[Westheim]

How about another decade of Coons baseball, everybody??

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Trade

The Raccoons sought a replacement for Manny Fernandez and found it, adding a near-geriatric defensively-challenged left-handed corner outfielder in a trade with the Scorpions on Monday.

Almost-34-year-old Chris Robinson (.305, 2 HR, 22 RBI) was on a cheap “whatever” contract, but at least he didn’t cost prospects. The Raccoons parted with equally defensively-challenged, though less geriatric, 27-year-old Brian Snyder in the deal. The “infielder” Snyder was hitting .243 with two homers in AAA, and had been up to Portland for cups of coffee in 2043 and 2047, batting a total of .147 with no RBI. Robinson was a career .281 hitter with 84 homers and 409 RBI.

Robinson’s addition meant that Roberto Medina was returned to AAA after three games and batting 2-for-8 with a swiped bag.

Raccoons (44-35) vs. Loggers (26-55) – July 6-9, 2048

Here came the Loggers, and everybody was afraid; …they’d stumble and break their noses flat-facing it on the three steps in front of the ballpark that Cristiano Carmona kept complaining about and I kept doing nothing about. The Loggers were very much bottoms in the CL North, and bottoms in runs allowed in the CL. They were not much better in scoring, second from the bottom, and had a whopping -115 run differential before the All Star Game, representing true futility. We’d play eight of our next eleven games against them, and so far were up 3-0 on the season series.

Projected matchups:
Jake Jackson (4-5, 4.14 ERA) vs. Victor Padilla (4-9, 6.24 ERA)
Sadaharu Okuda (5-1, 5.04 ERA) vs. Tony Ruiz (4-6, 2.97 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (4-4, 4.36 ERA) vs. John Morrill (3-11, 4.86 ERA)
Victor Merino (7-6, 3.82 ERA) vs. Ruben Guzman (5-3, 3.42 ERA)

Two left, two right, and hopefully the Coons offense would pounce.

Meanwhile, there’s no risk about anybody from our rotation going to the All Star Game, so we didn’t have to make arrangements for that, either.

Game 1
MIL: CF B. Allen – SS Z. Suggs – 1B E. Hernandez – 2B R. Espinoza – RF Lovell – LF Reeves – C J. Davis – 3B M. Grant – P V. Padilla
POR: LF Watt – SS Adame – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – 2B Waters – CF Herrera – C Gonzalez – RF Glodowski – P Jackson

So of course the Loggers scored first; Bill Reeves tripled home Pat Lovell in the second inning, then was thrown out at home plate on Josh Davis’ fly to Matt Glodowski, which is what last-place teams do – get thrown out by *Matt Glodowski*! The Coons in turn got a free Bryce Toohey on second base to begin the bottom 2nd after a throwing error by Mike Grant, but never moved him an inch further. The Raccoons went on to have no hits in three innings, while the Loggers then kept raking triples. Zach Suggs opened the fourth with a triple into the leftfield corner, and soon scored on Ernesto Hernandez’ groundout, 2-0. Portland finally twitched in the bottom 4th; Toohey walked, and then scored on 2-out singles by Armando Herrera and Ruben Gonzalez, before Glodowski lined out to Suggs to end the inning. A Waters error put Reeves on base to begin the top 5th, however, and Jackson was taken very, very deep by Josh Davis, falling behind 4-1. When Jackson began the bottom 5th with a single and was then doubled up by Matt Watt, 4-6-3, I knew we had an L on our paws…

