[Westheim]

Raccoons (58-45) @ Knights (48-53) – August 3-5, 2048

A long and relentless road trip began in Atlanta, where the Knights were bottoms in the CL South. They were ninth in runs scored and fifth in runs allowed with a +7 run differential (Critters: +33). They were neither hitting or power nor possessed great speed. We were up 4-2 this year on them.

Projected matchups:
Victor Merino (8-8, 3.81 ERA) vs. Brad Santry (5-9, 3.67 ERA)
Jake Jackson (5-9, 3.99 ERA) vs. Sal Chavez (4-5, 4.93 ERA)
Jeremy Baker (6-4, 3.47 ERA) vs. Brian Buttress (11-7, 3.24 ERA)

Barring any changes here, Buttress would be the first left-handed starter to oppose the Raccoons since Emanuel Caceiro of the Titans did on July 23 – a string of 11 consecutive right-handers.

Game 1
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – RF Preble – 2B Waters – LF Toohey – 1B Gurney – C Gonzalez – P Merino
ATL: 1B van der Zanden – 3B Venegas – CF Alade – LF Hester – RF Marz – 2B S. Davison – C Toki – SS Ramires – P Santry

Adame reached with a single to begin the game, but was caught stealing. Maldo shrugged and hit his 15th homer of the year anyway, a ticket to right-center that gave Merino a 1-0 lead before he went out there on a still slightly balky ankle. Injury struck by the second inning – but it was Santry that left the game in the company of the Knights’ trainer, with 39-year-old Seth Green, twice a Raccoons, briefly, taking over.

Maldo doubled in the fourth inning against Green, then went to third on Matt Waters’ single. Toohey whiffed for two outs, and Gurney ran a full count, then also struck out – but Manichiro Toki, who had already thrown out two base stealers (Herrera getting nipped to end the top 3rd), and held the Knights’ only hit off Merino, lost the ball, and the uncaught third strike rolled away far enough for Gurney to reach first base and Maldo to score. Ruben Gonzalez then grounded out to end the inning. Merino then exploded at once; the Knights’ bottom 4th began with an Anton Venegas single, after which Merino walked Jon Alade and Billy Hester to fill the bags. John Marz tied the game with a loud double to left, after which the Knights choked; Scott Davison and Toki hit comebackers that kept the two runners in scoring position pinned, Antonio Ramires was cautiously walked, David Gonzales batted for Green, but grounded out to strand a full set.

By the top 5th, Maldo was a triple short of the cycle, hitting a 2-out single following on Herrera’s single off Kyle DuPlessis. No runs came of it, Jon Alade handling a fly to center from Mike Preble. A leadoff triple by Arnout van der Zanden and Venegas’ sac fly then gave the Knights the lead in the bottom 5th, 3-2. That was still the score when Merino was hit for with Matt Watt to begin the top 7th. Watt didn’t get on, but Adame and Herrera did, and Maldo singled both of them home to flip the score around, 4-3…! The Knights elected to not pitch to Preble, who was put on intentionally after Maldo went to second on Alade’s throw home, then got bombed by Matt Waters, #18 to left-center, and a 7-3 lead. Maldo got another cycle chance in the eighth with Chris Robinson and Armando Herrera on base and two outs, facing righty Bobby Klopotek, but ended up having to settle for ball four in the dirt with a full count. Nobody scored, Mike Preble popping out to strand a full set of runners. Waters cranked another homer off Klopotek to tack on a run, which looked like plenty until Bob Ibold, who had cleaned up behind Joy-shan Kuo in the bottom 8th, got to two outs in the ninth, and then gave up three straight singles to Ricardo Bejarano, van der Zanden, and Venegas, bringing out Nelson Moreno in what was suddenly a save opportunity. Jon Alade grounded out to Waters to end the game before it could get ugly. 8-3 Raccoons. Adame 2-5; Herrera 4-5; Maldonado 4-4, BB, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Waters 3-5, 2 HR, 4 RBI; Robinson (PH) 1-2;

Game 2
POR: CF Watt – SS Adame – 2B Waters – LF Preble – 1B Gurney – RF Robinson – 3B Martell – C Gonzalez – P Jackson
ATL: 3B Venegas – CF Alade – LF Hester – C Cass – 1B van der Zanden – RF Marz – SS Ramires – 2B S. Davison – P S. Chavez

The Knights tended to hit Jackson hard the first time through, but somehow were retired in order by the defense until Sal Chavez hit a 2-out double in the bottom 3rd, because isn’t that how it always goes? Venegas flew out easily to Watt though, keeping the Raccoons up 1-0, the run coming in the second inning when Preble singled, was balked to second, and scored on Gurney’s wallbanger double in left-center. That lead didn’t stand up forever; the Knights would tie the game in the fifth with singles by van der Zanden and Ramires, then a Davison sac fly to Robinson in right. Alade then homered to left the inning after that, putting Atlanta up 2-1. The Raccoons appeared to counter with two singles of their own in the seventh, Robinson and Martell with one out, but Robinson strayed off the bag too far and was doubled up when Gonzalez lined out to Davison, ending the inning.

