[Westheim]

Woke up at four and couldn't go back to zzz.

There. Have at it.

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Raccoons (11-20) vs. Wolves (18-13) – May 9-11, 2056

The Wolves were something else. Sitting third in the FL West, four games behind the lead, they had given up the fewest runs in the Federal League, which wasn’t so absurd in itself, but they had also scored the fewest runs in the Federal League. They had scored fewer runs than the damn Critters, and they were scoring just a sliver over three runs per game, with a -14 run differential (Critters: -19). Something told me that they weren’t build to last, kinda like those condos in Florida where you just flip the walls back vertical after every storm that moves through. These teams had last played in ’53, with the better end for the Portland team, two games to one.

Projected matchups:
Sean Sweeton (1-2, 2.75 ERA) vs. Mike Pohlmann (1-3, 7.67 ERA)
Craig Kniep (0-1, 1.42 ERA) vs. Jeff Puccia (0-1, 4.50 ERA)
Rafael de la Cruz (0-3, 3.51 ERA) vs. Zach Stewart (4-0, 1.10 ERA)

Southpaw in the final game on Thursday, unless they used the common off day on Monday to flip another lefty, Jeff Boyce (0-2, 4.72 ERA) into the series. How were they 18-13 with all those winless starters? Well, the pen was sucking up all the wins, somehow, with a 3-0 record and a zilch ERA on Coons castoff Raul Medrano f.e….

Game 1
SAL: C Carranza – 2B Humphries – 1B J. Campos – LF Hudson – 3B Wilken – RF Rock – CF Jo. Shaw – SS Keller – P Pohlmann
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – RF Puckeridge – 2B Waters – 3B Brobeck – LF Kirkwood – 1B Ramsay – C Fiore – P Sweeton

One of the scoring-challenged Oregon teams burst out for four runs in the second inning, and it was your old Coons even! Chris Kirkwood socked a homer, his first since arrival, over the leftfield fence for the game’s first run, and Ramsay doubled to left. Fiore’s groundout made it two done, but Randy Wilken threw away Sweeton’s grounder to open a whole can of “uh-oh” and three unearned runs on the struggling starter three straight singles from the 1-2-3 batters following, with RBI’s for Lonzo and Pucks, before Waters flew out to center to end the inning. Joshua Shaw and Gabriel Keller would land hits off Sweeton in the third inning for a run, but the Raccoons put Brobeck and Ramsay on the corners in the bottom 3rd before the pitcher was at the plate with two outs yet again. This time, Pohlmann nicked him, filling the bases, then lost Royer to a walk in a full count, pushing home Brobeck to make it 5-1. Lonzo hit a sharp bouncer to third base, but right into Wilken’s paws, and that ended the inning. Ramsay drove in Waters and Kirkwood with a 2-out double to left-center in the fourth inning, ending Pohlmann’s day laden with seven runs (four earned) in under four innings.

While lefty Ben Peterson ended the Raccoons’ scoring shenanigans in long relief, Sweeton would go seven innings of 1-run ball despite managing to put the leadoff man on base in EACH of his last five frames – the Wolves just couldn’t ******* score any more than the Raccoons without the benefit of a Randy Wilken error or a plunked pitcher with two outs. Right-hander Jose Soto gave up another two runs in the bottom 7th as Fiore singled, Royer was dinked, and Lonzo and Pucks got another pair of RBI’s with a single and groundout, respectively. Reynaldo Bravo finished out the game, offering a leadoff walk in the eighth and ninth innings, which made it seven straight innings the Wolves had the first batter on base. In the seventh attempt, they finally scored the bugger on a 2-out pinch-hit single by Scott King. And that was the ballgame. 9-2 Raccoons. Royer 2-3, BB, RBI; Lavorano 2-5, 2 RBI; Waters 2-5, 2B; Kirkwood 3-5, HR, RBI; Ramsay 4-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Sweeton 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 K, W (2-2);

Pitching change for Wednesday – the Wolves brought Blake Sparks back from a rehab assignment to start the middle game of the series. The right-hander had logged one out in his first start of the year before leaving the game with a shoulder strain. Sparks, 28, was the 2052 FL ERA champ and had put up a 2.76 ERA in ’55.

