[Westheim]

Raccoons (31-24) vs. Loggers (34-21) – June 3-6, 2041

Not sure what it was with the Raccoons and the Milwaukee Demigods recently, but we had already dropped the last two season series against them as well as the first set of games this year, which had developed into a mild 4-game rout. The Loggers were by no means otherworldly, with pedestrian pitching that was backed by the second-best offense in the CL. They hit for average, power, got on base, stole those bases all by top four rates in the CL, making their approach well-balanced, while the Raccoons were mo- (great noise nearby!) … Berto, would you please stop tumbling into the bobblehead displays!!

Projected matchups:
Josh Brown (6-1, 2.61 ERA) vs. Adam Giovenco (4-1, 3.52 ERA)
Drew Johnson (3-4, 3.45 ERA) vs. Sal Chavez (3-4, 4.17 ERA)
Angelo Montano (1-3, 3.89 ERA) vs. Carlos Padilla (4-3, 5.43 ERA)
Bernie Chavez (4-5, 5.35 ERA) vs. Sergio Piedra (6-2, 3.68 ERA)

Another opponent with no left-handers to put up against us. Where had all the southpaws gone??

Game 1
MIL: CF Cannizzard – RF N. Duncan – 3B Paul – SS Del Vecchio – 1B Brayboy – C F. Gomez – 2B V. Acosta – LF Torri – P Giovenco
POR: SS Hunter – 3B Trevino – LF Fernandez – C Morales – CF Maldonado – RF Balaski – 1B Levis – 2B Lando – P Brown

While an early homer by Nick Duncan was matched by Tony Hunter in the same opening frame, the Loggers got Josh Brown for another run in the third inning on a single by Tim Cannizzard, who stole second base, and Jared Paul’s 2-out RBI double. Portland then loaded the bases with a leadoff walk drawn by Tony Hunter and singles by Cosmo and Manny, both of the soft sort. It was thus three on, nobody gone, and I was not quite sure what they were trying to prove here, other than time and again that they wouldn’t sore from that situation, or at most one run, maybe. The one run scored on Maldonado’s groundout, after Tony Morales had hit a comebacker for a force out at home, and before Bill Balaski leisurely flew out to leftfielder Dan Torri, ending the inning in a 2-2 tie. The top of the Loggers order got an otherwise decent Josh Brown again in the fifth, this time with straight 2-out singles from the 1-2-3 hitters. A wild pitch with two on and Jared Paul up ensured that Paul’s stringer to center would score two. Yet, again, the Raccoons matched the output in the same inning when Tony Morales homered to right, collecting Manny Fernandez to make it four-all through five innings.

Brown held out for six before being done again, while the Raccoons crowded Giovenco with two outs in the bottom 6th, but damned be them if they’d score with Lando, Reyna, and Hunter on base! Cosmo grounded out trivially to strand all of the bunch. Milwaukee instead whacked Tim Zimmerman around for a pinch-hit Justin Nelson double, a Duncan RBI single, and an RBI double by bedeviled Ted Del Vecchio to go up 6-4 in the seventh. Brent Clark had to get in and restore order. Another immediate response? Manny hit a leadoff double in the bottom 7th, then scored on Maldo’s single. Balaski also singled, sending the tying run to third base. Doug Levis then torpedoed the effort with a grounder to second base that became an inning-ending double play, while Nelson conquered Clark with a 2-out, 2-run bomb in the eighth. Manny drove in de Wit with a run in the bottom 8th, but it wasn’t enough, especially since the Raccoons’ pen continued to leak. Del Vecchio, the miserable weedhead, hit another homer off Zabala in the ninth, after which the Raccoons retired to bed. 9-6 Loggers. Trevino 2-5; Fernandez 4-5, 2 2B, RBI; Lando 2-4; de Wit (PH) 1-1, 2B;

Game 2
MIL: LF J. Nelson – SS Del Vecchio – RF N. Duncan – 1B Brayboy – 3B Paul – C F. Gomez – CF Torri – 2B V. Acosta – P S. Chavez
POR: SS Hunter – 3B Trevino – LF Fernandez – C Morales – 1B Maldonado – RF Balaski – CF Nettles – 2B Lando – P Johnson

