[Westheim]

Raccoons (8-10) @ Bayhawks (9-9) – April 25-27, 2023

Here were probably two teams assembled that wouldn’t go anywhere nice this season. The Bayhawks had the fourth-lowest totals in both runs scored and runs allowed, the latter despite combining a rancid bullpen with a mediocre rotation. Three weeks in, both teams were already five or more games out and probably would never get closer again. The Raccoons had lost the season series against the Baybirds for two straight years, with a 4-5 effort in ’22.

Projected matchups:
Ryan Nielson (0-2, 6.48 ERA) vs. Brian Simmons (1-1, 4.02 ERA)
Matt Huf (0-2, 3.71 ERA) vs. Mark Roberts (1-2, 5.06 ERA)
Jonathan Toner (1-1, 2.36 ERA) vs. Graham Wasserman (1-1, 2.79 ERA)

Looks like we will open another week against a pair of left-handed pitchers, but again Monday was an off day for both teams and in theory either team could slip a pitcher here. The Raccoons wouldn’t … there was not really enough incentive right now to pick one straggler over another.

Game 1
POR: SS Stalker – LF Spencer – 1B Walter – 3B Nunley – CF Stevenson – RF Alfaro – C Tovias – 2B Armetta – P Nielson
SFB: LF R. Gomez – RF Booker – CF D. Garcia – 1B Jon Gonzalez – 2B St. George – SS Sanks – C R. Anderson – 3B Light – P Simmons

The Raccoons scored their daily 2-run allotment right in the first inning, with Spencer singling and scoring on Shane Walter’s gap-splitting double to right center. Walter came around on a Stevenson single after Matt Nunley’s drive to deep right had ended up with Jaden Booker. Alfaro walked after that, but Elias Tovias flew out to Rafael Gomez to end the inning. Now, Nielson had struggled beyond belief in all of his starts so far, including a terrifying outing against a mostly left-handed lineup last week. This lineup was entirely right-handed, except for the pitcher Simmons, so I was expecting nothing to begin this game, and certainly not that the 2-0 lead would hold up. Nothing bad happened to him in the early innings, as he conceded a walk in the first (to Dave Garcia, for once not – yet – injured), and a single to Stephen Shane Sanks in the second on his first run through the lineup, but he wasn’t going to lull me into a false sense of security. I knew my pitchers’ antics better than they knew themselves…! Sure enough, the Bayhawks chained up two extra-base hits in the bottom of the fourth to get to Nielson. Jon Gonzalez doubled down the leftfield line, and Stephen St. George hit the ball outta the goddamn park to knot the score at two. Rafael Gomez’ leadoff jack in the following inning gave them the lead, 3-2, after which Nielson would load the bases with a hit batter (poor Dave Garcia) and two walks to Gonzalez and Sanks before the inning was over, and he wouldn’t bear witness to the end of the inning either, being yanked while Sanks was still shuffling his butt over to first base. Kevin Surginer’s first major-league walk was drawn by Ryan Anderson, pushing in a run, but Nunley then made a good play on a quick bouncer by Sean Light to end the inning, now down 4-2.

