[Westheim]

Well, well, yesterday I got my degree, which I don’t really quite know what to do with at the current moment, so why not throw all caution to the wind, twirl them whiskers tight, grab some clubs and spades and knock the living **** out of the Aces’ hearts on the diamond down there?

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Raccoons (44-31) vs. Aces (28-47) – June 26-28, 2034

The Aces were pitiful, as usual. While average in their offensive ambitions, their pitching staff was a nightmare, giving up almost 5.5 runs per game, with a 5.03 ERA for the starters and not much better numbers for the bullpen. Their defense was certainly not helpful in keeping the scoreboard from lighting up, given that they were in the bottom three in defense, too.They were so bad in fact, they trailed the division-leading Knights by as many games as all other four teams in the CL South combined. We had a 2-1 edge in the season series.

Projected matchups:
Bernie Chavez (7-2, 2.50 ERA) vs. Chris Pyles (3-6, 6.58 ERA)
Raffaello Sabre (7-3, 3.38 ERA) vs. Peter Gill (5-6, 3.72 ERA)
Pat Okrasinski (8-3, 3.83 ERA) vs. Chris Crowell (3-7, 6.14 ERA)

“Graveyard” Gill was the ace on that staff, and it wasn’t particularly close… He was also the only southpaw, and please can we not play entirely dead again versus that right-handed pair of Chrises? That’d be lovely!

Game 1
LVA: LF Salto – 2B Sibley – 3B Stedham – RF E. Martin – 1B Gustafson – C Salinas – CF Jorgensen – SS Crow – P Pyles
POR: SS Ramos – 3B Zeltser – LF Wallace – 1B Zitzner – CF M. Fernandez – 2B Stalker – RF Jennings – C Thompson – P Chavez

Everybody in red pinstripes came out and hit rockets off Chavez for not-so-nice a not-change, with Graciano Salto, Jesse Stedham, and Sean Gustafson all whacking line drive singles in a first inning that only amounted to one run for Vegas, somehow. Chavez threw 23 pitches in the first, while Pyles threw FOUR, so I was already on the edge. It sure looked like one of those games, Bernie absolutely not able to put anybody away with two strikes, yielding f.e. a 2-out single to Pyles in the top 2nd when he had him 1-2, and the damn Critters didn’t manage a single base hit the first time through. They only reached the H column at least on Wallace’s leadoff double in the bottom of the fourth. The run scored… thanks to a wild pitch that moved him to third base even before “Bad Luck Travis” hit a ****ty comebacker to the pitcher. Manny Fernandez, who had walked in the second inning, hit a sac fly to get the Coons even. Graciano Salto crashed into Steve Jorgensen on the play, made the catch, but left the game with a separated shoulder and on the way to the DL, replaced in leftfield by third-year offensive slouch Danny Beckel, who struck out following Pyles’ second base hit off Chavez in the top 5th.

Portland didn’t get another hit until the bottom 6th with a 2-out double by Zitzner. Fernandez followed up with a single to left, remaining unretired in an otherwise bland offensive team display, and cashed his second RBI of the day when Zitzner scored after a good read and early start. Manny stole second base, but was left on base by Stalker’s pop out. Both teams went on to strand a pair of runners in the seventh, with Chavez getting Beckel to pop out with runners on the corners, and then being hit for with Tom Hawkins, who followed up Thompson’s single with one of his own. Ramos grounded out, Zeltser popped out, and it remained a 2-1 game for the brittle pen to take care of. David Fernandez in the eighth retired the all-left-handed Ross Sibley, Stedham, and Evan Martin in order, while Pyles held on to the baseball until two outs in the bottom 8th when he walked Stalker and Jennings in addition to the runner that was already on base – Fernandez, who had forced out Zitzner – which finally got the Aces pen involved with Natanael Abrao. Philip Scheffer hit for Elliott Thompson and clipped an 0-1 pitch into shallow right for a 90-feet-for-everybody special. The limping Adrian Reichardt hit for David Fernandez and slushed a 1-2 to right-center. All bedlam broke loose on this base hit. Stalker scored from third, but Jennings was initially given a stop sign until Evan Martin fumbled the ball briefly and Jennings was restarted. By that time Scheffer had hit the emergency brakes halfway between second and third, scrambled back, sending Reichardt scurrying back to first base, but Scheffer restarted for third base – and was thrown out. By then, however, Jennings had scored, and the Coons got three runs in the inning, distancing Vegas by four. In the new realities of late June 2034, THAT brought in Chris Wise. Steve Jorgensen hit a 2-out single, but Wise got three outs on three pops, which was all that anybody cared for. 5-1 Coons. Zitzner 2-4, 2B; M. Fernandez 1-2, BB, 2 RBI; Scheffer (PH) 1-1, RBI; Hawkins (PH) 1-1; Reichardt (PH) 1-1, 2 RBI; Chavez 7.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, W (8-2);

If that is what a sore-ankled Adrian Reichardt can do, I want him sore-ankled all year long. Dr. Chung, I hear your former country had some … *treatments* … for … *special guests*… uh… do you have any expertise in …? – Oh, you DO??

