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Old 01-31-2020, 01:17 PM   #3081
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Always a good week when we sweep the Canada Club!
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Old 02-01-2020, 06:28 PM   #3082
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This was the start to the final homestand of the season, nine games with the Loggers, Thunder, and Bayhawks, with off days on either end of the damn thing. I had done the math on The Situation. If we made up a game here, one game there, and swept the Titans, and the Elks wouldn’t get into our innards in the final series of the year… then just like that we’d win the division by three games!

Better start drinking now, so I won’t see reality undo my genius plans.

Raccoons (82-61) vs. Loggers (64-79) – September 12-14, 2034

These were the bottom two teams in home runs in the CL; the Loggers had 73 to our 74. While we were fourth in runs scored and runs allowed, they sat eighth and ninth, respectively, but we were only 8-7 ahead in the season series.

Projected matchups:
Bernie Chavez (14-4, 2.53 ERA) vs. Alfredo Casique (14-11, 4.19 ERA)
Raffaello Sabre (10-8, 3.76 ERA) vs. William Stockwell (5-5, 2.99 ERA)
Ignacio del Rio (11-8, 4.04 ERA) vs. Paul Metzler (9-13, 4.24 ERA)

Stockwell and Felipe Delgado (10-13, 3.80 ERA) were their only southpaws. Due to the off day we could still see both of them.

Game 1
MIL: CF Will Ojeda – 2B McWhirter – RF Leftwich – 3B Conner – LF S. Wilson – SS Garnier – 1B O. Huerta – C Canas – P Casique
POR: SS Ramos – 3B Zeltser – 2B Stalker – LF Wallace – 1B Zitzner – CF M. Fernandez – RF Jennings – C Thompson – P Chavez

There were high hopes for Bernie to make a statement or two in the opener, but it was anything but that. Jeremy Leftwich got him for a 2-out homer in the top of the first, and a Josh Conner double and Steve Wilson’s single brought in a second run right away. The second inning also began with two outs before Will Ojeda, Bill McWhirter, Leftwich, and Conner all whacked him for a sharp hit, four in total, and two more runs scored. Both innings ended with Billy Jennings spearing another liner to end the inning. The third consisted of a walk to Maxime Garnier, an Omar Huerta double, Rodrigo Canas’ RBI single, me losing my ****ing mind, and then the pen took over. Since the game and all hopes and dreams were dead anyway, Gilberto Rendon came in. Somehow he got out of runners on the corners and nobody out by forcing Canas on Casique’s bunt, then walked Ojeda and got a double play from McWhirter… yay, only down 5-0!

It remained 5-0 until Rendon gave up a double to Ojeda and a McWhirter single in the sixth inning, which amounted to the Loggers’ sixth run of the game. Leftwich hit into a double play, but the Raccoons were more or less dead one way or another. Portland didn’t reach the board until the bottom of the seventh after scattering six hits in six innings. Fernandez and Jennings landed base hits to begin the inning and went into scoring position on Thompson’s groundout. Bobby Houston batted for Garavito and singled up the middle to get a run home. Berto lined out to Huerta, unluckily, but Zeltser dropped an RBI single in front of Leftwich. Stalker however grounded out, and the Loggers whooped de la Cruz for a run in the eighth. Fernandez and Jennings got to the corners in the bottom 8th, but Sibley, hitting for a useless Elliott Thompson (0-for-3 at the plate and against base runners, too), fouled out to third base. Berto’s hindpaws amounted to a 47th stolen base and a run on Kurt Wall’s groundout in the bottom 9th, but that was it. 7-3 Loggers. M. Fernandez 3-4; Jennings 3-4, 2B; Houston (PH) 1-1, RBI; Salgado (PH) 1-1;

Two innings, five runs – I think we can stop watching the ERA board as far as Bernie Chavez is concerned…

Game 2
MIL: CF Will Ojeda – 2B McWhirter – RF Leftwich – 3B Conner – LF S. Wilson – SS Garnier – 1B O. Huerta – C Canas – P Stockwell
POR: SS Ramos – 3B Zeltser – RF Salgado – LF Wallace – 1B Zitzner – C Wall – CF M. Fernandez – 2B Vickers – P Sabre

Another first inning, another Loggers lead – Will Ojeda tripled past Wallace (…) on Sabre’s second pitch and scored on McWhirter’s groundout. Wallace tried to redeem himself, throwing out Leftwich at home plate to end the third inning; Leftwich had doubled to right and tried to get home on Josh Conner’s single, but no such luck. The Raccoons were again exceedingly harmless at the start of the game, but would load the bases in the fourth inning… but only with two outs… and after an intentional walk to Rich Vickers brought up Sabre, who promptly popped out. Berto got hit to begin the bottom 5th, Zeltser singled, Salgado grounded to the left side. Conner intercepted the ball, but couldn’t do anything with it. Bases loaded, no outs, tying run at third, go-ahead run at second! …and they did take the lead… barely, on two groundouts to the right side that weren’t quite dismal enough for a double play. Top 6th, McWhirter reached base with a drag bunt that neither Zitzner nor Vickers could dig out, but was doubled up on Leftwich’s grounder. No time for joy though – Sabre immediately served up a bomb to Josh Conner to get the Loggers even at two…

Despair had to wait though, because Manny Fernandez led off the bottom 6th with a double to center. He advanced on a grounder, then scored the go-ahead run on Sabre’s duck snort blooper over the head of McWhirter that dropped for an RBI single. Berto singled to right, but Zeltser flew out and Salgado grounded out to strand two runners again. Back to Sabre, who got Maxime Garnier to pop out to begin the seventh, then allowed a single to Huerta (who was run for by Ramon Rodriguez) and Canas doubled off the wall in right. Salgado got a wonderful carom, though, and fired the ball back in, Vickers relayed the ball to home plate, and Rodriguez was slapped OUT at the plate! That was it for Sabre; David Fernandez got an out from lefty pinch-hitter D.J. Mendez to strand Canas at second. Instead Chris Wise tried to blow another game and get his 10th loss, putting McWhirter and Leftwich on base in the eighth. Hennessy was brought in to face Steve Wilson with two outs, but right-hander Justin Pace was sent to pinch-hit. He rapped an RBI double to left, and Hennessy served up two more hits to Garnier and Rodriguez as the Raccoons casually imploded. Manny Fernandez had another leadoff hit in the bottom 8th and somehow was brought around by Vickers and Ramos, but it wasn’t gonna be enough, was it? After the 4-run meltdown in the top 8th, the solo run in the bottom 8th left the Coons down by two, and that was before Leftwich doubled in Ojeda against Victor Anaya in the ninth… Alex Banderas walked Salgado to begin the bottom 9th, threw a wild pitch, but Wallace popped out. Jennings batted for Anaya in the #5 hole, whiffed, and Wall flew out to center. 7-4 Loggers. Salgado 2-4, BB; Wall 2-5; M. Fernandez 2-3, BB, 2 2B; Vickers 1-2, BB;

Well. That was ****house. 10th loss for Chris Wise. I made it known to the Loggers that when they leave after completing the sweep tomorrow, they are free to take him with them. No counter-offer necessary. He’s a gift. He’s free.

They declined.

Game 3
MIL: 1B O. Huerta – 2B McWhirter – RF Leftwich – 3B Conner – LF S. Wilson – SS Garnier – CF Prestwood – C Canas – P Metzler
POR: SS Ramos – 3B Zeltser – 2B Stalker – LF Wallace – CF M. Fernandez – C Wall – RF Houston – 1B Maruyama – P del Rio

We were down four on the Titans going into the Thursday game thanks to them dropping two of their first three against the Crusaders, but we had to stop losing NOW. It was del Rio or die in the third game. His first pitch was taken to right for a single by Omar Huerta, but del Rio picked him off after McWhirter’s flyout. Tyler Prestwood doubled to begin the third inning, beating Manny in deep center, while Canas got knocked with a fastball and was shaken, but stayed in the game. The runners were bunted over, and Huerta’s groundout plated the first run of the game. McWhirter squeezed out a 2-out walk, then took off for second base, but was thrown out by Kurt Wall to end the inning. Portland didn’t get a base hit until the third inning when Zeltser and Stalker landed 2-out singles, but were stranded on Wallace’s ****ty pop. Manny walked to start the bottom 4th, stole his 17th base, and was stranded by the 6-7-8 batters. It was, frankly, slightly maddening to watch.

The madness didn’t stop any time soon. It remained a 1-0 game through seven innings, with the Coons outhitting the Loggers 4-2, but it wasn’t amounting to anything. Houston hit a single to right with one out in the bottom 7th, and del Rio (!) singled with two outs, but Berto couldn’t get the ball through the infielders. Canas opened the eighth with a single to center, but was doubled up by Huerta to get del Rio through eight. Stalker’s 1-out double to left knocked out Metzler in the bottom 8th. Wallace flew out, but Manny singled to left, and with two outs Stalker went on contact and easily scored even against Steve Wilson’s strong arm … and we FINALLY tied the ****ing game! Kurt Wall doubled to center against southpaw Rob Clack, but it wasn’t quite enough to send Fernandez from first base… runners were on second and third with two outs. Salgado hit for Houston to counter the pitcher, hit a long drive to center… but Prestwood caught it after racing back.

Ed Blair got through the top 9th alright in a tied game, which at least meant we wouldn’t lose another one in regulation… Vickers hit for Maruyama against Clack and walked. Jennings batted for Blair… and walked. Berto was not hit for… and slapped into a double play (almost faints) … (groans) … that left Vickers at third with two outs and Zeltser up. Clack remained in the game, since the matchup was favorable for Milwaukee, but Bob Zeltser didn’t give a damn, singled up the middle, and this game was finally over… 2-1 Blighters. Zeltser 2-5, RBI; Stalker 2-3, BB, 2B; Houston 1-2, BB; del Rio 8.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K and 1-3;

The Titans won their last game against New York, so the gap remained at four games before the weekend sets came up.

Raccoons (83-63) vs. Thunder (77-68) – September 15-17, 2034

The season series was even at three. The Thunder had entertained playoff hopes during the summer, but that was over with a 9.5 game gap at this point. They were third in runs scored, but also conceded the third-most runs and had a -37 run differential which offered up an explanation or two for their demise.

Projected matchups:
Darren Brown (1-1, 1.84 ERA) vs. Mario Bojorques (7-9, 4.10 ERA)
Pat Okrasinski (13-7, 4.15 ERA) vs. Joel Trotter (3-9, 7.12 ERA)
Bernie Chavez (14-5, 2.74 ERA) vs. Mike Hanneman (3-3, 4.91 ERA)

All righties coming up here. And no, there was no way around Darren “Disaster” Brown after we used up Gilberto Rendon for four innings in relief of Bernie Chavez on Tuesday…

Game 1
OCT: RF Celaya – CF Olszewski – 1B D. Cruz – LF Sagredo – SS Serrato – 3B Schmit – C Motley – 2B Dean – P Bojorques
POR: SS Ramos – 3B Zeltser – RF Salgado – LF Wallace – CF M. Fernandez – 1B Zitzner – 2B Sibley – C Scheffer – P Brown

Brown fell behind the first four batters, and all of them reached base. Lorenzo Celaya, Drew Olszewski, and Danny Cruz all hit singles, with Cruz getting his 112th RBI of the year (fawns), and Luis Sagredo walked in a full count. Alex Serrato came up unlucky, hitting a comebacker to Brown for a 1-2-3 double play, and Berto handled Andy Schmit’s grounder. Portland took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the inning when Salgado singled, Wallace doubled, and Fernandez brought them both in with a single to right, all with two outs. The same part of the lineup came up with more 2-out heroics in the third inning; Salgado reached, stole second, scored on Wallace’s double – which gave Jimmy 80 and the team lead anyway – and Fernandez also doubled to right to bring home Wallace. Zitzner walked in a full count, and Ross Sibley hit an RBI single to left, with Zitzner meandering into a rundown between second and third to end the inning and keep things at 5-1 through three.

The Thunder were still facing a complete pushover, though. Serrato, Josh Motley, PH Firmino Cambra, and Celaya all whacked him for singles and two runs in the top of the fourth before Olszewski grounded out to Sibley, finally. Bottom 4th, Shinichi Tabata was pitching for Oklahoma. Scheffer, Berto, and Salgado all reached by the time there were two outs, and with Wallace back in the box, the 1-1 pitch went over the head of everybody to allow Scheffer to scamper home for the Coons’ sixth run. Wallace then drove in the rest on the next pitch, singling up the rightfield line, 8-3. Manny Fernandez then rammed a homer over the fence in center, ending Tabata’s 5-run outing and getting the Critters into double digits for the first time since the Great Depression.

Brown would last six innings, somehow, despite allowing eight hits and two walks. He walked Schmit to begin the sixth, got Motley to strike out, and then Joel Dean to poke a 3-1 pitch into a double play. Finally we could go to our pen …! (has Maud prepare paperwork to gift Darren Brown to the Thunder) Meanwhile, Oklahoma had not much fun with their pen. Right-hander Bryan Marlow was up in the bottom 7th, put Zitzner and Sibley on base, then gave up a pinch-hit 3-run homer to Billy Jennings. They even found someone – lefty Brian McAllister – to give up an RBI double to Zitzner in the bottom 8th. 14-3 Raccoons! Salgado 2-4, BB; Wallace 4-5, 2 2B, 3 RBI; M. Fernandez 4-5, HR, 2 2B, 5 RBI; Zitzner 3-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Jennings (PH) 1-1, HR, 3 RBI; de la Cruz 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K;

Boston lost to San Fran, narrowing the gap to three games.

Which doesn’t mean that I’m not planning to donate Darren Brown to the homeless shelter… no clue what the homeless people would do with him, but to be honest, I’m not giving much of a fluff.

The Raccoons added one more pitcher following the end of the minor league season, calling up Carlos Contreras. The left-hander had posted a 4.04 ERA in AAA this year… and a 7.27 ERA in a brief stint in Portland last year. Contreras had made his most recent start on Thursday, though, so wouldn’t be available until next week.