Jackson, who had lost three straight starts, got through seven innings on five hits and two runs, but that appeared enough to do his head in once more. Herrera pinch-hit for him to open the eighth, singled, and then was doubled off by Watt in a frustrating development of no offense. Bottom 8th, Bejarano – a former Coons minor leaguer – opened with a single off Preston Porter. He was forced out by Venegas, but Alade whacked another homer to tack on two runs, and the Raccoons were done. 4-1 Knights. Robinson 1-2, BB; Jackson 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, L (5-10) and 1-1;

By Wednesday the Knights put Santry on the DL with elbow tendinitis, so that was what had bothered him after only two innings on Monday.

Meanwhile, all the losing was bothering me…

Game 3
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – LF Preble – 2B Waters – 1B Toohey – RF Robinson – C Wilson – P Baker
ATL: 1B van der Zanden – 3B Venegas – CF Alade – LF Hester – C Cass – RF Marz – SS Ramires – 2B S. Davison – P Buttress

Scott Davison and Billy Hester both hit 2-out RBI triples in the second and third innings, respectively, but were then each time stranded by the next batter, which was at least a consolation prize, I guess, while the Raccoons did precious little the first time through, amounting to a Herrera double and that was that. After a brief rain delay in the top of the fourth, the Raccoons would make up the deficit by ways of the power department, though. Preble hit a solo homer to left in the fourth, and Jeff Wilson did the same in the fifth, tying the game. Both teams were on four hits and two runs apiece through five.

The Raccoons then got Adame and Herrera to the corners with a walk and a single to begin the top 6th. Maldo didn’t cash in, grounding out to Venegas, who looked back Herrera, but lost the double play in turn, with Herrera moving up to second base. Preble singled to center, just in front of Alade, which grabbed the lead as RBI single, 3-2. Matt Waters then continued to have his tail on fire, mashing a 3-run homer to left for his 20th of the season, which doubled the output to 6-2…!

Baker went six before bumping into the 100 pitches mark, which brought about a pinch-hitter when his spot led off the seventh. Watt grounded out in the spot in what was a 1-2-3 inning for Buttress, who was then hit for himself to begin his team’s half of the seventh. Watt remained in over Robinson, with made Hitchcock and Lynn pitch out of the #7 hole to clear the bottom 7th. That spot came up with Maldo, Waters, and Toohey aboard against Nick Jones and one out in the top 8th, with Al Martell pinch-hitting and popping out. Wilson came through, however, dropping in a 2-out, 2-run single that oughta put the game away now, even though Preston Porter got taken deep again by John Marz in the bottom 8th; this was a solo homer. But then it was Jake Bonnie to set up another save opportunity in a bottom 9th that began with a 5-run lead. He nicked Fernando Garcia, walked Venegas, and allowed an RBI single to Alade. The next batter was the lefty-hitting Hester, whom Bonnie struck out for the second out, but then yielded again for Nelson Moreno, who grabbed another save by pitching to only one batter, getting a groundout from Tyler Cass. 8-4 Raccoons. Baskins (PH) 1-1; Herrera 2-5, 2B; Preble 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Wilson 2-4, HR, 3 RBI;

Raccoons (60-46) @ Crusaders (47-61) – August 6-9, 2048

On to New York, where the Crusaders needed to be dealt with. They were up 5-2 in the season series despite not hitting, not scoring, and hardly pitching. Somehow the Raccoons couldn’t deal with that, and now would try to not not-deal with that for a four-game weekend. Bottoms in runs scored and eighth in runs allowed, the Crusaders already had a -103 run differential piled up.

Projected matchups:
Jason Wheatley (9-4, 3.66 ERA) vs. Mike Zeigler (11-5, 3.35 ERA)
Bubba Wolinsky (3-1, 2.82 ERA) vs. Ryan Fentress (2-3, 4.60 ERA)
Victor Merino (9-8, 3.85 ERA) vs. Taylor Stabile (0-1, 7.94 ERA)
Jake Jackson (5-10, 3.91 ERA) vs. Jim White (8-10, 3.38 ERA)

Zeigler for back-to-back southpaws would be followed by three right-handers, including two injury replacements for Tony Negrete and Carlos Malla, who were stowed away on the DL along with infielder Bob Nelson.

