[Westheim]

Raccoons (76-55) vs. Condors (66-65) – August 30-September 1, 2027

The Condors, too, looked like they were playing out the string, but were actually leading the South with their crummy record. They were seventh in runs scored, fourth in runs allowed, and at least were a few games under their expected record with a +40 run differential. Nevertheless, the Raccoons had owned them all year long, having won five of six games from them so far.

Projected matchups:
Dan Delgadillo (8-9, 3.40 ERA) vs. Alex Hichez (9-12, 3.87 ERA)
Rin Nomura (14-6, 2.76 ERA) vs. Sean Rigg (6-4, 3.56 ERA)
George James (4-2, 3.03 ERA) vs. Jeff Little (12-3, 1.83 ERA)

Rosters will expand on Wednesday, which would be Little's start, who is also their only left-hander. I consider it unlikely that they will bring up some rookie scum to push him back when every game counts for them.

Nothing counts anymore for the Coons.

Game 1
TIJ: CF Betancourt – LF Denzler – 3B Sanks – 1B McGrath – SS Showalter – C Zarate – RF Chaplin – 2B Bross – P Hichez
POR: SS Stalker – 2B Spencer – LF Hereford – 1B Harenberg – RF Gomez – CF Mora – 3B Nunley – C Rocha – P Delgadillo

Yusneldan started out all over the place, issuing a single to Joel Denzler, who stole second, an RBI single to Shane Sanks, a walk to Andrew Showalter, and a bruise to Danny Zarate right in the first inning. The Coons also put two on, even with nobody out as Stalker and Spencer both singled, but that didn't mean they would score a first-inning run. Hereford and Harenberg both flew out to center, in between of which Jarod Spencer was picked off first base. McGrath would hit a solo homer off Delgadillo in the third inning, but Rafael Gomez tied the score twice for Portland; once with a solo homer of his own in the bottom 2nd, then with a 2-out RBI single plating Spencer in the bottom 3rd. The latter brought up Abel Mora with Harenberg and Gomez and second and first, and Abel launched a real rocket to right-center that gasped over the fence by less than three feet, a 3-piece to put Portland ahead 5-2.

On one hand, Delgadillo got better as the game went into the middle innings, and on the other hand he didn't. The Condors also helped out, not batting for Hichez in the fourth with Danny Zarate on third base and two outs. Dan got the K, but then had more trouble in the fifth, which started with a Danny Betancourt single to right, quickly followed by Denzler doubling up the line. Betancourt was sent for home, where he was thrown out by Rich Hereford and Tim Stalker on the relay; Denzler went to third on the throw, Shane Sanks walked, and then both McGrath and Showalter struck out on fine pitches to strand them on the corners. Delgadillo ran up quite the K count, 11 in total through six innings, including whiffing his final batter, Luis Leija, but that also put him at 109 pitches due to the mess he made all the time. Greg Borg batted for him in the bottom 6th, and after that it was on the pen, which immediately yielded a leadoff triple by Betancourt off Billy Brotman in the seventh. Denzler brought in the run with a sac fly before Kevin Surginer took over and the real ****show began. Walk to Sanks, then McGrath flew out to right. Showalter singled, at which point Chad Highsmith ran for the lead runner with two outs. But why bother? Surginer threw two wild pitches while adding walks until the bags were full in a 5-4 game with right-hander Pat Sanford pinch-hitting for Dave Bross. The Coons brought Dan McLin into the fray, whose first pitch was put into the depths of centerfield for a bases-clearing double. Paul Langan made the final out after that.

Down 7-5, the Coons faced righty Lorenzo Romero in the bottom 7th. Spencer hit a leadoff single before Rich Hereford got nicked. Harenberg drew a 4-pitch walk, giving Portland three on and nobody out. Rafael Gomez unhelpfully fouled out, which brought up Mora, who had done some damage already in the game, and now hit a fly into the right-center gap. Neither Betancourt nor Mike Chaplin got even close as the ball made it all the way to the fence for a bases-clearing, lead-retaking triple! Up 8-7, Nunley was walked intentionally, Rocha walked unintentionally, Cookie Carmona brought in a run on a fielder's choice, and Stalker grounded out against new pitcher and ex-Coon David Kipple. On to the eighth, where Kearney and Derks walked the bases full before Showalter smacked into a 4-6-3 double play, which was such a calming event, but at least Josh Boles held up in the ninth inning. 9-7 Raccoons. Spencer 4-5; Gomez 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Mora 2-4, HR, 3B, 6 RBI; Rocha 3-3, BB; Borg (PH) 1-1; Delgadillo 6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 11 K;

Thanks, Kevin. ****ing twat.

