[Westheim]

Trade

The week began with the Coons adding a new player, trading for the Scorpions’ 29-year-old SS/3B Adam Downs, who was hitting .346 with 5 HR and 18 RBI in limited playing time – he had barely over 100 at-bats for the season. His usual production would be much closer to league average or below it. He was a well-fielding shortstop with any sort of stick, however, and that is what the Raccoons needed, an upgrade over Matt Triolo and whoever else they might adventure shuffling through Berto’s spot for the next 109 games.

The Coons parted with 23-yr old right-hander Brad Forsch, once a supplemental round pick by the Buffaloes, then later a trash heap pickup a few winters back. He had absolutely outrageous control problems, and if that was all that it would take to get a major-league-serviceable shortstop that made an absolute pittance aboard, we were in …!

Gene Tennis was transferred to the 60-day DL to make room on the 40-man roster, while Matt Triolo was banished to create space on the 25-man roster.

Raccoons (39-34) vs. Thunder (23-52) – June 30-July 2, 2036

The moribund Thunder dropped by, hoping to not get murdered outright, but then again, the Coons’ offense was mediocre at best… They were last in runs scored, second from the bottom in runs allowed, and their run differential was -100. There was nothing to like about that team. Nothing. Nothing. We were up 2-1 in the season series.

Projected matchups:
Carlos de la Cruz (1-0, 3.60 ERA) vs. Chris Guyett (5-7, 4.36 ERA)
Raffaello Sabre (4-5, 4.17 ERA) vs. Gary Martin (1-7, 6.75 ERA)
Colt Willes (5-2, 3.03 ERA) vs. Joe Robinson (6-5, 3.53 ERA)

Two right, one left; speaking of left, the Raccoons only had two left-handed batters left (Fernandez, Hooge). Everybody else had croaked.

Game 1
OCT: CF Olszewski – SS Santillan – RF Celaya – 1B D. Cruz – 2B C. Miller – LF DeLoach – C Kilmer – 3B A. Rojas – P Guyett
POR: 3B Myers – LF Hooge – RF M. Fernandez – CF Fowler – 2B Vickers – SS Downs – 1B Maruyama – C Wall – P de la Cruz

Regardless of previous successlessness, the Thunder began the game with lightning. Drew Olszewski doubled, Jose Santillan walked, Lorenzo Celaya singled, and with the bases loaded and nobody out, de la Cruz nailed Danny Cruz to force in a run. Trusted Raccoons personnel tried to talk and/or beat sense into him just 20 pitches into the game, and the inning ended with a run-scoring Chris Miller groundout, then two strikeouts. Why not like that from the start then…?? The shackling continued in the second, with extra-base hits by Alfredo Rojas, Santillan, and Celaya for two more runs, and de la Cruz was yanked after four innings and 89 pitches, all terrible, with the Coons still scoreless and with only one base hit. The bottom 4th DID see them get on the scoreboard with a Manny Fernandez homer that also collected Hooge for two runs, but then stupidity took over. Vickers hit a 2-out double in the same inning, but was thrown out trying to make it three, and in the fifth Kurt Wall hit a 1-out double, then got doubled off on Maldonado’s lineout.

