[Westheim]

Trade

Monday, the Raccoons made a trade with the Wolves, the second of the month after we had already left them with Troy Greenway, who, I am delighted to tell you, found his bat again, and through his first dozen games with the cuddly wannabe dogs down I-5 was hitting .357/.426/.500.

What a great time to be alive.

Anyway, the Raccoons acquired left-hander Ian Wilson (2-2, 1.79 ERA) from the Wolves for some gum stuck under our cleats, and with that gum I mean 28-year-old outfielder Scott Daiker (.121, 1 HR, 3 RBI), a clump of nothing in a brown hat.

The benefit of the left-handed Texan Ian Wilson – who was a Raccoons pick at #39 in the 2027 draft before seamlessly sliding into minor-league free agency six years later – was that he could be used as a starter if things got any tougher. His stamina was low, but we’re in he “flinging **** at the wall and trying to get something stick” phase of our ongoing rotation remodeling. If a guy goes five allowing two runs it’s better than a guy going five allowing five runs.

The cautionary advice before showing any kind of ill-advised euphoria would be to consider that Wilson is 32 and will be going to arbitration until he’s 34.

Raccoons (52-54) @ Knights (59-44) – July 30-August 1, 2040

The Knights had already taken the season series, 5-1, but the league said the Raccoons had to play them anyway, so *fine*. They led the South, had won six in a row, and sat second in runs scored and fourth in runs allowed in the league. All that I could do was wish them the best of luck if they made it to the CLCS against the damn Elks, even with SP Jon Pereira and 2B Jesus Matos lost for the season already.

Projected matchups:
Angelo Montano (2-6, 6.67 ERA) vs. Jimmy Driver (7-8, 3.33 ERA)
Ian Wilson (2-2, 1.79 ERA) vs. Chris Lulay (9-5, 3.42 ERA)
Nelson Moreno (3-5, 3.39 ERA) vs. Brad Santry (14-5, 3.17 ERA)

Right, left, right as far as their starters were concerned. We’d not see Ryan Bedrosian, who had pitched on Sunday, winning *consecutive games* for the first time this season.

Wilson took over the rotation slot of Cory Lambert (2-1, 7.20 ERA), who would get a chance to reacquaint himself with the gators in Florida. The Raccoons brought back 1B Damian Salazar, batting .314 for the Alley Cats and .137 in Portland, to make up the numbers. Picking another outfielder, or any position player, from AAA was hard; somehow the entire AAA team already seemed to be with us…

Game 1
POR: CF Maldonado – 3B Trevino – LF Fernandez – C Morales – RF Balaski – 2B Brito – SS Hunter – 1B Anderson – P Montano
ATL: CF N. Velez – SS Crim – 2B Majano – LF Inoa – C Horner – 1B Krumholz – RF Hester – 3B B. Moore – P Driver

Montano did as well as expected against a formidable offense, which is to say that he shuffled the bags full in the bottom of the first inning and then gave up a 2-out double to Adam Horner for the first three runs of the game. He walked Bill Moore to begin the bottom 2nd, then allowed three straight 2-out singles to Joe Crim, Alex Majano (grmbl grmbl), and Luis Inoa before Horner lined out hard to Manny Fernandez. The Knights scored another run on a walk and three singles in the fourth, and left the bases loaded on Zachary Krumholz’ grounder to Cosmo. The Raccoons, who had no way of giving as much as Montano got, were mostly reduced to Balaski and Hunter, who both reached base in each of the first two runs through the lineup. Hunter drove in Balaski in the second, but they were both stranded when Montano grounded out in the fourth, leaving the team down (then) 4-1.

Then, in a 5-1 game in the top 5th, Driver seemed to lose it from one second to the next. Maldonado hit a leadoff jack, after which Driver loaded the bases with Cosmo, Manny, and Tony Morales. And as soon as my whiskers showed some mild excitement, Balaski and Brito struck out and Hunter grounded out to Joe Crim to strand all three runners. Bottom 5th, Billy Hester ripped a leadoff triple and scored on a sac fly, and the Raccoons kept sending Montano back to the mound, which was at least borderline animal cruelty. He wasn’t seen after the sixth, though, with the Knights tacking on another run with three singles off Mauricio Garavito in the seventh. The Raccoons never mounted another threat. 7-2 Knights. Balaski 3-5; Hunter 2-4, 2B, RBI; Salazar (PH) 1-1;

The 17-game hitting streak of Cosmo Trevino ended in this game. He walked twice and reached on an error once, neither event saving him from posting an 0-for-3 at the end of the day.