Game 2
OCT: RF Celaya – CF Olszewski – 1B D. Cruz – C Burgess – LF Sagredo – SS Serrato – 3B Schmit – 2B A. Rojas – P Trotter
POR: SS Ramos – 3B Zeltser – RF Salgado – LF Wallace – 1B Zitzner – CF M. Fernandez – C Wall – 2B Stalker – P Okrasinski

In a confusing change of the usual proceedings, the Raccoons scored first in this Saturday game. Okrasinski allowed three hits in the first two innings, but also whiffed four and went unscored upon, while the Coons got Zitzner to second base with one out in the bottom 2nd. Fernandez ground to third base, Schmit fired the ball over the head of Danny Cruz, and Zitzner got around on a 2-base throwing error. Kurt Wall’s single to left-center brought in Manny, 2-0, but before we could feel too good about other people’s mistakes, we made our own… Top 3rd, leadoff walk to Celaya, wonderful. Olszewski flew out, but Cruz singled, then runners pulled off a double steal (…), and Mike Burgess hit an RBI single. Okrasinski balked in the tying run, and the go-ahead run scored on Zeltser’s clumsy error on Serrato’s 2-out grounder. It didn’t get any better in the fourth, either. Leadoff single Alfredo Rojas, and Zeltser was at it again, throwing away Trotter’s bunt for two bases. There was probably no saving Okrasinski, who walked Celaya to fill them up with nobody out, but then somehow got a pop from Olszewski and limitd the damage to Cruz’ sac fly to left. That only delayed his demise and did not avoid it. He retired nobody in the fifth, walking Sagredo before allowing a single to Serrato and an RBI double to Schmit. That made it 5-2 Thunder, and with two in scoring position with nobody out. Prieto replaced him, whiffed Rojas and got Trotter to pop out, but then cocked up a 2-out, 2-run double to Celaya anyway… Olszewski grounded out to Stalker, but who gave a **** at this point? Down 7-2, Capt’n Coma was all that was left to go to. Anaya bled another run in the seventh, and there was no hope. Salgado 2-4; Zitzner 2-4, 2B; Wall 1-2, BB, RBI;

Boston won. I started looking at the offers for lonely huts in the mountains in October.

Game 3
OCT: RF Celaya – CF Olszewski – 1B D. Cruz – C Burgess – LF Sagredo – SS Serrato – 3B Matsumoto – 2B A. Rojas – P Hanneman
POR: SS Ramos – 3B Zeltser – RF Salgado – LF Wallace – 1B Zitzner – CF M. Fernandez – C Wall – 2B Stalker – P Chavez

Bernie nailed Olszewski good enough to force him out of the game in the first inning, replaced by Raul Montanoz, who thus got into his second ABL game. Nothing terrible happened to Bernie in that inning, and the Coons went up 3-0 in the bottom of the inning. Berto walked, scored on a Wallace double, and then Bad Luck Travis lifted one over the fence more as a signal of “yep, still got pulse” than anything else. While Bernie allowed one hit and whiffed two in the early innings, Hanneman had less of a joyful time. After the 3-spot in the first, the third saw him serve up four hits to Zeltser (leadoff double), Wallace, Zitzner, and Fernandez (all singles) before he walked Kurt Wall with the bases loaded and one down, pushing home Wallace with the fifth Portland run. Tim Stalker narrowly missed a homer to right, hitting the ball off the top of the fence instead for a 2-run double. In a 7-0 rout-in-the-making, the Thunder had seen enough from Hanneman and yanked him. Southpaw Nick Celmer gave up a sac fly to Bernie, and Berto singled home Stalker, the final knock in the inning, which closed with Portland up 9-0. Maybe I’d get by without booze today…!

Bernie didn’t allow a run through five, but his pitch count was already climbing; he needed 65 tosses to get through five, and then another 16 in the sixth including a Danny Cruz single. Sagredo sapped another eight pitches from him before flying out to Salgado to begin the seventh, and he was at 96 after that inning, so the shutout was pretty much gone. After some silent innings, the Coons’ offense tacked on a run against Shinichi Tabata in the bottom 7th, Berto singling home Stalker with two outs. That was also the final innings for as many of the regulars as we could remove. And while there was no harm in trying to get six outs from six pitches, Bernie didn’t quite make it. In fact, 15 more pitches (113 in total) only yielded two outs and left two on base for Bates, who got a groundout from Burgess to end the top 8th. He also did the ninth, with the Thunder remaining shut out. 10-0 Critters. Ramos 3-4, BB, 2 RBI; Wallace 2-4, 2B, RBI; Zitzner 3-5, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Chavez 7.2 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, W (15-5) and 1-2, RBI;

In other news

September 15 – TOP SP David Elliott (13-11, 3.25 ERA) throws a 2-hit shutout in a 6-0 win over the Scorpions. The 31-year-old southpaw whiffs nine.
September 15 – RIC SP Eric Peck (6-7, 4.32 ERA) and RIC CL Jared Stone (5-10, 3.91 ERA, 35 SV) throw a combined 1-hitter in a 2-1 victory over the Wolves. Salem’s 2B Mario Duenez (.245, 5 HR, 66 RBI) only singles with two outs in the eighth inning to enter his team into the H column.
September 17 – Indy’s SP Jose Lerma (15-11, 2.59 ERA) beats the Aces with six innings of 5-run ball in an eventual 10-8 win for the Indians. It’s the 200th career win for the 35-year-old southpaw, who was the 2023 Federal League Pitcher of the Year and made eight All Star teams. He has a 3.39 career ERA and 2,805 strikeouts as well as a solid Hall of Fame case.

Complaints and stuff

That could and should have gone better. We have one more home set against the Bayhawks, which is always a team that is prone to picking every single hair individually out of our bum fur, and then we go to Boston on the weekend, and as if that wasn’t bad enough, it’s still the damn Elks in Elktown to end the season… We are still getting 5% playoff odds, but I still can’t really buy into that…

The Titans get the softer schedule, seeing Oklahoma now that we softened their skulls with repeated blows, and they also have four against the damn Elks, who will surely not help us here…

Damn Elks!

Then again, if you can’t hold a candle to the Loggers…

Fun Fact: The Continental League is on triple crown watch for Charlotte’s Ernesto Huichapa, who leads the CL in batting average and home runs and is second in RBI.

He trails Danny Cruz by five in the latter category, and leads Justin Uliasz and skunk weasel Shane Sanks by five in homers. His edge over Danny Monge in the batting title race is however only a single point. Huichapa is a late blossom in the league – he was the 2032 Rookie of the Year at age 27, and was an offensive contributor so far, but nothing like his .952 OPS this year, which also leads the CL. What’s funny to me is how he was a Titans scouting discovery, but ended up as a throw-in when the Titans picked up Greg Gannon in the winter of 2026-27, and the Titans only got one year out of Gannon before he became a free agent and moved to Washington… and then they traded for Gannon AGAIN in the winter of 2029-30 …

And they STILL win the ****ing division every year!!

What is even more remarkable? Both Huichapa and Monge are catchers. Huichapa has soldiered out to start 127 games so far, all behind the dish, while Monge has made 120 starts this year, with 53 of those coming at first base. Monge is also perhaps the clumsiest catcher in the league right now – we wouldn’t touch him with a red-hot poker, and our scout guy, Perez or something, opines that the Crusaders’ pitching is so bad because of Monge…
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Old 02-03-2020, 03:57 PM   #3083
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Raccoons (85-64) vs. Bayhawks (76-73) – September 18-20, 2034

Final regular season home series of ’34 – that is the carefully crafted reckless optimism that will leave me destitute and legally insane by Sunday. San Francisco already had no actual hope left, not even by a long shot, and would take their fourth-best offense and sixth-best pitching into an early October vacation. They had whooped the Raccoons five games out of six so far.

Projected matchups:
Raffaello Sabre (10-8, 3.72 ERA) vs. Ben Lipsky (12-9, 3.89 ERA)
Ignacio del Rio (11-8, 3.92 ERA) vs. Josh Long (11-16, 3.32 ERA)
Darren Brown (2-1, 2.61 ERA) vs. Jesus Rodarte (7-8, 4.85 ERA)

Rodarte was the sole southpaw coming up here. The Bayhawks had suffered quite a few injuries lately, including outfielders Danny Serrano and Ryan Cassell. In any case, 2033 CL ROTY Doug Levis had missed all but two handfuls of games this year with a shattered elbow.

Game 1
SFB: 2B J. Cruz – 3B D. Myers – RF Suhay – 1B Uliasz – LF Hawthorne – C Allomes – SS A. Castillo – CF Pridgeon – P Lipsky
POR: SS Ramos – 3B Zeltser – RF Salgado – LF Wallace – 1B Zitzner – CF M. Fernandez – C Wall – 2B Sibley – P Sabre

There were 52 homers in the 3-4 spots in the Bayhawks’ lineup, so I feared the worst even with Ben Suhay batting his usual .199 at this point. Suhay did Sabre no harm in the opening half-inning, but Berto doubled, Zeltser singled, and Hugo Salgado dropped a 6-4-3 double play bomb that at least got Ramos home from third base… 1-0 in the bottom 1st, could be worse. The 6-7-8 batters all hit doubles in the bottom 2nd to extend the lead to 3-0, and that was where the scoring just stopped. Both teams would get the odd base runner, but neither team reached third base after the second inning all the way through the seventh inning stretch; in fact Sabre never allowed a runner to reach third base as long as he was in the game, which unfortunately was only seven innings, for which he needed 109 pitches thanks to his general inability to get a quick third strike in an 0-2 count. He only allowed four runners and whiffed five in those perfectly fine seven innings, but it was only SEVEN, and now we had to go back and bother a pen with about 128 losses to their name – just since the All Star Game…

Bottom 7th, however, Adrian Reichardt returned from the DL as pinch-hitter for Sabre. He reached on Dave Myers’ error, was forced out by Berto, but Ramos stole his 48th base and then scored on Zelts’ bloop single to make it 4-0. Nick Bates and Steve Younts were unscored upon for their respective teams in the eighth, after which the Raccoons for the umpteenth time tried to get a pulse with Victor Anaya, and very much didn’t. Myers grounded out, but he walked Suhay and Justin Uliasz for a quick yank. Ed Blair then solicited a ground ball double play from George Hawthorne to end the game. 4-0 Raccoons! Zeltser 2-4, RBI; Sibley 2-4, 2B, RBI; Sabre 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K, W (11-8);

The Titans and Thunder had an early slugfest (sounds familiar) but Boston held off a late rally to win 9-7, so we remained four games behind.

Tom Hawkins came off the DL for the Tuesday game.

Game 2
SFB: 2B J. Cruz – 3B D. Myers – RF Suhay – 1B Uliasz – LF Hawthorne – C Allomes – SS Elder – CF Pridgeon – P J. Long
POR: SS Ramos – 3B Zeltser – RF Salgado – LF Wallace – CF Reichardt – 2B Stalker – 1B Zitzner – C Thompson – P del Rio

Suhay struck … his own team in the naughty spot. In a third inning that was the perfect meltdown in progress for the Raccoons, with Kenny Elder reaching via single and stealing second unmolested, Jose Cruz being hit, and Dave Myers drawing a 2-out walk in a full count, and the bases being loaded, Suhay flailed wildly often enough that del Rio managed to strike him out and leave three on. Instead, the Critters scratched out the game’s first run in the bottom 3rd; Zitzner and Thompson singled, were bunted into scoring position, and Berto’s RBI groundout was all we could get, Zeltser flying out to center. The sole run didn’t hold up; Pridgeon was batting under .200 but kept getting on base in the series, hitting a 1-out single off del Rio, getting bunted over, and Jose Cruz’ grounder eluded Ramos and Stalker for an RBI single up the middle. But the bottom of the inning saw Zitzner and Thompson begin another frame by getting on base, and del Rio bunted them over successfully again. Berto got the run home again, this time singling through Uliasz, Thompson was plated with a Zeltser single to left, Berto boogied to second base, and then came home on Salgado’s single between Suhay and Pridgeon. That 3-spot gave del Rio a lead as big and he kept it maintained through seven, which he also closed out on just over 100 pitches. Also, his spot was up to begin the bottom 7th against lefty Eric Fox. Tom Hawkins batted for del Rio and right away doubled down the line, and an intentional walk to Berto and a Zeltser single filled the bases with nobody out. Salgado fanned and Wallace hit into a double play, nobody scored, and I was filled with a grim sense of foreboding. We went with Wise in the eighth, which somehow resulted in the 1-2-3 batters going down 1-2-3, and after a Tim Stalker double – his 30th of the season – went nowhere in the bottom 8th, Ed Blair was out there again. Uliasz ground out to Stalker (at short after some defensive reshuffling), Hawthorne fanned, and Dylan Allomes was also down 1-2 when Blair blasted him with a high fastball that he flailed at in vain. 4-1 Critters! Ramos 1-2, 2 BB, 2 RBI; Wallace 2-4; Zitzner 3-3, BB; Thompson 1-2, BB; Hawkins (PH) 1-2, 2B; del Rio 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (12-8);

Even better: Boston lost in 14 against the Thunder. The game went to extras at 3-3 and both teams added another three runs in the 10th. The Thunder, who didn’t an extra-base hit in five hours of baseball, fumbled together enough base runners and good luck to get somebody across in the 14th, and this time the Titans didn’t come back, dropping a 7-6 decision and getting their edge reduced to three games.

And three is where we need them if we want to sweep our way into a tie on the weekend.

(laughs nervously)

Game 3
SFB: SS A. Castillo – 2B Elder – RF Suhay – 1B Uliasz – LF Hawthorne – C Umanzor – 3B I. Russell – CF Pridgeon – P Rodarte
POR: SS Ramos – 3B Hawkins – RF Salgado – LF M. Fernandez – C Wall – CF Reichardt – 1B Zitzner – 2B Vickers – P Brown

Brown struck out four and walked one (Pridgeon…) the first time through in a start that miraculously didn’t turn into an instant disaster. In the fourth, he walked Kenny Elder leading off and surrendered the run (and thus a scoreless tie) with a 2-out double by George Hawthorne, the Baybirds’ first hit on the day, and which, y’know, FINE. Even that Hall of Famer Brown, that… what’s his name? Even that guy occasionally surrendered a base hit as early as the fourth inning! The next inning, Isaiah Russell hit a leadoff single, but was doubled up by Pridgeon, and the Bayhawks remained off the board there. What was much more concerning was the Raccoons’ inability to hit Rodarte in a conclusive manner. Zitzner drew a leadoff walk in the bottom 5th, adding absolutely no speed to the bases, and although Berto singled with two outs, nobody scored thanks to Hawkins grounding out.