Garavito’s leadoff walk to Rojas in the sixth turned into a run on two grounders and Santillan’s RBI single, 5-2, but Manny Fernandez singled home Myers, who hit a leadoff double up the leftfield line in the bottom of the inning, 5-3. Fowler was the tying run, struck out, Guyett walked Vickers, and Downs went down with a grounder, stranding two. Another chance was stitched together in the bottom 7th. Wall reached on a Chris Miller error with one down, and Yukitsura Hirai got his first major league hit with a double to left. This put the tying runs in scoring position for Dave Myers, who grounded out to short, which at least did score a run, and with two down Hooge hit a fly to deep center. Drew Olszewski was not back quick enough, the ball dropped in for a double, and Ed Hooge had tied the ballgame at five *and* had a 13-game hitting streak, but was also left stranded when Manny walked and Fowler fanned once more. The tie didn’t live long; Casey Moore put Rojas on base with a 1-out single, and when David Fernandez came out for Olszewski with two outs, the Thunder countered with a right-handed bat – Fernando Garcia went yard to left, and the Raccoons were trailing yet again. Worst offense, huh?? Bottom 9th, Wall opened with a double. Pinkerton popped out, Myers struck out, but Hooge came through with a gapper for an RBI double with two gone. Fernandez was the tying run, ran a full count, then was retired on a grounder to short… 7-6 Thunder. Hooge 2-4, BB, 2 2B, 2 RBI; M. Fernandez 2-4, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Wall 2-4, 2 2B; Hirai (PH) 1-1, 2B;

The Raccoons had ten hits; one homer, EIGHT DOUBLES, and one single.

Somehow, they managed to lose.

Game 2
OCT: CF Olszewski – SS Santillan – RF Celaya – 1B D. Cruz – 2B C. Miller – C Kilmer – LF S. Cutler – 3B A. Rojas – P G. Martin
POR: 3B Myers – LF Hooge – RF M. Fernandez – CF Fowler – 2B Vickers – SS Downs – 1B Maruyama – C Wall – P Sabre

Three on, no outs, Maruyama to the plate in the bottom of the second inning. The wet sponge that he was he poked away at the first pitch by Martin, who had just walked Downs in clueless fashion, and flew out to left-center. Fowler tagged, went, and scored, but good grief… Wall flew out to Celaya – oh, no, he dropped it! Error, the ball got behind him, too, and the Critters got two bases and a run out of the mistake, and a 2-0 lead. A Sabre sac fly made it 3-0 before Myers struck out. On the mound, Sabre had retired the first six, but walked Steve Cutler to put the first Thunder in the top 3rd on base. Rojas hit a shot at Myers, who didn’t take it in the throat or the cojones, but instead masterfully zinged the ball to the left for a 5-4-3 double play. The following inning Sabre nailed Santillan, walked Cruz, and gave up a screaming 2-run double with two outs to Chris Miller. Jeff Kilmer struck out, but it was 3-2 now…

Myers walked to begin the bottom 5th and Hooge singled to left, giving the Critters’ middle of the order a fat chance. It didn’t get off well from there, with Fernandez grounding to short, but the Thunder got only one out on Hooge before Fowler chopped an 0-2 pitch through a hole for an RBI single. Vickers and Downs made poor outs, stranding two. Next half-inning, Celaya singled, stole second, and Sabre gave up a pair of 2-out RBI doubles to Cruz and Miller – and the game was tied again.

It was at this point that I looked up in confusion as the Raccoons’ mascot came into the office while I was sitting on the couch and talked to Slappy about my sorrows. What the – Chad, what are you doing in here? You’re supposed to entertain the stupid kids in the stands! …. The mascot waved me off, plunked down on the couch, and took the head off. It was – Nick Valdes!? Why are you wearing Chad’s costume? – It’s not Chad’s costume!? – What do you mean, this is your own costume??

While I was trying to sort things out and why Valdes had to “occasionally sneak in unnoticed”, the Coons did nothing in the bottom 6th, but Citriniti was also not harmed in the top 7th. In fact, the tie remained unbroken through eight. Say, Nick, how *often* do you sneak in wearing the costume …? … Chris Wise allowed a leadoff single to Miller in the ninth, but Kilmer hit into a double play. Cutler struck out, so one run would be enough for the Critters in the bottom 9th, but they only managed a 2-out single by Myers, after which Hooge whiffed, and to extras it was… Wise did a second round of pitching, still wasn’t scored upon, and the middle of the order got Steve Bailey, a right-hander with a 7.96 ERA in the bottom 10th. Fernandez flew out, and Bailey struck out a pair to end that inning……. Bailey struck out two more in the 11th, while the Coons got two innings from Casey Moore before Maldonado in the #9 hole reached on an error by Santillan to begin the bottom 12th. Myers and Hooge both grounded out against David Gerow, bringing up Fernandez, who fell to 1-2 with the winning run on third base, then hit a soft fly to shallow right. Maldonado raced for home, but would it fall in?? Celaya coming on in a real rush, but the ball was sinking, sinking, and – it was in! Walkoff single! 5-4 Critters! Fowler 2-5, RBI; Vickers 2-5; Wise 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K; Moore 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, W (4-3);

