[Westheim]

Raccoons (56-36) @ Crusaders (50-43) – July 16-18, 2018

The Raccoons held a 6-3 edge over the Crusaders over the 2018 season series, which was something they should cherish and at best hang on to. The Crusaders were second in runs scored and sixth in runs allowed, with a marginal run differential of +28. Their rotation was better than ours, but their bullpen had some enormous Francisquo Bocanegra-sized holes in it. Their offense was composed almost entirely around the dinger, a category in which they were second in the league, although nobody had even hit ten for them. They had a handful of guys with eight or nine, however.

Projected matchups:
Ryan Nielson (3-4, 5.48 ERA) vs. Tom Weise (8-6, 3.28 ERA)
Hector Santos (8-4, 2.78 ERA) vs. Bob King (9-4, 2.89 ERA)
Damani Knight (4-4, 4.53 ERA) vs. Brian Benjamin (7-11, 3.72 ERA)

With their recent deal for Benjamin, the Crusaders had shafted Hwa-pyung Choe (4-8, 5.04 ERA) to the pen. One unfortunate side result of this was that their first two guys in the series would go on short rest. King and Benjamin had both pitched on Friday, and which way around the Crusaders would spin this was an unknown at this point. These little things aside, all their starters in the series would be right-handed.

The Crusaders started the series with C Cory Roland (.261, 5 HR, 20 RBI) on the DL with a fractured finger, but the Raccoons would not have the services of Hugo Mendoza (disappointing stats go here) available at least for the first two games.

Game 1
POR: CF Carmona – SS Walter – 3B Nunley – LF DeWeese – RF Jackson – 2B Mathews – C Denny – 1B Petracek – P Nielson
NYC: LF M. Ortíz – SS Casillas – 1B Gilbert – C Pino – 3B P. Cruz – 2B S. Valdez – RF R. Hernandez – CF S. Young – P Weise

Cookie opened with a double, but if not for a wild pitch by Tom Weise would not have scored. The Raccoons’ second run, which came in the third inning, also saw nobody rewarded with an RBI. Nielson, who allowed two hits in the first two innings, but no runs, hit a leadoff double into right center and made to third when Cookie singled. Shane Walter’s grounder to Sergio Valdez was a perfect double play ball, and the rookie executed flawlessly, while Nielson was allowed to score. Nielson struck out the side, including the venerable Martin Ortíz, in the bottom of the third inning, then opened the fourth with a pair of walks. Pedro Cruz grounded into a fielder’s choice, leaving runners on the corners for Valdez, who flew out to Cookie in center. Ray Gilbert tried to score from third, but found himself tagged out by the fraction of an inch at home plate after another ravenous throw by Cookie from centerfield! YEAH, **** YOU, GILBERT!! YOU - … ARSE… CAKE!!

While the fifth and sixth were mostly uneventful with one hit for each side only – Gilbert singled in the sixth after DeWeese had doubled in the previous half-inning when it didn’t count – five scoreless innings had pushed Nielson’s once-battered ERA to under five and into tolerable territory. In the bottom 7th, we were faced with a dilemma. We had already used Nielson to strike out readily in the top 7th to have him pitch to the two left-handed batters in the bottom part of the Crusaders’ order, Valdez and Sean Young, in the bottom 7th. He got those two, but he didn’t get Roberto Hernandez, who singled, stole second, and reached third on Young’s groundout. With two outs, right-hander Jens Carroll pinch-hit for Weise, with the left-hander Martin Ortíz behind that guy. This was an awful choice. Ortíz had looked bad against Nielson the entire game, so there was the option to walk Carroll intentionally, although Ortíz would be the go-ahead run. Nope, not gonna risk it. Seung-mo Chun came on, allowed a bloop double to right to Carroll, which scored a run, Ortíz was walked intentionally, and Tony Casillas’ single to center tied the game. Chris Mathis had to replace the ineffective (and that is the mildest word I could come up with) Chun and ended the inning with Gilbert grounding out to Nunley. The Coons got the go-ahead run to second base with nobody out in the eighth when Shane Walter singled to left off Colin Sabatino and Ortíz overran the ball for an error. Nunley singled, moving Walter to third, after which DeWeese popped out, Jackson whiffed, and Mathews popped out – except that Valdez dropped Mathews’ pop and the run DID score after all. 3-2 for the Critters, and still no RBI for them. Denny struck out to end the miserable inning for good. To nobody’s surprise at all, after Mathis and Kaiser had dealt with the eighth inning, Ramirez ****ed up the save in the ninth, allowing hits to Ron Richards and Drew Lowe to start the inning. The Crusaders used Ortíz to bunt(!), and Casillas’ grounder to short plated William Waggoner, as one ex-Coon ran for another to screw the Coons, and once Gilbert struck out to strand Lowe on third with the winning run, the game went to extra innings.