Like the other Critter starters, Brown lasted seven on roughly 100 pitches, then was hit for in the bottom 7th. Tim Stalker grabbed a stick in his case and doubled to left-center with one out, moving Zitzner from first to third. Those two carried the tying and go-ahead runs. Berto and Hawkins both grounded to the left side; Russell intercepted Ramos’ grounder and kept the runners pinned, but couldn’t get to Hawkins, which escaped for a 2-out, 2-run single to flip the score. Salgado also singled, but Fernandez grounded out, and the pen had to work a 2-1 lead on this cold and windy Wednesday, and it didn’t work. Kenny Elder got a ball into the wind for a homer off David Fernandez, and then Suhay doubled against Prieto. Uliasz struck out, but Hawthorne pressed a 2-out RBI single through his former teammate Hawkins, and the Baybirds had the damn lead back, 3-2. Eduardo Umanzor walked before Russell flew out to center, stranding a pair. Rodarte got three groundouts to second base in the bottom 8th, Carlos Contreras retired three in a row in his season debut, and then Jimmy Lohrey and his 4.55 ERA were tasked with keeping the Critters from scoring in the bottom of the ninth. Bob Zeltser hit for Rich Vickers and grounded out to first base. Billy Jennings hit for Contreras and looped a single over Russell. And Berto hit a grounder at Castillo for a terminal double play. 3-2 Bayhawks. Salgado 2-4; Stalker (PH) 1-1, 2B; Jennings (PH) 1-1; Brown 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K;

Berto!? Why!!??

How??

With Boston beating the Thunder, 9-8, on Mark Walker’s walkoff single in the bottom of the 10th, the difference going back to four games, our general lack of ability to beat said Titans, and the damn Elks looming as hardcore spoilers at the very end of the year even IF we managed to survive til the final weekend… then that was a pretty ****ty way to end the home season…

Raccoons (87-65) @ Titans (91-61) – September 22-24, 2034

We lined up our best pitchers following the off day, sending Bernie, Sabre, and del Rio on regular rest each into these three games. The Raccoons had to win all three of them to have a real chance at the postseason, and it wasn’t ****ing likely given that the Titans had already bagged the season series, 10-5, with the Raccoons not winning as much as two consecutive games from them, and losing all five series played this year. Offense had been the Titans’ soft spot this year, with them being merely average, and almost mortal. Their pitching was sterling though, with the rotation and pen both second by ERA, and with them having allowed the fewest runs, just under 3.6 runs per game, and just *3.1* against the miserable Critters…

Projected matchups:
Bernie Chavez (15-5, 2.63 ERA) vs. Rich Willett (16-11, 3.17 ERA)
Raffaello Sabre (11-8, 3.58 ERA) vs. Robby Gonzalez (9-9, 3.40 ERA)
Ignacio del Rio (12-8, 3.82 ERA) vs. Adam Potter (11-8, 3.75 ERA)

Those were all righties, but the Titans had also been off on Thursday and thus could easily bring lefty Tony Chavez (13-9, 2.60 ERA) into the series… and they probably should if things got unreasonably tight by Sunday…

(clicks fingers for the attention of a the guy drawing beer behind the bar counter) Something hard, that goes right to the brain, and fast please.

Game 1
POR: SS Ramos – 3B Zeltser – RF Salgado – LF Wallace – CF M. Fernandez – 1B Zitzner – 2B Stalker – C Wall – P B. Chavez
BOS: 3B Gil – 1B J. Green – CF M. Avila – LF W. Vega – SS Spataro – 2B D’Angelo – RF Walberg – C R. Avila – P Willett

The Raccoons scratched out an unearned run in the first inning when Josh Green threw the ball away trying to turn two on Zeltser’s grounder, got nobody, and a Salgado grounder and Wallace sac fly brought Berto around. Green however made it up on a solo homer in the bottom 1st, then walked with one down in the bottom 3rd, scoring on a 2-out “double” by Willie Vega that Jimmy Wallace just blatantly ****ing didn’t get to in anything like due time. That gave Boston a 2-1 lead, and one win was all they realistically needed to have 99% odds of making October. And the offense was mostly just dead as far as the Critters were concerned; through five innings they managed three base hits and eight strikeouts against Willett… Chavez struck out four in five innings, hit two Titans in 2-strike counts, and needed 90 pitches to even make it that far.

A K to Salgado made it nine fanned Critters with two outs in the sixth. Wallace singled off Green’s glove on the right side, and Manny got hit with a 1-0 pitch, but it was clearly not revenge, even if only Bad Luck Travis came up. With two down, however, he couldn’t work his black devil magic and hit into a double play, so instead he hit a single past Keith Spataro and plated Wallace to tie the game. Stalker then grounded out to Brian D’Angelo.

Chavez hit a single in the top 7th, which led nowhere, then was yanked in the bottom 7th; Mark Walker opened with a pinch-hit double from Clay Walberg’s spot, but Roberto Avila fanned. Left-handed Jim Young hit for Willett, prompting a move to the pen and Mauricio Garavito, who right away allowed a sharp single to centerfield. It was too sharp though, at least to send Walker from second base. The Titans sent him, Fernandez fired to home plate, and Kurt Wall slapped him OUT!! Rhett West then pinch-hit for Antonio Gil, Portland went to Nick Bates, and Bates allowed an RBI double in the depths of left-center. Wallace was nowhere to be seen, and had probably gone for an ice cream. Three Titans reliever pooled together a scoreless eighth, but Bates walked Moises Avila leading off in the bottom 8th. Pat Sanford hit a 2-out single off David Fernandez, and PH Luis Leija struck out to strand Titans on the corners against Chris Wise, but here was Jermaine Campbell with NINETY strikeouts in 71 innings this season, and we had the soft part of the lineup coming up in the ninth inning, starting with the #8 hole, and PH Billy Jennings. He fanned. Reichardt grounded out. Berto grounded out to Spata- no! ERROR! He threw it away!! Coons get an extra life! Berto to second base and Bob Zeltser is coming to the plate! On the first pitch, he calmly grounded out to second base. 3-2 Titans. Zitzner 3-4, RBI;

Smashing. Smiting. Smothering.

All gone.

It’s all gone.

Game 2
POR: SS Ramos – 3B Zeltser – CF M. Fernandez – LF Wallace – 2B Stalker – 1B Zitzner – RF Jennings – C Wall – P Sabre
BOS: 3B Gil – 2B R. West – CF M. Avila – LF W. Vega – SS Spataro – RF M. Walker – 1B J. Green – C Sanford – P Potter

A walk to Gil, a balk, a groundout, and Vega’s sac fly gave the Titans a 1-0 lead right in the opening inning. Only Pat Sanford would land a base hit the first time through (and be doubled up on a bad bunt), but the Coons literally did nothing, and the Titans just had to wait for the next stupid move by Sabre, which turned out to be hitting Moises Avila at the start of the bottom 4th. Avila swiped his 27th base, then waited until Mark Walker unloaded his 14th homer, a 450-footer to right that was just demoralizing to see as it went on to invade restricted airspace over Logan International. The entire ballpark went into a bonkers frenzy in a 3-0 game. Ya, ya, I get it, your stupid ****ing team is winning again. Shut the **** up. – No, not you! (waves for the attendant to come back and puts his four empty whisky glasses on the tray) I’ll take another two of those. And with that I mean two times four.

Willie Vega’s leadoff jack axed Sabre in a 4-0 game in the bottom 6th. The Coons had four hits, never got two in the same inning, and hadn’t touched as much as third base. Zitzner hit a 1-out single in the seventh. Berto dropped a 1-out double in the eighth. Neither reached third base. Potter just kept clicking them away and entered the ninth still up 4-0 and on 94 pitches. He ran a full count against Jimmy Wallace, who ended up rolling over to Rhett West. Sibley hit for Stalker and singled to center. Zitzner dropped a ****ty roller near the third base line, but reached base when Pat Sanford flubbed the ball twice. Only that error got Potter out of the game, and Jermaine Campbell reappeared to grimly reap for fluffy Furballs. But first he walked Jennings in a full count. The tying run was now at the plate with one down. Reichardt batted for Kurt Wall and struck out. Hawkins batted for Hennessy… and struck out. 4-0 Titans. M. Fernandez 2-4; Sibley (PH) 1-1;

I am very proud of myself. I didn’t rebel. I didn’t throw any of my 16 glasses at the mascot. I didn’t urinate into a plant in the corner of the bar. I just … (holds onto the counter while shaking) … I’m just a lillll… I’m just … I think I’m gonna lay down here… a- … and… (holds on the counter with a shaking arm) … hummmm … humm- …

(barfs)

Game 3
POR: SS Ramos – 3B Zeltser – CF M. Fernandez – LF Wallace – 1B Zitzner – RF Houston – 2B Vickers – C Thompson – P del Rio
BOS: 3B Gil – 2B R. West – CF M. Avila – LF W. Vega – SS Spataro – RF M. Walker – 1B J. Green – C J. Young – P R. Gonzalez

Bobby Houston singled and scored in both the second and fourth innings on Sunday. Once Elliott Thompson plated him with a 1-out single, and once del Rio did the honors with a 2-out single. That was mostly all the Coons got from six hits in the first five innings, with del Rio holding the Titans to six hits and one run that came about in the bottom 4th when Moises Avila hit a leadoff triple past Wallace and scored on Vega’s grounder. The Coons were still up 2-1 in the sixth, but in that inning del Rio retired nobody. Moises Avila opened with an 0-2 single through the left side and then del Rio loaded them up with walks to Vega and Spataro. David Fernandez replaced him to see Mark Walker, who hit a single to center on a 2-2 pitch before Josh Green walked on four pitches, bringing, respectively, the tying and go-ahead runs across the plate. Fernandez fanned Young and Gonzalez, and Gil grounded out, but the damage was again ****ing done.

The game was then soon interrupted by a 35-minute rain delay because even the baseball gods couldn’t hold back the tears anymore, bent by laughter and busy patting each other’s backs. Gonzalez still logged three outs from three batters in the seventh. Wyatt Hamill retired the 2-3-4 batters in order in the eighth. With Campbell ostensibly tired from winning and winning and winning, J.D. Hamm was tasked with protection of a 3-2 lead in the ninth. Jennings hit for Zitzner and fanned. Houston grounded out out. Vickers hit a fly to deep left. The fans audibly gasped as Willie Vega raced back in terror, but I had seen enough **** in baseball to never get off my chair. I didn’t move as Vega laid out for a flying catch and slammed headlong onto the warning track before rolling up against the fence, without losing the ball OR breaking his neck. 3-2 Titans. Houston 2-4;

I didn’t move all the way until the Titans wanted to shut out the lights and rounded up a few Raccoons players to carry me to the bus.

In other news

September 19 – Vancouver’s Rookie of the Year candidate Dusty Mezzanotte (.258, 9 HR, 58 RBI) is out for the season and will spend the entire winter recuperating from a broken kneecap.
September 20 – A solo homer by LAP OF Justin Fowler (.286, 17 HR, 46 RBI) provides the only scoring in the Pacifics’ 1-0 win over the Capitals.
September 21 – NAS 2B/SS Billy Bouldin (.321, 2 HR, 76 RBI) drives in six runs from the leadoff spot in a 19-6 shellacking of the Stars. NAS OF Justin Simmons (.291, 6 HR, 72 RBI) joins him with five RBI.
September 21 – A groin strain ends the season of ATL RF/LF Roy Pincus (.281, 24 HR, 89 RBI).
September 22 – DAL INF Jon Ramos (.320, 3 HR, 84 RBI) ends up shelved with a hip flexor tendon injury and will miss the rest of the season.
September 23 – PIT 3B Omar Lastrade (.292, 17 HR, 65 RBI) will watch the rest of the season from the sidelines with a tear in his quad.
September 24 – SAC SP Andy Palomares’ (20-9, 3.53 ERA) season full of wonders ends with shoulder inflammation.
September 24 – WAS Johnny Nelson (11-13, 4.65 ERA) spins a 3-hit shutout against the Buffaloes in a 6-0 Caps win.

Complaints and stuff

My old gym teacher always related that one wisdom to me – “Toute vie doit se terminer, mais la gloire vit pour toujours” – whenever I was semi-conscious on the ground after being hit in the kisser during dodgeball.

Bless him, good old Mr. Poniatovski, who met his demise on a beautiful Sunday afternoon in May, mauled by a runaway beer wagon when its horses bolted.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons went 5-13 against the Titans this season, their worst mark since 2022.

2-16.
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Old 02-04-2020, 12:04 AM   #3084
DD Martin
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The season in a nutshell. Raccoons just couldn’t beat the Titans and that is the difference. A season split in the series has you up going to Vancouver. The boys are close but they must learn to beat the Titans.

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Old 02-04-2020, 02:35 AM   #3085
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(nods unenthusiastically while trying not to lose his brave face)

(sigh)

I should really just roll into a ball and watch the leaves fall...
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1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA | RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO

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Old 02-08-2020, 04:43 PM   #3086
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Four days of grieving and a couple o’ days’ salaries worth of frustration game purchases later – Forza Horizon 4 is obnoxiously expensive for a game that came out in 2018, but it sure lets you air out your boiling anger – the saga limps to its conclusion for the year…

I mean, I knew they weren’t gonna make it. But there’s not making it per se, and HOW the flying **** you’re not making it… Four days feels like a good spread if you don’t want to punch the “release all” button should they end up in a meaningless game in Indianapolis in which they leave the go-ahead run on third base in the 12th, 14th, and 16th innings…


+++

Raccoons (87-68) @ Indians (72-83) – September 25-28, 2034

The Raccoons crawled into the final week of the season, beaten and suffocated, and had nothing left to play for, and this time for real. It was four more with the Indians, who had won only three of 14 games against the Critters this year, were the worst team in scoring in the league (but hey, you wouldn’t suspect that after the Boston ****show that just flushed over us!), and were giving up the fourth-fewest runs. Their rotation was excellent with a 3.22 ERA, but their pen was a burning poultry farm.