This game? Seven hits, all singles, and somehow a win.

BASEBALL.

Game 3
OCT: CF Olszewski – SS Santillan – RF Celaya – 1B D. Cruz – 2B C. Miller – LF DeLoach – C Kilmer – 3B A. Rojas – P J. Robinson
POR: 3B Myers – 2B Vickers – LF Hooge – CF Fowler – 1B Maruyama – RF Pinkerton – SS Maldonado – C Wall – P Willes

Olszewski opened the game with a jack, which was just swell, wasn’t it… On the other paw, Ed Hooge got his hitting streak to 15 games early, finding Myers on base in the bottom 1st and homering to center to flip the score. ED HOOGE!! With one out, Fowler singled, Maruyama singled and sent him to third, and Preston Pinkerton singled and plated Fowler, 3-1. Jesus Maldonado hit another single to load the bases, but Wall hit the first pitch he got into a double play to end the inning… Willes remained ****ing awful, though, and the Thunder got a run back in the second on hits by Miller, Kilmer, and Rojas before Robinson hit into a double play… In the third, the Thunder tied it against the sucking Willes. Celaya singled with two outs, stole second, then scored on a sharp Cruz single, making it a three-all game… Say, Nick, have you ever thought of just dropping everything and walking into the forest, and never coming back…? – (Valdes nods eagerly)

Bottom 4th, Pinkerton hit a leadoff single, then stole second base. Maldonado hit a gapper in right-center to surely get him in, and he raced all the way to third base with an RBI triple! Kurt Wall’s sac fly got him in, and then Willes crashed a home run off Robinson to make it 6-3 …! Can he play first base …?? … All we knew was that he surely couldn’t ****ing pitch. Winless in June, he set out to blow the 3-run lead immediately. He walked Olszewski, allowed a single, threw a wild pitch, and somehow was booked for only one run in that particular ****ty inning. Another one followed, with Kilmer (walk), Rojas (single), and PH Jorge Zamora (walk) all aboard with one out. Willes was yanked, probably too late, and Garavito got the ball. This was the first time the Raccoons sent a southpaw for Olszewski and the Thunder did not counter with a righty bat in this series, and Olszewski hit a sac fly. Now with two outs, Garavito gave up the lead on a Santillan single, then blew the door out of the hinges altogether with a hanger to Celaya that was hit some 400 feet to center and gave the Thunder a 9-6 lead. Yeah, yeah, worst offense. Worst offense my ***!

As things were, the Raccoons wouldn’t score, but conceded another run in the ninth on not one, but two Dave Myers errors, because why wouldn’t he chip in? Gerow and his 6.59 ERA were back out for the bottom 9th with the Coons down by four. Manny Fernandez hit a pinch-hit single… and that was all. 10-6 Thunder. Maruyama 2-4; Pinkerton 2-4, RBI; Maldonado 2-4, 3B, RBI; M. Fernandez (PH) 1-1;

Maybe it’s just that we have the ****ing worst pitching – Colt Willes, the ****ing ****stain, has to ****ing go…

Hah, at least he can’t **** up a game against the Titans now…….

The Raccoons used Citriniti for another seven outs in this game and with the bullpen abuse the Raccoons had suffered against the worst offense in the league, made a roster move, or actually two, since Gilberto Rendon came off the DL for the Titans set. Citriniti and de la Cruz were sent to St. Petersburg, and the Critters called up the next right-hander on the list, who turned out to be Travis Sims, who had pitched 3.1 scoreless innings for Portland earlier in the year.

