[Westheim]

Originally Posted by DD Martin

On the bright side two things
1. Since July 27 the team is actually over 500 at 22-21, so maybe there is some promise
2. The season is almost over

On the down side that play has moved you out of a top 3 pick in next years draft to the 8-9 pick

1. False hopes.
2. Thank goodness.

Yeah, other teams are losing harder. But the return of Roberts and Shumway at least *somewhat* shored up a horrendous rotation. And now we're playing the kits, all of which should be better than Gutierrez and Martinez...

+++

Raccoons (62-80) @ Crusaders (71-71) – September 15-18, 2031

Last pokes of the season at the Crusaders, who were by now also eliminated from hypothetical postseason contention. Turns out sitting fifth in runs scored and runs allowed with a negative run differential was not only quirky, but also not a winning mix. Not even against the Critters; with a split of the 4-game series, the Raccoons could even win the season series, which they led 8-6 coming into New York.

Projected matchups:
Raffaello Sabre (1-1, 4.26 ERA) vs. Eddie Cannon (19-6, 2.63 ERA)
Ed Hague (8-11, 4.28 ERA) vs. Steve Younts (9-13, 3.89 ERA)
Tom Shumway (2-5, 3.60 ERA) vs. Chris Rountree (9-16, 4.50 ERA)
Ignacio del Rio (0-0) vs. Carlos Marron (6-2, 4.15 ERA)

Rountree was the only left-handed offering the Crusaders could make.

Sabre and del Rio were both added to the roster (as was 1B Craig Hollenbeck, giving us a whopping 35 players on the extended roster, of which 17 were pitchers), giving us a 7-man rotation that Rico Gutierrez was no longer a part of. We would probably find some garbage innings for him down the road, a left-handed pendant to the equally disgraced Dave Martinez. How we would dole out starts down the road was no exact science; but we’d sure work in the rookies as often as possible, while trying not to hurt the feelings of the veterans, no matter how much scumbaggery they committed on the mound. Isn’t that right, Tom?

Game 1
POR: SS Ramos – 2B Stalker – RF Wallace – LF Jamieson – 1B Howden – CF Vanatti – 3B Nunley – C Ross – P Sabre
NYC: 2B M. Hurtado – 1B Fowlkes – SS Obando – CF Coca – LF Houghtaling – C Dear – RF Reardon – 3B Cameron – P E. Cannon

Tim Stalker opened the scoring with his 11th dinger, a solo shot, in the top of the first. The next run in the game, Raffaello Sabre would drive in himself; while he wasn’t exactly confining the Crusaders to their dugout, allowing three hits and a walk the first time through, the defense supported him nicely in the early innings, f.e. Toby Ross threw out Mario Hurtado when he tried to steal second base after the leadoff walk in a full count in the bottom 1st. Sabre in turn found Howden and Ross on the bases in the fourth inning and nicked a single over the head of Hurtado to drive home Howden. Ross went to third base on the play, from where Ramos scored him with a single past Pat Fowlkes, extending the score to 3-0. Sabre looked in control by the fourth, even though Chris Reardon landed a leadoff single in leftfield in the bottom 5th, but that was not a situation that two groundouts to second base and a K to the pitcher couldn’t defuse. And while he did run quite a few full counts (I counted six, but I was also mixing new pills* and things were confusing at times), Sabre managed to get through seven innings on exactly 100 pitches, whiffing six, which we called a job well done and gave him his pat on the bum – easily the best game of his young career. The Critters failed to find tack-on runs in the eighth against Cannon, who had been bidding for his 20th win of the season, but was denied, or in the ninth against Casey Moore. Chris Wise faced the 2-3-4 batters in the bottom 9th, struck out Fowlkes to get going, and then surrendered not one, but two ****ty bloopers between Vanatti and the rushing middle infielders to get Guillermo Obando and Tony Coca on base and Jeremy Houghtaling, the second disgusting former Elk in a row, to the plate as the tying run. Houghtaling spanked the 0-2 pitch… but right at Ramos for an easy double play. 3-0 Coons. Stalker 2-4, HR, RBI; Jamieson 2-4; Sabre 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K, W (2-1) and 1-3, RBI;

