Portland Raccoons (ABL)

[Westheim]

Raccoons (68-62) vs. Thunder (57-74) – August 27-29, 2057

Lots of playing out the string here. The Thunder were up 4-2 on the season series, while sitting seventh in runs scored, tenth in runs allowed, and fifth in the CL South. For being 17 games under .500, they had a relatively mild -40 run differential.

Projected matchups:
Ramon Carreno (4-5, 5.01 ERA) vs. Aaron Harris (9-9, 3.43 ERA)
Justin DeRose (2-1, 3.68 ERA) vs. Tan Brink (10-8, 3.38 ERA)
J.J. Sensabaugh (1-2, 4.97 ERA) vs. Eric Barnes (3-1, 5.06 ERA)

The Thunder had two left-handed starters, and we would not see any of them.

The Raccoons still had an even shorter bench than usual, since Todd Oley was suspended for two more games.

Game 1
OCT: SS Almadanim – 3B Soberanes – CF D. Guzman – RF M. Harmon – 2B Ban – C Korfhage – LF Weant – 1B de la Roca – P A. Harris
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – CF Abercrombie – 1B Brassfield – RF Griggs – C Zamora – LF Johnson – 3B Espinoza – P Carreno

Ed Soberanes’ homer got the Thunder in the lead two batters into the game, but the Coons would make that deficit up in unearned fashion. Jonathan Ban’s throwing error put Labonte on base to begin the bottom 1st. Lonzo singled and Abercrombie grounded out get Labonte around to score. The Thunder came back with three 2-out singles in a row from their 3-4-5 batters in the top 3rd to grab a new 2-1 lead, and Carreno wasn’t really fooling anybody, giving up seven hits total in just three innings. But the Coons also got three singles in the bottom 3rd to tie the game with two outs, the hits coming from Labonte, Lonzo, and Brassfield. Griggs’ grounder to Ban ended the inning, however.

Carreno wobbled on, giving up singles to Soberanes and Danny Guzman in the fifth inning, then walked Jonathan Ban on four pitches with two down in the inning. The bullpen was warmed up at this point, since Carreno was hard to watch, but Mitch Korfhage popped out just before we could launch a lefty from the pen to face Tim Weant. Carreno then retired the 7-8-9 batters in order in the sixth inning to finish the day. The Thunder instead got up against John Scott in the seventh inning. Will Buras led off with a double to right, while Guzman hit a double to left with one out to go up 3-2, and Mancilla and Herrera gave up another run in the eighth inning, giving up singles to Korfhage (the former) and Matt Cox (the latter) to put the 2-out run together. The string kept going in the ninth with Jonathan Ban’s sac fly off Reynaldo Bravo, who had given up a single to Guzman and a double to Mike Harmon. The Critters never got anywhere in terms of rallying; Zamora hit a single in the ninth, but that was about it. 5-2 Thunder. Labonte 3-4; Lavorano 2-4; Brassfield 2-4, RBI;

Game 2
OCT: SS Almadanim – 3B Soberanes – CF D. Guzman – RF M. Harmon – 2B Ban – C Korfhage – LF J. Mendoza – 1B de la Roca – P E. Barnes
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – RF Abercrombie – 1B Brassfield – 3B Brobeck – C Chavez – LF Johnson – 2B Bribiesca – P DeRose

I sighed when the Thunder went up in the first again, 1-0 on a Soberanes double off the wall, wild pitch, and Guzman’s sac fly against DeRose, who melted down with great hurrah in the second inning, just as the contents of my bottle of Capt’n Coma. Ban led off with a triple on the first pitch of the inning, scored on a single by Korfhage, and Jose Mendoza grounded out. Eddie de la Roca hit an RBI single, DeRose ****** Barnes’ bunt into an infield single with an attempt, charitably described as “ill-advised”, to get the lead runner at second base, Hélder Almadanim’s RBI single, and then, after a K to Soberanes, an RBI single by Guzman, with a second run scoring on a throwing error by Eiljah Johnson before Harmon finally grounded the **** out. 5-0. DeRose kept pitching anyway, because there wasn’t a way to cram enough tossers on a 25-man roster to cover for all his and the other turds’ ********.

Bribiesca’s walk, singles by Royer and Lonzo, and Abercrombie’s decently-placed groundout allowed the Raccoons to score two runs in the bottom 3rd, RBI’s for Lonzo and Abs, but when in the fourth a Brobeck double and another Ban error put a pair on the corners, Bribiesca smashed a ball into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play. While DeRose failed his way through six innings without allowing another run despite serving up two more leadoff doubles in the fourth and sixth innings, the Raccoons actually got the tying runs into scoring position in the bottom 6th. Abercrombie and Brassfield got on to begin the inning, and Johnson drove an RBI single to left with two outs to shorten the score to 5-3. Bribiesca flew out, though, and instead the Thunder ran away with the game in the eighth after Sencion and Scott walked the bags full, and they got a 2-run double from de la Roca and a pinch-hit RBI single from Tim Weant before Mike Lane entered to restore some semblance of order. The Raccoons found a weak reply with Brobeck plating Brassfield and his 1-out double in the bottom 8th, but after that immediately had Chavez hit into a double play, and Bribiesca hit into another ******* double play in the ninth inning. 8-4 Thunder. Lavorano 2-4, RBI; Brassfield 1-2, 2 BB, 2B; Brobeck 2-4, 2B, RBI; Johnson 2-4, RBI;

Game 3
OCT: SS Almadanim – 3B Soberanes – CF D. Guzman – 2B Ban – LF Weant – RF Buras – C T. Anderson – 1B de la Roca – P Brink
POR: 2B Labonte – 1B Royer – 3B Brobeck – RF Abercrombie – C Chavez – CF Oley – LF Johnson – SS Bribiesca – P Sensabaugh

Five Thunders stuffed four singles into Sensabaugh in the first inning, making it another 1-0 lead early on for Oklahoma City and also two outs on the base paths, Almadanim and Guzman both getting thrown out at the plate by Abercombie. For Portland, singles by Labonte, Royer, and Abercrombie loaded the bases in the bottom 1st, and more were to follow. Chavez singled to tie the game, and Todd Oley, fresh off the penalty bench, singled home two with a shot through the right side. Johnson singled to fill the bases again, but Bribiesca popped out and Sensabaugh grounded out. They both were productive in the third inning, though; Bribiesca hit a sac fly to cash in on Johnson’s 1-out triple, and then Sensabaugh singled to center with two outs and nobody on, but was left stranded on Labonte’s fly out. Johnson himself hit a sac fly in the fifth inning for the Coons’ fifth run, plating Marcos Chavez, who had whacked a double to left to begin the inning.

Strikeouts remained hard to come by for the apparently underdone Sensabaugh, but he had a few calm innings in between before giving up a home run to Soberanes in the sixth that narrowed the score to 5-2. He pitched into the seventh inning, then suddenly gave up a single to Jose Mendoza, a triple to Almadanim, and whacked Soberanes to have the tying runs on the corners with two outs in a 5-3 game. Eloy Sencion got a fly to Abercrombie from Danny Guzman to keep the Raccoons ahead. Sencion and Mancilla handled the eighth, although after Will Buras’ 2-out single and the pitching change Mancilla sure tried to give up a game-tying homer to Travis Anderson, light-hitting rookie catcher. Matt Walters handled the rest. 5-3 Raccoons. Labonte 2-4, BB, 2B; Chavez 2-4, 2B, RBI; Johnson 2-3, 3B, RBI;

Raccoons (69-64) vs. Loggers (73-60) – August 30-September 2, 2057

For whatever reason, the Raccoons couldn’t play against the Loggers this year. Of 11 games contested, we had won ONE. Milwaukee ranked fourth in runs scored and sixth in runs allowed with a +40 run differential and was nine games behind the Crusaders as of Thursday morning, but they had seven games left with the hapless Critters, so that already auto-won them to 5 1/2 games out…

Projected matchups:
Craig Kniep (4-4, 5.13 ERA) vs. Seisaku Taki (11-9, 3.99 ERA)
Kyle Brobeck (3-7, 5.55 ERA) vs. Julian Dunn (13-9, 4.02 ERA)
Ramon Carreno (4-5, 4.86 ERA) vs. Tyler Riddle (10-11, 3.27 ERA)
Justin DeRose (2-2, 4.21 ERA) vs. Sam Webb (7-5, 4.09 ERA)

After a string of right-handers, the Raccoons would face southpaws on Saturday and Sunday – unless the Loggers would celebrate September 1 with a roster-expansion surprise.

Game 1
MIL: CF Valenzano – 2B Garmon – LF Pigman – 1B D. Robles – RF Callaia – C Mi. Gilmore – SS Wartella – 3B Sostre – P Taki
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – LF Abercrombie – 1B Brassfield – C Chavez – RF Griggs – CF Oley – 3B Espinoza – P Kniep

Kniep was taken deep by Dave Robles for a 3-run homer inside 15 pitches, which was astounding on its own, following leadoff singles by Steve Valenzano and Corey Garmon. The Raccoons’ foremost master of disaster (and that was saying something!) went on to offer a walk to Taki in the second inning, singles to the 1-2 batters, a bases-loaded walk to Perry Pigman… and then got taken deep by Robles for the second consecutive inning, this time for a grand slam, after which the game could comfortably be written off as another soul-mauling L.

Was it a huge surprise that Kniep pitched another four innings in the lost cause, or was it an even bigger surprise that the Loggers got only one more run out of him on a Garmon homer with two outs in the sixth to get the score to 9-0? We *truly* didn’t care about individual results anymore, so in the interest of the actually valuable arms in the bullpen, please continue your absolute ***********, thank you. At the same time, Taki had a 1-hitter; he put the first two batters on base in the bottom 2nd, so there was legit hope for a Taki inning, but the Raccoons then raced to make three quick outs, and didn’t come close to scoring thereafter until Lonzo forced out Labonte and his 1-out single in the bottom 6th, but then stole second base… and was left there when Abercrombie grounded out to serial tater Robles. The Loggers didn’t make it double digits until Pigman hit a solo homer off John Scott in the ninth inning, and the Coons didn’t get Taki out of the game until there was one out in the bottom of the ninth, and then still didn’t ******* score against Roberto Navarro. 10-0 Loggers.

The funny thing is that we still have a winning record and a positive run differential (+28).

That was also the last game we played in August, since Friday brought persistent rain and the second game of the series was thus wiped out and pushed into a September 1 double header. The Loggers would stick to having Dunn in the first game of the double header, and since the Coons had only tossers left, they also didn’t have to switch Brobeck and Carreno.

There was a number of additions to the roster, however, because we definitely needed more garbage relievers. For pitchers, Argenziano had left his Friday start in St. Pete with an injury, so he was XXX’ed out from the depth chart, but we added Adam Harris, Colby Bowen, and Alex Rios, e.g. every reliever that was on the 40-man roster already, plus Ryan Wade, who would slide into the rotation after the weekend at the expense of Brobeck, Kniep, and everybody else, because they were all pitching like dog piss.

For position players we brought back Aaron Wade (yes, I will mix them up all the time), Carlos Solorzano, and also added Loggers prospect import Tony Benitez; the switch-hitter was batting .280 for St. Pete in 28 games. He was a natural right-handed hitter, so he wasn’t exactly what you’d hope to be the stronger side. Matt Stanton was brought back as token third catcher.

Game 2
MIL: CF Valenzano – 3B Gaxiola – LF Pigman – 1B D. Robles – RF Callaia – SS Wartella – C Dye – 2B Sostre – P Dunn
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – RF Abercrombie – 1B Brassfield – P Brobeck – C Zamora – CF Oley – RF Johnson – 3B Benitez

Brobeck was behind everybody, walked two, including Gaudencio Callaia with the bases loaded, and gave up a run on two hits in the first inning as the Raccoons’ remarkable run of cocking up a run in every top of the first this week continued relentlessly. Dunn pitched only one inning before leaving with an injury, and Brobeck pitched only four innings for being absolute dog ****. He walked six batters in those four innings, and gave up another run on a Matt Wartella single after a pair of 2-out walks to Robles and Callaia in the third inning. The Raccoons were getting no-hit by a potpourri of relievers in the meantime. Tony Benitez started his career 0-for-2 with the stick, but got an RBI for plating Todd Oley with a groundout in the bottom 5th; Oley had walked, advanced on a wild pitch and groundout, and found the way to home before Labonte grounded a ball back to the pitcher Sam Geren to end the inning. Milwaukee got that run back quick with Bill Sostre’s leadoff single against Tanizaki and after Herrera walked Robby Gaxiola, a 2-out RBI single from Pigman in the top of the sixth. I was getting headaches and nothing else.

Gaxiola’s throwing error put Lonzo on second base to begin the bottom 6th against Josh Costello, however, and Abercrombie wasted no time singling home the shortstop to shorten the score to 3-2. Brassfield flew out, but a wild pitch and a walk to Jake Griggs increased the pressure. Zamora hit into a fielder’s choice, but Oley drew another walk from Costello, bringing up Johnson with the bases loaded. The Loggers didn’t see the need for a left-hander against this rookie, and paid for it with a bases-clearing double into the left-center gap. Huzzah! Benitez then lined out to Sostre against Curt Rosato, leaving Elijah Johnson on base.

Callaia answered with a seventh-inning homer off Adam Harris. In the same inning, the Raccoons tried to corner Navarro; Labonte and Abercrombie reached base, and then Brassfield grounded to short. The good news was that Wartella was slow to the ball, threw poorly to first, and Brassfield was safe to load the bases. The bad news was that he also tweaked a hammy and had to leave the ballgame. Bribiesca pinch-ran, Royer pinch-hit for the pitcher, whiffed, and then Chavez batted for Zamora, but flew out to Pigman on the warning track, and all the precious runners were left stranded. Sencion defended the 5-4 lead with two strikeouts in a 1-2-3 inning against the top of the order in the eighth, ending a string of crikey outings for him, while Tony Benitez got his first base hit and another RBI in the bottom 8th when he doubled off Navarro to score Todd Oley for an insurance run. Matt Walters whiffed the Loggers in order to put the first game of the day away. 6-4 Coons. Brassfield 2-3, BB; Oley 1-2, 2 BB;

Trent Brassfield would miss at least a week with the tweaked hammy, further watering down an already pretty diluted lineup.

Game 3
MIL: CF Valenzano – 3B Gaxiola – LF Pigman – 1B D. Robles – RF Callaia – SS Wartella – C Mi. Gilmore – 2B Sostre – P Riddle
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – RF Griggs – LF Abercrombie – C Chavez – 2B Bribiesca – 3B Espinoza – 1B A. Wade – P Carreno

This time the Raccoons took a 1-0 lead in the first… even if only on a passed ball that scored Royer from third base while the 3-4-5 batters all croaked with a pair in scoring position as both Royer and Lonzo singled, and Lonzo stole second base, which put him at 499 for his career. To anybody’s surprise, Carreno held on to that precise score for a substantial distance, as it was still 1-0 in the bottom 5th, when Lonzo hit a 2-out single, and everybody was anxious to see what would happen. Riddle nominally had a great move, but he had already been fooled once by Lonzo in the game, and he was fooled again as Lonzo dashed first pitch, and managed to slide in just under the tag by Sostre – it had been done! 500 stolen bases for Lonzo’s career, at age 30! …and then Griggs struck out.

Carreno kept pitching until he inevitably gave up a game-tying homer to Mike Gilmore leading off the eighth inning, but then still finished that inning without allowing another base runner. The bottom 8th was a sad sight to see, while Mike Lane held the Loggers from scoring in the ninth. While Pigman hit a single, Robles found Lonzo for a double play in that inning, but the Raccoons got just that far themselves in the bottom 9th with two pinch-hitters. Zamora singled, and Labonte found the double play to send the game to extras. The Coons then inexplicably wound up with Mancilla in the top 10th, leading to a welt on Mike Gilmore and a pinch-hit RBI double by Kyle Kohlman for them to take the lead before Kelly Konecny grounded out to Espinoza at third base. Ramon Montes de Oca got the ball for the bottom 10th and allowed the tying run on base with a Royer single right away. Lonzo grounded to Robles, who fumbled the ball for an error. Griggs dorked into a double play, Abercrombie popped out, and it was just horrendous. 2-1 Loggers. Royer 2-5; Lavorano 2-5; Chavez 2-5; Zamora (PH) 1-1; Carreno 8.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K and 1-3;

The one time Carreno pitches nicely…

To my even greater annoyance, the Loggers vacated Southpaw Sunday for a serving of right-hander Adam Foley (10-11, 3.95 ERA). How dare they!!??

Game 4
MIL: CF Valenzano – 3B Gaxiola – LF Pigman – 1B D. Robles – SS Wartella – C Dye – RF Garmon – 2B Sostre – P Foley
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – RF Griggs – C Chavez – CF Oley – LF Johnson – 3B Benitez – 1B A. Wade – P DeRose

Labonte’s triple and Griggs’ single in the first and Johnson’s single, a wild pitch, groundout, and Wade’s sac fly in the second gave the Raccoons a 2-0 lead, but Sostre and Foley reached to begin the third inning for the Loggers, and both scored on a 2-out throwing error by Benitez that smelled like sabotage. Elijah Johnson’s 2-run homer in the fourth grabbed the 2-run lead back, and DeRose kept failing forwards bravely, and didn’t even allow a run in the sixth despite giving up three singles to Pigman, Robles, and Wartella. Pigman was caught stealing, and Jonathan Dye’s double play wrapped up the rest of the inning. Kohlman hit a homer pinch-hitting for Foley in the seventh, though, and Valenzano’s 2-out single knocked DeRose finally out of the 4-3 game. Callaia pinch-hit for Gaxiola before the Coons double-switched (Solorzano for Johnson) in Ricky Herrera in relief, and the inning ended with a K.

Lonzo was on the ends of double plays in the bottom 7th, when he killed the inning with a 6-4-3 grounder after Solorzano and Labonte had reached base, and the top 8th, when he started one himself to erase Pigman’s leadoff single. Wartella singled off Herrera with two outs, and Dye singled off Tanizaki to put runners on the corners. The Raccoons kept going to the well and got a groundout from Ryan Bishton to Tony Benitez from Adam Harris to bugger out of the inning, but instead Walters blew the lead in the ninth. Two outs were logged, but then Valenzano singled, stole second, and scored on Mike Gilmore’s single to level the score at four. Arf. Pigman whiffed, but there was no prize for that anymore. Bottom 9th, right-hander Dan Bell pitching: Benitez ripped a double to center as the first man up in the inning, offering a prime walkoff chance. Abercrombie’s day off ended to bat for Atrocious Wade (.105, 1 HR, 5 RBI), but the Loggers walked him intentionally. Solorzano’s scratch single then loaded the bases with nobody out. Oh goody goodness! (pats paws together excitedly) An even bittererer non-ending! What a treat we’re getting here! Nah, actually Labonte slapped a walkoff single through the hole on the very next pitch. 5-4 Raccoons. Labonte 3-5, 3B, RBI; Chavez 2-4; Johnson 3-3, HR, 2 RBI; Solorzano 1-1, BB; DeRose 6.2 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K;

In other news

August 27 – SFB 1B/C Jon Mittleider (.279, 5 HR, 39 RBI) could miss the rest of the season after suffering an intercostal strain.
August 28 – TOP SP Bill Hernandez (12-6, 3.50 ERA) throws a 3-hit shutout with seven strikeouts in a 4-0 win over the Wolves.
August 28 – CIN 1B Gabriel Brown (.274, 14 HR, 66 RBI) hits two home runs on a 4-hit, 6-RBI day to lead the Cyclones to an 18-2 home win over the Pacifics, in which Cincy scores in every inning but the second.
August 28 – Weasely NYC UT Omar Sanchez (.335, 0 HR, 36 RBI) sticks his hip out to get hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth to allow for a 6-5 walkoff win against the Aces’ MR Bill McDermott (4-5, 7.44 ERA).
August 29 – The Loggers beat the Falcons, 4-3 in 16 innings. The teams spread a total of 20 base hits across almost five hours of baseball.
August 29 – PIT 1B/RF/LF/2B Chris Jimenez (.200, 4 HR, 49 RBI) goes yard to give the Miners a 1-0 win over the Gold Sox.
August 31 – The Titans celebrate a 5-run rally in the bottom of the ninth for a 12-11 walkoff win over the Canadiens.
September 2 – Thunder OF/1B Mike Harmon (.243, 8 HR, 46 RBI) is out for the year after breaking his ankle.
September 2 – A broken foot ends the season of Titans OF/1B Hector Weir (.276, 0 HR, 32 RBI).
September 2 – VAN C Kevin Weese (.288, 7 HR, 38 RBI) goes deep to beat the Titans, 1-0.

FL Player of the Week: SFW 1B Miguel Medina (.281, 16 HR, 68 RBI), hitting .583 (14-24) with 2 HR, 7 RBI
CL Player of the Week: MIL C/1B Mike Gilmore (.288, 10 HR, 33 RBI), batting .533 (8-15) with 2 HR, 6 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: WAS LF/RF Dan Martin (.295, 19 HR, 60 RBI), hitting .377 with 5 HR, 16 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: IND RF/LF/1B Bill Quinteros (.301, 19 HR, 63 RBI), bashing .333 with 7 HR, 14 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: DAL SP Rich Morrall (10-13, 3.47 ERA), going 5-1 with a 1.79 ERA, 25 K in 6 starts
CL Pitcher of the Month: MIL SP Seisaku Taki (12-9, 3.81 ERA), posting a 3-0 mark with 1.84 ERA, 32 K
FL Rookie of the Month: DAL 1B Manny Rubin (.268, 7 HR, 24 RBI), going .269 with 7 HR, 22 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: POR INF Paul Labonte (.316, 4 HR, 22 RBI), slapping .374 with 2 HR, 9 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The best thing this week was Lonzo, and I probably have to concede that nobody literally died. That was about it. The pitching was awful, the offense was awful… the good news is that there’s only four more weeks of this and then we can all go home and hide for six months.

The Raccoons will play the Indians and Titans next week. We have a day off every week now, but also one more double header with the Falcons a bit further down the road. But thankfully we can now cram almost as many pitchers on the roster as we reasonably need to play 54 innings a week, limited only by the 40-man roster.

Fun Fact: 500!!

15 stolen bases in five weeks punched Lonzo’s ticket into the very exclusive 500 SB club, of which he is the seventh member. He won’t make up another spot on the ladder for at least a year from here, but I can just grin and cackle with glee for a bit, can’t I?

1st – Pablo Sanchez – 721 – HOF
2nd – Enrique “Cosmo” Trevino – 708 – HOF
3rd – Guillermo Obando – 686 – HOF
4th – Alberto “Berto” Ramos – 677 – HOF
5th – Alex Vasquez – 575 – active
6th – Rich de Luna – 570
7th – Lorenzo Lavorano – 500 – active
8th – Oscar Mendoza – 494
9th – Moromao Hino – 485
10th – Omar Gonzalez – 478 – active

The top three are of course well known. Pablo Sanchez was Felix Marquez before Felix Marquez was Felix Marquez, playing for forever, until age 45 in his case. He was mostly an FL player, so we didn’t meet him often, but he was a 3-time Player of the Year, won four batting titles, and two stolen base crowns, although he remarkably never stole 50 in a season, topping out at 48 in his age 25 season in 2019. He’s in the Hall of Fame as a Scorpion, getting 99.2% of the vote. 4,476 career hits, too.

Guillermo Obando was a bit of a traveler, playing for nine different teams. He won four stolen base titles across both leagues. He was only a modest batter (103 OPS+ for his career), but still employed longevity and amassed 3,304 hits in addition to all the stolen bases.

Of course, “Cosmo” Trevino was on the Raccoons for a while, although he made the Hall of Fame as a Capital (like Obando). He won the stolen base title a whopping eight times, six with the Caps and two with the Raccoons, where he wound up at age 29. Serial .300 hitter and constant on-base threat, and one wonders where he could have wound up if he hadn’t aged comparably early, with his age 34 season not only being his last in Portland, but his last as a regular as well. He bopped around for a few more years, and still managed to compile 3,060 hits with all those scoops.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (71-66) @ Indians (67-68) – September 3-5, 2057

The Raccoons had six games left and a 7-5 season series lead against the Indians – the only season series against a CL North opponent that was still up for grabs at this point. Indy was hanging on somehow despite scoring the fewest runs in the CL and allowing the fourth-most runs; their -74 run differential didn’t mesh at all with their nearly .500 record.

Projected matchups:
Ryan Wade (0-0) vs. Marcus Wilkins (4-5, 4.20 ERA)
J.J. Sensabaugh (2-2, 4.78 ERA) vs. Fernando Salazar (8-10, 4.52 ERA)
Craig Kniep (4-5, 5.77 ERA) vs. Shane Fitzgibbon (7-11, 3.74 ERA)

Left-hander for the series finale.

The Raccoons meanwhile expected to be without Trent Brassfield for the entire week, so the only actual threat remaining in the lineup was Abercrombie, although the rookies Labonte and Johnson were hitting .300+ with OPS+ of 135 or better entering this week, but of course neither was even close to qualifying for rate stat rankings by year’s end. They had 275 PA between them.

Game 1
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – RF Abercrombie – C Chavez – CF Oley – LF Johnson – 3B Benitez – 1B A. Wade – P R. Wade
IND: 2B Kilday – 3B An. Rios – 1B B. Quinteros – CF Oldfield – SS Mullen – RF Abel – LF Ewers – C Werman – P Wilkins

Ryan Wade made his season debut with a 1-0 thanks to Lonzo’s triple and Abercrombie’s sac fly in the top of the first inning, but the Indians soon went up 2-1 in the bottom 2nd when Cory Oldfield hit a leadoff single, Wade nailed Kevin Ewers with two outs and two strikes, and Danny Werman hit a gapper for a 2-run double after that. It didn’t get much better after that; Matt Kilday hit a leadoff single in the third inning, stole a base and advanced another on a groundout, and scored on Oldfield’s sac fly after old reliable Bill Quinteros had advanced the line by drawing a walk. Quinteros then did the damage himself with a 2-run homer to right in the fifth inning, his 900th home run against the Raccoons in his career. I counted. Nope, Ryan Wade pitched as well as Aaron Wade batted (.100 by the middle of the game), and got a double play turned behind him to get dragged through six innings. The rest of the team was in lockstep, though, and didn’t produce much after the first inning run. Antonio Rios singled home Kilday and his 2-out double against Alex Rios in the latter’s season debut in the bottom 7th, after which the Raccoons finally put a few hits together after a couple of “a single per inning” frames in a row. Todd Oley doubled home Abercrombie and Chavez off left-hander Bill Dewan, but Johnson and Benitez then made meek outs against righty Matt Green. 6-3 Indians. Labonte 2-5; Lavorano 2-5, 3B; Oley 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI;

Game 2
POR: 1B Royer – SS Lavorano – 2B Labonte – RF Abercrombie – C Chavez – LF Johnson – CF Oley – 3B Bribiesca – P Sensabaugh
IND: 2B Kilday – 3B An. Rios – 1B B. Quinteros – RF Lovins – CF Oldfield – SS Mullen – LF O. Ramos – C Werman – P F. Salazar

Lonzo and Quinteros both hit a double in isolation in their teams’ offensive halves of the first inning, but the game remained scoreless for longer, also because Lonzo his next time up hit into a double play with Bribiesca and Royer on the corners and one out. Indy scored in the fourth, finally, with Quinteros and Oldfield clipping singles to go to the corners. Dan Mullen shot a double through Royer to score the game’s first run, while a walk to Orlando Ramos loaded the bases with only one out. However, Sensabaugh struck out the battery to get out of the inning rather than collapsing entirely, which was a rather pleasant development for once, as was Sensabaugh striking an RBI double of his own past Antonio Rios with two outs in the top 5th, plating Elijah Johnson’s leadoff walk to get even again. Royer drew another walk behind him, but Lonzo grounded out.

