Portland Raccoons (ABL)

[Westheim]

Raccoons (31-18) @ Knights (31-18) – May 27-29, 2019

The Knights and Raccoons were even in record, and the ABL rulebook states that this can not be, so they had to play each other for three games in Atlanta. The Coons had swept the Knights in the first 3-game set between teams this year, and were on quite the hot streak. Not that the Knights were crummy, but as usual they were almost all offense and little to no pitching, ranking first in runs scored in the Continental League, but fifth in runs allowed, with the starters’ ERA of 4.29 the fourth-worst mark in the CL.

Projected matchups:
Tadasu Abe (5-1, 2.56 ERA) vs. Leon Hernandez (2-3, 3.51 ERA)
Hector Santos (5-3, 2.64 ERA) vs. Felipe Ramirez (1-4, 7.20 ERA)
Damani Knight (1-1, 4.82 ERA) vs. Roberto Garcia (5-1, 4.64 ERA)

Those were all right-handers; we’d miss their southpaw, Danny Martin (4-1, 2.06 ERA), who certainly would have cruised to a W if he had been put up against the Critters. The Knights had one starter on the DL in Drew King, and Leon Hernandez had nursed a bum shoulder recently, but would start the Monday game anyway. Both teams lacked their starting centerfielder; Marty Reyes (.275, 6 HR, 20 RBI) was out with a quad strain.

The Knights’ middle of the order had plenty of oomph, with Ruben Luna’s ten and Gil Rockwell’s sixteen home runs. They led the CL in dingers.

Game 1
POR: RF Carmona – SS Walter – C Denny – 1B Mendoza – LF DeWeese – 2B Mathews – 3B Nunley – CF Bareford – P Abe
ATL: RF Mims – 2B Hibbard – C Luna – 1B Rockwell – 3B Esquivel – CF Walrath – SS T. Jimenez – LF Phillip – P L. Hernandez

Walter walked and Mendoza singled in the first, and DeWeese hit a double past Jeffrey Walrath. The ball didn’t make it to the wall, and Walrath made a perfect throw back in, with Mendoza thrown out at home by the cutoff man after Walter had scored safely for the first run of the game. While the Critters went on to starve pairs of runners on base without scoring when the second and third inning both ended on line drives scorched right into some guy’s mitten, Abe was perfect the first time through the Knights’ order, whiffing two. Abe doubled with two outs in the fourth inning, becoming the first runner in the inning, and then was sent around third base when Cookie singled to center. Walrath’s throw again left nothing to be desired, and Abe was also out at home. The bottom of the fourth transpired into something that will one of these days kill me. Kyle Mims led off with a double past DeWeese, and Devin Hibbard walked. While Ruben Luna hit into a double play, Abe lost Rockwell to a full-count walk, putting two on for veteran Antonio Esquivel, who chipped a slow roller into play. Denny tried to make a play at first, was too slow, and the tying run scored before Walrath, the ugly ratface, cranked a 3-run homer to right to put everything upside down. The Raccoons, outhitting the Knights 8-3, were now trailing 4-1. Things would get worse yet, although they superficially got better when the Raccoons needed another three hits for one run in the sixth inning, this one driven in by Bareford with a single to right. Cookie opened the top of the seventh with a double to left, sliding headfirst into second base, on which he would then knee down, threw away the batting gloves and tried to scratch something from his eye, which didn’t work quite that well. The Druid hustled out to rinse the eye involved with benzene, an old family recipe, I assumed. While the irritant was ultimately removed without eye removal surgery, Cookie still had to leave the game with some (certainly!) temporary blindness. Petracek ran for him, but was still on second base with two outs after two poor groundouts by Walter and Denny, right to the pitcher. Hernandez lasted one more batter, walking Mendoza, but when DeWeese came up with the tying runs on, the Knights blinked and put in lefty Jayden Maness. Jackson batted thus for DeWeese, walked, and Joey Mathews’ infrequently useful bat was now in this key spot, and he struck out on three pitches. Abe appeared in the bottom 7th, put only put runners on the corners with singles by Clint Phillip and Jose Jimenez. Ron Thrasher inherited runners on the corners and choked the next three Knights to come up, keeping the score at 4-2, which was not the end of the line, however it only wasn’t that for Wade Davis’ inability to retire anybody in the bottom 8th. He faced three, three singles were hit, and the Knights got another run before Boynton cleaned up. The Raccoons’ reduced 1-2-3 went down in order in the ninth. 5-2 Knights. Carmona 2-4, 2B; DeWeese 2-3, 2B, RBI; Bareford 2-4, RBI;

Ronnie McKnight did not appear in this game, leaving Hugo Mendoza as the last raccoon-man to feature in all of the team’s games this season.

Mena’s snake oils here or there, Cookie would sit out the Tuesday game with an eye that was suspiciously red and looked like it wanted to devour somebody on the team. He’d end up sitting in the dugout wearing some protective space goggles, and everybody made fun of him.

Game 2
POR: 2B Walter – RF Jackson – SS McKnight – 1B Mendoza – C Denny – LF DeWeese – 3B Nunley – CF Bareford – P Santos
ATL: SS T. Jimenez – 2B Hibbard – C Luna – 1B Rockwell – 3B Esquivel – CF Walrath – RF Messer – LF Phillip – P F. Ramirez

Also fun: the Coons’ first inning, in which they scored three runs on two hits, two walks, and a hit batter. Both hits were triples to right, knocked by McKnight (plating Walter, who had been hit with the first pitch of the contest) and DeWeese (scoring McKnight and Mendoza from the corners with two outs). It did not take long for the Knights to also find the scoreboard, with an Antonio Esquivel walk and the ugly Walrath’s double putting two in scoring position in the bottom 2nd. Clay Messer scored a run with a groundout, and Phillip was only a reserve, but batting .353 in limited action, so he got four wide ones with first base open. Ramirez was retired on a soft fly to left to end the inning.

The score remained 3-1 through five innings, but watching Santos you couldn’t help but notice that he was searching for both soul and the zone, and was behind on most hitters. Through five, he had but one strikeout, hanging a K on Ruben Luna to end the third. While he had been perfect the second time through the order, there was a certain defensive factor involved, and this 3-1 lead could blow up without warning… Better add some runs then! DeWeese fouled off a couple of pitched to start the sixth before whacking a leadoff jack just fair inside the right foul pole, this one coming at 0-2, and stretched the lead to 4-1. Bareford would hit a double, but ended up stranded in the inning, while Santos faced the 1-2-3 batters, with Tony Jimenez flying out to left, Hibbard flying out to right, and Luna hacking for another strikeout. The next inning, Esquivel hit a single to center with one out. True, that was only the third hit off Santos, but it was a solid line drive and the alarm went off when Walrath flew deep to right center, despite Bareford hustling over to make the catch in time. When Clay Messer singled, Jason Kaiser was ready to face Phillip, a switch-hitter with splits suggesting that he liked to hurt right-handed hurlers. Kaiser whiffed him, ending the seventh. Mathis had a perfect eighth before handing it off to Ramirez with a 3-run lead, and Ramirez right away walked Luna, who had been completely overmatched against even a reduced Santos, and then gave up a near-bomb to Gil Rockwell, who was denied an extra-base hit onto the track by DeWeese’s nimble paws. Esquivel flew out to deeper-than-comfortable center, manned by Bareford, and Walrath grounded out, thankfully. 4-1 Critters. DeWeese 2-3, BB, HR, 3B, 3 RBI; Santos 6.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, W (6-3);

Game 3
POR: RF Carmona – 3B Walter – SS McKnight – 1B Mendoza – LF DeWeese – C Margolis – 2B Mathews – CF Bareford – P Knight
ATL: RF Mims – 2B Hibbard – C Luna – 1B Rockwell – 3B Esquivel – SS T. Jimenez – CF J. Jimenez – LF Keller – P R. Garcia

Absolute replacement level pitching’s chance encounter with the best run machine in the game went exactly like one might imagine, with the Knights – who had been held to very little offense despite the 4-spot on Abe on Monday – hitting the ball to the nether regions of the ballpark routinely off Damani Knight, who consistently challenged his outfielders, and sometimes the fence. Jose Jimenez hit a 3-piece in the bottom 2nd, the only scoring in three innings, and things were bad enough that the itch was there to bat for Knight in the FOURTH inning when the bases were loaded with two outs. Wellllll, it’s still a bit early, dontcha think? Knight batted, chipped the first pitch to shallow right for a single, and two runs scored, with the Critters tying the score on Cookie’s subsequent single that plated Bareford from second base, 3-3. Walter walked, but McKnight grounded out. The joy was brief and soon murdered on Tommy Keller’s 2-run shot to left after Damani had walked the previous offender, Jose Jimenez, in the bottom 4th. Keller and Jimenez now had two homers between them on the season.

Roberto Garcia didn’t get the W, but that was mainly because he was removed after 4.2 innings of constant traffic that nevertheless rarely dissolved in the Raccoons’ favor. Knight made it through five innings, but not without allowing a solo shot to Luna in the bottom 5th, falling behind 6-3. He was hit for in the sixth inning with Nunley, who batted with one out and nobody on and sent a drive to left center. Keller couldn’t get it and Nunley had a double, falling onto second base with obvious leg pain and rolling over the ground in agony while maintaining one claw on the base. Petracek was inserted as pinch-runner for the second time in the series, while Nunley was dragged off the field with a sling around the ankle of his non-busted leg, and again Petracek didn’t score.

Top 7th, the Coons loaded the bases with the tying runs and no outs. In sequence and wholly off righty Luis Calderon, the Coons had a McKnight single that extended a 10-game hitting streak, Mendoza getting nicked, and a walk drawn by DeWeese. Margolis was certainly struggling recently, but hit a liner to shallow center for an RBI single to keep the line moving, and when Mathews dipped an 0-2 pitch into left center for a 2-run single the game was suddenly tied at six. Jayden Maness replaced Calderon, but first thing threw a wild pitch to Bareford to move the go-ahead run (Margolis) to third base with STILL nobody out. Bareford ran a full count before grounding to the right side and past a lunging Rockwell, whose main strength had never been and would never be defense, and the Coons took the lead on the RBI single, 7-6! The Knights continued to melt; while Eddie Jackson pinch-hit and struck out, Cookie hit an RBI single, then pulled off a double steal with Bareford. Walter was walked intentionally to get to the streaking McKnight, who split Mims and Jose Jimenez for a 2-run double into right center! The Coon were now in double digits after a 7-spot in the seventh, another intentional walk being given to Mendoza now to restock the bases with one out for DeWeese, who now hit against the lefty Maness, hit a 1-2 pitch to left and got away with a sac fly at least. Eric Rasmussen replaced Maness, a righty, but surrendered another run on another RBI single by Margolis before Mathews flew out to Tommy Keller to end a 9-run seventh inning! At 12-6, the game should be more or less over, but the bullpen took a few flesh wounds before collecting the last nine outs of the game. Chun logged five outs, but surrendered a run in the seventh, and Kyle Mims homered off Kaiser in the eighth, but the Knights stayed out of save range as the Coons took both this series and the season series thanks to their colossal comeback. 12-8 Raccoons! Carmona 4-6, 3B, 2 RBI; McKnight 2-6, 2B, 2 RBI; Margolis 4-6, 2 RBI; Mathews 2-4, BB, 2 RBI; Bareford 2-4, BB, RBI; Nunley (PH) 1-1, 2B;

The Druid guesses that a heartbroken Matt Nunley will miss at least four weeks with a strained hamstring, so he will take a trip to the DL.

In general, there were two ways to fill his spot on the team; you could either move Shane Walter to third for the duration and primarily look for a second baseman in AAA or mix stuff up with the remaining infielders on the team, none of whom had gotten much playing time (with Mathews, Lafon, and Petracek having 126 at-bats between them), or you could check in on the third base situation in the minors. Tim Prince would be an interesting option to give another chance if he hit anything in AAA, but he didn’t, batting .231 with two homers and a .642 OPS. That was a good investment!

The only mildly sensible replacement among infielders was 24-year old Dan Riley, our seventh-round pick in the 2013 draft. He had been included in the ill-fated deal with the Bayhawks for Adam Young, but had washed out of that organization a year later. Spending ’17 with the Gold Sox, we had taken him on again off the trash heap in January of 2018. He was batting right-handed and .262/.371/.396 with three homers in 46 games this year, and was a sure-handed defensive middle infielder with no power and no speed. He was certainly also serviceable at third base, but Shane Walter would be the better defensive option there. So, Riley was called up to make his major league debut six years after being drafted, and would mix in with the other three infielders for playing time at second base.

Raccoons (33-19) @ Titans (20-34) – May 31-June 2, 2019

Calling the Titans a mess was probably justified. They were in last place in runs scored, second from the bottom in runs allowed, and there were not a whole lot of bright sides. Their rotation was *okay* with a 4.02 ERA that was more or less league-average, but all the good things they occasionally did were routinely dismantled by a tire fire of a bullpen that ran a 5.08 ERA, the worst in the league. This was the third series between the teams in 2019, with the Coons holding a 4-2 edge in the season series.

Projected matchups:
Cole Pierson (4-3, 3.14 ERA) vs. Rick Ling (3-3, 3.53 ERA)
Jonathan Toner (6-2, 2.87 ERA) vs. Dave Priest (0-5, 5.28 ERA)
Tadasu Abe (5-2, 2.85 ERA) vs. Jose Diaz (2-4, 5.59 ERA)

Left-handed pitchers will be on either end of this series for the Titans, so this might be a challenge to the Raccoons’ lineup… DeWeese had been fairly warm in the last few days, and I would roll the dice and play him in the series opener at least.

Jonny Toner would vie for his 100th win against the last-place Titans on Saturday.

Game 1
POR: 3B Walter – RF Jackson – SS McKnight – 1B Mendoza – C Denny – LF DeWeese – 2B Mathews – CF Bareford – P Pierson
BOS: 2B Humphres – 3B T. Thomas – RF Almanza – 1B S. Butler – C T. Robinson – LF Nickel – CF Cesta – SS M. Rivera – P Ling

Mike Denny tried to dispel a 1-for-30 spell with a leadoff single in the second inning, but was soon washed up in DeWeese’s double play grounder to Robby Humphres, who had led off the bottom 1st with a single to left, but had been stranded right there on first base. Denny was charged an error in the third, dropping a foul pop by Rick Ling, who ended up flying out to center, so no actual harm was done other than three extra pitches on Pierson, who allowed mostly soft contact the first time through a lifeless last-place lineup. The Coons didn’t exactly set Ling on fire, either, and Pierson appeared in trouble when Chris Almanza lined into the rightfield corner with one out in the bottom 4th, ending up with a triple. Steve Butler worked a walk in a full count before Tim Robinson flew to center. Bareford came in on that one and was carrying good speed before unleashing a murderous throw to home plate, perfectly place for Denny to tag out Almanza to end the inning.

In one of baseballs odder developments, DeWeese would scorch a liner to right to lead off the fifth inning. Humphres stood somewhere near, but to the first base side of the liner and had the very smart idea to reach for it with his bare hand. Good for him: he caught it. Bad for him: it hurt like ****. He left the game, actually bleeding from a gash on the inside of the hand. DeWeese was out, as was the bloody ball. Mathews would hit a double, but was stranded like everybody else… No, it was the Titans to eventually break out. Pierson had spent only 50 pitches in 5.1 innings before encountering the top of the order for the third time. Craig Dasher singled, and in a sudden development that nobody saw coming, the Titans would put another four batters on base without Pierson retiring any. Tom Thomas singled off the top of McKnight’s glove, Almanza and Butler had RBI singles, with Almanza thrown out on the base paths for the second time on the latter, and Pierson walked Tim Robinson before Justin Nickel flew out to right, leaving the Titans 2-0 ahead.

Top 7th, and the Critters had the bases loaded with one out. Ling had walked Mendoza leading off, followed by a Denny single to left and another walk to Mathews. Bareford was the batter and we kinda needed a sizable knock here. Bareford fell behind 1-2 before hitting a ball to right, with Almanza racing back and reaching up, but the ball went past his glove by a few feet and went all the way to the fence as Andy Bareford emptied the bases with a 3-run triple! Pierson hit a sac fly to score Bareford, 4-2 Critters, but would not get through the seventh inning himself. Mike Rivera hit a 1-out double and was on third after Ling grounded out. Boynton replaced Pierson for the right-handed top of the lineup, striking out Dasher to end the inning. Boynton however retired nobody in the eighth, allowing Thomas on with a single and Almanza on four balls. Thrasher was broken out, with Butler flying out to left, but after that he completely melted and walked the next three batters to tie the score, before Mike Rivera lifted a sac fly to center to give the Titans a 5-4 lead, the first earned run against Thrasher this year.

The Titans had a sorry excuse for a closer batting in the ninth in left-hander Nestor Munoz, who was 1-4 with a 6.11 ERA in 17.2 innings. DeWeese’s spot led off, but he was 0-for-3, and we sent Cookie to pinch-hit. Cookie split Jimmy Roberts and Jonathan Blake in the outfield and cruised into third with a leadoff triple. He was the tying run, so with nobody out this was a trivial exercise… for the Titans’ Munoz. Mathews popped out. Bareford struck out. Danny Margolis popped out. 5-4 Titans. Denny 2-4; Carmona (PH) 1-1, 3B; Bareford 2-4, 3B, 3 RBI;

Oh, **** you lot. Just … just get out of my eyes. Useless ****s.

Game 2
POR: RF Carmona – 3B Walter – SS McKnight – 1B Mendoza – CF Bareford – LF DeWeese – C Denny – 2B Mathews – P Toner
BOS: 2B F. Reyes – CF J. Roberts – RF Almanza – 1B S. Butler – C T. Robinson – 3B T. Thomas – LF Blake – SS M. Rivera – P Priest

Cookie opened the game with a triple – hooray! Then Walter did something stupid, and McKnight did something stupid, and just before I would have gone down with a brain aneurysm, Mendoza doubled to center to FINALLY ****ING SCORE COOKIE. Bareford singled to plate Mendoza, 2-0, stole second, but was stranded by DeWeese grounding out. Jonny Toner would then come out and immediately **** up the 2-0 lead against the worst offense in the league, surrendering singles to Jimmy Roberts and Steve Butler before he also allowed a 2-run double to Tim Robinson, and that was after Frank Reyes had chased Cookie back into the nether regions of rightfield. In a start that he was divinely destined to somehow lose in the most horrendous way we could not yet imagine, Jonny Toner managed the quirk of hitting Mike Rivera with a 1-2 pitch, one out, and nobody on … twice; in the second and fourth innings Rivera got the free, but painful base, and never made it past second base, but neither did Jonny Toner reach 100 K for the year until he whiffed Frank Reyes to end the fourth, his third K on the day, compared to five hits and a few more drives that would have liked to be extra-base knocks.

Jimmy Roberts drawing a leadoff walk in the bottom 5th was perhaps the signal that this 2-2 tie was toast. We just had to wait for Robinson to come up with two outs and he whacked a homer to left that gave the Titans a 4-2 lead. Angry Jonny struck out five of the next six batters, but the damage was done and the morbidly inept lineup that the Coons had brought failed to get more than ONE hit off Dave Priest, a totally unremarkable right-hander, in the six innings that followed their 2-run first. The ****ing baseball gods were laughing tears at this one, with rain starting in the bottom 7th and forcing a delay in the top of the eighth with Cookie and Walter on base against Priest and a 3-0 count to McKnight with one out. I was totally expecting the game to be called, but it wasn’t and when play resumed, McKnight hit the very next pitch into a double play. The ninth inning would feature the Titans’ actual closer, Harry Merwin, for the 4-5-6 batters, and even Merwin was ill-suited for the job with his 3.46 ERA and a knack to walk batters. The Raccoons hit three groundouts in seven pitches. 4-2 Titans. Bareford 2-4, RBI; Petracek (PH) 1-1;

(sits in a dark corner of the hotel lobby with a bottle of booze barely hidden under a Raccoons cap with bite marks, and stares glumly through the windowfront into the nightly rain outside)

(takes another sip from the bottle)

HEY! WHADDAR Y-YOU LOOKINATT??

(tries to throw the cap, but falls from the chair and starts to cry)

WHYYYY… (sob) … WHYYSS LIFE SO HAAARD…!!??

Game 3
POR: LF Carmona – CF Bareford – SS McKnight – 1B Mendoza – RF Jackson – 3B Walter – C Margolis – 2B Riley – P Abe
BOS: 2B F. Reyes – CF J. Roberts – RF Almanza – 1B S. Butler – C T. Robinson – 3B T. Thomas – LF J. Avila – SS M. Rivera – P J. Diaz

After Jackson walked on four pitches in the second, Shane Walter’s 2-run homer to center was the Critters’ first base knock in the game and once again sat them ahead 2-0, not that that had ever ended nicely. The Titans had a hit in each of the first three innings, and in the third they had two to get going, with both Reyes and Roberts reaching on terrible bloops in 2-strike counts for a pair of singles that put them on first and second. Abe was still going through his pockets in search of his 9+ K/9 stuff and conceded one run on productive outs, but remained 2-1 ahead for now. The Critters wound up with the bases loaded in the fourth inning after Mendoza’s single to center and walks drawn off Diaz by Eddie Jackson and Danny Margolis. The bad news were that this brought up the debutee Dan Riley with two outs. Riley had grounded out in his first career at-bat, now struck out.

Nobody else reached base until McKnight hit a leadoff double to the warning track in left center in the sixth inning. The Raccoons needed that run real bad; Mendoza grounded out to first, advancing the runner, before the Titans walked Jackson intentionally, which was certainly an interesting choice given that Shane Walter so far was responsible for all the Critters (two!) runs. He had also been responsible for the last (two!) outs in the 2018 CLCS, so maybe that played into the Titans’ thoughts. Of course it would have been nice for them if Diaz had found the strike zone. He didn’t walked Walter with his fifth free pass of the game, but all that did was bringing up another double play candidate in Margolis, who somehow had glue for feet. But occasionally he’d chip one; at 0-1, Margolis snipped a soft line to shallow center that was always going to be in and allowed the runners a flying start; two runs scored on the single, and the lead was bolstered to 4-1. Riley flew out to center, Abe grounded out to short to end the inning. Bareford hit a 1-out double in the seventh, after which reliever Mat Stone struck out McKnight, but didn’t quite get Mendoza, who rammed a shot to right center and OUTTA HERE!! Up to 6-1, Abe almost would have worked around a leadoff double by Jose Avila in the bottom of the inning, but lost Reyes to a 2-out walk in a full count. He was visibly exhausted and Boynton was sent to deal with PH Justin Nickel, batting .256 with a homer. Nickel tried to hit his second, but popped to shallow left – and that was danger! Cookie misjudged it, then had to ignite the afterburners to make it to the shallow ball, catching it knee-high before sliding on his belly all the way to the edge of the infield. McKnight also hadn’t gotten any good read on that ball…

Problems continued unabated for the Raccoons’ staff, with Boynton continuing in the eighth after the Coons went down 1-2-3 and didn’t bring his spot up in the top of the inning. He issued walks to Almanza AND Butler to start the inning before Robinson eagerly struck out and Tom Thomas hit into a 6-4-3 pain relief double play. **** wasn’t over; Desi Bowles struck out DeWeese hitting for Boynton to start the ninth, then was 0-2 on an 0-for-4 Cookie before drilling him square in the right forearm. Cookie went down, clutching his wrist area and rolled over once while I was heading for the bar for a seventh drink in the management suite in which I was easily standing out with my colorful words of encouragement for my players, which were consistently barked over any business or golfing conversation going on in the room. The Druid collected the remains of Cookie, who was run for by Petracek – A FREQUENT OCCURRENCE RECENTLY. Petracek stole second, made it to third on Bareford’s single, and scored on McKnight’s groundout for an extra run. Bottom 9th, Ron Thrasher was in to do away with three left-handed bats at the bottom of the order. On five pitches, Jose Avila, Mike Rivera, and Mike Cesta hit three hard-bouncing grounders for a single, another single, and a double play. Thrasher trashed? After Frank Reyes’ RBI double, Wade Davis had to bail out Ron Thrasher which had happened about zero times before. PH Dan Hoover flew out to right, ending the game. 7-1 Blighters. Bareford 2-5, 2B; Mendoza 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Jackson 0-1, 3 BB; Abe 6.2 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, W (6-2);

In other news

May 28 – Loggers and Falcons poke at another for 19 innings on a cold Milwaukee night. The Aces only manage seven hits in their eventual 2-1 defeat, with MIL OF/1B Chris LeMoine (.281, 12 HR, 44 RBI) hitting a walkoff homer off Michael Colvard (0-2, 8.15 ERA) to end the game after five and a half hours.
May 28 – TIJ 3B/2B Carlos Martinez (.305, 10 HR, 37 RBI) will be out for six weeks with a small tear in his labrum.
May 28 – The Crusaders walk off against the Condors in 12 innings, 2-1, on an error by TIJ 3B Jens Carroll, one of five ABL games ending in walkoffs on this Tuesday, and by far not the oddest one. Elsewhere, the Wolves walk off in regulation, 4-3, against the Capitals when WAS CL Ben Marx (2-3, 2.35 ERA, 13 SV) drills Tony Avalos with the bases loaded in the bottom 9th.
May 29 – Aces and Canadiens play two games’ worth of innings plus change in Vancouver, engaging in a 21-inning slog that could have ended in 13 innings if the teams hadn’t scored two runs apiece back then. Fringe player VAN LF/RF/1B Jonathan Pruitt (.231, 0 HR, 5 RBI) ends the game with a 2-out RBI single, plating Mike Desan, off Las Vegas’ Stephen Quirion (1-2, 1.71 ERA) to win it for Vancouver, 5-4. Desan (.279, 5 HR, 31 RBI) has four hits in the game, while Pruitt has three. The Aces’ leadoff man Armando Martinez (.257, 1 HR, 11 RBI) goes 0-for-10. The night game lasts just over six hours and doesn’t end until 4:12am ET.
May 29 – The Falcons roll over the Loggers in a 14-1 romp, although it’s not much of a romp until the Falcons plate seven runs in the ninth inning.
May 31 – ATL 1B Gil Rockwell (.288, 17 HR, 44 RBI) enters the exclusive 300 HR club with a 2-run homer off Charlotte’s Michael Colvard in the Knights’ 11-3 win over the Falcons. Rockwell has four hits in the game. The 34-year old career Knight with the big stick and small glove has led the Continental League in home runs for six straight seasons, hitting in excess of 40 each time. With some issues to make contact at times, he is only a .273 batter for his career, but 300 HR and 865 RBI will help gloss over many things. Rockwell is a 4-time All Star and 4-time winner of the Platinum Stick award.
May 31 – LAP SP Ernest Green (5-3, 3.38 ERA) twirls a 2-hit shutout in a 6-0 Pacifics win over the Scorpions.
June 2 – SFW LF/1B Gil Gross (.279, 10 HR, 34 RBI) will be shut down until the All Star Game with recurring back spasms.

Complaints and stuff

Wretched and rotten week. AND I GOT NO MORE BOOZE!!

According to the Druid, Cookie’s arm is not broken, which he read in the coloration of the huge bruise Desi Bowles’ 0-2 pitch left on the forearm. But how much damage exactly has been done we’ll not find out until the Druid can subject Cookie to the machine that makes invisible lightning.

Those are HIS words, not mine!

We’ll play the Crusaders for four once we’re back home in Portland, so this is a splendid time for some decrepit ragdoll long reliever on a last-place team to throw a pitch right through the brittle limb of our leadoff hitter. **** DESI BOWLES. **** HIM … A MILLION TIMES.

Matt Nunley’s hamstring – blessing in disguise? That is a blasphemous question that nevertheless needs to be asked… Even with the double that put him out of action, he was batting a miserable .189/.220/.263, and without the hamstring the question soon would have had to be whether he wouldn’t be better off if he tried to get rid of the curse in St. Petersburg.

I will miss his defense, however.

And yes, every time Shane Walter bats with someone on first base and less than two outs, I get a flashback to the double play that ended the CLCS.

Everything is endless misery. Please help me affix this end of the rope to the hook in the ceiling.

[Westheim]

2019 DRAFT POOL ANALYSIS

Heading into the #22 pick in every round of the 2019 draft and nothing else, the Raccoons were hoping for at least one future All Star to spring from their eventual draft class. Having combed through the draft pool, we had selected 96 players for our shortlist, and of course there was also the hotlist that we would probably don’t get anybody from, coming right up after the next paragraph.

There are players for almost every need in the draft pool, with a huge number of promising pitchers and a sizeable collection of catching prospects as well, and we will have to talk about one of those later on. Outfielders were well represented, and the only thing that was probably missing was a third baseman with offensive potential.

And now, the hotlist (*indicates high school player):

SP Doug Moffatt (14/15/11) – BNN #7
SP Nick Salinas (14/13/16) – BNN #6
SP Mike McGill (12/10/11) * - BNN #9
SP Tony McDonald (11/12/13) *
SP Robert O’Brien (12/12/16) *

CL Jon Ozier (20/12/14)
CL Erik Schoonover (19/14/11)

C Mike Burgess (15/14/17) *
C/1B David Lessman (11/12/13) *

INF/LF/RF Rich Hereford (9/13/9)
1B Kevin Harenberg (12/14/8) – BNN #1
SS Tim Stalker (11/10/9) – BNN #10

RF/CF Josh Woods (10/13/13) * - BNN #3
RF/LF/CF Omar Larios (10/10/14) – BNN #4

We might be able to draft a closer at #22, which worked out in the past, and nothing else usually works out with Raccoons first-rounders. If Andy Bareford (2013) manages to stick around and starts to have himself a career, he’ll be the first Raccoons first-rounder to amount to anything in the short or long run since Jimmy Oatmeal, and that was some kind of drama after we took him in the first round in 2006.

I would like to have Rich Hereford, who is severely underscouted by Martinez when I look at the numbers, and this seems to be a general problem right now; Martinez hates people even more than me, and every scouting report is generally scathing of the player in question. He can really talk Jonny Toner into the ground, he’s got some talent for that.

There is one player that needs more talking about, and that is David Lessman, who is a strong hitter with oomph, a good catcher behind the plate, and also is a top-level pitching prospect, doing dual duty for his high school in East Greenwich, RI. Throwing right-handed, but batting left-handed, the 19-year old Lessman can not only whip the ball with the stick, but also with his paw. He throws 91mph with a cutter, curveball, and splitter, with the curveball having the biggest potential. He does have some control issues with all pitches, but which 19-year old doesn’t? Now, it is unlikely that Lessman falls to #22, but if he would, how would the Raccoons handle that?

If you get a whack at a dual player with good-to-great potential either way, shouldn’t you always go for him? If the pitching doesn’t work, maybe the catching will, and if his arm, which is average at best, doesn’t convince you, Lessman also friggin’ plays first base! There are a million ways to use the kid, and if he drops to #22, it would be hard to get past him.

The draft is not until the *next* weekend; the Raccoons still have to play a few games before they get there.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (34-21) vs. Crusaders (30-25) – June 3-6, 2019

Playing the ugly bunch from New York has not been among my favorite pastimes in quite a while now, even though the Purple Poopers are old and weak, for the most part. They were four games out in the North, would come into Portland for four games, and the signs were quite bad. While the Crusaders themselves were not scoring at all, ranking second from the bottom in runs tallied in the Continental League, they were also not giving up a whole lot of runs, and ranked second in runs allowed. Any good pitching staff had the potential to completely phase out the Raccoons’ lineup… The Crusaders had taken two of three in the first meeting between these teams in 2019.

Projected matchups.
Hector Santos (6-3, 2.52 ERA) vs. Tom Weise (3-4, 2.82 ERA)
Damani Knight (1-1, 6.91 ERA) vs. Brian Benjamin (3-5, 3.78 ERA)
Cole Pierson (4-3, 3.10 ERA) vs. Manuel Ortíz (3-3, 4.48 ERA)
Jonathan Toner (6-3, 3.06 ERA) vs. Hwa-pyung Choe (3-4, 4.87 ERA)

There were plenty of good news, however. First, those were all right-handers, and second, we’d miss “Midnight” Martin (7-2, 1.87 ERA) *unless* the Crusaders would skip Benjamin, which they could to after an off day on Thursday. Third, a bunch of offense was on the DL for them, including ****ing Ray Gilbert, Ron Richards, and Manny Cruz, who were all old and all had their issues, but the bottom of their order looked quite pathetic. Even B.J. Manfull, who protected Martin Ortíz all those years, was batting .216 with one measly dinger.

Next year, folks, next year they’ll be back with an all new crew. But this year, they’re quite frankly terrible.

The Raccoons were short-handed to begin the series, with Cookie feeling discomfort in his forearm after getting plunked by ****ing Desi Bowles on Sunday. No structural damage was reported by the Druid, so Cookie was perhaps back in the lineup as soon as Tuesday.

Game 1
NYC: 3B J. Carroll – LF Mar. Ortíz – 2B S. Valdez – 1B Manfull – C Roland – CF J. Wilson – SS Casillas – RF Woods – P Weise
POR: 3B Walter – CF Bareford – SS McKnight – 1B Mendoza – RF Jackson – LF DeWeese – C Denny – 2B Lafon – P Santos

The Crusaders had a single off Santos, but nothing more, in each of the first three innings. The first serious scoring opportunity arose in the bottom 3rd, which Roland Lafon opened with a single before Cory Roland misplayed Santos’ bunt, trying to get the lead runner out, and got nobody. Walter flew out to center, but Bareford walked to load the bases for the middle of the order. McKnight struck out on three pitches, but Mendoza got hit by frequent opponent Tom Weise and the first run of the game was shoved in. On the next pitch, Eddie Jackson hit a drive to deep center on which John Wilson robbed him of extra bases and a flush of RBI’s. The Crusaders didn’t reach third base until the fifth inning; Brent Woods hit a 1-out double to right and advanced on a balk even before Tom Weise could bunt him to third. Weise ended up making the second out with a pop to Mendoza, with Lafon making a strong play on a really slow grounder by Jens Carroll to end the inning.

The Critters struggled to add anything to their two hits and their lone run. While Santos pitched seven shutout innings, the Coons only got their third hit in the bottom 6th with Jackson singling to right with two outs, only for DeWeese to deWhiff, and in the seventh Denny hit a leadoff single, but got forced on Joey Mathews’ grounder when Mathews hit for Santos. Walter walked with two down, but Bareford grounded out and the score remained flimsy at 1-0. Chris Mathis had a clean eighth, and Jackson had another 2-out hit in the bottom of the inning, doubling into the leftfield corner, but DeWeese again didn’t come through, grounding out to Sergio Valdez. The ninth inning saw the 2-3-4 batters up, all left-handed. Despite his recent struggles, Ron Thrasher was assigned the save opportunity. He walked Martin Ortíz on four pitches right away before whiffing Valdez. Manfull grounded out, moving Ortíz to second. Thrasher remained in the game to face the right-handed Roland, and blew the game on a line drive to right center for an RBI single. Weise pitched nine innings without getting a decision as the game went to extras at 1-1. The miserable Raccoons drew two walks off starter-turned-closer Brian Doumas in the bottom 10th, but couldn’t get the winning run home, and in the 11th Carroll opened with a leadoff double off Wade Davis. Kaiser replaced Davis, couldn’t keep the run on base, and the Raccoons were sent spinning by Valdez’ sac fly. Lafon drew a leadoff walk in the bottom 11th, but Dan Riley struck out and Walter flew out. Bareford snuck a single past Carroll with two outs, but that still only got Lafon to second base, where he remained with McKnight fouling out behind home plate to end the game. 2-1 Crusaders. Jackson 2-4, 2B; Margolis (PH) 1-1; Santos 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K;

Great, now we have to officially declare Thrasher broken, too. Is there anybody on this roster not broken as heck? What’s that there? Oh, Damani Knight is next. Oh wonderful. We need more baseballs, because a whole bunch will be hit into the Willamette here…

Game 2
NYC: 3B J. Carroll – LF Mar. Ortíz – 2B S. Valdez – 1B Manfull – C Roland – CF J. Wilson – SS Casillas – RF Woods – P Benjamin
POR: RF Carmona – CF Bareford – 3B Walter – 1B Mendoza – SS McKnight – C Denny – LF DeWeese – 2B Riley – P Knight

Cookie was back in the lineup and right away hit a triple in the first inning, scoring on Bareford’s grounder to short for the first run of the game. Walter got plunked by Benjamin, setting in motion a chain reaction that left the Crusaders hurler weeping uncomfortably soon. Mendoza and McKnight both hit singles to load the bases before Denny bypassed Brent Woods’ glove for a 2-run double. DeWeese hit a soft line over Manfull for an RBI single before getting picked off, but Dan Riley drove in the fifth run with a liner to left center that back in his heydays in the Age of Bronze (or probably even earlier), Martin Ortíz would have caught. This one was in, Riley’s first career base hit and RBI, and the Coons had a 5-0 lead after one inning. AND they had Damani Knight on the mound, so there was no reason for them to ever stop scoring…

Knight ****ed up right away; Cory Roland and Tony Casillas both hit singles, and with runners on the corners Knight first threw a run-scoring wild pitch to Benjamin, then conceded a 2-out RBI single to Benjamin on a hard liner to left. The Crusaders had the tying run at the plate with nobody out in the third after Ortíz’ leadoff double and Valdez hard RBI single to right. Valdez was caught stealing by Denny, but Knight walked B.J. Manfull anyway. Cory Roland was retired on a magnificent catch by Cookie in right center, and the score was down to 5-3. At least the Critters got the hint. Mendoza hit a leadoff jack in the bottom 3rd, 6-3, and Denny’s single and Riley’s walk put two on for Knight, who in one of those bizarre things that occasionally will happen in a ballgame knocked out Benjamin with an RBI single past Casillas to make it 7-3 with two outs. Knight barely made it through five innings with the 7-3 lead, with his outing in next-guy-on-you-gone mode then. He got through the sixth perfectly on three fly balls to DeWeese. Reliever Tom Nelson walked the bases full in the bottom 6th, but then caught a liner by Shane Walter and got Mendoza on a fly to right to end the inning. Damani ended up going six and two thirds before Carroll singled to center, with Kaiser replacing him and getting Ortíz on a grounder to Riley.

Kaiser got two more outs in the eight before yielding to Jeff Boynton with the right-hander Roland appearing. Boynton retired nobody, issuing 2-out walks to Roland and Wilson. With this suddenly a save situation, Alex Ramirez came in, walked Casillas to fill the bases, and then also walked Woods to shove in a run. PH Rob Morris struck out, but I was wondering why the **** things were going like that anyway. Ramirez did end up with the save, but not without not getting into a single good count in the ninth and allowing a 1-out double to Martin Ortíz… 7-4 Raccoons. Mendoza 2-4, HR, RBI; Denny 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; DeWeese 2-4, RBI; Riley 1-2, 2 BB, RBI;

Game 3
NYC: 3B J. Carroll – LF Mar. Ortíz – 2B S. Valdez – 1B Manfull – C Little – CF J. Wilson – SS Casillas – RF S. Young – P Man. Ortíz
POR: RF Carmona – CF Bareford – 3B Walter – 1B Mendoza – SS McKnight – 2B Mathews – LF DeWeese – C Margolis – P Pierson

Danny Margolis retired three Crusaders on foul pops behind home plate the first time through their order, which was only part of a sorry hitting display by both teams in the Wednesday game. The Crusaders managed only two hits in five innings against Pierson, and while the Coons had four in the same amount of outs, they had just as much to show for it thanks to Bareford getting caught stealing, Mathews hitting into a double play, and Margolis getting picked off first base. Things were shaken up dramatically by Jens Carroll’s leadoff triple into the leftfield corner in the sixth inning. Pierson, having only one strikeout through five innings, had little to offer in terms of resistance and conceded the run on Martin Ortíz’ sac fly. Morgan Little’s single and Tony Casillas walking put two on with one out in the seventh, but Jasper Holt’s bunt was thrown to third by Mendoza for the out on the lead runner there. Pierson still crapped out, allowing an RBI single with two outs to Manuel Ortíz, sending the Crusaders up 2-0. The 35-year old Ortíz, who spent almost a decade with the Falcons without ever getting noticed by me, continued to befuddle the Raccoons. While Hugo Mendoza did reach on an infield single in the bottom 7th, he also left the game afterwards with a barking knee. Petracek was used to pinch-run for a fallen Critter for the fourth time in ten days. As usual, he was left on base. Martin Ortíz homered off Pierson in the eighth – his first home run of the season, and the 376th of his career. Down 3-0, the Coons visibly weren’t going anywhere.

DeWeese worked a leadoff walk in the bottom 8th and advanced on a wild pitch, then scored from second on Margolis’ single to right. Jackson pinch-hit for Seung-mo Chun and walked, putting the tying runs on base, but Cookie flew out to Martin Ortíz for the first out, and Bareford flailed out. Shane Walter came up and did markedly better, sending a liner to center that John Wilson had to lunge for, but he missed it, merely knocking the ball down, but it bobbled out from underneath him. Margolis scored, Jackson was waved around with the tying run and was safe – we’re even! Then Petracek singled to center, and in a rush of euphoria we sent Walter, and of course he was thrown out by Wilson… Neither team managed to break through in the ninth, with Mathis collecting five outs before that thick left-handed area of the order appeared again. Thrasher was called on and retired four of five batters between the 10th and 11th, striking out three and only allowing a single to Little, who was not a left-handed batter. Doumas was pitching in the bottom 11th and found trouble; he walked Petracek with one out, then conceded a single to McKnight. The #6 spot held Thrasher, who was hit for by Mike Denny, who struck out in a full count before DeWeese popped out to short on the first pitch he saw.

As the game ran longer than appreciated, Jeff Boynton was in to bear the brunt of time and innings. He got through two alright, got zero support, then allowed a 1-out single to Wilson in the 14th. Wilson stole second base and took third on Margolis’ errant throw, then scored on Ryan Dawson’s groundout to short. The Coons put McKnight on base with a leadoff walk drawn off Pedro Alvarado’s animate corpse in the bottom 14th, but Dan Riley pinch-hit right into a double play. DeWeese even came up with a ****ing double, but Margolis struck out to end the game. 4-3 Crusaders. Walter 3-6, 2B, 2 RBI; Petracek 1-2, BB; Margolis 2-6, RBI; Pierson 7.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 1 K; Mathis 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K; Thrasher 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K; Boynton 3.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, L (4-1);

****ing bunch of losers…

In more news I don’t need, Hugo Mendoza had some kind of knee inflammation and was unavailable for the last game of this set and probably also for the weekend. While that tore another hole into an already terrible lineup, Mendoza was the one off worst, because he had to wear a bandage hand-knitted from slimy blue algae by the Druid…

We made a roster move, sending 1-for-8 Dan Riley back to AAA to bring up Russ Greenwald and his .805 OPS to make a few starts at first base while Mendoza was incapacitated. Greenwald batted .118 in ten games last season.

Also, the bullpen called. Jonny, you need to go deep today.

Game 4
NYC: 3B J. Carroll – SS Casillas – 2B S. Valdez – 1B Manfull – C Roland – CF J. Wilson – LF S. Young – RF Woods – P Choe
POR: RF Carmona – CF Bareford – 2B Walter – SS McKnight – C Denny – LF DeWeese – 1B Greenwald – 3B Petracek – P Toner

Toner stalked around a 2-out triple by Valdez in the first, but was less lucky in the second. He walked John Wilson, who scored on Sean Young’s double to right center, and when Brent Woods grounded to third, Petracek skidded a throw through the dirt that undressed Greenwald for a run-scoring error, giving the Crusaders an early 2-0 lead. Toner very obviously didn’t have it, surrendering a huge 2-out double do B.J. Manfull in the third inning as well. Roland struck out to end that frame, and the Raccoons actually showed life in the bottom 3rd. Petracek opened with a double between Woods and Wilson, and then Toner singled to left, putting the tying runs on the corners with nobody out. Cookie had gone 0-for-6 in the hellacious Wednesday stink affair, and had lined out real hard to Wilson to start the Coons’ first to increase everybody’s frustration. Here, he rolled a ball for about 25 feet. Choe pounced on it, but was carried towards the third base line and got nothing on the throw to first, where Cookie was safe, but Petracek had held the fort at third base, resulting in no run scoring, but three on and nobody out – the worst spot to be in with the Raccoons batting… Promptly, Andy Bareford struck out. The moaning in the stands came too soon, however, because the Critters would cream Choe for five runs in the inning on two big rips, first Walter with a bases-clearing double to right, and then Denny with a 2-piece outta leftfield, 5-2 home team.

Toner needed 77 pitches through five, so he would probably not go very deep. While we were hoping for at least seven and no funny accidents along the way, the Crusaders bizarrely walked Greenwald intentionally with one out and Denny on second in the bottom 6th. Nothing came of the Coons having two on between Petracek and Toner taking turns at-bat, with Choe still holding out despite the 5-point whammy in the third. Choe was hit for with Martin Ortíz in the seventh, with Ortíz becoming Toner’s tenth strikeout victim, but before that Sean Young had hit a leadoff jack to get the Crusaders back to within two runs. Thankfully the Coons found a bit of offense of their own in the bottom 7th. Cookie drew a leadoff walk from lefty Francisquo Bocanegra, then stole second with Roland being a no-show, dropping the ball. Bareford was walked intentionally despite nursing a 2-for-18 illness in the series. Walter hit a deep fly to center that was caught by Wilson, Cookie tagging and going to third, from where he scored when McKnight singled up the middle into center. With Wilson’s ill-advised throw to third base, where Bareford was easily arriving, McKnight moved up to second, which opened first base for Denny to get put on intentionally, which pulled up Eddie Jackson as pinch-hitter for DeWeese, because – no. Just no. Jackson lined out to Casillas for the second out, but when Bocanegra had Greenwald at 1-2, he took the term “wipeout pitch” a bit too literally and threw it right into Greenwald’s rib cage, forcing in a run before Petracek flew out to center.

Toner ached and wobbled through the eighth inning with a blip of bad luck and a bag full of good luck. Casillas led off with an infield single that Walter cut off near the edge of the warning track, but couldn’t get a throw off in time. After Valdez popped out to shallow left for Cookie to make a hustling grab, Manfull was hit by Toner’s first pitch. That made Roland his last batter before a string of left-handers would appear, and lo and behold, Roland sent a textbook grounder to McKnight for a 6-4-3 double play and outta the madness. Chun would do away with the left-handed batters in the ninth, a mild gamble to rest the southpaw relievers that paid off. 7-3 Critters. Walter 3-4, 2 2B, 3 RBI; Denny 1-2, 2 BB, HR, 2 RBI; Toner 8.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 10 K, W (7-3);

Thankfully Toner gutted one out here, and made the very most of 108 pitches.

Raccoons (36-23) vs. Warriors (22-37) – June 7-9, 2019

The Warriors were unusually crummy and in last place in the FL West, which was normally reserved for the Wolves. They had lost five straight, and ranked last in many offensive categories in the Federal League, including runs scored overall. Their pitching was so-so, with a bottom three rotation and a decent bullpen, averaging out to the fifth-most runs allowed in the FL. They had a number of injuries to their starting lineup, including ex-Logger Mike Rucker (.227, 8 HR, 31 RBI) who had gone down earlier this week with a broken thumb, outfielder Gil Gross (.279, 10 HR, 34 RBI), and also RF/2B Stephen St. George (.245, 1 HR, 18 RBI).

These teams hadn’t met since 2015, when the Warriors won the series with two out of three.

Projected matchups:
Tadasu Abe (6-2, 2.72 ERA) vs. Fernando Cruz (2-5, 4.13 ERA)
Hector Santos (6-3, 2.30 ERA) vs. Samuel McMullen (4-5, 5.21 ERA)
Damani Knight (2-1, 6.00 ERA) vs. Jose Acosta (2-7, 4.30 ERA)

Bad news: we will face back-to-back left-handed pitchers to start the series. Also: what the heck happened to Sam McMullen!? The 2016 CL Pitcher of the Year was getting murdered outright, with a severely diminished K/9 rate and plenty of homers leaving the park. McMullen was only 30 years old so there might be something wrong with him. The Warriors sure hoped that this would bend itself back in somehow, because they were on the hook for another $15.76M after this season…

Game 1
SFW: LF Kerwin – SS J. Wilson – RF Bednarski – C Luckert – CF Price – 1B Fletcher – 2B Pelles – 3B Case – P F. Cruz
POR: LF Carmona – 3B Walter – RF Jackson – SS McKnight – C Denny – CF Bareford – 2B Mathews – 1B Petracek – P Abe

Mike Bednarski was batting .318 with four homers coming into the set, which did not sound like anything that would surprise me too greatly, and was the third out in Abe’s quick 1-2-3 first. Shane Walter was the first baserunner of the game, kind of. He grounded up the middle, Ruben Pelles cut the ball off and threw to first, where Walter, who had lost his helmet in his hustle, collided with Dave Fletcher, taking an elbow to the temple. Walter went down and remained down, and if Petracek hadn’t already been in the game, he’d have to pinch-run now. Walter was led off the field taking one slow step after another with his eyes closed. Petracek moved over to third base, and Greenwald replaced Walter in the game. The Critters would load the bases on Jackson’s walk and a Fletcher error that put on Denny, but Bareford popped out. The Warriors kept making errors; Dan Case threw away Mathews’ grounder to start the second inning, Mathews moved up on Petracek’s groundout, then scored on a wild pitch by Fernando Cruz. An inning later, Greenwald romped a 427-footer off Cruz, leaving the park in a hurry via left center, to make it 2-0.

Both teams would have two on with two outs in the fourth inning. Jarrod Luckert and Zach Price had hit 2-out singles, but Fletcher struck out to strand them. Mathews and Petracek were on for the Raccoons. Abe struck out, but Cookie hit a liner up the rightfield line for a 2-run double, 4-0, and to hopefully dispel a demon or two. After five very controlled innings, Abe was really in trouble in the sixth. Jamie Wilson hit a leadoff single, and Bednarski walked on four pitches, but then Luckert hit one sharply to McKnight for an easy double play. Abe wound up walking Price in a full count, but then erased Fletcher mercilessly with his fifth strikeout of the game. Abe held up through seven, after which ex-Critter Zack Entwistle struck out Cookie to open the bottom 7th, but then loaded the bases with walks to Greenwald and McKnight around a Jackson single to left. Mike Denny raked the first pitch to left, and this one was a bomb right off the bat. GRAAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAMMMMMM!!!! Abe got two more outs in the eighth inning, but walked Bednarski. Kaiser got a fly to center from Price to end the inning, and Wade Davis would get three grounders to the left side in the ninth to end this in shutout fashion. 8-0 Furballs! Greenwald 1-2, BB, HR, RBI; Denny 2-4, HR, 2B, 4 RBI; Abe 7.2 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 6 K, W (7-2);

Shane Walter was diagnosed with a concussion, but like Mendoza was not disabled. He already felt a bit better on Saturday, although he was hardly in a condition to play a ballgame. He was officially listed as day-to-day and we didn’t expect him to play for the rest of the weekend. The Raccoons were in a tight spot now; with both Walter and Mendoza occupying roster spots without being able to play, they only had three men left on the bench at least for the next two games.

For now, at least the back-to-back southpaws were broken up by the Warriors, who sent Ken Harris (2-3, 3.81 ERA), a right-handed pitcher, into the middle game.

