Raccoons (63-40) @ Thunder (48-55) – August 1-3, 2044
We were off to the road for 14 games, and without an off day, too. First station was Oklahoma on a loop to the east and back, with the Thunder sitting a beaten fifth in the South and out of it all. They were seven under .500, despite a +24 run differential and being slightly better than average in both runs scored and runs allowed. They didn’t hit for power, but were doing everything else quite decently, but that wasn’t enough. Starter Lachlan Clarke and regulars Carlos Vega and Cullen Tortora were on the DL. We were up 4-2 in the season series.
Projected matchups:
Brent Clark (7-10, 4.04 ERA) vs. Jimmy Driver (4-9, 4.45 ERA)
Jake Jackson (9-5, 3.89 ERA) vs. Victor Marquez (4-5, 3.16 ERA)
Sadaharu Okuda (12-5, 2.43 ERA) vs. Natanael Abrao (6-5, 3.35 ERA)
Handedness for the starters in each game would be opposite, so we’d see two right-handers sandwiching a southpaw. Bryce Toohey was still not in the starting lineup on Monday, but we were confident that he could be plonked down at first base on Tuesday against Marquez, thus giving Ayala the day off that everybody needed anyway at some point this week.
Game 1
POR: LF Baskins – 1B Ayala – 3B Maldonado – RF Fernandez – 2B Waters – CF Phinazee – SS Hunter – C Zarate – P Clark
OCT: CF Zurita – 2B Simon – 1B S. Henderson – RF Gurney – LF E. Moore – C E. Stedham – SS Ban – 3B Schneider – P Driver
The Raccoons scored first, Waters walking to begin the top 2nd, reached third on a Phinazee single, and scored on Tony Hunter’s sac fly. Clark meanwhile scattered four hits in the first three innings and would have escaped unharmed if he hadn’t also thrown away Jimmy Driver’s bunt in the bottom 3rd, leading to a run on Brad Simon’s 1-out single to right, bringing in Brian Schneider. Sterling Henderson and Pat Gurney made poor outs, so at least we came out tied. Clark gave up the go-ahead run in the fourth instead, getting dinged for another three singles by Ed Stedham, Schneider, and … (sigh!) … the driver, Pitcher. While Clark died the death of a thousand needles, the Raccoons were still sitting on that lone Phinazee single. A 2-out single by Clark in the fifth made it two hits Portland, and Baskins’ single got them to three, but then Ayala flew out to center.
And there the game grinded along, the Raccoons down 2-1. Clark was hit for in the seventh, Toohey walking in his spot and then walking back to the dugout when Baskins popped out to Ethan Moore in shallow left. Chuck Jones had a difficult bottom 7th, because the Thunder bombarded him with right-handed pinch-hitters, but kept them where they were. Sal Ayala drew a leadoff walk in the eighth off Xavier Gomez, who was replaced with Chris Manley, who ran a full count to Maldo, which resolved with a blooper to the rightfield line that bounced JUST fair and then made a beeline for the tarp, coming to a dead stop for a double. That put the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position, nobody out, and here came the next reliever, the Thunder’s Jon Craig, the black one. We had the Raccoons’ Jon Craig, the white one. Both were right-handers, but, god, this was confusing. The Raccoons were more confused though as Craig cleaned up with them. Manny and Phinazee struck out; Waters at least managed a sac fly to get Clark off a rough hook. To make things ever more discombobulating, we brought OUR Jon Craig, who put on Jonathan Ban and Adrian Ringel, then got a lift out of the bottom 8th by Zack Kelly retiring Angelo Zurita. Nelson Moreno also put two on in the ninth, but managed to escape into extras on his own, with the Raccoons out-hit 11-5.