There was a spattering of rain in the sixth inning; the tarp was brought out in the middle of the inning, then rolled right back up again, which still took 20 minutes to sort out. Sensabaugh came back out to give up a leadoff double to Chris Lovins, but stranded that go-ahead run at third base for the rest of the inning. Sensabaugh and Royer *again* reached base with two outs in the seventh inning on a single and walk, respectively, but again Lonzo couldn’t get through and grounded out to Dan Mullen at short. It was a no-decision in the end for the rookie, who got two more outs before walking Antonio Rios on four pitches in the bottom 7th and was replaced with Ricky Herrera, who got a grounder to second from Quinteros.

Soon the rain returned and we got our second rain delay of the day, this time much more substantial at just over an hour. When play resumed, the eighth was scoreless, while the Raccoons got Oley on base with a leadoff walk off closer Randy Slocum in the ninth inning. Bribiesca reached on an error by shortstop Ruben Rodriguez, but Griggs popped out, and Royer did the same. For the third time on the day, Lonzo was in the box with two on and two outs, and again couldn’t find a hit – nor could Antonio Rios find grip on the slimy field and ball on the 2-1 grounder he hit to third base, and 2-1 was the score after the ball flubbed out of Rios’ hand twice, no throw was made, and Oley jiggered home to break the tie. Lonzo stole second, but Labonte flew out to right to end the inning. Matt Walters got the ball in the bottom 9th then, struck out Bernie Bahena, then saw Ruben Rodriguez reach base on Lonzo’s error – pretty much the same circumstances that gave Portland the lead in the top of the inning. Griggs in right then misjudged Hugo Munoz’ pinch-hit fly to right and played it into a double, but with the tying and winning runs in scoring position, Walters popped out Rios to Labonte. A righty pitcher in this instance would issue an intentional walk to Quinteros and try his luck with Will McIntyre, now in the #4 spot, but Walters would go after Quinteros, who in turn went after a 1-0 pitch and hit it at Labonte. And Labonte ****** that play, too. The error scored the tying run, and McIntyre’s single through the left side plated the winning run. 3-2 Indians. Chavez 2-4; Sensabaugh 6.2 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 5 K and 2-3, 2B, RBI;

(looks up and shakes fist at the snickering baseball gods)

Game 3
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – RF Griggs – LF Abercrombie – C Zamora – 2B Bribiesca – 3B Espinoza – 1B A. Wade – P Kniep
IND: 2B Ewers – SS Mullen – 1B B. Quinteros – CF Abel – RF McIntyre – 3B Kilday – LF Briggs – C Werman – P Fitzgibbon

Hard to say what was more surprising – Abercrombie’s blind over-the-shoulder robbery of Chris Briggs that denied the Indians of a 2-out run and extra bases and instead ended the bottom 2nd, or that Aaron Wade actually hit a double off the wall after that and was driven home for a 1-0 Coons lead by Kniep in the top 3rd. Fitzgibbon returned the favor with a single off Kniep in the bottom 3rd, and Dan Mullen’s 2-out double through Espinoza then tied the game. Kniep nicked Quinteros, then gave up another run on Kevin Abel’s single to center. McIntyre grounded out to Espinoza to leave two on, but now with Indy ahead 2-1.

The game dragged on without much involvement by the visitors’ offense, while Kniep gave up a double to McIntyre, singles to Kilday and Briggs, and no runs in the bottom 6th. How so? McIntyre was thrown out trying to stretch his leadoff double into a triple, and after the two singles Kniep struck out Werman and Fitzgibbon in order to conclude the inning.

The Raccoons then found their way back to tie the game in the seventh. Ruben Zamora doubled with one down, and after Bribiesca popped out, Espinoza grabbed all of his ninth (!) RBI with a 2-out single to left-center. Wade grounded out, while in the eighth Lonzo and Griggs slapped 2-out singles, only to get stranded when Abercrombie, who didn’t see Fitzgibbon well at all, grounded out easily. The L would then hang on Eloy Sencion. He drilled PH Chris Lovins after Mike Lane got the first out of the bottom 8th. Antonio Rios singled, and Sencion’s poor throw to second base on Werman’s comebacker couldn’t be handled by Lonzo. Lovins scored the go-ahead run on that play. Zamora, Bribiesca, and Johnson went down in order in the ninth inning against right-handed Tim Jacoby. 3-2 Indians. A. Wade 2-3, 2B; Kniep 7.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K and 1-2, RBI;

When Aaron Wade is your best batter, you can just as well go home.

And play Boston.

Raccoons (71-69) vs. Titans (64-75) – September 7-9, 2057

The Indians were scoring the fewest runs – though enough, as we had found out – and the Titans had the worst batting average in the Continental League, although they managed to plate the ninth-most runs (just one run behind Portland) and held on with the #5 pitching for a -8 run differential. They should be the ones with the .500 record! Well, maybe we could help them there with some more unraveling of our own. We were up 11-4 on Boston for the year, though. Injuries had decimated the Titans roster, however, with Ryan Musgrave, Matt Gilmore, Hector Weir, and Brent Andrews all out and on the DL.

Projected matchups:
Ramon Carreno (4-5, 4.50 ERA) vs. Medardo Regueir (11-12, 3.26 ERA)
Justin DeRose (2-2, 3.77 ERA) vs. Jason Brenize (0-0, 33.75 ERA)
Ryan Wade (0-1, 7.50 ERA) vs. Kodai Koga (12-10, 3.30 ERA)

That was not a typo on Brenize, the league’s #2 prospect. He had made three relief appearances so far, being rammed through every outfield wall for ten runs in 2.2 innings, walking as many. One strikeout. The rotation lined up in a way for him to start on Saturday, although the Titans would still wisen up on that. Regueir was the only scheduled lefty here.

Game 1
BOS: 3B Torrence – C Burkart – LF Y. Valdez – SS Sowell – CF Whitlow – 2B J. Watson – 1B Dorey – RF J. Harris – P Regueir
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – CF Royer – LF Abercrombie – 3B Brobeck – C Chavez – RF Griggs – 1B A. Wade – P Carreno

Through five innings on a quickly progressing game on Friday there was a Ken Sowell homer for a 1-0 Boston lead from the second inning, and otherwise teams were splitting four double plays hit into right down the middle for no great effect. Ethan Torrence’s leadoff single and Bruce Burkart’s following comebacker the mound looked like the fifth two-for-one of the day, but Carreno threw the ball away instead, and now Boston had two on with nobody out, but then managed to have Yoslan Valdez’ groundout advance the runners into scoring position, yet Sowell grounded out to Brobeck to keep them pinned, and Eric Whitlow grounded out to Carreno to end the inning. Singles by Jonathan Watson and Jorge Arviso stitched a second Boston run together in the seventh, though. Bottom 7th, Chavez hit a leadoff single through the left side and Griggs tried another 6-4-3 grounder, but now Sowell through a double play ball away and the Coons had two on with nobody out. But don’t you worry for the Critters; Aaron Wade was on the call, found that ******* 6-4-3 double play, and Elijah Johnson struck out batting against the lefty in place of Carreno. Tanizaki walked Valdez and gave up an RBI single to Whitlow in the eighth, while the Raccoons again had two on and nobody out with an error involved in the bottom 8th when Regueir gave up a leadoff single to Labonte before Watson dropped Lonzo’s pop. The middle of the order croaked, however, even after a double steal by the runners. Royer hit a sac fly, but that was it, Lonzo being stranded on second base. Alex Diaz retired the Raccoons in order in the ninth inning. 3-1 Titans. Lavorano 2-4; A. Wade 1-2, BB;

Oh boy!

Game 2
BOS: 2B J. Watson – C Burkart – LF Y. Valdez – SS Sowell – CF Whitlow – 1B I. Santiago – 3B D. Mendoza – RF J. Harris – P Brenize
POR: 1B Royer – SS Lavorano – 2B Labonte – RF Abercrombie – 3B Brobeck – LF Johnson – CF Oley – C Stanton – P DeRose

Alright, maybe we could get a few swings in against the black-eyed #2 prospect, then! DeRose walked Watson to get going, but Burkart hit into a double play and the Titans were turned away in the top 1st, after which Royer flew out deep to right, and Lonzo then hit his first jack of the season to left. Yup, lookin’ claw-lickin’ good! Brenize then walked Labonte on four pitches, but Abercrombie struck out on a 3-2 in the dirt and the inning fizzled out. The fireworks started in the second inning – on DeRose. He nailed Eric Whitlow, and while Isarel Santiago and Jonathan Harris both flew out easily, Diego Mendoza hit an RBI double in between. Brenize gave himself the lead with a 2-out RBI single, followed by a walk to Watson, Burkart’s RBI single, Valdez’ 2-run double, and finally a K on a free-swinging Sowell. 5-1 Boston it was, then, and DeRose was still the biggest ******* dork in the game.

Although Brenize might yet give him a run for his money. Johnson hit a fly in the second that had the length, but went the wrong side past the right foul pole. In the third, Brenize walked a pair. DeRose hit a single, but that was all in the bottom 4th, and then DeRose was yoinked after putting a pair on base himself in the top 5th, then still with a 5-1 score. Brenize then loaded the bases in the bottom 5th with a 1-out single by Labonte and walks drawn by Abercrombie and Johnson. Oley was batting with two outs as the tying run, but flew out to Harris on the warning track on the first pitch he saw and Brenize’s 97th of the game. And that was all that was needed for the Boston rook’s first career W; Willie de Leon batted for him in the top of the sixth, while the Coons kept playing like dorks against the pen. Matt Stanton walked and was plated on two 2-out singles by Lonzo and Labonte off Jim Peterson in the bottom 6th, 5-2, but the Raccoons sent out Colby Bowen in the seventh, which in hindsight was not the greatest move of all time. Sowell walked, Whitlow and Santiago singled to plate a run, and then Alex Mancilla, the master of disaster, came in and gave up a 3-piece to Diego Mendoza – the 22-year-old’s first career home run. I hope he bursts from joy……..

It only got worse. The eighth began with Mancilla being ****, got sprinkled with Lonzo and Royer errors, and once John Scott got involved, the Titans scored four unearned runs in the inning. The Coons hit a pair of RBI triples between Oley and Solorzano in the ninth against Bryan McDuffie, which somehow didn’t manage to erase the 11-run deficit. 13-4 Titans. Lavorano 2-5, HR, RBI; Labonte 2-4, BB, RBI; Oley 3-5, 3B, RBI; Solorzano (PH) 1-1, 3B, RBI;

The Portland Raccoons, Ladies and Gentlemen.

Rated PG-13.

Game 3
BOS: 3B Torrence – C Burkart – LF Y. Valdez – SS Sowell – CF Whitlow – 2B J. Watson – 1B M. Navarro – RF J. Harris – P Koga
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – LF Abercrombie – 3B Brobeck – C Chavez – RF Griggs – CF Solorzano – 1B A. Wade – P R. Wade

Ryan Wade was taken deep by Burkart in the first, Whitlow in the second, and then had an *actual* meltdown in the third inning, offering two walks, a wild pitch, a couple of singles, and two more runs to the Titans. In other words, Ryan Wade failed his way on a 4-0 hook before Aaron Wade could ever fail in the batter’s box…

Wade then had scoreless middle innings, racking up six strikeouts while he was on it, but by that point I was reasonably doozy after suckling on a bottle of Capt’n Coma for most of the preceding hour. The Raccoons didn’t amount to a run until the sixth inning when Lonzo legged out an infield single, stole #53 for the year, and was driven in by Abercrombie, who was then caught stealing trying to force the issue himself. Wade went seven despite a leadoff walk to Harris to begin that last inning. He got a hard comebacker for Koga that he turned for a 1-6-3 double play, then got a lazy fly out from Torrence to complete seven. Marcos Chavez then led off the bottom 7th with a double to center, but even with Watson’s error that put Solorzano on base the Coons failed to score in the inning; when Aaron Wade flew out to Harris in right, Chavez went from third base and was thrown out at the plate for a 9-2 double play. Scoreless relief from Scott and Tanizaki in the last two innings was also pointless because the Raccoons failed to put another paw on base. 4-1 Titans. Abercrombie 2-4, RBI;

In other news

September 3 – The Thunder send C Mitch Korfhage (.337, 8 HR, 39 RBI) to the Rebels in a waiver deal, receiving a prospect.
September 6 – Bone spurs in his elbow end the season of OCT SP Tan Brink (10-9, 3.47 ERA) prematurely. He is expected to recover in time for Opening Day, however.
September 7 – LAP 2B/SS Jesse Sweeney (.277, 6 HR, 42 RBI) will miss the rest of the month with a broken wrist and would be highly questionable for the playoffs.
September 8 – LAP C Todd Eaton (.246, 2 HR, 11 RBI) hits a home run for a 1-0 win in Sacramento.
September 9 – The Condors will be without LF Tim Duncan (.268, 16 HR, 73 RBI) for the rest of the year. The 31-year-old was out with a herniated disc.

FL Player of the Week: NAS C David Johnson (.245, 17 HR, 63 RBI), swatting .478 (11-23) with 4 HR, 11 RBI
CL Player of the Week: VAN C Tristan Waker (.296, 9 HR, 71 RBI), hitting .407 (11-27) with 2 HR, 10 RBI

Complaints and stuff

0-6.

And not necessarily in a week where I would have expected or feared to go 0-6. Just when I thought they’d fail to turn a losing record!

There’s not enough booze to drink to stomach this week…

Next week: Loggers, Condors on the road. Brass should be back in the lineup to start the set in Milwaukee on Tuesday, not that he’s gonna turn the team around on his own.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons have not turned back-to-back losing seasons since 2032.

Funnily enough, 2032 was the year of no pitching whatsoever, and it’s a bit similar this time around. Back then we even had a qualifying pitcher, Ignacio del Rio, who went 12-14 with a 4.60 ERA. Jason Gurney was 6-13 with a 6.29 ERA (but was intentionally removed from his last start before he could get to 162 innings and actually have it “count”). The rest was injury-wrecked madness from Rico Gutierrez (4-7, 4.97 ERA), Tom Shumway (2-8, 8.40 ERA, and never pitching in the Bigs again), plus well underdone rookies Bernie Chavez (3-8, 4.67 ERA) and Raffaello Sabre (5-8, 4.49 ERA), who at least turned out to be forces for the rest of the decade before getting flayed by injuries themselves. The best ERA on the team (regardless of innings) was 2.51 by closer Chris Wise, who saved 33 games, and there weren’t many more than that to save; the rest of the team had four saves in total, three by lefties.

This year nobody will beat the 149.2 innings by Kennedy Adkins before being traded to New York. The most innings pitched on the roster right now is the 91 filed by Ramon Carreno, and those were mostly horrendous as well. The 2032 Raccoons didn’t have a single even semi-regular starting pitcher with an ERA better than 4, and the same fate will very likely befall the 2057 Raccoons unless one between DeRose, Sensabaugh, and Carreno gets their crap together yet, and it isn’t ******* looking like it, is it?

[Westheim]

Raccoons (71-72) @ Loggers (78-65) – September 11-13, 2057

The Loggers were in second place… but the ship had sailed, really, since they were 11 1/2 games out with three weeks to play. The #5 offense and #4 pitching in the CL had not been enough. Well, compared to the Crusaders; they had roughed up the Raccoons for a 12-3 record so far. They had lost a few pitchers along the way now, including ex-Coons Julian Dunn and Brett Lillis jr., who were both out for the season.

Projected matchups:
J.J. Sensabaugh (2-2, 4.19 ERA) vs. Seisaku Taki (13-9, 3.74 ERA)
Craig Kniep (4-5, 5.51 ERA) vs. Tyler Riddle (12-11, 3.04 ERA)
Ramon Carreno (4-6, 4.35 ERA) vs. Roberto Alvarado (3-8, 5.87 ERA)

Riddle was the left-hander in that set.

Game 1
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – RF Abercrombie – 1B Brassfield – 3B Brobeck – LF Johnson – C Chavez – CF Oley – P Sensabaugh
MIL: C Dye – 3B Gaxiola – LF Pigman – 1B D. Robles – SS Wartella – RF Bishton – CF Konecny – 2B Sostre – P Taki

Sensabaugh fought Seisaku to a draw for three innings, which already felt like a moral victory, but then Todd Oley klopsed a simple Perry Pigman fly in shallow center for a 1-out runner in the fourth inning. Sensabaugh then walked Dave Robles, the pair pulled off a double steal, and Matt Wartella’s grounder plated an unearned run. Ryan Bishton then also grounded out, ending the inning. Sensabaugh’s bottom 5th then was worse in an earned way; Kelly Konecny singled to left, Bill Sostre drew another walk, and then Jonathan Dye pumped a 3-run homer to right. Sensabaugh crapped completely, offering two more walks and getting nobody out (Taki aside) in the inning. Tanizaki had to dig the Critters out of that muck, getting two pops from Robles and Wartella to complete the fifth inning.

Colby Bowen failed another run on the board in the bottom 7th, while Taki was maintaining shutout pace into the eighth, scattering four Raccoons hits through seven. In the eighth, however, it came apart a bit. Chavez and Aaron Wade (!) hit singles to reach the corners with two outs, which also meant that a double play, which had ended both of the previous innings on Lonzo’s and Brobeck’s paws, respectively – was no longer in the cards. Paul Labonte instead drove a ball all the way to the warning track in centerfield, beating Konecny for a 2-run triple. Lonzo grounded out to Gaxiola to end the inning, however. Sostre tripled off Alex Rios in the bottom 8th, but nobody else reached base for Milwaukee, and we drew Ramon Montes de Oca for the ninth inning. Abercrombie hit a leadoff double, but Montes de Oca struck out the next two and Johnson grounded out to short to end the game. 5-2 Loggers. Abercrombie 2-4, 2B; Royer (PH) 1-1; A. Wade (PH) 1-1;

The Loggers…!

This game also spelled mathematical elimination from postseason contention for the Critters. As if…

Game 2
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – 1B Brassfield – LF Abercrombie – 3B Brobeck – C Zamora – RF Griggs – 2B Bribiesca – P Kniep
MIL: CF Valenzano – 2B Garmon – LF Pigman – 1B D. Robles – RF Callaia – C Mi. Gilmore – SS Sostre – 3B Gaxiola – P Riddle

Kniep tossing pretty much assured me that we’d grow our losing streak to eight games, even when Brobeck drove home Lonzo (single) and Brass (double) for a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. Kniep resented the urge to bobble that right away, and the Raccoons tacked on bigly in the second inning. Griggs led off with a bloop single, then scored on Bribiesca’s double into the rightfield corner. Royer hit a scratch single, Lonzo an RBI single to left, double steal, and then Brass plated the pair with a drop single in front of Perry Pigman near the leftfield line. Abercrombie also singled before Brobeck found the shortstop for a 6-4-3 inning-ender, but we were now up 6-0, and the thing that worried me most was that Kniep had that challenge-accepted face on. However, the Loggers amounted to one hit and five strikeouts in three innings, so maybe we’d be fine this time ‘round!

Kniep started to show cracks in the fourth, allowing a single and a walk before Gaudencio Callaia hit into a double play to bail him outta there, but in the fifth Mike Gilmore led off with a loud double, Sostre singled, and Kniep plated a run with a wild pitch – although apart from that, Gaxiola, Konecny, and Steve Valenzano went down without much success. Mike Gilmore drove home Perry Pigman in the sixth as Kniep lost all cohesion before being dragged out of there by the defense, and by his tail. 102 pitches through six after being spotted six didn’t exactly scream ace…

Not that it got any better. Gaxiola pumped a jack off Ricky Herrera in the bottom 7th, and Wartella singled in the #9 spot. The lefty left the game without retiring anybody, and John Scott allowed another hit to Valenzano. Cory Garmon grounded out, moving the runners into scoring position, but Pigman’s hard grounder to Brassfield prevented the runners from going, and Robles also grounded out, ending the inning with Portland still up by three runs. Pinch-hit singles by Labonte and Johnson to begin the ninth against Roberto Navarro didn’t lead to a run thanks to Royer whiffing, Tony Benitez hitting into a fielder’s choice, and Brassfield grounding out to Gaxiola. A well-rested (cough!!) Matt Walters then retired Bishton, Valenzano, and Garmon in order to end the spill. 6-3 Raccoons. Lavorano 2-4, RBI; Brassfield 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Griggs 2-4; Labonte (PH) 1-1; Johnson (PH) 1-1; Kniep 6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, W (5-5);

No-no, Lonzo is fine! But I am struggling to work both Brobeck and Tony Benitez into the lineup.

Without Brobeck making starts, at least, although he’ll probably make a spot start in the upcoming Falcons double-header.

Game 3
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – RF Abercrombie – 1B Brassfield – 3B Brobeck – LF Johnson – C Chavez – CF Oley – P Carreno
MIL: C Dye – 3B Gaxiola – LF Pigman – 1B D. Robles – RF Callaia – SS Wartella – CF Garmon – 2B Sostre – P R. Alvarado

The Raccoons couldn’t score Lonzo from him hitting a triple in the first inning, so that was a nice start to the rubber game, but Carreno nailed Gaxiola, who was forced out by Pigman; however, Perry Pigman stole second and scored on Robles’ 2-out single for a 1-0 Loggers lead. Kyle Brobeck hit a leadoff double in the top 2nd and scored on Oley’s sac fly to tie the game, and the two teams then took air swings at each other for a few innings before Dave Robles hit a *bomb* to give Milwaukee a 2-1 lead to begin the bottom of the fourth. Carreno then pitched like liquid arse from there, failing Garmon and Sostre on base. At 1-1 to Alvarado and two outs, he threw a wild pitch to advance the runners into scoring position, which was still better than the RBI single he gave up on the next ******* pitch, immediately followed by three more runs on smoked doubles by Dye and Gaxiola, then Carreno’s exit. Useless piece of ****. Same for Adam Harris, really, who gave up two more singles to Pigman and Robles and another run before Callaia finally grounded out to Lonzo.

Colby Bowen was then brutalized for three more runs in the fifth inning, giving up four hits and two walks without even getting outta there without the help of Ricky Herrera, and then the left-hander only did so after Callaia grounded out on a 3-1 pitch with the bases loaded and two outs. It wouldn’t be a real 2057 Coons rout, though, without Mancilla taking a few more in the snout while covering the last 2.2 ******* innings; Corey Garmon got him for a 2-run single in the eighth inning. The Coons offense justifiably played dead and conserved their energy for the next game, except for Elijah Johnson’s triple and Aaron Wade’s RBI groundout against Dan Bell in the ninth inning. 12-2 Loggers. Chavez 2-3;

(blows)

Raccoons (72-74) @ Condors (69-77) – September 14-16, 2057

The Raccoons had yet to lose a game against the Condors this year, but there was a first time for everything, maybe even for Ramon Carreno pitching a decent ******* game. Carreno at least couldn’t hurt me anymore this weekend, but maybe the league’s #9 offense and #5 pitching could with their -15 run differential (Coons: +1).

Projected matchups:
Justin DeRose (2-3, 4.37 ERA) vs. Jose Salazar (8-2, 2.53 ERA)
Ryan Wade (0-2, 6.23 ERA) vs. Juan Juarez (12-11, 3.50 ERA)
J.J. Sensabaugh (2-3, 4.40 ERA) vs. Marco Clemente (1-3, 5.93 ERA)

Only right-handers to see here. Also, no outfield pair of Tim Duncan and Jamie Harmon for the Condors, both of whom finished the year on the DL along with pitchers Miguel Batista and Zach Johnson.

Game 1
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – LF Abercrombie – 1B Brassfield – 3B Brobeck – C Chavez – RF Griggs – CF Solorzano – P DeRose
TIJ: CF Fish – 2B D. Mercado – 1B Ramsay – C J. Morales – SS N. Fowler – RF Reina – 3B Frasher – LF L. Chapa – P J. Salazar

DeRose threw four pitches in the game. Bobby Fish hit a homer to right on the second, and he hit Domingo Mercado with the fourth, and it was on right away. Mercado and DeRose were both ejected and the Raccoons could try and pick nine innings from their bullpen now. Matt Cook replaced Mercado, while the Raccoons brought in Alex Rios, who threw a wild pitch, walked Harry Ramsay anyway, gave up a run on Nick Fowler’s single, and then got a double play grounder from Juan Reina while I wondered whether a dozen relievers would be enough to finish the season. Brass’ double and Brobeck’s RBI single made up a run in the second, and Chavez also reached base on a walk. Griggs and Solorzano made poor outs, and then Rios was not batted for, but instead ran a 3-0 count… and then poked and grounded out, the ******* *****. And they say that an actual brain was a requirement for life…

Somehow, even two more innings from Rios didn’t hurt the Raccoons’ chances significantly. Scoreless innings from Sencion and Bravo kept the game close until Brobeck hit a game-tying jack off Salazar in the sixth inning, evening the score at two. Griggs and Solorzano hit a pair of 2-out singles to go to the corners, but Elijah Johnson grounded out poorly to pass on that chance. Adam Harris, the dork, failed the bases full in the bottom 6th, walking Eric Frasher with two outs, followed by a Luis Chapa single and another walk to Raul Villalba, but then Fish flapped himself out to strand a full set of runners and keep it 2-all. Harris allowed two singles to begin the bottom 7th then, and Jerry Morales’ double off John Scott led to two Condors runs in the inning.

It was not an L though, because the Raccoons got singles from Chavez and Griggs against a cavalcade of Condors relievers in the eighth inning. Solorzano popped out, and Bribiesca pinch-hit with two down against new pitcher Sam Turner. The righty threw a wild pitch to move the tying runs into scoring position, then fell to 3-1 against Bribiesca, who then poked a ball to the shortstop. Nick Fowler just made the error of throwing the ball completely past Rickey Hamelin at first base and into the Coons’ dugout, allowing the tying runs to score. Labonte walked after that, but Lonzo flew out to Bobby Fish in center, and the inning ended. Just the failure didn’t end: Lane gave up a leadoff double on the first pitch he threw in the bottom 8th, and Luis Chapa was brought around to score by Fish on a 1-out single. Cody Sears then put the silly Critters away in the ninth, pitching around a Brass single. 5-4 Condors. Brassfield 2-5, 2B; Brobeck 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Griggs 2-4;

Justin DeRose was slapped with a 6-game suspension by the league, and that will be nothing against what I will slap him with. (calmly fills pawfuls of AAA batteries into one of Maud’s sturdy knitted socks)

Ivan Ornelas returned to the team on Saturday after having his elbow scraped of bone chips. Normally he would have spent a few weeks in rehab in AAA, but that season had just ended, and he only could return to the Critters now.

Game 2
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – LF Abercrombie – RF Brassfield – 3B Brobeck – C Chavez – CF Royer – 1B A. Wade – P R. Wade
TIJ: 3B Villalba – 2B L. Chapa – 1B Ramsay – C J. Morales – SS N. Fowler – RF Reina – CF Fish – LF M. Cook – P J. Juarez

The Raccoons’ 3-4-5 batters all reached with two outs in the first inning, and Brobeck drove in Abercrombie with a single for a quick lead, but Chavez then grounded out to strand a pair. Ryan Wade then immediately walked Villalba, threw a wild pitch, and somehow didn’t give up the tying run because the Condors, when allowed to poke, poked poorly, and Villalba was left on third base. Juan Reina walked and Bobby Fish singled in the second inning, but they were left in scoring position on Cooks’ pop and Juarez’ fly to left. Tijuana made it 3-for-3 with runners left at third base in the third inning; Chapa hit a 1-out infield single, stole second, reached third on Chavez’ crappy throw, Ramsay walked, and Morales hit into a double play. They finally got on the board in the fourth, Cook singling home Fowler, who had also singled, and Fish had drawn a walk as Wade conceded four hits and four walks in as many innings… Chapa and Fowler drew yet more walks in the bottom 5th before Wade was yanked. Sencion struck out Reina to end the inning and keep the game tied.