Game 2
SFW: LF Kerwin – SS J. Wilson – RF Bednarski – C Luckert – CF Price – 1B Fletcher – 2B Pelles – 3B Case – P Harris
POR: RF Carmona – CF Bareford – SS McKnight – C Denny – LF DeWeese – 1B Greenwald – 2B Mathews – 3B Petracek – P Santos

Santos allowed no hits the first time through and got staked to a 1-0 lead on a solo bomb by DeWeese in the bottom of the second. Petracek hit a leadoff single in the third, but both Santos and Cookie got the preceding Critter forced out at second base. Cookie stole his 12th base, but was left on when Bareford grounded out to Pelles. McKnight led off with a single in the fourth, stole second as well, then came home when Denny got a ball through Dan Case for an RBI double, 2-0 the score then, but the Coons got it to 3-0 when Greenwald singled through between Wilson and Case to chase home Denny. The Warriors were still struggling to get anything off Santos, logging no hits through five innings, but the Raccoons kept swinging away against Ken Harris. Cookie opened the fifth with a single to left, and Bareford doubled off the fence in center. Cookie had to hold short of second base initially because Price made it a very close play in deep center and got a favorable bounce, keeping Carmona from scoring initially, at least until McKnight’s sac fly to left, and Denny followed up with a sac fly to right, 5-0.

Santos’ no-hit bid ended leading off the sixth when Dan Case reached on an infield single somewhere, nowhere between Santos, Petracek, and McKnight. That runner never got off first base, while the Critters added another run in the bottom of the inning, Mathews getting on and scoring on Cookie’s 2-out single. Of all people it turned out to be Mike Bednarski’s destiny to break up Santos’ shutout with a solo homer in the seventh inning. Santos didn’t get further, using 102 pitches to complete seven frames, but it was nevertheless a job tremendously well done, and this time the wiggling room was a bit bigger for the pen. Chun, Thrasher, and Davis would combine for the last six outs, allowing only one runner between them. 6-1 Raccoons. Carmona 2-5, RBI; McKnight 2-3, RBI; DeWeese 3-4, HR, 2B, RBI; Mathews 2-3, BB; Jackson 1-1; Santos 7.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (7-3);

Alex Duarte came off the DL for Sunday. Sadly, especially with the two walking dead on the roster, the only way to solve this right now was to send Bareford back to AAA. Maybe this was a good point to do that; he had suffered through a rotten week. We will try to figure out a way to get both of them onto the roster, although, should Duarte not pick it up from his slow start to the season, Bareford could also replace him outright.

Game 3
SFW: LF Kerwin – SS J. Wilson – RF Bednarski – C Luckert – CF Price – 1B Fletcher – 2B Pelles – 3B Case – P S. McMullen
POR: RF Carmona – 1B Jackson – SS McKnight – C Denny – CF Duarte – LF DeWeese – 3B Petracek – 2B Lafon – P Knight

The Coons went up 1-0 in the first thanks to a Cookie double and two well-placed groundouts by Jackson and McKnight, and freefall for the Warriors continued in the second inning. Duarte singled in his first at-bat off the DL, and DeWeese cranked a homer off the southpaw McMullen to run the score to 3-0, his first homer off a southpaw since 2017. Maybe the more alarming stat for Sioux Falls compared to a 3-0 deficit was the fact that Damani Knight faced the minimum through three innings, allowing only a walk to Ruben Pelles that dissolved in Case’s double play grounder. Jamie Wilson singled with one out in the fourth, a soft line to center, but the Warriors didn’t make anything out of that, either. Nobody else reached through six for the Warriors, with Damani, the flimsiest excuse for a starting pitcher, nursing a 1-hitter.

McKnight and Duarte got into scoring position with one out in the bottom 6th. McMullen plated a run with a wild pitch, but DeWeese and Petracek didn’t get Duarte in. The score was 4-0, with Jamie Wilson grounding out to start the seventh, but then Bednarski and Luckert hit singles through the infield to encroach on Knight. Suddenly, the ground was on fire, especially with a left-hander up, even if Zach Price was batting only .210. Knight pitched to him, walked him, and now we were in the ****. Knight was out pronto, with Chris Mathis replacing him as we hoped for a strikeout against Fletcher. We very much didn’t get that. Fletcher hit a sac fly to center, which was basically acceptable. What was not acceptable was the 3-run bomb Mathis surrendered to Ruben Pelles. That one tied the score at four, and the Raccoons had to begin weaseling about anew. Cookie hit a double in the bottom 7th with two down, and while Jackson hit a 1-2 pitch to deep center, Zach Price took care of that one. Price also spoiled a shot by McKnight to deep center in the eighth, but the Coons got Denny on with a 1-out single off Blaine Barnard in the eighth. Duarte was no help, but DeWeese came up and hit a 1-1 pitch high and deep to right. Was it - …? Would it - …? It was and it would – OUTTA HERE!!! Alex Ramirez would face the 3-4-5 batters in the ninth inning, which was not a splendid proposition even with a cushion. Bednarski reached on the first pitch, but not on anything Ramirez did. Denny was called out for catcher’s interference …! While I had saw dancing spots and had to hold onto the edge of the desk to maintain balance in my chair, Cookie caught a fly by Jarrod Luckert for the first out. Price grounded to Eddie Jackson at first base, who chose to go to second to erase Bednarski, which worked well, but the return throw was not in time. Fletcher popped up over the infield two pitches later, with Roland Lafon handling the pop to seal the sweep. 6-4 Furballs! Carmona 2-4, 2B; Duarte 2-4, 2B; DeWeese 2-4, 2 HR, 4 RBI; Knight 6.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K;

While the basic line for Damani Knight was not that great, I am not blaming him for how this shook out. He had a 1-hitter going through six innings with a 4-0 lead. He shouldn’t have pitched to Price, really. That was perhaps the mistake that unraveled the game. We KNOW that he’s unable to extricate himself from anything, why do we –

Ah, I don’t know.

In other news

June 3 – TOP 1B Adrian Quebell (.259, 5 HR, 26 RBI) collects his 2,000th career hit in a 6-0 shutout handed to the Buffaloes by NAS SP Diego Mendoza jr. (6-3, 3.04 ERA), who concedes only four hits, all singles, and one of those off Quebell’s bat. The 15-year veteran Quebell is a career .290/.370/.438 batter with 183 HR and 995 RBI. He spent most of his career with the Raccoons, but has bounced around in the last five years. He has three Gold Gloves and was an All Star twice.
June 4 – SFW 1B Mike Rucker (.227, 8 HR, 31 RBI) will be out until the end of June with a broken thumb.
June 5 – SFB SP Joao Joo (7-1, 3.06 ERA) spins a 4-hit shutout against the Knights, who get under the wheels in the game, the final score being 14-0 for the Bayhawks.
June 6 – PIT C Raúl Hernandez (.286, 0 HR, 23 RBI) connects six times in the Miners’ 19-inning marathon against the Cyclones. Five of his hits are singles, and one is a double; he plates nobody in the 6-5 loss the Miners take. This is the 55th 6-hit game by a hitter in ABL history, and the fourth in Miners history, after Rich Johnson (1977), Alfonso Rojas (1995), and Lorenzo Sepúlveda (2001).
June 6 – CIN LF Jose “Dingus” Morales (.308, 3 HR, 12 RBI) is out for the season with a torn labrum.
June 7 – The Crusaders acquire RF/LF Max Erickson (.328, 3 HR, 7 RBI) from the Aces for two prospects.
June 7 – CHA RF/LF Travis Benson (.299, 2 HR, 23 RBI) ends up on the DL with an intercostal strain. He will be out until the end of the month.
June 8 – LAP RF/1B Will McIntyre (.333, 6 HR, 25 RBI) reaches a 20-hitting streak with two hits in a 5-0 loss to the Titans.
June 8 – Although soundly out-hit by the Thunder, 15-7, the Capitals sneak to an 8-7 win. Maybe the 13 walks the Thunder’s staff surrender had something to do with it.
June 9 – The Thunder score a walkoff win in ten innings, 2-1, when Washington’s Robby Delikat throws a wild pitch to score Bobby Marshall.

Complaints and stuff

Extra innings are NOT our friends. In five overtime affairs this season, the Raccoons have been beaten four times. In fact, we have lost four extra-inning games in a row now. Mike Denny hit a 3-run homer to beat the Falcons in ten on April 10, and since then it’s been either in nine or not at all.

Despite the sweep of the Warriors, they are still the team we have the second-worst interleague record against, now at 26-31 (.456). Only the Rebels have handled the Raccoons rougher in all those decades. Our winning percentage is .404 against Richmond.

Veterans VAN Bill King (1-0, 4.54 ERA) and SFB Bob King (2-8, 4.06 ERA), who have both seen better times, are both right-handed, and are both 35 years old, were both put on the DL on Tuesday, and both are likely out for the season. Both have a torn rotator cuff. No, I am not drunk. Nor more than usual for a 5-2 week.

I like Bareford; if he can hit .270 permanently, I would take him over Duarte any day of the week because of his defense. At this point we couldn’t keep both on the roster, so Bareford had to return to AAA with Duarte coming off the DL.

Meanwhile, three of our four starting infielders are down, although Mendoza might be able to play on Monday, and Shane Walter will stay off the DL as well and might be able to return to the lineup in a few days.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (39-23) @ Buffaloes (33-27) – June 10-12, 2019

The Raccoons hadn’t won a game against the Buffaloes since 2014, having gotten swept in both 2015 and 2018. While the Buffaloes tied for the lead in the FL East, they were only playing .550 ball and had their share of problems, too. Here was yet another team that was struggling with scoring, as they ranked tenth in the Federal League in runs scored. They were living off their pitching, foremost the fifth-ranked rotation, with the third-fewest runs conceded in the league. Their house of cards was wonky, however: their run differential hinted at a substantial amount of luck so far in their first 60 games, because it was negative at -5.

Projected matchups:
Cole Pierson (4-3, 3.14 ERA) vs. Carlos Marron (4-4, 3.67 ERA)
Jonathan Toner (7-3, 2.99 ERA) vs. Mike Baker (3-3, 2.63 ERA)
Tadasu Abe (7-2, 2.48 ERA) vs. Jerry Moran (4-4, 4.61 ERA)

The Buffaloes only had right-handed starting pitchers, so there was that.

The Raccoons started the week with a roster change. Damani Knight (2-1, 5.60 ERA) was demoted back to St. Petersburg, with Tim Prince (.222, 3 HR, 26 RBI in AAA) joining the team for the Buffaloes series. Prince’s value had pretty much hit zero by now, as he couldn’t even hit AAA pitching. Knight in turn was not needed this week with an off day on Thursday, and it seemed like Bobby Guerrero had reeled himself in and would rejoin the team for the following week.

The addition of Prince was partially owed to the continued absence of Shane Walter, who figured to be out of action (officially: day-to-day) for the entire Buffaloes series, but might be back on the weekend. Hugo Mendoza was back in the lineup on Monday, however, so at least the bench had normal size again with the extra infielder carried.

Game 1
POR: RF Carmona – CF Duarte – SS McKnight – 1B Mendoza – LF DeWeese – C Margolis – 3B Petracek – 2B Prince – P Pierson
TOP: LF Madrid – 3B W. White – RF B. Adams – 2B Owen – 1B Traylor – CF Sanborn – SS Ingraham – C Jad. Wilson – P Marron

It looked like Carlos Marron would have a clean and quick first inning, striking out Cookie and Alex Duarte to open the game, but McKnight legged out a sorry grounder for an infield single and suddenly balls were flying all over the place. Mendoza hit an RBI double to center, DeWeese lined hard to right for an RBI single, and Margolis came darn close to an extra-base hit to center as well, but Todd Sanborn scratched that rocket out of the sky to end the inning. DeWeese would hit another 2-out RBI single, also scoring McKnight, his next time up in the third inning, running the score to 3-0. McKnight had singled and stolen second base, sneaking into second on the team in sacks taken with four. Pierson only allowed one hit in the first three inning, despite a Chris Owen single to start the bottom 3nd and Zack Traylor getting nailed with a fastball right afterwards. McKnight made two strong plays to keep the Buffaloes from scoring in that inning, but Owen came through with a solo homer in the fourth, cutting the lead back to 3-1. The Buffaloes found another run after Zack Ingraham’s leadoff double to left in the bottom 5th, with Ingraham, the former Bayhawk and professional coonskinner, moving up on Jaden Wilson’s groundout and scoring on a wild pitch. Pierson culled the lead for good when he was taken very, very deep by Traylor in the bottom of the sixth, and we had to start anew with the score even at three.

Pinch-hitting, Russ Greenwald rolled a 1-out single to right in the top of the seventh, trying to proof that he had a place on a major league roster. Cookie had another one of his dark days and popped out to shallow left to get to 0-for-4, but Duarte singled to right. McKnight grounded out to Owen, however, and the runners remained on base. Two were on again in the eighth, with left-hander Kevin Johnston losing Mendoza to a leadoff walk. Jackson batted for DeWeese, rolled a ball between the mound and third base, but Wade White (a former Knight) had no play and the go-ahead run moved to second with no outs. While Margolis advanced the go-ahead run, he did so with a double play, and Willie Madrid robbed Brian Petracek of extra bases with a flying grab in the gap in left center to end that inning. Wade White went well deep off Jason Kaiser to start the bottom 8th, hitting a tremendous bomb to right to give the Buffaloes their first lead, and Bill Adams hit a triple right away. Mathis couldn’t keep that run on base, either, and the Raccoons were down 5-3 all of a sudden, but got pinch-hit singles from Mathews and Denny to start the ninth inning. Trying to close for Topeka was Salvadaro Soure, who had fallen from grace abruptly and had a 10.44 ERA coming in. Cookie turned an 0-2 pitch around and singled to center, scoring Mathews from second base, but that was it in terms of glory. Duarte lined out to short, McKnight flew out to center, and Mendoza rolled one over to second base to end the game. 5-4 Buffaloes. McKnight 2-5; DeWeese 2-3, 2 RBI; Mathews (PH) 1-1; Greenwald (PH) 1-1; Denny (PH) 1-1;

Game 2
POR: RF Carmona – 3B Mathews – SS McKnight – 1B Mendoza – C Denny – LF DeWeese – CF Duarte – 2B Prince – P Toner
TOP: LF Madrid – 3B W. White – RF B. Adams – 2B Owen – CF Sanborn – 1B Traylor – SS Lawson – C J. Rodriguez – P Baker

Cookie led off with a single and stole second base, where he was left for dead in the first inning; not the start we had hoped for with Jonny on the mound, who had surrendered four runs (including unearned runs) in four of his last seven starts, which was SO out of the ordinary. In things we weren’t used to see and didn’t like to see, Toner struck out nobody among the first eight batters, but had the bases loaded with two outs and the pitcher batting in the bottom 2nd, allowing two singles and a walk, and the pitching coach went out to feel his pulse. Toner claimed to be alright, then allowed a soft fly to right center to Baker, on which Cookie had to ignite the afterburners to keep that bean from falling in. He made the grab, the inning was over, but there was some head-scratching going on in the dugout. Toner would not whiff anybody until the second coming of David Lawson at the plate, a K that ended the fourth inning, in which Toner had walked two. Owen had drawn a walk at the start of the inning, but Sanborn had grounded to short for a double play. Then Traylor walked with two outs. Toner still claimed that there was nothing wrong and blamed the mound for being at fault.

The game was still scoreless, and when Duarte walked and Prince singled to left to start the second inning, Toner was used to bunt for once. Moving the runners to scoring position successfully brought up the top of the order, where in a game of unfairness galore Cookie hit a rocket right into Mike Baker’s glove – and nobody was more confused than Baker when the missile hit that undesired target – but Joey Mathews rolled a grounder to left that missed both White’s and Lawson’s gloves by inches and became a 2-out, 2-run single, the first tallies in the game. The Coons didn’t seem inclined to do more and showed it, while Toner kept wobbling about. He walked Owen in the sixth, but got through, then in the seventh struck out Lawson and PH Lionnel Perri (42 years old!), but also allowed doubles to Jose Rodriguez with one out and Willie Madrid with two outs. Thrasher was sent in to protect what was now a 2-1 lead, with switch-hitter Ivan Ramirez, batting .130, hitting for Wade White. Thrasher K’ed him, closing Toner’s oddly-shaped line and ending the inning. The Coons put two on in the eighth with singles by Denny and Jackson (again hitting for DeWeese against a left-hander), and consequently left them on. Margolis had hit for Prince in that inning, making the third out with a fly to Adams in right. Roland Lafon took over the position for the bottom 8th, which saw Thrasher concede a single to Adams, a right-hander, before he got rid of Owen with a K and of Sanborn with a grounder to third. Mathews took the out at first, moving the tying run to second base. Chun replaced Thrasher against the righty Traylor, who hit a hard liner up the middle – but Lafon had sniffed that one coming and made a fantastic catch to hold the flimsy 2-1 lead together. The Coons got nothing in the ninth, leaving Ramirez with the lead against the bottom of the order, with recently-minted 2,000 hits club member Adrian Quebell (.263, 5 HR, 27 RBI) pinch-hitting to start the frame. Quebell rolled out to first (some things never change), but Ramirez walked Rodriguez to create undesired drama. Zach Ingraham flew out to center, and Mathews made the play on Willie Madrid’s grounder to third to end the game nevertheless. 2-1 Furballs. Mathews 2-5, 2 RBI; Jackson (PH) 1-1; Prince 1-2, BB; Toner 6.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 3 K, W (8-3);

Well. Let’s hope that the only damage this game has done has been to Jonny’s K/9.

McKnight meanwhile has a 10-game hitting streak going.

Game 3
POR: RF Carmona – 3B Mathews – SS McKnight – 1B Mendoza – C Denny – LF DeWeese – CF Duarte – 2B Lafon – P Abe
TOP: LF Madrid – 3B W. White – RF B. Adams – 2B Owen – CF Sanborn – 1B Traylor – SS Lawson – C J. Rodriguez – P Moran

Moran faced only one batter before hobbling off the field with what looked like a hamstring injury, with Cookie grounding out to Traylor as Moran’s only entry into the pitching log for this game, so the Buffaloes now had to pour out their bullpen, which was not among the best in the Buffaloes, and it wasn’t particularly close. Bobby Dean, southpaw by trade, was the first guy coming out of the pen with a 3.42 ERA and he loaded the bases before he retired anybody, conceding walks to Mathews and Mendoza, while McKnight singled to right to get his hitting streak to 11 games. Denny was about to foul out next to first base on the first pitch he saw, but Traylor dropped it. Denny hit a fly to center for a sac fly and the first run of the game on the next pitch before Dean plunked DeWeese with an 0-2 pitch to reload the bases, but Duarte struck out to end this long and grim first inning, only for Tadasu Abe to also allow two hits and a walk in the bottom 1st to give the lonely run right back. The mess continued in the bottom 2nd, with Traylor hitting a single before Abe with one out lost both Rodriguez and Quebell to walks, loading the bases. Madrid hit a relieving 6-4-3 ticket to McKnight, but back-to-back wonky starts by Toner and Abe made me deeply unhappy…

With on-and-off drizzle being also a thing in this game, Abe ended up with four walks and a bushel of full counts in five innings and was pinch-hit for in the sixth. The Coons had runners in scoring position and two outs against Ruslan Kolubidze, who was in his fourth inning and giving them fits. DeWeese and Lafon on base were half the runners he had allowed in 3.2 innings while whiffing five. Abe did not take the at-bat in a 1-1 tie, but Shane Walter grabbed a stick and stepped in. He hit Kolubidze’s first pitch up the middle, barely past Owen, and into centerfield for a 2-run single to give Abe a posthumous claim to the W and the Coons as a whole a 3-1 lead. Petracek ran for him right away to protect his noggin’, stole second base when Cookie missed on a hit-and-run call, but good ol’ Ricardo Carmona came through on the next pitch, singling to right center to score Petracek. Mathews singled, putting runners on the corners against left-hander Beau Barnaby, and McKnight grounded to Traylor for what would have been the third out if Barnaby hadn’t dropped Traylor’s feed. Cookie scored, 5-1, Mendoza hit a single to left to plate Mathews from second, 6-1, and Denny worked a walk to fill the sacks. To heck with it, DeWeese was allowed to bat against the southpaw, falling behind 1-2 before grounding up the middle. Owen cut it off, threw to first, ball in the dirt and glancing off Traylor’s glove, and Traylor had to scurry into foul ground to collect the ball.

Duarte would strike out to finally end the inning which left the Critters with a 6-spot and a 7-1 lead, with only three of those runs earned thanks to FOUR Buffaloes error in the game. The Raccoons had to find 12 outs in their bullpen, but this didn’t seem like a big issue this time around. Kaiser got two outs to start the sixth before Wade Davis took over for long relief duties. He got five outs before being chased by a rain delay approaching an hour in the eighth inning. Chun came in after that, and it wasn’t until him and the ninth inning that the Raccoons met resistance. Lawson hit a 1-out single, Rodriguez hit a bomb to left, but in the end, the Buffaloes had already done enough to lose this game. 7-3 Coons. Carmona 2-5, RBI; Mathews 2-4, BB, 2B; Walter (PH) 1-1, 2 RBI; Davis 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

The Crusaders got swept by the Capitals midweek, while the Elks lost two of three to the Gold Sox, which served to grow our lead in the North to four games, and the Indians moved into third place, 6 1/2 back.

Raccoons (41-24) @ Loggers (33-32) – June 14-16, 2019

For the Raccoons, the road continued to Milwaukee, where the Loggers had a winning record just barely, but were still in fifth place in the division. They were scoring runs like crazy, plating the second-most in the CL and 4.9 per game with the highest batting average of all teams, but their pitching was middling at best. The rotation ranked fifth, the pen ranked eighth, but overall it somehow worked out for a +15 run differential, so maybe the Loggers could be a bit more than only .500. Hopefully they would not discover their potential with the Coons in town… Portland led the season series, 3-1.

Projected matchups:
Hector Santos (7-3, 2.21 ERA) vs. Ian Prevost (8-3, 3.32 ERA)
Cole Pierson (4-3, 3.23 ERA) vs. J.J. Wirth (6-3, 3.02 ERA)
Jonathan Toner (8-3, 2.88 ERA) vs. Ron Bartlatt (4-6, 3.66 ERA)

We will get three right-handers in this set, but they are the Loggers’ three good starters. We will miss Julio San Pedro (1-5, 5.51 ERA) and Troy McCaskill (3-6, 5.16 ERA). One word on Prevost; this is a 23-year old star in the making. Maybe not Martin Garcia caliber, but certainly a great pitcher. He has four good-to-great pitches, with a 95mph heater and a fantastic circle change the primary concerns of opponents, although the cutter and the curve serve their purposes. He keeps the ball on the ground, allowing only TWO home runs in 95 innings this season. Ryan Feldmann and Ezra Branch are the only hitters to conquer him for a four-baser this season.

Shane Walter had been nursed back to strength and was not seeing quadruple anymore. Just double, which is fine. Swipe at any of the balls, and if he hits half of his previous clip, he still wouldn’t be worse than Matt Nunley had been… Nunley was about ten days off to return from the DL.

The draft would fall on Saturday, cutting the series in half. As far as you can half three games.

Game 1
POR: RF Carmona – 3B Walter – SS McKnight – 1B Mendoza – C Denny – LF DeWeese – CF Duarte – 2B Prince – P Santos
MIL: 2B Stewart – CF Coleman – 1B Gore – LF LeMoine – 3B Velez – RF Hodgers – SS Burns – C Wool – P Prevost

To call the top of the first inning a bit of a massacre would be an understatement. The Raccoons had three hits, including two doubles, against Prevost and scored two runs, but – with Shane Walter just back in the lineup – Mendoza pulled up lame after his RBI double and was replaced by Greenwald right away. The Loggers also took a hit, with Ian Coleman hurting himself catching Duarte’s fly that ended the inning. Judson Buddin replaced him. While the Raccoons continued to hit the ball hard even with Mendoza having vanished with the Druid in the tunnel to the clubhouse, and got another run on Greenwald’s sac fly scoring Walter, who had hit a leadoff double, in the top of the third, Santos had drilled Tyler Stewart to start his day, and wasn’t very sure-handed after that, either. While the Loggers remained empty-handed for two innings, Josh Wool drew a leadoff walk in the bottom 3rd, was bunted to second, and reached third base on Buddin’s infield single with two outs. Santos’ wild pitch scored the Loggers’ first run before Brad Gore could foul out to end the inning, and the Loggers got another run in the fourth with Chris LeMoine and Kyle Burns hitting doubles off Santos.

Both teams continued to hit a lot of flyballs to the deeper outfield regions. The Raccoons couldn’t make theirs fall in, while the Loggers were at least succeeding in knocking out Santos in the sixth inning. Hodgers’ 2-out double was followed by a line drive single to right by Burns. The ball was hit right in front of Cookie, which led the Loggers’ third base coach to have Hodgers throw the anchor at third base, so technically the Raccoons still had a 3-2 lead with two outs and runners on the corners as Jason Kaiser replaced Santos to pitch to Josh Wool, but Wool had no problems to hit a 2-1 pitch hard to right for a score-knotting RBI single. Prevost was sent to bat and struck out, leaving runners on the corners. The game didn’t remain tied for long; when Walter led off the seventh with a single, McKnight came up and jacked a homer to right center, putting the Critters on top 5-3 before Prevost struck out three in a row. Kaiser got through the seventh alright, but the eighth turned into issues for the Coons. Mathis allowed a single to Burns, but when Thrasher replaced him to get the third out from Wool, the catcher refused to go down and singled to center, putting the tying runs on the corners. With right-handed batter Ron Tadlock out to pinch-hit, Alex Ramirez was called on early to get a 4-out save in a really tough spot. He failed spectacularly, as usual, surrendering a smoking 2-run double into the leftfield corner to Tadlock, which tied the score again. The Raccoons had a sad ninth, with Walter singling and McKnight hitting into a double play right away, and it didn’t get better in the tenth. Boynton was in to pitch in the bottom 10th, with Andrew Cooper hitting a pinch-hit 1-out single. He took off and swiped second base, and actually made it to third on Denny’s throwing error. Josh Wool sent a fly to left that Cookie caught coming in, but his throw home was late as the Loggers walked off on the unearned run. 6-5 Loggers. Walter 4-5, 2 2B; McKnight 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Mendoza 1-1, 2B, RBI; Denny 2-5, RBI;

Well, that sucked.

While Ian Coleman, who had been batting .350, would miss four weeks with a fractured rib, the Druid had no news for me on Saturday morning. He explained that the spirits had been bothered a lot in the last few weeks and he could probably not channel them before Monday.

Whatever the **** that meant…

Game 2
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Mathews – 3B Walter – SS McKnight – C Denny – LF DeWeese – 1B Greenwald – CF Duarte – P Pierson
MIL: 2B Stewart – SS Burns – RF Gore – CF LeMoine – 3B Velez – C Wool – LF Cooper – 1B Tadlock – P Wirth

The Raccoons took another 2-0 lead in the first inning, but this time the biggest casualty was J.J. Wirth’s pride, because both runs were unearned and the error was on him, throwing away Walter’s grounder with Mathews already on first base after a walk. The Critters plated them two despite McKnight getting Walter forced out with a grounder, with Denny and DeWeese driving 2-out base hits up either line for the runs. Through three innings, Pierson allowed two hits, but faced only one over the minimum with Kyle Burns having been caught stealing in the first. The Critters got Duarte on with one out in the fourth inning. Pierson bunted him to second, from where he scored when Cookie hit a liner to shallow center for a 2-out RBI single. Carmona stole second base, then scampered home when Mathews beat Cooper’s range for an extra-base hit to the warning track. Since Cooper failed trying to catch the ball while leaping and soaring through the sky like an eagle, then dumped himself onto the grass in front of the warning track, Mathews got away with an RBI triple. Walter hit a drive to center, but LeMoine caught that to keep the score at 4-0, although the Loggers chipped a run off that in the bottom of the inning with a Gore double and an RBI single by LeMoine. Like for Santos on Friday, it only got worse for Pierson, who was whacked for hard hits by Wool and Tadlock in the bottom 5th, and with the two in scoring position surrendered a first-pitch RBI single, a hard liner, to center to the opposing pitcher. Stewart hit into a fielder’s choice, Burns singled to move the tying run to third, but Walter contained Gore’s grounder to end the inning, now only with a 4-3 lead.

Wirth would also knock out Pierson the next time around. Pierson had retired six in a row to maintain a feeble grip on the 4-3 lead, but then allowed another hard single with two outs to the other team’s pitcher. Mathis replaced him and got Tyler Stewart to ground out, ending the seventh. Maybe an insurance run would be a good idea! The Coons sure got a good start in the eighth, with McKnight doubling to left to extend his hitting streak to 13 games after all, and Denny walked on four balls. When DeWeese hit a soft line inches over Stewart’s glove into rightfield for a single, the bases were loaded for Russ Greenwald, who was 0-for-3 and giving me bad vibes. The Loggers stuck with Wirth against the bottom of the order, so using Jackson in this spot was not a good idea (but for Duarte … maybe!). Greenwald grounded the first pitch to short, Burns hesitated not one nanosecond and threw home to kill off McKnight, the bases remained loaded, and Jackson indeed hit for the .211 batter Alex Duarte. Eddie used the patient approach, Wirth couldn’t find the zone, and a walk later the Coons had an insurance run. That was all however. Margolis flew out to shallow left batting for Mathis, and Cookie grounded out to Stewart. Bottom 8th, Wade Davis got one out from Burns before yielding right away for Thrasher, with the #3 through #7 batters now all left-handed, except for the switch-hitting Alberto Velez. Thrasher struck out Brad Gore, struck out Chris LeMoine, struck out Alberto Velez, struck out Josh Wool, stru-AAH!! ****ing Andrew Cooper spoiled it! He put a 2-2 pitch into play, to McKnight, no problem, game over. 5-3 Coons. Carmona 3-5, RBI; DeWeese 2-5, 2B, RBI; Jackson (PH) 0-0, BB, RBI; Thrasher 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, SV (4);

I didn’t see this game in person; I was in New York for the draft, along with Gabriel Martinez, and proceedings started when Pierson was still pitching, though I took a look at the video pad thing Maud had given me and which had terribly small buttons and letters and all and I hated using it. I attracted negative attention when I squealed increasingly with every out that Thrasher got while the supplemental round picks were selected.

More on the draft in the next post below. We will of course complete the week in here first.

Game 3
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Mathews – 3B Walter – SS McKnight – C Denny – LF DeWeese – 1B Greenwald – CF Duarte – P Toner
MIL: 1B Pagan – 2B Stewart – RF Gore – CF LeMoine – 3B Velez – LF Hodgers – SS Tadlock – C Wool – P San Pedro

There was a shuffle in the Loggers rotation after all, with Julian San Pedro (1-5, 5.51 ERA) moving into this series for the Sunday game, opposing Jonny Toner. The Raccoons put a run on him in the first after a Cookie single and a Walter double, and with the 1-0 lead Jonny struck out four of the first six batters he faced, or in other words already beat his strikeout tally from his Tuesday start in Topeka, which was sure a relief. The Coons would have the bases loaded with nobody out in the third inning after Cookie walked, Mathews singled, both stole their way into scoring position, and Walter walked onto the open base. The yield from that three on, no out situation was as usual rather meager, with McKnight flying out to shallow right, Denny striking out, and if San Pedro had thrown even close to the zone to DeWeese, he surely would have gotten the blind slugger as well. Instead he walked him, forcing home a run, 2-0, but that was it, with Greenwald grounding out to Stewart.

All was fine in Tonerville for three innings, but the tough middle part of the order gave him hell in the fourth. Gore led off with a double to left, then scored on LeMoine’s single to right center. Toner threw a wild pitch, then walked Victor Hodgers onto the open base, and when he had two outs in addition to the two on and was 0-2 on Josh Wool, the pesky catcher snipped a soft single to center to tie the game before San Pedro struck out. After the first three innings that had been great, the middle innings were tough on Toner, and he needed 100 pitches to complete six. On the other side, San Pedro walked half a dozen, the last one being Mathews with one out in the seventh, also the last batter he faced before replaced by right-handed reliever Toby Wood, whose first pitch was hit through Antonio Pagan and up the rightfield line by Shane Walter for a double that moved the go-ahead runs into scoring position for McKnight, who – hitting streak already extended to 14 – struck out too easily. Mike Denny with two down hit a ball high and deep to center, LeMoine was racing after it and reaching, but couldn’t get it – this one was in for extra bases. Both runs scored, Denny cruised to second, and the Critters had a 4-2 lead! DeWeese hit a soft line into right center that almost made it past Brad Gore, but was still sufficient for an RBI double, 5-2. Greenwald walked and Jackson hit for Duarte, but struck out. Toner worked through the seventh inning without the Loggers reaching base, then went for the showers with the bullpen needing six outs with the 5-2 lead. Chun struck out Stewart to start the eighth before yielding to Kaiser, who got Gore on a fly to center and LeMoine with a strikeout. The Critters left McKnight on second base in the ninth, so Ramirez got the bottom of the ninth, bringing the Loggers instantly into the game with a hard leadoff single to right off Velez’ bat. Judson Buddin grounded to first, where Greenwald elected to nip the lead runner at second base. The return throw by McKnight was not in time, but it didn’t matter, because the Loggers didn’t get another man on. Ron Tadlock struck out, and Wool flew out to Cookie in center. 5-2 Raccoons! Walter 2-4, BB, 2 2B, RBI; McKnight 2-5; Toner 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 10 K, W (9-3);

In other news

June 11 – LAP RF/1B Will McIntyre’s (.327, 6 HR, 26 RBI) hitting streak ends at 21 games after he is held dry by the Knights in L.A.’s 6-1 win over Atlanta.
June 11 – The Crusaders’ 24-year old up-and-coming INF Tony Casillas (.252, 3 HR, 12 RBI) is out for the season with a broken kneecap.
June 11 – Also out for the season, potentially, is NAS SP Jimmy Lee (2-4, 3.84 ERA). The 27-year old right-hander has been diagnosed with shoulder inflammation.
June 12 – The Aces will be without OF Armando Martinez (.315, 2 HR, 18 RBI) for a while. The 23-year old has sprained an ankle and will miss up to a month.
June 12 – Only four hits for the Wolves are easily outpaced by the Bayhawks’ 18 base knocks, helping them win an unchallenged 13-2 game.
June 13 – Knights rookie INF Tony Jimenez (.256, 1 HR, 17 RBI) is expected to miss at least a month with a fractured shoulder blade.
June 15 – The Pacifics’ 25-year old 3B Tony Duke (.355, 0 HR, 4 RBI in 31 AB) has himself a day; an injury replacement for Ross Irvin, Duke whacks five hits in the Pacifics’ 9-8 win over the Gold Sox, including a triple and two doubles, and drives in two runs. Duke’s triple wins the game, plating Jim Webb and Jose Flores in come-from-behind, walkoff fashion.
June 15 – The Canadiens score ten on the Crusaders in the bottom of the third, answering New York’s 4-run top of the third, and handily move away for a 13-7 win.
June 16 – The Wolves make up a 1-0 deficit in the ninth inning, then battle the Stars for eight more innings before scoring three runs in the 17th. The Stars’ comeback in the bottom of the inning only amounts to one run, leaving the Wolves with a 4-2 win on just seven hits, of which three came in the 17th inning.

Complaints and stuff

Alex Ramirez wants a new deal. I don’t want him even in the same sport as the Raccoons come 2020.

Hoping for news on Mendoza by Monday, because we need to make a few roster changes.

[Westheim]

2019 AMATEUR DRAFT

As the draft was about to start I was more or less set on taking David Lessman if he was left over at #22. Like they always say – a two-way player gives you the chance to be disappointed twice. Or something like that.

We had just under 100 players in the pool on the shortlist, as well as the following 14 on the hotlist (*indicates high school player):

SP Doug Moffatt (14/15/11) – BNN #7
SP Nick Salinas (14/13/16) – BNN #6
SP Mike McGill (12/10/11) * - BNN #9
SP Tony McDonald (11/12/13) *
SP Robert O’Brien (12/12/16) *

CL Jon Ozier (20/12/14)
CL Erik Schoonover (19/14/11)

C Mike Burgess (15/14/17) *
C/1B David Lessman (11/12/13) *

INF/LF/RF Rich Hereford (9/13/9)
1B Kevin Harenberg (12/14/8) – BNN #1
SS Tim Stalker (11/10/9) – BNN #10

RF/CF Josh Woods (10/13/13) * - BNN #3
RF/LF/CF Omar Larios (10/10/14) – BNN #4

Failing to get Lessman, the backup plan was to take Jon Ozier, because of past good experiences with closers taken in the first round. We need another one of those homebrewed murder closers. Ozier wouldn’t be able to replace Alex Ramirez right away of course, but one can hope, right?

The Thunder had the first overall pick courtesy of the worst record in 2018 and selected C Mike Burgess, right off the hotlist, which continued to be picked from with the Wolves taking 1B Kevin Harenberg at #2 (unusual for a first baseman to go this early), and the Falcons picking SP Doug Moffatt. The top five were completed by two more starting pitchers, Dustin Cory to the Titans at #4, and Nick Salinas to the Miners at #5.

At least our hopes at getting David Lessman ended early when the Capitals selected him with the eighth pick in the draft, still miles away from the Coons’ first chance to dip into the boys available. The hotlist was decimated after only half of the first round had been picked through, with only five players remaining: the two closers, McDonald, Stalker, and Larios. Five picks later, this was reduced to just Ozier and McDonald, and the bedeviled Blue Sox took Ozier at #20, and the cursed Warriors selected McDonald at #21, so our entire 14-man hotlist was erased before we ever got to pick, and with PRECISELY the last two picks taking the last two players.

Thrown into disarray, because so far our hotlist had ALWAYS yielded at least one pick, Martinez and me had to scramble to make a pick in just five minutes’ time. If in doubt, pick a pitcher in the first round, that’s what they say, right? Pitchers don’t disappoint as often. Sifting through our second-row choices as quick as possible, we narrowed it down to a 19-year old Canadian high schooler as our only pick in the first or supplemental round.

Martinez had worked out a battle plan that focused on high-floor, medium-ceiling players with certain stock abilities that had a good chance of reaching the majors in the first rounds, before switching to a no-holds-barred approach for the middle and last rounds. While we nibbled our way through the next rounds, twice we focused on an infielder that was snatched up before we could get to our next pick. Once this was 2B Ozzie Rioseco in the third round, and then 3B Matt Williams in the fourth round. In a way, Williams would have already been a high-risk pick given that he had good home run power, but also was striking out rapidly, with a rather low batting average for a pick going just outside the top 100.

Our shortlist ran out early in the ninth round, after which we went really crazy, as far as that was even possible.

+++

2019 PORTLAND RACCOONS DRAFT CLASS

Round 1 (#22) – SP Reese Kenny, 19, from London, Canada – right-hander with a good fastball with slight sink, generating groundballs, and a mean curve and slider. If he can also develop the changeup, his sizeable arsenal could make up for the today almost substandard 92mph fastball. Stamina is good, and his body reminds one of a good ol’ workhorse, sturdy and robust, but not fat.
Round 2 (#67) – OF Devin Mansfield, 19, from Ruskin, FL – excellent defensive outfielder, very agile and speedy. No home run power, but perhaps you make him go from line to line and exploit the fringes for doubles and triples. Good contact bat, but not in a Cookie way where you can expect him to hit .300 and up.
Round 3 (#91) – SP Cory Weeden, 20, from Boise, ID – this right-hander has an interesting mix of four pitches, which helps him mask that he only throws 90mph with little hope of gaining velocity at this point. Besides control issues, he also has a strong, durable body according to Martinez and should be able to pitch for a long time if taught proper mechanics.
Round 4 (#115) – SS Jon McGrew, 21, from Albany, NY – primarily a defensive shortstop with tremendous range and a strong arm, McGrew can rip one from time to time, but power is not his primary attribute at the plate. Has a good eye and can make steady contact. Not that quick on the bases despite a good first step and doesn’t project as a big base stealer, but could be someone you play hit-and-run with on either end.
Round 5 (#139) – SP Ken Braddy, 20, from Fort Lauderdale, FL – this left-hander throws 90mph, but will probably end up in the bullpen. Can’t get his third pitch, a changeup, over most of the time, and when he does, he gets burned.
Round 6 (#163) – 2B/SS Justin Steenrod, 20, from Lincoln, NE – good defensive middle infielder with a contact bat, but little in the way of power; mostly slapping singles only.
Round 7 (#187) – 3B/RF/LF/1B Ron Pietsch, 18, from New York, NY – foremost a corner infielder, his arm generates lightning and is also suiting him well for playing rightfield, although his bat doesn’t profile him as a rightfielder; has no power whatsoever, and also no speed, trying to survive with batting average alone.
Round 8 (#211) – OF Adam Bareford, 20, from Los Angeles, CA – good range, not so good an arm, so he might be best suited as centerfielder, which also matches his bat; another guy with no home run power at all, and this one also a free swinger not shying back from chasing stuff in the dirt and six feet away.
Round 9 (#235) – OF/1B Matt Luke, 19, from Whiskey Creek, FL – here was some power potential, even though Matty Luke bought it with lots of swings-and-misses. Not a tremendous defender, but he had some range and speed and would be able to hold down a corner no problem.
Round 10 (#259) – LF/RF Steve Grosso, 22, from Phoenix, AZ – here was a 2-way player nobody had walked about. His bat was nothing much, but he had a nice curveball that he occasionally showed off, along with a 90mph heater, for Coastal Carolina. Right-hander Grosso would be converted into a pitcher right after the draft.
Round 11 (#283) – C Joe Dale, 18, from Chicago, IL – normally reserved for the Nick Brown Memorial Pick, we hadn’t yet selected a catcher, and they were running out, and we could use one more in the system. Dale himself isn’t excelling at anything except lying in his hammock and daydreaming.
Round 12 (#307) – CL Jim Garrison, 20, from Cape Coral, FL – Garrison was the Nick Brown Memorial Pick in the penultimate round this year, a left-handed reliever with a standard fastball / curveball combo, none of those two pitches being very good…
Round 13 (#331) – MR John Hyden, 21, from Atascadeo, CA – righty with a slider, throws 91mph heaters that usually rebound hard off the launchpad.

+++

No, Adam Bareford and Andy Bareford are not related.

All picks were assigned to single-A Aumsville. If we had gotten Ozier, I would have been tempted between AA and even AAA, but … ah.

To make room in the system, a number of players were released the same weekend. Among those released (in addition to international discoveries that were never mentioned before) were: A MR Eddie Briggs (2018, 10th Rd.), A INF Ian Herbert (2016, 10th Rd.), A MR Julian Hill (2017, 9th Rd.), AAA LF/RF Brandon Johnson (picked out of the trash), AAA LF Matt Stubbs (2010, 2nd Rd.);

Johnson and Stubbs were a combined 57 years old and were never more than fringe players to begin with, and we are more than loaded on the corners. We need he at-bats for a few younger players. Dwayne Metts is one of those trying to find a grove in AAA and being forced to share space with 30-year old washouts. We still retained two comparably ancient outfielders in AAA in Keith Chisholm and Danny Ochoa, because both were hitting a bit in AAA at least, and we have the injury bug and could be down another six players by July.

There was one more player getting canned. This extra paragraph shall be devoted to 26-year old SP Jeff Magnotta, the 2012 first-rounder by the Raccoons, taking at #18 to be precise, that between 2015 and 2017 made nine starts in the major leagues, going 3-5 with a 5.17 ERA. While that does not look any worse than anything Damani Knight f.e. has done in his career, the 32 walks and 11 strikeouts in 47 innings certainly were a special kind of terrible. Magnotta sunk through AAA to AA Ham Lake in ’18, and this year had pitched to a 4.92 ERA in that league. At 26 years old, it was not too early to cut him loose. Magnotta was also released the day after the draft.

And I really thought Magnotta would make it.

After the first round of dismissals, we still had 123 players in the system, including those on the DL.

[Westheim]

The week started with roster moves. The Raccoons placed Hugo Mendoza on the DL with a sprained ankle. The Druid’s best guess that he would be back before the All Star break, three weeks from now. There was another departure from the roster, as Tim Prince (2-for-10 in his four games) was returned to AAA.

Back on the roster were Bobby Guerrero and Andy Bareford, the latter splitting time with Duarte (.207!) in centerfield now until one of them was clearly hitting more than the other. Loser goes to AAA. I hope to find out enough in no more than two weeks.

Or with the way things are going one of them keels over by the end of the week.

Raccoons (43-25) vs. Indians (37-32) – June 17-19, 2019

The Indians had just moved past the Crusaders into third place in the North, but were still 6.5 games out of the leading Raccoons. They were fourth in runs scored and fifth in runs allowed, so they were a good team, but not a great one, although there were some injuries that were holding them back, not least SP Tristan Broun, who was still rehabbing a ruptured finger tendon and wasn’t expected back any time soon. We would also not see Matt Pruitt in this series, who was on the DL with back soreness. The season series was knotted at three.

Projected matchups:
Tadasu Abe (8-2, 2.45 ERA) vs. Josh Riley (4-4, 5.20 ERA)
Bobby Guerrero (1-5, 9.20 ERA) vs. Kyle Lamb (6-2, 4.73 ERA)
Hector Santos (7-3, 2.37 ERA) vs. Dan Lambert (6-6, 3.42 ERA)

Lamb will the only one of their left-handers we’ll get to see. He will oppose Bobby Guerrero, who seems like he is over his outright horrendous April. In six starts in AAA, he is 4-1 with a 2.42 ERA, but strikeouts were still low, 25 in 44.2 innings.

This is a three-game set, followed by an off day on Thursday. After that we’re in the pre-All Star Game string of games, playing 17 straight until the showcase.

Game 1
IND: LF Genge – CF D. Morales – C Jolley – RF D. Carter – 1B J. Ramirez – SS Matias – 2B Eason – 3B D. Jones – P Riley
POR: RF Carmona – CF Bareford – 3B Walter – SS McKnight – C Denny – LF DeWeese – 2B Mathews – 1B Greenwald – P Abe

While Abe got around two walks in the opening inning, the Raccoons put up a quick 2-spot in the bottom of the inning on a homer to left center hit by Shane Walter. Bareford scored as well, having been hit by a 3-2 pitch, and we could have plated three if Cookie had done more with a 3-0 pitch than hitting a pop to short. Another run scored in the bottom 2nd, with DeWeese hitting a leadoff triple, scoring on Joey Mathews’ single to center. In the fourth, the Critters would have runners on the corners after Denny’s leadoff double and DeWeese reaching on a dropped pop charged to Jesus Ramirez. When Mathews flew to deep right, Dave Carter made the grab, Denny was sent, and by the time he rumpled into the vicinity of home plate, Jayden Jolley was munching a pizza that had been delivered in the meantime and gently tagged him out. DeWeese moved up, taking the ball out of Greenwald’s paws, and Abe struck out to end the inning. Indy’s Raul Matias hit a single in the second, and after that Abe retired nine straight before conceding a single to Bobby Eason in the fifth. Danny Morales hit a 1-out single in the sixth. None of these runners even reached third base. Bottom 6th, singles by DeWeese and Mathews put them on the corners with one out for Greenwald, who was batting .211 and hit a soft pop to shallow left center. Lowell Genge made a tremendous sliding grab, but was in no condition to get a throw off to home plate. DeWeese read that very well and went, scoring easily to make this a 4-0 game. Abe whiffed Ramirez to start the seventh, but then was knocked out after Matias doubled off the wall in rightfield and scored on Eason’s single to left. Boynton and Kaiser wiggled out of the inning, and Mathis was going to have a clean eighth until McKnight fumbled Dave Carter’s grounder with two outs. Mathis got Ramirez to pop out, however, and no harm was done. With the offense having gone to bed, it was on Alex Ramirez to finish off the game, and he certainly threatened to do harm to Abe’s lead. Matias hit a leadoff single, and Ramirez lost Dan Jones to a 1-out walk. Nolan Mancuso flew to fairly deep left, but it was high enough for DeWeese to have ample time to scurry out there and make the grab. Lowell Genge struck out. 4-1 Raccoons. Walter 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; DeWeese 3-4, 3B; Mathews 2-4, RBI; Abe 6.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, W (9-2);

Game 2
IND: LF Genge – CF D. Morales – C Jolley – RF D. Carter – 1B J. Ramirez – SS Matias – 2B Eason – 3B D. Jones – P Lamb
POR: RF Carmona – CF Bareford – 3B Walter – 1B Jackson – SS McKnight – C Margolis – LF DeWeese – 2B Lafon – P B. Guerrero

Cookie singled, stole, scored on Bareford’s single to right center, giving Bobby Guerrero a quick 1-0 lead in his return from the minor leagues. The right-handed returnee had two quick innings to start the game, then ran into quick trouble in the third. Bobby Eason led off with a single, then was forced out on Dan Jones’ grounder. Eason limped off the field, later to be diagnosed with an intercostal strain, and was replaced by Rey Umpierre. Lamb’s single and a walk to Morales in a full count loaded the bags with two outs. Jayden Jolley was also in a full count when he swung over ball four, stranding three to end the inning. That was it with offense as an unlikely pitchers’ duel unfolded between Lamb and Guerrero.

The only threat for offense in the game was Cookie, who got a hit in every at-bat, hitting a 2-out double in the fifth and a 2-out single in the seventh, the latter with Duarte on first base after just having pinch-hit and singled for Guerrero, who had scattered four singles through seven inning and still held on to the 1-0 lead. Bareford popped out foul, wasting the opportunity. Thrasher was in for the eighth, struck out Jones, but yielded a pinch-hit single to Nolan Mancuso. With Cesar Martinez pinch-hitting for Genge, we moved on to Chris Mathis, who conceded a single up the middle. Danny Morales had the tying run at second, the go-ahead run on first, hit one sharply to left, but Walter cut it off wonderfully, zinged to second, and the decent runner Morales was out on a bang-bang play at first – inning over! Shane Walter opened the bottom 8th with a single off right-hander Joel Davis, then was run for by Petracek – nope, no injury. Just trying to claw ourselves an insurance run. Unfortunately, Petracek was thrown out stealing, and no insurance run was coming forward. Ramirez had thrown 65 pitches in the last four days, being active in three of them, and was pretty cooked. We would try to squeeze the ninth from Mathis, who faced the middle of the order. He walked Jolley on four pitches, which was just such a great start to the inning, but then got a bouncer back from Dave Carter, which he took to McKnight for a 1-6-3 double play. Jesus Ramirez had done nothing but striking out all day – now tied the game with a homer to right. The Critters still would not be awakened by this setback. Mathews batted for Lafon with two outs in the bottom 8th, doubled to right, but Greenwald, hitting for Mathis, bounced out to Umpierre at second, sending the Coons to extras, which was not a kind place to be.

Extra innings saw the Indians put runners on the corners against Chun in the 11th, but the right-hander got a friendly bouncer to Petracek by Matias to end that inning. The Coons had nothing in the 10th and 11th; in the 12th, Mathews hit a single to right. Denny was the last piece coming off the bench, batting for Chun, who had pitched three scoreless innings, and dumped a single into shallow center. Helio Maggessi, adrift already, balked the runners into scoring position while 3-1 on Cookie, taking away the double play. Of course Cookie was put on intentionally. Bareford came up, grounded sharply to Jones at third, who fired home, and the throw by Jolley somehow got Bareford at first. This ****ing arse offense.

