Lebron – C WAS Chris Willhite – 1B WAS Armando Curiel – 2B SAL John Katzman – 3B DAL Dallas Stockton – SS NAS Jordan Sellman – LF CIN Melvin Avila – CF DEN Chris Tuck – DAL Victor David Morales
Platinum Sticks (CL): P POR Tony Gaytan – C MIL Manuel Rodriguez – 1B MIL Cesar Ramirez – 2B CHA John Schmidt – 3B ATL Jon Schomer – SS OCT Jose Palominos – LF MIL Carlos Dominguez – CF VAN Dan Moore – RF SFB Jake Ward
Gold Gloves (FL): P PIT Steven Fenstermacher – C SFW Jamie Clark – 1B RIC Bill Joyner – 2B CIN Matt Murray – 3B DEN Beau Metz – SS DEN Alex Gonzilez – LF LAP John Miller – CF LAP Mike Hulett – RF RIC Willie Ospina
Gold Gloves (CL): P POR Vinny Morales – C SFB Hugo Valdez – 1B TIJ David Cline – 2B NYC Ryan Philpot – 3B ATL Jon Schomer – SS VAN Roberto Barraza – LF OCT Johnny Parker – CF IND Jose Hilario – RF ATL Jaden Wilson

Hey, mom! Our pitchers won two awards! – Which ones? Uuhm. Gaytan and Morales! – Oh, you mean, which awards! Welllll…..

Sure beats winning *nothing*. We already won nothing last year…

[Westheim]

The Raccoons snuck around the Wolves’ John Katzman for a time in November, as the 25-year-old (who already had four years and some time of major league experience) because that kind of strong D up the middle and a high-volume singles bat was right up our wishlist for the #2 hole should we get Humphries, but the Wolves were less than inclined to trade him. Jimmy Wharton wouldn’t be enough, and also not a price I was willing to pay. Since the Wolves were broke as usual, there was hardly a way to shove a bigger contract their way to make up for the talent transfer. #2 prospect Nelson Aguilar would also tickle their fancy. The 18-year-old had been through a trying season in Aumsville and it was really hard to gauge right now whether he was worth the hype at all. In any case he was three years or more away from the majors. Trading him made no sense when we didn’t even know how many years we were potentially away from having a whiff at the division.

In the meantime I sounded the market for some players that may or may not be surplus to requirements or had strained my nerves enough (some both), and it didn’t look like we’d find suitors for J.P. Gallo, Jared Duhe, Jesse Dover, or Jose Corral any time soon.

+++

November 17 – The Crusaders acquire MR Dennis Marck (15-20, 4.26 ERA) and his freshly minted ring, plus #182 prospect CL Manny Romero, from the Cyclones for infielder Tony Gaines (.263, 26 HR, 259 RBI).
November 18 – The Stars trade OF Phil LeVan (.252, 25 HR, 190 RBI) to the Blue Sox for INF/RF Cruz Varela (.248, 0 HR, 11 RBI) and prospect.
November 25 – Former Rebels outfielder Willie Ospina (.273, 58 HR, 307 RBI) lands with the Crusaders for $15.2M over four years. The 26-year-old brings three Gold Gloves to New York.
November 27 – New York also lands ex-SFB/BOS SP Paul Egley (59-91, 4.31 ERA) with an offer of $31.84M over six years.
November 28 – In Vancouver they land 39-year-old ex-BOS SP Ricardo Montoya (213-107, 2.87 ERA) on a 2-yr, $11.6M contract.
November 29 – The Knights shift outfielder Ryan Bonner (.307, 0 HR, 63 RBI) to the Thunder for a prospect.
November 30 – The Scorpions sign ex-DAL 2B/3B/LF Alex Rodriguez (.260, 62 HR, 448 RBI) to a 3-yr, $7.56M contract.
November 30 – The Raccoons snatch 27-year-old Mexican free agent MR Edgar Gutierrez for $600k.
December 1 – The Raccoons make an even bigger pounce with the addition of longtime Boston division rival OF Steve Humphries (.277, 77 HR, 518 RBI). The 32-year-old signs a 5-year, $36M contract.
December 1 – The Warriors get former Miners catcher Nick Dingman (.283, 309 HR, 928 RBI). The 34-year-old signs for a surprisingly low $9.68M over two years.
December 1 – Rule 5 Draft: 13 players are taken from outside their old teams’ 40-man roster and at least temporarily added to another team’s major league roster. The Bayhawks alone make five selections. The Raccoons are not affected.
December 2 – Richmond adds ex-NYC SP Alex Dominguez (101-92, 3.70 ERA) on a 3-year deal worth $8.16M.
December 4 – Former Raccoons 1B Joel Starr (.274, 198 HR, 807 RBI) signs with Sioux Falls on a 2-yr, $12.2M contract. The Raccoons receive a second-round pick and a supplemental round pick as compensation.

