[Westheim]

Raccoons (26-24) vs. Knights (32-19) – May 29-31, 2057

The Knights were doing well with the second-most runs scored and the fewest runs allowed in the Continental League, which gave them first place in the South, despite having lost two of three to the Raccoons in the teams’ first meeting of the season. The Knights had lost a bunch of outfielders to injury, though, with neither of Jon Alade, Chris Morris, and Tony Rodriquez available for this series.

Projected matchups:
Kennedy Adkins (6-4, 2.43 ERA) vs. Morgan Aben (4-3, 3.84 ERA)
Sean Sweeton (5-2, 3.02 ERA) vs. Jose Arias (6-1, 2.56 ERA)
Craig Kniep (3-3, 5.12 ERA) vs. Matt Weber (2-5, 6.45 ERA)

Arias was the only lefty pitcher in the Knights rotation. Should they decide to skip the struggling Weber with the aid of the Monday off day, we’d see Enrique Ortiz (4-1, 3.77 ERA) instead, and Thursday would be a walkfest for sure.

Todd Oley would make one last start against a right-handed pitcher and then be exchanged back to AAA for Oscar Caballero, who would return from his rehab assignment.

Game 1
ATL: CF Mayes – 1B Wheeler – C M. Nieto – 2B W. Acosta – LF Wada – 3B Russ – SS Wartella – RF Munn – P Aben
POR: 1B Callaia – SS Lavorano – RF Brassfield – LF Abercrombie – 3B Brobeck – C Chavez – 2B Allred – CF Oley – P Adkins

Adkins had his moments in this game, like in the second inning, when the Knights initially got Jushiro Wada on base with a leadoff single, but he then also walked both Matt Wartella and Danny Munn (waves hi to the former Furball) on eight straight balls, giving me a bit of a sweat. Aben and Mike Mayes struck out though, and on six pitches then, too. Marco Nieto in the third and Andrew Russ (hiss!!!) in the fourth inning would both hit a single, and then both got doubled up by the next guy in line, respectively, Willie Acosta and Matt Wartella. The game was scoreless through five innings, as the Raccoons also didn’t particularly fall over each other to be the first to deliver some offensive heroics. Brobeck and Allred hit singles in the sixth inning, but when Todd Oley had a chance to stake a claim to be irreplaceable, he flew out to Jayden Baldwin in rightfield quite easily, ending the inning.

Ninety pitches got Adkins through seven shutout innings, and he was hit for when his spot led off the bottom 7th against Aben. Royer clanked a double to center in his place, but Callaia was walked intentionally, Lonzo popped out, and Brass bounced into a double play. Royer never even reached third base, let alone scored… John Scott held the Knights away in the top 8th; while Marco Nieto hit a 2-out single, he was also caught stealing to end the inning. The Raccoons then loaded the bases against Aben in the bottom 8th. Abercrombie and Brobeck opened the inning with singles, but Chavez whiffed. Allred drew a walk. Pucks did *not* bat for Oley, but marched into the on-deck circle behind him. He would hit into an inning-ending double play against Ruben Mendez, but that was AFTER Oley had knocked out Aben with a 2-run single through the right side…! The Raccoons thus went to Walters for the ninth and I gathered up all my crap to go home, because … well, Walters, what’s there to wait for? What’s those loud noises outside, Maud? – What do you mean, Acosta and Wada hit back-to-back homers????

Play resumed after Walters was blasted over the leftfield fence, twice, with a 2-2 score in the bottom 9th and Mendez still pitching to the top of the order – and with rain starting to fall and picking up briskly. Callaia opened with a groundout, but Lonzo whooped a double to right to bring about – a rain delay.

The rain and the corresponding delay lasted for the rest of the night and through it, but at least Lonzo was smart enough to go inside with everybody else rather than cling to second base with the winning run through 15 hours of rain. The game would be resumed an hour before Wednesday’s scheduled game. Todd Oley got to hang around the team for a day longer. Lucky boy!