Game 1
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – LF Preble – 2B Waters – RF Toohey – 1B Gurney – C Gonzalez – P Wheatley
NYC: 3B Critzer – RF Garris – SS Gates – C O. Ramirez – 1B D. Hernandez – CF Rogers – LF Burch – 2B Rico – P Zeigler

The New Yorkers got three hits and a walk off Wheatley the first time through, and a run when Wheats threw a wild pitch with Kevin Burch and Danny Rico in scoring position, two outs, and the pitcher Zeigler at the plate… So that was a setback that annoyed me, and it didn’t get much better after that. Brad Critzer left with an injury in the top 3rd, getting replaced by Tom Labedz, who drew a leadoff walk in the bottom 3rd. After Josh Garris struck out, back-to-back RBI doubles by Prince Gates and Omar Ramirez extended the New York lead to 3-0. Dave Hernandez flew out to Toohey, Phil Rogers popped out to end the inning.

So Wheats struggled getting outs, and the rest of the team struggled getting on. An Adame double and an infield single by Maldonado did set up runners on the corners and brought the tying run to the plate with one out in the top 6th, finally, and one pitch later we were tied indeed, Preble cranking a lazy breaking ball over the fence in left to get us all even at three. Wheats went into the seventh inning, where he gave up a leadoff double to Zeigler, of all people, and while I groaned and was looking for a red pen to mark an L in my pocket schedule, Wheats struck out PH Angel Lara, got a pop from Garris, and a groundout from Gates to strand the go-ahead run. Then the bullpen gave it away in the eighth instead. Omar Ramirez singled off Kuo, Hitchcock got taken deep by Dave Hernandez, and that was that. 5-3 Crusaders. Adame 2-4, 2B; Maldonado 2-4, 2B;

New York is the new Boston, huh?

Game 2
POR: LF Watt – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – RF Robinson – C Gonzalez – SS Martell – P Wolinsky
NYC: LF Garris – 3B Critzer – SS Gates – 1B D. Hernandez – RF Rogers – CF Burch – C A. Lara – 2B Rico – P Fentress

Another day in New York, another early deficit. Kevin Burch drove in a pair batting with three on and two outs after Wolinsky had allowed a leadoff single to Garris and had walked a pair after that. Lara grounded out to Martell to end the inning, but Martell pulled a run back with an RBI single in the top 2nd, finding Gurney (single) and Gonzalez (walk) aboard with one out. Wolinsky whiffed, and Watt, in a deepening slump, grounded out to strand the remaining runners. Wolinsky remained wildly adrift, walking three in total in the first three innings and whiffing nobody, but actually got off the hook in the fourth, helped out by defense, Chris Robinson (single), and Gonzalez (RBI double to left). Fentress then rung up the next three in order to keep it at least tied at two.

Top 6th, three on, no outs. Robinson singled and stole second, after which Fentress filled the bags with walks. He remained in to face Wolinsky, who also remained in to face the melting – hopefully – Fentress. He got a sac fly to Burch in center, giving himself the 3-2 lead that way. Fentress also faced the slumping Watt, gave up a soft, bases-restacking single, and then was yanked for righty Ryan Dow. Herrera struck out, but Maldo eked out a bases-loaded walk for an extra run. Matt Waters did him one better or three, drive to right-center, high, deep – GRAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAAMMMM!!!

Bubba went six-and-a-third, leaving with an unearned runner on base due to a Robinson error. In fact, they went out together in a double switch that brought in Ibold and Baskins. Ibold got out of the inning, then loaded the bags with two hits and a walk in the bottom 8th. Lynn inherited PH Tom Labedz in the #9 hole and three on and one out, got a soft fly to Herrera that kept the runners pinned, and then whiffed up Garris to wiggle out of it. Nobody reached against Bonnie in the ninth. 8-2 Critters. Waters 2-3, 2 BB, HR, 4 RBI; Robinson 2-3, BB;

Game 3
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – RF Preble – 2B Waters – 1B Toohey – C Gonzalez – LF Baskins – P Merino
NYC: CF E. Baker – 3B Critzer – SS Gates – 1B D. Hernandez – C O. Ramirez – RF Rogers – LF Garris – 2B Rico – P Stabile

Adame singled, stole second, then starved out there with three strikeouts to the 2-3-4 batters in the top 1st. By contrast, the Crusaders slapped four straight 2-out singles through every conceivable hole on the infield in the bottom 1st, with RBI’s for Omar Ramirez and Phil Rogers. Adame tried again, singling and stealing in the top 3rd, and this time Herrera also hit a 1-out single, putting them on the corners. Maldo grounded to short, but Herrera clobbered into Danny Rico to break up the double play… and Rico, too. The Crusaders had to go to 24-year-old sophomore Ricardo Martinez as replacement. Herrera’s bonebreaker move scored a run, but that was all the Coons got, Preble grounding out to short, too. Now, New York was the group that brought out the pitcher with a 7+ ERA (albeit on only 11.1 innings), but Merino was the one that kept getting dinked. While the score remained 2-1 through five, the Crusaders had eight base knocks off him through five. The Coons only got four hits off Stabile; three were already mentioned, and the other was a Merino single that led nowhere.

