[Westheim]

Originally Posted by DD Martin

Swept by the Loggerheads......Swept! I don’t care who the manager is, SWEPT BY THE LOGGERS, The AAA team should be able to beat them. Whatever your name is manager, no excuses.....YOU’RE FIRED,

Nah, I have photos.

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Raccoons (80-75) vs. Titans (87-68) – September 24-27, 2029

The “not in our face” mentality would probably take a beating in this series, much like the Raccoons as a whole. The Critters could only make the playoffs anymore by winning out in the final week; at the same time, the Titans had to lose all their games, and the Indians had to lose at least one game in their midweek series, and that would only barely be enough to get into a 3-way tie. So yeah, and with Jamie O’Leary on tap for the Coons, the Titans could already put the champagne on ice for eliminating at least one team on Monday. The Titans had broken out of a recently crowded field with a strong September (15-6) despite only ranking sixth in runs scored. They were sporting the best D and bullpen, though, and were allowing the second-fewest runs in the CL. Up 8-6 in the season series, Boston was however a few pitchers short of making a convincing title case, having lost Jeremy Waite, Ryan Corkum, and also Adam Corder, among others, down the stretch.

Projected matchups:
Jamie O’Leary (2-10, 4.14 ERA) vs. Dustin Cory (8-1, 3.78 ERA)
Dave Martinez (5-1, 2.80 ERA) vs. Dave Dyer (1-1, 3.14 ERA)
Rico Gutierrez (3-1, 2.22 ERA) vs. Dustin Wingo (10-9, 2.84 ERA)
Mark Roberts (14-11, 3.41 ERA) vs. Lorenzo Viamontes (16-6, 3.16 ERA)

It is not entirely impossible that we will get a spot starter up on Wednesday, since there is not really a point anymore in Rico starting on short rest… why break the boy yet again? And by the way, yes, that is *that* Dave Dyer, resurfacing with the chance of a ring on a team that had shed some pitchers recently. Wingo figured to be the only southpaw on offer in this series.

Game 1
BOS: CF Acor – LF W. Vega – 3B S. Williams – RF O’Rourke – SS Spataro – 2B R. West – C T. Perez – 1B Jon. Morales – P Cory
POR: CF Magallanes – 3B Nunley – 2B Hereford – 1B Harenberg – LF Jamieson – SS Stalker – C Tovias – RF Gomez – P O’Leary

Kevin Harenberg and Tim Stalker both entered the game at 99 RBI and were vying to become the first Coon to get 100 RBI on the season. Harenberg was obviously getting first dips, and converted right away after Dustin Cory nicked Rich Hereford with two outs in the bottom 1st and Harenberg hit his 22nd blast of the season, no doubt out of rightfield. Rhett West would shorten the gap by half right away in the top 2nd, which the Titans opened with a sharp single to left by Dave O’Rourke, a Keith Spataro double to center, and then West’s single to shallow center. O’Rourke scored, Spataro was sent but thrown out at home plate by Juan Magallanes, and O’Leary, normally the unluckiest bastard up and down either coast in the States, wiggled out of that one. Of course, sometimes he was just begging for it, like when he walked Cory to begin the top 3rd. Dustin Acor popped out, Willie Vega grounded into a fielder’s choice, and then they still got onto the corners with Stephen Williams’ single. O’Rourke got rung up to end the inning. The writing, though, was on the wall, and before long O’Leary’s brains were, too, having been beaten in by Jonathan Morales with a booming 3-run shot in the fourth inning, West and Tony Perez dancing home from scoring position.

