[Westheim]

Raccoons (28-22) vs. Condors (26-24) – May 29-31, 2051

The comically-first-place Raccoons returned home to play the Condors, who somehow looked like a much better team despite not scoring a full four runs per game either. But that juicy positive run differential (+7) …! Eighth in runs scored, fourth in runs allowed. One of the best bullpens in the league, with a 2.74 ERA! They had no injuries to speak of, four .300 hitters (Gil Cabrera, Nathan Whitehurst, Brian Blackburn, Jon Mittleider), but were tied for last in home runs in the CL with … well, us. We were up 2-1 in the season series.

Projected matchups:
Victor Salcido (1-3, 4.80 ERA) vs. Larry Colwell (5-4, 3.73 ERA)
Juan Mercado (0-1, 3.44 ERA) vs. Paul Paris (0-2, 3.04 ERA)
Bubba Wolinsky (6-3, 2.56 ERA) vs. Garrett Giustino (3-2, 4.60 ERA)

The Coons continued to dance around left-handed starters, in this case dodging Tony Llorens (4-4, 3.04 ERA).

Jesus Maldonado remained day-to-day with a lopsided groin and was probably only available for pinch-hitting duties for the entire series. An off day would be available on Thursday to further allow him to heal up before the Loggers would come in for the weekend.

…but everybody had Monday off eventually, thanks to a whole day of unabated rain. A double-header was duly scheduled for Tuesday.

Game 1
TIJ: SS C. Navarro – 1B G. Cabrera – C Mittleider – LF T. Duncan – 2B Whitehurst – RF Ransford – 3B A. Lopez – CF Lamotta – P Colwell
POR: 1B Puckeridge – SS Lavorano – LF Crum – 2B Waters – RF Glodowski – CF Suzuki – 3B Kaufman – C Gonzalez – P Salcido

While the Condors unleased a steady tickle of singles, five in five innings, they also tended to hit into the odd double play or Chris Navarro had himself caught stealing, and didn’t get any of their runners around to score, not even when Ricky Lamotta reached on a Waters error after Alex Lopez’ leadoff single in the top of the fifth inning. Colwell was up with a double play right afterwards. The Raccoons’ first dozen was retired in order before Colwell walked Matt Waters to begin the bottom 5th. Glodowski singled to center, but Suzuki flew out to left and Brian Kaufman found a double play to end the inning. Salcido hit a single himself in the sixth but was left on base quite callously, but at least he kept the Condors off the board, and maybe the silly Coons would score one by accident… Colwell walked Ken Crum on four pitches to open the bottom 7th, and then Waters snuck a single past Nathan Whitehurst. Pop, ground, whiff went the next three, and no runs were scored, nor any pitcher’s feelings harmed. Except maybe Salcido’s.

I then had my feelings harmed when out of the blue Salcido walked the bags full with PH Danny Diaz, Chris Navarro, and Gil Cabrera in the eighth inning. Willie Maldonado replaced him with two outs, threw exactly one pitch to Tim Duncan, and Crum rushed that one down in the gap before it could lead to celebrations in the visitors’ dugout, also ending the inning. Ponce’s ninth was also scoreless, as was the Raccoons’. Colwell conceded a 1-out single to Crum, then fell to 3-0 against Matt Waters. Waters then fell to the temptation and hit into a 4-6-3 double play, sending everybody to extras in the first game of a ******* double-header.

