[Westheim]

Raccoons (48-32) @ Loggers (30-49) – July 3-6, 2028

The Loggers were playing quite badly at this point, having run up a 10-game losing streak and foreclosure was on the very horizon for yet another season for them. They ranked second from the bottom in both runs scored and runs allowed, had the worst batting average, and even the worst defense. There was little, if anything to like about their team, and right now even .310 batter Firmino Cambra was in injury limbo and unavailable to begin this 5-game set in which the Coons would hope to pounce and pounce big. The season series was merely 2-0 in Portland’s favor right now, with the opener on Monday being a double header to account for an earlier rainout.

Projected matchups:
George James (6-7, 4.72 ERA) vs. Alex Contreras (2-8, 4.83 ERA)
Dan Delgadillo (2-3, 6.23 ERA) vs. Morgan Shepherd (5-6, 4.00 ERA)
Rico Gutierrez (8-3, 2.41 ERA) vs. Philip Rogers (4-2, 2.64 ERA)
Kyle Anderson (6-2, 3.70 ERA) vs. Danny Soto (3-9, 5.02 ERA)
Mark Roberts (8-3, 2.89 ERA) vs. Francisco Colmenarez (6-6, 4.27 ERA)

The Raccoons would feed their two worst starters into the double header, but timing allowed for nothing else. Delgadillo was not on the roster to begin the double-header; he would be activated after the conclusion of the opener. In whose place was largely up to George James… Delgadillo had a 2.02 ERA in seven AAA starts.

Of course there was uncertainty as to how the Loggers would handle the double header. Rogers had made a few relief appearances recently, but could slot in for Tuesday, or make the second leg of the double header.

Game 1
POR: LF Morales – 2B Stalker – CF Mora – 3B Hereford – RF Gomez – 1B Harenberg – C Tovias – SS Gerster – P James
MIL: RF Schorsch – 2B Becker – CF W. Trevino – LF Rueda – 1B S. Garcia – 3B Holder – C Canody – SS Ferrer – P Contreras

Contreras retired 13 of the first 14 batters he faced, wasting only a Tim Stalker homer in the fourth inning, which was the first run in a game in which James shuffled the bags full twice, and then twice made an exit by popping up the opposite pitcher, in the second and fourth innings. No such anchor was available in the fifth, and the Loggers tied the game on three singles by Tom Schorsch, Alexis Rueda, and Steve Garcia. James would not go through six following a leadoff walk to Tyler Canody, who was still at second with two outs when Kearney replaced James to face Tom Schorsch and got a tie-preserving groundout.

For Portland, Gerster and Millan would reach base in the seventh, but wouldn’t score; Tim Stalker however hit a leadoff double to left in the eighth and that looked neat to break a tie. Contreras loaded them up with a walk to Mora, then a single hit by Hereford. Three on, no outs, the horror. Righty Zach Weaver replaced Contreras against Rafael Gomez, struck him out, and held Portland to a single run, a Harenberg sac fly. Ricky Ohl, in his second inning of work, made the 2-1 stand up in the bottom 8th, and then Tim Stalker blasted Greg Becker for an insurance run in the ninth. Josh Boles shed a leadoff walk to Jason Parten in the bottom 9th, then struck out three to extend the Loggers’ losing streak to 11 games. 3-1 Coons. Stalker 4-5, 2 HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Gerster 2-4; Millan (PH) 1-1; Ohl 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, W (3-0);

With that, George James remained on the roster. The Raccoons instead deleted Jaden Booker (.181, 1 HR, 9 RBI) in favor of Delgadillo and would try to adapt from there on Tuesday.

Game 2
POR: SS Gerster – RF Millan – 2B Stalker – 3B Hereford – C Leal – 1B Harenberg – LF Spencer – CF Magallanes – P Delgadillo
MIL: 3B V. Diaz – 2B Becker – CF W. Trevino – LF Rueda – 1B S. Garcia – RF Schorsch – C Canody – SS Ferrer – P Rogers