Game 1 (resumed)
ATL: CF Mayes – 1B Wheeler – C M. Nieto – 2B W. Acosta – LF Wada – 3B Russ – SS Wartella – RF D. Rivera – P R. Mendez
POR: 1B Callaia – SS Lavorano – P Walters – LF Abercrombie – 3B Espinoza – C Chavez – 2B Allred – CF Oley – RF Puckeridge

The Raccoons frittered away the winning run in scoring position on a grounder and a fly to right, but then got a leadoff triple in the tenth inning from Danny Espinoza, who had originally replaced Kyle Brobeck for defense in the top 9th, as was our habit. David Hardaway gave up that triple, then stared at Chavez, who had a couple of punchouts and nothing to show for it otherwise – until he flicked a 1-2 pitch through the right side to walk off the Raccoons. 3-2 Blighters. Lavorano 2-5, 2B; Abercrombie 2-5; Brobeck 2-4; Espinoza 1-1, 3B; Allred 2-2, 2 BB; Royer (PH) 1-1; Adkins 7.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K;

The W went to Tanizaki for a scoreless top 10th, and then Oley (.250, 0 HR, 3 RBI) was actually removed from the roster for Caballero to start in Game 2.

Game 2
ATL: CF Mayes – 1B Wheeler – 2B W. Acosta – LF Munn – 3B Russ – SS Wartella – C Almaguer – RF Wada – P J. Arias
POR: 2B Bribiesca – SS Lavorano – 1B Brassfield – 3B Brobeck – LF Abercrombie – C Chavez – RF Caballero – CF Royer – P Sweeton

The Raccoons drew little but blanks the first time through the order while Sweeton allowed two hits, two walks, but struck out nobody and needed 59 pitches through four gluey innings. The brown team broke through, however, in the bottom of the fourth. Brassfield, Abercrombie, and Chavez all mashed extra-base hits to all the fields, two doubles and a home run, for a 3-0 lead through four.

Sweeton didn’t get any more effective afterwards; he’d be held to six innings on 95 pitches due to taking forever to remove batters, and he also gave up a run in the sixth on a Mayes single and Acosta’s RBI double, but the main reason was yet another rain delay of some 45 minutes that broke out in the middle of the sixth and made sure Sweeton’s start ended for real. When play resumed, Abercrombie took Eli Dupuis deep to right for a 4-1 lead, but then the rain picked up again. Ivan Ornelas put Russ (growls and flicks tail menacingly from side to side) on base with a leadoff single in the seventh, but didn’t make it further than Pedro Almaguer fouling off the first 1-out pitch he got before the umps called *another* rain delay. This, too, passed in under an hour, along with most of the fans in attendance and my will to live through another Portland summer.

Ornelas resumed pitching after the rain delay, since he had thrown only 11 pitches, walked Almaguer and got Wada to pop out, but then waved for the attention of Luis Silva, and another delay commenced, this time for a medical consultation on the mound, at the end of which Silva left the field with Ornelas, and Eloy Sencion got the last out from PH Danny Rivera. The Coons loaded the bases against Felix Alvarez in the bottom 7th, as Caballero and Royer singled, and Pucks drew a walk in the pitcher’s spot. More runs scored on another walk to Bribiesca and a Lonzo sac fly before Jeff Miss took over pitching duties. He allowed a single to Brassfield that filled the bases again, then a run-scoring fielder’s choice grounder to Brobeck before a grounder to short from Abercrombie ended the inning. The 7-1 lead then went to Mancilla to please end the game, although he loaded the bases in the eighth with general ********** before Wartella was kind enough to pop out to short on a 3-1 pitch for the third out. The ninth was only mildly calmer. 7-1 Coons. Brassfield 2-3, BB, 2B; Abercrombie 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Royer 2-4; Sweeton 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, W (6-2);

Game 3
ATL: CF Mayes – 1B Wheeler – C M. Nieto – 2B W. Acosta – LF Wada – 3B Russ – SS Wartella – RF D. Rivera – P Weber
POR: 1B Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Brassfield – CF Abercrombie – 3B Brobeck – RF Puckeridge – 2B Allred – C Zamora – P Kniep

It took Kniep four batters and 16 pitches to load the bases, and another four bases to walk in the game’s first run against Jushiro Wada. Russ, the miserable specter of a cicada’s ****, drew another walk, and Wartella hit an RBI single with Willie Acosta being thrown out at home plate. ANOTHER walk to Danny Rivera, then Weber graciously ended the inning. While the Coons made up a run in the bottom 1st on leadoff hits by Callaia and Lonzo, then Brass’ sac fly, Kniep offered a single, a balk, and a walk in the second inning, but that was somehow not enough for the Knights to tack on. Wartella and Rivera hit singles in the third before Weber bunted into an inning-ending double play started by Kniep – his only heroics on the day – but the Coons had also had one of their three long relievers injured, one had thrown two endless innings the day before, and the other was penciled in to start on Saturday. Mike Mayes drew a leadoff walk in the fourth and was caught stealing. This was six free passes offered by Kniep, who made a serious bid to become the first Critter to walk eight opponents in a game TWICE.