The next guy to pitch three innings was then Wade Davis, also doing so successfully. The Raccoons had gotten the leadoff man Petracek on base in the 13th after an Umpierre error, then grounded into forces at second base twice before Margolis choked on his own stick. Petracek also reached base with two outs in the bottom 15th, hitting a triple into the gap in right center. Jackson came up and hit a bouncer right back to Tony Lino to send the game to the 16th, with Boynton coming in, who got through the inning with only one runner allowed on base, Danny Morales singling. Bottom 16th, McKnight, Margolis, and DeWeese were up. They were a combined 0-for-18 on the day and effortlessly moved to 0-for-****ing-21. Boynton retired two more batters in the 17th, then left the game with an injury. Only two pitchers were left in the pen, both overworked. Ramirez came into the game. He got out of the inning, but also had to pitch the 18th, which wasn’t going to go well at all. He walked Cesar Martinez, Morales singled, both with one out, and while he struck out Jolley, he allowed a shot to Dave Carter into the left center gap, nobody even close, and the Indians broke the tie with a 2-out, 2-run double. But you got to hand it to the Coons – they don’t go down just like that. Nope, they put their fans through the wringer! Lino was in his fourth inning in the bottom 18th, and allowed a single to Petracek, another one to McKnight, and then walked Margolis. With two outs we brought up DeWeese, who certainly had the skill set for a dramatic comeback win. But he flew out lazily to Martinez in right. 3-1 Indians. Carmona 4-7, BB, 2B; Petracek 2-4, 3B; Mathews (PH) 2-4, 2B; Duarte (PH) 1-1; Denny (PH) 1-1; Guerrero 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K; Chun 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K; Davis 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K; Boynton 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

**** this bunch …

Slappy, where is the homebrew? – Slappy! Can you hear me? – What is snorting in that closet? – Great. Slappy emptied the homebrew.

My mood was not bettered by the Druid’s news that Jeff Boynton had torn the flexor tendon in his elbow and was out for the season. Will West was called up for the rubber game, because he had not pitched in several days and could go several innings piggy-backed with Santos, because of the other six relievers, three were unavailable, and options would be limited. We need to crap on the Wednesday game and try to reset the pen for the long string of game starting Friday. Of course, Santos can just pitch a shutout, ha-hah.

Game 3
IND: LF Genge – CF D. Morales – C Jolley – RF D. Carter – 1B J. Ramirez – SS Matias – 2B Kym – 3B Umpierre – P Lambert
POR: RF Carmona – CF Bareford – 3B Walter – SS McKnight – C Denny – LF DeWeese – 2B Mathews – 1B Greenwald – P Santos

Genge’s leadoff double and Jolley’s 1-out single put runners on the corners in the top of the first, but Santos stalked around that with a K to Carter and getting a fly to DeWeese. Cookie led off with a single in the bottom 1st, and Walter hit a double to put runners in scoring position with one out. McKnight walked to fill them up, and Denny hit a ball to deep center, but couldn’t get it past Morales. He had a sac fly, however, and DeWeese and Mathews both drew walks, shoving in a second run. Greenwald beat Jong-beom Kym’s range with a 2-run single to right, and Santos ALSO singled past Kym, plating Mathews, 5-0. Cookie hit a single to right center, plating Greenwald from second base, and that 6-spot put Santos in a wonderful spot once Bareford grounded out. The lead was utilized rather soon. Matias and Umpierre both hit doubles in the second, and when Umpierre took off to swipe third base by force, Denny’s throw was wild and past Walter, allowing Umpierre to score and to move the Indians right back to slam range at 6-2. The Arrowheads had the bases loaded with no outs in the fourth; Ramirez opened with a double to right, Matias singled to right, and Santos hit Kym with a 1-2 pitch. Rey Umpierre’s sharp shot got past Greenwald and into the rightfield corner, dancing around out there for Umpierre to wind up with a 3-run triple. Javier Rodriguez pinch-hit for Lambert and struck out, but Genge’s fly to left was dropped by DeWeese, allowing Umpierre to come home with the tying run. Morales singled to left, and when Jolley grounded to Walter, the throw to first was dropped by Greenwald.

That loaded the bases, while Santos was taken out to be shot, and Greenwald would meet the same fate as soon as we could get him out of the game. Will West came into a complete ****ing blowup, struck out Carter, and got Ramirez on a pop. We were now tied at six, and knowing the hairy scumbags, they would never score again. The Critters managed one runner in the middle innings, but at least West did a splendid job, allowing only one runner in the 2.2 innings that took him through six. He had to continue, however, because we were short on pitching, as you might have heard. Carter walked with one out in the top 7th, but didn’t get off first base against West, who ended up going 4.1 innings, but left Kym on third base with two outs in the top 8th. Kym had walked on four pitches to start the inning, and was now Jason Kaiser’s problem. Kaiser came in to face Genge, but the Indians sent Dan Jones to pinch-hit for him. Jones popped out to shallow center on the first pitch, Bareford with a good hustle that couldn’t quite make up for his complete no-show at the plate. The score wasn’t untied until a mighty shot by DeWeese off Joel Davis in the bottom of the inning, a solo homer to right center with one out. Greenwald hit a 2-out double to left center, and Kaiser’s spot came up. Ron Thrasher nodded in the pen, claiming to have enough for a save against the middle of the order, and so Jackson pinch-hit for Kaiser. Davis lost him on four pitches, but Cookie popped out to short to strand the pair. Thrasher struck out Morales to get going, and Jolley grounded out to McKnight. Carter worked a walk, pulling up Ramirez again, which nobody wanted to see, but he also unleashed a soft grounder, this one to Mathews, for the final out. 7-6 Blighters. Carmona 2-5, RBI; Greenwald 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; West 4.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K;

Raccoons (45-26) @ Bayhawks (35-36) – June 21-23, 2019

The Baybirds looked crummy in the standings, but they looked much worse than they were in numbers. They ranked fourth in both runs scored and runs conceded with a sizeable +34 run differential. They had won two of three games from the Coons in the teams’ first 3-game meeting of the year, but while the Raccoons had some injuries that hurt them, the Bayhawks’ DL was *crowded*. SP Bob King was on there, star centerfielder Dave Garcia, shortstop Raul Claros, also regulars or platoon pieces Roger Allen, Robby Vasquez, Tom Dahlke… it was quite awful for them! Victor Sarabia (.380, 2 HR, 11 RBI) was playing hurt on top of that because he felt the team needed him to stay in the lineup.

Projected matchups:
Cole Pierson (5-3, 3.29 ERA) vs. Joao Joo (8-2, 3.29 ERA)
Jonathan Toner (9-3, 2.86 ERA) vs. Zach Boyer (6-9, 3.85 ERA)
Tadasu Abe (9-2, 2.38 ERA) vs. Graham Wasserman (4-7, 4.30 ERA)

Joo will be a left-hander to contend with on Friday. Our bullpen is mostly reset thanks to the off day, and Pierson has been good enough lately, so I think he will not burn through it right away again.

With West, the original plan had been to send him back to AAA and exchange for Adam Cowen, but his strong outing won him a stay for a few more days.

Game 1
POR: LF Carmona – RF Jackson – 3B Walter – C Denny – SS McKnight – 2B Mathews – CF Duarte – 1B Petracek – P Pierson
SFB: 3B J. Pena – CF Bautista – C D. Alexander – RF Raupp – 1B T. Ramos – LF Harris – 2B Hart – SS M. Robinson – P Joo

Things just weren’t shaking out for the Critters right now; Cookie hit a leadoff single and was caught stealing in the first inning, one pitch before Eddie Jackson went yard to left. Denny in the first and Duarte in the second were left on after doubles, but in the fourth Joey Mathews hit a double to left and scored on Duarte’s single to right, 2-0 Coons. Pierson was not in trouble the first time through the order, and the Bayhawks came into scoring position only in the fourth when Felipe Bautista, an obscure replacement teams will come up with nine players injured, hit a double to left. Bautista was 30 years old and had 350 career at-bats, batting .229 with four homers, and he was also the last Bayhawk to reach base for a while, with Pierson nursing a 3-hit shutout through six, striking out eight, although D-Alex certainly kept the home crowd engaged with a deep drive to left that did end up with Cookie at the fence to end the bottom 6th. John Harris would hit a 2-out single between Walter and McKnight, but the latter made a strong play on Bo Hart’s following grounder to end the seventh inning. Pierson allowed soft singles to Angelo Velasquez and Juan Pena (who so far had been 0-for-3 with 3 K) in the eighth inning. Dylan Alexander batted with two outs, he was a left-handed batter, and I am known to be averse to relieving lefty with lefty. Pierson, despite 105 pitches on the odometer and the tying runs on base with a power hitter at the plate, pitched to D-Alex, who sent a drive to left center, and out of nothing warped a Cookie and spoiled that potential sadness inducer for the third out in the inning. The Coons couldn’t get anything done offensively, and it had been like that for a while, with Alex Ramirez inheriting the 2-0 lead and the 4-5-6 batters in the bottom of the ninth inning. Jimmy Raupp, batting an almost-dead .155, struck out; Tony Ramos grounded out to Petracek, and John Harris grounded out to short on an 0-2 pitch. 2-0 Furballs! Jackson 3-4, HR, 2B, RBI; Duarte 3-3, BB, 2B, RBI; Pierson 8.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 K, W (6-3);

Game 2
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Mathews – 3B Walter – SS McKnight – C Denny – LF DeWeese – CF Duarte – 1B Greenwald – P Toner
SFB: 2B W. Ramos – 3B J. Pena – C D. Alexander – LF Raupp – RF Sarabia – 1B T. Ramos – CF J. Harris – SS M. Robinson – P Boyer

Cookie opened the game with a double, but was left stranded. The Baybirds would put up a threat in the second inning, which started when Toner dropped Greenwald’s feed at first base that allowed the ailing Victor Sarabia to reach on a lazy grounder. Tony Ramos and John Harris both hit singles to the shallow outfield to load the bases, but Toner struck out Mike Robinson and got Boyer on a fly to center to strand all the runners. Toner continued to have his moments, hitting D-Alex with an 0-2 pitch in the third, and walking Willie Ramos, another one of those dangerous .157 hitters, on four pitches in the fifth. None of those scored, nor did Cookie after tripling in the third inning, and the scoreboard was empty through five, with five hits between the teams. Good ol’ Ricardo Carmona came up with a single up the middle in the sixth, putting him a dinger short of the cycle, which was not something likely to happen, Mathews singled, and Walter hit into a double play to leave the Critters with nuthin’. Toner hit another guy with two outs and on an 0-2 pitch, that being Robinson in the seventh inning. He was at 107 pitches, but the Birds didn’t bat for Boyer, so this should be enough to get him through the inning and into the showers. Boyer was sniffed out, leaving Toner with eight strikeouts and hoping probably in vain for some offense in the eighth. Duarte, Greenwald, and Bareford went down in a real hurry, leaving Toner with a no-decision indeed. The second he was out of the game, the Coons fell apart. Kaiser allowed a 2-out double to D-Alex in the bottom of the eighth, and when Chris Mathis replaced him, he got bombed by Jimmy Raupp, who climbed back to .156 with nine homers. R.J. DeWeese to the n-th degree beat the Coons, who had no answer against Mike Stank. Well, Cookie got on. But Eddie Jackson’s pinch-hit double play ended the game before hope could even make a single breath. 2-0 Bayhawks. Carmona 4-4, 3B, 2B; Mathews 2-4; Toner 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K;

Ugh, the offense!!

We are eighth in runs scored. It sure feels like we’re eighteenth. IN A TWELVE-TEAM LEAGUE.

Game 3
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Mathews – 3B Walter – SS McKnight – C Denny – LF DeWeese – CF Bareford – 1B Greenwald – P Abe
SFB: 2B W. Ramos – 3B J. Pena – C D. Alexander – LF Raupp – RF Sarabia – 1B T. Ramos – CF J. Harris – SS M. Robinson – P Wasserman

Two Bayhawks errors served to score a run for the Critters in the first inning, and they almost would have been charged with three; Wasserman couldn’t get Cookie’s bouncer to start the contest out of his glove. He barely beat Cookie at first by throwing his glove with ball inside to Tony Ramos. Nobody put up honest offense in the early innings, but Denny whacked a leadoff jack off Wasserman in the fourth. Abe conceded leadoff singles to Juan Pena and D-Alex in the bottom of that inning, sending them to the corners. Raupp struck out, but Sarabia got a run in with a grounder to Greenwald. Tony Ramos grounded out to short, leaving the Coons up 2-1. They also got to the corners with nobody out in the top of the fifth, the offense jumpstarted by Tadasu Abe himself with a double up the leftfield line. Cookie singled, moving the slow Abe to third and third only. Then, another tremendous choke job: Mathews struck out, Walter popped out, and McKnight flew out to Raupp in left. OH COME ON!!

The Coons had two on again in the sixth inning, Bareford and Greenwald hitting 2-out singles. That pulled up Abe, and while he lined to left, Raupp had no problem catching the ball. Juan Pena ran a 3-1 count at the start of the bottom 6th. Instead of walking, he chipped the 3-1 into play, the bouncer got past Greenwald and made it into foul ground in right. Cookie had to go a LONG way to get the ball, and Pena had a leadoff double, representing the tying run. D-Alex walked, and while Raupp popped out, it looked like Abe had lost his mojo. With three left-handers and a switch-hitter coming up in the next four batters, Thrasher was thrown into a true mess in the hopes of keeping the lead. It very much didn’t work. Thrasher worked a full count to Sarabia, who took a rip on the seventh pitch and sent it racing outta rightfield, a score-flipping 3-run homer to put the Baybirds up 4-2. Top 7th, both Ramoses made an error apiece to put Cookie and McKnight on base. They had four errors in the game now, and the Baybirds were INVITING the Raccoons to come back. But Kevin Woodworth got Mike Denny to ground out to short. The Raccoons sucked unbelievable amounts, and just kept sucking, sucking, and sucking hard. The Critters stranded Greenwald after a 2-out single in the eighth and the top of the order came to face Barry MacDonald and his 4.10 ERA in the ninth inning, needing two to tie the game. Cookie grounded to right, where Bo Hart knocked down a grounder that had not only eyes but also teeth, but couldn’t get a play on Cookie at first base. The tying run came to the plate, MacDonald threw a wild one, but Mathews struck out and Walter grounded out to second. McKnight was down to the final strike before driving a ball to right, where it bounced out of Sarabia’s reach onto the warning track for an RBI double. Denny struck out swinging, ending the game anyway. 4-3 Bayhawks. Carmona 2-5; Walter 2-5; Greenwald 2-4;

AAARGH!!! They out-hit the Birds 10-7, the Birds made FOUR ****ING ERRORS, and they still couldn’t pull out a ****ING WIN. I swear, the next Critter I see, I’ll THROW THROUGH A ****ING WINDOW!!

In other news

June 17 – Vancouver’s SP Ron Funderburk (7-1, 3.23 ERA) throws a 3-hit shutout at the Titans in a 4-0 Canadiens win.
June 18 – The only tally in the Buffaloes’ 1-0 win over the Miners is a home run by 2B Chris Owen (.295, 5 HR, 34 RBI).
June 18 – The Falcons walk off in 12 innings against the Aces when Vegas’ Steve Rob walks leadoff man Pat Fowlkes, then throws two wild pitches after Bernard Girard’s bunt, giving the Falcons a 6-5 win.
June 19 – TOP LF/RF Bill Adams (.307, 14 HR, 49 RBI) is out for a month with a strained hamstring.
June 19 – The Gold Sox destroy the Wolves in a 17-2 blowout. DEN LF/RF Edwin Lemus (.346, 2 HR, 6 RBI) bats eighth, but easily has the best day, collecting four hits, four runs scored, and four runs driven in. Included in the four hits is a 3-run home run.
June 20 – SFB LF Roger Allen (.296, 10 HR, 28 RBI) also goes down with a hamstring strain, and also has to eye late July for a return.
June 21 – Indians and Condors play 14 innings with the Condors scoring a 2-1 walkoff when Josh Rawlings (.286, 8 HR, 27 RBI) creams Helio Maggessi’s first pitch of the 14th inning for a home run.
June 21 – The Blue Sox score eight in the second inning to knock out the Pacifics early before also shutting them out, 12-0.
June 22 – The Wolves sweep up the #4 prospect, CL Gregg Bell, in a trade with the Warriors. They also receive MR Beau Barnaby (1-2, 4.91 ERA) in exchange for C Jon Gilbert (.256, 3 HR, 18 RBI).
June 22 – PIT SP Sam Kramer (4-7, 4.86 ERA) pitches a 3-hit shutout against the Rebels, holding on to 1-0 lead to clinch victory.
June 22 – LAP INF Nick Herman (.262, 2 HR, 24 RBI) is out for a month with shoulder soreness.

Complaints and stuff

Wednesday is why nobody loves Santos after all those years. Team is in dire need of a long outing by the starter, he gets a sixer spotted in the ****ing first, and blows it up completely. Now, the defense DID NOT HELP. But this is why nobody loves Santos. That wouldn’t have happened with Toner, or Brownie before that.

Matt Nunley started a rehab assignment on Sunday, and will be in St. Petersburg for a week at least. I hope to get his bat started there, so that he can then return warm and tackle that .200 batting average…

.200 is a noble mark to reach. This team makes me sad. Such great pitching, completely soiled and ruined by a tremendously inept offense. Ugh!!

[Westheim]

Raccoons (46-28) vs. Condors (34-41) – June 24-26, 2019

This was our second meeting with the Condors, having taken the first series with them, two games to one. The Condors were fifth in the South, nine games out, but their individual numbers were not quite indicative of a team seven games under .500. They were roughly average in both runs scored (seventh) and runs allowed (eighth), with a -8 run differential. Their rotation ranked sixth in ERA, their pen eighth. They did have the second-highest total of home runs, but in turn their defense was the worst in the Continental League. Maybe sometimes the whole is indeed less than the sum of its parts.

Projected matchups:
Bobby Guerrero (1-5, 7.43 ERA) vs. Luis Flores (6-6, 3.62 ERA)
Hector Santos (7-3, 2.77 ERA) vs. Jose Menendez (5-5, 4.15 ERA)
Cole Pierson (6-3, 3.03 ERA) vs. Casey Hally (3-4, 5.24 ERA)

We miss their best guy, Jorge Gine (8-5, 2.56 ERA), and also the second left-hander, Ethan Knight (4-5, 5.40 ERA), having to contend with only Flores on Monday. They were still without one of their best starters, as Andrew Gudeman (2-2, 4.95 ERA), who had pitched to a 2.48 ERA in 2018, was still on the DL, and they were also without one of their power swingers, with 3B Carlos Martinez (.305, 10 HR, 37 RBI) healing out a small tear in his labrum. That left them with Jimmy Oatmeal (.309, 16 HR, 44 RBI), who continued to be surprisingly dangerous to the team that once drafted him at #3 and dumped him in a real hurry.

Game 1
TIJ: SS Konrath – C J. Vargas – LF Eichelkraut – 1B Tsung – 3B P. Cruz – RF Rawlings – 2B Sykes – CF Jamieson – P L. Flores
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Mathews – 3B Walter – RF Jackson – C Denny – CF Duarte – SS Lafon – 1B Petracek – P Guerrero

While Cookie Carmona was robbed by Josh Rawlings making a wonderful catch on his line drive to right center to start the bottom of the first after Guerrero had gotten three groundouts to the right side in the top of the inning, the Raccoons put up three unearned runs when Joey Mathews walked, Eddie Jackson reached on Flores’ error, and Mike Denny went deep to right for a 3-piece. Flores continued to find trouble, walking Guerrero(!) with one out in the second inning. Cookie singled hard to left, and Mathews drew another walk to load them up. The Critters didn’t score that time, with Walter flying out to Oatmeal in shallow left, and Jackson whiffing in a full count; and in the third the Coons had two on with nobody out after Denny reached on Jose Vargas’ throwing error, Duarte walked, but Lafon’s fly to right was caught by Josh Rawlings, and Petracek bounced into a conventional 6-4-3 inning-ender. The bases were loaded yet again in the bottom of the fourth, Cookie double, Mathews walked, Walter single, then with one out. This time Jackson rolled into the double play, and by now I was livid with the inexplicable hitting that was going on.

At least Guerrero generated mostly weak contact. He allowed only one single, to Harrison Sykes, the first time through the order, and another single to Rawlings the second time through. Rawlings was on second with two outs and just to be sure, because wicked stuff tended to happen to the Critters whenever they didn’t need any wicked stuff to happen, Guerrero was ordered to walk Matt Jamieson intentionally in that spot, then got Flores to ground out. Flores walked SIX through five innings and somehow still hadn’t allowed an earned run, with the Raccoons continuing to fail grossly. Mun-wah Tsung, the second ex-Coons farmhand in the middle of that Condors order, opened the seventh inning with a double to left center, but was stranded on two grounders and Guerrero hanging a K on Sykes. Flores didn’t make it through the seventh, being removed with two on and nobody out in the bottom 7th. Jackson had reached on a ball that bounced an inch in front of Rawlings’ outstretched glove in shallow right for a single, and Denny flicked a soft single to shallow left center. Right-hander Rafael Cuenca (6.46 ERA) appeared in relief, getting Duarte to expertly bounce into a double play. DeWeese batted for the ghost of Roland Lafon (who had been a Condor in a previous life when he was still a hitter), walked, giving the Coons runners on the corners, and then Petracek grounded to Sykes. Alas, relief! Sykes was carried to centerfield in cutting of that ball, got nothing on the throw to first, and Petracek legged out an RBI single with Jackson scoring from third base. McKnight batted for Guerrero and grounded out, the final futile RISP act for the Critters on that day. Nobody got on for the home team in the eighth, but Wade Davis pitched two competent innings in relief to end the game. 4-0 Furballs. Carmona 3-5; Denny 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Duarte 1-2, 2 BB; Guerrero 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, W (2-5); Davis 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Game 2
TIJ: SS Konrath – C J. Vargas – LF Eichelkraut – 3B P. Cruz – CF M. Herrera – 2B Sykes – 1B Jaeger – RF Rawlings – P Menendez
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Mathews – 3B Walter – SS McKnight – C Denny – LF DeWeese – CF Bareford – 1B Greenwald – P Santos

The Condors got the quick first-inning lead in the middle game, with Vargas drawing a full count walk from Santos, who had been shackled in his last outing and then swiftly surrendered a true bomb to Jimmy Oatmeal that left centerfield in a hurry. The bottom 1st opened with a Cookie triple to right center – Rawlings with a near-miss on that attempt to play it in flight – and then was close to getting stranded. Mathews grounded out to first, holding him, and Walter grounded to Sykes very close to first, and Cookie thought ‘to heck with it’ and went. Sykes took the sure out, the run scored, and then McKnight hit a bomb to right center to level the score at two. Menendez was soon in trouble in the bottom of the second, with DeWeese reaching on an error before Bareford singled. Both took off for a double steal attempt, Vargas threw a capital mistake into leftfield (not even close to third base), and DeWeese immediately scampered home with the go-ahead run. Bareford scored on Russ Greenwald’s double, 4-2, and Menendez continued to not retire anybody. Santos reached on a silly bloop to shallow center for a single, Cookie singled hard to right center, 5-2, and Mathews rolled a grounder through between the converging Konrath and Sykes to load the bases still with nobody out. Rawlings couldn’t catch up with Walter’s soft line to shallow right, which fell for an RBI single, and McKnight also hit an RBI single to center. No out was made until the ninth batter of the inning as Mike Denny popped out. Menendez walked DeWeese to force home the sixth run of the inning, then was removed to … have his vaccinations checked. Left-hander Kyle Eilrich replaced him, and two more runs scored against him, one on Bareford’s grounder that Sykes took for an out at second, and the other on a passed ball charged to Vargas, and that one put the Coons into double digits before Greenwald struck out.

Santos had blown a 6-0 lead in his last start, now was staked to a 10-2 lead in this one, and pitched with his temple in my ****ing crosshairs. He rapped up six strikeouts through 3.1 innings, and then it started to rain. Of course it did. We had a 30-minute delay right in the top of the fourth with a full count to Sykes and nobody on with two outs. After play resumed, Santos finished the K, his seventh, but this was going to significantly reduce his chances to have a long outing, but he did get through five alright and batted for himself in the bottom 5th. By then the Coons were up 11-2, the run scoring on another passed ball on Vargas, who did NOT have a good day. Cookie was removed after five innings and replaced with Jackson, purely to conserve mileage on his legs with a 9-run lead. Santos also didn’t make it through six, loading the bases on two singles and a walk to Mike Herrera. Mathis replaced him with one out and got out of the inning with no damage crossing home plate. Mathews hit an RBI double at some point to put the Coons ahead 12-2, and things cruised into the ninth, when they stopped cruising. Will West had gotten four outs already, but got no more, allowing a single to Kevin Jaeger and a walk to Rawlings. Chun replaced him, walked Alberto Gonzales, and then conceded an RBI single to Cameron Konrath, a run-scoring groundout to Vargas, and a 2-run single to veteran Victorino Sanchez. I don’t know, maybe they wanted the Condors not to feel quite so bad and conceded that 4-spot out of sheer love for humanity, but I will go with the suckers theory. Pedro Cruz hit into a game-ending double play. 12-6 Raccoons. Carmona 3-4, 3B, RBI; Mathews 2-5, 2B, RBI; Walter 2-5, 2 RBI; McKnight 3-5, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; DeWeese 0-1, 3 BB, RBI; Greenwald 2-5, 2 2B, RBI; Santos 5.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 9 K, W (8-3) and 1-3;

Santos gets a break because of the rain delay. Otherwise, 5.1 innings would of course never be enough to make the postgame dispatch.

Outside of Cookie, Walter and Denny were also subbed out for Petracek and Margolis after six innings.

Game 3
TIJ: SS Konrath – 1B Tsung – 3B P. Cruz – LF Eichelkraut – C J. Vargas – 2B Sykes – CF M. Herrera – RF Rawlings – P Hally
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Mathews – 3B Walter – SS McKnight – C Denny – LF DeWeese – CF Bareford – 1B Greenwald – P Pierson

Cookie was the only baserunner in the first two innings, but nothing came of that at this point. Pierson walked Hally with two outs in the third, then allowed a hard one-bouncer to the left side that McKnight knocked down, scrambled out of the dirt, and took it for a laser throw to first that BARELY beat out Konrath and ended the inning. Bottom 3rd, Greenwald opened with a double and moved up on Pierson’s groundout. Cookie walked, stole second, and Mathews also walked to fill the bases. Walter hit into a double play, which was what he did best, hands down, and he would hit into a mere inning-ending groundout with Greenwald and Cookie on the corners in the fifth, through which the game remained scoreless, with the only other runner the Condors had received being Vargas, whose black series continued when he got picked off by Pierson, who also walked Konrath in the sixth, but stranded him. He was at 89 pitches through six, which was regrettable, but not more regrettable than the score on the board (there was none), with the R column just as empty as the Condors’ H entry. It was Vargas who thankfully spared us the dilemma of squeezing Pierson as hard as Toner had been squeezed earlier in the season; the heavily battered backstop hit a solid line drive for a single to left with two outs in the seventh inning, ending the no-hit bid before it could get really ugly for Pierson, who got Sykes on a casual fly to center, but needed 101 pitches through seven. With nobody on and two outs in the bottom 7th, Duarte hit for Pierson and walked. Cookie followed up with a single, and in the hope of a thumper the Coons sent Jackson to bat for Mathews, but he also walked. That filled the bags for Walter, who had left approximately 3,000 batters on base in this game alone. He lined out to Sykes.

Bottom 8th, the misery continued. McKnight opened with a soft single to left against right-hander Brian Gilbert. Denny was told to bunt, did so, yet badly, and got McKnight forced out. With a slow runner on first, Gilbert threw a wild pitch to move the go-ahead run to second after all. Only at that point did the Coons send Petracek to run for Denny, but to no avail. DeWeese walked, but Bareford and Greenwald both grounded out. Mathis, Thrasher, and Ramirez kept the Condors shut out through nine, which was just not enough. Ramirez’ spot came up with nobody on base and two outs in the bottom 9th, but he had to bat anyway – we had completely spent our bench already. Mike Peterson struck him out, sending the game to extras and thus the Raccoons to a guaranteed loss. Of course Ramirez got slaughtered in the top of the 10th. Vargas yanked a homer right away, and then he allowed three more hard hits for two more runs to score, the last two on a 2-out single to center by Konrath. The Coons had nothing in the bottom of the inning. 3-0 Condors. Carmona 3-4, BB; Petracek 1-1; Greenwald 2-4, 2B; Pierson 7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 5 K;

**** Ramirez.

No, **** all of them.

Except Cookie. And Toner.

Raccoons (48-29) vs. Crusaders (40-38) – June 27-30, 2019

By now, the Crusaders were not very relevant, having dropped to fifth place in the North, although a sweep over the hapless Critters could help them a good bunch in regaining traction in a division that was still wide open for everybody except the 30-49 Titans. The Crusaders did hold the edge in the season series, 4-3, despite them having mighty problems with their offense. They had the worst batting average in the CL, and scored the third-fewest runs. Their pitching was decent, although a good part of that was Jaylen “Midnight” Martin having a monster year like Toner had enjoyed in 2017 with a sub-2 ERA.

Projected matchups:
Jonathan Toner (9-3, 2.68 ERA) vs. Jaylen Martin (8-3, 1.88 ERA)
Tadasu Abe (9-3, 2.52 ERA) vs. Tom Weise (5-5, 2.87 ERA)
Bobby Guerrero (2-5, 6.23 ERA) vs. Brian Benjamin (3-7, 5.58 ERA)
Hector Santos (8-3, 2.80 ERA) vs. Hwa-pyung Choe (4-7, 5.65 ERA)

I do not like the matchup on Thursday… With the Elks only 2 1/2 games behind, I hate wasting Jonny in a sure 2-1 loss, probably in 12 innings. However, there is no wiggle room. We’re in the middle of 17 straight games without an off day, and nobody can be switched around now. It might help, or it might not, but all their starters were right-handed.

Oh, and besides the 17 straight games without an off day, we also had to work in off days for individual batters in this series, because we were going to face the Elks to start the following week, and we needed all aboard for that four-game bonanza.

Game 1
NYC: 3B J. Carroll – CF J. Wilson – 2B S. Valdez – 1B Manfull – RF Erickson – LF M. Cruz – C Roland – SS D. Ortega – P J. Martin
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Mathews – 3B Walter – SS McKnight – C Denny – LF DeWeese – CF Bareford – 1B Greenwald – P Toner

Toner came out struggling, hitting Jens Carroll to start the game and allowing hard liners by John Wilson and Sergio Valdez. Wilson’s was caught by DeWeese, but Valdez’ fell into center, putting two on before B.J. Manfull and Max Erickson both struck out. With two outs and nobody on in the bottom 1st, Walter singled up the middle, drawing an ironic standing ovation by the crowd that had witnessed his 7 LOB game on Wednesday. McKnight crushed a pitch by “Midnight” for a homer to right, his tenth shot of the season, and not only did Toner get staked to a 2-0 lead, but Martin’s ERA jumped to 2.02. Toner ended up striking out six in a row before Carroll bounced a ball past a diving Walter for a 1-out double in the third inning. Wilson K’ed, and Valdez grounded out to Mathews to end the inning. Toner piled up a dozen corpses in five innings (netting him over 80 pitches as well…) while keeping the Crusaders shut out, while Martin struck out only five and allowed another run in the third inning, in which Cookie singled moved up on a grounder, and scored on Walter’s single, 3-0. Although Martin allowed those three runs, overall the Coons’ offense was rather mute. Outside of the innings in which they scored their three runs, they only managed two more runners in seven innings. Toner got through seven on 110 pitches, striking out 14. He was brought back out for the eighth, but would only face Carroll, the right-handed leadoff batter, behind whom lurked four left-handed bats. Carroll grounded out, with Thrasher taking over as Toner left to a HUGE standing ovation. No matter what happened from here, he had definitely had shown the Crusaders! Thrasher ended the inning quickly, K’ing Wilson and getting Valdez to pop out foul behind home plate. Martin completed eight innings on 99 pitches, whiffing six, by no means a bad game, but was on the hook as Thrasher came back out for the ninth. Manfull struck out, Erickson struck out, the latter for a golden sombrero. No point in changing pitchers now with right-handed batter Manny Cruz at the plate. Go kill him! A strikeout to end the game! 3-0 Furballs!! Walter 2-4, RBI; Toner 7.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 14 K, W (10-3); Thrasher 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, SV (6);

WE LOVE JON-NY TO-NER, WE LOVE JON-NY TO-NER, WE LOVE JON-NY TO-NER …!!!

The Elks lost to Indy, 8-4, putting them 3 1/2 back, so no matter what happened on the weekend, the Raccoons would invade Vancouver as division leaders come Monday.

Resting guys started on Friday, with Shane Walter being the first regular to take a seat on the bench. The others (McKnight, Cookie, DeWeese, and even Mathews) would get off days in the next two games.

Game 2
NYC: 3B J. Carroll – CF J. Wilson – 2B S. Valdez – 1B Manfull – LF M. Cruz – C Roland – RF Richards – SS D. Ortega – P Weise
POR: RF Carmona – CF Duarte – 3B Mathews – SS McKnight – LF DeWeese – 1B Greenwald – C Margolis – 2B Lafon – P Abe

The only hit the first time through either order was Domingo Ortega’s third-inning single to left, but neither team managed to put up any threat. Abe held the Crusaders to that one hit and whiffed six in the first five innings, while Tom Weise had issued two walks in the early innings, but was still nursing a no-hitter when Greenwald dumped a single into left center with one out in the fifth inning. Margolis swiftly hit into a double play, and we remained scoreless. Roland Lafon drew a leadoff walk in the sixth, was bunted over by Abe and moved to third when Cookie’s grounder to right was intercepted and converted into the second out by Valdez. Duarte struck out to leave him there.

Serenity was rudely interrupted by Valdez’ 1-out double to left center in the seventh inning, only the third base knock in the game. Abe struck out Manfull before Manny Cruz sent a drive to left that DeWeese hustled after and made the catch at the edge of the warning track. Bottom 7th, Mathews led off with a single that bounced right over second base into center, and when McKnight hit a hard line into shallow right for a single, it was the first time that any team had two runners on base not only at the same time, but in the same inning in the game. DeWeese grounded slowly to Valdez, with the slow pace of that ball taking away the double play, with only McKnight out at second base. Greenwald hit a fly to center, was put out by Wilson, but it was deep enough to send Mathews home with the first run of the contest. Abe maintained a 3-hitter through eight, but was hit for in the bottom of the inning after Lafon drew another leadoff walk. Shane Walter batted for him and expertly grounded into a 4-6-3 double play (MORE CLCS FLASHBACKS!!), and Alex Ramirez was left to his own devices in the ninth inning, with a 1-0 lead and top of the order approaching. Walking Jens Carroll was an EXCELLENT start to the inning, and Ramirez went on to allow a single to right to Wilson. Carroll raced to third, Cookie unleashed a wild throw that Mathews could not come up with and Carroll turned the corner and scored. ****head Ramirez conceded an RBI triple to Valdez, which was the last batter he got to serve meatballs to. The run scored on a groundout against Wade Davis, and the Coons were down 3-1 and reeling. Duarte hit a single off Brian Doumas to start the bottom of the ninth and Mathews buried a ball in the corner in leftfield, moving the tying runs to scoring position with the double. Doumas was a left-hander, so caution was advised. McKnight grounded the first pitch he got to first base, but Manfull bobbled it! Duarte scored, and the winning run was on base for Eddie Jackson, pinch-hitting for DeWeese. Jackson whacked a liner to left center for an RBI single, knotting the score. EDDIIIEE!!! Now, the bottom of the order was approaching. Bunting with Greenwald was tempting, but beneath him was a lot of misery and Greenwald was at least batting .289 right now. So of course he hit into a double play! McKnight was on third base with two outs for Margolis, who had not had a base hit since the end of the most recent Ice age. So he knocked a bouncer up the middle, Valdez and Ortega missed it, ball into center, ballgame! 4-3 Blighters! Mathews 2-3, BB, 2B; Jackson (PH) 1-1, RBI; Lafon 0-1, 2 BB; Abe 8.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 9 K;

Ramirez, give Abe one of your wins. – I SAID GIVE HIM ONE OF YOUR WINS!!!

****ing brasshole.

Game 3
NYC: 3B J. Carroll – CF J. Wilson – 2B S. Valdez – 1B Manfull – RF Erickson – C Roland – LF Richards – SS D. Ortega – P Benjamin
POR: 3B Walter – CF Bareford – SS McKnight – RF Jackson – LF DeWeese – C Denny – 1B Greenwald – 2B Lafon – P Guerrero

The Coons whipped Benjamin for two quick runs in the first inning after a Walter singled, Bareford doubled to right center, and then a McKnight double up the rightfield line to score both. Guerrero opened the game with two strikeouts, and got through two innings unharmed, moving his ERA into the fives. The Crusaders had only two hits in three innings, but the Coons had three runs after another RBI double by McKnight, scoring Bareford in the bottom 3rd.

When Guerrero started the fourth with a 3-0 count against Valdez, the youngster impatiently chopped a bouncer back to Guerrero for a quick first out, and Manfull and Erickson whiffed after that to keep the Crusaders on grass level. If there was something that needed a bit of work, it was Guerrero’s bunting. He got Lafon forced out his first time up, and his second time up came to the plate with Greenwald and Lafon having singled and nobody out. He bunted into a double play, 1-5-3, but Walter picked him up partially with an RBI single to center. Bareford also singled, and McKnight was about to wear out Benjamin for good, but his drive to deep center was caught by John Wilson to end the inning with a 4-0 score. The Crusaders put runners on the corners with a pair of 2-out singles by Ortega and Benjamin(!) in the fifth, but Carroll struck out to keep on denying them. Guerrero had eight whiffs through five innings, which was almost getting Toner-esque, and after a 2-out double by Manfull in the sixth hung another K on Erickson. The Crusaders, frustrated obviously by now, made another out on a 3-0 pitch, ex-Raccoon Ron Richards grounding out in the seventh inning. Guerrero would pitch seven and two thirds, departing after his 10th K to Carroll with nobody on and the left-handed block up again. Jason Kaiser was tasked this time. Wilson singled, but Valdez grounded out to end the eighth inning, but things went south in the ninth. Manfull singled, and the completely overmatched Erickson (0-for-7, 6 K) found sanctuary when he got drilled by Kaiser. This was now a save situation, and out of the pen came – Mathis. **** Ramirez. Just **** him. Maybe **** Mathis, too, as he threw a wild pitch, then conceded two runs on Cory Roland’s double to right center. Richards popped out to Petracek at second base, and Greenwald snagged a scorching liner by Martin Ortíz that surely would have been trouble. Mathis struck out Manny Cruz to SOMEHOW end the game. 4-2 Critters. Walter 2-4, RBI; Bareford 3-4, 2B; McKnight 2-4, 2 2B, 3 RBI; Lafon 2-3; Guerrero 7.2 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 10 K, W (3-5);

Good news, the Elks keep losing. They had now lost three straight to the Indians, growing the Coons’ lead to more than a handful of games (which is five) for the first time this season.

Cookie and Mathews had gotten days off on Saturday; on Sunday the chalice wandered on to DeWeese and McKnight, which would more or less complete the string. Yes, Greenwald was playing every day, but it’s not like he has to get out of his lawn chair at first base very often.

Game 4
NYC: 3B J. Carroll – CF J. Wilson – 1B Manfull – RF Erickson – LF M. Cruz – 2B Dawson – C Little – SS D. Ortega – P Choe
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Mathews – SS Walter – RF Jackson – C Denny – 1B Greenwald – CF Bareford – 3B Petracek – P Santos

Here was another rain-affected Santos start as it was coming down lightly almost from the start of the affair, although Santos was more bothered by the defense being beaten repeatedly by inches to start the game, and especially in the second inning. With two outs, the Crusaders reeled off a double by Ryan Dawson that initially went only barely over the leaping Walter’s glove, then a double past the lunging Petracek up the leftfield line hit by Morgan Little, 1-0, a single past Mathews by Ortega, 2-0, and then Choe reached on an infield single… Carroll struck out to end the damn inning. Santos started to get outright whacked in the third. Manfull hit a hard single, Erickson hit a hard double off the wall in centerfield, and Santos bailed out on a K to Cruz, and Dawson’s fly being caught up with by Eddie Jackson to make the third out of the inning. Meanwhile, the Critters didn’t get a base knock until Jackson’s single in the fourth, with two down there.

The rain finally forced a delay in the fifth inning, and Santos didn’t return afterwards, having conceded seven hits in 4.2 innings. Kaiser ended the inning, while the Crusaders sent Choe back out after a 1:10 delay, but then hooked him after a leadoff walk to Greenwald. Damon Barnett allowed a pinch-hit single to DeWeese with two out, but Cookie grounded out to strand the tying runs. Barnett got five outs in the game to line up for a W, while Will West pitched two innings without getting help. Francisquo Bocanegra struck out the 6-7-8 batters in the seventh, holding the Raccoons to two meager hits, and Bocanegra also retired Duarte, who pinch-hit for Chun to start the bottom 8th. Cookie however singled to right, bringing up the tying run and a pitching change to Pedro Alvarado, who had a 1.55 ERA, but only ten strikeouts in 40.2 innings in his age 40 season. Mathews and Walter made easy outs to the middle infielder to end the inning. Alex Ramirez was thrown into the ninth to try his luck against the bottom of the order, and it was nothing other than luck for him to get through any inning. Ortega hit a leadoff single, but no runs came forth for the Crusaders, who had a 2-run lead in the bottom 9th, just like they had held a 2-run lead on Friday… From Jackson, Denny, and McKnight, Brian Doumas collected another three poor grounders, and the Crusaders salvaged a game in the series. 2-0 Crusaders. DeWeese (PH) 1-1; West 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

In other news

June 24 – Las Vegas’ SP Nehemiah Jones (9-3, 2.37 ERA) pitches seven innings and beats the Titans, 1-0, and drives in the game’s lone run himself with a sacrifice fly. Jones allows five hits and whiffs five in the game.
June 25 – 38-year old CIN 3B/SS Gary Rice (.207, 1 HR, 2 RBI) collects his 2,000th career hit, a 10th inning single off Salem’s Javy Vasquez that helps the Cyclones to walk off in the inning with a 6-5 win. Rice has batted .274 with 174 HR and 1,007 RBI for his career that started with the Crusaders in 2000, but he left the team before they won their first three-peat starting 2007. Rice was an All Star three times and won two Platinum Sticks in his career.
June 25 – BOS RF/LF Chris Almanza (.270, 12 HR, 38 RBI) goes to the DL with a fractured shoulder blade and is going to miss a month.
June 26 – IND SS Raul Matias’ (.337, 7 HR, 42 RBI) first-inning home run off Joao Joo (8-4, 3.07 ERA) holds up as the Indians defeat the Bayhawks, 1-0.
June 27 – The Loggers’ ambitions take a nasty hit with the news that SP J.J. Wirth (8-4, 2.68 ERA) is out for the season with shoulder inflammation.
June 28 – The Stars beat the Pacifics handily, 15-5, putting up three 4-spots and one 3-spot as they score in bunches. LF/RF Justin Dally (.280, 11 HR, 45 RBI) has two hits and drives in four, including a 3-run home run off L.A.’s Eddie DeBlock.

Complaints and stuff

Yes, Ramirez’ contract ends after this season. No, he is not getting a new one. Never. Maybe we can get rid of him even earlier. I am not thinking of a trade. I am thinking of a hair dryer thrown into the bathtub.

After his splendid start on Thursday, Jonny Toner led or tied for the lead in two triple crown categories, but the ERA remained an issue. Even with the three runs put on “Midnight” Martin, the Crusaders’ ace still held a lead of .54 runs over Jonny, and actually there was Las Vegas’ Nehemiah Jones in between those two as well. (That was after Toner’s start; Abe also moved past him again on Friday)

I stand by that claim: Jonny Toner, best pitcher in baseball right now. For his career, he’s 103-41 with a 2.34 ERA and 1,468 K.

Everybody knows that WAR is a bogus stat, but why not throw it around. Kisho Saito and Nick Brown were both awesometastic in their careers and both had some 60+ WAR in their careers. Saito had 64, Brown 67. Jonny Toner at 28 years old has already 41 WAR amassed. Remember Scott Wade, the 2-pitch wonder from the 80s and 90s? Toner has already buried him. Javier Cruz, who went to the Hall of Fame as a Blue Sock this winter and who pitched three years for the Critters at the end of his career? Toner has him in the headlights with 44 WAR.

Here is a challenge: Martin Garcia, the Loggers Hall of Famer. He went 292-179 with a 2.97 ERA and 3,783 strikeouts. He was Pitcher of the Year five times and piled up 122 WAR. That’s something to chase after.

Since his return from the depths of hell, Bobby Guerrero has pitched 21.2 innings and has allowed zero runs. I need to send flowers and a bottle of good booze to the pitching coach in AAA. Which brings us to another WIP in AAA, which is Matt Nunley. He started rehab last Sunday, and for four or five days was dead from the waist up, just like the first two months of the season for him. Since then, he’s cranked out three games with multiple base hits and is batting .323/.400/.419 in AAA. He will come back early next week, but I don’t yet know how to shake out our infielders.

Info by the management: I am laptop shopping right now, not that anything would be wrong with the one I am playing on, except that the ventilator is pretty much toast and the thing gets ****ing hot. It doesn’t help for it to be summer now. This is not a new development, this has been going on for a few months, but I was too lazy to bother so far, and it wasn’t an issue in the winter. So, if things get any warmer around here, and we had about 80° this weekend already, updates might become a bit more infrequent until I can get a replacement ordered and delivered.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (51-30) @ Canadiens (46-34) – July 1-4, 2019

The Raccoons went to hostile territory for a crucial 4-game set for the division, part of the traditional four-and-four with a team around the All Star Break. The Elks would be in Portland the weekend after the showcase game. The Raccoons held a 2-1 lead in the season series as well as a 4 1/2 game lead in the standings, and I dare say even splitting the series would be a pretty solid result that we can live with. The Elks were second in runs scored but lacked any meaningful pitching, conceding the second-most runs in the league. Their run differential was +16, but the overall mix was just not good at all. Their rotation was the second-worst in the CL with a 4.75 ERA, and the bullpen was only marginally better.

Projected matchups:
Cole Pierson (6-3, 2.83 ERA) vs. Zach Hughes (8-7, 3.93 ERA)
Jonathan Toner (10-3, 2.51 ERA) vs. Alfredo Collazo (0-3, 8.53 ERA)
Tadasu Abe (9-3, 2.34 ERA) vs. Ron Funderburk (7-2, 3.78 ERA)
Bobby Guerrero (3-5, 5.29 ERA) vs. R.J. Lloyd (9-2, 3.59 ERA)

Four right-handers to chop through for the Critters, who did not yet have Matt Nunley back, but would probably soon.

Game 1
POR: RF Carmona – 1B Greenwald – 2B Walter – SS McKnight – LF DeWeese – CF Duarte – 3B Petracek – C Margolis – P Pierson
VAN: RF Branch – LF K. Evans – CF Rocha – 2B J. Gutierrez – 3B Roundtree – 1B Desan – C Grooms – SS Howell – P Hughes

Neither team did much the first time through the order; DeWeese singled for the Raccoons, and Pierson issued a leadoff walk to Ezra Branch in the first, but then allowed nobody on until he hit Zach Hughes with a pitch. Branch forced Hughes with a grounder for the second out in the third, then was caught stealing, but by then the Raccoons had a 1-0 lead, fabricated with two outs in the top 3rd by the top of the order. Cookie hit a triple to right center, his tenth of the season, Greenwald got out of the way by walking, and Shane Walter hit an RBI single to right before McKnight struck out. After the strong initial showing in the first three innings, Pierson completely crapped out in the fourth. He ran four full counts, which usually didn’t end well. Kurt Evans hit a leadoff single, then he walked Mario Rocha. Steve Roundtree hit a 1-out RBI single, and when Mike Desan grounded out and moved the runners into scoring position, Chris Grooms’ bouncer went over the second base bag and past McKnight’s glove to plate them and give the Elks a 3-1 lead. Pierson needed over 40 pitches for the ordeal, and things further degraded for him in the fifth with a leadoff single by Branch and then Evans reaching on Pierson’s own throwing error. The Elks were held to a sac fly, but being down 4-1 in Stinktown was bad enough. Desan lined out to short to start the sixth, which was the last out Pierson got in the game. He drilled Grooms before being removed; Chun got out of the inning. The Coons’ offensive output in the middle innings had been paltry, but maybe a 1-out walk by Petracek in the seventh could get things rolling again. Joey Mathews singled when he hit for Chun, and Cookie hit another single to load the bases for Greenwald. His liner to left fell in front of Evans, two runs scored, but Walter grounded out to the pitcher to leave the tying run on base, down 4-3. But you know you’re not gonna win when a left-hander homers off Ron Thrasher, such wild thing happening in the bottom of the seventh with Kurt Evans launching a solo bomb to left center to restore a 2-run gap for Vancouver. Duarte would hit a double with two outs in the eighth and scored on Petracek’s single to hang a fourth run on Zach Hughes, but Petracek was the last Critter to reach base. He stole second base, but ex-Coon Pat Slayton struck out Margolis, and the Coons went in order in the ninth. 5-4 Canadiens. Carmona 2-5, 3B; Greenwald 2-3, BB, 2 RBI; Mathews (PH) 1-1;

After the game, Roland Lafon was waived and designated for assignment. There had been no interest in the 30-year old middle infielder who was not even batting .200 a year after not appearing in the Bigs at all. Matt Nunley was added back to the roster to assume third base duties again.

Game 2
POR: RF Carmona – CF Bareford – 2B Walter – SS McKnight – LF DeWeese – C Denny – 3B Nunley – 1B Greenwald – P Toner
VAN: LF K. Evans – 3B J. Gutierrez – CF Rocha – RF Branch – C Padilla – 1B Desan – 2B Folk – SS Howell – P Collazo

Both teams scored an early run on a grounder to short; McKnight chased home Bareford from third base with his in the first inning, but Toner allowed singles to Branch and Dave Padilla with nobody out in the second inning and conceded the tying run on Desan’s 6-4-3 double play. The Coons left pairs of runners in the second and third, and when Greenwald hit a leadoff single in the fourth, Toner’s bunt was bad and got him forced, which soon led to even greater calamities. Cookie chomped a 3-2 pitch into the ground in front of home plate; Padilla threw hurriedly to second, where Rob Howell tipped the base to force out Toner, but then stumbled while trying to turn the double play and fell onto the sliding Toner, who was in obvious pain and had to leave the game. Stunned, somehow the Coons maneuvered Cookie around to score, but the 2-1 lead was in the hands of the bullpen. Back home in Portland, I yelled at my television, demanding for this to not be true. It was true.

Wade Davis offered a leadoff walk to Jose Gutierrez in the bottom 4th and was soon bombed by Ezra Branch, whose 12th homer of the season was a score-flipper, putting the Elks in front, 3-2. While scoring the tying run on Greenwald’s sac fly in the fifth, but the Raccoons ended up leaving another two men on base, the fourth inning in a row, after Davis reached on an error by Collazo. The Elks’ hurler tumbled through 5.1 innings, conceding ten hits, the last of those knocking him from the game, a single by Walter. McKnight flew out to right, but DeWeese singled off the left-hander(!) Bill Dean to plate Walter with two outs, moving the Critters ahead for the third time in the game. After Wade Davis’ two sub-par innings, Chris Mathis came in and retired two batters in the sixth before also leaving the game with an injury. Will West entered, and by this point it was just about somehow finishing the damn game. West entered in a double switch that exchanged catchers to be as far away from the plate as possible. Margolis came close to a 2-run homer with Greenwald on base in the seventh, but Branch made the catch at the fence. With two out and Cookie in a 3-0 count, Greenwald was then picked off by Dean, then continued to **** up everything by dropping Nunley’s throw to put on Steve Roundtree with two outs in the bottom 7th. Evans singled hard to right, and Jose Gutierrez sent a high liner over third base that was barely fair. This was at least a tied game. DeWeese had to get the ball deep in leftfield, Evans circled the bases, DeWeese with a thunderous throw home, and Evans was out.