Top 10th, facing another ex-Critter in Adam Riddle, a Hernandez error put Nunley on base with one out. DeWeese singled to right, and Margolis, hitting for Ramirez in the spot vacated by Eddie Jackson, grounded to the mound, but nobody could be bothered to make a play. Bases loaded for Mathews, the infielder struck out to get to 0-for-5 on the day, bringing up Denny, whose grounder to left eluded Casillas and made it to the outfield for a 2-run single. Heeey, RBI’s…! Left with little in terms of bullpen, the Raccoons sent Wade Davis into the bottom of the inning, which started with Bartholomeu Pino, who struck out, before Pedro Cruz drew a walk. Valdez hit into a fielder’s choice before Hernandez hit an RBI double trying to make up his error from the top of the inning. With the tying run on second and two outs, Waggoner grounded to Walter, who did not fudge up and got the final out. 5-4 Blighters. Carmona 3-5, 2B; DeWeese 2-5, 2B; Margolis (PH) 1-1; Denny 2-5, 2 RBI; Nielson 6.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K and 1-3;

In this cluster**** game, the Raccoons scored zero earned runs for which they got an RBI. Guess who got the W. ****ing Alex Ramirez.

Game 2
POR: RF Carmona – SS Walter – 3B Nunley – LF DeWeese – C Denny – CF Duarte – 2B Mathews – 1B Hudman – P Santos
NYC: 3B J. Carroll – LF M. Ortíz – 1B Gilbert – 2B S. Valdez – RF Richards – C Lowe – SS Casillas – CF Waggoner – P Bo. King

With pitching dominant in the early innings, Shane Walter’s leadoff double in the fourth presented the first scoring opportunity for either team, and when Drew Lowe was charged a passed ball on the 0-1 to Nunley, Walter moved to third and scoring him became mandatory. They did so, albeit just barely; Nunley struck out, and DeWeese’s grounder to right just so did the job of putting the Coons ahead, 1-0. Offense kept being few and far between. Derek Lowe hit a single in the bottom 5th, but Casillas hit into a double play. Cookie singled in the sixth, but was caught stealing. Nunley hit a leadoff single in the seventh, but Denny found his way into a double play. Valdez singled in the bottom 7th, but was then himself caught stealing by Denny.

The Crusaders would finally put Santos in the wringer in the bottom 8th. Lowe walked with one out, and when Casillas hit a single to right center, Lowe made to third with the tying run. Waggoner appeared in the box, and Santos had struck out only three the entire game. We’d try our luck with thrashering the opposition, but the Crusaders weren’t that dumb and pinch-hit Bartholomeu Pino for Waggoner. While both had a batting average around a sad .200, Pino was a right-hander and was not to be whiffed. He hit the 1-1 to shallow right, Cookie hustled in and caught the high pop on the run. Hauling full speed to the infield, there was no way for Lowe to be sent against Cookie, who had already murdered a Crusader at home on Monday. For reasons best known to themselves, the Crusaders sent Bob King to bat for himself, which could still be a terrible ruse if his head popped off and revealed the death robot underneath that would laser all the Coons on the field to ashes once Thrasher got to two strikes… yet nothing like that happened. Thrasher struck out King, and the inning was over. The Coons had a leadoff single via Petracek in the top 9th, but left their insurance run on third base, with Thrasher still in the game for the bottom 9th. No more Ramirez for me today! Thrasher would have the ball for this inning, having thrown only seven pitches in the previous frame. He killed the Crusaders in order. 1-0 Critters! Walter 2-4; Petracek (PH) 1-1; Santos 7.1 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, W (9-4); Thrasher 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, SV (5);

Wheeze!