Oh me of little faith! While Jackson was taken deep by Ricky Espinoza in the sixth, 5-1, he also struck out seven and walked nobody in seven innings, then bunted Glodowski – leadoff single – to second base to begin the bottom 7th, since he had mileage left on his pitch count and remember, the game was lost anyway. Singles by Watt and Adame then brought home Glodowski, and also brought up Maldonado as the tying run all of a sudden. He gave me confirmation though, finding Suggs with a grounder for a 6-4-3 double play. Two singles then knocked out Jackson by the time there was one out in the eighth, with Lynn and Ibold inching the Raccoons out of that mess, Ibold leaving the bases loaded when he flew Pat Lovell out to Watt in left. The tying run was at the dish again in the bottom 8th, with Herrera and Gonzalez going to the corners with two outs. Glodowski slapped a single over Espinoza to plate Herrera, 5-3, but Pat Gurney, hitting for Ibold, flew out to left… Brent Allen put the game away for good in the ninth; Hitchcock opened the inning with a double allowed to Reeves, walked Grant later on, and almost seemed out of the jam when he was taken deep to left by Grant with two outs. 8-3 Loggers. Adame 2-5, 2B, RBI; Herrera 2-4; Gonzalez 2-3, BB, RBI; Glodowski 2-4, RBI;

Tuesday brought “weather” and a postponement, lining up a double header for Wednesday, creating a pitching pinch for Sunday after all – and against the Indians.

Thanks, “weather”. (looks skywards and shakes fist at the baseball gods)

Game 2
MIL: CF B. Allen – SS Z. Suggs – RF Lovell – 2B R. Espinoza – 1B E. Hernandez – C J. Davis – LF Reeves – 3B M. Grant – P T. Ruiz
POR: LF Watt – SS Adame – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – 2B Waters – CF Herrera – RF Glodowski – C Prow – P Okuda

Ruiz entered the first leg of the two-some with a sub-3 ERA, but without any sort of command whatsoever. He had already walked 55 batters in 97 innings this year, but cranked the wildness up to 11 in this game. He walked Matt Watt to begin the bottom 1st, and while the Coons twice hit into a fielder’s choice after that, they also took a 1-0 lead on a Toohey double with two outs, plating Maldonado. Ruiz then walked the bags full in the bottom 2nd, issuing free passes to Herrera, Pow, and Watt. Then, with two outs and the bases loaded, he ran a full count to Alex Adame, who laid off a pitch a foot outside to push home a run with yet another walk. Maldo drew ANOTHER walk for a 3-0 lead, but Toohey grounded out on the first pitch to end the parade.

Okuda walked one and allowed two hits in five shutout innings, while the Raccoons didn’t get a second base hit until Waters hit a 2-out single off Ruiz in the bottom 5th. Ruiz by then was on EIGHT walks, but the Loggers were apparently not concerned and wished to see him pitch to his capacity. The Raccoons failed to round up an out-of-whack pitcher, and it came as it had to come: Okuda blew the game in the seventh against the bottom of the order. He walked Reeves, Grant singled, and then PH Tony Sanchez cranked a homer to tie the game at three…

Right-hander Noah Hollis allowed a leadoff double to center to Matt Watt in the bottom 7th, putting the go-ahead run in scoring position. A grounder, a pop, and a K stranded Watt at third base. Pinch-hitter Will McIntyre hit a 2-out infield single off Kuo in the eighth, stole second, reached third when Adame could not contain Prow’s throw, but was stranded when Davis popped out foul to the catcher. Kuo got the Coons through the ninth against more right-handed opposition, as we were determined to somehow squeeze a W out of this ******* game without using our entire bullpen. Bottom 9th, righty Taylor Joachim faced pinch-hitters Al Martell, who grounded out, and Chris Robinson, who after three days finally made his first official appearance as a Critter, singling up the middle to put his bum on base as the winning run. Watt singled to move him to second, and Joachim walked Adame to fill the damn bases. Maldo, three on, one out – comebacker to the pitcher, force out at home, and Toohey popped out to Lovell. Extra innings, frustration, Capt’n Coma.

Preston Porter had a 1-2-3 tenth inning, while Joachim was still around in the bottom 10th. Waters opened with a single to center and stole second, with Herrera walking behind him. Gurney batted for a hitless Glodowski, but flew out to Allen. Gonzalez lined out softly to Suggs, which sugged. Derek Baskins for Porter emptied the bench, but filled the bases with ANOTHER walk drawn, setting up three on, two outs for Watt, who ended the affair by drawing the Coons’ dozenth walk of the game, in a full count. 4-3 Critters. Watt 2-3, 3 BB, 2B, RBI; Waters 2-4, BB; Robinson (PH) 1-1;

First decision for Porter (1-0, 1.35 ERA, 2 SV) this year, just as we reached the halfway point for the day AND the season.

