Portland Raccoons (ABL)

[UltimateAverageGuy]

What a year this has been, excited to see the finale

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[Westheim]

Raccoons (84-60) @ Indians (83-60) – September 12-14, 2017

The moment of truth had arrived – the final series against the Indians in 2017. Neither of these teams had especially impressed in recent weeks, and the Indians were especially loathsome, will-o’-wispin’ to a 16-22 record since the start of August. But small sample sizes hadn’t been the Raccoons’ friends either, the team allowing substantially more runs in recent weeks.

The Indians ranked eighth in offense and third in pitching, still substantially worse than the Coons’ marks of third in offense(!) and first in pitching. The Raccoons’ run differential was more than twice as big (+155 vs. +76), and they still had to fight the Indians to the death in this midweek series that started on Tuesday. So far in 2017, the Coons had turned away the Indians craftily, beating them in 11 out of 15 games.

Projected matchups:
Hector Santos (11-4, 2.62 ERA) vs. Tristan Broun (14-9, 3.43 ERA)
Jonathan Toner (16-9, 2.01 ERA) vs. Dan Lambert (11-15, 3.68 ERA)
Nick Brown (6-2, 4.56 ERA) vs. Josh Riley (15-7, 3.63 ERA)

We should be cautious about this alignment of pitchers. Due to their off day on Monday, the Indians might move Kyle Lamb (5-3, 3.61 ERA) into this series, which would give them two left-handed pitchers (including Broun), and the Raccoons hadn’t fared well against them.

In terms of injuries, the Indians were still without Dave Padilla and Jong-beom Kym, as well as back end starter Felipe Ramirez, while the Raccoons did not lack key personnel in William Waggoner and Kevin Beaver, though the case could be made that Kevin Beaver was as irreplaceable as anybody on the roster. Just look at the stats that Lester and Nielson were throwing up.

Game 1
POR: LF Carmona – RF Petracek – SS Walter – 1B Mendoza – C Denny – 3B Nunley – CF Duarte – 2B Bergquist – P Santos
IND: CF J. Wilson – 1B R. Flores – LF Genge – RF Gilmor – 2B Mathews – 3B S. Madison – SS Beard – C Malone – P Broun

Broun ranked fifth in the CL in strikeouts, even ahead of Santos, and both struck out three batters the first time through the order. Nunley had the only hit in those first three innings, a single to left that ran a hitting streak for him to 13 games. The first runner that Santos would allow turned out to be Lowell Genge, who rocked his 12th homer of the season to rightfield in the bottom 4th to put the Indians up 1-0. Genge would hit another drive to center his next time up, then with two out and two on in the bottom 6th. Broun had singled, the Indians’ second hit off Santos, who had then allowed John Wilson on base when he dropped Mendoza’s feed at first base on Wilson’s grounder. Alex Duarte caught up with Genge’s drive to end the inning, but the Coons’ most recent runner was still Matt Nunley from ages ago, and they didn’t seem like they had a run in them, going down without a whimper on 57 pitches through six innings. The top 7th brought two more poor groundouts to no effect before Mendoza raked a fastball to right, high and deep in Genge’s cleared path, and well outta here – tied ballgame! And it didn’t even take another 20 innings for the next run to get onto the board. It was for the wrong team, though. Santos allowed a leadoff double to Josh Malone in the bottom 8th, and while Trasher replaced him right away, he couldn’t keep the runner on base. Malone scored on two productive outs, and the Raccoons glared into the barrel of Jarrod Morrison’s 12-pounder in the ninth inning. Adam Young, who had come on with Thrasher in a double switch, and Cookie Carmona grounded out unhelpfully to start the inning before McKnight hit for Petracek and doubled up the leftfield line to become the tying run in scoring position. Steve Dykstra’s diving grab on Shane Walter’s low grounder ended the game. 2-1 Indians. McKnight (PH) 1-1, 2B; Santos 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, L (11-5);

This was Hector Santos’ first loss taken since June 25. The Raccoons had been 9-4 in his starts in the meantime, but he had avoided picking up any detritus and had won seven straight decisions.

Game 2
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Walter – RF Mendoza – LF DeWeese – 3B Nunley – SS McKnight – C Denny – 1B A. Young – P Toner
IND: CF J. Wilson – 1B R. Flores – LF Genge – RF Gilmor – SS Matias – 3B S. Madison – 2B Beard – C Malone – P Lambert

The Coons got off to a good start with three straight singles off Lambert, which led to a quick run, before their 4-5-6 batters all made poor outs and left two men stranded. The two left-handed G’s in the heart of the Indians order would take swings at Jonny Toner right away, with Genge hitting a 2-out triple in the bottom 1st and Nick Gilmor drilling the ball out of the park completely for a massive score-flipper and a swift answer to the Raccoons’ initial and sloppily executed bid. While the damage wasn’t fatal (yet), Cookie tripling home Mike Denny in the top 2nd to tie the game could hardly mask the fact that Toner struck out absolutely nobody the first time through the order and spent most of his time behind in the count. The Coons continued to add single runs in the third and fourth innings mostly by lots of singles, while it took Toner 15 batters to get a whiff onto his ledger, striking out Steve Madison in a full count to end the bottom of the fourth.

After not scoring in the fifth inning, the first time they missed a run in an inning in this game, the Coons got back into Lambert’s guts in the sixth. Cookie opened with a single, stole second base, got to third on Walter’s single, and then scored on a passed ball charged to Malone. After an intentional walk to Mendoza with first base open, Lambert ran into a DeWeese swing with full throttle and eyes closed that met the ball square and sent it soaring some 420 feet to dead center and well outta here for a 3-run homer that ran the score to 8-2 and ended Lambert’s day in disgrace. But before long, Toner had the bases loaded with Arrowheads in the bottom of the same inning. Wilson had singled, Roberto Flores had been grazed by a pitch, both made it to scoring position when Wilson stole third base, and Nick Gilmor walked after Genge had grounded out to Nunley for the first out. Raul Matias grounded Toner’s very next pitch hard up the middle, but Walter not only grabbed it while on the run, no, his course took him directly to second base, which he tapped to force Gilmor, and the threw to first in time to double off Matias and end the inning. While Toner got stuck in the seventh for good and couldn’t wiggle out after a dreadful performance, it got even more dreadful in the bottom 8th. Ryan Nielson faced the top of the order, which contained left-handed bats in the #1, #3, and #4 slots. He didn’t even get to face Gilmor; Wilson and Flores singled, and Genge hit a huge homer to center to cut the Coons’ lead in half at 8-5. Chun managed to get through that inning before we went to Reed in the ninth. Rusty Beard led off with a double, and then he walked Josh Baker with one out, which brought up the tying run and drew Thrasher into the contest to face Wilson, but the Indians sent Ryan Georges to bat instead, a right-hander hitting .179. However prudent that was at its base, Thrasher walked him on four pitches, and at 0-2 couldn’t remove Flores, who grounded to Moya at second base, whose only play was at first. Picking between poisons, Genge was walked intentionally since a homer would end the game anyway, and Thrasher would pitch to Gilmor instead, except that now the Indians sent another right-hander without credentials in Danny Morales, because it had already worked once, remember? The count ran full, Thrasher lost him, a run scored, 8-7. And now we sent for Chris Mathis, probably too late. He was 2-2 on Raul Matias before the ball dropped out of his glove while he had his foot on the rubber. The Indians tied the game on the balk before Matias grounded out, sending the game to extra innings, at which point I was already slightly delirious.

Cookie, Walter, and Mendoza were already out of the game, as was Denny, since what could go wrong with an 8-2 lead? The Coons had McNeela, the pitcher’s spot, and Moya atop the order now, with Moya leading off against Morrison in the top of the 10th, which was a good start to do nothing, but the 11th would get going with ainslges by Duarte and Young to occupy the corners against Morrison. Brandon Johnson flew to left center and just outside of Genge’s range for an RBI single, which was swell with the automatic out McNeela approaching. He whiffed helplessly before Ochoa hit for Mathis and popped out, which got us back to Moya, whose sharp grounder to left went past Joey Mathews and into left, allowing Adam Young to score from second base for an extra run. Alex Ramirez wound up with the ball in the bottom 11th and retired the Indians 1-2-3. 10-8 Blighters. Carmona 4-5, 3B, RBI; Walter 3-6, RBI; Mendoza 2-3, 2 BB, RBI; Nunley 2-5; Duarte (PH) 0-0, 2 BB; Young 2-6; Johnson (PH) 1-2, RBI;

There must some of which of what I – … Iiiiiiiii, … he-he-heeeeeh, well, what is – what are you gonna…? (shrugs and giggles)

Game 2
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Walter – RF Mendoza – LF DeWeese – 3B Nunley – SS McKnight – C Denny – 1B A. Young – P Brown
IND: CF J. Wilson – RF Gilmor – SS Matias – LF Genge – 1B R. Flores – 2B Mathews – 3B S. Madison – C Malone – P Riley

While Nick Brown’s pitching created varying degrees of panic in the early innings but yielded no runs for the Indians thanks to two timely double plays, the Raccoons had only one hit the first time through the order against Riley, but then took a lead in the fourth on straight 2-out singles by Nunley, McKnight, and Denny, the latter plating Nunley, before Young grounded out. Styled with a 1-0 lead, Brownie immediately wobbled, issuing a leadoff walk to Matias in the bottom 4th, his third on the day, before Genge hit into a fielder’s choice. Flores singled and Mathews walked, loading the bases before Steve Madison glared on a 2-2 pitch that brushed the inside corner and was called out. Malone lifted a pop to shallow center that Cookie spoiled, sliding about 25 feet on his knees to cup it just before it could touch the grass. Cookie rubbed a knee afterwards, but appeared good to continue.

After the fifth and sixth were mostly uneventful, the Raccoons had Denny hit a leadoff single in the seventh inning before Riley drilled Adam Young. Brownie couldn’t get a bunt down and popped out, which meant that Cookie’s single to center only loaded the bases, but didn’t get a run home. Shane Walter lined to center, but John Wilson got the ball hustling inwards, and Denny shied back to the base. Two outs for Mendoza, who looked at strike one, looked at strike two, before Riley threw one pitch a bit too much in the sweet zone, which for Mendoza was most of the strike zone, actually. He ripped the 0-2 pitch to right center, nobody was gonna get it, but was the park even gonna hold it? Nope, it wouldn’t! GRAAAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMM!!!!!!

Brownie faced only two more batters in the 5-0 game; both singled. With Mathews on second and Madison on first, Seung-mo Chun replaced him. Malone flew out easily to right, but PH Bartolo Román drilled a pitch into the right center gap. Mendoza cut it off and hurled the ball back in. Mathews scored, and Madison was sent, Walter with the relay – OUT AT HOME!! Wilson flew out to left, holding the damage to one run and keeping the Critters afloat, 5-1. Denny homered off Kevin Johnston in the top 8th to get the run lost in the bottom 7th back onto the board, and Chun pitched another inning to require us to get less outs from the relievers considered “good”. None of them actually entered the game. Will West sat down the 6-7-8 batters in order in the bottom of the ninth. 6-1 Brownies!! Mendoza 2-5, HR, 4 RBI; Nunley 2-4, 2B; Denny 3-4, HR, 2 RBI; Brown 6.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, W (7-2); Chun 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

(GASP)

Raccoons (86-61) @ Thunder (70-76) – September 15-17, 2017

The Thunder were not quite as bad anymore as it had looked earlier in the season, despite their ninth-ranked offense not being something to be proud of. They were sixth in runs allowed, but their run differential was wildly in the red at -60. Despite all that, the Raccoons had only split the six games so far and needed to pounce on them to maintain their lead in the North, with the Indians facing the similarly mediocre Falcons. The season series between Portland and Oklahoma had ended 5-4 four straight years, with the Coons coming out on top from 2013 through 2015, but the Thunder had beaten them in 2016.

Projected matchups:
Tadasu Abe (19-9, 3.00 ERA) vs. Brian Furst (12-14, 3.93 ERA)
Chris Munroe (2-4, 9.10 ERA) vs. Antonio Quintero (8-3, 3.53 ERA)
Hector Santos (11-5, 2.62 ERA) vs. Brian Benjamin (10-16, 5.38 ERA)

That is a full set of right-handed pitchers.

On the DL for the Thunder was Ron Alston, who had batted .321 with 14 homers at the ripe old age of 38, among other players.

Game 1
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Walter – 1B Mendoza – LF DeWeese – 3B Nunley – SS McKnight – RF Johnson – C Margolis – P Abe
OCT: 2B Read – CF Farias – 1B Manfull – C Parks – RF A. Chavez – SS Janes – LF Hollingsworth – 3B Ruggeri – P Furst

DeWeese would hit his 23rd homer to lead off the second inning for an early 1-0 lead for the Critters before both teams would strand five combined runners without scoring in the third. Abe, Cookie, and Walter all hit 1-out singles before Mendoza popped out and DeWeese whiffed in the top half, and the Thunder would get D.J. Ruggeri on with a walk and Howard Read with a single in the bottom 3rd before Emilio Farias rolled out to short. The Coons would get offense from an unexpected contributor in the fifth inning, when Tadasu Abe rocked a solo homer to left to give himself a 2-0 lead. Cookie then reached with a single, stole second base, but was caught trying to take third base two pitches later. Abe had already stranded a pair of runners three times through five innings, then allowed a leadoff walk to Jalen Parks in the bottom 6th, bringing up the tying run. The count ran full on Armando Chavez when suddenly a rain shower broke over the park and quickly began to douse the field. The umpires quickly signaled to get out the tarp and the game went into rain delay, which at 86 pitches would quite definitely end Tadasu Abe’s game. It also ended the game as a whole, as the rain only got worse over time. The game was called two hours later. 2-0 Raccoons. Carmona 2-3; McKnight 2-3, 2B; Johnson 2-3; Abe 5.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 K, W (20-9) and 2-2, HR, RBI;

Matt Nunley’s hitting streak ended at 15 games, going 0-for-3, but McKnight ran his hitting streak to 12 games.

Indy beat the Falcons at home, 4-2, so the gap remained at 1 1/2 games.

Game 2
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Walter – RF Mendoza – 3B Nunley – SS McKnight – C Denny – 1B Young – CF Duarte – P Munroe
IND: 2B Read – CF Farias – 1B Manfull – C Parks – RF A. Chavez – SS Janes – LF J. Alexander – 3B Ruggeri – P Quintero

The Coons loaded the bases and left them that way in the first inning when there were two walks and a McKnight single (running his hitting streak to 13 games) but Denny struck out. The Thunder did not fudge around against Munroe. Howard Read opened with a double and would score on Munroe’s balk before Parks hit a homer to dead center. Things only got worse from there. The Raccoons stranded a pair in the top of the second inning, but the Thunder romped Munroe for three more runs in the bottom of the inning, incessantly whacking the ball all over the park. That was all anybody saw of Munroe, who ended up with a 9.98 ERA and kicked off the roster right after the game.

At least the Raccoons didn’t go down quietly. Nunley hit a single in the top 3rd and McKnight homered to cut the deficit to 5-2. Then Denny got on and Young hit a double. Duarte was the tying run, but his fly to right was caught by Chavez for the second out, but still scored Denny, 5-3, but the inning ended when Ochoa popped out to short. That was as close as they got. John Korb provided no relief whatsoever, allowing a single to Erik Janes before walking Justin Alexander and Howard Read to fill the bases. With two outs, Farias singled, B.J. Manfull doubled, and the Thunder scored two pairs to regain a 9-3 lead. When Will West replaced him, he insisted on walking the bases with a single hit by Parks and a walk drawn by Chavez before Janes popped out. With the game thoroughly lost, I resigned myself to alcohol.

The Coons got a run in the fifth that scored on a 2-out Carmona single, and Quintero didn’t get more than the 15 outs required for a win, allowing a leadoff double to Mendoza before exiting. Max Shepherd walked Nunley before the Coons made three quite quick outs. McKnight flew out to deep right, which was actually his second hard out in addition to his two hits in the game. West pitched some good long relief, and even the thoroughly awful Nick Lester got two scoreless innings in before B.J. Manfull hit a home run to get the Thunder into double digits. The Coons were down by six in the ninth inning, where left-hander Wes Yates got two quick outs before Alex Duarte reached on an error by Ruggeri. Margolis walked, and Cookie had his second 2-out RBI single of the day. DeWeese pinch-hit for a successless Shane Walter and cracked a 1-0 pitch to deep right and outta here. And still the Raccoons were two runs behind. Jose Medina replaced Yates, and allowed a single to the Tiger to bring up Matt Nunley as the tying run, but his liner to center ended up with Chris Pankratz to end the game. 10-8 Thunder. Carmona 3-6, 2 RBI; DeWeese (PH) 1-1, HR, 3 RBI; Mendoza 3-5, BB, 2B; McKnight 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Duarte 2-4, RBI; West 2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

THANKFULLY, the Indians lost to the Falcons, 4-2, and THANKFULLY this absolutely cursed slot in the rotation would only come up only once more this season… Munroe wouldn’t live to see it, and I was thinking about bringing up Damani Knight for that last start… that’s how far we’ve come. Damani Knight might be the fifth- … actually, considering Brownie’s all but done… fourth-best starting pitcher in our system.

The Crusaders lost to the Knights this Saturday, which officially eliminated from the playoffs.