+++

(excitedly waves a small brown Raccoons pennant that is inexplicably furry) Steve Humphriiiiiiies!!! (grins from ear to ear)

ALL WILL BE WELL NOW. (Cristiano Carmona draws breath) Cristiano, if you say a word now about our pitching, infield, catching, or general vibe, you’re gonna eat one of those rear wheels. (Cristiano reconsiders)

Edgar Gutierrez brings a good sinking fastball and a circle change. He also throws a bit of a curve, although my illusions to get a cheap starter were quite moderated. I’d be happy to fill out the pen and get a #2 hitter in between Humphries and Big Wharton. Talks were underway with more than one team in early December, and not just for scrubs, but impact players. My main issue was, however, that we couldn’t trade a starting pitcher, because the funds were not there to sign a new one after splurging on Humphries. Besides the Wolves’ John Katzman we were also scratching the Warriors for Andy Yocum. That was what the Raccoons needed now: a high-average, mobile, middle-infield bat that was gonna bat second, and then maybe scratch a good enough left-handed first baseman somewhere else. They’d usually go on the cheap after the holidays.

The sole issue with a lineup of Humphries – [any player named in the previous paragraph] – Wharton was that they were all right-handed hitters. Something to break up the monotony, perhaps?

Also, while trying to trade the offense out of the cellar, we may want to keep the pen at least superficially intact. Of the five reliables in there, we can’t trade more than one. And I already have my eye on which one’s Coons career is gonna be Dover.

Three days, by the way, were the difference between us getting the Warriors’ #22 pick, which went to Pittsburgh for Nick Ding(er)man, and instead we got a second-rounder, probably around #70, for Joel Starr. (sigh!)

Other old Brownshirts with new employment: Ramon Archuleta got $1.56M from the #1 pick holding Buffaloes; the Titans signed John Nesbitt for $1.16M over two years; Nick Robinson got $1.98M from the Crusaders;

[Westheim]

Note that I attached a prospect to the wrong trade in the previous post, and #182 Manny Romero was not in the November 18 trade but the November 17 trade – wrong line, stupid bozo. I also only noticed because kid got traded *again* this time around and my notes didn’t add up anymore. But hey, if you wanna follow a dynasty with a guy that knows what he’s doing, there are options out there

+++

Two trades were on the table as the winter meetings began, and both had the potential to get the Coons all the way to 11th in runs scored in the Continental League. Okay, before we climbed down into that hole again, the Scorpions also offered outfielder Alex Barnes for three prospects, which was a no-thanks, and now we can get to the other two FL West teams we were cozying up to.

With the Warriors, we had a definite agreement that if signed would send 2067 FL batting champ Adam Yocum and his certified #2 slap-a-single, keep-the-line-moving bat over from Sioux Falls to Portland, and all for the low price of four players. The big one was Jared Duhe, which was the one sizeable salary the Warriors were willing to take on, so we’d now open a hole at shortstop, and then we had to throw in relievers Jesse Dover and Manabu Yamauchi, plus former #26 pick, catcher Adam Quebbeman, who only at 22 had begun to hit well in Aumsville.

Yocum was making $7.1M this year, which was … a lot; and he was due to make up to $8.1M in the last three years of his contract, which ran through ’74, including a player option in the final year. This aligned at least well with “this is our window”, since the contracts of Tyler Wharton and Steve Humphries were due to expire after the same season. The contract is also why Duhe had to be included, because they wouldn’t take Gallo. In a way, I preferred it like this, because if both played up the middle for you, the lineup would be Duhe – Yocum – Humphries – Wharton, which was a bit of a slow start. I liked the idea of Humphries – Yocum – [insert power stick we’ll find later] – Wharton better.