The top of the sixth began with Lonzo and Abercrombie singles, the pair taking position on the corners. Brass walked in a full count, dooming the effort by making it three on, no outs. Brobeck’s hard grounder to short was thrown home by Fowler to take out Lonzo at the plate, but Juarez then walked in a run against Chavez and Royer’s sac fly made it 3-1 before Aaron Wade grounded out. Chavez got another RBI his next time up, doubling home Brobeck with two outs against lefty Matt Wilke in the eight. By then, Sencion, Lane, and Tanizaki had held the lead nicely enough, and John Scott got three soft outs in six pitches in the bottom 8th, lining up Walters for the ninth. The Condors didn’t reach base, and Walters struck out two to get to 80 K for the year. 4-1 Coons. Chavez 2-3, BB, 2B, 2 RBI;

Brobeck wasn’t in the lineup on Sunday then, a pretty good indicator for who was going to make the extra start on Monday. Meanwhile the Condors went to Travis Odon (7-8, 3.60 ERA), another right-hander, for this rubber game.

Game 3
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – CF Abercrombie – RF Brassfield – LF Johnson – C Zamora – 3B Benitez – 1B A. Wade – P Sensabaugh
TIJ: 3B Villalba – 2B L. Chapa – 1B Ramsay – C J. Morales – SS N. Fowler – RF Reina – CF Fish – LF Groom – P Odon

There were three base hits total in the first four innings on Sunday, which sounded off with Sensabaugh going out to the hill for every single one of those frames. Elijah Johnson gave the Raccoons a lead with a solo homer in the second inning, but Juan Reina’s triple and Fish’s groundout tied the game up again in the fourth. Tony Benitez hit an infield single in the fifth, which led exactly nowhere, and Sensabaugh barely got through six innings on 102 pitches, walking Ramsay and Reina in the bottom 6th before Fish grounded out to end the inning.

Ivan Ornelas then threw seven pitches in the seventh inning. Micah Groom singled to left, but was doubled up on John Rosenstiel’s grounder to short. Villalba then flew out to Johnson. Luis Chapa swatted a double to left off Mancilla to begin the bottom 8th, but three poor outs stranded him and the game remained tied at one, neither team able to squish out a run. Lonzo hit a single off Sears in the ninth, but was caught stealing, and the Raccoons went down on the minimum. Ricky Herrera got the bottom 9th with three lefties scheduled for the inning. The Condors sent three pinch-hitters instead, but Herrera retired them all, and the game went to extra innings. There, Sears gave up 1-out singles to Johnson and Zamora, after which Brobeck pinch-hit for Benitez, but grounded into a double play. Tanizaki’s scoreless bottom 10th moved the game along, and Espinoza reached base on a throwing error by Villalba in the top 11th. Hector Montenegro then gave up a zinger to right to Labonte that fell for an RBI triple. The Raccoons made it a 2 on the board with a Lonzo sac fly, and Matt Walters had another 1-2-3 inning to put the game away. 3-1 Blighters. Johnson 2-4, HR, RBI; Sensabaugh 6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 2 K;

In other news

September 10 – Pacifics 3B Randy Wilken (.250, 26 HR, 85 RBI) bashes three home runs, and a single, and drives in half the runs in L.A.’s 12-2 win over the Warriors. Wilken had already achieved this feat two months earlier against the Stars.
September 11 – NYC SP Ben Seiter (18-8, 2.87 ERA) whips the Indians for 11 strikeouts against three hits in a 2-0 Crusaders win.
September 12 – Denver’s 3B/2B Ivan Villa (.286, 34 HR, 106 RBI) punches his 400th career home run at the start of a 5-run, ninth-inning rally leading to a 6-4 win over the Scorpions. Villa, 35 and in his 15th year with the Gold Sox, is on pace for his seventh FL home run title, and has also led the FL in RBI three times, winning three Player of the Year wards along the way along with four rings and numerous other accolades. He had a .292/.320/.497 career slash with 2,312 hits, 1,467 RBI, and also 322 stolen bases.
September 13 – CIN SP Hector Estevez (10-6, 4.39 ERA) could miss time well into next season with a badly torn rotator cuff.
September 14 – Rebels 3B Danny Espinosa (.272, 14 HR, 67 RBI) was out for the year with torn ligaments in his thumb.
September 14 – A fourth-inning triple by RF/CF Peter Bivens (.258, 15 HR, 53 RBI) is the only hit the Miners muster in a 1-0 loss to the Scorpions’ Michael McCaffrey (16-6, 1.51 ERA) and Justin Round (8-4, 2.20 ERA, 36 SV).
September 15 – Rebels UT Alex Murillo (.275, 3 HR, 47 RBI) singles for the only Richmond hit in an 8-0 loss Sioux Falls’ Ed Nadeau (3-2, 2.76 ERA) and Matt Weber (2-0, 3.52 ERA).
September 16 – The Crusaders clinch the CL North with a 4-3 win over the Thunder.
September 16 – A torn back muscle ends the season of SFW SP Victor Salcido (9-12, 3.92 ERA).

FL Player of the Week: NAS RF/LF Tony Ontiveroz (.301, 9 HR, 36 RBI), batting .500 (13-26) with 2 HR, 5 RBI
CL Player of the Week: VAN INF/RF Rick Price (.289, 10 HR, 46 RBI), powering .367 (11-30) with 4 HR, 13 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Another week ticked off. We’re awful, and we’ll be awful for another two weeks.

Ornelas came off the DL after four months out with the elbow thing, but Pucks will not quite return anymore this year.

Monday’s double-header against the stomping Falcons will be interesting, if only from a standpoint of how many ham-and-eggers the Falcons will be able to rough up in a single day. We’ll have four with them, then close out the home schedule with a 3-game set against the damn Elks on the weekend.

Fun Fact: Randy Wilken is the first player to hit two 3-homer games in the same season.

…however, Stanley Murphy did also pound three home runs in two separate games inside 12 months for the Pacifics, putting three on the Stars on June 18, 2011, and another three on, well, the Raccoons on June 9, 2012.

He was of course a Raccoon two years later, being acquired mid-season at age 34. Wilken is also 34, so I should perhaps start to work something out.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (74-75) vs. Falcons (85-63) – September 17-19, 2057

This was probably not gonna be a fun series. The Falcons were up 3-2 on the Raccoons for the year, which also reminded us of, oh yes, we have a double-header for a make-up game on Monday. The Falcons ranked second in runs allowed and fourth in runs scored themselves for a +103 run differential. They had a chance to clinch the division while in Portland.

Projected matchups:
Kyle Brobeck (3-7, 5.50 ERA) vs. Josh Doyle (8-7, 3.99 ERA)
Craig Kniep (5-5, 5.34 ERA) vs. Art Schaeffer (17-6, 2.50 ERA)
Ramon Carreno (4-7, 4.85 ERA) vs. Josh Clem (14-6, 3.04 ERA)
Colby Bowen (0-1, 7.71 ERA) vs. Esteban Duran (13-5, 3.42 ERA)

That was certainly a more pathetic array of pitchers for Portland than you would have expected, but Justin DeRose was suspended for the entirety of the series, and it wasn’t like new pitchers were growing on trees this readily in Oregon at this time of the year. Gotta get on the snout with what you have. The Falcons sent four right-handers, a couple of them on short rest, unless they’d weave in a spot starter, too.

Game 1
CHA: LF K. Fisher – 2B Woodrome – 3B B. Anderson – RF D. Ceballos – 1B A. Gomez – C L. Miranda – SS Hullander – CF Conner – P Doyle
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – CF Abercrombie – RF Brassfield – P Brobeck – LF Johnson – C Chavez – 3B Benitez – 1B A. Wade

Brobeck started the week with a four-pitch walk to Kyle Fisher, but Ian Woodrome hit into a double play. Bobby Anderson then singled to right, then went to third base on Danny Ceballos’ single. At first I thought “woe me”, but Brassfield threw out Anderson at third base to end the inning, and – way worse for the Falcons! – Bobby Anderson jammed his thumb sliding uselessly into the base, and left the game. Pretty soon everybody found out that he was lost for the season with a sprained thumb, removing his .257 bat with eight homers from the lineup until next year – and yes, he had done much better than that in Indianapolis. Mitch Sivertson replaced him at third base, proving that, yes, there were ex-Coons really everywhere these days.

Portland went up 2-0 in the second inning with four hits from Brass (double), Brobeck (RBI single), Johnson (single), and Tony Benitez (RBI single), but with Brobeck there was no such thing as a comfortable lead anyway. Kyle Fisher and Ian Woodrome hit singles and Danny Ceballos walked in the top 3rd to fill the bases, just in time for Alex Gomez to pop out to Lonzo to strand them all. But Brobeck drove in another run in the bottom 3rd; Lonzo was nicked to begin the inning, but forced out by Abercrombie, who stole second base. Brass drew a walk, and Brobeck hit a drop single near the leftfield line, allowing Abercrombie to score from second base. Johnson and Chavez had poor first-pitch groundouts to end the inning.

Five shutout (!) innings took Brobeck 93 pitches, walking four and nicking one against a single strikeout (Sivertson, of course). He then outstayed his welcome – hey, we had another doozy to drag through a game today *after* this one! – and filled the bases with ineptitude, and also the 6-7-8 batters, and nobody out in the sixth. Struck out Doyle, at least… Reynaldo Bravo replaced him there, which wasn’t a sign that Bravo had entered the circle of trust around here, but rather of limited quality resources. He struck out Fisher and got Woodrome to hit a fly to Brassfield near the warning track to strand the bags full. Ornelas had a scoreless seventh, after which Aaron Wade hit a leadoff jack to left in the bottom 7th, livening up that batting average all the way to .145; Ornelas’ second inning (the first took just seven pitches despite a Labonte error behind him) then was nearly disaster as he walked the bases full. Eloy Sencion came in with two outs and the bases loaded, whiffed Woodrome, and the Falcons were left scratching their head feathers at this point. They did score in the ninth inning with a 2-run homer that Alex Gomez whacked off Alex Rios, the bum, but John Scott would close out the game after that, finishing up with a K to John Hullander. 4-2 Raccoons. Brobeck 5.1 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 5 BB, 2 K, W (4-7) and 2-2, 2 RBI;

We’re beginning to stretch the credibility of the honorable mentions section by listing THAT start of Brobeck… but in a weirdly perturbed way he *did* win the game from both sides of the box score…!?

Game 2
CHA: LF K. Fisher – CF Burr – RF D. Ceballos – 3B Sivertson – 2B Woodrome – 1B A. Gomez – C McCarver – SS Hullander – P Schaeffer
POR: RF Royer – CF Oley – LF Abercrombie – 1B Brassfield – 2B Bribiesca – 3B Benitez – SS Espinoza – C Stanton – P Kniep

Charlotte scored right in the first off a confused Kniep, who walked Mike Burr, gave up an RBI single to Sivertson, nailed Woodrome, and then walked Gomez, too. Braden McCarver grounded out to Espinoza at short to end the bloody inning after merely 29 pitches. Brass’ sac fly after Oley and Abs went to the corners with singles in the bottom 1st tied the game, but you knew that the Falcons had more runs in them against Kniep, who offered a walk in every inning, it seemed. They finally took a 2-1 lead in the fourth with a free pass to Hullander (…) and Mike Burr’s 2-out RBI single. The grisly end for Kniep came in the fourth; Ceballos and Sivertson led off with singles, and then Gomez and McCarver drew walks with one out to push a run across. That was seven walks for Kniep in 4.1 innings. Yay. Mancilla replaced him. Yay! …but actually got out of the damn inning with strikeouts to Hullander and Schaeffer. Mancilla struck out four in a row in total, retiring all five batters he faced in the game.

Bottom 6th, the tying runs were on the corners after base knocks by Abercrombie and Brassfield with one out. Bribiesca hit into a 6-4-3 double play to ensure nobody accidentally scored. The Falcons tacked on a run instead as Ricky Herrera walked Alex Gomez, threw two wild pitches, and allowed the run to score on McCarver’s single to center. Tanizaki – on his third straight day in action – allowed a run in the eighth, as we were nearly out of garbage relievers on a roster filled to the brim with garbage relievers.

Bottom 9th, and Steve Watson allowed pinch-hitters Carlos Solorzano and Jake Griggs on base with a pair of singles. In a 5-1 game, this triggered a move to Joe Gowin, ex-Coon Chris Gowin’s brother, and he walked Marcos Chavez in the #9 hole, bringing up Royer as the tying run. Royer grounded out, scoring a run, and Oley grounded out, scoring no runs for the game was now over. 5-2 Falcons. Oley 3-5; Abercrombie 2-4, 2B; Brassfield 1-2, BB, RBI; Solorzano (PH) 1-1; Griggs (PH) 1-1; Mancilla 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K;

Speaking of garbage: the Raccoons offered 18 walks in this double-header, or one per inning.

Totally sustainable.

Game 3
CHA: LF K. Fisher – 3B Sivertson – RF D. Ceballos – 1B A. Gomez – 2B Woodrome – SS Hullander – C McCarver – CF J. Ward – P Clem
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – RF Abercrombie – C Chavez – LF Johnson – 1B Griggs – 3B Benitez – CF Solorzano – P Carreno

Carreno was crushed for five runs in the first inning, not retiring any of the first five batters he faced. Ceballos walked, while the other four among the 1-2-3-4-5 got hits, and RBI’s went to Gomez and Woodrome (one each), as well as a pair to McCarver, while Carreno was also kind enough to balk in a run. Another run was added in the second with a leadoff double for Mitch Sivertson, then a 1-out walk to Gomez and an RBI single to Woodrome. Hullander hit into a double play to end the inning, but McCarver drew a leadoff walk in the third and scored on Kyle Fisher’s 2-out single, which was the end for Carreno’s outing. It didn’t get much better after that; Alex Gomez punched a 2-run home run off Reynaldo Bravo in the fourth, and Hullander hit another one of those against Adam Harris in the sixth. By the way, the Raccoons were taking turns at-bat as well, but they had two hits off Clem through five innings, then two more in the sixth, Labonte and Abercrombie singles that were enough for a pity run. There was a terrific ninth-inning rally against right-hander Josh Penington, however. Johnson and Griggs reached base with two outs, and Tony Benitez hit an RBI single. Solorzano added an RBI double. Bribiesca bashed a 2-run double! And then Brassfield struck out, with the Coons still six runs short. 11-5 Falcons. Griggs 2-3, BB; Benitez 3-4, 2B, RBI; Rios 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

Game 4
CHA: LF K. Fisher – 3B Sivertson – 1B A. Gomez – 2B Woodrome – C L. Miranda – SS Hullander – RF Conner – CF J. Ward – P E. Duran
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – RF Abercrombie – 1B Brassfield – 3B Brobeck – LF Johnson – C Chavez – CF Oley – P Bowen

Fisher’s and Brassfield’s leadoff doubles in the top 1st and bottom 2nd, respectively, didn’t lead to any runs, but the Falcons as a whole made loud contact off Bowen frequently the first time through and stranded the go-ahead run on third base in both of their first two innings. They did not reach base at all in the third inning, while in the fourth Bowen walked Woodrome, plunked Hullander, allowed the game’s first run on Doug Conner’s single, and then still managed to walk the bags full before Duran whiffed and Fisher popped out to strand three more runners in the 1-0 game, while the Raccoons couldn’t score from a leadoff single by Abercrombie, Conner overrunning that ball, and a wild pitch in the bottom 4th…

Bowen was squeezed out for 105 pitches, which was just enough to cover six innings of 1-run ball, even through the peripherals were rather less rosy. Duran got just 5.2 innings in before walking Abercrombie and being replaced with … Raffy de la Cruz! No, it was not a good time at the ballpark for Raffy, who had under 20 innings for the year, but more than a walk per inning pitched and a 7.85 ERA. He promptly walked Brass, then gave up a game-tying RBI single to Brobeck. Elijah Johnson fanned to end the inning. Then came the top 7th, Tanizaki, three Falcons singles, and a throwing error by Chavez to plate two unearned runs. Raffy then walked another pair and gave up an RBI single to Lonzo in the bottom of the same inning, but Abercrombie flew out to keep the Raccoons behind, 3-2. Eloy Sencion pitched around an Oley error in the eighth, and the Raccoons found the tying run against Aaron Sciuto in the bottom 8th. Brass hit a leadoff single, advanced on two productive outs (!), and scored on Chavez’ 2-out single to get level at three.

Walters’ scoreless ninth was met with an equal result by Sciuto, so the game went to extras. Mike Burr drew a 2-out walk from Lane there, but was stranded, while the Raccoons faced Joe Gowin with the middle of the lineup. Abercrombie walked, Brassfield legged out a single to the edge of the infield dirt, and the winning run was in scoring position with nobody out. Brobeck popped out, Zamora struck out, and batting for the pitcher Bribiesca flew out to center… Kyle Fisher doubled off Ornelas in the 11th, but that was not enough to produce a run for Charlotte, however, Todd Oley drove a ball down the right-center gap against Gowin to begin the bottom 11th, and pawed it all the way to a triple! Royer’s single walked off the Critters immediately…! 4-3 Raccoons. Brassfield 3-4, BB, 2B; Royer 1-2, RBI;

Raccoons (76-77) vs. Canadiens (71-81) – September 21-23, 2057

The Elks could only avoid a losing record by winning their last ten games, which the Raccoons would hopefully do something about. We were up 11-4 on the year against the league’s third-best offense, with miserable pitching derailing that strong offense entirely. Ernie Gomes and Gabriel Casanova were on the DL, so their rotation down the stretch also had replacement character.

Projected matchups:
Justin DeRose (2-3, 4.75 ERA) vs. Jeff Kozloski (8-17, 5.31 ERA)
Ryan Wade (0-2, 5.09 ERA) vs. Luis Arroyo (3-3, 2.68 ERA)
J.J. Sensabaugh (2-3, 4.04 ERA) vs. Bruce Mark jr. (12-11, 3.64 ERA)

Only right-handed opposition to expect here, too.

Game 1
VAN: CF D. Moreno – 1B Weese – RF Magnussen – C Waker – LF K. Hawkins – 2B E. Stevens – SS R. Price – 3B Lundberg – P Kozloski
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – CF Abercrombie – RF Brassfield – 3B Brobeck – LF Johnson – C Chavez – 1B A. Wade – P DeRose

The Raccoons didn’t get a base hit for three innings, then got three base hits in one inning, loading the bases with three singles in the bottom 4th before both Chavez and Wade popped out on the infield to strand the whole assortment of runners. I groaned, with the Raccoons remaining 1-0 down behind DeRose, who liked to pitch behind in the count again, with the Elks’ only run from the second inning resulting from a leadoff walk to Kyle Hawkins and an RBI double by Rick Price. The league’s alleged third-best offense didn’t get anything more than that off DeRose, despite his best attempts to get stuffed a few more, and the Raccoons couldn’t figure out how to score even one measly run to take him off the hook until the stars aligned all in conjunction in the bottom 7th, Aaron Wade hit a 1-out single, and after Oley’s pinch-hitting appearance to ground out and move him to second base, scored on a Labonte single to center. That tied the game just fine, but Lonzo also flew out to Adam Magnussen to end the inning.

The circus then broke out again; the top 8th was handed to Sencion, who walked Kevin Weese (soon run for by Julio Caballero), Magnussen (soon run for by Pedro de Leon), and Tristan Waker before being shanked. Mike Lane then waved all the runners home on a sac fly, a single, and a wild pitch… The Raccoons didn’t even try to answer to that… 4-1 Canadiens. Johnson 2-4; DeRose 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K;

Shambolic.

Game 2
VAN: CF D. Moreno – 1B Weese – RF Magnussen – C Waker – 2B E. Stevens – SS R. Price – LF D. Garcia – 3B Lundberg – P Arroyo
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – LF Johnson – 1B Brassfield – 3B Brobeck – CF Solorzano – C Zamora – RF Griggs – P R. Wade

Offense remained at a premium through the early innings on Saturday, with Wade surrendering only one base hit in the first four frames to the vile-smelling Elks. The Raccoons weren’t much better; Labonte and Johnson went to the corners in the bottom 1st, but Brassfield then smoked a ball to short for an inning-ending double play. In the bottom 4th, though, Lonzo led off with a double. He gained a base on Johnson’s scratch single, and while Brass popped out, Brobeck put the Coons ahead with a single to center. Solorzano and Zamora were as useful as an egg nailed to a door, however; one popped out, and the other whiffed, leaving runners on the corners. Rick Price’s leadoff double and a walk to Tyler Lundberg didn’t amount to an Elks rally in the fifth either, because the free pass allowed Arroyo to whiff and then Damian Moreno grounded out to first base, so the Elks also left a pair on the corners. Doubles by Weese and Waker still tied the game in the sixth, but the Raccoons grabbed the lead back in the same frame. Lonzo singled, stole second, reached third on a groundout by Johnson… and then it got a bit gluey with an intentional walk to Brass and Brobeck barely staying out of a double play, but he got the Lonzo run home with a grounder to Weese, almost thrown to second base in time for a 3-3-6 double play. Solorzano ended the inning with a puny groundout instead.

Danny Garcia was *nailed* to begin the seventh inning, but Griggs snared a hard drive to right by Lundberg to help keep the Elks off the board and the Raccoons ahead by one. Zamora was drilled by Arroyo in turn in the bottom half of the inning, but an intentional walk to the pinch-hitting Abercrombie and a Lonzo single only loaded the bases, while Johnson’s puny fly out kept them loaded. Tanizaki walked a pair in the top 8th, because somebody absolutely ******* had to, but Ricky Herrera secured a pop to Labonte to end the inning even when he came in for the left-handed Price and was met by the right-handed Shuta Yamamoto instead; he still got the third out of the inning. It was still a 2-1 game in the ninth inning; Matt Walters struck out right-handed pinch-hitters Mark Mooney and Mike London, but gave up a hit to the third one, Jacob Goldstein. Moreno popped out easily, however. 2-1 Blighters. Lavorano 4-4, 2B; R. Wade 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (1-2);

Lonzo had as many hits as the rest of the team combined, scored both runs, stole the only base, and had the only knock for extra bases.

Game 3
VAN: CF D. Moreno – 1B Weese – RF Magnussen – C Waker – LF K. Hawkins – 2B E. Stevens – SS R. Price – 3B Lundberg – P Mark jr.
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – LF Abercrombie – 1B Brassfield – 3B Brobeck – C Chavez – RF Griggs – CF Oley – P Sensabaugh

Sensabaugh obtained a highly fraudulent sub-4 ERA by holding up until the second inning and a bit beyond. With that I mean, the Elks didn’t score. He managed to walk four Elks in three innings, including the bags full entirely in the third inning, putting Lundberg, Moreno, and Weese on before Magnussen flew out to Todd Oley in deep center to strand them all. By contrast, Mark jr. walked nobody, faced the minimum through three innings, but the Coons were in the H column with a Brobeck single and a Chavez double play grounder. Chavez would also pop out foul to strand the bases full of runners in the bottom 4th, but the Raccoons had only made it their in unearned fashion to begin with…

The first Elks hit in the game was Tristan Waker’s leadoff jack in the fourth. Lundberg singled, Moreno walked, and Weese dished a 2-run double in the fifth to unmask the sub-4 fraud, while Adam Harris gave up another run in the sixth inning, retiring all the right-handed batters he faced, but walking the left-handed Hawkins and giving up an RBI single to the equally left-handed Price. That silly game continued in the seventh when he allowed singles to the left-handed Moreno and Magnussen, and only ended when Hawkins popped out to strand those two in scoring position and keep the score at 4-0. Oh, Honeypaws! These wicked fudgers!

The Critters couldn’t score from Griggs’ leadoff double in the seventh, and when Lonzo was on base in the eighth he was also caught stealing. Brobeck opened the bottom 9th with a jack against Tony Negrete, which brought the Raccoons stunningly back into save range and Bernardino Risso replaced Negrete immediately. Chavez, Griggs, and Benitez were retired in order. 4-1 Canadiens. Brobeck 2-4, HR, RBI; Johnson (PH) 1-1;

In other news

September 19 – BOS SP Kodai Koga (15-10, 3.04 ERA) throws a 3-hit shutout against the Condors. The Titans win 1-0, with the lone run scoring on a wild pitch by the Condors’ starter Jose Salazar (8-3, 2.36 ERA, 1 SV) in the seventh inning.
September 19 – The Blue Sox beat the Wolves, 7-6, to win the FL East for the first time in 18 years.
September 19 – The season of Bayhawks OF/3B/2B Chris Tomko (.236, 4 HR, 24 RBI) ends with a broken wrist.
September 21 – The Titans are themselves shut out in a 7-0 game by NYC SP Ben Seiter (20-8, 2.75 ERA), who allows three hits for his third shutout of the year.
September 21 – The CL South is won by the Falcons with a 4-1 win over the Thunder. It’s their second straight division title.
September 21 – Wolves outfielder Noah Caswell (.274, 13 HR, 63 RBI) is out for the year with an elbow contusion.
September 22 – A home run by SAL 1B Belchior Fresco (.271, 13 HR, 67 RBI) beats the Scorpions, 1-0.
September 23 – TIJ SP Jay Everett (13-7, 2.77 ERA) throws a 1-hitter against the Knights, claiming a 5-0 win while walking four batters. The only Knights hit is a single by SP Vic Harman (15-8, 3.18 ERA).

FL Player of the Week: NAS INF/LF John Webler (.248, 11 HR, 55 RBI), batting .471 (8-17) with 2 HR, 5 RBI
CL Player of the Week: LVA INF Miguel Veguilla (.272, 10 HR, 76 RBI), hitting .480 (12-25) with 9 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Like glue.

Which reminds me that the glue factory won’t even take this ragged bunch. I had Maud ask. Isn’t that right, Maud? (Maud nods pacifyingly)

A win on Sunday would have tied us 729-all with the damn Elks for the existence of these two teams. So of course it wasn’t meant to be.

Just six road games left against New York and Indy now. Speaking of New York, Omar Sanchez rallied the stolen base race vaguely close for the final week. Lonzo still leads him by six, but Sanchez stole five bases this week, and he’s guaranteed a 10-for-13 series against the Raccoons without a shadow of a doubt.

Fun Fact: Omar Sanchez is batting .407 against the Raccoons in 2057.

22 for 54. And a DOZEN walks!

I’m not always exaggerating without reason.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (77-79) @ Crusaders (101-55) – September 24-26, 2057

The Crusaders had roundly trounced the CL North, having bagged the division two weeks ago and with a chance to beat the second-place Loggers by 20+ games. The Raccoons were due another three beatings against a team that led the season series, 11-4, and the CL in both runs scored and runs allowed.

Projected matchups:
Craig Kniep (5-6, 5.38 ERA) vs. Jose Ortega (10-8, 4.60 ERA)
Ramon Carreno (4-8, 5.36 ERA) vs. Kyle Turay (12-9, 3.69 ERA)
Justin DeRose (2-3, 4.31 ERA) vs. Ben Seiter (20-8, 2.75 ERA)

Only right-handers, since Kennedy Adkins (19-8, 2.23 ERA) had pitched on Sunday. Also, no Zach Suggs, no Chad Williams, and probably no Oscar Caballero, who had left their game on Sunday with an apparent injury.

