[Westheim]

Raccoons (78-77) @ Loggers (76-79) – September 24-27, 2063

There was yet still time and opportunity to fumble enough games to the Loggers to not only lose another season series to them – so far tied at seven – but to also tuck in behind them and finish fifth in the North for the year. Milwaukee had scored the second-most runs this season among the CL teams, but had also come up with the third-most runs allowed and a +3 run differential. Starter Oliver Graham and regular infielders Fidel Carrera and Dave Robles were on the DL to end the season.

Projected matchups:
Angel Alba (12-12, 3.71 ERA) vs. Tony Espinosa (14-10, 3.66 ERA)
Chance Fox (8-10, 3.64 ERA) vs. Vincent Hernandez (11-9, 3.72 ERA)
Tyler Riddle (12-5, 3.51 ERA) vs. Jesus Hinojosa (4-2, 2.93 ERA)
Josh Elling (10-12, 4.13 ERA) vs. Girolamo Pizzichini (5-5, 4.48 ERA)

We expected to see two left-handers first, then two right-handers after that.

Game 1
POR: RF Campos – SS Lavorano – 2B Monck – 1B Kozak – LF Crumble – C Arellano – 3B Morales – CF Ayala – P Alba
MIL: LF Franks – CF Merrill – C Guitreau – 1B C. Ramirez – SS D. Miller – RF D. Wright – 3B C. Sullivan – 2B Reber – P T. Espinosa

The Raccoons took a quick 2-0 lead on a Lonzo single and Jack Kozak’s 16th homer of the year, but Alba fumbled half of it right back to the Loggers by allowing leadoff singles to center to Scott Franks and Jonathan Merrill in the bottom 1st, then a 1-out walk to Cesar Ramirez after a groundout by Tommy Guitreau. Danny Miller then hit a sac fly, while Dave Wright struck out. The Raccoons replied with a second-inning run out of Vic Morales’ leadoff walk and a Campos single, then continued with a walk drawn by Kozak with one out in the top 3rd, followed by Espinosa hitting Crumble with a pitch. Arellano flew out, but Morales singled home Kozak from second base, 4-1. Felix Ayala struck out to strand runners on the corners. And then Angel Alba managed to blow all of *that* by getting savaged for five hits and three runs in the bottom of the same inning, which started with a Merrill triple to left-center, and continued with Guitreau’s RBI double to left, and then three singles by Cesar Ramirez, Wright, and Kyle Reber. Back to square one then.

After that barrage of runs, the game remained tied at four for the entirety of the middle innings thanks to three double plays hit into – two by the Coons’ Lonzo and Kozak – and the Loggers turning down an opportunity to run circles around Hachiro Yokoyama, who replaced Alba after five soggy innings and allowed a leadoff single to Chris Sullivan in the bottom 6th, but then somehow worked his way outta there. Lonzo then hit another leadoff single in the seventh… and Rich Monck hit into another double play. Pohlmann offered a scoreless inning before Arellano hit a leadoff double off right-hander Randy Birnbaum in the top 8th, and then was not moved an inch by a parade of Morales, Jose Corral, and Ben Morris.

The Dingerman kept the game tied in the bottom 8th, and the Raccoons began the ninth with a shy leadoff single by Marco Campos off closer Brad Walker. Campos took off and stole his 20th base of the year before Lonzo popped out, which then prompted the Loggers to walk Rich Monck intentionally. Campos took off again and Monck’s whiskers twitched, and he went along with him. Guitreau didn’t see the easy pickings and instead threw to third base, where Campos just slithered in under Sullivan’s tag, while Monck plunged into second base for his first stolen base of the season – and in three years overall. Kozak whiffed, but Malik Crumble broke the tie with a 2-out, 2-run single to center before Arellano grounded out. The Raccoons then shrugged and gave the 6-4 lead to Matt Walters, who put the leadoff man on base for Milwaukee as Kyle Reber singled, then also walked Roberto Arcos. Franks grounded out, advancing the runners into scoring position. The game ended on a pinch-hit homer to left by Tyler Gilliam. 7-6 Loggers. Campos 2-4, BB, RBI; Lavorano 2-5; Crumble 2-4, 2 RBI; Arellano 2-5, 2B; Morales 1-2, BB, RBI;

If we can ever sort out our ******* pitching in the ninth inning, then maybe we can get somewhere next season.