Game 2
SAL: C Carranza – RF Rock – CF T. Lopez – 3B Wilken – LF Hudson – 1B S. King – SS Thatcher – 2B Keller – P Sparks
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – RF Puckeridge – 2B Waters – 1B Ramsay – LF Caballero – 3B Venegas – C Fiore – P Kniep

The Wolves’ leadoff-man-on-base streak extended to eight when Fernando Carranza drew a walk to begin Wednesday’s game, but was left on just like 86% of the others in the string. Andy Hudson went down to begin the second inning. Kniep walked a guy in each of the first three innings, but didn’t allow a hit or run, then bunted Venegas and Fiore into scoring position in his first turn in the box in the bottom 3rd; those two runners were the first to reach base for Portland, and had knocked the first two singles in the game. Royer’s sac fly to left and Lonzo’s single to center brought in the runners, 2-0, and while Lonzo was stranded on Pucks’ groundout, Matt Waters jumped a leadoff jack to right in the fourth, 3-0.

Craig Kniep maintained a no-hitter through five innings, as well as a manageable pitch count, but all that went out the window in the sixth. Firstly, Tom Rock hit a single. Secondly, Carranza and Tony Lopez drew walks on either end of that single. Thirdly, there was nobody out. A pep talk seemed to have no great effect at first, as Randy Wilken kept the line moving with an RBI single to center, and Andy Hudson’s groundout brought in a second run to narrow the lead to a skinny run, but then Kniep got pops from King and John Thatcher to strand a pair in scoring position. Not *great*, but could have been worse. I was still marking that as a “didn’t suck”. Kniep added another inning, then was hit for with Adriano Chavez, who hit a single, but was also left on first base by the Coons. Lane and Lillis put the eighth together for Portland, nursing the 3-2 lead, while Rams knocked out Sparks in the bottom 8th with a 1-out single. Caballero singled off Raul Medrano, but Solorzano had no success batting for Venegas. Two down, Matt Fiore ran into a hanger on 2-1, and didn’t miss that one – first homer, a 350-footer to right, and that created some breathing room on the scoreboard! Tanizaki got the ninth rather than Walters with a 4-run lead, and would not allow a runner in putting the Wolves away. 6-2 Raccoons. Waters 2-4, HR, RBI; Caballero 2-4; Fiore 2-3, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Chavez (PH) 1-1; Kniep 7.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 5 BB, 6 K, W (1-1);

The five walks weren’t great, but Kniep allowed only two hits along with it. Still a WHIP o’ one. It wasn’t his first career win (he went 2-0 in five games last September), but his first as probably-permanent starter.

The series finale got us up against Zach Stewart, the first lefty opponent the Raccoons faced since April 25, when we lost to Alfonso Jewel. This was also a start for Raffy, with Brobeck playing third base and being committed to long relief if Raffy again couldn’t cover six innings.

Game 3
SAL: C Carranza – 2B Humphries – CF T. Lopez – LF Hudson – 1B S. King – 3B Thatcher – RF Jo. Shaw – 2B Keller – P Z. Stewart
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – 1B Ramsay – RF Caballero – LF Kirkwood – 3B Brobeck – C Stanton – P de la Cruz

Walk, double, walk, bases loaded – there was a crisis conference on the mound within 11 pitches. It didn’t work – the Wolves scored all the runs with Andy Hudson’s groundout and Scott King’s 2-run single before John Thatcher barged into a double play to get the sorry remains of Rafael de la Cruz off the hill. While Raffy lasted only four innings, walking five, the Raccoons were just as dismal at the plate. Lonzo hit into a double play in the first inning, Brobeck hit into a double play in the second inning, and Raffy bunted badly to force out Matt Stanton at second base in the third inning. Shambolic, top to bottom.

Bottom 5th, Stewart loaded the bases with nobody out as Stanton and Chavez hit singles, and then Royer got dinked once again. Lonzo almost took Stewart’s head off with a single right over the mound and into shallow center, and Stewart took a minute to regain his breath after the near-death experience. It was 3-1, the bags still full, and still nobody out for Waters, who led the team in RBI’s, and by plenty. Waters would bash a 1-1 pitch to deep center, Tony Lopez couldn’t catch up, and the bases emptied as the Raccoons flipped the score on a bases-flushing double…! Rams grounded out, Caballero walked, and Joe Humphries’ bobble of Kirkwood’s grounder allowed Waters to score from third base. Brobeck grounded out, dumping his average to .135, but advanced the runners into scoring position. Stewart was purged after he balked home Ramsay, and the 6-spot ended with a K hung on Stanton by righty Brendan Rodgers.