Game 1
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – RF Abercrombie – 1B Brassfield – 3B Brobeck – LF Johnson – C Chavez – CF Oley – P Kniep
NYC: SS Lemke – C R. Salas – 2B O. Sanchez – RF Ogawa – 1B Sevilla – CF Nork – LF Standard – 3B Adame – P J. Ortega

Ortega whiffed five and walked only Todd Oley through three innings, while Kniep had three strikeouts and walked the bags full with Jeff Standard, Bruce Lemke, and Raul Salas in the bottom 3rd, but also didn’t allow a run through three innings once Omar Sanchez grounded out to Brassfield to end the inning. The game’s first hit would be Dan Nork’s RBI single in the bottom 4th, which gave the Crusaders a lead with nobody out thanks to a throwing error by Sanchez that put Ikuo Ogawa on second base right away, a wild pitch, and a walk to Raul Sevilla. Standard popped out, but Alex Adame doubled in a run against one of his 45 former teams, while Ortega whiffed, Lemke walked again, and Raul Salas struck out to leave another full set of runners on base. Elijah Johnson got Portland into the H column with a single in the fifth inning, but they also struck out three times in the inning and Johnson was left on first base.

…which didn’t hurt or annoy me nearly as much as the dolt Kniep allowing a leadoff double to Sanchez – chasing Lonzo for the stolen base title! – and between himself and Chavez, the other dolt, managed to fall asleep so hard that Sanchez stole home with one out in the inning. And then the Crusaders rapped off a bushel of hits and knocked out Kniep from a soon 4-0 game, but I was considerably more concerned about Lonzo 58, Sanchez 53 and steaming red hot. The Coons had a “rally” in the seventh, composed of a walk drawn by Abercrombie, and RBI knocks by Brobeck and Chavez, but the inning didn’t get them closer than two runs back. In the top 8th, however, the tying runs were on base. Tony Benitez drew a leadoff walk in the pitcher’s spot, then was forced out by Solorzano batting for Labonte. Lonzo singled to right-center, though, and that was the corners occupied with one out. And then Lonzo was caught stealing and Abercrombie flew out to left, and nobody scored. Ross Mitchell then struck out the 4-5-6 batters in the ninth. 4-2 Crusaders. Johnson 2-4, RBI;

Game 2
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – LF Abercrombie – 1B Brassfield – 3B Brobeck – LF Johnson – CF Royer – C Zamora – P Carreno
NYC: SS Lemke – CF Nork – 2B O. Sanchez – 1B Sevilla – RF Ogawa – 3B Adame – C Kissler – LF Kirkwood – P Turay

Carreno hit into an inning-ending double play after Brobeck, Royer, and Zamora had singled the bags full in the second inning, so there was that, but the Crusaders took a 1-0 lead from singles by Chris Kirkwood (waves politely) and Lemke in the bottom 3rd. The Coons got a gap triple from Brobeck to begin the fourth inning, then barely got him home as Johnson popped out to first and Royer grounded out on the infield, where a really desperate Crusaders team might have gone for the collision at home, but they figured they needed their catcher for the playoffs, so Brobeck tied the game uncontested.

The rest of the middle innings was uneventful, which was one way to say that Carreno pitched a decent game for once. The top 7th began with singles to right for Johnson and Royer, and the Raccoons were on the corners with nobody out. When Zamora struck out, Jake Griggs batted for Carreno, though, and hit into a double play to boot. Harris got the ball for the bottom of the inning, walked Aaron Kissler, then left the game with Luis Silva and an apparent injury. Reynaldo Bravo somehow got around a Turay single (…) without giving up the go-ahead run, although that also required Royer running down a 2-out drive by Dan Nork in left-center. When the Crusaders did go up 2-1 in the bottom 8th, they made my blood boil at the same time, because Eloy Sencion had nothing better to do than issue a leadoff walk to ******* Omar Sanchez, who then stole his 54th ******* base of the year. Between Sencion and Lane, the Coons walked the ******* bases full, and the Crusaders took the lead on Adame’s groundout before Kissler whiffed and Standard grounded out to short. Ryan Sullivan in the ninth struck out Brass, struck out Brobeck, and was 3-2 on Johnson before walking him. Royer singled. Marcos Chavez batted for Zamora… and grounded out to short. 2-1 Crusaders. Brobeck 2-4, 3B; Royer 3-4, RBI; Carreno 6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K;

(yells at random pitchers) If Lonzo loses the stolen base title because you ******* ***** can’t keep ******** ********** Sanchez off the ******* bases I’ll ******* tear you ******** a ******** ***** **********!!

That’ll surely help.

Harris was no longer gonna cause issues, because his season ended with a sore hamstring.

The Crusaders opted for a move on Wednesday, bringing left-hander David Concha (16-8, 3.34 ERA) up to start.

Game 3
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – 1B Brassfield – LF Abercrombie – 3B Brobeck – C Chavez – RF Griggs – 2B Bribiesca – P DeRose
NYC: LF Kirkwood – CF J. Gutierrez – 2B O. Sanchez – 1B Sevilla – RF Ogawa – 3B Adame – C Kissler – SS Lemke – P Concha

Just an inning and a bit into the game, it started to rain and the scoreless contest went to a 90-minute rain delay. DeRose had thrown 17 pitches in the bottom 1st and was going to return to the hill, but I didn’t necessarily expect much (good) from him anymore. Concha didn’t last much past the delay, being lifted after a third-inning double by Bribiesca, from where Royer plated him with a 2-out RBI single off Willie Santiago, a right-hander. Royer stole second, reached third on Kissler’s bad throw, and then scored when Sanchez dropped Lonzo’s pop for another error, 2-0. Lonzo then took off for second base, and Kissler threw that ball away as well! Brass grounded out to leave him at third base, though. DeRose finished the third inning, but complained about a dead arm afterwards and wasn’t brought back for the fourth inning.

Tanizaki got the ball for the fourth, walked Sanchez to lead off, and while I was plotting his demise kept the runner on first with several throws there, then got a double play grounder from Sevilla to clean up. Ogawa got rung up, and Mancilla got the ball for hopefully multiple innings after that, while Ogawa’s throwing error on the second of back-to-back singles by Brass and Abercrombie in the sixth inning led to (temporarily) yet another unearned Coons run. It was the fourth Crusaders error of the game, and Chavez’ 2-out single against Victor Mondragon scored Abs to make it a 4-0 game. New York replied with a Shane Larsen single and a Kirkwood RBI double against Mancilla in the bottom 6th. He pitched three innings of 1-run ball on four hits and two wild pitches, which was a bit of a mixed bag.

Not a mixed bag was the New York defense; Sanchez’ error in the seventh was their fifth E on the day, Mike Lane gave up a leadoff triple to Larsen in the bottom 8th, plated the runner on a wild pitch, and walked Sanchez with two outs in the inning, but at least Sanchez didn’t nip a base. Lonzo also was on with two outs in the top 9th, singling off Mitchell, who was then taken deep to right by Brassfield. Walters had been ready, but sat down, and Ivan Ornelas got the last three outs instead as the Coons staved off a sweep. 6-2 Raccoons. Lavorano 2-5; Brassfield 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Abercrombie 2-5; Chavez 2-4, RBI; DeRose 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

Raccoons (78-81) @ Indians (76-83) – September 28-30, 2057

Final set of the year. Don’t get hurt, boys. The season series here was actually still up for grabs, with Indy up 8-7. They had the meekest offense in the CL, and had average pitching for a -89 run differential (Coons: -5). Orlando Ramos and Juan Vasquez were on the DL, and Bill Quinteros was day-to-day with a hip strain, which at his age could spell real trouble.

Projected matchups:
Ryan Wade (1-2, 4.01 ERA) vs. Jeremy Fetta (6-12, 5.30 ERA)
J.J. Sensabaugh (2-4, 4.17 ERA) vs. Marcus Wilkins (6-8, 3.84 ERA)
Ramon Carreno (4-8, 5.14 ERA) vs. Bill Lawrence (12-14, 4.57 ERA)

No more southpaws; Shane Fitzgibbon (10-12, 3.54 ERA) would have required a game #163 to make another appearance in this series.

We skipped over Kniep here because I’d rather give Carreno another chance than him. Last year Kniep was all the rage, remember? DeRose could appear in long relief for a few more innings (but not in the opener).

Game 1
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – LF Abercrombie – 1B Brassfield – 3B Brobeck – LF Johnson – C Chavez – CF Royer – P R. Wade
IND: SS Mullen – 3B An. Rios – 1B B. Quinteros – CF Oldfield – RF Lovins – 2B Ewers – LF Briggs – C Werman – P Fetta

Labonte belted a jack to begin the game, but Antonio Rios doubled and Bill Quinteros, old man’s hip be damned, singled him home to tie the game off Wade in the same inning. Chris Briggs’ second-inning home run gave Indy the lead, while Wade kept putting runners on base in the third inning. Rios singled, was forced out by Quinteros, but Cory Oldfield singled, Chris Lovins hit an RBI single, and then Kevin Ewers pounded a 3-run homer to left altogether. He walked Briggs, then was dismissed for the year, and the garbage detail took over. Alex Rios finished the inning and pitched two more, giving up a run while driving in a pair of 2-runs in the fourth inning to collect on Johnson and Chavez. Labonte was nicked, and Lonzo’s RBI single even scored the garbage relievers. Through five innings, the Raccoons trailed 7-4.

Royer’s single and a walk drawn by Griggs in the #9 hole against righty Matt Green brought the tying run to the plate. The runners advanced on a passed ball called on Danny Werman, Labonte hit a sac fly, and Abercrombie got a 2-out RBI single in after Lonzo’s groundout. Jeff Caldwell replaced Green, gave up a double to Brassfield, but Brobeck flew out to center to end the inning with Portland a run short of tying the score. Two more were stranded in the seventh after a 2-out single for Royer and a walk drawn by Benitez, who then took over third base while Brobeck went to the hill. He pitched two scoreless, while the Raccoons did not score in the eighth, when Lonzo singled and was thrown out bidding for #60, while Brobeck himself opened the ninth with a single off Randy Slocum, putting the tying run on base again. Johnson lined out, Chavez popped out, and Royer flew out. 7-6 Indians. Lavorano 2-5, RBI; Abercrombie 2-4, BB, RBI; Brassfield 3-5, 2B; Royer 3-5; Brobeck 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K and 1-5;

Lonzo was still up by five bags, though.

Game 2
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – RF Abercrombie – 1B Brassfield – LF Johnson – CF Oley – C Zamora – 3B Benitez – P Sensabaugh
IND: 2B Kilday – 3B An. Rios – 1B B. Quinteros – CF Oldfield – RF Lovins – SS Mullen – LF Ewers – C Werman – P Wilkins

Brass and Johnson whacked first-inning RBI doubles after Abercrombie’s 2-out single, while Oley’s similarly noisy drive was tracked down and caught in right-center by Lovins. Another RBI double was mashed by Labonte with two outs in the second inning, cashing in on Tony Benitez’ single. Sensabaugh was not shy about scattering runners, though. Wilkins bopped a leadoff double in the bottom 3rd and Matt Kilday singled. With runners on the corners, Rios hit another single. Wilkins scored, but Kilday was erased in a rundown between second and third, and that sorta derailed the inning. Bottom 4th, and Sensabaugh ****** the bags full with nobody out. Lovins walked, Dan Mullen singled, and Ewers walked. Lonzo made a nifty pick on Danny Werman’s quick grounder for a 6-3 double play, conceding a run, and Wilkins popped out to keep Portland ahead, 3-2 after four innings.

Labonte in the fifth and Johnson in the sixth reached scoring position for Portland, but were left there before Sensabaugh finally blew the lead with a leadoff walk to Lovins in the bottom 6th, where Werman cashed in with a 2-out RBI single. All even at three after six, the Raccoons resorted to another RBI double to regain the lead, this time Labonte chasing home Carlos Solorzano, who had doubled as pinch-hitter for today’s useless starter. Dave Corrao then struck out Lonzo and Abercrombie to end the inning, but gave up straight singles to begin the eighth, with Oley plating Brassfield for a 5-3 lead before we insisted on messing with things and Aaron Wade hit into a double play in place of Zamora. Benitez grounded out to short. An Oldfield double off Sencion and Mullen’s double off Ornelas got the Indians back to 5-4 in the bottom 8th, and Werman only made the third out on the warning track and in Abercrombie’s mitten. But the game was doomed; the Coons went in order in the ninth, and the Indians plonked Matt Walters to death with three singles; Jason Perry leading off, Rios to tie the game with one out, and Will McIntyre to walk off with two outs. 6-5 Indians. Labonte 3-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Brassfield 2-4, 2B, RBI; Johnson 3-4, 2 2B, RBI; Benitez 2-4; Solorzano (PH) 1-1;

We were in a 3-way tie with Indy and Boston before the season finale, but the Elks had punched last place.

Sanchez stole a base against the Loggers on Saturday, so the gap was now four.

Despite crapping out in the ninth, Matt Walters won the CL saves title with a puny 39 close-outs.

Lonzo and Chavez were the only real regulars in the lineup on Sunday. Lonzo would be removed once he stole a base, which would give him 60 and would require Omar Sanchez to have six to beat him outright.

Game 3
POR: 2B Bribiesca – SS Lavorano – RF Griggs – LF Johnson – C Chavez – CF Oley – 3B Benitez – 1B A. Wade – P Carreno
IND: 2B Kilday – SS Mullen – 1B B. Quinteros – CF Oldfield – RF Lovins – LF Abel – 3B R. Rodriguez – C Werman – P B. Lawrence

Nowhere in his contract it said, however, that Lonzo would be removed while an inning was in progress, so when he hit a single off Bill Lawrence in the first inning and successfully swiped second base, he just went again on the very next pitch and stole third base, too, the little bugger! He scored on Griggs’ sac fly for a 1-0 lead, then never took the field. Daniel Espinoza took his spot. The lead disappeared as soon as Lonzo on straight singles by the 2-3-4 batters. Kevin Abel also walked, but Ruben Rodriguez grounded out to strand a full set of runners in the bottom 1st against Carreno.

Bribiesca doubled with one out in the third inning, then scored for a 2-1 lead on Espinoza’s single, which also gave Espinoza, who was on the roster for most of the year, his tenth RBI. Don’t stop believin’…! Elijah Johnson would drive him home with two outs, 3-1, while Carreno was bidding to finish the year with a sub-5 ERA. He reached five on the nose by going 4.2 innings of 1-run ball, but then walked Kilday and allowed a single to Dan Mullen that put them on the corners. Quinteros hit a sharp grounder at Espinoza for the last out of the inning. He wasn’t out of the game just yet, despite reaching that oh-so-vaunted 4.98 mark. The top 6th saw Lawrence fill the bases with Chavez, Oley, and Benitez, then give up a 2-run single to Aaron Wade (!!). Green replaced Lawrence, but gave up more RBI singles to Carreno and Bribiesca. Espinoza flew out to end the inning, now up 7-1. Carreno walked Oldfield in the bottom 6th, but got through the inning without allowing the run to score, so that also counted as success.

Indy got a run back off Scott and Herrera in the bottom 7th, with three hits and a walk offered between them, but Lovins left the bases loaded when he fanned against Herrera. Solorzano and Bribiesca answered with RBI knocks off Caldwell in the eighth after Benitez had drawn another walk, and Caldwell gave up another run in the ninth, walking Johnson and giving up a pinch-hit RBI single to Brassfield. Colby Bowen and Eloy Sencion finished tossing duties with scoreless innings, and then the season was over. 10-2 Coons. Bribiesca 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Lavorano 1-1; Johnson 2-4, BB, RBI; Brassfield (PH) 1-1, RBI; Solorzano (PH) 1-1, RBI; Carreno 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, W (5-8) and 1-3, RBI;

In other news

September 24 – A homer, a double, and two RBI are included in Thunder youngster Tony Lira’s (.276, 6 HR, 35 RBI) 5-hit game in a 12-5 victory over the Aces.
September 26 – The Pacifics beat the Wolves, 3-0, to clinch the FL West ahead of the Scorpions and Warriors.
September 26 – The Capitals beat the Cyclones, 8-7 in 18 mostly pointless innings. Neither team scores from the 10th through 17th innings, but both teams get on the board in the 18th, but the Caps’ two runs from the top half hold up against Cincy’s one run in the bottom half of the inning.
September 27 – Blue Sox SP Mike Chartrand (19-10, 3.30 ERA) throws a 2-hit shutout against the Miners, who get routed 13-0.
September 28 – Pacifics RF Matt Diskin (.341, 18 HR, 70 RBI) punches his 300th career home run in a 7-6 win over the Stars. The rightfielder spent his entire 15-year career in the FL West with the Warriors and L.A., batting .324/.390/.500 with 2,330 hits and 1,300 RBI. He was a Rookie of the Year, and won a home run title in 2055.
September 28 – Knights SP Vic Harman (16-8, 3.07 ERA) 2-hits the Thunder in a 7-0 shutout.
September 28 – The Loggers beat the Titans, 3-2. All runs score in the 10th inning.
September 28 – PIT INF Victor Corrales (.304, 18 HR, 101 RBI) has a first-inning RBI single for the only Miners hit in a 6-1 loss to the Rebels’ Brian Jackson (9-8, 3.12 ERA) and Andy Gibson (0-0, 5.93 ERA).

Complaints and stuff

Lonzo played in all 162 games again this year! It was the fourth time he achieved that, and it goes with his sixth stolen base title.

It was also his worst offensive season with the stick, a paltry .586 OPS. No-no, all is well. All is well. (fuzzy ears point sideways)

We finished in a four-way tie of teams with 79-83 records (the other three being in the Federal League), and two of those teams won’t have a protected draft pick next June. Oh, the funs we’re gonna be having with that lottery…

The Crusaders have the best record in baseball by a dozen games. Which probably means the Falcons bop them in five in the CLCS.

Fun Fact: Trent Brassfield led the team with a meager 13 home runs.

The last one he hit in New York on Wednesday, ending a 56-day drought since his last home run against the Bayhawks.

Isn’t it great how we never run out of FUN FACTS AROUND HERE???

[Westheim]

2057 ABL PLAYOFFS

24 entered the ring, four were left standing.

The 106-56 Crusaders were the defending champions and had by far posted the best record in the league, besting every other team by 12 games and their division by 19 games. They had the #1 offense in the Continental League, the #1 pitching in the Continental League, and there wasn’t any major weakness about their roster whatsoever … when they were healthy, and they weren’t. Star shortstop Zach Suggs (.322, 14 HR, 53 RBI) had fallen by the wayside, as had an entire outfield worth of Oscar Caballero, Chris Kirkwood, and Chad Williams; starting pitcher David Concha, too. Concha and Kirkwood were on the playoff roster, but it was not sure when they would be ready for action. They still had a formidable 1-2 punch with Ben Seiter (21-8, 2.79 ERA) and Kennedy Adkins (20-8, 2.20 ERA), but the offense had taken a beating. Raul Sevilla (.255, 19 HR, 105 RBI) looked like the most dangerous producer now, batting behind Omar Sanchez (.331, 0 HR, 41 RBI), who came second in the stolen base table.

Their CLCS pairing with the 91-71 Falcons was a rematch from the previous season. The Falcons finished third in runs scored, second in runs allowed, and eight games up on their division. Their rotation had been *much* better than their bullpen, beating the relief corps by a full run of ERA, which seemed out of the ordinary, and they played more of an on-base than a power game offensively. They, too, were battling injuries, having lost infielders Bobby Anderson (.257, 8 HR, 80 RBI) and Travis Edwards (.284, 12 HR, 66 RBI) in September. Art Schaeffer (18-7, 2.59 ERA) led the rotation, while the lineup still had a dangerous middle of the order with Danny Ceballos (.341, 18 HR, 84 RBI), Jason Schaack (.237, 16 HR, 96 RBI), and Luis Miranda (.255, 14 HR, 73 RBI). The Falcons had an all-righty rotation for the playoffs, and the Crusaders’ lineup also figured to be mostly right-handed, so maybe that was an advantage for Charlotte.

In the Federal League, the Pacifics had homefield advantage after winning the FL West with a 94-68 record, five games clear of the competition, but the pattern of crippling injuries continued here as well. Third in runs scored and fourth in runs allowed, the Pacifics had shed staters Ivan Torres (11-8, 3.91 ERA), Chad Shultz (7-4, 2.98 ERA), and Jesus Hinojosa, closer Jason Posey (2-1, 0.89 ERA, 7 SV), and regular shortstop Jesse Sweeney (.277, 6 HR, 42 RBI). Only Sweeney had hope of perhaps returning for the World Series. Their remaining rotation dropped off behind Jim Reynolds (14-7, 2.73 ERA) and Austin Wilcox (12-9, 2.89 ERA), but the veteran mashers in the lineup were at least still standing: Matt Diskin (.344, 18 HR, 71 RBI), Chris Rice (.322, 15 HR, 74 RBI), and Randy Wilken (.250, 27 HR, 92 RBI) were all dangerous despite being well past 30.

The 93-67 Blue Sox won the FL East by 13 games and for the first time in even more years, scoring the most runs in the Federal League, but giving up the eighth-most. They relied heavily on the longball – Nick Nye (.337, 32 HR, 110 RBI), Andy Metz (.248, 28 HR, 105 RBI), and David Johnson (.243, 23 HR, 78 RBI) all feasted on pitchers’ tears professionally – but nobody was free of injuries, and the Blue Sox had lost James Powell (2-3, 3.15 ERA) to Tommy John surgery in May, and Malik Crumble (.289, 14 HR, 34 RBI) to a flayed shoulder in August. Their rotation was perhaps the most mediocre, with the best ERA being Richard Castillo’s (15-11, 3.27 ERA), but at least their four chosen guys all ranged in the 3’s. Like the Falcons, their bullpen had been an abhorrence, though, with an ERA over four and more than half a run worse than the starters’.

The Pacifics led the field in playoff appearances with 18, followed by the Blue Sox (15), Crusaders (14), and Falcons (13). In titles, New York held court though with eight collected rings, ahead of L.A. (6), Nashville (4), and Charlotte (1).

(Tops in playoff appearances? The Raccoons (23). Tops in rings? Titans (10).)

The Crusaders and Falcons had previously met in the CLCS in 1978, 2007, 2008, and 2056 – the Crusaders being 4-0 in those meetings and 3-for-4 in finishing up with a World Series title. In the FL however, this was a first-time matchup, the Blue Sox and Pacifics having made it an art form to never be good at the same time before.

For previous World Series meetings of these teams, there was 2005 when the Falcons won their only championship against the Blue Sox, 2011 with the Pacifics beating the Crusaders, and that was that; none of the two CL contenders had won the pennant in the 40-year span between the Crusaders’ 2015 and 2056 championships.

+++

LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

NAS @ LAP … 1-6 … (Pacifics lead 1-0) … LAP Chris Rice 3-3, BB, HR, RBI; LAP Randy Wilken 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI;

NAS @ LAP … 2-4 … (Pacifics lead 2-0) … LAP Andy Overy 8.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 K, W (1-0)
CHA @ NYC … 4-6 (11) … (Crusaders lead 1-0) … CHA Ian Woodrome 3-4; NYC Dan Nork 3-6, 3B, 2B, 2 RBI;

Raul Sevilla (.167, 1 HR, 2 RBI) gives New York a 1-0 series lead with his walkoff home run against Mario de Anda (0-1, 27.00 ERA).

CHA @ NYC … 1-3 … (Crusaders lead 2-0) … NYC Alex Adame 3-4, HR, RBI; NYC Raul Sevilla 2-4, HR, 2 RBI;

Another day, another walkoff home run for Raul Sevilla (.300, 2 HR, 4 RBI), this time in regulation and off Charlotte’s Joe Gowin (0-1, 13.50 ERA), who had already been bombed by Adame in the bottom of that ninth inning to tie the game.

LAP @ NAS … 1-3 … (Pacifics lead 2-1) … LAP Jesus Espinoza 3-4; LAP Matt Diskin 3-4, 2B; NAS Marquise Saulsberry (PH) 1-1, HR, RBI;

As the day before in the CLCS, the Pacifics hold a 1-0 lead late and surrender it on two bombs off their starter Austin Wilcox (0-1, 3.38 ERA), who is taken deep by John Webler (.364, 1 HR, 2 RBI) and the rookie Saulsberry, who makes his first playoff appearance off the bench.

LAP @ NAS … 0-7 … (series tied 2-2) … NAS Tony Ontiveroz 3-3, 2 BB; NAS Andy Metz 3-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; NAS Dave Gonzalez 2-4, 2B, 3 RBI; NAS Mike Chartrand 9.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 7 K, W (1-1);
NYC @ CHA … 13-9 … (Crusaders lead 3-0) … NYC Omar Sanchez 2-5, 2B, 3 RBI; NYC Aaron Kissler 3-5; NYC Chris Kirkwood 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; NYC Jose Ortega 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 1 K; NYC Ross Mitchell 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, SV (1); CHA Mitch Sivertson 0-1, 4 BB; CHA Danny Ceballos 2-4, 2B, 4 RBI; CHA Luis Miranda 3-5, HR, 3 RBI;

The lead changes hands in Charlotte no fewer than five times, in five consecutive half-innings between the fourth and sixth after Charlotte takes an early 3-0 lead, but is then considerably out-hit by New York.

LAP @ NAS … 2-4 … (Blue Sox lead 3-2)
NYC @ CHA … 5-6 … (Crusaders lead 3-1) … NYC Alex Adame 2-3, BB; NYC Omar Sanchez 3-4; CHA Jason Schaack 3-4;

Kyle Fisher (.167, 0 HR, 1 RBI) keeps the Falcons’ season alive with a walkoff RBI double off Ryan Sullivan (0-1, 4.50 ERA) in the ninth inning.

NYC @ CHA … 2-7 … (Crusaders lead 3-2) … NYC Dan Nork 2-4, 2 2B, BB; NYC Omar Sanchez 4-5, RBI; CHA Luis Miranda 1-2, 2 BB, 2 RBI;

The Crusaders out-hit the Falcons 12-6, but strand batters left and right and have the series sent back to New York.

NAS @ LAP … 5-2 … (Blue Sox win 4-2) … NAS John Webler 3-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI; LAP Chris Rice 2-3, BB, HR, 2 RBI;

CHA @ NYC … 5-9 … (Crusaders win 4-2) … CHA Kyle Fisher 2-3, 2 BB; CHA Jason Schaack 2-4, RBI; CHA Luis Miranda 3-5, 2B; NYC Raul Sevilla 2-5, 2B, RBI; NYC Aaron Kissler 2-4, BB, RBI; NYC Chad Williams 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; NYC Chris Kirkwood 2-4, BB, 3 RBI; NYC Shane Larsen 3-5, 2 RBI;

+++

2057 WORLD SERIES

In an all-new World Series matchup, the Crusaders would meet the Blue Sox for the 2057 crown. While the Crusaders had regained some injured or ailing personnel, they also had to remove primary catcher Raul Salas from the roster after he failed concussion protocol following a hit on the head in Game 4 of the CLCS. Aaron Kissler for sure had the better batting average between the two, though. Apart from that, this was still the #1 offense and #1 pitching in the CL, and it perhaps was now better than heading into the CLCS, where their +182 run differential from the regular season had made an impression on the Falcons.

The Sox suffered no injuries in the FLCS, but also didn’t get their missing players back. Their +113 run differential couldn’t compete with the Crusaders’, but they had momentum on their side after winning four straight games to erase an 0-2 deficit against Los Angeles. Besides, everybody loves the underdog.

There were no significant differences in roster construction between these teams; the Sox had brought a balanced lineup from the start, and the changed injury situation also made New York’s lineup a lot more balanced for the World Series. Both teams were expected to send three right-handed and one left-handed starting pitcher, so it was hard to make out a favorite on these grounds.

New York was still trying to defend their 2056 title, while the Sox had on one hand not been to the playoffs in 17 years, but were 2-for-2 for their last two October outings in 2037 and 2039.

The Crusaders were still the odds-on favorites with the bookies.

