[Westheim]

Raccoons (76-66) @ Crusaders (71-71) – September 10-13, 2029

Last pokes at the Crusaders this year, with one win needed to take the season series, and probably more than one win needed to stay in touch with first place. The Crusaders were second from the bottom in offense, but also conceded the third-fewest runs in the Continental League. This was also our second-to-last road series of the year; the Loggers’ damp dump was the final stop for Portland left, but that was two weekends from now.

Projected matchups:
Kyle Anderson (6-4, 3.12 ERA) vs. Mel Lira (9-16, 3.80 ERA)
Mark Roberts (13-10, 3.40 ERA) vs. Robby Gonzalez (7-11, 4.91 ERA)
Rico Gutierrez (2-1, 1.36 ERA) vs. Eddie Cannon (11-8, 4.03 ERA)
Jamie O’Leary (2-8, 3.60 ERA) vs. Mike Rutkowski (10-9, 3.60 ERA)

Four right-handed hurlers coming up from the New Yorkers in this set.

Game 1
POR: CF Magallanes – 3B Nunley – 2B Hereford – 1B Harenberg – LF Jamieson – SS Stalker – C Tovias – RF Gomez – P Anderson
NYC: LF Olszewski – 3B Cameron – CF Coca – C Jai. Jackson – 2B T. Fuentes – 1B Espinosa – RF Reardon – SS Laughery – P Lira

The foundering Raccoons had no hits the first time through the order, but with Hereford and Harenberg on base in the fourth and two outs, Tovias hit a ball to left-center for a double. Harenberg scored, Jamieson was thrown out at home trying to do the same, and the inning ended. It was quite literally their only time in scoring position in the first five innings, while Kyle Anderson was a big thunderclap waiting to happen. The first three innings of the Crusaders batting all ended with deep drives to the outfield that were all caught, but were bad enough to cause discomfort. In the bottom of the 5th, finally, Anderson allowed leadoff walks to Juan Espinosa (who stole second right away) and Chris Reardon, and while J.D.Laughery popped out, Mel Lira hit an 0-2 pitch over the head of Matt Nunley for a game-tying RBI single. The avalanche rolled down the mountainside right away. Drew Olszewski’s RBI single gave them the lead, and they got a third run home on a Tony Coca single. Jaiden Jackson walked to fill the bags with two outs before the inning ended once more on a deep drive to the outfield, and Tony Fuentes had three stranded on account of Magallanes’ glove in centerfield. The Coons showed no immediate reaction besides the usual stuff of trying to steal **** of each others’ plates in the dugout, but began the eighth with the meekest of rallies. Butch Gerster hit for Anderson to begin the inning and singled softly to center. Juan Magallanes ran a 3-1 count and then poked, and was lucky enough to have the resulting roller get through between Fuentes and Espinosa .That put runners on the corners for Nunley, who hit a sac fly that was not much in terms of help. Hereford hit one hard to right, but was caught by Reardon. Harenberg hit a good fly to center, but that was where Tony Coca made extra-base hits go die. Travis Giordano made the Coons go die without bothering his outfielders in the ninth… 3-2 Crusaders. Magallanes 2-4; Harenberg 2-3, BB; Gerster (PH) 1-1;

Game 2
POR: CF Magallanes – 3B Nunley – 2B Hereford – 1B Harenberg – LF Jamieson – RF Rodriguez – SS Gerster – C Tovias – P Roberts
NYC: 3B Schmit – RF M. Owen – CF Coca – C F. Delgado – LF I. Vega – 1B Tadlock – 2B Lichty – SS Cameron – P R. Gonzalez