And also the eight innings before *that*…

This blown save and loss were the mathematical nail in the coffin for the Raccoons’ playoff bid, although going 19-36 since July 27 in general was more of the bigger picture.

Game 2
POR: CF Morris – RF Campos – SS Monck – 1B Kozak – LF Crumble – 3B Morales – 2B White – C Lawson – P Fox
MIL: LF Franks – CF Merrill – C Guitreau – RF C. Ramirez – SS D. Miller – 2B Reber – 3B C. Sullivan – 1B J. Jackson – P V. Hernandez

Morris started Tuesday’s game with a single and his 30th stolen base before scoring on a Monck single to right-center, which was the 108th RBI of ’63 for Rich Monck. Morris then drove in two runs himself with two outs in the top 2nd after White and Lawson singles and a Ramirez error in the inning. Fox retired the Loggers in order in the first before allowing a single to Ramirez and a 2-out double off the wall to Sullivan in the bottom 2nd, but luckily Ramirez was a trundling baserunner and had to stop at third base, and Jake Jackson’s grounder to Morales ended the inning with the Raccoons still up 3-0. The Coons then also fudged a pair of hits by Kozak and Crumble in the third inning before Crumble hurt himself chasing down a drive by Franks in the bottom 3rd and left the game in favor of Jose Corral; Campos moved to leftfield for this.

The fourth was relatively calm and the Coons then loaded the bags in the fifth with Corral and Morales singles and a walk drawn by Jim White, all with one out, against the crowded Hernandez, who was by now on ten hits allowed for the day, but had the lineup working for him, since the Raccoons now brought up the battery. The chance was there, but Hernandez went up in flames as he allowed an RBI single to Lawson, failed to get Fox with two strikes and permitted him to hit an RBI groundout, and then was crashed for good when Morris singled home the remaining runners, 7-0.

Fox looked fine until he wasn’t, putting on the Loggers 2-through-5 batters starting with a 2-out infield single by Merrill in the bottom 6th. A walk and two RBI singles narrowed the score to 7-2, but Reber then popped out to Kozak. While Fox got another six outs after that to complete eight innings, he killed another one of his own outfielders along the way, as the next time Merrill was up he hit a liner to center that Ben Morris dove for and caught – but also burrowed himself a hole with his snout in the process and left the game in company of Luis Silva. He was replaced with Ayala. Jesse Dover got the ninth inning and allowed leadoff singles to Danny Miller and Kyle Reber, but then struck out the next two and finished the game when David Milian grounded out to White. 7-2 Critters. Morris 4-5, 4 RBI; Monck 2-5, RBI; Crumble 1-2; Corral 3-3; White 2-4, BB; Lawson 2-5, RBI; Fox 8.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W (9-10);

Luckily for Chance Fox, he’s not being docked performance points for the amount of teammates that break their little necks in pursuit of his silly mistakes travelling at a hundred miles an hour…

Neither of the two fallen outfielders was diagnosed by Wednesday, so the Raccoons played with an almost normal-sized bench in a late September game. However, Tony Gonzalez, whose AAA season was over, was summoned to Milwaukee for a potential latter-days roster appointment. He was the only non-recalled outfielder on a crammed 40-man roster.

Game 3
POR: CF Campos – SS Lavorano – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – LF Kozak – RF Corral – C Arellano – 2B Bean – P Riddle
MIL: LF Franks – CF Merrill – C Guitreau – RF C. Ramirez – SS D. Miller – 2B Reber – 3B C. Sullivan – 1B Gilliam – P Hinojosa

Both teams had three singles in two innings, but only the Loggers scored on them, packing all their singles into the bottom 2nd, along with a wild pitch lunked by Riddle, and that allowed Chris Sullivan to single home Ramirez and Miller for a 2-0 Milwaukee lead. Rich Monck cranked his 35th homer in the top 3rd, but it came with nobody on base and two outs.