There were two home runs for all the scoring in the first five innings, and neither was hit by the Raccoons. Vinny Diaz hit a solo piece in the third, and Alexis Rueda went yard for three in the bottom 5th. Delgadillo wasn’t bad per se, but surely was not excelling, either. And the Raccoons would not get any paw up against Rogers down the road either. He had a 3-hitter through five, a 4-hitter through seven, and all Delgadillo did was surrender another run in the seventh; leadoff double by Diaz, then two productive outs, and the Loggers’ streak was coming to an end sooner rather than later. Rogers shed another single in the eighth, Spencer hitting a soft liner with one out, and then nothing the rest of the way for a spot-start shutout with five strikeouts, as the Coons went down listlessly. 5-0 Loggers. Leal 2-4;

The Loggers won that game, but lost Firmino Cambra (.310, 4 HR, 30 RBI) until late August with a badly sprained ankle. Meanwhile, there were a few trade rumors swirling around Portland, but nothing of substance to report so far.

For now, the only roster change was to send Dan Delgadillo (2-4, 6.30 ERA) back to where he came from while whining for all the millions, and bringing up German Sanchez. Why not give that kid another whiff for the rest of the week?

Game 3
POR: SS Gerster – 2B Stalker – CF Mora – 3B Hereford – RF Gomez – 1B Harenberg – C Tovias – LF Spencer – P Gutierrez
MIL: CF V. Diaz – 3B Parten – C J. Young – LF W. Trevino – 1B S. Garcia – SS Ferrer – RF Rueda – 2B Rauser – P Shepherd

A Tovias sac fly put Portland up 1-0 in the second, but was precious little for having Hereford and Gomez in scoring position with nobody out. Yet that was all the scoring through five, with five strikeouts for either pitcher and three (POR) or two (MIL) hits per side. Morgan Shepherd and Jason Parten hit singles in the sixth, but Jim Young was retired on a strong play by Harenberg for the second out, and then Gutierrez managed to overpower consistent doombringer Willie Trevino on strikes to end the inning. The top 8th saw the Coons load the bases after Spencer and Rico Gutierrez made outs, Shepherd allowing Gerster on base on balls, then a single to Stalker, finally another walk to Abel Mora, then took his final bows. Zach Weaver inherited three on, two outs, and Rich Hereford hungry for food. He grounded out on an 0-2 pitch, sharply to Garcia, but it was still the third out… Rico retired nobody in the eighth, suffering straight doubles by Jason Rauser, Tom Schorsch, and Vinny Diaz, before Jason Parten singled in the third run of the inning and brought the curtain down for Rico. Jonathan Fleischer would get a double play and ultimately out of the inning, but the so far 4-hit Raccoons looked unlikely to make up a 3-1 deficit, at least until Parten’s throwing error put Gomez on second base with nobody out and the tying run at the plate against Greg Becker. Gomez advanced on Harenberg’s groundout, scored on a Tovias single, but Spencer flew out unhelpfully. Danny Morales pinch-hit, with Becker throwing a wild pitch to advance the tying run to scoring position. At that point, Magallanes ran for Tovias, but Becker recovered from a 3-0 count to strike out Morales and hand the Coons their second straight loss against the last-place Loggers. 3-2 Loggers.

Where might be our offense at…?

Game 4
POR: 2B Stalker – SS Gerster – CF Mora – 3B Hereford – 1B Harenberg – C Leal – LF Spencer – RF Millan – P Anderson
MIL: 3B V. Diaz – SS Ferrer – C J. Young – CF W. Trevino – RF Schorsch – LF Rueda – 2B Holder – 1B R. Amador – P D. Soto

The Loggers kept digging, hitting Anderson for three runs in the second inning on a leadoff single by Schorsch, then a Rueda triple, and ultimately two more hits by Roberto Amador and Vinny Diaz, while the Coons kept glaring and wondering what to do with those very unwieldy and not quite up-to-the-task pizza paddles they were handed. They would not get a single base hit against Danny Soto while Anderson was in the game, which in turn again was not very long. Schorsch hit a solo shot in the third, and he walked a pair and surrendered those runs on a 2-out double by again Schorsch in the bottom 5th to burrow in a 6-0 hole. Anderson was hit for with German Sanchez to begin the sixth inning, which still yielded no base knock for Portland. It was only with this game long consigned to the loss column that Rich Hereford hit a looper over Manny Ferrer for a 1-out single in the seventh. Harenberg immediately chopped into a double play. Leal hit a leadoff single in the eighth, and Omar Millan hit into a double play… although by then Nick Derks had been bled for a pair of runs in the bottom 7th and it was not exactly like it mattered anymore. Danny Soto and Joe West combined for a 3-hit shutout, stranding Tim Stalker at third base to end the game. 8-0 Loggers.

