[Westheim]

Raccoons (56-56) vs. Loggers (37-75) – August 9-11, 2049

The Loggers were in to close out the homestand, and they were admirably still traveling around the country when nobody would have blamed them if they would just file a note that the other team could keep the wins. Bottoms in runs scored at 3.7 per game, and second from the bottom in runs allowed at just over five runs given up per contest, they were no pleasure to watch either way. The Coons, themselves not the pinnacle of the sport anymore, were up 9-3 in the season series.

Projected matchups:
Victor Salcido (3-7, 4.43 ERA) vs. Victor Padilla (8-12, 5.10 ERA)
Victor Merino (8-8, 5.07 ERA) vs. Noah Hollis (6-11, 4.49 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (8-8, 3.72 ERA) vs. Bubba Poss (2-7, 4.30 ERA)

Sadly, no Bubba-Bubba shootout could be arranged despite the Loggers having moved that southpaw into the rotation. Padilla also threw left-handed, and wasn’t it amazing that there were three Victors pitching in this series again, but none of them was all that victorious?

Infielder Zach Suggs and reliever Miguel Herrera were the only noteworthy injuries for the Loggers. The Raccoons in turn were paid a control visit by Nick Valdes, which could only lead to good things.

Game 1
MIL: 2B Barrington – CF B. Allen – RF McIntyre – 1B E. Hernandez – C T. Sanchez – LF de Lemos – 3B Ferrusquia – SS M. Grant – P V. Padilla
POR: SS Lavorano – CF Herrera – LF Preble – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – 3B Adame – C Gonzalez – RF Avila – P Salcido

Jack Barrington opened the week by reaching on a throwing error by Alex Adame, but was stranded by the pathetic Loggers lineup. – What do you mean, Nick, where are our actual players? – Those *are* our actual players now!

The Coons stranded Herrera and Preble in scoring position in the first when Waters popped out and Gurney grounded out, then had the bags loaded in unearned fashion thanks to a Tony Ferrusquia error in the bottom 2nd, with two outs, but Armando Herrera grounded out on a 3-1 pitch.

The Coons then went on to have a snooze for the next few innings, and the only thing that kept Nick Valdes from sawing my last nerve in half with his usual bickering was Salcido pitching a very fine game – two hits and no runs through six innings, albeit against a terrible lineup – and the occasional distraction by Autumn, who kept sneaking into the office even though Maud tried to busy her with menial tasks to keep her out of sight. – Who she is, Nick? The new intern. – Yeah yeah, great skills. – Yes, with people especially. – I don’t know, the CV said only Spanish.

Adame, Gonzalez, and Avila were all on base with one out in the bottom 6th then, which promoted Salcido to the plate with one out. Oh well, we’d still have Lonzo after him, right? Technically true, but when Lonzo drew a 2-out walk, Padilla had already scored the go-ahead run with a wild pitch. Herrera grounded out to end the inning. Salcido then had a long seventh, nicking Dave de Lemos in the process, but worked through that and maintained a 2-hit shutout through seven. He also reached 103 pitches, however, and was thus not back for the eighth. Pinch-hitter John Wieczorek hit a leadoff single off Preston Porter in that inning, but Porter worked through that, too. Bottom 8th, Julian Villarreal allowed a leadoff single to Adame, but he was doubled up by Ruben Gonzalez. Avila then walked, as did Ed Crispin. Lavorano was next and stuffed a triple into the gap to add two runs! – Who he is, Nick? I hope the future! – Yes, I said that a few times before. – Yes, mostly uncalled for. – Yes, I do wonder how I keep this job, too.