Drawbacks to this trade were few; while we would take the one piece out of the pen I was allowing myself (mind that so far Gabriel Rios looked like the very smoothest option for a fifth starter next year…), and it was the one I was trying to get rid of anyway, and Quebbeman was not exactly high on our keeps list, he had been ranked #163 before last season after all. Maybe he was a late bloomer, but the Coons didn’t have the options to figure this out in detail now.

The other trade on the table was with the Wolves, and they were asking for more arms and legs than I was willing to part with. The trade was for 25-year-old infielder John Katzman, who was not gonna win a batting title, but had hit .304 once, and who brought more power and defense than Yocum. He was also much cheaper, making $1.88M in ’70, which would increase to $5.3M for the last four years of the contract he had signed with Salem, and which ran through 2075. The problem with the Wolves was that they – as usual – had no money, and couldn’t take on a Duhe-sized contract, unless we took more salary off them, but there were not a whole lotta options for that. NOBODY on that team made in excess of $2M! Only four guys made more than one, but once you started to include 1B Tyler Eaves in that trade, it became impossible to even bundle the prospects to get them to stop howling.

Basically, we had no deal without including #2 prospect Nelson “Sugar” Aguilar, who didn’t hit a ton in Aumsville as an 18-year-old, but the projections were very promising; in any case he was years away from the majors. And even a straight deal of Aguilar for Katzman was not good enough – they also wanted Jimmy Wharton, and now I was starting to howl.

I was willing to part with the NUMBER TWO prospect, if it got Katzman (a former #1 draft pick), but I could not take another bite out of the rotation we couldn’t fill to begin with. Jimmy Wharton was TOTALLY penciled in as the #4 starter for the new season.

Let’s go all goo-goo in our little fuzzy heads for a moment and assume we could acquire BOTH of Katzman (without Eaves) and Yocum. Duhe was then superfluous anyway; Gallo was not tradeable right now, and Fumero could slip to first base, so you’d have Katzman and Yocum up the middle at short and second, respectively. Katzman was likely going to be the #3 batter in that scenario, and behind Wharton you’d continue with Gallo, perhaps, and/or what looked like a platoon in rightfield between Corral and van Otterdijk. And then Flowe and Fumero at the bottom.

Makes your whisker tips tingle, doesn’t it?

But boy, the price! The price…!

+++

December 5 – The Raccoons pounce big with a pair of trades, firstly acquiring 28-year-old INF Adam Yocum (.325, 6 HR, 492 RBI) from Sioux Falls for a package of four players, including 32-yr old INF/LF Jared Duhe (.256, 57 HR, 407 RBI), 28-yr old MR Jesse Dover (19-21, 3.21 ERA, 60 SV), 31-yr old MR Manabu Yamauchi (8-8, 4.10 ERA), and 23-yr old #163 prospect, A-level C Adam Quebbeman.
December 5 – Separately, the Raccoons secure INF John Katzman (.283, 48 HR, 316 RBI) from the Wolves for three ranked prospects: #2 A OF/1B Nelson Aguilar, #20 AA 1B Oscar Gaitan, and #79 AAA 3B/SS Phil Townsend.
December 5 – The Warriors win the bidding for former Thunder closer Brad Fales (30-36, 3.06 ERA, 156 SV) with an offer of $2.56M for the 2070 season.
December 5 – The Bayhawks sign ex-CHA 1B/OF Chad Whetstine (.264, 68 HR, 364 RBI) to a 2-yr, $3.84M contract.
December 5 – New York acquires LF/CF Tony Griffin (.248, 2 HR, 49 RBI) from the Warriors for MR Matt Taylor (46-37, 3.76 ERA, 4 SV) and #182 prospect CL Manny Romero.

+++

(one half of GM’s face looks happy, but the other is crying)

John Katzman brings a freshly minted Platinum Stick, and while the career stats don’t look that great, you have to keep in mind that he made his debut at 20 and quite underdone. Yocum had won a Platinum Stick before, as well as a batting title, and two rings with the Stars, so he knew how it was done.