Game 3
POR: RF Carmona – SS Walter – 3B Nunley – 1B H. Mendoza – C Denny – LF DeWeese – CF Duarte – 2B Dahlke – P Knight
NYC: 3B J. Carroll – LF M. Ortíz – 1B Gilbert – 2B S. Valdez – RF Richards – C Lowe – SS Casillas – CF Waggoner – P Benjamin

Gilbert’s double play was very helpful in dissolving an early mess for Damani Knight in the first inning. Carroll had hit a leadoff single on 2-0, and Ortíz had drawn a 4-pitch walk, but the double play and Valdez’ easy fly to Duarte afterwards ended the inning with no runs for the Crusaders. Hugo Mendoza hit a double in his first at-bat after missing two games with the bad thumb, and DeWeese and Dahlke both added another double in the inning to get Knight an early 2-0 lead. Unfortunately, Damani struggled with the left-handers all over their lineup and got whacked for four hits and two runs in the bottom of the inning, tying the game right away. The Raccoons stranded DeWeese on second base after a double in the fourth and left Dahlke on third after a leadoff single in the fifth, while Knight still had a claw on the 2-2 tie, but had Jens Carroll reach with a leadoff single in the bottom 5th. Ortíz bunted once more, which was a disturbing image, but Gilbert struck out. However, this got Knight to the 4-5-6 batters, all left-handed, and they had all been on top of him the entire game. The pitching coach reminded Knight to stay low in the zone for Valdez, but Knight threw him an 0-1 chest high and Valdez didn’t miss it, ripping the ball to left for an RBI single, placing the Crusaders in the lead, 3-2.

Damani struck out Gilbert once more to end the seventh inning. Gilbert’s spot only came up when Ortíz reached with two outs on a Mendoza error, so that was that, and after all it was not a terrible job that Knight delivered in this start, holding the Crusaders and their still potent lineup to three runs in seven innings. Unfortunately the offense had yet to pick him up; Jackson singling in his spot to start the eighth was a great start for sure, and when Cookie bounced back to the mound, Benjamin first looked to second base, then decided against that, but as he turned to first, Cookie was already standing there, waving and smiling at him. A befuddled Benjamin lost Walter to a walk, loading the bases with no outs for the heart of the order. Nunley was hitless on the day, hit the first pitch hard and right to Valdez for a double play, home and first, and Mendoza grounded out to Gilbert to score zero runs from the opportunity, and leaving Knight to soak the loss. 3-2 Crusaders. H. Mendoza 2-4, 2B; DeWeese 2-4, 2 2B, RBI; Dahlke 1-2, BB, 2B, RBI; Jackson (PH) 1-1;

While two out of three ain’t bad, the way they let the third slip away is once again infuriating…

Raccoons (58-37) @ Bayhawks (55-39) – July 20-22, 2018

This was our second series with the Bayhawks, whom we had swept in the first matchup in April. Raccoons pitching had allowed only five runs in that series, which was nothing completely out of the ordinary with the Bayhawks given their offensive struggles this year. They ranked only eighth in runs scored, but had the third-least runs allowed which kept them afloat in the South.

Projected matchups:
Jonathan Toner (13-3, 2.59 ERA) vs. Graham Wasserman (3-2, 3.04 ERA)
Ricky Mendoza (7-6, 4.66 ERA) vs. Joao Joo (10-6, 2.54 ERA)
Ryan Nielson (3-4, 4.97 ERA) vs. Manuel Rojas (10-7, 3.53 ERA)

Joo would be a southpaw.