There was still some rally pretense in the Raccoons, who at first glance still presented themselves as a baseball team, or at least a flock of guys knowing the basic concept of the game. Greg Borg batted for Surginer to lead off the seventh inning and sent a liner up the leftfield line for a double, his second major-league hit and this one breaking an 0-for-13 skid after he had singled in his first ever plate appearance. This brought up the top of the order and the tying run. Stalker flew out to Booker, but Spencer singled, and Walter’s groundout scored Borg, 4-3, and moved the tying run to second base for Nunley with two down, with Matt so far having hit the ball hard three times, without ever having any desirable result. He struck out. The Bayhawks were hanging on to their lead into the ninth, when Russ Greenwald batted for Sam Armetta and hit a leadoff single against Tony Harrell, followed by Will Newman batting for Will West and doubling into left center. Hear, hear, we’re in business! And the top of the order came up again! Runners on second and third, no outs, Tim Stalker cracked away at a 1-1 pitch, a liner to second base, St. George leaping – DIDN’T GET IT! It’s into rightfield, RBI single, tied ballgame! Shane Walter brought in Newman with a sac fly, giving the Coons a late lead and Brett Lillis into the bottom of the ninth inning, where he faced the top of the order. Gomez and Booker both grounded out to different infielders before Garcia got nailed for the second time in the game, the poor sod. Jon Gonzalez whiffed to pluck the last feather out of the Baybirds. 5-4 Furballs! Spencer 2-5; Walter 2-4, 2B, 3 RBI; Stevenson 2-4, RBI; Greenwald (PH) 1-1; Borg (PH) 1-1, 2B; Newman (PH) 1-1, 2B; West 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, W (1-0);

Will West departed for AAA after this game, with Adam Cowen being activated from the disabled list.

Game 2
POR: SS Stalker – 2B Spencer – 1B Walter – 3B Nunley – LF Newman – RF Alfaro – CF Stevenson – C Delgado – P Huf
SFB: LF R. Gomez – C O’Dell – CF D. Garcia – 1B Jon Gonzalez – 2B St. George – SS Sanks – RF Booker – 3B Light – P M. Roberts

We sure hoped that facing another entirely right-handed lineup would help out Matt Huf a bit, but his fourth pitch of the game was already parked in the seats by Brett O’Dell for a quick 1-0 Baybirds lead. Jarod Spencer getting knocked left aside, no Raccoon reached base in the first three innings; Nunley, Alfaro, and Delgado all hit hard fly balls, but they all hit it to centerfield, which was atrociously deep in San Francisco and Dave Garcia was still reigning supreme out there, 35 DL stints later…

Matt Huf got closer to a mercy killing after a leadoff walk to Mark Roberts in the bottom of the third, but he then struck out Gomez and O’Dell before Garcia popped out. In the fourth, Nunley singled, and Jon Gonzalez homered, 2-0. Oh well, there’s so many more innings to play…! Maybe the sixth would be the charm – it involved Jarod Spencer on base, and once again not on his own merit, reaching on a fielding error. Shane Walter singled to center, giving Nunley the tying runs with one out, but all ol’ #42 managed was a double play grounder to St. George, who would later leave the game with an injury, breaking up a double play at second base in the bottom of the seventh inning. Well, Stalker couldn’t get a relay throw off when he had leap to avoid getting his legs torn off by the flying St. George, but the Bayhawk also managed to hit the edge of the base with his upper arm, leading to a separated shoulder and Roger Allen being pressed into service in the infield. Matt Huf, the two home runs aside, had the Bayhawks mostly under control, and in seven innings allowed only two further hits and struck out a noteworthy two handfuls, but that still wasn’t enough to get into the W column apparently, with the offense amounting to only three hits in eight nauseating innings. Tony Harrell, Tuesday’s goat, was back in action in the ninth inning, however, and Spencer promptly hit a leadoff single. Shane Walter laid down a very poor grounder that could not be played by anybody on the infield, getting a second Coon aboard, so Nunley again had the tying runs on, now with no outs. Aaand he struck out. Newman hit an RBI single, Alfaro struck out, and Stevenson singled, but Walter couldn’t score with Dave Garcia all over the ball in shallow center. Two outs, bases loaded with a 1-run deficit for Tony Delgado, who was batting .308 while being used sparsely. He rolled a 2-1 pitch slowly along the third base line, O’Dell hustled after it and fired to first – LATE!! Walter scores on the infield single, tied ballgame! That, however, was all the Coons got. Tovias batted for Adam Cowen in the #9 hole, and struck out, giving Harrell five hits and three strikeouts in the inning. Following a walk to PH Victor Sarabia, Sean Light’s walkoff home run off Joe Moore would set things straight for San Francisco in the bottom 10th however… 4-2 Bayhawks. Walter 2-4, BB; Nunley 2-5; Delgado 2-4, RBI; Huf 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 10 K;