Moreno had them 1-2-3 in the 10th, which only extended the game, since the Raccoons kept treading water, then faced stone-cold killer Sean Green (0.38 ERA) in the 11th. Waters reached base, but was forced out by Phinazee, and the Raccoons just couldn’t get anywhere. Brad Simon and Dick Oshiita reached the corners against Preston Porter in the bottom 11th, but Waters snagged a bouncer by Moore to turn that into the third out. By the 12th inning the Thunder were out of bench, and the Raccoons were on their last reliever that wasn’t a closer, and by the 13th Maldonado doubled off Green to begin the inning. Hey, life …! Manny was walked intentionally, and Waters got into an 0-2 count before banging a ball into the gap where it made its way to the fence for a 2-run double. FINALLY. Bill Dickinson walked the bases full, then struck out Zarate. Ruben Gonzalez hit for Norris, struck out, and Baskins… struck out. At least Rella also struck out three in the bottom 13th after putting Brad Simon and Sterling Henderson on with one out. 4-2 Blighters. Maldonado 2-6, 2B; Moreno 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K;
Game 2
POR: LF Baskins – SS Hunter – CF Maldonado – 1B Toohey – RF Fernandez – 3B Cruz – C Gonzalez – 2B Carreno – P Jackson
OCT: CF Zurita – SS Rowell – C Adames – RF Gurney – 1B S. Henderson – 3B Simon – 2B Schneider – LF Ringel – P V. Marquez
First inning, Hunter reached, Maldo reached, and then Toohey returned with a BANG, hitting a 3-run homer to left. Unfortunately, what we also needed was a steady long outing from Jake Jackson, and it didn’t look too good early on. He walked two in the bottom 1st an gave up a run, which wasn’t great, and he reliably found his way into full counts after that as well. Simon singled home Gurney in the bottom 4th, narrowing the score to 3-2.
Jackson held up his end, sort of, through six innings, but it took him 96 pitches to get there, even though the Thunder only got three actual base hits off him. On the other paw, Toohey’s shot aside, the Raccoons’ offense remained most meager. Jackson batted for himself at the tail end of a sad three up, three down in the seventh so we could squeeze another inning out of him. Of course he immediately walked Simon, and the tying run reached second base with a groundout. I groaned, and we went to Kelly. He got Ethan Moore and John Peck on grounders, and the Raccoons got to keep their skinny lead. Manley walked Hunter and Toohey in the eighth, but nobody got a hit in any shape or form. Kelly held on stubbornly, and Carreno hit a triple in the ninth! …with nobody on… and two outs. Jay de Wit batted for Kelly in the #9 hole, but flew out to Zurita. Rella came back for the ninth, and Sterling Henderson singled up the middle right away. Simon flew out casually to Baskins. Jonathan Ban whiffed. Ethan Moore singled to right. Dick Oshiita would pinch-hit in the #9 hole, another lefty and a .300 one at that. There was the option to go for Chuck Jones, but Jones had been out on Sunday, too, and had thrown 40 pitches in total. When Rella walked Oshiita on four pitches, Jones was tossed into the steaming pot anyway, three on, two outs, no net, no cushion, and no escape. And also no problem – he got an easy grounder to Carreno on the first pitch. 3-2 Thunder. Kelly 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;
They are sure not an easy watch, even though they’re winning …!
Game 3
POR: CF Baskins – 1B Ayala – 3B Maldonado – RF Toohey – LF Fernandez – SS Waters – C Zarate – 2B Carreno – P Okuda
OCT: CF Zurita – 2B Simon – C Adames – 1B S. Henderson – RF Gurney – LF E. Moore – SS Ban – 3B Schneider – P Abrao
While the league ERA leader held court, the Raccoons scampered together a run with a leadoff walk drawn by Manny and singles by Zarate and Carreno in the second inning, which was likely to be everything, and now, here, you’re on your own. After Okuda’s bunt, Baskins was robbed in the gap by Zurita, and I kept looking utterly concerned and like my lunch would soon depart through my snout again, especially when Moore doubled home Henderson in the bottom of the inning and Ban and Schneider reached on a single and a walk to load the bases. Abrao and Zurita both popped out, but what the heck was with the offense??
Maldo and Manny hit a pair of doubles to take a new 2-1 lead in the third inning, which was something. A passed ball moved Manny to third base, and Waters then drew a 2-out walk. Zarate hit an RBI single to center before Carreno grounded the ball to Ban at short – and Ban filed it past Henderson for a 2-base, 1-run error. Abrao got Okuda, but it was now 4-1. And then it was three on with no outs in the bottom of the same ******* inning. Simon got nicked, Adames singled, wild pitch, walk to Henderson. And I had left Honeypaws in the hotel room …! The Thunder tied the game despite Gurney’s initial lineout to Carreno. Moore hit a sac fly, and Ban singled in a pair through the left side before the inning ended with Schneider. Utter frustration.