The Bayhawks were without outfield regular Will McIntyre (.298, 6 HR, 26 RBI) for this series. The 28-year old was out with a thumb contusion – the same injury that held Hugo Mendoza out of two games in the Crusaders series.

Game 1
POR: RF Carmona – SS Walter – 3B Nunley – 1B H. Mendoza – C Denny – LF DeWeese – CF Duarte – 2B Mathews – P Toner
SFB: RF Sarabia – 2B Ingraham – C D. Alexander – CF D. Garcia – SS Claros – LF Matthews – 3B R. Vasquez – 1B J. Rodriguez – P Wasserman

Cookie was caught stealing for the second time this week after drawing a 4-pitch walk to start the game, but the Raccoons grabbed a lead in the second inning. Denny hit a leadoff single before DeWeese mashed a homer to right center for an early 2-0 advantage. Toner had a few lapses early on, dropping a feed from Mendoza at first base for an error that prolonged the bottom 2nd before retiring Javy Rodriguez to end the inning, then opened the third with a 3-ball count to Wasserman, who also ended up retired via groundout. While the Baybirds only managed one hit through four innings, they ran a number of 3-ball counts and elevated Toner’s pitch count pretty well and pretty soon. The best pitcher in the league remained a fairly decent batter and opened the fifth inning with a single to left and reached third base when Cookie singled to right center. The Coons had already put Mendoza on third base after a triple in the third inning, but that had come with two outs and had been rendered useless by Denny’s strikeout. Here, Shane Walter killed the inning with a run-scoring double play, 3-0.

Six shutout innings took Toner 95 pitches to complete, so he wasn’t going to stick around forever, and his spot was up in the seventh, but he lined up neatly with Duarte and Mathews in rolling a grounder right to a middle infielder as the former Raccoons farmhand Wasserman got through that inning quickly. Jeffrey Matthews wrung a leadoff walk from Toner in the bottom 7th, who stood amidst a sea of left-handed batters. Robby Vasquez flew out to center, Javy Rodriguez whiffed, and the Baybirds still had more where those came from, sending Jonathan Pruitt – Matt’s cousin – to pinch-hit. By then Matthews was on second after a pickoff throw by Denny that had found Mendoza snoozing more than the runner. Pruitt struck out, and this was it for Toner after 112 pitches. After Thrasher had a 1-2-3 eighth, we put Ramirez into the ninth of a 3-0 game despite obviously knowing better. Dave Garcia hit a leadoff single to right, and that was he only right-handed batter Ramirez could hope to face. Raul Claros grounded slowly up the third base line where Nunley made a daring bare-handed play to JUST BARELY get the runner at first base. Matthews drilled a pitch to center where Duarte flung his paws wildly to catch up with the ball and made it just ahead of the warning track. Vasquez’ RBI single to center only hurt Ramirez’ track record – Toner’s W this time remained undisturbed as Rodriguez flew out softly to Duarte to end the game. 3-1 Raccoons. Denny 2-4, 2B; Toner 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K, W (14-3) and 1-3;

Game 2
POR: LF Carmona – CF Duarte – 1B H. Mendoza – RF Jackson – 3B Walter – 2B Mathews – SS Dahlke – C Margolis – P R. Mendoza
SFB: RF Sarabia – 2B Ingraham – C D. Alexander – CF D. Garcia – SS Claros – LF Matthews – 3B R. Vasquez – 1B J. Rodriguez – P Joo

Dave Garcia’s 20th longball of the season put the Bayhawks in the lead in the bottom 2nd, 1-0, but that lead was in danger in the top of the third as the Raccoons loaded the bases with no outs on singles by Ricky Mendoza and Duarte, with Cookie getting drilled in between, then delivered one of their trademark choke jobs as Matthews ran down Hugo Mendoza’s decent fly to left center – scoring the other Mendoza for a sac fly – before Jackson struck out and Walter popped out to Victor Sarabia in shallow right. Zach Ingraham’s homer in the bottom 4th restored the Baybirds’ lead, but Alex Duarte tried to tell the slump to **** off; with Cookie on first in the fifth inning and nobody out, he crushed a ball to center that vanished behind the fence for a score-flipping 2-run shot!