O’Leary was all ground to dust after five innings, ten hits and four runs, but at least the Critters had a chance to – for once – take him off the hook. Jamieson led off the bottom 4th with a triple and scored on Tovias’ groundout, and the fifth began with a Magallanes double into the left-center gap. Nunley walked, but then Vega reached a Hereford fly to left, Harenberg grounded out, and Jamieson whiffed, stranding the precious runs. The game remained in 4-3 limbo for the next few innings while Fleischer and Brotman lined up a few scoreless innings for the Coons, who did not get another runner into scoring position until Hereford led off the eighth with a single and stole second, but was stranded all the same. The Titans’ bottom of the order spanked Bobby Reed for an insurance run, though, so the Raccoons faced a 2-run deficit by the time they came up again Jonathan Snyder, the ex-Coon, with their own bottom of the order in the ninth. Snyder had infamously not been able to nail down a 5-game lead in Game 6 in ’26, so not all hope was pointless up until now. He had to get those three outs first! Tovias flew out to left, but then Gomez snuck a single through the left side and Snyder lost Ryan Allan on four balls. Magallanes had yielded in center to Allan when the left-handed outfielder had pinch-hit one cycle through the lineup ago, so Reed had to be pinch-hit for in the #1 spot. A team with no bench whatsoever sent up Wilson Rodriguez as the winning run, but he flew out to center. Thus it was down to Nunley or Nothing! Turned out to be Nothing. Matt grounded out to second on an 0-2 pitch, officially ending the Raccoons’ season. 5-3 Titans.

Fittingly, no Raccoon put up even a decent performance worth retelling, like, two singles in five attempts, the commonly accepted baseline for decency around these parts…

Relieved of all sorrows and burdens, we could play out the string of six games in inner peace. Next year. Next year we’d be back. See you then, ****ing Lightning Grabbers.

Game 2
BOS: 1B Jon. Morales – LF W. Vega – SS Spataro – 3B S. Williams – C Leonard – 2B R. West – RF F. Rodriguez – CF Reichardt – P Dyer
POR: CF Allan – 3B Nunley – LF Hereford – 1B Harenberg – SS Stalker – C Ivey – RF Gomez – 2B Cass – P Martinez

Portland took another 2-0 lead on a dinger in the bottom 1st on Tuesday, this time with Nunley drawing four balls and Hereford drawing a helpless fastball that he wacked outta right-center for his 12th dinger of an injury-ravaged season, and his 50th as a Raccoon. Not much else happened in the early innings, with a Harenberg fly falling short of the fence and into Fernando Rodriguez’ glove in the bottom 3rd. That one would have been with Hereford on base, who was stranded for good at the opportunity. Meanwhile, Dave Martinez was very much out of control, which had the neat effect of the Titans being repeatedly fooled into making poor or no contact. Through five innings, he had shed only one hit, but walked and whiffed four apiece, while also exploding his pitch count to nearly 90. Spataro opened the inning with a single, stole second base – the first successful nip in the game after runners had gone collectively 0-for-3 until then – and was on third after a wild pitch with two outs to Keith Leonard, who ended up walking. Rhett West was probably the last batter for Martinez on 102 pitches, singled to center to cut the lead in half, and Martinez was indeed yanked to get Garavito to face the left-handed batting Rodriguez, whom Garavito got to ground out to Sam Cass, whose presence in the lineup also signaled that there was nothing left to play for. Fittingly, the 2-1 lead went bust the following inning with the persistent ruinbringer Adrian Reichardt doubling off the fence against Kevin Surginer and being scored on productive outs by Eddie Moreno and Chris Hollar. To anybody’s surprise however, Shane Ivey hit a leadoff jack off lefty Mike Stank in the bottom of the same inning, restoring the Coons to a 3-2 edge. Sound relief by Ricky Ohl held the Titans short in the eighth, but when the ninth came around, Boles issued a leadoff walk to Rhett West. Rodriguez helpfully bounced into a 4-6-3 double play neatly started by Cass, and then Reichardt could not bring any more ruin than he already had and went down on strikes. 3-2 Coons. Hereford 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Ivey 1-2, BB, HR, RBI; Gomez 2-3;

The W went to Billy Brotman, who got the last out in the seventh after Surginer had run out of clue.

Abel Mora was activated from the DL on Wednesday, but not in the starting lineup against the lefty Wingo, while Sean Rigg (1-1, 4.18 ERA) got the spot start assignment, pushing everybody else back by a day.