Game 2
TIJ: CF Betancourt – RF Leija – SS Showalter – 3B Sanks – 1B McGrath – C Zarate – LF Chaplin – 2B Bross – P Rigg
POR: SS Stalker – 2B Spencer – 3B Hereford – 1B Harenberg – RF Gomez – CF Mora – C Tovias – LF St. Germaine – P Nomura

Rigg displayed a disturbing lack of control, walking five Coons in the early innings. This was in addition to knelling Stalker to begin his day in the first place, with Stalker coming around on singles by Hereford and Harenberg in the bottom 1st. In the third inning, the latter two got on base again; Rafael Gomez plated Hereford with a sac fly before Rigg not only walked the bases full with two outs, but also issued a bases-loaded walk to Adam St. Germaine, which gave St. Germaine his second RBI of the year, and the first one not occurring on a stray homer. Nomura flew out to Betancourt to strand three with a lead of as many runs.

After that it turned into a game in weather unusually murky even for Portland in late August. There was a rain delay in the sixth inning of some 20 minutes that was highly disconcerting if your team had a burnt out bullpen behind a starter on 62 pitches through 5 1/3 innings, but Nomura kept soldiering on after the interruption, though not without incidents. It was also a game of solo homers after the early innings; McGrath in the fourth and Sanks in the sixth hit bombs to left off Nomura, cutting the gap to a single run before Harenberg fired a solo shot off right-hander Josh Sharp to right in the bottom 7th, getting back to 4-2. Sharp also put Tovias and St. Germaine on base with soft 2-out singles before leaving for lefty Joe Perry. The Coons sent Magallanes to bat for Nomura, but he grounded out to Sanks at third base, which got us back to that burnt out bullpen… The Condors got a leadoff single by Betancourt, then a 2-out walk drawn by Sanks off Dan McLin in the eighth to pull up the go-ahead run in McGrath, who struck out. Portland only amounted to a Hereford infield single in the bottom 8th, bringing Josh Boles into his fourth game in five days. He began the ninth by walking Paul Langan, then recovered and in order struck out Mike Chaplin, Joel Denzler, and Chad Highsmith to end the game. 4-2 Coons. Hereford 3-5; Harenberg 3-5, HR, 2 RBI; St. Germaine 2-2, 2 BB, RBI; Nomura 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 8 K, W (15-6);

Somehow, we made it to September and the roster expansion. Needing arms first and foremost, the Raccoons called back Jason Butler (but not for starting this time), and left-hander Hector Morales, 27, who had been up at various times in the last five seasons, rarely with any success. His major league acumen encompassed only 20 innings, but 13 walks, with a 3.60 ERA; still better than his 5.85 ERA in AAA ball this year. But we needed the arm… Also, he was on the 40-man roster already, which eased up things for us.

Also back up: Jing-quo Liu and R.C.; he former had batted .305 with six homers in St. Pete; further Daniel Bullock (more because of a natural decrease in the number of shortstops surviving on the roster than any merit of his own; also 40-man roster considerations), and Steve Hollingsworth.

Nope, no juicy prospects to cast a glimpse at.

Game 3
TIJ: CF Denzler – SS C. Miller – 3B Sanks – 1B McGrath – RF O. Larios – C Zarate – LF Leija – 2B Bross – P Little
POR: SS Stalker – 2B Spencer – LF Hereford – 1B Harenberg – RF Gomez – C Tovias – CF Borg – 3B Nunley – P James

Jeff Little as unceremoniously as unsurprisingly retired the Critters in order in the first three innings, but yielded a leadoff walk to Tim Stalker in the bottom 4th. Spencer hit into a double play before Hereford singled past call-up Chris Miller, but Harenberg got rung up. For a nice surprise, BOTH pitchers were tossing a 1-hit shutout through four innings, although Omar Larios reached on an infield single to the left side to begin the fifth. Stalker was carried onto the outfield grass fielding it and had no shot. Zarate bunted badly, getting Larios forced out, but then stole his 30th base of the season (a catcher with wheels!), but ultimately was stranded in scoring position in the inning.