The Agitator writes a lot of bad things, but even they had to admit that the Raccoons pulled off quite a heist there, even if at the cost of a good future later with all the top 100 prospects we were sending up the valley. The one that really hurt was Aguilar, of course. Gaitan hadn’t hit much so far in his career and OSA was not enthused, especially. Townsend was close to the majors, but there would not be room for him anyway with these acquisitions, so it didn’t *really* matter that he was traded? And he sure as hell didn’t look like a Yocum or Katzman…

Okay. (raises paws to calm himself down)

What was the state of the empire after this flurry of activity? The lineup now had four right-handed batters leading off, with Humphries – Yocum – Katzman – Wharton at the top of the order, but even right-handers would have problem with that array. If we still found a lefty power bat in the bargain bin somewhere, there were options to change it up, but for the time being this was probably it. Behind that, you could expect Gallo batting fifth, probably, and then the order might vary day by day, since we potentially had two platoons were the right-handed stick should get more attention than just 1/4 of the starts, those being Fumero and Gomez at first, and van Otterdijk and Corral in right. Flowe behind the dish was not up for debate right now, especially since our last dimes had to go towards pitching. The budget was actually almost completely used up and we were threatening to nibble on the dosh reserves.

This was a problem, given that our rotation was Walla, Morales, Gaytan, Jimmy Wharton, and a big *** question mark; and in the pen we now had only Valentin, McMahan, Rios, Nava, and that new Mexican guy whose name I had already forgotten left, and then would have to make up the difference between the people that had already annoyed us on a daily basis for years, like – to name but a few – Cam Bridges, Schmieder, and so on.

Under these circumstances, we might actually have to move Rios to the rotation, which would automatically put Pacheco on the roster as second lefty in the pen, but that still left two spots open for chumps. Because he was not entirely disconnected from this conversation, even if Val Centeno came back from Tommy John as scheduled, and then did well in his first four, five starts in AAA, he was not going to be available until the midpoint of the season. There were two other options for #5 duties hanging around AAA currently, both of whom had done no good in their cups of coffee last season. Victor Chavez, already 26, had gone 1-1 with a 5.92 ERA in five Coons starts, and was hardly gonna get any better. Harrison Hunt had been beaten for an 11.88 ERA in just two starts, and somehow looked even worse than his birthplace of Pleak, TX, sounded. Options: not really.

+++

December 6 – The Knights send defensively challenged slugger RF/LF Javier Acuna (.274, 132 HR, 593 RBI) to the Crusaders for four prospects. The only ranked prospect in the deal is #180 CL Jonathan Gebel.
December 6 – The Scorpions win the services of former Falcons INF John Schmidt (.280, 10 HR, 258 RBI) with a 7-year, $43.38M contract. Schmidt makes up for a lack of power with defense, having won Gold Gloves at both second and third base by age 27.
December 6 – The Buffaloes sign ex-VAN SP Vince Ellison (103-98, 3.82 ERA) to a 2-year, $4.48M deal.
December 6 – Denver trades INF/RF Joe Brooks (.284, 7 HR, 51 RBI) to the Rebels for CL Jorge Garza (31-27, 3.69 ERA, 66 SV) and a prospect.
December 8 – Vancouver sends 30-yr old SP Ray Rath (56-57, 4.08 ERA) to the Cyclones for 30-yr old catcher Jonathan Contreras (.279, 32 HR, 135 RBI), a prospect, and $680k in cash.
December 8 – The Warriors acquire SP Sean Ranney (26-33, 4.15 ERA) from the Rebels in exchange for two prospects.
December 13 – The Crusaders sign up ex-MIL OF Jonathan Merrill (.311, 28 HR, 474 RBI) on a 4-year, $19.84M contract.
December 16 – The Rebels snatch 34-year-old ex-DAL SP Ray “Crabman” Walker (157-98, 3.24 ERA, 1 SV) with a 2-year, $15.4M offer. Walker is a two-time Pitcher of the Year from his 12-year stint with Dallas, where he also won two rings.
December 16 – The Buffaloes get twice-ringed ex-CIN CL Marc Timmons (30-18, 2.88 ERA, 58 SV) on a 2-year, $7M deal.
December 17 – The Miners sign former Aces INF Victor Morales (.296, 72 HR, 527 RBI), committing $25.6M over four years to the 28-year-old Mexican infielder.

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The Raccoons raided the scouting and player development budgets for $1.25M in total to make some offers to … let’s avoid the word “bargain bin” and call them “veteran value” options; anyway, we made 1-year offers to a couple of free agent pitchers at the end of the winter meetings, but they were not taken at that point.

Our roster has holes, but at least we’re not building a roster like the Crusaders around all-offense outfielders that can’t move and everything’s a triple. The Crusaders gave away their 15th pick in the second round to sign Merrill, but the Coons getting the 22nd pick in the second round is still the lowest pick that has been forfeited this winter…