Drew Johnson was whacked around no less than Brown the day before, and Nick Duncan hit another first-inning solo homer to open the barrage. Del Vecchio and Duncan made the corners in the third inning before Duncan was caught stealing for the second out and Johnson balked in Del Vecchio after all. The fourth was just a potpourri of line drive hits and bad defense that gave the Loggers another two casual runs, which – cherry on top – were singled in by Sal Chavez. It also rained intermittently, creating an adequately miserable atmosphere all around. Johnson walked five Loggers and was all chewed through in six innings, at which point the Raccoons had amounted to a lone base hit and no runs against Chavez. It was all pointless. Hunter drew a walk and stole his 21st base in the sixth, but the Raccoons didn’t add a base hit to an early Maldonado single until Doug Levis hit a pinch-hit single in the eighth, and then with two outs, and of course it led nowhere whatsoever. Zimmerman had his skull cracked open again for three hits and two runs in the ninth inning, not that it made a difference anywhere other than his already pathetic ERA. 6-0 Loggers. Levis (PH) 1-1; Lindstrom 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

Sal Chavez completed the shutout, walking four and whiffing three.

Well, maybe it would inspire Bernie. – No, Slappy, I don’t believe that either. – I’m just babbling like a street corner derelict at this point.

Game 3
MIL: 2B V. Acosta – RF N. Duncan – 3B Paul – SS Del Vecchio – 1B Brayboy – CF Prestwood – C H. Alvarez – LF Torri – P C. Padilla
POR: SS Hunter – 2B Trevino – LF Fernandez – 3B Maldonado – C Kilmer – 1B Levis – RF Reyna – CF Nettles – P Montano

Hopes were naturally low on Wednesday for our selection of starter alone, but the Raccoons took their first actual lead of the week on another Tony Hunter homer in the bottom 1st, while Nick Duncan was (narrowly) denied. But sometimes you had to get Montano a little bit of time for the implosion to develop. While he retired the first seven Loggers in a row, they got Dan Torri on with a single in the third inning and got him around with Vic Acosta’s 2-out single to left-center, erasing the Raccoons’ lead. Montano then started the bottom 3rd by legging out a roller near the third base line against Gold Glover Jared Paul, while Cosmo singled and Manny had himself dinged to fill the bases with one down. Maldonado whiffed and Jeff Kilmer flew out to Torri to curb any euphoria any ill-advised fan might have felt.

Tyler Prestwood singled home Del Vecchio, the revoltworthy ******** in the fourth inning, although a now-rare Doug Levis homer tied the game again in the bottom of the same frame, knotting the tally at two. Prestwood shrugged and hit another 2-out RBI single in the sixth, then driving in Duncan, who had singled and stolen second base. Montano lasted seven without ever completely imploding, which was admirable, yet futile given the state of things in Portland. The Raccoons fell short of scoring in the sixth or seventh innings, then at least got rid of Padilla when Kilmer drew a leadoff walk in the eighth. Levis’ groundout sent him to second base, the only batter Cesar Perez faced before southpaw Marvin Verduzco came on for the bottom of the order. The Raccoons, who had already used Jake Trawick, sent Nick Lando to pinch-hit for Miguel Reyna, and the scrappy second-sacker actually squeezed a single up the middle to get Kilmer around and tie the game. Then Nettles jabbed into a double play… When Wyatt Hamill retired the 6-7-8 batters in order in the ninth inning, the Raccoons at least had a chance to walk off in regulation. Between Balaski, Hunter, and Cosmo, nobody reached base. Hamill added a scoreless 10th for no greater good, and Alex Ramirez held Milwaukee away in the 11th. The bags filled up in the bottom of that inning against Kurt Crater. The right-hander allowed a 1-out single to PH Tony Morales, then with two outs walked Balaski with intent and Hunter without such. That put Cosmo in the golden-boy position. He clipped a 2-1 pitch over Victor Acosta, who leapt high – but missed it! The ball fell in, and Morales jiggered home as the Raccoons ACTUALLY won a game from the Loggers in 2041…! 4-3 Blighters. Trevino 3-5, BB, RBI; Lando (PH) 1-1, RBI; Morales (PH) 1-1; Hamill 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K;

I don’t know, Wyatt, why they won’t give you anything to save. Believe me, I’d prefer if they did…!