We reached the 12th inning without much fuss, nor runs, although with a caveat. While the Coons were on the second serving of Willie Cruz being wasted in a scoreless game on this first half of Tuesday, the Condors were down to starting pitcher Kevin Daley holding the fort at third base after Reed Ottinger, who had pinch-hit for Alex Lopez earlier, had left with an injury in the bottom 11th and their bench had already been emptied. That also meant they had two pitchers in the lineup now. Cruz kept them off the board in the 12th, but the Raccoons hadn’t more in store than leaving Waters on first base in the bottom 12th against Medardo Regueir either. No, Maud, I am not certain at all that I pronounced that correctly. Paul Miles was in starting with the 13th, got a pat on the bum and informed that he was going to be the last pitcher in the game. Tim Duncan promptly doubled off him, but was also left on base. Pucks worked a 2-out walk in the bottom 13th, and by now we were on full-on aggro mode. He ran on movement by Regueir, Lonzo slung a ball into shallow left for a single, and the winning run reached third base. And then Crum popped out to Cabrera on the first pitch. (bites into a bat) The winning run again reached to begin the bottom 14th after Miles had really aced that 7-8-9 part of the lineup with the heavy helping of hurlers when Regeu- Regge- Reg-… that Medardo guy nicked Waters. Glodowski walked in a full count. And then Sivertson batted for Suzuki and whiffed, Miles whiffed, and Gonzalez whiffed. Bunch o’ whiffers!!

Cabrera and Mittleider hit singles off Miles in the 15th, but were left in scoring position on a terminal groundout by Whitehurst to Crispin (batting ninth) at third base. That Medardo guy then loaded the bags with one gone in the bottom 15th. Puckeridge singled. Lonzo singled. Crum walked. Curtains – new pitcher: George Youngblood, facing Waters with one out. 2-2 pitch, a fly to center, Brian Blackburn with the catch, Pucks home, game over. Finally. 1-0 Blighters. Lavorano 3-7; Salcido 7.2 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 3 K and 1-2; Ponce 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K; Cruz 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K; Miles 3.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, W (4-1);

What do you mean, Maud, we have to play another one?? – But that one almost counted for two…!!

Obviously only four relievers were left for the second game: Sencion, Hitchcock (who would be the closer if such a thing transpired to be required), Lillis, and also Waldo, who had thrown only one pitch and was deemed still good.

The Condors could not replace Reed Ottinger in the 30 minutes between games, either, so they were a man short on the bench; the Coons still had Maldo to pinch-hit.

Game 2
TIJ: SS C. Navarro – RF Blackburn – LF T. Duncan – 1B G. Cabrera – 2B Whitehurst – 3B Riario – C Robbinson – CF Lamotta – P Paris
POR: 1B Puckeridge – SS Lavorano – LF Crum – 2B Waters – RF Rivera – 3B Sivertson – CF Suzuki – C Jimenez – P Mercado

The Raccoons were again hitless the first time through, but at least Mitch Sivertson had reached on an error. Yay. Mercado held up until he didn’t, putting Blackburn and Duncan aboard before getting scored on with Nathan Whitehurst’s 2-out, 2-run double. Whitehurts. Lonzo drew a leadoff walk in the bottom 4th, stole his 18th base, and was stranded right there and then. Juan Jimenez worked a 2-out walk the inning after, which at least cleared the pitcher’s spot.

Mercado pitched seven good-enough innings on 103 pitches, but was still 2-0 behind at the stretch, and the bloody Coons were still without a base hit against Paul Paris, who had walked two and whiffed five in six innings on 76 pitches. He retired the 4-5-6 batters without much fuss in the bottom 7th, while Waldo got whacked around for four hits and two runs by the Condors in the eighth, making it a 4-0 nightmare. Lillis jr. came on with two on and two out, walked the sole left-handed batter in the lineup, Ryan Robbinson, and then somehow was able to get Lamotta to ground out to Waters to strand three runners after all. Bottom 8th, Suzuki grounded out, Jimenez flew out to Duncan. Maldo pinch-hit for Lillis, because if you get no-hit, at least get no-hit with your most expensive players. He struck out. The Condors tacked on two unearned runs against Eloy Sencion in the ninth, who issued a leadoff walk to Paris in a nasty maneuver to tire him on the bases, then was sunk by a 2-base throwing error by Lonzo to escalate matters. Then Paris was back on the hill. 98 pitches, top of the order coming to bat. Puckeridge flew out to Lamotta on 2-1. Lonzo was well out on a comebacker. Last guy standing: Ken Crum. He took a ball, then he took a swing and lifted a fly to center. Lamotta ambling, Lamotta waiting, Lamotta catching. It was a no-hitter indeed. 6-0 Condors. Mercado 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, L (0-2);

(politely toasts to Paris and the rest of the screaming Condors on the field, then puts down the bottle, locks himself in the walk-in closet next to the door, and screams for the entire night)

Having scored ONE run in 26 innings, the Coons silently reverted to the Game 1 lineup that didn’t ******* get no-hit for the rubber game.

