[Westheim]

The Raccoons began the week by activating Mike Rehbock from the DL for an additional bullpen arm, and also reassigned Brian Perakis and Jon McGrew to AAA after they had gone entirely unclaimed following waivers to remodel the 40-man roster at the start of the month.

Oh, to be 25 and not draw the least interest of 23 other teams!

Raccoons (59-76) @ Canadiens (46-89) – September 4-7, 2023

Believe it or not, but the Elks were actually on a 4-game winning streak and rallying from the depths of hell. The Coons had to play seven more against them, so they’d better take cover – so far we were up 7-4 against the stinking forest donkeys from the North. These two teams brought up the rear in the league in terms of runs scored, with the Elks still plating 36 more runs than us (…), but in turn they were outright the worst in most pitching categories. Who knows, maybe even the Raccoons could break out for an offensive week? So far we had scored a very uncharacteristic 4.8 runs per game against Vancouver in ’23.

Projected matchups:
Chris McKendrick (8-7, 3.28 ERA) vs. Bryce Sudar (2-0, 3.02 ERA)
Matt Huf (3-9, 5.08 ERA) vs. Greg Becker (3-7, 4.53 ERA)
Rico Gutierrez (8-9, 4.01 ERA) vs. Bobby Guerrero (7-13, 4.51 ERA)
Travis Garrett (4-6, 3.36 ERA) vs. Bobby Thompson (4-4, 3.39 ERA)

That’s a right-handed rookie, a southpaw, a right-handed former Critter, and another southpaw – nice attempt at keeping the Coons off balance at the plate, but to be frank, they haven’t been balanced at the plate since Slappy unlocked the park in early March.

Game 1
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Claros – 1B Walter – 3B Nunley – RF Alfaro – C Tovias – SS Stalker – CF Santos – P McKendrick
VAN: 3B Jon. Morales – 1B Saenz – LF A. Torres – C Holliman – SS Calfee – CF Coca – RF Luckett – 2B Crosby – P Sudar

Sudar, who had only two decision in 11 games (7 starts) this year, had walk and strikeout numbers similar to Matt Huf, so there was hope for the Raccoons, who immediately began to encroach on him. Raul Claros drew a 4-pitch walk in the first, Shane Walter singled hard to right, and after Nunley regrettably whiffed, Omar Alfaro hit his first bomb off the DL, and it was a *real* bomb, a no-doubt 3-run homer, and it also made him only the second Critter to hit ten dingers in 2023. The Coons considered that 3-spot a job well done and laid themselves down for a nap, while McKendrick was not in serious trouble in his outing for the first four innings, yielding only one base hit to Omar Saenz, a 27-year-old September call-up. No, trouble only appeared on the horizon when Raul Claros dropped a pop by John Calfee in the bottom of the fifth inning, giving the Elks a 1-out base runner. Elijah Luckett grounded into a force, but McKendrick lost Adrian Crosby in a full count. Sudar hit a fly to left, but Cookie was on that one, stranding two Elks, the most they had put up in any one inning so far. Portland’s excruciatingly hesitant youth movement carved out another run of Sudar in the sixth thanks to a 2-out double by Alfaro, who then scored on Elias Tovias’ single to right center, 4-0.

McKendrick stopped functioning from one second to the next in the bottom of the inning, walking Alex Torres (of 32 stolen bases) in a full count before serving up consecutive and equally impressive bombs to both Ryan Holliman and John Calfee, which in a heartbeat moved the Elks back to 4-3, and caused my heartbeat to skip a couple o’ beats 300 miles further south. McKendrick got rid of Tony Coca to complete six, but was hit for by Jarod Spencer in the top 7th. Spencer grounded out harmlessly for the second out, but the Coons then got on base. Cookie singled to center, knocking out Sudar, but his replacement Fernando Ortega would concede another single to Claros and then walked Shane Walter to fill the bags for Matt Nunley, who was on two K’s and a double play. Well, the good news? He couldn’t hit into a double play here! The count ran full, making a strikeout a possibility, but Nunley put the seventh pich of the at-bat in play, a fly to deep right, plenty deep actually, really deep actually … GRAAAAAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMM!!!!!