Game 2
LVA: CF Jorgensen – C Horner – 3B Stedham – LF E. Martin – 1B Gustafson – 2B Sibley – RF Carman – SS Schneider – P Gill
POR: SS Ramos – 2B Stalker – LF Wallace – 1B Zitzner – RF M. Fernandez – 3B Hawkins – C Scheffer – CF Catella – P Sabre

Another day, another first inning in which our starting pitcher begged for a beating; Sabre allowed base hits to Adam Horner and Jesse Stedham, walked Martin, then threw a wild pitch to get the scoreboard going. Luckily the Aces’ lineup was as potent as a newly hatched chick with Salto off to the DL and Gustafson whiffed before Sibley flew out easily to rightfield. The Aces stranded a pair here and further pairs in the third and fourth inning, the latter involving Manny Fernandez racing backwards to swipe a Horner drive with Vince Carman and Brian Schneider in scoring position, then bouncing off the fence without breaking his neck. And while the Raccoons’ offense was playing it sloooow again, Sabre just wouldn’t get any less awful. Stedham drew a leadoff walk in the fifth, then swiftly scored after back-to-back singles. Carman’s double play grounder would prevent even worse damage in a 2-0 deficit. Six innings of 8-hit, 2-run ball by Sabre would be all anybody could stomach without becoming violently ill… And the Raccoons still didn’t seem to feel any urgency. Stalker and Wallace reached with one out in the bottom 6th, which was already the biggest threat they had put up all game. Zitzner flew out to right, Fernandez fanned, and everything looked and felt awful.

Bottom 7th, leadoff walk in a full count and with charitable character to Hawkins, then a seeing-eye single for Scheffer, putting the tying runs on with no outs this time. In a state of urgency, Catella was hit for by Bob Zeltser, handedness be damned. Crucially, Gill’s second pitch to Zelts was wild. The runners moved up, removing the double play, and Zeltser promptly grounded over to Sibley. Rather than having a 4-6-3 and a runner on third with two outs and no runs on the board, the Aces now had a runner at third that was the tying run and one out, with Rich Vickers hitting for Hennessy. He grounded to first base on the first pitch, Gustafson fell over the ball, and that clownish defense brought the tying run across, too. While the inning fizzled out after that, Berto had his own clownish defense moment in the eighth with a big throwing error, but that led nowhere. His hitlessness in the series was however annoying… Wallace reached base in the bottom 8th and advanced on to second base in time for Hawkins to cash him with a 2-out single, giving the Coons a late and not all that deserved lead. The Critters brought on Ed Blair to fight for their 3-2 lead, but could not replace Wallace for defense anymore unless they desired to have the ailing Reichardt in center. I was not quite done with mulling over that when Blair was already finished with the 1-2-3 had he had been dealt. 3-2 Critters. Stalker 2-4; Wallace 1-2, 2 BB;

Game 3
LVA: RF Beckel – C Horner – 3B Stedham – LF E. Martin – 1B Gustafson – 2B Sibley – CF Jorgensen – SS Crow – P Crowell
POR: SS Ramos – 3B Zeltser – LF Wallace – 1B Zitzner – CF M. Fernandez – 2B Stalker – RF Jennings – C Thompson – P Chavez

Nobody got a base hit the first time through with Okrasinski walking two against one free pass issued by Crowell, the second slowpoke right-hander the Raccoons were poking even slower against in this series. Bob Zeltser would bring in the first hit of the game with a leadoff single in the bottom 4th, dropping a ball in front of Beckel. Zitzner would also single in the inning, but a Fernandez K and Stalker’s easy fly to Beckel ended the inning. Ross Sibley’s 1-out single was the maiden base hit for the Aces in the following half-inning, but Jorgensen flew out to right and Sibley was picked off by Okrasinski to end the top 5th.