Game 3
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Walter – RF Mendoza – LF DeWeese – SS McKnight – 3B Nunley – C Denny – 1B Petracek – P Santos
OCT: 2B Read – CF Farias – 1B Manfull – LF Cisneros – C Parks – RF A. Chavez – SS Janes – 3B Ruggeri – P Benjamin

The Coons got the quick start on Sunday. Cookie singled to center and moved up as Walter grounded out. After that, Mendoza singled, and DeWeese doubled into the corner in rightfield to score a run. Just two pitches later, McKnight hit one into the gap in left center to plate two and extend his streak to 14 games. Nunley rocked a single through B.J. Manfull for the fourth and last run of the game as both Denny and Petracek grounded out. Two more runs scored in the second as Cookie hit another single and Walter and Mendoza hit consecutive doubles, the latter plating the previous pair, 6-0 for Santos, who allowed a lot of hard contact and struck out nobody the first time through, but still allowed only one hit thanks to a few strong plays by Carmona and Mendoza. Howard Read struck out to end the bottom 3rd, the first K for Santos in the game.

The Critters got Cookie and Walter to the corners with a pair of singles to start the fourth. Mendoza grounded sharply to Howard Read at second for a double play, but Cookie scored, 7-0, but Javy Cisneros rammed a homer to left, right up the line to get back to 7-1, and with the way Santos allowed power drives all over the park, even a 7-1 lead was not secure. Ex-Coon Gary Dupes tried his hands at long relief as a September call-up for Oklahoma. Santos bunted into a double play to kill the fifth inning, and the Critters stranded a pair in the sixth against him. Dupes held up, but the Furballs kept pressing against the bullpen. Max Shepherd was in again in the eighth inning and put runners on the corners. With two outs, Mike Denny sent a grounder through on the left side to plate another run. Petracek and Young came up with RBI singles, and now it was the Raccoons who had double-digit runs in the game. The Raccoons replaced almost all their key personnel after that top half of the eighth and sent Ryan Nielson into the game. Another disaster was near; D.J. Ruggeri opened with a triple before Justin Alexander pinch-hit and grounded sharply to the hot corner. Nunley was one of only two regulars still in the game (the other being DeWeese) and made an incredible play to spoil the bouncer, get the out, and keep the runner on third, but unfortunately Ruggeri still scored on Read’s fly out to Petracek in right. Ricky Moya had replaced McKnight at short and hit a sac fly in the ninth against Jeff Kearney, while Nielson struck out a pair in a perfect bottom 9th. 11-2 Furballs. Carmona 3-5, BB; Walter 2-5, 2B; Mendoza 2-3, 2 BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Duarte 1-1; McKnight 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Nunley 2-6, RBI; Denny 2-4, RBI; Petracek 3-4, BB, RBI; Young (PH) 1-1, RBI; Santos 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, W (12-5);

All games in the Indians’ series with the Falcons ended up with 4-2 scores. The teams had split the first two games, and the third one also went the way of Charlotte, which gave the Raccoons a 2 1/2 game lead to end the week!

In other news

September 11 – LAP SP Bruce Mark (8-9, 4.33 ERA) hits the DL with a herniated disc and will be missing when the team tries to reel in the Scorpions (5.5 games ahead) in the last weeks of the season.
September 11 – The Crusaders get mauled by the Titans in a 20-6 blowout. Every starting position player for Boston has at least two hits and scores at least once.
September 12 – A big 3-for-4 performance in a 5-2 loss to the Titans sees NYC LF Martin Ortíz (.289, 16 HR, 57 RBI) jump the 3,000 hits mark. A fifth inning single off Jose Fuentes gives Ortíz the vaunted milestone. Ortíz, 37, the last remaining member of the first Crusaders’ three-peat in the late 2000s, infamously arrived in New York off waivers by the Loggers before embarking on a damn-sure first-ballot Hall of Fame career that saw him bat .295/.398/.471 with 361 HR and 1,591 RBI. He has also stolen 437 bases in his career and has won enough titles in his career to fill a skyscraper with trophies, including six World Series rings, two World Series MVP titles, 12 All Star nominations, 11 Gold Gloves, and six CL Player of the Year awards.
September 13 – CIN 2B Ieyoshi Nomura (.342, 5 HR, 55 RBI) is out for the remainer of the season with a hamstring strain, ending his bid for the FL batting title unless SAC 3B Jason LaCombe drops ten points of batting average from now.
September 13 – The Gold Sox send 2B Dave Fletcher (.288, 8 HR, 47 RBI) and a meager prospect to the Warriors in exchange for LF/RF Johnny Crum (.292, 1 HR, 15 RBI) and cash.
September 13 – The Stars are annihilated by the Pacifics in a 19-5 crushing. The Pacifics put up three separate 5-spots and sport five players with three or more base hits in the game.
September 15 – New York’s Bob King (15-11, 4.23 ERA) gets his 200th career win, pitching eight innings in the Crusaders’ 9-3 win over the Knights. The 33-year old King is 200-158 with 3.55 ERA for his career, spent with the Indians, Thunder, and now the Crusaders. He was the 2012 CL Pitcher of the Year when he led the league in ERA and WHIP, but led the league in losses in 2016.
September 15 – The Loggers beat the Condors, 1-0. The lone run scores in the second inning when an error charged to TIJ C Jose Vargas (.278, 12 HR, 48 RBI), who drops 2B Matt Glose’s foul pop, gives the Loggers an extra out to score Ruben Landeros from third base.
September 16 – NYC LF Martin Ortíz (.295, 17 HR, 60 RBI) makes the news for the second time this week, getting a hit in a 4-3 loss to the Knights to extend a hitting streak to 20 games.
September 16 – DAL LF/RF Justin Dally (.271, 25 HR, 93 RBI) is out for the season with a ruptured finger tendon.
September 17 – NAS SP Matt Gossen (5-13, 5.01 ERA) 3-hits the Wolves as the Blue Sox claim a 9-0 shutout victory.

Complaints and stuff

OHMYGODCANYOUFEELTHEPLAYOFFSDRAWINGCLOSERCANYOUCAN YOUCANYOU???

Excuse me, slightly giddy about staving off annihilation by the Indians. And the Thunder.

From August 7 through September 16 - merely 40 consecutive days - the Raccoons and Indians were never further apart than 1 1/2 games! That's why I feel completely gassed then. That string only ended on Sunday when the Indians lost and we blew out Oklahoma.

Thanks to a tremendous botch job by the bullpen on Wednesday, Jonny Toner can kiss the triple crown goodbye for another year. Not that he had a good start. And Nielson sucked, and Reed hurt, and Thrasher was unspeakable, but what Chris Mathis did might just as well reserve him another place on eternal infamy. MATHIS!!

In other horrific news, 2015 first-rounder Brian Perakis, still stuck in Aumsville for not batting much of anything, broke his arm in the dying moments of the single-A season. That has the taste of Orlando Lantán to it…

Remaining games of the North contenders by opponent:
POR: ATL (3), BOS (3), MIL (3), VAN (3)
IND: BOS (4), LVA (3), NYC (3), VAN (3)

We will play the Knights – the hardest lot in the pool – right away. They are not very special, oh no, they merely romped the Crusaders 13-0 on Sunday. One of two 13-0 games on Sunday, actually. The Rebels doused the Stars by the same score. The Knights also ended Martin Ortíz’ hitting streak right at 20 games, but since the Bayhawks won their game, the Knights were actually eliminated despite their effort. The Baybirds are thus the first team to lock up a playoff spot, their sixth in franchise history. Their most recent appearance was in 2014, and before that they were in the CLCS in 1999, which is the only year in which they won the World Series.

[Westheim]

Final homestand! Six games with Atlanta and Boston before it’s off to the road for the final week of the season. The team will finish in Vancouver, which makes it doubly important to not waste any ground on the Indians and to try and seal the deal perhaps before we cross the border.

Raccoons (88-62) vs. Knights (79-70) – September 18-20, 2017

The Knights were the last South team on our plate for the year (excluding a potential meeting with the Bayhawks for now) and had just recently been eliminated from playoff contention. The season series was even at three (with the Raccoons having taken the season series every year since 2013), and the Raccoons’ recently struggling pitching would have to get the best possible result from the most potent offense in the league. Their own pitching was rotten to the core, with the fourth-most runs conceded by them amongst all CL teams.

Projected matchups:
Jonathan Toner (16-9, 2.03 ERA) vs. Drew King (6-12, 4.88 ERA)
Nick Brown (7-2, 4.32 ERA) vs. Joey Hopkins (14-12, 4.80 ERA)
Tadasu Abe (20-9, 2.92 ERA) vs. J.J. Wirth (5-8, 5.05 ERA)

Good news, those are three right-handed pitchers, and we are missing the strong part of their rotation. Gotta make it count, boys! Gotta make it count…

Game 1
ATL: CF M. Reyes – SS Hibbard – 1B M. Rucker – LF Rockwell – C Luna – 2B Downing – RF Perri – 3B W. White – P D. King
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Walter – RF Mendoza – LF DeWeese – 3B Nunley – SS McKnight – C Denny – 1B Young – P Toner

The Coons got two runs in the first inning as Cookie walked and stole second base before Walter, Mendoza, and Nunley all got singles to right or right center. There was no peace of mind to be had with Jonny Toner right now, however, as the Knights had the bases loaded right in the next inning after a single by Ruben Luna (who got forced by Josh Downing), Lionnel Perri reaching on a Nunley error – it was a difficult play though – and Wade White walking with a merrily full count. Toner ran a full count to King with two outs, but the pitcher panicked and whiffed to strand all those precious runners. Toner forced Adam Young, who had drawn a leadoff walk, with a poor bunt in the bottom 2nd, but then ended up scoring after a Cookie single and Mendoza’s sac fly. Up 3-0, he held the Knights off the board for long enough to dip the ERA below two again, which happened when White flew out to Mendoza (pretty deep, but pretty out) to open the fifth. His pitch count however exploded completely and while he finished six innings with 10 K, he also was already over 100 pitches, and that with the fiery bullpen of ours… Our offense had a bit of a dry spell in the middle innings, and when McKnight extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a 2-out single in the bottom 6th, that was their first base runner since the third against King. Jonny delivered the seventh, struck out two more for a dozen total, but was positively gassed afterwards. King remained in the game in the bottom 7th (still under 90 pitches), but allowed a bloop single to Young to start the frame. Brandon Johnson hit for Toner, hit an infield single, and then Cookie came up and romped a ball to deep center that went past Marty Reyes for a 2-run triple! Walter singled him in, which put the Coons ahead 6-0, and led us to get cocky and send Nick Lester after Wade White to begin the top of the eighth, and when White grounded out, Lester also got to see switch-hitting pinch-hitter Jeffrey Walrath, whom he K’ed. Korb took over from there and would finish the game without allowing a base runner, while the Raccoons scored two more runs in the bottom 8th, which started with a McKnight double. 8-0 Furballs! Carmona 3-4, BB, 3B, 3 RBI; Walter 2-4, 2 RBI; McKnight 2-4, 2B; Young 2-3, BB, RBI; Johnson (PH) 1-2; Toner 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 12 K, W (17-9); Korb 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

Korb whiffed Gil Rockwell to end the game, which gave the slugger a golden sombrero. Indy eeked out Las Vegas, 4-3, which kept the gap at 2 1/2 games.

Game 2
ATL: CF M. Reyes – SS Hibbard – LF Rockwell – 1B M. Rucker – RF Raupp – C Luna – 2B Downing – 3B W. White – P Hopkins
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Walter – RF Mendoza – LF DeWeese – 3B Nunley – SS McKnight – C Denny – 1B Young – P Brown

Brownie whiffed Marty Reyes to start the game to reach 3,150 K for his career, but was burned by Rockwell in the same inning. Rockwell bombed a 2-1 pitch to dead center to put the Knights up 1-0, and Jimmy Raupp hit a leadoff double in the second inning. While Raupp hurt himself in the process, the Knights continued to make hard contact against Brownie and easily got Raupp’s replacement Andrew Sauter around to score on a Downing double up the leftfield line. Brown’s strikes never got less in the game. He walked a pair in the third before getting a double play for a big sigh of relief, but in the fifth allowed hard doubles up either line to the pitcher Hopkins and Reyes, back-to-back, with him having Reyes at 0-2 before throwing a wild pitch and conceding the double at 2-2. That put the Knights 3-0 ahead, and Joey Hopkins so far was 1-hitting the Raccoons. Nunley reached on an error by Devin Hibbard in the bottom 5th, but that only set up Mike Denny for an inning-ending double play later.

Brown ended up knocked out in the sixth after conceding three consecutive hard singles with one out to Mike Rucker, Sauter, and Luna – all left-handed batters. All runs scored against the idiot Alex Ramirez, who got paid fabulously for allowing 2-out RBI doubles to opposing pitchers. Hopkins’ second two-bagger of the day put the Knights 6-0 ahead, and the game had to be written off at that point, and this was the season of scoreboard watching, and the Indians’ Josh Riley had already done the grisly work to the Aces, with the Indians beating them 5-1, so our lead was due to shrink with this awful affair. DeWeese hit a single in the seventh, and the Raccoons didn’t get another runner until Mendoza walked in the ninth. Hopkins ended up with a 2-shutout to even the series. 6-0 Knights.

McKnight’s hitting streak was one of many casualties in this game.

Game 3
ATL: CF M. Reyes – SS Hibbard – 1B M. Rucker – LF Rockwell – C Luna – RF Mims – 2B Downing – 3B W. White – P Wirth
POR: CF Carmona – RF Johnson – 1B Mendoza – LF DeWeese – 3B Nunley – SS McKnight – 2B Petracek – C Margolis – P Abe

Like Toner on Monday, Tadasu Abe loaded the bases in the second inning with a leadoff double by Rockwell and then two walks before J.J. Wirth popped out on the first pitch to leave the three runners on base. Unlike Monday, there was no lead for Abe early on, and he wouldn’t get one so soon. Instead, Ruben Luna homered to center in the fourth inning, and the Knights kept swinging away. Kyle Mims hit a single, stole second base, and eventually scored on White’s infield single to give the Knights a 2-0 lead. By that time, the Indians had completed a sweep of the Aces, so I was absolutely melting down in my office, clawing against the window and weeping. But the Coons loaded the bases in the very same inning, putting DeWeese on as Wirth hit him with a pitch. Nunley singled, but was removed when McKnight grounded to short for a fielder’s choice. Petracek’s walk filled the bases anyway, after which Margolis sent a drive to center with two outs. Reyes missed it, the ball fell in and made it to the warning track, and two runs scored before Abe came up. Abe had walked his first time against Wirth, which wouldn’t help here, and he thus hacked, meeting the first pitch and sending a floater to right that dropped into the grass in front of the onrushing Mims. Petracek scored, 3-2, but Cookie popped out to strand runners on the corners.

Wirth was a bit out of luck afterwards. Johnson led off with a single in the fifth and scored when Mendoza doubled to left in a hit-and-run. DeWeese and Nunley both hit singles, and when McKnight ripped a 0-0 pitch and buried it in the rightfield stands, the park absolutely erupted. The 3-run shot put the Raccoons ahead 8-2, ended Wirth’s game. Not that Abe had a great start. The Knights wrung a run from him in the sixth and Lionnel Perri hit a leadoff jack when he pinch-hit for reliever Adam Harper in the top 7th. Abe got only one more out before Hibbard singled and he was replaced by Thrasher, who only created more mess. Rucker singled, he walked Rockwell, and only got one out before Mims hit an RBI single. Reed bumped Thrasher and whiffed Downing to strand three in an 8-5 game. McKnight continued his hot streak (though de-hitting-streaked) and whacked a jack to start the bottom 7th, and the Raccoons scratched out another run when Margolis reached, was bunted over by Reed, and scored on Cookie’s single to right, 10-5. That still didn’t put the game to rest. Reed had two on in the eighth, but got out of that, yet when Will West appeared in the ninth he walked Rockwell and was then bombed by Luna, which put the Knights three back. Shrugging, we went to Chris Mathis, because we were officially out of ideas. Walrath lined out to Johnson in rightfield, but Downing homered. Lead down to two. White made an out before Sauter singled hard to center, and Reyes singled hard to center. The go-ahead run came up in Hibbard, who grounded hard up the middle. McKnight got paws on it and took the ball to second base in time to end the game. 10-8 Coons. Johnson 2-5; Mendoza 2-5, 2B, RBI; Nunley 3-5, RBI; McKnight 3-5, 2 HR, 4 RBI;

Oh man. Why, oh why, did our complete bullpen have to dissolve into something ugly in September?

Raccoons (90-63) vs. Titans (60-92) – September 22-24, 2017

The Titans were absolutely horrendous, and the Coons had already claimed the season series at 10-5, yet while we were only going to play the three teams with assured losing records from here on out in the CL North, any of those was a potential spoiler team and had already drew us a nose at some point this season. F.e. the Titans had taken a series from the Coons in June, including a game in which the Raccoons out-hit the Titans 12-5, but lost 4-1 to Jose Fuentes, leaving 13 men on base while hitting into two double plays. The Titans were 11th in runs allowed in the league, but if there was any proof needed that they could let the Critters stumble, I was totally convinced that this would become a nasty series by their number of runs scored, that ranked them seventh in the Continental League: 666.

Projected matchups:
Hector Santos (12-5, 2.57 ERA) vs. Jose Fuentes (5-15, 4.85 ERA)
Jonathan Toner (17-9, 1.97 ERA) vs. Zach Boyer (13-10, 2.86 ERA)
Nick Brown (7-3, 4.59 ERA) vs. Chris Klein (7-18, 5.83 ERA)

Three more right-handers, and no southpaws to be seen anywhere for the Titans.