Brobeck went three scoreless innings, then went three batters while retiring nobody in the eighth. Lopez, Hudson, and King were on base, comprising the tying runs, and when lefty Julio Diaz pinch-hit for Thatcher, the Raccoons grabbed a spare Eloy Sencion. The Raccoons conceded a run on his grounder to short, which Lonzo and Waters spun for a 6-4-3 double play. Shaw popped out, killing the rally for good. While Matt Walters didn’t quite retire the side in order in the ninth, he was still dominant, getting all his three strikeouts by the whiff to complete the sweep. 6-4 Furballs. Royer 1-2, BB; Caballero 2-3, BB; Venegas (PH) 1-1;

This was our first sweep of the season…!

Raccoons (14-20) vs. Indians (11-23) – May 12-14, 2056

It gained us some gap on the last-place Indians, which … yaay. Indy had lost five in a row, and ranked solidly inside the bottom three in both runs scored and runs allowed in the CL. They had already piled up a -58 run differential, which made the casual observer wonder what the **** had happened to last year’s 1-2 in the division over the winter. Indy’s rotation had a 5.66 ERA, so maybe the Raccoons could even keep up the scoring, but we had lost two of three games the first time we had met this year.

Projected matchups:
He Shui (2-3, 4.30 ERA) vs. Enrique Ortiz (0-5, 7.24 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (3-4, 4.34 ERA) vs. Juan Vasquez (0-4, 7.24 ERA)
Sean Sweeton (2-2, 2.53 ERA) vs. Tan Brink (3-3, 3.66 ERA)

Only right-handers here, again.

Game 1
IND: CF Briggs – LF J. Garza – 1B B. Quinteros – 3B D. Sandoval – 2B A. Rios – RF McIntyre – C Mi. Gilmore – SS Ed. Ortiz – P En. Ortiz
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – RF Puckeridge – 2B Waters – 1B Ramsay – LF Kirkwood – 3B Venegas – C Fiore – P Shui

After the annual performance of the national anthem by the Willamette Institute for the Limbless and Blind’s school choir moved everybody to tears – although I had a persistent buzzing sound in my fuzzy ears from the kids’ collection of differently tuned prosthetic voice boxes – the Raccoons went out and tried to extend their winning streak. Fun fact, by the way – Shui and Taki were now the worst starters in the rotation by ERA…? Chris Briggs drew a leadoff walk and Dan Sandoval doubled in the first inning, but Antonio Rios grounded out to Waters to strand them in scoring position, while the Coons took a lead in the bottom 2nd on a long homer by Chris Kirkwood. With Waters on base, that counted for two, but the inning continued: Venegas walked, Shui singled, and Royer’s single extended the lead to 3-0. Lonzo filled the bases with another 2-out single, while Pucks worked a walk to push home Shui with a run. Waters added yet another pair of runs with a single to left-center before Ramsay made the third out of the inning with a fly to Jose Garza, after already having made the first out with a pop to Edwin Ortiz.

The 6-spot should have made it a comfy game, but there was still a stack of left-handed hitters in that lineup and Shui hadn’t been right for a while. The Indians promptly sprayed four singles all over the park in the fourth inning, but crucially had Rios hit into a double play right in the middle of that sequence, holding them to one run before Edwin Ortiz struck out altogether, stranding a pair. But the Indians collected *another* four hits in the fifth inning, and this time hurt Shui for real, driving in three runs. Briggs and Garza singled, Dan Sandoval doubled in a run, and Rios singled home a pair before a K to Will McIntyre ended the inning. Shui at least removed the bottom of the order without accident in the sixth inning before the 6-4 lead (no, we hadn’t done anything worth waffling about since the 6-run second…) went to Lillis in the top 7th. Bill Quinteros got a single off him, and Mike Gilmore got a single off Lane in the eighth inning, but the Indians didn’t get past first base in either attempt on the 6-4 lead, but the Coons remained entirely listless, too. Thankfully Matt Walters blazed the side with three strikeouts in the ninth inning. 6-4 Raccoons. Waters 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Kirkwood 2-4, HR, 2 RBI;

Four in a row…! Keep it going, boys.

Please.

Daniel Espinoza showed up with pinkeye on Saturday, which left him day-to-day for at least the rest of the weekend.