Herrera knocked home Lavorano before the eighth inning ran out for us, and then Julian Ponce had a 1-2-3 ninth against the Loggers, who did not amount to more than three hits in the game. 4-0 Raccoons. Herrera 3-5, 2B, RBI; Preble 2-4, BB, 2B; Adame 2-4; Salcido 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K, W (4-7);

Game 2
MIL: LF J. Delgado – 2B Barrington – RF McIntyre – C T. Sanchez – 3B N. Jackson – CF de Lemos – 1B Lovell – SS Wieczorek – P Hollis
POR: SS Lavorano – 3B Crispin – LF Preble – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – CF Herrera – RF Nigro – C Gardner – P Merino

Jose Delgado and Tony Sanchez drew walks in the first, while Barrington whacked a double, loading the bases with one out for the Loggers. Nick Jackson struck out, but de Lemos dropped a ball into shallow center for an RBI single. Pat Lovell smacked a liner – but right at Ed Crispin, who snatched it to end the inning. The Coons then resorted to hitting doubles in the worst ways. Lonzo hit one to open the bottom 1st, but was stranded. Gardner hit a double to *end* the bottom 2nd, with Herrera trying to score from first base and being thrown out by de Lemos at the plate. Lonzo was stranded in scoring position again in the third, while the Loggers got singles from Jackson and Pat Lovell in the fourth, but Jackson was then caught tying to nip third base with Wieczorek batting. Wieczorek grounded out to end the inning then.

The game got only stupider from here. Merino offered a leadoff walk to Hollis – the opposing pitcher, mind – in the fifth, with Hollis then getting caught stealing as well by Wade Gardner. Not that the Coons were doing anything. Down 1-0, they didn’t get on base at all in those middle innings, which included Lonzo getting robbed on a sliding catch by Jose Delgado as he smacked another liner to the left side. – Yes, Nick, he’s a treasure. – Yes, Nick, he should be Rookie of the Year. But he came up too late and won’t get many votes. – But if we want him to win it *next* year we have to send him back to St. Petersburg until some time in September. – (stares at Nick Valdes with big black googly eyes)

Like Salcido, Merino pitched seven innings on just over 100 pitches, but unlike Salcido, he was not gonna be a victorious Victor unless the Coons rallied for two in the bottom 7th. Herrera, Nigro, and Gardner hit 1-out singles in order off Hollis to tie the game, with Eddy Luna then hitting for Merino and ticking another single to center, loading the bags for Lonzo. Boy, how could this not be good!? Deep fly to left! But … not deep enough … to beat the fence or Delgado, but it was deep enough for a sac fly, thus opening up the possibility to make Merino a victorious Victor after all! Ed Crispin added an RBI single, 3-1, before Preble grounded out. Hitchcock and Moreno did nothing to change that in the last two innings, putting the game away rather calmly. 3-1 Raccoons. Lavorano 2-3, 2B, RBI; Gardner 2-3, 2B, RBI; Luna (PH) 1-1; Merino 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 3 K, W (9-8);

Nick Valdes departed after the game, going to Florida and taking Lonzo (.417, 0 HR, 8 RBI) with him, much to the fans’ dismay. Lonzo would play a few more weeks with the Alley Cats, while Valdes was gonna spend the rest of the week jet-skiing in a nature reserve nearby.

Tim Rogers (.167, 0 HR, 1 RBI) was called up to make up the numbers. No, I wasn’t thrilled either.

Game 3
MIL: LF J. Delgado – 2B Barrington – 1B E. Hernandez – C T. Sanchez – 3B N. Jackson – 2B Barrington – RF Lovell – SS M. Grant – P Poss
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – LF Preble – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – C Gonzalez – 3B Crispin – RF Avila – P Wheatley

Ernesto Hernandez hit a double to left that was followed by singles hit by Sanchez and Jackson, allowing the Loggers to take a 1-0 lead on Wheats, but the run was scored by Ferrusquia, Hernandez having pulled some thing or other on his dash. Gurney would single to tie the game again in the bottom of the same inning, but with Herrera and Preble on the corners, Waters had almost hit a 3-run homer to left, being caught by Delgado right at the fence. I would have liked that 3-run homer…! Avila doubled in the bottom 2nd, then was singled home by Wheats, who thus gave himself a 2-1 lead while I heard Maud snapping outside in the kitchen adjacent to her office, where Slappy had waggled off to bring Autumn a soda.

And in all the decades we had watched games together in this office, he had NEVER left his spot on the brown couch! … Okay, once, but that was in an 18th inning and the urge became too big. I’ll give him that.