I am nervous.

Game 1
BOS: CF Mata – 3B T. Thomas – 1B S. Butler – C T. Robinson – RF Branch – 2B Holt – LF C. Newman – SS J. Stephenson – P J. Fuentes
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Walter – RF Mendoza – LF DeWeese – 3B Nunley – SS McKnight – C Denny – 1B Young – P Santos

Both teams had only one runner the first time through, and the Coons even required Jasper Holt to make an error to put Walter on base in the first. Both also hit into a double play, with Holt doing the honors for the Titans. The Titans would break the scoring drought in the fourth. Alex Mata led off with a single before Steve Butler hit a 1-out homer to give them a 2-0 lead. With everybody around him failing to get anything done against Fuentes, Santos hit a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth inning, which cut the gap in half, but when Cookie walked afterwards, he was simply ignored. Bottom 6th, maybe Fuentes’ control was going away? He walked DeWeese and Nunley to start the inning, which put the go-ahead run on base for a hot McKnight, who grounded to Holt for the first out, but the runners moved into scoring position for Denny, who struck out, which removed the bat from Young. Intentional walk was called, after which Fuentes was banished and reliever Jeff Lyon, a right-hander appeared.

The scoreboard showed the Indians and Elks tied in the fifth north of the border. We had to get this moving. Given that Santos had taken over 500 plate appearances for his first homer and was not a great hitter otherwise, his day ended thanks to Denny (who had nothing but double plays and strikeouts on his ledger in this game) whiffing. Johnson hit for him, but flew to Chaz Newman. Cookie would hit a leadoff single in the bottom 7th, but Walter missed on a hit-and-run and since everybody knew that Cookie was gonna go in this situation, Tim Robinson was up like a shot and murdered him at second base. Walter flew to right on the next pitch, Ezra Branch dropped the ball, and this was just going in the worst possible way. Mendoza walked, but DeWeese and Nunley grounded out to leave runners on second and third in a 2-1 deficit for the second consecutive inning. The Indians were by now piling it on the Elks, who could never be of any help, it seemed, and the Raccoons were in dire straits. The Coons were still down 2-1 in the bottom 9th against odd closer Harry Merwin (really a last place team’s closer…). Petracek struck out, Cookie grounded out, and Walter lined out to Newman in left. 2-1 Titans. Chun 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

Both teams only had four hits apiece. It was a desperately hopeless hitting display from the best suit we had against atrocious non-pitching.

The Indians beat the Elks 6-3 on the strength of a 4-run sixth inning. That reduced the Raccoons’ lead to half a game, and was also sending me into all-out panic mode.

The Titans sent Jonathan Ryan into the middle game, who was 3-1 with a 2.51 ERA in the majors this year. He had however spent most of the year at AAA Toledo, going 5-14 with a 4.20 ERA there.

Game 2
BOS: CF Mata – 3B T. Thomas – 1B S. Butler – C T. Robinson – RF Branch – 2B Holt – LF Blake – SS J. Stephenson – P Ryan
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Walter – 1B Mendoza – LF DeWeese – 3B Nunley – SS McKnight – C Margolis – RF Ochoa – P Toner

Like on Monday, Toner struggled in the second inning. A walk and a single sent runners to the corners, but the pitcher came up with two outs and all would … have been well if Jonathan Ryan hadn’t snipped an 0-2 pitch over McKnight and into leftfield. The Titans grabbed a 1-0 lead right there. By the third inning, Cookie had been on both ends of a double play for the Raccoons in their quest to never make the playoffs again in my lifetime (which couldn’t be long at the rate they were failing at), and in the fourth the Titans had them on the corners for Ryan with two outs AGAIN. This time, he grounded out, but Toner was a far cry removed from his Monday performance. The Titans reached base seemingly all the time. Nunley hit into a double play to end the bottom 4th with Mendoza and DeWeese on base, the Coons’ third double play in the game.

Only three hits and a walk fell out of Ryan through six innings and the Coons remained 1-0 behind. Toner was over 100 pitches through seven, improvising with only half his repertoire working as intended. Mendoza had been the guy to draw the walk off Ryan and drew another one to lead off the bottom 7th, which gave the Coons the tying run on base once more. Mendoza tried to get into a position to steal, but before he could take off, DeWeese was plunked (the 12th time this season) and Mendoza advanced anyway. The scoreboard showed the Elks up by a single run on the Indians. Nunley stepped in and flew out to Jonathan Blake in left. McKnight grounded to Holt for a potential double play, but DeWeese took out Joe Stephenson to keep the Coons in business. With two out and runners on the corners, Adam Young batted for Danny Margolis. His grounder up the middle escaped to centerfield to tie the game, but Ochoa lined out to short to strand a pair. Thrasher replaced Toner for the eighth with Butler and Branch, up first and third, being left-handed batters. In a nerve-wrecking inning, he walked two before finally striking out pinch-hitter Jose Duran to end the inning.

Bottom 8th. Johnson hit for Thrasher, but popped out above home plate. Cookie worked a walk from Ryan, but Walter struck out without Cookie getting a good jump. That brought up Mendoza. Cookie swiped second base on the 0-1, which was a strike, but being down 0-2 didn’t rob the Tiger of his stripes. The next pitch Ryan threw was blistered to center. Mata ran after it, but he could have saved the energy. That one was OUTTA HERE!!!!! HEAR THE TIGER ROAR!!! While DeWeese followed with a double, nothing came of that anymore, and while the Raccoons were up 3-1, and the Indians were staging a comeback in the top of their ninth inning, there was still the technicality for somebody to close the Coons’ own 3-1 game. Mathis came out, facing Stephenson to start the ninth. The shortstop flew out real hard to right, before Armando Galan grounded out to Walter. Mata walked, pulling up the tying run in Tom Thomas, who grounded to the left side, where Nunley made the play to end the game and even the series. 3-1 Critters. Mendoza 1-2, 2 BB, HR, 2 RBI; Young (PH) 1-1, RBI; Toner 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K and 1-2;

The Indians didn’t progress past Roberto Flores’ homer off Pedro Alvarado up in Vancouver and lost, 3-2, which gave the Coons the game back they had accidentally eaten on Friday. 1 1/2 up again and thus safe for the weekend, whatever that meant.

Game 3
BOS: RF Branch – 3B T. Thomas – 1B S. Butler – C T. Robinson – 2B Holt – CF C. Newman – LF Mata – SS J. Stephenson – P Boyer
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Walter – RF Mendoza – LF DeWeese – 3B Nunley – SS McKnight – C Denny – 1B Young – P Brown

Cookie singled and was caught stealing in the first inning, then was retired by a flying Ezra Branch to end the second inning. In between the Coons scored a pair in the bottom 2nd, which started with DeWeese and Nunley getting onto the corners and scoring on McKnight’s groundout and Denny’s double to deep right. While Nick Brown was everything but amazing on the mound, he got the ball to find the fielders again, something that had not worked AT ALL on Tuesday. The Titans had two hits through four innings, while Brown was batting with Denny and Young on second and first and one out in the bottom 4th. He was asked to swing, hit a ball hard to right, but Steve Butler made the play. The runners moved up, and when Cookie grounded through between Holt and Butler, Denny scored, 3-0. The Titans tried to get Cookie picked off by Robinson on the first pitch to Shane Walter, but Cookie dove back, and then took off on the second pitch. This time he was safe, but Walter grounded out to Butler to end the inning. Top 5th, Mata and Stephenson hit hard 1-out singles past either flank of McKnight. They embarked on a double steal with Boyer at the plate, but Denny killed off Mata at third; two outs. Then Boyer singled softly to center, the umpteenth pitcher to get a 2-out, run-scoring hit against Raccoons pitching this week, and the Titans were now only 3-1 back. Branch grounded out, giving Brownie time to breath before issuing a leadoff walk to Tom Thomas in the sixth. Butler hit into a double play at 2-0, Brownie got out of that, and then even started the seventh inning with a K to Jasper Holt. He got two outs before Mata singled, and then Stephenson lined to center. Cookie tried to get it, didn’t, and Stephenson cruised into second base with an RBI double when the ball got almost to the track before Cookie could reel it in.

So, Brownie was gone after seven innings, still clinging to a 3-2 lead. With the Arrowheads leading the Elks soundly after six, a bit more offense would be nice, but the Raccoons only got Walter on base in the bottom 7th, and he was left on first after a walk issued by Boyer. Thrasher was called upon for the eighth, with Branch and Butler coming up again, and he dealt a 1-2-3 inning against the 1-2-3 batters, whiffin’ Thomas and Butler. Boyer kept the Coons off the bases in the bottom 8th, which got us back to Mathis for the top of the ninth, facing Robinson (who had 17 homers), the generally unlucky Holt, and Chaz Newman in the inning, unless the Titans would send left-handed pinch-hitters. The Indians were up by five, so the Raccoons couldn’t afford another stumble. Robinson opened with a double on a 3-1 pitch before the Titans sent switch-hitter Galan, who struck out. Xavier Williams pinch-hit next, a left-hander, ahead of Mata, also a left-hander. What are we gonna do? Go to Nick Lester? What a tremendous spot to be in… Mathis got Williams to pop out to Nunley before Mata missed a 2-1 pitch right down Broadway. He struck out on the next pitch. 3-2 Brownies. Carmona 2-4, RBI; Nunley 2-4, 2B; Denny 2-4, 2B, RBI; Brown 7.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, W (8-3) and 1-3;

Josh Riley spun a 4-hit shutout to keep the Indians 1 1/2 games back. The Indians won 5-0.

In other news

September 18 – Gold Sox and Capitals play 15 innings before the Gold Sox finally walk off, 6-5.
September 19 – The Condors have a 1-0 walkoff win in ten innings against the Titans when Harry Merwin throws wildly past first base on a pickoff attempt on Simon Morbidelli that allows Josh Rawlings to scamper home after his leadoff triple.
September 19 – An 11-run sixth inning powers the Crusaders in an 18-7 shootout against the Thunder. NYC OF Marcos Mercado (.500, 0 HR, 4 RBI) only enters the game in a double switch for rocked starter Colin Sabatino, but ends up with three hits and three RBI.
September 20 – NYC SP Bob King (16-11, 4.08 ERA) 3-hits the Condors in a 3-0 shutout.
September 23 – The Gold Sox rout the Scorpions in a 16-7 game and plate seven runs in the fifth inning alone. RF/CF/INF Rich Arrieta (.324, 1 HR, 26 RBI) drives in five for Denver.

Complaints and stuff

Ruben Luna was the 1,000th career strikeout of Jonny Toner on Monday, and the sixth in that game in the fourth inning. That’s not the only thing that he achieved. He not only moved into the top 10 for most strikeouts in a single season this week, but all the way up to fourth place!

ABL SINGLE SEASON STRIKEOUTS
1st – Chris York (2005) – 304
2nd – Juan Correa (1977) – 297
3rd – Rod Taylor (2009) – 291
4th – Jonathan Toner (2017) – 281
5th – Martin Garcia (1999) – 280
t-6th – Tony Hamlyn (2002) – 277
t-6th – Chris York (2004) – 277
t-8th – Kelvin Yates (2005) – 273
t-8th – Carlos Castro (2004) – 273
10th – Rod Taylor (2014) – 272

Toner will normally have only one more start in the regular season, but if we had to play a game 163…….

Cookie made it over the 502 PA mark on Sunday. With Adrian Quebell not hitting anything anymore, and little Ricardo over here growing his lead in the race to 24 points, the batting title is almost certainly his!

Our division race is the only one that keeps on raging. In the Federal League, both the Rebels and Scorpions have their magic numbers down to one and it’s basically over. The Scorpions have made the playoffs six times before and won two championships, but haven’t been in October since 1998. The Rebels have made the playoffs only twice; they won the FL East in 1978, and then again in 1996. 1996 you say? Yup, they beat the Coons in the World Series in six games that year.

And after that it was darkness eternal for Coon City.

[Here we go Juneau]

Mauler Correa. Was glad he ended up on the coons so I could cheer for him properly, even if it was the twilight of his career. Let's go Portland! The division title is so close.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (92-64) @ Loggers (67-89) – September 25-27, 2017

While I was considering the damned Elks the bigger threat to our high goal of making the playoffs, with history and all, the crummy Loggers shouldn’t be underestimated. They were only sixth in runs scored and eighth in runs allowed with a hearty -48 run differential, but they hadn’t played badly against the Raccoons at all, and still had a shot at claiming the season series – and wrecking all our hopes and dreams in the process – with the series so far only standing at 8-7 in the Coons’ favor, and the Critters hadn’t actually won a series against the Loggers since April.

Projected matchups:
Tadasu Abe (21-9, 3.05 ERA) vs. Ian Prevost (2-0, 2.35 ERA)
Bruce Morrison (8-13, 4.62 ERA) vs. Jason McDonald (12-15, 4.04 ERA)
Hector Santos (12-6, 2.58 ERA) vs. TBD

The first two were right-handers, while the Wednesday starter would be southpaw Luis Guerrero (8-16, 3.70 ERA), but he had left his last start with shoulder problems and the Loggers had yet to announce the starter for that game. Maybe he pitches, maybe not. They already had four more or less important pitchers on the DL, so pitcher’s health had been quite on the bad side for them this season. Another option was Victor Scott (10-8, 3.70 ERA), another southpaw, who had been slotted to the bullpen in September.

Tadasu Abe opened the week with 21 wins and two starts left (also getting the season finale in Vancouver on Sunday). No pitcher in franchise history has ever won more than 21 games. The only other pitchers to reach the mark have been Scott Wade (1989) and Kel Yates (2007). Jason Turner (1995) and Nick Brown (2004, 2010) are the only pitchers to reach 20 wins.

Game 1
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Walter – RF H. Mendoza – LF DeWeese – 3B Nunley – SS McKnight – C Denny – 1B Young – P Abe
MIL: 3B Landeros – SS Konrath – LF LeMoine – C O. Castillo – 1B E. Scott – RF Gore – CF Coleman – 2B Betancourt – P Prevost

Both teams only had a single in the first three innings, but Mendoza opened the fourth with a double to rightfield. Prevost, a fourth-round pick in the 2014 draft that was in his rookie season and made only his second start, nervously balked, allowing DeWeese to plate the runner with a sac fly to Brad Gore in right. Little was happening until Shane Walter’s leadoff double in the sixth inning. Scared of Mendoza’s 137 RBI, the Loggers put him on intentionally, but the purpose was somewhat defeated when Prevost’s first pitch to DeWeese was wild and moved the runners into scoring position. DeWeese, in a full count, hit another sac fly to Gore, and then Nunley was put on intentionally in a game of oddball. Whatever works; McKnight and Denny were struck out by Prevost to end the inning. Chris LeMoine would single – only the Loggers’ second base hit – in the bottom 6th, bringing up Orlando Castillo with two outs. Castillo had spoiled many of the Raccoons’ efforts in the teams’ last meeting, and hit a deep drive to center here, but Cookie took care of that. Cookie also hit a 2-out single in the seventh, took second base by force, and scored on Walter’s single to right, 3-0.

While the Raccoons tacked on two runs in the top 8th thanks to Mike Denny’s homer off Carlos Michel, Abe also got stuck in the bottom 8th. He left the game with one out and runners on second and third, courtesy of a single by David Betancourt and a Victor Hodgers double. In a crazy move, Ryan Nielson came out of the pen to face Cameron Konrath, who doubled right away to plate the runners, and LeMoine, who grounded out to Walter, moving Konrath to third. Jayden Reed then retired Castillo, ending the eighth, and the ninth quickly saw Michel overturned. Margolis singled after entering in a double switch, Cookie walked, and Walter singled to load the bases with no outs. Troy Charters, the Loggers’ sorry excuse for a closer, appeared, a right-handed pitcher against left-handed sluggers, and the Coons killed him. Mendoza doubled to plate two, DeWeese walked. Nunley hit an RBI single, McKnight hit a sac fly, and Reed was retained to pitch the bottom 9th. He hit a single through Elijah Scott, and also scored a run. That was the last run that scored, but the bases were eventually left loaded when Cookie lined out hard to LeMoine. 10-2 Raccoons! Walter 3-5, 2B, RBI; Mendoza 2-4, BB, 2 2B, 2 RBI; DeWeese 1-2, BB, 2 RBI; Nunley 2-4, BB, RBI; Young 3-5; Margolis 1-2; Abe 7.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W (22-9); Reed 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, SV (4) and 1-1, RBI;

This wasn’t the only rout in CL play, as the Indians upset the Titans, 9-1, or in other words, scored more runs on Boston in that one game than we managed over an entire weekend. The gap remained at 1 1/2 games.

Cookie had a 12-game hitting streak after going 1-for-5.

Elsewhere, the Scorpions clinched with Dave Hogan (7-8, 4.73 ERA, 1 SV) tossing them a 6-**** shutout. The Rebels failed to clinch on Monday, losing the opener of a 4-game set against the Cyclones, their direct opposition.