Projected matchups:
Gilberto Rendon (9-6, 4.37 ERA) vs. Jim Kretzmann (7-17, 4.25 ERA)
Darren Brown (2-1, 2.28 ERA) vs. Jose Lerma (15-11, 2.54 ERA)
Pat Okrasinski (13-8, 4.33 ERA) vs. Arnie Terwilliger (3-4, 3.55 ERA)
Bernie Chavez (15-5, 2.64 ERA) vs. Sal Bedoya (10-12, 3.09 ERA)

Two right-handers on each end, two southpaws in the middle. The latter might get flipped or replaced, or maybe not; both had pitched in a double header on Friday. Two regulars were on the DL in Juan Benito and John Baron.

I was not at the ballpark for the opener, preferring to roll into a ball under the sheets in my hotel room. The TV was on, but I didn’t want to see them anymore…

Game 1
POR: SS Ramos – 3B Zeltser – CF M. Fernandez – LF Wallace – RF Jennings – 2B Sibley – 1B Maruyama – C Scheffer – P Rendon
IND: RF Witte – 2B Schneller – C J. Herrera – LF Acor – 1B Barber – CF Reyna – 3B Hansen – SS DiGiacomo – P Kretzmann

Dan Schneller and Juan Herrera singled to left, Matt Barber doubled them home, and just like that Rendon was on the receiving end once again, down 2-0 in the first inning. Wallace, Jennings, and Sibley all singled to load the bags with nobody out in the second inning, and one run scored on Maruyama’s double play grounder. Scheffer was walked intentionally and Rendon grounded out, leaving runners on the corners. Rendon grounded out again to keep Jennings and Scheffer stranded on the corners in the fourth inning, with a similar trajectory overall. Jennings hit a leadoff double, Sibley walked, and Chiyosaku Maruyama, which I was sure meant “****ing muppet” in Japanese, hit into another double play. Kretzmann left the game with an injury in the same inning, so, hey, we had their starter gone in the fourth … nope, nope, it was just … it was really just all sad.

Bob Zeltser hit a shot off Juan Melendrez to tie the game at two in the fifth inning and the score remained true through six, with Rendon being really pedestrian, but at least without getting lit up like a Christmas tree as usual. Bad Luck Travis hit for him when his spot was up in the top of the seventh and crashed another homer to right off Melendrez, giving the Raccoons a 3-2 lead. Billy Jennings hit the third solo homer of the day for Portland, taking Lance Legleiter and his near-six ERA deep to right in the eighth, but at least Legleiter rung up the ****ing muppet, so there was still a whiff of balance in the fabric of the baseball universe… The 4-2 lead was not something the Coons would get over the finish line seamlessly; Nick Bates had retired Schneller to end the bottom 7th, but loaded the bags in the eighth with a Herrera single, a walk to Dustin Acor, and by plunking Mike Plunkett. Chris Wise inherited three on and one out, yielded a single to right facing John Hansen, Herrera scored, but Acor was thrown out at home by Jennings for the second out. Wise then struck out Morgan Kuhlmann, PH’ing for Joe DiGiacomo. Ed Blair retired the Indians in order in the ninth. 4-3 Coons. Ramos 2-5; Zeltser 3-5, HR, RBI; Jennings 3-4, HR, 2B, RBI; Zitzner (PH) 1-1, HR, RBI;

Berto singled and stole his 49th base in the ninth inning. If he gets another one it would be his first season with 50 since 2031.

Boston lost to the damn Elks, 3-1, so we had yet to be mathematically eliminated.

Game 2
POR: RF Salgado – 3B Hawkins – SS Stalker – LF Wallace – 1B Zitzner – CF Reichardt – C Wall – 2B Vickers – P Brown
IND: RF Witte – 2B Schneller – C J. Herrera – LF Acor – 1B Barber – 3B Barlow – CF Strand – SS DiGiacomo – P Lerma

Three on, nobody out in the second inning was credited to Joe DiGiacomo, whose dismal 2-base throwing error on Zitzner’s leadoff grounder only got the Coons started. Reichardt walked, Wall singled, and Rich Vickers came up with a fine selection of runners to score. He bagged one with an RBI single to center, and that was the ice breaker in this game. Brown whiffed, Salgado hit a sac fly, and Hawkins rolled over to Schneller, so we only got to 2-0 in the inning. Indy got a run back in the bottom 3rd. Brown walked DiGiacomo on four pitches to begin the inning, the runner stole second when Vickers dropped Wall’s good throw, and Oliver Witte also walked after a successful bunt. I was groaning loudly under the blanket. Dan Schneller hit an RBI double to right, but Herrera whiffed and Acor flew out easily to Salgado, so the tying and go-ahead runs were stranded in scoring position.

Three on, nobody out in the fifth inning was entirely due to a string of singles, notably laced by the 9-1-2 hitters for the Critters. Tim Stalker was then up with the slam chance, but was held to a sac fly by Roger Strand, who made a catch in deep center. Wallace and Zitzner both hit RBI singles, and Adrian Reichardt singled to restock the bags for Kurt Wall, who at least hit a grounder that couldn’t be turned for two. Wallace scored on that, 6-1, Vickers got put on intentionally, and righty Matt Beckstrom got a pop from Brown to end the inning. Darren Brown then did a quick bottom 5th to qualify for his third major league win.

Three on, nobody out in the sixth inning was again assisted by the Indians. Hugo Salgado singled, but Schneller threw away a potential 4-6-3 poked by Hawkins. The runners pulled off a double steal with Beckstrom and Herrera not remotely on the same page, and Stalker ended up getting nicked with an 0-2 pitch, bringing up Wallace as the slam candidate. He grounded an 0-2 at Schneller, who forked that one as well, and a run scored. Zitzner whiffed, but Reichardt walked, forcing home Hawkins, 8-1, and that got Beckstrom removed for righty Mitch Brothers, who swiftly walked Kurt Wall with the bags still full. Vickers dropped an RBI single in front of Strand, and Brown rolled a single through between the middle infielders for another run. The Coons had batted through the order making only one out (although if Schneller hadn’t left his hands at home, the Indians would have been batting a long time ago…), and as I poked my nose over the blanket and around the bed post I wondered where the **** *this* offense had been all year long. Salgado hit into an actual out, a fielder’s choice that scored a run, Hawkins hit an RBI single, and new arrival Oscar Semchez walked Stalker to fill the bags once more, then allowed a 2-run single to Wallace. Zitzner hit an RBI single, and then Reichardt grounded out to short, ending a 10-run sixth inning that saw the team up 16-1. Consecutive 2-out RBI doubles by Matt Barber and Tom Schorsch in the bottom 6th narrowed the gap to 13, but the Coons also beat another two runs out of Semchez and Ray Myers in the top 7th. That was it for the Coons; Indy got another run off Carlos Contreras in the ninth, but by then the park was empty. 18-4 Critters. Salgado 2-4, 2 RBI; Thompson (PH) 1-1, RBI; Hawkins 3-7, 2 RBI; Stalker 1-2, BB, RBI; Wallace 3-6, 4 RBI; Zitzner 2-6, 2 RBI; Reichardt 2-4, 2 BB, RBI; Vickers 3-5, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Houston (PH) 1-2; de la Cruz 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

The damn Elks beat the Titans again, 4-3, so it was still not over mathematically.

But I also didn’t leave the hotel room on Wednesday. At this point there was a iota of superstition involved…

Game 3
POR: SS Ramos – RF Salgado – 2B Stalker – LF M. Fernandez – 1B Zitzner – CF Reichardt – C Wall – 3B Marsingill – P Okrasinski
IND: RF Witte – 2B Schneller – C J. Herrera – LF Acor – 1B Barber – 3B Barlow – CF Reyna – SS DiGiacomo – P Terwilliger

Three on, nobody out in the bottom 1st was due to Okrasinski appearing to be drunk and throwing hardly anything but balls. …and then a wild pitch at 0-2 to Dustin Acor, who grounded out poorly on the next pitch, Barber fanned, and then… Jake Barlow walked on four pitches. Jonathan Reyna grounded out, stranding three, and I rolled in tighter under the blanket. After DiGiacomo’s homer in the bottom 2nd, a walk to Witte, and three straight singles it was 4-0 Indians. He wouldn’t last another inning, allowing a double to Reyna and walking Witte with two outs in the bottom 3rd to get yanked, and that would be it for his Coons career… Schneller hit a fly to center off Prieto to end the inning, with the Coons down 4-1; in the top 3rd Berto had reached, stolen his 50th base, and had scored on a Fernandez groundout.

Top 4th, Reichardt reached on a leadoff single, Wall doubled him home, and Marsingill singled. Prieto bunted the trailing runner and tying run into scoring position, but Berto and Salgado both flew out to the shallow outfield to strand the runners. That was where the rally more or less ended; the Indians moved back out to a 4-run lead in the sixth with Witte’s homer off Anaya, who also walked Schneller and conceded that run on a Barber single, and added another run also charged to Anaya in the seventh, although Witte singled home DiGiacomo against Carlos Contreras. The Raccoons never got close to another rally, or even another run. 7-2 Indians. Ramos 2-5; Wall 2-4, 2B, RBI; Marsingill 2-3;

That was of course mathematical elimination confirmed, but even another win wouldn’t have saved the Critters, with Rich Willett and the Boston offense slapping off the Elks, 8-1.

Game 4
POR: SS Ramos – 3B Zeltser – CF M. Fernandez – LF Wallace – RF Jennings – 1B Zitzner – 2B Sibley – C Thompson – P Chavez
IND: RF Witte – 2B Schneller – C J. Herrera – LF Acor – 1B Barber – 3B Barlow – CF Reyna – SS DiGiacomo – P Bedoya

Matt Barber’s homer on an 0-2 pitch in the bottom 2nd was overturned in the following half-inning with the Coons getting Thompson on via leadoff walk. He was bunted over, Berto singled and stole second, and then Manny Fernandez’ 2-out single to center scored them both. And that was already all the offense (not only the runs) through five, with the notable quirk that Bernie also didn’t strike out anybody. Jake Barlow hit a real drive to right on an 0-2 pitch in the bottom 5th, but Jennings made a breakneck catch on that rocket.

It was already the seventh when Bad Luck Travis and Ross Sibley hit back-to-back doubles to score another run. Sibley reached second base with nobody out, but was left on as between Thompson, Chavez, and Ramos nobody could get a ball to drop in. Bernie fanned Herrera and Barber in a 1-2-3 bottom 7th, his first strikeouts in the game. Manny singled and stole second base with one down in the eighth. Wallace was walked with intent, Jennings walked without intent on the Indians’ side, and that brought up Zitzner with the bags full. He hit a sac fly to center, Sibley grounded out, and it was 4-1 with six outs to collect for Bernie. Leadoff single Barlow, but Jonathan Reyna hit a comebacker for a 1-6-3 double play. Zitzner then dropped Berto’s throw on DiGiacomo’s grounder to short, Plunkett batted for Bedoya and drilled an 0-2 to deep center, but Fernandez made the catch on the warning track. Bernie and Berto both hit singles off Melendrez in the ninth, but that led nowhere; with Bernie on 87 pitches, he got to take a stab at a complete game to finish his season, especially since there was nothing but individual glory to play for. Witte grounded out on the first pitch to begin the bottom 9th, but Schneller singled. Herrera flew out to Jennings. Dustin Acor fell to 1-2, but put the next pitch in play. He grounded out to Sibley, ending the game. 4-1 Coons. Ramos 2-4, BB; M. Fernandez 2-5, 2 RBI; Chavez 9.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, W (16-5) and 1-3;

Even after this win I didn’t feel like getting out of bed or touching my food bowl on the plane back out west. I flew separately from the team, since they went to Elk City to finish the year and I wasn’t allowed in the frozen wastes of the North.

Dr. Chung saw with concern that I hadn’t eaten in a while – for a Raccoon, even going without food for only 12 hours can mean death. He arranged for somebody to pick me up at the airport in Portland, which turned out to be Cristiano Carmona and Gustaf. In anticipation of October baseball all non-essential staff for ballpark maintenance had been given the last week of the road trip off, and most of them had left town, with Maud at a flower show in Idaho, pasty white guy Steve from Accounting getting burned on the beach of Hawaii, and Chad … well, nobody quite knew where Chad was when he wasn’t in the costume, but we assumed he was behind most of the mysterious sightings of giant raccoons in the dark of night that were reported to Portland Police from time to time.

Cristiano and Gustaf would host me for the weekend with instructions to keep me fed and entertained. And since I refused to move, Gustaf had to push me in Cristiano’s spare wheelchair…

Fun times.

Raccoons (90-69) @ Canadiens (59-100) – September 29-October 1, 2034

In the bottom three in runs scored and runs allowed and with the #1 pick next June well confirmed for them, the Elks had little to play for anymore. They had also not played very good spoilers to the Raccoons this year, losing ten games already with a potential for 13. Even against the Titans they had gone a respectable 8-10, so it wasn’t even them that had ruined our season. Great – where’s your token scapegoat when you need him…!?

Projected matchups:
Raffaello Sabre (11-9, 3.68 ERA) vs. Ed Miller (6-10, 5.30 ERA)
Ignacio del Rio (12-9, 3.86 ERA) vs. Steve Corcoran (11-16, 3.87 ERA)
Gilberto Rendon (10-6, 4.32 ERA) vs. Sean LaRue (3-3, 3.06 ERA)

Miller was the final right-handed starter for the season. The other two were southpaws.