Game 2
POR: SS Ramos – 2B Stalker – RF Wallace – LF Hereford – 1B Howden – 3B Nunley – C Tovias – CF Magallanes – P Hague
NYC: RF Reardon – 1B Fowlkes – SS Obando – CF Coca – C Dear – 2B J. Brown – LF Jo. Richardson – 3B Cameron – P Younts

After a quick first, Ed Hague retired none of the first four Crusaders he faced in the second inning. Matt Dear drew a leadoff walk, which remains the bane of my existence, and Josh Brown snuck a single up the middle. John Richardson, much less subtly, doubled over Hereford in left to plate a run, and Hague scored the second run himself with a wild pitch before walking Joe Cameron, but even with runners on the corners and nobody out the Crusaders added on only one more on a Chris Reardon groundout before Fowlkes grounded out to short. The Coons answered right away, even though Younts sat down the first seven. Magallanes singled up the middle with one out in the third, was bunted to second, then scored on a Ramos double. Tim Stalker dropped in an RBI single, but Wallace grounded out to Brown, leaving New York 3-2 ahead. But that was before the Crusaders showed Hague, a former Crusader no less, the door. Obando singled, Dear walked, Brown was nicked at 0-2, and then Richardson hit a gapper between Hereford and Magallanes to empty the bags for the Crusaders’ second 3-spot in as many innings. Hague would hang around through the fourth inning, then was pinch-hit for, trailing 6-3, to begin the top 5th; the Coons had plated a run in the top 4th on hits by Hereford, Nunley, and Tovias.

Younts continued to show cracks, though. The sixth saw an infield single by Hereford, who then limped off with some sort of pain and was run for by Ryan Allan. Howden singled, Nunley walked, and the tying runs were on with one down. Tovias was rung up. Jamieson batted for Magallanes, but popped out, and nobody scored. The Raccoons struggled to get any more runners against Younts, who lasted seven, then were sat down 1-2-3 by Chris Myers in the eighth. Casey Moore nixed Jamieson, 2005 Ugliest Baby Boy Sam Cass, and Ramos in the ninth inning. 6-3 Crusaders. Hereford 1-2, BB; Vanatti (PH) 1-1; Martinez 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

The Druid invented an “intercostal strain” as the reason why Rich Hereford would not play baseball in the next two weeks or so, which was basically the rest of the season… and his Coons career.

In turn John Hennessy joined the team, which gave us four regular left-handed relievers. He had pitched in 18 games early in the season before having bone spurs removed from his elbow. Despite this, he was the only rule 5 pick to last until September. He had to be patient before getting a turn at pitching again, though, because Wednesday’s game was rained out and we’d play two on Thursday to make up for that.

Game 3
POR: SS Stalker – RF Rodriguez – LF Jamieson – 3B Baldwin – 1B Hollenbeck – CF Vanatti – 2B Cass – C Ross – P Shumway
NYC: 2B M. Hurtado – 1B Fowlkes – SS Obando – CF Coca – LF Houghtaling – C Dear – RF Reardon – 3B Cameron – P Rountree

Chris Reardon hit a slam in the second inning, which the keen mathematician will realize could only be possible if Tom Shumway put every man before him in the inning on base, which was what happened. Coca single, Houghtaling single, four balls and nothing else to Dear, and then – fireworks. It put the rump Critters in a 4-0 hole from which they were not likely to emerge, nor would Shumway’s pride. And not only Tom Scumbag’s pitching was no bueno, but so was his bunting. With the Coons having Cass (reached on error) and Ross (single) on the corners in the fifth inning and nobody out, Shumway bunted into a force at second base, and the only reason why this did not end up costing the Coons a run was that after Stalker’s RBI single, which got the Critters on the board, Wilson Rodriguez got nailed, which filled up the bags anyway. Jamieson grounded slowly to short, which prevented them from turning two and got a run home, and then it was Chris Baldwin to chuck a 1-2 pitch over the head of Hurtado for a soft game-tying single. He also doubled his RBI output this year, shooting all the way up to FOUR. Hollenbeck grounded out to end the inning, furthering a 2-for-15 slump to start his career.