By the sixth, Daniel Bullock was in the game after Tim Stalker left the contest with a tweak in his back. Yeah, MORE O' THAT, PLEASE!! No bad things happened immediately, but the Coons also couldn't make anything of Spencer's leadoff single in the bottom 7th, stranding him on first base. That was the last inning for Little, who had never been very enduring and was scouted with "6" stamina by our head scout (whose name I totally knew, or had written down, somewhere, anywhere), which was considered the bare minimum to be an efficient starter. James outlasted him, adding an eighth scoreless frame, but was hit for with Abel Mora in the bottom 8th after Nunley drew a 2-out walk off Mike Baker, and the slimmest chance presented itself. It evaporated on a fly out to Larios. Surginer pitched the top 9th, put Sanks on with a leadoff single, and Betancourt ran for him and instantly swiped second base on a sleeping Tovias. Surginer struck out a pair before conceding the run on a Zarate single. The Coons went down in order to Joe Perry in their half of the ninth. 1-0 Condors. James 8.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 2 K;

The news on Tim Stalker could be worse; a slight jam in the back, we hear, and it would be best to hold him out of the Thursday game. Maybe also Friday. I am supposed to check back in with the Druid after he has finished peeling his banana.

He does so very slowly and without blinking.

Raccoons (78-56) vs. Indians (65-67) – September 2-5, 2027

Last in runs scored, third in runs allowed, and being rather annoying to the Coons all year long – that was this Indians team. They had rallied well from years near the bottom of the pond, but then again still did not have a winning mix. Their run differential was -51, so luck had been involved in them playing nearly .500 ball. The season series stood at 6-5 in the Raccoons' favor.

Projected matchups:
Juan Barzaga (1-0, 4.50 ERA) vs. Chris Sinkhorn (15-8, 3.40 ERA)
Rico Gutierrez (10-11, 3.98 ERA) vs. Andy Bressner (2-4, 4.38 ERA)
Dan Delgadillo (8-9, 3.39 ERA) vs. Myles Mood (5-12, 3.54 ERA)
Rin Nomura (15-6, 2.75 ERA) vs. David Elliott (8-12, 4.91 ERA)

Sinkhorn and Elliott are two of their three left-handed starters (besides 13-8 John McInerney and his 2.58 ERA).

Unless we get swept, we will defer our 4,000th regular season loss to next week.

Game 1
IND: SS Pizano – CF Zanches – C Dear – 1B Tello – 3B C. Castro – 2B E. Alvarez – LF O'Rourke – RF Suhay – P Sinkhorn
POR: 2B Spencer – 3B Hereford – RF Gomez – 1B Harenberg – C Tovias – CF Mora – LF Hollingsworth – SS Bullock – P Barzaga

Barzaga was in the **** right from the start with Mario Pizano leading off with a clean single to right, after which he stole his 44th base, and Barzaga engorged in three straight walks to plate him. Cesar Castro hit into a run-scoring 6-4-3 double play, after which Edwin Alvarez flew out to Mora in a 2-0 game. The entire game got off to a terrible start. It was hardly baseball that was on display here. After Rafael Gomez cut the gap in half with a solo shot in the bottom 1st, Hollingsworth conceded a leadoff double to Dave O'Rourke in the top 2nd with a circuitous approach to a catchable fly ball, and Barzaga then walked Ben Suhay right away. Sinkhorn had one job here, but struck out bunting for the first out, only for Barzaga to advance the runners with a wild pitch. Pizano popped out to second, where Spencer dropped the ball for a run-scoring error, and by now the home crowd showed some dismay. Barzaga faced only one more batter, walking Alex Zanches, before getting booted as a hopeless cause. Rookie Matt Dear then hit a 2-run single on an 0-2 pitch off equally useless Jonathan Fleischer, who was exploded for three runs to begin the fourth inning on a sequence of Sinkhorn double, Pizano RBI single, and Zanches homer, and not a cheap one at that. It was also the first career home run for the 23-year-old Zanches in 235 plate appearances. That was more or less the game; the Coons ran every single ****ty pitcher they could find out there, and most got licked by the flames. The real disappointment was probably Sinkhorn, who got spotted eight and still didn't last past the sixth inning, torched for five runs in total, including a 3-run homer by Gomez in the fifth. The Raccoons still came up well short in this icy shower of a game. 10-5 Indians. Hereford 2-5, RBI; Gomez 2-3, BB, 2 HR, 4 RBI; Bullock 2-4; Derks 2.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Game 2
IND: SS Pizano – C Dear – 1B Tello – CF Suhay – RF Ryder – LF M. Cowan – 2B E. Sosa – 3B C. Castro – P Bressner
POR: 2B Spencer – SS Hereford – RF Gomez – 1B Harenberg – CF Mora – C Tovias – LF Carmona – 3B Nunley – P Gutierrez