Game 2
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Walter – RF H. Mendoza – LF DeWeese – 3B Nunley – SS McKnight – C Denny – 1B Young – P Morrison
MIL: RF Hodgers – SS Konrath – LF LeMoine – CF Cooper – C O. Castillo – 1B E. Scott – 3B Landeros – 2B Betancourt – P McDonald

Bruce Morrison hadn’t thrown a pitch in anger in weeks, but it really didn’t show in his work on the mound here, which was just as embarrassing as before. The Loggers made hard contact five times in the first inning, and the one time they didn’t make hard contact, Castillo walked. Once, hard contact was to be understood in that Morrison beaned Cameron Konrath. Spectacular catches by Mendoza and DeWeese held the damage to one run in the first, and somehow worked around leadoff walks in the second (to blind-as-a-bat Ruben Landeros) and fourth (Elijah Scott), despite all the hard contact he allowed. The Coons had Cookie thrown out at home in the third inning, which would have been an unearned run after a David Betancourt error, and still trailed 1-0 in the fifth, when Scott made a bad throwing error that put Adam Young on second base with one out. Morrison grounded out, as did Cookie, and Young was left on third base. After that unhelpful performance, Morrison crapped out for good in the bottom of the inning. While he got the first two Loggers, Andrew Cooper and Orlando Castillo then hit sharp singles and he walked Scott. The count ran full on Landeros, who walked to push in a run, and then Betancourt hit a blooper to shallow center to score a pair. When McDonald grounded to short, McKnight threw away the ball to reload the bases, but Morrison didn’t live to see it, yanked instead in favor of Ron Thrasher, because this had to stop NOW. Hodgers struck out, indeed.

At this point, the Indians sealed a 2-1 win in Boston, and unless the Raccoons could make up their 4-0 deficit the Indians would gain control over their own fortune again. They could tie the Coons on our off day on Thursday, and could then force a game 163 just by winning all their games. The starter for that would be Hector Santos on short rest… or Morrison.

Nunley’s sac fly in the sixth got the Coons on the board, but wasn’t good enough, and in the seventh Walter grounded out to strand Ricky Moya and Cookie on the bases. McDonald would finish eight innings with a crisp and clean retirement of Mendoza, DeWeese, and Johnson in the eighth inning, but the Loggers then had to fall back on Troy Charters, who had accounted for waving five runs across on Monday. Little less would do for the Coons in that ninth inning, trailing 4-1. McKnight drew a leadoff walk, but then Charters struck out Ochoa, Duarte, and Moya in order. 4-1 Loggers. Walter 2-4; Mendoza 2-4, 2 2B;

Down to half a game now in the lead department. Up to level 19 in the panic department.

Game 3
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Walter – 1B H. Mendoza – LF DeWeese – 3B Nunley – SS McKnight – RF Johnson – C Denny – P Santos
MIL: RF Hodgers – SS Konrath – LF LeMoine – C O. Castillo – 1B E. Scott – 3B Landeros – CF Gore – 2B Betancourt – P R. Mendoza

Ricky Mendoza (10-10, 5.06 ERA) pitched on short rest in the rubber game, and allowed two runs in the first inning. Cookie singled to extend his streak to 14 games, then took his 30th base of the season before scoring on Walter’s double. Shane Walter ended up scoring on a wild pitch. While Santos was perfect the first time through the order, the Raccoons upped their score to four runs by the third inning. Mendoza hit a 2-out single, DeWeese got hit, and Nunley doubled them in, and Matt hit another RBI double his next time up, this time with only Mendoza on base. Ricky Mendoza was removed after allowing five runs in as many innings when the Coons walked Betancourt intentionally with Scott on second base and two outs in the bottom 5th. Andrew Cooper hit for him, but grounded out to Santos, who ended up with seven shutout innings, stranding two on base again in the bottom 7th and again by retiring a left-handed pinch-hitter in the #9 slot as Juan Ortíz popped out to shallow left. Santos was removed on 85 pitches, which probably wouldn’t get him to a shutout anyway due to his limited stamina, but there was the active threat of a tie-breaker game on Monday, and I wanted him to be available on short rest… The alternative? Bruce Morrison, or ****ing Damani Knight for all I know. No controversy arose from the early removal of Santos, fortunately. Ryan Nielson faced five batters and retired four of them, and John Korb was 2-for-2 in the bottom 9th. 5-0 Critters. Mendoza 2-5, 2B; Nunley 4-4, 2 2B, 3 RBI; Santos 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K, W (13-6) and 1-3; Nielson 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

Unforunately, the Titans just kept losing. Tristan Broun threw eight shutout innings in a 2-0 Indians win on Wednesday, and they had their game in hand on Thursday, which they won 6-4, evening the division after their 4-game sweep.

Also a 4-game sweep: the Cyclones-Rebels series, with the Cyclones stubbornly refusing to yield. They are now three games out with three to play.

In the North, the Raccoons now had to venture to extremely hostile territory, the snow-covered, frost-bitten wastes of Vancouver. The Indians were in New York for the final weekend.

Raccoons (94-65) @ Canadiens (71-88) – September 29-October 1, 2017

The Elks had owned the Raccoons in 2017 (and many years prior), leading the season series 9-6. The best the Raccoons could still achieve was a tie, and they would probably need that to stave off the Indians. The Elks would love nothing more than to play final spoilers, and would happily disregard their league-worst offense and their mediocre pitching to drive the final nail into a coon-sized coffin.

Projected matchups:
Jonathan Toner (17-9, 1.95 ERA) vs. Bill King (2-10, 4.76 ERA)
Nick Brown (8-3, 4.43 ERA) vs. Samuel McMullen (13-12, 2.73 ERA)
Tadasu Abe (22-9, 3.03 ERA) vs. Steve Kreider (11-11, 4.58 ERA)

Not liking that Saturday matchup. Handedness will match for all games.

William Waggoner rejoined the team off the DL for this series.

Game 1
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Walter – 1B Mendoza – LF DeWeese – 3B Nunley – SS McKnight – RF Waggoner – C Denny – P Toner
VAN: 2B Rinehart – 1B Fellows – LF Cameron – RF K. Evans – CF Cowan – SS Lawrence – C R. Lewis – 3B Tellez – P Bi. King

McKnight popped out to leave the bases loaded in the top 1st before Jeff Rinehart hit a hard single and Mike Fellows walked on four pitches in the bottom 1st. No panic, said Jonny, and struck out the three left-handed batters in the middle of the order. Mike Denny pulled a solo shot in the second to give Jonny a 1-0 lead, and in the third McKnight batted again with the bases loaded and this time one out. He flew out to center, Shane Walter tagged, went, and was thrown out by Joe Cowan. It was a highly uncomfortable 1-0 lead that Toner held. He stranded somebody in scoring position in each of the first three innings, and after the Elks went down 1-2-3 in the fourth, they were on the corners in the fifth again. Fellows had drawn another walk and Don Cameron had singled, but Toner struck out Kurt Evans to end the inning. That gave him 11 K and 94 pitches after five innings…

Toner’s spot to bat came up with with two outs in the sixth. Nunley had doubled (and had not been retired since Tuesday) and was on third base, with Waggoner 90 feet behind following a walk. Scott Hanson had already replaced King, was 1-1 against Toner, but the third pitch went through Russell Lewis’ legs for a passed ball that plated Nunley and extended the lead to 2-0. Toner flew out to Evans to end the inning. Cowan, the ****head, then opened the bottom 6th with an infield single and was in scoring position with two outs. Jonny so far had stranded them all right there. Cesar Tellez grounded to the right side, Walter didn’t get it, and it was through into rightfield. Waggoner took long to get to it, and Cowan scored, 2-1. Jonny struck out PH Manlio Varone to get out of that inning, but now was close to 120 pitches, and we had Ron Thrasher get ready, but that plan changed in the top 7th, with left-hander Orlando Valdez getting torn to shreds by the lineup. Mendoza reached, DeWeese homered. Nunley reached, McKnight homered. 6-1 all of a sudden. We went to Nielson instead in the bottom 7th to face the top of the order. Rinehart grounded out, but Fellows singled. Fellows was the only right-handed bat up there, so the plan was still good. Nielson struck out Cameron and Evans to end the inning, and was retained to bunt Mike Denny to second base when the backstop led off with a single in the top 8th. The Raccoons ended up putting two more runs on Joe O’Brian (who once was part of the trade for Cookie Carmona) in the inning. While Cowan homered off Nielson in the bottom 8th, the Elks were not going to clamber back into this game. 8-2 Furballs!! Carmona 2-6; Walter 2-4; Mendoza 4-5, RBI; Nunley 3-4, BB, 2B; Denny 2-4, HR, RBI; Duarte (PH) 1-1; Toner 6.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 12 K, W (18-9);

R.J. DeWeese drew a bases-loaded walk off O’Brian for his 100th RBI of the season. Also, Cookie struck out three times before getting a hit to extend his hitting streak to 15 games.

The Rebels finally clinched the FL East on Friday.

And the best news: the Indians blew a seventh-inning lead against the Crusaders and took a 7-5 loss, which gives the Raccoons back a 1-game lead, which they might need, looking at the middle game pitching matchup. New York hitters whacked five homers in that game.

Game 2
POR: LF Carmona – RF Petracek – 3B Nunley – 1B Mendoza – C Denny – SS McKnight – CF Duarte – 2B Moya – P Brown
VAN: 2B Tellez – 1B Fellows – RF K. Evans – C Little – SS Lawrence – LF Rocha – 3B Grooms – CF Rinehart – P S. McMullen

A Chris Grooms error put Nunley and Mendoza in scoring position in the first inning, but Denny struck out in a full count to keep them on base. Brownie issued two walks to Tellez and Fellows as his start got underway, and when Kurt Evans grounded back to him, he only got the out at second base. Morgan Little grounded sharply to second base, and Ricky Moya turned the double play to end the inning in 4-6-3 fashion. The game was scoreless through three innings, and the Elks had no hits, which should not be understood as an indicator of Brownie’s sharpness. In fact, any Sharpie might be sharper than Brownie…

In an odd pitching duel it was only the second base hit of the game when Alex Duarte singled with one out in the fifth. He never moved off first base, and the Coons couldn’t get to McMullen. Any error by Brownie could and would be fatal, and it didn’t take long. Mario Rocha had the Elks’ first hit, an infield single with one out in the bottom 5th. Grooms singled hard to right, sending Rocha to third base, and then Jeff Rinehart lined right past Mendoza for an RBI double. The Elks were in business, and after Sam McMullen blooped a 1-2 pitch into shallow center for a 2-run single and ran the score to 3-0, the Raccoons very much weren’t anymore. Brown drilled Fellows to start the sixth inning, that run ended up scoring as well, and when the Raccoons had Duarte and Moya on base with two outs in the seventh, Shane Walter pinch-hit and struck out. The Coons then brought up the tying run in the eighth inning, loading the bases with two outs after singles by Nunley and Mendoza saw the Elks send Scott Hanson to face Denny. DeWeese replaced him, walked, and the Elks turned to Orlando Valdez, a left-hander, against Ronnie McKnight, who on the first pitch grounded out to Tellez. Valdez ended up putting runners on the corners when he walked Duarte and allowed a 1-out single to Waggoner in the ninth inning. Pedro Alvarado appeared to face a hitless Ricardo Carmona, who fouled out, and Petracek, who rolled to Tellez on the first pitch. 4-0 Canadiens. Nunley 2-4; Duarte 1-2, 2 BB; Waggoner (PH) 1-1;

Stale taste in my mouth. Might be blood.

The ONLY good news: Martin Ortíz’ walkoff home run off Jarrod Morrison, that kept the Indians a game behind. At least we have the perpetual winner Abe – and Pitcher of the Month of September in the CL with a 5-0, 3.66 ERA output – up in the rubber game and finale. What on earth can go wrong?

Game 3
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Walter – 1B Mendoza – LF DeWeese – 3B Nunley – SS McKnight – RF Waggoner – C Denny – P Abe
VAN: SS Lawrence – 1B Fellows – LF Cameron – C Little – CF Cowan – 2B McNeal – RF E. Garcia – 3B Tellez – P Kreider

McKnight and Waggoner hit 2-out singles in the second and got stranded when Joe Cowan caught up with Denny’s drive to centerfield, while Morgan Little opened the bottom 2nd with a double and was left on third base when Shane Walter found a way to dig out Enrique Garcia’s slow grounder on the infield for the third out. After doubling to left the first time, Little doubled to right his second time up. This one came with Mike Fellows on first base and in motion after drawing a leadoff walk, and Waggoner’s throw wasn’t going to get him. The Elks took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning, but at least the Indians’ Kyle Lamb had already bled a few runs in New York, and the Indians might not even force a tie-breaker game.

Relying on that would be foolish, but maybe there would be no other choice. Garcia hit a leadoff single in the bottom 5th, Abe walked Tellez, and then Kreider hit a liner to left for an RBI single. The Elks ended up getting three runs in the inning for a 4-0 lead when Lawrence bunted the runners over, Fellows hit a sac fly, and Cameron hit an RBI single. Abe was hit for leading off the sixth, but Brandon Johnson grounded out in his place. Cookie was then plunked, which was one way to get on base, and the Coons finally managed to smack some balls after that. Walter tripled, Mendoza doubled, two runs scored, but Mendoza was left on third when Nunley lined out to Lawrence, who at least injured himself on the play. Meanwhile we were watching Cookie just about to enter a slump. He had looked bad the entire series, and when the Raccoons had the tying runs on base in the seventh inning, he embarrassingly rolled out to Fellows at first, ending the inning. John Korb allowed a pair of singles in the bottom 7th that led to a run on Thrasher’s watch, putting the Coons down 5-2, but they got the tying run to the plate against left-hander Juan Jimenez in the eighth. McKnight batted with two outs with DeWeese and Nunley in scoring position, but struck out. Top 9th, Frank Yeager pitching for the Elks, a right-hander with a 20.65 ERA in 5.2 innings. Perhaps a nominal comeback chance for the Critters! Waggoner got drilled to start the inning before pinch-hitters Ochoa and Duarte both struck out. Cookie batted in a 3-1 count and grounded to right and past Steve Roundtree on second base, which put the tying run in the box again, but again with two outs. Shane Walter tried to maintain a .300 average, but his liner to left was caught by Dustin Tobin. Game over. 5-2 Canadiens. Young (PH) 1-1;

… and thus the Raccoons made the playoffs for the first time in seven years. The creaky old Crusaders salvaged a winning record from their disappointing (which might understate things) season and completed a 3-game weekend sweep of the Indians, beating them 7-3 on Sunday. They plated five in the first two innings and never were threatened again.

In other news

September 26 – Miners and Capitals enter extra innings without having scored a run. Both teams plate three runs in the 12th inning before the Capitals walk off in the 14th when rookie LF Chris Grubbs (.333, 0 HR, 6 RBI) hits a walkoff single off Matt Cash in the 11th pitch of their at-bat.
September 27 – SFB 3B Javier Rodriguez (.331, 5 HR, 49 RBI) reaches the 2,000 hits mark in a 10-6 win over the Knights. Rodriguez, 33, hits a single off Manny Chavez to reach the milestone. A 13-year veteran, Rodriguez has played most of his career for CL South teams, starting his career with the Falcons (with whom he claimed a ring in his rookie season in 2005) before a brief stop in Denver with the Gold Sox. He’s been with the Bayhawks since 2012. He was an All Star three times, won a Gold Glove, and once led the league in triples. For his career, he is a .300 batter with 66 HR and 732 RBI.
September 28 – A 7-run second inning and a 5-run fourth give the Crusaders a 12-0 lead over the Canadiens, who nevertheless threaten with a comeback and ultimately only lose 13-9.
September 29 – BOS SP Zach Boyer (14-11, 2.77 ERA) spins a 3-hit shutout over the Loggers in a 1-0 game.
September 30 – Dallas’ RF/CF Stephen St. George (.291, 11 HR, 87 RBI) hits for the cycle in a 7-5 win over the Gold Sox, plating four runs with his four hits, one of each kind. The 61st cycle in ABL history, this is also the league-leading sixth for the Stars after those of Samuel Serra (1977), Gustavo Infante (2000), Vitantonio Cavalleri (2003), Artie Barnes (2004), and Jorge Vera (2007). The Stars and Gold Sox combined have now been part of either the cycling or cycled-against end of the last four ABL cycles.
September 30 – The Condors plate two runs in the top of the 12th inning against the Bayhawks, but succumb to Chris Almanza’s (.250, 19 HR, 76 RBI) 3-run walkoff shot in the bottom of the inning, losing 7-6.
October 1 – The Falcons not only blow a 6-3 lead in the ninth inning, they allow seven runs to the Knights to take a 10-6 loss.
October 2 – MIL SP Luis Guerrero (8-16, 3.68 ERA) is expected to miss all of next season, requiring reconstruction surgery for a damaged elbow ligament.

Complaints and stuff

Cookie wins the batting title, and Raccoons take all three parts of the pitching triple crown – we just didn’t time it well. Also, Matt Nunley surged late to finish third in the batting race in the Continental League! Also, despite missing 46 games, Cookie still wound up third in stolen bases, and he even wound up seventh in OPS. He also led the league in triples with 13. DeWeese was t-6th in homers and fourth in RBI (and sixth in strikeouts). Santos finished second in ERA behind Jonny Toner (1.94!!), and Jonny also casually swept up the league leads in K/9, K/BB, OBAVG, FIP, and WAR. Santos beat him in WHIP, but finished only seventh in strikeouts.

95 wins are a perfectly good base for October baseball. The Critters’ average in World Series-winning seasons for regular season wins? 95: 99 in 1992, and 91 in 1993.

Never mind the three times they made the playoffs with actually 95 wins and never won the ugly pot of a trophy.