It didn’t get that far, mostly because Kniep was yanked when he walked Mayes again – number seven – in the sixth inning with Rivera already on second base and one out. Eight hits, seven walks, and five runs once Scott gave up a screaming 2-run double to Jeff Wheeler. Wada also drove in Wheeler as the inning dragged on, as they all did on this day, extending the Knights’ lead to 6-1. The Raccoons made up a pair in the seventh, which Brobeck opened with a double to right, then moved to third on Pucks’ single and scored on Allred’s sac fly. Wada’s bad throw allowed Pucks into second base, and to score from there on Ruben Zamora’s single to center. The Knights countered with an unearned run off Lane, Callaia dropping a fine throw from Lonzo to allow a 2-out run home from third base. Somehow Matt Weber pitched through ALL of this madness, until giving up three singles in the bottom 8th. The first one hardly counted – Lonzo was caught stealing before the rest of the team kicked into gear – but Brass also singled off Weber before he was replaced. The Knights then rushed to empty their pen; Jeremy Baker gave up a single to Abercrombie, Dupuis one to Brobeck, and Amari Walker another one to Pucks – THAT one finally scoring a ******* run, 7-4 with the bases loaded. Bribiesca pinch-hit for Allred, spawning Felix Alvarez from the pen, and the fifth pitcher of the inning finally got the double play the Raccoons were trying their darndest to hit into. Tanizaki gave up another run in the ninth, walking a pair to add to the general misery, but Alvarez retired the side in order in the bottom 9th. 8-4 Knights. Lavorano 2-4; Abercrombie 2-4; Brobeck 2-4, 2B; Puckeridge 2-3, BB, RBI;

Boy…

20 walks in his last 21 innings and 7.2 per nine innings for the whole season (2056: 4.6) ended Craig Kniep’s tenure on the roster in the week of his 26th birthday. Yay, another failed baseball life story on the Alley Cats…!

IF he made it there. He had no options – but we also had no options, because he was walking everything with arms and legs or without any of those, and it couldn’t go on like that!

Somehow, Kniep’s demise yoinked Brobeck from Saturday’s start, since Ornelas was still out injured and blocking a roster spot and the Raccoons thus went for a spot (?) starter in Josh Mayo, who lined up with Saturday *perfectly* and kept Brobeck in reserve. That also meant Brobeck remained in the lineup. So, in essence, Kniep pitching like arse cost Danny Espinoza about ten at-bats on the weekend.

Baseball. It makes no sense. But please keep coming for those $35 hot dogs you crave so much!

Raccoons (28-25) vs. Indians (26-25) – June 1-3, 2057

The Portland Clueless hosted the Arrowheads on the weekend, who ranked seventh in runs scored and ninth in runs allowed in the league. They had a -17 run differential. Somehow, they were only three games out. The season series was even at three.

Projected matchups:
Seisaku Taki (4-5, 4.26 ERA) vs. Jeremy Fetta (4-4, 5.33 ERA)
Josh Mayo (0-0) vs. Fernando Salazar (3-4, 6.28 ERA)
Kennedy Adkins (6-4, 2.20 ERA) vs. Bill Lawrence (4-4, 4.55 ERA)

The Indians had played a double header on Tuesday, and Thursday had been off, meaning they had two regular-rest options for Sunday. One was Lawrence, the other was Juan Vasquez (1-1, 4.40 ERA). All four candidates were righties; the sole southpaw in that rotation, Shane Fitzgibbon (3-5, 3.61 ERA) had pitched on Wednesday.

