[Westheim]

Raccoons (89-66) @ Crusaders (77-78) – September 23-26, 2019

The Coons held only an 8-6 advantage over the Crusaders in 2019. The team that would for sure rise again in 2020 ranked dead-last in runs scored in the Continental League and even the fourth-best pitching couldn’t prevent it from lingering around the .500 mark. The Coons would try to play sufficiently well to not blow a 3 1/2 game lead in the division…

Projected matchups:
Travis Garrett (1-1, 5.06 ERA) vs. Tom Weise (11-10, 2.58 ERA)
Tadasu Abe (12-8, 2.83 ERA) vs. Manuel Ortíz (12-9, 3.89 ERA)
Hector Santos (14-10, 2.69 ERA) vs. Hwa-pyung Choe (8-11, 4.83 ERA)
Jonathan Toner (12-3, 2.43 ERA) vs. Jaylen Martin (12-8, 2.32 ERA)

All righties here, which is fine by me.

Game 1
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Walter – SS McKnight – 1B H. Mendoza – C Denny – 3B Nunley – LF DeWeese – CF Bareford – P Garrett
NYC: 3B J. Carroll – CF J. Wilson – 2B S. Valdez – 1B Manfull – RF Erickson – C Roland – LF Richards – SS D. Ortega – P Weise

Weise was struggling in all aspects of the game, putting runners on the corners in the first inning thanks to his own throwing error on Walter’s grounder and then hitting Mendoza before getting Denny to chase and whiff, and in the second inning, Bareford, Garrett (!), and Cookie hung consecutive singles with two outs on him to score the first run of the game. Weise hit Walter to load the bases, but McKnight rolled one over to Sergio Valdez. That made for a 1-0 lead and five men stranded, which was doubly bad with Travis Garrett dying to issue leadoff walks. Max Erickson drew one on four pitches to start the bottom 2nd and sure enough was brought around to score on Domingo Ortega’s 2-out single, instantly tying the game. Leadoff walks were also issued by Garrett in the next two innings, and in the fourth a 2-run homer by the light-hitting Ortega put the Crusaders ahead 3-1. Top of the fifth, the tying runs were on the corners right away with nobody out after Cookie walked and Walter singled to right. McKnight struck out feebly, but lo and behold, Dumbo Mendoza came through with a double to center. That cut the gap in half, 3-2, and gave two men in scoring position to Denny, who struck out yet again, and Nunley, who rolled over to Valdez to end the inning.

There was probably no helping Garrett anyway, who issued no leadoff walk in the bottom 5th because Jens Carroll chose to pop out foul in a full count. It was the last out collected by Garrett, who conceded a hard single to right to John Wilson and then walked(!!!) Valdez, the fifth free pass issued by him in the game. Kaiser replaced Garrett to clean up the mess he made, but there was no shortage of dorks to issue leadoff walks on this team. Adam Cowen issued one to Cory Roland in the sixth, and the situation was indeed maddening, despite Cowen cleaning up behind himself and keeping the Crusaders where they were, ahead 3-2. The Crusaders had no problems upping their game; after the Coons left another man on base in the seventh that had reached on an error, the only way for them to reach base it seemed, Cowen surrendered a leadoff jack to Carroll in the bottom 7th.