In the end, Hugo Mendoza batted .316/.403/.524 as a Raccoon, and knocked 13 homers and drove in 67. It’s really not what he hit for with the Stars (.355/.440/.659), but without him the Critters wouldn’t have made the show. And if I remember correctly, then my words were ‘I WANT TO GET INTO THE ****ING PLAYOFFS’. Well, we’re there. It might take another moment to really sink in.

Now wash over the last week, that really didn’t go as intended on most counts. Cookie crashed, Brownie crashed, the bullpen remains a mystery, and we technically have no closer. The Bayhawks won 102 and have a really scary lineup, but at least that lineup does not contain too many left-handers. Javy Rodriguez (Mr. 2,000) is the only dangerous lefty. There’s also D-Alex and Raul Claros. Our lack of a solid second southpaw in the pen will not be a major problem… I think.

We talked a bit about 21 wins and such, but who is the only Raccoons pitcher to ever lose 21 games in a season? In fact, that poor sod is the only Coon to lose more than 18 games in a season.

[Westheim]

2017 CONTINENTAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Portland Raccoons (95-67) vs. San Francisco Bayhawks (102-60)

I filed our playoff roster to the league office on Monday morning, and it was swiftly rejected on the grounds that it included 35 players, including six left-handed relievers, and that only 25 players were permissible. After I threw a tantrum, Maud walked me through the rules again. Turns out that the Raccoons in fact had only 25 eligible players to begin with, so there weren’t any hard choices to make. Nick Lester, Will West, Tom McNeela, Danny Ochoa, Alex Duarte, and Ricky Moya were removed from the roster for the playoffs. We wouldn’t particularly miss any of them.

The Raccoons would be the road team in the best-of-seven matchup with the Bayhawks in the Continental League Championship Series, our first in seven years. This was the third time that we matched up with them in CLCS play, and the Raccoons’ record in those meetings was a swift 1.000, beating them in both 1991 and 1992 on the way to matchups with the Capitals in the World Series.

The Bayhawks had beaten the Raccoons five out of nine times during the regular season, but this had to come with an asterisk attached. The first two series were played in the horrid, no-good first half of the year. The Raccoons lost them both, and four times failed to score more than one run. The last series was in late July with “Tiger” Mendoza already attached, yet technically in a slump, but the Raccoons plated 14 runs in that series and took two of three from the Birds, and the one they didn’t take was Damani Knight’s last throwaway game of the season, in which he got stuffed with six runs in the first two innings.

Both teams were roughly even in their run differential, which was in the +180’s. The Raccoons held the edge in pitching, theirs having allowed the least runs in the league, but had been third in runs scored. The Bayhawks occupied second place in both categories, with roughly 30 runs more scored as well as allowed. The Raccoons occupied first place in many pitching categories, and were always in the top 3 outside of home runs allowed, which their park and Hector Santos weren’t lending itself to. The Bayhawks were in the top 3 throughout, except for walks allowed, in which they were ninth, but the Coons had struggled to draw walks as a team and were actually second from the bottom in walks drawn. They also hadn’t stolen many bases (8th), but were a solid top four team otherwise in offensive categories, and had led the team in batting average, base hits, and the least strikeouts, despite R.J. DeWeese on the team. The Bayhawks ranked in the top 3 in all batting categories except for walks drawn (4th) but didn’t lead any of them.

While the Critters had finally found a lineup that worked for them with power potential spread thickly throughout the middle and bottom parts of the lineup, and four .300 batters in the top five spots, the Bayhawks could match them in the number of players with double-digit home runs (five), and also had a 30+ homer guy in the #3 slot in Dave Garcia (.294, 36 HR, 103 RBI). They had two .330 batters in Will McIntyre (.338, 10 HR, 54 RBI) and Javy Rodriguez (.330, 6 HR, 51 RBI), but neither had qualified for the batting title. If anything, they lacked a strong leadoff option like the Coons had in Cookie Carmona, making do with Eddie Jackson, whom the Raccoons had wanted, but hadn’t gotten before this season. Jackson’s OPS was less than Cookie’s league-leading batting average.

But there was no glaring weakness in either lineup; roughly equal values ended there, however. The Bayhawks had a rotation of four pitchers that had all performed well, but not exceedingly wonderful. Alex Maldonado led them with a 2.95 ERA, but had only pitched 183 innings, making a few appearances out of the bullpen during the season. Southpaw Joao Joo (15-11, 3.35 ERA) was a real workhorse and had spun almost 250 innings, and he was perhaps their best starter overall, and was banked on to get wins in this series against the Raccoons lefty-dominated lineup. Their bullpen was strong at the end and solid in the middle, with ex-Raccoon Ray Kelley a surprise success as closer in his late 30s, pitching to a 1.84 ERA and saving 46 games for them. Maybe they would get hurt by having only one left-handed reliever in Mike Stank.

The Raccoons’ rotation had a stark contrast between Pitcher of the Year applicant Jonathan Toner, who had pitched to a 1.94 ERA in 232.1 innings and had struck out a rousing 293 batters, through Tadasu Abe, who led the league in wins, to Hector Santos, who was homer-prone and short on breath, but routinely good and solid, down to the few remains of Nick Brown (8-4, 4.53 ERA) the dogs had refused to gnaw up. Brown was still better than their other options, foremost Bruce Morrison, who had fallen into a well in July, and had never gotten back out. While Nick Brown was a weak link in only his second playoff campaign, the bullpen had been a source of constant horrors for the Raccoons, who had no official closer, and who had only two relievers with an ERA better than 2.80 in Ron Thrasher and Chris Mathis, and who had to replace the injured left-hander Kevin Beaver with wonky rookie Ryan Nielson. And even Jonny Toner dropped off in the second half of the season, so there might actually be more question marks about the Raccoons’ pitching than their lineup, which was a new thing for sure…

2017 CONTINENTAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Portland Raccoons (95-67) @ San Francisco Bayhawks (102-60)

Game 1 – Jonathan Toner (18-9, 1.94 ERA) vs. Milt Beauchamp (13-11, 3.81 ERA)

POR: CF Carmona – 2B Walter – 1B Mendoza – LF DeWeese – 3B Nunley – SS McKnight – C Denny – RF Waggoner – P Toner
SFB: LF E. Jackson – SS Claros – CF D. Garcia – RF Almanza – C D. Alexander – 1B McIntyre – 3B J. Rodriguez – 2B Ingraham – P Beauchamp

Cookie opened the playoff festivities with an infield single, but was stranded when none of the next three batters got the ball out of the infield. Toner hit Raul Claros with a pitch in the bottom 1st, and Javy Rodriguez singled in the second inning, but Rodriguez was caught stealing and no team put up a serious threat in the early innings.

The Raccoons reached the corners with two 2-out singles by DeWeese and Nunley in the top of the fourth. While that at least ended the string of 11 consecutive Raccoons being retired by Beauchamp, Dave Garcia sucked up McKnight’s fly to center to end the inning. Garcia singled himself with one out in the bottom 4th, stole second base, but then was left there when Chris Almanza struck out and Dylan Alexander grounded out in 2-3 fashion.

After those calm and collected four scoreless innings it was time for the first upset of the series. William Waggoner hit a 1-out single in the fifth to become the Raccoons’ next runner. Jonny Toner was a pretty decent hitter and was signaled to swing away, which seemed to have met the outfielders by surprise when he sent a fly to right center on a 1-0 pitch. Garcia and Almanza converged, but neither got to the ball, which split them and made it all the way to the wall. Waggoner scored from first and Jonathan Toner slid into third base with an RBI triple! He scored on Cookie’s groundout and now held a 2-0 lead.

While Jonny saw off the Bayhawks 1-2-3 in the bottom 5th and was nursing a 2-hitter with 7 K through five innings, the Raccoons got an extra run when R.J. DeWeese jumped on a Beauchamp pitch in the sixth inning and sent it soaring for about 410 feet to right center. The solo homer ran the score to 3-0, but the Bayhawks would get the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the inning. Eddie Jackson and Raul Claros hit 1-out singles to the right side, and Shane Walter could not turn two on Garcia’s grounder to him. Chris Almanza batted with two outs, 19 homers in the regular season, of which he missed a chunk with an injury. Toner had before whiffed him twice – and whiffed him thrice.

Two deep flies to right occurred in the seventh inning. Mike Denny’s went out, 4-0, but Rodriguez’ was caught by Waggoner on the track. Toner maintained his shutout, while the top 8th saw Jared D’Attilo – fifth starter sent to the pen – walk Matt Nunley with two outs before a callous error by Will McIntyre gave the Raccoons two bases on Ronnie McKnight’s grounder. Denny batted with the chance to put the game away, but struck out on three pitches. Toner struck out Victor Sarabia and Eddie Jackson in the bottom 8th before walking Claros, which led to his removal with a pitch count over 110 now. Jayden Reed replaced him, walked Garcia, but escaped the inning when he hung a golden sombrero on Chris Almanza. Reed also sat down the Baybirds in the bottom of the ninth, three outs on three grounders.

Raccoons 4, Bayhawks 0 – Raccoons lead the series 1-0 – Carmona 2-5, RBI; DeWeese 2-4, HR, RBI; Nunley 2-3, BB; Waggoner 2-4; Toner 7.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 11 K, W (1-0) and 1-3, 3B, RBI;

Jonny visibly didn’t appreciate the fat smooch I gave him after the game. I don’t care. I could smooch him all day long, even when he doesn’t pitch!

Game 2 – Hector Santos (13-6, 2.50 ERA) vs. Alex Maldonado (14-5, 2.95 ERA)

POR: CF Carmona – 2B Walter – 1B Mendoza – LF DeWeese – 3B Nunley – SS McKnight – C Denny – RF Waggoner – P Santos
SFB: LF E. Jackson – SS Claros – CF D. Garcia – RF Almanza – C D. Alexander – 1B McIntyre – 3B J. Rodriguez – 2B Ingraham – P Maldonado

Maldonado had walked 93 in his 183 innings, which was quite a bit high, but he had also struck out a tad over nine per nine innings and hung three K’s on the Raccoons in the first inning, with only Shane Walter sneaking a single into centerfield.

The Raccoons reached scoring position for the first time in the second inning when McKnight hit a 1-out double past Eddie Jackson. Mike Denny was at 2-2 before connecting and sending a bouncer up the middle. Zach Ingraham stretched, but missed it, and McKnight was on third base after the single. William Waggoner strolled up, having recovered from injury merely a week earlier, and roped a drive to deep right center that was outta here, sneaking through just fair inside the foul pole, and giving the Critters a quick 3-0 lead. It didn’t remain that way for long, though, with Santos brushing McIntyre in the belly region, and then allowed a juicy moonshot to Javy Rodriguez right afterwards, reducing the lead to a tiny run immediately, 3-2.

Santos remained power-vulnerable afterwards. Claros hit a drive to right in the bottom 3rd that Waggoner just barely spoiled while going back at full speed. That ended the third inning, but the fourth started with Dave Garcia driving the ball the other way. DeWeese went back in vain on this one, for it was gone and tied the score.

Zach Ingraham hurled a ball to deep left to lead off the bottom of the fifth. DeWeese could cope with that one, but with two outs Jackson singled sharply to left, and Claros walked in a full count, which pulled up Garcia again. The Venezuelan right-hander was an established star at a tender 22 years old and the Raccoons were in active danger here. The pitching coach tended to Hector Santos, which seemed to work out fine because Garcia ended up fooled on the first pitch and popped out to short, wasting the opportunity.

The Raccoons got an opportunity for free in the top of the sixth inning. Maldonado had not walked anybody so far, but started the inning by whacking DeWeese and then lost Nunley on four pitches. McKnight bunted the runners into scoring position, from where Maldonado plated DeWeese when he mailed a pitch over a befuddled Mike Denny’s head and far out of what Gold Glover Dylan Alexander could be reasonably expected to cover in terms of airspace. While the Coons were ahead again, Denny managed to hack himself out, which allowed the Bayhawks to walk Waggoner intentionally to put them on the corners with two outs. Adam Young batted for Santos, but flew out easily to Eddie Jackson to end the inning with only a 4-3 lead.

While the Raccoons got six outs from six batters when Alex Ramirez delivered them the sixth and seventh innings on the pitching side, their top of the order remained hapless and went down in order against Maldonado in the top of the seventh. Jeff Boynton replaced Maldonado for the eighth inning. He had pitched to a 3.57 ERA during the regular season and allowed a single to DeWeese right away. The slugger ended up caught stealing before Matt Nunley could single, and the Raccoons didn’t score in the inning. The Birds also got a leadoff single in the bottom 8th, Jackson reaching against Jayden Reed. Jackson was not a base stealer at all, but the power department had to be watched after Claros lined out to Walter at the keystone. Garcia struck out before Almanza, who was 0-for-7 with 5 K in the series, lined hard to center. Cookie threw himself into the shot and ended the inning with a tumbling grab.

Cookie also had a single in the top of the ninth off Boynton. It came with one out and sent Brandon Johnson, who had pinch-hit for Reed and had singled, to third base. Shane Walter’s grounder up the middle was intercepted by Ingraham, who tapped second base to force Cookie and had easily time to throw to first to double off Walter. Thus, there was no cushion for the bottom 9th, for which Ron Thrasher got the ball with two left-handed bats coming up in the first three batters. Dylan Alexander and Will McIntyre both hit hard grounders up either line. Mendoza and Nunley made incredible plays on the bouncing balls and both ended being outs. Pat Eaton, a right-hander pinch-hit for Javy Rodriguez, which was the call for Chris Mathis to end the game, yet he ended up walking him on four pitches. With that, left-hander Victor Sarabia pinch-hit for Ingraham, grounded a 2-2 pitch hard to first, but the “Tiger” was still on his mark and collected this one as well for the final out.

Raccoons 4, Bayhawks 3 – Raccoons lead series 2-0 – Nunley 2-3, BB; Waggoner 1-3, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Johnson (PH) 1-1; Ramirez 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

Every starting position player for the Raccoons ended up with one hit, except for Nunley, who had two.

Homewards, with some happy swing in our steps!

[Westheim]

2017 CONTINENTAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Portland Raccoons (95-67) vs. San Francisco Bayhawks (102-60)

Game 3 – Tadasu Abe (22-10, 3.12 ERA) vs. Joao Joo (15-11, 3.35 ERA)

The Bayhawks sent their left-hander, Joo, into Game 3, which sent the Raccoons scurrying to topple their lineup. R.J. DeWeese was the odd one out with a whiff rate of almost 35% against left-handed pitching. But wanting both Nunley and McKnight in the lineup while also squeezing another right-handed bat in required us to play Shane Walter on first base to accommodate Jason Bergquist, who had gotten an at-bat after entering Game 1 in a double switch and had hit into a double play. There’s double jeopardy in the air for sure!

POR: CF Carmona – RF Petracek – LF Mendoza – 3B Nunley – C Denny – 1B Walter – SS McKnight – 2B Bergquist – P Abe
SFB: LF E. Jackson – SS Claros – CF D. Garcia – RF Almanza – C D. Alexander – 1B McIntyre – 3B J. Rodriguez – 2B Ingraham – P Joo

Joo had struck out 243 against 68 walks in the regular season, but struggled with control in the first inning and quickly found himself in a bases-loaded jam. To be fair to him, the mess started when Javy Rodriguez airmailed his throw on Cookie’s grounder to start the bottom 1st. McIntyre couldn’t come up with it and Cookie ended up at second base. Petracek then walked and Mendoza singled to left in a 3-1 count. With Jackson to the ball quick, Cookie was held on third base, giving the Coons three on with nobody out, and from there they would fail their way out in miserable fashion. Matt Nunley lined right into Joo’s glove, Mike Denny flew out to shallow center and we didn’t trust the legs of Cookie against the arm of Garcia, and Rodriguez, who had started the whole mess with the error, made an admittedly fantastic catch on Shane Walter’s 3-1 liner to left. Nobody scored, everybody was sad, especially when Almanza hit an inside-the-park home run to start the second inning. Abe went on to walk D-Alex before McIntyre doubled. Rodriguez plated the catcher with a groundout before Ingraham popped out and Joo whiffed.

Down 2-0, the Raccoons immediately started to occupy bases again. McKnight walked in a full count to start the bottom 2nd, after which Bergquist singled through the left side. Abe failed to bunt twice, then was told to swing, which was a wild success once he took Joo’s 0-2 pitch to deep left for an RBI double. Cookie tied the game with a fly to left that Jackson caught up with, but he couldn’t catch up with Bergquist, who made a run for the plate and was well safe. Abe remained on second base with one out, but scored when Petracek split Garcia and Almanza with a liner that found its way to the track in right center. Petracek ended up with a go-ahead RBI triple, and ended up being scored by Nunley with a double, the third extra-base hit of the inning.

The swift answer put Abe into a 4-2 lead after the second inning, but pitching was at a premium in this game. Abe wouldn’t hold the lead for even one inning, allowing singles to start the third inning to Jackson and Claros, who ended up in scoring position with one out. Almanza’s grounder was played well by Nunley; one run scored, but there were now two outs for D-Alex, who romped an 0-1 pitch to right for a score-flipping 2-run homer.

Abe ended up yanked in the fourth inning. Ingraham hit a single with one out and stole second base, after which Joo struck out. But Jackson’s floater to right dinked in, scored Ingraham, and put the Coons into a 6-4 hole. Nielson replaced Abe to look after Raul Claros, but allowed another single on his only pitch. Chun replaced him in a double switch, Walter shifting to second and Young appearing at first base and batting ninth, the slot that was due to lead off the bottom 4th. Jackson had gone to third base on Claros’ single and scored on Chun’s balk, deepening the chasm to three runs, 7-4, before Garcia flew out.