Game 1
IND: 2B Kilday – SS Mullen – 1B B. Quinteros – CF Oldfield – 3B A. Rios – LF O. Ramos – RF McIntyre – C Villafan – P Fetta
POR: 1B Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Brassfield – CF Abercrombie – 3B Brobeck – C Chavez – RF Puckeridge – 2B Allred – P Taki

Four batters into the bottom 1st the Raccoons had a 3-0 lead. Callaia had drawn a walk, and Lonzo and Brass both flicked singles, the latter bringing home Callaia with a run. A double steal attempt led to a throwing error by freshly made Rookie of the Month Willie Villafan, Lonzo scored, Brass went to third, and then came home on a deep sac fly to center by Abercrombie. The score remained true through the middle of five; Taki had one of his finer outings, scattering four singles while also getting two double play grounders, and struck out six batters through five. The Raccoons loaded the bases with the 2-3-4 batters to begin the bottom 5th against Fetta, who was on five walks and a clueless expression on the hill. True to form, the Coons got a Brobeck sac fly to go up 4-0 and absolutely nothing else. Brobeck brought home Lonzo again in the sixth, though, this time with Lonzo drawing a walk, stealing second, and reaching third base on Brass’ fly to center. Abercrombie was walked intentionally before Brobeck singled through the right side, 5-0. Chavez nearly took righty Jeff Caldwell deep to right, but had his drive picked at the fence by Orlando Ramos, and Pucks grounded out. A 1-out double to right by Matt Kilday as about as much threat as the Indians had put up all day, and it came in the eighth inning. Dan Mullen grounded out poorly to prevent an advance, but Bill Quinteros jammed a 1-2 pitch into play with an emergency hack, then legged it out for a single. The Raccoons protested that the ball first bounced in the batter’s box, but to no avail. Cory Oldfield then grounded out to third base on Taki’s 99th pitch for the third out of the inning. Just seven more pitches sealed the deal in the ninth inning. 5-0 Furballs! Lavorano 2-4, BB; Brassfield 2-4, RBI; Abercrombie 0-1, 2 BB, RBI; Taki 9.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K, W (5-5);

This was Taki’s fifth career shutout and 16th complete game, and his second complete game this year.

No more shutouts this year for Ivan Ornelas (0-1, 5.26 ERA), however – the 28-year-old was diagnosed with bone chips in his elbow that needed scraping out and was likely done for the season. He was off to the DL. The Raccoons brought up the next master of disaster in line: Colby Bowen.

All of this while we were opposite a true barrel burster from last season, Fernando Salazar, who would totally throw a 3-hit shutout against the Coons now. Abercrombie and Lonzo had a day off.

Game 2
IND: 2B Kilday – SS Mullen – 1B B. Quinteros – CF Abel – 3B A. Rios – RF McIntyre – C Villafan – LF O. Ramos – P F. Salazar
POR: 1B Callaia – 2B Allred – LF Brassfield – 3B Brobeck – C Chavez – CF Caballero – RF Puckeridge – SS Espinoza – P Mayo

The game didn’t get going all to well for the Brownshirts, and not because of Mayo, who allowed a single to Quinteros in the first, but bigger pitchers had been hurt worse by Quinteros in the last 15 days… No, it was a leadoff double by Callaia that brought trouble about. Allred struck out, but Brassfield singled to center, and Callaia went for home, but stumbled with 20 feet to go and then fell hard into catcher Willie Villafan. The noisy collision left Callaia lying on the ground on his back and getting punched out by the umpire. It took two people to get Callaia off the field, and the Raccoons eventually moved Brassfield to first base, Caballero to left, and entered Steve Royer into centerfield. Brobeck then singled home Brassfield, who had reached second base in the commotion at home plate. Josh Mayo drove in a run before he gave one up, hitting a sac fly in the bottom 2nd after a Pucks double and an error by Antonio Rios on Espinoza’s grounder had put a pair on the corners with one out. Caballero mashed his first homer of the year – well, with six weeks on the DL – in the bottom 3rd, a 2-piece to right to double the score. Mayo singled in the fourth, but was forced out by Royer. Allred and Brass got on base, bringing up Brobeck with three on and two outs. Salazar soon got to two strikes in the at-bat, then left a hanger in the zone and Brobeck drilled it for a bases-clearing double. Right-hander Matt Green replaced Salazar, but gave up his eighth run with an RBI single to Chavez. It was the third and final inning in a row that the Raccoons doubled the score in this game.