A Nunley jack in the first put the Coons up 1-0 and also caused the Critters worry, because if Nunley could hit one outta here quite easily, then Roberts was probably going to be sheared in half just by the wind forces. Hereford and Harenberg hit singles and Jamieson legged out the return throw on a grounder to short to get another run across before Roberts ran a 3-1 count to Andy Schmit in the bottom 1st, and then right away got blasted for a leadoff jack to left. And here we go! Tony Coca unsurprisingly hit another one, #33, right away, and the game was tied at two, and that remained the score through five, with the Coons’ offense showing assorted miseries, and amounting to only one base hit in the next four innings, but two double plays, Rodriguez in the fourth cleaning up a Jake Lichty error, and Nunley in the sixth erasing a Magallanes single to begin that inning. The second one was especially bitter, as Rich Hereford homered three pitches later, then staking Roberts to a 3-2 lead. The Crusaders stock had crashed even before; Tovias had been robbed by Coca in the left-center gap the prior inning, but Coca had pulled up lame and had been replaced by Fabien Ugolino – not Tony Coca, in any sort of way you can think about!

Ugolino did not enjoy the trust of the New York brass, either. With Roberts falling apart for good in the bottom 7th, Ugolino’s inherited spot came up with two outs and Schmit and Matt Owen on the corners after a pair of hissing singles just hit off Roberts. They wanted a righty batting here, with Reardon batting for Ugolino. The Coons responded with Ricky Ohl to replace Roberts. Reardon popped out on the second pitch, and the inning ended. In a perfect world, the Critters might have tacked on a run in the next two innings, but could not even get on base. Ohl retired New York in order in the eighth, and that brought up Boles in the ninth. Jamie Richardson pinch-hit in the #7 hole and grounded out to first on the first offering. Joe Cameron whiffed. Brennen Mayeux ran a full count… then got nailed. Oh dear baseball gods, please no, I can’t take any more – Schmit struck out. 3-2 Furballs. Hereford 2-4, HR, RBI; Roberts 6.2 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, W (14-10);

Game 3
POR: CF Magallanes – 3B Nunley – LF Hereford – 1B Harenberg – SS Stalker – RF Rodriguez – C Tovias – 2B Cass – P Gutierrez
NYC: 3B Schmit – RF M. Owen – CF Olszewski – C F. Delgado – LF I. Vega – 2B Lichty – 1B Jam. Richardson – SS Cameron – P E. Cannon

The Crusaders whacked four hits off Rico in the opening inning, but also had Schmit thrown out at home by Hereford on a Matt Owen double, which cost them a run and gave them only a 1-0 lead on Delgado and Ivan Vega singles. After four base hits in the first, the Crusaders had four more in the third inning, then in order, and then doing damage for real. After singles by Owen and Drew Olszewski, Felipe Delgado went yard to left and the Coons sat in a 4-0 deficit, or about two games’ worth of run support for Rico Gutierrez this season. Rico would never get into any sort of groove here; Jamie Richardson led off the bottom 5th with a double, came around to score, too, and up to that point the Coons seemed fiercely intent on putting this one firmly into the loss column. Down 5-0 they entered the sixth on only three base hits, and that included a Rico single… The sixth began with a Magallanes single, and then Nunley found the gap for a double. Cannon lost Hereford on balls, loading them up for Harenberg with – unfortunately – nobody out. Despite falling behind 0-2, Harenberg found the gap between Vega and Olszewski for a double, and two runs scored on the play. Tim Stalker came up as the tying run, grounded to left, Joe Cameron intercepted the ball, but couldn’t make anything out of it, Stalker had an RBI infield single. Four pitches later, the score was even when Wilson Rodriguez beat Olszewski in deep center for a 2-run double. What had just … what!? Unfortunately, that was the end of it. Tovias walked, causing the yanking of Cannon for righty Jesse Wright, Sam Cass uselessly bunted into a force at third, Jamieson hit for Rico and flew out to center, Magallanes walked, and Vega took Nunley’s deep fly on the warning track to strand a full set.