Game 3
TIJ: SS C. Navarro – RF Blackburn – C Mittleider – LF T. Duncan – 1B G. Cabrera – 2B Whitehurst – 3B Riario – CF Ransford – P Giustino
POR: 1B Puckeridge – SS Lavorano – LF Crum – 2B Waters – RF Glodowski – CF Suzuki – 3B Kaufman – C Gonzalez – P Wolinsky

Singles by Pucks, Lonzo, and Waters made it two runs in 27 innings by the bottom 1st on Wednesday, and Glodowski’s 6-4-3 grounder assured that it wouldn’t get better than that for at least another three Condors outs. These turned out to be hard to come by, with Wolinsky giving up three straight hits, including doubles to Duncan and Whitehurst, to begin the top 2nd, falling 2-1 behind already, and Whitehurst would also score on Dustin Ransford’s groundout to make it 3-1. And – miracle! – Portland made up the difference in the bottom of the same inning! Suzuki and Gonzalez went on base, were bunted over by Bubba, and then scored on a passed ball and Pucks’ 2-out single to rightfield. Whatever works, boys, whatever works.

Bubba didn’t; he loaded the bases again and conceded two runs on a Whitehurst single in the third inning, incurring another 5-3 deficit. Ken Crum’s leadoff jack in the bottom 3rd took another run off again, though, and then Pucks and Lonzo reached scoring position with a 1-out single and double, respectively, in the fourth. Crum didn’t make it to the fence this time, but was deep enough out to Blackburn for a sac fly, tying the game at five, but Waters whiffed to leave the go-ahead run on base.

Bubba failed bravely forwards, completing six innings with limited bullpen help available for this game, and holding the 5-5 tie while he was at it. The Coons scratched out a posthumous lead for him, getting singles from Maldo (PH’ing for Bubba) and Pucks with one out in the bottom 6th. Maldo lumbered to third base on the latter hit, which allowed him to score on a fielder’s choice up the middle by Lonzo, who stole second, but was left on when Crum found Blackburn’s glove again. Willie Maldonado followed, pitched a scoreless seventh, but not without casualties. Navarro hit a leadoff double, but was stranded on second base on two poor outs, and heroics by Crum in the gap on a Duncan drive. The ball was caught on a headlong snag, but Crum also left the game after braking with his face in the grass. Sivertson replaced him. He would bat with Crispin, Gonzalez, and Puckeridge on base and two outs in the bottom 8th against Elijah Powell, but in true #3 hole fashion flew out to Blackburn to leave the Coons up by only a skinny run for Kevin Hitchcock in the ninth inning. Ricky Lamotta grounded out to Crispin. Danny Diaz flew out to Sivertson. Chris Navarro doubled into the corner. But Blackburn flew out to Suzuki. 6-5 Coons. Puckeridge 4-4, BB, RBI; Lavorano 2-5, 2B, RBI; Gonzalez 2-4; J. Maldonado (PH) 1-1;

The Raccoons made a roster move on Thursday that had nothing to do (yet?) with Ken Crum’s injury. Kyle Brobeck (3-5, 5.12 ERA) was sent back to AAA. And who came up?

(points at Slappy, who presses Play on the tape recorder, prompting an angelic “Hallelujah” to resound through the office)

Four-time … (yells louder over the choir) Four-time top 5 prospect Rafael de la Cruz – age 20! – has arrived!! – Yes, Slappy, you can stop the tape now. This is loud. – Yes, stop it! – THIS IS LOUD.

What’s not to like about de la Cruz? Nothing! Sinker! Slider! Changeup! Forkball! Hundred miles an hour! Groundballer! (waves with all paws)

I AM EXCITED.