Game 3
MIL: CF B. Allen – SS Suggs – 1B E. Hernandez – 2B R. Espinoza – RF Lovell – LF Reeves – C T. Sanchez – 3B M. Grant – P Morrill
POR: CF Watt – SS Adame – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – RF Robinson – C Gonzalez – 3B Martell – LF Baskins – P Wheatley

The entire game one bench was moved into the lineup for game two, with Wheats somewhat dismayed to find neither Maldo, nor Toohey for offensive support. Well, Wheats, how about not giving up any runs then…? Second half!

Scoring four came quicker to the Coons on Sunday, with Morrill filling the bases in the first inning by drilling Waters, allowing a single to Gurney, and walking Robinson. He then threw steady strikes to Ruben Gonzalez, one of which was cranked 412 feet to left-center for some instant offense – GRAAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAAAMMMM!!!!

Wheats whiffed four the first time through, allowing a double to Pat Lovell in the second, but nothing else. He made it through five unharmed, then issued a leadoff walk (…) to the opposing pitcher (…!!) in the sixth, and of course the Loggers turned that one around into a run with the aid of a 2-out single by Ernesto Hernandez, which made it 4-1. The Raccoons had seen both Watt and Adame caught stealing the half-inning prior to that, but pulled the run back in the bottom 6th, with Gurney doubling to left to begin the inning, then scoring on a Robinson triple to center…! From there we went to the unhappy three on, no outs situation with an intentional walk to Ruben Gonzalez and an unintentional walk to Al Martell. Baskins popped out, but Wheats got his first RBI of the year with a groundout, 6-1. Relief man Nick Pollock then got a grounder from Watt to strand two, but was scored upon in the seventh, as Adame doubled and Gurney singled him home. Robinson singled, Gonzalez walked, and the bags were full again. Martell’s sac fly was all that came out of that.

Jason Wheatley pitched finely into the eighth, beginning the inning on 86 pitches, so a complete game was unlikely. He had a 1-2-3 on 12 pitches, though, and with a 7-run lead batted for himself against lefty Bubba Poss to begin the bottom 8th, striking out as the Raccoons went in order. The 3-4-5 were up in the ninth. Hernandez grounded out to Waters. Espinoza was out on a 2-1 comebacker to Wheats, who thus just had to dispatch of Pat Lovell for the complete game – and did so on strikes! 8-1 Furballs! Adame 2-5, 2B; Gurney 3-4, 2B, RBI; Robinson 2-3, BB, 3B, RBI; Gonzalez 1-2, 2 BB, HR, 4 RBI; Martell 1-2, BB, RBI; Wheatley 9.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 9 K, W (5-4);

This was Wheats’ first complete game this year. He hasn’t had a shutout since ’46.

Both Okuda and Wheatley had thrown 100+ pitches, making neither a good pick to go on short rest on Sunday. We’d now try to set Hitchcock aside for a spot start. He had last started in Aumsville in ’43, but sometimes things get tough…

Game 4
MIL: CF B. Allen – LF Reeves – RF Lovell – 2B R. Espinoza – 1B E. Hernandez – C J. Davis – SS R. Lopez – 3B M. Grant – P Ru. Guzman
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – 2B Gurney – RF Robinson – C Gonzalez – LF Baskins – P Merino

Merino served up Ricky Espinoza’s 14th homer of the year in the top 1st, a 2-piece to left that collected Pat Lovell, who in turn had forced out Reeves earlier. Espinoza drove in Lovell again in the sixth inning with a 2-out RBI single to right. In between, nothing had happened whatsoever. Merino had been wonky, relying on defense while striking out absolutely nobody, and the Raccoons had been stifled for three hits in five innings by Guzman, never even touching third base in the process. Herrera hit a single in the bottom 6th, advanced on a wild pitch, and was stranded on a K and a pop by the two sluggers that Wheats complained about so badly the day before, then turned out not to be missing all that much.