In a new ballgame, something had to give way eventually, and unfortunately it was Kevin Surginer in the bottom 7th. He walked Andy Schmit to get going, then allowed a single to Owen, and then could not get strike three past a batter to salvage the situation. Schmit broke the tie by scoring on two groundouts, and the Coons had nothing cooking in the top of the eighth. It didn’t seem likely to get any better in the ninth inning against the resilient Giordano, but Giacobbe Vacarri at second base misfielded Nunley’s grounder leading off, putting the third baseman on base with an error, then off base when Gerster ran for him, carrying the tying run. The pinch-runner was rung up before long when Hereford grounded to short and the lead runner was the only out New York got. They got two on Harenberg’s bouncer to Vacarri, though… 6-5 Crusaders. Magallanes 2-4, BB;

Harenberg….. and the chronically learing O’Losey is on the mound for the finale…

Game 4
POR: SS Stalker – 3B Nunley – RF Hereford – 1B Harenberg – LF Jamieson – CF Allan – C Tovias – 2B Baldwin – P O’Leary
NYC: 3B Schmit – RF M. Owen – CF Olszewski – C F. Delgado – LF I. Vega – 1B Tadlock – 2B Lichty – SS Cameron – P Rutkowski

Things fell apart around O’Leary from the get-go, with Owen and Olszewski hitting a pair of singles, and Owen going for third base, drawing a throw from Hereford on the latter single. That throw missed Nunley by seven nautical miles, Owen scored on the error, and yet again the Critters were trailing after the first inning… And that would not change soon, with the Raccoons wholesomely harmless all the way against the veteran Rutkowski; Jamieson hit a single in the second. That was IT. He walked Harenberg with two outs in the fourth, and Kevin was left on by Jamieson, then walked Allan to begin the fifth, but the little idiot fell asleep and was picked off first base. The Crusaders tacked on runs on an Owen homer in the sixth, then a leadoff triple by Vega in the seventh that saw Ron Tadlock line out to Nunley, but Jake Lichty got the run across grounding out to short. Andy Schmit homered off the miscarriage Nick Derks in the eighth. The Raccoons never got a second base hit. 4-0 Crusaders.

Nick Derks (12.38 ERA) was waived and designated for assignment after this game to open a spot on the 40-man roster that we then did not even fill right away. Bobby Reed was called up from St. Pete to join the team in Portland. He had made five appearances with the Critters earlier in the year, including a start (who hadn’t made a start?), posting a 10.13 ERA.

Raccoons (77-69) vs. Falcons (56-90) – September 14-16, 2029

The Falcons hoped to avoid 100 losses. The Raccoons hoped to avoid another embarrassment, although despite their shoddy impression left in New York they were still only two games out of the tied Titans and Indians. Charlotte was 31 1/2 out in the South and long been relegated to punching bags. They ranked eighth in runs scored but had the worst pitching in the land, fittingly paired with creaky defense. Remarkably, the season series with them was tied at three.

Projected matchups:
Dave Martinez (4-1, 3.00 ERA) vs. Chris Klein (10-10, 4.11 ERA)
Kyle Anderson (6-5, 3.18 ERA) vs. Chris Rountree (6-17, 4.73 ERA)
Mark Roberts (14-10, 3.38 ERA) vs. Aaron Lewis (4-13, 5.94 ERA)

Rountree would be the only southpaw to face this week.

Boys, we gotta get a win, and another win, and another win. Boys, you got me? Boys? – Okay, why are Nunley’s ears stuffed with whipped cream??

Oh well, Matt Nunley had all the time in the world to get his head stuck in a bowl of whipped cream on Friday. The weather was Portlandesque and the game was postponed into a Saturday double-header.