Top 8th, Cookie opened with a single to right off Pat Slayton and moved up when Bareford grounded out. With first base open, the Elks chose to walk Walter intentionally, picking the power hitters rather than the high-average hitter to pitch to. McKnight, not averse to hacking out, met a 1-2 pitch and sent it to shallow left. Cookie ignited the turbo and boostered around third base, arriving well ahead of Evans’ throw – that was the Coons’ fourth lead in the game, 5-4. DeWeese struck out and Eddie Jackson batted for West, but flew out to left. We had hardly anything but Thrasher and Ramirez left for this 5-4 game, and they would pitch in that order. Thrasher walked Mario Rocha to start the eighth inning, but got a double play to escape from the beginning mess in time. Insurance runs appeared on the way in the ninth, with Slayton allowing a single to Nunley and a double to Greenwald, putting two in scoring position with nobody out for Margolis, who popped out, after which Cookie wasn’t pitched to. With the bags full, Bareford hit a sac fly, and Walter came up with an RBI single to score two, but a 7-4 lead only served for Alex Ramirez to feel good about allowing a leadoff double to Desan in the bottom 9th. Brody Folk popped out, but Howell and Grooms both singled to center. 7-5, runners on the corners, one out, **** RAMIREZ. Chun was unavailable, and Jason Kaiser was thus the last guy drawn from the pen. He struck out Evans, and Jose Gutierrez fouled out behind home plate. 7-5 Blighters. Bareford 2-5, RBI; Walter 4-5, BB, 2 RBI; McKnight 2-6, 2 RBI; Denny 2-4; Nunley 2-5; Greenwald 3-4, 2B, RBI;

By the time the game was over, I had left 28 panicked voicemails on the Druid’s phone. Some where whiny. Some doubled as prayers to the baseball gods to not be so cruel. In one, I offered my future firstborn for Toner to be able to pitch again this month (don’t wanna get greedy).

Greenwald’s double was the only extra-base knock in 17 hits total for the team, while Will West got the W after being charged with an unearned blown save thanks to Greenwald. The Coons had won the game, but at what price? At what price…

Game 3
POR: RF Carmona – CF Bareford – 2B Walter – SS McKnight – LF DeWeese – C Denny – 3B Nunley – 1B Greenwald – P Abe
VAN: LF K. Evans – 3B J. Gutierrez – RF Branch – C Padilla – 1B Desan – 2B H. Jones – CF Seale – SS Howell – P Funderburk

Tadasu Abe knew that we were short in the pen and that he to gut one out here, and Matt Nunley knew that we couldn’t take any more rotten luck, but with DeWeese and Denny on second and third and one out in the second inning, he still managed to line into a double play. The Coons found another double play of the 7-2 variety to end the third inning; Bareford flew out to Evans with one out and Greenwald and Cookie on the corners. Greenwald went, and didn’t make it by a huge margin, and in the fifth inning we’d get another double play, Nunley hitting into a garden variety 6-4-3. It was awful, and I was in tears at home to begin with, not having received medical news on either Toner or Mathis yet.

Abe had allowed only one runner the first time through, Desan rolling a single past Walter. The game remained scoreless through five, with Cookie sneaking a single to right to start the top of the sixth. Bareford hit one between Ezra Branch and Eddie Seale, putting runners in scoring position on the double, and with nobody out. AGAIN, Shane Walter was put on intentionally. Those sneaky Elks! They know ALL our weaknesses!! They copied our playbook!! McKnight’s sac fly was the only loot the Critters got, with DeWeese whiffing and Denny grounding out to Howell, who then hit a leadoff jack in the bottom 6th to tie the score right away. It was the 34-year old’s 23rd career homer. As odd as that one was (though not that odd in the context of the Elks and gypsy curses, and yada-yada-yada), Ron Funderburk’s following single spelled certain doom. Gutierrez hit an RBI single, Branch hit an RBI double, and the Coons were sinking rapidly. The Raccoons through eight could at best claim that Abe had pitched the distance for the loss, not having gotten a runner in the seventh nor eighth. Against lefty closer Juan Jimenez (0.51 ERA), McKnight opened with a single to right. Jackson, hitting for DeWeese, and Denny both hit hard drives. Jackson’s was caught by Seale in center, and Evans went all the way to the line to snag Denny’s. Duarte hit for Nunley and grounded out. 3-1 Canadiens. Carmona 2-4; Denny 2-4, 2B; Abe 8.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, L (9-4);

Is it all falling to pieces? CALL ME, FOR ****’S SAKE, MENA!!

There was a roster move for the Thursday game, but it had nothing to do with the pitching staff. Hugo Mendoza came off the DL, and Russ Greenwald was sent back to St. Petersburg. He was batting .333 in his limited time but he had made some stupid mistakes while I had been in a bad mood.

MENA!! I SWEAR …!!!

Game 4
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Walter – SS McKnight – 1B Mendoza – LF DeWeese – C Denny – 3B Nunley – CF Duarte – P Guerrero
VAN: LF K. Evans – 3B J. Gutierrez – CF Rocha – C Padilla – 1B Desan – 2B H. Jones – RF Kim – SS Howell – P Lloyd

Lloyd struck out four in two perfect innings before Nunley lined a single to center to start the third inning. Duarte walked, Guerrero bunted them over, the Coons choked. Carmona floated out softly to Man-su Kim in shallow right, and Walter bopped out to second. Rob Howell also got on with a leadoff single in the bottom of the inning, this one of the infield variety. The Elks moved him around and he scored on Gutierrez’ 2-out single to right, ending Guerrero’s 23-inning scoreless streak. The Raccoons had been an embarrassment through four innings, but the fifth gave them a nominal scoring opportunity when Denny worked a leadoff walk and Nunley hit a double off the leftfield wall, reaching .200 in the process. Denny wasn’t going to score, so we had runners in scoring position and nobody out. Some teams liked to pounce on that. Duarte didn’t get a chance to mess up, being walked intentionally, which brought up the abysmal hitter Guerrero, who had a .132 clip lifetime. He hit the first pitch into play, a grounder to the left side, Howell blatantly missed it, and the Coons tied the game. Aaand here came Cookie Carmona and popped out to third. OH COME ON YOU ****S!! Walter flew to left, not with any authority, but it was just deep enough to get Nunley home with a sac fly, taking a 2-1 lead. McKnight got drilled at 1-2 and just barely stopped his swing, restocking the bases for Mendoza, who was hitless off the DL. This was a good spot. The count ran full before he knocked a ball sharply to left, past a frozen Gutierrez and into the leftfield corner. Evans took forever to dig it out, and Mendoza had a casual 3-run triple! DeWeese followed up with an RBI single to right, which ended Lloyd’s day. Denny popped out to end the inning, with the Coons putting up a 6-spot.

Guerrero got around a McKnight error and his own wild pitch to keep the Elks off the board in the bottom of that fifth inning, then sat the Elks down in order in the next three innings, heading for a complete game win potentially, which was only good with only ten pitchers on the roster. The Coons had a few runners, but were never on third base after their 6-run onslaught against Lloyd, and the 6-1 score was still true in the bottom 9th, in which Guerrero would face the 2-3-4 batters. Gutierrez struck out, Rocha popped out foul to Nunley, and when Padilla hit a soft line to the left side, McKnight was there to catch it, as the Raccoons split a bedeviled series. 6-1 Raccoons. Mendoza 2-5, 3B, 3 RBI; Nunley 2-4, 2B; Duarte 1-1, 3 BB; Guerrero 9.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (4-5) and 1-2, RBI;

When the Druid came TO MY HOUSE on late on Thursday night after the team’s return from Vancouver, I knew it was bad and had the liquor ready. He didn’t want to tell me on the phone, he explained, he wanted to tell me in person to be able to administer first help, just in case. I poured the liquor. Chris Mathis had torn his labrum and was out for the season. **** it, gimme just the bottle. Furthermore, Rob Howell had crippled Toner’s throwing shoulder when he fell on it with his fat bum, and Toner was out for at least two months with a separated shoulder.

Both were placed on the DL on Friday morning. We called up Damani Knight and Enrique Morales from AAA. Morales had a 2.30 ERA in 31 innings, but was hardly whiffing anybody. He was 26, and had once been dragged in by Juan Calderón. He was called up rather than Adam Cowen, who was in a terrible rut right now.

In other roster news, Roland Lafon was assigned to AAA after going unclaimed.

Raccoons (53-32) @ Titans (35-52) – July 5-7, 2019

The Titans were pretty much dead in the water at this point, far beneath even fifth place in the division. They were not scoring anything, sitting on 302 runs, and were having worse-than-average pitching, with the bullpen especially detestable with a 4.44 ERA. But at the pace the Raccoons were dropping at, we might consider trading for some of their pitchers after all… The season series was merely 5-4 in the Coons’ favor.

Projected matchups:
Hector Santos (8-4, 2.85 ERA) vs. Jonathan Ryan (0-0, 3.95 ERA)
Cole Pierson (6-4, 2.94 ERA) vs. Jose Diaz (4-7, 4.68 ERA)
Damani Knight (2-1, 5.60 ERA) vs. Rick Ling (6-6, 3.59 ERA)

The Titans had just dealt SP Dave Priest (3-8, 4.32 ERA) to the Knights, obtaining prospects in the deal. We would get two left-handers on Saturday and Sunday, but gave Cookie a day off after a grisly 0-for-5, Nunley got a day off because he had started 12 straight games including rehab, and why bother, everything is going to hell regardless of effort.

Game 1
POR: 2B Walter – CF Bareford – SS McKnight – 1B Mendoza – LF DeWeese – RF Jackson – 3B Petracek – C Margolis – P Santos
BOS: CF Reichardt – 2B Humphres – 1B S. Butler – C T. Robinson – LF J. Avila – 3B Dasher – RF Blake – SS M. Rivera – P Ryan

When Tim Robinson put the Titans ahead with a 2-shot in the first inning, I started to cry in the middle of the select people in the Deluxe Club at the Titans’ park. That was all we were going to have now! Getting romped by last place teams. The Titans employees catering to the guests in the club were as kind as they could be, given that they were up for once while usually seeing their team get slaughtered day in, day out, and sat me in a corner with sweets and a red balloon, but I still had an eye on the scoreboard where Jonathan Ryan was lining up zeroes.

The Coons stranded runners on the corners in the second – when Santos struck out – and in the third, when DeWeese rolled out to second base. Santos was not exactly making anybody happy, smacking Craig Dasher in the hand in the fourth inning, and while the Titans would later find out that nothing was broken, Dasher was out for the weekend and maybe a few days after the All Star Game. When Santos hit a leadoff single in the fifth, much to the home team’s dismay, the crowd was soon pleased and cheered on Bareford when he hit squarely into a 6-4-3 inning-ending double play. The score was unchanged, 2-0, in the sixth, with McKnight and DeWeese hitting singles before Jackson walked. That filled the bags with one out, but the bottom of the order was not especially crisp. Petracek flew to deep right, but was held to a sac fly by Jonathan Blake, and Margolis struck out. Santos was done after six, pinch-hit for by Mathews with no success to start the seventh inning. Walter singled, McKnight walked, putting the tying run in scoring position against right-hander Jose Fuentes for Hugo Mendoza (did he have a nickname? Not aware of one…), who struck out feebly. The Titans put two on against Kaiser in the bottom 7th, as Tom Thomas doubled and Jonathan Blake walked. Old menace Mike Rivera hit one hard to Walter, perfect for a double play. Robby Humphres’ triple off Seung-mo Chun in the bottom 8th put the Titans on track for an insurance run they wound up not needing. 3-1 Titans. The Raccoons disappeared into the night in silence. McKnight 2-3;

Game 2
POR: LF Carmona – RF Jackson – SS Walter – 1B Mendoza – C Denny – 2B Mathews – 3B Nunley – CF Duarte – P Pierson
BOS: CF Reichardt – 3B T. Thomas – 1B S. Butler – C T. Robinson – 2B M. Rivera – RF Nickel – LF J. Roberts – SS Humphres – P J. Diaz

Cookie singled in the first and was caught stealing, but what did it matter? Everything was so irrelevant now. After a scoreless first, Denny opened the second inning with a soft liner over Humphres’ head into shallow left for a single, and Diaz walked the next two to load the bases for Duarte, who did the best he could and just held still until he drew the third consecutive walk, pushing home the first run of the game. It was the first of four in the inning, with Pierson snipping the first pitch into left for an RBI single, Cookie hitting one to Jimmy Roberts deep enough to plate Nunley with a sac fly, and Shane Walter also hit an RBI single to left, scoring Duarte. Pierson was perfect the first time through, while Cookie was anything but perfect, reaching base on Rivera’s error in the fourth before he was caught stealing the second time in the game, and just before Eddie Jackson hit a homer to left, 5-0 instead of 6-0. The Titans remained completely off base the second time through as well, with Humphres the closest to reaching with an infield single in the sixth. He grounded deep behind first base, Mendoza cutting the ball off and just barely beating Humphres with a throw to Pierson, who came hustling over to first base.

In the seventh, Pierson got Adrian Reichardt with a strikeout, Tom Thomas with a grounder to Nunley, and Steve Butler with a grounder to Mathews, but that was as far as he went. After 21 Titans up and 21 Titans down, Robinson singled to left on a 1-2 pitch to open the bottom of the eighth. The home crowd kindly applauded Pierson for his effort, as he had remained perfect for a damn long time. It went rapidly downhill from there for Pierson, who allowed another single to Justin Nickel with one out. Roberts grounded out to Mendoza, but Robinson scored, and Pierson allowed two more singles to Humphres and Mike Cesta before being removed as the tying run appeared at the plate. Seung-mo Chun was now our second-best right-handed relief piece and faced the soft-hitting Reichardt, walked him to give me a headache, and that Duarte caught Thomas’ drive to center to end the inning had more to do with his defense rather than anything Chun had done. Thrasher had a 1-2-3 ninth to put the game away. 5-2 Coons. Walter 2-5, RBI; Pierson 7.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, W (7-4) and 2-4, RBI;

Game 3
POR: LF Carmona – RF Jackson – 3B Walter – 1B Mendoza – C Denny – SS McKnight – 2B Mathews – CF Bareford – P Knight
BOS: CF Reichardt – 2B Humphres – 1B S. Butler – C T. Robinson – 3B T. Thomas – LF J. Avila – RF Nickel – SS M. Rivera – P Ling

Although the only man that reached the first time through for the Titans, Reichardt, did so on Shane Walter’s error and was caught stealing by Denny, seeing Damani Knight in Toner’s spot was enough to make me sick from top to bottom. The Coons were also really inactive at the plate and had only a Mendoza single the first time through. Humphres doubled to right in the bottom 4th, Butler singled right after him, and Humphres came home when Robinson flew out to center for a sac fly, Duarte getting nothing on his throw to home plate. McKnight singled in the fifth, advanced on an errant pickoff attempt by Rick Ling, and then was still stranded. Mathews grounded out, moving McKnight to third, Bareford wasn’t pitched to, and when Knight DID hit a deep drive to center, it was caught by Reichardt to end the inning.

Robinson batted with runners on the corners for a second time come the sixth inning, but this time with two out and he popped out over the mound where Mathews shooed off Knight to make the catch. The Raccoons were still adrift, down 1-0, and had only two hits off Ling through six innings. Maybe the seventh could be the charm; Mendoza led off with a grounder up the middle that Humphres cut off at the bag, but it was too late for a throw to first, Mendoza reaching with an infield single. That’s how collapses of empires begin! Denny drew a walk, but McKnight struck out, and when Mathews singled to right center, Mendoza got a bad read and had to stop at third base. The bags were thus full for Bareford with one out, who hit a fly to center that was no challenge for Reichardt, and only Mendoza scored. Two on, two out, Duarte batted for Knight, but popped out softly to Nickel to end the inning.

After a scoreless inning by Will West, the Raccoons got Cookie on base as the go-ahead run with a walk in the eighth, and then he took off and was thrown out by Robinson for the third time in the series. Frustration mounting, Jackson grounded to short, Rivera threw the ball into the dugout, and now the Coons had a runner on second and one out instead of two in scoring position and no outs, which translated into one run instead of many when Walter singled, moving Jackson to third, and Mendoza hit a sac fly to Reichardt. Denny walked, but McKnight went down in flames, leaving the Coons ahead only 2-1. Bottom 8th, Kaiser struck out Rivera and Roberts before yielding to Wade Davis, who instantly served up a double to Reichardt that hit high off the leftfield fence. Humphres was so kind to strike out, however, with the Coons still ahead. Offense came from an unlikely angle when Andy Bareford bombed Harry Merwin in the top of the ninth for an insurance run, but maybe the bigger miracle was the perfect inning Alex Ramirez delivered against the middle of the order in the Titans’ half of the ninth. 3-1 Coons. Mendoza 2-3, RBI; Bareford 1-2, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Knight 6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K;

In other news

July 2 – The Thunder deal SS Erik Janes (.303, 1 HR, 18 RBI) and cash to the Scorpions for two prospects.
July 3 – The Thunder pick up 1B Mike Gershkovich (.299, 8 HR, 54 RBI) from the Stars for INF D.J. Ruggeri (4-for-15, 0 HR, 1 RBI) and unranked prospect OF/SS Byron Crandall, who was however ranked #99 in 2018.
July 4 – SAL 2B/1B/OF Quinn Jewell (.270, 9 HR, 40 RBI) might be out for the season. The 24-year rookie has badly fractured his ankle.
July 4 – CHA RF/1B Chris Puckett’s (.333, 1 HR, 3 RBI) sixth at-bat of the season is a 3-run walkoff homer to beat the Condors in 12 innings, 6-3.
July 5 – A 7-run first inning gets the Indians on track for a 14-3 creaming of the Crusaders.
July 6 – Salem’s RF/LF Nate Ellis (.238, 9 HR, 41 RBI) is done for the year for sure with a ruptured achilles tendon.

Complaints and stuff

We are dead. All hope is dead. All my dreams are dead. Hail the Loggers, who will see the Holy Land of October baseball, while we died somewhere on the way there.

There isn’t much more to say.

Except, maybe … when I put my neck into this assembly here, would you be so kind to cut the rope so that the blade comes down? Is my neck in the right position?

[Westheim]

All Star Game

The Raccoons sent six players to the annual All Star Game, although at least one selection was puzzling to say the least. Only two nominees were batters (go figure), with Hugo Mendoza and Shane Walter being selected. Three starting pitchers were involved in Jonathan Toner (though injured), Tadasu Abe, and Hector Santos. The sixth player was infernal closer Alex Ramirez, who had an ERA worse than that of FOUR Raccoons starters, and any pitcher on the All Star roster for the Continental League.

The Federal League ended up taking this game, beating the Continental League 4-2. All runs were scored after the sixth inning.

Hugo Mendoza started in rightfield for the CL and went 2-for-2 with the CL’s only extra-base hit, a double. Shane Walter pinch-hit unsuccessfully. On the pitching side Tadasu Abe, Hector Santos, and Alex Ramirez all pitched scoreless innings. The main damage was done to VAN CL Juan Jimenez, who faced five batters in the seventh inning, retired only one, and was charged with three runs for the loss.

Raccoons (55-33) vs. Canadiens (48-39) – July 11-14, 2019

The Raccoons came into the return set diminished, and with bits of fur torn out of their coats, the first 4-game set in Vancouver having taken its grisly toll. They were still one game over .500 against the Elks on the season, 4-3, but things could change quickly now. The Elks had lost four straight to drop behind the Loggers (sic!) for second place in the North and were 6 1/2 games out. Which didn’t make them any less dangerous! They were second in runs scored, but second from the bottom in runs allowed, too, with a meager +7 run differential.

Projected matchups:
Bobby Guerrero (4-5, 4.65 ERA) vs. R.J. Lloyd (9-3, 3.94 ERA)
Tadasu Abe (9-4, 2.41 ERA) vs. Zach Hughes (9-8, 4.01 ERA)
Hector Santos (8-5, 2.85 ERA) vs. Ron Funderburk (8-2, 3.59 ERA)
Cole Pierson (7-4, 2.90 ERA) vs. Ryan Dunn (6-9, 6.15 ERA)

They still have all right-handers. Starter Bill King aside, they had only one other injury to outfielder Mario Rocha, who was nursing a bruised knee and was day-to-day.

Game 1
VAN: LF K. Evans – 3B J. Gutierrez – CF Rocha – RF Branch – 1B Pace – C Desan – 2B H. Jones – SS Howell – P Lloyd
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Walter – SS McKnight – 1B Mendoza – C Denny – LF DeWeese – 3B Nunley – CF Duarte – P Guerrero

After a scoreless first, Guerrero drilled Ezra Branch at the start of the second inning before allowing an RBI double to Tim Pace right away. Pace advanced to third on Mike Desan’s groundout, and made for home when Howard Jones flew out to center, but was thrown out by Alex Duarte to end the inning. Pace was on base again to start the fifth inning, this time with a single, Desan hit a double to left this time, and the second run would score on Jones’ sac fly. Guerrero struck out Howell and Lloyd to keep the damage to superficially manageable two runs through five innings, but had so far received no support whatsoever, the Raccoons reaching scoring position exactly once in the first four innings. Cookie had been that runner, hitting the first of two 2-out singles in the bottom 3rd before McKnight struck out to end the joy parade, and he would also be the second Critter in scoring position, hitting a 1-out double in the bottom 5th before being ignored just as well.

DeWeese threw out Jose Gutierrez at second base after Gutierrez’ 1-out single in the sixth, with the Elks’ third baseman not knowing when to stop. There was no need for Matt Nunley to stop in the bottom of that inning, for he hit his second bomb of the year, and the beauty was for DeWeese being on base after a 2-out walk, thus the dinger knotting the score. To start the inning, Mendoza had sent a deep drive to right, but had it being caught by Branch at the fence. Guerrero made it through seven thanks to Shane Walter turning a double play on Jones in the seventh inning, and both teams stalked around a single in the eighth inning without scoring. The top 9th saw Thrasher in the game, but he didn’t have it, plainly, and walked two of the three batters he faced. With Branch and Pace waiting to do harm to the Critters, Alex Ramirez replaced Thrasher, which was probably a bad idea. Mike Desan rolled a terrible grounder at the third base line (it wasn’t really going *up* that line…) and not even Matt Nunley could do anything with that. The bases were loaded on the infield single before Ramirez struck out Jones, but Rob Howell, he with the Butt of Distruction, also had a stick that could do harm. Ramirez’ first pitch was lined hard to leftfield and I think I’m gonna fain- [LOUD CRASHING SOUNDS]

While DeWeese made a spectacular flying grab to end the inning on a bewildered Rob Howell, the Coons had NOTHING in the bottom of the ninth, sending the game to extra innings, also known as the 2019 Raccoons’ killing fields. Will West came out and right away walked a pair in the 10th. Kaiser replaced him and got out of the inning, with Mario Rocha lining out hard to Shane Walter for the second out. Ten feet to the right, the Elks have at least one run… But they had none, and instead helped the Raccoons greatly in the bottom of the 10th, in which Juan Jimenez (he who had lost the All Star Game), a left-hander, faced the 1-for-12 2-3-4 batters in the order. Walter grounded out, McKnight got plunked before he could whiff yet again. That was the way in! Come on Mendoza, be more than just present! Mendoza knocked a 1-1 pitch to left, past the defense and up the leftfield line. McKnight was flinging the paws, the ball went all the way to the corner, and after three months of extra inning futility, the Raccoons walked off on a Hugo Mendoza triple!! 3-2 Coons. Carmona 2-5, 2B; DeWeese 1-2, 2 BB; Nunley 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Guerrero 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K;

Game 2
VAN: LF K. Evans – 3B J. Gutierrez – CF Rocha – RF Branch – 1B Pace – C Desan – 2B H. Jones – SS Howell – P Hughes
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Walter – SS McKnight – 1B Mendoza – C Denny – LF DeWeese – 3B Nunley – CF Bareford – P Abe

Things went south in a real hurry in this game. Mario Rocha, not as much ailing as you might think, hit a homer in the first inning before Abe hit Ezra Branch with an 0-2 pitch. Branch took exception to that and charged the mound with his stick raised high above his head, but out there took a right dazer from Abe to the chin. Benches emptied as everybody was piling in, and it took almost ten minutes to restore order. Both Branch and Abe were tossed and were certainly heading for a suspension. Enrique Morales had been on the roster for over a week without pitching, but now got to make his major league debut as the Raccoons immediately consigned the game to the dogs. Manlio Varone replaced Branch as pinch-runner. Morales immediately punched his ticket back to the minor leagues, issuing three straight singles, followed by a bases-loaded walk to Rob Howell, which ran the score to 3-0 before the Coons ever got to bat. The Elks hung three more on Morales in the second, loading the bases with singles before an out was recorded by the pitcher, and when DeWeese hit an inside-the-park home run in the bottom of the second to cut the gap to 6-1, the crowd clapped politely, but otherwise kept attending to their extra-large cup of beer to sooth the sores. Morales’ major league career ended with a Howell single and an RBI double by Kurt Evans in the third, restoring the 6-run gap before Wade Davis took over.

In a game in which nothing much mattered by 7:15 local time, Wade Davis pitched 3.2 scoreless innings to prevent us from emptying the pen completely, which was scary enough, because think about it – depending on how you value Dud Ramirez, Davis is the second- or third-best right-hander in the bullpen now. And even with Davis’ heroics, the Coons resorted to sending Damani Knight to pitch in relief in the eighth inning with a limit of about 30 pitches, which was just enough to get through the last two innings for him, and allowing a run on the way. The Coons scored two late in the game, piggybacking a Cookie double and a Walter triple, but the entire effort was for nought. 8-4 Canadiens. Walter 3-4, 3B, 2 RBI; Nunley 2-4; Davis 3.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K;

Abe and Branch were handed 10-game suspensions each, which was a terrible penalty for a team that was already reduced to rubble with their pitching staff. The Raccoons would not get another off day until Thursday, so the Abe suspension hit them quite badly, since his spot was up on Wednesday, and the next guy up was Santos, who was hardly somebody you wanted to pitch on short rest.

We thus went in and flipped Santos and Pierson now, with Pierson then getting the start on short rest on Wednesday. This prevents us from having to call up a starting pitcher, with Abe’s slot then getting passed over on the off day, and we will try to come up with another magic trick in the week after that…

Meanwhile, Enrique Morales (1.2 IP, 5 ER) was waived and designated for assignment because there was nothing to see here. Matt Schroeder was called up as the pitching carrousel kept spinning wildly and mostly out of control. Schroeder had pitched to a 3.40 ERA in 37 games in 2018 for the Coons, but his ERA was just as high in AAA this year. He also had thrown 40 pitches on Friday and was unavailable in the Saturday game, as was, surprise, Wade Davis.

Game 3
VAN: RF Kim – 2B J. Gutierrez – C Padilla – CF Rocha – 1B Pace – LF K. Evans – 3B H. Jones – SS Howell – P Funderburk
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Walter – SS McKnight – 1B Mendoza – LF DeWeese – 3B Nunley – CF Bareford – C Margolis – P Pierson

Pierson whiffed six and allowed no hits the first time through the order (though hit Pace to keep a budding tradition going…), before an error by Nunley put Gutierrez on first base to start the fourth inning. Pierson allowed a single up the middle to Padilla, and the Elks had two on. Rocha struck out, but Pace and Evans hit deep drives to right and center, respectively. Both were caught, and the game remained scoreless. The Coons’ offense was largely limited to accidental occurrences. Bareford was hit by Funderburk to start the bottom 5th, but Margolis found a way to hit into a double play. The Elks loaded the bases in the sixth, all with two outs, as Rocha and Pace hit singles and Pierson lost the left-handed Evans to a walk. Howard Jones grounded out to short to end the inning and keep the scoreboard empty. The bottom 6th started with Man-su Kim spoiling liners by both Cookie and Walter before Ronnie McKnight’s soft grounder to left got through for a single. Mendoza lined up the rightfield line, and not even Kim could do anything with that; Mendoza had a double, and McKnight scored for the first run of the game.

In the bottom of the seventh, with Pierson still going, Nunley opened with a double to right center. The Elks opted to walk Bareford intentionally to get to Margolis, which said a thing or two about his status right now. He bounced to Gutierrez for an easy out, but advanced the runners. Feeling urgency, the Critters sent Eddie Jackson to bat for Pierson, and his drive to center for a sac fly was the only run-scoring play in the inning. Cookie flew out to left. With that, the 2-0 lead went to Chun, who was in trouble from the start. Gutierrez and Padilla both singled through on the left side, and Rocha hit a drive to right that Cookie had to sell out on to keep it from doing actual harm. Cookie made it, but Chun just allowed another rocket in another direction, with Tim Pace’s drive to center scoring Gutierrez on a sac fly. Kaiser replaced him to face Evans, but the Elks sent Desan to pinch-hit, and he singled to center. We moved on to Ramirez, whose first pitch was hit hard to second by Howard Jones. Walter made a really good play on that little bugger and fed it to McKnight for the third out. He would make a similarly great play to end the game with Chris Grooms the tying run on second base and two down. Gutierrez sent a sharp bouncer near second base and Walter intercepted that one as well, then fed it to Mendoza to beat Gutierrez by a step. 2-1 Blighters. McKnight 2-4; Bareford 1-1, BB; Pierson 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K, W (8-4);

The ice for Margolis is getting thinner. He came in 2-for-27, and it certainly not get better.

Game 4
VAN: LF K. Evans – 3B J. Gutierrez – CF Rocha – RF Kim – 1B Pace – C Desan – 2B H. Jones – SS Howell – P Dunn
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Mathews – SS Walter – 1B Mendoza – C Denny – 3B Nunley – RF Jackson – CF Duarte – P Santos

After two strong defensive plays by Joey Mathews helped Santos through a chewy first inning, Hugo Mendoza hit a homer for a change in the bottom 1st, collecting Walter to give Santos a 2-0 lead that didn’t end up living for very long with Mario Rocha returning the favor with a 2-piece in the third inning. The Coons engaged in stranding pairs of runners, Cookie grounding out to do so in the second inning, and Man-su Kim picked a soft fly by Santos off the top of the grass blades to end the fourth. Two were on to start the bottom 5th, with Dunn allowing a single to Cookie and walking Mathews to arrive in that unhappy spot. Shane Walter rammed a ball into the gap for a 2-run double to restore Santos to the throne of the game, 4-2, and Ryan Dunn continued to not retire any Critter. Mendoza singled, putting them on the corners, and Mike Denny flew to deep center for an RBI double, 5-2. When he finally got an out from Nunley, he was still done, with Nunley hitting another fly to center for a sac fly. Reliever Hunter Park walked the bags full, and when Pace got a grounder from Santos he botched it for a run-scoring error. The Elks’ blowup went on, now greatly accelerated. Cookie took a 1-2 pitch to center for a 2-run double, and Park plated another run with a wild pitch, with Cookie scoring on Mathews’ sac fly to center. With Park taken out to be shot as well, Bill Dean got Shane Walter to fly out to left, but the Raccoons had taken the series with a 9-run massacre for an 11-2 lead. We got Cookie and Walter off their feet after the top of the sixth, with the Critters scoring another two runs on Dean in that inning. All was fine in Coon City through eight, until the Elks racked up three runs against Wade Davis in the ninth inning. Davis was asked whether he was fine after throwing 51 pitches on Friday, he said he was, but he wasn’t. Good for him, I GUESS, was his own throwing error in the inning that made two of the runs unearned, somehow, but still we had to go to Kaiser to dig him out of his predicament. 14-5 Furballs. Carmona 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Walter 2-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Mendoza 4-5, HR, 2 RBI; Denny 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Jackson 2-4, BB; Santos 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, W (9-5);

In other news

July 9 – The Knights acquire BOS CL Harry Merwin (5-4, 3.89 ERA, 20 SV) for two rather unspectacular prospects.
July 10 – 37-year old RF/LF Manny Cruz (.214, 8 HR, 27 RBI) is traded with a prospect from the Crusaders to the Cyclones in an exchange for 39-year old LF/RF Luis Reya (.337, 1 HR, 19 RBI).
July 11 – NAS 2B/SS Bobby Torres (.303, 10 HR, 54 RBI) enters the record books by hitting for a cycled in a 10-8 extra-inning win of the Blue Sox over the Capitals. Torres drives in three in his 4-hit game, all of those coming on a 3-run homer off Ted McKenzie right in the first inning. Torres doesn’t complete the cycle until the tenth inning, hitting a triple to get the offense going. This is the 63rd cycle in ABL history, and the sixth for the Blue Sox after those of Ryan Childress (1977), Gabriel Cruz (1989), Felix Hernandez (2000), Bobby Eason, and Chris Macias (both in the same week in 2015).
July 11 – CHA SP Alex Vallejo (7-6, 3.33 ERA) 2-hits the Condors in a 6-0 shutout.
July 11 – Tied through 11 innings, the Scorpions burst out for five runs in the 12th inning to beat the Gold Sox, 10-5. RF John Staebell (.244, 3 HR, 33 RBI) hits a grand slam in the 12th inning.
July 13 – SAC OF Ray Meade (.283, 19 HR, 67 RBI) has his hands right in the middle of the Scorpions’ 10-inning, 15-13 win over the Gold Sox, connecting for five hits, including a homer and a double, and no less than seven runs batted in.
July 13 – The Stars beat the Warriors, 3-2, on three solo home runs by Zach Fox (.200, 1 HR, 1 RBI), Johnny Albert (.288, 2 HR, 15 RBI), and Justin Dally (.294, 13 HR, 56 RBI). Albert’s homer comes as pinch-hitter, Fox’ dinger is the first of his career, and Dally’s shot allows the Stars to walk off in regulation.
July 14 – Indianapolis INF Ryan Dawson (.265, 2 HR, 4 RBI) hits a second-inning homer for the lone tally in the Indians’ 1-0 win over the Titans.

Complaints and stuff

Three months and seven losses later, the Raccoons walked off on the Elks in the first game after the break. That was a damn fine spot to walk off in!

We also got to over .500 overall against the Elks for the first time since 2017. The gore tally is now at 384-383, which brings us nicely to Tadasu Abe, who clocked Ezra Branch alright, but unfortunately also deepened the pitching hole for the Critters by getting frozen for ten games. Now the plan was to get Pierson to pitch on short rest on Wednesday, but he threw 103 pitches on Saturday, so I am not sure how that will work. Might get a long man set aside during that Indians series to piggy-back him with. Five innings and it’s all fine. We ARE six games ahead, we could fire one into the bin by getting some random goon from AAA, but that would require a demotion.

Not that I am married to Matt Schroeder.

Yeah, no, it was a bad short week. Abe’s loss hurts us more than you might think, because we’re opening up for all kinds of trouble, even six games ahead, and even if it’s only the Loggers in the rear view mirror.

And then there was the incident on Saturday where a kid filmed Chad, with the head of the mascot costume loosely over the back of his head, barfing into a tunnel at the end of the game. Good thing I know nothing about the internets, or what Maud said about angry twits and twats and **** like that would really bother me. No time for this, Maud, I got to trade for pitching!

I was only after three international free agents this year. The pool didn’t really hold much excitement. The main piece the Coons were chasing was a corner outfielder with a decent hitting profile and a really strong arm, 16-year old Danny Valdez from the Dominican Republic. He was offered the lion’s share of the $192k we initially offered to the three players, who were all batters, and we signed all the players by the day after the All Star break, eventually spending a total of $232k on the trio.

There is almost a crisp million left over to add to the roster before the end of the month. The real question is what we could even trade. There are no more prospects, as usual. You could try to dangle Duarte and keep the better defender in Bareford around, but what is Duarte supposed to be worth. Certainly not a pitcher that could even replace Mathis, let alone a starting pitcher. Boy, you look at Damani Knight and you really don’t think it would be this hard to find a pitcher better than him…

[Westheim]

Raccoons (58-34) @ Indians (47-46) – July 15-17, 2019

Tied for fourth with the understandably crumbling Crusaders, the Indians were a fair bit removed from being prime challengers to the Raccoons for the lead in the division. They were fifth in runs scored, tied for sixth in runs allowed, but that was not a mix that would work out to more than being a handful of games over .500 at the end of the year. Their batting average ranked ninth, and to make things worse they had no speed on the team at all, ranking last in stolen bases. Everything that kept them from sinking into the morass was their power, them ranking third with 73 home runs in the Continental League. They trailed the Coons in the season series, 4-5.

Projected matchups:
Damani Knight (2-1, 4.58 ERA) vs. Dan Lambert (7-7, 3.72 ERA)
Bobby Guerrero (4-5, 4.43 ERA) vs. Alejandro Mendez (6-7, 4.18 ERA)
Cole Pierson (8-4, 2.74 ERA) vs. Tom Shumway (1-0, 3.60 ERA)

Three starters will pitch on short rest in this series, including Pierson, Lambert, and whomever between “Ant” Mendez and Shumway the Indians send on Tuesday. The Coons meanwhile skip a beat by getting only one of the Indians’ three left-handed starters, Shumway. Meanwhile, the Arrowheads currently had no left-handed relievers after moving Shumway into the rotation.

Not that the Critters didn’t have any handicaps…

Game 1
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Walter – SS McKnight – 1B Mendoza – LF DeWeese – 3B Nunley – CF Bareford – C Margolis – P Knight
IND: 2B Kym – CF D. Morales – C Jolley – RF D. Carter – 1B J. Ramirez – SS Matias – LF C. Martinez – 3B Umpierre – P Lambert

Not only did Shane Walter’s propensity to hit into double plays continue to hurt the Raccoons, like here in the first inning, nope, Matt Nunley’s bitter vigor did as well. Nunley hit a leadoff double in the second inning, tried to get more than he deserved, and was thrown out at third base by Dave Carter. The Coons had five runners and no runs the first time through the order, and the Indians soon drew advantage from Damani Knight being in search of the strike zone. While he walked Jesus Ramirez to start the second inning, Ramirez ended up involved in a K/CS combo when the Indians ran him in a full count to Raul Matias. Margolis’ arm didn’t care, he could get Ramirez even when he was halfway to second already. In the third, Knight added that extra bit of futility by walking the opposing pitcher, Dan Lambert, then fell to a 2-run homer to left center by Danny Morales. A Mendoza single and DeWeese double in the fourth put the tying runs in scoring position with nobody down, and Nunley with a grounder to second and Bareford with a single between Rey Umpierre and Raul Matias plated the runs to get the Coons even again before Margolis hit into a double play as it started to drizzle. The wet conditions led to a Nunley error in the bottom 5th when Lambert’s grounder slipped out of his hand as he tried to throw it. A tough error for sure, but he sure was grumpy in the field out there… Nothing came of it for the Indians, as the play happened with two down and nobody on, and Nunley caught Jong-beom Kym’s soft liner to end the inning.

The Indians would take the lead again the following inning on a 2-out solo shot by Dave Carter right to where Morales had hit one earlier. That gave them a 3-2 advantage on three hits of their own, compared to seven hits for the Critters. There was a Ramirez single and a brief rain delay before the inning was over, but Matias flew out to DeWeese to give Knight six innings of 3-run ball, which was almost all you could hope for from him. The Coons had two on base in the seventh, Margolis with a single and Petracek walking in Knight’s place, but when Helio Maggessi replaced Lambert he immediately was hit by a stroke of luck when Cookie lined a ball right into his glove for the second out, and Walter flew out softly to left. Joel Davis struck out the 3-4-5 batters in the eighth, and while Matt Nunley drew a leadoff walk from Jarrod Morrison in the ninth, he could not find help from the bottom of the order. 3-2 Indians. Margolis 2-3; West 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Will West pitched his two innings on 14 pitches, which is either very good or very problematic. Nah, the contact the Indians made was quick, but consistently weak.

Interlude: trade

The Coons had lost a lot of pitching recently and had to restock via trade. They found help for the bullpen for the moment and announced a trade for Dallas’ MR Troy Charters on Tuesday morning. Charters was a 26-year old right-hander with a 2-2 record and 2.94 ERA in 2019. He was whiffing 10.2 per nine and his walk rate was acceptable. Charters should be familiar to Raccoons fans, since he debuted with the Loggers in 2013 and pitched for them through 2017. He makes $436k this year and will be a free agent at the end of the year. To complete the deal, the Raccoons sent 2016 sixth-rounder SS Michael Richert to the Stars. While defensively very talented and also speedy, Richert was also hitting .287 in AA, but had no power.

Charters would fill the setup hole that had been ripped by Chris Mathis’ demise. To make room on the roster, Matt Schroeder was sent back to AAA after only one appearance.

Raccoons (58-34) @ Indians (47-46) – July 15-17, 2019

Game 2
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Walter – SS McKnight – 1B Mendoza – C Denny – LF DeWeese – 3B Nunley – CF Duarte – P B. Guerrero
IND: LF Genge – CF D. Morales – C Jolley – RF D. Carter – 1B J. Ramirez – SS Matias – 2B Kym – 3B Umpierre – P A. Mendez

Amid few offense in general in the first three innings, the Indians in the second and the Coons in the third had their first two men on base without getting any of them in. Guerrero allowed a leadoff single to Jesus Ramirez in the bottom 2nd before walking Matias, while the Coons had Nunley and Duarte on with singles before Guerrero struck out bunting and Cookie’s and Walter’s flies to right and left, respectively, were easily caught. The Indians left runners on the corners again in the bottom of the fourth, in which Guerrero ran three full counts to accelerate his pitch count, which reached 71 after four scoreless innings.

Nunley (single) and Duarte (walk) were on base again to start the fifth inning for the Raccoons. Guerrero couldn’t get a good bunt down for the second time, this time bunting hard to Umpierre at third base. With Matias hustling over, the Arrowheads had Nunley dead at third, except that Umpierre had trouble transferring the ball and Nunley beat out his throw by a whisker, loading the bases with no outs. Cookie Carmona struck out, continuing in his deep rut, and Shane Walter grounded to Kym for one of those CLCS-losing double plays, except that the Korean botched the play and all hands were safe, as Nunley scored with the first run. McKnight and Mendoza both popped out to make me grind my teeth. That one only got worse; the Indians loaded the bases with nobody out as well in the bottom of the inning, them doing it on three singles, starting with Mendez. Kindly helped by Guerrero, who walked in the first run with four awful pitches to Jayden Jolley, the Indians scored four on Guerrero, who didn’t survive the inning. Further runs scored on Dave Garcia’s sac fly, Ramirez’ single to right, and a run-scoring groundout by Matias before Chun replaced Guerrero and retired Kym. That was the only batter Chun retired before his spot came up in the sixth with the bags full and one out after Umpierre had thrown away Duarte’s probable double play grounder. Joey Mathews batted for him, and in a full count hit one straight into a 4-6-3 double play. Jarrod Morrison would be in the game again in the ninth inning, and the Coons quickly brought the tying run to the plate thanks to Duarte walking and Bareford getting plunked. The top of the order approached with nobody out, and the team expired in a flash. Cookie grounded to Kym, who only got the out at second thanks to the superior speed of our 0-for-5 leadoff man, and Walter lined out to Carter in deep right, upon which Duarte tagged and went from third, but lumbered so badly that he was thrown out at home to end the contest. 4-1 Indians. DeWeese 2-4; Nunley 2-3, BB; Duarte 0-1, 3 BB; Davis 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

I think I need to murder a few of the suckers before the week is out…

Charters made his Raccoons debut in this game, striking out Matias to end the seventh with two men on base.

Game 3
POR: CF Bareford – 3B Walter – LF Jackson – 1B Mendoza – C Denny – SS McKnight – 2B Mathews – RF Duarte – P Pierson
IND: LF C. Martinez – SS Matias – C Jolley – RF D. Carter – CF Genge – 2B Kym – 1B Faulk – 3B Umpierre – P Shumway

The Coons accidentally scored first as Bareford singled, stole second, and after he advanced on Walter’s grounder to Kym (…), scored on Jackson’s fly to center, but the lead was blown right in the first inning. Pierson opened his short-rest start by walking Cesar Martinez and never got control of any at-bat as Dave Carter and Lowell Genge landed 2-out base hits to score as many runs and give the Indians a 2-1 lead. Duarte and Bareford would reach the corners with singles, but with one out in the third both Walter and Jackson made poor outs to keep the team behind. After five, the score was the same as Tuesday’s, 4-1, as the Indians scored a run on two doubles in the fourth, and another one on a Matias homer in the fifth. Pierson faced two more batters in the sixth, but Carter and Genge both hit singles off him. At least Chun kept those runners stranded… Also stranded would be McKnight and Mathews, who both hit 1-out singles off Shumway in the seventh. Duarte flew out harmlessly, and after that Margolis batted for Chun to counter the left-hander, and actually sent a drive to deep center. Alas, this was not to be one of his surprise whammies. Lowell Genge caught the ball near the track to end the inning. The Coons’ pitching situation had deteriorated far enough for Alex Ramirez to be sent into the seventh inning in a lost game to try and prevent Will West from biting the dirt after loading the bases with one out. Ramirez went about things in style, walking in a run against Carter right away, and another run scored on Genge’s grounder to Mathews that unfortunately was no double play. Only the other team ever turned double plays, but all the time. The Coons never feeped in the last innings, going down silently. 6-1 Indians. Bareford 2-4; Duarte 2-3;

This was our first 3-game sweep suffered in over two months. Most recent coonsweepers: the Scorpions on May 3-5.

Raccoons (58-37) @ Thunder (42-52) – July 19-21, 2019

We were 2-1 against the Thunder this season and could really use to see a team with little to no pitching. The Thunder had allowed the second-most runs so far, and also had an at best average corps of hitters. Their rotation ranked 11th, their pen 12th in ERA.

Projected matchups:
Hector Santos (9-5, 2.84 ERA) vs. Jim Bryant (7-5, 3.82 ERA)
Damani Knight (2-2, 4.57 ERA) vs. Kevin Clayton (5-11, 5.51 ERA)
Bobby Guerrero (4-6, 4.65 ERA) vs. Nick Lombardo (8-6, 3.49 ERA)

Another southpaw on Sunday, while we obviously skipped the suspended Abe on the off day, but his next turn would still come up next Tuesday, the last game during the suspension, and I don’t know yet how to steer around that.

Game 1
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Walter – SS McKnight – 1B Mendoza – C Denny – LF DeWeese – 3B Nunley – CF Bareford – P Santos
OCT: 3B Marshall – 2B Farias – RF Fullerton – C Parks – 1B Gershkovich – CF Waggoner – SS Pitner – LF Hiscock – P Bryant

The Coons had three hits and a walk in the first inning and didn’t score, with Cookie getting caught stealing and Denny and DeWeese making outs to shallow outfield regions with the bases loaded. Santos survived a deep drive to left on an 0-2 pitch by Bobby Marshall in the bottom of the inning, and the Coons did take a lead in the second; Nunley opened with a double to right center, and Bareford hit a single to move him to third before stealing second base with Santos at the plate. Santos flicked a single just barely past Farias for an RBI single, and the second run scored on Cookie’s groundout to Mike Gershkovich. From above, rain kept following the Raccoons around, and there was a 30+ minute delay in the bottom of the second, with Santos only 18 pitches and five outs into his start. Santos didn’t seem too badly affected right away, completing a perfect first run through the Oklahoma lineup and whiffing four while doing so.

Bryant meanwhile was struggling with control and was consistently behind in counts, but the lovable Raccoons were extremely protective of him. Cookie hit a 1-out single in the fourth, but Walter again dumbed out on a 3-1 pitch, grounding to Gershkovich, who got Cookie forced at second. In the fifth inning, Mendoza drew a leadoff walk before Denny hit into a double play. Bryant was out before the sixth inning was over, but was never charged another run. Meanwhile, Santos retired the first 16 Thunder he faced before Bill Hiscock legged out a grounder that McKnight cut off next to the second base bag, but couldn’t get the adversary at first base. Nothing came of that, but D.J. Fullerton socked his eighth long ball of the season in solo fashion in the bottom 7th to get the Thunder back to one run behind the unbelievable Raccoons, who had gotten six base hits in the first two innings, but had only two base hits in the next six innings. Santos was knocked out on Justin Pitner’s slow single in the bottom 8th, with Thrasher taking over and keeping the Thunder at bay. Mathews entered along with Thrasher in a double switch and opened the ninth with a single off Brian Furst, but got forced by Cookie. Walter grounded to the ****ing right side again, but Cookie had been in motion and was safe at second, thankfully, giving the Coons extra counters when Ronnie McKnight murdered a Furst pitch for a 2-run homer to center. Breathing room! Thrasher remained in the game with left-handers up in the ninth, but still ran into trouble, allowing two singles to PH Eric Kizziar and Fullerton. He struck out Parks, but with the right-hander Gershkovich up as the final out and Thrasher not having it all, Alex Ramirez came in after all, striking out the first base guard to end the game. 4-1 Critters. Carmona 2-5, RBI; Nunley 2-3, BB, 2B; Mathews 1-1; Santos 7.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 9 K, W (10-5) and 1-2, RBI;

Game 2
POR: RF Carmona – CF Bareford – SS McKnight – 1B Mendoza – LF DeWeese – 2B Mathews – 3B Nunley – C Margolis – P Knight
OCT: CF Stevenson – 2B Farias – RF Fullerton – C Parks – 1B Gershkovich – SS Paull – 3B Marshall – LF L. Davis – P Clayton

Knight got clocked right away, although honestly the first inning started with a Nunley throwing error that put Josh Stevenson on base. Emilio Farias singled right away and Fullerton hit into a really deep out to right for a sac fly. After that, Knight missed grossly and walked a pair to fill them up before getting out on a grounder to Mathews that Marshall rolled over. So, only one run scored and was unearned, but the Thunder had no problem seeing Knight’s fat offerings. They made contact three times on his first three pitches in the second inning, resulting in two pop outs surrounding Clayton’s single to right. Farias singled to put two on, but Mathews made a nice play on Fullerton’s grounder. The Thunder plated two runs on as many triples and a hit batsman in the third to go up 3-0, and the Raccoons had yet to do anything meaningful with the stick against a replacement level pitcher.

The Coons scored a run in the fourth, but it was unearned. Mendoza had been on with a leadoff single, but was forced by DeWeese’s grounder. Clayton tried to pick the prick off first, but threw the ball away, giving DeWeese the extra base to score from second on Mathews’ single to right. The fifth inning opened with a Gershkovich error that placed Damani Knight on base ahead of singles by Cookie and Bareford to load the bases with nobody out in a 3-1 deficit. Alright, here comes the pain. Let me get in position for pain to hit me like a cross-country train. McKnight grounded a 1-1 pitch to Farias, although it was to Farias’ right and he had to lunge to knock it down. The ball took an odd bounce to fool Farias, and McKnight flew up the line to beat the second baseman’s throw for an RBI infield single, 3-2. Clayton ran a full count on Mendoza before losing him, grossly, on a pitch that hit home plate, tying the score. DeWeese hacked out, but the Coons took a 5-3 lead on Mathews drawing another bases-loaded walk and Nunley plating a run on a groundout. Margolis was put on intentionally, Knight struck out to end the inning. Two more scored in the sixth inning, which started with a Cookie walk. He stole second, which prompted the Thunder to walk Bareford intentionally. Both ended up scoring in the inning, 7-3. Knight took that lead through six and faced one batter in the seventh, but Farias singled to right center to knock him from the game. Jason Kaiser replaced him and struck out Fullerton and Parks, but when Chun came in after that he retired nobody. Gershkovich singled, Jalen Parks hit a 2-run double, and the Coons had to use their second lefty in the same inning against the bottom of the order and acute danger on the scoreboard. Thrasher obliterated Bobby Marshall to end the inning still up 7-5. The Raccoons had a chance to score in the ninth inning with left-hander Bryan Robbins walking Mathews and allowing a single to Margolis, but Mike Denny grounded out to short while hitting for Troy Charters, who had ended the eighth inning. This meant that nobody was left other than Ramirez to see after the Thunder’s 2-3-4 part of the lineup in the bottom 9th, which went switch-left-switch. He ran 3-ball counts to both switch-hitters; Farias flew out to Bareford at 3-1 to start the inning, but Parks later walked with two outs in a full count. Like Friday’s, this game ended on a Gershkovich strikeout. 7-5 Furballs. Bareford 2-4, BB; Mathews 3-3, 2 BB, 2B, 3 RBI;

Damani struck out nobody and walked three in this outing. He should consider himself lucky that he got that W.