100 pitches got Merino through seven innings and no strikeouts in a 3-0 losing effort. A leadoff double by Baskins in the bottom 8th then chased Guzman, with Taylor Joachim coming on to face pinch-hitter Matt Waters, who cranked a homer outta rightfield to slash the score to 3-2 while also dumping Maldo again for the team home run lead. The Loggers yanked Joachim at once, going to Noah Hollis, who got two outs before allowing a double to Maldo and a walk to Toohey. Bubba Poss was next, with Kevin Prow batting for Gurney against the southpaw, but he flew out to center to end the inning. The Loggers countered with an unearned run off Bonnie in the ninth, with Espinoza hitting a leadoff double before scoring on a Maldonado error… (grinds teeth) … Steve from Accounting, how much is left on that contract? – No, I just wanted to know because we might need more Capt’n Coma in the next couple of years. … The Raccoons went without much fuss in the bottom 9th, dropping into a series split. 4-2 Loggers. Adame 2-4; Maldonado 2-4, 2B; Waters (PH) 1-1, HR, 2 RBI;

Now for Indy.

Raccoons (46-37) @ Indians (47-39) – July 10-12, 2048

Winner of this series would have bragging rights over the division lead at the All Star Game; the Indians were third in the league in offense, sixth in opposition’s offense, and had a +46 run differential (Coons: +20). They led the CL in stolen bases, although one of their more annoying tools, Andrew Russ, was on the DL and could not annoy the heck out of me on this weekend. Bill Drury was the other notable DL dweller for them. We led the season series, 5-3.

Projected matchups:
Bubba Wolinsky (2-0, 2.08 ERA) vs. Enrique Ortiz (5-5, 4.24 ERA)
Jake Jackson (4-6, 4.19 ERA) vs. Casey Pinter (6-7, 4.97 ERA)
TBD vs. Brian Jackson (6-7, 3.43 ERA)

A righty, two lefties, and the Raccoons were not sure yet what they’d add after a lefty and a righty to begin the series. Kevin Hitchcock (0-1, 3.26 ERA) was *an* option. So – by Sunday – would be Jeremy Baker (5-3, 3.47 ERA) and Victor Salcido (0-1, 6.75 ERA) in AAA if we were so inclined; those were the only established starters on the 40-man roster.

Game 1
POR: LF Watt – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – 2B Waters – RF Robinson – SS Martell – C Prow – P Wolinsky
IND: RF A. Mendez – 2B de Castro – LF D. Rivera – 3B B. Anderson – 1B Brayboy – CF Locke – C Torreo – SS Quintana – P E. Ortiz

Watt walked, advanced on a grounder, and scored on Maldo’s single to center for a quick 1-0 lead. Wolinsky got around Alex de Castro’s single in the bottom 1st, then to the plate with Robinson and Prow on the corners in the top 2nd, popping out to reigning CL Rookie of the Year Bobby Anderson for the second out. Watt grounded out to the pitcher to waste the chance. The inning after, Herrera hit a leadoff single, but was forced out by Maldonado. Toohey walked, and Waters hit a blast to center that made it four-zip. That lead seemed not in trouble with Wolinsky going without much flash, but steadily for sure, allowing just two hits and no walks through five innings, striking out three Indians. At 64 pitches, however, he seemed on the tight side of the shutout watch. He promptly ran into a tight sixth, walking Danny Rivera, who sat at 16 homers and 68 RBI while batting .302, with two outs, then suffered an infield single by Anderson, just before the frequent death of all things Portland, Aaron Brayboy, came to the plate. He grounded out to Toohey, however, stranding the pair on base.