The Coons’ pen was in instant trouble in the bottom 7th, though, up 8-3 or not. Hector Morales saw two left-handers, walked them both, and with Luckett and Crosby aboard, Joe Moore allowed a single to Hiroaki Ryu into rightfield. Luckett turned third, Omar Alfaro didn’t think so and sledgehammered him out at home with a perfect rocket. The remaining runners moved into scoring position with one out, where they remained when Jonathan Morales grounded back to the mound, but Moore lost PH Bobby Rickard in a full count to fill the bags with two down, then allowed a bases-clearing double to Alex Torres into the depths of centerfield. Kevin Surginer inherited the 8-6 game, whiffed Holliman, and that was that. Surginer also killed off Calfee and Coca in the bottom 8th before Brett Lillis was sent out for a 4-game save with the Coons confidently enough to remove Cookie in a double switch, so things had to fall apart, absolutely. Luckett was retired to end the eighth, but Crosby legged out an infield single to begin the bottom 9th and Lillis then got bombed by Morales, which knotted the score at eight. Despite extra pitchers, one day after playing 27 innings with the Loggers the Coons were ill-equipped to play extras yet again, especially many extras, and had to move swiftly. So of course they only flicked their tails in the 12th inning with Billy Brotman pressed into long relief already. They faced 29-year-old September call-up Mario Aragon, a righty, in only his 15th major league appearance ever; Nunley hit a leadoff single, and Tovias and Stalker both walked after Alfaro hacked himself out. Bases loaded for… Greg Borg!? And we were also out of centerfielders entirely, so Borg had to bat and extended his sucking streak (his entire career) to 3-for-28 with a pop to second base. Jarod Spencer however, who had stuck in the #9 hole and was now playing leftfield, knocked a single up the middle to score two and break the tie. Priced veteran Will Newman struck out in Brotman’s place, and Vince D ended the game… just ignored the pair of 2-out walks to Holliman and Calfee in the bottom 12th that freaked me out considerably on my couch at home. 10-8 Furballs! Stevenson (PH) 1-1; Walter 3-5, BB; Nunley 2-6, HR, 4 RBI; Alfaro 2-6, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Tovias 2-5, BB, 2B, RBI; Graves (PH) 1-1;

Game 2
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Spencer – RF Newman – 3B Nunley – CF Alfaro – SS Stalker – C Delgado – 1B Cardona – P Huf
VAN: 3B Jon. Morales – CF Coca – LF A. Torres – C Holliman – RF O’Rourke – SS Calfee – 1B Rickard – 2B Gura – P G. Becker

Despite facing the right-handed pushover Huf, the Elks didn’t find it in their hearts to put a single left-handed bat into the lineup, which was profoundly odd. Anyway, the Coons scored first, overcoming Huf’s failed bunt in the second inning that killed off lead runner Tim Stalker at third base for the second out and left Cardona and Huf on second and first, respectively, with Cookie’s fast RBI single through Ted Gura and then a wild pitch that plated Huf from third base. Yet up 2-0 the Coons turned into a Buster Keaton movie before long. Huf was about to retire the Elks on three grounders in the bottom 2nd, at least until Cardona dropped Nunley’s feed on what would have been the third out by John Calfee. Huf decided to spontaneously fold hard; he allowed an RBI double to center to Rickard, an RBI single to right to Gura, and for good measure Greg Becker also knocked a double before Morales drew four balls to get onto the open base. Tony Coca belched a slam over the leftfield fence, and the Raccoons were in arrears 6-2 all of a sudden, all runs on Huf being unearned thanks to some completely inept rookie at first base. If I hadn’t been a country away I would have stormed onto the field to strangle him with my bare hands right away. Making things worse, Cardona came to bat with the bases loaded and two down in the top 3rd and rolled out to Morales easily, letting Becker get out of the jam he walked himself into. Becker walked five in 3+ innings but the Coons found ways to wiggle out of scoring situations, f.e. with Will Newman’s inning-ending double play in the fourth…