If anything, the ivory tower in which Cristiano occupied the penthouse that overlooked most of the less ugly parts of Portland was shining even grander as we checked in. Gustaf, whose body looked even better trained and was even oilier than last time around, mostly undressed as soon as the elevator door closed behind us, then, wearing only gold shorts and a white tie, for reasons I didn’t understand or care much about, pushed me into the kitchen where he parked me up next to the table. I politely asked him to push me a bit closer, and he obliged. Ah, that’s a good position. (rests head on the table with a thump)

Since it was late, they ordered Chinese, and a lot of it, but I wasn’t touching any. I liked Chinese. But maybe my time had come. Even Cristiano’s non-too-subtle thread that we couldn’t watch cartoons if we didn’t finish our meal couldn’t make me touch any food. I joylessly nipped on a glass of water, and that was that, and it was only Thursday night.

Friday’s game was an early start in Elktown, which was fine by me since it precluded Cristiano and Gustaf from dragging me to any “fun” activities during the day. But I did enjoy that Gustaf brushed my old gray fur that hadn’t been brushed in a while… he had a hand for that…!

Game 1
POR: SS Ramos – 3B Zeltser – CF M. Fernandez – LF Wallace – 2B Stalker – 1B Zitzner – RF Houston – C Thompson – P Sabre
VAN: 3B D.J. Robinson – 2B Morrow – LF LeJeune – C Ross – RF Korecky – 1B P. Rivera – SS B. Gonzales – CF Massey – P E. Miller

Jimmy Wallace’s leadoff jack in the second was his 13th homer on the season and also the first marker on the scoreboard in this game. Cristiano threw up his arms and squealed, but Gustaf was busy doing his toenails, and I was slumped into a heap on the rosé couch between them and felt nothing. Will Korecky’s leadoff jack in the bottom 2nd also didn’t exactly faze me. I *did* manage to muster enough energy for an angry groan when Zitzner dropped a Stalker feed for an error with two outs in the inning, and that was after Micah Massey walked and it put Ed Miller on base. D.J. Robinson walked, but Eric Morrow grounded out to strand a full set. An utterly hittable Sabre allowed five base hits in the bottom 3rd, all singles, but the damn Elks made only one run from them with a double play in between and then Paz Rivera was thrown out at home by Bobby Houston when Massey dropped a 2-out single in shallow right, ending the inning. Sabre instead balked in a run with Robinson and Jesse LeJeune on the corners and two outs in the bottom 4th before ex-Coon Toby Ross grounded out to Zeltser. Eight hits, three walks through four innings, Sabre was just awful. Everything was awful.

When I sighed at the conclusion of the inning, Cristiano used the commercial break to transfer into his wheelchair and roll into the kitchen, returning with a bowl of chocolates in his lap that he put right in front of my black pointy nose. I sniffed once, tired of it all, but didn’t make an effort to extend a paw to the bowl. The same pretty much was true for the Raccoons on TV, who weren’t exactly overpowered by Miller, but made poor contact relentlessly. He almost made them rally in the seventh inning, walking Stalker and Zitzner to get the inning underway, which put the tying runs on base with nobody out. Houston singled to center on the first pitch, loading the bags for Elliott Thompson, who hit a soft line over the head of Bobby Gonzales at 2-2, and it fell in for an RBI single. Sabre was batted for here, but Jennings fouled out in his place, and Berto lined out hard. Zitzner was still on third base with the tying run and two outs. Zeltser fired a ball to deep center, Micah Massey raced back and reached, but didn’t make it back, and the ball was in for extra bases. Zitzner scored, Houston scored, Thompson scored, and Zeltser slid in with a bases-clearing triple! Cristiano howled, Gustaf briefly looked up from his nail job, and I registered the play, but didn’t make a noise. Manny struck an RBI single to knock out Miller, stole second, but was left on when Wallace grounded out against reliever Dave Peluso, who was walking 6.5 batters per nine innings, and striking out not nearly as many.

The damn Elks made up a run with two hits and a walk against a parade of relievers in the bottom 7th. Prieto was charged the run on a single Garavito conceded before Wise wiggled out of the inning with the tying runs aboard in a 6-4 game. Hennessy offered a leadoff walk to PH Tomas Caraballo in the eighth, but whiffed Robinson and got a double play roller from Morrow. Ed Blair had the ball in the ninth, fell behind every hitter he faced, but still retired LeJeune, Ross, and Korecky in order… 6-4 Raccoons. Zeltser 2-4, 3B, 3 RBI; Houston 2-4;

So the game ended with a win, and with Cristiano emptying the entire bowl of sweets, save for the one he unwrapped and put right in front of my nose. I smelled fudge.

But I didn’t touch it.

Game 2
POR: SS Ramos – 3B Hawkins – RF Salgado – LF Wallace – 2B Stalker – 1B Zitzner – C Wall – CF Reichardt – P del Rio
VAN: 3B D.J. Robinson – 2B Morrow – LF LeJeune – C Ross – RF Korecky – 1B P. Rivera – SS B. Gonzales – CF Creech – P Corcoran

Last dips for del Rio on the year, and he got off with a 1-0 lead provided by Hugo Salgado with a solo homer in the top 1st. Mind, the lead didn’t live past base hits by Morrow and that curse Toby Ross, but, eh… These games barely counted, just don’t break your necks out there. Or maybe do break your necks, not even that matters anymore…

The damn Elks were up 2-1 after two innings; Paz Rivera drew a leadoff walk, Gonzales singled, and after a K and a bunt, Kurt Wall bobbled a pitch to Robinson. Rivera scored on the passed ball to give the pink punks the lead. Korecky and Gonzales teamed up for two hits and a run in the fourth, 3-1 Elks. Cristiano insisted on putting a rally cap on my weary head when del Rio reached with an infield single to begin the fifth inning, but the 1-2-3 batters made 1-2-3 outs and never even moved del Rio off first base, and the rally cap fell off soon after. Instead LeJeune hit a 2-run homer off del Rio in the bottom of the inning. It was just one of those games…

Del Rio barely salvaged a sub-4 ERA by lasting six innings after getting waffled for five runs. Rich Vickers hit for him in the seventh and hit a solo homer to left, but that wasn’t going to stave off defeat in this one. The Raccoons only got one more base hit, a 2-out Ramos single in the ninth against Dusty Kulp, and that was it then, as they trundled to a listless and meaningless defeat. 5-2 Canadiens. Ramos 2-5; Salgado 2-4, HR, RBI; Wallace 2-4, 2B; Zitzner 2-4; Vickers (PH) 1-1, HR, RBI;

I slept most of the time until the last game of the season, which didn’t matter anymore, except if the Coons lost and the Knights won, which would create a tie for the #19/#20 picks next June. Not exactly the problem you would cancel a nap for. A 12-hour nap. Interrupted once when bench coach Erik Mango (sic!) called from Elktown whether they should play as many kits as possible. I nodded that off, then nodded back off.

When I watched the pre-game show with alone with Cristiano – Gustaf was one of the bathrooms adding accents to his flowing blond locks – I couldn’t help, but had to ask Cristiano, who had his limp legs elevated onto the seat of his wheelchair, because I really needed to know now.

Say, Cristiano… you were born disabled, right? – (Cristiano looks over with big eyes before nodding) – So you’ve never been able to walk and have always been in a wheelchair? – I know, your brother told me about the chair with the missing wheel. – Why, though, did you fight through all that and didn’t just … throw in the towel… because it’s all just too much, and it’s all just too hard. Why?

Cristiano’s answer, that there was only this one life for him and that it was about playing with the cards you were dealt with, and that he had made it pretty far for a disabled little boy from Costa Rica with ten older siblings and with three wheels to his wheelchair. Life was not about being gifted ****. Life was about clawing and scratching and fighting back against ****.

…although having a brother being signed by a major league baseball team and being paid millions and millions had certainly helped, he admitted.

Game 3
POR: CF Salgado – 3B Hawkins – SS Stalker – LF M. Fernandez – 2B Vickers – RF Houston – 1B Maruyama – C Thompson – P Rendon
VAN: 3B D.J. Robinson – 1B P. Rivera – C Ross – LF LeJeune – RF Korecky – 2B Morrow – SS B. Gonzales – CF Pohl – P LaRue

The Coons opened with three straight hits; Salgado singled, stole second, and came around on Hawkins’ double in a classic Ramos Special, while Stalker’s single and Fernandez’ groundout moved Hawkins around for a quick 2-0 lead. With Rendon holding up more or less well early on, allowing only one base hit the first time through, the Critters further went to work on LaRue in the fourth inning. The 5-6-7 batters opened with straight singles, with even the ****ing muppet singling home Rich Vickers. The runners advanced on the throw home, Thompson was walked intentionally, and Rendon hit a comebacker that got Houston forced out at home, but Salgado’s groundout and Hawkins’ RBI single both brought in one more run for a 5-0 lead in the top of the fourth before Stalker popped out. Rendon nailed Eric Morrow in the bottom 4th, but Morrow was caught stealing by Thompson(!), so the damn Elks were being kept as starved as possible. The damn Elks didn’t get on base until the sixth inning, and then only in unearned fashion. D.J. Robinson led off with a single to right, Houston overran the ball for an error and extra base, and that allowed them to score the run on two productive outs, reducing the Coons’ lead to slam range. Will Korecky hit a leadoff single in the bottom 7th, but following Morrow’s pop got picked off by Rendon. The Coons’ fallen Opening Day starter never allowed an earned run in the game and was hit for in the ninth when the Critters emptied the bench against ex-Critter Matt Stonecipher and his 6.55 ERA. Berto batted for Thompson, but grounded out. Zeltser hit for Rendon and singled. Wallace and Scheffer both walked in PH assignments, filling the bags. Zitzner batted for Tim Stalker and fanned (…), and Fernandez was left to his own devices, which allowed him to draw four balls from four pitches and force in a run. Vickers grounded out, ending the inning. David Fernandez and Prieto split the bottom 9th, and the season was in the books…! 6-1 Coons. Wallace (PH) 0-0, BB; Hawkins 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Scheffer (PH) 0-0, BB; Thompson 1-2, BB; Zeltser (PH) 1-1; Rendon 8.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (11-6);

In other news

September 25 – CIN SP Josh Weeks (13-8, 3.29 ERA) throws a 2-hit shutout over the Miners, walking nobody and whiffing six.
September 25 – The Bayhawks win their game with the Condors after the contest goes scoreless in regulation. Outfielder Ben Suhay (.200, 21 HR, 58 RBI) lifts a sac fly to walk off the Bayhawks in the 10th inning, 1-0.
September 26 – SFW SP Tony Galligher (14-10, 4.10 ERA, 1 SV) throws a 6-hit shutout against the Gold Sox. The 5-0 Warriors in is enough to seal the FL West for the defending champs.
September 27 – The Condors tie up the CL South with a 4-1 win over the Bayhawks. It will be their sixth playoff appearance in seven years.
September 28 – CIN OF Ken Gibbs (.293, 7 HR, 29 RBI) is out for the year with a concussion.
September 30 – Terrible blow for the Condors, who lose superstar Shane Sanks (.288, 33 HR, 114 RBI) to a quad strain. He is not expected to return this year.
October 1 – TIJ C Jose Flores (.299, 13 HR, 76 RBI) goes on a romp in the Condors’ 16-4 mauling of the Aces. Flores lands four base hits, three of them home runs, and drives in *11* runs with a grand slam off LVA SP Chris Pyles (7-14, 6.37 ERA), a 3-run homer, a 2-run homer, and a 2-run triple.
October 1 – In Washington the season doesn’t end until the 15th inning when Cincy pitcher Norogumi Sakurai (0-1, 7.20 ERA) is fed up with it all and walks the Caps’ Andy Sears (.224, 1 HR, 11 RBI) with the bases loaded to give the Capitals an 8-7 walkoff win. This walkoff walk forfeits the FL East to the Blue Sox, who had earlier lost their game against the Miners; with a win, the Cyclones would have forced a tie-breaker game on Monday.

Complaints and stuff

Well, that’s over. Now it’s about wiping off the tears, and regrouping, and moving forward, and making it good next year. (stretches all four paws) Thanks, Cristiano, for life lessons, and everything else, and do you have another bowl of those sweets? – Fantastic! … And can you drive me home, because my car is at the ballpark? – Fantastic!

I probably shouldn’t cackle with glee about the skunk weasel’s demise just before the playoffs. But, well, he stole a Player of the Year belt from Rich Hereford, and I will hate him until the end of the universe…!

Not a good year for our minor league teams once more. The Alley Cats came 72-72. The Panthers (59-81) and Beagles (61-79) didn’t come close to .500 …

But, eh, who had a good year here?

Fun Fact: Jose Flores’ 11-RBI game on Sunday is the first such effort in ABL history.

The previous record for RBI in a game was 10, achieved twice. The Knights’ Tom McDonald did it in 1987, and the Titans’ Laurent Martin in 1996 – both pulling off the feat in June 16 of the respective season.

And neither of them did it against the Coons!

Four Raccoons have driven in as many as nine runs in a single game. There was the Daniel Hall Game in 1984, the only extra-inning effort on the list. Neil Reece (1990), Vern Kinnear (1993), and Craig Bowen (2007) also all had 9-RBI games. In Bowen’s case it’s his game with four homers, still the only one of its kind in ABL history.
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Old 02-08-2020, 08:28 PM   #3087
DD Martin
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That might have been the most painful 92 win season on record.
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Old 02-10-2020, 02:14 PM   #3088
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2034 ABL PLAYOFFS

October had arrived and with it the thinning of the crowd to just four teams to fight out the 2034 ABL champions. This would include the Titans and Condors, both finishing 97-65 and about a handful of games clear in their divisions, in the CLCS; and in the FLCS the Blue Sox (96-66) had won their division by a single game and were going to host the defending champions, the 88-74 Warriors.