Wheats was on base again when Jackson fumbled his bunt in the bottom 5th, advancing Avila to second base with nobody out. Nothing came of it, Adame – having a terrible year – hitting into a double play, and Herrera lining out to Barrington. Ferrusquia doubled and was caught stealing third base in the sixth, which took the tying run off the bases again, but Wheats took another stumble in the seventh inning. Barrington singled, Pat Lovell homered, and that flipped the score back to Milwaukee. He would not take the loss thanks to Crispin doubling off the wall with one out in the bottom 7th against Poss, then scoring on an Avila single to center, tying the game at three. Pellicano hit a single for Wheats, but the inning fizzled out after that. Nate Norris retired the Loggers’ 1-2-3 just like that in the eighth, then got in line for a W when Preble smashed a leadoff jack off Poss. The ninth was Nelson Moreno again, putting the 4-3 lead into immediate danger when he allowed a double to Tony Sanchez leading off, then walked Jackson. Barrington bunted the runners into scoring position, while Lovell popped out to Waters. Mike Grant flew out to Herrera, completing a sweep. 4-3 Raccoons. Preble 2-4, HR, RBI; Gurney 2-4, RBI; Avila 2-2, BB, 2B, RBI; Pellicano (PH) 1-1;

With that, we buggered out of town for the weekend, leaving all the chaos behind us. Well, part of the chaos would travel to Sioux Falls by necessity, but you get the gist…

Raccoons (59-56) @ Warriors (51-60) – August 13-15, 2049

Third in the FL West, but 28 games out and thus solidly buried were the Warriors, who we had last faced in 2047, then sweeping that 3-game set. They ranked eighth in runs scored, ninth in runs allowed, with the worst rotation in the league, also furthered (or held back, depending on how much you mustard you liked on it) by a really shoddy defense. They had half a bullpen on the DL along with regulars Julio Moriel, Joe Crim, and Danny Ramirez.

Projected matchups:
Dave Hils (11-4, 4.32 ERA) vs. Matt Sealock (9-7, 4.55 ERA)
Bubba Wolinsky (8-8, 4.69 ERA) vs. Juan Arrocha (5-13, 3.98 ERA)
Victor Salcido (4-7, 4.08 ERA) vs. Jeremy Ray (9-5, 4.52 ERA)

Only right-handers on offer; with Arrocha leading that team in ERA and losses. It was a mad sport.

Game 1
POR: SS Adame – 3B Crispin – LF Preble – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – RF Luna – CF Nigro – C Gardner – P Hils
SFW: 2B J. Rivas – CF Krabbe – LF M. Villa – RF Munn – SS E. Miller – 1B Bastos – C Payne – 3B Walling – P Sealock

While Dave Hils enjoyed (and annoyed me by) being behind almost all the hitters the first time through, but didn’t actually scored on, the Coons went up on Sealock, the old Elks foe, in the top 3rd. Nigro got on, stole second, and was plated with a Gardner double. Adame singled home Gardner with one out, stole second, and Crispin walked, but Preble found Jose Rivas for a double play. The Warriors didn’t get a hit until Mario Villa hit a soft single in the bottom 4th, then with Clay Krabbe going from second to third. Hils had brushed Krabbe with a pitch, and he had stolen second base. When Danny Munn flew out to Luna, Krabbe went for home, but was thrown out by Luna for a 9-2 double play. Eric Miller grounded out to end the inning. Portland tacked on a run in the fifth; Adame drew a 2-out walk, stole second base again, then was singled home by Crispin. While Hils looked steady by the middle innings and also completed seven innings, and was up 4-0 on an unearned run in the eighth inning; Danny Munn had completely clonked a Nigro fly in right, sending Waters to third base, then home on a Gardner single. Hils logged two more outs in the bottom 8th before switch-hitter Jose Rivas singled off him on pitch #106, and the Coons went to Ponce against the all-lefty 2-3-4 array. Ponce struck out Krabbe to strand Hils’ runner, but gave up a double to Villa before K’ing Munn in the bottom 9th. The Coons tried to sneak the last two outs with Danny Cancel, but he threw a wild pitch, gave up a sac fly to Eric Miller, then nailed Garcia Bastos. With lefty Fernando Perez pinch-hitting, the Raccoons advanced to Mike Lynn, who gave up another single, but then struck out Bobby Rivera to end the game. 4-1 Raccoons. Adame 3-4, BB, RBI; Nigro 2-4, RBI; Pellicano 1-1, 2B; Hils 7.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K, W (12-4);

