[Westheim]

Manny Fernandez moved to the DL in the new week. His ankle was thick after the Sunday game, but no structural damage was found. A 2-week stint on the DL was ordered by Dr. Padilla, which would mean that his vesting option for ’48 was not yet out of the window.

The Raccoons called up 25-year-old switch-hitter Roberto Medina, a corner outfielder, to fill in for Manny. Medina, a scouting discovery from Costa Rica, had been in AAA since ’43 without ever hitting much of anything. This year he was batting .300/.383/.429 in 18 games, which we deemed enough to try the … uh, kid?

Nope, Ken Mills was not an option – he was on the DL himself, laboring on a sore shoulder.

Raccoons (30-12) @ Thunder (26-16) – May 21-23, 2047

First-place teams clashed in Oklahoma City starting on Tuesday, but the Thunder were only leading the Knights by half a game, while the Raccoons led their division by eight games. They were however first in runs scored and second in runs allowed, with a +53 run differential (Coons: +43) and looked like a real contender so far. Last year we had gone 10-4 against them, including a 5-game CLCS win.

Projected matchups:
Jake Jackson (3-1, 3.40 ERA) vs. Juan Ramos (5-4, 5.58 ERA)
Sadaharu Okuda (4-3, 2.28 ERA) vs. Victor Marquez (2-1, 1.81 ERA)
Bubba Wolinsky (7-0, 2.33 ERA) vs. J.J. Hendrix (2-4, 3.40 ERA)

Marquez was the only southpaw starter they had to offer. He was also the league ERA leader – ahead of Okuda and Wolinsky.

The Raccoons were still without Armando Herrera, who figured to miss the entire set.

Game 1
POR: SS Adame – RF Mercado – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – LF Baskins – CF Pellicano – 2B Waters – C Morales – P Jackson
OCT: RF Zurita – 2B Ban – CF Benavides – SS R. Cox – LF Humphreys – C Adames – 3B Greer – 1B J. Price – P J. Ramos

The Thunder sent up the entire lineup in he first inning, getting four singles off Jackson, who also walked a pair in a dismal start to the week. Three runs scored, two on RBI singles by Steve Humphreys and Jesus Adames, and another one with a bases-loaded walk to Marshall Greer. Jim Price and Ramos struck out to end the inning. Portland countered with two in the top 2nd, Toohey hitting a leadoff jack, and Baskins getting nicked and moved around with a Waters walk and Jackson’s 2-out RBI single.

Unfortunately, the struggle never stopped for Jackson, and while he turned away most of the Thunder after the 3-run first, he still hung baseballs that Adames in the third and Humphreys in the fifth hit out of the ballpark. That put the Thunder up 5-2, and Jackson quietly disappeared during a rain delay at the end of the fifth inning. The Thunder were not robbed of solo homers just because of that – Jim Price hit one off Hitchcock in the sixth, 6-2. The Raccoons instead shed Derek Baskins on an injury on a defensive play. With his spot leading off the top 7th and confusion reigning in the dugout, Ben Coen went to bat against Ramos, who, unfazed by rain, struck out the side in the inning. Jake Bonnie allowed a run in the bottom 7th, walking two and giving up the marker on a sac fly. I was coming to detest his stupid face… The game was long lost; except for Roberto Medina, who made his ABL debut when Baskins went down, and came to bat with two outs in the ninth after Toohey had whacked a double off John Steuer. He grounded out to Ryan Cox, though… 7-2 Thunder. Adame 2-4; Toohey 2-4, HR, 2B, RBI;

We keep running out of outfielders… no word on Baskins by Wednesday, so we had to play with a 3-man bench…

Game 2
POR: SS Adame – RF Mercado – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – CF Pellicano – SS Waters – C Gonzalez – LF Medina – P Okuda
OCT: RF Zurita – 3B Greer – CF Benavides – LF Humphreys – SS R. Cox – C Adames – 2B Lujan – 1B J. Price – P V. Marquez

The splattering continued; while Mercado and Toohey walked in the top 1st, but were ignored, Okuda got raked for four runs in the bottom 1st. Marshall Greer singled, Juan Benavides – who had missed last year’s CLCS – doubled, and before long Cox and Adames hit back-to-back homers to make it 4-0 Thunder. The Critters would get their first runs in the third inning. Okuda opened it by lining out, while Adame singled and Mercado worked another walk. Maldonado dropped a ball over Jim Price’s head into shallow right for an RBI single, and Toohey hit another RBI single to left. Then Pellicano found another double play, 6-4-3, and Greer hit another homer off Okuda in the inning to get the Thunder to a more comfy 5-2 lead…

Okuda at least ended his 0-for-20 to begin the season when holding a bat with a 2-out RBI single in the fourth. He chased home Roberto Medina, who had just landed his first major league hit, a double to left. But Okuda was also whacked around for more runs – three more to be precise, before another early exit as the Thunder kept chugging hits and driving in their runners. Ryan Cox added a 2-run homer off Preston Porter in the seventh to get them into double digits. The Raccoons did absolutely nothing to perhaps prevent the rout. 10-3 Thunder. Adame 2-4; Toohey 2-3, BB, RBI;

More losses: Derek Baskins hit the DL with an elbow sprain and was probably lost until the All Star Game.