Power was the name of the game for the Warriors, who were hitting for a high average too, but weren’t into walking much or stealing bases at all; they had finished tops with 169 homers and bottoms with 43 stolen bags. Their pitching had been more on the mediocre side, with the fourth-fewest runs allowed while the starters had the seventh-best ERA, with the pen a wee bit ahead of them. It was hard to gloss over the lack of a bonafide starter or closer, however; Zach Warner had saved 35 games for a 3.06 ERA, but with the injury of Gavin Lee the best starter they could come up with was Francisco Colmenarez (16-9, 3.66 ERA). The offense would have to do it; in Melvin Hernandez, Mario Colon, Tim Sheaffer, Ethan McCullar, and Nick Rozenboom they had FIVE guys with 20+ homers (although Colon would miss the first few games of the FLCS with forearm stiffness), and none of them was hitting less than .265;

Thankfully for the Warriors, the Blue Sox’ rotation was even more crummy. It had come up in the bottom three in ERA, with the bullpen in the top three. But they had allowed the fourth-most runs, making their appearance in the FLCS with the best record in the Federal League even more miraculous. On the other hand, their offense trumped the Warriors’ in terms of output, but did it by stabbing the opposition bit by bit rather than with one huge slash. They were almost the polar opposite of the Warriors – last in homers (77), second in stolen bases (161), and that was after they had stuffed the bags with a .363 team OBP. Jim “Mastodon” Allen had hit .345 with 16 homers and 127 RBI, and there were another FIVE .300 hitters in the lineup to slowly suffocate the opposition. The rotation, as mentioned, was horrendous. Doug Clifford had won 16 games with a 3.64 ERA, one point over the mark of 10-5 Ken Stice. It got only worse from there. At least any lead that reached CL Mike Bass (1.74 ERA, 42 SV) was unlikely to evaporate. They had one notable player on the DL in Doug Stross, but the offense didn’t look worse for it.

The 97-win Titans would have to overcome the 97-win Condors on the road with home field advantage given to Tijuana. Boston had allowed the fewest runs in the league with the #1 rotation, #2 pen, and #2 defense, but their offense had lost the bite of previous years, coming up eighth in runs scored. But the rotation as so good that even losing Mario Gonzalez and Dustin Wingo early on couldn’t subdue them and they entered the postseason with four starters with ERAs of 3.39 or better, led by 18-game winner Rich Willett and his 3.04 ERA. In the pen, Jermaine Campbell’s 50 saves guaranteed late-inning security. However, there wasn’t even a .290 hitter on the team, and nobody had hit more than 14 homers – at least if you deducted Ivan Vega, who was stashed away on the DL. Mark Walker’s 85 RBI stood well alone on the team, which otherwise boasted 67 by Edgar Gonzalez as second-best mark.

For the Condors, it was all about being consistently good without leading the league in any meaningful category. They were second in runs scored, second in runs allowed, and with a far better run differential than the Titans (+176 compared to +104). They were fourth in batting average, on-base percentage, home runs, stolen bases… they really liked being fourth in many aspects. They had the third-best rotation by ERA, though. In the playoffs that rotation would be headed by Jeff Little (11-7, 2.98 ERA) and George Griffin (10-10, 2.87 ERA), and they had a sturdy pen with final boss Ray Andrews (1.84 ERA, 35 SV) and Josh Heckman (9-1, 1.23 ERA) guarding the gate to said boss. But of course there was a huge issue for the Condors, and it was Shane Sanks’ quad. The four-time Player of the Year had batted .288/.421/.526 with 33 homers and 114 RBI in the final week of the regular season when his quad had acted up. He was out for at least the CLCS and maybe they could apply enough ointments to get him ready for the World Series. To get there, they required a concerted effort from Willie Ojeda (.313, 18 HR, 88 RBI) and the rest of the densely constructed lineup.

All of the teams involved had rather balanced lineups and most seemed to ride into battle with two right-handed and two left-handed starters. Both LCS figured to be tight, maybe with slight edges for the Blue Sox and Titans.

All of the teams were also regular playoff participants; all were in the top 10 in October tickets. The Titans had the most playoff seasons of any ABL team, this being their 18th postseason. The Condors made the show for the 15th time (t-2nd), and the Warriors and Blue Sox both were in the show for the 12th time (t-7th). The Titans also had the most championships of all ABL teams with nine, with the Blue Sox and Warriors both winning it all twice (including the Warriors in ’33), and the Condors had been all on top once.

This was the fourth Titans-Condors in recent memory (2029, 2031, 2032) and the sixth in total (1997, 1998). The Condors only won the 2029 CLCS, which was also the year they won it all. The Titans took the other four CLCS, winning championships in 1998 and 2031, losing to the Capitals in ’97 and the Pacifics in ’32.

The Blue Sox and Warriors had met each other only once in the FLCS, back in 2000, a series won by the Warriors before they had to bow to the Thunder.

+++

2034 LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

BOS @ TIJ … 6-2 … (Titans lead 1-0) … BOS Antonio Gil 2-4, BB, 3 RBI; BOS Mark Walker 2-4, 3B, 2B, 2 RBI;

SFW @ NAS … 3-6 … (Blue Sox lead 1-0)
BOS @ TIJ … 2-1 … (Titans lead 2-0) … BOS Rhett West 3-4, 2B; BOS Tony Chavez 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W (1-0) and 1-3;

SFW @ NAS … 4-1 … (series tied 1-1) … SFW Melvin Hernandez 4-5; SFW Tony Galligher 8.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (1-0) and 1-2, 2 RBI;

TIJ @ BOS … 0-1 (10) … (Titans lead 3-0) … TIJ Juan Garcia 8.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K; BOS Adam Potter 8.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 8 K; BOS Jermaine Campbell 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, W (1-0);

NAS @ SFW … 2-4 … (Warriors lead 2-1) … NAS Justin Simmons 2-4, 2 HR, 2 RBI; SFW Tim Sheaffer 2-3, HR, 2B, RBI;
TIJ @ BOS … 3-2 … (Titans lead 3-1)

Jimmy Driver pitches seven innings of 2-run ball to stave off a Titans sweep in the CLCS.

NAS @ SFW … 2-5 … (Warriors lead 3-1) … SFW Pedro Cisneros 2-3, 2 RBI; SFW Nick Rozenboom 2-3, BB, RBI;
TIJ @ BOS … 3-2 … (Titans lead 3-2) … TIJ Chris Murphy 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI;

Jeff Little spins six innings of 2-run ball to squeeze out a return ticket to Tijuana for everybody involved.

NAS @ SFW … 6-7 … (Warriors win 4-1) … NAS Raul Sanchez 3-5, RBI; NAS Justin Ollis 3-4; SFW Melvin Hernandez 2-3, 2 HR, 3 RBI; SFW Mario Colon 2-4, 2 RBI; SFW Ethan McCullar 2-4, 2 2B;

BOS @ TIJ … 2-4 … (series tied 3-3) … TIJ Ken Kramer 2-3, BB, 2 HR, 3 RBI; TIJ Jimmy Wood 3-4, 2 2B; TIJ Robby Ciampa 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, W (1-0);

BOS @ TIJ … 2-3 … (Condors win 4-3) … BOS Antonio Gil 2-4, BB, 2B; BOS Keith Spataro 2-3, 2 BB; TIJ Ken Kramer 2-3, BB;

After Ray Andrews blows a 2-1 lead in the ninth, walking Gil, allowing a single to Spataro, and conceding the run on a Moises Avila grounder, the Condors’ bottom of the ninth begins with Willie Ojeda tripling on the second pitch thrown by Jermaine Campbell. Chris Miller whiffs, Ken Kramer is walked intentionally, but when Alfredo Quintana grounds to second base, Rhett West won’t get two and has to go home, but can’t beat Ojeda, who slides in safe, walking off the Condors in a stunning comeback from a 3-0 deficit in the series…!

+++

2034 WORLD SERIES

The Warriors would bring the better offense into the World Series, while the Condors had conceded almost a hundred fewer runs in the regular season (and precious few in the CLCS). The good news for the Warriors was that they didn’t suffer any additional injuries and could work with what they had used in the successful FLCS. The good news for the Condors was that Shane Sanks was going to be back in the cleanup slot and they now expected to win the series in perhaps as little as five games.

These teams had never met in the World Series before.

+++

SFW @ TIJ … 1-0 (11) … (Warriors lead 1-0) … SFW Tony Galligher 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 5 K; Zach Warner 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K, W (1-0); TIJ Jeff Little 8.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K; TIJ Ray Andrews 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

Nick Rozenboom doubles off Josh Heckman to score Pedro Cisneros for the game’s only run in 11 innings.

SFW @ TIJ … 4-3 … (Warriors lead 2-0) … TIJ Andy Hughes 3-4, 2B, RBI; TIJ Chris Miller 3-5;

The Condors out-score the Warriors, 12-8, but also make two costly errors in a tight contest.

TIJ @ SFW … 6-2 … (Warriors lead 2-1) … TIJ Willie Ojeda 2-5, 3B, RBI; TIJ Shane Sanks 2-4, BB, RBI; TIJ George Griffin 8.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K, W (1-1);

TIJ @ SFW … 4-0 … (series tied 2-2) … TIJ Andy Hughes 3-4, BB; TIJ Willie Ojeda 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI; TIJ Shane Sanks 2-5, 2 RBI; TIJ Juan Garcia 9.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, W (1-0) and 1-3, 2B;

TIJ @ SFW … 2-3 … (Warriors lead 3-2) … TIJ Chris Murphy 2-3, 2B, RBI; SFW Pedro Cisneros 2-4, 2 2B; SFW Ethan McCullar 2-4, HR, RBI;

“Fine”, shrugged the Condors. “Right where we want them.”

SFW @ TIJ … 4-5 (11) … (series tied 3-3) … SFW Melvin Hernandez 3-6, RBI; SFW Ethan McCullar 3-6, 2B, RBI; SFW Joe McFarlin 3-4; TIJ Chris Murphy 2-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI;

Ray Andrews blows his second save in the ninth, but with mighty help by Shane Sanks, who commits a throwing error. Mike Ibarra surrenders a walkoff RBI double to Jimmy Wood in the bottom 11th to set up Game 7.

SFW @ TIJ … 8-4 (11) … (Warriors win 4-3) … SFW Pedro Cisneros 2-4, 2B, RBI; SFW Mario Colon 2-4, 2 BB, 2 2B, RBI; SFW Jesus Matos (PH) 2-2, 2B; TIJ Willie Ojeda 2-4; TIJ Jimmy Wood 1-2, 3 BB; TIJ Yeong-ha Sung (PH) 1-1, RBI;

Ray Andrews blows his third and final save of October, getting socked for four hits and two runs in the ninth to make a 4-2 lead defended by George Griffin and three relievers disappear. Josh Heckman appears in the 11th and retires nobody. Two hits, three walks, and four runs end the Condors’ season before Ibarra, the previous night’s scapegoat, retires the final Condors batters to seal the Warriors’ third championship.

2034 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS
Sioux Falls Warriors

(3rd title)
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Old 02-10-2020, 06:52 PM   #3089
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The way out of sad 92-win seasons was more coin. I wrote that about seventeen times to Nick Valdes during the postseason, but never got much of a reply. The Coons had been dealing with the sixth-smallest budget in ’34, just $29.4M, and that had sure hampered them, starting with the loss of Mario Rosas, who went 13-9 with a 2.93 ERA for the Condors. Imagine that rather than Okrasinski…

At least all the carefully minced words about Valdes having to open his pockets before they burst for all the stinkin’ money inside them worked out in the end. The Raccoons got a neat boost to a $34.5M budget for 2035! Say, Nick, how about 35 for 35? – No? – Not another nudge? – Fine. $34.5M will do. It tied us for 15th in the league with the Buffaloes, but at least we were now catching up again…

The top 5 in the league would be the Pacifics ($60M), Titans ($51M), Condors ($47.5M), Warriors ($47.5M), and Cyclones ($41.5M), while at the bottom the five teams with the least coins were the damn Elks ($29.6M), Aces ($26.4M), Loggers ($26.2M), Rebels ($23.8M), and Falcons ($23.8M).

The missing CL North teams were the Indians in 11th place with $37.5M and the Crusaders in 13th with $36M.

The average budget was $36.9M, about $1M more than a year ago. The median budget amounted to $36.5M, down $250k from last season.

+++

A couple of things worked together now to make the Raccoons serious players on the free agent market in the 2034-35 offseason. The first was another $5M in dosh handed over by the owner, and the other was Adrian Reichardt’s misfortune of hitting the DL in August and thus failing to reach 135 games played to trigger a vesting option worth some $2M and small change. Oh, Adrian, I am so sorry…! No, over there, over there, that’s the door.

I would claim fiscal prudency on my part, but we all know that ship has sailed.

There were of course also some big question marks that needed answering, and some of it had to do with one of the largest bunches of arbitration-eligible and free agency-bound players we had ever had. There were five free agents and no fewer than 13 players headed for arbitration unless dumped or being made to sign a new deal. The latter group included, for starters, the entire crop of “young starters” in Bernie, del Rio, and Sabre; most of our core relievers; two catchers nobody was too happy with; Bad Luck Travis; and two puzzling outfield cases with Wallace and Salgado.

In the free agency bucket, besides Adrian Reichardt, we had Tom Hawkins, Billy Jennings, Pat Okrasinski – perhaps all players that could be upgraded with a stash of banknotes of the right height – and grizzled old veteran Tim Stalker, who had been around for so long to not only having survived our massacre of 90+ losses two years ago, but also the last one before that, on a team where he was buds with Coons legends Jonny Toner and Cookie Carmona, another Travis train wreck (Garrett), and the animated skeletons of Gil Rockwell and Manobu Sugano – in 2022. The latter two had been in their age 37 season, and Stalker would turn 37 next July.

Stalker’s defense had been worth about 1.2 wins in ’34, and he batted for almost three more. Normally, a 36-year-old second baseman on his team’s richest contract was a reason for fishermen finding the GM’s cold, moist body hanging from a bridge near the docks in the fog at 4am, but Tim Stalker had grinded away at the season just as he always did, hitting for a .727 OPS, too, which was roughly his career average.

There were some pretty sound arguments for trying to get Stalker to extend his 13-year run with the team, and a few of those were that Rich Vickers and Ross Sibley didn’t look like the right replacement. Sibley in particular; a solid contributor with the Aces, he had been acquired right up at the deadline on July 31, along with Kurt Wall (who was arbitration eligible while Sibley was a year away unless banished to Florida). Neither of them couldn’t have been more useless. Both dropped around 60 points of batting average compared to their previous teams, and neither played a major role in our 2035 plans.

