[Westheim]

Originally Posted by reds1

Just read up about your recent health issues, Westheim. Glad to hear that you're on the mend and back in the swing of things. Although from the way the Raccoons 'reward' your management at times, I'm surprised it wasn't ulcers.

I'm surprised there was something other than bile and grief inside this body after all

+++

All Star Game

The Federal League pounds the Continental League early and often, opening a 7-0 lead by the third inning in an eventual 8-4 win in this year’s All Star Game. Denver’s Tim Turner goes 1-3 with a bases-clearing double and a walk for MVP honors.

The Portland crew puts together five base hits and two RBI in the loss. Jesus Maldonado and Tony Morales both have two hits and an RBI, Bryce Toohey has a single. Morales has the only CL extra-base hit with a double.

Bob Ibold pitches a scoreless inning with a strikeout.

So it wasn’t our guys!

Raccoons (48-40) vs. Titans (38-50) – July 12-15, 2046

The Raccoons were up 7-1 on the Titans this year after taking three of four in Boston the week before the All Star Game. The Titans were still in the bottom three in runs scored, and just below average in runs allowed. Their rotation was third-worst by ERA, but their pen was the second-best in the league.

Projected matchups:
Jake Jackson (6-6, 3.70 ERA) vs. Victor Mondragon (3-9, 5.54 ERA)
Victor Merino (7-5, 2.83 ERA) vs. David Barel (9-8, 3.53 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (9-4, 3.99 ERA) vs. Kyle Turay (5-7, 5.09 ERA)
Ryan Person (6-6, 3.24 ERA) vs. Ricky Contreras (4-10, 4.53 ERA)

The Coons did not skip around their rotation over the break, mainly because it was hard to find favorites right now, and maybe the smartest move was to give everybody the extra three days.

Mondragon and Turay were the only right-handers the Titans had to offer.

Game 1
BOS: SS Batista – RF C. Jimenez – 1B V. Chavez – CF Ritchey – 3B D. Richardson – C Whitley – LF T. Lopez – 2B J. Rodriguez – P Mondragon
POR: LF Baskins – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – C Morales – 2B Gurney – RF Fernandez – SS Waters – P Jackson

Good ol’ Manny Fernandez returned with an RBI single in the bottom 2nd, bringing in the game’s first run with two outs. The run was doubly-unearned, Toohey reaching on an error by Tony Batista and advancing once on a passed ball charged to Dan Whitley. While Jackson allowed no base hits early on, the Raccoons also stranded five runners between the second and third innings, Jackson grounding out to Juan Rodriguez with Manny and Waters on the corners in the second, and Gurney flying out easily with the 3-4-5 hitters aboard (although Maldo forced out Herrera) in the third. Between a walk to Victor Chavez in the first and another one to Batista in the sixth, the Titans got nothing out of Jake Jackson, but Mondragon also tightened up in the middle innings until betrayed again by defense in the bottom 6th. Manny reached on a 2-out infield single, and Waters added himself to the bases when Rodriguez threw away his grounder for two bases, bringing up Jackson with runners on second and third – he struck out. Jackson went on to hit Chavez with the first pitch in the seventh inning, but got a 6-4-3 from Joe Ritchey and Doug Richardson also grounded out.

The eighth began with Whitley hitting a 3-1 pitch through the left side, no chance for either defender over there, so we would not get no-hitters against the Titans on consecutive Thursdays, whether that had been your lifelong dream or not. Before long, the bases were loaded with a Nick Crocker infield single and a walk to another pinch-hitter, Danny Liceaga, and Nelson Moreno inherited the steaming mess. He struck out Tony Batista for the second out of the inning, but then gave up a 2-run single to center to Chris Jimenez, and that was enough to flip the score in Boston’s favor. And that was the ballgame – the Raccoons were sat down by Brian Jackson in the eighth and Casey Pinter in the ninth. 2-1 Titans. Fernandez 2-4, RBI; Jackson 7.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, L (6-7);

Game 2
BOS: LF de Luna – RF C. Jimenez – 1B V. Chavez – CF Ritchey – C Whitley – SS Batista – 2B D. Richardson – 3B T. Lopez – P Barel
POR: LF Pellicano – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – C Gonzalez – 2B Waters – RF Mercado – SS Floyd – P Merino