Game 3
BOS: 1B Jon. Morales – LF W. Vega – SS Spataro – 3B S. Williams – C Leonard – 2B R. West – RF Hollar – CF Acor – P Wingo
POR: CF Magallanes – SS Stalker – LF Jamieson – 2B Hereford – 1B Gomez – RF W. Rodriguez – 3B Gerster – C Rocha – P Rigg

Boston started with two base hits and scored first on Stephen Williams’ sac fly, but *again* the Raccoons would leave their first mark with a 2-run shot. This time, however, it didn’t occur until the second inning. Rafael Gomez doubled to left, and then Wilson Rodriguez ran into a mistake by Wingo and smashed it over the fence in leftfield to flip the score. After a brief rain delay in the third inning and a Stephen Williams error that put Stalker on base with two outs in the bottom 3rd, Matt Jamieson also hit a shot to left, extending the score to 4-1. Keith Leonard singled in Spataro in the fourth to take a run away, but Sean Rigg doubled into the gap in the bottom 5th for his first base knock as a Critter, then came around to score while Magallanes was piled on just short of second base after singling and very much not doubling to shallow right-center. Rigg held up for two more unspectacular innings before he was pinch-hit for in the bottom 7th. Abel Mora grounded out in his spot to end the inning. Boston then announced Adrian Reichardt as pinch-hitter for Wingo to begin the eighth, prompting the Critters to send another confusingly wild enigma, Matt Stonecipher, to see whether he could get a guy like Reichardt out when it counted. He could, it turned out, with Reichardt called out in a full count at a pitch that barely grazed the bottom of the zone, and Stonecipher got through the inning despite a 2-out walk to Willie Vega, his 35th walk in – once Spataro grounded out to Stalker – exactly 50 innings of work in the majors. Also unscored upon in his inning in the game was Josh Boles, despite falling behind three of four batters and walking the leadoff man Williams in the ninth. Somehow, the Titans made three outs without scorching him. 5-2 Furballs. Magallanes 2-4, RBI; Gomez 1-2, BB, 2B; Rigg 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, W (2-1) and 1-2, 2B;

Boys? I really want that series split now… and I mean the SEASON series, not this 4-game set here…

Game 4
BOS: C T. Perez – LF W. Vega – 3B S. Williams – RF O’Rourke – SS Spataro – 2B R. West – CF Reichardt – 1B Jon. Morales – P Viamontes
POR: CF Mora – 3B Nunley – RF Hereford – 1B Harenberg – SS Stalker – C Tovias – LF Allan – 2B Cass – P Gutierrez

While Rico Gutierrez had never fared too well against a pile of right-handed bats, it was the lone lefty swinger, Willie Vega, to put the Titans 2-0 on top in the third inning with a 2-run single through the Coons’ left side, which plated Reichardt (on base against Portland by the rulebook) and Viamontes, who had reached when Rico had thrown away his bunt, the error making the runs unearned. The Coons amounted only to three base hits through five against the wannabe-17-game winner Viamontes, but one of those was a stray solo homer by Hereford to cut the deficit in half. The bottom 6th saw an actual chance creeping up, though. Nunley opened with a single over the head of West, who then intercepted a hard grounder by Hereford behind the second base bag, but by the time he had unscrambled himself, Nunley was sliding into second and Hereford legged out his zip to first, putting the go-ahead run on base, too. Kevin Harenberg came up sniffing a chance and got a hanging breaking ball at 2-1. The poor baseball was never seen again, brashly bashed over the fence in right for a 3-run homer!