As an aside, the damn Elks were playing the Arrowheads in this slot and had by now taken three 1-run losses in a row. So there WERE worse ways to play!

Jay de Wit was then handed back to St. Pete before the series finale, while Portland activated Berto from the DL. Manny Fernandez would get a rare day off for the series finale.

Game 4
MIL: CF Cannizzard – SS Del Vecchio – RF N. Duncan – 1B Brayboy – 3B Paul – LF J. Nelson – C H. Alvarez – 2B V. Acosta – P Piedra
POR: 3B Ramos – 2B Trevino – SS Hunter – LF Maldonado – C Morales – 1B Levis – RF Balaski – CF Reyna – P B. Chavez

Levis became the first Critter to ten bombs this year with a solo shot in the bottom 2nd that also put the game’s first marker on the board. Next the Raccoons removed Tim Cannizzard from the equation, the centerfielder breaking his hand running into the fence as he caught a long-but-not-long-enough fly by Balaski in the same inning. Prestwood replaced him, then hit a 2-out single in the third for the first Loggers knock of the series finale, which led nowhere.

Bernie tried to solve all our problems with gas, cranking it up in the middle innings. While the Loggers found a few stray singles in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings, they also went down in flames and Bernie piled up eight strikeouts by the end of the sixth, still holding on to a 1-0 lead sponsored by a team that had only one base hit in addition to Levis’ homer through six. Jared Paul then inevitably hit a solo homer to tie the score in the seventh. I sighed, unscrewed another bottle of Capt’n Coma and accepted defeated and dropping to 1-7 against them for the year, and burying the season altogether.

Then Levis followed up a leadoff walk by Morales with a double to center, putting two in scoring position with nobody out in the bottom 7th. The Loggers treacherously walked Balaski with intent, then went to right-hander Mario Bojorques after dooming the Raccoons with three on, nobody out. Reyna struck out before Manny obviously batted for Bernie Chavez and grinded out a walk to push home the go-ahead run. Berto clipped an RBI single, and Cosmo hit an infield roller that left Paul with the ball, but no play on any base, getting Balaski across, 4-1. Tony Hunter’s sac fly added one more run before Maldonado flew out to Torri in left. Then Prestwood and Del Vecchio poked their way on base against Alex Ramirez in the top 8th. Chuck Jones came in for the left-handers with one out, whiffed Duncan and got Aaron Brayboy to fly out to center, stranding the runners. The Coons went on to have three on with nobody out *again* in the bottom 8th, putting the 5-6-7 batters on once more, now against Bojorques. Reyna popped out and the team was held to a Kilmer sac fly from the #9 spot for a lone tack-on run. Brent Clark retired Milwaukee in order to conclude the game. 6-1 Coons. Hunter 0-1, 2 BB, RBI; Morales 1-2, BB, 2B; Levis 2-3, BB, HR, 2B, RBI; Fernandez (PH) 0-0, BB, RBI; Chavez 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 9 K, W (5-5);

Raccoons (33-26) vs. Stars (28-32) – June 7-9, 2041

Somehow the Stars played in a shoebox at home and still ranked third from the bottom in runs scored in the Federal League, which struck me as a fatal flaw. Too much focus on pitching? Their hurlers were fourth (rotation) and seventh (pen) by ERA, respectively. We looked on enviously. Their run differential was -5 (Coons: -8). These teams had also met in 2040, when the Raccoons had taken two of three games from them Stars.

Projected matchups:
Nelson Moreno (5-3, 3.87 ERA) vs. Alfredo Vargas (5-4, 5.70 ERA)
Josh Brown (6-1, 2.88 ERA) vs. Orlando Leos (3-6, 4.90 ERA)
Drew Johnson (3-5, 3.65 ERA) vs. Aaron Jones (3-3, 3.77 ERA)

Another set without left-handers!