+++

NAS @ NYC … 3-2 … (Blue Sox lead 1-0) … NAS Jacob Bratlien 3-5, 3B, 2B; NAS John Webler 3-4, 2B, RBI; NAS Richard Castillo 8.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, W (2-0); NYC Shane Larsen 2-2, BB;

NAS @ NYC … 3-2 … (Blue Sox lead 2-0) … NAS Jacob Bratlien 3-5, 2 2B; NYC Shane Larsen 3-4, 2B, RBI; NAS Mike Chartrand 8.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (2-1);

Viewers were confused for most of Game 2, why the National Sports Channel (NSC) would show a repeat of Game 1, but Chartrand’s mighty moustache eventually gave it away that it was not, even though the games played out largely the same.

NYC @ NAS … 4-0 … (Blue Sox lead 2-1) … NYC Joel Luera 9.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, W (2-0) and 1-4, 2 RBI;

NYC @ NAS … 6-12 … (Blue Sox lead 3-1) … NYC Dan Nork 3-6, RBI; NYC Alex Adame 2-5, 2B, RBI; NYC Chad Williams 2-4, BB, 2 2B; NYC Chris Kirkwood 2-4, BB, RBI; NYC Shane Larsen 3-4, BB, RBI; NAS Jacob Bratlien 3-4, BB; NAS Tony Ontiveroz 2-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; NAS Nick Nye 4-5, RBI; NAS John Webler 4-4, HR, 3B, 2B, 7 RBI;

John Webler (.486, 2 HR, 13 RBI), heretofore rather unheralded third-year third baseman for the Blue Sox, chucks the first ABL postseason cycle in history in a takedown of the Crusaders that gives the Blue Sox multiple matchballs to win their first title in 18 years.

NYC @ NAS … 2-3 … (Blue Sox win 4-1) … NYC Alex Adame 2-4, 2B, RBI; NYC Shane Larsen 2-3; NAS Nick Nye 3-4; NAS Richard Castillo 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (3-0);

Blue Sox closer Kevin Hitchcock (0-0, 1.50 ERA, 6 SV) entered the ninth inning with a 3-1 lead, but gave up a leadoff jack to Aaron Kissler to narrow the score to 3-2. Chad Williams and Chris Kirkwood flew out, Shane Larsen singled, and then it was old venerable Mario Villa to drag his 36-year-old body off the bench. He was 0-for-5 in pinch-hitting appearances in the postseason, and after he swung under a 3-2 fastball at neck level, he was 0-for-6 and the Crusaders and their 106-win season crumbled to ashes.

+++

2057 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS
Nashville Blue Sox
(5th title)

[Westheim]

(wears blue socks and a blue hat and snickers)

Oh, and then Steve from Accounting tip-toed in and handed in the new budget. It wasn’t actually that bad. Nick Valdes went with inflation and gave us $54M instead of $53M from the year before. I had honestly expected the axe to be taken to the budget again. We remained 12th in the league with that budget.

Top 5: Crusaders ($82M), Knights ($71M), Thunder ($70M), Scorpions ($68M), Pacifics and Miners ($66M each)
Bottom 5: Cyclones ($44.5M), Blue Sox ($43M), Condors ($41.5M), Indians ($37M), Aces ($30.5M)

The rest of the CL North competition ranked 7th (VAN, $63M), t-14th (BOS, $50M), and 19th (MIL, $45.5M).

The average budget for a team in the league rose to $54.98M, up about $440k from last season, while the median team budget was $52.5M, up half a million from last year.

Here’s the good news: we’ll have a very cheap roster in 2058!

That’s probably it for good news. I saw harder times coming, however, because the first news of the offseason cycle was Josh Abercrombie’s note that he was voiding his $2.2M player option for 2058 and was electing free agency (although he was compensation eligible and would be offered arbitration). And with that, Trent Brassfield was the last productive hitter on the roster. That offense!

The funny thing about 2057 (in hindsight at least) was that we scored the second-fewest runs in the Continental League and played the last two months without a functioning rotation, but still had a +1 run differential and a semi-respectable 79-83 record and finished third in the CL North, albeit 27 games behind the Crusaders. We also finished the year with the second-smallest payroll in the league after purging most things of value in July. The top earner left on the team was STEVE ROYER, for ***** sake.

There were four more free agents besides Abercrombie, three of them right-handed relievers Mike Lane, Alex Mancilla, and John Scott. The last guy was backup catcher Ruben Zamora. To be honest, none of them were integral to the success of the team in 2058 (there would not be such a thing as success), although we might try and keep Lane or Scott around for veteran wisdom and such.

Only five arbitration cases either. The only full-time hitter in that group was the aforementioned Brassfield, who could expect to bag seven figures, same for relievers Matt Walters and Takenori Tanizaki. Ivan Ornelas was also in that group, as well as baseball-gods-know-what-he-actually-was Kyle Brobeck.

Brobeck was wicked, but on a losing team could not do much further damage. His pitching had been gruesome and had been judged to be at replacement level for the season, but he made 2.8 WAR by batting. He also cost most of that by playing third base very badly. I just don’t think we can do without his .289/.340/.436 stick and still hope to score three runs a game……

Looking into the future, the Raccoons currently had only one meaningful catcher (Marcos Chavez), no first baseman, Paul Labonte was the flavor of the season at second base, Lonzo was etched in at short, and Brobeck… well. The outfield would probably have Brass and Pucks on the corners, or Pucks in center if we decided Elijah Johnson would keep it up with the .796 OPS (spoiler: .320 BABIP), but mind the luxury of Steve Royer, who definitely wasn’t going anywhere for another year. Around that, a scattering of ho-hum demi-youngsters or those that were hardly worth bringing up. We weren’t keen on Arturo Bribiesca, Jake Griggs, and Royer. We had seen well enough of Daniel Espinoza and Carlos Solorzano. Aaron Wade could perhaps be useful after (a lot) more seasoning, same for Tony Benitez. Todd Oley in center? This was a complete and utter mess.

The pitching was of course not any better, and let’s actually start with the bright side, the pen. Even without resigning ANY of the upcoming free agents, we’d have Walters, Sencion, Tanizaki as real assets. Herrera had been up and down, but serviceable, and even Reynaldo Bravo seemed to have found a groove. Ornelas might just stick around. Harris, Rios, and Bowen were awful, however. But, oh boy, the rotation. We finished the year with a constant fireworks show of Justin DeRose, Ryan Wade, J.J. Sensabaugh, Ramon Carreno, Craig Kniep, and Kyle Brobeck. None of them pitched more than 109.1 innings (Carreno) in the majors. None of them postedn an ERA better than 4.08 (DeRose). Only these two had more strikeouts than walks, and for DeRose it was a +1 and for Carreno the ratio was 1.166. That group SUCKED.

To be fair, they were all rookies, except for Brobeck and Kniep, the latter being a third-year (including a cup of coffee in ’55) ABL starter (and purged from the roster more than once this year). But had any of them great potential? DeRose and Sensabaugh had been brought in as big prospects, but their performance had been awful. Wade had been a ninth-rounder, released, and signed off the trash heap, and was living up to that CV. Carreno was very young (23 in April), but had been signed in the 2051 July IFA window for a warm meal and $24k.

The Raccoons had no rotation, and the Raccoons would not go anywhere in 2058.

[Westheim]

The main attraction around Portland was signing extensions with the arbitration cases as October ended. Matt Walters signed an extension for $1.15M, Tanizaki got $1.1M, and Ivan Ornelas somehow amounted to $825k. Kyle Brobeck would get $870k for … whatever it was he was doing here.

But the most buzz was about Trent Brassfield, who signed a long-term extension with the Raccoons, who certainly had dosh to spare now. The new deal was for eight years, eliminating him as a salary arbitration or free agency case for the foreseeable future, and probably indicated that the Raccoons wanted to hold on to at least one or two players that could loosely be described as assets. Brassfield would make $1.5M next season, get a $500k raise twice after, and then make $3.25M annually for the last five years of the contract, with the last two years being team options – certainly not a terrible deal for team!

Nothing else really happened, which wasn’t too surprising around a team that had little of trade value left. But of course we couldn’t enter the offseason without being creamed. First, Seisaku Taki became a type-A free agent after finishing the year with the Loggers, which had I known that would have kept me from trading him so freely. Second, of course the Raccoons emerged from the four-way tie for two protected draft picks with the #13 pick. Because why would they get anything else?

Maud. Phone. League office. (breathes heavily)

The saving grace? There’s a few interesting international free agents from Cuba and Asia, and the Coons entered the offseason with near-infinite cash to throw around. On the first proper day after the free agency date, we had just over $21M in payroll for ’58, and almost $21M in budget room.

+++

October 24 – The Capitals acquire LF/RF Matt Cox (.253, 120 HR, 502 RBI) from the Thunder for 33-yr old C Tony Alvarez (.221, 5 HR, 83 RBI), who barely featured in the majors for two years, and a prospect.
October 24 – The Thunder also ship out RF/CF Will Buras (.268, 10 HR, 79 RBI) to the Scorpions for two prospects. The package includes #28 prospect SP Victor Lopez.
October 29 – Richmond acquires OF Jason Light (.245, 10 HR, 41 RBI) from the Capitals. The 27-year-old comes with a prospect and costs the Capitals veteran C Henry Howie (.250, 126 HR, 555 RBI).
October 31 – Sacramento picks up 3B Leo Arguello (.287, 3 HR, 161 RBI) from Dallas, where #90 prospect SP Keith Trail is headed.
November 2 – First baseman Eddie de la Roca (.258, 28 HR, 102 RBI) is sent from the Thunder to the Buffaloes in exchange for #47 prospect C Steve Preston.
November 10 – The Canadiens flip 1B/SS Mike London (.281, 6 HR, 28 RBI) to the Capitals for a prospect.

+++

2057 ABL AWARDS

Players of the Year: NAS INF Nick Nye (.337, 32 HR, 110 RBI) and CHA RF/LF Danny Ceballos (.341, 18 HR, 84 RBI)
Pitchers of the Year: SAC SP Mike McCaffrey (16-7, 1.63 ERA) and NYC SP Ben Seiter (21-8, 2.79 ERA)
Rookies of the Year: NAS C David Johnson (.243, 23 HR, 78 RBI) and TIJ OF Bobby Fish (.297, 6 HR, 35 RBI)
Relievers of the Year: SAC CL Justin Round (8-6, 2.57 ERA, 39 SV) and POR CL Matt Walters (2-4, 2.04 ERA, 39 SV)
Platinum Sticks (FL): P CIN Cory Ellis – C TOP Matt McLaren – 1B LAP Chris Rice – 2B DEN Ivan Villa – 3B TOP Alex de los Santos – SS NAS Nick Nye – LF WAS Dan Martin – CF SAL Noah Caswell – RF RIC Willie Sanchez
Platinum Sticks (CL): P NYC Ben Seiter – C CHA Luis Miranda – 1B SFB Pat Fowler – 2B SFB Armando Montoya – 3B LVA Alex Alfaro – SS VAN Rick Price – LF MIL Perry Pigman – CF VAN Damian Moreno – RF CHA Danny Ceballos
Gold Gloves (FL): P WAS Troy Ratliff – C DEN Andre Monroe – 1B SAL Belchior Fresco – 2B LAP Jesse Sweeney – 3B PIT Victor Corrales – SS TOP Jesus Nunez – LF SAC Omar Gonzalez – CF SAL Noah Caswell – RF SAL Jason Monson
Gold Gloves (CL): P LVA Josh Wilson – C TIJ Nick Samuel – 1B TIJ Harry Ramsay – 2B NYC Omar Sanchez – 3B ATL Doug Triplett – SS IND Dan Mullen – LF CHA Kyle Fisher – CF CHA Jayden Ward – RF IND Will McIntyre

[Westheim]

Notes on minor league free agents we lost. SP Nick Hampton and UT Tim Line were taken in the third and fourth rounds of the 2051 drafts respectively, but did badly at AAA and were never close to a call-up. Two players did leave as minor league free agents after making appearances for the big league club. INF/LF Tommy Hannoush made it into eight games in 2056, batting .200 (3-15) with one RBI.

The story of Prospero Tenazes was considerably more bizarre though; a professional for 15 years since he signed with the Thunder out of Venezuela in 2042, Tenazes wound up in Portland in the trade that exchanged Mike Lynn and Alex Adame for Adam Peltier (then disbursed to San Francisco and a prolific coonskinner since), among other things. He made appearances for the Raccoons in five different seasons from 2052 through 2056, even wound up with a ring for 42 games of hitting for a .658 OPS in ’54, and somehow was waived an endless amount of times and never claimed. Maybe other teams DO read the stats pages of players after all! Tenazes batted .259/.298/.326 with 3 HR, 18 RBI in 133 games, mostly contributed as a running gag and a dire threat for promotion, and would probably soon be forgotten.

There were three international free agents on the market that had big impact potential, and the Raccoons were going to go after two of them. We were not interested in 2B Joo-chan Lee from Korea, who was an elite slap singles hitter and could also draw walks, but was going to turn 34 years old this winter and what was he gonna do by the time the Raccoons sorted out their mess of a roster?

But there was a pair of 28-ish Cuban players that looked like fits. The first was corner outfielder Jesus Martinez, a real power hitter that might actually threaten Trent Brassfield’s team-high 13 shots from this season. Defense and hitting for average were so much his game, and Brass wasn’t an ace defender either. The Raccoons had really come away from the strong defensive teams of the last decades that won rings and all. The other player from Cuba we wanted was right-hander Roberto “Bobby” “Tippy” Herrera. Bobby for obvious reasons, and Tippy because he was tipping his pitches at times and gave up homers. But he gave them up like Mark Roberts did back in the 20s and 30s, all the way to the Hall of Fame. Every scout in the country seemed to agree that his Cuban numbers were true and that he was the real deal in every regard with three elite pitches, strong control, and he kept the ball on the ground, too. No injury history – what else was there to crave? He can merrily give up 20 homers a year as long as he doesn’t walk the bases ******* full first, like the bozos in the corner over there! (points at Brobeck, DeRose, and Sensabaugh playing with colored wooden toys and trying to shove a square peg through a round hole)

Herrera would obviously go right to the top of our rotation as new resident ace, a job for which there was zero competition right now, although the free agent market might yet spit out some type B free agent(s). We had $20m to blow on players after all.

What was the going rate for top stars now? The Falcons had a suggestion when they signed Danny Ceballos to an extension in late November. If you’re 26 and a 9-year veteran in the league, batting .324/.383/.466 for your career with 1,585 base hits under your belt already, you can now expect to cash in on a 7-yr, $56M contract. Will players never get stick of driving expensive sports cars?? What do they need all the money for!? … (checks whether Nick Valdes has already wired his own salary) … What? The line of fur care products I prefur is very expensive!

Not one of those would be 30-year-old ex-Capitals starter Zach Stewart. The left-hander had been through a horrendous 9-14, 5.51 ERA campaign after decent results before that, but insisted on a 5-year deal when I thought more along the lines of a guaranteed year and a juicy vesting option. Which was too bad, given that none of the five starters that had finished the year in our rotation had made an all too compelling case to be there for the start of 2058. The best FIP on that crew was Carreno’s 4.41, and after that it got bleak quite rapidly. Brobeck and DeRose were the only guys with a FIP under 5 besides Carreno.

Let’s not forget that our offense was the second-meekest in the CL and the fourth-puniest in the league, and that was before we lost Josh Abercrombie to free agency. Signing Jesus Martinez would help, but the Raccoons had a gaping hole at first base (Aaron Wade: .155/.187/.282 with the worst BABIP I have ever seen, but still…), no credible second catcher (or even a first catcher), and our current solution for “who’s in center?” was Steve Royer, who was expensive and barely out-hitting Lonzo in the OPS department. In fact between those two we were paying $4.56M, more than 20% of the current payroll including scores of minimum players on the 40-man roster and (soon?) off it, for 1,037 PA’s worth of a 66 OPS+. Tony Benitez hadn’t hit. Daniel Espinoza hadn’t hit. Jake Griggs hadn’t hit. Griggs was perhaps a new record in the “is it something in the water?” category, going from batting .321/.423/.395 with the Thunder to .222/.282/.273 on the Coons. He wasn’t expected to do much, but continuing to breathe would have been nice!

The Condors offered aging catcher (red flag there) Nick Samuel to the Raccoons in late November. Samuel was hitting for no average with considerable pop, but the Raccoons would be stuck with him through his age 37 season in ’60, and I wasn’t keen on that, even for Todd Oley and a remote prospect.

+++

November 17 – The Buffaloes acquire CL Kyle Zanni (7-15, 4.36 ERA, 39 SV) from the Rebels for two prospects.
November 21 – The Knights sign ex-POR OF Josh Abercrombie (.312, 42 HR, 479 RBI) to a 6-yr, $39.6M contract. The Raccoons receive a supplemental round pick for compensation.
November 21 – The Buffaloes ink a deal with ex-WAS LF/RF Dan Martin (.285, 131 HR, 485 RBI) for $34.2M over six years.
November 21 – Former Titans OF/2B Eric Whitlow (.238, 71 HR, 370 RBI) signs a 5-yr, $18.4M contract with the Thunder.
November 25 – The Raccoons pounce with all four paws on the target as they sign the Cuban free agent pair of 27-year-old SP Bobby Herrera and 28-year-old OF/1B Jesus Martinez on the same day. Both receive 6-year deals. Herrera’s is worth $24M, while Martinez will make $21M over the course of the contract.

+++

The Herrera and Martinez contracts are flat. If they had driven a harder bargain I would have tried to front-load the contracts, since we do have money now (although I just peppered out $45M like it’s candy).

And Herrera’s contract might not even be the biggest one we shell out this winter. (cue the dramatic music)

Other former Coons with new employment: Mitch Sivertson got $422k from the Loggers; Kenneth Spencer (minors only, but annoying enough whenever we face him) signed for 2-yr, $812k with San Francisco; the Miners got Wade Gardner for $650k;

[ayaghmour2]

Well this Herrera guy looks mighty fine! Excited to see what he can do!

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by ayaghmour2

Well this Herrera guy looks mighty fine! Excited to see what he can do!

Knowing our luck? He catches the weekly rain delay in the third inning in Portland at least five times a year, probably.

+++

The Raccoons were leaning in on a big-name free agent (several actually, including a type-A starter, because we needed at least two warm bodies in that rotation…), but first there was fiddling around on the fringes on the roster.

+++

November 28 – The Cyclones add right-handed closer Willie Cruz (41-41, 3.16 ERA, 231 ERA), formerly of Sacramento, on a 3-yr, $4.26M deal.
November 28 – Indy deals 1B Kevin Price (.246, 2 HR, 33 RBI) to the Miners in exchange for a prospect.
November 30 – The Raccoons trade RF/LF/1B Jake Griggs (.262, 0 HR, 21 RBI) to the Scorpions for right-hander Mike Siwik (15-11, 3.89 ERA, 10 SV).
December 1 – Rule 5 Draft: 15 players are selected by the various organizations. The Raccoons draft INF Tyrese Sheilds (.265, 12 HR, 119 RBI) from the Condors organization and 1B Toushi Imai (.253, 27 HR, 109 RBI) from the Wolves organization. The Knights draft the Raccoons’ AAA SP Jose Villegas.
December 1 – The Buffaloes sign ex-OCT 2B Jonathan Ban (.317, 84 HR, 968 RBI) to a 1-year deal that will pay the 35-year-old $2.76M.

+++

The rule 5 picks present some options. Imai mostly wasn’t that bad whenever the Wolves bothered to play him upstairs, and the Raccoons sure had an opening at first base for the time being. Sheilds looked like a superior backup infielder compared to the lackluster Daniel Espinoza. Sheilds had a .239 BABIP in 2057 so those stats needed to be taken with a grain of salt. Oh well, at least they were easily disposable in case something better came up. Their acquisition did fill the 40-man roster at least (along with the sole addition of SP Chance Fox to protect him from the Rule 5 draft).

Getting an experienced right-handed reliever in Siwik sure beats the seventh outfielder on the depth chart. Siwik had made some spot starts in the past, but was not going to be a regular component of the rotation. That of course removed a right-handed outfield option from the mix. Brass and the new arrival Martinez remained, along with expensive switch-hitter Steve Royer, who wasn’t going anywhere, except in exchange for another expensive and mostly superfluous player elsewhere. Left over were the Puckses, Oley, Johnsons, and Solorzanos on the roster.

What next? Well, the Raccoons made the first big splash at the annual Winter Meetings!

+++

December 3 – The Raccoons pounce on 28-yr old ex-SAL CF/1B Noah Caswell (.289, 38 HR, 296 RBI), who signs a 6-yr, $36M contract.
December 3 – The Thunder ink ex-NAS SP Mike Chartrand (49-42, 4.07 ERA) to a 3-yr, $7.32M contract.
December 3 – The Wolves have a new closer with former Pacifics right-hander Jason Posey (48-40, 3.03 ERA, 181 SV), who missed most of 2057 with injury, signing a 3-yr, $8.52M contract.
December 3 – Former Salem starter Pablo Paez (111-125, 4.18 ERA) gets a 3-yr, $7.68M deal from the Miners at age 35.
December 4 – Pittsburgh signs former Titans SP Kodai Koga (132-139, 3.77 ERA) to a 4-yr, $14.96M contract.
December 4 – The Rebels deal C Chris Maresh (.237, 27 HR, 156 RBI) to the Pacifics for reliever Willie Mendoza (7-5, 3.37 ERA, 3 SV) and a prospect.
December 5 – The Titans also lose SP Medardo Regueir (67-87, 3.93 ERA) form their rotation in a trade with the Stars. Boston receives 1B Manny Rubin (.281, 10 HR, 35 RBI).
December 5 – The Pacifics snatch up ex-Crusaders CL Ryan Sullivan (39-35, 2.90 ERA, 127 SV) for $6.72M over two years.
December 7 – The Titans get middle infielder Alan Leitch (.259, 7 HR, 73 RBI) from the Blue Sox for 37-year-old left-handed reliever Donovan Little (6-8, 3.66 ERA, 6 SV) and #5 prospect CL Alex Flores.

+++

First off – Caswell wasn’t even a type A free agent! He came expensive, though… my eyes were all watery when he signs, only partially from joy. Elite centerfielder – four Gold Gloves in the FL in a row – and also a Platinum Stick last year. Boy can pick, and can with the stick. And he’s only twice as expensive as Steve Royer! Yes yes, I know, the Agitator is piping that with his all-out style in centerfield he’s a broken neck waiting to happen, but this time we bought insurance, isn’t that right, Steve? – (Steve from Accounting looks up from his newspaper with an “oh ****, I left the oven on” expression)

With this, the lineup began to take shape. The middle infielders on top, and then Brass, Cas, Martinez, and Pucks, which alternated paws perfectly from #3 through #6. Or we could swap the 3/4 and 5/6 pairs and alternate paws from the very top of the lineup. This didn’t even include Brobeck’s switch-stick yet. Marcos Chavez? Somebody’s gotta bat eighth. Surely this lineup wouldn’t finish 21st in runs scored in the league!

Of course, cramming in four outfielders in the middle meant that one of them had to play first base, but we weren’t gonna send back Toushi quite yet. Aaron Wade (.155, 2 HR, 9 RBI) was waived and designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster, though.

Speaking of Royer, who was mentioned as often as actual stars these days, the Miners made an interesting offer, presenting C Eric Monaghan, an all-or-nothing power hitter, who had mashed 20+ bombs three times in the last four years. He was better defensively than Chavez, but he was also already 33 and signed for $3.24M annually through 2060 – last year was a team option, though, taking the sting off a bit. The main drawback, however, was that there was a third player in the deal, AAA CL Elijah LaBat, the #36 pick from the 2056 draft. The lefty had moved up to AAA mid-season, and had struggled with control, but the stuff and talent were definitely there, even though he was not a candidate for promotion before maybe September. The deal fell through, because while the Miners would also have taken other players in the deal, I was not ready to part with Bobby Herrera just yet.

Not even Ricky Herrera.

While all that was going on, we were also in a bidding war for a veteran starter to keep order in the bickering flock that was our rotation, but we were far from the only ones. My first offer to Milt Cantrell of the Bayhawks had been $16M over four years, but that escalated into the 20s by the Winter Meetings, but no deal was signed for the 9-year veteran right-hander that would turn 31 in January. If we signed him, we might actually be the team that rocked up without a left-handed starter in 2058, with Carreno, DeRose, and Sensabaugh still scheduled to fill up the rotation.

What else? One other former Critter (blink and you missed him) signed a new deal during the meetings: Roberto Oyola fleeced the Indians for $4.02M over three years.

[DD Martin]

Wow things are coming together nicely. Some really solid looking additions will be visiting Voodoo Doughnuts and Pietros Pizza next season.

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by DD Martin

Wow things are coming together nicely. Some really solid looking additions will be visiting Voodoo Doughnuts and Pietros Pizza next season.

As long as we all keep our expectations to a manageable level... remember that we still have Tossie McClobbers as #3 starter right now.

So there's two behind him that are even worse...!

[Westheim]

The Raccoons offered as much as $21.2M and a #13 pick for Milt Cantrell, but that was about as many tears as I could spare for him and we gave up when his agent came back and asked for over $6M annually. Fine, we’ll keep the draft pick then.

At one point we were then bidding with the Thunder for the services of several players without greater perspectives. One was Ruben Zamora, who had just left as a free agent, but then I remembered that Miners offer of Royer + X for Eric Monaghan. Maybe we could still work out something there?

The other was then Zach Stewart, a southpaw coming off a terrible year with the Capitals and unencumbered by draft pick compensation for it. It was hard to read something from his erratic stats, but we made a bet on him not being toast quite yet at age 30.

+++

December 16 – The Crusaders sign up ex-Bayhawks starter Milt Cantrell (112-82, 3.52 ERA) to a 4-yr, $22.4M contract.
December 19 – Former Raccoons catcher Ruben Zamora (.265, 30 HR, 186 RBI) ends up with the Thunder on a 2-yr, $2.68M deal.
December 26 – San Francisco signs former Rebels starter Eric Braley (69-77, 4.08 ERA), who lost 16 games in 2057.

+++

Lovely. That was by the way the third time the #14 pick changed hands this year, from Salem to L.A. to New York to San Francisco. Hey, if nobody wants it, I’ll have it!

And that really was our month of December now. No additions, just a lot of “eh” and “yes but no but maybe” and I am still not done haggling with the Miners to get a copy of Marcos Chavez that we so direly need, apparently.

Further Furballs finding future fodder: Chris Kirkwood signed with Topeka for $1.56M; the Titans got Alex Mancilla for $570k; the Bayhawks hired coonskinner Shuta Yamamoto for $660k;

Also, the Hall of Fame ballot:

[Westheim]

The new year began with an offer from the damn Elks of Tyler Lundberg, another third base option that wouldn’t out-hit (but sure out-field) Kyle Brobeck, and merely for the services of Bribiesca and Carreno. That wasn’t the first time a team wanted to get hands on Ramon Carreno, so perhaps he had a future after all beyond the paltry 4.94 ERA with a 5-8 record in his first 19 career starts.

The Warriors offered to take Steve Royer off our paws along with a longshot AA pitcher that himself was a trash heap pickup last winter, and offered all of 33-year-old C Luke Burnham, who spent all of 2057 in the minors. That wasn’t even worth saving $3M of Nick Valdes’ dosh. Mind that at this stage Matt Stanton was the second-best catching option in the organization, a 27-year-old with under 100 career at-bats in the majors, and hitting .204 with 3 RBI in those.