The Coons were rather silent in the middle innings, sitting on only six hits off Ortiz themselves. Maldo drew a walk off the righty in the seventh and stole a base, reached third on Toohey’s groundout, then came home on a 2-out, 2-strike single up the middle by Waters, who notched his 40th RBI of the year, then ended the inning by getting caught stealing, but the Raccoons were up 5-0 now. That would have been ample lead to let Wolinsky go the distance, but he grinded his way to 105 pitches through eight shutout innings, and with a guy that had just missed a year on the DL and didn’t have the greatest stamina to begin with, the Raccoons weren’t gonna; Joy-shan Kuo would finish the game instead. 5-0 Raccoons. Waters 2-4, HR, 4 RBI; Prow 2-3, BB; Adame (PH) 1-1; Wolinsky 8.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K, W (3-0);

Spiffy 1.42 ERA for Wolinsky now, though, which looks nice after the abortive first two starts after returning from rehab!

Game 2
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – 2B Waters – C Gonzalez – LF Watt – RF Glodowski – P J. Jackson
IND: RF A. Mendez – 2B de Castro – CF B. Quinteros – LF D. Rivera – 3B B. Anderson – 1B Brayboy – C Pedraza – SS Quintana – P Pinter

…and then a pitchers’ duel broke out! Through five innings, Pinter allowed one hit and one run, Jackson twice that amount, and neither team scored, although the Indians were close in the bottom 2nd when they had a pair in scoring position and Pinter batting with two outs. Pinter hit a squibbler to the left side that almost would have gotten home a run if not for a top-notch, bare-pawed play by Maldonado, who zinged to first JUST in time to beat the running pitcher. Back-to-back 1-out singles by Herrera and Maldo then put runners on the corners all of a sudden in the top 6th, the first time either team reached third base since that bottom 2nd. Toohey would have loved a breakout blast, but got only garbage from Pinter, who ended up walking him to fill the bases for Waters, who right now was probably a bigger threat, and grinded out a bases-loaded walk to send the Raccoons up 1-0. The inning then ended with a 6-4-3 double play grounder by Gonzalez, who seemed out of grand slams for the week. Jackson then came back and walked de Castro and Rivera in the bottom 6th, but struck out Anderson to get out of the inning. Alex Pedraza then whacked a leadoff double in the bottom 7th. He advanced on Angel Quintana’s fly to right, then went for home when Pinter flew to Watt – but was thrown out at the plate to end the inning!

A Herrera double and a Toohey RBI single doubled the Coons’ lead in the top 8th, but Jackson did not return, having thrown 101 pitches already. The ball went to Preston Porter instead, who retired Mendez and de Castro, before Mike Lynn struck out Bill Quinteros. Before we could go on, a summer storm suddenly broke over the ballpark and gave everybody a quick douse, but disappeared as fast as it had appeared, creating about a 25-minute rain delay only. When play resumed, Chris Robinson doubled in Glodowski’s spot off Sang-hoon Kim, while Adame reached on an Anderson error with two outs. Tommy Gardner replaced Kim in a bid to keep the Raccoons close, getting Herrera to pop out to short and strand runners on the corners. Lynn came back for the bottom 9th with a 2-0 lead, with Danny Rivera leading off, and nailed the runner, so when Nelson Moreno took over as scheduled for Anderson, the tying run was already at the plate, and Moreno had not pitched all week so far. In fact, he hadn’t pitched since July *2*, when he got exploded by the damn Elks for a blown save and loss. Anderson ran a full count, then grounded into a fielder’s choice to erase Lynn’s runner. So when Brayboy walked and Pedraza singled, the run was on Moreno already… He was read the Riot Act by the pitching coach after that, then proceeded to get a double play grounder from Quintana to save his striped tail. 2-1 Raccoons. Herrera 3-4, BB, 2B; Robinson (PH) 1-1, 2B; Jackson 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 5 K, W (5-6);

So that secured first place through the All Star break…!

Glodowski (.265, 1 HR, 5 RBI) would not witness the All Star Game on the roster, getting optioned back to the Alley Cats to bring up Jeremy Baker (5-3, 3.47 ERA) for the Sunday start.