Game 1
DAL: SS O. Aguirre – LF Correa – 2B H. Acosta – C Torreo – RF Calais – 1B Monge – 3B J. Rivas – CF Cecil – P A. Vargas
POR: 3B A. Ramos – SS Hunter – LF Fernandez – CF Maldonado – C Morales – 1B Levis – RF Balaski – 2B Lando – P Moreno

The struggles of Nelson Moreno continued, with five hits clubbed off his paws in the first three innings. Hugo Acosta’s triple and Pacio Torreo’s single led to a run in the first inning, a deficit with the Raccoons then did not obviously and visibly try to recover. While Vargas issued walks by the bushel, the Raccoons made either poor outs or hit into hard-luck ones, like Morales and Lando hitting line drives right into infielder’s mittens in the third and fourth innings, respectively, both times with a pair of runners aboard. Portland remained shut out through five, with Morales whiffing to strand Manny and Maldo in the fifth, too. Maldo then tweaked his back on a defensive play in the sixth and left the game, replaced by Stephon Nettles.

After the early barrage, Nels did not allow a base hit in the middle innings. Jose Rivas singled off him in the seventh, but was stranded at second, where he ended up on Morales’ errant pickoff attempt. Moreno struck out Tylor Cecil and Vargas to reach 8 K for the game against no walks. By contrast, Vargas through six allowed five walks and still remained on top, 1-0. Cosmo pinch-hit for Moreno when the #9 slot opened the bottom 7th, grounding out. Berto hit a single to left, then was forced out by Hunter. Manny dropped a single to center, which brought up Maldo- oh. Nettles. And yet, the perplexingly persistent .155 hitter clubbed a single to shallow right-center, getting Hunter around to score and take Moreno off the hook. Morales flew out to left, stranding two. Lindstrom held the Stars away in the eighth; Ricky Correa singled, but was caught stealing. Even Tim Zimmerman managed a scoreless ninth to keep the game tied! The Raccoons then faced long-time Crusaders and Titans foe Mike Hugh (also the rule 5 pick that got away) in the bottom 9th, with the 1-2-3 going down in order.

Free baseball was in order. Chuck Jones got around a leadoff walk issued to leadoff hitter Edward Sepulveda in the top of the 10th, while Hugh remained in for Dallas. After Nettles grounded out, he walked Morales and threw a wild pitch to get the tying run to second base. The Raccoons, however, had already used Kilmer and could not reasonably pinch-run for Morales as the winning run. Not that it would have helped – Levis struck out, and Balaski grounded out to second. Jones retired three right-handed batters in the 11th, making it imperative for the Raccoons to reward such heroics with a walkoff in the inning against righty Matt Simmons. Lando, Reyna, and Ramos made outs in order, though. Simmons continued his own heroics with a leadoff walk drawn off Hamill in the 12th (…!), but Jon Ramos, Sepulveda, and Leo Villacorta made outs in order after that and stranded the tie-breaking run. Nettles hit a single in the 12th, but the game continued unabated. By the 14th the Raccoons arrived at Juan Zabala and were almost out of pitchers. Zabala retired 6-7-8 in order in the 14th, including the pitcher in the leadoff spot again, while the Stars continued with Simmons for a fourth inning in the bottom 14th. Trawick led off batting ninth after entering in a double switch with Zabala, with the bench now also empty. He struck out, and Portland went down in order.

One gone in the 15th, Tony Morales threw away Oscar Aguirre’s grounder for two bases, which I figured would be the end of it all and struggled with Maud when she refused to let me kill the lights early. Aguirre stole third and scored on Hugo Acosta’s single, breaking the endless tie. Nettles hit another single in the bottom of the inning, but that was literally all the Raccoons could poke together. Maldonado 2-3; Nettles 3-4, RBI; Moreno 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K; Jones 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K; Hamill 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K;

The #4 slot went 5-for-7 in this game. Everybody else combined hit a strong 3-for-46.

What a bunch.

Maldonado was listed as day-to-day with a sore back. He would not be in the lineup for the rest of the weekend, but was available to pinch-hit.