+++

January 2 – The Crusaders lose their catcher Raul Salas (.234, 20 HR, 119 RBI), who at age 33 is forced into retirement by post-concussion syndrome after suffering a bad concussion in the CLCS.
January 8 – The Pacifics sign ex-Condors backstop Manny Poindexter (.279, 48 HR, 400 RBI) to a 2-yr, $4.96M contract.
January 10 – The Bayhawks lure 34-year-old third baseman Randy Wilken (.249, 239 HR, 941 RBI) up from Los Angeles with a contract worth $3.96M over two years.
January 10 – Another former Pacific, SP Austin Wilcox (148-141, 3.90 ERA), signs a 3-yr, $5.1M deal with the Buffaloes.
January 12 – The Crusaders throw a five-year contract worth $34M at ex-POR/MIL SP Seisaku Taki (76-64, 3.40 ERA).

+++

2058 HALL OF FAME VOTING

No new inductees this year! For the first time in ten years the balloting process does not result in a new player induction.

POR 3B Jesus Maldonado – 1st – 59.9
BOS SP Rich Willett – 6th – 23.2
C Morgan Kuhlmann – 7th – 16.0
SP Roberto Pruneda – 5th – 9.7
SP Brad Santry – 2nd – 8.0
LF Joe Besaw – 2nd – 6.8
MR Julian Ponce – 1st – 6.8
SP Eric Weitz – 7th – 5.5
C Jorge Santa Cruz – 2nd – 5.1
1B Jamie King – 1st – 3.0 – DROPPED
CL John Steuer – 1st – 2.5 – DROPPED
SP Sal Chavez – 1st – 2.5 – DROPPED
C David Alvardo – 2nd – 1.7 – DROPPED
SP Danny Orozco – 1st – 0.8 – DROPPED
LF Pablo Gonzalez – 1st – 0.4 – DROPPED
SS Chris Strohm – 1st – 0.4 – DROPPED

[Westheim]

The long and painful search for a #2 starter concluded in late January with the addition of Zach Stewart, who signed a still lucrative 3-year contract after a real down year in Washington. Now we just had to figure out the other three fifths of the rotation! This signing also bumped the Raccoons to just over $90M for new contract commitments this offseason.

I was sure Nick Valdes was clutching at his chest somewhere.

+++

January 27 – The Thunder signed up former division rival, ex-Condors SP Juan Juarez (50-56, 3.73 ERA), to a 3-year, $7.56M deal.
January 28 – The Raccoons sign former Capitals starter Zach Stewart (47-54, 4.04 ERA) on a 3-yr, $9.3M contract.
January 28 – The Caps console themselves with the addition of former Nashville catcher Jose Cantu (.280, 165 HR, 756 RBI), who agrees to a $4.88M deal over two years.
January 29 – Pittsburgh signs up ex-NYC SP David Concha (100-78, 3.67 ERA) for $26M over four years.
January 29 – The Crusaders add former Cyclones SS/3B Juan Ojeda (.295, 21 HR, 510 RBI). The 30-year-old would receive $2.16M for a 1-year deal.
February 1 – Oklahoma rejoices over the addition of former Dallas southpaw starter Thomas Turpeau (70-58, 3.33 ERA) on a 4-year, $15.36M contract.
February 3 – The Bayhawks acquire 30-yr old OF Adam Bumpus (.276, 32 HR, 216 RBI) from the Scorpions for 29-yr old OF John Gough (.275, 26 HR, 160 RBI).

+++

Colby Bowen was waived and designated for assignment to make room for Stewart on the 40-man roster. Okay, now that our pitching is starting to shape up – … what is it, Cristiano? I am explaining how all my moves are a stork of genius. – I said “stork of genius”! – That is totally how you say that!! – What *is* it, then!? – Matt Walters had an accident ice skating? – *How* bad?

(big black googly eyes water up)

Turns out in addition to lacking half a rotation the Raccoons would also start the season without a closer after Walters cracked his kneecap in an attempt to jump the shark on a skating rink on the other side of town. Now, before you are concerned for the shark – it’s a life-sized plastic replica in bright pink. We are a very animal-friendly town. (Trent Brassfield’s head pops over the edge of the rancid dumpster behind the ballpark, cheeks munching)

Walters was out for *at least* the first two months of the 2058 season, robbing the Raccoons of their two-time CL Reliever of the Year and twice-defending CL saves champ. Now what? Eloy Sencion? Tanizaki? No idea. For starters I will sob profusely while holding on to the nearest bottle. (grabs bright green bottle of Drain Buster, the official unclogging fluid of the Portland Raccoons)

+++

February 5 – The Raccoons acquire left-handed SP/MR Neal Hamann (45-41, 3.79 ERA, 6 SV) and C Morgan Lathers (.281, 5 HR, 29 RBI) from the Capitals for 3B/SS/RF Daniel Espinoza (.261, 2 HR, 32 RBI) and AAA LF/RF David Flores.
February 14 – The Capitals sign the remaining big-name international free agent, 34-year-old Korean 2B Joo-chan Lee, to a 2-yr, $5.14M contract.

+++

Totally not an overreaction to the loss of Matt Walters. There was more to this trade, though. The Raccoons had already sniffed on Lathers in January, but the Capitals were notoriously broke and didn’t want any of our minimum players in return – especially not Espinoza, who was probably not going to be on the Opening Day roster anymore anyway. Flores had been ranked as high as #25 as an actual prospect but had never made the jump to the major league team and was now 26 years old in an organization flush with quad-A talent. The thing that actually got the trade done was the addition of Hamann, who was on a rather luxurious (but thankfully expiring) contract for another one of those too-bad-to-start, too-expensive-to-relief pitchers we liked to hog. He was a left-hander for sure, though, which would allow us to be a bit more flexible in trying to cover the eight and ninth innings between our assumed makeshift backend of Takenori Tanizaki and Eloy Sencion, with a helping of Mike Siwik and Ricky Herrera where required. It was that quasi-promotion of Sencion to potential ninth-inning duties that really spurred the need for another left-handed pitcher and Adam Harris wasn’t what we were looking for here.

The nice thing about Lathers was his defensive prowess and that he batted left-handed, a rarity for a backstop. Since Flores had been on the 40-man roster as well, we didn’t have to make any shuffles there for now.

J.J. Sensabaugh changed numbers to #48 for Neil Hamann to keep his old #56.

And finally, more new deals for old Critters: John Scott took a $1.04M offer from the Rebs; the Blue Sox hired Ricky Jimenez for $570k; the Knights put pay the same salary to Matt Waters; the Buffos paid $540k for Victor Merino; the Wolves got Jason Monson for $470k;

[Westheim]

The remainder of the offseason was uneventful for the Raccoons and most of the league.

+++

February 18 – The Scorpions sign 34-year-old catcher Mitch Korfhage (.275, 60 HR, 455 RBI), who played for the Thunder and Rebels in 2057, to a 2-yr, $4.4M deal.
March 8 – The Crusaders ship RF/LF/1B Ikuo Ogawa (.248, 10 HR, 53 RBI) and a prospect to San Francisco for RF/LF/1B Gunner Epperson (.283, 52 HR, 260 RBI).
March 20 – The Gold Sox ink former Raccoons MR Mike Lane (25-16, 3.05 ERA, 16 SV) to a 3-yr, $7.36M deal.

+++

The last few ex-Critters (not necessarily fan favorites) with new employment: Jeremy Baker joined the Rebels for $500k; the Elks picked up Tyler Philipps for $392k;

[Westheim]

2058 PORTLAND RACCOONS – Opening Day Roster (first set in parenthesis shows 2057 stats, second set career stats; players with an * are off season acquisitions; ^ denotes Kyle Brobeck (this time actually!) as a two-way player, who will be listed twice on the roster below):

SP Bobby Herrera *, 27, B:R, T:R (no stats) – all our hopes (and no dreams) rest on a 27-year-old Cuban import with no major league history. On paper he is a stunning groundballer with a devastating three-pitch mix of 96mph heat, slider, and a dazzling changeup.
SP Zach Stewart *, 30, B:L, T:L (9-14, 5.51 ERA | 47-54, 4.04 ERA, 3 SV) – acquired as free agent coming off a horrible year with the Capitals. Also relies on his changeup, but at least throws it from the other side compared to Herrera, and he should be used to the Oregon weather after six years in Salem. Will try to rebuild his reputation, even though even for the annus horribilis he had he didn’t exactly come cheap at $3.1M annually.
SP Ramon Carreno, 22, B:S, T:R (5-8, 4.94 ERA | 5-8, 4.94 ERA) – a 22-year-old Venezuelan pitched the most innings among any starter left on the roster by season’s end in 2057. His four-pitch mix isn’t particularly impressive (two real pitches and two junk distractions), but at least he was the one that kept the walks down while getting shelled, which was already a plus in my book...
SP Justin DeRose, 24, B:S, T:R (2-3, 4.08 ERA | 2-3, 4.08 ERA) – one of two Texan rookies acquired from the Crusaders for 2057 Opening Day man Kennedy Adkins and Oscar Caballero at the deadline in 2057, him and Sensabaugh were thrown right into the deep end and … well, at least he didn’t sink right away. 96mph heater, split, and fork mix that might yet turn him into a serviceable starter.
SP J.J. Sensabaugh, 25, B:R, T:R (2-4, 4.20 ERA | 2-4, 4.20 ERA) – the other of two Texan rookies acquired from the Crusaders for 2057 Opening Day man Kennedy Adkins and Oscar Caballero at the deadline in 2057, him and DeRose were thrown right into the deep end and … well, he walked 36 guys in 60 innings, struck out only 25, and somehow he still wound up on the Opening Day roster. Adjust your expectations accordingly, please.

P/3B Kyle Brobeck ^, 30, B:S, T:R (4-7, 5.09 ERA | 46-46, 4.42 ERA, 1 SV) – what *is* Kyle Brobeck, for real, though? He’s not a very good starter (though he’s had his moments), and hasn’t been able to hold down a spot in the rotation for very long, ever, and he has been swinging a rather impressive bat at least in limited capacity as a third baseman, but he doesn’t have a very good glove at all. The Raccoons would try to get more of the stick and less of the tossing out of him this year, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not in the cards that Brobeck could start a game at third base and be the first guy in line to take the mound if the starter is knocked out in the third inning. Somehow I feel that none of this is thought out very well. That is the same text as last year, indicating absolutely zero progress with him.
MR Reynaldo Bravo, 26, B:R, T:R (0-1, 1.83 ERA | 1-3, 3.78 ERA) – good fastball/curveball, not such a great rotator cuff. Limited to token appearances for much of 2055/56, Bravo started 2057 in St. Petersburg, but did well enough and after the summer purge became a fixed component of the bullpen.
SP/MR Ivan Ornelas, 28, B:R, T:R (1-1, 4.22 ERA | 16-11, 4.36 ERA, 20 SV) – the principal return for Harry Ramsay from the Condors last winter, Ornelas was first horrendous, then injured for months (only 32 innings eventually), and in his best days is a swingman that can make a spot start or gobble up the middle innings after another rookie decapitation in the starter spot.
MR Ricky Herrera, 26, B:L, T:L (3-1, 2.18 ERA | 3-1, 2.07 ERA) – former second-rounder with a fastball/slider combo that pitched very nicely in limited action in 2056 but his first full season was more of a struggle, with his K/BB getting somewhat unhinged, although he had his strong moments, too.
MR Neal Hamann *, 32, B:L, T:L (2-1, 3.32 ERA | 45-41, 3.79 ERA, 6 SV) – unglued starter acquired from the Capitals in a garbage deal after the Walters injury, Hamann adds a (hopefully) quality left arm to the bullpen, while otherwise sitting out the last year of a rather well-paid contract on his way to inevitable free agency.
MR Mike Siwik *, 31, B:R, T:R (3-1, 3.44 ERA | 15-11, 3.89 ERA, 10 SV) – acquired from the Scorpions, Siwik offers a fastball/slider combo and a crappy changeup and dreams of becoming a starting pitcher when he grows up.
SU Takenori Tanizaki, 30, B:R, T:R (9-1, 1.94 ERA | 13-13, 2.53 ERA, 1 SV) – becoming better by the year, Tanizaki will have a chance to rack up some saves with Matt Walters on the shelf for at least two months to begin the season. His splitter/fastball combination left few things to complain about in 2057.
SU Eloy Sencion, 31, B:L, T:L (2-5, 2.72 ERA, 1 SV | 26-12, 3.05 ERA, 9 SV) – fastball, vicious slider, and usually very competent especially against left-handed batters, although he seems to have that itch to once a month walk the bases full, then watch some other bobblehead give up a grand slam. The Walters injury nevertheless puts him into an 8th/9th inning tandem with Tanizaki for closer duties.

C Marcos Chavez, 25, B:R, T:R (.257, 6 HR, 56 RBI | .245, 12 HR, 75 RBI) – nobody likes to pitch to him, quite clumsy, and a free swinger, too, but he hit a pair of dramatic home runs against the damn Elks in July of ‘56, and that virtually assures him a job on the team as long as he likes.
C Morgan Lathers *, 29, B:L, T:R (.267, 4 HR, 25 RBI | .281, 5 HR, 29 RBI) – acquired from the Capitals, Lathers comes with experience as a backup catcher and even more AAA experience. It was doubtful that he’d hit his way past Chavez, but at least he was a left-handed hitter, allowing us some more efficiency in assigning rest days to Chavez.

1B Toushi Imai *, 30, B:L, T:L (played in minors | .253, 27 HR, 109 RBI) – Rule 5 pick from the Wolves, Imai never quite hung around in the Bigs after a mediocre full 2053 season with the Wolves, and didn’t play in the penthouse at all last season. Figures to get his share of starts against right-handed pitching early on to see whether his stick can produce anything – hasn’t hit a home run in the majors in FOUR years.
2B Paul Labonte, 23, B:L, T:R (.289, 5 HR, 32 RBI | .289, 5 HR, 32 RBI) – Year II past Matt Waters sees a new left-handed youngster at the position that did fairly well in a partial season the year before, but that didn’t help Ryan Allred hang around last year either. Decent defender at the keystone with a knack for stupidity running the bases, which is mostly down to him struggling to move in a 3D environment, which probably is worse than it sounds in the long term.
SS Lorenzo Lavorano, 30, B:R, T:R (.253, 1 HR, 44 RBI | .282, 31 HR, 433 RBI) – Everybody loves Lonzo! If you don’t love Lonzo, you can’t be my friend…! Has won six stolen base titles in seven full (as in: not-injured) seasons, a Gold Glove at least once… and he keeps being a delight in the field and on the career steals list, where he reached 7th place last year with 511 thefts – and will remain there unless he can steal at least 59 bags this year. He came close enough to the single season steals record in ’55 to call it a close miss, and his 61 stolen bases in ’57 show no sign of slowing down yet, despite his rather awful season at the plate, which have called into question his ability to stay the #2 hitter.
P/3B Kyle Brobeck ^, 30, B:S, T:R (.289, 10 HR, 78 RBI | .300, 23 HR, 153 RBI) – what *is* Kyle Brobeck, for real, though? He’s not a very good starter (though he’s had his moments), and hasn’t been able to hold down a spot in the rotation for very long, ever, and he has been swinging a rather impressive bat at least in limited capacity as a third baseman, but he doesn’t have a very good glove at all. The Raccoons would try to get more of the stick and less of the tossing out of him this year, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not in the cards that Brobeck could start a game at third base and be the first guy in line to take the mound if the starter is knocked out in the third inning. Somehow I feel that none of this is thought out very well. That is the same text as last year, indicating absolutely zero progress with him.
2B/3B/SS Tyrese Sheilds *, 27, B:L, T:R (.228, 2 HR, 24 RBI | .265, 12 HR, 119 RBI) – Rule 5 pick from the Condors; mostly a defensive backup for the left side of the infield, Sheilds figures to be the primary replacement for Lonzo to have a day off, and for Brobeck when the latter inevitably has to pitch a garbage outing.
2B/3B/SS/RF/CF Arturo Bribiesca, 26, B:R, T:R (.250, 7 HR, 32 RBI | .247, 7 HR, 41 RBI) – Cuban exile that is glove-first and did get his fair share of at-bats in 2057 despite at first holding the short end of a platoon with Ryan Allred, and then being completely replaced by Paul Labonte after Allred faded into oblivion.

LF/RF/1B Trent Brassfield, 25, B:R, T:R (.298, 13 HR, 83 RBI | .287, 29 HR, 155 RBI) – shredded his shoulder two weeks into the 2056 season but showed no signs of permanent damage in 2057, chasing a .300 clip for most of the year and playing a decent-enough outfield even though his scouting report shows a few orange flags and red exclamation marks in that regard; him and Pucks will share leftfield and first base duties in normal operation mode.
CF/1B/LF/RF Noah Caswell *, 28, B:L, T:L (.274, 13 HR, 63 RBI | .289, 38 HR, 296 RBI) – exceptional defender and well-above-average hitter that was signed on a huge $36M contract as a free agent from the Wolves. Four consecutive CF Gold Gloves in the Federal League leave no question about who will play that position on this roster! The 13 homers in ’57 were a career-high, but I should stop hoping for further numbers explosions (or even maintenance) in those regards…
LF/1B/RF Alan Puckeridge, 30, B:L, T:R (.265, 5 HR, 51 RBI | .286, 101 HR, 545 RBI) – the Aussie has yet to put another strong season together after his 131 OPS+ in 2055, and really collapsed on the home run front last year, although he also missed 60 games on the DL. Was stripped of his CF rating as well, but with no permanent first baseman one between him and Brass will slide to first base most days.
RF/LF/CF/1B Jesus Martinez *, 28, B:R, T:L (no stats) – the other Cuban import from this offseason, Martinez figures to be the everyday rightfielder with (by far) the strongest arm in the bunch and decent range out there; not much in terms of speed on the bases, but he can take his time when he whams one outta here, which is the expectation that gave him a 6-year-deal out of the blue.
CF/RF/LF/1B Steve Royer, 32, B:S, T:R (.227, 2 HR, 29 RBI | .274, 55 HR, 472 RBI) – spent quite some time batting leadoff last season before completely crashing in the final two months in 2056, and kept crashing for all of 2057, to the point where he’s now mostly awaiting becoming a free agent at the end of 2058.

On disabled list:
CL Matt Walters, 27, B:L, T:L (2-4, 2.04 ERA, 39 SV | 8-8, 1.60 ERA, 90 SV) – the two-time CL Reliever of the Year and twice-defending CL saves champion cracked his kneecap in the winter and will miss the first two months (at least) on the 60-day DL. We will sure be missing his unhittable curve and 94mph heater; more than five strikeouts to every walk in his 184 innings over the last three years. I will take that sort of failed starter every day of the week!

Otherwise unavailable: Nobody.

Other roster movement:
SP Craig Kniep, 26, B:R, T:L (5-7, 5.40 ERA | 16-20, 4.27 ERA) – waived and DFA’ed; strikes out a lot of batters, and somehow manages to walk even more. The only starting pitcher from the 2057 Opening Day roster to still be in the organization was not even a conversation item for a roster spot this time because his performances were so unspeakably terrible – even in AAA!
SP Ryan Wade, 25, B:R, T:R (1-3, 5.67 ERA | 3-3, 5.05 ERA) – optioned to AAA; former ninth-rounder that was signed as minor league free agent a while back; impressive curveball, but that’s about it, he got waffled like everybody else in ‘57.
MR Adam Harris, 23, B:R, T:L (0-0, 5.40 ERA | 0-0, 6.30 ERA) – optioned to AAA; for the second year he pitched just a pawful of innings, walked them in droves, but could still turn into something with more seasoning.
MR Alex Rios, 24, B:R, T:R (0-0, 3.48 ERA | 0-0, 4.15 ERA) – optioned to AAA; threw only a few garbage innings again, and while he kept the walks down in the majors this time, the bulk of his work was in St. Pete where he walked 5.4/9, but there is still hope the fastball/slider combo could still play up for something.
C Matt Stanton, 27, B:R, T:R (.000, 0 HR, 0 RBI | .204, 0 HR, 3 RBI) – optioned to AAA; average behind the plate, quite below average with the stick (0-for-10 in 2057), but so far there wasn’t any threat from the youth ranks to displace him as #3 in backstops in the organization.
3B/SS Tony Benitez, 25, B:S, T:R (.244, 0 HR, 4 RBI | .244, 0 HR, 4 RBI) – optioned to AAA; good defensive third baseman that couldn’t hit anything much after coming over from the Loggers at the deadline, or in AAA.
LF/RF Elijah Johnson, 26, B:L, T:L (.302, 3 HR, 14 RBI | .302, 3 HR, 14 RBI) – optioned to AAA; not much defense, although he tried to hit his way out of a limited skill set; showed some power and might yet come back from St. Pete if we need a corner outfielder specifically (unlikely, but eh!).
CF/LF/RF Todd Oley, 25, B:L, T:L (.275, 0 HR, 14 RBI | .275, 0 HR, 14 RBI) – optioned to AAA; played some decent games in centerfield, but there wasn’t room for a left-handed singles slapper with speed on the roster anymore… at least until we tire of our Rule 5 picks.
LF/CF/RF Carlos Solorzano, 26, B:L, T:L (.267, 0 HR, 4 RBI | .238, 1 HR, 33 RBI) – waived and DFA’ed; solid defender, blistering speed, but he’s never hit much in the majors in just 274 PA between the last three seasons.

Everybody not mentioned by now has already been waived, reassigned, or took a job at Doris’ Donuts during the offseason.

OPENING DAY LINEUP:

Vs. RHP: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – CF Caswell – 1B Brassfield – LF Puckeridge – RF Martinez – 3B Brobeck – C Chavez – P
(Vs. LHP: 2B Bribiesca – SS Lavorano – LF Brassfield – CF Caswell – RF Martinez – 3B Brobeck – C Chavez – 1B Royer – P)

No two consecutive batters from the same side in that lineup vs. RHP (Brobeck being a switch-hitter), and Lathers will get most of his starts against right-handers too in that bottom spot; same for Sheilds, and we have to work Toushi Imai into that one as well. The lineup against left-handers is a bit more wonky and might fluctuate a bit.

OFF SEASON CHANGES:

Only 11 players from last year’s Opening Day roster made it onto this year’s chosen 25, with three others at least being in the organization 12 months ago. The other 11 are new arrivals, although quite a few of them already arrived in the summer purge.

BNN gave the Raccoons a +3.4 WAR for the offseason, although we of course get no credit for the Bobby Herrera and Jesus Martinez acquisitions, who are new to the league entirely. Caswell was a +7 WAR signing, while Zach Stewart brought 1.6 WAR to the team, but of course we also took a nasty hit from the free agency departure of Josh Abercrombie (-4.3) and also Mike Lane (-1.3). We made only two trades this winter, of which the Capitals trade for Hamann and Lathers contributed +1.1, among a score of sub-1 WAR (either way) factors. Overall we ranked 8th for the winter.

Top 5: Buffaloes (+17.7), Scorpions (+9.6), Miners (+8.4), Crusaders (+7.5), Thunder (+5.7)
Bottom 5: Stars (-6.5), Loggers (-7.6), Titans (-9.5), Pacifics (-10.3), Wolves (-15.3)

The remaining CL North teams were the damn Elks in 15th (-2.7) and Indians in 16th (-4.0).

PREDICTION TIME:

Last year I expected 85 wins and to build towards better days. We got 79 wins after setting the torch to the roster.

There is still no functional rotation in place and there are a lot of well-if players on the roster. Not having Matt Walters for 2+ months also dims any expectations you might have, and the Crusaders built a powerhouse anyway, so competition isn’t even in the cards for this year.

.500 might be obtainable though unless the offense finishes 21st in the ABL again…

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT:

Despite trading for prospects, the Raccoons slipped from 12th to 14th in the farm rankings, part of the problem being that some of those prospects went straight on the roster and exhausted their rookie eligibilities – which was also the reason for the departure of last year’s #35 prospect Adam Harris, #116 Ramon Carreno, and #186 Todd Oley from the list. In addition to that, #76 prospect David Flores exceeded age limits, then was traded away in the winter.

All of this left only four of the Coons’ eight ranked prospects (four in the top 100) eligible for this year’s edition of the list, and of these the former #124 Forbes Tomlin was no longer ranked this year. Overall we had ten ranked prospects this year, including six in the top 100, although none higher than #35:

35th (new) – AAA 1B Joel Starr, 25 – 2054 first-round pick by Miners, acquired with Joey Christopher for Sean Sweeton, Josh Mayo
52nd (+9) – AAA SP Chance Fox, 23 – 2053 first-round pick by Raccoons
67th (new) – INT RF/LF Jose Corral, 17 – 2057 international free agent signed by Raccoons
77th (-56) – AAA CL Elijah LaBat, 24 – 2056 supplemental-round pick by Raccoons
80th (new) – AAA OF/1B Joey Christopher, 22 – 2054 third-round pick by Miners, acquired with Joel Starr for Sean Sweeton, Josh Mayo
90th (+54) – AAA OF Jose Estrada, 23 – 2051 international free agent signed by Raccoons

111th (new) – A SP Daniel Benitez, 19 – 2057 international free agent signed by Raccoons
169th (new) – A SP Brett Cotton, 19 – 2057 first-round pick by Raccoons
173rd (new) – AA CF/LF Ben Morris, 20 – 2055 tenth-round (!!) pick by Raccoons
188th (new) – INT SP Carlos Gomez, 17 – 2057 international free agent signed by Raccoons

Finally, the top 10 overall prospects this year are:

1st (+3) – BOS AA OF Eddie Marcotte, 20
2nd (0) – BOS ML SP Jason Brenize, 21
3rd (+3) – DAL ML SP Ray Walker, 23
4th (+7) – WAS AAA SP Jon Reyes, 22
5th (-2) – TIJ AA SP Ben Caldwell, 20

6th (+21) – MIL AA SS Danny Miller, 22
7th (+87) – LAP AA OF Tony Garcia, 19
8th (+9) – TIJ AA CF/LF Chad Cardwell, 21
9th (+7) – SAC AAA C Nate Danis, 24
10th (new) – MIL A OF Dave Wright, 18

Wright, the #4 pick in the 2057 draft, is the ONLY draft selection to enter the top 10 this year, which was highly unusual.

Jason Brenize made the Opening Day roster after coming really close to exhausting his rookie eligibility on the service time front in 2056, going 2-2 with a 6.34 ERA for Boston late in the season, but Dallas’ Ray Walker was making his Opening Day roster as a completely fresh face.

The 2052 IFA signing Jon Reyes was in the top 10 before, sitting as the #7 prospect in 2056. He already spent most of last season in AAA Modesto and was a hot bet for promotion to the majors sooner rather than later. Similarly, Chad Cardwell was already ranked as high as #5 two years ago and re-entered the top 10 despite starting a third consecutive season in double-A.

Six players were ranked in the top 10 last season, but no longer were so this year. Four of them were erased for service time expiration, and two others slipped just outside the top 10, with no dramatic collapses this year.

Last year’s #1 prospect OF Tyler Wharton shot from single-A to the majors while still a teenager and hit .268 with a home run and still managed to exhaust his service time allotment. #7 Jorge Arviso spent all of 2057 as the Titans backup catcher, batting .234 with six homers. #8 Alex Quevedo also migrated to the majors, pitching 104 innings as a swingman for Dallas, going 3-6 with a 4.85 ERA. And #10 Matt Kilday played just 17 games in the minors before being promoted to the big-league Indians, leading the CL in strikeouts while hitting .216 with two homers, but at least he got 555 PA of experience as a 20-year-old.

Last year’s #5 prospect CL Alex Flores was traded from the Warriors to the Cyclones to the Loggers to the Titans to the Blue Sox and slipped to #12 without making an appearance in the majors for any of the gazillion teams who held his rights in 2057, but the Sox now put him on the Opening Day roster. Stars CL Jon Dominguez slipped from #9 to #16, but was not on the Opening Day roster despite spending all of last year in AAA Cumming.