He’d make his debut without Ken Crum though, who was diagnosed with a contusion and was unable to run anyway as of Friday. He would probably miss the entire series, but the hope was he’d be back early next week. More of a short bench, yay!

Raccoons (30-23) vs. Loggers (22-28) – June 2-4, 2051

The Loggers were sinking to the bottom right now, although we were only up 3-2 against them on the year. They ranked eighth in runs scored, but tenth in runs allowed, with a -47 run differential (Coons: -16). They had a 5.22 ERA on their rotation, but I had heard that song before… The Loggers arrived with out Dave de Lemos, Nick Jackson, and Ricky Lopez, who were all stowed away on the DL.

Projected matchups:
Jason Wheatley (7-0, 2.97 ERA) vs. Josh Costello (5-2, 3.29 ERA)
Rafael de la Cruz (0-0) vs. John Morrill (3-4, 5.05 ERA)
Victor Salcido (1-3, 4.21 ERA) vs. Angelo Munoz (3-5, 5.43 ERA)

The Loggers had been off on Thursday; unless they skipped Bubba Poss (4-4, 5.65 ERA) into the series, we would only see right-handers. Rafael de la Cruz would start the middle game on regular rest. He’d be paired with Jimenez.

…and then, bother! More rain. No game was possible on Friday for the opener *again*. Double header on Saturday *again*. Not that it changed our plans a great deal. It was just more inconvenience…

Maybe don’t make it 24 innings again?

Game 1
MIL: CF Callaia – SS Wieczorek – 3B Z. Suggs – C C. Thomas – RF McIntyre – 1B E. Hernandez – LF Sayre – 2B Barrington – P Costello
POR: LF Puckeridge – SS Lavorano – 1B J. Maldonado – 2B Waters – RF Rivera – CF Suzuki – 3B Crispin – C Gonzalez – P Wheatley

Things went pear-shaped rapidly with … everybody. Wheats walked John Wieczorek and conceded the run on a 2-out single by Chris Thomas in the first, then in the second walked Craig Sayre and allowed a single to Jack Barrington. They went to the corners with one out, but Oscar Rivera had hurt himself on the throw to first base and had to leave the game with Dr. Padilla, who would probably charge me extra hours again. Glodowski replaced Rivera, and we were down to a 3-man bench. A bunt and Gaudencio Callaia’s grounder to Maldo ended the inning without more scoring. Wheats batted after Crispin and Gonzalez reached base with two gone in the bottom 2nd, but popped out to Ernesto Hernandez, then gave up a solo homer to Zach Suggs, which sugged, and it only got worse with Sayre and Costello singles in the fourth, followed by a 3-run thumper by May’s Rookie of the Month, and we were beginning to see why, Gaudencio Callaia.

Through four, the Coons had two hits and two double plays, so in a hopeless situation, Wheats had to at least go to 100 pitches in the first leg of a double-header. Gonzalez homered in the bottom 5th to shorten the score to 5-1, and then the tying run went into the box in the sixth inning after Maldo reached (by forcing out Lonzo), Waters walked, and Suzuki came on base only on a 2-out error by John Wieczorek. Ed Crispin gave Costello a good battle and eventually forced in a run by drawing a full-count walk, 5-2. Costello was behind against Gonzalez, then tried to power a few strikes by him, which didn’t exactly work out … for Costello. The 2-1 was hurdled high and deep to left, and – GONE!! GRAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAMMMM!!!!