Angelo, your ERA is now 6.98; what do you have to say for yourself? – M-hm. – A-hah. – Yes, those mean other teams, continuing to whack you around like that. Terrible. – Well, all I can say is that once your ERA goes over seven, I’ll have Dr. Padilla cut your ******* tail off.

Game 2
POR: 2B Brito – SS Hunter – 3B Maldonado – C Kilmer – CF Kilgallen – RF Balaski – 1B Salazar – LF Castro – P Wilson
ATL: CF N. Velez – 2B Crim – LF Inoa – 1B Krumholz – C Horner – 3B B. Moore – RF Ledford – SS Majano – P Lulay

Wilson was the 12th different pitcher to start a game for the Raccoons in 2040. He was spotted a 5-run lead in the second inning in a giant explosion of Chris Lulay that involved 1-out singles by Kilgallen, Balaski, and Salazar for the first run, then after a poor out by Alex Castro – and by the way, who are all these people on the roster?? – Wilson getting nailed with two outs by Lulay, who proceeded to give up a shot over the fence to Jose Brito. GRAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAMMM!!!!

While Luis Inoa hurt himself on a defensive play the inning after and was replaced with George Hwathorne, the old foe, the Raccoons got a string of scoreless innings from their latest dumpster grab. Wilson allowed two hits, hit a guy, and struck out two in the first four innings, and looked never in danger, then had the game ostensibly put away for him when Jeff Kilmer raked Lulay for a 3-run homer to left in the fifth, which understandably ended Lulay’s playtime. Reliever Rich Ray then gave up a string of 2-out hits to the bottom of the order, with Salazar doubling home Balaski before scoring on Castro’s single himself, 10-0, running up a second 5-spot on the Knights. Kilmer wasn’t done though, smashing a 2-run piece off Ray in the sixth inning.

A brief brush with rain then cut into Wilson’s rhythm and left him on fumes by the seventh, with Lindstrom replacing him after a 2-out single by recently-shaved Brad Ledford. Lindstrom got out of the seventh, but was ticked for two runs in the eighth, including a Krumholz homer to left. Chuck Jones finished the game with a scoreless ninth. 12-2 Furballs. Brito 2-5, HR, 2B, 4 RBI; Hunter 2-5, 2B; Kilmer 2-4, BB, 2 HR, 5 RBI; Balaski 2-5; Salazar 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Castro 2-4, RBI; Wilson 6.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, W (3-2);

I’ll take that for a Coons debut. I hope Nelson Moreno was inspired.

Game 3
POR: CF Maldonado – 3B Trevino – LF Fernandez – C Morales – RF Balaski – 2B Brito – SS Hunter – 1B Anderson – P Moreno
ATL: CF N. Velez – SS Crim – 1B J. Garcia – RF Ledford – 3B B. Moore – C Krumholz – 2B Majano – LF Hawthorne – P Santry

Moore’s leadoff double led to a Knights run in the bottom 2nd, the first marker on the board, but the Raccoons woke up with Hunter and Anderson singles to begin the third inning. Moreno bunted them over, Maldonado was nicked, and Cosmo tied it up with a single to right. Two runs then scored on Manny’s single to center, the runners reached scoring position on Nelson Velez’ bad throw, and a passed ball charged to Zachary Krumholz moved Cosmo across for yet another run. Tony Morales got Manny home with a grounder to short as the Raccoons put up their third 5-spot of the series.

The Coons’ offense stopped at that point, but up 5-1 we took some time out of our day to intently watch Nelson Moreno, a young guy and genuine talent, who tried to navigate a tough lineup with a solid lead, trying to not get brutalized. It worked rather well, with the Knights getting only the occasional runner after their second-inning rising, although the counts went a bit longer as the game entered the middle innings. Not princely economical, Moreno needed 89 pitches to get through six innings of a 2-hitter, which was frankly too much. The Knights made three quick outs in the seventh, then got a leadoff single when Majano hit a ball over Brito’s head in the eighth. Hawthorne dumped a ball into a double play, 6-4-3, but that was the end for Moreno after 98 pitches, with lefty pinch-hitter Neil Clark arriving in the batter’s box. The Coons went to Brent Clark thanks to a surfeit of lefty bats on the horizon, with Clark getting Clark on a grounder to complete eight. Manny Fernandez doubled home two runs in the ninth inning against Raul de la Rosa after five innings of sweet slumber, and Brent Clark finished the game without funny accidents. 7-1 Coons. Fernandez 2-4, BB, 2B, 4 RBI; Brito 2-4, 3B; Anderson 3-4, 2B; Moreno 7.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, W (4-5);