Hardly anything meaningful occurred until Lonzo reached on an error to begin the fifth and Monck drew a walk after that, but three weak outs by Starr, Kozak, and Corral never even got them to third base, let alone score them. Riddle’s season ended that inning, though, giving up another pair of 2-out runs to Sullivan doubling over the head of Campos in center with Ramirez and Reber on base. Rich Read would finish the inning, Portland now down 4-1. Freddy Castillo pitched two scoreless innings after that, but Hinojosa went six and two thirds for Milwaukee and they patched the rest together with four different relievers without giving the Raccoons much of a sniff in those last three innings. 4-1 Loggers. Monck 3-3, BB, HR, RBI; Fowler (PH) 1-1; Castillo 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K;

By Thursday, we wrote off both Malik Crumble (sprained thumb) and Ben Morris (bruised kneecap) for the last four games of the season. Tony Gonzalez got a roster spot.

Game 4
POR: CF Campos – SS Lavorano – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – LF Kozak – RF Corral – C Arellano – 2B White – P Elling
MIL: LF Franks – CF Merrill – 1B C. Ramirez – SS D. Miller – RF D. Wright – 3B C. Sullivan – C Jack – 2B Garmon – P Pizzichini

Monck hit a double in the first but was pretty much alone with that, while in the second inning the Coons got 2-out singles from Arellano and White before Elling grounded to Sullivan, who threw the ball into the dugout for two bases and a run. “Pizza” Pizzichini walked Campos to fill the bases before Lonzo lined a ball to leftfield that dinked just in front of Scott Franks, who was kinda in-between, then got donked, also kinda in-between. As an outfielder, he wasn’t wearing a cup and went to his knees, while Lonzo had a 2-run single. Franks ended up leaving the game and was replaced with Roberto Arcos. Monck flew out to center, leaving two runners on base, but Portland was up 3-0 in a bid to tie the season series.

The lead only grew in the third inning when “Pizza” didn’t retire any of the first five Critters showing up at the dish, loading the bases with the 4-5-6 batters before Arellano and White both hit RBI singles, but Elling struck out. Campos hit another RBI single, but Lonzo struck out. Pizzichini was sliced for good when he walked Monck on four pitches to force in the Coons’ seventh run of the game, with right-hander Arend Verhoeven then getting Starr out to center to leave a full set of runners on base. Verhoeven then walked Kozak and was taken well deep by Jim White to extend the lead to 9-0 in the fourth.

The Portland offense calmed down after that while Josh Elling came within an inch of pressing his ERA for the year to juuuust under four until he was double-bonked for a pair of doubles and a seventh-inning run by catchers J.P. Jack and ex-Coon Marcos Chavez, and that was that. Top 8th, and right-hander Tim Newton allowed a leadoff single to Monck, a double to Starr, and gave a walk to PH Tony Gonzalez. Another walk to Corral gave the Critters double digits. Todd Oley batted for Arellano and got in a run on a groundout, and Jim White slapped his fifth hit of the day, an RBI single to right, before Cortez Chavez and Campos were retired by Dave Burnett to end the inning. That was it for offense for the Raccoons. The Loggers didn’t score anymore either, going down against Yokoyama and Josh Carlisle in the last two innings. 12-1 Raccoons! Monck 3-5, BB, 2B, RBI; Starr 2-6, 2B; Arellano 2-4, RBI; White 5-5, HR, 4 RBI; Elling 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 7 K, W (11-12) and 1-3, 2B;

Getting sent into the ninth inning with an 11-run lead, a.k.a. the death penalty for a fallen closer.

Raccoons (80-79) vs. Crusaders (86-73) – September 28-30, 2063

To make it short – the Crusaders came in, and they needed the bloody wins. All of them. The Titans had furiously swept the damn Elks for four games at home (only one game was even close) and the Crusaders had actually lost their series to the Indians, two games to one, with Indy nevertheless officially eliminated on Thursday. The Crusaders were now two games behind with three to play. The Titans would play against the Indians while we would try to do our actual best (makes unsure paw movement) against the New Yorkers, who ranked tops in runs scored in the CL (by a bunch), and fifth in runs allowed. Their .360 OBP also led the league, but their rotation was quite mediocre and ranked eighth in ERA. Even Ben Seiter had a really middling season – and he was nearly the best of the bunch by ERA.

Projected matchups:
Jeff Applegate (4-4, 2.54 ERA) vs. Ben Seiter (15-11, 3.60 ERA)
Angel Alba (12-12, 3.79 ERA) vs. Jeff Kozloski (7-6, 4.39 ERA)
Chance Fox (9-10, 3.58 ERA) vs. Erik Lee (10-14, 3.89 ERA)

Three right-handers to finish the season.

