[Westheim]

2055 CONTINENTAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Portland Raccoons (102-60) vs. Atlanta Knights (95-67)

For the third time, and the second year in a row, the Raccoons and the Knights met in the CLCS. The Knights had never won the pairing, but they had won the season series (5-4), and what mattered more, they weren’t trying to play around a crater 20 feet across and 6 feet deep where once a rotation had been. The Raccoons had not played well at all in the last few weeks – especially on the pitching side, starting with long-term injuries to Raffy de la Cruz (once more) and Kennedy Adkins (sob), which soon spilled into the bullpen.

The Raccoons still finished with the fewest runs allowed in the league (557) and a +173 run differential on the sixth-best offense, which was a lot more than the Knights did with their league-high 779 runs scored and the #2 pitching staff in the CL – but that #2 pitching staff had allowed *113* more runs than the Critters. So what the hell was I even whining about? – Well, have you *seen* the Coons pitch, lately?

He Shui and Seisaku Taki were still standing, but had not won any of their last three or seven starts, respectively. Cameron Argenziano had filled in quite remarkably, but had shown signs of brittling late in the season. And Kyle Brobeck was hard to explain as a force of nature… those four would be the rotation for the postseason, but more on the roster later. Besides the two starters, we were without outfielder Ricky Lamotta, and Colby Bowen came down with an infection and a fever after the season ended, although he had not been a serious candidate for a roster spot anyway. He’d probably live, though.

The Knights had their own injuries. Jeremy Baker was missing from the rotation, but their rotation was almost five equally-scary guys. They had a distinct lack of Aces going on, but it was hard to find a pushover. However, with Baker gone, all their starters for the series figured to be right-handed, which could be a problem against the Coons’ lineup.

The Knights’ lineup was mostly right-handed, also thanks to Leo Villacorta (.263, 2 HR, 44 RBI) missing the playoffs with a quad strain. Backup catcher Marco Nieto was the third injury for them.

What was left was a formidable middle of the order with Willie Acosta (.301, 10 HR, 45 RBI), Pat Fowler (.287, 23 HR, 89 RBI), and CL home run champ Eddie Moreno (.312, 32 HR, 118 RBI), each having a different handedness at the plate: switch, left, right, in that order. Jon Alade was always a threat at the top of the order, and a fine centerfielder. The team had hit the most homers, but ranked 11th in stolen bases. The Critters had finished top 3 in either category. We had the best defense by whatever metrics the bobbleheads on the sports radio were basing their assumptions and reckless predictions on, while the Knights ranked 11th in D.

We were projected by most smart-alecks to have a narrow advantage for the series.

I wasn’t seeing it.

Okay, our playoff roster. There was not a lot of wiggle room, with 25 basically eligible players, which included only 11 pitchers: Shui, Taki, Brobeck, Argenziano; as well as Bak, Bravo, Lillis, Sencion, Tanizaki, Walters, and Hitchcock. The injury to Kennedy Adkins would allow for a substitution, however.

On the batting side, we had Gowin and Phillips behind the dish; Ramsay, Walters, Knight, Venegas, Crispin, and Lonzo on the infield; and Brassfield, Munn, Puckeridge, Solorzano (who had been on rehab when rosters expanded), Monson, and Tenazes for outfielders. One of the outfielders had to go and while Monson hadn’t hit a single silly thing since coming over in a trade, we opted for the late-inning defensive replacement rather than Prospero Tenazes’ muddled skill set. The freed-up roster spot would then be used to put… (sigh) … Ryan Harmer on the roster.

That right-handed side of the pen promised to be nothing but trouble…