We out-hit them 9-5 in this game, but our hits were all singles, and they had three home runs, so in terms of total bases we got out-slugged 14-9…

Game 3
POR: SS Stalker – 2B Spencer – 1B Walter – 3B Nunley – LF Newman – CF Stevenson – RF Alfaro – C Tovias – P Toner
SFB: RF Contreras – C O’Dell – CF D. Garcia – 1B Jon Gonzalez – LF R. Gomez – SS Sanks – 3B Keys – 2B Light – P Wasserman

The Critters stranded a pair in the first inning amidst three hard fly ball outs to Rafael Gomez, and stranded another two in the second inning when singles by Stevenson and Alfaro (who was treading the .200 line) ended up being a pair left in scoring position on Tovias’ groundout, Toner’s fly to shallow center, and Stalker going down whiffing. But at least somebody got a ball past Garcia in center for once, with Spencer lining a leadoff double in the third inning. Shane Walter singled, putting them on the corners for Nunley, who grounded to Gonzalez. The Bayhawk tried to turn two, starting with the throw to second base, but Walter took out Sanks to break it up. Spencer scored, the first run in the game, and Nunley remained on first base all the way to the end of the inning, which approached quickly.

All in all, the Coons had seven hits in the first five innings, but managed only that one run. Spencer was on base again in the fifth with a 1-out single, stole second base, but was then left there to rot by Walter and Nunley. Toner in turn sprinkled three hits over five frames, but also only whiffed three and had to tip-toe around a Gomez triple in the fourth inning, and one of the hits was a Wasserman single, but the Bayhawks remained shut out through five. Trouble would find Jonny soon enough, with O’Dell hitting a leadoff double past Stevenson in the bottom 6th, and Garcia soon found a single to leftfield in his bag, putting runners on the corners with no outs. Now what? Toner couldn’t get a strike three past ****ing anybody! And so it was bitter for the Bayhawks when Jon Gonzalez chipped a pitch right back at the mound, allowing Toner to turn two with O’Dell still on third base as the tying run. Tim Stalker’s strong play on Gomez’ grounder ended the inning, and the Coons were still up 1-0. And what did it help? Nothing! One inning later, Toner was in the same ****ty spot again, Sanks on third base after a walk, Sarabia on first with a pinch-hit single, and nobody out.

The crowd jeered as the curtain came down for Jonny, Vince Devereaux tasked with untwirling this sticky situation – AND HE ****ING DID IT!! Sean Light lined right into Vince’s pocket, Wasserman was NOT hit for and popped out in foul ground, and Contreras was retired, 2-3, on a poor chopper in front of home plate; for the second straight inning the Bayhawks had the tying run on third with no outs and failed to plate him. Are they the Coons now!? Garcia singled off Surginer in the bottom 8th, but Gonzalez was on pat for another double play, that one ending the inning. Lillis came on in the ninth, struck out Gomez, struck out Sanks, and Jaden Booker flew out easily to Greg Borg in center. 1-0 Blighters!! Spencer 2-4, 2B; Walter 2-4; Alfaro 2-4; Toner 6.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K, W (2-1);

This, by the way, is the textbook definition of being put through the wringer…

Raccoons (10-11) @ Canadiens (8-13) – April 28-30, 2023

The team departed for Elkland, I departed for Portland, but truth be told, in unfortunate wind conditions you could smell them all the way down between the Columbia and the Willamette. They were seventh in runs scored, but eleventh in runs allowed, but before we throw our poo at them and their league-worst rotation it should be pointed out that we have the outright worst offense (though you could still pretend it was close) and despite being in the top 3 in terms of runs conceded at this point, our run differential (-23) is actually way worse than theirs (-14). We had swept them in the short opening 2-game set in early April.