Game 3
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – 2B Waters – C Gonzalez – LF Watt – RF Robinson – P Baker
IND: RF A. Mendez – 2B de Castro – CF B. Quinteros – LF D. Rivera – 3B B. Anderson – 1B Brayboy – C Pedraza – SS Quintana – P B. Jackson

Singles by Adame, Herrera, and Toohey gave Baker a 1-0 lead for his spot start, and Toohey got another RBI in the third with the second of two productive groundouts after a leadoff double for Armando Herrera, which put the Coons up 2-0. Baker was not really in trouble the first time through, although Anderson reached second base with two outs in the fourth on Gonzalez’ throwing error. Brayboy, who had yet to do any coonskinning in this series, flew to deep right – but the ball died with Robinson on the warning track.

Herrera, just nominated to his seventh All Star Game, then tripled home Adame in the fifth, which also put him a home run away from the cycle, just in case you weren’t keeping score at home. Brian Jackson then annoyed Maldonado with a very wild 1-1 pitch that Maldonado had to leap over to not have his legs torn off, but that allowed Herrera to score, 4-0, and took away the RBI chance. He flew out to Rivera as the inning fizzled out. The inning after, Baker – still on a 1-hitter – singled home Matt Waters with two outs to tack on, 5-0. The inning had started with Jackson walking Waters, who scooped second for his 12th steal of the year. Gonzalez walked, but was doubled off with Watt’s 4-6-3 grounder. Robinson then was walked intentionally to bring up Baker, who made the point moot with the first actual knock of the inning. Adame flew out to center to strand two then.

Angel Mendez opened the bottom 6th with a single to center, then was right away doubled off when de Castro grounded to Adame. And then Baker drowned in runners so fast we could not even get the pen up in time. Quinteros singled to right. Rivera singled to left. Anderson walked. Three on, two outs for Brayboy, who was a left-hander, and even with three lefties in the pen, the Raccoons still had hard-to-explain hesitations about yanking the lefty on the mound. Even with Brayboy at the dish! Brayboy got to 1-1 before hitting a spanker to the right side … and to Toohey, who made the play to end the inning! Herrera then began the seventh with a weak groundout, which was miles away from the homer needed for the cycle. Baker continued in the bottom 7th, put Pedraza and Quintana on base, and was yanked without getting another out. Bob Ibold replaced him, popped out Oscar Aguirre in a full count, but walked Mendez in another full count. De Castro also popped out on two pitches, after which the Raccoons went to Lynn with Quinteros and Rivera up. Quinteros ran another full count, then popped a grand slam to right to axe the Coons’ lead down to 5-4 with one slap.

Sigh!

Rivera was an easy out to end the seventh, and Sang-hoon Kim was back out for the eighth. The Raccoons got base runners; a catcher reaching on catcher’s interference, plus an ordinary walk drawn by Matt Watt. Robinson chased Quinteros for the second out in center, but Quinteros couldn’t reach Pat Gurney’s pinch-hit drive that was a tad deeper and dropped for a 2-run double. Adame flew out, keeping it at 7-4. Porter would get the baseball, with Gurney staying in the game at first, Toohey going to right, and the pitcher in the #8 spot. The Indians’ 5-6-7 went in order against Porter, and then Herrera got another chance against Kim, but had to settle for a single, and was doubled off by Toohey to end the inning. The ninth was Moreno’s, with Quintana and Philip Locke hitting leadoff singles before Mendez popped out and de Castro hit into another double play to complete the sweep. 7-4 Critters! Adame 2-5; Herrera 4-5, 3B, 2B, RBI; Gurney (PH) 1-1, 2B, 2 RBI;