(groans!)

Since we were out of outfielders even in AAA by now, we brought back Brian Snyder, a former third-rounder that played all positions on the infield, and some rightfield – and was terrible just about everywhere he played. He had previously gotten into 11 games with the Coons in *2043*, batting 3-for-26, before lingering on the 40-man roster all the time in between.

Getting down to the skinny, huh?

Game 3
POR: SS Adame – CF Mercado – 3B Maldonado – RF Toohey – 1B Gurney – 2B Waters – C Morales – LF Medina – P Wolinsky
OCT: RF Zurita – 2B Ban – CF Benavides – LF Humphreys – SS R. Cox – C Adames – 3B Greer – 1B J. Price – P Hendrix

Bubba, too, found a way to get bombed in the first, even if it was “only” one solo homer hit by Benavides for a 1-0 deficit. While the Coons didn’t get a base hit until a Toohey single in the fourth, and no runs whatsoever, the Thunder added with a Steve Humphreys homer in the bottom 4th, 2-0, and then another run when Wolinsky walked Cox and allowed a hit to Adames, and Greer placed a grounder too well to turn two with runners on the corners.

The Raccoons made the board late again, scoring in the fifth. Medina walked, stole second when Wolinsky kept missing bunts (and eventually struck out), and scored from second on Adame’s 2-out single. Mercado found the gap after that, doubling home Adame, but Maldo struck out to leave the tying run in scoring position.

Hendrix was lifted in the sixth, but the Coons remained behind, as Wolinsky couldn’t shake the L even after seven innings. Toohey was nicked and Gurney singled in the eighth, but Danny Landeta rung up Waters to end the inning. Wolinsky returned for the eighth, inevitably nailing Benavides before getting taken deep again by Humphreys, which was the ballgame for good… Steuer was up for the ninth and gave up leadoff singles to Morales and Medina, bringing up the tying run in the 5-2 game. Pellicano batted for Josh Rella, who had replaced Wolinsky, but struck out. Adame then filled the bases with another single. Oh, you teases! Mercado flew out to Humphreys in shallow left for no gains except the second out. Maldo had to get out of the way of the first pitch to him, which was wild and scored Morales, moving the tying run to second base. But with first base open, the Thunder walked him rather carelessly with junkballs, preferring to go after the easier strikeout, Toohey. He didn’t strike out – but flew out to Benavides. 5-3 Thunder. Adame 2-5, RBI; Gurney 2-3, BB; Morales 2-4;

Ow.

Raccoons (30-15) @ Condors (19-29) – May 24-26, 2047

Maybe we could recuperate in Mexico, where the Condors had a .237 batting average, but somehow the fifth-most runs in the league. Prodigious power totals might have something to do with it. They were however also giving up the most runs, sitting bottoms in … many categories related to pitching and defense. Maybe our army of .190 hitters could have a bit of a boost down there! The season series stood at 2-1 in the Coons’ favor.

Projected matchups:
Jason Wheatley (5-1, 2.91 ERA) vs. Kellen Lanning (4-3, 4.72 ERA)
Victor Merino (2-5, 4.14 ERA) vs. Josh Henneberry (3-4, 3.82 ERA)
Jake Jackson (3-2, 3.93 ERA) vs. Blake Sansone (3-3, 4.34 ERA)

All righties. Four southpaw relievers, though, three of them with 5+ ERA’s.

Eh, like we aren’t in that competition…

Game 1
POR: SS Adame – RF Mercado – 3B Maldonado – LF Toohey – CF Herrera – 1B Gurney – C Gonzalez – 2B Waters – P Wheatley
TIJ: SS Quintana – 3B Barcia – 1B S. Henderson – RF Ito – CF Reidinger – LF D. Gonzales – C T. Black – 2B Watanabe – P Lanning

Another first inning, another homer, another deficit – this time a solo shot by Sergio Barcia. Otherwise, Wheats struck out five in the first three innings and allowed no more hits, but still couldn’t help himself with an RBI hit when Matt Waters was in scoring position in the top 3rd. Nobody could help themselves. Mercado hit a leadoff single in the fourth, but was stranded meekly. Gurney hit a leadoff single in the fifth then. Bottom of the order up – I sighed. Then Ruben Gonzalez hit a score-flipping homer to right. Huh! Still batting .162 though… and what did Wheats do with the lead? He walked the bases full in the bottom 5th, then gave up 2-out knocks to Barcia, a 2-run single, and Sterling Henderson, a 2-run double, to piss this game into the bin as well…