Game 1
CHA: CF N. Nelson – 3B G. Ortíz – RF Kok – LF Salto – 1B Fowlkes – C Losey – SS J. Gonzalez – 2B E. Roman – P Klein
POR: CF Magallanes – 3B Nunley – LF Jamieson – 1B Harenberg – 2B Stalker – C Tovias – RF Gomez – SS Gerster – P Martinez

Instant offense, and even for Portland, in the first leg of the Saturday double-header, when Magallanes led off with a single, stole second, Nunley – ears free – walked, and Jamieson punched a 3-piece over the fence in left, just out of Graciano Salto’s reach. Salto would get nailed - *nailed!* - to start the top 2nd, stole second, his 23rd of the season, and came around on a Josh Losey single, so neither did the Falcons lose any time here. Bottom 2nd, Klein loaded the bags with the 7-8-9 batters without getting an out, which included a full-count walk to Martinez. Juan Magallanes batted with a full plate, brought in Gomez with a sac fly, and then Nunley spanked into a double play to keep it 4-1…

When Martinez reached on an Emmanuel Roman error to begin the bottom 5th (still up 4-1) and Magallanes walked, the Coons’ dugout showed Nunley the bunt sign and they meant it. Nunley showed teeth, but got the runners over. Jamieson grounded out poorly, Harenberg was walked intentionally, but Tim Stalker hit a gapper for a 2-out double that knocked over the veteran Chris Klein, and brought on Josh Pillsbury who rung up Tovias to strand a pair in a 6-1 contest. The Falcons struggled to get bats up against Dave Martinez, who had allowed only that Losey single through five, but nailed Emmanuel Roman to begin the sixth and then misfielded a Pillsbury bunt to put two on with nobody out… before the Falcons’ 1-2-3 failed collectively. A pop, a whiff, and Barend Kok at least made Jamieson jog some 30 feet to make the catch to end the inning. Rafael Gomez woke from the dead briefly to take Pillsbury deep to left-center in the bottom 6th, and in the bottom 7th the unlucky Falcon loaded them up with nobody out and Stalker approaching the plate… and eventually hitting into a run-scoring double play. That was the Coons’ final run in the game… and the final run overall, too. Losey hit another single off Martinez in the seventh, Salto hit a single in the ninth, and that was ALL they got. Martinez pitched another complete game! 8-1 Raccoons! Jamieson 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Martinez 9.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (5-1);

Game 2
CHA: CF N. Nelson – 3B G. Ortíz – RF Kok – LF Salto – 1B Fowlkes – SS Hobbs – C Carmichael – 2B E. Roman – P Rountree
POR: CF Magallanes – SS Stalker – LF Jamieson – 3B Hereford – RF Rodriguez – 1B Gomez – 2B Baldwin – C Rocha – P Anderson

The Raccoons absolutely, bitterly needed another win, and they wouldn’t get it. They got no hits the first time through the lineup, and then Matt Jamieson did hit a fourth-inning double he also tweaked his back and had to be removed for Ryan Allan. At that point the Coons trailed 3-0, courtesy of two leadoff walks issued by Anderson in the second and fourth that came around to score, once on a Michael Hobbs base knock in the second, and then on a Michael Hobbs 2-piece in the fourth. Hereford hit a sac fly in the bottom 4th, but Anderson kept flatly failing and walked Rountree (!) to begin the fifth. Nate Nelson’s RBI double put the Falcons up 4-1, and also saw Anderson yanked, but Matt Stonecipher was no great gain following up, walking two and conceding both Nelson and another run when Pat Fowlkes hit a single to center, burying the Coons five deep. Bottom 5th, Gomez opened with a single! … and then Chris Baldwin hit into a double play. There was just no hope in this game, the exact opposite of the first game on this Saturday. The Coons were getting NOTHING until very late in the game when two of them happened to fall onto bases and Rich Hereford slugged a Rountree offering over the fence, but that only got them into slam range. There was a Roman homer off Bobby Reed, some meaningless run in the bottom 8th… but mostly there was another loss that dropped the Coons three games out. 8-5 Falcons. Hereford 1-2, BB, HR, 4 RBI; Gomez 2-4; Gerster (PH) 1-1;

Sunday, the ball would be Mark Roberts’, and losing was no longer an option. We could NOT afford to fall back another game!