Once I managed to re-hinge my jaw, Wheats was then hit for with Kaufman, having thrown 99 pitches and having his unbeaten status (barely) confirmed by Ruben Gonzalez’ double-whammy, even though all five runs in the sixth inning were unearned. The Loggers pen tumbled for another two runs in the bottom 7th, Glodowski hitting a bases-loaded RBI single before Chris Kaye allowed another run on a wild pitch. Ponce and Hitchcock combined for six outs to bring the 6-5, then 8-5 lead to the ninth inning, where Willie Cruz actively worked to fritter it away. Callaia led off with a double. Thomas singled him home with two outs, and then Will McIntyre drew a walk. That put the tying runs on base, and with two left-handed batters up, the Raccoons went to Eloy Sencion. The Loggers answered with right-hander Marquis Shepard (.143, 0 HR, 2 RBI) for left-hander Tony Ferrusquia (.389, 0 HR, 3 RBI). He grounded out. 8-6 Raccoons. Puckeridge 2-5; Lavorano 2-5; Gonzalez 3-4, 2 HR, 5 RBI;

Sub-optimal in many ways, but somehow still a win. (shrugs)

No news on Rivera between games, not like we could have magically wished us a replacement outfielder on the roster in 20 minutes. Three on the bench for the second game…

Game 2
MIL: CF Callaia – SS Wieczorek – 3B Z. Suggs – RF McIntyre – 1B E. Hernandez – LF C. Lowe – C Cadena – 2B Barrington – P Morrill
POR: LF Puckeridge – SS Lavorano – 1B J. Maldonado – 2B Waters – RF Glodowski – CF Suzuki – 3B Kaufman – C Jimenez – P de la Cruz

The first baserunner in de la Cruz’ career was Wieczorek, singling to center in the first inning, but was forced out by Suggs and the Loggers didn’t score; nor in the third when Barrington singled and Callaia drew a walk. Wieczorek now hit into a fielder’s choice himself and Suggs popped out to Maldo. In between, Matt Glodowski had gone yard to left for a 1-0 Critters lead. Will McIntyre struck out to begin the top 4th, the first of certainly 3,000+ in Ricky de la Cruz’ career! …although the Loggers then got him with a Hernandez double and Jose Cadena’s RBI single to tie the game. Overall, he wasn’t all too efficient with his pitched either, needing 67 through four innings. He also fell 2-1 behind in the fifth inning on a full-count homer to left by Zach Suggs, which frankly sugged a lot.

That fifth inning took a while, and a full count and eventual strikeout to Chris Lowe eventually put de la Cruz at 105 pitches to begin the sixth inning, at which point the Coons pulled the plug. Five and a third, five hits, two runs, two walks, four strikeouts – not enough to start hammering away on that Hall of Fame plaque, but we’d take it. Maybe also take him off the hook, guys? Please?

Lillis pitched the Coons out of the inning, then would have been hit for in the bottom 6th, but Jimenez drew a leadoff walk. Lillis was retained to bunt, but knocked it back to Morrill for a double play. The Coons didn’t score in the inning, despite a 2-out Puckeridge single (that could have tied the game), but Lillis at least pitched another inning after that.

The debutee was then indeed taken off the hook in the bottom 7th, if only in unearned fashion… Barrington’s error allowed Waters on base, and singles by Glodowski and Kaufman brought him around to score. Jimenez grounded out to Suggs, which ended the inning, which sugged. Bottom 8th, Pucks plonked a 1-out single to left, then advanced when Lonzo grounded out. Maldo singled to right, and Puckeridge didn’t have to be asked twice about whether he’d go home on that one, scored rather handily on the throw by Marquis Shepard, and the Coons took the lead. Waters also singled, but Glodowski grounded out. That gave a 3-2 lead to… well… Paul Miles was the ONLY reliever that had yet to pitch on this day. The alternative was a second tour of duty for Eloy Sencion, who had thrown six pitches in the first game three hours earlier. Sencion it was. He got two outs before things started to go wrong with a Barrington single. Craig Sayre drew a walk. Callaia was up, but we were out of smart ideas, or any ideas at all. Thankfully Callaia grounded out to Kaufman before it could get really ugly. 3-2 Coons. Puckeridge 2-3, BB; Glodowski 2-4, HR, RBI;

De la Cruz! A major leaguer for two days, and he’s already out-pitched Wheats! Hah!

(sad Wheats noises over his food bowl)

No news from the medical department, although I thought I heard a buzzsaw going down there. Anyway, we were still on a three-man bench for the Sunday game.