I checked the rulebook again and again and there was no provision in there that would give the Indians the leadoff man on base in almost every inning, so it must have been Rico Gutierrez' pitching. On a positive note he outlasted Andy Bressner, who lasted only three innings before departing with an injury in a 1-1 game. The Coons' Rafael Gomez had hit another homer to make up Ben Suhay's RBI double from the first inning. 1-1 was also the score after six, which was as much as Rico was able to give the Critters before having run up 109 somewhat messy pitches. Top 7th, Ramon Tello drove home David de Negri, who had drawn a leadoff walk against McLin, with a 2-out single over the glove of makeshift shortstop Rich Hereford. All the while, the Coons were doing nothing against the Indians' pen, with the first half-decent chance they got being Spencer's leadoff single off Cory Dew in the bottom 8th. Left-hander Ben Knox replaced the former Raccoon Dew and immediately secured a double play grounder from Hereford. Mo Robinson would retire Harenberg and Mora in the bottom 9th before Tovias dropped in a single. Bullock ran for him, there was a wild pitch, a balk, and then Cookie still grounded out to Elias Sosa… 2-1 Indians. Tovias 2-4; Gutierrez 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 K and 1-2;

Oh, 4,000 – I see ya loomin' …

Also, Hector Morales faced one batter in this game, then had to be treated for some sort of injury. Do I even want to know at this point?

Game 3
IND: SS Pizano – CF Zanches – C Dear – LF Siebuhr – 3B C. Castro – 2B Wagner – 1B de Negri – RF Ryder – P Mood
POR: SS Stalker – 2B Spencer – RF Gomez – 1B Harenberg – LF Hereford – CF Mora – 3B Nunley – C Rocha – P Delgadillo

Neither team managed a base hit through three innings; while Delgadillo was perfect, Myles Mood shed three walks, but the Raccoons were more experienced than that, and also more courteous than that, to exploit his careless mistakes just like that. Hereford hit into a double play in the second; and Spencer popped out to Curt Wagner to strand a pair in the third. Mario Pizano then opened the fourth with a single to left, and in short order Delgadillo's ship was sinking after Zanches' RBI double over the head of Gomez in right. While Zanches was stranded on third base after poor outs by the middle of the order, there was no reason to not believe into that one run being enough to win another one for Indy. Abel Mora had the honor of landing the Coons' first base hit with a leadoff single in the bottom 5th, but although Matt Nunley walked to increase the superficial pressure on Mood, the Arrowhead recovered nicely, whiffing the Coons' battery before Stalker flew out easily to Jon Siebuhr. And in case you just nodded off a bit – for which you can be excused – yes, Delgadillo did walk Mood to begin the sixth inning. He was thrown out at third base on Matt Dear's single to right, ending that inning, though.

None of this made the Coons' less of a wretched bunch, but Spencer led off the bottom 6th with a single that dropped in front of Siebuhr, then swiped second base. Gomez, the hot paw of the week (hey, at least one!) lined a ball near the leftfield line that didn't get past Siebuhr, but was still good enough for Spencer to score the tying run on the single. Kevin Harenberg dropped in a bloop single, and then the runners advanced to scoring position with nobody out on a passed ball charged to Dear with Hereford at the plate, who was then put on intentionally. OH YOU SNEAKY ARROWHEADS!! They knew exactly how to beat the Coons – by giving them three on and nobody out! YOU SONS OF – ARE YOU ****ING SERIOUS?? Mora popped out. Nunley popped out. Rocha popped out. Somewhere in between, I also felt a vein in my left temple pop as I screamed insults from my office above the field. Worse, I got a cramp in my arm from shaking the clenched fist so much and had to seek treatment from the Druid in the depths of the ballpark. Oh well, at least I missed the two 2-out runs the Indians scored off Delgadillo in the eighth on singles by Pizano and Dear, in between which Delgadillo kept fanning the flames rather than the batters with a walk to Zanches. I came back to my office, smelling like squeezed rat puss from the ointment the Druid had rubbed onto my sore arm, probably because it WAS squeezed rat puss, just in time for the bottom 9th where Mo Robinson had the tying runs on the corners with nobody out. Oooh, exciting – how were they going to **** up THIS one!? Adam St. Germaine had reached on a throwing error by Elias Sosa, after which Cookie had singled up the middle. Stalker was up next, soared a ball to shallow center, and Zanches couldn't reach it – RBI single, the winning run was on for Spencer, who precisely grounded at the shortstop for what would easily be two… except that Pizano fumbled it and the bags were full for Rafael Gomez, remember, the hot paw of the week! He had Robinson at 3-1 before popping out to second [insert Wilhelm scream] leaving Harenberg to only tie the game with a sac fly to right. Crucially, Stalker moved to third base on the play, from where he scored comfortably when Rich Hereford singled past a diving, repurposed second baseman Zachary Ryder. 4-3 Blighters. Harenberg 2-3, BB, RBI; Carmona 1-1; Delgadillo 7.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 K;