Projected matchups:
Rico Gutierrez (1-2, 6.45 ERA) vs. Randy Jenkins (1-1, 4.15 ERA)
Jesus Chavez (2-1, 3.42 ERA) vs. Tim Sloan (0-3, 8.22 ERA)
Ryan Nielson (0-2, 6.75 ERA) vs. Kevin Woodworth (2-1, 2.32 ERA)

We will see three right-handers here.

The Elks are down two regulars from the lineup currently, with Alex Torres out with a bone bruise, and John Calfee left a game two days ago with an apparent injury, but so far there are no news on whether they found his missing limbs and whether they could be screwed back on.

Game 1
POR: SS Stalker – LF Spencer – 2B Walter – 3B Nunley – RF Newman – CF Borg – C Tovias – 1B Greenwald – P Gutierrez
VAN: 1B Jon. Morales – 3B Ryu – RF O’Rourke – C Holliman – SS Kim – CF Coca – LF Houghtaling – 2B Crosby – P R. Jenkins

Russ Greenwald tried to point out that he was actually also a ballplayer and hit a 2-out RBI single in the second inning, plating Nunley, who had drawn a leadoff walk. Newman had singled in between. The Elks looked like they’d be right back in a tie after Man-su Kim’s leadoff triple in the bottom 2nd, but to everybody’s amazement Rico Gutierrez starved that runner, whiffing Tony Coca, walking Jeremy Houghtaling, whiffing Adrian Crosby, and getting Randy Jenkins to pop out. Top 3rd, bases loaded with no outs after Stalker got chalked, Spencer singled, and Walter walked. After Nunley’s sac fly to center, 2-0, a wild pitch advanced the remaining runners before Will Newman reached on an infield single, a sorry grounder that Jenkins fell on as he tried to field it. Spencer made no advance, and the bases were loaded again. Greg Borg, another one of those wastes of oxygen, grounded back to the pitcher to get Spencer erased in a force at home, but Elias Tovias lined a ball past Dave O’Rourke to clear the bases! Three runs scored, 5-0 in Gutierrez’ favor! Never mind that he made the last out after an intentional walk to Greenwald.

Two of the players in the Elks’ lineup didn’t make it out of the fourth inning. One of those was Jenkins, who was hit for by Moises Berrones, who grounded out to first to end the inning and stranding the two batters Gutierrez had walked. The first Elk on base in the inning had been Kim, legging out an infield single, but collapsing right behind the base with some serious thigh pain. He was replaced by Chris Tanzillo, who scored after the two walks to Coca and Houghtaling, on Crosby’s sac fly, closing the score to 5-1. On to the sixth, where Gutierrez got hit by Vic Mercado with two outs and nobody on base. Runners would congregate in short order, though, with Stalker and Spencer both singling to load the bases. Shane Walter grounded to the right side, Jonathan Morales played the ball deep behind first, but then threw the ball behind the hustling Mercado for a run-scoring error. Nunley grounded out to first for good, keeping it at 6-1, but Gutierrez wouldn’t tend to that lead for much longer either, becoming the next injury victim in the game. He left the game with two outs in the bottom 6th with back pains, leading to the Critters to patch the remaining innings with the shallow end of their pen. While they added another run – an unearned one – in the seventh inning on a pinch-hit single by Latter Days Clyde Brady, Omar Alfaro, Adam Cowen got scuffed for two runs in the bottom 8th and failed to collect more than two of the last six outs. Surginer had to dig him out and also completed the ninth inning. 7-3 Coons. Stalker 2-4; Spencer 2-5; Newman 3-5; Tovias 2-5, 2B, 3 RBI; Alfaro (PH) 1-1, BB, RBI; Gutierrez 5.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, W (2-2);

Greg Borg got a hit, but the Raccoons still sent their newest .150 batter back to St. Petersburg after the game. Not even as a defensive centerfielder! Zach Graves was called up for another futile cameo over the next week or so until Cookie would come back from the DL.