Offense? Anyone?

Interlude: Panic Trade

Portland Raccoons management snapped overnight and arranged for a lineup-reinforcing trade with the Bayhawks. The Raccoons picked up 35-year-old LF/RF/1B Jon Correa (.270, 13 HR, 49 RBI) from the Bayhawks in exchange for three players, OF/1B Omar Millan (.264, 1 HR, 14 RBI), AAA CL Dan McLin (2-3, 5.40 ERA), and “prospect” Matt Triolo. The last one was a trash heap pickup earlier in the year.

Correa figures to take over the starting duties in leftfield with Jarod Spencer in a wild slump and no help at all; same for Millan ever since May. Correa was a right-handed batter, which did not mesh too well with Danny Morales, but nothing was meshing well with Kevin Harenberg and we were running out of patience.

Raccoons (48-32) @ Loggers (30-49) – July 3-6, 2028

Game 5
POR: 2B Stalker – SS Gerster – 3B Hereford – RF Correa – LF Morales – C Tovias – 1B Gomez – CF Magallanes – P Roberts
MIL: CF V. Diaz – 3B Parten – C Canody – RF Schorsch – 1B S. Garcia – SS Ferrer – LF Rueda – 2B Becker – P Colmenarez

First time Jon Correa came to the plate as a Raccoon, he knocked in Butch Gerster with a single to put the Critters up 1-0. It was the third base hit in a row for the team, starting with a Gerster double and then progressing with straight singles through Hereford, Correa, and Morales until Elias Tovias came up with the bases loaded and one out, hit a roller up the middle that could have been two, but Ferrer didn’t quite reach it and it escaped for an RBI single. Rafael Gomez, dropped to #7, doubled over Vinny Diaz’ head to make it 4-0, and it was 5-0 after a Magallanes groundout, his second RBI on the season (…?!). What looked like a counter-rout became a close game by the middle innings. Roberts spilled two runs on three hits in the bottom 2nd, then another one in the fifth, which Colmenarez led off with a triple and eventually came around on a sac fly, half an inning after the Coons had Schorsch throw out Rich Hereford at home on a wannabe sac fly for Danny Morales, which really only ended up a 9-2 double play to end the inning, and it was 5-3 through five innings.

Portland stirred with two outs in the sixth; Magallanes innocently enough drew a walk, but Roberts got a single to drop in and that brought up Tim Stalker, who hit a liner to left that was nowhere near Rueda and fell for an RBI double. This knocked out the left-hander Colmenarez in favor of righty Mike Tandy, which provoked the Coons to bat Abel Mora for Gerster in an attempt to brute-force things. Tandy lost Mora on balls, bringing up Rich Hereford with three on and two outs. Tandy threw one outside, then one inside, and Rich liked that one a lot, briefly, before hitting it 425 feet to right – GRAAAAAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMM!!!!

Roberts whiffed nine in 6.2 innings before bumping up against 110 pitches and that was enough in a 10-3 game. Fleischer replaced him and got a grounder from Vinny Diaz to German Sanchez at short to end the inning and strand Roberts’ final runner, Roberto Amador, at first base. Kevin Harenberg entered with Fleischer in a double switch and hit a solo jack off Cory Dew, ex-Coon, in the eighth inning. Alexis Rueda would hit a 2-piece off Billy Brotman (half the runs charged Fleischer) in the ninth, but the Coons salvaged a second game in the 5-game set rather convincingly in the end. 11-5 Coons. Gerster 2-3, 2B; Hereford 4-5, HR, 4 RBI; Harenberg (PH) 1-1, HR, RBI;

Raccoons (50-35) @ Titans (42-45) – July 7-9, 2028

The Titans were still wondering what had happened, as they sat in fifth place, nine games out, and ranked only seventh in runs scored and sixth in runs allowed. Their run differential was merely +9 (Coons: +36). Also, the Coons had owned them so far in 2028; they had won seven of nine games from Boston. With a sweep in this set right before the All Star Game, the Coons could seal their first season series win against the Titans since 2021! But there would still be plenty of time in the last two series of the season…

Projected matchups:
Rin Nomura (8-5, 3.05 ERA) vs. Lorenzo Viamontes (3-8, 4.11 ERA)
George James (6-7, 4.53 ERA) vs. Dustin Cory (3-2, 4.75 ERA)
Rico Gutierrez (8-4, 2.52 ERA) vs. Jeremy Waite (4-8, 2.91 ERA)

Waite had probably run over a family of black cats during the offseason. All three starters were right-handed.