Game 2
DAL: SS O. Aguirre – 3B J. Ramos – 2B H. Acosta – C Torreo – RF Calais – 1B Monge – LF Correa – CF Cecil – P Leos
POR: SS Hunter – 2B Trevino – LF Fernandez – C Kilmer – RF Balaski – 1B Levis – CF Nettles – 3B Trawick – P Brown

Of course rain then conspired to become an issue on Saturday with the Raccoons’ pen seriously depleted and Josh Brown pitching to begin with. He held the Stars shut out for three innings, then sat and stared in the dugout for upwards of half an hour during a rain delay. When play resumed, the Stars broke the scoreless affair with another Hugo Acosta triple, leading off, and a Sean Calais groundout in the fourth. The Raccoons answered with a leadoff single by Manny in the bottom 4th, then a Kilmer double up the rightfield line, getting the tying and go-ahead runs into scoring position. Hopes for big offense were dashed when Balaski walked, recreating the dreaded three-on, no-outs scenario to perpetually doom us. Levis fell to 2-2, but instead of striking out then singed a liner up the middle. Kilmer went on contact and I shrieked as Aguirre lunged for the ball, but missed it by mere inches, allowing Levis’ shot into shallow center and Kilmer to score behind Manny to flip the score to 2-1 Portland. Balaski and Levis both reached scoring position. The former scored on Nettles’ groundout, while the latter was dinged in only with two outs by Josh Brown. Hunter’s groundout ended the inning, with Portland up 4-1.

Everything came apart in the sixth inning – at least as far as winning prospects were concerned. The Raccoons needed Brown to go more than six innings, badly, but he barely made it through six after laying a whole clutch of eggs in that inning. Pacio Torreo hit a 1-out single, which was not ideal, but the main issue was the pair of 2-out walks, both in full counts, to ex-Coon Danny Monge and Ricky Correa, then nailing Cecil with a pitch to force a run home. Jose Rivas pinch-hit for Leos, but grounded out to keep the Raccoons up 4-2, but Brown was now tuckered out and we had to find three innings from a depleted bullpen. Bottom 6th, right-hander Daniel Hernandez loaded the bases with two outs, allowing a single to Trawick, a double to the pinch-hitting Maldonado (don’t run too hard on the bases!), and a walk drawn by Hunter. All for the *** - Cosmo grounded out, stranding three.

The Coons then went to Lindstrom by default – he was the only reliever that hadn’t been involved in last night’s 15-inning shambles. Acosta hit a double off him with two outs in the seventh, but was stranded, and the Raccoons broke up Hernandez in the bottom of the inning. Balaski and Levis hit singles, Nettles ripped a 2-run triple, and Trawick singled that run home. Lindstrom remained in the game to bat for himself, taking a K from Josh Winther, then was torn in half in the eighth. With the bases loaded and two outs, Oscar Aguirre drove in three with a double in the gap. Jon Ramos walked, and Acosta hit a double up the rightfield line. Aguirre scored, Ramos was thrown out trying, and only that ended the inning with the 7-2 lead almost reduced to rubble, 7-6. Hamill, who had pitched two innings on Friday, asked for the ball in the ninth and received it, immediately gave up a double to Torreo, who scored on Monge’s single to blow the lead for good. (buries striped face in paws)

The Raccoons did nothing in the bottom 9th, sending the game to extras, for which I cancelled their after-game ox roast out of spite. Not even winning after all, somehow, could reinstate their ox roast!! (angrily throws another glug of Capt’n Coma into his throat) Bah. This lacks oven cleanse! Maud! … Hamill continued to suck in the 10th, allowing a leadoff single to Chris Sandstrom and hitting Aguirre. Ramos popped out, after which Zimmerman replaced the 37th consecutive useless closer on the roster. Acosta hit into a fielder’s choice at second base, and Torreo grounded out to short.