Game 3
MIL: CF Callaia – SS Wieczorek – 3B Z. Suggs – C C. Thomas – RF McIntyre – 1B E. Hernandez – LF C. Lowe – 2B Barrington – P Munoz
POR: RF Puckeridge – SS Lavorano – 1B J. Maldonado – 2B Waters – CF Suzuki – LF Sivertson – 3B Crispin – C Gonzalez – P Salcido

Salcido had an 11-pitch first inning, which sounds nice on the surface, but in those 11 pitches he gave up four hits, including three screamers, and somehow just one run, Suggs singling home Callaia, while Wieczorek was thrown out at home by Sivertson to shorten the inning for Milwaukee. The Coons tried to answer in the bottom 2nd, loading the bags with singles by Waters, Suzuki, and Crispin, which brought up the hero of the Saturday opener, but this time Gonzalez was held to a sac fly with the bags stacked, tying the score at one. Salcido flew out to Lowe, then gave up another run in the top 3rd when Hernandez singled home Suggs, which sugged. He needed almost 60 pitches through four innings, but lumbered one stubbornly, with the Portlanders getting the game tied again in the bottom 5th with the top of the order. Puckeridge singled, Lonzo doubled into the gap, and it was two-all, and that with nobody out. Maldo grounded out, moving the go-ahead run to third base, and then Waters was walked intentionally, leading me to snarl an expletive or two. Not that he was hitting a lot (.190), but I had no confidence in Mikio Suzuki either, the Japanese outfielder definitely not hitting fifth on merit. Well, SOMEBODY had to hit fifth!! … Suzuki grounded to short with runners on the corners and one out, Wieczorek had the ball slip out of his glove, didn’t get two, nor one, and the error put the Raccoons ahead, 3-2. WHATEVER ******* WORKS.

A double steal worked, moving the runners into scoring position, just a pitch ahead of Sivertson slapping a single to center for two more runs, 5-2. Salcido gave a run back right away, walking McIntyre to begin the sixth. The runner stole a base and scored on productive outs, 5-3. Salcido was then hit for to begin the bottom of the inning; Kaufman singled, was forced out by Pucks, and Pucks was doubled off by Lonzo. (sigh!) After Ponce and Waldo kept the Loggers away in the next half-inning, the bottom 7th began with Munoz nicking Maldo, and filling the bags with Waters and Suzuki, and nobody out. Sivertson grounded hard to Suggs, who threw home and got Maldo, which sugged. Crispin popped out, and the inning ended with Gonzalez – kind of. He peppered the first pitch to left and Lowe didn’t reach it. Extra bases, Waters scored, Suzuki scored, and Sivertson sure tried to score, but was thrown out by Lowe at the plate. Anyway, we were now up by four. Waldo gave up two more outs, and then we tried to steal the last four with Miles, entering in a double switch with Glodowski, which was quite the excessive use of personnel. But he struck out Hernandez for a start, and when the bottom 8th came around, Glodowski, Pucks, and Lonzo all reached base with no outs. Maldo added a run… with a 5-4-3 double play, and that was the only run in the inning. Miles retired another three without panic, though. And that was a sweep. 8-3 Raccoons! Lavorano 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Waters 1-2, 3 BB; Suzuki 2-5, RBI; Sivertson 2-4, 2 RBI; Gonzalez 1-2, BB, 2B, 3 RBI; Kaufman (PH) 1-1; Glodowski 0-0, BB;

In other news

May 29 – A thunderstorm curtails the Capitals-Stars game in Dallas after seven innings; the Capitals emerge as 2-1 winners.
May 31 – Washington acquires OF Jason Monson (.251, 6 HR, 20 RBI) and a prospect from Boston for SP/MR Troy Ratliff (4-0, 1.53 ERA).
June 1 – Sacramento’s LF/RF/1B Nate Culp (.353, 7 HR, 32 RBI) hits the DL the same day he is named the Federal League’s Hitter of the Month for May. He will be the FL’s most decorated DL dweller for all of June with a high ankle sprain.
June 2 – BOS SP David Barel (7-3, 2.41 ERA) pitches a 2-hit shutout against the Crusaders for a 2-0 win.
June 2 – The Condors beat the Thunder, 2-1. All runs score in the ninth inning, including the winning run in walkoff fashion on a wild pitch by OCT CL Mike Lynn (4-1, 1.14 ERA, 15 SV).
June 4 – LAP SP Jim Reynolds (6-4, 3.09 ERA) is expected to miss two months with a strained hamstring.