Game 2
POR: 3B Crispin – CF Herrera – LF Preble – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – SS Luna – RF Nigro – C Gonzalez – P Wolinsky
SFW: CF B. Rivera – 1B Bastos – LF M. Villa – SS E. Miller – RF Munn – C Mickle – 2B J. Rivas – 3B Elkins – P Arrocha

Herrera doubled home Crispin for a 1-0 lead before the Raccoons made an out, but was then stranded on straight outs by the middle of the order. Bubba nursed that through the early innings, conceding two hits and no runs, although the Warriors did have Joe Elkins in scoring position in the bottom 3rd when Bastos lined out to Preble in left-center. Next, Bubba was batting with three on and nobody out in the top 4th, with Arrocha just having walked the bags full with the Raccoons’ 6-7-8 batters. After Bubba shoved an RBI single through the right side, Crispin whiffed and Herrera hit into a force play at home. The bags were still full for Preble, who also found the hole between Rivas and Bastos for a 2-run single, 4-0. Waters was down 0-2 when he got peppered with a pitch, refilling the bases for Gurney, who socked in two more with a sharp single to right-center. Luna grounded out to Rivas to end the 5-run inning.

The Warriors appeared as if they just couldn’t score, even when Jose Rivas hit a leadoff triple in the bottom 5th. Elkins fanned, Krabbe popped out to shallow center, and Rivera flew out to Preble. But they had the bases loaded themselves in the bottom 6th, with straight 1-out hits by Villa, Miller, and Munn. Bubba struck out Blake Mickle and appeared to shake off another threat, but then Rivas singled home the Warriors’ first run. Elkins flew out to left just as the Coons’ pen got stirring. Gurney hit a solo homer off Jose Jacinto in the seventh to make up the Rivas run, 7-1. Bubba also completed seven and hung around to give up a leadoff double to Villa in the bottom 8th before being lifted for Norris, who gave up an infield single to Miller, a 3-run blast to Munn, then waved for Dr. Padilla and left with him. Hitchcock became the third pitcher in the inning, and the first to actually log an out, all three of them in fact to preserve a 7-4 lead. Casey Pinter was pitching for the Warriors in the ninth, nailed – *nailed*! – Preble with a 1-2 pitch, then suffered a revenge homer by Matt Waters, who had not hit a lick otherwise all week long. Double digits were reached with two righty pinch-hitters; Tim Rogers singled, then scored on an Avila double. The Warriors needed another reliever, David Concha, to restore order, and then the Coons tried again with Danny Cancel and a 6-run lead in the bottom 9th. He got outs from Rivera and Bastos, then walked both Villa and Miller. Munn struck out before we had to bother more personnel. 10-4 Critters. Crispin 2-5; Herrera 2-5, 2B, RBI; Preble 2-4, 2 RBI; Gurney 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; Rogers (PH) 1-1; Avila (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI; Wolinsky 7.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, W (9-8) and 1-4, RBI;

Nate Norris hit the DL with a dead arm, but should be good two weeks from now. At the same time Matt Watt was activated from the DL for Sunday, which required two more roster moves. Gene Pellicano was waived and DFA’ed, and Steve Richardson was added to the pen once more.

Game 3
POR: LF Watt – CF Herrera – RF Preble – 1B Gurney – 3B Luna – SS Adame – C Gonzalez – 2B Rogers – P Salcido
SFW: 2B J. Rivas – CF Krabbe – LF M. Villa – RF Munn – SS E. Miller – 1B Bastos – C Mickle – 3B Elkins – P J. Ray

Of Salcido’s so fine start on Monday, absolutely ******* nothing carried over into the Sunday game. While the bottom 1st started with a Rogers error, Salcido then gave up a walk and three hits, including a 2-run homer to Miller, to be down 5-0 within five batters faced. Mickle and Elkins both clipped additional base hits in the inning to plate a sixth run, and I was very sad. There were no visible rally attempts by the Raccoons immediately afterwards; Gurney and Luna arrived on the corners with two outs in the fourth, but Adame lined out to Elkins and that was that. Salcido pitched into the fourth before being double-switched out with Luna for Richardson and Crispin. Richardson got out of the fourth, but then put the first two batters in the fifth on base, with Porter conceding the runs on a Mickle double.

