[Westheim]

Raccoons (39-33) @ Condors (36-39) – June 29-July 1, 2048

June would end in Mexico, with a series against the Condors, whom the Raccoons had swept when these teams first met this year. Tijuana ranked seventh in runs scored and fifth in runs allowed, with a modest +3 run differential (Critters: +8). They had the best bullpen in the Continental League with a 2.49 ERA, and ranked in the top three in stolen bases, but the bottom three in home runs. Tony Aparicio was a notable absence for them, on the DL with shoulder woes.

Projected matchups:
Victor Merino (6-6, 3.72 ERA) vs. Jason Jacobs (4-5, 4.64 ERA)
Bubba Wolinsky (0-0, 6.75 ERA) vs. Josh Henneberry (1-1, 6.75 ERA)
Jake Jackson (3-5, 4.31 ERA) vs. Kellen Lanning (8-3, 2.58 ERA)

The Condors only had right-handed starters on the team right now.

Game 1
POR: CF Watt – SS Adame – 3B Maldonado – RF Toohey – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – C Gonzalez – LF Baskins – P Merino
TIJ: SS C. Navarro – RF Tortora – C Mittleider – 1B S. Henderson – CF Burkhart – 2B Watanabe – 3B Ottinger – LF E. Moore – P Jacobs

A Maldo double and Toohey single put the Raccoons on top in the first inning, 1-0, although Merino seemed ill inclined to work with that little run support. He gave up two singles to Chris Navarro and Jon Mittleider in the first inning, walked Sterling Henderson, and was helped out of the jam by Navarro getting thrown out at third base on the Mittleider single, the assist just like the earlier RBI going to Toohey.

Merino held a shutout through five, which was not necessarily indicative of his actual pitching performance. While the Condors only got another base hit in the fifth inning when Cullen Tortora hit a single, on the way Merino issued another walk, spent much time behind in the count, and also drilled both Reed Ottinger and Jon Mittleider in different innings. The Raccoons scratched out the odd run meanwhile, getting Matt Watt to score in both the third and sixth innings for a 3-0 lead. Watt tripled and came home on Alex Adame’s groundout the first time, then singled and scored on another 2-out Toohey single after that. Matt Waters hit a double in the sixth then, but Toohey was thrown out at home plate by Ethan Moore as he tried to score from first base, ending the inning. Merino responded with three on, no outs in the bottom 6th, walking Tim Burkhart, after which Shintaro Watanabe singled, and Ottinger was nailed *again*. He struck out Moore, a lefty batter, and got a sac fly from Jacobs, 3-1, then was replaced with Porter, who secured a groundout from Navarro to bugger out of the inning. When the Raccoons’ 6-7-8 did not reach base in the seventh, Porter also pitched the bottom of that inning. Top 8th, Watt drew a 1-out walk, stole second, and was singled home by Maldonado with two outs after Adame popped out. With the lead back to three runs, the eighth was put together by Hitchcock and Bonnie before Nelson Moreno retired the Condors 1-2-3 in the ninth. 4-1 Raccoons. Watt 2-3, BB, 3B; Maldonado 2-4, 2B, RBI; Toohey 2-4, 2 RBI;

A roster move was made at that point; since an arm-for-stick trade was not on the horizon, the Raccoons finally dispatched of their 13th pitcher and sent Jeremy Baker back to AAA where he didn’t necessarily belong. Roberto Medina was brought up from AAA, where he did averagely, giving us a switch-hitting outfield bench bat.

Game 2
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – 2B Waters – LF Baskins – C Prow – RF Glodowski – P Wolinsky
TIJ: SS C. Navarro – RF Tortora – C Mittleider – 1B S. Henderson – CF Burkhart – 2B Watanabe – 3B Ottinger – LF Kristoff– P Henneberry

Could we catch more than a glimpse of Wolinsky now? Two abortive starts into his resurrection season, he had spun but 2.2 innings due to tweaked ankles and end-times storms. Well, when he pitched three shutout innings on three hits and three strikeouts, that was already his longest outing at this level in a year, and he continued to add zeroes to the board… much like the Critters hit. Second inning aside, when Glodowski’s groundout brought home Waters, who had hit a leadoff single before stealing a base, the Raccoons did not exactly score huge amounts of runs, either.