Merino was perfect the first time through, which didn’t shoo the Titans into submission at all. Rich de Luna opened the fourth with a triple over Herrera’s head, and Jimenez and Chavez added singles to go up 1-0 and look like more trouble, at least until Ritchey grounded out and Merino struck out Whitley and Batista. The Coons were scattering a single an inning through four – Ruben Gonzalez did the honors twice – which predictably got them nowhere in particular. They then got nobody on in the fifth, before the sixth saw a Herrera single, and then bleakness once again. All the while, Merino fought valiantly, allowing only four hits through seven innings while trailing. I rubbed Honeypaws’ tail stripes in a bid for good luck, but we didn’t get another base hit until Herrera’s turn was up again, a 2-out single in the bottom 8th. And then Maldo grounded out meekly… Josh Rella held the Titans away in the top 9th after Bob Ibold helped Merino out of the eighth, but the Raccoons were still not on the board, with Barel nursing a 6-hitter in the bottom 9th. When Toohey hit a 3-2 single to left, things started to move – first, Barel was yanked for left-hander Casey Pinter, and the Raccoons sent Al Martell to run for Toohey, who was the tying run. Gonzalez flew out to center, but Matt Waters hit a single, moving Martell to second. Mercado grounded out to Gerardo Galaz at second base, advancing the runners, but we were down to Josh Floyd and our final out – and on the bench, only lefty hitters. We *actually* went for it – Tony Morales would hit for Floyd. It didn’t look like it would be working all too well – in no time Morales had two strikes on him. But he dug in, then hit a 1-2 to the right side. Chavez didn’t get it! It was a single! Martell in to score! Waters coming around – and he scored as well! It’s a walkoff! 2-1 Blighters! Herrera 2-4; Gonzalez 2-4; Morales (PH) 1-1, 2 RBI; Merino 7.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K and 1-2;

Let’s just say Tony Morales got the biggest smooch on the snout any player had gotten from me in a long time.

The move was entirely against the book, but Josh Floyd was down to 0-for-3 in the game, and the sparkle about him had dimmed down anyway in recent weeks…

Game 3
BOS: LF de Luna – RF C. Jimenez – 1B V. Chavez – CF Ritchey – 2B Galaz – C Whitley – SS Batista – 3B D. Richardson – P Turay
POR: LF Baskins – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – C Morales – 2B Gurney – RF Fernandez – SS Waters – P Wheatley

The Coons opened with straight hits in the first inning, singles from Baskins and Herrera, followed by Maldo’s RBI double. Toohey was cautiously walked onto the open base, making it three on with nobody out. I braced for the worst, and Tony Morales, Friday’s hero, promptly struck out. Pat Gurney also fell to 1-2, but then actually met a baseball, sending a high and deep fly to right – GRAAAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAAAMMMM!!!

Manny, Waters, Baskins, and Herrera each hit a single after that, adding on two more runs for a 7-0 total after the first inning on poor Kyle Turay. I was squinting at Wheatley down on the field – he wasn’t gonna turn this one inside out, was he? Well, he sure scattered runners; two in the second, three in the third, but the Titans didn’t score either time, once thanks to Chris Jimenez’ timely double play grounder. Wheats didn’t allow a run through five after all – but was also extremely inefficient; in a Personesque performance, he needed 93 pitches through five innings, running a bunch of full counts in the fourth and fifth, including a 14-pitch battle with Jimenez that ended in a walk. He’d put in another 10-pitch sixth, then departed for the day. Hickey pitched two innings, giving up a run on two walks and a base hit, while the Raccoons seemed to collectively have departed for dinner after the first-inning onslaught and didn’t get particularly close to scoring ever again. It was enough, though, even though Steven Johnston gave up another run in the ninth inning. 7-2 Critters. Baskins 2-4, RBI; Herrera 2-4, RBI; Gurney 2-4, HR, 4 RBI;

Interlude: Trade

The Raccoons brought in much-needed lefty relief on Sunday, acquiring 29-year-old CL Mike Lynn (3-6, 2.51 ERA, 25 SV) from the Crusaders for two minor league pitchers, AAA SP Tony Negrete and AA SP Danny Bethea. Negrete had made five starts for Portland in the last two seasons, but had a miserable year in St. Pete, while Bethea was a recent second-round pick, but didn’t show up on the depth chart (we still had Wolinsky and a few other arms ahead of him).

Lynn was a first-time All Star this year. He’d be eligible for arbitration once more in the fall. He was a bit of a me-first kinda guy, but right now I needed somebody to get outs from the left side, and he had 11.1 K/9 in 43 innings. He didn’t arrive rested, so probably wouldn’t appear in the Sunday game yet.

The Raccoons sent Steven Johnston to AAA, where he could do less damage to our efforts.