FL Player of the Week: LAP OF Joshua Shaw (.391, 3 HR, 26 RBI), poking .542 (13-24) with 1 HR, 6 RBI
CL Player of the Week: SFB OF/1B Pedro Colon (.292, 5 HR, 29 RBI), tallying .522 (12-23) with 2 HR, 11 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: SAC LF/RF/1B Nate Culp (.353, 7 HR, 32 RBI), hitting .393 with 6 HR, 25 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: NYC OF Danny Rivera (.286, 9 HR, 37 RBI), swatting .342 with 8 HR, 31 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: SFW SP Shane Knox (7-2, 1.98 ERA), hurling for a 5-0 record with 1.17 ERA, 35 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: CHA SP Juan Arrocha (7-1, 2.08 ERA), pitching for a 5-0 mark with 1.27 ERA, 22 K
FL Rookie of the Month: TOP 3B/SS Jeremy Gibson (.287, 1 HR, 8 RBI), poking .293 with 1 HR, 8 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: MIL 1B/OF Gaudencio Callaia (.342, 4 HR, 21 RBI), socking .384 with 4 HR, 16 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Play it again, Slappy. (Slappy presses Play on the tape recorder again, letting the “Hallelujah” holler through the office again)

Okay, that’s enough. – THAT’S ENOUGH, I SAID. – We need to work on the volume of that thing.

Rafael de la Cruz has arrived … with a no-decision, although inefficiency was the only thing to truly lament about his start, and the Coons scratched out a win after all.

That aside, we went 5-1 this week and almost worsened our run differential. Now TEN games over .500 – and a -8 run differential. (shrugs and waves paws around) Look, I have… I have no explanation for any of this.

If we were in the Federal League, we’d have the best record in the league. None of this makes any sense, and I expect to wake up any second now, and it’s actually still April and we’re off to a 2-9 start. (shrugs some more as if that still meant something)

Still no news on the Rivera injury. Ken Crum might miss another game on Monday, but should be back by Tuesday. We have a seven-game week coming up, and a schedule that makes no sense, with five cross-country trips coming up this month. We go to New York for four, then return right back home to play the Pacifics. After that it’s back to Pittsburgh, then back home to face the Titans and Elks. The next road trip will be longer, but will also led all the way to New York AGAIN by the end of the month. Add in the draft on Thursday two weeks from now, and I’ll be in New York THREE times this month. What have I done to deserve THAT??

Oh, did I already mention we managed to get no-hit this week? =)

Fun Fact: Last time the Raccoons got no-hit, they won the pennant.

Yeah well, I have my doubts. =)

That was Juichi Fujita of the damn Elks, by the way, in 2010. Him, Paris, and the New Yorkers George Kirk and Carlos Guillén are the only four pitchers to throw no-hitters against the Raccoons.

Fujita, a Hall of Famer with 207-135 record, 3.65 ERA, and a save, led the CL in wins and innings pitched that year, but was never a strikeout pitcher (2,046 in 2,996 innings) and never led the league in ERA either. Paul Paris is a decent pitcher, but unlikely to make it closer to the Hall of Fame than his hometown beat reporter giving him his only vote on the ballot. The no-hitter made him immortal in the history books, but only a decidedly mortal .500 for his career: 98-98 with 4.23 ERA and two saves at age 32. Two years ago he led the FL in homers surrendered, whatever that’s counting for.

+++

This team is a constant giggle right now. They’re winning against all reason and I enjoy the crap out of it while it lasts