Top 6th, bases loaded, no outs; Delgado singled, Cardona somehow singled, and Shane Walter walked in Huf’s place. The Elks would not respond to the threat at hand. Not after Cookie’s RBI single, not after Spencer’s sac fly, and not before Will Newman walloped a 3-run homer to flip the score in Portland’s favor, 7-6 (which ironically put Huf in line for a W), after which Emmanuel Castaneda replaced Becker. Huf’s W didn’t live long, thanks to the Elks loading them up with nobody out in the bottom of the very same inning. Adam Cowen walked two in addition to a Nunley error, and that was not the last error in the inning. Gura hit a sac fly, after which Moises Berrones batted against Surginer, who had replaced the hapless Cowen. He grounded in front of the plate, Delgado jumped out and fired to second… or maybe more to centerfield. Calfee scored from second, giving Vancouver the lead, runners were in scoring position and came home on Morales’ double to right center, at which point the garbage game went to Will West, who allowed another run on Torres’ 2-out single in the same inning. Here were two horrible teams that had just exchanged terrible 5-spots. The Elks led 11-7, and nine of their runs were unearned. The Elks would add another run in the eighth – earned – against Mike Rehbock, who also well deserved it for allowing a single, two walks, and a wild pitch… the Raccoons wouldn’t threaten in the last three innings. 12-7 Canadiens. Carmona 2-4, BB, 2 RBI; Bullock (PH) 1-1; Newman 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; Jones (PH) 1-1; Cardona 2-4; Walter (PH) 1-1;

If you consider this entertainment, isn’t then gawking at crash victims being cut out of their cars on the Interstate entertainment as well?

Game 3
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Spencer – 1B Walter – 3B Nunley – RF Alfaro – C Tovias – SS Stalker – CF Stevenson – P Gutierrez
VAN: 1B Jon. Morales – 3B Ryu – LF A. Torres – C Holliman – RF O’Rourke – SS Calfee – CF Coca – 2B Gura – P B. Guerrero

Saw what a right-handed lineup did to Huf and the boys? Wonder what it can do to Gutierrez? Rico would also not face a left-handed bat in this lineup. Torres singled off him in the bottom 1st, but was caught stealing, and the Critters scored first again; Alfaro singled, Stalker doubled in the top 2nd, and Stevenson’s groundout brought at least one run home before Gutierrez whiffed to end the inning, but Guerrero allowed four singles and another two runs in the third inning. Spencer, Walter, and Nunley all hit 1-out singles, Alfaro drove a ball to center for a sac fly, and Tovias hit an RBI single to left, 3-0. Elias would actually throw out Torres a second time in the game, then in the and ending the bottom 4th, leaving Gutierrez to face one over the minimum through four shutout innings. Of course, with these Coons disaster was always just looming around the corner…

Bottom 5th, Gutierrez spilled leadoff walks to Dave O’Rourke and John Calfee. Coca grounded at Nunley, who took the force out at his own base to keep runners on first and second, now with one out. Unfortunately, Tovias was then charged with a passed ball, losing a pitch to Ted Gura under his fat bum, and Gura would end up hitting a sac fly. Guerrero skipped a ball to Stalker that was going to end the inning, unless Stalker would throw it past Walter and into the dugout, which was exactly what happened. Coca scored from second on the 2-base error, and suddenly it was a 3-2 game. Gutierrez walked Morales in a state of bewilderment, but Ryu would strike out to keep the Elks short on runs, 3-2, and hits, 8-1, through five innings…