Raccoons (40-36) vs. Titans (47-31) – July 3-6, 2036

The mess that was the Raccoons got to host the Titans, who could kick the door to the playoffs wide open even now if they won even only three games in the series. And why wouldn’t they? They were only seventh in runs scored, but we had already seen this week what even the worst offense would do to the Raccoons, and they were also allowing the very fewest runs in the CL. That combined with the fact that we’d only get one southpaw starter (right away on Thursday), combined with their lineup being mostly left-handed against our righty starters made me rather less confident in our ability to keep them close or even close up to them… The season series was at 4-3 in the Titans’ favor.

Projected matchups:
Bernie Chavez (4-5, 2.81 ERA) vs. Mario Gonzalez (8-6, 2.24 ERA)
Jared Ottinger (1-2, 3.21 ERA) vs. Matt Brost (8-2, 3.29 ERA)
Gilberto Rendon (2-4, 5.24 ERA) vs. Rich Willett (8-7, 3.50 ERA)
Raffaello Sabre (4-5, 4.29 ERA) vs. Adam Potter (7-3, 3.76 ERA)

Everybody in the Titan’s rotation had at least seven wins. We barely could stitch two chaps together to find seven wins in one pile. How the **** is all we have left in the rotation having a losing record…? As indicated, Mario Gonzalez was the only southpaw we’d see, with the other one (Tony Chavez and his 8-6, 3.00 ERA mark) having pitched on Wednesday.

Boston *did* have a bunch of injured position players (Ivan Vega, Andy Schmit, Keith Spataro on the DL, Moises Avila ready to get back into action any moment), but who didn’t …?

Game 1
BOS: SS Gil – C J. Young – 1B Regan – LF W. Vega – RF Joseph – 2B Sears – 3B Beam – CF Hayden – P M. Gonzalez
POR: 3B Myers – 2B Vickers – LF M. Fernandez – CF Fowler – SS Downs – RF Pinkerton – 1B Maruyama – C Manning – P B. Chavez

Bernie allowed one hit through five on 50 pitches – did he get a lead? Of course not. They had three hits, and did nothing with them. While Valdes and me were musing whether we had enough pitchers for a 21-inning game, Bernie took care of business. He walked Matt Hayden to begin the inning. The runner was bunted over by Gonzalez, stole third base, and Bernie loaded the bases with walks behind him. The Coons couldn’t turn two on Greg Regan’s grounder to second base, one run scored, and Willie Vega struck out hacking to strand two. Chris Joseph hit a homer the following inning, 2-0, which was all the Titans got off Bernie Chavez, but it was well enough. The Raccoons did nothing while Bernie was pitching, and they did even less when he wasn’t pitching anymore, lifted in the top of the eighth. Gonzalez went eight shutout innings, allowing four base hits. Manny Fernandez hit a single in the bottom 9th, bringing up Fowler as the tying run with one out, and Fowler hit a perfect service to Antonio Gil for a 6-4-3 to end the game. 2-0 Titans. Chavez 7.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 7 K, L (4-6);

Not surprised. Only annoyed.

Game 2
BOS: SS Gil – C J. Young – 1B Regan – LF W. Vega – RF Joseph – 3B McGee – 2B Sears – CF Hayden – P Brost
POR: 3B Myers – LF Hooge – RF M. Fernandez – CF Fowler – 2B Vickers – SS Downs – 1B Maruyama – C Wall – P Ottinger

It was 2-0 Titans after just 20 Ottinger pitches in the Friday game. He walked Gil to start the game, and on four pitches, then gave up a screaming double to Jim Young. Greg Regan’s sac fly and Joseph’s 2-out RBI single got home the runners. But maybe Matt Brost could be even more awful? He walked Myers and Fernandez, threw a wild pitch, and then walked Fowler, too, in the bottom of the first inning. Three on, one out, Rich Vickers hit a grounder to short. To second. To first. At that point, Nick Valdes didn’t say a word, put on the mascot head, and walked out, slamming the door behind him. And I so wished I had a spare mascot costume to do the same.