Game 4
IND: SS Pizano – 2B E. Sosa – 1B Tello – CF Suhay – RF Ryder – LF M. Cowan – C J. Ramirez – 3B C. Castro – P D. Elliott
POR: SS Stalker – 2B Spencer – RF Hereford – 1B Gomez – C Tovias – LF Borg – CF Magallanes – 3B Bullock – P Nomura

The Coons somehow loaded the bases with Borg, Magallanes, and Bullock with two down in the bottom 2nd, but David Elliott managed to wrestle at least Nomura down, whiffing him in a full count. Tim Stalker opened the scoring with a leadoff jack the following inning, and Spencer doubled after that and came around to score on Hereford's grounder and Gomez' sac fly. Borg and Magallanes would reach again in the fourth, but Bullock struck out and Nomura and Stalker were both retired on pops. Rich Hereford would hit a solo homer in the fifth inning to extend the lead to 3-0 while Nomura was pitching unspectacularly, but in controlled fashion all the while. Few Indians reached, and the Coons also turned a few double plays behind Nomura to advance the game. Nomura coasted into the seventh on a good pitch count even, and was still in good shape after that inning, having made 81 offerings, one of which was hit for a soft single by Suhay in the frame, but didn't lead to damage either.

Bottom 7th, Tim Stalker led off by fouling out against right-hander Ben Darr, who had replaced Elliott after the fifth inning and next yielded a single to Spencer. Rich Hereford lined over the head of Cesar Castro for a double before Rafael Gomez ran a 3-0 count and got the whack sign. Whacking he did – 440 feet to dead center for a no-doubt, 3-run homer to double the tally to a lead of six. In turn, Castro broke up Nomura's shutout with a solo homer in the eighth inning. Portland didn't add on in the bottom 8th while Steve Hollingsworth batted for Nomura, and the ninth was then in Nick Derks' dirty paws against the 2-3-4 batters. Leadoff walk to Sosa – oh jolly! Ramon Tello singled and Josh Boles was already getting warmed up in the bullpen microwave when Ben Suhay, the wild hacker, struck out, as did Ryder after that. Boles came on after an RBI single to left off Joe Cowan's bat, but only surrendered a 2-run double to Jose Ramirez to incinerate another meltdown before Magallanes caught Castro's fly to end the game. 6-4 Coons. Stalker 2-5, HR, RBI; Spencer 2-5, 2B; Hereford 2-4, HR, 2B, RBI; Gomez 1-3, HR, 4 RBI; Tovias 1-2, 2 BB; Magallanes 2-4; Nomura 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (16-6);

In other news

August 30 – At only 33 years old, SAC RF/LF Pablo Sanchez (.307, 4 HR, 40 RBI) – the only ABL hitter ever to hit over .400 in a season – reaches the 3,000 hits mark with a 2-hit effort in a 13-5 Scorpions win over the Capitals. Sanchez, who was Player of the Year three times and took part in the Scorpions' only championship during his tenure, and is the ABL's top earner at $5.3M this season, is a career .344 batter with 103 HR and 1,135 RBI. He has also stolen an all-time record 549 bases.

Complaints and stuff

Rich Hereford played all five of his usual positions this week and somehow survived, but our hero was doubtlessly Rafael Gomez this week as he batted .333 with 5 HR and 13 RBI, yet inexplicably was snubbed for Player of the Week in favor of San Fran's Omar Camacho, who batted .462 with 1 HR and 8 RBI. Unbelievable! Maud! MAUD!! We must write a letter to the league office, pronto!!

When Daniel Bullock returned from AAA to the ballpark in Portland, he immediately sought out Cristiano Carmona and hopped onto his lap before both spent the afternoon hugging and weeping. I keep looking at his stat sheet and I keep not getting the infatuation with his skill set. Don't even ask about the scouting report.

Fun Fact: WAS Enrique Trevino has not only broken Nando Maiello's single-season record for stolen bases when he took his 67th base in a 3-1 win over Maiello's Cyclones, but he also did so on his 20th birthday on August 25.

A month to spare for more heroics – he is at 72 already! That is also 3.6 times his age. Unbelievable! He is batting .306 with no homers and 43 RBI. But, let's be honest. What does he need homers for? He is considered a lock for Rookie of the Year in the Federal League.

Meanwhile, Maiello has only 11 bases taken on the season, but he also missed time on the DL… as usual. Maiello, 30, sits 15th in stolen bases all time with 334 sacks claimed and fifth amongst active players, trailing Pablo Sanchez (552), Cookie Carmona (427), Danny Flores (413), and Piet Oosterom (393).