Down 4-2, the Coons got their first two men on in the eighth inning against Weise. Denny walked (so it DID work that way round, too…!) and Nunley singled, but soon enough there was more reason to be depressed as DeWeese grounded to Valdez, who only narrowly missed turning the double play and only got Nunley forced out at second. Jackson batted for Bareford with the tying runs on the corners, hit a ball to right for a sac fly, but that was not progress with a 2-run deficit. Mathews hit in the pitcher’s spot and walked against southpaw reliever Francisquo Bocanegra, pulling up Cookie with his 13-game hitting streak. The leadoff man hit a soft fly over third base that was quite definitely in for a single. Ron Richards hustled, DeWeese was scoring easily, and Mathews held at second. Tied ballgame, two on, two out, a wild pitch even advanced the runners, but Walter grounded out to the pitcher and the chance was wasted. Will West made it through the bottom 8th before McKnight hit a leadoff single to left in the ninth. Mendoza, stupidly and stubbornly, hit to Valdez for a double play, and was angrily replaced in a double switch that brought Petracek in at first base and Lillis onto the mound with a mostly left-handed lineup, including the top five batters with the bottom 9th starting with Luis Reya pinch-hitting in the #1 spot. The Crusaders would load the bases on singles by PH Jasper Holt and B.J. Manfull, and a walk drawn by PH Morgan Little, but Roland grounded out to Walter to prevent them from walking off. 1-out singles off Wade Davis placed runners on the corners in the bottom 10th. Ryan Dawson went from third base as Reya grounded to first, Petracek did not hesitate in firing home and Dawson was thrown out. Holt grounded out to deny the Crusaders again, but they wouldn’t be denied any longer. The Raccoons did NOTHING at all, and the Crusaders continued to see Davis in the bottom 11th. Sean Young singled with two outs, and Roland hit a drive to center that the park didn’t hold. 6-4 Crusaders. Carmona 2-5, BB, 2 RBI;

Good display of skills in all regards. I especially liked the eight walks, of which approximately ten came to start innings. You lot better be glad that Chris Klein shut out the Loggers! Gap remains at 3 1/2, and the magic number was now 3. Indians won 4-0 against the Elks and remained in the picture. Tristan Broun pitched 8.1 scoreless in that game.

Game 2
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Walter – SS McKnight – RF Jackson – C Denny – 3B Nunley – 1B Greenwald – CF DeWald – P Abe
NYC: 3B J. Carroll – LF Reya – 2B S. Valdez – 1B Manfull – C Roland – CF J. Wilson – RF Richards – SS D. Ortega – P Man. Ortíz

Cookie reached the 200 hits plateau with a single to left center to start the game, which also extended his hitting streak to 14 contests. Walter also singled before the middle of the order just disappeared into the night. Abe, our insurance for the season finale, started his outing by drilling Carroll, but at least converted Reya’s sorry bobbler into a double play to make up for the mistake. Manfull’s leadoff single to right in the bottom 2nd also went under in Roland’s double play grounder to Ronnie McKnight, but Abe allowed another single right away to John Wilson, then threw a wild pitch. Yep, THAT’S the insurance for Sunday.

No runs through two in the game, Cookie and Walter led off the third by being on base again. McKnight flew softly to right, Ron Richards couldn’t get there and the ball was in. Cookie had read it well and had been close to third base and had only about 120 feet left to dash home across, scoring the first run of the game. Denny hit another RBI single to get to 2-0, plating Walter. Abe, the insurance for Sunday if things would continue to go badly, walked two in the third, then allowed a leadoff homer to Manfull in the fourth, cutting the lead in half. Fortunately the Raccoons threw up a 3-spot in the fifth inning; Walter and McKnight reached base to get going, and Denny, Nunley, and DeWald all brought home a run in one way or another. Down by four, the Crusader were far from beaten, thanks to Abe having turned completely **** in September and continuing to crank up the misery. Bottom 6th, LEADOFF WALK to Valdez, and Roland romped a 2-piece to left center. After that, Richards and Ortega hit back-to-back 2-out doubles to bring the score to 5-4. Martin Ortíz, the future Hall of Famer still trying to impress somebody with his season total of ONE home run, hit in the #9 slot against Seung-mo Chun, who had replaced the disgraced Abe. At 2-2, Chun threw a wild one to move the tying run to third base, then to make sure that Denny could catch the next one threw the 3-2 right down the middle. Martin Ortíz might be old and might also be half blind by now, but he still had some base talent, which in his case meant he was still a better batter than any skunk on the visiting team’s roster – the rest of the body had just given out some time ago and he was cashing in his millions. That 3-2 by Chun, however, would have been hit 400 feet ten years ago, five years ago, and still was today. Bending around the right foul pole, it flipped the score, and threw the Raccoons into agony once more. Showing no fighting spirit whatsoever, the team got absolutely nobody on in the seventh or in the eighth, facing rookie pitcher Ben Jacobson in the latter. Alex Lindsey, a failed starter, was in to close this one out, maybe, facing the 3-4-5 of the order. McKnight struck out. Mendoza batted for Jackson against the right-hander and grounded out to Valdez. DeWeese batted for Denny… and grounded out to Valdez. 6-5 Crusaders. Carmona 2-4, BB; Walter 3-5; McKnight 2-5, RBI; Denny 2-4, 2 RBI;