Game 3
POR: LF Carmona – CF Bareford – 3B Walter – C Denny – 1B Mendoza – RF Jackson – SS McKnight – 2B Mathews – P Guerrero
OCT: CF Stevenson – 2B Farias – RF Fullerton – C Parks – 1B Gershkovich – SS Paull – 3B Marshall – LF Gosnell – P Lombardo

Despite a double steal attempt gone awry, with Cookie nailed at third while Bareford remained at second in the first inning, the Raccoons scored two in the opening frame thanks to Denny’s 2-out, 2-run shot to center on an 0-2 pitch. Jackson and McKnight got on base to start the second inning before Mathews and Guerrero both made outs to left. With two outs, Cookie singled to right and Jackson hustled home from second base, and when Bareford flipped a soft single to shallow left, Chris Gosnell misplayed the ball into extra bases, allowing McKnight to score from second, 4-0. The team continued to put men on base in the third and fourth, but didn’t score them, but reentered the scoreboard in the fifth with a soft single by Denny and Eddie Jackson popping a ball out of leftfield with ease for a 6-0 lead, certainly the hardest drubbing any southpaw had received by the Raccoons in a while. Guerrero was unspectacular, whiffing only one batter through five, but was very efficient, needing only 51 pitches through five innings and was nursing a 2-hitter.

Lombardo was gone by the sixth, but the Critters just kept rocking the next guy in line. Ryan Corkum struck out Guerrero, then allowed singles to Cookie (4-for-4 now) and Bareford, before Walter was robbed of an RBI when his fly to deep right bounced over the fence for a ground-rule double, keeping Bareford at third. The runner remained on base; Corkum struck out both Denny and Mendoza in full counts to keep the score at 7-0. Cookie landed a fifth base knock, another single, in the eighth inning, singling to left with one out. While Bareford forced him with a grounder, Walter and Denny hit back-to-back RBI doubles with two outs off Corkum, at least giving Cookie a chance at another plate appearance in the ninth inning, where he would be the fifth man up. But first to Guerrero’s shutout bid; this one looked dead in the bottom 8th when Gosnell hit a leadoff triple past Jackson into the rightfield depths, but a K to Luke Davis, a pop by Josh Stevenson, and a grounder to first by Emilio Farias kept the runner at third base throughout the inning. No chance for a sixth hit materialized for Cookie in the ninth, as Jesse Bowsher sat down Jackson, McKnight, and Mathews in order, so we were watching Guerrero in the bottom of the inning, who faced the 3-4-5 batters and entered with a 5-hitter on 88 pitches. Fullerton popped out to Mathews. Parks popped out to McKnight. Remember how the first two games had ended? Yeah, Mike Gershkovich certainly did. ‘Not with me!’ he explained while pointing his stick out towards the mound, then hit a 2-out single to center. The pitching coach jogged out to check on the pulse of Guerrero, who had thrown 100 pitches sharp so far, now faced ex-Crusaders Eric Paull, who grounded to third base to end the game. 9-0 Raccoons! Carmona 5-5, RBI; Bareford 2-4, RBI; Walter 2-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Denny 3-5, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; McKnight 2-5; Guerrero 9.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, W (5-6);

One day after going unretired, Joey Mathews was nothing but retired, going 0-for-5. Him and Guerrero were the only Coons in action (nine total, as all guys in the starting lineup finished the contest) to not safely reach base in the game.

Guerrero had his second career shutout. Both have been as a Critter, despite only 25 of his 125 career starts coming in the brown shirt.

In other news

July 16 – TOP 2B Chris Owen (.328, 9 HR, 49 RBI) has five hits with a home run and a double, as well as 5 RBI in the Buffaloes’ 9-1 win over the Miners.
July 17 – The Knights will be without INF Tony Jimenez (.251, 1 HR, 19 RBI) for three weeks after the rookie has suffered a sprained wrist.
July 17 – The Canadiens tally only one hit, a Man-su Kim (.183, 1 HR, 10 RBI) single in the second inning, in their 9-1 loss to the Titans.
July 18 – DEN 3B/2B Zachary Brown (.324, 10 HR, 49 RBI) is done for the season with a torn UCL and is headed for Tommy John surgery. Since he is not a pitcher, the recovery time for him should be less than a full year.
July 18 – The Blue Sox blow their 3-1 lead in the ninth inning, allowing the visiting Rebels to score two and send the game to extra innings. There, both teams score two in the 10th, FOUR in the 13th, and the Rebels finally pull through with an 11-9 win in 14 innings. NAS INF John Muller (.280, 7 HR, 39 RBI) has five hits and drives in three in his team’s loss.
July 19 – The Pacifics will no disclose details on how RF Marc Thompson (.278, 10 HR, 49 RBI) banged up his shoulder in the clubhouse on Thursday, and only noted that he should come off the DL after the minimum 15 days.
July 19 – More injury woes for the Knights, who lose outfielder Marty Reyes (.282, 7 HR, 31 RBI) to an oblique strain and will probably not get him back before late August.
July 19 – The Falcons beat the Canadiens, 1-0, on the strength of only corner utility man Bernard Girard (.267, 7 HR, 27 RBI) going yard in the third inning.
July 19 – The Miners pile 15 runs on the Wolves before defense comes apart for them in the ninth inning and the Wolves score all their runs, and all unearned, in that ninth inning before finishing their 15-6 loss.
July 20 – SAC CL William Kay (0-1, 2.11 ERA, 21 SV) is out for the year with a torn back muscle.
July 21 – The Falcons will be without C Ryan Holliman (.269, 12 HR, 49 RBI) for about a month. The 28-year old backstop is suffering from plantar fascitis.
July 21 – DAL LF/RF Justin Dally (.299, 14 HR, 60 RBI) is out for six weeks with a fractured rib.
July 21 – The season of BOS MR Desi Bowles (0-1, 7.22 ERA) ends due to shoulder inflammation.
July 21 – The Loggers acquire MR Justin Carlin (0-1, 2.63 ERA) from the Indians, parting with a decent, but unranked prospect.
July 21 – The Pacifics are mowed down by the Buffaloes in a 16-1 scorefest.

Complaints and stuff

From time to time, an opponent your team faced in the previous week, will be Player of the Week. Usually this means bad things happened to your team. This week, again, a player the Raccoons encountered this week was Player of the Week. It was no Indian, however, despite how that series had run, but a Thunder! Despite Oklahoma getting swept, Emilio Farias was POTW, batting .500 (13-for-26) with 4 RBI and no dingers. Against Portland, Farias went 5-for-11, but all his hits were singles, he scored only once, and had no RBI’s. All his damage was done against the Bayhawks earlier in the week.

Yeah, well, the offense. Four runs and no wins against the crummy Indians. They are nothing short of annoying. They might be doing it intentionally. Surely DeWeese is behind all this. He made even Cookie, who passes as veteran by now, wear a pink skirt of which a photo leaked onto the internets this week, he would surely not be above sabotaging the entire team effort as well.

I hate the internets. The internets loved Cookie in the skirt, though. The first perfumed love letter arrived on Saturday, written by hand in strong, bold strokes by Bruce, a 44-year old welder from the Fifth Quadrant. Flowers also arrived.

No Cookie, I can’t deal with that right now. Can you … can’t you just write him a letter back that you appreciate … but you can’t go to Polynesia with him to start a new life. – Because the season is not over yet. – No, Cookie, I got **** to do myself.

Like: How do you trade for offense with this team. How many more millions is an even average offense going to cost? That outfield (including Mendoza, who is on first mainly because Cookie had to get out of center to have any shot at a career) costs roughly $9.25M a year. Production is worth a lot less. There isn’t even an obvious weak spot on the team. Not even DeWeese, who gets a passing grade for production (not production per million dollars, however) due to the occasional extra-base hit and some value drawn from walks and stolen bases. There is no player, who you know is killing you. Not even Nunley, who still isn’t OPS’ing .600, but who actually has a 9-game hitting streak with extra-base hits in five of those, but the hole he’s in is so ****ing deep. No Luke Newton anywhere. Well, except, honestly, DeWeese after all, but he ain’t going anywhere. 23 other teams are very glad they didn’t win the DeWeese Sweepstakes four winters ago.

Next week: Aces, Knights.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (61-37) vs. Aces (48-51) – July 22-24, 2019

The Raccoons came in with a 2-1 edge in the season series and trying to win the season series for the fourth year in a row. The Aces weren’t necessarily close to defending their 2018 championship, trailing by six and a half games in the CL South. This was nothing that could not be overcome, however, and they would certainly be looking towards hurting the Critters once more. They were fifth in runs scored and sixth in runs allowed, which didn’t shake out to a team that would be heading to the World Series.

Projected matchups:
Cole Pierson (8-5, 2.91 ERA) vs. Nehemiah Jones (11-4, 2.45 ERA)
Juan Mendoza (0-0) vs. Juan Valdevez (9-7, 3.73 ERA)
Tadasu Abe (9-5, 2.54 ERA) vs. Jason Clements (8-6, 3.24 ERA)

The Aces’ rotation was entirely right-handed.

We made a roster move coming into the series, sending Damani Knight (3-2, 4.56 ERA) to AAA to create an open roster spot for Juan Mendoza to start the Tuesday game on day 10 of Abe’s 10-day suspension for brawling with Ezra Branch. If not for the suspension, Knight would probably have been skipped on Thursday’s off day anyway, so he had his feelings hurt one way or another. Mendoza was a 26-year-old right-hander and former international free agent picked up in the July 2010 signing period, so it has been some time, and he has never received any attention in the nine years that have passed since. Mendoza had a nice cutter and splitter and was throwing 96, but control was an issue for him.

Game 1
LVA: SS Burke – CF Flack – 3B I. Alvarez – 1B M. Hamilton – RF Piepoli – LF Curro – C T. Perez – 2B Arrieta – P N. Jones
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Walter – SS McKnight – 1B H. Mendoza – LF DeWeese – C Denny – 3B Nunley – CF Bareford – P Pierson

The first Critter to make a grab into the toilet in the game was Cookie, who hit a leadoff single in the bottom 1st, thought he’d have two, but very much didn’t and was thrown out by Adam Flack. The Coons didn’t have another hit until the third when Cookie hit an actual 2-out double, but was stranded nevertheless. Pierson was coping with the no-show of the offense initially despite frequent on-base traffic by the Aces. Twice did they have two on, but the inning ended on a timely strikeout, two of those even in the fourth inning when Pierson whiffed both Rich Arrieta and Nem Jones to end the inning. Pierson would soon enough grab into the toilet himself, allowing a line drive rocket to deep left center to Saverio Piepoli in the sixth that banged off the very top of the fence for a 1-out triple. Corey Curro flew out to shallow right, but Tony Perez hit a horrendous bloop single into shallow center to plate the first run of the game. The bottom of the inning saw the Coons load the bases with no outs, with Walter and Mendoza contributing singles while McKnight got drilled by Jones. Three on, none retired was the perfect scenario for more fumbling in the toilet, which got never cleaned by Slappy, by the way. DeWeese struck out, Denny hit into a double play, nobody scored. One inning later, Jackson hit into another double play. The Raccoons never got any of their **** together, and flushed the game down, even without Tony Perez’ eighth-inning home run off Will West. 2-0 Aces. Carmona 2-4, 2B; Pierson 6.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, L (8-6);

I had them cornered in the locker room. I asked them whether I must scream. Nobody said anything.

Nobody said anything.

Three hours later, everybody went home.

Game 2
LVA: SS Burke – LF D. Brown – 3B I. Alvarez – 1B M. Hamilton – RF Piepoli – C D. Rice – CF Curro – 2B Arrieta – P Valdevez
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Mathews – SS Walter – 1B H. Mendoza – RF Jackson – 3B Nunley – CF Bareford – C Denny – P J. Mendoza

Nunley extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a single in the second inning, the only Raccoons hit before a storm hit the area and play was interrupted for 90 minutes in the third inning. The storm killed Mendoza’s career debut; he ended the third inning, but missed grossly to start the fourth and walked Dan Brown in a hurry. Izzy Alvarez lined out hard to Mathews, and Mendoza was hauled in. Valdevez also didn’t get through the fourth inning, and both teams were into their bullpens in a scoreless contest.

The first run in the game was unearned, and the Aces’. With Danny Rice on second base and one out in the fifth inning, Matt Nunley slipped while fielding Rich Arrieta’s grounder, allowing runners on the corners for Vegas. Jason Kaiser couldn’t get rid of PH Jose Navarro, who grounded out to plate Rice, and the Aces were up 1-0. Another run scored against Chun in the sixth, with Izzy Alvarez reaching on an infield single, stealing second against the curiously observing Denny, and coming home on Piepoli’s single to center, and like that wasn’t enough, Chun completely ****ed up in the seventh. Rice hit a leadoff single, Curro bunted, but Chun’s piss-poor throw eluded Mathews for a 2-base throwing error, and the runs scored on Arrieta’s double through Mendoza and up the rightfield line, 4-0, and don’t you think Chun would be able to hold Arrieta on base. Two more runs scored off Will West in the eighth on a Matt Hamilton home run and a flock of singles after that. The Raccoons didn’t do anything, ANYTHING. 7-0 Aces. J. Mendoza 3.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K;

… there’s no booze powerful enough to make them bearable.

Game 3
LVA: CF A. Martinez – LF D. Brown – 3B I. Alvarez – 1B M. Hamilton – RF Piepoli – C D. Rice – SS Navarro – 2B Arrieta – P Clements
POR: RF Carmona – CF Duarte – SS McKnight – 1B Jackson – 2B Mathews – LF DeWeese – 3B Nunley – C Margolis – P Abe

The Raccoons started the game by loading the bases with Clements walking a pair after Cookie’s leadoff single in the first inning. Eddie Jackson manned first for the universally useless Dumbo Mendoza and hit a fly to deep right that Piepoli caught, but one run scored on the sac fly. Mathews hit an RBI single, DeWeese hit an RBI double to keep the line moving. The streaking Nunley didn’t get anything to swing at and walked to refill the bases, but Margolis hit into a double play to end the inning. Up 3-0, Abe struck out the side in the second, still feeling some anger from his last outing, but ran into a tough spot in the third inning, losing Dan Brown on a 2-out single and Alvarez on a double. Two in scoring position, Matt Hamilton represented danger, but then popped out to Mathews on the first pitch. The Coons put up a second 3-spot in the bottom of the same inning; McKnight was on initially and was on second base when DeWeese hit a 2-out single to center, but somehow fell asleep when contact was made and only reached third base. Not to worry, though, because Matt Nunley still had to collect his daily base knock and did so with a 2-out, 2-run triple to center, running the hitting streak to 12 games. Margolis hit a double through Alvarez to extend the lead to 6-0.

Abe was basically fine through five innings, whiffing eight against four scattered base hits. In the sixth, he got the first two batters before Piepoli and Rice whacked back-to-back doubles to get the Aces onto the board and to shorten the gap to 6-1. Abe ended the inning, which was his last one, with a wonderful Oregon summer forcing another rain delay in the bottom of the same inning. With 40 minutes spent under the tarp, Abe was surely toast and removed from the game. Dumbo Mendoza hit for him with two down and nobody out, singled to left, Cookie walked, and Duarte hit an RBI single to restore the 6-run gap. The Raccoons would win this one, but at which price. Emptying the bullpen the previous day and not getting any start longer than six innings in the series, despite the lopsided score we had to send the elite relievers to pitch. Thrasher got the eighth and was welcomed by a leadoff jack off Hamilton’s bat. That was not the main problems. Thrasher retired the next two, then retired himself from the contest with some itch or twitch or other bothering him tremendously. Wade Davis ended the game. 7-2 Raccoons. Duarte 2-3, 2 BB, RBI; DeWeese 2-4, 2B, RBI; Nunley 1-2, 2 BB, 3B, 2 RBI; H. Mendoza (PH) 1-1; Abe 6.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 9 K, W (10-5);

The one thing that I find miraculous is that Cookie still has all limbs attached after 400 at-bats this season…

Raccoons (62-39) vs. Knights (55-46) – July 26-28, 2019

The two division leaders in the Continental League would square off, although both teams were badly battered and were lacking a number of important players (more on that in a second). The Knights had the most productive offense in the league, but their pitching was crummy at best, with the third-most runs being conceded by them. The Raccoons had already claimed the season series by virtue of winning five of the previous six games this season. Good pitching beats good hitting, maybe, but what if most of that good pitching has disappeared into a hammock?

Yes, all into the same hammock.

Projected matchups:
Hector Santos (10-5, 2.74 ERA) vs. Felipe Ramirez (4-8, 5.94 ERA)
Bobby Guerrero (5-6, 4.13 ERA) vs. Leon Hernandez (8-4, 4.02 ERA)
Cole Pierson (8-6, 2.85 ERA) vs. Dave Priest (3-11, 5.20 ERA)

Three more right-handers from the Knights.

Both teams are about equally healthy. We are down four key pieces, they have six guys on the DL, including regulars Marty Reyes, Devin Hibbard, Tony Jimenez, starting pitcher Drew King, and also bench guy Jeremy DeFabio. I’d still claim that we’re off worse. No news on Thrasher so far. The Druid ran out of pickle brine and had to set up a concoction overnight first.

The Knights had made a trade the previous day, sending C Matt Wittner (.297, 4 HR, 17 RBI) to the Capitals for right-hander Jared D’Attilo (1-5, 3.93 ERA).

Game 1
ATL: RF Mims – SS Patino – C Luna – LF Rockwell – 3B Esquivel – 1B Herlihy – CF Walrath – 2B A. Chavez – P F. Ramirez
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Walter – SS McKnight – 1B H. Mendoza – LF DeWeese – CF Bareford – 3B Nunley – C Denny – P Santos

The team was already up 1-0 when Nunley extended his streak to 13 games by blooping a single into shallow center, loading the bases after Mendoza’s leadoff walk and stolen base and now three straight singles. Nobody out, come on, boys, how about something big? Mike Denny hit a ball hard to the right side, Armando Chavez caught it with a lightning-quick glove swipe, and uh-oh, the Coons had been going on contact. Chavez threw to second to double off Bareford, and then Edwin Patino hauled it over to first, where Nunley had fallen down trying to reverse and was … tripled off. The 4-6-3 triple play drove me to the booze cabinet, Coons ahead 1-0 or not. With Santos pitching and a heart of the order with 55 dingers opposing him, a 1-run lead was like no lead, and proving the point was Gil Rockwell’s solo bomb in the fourth inning, evening the tally on the scoreboard with his 25th home run of the season.

The Coons had them loaded again in the bottom of the fourth and again Denny came to the plate. Rest easy, though, because there was one out, and the best Denny could hit into would be a double play, and that mostly went away when Felipe Ramirez threw a wild pitch to plate Mendoza and give the Critters a 2-1 lead. On the flip side, this took the bat away from Denny, who was put on intentionally, Santos whiffed, and Cookie grounded out to short to end the inning and leave them loaded. Santos had done somewhat okay so far, but in the fifth started to run full counts to explode his pitch count, and not only that, with two outs he walked Chavez and then allowed a single to Ramirez before Mims popped out. All this left Santos over 90 pitches through five. Santos got through the sixth, but we just weren’t getting any length from the crew this week.

After a scoreless seventh by Chun, the Coons got an insurance run in the bottom 7th on doubles by Mathews and Walter, but Troy Charters didn’t make it through the eighth inning, walking Kyle Mims and allowing a single to Patino with two outs. With the left-handed Ruben Luna and his 19 dingers coming up, Jason Kaiser was sent in and got a *huge* K. Ramirez got the ninth by default again given that we had six deceased setup pitchers to cope with, and retired Rockwell to start the inning on a deep fly to center, but Antonio Esquivel reached on a bloop single just outside of Walter’s range. The Knights found no way back into the game, though. Clint Philip pinch-hit for the pitcher in the #6 hole, and the ex-Logger hit right into a double play to end the game. 3-1 Blighters. Bareford 2-4, 2B; Nunley 2-3; Mathews (PH) 1-1, 2B; Santos 6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, W (11-5);

By now the Druid reported back about Ron Thrasher, in whose shoulder he had found all kinds of stuff, some soreness, some inflammation, a pair of surgical scissors someone had forgotten in there in the past, and also a rusty M4 Sherman tank from eons past.

Thrasher was out for the season and put on the DL accordingly. Jeff Boynton was moved to the 60-day DL to make room on the 40-man roster for Ryan Nielson, who had been starting in AAA, but would be used out of the pen up here. Nielson had been 6-6 with a 4.55 ERA for the Alley Cats. For his major league career, a train wreck that had started in 2017, he was 3-5 with a 4.94 ERA in 26 games (11 starts).

Game 2
ATL: RF Mims – SS Patino – C Luna – LF Rockwell – 3B Esquivel – 1B Herlihy – CF Walrath – 2B A. Chavez – P L. Hernandez
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Walter – SS McKnight – 1B H. Mendoza – LF DeWeese – CF Bareford – 3B Nunley – C Denny – P Guerrero

The Knights scored a run from two singles and two stolen bases in the first inning, so it could have been worse. Worse like, you know, the Coons’ offense. They had no hits in the first three innings. Walter hit a leadoff single in the bottom 4th, moved up on McKnight’s groundout, but Mendoza flew out poorly to center. DeWeese hit a ball hard to right center, and that raced all the way outta here! Guerrero had held on since the first, so this one flipped the score, 2-1 for the Coons. Not that the lead held; Guerrero put the first two in the fifth inning on with a single to Jeffrey Walrath and a walk drawn by Armando Chavez, Hernandez bunted them over, and Kyle Mims’ grounder to second scored the tying run to get teams even at two.

Guerrero got through seven innings in the tied game, not getting assistance before his removal as the Raccoons were held to two measly hits in six innings, the two hits that scored their runs in the fourth. DeWeese got the team’s third hit, a 1-out single in the bottom 7th, but that was literally all they put up for Guerrero before the inning was over. Support only arrived for Troy Charters, who put the 1-2-3 batters away in the eighth inning. Leon Hernandez struck out Denny and Duarte in the bottom 8th before Cookie flicked a single to center and took second by force for his 21st steal of the year. This gave Walter a good chance to drive him in, but Cookie would not have needed the extra base: Walter yanked one out of right center to break the tie and give the Coons a 4-2 advantage. Alex Ramirez would have gotten the ball anyway in the ninth. He put away Rockwell and Esquivel on soft contact, then surrendered a double to rookie Trent Herlihy. Walrath was the tying run, but struck out. 4-2 Coons. Walter 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; DeWeese 2-3, HR, 2 RBI; Guerrero 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K;

This was the first W for Charters as a Critter. Shane Walter’s homer ended Matt Nunley’s hitting streak after he had gone 0-for-3 in the game and had hoped to come up in the ninth.

Between games, the Knights acquired SP Luis Flores (7-9, 3.45 ERA) from the Condors to shore up their troubled rotation, sending two prospects to Tijuana. Luckily, the southpaw did not arrive in time to start the last game of the set. Included in the package for the Condors was #12 prospect OF Adrian Feliz.

Game 3
ATL: RF Mims – SS Patino – C Luna – LF Rockwell – 3B Esquivel – 1B Herlihy – CF Walrath – 2B A. Chavez – P Priest
POR: RF Carmona – 3B Walter – SS McKnight – 1B H. Mendoza – 2B Mathews – LF DeWeese – CF Duarte – C Margolis – P Pierson

Another low-offense game in the early innings, as both teams amounted to only one base hit in the first three innings, with Pierson responsible for the Coons’. Patino and DeWeese hit deep flies to center in the fourth inning, but none got it past the centerfielder of the other team. Priest didn’t even strike anybody out until the fifth inning; the Raccoons were just plain unable to make decent contact and rolled over grounder after grounder. The game only got real in the sixth inning when some patrons had already dozed off. Chavez opened that inning with a hard double to the base of the leftfield fence, but when Priest bunted, he made hard contact and sent a convenient ball, bouncing once, to Mendoza, who made a bare-handed grab and zinged to third where Walter tagged out Chavez. Pierson walked Mims on four pitches, but got soft outs from Patino and Luna to keep the Knights off the board. The Raccoons got Cookie on with a leadoff single in the bottom of the inning, but he was caught stealing when Walter didn’t hit on a hit-and-run. Mendoza drew a leadoff walk the following inning and was bunted over by Mathews, as we got more desperate for one measly run. DeWeese drove a 1-1 pitch to right, Mims went back but quite couldn’t get it. The ball came down on the track for a double and Mendoza scored easily to break the scoring drought.

After Duarte got walked intentionally and Margolis dropped a soft fly into shallow right to load the bases, Pierson’s spot came up. He was going REALLY good, allowing only two hits so far, but we were kind of eager for another run or two. Eddie Jackson batted for him rather than Matt Nunley, because we wanted the mediocre Priest to stay in the game rather than a crack left-hander replacing him. That one worked out, for once, as Jackson lined up the leftfield line and almost into the corner for a 2-run double! Priest stayed in the game, conceding RBI singles to Cookie and Walter before McKnight grounded out, but he even faced Mendoza already down 5-0 and with two on base. Mendoza finally found a ball to murder and hit a 3-bomb to center. Out of NOTHING, the Raccoons had thrown up an 8-spot. Margolis would hit a sac fly in the eighth, while Davis, Nielson, and West finished out the game. 9-0 Raccoons. Carmona 2-4, RBI; Nunley (PH) 1-1; Mendoza 1-2, 2 BB, HR, 3 RBI; Petracek (PH) 1-1; Jackson (PH) 1-1, 2B, 2 RBI; Pierson 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, W (9-6) and 1-2;

Dumbo Mendoza had his first RBI’s this week, and only his second game with RBI’s since a July 14 game against the Elks in which he rapped out four hits. That was also his most recent multi-hit game.

In other news

July 23 – CIN SP Fred Dugo (11-4, 3.09 ERA) is done with 2019 after having ruptured a finger tendon.
July 24 – Boston southpaw Rick Ling (9-7, 3.13 ERA) shines with a 1-hit shutout against the Thunder. The Titans win 8-0, with the only hit separating Ling from a no-hitter a single off Chris Gosnell’s bat in the sixth inning.
July 24 – The Condors trade C Jose Vargas (.257, 6 HR, 26 RBI) to the Buffaloes for two prospects.
July 25 – Out for the season: SFB SP Zach Boyer (10-10, 3.25 ERA), who has come down with shoulder inflammation.
July 26 – The Warriors lose SP Jose Acosta (5-8, 4.24 ERA) for up to two months with shoulder inflammation.
July 27 – DEN 1B Stanley Murphy (.287, 18 HR, 66 RBI) gets his 2,500th career base hit in the Gold Sox’ 6-5 win over the Miners, knocking out two base hits to contribute. The first of those, a first inning single against starter Pedro Hernandez, is the milestone hit. Murphy, 39 years old and a 2-time World Series winner (2011, 2012), 2011 FLCS and WS MVP, 2012 FL Player of the Year, and 7-time All Star, is career .290 batter with 327 HR and 1,363 RBI. He spent most of his career with the Pacifics before brief stints with the Raccoons, Warriors, and Gold Sox.
July 28 – Yet again lost to injury is the Bayhawks’ sparkling star OF Dave Garcia (.343, 4 HR, 18 RBI), who will miss six weeks with a forearm strain. Riddled with ailments, Garcia has only 99 at-bats on the season.
July 28 – The Indians are out-hit 11-5 by the Thunder, but beat them 5-4 on the strength of home runs by SS Raul Matias (.313, 11 HR, 61 RBI) and 2B Jong-beom Kym (.211, 3 HR, 15 RBI).
July 28 – An 8-run fourth inning paces the Aces in their 16-7 win over the Canadiens.

Complaints and stuff

The Raccoons are 7-5 in the last two weeks. They scored 47 runs in those games (3.9 per game). In their losses, they scored four runs total, getting swept by Indy last week and putting up two goose eggs to start this week.

Here come the Loggers! Good for them. We will probably fold next month due to a lack of players.

Below, an unofficial photo of the Coons’ DL hammock that leaked onto the internets. It’s at the same time pretty and not pretty. (Link to video where this is capped from: Say 'Critters'! )

The Loggers.

The Gold Sox wanted to deal us Pat Walston, a catcher we were vaguely after in an offseason a long time ago, kindly requesting Hector Santos in return, plus a prospect. Does thin air make dizzy in the head? I think yes.

THE LOGGERS.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (65-39) @ Bayhawks (52-52) – July 29-31, 2019

To finish the month of July, the Raccoons were looking at the potential of losing the season series to the Bayhawks, who had so far taken four of six games from the Critters after getting mopped 8-1 by the Coons the year before, although truth be told the Baybirds would probably prefer to lead the South. However, they were only three games out of the lead, so nailing the Raccoons into the ground would work to their advantage for sure. They were fifth in runs scored, sixth in runs allowed, and somehow it seemed like the Raccoons played a team with those values every week.

Projected matchups:
Juan Mendoza (0-0) vs. Manuel Rojas (4-5, 6.11 ERA)
Tadasu Abe (10-5, 2.49 ERA) vs. Graham Wasserman (7-9, 3.95 ERA)
Hector Santos (11-5, 2.69 ERA) vs. Alex Maldonado (7-4, 4.26 ERA)

In good news, the Coons bypassed the Baybirds’ only left-hander, Joao Joo (11-6, 2.96 ERA), who was also their best starter. The Birds had their own injury problems, having lost starters Bob King and Zach Boyer as well as the chronically injured star outfielder Dave Garcia, and a few more bits and pieces.

We were in a string of 20 consecutive games, with this set marking games four through six, so we will be sprinkling in off days for all the regulars at some point.

Game 1
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Walter – SS McKnight – 1B H. Mendoza – LF DeWeese – CF Bareford – 3B Nunley – C Denny – P J. Mendoza
SFB: RF Sarabia – CF Bautista – C D. Alexander – LF R. Allen – 2B Claros – 1B T. Ramos – 3B Dahlke – SS Vasquez – P M. Rojas

Rojas’ nickname, “Doom”, took on a life of its own right in the first inning, as Rojas walked a whopping SIX batters in a 5-run first for the Raccoons. Two runs were walked in, but Matt Nunley hit a double that at one point emptied the continuously loaded bases. Juan Mendoza tried his paws at his second career start but was also crumbled early on. Victor Sarabia hit a triple to start the Baybirds’ first inning, he scored on a groundout, and Roger Allen homered to get the Bayhawks back to 5-2. This narrowed further to 5-3 in the third with Sarabia singling, stealing second, and scoring on D-Alex’ single to center with two outs. Allen was in a 1-2 count when he hit a deep drive to left … foul. He struck out on the next pitch, but we almost would have been tied. The Bayhawks saved that for the fifth inning, and more. Robby Vasquez led off with an infield single, Sarabia walked, and when the runners took off with one out, Denny committed a jaw-dropping throwing error into leftfield, allowing Vasquez to score and the tying run to go to third in Sarabia. Mendoza was knocked out on Felipe Bautista’s RBI triple, and Ryan Nielson had nothing better to do than to walk D-Alex and surrender doubles to Allen and Tony Ramos that plated three more runs, gave the Bayhawks a 5-spot and an 8-5 lead, and put “Doom” Rojas, who had been pinch-hit for in the inning, in line for a win despite having dished out eight walks.

While Cookie singled and Walter homered to cut the gap to one run in the sixth inning, Nielson continued to be completely useless. Vasquez reached on another infield single to lead off the bottom 6th, but the howling double into the gap that Nielson surrendered to Sarabia surely didn’t make things better in scoring the Bayhawks’ ninth run. Against Mark Roberts, who allowed Joey Mathews’ pinch-hit double that started the inning, and Micah McIntyre, who immediately replaced Roberts, the Coons put up a serious threat in the eighth inning then. Cookie walked, putting the tying runs on base, and McKnight singled to right with one out. But don’t expect Dumbo Mendoza to hit the ball anywhere useful. He hit it right to Roger Allen in left. One run scored on the sac fly, but DeWeese was no less useless and the Coons remained behind and were locked into a season series loss even before Wade Davis forked up for two runs in the bottom 8th. Sarabia was a homer short of the cycle in that inning and sent a drive to center that only made it to the warning track and into Bareford’s glove at that. 11-8 Bayhawks. Carmona 2-3, 2 BB, 2B; Walter 2-4, BB, HR, 2 RBI; H. Mendoza 1-2, 2 BB, RBI; Mathews (PH) 1-1, 2B;

The Birds left two on base, the Critters stranded ten.

And no, no lead is safe anymore around here, which is how things are with a bullpen full of scum.

Game 2
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Walter – SS McKnight – 1B H. Mendoza – LF DeWeese – CF Bareford – 3B Nunley – C Denny – P Abe
SFB: RF Sarabia – 3B J. Pena – C D. Alexander – LF R. Allen – 2B Claros – 1B T. Ramos – CF J. Harris – SS Vasquez – P Wasserman

Abe was neck-deep in runners in the second inning, as the Bayhawks loaded the bases with three singles, each ****tier than the one before. Roger Allen had already reached on a sorry blooper to shallow center, before Claros reached on an even weaker floater into center, and Tony Ramos legged out an infield single. A run scored on John Harris’ grounder to short, where McKnight got only the out at second base, but Vasquez popped out foul behind home plate. Wasserman, the former Raccoons farmhand, sent a drive to left that looked like trouble, but DeWeese managed to get over there in time, making the catch near the foul line.

While the Coons got nothing off Wasserman, who walked Abe to lead off the third before Cookie popped out and Wasserman whiffed three in a row, and who put two on in the fourth before getting Nunley to hit into a double play, the Bayhawks were all over Abe again in the fourth inning, which started with a walk to Allen. Raul Claros beat Bareford’s curious approach route for an RBI triple before Abe drilled Ramos. Harris grounded to short, where again only one out was gained by McKnight, and the balls just kept flying. Vasquez doubled to left center, and Wasserman flew deep to right for a sac fly to give the Birds a 4-0 lead after four innings. Through five, Wasserman struck out seven, while Abe whiffed only one, which was odd enough to warrant attention from the trainer, although Abe claimed to be fine enough.

The Raccoons got back into the game in the sixth because DeWeese accidentally hit a ball for a 3-run bomb to right, this one coming with McKnight and Mendoza on base after hitting soft singles. While the lead was down to 4-3, the Bayhawks were unfazed. When Cookie got on in the seventh, he got picked off, and when the Birds put their leadoff man Sarabia on first with another single in the bottom of the inning, Jimmy Raupp sprung up from the depths of hell and whacked a pinch-hit 2-run homer to extend the score to 6-3. With that shot, Raupp had 14 homers and a .173 batting average on the season. Top 8th, Walter and McKnight got on before Wasserman struck out Mendoza and DeWeese. Jackson hit for Bareford against Barry MacDonald and zinged a single to center, 6-4, but McIntyre replaced MacDonald right away and erased Nunley in the cruelest fashion with a 3-pitch strikeout, the last time they were close to a comeback. 6-4 Bayhawks. McKnight 3-4; DeWeese 2-3, HR, 2B, 3 RBI;

Interlude: trade

I tried to find a starting pitcher to fill the fifth slot that was prone to crap on my desk, but that wasn’t going to happen. The Raccoons found a trade to replace Ron Thrasher however:

On July 31 the Raccoons acquired 31-yr old CL Brett Lillis (4-2, 1.10 ERA, 24 SV) from the Cyclones, parting with 26-yr old CF/RF Alex Duarte (.229, 2 HR, 15 RBI), AAA MR Eric Broady, and AA C Jayden Teague.

I don’t find a lot in these two prospects, our 2017 sixth-rounder and an international free agent, respectively, but Cyclones GM Doug Sauerwine apparently did. Duarte has lost the centerfield battle to Bareford due to not hitting remotely enough to be considered a starter even if he had the D that Bareford brings. I actually tried to give them Eddie Jackson first, but they weren’t biting on him and preferred the younger guy.

This is fine.

In additional roster moves, the outrageous Ryan Nielson was dumped back to AAA, and we called up Russ Greenwald from St. Pete.

Raccoons (65-39) @ Bayhawks (52-52) – July 29-31, 2019

Game 3
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Mathews – 1B Greenwald – SS Walter – LF DeWeese – CF Bareford – C Denny – 3B Petracek – P Santos
SFB: RF Sarabia – 3B J. Pena – C D. Alexander – LF R. Allen – 2B Claros – 1B T. Ramos – CF Bautista – SS Dahlke – P Maldonado

The Bayhawks instantly won a series sweep with a 5-run first inning. All runs were unearned, because Santos started his day by dropping an easy pop by Victor Sarabia. Three guys hit singles. Felipe Bautista hit a grand slam. The sky fell and crushed all in attendance.

Oh god, how I wished. The Raccoons had nothing going, and Santos soon enough also allowed earned runs. Bautista hit a sac fly to extend the lead to 6-0 in the third after a single by Claros and a double by Tony Ramos, who was injured and replaced by John Harris. The following inning, Maldonado led off with a double to right, Santos threw a wild pitch, and that run also found its way around somehow, 7-0. When the Raccoons did score a run in the fifth it came under the shadiest of circumstances, with Bareford reaching on an infield single that was commonly blamed on Maldonado’s clumsiness, and the pitcher advanced him with a wild pitch, which was the only thing that allowed Bareford to score when Petracek hit a ground rule double before McKnight (hitting for the outrageous Santos) and Cookie both popped out over the infield. The mess only deepend for Portland; Seung-mo Chun was in after Santos to pitch long relief in the best of cases. He got through the fifth quickly, but the sixth became another reason to jump off the highest bridge in San Francisco. Maldonado hit another double, this one past Bareford in center, and Chun allowed a single to Sarabia, putting runners on the corners. Next, Chun came up with a wild pitch to score the pitcher and move Sarabia (who was batting .600 in the series) to second. Juan Pena drew ball four as Sarabia took off for third, but was thrown out by Denny, which eventually helped Chun out of the inning. Top 8th, the Coons got Nunley on thanks to a John Harris error to start the inning. Not that this game was way out of hand already, but Nunley getting doubled off on Cookie’s lineout to Harris was REALLY an act of cruelty by the baseball gods… The same was true for the completely unnecessary 3-spot the Raccoons put on Enrique Bermudez in the ninth inning. Can we get to the airport already?? 9-4 Bayhawks. H. Mendoza (PH) 1-1; Bareford 2-3, 2B; Jackson (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI;

Raccoons (65-42) vs. Loggers (61-46) – August 1-4, 2019

This series was not what I wanted to see right now. The Loggers were the best-scoring team in the Continental League (!!??), and their pitching was solid enough, as they only allowed the third-least runs in the league, which gave them a healthy +89 run differential, which was more and more approaching the Raccoons’ shrinking +108 value. The Loggers had lost five of seven so far this season, but these things could flip quickly…

Projected matchups:
Bobby Guerrero (5-6, 4.00 ERA) vs. Julio San Pedro (4-8, 4.74 ERA)
Cole Pierson (9-6, 2.71 ERA) vs. Chris Sinkhorn (3-3, 3.16 ERA)
Juan Mendoza (0-1, 7.04 ERA) vs. Troy McCaskill (9-8, 3.74 ERA)
Tadasu Abe (10-6, 2.77 ERA) vs. Ron Bartlatt (7-9, 3.38 ERA)

We would see a rookie lefty on Friday in Chris Sinkhorn. If you factor in that the Loggers were without the two starters that were potentially their best overall, J.J. Wirth and Michael Foreman, the latter of which had yet to throw a pitch in 2019, their performance was impressive and scary at the same time.

Ah, heck. Sunday night we will be tied!

Game 1
MIL: 2B Stewart – SS Burns – 1B Gore – LF LeMoine – CF Coleman – 3B Velez – RF Hodgers – C Wool – P San Pedro
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Walter – SS McKnight – 1B H. Mendoza – RF Jackson – LF DeWeese – 3B Nunley – C Margolis – P Guerrero

Seven pitches into the game, the bases were loaded with nobody out after singles by Tyler Stewart and Kyle Burns and Guerrero throwing a ball right into Brad Gore. Chris Lemoine (22 HR, 87 RBI; you got something to say, Dumbo?) and Ian Coleman both struck out and DeWeese caught up with Alberto Velez’ liner to left to get Guerrero off the hook of death. At least Mendoza got the hint. With runners on the corners in the bottom 1st, he cracked a 3-piece to right center to give the Raccoons a lead. On the other side, LeMoine would strike out with the bases loaded for the second time by the second inning, which looked bad on both LeMoine’s AND Guerrero’s ledger, although the inning had started snowballing with a throwing error by Ronnie McKnight and the only run the Loggers scored was unearned, even though Guerrero should have been charged thrice for conceding it on a single by the opposing pitcher. The grumbling old man in the GM’s office started barking out loud by the bottom 2nd when San Pedro issued a 4-pitch leadoff walk to Nunley before Margolis found it necessary to poke at another 3-0 pitch, right into a double play.

The Loggers made up another run in the third; Coleman single, Velez double, Victor Hodgers sac fly. Guerrero only lasted 5.1 innings, conceding nine hits and two walks along the way. The Loggers had the tying runs on the corner when he departed in the 4-2 game (Cookie had singled, stolen, scored in the bottom 3rd) after a Stewart double and a Burns single. Brett Lillis made his Raccoons debut with no right-handed batter anywhere remotely close in the Loggers lineup. Gore and LeMoine both struck out in full counts to end the inning, and Lillis also dealt with the seventh while the Critters engorged in hitting into double plays for no good reason. Nunley hit into one in the fifth, Mendoza in the sixth. In the seventh, they had two men on with two outs after consecutive Loggers errors, with Russ Greenwald batting for Lillis and popping up over home plate to end the inning.

Top 8th, Charters was in the game, and issued four balls to PH David Betancourt right away. With the tying run coming up and a runner remaining at first base even with two outs, Ramirez came in early to deal with the middle of the order and trying to get a 4-out save. He lost Gore in a full count, which made LeMoine the go-ahead run, and another full count battle broke out, at the end of which, with the runners in motion, LeMoine struck out to collect a golden sombrero. Ramirez ended the game without accidents, if you were willing to overlook the deep drive Alberto Velez hit to left for the second out in the ninth. 4-2 Blighters. Walter 1-2, 2 BB; Lillis 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

Loggers had ten hits, Raccoons had four. LeMoine stranded ten runners, or in other words as many as the horrendous Critters had in total. If you have to suck, find someone who sucks more to play against.

Game 2
MIL: 2B Stewart – SS Burns – RF Gore – LF LeMoine – 3B Velez – CF Coleman – 1B Pagan – C Almond – P Sinkhorn
POR: 2B Mathews – CF Bareford – RF Jackson – LF H. Mendoza – C Denny – SS McKnight – 3B Petracek – 1B Greenwald – P Pierson

Ian Coleman’s solo shot in the second inning was the first run on Friday, and Pierson soon caused more trouble. Antonio Pagan dumped a single into center, Brian Almond walked in a full count, and after a bunt by Sinkhorn, Stewart got drilled to load them up. Kyle Burns singled up the middle, Pagan scored, 2-0, Almond was sent around third base, Bareford with the throw home, and the runner was out, ending the inning. The Raccoons were donated their ticket back into the game in the bottom 3rd; first Mathews hit a leadoff double to left, and then Coleman fumbled and dropped Bareford’s fly to center. This plated Mathews, and put the tying run on second with nobody down. The run scored and the game ended up tied after three, even though the Raccoons could not do better than two groundouts by their 3-4 batters to advance and score the runners. With this, both teams had a chance in the fourth and ruined them with a double play, and nobody scored in the middle innings. Brian Almond led off the seventh with a double to right to put Pierson into the wringer again. When Sinkhorn bunted, Pierson tried to get the slow Almond at third base, but spiked the throw and Petracek barely contained it to keep Almond from scoring. Sinkhorn, a sprinter in high school, would take second base by force, his first stolen base in his career, and the Loggers took the lead on a sac fly by Stewart before Gore hit an RBI single. Well, at least LeMoine kept striking out to end inning with runners in scoring position. None of this helped the Raccoons, who were down 4-2 and looked thoroughly wasted. Sinkhorn offered a leadoff walk to Petracek in the bottom 7th, and maybe if - … nah, Greenwald hit into a double play. That was not the end of the suffering. The Coons had to suffer through a Jackson double play in the eighth, a 1-hour rain delay, and LeMoine also continued to suffer, grounding out with the bases loaded to end the ninth inning. 4-2 Loggers. Mathews 2-4, 2B; McKnight 2-4;

LeMoine is now 0-for-10 in the series with 5 K and 16 LOB. I feel like he will have a monster game in one of the last two in this extended weekend set.

Game 3
MIL: 2B Stewart – SS Burns – 1B Gore – LF LeMoine – CF Coleman – 3B Velez – RF Hodgers – C Wool – P McCaskill
POR: RF Carmona – CF Bareford – SS Walter – 1B H. Mendoza – LF DeWeese – 2B Mathews – 3B Nunley – C Denny – P J. Mendoza

Loggerland was worried about LeMoine, who even with Stewart, who by now had a 17-game hitting streak, on second base and in a 1-2 count (when the Coons would least expect it) could not hurt Makeshift Mendoza in the first inning and struck out feebly yet again. The Coons got a splendid chance in the second inning when a single by Dumbo Mendoza and a DeWeese double into the corners put two in scoring position with nobody retired. Mathews hit a fly to left that was caught by LeMoine, but allowed the first run to score, and Nunley hit a soft single to get runners onto the corners for Denny, who cranked a shot to right that could not be held by the park boundaries, 4-0 Coons! But that wasn’t even all. Once the ‘pitcher’ Mendoza had popped out for the second out, the Raccoons rapped off four straight 2-out singles from Cookie through the ‘hitter’ Mendoza plated two more runs before DeWeese whiffed.

But well. Mendoza had gotten rid of a 5-0 lead on Monday, we were all sure he’d grind the 6-0 lead into a sad face just like that as well. Balls were flying around his fluffy ears right in the second inning, with the Loggers scoring one run on two hard extra-base hits before Brad Gore flew out to Cookie in very deep right to end the inning. While Mendoza made it through five without more runs allowed, it was a significant achievement by our outfielders that he didn’t get torn to shreds by wolves. His spot to bat came up in the bottom 5th with the bases loaded and one out; Morgan Shepherd had walked DeWeese, Nunley, and Denny to arrive in this unhappy spot. While I had no interest in more of Mendoza’s pitching efforts, we were up by five already and the bullpen would like to not pitch in the sixth inning occasionally. Mendoza batted, one run scored on a passed ball, another run on Mendoza’s sac fly, and a third on Cookie’s RBI single. The Loggers took another hit aside from being down 9-1, with Victor Hodgers dropping like a rock once he unleashed the throw home that could not nail Matt Nunley at the plate. He was in considerable pain and was replaced by Andrew Cooper.

The Loggers kept falling apart like an old poplar tree, with Nunley knocking a 3-run homer off James Silmon in the sixth. Up by eleven it was easy to have Mendoza approach 100 pitches. He batted again after Denny drew a walk off left-hander Gary Ledford, and singled to left. Cookie flew out to center to end the inning, which also ended his day along with Hugo Mendoza’s and Walter’s. All were replaced by bench players to conserve their energy and brittle bones. Juan Mendoza’s little dream world was shattered and the puffy pink clouds dissipated in the seventh inning, with Josh Wool hitting a 3-run bomb to center once his luck with the defense ran out, and to start the eighth inning Tyler Stewart raked him for an inside-the-park home run. Mendoza retired nobody in the eighth inning, losing Burns to a single, before we sent Lillis for the tough left-handers. He got out of the inning on six pitches with two grounders, one for a double play. Chun did away with the Loggers in the ninth. 12-5 Coons. Carmona 2-5, RBI; Bareford 2-5; Walter 3-4, RBI; H. Mendoza 2-4, RBI; DeWeese 2-4, BB, 2B; Nunley 2-4, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Denny 1-2, 2 BB, HR, 3 RBI;

Game 4
MIL: RF Hodgers – 2B Betancourt – 1B Gore – LF LeMoine – 3B Velez – SS Pagan – CF Tesch – C Wool – P Bartlatt
POR: RF Carmona – CF Bareford – 2B Walter – 1B H. Mendoza – LF DeWeese – SS McKnight – 3B Nunley – C Denny – P Abe

Victor Hodgers had a bum shoulder but was in the lineup anyway, so we would run relentlessly today. But before we could exploit the weak and the helpless, Hodgers jumped on Abe’s 2-1 offering for a leadoff jack. Well, that was quick. LeMoine ended his oh-for-a-million stint in the series and singled with two outs, just in time for Velez’ homer to make it 3-0. Why, oh, why… The Coons loaded the bases in the bottom 2nd on walks to DeWeese and Nunley and a McKnight double to left in between, but Denny’s strikeout and Abe’s grounder to third base served to plate exactly nobody. Runs did come in the bottom 3rd, however. Cookie opened with a walk, stole second, and came home on Bareford’s single. Mendoza got on with a 4-pitch walk drawn from Bartlatt, and while DeWeese K’ed, McKnight lined a pitch up the line in Hodgers’ direction. Both runners were in full flight and waved around third base, scoring easily on a weak throw by Hodgers, while McKnight reached second base standing up after his game-tying 2-run double. Nunley’s fly to deep left was caught by LeMoine to end the inning.

In the bottom 4th and top 5th, both sides got leadoff singles from their catchers in the #8 hole, but neither brought them home. Nothing else happened for a bit, but Wool would be on again in the seventh with another infield single, and this time stole second base. Hodgers singled to center, Wool turned third and scored the go-ahead run, and Hodgers reached second base, but was then caught stealing third base before Betancourt grounded out. The Coons had the tying run on base right away in the bottom 7th when Bartlatt issued his fifth walk to Joey Mathews, who batted for Abe. Cookie singled over Betancourt to move Mathews to second, but Bareford flew out to right, and Walter to left without further advancing the runners. Bartlatt lost Mendoza to a cautious walk to load them with two outs for DeWeese, and the Loggers dipped into the pen, sending right-hander Toby Wood. Well, this was not a southpaw, maybe DeWeese could do some good here! The count ran full and even DeWeese knew that Wood was walk-prone. He just held still, the sixth pitch was in the dirt and the game was re-tied on the bases-loaded walk, now at four. McKnight flew out to left to strand a full complement of runners.

Lillis got rid of the Loggers in the eighth, but the Coons only stranded two more. Ramirez was in the ninth anyway, allowed a leadoff double to Cooper, and then was lucky that Cookie made a sliding catch on Brad Tesch’s liner to shallow right. Wool and Almond struck out to end the inning. The Coons faced right-hander Justin Carlin in the bottom 9th and would send up the 3-4-5 batters. Carlin had 13 walks and 14 strikeouts in 34 innings and a 2.38 ERA, so he was a bit of a mixed bag. Walter led off with a blooper to shallow right center for a single, and for a second we were tempted to use Dumbo Mendoza to bunt. But there was a rogue chance for him to end it in one stroke, so we didn’t. He grounded out to first on a single pitch, DeWeese whiffed once again, and Greenwald pinch-hit and grounded out.