Gurney hit a solo homer in the top 6th, which sparked no major rally whatsoever. Much the contrary, Krabbe homered off Ponce in the bottom of the sixth to just make it double-slam range again. A Rivas error plated another run in the seventh, but Hitchcock gave that back to the Warriors in the same inning yet again. 10-2 Warriors. Gurney 4-4, HR, RBI; Luna 1-2; Gonzalez 1-2, BB; Rogers 2-4;

In other news

August 9 – Just five games into his stint with the Stars, infielder Ricardo Martinez (.271, 7 HR, 39 RBI) is felled by a ruptured disc and thus out for the season.
August 10 – DAL SP Mike LeMasters (15-3, 3.17 ERA) shines with a 2-hit shutout against the Scorpions, whiffing six in a 7-0 win.
August 12 – The only CL South action on Thursday takes 15 innings for the Condors to beat the Falcons, 5-3.
August 13 – NAS INF/LF/RF Alfredo Napoles (.227, 0 HR, 33 RBI) scores to walk off the Blue Sox, 3-2 over the Falcons, on a balk by CHA MR John Scott (1-3, 3.65 ERA).
August 14 – The Gold Sox smother the Crusaders, 21-3, with 5 RBI each for their middle infielders, Ivan Villa (.317, 35 HR, 109 RBI) and Edwin Zuniga (.272, 6 HR, 60 RBI).
August 15 – Dallas’ SP Mike LeMasters (16-3, 3.01 ERA) pitches his second shutout of the week, a 5-hitter over the Titans in a 5-0 Stars win.
August 15 – ATL 3B/SS/LF/RF Anton Venegas (.356, 2 HR, 42 RBI) will have to spend three weeks on the DL with elbow sprain.

FL Player of the Week: DAL LF/CF Juan del Toro (.353, 16 HR, 68 RBI), hitting .538 (14-26) with 4 HR, 11 RBI
CL Player of the Week: SFB C Sean Suggs (.302, 10 HR, 48 RBI), batting .571 (12-21) with 4 RBI

Complaints and stuff

5-1 week against meager opposition. Included was a 5-game winning streak in which every starter in the rotation pitched a quality start with at least seven innings (only Hils got additional outs), and four of them grabbed a W (all except Wheats). And then the Warriors scalped Salcido on Sunday to send us home unhappy.

The damn Elks basically won the division early this week, landing a few double-digit-runs blows squat on the nose of the Titans to also reach double digits in terms of their lead in the division. I furiously clenched my fists, snarled, and then did the mature thing, and resolved to root for the CL South winners come October, who ever that might be; Condors, Thunder, Bayhawks, the Khmer Rouge, I don’t care, just sock it to the damn Elks, will ya??

Bob Ibold (remember him?) started a rehab assignment in the minors this weekend after missing all of the season up to this point.

New three-team homestand now – it will start with the Buffos, and then continue with the Titans and Crusaders.

We are also tied with the Titans right now as they fell out of contention. I don’t know. They can have second place. I’d rather say “we came third” than “we came second to THE DAMN ELKS”……..

Fun Fact: The last catcher to win the batting title in the CL was Ernesto Huichapa with a .328 clip in 2034.

The Falcon might be superseded by a Knight this year, if Tyler Cass (hitting .359) can hold off his own teammate Anton Venegas, who is three points behind. With Venegas on the DL until early September, just holding station would be enough for at least a few more weeks.

Huichapa had an 11-year career with five different teams, primarily the Falcons. He was the Rookie of the Year in ’32, then won Player of the Year along with the batting title in ’34, also taking the home run crown with 39 bombs and 123 RBI, but was denied the triple crown. It was his singular best season, with only one other season (2035) even within 140 points of his .952 OPS in ’34. He did win two Gold Gloves and was an All Star five times, though, and finished his career with a .284/.330/.461 clip, 1,344 base hits, 206 homers, and 778 RBI.