Boston 4, Milwaukee 7. Now Portland Chokes. The Indians lost, dropping their magic number to 1.

Game 3
POR: RF Carmona – 3B Walter – SS McKnight – 1B H. Mendoza – 2B Mathews – C Denny – LF DeWeese – CF DeWald – P Santos
NYC: CF J. Wilson – LF Reya – 2B S. Valdez – 1B Manfull – RF Erickson – 3B Holt – C Lowe – SS D. Ortega – P Choe

Santos opened his last 2019 start in the regular season(??) with a walk to John Wilson, and could thank DeWald in center for denying Manfull a well-deserved double to the fence that kept the Crusaders off the board. The Coons put Mendoza and Mathews on with singles to start the second, but Denny hit into a double play and DeWeese kept grounding out to Sergio Valdez with impunity. DeWald opened the third with a double into the gap in right center, and while Santos and Cookie also hit rousing grounders to Valdez, that was at least enough to push the first run of the game across SOMEHOW. Any way counts, but some are uglier than others. The run that the Coons scored in the fourth on Mendoza’s 1-out double to left center and the subsequent RBI single by Mathews to right center was certainly prettier to look at, and then Mike Denny hit a 2-run blast to left center to grow the lead to 4-0. Santos unfortunately failed to deliver a shutdown inning, surrendering a walk to Valdez and singles to Manfull (who was injured on the base paths and replaced by Masaya Arakaki) and Holt, the latter scoring Valdez, 4-1. Santos also struggled to get strikeouts in (like Abe and Toner, wonderfully) and surrendered singles to Choe (…) and Wilson in the bottom 5th, both in 2-strike counts. Luis Reya hit into a double play before I could start chewing on somebody else’s fingernails because mine were ****ing finished.

The Crusaders went from 4-1 to 4-3 in the sixth. Valdez hit a leadoff single with two strikes, and Arakaki belted a homer to right, as simple as that. The Coons somehow converted a generous ball four call on DeWeese to lead off the seventh, his seventh stolen base of the year, and Jackson’s pinch-hit RBI single into a run in the seventh before Cookie, hitless, hit into a double play to Valdez, who ought to get tired any minute now and then these grounders would all be singles to right, promise! Troy Charters faced only one batter in the bottom 7th, putting Ortega on with an infield single, before Lillis came in with the tying run at the plate and lots of left-handers to be faced. As disaster unfolded vehemently, Ron Richards lined out to Mathews as he hit for Choe, but Lillis walked Chun and then threw a wild pitch. PH Ray Gilbert flew to shallow center, DeWald made a hustling grab with the tying runs in scoring position, the Crusaders sent Ortega to score and DeWald threw a BEAM to home plate for Denny to knock out the runner and end the inning on the double play. Drama was not over. The Coons had their first two batters on base in the eighth, left them of course on base, and then Arakaki homered again, this time a solo shot to left off Lillis. Somehow the lead was still there in the ninth for Ramirez to **** around with it. He struck out Drew Lowe to start the inning, before Martin Ortíz singled sharply to center, Sean Young singled to right, and Mathews only barely contained John Wilson’s sharp bouncer and could only get the out at second. Tying and winning runs on the corners, Cory Roland came out to pinch-hit and he had smashed roughly a dozen homers in this series already. Ramirez threw a 1-1 right down the middle, Roland knocked it, but down, not up. Mathews got the high bouncer and threw to first to end the game just in time. 5-4 Blighters. Mendoza 2-4, 2B; Mathews 2-4, RBI; Walker (PH) 1-1; DeWald 2-3, 2B; Jackson (PH) 1-1, RBI;

Ian Prevost’s 6-hitter kept the Loggers on pace, but the magic number is down to two. The Loggers were idle on Thursday, where the Raccoons had another game in New York. The Indians were eliminated by virtue of our wobbly win.