Joo had recovered from his earlier sub-standard performance and held the Coons at bay through five. Chun was still dealing in the sixth inning, but allowed singles to Rodriguez and Ingraham before walking Willie Ramos in the top of the sixth, and all with nobody out. Instant elimination from this game loomed, but Jackson popped out over the infield before Claros grounded to Walter for an inning-ending double play.

Joo was replaced by left-hander Mike Stank, who hadn’t featured in the two games in San Fran, for the bottom 6th. Johnson pinch-hit for Chun and singled, but Young, the idiot, grounded out on a 3-1 pitch. Cookie dropped a blooper into shallow left center to put runners on the corners and pull up Petracek as the tying run. He struck out before Mendoza’s drive to right ended up in Almanza’s glove to end the inning, and in the next inning Stank allowed a leadoff single to Nunley, who met a grisly fate when Denny grounded to Ingraham for a double play.

Stank was pinch-hit for in the top of the eighth, which was John Korb’s second and last inning of duty. When McKnight opened the bottom 8th with a single to right, Korb’s #8 slot was a good one to throw DeWeese into, but all the Raccoons got from him was another double play to second. After that, Young singled and Cookie reached on an error, but Petracek rolled out to first baseman Mike Robinson.

Ramirez held the Baybirds away in the top of the ninth, with Ray Kelley erupting from the bullpen in the bottom of the inning. The Coons were still three runs short and Mendoza’s sorry fly to left to start the inning didn’t help them one bit. Nunley doubled, and ended up scoring after Waggoner – hitting for Denny – grounded out and Kelley threw a wild pitch, but that didn’t get the Raccoons closer to a comeback, and Shane Walter’s groundout ended the game.

Bayhawks 7, Raccoons 5 – Raccoons lead series 2-1 – Mendoza 2-5; Nunley 3-5, 2 2B, RBI; Bergquist 1-2; Johnson (PH) 1-1; Chun 2.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K; Korb 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

Okay, this one was way ugly. Who’s next? Ah, right, Old Man Brown.

I fear the worst.

Game 4 – Nick Brown (8-4, 4.53 ERA) vs. Clark Johnson (6-3, 3.97 ERA)

I freely admit, I have a mild case of the Panics.

SFB: LF E. Jackson – 1B McIntyre – CF D. Garcia – RF Almanza – C D. Alexander – 2B Ingraham – 3B Claros – SS R. Miller – P C. Johnson
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Walter – 1B Mendoza – LF DeWeese – 3B Nunley – SS McKnight – C Denny – RF Waggoner – P Brown

Cookie reached on Ingraham’s error to start the bottom of the first (after Brownie got three groundouts in the top 1st) and made a dash to occupy second base right away. D-Alex didn’t get him (I know my former catchers very well…), but Walter and Mendoza made poor outs behind him and Cookie was still on second base with two outs. That’s where DeWeese and Nunley came into the pitcher. Rummaging through the clubhouse before the game, between all the energy drinks and food supplements we had stored for human consumption, they had also found two cans of Whoop-Ass! Both crushed home runs off Clark Johnson, DeWeese to right, Nunley to left, and the Raccoons held a blisteringly fast 3-0 lead. Mike Denny was found to have licked the residues off the top edge of the cans after the other two had been done with it: he crushed a 420-footer to right center when he led off the second inning, 4-0.

But the Birds began to crowd Brownie fairly early. Claros snuck a grounder past Mendoza in the third inning that rolled up a fair bit of real estate before Waggoner got to hit and left Claros with a leadoff double. Ryan Miller (lots of ex-Coons!) and Clark Johnson both grounded out, but Brownie’s inability to whiff ANYBODY cost him a run. The fourth started with Dave Garcia singling and being caught stealing, but Almanza and D-Alex just whipped more singles and were on the corners with one out. While Ingraham popped out, Nick Brown didn’t survive the inning. Claros, Miller, and even Johnson all hit 2-out singles, and they were all hard-hit. The game was even at four, two on, and no end in sight for Nick Brown, who was removed from the game and replaced by Alex Ramirez, which left many a soul in the park with the odd tear or two running down on the cheek. Me included.

Ramirez struck out Jackson to at least keep the score level, but after that we were left with whatever we had in Bruce Morrison, since both long guys had already pitched multiple innings in the previous game and could not cover the five remaining innings in any reasonable way.

Actually, Morrison had to wait for his turn. Ramirez would have batted fourth in the bottom of the fourth inning, but his turn never came up for reasons of failure, and he pitched a 1-2-3 fifth inning instead, and after that the sixth would see two left-handed bats, so Nielson got the call there. That was a dumb idea to begin with, and the Coons were lucky that the Bayhawks didn’t get more than D-Alex’ leadoff single to right. Ingraham was caught in incredibly deep centerfield by Cookie, and Claros rocked a liner right into Shane Walter’s glove. After that, Bruce Morrison scampered from the pen. His second pitch to Miller was wild and moved Alexander into scoring position, from where he swiftly scored on Miller’s single to center on the very next pitch, giving the Bayhawks a 5-4 lead.

Bruce Morrison is one intensely stupid pig, I can tell you that.

After narrowly avoiding disaster in the top 7th, with Cookie’s legs again doing most of the heavy lifting, Morrison’s turn came up with Waggoner on first and nobody out in the bottom of the seventh. I didn’t fancy my luck with the bench, especially given Zach Ingraham’s seemingly magic glove out there, and Morrison was retained to bunt – at least that he did well enough. But pitching was not his thing. When Cookie grounded out and Walter fouled out to leave the tying run on third base, Morrison allowed a leadoff double to Alexander in the eighth and quickly was out of a job. Mathis inherited runners on the corners, two outs, and right-handed pinch-hitter Pat Eaton. Considering especially that he replaced the hollow doorknob Morrison, Mathis could not possibly have done a worse job if he had tried; his first pitch was wild and plated Alexander, and when Eaton grounded to him three pitches later, he threw a way the ball, which went into the Coons’ dugout where a scampering Jonny Toner dropped his second dinner and was inconsolable. Oh, and another run scored, mind that.

The Raccoons went down completely and wholly, and never managed to challenge the Bayhawks’ relief crew in the last two innings.

Bayhawks 7, Raccoons 4 – series tied 2-2 – DeWeese 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Young (PH) 1-1; Ramirez 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Among a lot of things that are absolutely not working as intended with our pitching, we also have unforeseen holes in the lineup. Shane Walter is 1-for-18 in the series, and the “Tiger” can’t get his claws out, either, batting .176/.176/.176 … even Cookie’s on-base percentage is horrendous: .263 …

Unless we can find another bat like Matt Nunley’s (.533/.588/.867), things will get difficult in San Francisco.

Game 5 – Jonathan Toner (18-9, 1.94 ERA) vs. Milt Beauchamp (13-11, 3.81 ERA)

Can we please avoid losing all our home games? At least we got Jonny up.

SFB: LF E. Jackson – SS Claros – CF D. Garcia – RF Almanza – C D. Alexander – 1B McIntyre – 2B Ingraham – 3B J. Rodriguez – P Beauchamp
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Walter – 1B Mendoza – LF DeWeese – 3B Nunley – SS McKnight – C Denny – RF Waggoner – P Toner

The mounting pressure wasn’t good for our battery, which in the first inning allowed Eddie Jackson into third base completely without any contribution by the leftfielder. Jonny Toner made a throwing error, and a passed ball moved him to third base with Almanza batting. Thanks to strikeout prowess, Toner managed to starve him there, obliterating Almanza for the fourth time in four encounters in the series.

The Raccoons had Cookie reach with a walk in the bottom 1st, but he was wound up on Mendoza’s double play to Ingraham. DeWeese opened the second with a single, but was stranded on third base before long, while the Bayhawks pounced on Toner in the top of the third and scored the first run of the game on consecutive doubles by Jackson and Claros. Almanza batted with two outs and for the first time put a ball into play against Toner, but grounded out to leave Claros on third base.

Jonny hit a leadoff single in the bottom 3rd. This normally jubilant occurrence was soon squashed by infinite sadness when Cookie got him forced on a grounder to Ingraham (…), then was caught stealing, stumbling halfway past first and second base. Maybe something could come out of R.J. DeWeese’s 1-out RBI triple into the rightfield corner in the bottom of the fourth! Nunley grounded to Ingraham, and even that guy’s satanic devilry claws – if you looked closely you actually noticed he had hooves for hands and feet – couldn’t keep DeWeese from scoring and tying the game.

That was all they managed, however. The top of the fifth started with Jonny whiffing Beauchamp, which gave him 18 K in 12 innings in the series. Then Jackson singled to center. Claros singled to right – both were batting over .400 in the series, and thankfully the 3-4 bats for the Bayhawks were fast asleep with three RBI between them. That’s what he said before Dave Garcia cranked a 3-run shot to leftfield that completely unhorsed Toner, who walked Almanza, who advanced on a passed ball, then struck D-Alex square with a 2-0 pitch. The dam had broken, and Portland was being washed into the sea at this very moment. Will McIntyre lined the first pitch he got to right, past Waggoner, and scored the runners with a double that gave the Bayhawks a secure 6-1 lead.

The Coons had three singles in the bottom 5th; Waggoner, Carmona, Mendoza came up with the hits, but it took a wild pitch in between by Beauchamp to allow them to plate two runs rather than one and then they were still behind 6-3, and fast on the way to get washed out of their own ballpark after arriving here with a 2-0 series lead.

Worse yet, Jonny Toner was gone from the game, having been hit for by Brandon Johnson, and we were into the shallow end of the bullpen yet again. And just as Seung-mo Chun started pitching to Beauchamp in the top of the sixth, the dark clouds overhead couldn’t bear it anymore and burst open, releasing an hour-long shower that soaked a sulking city. When that was over and the Raccoons were back to bat in the bottom 6th, they faced William Raven, a former starter, whose repertoire by now was as appealing as the space beneath the beds in a rundown motel off the beaten path in a deserted county of a flyover state of your choice.

But Raven made things work – or rather, the defense made it work for him. Rodriguez turned a double play on McKnight in the sixth inning, and Young hit into a double play to the abominable Ingraham in the seventh. That latter one left Mike Denny on third base with two outs, but Carmona’s liner to left was caught by Jackson, another demonspawn that wouldn’t get out of the way. The bottom 8th saw Mendoza reach on Claros’ error and DeWeese singled with one out. The Birds were completely untouched by this; Raven remained in the game. Nunley’s drive to right fell short of the promised land and instead into Almanza’s glove, and before McKnight could try to hit into another double play with two outs on the board, Raven picked DeWeese off first base to end the inning in some special style.

The Bayhawks got a run they didn’t need in the ninth inning, when Ron Thrasher cocked up with a 4-pitch walk to Sarabia and subsequent single by the infuriating Jackson. Mathis couldn’t dig him out, allowing the run on Garcia’s single, which gave the centerfielder four on the day. Not that that was the fatal run. Against right-hander Chae-ku Lee in the bottom of the inning it took the Raccoons two outs before they got Waggoner on base with a double. Petracek batted for Mathis, but flew out to center.

Bayhawks 7, Raccoons 3 – Bayhawks lead series 3-2 – DeWeese 3-4, 3B; Denny 2-3, BB; Waggoner 2-4, 2B; Chun 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Maud! – Maud! – Maud, I think … I think my pulse is completely gone. – Can you send for the Druid? – Well, can he take a minute off from reading his star charts?

[Westheim]

As always, games six and seven will be single posts, no matter what, even if there is no game seven.

The Raccoons had to try and stop the bleeding in hostile territory. Their historical record was not in their favor. Only once had they made up a 3-2 deficit in the playoffs, coming back from a 10-0 crushing by the Capitals in Game 5 of the 1993 World Series by winning Game 6 in 12 innings and then Game 7 with some early thump.

I do not think I can survive extra innings anymore.

2017 CONTINENTAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Portland Raccoons (95-67) @ San Francisco Bayhawks (102-60)

The Raccoons would not face Joao Joo yet in the Baybirds’s first match ball game. They saved that special treat for a Game 7, if there’d be one. The recent trend suggested the Bayhawks winning 7-2 in Game 6.

But then again the road team had won every game in the series, so what could even go wrong now? Come on boys! We have them RIGHT WHERE WE WANT THEM!!

Game 6 – Hector Santos (13-6, 2.50 ERA) vs. Alex Maldonado (14-5, 2.95 ERA)

POR: CF Carmona – 3B Nunley – 1B Mendoza – LF DeWeese – SS McKnight – C Denny – RF Waggoner – 2B Walter – P Santos
SFB: LF E. Jackson – SS Claros – CF D. Garcia – RF Almanza – C D. Alexander – 1B McIntyre – 2B Ingraham – 3B J. Rodriguez – P Maldonado

Whoever hoped for strong pitching to make a return after a calm first inning would soon be bitterly disappointed. The second inning saw home runs being exchanged by DeWeese and Almanza, both being obviously leadoff jacks.

The third had Cookie single and steal second base, where he was soon left. Maldonado then opened the bottom of the inning with a triple to right center that threw the Raccoons into disarray immediately, but I suspected the involvement of cosmic forces in what happened afterwards. Eddie Jackson singled to center, scoring his pitcher and giving the Birds a 2-1 lead. That was expected. Nothing good ever happened with Almost-Coons involved. Yet then the Birds got lucky twice on bloopers. Claros to right fell in front of the onrushing Waggoner for a single, and Garcia then hit another blooper to the other side, and also came up with a single, this one scoring the Birds’ third run. Santos walked Alexander to load the bases before McIntyre popped out behind home plate and Ingraham lined out to Walter. The Birds remained ahead 3-1, with final annihilation of the Raccoons postponed for the time being.

Maldonado walked a pair in the fourth, but the Raccoons wouldn’t get the hit they need, with Waggoner grounding out to Ingraham, and Walter flying out to center. The top of the fifth was led off by Santos, who rocked a base hit to left, and Cookie soon singled through on the right side to have the tying runs set up camp on first and second with nobody out. Nunley was eager to add to his new postseason resume, but was smacked hard by Maldonado with the very first pitch. Nunley went down, but after the Druid slapped a wet towel in his face a couple of times decided that the numerous broken bones in his arm couldn’t potentially hurt as badly when running as anything the Raccoons’ resident butcher could do to him here on the ground. The bases were loaded for Hugo Mendoza, batting all of .130/.130/.130 in the series in 23 attempts, with no RBI. He HAD to get somebody in, RIGHT NOW.

When Hector Santos did cross home plate, it was on a sac fly hit by DeWeese, whose drive to deep right had been caught at the fence by Almanza. Mendoza had struck out feebly. That brought up McKnight, hitting even less at .105, with two on and two out. He grounded weakly to short, where Claros butchered the play and reloaded the bases on the error. Mike Denny came up (.912 OPS in the CLCS) and was the final straw before I would go back down to the Bay to consign my body to the waves and the muck.

He struck out.

Security kept me from going.

Everything was awful.

3-2 became 5-2 in the bottom of the same ****ing inning when Santos couldn’t keep Garcia off base and then allowed another rocket to fly away off Almanza’s launchpad. For all intents and purposes, their season ended when that ball broke the plane over the leftfield fence.

Walter and Cookie had singles in the sixth, but after William Raven replaced Maldonado, Ingraham sucked up Nunley’s grounder up the middle and the Raccoons again stranded a pair. In the seventh, McKnight singled and Denny doubled, all with two outs. Waggoner came up, at least batting .368 and there was some hope there, with the Birds again completely trusting Raven, a fallen starter, with better options available, f.e. their lone left-handed reliever. Waggoner singled just marginally over the glove of Raul Claros into shallow left, and then Petracek hit for Walter and singled to center. The Birds’ pen remained silent. Adam Young batted for Ron Thrasher and oh **** that’s why. When has Adam Young ever had a great hit in a Raccoons uniform? He grounded out to Mike Robinson, stranding three in a 5-3 game.

Stank only appeared in the eighth after Nunley had lined a Jeff Boynton pitch to center for a 1-out single. The tying run was at the plate in Mendoza, which was certainly not comforting given his .120/.120/.120 slash. Our pinch-hitting options were down to Bergquist and Margolis, however, and it just didn’t make a whole lot of sense. Maybe divine intervention could help us now. Maybe the Bayhawks also have that one particular baseball god who just can’t stand them. Maybe Fuddles, the baseball god of clumsy walks, could help the Coons a bit! Mendoza struck out, DeWeese grounded out.

Top of the ninth. Ray Kelley pitching. Ronnie McKnight led off sent a soft line to left on a 1-2 pitch that dropped in front of Javier Gusmán, who had replaced Jackson in a double switch. Denny struck out, bringing up Waggoner. He also lined to left, but completely past Gusmán. McKnight made a dash for home while Waggoner awkwardly slid into second base and bent his ankle. While McKnight was safe, Waggoner remained curled over the bag and had to evaluated by the Druid, who deemed it was necessary to remove him. Bergquist pinch-ran for him as the tying run as the intensity of the game was reaching the red zone. He moved to third when Petracek grounded out to Ingraham, and with that there were two outs and Danny Margolis was the last bat off the bench, and 0-for-1 in the series.

Come on, Danny, it’s your turn here! Ball one low, didn’t bite. Come on, Danny, you can be a legend! You’ll still be a career backup and quad-A player, but you can be a legend for a night and day! The second pitch was on the corner, and Margolis put it weakly into play. He grounded out to Claros at short.