Maybe the sixth would change that. Toohey opened by whacking a double down the rightfield line, after which the Condors walked Waters with intent. It was not the greatest move, with Derek Baskins dropping an RBI double between Justin Kristoff and Tim Burkhart to extend the lead to 2-0, although after that Prow struck out, Glodowski was bypassed, and Wolinsky hit into a double play to strand a full set of runners. Mittleider and Henderson hit singles in the bottom 6th then, but were stranded when Herrera tracked down Burkhart’s 2-out fly. Wolinsky would throw 108 pitches for 6.2 innings of … ultimately 1-run ball; the 108th pitch was a 2-out offering to the opposing pitcher. Henneberry socked an RBI double on it, driving home Ottinger, and put himself into scoring position as the tying run. Bob Ibold replaced Wolinsky to face Navarro, had to contend with the left-handed Moore instead, but still notched the K to end the inning. Baskins and Prow were on base in the top 8th, but were stranded when Glodowski popped out and Martell lined out to Tortora. Fortunately, steady relief by Mike Lynn and Nelson Moreno (out for the third day in a row) would put this game away, too. 2-1 Coons. Adame 2-4; Herrera 2-5; Maldonado 2-5; Baskins 2-2, BB, 2 2B; Wolinsky 6.2 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K, W (1-0);

Chris Navarro was named Rookie of the Month by Wednesday morning, which didn’t affect the Raccoons all that much, but probably made the Condors happier after dropping the season series against Portland in just five games.

Game 3
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 2B Waters – RF Toohey – C Gonzalez – 1B Gurney – 3B Martell – LF Medina – P Jackson
TIJ: SS C. Navarro – RF Tortora – C Mittleider – 1B S. Henderson – CF Burkhart – LF Kristoff – 2B Watanabe – 3B A. Lopez – P Lanning

Singles by Adame, Toohey, and Gonzalez created a run in the first, and a Waters homer in the third put a second run on the board. Waters went on to throw away Alex Lopez’ grounder to begin the bottom 3rd, which had the potential to put Jackson in a pickle with a free runner at second base and nobody out, but Jackson responded by pouncing on Kellen Lanning’s bunt and flicking it to third base where Al Martell, giving Maldo a day off, slapped out Lopez. Navarro then hit into a double play to get Jackson out of the inning.

The Condors had only one hit through five innings, while the Raccoons threatened to tack on by the sixth. Waters whacked a leadoff double, and the Condors walked Toohey with intent. Ruben Gonzalez got a ball behind Cullen Tortora for an RBI double, though, and there still was no out on the board for Lanning, and here came the next intentional walk to Pat Gurney, which was a genius move, setting up three on with nobody out for lefty reliever David Fox against the bottom of the order. Martell decided that he didn’t care and hit an RBI single on Fox’ first pitch, and additional runs scored on Jackson’s sac fly and a 2-out single by Adame. Herrera flew out to Tortora to strand two, but the Coons now led 6-0.

So, would Jake Jackson pitch a shutout now? Nope. Reed Ottinger got him for a pinch-hit, 2-out, 2-run triple in the bottom 7th, but Jackson finished the inning, and the eighth, too, before being replaced for the ninth. Bonnie retired Tortora and Mittleider in the bottom 9th before setting up a save opportunity with a Sterling Henderson double and Burkhart’s RBI single. Jesus Banuelas, a right-handed batter, pinch-hit for the pitcher in the #6 spot, but flew out against Bob Ibold, who snuck himself a save there. 6-3 Raccoons. Adame 2-5, RBI; Waters 2-5, HR, 2B, RBI; Gonzalez 3-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Jackson 8.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 K, W (4-5);

First save for Ibold this year, sixth overall in 196 career outings.

Raccoons (42-33) @ Canadiens (38-40) – July 2-5, 2048

Brrr. Another trip to Elk City. Well, for the boys, not for me. I got to stay home in Portland, where it was scorching summer for Oregon, almost 80 degrees, but watching the boys play in the tundra on TV, I couldn’t help but shiver, and had to huddle up under a blanket with Honeypaws. The stupid Elks, whom we were leading 5-2 this year, had lost five in a row and sat fifth in runs scored and second from the bottom in runs allowed. Their -36 run differential hinted at them not being playoff material after all, still.

Projected matchups:
Sadaharu Okuda (5-1, 5.16 ERA) vs. David Farris (3-7, 4.63 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (4-4, 4.15 ERA) vs. Bill McMichael (7-5, 3.59 ERA)
Victor Merino (7-6, 3.59 ERA) vs. Hisami Furuya (3-8, 4.25 ERA)
Bubba Wolinsky (1-0, 2.89 ERA) vs. Mario de Anda (5-2, 2.99 ERA)

Right, left, then again, right, left. Southpaw Sunday, hey!