Game 2
IND: CF Briggs – LF J. Garza – 1B B. Quinteros – 3B D. Sandoval – 2B A. Rios – RF McIntyre – C Mi. Gilmore – SS Ed. Ortiz – P J. Vasquez
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – RF Puckeridge – 2B Waters – 1B Ramsay – LF Caballero – 3B Venegas – C Fiore – P Taki

Both teams missed chances early; Taki nailed Garza with an 0-2 pitch and Quinteros legged out an infield single to Ramsay in the first, but Sandoval then zinged a ball into a double play, 6-4-3, while the Coons put the 5-6-7 batters on base with one down in the bottom 2nd, but Fiore and Taki both popped out rather unhelpfully. The third inning brought no runners for either side, and the fourth inning brought rain. Taki had only thrown 38 pitches before the delay, but returned junk after a 35-minute interruption, was punked for five hits and four runs, and ultimately removed to the dumpster behind the ballpark, upon which Sencion finally ended the ******* inning with a K to Garza.

Bottom 5th, Fiore and Royer were on base with two outs when Lonzo got Portland on the board with a single to center, 4-1. Pucks drew a walk from Vasquez, who had more walks than strikeouts both in this game and on the season, but Waters popped out to short on a 1-2 pitch to keep all the tying runs stranded. Reynaldo Bravo pitched two scoreless innings despite making an error himself *and* Ramsay committing another one in the sixth inning. Rams was also batting as the tying run against Vasquez in the bottom 8th, but jabbed into a double play, which also didn’t exactly help with salvaging the small winning streak. Lane and Tanizaki held the Indians to their four soggy fourth-inning runs late, while righty Randy Slocum put Venegas and Fiore on base with singles to begin the bottom 9th. Kirkwood had been batting in the #9 hole for a while (Pucks had been lifted for long relief considerations), and would do so as the tying run. He rumbled into a 6-4-3 mood killer on a 3-2 pitch. Slocum, INSISTING on blowing the game, walked Royer, bringing up Lonzo as the tying run once more. Lonzo, too, grounded out to short, because we could insist HARDER…… 4-1 Indians. Venegas 2-3, BB; Fiore 2-4; Bravo 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

(lies face down in a wet spot on the carpet, but is still licking the puddle of spilled Capt’n Coma)

Game 3
IND: CF Briggs – C Mi. Gilmore – 1B B. Quinteros – 3B D. Sandoval – 2B A. Rios – RF McIntyre – LF Perry – SS Ed. Ortiz – P Brink
POR: RF Caballero – SS Lavorano – 1B Ramsay – LF Kirkwood – 3B Brobeck – CF Solorzano – 2B Chavez – C Stanton – P Sweeton

In a week of big innings, the Raccoons had another big inning right at the start of the rubber game, despite sending out something that could be generously described as a Sunday lineup. Caballero and Lonzo opened with singles, and Ramsay’s groundout and Kirkwood’s single both brought in a run. Brobeck singled, Solorzano smacked an RBI double through the right side, and Adriano Chavez brought in the fourth and final run of the inning by grounding out. Stanton popped out to end the inning. Sweeton appeared to run with that, lining up four zeroes on the board, even when the bottom 4th’s bases-loaded situation didn’t result in more runs; with Stanton, Caballero and Lonzo aboard, Ramsay hit a comebacker to Brink to kill the inning. McIntyre tripled to right in the fifth, but was stranded when Jason Perry popped out to short and Ortiz grounded out to second base.

Brink was knocked out in the bottom 5th, giving up a single to Kirkwood to begin the inning, and a 2-out single to Chavez to get the run home, 5-0. Southpaw Bill Dewan replaced him, but gave up a double to right to Stanton, who got his first career RBI with Chavez scoring from first base thanks to there being two outs on the board. Sweeton struck out, leaving the score at 6-0, but at 60 pitches and 12 outs to collect was not yet out of shutout considerations. Three straight singles to begin the sixth inning by Dewan (…), Briggs, and Gilmore didn’t help for sure. A wild pitch and Quinteros’ sac fly plated two runs rather quickly, and Sandoval and McIntyre knelled additional RBI hits, knocking out Sweeton before the ******* inning was over. Sencion got out Perry, the ******* tying run, to end the ******* inning for good. There couldn’t be no easy game with this ******* team!!