The two homers off Ricky Mendoza were the Baybirds’ only hits off him in six innings while he struck out seven. Unfortunately, not much add-on offense seemed to come forward. Mathews hit a leadoff double in the top of the sixth, but was stranded. Cookie and Duarte made outs to start the seventh, the latter being retired for the first time on the day, before Hugo Mendoza snipped a single somewhere where they weren’t. Eddie Jackson came up as we called a hit-and-run, Mendoza ran, Jackson hit, and hit it A TON. That one was soaring up and up and up to left and all the way outta here, giving the Raccoons the 5-2 lead. An infield single by Raul Claros knocked out a so far very good Ricky Mendoza in the bottom 7th. It was only a 2-out single, but remember the sea of left-handed bats. Mathews vanished along with him in a double switch that brought in Jason Kaiser to pitch, with Nunley appearing at third base and batting ninth. Kaiser walked Jeffrey Matthews, but then got his bacon saved by Cookie, who hustled in on Vasquez’ bloop to left and caught it on the run, ending the inning. Kaiser then got two outs in the eighth before Sarabia singled to left, which was also the last lefty in the string. Ingraham and Garcia were the only right-handers in the lineup, and we brought Alex Ramirez for a 4-out save if things worked out, and to get yanked for Thrasher if they didn’t. There was technically a third option for this to shake out: a big spot in the top 9th that would render a closer’s services moot. Cookie opened with a double against Ray Kelley, who had fallen from grace after his wonder year in ’17, and when Duarte hit a slow roller, Vasquez threw that away for a run-scoring 2-base error. Hugo Mendoza was walked intentionally, with DeWeese batting for Jackson against the right-hander. He rolled into a fielder’s choice, moving Duarte to third, from where he scored on Walter’s sac fly to center. That brought up Ramirez’ spot with two outs and a runner on first, and Denny hit for him, lining out to short. Wade Davis got the 5-run lead for the bottom 9th, since you couldn’t trust Chun with anything ball- or bat-related. The Birds went down in order, with strikeouts on D-Alex and Claros. 7-2 Critters. Carmona 2-4, 2B; Duarte 3-5, HR, 2 RBI; R. Mendoza 6.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 8 K, W (8-6) and 1-3;

Game 3
POR: RF Carmona – SS Walter – 3B Nunley – 1B H. Mendoza – CF Duarte – LF DeWeese – C Denny – 2B Hudman – P Nielson
SFB: RF Sarabia – 2B Ingraham – C D. Alexander – CF D. Garcia – 3B Claros – LF Matthews – SS R. Vasquez – 1B Hilderbrand – P M. Rojas

“Doom” Rojas allowed a 1-out single to Walter in the first, then somehow forgot about the strike zone and walked the next three batters straight before LUCKILY arriving at a sure strikeout in DeWeese and getting Denny to ground out, holding the Coons to a run on one hit and three walks. Rojas wasn’t going to pitch for long at the rate he was going at. When Nunley hit a leadoff double in the third, Rojas walked Mendoza, struck out a pair, then walked Denny to load the bags for – oh, Hudman. Ech. Hudman bounced out to Ingraham, ending the inning, with Rojas over 70 pitches thanks to two hits, five walks, and four strikeouts. At least the Bayhawks tied the game for him in the bottom of the inning on Ingraham’s RBI double, and T.J. Hilderbrand would hit a go-ahead, 2-out RBI double in the bottom of the fourth after the Raccoons, with Raul Claros on second base, refused to give an intentional walk to a .154 batting right-hander to bring up a .125 batting right-hander (Rojas)…