Top 2nd, Brost singled home Hayden, who had walked and stolen a base against the wildly incompetent battery. The Raccoons matched the run in the bottom of the inning, certainly by accident, when Adam Downs led off with a double and scored on Maruyama and Wall both grounding out to the right side of the infield, 3-1. Thankfully Jared Ottinger remained reliably crap and would soon give up more runs to help the Titans to just run away with it all. He walked Willie Vega to begin the third, and while Joseph got that runner doubled up, the fourth began with a sharp single by Micah Sears. Matt Hayden reached on a Downs error, could have been two, but of course wasn’t, because only the Raccoons hit into stupid double play, but they did it at least all the time… Brost bunted the runners over, and Antonio Gil sure-handedly plated them with a crisp single near the leftfield line, 5-1. Ottinger gave up a double, then was yanked. David Fernandez found a way out of the inning, but the game was lost anyway…

Bottom 7th, still 5-1, thanks to Vickers hitting into a double play the inning prior. The Titans were on right-hander Alan Mays, who gave up singles to Maruyama and Wall, then left with an injury. Austin Holt replaced him, with Preston Pinkerton batting for Travis Sims. He hit a deep fly to right, but Joseph made a running catch racing back to the fence. Maruyama skedaddled to third base before Myers flew to left. That ball ran away from Willie Vega for extra-bases, though. Maruyama scored, and even Kurt Wall scored, and Dave Myers had stopped at second base … and was bending over and grimacing. Dr. Chung strolled out there with a gun cocked and loaded just in case there was no helping this particular horse anymore… Marsingill replaced Myers, who was removed from the game on grounds of injury. Hooge’s RBI single got his hitting streak to 16, and left the Coons a run short of making up the deficit, so Manny Fernandez orderly grounded out to second base, ending the inning. Dusty Kulp got the ball in the eighth, nailed not one, but TWO batters, and then had Yeom Soung take out his trash with a Young fly to Hooge in left, stranding his victims. I was confused when Blake Sciulli then served up a game-tying homer to Adam Downs, knotting the tally at five in the bottom 8th. Would the Coons actually pull a win out here!? Well, Soung retired the Titans without giving up a run (just a Joseph single) in the top 9th, then was hit for to begin the bottom of the inning against Sciulli, with one run needed to win. Between Manning and Maldonado on the bench the Critters picked the latter to pinch-hit, but he grounded out. Marsingill flew out to right before Sciulli walked Hooge, walked Fernandez, and then faced Fowler with the winning run in scoring position. Fowler swung at the first pitch, hit a TERRIBLE grounder next to the third base line – and it was too far away from either Chris McGee or Jim Young to make a play on it. Infield single – bases loaded, two outs, Vickers up. And he ALSO rips at the first pitch – can ANYBODY HEAR DRAW A ****ING WA- IT’S THROUGH THE LEFT SIDE!! COONS WALK OFF!!! WHAT A KEEN EYE FOR A STRIKE!! … 6-5 Coons. Fowler 2-4, BB; Downs 2-4, HR, 2B, RBI; Sims 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

Just to be clear, boys, this doesn’t excuse all your other manifold flaws!!

After some scan results came back, Dr. Chung informed me that Dave Myers had torn his medial collateral ligament.

Out for the season, huh? What a surprise.

There was no fixing this anymore. We just didn’t have another leadoff hitter. For the moment we could stick Downs in there and his short-sample-size-inflated .393 OPS, but he’d be exposed as a fraud in weeks’ time. Or break a ****ing leg.

This year, they mostly break a ****ing leg.