Raccoons (54-55) @ Indians (40-68) – August 2-5, 2040

The Raccoons already wished for the season to be over pretty hard, but how did the Indians feel? They were in last place, 30 games out, and were at the bottom of the pile in both runs allowed *and* runs scored in the Continental League. Their offense was so bad, they barely scored 3.4 runs a game. Their run differential had potential to reach -300 by the end of the year, already standing at -178. For the year, the Raccoons led the season series rather narrowly given all that, 4-3.

Projected matchups:
Sal Lozano (1-1, 4.94 ERA) vs. Ayden Cobb (1-4, 4.06 ERA)
Raffaello Sabre (9-6, 3.27 ERA) vs. Jake Jackson (7-11, 4.19 ERA)
Angelo Montano (2-7, 6.98 ERA) vs. Alex Flores (4-11, 4.33 ERA)
Ian Wilson (3-2, 1.56 ERA) vs. Manuel Herrera (7-12, 4.66 ERA)

We would see exclusively right-handers in this long series, with their only southpaw, Eric Peck (7-10, 5.36 ERA) already having been whacked around on Wednesday.

Game 1
POR: CF Maldonado – 3B Trevino – LF Fernandez – C Morales – RF Balaski – 2B Brito – SS Hunter – 1B Salazar – P Lozano
IND: CF Crocker – 1B Dodson – 3B Hutson – SS D. Serrato – 2B E. Vargas – LF Zimmerman – RF Damron – C Alfonso – P Cobb

The game was a drag in the early innings, with nobody getting much hitting in, despite neither pitcher sparkling with stuff or any other nice quality. This suddenly changed in the fourth inning, where a Tony Hunter error opened the floodgates for the Indians, who got singles from Dan Hutson and Enrique Vargas for one run, then a homer to left from Jason Zimmerman for another three. Lozano was not seen again after that inning, consulting Dr. Padilla for a sore elbow instead. Excellent!

Top 6th, the Critters loaded the bases with Manny, Morales, and Balaski, then brought up Jose Brito, who was the tying run and had already smacked a slam this week. This time he popped out to second base, and the Raccoons only scored when Pat Dodson flubbed a 2-out grounder by Tony Hunter for a run. New pitcher Felipe Jacquez then walked Salazar with the bags full, which was genuinely hard to do, but struck out PH Matt Kilgallen to end the inning, still up 4-2. Three singles by Cosmo, Morales, and Balaski scratched out another run for Portland in the seventh, but again Brito had all his coming-through done for the week and grounded out to strand the tying and go-ahead runs. Jacquez was still around to give up a leadoff double to Hunter in the eighth, then yanked for fellow righty Luke Moses, whom Kilmer dinked for a pinch-hit single to tie the score at four with one out. Maldo popped out, Cosmo singled, and Manny regrettably lined out to Dan Hutson to end the frame. Portland put Morales and Balaski on base to begin the ninth, then choked with three poor outs against Marcus Goode, who would have the bases loaded with two outs in the 10th with Cosmo doubling, Manny being walked intentionally, and Morales squeaking out a single. Balaski was next, and it didn’t matter that he was an unlikely rookie; he was batting, because the Raccoons were out of bench players at this point. Balaski cracked a liner up the middle, it fell in, and two runs scored to break the tie! Steve Nickas then struck out against Mike Haertl, sending the game to Brent Clark in the bottom of the inning. While Hutson hit a 1-out single, Dave Serrato hit into a 6-4-3 to put the game away. 6-4 Raccoons. Trevino 3-6, 2B; Fernandez 2-5, BB, 2B; Morales 3-4, 2 BB; Balaski 4-6, 3 RBI; Kilmer (PH) 1-1, RBI; Zabala 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K; Campbell 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, W (2-0);

Back at .500 …!?