Lanning also had more stumbles, allowing another leadoff single to Mercado in the sixth. This time Toohey hit a jack to center, narrowing the deficit to 5-4. Wheatley was gone after six innings – four strong with six strikeouts and no walks, then two ****** ones, with four walks and no strikeouts, still trailing. The tying run was in scoring position with nobody out in the seventh, though, when Gonzalez doubled to left to begin the inning against Lanning. Waters whiffed before Pellicano batted against left-hander Brian Shan. He singled, putting runners on the corners for Adame, at least until he snoozed astray from first base and was picked off. Adame then lined out to short. Top 8th, leadoff walk to Mercado to put the tying run on base again. Right-hander Luis Ortiz got two outs, but allowed a single to Toohey, with the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring positions after Herrera’s groundout to Paul Laughren at second base. Lefty Tim Abraham came on for the Condors, but gave up a hard Gurney knock up the middle that became a single and two runs, flipping the score for the second time in the game. Gonzalez struck out, though. Preston Porter (who had already pitched the seventh and was in line for the W) and Aaron Curl combined for a 1-2-3 bottom 8th, before the Coons scored a total of zero insurance runs in the ninth. Bottom 9th, Mike Lynn got two weak outs to short before Jesus Banuelas hit a single in the #9 hole. Angel Quintana, the leadoff man, struck out, though. 6-5 Raccoons. Mercado 2-4, BB; Toohey 3-4, HR, 2 RBI; Gurney 2-3, BB, 2 RBI; Gonzalez 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Pellicano (PH) 1-1;

Good. We barely beat a **** team. At least no 5-game losing streak…

Game 2
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – RF Mercado – LF Toohey – 1B Gurney – C Gonzalez – 2B Waters – 3B Coen – P Merino
TIJ: SS Quintana – LF J. Becker – 1B S. Henderson – RF Ito – CF Reidinger – C Clemente – 3B Barcia – 2B Watanabe – P Henneberry

At our fifth attempt this week we found a ******* hurler that didn’t give up a run in the first inning, although Merino walked a pair with two outs… Instead, the RACCOONS SCORED FIRST, on a 3-run homer by Matt Waters in the top 2nd, with nobody out. That was not the only run(s) in the inning; Adame hit a double with two outs, then was singled home by Herrera. Mercado reached on an error by Henderson, but the first-sacker handled Toohey’s grounder for the third out afterwards.

The Coons loaded the bags with one gone in the third, when Gonzalez walked and Waters and Coen clubbed singles. Merino grounded out to Shintaro Watanabe, good enough for one run to score, 5-0. Adame singled home the other two for a commanding 7-0 lead. All was well, Merino allowing two hits and two walks through four innings. Then the Coons lost Alex Adame on a defensive play in the fifth, leading to Waters shifting to short and Brian Snyder getting his first ABL appearance in four years, taking over the #1 spot and second base, while the Thunder promptly hit three straight singles off Merino to get a run on the board.

Merino went seven and two thirds in the end, knocked out by a Marty Reidinger single in the bottom 8th with nothing but right-handed bats following and Merino on 104 pitches. Hitchcock took over, walked Timóteo Clemente, but got a grounder from Barcia to escape the inning. The plan was to have Hitchcock finish the game, but he blackballed himself out of there with a terrible ninth inning, walking three and giving up a run on a Justin Becker single. Reidinger was back up with two outs and the bases loaded and what had somehow become a save opportunity, so here was Lynn again. Groundout to Gurney – done. 7-2 Raccoons. Adame 2-3, 2B, 2 RBI; Herrera 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Gonzalez 1-2, 2 BB; Waters 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Merino 7.2 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, W (3-5) and 2-4, RBI;

Dr. Padilla…? Why are they continuously getting hurt? – But we feed them only with the finest beefstakes and mashed potatoes! And cake! And they all had their three tubes of spray-on whipped cream this morning, I counted…!!