But, ah, the Elks were nothing if not outrageous. There was a reason for none of the games in the series being attended by more than 12,000 fans. Top 6th, Ryu’s throwing error put Tovias on second base leading off, and a wild pitch advanced him to third. A second wild pitch, still to Tim Stalker, scored the run, 4-2. Stevenson would later reach base in the inning, after which Gutierrez struck out bunting … it was a majestic event to witness, a bit like seeing the Hindenburg’s fireball crash to earth…

The Coons failed to knock out Guerrero in the top 7th when Walter and Nunley were aboard with one out, but Bobby struck out both Alfaro and Tovias, then proceeded to instead kick Gutierrez from the game in the bottom 7th with a 2-out single to right. Joe Moore replaced him and struck out Jonathan Morales to keep the Coons’ 4-2 lead afloat. Vince D handled the eighth, while Guerrero went 8.1 innings before walking Spencer in the ninth and getting replaced by former Coons farmhand Dan Moon. Spencer was caught stealing to accelerate the Critters’ non-scoring attempts, and the bottom 9th went to Lillis with a 2-run lead and the 5-6-7 batters up. Lillis conceded a single to O’Rourke to begin the inning, threw a wild pitch, but somehow the Elks ran out of spark at that point, being retired on three easy pops or flies afterwards. 4-2 Coons. Walter 3-5, 2B; Gutierrez 6.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 5 BB, 6 K, W (9-9);

Game 4
POR: SS Stalker – 2B Spencer – 1B Walter – LF Newman – RF Alfaro – C Tovias – CF Stevenson – 3B Bullock – P Garrett
VAN: 3B Jon. Morales – CF Coca – LF A. Torres – RF O’Rourke – SS Calfee – C Tanzillo – 1B Rickard – 2B Crosby – P B. Thompson

Stalker got struck, stole second, and was starved right there in the first inning, but the Critters still scored first for all the games in the series, owing that feat to Elias Tovias’ solo homer in the second inning, his 15th this year. The Coons added a run in the third, with Stalker getting nailed AGAIN by Thompson, and this time coming around to score on a wild pitch and Spencer’s single to left center. Meanwhile, Travis Garrett struck out six the first time through, but with him it was only a matter of time for tragedy to strike… But before that could happen, Josh Stevenson tripled in Alfaro and Tovias in the fourth inning, running the score to 4-0 thanks to Tony Coca taking a circuitous and ultimately fruitless route to his fly ball. Bullock singled him in, 5-0, and after Garrett’s bunt put the second out on the scoreboard, Tim Stalker avoided all the pitches aimed at his head and doubled on the one that was to his liking, 6-0. That was it for Thompson, his replacement Jasper Devitt getting Spencer to ground out to end the inning. Devitt also singled off Garrett in the fifth, but the Elks couldn’t touch him as whole. Against their four hits in five innings off “Tragic” Travis, they had also struck out nine times. Shane Walter made an error to extend the bottom 6th, but the Elks couldn’t score Alex Torres, either, although Garrett reached 98 pitches by the end of the sixth, so he would not collect a shutout in this game. Garrett did bat for himself in the seventh, though, hitting a leadoff single off and returning a favor to Devitt, but Stalker hit into a double play. Garrett faced five more batters, retired them all, including four more strikeouts, but 115 pitches was enough, especially with him approaching the heart of the order. This was not a no-hit bid; those had different rules. Ask Brownie and Toner throwing 130+ in no-hitters. Morales and Barzaga would collect the final four outs without incident, while the Coons had even piled on three more runs in the eighth inning, including a 2-run homer by Alfaro. 9-0 Furballs! Spencer 2-5, RBI; Alfaro 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Tovias 2-3, HR, RBI; Stevenson 2-4, 3B, 2B, 2 RBI; Garrett 7.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 14 K, W (5-6) and 1-3;

Travis Garrett’s 14 strikeouts were by far his best output in the major leagues, beating an 11 K outing against the Condors in 2020. Yes, he has annoyed us for that long. Even longer actually, debuting in 2019.