In other news

July 6 – OCT 2B/SS Jonathan Ban (.356, 1 HR, 43 RBI) extends his hitting streak to 25 games with two hits, including a triple, in an 8-5 win over the Aces.
July 7 – The hitting streak of Oklahoma’s Jonathan Ban (.351, 1 HR, 43 RBI) ends with an 0-for-4 in a 9-5 loss to the Aces.
July 7 – But a new hitting streak in the CL South is born, with 20 straight games of knocking successfully for ATL 3B/SS/LF/RF Anton Venegas (.354, 3 HR, 36 RBI), who goes 3-for-6 in a 13-inning, 6-1 loss to the Condors.
July 7 – CHA SP Chris Jones (6-6, 3.11 ERA) 3-hits the Bayhawks for a 1-0 complete-game shutout.
July 7 – The Aces trade 3B Jeremy Hornig (.240, 5 HR, 26 RBI) to the Buffaloes for OF Gary Tabano (.237, 0 HR, 4 RBI).
July 7 – SAC 1B Steve Wyatt (.269, 15 HR, 51 RBI) homers off LAP MR Jay Coats (3-1, 3.64 ERA, 2 SV) to give the Scorpions a 1-0 win.
July 7 – NAS SP Danny Tankersley (4-5, 8.35 ERA) is sidelined and shut down for a month with a sprained UCL.
July 9 – The Falcons send SP Felix Castano (4-5, 5.26 ERA) to the Capitals for the #73 prospect, SP Joe Thomlinson.
July 9 – The Indians beat the Canadiens, 9-0, on just THREE base hits, two of which are homers. The Canadiens issue five walks, add two errors, and hit two batters; the Indians leave only one of their runners stranded in a display of peak efficiency.
July 10 – Bayhawks SP Chih Ke (8-3, 2.67 ERA) 3-hits the Thunder, 5-0, with six strikeouts and no walks on his ledger.
July 10 – The Crusaders deal SP Luke Moses (3-11, 4.66 ERA) to the Blue Sox for C Omar Ramirez (.343, 1 HR, 9 RBI).
July 10 – New York walks off in the ninth inning against the Canadiens, 5-4, when 3B/SS Tom Labedz (.364, 0 HR, 0 RBI) scampers home from third base on a wild pitch by VAN CL Sam Gibson (4-5, 4.14 ERA, 15 SV).
July 12 – The hitting streak of Atlanta’s Anton Venegas (.354, 3 HR, 36 RBI) ends on the last day before the All Star Game, at 24 games, in a 3-2 win over the Falcons.

FL Player of the Week: SAC 1B Steve Wyatt (.282, 17 HR, 61 RBI), swatting .500 (12-24) with 3 HR, 11 RBI
CL Player of the Week: OCT 1B Bill Jenkins (.295, 12 HR, 51 RBI), hitting .448 (13-29) with 2 HR, 9 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Despite the so-so performance by the Raccoons in the first half, they still managed to have three All Stars. None of them are pitchers, which isn’t that big a shocker. The three players are Waters, Maldo, and Herrera, who are a combined 95 years old.

For Maldonado, it is the sixth straight All Star appearance after not making the showcase at all until his age 29 season. Waters is an All Star for the first time (but had also never posted an OPS better than .769 before). Herrera led them with seven ASG nominations, and the second consecutive after a 4-year lull from 2043-46.

I nosed around the Scorpions for Robinson ever since Manny was injured, and at that time they were willing to trade him for human garbage, but it took four days to diagnose Manny with “needs surgery” and by then Robinson had been on a hot streak and they would no longer accept human garbage for him. de la Cruz would do, of course. He calmed down again now, and we could get him for mostly nothing, finally, on Monday. Almost a tit-for-tat Manny replacement, except for his roster spot in our hearts of course.

Yeah, Robinson had a better first week than Manny had usually, for sure. He batted .333/.444/.533 in the first week after joining the team. Of course, his defense is garbage, so we’ll mostly play him against right-handers and hide him as often as feasible.

The sweep on the weekend gave us our first breather for the division lead. Things still don’t gel over here, and the second half will remain interesting. We may have to spin another trade or two, somehow, despite little to give. Another freebie like Robinson would be great…! Nobody really believes in the Raccoons posting another title right now, and the team is only sixth in power rankings.

After the All Star Game, we’ll be in Milwaukee for four. After that it will be that 2-week 5-team homestand, with a makeup game against the Blue Sox, followed by 3-game sets with the Titans, Aces, Baybirds, and Falcons. And then it will already be August!

Fun Fact: Jeremy Baker is the team’s ERA leader.

And Jeremy Baker will likely be back with the Alley Cats by the weekend.

No, I don’t know how Nick Valdes isn’t just putting me on the curb. Maybe he doesn’t know that half of all the losses the Raccoons put up are squarely on me.