The Druid read the star maps and thinks that Gutierrez’ back is only a 2 on a 1-to-10 scale and doesn’t warrant panic.

I don’t know, he winced badly as he came out of the game. What’s a 10 in terms of back issues? Cristiano Carmona?

Game 2
POR: SS Stalker – 2B Spencer – 1B Walter – 3B Nunley – LF Newman – RF Alfaro – C Delgado – CF Stevenson – P Chavez
VAN: 3B Jon. Morales – LF Houghtaling – C Holliman – RF O’Rourke – CF Coca – SS Onelas – 1B Rickard – 2B Crosby – P T. Sloan

Will Newman clocked the first pitch Tim Sloan threw him, but didn’t get the angle. The ball broke his way to rightfield in a low line though and O’Rourke had to back up to not get emaciated on the missile’s first hard bounce, allowing Shane Walter to score from second base on the 2-out single. Nunley had walked in between, advancing Walter after his own single, but Alfaro was again no help and grounded out. The remaining Coons tried to sabotage Jesus Chavez from the get-go, with Jonathan Morales reaching on an uncaught third strike in the bottom 1st, but Chavez got around both that and Omar Alfaro’s nonchalant error in the same inning, stranding runners in scoring position… Well, at least the middle infielders were still playing along, and were actually eager, willing, and able to make some basic plays, helping Chavez get through some tight spots early on. The Elks wouldn’t score on him in the early innings, while the Raccoons added single runs in the fourth, on a leadoff jack by Nunley, and the fifth, then on a flock of singles, but not the one “big hit”.

The Critters had ten hits through six innings and managed to fumble enough opportunities AGAIN to allow the Elks to draw uncomfortably close in the bottom 6th. Jeremy Houghtaling’s looper into left was only the third base hit off Chavez, but immediately it opened a can of worms. Ryan Holliman singled. Dave O’Rourke singled and Houghtaling scored. Tony Coca struck out, but Alex Onelas came close enough to a score-flipping 3-run homer that I hid my face in my pillow, screaming, back at home on the Willamette. Alfaro made the catch on the track. The score remained 3-1 through seven, after which Chavez was at 102 pitches and done with this game. On to the eighth, where Tony Delgado singled, then advanced on a wild pitch. Stevenson also singled, putting them on the corners with one out. Zach Graves batted for Chavez, and he unfortunately hit an RBI single. Unfortunately, because I will now think he’s a worthwhile player for another 280 plate appearances of .227 with two homers. Portland added another run after Sloan stalked Walker, err, walked Stalker, and Spencer hit a sac fly to Coca in center, 5-1.

The Coons then came pretty damn close to spectacularly blow that 4-run lead in the bottom 8th in a cavalcade of failing relief pitchers. Moore allowed a single to Holliman and a blast to O’Rourke, already cutting a 5-1 lead in half. He also walked Coca, prompting a move to Devereaux, who walked Onelas and did absolutely nothing else. Faced with the left-handed pinch-hitter Berrones, Billy Brotman was thrown into the fray, got Berrones for the second out, but then allowed an RBI single to Tanzillo. After that, Lillis appeared for a 4-out save with the tying and go-ahead runs already on base, and retired PH Hiroaki Ryu on a grounder to short, bailing out of a 5-4 spiral of tragedy. Dan Moon would pitch the ninth, which was the point where Matt Nunley hit his second leadoff jack in the game, providing some instant breathing room for Brett Lillis. With Delgado and Greenwald reaching base with two outs in the inning, Lillis was sent to bat and grounded out. The move to forfeit a potential tack-on run was immediately shifted into the twilight of destiny in the bottom of the inning when Jarod Spencer threw away Morales’ grounder, bringing up the tying run with nobody out. Lillis snuffed out Houghtaling before Holliman cracked a hard bouncer to left, BUT NUNLEY WAS ON IT!! Nunley to first – OUT BY A WHISKER!! Stalker handled O’Rourke’s grounder a bit less spectacularly for the third out. 6-4 Coons! Walter 2-4, RBI; Nunely 3-4, BB, 2 HR, 2 RBI; Newman 2-5, 2 RBI; Delgado 4-5, 2B; Stevenson 2-4; Graves (PH) 1-1, RBI; Chavez 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, W (3-1); Lillis 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, SV (8);