Raccoons (48-40) vs. Titans (38-50) – July 12-15, 2046

Game 4
BOS: LF de Luna – RF C. Jimenez – 1B V. Chavez – CF Ritchey – 2B Galaz – C Whitley – SS J. Rodriguez – 3B T. Lopez – P R. Contreras
POR: RF Pellicano – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – C Gonzalez – 2B Waters – LF Fernandez – SS Floyd – P Person

Ryan Person started to retire the first eight batters he faced, then walked Ricky Contreras with two outs in the third, which was the kind of thing that could drive you up the wall time and again. Rich de Luna singled afterwards, but Chris Jimenez struck out after that, stranding two Titans. The Coons were not that much more successful in the first innings, then somehow stumbled into loading the bases in the bottom 4th, getting the 4-5-6 hitters on with soft singles and a walk – but all with two outs. Manny grounded out to Chavez on the first pitch, and the game remained scoreless. Frustratingly, Josh Floyd then opened the bottom 5th with a single to left… and Person bunted into a double play. Pellicano walked and was caught stealing, and that was how this game continued to go on my nerves…

Out of nothing, Maldo then snapped a homer in the sixth, which was the first run on the board, Person holding the Titans to a 1-hitter still, but he had also run two 3-ball counts in the sixth and I expected him to lay an egg and get rolled into the tarp any second now. He struck out Ritchey and Galaz in the seventh before hitting Whitley. PH Nick Crocker flew out to Herrera, somehow. The eighth brought a leadoff walk to Tony Lopez, who was forced out by Danny Liceaga. Person filed a wild pitch over the umpire’s head for some general annoyance, and Liceaga advanced to third base on de Luna’s groundout, but Herrera also caught another F8 to complete the inning. We didn’t trust the looks of this, and with the #9 hole leading off the bottom 8th, Gurney grabbed a bat against righty Jeff Turi. Herrera reached base with a 2-out single, and that was that, Maldo grounding out to short. Rella came out for the ninth, trying to defend the Coons’ skinny run. He struck out Chavez, then walked Ritchey and nailed Galaz, which was not the optimal procedure for this. Whitley popped out to Pellicano, but Crocker ripped a gapper in a full count and flipped the ******* score with a 2-run double. Tony Lopez then struck out. The Titans brought on Casey Pinter to try and hold their end of a 1-run lead in the bottom 9th then. Toohey, Gonzalez, and Waters went down in order. 2-1 Titans. Herrera 2-4, 2B; Person 8.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 8 K and 1-2;

They had two hits. We had seven.

I also had stinging pain in my jaws, from pressing them together so hard.

In other news

July 10 – Falcons OF Jordan Marroguin (.244, 3 HR, 39 RBI) gets into a fight with his neighbor, and has his kneecap broken in the process. He is out for the season.
July 11 – The Condors trade SP Ryan Porter (7-9, 4.16 ERA) to the Stars for two prospects, including #42 prospect 1B Dave Baumgardner.
July 12 – Both teams have a player bang out five base hits in the Blue Sox’ 11-7 win over the Miners on Thursday. Nashville’s Brad Critzer (.285, 5 HR, 47 RBI) has four singles and a double with one RBI, while Pittsburgh’s Victor Vazquez (.310, 6 HR, 58 RBI) hits only singles, and also drives in one run.
July 13 – The Thunder pick up MR Tom Spencer (2-0, 1.71 ERA, 1 SV) from the Pacifics, parting with a prospect.
July 15 – SAC LF/RF Mike Preble (.347, 12 HR, 59 RBI) hits a 3-run walkoff homer to beat the Warriors, 7-6, despite the Warriors out-hitting the Scorpions, 16-8.

FL Player of the Week: SAC LF/RF Mike Preble (.347, 12 HR, 59 RBI), batting .500 (8-16) with 2 HR, 6 RBI
CL Player of the Week: SFB 2B/SS Sergio Quiroz (.307, 10 HR, 50 RBI), batting .471 (8-17) with 2 HR, 7 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Even with the Lynn trade, I don’t claim the roster to be fixed. We just got mostly squeezed out of scoring over a long weekend by the Titans…

The Crusaders will be in on Monday, giving us another shot at a last-place team before the power curve will tighten again. The rest of the month will be against the middle four teams in the South, with a 4-game set with the weirdly resilient Indians waiting at the beginning of August. We won’t see the Loggers again until September, though. Starting August 30, we have 13 of our last 30 games against the Indians and Loggers.

Fun Fact: 17 years ago today, Ben Lipsky pitched the first of his two no-hitters.

He did so as a Bayhawk against the Aces, with the second no-hitter no coming until more than 10 years later, in August of ’39 with the Cyclones against the damn Elks.

The Aces no-hitter came in his first full season after he had missed the entire 2028 campaign for a torn rotator cuff. He would be quite resilient for the rest of his career, failing to turn in 32+ starts only once in the next nine years. He was an All Star once (2029), and never led the league in any single category. He was with the Bayhawks for 11 seasons (including the injury-lost 2028), and then five more with the Cyclones, dabbling in some relief work at times.

For his career he was a 163-143 pitcher with a 3.67 ERA. He also saved five games. He struck out 1,830 batters in 2,664 innings.