Two scoreless by Alex Ramirez followed, with the Stars holding just as tight. The Raccoons kept filing through the pen trying to find somebody with a pulse. Brent Clark was “it” for the 13th and retired the 3-4-5 in order. The Coons had the top of the lineup for the bottom of the inning against left-hander Chris Myers in his second inning of work. Hunter walked. Cosmo whiffed. Manny forced out Hunter. Kilmer whiffed. Cecil singled off Clark in the 14th, but that was with two gone and Myers struck out afterwards with no bench options remaining for Dallas. Myers returned to the mound for the bottom of the inning, but not for long. His first offering of the inning was belted over the fence by Bill Balaski. 8-7 Raccoons. Fernandez 3-7; Balaski 2-5, 2 BB, HR, RBI; Levis 2-5, BB, 2 RBI; Nettles 3-6, 3B, 3 RBI; Trawick 2-6, 2B, RBI; Maldonado (PH) 1-1; Ramirez 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K; Clark 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, W (1-2);

After 29 mostly stupid innings in two days, there was understandably not much left of the Raccoons’ pen. There was an off day on Monday for recovery, but before that the baseball gods demanded a rubber game be played on Sunday. The Stars would go with right-handed spot starter Joe Murphy (1-0, 1.71 ERA) for reasons best known to them. The Raccoons had no such option to begin with. Drew Johnson got the ball, obviously, but besides Zabala and Jones there wasn’t much behind him anymore. If things went pear-shaped, we’d have to burn Montano in long relief on short rest. He was in the bullpen to begin the game, which we thought preferable to making a pointless transaction to get a fresh arm up (which would have to come at the expense of a batter, probably Lando).

Game 3
DAL: SS O. Aguirre – LF Correa – 2B H. Acosta – C Torreo – RF Calais – 1B Monge – 3B J. Rivas – CF Cecil – P J. Murphy
POR: 3B A. Ramos – 2B Trevino – SS Hunter – LF Fernandez – C Morales – RF Balaski – CF Nettles – 1B Reyna – P Johnson

Johnson knew he wouldn’t get out of the game under 95 pitches, and at least started out efficiently, retiring the first six Stars in order for only 16 pitches. Manny hit a leadoff jack, his 10th of ’41, in the bottom 2nd for a 1-0 lead. Johnson sat down another five Dallas batters before Hugo Acosta singled, then walked Torreo on top of that. Calais popped out to Berto to strand the runners, with Johnson on 40 pitches through four. He then dropped an RBI single bringing in Nettles to extend the lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the inning.

Things went smooth as butter through five before hammer came down. Full-count walks to PH Leo Villacorta and Ricky Correa, Acosta’s game-tying double, and an RBI single by Torreo gave the Stars the lead and also threw all our best laid out pitching plans into the ******* fire. Johnson, now being defeated, was on 82 pitches through six, bunted Miguel Reyna to second base in the bottom 6th (where he was stranded by Berto), then returned with claws and teeth showing and got through the Stars on just eight pitches in the top 7th. Just that one ******* inning, as usual…!! Manny and Morales hit 2-out singles in the bottom 7th, at which point the wasteful Raccoons were out-hitting Dallas 9-3, but Balaski popped out to strand them. Johnson struck out Aguirre to begin the eighth, then was replaced by Jones, who put two aboard and somehow escaped that sticky situation. Zabala held the Rebels at bay in the ninth, and then I had a hunch that the Raccoons might not just simply lose like the suckers they were, but might actually scratch out a run and go to extras AGAIN, but they – what a relief – wouldn’t go beyond a Hunter single in the inning. Manny struck out to end the game and the goddamn week. 3-2 Stars. Hunter 3-5; Fernandez 2-5, HR, RBI; Nettles 2-4, 2B;