Game 1
NYC: SS O. Sanchez – C McLaren – 1B Austin – LF Cline – RF A. Romero – 2B Onelas – 3B V. Velez – CF Jes. Alvarez – P Seiter
POR: CF Campos – SS Lavorano – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – LF Kozak – RF Corral – 2B White – C C. Chavez – P Applegate

Appy spilled all his juice in the first inning, getting slammed around by the Crusaders for five hits and four runs. Omar Sanchez led off with a single, Matt McLaren drew a walk, and it was off to the races from there, with more singles by Jake Cline, Alex Romero, Vic Velez, and Jesus Alvarez. Sanchez singled, McLaren walked, and Aubrey Austin hit an RBI double in the top 2nd, and that was the end for Applegate right away… Pohlmann replaced him, but waved in the remaining runners, so Applegate was ultimately charged with seven runs in one inning-plus. Yay!

The game was basically over at that point. Seiter was sharp, drove in a run himself off Sensabaugh doing icky garbage relief in the fifth, and that was after Yokoyama had already given up another run in the fourth. The Raccoons were not remotely close to a run at any point against Seiter, let alone nine. In fact, Seiter went nine, and collected a 5-hit shutout. 9-0 Crusaders.

The Indians beat the Titans, 12-9 in 12 innings, so the Crusaders were now one back with two to play, and lusting for more Raccoon blood.

Game 2
NYC: SS O. Sanchez – RF A. Romero – 1B Austin – C McLaren – 2B Onelas – LF Menchaca – 3B V. Velez – CF Jes. Alvarez – P E. Lee
POR: CF Kozak – SS Lavorano – 2B Monck – 1B Starr – RF Corral – C Arellano – 3B Fowler – LF T. Gonzalez – P Alba

Tony Gonzalez’ sac fly put the Raccoons into the lead on Saturday, 1-0 in the second inning after hits by Arellano and Fowler ahead of him. The Crusaders loaded the bags in response with a leadoff single by Jesus Alvarez in the top 3rd, another single by Omar Sanchez, and Alba walking Alex Romero. However, Aubrey Austin crucially struck out and Matt McLaren made the third out to Fowler. Kozak and Lonzo began the bottom 3rd with a pair of singles. Kozak went to third base on the latter hit, and a throwing error by Alvarez allowed him to score, 2-0. The middle of the order then stranded Lonzo at third base.

Of note, this was a day game while the Titans were scheduled to play at night on the East Coast, so if the Crusaders lost they might be eliminated while watching TV later on. Thankfully for them, Angel Alba decided to forego four strong innings and what looked like a strong departure into the winter by nicking Lee – of all people – and giving up a 2-out homer to Romero and tie the game in the fifth inning. He then went on to finish seven innings, but had to settle for a no-decision since the rest of the team didn’t look like they could score another run this year.

Luckily for Lee and the rest of the New York bunch, they then ran into the Dingerman and a comedy of errors by the Raccoons in the eighth inning. McLaren hit a 1-out single in the inning before PH Sean Zeiher reached base when Nick Dingman dropped a feed by Starr at first. Dingman went on to nail Eddie Menchaca, then gave up a two runs on a pinch-hit double by Tristan Waker before removal in favor of Carrillo, who retired Jake Cline and Mike Seidman to finish the inning. Jose Corral’s homer in the bottom 8th pulled only half of that gap back, and Jason Rhodes retired the Critters in order in the bottom of the ninth. 4-3 Crusaders. Kozak 2-5; Corral 2-4, HR, RBI; Arellano 2-4; Alba 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K and 1-2;

With this loss the Coons would not be able to post a winning record anymore after being as much as 17 games over .500 at one point.

SEVENTEEN.

The Titans won later on, 4-3 in 11 innings, walking off on the Indians on Eddie Marcotte’s 43rd homer of the year, so the Crusaders had another must-win scenario on Sunday, which if achieved would also hand the Coons consecutive losing seasons for the first time since 2056-57.

Meanwhile in the South the Condors and Thunder arrived on Closing Day tied for first. The Thunder had to play the third-place Knights, while the Condors had the easier target with the last-place Falcons.