Next: first pitch.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (0-0) vs. Canadiens (0-0) – April 2-3, 2058

Opening Day was here, even though without much fanfare for what was going to be a nothing season, and then it began with a two-game set against the ABL’s worst smell, the damn Elks, who had finished last in the South in 2057 and had gone down to the Raccoons in the season series, 12-6. We opened the year 728-730 all-time against them, so it was unreasonable to expect any wins against them before August.

Projected matchups:
Bobby Herrera (0-0) vs. Bruce Mark jr. (0-0)
Zach Stewart (0-0) vs. Ernie Gomes (0-0)

Both Elks starters were right-handers.

Game 1
VAN: LF D. Garcia – 2B K. Hawkins – RF Magnussen – C Waker – CF D. Moreno – SS R. Price – 3B Lundberg – 1B V. Cruz – P Mark jr.
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – CF Caswell – 1B Brassfield – LF Puckeridge – RF Martinez – 3B Brobeck – C Chavez – P B. Herrera

It was gonna be a long season, I figured by the second inning. The Coons took a 1-0 lead in the first when Labonte reached on Kyle Hawkins’ error, was forced out by Lonzo, but Bruce Mark jr. balked the runner into scoring position and allowed Lonzo to score on Noah Caswell’s RBI double. Herrera was then back out again, and after going 1-2-3 in the first inning walked Tristan Waker in a full count, allowed a single to Damian Moreno, and then was taken deep twice in three pitches by Rick Price and Tyler Lundberg, 4-1.

Mark jr. left the game with an apparent injury in the third inning after Labonte hit a double to right, with that run also driven home by Caswell on an RBI single against Rafael Flores. The other big-dosh position player addition of the winter, Cuban Jesus Martinez, hit a single in the fourth inning to get something onto his brand sparkling new ABL ledger, but was quickly forced out by Brobeck.

Herrera pitched six innings without allowing any more runs, walking four and whiffing five in a rotten debut, and then was chased by both pitch count and the usual April rain on a generally gray Opening Day. The rain delay lasted an hour, after which Neal Hamann pitched a scoreless top 7th. Kyle Brobeck then opened the bottom 7th with a jack off Luis Arroyo, shortening the score to 4-3, and Marcos Chavez singled before being bunted to second base by Hamann. Paul Labonte raked in the tying run with a gap triple in right center, but was then stranded when Jesse Lausch got a grounder to third base from Lonzo, walked Caswell, and got Brass to ground out to Price. Hamann got one more out from Adam Magnussen before Tristan Waker and Damian Moreno singled their way to the corners in the top 8th. When Kevin Weese pinch-hit for Price, Mike Siwik was brought in from the pen, popped up the pinch-hitter, and struck out Lundberg to keep the score level. The Raccoons stranded runners on the corners as well when Martinez singled and Brobeck walked in the bottom 8th, but Chavez and Royer both flew out against Lausch. The damn Elks pushed the go-ahead run across against Eloy Sencion in the ninth inning. Pinch-hitter Manny Saunders singled to left from the right side, then scored on Danny Garcia’s single from the left side, two batters later. In response, Bernardino Risso retired the Coons’ 1-2-3 in order in the bottom of the ninth inning. 5-4 Canadiens. Labonte 2-5, 3B, 2B, RBI; Caswell 2-3, 2 BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Martinez 2-4;

The good news is, we have 161 games left to get better.

Game 2
VAN: LF D. Garcia – 1B Saunders – CF D. Moreno – C Weese – 2B K. Hawkins – RF Magnussen – 3B Lundberg – SS R. Price – P E. Gomes
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – CF Caswell – 1B Brassfield – LF Puckeridge – RF Martinez – 3B Brobeck – C Chavez – P Stewart

The weather promised to be equally awful to Tuesday’s on Wednesday, and Zach Stewart picked a horrendous first inning for his Coons debut, as horrendous as it could get without actually giving up a run, walking Garcia before getting a double play grounder from Saunders. Moreno and Weese then hit a pair of singles, Hawkins walked on four pitches, and Magnussen grounded out to Labonte on 20 pitches of pain. Lonzo meanwhile went hitless in the opener, but was hit by Gomes in the bottom 1st and stole his first base of the season and #512 for his career – only 58 to go for 6th all-time, whee! He was also left on base by Cas and Brass, boooo.

Two uneventful innings later, Hawkins dinked a leadoff single and Magnussen went well deep to right to give the Elks a 2-0 lead. The Raccoons fumbled around for half a game before singles put Chavez and Labonte on the corners with one out in the bottom 5th. Lonzo popped out to short and Caswell flew out to left in a successful bid to stay off the board. Stewart got only one out in the sixth inning while walking Weese before the skies finally opened. Ivan Ornelas got the ball after the customary hour-long rain delay, then logged five outs to keep it a 2-0 score. Ricky Herrera got the ball in the eighth and failed the bases full with a walk to Weese and Hawkins and Shane Larsen singles, and Tristan Waker hit a sac fly against Tanizaki. Rick Price walked, but Joshua Shaw grounded out to leave the bases loaded. Another run scored in the ninth with Hamann walking Danny Garcia, who stole second, Moreno singled, and Weese hit a sac fly. Bottom 9th, the Coons were still being shut out in a 4-0 game, but Risso was brought back in after Bryan McDuffie allowed leadoff singles to Martinez and Brobeck. Chavez flew out, Bribiesca popped out. The pitcher was in the #1 spot, and the only non-left-handed batter to combat Risso now was Steve Royer, who struck out. 4-0 Canadiens. Martinez 3-4; Chavez 2-4;

Yeah, we got swept, but we have yet to deploy our secret weapons: Reynaldo Bravo, three young and finicky starting pitchers, and those two Rule 5 picks that will strike fear into the very heart of baseball. Soon™!

Raccoons (0-2) vs. Bayhawks (2-1) – April 5-7, 2058

The Bayhawks had won their opening set against the Condors, two games to one, and now expected to feast on the young, tender, and probably underdone part of our rotation. Last year’s series was a 5-4 win for the Baybirds.

Projected matchups:
Ramon Carreno (0-0) vs. Brian Jackson (0-0)
Justin DeRose (0-0) vs. Julio Nunez (0-0)
J.J. Sensabaugh (0-0) vs. Bob Ruggiero (1-0, 0.00 ERA)

Jackson was the first left-handed opponent this year, and the only one we’d see this week.

Game 1
SFB: SS X. Reyes – C Mittleider – LF Anker – 2B A. Montoya – 1B P. Fowler – 3B Peltier – RF Ogawa – CF Lindauer – P B. Jackson
POR: 2B Bribiesca – SS Lavorano – LF Brassfield – CF Caswell – RF Martinez – 3B Brobeck – C Chavez – 1B Royer – P Carreno

San Francisco went up 1-0 almost immediately as Xavier Reyes singled, stole his fourth base of the year – batting 10-for-15 helped (looks at Lonzo), as did a bad throw by Chavez that allowed him to third base – and scored on Grant Anker’s groundout. Lonzo did get his first hit, a single, in the bottom 1st, but was doubled up by Brass, and Brobeck doubled up Martinez in the bottom 2nd while the Raccoons endeavored to go down for the minimum the first time through. Lonzo singled again in the fourth, but couldn’t get a jump and was stranded by Brassfield and Caswell. Coonskinner Adam Peltier in the fourth and Jackson in the fifth also hit into double plays for the Bayhawks, so there wasn’t much in terms of clutch hitting on either side. Carreno held the game close at least until the seventh inning, when a soft single by Pat Fowler and Ikuo Ogawa’s homer to left extended the score to 3-0. He then chose implosion in filling the bases with the 9-1-2 batters with two outs, Eloy Sencion came in to face Grant Anker, the young and rising star, but the Bayhawks pulled the Shuta Yamamoto card, and Sencion gave up a very predictable 2-run single before retiring Armando Montoya instead…

Bottom 8th, and in what looked like a done game, Brian Jackson suddenly stumbled over Peltier’s error that put Royer on base with one out in the inning. Labonte pinch-hit and singled, but Bribiesca popped out. Lonzo drew a walk (!) to fill the bases for Brassfield, who was 0-for-9 for the year, had a whack on the first pitch of the at-bat, and bashed a ball over Lindauer for a bases-clearing triple. Jackson, dismayed, struck out Caswell to end the inning. Martinez grounded out against right-hander Oscar Juarez to begin the bottom 9th then, but Brobeck walked, and that brought the tying run to the plate. Here he comes! Toushi Imai to make his Coons debut as pinch-hitter! He singled to right, the Coons were on the corners, and for five seconds I felt like I had done everything right. Pucks batted for Royer and popped out, while Morgan Lathers batted for Siwik and walked the bags full. And then the game ended with Bribiesca looking at strike three on pitch three. 5-3 Bayhawks. Lavorano 2-3, BB; Imai (PH) 1-1; Labonte (PH) 1-1;

On Friday night, only the Coons (0-3) and Falcons (0-5!?) were winless in the ABL.

Game 2
SFB: SS X. Reyes – C Mittleider – LF Anker – 2B A. Montoya – 1B P. Fowler – 3B Peltier – RF A. Walker – CF Lindauer – P Ju. Nunez
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – CF Caswell – 1B Brassfield – LF Puckeridge – RF Martinez – C Lathers – 3B Sheilds – P DeRose

DeRose had a quick first, and a not so quick second inning, walking leadoff man Armando Montoya before giving up singles to Peltier and Aaron Walker. Pucks’ throwing error on Peltier’s single allowed Montoya to score and for Lindauer to hit a sac fly to plate Peltier eventually, and the Raccoons did what the Raccoons did best, trailing – just not for long. Nunez walked Martinez and Tyrese Sheilds in the bottom 2nd, which didn’t seem like a big deal until DeRose chopped a 2-out RBI double, and the rest of the team took the hint. Labonte’s RBI single tied the game, and then Lonzo tripled home a pair for a 4-2 lead, the Raccoons’ first lead since the first inning on Opening Day. Caswell popped out to end the inning.

DeRose showed up then – through the middle innings he was very stingy with base runners (though not necessarily flashy with the stuff), even though there was a genuinely hard to explain 2-out walk to reliever Chris Cornelius at one point. He even whacked another double in the sixth inning, then was singled in by Labonte, all with two outs! Pat Fowler did get him for a solo home run in the seventh, though, narrowing the score to 5-3 again, and then didn’t retire anybody in the eighth as Randy Wilken doubled from the #9 spot and Xavier Reyes and Jon Mittleider whacked back-to-back RBI knocks to tie the game… Ricky Herrera stopped the bleeding and Tanizaki held the game tied in the ninth inning against the Baybirds, but the Raccoons’ offense in the late regular innings amounted to Noah Caswell getting hit by Dave Lister with one out in the bottom 9th and Brassfield then immediately finding the 6-4-3 double play. Tanizaki returned for the 10th inning and was immediately and utterly singled to death – four singles, all by right-handed batters Reyes, Mittleider, Yamamoto, and Montoya, in order, plated two runs, and Ivan Ornelas had to come in and ache out of the inning. Bottom 10th, though; Oscar Juarez allowed leadoff singles to Pucks and Martinez, then an RBI double to Chavez. That put the winning run in scoring position with nobody out. Sheilds was haphazardly walked to fill the bases and coax the Coons into croaking, but Toushi Imai pinch-hit for Ornelas, split Lindauer and Walker in right-center, and the Raccoons walked off on a dazzling 2-run double…! 8-7 Critters. Labonte 4-5, 2 RBI; Puckeridge 3-5, 2B; Martinez 1-2, 3 BB; Imai (PH) 1-1, 2B, 2 RBI;

I think Toushi Imai needs to make it into the lineup for the rubber game…!

Game 3
SFB: SS X. Reyes – C Mittleider – LF Anker – 1B P. Fowler – 2B A. Montoya – 3B Peltier – RF A. Walker – CF Lindauer – P Ruggiero
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – CF Caswell – RF Martinez – LF Puckeridge – 3B Brobeck – 1B Imai – C Chavez – P Sensabaugh

The only runs through five innings on Sunday came on a pair of homers, a 2-piece hit by Aaron Walker a Montoya single in the second inning, and Caswell’s solo shot in the fourth. The Raccoons only had three hits through five, while Sensabaugh struck out five and walked nobody, which sure wasn’t on my bingo card. Montoya got him for a solo homer in the sixth, and he then walked Walker (duh.), so there remained room for improvement.

The Raccoons took the advice and tied the game, ironically starting their rally in the bottom 6th with a walk Ruggiero offered to Sensabaugh in the leadoff spot. Labonte then hit a bloop triple that was charitably assisted by Grant Anker’s headlong dive-and-miss in shallow left, and Lonzo’s single evened the score at three. Caswell walked, there was a double steal, Martinez whiffed and Pucks walked, and then Brobeck finally brought on the 4-3 lead with a sac fly to center. Southpaw Travis Davis then came in and rung up Toushi Imai to end the inning. Sensabaugh got two more outs in the seventh, then was replaced with Hamann to get a K on Anker. Siwik followed up with a 1-2-3 eighth inning, and the Baybirds’ bottom of the order was up for the ninth inning. Tanizaki had thrown a lot of pitches without success the day before, and the first two batters were right-handers (and the third was the pitcher), so staggeringly the first save chance of the year went to Ivan Ornelas – which also wasn’t on my bingo card. Walker struck out, Lindauer grounded out to third, and Ogawa popped out to end the game…! 4-3 Raccoons. Lavorano 2-4, RBI; Brobeck 1-2, RBI; Sensabaugh 6.2 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (1-0)

Raccoons (2-3) vs. Falcons (1-6) – April 8-10, 2058

To recap, in case you forgot, the Falcons had won the South two years in a row and while they had seen little success in the CLCS against the Crusaders, nobody was quite prepared to see them start the season 0-5, then 1-6, with 16 runs scored to a league-worst 41 runs allowed. The Coons’ rotation from August 2057 looked calm in comparison. No homers for Charlotte so far, either, and the defense was best described as “who are these clowns?”. Nevertheless, we had lost the season series three years running, 4-5 in ’57.

Projected matchups:
Bobby Herrera (0-0, 6.00 ERA) vs. Josh Clem (0-0, 15.00 ERA)
Zach Stewart (0-1, 3.38 ERA) vs. Aaron Sciuto (0-1, 12.27 ERA)
Ramon Carreno (0-1, 6.75 ERA) vs. Josh Doyle (0-0, 7.20 ERA)

Right, left, right; Scuito was a former #12 pick and top 30 prospect that had made his debut late last year and even then had thrown for a 6.31 ERA in 25.2 innings.

Since we had no day off this week, everybody in the rotation would take a seat at some point (minus Brass, perhaps, assuming he’d shake off his 1-for-16 start). Jesus Martinez got the day off on Monday to see some more of Toushi Imai, who on Sunday went 0-for-3 with 2 K.

Game 1
CHA: LF K. Fisher – 2B Woodrome – RF D. Ceballos – 3B B. Anderson – C L. Miranda – SS T. Edwards – 1B Fish – CF J. Ward – P Clem
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – CF Caswell – RF Brassfield – LF Puckeridge – 3B Brobeck – 1B Imai – C Lathers – P B. Herrera

Both the skies and Bobby Herrera looked just as miserable as on Opening Day, with two hits, two walks, and two runs against the $36M import from Cuba in the first inning. Danny Ceballos hit an RBI single, and Travis Edwards hit a sac fly with the bags stacked before Rich Fish grounded out to first base to strand runners on the corners. Portland made it on the board in the bottom 2nd with a Brobeck triple and Toushi’s run-scoring groundout.

Herrera lasted four innings this time before the rain came and washed him into the Willamette, then with the Raccoons still down 2-1. The Coons frittered away Morgan Lathers’ leadoff double lathered down the rightfield line in the fifth inning, then shrugged and sent Brobeck to the hill, with Tyrese Sheilds inheriting third base. Brobeck gave up two runs on a triple and a double, back-to-back, by Rich Fish and Jayden Ward in the sixth inning, then together with Bravo completely exploded for six runs in the seventh inning. In total, Brobeck got four outs for four walks and four hits. Seven runs, all earned.

Toushi doubled and scored on Labonte’s single in the bottom 7th as if anyone cared at this point. Pucks singled home a run in the eighth, and Ricky Herrera gave it right back on three singles in the ninth. Morgan Lathers then hit a leadoff jack against Franklin Mendoza in the bottom 9th, but the park was mostly populated by people that got paid to be there at that point. 11-4 Falcons. Labonte 2-5, RBI; Puckeridge 2-4, RBI; Lathers 3-4, HR, 2 2B, RBI;

Arf.

Four teams gave up 11 runs or more in the CL on that Monday. The Elks got 11 from the Knights, the Aces surrendered 13 to the Loggers, and the Titans rushed the Thunder for 14.

At least we had a conveniently placed left-hander coming up to dole out a score of off days.

Game 2
CHA: 2B Woodrome – LF K. Fisher – RF D. Ceballos – C L. Miranda – 1B Schaack – 3B B. Anderson – CF Conner – SS T. Edwards – P Sciuto
POR: 2B Bribiesca – SS Lavorano – RF Martinez – LF Brassfield – C Chavez – 1B Puckeridge – CF Royer – 3B Sheilds – P Stewart

Kyle Fisher walked, Luis Miranda doubled, and there was another first-inning deficit, 1-0 only this time against Stewart. The Raccoons had the bases loaded with nobody out in the bottom 1st however, without the benefit of a base hit. Two walks and an error by Edwards did the trick. Sciuto also walked Brass to force in the tying run, then whiffed Chavez. Pucks landed an ACTUAL RBI single, 2-1, and Royer rolled a little snort on the infield that was not played for much of anything and became an RBI single of the infield variety. Sheilds’ RBI single was his first base hit as a Critter, and upped the score to 4-1. Stewart’s groundout plated the fifth and final run of the inning before Bribiesca grounded out to shortstop Travis Edwards, whose error on Lonzo’s grounder had immolated the entire inning although even two of the runs were unearned.

The 5-1 lead didn’t feel great because Stewart didn’t look great. Endless long counts, and in the fourth inning – in which he reached 84 pitches – two walks to Bobby Anderson and Edwards, and then an RBI double by PH Joe Hullander. Ian Woodrome grounded out to Bribiesca to end the inning after that, but smooth sailing this was not. Fisher drew another leadoff walk in the fifth, and Doug Conner singled in the sixth, which Stewart didn’t finish; 109 pitches for 5.2 innings was all we could get from him, but at least Bravo then ended the inning without conceding another run.

The Coons still had fewer hits than runs through seven innings, while the Knights soon had more hits than the Coons had runs when Tanizaki came out for the eighth inning and got ********* for another 4-hit inning. Two runs were across with Woodrome and Fisher in scoring position and two outs when Sencion entered in a double switch with Caswell to face Danny Ceballos and got a fly to left to end the inning with a skinny 5-4 lead left over. The Raccoons couldn’t tack on anything in the bottom 8th, and Sencion was on his own with no bullpen to speak of behind him for the ninth inning. Miranda led off with a single, and Anderson singled with one out. Conner struck out, while Edwards was down 1-2 before sending a ball to deep right. Steve Royer scurried back to the warning track, and within paw’s reach of the fence reached up and picked the ball to end the game. 5-4 Raccoons.

10-4 in terms of hits. For the Falcons in case you weren’t sure.

Game 3
CHA: LF K. Fisher – 2B Woodrome – RF D. Ceballos – 1B Schaack – 3B B. Anderson – C L. Miranda – SS T. Edwards – CF J. Ward – P Doyle
POR: 2B Labonte – RF Martinez – CF Caswell – 1B Brassfield – LF Puckeridge – 3B Brobeck – C Lathers – SS Sheilds – P Carreno

The weather wrecked Carreno’s start before he could on Wednesday, with a 90-minute rain delay knocking him out after just three shutout innings, which of course would only completely derail whatever was left of the bullpen. Ivan Ornelas got the baseball and pitched two scoreless innings before we arrived at one of those moments that just made you want to give up and go home. Bottom 5th, scoreless game, both teams in their pen, and the Raccoons loaded the bases with one out as Brobeck walked, Lathers reached on an error by reliever Andres Lopez, and Sheilds singled softly to right. Next was Ornelas, but the Raccoons didn’t have enough stuff left in that bullpen to throw another four innings even if they got the lead. Ornelas was whiffed, and Labonte flew out to center to strand all the runners. We stranded Brass and Pucks singles in the sixth when Brobeck flew out to Fisher, but Ornelas put up four shutout innings on 56 pitches before being relieved himself.

Bottom 7th, Lathers singled against Lopez, who was removed for left-hander Yoshi Kuroiwa then. Sheilds grounded out, and Lonzo was walked intentionally when he hit for Ornelas. Labonte walked unintentionally to fill the bases with one out for Martinez. The count ran full, and then Martinez cracked a 3-2 pitch over the shortstop and into shallow left-center for a 2-run single, the first runs in the game. The Falcons brought another lefty, Matt Malone, who walked Caswell, then gave up another 2-run double to Brassfield. Royer walked batting for Pucks, and Brobeck walked in a run. Chavez then batted for Lathers against the southpaw and hit a clonker to left – GRAAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMM!!

These nine runs were the only ones the Raccoons scored on the day, but not the only runs in the game. Ricky Herrera had a scoreless eighth, while Neal Hamann got the ball for the ninth. Bobby Anderson singled, which wasn’t so shocking, but the home run hit by none other than former Critter Rafael de la Cruz pitching in garbage relief sure was. It was Raffy’s second career homer in 208 at-bats. 9-2 Coons. Labonte 2-5; Brassfield 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Chavez (PH) 1-1, HR, 4 RBI; Carreno 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K; Ornelas 4.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, W (2-0);

Raccoons (4-4) vs. Indians (4-5) – April 11-14, 2058

The Indians had beaten us 10-8 last season, although we had still finished ahead of them. They had started the season with a baffling .201 batting average, and ranked 10th in runs scored in the CL. They had also allowed the third-fewest runs, though, so this might yet turn into another drag of a series.

Projected matchups:
Justin DeRose (0-0, 6.43 ERA) vs. Bill Lawrence (0-1, 2.57 ERA)
J.J. Sensabaugh (1-0, 4.05 ERA) vs. Shane Fitzgibbon (1-1, 3.68 ERA)
Bobby Herrera (0-1, 5.40 ERA) vs. Josh Barbieri (0-1, 7.59 ERA)
Zach Stewart (1-1, 3.27 ERA) vs. Roberto Oyola (2-0, 1.69 ERA)

Fitzgibbon was the only left-handed starter on offer here. The Indians had also thrown a bullpen game the day before coming to Portland when starter Chris Kaye (0-0, 3.38 ERA) threw all of one pitch before leaving their eventual 5-1 loss against the Bayhawks with a tight forearm.

Game 1
IND: 2B Kilday – 3B A. Rios – 1B B. Quinteros – RF Lovins – LF O. Ramos – CF S. Thompson – SS B. Andrews – C Lefebvre – P B. Lawrence
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – RF Martinez – CF Caswell – 1B Brassfield – LF Puckeridge – 3B Brobeck – C Chavez – P DeRose

Labonte walked and stole second in the bottom 1st, but was stranded, and instead Orlando Ramos’ infield single, Steven Thompson’s double to left, and Brent Andrews’ sac fly gave Indy a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Ramos drew a walk his second time up and Thompson whacked another one to left, but Pucks made it there this time and retired the centerfielder. But after DeRose drilled Andrews, there was no catching Michael Lefebvre’s 2-out drive into the left-center gap that fell for a 2-run double… While Lawrence had yet to allow a base hit, DeRose also drilled Antonio Rios in the fifth, then gave up another double along the leftfield line to Bill Quinteros. Chris Lovins’ grounder and Ramos’ single each scored another run. Ya ya, 29 runs in nine games my ***.

Brobeck singled and Chavez homered to actually make a blip on the scoreboard, narrowing the tally to 5-2 in the bottom 5th, but DeRose was still hopeless, getting Lefebvre on a pop in the top 6th before nicking the opposing pitcher. Today’s garbage reliever was then Ricky Herrera, getting five outs from six batters to cover some ground, but even with a scoreless eighth from Bravo the Raccoons still wound up throwing Brobeck and his 47.25 ERA on the hill for the ninth inning. Down by three was not exactly a promising situation anyway. Brobeck gave up a run on three hits, which somehow still shaved more than 16 runs off that ghastly ERA. 6-2 Indians. Chavez 2-3, HR, 2 RBI; Sheilds (PH) 1-1;

To put some numbers on the offensive misery, half the personnel that matters is hitting under .200: Caswell (.194), Brass (.194), Lonzo (.156); while Martinez and Pucks were just barely above it. Bribiesca was 0-for-11. Labonte and the catchers were the only ones making any noise.

Or in other words: Labonte’s OPS+ was 188, Chavez’ was 173, and the nearest regular to that would have been Caswell… with *73*.

Game 2
IND: 2B Kilday – 3B A. Rios – 1B B. Quinteros – CF Oldfield – RF Lovins – LF O. Ramos – SS R. Vargas – C Villafan – P Fitzgibbon
POR: 2B Bribiesca – SS Lavorano – RF Martinez – LF Brassfield – C Chavez – 3B Brobeck – CF Caswell – 1B Royer – P Sensabaugh

Sensabaugh sensibly walked Kilday (lest the .024 batter do any damage to him!) and Quinteros, then gave up an RBI single to Lovins with two outs in the first inning to take on the traditional 1-0 deficit to begin the game. Portland made up that run in the bottom 1st with Bribiesca’s first single of the year, and while Lonzo lined out to left, Martinez walked and Chavez drove in the run with a 2-out single. Sensabaugh offered another walk and a passed ball in the second, but also hit a 2-out single in the same frame. Bribiesca walked and Lonzo hit an RBI single to score him for a 2-1 lead, and a wild pitch and a Martinez single upped the score to 4-1, with Brass’ RBI double completing the 4-run inning for a 5-1 edge over the Indians.

But Sensabaugh was struggling hard; the defense did a lot of heavy lifting to hold the Indians to two hits through five innings, even though Sensabaugh had walked four and had also thrown a wild pitch. He came back for the sixth, walked Quinteros, then struck out a pair, and then stumbled over an infield single by Ramos, of all things. Mike Siwik replaced him and got Ricardo Vargas to fly out to Brass in left to end the inning, with the 5-1 score still intact. Bottom 7th, the bags were loaded for Portland as Chavez singled, Brobeck doubled, and Jeff Caldwell hit Caswell to fill them up. Labonte batted for Siwik in the #8 spot and was nicked to force in a run, while Pucks then hit into a run-scoring double play. Toushi and Lonzo then hit singles off Ben Akman and another run scored on the former hit. The assault continued in the eighth: Brass walked against Akman, who conceded that run on Chavez and Brobeck hits, then another one on a sac fly by Caswell. Pucks bashed a 2-run homer with two outs. 12-1 Critters! Bribiesca 2-3, BB, 2B; Imai (PH) 2-2, RBI; Lavorano 2-6, RBI; Chavez 3-5, RBI; Brobeck 2-5, 2 2B, RBI; Caswell 2-3, RBI;

Game 3
IND: 2B Kilday – 3B A. Rios – 1B B. Quinteros – RF Lovins – LF O. Ramos – SS R. Vargas – CF Abel – C Lefebvre – P Barbieri
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – CF Caswell – 1B Brassfield – C Chavez – 3B Brobeck – LF Puckeridge – RF Royer – P B. Herrera

The skies looked murky for Bobby Herrera’s third career ABL start, but his pitching looked way worse as Rios singled, Quinteros tripled, and Lovins singled for a 2-0 Indians lead right after a K to Kilday to begin Saturday’s game. And all the long counts…! Without allowing a base runner in the next three innings, he needed 64 pitches just to get through four innings, with four full counts included. The Raccoons at least made up the deficit in the bottom 4th when Lonzo and Caswell got on and both scored on a double by Chucking Chavez.