In other news

June 3 – The Capitals use five relievers behind SP Shaun Wardwell (5-1, 3.09 ERA) in a combined 1-hitter, 2-1 win over the Rebels. RIC 3B Josh Frazier (.244, 9 HR, 38 RBI) has the lone Richmond entry in the H column with an RBI double that knocks out Wardwell in the sixth inning.
June 4 – NAS 3B/SS Brad Critzer (.256, 3 HR, 28 RBI) would be sidelined for a week with a shoulder strain.
June 5 – Salem CF/RF Armando Herrera (.357, 1 HR, 28 RBI) runs his hitting streak to 25 games with two singles and a crucial run batted in in the Wolves’ 2-1 win over the Stars.
June 5 – Thunder and Bayhawks pack 41 combined base hits into 11 innings, with the former eventually winning 12-11. OCT RF/1B John Marz (.227, 6 HR, 23 RBI) stands out with three base hits and 5 RBI.
June 6 – DAL SP Corey Booth (4-7, 2.79 ERA) shuts out the Wolves on five hits for a 5-0 Dallas win and as bycatch also ends the hitting streak of SAL Armando Herrera (.351, 1 HR, 28 RBI), who goes 0-for-4.
June 6 – TIJ 2B/SS Dylan Ragsdale (.267, 5 HR, 28 RBI) beats the Aces with a solo homer for a 1-0 Condors win.
June 6 – The Capitals break the Rebels’ pitching staff for ten runs in the bottom 8th en route to a 15-5 win.
June 8 – The Canadiens expect to miss 2B Dan Schneller (.356, 9 HR, 39 RBI) for a month. The 33-year-old is out with a strained biceps tendon.
June 8 – The Capitals pick up 1B Mark Cahill (.232, 3 HR, 17 RBI) from the Gold Sox in exchange for a minor leaguer and #32 prospect, infielder Brian Bass. Cahill was the 2039 FL Rookie of the Year, but has yet to replicate that year’s success.
June 9 – LVA SP Israel Mendoza (2-8, 3.93 ERA) will be out until late July with an oblique strain.

FL Player of the Week: TOP RF Troy Greenway (.217, 9 HR, 24 RBI), hitting .417 (10-24) with 4 HR, 7 RBI
CL Player of the Week: OCT RF/1B John Marz (.236, 6 HR, 25 RBI), batting .414 (12-29) with 2 HR, 9 RBI

Complaints and stuff

One of those weeks that can turn you away from baseball and instead let you pick up knitting. (wiggles with his right hindpaw, the only that can still move, as he’s trapped in a couple of Maud’s needles and the contents of a ball of yarn that have slung themselves around the GM)

Will you please stop laughing, Maud? – Thank you.

The Raccoons SHOULD have gained ground this week. They were undone by too many innings. If we had lost more crisply on Friday, we would not have tried to extend Lindstrom beyond his stretchability (or: ability?) on Saturday and MAYBE wouldn’t have blown a 5-run lead. Although the team has a pretty good track record of blowing 5-run leads, so maybe that was just destined to be.

Not going to 0-6 against the Loggers before finally winning a game from them also would have helped.

The Loggers!

We will be out of town next week, traveling to Washington and New York. The Coons would then return home to play the Titans to begin the week after. There was another Loggers set on the schedule this month, too…

Jesus Maldonado started the four games in the Loggers series on four different positions. He will never win a Gold Glove for being to flexible. Except for his back. That back does not appear to be very flexible.

Not so flexible: Nick Lando. The 2035 third-rounder keeps gobbling up at-bats while being a mediocre defensive second baseman and with a career .211/.281/.261 slash line in 161 at-bats. There aren’t many position player in the illustrious back catalogue of sub-standard batters in need of replacement that got even this many at-bats and produced a lower OPS: Cal Lyon tops the list, followed by Tom Ingram, Daniel Rocha, Yoshi Yamada (hah!), Matt Triolo, Bob Wood, Ryan Miller, Damian Salazar, Victor Castillo, and Jose Gutierrez. Over half the list is within either 20 points of OPS or some 20 at-bats, or both, of Lando.

Fun Fact: Tony Hunter is third in OBP in the Continental League with a .441 mark, trailing the pair of damn Elks Dan Schneller and Jerry Outram.

Hunter never posted an OBP higher than .351 (2039) before, so we’re tempted to find out how this will turn out. He’s hitting .295, 39 points over his career average, and while his .318 BABIP is above average, it’s not *outlandish*. Maybe his eyes suddenly sharpened up at 28? He has drawn 54 walks so far this season, after drawing 69 walks all of last year and 64 the year before. He has just over half of the plate appearance compared to either of those two years right now.

Both of the damn Elks’ terrors might be on the DL by the time we see them – Schneller is already out, and we hear that Outram has a bum elbow right now…