Instead, they beat him to pulp the next inning. Leadoff single by Andy Crow, a bunt, and a nailed Danny Beckel were a nice start for Vegas, and it only got worse from there. Stedham walked with two outs to fill the bases after which Evan Martin hit a grounder behind first base that Zitzner cut off, but Martin beat the throw to Okrasinski for an infield singe and a run scored. Of course, the game blew up immediately. Sean Gustafson romped a 2-run double, Ross Sibley dropped a 2-run single, and before long it was 5-0 and everybody had a long face. The Critters could barely score Ramos after a leadoff triple in the bottom of the inning, and trailed 5-1 when the Aces went to the pen in the bottom 7th. Jennings hit a 1-out single, Thompson walked, and Vickers legged out a roller for an infield single, pulling up Ramos as the tying run against right-hander Jeremy Wallis. The Critters couldn’t do better than a sac fly, and Zeltser flew out to Beckel. With Wallace and Zitzner aboard, Manny Fernandez hit another one of those sac flies in the bottom 8th, merely equaling the run that Sean Gustafson had homered for off Garavito in the top of the inning. That home run was very soon the margin in the game after Tim Stalker homered to left himself to narrow the gap to 6-5. After Chris Wise didn’t implode in a ninth inning, the Aces sent Casey McQueen, a southpaw with a control issue and a 4.15 ERA into the bottom 9th, where the #9 spot would lead off. PH Tom Hawkins led off by taking strike three in a full count. Ramos flew out to center, but Zeltser singled, bringing up Wallace as the last straw and winning run, and there were worse choices, even against a lefty pitcher. Wallace though hit a comebacker to McQueen, and McQueen threw the ball away, putting the tying and winning runs in scoring position for “Bad Luck Travis”, who ended up being walked indifferently to fill ‘em up for Fernandez. Manny chucked a 1-2 pitch to right, over Sibley, in front of Beckel, RBI single, and the game was tied at six…! There was however no chance for Wallace to score without getting decapitated at home plate; instead Tim Stalker would try his luck with Billy Jennings standing disaffectedly in the on-deck circle as the mandatory Prince Charles batter. He got his turn in the 10th – Stalker popped out – and with the Coons down 8-6, the new Vegas runs dealt by David Fernandez in form of a goose egg that Jesse Stedham hit for 400 feet and two runs. Starting with Jennings, the Raccoons were retired in order this time. 8-6 Aces. Zeltser 2-5; Zitzner 2-3, 2 BB, 2B; Vickers (PH) 1-1;

Ugh, the pen.

Ugh, the offense.

Ugh, the trumpets announcing the arrival of our most belovedest leader, Nick Valdes.

Raccoons (46-32) vs. Indians (35-40) – June 29-July 2, 2034

Here was the team with the puniest offense in the league, not even 300 runs as we were closing in on halftime on this season. Their pitching was decent, but they still had a -33 run differential, although I was sure they would somehow spin all this into a string of 2-1 wins against this Raccoons team that had a myriad ways of driving you crazy while still holding on to first place. We had a 5-2 edge in the season series.

Projected matchups:
Ignacio del Rio (7-2, 3.25 ERA) vs. Jose Lerma (7-5, 2.81 ERA)
Gilberto Rendon (7-5, 4.83 ERA) vs. Jim Kretzmann (3-7, 3.82 ERA)
Bernie Chavez (8-2, 2.41 ERA) vs. Sal Bedoya (6-6, 3.42 ERA)
Raffaello Sabre (7-3, 3.35 ERA) vs. Victor Govea (3-6, 3.61 ERA)

Right off the bat we’d get their only left-hander, Federal League Pitcher of the Year from 2023 Jose Lerma. Only righties without fancy awards after that.

No, Nick, I don’t know why we didn’t score 45 runs on the Aces, or managed to not soil the bed at least once. – Well, I am blaming Dr. Chung’s rhubarb diet. He hasn’t fed them anything else for a week. – No, Dr. Chung, I didn’t know that rhubarb was all that was fed to the inmates of the labor camp you worked in while they were building mighty railroad bridges for the advance of communism. – How many of them died though?