Top 6th, Preble hit a 2-out single to right before Stabile walked the bags full with Waters and Toohey. Ruben Gonzalez fell to 0-2 before hitting a grounder to left, and somehow the Gold Glover Critzer missed it…! Score-flipping, 2-out, 2-run single! The explosion continued: Derek Baskins zinged a gapper for an RBI double, and Merino drove in two more with another single. Those were his first RBI’s on the year (!), and they also chased Stabile, who had been stable through five, but not through six. Ben Powers rung up Adame to end the 5-run attack. Merino gave the two runs he tacked on with the stick right back with his paw, allowing hits to Phil Rogers and Josh Garris, a sac fly to the injury replacement Martinez, and then balked Garris across home plate, too, making it 6-4 through six… It got worse, too. Preston Porter was flogged for three singles and a run, getting only one out before being yoinked for Lynn in the seventh. Lynn popped out Ramirez, but walked Rogers… and Garris, too, tying the game with the bases-loaded free pass. Then Martinez tore a hole into the tie with a bases-clearing double into the leftfield corner. Say, Pat Degenhardt, I thought the Crusaders are bottoms in offense?? – Not anymore? – I see why!

Bob Ibold got romped for another two runs in the bottom 8th, one being unearned after Critzer reached on an uncaught third strike. Adame opened the top 9th with a double off ex-Critter Aaron Curl, but we were now down by five and it would take some more to get me excited. Herrera struck out, Maldo grounded out, and “more” only occurred with Preble, who homered to left to cut the gap to three. Waters then grounded out to end the game anyway. 11-8 Crusaders. Adame 3-5, 2B; Herrera 2-5; Preble 3-5, HR, 2 RBI;

That game … sucked. Scoring eight oughta be enough, especially against the team last in runs scored!

Yes, Pat, not anymore.

Game 4
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 2B Waters – LF Preble – 1B Gurney – RF Robinson – 3B Martell – C Wilson – P Jackson
NYC: 3B Critzer – RF Garris – SS Gates – C O. Ramirez – 1B D. Hernandez – CF Rogers – LF C. Walker – 2B R. Martinez – P J. White

Jackson was a complete mess again; the game began with a hard fly out by Critzer, then a Garris homer. Back-to-back doubles followed, and then he got the first pep talk by the pitching coach. Phil Rogers still singled home another run with two outs, and the Coons were in another 3-0 hole. The Raccoons answered with straight soft singles by their 6-7-8 batters in the top 2nd, loading the bases for … Jackson, batting .108 with one RBI. A single past a diving Martinez, a shortstop by trade that had hardly ever played on that side of the diamond, got him to .132 with two RBI! And then Adame struck out, Herrera grounded to short, and the inning ended in a real hurry…

The Coons scratched another run on a Robinson groundout in the top 3rd after Preble had reached third base on hits by him (single) and Gurney (double). Martell flew out to Rogers to keep the tying run in scoring position, and Omar Ramirez negated the run with a homer to right in the bottom 3rd, 4-2. Herrera drove home Jeff Wilson in the top of the fourth to inch closer again, but the scoring streak stopped in the fifth, although Robinson and Martell went to the corners with a 2-out walk and single, respectively. Wilson grounded out to Prince Gates to kill the effort. Herrera and Waters hit 2-out singles in the sixth, but Preble struck out. Jackson went into the bottom 6th, but took a hike after walking a pair. Hitchcock got an inning-ending double play grounder, 4-6-3, from Martinez to bow out of the jam, and the score remained 4-3 despite a plethora of runners. Gurney then hit a leadoff single in the seventh, but also got stranded… instead, the Crusaders got a pinch-hit leadoff single by Labedz off Hitchcock in the bottom 7th, and then maneuvered that runner around with a walk and another single, getting Hitchcock yanked and Kuo into the game to restore order. Watt, Adame, and Herrera went out in order against Dan Minelli in the eighth, and Ponce was back for the ninth. Waters whiffed, Preble flew out. Maldo hit for Gurney against the left-hander, but grounded out. 5-3 Crusaders. Herrera 2-4, BB, RBI; Gurney 2-4, 2B; Martell 2-4;