Baskins’ single and Ayala’s double put Raccoons in scoring position with nobody out in the fourth, but all we ever got was a run from Maldonado’s sac fly. And Okuda just couldn’t get anybody out. The bases filled up again in the bottom 4th, and Gurney hit a 2-out, 2-run single to send him home. Moreno got out of the inning, while I was banging my head against a support column on the walkway, which I was still doing when Jose Zarate homered to left in the fifth, giving the Raccoons a 7-6 lead. Of note should be that both teams did not bat for their relief pitchers (Moreno, their Jon Craig) in this inning…
Zarate cracked another homer to open the seventh inning, still against Craig, their Jon Craig, not our Jon Craig, our Jon Craig came on … later … against … their lineup… I’m so tired, I want to go hoooome …! It was 8-6 when our Jon Craig came in for the bottom 7th (and hopefully more) He gave up a run on a Moore single and a Schneider double in the seventh, still was back for the eighth on account of the depleted bullpen, and then with two outs and Jesus Adames on first got bombed by Sterling Henderson to flip the score back to the Oklahomans. Right-hander Jesse Allison refused to give up a third homer to Zarate in the ninth, which he led off, and Hunter also made an easy out. Phinazee singled. Baskins singled. And it was all a big taunt, with Ayala grounding out to Henderson. 9-8 Thunder. Baskins 2-5; Maldonado 3-4, 2 2B, RBI; Fernandez 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Zarate 4-5, 2 HR, 4 RBI; Phinazee (PH) 1-1;
Blargh.
The Raccoons needed pitching, all of a sudden (and I remember a certain cocky bullpen sign on Sunday, don’t I?), and made roster moves on the way to New York. Jay de Wit, who had only made a few fruitless pinch-hitting assignments, and Preston Porter, because **** always flows downwards and asphyxiates the littlest guy first, were sent to AAA. Unfortunately both of the other two first-rank right-handed prospects, Sean Marucci and Bob Ibold, had JUST disappeared onto the DL, and the Crusaders had few left-handed batters (but two lefty catchers). Alex Ramirez had done badly in AAA (6 runs in 5.1 innings), but we needed the bridge. Sean Bowman, 26, was not doing great, but he was a righty, ready, and didn’t ask any stupid questions. He had made four appearances or the Critters in ’43, impressing not.
Raccoons (65-41) @ Crusaders (47-61) – August 4-7, 2044
New York ranked ninth in runs scored, ninth in runs allowed, and we shouldn’t have been so afraid if it didn’t look like every single wheel was trying to shake itself of the wagon right now. The season series stood at 5-2 Portland.
Projected matchups:
Jason Wheatley (6-3, 4.37 ERA) vs. Aaron Hickey (5-9, 4.00 ERA)
Corey Mathers (9-6, 3.25 ERA) vs. Tony Galligher (2-5, 3.25 ERA)
Brent Clark (7-10, 3.99 ERA) vs. Jeff Johnson (7-8, 3.64 ERA)
Jake Jackson (10-5, 3.84 ERA) vs. Yataro Tanabe (1-0, 2.57 ERA)
Right, left, right, left, culminating in a Southpaw Sunday. If I desired to live that long…
Game 1
POR: CF Baskins – 1B Ayala – 3B Maldonado – RF Toohey – LF Fernandez – SS Waters – C Zarate – 2B Carreno – P Wheatley
NYC: SS Adame – 1B D. Riley – RF Marz – C Alba – LF A. Montes – 2B Nash – CF Rico – P Hickey – 3B Riario
We tried with the lineup that had scored eight on Wednesday and would attempt to match it with pitching that wouldn’t allow more than seven, which had to begin with Wheats… and Derek Baskins; the centerfielder opened the game with a double to center, scored on a Toohey single in the first, and in the second came up with two outs after Wheats had ripped an RBI double and dropped in and run-scoring groundout to score Zarate and to get to a 3-0 lead. Wheats faced the minimum the first time through while nailing Fernando Alba and getting a double play, then walked John Marz with two outs in the fourth, but got around that one, too. Danny Rico’s fifth-inning blooper into shallow center was the first base hit for New York, but the score through five remained the same, 3-0.