Bayhawks 5, Raccoons 4 – Bayhawks win series 4-2 – Carmona 3-5; McKnight 2-5; Waggoner 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Petracek (PH) 1-2; Ramirez 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

And then there was the void.

[Westheim]

While the Raccoons went out of their way to cause heart attacks and a also a few late-night raids on fridges across Portland in the CLCS, there was also an FLCS being played, with the Scorpions and Rebels participating.

There were the 93-69 Rebels, who had won a FL East that had ended up a total of 52 games under .500. They had no injuries going into the playoffs, which they had reached on the strength of their rotation, led by Ian Van Meter (16-7, 2.70 ERA). Their starters had ranked first in ERA in the Federal League, and they had done that while constantly being sabotaged by crummy fielding. The Rebels were ranked second from the bottom in defensive efficiency. Their hitting was solid, but nothing special. Fourth in runs scored, batting average, on base percentage, and a few more categories. They had no power, ranking ninth in home runs. Tamio Kimura had led the team with 27 homers (the only player with more than 20) and 108 RBI, but their first baseman Alberto Rodriguez led them in batting average at .327. They had a balanced lineup, but it was a bit weak at the bottom of the order, and their bullpen also had not been the best. The back end of the pen was especially blunt. While Ron Sakellaris had saved 42 games, he had only managed a 3.45 ERA.

Then there were the Scorpions. They had come out on top in the West, winning a league-leading 105 games. Even the third-place Pacifics would have at least tied the Rebels. They had led the league in runs scored as well as in runs allowed, with a +230 run differential. Their rotation was second to the Rebels’ only, and they also had a better bullpen. While they had lost Graham Wasserman (13-6, 3.90 ERA) to injury in August, their rotation still contained two 16-game winners in Ian Rutter and William Kay. The injury to Wasserman and that they had moved Noah Bricker to the bullpen to close games halfway through the season meant however that Dave Hogan (8-8, 4.56 ERA) moved into the playoff rotation. The lineup however was a real force. Except for catcher Chris Ramirez, every player in the lineup had either double-digit homers or had batted .320, with 3B Jason LaCombe batting .359 to win the batting title and CF Ray Meade blasting 23 home runs and plating 124. While they hadn’t been close to the league lead in home runs (ranking fifth), they had also led the FL in stolen bases with 155, led by Pablo Sanchez’ 42 and Ricky Luna’s 39.

Neither team had made the playoffs since 1999, and neither team had made them all too often. It was the seventh playoff appearance for Sacramento, but only the third for Richmond. These were two hungry teams for sure, although they both had already won a World Series. The Rebels had beaten the Raccoons in 1996, while the Scorpions had won the title in 1980 and 1995, beating the Thunder both times.

By all reason, the Scorpions should come out on top in the series, but never underestimate a team that has been on the outside looking in for 20 years. Since their last playoff appearance, the Rebels had finished last in the FL East five times, and had turned a winning record only seven times. However, the Scorpions should handle them well, in about five games.

+++

Rebels @ Scorpions … 2-6 … (Scorpions lead 1-0) … SAC Chris Ramirez 3-4;

Rebels @ Scorpions … 11-9 … (series tied 1-1) … RIC Alberto Rodriguez 2-3, 2 BB; RIC Tamio Kimura 3-4, BB, 2 HR, 5 RBI; RIC Will Bailey 2-3, BB, HR, 3 RBI; SAC Pablo Sanchez 4-4, BB, 3B, 2B, 2 RBI; SAC Jason LaCombe 3-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI;

The Rebels put up two 4-spots in the first five innings, and then just barely manage to not blow their resulting 8-2 lead.

Scorpions @ Rebels … 4-6 … (Rebels lead 2-1) … RIC Alberto Rodriguez 3-4, RBI; RIC Jamal White 2-4, 2 HR, 4 RBI;

Again the Rebels strike early and plate five runs in the first two innings off Dave Hogan (four runs are earned).

Scorpions @ Rebels … 7-5 … (series tied 2-2) … SAC Jonathan Marsh 2-4, BB, HR, 3B, 2 RBI; SAC Jason LaCombe 1-1, 2 BB, 2B, RBI;

Scorpions @ Rebels … 0-1 … (Rebels lead 3-2) … SAC Pablo Sanchez 3-4; SAC Ian Rutter 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, L; RIC Ian Van Meter 8.0 IP, 8 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 K, W;

The Rebels squeeze a run across in the first inning, and despite only getting three hits in the entire game, Van Meter holds off the Scorpions despite scattering eight of the little buggers, also whiffing eight, and the mighty Scorpions end up behind the proverbial eight ball.

Rebels @ Scorpions … 2-4 … (series tied 3-3) … SAC Ray Meade 3-4, RBI; SAC William Kay 8.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, W;

Rebels @ Scorpions … 3-2 … (Rebels win 4-3) … RIC Danny Flores 3-5, 2B, RBI; RIC Dave Butler 8.0 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W;

Jamal White’s 2-out infield single in the eighth inning can not be played in time by Chris Ramirez and Alberto Rodriguez scampers home from third base with the go-ahead and series-deciding run. Ron Sakellaris earns his fourth save in the series.

+++

2017 WORLD SERIES

After toppling the top seed Scorpions, the 93-69 Rebels would face the 102-60 Bayhawks in the World Series. The Rebels were in the Big Show for the second time, the Bayhawks for the third time, winning the title in 1999.

The Bayhawks had scored (a few) more runs than the Rebels, and had allowed almost 40 less runs than them. While the Rebels had the better rotation, the Bayhawks had the vastly superior bullpen, and it wasn’t hard to beat the Rebels’ outlandish defense. While the teams were roughly equal in many batting statistics, the Bayhawks had a huge upper hand in the power department. The only injured player for either team was SFB SP Manuel “Doom” Rojas, but the Bayhawks had done well without him in the CLCS.

The Bayhawks were considered the favorites for this series, not only thanks to their superior record, but also because they won that record in a winning division. But everybody had assumed the Scorpions to be here in the first place…

+++

Rebels @ Bayhawks … 7-1 … (Rebels lead 1-0) … RIC Danny Flores 3-5, HR, 2 RBI; RIC Ian Van Meter 8.2 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W and 1-2, HR, 2 RBI;

Van Meter does it all, almost spinning a complete before running out of juice, AND hitting a 2-piece off Joao Joo in the second inning to give his team the lead.

Rebels @ Bayhawks … 14-10 … (Rebels lead 2-0) … RIC Alberto Rodriguez 3-6, 2 2B, 4 RBI; RIC Tamio Kimura 2-4, BB, HR, 3 RBI; SFB Dylan Alexander 2-5, 2B, 4 RBI; SFB Will McIntyre 3-5;

Although the Rebels go up 12-4 after a 5-spot in the seventh inning, their bullpen almost explodes as the Bayhawks try to stage a wild comeback in an absolute bonkers game that sees 12 pitchers in the game, of whom nine end up being charged runs, and five end up with double-digit ERA’s after the game.

Bayhawks @ Rebels … 6-4 … (Rebels lead 2-1) … SFB Raul Claros 3-5, HR, 2 RBI; SFB Javier Rodriguez 3-5, 3B, RBI;

Bayhawks @ Rebels … 1-6 … (Rebels lead 3-1) … RIC Will Bailey 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; RIC Dave Butler 9.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, W;

Bayhawks @ Rebels … 1-2 … (Rebels win 4-1) … RIC Justin Cramer 2-3, BB, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; SFB Joao Joo 8.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 4 K; RIC Ian Van Meter 7.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K;

Thanks to Dave Garcia’s solo home run in the seventh inning, the Bayhawks almost have the series back in San Francisco until Ray Kelley allows a leadoff single to Will Bailey in the bottom of the ninth. Bobby Torres gets Bailey forced with a grounder, before Justin Cramer steps up. Cramer, a 29-year old middle infielder who only played his second full season in 2017 and batted .245 with eight home runs, cracks a 1-0 pitch to left center that ends the Bayhawks’ season with a death knell. The ball flies over 400 feet as the Rebels and their fans completely snap on the come-from-behind, walkoff home run.

2017 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS
RICHMOND REBELS
2nd title

[Westheim]

Before the offseason begins, here is a hearty look at the amount of misery in the CLCS, which I will leave uncommented and am still trying to forget.

[Westheim]

After Danny Margolis grounded out to Raul Claros, I have no memory of the next three days. I remember waking up in my suit that I seemed to have worn for four days, on my trusty brown couch in my office, and with a huge headache. The first thing I saw was Chad, sitting in the chair opposite of me and playing games on some huge widescreen TV I could not remember having in my office. When he noticed that I had woken up, he yelled through the open door: ‘Hey, everybody! He’s not dead yet!’

I lay motionless and didn’t say anything, because even moving my eyes hurt like being hit by truck with a load of bricks, but the spy Martinez and “Druid” Mena came in. Mena looked aghast at me sloooooowly looking over to him, while Martinez was visibly angry and cussed at him. ‘Te dije que todavía estaba vivo!’ When the Druid tried to say something – ‘Pero …‘ – Martinez only got angrier. ‘Dónde sentiste su pulso??’

All headaches go eventually, as do underqualified nurses, and by the next day I was alone in the office, except for Slappy, whom I was suspecting to secretly live in here anyway. Maud made me watch Game 5 of the World Series with Slappy, who was supposed to keep me company, but dozed off from boozing in the third inning. I blamed the extensive commercials.

It wasn’t like Justin Cramer (Justin who?) hitting that walkoff shot to dump the Baybirds didn’t lift my spirits. However, my spirits – the booze aside – were actually below freezing, and one odd longshot homer by Justin Dahmer wasn’t gonna give me back my smile. I had lost that in about 1997, a year in which Justin Flamer was in fourth grade. I find it funny, honestly, that he’s almost 30 and makes the minimum. It just shows you how baseball is. Baseball is cruel. First it was cruel to the Indians, who lost ten straight from July into August, including four to the Critters, and blew an 8-game lead that was assumed to be secure since the Raccoons played a losing July and didn’t look like they had a comeback in them.

Then it was cruel to the Raccoons, who somehow stalked over the aftermath of Wounded Knee, NY, and made it to the playoffs, won two games in San Francisco, and then came home to get razed.

Then it was cruel to the Baybirds, who looked like they couldn’t be stopped, and then found themselves down three games to one, but at least had the upper hand in a pitching duel until baseball threw a magical Justin Maimer at them and he ruined their season hard.

Seriously, WHO??

+++

The Raccoons’ 2017 budget had come in at $27M, which then had the Raccoons squarely in the middle of the league. Even the Mexican Prick had some rudimentary understanding of honor and success and given that the Raccoons somehow snuck into the playoffs felt compelled to fork over a few more coins. The 2018 budget for Portland would be $28.8M, enough to climb to 10th in the league and second in the division.

The most money in the North and in the league overall continued to be found with the Crusaders, who had a $43M budget, dwarfing everybody else. The top five would be completed by the Pacifics ($36.5M), Cyclones ($33M), Warriors ($32M), and – tied – the Rebels ($31.5M) and Bayhawks ($31.5M).

The bottom five would be composed of the Blue Sox ($20.5M), Aces ($19M), Loggers ($16.6M), Falcons ($15.6M), and Wolves ($14.8M).

In the North, the Canadiens ($27.4M) and Indians ($26M) formed a dense midfield with the Raccoons, while the Titans continued to soul-search and axed their budget down to $22.2M.

The average budget was $26.4M. The median budget was $26.9M for 2018.

+++

Now, $1.8M more sounds like something you can work with to patch a few holes, but there were two things to remember here. The first was that we had a number of escalating contracts, and the two most significant of these were those of Hugo Mendoza and Ricardo Carmona. Only accounting for those two, our budget increase was already eaten up – a paltry $100k remained.

What would not remain was pitching. As can be gained from the free agency and arbitration table below, we had a flurry of free agent pitchers, including everybody from the bullpen except for Alex Ramirez (oh joy!), Chris Mathis, Seung-mo Chun, and whatever it was we had in Ryan Nielson and Nick Lester.

Also free agents: William Waggoner (which we knew beforehand, and this is actually not too bad, because we can move Mendoza to rightfield a bit easier now), and Nick Brown. Brownie refused to accept that things were done and over and would try to squeeze another season from his body. This posed two new problems for the Raccoons, or more like me personally. One, I didn’t want him to go anyplace else, and two, keeping him aboard would perhaps cost some daft money, but more importantly would probably consign a roster spot to a 40-year old who was two years past his ‘best before’ stamp. It definitely didn’t work with butter, it probably wouldn’t work with Brownie, either…

There were of course expendables on the roster. Adam Young’s contract was actual thorns in my actual eyes, and getting rid of him was the top priority. Maybe he could be flicked for a cheap but strong reliever, which would swat two flies at once, but it’s not like trading Young has been on my mind for only five minutes. It feels like five years, really.

Whom to try and hold from the relievers? Ron Thrasher was always volatile, but he was poison to hitting nevertheless. He would also be the most expensive in the group. Jayden Reed bounced back from a horrendous 2016, and he would not be available for even close to $390k again. John Korb was decent as a long man, but you shouldn’t throw money at long men. It’s what your starting pitching prospects usually turn into.

Which is not an argument to give the spot to Damani Knight.

Also, normally, this would be a good time for a long term extension with Jonny Toner, but I fear money will be short for that.

Lots of tough choices ahead – cutting costs while at the same time field a playoff-contending team – and I don’t envy the poor sod who has to make them. Oh bother, it’s me, isn’t it? Ah…

Free agent compensation listed may not be final. I don’t trust OOTP anymore with the compensation distribution and I already see at least two renowned veteran starting pitchers that have yet to turn into sour milk and are not compensation-eligible. I need to do things manually once more here. But if you’ve made it through 41 years you probably know that I won’t cheat myself into six type A free agents.

And I still don’t actually speak Spanish and still use Google Translator.

[pgjocki]

I know it's devil speak but maybe this is when you manually retire Brownie...for his own good

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk

[Orcin]

Congratulations in advance (1,000 views to go) for passing me to be the #4 all-time in views on the dynasty forum. What a great run! You have really entertained a lot of us for a very long time, and I appreciate the effort that it takes to keep up this high-quality story.

P.S. You gotta sign Brownie.

[Westheim]

Oh what to do, what to do? A terrible offseason was ahead. We were just at the start of it, but right now the Critters didn’t figure to have much pitching for 2018. Sure, we had a tremendous 1-2-3 punch in Toner, Santos, and Abe, and probably there were 23 other teams that would give arms and legs to have those three on their roster, but to be fair we had nobody who was even a potential #4 starter in the system – I have no clue what ever happened to Chris Munroe – and the bullpen consisted of about three guys.

That’s where the Young-for-a-reliever idea comes from. Nobody needs Adam Young around here anymore. I am thoroughly full of him. Even odd William Waggoner soundly out-hit him in 2017, and when “Tiger” Mendoza wandered over mid-season, he normally got the short end of the stick compared to Waggoner. Now, Waggoner will be a free agent, but that doesn’t mean that first base is Young’s to come. I can’t stand his awful presence anymore.

And I know I won’t get a starting pitcher with all ten fingers for him, so I will not even try.

That trade would likely also reduce costs a bit, which was something that would be important, since we had under $2M available even without resigning either Thrasher, or Reed, or – heck! – Brownie. Starting pitching doesn’t come cheap.

Talking about positive things now, we have a damn fine lineup right now! Even with Waggoner departing and Young getting shunted, we still have this pretty thing:

CF Carmona – 2B Walter – RF/1B Mendoza – LF DeWeese – 3B Nunley – SS McKnight – [insert RF/1B here] – C Denny – P

A beauty! Mendoza gives us the flexibility to either sign a first baseman or a rightfielder, or even something different, a defensive centerfielder. We could get Cookie off his legs in center and move him to right, which could extend his longevity. Mendoza would play first then.

Backups are a different beast, admittedly, but we technically have the following players still available: Petracek, Johnson, Margolis, Bergquist, Duarte, Moya, Ochoa, and a few that are even lesser than those. Well, Petracek is that dirt-cheap super utility I dig so hard, so he will remain, and Johnson might have its uses. Margolis will not make the minimum anymore, and there is the shame of being the final out in the CLCS. We need to add at least one right-handed bat on the bench, and if we replace Margolis we’ll need two. The lineup was just not very impressive against left-handed pitching…

So do we continue to blow money on Margolis and Bergquist? They probably will not make more than $550k between them, and neither is very helpful in the big picture. However, we need a backup catcher anyway, and there is just no replacement for Margolis in the system. Tom McNeela will probably retire a Raccoon, which makes me sad, but he is not more than a hole filler. But we have really no particular use for Bergquist. That saves a quarter million bucks at least…

+++

Speaking of left-handed pitching, the first news that leaked out of our fridge was a contract extension signed with a certain Nicholas F. Brown. The Raccoons-Brownie Alliance would continue for a 24th season, coming at the modest price of $500k. Brownie had initially pretended to still wanting a 4-year contract, but that was a ruse, and he quickly signed a 1-year deal.

Having said that, I have no clue how to use him. Since starting pitchers don’t usually grow on trees, we might try him in the #5 slot, but I guess that this will turn ugly quickly. He could fill a combined role of a left-handed specialist and long man / spot starter, whatever is desired. In reality, his role might be dictated by what players we can sign otherwise.