The Coons lost Josh Stevenson to a hip strain late in the game. He was moved to the DL, but would be able to return this season. In his absence, maybe Omar Alfaro could get some more reps in center, and maybe Greg Borg would get enough at-bats for a fourth major league hit?

Raccoons (62-77) vs. Indians (63-77) – September 8-10, 2023

Suddenly this was a battle for fourth place in the division, and also the last meeting between these two teams, neither of which were yet mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, but had been, spiritually, for many months. The Indians held an 8-7 edge in the season series, but were consistently crummy, ranking in the bottom four in both runs scored and runs allowed in the Continental League.

Projected matchups:
Jesus Chavez (9-13, 3.81 ERA) vs. Jordan Caldwell (7-12, 4.33 ERA)
Chris McKendrick (8-7, 3.35 ERA) vs. Rich Hood (1-2, 3.92 ERA)
Matt Huf (3-9, 4.85 ERA) vs. Alvin Smith (7-7, 3.92 ERA)

Yup, that’s ex-Coon Rich Hood rearing his ugly head again. After spending years in oblivion, he had pitched to a 5-7 record with a 3.51 ERA with last year’s Elks, and now had broken free of AAA constraints to work his way into the rotation again at age 36. Of course, injuries had to do with the left-hander’s resurgence. The Indians were without both Tristan Broun and Manny Ortega from their rotation, and were also missing a couple of regulars in Lowell Genge, Erik Janes, and Bob Reyes.

Game 1
IND: 2B R. Mendez – 3B J. Jackson – RF C. Martinez – 1B M. Rucker – LF T. Ruiz – CF Faulk – C Calhoun – SS Benedetto – P Caldwell
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Spencer – 1B Walter – 3B Nunley – RF Alfaro – C Tovias – SS Stalker – CF Borg – P Chavez

Exceedingly harmless early on, not something they had shown in Vancouver, the Raccoons would get only one hit the first time through the order, and that was by Chavez. Cookie and Alfaro both drew leadoff walks in the first two innings, but sometimes not hitting into a double play right afterwards was all the success you could possibly get. At least Chavez shut out the Indians for the early innings, despite them landing a bunch of hits against him. Offense didn’t start until the fourth inning, with Omar Alfaro peppering a 1-2 pitch by Caldwell over the rightfield fence, his 12th dinger of the year. Tovias and Stalker would both reach base after that, and then we got some actual semblance of life from Greg Borg, who doubled off the wall in left for a 2-run double to run the score to 3-0. The Coons would throw up another 3-spot in the following inning when Elias Tovias collected Walter and Alfaro with a truly towering 2-out, 3-run homer, jumping the score to 6-0 with his 16th bomb of the year, a 410-footer to right center. Meanwhile, the Arrowheads had nothing against Chavez anymore; after collecting four base hits in the first four innings, they went down entirely in order from the fifth through the eighth innings. His pitch count reached 99 through eight, but with a 6-run lead, he would get the chance to complete the job for sure in the ninth inning, then facing the heart of the order. Cesar Martinez flew out to Borg on the 100th pitch, but Mike Rucker would end Chavez’ day with an absolute, raw, blinding moon shot estimated at 452 feet that was outta here in no time at all. A.J. Faulk would hit another off David Kipple, Chavez’ replacement, and the game didn’t end until after Will West walked Justin Calhoun, with Borg catching another fly hit by Jason Benedetto. 6-2 Coons. Alfaro 2-2, 2 BB, HR, RBI; Chavez 8.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (10-13) and 2-3;

Whee, fourth place!