Extra innings! Chun pitched in the 10th and got two away with before nailing Gore with an 0-2 pitch. That brought up LeMoine, who was 3-for-4 in the contest, but still had no RBI’s in the series. Aaaand he struck out! Chun gave the Coons two innings, and Carlin started his third in the bottom 11th, allowing a leadoff single to center to Cookie. NOW we’re talking. Now, here with Bareford the bunt was also an interes- hh!! Cookie went already! And he was thrown out. AAH, COOKIE!!! Carlin sawed off the Coons and the game continued. The Loggers got Ian Coleman to third base in the 12th against Jason Kaiser, but it was Mathews’ fault for a gruesome throwing error. Betancourt struck out to strand Coleman. The Loggers moved along to left-hander Quinn MacCarthy in the bottom 12th, so the challenge didn’t get easier. Mendoza struck out, Jackson batted for DeWeese and grounded out, and **** it, Kaiser batted in the #6 hole and whiffed, but we wanted a second inning from him. While that worked well, the offense was just dead by now. Nobody reached after Cookie was caught stealing on that run through the lineup. Troy Charters was in the game by the 14th, but the lineup was full of horrors and left-handers.

Things got off to a bad start when Nunley booted Kyle Burns’ drop bunt and the Loggers had the leadoff man on. Tesch also bunted to Charters, who threw poorly to second and the ball got away from Walter. Two on. Wool struck out, after which the Loggers sent Tyler Stewart and his 17-game hitting streak to pinch-hit. With that at-bat in progress, the runners took off and Denny had no chance against Burns. The runners were now in scoring position, but Stewart struck out. This took the bat away from Hodgers, who was walked intentionally to get the horrendous fringe player Betancourt up, a right-hander with no hits this season, who was down 2-2 when he popped up and Denny caught the ball in foul ground. Bottom 14th, Cookie became the first Coons runner since Cookie. This time, Bareford was used to bunt as the first base coach fastened a chain and iron ball to Cookie’s ankle, and while the bunt worked, Walter grounded out, and Cookie was on third with two outs for Mendoza, who was a sad 0-for-4 in the game. He struck out. Charters got through the 15th without base runners, and Ledford walked Jackson to start the bottom 15th. Margolis batted for the pitcher and popped out. Nunley flicked a single to center, moving Jackson to second base, and he moved to third when Denny flew out to center. Mathews struck out. GODDAMN **** IT, YOU ****ING ***HOLES!!!

This was the point where the game entered the realm of unpleasant experiences for good. We headed to the 16th, and Will West was put in, and he would get a decision, one way or another. We had technically still another rested reliever in Wade Davis, but we had to play four with the Elks starting on Monday and needed at least one non-blasted reliever. Maybe Will West could pitch two innings and then hit a walkoff homer. It didn’t get to that. West walked Tesch, Wool singled, and the reliever Ledford hit a sac fly to put the Loggers over the hump, as long as Ledford could close the deal himself in his third inning of work, facing the top of the order. Cookie hit his third leadoff single in a row, but we would not play for one run here. Go home or go broke. Bareford flew to right, Hodgers dropped the ball, and the winning run was on base for the heart of the order. Walter lined through Gore and up the line for a double, Hodgers cut it off, but Bareford had to hole until the ball was past the lunging Gore and could not make it around even with Hodgers’ bum arm. Cookie scored, so we were tied, and runners were on second and third with no outs. GET THIS THE **** DONE, MENDOZA!!! He – unbelievably – fouled out. I had one of those mild strokes as he trotted back to the dugout, making room for Jackson, who was walked intentionally. Brian Petracek was still left on the bench and now batted for West to end the ****ing **** game. Ledford fell behind 2-0 before Petracek flew to deep left. LeMoine back, the catch was made, but there was no way stopping Bareford from walking off the Critters. 6-5 Blighters. Carmona 4-6, 2 BB; McKnight 3-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Nunley 2-6, BB; Chun 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K; Kaiser 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K; Charters 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

In other news

July 29 – INF RF/LF Cesar Martinez (.239, 6 HR, 26 RBI) connects for six hits in the Indians’ 19-8 blowout over the Condors. All his hits are singles and he drives in four runs. The 24-year old comes up with the 56th 6-hit performance in ABL history and the first for the Indians franchise.
July 29 – LAP RF Marc Thompson (.274, 10 HR, 50 RBI) will be out for one week with shoulder soreness.
July 30 – In a FL East trade, 1B Adrian Quebell (.246, 6 HR, 41 RBI) is sent from the Buffaloes to the Blue Sox in exchange for a third-rate prospect.
July 30 – The Canadiens pick up MR Robby Delikat (2-4, 5.66 ERA, 1 SV) from the Capitals in exchange for three prospects, none of them impressive.
July 31 – CHA SP Zach Engels (6-10, 4.71 ERA) is done for the season with a partially torn labrum.
August 3 – ATL RF/LF Kyle Mims (.275, 10 HR, 53 RBI) raps out five hits, including a homer and a double, in a 10-9 loss of the Knights to the Aces. He gets only one RBI for scoring himself on the home run.

Complaints and stuff

(spins really fast in the chair and voluminously windmills with both arms) AAAAAHHH, MENDOOOZZAAAAAA!!! AAAAAHHH!!

Yes, Maud, I will have another sip of that calming tea you were so friendly to make. (sips)

Reinforcing the pen was all we could do at the deadline, because there is no upgrading the lineup. On paper, we have a great lineup. On paper, only.

Tadasu Abe had three strikeouts in two games this week. I am sure this is fine.

I SAID THIS IS FINE.

Yes, Maud, I will have another sip of that calming tea you were so friendly to make. (sips)

(falls asleep and topples backwards in the chair)

[Westheim]

Raccoons (68-43) vs. Canadiens (56-54) – August 5-8, 2019

Bah, Elks! They were 11 1/2 games out but that was nothing that a sweep in this series couldn’t fix in time for the last quarter of the season. Their third-place offense would have to whoop this, because they couldn’t rely on their pitching staff, which conceded the most runs in the Continental League. Their rotation was the worst outright with an ERA approaching five, and their pen was not all that much better and ranked ninth with a 4.17 ERA. The Raccoons held the edge in the season series, 7-4.

Projected matchups:
Hector Santos (11-6, 2.74 ERA) vs. R.J. Lloyd (9-6, 4.13 ERA)
Bobby Guerrero (6-6, 3.87 ERA) vs. Ryan Dunn (7-11, 6.27 ERA)
Cole Pierson (9-7, 2.76 ERA) vs. Alfredo Collazo (0-7, 8.94 ERA)
Juan Mendoza (1-1, 6.75 ERA) vs. Zach Hughes (12-9, 3.92 ERA)

It’s hard to believe that a team can’t to better than Collazo in a starting pitcher’s spot, but then again we’re juggling Juan Mendoza and Damani Knight and whatever and oughta better be silent on this one. All their starters for the series are right-handers.

After playing 16 innings on Sunday, we were resting a few guys earlier than we probably would have. Mike Denny had caught all 16 innings and took a seat on the bench, and Bareford and Cookie had played all 16 innings in the outfield and also got a day off earlier than anticipated.

Game 1
VAN: SS Otis – LF K. Evans – RF Branch – 1B Pace – 2B J. Gutierrez – C Desan – CF Kim – 3B Howell – P Lloyd
POR: 2B Mathews – RF Jackson – SS McKnight – 1B H. Mendoza – LF DeWeese – 3B Nunley – C Margolis – CF Petracek – P Santos

Starting short-breathed Santos the day after you basically played two was bad news to begin with, and that the ball initially jumped off the bats that opposed him didn’t make it much better. Ezra Branch homered in the first inning to give the Elks a 1-0 lead, but the run was made up in the second inning, albeit on a balk-aided appearance in scoring position by Hugo Mendoza. Margolis singled to right with two outs and Mendoza scored, after which the score remained frozen despite both starters having their moments. There were still deep flies off Santos, and the Coons had Petracek and Mathews on base with two outs in the bottom 5th when Jackson singled to left. Petracek was sent against Kurt Evans’ arm, which turned out to be a mistake. Petracek was nailed at home, ending the inning. Come the sixth, the bases were loaded for the Coons after a leadoff double by Ronnie McKnight and walks drawn by Mendoza (voluntarily) and DeWeese (involuntarily). No outs for Nunley, who popped out to short for his second consecutive at-bat, and Margolis plated the go-ahead run with the barest of non-double play grounders, rolling a ball to Tim Pace, who elected the out at his own base as the safe variant. Petracek was walked intentionally, and with over 90 pitches on the clock it wasn’t wrong to bat for Santos. Cookie sent a ball to deep left, but not past Evans, ending the inning.

Thus, a bled bullpen had to hold a 2-1 lead for nine outs, which sounded mean to begin with. Jason Kaiser blew the lead without getting any of those nine outs, walking Jonathan Pruitt before conceding singles to Matt Otis and Kurt Evans. After getting a groundout that moved runners to scoring position, Kaiser yielded for Wade Davis, who struck out Pace, but on a 1-2 pitch allowed a 2-run single up the middle to Jose Gutierrez. After two innings of nothing, and Andy Bareford making the first out in the bottom 9th off closer Juan Jimenez, a left-hander, the Raccoons got back-to-back doubles up either line from Mathews and Jackson with one out in the inning. That put Jackson as the tying run in scoring position for McKnight, who had two doubles on the day, and Mendoza, who had been a great batter for a team in a different league only a scant few years ago. McKnight flew out to left, and Mendoza poked at a 3-0 pitch, which gave me black spots in front of my eyes. He narrowly lifted a ball over Gutierrez into shallow right for a single, but there was no way Jackson could score. Thus we had the go-ahead and winning runners on the corners with two outs and R.J. DeWeese facing a left-hander. No-no-no-no-no-no-no! There was still Shane Walter to pry from the bench. He batted. He struck out. 4-3 Canadiens. Mathews 3-4, BB, 2B; Jackson 2-5, 2B, RBI; McKnight 2-4, BB, 2 2B; Santos 6.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K;

Game 2
VAN: SS Otis – LF K. Evans – RF Branch – 1B Pace – 2B J. Gutierrez – C Desan – CF Kim – 3B Howell – P Dunn
POR: RF Carmona – CF Bareford – 2B Walter – 1B H. Mendoza – SS McKnight – 3B Nunley – LF DeWeese – C Denny – P Guerrero

The Elks opened the game with two singles off Guerrero, who then proceeded to retire eight in a row to stifle the early threat. Evans hit another single in the third, but the Elks would not touch even third base in the early innings. The Raccoons got Mendoza on with a leadoff single in the bottom 2nd. He moved up on McKnight’s groundout, then scored when Nunley doubled up the rightfield line. The 1-0 score blossomed mightily in the next inning, which started with Guerrero rolling a ball past Rob Howell into left for a leadoff single. Cookie hit another single, as did Mendoza with two outs, a soft line to left center, but with a rumbling runner like Guerrero at the head of the train, nobody was going to score on that. Expecting heartbreak, we got much the opposite as McKnight singled to center and Nunley doubled to right center to score pairs of runs each, running the score to 5-0.

While Guerrero allowed two more singles at the start of the fourth inning, he also got a very convenient double play grounder from Mike Desan and struck out Man-su Kim to end the inning with no damage incurred. The damage on Dunn reached a certain threshold in the bottom 4th, as Cookie ended up on first base with two outs after grounding to short to get Guerrero forced at second (although Guerrero had only been on base thanks to a bad bunt that got Denny forced in the first place…). Cookie stole second, advanced on a wild pitch, and came home on Bareford’s soft single, 6-0, and enough runs on Dunn, the Elks found. Former Coons supplemental-rounder Dan Moon replaced him. McKnight homered off Moon to get to 7-0 in the fifth, after which things settled in. After the early troubles, Guerrero got into a very good groove and retired batters quickly and efficiently. He arrived in the ninth inning on 97 pitches, but would face the heart of the order, so there was definitely someone standing by in the pen. Jonathan Pruitt pinch-hit for Branch to start the ninth, and after a battle in which he saw A DOZEN pitches, grounded out to first. Okay, Guerrero still was not quite pale in the face. Let the kid pitch! He got Pace on two pitches with a grounder to short, but Gutierrez singled to left. Alright, Desan or nothing. Before he could finish off Desan, Guerrero balked Gutierrez to second, and Desan put the very next pitch into play, a grounder to third that was no challenge for Matt Nunley, and was easily converted into the final out. 7-0 Raccoons. H. Mendoza 3-4; McKnight 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Nunley 2-4, 2 2B, 3 RBI; Guerrero 9.0 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K, W (7-6) and 1-4;

This is Bobby Guerrero’s third career shutout, all for the Coons, and his second in 16 days. He 6-hit the Thunder on July 21.

Game 3
VAN: LF K. Evans – SS Howell – CF Rocha – C Padilla – 1B Pace – 2B Otis – RF Kim – 3B Grooms – P Collazo
POR: LF Carmona – CF Bareford – 2B Walter – SS McKnight – 1B Greenwald – 3B Nunley – RF Jackson – C Denny – P Pierson

I could feign surprise on how the game was scoreless through five innings, with Pierson sprinkling three hits and a walk and never being in any real danger, and Collazo, surrendering almost a full earned run PER INNING, holding the Raccoons off the board rather effortlessly after a rocky beginning. The Raccoons had two men on in the first and second innings, always choked, and it was a total surprise they didn’t score off a complete and hopeless pushover. The Elks put Mario Rocha on base with two outs in the sixth with another single, their fourth in the game. Rocha reached third base when Denny threw the ball away on his steal attempt, which didn’t matter ultimately, since the next batter, Dave Padilla, took Pierson yard anyway. That put the winless pushover into ownership of a 2-0 lead. But hey, the tying runs were on base with nobody out in the bottom 6th after Bareford singled to center and Walter rolled one into left. Maybe this would all be fine. McKnight flew out to left, but Russ Greenwald loaded the bases with a single to center, that Mario Rocha got to rather quickly. After Nunley wrestled a full-count walk from Collazo to push home the Coons’ first run, Jackson hit squarely into a double play to end the inning. Pierson was bopped for another run in the top 7th, which he didn’t survive once COLLAZO hit an RBI single. That was his first RBI of the season, making it a 3-1 game, and his first W was soon to follow. Collazo issued two leadoff walks in the bottom 7th and the Raccoons still didn’t get to him. One run scored on groundouts alone, but Walter’s third groundout was one too many, leaving the tying run on third. Collazo was FINALLY out of the game in the bottom 8th, going seven and two thirds, but leaving Nunley (single) and DeWeese (pinch-walk) on base for Robby Delikat (5.36 ERA) with Denny approaching. On the first pitch, Denny popped out to Otis at second base. Jimenez was up again in the bottom 9th, this time with no cushion. Mathews pinch-hit to get going and lined to left center. Centerfielder Eddie Seale had to go back to collect it and Mathews had a leadoff double and became a prime target for the top of the order. Cookie grounded out to first, moving Mathews to third. Bareford struck out. Walter flew to center, and Seale had it. 3-2 Canadiens. Walter 2-5; Nunley 2-2, 2 BB, RBI; Mathews (PH) 1-1, 2B;

Maud, I will not take any calls anymore. – No, not just today. For the rest of my life.

I do have a sound plan, though. It involves shooting me in the head with a poison bullet while I jump off the top of the office into a pool of sharks and piranhas. Mena has acquire the piranhas, but Slappy still hasn’t dug the pool.

Game 4
VAN: SS Otis – LF K. Evans – CF Rocha – RF Branch – 1B Pace – 2B J. Gutierrez – C Desan – 3B Howell – P Hughes
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Walter – SS McKnight – 1B H. Mendoza – 3B Nunley – CF Bareford – LF DeWeese – C Margolis – P J. Mendoza

The Elks scored a run without getting a hit in the first inning, since Juan Mendoza issued three walks and Dumbo Mendoza made a ghastly fielding error that allowed Kurt Evans to scamper home with two outs. Cookie had to sell out on a drive to the wall by Mike Desan, caught the ball, slammed the wall hard and sideways, but came away with only some soreness in the side and no complicated trauma after the heroic grab to end the inning. Margolis made up the deficit again in the bottom 2nd, this time with an RBI double to center that scored R.J. DeWeese, but even the excellent defensive catcher Margolis had the greatest problems with Juan Mendoza, who was not just mere run-of-the-mill wild. He was really all over the place, walked four and whiffed as many in three innings, but Margolis had to set the target right down the middle to keep Mendoza from throwing junk into the dirt in front of home plate, or ten feet behind the batter.

In the fourth, Rob Howell and Zach Hughes were retired on grounders before Matt Otis singled to right. Mendoza rammed a pitch into Kurt Evans’ back, then allowed another single to Mario Rocha and hard to right. Otis was sent for home, Cookie had other ideas, and threw him out with a precision rocket right into Margolis’ waiting glove. The Critters instead took the lead in the bottom of the inning. Dumbo hit a leadoff triple, Nunley hit a fly to deep center that was caught by Rocha, but was plenty deep to get Mendoza home, 2-1. Another run scored in the fifth, which opened with another Margolis double. He scored on Walter’s 2-out single to center. Juan Mendoza started the sixth in a 3-1 game, having thrown 91 pitches in five innings of a fantastic circus show. Rob Howell doubled to center to start the inning, but Mendoza then took Hughes’ bunt successfully to third base to move the runner back to first base. Mendoza struck out Otis to reach 100 pitches, and with left-handers coming up, this was a job well done and now get outta here before you **** up for good. Mathis got out of that inning, but Branch hit a 1-out single off him in the seventh. Wade Davis came on, Branch stole a base, then scored on Gutierrez’ 2-out single to center to get the Elks back to within a run. Before Desan struck out. Charters issued a leadoff walk to Howell in the eighth, and Howell was on third with two outs. With the left-handers coming up again, Brett Lillis was brought in, but the Elks batted Padilla for Evans. Padilla hit a very slow grounder in front of home plate, and Margolis threw him out by a good margin at first base, keeping the Elks short in the eighth. The Coons had nothing going (casual, unnecessary side note), and Lillis remained in the game for the ninth with Rocha (a switch-hitter) and Branch still left to dissect. He struck out the former, but walked the latter; Alex Ramirez came into the game with the tying run at first base and one out. On the very first pitch, he surrendered a hard liner to deep left to Tim Pace, but somehow DeWeese managed to make a running grab, hustling backwards, on that ball. Then he walked Gutierrez on four pitches. GODDAMNIT RAMIREZ!!! Mike Desan bounced a ball to short, McKnight to Walter, ballgame. PHEW. 3-2 Coons. Margolis 2-3, 2 2B, RBI;

This this nail biter, the Raccoons were the first team to 70 wins in the ABL.

Raccoons (70-45) @ Gold Sox (63-50) – August 9-11, 2019

Somehow this was the eighth straight year of these two teams meeting up for play. It had been a bit back and forth over the years, but the Raccoons had swept the Gold Sox in their last meeting in 2018. The team that came in was second in runs scored, but really lacked pitching, conceding the fourth-most runs in the Federal League. Their offense ticked all boxes, with the highest batting average in the FL, the third-most homers, and the most stolen bases, a flat 100.

Projected matchups:
Tadasu Abe (10-6, 2.89 ERA) vs. A.J. Bartels (9-8, 4.30 ERA)
Hector Santos (11-6, 2.69 ERA) vs. Frank Kelly (15-4, 3.43 ERA)
Bobby Guerrero (7-6, 3.53 ERA) vs. Fernando Estrada (10-4, 4.34 ERA)

We continue to avoid left-handed pitching for the moment, and probably wouldn’t see one for another week after this series.

Game 1
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Walter – SS McKnight – 1B H. Mendoza – 3B Nunley – RF Jackson – LF DeWeese – C Denny – P Abe
DEN: 3B Bean – RF Candela – 1B S. Murphy – LF W. Jones – C Walston – CF Reese – SS Luna – 2B Oosterom – P Bartels

Mendoza chased home McKnight with a 2-out RBI double in the first inning to give Abe a 1-0 lead to start with, but Tim Bean’s leadoff jack erased the lead immediately. Hard contact off Abe continued, which was normally more Santos’ realm, but the Gold Sox got line drive base hits by Julio Candela, who took second base for his 34th steal of the season, and Winston Jones to take a 2-1 lead in the same inning. The struggle was absolutely real for Abe, who had no problems developing his third consecutive awful start. In the third, he issued a leadoff walk to Bartels, who came around to score, and which was of course a capital no-go in any situation. Bartels in turn had once made four raucously awful starts for the Raccoons a few years back, and we would have liked to make him relive the agony from back then, but the Raccoons would hit against him, failing their way through the early, then the middle innings. Thanks to defense, mainly from Cookie and DeWeese, Abe also remained in the game through six innings, but continued to trail 3-1. Jackson got on base in the seventh inning with a single, but never got off first base. Abe retired the bottom of the order in the seventh, striking out Bartels to close his outing. It was only his third strikeout in the game. Chun pitched a clean eighth, and the Raccoons’ 5-6-7 were to face right-hander Colin Sabatino in the ninth inning. He had 28 saves on the season, but had also lost eight games, which was probably related to his 4.50 ERA and a K/BB of merely 2.05; maybe the Coons could – no, they went down in order, and quickly. 3-1 Gold Sox. McKnight 2-3, BB; Jackson 2-3;

I don’t know. Maybe we need to do a few trades in the offseason.

Game 2
POR: RF Carmona – CF Bareford – SS Walter – 1B H. Mendoza – 3B Nunley – 2B Mathews – LF DeWeese – C Denny – P Santos
DEN: 3B Bean – RF Candela – 1B S. Murphy – CF Reese – C Walston – LF Bellows – 2B Saunders – SS Luna – P Kelly

Walter and Mendoza hit soft 2-out singles, Nunley reached on an error by Ramon Luna, but Mathews, while sending an 0-2 pitch to center, couldn’t beat Tom Reese, and nobody scored in the first inning. Mathews batted again with two outs and then two men on base in the third (Mendoza and Nunley had singled), but this time he struck out. Santos had struck out five in the first two innings, also allowing two singles, which casually exploded his pitch count early on. Santos got only one more strikeout in the game before being completely blasted apart by a combination of back-to-back homers by Pat Walston and Justin Bellows in the bottom 4th, singles by Matt Saunders and Luna, and then a suddenly approaching thunderstorm that interrupted proceedings for almost 90 minutes.

When the storm was through, the Raccoons stood in front of another pile of shattered glass fragments, down 2-0, two men on base with one out, and Wade Davis tagged to somehow get through the mess without any more damage allowed, with PH Piet Oosterom at the plate, since Frank Kelly survived the weather no better than Santos. Davis whiffed Oosterom, but allowed an RBI single to Tim Bean, an infield single to Candela, and then was lucky enough to face Stan Murphy, who had never landed a knock in a big spot with the Raccoons, and neither did he get one here. Grounding to McKnight, he failed to add to his 76 RBI. Top 5th, Cookie opened with a double off right-hander Pat Selby. Bareford singled, putting them on the corners for Walter, who as usual grounded to the second baseman. Saunders, however, blew the play, missing the ball on a high bounce, with a run scoring on the error, and the tying runs were on with nobody out. A pop to short by Dumbo Mendoza and a double play that Nunley rolled into took care of that chance; there were no survivors in this nasty turn of events. Another run scored for Portland in the sixth, although this one was unearned after a terrible error by Candela in rightfield.

While in the process of losing a 3-2 game through six, the Raccoons also lost Shane Walter, who hurt his elbow on a defensive play and was replaced by McKnight in the bottom 6th. The Gold Sox would lose their shortstop two innings later, Ramon Luna hurting himself on a flying catch on DeWeese’s liner up the middle. Since the Sox had already used most of their bench, former Raccoon Jason Bergquist had to fill in at short, his first career appearance on the left side of the infield at age 30. No amount of misery of this caliber was going to help the miserable Raccoons, who had as many hits as the Gold Sox at that point (10 apiece), had been given three free passes with Gold Sox errors, and STILL couldn’t lead a ****ing ballgame once in a while. Top 9th, it was Sabatino again, this time without a cushion, but leading off was Petracek, who had earlier entered the #9 hole in a double switch and could not be removed for an acute lack of infielders with the preferable Eddie Jackson still available on the bench (along with Margolis). All the Raccoons did was to get Cookie on with a single, but Bareford and McKnight both choked to end the game. 3-2 Gold Sox. Carmona 2-5, 2B; H. Mendoza 3-4; Denny 2-4, RBI; Kaiser 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Shane Walter would miss the rest of the month with a sprained elbow, which was, I guess, going to be fine. That is probably less double plays hit into. He was placed on the DL of course, and we went to AAA for a roster filler, picking Roland Lafon, who had batted .283 in AAA since his demotion. Since Lafon had been DFA’ed back then and had gone unclaimed, we moved Chris Mathis to the 60-day DL to make room on the 40-man roster. There, he joins Boynton.

Game 3
POR: CF Bareford – 2B Mathews – SS McKnight – RF H. Mendoza – 3B Nunley – 1B Greenwald – C Denny – LF DeWeese – P Guerrero
DEN: 3B Bean – RF Candela – 1B S. Murphy – CF Reese – C Walston – LF Bellows – 2B Saunders – SS Oosterom – P F. Estrada

Guerrero hadn’t walked a guy in his shutout on Tuesday, but started this outing with a walk to Bean right away. Through four innings, Guerrero allowed two hits, including a leadoff double to Murphy in the bottom 4th after which the Gold Sox made three outs to middle infielders in failing to score their first run, but in those four innings the Raccoons had scattered five singles and had never even reached third base. In the fourth they had gotten 1-out singles from Nunley and Greenwald before Denny and DeWeese both struck out, and Guerrero and Bareford whiffed in the fifth to make it four in a row and seven total for Estrada, who went on to walk Mathews in a full count and conceded a single to McKnight after that. Dumbo Mendoza stepped in, which was the right point of time to get a bratwurst because the chance of anything happening was academically small. Mendoza fell behind 1-2, then bounced a ball back to the pitcher. Sure glad I got the bratwurst.

Estrada was removed after five and a third after hitting Greenwald with a pitch in the sixth. Warren Polito replaced him and got a casual double play grounder from Mike Denny to end that inning. Guerrero got around singles by Candela and Murphy in the bottom of that inning, then came to the plate with DeWeese having occupied first base with a leadoff single off Polito in the seventh. Guerrero laid down a nice bunt up the leftfield line, Tim Bean had to take it bare-handed and unleashed a terrible throw past Stan Murphy to put runners in scoring position with nobody out. (breathes heavily) Get this done. NOW. To make sure, Cookie hit for the struggling Bareford (good thing we traded Duarte away…), but wasn’t pitched to and walked onto the open base intentionally. With three on and no outs, the Gold Sox had us right where they wanted us, unfortunately. Mathews struck out in a full count. McKnight struck out in a full count. Mendoza didn’t let it get that far. He grounded out to second quickly.

I had enough of the game and tried to find something at the ceiling to hang myself from. The plan hadn’t been to die in ****ing Colorado, but the moment was here. The Gold Sox got a man on in the bottom 7th, Piet Oosterom in his 412th plate appearance of the year hit his first home run, and the Raccoons were trundling towards getting loggerized. Somehow Denny got on base in the eighth, and somehow DeWeese then all of a sudden could hit a ball and homered to right. That tied the score, but with the way things had been going for a while now, the Raccoons were never going to win this game. Bottom 9th, Oosterom continued to annoy us mightily, hitting a 1-out double off Troy Charters to present a walkoff chance. He advanced to third on a groundout before Charters served up a drive to center to Tim Bean. The ball got longer and longer, and when it left the yard, the Coons had been swept in slow motion. 4-2 Gold Sox. McKnight 2-5; DeWeese 3-4, HR, 2 RBI; Guerrero 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K;

In other news

August 6 – Titans and Crusaders fail to score in regulation in New York, but the Titans get three hits off New York’s Brian Doumas (6-7, 3.35 ERA, 20 SV) to plate two runs in the top of the 10th, which is enough for a 2-0 victory.
August 7 – The Condors will put SP Jorge Gine (10-6, 2.82 ERA) on the DL with a sore shoulder. He should not be out for more than the mandatory 15 days on the DL.
August 7 – Despite being out-hit 12-5 by the Blue Sox, the Capitals still somehow manage to shut the out in a 2-0 victory. The four double plays hit into by the Blue Sox certainly had something to do with it.
August 9 – A 9-run eighth inning by the visiting Loggers crushes the Pacifics, who lose 12-3.
August 10 – The Wolves crunch the Indians early with a 10-run third inning, eventually running away with a 17-8 victory.
August 11 – Tijuana bench weapon Jose Paraz (.250, 1 HR, 4 RBI) gets his 2,000th career base hit in a 12-10 loss to the Capitals, a pinch-hit 3-run home run off Elliot Rosner. The 42-year old Paraz is an 11-time All Star and 2015 World Series champion with the Crusaders. He made his major league debut in *1999* and spent 14 years with the Indians. For his career he has been .267 with 269 HR and 1,127 RBI.

Complaints and stuff

19 runs allowed in seven games – lost five of them.

I got nothing. For some things, there are just no words. This ****ed up collection of bat-wielding dunces defies not only belief, they even defy words. It is that bad. It is bad enough for me to have nothing.

Next week, Blue Sox and Crusaders. The latter series will start a 2-week roadtrip, and we will only return home at the end of the month to play the Loggers. Don’t know whether there will still be an axe to grind by then…

[alexsimon99]

What's the current status of our boy Johnnie Toner?

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by alexsimon99

What's the current status of our boy Johnnie Toner?

About the middle of September, and this is indeed something to pray for because he would greatly liven up the lineup. I say let him play in leftfield for a week or two, and see how it shakes out.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (70-48) vs. Blue Sox (62-56) – August 12-14, 2019

While the Blue Sox were aspiring to weasel past the competition in a very mediocre FL East, nobody could quite tell whether the Raccoons were aspiring to be or to do anything. Maybe they wanted to go on vacation really bad. Nashville ranked sixth in offense and third in preventing offense in the Federal League with a tight +14 run differential that didn’t exactly promise a great playoff team. Series wins had alternated between these two teams in the last five editions of them meeting another, with the Raccoons taking two of three in the most recent meeting in 2016.

Projected matchups:
Cole Pierson (9-8, 2.82 ERA) vs. Matt McCabe (10-10, 4.27 ERA)
Juan Mendoza (2-1, 4.87 ERA) vs. Mike Lake (7-9, 3.61 ERA)
Tadasu Abe (10-7, 2.94 ERA) vs. Jose Villalobos (4-2, 3.55 ERA)

This is the end of our string of 20 straight games without an off day. We would get a standard diet of right-handed pitching to try and swallow. Much of the Blue Sox was being about performing just above average, but they did rank second in defense in the FL, while on the bad side they were dead last in stolen bases, having taken only 15 of those by force.

The Blue Sox had both Adrian Quebell and Jason Seeley on the roster in terms of significant former Raccoons. Both were batting in the .240s and had seven homers apiece.

Game 1
NAS: SS Muller – RF Beckwith – 3B M. Green – CF Schorsch – C Leal – LF Cervantes – 2B Fuentes – 1B Quebell – P McCabe
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Mathews – SS McKnight – 1B H. Mendoza – 3B Nunley – LF DeWeese – CF Bareford – C Denny – P Pierson

John Muller alone had seven of the Sox’ 15 stolen bases, and when he hit a leadoff single to start the game, he took off during Myles Beckwith’s at-bat. Beckwith lined out to Mathews, and Muller found himself casually doubled off first base. Matt McCabe retired the first eight Raccoons, none of whom made solid contact, until ironically surrendering a double to Pierson with two outs in the third. Pierson scored on soft singles to the shallow outfield by both Cookie and Joey Mathews, and McKnight drew a walk, but Dumbo Mendoza professionally left the bases loaded with a fly to Ruben Cervantes in left. That left them trailing 2-1; Cervantes had homered off Pierson in the second to put the Blue Sox up 1-0, and in the top of the third, the Blue Sox had rapped Pierson for two singles and two four-pitch walks, including one that forced in a run issued to Armando Leal. Beckwith, Mike Green, and Tom Schorsch opened the fifth inning with straight singles, and Pierson never really recovered from that, conceding two more runs in that inning, while the Raccoons also had to replace Matt Nunley, who had gotten hurt on a defensive play and was replaced by Brian Petracek. As things continued to – without exception – go to hell, Pierson put Muller on with a 1-out single in the sixth, and Mike Green bombed Wade Davis for 2-run homer to run the score to 6-1. Petracek would hit a 2-run home run off Jeff Mudge in the eighth inning that got the Raccoons nominally into reach, but that was after they had left well-filled bases loaded in the sixth and after Russ Greenwald had murdered an honest effort batting for Davis in the seventh, and before the game would end on ex-Coon Ray Kelley getting a double play grounder from Danny Margolis. 6-3 Blue Sox. H. Mendoza 2-4; Petracek 1-1, BB, HR, 2 RBI;

Four in a row and only three ahead of the (idle his Monday) Loggers. This constitutes a crisis, right?

No news on Nunley, but it’s never wrong to assume the worst. We have Petracek as lone surviving proper third baseman now. We can wait another day on a diagnosis, but we might end up calling up Dan Riley from AAA anyway.

Game 2
NAS: 1B M. Green – CF Seeley – 3B Fuentes – RF Schorsch – 2B B. Torres – SS Muller – LF Cervantes – C Leal – P Lake
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Mathews – SS McKnight – 1B H. Mendoza – LF DeWeese – C Denny – CF Bareford – 3B Petracek – P J. Mendoza

Again, Nashville struck first, this time with a mighty homer by Bobby Torres to left that thankfully counted for two in the second inning after Tom Schorsch had drawn a leadoff walk. The Sox added a run in the third after a leadoff triple by Mike Green, who came home on Seeley’s sac fly to left, but the Raccoons scored two in the bottom 3rd. Petracek led off with a walk in a full count, scored on Cookie’s double, and Cookie was chased home by McKnight with two outs and a single. With the team just having clawed their way back into the game, Juan Mendoza ****ed up completely, allowed a leadoff single to Torres in the fourth, then walked the bags full. Leal and Green hit RBI singles and Mendoza wasn’t saved by striking out Lake in between, either. He was yanked after 3.1 innings, with Brett Lillis coming into the game in a desperate bid for strikeouts to keep the score at a not-quite-hopeless 5-2. A double play would also work, and thankfully Jason Seeley could be motivated to roll a grounder over to Mathews for a 4-6-3 inning-ender, but the Raccoons were doomed regardless, with a 2-run homer by Bobby Torres of Seung-mo Chun burying them for good in the next inning, nothing striped and furry peeking out from under a 7-2 heap of rubble anymore.

Chun continued to pitch into the sixth, where he surrendered a hard 1-out double to Mike Lake before grabbing a hamstring and insisting on being replaced immediately. Will West took over, finished the inning, then found himself bunting in the bottom 6th with Mathews and Mendoza on base and one out. He rolled a ball over to Tony Fuentes, who chucked it into the home team’s dugout, and two unearned runs would score in the inning, Mathews right on the misplay, and Mendoza on Denny’s groundout. Maybe this could spark a team adrift. Petracek homered again in the bottom of the seventh, cutting the gap to 7-5, but you know your doomed when the other team’s answer is to bring up Adrian Quebell to pinch-hit against Troy Charters in the eighth and Quebell rams a ball straight outta centerfield to stop a rally. Or were they not doomed even now? The bottom 8th started with McKnight doubling off Jeff Mudge and then Fuentes made his second error, fumbling a pathetic grounder by Dumbo Mendoza. The tying run came up, but thanks to two double switches this was Roland Lafon, batting .196 with no RBI from 56 AB. New pitcher William Raven got him to fly out to shallow right and Tom Schorsch to keep him without RBI (and he didn’t deserve one anyway!), and after Denny walked, the inning died with Bareford popping out to first and Petracek going down looking.

Bottom 9th. Right-hander Nate Delli Quadri and his 5.22 ERA were to oppose the Raccoons, who were still stuck in a 3-run deficit, but hard liners by Jackson for a double and Cookie for a single moved the tying run to the plate with nobody out. Russ Greenwald batted for Alex Ramirez in the #2 hole and popped out to shallow center. McKnight struck out. And Mendoza flew softly to left to end the game. 8-5 Blue Sox. Carmona 3-5, 2B, RBI; McKnight 2-5, 2B, RBI; Petracek 2-3, BB, HR, RBI;

If that’s not doomed, I don’t know what doomed looks like anymore…

In terms of injuries, Matt Nunley was going to head to the DL with the Druid’s diagnosis of a dead arm. Mena claimed that he would be fine in two weeks. I’ve heard crazier stuff that turned out to be true, so I will believe him for the moment. Dan Riley replaced him on the roster; Riley had gotten one hit in eight at-bats earlier in the season. Mena failed to find Chun’s hamstring to be in serious condition. We listed him as day-to-day, although he might feel that particular body part for up to a week. But oh well; this includes the Wednesday game, where he wouldn’t pitch in all probability, and we had Thursday off before ANOTHER off day on Monday. So of the six or seven days he might feel hampered, he won’t be needed in three of them anyway. No DL trip for Chun thus.

But since we would not need a fifth starter until next weekend, we could demote Juan Mendoza (6.08 ERA). Adam Cowen was called up, seemingly over a rough stretch that had shot his ERA in AAA to 4.72. The right-hander had pitched in five games for the Coons in 2018 already, then getting battered for a 5.63 ERA. Cowen was 24 and it was time to proof value now.

Game 3
NAS: 1B M. Green – LF Beckwith – 3B Fuentes – RF Schorsch – 2B B. Torres – SS Muller – CF Macias – C Leal – P Villalobos
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Mathews – SS McKnight – 1B H. Mendoza – LF DeWeese – C Denny – CF Bareford – 3B Petracek – P Abe

As agony continued to spiral out of control for a team with a 5-game losing streak that found itself encroached for the division lead by the Loggers(!), Tadasu Abe opened the game with two walks to Green and Beckwith before also running a full count on Tony Fuentes. The runners were in motion at 3-2, Fuentes struck out and Denny zinged to third to nail Mike Green. With two outs and Beckwith left on second base, Abe allowed a single to center to Tom Schorsch, and the Coons trailed anyway, 1-0. The lead was temporary, with Cookie singling to start the bottom 1st. Joey Mathews went very deep to right for a score-flipping homer, but the resulting 2-1 lead was nothing Abe couldn’t blow and he got taken deep by Armando Leal in the second to tie the game at two. Mike Green was not satisfied with that, and to heal his hurt feelings he hit a leadoff jack off Abe in the third, putting the Sox 3-2 in front again.

Nothing went right for the Raccoons, but plenty of things continued to go wrong. In the sixth inning, the score was still 3-2 for the sweep-eager Blue Sox, when Tom Schorsch sent a drive to center with one out. Bareford went back, back, back, back, back, made a flying grab, then hit the ground hard and tumbled side over side a few times. Then he remained lying out there on the warning track, moving only two paws. He had to be stretchered off, and I went back to the AAA roster file on this computer thing they made me use rather than continuing to update the paper card system we had used very successfully back in the olden days. But it was alright. I had routine in going back to the AAA roster file by now. For this game, Cookie moved to center (since Petracek was kinda busy) and Jackson appeared in rightfield.

Abe went six and two thirds, leaving Chris Macias on second base after his leadoff double in the top 7th for Brett Lillis to dissect, who replaced Abe when left-hander Ruben Cervantes batted for Mike Green. The count ran full, Cervantes struck out, and the score remained 3-2. Mendoza drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the inning, DeWeese struck out, Denny hit into his second double play of the game – there wasn’t even medication for this. There was only MORE booze, or the rope. Villalobos was still going in the bottom 8th, retired Jackson easily, but then allowed a 1-out double up the leftfield line to Petracek, who was suddenly the best batter on the team. Margolis batted for Lillis, since Greenwald was not worth the roster spot, really, and Margolis dinked a ball into shallow right to allow Petracek to score from second base – we were tied. Cookie grounded to first against William Raven, making the second out. Margolis moved to second, then started right away when Mathews singled to left. Though lead-footed, Margolis easily beat out Seeley’s throw to home to give the Critters the lead, and after that the Raccoons just kept whacking. McKnight singled, Mendoza hit an RBI single, and DeWeese hit a 2-run double. New pitcher Mike Penn surrendered a ****ing RBI single to Dan Riley, hitting for Denny, and the Raccoons scored a 6-spot after lying dead in the ditch for three days. Cowen pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to end the game. 8-3 Blighters. Carmona 2-4; Mathews 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Riley (PH) 1-1, RBI; Margolis (PH) 1-1, RBI; Lillis 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, W (5-2);

On the off day after this sad series, the Druid diagnosed Bareford with a strained rib cage muscle and announced that he would miss one moon cycle. Which means four weeks, I guess. So there goes another player to the DL. I guess.

Kevin DeWald was our 2015 third-rounder. This 22-year old left-handed kid had only appeared in 23 games in AAA, batting .337 with no home runs, but he was an agile, quirky defender and times were tough. There was another natural centerfielder in AAA in Dwayne Metts, who was a year older, but had been drafted a year later (also in the third round), but who was struggling, batting .237 in his first full season in AAA. So DeWald got the call to replace Bareford.

Ron Thrasher was moved to the 60-day DL to make room on the 40-man roster for DeWald, who would wear #3, the lowest non-zero number still available in Coon City.

Raccoons (71-50) @ Crusaders (60-61) – August 16-18, 2019

Second from the bottom in runs scored and second from the top in runs allowed, Crusaders games weren’t necessarily scorefests. All of this mingled with the Raccoons in a way that would leave you not completely surprised if the teams would score a combined total of seven runs in the series. The Coons held a slight edge in the season series, 6-5. The Crusaders also had two injuries to regulars, with both Ron Richards and Tony Casillas on the DL.

Projected matchups:
Hector Santos (11-7, 2.81 ERA) vs. Jaylen Martin (11-6, 2.15 ERA)
Bobby Guerrero (7-6, 3.47 ERA) vs. Tom Weise (8-7, 2.42 ERA)
Cole Pierson (9-9, 2.99 ERA) vs. Brian Benjamin (6-13, 5.94 ERA)

Three more right-handers, but that string will end next week.

Game 1
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Mathews – SS McKnight – 1B H. Mendoza – LF DeWeese – C Denny – 3B Petracek – CF DeWald – P Santos
NYC: 3B J. Carroll – LF Reya – 2B S. Valdez – RF Erickson – 1B Gilbert – C Roland – CF J. Wilson – SS D. Ortega – P J. Martin

Cookie’s opening double was turned into a run when Ray Gilbert couldn’t get to a casual grounder by McKnight that rolled into right for an RBI single. Santos retired the first seven batters before Domingo Ortega singled. When “Midnight” bunted to Santos, he tried to get the lead runner, but threw poorly and past McKnight to put two men on base. Santos, granted, made up for it by striking out Jens Carroll and serving Mathews with a poor grounder from ex-Raccoon Luis Reya to end the inning anyway. Neither team found much juice in their sticks until the fifth inning, when John Wilson suddenly homered off Santos, a shot to right center leading off the inning that ended the Coons’ 1-0 lead. Neither team reached even base for the next two innings, with both pitchers high up in pitches, with Santos’ 90 being about as close to the end of the work day for him as “Midnight’s” 105 were for him. Santos’ day ended when Kevin DeWald didn’t get on to start the eighth. He grounded out to short, prompting Eddie Jackson to bat for Santos. He grounded to third, but Carroll’s throw was poor and bounced in the dirt in front of Gilbert, who was hit near the elbow. Jackson was safe on the error, and Cookie chipped an 0-2 pitch to center for a single, the Raccoons’ first since 1996. That was it for Martin, too, with Francisquo Bocanegra replacing him. He needed two pitches to get a grounder to third from Mathews, with Carroll erasing his error by starting a 5-4-3 double play.

Charters held the Crusaders down in the bottom 8th, and in the ninth Mendoza singled off left-hander Brian Doumas with one out. That brought up DeWeese, who needed hitting for by someone between Margolis, Greenwald, Lafon, and Riley. What a bench!! Margolis it was, and he hit the first pitch to left center and into the gap for a double. Mendoza had to hold at third, and after Denny walked, the bases were loaded with one out for … Petracek and DeWald. And that bench. That bench! Petracek ran a full count before grounding to Gilbert, who threw home to kill off Mendoza, and DeWald also was so kind to roll a ball to Gilbert to end the inning. Kaiser held the Crusaders away, sending the game to extra innings, in which Cookie hit a 1-out single in the 10th inning, then was caught stealing, two pitches before Joey Mathews homered to left. Of course he was caught stealing. Of course. Alex Ramirez had no cushion in the bottom 10th, but at least started off by facing Doumas, as the Crusaders were out of bench players. Ramirez had his own way of going about things and HIT Doumas, much to my exaltation. John Wilson grounded to Mendoza, who took the out at second base with a quick throw. Ryan Dawson drove a ball to left, Cookie making his way there in time, and Morgan Little flew to right, where Petracek made the play. 2-1 Coons. Carmona 3-5, 2B; Margolis (PH) 1-1, 2B; Santos 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K;

Game 2
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Mathews – SS McKnight – 1B H. Mendoza – LF DeWeese – C Denny – 3B Petracek – CF DeWald – P Guerrero
NYC: 3B J. Carroll – LF Reya – 2B S. Valdez – RF Erickson – 1B Gilbert – C Roland – CF J. Wilson – SS D. Ortega – P Weise

Cookie opened with a double and scored on McKnight’s single, which so far was a rerun from Friday’s episode for “The Drought of the Century”, but this was actually a different, new ballgame and not Friday’s sad symphony on tape delay. Mendoza singled, which was fine, and then DeWeese hit a 3-piece to right, which was fantastic. That was not all, as poor Tommy Weise allowed a singlet to Denny on an 0-2 pitch, then another homer to Petracek, who was somehow on fire, and down 6-0 walked Guerrero with two outs. After Cookie legged out an infield single to keep the inning going, the Critters came up with back-to-back RBI singles hit through the left side by Mathews and McKnight, which ran the score to 8-0, and was the point where the Crusaders wanted to see something different. Weise was yanked before he had completed an inning, and while Tom Nelson walked Mendoza, he got DeWeese to ground out to Sergio Valdez to FINALLY end the first inning.

Guerrero was in the luxurious position to waste a run or two, but while the Crusaders had a man on base in each of the third innings, they scored none of them. They only got on the board in the fifth, ****ing Ray Gilbert drawing a leadoff walk and being moved around before scoring on Ortega’s 2-out RBI single up the middle. That left the gap at eight runs still; the Coons had added a run on a Mendoza sac fly in the third inning and still maintained a 9-1 edge through five. After three strikeouts in his first three appearances in this game, Kevin DeWald landed his first big league base knock in the sixth, hitting a 2-out single to center off Alex Lindsey. Against Adam Riddle in the ninth and on 99 pitches himself, Guerrero batted and made the second out in the inning before Cookie (walk), Mathews (single), and McKnight (walk) loaded the bases. Mendoza grounded out to Valdez, which was what he did best, and Guerrero came back out for the bottom 9th despite the shutout long gone. Valdez and Max Erickson both flew out softly to Cookie in right before Guerrero hung a K on Gilbert to finish the effort. 9-1 Raccoons. Carmona 3-5, BB, 2B; Mathews 4-6, RBI; McKnight 3-5, BB, 2 RBI; Denny 2-5; Guerrero 9.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, W (8-6);

Guerrero threw his fourth complete game of the season, and all have come since the beginning of July. He has eight complete games for his entire career now. He surrendered – in order – two, six, seven, and three hits in his complete games, but ironically the games with the higher hit counts are the ones that were the two shutouts.

Game 3
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Mathews – SS Walter – LF H. Mendoza – RF Jackson – 1B Greenwald – 3B Petracek – C Margolis – P Pierson
NYC: CF J. Wilson – LF Reya – 1B Gilbert – 2B S. Valdez – C Roland – RF Erickson – 3B Dawson – SS D. Ortega – P Benjamin

The Crusaders scored first on Ryan Dawson’s RBI double in the bottom 2nd, which was also made possible thanks to Pierson’s wild pitch that moved Max Erickson from first to second beforehand. Another run scored in the third on Valdez’ sac fly to center, Wilson and Gilbert having landed base knocks off Pierson. While Pierson almost was sabotaged by Greenwald’s lack of D in the bottom 4th, a clumsy misplay putting Erickson on base to start the inning, he was quite definitely sabotaged by a 1-hour rain delay that held him to four muddled innings. Pierson had thrown more than 60 pitches before the rain delay and had nothing left, but Benjamin, the pushover, had thrown less than 50 in four innings and was still good to go after the rain had moved past.

The Raccoons got absolutely nothing from Benjamin, who only conceded three singles in six innings of shutout ball, and then seven innings of shutout ball, and look, here he comes for more. Using only 81 pitches through seven innings he hung the ultimate shame on the Raccoons, unless they could finally find a way to him in the eighth inning. Petracek grounded out. Margolis grounded out. DeWeese struck out. Behind Pierson, the Raccoons got good relief from Wade Davis, Adam Cowen, and Will West, holding the Crusaders to their two runs, but the offense was once again completely absent. The Crusaders got insulting: they left Benjamin in the game for the ninth inning, facing the top of the order. Get him, Coons! Murder him, Coons!! Cookie grounded out to Valdez. Mathews grounded out to Gilbert. McKnight broke up the ****ING SHUTOUT with a ****ING HOMER to dead center. Alas, it was all too late. Doumas replaced Benjamin, walked Mendoza, but got Jackson to ground out. Too little, too late, too lost. 2-1 Crusaders. Cowen 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

In other news

August 12 – A 10-run fifth inning gives the Gold Sox enough cushion to survive a late charge by the Falcons and hang on to a 13-9 victory.
August 13 – The Salem Wolves pump out four home runs against the Aces, who have no home runs in the game, yet the Wolves are still defeated in a 13-9 scorefest. Only one of the Wolves home runs comes with a man on base.
August 14 – California baseball between the Pacifics and Bayhawks lasts 14 innings before the Pacifics get away with an 8-5 victory. Teams arrive in extra innings tied at three, before both score two runs in the 12th inning. The Pacifics get over the hump with a 3-run 14th inning.
August 16 – LVA 2B/SS Bill Hebberd (.287, 4 HR, 41 RBI) goes to the DL with elbow tendinitis. He could miss most of the remainder of the season.
August 16 – The Blue Sox manage more errors (four) than hits (three) in a 6-0 loss to the Buffaloes.
August 17 – PIT SP Kyle Williams (10-8, 3.47 ERA) is done for the season with shoulder soreness.
August 17 – Just returning from an ankle injury, LAP RF Marc Thompson (.280, 11 HR, 52 RBI) now goes down to a torn thumb ligament, which will cost him another three weeks at least.
August 18 – Cincinnati’s SP Chris Munroe (10-12, 4.93 ERA) throws a 2-hit shutout against the Miners. The Cyclones win 7-0.

Complaints and stuff

DeWeese, DeWald … we need a DeWoof or something like that, rightfielder, then the mess will be complete. And ONLY THEN will it be complete.