Tom Scumbag went on to the bottom 5th, where he allowed a leadoff single to Hurtado, then walked the bags full. He got yanked for Ricky Ohl with three on and no outs and Tony Coca and his 19 homers at the plate. Ohl conceded a sac fly, which was not the worst possible outcome at this point, got Houghtaling to pop out, and then saw Rodriguez spare a Dear drive in the gap to end the inning. And then we waited for a Coons rally that never came; in fact they would not get another base hit in the game. Rountree went eight and rung up only three, but still avoided to give up an *earned* run since all the Critters’ runs in the fifth had been unearned due to the Pat Fowlkes error that got them started. Moore dealt the rest to them in the ninth, while the Raccoons gave up additional runs in the seventh (Fleischer) and eighth (Rabbitt). 7-4 Crusaders. Stalker 2-4, RBI;

Tovias replaced Ross in a double switch after the fifth inning, so both caught a few innings in this one. Daniel Rocha got the assignment for the second leg of the double header, but would also be placed in a convenient double switch position in the #7 hole. More importantly, here was the major league debut for Ignacio del Rio.

Game 4
POR: SS Ramos – 2B Stalker – RF Wallace – LF Jamieson – 1B Howden – 3B Nunley – C Rocha – CF Magallanes – P del Rio
NYC: 2B M. Hurtado – 1B Fowlkes – SS Obando – CF Coca – LF Houghtaling – RF Reardon – C F. Delgado – 3B Cameron – P Marron

Del Rio seamlessly lined up with all the other great pitching we had on the roster and began his assignment with a leadoff walk to Mario Hurtado. His first out was Fowlkes, rolling one over to Nunley, and he allowed his first run on a 2-out single by Tony Coca. Houghtaling became his first strikeout. So many firsts were dealt with in a single inning! The first double play followed an inning later, Ramos turning an inning-ending 6-4-3 on Joe Cameron. And by the third he was in the middle of the first serious meltdown of everybody involved. Ignacio indeed started trouble himself, walking both Fowlkes and Obando with two outs. Coca singled up the middle, plating Fowlkes to make it a 2-0 game. Obando went to third base, then scored on a Stalker error on Houghtaling’s bouncer. Reardon struck out, but the hole was now three deep and the Critters had yet to show up in earnest.

The fifth inning saw Magallanes fall onto first base somehow. Del Rio bunted with one out, badly, and got him forced out, which cost a run when Ramos singled to right, Reardon overran the ball, and the runners got an extra base, but now the lead runner was del Rio, starting from first base, and he had to hold at third. Stalker was next, and flew out to Coca. Nobody scored until Jamieson and Howden hit back-to-back 1-out doubles in the sixth, bringing up Nunley as the tying run. He grounded to third base, Cameron threw the ball past Fowlkes, and Howden scored on the error, 3-2, Nunley to second. The terrible .105 batter Rocha looped a single over Obando to put Coons on the corners, Marron lost Magallanes on balls, and that ended del Rio’s day as we brought on a pinch-hitter with three on and one out in a 1-run game. That would be Vanatti, who fell to 0-2, then poked a ball up the middle, through the pitcher’s legs, past the lunging Obando, and over the glove of the diving Hurtado into center for an RBI single…!? Ramos gave the team the lead with a groundout, Stalker walked to refill the bags, and Jimmy Wallace brought in two with a duck snort into no man’s land, 6-3. Ex-Coon Jamie O’Leary replaced Marron at that point, but gave up an RBI single to Jamieson. Hollenbeck was sent to bat for Howden against the southpaw, but struck out to end the inning. Marron was laden with seven runs, all but two unearned.

Tony Coca hit #20 off Nick Bates in the bottom 6th, getting the Crusaders back within three. Garavito would follow on and pitched two innings on just 16 pitches despite seeing mostly right-handed batters! That set up Wise unless the Critters would rally for a tack-on run starting with Jamieson against Myers in the ninth. Jamieson opened with a single to right. Hollenbeck flew out to center, dropping to .111, and then Wilson Rodriguez batted for Nunley and hit to Obando for two. So that meant Wise in the bottom 9th, where he brought up the tying run by allowing singles to Reardon and Cameron, who were on the corners with two outs… but Wise prevailed against Richardson, fanning him to split the series. 7-4 Critters. Ramos 2-5, RBI; Jamieson 4-5, 2B, RBI; Howden 2-3, 2B, RBI; Vanatti (PH) 1-2, RBI; Garavito 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Del Rio nabbed the win with a so-so outing. Three runs (two earned) in five innings is ho-hum, four walks are worse than even that, but it was not *terrible*. Also, Chris Wise saved his 20th game.