Game 2
POR: CF Maldonado – 2B Trevino – LF Fernandez – C Kilmer – RF Balaski – SS Hunter – 1B Anderson – 3B Nickas – P Sabre
IND: CF Crocker – 3B Hutson – RF Garbinski – 1B Dodson – C E. Thompson – 2B E. Vargas – SS D. Serrato – LF Zimmerman – P J. Jackson

Portland got out and scored first, with Cosmo drawing a walk, stealing a base, and then scoring on singles by Fernandez and Kilmer. Then Balaski hit into a double play to short-circuit the inning… At least Sabre didn’t cause any immediate grief, and the Critters tacked on a run in the third, in which Maldo whacked a triple into the right-center gap and scored on Cosmo’s soft single, 2-0. Balaski, Hunter, and Anderson would then load the bases in the fourth inning, with nobody out, which was enough reason to be filled with foreboding, but also with .133 menace Steve Nickas up next. Jackson got two strikes on him rather quick, then gave up an RBI single anyway, growing the lead to 3-0. Sabre’s sac fly ran it to 4-0, and Maldo legged out an infield single to fill the bags again for Cosmo, who found his way into a 3-6-1 double play after stumbling out of the box…

Considering the Indians’ offense, the game was probably put in the books and the Critters back over .500 when Bill Balaski smashed a 370-footer to right in the fifth inning, binning Jackson with Manny and Kilmer on base and nobody out. Sabre would not amount to a shutout, running out of steam after seven innings of 3-hit ball and 107 pitches. With him out, the Raccoons reached 9-0 in the eighth with Maldo and Cosmo reaching, and Manny (groundout) and Kilmer (sac fly) each logging a run-scoring out. The Indians never amounted to anything much, with Garavito and Lindstrom covering the last two innings. 9-0 Raccoons! Maldonado 3-4, BB, 3B; Trevino 2-4, BB, RBI; Fernandez 2-5, 2B, RBI; Balaski 3-5, HR, 3 RBI; Sabre 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K, W (10-6);

At this rate we might even get rid of our negative run differential. It’s at -7 halfway through this series.

For now, Berto came off the DL and Steve Nickas, still batting .147, was waived and DFA’ed.

Game 3
POR: 3B Ramos – 2B Trevino – CF Maldonado – LF Fernandez – C Kilmer – RF Balaski – SS Hunter – 1B Anderson – P Montano
IND: 2B E. Vargas – 1B Dodson – 3B Hutson – SS D. Serrato – CF Zimmerman – RF Damron – C Alfonso – LF O’Leary – P A. Flores

Portland took the lead in the second inning, Balaski singling home Jeff Kilmer, who reached second base when Nick O’Leary booted his fly to left for two bases. Montano then faced the minimum through three innings, aided by not one, but two double plays turned behind him. Top 4th, Kilmer drew a leadoff walk. Hunter walked as well, and Montano flicked a 2-out single to load the bases for Berto, who fell to 1-2, but then dropped a single in shallow left-center. Kilmer scored, Hunter scored, but Montano misread the play and was tagged out between second and third to end the inning, but not until after Tony Hunter crossed the plate, putting the score at 3-0.

While the Raccoons put up a modicum of offense, Montano was dominating the Indians, which was the real trouble for Indianapolis. Through six, Montano allowed one hit and two walks, despite being a replacement-level left-hander against a lineup with eight righty batters. Then, all of a sudden, Montano allowed leadoff singles to Dodson and Hutson, and also walked Serrato. After some kind advice from the pitching coach, Montano was left in there – if the kid’s ever going to figure it out, then he probably will against these Arrowheads! Jason Zimmerman promptly grounded into a run-scoring double play, 4-6-3 on the field and 3-1 on the board, and Keith Damron hacked himself out to strand Dan Hutson at third base, completing the inning.

Top 8th, Maldonado and Fernandez reached scoring position leading off with meaty hits against Alex Flores, who until now also had nursed a 3-hitter (albeit with five walks). Kilmer was walked to get forces at every base, but Balaski hit a fly to O’Leary that was deep enough for Maldo to diddle home, and Tony Hunter whacked an RBI double in left-center. Oliver Anderson’s groundout scored another run, 6-1. Then Montano clapped a 2-out single off Felipe Jacquez to drive in Hunter. The inning ended with Berto flying out to Damron, and the Indians put four of the next five batters on base to chase Montano in the bottom of the eighth anyway. Alex Ramirez conceded a run on a fielder’s choice against Hutson, who narrowly beat out the throw from second, then got Serrato out on a grounder to third, maintaining a 7-3 lead. A throwing error by Berto led to an unearned run in the bottom of the ninth, but it was too late for Indy to make a substantial run at the Raccoons anymore. 7-4 Critters. Montano 7.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 5 BB, 4 K, W (3-7) and 2-4, RBI; Ramirez 1.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, SV (1);

No Portland position player had more than one base hit and somehow we still won behind Montano…? At that rate I was buying into the idea of winning our last 50 games outright and beating the damn Elks to the playoffs!