Top 7th, Rico got the first two batters, including Reichardt to dip his ERA back into the 1’s in the injury-ravaged season of his. Jonathan Morales hit a 2-run triple, and then the Titans sent left-hander Eddie Moreno to pinch-hit; that would be Rico’s last batter of the year, and if he got him, he could settle down with a 1.xx ERA for the winter, however little that meant. He got Moreno to 2-2, but couldn’t get him to miss another pitch. Moreno hit a drive to right, Hereford ambling back and… he made the catch, ending Rico’s season on a high note. The Titans would creep closer with Tony Perez’ jack off Surginer in the eighth, which made the Coons hold only a 4-3 lead, especially once they badly failed to get an insurance run in the bottom 8th against Stank, who served up a 1-out double to Tovias, but then managed to chew through a pile of right-handed pinch-hitters in Jamieson, Rodriguez, and Gomez. Jamieson was walked intentionally, and the other two made poor outs. Ricky Ohl got the save chance here and retired the 5-6-7 in order… even Reichardt, who flew out to Mora on a 3-1 pitch. 4-3 Coons. Hereford 4-4, HR, RBI; Harenberg 1-4, HR, 3 RBI; Stalker 2-4, 2 2B; Gutierrez 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, W (4-1);

This indeed gave the Coons a split in the season series, and it also gave the Indians a decent enough chance to still catch the Titans by ironically flattening the Critters on the weekend. Indy had taken three of four from the Crusaders, which put them two games out, which was not a great scenario, but sure beat anything the Coons had going right now…

Raccoons (83-76) vs. Indians (86-73) – September 28-30, 2029

Indy sat second in runs scored, third in runs allowed, overall sported slightly better numbers than the Titans, and needed those wins badly. That was really all there was to know. They had already won eight from the Coons this year, and really had to make it eleven to have a shot.

Projected matchups:
Mark Roberts (14-11, 3.41 ERA) vs. Andy Bressner (10-6, 3.47 ERA)
Kyle Anderson (6-7, 4.03 ERA) vs. Sal Bedoya (14-3, 2.73 ERA)
Dave Martinez (5-1, 2.66 ERA) vs. Mark Matthews (9-10, 4.96 ERA)

Only righties from here on out. 1B Jon Gonzalez (.296, 21 HR, 72 RBI), who had put the hurt on his former team the last time around, was out for the season however, having torn thumb ligaments.

Game 1
IND: SS Pizano – RF Plunkett – CF Suhay – 1B Blades – C Dear – 2B Schneller – LF M. Cowan – 3B Roesler – P Bressner
POR: CF Mora – LF Jamieson – 3B Hereford – 1B Harenberg – SS Stalker – C Ivey – RF Allan – 2B Baldwin – P Roberts

The ball sure flew well off Mark Roberts in this game. Mario Pizano tripled on his first pitch, and while Mike Plunkett struck out and Ben Suhay popped out, the Indians still managed to drum up two runs in the inning by ripping straight sharp singles off the bats of Brett Blades, Matt Dear, and Dan Schneller before Mike Cowan flew out to Jamieson. Bottom 1st, Jamieson singled up the middle, Hereford walked, and then Harenberg beat Suhay in center for an RBI double. Tim Stalker had not gotten a single ribbie against Boston and still sat at 99, but finally leapt into the triple digits with an RBI single to left, tying the score. Bressner bowed out on two pops from Ivey and Allan, and we might be in for an interesting one here…

For some, it was also a short one. Tim Stalker would finish the season with 100 RBI, leaving the game with a strained hammy in the fourth inning, replaced by German Sanchez. At that point it was 3-2 Indians thanks to a Schneller homer off Roberts, who fooled nobody in particular. Even Andy Bressner doubled off him in the fourth inning… Roberts managed to shed 11 base hits through six innings without getting completely blown out, while Bressner had settled in after the rough first inning and allowed only two base hits to the Coons from the second through the fifth innings. Harenberg hit a leadoff single in the bottom 6th, but Sanchez whiffed and Ivey hit into a double play. Roberts leaked a 12th base hit, a soft Pizano single, to begin the seventh inning, but after Plunkett bunted the insurance run to second base, Roberts ended his season with back-to-back strikeouts against Suhay and Blades, giving him 187 for the year, which surprisingly enough might even turn out to be enough for the CL whiff crown. And just when the Indians seemed to have wrestled this one from lame-ass Coons, a Dan Schneller throwing error put Abel Mora on second base with nobody out in the bottom 8th, and that was still in a 3-2 game. Matt Jamieson wasted NO time against his old team and cracked a single to left. Mora raced around and scored ahead of Cowan’s throw, and Jamieson dazzled to second base when nobody paid him any attention. Hereford then grounded to second base where Schneller, the rookie, blundered again for another error that put runners on the corners with nobody out. All of this went so fast, the Indians’ relievers were still warming up in the pen and couldn’t come in; Harenberg popped out on the second pitch, and then Nunley batted for Sanchez. He flew out to Zachary Ryder in right, but deep enough to get Jamieson home with a VERY unearned run. Bressner, never relieved, struck out Ivey to end the inning, but suddenly the Arrowheads stared down the guns of Fort Boles.