Sencion at least delivered the seventh as well, going four outs in total, before being chased by another rain delay, because why not!? (angrily shakes fist at the baseball gods) Chavez got his third RBI of the game off Adam Haller in the bottom 7th, singling home Brobeck for a tack-on run, 7-4. Lillis and Tanizaki put the eighth together, the latter getting a double play from Rios to erase Lillis’ runner, Dan Sandoval. In turn, Kirkwood hit into an inning-ending double play in the bottom 8th with Caballero and Ramsay on base. The Arrowheads had intentionally walked the latter. Tanizaki got McIntyre, a right-hander, to ground out to begin the top 9th, and only then yielded for Matt Walters. Strikeouts to Perry and Ortiz ended the game. 7-4 Critters. Caballero 3-5; Lavorano 2-5; Kirkwood 2-5, RBI; Brobeck 3-4; Chavez 2-4, 3 RBI; Stanton 1-2, 2 BB, 2B, RBI;

In other news

May 10 – Aces SP Scott Evans (3-1, 3.79 ERA) throws a 3-hit shutout with five strikeouts in a 7-0 win over the Bayhawks.
May 11 – Big day at the plate for ATL 2B/SS Willie Acosta (.347, 5 HR, 21 RBI), who goes long distance three times in an 8-4 win over the Gold Sox. Acosta drives in five runs with his three homers.
May 12 – OCT SP Alfredo Llamas (3-3, 4.01 ERA) shuts out the Bayhawks on just two hits in a 1-0 squeezer.
May 14 – 40-year-old TOP 1B Manny Liberos (.246, 3 HR, 18 RBI) gets his 2,000th career hit in a 7-4 loss to the Capitals, whom Liberos played for in 2054. The milestone knock is a leadoff single off veteran left-hander Mike Lynn (1-1, 5.79 ERA, 2 SV) in the eighth inning. Liberos, in his 19th year in the ABL, was well travelled in the FL East, having played for four of its six teams at one point of another. He won three Gold Gloves in his younger years and led the FL in doubles twice and in RBI once. Of his hits, 343 were home runs, and he had 1,357 RBI next to a .246/.350/.441 career slash line.
May 14 – With a triceps strain, PIT 2B/SS Ryan Spehar (.269, 2 HR, 17 RBI) is expected to dwell on the DL until the end of June.

FL Player of the Week: RIC 1B Mario Delgadillo (.370, 6 HR, 32 RBI), batting .480 (12-25) with 1 HR, 7 RBI
CL Player of the Week: ATL 2B/SS Willie Acosta (.352, 6 HR, 25 RBI), slugging .526 (10-19) with 5 HR, 11 RBI

Complaints and stuff

5-1 week! …although it should be noted that the Wolves had horrendous stats on the way in and lost a five-inning exhibition game to the wheelchair-bound boys of the Willamette Institute for the Limbless and the Blind on the way back home despite inherent advantages in leg kicks and sliding into bases. Yes, Cristiano snickered.

But he also snickers when the Raccoons lose to the Willamette Wheelers in the annual exhibition in March.

Besides that we’ve now fought the Indians to a draw, 3-3, for the year, so even though we’re up to fourth place for the moment, the team continues to befuddle me. Only a -4 run differential, though, which could mean anything. Hitting more would certainly help; we’re once more almost bottoms in OBP.

Aren’t we always bottoms in OBP…?

And we NEED to get something moving on the rotation front. Brobeck hasn’t made a start in a bit, but Raffy can’t even cover five innings on average, while walking almost a full batter per inning. Something’s gotta give between those two, but I can’t make myself send Raffy to AAA to MAYBE sort himself out; but probably the damage done by the multitude of injuries is terminal, despite twice-weekly massages and dances with flower garlands in their hair administered by Luis Silva… So what then? Move him to the pen? He’ll still walk everything with legs and without!!

Agony.

Four games in Milwaukee and three at home against the Baybirds next week. The Loggers games will be the last ones in-division for the month.

Fun Fact: The Knights last had somebody hit three bombs in a game in 2046, when both John Marz and Joe Crim achieved the feat during that season.

Marz hit three jacks in Atlanta against the damn Elks in a 9-8 game on May 30, 2046, while Crim grimly routed the Falcons in Charlotte, 13-4, on July 7. Nobody has hit three dingers against Atlanta since OKC’s Alex Serrato in 2026.

Infielder Joe Crim spent most of his career with the Knights in two different stints. He was an All Star once, but overall was batting a lot of league average or just below, going .266/.302/.393 for his career, connecting for 1,508 hits, 127 homers, and 750 RBI.

While John Marz was the better player, batting .275/.311/.452 with 1,810 hits, 247 homers, and 1,043 RBI, he was also a first baseman and occasional leftfielder and more was expected of him. While the big trophies eluded him, too, and he was an All Star only twice in his career, he led the CL in RBI with the 2037 Aces, the FL in bombs as a 2042 Miner, and won the Platinum Stick for first base as a 2047 Knight, which was his penultimate season in the majors.