The fifth inning saw the third straight inning with an RBI double for the Bayhawks, this one hit by D-Alex, who also hurt himself on the bases and was replaced by backup Aaron Case. Although Rojas had gotten a terrible start to the game, he outlived Nielson, who was removed with two outs in the bottom 6th, while Rojas completed six (on two hits, six walks, and seven strikeouts), but also attempted to keep going in the seventh, still with a 3-1 lead. After a leadoff triple by Cookie and Walter’s RBI single it occurred to the Bayhawks that it might be wise to turn to the bullpen, but it was already too late. Jeff Boynton faced DeWeese with two outs after Mendoza got hit, and a hitless DeWeese finally met a ball and RAMMED it to right for a 3-run homer that flipped the score back the Coons’ way, 5-3! The Birds had the tying runs on base in the bottom of the seventh until D-Alex’ replacement Case hit into a double play to save Kaiser and Mathis. Thrasher was in for the eighth, allowed singles to Dave Garcia leading off and Ryan Miller pinch-hitting, but then got a double play grounder from Vasquez to escape the inning. After the Coons stranded an insurance run on second base in the ninth, Ramirez was at it again in the bottom of the inning and allowed a leadoff single to Hilderbrand right away. Up came Cousin Jonathan, grounded to Hudman – another double play! Sarabia fouled out to end the game. 5-3 Furballs!! Walter 3-5, RBI; H. Mendoza 0-1, 3 BB;

The Critters managed only six hits compared to the Bayhawks’ dozen, and stole one here. San Fran is now 0-6 against Portland this year!

In other news

July 17 – TIJ SP Andrew “Doughboy” Gudeman (8-6, 2.64 ERA) spins the first no-hitter in Condors history, keeping the Aces starved for base knocks in a 3-0 victory in Tijuana! A walk drawn by Jimmy Hubbard and an error by Armando Rodriguez are the only lapses in what is otherwise a flawless start for the 24-year old Gudeman. This is the 38th no-hitter in league history, and the second this season after MIL Michael Foreman’s no-no in April. For the first time since 1997, several no-hitters have been thrown for a second consecutive year.
July 17 – 38-year old RIC LF/RF Luis Reya (.306, 4 HR, 23 RBI) finds his 2,000th career base hit mostly ignored in the light Gudeman’s exploits. Reya hits an RBI double off Washington’s Elliott Rosner to reach the 2,000 hits mark. Reya, who has played in all divisions and for six different teams in his career, is a career .295 batter with 138 HR and 950 RBI, but was never handed a major award and was never sent to the All Star Game. He picked up World Series rings with the 2005 Falcons and 2017 Rebels.
July 17 – The Loggers plate eight in the first inning to get off to a hot start against the Titans, eventually beating them 13-2.
July 18 – SAC OF Ray Meade (.290, 15 HR, 66 RBI) is out for up to four weeks with a torn meniscus.
July 18 – The Titans send MR Matt Branch (5-4, 4.22 ERA, 8 SV) to the Cyclones for two prospects.
July 20 – Given a chance to start, SAC SP John Korb (9-6, 4.16 ERA) sparkles and throws a 2-hit shutout against the Gold Sox. The Scorpions win 4-0.
July 20 – The Titans manage only one hit in a 3-0 loss to the Thunder’s Brian Furst (8-12, 5.47 ERA), who pitches eight innings, and Barry MacDonald (2-5, 2.72 ERA, 15 SV). Mike Rivera’s single keeps the Titans from getting no-hit.
July 20 – The Rebels acquire INF Antonio Frajio (.315, 3 HR, 32 RBI) from the Rebels, parting with recent milestone hitter LF/RF Luis Reya (.306, 5 HR, 26 RBI) and defensive shortstop prospect Eddie Ledford, who is unranked.
July 22 – A hitting legend already, PIT LF Victorino Sanchez (.267, 2 HR, 36 RBI) becomes the first ABL player ever to reach 4,000 career base hits! Sanchez singles off L.A.’s Brad Smith to open the fifth inning to reach the vaunted and heretofore unreached mark, but gets swiftly caught up in a double play grounder by Howard Jones once everybody’s done cuddling him. The Miners go on to lose, 1-0. The 39-year old Sanchez, who still plays every day in leftfield, is a career .350 hitter with 220 HR and 1,494 RBI as well as 188 SB. Sanchez’ manifold honors and exploits are too numerous to list exhaustively, but his ten batting titles (including six consecutive and nine in ten years from 2002-07 and 2009-11) and three Player of the Year awards (2000, 2002, 2005) speak for themselves. Despite all the accolades, Sanchez, who played for the Capitals, Thunder, Gold Sox, Stars, and now Miners in his career, carries around with him the disappointment of never having won the World Series.
July 22 – In the follow-up start to his no-hitter on Tuesday, TIJ SP Andrew Gudeman (9-6, 2.47 ERA) ‘merely’ throws a 3-hit shutout at the Indians, taking the 4-0 win.