Game 2
IND: 2B R. Mendez – CF D. Morales – RF C. Martinez – 1B M. Rucker – C T. Perez – LF T. Ruiz – 3B J. Jackson – SS Benedetto – P Hood
POR: SS Stalker – 2B Spencer – RF Alfaro – 3B Nunley – LF Newman – CF Santos – 1B Cardona – C Jones – P McKendrick

McKendrick was roughed up right out of the gate, losing Rich Mendez to a leadoff walk and then conceding runs on RBI doubles by Cesar Martinez and Mike Rucker. Tony Perez walked, but Tony Ruiz hit into a double play to keep the Indians to two runs. Their advantage would not be final yet, with Rich Hood being known to drink away leads in a hurry. In this particular case he faced the opposing pitcher with two outs and Cardona and Jones aboard in the bottom 2nd, and inexplicably walked McKendrick on four pitches before allowing a game-tying 2-run double to Tim Stalker. Spencer grounded out, stranding a pair, but hit a 2-out RBI single the very next inning. It was the sixth and final single off Hood in that inning, which also saw a walk issued, and the Coons plating four runs to take a 6-2 lead, first attained with Manuel Cardona’s sac fly that scored Matt Nunley. Laden with ten hits and six runs, Rich Hood would not reappear for the fourth inning.

Some ill control ran up McKendrick’s pitch count, although he “only” walked three in six innings of work. He was hit for in the bottom 6th with two outs and the bases loaded for Mat Stone. A Rich Mendez error had just put Isaiah Jones aboard to extend the inning, one play after long man Pablo Correa had left the game with an injury after 2.2 scoreless innings. Raul Claros drew a full-count, bases-loaded walk in McKendrick’s place, forcing in another run in the now 7-2 game, while Stalker’s fly to left was caught by Ruiz. More offense occurred in the bottom 7th, with Spencer singling, stealing, scoring on Alfaro’s single, and Alfaro was also brought around to score eventually on Frank Santos’ sac fly. The Coons pumped out 18 hits in the game, creaming the Indians as they ended up being held to three hits, and the two runs they had scored right at the start of the contest. 9-2 Raccoons! Stalker 2-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Spencer 4-6, RBI; Newman 3-5; Santos 3-4, RBI; Jones 2-4, BB, RBI; Claros (PH) 0-1, BB, RBI; McKendrick 6.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, W (9-7);

The Correa injury was already the second of the game for the Indians, who had previously lost Cesar Martinez on a defensive play. Both were ultimately only diagnosed with some soreness or other, and both were not ruled out for the Sunday game.

Game 3
IND: 2B R. Mendez – CF D. Morales – RF C. Martinez – 1B M. Rucker – C T. Perez – LF T. Ruiz – 3B J. Jackson – SS Greene – P A. Smith
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Claros – 1B Walter – 3B Nunley – RF Alfaro – C Tovias – SS Stalker – CF Borg – P Huf

Portland struck first, although Shane Walter also struck the Coons themselves with his run-scoring double play grounder to short in the bottom 1st. Cookie – after singling and stealing – scored, Claros was wound up. Tovias hit into a double play in the second, and Shane Walter’s throwing error in the third cost the team the early lead. A terrible throw behind Huf put Justin Jackson on third base to begin the inning, and Huf didn’t recover from that, conceding the run on Smith’s bunt and Mendez’ groundout. Bottom 3rd, Greg Borg led off with a bloop single into shallow left, and now the Coons had two productive outs before Claros’ RBI single into right and in front of Martinez regained them the lead, 2-1.

67 pitchers got Matt Huf through five innings with a no-hitter, which was both a splendid and a frightening thing at the same time, because you didn’t want to feel obliged to maneuver him into late innings with a wonky 1-run lead. His spot also came up in the bottom 5th with Greg Borg on first base and one out. Huf bunted up the third base line, and Rucker would not be anywhere near Jackson’s horrendous throw that gave the Coons two free bases, but Cookie struck out and Claros lined out to centerfield to keep the runners aboard.