Tim Stalker however was worth talking about…!
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Old 02-11-2020, 11:50 PM   #3090
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What an odd 2029 statline for Stalker, .250/15/100 RBIs , OPS+ below league average, with only 52 extra base hits in 154 total hits, what was his RISP that year? Had to be way up there
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Old 02-12-2020, 04:47 AM   #3091
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Even weirder is probably that he got 100 RBI with a .247 BABIP. (His RISP has not been preserved...) And, well, he's called Stalker, not Walker, so unless that ball drops in he will superficially not have a great season.

But that was the last year before the wheels came off on the late-20s machine. They won 86 games, but had a top 3 offense. And I didn't go deep on this, but Stalker seems to have batted either behind Berto or in that #5/#6 area most of the time, and in '29 that still meant batting behind Berto, Nunley or some fast-ish guy, Hereford, and Harenberg, so he could have had fewer chances to plate some guys, really.
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Old 02-12-2020, 06:47 PM   #3092
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Also worth talking about was first base. The Raccoons had suffered through another season of garbage there, and longed back to the days where a Kevin Harenberg was physically present, awake, and occasionally alert at least two or three days a week, and maybe, to be honest, even back to Tetsu Osanai’s peak in the late ****ing 80s.

To our great dismay though, the free agent class at first base was rather dire. Kevin Harenberg actually topped that, but he was 37 years old and had been hampered by this pinch and that itch all season long; he was no longer an improvement over much of anything (although Travis Zitzner didn’t make it that hard for people to step onto and over him…). It looked like unless we wanted to shed prospects on a stud, we were stuck with Bad Luck Travis for at least another year. Which was *fine*…. I guess… because he had one more year of team control. An effort was made to get him to sign an extension before going to arbitration. No effort was made to get him to stay beyond ’35.

Zitzner’s .711 OPS had been the source of pretty much all my rage, but Jimmy Wallace actually also had only hit for a .726 OPS, and then there was the issue of him being an absolute millstone around your neck, six feet below the waterline, when parked on his deck chair in leftfield. This was the first full season in which he failed to slug .400, and while he set a personal best for RBI (and led the team) with 89, he wasn’t ever going to his 25 homers. He was a singles-slapping (38 XBH) defensive liability, and the Raccoons had to accept that and find another solution.

The outfield could indeed use a do-over. We’d make no attempt to retain either Adrian Reichardt (who wasn’t *that* bad whenever we could make him stand on his own two legs) or Billy Jennings. Manny Fernandez by default was the everyday centerfielder. Hugo Salgado was a candidate to keep around, if only as to keep the Agitator guessing as to our intentions. By and large, that was all the outfield we had left; Bobby Houston wasn’t seriously considered Opening Day material.

It was worth looking at Salgado a bit, who had batted .316 in limited action this year, appearing in 97 games (48 starts). He had batted for reverse splits, .338/.382/.426 against right-handers and .306/.327/.394 against left-handers. This was a developing trend for him, and he was probably for real in that regard, and we should stop treating him like a platoon piece against the wrong hurlers, and instead consider him a free switch-hitter. …a free switch-hitter with an 88 OPS+ for his career. With Sacramento in ’32 he had played in 154 games, hitting .272 and stealing 46 bases. He wound up with an 82 OPS+ and -1.5 WAR – but that had resulted from the Scorpions’ insistence that he was their new third baseman. It took them a year to learn, and Salgado piled up a screaming -3.2 WAR from being crushed at the hot corner alone. Not sure whether any between Cristiano Carmona, Slappy, and Chad (in the full costume) would be worse over the course of a full season.

Maud is not included in the equation – Maud would absolutely rock third base!

Despite the odd setback or two with the personnel we had much of our pitching staff figured out. Okrasinski would leave (he could have been worse, really), and since Darren Brown was too much of a tire fire to put in the rotation (17 BB in 33.2 IP?) we had to get out and find another starter again, but at least our pen was well staffed and nobody was eligible to leave, either.

The only issue was that all of the three young starting pitchers were arbitration eligible. All three were first-time arbitration-eligible at once, and all three were slated for free agency after the 2036 season. To be honest, Bernie Chavez was the only one looking like a pillar for the future right now, but it couldn’t hurt to carve out a year or two of free agency for all three of them, if at all possible.
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Old 02-12-2020, 10:18 PM   #3093
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Remind me why we don't like Billy Jennings and his team-best .372 OBP, because I forget....
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Old 02-13-2020, 02:41 AM   #3094
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He hissed at me when I tried to sneak a piece of the lemon cake he sat on! ... and he plays a power position without hitting for power or something like that.
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Old 02-15-2020, 07:18 AM   #3095
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It wasn’t going to be a great free agent class this fall, which was unfortunate given that the Raccoons had a number of millions to blow. One option was to go out and sign f.e. Bernie Chavez to a flat rather than an escalating contract. The other was… well, there was ONE free agent-to-be that really tickled my fancy. Former FL Rookie of the Year, 6-time All Star, three rings (could have been four if they hadn’t run into the Coons a while back), former home run king, had some injuries in 2034. Played a premium defensive position, but what’s wrong with filling those with 30-somethings, and by the way Berto’s gonna be 29 in December, too.

Getting that guy was high on my agenda. Budget-wise it would work out, but half the league was gonna be after him, too. The good thing was that Steve from Accounting reported that we had a mind-boggling $8M of budget space, which was unheard of for the Critters. So out I’d go and blow it all on a 32-year-old centerfielder! A 32-year-old centerfielder that was dumb like a brick, but a brick with 214 career homers.

Crucially that guy was a righty batter, which would influence our roster construction going forward. Wallace and Manny probably wouldn’t go anywhere, and Salgado probably should play a bigger role. That was two lefty and two righty batters, assuming we’d get the guy from Texas that was the new sparkle in my eye. So the last spot could really be filled by anybody, including Billy Jennings, who got some traction among the fanbase recently and who was also recommended by Cristiano when he stopped being on this new social media thing Gobble for five seconds, put his smart glasses on and read from something on his wafer-thin high-power laptop.

I would also like to get a switch-hitter that wasn’t Philip Scheffer, since Scheffer was not likely to make the roster, or get an offer given his $441k estimate when we expected Tony Morales to appear in the door at some point in ’35. Until then we’d peace things together with Kurt Wall and Elliott Thompson, which was at least a neat platoon split.

Upcoming free agents that were switch-hitters were however few and far between to begin with and then consistently poor. The best was probably Jeremiah Brooks of the Buffos, but that was another catcher… Jose Pulido was up on his Crusaders contract; he had batted .217 last year and had spent most of this season in AAA Lexington, batting 3-for-31 when brought up. So that was probably also a pass. The only non-catcher, non-awful, non-ancient switch-hitter to appear on the market was Nate Hall, part of the ’32 Coons, and he had been on the far end of the bench for the 81-81 Wolves this year, batting for a .639 OPS. So that idea was ultimately scrapped.

In late October we signed the first few deals with arbitration candidates. Travis Zitzner got $915k for nothing, and Hugo Salgado signed a deal for $445k. David Fernandez inked a slightly escalating 4-yr, $1.98M deal starting at $330k in ’35 and adding $110k every year. John Hennessy had also been supposed to sign a 4-year deal, but refused; he considered himself a starting pitcher now and was worth at least three times as much for that reason alone.

So there’s the first crack in the heretofore solid-but-not-overwhelming pen…

The next drop was Jennings, who asked for 4-yr, $5.2M – not exactly what I had in mind for a guy probably going to sit on the far end of the bench. That was unless another lefty batter was to drop somehow… but I offered Jimmy Wallace to some teams in late October and the reception was lukewarm at best. Other teams were smarter than to play a guy as agile as a frozen corpse in the outfield…

More news came on the final day of the month. Gobble was running hot with speculation that the Raccoons would announce an extension to Tim Stalker, or so I heard from Cristiano, Maud, and even Slappy. I didn’t have a Gobble account. I didn’t even have a phone, except for the landline rotary phone on my desk. Anyway, we then screwed with people, announcing a $340k extension with Nick Bates at a press conference before adding, oh, by the way, Tim Stalker resigned with the Coons for 2-yr, $2.2M.

The next day Bernie came back with his contract, having left a paw-shaped mark on the dotted line – Bernie was now ours for seven years and $14M, in what could turn out a major bargain OR the newest millstone around our little furry necks! The final year was a $300k team option but other than that the contract was flat. Sabre and del Rio signed 1-year deals worth $690k and $600k, respectively, two days later.

+++

October 26 – The Condors trade 31-year-old 2B/3B/CF/RF Chris Miller (.297, 21 HR, 481 RBI) to the Thunder, along with a prospect, for 32-year-old Firmino Cambra (.288, 60 HR, 505 RBI), the 2026 FL batting champ that hadn’t produced even two points of WAR since his ’28 season with the Loggers.

+++

A few issues remain with the arbitration candidates; so far Jimmy Wallace and the catcher pair of Scheffer and Wall is still lined up for arbitration. We should come to terms with Wallace, but Wall demands a 6-year deal and that’s just not in our plans. Hennessy might also go to arbitration, and apart from that only Chris Wise and Victor Anaya are left over. Only one of them figures in our plans going forwards.

+++

2034 ABL AWARDS

Players of the Year: CIN LF/RF/1B Dick Oshiita (.351, 26 HR, 112 RBI) and CHA C Ernesto Huichapa (.328, 39 HR, 123 RBI)
Pitchers of the Year: SAL SP Phil Harrington (12-6, 1.99 ERA) and BOS SP Rich Willett (18-11, 3.04 ERA)
Rookies of the Year: CIN 1B Chris Delagrange (.285, 24 HR, 92 RBI) and NYC OF Ronnie Veraart (.273, 16 HR, 46 RBI)
Relievers of the Year: SAL CL Miguel Salazar (5-4, 1.78 ERA, 44 SV) and TIJ CL Ray Andrews (5-7, 1.84 ERA, 35 SV)
Platinum Sticks (FL): P LAP Dave Christiansen, C WAS Nate Evans, 1B PIT Danny Santillano, 2B SFW Mario Colon, 3B NAS Chance Bossert, SS SFW Jesus Matos, LF CIN Dick Oshiita, CF SAC Mark Vermillion, RF SAL Keith Damron
Platinum Sticks (CL): P ATL Roland Warner, C CHA Ernesto Huichapa, 1B OCT Danny Cruz, 2B SFB Jose Cruz, 3B TIJ Shane Sanks, SS SFB Alex Castillo, LF OCT Luis Sagredo, CF TIJ Chris Murphy, RF TIJ Willie Ojeda
Gold Gloves (FL): P CIN Josh Weeks, C DAL Elias Tovias, 1B DEN Komanosuke Henderson, 2B CIN Elijah Williams, 3B CIN Kyle Lusk, SS SAL Jose Castro, LF SAC Chris Sandstrom, CF SAC Mark Vermillion, RF WAS Noel Ferrero
Gold Gloves (CL): P ATL Roland Warner, C CHA Ernesto Huichapa, 1B LVA Sean Gustafson, 2B BOS Rhett West, 3B ATL Chris Maneke, SS SFB Alex Castillo, LF BOS Willie Vega, CF VAN Gabe Creech, RF BOS Mark Walker

Oh god, we got fewer trophies than the stinkin’ Elks …!
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Old 02-17-2020, 02:42 AM   #3096
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Jimmy Wallace signed for $600k, and Philip Scheffer for $420k, the latter was quite the price for a third catcher that was also out of options. As the days ticked away towards the free agency deadline, the Raccoons also came to terms with Chris Wise for 2035, signing off on an $800k deal.

And that was all the players that would sign. Hennessy and Wall refused our offers and would be taken to arbitration, and Victor Anaya didn’t merit a raise at all, but asked for a 50% increase over his 2034 salary anyway. The Raccoons weren’t playing ball on that, especially since he had no place on the Opening Day roster and thus we would also not take him to arbitration and instead grant him free agency.

We needed all the money for the outfielder I was having my eye on!

Come arbitration, both Hennessy ($440k) and Wall ($625k) received the team offers. They had asked for $520k and $750k, respectively.

Adrian Reichardt, Billy Jennings, Tom Hawkins, Pat Okrasinski all became free agents along with a bunch of minor leaguers. The only minor leaguer to reach free agency that had ever worn the brown shirt was 2005 Ugliest Baby Boy Sam Cass, and his major league experience was all of 138 plate appearances sprinkled from 2028 through 2032, batting .237 with a homer and 10 RBI.

And with that, the hot part of the offseason would begin – from the free agency date it was only two weeks (roughly) to the rule 5 draft, and three weeks (sorta) to the winter meetings.

First thing the Raccoons did after the free agents became available for contract talks was to go after the already mentioned former ROTY and multiply-ringed FL outfielder in total secrecy, at least until his agent’s office lady accidentally put me on conference call with the GMs of the Condors, Stars, and Warriors. Half the league was after the guy!

We also needed a starting pitcher. Since the free agent market was a bit thin, and any reasonable move would sacrifice another draft pick, I had to look at other teams. I first stopped by the Capitals, who with Lorenzo Viamontes and Colt Willes had a few starters that would make splendid additions to the Coons, were under contract for a few more years, and were paid not nearly enough for their services. Understandably, the “win now” Caps were not exactly happy to see me digging around their rotation and no deal could be made there.

The free agent starting pitchers kept looking unappealing, sort of like the switch hitter situation. They were either broken beyond repair (someone like Nick Danieley for example), had outrageous contract demands (like $2.8M per year for Josh Weeks), or were also tainted by the type A label (again, Weeks). There were certainly worse things to do than to blow the second-round pick as well for a pitcher that actually worked for us, but not if that guy was already 37 years old (Rodolfo Cervantes).

It was this conundrum that made this offseason another tough chew – we needed more, better players to finally get over the Titans-shaped hump, and at the same time the free agents were not all that attractive if you got past that outfielder guy (who had his flaws, but pickers can’t be choosers…) – so I guess I will have somebody compile a list of our prospects to sugar up potential deals.

Chad, can you do that for me?