Complaints and stuff

After a few so-so weeks, we jumped back to the top of the power rankings after going 5-1 the last seven days and conceding only 13 runs compared to 23 counters scored. And I sure hope we face the Bayhawks in the CLCS again, because 1) that means we are in the playoffs, 2) they suck against us this year, 3) REVENGE! BLOODY ****ING REVENGE!!

ABL CAREER HITS LEADERS (*active)

1st – Victorino Sanchez* – 4,000
2nd – Dale Wales (HOF) – 3,673
3rd – Cristo Ramirez (HOF) – 3,625
4th – Jeffery Brown (HOF) – 3,582
5th – Sonny Reece – 3,294
6th – Martin Ortíz* – 3,111
7th – Dennis Berman* – 3,097
8th – Dan Morris (HOF) – 3,030
9th – Vonne Calzado (HOF) – 3,027
10th – Paul Connolly (HOF) – 3,023

Paws up if after all these years still think Vonne Calzado can be ordered in your favorite pizza place. Sonny Reece is not yet eligible for Hall of Fame considerations (but will be this fall, unless I am completely off the rolls), as is the only other player with 3,000 hits, Will Bailey (3,010), who retired after the 2017 season.

Further down the list you can find among others the following non-trivial ex-Raccoons:

13th – Ron Alston* – 2,981
14th – Juan Barrón – 2,937
34th – David Brewer (HOF) – 2,529
56th – Ben O’Morrissey – 2,338
60th – Stanley Murphy* – 2,306
t-69th – Jose Morales* – 2,261
81st – Armando Sanchez – 2,158
84th – Jorge Salazar – 2,137
88th – Ieyoshi Nomura* – 2,087
89th – Jon Merritt* – 2,079
91st – Tetsu Osanai (HOF) – 2,069
100th – Neil Reece (HOF) – 1,989

Among current Raccoons, nobody is even close to the top 100 for years and years down the road, but these are the four-digit guys:

Hugo Mendoza – 1,242
R.J. DeWeese – 1,182
Ricardo Carmona – 1,075
Tom Dahlke – 1,059

Regarding one of our more serious disappointments of the season, I can report that Tim Prince has a torn ligament in his thumb and has been placed on the minor league DL, where he will remain until the first half of August. Bless him, not having to fail for the next three weeks.

We signed the last international free agent we were after this week, spending $122k – about twice the initial offer – on 16-year old Dominican pitcher Nelson Verduzco. This brought our total expenses in the international free agent period to $270k, well below the soft cap of $393k:

SP Nelson Verduzco - $122,000 - SIGNED
CF Wilson Rodriguez - $81,000 - SIGNED
SS Hugo Ochoa - $41,000 - SIGNED
SS Charles Newton - $15,000 - SIGNED
SP Rogelio Bonilla - $11,000 - SIGNED

TOTAL – $270,000 OFFERED – $270,000 SIGNED