Josh came out, walked PH Trent Herlihy, who was soon exchanged for a pinch-runner in Alex Aleman, then nailed another pinch-hitter Edgar Paiz, who would be the go-ahead run. Nobody out, too, as the top of the order came up. Relentless, Boles hit Pizano with the VERY NEXT PITCH even after a lengthy mound conference. The Coons were no less stunned than the Indians at this sudden collapse. Ryder popped out to Butch Gerster at short before right-hander Todd Johnson was sent to bat for Ben Suhay, a likely K batting from the left side. The Coons, who had torn down the Titans earlier in the week would give the Indians no less of a fair shake – the wickedly offbeat Boles was yanked for Ricky Ohl, the best right-handed shot at a K we had. But wasn’t collapse inevitable? Was there any way the Coons deserved to get out of this one? Ohl walked in the tying run against Johnson, rung up Cesar Castro, then conceded a 2-run single to Matt Dear before getting out of the damn inning on a pop. Down 6-4, Allan led off the bottom 9th with a single against Franklin Alvarado. Magallanes batted for Baldwin, singled up the middle, and the madness continued. Elias Tovias batted for Ohl, ran a full count, then bashed a ball to deep right where it hit off the fence for an RBI double. 6-5, tying run at third, winning run at second, nobody out, and the top of the order was back up. Abel Mora grounded out so poorly, the runners had to hold. Jamieson whiffed on three pitches. With first base open, the Indians still had a choice here whether they wanted to pitch to Hereford or Harenberg, but neither of them would face the righty Alvarado the way they liked. The Indians went for Rich Hereford. And Rich Hereford went 360 feet on the 1-0 pitch. Drive to right! High! Long! GONE!!!!! 8-6 Furballs!! Jamieson 2-5, RBI; Hereford 1-4, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Harenberg 2-4, 2B, RBI; Allan 2-4; Magallanes (PH) 1-1; Tovias (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI;

That was the end of the Indians’ season; the Titans won a 3-2 squeezer against the Elks, and thus established a 3-game lead with two games left on the calendar. Rich Hereford’s 2-out, come-from-behind walkoff shot broke Indy’s last arrow.

By mid-day on Saturday, the Titans sent over a voucher to Rich for the finest steak place in town. Also, some flowers, which made for a nice appetizer.

Although, if I was there manager, I would lock Dan Schneller naked in the showers and then give all the veterans on that team a sock and a bar of soap and then let them decide how to proceed.

Game 2
IND: SS Pizano – RF Plunkett – CF Suhay – C Dear – 2B Schneller – LF Zanches – 1B Mack – 3B Blades – P Bedoya
POR: CF Mora – 3B Nunley – LF Hereford – 1B Harenberg – RF Gomez – C Tovias – SS Gerster – 2B Cass – P Anderson

Hereford put the Arrowheads in arrears again in the middle game, plating Mora with a groundout after Abel had ripped a double to left to begin the bottom 1st. Harenberg followed up with a solo shot to right, putting Portland up 2-0. Anderson leaked the odd runner here or there early on, but didn’t get into trouble until the fourth, which Suhay opened with a walk, and Matt Dear followed up with a single. In that spot the 5-6-7 batters unleashed three pops of varying height and depth, but all three had a Critter parked underneath in due time. The bottom 5th in turn saw the Coons put Sam Cass on with a leadoff single, then Anderson bunt into a double play. Abel Mora walked, then was picked off in quite the inning… The Indians did get on the board in the sixth when Anderson walked Suhay yet again, and this time Matt Dear doubled him in, but then was stranded himself when Schneller flew out to center and Alex Zanches popped out.