There was no contingency plan should Rico Gutierrez make the All Star Game, except sending the wonky Anderson on short rest and patching it up with the long men, Fleischer (who was already on 49.1 innings!) and Derks.

Game 1
POR: SS Stalker – CF Mora – LF Correa – 3B Hereford – RF Gomez – 1B Harenberg – C Leal – 2B Sanchez – P Nomura
BOS: LF W. Vega – SS S. Williams – 1B B. Lloyd – RF Kuramoto – 3B Corder – 2B R. West – CF Jacobs – C A. Arias – P Viamontes

Stalker singled and Hereford tripled in the opening inning to put Nomura in the lead right away, and it could have been more than 1-0 if Stephen Williams hadn’t leapt like a cat to shag a low liner by Rafael Gomez to end the first inning. Nomura, fresh off a 10-run spanking, didn’t fare well once more and fell behind right in the bottom 1st; Willie Vega singled, stole second, scored on Williams’ double, and the Titans brought Williams around on two productive outs, Yasuhiro Kuramoto getting the RBI on the sac fly to center. Portland rallied in the fourth, taking the lead again on a messy 2-out play. Hereford and Gomez had hit 1-out singles, after which Harenberg flew out to John Jacobs in center. A wild pitch advanced the runners, after which Leal dropped a ball into shallow right-center, with Hereford in to tie and Gomez sent to move ahead. Kuramoto had a play, but at the same time Leal went for second base. Cutoff man Rhett West looked home, then decided against it and started chasing down Leal, who stayed alive juuuust long enough to allow Rafael Gomez across home plate for a 3-2 lead, then was tagged out to end the inning.

But Nomura would not hold on. Kuramoto opened the sixth with a triple to right, easily tied the score on Adam Corder’s single up the middle, and Nomura himself would plate the go-ahead run with a throwing error on John Jacobs’ roller. He finished the inning, but left annoyed after six innings, trailing 4-3 and having struck out but a single batter. For the Coons, the leadoff batter would be on base in the seventh, when Harenberg walked and got doubled up by Leal, and the eighth, when Spencer singled in place of Kevin Surginer. The runner advanced on the next two batters making outs, which was not yet productive, but Jon Correa’s clean-as-a-whistle single to left was. That one tied the game with two down, but Hereford grounded out, and the Titans untied it against Ricky Ohl, who walked Rhett West with one out, and conceded the run on Alex Arias’ 2-out single. The Coons would have nothing aginst Ben Marx in the ninth… 5-4 Titans. Hereford 3-4, 3B, RBI; Spencer (PH) 1-1;

Game 2
POR: SS Stalker – CF Mora – LF Correa – 3B Hereford – RF Gomez – 1B Harenberg – C Leal – 2B Spencer – P James
BOS: CF Reichardt – LF W. Vega – 1B B. Lloyd – RF Good – 2B R. West – 3B Corder – SS Spataro – C Skinner – P Waite

George James remained crummy and at the mercy of the opposition, who moved ahead 1-0 on Keith Spataro’s 2-out single in the second after Adam Corder seemed to have defused leadoff singles by Matt Good and Rhett West with a double play, and then after Tim Stalker’s game-tying homer in the top 3rd could not compensate for a throwing error by Armando Leal, and conceded the go-ahead run on a single by West. He did flash some bat in the fifth, though, hitting a double to center after Spencer’s shy leadoff single. That put the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position with nobody out. Tim Stalker fell behind 1-2 against Waite, but then came through with a clean single to left, knotting the game at two, Mora also came through with an important sac fly, and then Jon Correa came through more than anybody yet, hitting a 2-run homer to left that left Willie Vega looking very sad, while the scoreboard showed 5-2 Coons at this point.