Game 3
CHA: CF N. Nelson – RF Kok – 1B Fowlkes – LF Salto – 3B G. Ortíz – C Sigala – SS Hobbs – 2B Brandon – P Lewis
POR: CF Magallanes – 3B Nunley – LF Hereford – 1B Harenberg – 2B Stalker – C Tovias – RF Gomez – SS Gerster – P Roberts

…and Mark Roberts was everything the Raccoons didn’t need to happen to them. Jairo Sigala hit a 2-run bomb in the second inning, Sean Brandon hit a solo shot – the first of his major league career, because that is what we are good for, and nothing else – in the fifth, and in between the miserable Raccoons managed just three hits and a single run on a Stalker homer in the bottom 2nd. Roberts allowed another single to Brandon to begin the seventh, the runner was bunted over by Lewis, who was normally a sure source for base runners, just not today, and two more singles by Nelson and Fowlkes plated the insurance run. Roberts was yanked for Ohl to finish the inning, and that move alone hinted at an unhealthy level of desperation involved at this point. It helped nothing; they could not get through ****ing Aaron Lewis, who had entered the game with 84 walks allowed, and added zero. The Falcons added two runs off Billy Brotman in the ninth, but it was not like the game and the season hadn’t already been out of the window even before that. Mike Tandy replaced Lewis in the ninth, up by five, and Nunley and Hereford hit singles right away before moving into scoring position on a wild pitch. The fans got into chanting. The miserable suckers – always fooled by this team. I was not. I stood at the big glass window, holding Honeypaws on my left forearm and comforting him behind the right here with the other hand, and glared at Kevin Harenberg, loathing him even as he hit an RBI single. That brought on a new reliever in makeshift closer, right-hander Brian Bowsman, who also had as many walks as strikeouts. Stalker struck out. Tovias grounded out, plating a run, which wouldn’t mean ****. Ivey hit for Rafael Gomez… and grounded out to short. 6-3 Falcons. Hereford 2-4; Tovias 2-4, RBI;

In other news

September 12 – WAS RF/LF/1B Tsuneyoshi Tachibana (.274, 21 HR, 75 RBI) is finished for the season with a ruptured finger tendon.
September 14 – IND 1B Jon Gonzalez (.301, 20 HR, 71 RBI) swats three home runs in a 10-1 downing of the Thunder and drives in six runs.
September 14 – Broken ribs end the season of NYC OF Tony Coca (.280, 33 HR, 95 RBI), the clear and undisputed home run leader of the season.

Complaints and stuff

The coins were tossed, the dice were cast, and every single one of them came up asses. The miserable Raccoons fudged their way through mediocre opposition to a 2-5 record when even modest success would have kept them in the race. The Titans dropped three of four to the Loggers, for crying out loud. In their constitution the Raccoons were no threat for the Titans and Indians in what was likely a two-horse race, but even the Crusaders could still fever-dream up a scenario in which they’d rally past everybody.

There was no rally left in this team. Too many casualties. Too many games with barely professional ballplayers populating half the lineup. Too many starts gone to absolute, dire scrubs. All the dreams are dead. All the dreams ended up with this misfit team being paralyzed, surrounded by darkness, and eaten and devoured by the shadows of the bigger, better teams.

Titans (81-68) – POR (4), IND (3), OCT (3), VAN (3) – .520 – 57.1% (+0.9%)
Indians (81-68) – NYC (4), BOS (3), POR (3), SFB (3) – .512 – 39.2% (+8.4%)
Raccoons (78-71) – BOS (4), ATL (3), IND (3), MIL (3) – .503 – 3.3% (-9.6%)
Canadiens (77-73) – BOS (3), CHA (3), MIL (3), NYC (3) – .460 – 0.3% (+0.1%)
Crusaders (76-73) – IND (4), MIL (3), TIJ (3), VAN (3) – .514 – 0.1% (+0.1%)

Fun Fact: No Indians player had hit three home runs in a game since Claudio Rey had done it against the Loggers in 2004.

That was the only season in which Rey amounted to more than 300 plate appearances. A career Indian, he had less than 1,000 PA for his career, despite batting .272/.345/.414 with 16 HR and 113 RBI, and did not appear in the majors after his age 29 season.