Cookie’s 0-for-5 dropped him far out in the batting title race, where his .320 mark is third to Brad Gore (.321) and league leader Antonio Esquivel (.325). We wouldn’t talk about any of them in the Federal League, where Pablo Sanchez of the Scorpions has been hitting .391 …

Game 4
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Mathews – SS McKnight – 1B H. Mendoza – 3B Nunley – C Denny – LF DeWeese – CF DeWald – P Toner
NYC: 1B Gilbert – 3B J. Carroll – 2B S. Valdez – RF Erickson – C Roland – LF Reya – CF J. Wilson – SS D. Ortega – P J. Martin

Toner allowed singles to ****ing Ray Gilbert and Sergio Valdez in the bottom of the first, but Gilbert tried to reach third base on Valdez’ single to right and was mercilessly thrown out by Cookie Carmona. Mendoza hit a leadoff single in the top 2nd and Denny knocked another ball outta here, giving Toner a 2-0 lead to defend. Toner struck out seven in the first three innings, which was actually closer than comfortable to what all of the Coons starters so far had combined for in the series, and reached 11 by the fifth, in which he struck out the side. He also allowed two walks and his pitch count was close to 80, but at least the Crusaders were shut up on his watch, and the Coons had tagged on runs on a solo homer by Nunley in the fourth, and then a Mathews double chasing home DeWald in the fifth, 4-0.

“Midnight” Martin couldn’t match Toner’s whiffing (K’ing three in five innings), nor could he survive Nunley. With Mendoza on with a leadoff walk in the sixth, Nunley hit his second homer of the game. That ran the score to 6-0, and knocked Martin from the game. Toner would live through seven before leaving the game after 103 pitches that had yielded three hits, three walks, 13 strikeouts, and no runs for New York. Nunley also had himself quite a day, contributing once more in the form of back-to-back eighth-inning doubles with Mendoza, giving him another RBI, and he also scored on DeWeese’s single to right. With Toner out of the game, the Raccoons sent Will West in for the eighth, and the AAA reliever was immediately victimized, walking Gilbert and Carroll and surrendering an RBI double to Valdez. Another run scored on Erickson’s sac fly, and the Coons put Cookie and McKnight on base with ninth-inning singles. Nunley got to bat once more with two outs, but missed not only another home run, but also grounded out weakly to – right – second base. Matt Schroeder pitched an accident-free ninth to knock the magic number down to one. 8-2 Coons. Mendoza 2-4, BB, 2B; Nunley 3-5, 2 HR, 2B, 4 RBI; Toner 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 13 K, W (13-3);

Raccoons (91-68) vs. Titans (69-90) – September 27-29, 2019

11th in runs scored, 7th in runs allowed, the Titans hadn’t had much to be thankful for in 2019, just like the last few years prior. They were heading for their third straight red lantern finish and the fourth in five years. They did have a bright spot, though, holding the Coons to only an 8-7 edge in the season series, and they still could play spoilers on them if the Loggers would keep winning in their series against the Elks.

Projected matchups:
Bobby Guerrero (11-9, 3.51 ERA) vs. Jose Diaz (5-13, 4.46 ERA)
Cole Pierson (9-14, 3.65 ERA) vs. Ozzie Pereira (12-13, 3.64 ERA)
Travis Garrett (1-1, 5.26 ERA) vs. Chris Klein (15-8, 2.84 ERA)

The series starts with a left-hander, then two more right-handers to finish the season. The home team’s lineup is with the Coons clinching by Saturday. If the Sunday game would actually matter, Tadasu Abe (12-8, 2.98 ERA) would get the start.