Matt Huf removed the 1-2-3 batters on 13 pitches in the sixth, then started with strikeouts to Rucker and Perez in the seventh. The Rucker K put him at 100 for the season, achieved in 114 innings. If only those 76 walks weren’t there… Tony Ruiz hit a hard fly to right, pretty deep, but Omar Alfaro hustled back and made the catch on the track, ending the seventh. Huf’s bid cracked right down the middle with a leadoff walk to Jackson in the eighth inning, and he even took eight pitches to do it. It put him at 104 for the game, and with six outs to collect, things looked bleak for him AND the team, given that there was still only a 2-1 lead on the board. Justin Calhoun popped out, after which Jaylen Rolland pinch-hit in the #9 hole and ran another full count. Heavy-heartedly we were going to remove Huf after his one anyway, and when Rolland singled to center, the bid was gone anyway. Vince D replaced Huf, struck out both Mendez and Morales atop the order, and maintained the lead in the inning. The Coons put Walter (double) and Alfaro (intentional walk) aboard in the bottom 8th, but couldn’t push through against Brian Gilbert, leaving Brett Lillis with the tender 2-1 lead in the ninth, and also with a season series win in the balance. Jarod Spencer also replaced Claros for defense, handled two fast bouncers for the first two outs from Martinez and Rucker, and Lillis would then incinerate Tony Perez on strikes. 2-1 Furballs! Claros 2-4, RBI; Alfaro 1-2, 2 BB; Borg 2-3; Huf 7.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 9 K, W (4-9);

In other news

September 4 – Atlanta utility player Brody Folk (.257, 8 HR, 61 RBI) shines in the Knights’ 16-6 victory over the Falcons, hitting a home run, a double, and a single, and driving in six runs in the effort.
September 5 – BOS 3B/2B Rhett West (.225, 2 HR, 25 RBI) is out for the year with a torn back muscle.
September 6 – The Thunder walk off on the Bayhawks in the 10th inning for a 5-4 win in the truest sense of the word as San Francisco’s Tony Harrell (5-4, 3.75 ERA, 33 SV) issues straight walks to Zheng-ze Ts’ai, Omar Millan, Lorenzo Rivera, and Frank Larios (.545, 1 HR, 8 RBI in 22 AB).
September 7 – TOP INF Kyle Burns (.251, 3 HR, 35 RBI) is out for the season with a broken elbow that will take at least six months to heal.
September 9 – The Knights’ C Ruben Luna (.287, 24 HR, 95 RBI) drives in five runs on two hits and two walks in Atlanta’s 13-1 drubbing of the Thunder, including a grand slam off OCT MR Manuel Chavez (0-0, 10.00 ERA).
September 10 – Done for the season with a torn back muscle is PIT SP Josh Knupp (10-12, 4.06 ERA).

Complaints and stuff

None of our minor league affiliates made the playoffs this year. The Ham Lake Panthers came closest, currently sitting six games out with only a few games to play. The St. Petersburg Alley Cats are right at .500, but things were rough as usual for the Aumsville Beagles, who did not come close to the .400 mark and narrowly missed 90 losses in their 140-game campaign, with a run differential exceeding -200.

I have earmarked 23-year-old right-hander Juan Mendez to start the extra game during the upcoming double header with the Loggers on Monday. He was signed in the 2016 IFA period, costing us a tiny $18k, or three Daniel Bullock’s worth. He throws five pitches, none amazing, and his control is spotty, but isn’t it for all pitchers in the organization? This will be Mendez’ major league debut after going 5-9 with a 4.03 ERA in AAA this year. He also saved six games during a brief stint in the pen. Overall he has thrown 147.1 innings in 31 games (21 starts), walking 81 and whiffing 96.

Slowly, slowly, I am starting to feel like not all might be lost with our current set of youngsters. Granted, Omar Alfaro’s slash doesn’t scream PERENNIAL ALL STAR right now, but do you still remember what he amounted to in 151 AB in 2022?

.159/.226/.219 – no comparison to today!