Kevin Abel singled in the fifth but was stranded; same for Herrera, with Labonte also getting on base behind him, but Lonzo hit into a fielder’s choice and Caswell flew out too easily. At least Herrera made it to the seventh, if only to give up a tie-breaking homer to Cory Oldfield… He finished the inning, while I tried to call the bank (on Saturday, as if) to re-claw that $1M advance we had wired him on his salary. He also didn’t take the loss, since Jesus Martinez doubled with two outs and nobody on when he pinch-hit for Herrera in the bottom 7th, then scored on Labonte’s single. Lonzo grounded out and Herrera was held to a no-decision.

The Raccoons went to Hamann in the eighth, who allowed a leadoff single to Barbieri and botched runners to the corners before departing when Willie Villafan pinch-hit for Lovins with two outs. Tanizaki came on, got a grounder to first, but failed to grasp Brassfield’s feed to the bag, and Villafan reached on the error, as well as Barbieri scoring the go-ahead run. Tanizaki then walked Ramos, gave up two unearned runs on Vargas’ single, and remained breathtakingly useless. Oldfield eventually grounded out.

Bottom 9th, the Raccoons tried to rally against Randy Slocum. Pucks reached base with a 1-out walk, but was forced out on Imai’s grounder. Lathers leathered a double, and Labonte walked to fill the bases with two outs and the .167 terror Lonzo up. The bench was however slim pickings by now. We rolled the dice and brought Sheilds as pinch-hitter, at least presenting a lefty stick. He grounded out to Quinteros. 6-3 Indians. Labonte 2-4, BB, RBI; Caswell 2-4; Martinez (PH) 1-1, 2B; Lathers (PH) 1-1, 2 RBI;

There’s a lot of rather generous use of the handbrake here…

Also if you needed another indicator that Lonzo REALLY wasn’t hitting, he wasn’t in the lineup *again* on Sunday, with an actual off day on Monday coming.

Game 4
IND: LF O. Ramos – 3B A. Rios – 1B B. Quinteros – CF Oldfield – SS R. Vargas – 2B Bahena – RF Abel – C Villafan – P Oyola
POR: 2B Labonte – 3B Brobeck – CF Caswell – LF Brassfield – RF Martinez – C Lathers – 1B Imai – SS Sheilds – P Stewart

A ***** homestand ended with another ***** weather day on Sunday, as Stewart threw three shutout innings and then was excluded from further proceedings of a scoreless game by more relentless flooding from above and a 90-minute rain delay.

Have you driven an Ivan Ornelas, lately? It was another four shutout innings from the garbage reliever du jour, this time not quite as neatly as against the Falcons, but he got the job done, despite walking three and giving up two hits to boot, but the defense helped out, the Indians were keen on running themselves out of innings, with Kevin Abel getting caught stealing, and what’s the score? Oh, still no score at the stretch. Boys! For ***** sake!!

Brass singled off Tim Jacoby to begin the bottom 7th and Lathers’ 1-out double put a pair in scoring position for Toushi. The Rule 5er grounded over to Brent Andrews at second base, who fumbled the ball for an error, but the go-ahead run would have scored anyway. Sheilds popped out, Pucks grounded out, and that was it for the time being. Bravo and Sencion sorted out the 2-3-4 batters in the eighth inning without issue, while Jacoby got two outs in the bottom 8th before Caswell singled and stole second. Brass walked, Martinez hit an RBI double to left for an insurance run. Dave Corrao walked Lathers, but Lonzo flew out to center when he pinch-hit for Toushi with the bases loaded, ending the inning. So, who’s getting the ball for the ninth with a 2-0 lead then? The Raccoons hung with Sencion for the switch-hitting Vargas, who flew out to right in a full count, and still didn’t move with right-handers up after that. The reason was simple, really. All the right-handers left in the pen (Siwik, Tanizaki) had been out two days in a row, and the fresh options were left-handed. Well, or Brobeck. (giggles) Andrews struck out, Abel grounded out, and Sencion grabbed a 5-out save. 2-0 Critters. Martinez 2-4, 2B, RBI; Lathers 1-1, 3 BB, 2B; Stewart 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 3 K; Ornelas 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 1 K, W (3-0); Sencion 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, SV (2);

In other news

April 1 – The Titans win a 2-0 shutout against the Loggers on a rain-shortened Opening Day, with Will Glaude (1-0, 0.00 ERA) only pitching five-and-a-third innings for the win.
April 3 – Buffaloes SP Bill Hernandez (1-0, 3.00 ERA) was expected to miss a month after craning his neck in an awkward baserunning collision.
April 3 – SFB OF/2B/3B Jeremy Lindauer (.250, 0 HR, 1 RBI) hits a walkoff single in the ninth inning for a 1-0 win against the Condors.
April 5 – Knights OF Jon Alade (0-for-2, 0 HR, 0 RBI) would be out for six weeks after breaking his hand back on Opening Day.
April 6 – ATL UT Nick Fox (.480, 0 HR, 3 RBI) pumps out six hits in a 17-8 smacking of the Titans, even though two of hi six hits, the only doubles among four singles, only come in the game’s 10th inning, a 9-run thrashing of the Titans’ pen. Fox drive in two of the team’s 17 runs.
April 6 – Season over for VAN SP Bruce Mark jr. (0-0, 7.71 ERA), who left his Opening Day start with what turned out to be a torn flexor tendon in his elbow.
April 7 – The Blue Sox beat the Pacifics, 2-0, with just two hits to their name – both home runs by NAS 1B Andy Metz (.438, 3 HR, 8 RBI).

April 10 – LVA 3B/1B/RF Alex Alfaro (.375, 1 HR, 6 RBI) slaps five hits, including three doubles, and drives in four runs in an 11-2 rout of the Loggers.
April 11 – Blue Sox INF Nick Nye (.333, 1 HR, 5 RBI) would miss the rest of the month at least with a strained calf.
April 11 – The Canadiens acquire OF/3B/SS Rich Kuchta (.233, 0 HR, 1 RBI) from the Wolves for left-hander SP/MR Gabriel Casanova (0-0, 2.57 ERA).
April 13 – New York outfielder Gunner Epperson (.462, 3 HR, 10 RBI) hits for the cycle in a 14-8 shootout against the Loggers, despite striking out in his first at-bat of the day. Epperson goes 4-for-5 with four RBI.
April 13 – Thunder OF Danny Guzman (.263, 2 HR, 6 RBI) could be out for a month with a herniated disc.
April 13 – Warriors CL Zack Stahl (0-1, 4.15 ERA, 3 SV) could miss three weeks with a strained hammy.
April 14 – After a bad start to the season the Falcons now also have to play three weeks without RF/LF Danny Ceballos (.429, 0 HR, 5 RBI), who was out with a strained rib cage muscle.

FL Player of the Week (1): RIC 1B Mario Delgadillo (.538, 3 HR, 7 RBI)
CL Player of the Week (1): SFB INF/LF Xavier Reyes (.500, 0 HR, 3 RBI)

FL Player of the Week (2): SAL C Ben Newman (.425, 3 HR, 12 RBI), mashing .579 (11-19) with 3 HR, 11 RBI
CL Player of the Week (2): ATL C Marco Nieto (.536, 0 HR, 9 RBI), being a terror at .700 (21-30) with 6 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Jesus H. Christ – the weather! What am I supposed to do? Build a boat or what?? Two weeks at home in April sounds like asking for trouble in any case but FOUR starters punked out early by rain across two weeks?? Seriously?

(angrily shakes fist at the baseball gods)

How bad has it really been? Ivan Ornelas is two outs shy of qualifying for the ERA title as of Sunday night. That bad. The real burner is that he’d be the only qualifying pitcher with a zero ERA in the entire league with those two outs.

The offense has been nothing short of atrocious with the exception of the catching pair and Labonte. Caswell and Martinez are barely close to a 100 OPS+, and the rest of the bunch is all drowning. Which isn’t that surprising given the weather.

Two-week road trip next, with stops in Milwaukee, Tijuana, Oklahoma City, and Elk City. If anybody can make it rain in Tijuana, it’s this bunch here…

Fun Fact: Tim Stalker remains the most recent player to hit two cycles for the same team.

Yours truly, in that case, in 2029 and 2033 against the Gold Sox and Titans, respectively. Every instance of a guy hitting two cycles since then has been for two different teams:

Danny Zarate: Condors (2031) and Gold Sox (2036)
Leo Villacorta: Stars (2042) and Knights (2054)
Jordan Marroguin: Falcons (2047) and Condors (2053)
Gunner Epperson: Aces (2055) and Crusaders (2058)

Marroguin’s first cycle was against the Condors, so at least in that case the same team was present twice.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (6-6) @ Loggers (4-8) – April 16-18, 2058

The Loggers’ pitching had been blasted for 90 runs in just two weeks, which seemed hardly sustainable given their 9.27 starters’ ERA, not that the pen with a 5.36 ERA had anything to laugh about. Offensively they were middle of the pack, but already with a -26 run differential (Coons: +2). The Loggers had destroyed the Raccoons in 2057, winning all but four of the head-to-head games.

Projected matchups:
Ramon Carreno (0-1, 4.66 ERA) vs. Sam Webb (1-1, 6.55 ERA)
Justin DeRose (0-1, 7.30 ERA) vs. Victor Marquez (0-1, 36.00 ERA)
J.J. Sensabaugh (2-0, 2.92 ERA) vs. Tyler Riddle (1-2, 6.23 ERA)

Here was something weird – how about an entire three-game set in which we’d only face left-handed starting pitching…? This was a possibility here, but keep in mind both teams had Monday off.

Game 1
POR: 2B Bribiesca – SS Lavorano – RF Martinez – LF Brassfield – C Chavez – 3B Brobeck – CF Caswell – 1B Royer – P Carreno
MIL: 3B Gaxiola – LF Garmon – RF Pigman – 1B D. Robles – SS Sostre – CF Konecny – 2B Roseto – C Dye – P S. Webb

Sam Webb struck out six after Lonzo doubled up Bribiesca and his leadoff single to begin the game, and Carreno wasn’t gonna miss another chance to trail in the first inning, allowing a single to Perry Pigman and a *crushed* home run to Dave Robles for an early 2-0 hole to blink out of. Kelly Konecny singled and stole second base in the second inning, but on Jonathan Dye’s 1-out single was thrown out at the plate by Jesus Martinez, who would also get in the Coons’ first run in rather inefficient manner in the fourth inning, finding Bribiesca and Lonzo on the corners and hitting into a 6-4-3 double play, an activity that yielded no RBI for his tally of four. Brassfield hit another single with two outs, though, and then Marcos Chavez flicked a score-flipping homer over the leftfield fence, 3-2.

That lead didn’t last the inning. Bill Sostre singled and Konecny doubled to put a pair in scoring position in the bottom 4th. After Nick Roseto lined out to short, the Raccoons intentionally walked Jonathan Dye to bring up the pitcher with two outs. Webb was retired on a grounder… but not until after a passed ball charged to Chavez had tied the game.

Top 6th, the bags were full once Webb nicked Lonzo, Brass doubled, and Chavez was walked intentionally, bringing up Brobeck with one out. Slapping the first pitch he got at Roseto yielded another soul-bleaching double play, and this time ended the inning with no run(s) scored. Carreno had to settle for a no-decision as he went six innings, and then Ricky Herrera settled for a few on the snout, giving up singles to Ryan Bishton and Robby Gaxiola to begin the bottom 7th, and then a wallbanger double to Pigman in rightfield that chased home two runs. Brett Lillis jr. (waves hi) held the Raccoons short in the eighth inning, but Ryan Dow’s outing in the ninth was soon troubled as Brobeck hit a 1-out single past Mitch Sivertson (doesn’t wave hi) and Caswell then doubled between Pigman and Konecny. The tying runs were in scoring position with one down. The Coons sent Labonte and Lathers to pinch-hit in succession – both popped out to outfielders in shallow areas. 5-3 Loggers. Bribiesca 2-4, 2B; Brassfield 2-4, 2B; Caswell 2-4, 2B;

Game 2
POR: 2B Bribiesca – SS Lavorano – RF Martinez – LF Brassfield – C Chavez – 3B Brobeck – 1B Puckeridge – CF Royer – P DeRose
MIL: 3B Gaxiola – 2B Roseto – RF Pigman – 1B D. Robles – SS Sostre – CF Konecny – LF Bishton – C Dye – P V. Marquez

Every day, every ******* day, the other team scored first. This time it took until the second inning, but in exchange the Loggers scored three runs at once with a walk to Robles, a Bill Sostre single to center, Konecny’s 2-run triple into the right-center gap, and then DeRose’s fumble of Bishton’s grounder for a run-scoring error. Dye hit into a double play, but I had already dyed inside again…

The runs then flew on the board. Lonzo hit a third-inning double and both Martinez and Chavez found RBI knocks to shorten the score to 3-2, but the Loggers just slapped DeRose over the head harder for another three hits and two runs in their half of the third inning. Portland answered with two more runs in the fourth, doubles by Royer and DeRose (!) and Lonzo’s RBI single putting the runs together, but Dye doubled in the bottom of that inning, and DeRose just stopped pretending and balked the ******* run home. He wasn’t seen again after that inning. Or ever.

Brass, Bro, and Pucks were all on base with two outs in the seventh inning, just when the sawdust seemed to have settled on the game. Roberto Navarro was pitching rather unsuccessfully for the Loggers here, but he had two outs on the board and Steve Royer, hitting all of .150 in the box – what could even go wrong? Well, Royer could flick a ball over Robles at first base, Pigman took a long time to get to the looper, too, and the Raccoons got the tying runs home to tie the score at six. That was as good as it got in this inning, though, as Noah Caswell struck out against new pitcher Josh Costello.

The defense then tried to lose the game for the Coons, as Martinez made Tanizaki pitch around a dropped fly ball in the seventh, and Sencion had to contend with Pucks flubbing a ball at first base in the eighth inning, but the score remained tied all the while. Ryan Dow struck out Brass and Chavez in the ninth inning before giving up a double to center to Brobeck. Pucks was walked intentionally, bringing back Royer, but Royer didn’t have another clutch hit in him and grounded out to Roseto instead, leaving the pair stranded. Sencion’s second inning sent the game to extras, which was a real thrill with an already mostly empty pen. Paul Labonte hit a single in Sencion’s #9 spot in the 10th inning, but was stranded on third base eventually. The Raccoons’ Ricky Herrera held the game tied and sent everybody to the 11th with a 1-2-3 inning, and the 11th saw the Raccoons 1-2-3 get on base against Lillis, who put on all the 4-5-6 batters. Pucks struck out. Royer popped out. Labonte struck out. (bites into clenched fist!)

At this point the Raccoons had to give up the game and sent Brobeck to the hill. We were not only out of relievers, but also third basemen; Jesus Martinez had to go to third base, Pucks went to right, and Toushi entered at first base. The Loggers took seven pitches to walk off. Mike Gilmore grounded out on the first. Corey Garmon was hit by the second, then took off on the third, stole second, and reached third on a throwing error by Chavez. Four pitches later, Dye ended the game with a sac fly to center. 7-6 Loggers. Lavorano 3-6, 2B, RBI; Chavez 2-6, 2B, RBI; Brobeck 4-5, BB, 2B; Royer 2-5, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Labonte (PH) 1-2; Sencion 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

(gnaws on a bat)

Game 3
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – LF Brassfield – C Chavez – CF Caswell – RF Martinez – 1B Puckeridge – 3B Bribiesca – P Sensabaugh
MIL: 3B Gaxiola – LF Garmon – RF Pigman – 1B D. Robles – SS Sostre – CF Konecny – 2B Roseto – C Dye – P Riddle

The Loggers scored first – duh! – with Garmon’s single, walks to Pigman and Robles, and Konecny’s 2-out, 2-run single in the bottom 1st. The Raccoons got Chavez on with a single in the second, and then Caswell hit into a double play, and they got Bribiesca on with a walk drawn in the third, and then Sensabaugh bunted into a double play. Lonzo and Brass hit 1-out singles in the fourth inning, but both were stranded when Chavez and Caswell couldn’t get a ball to either fall in or fly out. It was all a bit ****, even before Sensabaugh had another inning with a single and two walks, this time to the top of the order, and fell 3-0 behind on Robles’ sac fly in the bottom of the fifth inning…

Labonte and Lonzo started the sixth inning with getting on base, so the tying run was in the box, which didn’t exactly bring out the greatness in Brass and Chavez, who made mucky outs, and Caswell only reached by getting drilled. Martinez then got to bat with three on and two outs. He fired a shot right into Riddle’s chest! Mercy! Riddle got *some* glove on the ball, and held on to it – bother! – but also fell down on the mound and had to be collected piecemeal by the team trainer. He could not continue. In his spot, Ryan Bishton dished a 2-out RBI triple for a fourth and final run off Sensabaugh, who looked like the one I shiveringly remembered from last year… The Raccoons were however done with this game, just went through the motions in the last few innings, and got what they deserved in another sweep the lumber of the Loggers. 4-0 Loggers. Lavorano 2-4; Bribiesca 2-2, BB;

Raccoons (6-9) @ Condors (5-11) – April 19-21, 2058

The Raccoons had won the season series from Tijuana for four straight years, including 9-0 once and 8-1 last year. Also, no rain, ever, in Tijuana! Yay! They, too, had dreadful stats, scoring just 41 runs from 16 games, but hey, we had the right cure for that in our pitching staff, and sat fourth in runs scored with a -22 run differential. I confidently predicted that they romp us outta Mexico by 25-7 runs. Tijuana was the first team that already carried a bunch of injuries, with Tim Duncan, Luis Chapa, and Miguel Batista all incapacitated and that didn’t count yet Domingo Mercado, who had left their game on Thursday with another apparent injury.

Projected matchups:
Bobby Herrera (0-1, 4.76 ERA) vs. Marco Clemente (0-1, 7.27 ERA)
Zach Stewart (1-1, 2.57 ERA) vs. Edgar Mauricio (0-0, 2.08 ERA)
Ramon Carreno (0-1, 4.60 ERA) vs. Jay Everett (1-3, 2.96 ERA)

After three left, how about three right?

Game 1
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – CF Caswell – RF Martinez – 3B Brobeck – LF Brassfield – C Lathers – 1B Puckeridge – P B. Herrera
TIJ: 1B Rosenstiel – 2B Cross – RF J. Harmon – C J. Morales – SS N. Fowler – 3B Frasher – LF Fish – CF Reina – P M. Clemente

The good? Bobby Herrera didn’t allow a run through three innings! The bad? The Condors left a runner on third base in each of those three innings. And the ugly? In the fourth, Eric Frasher and Juan Reina hit a pair of bombs to right to give them a 2-0 lead anyway, because the Raccoons’ offense remained ******* useless even when being given first dips on the stick. Now, Pucks scored a run in the fifth after singling and … well, Herrera failed to get a bunt down, then eventually swung away and singled, sending Pucks to third base, from where Labonte brought him home with a sac fly. In the sixth, the Coons tied the game as Caswell doubled on the first pitch of the inning, and then was singled home by Brobeck with one out.

That wasn’t where ugly ended. Bobby Herrera needed 89 pitches just to be in a 2-2 tie in the middle of the sixth, which didn’t sound like his first career W was anywhere near. But he retired the 6-7-8 in quick succession in the bottom 6th, then hit a single the next half-inning! He was also the only Raccoon to do ******** anything in the inning and was accordingly left on first base. Herrera got through seven without further funny accidents, but Clemente turned away the Portland 3-4-5 in the eighth and that was another no-decision for Herrera then. Ornelas and Sencion dealt with the Condors in the bottom 8th, while Cody Sears allowed a leadoff single to Brass in the ninth. Brass stole second base, and then Lathers reached on an error Nigel Cross, which put runners on the corners with nobody out. Pucks and Toushi both grounded out piss-poorly, not even getting Brassfield home from third base, and Labonte flew out to Jamie Harmon, which wasn’t helping either. The game went to extras, right what a beleaguered pitching staff needs, but at least we finally ******* scored in the top 10th. Lonzo singled, stole second, and after Martinez’ 1-out walk, Brobeck hit an RBI double over the glove of Frasher to break the 2-2 tie. Brassfield walked, Lathers singled home another run, Taylor Stabile replaced Sears, and Cross made another error with Pucks batting, allowing another run to score. Chavez pinch-hit for Tanizaki and hit an RBI single, and a final run scored on ANOTHER error by Cross for five total in the inning. Jamie Harmon took Ricky Herrera deep in the home half of the tenth, but that was only a solo shot, though annoying. 7-3 Raccoons. Caswell 2-4, 2B; Chavez (PH) 1-1, RBI; B. Herrera 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K and 2-2;

Three times. We have scored a game’s first run … three times this year.

Game 2
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – CF Caswell – RF Martinez – C Chavez – LF Puckeridge – 3B Brobeck – 1B Imai – P Stewart
TIJ: 2B N. Fowler – CF M. Estrada – SS C. Ramsey – RF J. Harmon – 3B Frasher – 1B H. Ramsay – C Samuel – LF Fish – P Mauricio

Toushi Imai made it four on Saturday, following Pucks’ and Brobeck’s singles with one out in the second inning with a double through the hole no the right side, plating Pucks from second base. Stewart added a sac fly for a 2-0 lead and I was dizzy. Such lofty heights! The Condors didn’t get a hit the first time through, but Mario Estrada’s leadoff single in the bottom 4th quickly was followed by Stewart nailing Casey Ramsey with a pitch, and another single by Harmon. Frasher’s fielder’s choice grounder plated a run from three on and nobody out, but Harry Ramsay hit into a double play to kill the inning.

Zach Stewart wasn’t flashy, but he sure pitched a good game. Only a couple of strikeouts, but lots of pops no the infield that easily dropped into waiting mittens, and the Condors didn’t get any closer any time soon. Lonzo singled and stole a base in the sixth inning, then was doubled home by Chavez for a 3-1 lead, while in the eighth, Caswell got on and Jesus Martinez hit his first ABL home run to left-center for a 5-1 edge. Stewart returned for the bottom 8th, but nailed Bobby Fish, who was forced out by Micah Groom’s grounder to second base, but then Stewart misplayed Nick Fowler’s comebacker into an infield single and Estrada hit a proper single. Three on, one out, and the tying run at the plate in 23-year-old Casey Ramsey, who – fun fact – was making his ABL debut in this game. Siwik struck him out, and Sencion rung up Harmon to get out of the inning without any actual damage (pride aside).

Tijuana’s Hector Montenegro and Jesus Chacon then imploded for three more runs in the ninth inning, all scoring runners reaching base with singles off the former, hit in straight succession by Imai, Brass, and Labonte. Lonzo walked in a run (!), and Caswell and Martinez also got an RBI each. Bravo pitched a scoreless ninth for Portland then. 8-1 Coons. Martinez 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; Chavez 2-5, 2B, RBI; Puckeridge 2-4; Imai 2-4, 2B, RBI; Brassfield (PH) 1-1; Stewart 7.1 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (2-1);

Scoring first is such a novel concept, I wonder whether it will ever enter the mainstream…

Game 3
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – CF Caswell – C Chavez – RF Puckeridge – LF Brassfield – 3B Brobeck – 1B Lathers – P Carreno
TIJ: 1B Rosenstiel – LF Fish – SS C. Ramsey – RF J. Harmon – C J. Morales – 3B Frasher – 2B N. Fowler – CF Reina – P Everett

Five singles for three runs gave Carreno a neat lead right in the first inning; Lonzo and Caswell got on base first, but nobody scored until Pucks drove in the pair with a 2-out single. Brass and Brobeck also added 2-out singles, the latter plating Pucks for the 3-0 score before Lathers struck out to end the top 1st. The Condors answered with three runs of their own then in the bottom 1st. Brassfield ham-fisted a Bobby Fish fly ball to left, and after that Carreno was flicked around for four hits and the tying runs, because we couldn’t have any nice things. John Rosenstiel also hit a double to center in the bottom 2nd, but at least the defense dragged Carreno out of that one. Nick Fowler doubled in the bottom 3rd, but with two outs and nobody on, and Reina grounded out to first base to keep the game tied.

The Raccoons, who had felt done after five hits in the first, didn’t get another base knock until Caswell’s 2-out single in the fifth inning. Chavez struck out and nothing came of it. The game was still tied into the sixth inning, when Nick Fowler singled to right-center against Carreno. But Tijuana had gotten a guy on base in every inning now without ever scoring, so why would they – wham! Juan Reina doubled to center, and drove in the go-ahead run. Worse, Everett singled in Reina, and Rosenstiel walked, finally leading to Carreno’s dismissal. Brobeck took the hill, got a double play grounder from Fish and an easy fly to left from Ramsey, and nobody was more stunned than me. But never overestimate Kyle Brobeck – Frasher and Fowler socked doubles for another run in the seventh inning. And the Coons? Caswell drew a leadoff walk in the eighth, then was doubled off by Chavez. Pucks walked, but Brass popped out…

After a scoreless inning by Neal Hamann in the bottom 8th, the Raccoons again put pressure on Cody Sears in the ninth inning. Steve Royer pinch-hit for Hamann in the #7 spot leading off, singled – only the second hit post the opening frame – and then Lathers reached on a throwing error by Harry Ramsay on first base. Tyrese Sheilds was batting ninth as the tying run with nobody out. He flew out to center for a sac fly. Labonte also flew out to center. Lonzo still had scratches left, however, dished a liner to left and it fell out of Fish’s reach for an RBI double, putting the tying run in scoring position for Caswell with two outs. Tijuana brought on Taylor Stabile, who drilled Caswell with the first pitch. Pucks’ quick bouncer up the middle didn’t beat the range of Ramsey, though, and the Condors got the final out on that one. 6-5 Condors. Lavorano 2-5, 2B, RBI; Caswell 2-2, 2 BB; Royer (PH) 1-1;

In other news

April 16 – Miners SP Kodai Koga (3-0, 3.13 ERA) throws a no-hitter in just his third outing for Pittsburgh, striking out four against two walks in a 6-0 win over the Rebels. It’s the sixth Miners no-hitter in history, and the first since Jonas Mejia no-hit the Aces in 2031.
April 16 – The Bayhawks beat the Knights, 5-4 in 17 innings. SFB INF/LF Xavier Reyes‘ (.338, 0 HR, 7 RBI) game-winning RBI triple in the top of the 17th is preceded by a staggering 11 consecutive innings without a run for either team.
April 21 – The Pacifics beat the Cyclones, 6-5 in 12 innings. Five of the 11 runs score in the 12th inning, as Cincy first puts up a pair, but L.A. counters with three, capped by a walkoff homer by C Todd Eaton (.394, 3 HR, 8 RBI).

FL Player of the Week: DAL OF Chad Pritchett (.355, 2 HR, 12 RBI), batting .423 (11-26) with 1 HR, 7 RBI
CL Player of the Week: NYC SP Joel Luera (3-0, 1.50 ERA), going 2-0 with a 0.71 ERA and 10 K

Complaints and stuff

Three weeks in, only two of the Raccoons’ starters have even won a game, only Marcos Chavez has more than one homer, or double-digit RBI. He’s in fact miles ahead in all batting triple crown categories.

Ivan Ornelas still leads the team in wins.

But you don’t get many wins if you go 2-4 against opposition like we faced this week… Next week: Thunder, Elks, still on the road.

Ryan Wade had a good start to the AAA season, so maybe there could be an early move on the horizon…

Fun Fact: Kodai Koga previously no-hit the Aces with the Knights in 2050, also in April.

Koga, 34, was available on the free agent market this winter, but I was a bit concerned about the type A compensation attached and a couple of red flags attached to the scouting report. The Titans also completely abused him the last two years, having him throw over 530 innings in just two seasons, making 35 starts each year. For now, he seems to be going great (but mind the 4-year deal) and has a career record of 135-139 and 3.76 ERA.