Compton Raiders (54-51, .514, 3rd DL West) @ Mexico City Diablos (62-43, .590, 2nd DL East)
I regretted my decision to join Compton on their jaunt to Mexico City almost a soon as I found my seat on the plane. The reasons for my regret are too numerous to name - so, for the sake of time, I’ll just touch on some of the greatest hits... first, the stench - have you ever been on a plane with 30 professional baseball men? - second, the flight, all of it, was turbulent... I’m not talking bumpy, I’m talking oxygen masks dropping from the overhead turbulent... and, third, Kirk Johnson, god bless him, slept the entire way. Once we had deplaned, and after I kissed the ground in homage to whatever higher power got me back to it in one piece, I quickly retreated to my hotel - a nice, upscale grotto away from the players - and studied up on the Diablos while enjoying a lukewarm cerveza and a platter of tacos al pastor. Orlando’s affiliate club is an interesting case-study on development in that they’ve, over the course of their 50+ years in the fold, constructed their roster with a goal of winning games that no other major league franchise seems overly concerned about. That is to say that, in addition to developing prospects, they aim to win and construct their Mexico City roster like you would a team instead of a farm club. They stock it with team-first personalities of suspect ceilings and specialists in support of their often paltry collection of ranked talent. This has been a financially prudent tact as the local faithful support their club with a fervor that rivals that of some of our more successful big-league clubs. This should be an interesting few days, indeed. And one where I expect the positives, my nearly presidential treatment by the Mexico City Diablos brass among them, to outweigh the results. I’ll be enjoying the games from the corporate box, will have my own dedicated waitstaff, and am staying in a posh Mexico City hotel courtesy of my assistant’s no-stone-left-unturned travel booking style. I could get used to this.
Oh, and, in case you forgot, the Big Club is enjoying all that the fine city of San Francisco offers over the next three days…
106 of 144: Lloyd Wilkens (4-2, 4.07) @ Funky Martin (4-2, 3.18)
Before we get to the game… can we just take a moment to enjoy the fact that Mexico City is starting a guy named Funky Martin? And, can we also enjoy the fact that he has a legit opportunity to be that rare international signee who makes good on some, if not all, of his early promise?
Win, 5-3. Lloyd gave us 8 innings of better-than-solid work, K’d 10 of Mexico City’s finest, and only allowed 3 runs to the plate while Left Fielder, and some time Major Leaguer, Kumar Bovie hit two dingers, drove 3 in, and plated himself on 3 separate occasions. Bakari Konate hit another homer for the CITY OF COMPTON, we got caught with our hand in the honey pot… twice, and Bakari committed his 3rd error of the season.
Elsewhere: SP Bentley Noonan, of the Cincinnati Bengals, pitched a 9-K, No-no in a 2-0 win over the Austin Grackles. Bentley, who had made 21 starts this season for Green Bay in the MLB, has amassed a 9-5 record with a 3.30 ERA for the Packers in 2078… this was his 1st start in the International League this season. And, because I looked it up – I’d like to note that Noonan is an Oregon State Beaver alum who was drafted in 2074 22nd overall by the Green Bay Packers. Oh, and our Big Club lost in extras to the San Francisco Seals by a score of 3-2. Scott Kaszuba hit the run-scoring single that sent our guys to the showers in the bottom of the 11th.
107 of 144: Rad Taylor (8-6, 3.01) @ Kito Western (12-4, 2.90)
Listen, I don’t want to dwell on this or anything, but it is possible that the Mexico City Diablos have the best named pitching staff in all of organized baseball… KITO. WESTERN.
Win, 2-1. 8 strong innings, 5 K’s and only 1 runner plates while
Rad Taylor was on the mound, Aris Anaconda went 2 for 5 with a run, and Kirk Johnson drew a walk in his lone AB as a DH tonight… you might be wondering why he was on the bench tonight – let's just say that I wanted to see how he reacts when he’s told ‘no’. We got a double from Mario Marshburn, a slick double play, and Jack St. Germain recorded his 27th save of the season.
Elsewhere: My LA Kings took game two of their 3-game set against the San Francisco Seals – Paul Yeager went 8 innings, K’d 6, and didn’t allow a single run to plate and Barbaccia, who couldn’t secure the shutout (he gave up a solo shot in the bottom of the 9th), earned his 33rd save of the year. And, SP Toby George, of the Columbia Blowfish, pitched a 7 K no-no against the Coney Island Footlongs in Bush League play… the Blowfish won by a score of 1-0, and, just like that, we get two no-hitters in two days. Toby George, coincidentally, pitched in 2 games for us in 2075, both in relief, and registered a 3.83 ERA in 4.2 innings pitched. He had a so-so season in Compton the following year – but, despite his best efforts, we released him during the Tricentennial Offseason and he’s been a Bush Leaguer ever since.
108 of 144: Orlando Vasquez (9-7, 4.32) @ Davey Halimkusuma (5-4, 2.88)
Win, 6-4. Wow. I picked the right time to take a trip with my AAA club, didn’t I… we get our first series road sweep of the season and now, after taking care of business in Mexico, only have to worry about making out of town in time to get back to the states for a date with the Columbus Bluejackets in Compton Municipal Park. Velasquez battled for 4.2 innings even though he didn’t really have his best stuff, Aris Anaconda went 2 for 5 with a
GRAND SLAM, and Rake Lewis went 2 for 4 with a solo HR. Kirk Johnson, back in the starting rotation, went 1 for 3 with a run, 2 walks, and a K while leaving three runners stranded. Good times.
Elsewhere: The Big Club lost game three to the San Francisco Seals by a score of 4-2. I’ll be joining them in Phoenix tomorrow and plan on having a chat with Megan to find out what the heck is going on with those guys… I can’t leave for three days without the ship springing a leak.