Game 4
POR: 3B Ramos – 2B Trevino – CF Maldonado – LF Fernandez – C Morales – RF Balaski – SS Hunter – 1B Salazar – P Wilson
IND: 2B E. Vargas – 1B Dodson – 3B Hutson – SS D. Serrato – CF Zimmerman – C Alfonso – RF Crocker – LF O’Leary – P M. Herrera

Sunday arrived and Ian Wilson drowned, just like that. Vargas and Dodson opened with singles, and Balaski threw out Vargas at third base on the Dodson single. Dan Hutson then hit a jack to left for a 2-0 deficit. Serrato, Zimmerman, and Edwin Alfonso filled the bases with a single and two walks before Nick Crocker and Nick O’Leary both hacked himself out to strand three. Wilson issued two full-count walks in the second inning and we didn’t know much, but we were sure that he would not be around for long in this game. He made it through four for sure, despite leadoff singles by O’Leary and Herrera (!), but was able to bail out after Enrique Vargas hit into a double play.

It was tempting to hit for Wilson in the fifth after Salazar’s groundout had moved Balaski and Hunter to scoring position, but the Critters left him in there. Herrera fell to 3-0 against him, then Wilson poked and popped out, which immediately made my fur that tiny bit grayer. Berto lined out to Dodson, and the Raccoons remained off the board. Zimmerman then walked and Edwin Alfonso hit a jack to get rid of Wilson anyway in the bottom of the fifth, now with the score at 4-0. The bullpen came apart for three runs in the seventh inning, all unearned thanks to Chuck Jones dropping a feed from Oliver Anderson at first base. Ramirez allowed two runs, Jones conceded one, while the Indians also landed three hits in the inning.

The Raccoons were still being shut out in the eighth when Cosmo hit a 2-out double to left. He also tweaked his knee sliding into second base and required replacement by Brito. Brent Clark gave up another run on a Vargas double and Hutson single in the bottom 8th, and Fernandez, Morales, and Balaski all made quick outs in the ninth inning to hand a 5-hit shutout to Manuel Herrera. 8-0 Indians. Trevino 3-4, 2B;

Reality check – completed!

In other news

July 30 – SFW SP Vinny Olguin (2-5, 4.84 ERA) 3-hits the Miners in a 4-0 shutout.
July 30 – The Wolves acquire SP John Gano (8-6, 3.45 ERA) from the Warriors for a prospect.
July 30 – 3B/SS/RF Marshall Greer (.225, 4 HR, 34 RBI) is traded from San Francisco to Topkea in exchange for MR Michael Zabek (5-0, 3.80 ERA) and #24 outfield prospect Jose Casas.
August 2 – The hitting streak of Cincy 1B Jamie King (.352, 23 HR, 69 RBI) reaches 25 games with two singles in a 9-4 loss to the Buffaloes.
August 3 – The Buffaloes make an end of CIN 1B Jamie King (.350, 23 HR, 69 RBI) being on a tear, holding him hitless in a 3-2 win over the Cyclones and keeping King to 25 games of straight hitting.
August 4 – OCT INF Al Martell (.278, 9 HR, 51 RBI) has five hits, including a triple, and drives in two runs in a 12-4 win over the Falcons.
August 4 – VAN CL Josh Boles (4-4, 2.59 ERA, 21 SV) is lost for the season with shoulder inflammation.
August 5 – ATL SP David Farris (4-6, 3.61 ERA) is out for the season after tearing his labrum. Farris had pitched two no-hit innings in a game against the Bayhawks on Saturday, that went extra innings in scoreless fashion, with San Francisco *still* hitless thanks to splendid relief by Ruben Vela (3-2, 4.40 ERA) and Matt May (4-2, 2.74 ERA, 1 SV). But the Knights still couldn’t score, then were defeated by SFB CF/RF Mike Hall (.284, 5 HR, 48 RBI) and LF/RF/1B Dick Oshiita (.290, 6 HR, 27 RBI) plonking a pair of singles for a 1-0 walkoff.