What is it, Nick, what surprise did you bring along for me? – Oh, look, it’s Toots. I mean, hi, Ms. DeVilane. – (Toots shoots a glacially frosty look)

Game 1
IND: LF Acor – 2B Schneller – CF Baron – RF Plunkett – 1B Barber – C Kuhlmann – SS Hansen – 3B Grigsby – P Lerma
POR: SS Zeltser – 3B Hawkins – LF Wallace – 1B Zitzner – 2B Vickers – RF Jennings – C Scheffer – CF Catella – P del Rio

While Valdes was moaning when the Raccoons only brought up the minimum in the first three innings and Toots was actively encouraging him to get rid of the GM right now, I wondered where I had seen the Indians’ third baseman sorry face before, and why, yes, it was Mike Grigsby, a veteran of 54 games of not hitting as a 2024 and 2025 Raccoon. He had since seen every corner of the land, mostly on AAA teams.

Neither team reached third base until the bottom of the fifth when the Coons did the deed in unearned fashion. Vickers had walked, Jennings had reached on Matt Barber’s error, and Scheffer had zinged a single to left. Catella, 0-for-8, came up with one out. He poked the first pitch into a 6-4-3 double play. Jimmy Wallace then completed the throwing away of this game, also by just being himself and misplaying Jose Lerma’s fly to left leading off the sixth into a triple. Dan Schneller singled with one out, and for the fourth time this week the Critters were trailing 1-0. Del Rio struck out eight in seven innings and allowed only five hits, but was nevertheless on the short end of the stick and remained there through the eighth, in which Billy Jennings got nailed by Lerma and reached third base via a wild pitch and a Hawkins single. Wallace struck out to leave them on the corners. Prieto and Garavito delivered some good relief for Portland, but Lerma was still there on a 4-hitter in the bottom of the ninth, at least until Zitzner almost hit a homer (that was nevertheless an out to Tom Schorsch in right). Tim Thweatt saw out the game, with Vickers grounding out and Jennings whiffing. 1-0 Indians. Hawkins 2-4; del Rio 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K, L (7-3);

I don’t know, Nick, when the Coons are gonna score for you. Maybe tomorrow.

Just because me and Honeypaws had to take it out on SOMEONE, Sean Catella (0-for-9 this year, .229 for his miserable career) was yanked back to St. Petersburg after the game. For the time being, we called up Preston Pinkerton, who was only hitting .217 with the Alley Cats, but … eh…

Game 2
IND: LF Acor – 2B Schneller – CF Baron – RF Plunkett – 1B Barber – C Kuhlmann – SS Hansen – 3B Grigsby – P Kretzmann
POR: SS Ramos – 3B Zeltser – LF Wallace – 1B Zitzner – CF M. Fernandez – 2B Stalker – RF Jennings – C Thompson – P Rendon

Confusion reigned when the Coons in the bottom 1st got Ramos on via the walk, Zeltser with a single, and scored FIRST on a Wallace groundout and a Zitzner single! 2-0! For the Critters! Nick Valdes applauded energetically and noddingly approved, then suggested to end the game right now and have dinner. The Indians had none of that, but fell behind further in the bottom 3rd on a Ramos Special when Berto singled, stole second, and came around on Wallace’s single to right. Zitzner then tried to feed one to Schneller to end the inning by 4-6-3-long faces, but Schneller fumbled it and all paws were safe on the error. But don’t you worry – there was always someone on the team willing to pick up the slack, with Fernandez and Stalker both retired on poor shallow flies.

Rendon had a good time in the early innings, but everything began to go pear-shaped in the fourth. John Baron hit a 1-out single. A fastball plunked Plunkett. Barber turned a full count into a bases-stuffing walk. Morgan Kuhlmann turned on a 1-2 pitch instead and belched it over the fence, flipping the score to 4-3 Indians. Finally, the Raccoons had another starting pitcher with an ERA over five… No, Nick, you don’t want to know how much is left on that contract…

Bottom 5th, the Coons got the bases full in pretty much the same manner as the Arrowheads moments earlier. Zelts, Defensive Black Hole, and Zitz then all stared in eager anticipation as Manny Fernandez stepped in the box. Five pitches later he grounded to short, Valdes and me screamed in unison while embracing each other, and that seemed to spook John Hansen, who fumbled the ball for an error. All paws were safe again and the game was tied. Then Stalker hit into the goddamn ****ing double play, because the baseball gods clearly had it in for me.