Mayo had been nice through four, but then walked Orlando Ramos to begin the fifth inning, then mishandled Green’s bunt, trying to get an out at second base and getting no out at all. Matt Kilday grounded into a fielder’s choice, but Dan Mullen singled in a run and Mayo balked home another to narrow the score to 8-2. Mayo barely made it through six innings, offering two walks in his last frame and leaving the bases loaded when he put the K in Kilday, but then Indy’s Jeff Caldwell also failed the bases full in the bottom 6th. He struck out Espinoza for the second out, but Abercrombie singled in a pair batting for Mayo. An 8-run game sounded like the perfect environment for Colby Bowen to pitch in, and he put up two scoreless while putting two Indians on base, one with his awful pitching and one with his awful defense. Straight doubles by Pucks, Espinoza, and Lonzo put two more runs on Indy’s Chris Edwards in the bottom 8th, but Alex Mancilla (grumble grumble) gave a run back in the ninth with two hits by Indy. 12-3 Furballs! Callaia 1-1, 2B; Brassfield 2-4, BB; Brobeck 3-4, BB, 2B, 4 RBI; Caballero 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Puckeridge 3-4, BB, 2 2B; Abercrombie (PH) 1-1, 2 RBI; Lavorano (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI; Bowen 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

Callaia was in discomfort on Sunday and was not in the lineup. Judging Luis Silva’s concerned look that could become a more permanent situation.

Game 3
IND: C Villafan – SS Mullen – 1B B. Quinteros – CF Abel – 3B A. Rios – RF McIntyre – 2B Bahena – LF O. Ramos – P B. Lawrence
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – RF Brassfield – LF Abercrombie – 3B Brobeck – C Chavez – 1B Puckeridge – 2B Allred – P Adkins

Adkins was trying to put the sweep into the books, but walked Villafan to begin the game on Sunday. Mullen found the double play, but Quinteros singled and the inning only ended with a K to Kevin Abel. The Raccoons dragged their hindpaws initially, but Allred and Royer reached the corners in the third inning just in time for Lonzo to put a 1-0 lead on the board with a sac fly to right. Brassfield grounded out. Allred singled in the 2-0 run with two outs in the fourth after Brobeck and Pucks had drawn walks from Lawrence. Adkins struck out, however. He also struck out on the hill – six Indians through five innings – although after three calm frames the fifth saw Rios open with a single and then Will McIntyre drew a walk, all with nobody out. Bernie Bahena’s grounder, Orlando Ramos’ pop, and a K to Lawrence ended the inning without a run scoring.

But everything fell to pieces once more in the sixth inning. The Indians found singles from Villafan, who was forced out by Mullen, and Quinteros, and then Rios rammed a 2-out double through Brobeck to score both runners and tie the game. McIntyre grounded out to third base after that.

When Pucks was at second base with one out in the bottom 7th, Adkins was not pinch-hit for this time. He also struck out, but Royer got the go-ahead run home with a single to right-center, 3-2. Lonzo whiffed to leave Royer on, but Adkins went to town on the 1-2-3 batters in the eighth inning, striking out Villafan and Mullen and popping out Quinteros to Allred to complete his day’s work. Lefty Bill Dewan walked Brass and allowed a single to Brobeck in the bottom 8th to put a pair on the corners with one out. Caballero and Pucks both popped out rather unhelpfully, and so Walters was in the ninth without a cushion for the first time since blowing a 2-0 lead on Tuesday very loudly. This one, he didn’t, ending with a K to PH Kevin Price after two grounders to Lonzo and a Bahena single. 3-2 Critters. Royer 2-4, RBI; Brobeck 2-4; Allred 1-2, BB, RBI; Adkins 8.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 10 K, W (7-4);

In other news

May 28 – WAS C Chris Gowin (.204, 3 HR, 24 RBI) leads the charge in the Capitals’ 20-5 win over the Warriors, dishing out six hits, including a homer and a double, and driving in a whopping eight runs to hopefully overcome early-season struggles.
May 28 – RIC OF/2B Manny Cooke (.218, 5 HR, 20 RBI) lands a double for the Rebs’ only base hit in a 5-0 loss to the Pacifics’ Andy Overy (5-3, 1.57 ERA) and Jason Posey (2-1, 1.04 ERA, 7 SV).
May 29 – The 21-game hitting streak of Miners INF Victor Corrales (.339, 8 HR, 40 RBI) ends with an 0-for-3 day in a 4-3 win over the Wolves.
May 29 – The Blue Sox beat the Stars, 10-8 in 15 innings, while elsewhere in the Federal League, the Rebels walk off against the Pacifics, 7-6 in 14 innings, on a home run by RF/LF Willie Sanchez (.340, 11 HR, 29 RBI).
May 30 – Falcons SP Art Schaeffer (7-2, 3.35 ERA) strikes out nine and throws a 1-hit shutout against the Indians for a 7-0 win.
June 1 – Shoulder soreness sends DEN SP Terry Herman (7-3, 3.53 ERA) to the DL for the next two months.
June 1 – The Warriors acquire outfielder Rick Colwill (.289, 1 HR, 14 RBI) from the Cyclones for MR Juan Rivera (3-1, 3.41 ERA).
June 2 – ATL SP Enrique Ortiz (4-1, 3.76 ERA) could miss two weeks with back soreness.