So, ample opportunity to have a day off for everybody – well, except Maldo, who was already off on Wednesday, and Matt Watt didn’t over-exert himself either in Mexico.

Game 1
POR: LF Watt – SS Adame – 3B Maldonado – RF Toohey – C Gonzalez – 2B Martell – CF Herrera – 1B Gurney – P Okuda
VAN: 2B I. Jaramillo – CF Escobido – RF E. Moreno – 1B Mancini – C Julio Diaz – SS R. Price – 3B Higareda – LF M. Allen – P Farris

While Alex Adame put the Raccoons ahead in the opening frame with a solo homer to right, Okuda endeavored to remain hard to watch, running 3-ball counts on almost everybody the first time through, walking a pair without getting punished for it. The Elks didn’t get a base hit at all until the fourth inning, but then they got a double by Bob Mancini and a homer from Julio Diaz back-to-back and took a 2-1 lead. The Coons didn’t have much going either; through five innings, they had only one more hit after the Adame homer, a double by Armando Herrera that led nowhere nice. Farris began the top 6th in errant ways, though, walking Watt and nicking Adame to set up Maldo with a nice chance to do damage. Maldo ran a full count, then failed the team by looking at ball four, bringing up Toohey with (sigh!) three on and no outs. Toohey tied the game by waiting out another full count and ball four in the dirt, which was at least something. Gonzalez lined out to Rick Price at short, but Al Martell kept going against the team trend with the bags stacked and hit an RBI single to right, giving Okuda another lead to toy with in addition to my heartstrings. The Coons then kept piling on to knock out Farris, who allowed two singles in front of Eddie Moreno before getting yanked. Herrera drove in one, Gurney drove in two, and it was 6-2 with a pair in scoring position as lefty Jordan Calderon took over. He whiffed Okuda, Watt grounded out, and now it was about not blowing a 4-run lead.

Promptly, Okuda allowed a leadoff single to Moreno on an 0-2 pitch that Toohey overran for an error, and Maldo fudged Mancini’s grounder for another error. I pulled the blanket over my head and whimpered. Okuda rung up Diaz and popped out Price, then was removed for a righty in Preston Porter, who gave up RBI singles to Adrian Higareda and Mike Allen after all… Felix Rojas popped out foul to end the inning, 6-4, but Porter blew the rest of the lead in the seventh with a hit by Escobido and a Moreno homer to tie it up at six.

While I felt sadness wash over me, the Raccoons got Gurney on in the eighth, at least until he was picked off. Toohey singled off Sam Gibson with one out in the ninth, but Gonzalez popped out. Baskins hit for the pitcher in the #6 hole and legged out an infield single, and then Toohey dashed for home when Herrera pressed a single through the left side. Gurney flew out to left, sending a 7-6 lead to Moreno, who suffered infield singles by Chris Walley and Israel Jaramillo to begin his fourth outing in five days. Angel Escobido ended the misery quickly with a 3-run homer to left. 9-7 Canadiens. Herrera 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Gurney 2-5, 2 RBI; Glodowski 1-1;

(stays motionless under the blanket until the next game on Friday)

Game 2
POR: RF Watt – SS Adame – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – C Gonzalez – CF Herrera – 2B Martell – LF Medina – P Wheatley
VAN: CF I. Jaramillo – LF Escobido – 1B Mancini – RF E. Moreno – C Julio Diaz – SS R. Price – 3B Higareda – 2B M. Gibson – P McMichael

Toohey took McMichael pretty deep in the first, cashing Adame for a quick 2-0 lead, but the Elks didn’t lie low for long. When Wheats drilled Julio Diaz with an 0-2 pitch in the bottom 2nd, 2-out singles by Higareda and Mike Gibson drove him home, and a passed ball moved the runners into scoring position before McMichael grounded out to strand them. Wheatley and Gonzalez remained fundamentally on the wrong pages in different books; Bob Mancini was drilled in the bottom 3rd, Wheats threw a wild pitch to move him into scoring position, and a Moreno double tied the game. Diaz then singled to score Moreno, sending the Elks up 3-2. The Elks then went on to get a single with nobody or one out in each of the next three innings, but each time fumbled the chance with pop outs in the fourth, a double play in the fifth, and by the runner being caught stealing in the sixth, but it wasn’t like the Critters were any better than that, being stuck on four hits through six innings.