Harldy enough for James… Mike Stank, the reliever, hit a single, Adrian Reichardt, the omnipresent pest, hit a double, and the Titans inched up on a run-scoring groundout by Vega and a Bob Lloyd single. Matt Good doubled into the rigthfield corner with two outs, Lloyd was sent, but thrown out at home by “Murder Arm” Gomez, just barely preserving a 5-4 lead. Jarod Spencer also remained unhelpful; he hit into a double play when Harenberg and Leal led off the sixth with singles, but at least that forced our paw to can James and send up Danny Morales with the runner on third and two down. Morales doubled out of Reichardt’s reach, no lean feat, and the Coons gained a run again, 6-4. Mike Stank hit back-to-back Critters, leaving Abel Mora with a broken foot and replaced by Magallanes (…!), and then Lloyd shagged Correa’s grounder to end the inning with three on base.

Fleischer got five outs from Boston, whiffing four, then allowed a 2-out single to Reichardt in the seventh. Brotman came on in a double switch and quadruple shuffle that removed Harenberg for Gerster, but failed, allowing a stolen base, a walk to Vega, then an RBI single to Lloyd, 6-5. Kuramoto batted for Good, with Ohl coming out for Portland in a most crucial at-bat … and got the K! … and then it was still all for naught, the pen collapsing for good in the eighth inning. Brotman put Corder on base, and the Titans then unwrapped serial doubles. Spataro to tie off Ohl, Johnny Stuckey to go ahead off Kearney, and then another run scored on Reichardt’s single. That put Ryan Corkum in charge of an 8-6 lead in the ninth inning. Tim Stalker doubled off the fence, but that brought up .160 menace Juan Magallanes for no good reason other than the Mora injury. There was no other centerfielder left and he had to bat, ticking a 3-2 pitch into right for a single. Tying runs on the corners, no outs! And they choked again. Correa struck out. Hereford only hit a sac fly. And Gomez popped out to shallow left. 8-7 Titans. Stalker 3-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Mora 1-2, RBI; Magallanes 1-1; Morales (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI;

Abel Mora went to the DL with a broken foot, which was so not helpful… He would miss about a month. New centerfielders weren’t growing on trees, and we had to make do with Wilson Rodriguez for at least this next game.

Kyle Anderson (6-3, 4.36 ERA) would also have to make do for the Sunday game. Rico was sent to the All Star Game and thus scratched from this start.

Game 3
POR: SS Stalker – 2B Spencer – LF Correa – 3B Hereford – RF Gomez – 1B Harenberg – C Leal – CF Rodriguez – P Anderson
BOS: CF Reichardt – LF W. Vega – 1B B. Lloyd – RF Good – 2B R. West – 3B Corder – SS Spataro – C A. Arias – P Dyer

Another ex-Coon to undo the Coons? Dave Dyer (3-7, 4.43 ERA) was sent into the Sunday game, but that one first saw Elias Tovias send in a reminder that he was still alive, hitting a 2-run homer in the second inning for the first damage on the scoreboard. Rafael Gomez topped that off with a 2-run double in the third, plating Spencer and Hereford to make it 4-0. Now only Anderson had to hold up through at least five innings, and then we’d patch it from there. If nothing else, Anderson outlived Dave Dyer, who retired Rodriguez and Anderson to begin the fourth, then shed singles to Stalker and Spencer, walked Correa, and then fell to Hereford’s 2-run single into shallow left that ran the tally to 6-0. Brent Beene came in, threw a wild pitch, then conceded the last two of Dyer’s runners on a soft 2-run single by Rafael Gomez. Anderson would barely amount to qualifying for the win, crawling through the last two innings at snail’s pace and surrendering a run in each, but at least got through five with an 8-2 lead.

The Critters hoped for two innings from Nick Derks, but got nothing but three on and nobody out thanks to straight walks to Adam Corder, Keith Spataro, and Alex Arias. Billy Brotman got a run-scoring double play from Johnny Stuckey, then surrendered another run on a Reichardt single, which was almost expected because it was Adrian Reichardt. Vega struck out, leaving Portland still up by four. They had the tying run at the plate by the eighth, then courtesy of Fleischer retiring nobody against the bottom of the order. Surginer came on, struck out Reichardt, then got a Vega grounder to Spencer, who’s feed to second base was dropped by Stalker for an error. One run scored, another run scored on Bob Lloyd’s single, and suddenly it was 8-6. Good hit a groundout to plate the third run, and then the next collapse was complete when Rhett West hit a 2-out, 2-run double over the head of Wilson Rodriguez. The Titans scored six in the inning and swept the useless Raccoons under the rug and right out of the park. 10-8 Titans. Spencer 2-4, BB; Hereford 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Gomez 2-5, 4 RBI; Harenberg 2-4;

Oh god.