Game 1
BOS: RF Mata – 3B T. Thomas – 1B J. Duran – C T. Robinson – LF J. Avila – SS Gray – CF Reichardt – 2B Humphres – P J. Diaz
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Walter – RF Jackson – 1B H. Mendoza – C Denny – 3B Nunley – CF Bareford – SS Lafon – P Guerrero

Guerrero walked a pair in the first, which ended on a strong play by Nunley, hustling in to hurl a slow roller by Jose Avila to first base in time. Through four innings, the Titans had drawn three walks, but had no hits and no runs, and the Coons hadn’t scored either on their three hits and a pair of double plays they had hit into. Robby Humphres drew his second walk of the game in the fifth, but was left on after Diaz’ bunt when Alex Mata popped out to Shane Walter, and the game still remained scoreless through five, while a couple hundred miles further north, the Loggers led the Elks 2-1.

The Titans had to wait until the seventh inning to get a hit off Bobby Guerrero, who had retired them in order in the sixth and had two outs and nobody on in the seventh when pinch-hitter Mike Cesta grounded up the middle and into centerfield for Boston’s first H of the game. Xavier Williams struck out behind him, so the Titans still remained off the critical portion of the board, but the Raccoons weren’t really engaged in the offensive part of the game, either. The issue had to be forced when Mike Denny drew a leadoff walk off Diaz in the seventh inning. Petracek ran for him, but was still forced out by Nunley – foiled again! Nunley remained at first base as Bareford batted and hit a liner to right and that was – finally – trouble. Alex Mata was not going to cut it off and Nunley flung the paws around second, around third, and dashed for home, Mata taking a long time to make the play, and no throw was going to come in as the Coons took the lead on Andy Bareford’s RBI triple!! Bareford scored on Lafon’s sac fly to left, and the Coons were up 2-0. Guerrero went back out for the eighth and retired Diaz, Mata, and Tom Thomas in order, but unless the Coons packed another punch in the eighth, he would not get the ninth inning. Nobody reached base in the bottom of the eighth, and so Alex Ramirez had to nail down the playoffs facing the middle of the Titans’ order and on the first pitch surrendered a jack to Jose Duran. Tim Robinson grounded out, and with two of the next three batters being left-handed, Ramirez was yanked and Brett Lillis got the ball. The Titans had none of that, with Jose Avila being hit for by Craig Dasher, who struck out anyway. Tyler Gray was called out looking in awe at a 2-2 cutter, and that put the Coons over the hump! 2-1 Critters!! Lafon 1-2, RBI; Guerrero 8.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 7 K, W (12-9) and 1-3;

WE MAKE THE PLAYOFFS!!!

In the South, the Falcons and Aces were even at this point, so they would go the distance to Sunday to determine a winner at least. The Aces hosted the Thunder, while the Falcons had just knocked out the Knights with a 4-1 win behind rookie Seth Powers.

We will field reduced lineups the last few days of the season to try and keep the odd injury to a starter (perhaps) away.

Game 2
BOS: LF J. Roberts – 3B T. Thomas – SS Gray – C T. Robinson – 1B J. Duran – 2B Humphres – RF Blake – CF Reichardt – P Pereira
POR: CF DeWald – SS McKnight – RF Jackson – 1B H. Mendoza – LF Thomson – 3B Petracek – 2B Prince – C Prieto – P Pierson