Also, this was the first real messy box score since we *really* expanded the roster past the initial 28 or 29. Only four starters finished, and that somehow included Rocha, who had that key hit to keep the sixth going.

Raccoons (64-82) vs. Bayhawks (71-75) – September 19-21, 2031

Fourth in South, sixth in runs scored, and seventh in runs allowed. Lots of middle-of-the-road for the Bayhawks. The season series against the Baybirds was even at three. We had last won it in 2026.

Projected matchups:
Jason Gurney (10-7, 3.34 ERA) vs. Matt Huf (13-11, 3.90 ERA)
Mark Roberts (6-9, 4.33 ERA) vs. Jesus Chavez (11-7, 3.98 ERA)
Bernie Chavez (0-1, 4.63 ERA) vs. Gilberto Rendon (13-9, 3.80 ERA)

Three right-handers, and while Roberts would miss Huf this time, who had once been in the package that landed Roberts and Jon Gonzalez from San Fran, he matched up with another ex-Coon in Chavez, who had really recovered his career after some blighted seasons in the late 20s. He was traded away from Portland in the 2025 Winter Meetings in a 5-player deal for Kyle Anderson.

Game 1
SFB: 2B J. Cruz – 1B Dupuis – RF Suhay – C J. Wood – LF Hawthorne – CF Zollinger – SS M. Martin – 3B Levinson – P Huf
POR: SS Ramos – CF Vanatti – RF Wallace – LF Jamieson – 1B Howden – 3B Nunley – C Tovias – 2B Cass – P Gurney

Leadoff man Jose Cruz was the only switch-hitter in a sea of righties that Gurney would have to contend with, but the early innings were inspiring, as he only allowed one base hit and otherwise kept the Bayhawks really short. So did Huf, at least until he walked Sam Cass in the bottom 3rd. Gurney bunted him over, and Ramos plated the runner with a single up the middle. That was basically all the action to qualifying distance; neither team found more than one base hit through five innings! In the sixth, however, the Baybirds got Gurney. Tristan Levinson opened with a double, was still hanging around with two outs, and then Jon Dupuis fired a homer to left that flipped the score. Ramos drew a leadoff walk in the bottom 6th, but Vanatti whiffed and Wallace forced him out on the road to nowhere. Gurney did not get out of the seventh, which saw a leadoff double by Jimmy Wood, then a 1-out walk issued to Walter Zollinger, an agile 24-year-old September callup with a .381 clip at this point. Ohl and Garavito finished the inning and starved the runners against pinch-hitters Joseph McClenon and Tomas Caraballo.

Huf was crossing 100 pitches in the bottom 7th, which he entered on one hit, four walks, and six strikeouts. Full counts resulted in a walk to Howden, a K to Nunley, then gave up a single to Tovias, only the second Critters base knock in the game. Ryan Allan batted for Cass, struck out, and Wilson Rodriguez batted for Garavito, and singled past Cruz, allowing Howden to score the tying run from second base. Ramos grounded up the middle, and out, to end the seventh. By the bottom 8th, the Coons were facing lefty Abramo Archibugi, who walked Vanatti and nicked Tim Stalker in the #3 hole. Jamieson struck out, and when Howden came up we went to Hollenbeck again, stubborn as we were. There HAD to be a run in that sucker’s bat! There wasn’t, but only because his single to center was contained so fast by Zollinger, who had a good arm apparently, that Vanatti was held and Nunley batted with the bases loaded. He grounded out to Dupuis, but that got the go-ahead run across! Tovias struck out, and Wise was back at it in the top of the ninth. Ben Suhay ALMOST homered on the very first pitch, but was caught on the warning track, and Wood and George Hawthorne went down with much less drama. 3-2 Coons. Hollenbeck (PH) 1-1; Rodriguez (PH) 1-1, RBI; Gurney 6.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K;