The Raccoons expected Tony Morales back on Sunday, but that didn’t help in any way, shape, or form for Saturday. Matt Triolo was called up for at least a day, and we’d play it by fuzzy ear from there…

Game 3
BOS: CF M. Avila – SS Gil – 1B Regan – LF W. Vega – C J. Young – 3B McGee – CF Hayden – 2B Sears – P Willett
POR: 3B Downs – LF Hooge – RF M. Fernandez – CF Fowler – 1B Maruyama – 2B Hirai – C Wall – SS Triolo – P Rendon

The Coons got Triolo back, the Titans got Moises Avila back. It just wasn’t any fair. Avila singled four pitches into the game, Gil doubled, and Rendon threw a wild pitch to get one of them across while getting a K and two pops from the middle of the order. Come the third, Avila reached on a Hirai error to begin the frame. Gil singled, sending him to third, but Rendon walked Greg Regan to fill the bags with nobody out, then walked Vega, 2-0. Young struck out, McGee struck out, Hayden popped out. There was something futile about this game. Every aspect of it was futile. Just like my attempts to dissolve this urinal deodorizer block in my bowl with Capt’n Coma, sleeping pills, and a slice o’ lemon…

While McGee singled home Young with two outs in the fifth inning and ran the score to 3-0 against a highly inefficient Rendon, who was on 79 pitches through five, the Raccoons were just boilerplate bad and didn’t to anything. They had two base hits through five innings, and looked like they were ready for relegation to AAA ball. While Rendon sucked his way through six and the pen with Fernandez, Kulp, and Wise (who needed work) held up, the offense remained 2-hit by Willett through eight innings, but the Bostonians would go to Jermaine Campbell in the bottom of the ninth inning. Hooge grounded out. Fernandez whiffed. Fowler fanned. 3-0 Titans.

One of the two hits was a Hooge single (Hirai had the other one), and so his streak reached 17 games, but honestly, it’s the least of my concerns.

DISSOLVE, YOU ****ING PISSOIR BLOCK!!

Tony Morales was indeed activated on Sunday, and the Coons sent Chris Manning (4-for-11) back to AAA.

Game 4
BOS: CF M. Avila – SS Gil – 1B Regan – LF W. Vega – RF Joseph – 3B McGee – C L. Riley – 2B Sears – P Potter
POR: SS Downs – LF Hooge – RF M. Fernandez – CF Fowler – C Morales – 2B Vickers – 1B Maldonado – 3B Marsingill – P Sabre

Sabre struck out seven in shutout fashion before Liam Riley singled up the middle with two outs in the fourth inning. It was the fourth and final base hit off Sabre, who waved for the trainer. Dr. Chung waved back, then continued to chew his selfmade sandwich. Sabre eventually left the mound on his own and walked into the dugout and down the tunnel, expecting Dr. Chung to follow eventually. He never did.

Sims would get the third out in the inning after warming up on the mound, and while I, sat on the brown couch with Slappy, and with Honeypaws between us, asked nobody in particular what joy even meant, because I sure couldn’t tell. Sims and Garavito got the Coons through five in what was still a scoreless game, but you’d know as much from knowing the Titans had yet to put something on the board – and then the Raccoons DID score first. Granted it was already the sixth inning and a solo homer by Morales on a pretty bad hanger by Adam Potter, but it counted all the same; 1-0 Critters. Casey Moore was in line for the W, pitching three outs both before and after the Coons took the lead, while the bottom 7th began with Jesus Maldonado being mauled by a fastball, Potter striking him square in the paw. So HE had to come out of the game, and Maruyama had pinch-hit earlier, so was now unavailable. Preston Pinkerton would be nominated to fill in, coming also on as pinch-runner. Marsingill dropped a bunt to get the insurance run to second base before Kurt Wall batted for Moore and walked. Downs hit a downer, 6-4-3, and the Raccoons didn’t score for all the ****ing pains. Soung struck out two in the top of the eighth, retiring the top of the Titans’ order without problems. When the Critters didn’t score in the bottom of the eighth, we were inclined to leave him in with two more lefty bats coming up to begin the ninth, but the Titans pinch-hit Jay Elder for Vega, and that prompted the move to Wise. Elder struck out. Joseph grounded out. .197 batter Chris McGee singled on an 0-2 pitch, bringing on the left-hander and .111 slugger Liam Riley. He hit a fly to right, shallow, sinking – but Fernandez race in and made the catch in time for a last-gasp series split. 1-0 Blighters. Hooge 2-4; M. Fernandez 2-4; Morales 1-4, HR, RBI; Maldonado 1-2; Sabre 3.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K; Moore 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, W (5-3);