In other news

August 3 – The Blue Sox only have a single by OF Nick Berryman (.273, 3 HR, 21 RBI) against SAC SP Ryan Person (3-10, 3.90 ERA) and two relievers in a 1-0 loss to the Scorpions, while the only run scores on a ninth-inning home run by SAC 1B Steve Wyatt (.292, 20 HR, 65 RBI).
August 4 – DEN OF Tim Turner (.323, 12 HR, 85 RBI) is out until September with an abdominal strain.
August 6 – The Thunder out-hit the Knights, 11-3, but somehow manage to lose the game, 1-0 in 10 innings. ATL 3B/SS/LF/CF Anton Venegas (.343, 3 HR, 43 RBI) provides one of the three hits to drive in Antonio Ramires (.205, 1 HR, 8 RBI) for the game’s lone run.

FL Player of the Week: PIT 3B/SS/RF Ed Soberanes (.348, 18 HR, 80 RBI), knocking .483 (14-29) with 2 HR, 9 RBI
CL Player of the Week: NYC C Omar Ramirez (.346, 6 HR, 25 RBI), slapping .407 (11-27) with 3 HR, 8 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Awful week. However, the Indians put the “full” into an awfuller week, going 1-6 to the Coons’ 3-4. They won all but one game against the Condors (none) and Loggers (one). Not that that fills my heart with giddy – the Loggers are next on our plate after all (after that, the Stars).

The Preble pickup might work out after all for us, despite the .239 batting average in his first 12 games. Five homers in 12 games will give you some leeway. Wilson is hitting .364 (4-for-11) in limited action, and Robinson is batting .322 with two homers in 24 games with the team. So those pickups did work out – why are we still not scoring runs?

Well, the team is second in batting average and homers, but as usual doesn’t draw walks and then only comes out with the fifth-most runs in the CL (tied for that, too, and with the damn Elks to boot!). The Baybirds hit only for another eight points of batting average as a team, but they have over 70 more runs than us. They will also, should be hold off the Indians, make dinner out of us in the CLCS.

So, this is the point of a dynasty where you bring up the salaries ledger and check who will leave soon and who will drown you with their contract for a few more years after the winning stops. The latter group surely includes Maldo and Herrera, who have four and two years after this one, respectively. Wheats and Waters have longer deals, but they would have tremendous trade value. We should package them up to the Knights for their next flock of top prospects! Lynn for three years, Adame the same, and two for Moreno – although these might all still have value should we crash and burn in the next 12 months.

Who will be on the free agent market after the year? Eligible for free agency are, in order of their 2048 salary: Baskins ($2.1M), Bonnie ($1.7M), Jackson ($1.5M), Wilson ($1.4M), Manny ($725k), Martell ($700k), Prow ($494k), and Robinson ($422k). We should start to think about getting younger again, so it’s hard to see man(n)y of these returning. None of these eight players is under 31, and their average age today is almost 34.

Is it time for a clean cut and amputation of some cherished dynasty pieces?

Not on the list above just yet is Pat Gurney, who has a $1.9M player option for 2049. At age 30 he might just try to get a big deal once more. How far can he sail on the “best player not in the starting lineup in the league” ticket? He had a terribe season last year, but apart from that has always hit for a 110+ OPS+.

Any help coming soon? We already caught a glimpse of Victor Salcido, 22, who has a 3.42 ERA in AAA and was definitely pushing up. Ranked position player prospects in AAA are limited to Lorenzo Lavorano, 21, and Alan Puckeridge, 20, who were both only getting adjusted to the level and not even September options this year. And the most vaunted prospect of all, #4 overall Rafael de la Cruz? 3.18 ERA in Aumsville, and he only turned 18 last month! Since he cost $1.1M to sign and another mouthful more in penalty tax, he can sure hurry up to start pitching his debts away for the Critters…!

Fun Fact: 65 years ago today, Boston’s Isto Grönholm rapped out six base hits in a 13-3 win over the Crusaders.

The only Hungarian ABL player in history, Grönholm, a first baseman, was then a rookie and just warming up. Despite leading the CL in strikeouts every year from 1984 through 1987, he had a somewhat productive 10-year career, winning Rookie of the Year honors in 1983, and taking home two All Star nominations and two Gold Gloves along with that. He never led the CL in a good hitting category, but combined for the Titans, Loggers, and Bayhawks batted .279/.343/.425 with 128 HR and 628 RBI.