FL Player of the Week: LAP RF Matt Diskin (.381, 8 HR, 32 RBI), hitting .538 (14-26) with 1 HR, 3 RBI
CL Player of the Week: MIL CF Steve Valenzano (.260, 3 HR, 30 RBI), scattering .500 (10-20) with 1 HR, 7 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: RIC RF/LF Willie Sanchez (.343, 12 HR, 33 RBI), bashing .342 with 9 HR, 21 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: CHA RF/LF Danny Ceballos (.356, 9 HR, 33 RBI), hitting .377 with 6 HR, 13 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: LAP SP Andy Overy (5-3, 1.57 ERA), going 4-1 with a 0.93 ERA, 34 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: POR SP Kennedy Adkins (6-4, 2.20 ERA), putting down a 5-0 mark in 6 games, with 1.48 ERA, 29 K
FL Rookie of the Month: DEN C Andre Monroe (.296, 3 HR, 9 RBI), hitting .325 with 1 HR, 6 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: IND C Willie Villafan (.263, 3 HR, 24 RBI), flicking .315 with 2 HR, 16 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The Raccoons went almost undefeated this week and snuggled up into second place, two games behind the Crusaders – who are also next to ring the doorbell here at Raccoons Ballpark for three games starting on Monday. The Wolves will pay a visit on the weekend.

Craig Kniep went unclaimed and was assigned to AAA on Sunday. I wish I could claim I had a plan going forwards but I very much have not. Ornelas had been an option I liked to fling on the board just to say something, but that’s off the table with him having gotten his elbow sliced up on Saturday. Brobeck is atrocious. But we need a warm body to start against the Crusaders, and we need it Tuesday. There’s the rumor going round that Ramon Carreno, a $24k signing out of Venezuela in ’51, will make his ABL debut on Tuesday. All I can say for now is that he’s been yoinked from his scheduled start for the Alley Cats *today*. The only other (rested or restable for Tuesday) options would be Ryan Wade (5+ ERA)… and does anybody remember Cameron Argenziano…?

Also, yes, we’re only two games out. It feels like we have way more trouble than a team two games out.

Also, yes, I have noticed Gaudencio Callaia’s limp on the way to the snack cabinet. Don’t – … I don’t want to talk about it.

Let’s talk about something nicer, like Lonzo scooping bases! …although his success% this year was everything but great (57%)… But he nipped nine bases in the last four weeks, which jumped him two spots on the leaderboard, including over active Omar Gonzalez, who stole three. Alex Adame got two.

7th – Oscar Mendoza – 494
8th – Moromao Hino – 485
9th – Hugo Acosta – 476
t-10th – Jesus Banuelas – 474
t-10th – Jon Ramos – 474
12th – Lorenzo Lavorano – 467 – active
13th – Omar Gonzalez – 464 – active
14th – Diego Rodriguez – 460 – HOF
15th – Martin Ortíz – 457 – HOF
16th – Alex Adame – 456 – active

Hino spent all of his 15-year career in the Federal League with the Cyclones and Stars, winning five Gold Gloves and seven stolen base titles. His season-high was 53 in 1996, but he wasn’t a very great batter, mostly hitting for pedestrian averages with the occasional pop, mashing 20+ homers twice in a season. He had an excellent eye, however, drawing triple-digit walks a few times, which made him a quite elite leadoff man.

Oscar Mendoza, playing from 2028 through 2041 for the Pacifics and then a scattering of teams in his last years, was from the same mold, but with an even better .384 career OBP. He stole 63 bases in 2031 for his career-high, and won the FL stolen base title three times. He also took two Gold Gloves, three Platinum Sticks, and three championship rings. He somehow managed to lead the league in walks AND strikeouts several times – once even in the same year! In 2031, he had 317 true outcomes, batting .255/.408/.376 with 12 homers, 143 walks, and 162 strikeouts.

Lonzo doesn’t have 143 walks FOR HIS CAREER.

Fun Fact: Last week’s 4-2 win over the Condors was the franchise’s 6,800th regular season win.

Sean Sweeton pitched six innings of 2-run ball for that.