Not to make sound Wheatley better than he was – he struck out only two, and his pitch count was already over 60 despite all that. Lots of full counts, once more. He also was a the plate in a thick spot again in the top of the sixth, with reliever Matt Owen just having walked Carreno with the bases loaded to force in the Critters’ fourth run, and with one out. He grounded to short and got doubled up, then gave up a homer to Marz in the bottom 6th, but that was the only run the Crusaders got off him in seven innings. Lefty Mike Lynn was in trouble in the eighth, putting the 4-5-6 hitters on with a hit and two walks, and also with nobody out, which sounded like another choke job in the making. Zarate hit a sac fly, 5-1, but Carreno struck out. Wheats was hit for with Hunter because his pitch count was at 100 basically anyway. Hunter flew to deep right, but also to Marz. I sighed. Alex Adame singled off Norris to begin the bottom 8th, but then was also running past second base on a long fly to center by Marz with one out. The thing was – Baskins was back and caught it. And he also doubled Adame off first base with a HECK of a throw!
With Mike Lynn still flailing around on he mound, three on, one out, and the team up by a slam anyway, the Raccoons batted Ruben Gonzalez for Manny Fernandez in the ninth inning. The young catcher hit an RBI single to center, the only run the team would get in the inning. Up by five, Bowman was sent for the bottom of the inning, got two grounders, walked Randolph Nash, and then got Rico to fly out to Baskins in left. 6-1 Raccoons! Toohey 2-2, 3 BB, RBI; Fernandez 2-4, 2B; Gonzalez (PH) 1-1, RBI; Zarate 1-2, BB, RBI; Wheatly 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, W (7-3) and 1-3, 2B, RBI;
With that scoreless inning, Bowman was dispatched to St. Pete again to make room for a 13th hitter, Van Anderson.
Manny Fernandez now had a 12-game hitting streak.
He’d also have a day off against Galligher, along with Baskins. Maldonado was penciled in for Saturday against the right-hander.
Game 2
POR: 1B Ayala – SS Waters – LF Maldonado – RF Toohey – CF Phinazee – 3B Cruz – C Gonzalez – 2B Carreno – P Mathers
NYC: SS Adame – 1B D. Riley – RF Marz – C Alba – LF A. Montes – 2B Nash – CF Rico – P Galligher – 3B Riario
Waters opened the scoring with a solo homer to left in the first inning, although that run would soon be undone. Dan Riley doubled off the wall in right-center, driving home Adame from first base in the same inning; Adame had reached on an Ayala error. In exchange it was an Adame error that gave the Raccoons a run in the third; Carreno reached on a Nash error, stole second, then scored when Adame fired Mathers’ grounder away for two bases. Ayala singled, Waters hit a sac fly, and Maldonado hit a homer to left to make it four in the inning, and five in total. The Crusaders’ error count in the top 3rd would reach three by the time Mal Phinazee was on with two outs and stole second. Alba threw the ball away then, but this would not lead to another run, Jose Cruz flying out to Rico instead.
If you were a fan of earned runs, the fifth inning had you covered with a Mathers meltdown that gave the defense little chance to interact to begin with. Leadoff walk to PH John Davis, then an uncatchable screaming triple in the alley by Vittorio Riario right away. Riley hit his 15th bomb to the next borough over, and suddenly we were down to 5-4 for a lead. That was before Toohey dropped an Alba fly with two outs in that inning. Andy Montes then struck out, but oh my, what a clown game …! Mathers croaked entirely in the sixth, allowing a single to Nash to lead off, who was forced out by Rico, but then walked Dave Myers and Riario. Moreno inherited stuffed bases in a 5-4 game, and croaked even louder. He gave up two runs on Dave Martinez’ single through the right side, walked Riley, then gave up another two runs on Marz’ single through the right side. Exit Moreno, enter Jones, and another RBI single by Alba to right. Montes hit into a double play, but the Crusaders were now up by a slam and I was eyeing the train station outside the ballpark so I wouldn’t miss the right time to throw myself under one of those trams.