In other news

July 3 – SAC C David Drews (.291, 8 HR, 49 RBI) will miss two weeks with a posterior cruciate ligament strain.
July 4 – PIT SP Mel Lira (5-9, 3.29 ERA) 1-hits the Rebels in a 2-0 shutout. The Rebels’ only base hit was a single by Franklin Olmos (.208, 4 HR, 16 RBI) at the very start of the game.
July 4 – The Canadiens lose OF Brian Wojnarowski (.287, 9 HR, 26 RBI) for the season after the 2027 Player of the Year has torn his labrum.
July 6 – The Indians trade SP David Elliott (4-5, 3.31 ERA) to the Buffaloes for two prospects. The package includes #69 prospect SP Natanael Abrao.
July 6 – A mild oblique strain will keep CIN OF Ken Gibbs (.277, 7 HR, 30 RBI) out of games for two weeks.
July 7 – The Knights send OF Mark Walker (.280, 9 HR, 36 RBI) to the Warriors for two prospects.
July 7 – MIL C Jim Young (.252, 6 HR, 41 RBI) could be out of the year with a bone spur having to be removed from his elbow.
July 8 – The Wolves have to swallow two devastating injuries. SAL SP John Fees (7-6, 3.90 ERA) is done for the year with bone chips in his elbow. Worse yet, the career of LF/CF Nick Cobb (.259, 2 HR, 37 RBI) is over after the 28-year-old outfielder collided head-first with the outfield wall and fractured his skull. He is alive and rather well, but he will never play baseball again.
July 8 – LVA LF/RF Tom Dunlap (.273, 5 HR, 23 RBI) will be out for six weeks with a torn meniscus.
July 8 – The Pacifics will be without LF/CF Chris McEwen (.237, 6 HR, 41 RBI) for a month or more owing to plantar fasciitis.
July 8 – The Scorpions get mauled, 19-2, by the Pacifics, with LAP 2B/SS Josh Ralston (.264, 1 HR, 18 RBI) leading the way with four base hits and six RBI.
July 9 – After his first outing with the Bayhawks, recently acquired SFB CL Dan McLin (2-3, 5.23 ERA, 1 SV) is headed for Tommy John surgery with a torn UCL.
July 9 – The Wolves beat the Gold Sox 7-5 on the strength of a 7-run eighth inning, and despite only netting seven base hits to the Gold Sox’ dozen.

Complaints and stuff

End times. Nothing but bottomless wells. Collapse. Desolation. Loneliness.

For no good reason at all, the miserable Raccoons had a whopping SEVEN All Stars… although this included import Jon Correa. Six more players were also going to the showcase that had been on the team for longer, including Rico Gutierrez, who had his start on Sunday wiped out for it. Mark Roberts, Ricky Ohl, Kevin Surginer, Rich Hereford, and Tim Stalker also got nods. It was the 5th All Star nomination for Rich Hereford, the fourth for Roberts, the third for Ohl, the second for Correa, and the first for the other players.

Jon Correa is in the last year of a flat 4-yr, $8.32M contract, so the Coons did not take on any long-term commitments with the Bayhawks trade. With Ramos coming back after the All Star Game (maybe to stay for once, who knows…), the Coons should have a very dense and dangerous lineup again. Nunley will probably come off the bench once he returns (but will go for rehab in the minors first). Yeah, it is a “win now” move, but we had already been annoyed by Millan and McLin, so it is not like we bled ourselves dry with the deal.

Never mind the surprise UCL tear for McLin in his first outing for San Fran. No – no exchanges!

The extra commitment for 2028 however meant that we dropped out of the bidding for the most pricey international players. We have signed three international players so far anyway, most interesting perhaps being Jonathan Galvan, a 16-year-old righty from the Dominican that has the makes of a groundballer.

Fun Fact: On June 27, 2007 the Raccoons led the division by 10 1/2 games.

The Crusaders won the World Series that year.