Somehow the cat dragged Rendon through seven innings, and to be honest, he wasn’t all bad… he allowed only eight base runners, although an unhealthy amount of those ended up scoring. The Coons got Ramos on with a leadoff single in the bottom 7th, then got him off when he was thrown out trying to nip his third base of the game. The four-all score would be dissolved in the eighth inning, and not by Chris Wise, who got through the top of the Indians’ order alright. Jennings singled off Kretzmann with one out in the bottom 8th, but the Arrowheads expected nothing from Elliott Thompson and kept Kretzmann around. Neither did we, but Thompson still slugged a tie-breaking RBI double into the leftfield corner, so the joke was on everybody. Thompson was left stranded anyway, so it was on Ed Blair, the 5-6-7 batters, and Preston Pinkerton making his season debut as defensive replacement for Black Hole Jim. No outfielder had a paw in how the ninth unfurled though, since Morgan Kuhlmann’s single barely reached the outfield, and John Hansen walked to put the go-ahead run on with one out. Grigsby was gone by now, but Pat Green was hardly an improvement, batting .165… and hitting a ball to Zeltser for a game-ending double play. 5-4 Critters. Ramos 2-4, BB; Zeltser 2-3, BB, 2B; Wallace 2-3, BB, 2 RBI; Jennings 2-4; Thompson 2-4, 2B, RBI;

Game 3
IND: LF Acor – 2B Schneller – CF Baron – RF Plunkett – 1B Barber – C Kuhlmann – SS Hansen – 3B Grigsby – P Bedoya
POR: SS Ramos – 3B Zeltser – LF Wallace – 1B Zitzner – CF M. Fernandez – 2B Stalker – RF Jennings – C Thompson – P Chavez

It was back to same old, same old on Saturday, with Plunkett’s double and Kuhlmann’s single putting the Indians 1-0 ahead in the second inning. That was pretty much all the offense in the early going. They were the only hits allowed by Chavez through five, and the Coons – much to the dismay of Valdes, Toots, Honeypaws, and me – were not exactly swingin’ it either. Thompson’s 1-out single in the bottom 5th was their third hit in the game, and he was stranded when Plunkett robbed Ramos in the gap. Instead Dan Schneller hit an RBI double to cash in on Chavez’ leadoff walk to Dustin Acor in the sixth inning, doubling the gap to an insurmountable 2-0. Toots proceeded to call her father, esteemed industrial magnate Roger Hotchkiss “Bud” DeVilane II, at this point, telling him that his investment into the team was garbage, but since we had ads for his toxic waste dumps plastered on the outfield walls I didn’t think it was that poor a match…

Bottom 6th, Wallace singled to right, Zitzner doubled to left, and the tying runs were in scoring position with one out for Manny, who could maybe finally do something worthy of a top 5 pick. As I insisted, he rammed a ball through Barber and up the line for a game-tying double. Stalker whiffed, but Jennings singled home the runner to put Portland ahead, 3-2. Jennings stole second, leading to an intentional walk for Thompson and a brushed shirt for Chavez, leaving Ramos to leave the bags full with a fly to Plunkett. Manny Fernandez went on to make a sterling catch in deep center to rob Acor of extra bases with two on and two outs and Bernie already yanked after allowing a sharp single to Hansen and a walk to Juan Herrera. David Fernandez had been on the mound after retiring PH Tom Schorsch on a pop. Portland left runners on the corners against Lance Legleiter in the bottom of the inning, and wasted a pinch-hit single by Tom Hawkins in the eighth. It was Blair again with another 1-run lead despite a 10-4 edge in the H column. Barber grounded out to Ramos, Kuhlmann whiffed, and Hansen rolled over to Stalker to finish the game. 3-2 Coons. Wallace 2-4; Zitzner 2-4, 2B; Thompson 2-3, BB; Hawkins (PH) 1-1;

Somehow squeaking out another win was enough to pacify the visiting owner and his witch with a bad influence over him, and after another stare of death by Toots they both left town Saturday night to get to Paris by Monday. There they would oversee the demolition of a disused amusement park to build Europe’s biggest parking lot instead.

Game 4
IND: LF Acor – 2B Schneller – CF Baron – RF Plunkett – 1B Barber – SS Hansen – C J. Herrera – 3B Grigsby – P Govea
POR: SS Ramos – 3B Zeltser – LF Wallace – 1B Zitzner – RF M. Fernandez – CF Reichardt – 2B Vickers – C Thompson – P Sabre