Adame was MIA on Sunday, and we played with a short bench again…

Game 3
POR: RF Mercado – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – 2B Gurney – SS Waters – C Morales – LF Medina – P Jackson
TIJ: SS Quintana – LF J. Becker – 1B S. Henderson – RF Ito – CF Reidinger – C Clemente – 3B Barcia – 2B Watanabe – P Sansone

Sansone retired the Coons in order the first time through, and opened the bottom 3rd with a single to left, but then was doubled off by Angel Quintana. Sansone’s string ended with a Herrera double in the fourth. Toohey would single him home for the first run on the board. Jackson allowed no hits to position players through five innings, but walked three batters, two of them in the fifth. He walked another two, Becker and Rikuto Ito, in the sixth, then was bombed by Marty Reidinger to find a 3-1 deficit to linger in… both teams had two base hits at that point. Toohey made it three with a solo homer in the seventh that still left the Critters a run short. Gurney and Waters hit singles after him, but the bottom of the order couldn’t put anything together. Morales hit into a fielder’s choice, and Medina fouled out.

Pellicano batted for Jackson to begin the eighth, singling to left off Tim Abraham to put the tying run on board again. The Condors went to a different lefty, Brian Shan, who rung up Mercado, then righty Generos de Leon, former Coons farmhand. Herrera grounded out, Maldonado flew out… Javy Santana then got the ninth inning against the 4-5-6 batters. Toohey singled to left to open the inning. The next three had nothing to offer again and made three straight outs… 3-2 Condors. Toohey 3-4, HR, 2 RBI; Pellicano (PH) 1-1;

In other news

May 20 – The Blue Sox would be without Brad Critzer (.227, 5 HR, 15 RBI) for a month. The 32-year-old was suffering from shoulder tendinitis.
May 21 – 40 hits and 25 runs are tallied in the Stars’ 17-8 win over the Blue Sox. Jamie King (.350, 8 HR, 30 RBI), Leo Villacorta (.322, 4 HR, 28 RBI), and Dan Rollin (.293, 0 HR, 5 RBI) all have four hits for Dallas. Nobody has four hits for Nashville.
May 23 – ATL SP Brad Santry (3-3, 3.04 ERA) is out for the year with a torn labrum.
May 23 – Bayhawks starter Kevin Nolte (6-0, 2.82 ERA), who lost 18 games with a 6.13 ERA in ’46, 3-hits the Loggers in a 4-0 shutout.
May 26 – The Crusaders deal 3B/2B/LF/RF Frank Mujica (.301, 6 HR, 25 RBI) to the Warriors for INF/LF Brian Kaufman (.241, 1 HR, 8 RBI).
May 26 – The Cyclones send INF Chris Strohm (.264, 3 HR, 18 RBI) to the Pacifics for 3B/SS David Reid (.219, 4 HR, 18 RBI) and a prospect.
May 26 – Knights OF Jon Alade (.265, 2 HR, 17 RBI) was going to miss a month with chronic back soreness.

FL Player of the Week: PIT 3B/SS Ed Soberanes (.323, 7 HR, 34 RBI), hitting .560 (14-25) with 3 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week: POR LF/RF/1B Bryce Toohey (.305, 9 HR, 35 RBI), swatting .500 (12-24) with 3 HR, 6 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Troubled week. Not getting anybody out against the Knights, and then another wholesale RISP disaster at various points and ends of the week. There are 2-4 weeks and 2-4 weeks, but this one was clearly in the “filling with foreboding” category.

It won’t get any easier, either, with the Knights and Indians up next week, and I don’t even know how we keep finding more and more injuries. Shedding Manny, Baskins, and Adame in a single week is certainly a black spot…

At least we’re comparing ourselves with the Loggers, and they are barely playing .500 as it stands. The rest of the division are all posting losing records in late May.

Fun Fact: Only four players have thrown a perfect game in ABL history, the first of them being Cincy’s Juan Garcia in 2008 against the Buffaloes.

It was hands down the best season in Garcia’s 14-year career in which he led the FL in losses with the Miners only three years earlier. He went 20-8 with a 3.46 ERA that year, the second-best ERA of his career, after a 3.27 mark in 2013, when he also led the league with 17 wins.

Mostly an FL pitcher, Garcia was an All Star once (2013), and won one each of a Platinum Stick and a Gold Glove for various exploits before finishing his career with the Bayhawks in 2015.

His career totals include a 128-139 record and 4.44 ERA with 1,684 strikeouts in 2,314 innings.

Fun Fact: 30 years ago, Jimmy Raupp of the Knights mashed three homers against the Raccoons.

The game was otherwise unremarkable, an 8-4 loss for us. Raupp hit his three bombs in just five innings, all off Chris Munroe, who entered with an ERA over 11 and was on the bus to St. Pete before the game was over. He was eventually traded after the season to get Tim Prince off the Miners, which was not a move that established permanent greatness in any way for anybody, although Munroe held on for over a decade as a journeyman punching bag (longer than Prince at least).

…and longer than Raupp, too, who was out of baseball by age 33, mostly playing in the CL South. He was a career .233/.329/.397 hitter with exactly 100 homers and 392 RBI, six of them in that 8-4 game on May 26, 2017.