Game 2
SFB: 2B J. Cruz – 1B Dupuis – RF Suhay – C J. Wood – LF Hawthorne – CF Zollinger – SS Sears – 3B M. Martin – P J. Chavez
POR: SS Ramos – 2B Stalker – RF Wallace – LF Jamieson – 1B Howden – CF Vanatti – C Ross – 3B Catella – P Roberts

Roberts tended to get to two strikes, then surrender something with a loud noise, which somehow didn’t lead to drama in the first, although Suhay almost homered on an 0-2 offering, but the Baybirds got two in the second inning. Hawthorne walked, Micah Sears hit an RBI double, and Chavez (…) hit an RBI single for the early lead. Cruz hit another double, but Chavez had to hold at third base, then was stranded when Dupuis flew out. Roberts gave up two more the following inning, issuing leadoff walks to both Suhay and Wood, then RBI knocks to Zollinger and Micah Sears. Roberts would have to settle for six innings eventually, getting four each of runs, walks, and strikeouts, which was not exactly what he was being paid princely to do.

The Coons had three hits through five innings and no runs. Most egregiously, Sean Catella hit a 2-out double in the bottom 5th, then was thrown out at third base trying to stretch it a little bit further. The Bayhawks however shook another 2-spot out of Bryan Rabbitt in the seventh inning. Dupuis drew a leadoff walk, and George Hawthorne drew his 10th dinger of the year, a shot well outta left-center. The Coons FINALLY did something in the bottom of the inning, with Chavez allowing a leadoff single to Wallace, then hat a fastball – 95 – murdered by Matt Jamieson for Matt’s 12th home run of the year, but that merely got Portland back into slam range. Since this was a garbage game, the Coons sent Rico Gutierrez in for garbage relief in the eighth, and he sure didn’t disappoint. He got through the eighth; but not through the ninth. Suhay homered massively to left to begin the ninth, and then he put Wood on with a single, and Zollinger tripled him in. The Coons sent Hennessy instead, but the returnee walked Sears and gave up a sac fly to Mike Martin before ringing up Chavez, who finished the game with a 7-hitter. 9-2 Bayhawks. Jamieson 3-3, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Howden 2-4;

Game 3
SFB: CF Cassell – 1B Caraballo – C J. Wood – 2B J. Cruz – SS Pulido – 3B Levinson – LF V. Pacheco – RF Pridgeon – P G. Rendon
POR: SS Ramos – 2B Stalker – RF Wallace – LF Jamieson – 1B Howden – CF Vanatti – 3B Nunley – C Tovias – P B. Chavez

Bernie pitched a quick first, but the Costa Rican Rendon would not retire any of the first four batter. Ramos singled, stole second, and scored on Stalker’s double to center. Wallace got nicked by the pitch, and Jamieson singled load them up. Howden, the dumb pig, grounded to short, where the Bayhawks were tardy and got only Jamieson at second base while Stalker scored, 2-0. Vanatti also rolled up the middle, and again they didn’t get the double play, getting Wallace across, too. Nunley flew out to deep center to keep it a 3-0 game. Top 2nd, the Bayhawks got to the board when Jose Pulido singled, stole second, and was driven in by Vincent Pacheco with a sharp single to right. That was the only blip through five for the young rookie, who struck out four and spent only 61 pitches, but unfortunately Rendon rallied, too, and the Coons were held quite dry in the four innings following their 3-spot. Bernie struck out two in a laborious sixth against the top of the order. Tristan Levinson hit a single with two outs in the seventh, but Chavez tickled a fly to center out of Pacheco… which Vanatti went on to drop. And that put the tying runs in scoring position with two outs and Ben Suhay emerging as the pinch-hitter. Chavez was on 97 pitches, but he had displayed stuff all day long, having rung up six. Nobody easier to ring up than the .226 hitter Suhay (never mind the 21 dingers). The pitching coach read the scouting report to Chavez in person, and four pitches later Suhay was surrendered flailing over a 1-2 pitch to end the seventh; this was also the end of the road for Chavez, having thrown 101 pitches. Suhay remained in the game and robbed Jimmy Wallace in the gap to end the bottom 7th, and we had to do this without insurance. David Fernandez got the eighth, retiring San Fran in order and whiffing two. Wise did the same in the ninth. 3-1 Furballs! Chavez 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, W (1-1);