They then had two to begin the seventh, a soft Gonzalez single to right, and an even softer Herrera bloop just behind Mancini, that turned foul after landing and rolled to a stop near the tarp, which allowed Gonzalez and Herrera into scoring position on a freak double, and with nobody out…! Yet, the mushy bottom of the order was coming up now. Where to hit Matt Waters? Not for Martell, who was needed for defense, and who also singled up the middle to plate both runners, remaining the clutchiest Coon of the week…! With the score flipped, Waters retreated from the on-deck circle and Medina batted for himself, popping out in shallow right… except that Gibson dropped the ball and everybody was safe. Wheats bunted the runners over, and Matt Watt clipped a clean single through between Price and Higareda for two more runs. Adame flew out, Maldo doubled, but Toohey stranded two in scoring position with a groundout. Up 6-3, Wheats resumed pitching, allowed a leadoff single to Gibson, and then was taken deep by the pinch-hitting destroyer of worlds, Jerry Outram, for his fifth homer of the year, 6-5. That was the end for Wheats, with the remaining lead blown, and then some, by Ibold, who put two aboard in the same inning, and Kuo, who was taken deep by Diaz with the count full and two outs…

Down 8-6, the Raccoons did nothing of lasting value in the eighth, then arrived in the ninth facing righty Matt Fries, who had walked 12 in 22 innings this year. Waters opened by pinch-hitting in the #9 hole, and singled to right on 1-2. Watt and Adame both flew out to Mike Allen, but Maldo singled to right, putting himself aboard as the tying run. Toohey lined out, ending the game. 8-6 Canadiens. Maldonado 3-5, 2B; Gonzalez 2-4; Waters (PH) 1-1;

(mumbles under the blanket) I hate the ******* Canadiens.

Game 3
POR: RF Watt – SS Martell – 2B Waters – 3B Maldonado – CF Herrera – 1B Gurney – LF Baskins – C Prow – P Merino
VAN: 2B I. Jaramillo – CF Escobido – RF E. Moreno – 1B Mancini – C Julio Diaz – SS R. Price – 3B Higareda – LF F. Rojas – P Furuya

Again, an early lead, as the Critters tried to coax me out from under the blanket. Honeypaws sat on my head, and on top of the blanket, and relayed to me that Martell, Waters, and Maldo hit singles in order to go up 1-0. Herrera’s groundout added a second run, but Gurney’s groundout stranded Maldonado. Escobido answered with a triple in the bottom 1st, but was stranded when Moreno lined out to Martell and Mancini grounded out to Waters. After dodging that bullet, Merino hit a 2-out single in the second, then scored all the way from first base when Matt Watt lodged a double in the rightfield corner.

Maldo went almost back-to-back downtown with Waters in the third after Waters hit a leadoff jack, but Maldo’s drive to right clanked off the top of the fence and he had to settle for a double. Herrera walked and was forced out on Gurney’s grounder to Israel Jaramillo, and Baskins’ K and Prow’s pop stranded runners on the corners. Merino drowned at once, with Jaramillo hitting a single and Merino walking the next two to begin the bottom 3rd. Mancini struck out, but Diaz singled home two. Merino would walk the bags full again with Rick Price, a run scored on a Higareda groundout, and then he also walked Felix Rojas. Furuya struck out, but Kevin Hitchcock was stretching by the time the Coons were batting in the fourth, with Merino on almost 80 pitches through three miserable innings. He did still bat for himself in the fourth, though, in a 1-2-3 affair for Furuya. Merino walked Jaramillo to begin the bottom 4th – six walks in this game…! – then got a double play grounder, 5-4-3, from Escobido. Moreno popped out. The Coons tried to tack on in the fifth with Maldo drawing a walk and Herrera singling him to third base with one out. Gurney flew out to Rojas, Maldo went for home despite the play not being all that deep, but Rojas capitally threw the ball away for an error to concede the run. Herrera went up to second on the play, but was left there by Baskins. I still didn’t dare look.