Game 3
POR: SS Stalker – 2B Spencer – 1B Walter – 3B Nunley – C Delgado – CF Stevenson – RF Alfaro – LF Santos – P Nielson
VAN: 3B Jon. Morales – SS Ryu – RF O’Rourke – C Holliman – CF Coca – LF Houghtaling – 1B Rickard – 2B Crosby – P Woodworth

Offense was at a premium early on, with the teams combining for three hits in the first three innings, but Nielson also walked another three, so there was *some* kind of traffic on the base paths. The scorelessness ended only in the fourth inning, but in the worst kind of way, on Jeremy Houghtaling’s homer to left that put the Elks up 1-0. Surprisingly, the Coons found a quick answer. Stevenson led off the fifth with a single to right center, then stole second base, which didn’t matter at all since Omar Alfaro came up with a triple into the right-center gap to plate him any which way to tie the score. Santos then pathetically popped out over home plate, and it was NIELSON to drive in the go-ahead run with a clean-as-a-whistle single to right, 2-1 for the Critters at that point. Woodworth was rolled up at once – Stalker singled, Spencer singled to score Nielson, and Walter thumped a double down the leftfield line to score both runners at hand, 5-1. Nunley grounded to Crosby for ostensibly the second out, but Crosby’s throw bounced, hit Rickard in the wrist, and then near his ear, requiring some brief medical attention in addition to the inning still broiling mightily. Delgado struck out after the brief intermission, which otherwise would have ended the inning, but instead Woodworth ended, on Stevenson’s RBI single to the right side, 6-1. Alfaro bounced out to Rickard against Emmanuel Castaneda, closing Woodworth’s line.

Nielson was now in line for his first W of the year, IF and only IF he could make it through the bottom 5th with the 5-run lead at least partially surviving. So of course he walked two, giving him five free passes in the game, and 17 in 25+ innings on the year, and Houghtaling eventually hacked himself out to strand O’Rourke and Coca in scoring position. While Nielson had an easier sixth afterwards, the Elks continued to crackle and crumble. Spencer hit a leadoff double off Castaneda in the seventh, and when Walter grounded to Crosby, the 22-year-old rookie lost his pants once more and threw poorly to first again. This time Rickard had to vacate the base altogether to chase after the wayward bouncer, with the Coons taking up residence on the corners for Nunley, who hit a line drive, right into Rickard’s glove. SEE, CROSBY!? HE CAN THROW BETTER WITH HIS BAT THAN YOU WITH YOUR HANDS!! I had some good fun heckling the poor kid from the relative safety of my couch. Delgado walked in a full count, stashing the bags for Stevenson with one down, but the Elks turned the double play on Stevenson’s sharp grounder to Morales, 5-4-3. That’s what you get for running your mouth ‘round these parts, apparently. But pleasure still outweighed the slight grumpiness over the double play, because by that point the Elks fell over one another to make the quickest outs against Nielson. The guy who almost would have not made it through five ended up going eight because the Elks kept poking at everything in the three innings after his tightest spot. Houghtaling ran a full count in the eighth, and only one other batter saw more than three pitches. He was removed on 108 pitches afterwards, with Adam Cowen handling the ninth. 6-1 Critters! Spencer 3-5, 2B, RBI; Stevenson 2-4, RBI; Nielson 8.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 5 BB, 3 K, W (1-2) and 1-4, RBI;

SWEEP, SWEEP, HOO-RAAY!!