Bottom 6th, the Coons started with a Nunley walk, then a Hereford bloop for a single. Harenberg ran a 3-1 count before flying out to Plunkett, which advanced Nunley to third from where he scored when Rafael Gomez rolled a grounder through between Blades and Pizano for an RBI single, 3-1. Tovias lined out to Pizano, but Bedoya lost Gerster in a full count, bringing up Sam Cass with three on and two outs. If the game had mattered anything, we would have hit for him here, but we were already ahead, and what better way to gauge the kid’s guts than this spot? He struck out. Badly.

Anderson went six and two thirds before the top of the order would have come up again and the Indians had a Craig Mack at second base. Fleischer got Pizano on a fly to left to end the seventh. The game was still very much up for grabs until the bottom 7th, with Bedoya still hanging around. Mora drew a 1-out walk, Nunley dropped a soft single between half a dozen defenders, and that brought up Rich Hereford again. Unfortunately the Coons were no longer playoff-bound, because Rich Hereford was surely searing white hot. Bedoya’s 108th pitch was mashed for 366 feet to right, well over the wall, and the Coons ran the tally to 6-1! With Bedoya yanked in favor of J.R. Hreha, the Coons put another run together in the inning on a Gomez single and Tovias RBI double. The Raccoons then tried to slip the last six outs from Bobby Reed’s clumsy paws, which worked to the tune of four hits and two runs before Kevin Surginer restored order. 7-3 Coons. Mora 2-3, 2 BB, 2B; Hereford 2-4, HR, 4 RBI; Gomez 2-4, RBI; Anderson 6.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, W (7-7);

The Coons pried Alberto Ramos off the stretcher for the final game of the season, which sure provoked excitement, the game lacking any meaning be damned…! The CL stolen base crown would be decided in this game, though. Ramos returned with 49 bags; Pizano had 50. Nobody else was even close.

Game 3
IND: SS Pizano – RF Plunkett – CF Suhay – 1B Herlihy – 2B Schneller – LF Zanches – C Paiz – 3B T. Johnson – P Matthews
POR: SS Ramos – CF Mora – LF Hereford – 1B Harenberg – 3B Nunley – RF Rodriguez – C Tovias – 2B Cass – P Martinez

The race was even before everybody had settled in; Dave Martinez retired the Indians in order in the first, but Ramos rolled a single to right, then swiped second despite everybody and their mothers knowing he was gonna try. That was his 50th base, tying him up with Pizano for the CL lead. Before long, the Coons put up a 3-spot but the key offense in the inning was actually provided by Matthews, who walked the bases full, then threw a wild pitch to score Ramos after Harenberg had already lined out for the first out. Nunley and Rodriguez hit RBI singles to get to 3-0. The Indians made up a run in the second when Trent Herlihy drew a leadoff walk, moved to third on a Zanches single and came home on Paiz’ sac fly, but there was still the one-man wrecking crew stirring it up in the bottom of innings. Ramos hit a 1-out single in the bottom 2nd, stole second AGAIN, even though the Indians were still aware of his presence, then came home on Abel Mora’s liner for a single to center. A Ramos Special! It was so pretty!