The Titans scored a run on three singles in the first, but Dumbo Mendoza pulled the run back with a solo homer in the second inning. The bases would be loaded in the bottom of the third after two singles and a walk, but Chris Thomson came to bat with two outs and whiffed quite helplessly, and Pierson, constantly standing neck-deep in runners, surrendered the go-ahead run again in the fourth inning, conceding singles to Robby Humphres and Jonathan Blake before Adrian Reichardt came up with a sac fly. Tom Thomas hit a double with one out in the fifth, but tried to stretch it and was thrown out by Jackson at third base. While the reduced lineup certainly was no help, Pierson continued to pitch like a chronic loser and would soon book his 11th consecutive start without a W after he allowed a leadoff single to Tim Robinson in the sixth, and then consecutive doubles to Humphres and Blake. That put the Titans at 4-1 and Pierson at ten hits conceded in 5.1 innings. He was yanked right there. Matt Schroeder kept the runner Blake at second base by striking out Reichardt and getting Pereira to ground out, but then conceded another run anyway in the seventh on three singles before getting removed for Charters, who struck out Humphres to strand a pair. Down 5-1, it would be Ronnie McKnight to get the Coons close once more, knocking a 2-run homer off Pereira in the bottom of the seventh inning. DeWald had been on base, his third time in the game, but the Coons remained short 5-3, and would soon be down 6-3 when Charters loaded the bases in the eighth inning by all means available to him, including hitting Jimmy Roberts with one out and two already on. Thomas hit a sac fly to get a run in before Gray struck out. The run was pulled back in the bottom of the inning when Thomson tripled and Cookie hit an RBI single, but after that Prince rolled into a double play right away. Chun held the Titans at two runs’ distance in the ninth, and in the bottom of the inning, facing the left-hander Nestor Munoz, we were ready to throw in some more regulars. Joey Mathews walked to start the inning, and Nunley singled to right, sending Mathews to third and the tying runs were on the corners with nobody out. Then they starved as usual. DeWald hit a sac fly, which was not particularly helpful, since it was not the tying run to score, and McKnight and Jackson were retired on soft flies that threatened nobody. 6-5 Titans. DeWald 2-3, BB, RBI; McKnight 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Mendoza 2-4, HR, RBI; Carmona (PH) 1-1, RBI;

Cookie played in the rubber game and season finale. The batting title was a 4-hit game or so away… we can still haul him in if he starts it 0-for-2, I guess.

Game 3
BOS: CF Reichardt – 3B T. Thomas – 1B J. Duran – C T. Robinson – SS Gray – RF X. Williams – LF Cesta – 2B Humphres – P Klein
POR: LF Carmona – SS Walter – 3B Nunley – RF Jackson – 2B Mathews – CF DeWald – C Walker – 1B Greenwald – P Garrett

Jose Duran’s 2-piece dismantled Garrett right away, while the Coons got Cookie on with a double, Nunley with a single, and then got two poor outs from Jackson and Mathews to end the bottom 1st. Cookie wasn’t sent on Nunley’s single mainly because the run itself didn’t matter and we were trying to keep everybody in one piece with no compound fractures from here until the curtain would fall on the game. Garrett alternated between throwing right down the middle and being all over the place, the rookie behind the dish was no help to him, either, and he walked four in the first three innings alone. The Coons got on the board in the bottom 4th on Jackson’s leadoff double, after which he moved around on Mathews’ groundout and DeWald’s sac fly, and that was literally the only thing the Raccoons did in those middle innings.

Garrett, unexpectedly, lasted six innings without another run, with stupid luck being involved at various times. Gray hit a double in the sixth and was on third base with two outs. Humphres was walked intentionally (after five inept walks before that) and Klein popped out to end the inning. Klein more or less had the Coons in the sack and was largely unchallenged. A 2-out single to Greenwald got away in the bottom of the seventh. Wade Davis was hit for by DeWeese, just to show the fans that yes, he was still alive, and yes, we were still on the hooks for another $9.9M. My jaw dropped, and it wasn’t the only jaw in the park when DeWeese belted Klein’s first pitch for a score-flipping long shot outta right center, putting the Coons on top 3-2. DeWeese stayed in the game afterwards with Cookie removed after making three outs following his first inning double. Petracek came on for defense in right, and Charters took over the 3-2 lead. He got two outs before surrendering a triple to .130 hitter Xavier Williams. With the left-handed Cesta, batting .320, coming up, we called on Jason Kaiser from the pen. The Titans countered with Craig Dasher, who struck out, and the lead made it out of the inning, barely. No offense was coming forth in the bottom 8th, and Ramirez had the #8 batter up to start the ninth inning, with Avila pinch-hitting in the spot and singling. Here we go! However, Mata struck out, Reichardt struck out, and only one out remained to be logged in the regular season. Tom Thomas popped up the 1-0 pitch, Russ Greenwald made the catch, and the Coons ended the 2019 regular campaign on a W! 3-2 Furballs! Jackson 2-3, 2B; DeWeese (PH) 1-1, HR, 2 RBI;