In other news

July 2 – No Knights position player manages a hit off VAN SP Bryce Neal (6-8, 3.72 ERA) in an 8-0 Canadiens win – but ATL SP Mike Burris (3-8, 5.24 ERA) does, hitting a third-inning double, the only base hit off Neal, who whiffs five in a complete-game shutout.
July 2 – WAS INF Enrique Trevino (.358, 2 HR, 37 RBI) will miss a month with a broken rib.
July 3 – Las Vegas acquires 2B/3B/OF Eric Morrow (.215, 5 HR, 35 RBI) from Vancouver, parting with SS Brian Schneider (.286, 1 HR, 10 RBI) in the process.
July 3 – The Knights trade for 1B Zach Tutt (.287, 10 HR, 38 RBI), trading 3B Manny Delgado (.232, 0 HR, 7 RBI) to Los Angeles.
July 3 – The Thunder deal C Fernando Garcia (.333, 5 HR, 14 RBI) to the Stars for two prospects.
July 4 – SAL LF/RF Kyle Weinstein (.252, 11 HR, 49 RBI) slaps in six runs on four hits in the Wolves’ 16-3 rush of the Gold Sox.
July 5 – In shocking news, SAL SP Phil Harrington (12-3, 1.79 ERA) has strained his oblique and will miss two months. It is the first DL stint for the right-handed ace after 10 years of service time.
July 5 – The Miners pick up CL Juan Vela (2-4, 3.04 ERA, 17 SV) from the Falcons in exchange for two prospects.
July 6 – The Scorpions trade for Denver’s SP Chris Inderrieden (4-6, 4.99 ERA), sending a prospect to the Gold Sox.

Complaints and stuff

How’s it going? Bernie Chavez is 1-2 with a 1.78 ERA for his last five starts, we have no players left, and because we keep putting miles on our frequent traveler card with Budget Aeroflot, we are also running out of numbers, attractive ones at least. Who but the most shady relievers like numbers greater than 50? Well, only #17, #44, and #49 was left before the big five-oh.

Fascinating how we still lose players left and right that somehow matter. You’d think we’d be outta them by now. With our entire starting infield on the DL by now (and three quarters of them for the year), what else is there to do? You can only be content and be assured that there’ll also be baseball next year.

Not ready next year but maybe at some point is 2B Arturo Carreno, a Dominican righty batter we signed for $60k to open this year’s July IFA signing race. There’s actually only two other players we’re going after this time in what is a bit of a muddled pool.

With Myers lost for the season, the DL bill is now up to at least roughly $6,811,000 – 21.5% of our current payroll.

So, Sabre is … whatever, probably terminal, though. Dr. Chung rolled his eyes and cursed in Korean. Apparently, Maldonado’s X-rays came back negative but his paw is still swollen from Potter’s pitch. Well. I don’t know. I’m out of ideas when it comes to which player to even call up anymore in case of another DL stint.

Stay in shape, maintain cohesion, and preserve dignity. The band on the Titanic also kept playing as the damn ship was sinking.

Fun Fact: Popular Portland rodeo clown and children’s TV personality Bucky “Big Shoes” Simpson died on Sunday morning, aged 78. He fell off a ladder and to his death trying to change a bulb in his hallway’s light fixture.

Fun is dead.