In other news

April 25 – VAN 1B Mike Rivera (.377, 1 HR, 13 RBI) knocks out five hits, including two doubles, and drives in four in the Canadiens’ 6-4 win over the Falcons.
April 26 – The Titans send SP Brian Cope (4-0, 0.88 ERA) and cash to the Knights to pick up 1B Trent Herlihy (.227, 1 HR, 3 RBI) and a prospect.
April 26 – The Wolves stomp the Capitals in 14-5 rush, plating four in the first inning on Salem’s Mike Green (.227, 2 HR, 11 RBI) hitting a slam off WAS SP Killian Savoie (4-1, 2.13 ERA), and six in the ninth. SAL LF/RF Yasuhiro Kuramoto (.282, 1 HR, 12 RBI) lands four base hits, including two doubles, and drives in a run.
April 29 – The Buffaloes managed to blow a 9-3 lead in the bottom of the ninth inning against the Rebels, who put their first four runners on base and draw six singles and three walks overall to plate seven runs for an unlikely 10-9 walkoff. Richmond’s Alex Duarte (.235, 0 HR, 6 RBI) and Jason Seeley (.308, 0 HR, 2 RBI) are the first two and the last two to reach base in the ninth inning.
April 30 – BOS SP Chris Klein (3-2, 3.00 ERA) spills three hits in a 1-0 shutout over the Loggers.
April 30 – Torn thumb ligaments will sit down ATL INF Tony Jimenez (.391, 1 HR, 14 RBI) for the next six weeks.
April 30 – The Indians walk off on the Crusaders, 8-7 in the 11th inning, on rookie Jose Gomez’ (1.000, 0 HR, 0 RBI) throwing error on Indy’s Josh Melhorn’s attempt to steal third base.

Complaints and stuff

No, I am as surprised as you are over us sitting in second place, but then again, we played the Elks, which more or less represent a burning trash can – even Raccoons have too high a standard to get near that one.

Here’s an odd one: we are now 5-0 against the Elks, and 13-11 overall. We have also claimed *eight* 1-run wins, which means that we beat the opposition by *more* than one run only five times so far. What’s those five games again?

April 4 / 11-4 over Elks
April 12 / 5-3 over Aces
April 28 / 7-3 over Elks
April 29 / 6-4 over Elks
April 30 / 6-1 over Elks

Whoah, that’s some numbers…

That Cope trade ranks right up there with things I can’t wrap my head around. Do the Titans think they have enough rings? I mean *I* think they have enough rings, but I’m not really the bar with which they should measure their sufficiency of success…

And no, that prospect they received will not knock your socks off. Much the contrary, AA SS/2B Jon Perez has a history of suffering from blurred vision for no apparent reason. Maybe the Titans’ GM suffers from a similar illness?

Nielson’s walks are befuddling me, and in fact I am not happy with either of our left-handers (and by the way, Rico won’t be in a wheelchair any time soon and the back is already as good as new) – but it can’t hurt to check out the AAA starters, right? Juan Mendez, Reese Kenny, and Trevor Taylor all have rather high ERA’s and bad K/BB rates. Jonathan Shook has a 2.97 ERA, but also 15 walks in 30.1 innings. He struck out 20. You know who’s best in the AAA rotation? ****ing “Tragic” Travis is 4-0 with a 1.85 ERA and 42 K in 39 innings. Oh how I wish I could buy into that…

Fun Fact: Matt Huf has a better K/9 than Jonny Toner at the end of April, and both qualify for the ERA title at this point. The last Raccoons pitcher to qualify for the ERA title to beat Toner (qualifying himself or not) in K/9 was nobody, because this has never happened before.

In fact, the only Raccoons *starter* to ever beat Jonny Toner in K/9 with at least a meaningful number of innings in a season was Brownie in 2013, Toner’s partial rookie season with 76.2 innings and 73 strikeouts, but you may recall that Brownie made only nine starts that year with his own issues, whiffing 60 over 52.1 innings.

I worry for Jonny. He’s been iffy since late ’21 now. He is too young to be robbed from the Olympus of pitchers …! (tears up)