Foxie Brown would try to get the Coons to .500 for the year and then – plot twist – it rained on Sunday and the game couldn’t be played. So instead of watching their own elimination on TV on Saturday night, the Crusaders watched the Titans drop a 3-1 game to the Indians on Sunday, which meant that they could force a tie-breaker game by winning their make-up game with the Coons on Monday.

As an aside, winning the make-up game would give the Coons the 12th-best record and thus an unprotected #13 pick next year in the draft, while losing would tie them with the Pacifics, and we know our luck of the draw, so we might just as well go out and win the bloody thing.

Game 3
NYC: SS O. Sanchez – C McLaren – 1B Austin – LF Cline – RF A. Romero – 2B Onelas – 3B V. Velez – CF Jes. Alvarez – P Kozloski
POR: LF Kozak – SS Lavorano – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – RF Corral – C Arellano – 2B Bean – CF Oley – P Fox

The weather was still adversarial on Monday, and Chance Fox gave up a 2-out double in each of the first two innings without conceding a run. The skies then conceded enough rain for an hour-long rain delay in the middle of the third inning. The pitchers returned afterwards, and Fox gave up the run the Crusaders definitely needed when he offered a leadoff walk to Jake Cline and then a single to Romero in the fourth. Cline went to third and scored on Marcos Onelas’ fielder’s choice grounder, while Vic Velez hit into a double play. Monck’s error put Alvarez on base to begin the fifth, but Kozloski hit into a double play and Fox got through the inning, then was hit for to begin the bottom 5th. Nick Fowler singled in his spot, and Kozak narrowly lobbed another single over Onelas’ reaching glove for a threat. Lonzo whiffed against Kozloski, who then hung a breaking ball to Rich Monck, who thanked him very much for ammo for his 36th longball of the year, and that one gave Portland (and Foxie) a 3-1 lead…! Starr followed up with a single and then Corral hit another jack, his tenth of the year, to even make it 5-1! That was the end for Kozloski, who was replaced with ex-Critter Kevin Hitchcock, who found a way out of the big inning.

Thankfully for the Crusaders, the Raccoons then chose to employ the Dingerman in the sixth inning, who allowed a single to McLaren, and a dinger to Aubrey Austin, 5-3… The Dingerman allowed another single to Alvarez to begin the seventh, then was replaced with McDaniel, who got three lefty bats out in order.

Rousing excitement then in the seventh inning for Portland, as Lonzo, who was unofficially out of the door with the season’s conclusion, amid a whole wall of cardboards expressing thanks for his services held up by the thin Monday afternoon crowd, hit a leadoff single off Kody Mello and stole one more base, the 752nd of his career. It was actually a steal of third base after Starr walked behind him and who tagged along for his first steal of the season. The Crusaders were in trouble now, down two, with two in scoring position and only one out. They walked Corral intentionally to set up forces, then couldn’t turn two on Arellano’s grounder to short, where Omar Sanchez’ only play was at first. Lonzo scored to the roar of the crowd, 6-3, while Vic Morales batted for the pitcher, but struck out to leave two in scoring position.

Carrillo gave the run right back in the eighth on a leadoff double by Austin and Cline’s RBI single, but kept that second runner on base with three straight outs after that. Jim White – also widely and probably correctly presumed to be a goner after two seasons of odd service with the team – then pinch-hit for Oley against Mello to begin the bottom 8th and socked a farewell homer to left, re-establishing a 3-run lead. Fowler and Tony Gonzalez made outs before Lonzo came to the plate once more, with everybody in the ballpark standing – except for Cristiano Carmona, that bum! – and clapping paws. He popped out to Onelas, but they kept clapping anyway! That was also the end for him, since White replaced him in the field for D in the ninth inning. Jesse Dover got the ball for a save opportunity, facing the 8-9-1 batters. Alvarez grounded out to White. Tristan Waker lined out to White. Omar Sanchez hit a bouncer back to Dover, and the flip to first ended the Crusaders’ season. 7-4 Furballs!! Monck 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Starr 1-2, 2 BB; White (PH) 1-1, HR, RBI; Fowler (PH) 2-3;

Tee-hee!!