The bottom of the second inning was a mess. The Coons opened with three straight singles from the 5-6-7 batters, but Fernandez was caught stealing before anybody else reached, and Reichardt was caught in a rundown between second and third on Vickers’ single… except that Hansen missed a swipe and Reichardt escaped to third base after all. Govea promptly threw a wild pitch to plate him for the first run of the Sunday contest. The Indians’ pitcher lost Thompson on balls, bringing up Sabre with two on and one out. Raffaello was batting .382 and we felt cocky enough to have him bash at the first pitch. He whacked an RBI double between Plunkett and Baron. And just when you thought that they’d crack Govea’s skull and spine both in this inning, Berto and Zelts hit pops that stranded a pair in scoring position. Sabre allowed only one walk and a Barber single through five innings, and himself snapped a leadoff single in the bottom 5th to raise his average even further to .417, but then was doubled off when Ramos lined out to Barber. Everything came apart again after that deflation, with Bad Luck Travis throwing away Acor’s grounder to begin the sixth. Baron, Plunkett, and Barber immediately flogged Sabre for two hits and a walk, making up the 2-0 difference in no time. Sabre got through the seventh without the universe conspiring to throw the goddamn moon on his head, and was hit for in the bottom of the inning after a pair of 1-out singles by Vickers and Thompson. Billy Jennings batted for him against Lance Legleiter, which didn’t seem like a smart choice before or after he struck out. Berto got a 2-out grounder past Schneller for an RBI single, giving Sabre a chance at the win after all before John Baron tracked down a deep Zeltser fly to end the inning. That was all the offense that could be wrung from the Coons’ lineup before the ninth inning cropped about. The 4-5-6 batters had to be seen after by Chris Wise after Blair had thrown almost 40 pitches in the last two days, Wise was rested, Prieto had done the eighth, and Kyle Green oh the heck no! That was the drawback of three lefty relievers – the Indians’ lineup could squeeze you at the end of a series. Strikeout, groundout, flyout ended the game and the week. 3-2 Coons. M. Fernandez 2-4, 2B; Reichardt 1-2, 2 BB; Vickers 2-4; Thompson 1-2, BB; Sabre 7.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, W (8-3) and 2-2, 2B, RBI;

In other news

June 26 – The Rebels lose SP Bryce Sudar (3-7, 4.37 ERA) for the season when the 33-year-old right-hander is diagnosed with a torn rotator cuff.
June 27 – Despair in Salem, where thrice-consecutive FL Pitcher of the Year SP Phil Harrington (6-3, 2.38 ERA) was place on the DL with shoulder soreness. He is expected back after the All Star Game.
June 28 – SAC OF Chris Sandstrom (.227, 10 HR, 38 RBI) drives in five runs on three hits from the #8 spot in the Scorpions’ 15-3 drubbing of the Blue Sox.
June 29 – Stars and Wolves compile only seven base hits combined in 10 innings before SAL OF Nate Hall (.349, 0 HR, 8 RBI) singles home Jorge Zamora (.238, 3 HR, 21 RBI) to give the Wolves a 1-0 walkoff win.
June 30 – A pair of FL West games are decided by a solo home run: SAL INF Sergio Ibarra (.296, 3 HR, 25 RBI) beats the Stars 1-0, and the Scorpions are defeated by the same score by LAP 3B/2B Dominique Dichio (.220, 4 HR, 18 RBI).

Complaints and stuff

Cristiano says five of the last six games and nine of the last 14 were decided by one run (our record, respectively: 6-3 and 9-5), so maybe that is why my gums are bleeding.

The roster is not perfect and we will have to look and see whether we can make any improvements in July. I mean, one roster spot is rather obvious with Kyle Green’s numb brains having to go someplace else. I had my money on Nick Bates coming back from elbow ligament destretching procedures, but he’s been rehabbing in the minors for a while and he’s walked 12 batters in 6.1 innings for an 11.37 ERA. Maybe Green is preferable to that… We have to make a decision soon; Bates’ rehab stint expires next weekend and he’s out of options. That is the guy who pitched to a 1.04 ERA in 54 games last year, walking a modest 3.3 per nine innings.

Adrian Reichardt didn’t see much action this week. He pinch-hit to drive in two cushion runs on Monday, then did not reappear in a box score until Sunday. The ankle hampered him until mid-week, but then we also used the right-handed opposition as an excuse to keep him benched. There IS of course a reason for this; the Raccoons would like to rather not trigger the $2.24M vesting option on his contract which requires him to appear in 135 games. At the halfway point of the season he sat on 65 appearances, by extrapolation five short of qualifying in the end.

Next week: road trip. I’ll go to New York and then home to scream in horror while the team travels to Elkland. After that will be the All Star Game.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons so far have lost 11 games in every month of the season.

If you do that for six months, you end up 96-66.

96 wins have won the North 50% of the time in the last 20 years.

The 2026 Coons won 94 games, the 2028 outfit took 98 contests.