Merino didn’t get the W, or another out. Leadoff walk to Mancini, then a Diaz double, then the hook. Bonnie came in for this part of the lineup, and managed to get out of the jam with a 5-4 lead, surrendering a run on a Higareda groundout, but keeping Diaz at second base throughout. Medina singled and stole second base in Bonnie’s spot in the sixth, but was stranded. Outram batted for Furuya to begin the bottom 6th against Hitchcock, but flew out to Baskins, and the Elks went 1-2-3. Herrera drew a walk from Matt Fries in the seventh, stole second base, and was doubled home by Gurney for a new cushion run, 6-4…! Baskins drew another 2-out walk, but Prow flew out to right to end the inning. Moreno hit a leadoff single against Hitchcock in the bottom of the inning, but Mancini popped out. Lynn then came on in a double switch, Baskins being replaced with Glodowski, who went in the #9 hole. At 3-1, Diaz grounded to short for an inning-ending double play. Honeypaws tried to get me to look, to his credit, but I was still convinced of doom striking the Coons before the game would end. Not in the eventless eighth, in which Lynn went 1-2-3, but maybe in the ninth, and keep in mind that Moreno was burned out right now and we’d have to use… somebody else. Whoever that would be. Another run would have been nice, but Tim Abraham turned the Coons away 1-2-3 in the ninth. Preston Porter then got the ball for the bottom 9th, which began with Mike Allen pinch-hitting in the #9 spot. He struck out, but Jaramillo singled to center. Escobido hit an infield single. Oh there it goes, Honeypaws. There it goes. Or not – Moreno grounded the first pitch to short, Martell to Waters, to Toohey, ballgame. 6-4 Raccoons. Waters 2-5, HR, RBI; Maldonado 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Medina (PH) 1-1;

Merino walked SEVEN in four innings.

SEVEN.

Bum!

Game 4
POR: LF Watt – SS Adame – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – 2B Waters – CF Herrera – C Gonzalez – RF Glodowski – P Wolinsky
VAN: 2B I. Jaramillo – CF Escobido – RF E. Moreno – 1B Mancini – SS R. Price – 3B Higareda – C T. Phillips – LF F. Rojas – P de Anda

Portland batted around in the first, starting with a Watt homer to left. Adame doubled, then scored on two groundouts, before Waters hit another homer to left, taking the team lead from Maldonado in the process. Straight singles with two outs gave an RBI to Matt Glodowski, which made it three Matts with an RBI each in that inning. Wolinsky whiffed to end the inning, then put the first three damn Elks on base in the bottom 1st. I disappeared under the blanket again, seconds after poking out a few whiskers. Mancini made it 4-1 with a 6-4-3 double play grounder, which was something, and Price lined out to Adame to end the inning. Wolinsky kept scattering runners after that, then reached base on an error by Higareda in the fourth when he had tried to bunt Glodowski over with one out. Watt then found Price for a double play to kill that inning.

By the fifth Maldo decided he had none of Waters leading the team for homers, so jacked a 2-piece with Adame on second to right; Adame had just before stolen his 21st bag of the year. Herrera and Gonzalez doubled back-to-back to make it 7-1 against Jordan Calderon, who walked Glodowski with intent and two outs, but then mishandled another WOlinsky bunt for another error. Escobido snared a Watt fly to center to strand three, however. Wolinsky reached base again with a seventh-inning single, but again didn’t score before the inning fizzled out. He had been nigh unhittable in the middle innings, but Higareda led off the bottom 7th with a single to right, then was doubled off by Tim Phillips’ grounder to short. Rojas doubled with two outs, but Outram grounded out to Waters at 0-2. Bubba completed eight, but no more than that, on account of him throwing 102 pitches to get that far. Kevin Prow batted for him with runners in scoring position and two outs in the top 9th, but flew out to Eddie Moreno. Joy-shan Kuo turned the Elks away in the bottom of the inning. 7-1 Raccoons! Adame 2-5, 2B; Herrera 2-4, 2B; Gonzalez 2-3, 2 BB, 2B, RBI; Glodowski 2-3, BB, RBI; Baskins (PH) 1-1; Wolinsky 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, W (2-0) and 1-3;