In other news

September 23 – The Buffaloes trash the Blue Sox in a 12-0 blowout. TOP 2B Chris Owen (.325, 11 HR, 76 RBI) hits four singles and drives in three.
September 24 – The Scorpions become the first team to punch their playoff ticket with an 8-4 win over the Wolves. It will be the Scorpions’ eighth playoff appearance, the most recent one coming in 2017, then ending an 18-year drought.
September 25 – Within 24 hours, the FLCS is set. The Rebels’ 11-5 win over the Capitals puts them over the hump in the FL East, and gives them their fifth overall and third consecutive playoff appearance.
September 25 – Pacifics ace Brad Smith (13-7, 3.65 ERA) will go to vacation early after suffering a hamstring strain.
September 27 – Routinely-injured SFB OF Dave Garcia (.324, 5 HR, 22 RBI in 139 AB) will miss the last few games of the season with a knee contusion.
September 28 – In the middle of a pennant race, LVA SP Jason Clements (14-13, 3.45 ERA) 3-hits the Thunder in a 3-0 game.
September 28 – SAC 1B Alberto Rodriguez (.296, 13 HR, 89 RBI) gets his 2,500th career hit in a 2-1 Scorpions win over the Pacifics, a fifth-inning single off Vincent Alfaro. More significant in the moment would be Rodriguez’ other hit in the game, a 13th-inning walkoff homer, but that was already hit #2,501. Spending his career between four teams, all in the Federal League, Rodriguez was never flashy, and always more of a reliable horse that one could ride forever. Since his debut in 2006, Rodriguez has *never* failed to appear in 155 games in a season, and he appeared in *166* regular season games in 2014, a season in which he was traded from the Capitals to the Rebels. He led the league in doubles six times while batting .291 with 155 HR and 1,166 RBI. He was the 2006 Rookie of the Year and the 2017 FLCS MVP, but so far was never an All Star. He won the 2017 World Series with the Rebels.
September 29 – Aces rookie Jose Navarro (.268, 1 HR, 17 RBI in 82 AB) cries furiously after punching the Aces’ playoff ticket with a 10th-inning walkoff single against the Thunder’s Mike Tharp. The Aces win 5-4 to make the playoffs for the third time, where they can defend their 2018 World Championship. The Falcons had earlier lost a 3-2 game to the Knights and had been forced to hope that the Thunder would prevail to give them a chance in a game #163.

Complaints and stuff

This is the Raccoons second ever three-peat in the North. They previously won the division three times in a row from 1991 through 1993, although then they never crashed out in the CLCS…

Dave Garcia – tremendous talent, brittle bones. He made it into *37* games this year. Injuries involved a concussion, a strained forearm and the bad knee. He basically only lacked the broken neck for a medical grand slam.

In a 3-0 game, Jonny Toner bunted DeWald to second base with nobody out in the fifth inning on Thursday. While in general not significant, this was only his third sacrifice bunt of the season. He is most often more valuable if he just swings away.

Cookie finished second in the batting title race, and would have needed a 3-for-4 Sunday to beat Antonio Esquivel by .0003 points. He still led the league in hits and triples, and was the only Raccoon to appear in the top 3 of any batting category, including a second place in stolen bases.

Hector Santos led the league in WHIP for the third time and finished second in Denzel Durr in K/9 and to Juan Valdevez in K/BB, although both of these are results of Jonny Toner not qualifying for average categories thanks to injuries holding him to 140.1 innings.

One stat not immediately discernible from the stat table below; the Raccoons led the CL with 563 runs allowed, right, and that number also led the ABL as a whole. What it doesn’t tell you about is the margin to the team with the second-fewest runs allowed, the Aces. The margin was a whopping 82 runs.