In other news

September 24 – The Aces and Falcons don’t score in regulation, with Las Vegas prevailing 1-0 in ten innings instead.
September 26 – SFW SP Ricardo Montoya (12-8, 2.59 ERA) and two relievers throw a combined 2-hit shutout for a 6-0 win against the Scorpions, who get both of their two hits from C Andre Monroe (.225, 2 HR, 14 RBI).
September 27 – Making full use of expanded rosters, the Condors beat the Knights, 6-5 in 19 innings. Both teams score a run each in the 12th and 15th innings before Tijuana walks off in the bottom of the 19th on a single by 1B Leonardo Jimenez (.400, 1 HR, 5 RBI), a 25-year-old September call-up. 57 players are used in this game, with the Condors using 11 pitchers alone.
September 30 – DAL SP Alex Quevedo (20-4, 2.17 ERA) wins the FL Pitching Triple Crown when his own teammate Ray “Crabman” Walker (20-6, 2.88 ERA) loses a 2-1 game to the Gold Sox on Closing Day.
September 30 – The Thunder clinch the CL South on Closing Day with a 6-3 win against the Knights, while the Condors fall to the Falcons, 6-2.
September 30 – The Blue Sox manage to lose another key player for the playoffs as OF/1B Tony Roman (.239, 19 HR, 47 RBI) is hit in the face with a pitch on Closing Day and is out with a broken cheekbone.

FL Player of the Week:
CL Player of the Week:

Complaints and stuff

While Alex Quevedo won a Triple Crown in the Federal League, in the Continental League Mike DeWitt and Jason Brenize managed to split the categories between them. DeWitt posted the best ERA, but finished second to Brenize in strikeouts (Brenize came second in ERA by 0.11 runs), but was two short in wins, a category also taken by Brenize by one W over Tijuana’s Marco Clemente.

The Raccoons are looking at a winter of departures, because longtime Critters like Matt Walters and dear Lonzo are just washed at this point and will not be brought back. Lonzo finishes his 2,002 games career (probably!) as a pretty dismal batter, but he’s the career leader in stolen bases and for all we know about me I’ll bugger everybody to put him into the Hall of Fame based on that alone. He even won a Gold Glove once, when he was 24, and when Jose Corral was in third grade.

If Lonzo actually retires, he also does so as the franchise leader in triples (119), and his 2,002 games played make him the second Critter to show up with pants on at least 2,000 times behind Daniel “Dan The Man” Hall (2,021), Manny Fernandez (2,120), “Berto” Ramos (2,216), Jesus Maldonado (2,282), and the unforgettable Matt Nunley (2,545), who also won a Gold Glove at the age of 39, which isn’t gonna be something Lonzo will achieve in this life anymore.

Overall, not too shabby for something the scout dragged in! (dips eyes with a handkerchief)

Rich Monck ended up with 36 home runs for the year, fourth-best in a single season in franchise history behind Troy Greenway’s 42 in ’38, and the pair of 38’s posted by Royce Green and Hugo Mendoza before him. His 113 RBI didn’t make the franchise top 10 – he would have needed two more to match Mark Dawson’s 115 from the olden days of 1988.

Reminder that Monck was still on the “you owe us” phase of his contract signed with the Cyclones and only made $1.6M, showing up fourth on the $/WAR table behind Corral, Alba, and Arellano, who were all making the minimum.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons failed to win any season series against the CL North opposition for the second straight season.

…and they did so for the first time ever, although they managed to go two-outta-three in their sodden early days. Below are all the seasons in which the Raccoons failed to beat any CL North team at least ten times in one season, with the total record in those games and their best showing in those years:

2063: 39-51 with a best of 9-9 (MIL, VAN)
2062: 33-57 with a best of 7-11 (MIL, IND, NYC)
2052: 34-56 with a best of 8-10 (MIL, NYC, BOS)
2032: 41-49 with a best of 9-9 (MIL, VAN)
2005: 35-55 with a best of 9-9 (IND)
2000: 37-53 with a best of 9-9 (IND, NYC)
1981: 38-52 with a best of 9-9 (MIL, NYC)
1979: 33-57 with a best of 9-9 (VAN)

No surprise that the Decade of Darkness also features prominently, and then 2032, the year where we quite legendarily couldn’t find any pitching at all.