FL Player of the Week: SAC 1B/LF/RF Eddie Moreno (.254, 3 HR, 13 RBI), hitting .500 (14-28) with 3 HR, 10 RBI
CL Player of the Week: CHA INF/LF/RF Jose Farfan (.329, 15 HR, 68 RBI), batting .448 (13-29) with 1 HR, 6 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: SAC LF/RF Mike Preble (.340, 22 HR, 74 RBI), hitting .395 with 9 HR, 19 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: NYC CF/LF Joe Besaw (.261, 10 HR, 73 RBI), batting .349 with 6 HR, 28 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: CIN SP/MR Jeff Horstmeier (9-5, 3.65 ERA, 8 SV), pitching to a 5-0 record, 2.27 ERA, and 18 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: OCT SP Alan Fleming (10-5, 3.70 ERA), pitching for a 4-0 record, 3.18 ERA, 20 K
FL Rookie of the Month: PIT LF/CF Bill Reeves (.263, 4 HR, 30 RBI), hitting .297 with 1 HR, 11 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: CHA SP Danny Tankersley (8-4, 4.09 ERA), pitching to a 3-0 record, 2.60 ERA, 17 K

Complaints and stuff

The FL Player of the Week? That’s the #2 prospect making a splash only 17 games into his major league career.

None of his hitting in the minor leagues has hinted at Bill Balaski being a .300 hitter in the major leagues. He hit .226 in AAA as recently as last season. With a .584 OPS, that was.

Cosmo now has a bad knee in addition to a bad ankle. They’re on different legs, so maybe we’ll just let him sit out a few games…

We need a spot starter on Tuesday, because Lozano won’t be ready. Zabala has been set aside to make that spot start, so we don’t have to make a roster move. Zabala would be the 13th different starting pitcher used by the Critters this year.

This is as good a time as any to give a first glimpse about who is under contract for how much longer (but a more complete rundown will follow after the free agency period arrives in the fall). Cosmo keeps having the richest contract on the team, and is fixed for ’41, with a player option in ’42. Manny Fernandez has three more years at our leisure, then a team option after that. Bernie Chavez has a team option for ’41, which will be picked up, as has Jermaine Campbell, but his will be not.

Then there’s Maldonado (locked onto the team through ’45), Ramirez (signed that 3-year deal out of Cuba, but will be under team control even beyond that), and then you have one more year at $600k for Berto, and that is really all that is left for guaranteed contracts. Kilmer and Morales twice and once more, respectively. Nettles reached three years of service time on the DL now. A few people make more than the minimum right now, but nothing to write home about, and everybody not listed here so far is either under team control or will be a free agent after the season.

The latter group includes Sabre, Dominy (welp), Hoogey, and Garavito (thank goodness).

Fun Fact: Only once, in 2029, did the Raccoons line up 13 different stating pitchers.

Mark Roberts was a soldier, started 34 times, and posted good numbers (14-11, 3.42 ERA). Everybody else was a ******* mess. Second in the list of reliable options was Yusneldan “Dan” Delgadillo, making 22 starts… and that was before he went completely into the *******. Tom Shumway started 16 times and was great until pulling a Dominy with a 7-4 record and sub-2 ERA (same for Rico Gutierrez for 11 starts, but with a 4-1 record), while Jamie O’Leary made 16 starts and each week managed to be more **** than the one before and went 2-11.

Billy Ramm, Trevor Draper, Dave Martinez? Not the outfielder Dave Martinez by the way. Who are these people even? Can you completely forget about a pitcher that started 10-ish games only ten years ago? Apparently so!

This year, only Sabre has made it to 20+ starts yet. Bernie Chavez should get there once he comes off the DL. Montano and Moreno might make it there right at the end of the season, unless more injuries intervene or Montano keeps getting worse and I’m cutting his tail off. Bedrosian started 19 games before getting traded. Dominy started 12 before getting hurt.

An then there is the endless parade of shambles of Sal Lozano, Nelson Fonseca, Cory Lambert, Jose de Leon, Jared Ottinger, and Ian Wilson that just keeps on giving. So far the team has used a total of 24 pitchers and 20 position players. The only thing limiting more growth in those totals is the fact that almost all the AAA team *is already here*.

+++

With the demise of the Thanks feature on the forums, I’d like to take the opportunity to thank YOU lot for thumbing up these posts of cerebral diarrhea of the worst OOTP player ever about 6,000 times in the last eight years-plus. Every little one of them kept the wheels spinning, in the game and outside of it. Now that this doesn’t work anymore, please consider just offering some basic compassion from time to time (especially in the next few seasons), or maybe a dank Raccoons meme.

Or just put a bottle o’ booze on the table once in a while. I don’t know. Your pick.