Tovias is blind as a bat and a weak-armed catcher at that, but he could generate some worth if he continues to hit for power, which is a comparable skill set to Craig Bowen, who was something of a folk hero a decade ago here. We still have Cookie and Nunley to stick around them, but the problem is that we do not really have any leadoff material right now. Yes, Cookie is leading off every day, but it’s more of no-better-idea thing.

The weakest link might just be Jarod Spencer, who is slapping singles, but has a poor OBP. He has good defense and speed, but we really need somebody for the #1/#2 holes. Getting on base persistently was something that Raul Claros has always been quite good at. His career OBP is .351, and he’s still only 30 years old (he hit the three-oh this Tuesday). If Alfaro and Tovias continue to get better, Cookie returns somewhat to form, and Matt Nunley can maybe find a few doubles in his bat, this lineup should produce a lot more runs. Tim Stalker doesn’t knock your socks off, but he’s a good defensive shortstop. He’s allowed to bat .260/.340/.380 or so without hurting the team…

Of course, a star starting pitcher wouldn’t hurt… although I might want to stop worrying, at least now that Matt Huf has not allowed an earned run in his last three starts. Yes, he coughed up six unearned runs on Tuesday, in one innings, but … eh.

Maybe, maybe we can aim for a winning record next year?

This kind of delusion deserves punishment…

Fun Fact: The 16 home runs hit by Elias Tovias so far this season tie him for seventh place all time amongst Raccoons rookies – that is, if you are including efforts from the 1977 season when technically all ABL players were rookies, and three 16+ HR efforts were put up that year by Ben Simon (21, the highest total ever for a Coons rookie), Ed Sullivan (20), and Pedro Sánz (17).

If you want only players in a grown-up league on the list, there’s one 16+ HR performance from each of the four full decades that the league existed. Matt Workman was the Raccoons’ best guess for their first baseman after Wyatt Johnston retired and before they flipped him in a package for Tetsu Osanai, which is its own story meriting retelling at some point, also because you can rub it into the Elks at that point. Workman hit 18 bombs in 1982, when he was technically a rookie, but factually already 27 years old. Workman won three Rookie of the Month honors that season, but lost out on the Rookie of the Year award against some left-handed pitcher from north of the border that happened to win 19 games that year, some chap named Kisho Saito.

Ten years later, Vern Kinnear bopped Daniel Hall out of leftfield and also 16 homers out of the park. He did go on to win the Rookie of the Year award later that season, batting a fantastic .311/.404/.516 long before exchanging the black #9 on the brown shirt for the yellow #16 on the blue shirt.

In 2003, the Raccoons were in the deepest doldrums and clinging to every faint bit of hope they could find while running up their seventh losing season in a row. Chris Beairsto batted only .241, but the kid banged out *17* dingers in just *78* games! No doubt he’s gonna be a superstar!! Turns out, this Canadian left-handed swinger would swing quite freely without ever replicating this success. He did hit 18 home runs in a full season for the Bayhawks in 2006, but dropped to a .181 batting average the next year and was out of the majors for good by the time he was 29. He did not win Rookie of the Year honors – that title went to another Raccoons, Eddie Torrez, another one of those sad stories…

The highest mark by any post-1977 Raccoon in terms of rookie dingers was then set in 2015. The Coons came off a losing season their only one between 2007 and 2021, and had made some shrewd moves to bring in fresh blood, which included a shortstop picked up from the Cyclones in exchange for Graham Wasserman, who had made two starts for Portland the previous year and had been roughed up for 10 runs in 6.1 innings total. McKnight was an instant smash in Portland after some token at-bats with Cincy in 2013/14 and batted .278 with 20 home runs and 91 RBI to become the team’s second consecutive Rookie of the Year, following Matt Nunley.

Life was good in 2015. It was the year of Jonny Toner’s first Pitcher of the Year award. He’s still on the DL and also a free agent.