Among the five other pitchers headed for free agency, we only made a move for two. Jayden Reed had outlandish demands after having rebuilt his value for merely $390k, but Ron Thrasher was willing to talk about a reasonable contract. Reed had requested $6.5M over five years, and you COULD think about him being worth that, but we already had a reliever making about that much per year (Ramirez), and weren’t too happy with him. Also, Reed was 33 already. Thrasher was 30 and we narrowed it down to a 3-yr, $2.25M contract, but I had to concede a player option for the third year in 2020 to him to get that much out of him.

Of course we still had a whole flock of arbitration casas that had to be taken care of. Most signed 1-year deals because we had to watch out to not blow out the 2019 budget (which will see the final raise for Cookie’s and Abe’s salaries). Matt Nunley signed for $660k; Mike Denny for $535k: Ronnie McKnight for $560k; and Shane Walter for $555k;

Not signed for one year, but for three was Chris Mathis, which would buy out one year of free agency. We could secure his services for $1M total, slightly escalating.

There were also some greater news. Last year, Jonathan Toner had wanted to sign a long-term contract, but the Raccoons had been unable to get his contract requests into our budget. This year was better. Jonny Toner was the best pitcher since … the invention of pitchers? … and we were able to lock him up through the 2023 season, which amounted to the last two years of team control and four years of free agency. He would make $1.2M in 2018, $1.5M in 2019, and then $2.5M to $3M for the last four years of the deal. In total, the contract was worth $13.5M. I consider that cheap. $2.25M per year for Jonny Toner? Talk about cheap.

Regardless of how cheap Toner comes, the Raccoons had used up their budget room almost completely with the various extensions. Adam Young getting moved was the only way to add pitching now.

+++

2017 ABL AWARDS

Players of the Year: SFW LF/RF Jose Morales (.333, 27 HR, 106 RBI) and SFB OF Dave Garcia (.294, 36 HR, 103 RBI)
Pitchers of the Year: RIC SP Ian Van Meter (16-7, 2.70 ERA) and POR SP Jonathan Toner (18-9, 1.94 ERA)
Rookies of the Year: SAC C Chris Ramirez (.267, 2 HR, 68 RBI) and LVA LF/RF/1B Matt Hamilton (.266, 17 HR, 76 RBI)
Relievers of the Year: LAP CL Arturo Lopez (7-5, 1.89 ERA, 46 SV) and NYC CL Helio Maggessi (3-2, 1.68 ERA, 42 SV)
Platinum Sticks (FL): P SAC Tim Winston, C LAP Errol Spears, 1B RIC Alberto Rodriguez, 2B DAL Hector Garcia, 3B SAC Jason LaCombe, SS PIT Tom McWhorter, LF SFW Jose Morales, CF LAP Jimmy Roberts, RF SAC Pablo Sanchez
Platinum Sticks (CL): P LVA William Hinkley, C SFB Dylan Alexander, 1B ATL Mike Rucker, 2B LVA Rich Walsh, 3B POR Matt Nunley, SS ATL Devin Hibbard, LF ATL Gil Rockwell, CF SFB Dave Garcia, RF NYC Winston Jones
Gold Gloves (FL): P NAS Matt McCabe, C SAC Chris Ramirez, 1B SAL Tony Avalos, 2B RIC Bobby Torres, 3B NAS Antonio Esquivel, SS PIT Tom McWhorter, LF LAP Garrett Amundson, CF SAC Ray Meade, RF DEN Julio Candela
Gold Gloves (CL): P BOS Jose Fuentes, C ATL Ruben Luna, 1B TIJ Adrian Quebell, 2B SFB Zach Ingraham, 3B NYC Miguel Salinas, SS ATL Devin Hibbard, LF MIL Chris LeMoine, CF IND John Wilson, RF TIJ Craig Abraham

Jonny wins his second Pitcher of the Year award after 2015. He has also in the last four years led the league in ERA and K/9 three times and in WHIP twice.

+++

The “F” stands for Furbush.

I have been told.

That may not actually be true. He is secretive about it.

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by Orcin

Congratulations in advance (1,000 views to go) for passing me to be the #4 all-time in views on the dynasty forum.

I don't even want to know how many of those are mine given that I sometimes look into the thread myself about five times a day. Once in the morning with my coffee, when I post in the evening, and a couple of times in the office when I'm just flatout bored.

Originally Posted by Orcin

What a great run!

In terms of endurance, certainly!

Funny how some casual and very half-hearted Sunday afternoon dabbling with the league setup screen led to almost five actual years of desperate attempts to patch the lineup...

Originally Posted by Orcin

You have really entertained a lot of us for a very long time, and I appreciate the effort that it takes to keep up this high-quality story.

... which has changed totally since the thread started. I don't even want to look at the first years anymore. And not just because the Original Coons were horrendous.

Also, for someone who hasn't made a good decision in 41 years, this is a great tool to look at back at the 187th instance where the points got set for disaster with this signing or that trade.

Adam Young, I swear, if he doesn't disappear in an instant, I have to choke him.

Originally Posted by Orcin

P.S. You gotta sign Brownie.

Signed and delivered. Now we'll watch him deliver 86mph fastballs.

[Papi]

"Signed and delivered. Now we'll watch him deliver 86mph fastballs."

Better than watching him deliver those pitches for someone else!

[plaugher]

Very happy to see this forgettable "lefty with a slider" go the duration with the Coons.

[Westheim]

Danny Margolis was awarded $260k in salary arbitration. The player had demanded $410k. A serious case of bipolar disorder, if you ask me, or does he actually believe that he is going to be paid remotely close to McKnight and Walter and the lot?

Jason Bergquist was not offered a deal and was granted free agency.

Meanwhile, word of R.J. DeWeese being a real skunk has reached Mexico. Gabriel Martinez appeared out of thin air in my office the day after eligible players filed for free agency to inform me that Senor Valdes was not happy with the way that Senor DeWeese was behaving himself and that he had to be removed immediately. I don’t know whether the fact that the certified dick makes $3.3M a year has anything to do with it. But given the sheer size of that contract ($16.5M left to pay) and the inadequate production it gave us in 2017 I consider my chances to trade him for a nice, productive person rather slim.

And while it is true that DeWeese hit 25 homers and drove in 100 last year, he also had an OPS of merely .762 – less than Brandon Johnson.

And while I was sitting here and making up arguments for or against this and that, Chad – in full mascot costume – came in giggling, glaring at his smartphone. ‘Boss, you gotta see that’, it mumbled from beneath the giant raccoon head that barely fit through the door. ‘DeWeese made a really funny tweet’.

Now, I can’t repeat what he twattered or whatever that newfangled crap is called, word for word, here, and we made him delete it within the hour, but I started to see why the Mexican Prick was so into getting him outta here. Nobody likes being compared to what’s left of a burrito when it passes through the dog that ate it.

So while that was raging, I was trying to get a grasp on some free agent pitching, but to facilitate THAT I had to get rid of Adam Young first, and oh wonder, takers were hard to find. You know how an outfielder that maybe hits a little but makes more than a little money is really hard to move sometimes? Yeah, try that with a first baseman.

There really weren’t a lot of teams that could casually shove a seven-figure deal into their budget without it ripping open top to bottom at the start of the offseason, especially with all the bidding going on. You were probably looking at a contending team with money and an opening. The Rebels had lost Alberto Rodriguez to free agency after their upsetting World Series triumph, so the opening was certainly there. All I had to do was to find a package negligible enough for the Rebels’ GM Mariano Garcia not to realize that he was getting fleeced.

+++

November 13 – The Miners trade for 32-yr old C Raúl Hernandez (.245, 28 HR, 324 RBI), sending SP/MR Ron Funderburk (52-55, 4.09 ERA, 22 SV) to the Stars along with #76 prospect C Matt Harry.
November 19 – The Stars trade for the Raccoons’ 28-yr old 1B Adam Young (.301, 101 HR, 493 RBI) and unranked prospect AA OF Guadalupe Ramirez, leaving the Raccoons with a pair of 31-year old relievers in Jason Kaiser (7-6, 3.29 ERA, 2 SV) and Chet Cummings (5-6, 4.12 ERA, 3 SV).
November 22 – The Crusaders ink ex-DEN 3B/2B Jens Carroll (.297, 73 HR, 815 RBI) for 2-yr, $4.88M.
November 22 – The Warriors sign ex-POR MR Jayden Reed (47-39, 3.62 ERA, 110 SV) for one year and $710k. The Raccoons receive a supplemental round pick.*

+++

The deal with the Stars includes so many failed players that BNN actually put the picture of Ramirez on top of the site on which they reported it. That says something about Young. Not that Ramirez is much of a prospect. Calderón had found him some years ago and had been fond of him, but Ramirez hadn’t batted much at all above single-A.

The pair of relievers is certainly not going to help a contending team. They were both 31 years old and had barely seven years of major league experience between them. Cummings, a right-hander had pitched to a 5.73 ERA in just 22 innings in 2017, had a walk habit and on top of that tended to allow hard fly balls. He had spent his age 24-28 seasons on the Wolves and had only made it into 59 games in those five years, so that’s that.

Kaiser was probably the more promising player. He was a southpaw, and our resident Archangel Gabriel considered him a potential starter. He had actually started games for the Rebels in the last three seasons, six in total, with another 25 starts in the minors in the same time frame. Command was also not his strong suit, but he is said to be a bit of a drill sergeant and might clean up in that clubhouse if he manages to survive the offseason without getting flipped for a better guy.

With Kaiser here, we now have two left-handed pitchers that could either start or end up hidden in the bullpen.

We’re still over a week removed from the rule 5 draft, and we need to get more pitching as well as retool our bench (non-lineup players left on the expanded roster: Petracek, Duarte, Ochoa, Moya, Johnson), plus, first base is currently open. We have one offer out there for a veteran starting pitcher of the Bruce Morrison mold with a horrendous home run record, but we need to be cheap for the back end of the rotation.

+++

* The original arbitration screen listed him as not compensation eligible, but I went over the free agents and made several adjustments. I would have assigned both Reed, Thrasher, and Brown as type B’s (Brownie had been type A), but we signed the latter two to new deals. There were some real blasphemies in there, like Sam McMullen being a type B and “Dingus” Morales being not compensation eligible at all.

Also, this is not a very meaty update for a Sunday, but unseen remain the 15 hours (it feels like that!) I spent looking for a deal for Adam Young… thank the baseball gods they didn’t interfudge and that drama is over!

[Westheim]

The week through to the rule 5 draft passed silently. I was trying to pull some strings behind the scenes, but failed to achieve anything tangible.

It was hard to trade players since the Raccoons were so top heavy and had a tough time filling their numerous holes. A dazzling 45% of our budget was tied up in just seven players: DeWeese, Tiger, Santos, Abe, Cookie, Ramirez, and Jonny Toner. At the same time we had no bullpen to speak of and were forced to move Alex Ramirez back into the closer role since a different closer would just not fall from heaven in time for Opening Day, and Mathis and Thrasher had failed just as badly in the role.

Who’s after Mathis and Thrasher – the setup guys for sure now – in the bullpen? Well, Seung-mo Chun is still here and he was pretty decent for us, and then it’s into the Will Wests of the world. Nielson, Lester, Kaiser, Cummings. The odd candidate in AAA; and never mind that we still had an open spot in the rotation, no money to fill it, and that is assuming that either Kaiser or Brownie occupy the #5 hole.

+++

November 27 – The Condors sign ex-DEN 1B Mun-wah Tsung (.276, 241 HR, 989 RBI) to a 3-year deal. The 35-year old veteran will receive $7.12M as part of the deal.
November 27 – The Crusaders acquire OF Sean Young (.294, 42 HR, 238 RBI) from the Thunder in exchange for INF Eric Paull (.245, 31 HR, 183 RBI) and an unexciting prospect.
November 28 – 32-year old ex-BOS/NAS 2B Jose Gutierrez (.301, 13 HR, 348 RBI) finds a new home; the Canadiens sign him to a 4-yr, $6.8M contract.
November 30 – The Crusaders add pitching in 33-yr old ex-PIT SP Tom Weise (139-126, 3.57 ERA). The right-hander’s contract is worth $4.98M over three years.
November 30 – Free agent pitcher Shunyo Yano (72-64, 3.72 ERA) makes it onto his third FL East team in 2017, signing a 2-yr, $6M contract with the Rebels after spending time with the Cyclones and Capitals previously.
December 1 – Rule 5 draft: 15 players are selected in two rounds. The Raccoons are not affected.
December 1 – Former Warrior CL Angel Casas (30-30, 1.88 ERA, 526 SV) signs a 3-yr, $4.86M contract with the Pacifics.
December 1 – The Indians pick up 1B/3B/RF Ruben Landeros (.227, 6 HR, 41 RBI) from the Loggers. The price for the 25-year old right-handed batter are two fairly longshot prospects.
December 2 – The Canadiens also sign former Titans rightfielder Ezra Branch (.265, 101 HR, 420 RBI) to a 4-yr, $6.48M contract.

+++

There were no even remotely interesting players in the rule 5 draft.

Next up are the winter meetings, where I will not be able to do a whole lot. There were no medium-tier players on this team that you could flip somewhere else to patch a hole. If you want, the medium-tier players, you know, the guys that are pretty decent to quite good and who don’t make millions and can easily be accommodated into most team’s budgets, were limited to at best a handful of guys. Pretty decent to quite good I’d call these:

Nunley, McKnight, Walter, Thrasher, Mathis, Chun. That’s it. That list is sorted down, from quite good to pretty decent, and it includes only six players. Three of those were relievers, and we needed relievers bitterly. The other three were middle infielders, and if we traded any one of them, we’d tear a new hole that needed patching.

This completely raided farm system is finally catching up with us. Ignore for a moment the fact that outside of Nunley, McKnight, and Walter we have no first baseman unless Mendoza sticks there. The following five players are to be considered our bench and depth on the infield:

INF/OF Brian Petracek
INF Ricky Moya
1B/3B Tyler Scott
2B Bryan Bingham
INF/LF Brock Hudman

Hudman is 27 and batted .256 with no home runs for the Alley Cats last season and is clearly the eighth-best infielder on the depth chart. (AA 1B Michael Wilkerson, a 2015 supplemental rounder, is the only prospect that Gabriel Martinez has any faith in right now) Some pitchers (Danny Arguello, Mike Rehbock, Adam Cowen) and outfielder Andy Bareford – an excellent defensive centerfielder – aside, the Coons’ system completely lacks appeal. Which is a mild description for a burnt-out orphanage in Transylvania with some of the abandoned kids still stumbling through the ruins in search of something edible.

… and Bareford batted .273/.348/.385 as a 22-year old in St. Petersburg last season, so it’s not like Neil Reece reborn is gonna chip in any time soon. Besides, where to play him? We’re kinda booked in the outfield.

Nope, we have to buy all the missing pitching, a first baseman, and a restuffed bench with what little money we have, which right now amounts to roughly $2M. Given that we gotta get about six players for the money, this might turn out to be an interesting challenge.

And already we regret letting Jason Bergquist go… Don’t get me wrong, the Raccoons’ lineup might be one of the best in the league, even if we put a standing lamp at first base, but if anybody gets hurt – Cookie, put down the knife; we’re not letting you cut your bagel yourself! – at any point, things will unravel in a hurry. – Cookie, I warn you, put the knife away or I must slap it out of your paw!

We’re so ****ing doomed.

+++

Elsewhere, there was just one more ex-Coon that signed with a new team this week, Manobu Sugano inking with the Gold Sox for $230k. Pretty damn cheap but he comes off major surgery.

By the way, did you know that this Jose Gutierrez guy that is now on the damn Elks is a former Coon as well? Originally discovered by the Condors in their own backyard in 2002, he was well-travelled as a demi-prospect, and wound up in Portland in a pretty irrelevant trade in March of 2006. The price for him was Curt Cooks. Who? The catcher Cooks had 39 AB for the Raccoons and batted .179 over those, while Gutierrez was used to patch holes on the infield in 2007 and 2008, getting 172 AB for which he batted .218. He ended up traded to the Wolves after the season as one of two negligible pieces required for a Rob Howell Reunion – a sad notion in itself – and even on the perpetually lousy Wolves he didn’t break out until he was 28 in 2013. And breaking out is a bit of a hysterical description. He translated a few years of batting modestly as a starter for a bottom-dwelling team and two campaigns of roughly an .800 OPS in his early 30s with the Titans into a deal that will allow him to live comfortably for the rest of his life, and we oughta be a happy for him. When you get your first shot in the majors after being traded for a ****ing Raccoons third-string catcher, every dime you make is a like a big-time lottery win.

[Westheim]

The Hall of Fame ballot is out there. There are four former Raccoons on there, none eligible for induction as a Raccoon, but remember that these guys had their peaks somewhere around 2000, and that was not a good time...

In fact, the four players only spent a combined 9 1/2-some seasons with the Critters, the bulk of which is contributed by Antonio Donis, whom we never knew how to use properly, and who is a HOF case where the statheads will yell at another on those internets until they're blue in the face. I continue to find it baffling that he couldn't cut it as a starter in his 20s, but then won three Pitcher of the Year awards in his 30s, and not only in his 30s, but in his age 34, 38, and 39 seasons!

Side note: Donis was traded to the Gold Sox (with two other then-borderline major leaguers) for Carl Bean, whom the Raccoons used for just long enough before they let the Loggers and Bayhawks suffer from his demise.

Is he a Hall of Famer? Heck, how would I know? I traded Dennis Fried for a bratwurst in a bun ...