Top 7th, Todd Lush walked Van Anderson leading off in the #9 hole, and Ayala singled. Waters grounded to short, but the Crusaders only got the guy at second base, which Waters then swiped just in time to score on Maldonado’s 2-run single to left-center. And then Toohey found a double play grounder after all. Oh goodness grievous!! … Alex Ramirez was then sampled for two runs on way too many hits to count them all in the bottom 7th, restoring the slam range. Despite all the bleeding, the Raccoons got the tying run to the on-deck circle in the ninth inning when Carreno singled and Ayala walked. In the save situation with one out, Luis Villagomez became the 750th relief pitcher to appear in the game. He got Waters to 0-2, then gave up a drive down the rightfield line for a 2-run double, which now made it 11-9 or something like that, I had stopped being able to tally up the runs a while back. Maldonado grounded out, but Toohey walked to put the tying run on base. And then Phinazee flew out to Rico. 11-9 Crusaders. Ayala 4-5, 2B; Waters 2-3, BB, HR, 2B, 4 RBI; Maldonado 2-5, HR, 4 RBI;
Unfortunately the bottom six in the order batted with broomsticks or something, going 3-for-23…
Game 3
POR: SS Waters – 1B Ayala – CF Baskins – RF Toohey – LF Fernandez – C Gonzalez – 2B Carreno – 3B Cruz – P Clark
NYC: SS Adame – RF Marz – 1B Briones – CF Rico – 2B Nash – 3B Riario – LF D. Martinez – C E. Thompson – P J. Johnson
At least New York stopped with that nonsense hitting the pitcher eighth. Scary stuff, that. Also probably confusing our pitchers, so things would be rosy from now on, WOULDN’T THEY, BRENT??
Well, it was until a completely cursed fifth inning. The Raccoons did their stupid thing where they had a hit in every inning, but never scored a run, while the Crusaders did close to zero against Clark for four innings before Nash opened the fifth with a single. Riario bunted, Gonzalez got the ******* flutters again and threw it away to put runners in scoring position, and there it all went down into the sewers. Dave Martinez’ sac fly was the first run in the game, after which Riario stole third base, Thompson struck out looking though, which made it two outs with the pitcher at the plate and – oh, **** my ***, a duck snort single into center. Riario singled home another run in the sixth, when Clark walked two Crusaders, and that was the whole game, basically. The Raccoons never did ******* anything except for a late and meaningless homer by Waters. 3-1 Crusaders. Waters 2-4, HR, RBI; Ayala 2-4; Toohey 1-2, 2 BB; Hunter (PH) 1-1; Clark 7.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, L (7-11);
So, Manny’s hitting streak ended as soon as I noticed it, what else? Oh yeah, we play like arse.
Game 4
POR: LF Baskins – SS Waters – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – RF Fernandez – C Zarate – 2B Carreno – CF Anderson – P Jackson
NYC: SS Adame – 1B D. Riley – RF Marz – C Alba – LF A. Montes – 2B Nash – CF Rico – P Tanabe – 3B Riario
Ugh, pitcher batting eighth! Can we just forfeit and go home!? … The Raccoons’ first two hits both belonged to Derek Baskins, so that was a good start, while the first run was the New Yorkers’, Danny Rico hitting a leadoff double in the third after Jackson retired six in a row, then scoring on an Adame single with two outs. I sat down next to a scary looking bearded guy in the stands and kindly asked him between bites he took off one of his four hot dogs whether he’d accept $50 as a fee for beating me dead right on the spot. He looked at me with pity, handed me a hot dog, and moved to the next section.
The Raccoons then had the bases loaded in the fourth, but in the worst way. Yes, with nobody out, which meant they were cursed not to score, and also with Manny – after singles by Maldo and Toohey – getting smitten in the paw with a fastball. He tossed the bat, jumped up and down, sang a song only dogs could hear, and none of that could be good. Dr. Padilla poked around his paw, every poke making Manny wince, then took him out of the game. We brought in Ayala, with Toohey going back out to his usual spot in rightfield – after the inning break of course. First the Raccoons had to make three outs in the worst way possible. Zarate hit a comebacker to Tanabe for a force out at home. Alba lost a pitch to Carreno, actually allowing Toohey to score. Then Carreno grounded to third base, keeping everybody pinned. Van Anderson was *Van Anderson* but still walked intentionally with two outs and first base available to pull .130 hitting Jake Jackson, who hit the ball right back to Tanabe for the bitter end.
While I asked an usher whether there were any rope stores near the ballpark and was utterly disappointed, the Raccoons had Carreno on first base with two outs in the sixth inning. With the game still tied, maybe we could clear the pitcher’s spot again. Carreno was ordered to run, never got the jump, and eventually held with two strikes on Van Anderson, who was *Van Anderson*. Then Van Anderson hit the fifth pitch of the at-bat over the head of John Marz in right-center, and over the ******* fence, too, giving Portland a 3-1 lead. VAN ANDERSON. Baseball, you utterly stupid little game.