(the Raccoons mascot nods enthusiastically and gives two thumbs up)
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Old 02-20-2020, 07:22 PM   #3097
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About a week into free agency, the Critters still lay dormant. The rotation was still nagging me. It had not lived up to promises in 2034, Bernie Chavez (who finished 3rd in ERA) aside. Yes, the veteran rental of the season had actually lasted til the end, but between Rendon, Sabre, and del Rio we had been through a few valleys over the course of the season. The Raccoons needed a *good* arm to swing their fat bums over the Titans and into first place. Also, winning one of those 2-1 squeakers against Boston from time to time would be neat, too.

There was a weird story in the Agitator about how the Raccoons were under investigation by the league for some sort of substance violation, and that what they had passed off as fudge hadn’t been fudge. I knew nothing about an investigation, but (digs spoon into bowl with gooey mass again) even if this isn’t fudge, it’s still delicious!

November passed in a crawl. Every day I sat there at the desk, perfectly upright, waiting for the phone to ring so I could pounce. The phone didn’t ring, except that one time, but that was an elderly lady from Hillsboro that had misdialed. So I talked to her for an hour, because what else was I gonna - …

Well, the trade gears were grinding, but they were also grinding slowly. None of the free agent options was all that appealing to me where a starting pitcher was concerned, so I had to get one in a trade. And in a trade, we’d have to part with some farm pieces, but there were two or three youngsters that I was extremely hesitant to trade away even for the greater good of near-future success. That shortlist, compiled by Chad with great determination and a purple crayon, included 2032 July IFA signing Jesus Maldonado, a multi-talented outfielder that was 20 years old and had hit .236/.368/.350 in 56 games in Ham Lake to end the ’34 season. 2B Jose Brito, 20, had batted .316 in 54 games in Ham Lake. His defense wasn’t great, but he had hit 12 homers between A and AA, and that was enough to at least get you noticed. Corey Cronk was probably another outfielder I was not going to let go, and of course Tony Morales was entirely off limits – he was the catcher of the future!

(phone rings)

(stares confused)

Maud, the phone is doing.. it does noise! – Yes, please. – (Maud comes in and picks up) – Is it him? Is it him? Is it, is it?? – Of course I will talk to him! – (is handed the speaker) – Well, hul-lo…?

+++

November 23 – The Blue Sox send CF/LF Justin Simmons (.273, 12 HR, 124 RBI) to Las Vegas for OF Andy Crow (.260, 17 HR, 138 RBI) and a prospect.
November 24 – The Raccoons announce the signing of 32-yr old ex-LAP OF Justin Fowler (.282, 214 HR, 782 RBI). The 6-time All Star and 2032 home run champ signs a 4-yr, $14M contract. The Raccoons forfeit their 2035 first-round pick to the Pacifics.

+++

Talk about violently revamping the middle of the order! Fowler was a genuine slugger, an elite hitter, and a nearly invulnerable iron man, who - … weird, I feel like I heard all of this before…

Fowler was a star, mauling opposing pitching for a living, and the Raccoons had bought in quite smart, I say, nibbling off that fifth year Fowler originally wanted for his last big contract. There was hardly anything not to like about this deal, and nothing could ever go wrong with it!

NOTHING.

+++

November 27 – The Warriors sign ex-NAS LF/RF Doug Stross (.317, 109 HR, 1,119 RBI) to a 2-year deal that will make $6.64M for the 37-year-old.
November 28 – The Raccoons flick five players to the Capitals to acquire 27-yr old SP Colt Willes (40-39, 3.52 ERA). Washington receives all of 27-yr old INF Ross Sibley (.259, 7 HR, 103 RBI), 25-yr old C Elliott Thompson (.244, 8 HR, 81 RBI), 21-yr old #21 prospect AA SP Brandon Williams, 22-yr old #58 prospect SP Jonathan Galvan, and 20-yr old AA OF Dave Mendoza.
November 28 – 20-game winner and 34-year-old ex-SAC SP Andy Palomares (127-129, 4.25 ERA, 2 SV) signs a 2-yr, $4.88M contract with the Pacifics.
November 30 – The Indians reunite with 1B Ivan Pena (.293, 43 HR, 240 RBI), sending outfielder Oliver Witte (.261, 8 HR, 38 RBI) to the Wolves to receive the 30-year-old Pena.
December 1 – Rule 5 Draft: 18 players are selected in two rounds. The Raccoons draft 25-year-old 3B Fidel Nunez from the Scorpions.
December 1 – The Canadiens make a surprise splash with type A free agent, ex-RIC/CIN SP Josh Weeks (91-95, 3.89 ERA), who joins them for $4.88M over two years.
December 1 – The Gold Sox grab ex-TOP/ATL CL Josh Boles (5-9, 3.21 ERA, 39 SV) for one year and $1.88M.

+++

Willes is a great pitcher! Doesn’t walk people, doesn’t get taken deep a whole lot, and doesn’t have rotten teeth, either. (forces Willes’ snout open with an expert pinching grip on his jaw) Perfect! – My uncle Herbert told me all about judging the value of a horse by its teeth, and that it’s no different with ballplayers!

The price for Willes is hefty; I lament the departure of Brandon Williams the most, but it was either him or Maldonado or no deal at all. Originally the proposal included both Sibley and Kurt Wall, the pair of July 31 additions that in hindsight were more displaced in a playoff race than a pig roast at a Bar Mitzvah.

The Caps wanted Thompson over Wall, and in the end we didn’t care either way, since it was all eyes on the arrival of Tony Morales, which we totally expected to occur during the 2035 season, and with a smash to boot!

Our rotation is now set; our pen was pretty much a done deal even before. Now it was about tweaking things around the edges, like finding another left-handed infielder if at all possible, maybe a first baseman that was worth the effort, and the oxygen…

…and the fudge! (spoons and gobbles)
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Old 02-21-2020, 12:43 AM   #3098
DD Martin
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Some very nice additions to the team. Let’s hope that 32 year old OF Fowler plays as well as he has and doesn’t get suddenly old eating saltwater taffy in Cannon Beach.

The only real concerning thing I saw about acquiring Willes is that tag that says “fragile - handle with care.“. Make sure Dr Chung doesn’t get too near him.
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Old 02-21-2020, 07:47 PM   #3099
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The first days of December were spent with getting a few things announced to the media as far as 2035 was concerned. First, of course, and foremost was a media day with Justin Fowler and Colt Willes at the ballpark, and we also pushed out the first few promotions for the season that was going to dawn a few months from now.

One of the promotions that would be dear to everybody’s heart would come right away in April, where the Raccoons would honor the live and achievements of Portland legend Bob Duffner, who in 1982 broke the color barrier in this town. He was the first baker to sell donuts with blue glazing – a radical new concept at the time that did not make him only friends back then! Duffner, now 78 years old, would throw out the first pitch at a game.

Then it was right into the winter meetings. There were a few things that could be done with the roster; we needed a fifth outfielder (Houston wasn’t gonna be it), a new left-handed alternative on the right side of the infield with Ross Sibley gone, who would have been perfectly fine if he could have gotten a hit at least occasionally, the first base situation was wholly unfortunate, and then you could always make tweaks to the pen, but that was really at the very bottom of the list.

As usual the market for left-handed infielders was not that huge, especially for second basemen. We quickly focused on the services of Edgar Barrios, a 28-year-old Dominican who had less than 500 at-bats in the majors, but part of that was due to having been stuck in Los Reyes, the Condors’ AAA affiliate, for a bunch of years. The problem was that Barrios was on the Elks now and as usual I didn’t want to give the damn Elks anything of value.

Oh, they want Travis Coffee? That’s not anything of value in my eyes!

+++

December 2 – Former Indians SP Jose Lerma (200-171, 3.40 ERA) joins the Bayhawks on a 3-year deal that will see the 35-year-old southpaw pocket $11.52M.
December 3 – Ex-DEN OF Nate Nelson (.249, 99 HR, 456 RBI) joins the Pacifics on a 2-yr, $3.16M contract.
December 5 – The Pacifics do more shopping, inking ex-ATL C/1B Steve Garcia (.269, 25 HR, 303 RBI) to a 6-yr, $11.76M deal.
December 6 – The Gold Sox acquire 25-yr old RF/LF Kyle Beard (.322, 22 HR, 233 RBI) and a prospect from the Stars, parting with 33-year-old LF Abel Madsen (.278, 168 HR, 626 RBI) in the deal.
December 6 – After seven years away, ex-WAS 1B Jay Elder (.250, 78 HR, 556 RBI) returns to Boston on a 1-yr, $950k contract.
December 7 – The Crusaders trade 25-yr old SP Mark Holliday (16-16, 4.34 ERA) to the Stars for 29-yr old career fringe infielder Daniel Leeder (.271, 5 HR, 49 RBI) and #84 prospect 2B Manuel Reynoza.
December 7 – New York also signs ex-RIC RF/LF Keith Damron (.245, 101 HR, 437 RBI) in free agency, committing to 2-yr, $3.24M for the player.
December 8 – The Raccoons pick up 28-yr old 2B Edgar Barrios (.284, 9 HR, 65 RBI) from the Canadiens in exchange for 26-yr old MR Carlos Contreras (0-0, 6.00 ERA) and 27-yr old AAA SP Travis Coffee (6-7, 4.33 ERA).
December 8 – The Pacifics select experience with the addition of 38-year-old ex-NYC 3B Ryan Czachor (.238, 104 HR, 624 RBI), who receives a 1-yr, $1.04M contract.
December 8 – In a second deal with the Stars, the Crusaders pick up RF Vinny Chavira (.268, 149 HR, 677 RBI) and cash for MR Rin Nomura (83-61, 3.56 ERA, 1 SV) and a prospect.

+++

With the Barrios trade we have piled up nine infielders on the extended roster, and we really *want* about four of them to be there. I just can’t suffer through another summer like Travis Zitzner had…!

I’m not saying there aren’t any options to trade for a first baseman capable of substantially upgrading the lineup to the point where we may not even hit Justin Fowler in the cleanup spot. For example I got some signals that Adam Avakian, who hit 25 bombs for the Knights this season, with 63 XBH and an .832 OPS, would be available for a certain prospect on my “over my dead body” list. The Blue Sox’ corner infielder Chance Bossert was not a power source, but could add to the top of the lineup’s boa constrictor division with a career .371 OBP (and much higher the last two years) and legs quick enough to out-run Berto Ramos. That certain “over my dead body” prospect was not quite enough, but there is a thing on the table where they would take on Zitzner and would receive a reliever of some sort to complete the deal.

But that “over my dead body” prospect, a certain AA outfielder and top 5 prospect, is an absolute requirement to complete either deal.

One more ex-Critter snuck into some warm spot to spend the next year: Giovanni James gets $1.36M from the Stars;

…aaaand there’s a Hall of Fame ballot out, too!
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Last edited by Westheim; 02-21-2020 at 08:37 PM.
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Old 02-22-2020, 04:00 AM   #3100
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Final day of the winter meetings! What’s gonna happen!? Who’s gonna get swapped!? Who’s gonna get swamped!? Excitement!! Aahh!! (manically waves small Raccoons flag!)

+++

December 10 – In a switch of first basemen, the Raccoons acquire 1B Adam Avakian () from the Knights in exchange for 1B Travis Zitzner (). To sweeten the deal, the Knights also receive two prospects, #30 A SP Mike Lang and AA INF Vincent Zesati, and cash.
December 10 – The Bayhawks pick up Dallas’ C/1B Jorge Resendez (.267, 8 HR, 102 RBI) and a prospect in a trade that sends OF Ryan Cassell (.280, 21 HR, 143 RBI) and cash to the Stars.
December 14 – The Pacifics sign ex-OCT 2B/SS Alex Serrato (.273, 226 HR, 848 RBI) to a 2-yr, $6.56M contract.

+++

This team is better by leaps and bounds for Adam Avakian, who wears #95 to honor his older half-brother, born in 1995 and a promising Little Leaguer in his days until he met with a grim accident with a cornhusking machine and had two fingertips sliced off. They were re-attached, but his pitching prowess was all gone from that point on.

Our farm also met a rather brutal end; besides “over my dead body” Jesus Maldonado we have no top 100 prospects left. Everything else has been sent away in a bid to chase down the bedeviled Titans. Lang, our 2033 first-rounder, had somewhat struggled in single-A for one year and a half, but still looked like a future major leaguer. Zesati was more of an infield utility with limited batting prowess. I can say that now, but he will definitely have his 3-homer game with the visiting Knights in Portland in ’39 or so…

The Knights also received $535k in the deal to help balance their budget. Here was the major improvement from Nick Valdes, as distraught and distracting as he is, compared to his father Carlosito. At least Nick Valdes didn’t plunder our cash register entirely every chance he got to fund his … uh… narcotics company in Mexico. The Critters started the offseason with $1,006,200 in cash and made good use with it. I think the most cash we had in the Carlosito days was closer to $6.20 …

We ended up trading for Avakian rather than Bossert of the Blue Sox since I could get the Knights into a non-Maldonado trade, and the Blue Sox were very much insisting on Maldonado.

Bench coach Erik Mango (sic!) brought up some concern about team leadership and that outside of Gilberto Rendon, Nick Bates, and Philip Scheffer we had no leaders to speak of, which was of some concern given that Bates was not necessarily on the Opening Day roster and Scheffer was earmarked for disposal once we were confident Tony Morales had superstardom figured out. While there were only two genuine bad apples on the team now and one of those was “me, me, ME!!” person Darren Brown, also not exactly a lock for a spot on the Opening Day roster, that left only hardcore distraction Ignacio del Rio to deal with. Del Rio(t?) was a lazy, foul-mouthed bum trying to set his team mates’ shoes (and the team mates too) on fire, and at every turn would loudly declare that he would only pitch for a winning team that paid him according to his imagination. There were also rumors that he was behind the mystery that every Saturday night a cat would disappear in Portland, except in weeks in which the Raccoons were on the road.

Yeah, but he threw the baseball sort-of well, you know, and we kind of need those people.

Much of the team was quietly going about their work one way or another. Some played the game for the love of the game and didn’t care much about who they played for and for how much as long as that team filled the fridge and paid all the bills. Some were constantly sticking their heads together for infield alignments against certain batters in certain base/out states like Berto and Zeltser. Another team leadership figure would be nice, but would also be genuinely hard to find.
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1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055
1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA | RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO

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