In other news

June 29 – RIC SP Marc Hubbard (6-5, 3.74 ERA) 3-hits the Warriors for a 3-0 shutout.
June 30 – Thunder 2B/SS Jonathan Ban (.347, 1 HR, 39 RBI) ends the month of June with a 20-game hitting streak when he puts three hits and two RBI on the Loggers in an 8-3 Thunder win.
June 30 – NYC 1B/RF/LF Carlos Cortes (.243, 9 HR, 30 RBI) goes yard for the only runs in the Crusaders’ 2-0 win over the Aces.
July 1 – A new month is born, but the hitting streak of SAC 3B Mike Crenshaw (.310, 10 HR, 41 RBI) dies at 22 games with four hitless at-bats in an 8-0 loss to the Miners.
July 2 – Season over for SAL SP Miguel Soler (4-8, 5.48 ERA); the 24-year-old southpaw is suffering from shoulder inflammation.
July 2 – Season over just as well for another left-handed starter, New York’s Carlos Malla (3-6, 4.48 ERA), who has to undergo Tommy John surgery for a torn UCL and will miss a full 12 months.
July 2 – SFB OF/1B Ken Crum (.308, 7 HR, 38 RBI) ends a scoreless game against the Condors with a ninth-inning walkoff homer, 1-0 Bayhawks.
July 3 – The Warriors acquire INF/CF Jose Rivas (.374, 0 HR, 34 RBI) from the Stars for RF/LF/1B Dario Martinez (.279, 2 HR, 10 RBI) and a prospect.
July 3 – The Indians score 11 runs in the fifth inning and plenty in total for an 18-8 win over the Titans. Catcher Pacio Torreo (.367, 1 HR, 9 RBI) drives in five runs on three base hits, but on the losing team INF/LF/RF Jose Rodriguez (.183, 3 HR, 36 RBI) has four hits and four RBI from the #8 spot, too.
July 4 – BOS SP Dave Serio (5-5, 5.33 ERA, 7 SV) guns down the Indians in a 3-hit shutout, striking out five in the 6-0 Titans win.
July 5 – CL Hitter of the Month for June, ATL 3B/SS/LF/RF Anton Venegas (.33, 3 HR, 36 RBI), shows no signs of slowing down, putting five hits with two doubles and three RBI on the Aces in a 6-3 Knights win.
July 5 – Indians INF Andrew Russ (.348, 0 HR, 10 RBI) will miss a month with a sprained ankle.

FL Player of the Week: DEN OF Tim Turner (.347, 9 HR, 70 RBI), hitting .550 (11-20) with 1 HR, 7 RBI
CL Player of the Week: NYC SP Mike Zeigler (8-3, 3.32 ERA), pitching 17 shutout innings for a 2-0 record and 10 K

FL Hitter of the Month: DAL OF Tylor Cecil (.318, 11 HR, 67 RBI), raking .343 with 5 HR, 33 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: ATL 3B/SS/LF/RF Anton Venegas (.347, 3 HR, 33 RBI), slapping .411 with 1 HR, 13 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: WAS SP Sean Fowler (6-3, 2.90 ERA), hurling for a 4-0 mark with 0.93 ERA, 29 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: SFB SP Kevin Nolte (11-3, 2.61 ERA), throwing for a 4-1 record with 2.14 ERA, 30 K
FL Rookie of the Month: NAS C Jose Cantu (.303, 10 HR, 34 RBI), batting .284 with 6 HR, 18 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: TJ SS/2B Chris Navarro (.275, 0 HR, 31 BRI), hitting .281 with 6 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Still up by half a game … or, again up by half a game. We only reclaimed the lead on Sunday after losing it on Thursday with the first meltdown L in Elk City. The Coons had 4-run leads in three of the games, a 3-run lead in the fourth one, blew two, threatened to blow three, and only Wolinsky pitched decently enough to not give me remote anxiety…

With that, the division is still up for grabs, but probably not for the Elks, who have some issues, like pitching, hitting, and fielding. Nothing major, you see.

With the advent of July, the international free agent teen boys bidding has begun again, but the Raccoons are not really engaged this time. Blowing more than twice the soft cap on players last year to win Ricky de la Cruz’ future services had put us into the highest penalty bracket for this year, and despite millions of unallocated budget space, the Raccoons were banned from signing any player for more than $52,500 this year, which naturally relegated us to the longshots.

Oh, somebody like Nelson Moreno, you mean ($20k in 2035)? Or Ruben Gonzalez ($18k in 2038)?

There is four of those longshots that we will go after this time, two pitchers and two position players, but this time we can actually be out-bid for even those…

There’s one more week before the All Star Game. We will host the Loggers as the first leg of the traditional four-and-four, then face the Arrowheads once more on the weekend.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons are 16-14 against the CL South this year.

Solely for us owning the Condors, 6-0, though. It’s 4-2 against the Knights, 3-3 against the Falcons, and then it goes into the gutter real fast.