Of course Jackson had a little meltdown right away, allowing a run on singles to Riley and Alba in the bottom 6th, then walked the bags full. Danny Rico grounded out to Carreno rather than waiting for his turn to walk, stranding three in a 3-2 game. The Raccoons got the run back with the help of an Adame error that put Maldonado on base in the seventh. Toohey singled him in. Jackson grinded out seven, then was hit for against Todd Lush, the lefty, with Carreno and Anderson on second and first after a single and stolen base and a walk, respectively, all with one gone. Tony Hunter grounded into a fielder’s choice, and Baskins struck out. Sigh.
Norris and Jones pieced the eighth together, getting Rella lined up for the ninth inning, which arrived without offensive reinforcements for Portland. John Davis hit a hard fly to right, but Toohey had it on the warning track. Rico singled to right on 0-2. But Mario Briones hit a bouncer right at Carreno! To Waters, to Ayala, and the ballgame…! 4-2 Critters. Baskins 2-5; Toohey 2-5, RBI; Carreno 2-4; Anderson 1-2, 2 BB, HR, 2 RBI; Jackson 7.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, W (11-5);
*Van Anderson*!
In other news
August 1 – MIL OF Adam Borchard (.339, 0 HR, 5 RBI) whips four singles and a triple for one RBI in contribution of a 13-2 rout of the Condors.
August 1 – LVA C John Lunde (.322, 6 HR, 17 RBI) hits a walkoff jack against the Titans for the only score in the Aces’ 2-0 win.
August 2 – SFB OF/1B Scott Martin (.297, 4 HR, 32 RBI) announces his retirement from baseball on account of a particularly badly torn labrum that can be fixed for daily use, but not for baseball purposes. The 31-year-old hit .292 with 86 HR and 515 RBI for his career. He won championships with the 2035 Capitals and 2043 Bayhawks.
August 2 – DAL SP Mark Holliday (9-6, 3.77 ERA) is out for the year with a torn rotator cuff.
August 4 – Salem CL Rico Sanchez (3-4, 4.20 ERA, 23 SV) saves his 300th game, a 4-1 win over the Stars. The 33-year-old righty, who has mostly pitched for Oregon teams in his career, is 53-62 with a 3.47 career ERA.
August 5 – LAP SP Roberto Pruneda (9-9, 3.74 ERA) 3-hits the Warriors in a 4-0 shutout for the Pacifics.
August 5 – After playing a scoreless game through nine innings, both the Buffaloes and Cyclones score once in the 10th inning. The Buffaloes prevail with two runs in the top of the 11th, winning 3-1.
August 7 – Pacifics infielder Brian Bowman (.287, 4 HR, 44 RBI) will be out until September with a sore shoulder.
FL Player of the Week: SAL 2B/1B/RF/LF Bob Mancini (.300, 13 HR, 49 RBI), hitting .516 (16-31) with 2 HR, 5 RBI
CL Player of the Week: NYC 1B Dan Riley (.276, 14 HR, 38 RBI), batting .429 (9-21) with 2 HR, 6 RBI
Complaints and stuff
The good news first – Manny Fernandez’ paw is not broken, just squished into a pulp. He’s officially day-to-day but won’t be able to hold a bat on Monday at the very least as we continue to Indy right away. Last stop on the road trip will by Sacramento.
We’re very much feasting on the laurels of May and June, now, though. We’re 12-11 since the All Star Game, a winning percentage which, last time I had Cristiano check, didn’t usually permit participation in October ballgames.
We passed on Victor Magana when the asking price on the 17-year-old reached the $500,000s and would have gotten us into the penalty zone for international free agents next year.
Fun Fact: With the busy roster shuffles of the last few weeks, the Raccoons have now employed a whopping 35 players this year.
That includes a pitcher that pitched one inning (Bowman, this week), and six batters with less than 30 at-bats (R. Gonzalez, de Wit, J. Gonzalez, Hunter, Anderson, Rosario).
+++
As threatened, tomorrow is the release of Humankind. If it’s any good, I might get lost in it for the next three days. I *should* be able to botch an update together by Friday one way or another 
Oh, and if Humankind isn’t any good, I have to cast myself into the nearest ocean. Which is 300+ miles away, and I am so lazyyyy…… I’ll wait until the ocean comes to me.