The mess, by the way, is tremendous. Since nobody can be expected to keep an overview over the current state of maladies on the roster (or rather off the roster), these are our current DL incumbents:

SP Jonathan Toner – shoulder – 15-day DL – 4 weeks away
MR Jeff Boynton – elbow – 60-day DL – out for season
MR Chris Mathis – shoulder – 60-day DL – out for season
MR Ron Thrasher – shoulder – 60-day DL – out for season
INF Shane Walter – elbow – 15-day DL – 2 weeks away
3B Matt Nunley – dead arm – 15-day DL – 2 weeks away
OF Andy Bareford – rib cage – 15-day DL – 4 weeks away

Also, more than a month has passed since Jonny Toner went to the DL, and only now was he passed for the team lead in strikeouts, as Santos’ six on Friday moved him past Johnny Triple Crown. Toner had been passed for the CL lead in strikeouts on Tuesday, when BOS Chris Klein moved past.

Did you know that the Blue Sox’ Ruben Cervantes was once a Raccoons farmhand? He was signed as international free agent out of the Dominican Republic in July of 2011, but was included in the orgy of failed players that was the Stan Murphy / Adrian Quebell deal in 2014. Funnily, that was with the Pacifics, but both Quebell and Cervantes ended up winding up with the Blue Sox at the same time again. There were two more players we sent to the Pacifics in this deal, including another IFA in Tony Viera who is now a backup infielder for the Rebels, and 2011 first-rounder SP David Tingley, who was a colossal bust and retired without reaching the major leagues.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (73-51) @ Indians (62-61) – August 20-22, 2019

The greatly diminished Critters continued their 2-week, 12-game roadtrip by travelling to Indy for three with the Arrowheads, who were third in the division, tied with the Elks, as the week began. After having suffered a 3-game sweep at the hands of the Indians in July, the Raccoons trailed in the season series, 5-7, and also had to watch out for the Loggers(!?) to come from behind. The Indians were perfectly mediocre, ranking sixth in runs scored, tied for sixth in runs allowed, and only managed to stand out with crummy defense and incredible hardships to steal a base or two from time to time.

Projected matchups:
Tadasu Abe (10-7, 2.99 ERA) vs. Alejandro Mendez (8-7, 3.72 ERA)
Hector Santos (11-7, 2.74 ERA) vs. Kyle Lamb (9-7, 5.14 ERA)
Bobby Guerrero (8-6, 3.28 ERA) vs. Luis Guerrero (10-9, 4.84 ERA)

After the right-handed “Ant” Mendez on Tuesday, the Raccoons would get to see two of the Indians’ three left-handed starters.

Game 1
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Mathews – SS McKnight – 1B H. Mendoza – C Denny – LF DeWeese – 3B Riley – CF DeWald – P Abe
IND: C Jolley – SS Matias – LF D. Carter – RF Faulk – CF Genge – 2B Kym – 1B J. Ramirez – 3B D. Jones – P A. Mendez

Cookie opened with a single, which led to nothing at all, but Abe’s leadoff walk to Jayden Jolley in the bottom of the first was soon followed by Raul Matias singling up the middle and the Coons were in trouble right away. After Dave Carter’s pop to second and A.J. Faulk’s groundout, Lowell Genge lined softly to center to score both runs with a single, and the Raccoons trailed 2-0 early. Abe was somewhere between ‘no help at all’ and ‘terrible’, issued another leadoff walk in the second to Jesus Ramirez and took approximately a million extra pitches to work around that. Faulk in the bottom 3rd and McKnight in the top 4th hit solo home runs, with McKnight’s bomb representing the first time a Coon reached base in any way, shape, or form since the leadoff single by Cookie… There was another Cookie single in the sixth inning which immediately went up in flames in Joey Mathews’ double play grounder to Dan Jones, and the Raccoons were wholly unpleasant to watch. Some things just never change, huh? Tadasu Abe worked his way into the seventh inning, somehow, before leaving with a back injury, which was exactly the thing we needed now. McKnight drew a 2-out walk in the sixth after the Mathews double play, and that was the last base runner the Raccoons would net in the game. Mendez went eight innings effortlessly, and Jarrod Morrison got three times weak contact in closing the game in the ninth. 3-1 Indians. Carmona 2-4;

In Milwaukee, they are actually believing in it right now. The Loggers won on Monday after a late rally to beat the Crusaders, 7-5, and also won on Tuesday, which put them only one tiny game out of the lead in the division.

The Druid opined that Tadasu Abe’s back was not bad and that he would be able to take his next turn in the rotation after taking it easy the next few days to heal off that back spasm.

That’s what we need. Back-ailing 28-year old starting pitchers.

Game 2
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Mathews – RF Jackson – 1B H. Mendoza – C Denny – SS McKnight – CF Petracek – 3B Riley – P Santos
IND: C Jolley – SS Matias – LF D. Carter – RF C. Martinez – CF Genge – 2B Kym – 1B J. Ramirez – 3B D. Jones – P Lamb

Doubles by Jolley and Carter gave the Indians another first-inning lead, with both two-base knocks going through Dan Riley and up the leftfield line. The Raccoons had no hits through three innings, running only into a walk to Dan Riley, and Santos got him forced out at second like a pro. Cookie got a workout in leftfield with Santos prone to hard contact in that direction, and the Raccoons looked like they were beaten after only three innings and down only one run. Even when Mathews opened the fourth with a single, this didn’t necessarily constitute reason to celebrate. Eddie Jackson however avoided the double play and instead doubled past Jesus Ramirez and up the rightfield line. We had two in scoring position with nobody out, but unfortunately Dumbo, the death of every bit of offense, came up next. Mendoza cut over a 2-1 fastball when lightning struck and the skies opened. The field was cleared in a hurry, and the tarp was brought onto the field in a storm that went as quickly as it came, but still caused a delay of half an hour due to some repair work necessary on the mound.

Play resumed with Mendoza in a 2-2 count to which he quickly added a swinging strike. Denny struck out, and McKnight rolled a ball for 25 feet and was easily thrown out at first base by Lamb. That’s some offense we have here! Santos survived a leadoff single by Cesar Martinez in the fourth, then found himself batting with two on and nobody out in the fifth. Petracek had opened with a single, had stolen second base, and Riley had walked again. Santos’ bunt was ****ty yet again, but Ramirez’ throw to third base was just as well and Dan Jones couldn’t catch it cleanly. The bases were loaded with nobody out and the top of the order up. Cookie! Cookie, I’m begging you! Safe us from certain doom! Nope. Nope, not to be. Cookie popped out to shallow left, and after Mathews struck out, Jackson’s sorry floater to center was no challenge for Lowell Genge. The ****ed up Coons left the bases loaded.

Doubles by Jong-beom Kym and Jesus Ramirez off Troy Charters in the seventh inning added a second run to the Indians’ total that they probably wouldn’t need. Top 8th, right-hander Joel Davis was in the game. Jackson hit a 1-out single to left, bringing up Mendoza, who had as the newest development of his spineless regress to a semi-pro bingo player dropped his OPS under the .850 mark. He got it back over .850 with a single to right. DeWeese hit for Denny, grounded into a fielder’s choice to remove Mendoza from public view (which should be a commendable action, really), and McKnight walked to fill the bags with two outs. Margolis hit for Petracek, grounded out to Kym, and the Raccoons left them loaded yet again. While the NWSN broadcast focused on an about 10-year old boy in Coons gear with a rally cap on his dark locks, consternation in his innocent face, and tears in his eyes that had seen too much for a young soul to bear, Cookie drew a 2-out walk from Morrison in the ninth, bringing up the tying run one final time. Joey Mathews unleashed the Raccoons’ usual battle cry, sending a medium-paced grounder to the second baseman. Jong-beom Kym had no problems handling that one, ramming a lance of thorns right through the young Raccoons fan’s heart – and mine, too. 2-0 Indians. Jackson 2-4, 2B; Riley 0-1, 2 BB; DeWald (PH) 1-2; Santos 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, L (11-8);

Bright sides? John Wilson hit a walkoff homer off Ian Prevost to hand the Loggers a 2-1 loss, but even feasting on the Loggers’ ineptness, which must be written in their franchise charter somewhere, can’t last forever.

In a mixed development, rain washed out the third game of the series, sparing the Raccoons another sad loss. For the moment. The game would be made up on September 20 in Portland as part of a double-header to start a regular 3-game set. The Indians would be the home team for that game.

We would have made a roster change on the way to Tijuana and would have exchanged Adam Cowen for Damani Knight (stats: terrible) to take the Saturday startin Mexico, which would have fallen into Knight’s regular rhythm. With the rainout, the Raccoons could shift their rotation to where they would only need another starter after the Condors series.

Raccoons (73-53) @ Condors (53-75) – August 23-25, 2019

Maybe the Coons could score on the worst team in the majors? The Condors were surrendering the third-most runs overall, with rotation and bullpen similarly crummy. Their offense was also weak, as they ranked ninth in runs scored in the Continental League. The difference between crummy and Coons was however only eight runs… The Raccoons held a 4-2 lead in the season series and were shooting (maybe) for a third straight season series win over Tijuana.

Projected matchups:
Bobby Guerrero (8-6, 3.28 ERA) vs. Casey Hally (7-7, 4.43 ERA)
Cole Pierson (9-10, 3.03 ERA) vs. Kyle Eilrich (2-8, 4.34 ERA)
Tadasu Abe (10-8, 3.03 ERA) vs. Jorge Gine (10-6, 2.75 ERA)

Eilrich is their only left-handed starter, a 24-year old rookie with four pitches, terrible control, and pretty bad luck according to his .336 BABIP.

We will go with Tuesday’s lineup in the opener, which scored the Raccoons’ only run in the last four days. Go, Ronnie, we believe in you!

Game 1
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Mathews – SS McKnight – 1B H. Mendoza – C Denny – LF DeWeese – 3B Riley – CF DeWald – P B. Guerrero
TIJ: 2B M. Herrera – SS Shank – C Gonzales – LF Eichelkraut – 3B C. Martinez – 1B Tsung – CF Shearing – RF Rawlings – P Hally

After a Raccoons no-show in the first inning, the Condors batted through the order in their half of the first, leading off with a casual four singles off Bobby Guerrero. That scored two runs already, and another run came home on Carlos Martinez’ sac fly to right, the first out of the inning. Mun-wah Tsung popped out, Conor Shearing hit a double, and after an intentional walk to Josh Rawlings, Casey Hally came uncomfortably close to a gapper in left center. DeWeese moved over in time however, taking the ball for a third out of the inning, with the Coons down 3-0 and three Condors stranded. Guerrero had fooled nobody, ever, throwing just 22 pitches in the ordeal. After singles by Mendoza and Denny and DeWeese drawing a walk the Raccoons had the bases loaded with nobody out in the second inning, which was precisely the point at which you had to check out the alcoholic beverages on offer here in Mexico, because nothing good was gonna come from Dan Riley, Kevin DeWald, and Bobby Guerrero batting. The sac fly DeWald hit was nothing I needed to be glued to my seat for. Kid had his first big-league RBI. I couldn’t care less about it.

In the bottom of the third, the Condors had Martinez and Tsung on with leadoff singles, before both Shearing and Rawlings popped out. Oh, it will all be fine. Then Casey Hally hit a sharp RBI single to right, Martinez scored, 4-1. Oh, maybe it will still be fine. Then Mike Herrera hit a real bomb that wouldn’t come down until having crossed Canada, the Polar Sea, AND ****ING RUSSIA. While diplomatic channels would certainly take care of that missile entering Russian airspace without the world becoming engulfed in the nuclear holocaust, we did what we could do to maintain peace on Earth and everybody’s emotional balance. Guerrero was yanked after having bled for seven runs on nine hits and two walks in 2.2 innings, with Adam Cowen taking over. Cowen would pop up a bunt in the fourth inning, in which a most unexpected rally was in progress. After Mendoza’s leadoff single, Mike Denny had crashed a 2-run homer to get the Coons to 7-3, which was far away from a comeback, but DeWeese and DeWald got on base. DeCowen’s bad bunt was the second out, and DeCookie singled to left to plate DeWeese with the Coons’ fourth DeRun. Mathews ended the inning as usual, and Cowen gave a run right back, which put the Raccoons behind by a slam after four innings. To hit a slam you need runners, and the Raccoons would hardly have any from here on out. McKnight was on once, was caught stealing, and then Cookie was on, but Mathews hit into a double play. No scoring took place until the bottom 8th, when Will West was mangled for two runs by the Condors, not that they meant anything in the big picture, which had fallen off the wall, its glass shattering, right in the first inning, as usual. 10-4 Condors. Carmona 3-4, RBI; H. Mendoza 2-4; Denny 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Kaiser 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

The Loggers beat the Thunder on just three hits, including two doubles, in a 1-0 game. Tyler Stewart was on base four times, which was 67% of their total base runners, and somehow they made it work. This ties up the division. It will become untied whenever Milwaukee wins another game.

Game 2
POR: 2B Mathews – SS McKnight – RF Jackson – LF DeWeese – C Denny – 1B Greenwald – CF Petracek – 3B Riley – P Pierson
TIJ: CF Jamieson – SS Nieves – LF Eichelkraut – 3B C. Martinez – 1B Tsung – 2B M. Herrera – C Judd – RF Rawlings – P Eilrich

For the fourth time in four games this week, the miserable Raccoons trailed something-to-zip after the first inning, after Pierson allowed Matt Jamieson on with a single, Domingo Nieves with a double, and Carlos Martinez whacked a 3-run homer to left. The Raccoons had one baserunner in the first three innings, and that was Dan Riley reaching on an error by Nieves. Pierson’s bunt was **** and forced Riley, and then Mathews struck out anyway. Eddie Jackson would have the Coons’ first base hit in the game, a single up the middle with one out in the fourth, and Mike Denny would have the second hit for the team, wonking a 2-run homer to right to get the team nominally close again at 3-2. Petracek got on base with a leadoff walk in the fifth, but was stranded on third base. At least Pierson pulled his stuff together after the daily first inning from hell at least for a few innings. But through six, the Raccoons remained stuck on their two meager hits, and when they hit a ball with authority, it was right to an outfielder. Not that this happened very often. The bottom 6th started with a walk issued by Pierson to Jimmy Oatmeal, who weighed 26 homers and would make a good addition to a team starved for any kind of offense. Carlos Martinez doubled to left to move a pair of runners into scoring position with nobody out, Tsung scored a run with a grounder to Mathews, 4-2, but when Mike Herrera hit a ball to shallow left center, where DeWeese made the catch, Martinez held at third base, and would not come home in the inning. John Judd grounded out to Greenwald at first, ending the inning.

Pierson went seven before being hit for in the eighth inning. Dumbo Mendoza batted as the tying run with nobody out after Dan Riley had drawn a leadoff walk from Eilrich. Mendoza hit the first pitch hard to right, Tsung swiped but missed it, and the ball made its way all the way to the corner where it rumbled around for long enough for Mendoza to slide into third base with an RBI triple. To be clear, this was the tying run, and there were no outs. Cookie batted for an 0-for-3 Mathews, but couldn’t even put a ball in play before Eilrich uncorked a wild pitch to tie the game on his own. Oh thank heavens! No shame this time around! Cookie singled, was caught stealing, and with two down Jackson singled, and he was picked off. The shame always gets the Coons in the end. Always. The bottom 8th saw Charters in the game, but of the three right-handers he faced in the 2-3-4 slots, Nieves and Martinez reached with singles. Brett Lillis replaced him and struck out Tsung and Herrera to keep the Condors away for the moment.

The game went to extra innings, and although the Raccoons were on the road, Alex Ramirez needed work and pitched in the ninth inning … and the tenth. The only trouble for him was a bad throw by Denny with two outs in the tenth, but none of this helped a horrendous team win a game for once. While the Critters had worked around an error in the bottom 10th, the Condors wouldn’t in the top 11th. DeWeese reached on an error by Tsung, and next was Denny, who had come close to burying the Raccoons in the previous thing. He lined a Manuel Reyes pitch hard to left, into the corner, and DeWeese was ****ING FLYING around the bases to score the go-ahead run, putting a potential loss on the 43-year old ex-Coon. After Lafon popped up and out, Petracek beat Conor Shearing’s range in right center for an RBI double, putting an insurance run on the board. Up 6-4, the Coons faced left-switch-right in the bottom 11th and with their three best relievers already washed away would potentially have to piece this together. We started with Jason Kaiser, because another left-handed bat would be fourth in the inning. Kaiser struck out Tsung, but allowed a single up the middle to Herrera, prompting a move to Seung-mo Chun. Gonzales popped out, but Josh Rawlings sent a drive to deep center, where Petracek had yielded to Kevin DeWald just prior to the half-inning, and that was probably the thing that kept the game in one piece. DeWald made a hustling catch running backwards, and his D gave the Coons their first W of the week. 6-4 Coons. Carmona (PH) 2-2; Jackson 2-4; Denny 2-5, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; H. Mendoza (PH) 1-2, 3B, RBI; Ramirez 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K, W (3-3);

This was Chun’s first save of the season, and he has at least one save in every one of his seasons. In total, there are merely five, however.

Game 3
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Mathews – SS McKnight – 1B H. Mendoza – LF DeWeese – C Margolis – 3B Petracek – CF DeWald – P Abe
TIJ: CF Jamieson – SS Shank – LF Eichelkraut – 3B C. Martinez – 1B Tsung – 2B Herrera – C Judd – RF Rawlings – P Gine

Abe retired the Condors in order in the first inning, marking the first time this week that the Coons didn’t incur a deficit after one frame, and it had been about time. The Coons still incurred a deficit in the second inning, but not on the scoreboard. Danny Margolis hit a single after DeWeese had gotten nicked to start the inning. Petracek afterwards grounded to short, Jimmy Shank threw to Mike Herrera, who collided forcefully with Margolis trying to break up the double play, and Margolis got the worst of it and had to be replaced by Mike Denny. DeWald then grounded into a double play. And, oh, actually, the Raccoons DID incur a setback on the scoreboard, too, with Abe allowing two base hits and two hard drives to the outfield that somehow were caught to fall 1-0 behind.

The Critters made up the run right away in the third inning, somehow, with singles by Cookie and McKnight, and then a balk by Gine to bring Cookie home from third base. Batting prowess by Dumbo Mendoza alone would have been insufficient for the job, he popped out. One inning further on, Denny dried a tear or two over the loss of Margolis with a mighty 2-run homer to left, collecting DeWeese, who had walked. Unfortunately, Abe continued to santos around; after a Tsung walk in the bottom 4th, Abe allowed hard drives to right with two outs to Herrera and Judd. Cookie only got the latter, and only after the former had fallen in for an RBI double, and THEN only after making a flying grab in the gap. Abe totally lacked the strikeout powers we knew of him, and the Condors consistently made hard contact, while Gine, normally not a strikeout lord, whiffed six in the first five innings. Gine would run out of whiff in the sixth, however, with DeWeese hitting a 1-out single, putting him on base again for Denny, and Denny raked ANOTHER pitch to deep left, and this one was also outta here! This was Denny’s fourth homer in the series, and he was perhaps trying to single-handedly keep the Coons in first-place shape. His second dinger of the afternoon gave Abe a 5-2 lead, but he didn’t get through the sixth inning (neither did Gine), issuing a walk to Shank to start the bottom 6th, and then conceding a 1-out single to Martinez to put runners on the corners. Kaiser came in to face Tsung, whiffed him, and DeWald took Herrera’s fly to center to end the inning. Not that the Coons were out of the woods, of which there were none in Tijuana. Wade Davis came into the bottom 7th, allowed hits to Judd and Rawlings, then walked living legend Victorino Sanchez to load the bases with no outs. Lillis appeared in a desperate bid to keep the lead in shape, in which he failed. Jose Parez pinch-hit for Matt Jamieson and hit a 2-run single to left, and even after Shank hit into a double play, Lillis walked Jimmy Oatmeal and allowed the game-tying single to Martinez, evening the score at five.

The Raccoons saw Reyes again in the eighth, and Reyes started with walks issued to Mendoza and DeWeese. Denny carried pain in his bat, but had to settle for a single up the middle. Thus, bases loaded, no outs. Jackson batted for a luckless Petracek and at least hit a sac fly to right. That was all. DeWald popped out. Greenwald flew out to right. We sent Chun into the eighth in the vain hope there would be something left for Charters to save in the ninth inning. Herrera grounded out, Judd struck out, and then Josh Rawlings found the gap for a 2-out triple. Chun lost Nieves to a walk, then faced Conor Shearing, who sent a drive to deep right. Cookie had to hustle back, made a running catch, then slammed into the wall and lost the ball. Two runs scored, the Condors took the lead, and the top of the order would not make any noise in the ninth inning. 7-6 Condors. McKnight 2-5; DeWeese 1-1, 2 BB; Denny 3-3, 2 HR, 4 RBI;

The Loggers won.

What is there to keep living for?

In other news

August 20 – CHA SP Alex Vallejo (11-9, 3.29 ERA) turns away the Aces in a 3-hit shutout, claiming victory in the 3-0 game.
August 20 – SFW LF/1B Gil Gross (.283, 12 HR, 49 RBI) could be out for the season after tearing a quad on Monday.
August 21 – After suffering a torn rotator cuff, TIJ SP Ethan Knight (4-9, 6.38 ERA) is expected to miss ten months recovering.
August 22 – The Titans lead the Canadiens, 2-1 after eight, before piling on three runs in the top of the ninth inning. The Canadiens rally for four runs in the bottom of the ninth, force extra innings, and walk off on a single by C/1B Tim Pace (.236, 3 HR, 32 RBI) in the tenth inning.
August 24 – DAL CL Scott Hanson (5-3, 3.10 ERA, 24 SV) is out for the year with a torn meniscus.
August 25 – MIL OF/1B Chris LeMoine (.281, 26 HR, 97 RBI) has suffered an oblique strain and will miss a month.

Complaints and stuff

Matt Nunley suffered a setback this week and will miss a few days longer more than previously anticipated. How much deader can an arm can get before it turns black and falls off? Mena! MENA!! I HAVE A MEDICAL QUESTION!! I could just as well ask Steve from Accounting.

Also, Mena is busy with Margolis, and we might have to make a roster move to get a backup catcher onto the roster. We must make a roster move anyway to get a starting pitcher for Tuesday, and it looks like we will have a major league debut on Tuesday in Oklahoma.

But who cares about the roster moves of a second-place team in flames?

Maud got hold of the identity of the young Raccoons fans dissolved in tears in Wednesday’s trash can rummagers’ silent deaths in the night – something with the Internets and social massaging, which I didn’t approve of, preferring to get massaged in private – and contacted the parents to offer to fly the family to Portland during our weekend set with the Indians in September, so the boy could meet the team.

Yet apparently, young Taylor had by now decided that there were more important things than stupid sports teams to waste your time with, and that he would spend his free time engaging in the community when not focusing on his studies and on learning to play the bugle.

I fear it’s too late for me to learn to play the bugle. However, if this goes on for much longer… (reaches under the table and pulls up a brand new bugle) … I am prepared to look for something to take my mind off the walking dead around me.

[Westheim]

Raccoons fans – those that hadn’t thrown in the towel at least – woke up on Monday morning to the news that Danny Margolis was done with 2019 with shoulder tendinitis, which ought to be treated with rest, rest, rest, and rest. 2016 fifth-rounder Owen Walker was selected from AAA to replace Margolis in the backup catcher role. The 24-year old had started the season in Ham Lake at the AA level, but had actually hit well in limited exposure after a promotion to St. Petersburg (.388 in 26 games) that he was picked rather than the guy that had started the year as the primary backstop in AAA, Edwin Prieto, whose batting average was a paltry .206. To get Walker onto the 40-man roster, Danny Margolis was directly moved to the 60-day DL.

In a second roster move, Adam Cowen was sent back to AAA after allowing only one run in 6.2 innings and was replaced by a starting pitcher. His replacement was a 23-year old right-hander, our 2015 second-round pick, Travis Garrett from Gilmer, Texas. It was not that Garrett had been spectacular (or even decent) in AAA, pitching to a 4.94 ERA and 11-11 record, but he had at least struck out 162 in 182 innings. And there was the desire to see somebody else than Damani Knight. Garrett had a monster curveball, but struggled with control overall, both with a forkball and his 92mph cutter. He had issued 92 walks in AAA.

Raccoons (74-55) @ Thunder (56-72) – August 26-28, 2019

The Thunder were in fifth place in the South, but being in arrears in the other division was nothing that disqualified you from inflicting pain on the Critters, although the Thunder had already lost the season series, finding themselves down 1-5 to the Raccoons. They were ninth in runs scored, and only 11th in runs allowed with the worst bullpen in the Continental League. Not that the rotation was any good.

Projected matchups:
Hector Santos (11-8, 2.69 ERA) vs. Bryan Hanson (9-5, 5.26 ERA)
Travis Garrett (0-0) vs. Jim Bryant (10-8, 4.19 ERA)
Bobby Guerrero (8-7, 3.73 ERA) vs. Nick Lombardo (8-9, 3.85 ERA)

While our debutee would face a right-hander, the Thunder would have southpaws ready for the first and last games of the set. Normally I would lament on how the Raccoons and left-handed pitching just didn’t mingle, but to be honest, they couldn’t beat anybody right now.

Game 1
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Mathews – RF Jackson – 1B H. Mendoza – C Denny – SS McKnight – 3B Petracek – CF DeWald – P Santos
OCT: CF Stevenson – 2B Farias – 1B Gershkovich – C Parks – LF T. Brown – RF Waggoner – SS Paull – 3B Marshall – P Hanson

The Raccoons put two on in the first inning, with Jackson singling to left after Mathews had reached on an error by Emilio Farias, but with two on ran into a middle of the order stricken by poverty, and a pop by Dumbo Mendoza and a grounder to Farias by Denny played them out of the inning. The Thunder took a 1-0 lead right away on a leadoff homer by Josh Stevenson, and that was that. In the category ‘odd and sad’, the Raccoons made up that run in the second, although it took Santos himself to drive in McKnight with a 2-out single, and after the Critters loaded the bases with infield singles by Carmona to the right side and Mathews to the left side, Jackson hacked out to end the inning. After a 2-out single by Eric Paull in the bottom 2nd the Raccoons would make consecutive errors (Santos, Petracek to blame) to fall right behind again, 2-1.

Through five, Denny threw out two base stealers, the Raccoons out-hit the Thunder 7-5, and still only fell further behind. Tom Brown hit a triple into the rightfield corner in the fourth inning and scored on ex-Coon Williams Waggoner’s sac fly, bringing the score to 3-1. It continued miserably. Petracek hit a 1-out single past Farias in the sixth inning, but DeWald helplessly popped out over the infield, and Santos had already had his monthly RBI and struck out. Santos basically held on as good as he could, until he got rocked and shattered with three consecutive doubles in the bottom 7th, Waggoner, Paull, and Bobby Marshall all hitting two-base knocks to either right or right center, and Eddie Jackson wasn’t particularly close to any of them. Will West replaced Santos, walked the pitcher Hanson, walked Stevenson, and was yanked to be beaten with chains. Wade Davis came in and didn’t make anything better. One run scored on Farias grounding to first for the second out, and another run scored on Mike Gershkovich’s single, running the score to 7-1. The Raccoons would not get another base runner in the last innings, and Bryan Hanson pulled through with a complete-game 8-hitter. 7-1 Thunder. McKnight 2-3, BB;

The Thunder had nine hits to the Raccoons’ eight, which were all singles. The Thunder had five extra-base hits, one at least of each kind.

The Raccoons would have an all-debuting battery in the Tuesday game, but it would surely all be fine.

Game 2
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Mathews – SS McKnight – 1B H. Mendoza – LF DeWeese – 3B Petracek – C Walker – CF DeWald – P Garrett
OCT: SS Paull – 2B Farias – 1B Gershkovich – C Parks – LF T. Brown – RF Waggoner – CF Gosnell – 3B Marshall – P Bryant

After reaching on an error by Bobby Marshall to start the game, Cookie Carmona was stranded when the next three batters made three times embarrassing contact to leave Cookie well stranded. Travis Garrett successfully achieved an ERA of infinity to start his career, walking the first batter he faced in the majors, Paull, before allowing a triple into the rightfield corner to Emilio Farias that of course plated Paull for the first run of the game. Amazingly, Farias wouldn’t score as Gershkovich fouled out to Owen Walker, Jalen Parks struck out on the curveball, and Tom Brown flew out easily to DeWald in center. DeWeese opened the second with a single of the softer kind, and moved to second when Petracek grounded out. After that, Bryant got stunned badly by the bottom of the order, with Walker, DeWald, and Garrett ALL hitting doubles! Walker hit his for an RBI up the leftfield line, DeWald’s went into the gap between Brown and Chris Gosnell, and Garrett hit one up the rightfield line. Three runs scored to give Garrett a lead, but Garrett issued a leadoff walk in every inning… Waggoner was caught stealing to erase that leadoff walk in the second, but in the third Garrett walked the pitcher (…) and he would not get caught stealing. Somehow, Garrett labored around that, then came to the plate with runners on the corners after a pair of singles by Walker and DeWald and nobody out in the top of the fourth. He was told to swing, flew to Tom Brown in left, Walker was sent and thrown out, but Brown hurt himself and had to be replaced by Bill Hiscock. The Coons didn’t score in the inning, Garrett issued his fourth leadoff walk in the bottom of the fourth inning, this one to Parks, and was lucky enough to get a double play turned sooner rather than later.

Dumbo Mendoza hit a solo shot in the fifth inning to stretch the score to 4-1. It was his first dinger since August 1. Cookie hit an RBI single in the sixth to get to 5-1, and Garrett had actually avoided issuing a leadoff walk in the bottom 5th, but found back into the groove in the bottom of the sixth, walking Paull to get going. Farias singled up the middle, and while Garrett got rid of the next two, a walk to Hiscock loaded the bases and ended his game. Brett Lillis came in, but couldn’t protect Garrett’s line, conceding two runs on a Waggoner single to right center before getting Gosnell to ground out. Lillis and Chun steered through the seventh, and after DeWald found his way on with a single in the eighth inning of a 5-3 game, Chun was asked to bunt, but struck out failing to do so. However, reliever Bryan Robbins nicked Cookie with a pitch and after the runners pulled off a double steal, Mathews was intentionally walked, which said something about the fear that our middle of the order instilled with one out and the bags full. Zip-in-four on the day, McKnight worked a walk from the left-hander to push in a run, but Dumbo Mendoza struck out. Jackson batted for DeWeese, hoping for the death knell, but grounded out to short to end the inning in a 6-3 score. We hoped to squeeze Chun through the eighth to set it up for Ramirez in the ninth, which didn’t work out after Jalen Parks singled up the middle with two outs in the bottom 8th. Ramirez came in right there, with four left-handed bats coming up. Hiscocck gave an 0-2 pitch a ride, but flew out to DeWald to end the inning. Ramirez issued a walk to Gosnell in the bottom of the ninth, but survived the onslaught of the left-handed bats, facing five of them in order eventually, with left-handed pinch-hitter Nate Brown striking out to end the game. 6-3 Coons. DeWeese 2-4; Walker 3-4, BB, 2B, RBI; DeWald 3-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Ramirez 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, SV (29);

Garrett walked six and only survived the game for his maiden major league win because the Thunder got only two hits off him. He also struck out five in his 5.2 innings.

The Loggers scored only one run in two losses to the Aces to start the week, which put the Coons back into a tie for first. These teams would meet on the weekend, so it would not be too shabby to at least win the rubber game from Oklahoma to not be behind when the weekend series for first place starts.

Matt Nunley suffered another setback (fingers turning purple yet?), but we might get Shane Walter back soon. He looks in good shape to rejoin the major league roster by the weekend.

Game 3
POR: RF Carmona – SS McKnight – 1B Jackson – C Denny – LF DeWeese – CF Petracek – 2B Lafon – 3B Riley – P Guerrero
OCT: CF Stevenson – 2B Farias – 1B Gershkovich – C Parks – RF Waggoner – SS Paull – LF Gosnell – 3B Marshall – P Lombardo

In a major shift in recent routines, the Raccoons scored first, and scored often. McKnight singled and came home on Jackson’s homer to left, after which Lombardo walked Denny and DeWeese before conceding singles to Petracek and Lafon, the latter plating two runs. Riley’s fly to left and Guerrero’s K ended the inning, but Guerrero had a 4-0 lead to work with before he ever wound up on the mound. The Thunder got only one hit off Guerrero the first time through, while the Raccoons added a run in the third on a Denny double and Petracek single. Doubles by Cookie and Denny plated another run in the fourth inning, 6-0. The Thunder did show up in the bottom 5th, although they got started on an error by Dan Riley, who was on his way off the roster anyway. The clumsy bobble put Eric Paull on base with one out, and Chris Gosnell singled to bring two on. Bobby Marshall lined up the middle, Lafon made a running grab and doubled off Paull without hesitation to end the inning.

While Lombardo was gone after four very muddy innings, Guerrero kept on hurling into the late innings, only very rarely hitting a speed bump. Josh Stevenson hit a double in the sixth inning, but was kept on base when the Thunder couldn’t get the ball out of the infield in the two chances they had remaining in the inning. While another former starter now in the Thunder pen, Ed Michaels, put a spell on the Coons for three shutout innings from the sixth through the eighth, Guerrero remained on pace and struck out two in the eighth to set himself up for yet another shutout. Left-hander Jeff Kearney did away with the top of the Coons order in the top of the ninth inning, and Guerrero entered the ring to also face the top of the order in the bottom of the inning. Then he walked Stevenson on four pitches, and allowed a single to Farias. Okay, this was not going well. Stevenson was on third base and scored when Gershkovich hit into a double play, so the shutout was gone for Guerrero, but he did end the game. Parks singled, but Waggoner flew out to left, handing this series to the Critters. 6-1 Raccoons. Denny 2-3, BB, 2 2B, RBI; Petracek 2-4, RBI; Lafon 2-4, 2 RBI; Guerrero 9.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W (9-7);

The Loggers ended up swept by the Aces, which put the Raccoons into sole possession of first place leading into the pivotal weekend set. Take one game only, you still stay even. That should at least be doable.

Shane Walter indeed rejoined the team prior to the start of the Loggers series, with Dan Riley (.125 in 24 AB) sent back to AAA.

Raccoons (76-56) vs. Loggers (75-57) – August 30-September 1, 2019

Right away, the Loggers knew that the Raccoons had been in command of them throughout the season so far, leading the 2019 season series with them soundly, 8-3. They were facing an uphill battle, even though in the bigger picture they were the team with the momentum, being 14-11 in August rather than 11-14. The Loggers ranked fourth in runs scored, second in runs allowed, and were real speed demons. Better don’t let them on: they had *156* stolen bases, with SIX runners in double digits. Now you’d wish we had Margolis still around! Tyler Stewart (32 SB) and Antonio Pagan (29) were 1-2 in the Continental League.

Projected matchups:
Cole Pierson (9-10, 3.11 ERA) vs. Julio San Pedro (7-10, 4.19 ERA)
Tadasu Abe (10-8, 2.99 ERA) vs. Ian Prevost (14-7, 2.66 ERA)
Hector Santos (11-9, 2.87 ERA) vs. Ron Bartlatt (10-9, 3.29 ERA)

We will avoid Chris Sinkhorn (6-5, 3.55 ERA), their only left-hander, but I don’t know whether Prevost is a better guy to face, given that he is a hurler who puts up some serious numbers.

The Loggers just lost Chris LeMoine and his 26 home runs to the DL, so we had that advantage. Did it outweigh all the disadvantages the Raccoons were fighting with?

Game 1
MIL: 2B Stewart – SS Burns – RF Gore – CF Coleman – 3B Velez – LF Hodgers – 1B Betancourt – C Wool – P San Pedro
POR: RF Carmona – 3B Walter – SS McKnight – 1B H. Mendoza – C Denny – LF DeWeese – 2B Mathews – CF DeWald – P Pierson

The Raccoons got their first two batters on with Cookie walking and Walter singling, but a double play by McKnight and a ****ty foul pop by Dumbo Mendoza pulled their first inning apart. They did however score the first run of the game in the second; after a leadoff walk drawn by Denny, and a fly to center by DeWeese, Mathews hit a ball through David Betancourt that crossed into foul ground behind first base, hit the edge of the sidewall that jutted out at half-depth, and the resulting odd bounce dismounted Brad Gore, who was on the way to the corner. The ball died in no man’s land and Mathews had an unlikely RBI triple, but was left stranded after poor groundouts by DeWald and Pierson. They would have a man on third base (DeWeese after a single and stolen base) again with one out in the bottom 4th, and AGAIN failed. DeWald twice grounded out to Betancourt, while Pierson at least got a pass for holding the Loggers to one hit in four innings. The Raccoons had actually added a run before in the third inning, Cookie singling, stealing, and scoring on a Mendoza single, so Pierson held a 2-0 lead.

The Raccoons had stolen two bases in the game at that point, with the Loggers having none, but they made that up in spectacular fashion in the top of the fifth. Victor Hodgers (24 SB) reached on a leadoff single and was bunted over by Betancourt. From there, Hodgers stole third base and then stole home, with the battery not really in command of the running game at that point, and soon enough they were not in command of anything anymore. Walter and Mendoza hit singles in the bottom of the fifth, but Denny struck out to leave them on, and then the Loggers out of the blue took Pierson apart wholly and completely. Tyler Stewart shattered the lead with a leadoff jack in the sixth, setting the score to 2-2, and then Kyle Burns, Brad Gore (who led the league in batting at a .340 clip), and Ian Coleman all hit singles, the latter of the infield variety, to load the bases with nobody out. Pierson had no walks, nor strikeouts, ran a full count to Alberto Velez and surrendered a fly to left center that eluded DeWeese and made it to the wall for a bases-clearing double. Hodgers also singled, knocking out Pierson for good after six straight base hits in the sixth inning, and nobody out. Chun replaced Pierson, who deserved every bit of his losing record, but the Loggers just kept pumping with a 2-run double by .118 hitter Betancourt, and a walk drawn by Josh Wool. The first out of the ****ing inning was a bunt by San Pedro. After Stewart struck out, Kyle Burns hit a single through the left side to plate another two runs, giving the Loggers an 8-spot in the sixth and a share of the division lead as soon as the Raccoons would collect enough outs to put their raging defeat into the books.

The Raccoons’ dugout at least got to make some noise, because at the plate they wouldn’t, silently rolling into a ball and covering their eyes with their tails instead, when Burns reached base after getting hit by Troy Charters in the ninth inning, then stole another base in a blowout in progress. The Coons’ bench was unhappy, there was some barking back and forth, and the Loggers drove home their point by scorching Charters for another two runs in the inning, with doubles hit by Alberto Velez and PH Andrew Cooper. The Raccoons didn’t even get on base in the bottom 9th. 11-2 Loggers. Walter 2-4; Mendoza 2-4, RBI; West 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

Dumbo Mendoza had RBI’s in back-to-back games for the first time since August 1-3, then also facing the Loggers.

I just want to punch his face…

Game 2
MIL: 1B Pagan – SS Burns – RF Gore – CF Coleman – 3B Velez – LF Hodgers – 2B Stewart – C Wool – P Prevost
POR: RF Carmona – 3B Walter – SS McKnight – 1B H. Mendoza – C Denny – LF DeWeese – 2B Mathews – CF DeWald – P Abe

After two lazy innings, Josh Wool’s third home run of the season in just over 400 at-bats put the Loggers into the driver’s seat with a 1-0 lead. The Raccoons’ first two base runners was Cookie, hitting a single to start the first, and then a 2-out single in the third. Walter singled after the latter instance, and McKnight hit a soft line over the shortstop and into shallow left for an RBI single, tying the game. Mendoza came up with an RBI single up the middle, and the Coons were up 2-1 after three. Outside of the damned long one that Wool hit and that wrapped around the right foul pole, Abe allowed only one more hit in five innings, but neither did the Raccoons procure an insurance run, and when the sixth rolled around in a 2-1 game, I already felt unwell. This one, too, would start with the top of the order. Cookie’s running grab in the gap in right center kept Antonio Pagan off base to start the frame, Abe struck out Burns, and McKnight caught a liner by Brad Gore to keep the Loggers away. Pooh! Should we be fine after all?

Nah! Abe blew the lead in the seventh. Velez reached base with a 1-out single, and Andrew Cooper rammed a pinch-hit double off the leftfield fence with two outs to get the Loggers even. The Coons had Cookie on with a 2-out single in the bottom 7th, but he was caught stealing. Charters retired the Loggers in order in the eighth, keeping the Coons in the tie. The Loggers removed Prevost after seven for a no-decision, with southpaw Gary Ledford coming into the game. Walter made the first out in the bottom 8th, but McKnight and Mendoza hit singles to put up a nominal threat, if Denny could avoid whiffing or hitting the ball to short; he already had a double play on his ledger in this game. Denny hit an 0-1 pitch sharply to left, Burns was lunging but missed it, and Denny had a single! McKnight flying around the corner and racing home, no throw coming home, and the Raccoons had a lead! In standard move #2, Eddie Jackson batted for DeWeese against the southpaw, struck out anyway, and Mathews flew out to right to end the inning with two stranded. Since the Coons would face the left-handed middle of the order, Brett Lillis got the assignment in the ninth inning. Gore struck out, Coleman grounded to short for another out, and then the switch-hitter Velez came up. Ah, Lillis had this. One, two, three strikes you’re out, and the Coons had won this ballgame. 3-2 Blighters. Carmona 3-4; McKnight 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI; Mendoza 2-3, BB, RBI; Abe 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K;

Charters got the W and Lillis his 25th save of the season (and his first with Portland) in nailing down what Abe had started. Abe has not won since July 24, and has won only that one start against the Aces in going 1-6 in his last 12 outings.

Rosters expanded for Sunday, and the Raccoons added a few more bodies, though sparingly since there were still a lot of 40-man roster spots caught up on the DL. Matt Schroeder and Adam Cowen came back to reinforce the pen, and we also added Tim Prince as extra option in the infield, even though his days were numbered. Chris Thomson was a corner outfielder and first baseman, 28 years old, and had batted .250 with no homers in a short stint with the Coons last year, and he was also added to the roster to lengthen the bench. He was the only outfielder on the 40-man roster, and while we would have liked to have a look at Dwayne Metts, we couldn’t make it work at this point. Maybe later in the month?

Game 3
MIL: 2B Stewart- SS Burns – RF Gore – CF Coleman – 3B Velez – LF Hodgers – 1B P. Turner – C Redmond – P Bartlatt
POR: RF Carmona – 3B Walter – SS McKnight – 1B H. Mendoza – LF DeWeese – 2B Mathews – C Walker – CF DeWald – P Santos

Santos had Stewart at 0-2 to start the game, then conceded a hard single to left anyway, and threw a wild pitch to Burns to move up the runner. Ian Coleman’s 2-out single would put the Loggers in the lead right in the first inning, to which the Coons responded with three lazy grounders to Stewart in the bottom 1st. Santos allowed a double to Velez and a single to Hodgers to start the second inning, and Pat Turner’s run-scoring double play grounder to McKnight doubled the gap to 2-0. Bartlatt was perfect the first time through the order, and would retire ten straight before Walter and McKnight hit singles. Dumbo Mendoza’s double play kept the Coons off the board through four.

Santos was really not assuring to have on the mound, and even when the Loggers made outs in promising situations, the balls were usually hit hard. Santos walked Velez and Hodgers consecutively in the fourth inning, which was news for a pitcher with 24 walks in 167 innings on the season, before exploiting the defense of DeWald in center to get out of that mess unscathed. Bottom 6th, the Raccoons had the tying runs on base after a single to center by Cookie and McKnight reaching on an error. Whatever works! Unfortunately, with two outs we had Dumbo Mendoza at the plate, so this one was already arse up adrift in the Willamette. Mendoza rolled the first pitch back to Bartlatt and was relentlessly booed by the home crowd. Santos wiggled through seven innings, unloved and unsupported, although the seventh ended only thanks to DeWald’s defense once more, with Pat Turner stranded on base when DeWald caught Stewart’s drive to deep center. Maybe the bottom of the seventh could see the Coons – … DeWeese opened with a single before Bartlatt lost Mathews in a full count. Two on, nobody out, Walker batted because we had no third catcher and he was 4-for-7 in his major league career and this would of course never change. Bartlatt struck him out, as well as Jackson, hitting for DeWald. Now desperation was boiling, and Denny batted after all, hitting for Santos and popping out to short.

After a 90-minute rain delay in the top of the ninth for a rain shower that had suddenly moved in, play resumed with the bottom 9th with the Loggers manager furious that it was already midnight in Milwaukee and the Loggers had to fly back at some point, and the game should have been called. The bottom 9th would be played, however, with left-hander Quinn MacCarthy at work. Mendoza hit a leadoff single to bring up the tying run in DeWeese. Even restocked, the bench was so piss poor, DeWeese was sent to bat. What the heck! Not content with just one pathetic out and simply whiffing, DeWeese poked an 0-2 pitch into play, right to Stewart for a double play. Mathews grounded out to third, ballgame. 2-0 Loggers. Santos 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, L (11-10);

Santos has now lost five straight decisions, with his last W coming on July 26.

All is well in Portland.

In other news

August 26 – After scoring six runs in 14 innings of a tie with the Falcons, the Canadiens pour out another six runs in the 15th inning to claim an eventual 12-7 victory. VAN OF Mario Rocha (.308, 21 HR, 89 RBI) goes deep twice and drives in four in a 3-hit game, while VAN 2B/SS Matt Otis (.328, 1 HR, 18 RBI) leads all players in the game with four base hits, all singles.
August 27 – The Scorpions cream the Cyclones, 14-1. Batting eighth, SAC SS Erik Janes (.279, 2 HR, 31 RBI) is not retired with two hits, including a home run, a walk, and 4 RBI until he is actually pinch-hit for.
August 28 – Washington southpaw Eric Williams (8-8, 3.77 ERA) whips the Gold Sox in a 3-hit shutout that the Capitals win 11-0.
August 29 – SFW 1B Mike Rucker (.256, 14 HR, 69 RBI) not only shoots five hits in the Warriors’ 15-9 win over the Scorpions, but also hits for the cycle, collecting one of each hit and a second single while driving in five runs. The 64th cycle in ABL history is also the fourth for the Warriors, Rucker getting in line with Corey Byrd (1978), Rafael Lopez (1986), and Gil Gross (2012). The latter also cycled against Sacramento, but then did so in a loss.
August 29 – DEN SP A.J. Bartels (11-9, 4.03 ERA) throws a 1-hit shutout at the Pacifics in a 4-0 win. Will McIntyre hits a single in the fourth inning to deny Bartels a no-hitter.
August 29 – Charlotte’s SP Victor Arevalo (5-7, 5.37 ERA) shines with a 2-hit shutout over the Bayhawks. The Falcons take the game, 6-0.
August 29 – Season over for SAL SP Brain Tombs (12-6, 3.17 ERA). The 30-year old suffers from radial nerve compression.
August 30 – The season of TIJ LF Jimmy Eichelkraut (.280, 26 HR, 66 RBI) is also over due to torn ligaments in his thumb.
August 30 – VAN SP Armando Gonzales (4-2, 7.77 ERA) 3-hits the Crusaders in a 9-0 rout put on them by the Canadiens.
August 30 – Indians and Titans play ten innings before anybody scores, with BOS 1B Jose Duran (.245, 1 HR, 3 RBI) knocking a walkoff double to give the Titans a 1-0 win.
August 31 – The Falcons annihilate the Bayhawks in a 13-0 blowout. CHA SP Alex Vallejo (12-9, 3.29 ERA) goes the distance with a 3-hit shutout.
September 1 – The Rebels beat the Cyclones, 3-0, with a combined 1-hitter in which only Cincy’s CF Nando Maiello (.284, 2 HR, 29 RBI) manages to hit a single. He is in fact the Cyclones’ only base runner. SP Ian Van Meter (10-11, 3.78 ERA) takes the win, pitching six innings.

Complaints and stuff

We do not have a third left-handed reliever, or a third catcher up, and the reason for both of these irregularities is a shortage of roster spots as well as insufficient human resources in general.

Say goodbye to Shane Walter, who is a free agent and let it be known that he thinks he’s worth around $20M in his next contract. Loaded with dead money, the Raccoons can not offer such a contract, so Walter will be a free agent after the season. Other free agents: Ramirez, Jackson, Denny, Mathews, Davis, Charters, sorted in descending order by salary.

But, with Walter … I am sure we can find somebody else who can hit into double play upon double play for his 800 grand.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (77-58) vs. Titans (58-77) – September 2-4, 2019

Each in their own ways, both of these teams were a mess. The Raccoons couldn’t chain wins – or even runs – together in any meaningful number, and the Titans were the worst offensive team overall, with a middling pitching staff that included the third-best rotation in the league and a bullpen full of rotten apples. Although the Titans were soundly in last place in the North, the Raccoons had only barely edged them so far in 2019, holding a 7-5 lead in the season series. The Critters had won the season series, 12-6, the last two years in a row, but wasn’t there something to be said about good pitching and crummy hitting?

Projected matchups:
Travis Garrett (1-0, 4.76 ERA) vs. Ozzie Pereira (10-12, 3.96 ERA)
Bobby Guerrero (9-7, 3.54 ERA) vs. Rick Ling (11-11, 3.37 ERA)
Cole Pierson (9-11, 3.38 ERA) vs. Jonathan Ryan (3-4, 3.56 ERA)

Ling would be the only southpaw to contend with in this series, but due to roster expansion he might get shifted to Wednesday, possibly.

The Titans had only one player on the DL, Desi Bowles, and he could merrily rot in hell if I had a say, while the Raccoons continued to lack numerous personnel. Despite several setbacks now, we expected Matt Nunley to come back around mid-week, with Jonathan Toner and Andy Bareford not expected to return before the middle of the month, and, well, the flock of relievers and Danny Margolis were out for the year anyway.

Game 1
BOS: SS F. Reyes – 3B T. Thomas – RF Almanza – C T. Robinson – 1B J. Duran – 2B Humphres – LF Mata – CF Reichardt – P Pereira
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Walter – SS McKnight – 1B H. Mendoza – LF DeWeese – C Denny – 3B Petracek – CF DeWald – P Garrett

Garrett had only allowed two hits in his first career start, but was whacked for three singles in the first inning, and also walked Tom Thomas after Frank Reyes’ leadoff single to create a hole for himself immediately. The Titans scored only one run on Tim Robinson’s RBI single in the first inning, but probably Garrett only made it out of the first thanks to Robby Humphres’ hitting one of those sharp grounders right at Ronnie McKnight for an inning-ending double play. The Titans had another inning to kick themselves after in the third, in which Garrett drilled two of their batters, they hit another two singles and got a walk, and somehow scored only one run while leaving the bags full again. Reyes had been plunked to start the inning and had been caught stealing, which was the key to keeping the damage low. While the Titans had eight baserunners in the first three innings, the Raccoons had but one, and there was no reason to hope that they would spark at any point in this game, or the 26 other games to be contested thereafter. They had no further baserunners through five innings, while the Titans had a few more in the fifth, which was Garrett’s last. Tom Thomas led off with a single, Chris Almanza also singled, but on Robinson’s fly to right, Thomas tagged from third and made for home, where he was thrown out by Cookie Carmona. Garrett made it through with only two runs allowed, which didn’t even tell a tenth of the truth about his start. Pereira ran his 1-hitter into the bottom 6th, where Greenwald batted for Matt Schroeder and singled up the middle, his first base hit since August 11. But, well, we’re cursed, and so Cookie hit a liner right into Pereira’s mitten, with the errant Greenwald casually being doubled off first base to end the inning. It took the Coons to the eighth to get another runner, Denny singling up the middle with one out, and when Kevin DeWald rolled a ball under the lunging Tom Thomas’ glove into left, the Raccoons had TWO men on AT THE SAME TIME. Things like that hadn’t been seen ‘round here since ’69, and with the tying runs on and two outs, Eddie Jackson batted for Will West, hit a 2-2 pitch to fairly deep center, but couldn’t beat Adrian Reichardt’s range. The inning ended. Seung-mo Chun retired nobody and was charged an additional run in the top of the ninth, which totally didn’t matter, since the Raccoons didn’t reach base anyway in the bottom of the inning. 3-0 Titans. Greenwald (PH) 1-1;

The Loggers lost to the stinking Elks, which in this case is a good thing, but the bigger picture gives the Indians good chances to rally from currently six games down.