The Coons went on to produce a few double plays; Hereford hit a single in the bottom 2nd, but Harenberg doubled them up, and then the Coons had Nunley and Tovias in scoring position with one out in the third when Sam Cass flew out to left. Zanches made the catch, Nunley was sent, and thrown out. Bottom 4th, Ramos had his third single, bid for his third stolen base, but this time was thrown out by Paiz. Yet, Pizano had yet to reach base, so Ramos still was having sole possession of the SB lead, and then hit ANOTHER single to right in the bottom 6th, this time with two outs. He didn’t get a chance this time as Mora got a fat pitch right away from Matthews, but flew out to Zanches in deep left. Martinez never allowed him on base, but was squeezed out in the seventh inning when the Indians put Zanches and Johnson on the corners with two outs. Ricky Ohl came out once Brett Blades was announced as pinch-hitter, got him to 2-2, but then still allowed a sharp grounder. That one went right at Nunley, though, and Matt made the play to end the inning and strand two. Ricky wouldn’t retire Pizano, though, to begin the eighth inning. But Pizano did himself no favor in the stolen base battle, homering to left-center, which precluded any chance for a stolen base in this inning. Eh, as long as the Indians wouldn’t bat through the order of course. Ohl got the next two, Brotman got Herlihy on a pop, and under normal and welcome circumstances only one inning remained. The Critters didn’t bring Ramos back up in the eighth, so it was all on Boles now. Schneller struck out. Zanches struck out. Paiz walked and was run for by Aleman. Johnson walked. DAMNIT, BOLES!! WE EAT ON TIME!! Mike Cowan batted in the pitcher’s hole, ran the count to 2-1, then hit a grounder to left. Ramos pounced, zinged it to second, Todd Johnson was out, and the season was over. 4-2 Furballs. Ramos 4-4; Mora 2-3, BB, RBI; Hereford 2-3, BB; Rodriguez 2-4, RBI; Martinez 6.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, W (6-1);

In other news

September 26 – The Buffaloes wrap the FL East with a 6-1 win over the Capitals, securing their ninth playoff appearance and their fourth in the last six years.
September 27 – SFW SP Eric Barlow (13-11, 4.14 ERA) tosses a 4-hit shutout against the Pacifics, the sole surviving competitor for the Warriors in the FL West, which also reduces the Warriors’ magic number to two.
September 27 – LVA C Josh Motleyy (.255, 8 HR, 48 RBI) has torn posterior cruciate ligaments and will face eight to nine months of recovery, costing him at least the first two months of the 2030 season.
September 28 – LAP SP Luis Flores (12-9, 3.21 ERA) 3-hits the Gold Sox as the Pacifics cling on to dear life in pursuit of the Warriors. L.A. wins the game 7-0.
September 28 – The Pacifics are still eliminated on the same day after losing the second leg of their double header with Denver, 2-1, while the Warriors beat the Scorpions 4-2. The Warriors will be in the playoffs for the tenth time in franchise history.
September 29 – Knights SP Mike Cockcroft (1-7, 3.89 ERA) might miss most of the 2030 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery for a torn UCL.

Complaints and stuff

Sweeping Indy on the final weekend ended up giving us our seventh straight season series win against them, barely squeezing them out at a 10-8 rate this year. Yes, it was all meaningless. Well, not quite. Ramos rose from the dead in time to snatch the stolen base title from Pizano. And wasn’t that some kind of performance!? 4-for-4 with the two sacks!

Also, had he lasted for about a dozen more games this year and batting at this rate, he would have won the batting title, too. Coulda, woulda, shoulda.

All our minor league teams came up with losing records, but aren’t we used to that by now?

But I can tell you what really ticks me off; Josh Boles’ preserved pattern of picking two and dropping as many right after that. He did that so often last year, and he kept doing it this year right until the final out of the season that Mike Cowan grounded into after he had issued two last-straw walks. Whyyy, Josh? Whyyy??

Regardless of individual performance, this troupe would be back as a team in 2030 to make another bid for a third title. They already were a dynasty nearly on the level of the 1990s crew. A third ring, though… might tilt the scales in their favor!

Fun Fact: Lackluster baseball performances notwithstanding, Sam Cass already has an award on his shelf, having been named the 2005 Ugliest Baby Boy by Yuck Magazine.

It is true.

Also true: he is one of four players drafted in the eighth round or lower we used this year. Him and Magallanes were taken in the ninth round; Shane Ivey was an eighth-rounder. And of course, Mark Roberts was taken in the *12th* round by the Falcons in 2012, even deeper down than Nick Brown 17 years earlier. And despite that he just led the CL in strikeouts.

And home runs.