In other news

September 16 – The desperate Loggers trade with the Rebels to bring back Willie Trevino (.262, 3 HR, 24 RBI) for two meh prospects. Trevino, 32, played all of his first nine ABL seasons with the Loggers, but would not be postseason eligible even if the Loggers rallied past the Titans from here.
September 16 – SAC LF/RF Doug Stross (.313, 5 HR, 45 RBI) could miss the rest of the season with a quad strain.
September 17 – The 27-game hitting streak of MIL INF/RF Wayne Morris (.313, 8 HR, 66 RBI) ends with an 0-for-3 day in a 6-2 loss to the Indians.
September 17 – TIJ OF Juan Palbes (.233, 1 HR, 48 RBI) might be lost for the postseason with a case of shoulder tendinitis.
September 18 – The Pacifics lose C J.J. Henley (.232, 20 HR, 75 RBI) for the regular season and postseason. The 36-year-old veteran has suffered a strained rib cage muscle.
September 19 – TOP RF Justin Quinn (.267, 0 HR, 24 RBI) reaches the 2,000 hits club with a pinch-hit RBI single in the Buffaloes’ 8-7 win over the Pacifics. The 37-year-old has largely been held to pinch-hitting duties this year due to deteriorating defense, but he was an All Star twice, and once each led the FL in hits (2018) and doubles (2019). He is a career .293 hitter with 152 HR and 915 RBI.
September 21 – Expanded rosters come in handy as the Knights take 20 innings to shake off the Crusaders in a 4-3, 6:27 marathon. A full 50 players are used in the contest which ends on a walkoff single by LF/RF Nate Seago (.235, 3 HR, 17 RBI), who entered as pinch-hitter in the eighth inning and still found time to go 1-for-6.
September 21 – Charlotte’s utility man Danny Ruiz (.287, 5 HR, 22 RBI) goes three legs of the cycle on five hits and scores the winning run in a 3-2, 10-inning win over the Canadiens.

Complaints and stuff

Rich Hereford, off to the DL, might return for the final few games this year. If he doesn’t, the infield single on Tuesday was the last we saw of him, since his contract is up and I expect a grim budget slash by Valdes, which means that even if we wanted, we could not offer an extension to him. I just hope we get a draft pick or two outta him.

I have also thought about something like the Raccoon of the Year. Usually you can find a player that had a really strong season, even by his standards. This year, that’s hard. Ramos and Hereford put up strong numbers compared to the league, but not by their own standards. Wallace showed some neat stuff, and might turn out Rookie of the Year, but his numbers are also well into Clyde Brady territory, and Clyde Brady was the Avatar of Losing. Don’t believe me? Clyde Brady’s 162-game average was .259/.360/.386 with 13 HR and 60 RBI and a 109 OPS+. That seems familiar! Wallace has a higher average, but Brady was good at walking… They don’t give each other much!

Who else could even be a candidate? The pitching was a royal mess, top to bottom. Jason Gurney is a pleasant surprise, but if I say one more nice thing about him, I fear our scout, who I definitely know the name of, I think, will defenestrate me. Josh Wise – sucked less than Josh Boles? Let’s put that on T-shirts. – No, Maud, don’t. I was joking. – What do you mean you have to mark that in the calendar??

We will face the Condors to begin the next week. They had a crucial series with the Loggers this weekend, knocked them off two out of three, and that sealed the South in the Condors’ favor AND left the Titans’ magic number at one. The Loggers collapsed fully and completely in September. They are 8-16 since August 27, and that was it for the playoffs for them.

Fun Fact: In their last 67 combined appearances, Boles, Garavito, and Ohl have allowed two earned runs in 55.1 innings.

So will those be trade assets? Well, Boles and Garavito. Ohl will be a free agent, and we don’t think we’ll have any money. And nobody wanted Ricky Ohl in July, either.

*I am actually a wee bit ill. Not in the hospital this time though. Yay. But f.e. I didn’t notice Hereford missing from the Monday lineup, and I left Baldwin in the cleanup spot when arranging the first lineup of the double header… so this was probably not my best week *managing* on top of clicking to the next day in regular intervals.