Game 2
BOS: SS F. Reyes – 3B T. Thomas – RF Almanza – C T. Robinson – 1B J. Duran – 2B Humphres – LF J. Roberts – CF Reichardt – P Ling
POR: LF Carmona – 3B Walter – RF Jackson – C Denny – 1B H. Mendoza – SS McKnight – CF Petracek – 2B Prince – P Guerrero

Ling lived by generating poor contact to the ground, and did not particularly excel with strikeouts, having issued more walks than whiffs this season, which was his sophomore campaign. The Raccoons lived generating poor contact and then heading for dinner, so this looked like a match made in heaven for the Titans lefty, but in fact he got thumped by Mike Denny with a 3-run shot to center right in the first inning. Walter had been brushed by a pitch and Jackson had singled to right to set up Denny, who would come up again with the same guys on and nobody out in the bottom 3rd. By then the Titans had closed the gap to 3-2 thanks to a homer by Adrian Reichardt to start the top 3rd, and then a throwing error by Walter plating Frank Reyes later in the inning. Denny flew out to Almanza this time, but Mendoza’s bloop loaded the bases – but of course scored nobody. McKnight grounded slowly to the first base side of the mound, which could have been an out at home against a right-handed pitcher, but Ling as lefty fell away from that ball, and Robby Humphres couldn’t get to it in time to make a play, leaving McKnight with a bases-loaded, RBI infield single. Petracek popped out, but Prince singled(!) to center. Jackson scored, Mendoza was sent and thrown out, but the 3-run gap was restored at 5-2.

The Titans had the bases loaded in the following inning, starting with Jose Duran’s leadoff single to right. Humphres had his grounder bobbled by Walter for his second error in the game, and Reichardt would reach on an infield single after a fly to left by Jimmy Roberts. Ling struck out, and Reyes poked at a 3-1 pitch, driving it to left center, where Cookie made a running catch to keep the Titans away. Like Garrett the day before, Guerrero was thoroughly done after five messy innings, needing 104 pitches to clear 15 outs. After a clean sixth pitched by Kaiser, the Coons had the bases loaded in the bottom of the inning for Eddie Jackson, whose fly to right went past Almanza for a 2-out double and knocked out Ling. Right-hander Mat Stone got a grounder to third from Denny that prevented the runners from scoring to begin with, and Mendoza’s fly to right was of the overpaid loser variety just as well. No matter the ills of the lineup, the Raccoons were in control of the game now, with Wade Davis delivering a scoreless seventh before Adam Cowen pitched the final two innings, whiffing four Titans. 7-2 Raccoons. Jackson 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI; McKnight 3-4, RBI; Lafon (PH) 1-1; Cowen 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K;

The Loggers won on Tuesday, but lost Ian Coleman (.303, 5 HR, 45 RBI) to a back injury. He would be out for probably all of the remainder of the regular season. This came one day after they played southpaw Gary Ledford (4-3, 3.08 ERA, 1 SV) on the DL with ulnar nerve irritation.

Matt Nunley rejoined the team for the Wednesday game. Wickedly, Wednesday’s assumed starter was shipped off to Los Angeles overnight, as the Pacifics traded for Jonathan Ryan (3-4, 3.56 ERA), leaving the Titans with replacement level SS Tyler Gray (.288, 0 HR, 6 RBI) and interesting prospect SS Tristen Baptiste, who was however unranked. Chris Klein (12-7, 2.86 ERA) would take the Wednesday start.

Game 3
BOS: 2B F. Reyes – 3B T. Thomas – RF Almanza – C T. Robinson – SS Gray – 1B J. Duran – LF J. Avila – CF Reichardt – P Klein
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Walter – SS McKnight – 1B H. Mendoza – RF Jackson – 3B Nunley – C Denny – LF DeWeese – P Pierson

With Jonny Toner stashed away on the DL, Chris Klein was one of several challengers for the strikeout crown in the Continental League, but to start this game he couldn’t really show off his craft. In the first four Raccoons to bat, Klein surrendered a single to Shane Walter and was sabotaged by two throwing errors that plated one run and placed Walter and Mendoza in scoring position with one out. The Raccoons were totally above exploiting such embarrassing weakness; Jackson struck out, and Nunley rolled one over to Reyes. The Raccoons would soon take a couple of beatings, with the Titans crapping on Pierson for three runs in the top of the second inning that were a variety of stupid with hit batters and balks galore, and Cookie Carmona hurt himself on a throw to home plate that was never going to nab anybody, and had to be replaced by Kevin DeWald. The Raccoons unleashed 2-out terror to produce their own 3-spot in the bottom 2nd, with Pierson opening the rally with a 2-out single to right, followed by a DeWald single, a 2-run double in the gap by Shane Walter, and McKnight’s single to right to chase home Walter to retake the lead, but Pierson continued to get bopped, and Almanza’s solo homer tied the game right away in the top of the third, 4-4. Robinson and Gray both hit singles after that before Duran hit into a double play, which saved Pierson’s numb, left-handed bacon right then and there.

Pierson, the stupid ****, continued to rally for another loss, allowing a leadoff single to Reyes in the fifth, and then hit Thomas right away. Almanza hit into a double play, but Pierson just walked Robinson, and then that replacement level shortstop had his third hit in three attempts, dropping a single into shallow right to give the Titans a 5-4 lead. Jose Duran hit another RBI single, and Pierson wasn’t heard from again after the inning. Will West was turned inside out in the seventh inning, which the Titans opened with three rollers through the infield for three singles, with runs scored on a bases-loaded walk to Jose Avila and a groundout by Xavier Williams, extending the score to 8-4, which was of course not the end of the rope for the Titans. West continued to get murdered in the eighth, allowing another three singles with a run already in. Alex Ramirez came into the game for mop-up services, but allowed an RBI single to Gray, walked Duran, and after Avila fouled out also walked Williams with the bases ****ing loaded. Jimmy Roberts’ pinch-hit 2-run single gave the Titans a 5-spot and 13 runs in total. Somewhere, somehow, the Raccoons also found three runs in those last three innings. Jackson hit a sac fly. Nunley hit a blooper for an RBI single off Harley Molski in the ninth. Bless them. Bless them. 13-7 Titans. DeWald 2-3; Walter 4-5, 2B, 2 RBI; McKnight 2-5, RBI;

****ing *** hat Tyler Gray had five hits in his Titans debut after hardly ever making the lineup for the Pacifics. **** him.

Cookie Carmona was diagnosed with back spasms after a careful reading of the lines in his left paw administered by the Druid and would be day-to-day and would probably not start the Friday game as a precaution.

It is interesting, because many claim that the lines have to be written in the dominant hand, but Mena always reads them in the left hand, which he explains is closer to the heart.

Raccoons (78-60) @ Vancouver (70-69) – September 6-8, 2019

It was good getting the team out of the house and country and having the park and the premises to myself for a weekend. While I generally liked being around the team and players in general, right now I could not have enough distance between them and me, for they stunk with the intensity of a roadkill skunk that had been lying in the smoldering summer sun for 12 weeks.

So it was fitting that they headed for Vancouver to play the Elks, where the Critters needed one win to claim their first season series against the Mooseheads since 2014, coming in 9-6 on the year. I was not confident. The Elks were second in runs scored in the CL with the best batting average. On the other hand, they had the worst pitching staff, with the rotation with the highest ERA and a bullpen that was not only inept to begin with, but also hopelessly beleaguered and frequently drubbed.

Projected matchups:
Tadasu Abe (10-8, 2.97 ERA) vs. Zach Hughes (13-10, 3.77 ERA)
Hector Santos (11-10, 2.85 ERA) vs. R.J. Lloyd (10-8, 4.18 ERA)
Travis Garrett (1-1, 4.22 ERA) vs. Ryan Dunn (8-14, 6.27 ERA)

Only right-handers to worry about here. The Elks split a 4-game set with the Loggers mid-week, so the Coons were now half a game out in the division.

Abe and Santos were a combined 0-8 in their last 14 starts, but their combined ERA was a normally non-lethal 3.87, hinting at this misery being the work of cosmic forces beneath our level of understanding.

Game 1
POR: 2B Walter – RF Jackson – SS McKnight – 1B H. Mendoza – C Denny – 3B Nunley – LF DeWeese – CF DeWald – P Abe
VAN: SS Otis – 1B Pace – CF Rocha – RF Branch – C Padilla – 2B J. Gutierrez – LF A. Torres – 3B Howell – P Hughes

The Elks got on the board first with a leadoff jack to left center in the second inning hit by Dave Padilla, although Shane Walter pulled the run back with a 2-out solo homer in the third inning, this one hit to far right, his eighth of the season. Offense was otherwise slow early on. Abe had a three strikeouts in the first two innings before stopping with that and trusting his defense for whatever reason, and the Raccoons were just naturally inept. Both teams would have a runner on second base with nobody out in the fifth inning. Nunley was walked and wild-pitched over to second to start the top 5th, but the bottom of the order was nothing if not the death of any runner, and the Elks got Alex Torres there, also with a leadoff single and then a stolen base on which Denny never got a throw off, but a pop, a K, and a grounder to Walter left him on base, leaving the score even at one after five innings.

Walter reached on an error to start the sixth inning, with Tim Pace dropping Jose Gutierrez’ feed on a casual grounder to second. Jackson hit right into a double play, the Raccoons’ second of the day. Looking forward to Tadasu Abe being the first Raccoons pitcher to log an out in the sixth inning on the week – on ****ING FRIDAY – the Raccoons had to watch in horror as Tim Pace, Mario Rocha, and Ezra Branch hit singles in order. One run scored on Branch’s single, and while Padilla hit into a double play, Rocha scored on that 6-4-3. Gutierrez doubled, and Abe’s day was done and in the bin after Alex Torres struck out. Mendoza got on base to start the seventh with a soft single to right center, but Nunley was ready for a double play, #3 on the day.

Top 8th, DeWeese opened with a single to center, and somehow in a full count DeWald found a walk against Zach Hughes. Joey Mathews batted for Wade Davis and grounded sharply to first on the first pitch he saw, where Tim Pace became undone solely by his bulky and immobile body. The ball went up the line for an RBI double, which put the Coons down 3-2 with the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position, no outs, and the top of the order approaching. Shane Walter got **** done right away, singling up the middle to score both runs and flipping the score to 4-3 for Portland. New pitcher Robby Delikat struck out Jackson, but then surrendered a single to McKnight and an unlikely 3-run homer to left to Mendoza, which was about the point where you had to wonder whether you were awake or dreaming. When Rocha hit a hard drive that was only barely scraped out of the skies by DeWald to start the bottom 8th, and Seung-mo Chun then proceeded by walking the next guy Branch on four pitches, being awake and this being real remained at least possible. Although he would have deserved some, Chun allowed no runs in the eighth, and Matt Schroeder did away with the bottom of the order in the ninth inning. 7-3 Coons. Walter 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; McKnight 2-4; Mendoza 3-4, HR, 3 RBI; Mathews (PH) 2-2, 2B, RBI;

The W, however, went to Davis, so the Abe/Santos malady goes on unabated. Well, there IS a guy on tap that can end it at friggin’ 0-for-15.

In good news, the Loggers fell to a 5-hit shutout thrown at them by Indy’s “Ant” Mendez (12-7, 3.42 ERA), dropping that one 7-0, so the Coons were now ahead by half a game (and have the game in hand, so would control their own destiny).

Game 2
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Walter – SS McKnight – 1B H. Mendoza – C Denny – 3B Nunley – LF DeWeese – CF DeWald – P Santos
VAN: SS Otis – 1B Pace – CF Rocha – RF Branch – C Padilla – 2B J. Gutierrez – LF K. Evans – 3B Howell – P Lloyd

The Elks got burned by DeWald when they refused to walk him intentionally with two outs and Nunley on second base in the second inning. DeWald found the gap with a howling liner and hit an RBI triple, chasing home Nunley with the first run of the game. Santos struck out, leaving it at that one run in the inning. Santos walked two in the bottom 2nd, which was always noteworthy given that he was still short of 30 bases on balls in 2019, and made it out of the inning unharmed when he played Kurt Evans’ grounder himself for a force on Gutierrez on second base, and then got Rob Howell to hit a soft line right at Walter to end the inning. More offense came from an unlikely direction in the third, where McKnight hit a 2-out single and was then allowed to jog home on Mendoza’s homer to right.

But no 3-0 lead could be left undisturbed. Santos hung a 1-2 pitch to Lloyd, who hit a leadoff single in the bottom of the inning, soon followed by a sharp double to left by Matt Otis (who now had a 13-game hitting streak) and another walk issued to Tim Pace. Bases loaded, no outs, Mario Rocha popped out to Walter, but then Santos lost Ezra Branch to a full-count, bases-loaded walk. Padilla fouled out and Gutierrez grounded out, but the real question was WHY, THE ****, WHY?? Santos continued to be in nothing but trouble, with the Elks playing themselves out of the fourth with a double play, and had two men on in the fifth when Padilla lined out hard to McKnight, keeping them 3-1 behind. Top 6th, Mendoza and Denny opened with singles, but Nunley was too eager to do damage and popped out on a 3-1 pitch. DeWeese drew the walk when he arrived at 3-1, but now the bases were loaded for DeWald, who had yet to show any hitting prowess, an odd triple notwithstanding. And here DeWald chopped a ball right back to Lloyd, who got Denny knocked out at home, but DeWald made it to first safely and the bases remained loaded for, uh, Santos, who was batting .127. In a crazy world and a crazy game even at the calmest of times, it was not really a miracle when Santos knocked the first pitch up the rightfield line, into the corner, and the bases cleared on the double, 6-1, and Lloyd was history.

While the Critters got to rummage in the tasty intestines of whoever populated that shallow end of the Elks’ pen and McKnight knocked a 2-run homer off Dan Moon in the seventh, Santos didn’t get through that inning either, allowing a 2-out single to Pace and then walking Rocha, his fifth free pass in the game. Lillis came on and retired Branch on a grounder to short to get things back in line. Joey Mathews hit for him in the eighth and raked a solo bomb off Robby Hill. The parade got rudely interrupted by the Elks in the bottom 8th, who put three singles on Will West, and those eventually all became runs thanks to Seung-mo Chun allowing a 1-out, 2-run triple to pinch-hitting Steve Roundtree, but at least Chun finished the game with a scoreless ninth before we had to bother another six relievers… 9-4 Coons. Walter 3-5; McKnight 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Mendoza 2-4, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Denny 2-5; DeWeese 1-2, 2 BB; Mathews (PH) 1-1, HR, RBI; Santos 6.2 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 5 BB, 3 K, W (12-10) and 1-3, 2B, 3 RBI;

Hugo Mendoza hit home runs in back-to-back games for the first time since May.

And at least that 0-for-15 with Abe and Santos is over. Only Abe to worry about now.

Game 3
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Walter – SS McKnight – 1B H. Mendoza – LF DeWeese – 3B Nunley – C Walker – CF Bareford – P Garrett
VAN: SS Otis – 1B Pace – CF Rocha – RF Branch – C Padilla – LF Fellows – 2B J. Gutierrez – 3B Howell – P R. Dunn

When Cookie opened the game with a single, it was his first time reaching base safely the entire week and prompted Shane Walter to hit into a celebratory double play. McKnight’s and Mendoza’s singles were for nothing, with DeWeese popping out foul to end the inning. The first run was actually knocked in by Garrett with one out in the second inning when he singled through between Otis and Howell, chasing home Owen Walker, who had singled, with DeWald moving to third base. DeWald had reached on a gross throwing error by Howell that had sent the runners to scoring position. With runners on the corners, Cookie and Walter both failed, resulting in a pop and a grounder to second. McKnight hit a leadoff single in the third, and then Mendoza AGAIN hit a home run, running the score to 3-0, and giving him homers in each game of the series just as I had Mena at the point where he’d fill his death certificate so we could collect insurance.

But it was perhaps too early to congratulate another for a series sweep, because we still had a wonky rookie on the mound that had walked eight batters in 10.2 innings coming into the game, although Garrett issued no walks in the first three innings and instead whiffed four against two singles. Indeed, Garrett came pretty close to dissolving in the fourth inning, with Rocha opening by popping out on a 3-1 pitch, after which Branch and Padilla hit back-to-back doubles to get the Elks on the board, now down 3-1, but the Critters appeared to have suddenly found their home run swing, with DeWeese putting two more runs on the board with a shot to right center off Dunn in the fifth, 5-1, although the Elks got a run back in the bottom 5th with Roundtree landing a pinch-hit single, advancing on a wild pitch, stealing third base, and scoring on a sac fly, 5-2.

Garrett didn’t get through the sixth inning; Branch hit another double, but after that he lost both Padilla and Mike Fellows to walks in full counts. Troy Charters came on with **** steaming and one out, had Gutierrez at 1-2 and then still allowed a hard single to right to score two runs. Howell hit into a double play, but the gap was down to a single run now. On to the seventh, where McKnight hit a leadoff single and stole second base before DeWeese was hit by a pitch from reliever Bill Dean. Nunley popped out, but Walker and DeWald displayed some more bottom-of-the-order clutch hitting with both landing RBI singles on Dean, Walker to left and DeWald to center, running the score to 7-4 before Jackson lined out to short to end the inning. Pat Slayton walked Cookie to get the eighth underway, but Walter and McKnight would both hit into fielder’s choices. Mendoza singled to right to continue his unexpected and long overdue hot streak, and then DeWeese sent a drive to right center and was retired only on a spectacular play by Branch that ended the inning. Alex Ramirez got his first save opportunity in a while, and quickly set out to bork it. He walked leadoff man Gutierrez in the ninth, then allowed a single to Howell to put runners on the corners and bring the tying run up with nobody out. A run-scoring groundout by Kurt Evans and an RBI double by Otis later, the ****ing ****** was yanked, and Brett Lillis had the joy of facing the 2-3 batters with the tying run on second, and they weren’t even left-handers. Lillis needed exactly one pitch to end the game; Tim Pace hit it all the way to Manitoba. 8-7 Canadiens. McKnight 3-5; Mendoza 4-5, HR, 2 RBI; DeWeese 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Walker 3-5, RBI; Davis 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

The Raccoons had 16 hits, 14 of which were singles, and found time for two more double plays after four on Saturday. The ****ing Elks had 11 hits, but five were for extra bases. They left four on base, the Raccoons stranded nine.

In other news

September 7 – The Loggers rally from four runs down to beat the Indians for a ninth-inning walkoff, putting up a 5-spot in the ninth inning for an 8-7 win. Two runs scored consecutively on bases-loaded walks.
September 8 – DAL 3B/2B Hector Garcia (.294, 8 HR, 51 RBI) collects his 2,500th career base hit with a pinch-hit single in the Stars’ 14-3 scalping suffered at the hands of the Warriors. The career Star Garcia is in his 17th major league season and a career .314 batter with 181 HR and 1,272 RBI. He was the 2008 FL Player of the Year and was also FLCS MVP in that season and was an All Star 11 times. He won the World Series with the Stars in 2006. In his career he has led the Federal League in doubles four times, including topping 60 in both 2005 (61) and 2010 (65!).
September 8 – The Rebels have themselves a 1-0 walkoff win thanks to OF/1B Jon Correa (.279, 15 HR, 77 RBI) taking Pittsburgh’s John Watson deep.

Complaints and stuff

It is one thing when the offense is total bull****, but when you face the worst offensive team in the league, and none of your starting pitchers manages to see the sixth inning, you know that the baseball gods have decided against you just for ****s and giggles.

I am probably too close, but I guess from a safe distance teams in the other three divisions are having a lot of fun watching this mountain-sized tire fire.

Remaining games for the top three in the North, and we will list the Indians, since they have enough games left with the Coons to get right into the thick of things with a sweep (also listed: strength of schedule, playoff chance):

POR: IND (4), MIL (4), NYC (4), BOS (3), CHA (3), LVA (3) – .513 – 42.5%
MIL: POR (4), SFB (4), BOS (3), NYC (3), TIJ (3), VAN (3) – .487 – 55.1%
IND: BOS (5), POR (4), VAN (4), CHA (3), LVA (3), NYC (3) – .503 – 2.4%

Indy and Boston will play consecutive double-headers next week, which sounds like more fun for fans than players. We have the Loggers on tap in Milwaukee starting on Monday, so it could get ugly right there and then.

And MAYBE… Jonny Toner can take a start on the weekend. MAYBE.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (80-61) @ Loggers (80-62) – September 9-12, 2019

The moment of truth probably had arrived. Should one of the teams manage to get swept, the division would probably be over for the year. Neither the Coons nor the Loggers had been anywhere remotely near dominant in the last couple of weeks, both were dealing with injuries in numbers, and those Indians were coming closer. The Coons still held a 9-5 lead in the season series over the Loggers, who ranked third in runs scored and runs allowed, with a +102 run differential. The Raccoons were tied for seventh in runs scored, and still led the league in runs allowed, with a +111 run differential.

Projected matchups:
Bobby Guerrero (10-7, 3.48 ERA) vs. Julio San Pedro (9-10, 4.19 ERA)
Cole Pierson (9-12, 3.57 ERA) vs. Ian Prevost (14-8, 2.65 ERA)
Tadasu Abe (10-8, 3.02 ERA) vs. Ron Bartlatt (11-10, 3.30 ERA)
Hector Santos (12-10, 2.80 ERA) vs. Chris Sinkhorn (6-6, 3.94 ERA)

Right-handers from Monday through Wednesday, and the southpaw Sinkhorn on Thursday.

The Loggers are missing Chris LeMoine (.281, 26 HR, 97 RBI) and Ian Coleman (.303, 5 HR, 45 RBI) from their lineup, and the Raccoons were still down Andy Bareford, Danny Margolis, and Jonny Toner.

Game 1
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Walter – SS McKnight – 1B H. Mendoza – LF DeWeese – C Denny – 3B Nunley – CF DeWald – P Guerrero
MIL: 2B Stewart – SS Burns – RF Gore – 3B Velez – LF Hodgers – 1B P. Turner – CF Tesch – C Wool – P San Pedro

Guerrero’s first pitch hit Tyler Stewart, who right away stole his 36th base of the season, and it wasn’t long before Brad Gore smashed a pitch by Guerrero to right, deep and deeper, for a 2-run homer. That was his 11th of the season, and the Raccoons were immediately in arrears. The good thing was that they were facing a pitcher with a worse-than-average ERA and secondary stats that hinted at him having been lucky to have arrived even there. The Coons loaded the bases in the third inning with nobody out as Cookie singled, Walter walked, and McKnight singled, and unfortunately that brought up Dumbo Mendoza, who hit a ****ty soft fly that didn’t even get Cookie home from third base, and then DeWeese and Denny struck out. Always the same, always the same with this team. Cookie popped out to Kyle Burns to strand Kevin DeWald in scoring position in the fourth inning, and then the fifth started with consecutive singles by Walter and McKnight, bringing up Mendoza again. The capitally lost ex-slugger ran a full count before bouncing a ball to Alberto Velez, opening up the Raccoons for all kinds of terrible things once more, except that Velez overran the ball, was assessed an error, and the Coons had the bases loaded with no outs for the second time in three innings. This time, they got San Pedro. DeWeese rolled a single past Pat Turner for the first run, Denny walked to tie the score at two, and then Nunley hit a soft single to center to score the go-ahead run, Mendoza. San Pedro was yanked at that point, with left-hander Carlos Michel coming in with the bases still loaded and still no outs. Two more runs scored on his watch, with DeWald hitting a sac fly, and Cookie coming up with an RBI single with two outs.

Guerrero now held a 5-2 lead, but although the Loggers still only had that one hit well deep by Gore, they certainly had met other balls to make noise, but they couldn’t get them to fall in. They hit another few hard ones in the fifth, still with no success, and through six they remained one-hit, and actually had more errors than hits, too. The Coons chewed up Michel in the seventh, with DeWald hitting a single, stealing a base, Cookie walking, and both pulled off a double steal. Walter was walked intentionally to get to McKnight, although I failed to see the genius in that strategy, which soon turned into nothing more than an untimely move when Toby Wood’s very first pitch was wild and scored DeWald from third base, 6-2. McKnight worked an honest walk eventually, Mendoza hit an RBI single that plated Cookie while Walter was sent around third to score as well, but was thrown out by Victor Hodgers. DeWeese grounded out to Stewart, stranding two in scoring position in a 7-2 game. It took the Loggers until the eighth inning to log another hit, a 2-out single by Josh Wool, but that wasn’t greatly helping them. On the other hand, the Raccoons scored three unearned runs on Morgan Shepherd in the top of the ninth, with Pat Turner making the Loggers’ third error to their two hits. Guerrero did away with the Loggers on 101 pitches, not requiring assistance from the bullpen after the rocky start. 10-2 Furballs. Carmona 2-5, BB, RBI; McKnight 4-5, BB; Greenwald (PH) 1-1; Mathews (PH) 1-1, 2 RBI; Nunley 3-6, 2 RBI; DeWald 2-4, BB, RBI; Guerrero 9.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, W (11-7);

Guerrero, almost 30 years old, entered the season with four complete games in his career. This was his sixth complete game *this season*.

Game 2
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Walter – SS McKnight – 1B H. Mendoza – LF DeWeese – C Denny – 3B Nunley – CF DeWald – P Pierson
MIL: 2B Stewart – SS Burns – RF Gore – LF Hodgers – C P. Turner – CF Cooper – 3B Pagan – 1B Betancourt – P Prevost

Nobody scored in the first few innings, although the Critters had their chances. David Betancourt made an error in the first inning that was not exploited, and in the second they had Denny and Nunley on base only for DeWald to hit into a double play to end the frame. Pat Turner made a throwing error in the fourth inning when Mendoza tried to steal second base after walking, allowing Mendoza to reach third base with one out, but DeWeese whiffed and Denny fouled out in a full count to keep the Coons off the scoreboard. Both teams had only two base knocks apiece through five innings, and Nunley had both of the Raccoons’, but it didn’t get the team very far. After the DeWald double play in the second, Nunley got forced on a bad bunt by Pierson in the fifth, so that was that.

The serenity at this point was most likely to be blasted by a surprise homer, and Kyle Burns hit a deep drive to left to start the bottom of the sixth, but DeWeese made the catch at the wall. When Victor Hodgers drove a ball hard and high to right, no such saving catch could be made by Cookie – that ball was clearly and soundly gone, and the Loggers took a 1-0 lead. Nunley hit a 2-out double in the seventh, which DeWald answered to by striking out, then managed to misplay a drive to center by Andrew Cooper to give the opposing centerfielder a leadoff double in the bottom of the seventh. Pierson, lacking stuff, couldn’t cope with that either, and the Loggers moved their guy around to score on two productive outs. Pierson was gone after the inning, with Chun and Kaiser tasked to mix it up in the eighth. Chun got his two men, but Kaiser got taken deep by Brad Gore to extend the score to 3-0. Outside a pinch-walk by Roland Lafon in the ninth inning, the Raccoons had nothing to offer, and fell feebly to Ian Prevost, who got his 15th win with eight shutout innings, whiffing seven. 3-0 Loggers. Nunley 3-3, 2B; Pierson 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, L (9-13);

That makes seven defeats in his last eight games for Pierson, and by the time his next start will come around he will have gone two full months with only one victory claimed.

Game 3
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Walter – SS McKnight – 1B H. Mendoza – RF Jackson – 3B Nunley – C Walker – CF Petracek – P Abe
MIL: 2B Stewart – 1B P. Turner – 3B Velez – CF Cooper – LF Hodgers – SS Tadlock – RF Buddin – C Redmond – P Bartlatt

Abe was also winless in the last eight contests he had started, but the Raccoons at least gave him some runs early on that he would have to manage. Mendoza and Jackson opened the second inning with singles, after which Nunley, who had gone unretired in the previous game when everybody else had been (almost) nothing but retired, fired a ball into the gap in left center for an RBI double. Walker struck out, but Petracek plated a run with a groundout, which had Nunley on third with two outs and Abe batting. Maybe the worst-hitting pitcher in the league, Abe drew a walk from a completely unnerved Ron Bartlatt, who then allowed an RBI single to Cookie Carmona to give the Coons a 3-spot before Walter grounded out. The Raccoons added a fourth run in the fourth inning, Petracek scoring from third base on a really sorry 2-out blooper into shallow center chopped by Walter, while Abe was not exactly perfect, but whenever somebody appeared on base for the Loggers he usually got a lucky break or a really good defensive play, like in the bottom 5th when he hit Judson Buddin with a 2-2 pitch, but then got a tailor-made double play grounder to short from Adam Redmond.

While Abe kept shutting out the Loggers through six (although his pitch count made an actual shutout prohibitive), the Raccoons got Cookie on with a leadoff single in the seventh. Itching to go, Cookie had witnessed Petracek being thrown out an inning earlier (except maybe if he had been sitting in the fridge, which happened from time to time with this team). He never got a steal attempt off under Redmond’s watchful pair of eyes while Walter flew out to left and McKnight went down looking. Mendoza then singled, sending Cookie to third, but Jackson hit a slow roller in front of home plate, and the inning would have ended if Redmond hadn’t slipped with his fingers when he tried to rip his mask off. Befuddled for only a split second, it was the difference that Jackson needed to leg out the poor grounder, while Cookie scored with the fifth run of the game, and all were the Coons’. Bartlatt game-overed at that point, while Toby Wood retired Nunley on a grounder to third, ending the inning.

Abe departed with runners on the corners and one out in the bottom 7th, having surrendered a walk to Buddin and a single to Redmond. Wade Davis came on and allowed hard contact to PH Brian Lautner and Tyler Stewart, but the Loggers kept getting unlucky and both were right at a defender, Cookie and Ronnie respectively. While Velez romped a solo home run off Will West in the bottom of the eighth inning to bring the Loggers back into slam range, Mendoza’s 2-run shot off James Silmon in the top of the ninth pretty much ended the game. While Ron Tadlock and Brad Tesch would hit doubles off Matt Schroeder to plate another run in the bottom of the ninth, this game was firmly the Coons’, Abe’s not-winning streak was over, and the Critters would also maintain the division lead throughout this series. 7-2 Raccoons. Carmona 3-5, RBI; Mendoza 3-5, HR, 2 RBI; Jackson 3-5, RBI; Nunley 2-5, 2B, RBI; Abe 6.1 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, W (11-8);

Resting guys was still a thing and we had refrained from that so far in this series, but with a left-hander up in the Thursday game it was as good a point as any to rotate right-handers into the lineup.

Game 4
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Mathews – RF Jackson – 1B H. Mendoza – C Denny – 3B Nunley – CF Petracek – SS Lafon – P Santos
MIL: 1B P. Turner – SS Burns – RF Gore – 3B Velez – CF Cooper – 2B Krueger – LF Tesch – C Stickley – P Sinkhorn

Yes, Sinkhorn was a left-hander, but he was also walk-prone, and that could be an inroad for the Raccoons; indeed the first inning got going for them with Mathews walking, and Eddie Jackson and Dumbo Mendoza quickly came up with a pair of doubles to left for a 2-0 lead. Nunley would plate Mendoza with a 2-out single, 3-0, but also got the Loggers into gear in the bottom 1st, putting Burns on base after a gross throwing error; his offering to Mendoza actually missed first base by 15 feet. Santos labored on, getting Gore on a pop before Lafon mishandled Velez’ grounder to put Loggers on the corner on two errors. This was exactly the sort of thing you did NOT want to see, just ahead of the drive Andrew Cooper hit to right. Jackson with a soaring catch kept the 3-0 lead in one piece in the first inning – a marvelous play indeed!

Mess continued in the second inning. Jack Stickley hit a double to left with two outs, which was only half-bad since the pitcher came up. Santos promptly hit said pitcher, which put two men on base, and Pat Turner’s single chased home Stickley with the Loggers’ first run, 3-1. While the Coons scored two runs in the third with Denny tripling home Jackson and scoring himself on a wild pitch, Brad Gore led off the bottom of the inning with a double. Santos wild-pitched him to third base, from where he scored on Velez’ groundout, 5-2. Boys, this is serious! These games count double! Stop playing with your ****ing food!

Cooper got on with a single and stole second base, but finally Santos did something remotely resembling pitching and hung consecutive K’s on Gene Krueger and Brad Tesch to escape only the third inning. Sinkhorn didn’t appear for the fifth inning, with Toby Wood taking over, and sloppy ballplay continued on both sides unabated. Mendoza hit a fly to center with one out that Cooper dropped for a free base runner for the visiting team. Denny struck out against Toby Wood, but then Nunley cranked a ball to deep right with two outs and that was outta here, 7-2 for the Critters. Wood walked Petracek, then conceded a double to left to Roland Lafon that was enough for Petracek to score, 8-2, and things were getting really out of hand for Milwaukee now, but the Coons weren’t out of the weather yet. Santos’ pitch count had eloped early and he could not get deeper than six innings, and we had to turn to our bullpen, the never-ending box of wonders. Between Cowen and Kaiser, the Loggers got two on in the seventh, but Velez popped out in a full count to end that inning. But this turned out to be the Loggers’ last hurrah in this series. Kaiser delivered a spotless eighth, and with a 6-run lead in the ninth we dared to go back to Will West again, who this time was not only not scored upon, but also did allow a baserunner. 8-2 Critters. Jacson 2-5, 2B; Nunley 2-4, HR, 3 RBI;

PHEW. That went rather well overall, I guess. The Raccoons now have a 2 1/2 game lead and maybe even A BIT of momentum again. Maybe.

Raccoons (83-62) @ Aces (78-68) – September 13-15, 2019

The Aces were tied for the lead in the South, so it was not like this were suddenly going to be easy or something like that. They out-scored the Raccoons, ranking fourth in offense in the Continental League, and they had the second-least number of runs allowed, trailing only the Coons. Their run differential was +93. The season series was so far even at three games apiece.

Projected matchups:
Jonathan Toner (10-3, 2.52 ERA) vs. Jason Clements (12-11, 3.70 ERA)
Travis Garrett (1-1, 5.06 ERA) vs. John Key (11-14, 4.49 ERA)
Bobby Guerrero (11-7, 3.38 ERA) vs. Clark Johnson (2-2, 3.48 ERA)

Rejoice! Yes, it’s true! Jonny Triple Crown is back! While a triple crown is not in the books this season, there’s still enough room for a few decent starts and then winding up in the playoffs after all. Jonny had last pitched on July 2, so had missed about two-and-a-half months. In a pleasant departure from the swampy path trodden by most of the rotation, Toner also had a streak of winning decisions, four in total.

The Aces will send three right-handed pitchers (and they don’t have any other starters given that they have dropped G.G. Williams (6-4, 3.82 ERA) into the bullpen). Key an Johnson both pitched in a double-header on Tuesday, though, so we could see a flip or some rookie springing up out of nowhere.

Was it prudent to pitch Jonny Triple Crown on Friday the 13th?

Game 1
POR: RF Carmona – 3B Walter – SS McKnight – 1B H. Mendoza – 2B Mathews – LF DeWeese – C Denny – CF DeWald – P Toner
LVA: CF A. Martinez – LF D. Brown – 3B I. Alvarez – 1B M. Hamilton – RF Piepoli – C D. Rice – SS Navarro – 2B Arrieta – P Clements

In his first inning off the damned DL, Jonny had all Aces at two strikes, but whiffed none, having to settle for two pops and a grounder to Walter. However, that made for three outs, and results were all that counted now and here. Joey Mathews knew that and homered in the second to give Toner a 1-0 lead, but our star hurler soon found trouble in the bottom 2nd, starting with a walk to Matt Hamilton. After that, Saverio Piepoli and Danny Rice both struck out, but Toner walked Jose Navarro and hit Rich Arrieta to load the bases. Jason Clements was kind enough to strike out, but that had been an ugly inning. The Coons came up with add-on runs, although the one they scored in the third was basically Toner hitting a 1-out double and moving around on Cookie’s single and Walter’s groundout. DeWeese homered majestically in the fourth, 3-0, but Toner kept spilling runners, and had Rice and Navarro reach on a single and walk, respectively in the bottom 4th. Arrieta grounded out, moving them into scoring position with two outs, but Clements flatout beat Toner, hitting a sharp single to left to plate both runners and get the Aces back to 3-2.

Also, Toner’s pitch count was really and actually exploding; he needed 85 pitches through five, and that was with a rather quick fifth that only cost him seven pitches. Interesting things developed in the sixth inning. The Coons had had Walter on base with one out in the fifth and had been denied extra-base knocks to both McKnight and Mendoza when Armando Martinez redefined range for centerfielders, going extremely deep and almost to the wall for McKnight, and well into the gap in left center for Mendoza. In the sixth, DeWeese drew a 1-out walk before Denny doubled to left. The Aces called for DeWald to get first base for free in an attempt to maybe get Toner out of the game early. He was a .250 batter this season (.236 career), but had only a single RBI in 44 at-bats in ’19. With Santos on 85 pitches in this spot, he is batted for. Toner isn’t. And he struck out. And Cookie grounded out, leaving three men stranded. Toner got through the sixth, but that was all the magic for today. Kaiser and Charters got two outs each of the remaining nine, and with one out in the bottom 8th we moved on to Brett Lillis with the express intent to have him finish the game. Starting with Matt Hamilton, the Aces would send three left-handers in the next five batters, and that was exactly how many outs were needed. In an unpleasant development, Lillis put runners on the corners with a walk to Hamilton and a 2-out single by Rice (both left-handed…) before getting Jose Navarro to fly out to Petracek in right (with Cookie having been moved to left in a triple-switch).

While that 5-out save was out of the window for the moment, the Raccoons had their own situation with runners on the corners in the ninth. Petracek batted ninth and singled to left, with Cookie singling to right after that, both hits coming with one out off Alex Silva, a right-hander with decent enough numbers. The bid for an insurance run was semi-derailed when Walter struck out, but that was still preferable to his special move, a grounder to second for two. McKnight also fell behind, 1-2, but then rammed a single to right to chase home Petracek. Mendoza struck out, but there was an insurance run on the board now. Lillis remained in to face Arrieta, who flew out to deep center, then made way for Alex Ramirez, who had not pitched at all in the Loggers series and struck out Tony Perez in a full count, then got Armando Martinez’ blooper to left picked off the top of the grass blades by a sliding Cookie to end the game. 4-2 Furballs! Carmona 2-5; Petracek 1-1; Toner 6.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, W (11-3);

Not outrageous, but a job well done for Jonny in his return from medical hell. I can’t imagine what it is to get an eel therapy for a groin strain from the Druid…

Also, while the Coons had been assured to lead the division by week’s end by virtue of winning this game, the Loggers lost, extending our lead to 3 1/2 games.

Another gain off the DL: Andy Bareford rejoined the team for Saturday and went right into the lineup. We rested Cookie and Mendoza in this one, and those two were the last two regulars to not have gotten a day off this week.

Game 2
POR: 2B Walter – 3B Nunley – RF Jackson – SS McKnight – C Denny – LF DeWeese – CF Bareford – 1B Greenwald – P Garrett
LVA: CF A. Martinez – LF D. Brown – 3B I. Alvarez – 1B M. Hamilton – RF Piepoli – C D. Rice – SS Burke – 2B Arrieta – P C. Johnson

Nunley took Johnson deep in the first inning to give the rookie Garrett an early 1-0 lead, but Garrett wasn’t going to hold on to that for even one inning. He walked Armando Martinez at the start of his outing, then allowed a mighty 2-run shot to left center to Izzy Alvarez before even arriving at the real danger in the 4-5 slots. The same two guys were trouble again in the third, with Martinez hitting a leadoff single this time, and Alvarez reached on Greenwald’s error. Matt Hamilton drove in his 77th run with a single to center, Piepoli singled to right to load the bases, but Danny Rice hacked himself out and Jackson made a great play on Brent Burke’s line drive to right to end the inning with “only” a 3-1 deficit. And the Raccoons would lose this game, no doubt; the last hope was shattered by the fourth inning, when Eddie Jackson reached third base with nobody on thanks to a throwing error by Alvarez and a balk, and was not scored due to ****ty contact times three.

Garrett issued a leadoff walk to Arrieta in the fourth (and that game was really getting old…), and the Aces didn’t even bother bunting with their pitcher and nobody out. Johnson flew out to right, and that cost them a run, with Arrieta eventually being stranded on third base. Through five, the Coons had only two hits, but they got two more in the sixth inning, 1-out singles by Walter and Jackson to put the tying runs on base for McKnight, who ran a full count and laid off a pitch right on the corner. Or near the corner? Was it off? Was it a strike? It was NOT called a strike, McKnight walked, the bases were loaded, and the Aces manager was livid – trying to get into the playoffs himself – and was tossed after stomping around the field and yelling in the face of three of the four umpires, cleverly ignoring Bob Feldman at third base, who would call strikes, occasionally, in the Sunday game. The Aces also tossed their pitcher, bringing in former starter Stephen Quirion against Denny, who popped out on a 2-0 pitch, just before DeWeese flew out to Piepoli in right.

Garrett was also yanked after five and a third, walking Arrieta yet again for the final nail in the coffin. Denny caught Arrieta stealing to close Garrett’s line at three runs, and Seung-mo Chun got the Coons out of the inning, just before the scrubs at the bottom of the order knotted the score in the seventh. Bareford singled his way on, and then the unassuming Greenwald, who hadn’t collected a base hit since at least (and with that I mean the actual first Easter ever), wrapped a drive around the right foul pole the right way for a 2-run blast that got us even at three. Quirion faced Cookie batting for Chun, surrendered another single, and then another single to Walter that put runners on the corners with no outs. The Aces’ pen was scurrying, but nobody was ready to replace the failing Quirion. Nunley grounded out on the second pitch he got, moving Walter to second, and then Jackson got a free pass. Still on relief in sight, with McKnight batting with the bases loaded and one out, first pitch knocked sharply to right and past Hamilton! Piepoli was on it immediately and Walter wasn’t going to test his arm, but Cookie was home with the go-ahead run! Ken Chilcott NOW replaced Quiron, and the lefty would face Denny, who also hit a hard single to right to score another run, 5-3. Mathews batted for DeWeese, but Chilcott chased another run home on his own with a wild pitch. Mathews walked anyway, Bareford popped out, and with two outs, Greenwald singled to right, bringing home the sixth run of the inning. Cookie, who had pinch-hit with the inning in progress, got to bat again, fell behind 1-2 before singling to right again, Denny scored, Mathews raced hard for home, and Greenwald made for third, Piepoli with the throw back in, Arrieta cut it off and went to third, where Greenwald was nailed out, but not until after Mathews had scored. EIGHT IN THE SEVENTH!!! 9-3 in the lead, Portland!! The Aces were probably done, but they weren’t yet to give up just like that. Alvarez homered off Schroeder in the bottom of the inning to gnaw one run off the lead, and Wade Davis had a man on in the bottom 8th after Burke’s single to right, but when Arrieta hit sharply to Walter for a double play, it was indeed as good as over. Cowen pitched a scoreless ninth, and the Coons clinched the season series. 9-4 Coons! Walter 3-5; Carmona (PH) 2-2, 2 RBI;

Game 3
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Walter – SS McKnight – 1B H. Mendoza – 3B Nunley – LF DeWeese – CF Bareford – C Walker – P Guerrero
LVA: CF A. Martinez – LF D. Brown – 3B I. Alvarez – 1B M. Hamilton – RF Piepoli – C D. Rice – SS Burke – 2B Arrieta – P Key

After little action in the first two innings, the Coons got Bareford and Carmona on with two outs in the third inning. Shane Walter hit a fly to left that tried to stretch but couldn’t, and Dan Brown made the catch close to the corner. When Arrieta hit a fly to left to start the bottom 3rd, DeWeese couldn’t get there, the Aces had a leadoff double and would unwrap another four singles on Guerrero in the inning, scoring two runs before they left the bases loaded on Danny Rice’s fly to left. Brown had quite the game in leftfield, also snagging a soft liner by McKnight to lead off the fourth that would fall in maybe 49 out of 50 times. Burke hit a leadoff double in the bottom 4th, Arrieta plated him with a single, Bareford threw home way too late and Arrieta got to second, then to third when Guerrero, in the process of turning into a bloody spot on the mound, threw a wild pitch through Owen Walker’s legs. Key struck out, but Martinez singled sharply to left, and after nine hits and four runs, Guerrero’s game was over. Martinez stole second base off Chun, who moved him to third with a wild pitch of his own, but struck out Alvarez before the Aces could get a fifth run for their collection. DeWeese got the Coons at least onto the board with a leadoff jack in the fifth inning, but things turned sour for good in the bottom 5th. Schroeder was in to pitch long relief, but retired nobody: Hamilton singled, Piepoli tripled, Rice walked, Burke singled. 6-1, two on, nobody out. Will West replaced Schroeder because things didn’t matter anymore and you gotta know when you’ve lost. His first pitch was hit really hard by Arrieta, but on the ground and right at Walter for an easy double play, and he struck out Key to escape the inning. Things got worse in the sixth. Armando Martinez had a leadoff single, then stole TWO bases off Walker before anybody made an out. Brown grounded out to the pitcher, keeping Martinez on, and then West drilled Izzy Alvarez, who was then caught stealing by Walker. Then West hit Hamilton! Walking Piepoli ended West’s outing and if there’s any justice in the world also ended his career. Lillis came in to strike out Rice to prevent things from getting completely out of hand. The Coons had men on base, but stranded pairs in the sixth and seventh, and Nunley hit into a double play in the eighth. John Key pitched into the ninth, arriving there with an 8-hitter, and while he retired DeWeese to open the frame, there was a noticeable drop on the radar gun and he was hauled in. Steve Rob finished the game with the final gap being six runs after Dan Brown’s eighth-inning homer off Adam Cowen. 7-1 Aces. Thomson (PH) 1-1, 2B; Jackson (PH) 1-1;

Eight hits by eight batters, and six pitchers in a tremendous mess. Guerrero allowed only one hit in the first two innings, then eight in the next 1.1 innings. I should not complain too loudly, because the Raccoons won a game just like that on Saturday…

Armando Martinez stole five bases in the series. Bloody son of a roadrunner!!

In other news

September 9 – Tijuana’s Casey Hally (11-7, 3.97 ERA) and Brian Gilbert combine for a 1-hitter of the Thunder. OCT C Jalen Parks’ (.281, 13 HR, 78 RBI) seventh-inning single spares them the no-hit shame, but can’t prevent the Thunder from losing, 4-0.
September 9 – SFW RF/2B Stephen St. George (.224, 4 HR, 35 RBI) breaks the Scorpions with a come-from-behind, game-winning grand slam in the eighth inning off starter Joe Medina (7-9, 4.44 ERA). The Warriors hold on in the ninth to win 5-4.
September 10 – The Stars are down 5-0 in the ninth inning against the Wolves as SAL SP Juan Ortega (8-14, 5.13 ERA) tries to finish a 2-hit shutout, but loads the bases on a single and two walks without getting an out. A sac fly knocks Ortega from the game before Jim Cushing allows a single to John Contino, a 2-run double to Matt Harry, a run-scoring groundout to Hector Garcia, and finally a pinch-hit, 2-run walkoff blast to OF Chris Peters (.313, 6 HR, 28 RBI) to hand the Stars a 6-5 win.
September 11 – IND SS Raul Matias (.318, 16 HR, 92 RBI) collects three hits in the Indians’ 4-3 win over the Titans, extending his hitting streak to 20 games.
September 11 – The ball is flying well in Vegas on this Wednesday night in the Aces’ 8-4 loss to the Knights. The teams combine for seven home runs, four for the Knights and three for the Aces, and all but two are solo shots. ATL LF/1B Gil Rockwell (.252, 38 HR, 111 RBI) hits his 38th home run in three hits, driving in two.
September 12 – WAS SP Eric Williams (9-9, 4.00 ERA) throws a 1-hit shutout in a 2-0 game over the Buffaloes. The 22-year old rookie left-hander is separated from the history books early, allowing a single to Topeka’s Bill Adams right in the first inning.
September 12 – Just in the news, IND SS Raul Matias (.317, 16 HR, 92 RBI) is already out of it again,ending his hitting streak in a 6-2 defeat the Indians are handed by the Titans.
September 14 – Boston’s LF/RF Chris Almanza (.271, 16 HR, 51 RBI) is out for the season with a strained anterior cruciate ligament.
September 14 – In a slightly lopsided game, the Indians mangle the Falcons, 18-0, while Tom Shumway (5-3, 2.68 ERA) and Helio Maggessi combine for a 1-hitter. Shumway actually has a no-hitter going into the ninth, but concedes a pinch-hit leadoff single to Brandon Magee (.198, 1 HR, 13 RBI). For Indy, RF Cesar Martinez (.254, 13 HR, 50 RBI) goes 3-for-3 with three walks, two homers, and 6 RBI.
September 15 – SFB SP Manuel “Doom” Rojas (6-10, 5.02 ERA) is expected to miss eight months with a torn rotator cuff.

Complaints and stuff

BAAMM!! Coons are back IN THE GAME!!!

Maud, did you drop your mug? – Because I banged my fist on the table? – But I am excited! – Okay. – Okay. – Yes. Okay. – No, I will be silent now.

It’s not – … she had a rough week. Friday she thought some Mexican construction workers across the street were whistling because of her as she walked by. She hadn’t seen the two blond, attractive Swedish exchange students walking behind her. Twins actually, Lars and Olaf. Well, it IS a very open-minded city! Except for Maud, who struck one of the workers with her bag, and I only know of the guys’ names because the police were here and there was some crying, and Olaf gave me some tips for my brittle fingernails.

Only in Portland!

When the teams with the least and second-least runs allowed in the CL met on the weekend, it wasn’t particularly close. The Aces had allowed 579 runs heading into the 3-game set. The Raccoons? 504.

I left Garrett in the rotation after the return of Jonny Toner, which was with the upcoming double header next Friday in mind. Him and Toner would in fact pitch the two games of the double header against Indy, but I am getting second thoughts. He really isn’t fooling anybody. Or, well, correction. He does get a lot of strikeouts actually (his K rate is better than Guerrero’s and Pierson’s and it is not close), but he also walks 5.5 per nine innings, which is a no-no, and the opposition is also not shy about drubbing him and running him around for a 1.59 WHIP. Minor league season is over, no Coons farm team made the playoffs for the hundredth year in a row, and the best record was a 71-69 showing by Ham Lake, but we could also grab Damani Knight for that one spot start. It *looks* like we can waste a game somewhere.

In the end, it seems, everything always comes up Damani.

The last time a farm team of ours actually made the playoffs? St. Petersburg, 2008. In 129 total minor league campaigns, the Alley Cats won our ONLY minor league title, all the way back in 1992.

Playoff watch:

POR: IND (4), NYC (4), BOS (3), CHA (3) – .496 – 87.8% (+45.3%)
MIL: SFB (4), BOS (3), NYC (3), VAN (3) – .469 – 11.8% (-43.3%)
IND: POR (4), VAN (4), LVA (3), NYC (3) – .523 – 0.5% (-1.9%)

Be warned though that our record this season against our remaining opposition is merely 26-23. These teams have not been kind to us, ESPECIALLY Indy, so that .5% chance of theirs has to be taken with at least one grain of salt. They still have four arrows up their quiver.